Luther's Return (Scanguards Vampires Book 10)

Katie had no problem reading his lips. It was a skill she’d learned during her professional acting career, when assistants off camera or off stage would prompt her.

She gave a quick shake of her head at Samson, then stared back at the side of the stage from which the actors entered. Still nothing.

An uncomfortable prickling sensation traveled up her arms. Something was wrong. Isabelle was a responsible person, despite her young age. She was an adult and didn’t flake out on her commitments.

The two students playing Lysander and Demetrius stared at her for guidance.

“What now?” Lysander murmured.

Katie didn’t reply. Instead she stalked to where the fairy waited in the wings, leaving the stage. She grabbed the chubby girl by the shoulders. “Where is Isabelle?”

“I don’t know.” Cindy choked down some food, powdered sugar rimming her lips. “She was here just a few minutes ago.”

“Go, run to the bathrooms and see if she’s there, quickly!”

Cindy instantly followed the command.

From the auditorium, more voices drifted to Katie. People were talking, wondering what was the problem. Just like she was.

“Where is she, where is Isabelle?”

Katie whirled her head in the direction of the voice and saw Blake rushing toward her, entering the backstage area from the corridor.

“I don’t know. She missed her cue. She might be in the bathroom. I’ve already sent somebody there to look for her. Maybe she got nervous.”

Blake pressed his finger to the mic in his ear. “Secure the perimeter. Find Isabelle Woodford. I repeat: secure all exits. Nobody gets in or out of this place without me knowing. Got that?”

Before she could tell Blake that he was probably overreacting, heavy footsteps came through the darkness backstage.

“Isabelle?” Samson pushed past Blake, his hazel eyes pinning Katie with a look that could have outclassed the Spanish Inquisition. “Where is my daughter?”

For a moment, Katie was paralyzed. The over six foot tall vampire made an imposing figure. He was power personified. She’d always known that, though she’d also seen his kind side, had experienced it personally many years earlier. But tonight he was something else: a concerned father.

“Check the dressing rooms and the bathrooms!” Blake barked into his mic.

“I don’t know where she is; she was supposed to come back on stage,” Katie said, replying to Samson. She wrung her hands in front of her stomach, anxiety building inside her.

The sound of somebody running in sandals came closer and Katie peered past the Scanguards boss.

“She’s not in the bathroom,” Cindy called to her, an expression of regret on her face. “I can’t find her.”

Blake barked more orders into his mic, some of them so low that Katie couldn’t understand them. Past the curtain that separated the backstage area from the stage and the auditorium she heard people running around. Blake’s team was seemingly at work to search every corner of the building.

“Cindy, assemble all the other students in the men’s dressing room. Go!” Katie ordered. “And stay there until we know what’s going on.”

The girl looked frightened, but nodded and disappeared.

Samson looked at his chief of personal security. “Anything?”

“My guys are still searching. But there’s no sign of her in the bathrooms or the dressing rooms.”

“Maybe my dressing room? We were getting changed in there earlier,” Katie offered, desperate to be of help.

Blake charged outside.

“What the fuck’s going on?” a voice came out of the dark.

A second later, Grayson appeared from between the curtains. He was the mirror image of his father. His hair was as dark as a raven, though he’d gotten his eyes from his mother Delilah: green, just like Katie’s. Grayson’s green eyes were now flickering red as if he had a hard time controlling his vampire side. “Where is my sister?”

“We don’t know yet,” Samson said, his voice tight.

Blake came running. “Nothing in Katie’s dressing room. We also checked all the closets on this level. My guys are working their way up to the other floors.”

“And the exits?” Samson demanded.

“Nobody’s getting in or out of this building without me knowing,” Blake confirmed.

Grayson took a step toward Blake. “Then why the fuck can’t you find her? You’re supposed to know where she is at all times. You’re supposed to protect her!”

Grayson was a hothead, just like Blake had been in his youth, but deep down he was like his father: fiercely protective of his family. If Katie had ever had any doubts about Grayson’s loyalty to his siblings despite their constant rivalry, his anger at Blake now expunged them entirely.