Luther's Return (Scanguards Vampires Book 10)

“Now move,” Luther ordered gruffly. “If you can’t keep up with me, you’d better turn back now.”


Katie focused all her energy on her legs. She had to see this through. She owed Isabelle, and more so, she owed Samson. He’d been instrumental in saving her life twenty years earlier, and now was the time to pay back her debt.

Even if that meant duking it out with a vampire who clearly couldn’t stand her.

“I’m coming,” she murmured to herself.





17


Luther bit back a curse. He knew Katie would be trouble. He just hadn’t expected the trouble to start this early. Or his reaction to it to be so uncontrolled.

The nightmares had gotten less frequent than twenty years ago, but they’d never stopped. At least this time he hadn’t dreamt the version where his bloody hands clawed into Vivian’s pregnant belly. The symbolism of that particular dream didn’t escape him. It signified his own guilt, because it had been his unborn child that had killed her. He had as much blood on his hands as if he’d killed Vivian with his own claws.

He’d come to the conclusion that there was only one way for history not to repeat itself: he would never commit to another woman.

“You okay?” Luther grunted, glancing at Katie, who walked next to him.

He’d slowed his tempo, knowing his anger had made him unreasonable. It wasn’t her fault that he’d had a nightmare, and that she’d heard him call Vivian’s name. In fact, he was surprised that she hadn’t bolted, and had instead tried to wake him from it.

Luckily, Katie hadn’t succeeded, or he might have unwittingly unleashed his rage on her. A fellow V-CON had once found himself at the mercy of Luther’s claws, when Luther had awoken during a nightmare. Because of some temporary overcrowding in the prison, several V-CONs had had to double up in cells for a few weeks, until a number of prisoners were moved to facilities in other parts of the country.

Katie didn’t reply. Well, maybe he deserved the silent treatment.

“We’re almost there.” He didn’t expect an answer.

“I didn’t mean to listen to what you said in your sleep.”

He grunted, not knowing how to respond to the apology. Thank you? Yeah, that didn’t sound right. He was glad that in the distance ahead of them, a concrete wall appeared. Luther could already see it with his vampire vision, but he knew Katie’s eyes couldn’t penetrate the darkness like his. He reached his hand out and grabbed her elbow to stop her.

Her breath hitched. “What?” Her green eyes sparkled like precious emeralds in a bed of black velvet. Lush and tempting. More beautiful than any jewel.

“Once we’re inside, you have to follow my commands to the letter. Do you understand?”

Katie nodded.

“There’s an emergency access tunnel leading into the center of the prison. We’ll use it to get in.”

“How do you know about it?”

“I designed it.”

Her chin dropped. “What?”

“You heard me.”

“But I don’t understand. Did you dig it so you could escape?”

Luther shook his head. “I was the original engineer when the council decided to build vampire-proof prison facilities. My blueprints became the basis for all current prisons the council operates, even though I left the project to join Scanguards before the first stone was laid.”

She still stared at him in surprise. “How can you be so sure they didn’t change the design after you left?”

“Because the council didn’t want to spend any more money on plans.” He paused. “And because my design was genius.”

“But if you knew of a way out, why would you stay for twenty years?”

He blew out a breath of air. “I didn’t say I knew of a way out.”

“But you said you can get us in.” A panicked tone snuck into her voice.

Luther nodded. “I can. But it’s only accessible from the outside. A fail-safe in case of a prison riot. Nobody can get out in case of a lockdown, but reinforcements will have a way in to help the guards on the inside.”

“And you’re only mentioning this now?” Katie braced her hands on her hips, an action which involuntarily made his gaze drop to her heaving chest. This wasn’t the first time he noticed her perfect proportions, her well-formed breasts, her slim waist, and her shapely hips. A perfect hourglass figure.

He shrugged, finally tearing his eyes away from her. “You didn’t ask.”

“Well, that’s just great,” she grumbled. “What else have you not told me?”

Her demanding tone riled him up. “A bunch of stuff that’s none of your fucking business.” When her lips tightened to a thin line and her eyes narrowed, he couldn’t help himself, and continued, “Or did you wanna know about the hookers the guards ferried in from time to time and pimped out to those V-CONs who could afford to pay for them? Would you like to know the sordid details about that?”