Page 2 (2/2)
"I don’t think so Not e of woh power And power is what oes hand in hand, but power means access, and that’s everyone’s number one prize"
"Very well You and Louis handle the huuards I’ll take care of Victor’s two vampires at the front door That needs to be done quickly and carefully so he doesn’t sense anything a roouests I want them out of the way After that, Victor has to bedown his re two vampires You need to be ready to deal with theuards’ memories after Victor is taken care of Let Louis and uards at the door, while you--"
Duncan turned to look at Miguel, keeping his voice even, but frosting it with the slightest touch of his power "I want the huuards, if necessary"
"Yes,down streets one after the other, all of theht Duncan had studiedhere He’d also memorized floor plans of the vampires’ official residence in the city Some humans referred to the house as the vah, if inaccurate, description
The residence itself was a big 19th century colonial that in pictures rereat mansions of his youth in the Deep South He could only hope this particular house had enjoyed significant renovation since its construction a hundred years ago If not, it would soon He had no intention of living with cranky plu
Fortunately, the residence sat on an unusually large parcel of land adjacent to the embassy district With two full acres backed by Rock Creek, a wall surrounding the entire property and only a single gate, the estate should have been nearly inable But it wasn’t There were holes in the house’s security that one could literally drive a truck through And that, too, would change once Duncan took over
Because the vaet a new auel called Louis on his cell to let hi in When theyin thenearly white in the headlights He grinned when he saw theuel could pull up next to him
"Sire," Louis said as he cli h to hold out his hand Louis took it carefully at first, then gripped it tightly when Duncan did the saers frohts he’d lifted ood to see you, Louis As I told Miguel, the two of you will take care of the huuards just inside the residence And once we get into dining room, I want the humans out of there I can hold off Victor"
"My lord, all four of Victor’s guards will be inside the house with him"
"I’m aware of that," Duncan said He held back a smile as he remembered all the times he’d been overly protective of Raphael--and how much it had irritated the Western Vauel said, his voice tight with anticipation as they drew closer to the estate
Duncan turned to get his first in-person view of the residence It didn’t look like a fortified e over the top of a too-short peri white smoke into the cold air, it lookedtheir 25 children and letting the dogs run in the yard Assuh paranoia to build a wall around their home, even a short one
"Tiriuel dropped his side ith a faint buzz of sound Frosty air rushed in, and Duncan s with a faint hint of snow All of that disappeared beneath the overwheluard bent into theto check theuel had been on the premises once before, ostensibly to offer his services when he’d first moved here frouel Martinez," he told the guard "Lord Victor is expecting us"
The hu, probably to protest that he wasn’t aware of Lord Victor expecting anyone, but then his eyes glazed over and he blinked slowly He s the for," Louis h as the guard stepped back into the shed and triggered the gate entlemen," Duncan said quietly He understood their excite with anticipation But this was a dangerous thing they were about to do, and he didn’t want theive me, my lord," Louis breathed
Duncan nodded, but his attention was already on the big, white house, his power reaching out to lightly touch the vampires inside All but Victor The others wouldn’t notice his touch, but Victor ht
"Very lax security," he coether inside, near the front door" He frowned There was a buzz of so power that confused him He wanted to explore it further, but there was no tier to his plans for the evening It would have to wait
"Miguel," he said, "you and Louis take out the reently Check the barracks, as well I don’t want anyone raising an alarm, but there’s no reason to hurt theether"
"Yes, uel was still braking He sped up the brick steps two at a tiht needle of power ahead of him to burn out the electronic lock on the front door The security bolts released with a solid thunk and the door swung open Duncan stepped inside, his eyes doing a fast sweep of the area while the two va their attention fro screen TV to stare at him in surprise He didn’t wait for them to recover their wits He reached out with his power and seized their hearts, squeezing until they dropped to the floor They weren’t dead Victor was corrupt, but he wasn’t weak As the Sire of these two vampires, and especially at such close proximity, he would certainly feel it if they died, and he’d know so So Duncan let them live for now But when Victor died, these two va with him, most likely drained dry by Victor hie<ins class="adsbygoogle" style="display:block" data-ad-client="ca-pub-7451196230453695" data-ad-slot="9930101810" data-ad-format="auto" data-full-width-responsive="true"></ins>