long and braided down his spine. Several ugly scars marred his face, making him appear even more ferocious. The glowing eyes and fangs definitely weren’t helping either. Fox wanted to dig his heels in and run in the opposite direction, but that wasn’t an option. He had to keep moving forward.
“Please, help! Need…Damon…” he panted. At least the breathlessness was mostly real.
The vampire stiffened suddenly and blinked, the glow disappearing. “You the witch?”
“Yeah.” Fox stopped in the front yard, his hands on his hips and head thrown back as he gulped in air. The breathlessness and trembling now had more to do with fear than exertion. They’d officially entered the point of no return. There was no turning back from his plan now. “Escaped. Don’t…don’t let the Variks find me.”
The vampire grabbed his arm and dragged him up the three porch stairs to the front door. “You need to talk to Luke. Call Paavo.”
Fox made sure to stumble in the doorway. He made a whole mess of getting inside the house, acting as if his legs were completely giving out while throwing the door open wide. The vampire didn’t quite know what to do with him and seemed about to carry him inside when Fox finally regained his feet. He could only pray that those extra seconds helped Winter get inside the house with him. At the very least, Fox was sure all eyes were on him, so no one would have noticed Winter in the first place if he had been standing right there.
The vampire kept his hand clamped on Fox’s sweaty arm as he pulled him along the hall to the living room. The windows were covered, and the walls were painted a painfully bright white. Some lunatic had opted for modern decor. Everything was rather sparse and cut at weird angles. The chair he was shoved into was hard and uncomfortable. There was a surprising amount of orange, sort of like he was swimming in an orange Creamsicle.
“Stay!” the vampire commanded, pointing at him.
Fox was sorely tempted to bark at him and shake his ass, but he swallowed the comment. “Can I have some water, please?”
The vampire ignored him as he hurried away, shouting for Luke. There were more footsteps around the house. Both male and female vampires appeared in the open doorway to stare at him. No one looked friendly. He tried to smile and wave, but no one waved back.
In all of this crowd, Fox couldn’t guess at where Winter was. Had he followed the vampire who went in search of Luke? Was he scouting out the rest of the house? Or was he right there in the living room with Fox, protecting him? He liked the latter thought best, but he figured it was safest to figure that Winter was searching the rest of the house. Fox needed to focus on possible escape routes if he needed to make a run for it on his own.
The plan was simple.
Get information about Damon’s plans.
When Winter gave the signal, which would be some kind of distraction, Fox was to run to the car.
A key to the SUV was hidden in the rear passenger-side wheel well.
He would drive to Rafe’s penthouse and wait for Winter to retrieve him.
The last bit was the real shit part. Fox hated the idea of leaving Winter behind. He wanted to fight with Winter, to protect the vampire’s back. But Fox couldn’t risk having a weapon on his body, and he didn’t know a single spell that could help protect Winter. His use went no further than bait or a distraction.
The vampire hideout was relatively quiet except for the sounds of footsteps. No sounds from a TV or music. No one seemed to be talking either. Just lots of staring.
Dear God, he was already missing the Variks.
Those people never stopped talking.
Or bickering.
Or teasing.
Or laughing.
Yeah, Damon had to be a real asshole to want to kill the Variks. They were wonderful, loving, compassionate people who actually cared about each other. Even when they thought he was going to kill them all, they still made sure he was comfortable and treated him with respect.
One of the silent vampires looked down at his leg and it was only then that he realized it was nervously bouncing. The longer he had to wait, the harder it was to sit still. What if they knew it was all a ruse? What if they saw him with Winter in the parking lot?