Page 67 of The Huntress
Moving past, he ignored the shivering mother as he located the basement door in their kitchen. He slithered through the keyhole and down the cracked steps. The basement smelled of age and disuse. For months, the air had remained undisturbed.
He escaped the house with speed since he no longer needed caution. He fought to maintain his focus, to keep the surface of his mind unmarred. As he rematerialized, the roar that tore through him shredded his throat, setting off car alarms and barking dogs. He waved his hand to silence the cars closest to him.
Callie wasn’t there. She had never been there.
But the signal?
He took out his phone—his unsteady hands fumbling it—and followed the blue icon said to be accurate within ten feet. The flashing red light caught his eye…her smartwatch.
He scooped it up with trembling fingers, bringing it to his nose to sniff. Hot pain lanced through his chest at her familiar scent. He didn’t detect blood, which meant Darius hadn’t harmed her, for now. It was a small mercy, but he was grateful, easing the tension between his shoulders.
“Did you find her?” Barrows asked, striding toward him.
His police vehicle was just behind him, its lights flickering. He hadn’t heard Mike pull up or jump out of his car, but his lack of awareness didn’t bother him. His focus was where it should be.
“She’s not in the house, and here…” He tossed the watch at the detective, not caring whether Mike caught it or not.
“Shit! Now what? How far could he travel with her? Or do we continue to search for her in Dandelion?”
Gabriel stared at the concerned human, knowing what the poor man was enduring since he suffered the same emotion—sheer damn panic. Adrenaline pulsed in his veins, his heart leaping without a steady rhythm in mind and desperation coated his actions. He sniffed the air, hoping to catch her scent yet knowing that was futile. He couldn’t scent Darius either, though Mike smelled strongly of fear, permeating Gabriel’s immediate surroundings with bitterness.
Leo?He voiced along their mental path.She’s not here.
I’m on my way.
“Leo’s on his way. We’ll decide then.” Not bothering to shroud himself, Gabe shot into the air, hovering above the house.
He focused his senses, taking slow and deep breaths. With his enhanced hearing, he listened, picking up and discarding sounds as soon as he cataloged them.I can’t hear her, Leo. Can you communicate with her?
I’ve been trying since I left you. She’s not responding or is…unconscious.
Gabriel winced, not liking the possibility that Callie would be vulnerable to Darius’s ministrations. What he needed her to do was smear her blood across his mark. Then he could find her with ease, but since she had yet to do so, she was either unconscious as Leo had suggested, or she’d forgotten about it.
He descended to the sidewalk, landing on soft heels beside Mike.
“Who’s this Darius? What do you plan to do with him when we find him?” Mike had removed his gun from its holster and its magazine, checking its capacity. “I’m aware you have your own justice system, which I hope is harsher and more definitive than ours.”
“Yes, we do. For this infraction, I will bring Darius before our king for judgment.” Gabriel glanced at Mike, meeting his gaze, which was easy to do with his superb vision. “However, he will have an unfortunate accidenten routeto my brother.”
The wicked grin that split the elderly detective’s face meant Gabriel had received his approval, and that he’d look away when the time came. The police didn’t bother with vampire-on-vampire crime. They became involved only when the crime occurred in front of them or included innocent humans.
“Good. Taking our Callie is unacceptable, and you need to send a message stating that.”
Gabriel’s smile was tight and not sweet.OurCallie was to remain untouched, unmolested, and above all, protected.
Leo landed beside him with Dimitri, who’d brought quite a few of his hunters with him.
“Dimitri, thank you for this. You may ask a favor from me, as and when needed.” Gabriel hugged the fellow vampire—one he’d known and respected for years.
The tall brooding man returned the hug with a thump on Gabriel’s back.
“Gabriel. Rumors abound that you claimed a human woman. She must be remarkable, thistsvetok.” Dimitri flashed a small smile, which was bright against his olive skin. “We will find her, your flower. Have no fear,brat.” He nodded at his men, and they dispersed. “Mypal’tsywill find her and the bastard who dared to do such a thing.”
Dressed in a black leather jacket over dark denims, Dimitri was intimidating with his black hair and green eyes.
Gabriel glanced at Mike to determine whether he was nervous around such an ancient vampire as his Russian friend. Barrows seemed unaffected, and he smelled as fearful as when he’d first arrived.
“Dimitri, this is Callie’s partner, Detective Barrows. Mike, this is Dimitri Vasiliev, head of the Northeast quarter.”
