Luther's Return (Scanguards Vampires Book 10)

Katie’s breath shuddered and her heart skidded to an abrupt halt. Luther was staring at her, eyes widened, lips parted, still showing the tips of his fangs. His nostrils flared. Though she was used to being around vampires and had never been scared of them, this was different. Luther was different. He wasn’t civilized like the others. Anything but. Feral came to mind. It fit with his admission that he’d been in prison for twenty years.

His eyes were dark, almost black, but around the rim of his irises a golden hue began to shimmer. It was a sight from which she couldn’t tear herself away. Almost as if he was using some unseen power to draw her to him. To entice her to approach. To catch her in his net.

She felt paralyzed, unable to move, unable to breathe for fear he would tighten the invisible chains he’d wrapped around her and suffocate her. In her mind’s eye she could see it happening. Her instinct told her to step back, to extricate herself from his spell. But something else inside her, something purely female—and purely wanton—overrode her sense of self-preservation.

This man was danger personified. Her entire life, she’d tried to avoid danger, tried to stay safe, but suddenly that very notion seemed cowardly. Danger suddenly called to her. Tempted her. Told her to throw caution to the wind. To live a little. To take a risk.

Luther’s eyes narrowed, and his lips moved. You, he mouthed.

But before she could figure out what he meant by that, a voice broke the spell she seemed to be under. “Katie!” It was her brother Wesley.

Luther’s head whirled in Wes’s direction, his look changing to one of battle-readiness.

The moment Wes reached them, he pressed a quick kiss to the top of her head. “Hey, love, you okay?”

Katie could only nod, before Samson interrupted, “We need you to find her, Wes.”

With a regretful look, Wes shook his head. “Sorry, Samson, but she’s a hybrid. Her vampire side prevents me from scrying for her. I have no way of locating her. Not with witchcraft anyway.”

When a low growl came from Luther, Katie’s gaze instantly shot to him, but already Zane and Amaury were dragging him away.

“Can’t you try, Wes?” Delilah insisted, giving Wesley a pleading look. “Please can’t you find my baby?”

Wes closed his eyes for a moment. “I wish I could help. But there are limits to my craft.”

“Oh no! As a baby she was telepathic, but it went away when she started to speak. I wish she could still communicate with me. Oh, Isabelle, where are you?” A sob tore from Delilah and she buried her head in her son’s chest.

Grayson exchanged a look with his father. “What now, Dad?”

Samson turned to Blake. “I want every one of our men out there looking for Isabelle. Call in anybody who’s on leave. I want every corner of this city searched. Tap into every surveillance camera, every traffic camera, every video feed. I want my daughter found.”

“I’m on it.” Blake nodded, a look of confident determination on his face. He looked at Delilah. “We’ll find her. We’ll get her back. I promise you.”

Then he waved at John, a vampire who’d joined the ranks of Scanguards two years earlier after leaving New Orleans and Cain, the king he’d served for almost two decades. He’d needed a new environment after a tragedy had befallen him, and Samson had provided him with a new home and a new purpose at Scanguards.

“What do you want me to do?” John asked, his southern accent still pronounced.

“Take a couple of men and interrogate the audience and the student actors. I also want all the stage hands and any of the University employees who were on site looked at.”

“You’ve got it,” John answered and walked away.

While Blake issued more orders, Katie squeezed her brother’s hand before releasing it and approaching Samson.

“Samson, I want to help. Please tell me how I can help.”

He glanced at her, giving her only the briefest of looks. “There’s nothing you can do. Scanguards will take care of it.” He turned toward his son and wife. “Where’s Patrick?”

“He’s with Damian and Benjamin.”

Samson nodded. “Join them and make sure everybody gets home safely.”

Katie felt somebody tug at her sleeve and pivoted.

“You should go home, too,” Wesley suggested.

“I can’t, Wes. It’s my fault. I changed roles with Isabelle. I didn’t tell Blake.”

“Go home, Katie,” Samson snapped behind her.

She whirled around and stared into his furious eyes.

“I don’t want to see you right now. Can’t you understand that?” he gritted from between clenched teeth.

Oh God, yes, she understood it. He knew it was her fault, and he was trying hard not to let his anger out on her. She had broken protocol by not telling Blake about the role change so he could adjust his security detail accordingly. It was her fault that there’d been moments where Isabelle hadn’t been guarded.