Dani flinched at this news, worry for her sister immediately rising within her. There was no time for that now, however, and she forced it down, concentrating on how she could make more noise and, she hoped, attract the attention of the men in the room next door... If they were still there. She'd heard Justin and Decker talking as they walked past the room moments before the thud had made Leonius move her out of the hall. They had been talking about her, and the fact that she was missing and she'd wanted to scream, but hadn't been able to with Leonius holding her as he had.
"I know you want to make noise to draw your friends, but I'm afraid I can't allow that," Leonius said by her ear. "It's all terribly exciting to be hiding just feet away from where Lucian and his men are standing, but also fraught with danger. If you make a sound, I shall have to silence you."
He moved her closer to the bed so that they stood in front of Stephanie, and then shifted Dani, turning her toward the bedside table so that he could look the girl over. The teenager was rocking where she sat, her hands clutching at her stomach, but she wasn't making a sound, and Dani didn't know if it was because he was still controlling her or not.
"Twenty-one hadn't yet turned her when I got here an hour ago," Leonius muttered quietly. "Oddly enough he argued with me about doing it. He seemed to want to keep her as some kind of mortal pet. He hadn't even fed on her." He paused and then added, "I did before I gave her my blood... as I did you."
Dani glared at him over his hand, and he smiled widely. "The two of you share a common temperament. She tried to fight me off just like you did." The smile faded as he added with displeasure, "And Twenty-one was moved to try to stop me. He made such a nuisance of himself that I had to send him into the next room and lock the doors to get it done without interference. A fortuitous occurrence for me as it turns out, but not so fortuitous for Twenty-one."
He turned to glance at Stephanie again, and then said, "Of course, I have bigger plans for Stephanie than keeping her as a mortal pet; for both of you actually." He smiled cruelly and added, "Someone has to bear me more sons to replace the ones I've lost this week."
That was too much for Dani. Rage roared up through her like a tidal wave at the prospect of either her or Stephanie being broodmares for this animal. Leonius had moved her close enough to the table that she could reach the bedside lamp, and before Dani quite knew what she was doing, she'd grabbed it and was swinging it up over her head and back. There was a sickening crunch as it slammed into Leonius's head, and then he released her to stumble back.
Suddenly free, Dani staggered a step forward, banging into the bedside table, and then caught herself and turned to grab Stephanie by the arm and yank her to her feet. The confusion on the girl's face and the way she was shaking her head suggested to Dani that the blow to Leonius's head had sufficiently set him aback enough that he'd lost control of Stephanie. She knew that wouldn't last long, though, and pushed Stephanie ahead of her toward the small hall leading to the door, desperate to get her out of the room.
They had to pass Leonius to get there. He was upright, but looking dazed and clutching his head, and Stephanie stumbled past him all right, but as Dani followed, one of his hands shot out to seize her by the arm.
"Run," Dani screamed at her sister, struggling to break the hold Leonius had on her. Much to her relief, Stephanie staggered the few steps up the hall and managed to grasp the doorknob. She turned it and started to pull it open, only to stumble back as it was suddenly thrust open from the other side.
Dani could have sobbed with relief when she saw Decker appear. He took in the situation at a glance, and started to raise the gun in his hand, but then suddenly grabbed Stephanie and turned his back to the room, sheltering her as an explosion went off beside Dani's ear. She didn't recognize it as a gunshot until she saw the blood blossoming on the back of Decker's shirt.
A scream of horror was ripped from her throat as Dani noted the position of the wound. She knew at once that if it hadn't lodged in his spine, that it had probably hit his heart, and watched in horror as he crumpled forward, taking Stephanie with him to the floor in the doorway. Once on the ground, neither of them moved.
"Time to go," Leonius said, or she thought that's what he said. There was a ringing in her ears from the loud gunshot that made hearing difficult. He then began to force her forward and Dani lurched toward the hall, aware that someone was pounding on the connecting door.
"We shall have to leave Stephanie for now, but I'll fetch her later," Leonius assured her as he forced her around Decker's legs and up the hall.
Dani stared down at Decker as they moved past him. He lay on his stomach, his head next to Stephanie's feet, and was so motionless that, were he mortal, she'd fear he was dead. Then they were past him and moving into the hall.
Leonius had just turned her to force her up the hall toward the elevators when a series of pops sounded. When he suddenly released her and fell into the opposite wall, Dani whirled to find Lucian standing in the hall outside room 1413, arm raised, weapon in hand. In the next moment, she realized the weapon Lucian held was the crossbow, with an arrow notched, but not released. She whirled to peer at Decker as he lowered his gun and laid his head on the floor.
Chapter Nineteen
"Decker!" Dani rushed back into the room, her gaze sliding over her sister on her way past. Stephanie's eyes were open and she was panting heavily. Having been through the turn herself, and knowing she couldn't do a damned thing for her, Dani continued on to Decker and knelt beside him as he groaned and began to move.
She helped him roll over, gasping with horror when she saw that the hole in the front of his chest was much larger than that in the back. Leonius had hit him with a much more powerful weapon than his sons had shot Decker with that first night in the clearing. Worry clouding her eyes, she pressed on the wound trying to stanch the flow of blood.
"I'm all right," he muttered. "Look after Stephanie."
Dani shook her head, pressing both hands down on him now, but he winced and then caught her hands and moved them away. Forcing himself upright to lean against the wall, he said, "The nanos will fix me up. Look, the bleeding is slowing. The bullet missed my heart by a mile."
"More like a millimeter," she said with a frown as she noticed the bleeding was indeed slowing.
"I'm fine," he insisted. "Go see to Stephanie."
She hesitated, her gaze sliding to her sister, but when the teenager moaned and started to shift, Dani straightened and moved to kneel next to Stephanie as she rolled onto her side in the doorway.
"Stephi?" she said, pressing her hand to the girl's cheek. "Are you all right?"
Stephanie blinked her eyes open. Dani saw the confusion and pain there and felt her heart ache for the girl. She knew exactly how she was suffering right now.
Movement in the corner of her eye brought her distracted gaze to the hall. Lucian had moved to stand over Leonius's slumped figure. He peered at the rogue for a moment, crossbow hanging at his side, and then swung it forward and shot the notched arrow into Leo's chest.
Definitely a heart shot, Dani thought with satisfaction as Lucian then bent to grab him by the collar to drag him toward the open door to the room. She started to turn back to her sister, intending to try to move Stephanie and Decker out of the way, but cried out as the girl suddenly lunged upward, catching Dani's hand and stuffing the fingers into her mouth. Stephanie sucked at them desperately as she knocked her backward.
It happened so fast and took her so by surprise Dani didn't even struggle at first. By the time she did, Stephanie was on top of her, her earlier weakness replaced by an incredible strength as she licked and gnawed at Dani's hand. Seeing the flecks of blood on the bit of hand sticking out of the girl's mouth, Dani realized what a stupid thing she'd done. She'd tried to stanch the flow of blood from Decker's wound and then had gone to her sister and as good as waved the bloody hand under her nose.
Dani heard a curse and glanced around to see that Decker was trying to get to her, and then a thump drew her attention to the hall as Lucian dropped Leonius and came to her aid. He lifted Stephanie as if she were weightless and then turned her in the air to peer at her.