Luther's Return (Scanguards Vampires Book 10)

Several men from Scanguards were already extinguishing the flames. Luther pointed at the storehouse. “Can’t have been a very large explosion.”


“Didn’t even blow out any of the walls,” Blake confirmed. “No collateral damage. None of us got hit.”

“In there?” Luther motioned to the door and entered upon Blake’s nod. He glanced around and noticed a spot close to a window where some debris pointed to an explosion. “Suicide vest?”

Blake came closer. “Kind of looks like it, doesn’t it?”

Though there were no remains of the vampire, there was other evidence: pieces of shiny metal, fabric, and wood. Even what looked like part of a radio or a speaker.

“You sure he was here and didn’t just blow up a doll?”

“Positive. We got a visual on him before we went in. It matched the photo we had of him. It was definitely Forrester. You can see for yourself when we get back to HQ. We got it all recorded on our personal cams and were feeding it back to Thomas. He confirmed via the comm system that he’s our guy. No doubt about it.”

“Hmm.” Luther rubbed his chin. Something was bothering him. “He didn’t make any attempt to harm Isabelle. Why didn’t he keep her with him in here until he knew he had Katie? Why tie her up out there, where we could get between him and Isabelle. He was practically giving up his bargaining chip before he even had a chance at getting Katie.”

“Blake,” a man said from the door. Luther recognized him as John. He was dressed in a wet suit, his hair wet.

Blake pivoted. “Yeah?”

“My team is ready to leave. Clean up outside is done. I radioed for the boat. It’s pulling up alongside the power plant. Are we good to take care of the inside now?”

Blake nodded. “Go ahead. I’ve seen everything I needed to see.”

John waved to somebody outside, while Blake stepped out. Luther followed him, tossing a last glance at the remains on the ground. A few links of a chain sparkled silver for an instant when the light from the helicopter fell onto it.

Blake was waiting outside for him. “You can ride back in the helicopter with us. I think Samson will want that.” He waved Roxanne closer. “Nice work, Roxanne. Are you okay with taking the small motorboat back? One of John’s team can ride with you.”

Roxanne nodded. “Sure. No problem.”

Luther stretched his hand out to her. “Thanks for everything, Roxanne.”

She smiled and shook his hand. “My pleasure.”

Blake patted him on the shoulder. “Let’s go back to HQ. My guys will finish the cleanup and make sure we don’t leave any evidence behind.”

By the time Luther got into the helicopter ahead of Blake, Samson and his daughter were already sitting in it. The pilot had switched on the engine and the rotor blades were turning, picking up speed.

Luther took the seat opposite Samson.

Blake slid in next to him, then gave the pilot a sign. “Back to HQ.”

It was too loud to talk in the chopper, and Luther was glad for it. He looked out through the window, looking back at the location Forrester had picked for the exchange. His forehead furrowed. It was an odd stage he’d set for himself. He’d basically set himself up for failure by choosing a spot he could neither defend nor escape from. It seemed like a suicide mission.

“Something bothering you?” Samson suddenly said from across the aisle.

Slowly Luther turned his face to him. “Lots of things. It was too easy.” He glanced at Isabelle, who pressed herself to her father, seeking comfort in his arms. “No offense, Isabelle, I know it must have been horrendous for you, but that—” He pointed down to the island. “—was a clusterfuck by Forrester. He had no way out. And no way to fight us. If I’d try to pull something like that off, I sure wouldn’t have chosen a place where I was totally exposed.”

“And as we all know, you’re speaking from experience.” Samson’s voice remained even, though his jaw seemed to tighten.

“Listen, Samson, I just want to make sure that what happened down there was real.” He turned to Blake. “You said you piped back the video feed to HQ?”

“We did.”

“With your permission, Samson, I’d like to have a look at that. I want to see Forrester with my own eyes. Peace of mind, you know.”

After a few seconds, Samson nodded. “Fine. Blake will debrief the team anyway. You can join them and see for yourself that it was Forrester.” He smiled at his daughter and pressed a kiss on the top of her head. “He won’t hurt you anymore, Isa.”

“I can’t wait to see Mom.”

“She already knows you’re safe. She can’t wait to hold you in her arms. She’s meeting us at headquarters.”





43


Luther followed Blake into the situation room, where they were greeted with cheers by Scanguards’ inner circle. Blake was instantly surrounded by several young hybrids, Gabriel, Amaury, and Zane as well as a few other vampires.

Several monitors graced one wall, replaying different parts of tonight’s rescue mission.