Luther's Return (Scanguards Vampires Book 10)

Luther kept his eyes and ears open. Apart from the waves breaking on the rocks that surrounded the island and gave it its nickname—the Rock—there were no sounds. A steady cool breeze blew from the northeast, muffling even their footsteps.

The entire setting gave him the creeps. Obviously Forrester was a psycho, choosing a place like Alcatraz. A cold shiver ran down his spine. He didn’t like this place, and didn’t understand why Forrester had chosen it. One could reach the island only by water, which made an escape from it difficult. How was Forrester planning to get off the island with Katie (or rather Roxanne), once he had her? It made no sense. Even if he had a boat waiting for him, he had to assume that Scanguards would be easily able to track his movements on the water and follow him. Forrester was a sitting duck.

Roxanne’s hand on his forearm pulled him from his musings. “There,” she whispered and pointed to a spot in the distance.

He saw her immediately. A young woman dressed in a red period dress stood on a grassy, elevated area about fifty yards past the water tower, diagonally across from the old power plant and dilapidated storehouse. She was gagged and blindfolded. Behind her was a pile of rubble and from what Luther could see, she appeared to be chained to one of the rocks. She stood still, but even from the distance, he could see her chest moving up and down. She was breathing.

He exchanged a quick look with Roxanne, his heart pounding. “That Isabelle?”

Roxanne nodded.

“Good.”

“Welcome!” The male voice was distorted, coming from a loudspeaker somewhere from the right.

Luther’s gaze shot in the direction of the storehouse. He focused on the openings that had once held windows, but the glass had long been removed. Now the wind blew through the empty building, creating eerie sounds and shadows.

“Send Katie closer,” the voice demanded. “To the storehouse.”

Luther nodded to Roxanne, and she slowly walked in the direction of the voice.

“Stop!”

Roxanne stopped in her tracks. Luther held his breath, his eyes darting back and forth from Roxanne to Isabelle. He noticed Isabelle pull up her shoulders in fear. From one of the window openings, Luther perceived a movement, something reflecting for a brief moment. A mirror? Glass? He couldn’t be sure.

The sound of the ocean waves and the wind was louder now. It seemed to hum a rhythmic melody.

“Did you really think I’d fall for your deception?” the voice suddenly said.

Luther instantly shot Roxanne a look, but to his surprise her vampire aura was still cloaked. She still looked human. How did Forrester realize that she wasn’t Katie? From his hiding place in the storeroom he shouldn’t be able to tell. Only when standing within a few feet of Roxanne would he be able to realize that she wasn’t Katie.

“You’re gonna pay for this!” the voice warned.

Shit!

Time for Plan B.





42


The loud sound echoed against the old buildings. Luther shot a look to Forrester’s hiding place, but he couldn’t see anything, only a movement behind one of the windows. A shadow shifting. Nothing more. Had he shot at them? Shit!

Luther sprinted toward Isabelle, jumping over a low chain link fence that separated him from the young hybrid, when he heard a loud whooshing sound from above. He glanced up and saw a black helicopter swoop down onto the path, cutting him off from Roxanne and in effect creating a barrier between Isabelle and Forrester’s hiding place. The wind generated by the rotor blades made Luther sway for a moment, but he continued barreling toward Isabelle.

“Isabelle!” he called out to her, hoping she could hear him over the noise of the helicopter. “Don’t be afraid! I’m working for your father.”

He saw how she jerked her head in his direction, her body trembling. The sight reminded him of what he’d done to her mother twenty years earlier. With silver handcuffs he’d tied Delilah to a pole and gagged her, though he hadn’t blindfolded her. He’d rigged the podium where she and Nina were standing to blow up once a motion sensor was triggered.

Heart pounding, Luther stopped dead in his tracks. What if Forrester had had the same idea? What if he’d set motion sensors that would trigger the countdown to a bomb as soon as somebody got close enough to Isabelle? Forrester had used motion sensors to switch on the lights to guide him to this location, why not use them to blow up Isabelle the moment somebody approached her? Why else would he leave her out here, seemingly easy to reach, rather than keep her with him in the storehouse and only release her once he had what he wanted?

Shit!