Page 23 of Maddie
He wasn’t afraid, but there was a deep sense of foreboding that grew as he continued walking around the room. Hunger prickled through him the longer the captivity lasted. He needed blood. Warm, thick, human blood. If someone were in front of him, he would sink his teeth into their neck and drink and drink and drink…
Dust rained down from the ceiling as a large crack appeared overhead. The drip of water stopped, and maniacal laughter replaced it. A boom. More dust. The crack widened.
“Baby immortal,” came a vaguely familiar voice. “Bow to your queen.”
Noah inhaled sharply, realizing who was speaking. Imogen. The female who’d turned his sister. “Never!” he shouted at the ceiling.
The ceiling crumbled, raining down on him in large chunks.
Noah sat up with a gasp, drenched in sweat, just before the stone crushed him.A nightmare.It was just a nightmare. He dragged in a long breath then let it out slowly through his mouth, accidentally pricking himself on his own fangs. Lifting a finger to his mouth, he prodded at them. He’d desired blood in the nightmare, but he was fine now, no thirst coursing through him. How did he get the fangs to go back in without feeding? They’d simply retracted when he drank his fill at Maddie’s house.
He let his arms fall back to his sides on the lumpy single mattress and sighed. With Maddie going in and out to check on Alice, he wouldn’t have gotten any rest if he stayed with his sister. Not that he was getting a decent sleep anyway, but it would still be difficult now that he wanted blood. Fresh blood, like he’d tasted at Maddie’s cottage. The richness of it … the boosted strength. He felt as if he could rule the world now, more so when he fed, and he wanted— No.
His fangs finally retracted into his gums. What he wanted was to go home with his sister. Once he got the cure—with or without help—they would both take it, then never have to worry about blood or fangs or fucking vampire queens again. Despite knowing that his sense of wrongness stemmed from the dream, the thought of his sister made him desperate to see her.
He slipped out of bed and walked softly through the house, not wanting to wake anyone. Maddie had said she would nap on the sofa if she got too tired, so he didn’t dare look in that direction in case she sensed his gaze upon her. If she woke, he would end up distracted.
“Alice?” he whispered as he padded into her room. With the others asleep, they could have an honest conversation without anyone else chiming in. “Are you awake?”
Silence.
And …fucking hell.The sheets were flung back, the pillow dented from his sister’s head. Yet there wasno Alice.
Noah scanned the small room, but she was nowhere to be seen. “Alice?” he called louder as he left the room, not giving a shit if Maddie or Ferris woke up. She was sick. Where could she possibly have gone?
Racing from Alice’s room to the living room, it quickly became clear she was no longer there. Noah’s heart pounded as he struggled to remain calm. Alice couldn’t have gotten far. Not in the state she was in.Maddie.She would know where to look. If she wasn’t in Alice’s room, she would be on the sofa … but she wasn’t there. He stared at the empty black cushions as the truth set in.
Maddie and Alice were bothgone.
That couldn’t have been a fucking coincidence. He didn’t overlook them. There’d been nowhere to hide in Alice’s small space. The gut punch stole the air from his lungs. His mind immediately conjured the worst-case scenario of Imogen and Rav kidnapping them, but wouldn’t he have heard the commotion? Unless they were extremely stealthy as he was certain vampire royalty would be.
“Ferris?” Noah called and hurried to the third bedroom. “Ferris!”
“What?” he grumbled through the door.
Relief whooshed from him, and he barged inside. Ferris was on his stomach on top of his covers, completely naked, with an arm slung over the edge of the mattress. Noah quickly averted his eyes from the vampire’s arse. “They’re gone.”
“What?” Ferris mumbled, clearly still half asleep.
“Alice and Maddie, they’re gone.” Kidnapped, most likely, but he refused to accept that. Perhaps Alice had just needed some air… He winced at the obvious lie.
Ferris sat up and yawned. “What are you going on about?”
“Alice—you remember my sister, don’t you?” Noah spoke slowly, despite the adrenaline pumping through him. Was the vampire a fucking idiot? “And the quirky, purple-hair hat maker?”
“Maddie’s watching Alice tonight,” he said, waving a hand through the air.
“Watching herwhere?”
Ferris rubbed his eyes. “What’s all this about?”
Noah lifted a dusty vase from a table just inside the door and threw it at Ferris. “They’regone, ya daft pillock!”
Ferris caught the vase with one hand and gave him a withering look. “The transformation still affecting your brain? Damn. Let me get them for you.”
He stood, grabbed a pair of black tracksuit bottoms and, after putting them on, brushed past Noah. Ferris wandered through the entire safe house as if Noah was the fucking moron here. Then his steps became a little less hurried as he doubled back to check the bedrooms a second time. Noah nearly screamed when Ferris sprinted into Alice’s bedroom for a third look.
“Are you satisfied yet?” Noah asked.
