The Lasaran (Aldebarian Alliance #1) - Dianne Duvall Page 0,48
in and have a look, see who we’re dealing with.”
When she would’ve risen, Taelon held up a hand, then mimicked her motion, touching a finger to his lips to urge silence.
Every muscle tense, she settled back against the pillow.
He sat up and braced a hand on her other side, leaning across her to shield her as he watched the door.
She stared at it, too. Her eyes widened when the lock turned.
No keys had jangled, nor had she heard one slide into the lock.
The knob turned and the door swung inward.
A large, dark figure stood in the doorway, silhouetted against the murky lights in the parking lot.
He stepped inside, cricket chirps and other night sounds accompanying him.
The faint light from the bathroom fell upon a muscled body clad in black cargo pants, a black shirt, and a long black coat. The man’s short obsidian hair glinted as he slowly turned his head, studying the room.
She held her breath.
His gaze passed over them without stopping, as if they weren’t even there.
She looked at Taelon, who stared at the man with a look of intense concentration.
The man ventured farther into the room. His nostrils flared as he sniffed.
He crossed to the bathroom and pushed the door open.
Bright light illuminated hard, handsome features.
His dark brows drew down as he stepped inside and left her view. A cabinet door opened. The shower door slid back.
He returned to the main room and looked toward the wardrobe. Opening it, he reached into the empty interior and knocked on the back. Then he moved the heavy piece of furniture away from the wall as easily as he would an empty cardboard box. Holy crap, he was strong!
What did he expect to find there?
He swung back to face the room. Again he sniffed, then tilted his head to one side and seemed to listen.
His eyes brightened with an eerie amber glow.
Oh shit. He must be one of the vampires from the base.
Her heartbeat picked up.
“You should be afraid,” he muttered. Crossing to the bed, he grabbed the covers and yanked them back.
Lisa barely managed to bite back a yelp when her bare body was exposed.
But the vampire… Roland… didn’t seem to see her.
Taelon, still positioned in front of her, slowly reached back and took her hand. Was he showing Roland an empty room?
The vampire knelt and searched beneath the bed, then rose with a curse. Palming his cell phone, he paced away and dialed. “Marcus,” he said, voice curt. “Do you have a moment?”
Lisa sucked in a breath when Roland vanished. He just vanished—there one moment, gone the next. “What the—?”
He reappeared a second later, his hand on the shoulder of another man who could pass for his brother. Her jaw dropped. The second man was equally tall and muscled but had longer black hair than Roland. And he wore the same garb: black cargo pants, a black T-shirt, and a long black coat.
“What is it?” the second man asked, his voice also bearing a British accent.
“Henderson’s men tracked the missing Humvee here. The only people they could find to speak with were a married couple who insisted a mysterious man in black drove it. But the information they conveyed didn’t alleviate the network special-ops soldiers’ suspicions. And the names and other identification they gave the motel clerk didn’t check out. Henderson called Reordon and asked him how he should proceed.”
“And Reordon sent you here to have a look? I wondered where you were.”
Roland glanced around. “Something’s wrong,” he announced grimly. “The room appears empty, but I hear breathing and detect three heartbeats, one far swifter than the others.”
Marcus listened, then nodded. “I hear them, too.”
“I also smell a man and a woman.”
“Those could be residual scents if the couple left recently. Did you search the room?”
“Yes. The bathroom is empty, so is the bed and the wardrobe. I checked behind the latter and found no hidden passage. And there’s nothing under the bed.”
Both men glanced up at the ceiling, then reached up and rapped on it.
Marcus frowned. “No pull-down access to the attic that I can see.” He glanced around. “The walls are thin. Perhaps they’re hiding in the next room.”
Roland strode outside.
A moment later, Lisa heard faint movement behind the wall as Roland searched room 10. Then he passed the doorway and she heard movement in room 8.
He returned. “They’re not.”
Marcus frowned. “Where is this place? It sounds like we’re in the sticks.” He peered through the open motel room door. “Looks like it, too.”