Gordon in his arms and carried him out the door. Ari watched as the remaining vampires wrapped Marcus in sheets from the linen closet upstairs. They worked slowly, with great care.
“Is there really a chance he’ll survive?” Ari was finding it hard to believe.
“We can only try.” Andreas’s eyes lingered on the wrapped figure of his young friend. “The death process is well advanced. If his body recovers, it may take days, weeks, or months. I cannot even predict the rest.”
“So he might never tell us what happened?”
“He may not be cognizant again.”
Ari realized what pain those words must cause him. And that surprised her. Not so long ago, she’d have said vampires felt nothing, especially emotional pain.
“But the other one will recover,” Ryan broke in. “How soon can we talk to him?”
“A day, perhaps two. As soon as he is fully fed, his system will rejuvenate during the sleep cycle. I will call when he is ready.”
As the vampires left, Ari wondered what kind of treatment the vampires would receive. The Otherworld hospitals carried a blood supply, but she’d never seen a vampire there. Then again, how often did a vampire need medical treatment? Andreas said the victims needed blood from a master level vampire. Would that have to be Prince Daron or were there other masters? Like maybe Andreas?
Ryan’s relief that the vampires had taken charge of the victims was palpable. Ari wanted to mention how helpful it was to have a vampire partner, but she held her tongue. There are limits, even in a healthy friendship.
Steffan and his wolves went home. Ari, Ryan, and the four police officers searched the rest of the house. The strong doggie odor left by unwashed werewolf bodies, mingled with the smell of dirty clothes and spoiled food, made the search rather unpleasant. They didn’t find much beyond empty beer cans, cigar butts, and discarded takeout cartons. Ari took a quick look at the electronic equipment, a fax machine and two printers, all empty. The laptop she’d seen in Molyneux’s office was missing, probably in his carry bag.
Ryan’s grim-faced team carried the last evidence bags to the van. As Ari and Ryan followed, she leaned toward him, keeping her voice low. “Why such long faces? We recovered the vampires.”
“An empty house. Junk for evidence. What do you expect?” He gave her a calculated look. “But you know what’s wrong. The wolves should be in custody. Would be, if something hadn’t spooked them.” He shook his head. “I’d sure as hell like to know how that happened.”
Ari watched him walk away, his body bristling with tension. She thought he was overreacting and hurried to catch him. She laid a hand on his arm. “We’ll find them again. Maybe their escape wasn’t all bad. It’s a residential neighborhood, and they weren’t going to give up without a bloodbath. And Andreas seemed relieved to get his vampires back.” When Ryan glowered at her, she realized this had been the wrong moment to mention the vampire. “Yeah, it wasn’t a perfect outcome. But this isn’t over.”
Chapter Nineteen
Ari woke at dawn, shivering. A cold breeze blew in her open bedroom window, rattling the blinds. But the real reason for her chill was the dream.
She’d been looking in the window of Molyneux’s library. A large, red wolf laughed as he dropped silver coins into the hands of a shadowy figure. Ari struggled to make out the other face but could never quite see it. The wolf counted the coins, one by one. She heard the metallic clinks. When he reached the thirtieth piece of silver, she woke, his laughter ringing in her ears, the face of Judas still unseen.
Ari closed the window and snuggled under the covers. She didn’t feel nearly as complacent about last night’s events. She’d had other dream fragments since childhood whenever faced with difficult or disturbing problems. In this case, her subconscious was searching for the traitor who tipped the wolves to the raid. While Molyneux’s trip appeared to be an unhappy twist of fate, the escape of the pack was due to a last minute warning…one only a limited number of people could have given.
Ryan would blame Andreas. He trusted Ari, he trusted his cops, and he’d trust Steffan because Ari did. In Ryan’s mind, Andreas and his vampires would be the only suspects left. Besides, Ryan found vampires the most inhuman. In his book, that translated to least trusted.
Ari didn’t want Andreas to be the leak, but wanting wouldn’t make it so.