The Vampire's Surprise - Stormy Glenn Page 0,38

and running toward the back door before he even realized what he was doing. He grabbed the doorknob and yanked so hard, the door flew off its hinges.

Dmitri flung it aside and leapt through the open doorway just as the two SUVs parked in the alleyway exploded, sending him flying back into the clinic. He landed with a heavy, and very painful, thud.

Dmitri groaned as he rolled to his side and sat up. A flash of light caught his attention. He turned to see flames leaping off of the wreckage. "Quinn!" he shouted in his head. "Quinn, answer me."

Nothing.

Complete silence.

Dmitri's heart cracked.

"Rajaaka!"

Chapter Fourteen

"I am sorry, my friend."

"He's not dead." Dmitri couldn't tear his eyes away from the burning wreckage. "I'd know if he was dead, Louis. He's not dead."

He had no idea where Quinn was, but he knew the man was alive, contrary to the evidence in front of him. He could feel the connection between them even if he couldn't reach him through their bond.

"Dmitri—"

Dmitri glanced at the vampire commander, one eyebrow raised. "Would you know if Etienne was dead?"

"I—yes." Louis nodded. "I would know."

"Then believe me when I tell you that Quinn is not dead." He shook his head as he glanced back toward the flames. "I don't know where he is, and he hasn't contacted me, but I know his heart still beats."

Mostly, because his own heart was still beating and he was pretty sure it would stop the moment Quinn took his last breath.

"I don't…" Dmitri swallowed hard. "I don't know if the princes are alive or not."

The flames on the wreckage were too hot for anyone to get close enough to see if there were any bodies inside the burning vehicles. He could see the outline of a body in the front seat of the vehicle Quinn had been in, but he didn't know who it was. Someone had lost a vampire tonight. It remained to be seen how many more would be lost.

"I'm going to go on the assumption that they are alive," Louis said as he crossed his arms and stared at the flames. "All we need to do is find them."

"So, where should we start?" Dmitri's thoughts were a bit chaotic. He couldn't seem to separate them enough to figure out what he needed to be doing right at that moment. He wanted to find Quinn, but he knew his duty meant he needed to find his prince first. He could only hope they were together.

Louis glanced up at the buildings on either side of them. "I want the entire area searched. I'm calling in more men to help. There's no way they could have disappeared that quickly, not without help."

Dmitri's eyes narrowed. "You think someone at the clinic was involved."

"Until I know differently, I'm going to assume everyone is involved."

"Even me?"

Louis smirked as he looked Dmitri up and down. "Especially you."

Dmitri chuckled. He knew Louis didn't mean what he said, especially since his prince and his rajaaka were missing as well as Prince Nikolas, but it was good to break up the tension a little.

"I'll put in a call for some of my men to come help in the search, but I'm not going to wait for them to get here." He had no idea how much time Quinn, Marcus, and Nikolas had before rescuing them turned into a recovery mission. "I'm going to start with the clinic."

"I'll start the search out here while I wait for the authorities to arrive."

Dmitri winced. He'd forgotten about the human authorities, and there was no doubt that they would be coming. The explosion had to have been seen for blocks. "What are you going to tell them?"

"As little as possible."

"Considering my car blew up last night, they may be a bit put out that two more have exploded."

Louis pulled out his cell phone. "I have someone I can call, a detective on the force. Maybe I can get in front of this before it goes nuclear."

Doubtful.

Dmitri patted Louis's shoulder. "Call me if you need me."

"Take a couple of my men with you. I don't need you disappearing on me, too."

He wasn't thrilled with the idea, but he understood where Louis was coming from. "Just make sure they can listen to a superior officer."

Louis's jaw firmed. "My men are well trained."

"Exactly," Dmitri said. "Your men. Not mine. They have no reason to listen to me."

"They'll listen to you or they'll answer to me."

Dmitri pointed to the group of enforcers standing off to one side of