“Sire?” he asked, turning to Vincent.
“Carolyn’s in there,” Vincent said, looking at the dark wooden door, his expression one of revulsion. “But only one human. I’m guessing that’s Serrana, since your new girlfriend seemed eager to please.”
“What can I say, my lord? The ladies love me.”
“Especially the ones old enough to be your mother,” Vincent responded drily. “Open the door.”
Michael tried the knob. It resisted his effort for all of a second until he applied a little of that handy vampire strength and broke through the lock with childish ease. He entered first and stopped, blocking the doorway. Lana frowned at the maneuver—it wasn’t smart to frame yourself like that, giving whoever was waiting inside a clear shot. But then she remembered that everyone inside was unconscious.
He moved finally, walking inside as Lana followed, stepping in ahead of Vincent. The yellow flicker of a fire cast shadows over the dimly-lit room, making it far too warm and stuffy for her taste. It was a bedroom, naturally. Where else would a rapist keep his captive? There was a king-sized bed with an ornate headboard and two matching bedside tables. Lamps on either side lit the room brightly, their pounded copper bases gleaming.
Lana ventured further into the room, feeling the others enter and spread out behind her. She found the master of the estate slumped between the bed and the shuttered windows. He was completely naked, and her first thought was that he should have left off the lights. But then she heard the deep murmur of Vincent’s voice and turned to see him wrapping a blanket around a naked young woman. Lana immediately swung back around to Serrana and kicked him in the balls. She only hoped he could feel it. But then, she had confidence that whatever Vincent had planned for the bastard would be much worse.
“Lana,” Vincent said, his voice low and urgent.
She forgot all about Serrana and hurried over, dropping to her knees next to him. The woman, presumably Carolyn, was awake and cowering away from Vincent, clutching the blanket around her. Lana’s heart clenched with sorrow for the woman and hatred for the man, the pig who had done this to her.
“Carolyn,” she said softly, pushing in front of Vincent, placing herself between him and Carolyn so that she was the only one the abused young woman would see. And, yeah, she knew this was a vampire, with strength enough to throw a man across the room, but right now, she was simply a woman, just as vulnerable and damaged as any human female would have been in these circumstances.
Carolyn’s downcast eyes came up and met hers, filling with tears. “You have to run,” she whispered. “Get away while you can.”
Lana blinked in confusion, before realizing that Carolyn thought Serrana, or maybe Vincent, had somehow taken Lana prisoner and meant to torment her as well. Because Carolyn had no reason to believe that vampires were any better than the humans she lived with.
“No, Carolyn,” Lana said gently, tears stinging her own eyes as she pulled the blanket more securely over the vampire’s shoulders. Her instinct was to hug her, to hold her close and tell her everything would be okay. But the first move had to be Carolyn’s. She’d been touched in too many ways and by too many people against her will. She needed to know she was in control again.
“We’re here to get you out of this place. This is Vincent,” Lana said, jerking her head in his direction. “You can trust him. He and these others have come here to free you.”
Carolyn stared, first at Lana, and then raising her gaze, she took in the other vampires filling the room, making it seem small with their size and bristling anger. She flinched slightly, but Lana spoke quickly, saying, “They’re not angry at you. They’re angry at him.” She nodded toward Serrana, letting her hatred fill her words, wanting Carolyn to hear it and know where she stood.
Carolyn lowered her gaze to Lana again, and then she suddenly burst into tears, gripping the blanket around her and letting her head fall against Lana’s shoulder. Lana wrapped her arms around the young vampire, cautiously at first, but then tighter as Carolyn’s body began to shudder with the force of her tears, her sobs raw and heartbreaking.
Vincent swore viciously beneath his breath. He shot to his feet and Lana was peripherally aware of his footsteps as he pounded across the tile floor. She turned enough to see him grab the unconscious Serrana and throw him onto the bed, then his fingers dug into the man’s throat and he growled, “Wake up, you sick bastard.”
Lana couldn’t see the human’s face, but she heard his terrified shout when he woke to find himself being choked to death—not to mention surrounded by—a group of hulking and angry vampires, every one of them staring at him with fangs fully distended and eyes glowing.
“How shall I kill you?” Vincent crooned. “I could rip out your heart, but that would be too fast. I could break every bone in your body and slice your veins. Let you bleed out slowly, feel your life dripping away as you lay helpless to stop it.” Serrana cried out suddenly, and Lana twisted further to see Vincent toying with him, flicking his fingers at the major veins in the man’s neck, moving down to do the same to his shoulder and on to his chest, except that now, Lana could hear the muted sound of bones breaking with every flick of Vincent’s fingers.
Serrana screamed and Carolyn’s head shot up, her eyes taking on a pale glow of their own as she stared at her former tormentor.
“Mine,” she whispered hoarsely.
Lana’s first thought was that Carolyn was identifying with her captor somehow and was ready to defend him. But then she registered the rage and hatred in the young woman’s voice. It slid over Lana’s skin like a living thing before wending its way across the room to the screaming Serrana.
“Mine,” Carolyn repeated more strongly as she rose to her feet, clutching the blanket around her. Lana stood with her, turning to face Vincent, who was lifting Serrana off the bed, still gripping him by his throat, holding him high as he curled his other hand into a claw aimed at the rapist’s pitiful sex organs.
“Vincent,” Lana said sharply.
He swiveled his head in her direction, pissed at having his fun interrupted. Until his gaze shifted over her shoulder and he saw Carolyn standing there, her own eyes lit with enough power to give them a soft, blue glow.
Vincent smiled slowly, and it was a terrifying thing to see. Serrana saw it, and he whimpered in horror, but Lana’s only thought was that he’d have been far better off with Vincent than he was going to be with Carolyn.
Vincent opened his fingers and let the human fall to the bed. Serrana immediately tried to scramble away, but Vincent stopped him with a negligent glance, holding him like a bug pinned to a board.
“He’s all yours, Carolyn,” Vincent said, stepping away from the bed with a grand gesture in Serrana’s direction. “Do take your time.”
Lana heard a low rumble of sound behind her. She turned to see Carolyn in full vamp mode, fangs gleaming as they pressed into her lower lip, eyes glowing as she let the blanket fall and stalked across the room, her nakedness forgotten. All of the males stepped back, giving her plenty of room, allowing her this moment to take her revenge.
Serrana’s gaze had been following Vincent as he moved away, but then he caught sight of Carolyn. His eyes widened in terrified realization and he squealed in fear, thrashing about aimlessly, held in place by Vincent’s power.