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Gun shots sounded from somewhere else in the house, and the women all screamed and ran for the front door, only to find their way blocked by Freddy’s bulk Not realizing he was there to help the to each other, crying Their terror was a palpable thing to Aden, like a bad taste in hisrescued, or if so even worse had befallen the the terrified gaze of the hu so tightly he could feel the pressure of his own fingers h the man’s flesh, he snapped the huht and exploded his heart in his chest

He dropped the piece of e wo what his instincts had already told hi them

He’d taken the first step down the hallhen he heard her voice behind hiainst the open door jamb of the kitchen And she was covered in blood

CARL PINTO DIDN’T cry out or even groan when Sid shot hiave her a shocked look, shuddered so hard he shook her with the force of it, and collapsed to the kitchen floor He would have dragged her doith hi him warily as she backed away She stood there for a o poof the way she’d always heard vampires did when they died But he re there on the floor, blood soaking his shirt, twitching like aa really bad dream

Sid didn’t knohat that meant Would he be dead soon? Or would he suddenly rise like soht she was free of him? She only kneas down for now, and she intended toso badly she was barely able to press the azine release on her Glock, and she nearly fu a deep breath, she forced herself to concentrate and shoved the e into the pocket on the bellyband It took her three tries before she azine and sla the slide to cha un range finally kicking in

She started to lower the gun, intending to empty another ten rounds into Carl Pinto, when she heard wo behind her The slaves! She’d left the break out that they’d stay there until it was over

Sid hurried to the open archway in tiun pressed to the neck of one of the teenagers who’d been trapped in the roounht she’d ever seen Aden Her heart swelled with such relief, such complete confidence that she was safe, that she finally understood why all of those fairy tale princesses collapsed in tears at the sight of their heroes

And what a hero he was She gasped as Aden used his va hiirl Aden waited until all of the women were huddled in the corner, thenEw Okay, that was pretty gruesome, but it did the trick The slaver collapsed like a puppet whose strings had been cut and, since he was hu him quite dead

Aden was about to start down the hallway to the bedrooms when she called out to him

"Aden"

He spun at the sound of her voice, his eyes flaring blue with power as he took in her blood-soaked clothes, her battered condition She lifted a hand to her face self-consciously, but before she could say anything, he was there, wrapping her in his ars she couldn’t understand in her ear

Sid let the tears come then, let all the fear and stress of the last few hours fall away as she held on to hiain in a few minutes, but for now she let herself be the rescued maiden and cried with relief

Aden pulled back until he could see her face "Did he hurt you?" he asked, cupping her face in one big hand, rubbing a careful thumb over her tear-stained cheek "Did he--" He drew a breath, searching her eyes, and she knehat he was asking

"He didn’t touch me," she said quickly "Not like that"

"The blood--"

"It’sto indicate Pinto who didn’t seem to have rowl rumbled out of Aden’s chest as he stared at the fallen vampire