Page 12 of Clash of Sin and Secret

What the hell?

My heart slams against my ribs as a sickening sense of déjà vu brings bile up the back of my throat.

No. Not again. We will not fall to these tainted, half-breed motherfuckers.

I stand behind my desk, listening. The darkness feels alive, pressing in from all sides. Not that it has any limiting effect on me. Vampires see as well in darkness as we do in full light.

What’s going on?

Images of the previous attack flash through my mind. I’ve watched the invasion from every camera feed and from every angle. The incursion through the kitchen as Benoit snuck the enemy past security at the loading docks. How the fake fanger mutts spread through our home like a fucking virus.

The blood, the screams, my father’s head…

Scottie.

Instinct takes over and I vault over my desk, knocking my chair backward. My feet pound against marble as I race through the pitch-black corridors of the residence.

The emergency lights should have kicked in by now.

Something is very wrong.

The fact that the door to the Squire’s Suite is still sealed should soothe the panic burning like wildfire within me.

It doesn’t.

I race to the door, kicking it when I get within range.

I’m thrown back in a violent crack of magic, my aggression directed back at me in equal and opposite force.Fucking hell, Bran.

Of course he had his suite warded against vampire intrusion.

Scrambling up to my feet, I shake off the mental tilt-a-whirl from the witch’s warding spell and press my hand over the scanner like a civilized person.

The moment the system admits me, I’m through the door and racing to find my girl.

The silence in the suite scrapes against my nerves.

No alarms are going off. No backup generators are coming on. Nothing.

With my muscles coiled and fangs dropped, I reach her bedroom door and burst through without hesitation.

“Scottie!”

The scene before me stops me cold. Scottie and Tucker…lying scattered and lifeless… I race to where she lies motionless and feel for a pulse.

Nothing.

That can’t be right. I pull her into my arms and press my ear to her chest.

Nothing.

My knees buckle as the last shred of hope is ripped from my cold, dark soul.

Scottie is dead.

Huntley

What a night. Demons. Dragons. And a possible do-over with the Shedim Queen. I let myself into the compound, feeling pretty good about my night.

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