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Baldhisked lass and Fernando

Perhaps it was better that way, since the single glance I cast over my shoulder captured faces that were etched with exhaustion

The tunnel that Baldwin took us through led to the gates outside the co With all the wards down save the one on the gate that led directly to Knox, the only risk was that a vampire’s keen eyes would spot us

Janet reduced that possibility with an all-enco spell that concealed not only me but everybody within twenty feet

"Where’s Marcus?" I had expected to see him here

Hamish pointed

Marcus was already inside the perimeter, propped in the crook of a tree, a rifle aimed at a

Hefrom tree limb to tree liate, Marcus had taken advantage of the pause in the action and would now provide cover for us as ent through the gate and entered the front door

"Sharpshooter," coun as a warmblood He hunted squirrels when he was a child," added Ysabeau "Smaller and faster than vaed our presence, but he kneere there Janet and I set to work on the final knots that bound the alar spell, the kind witches used to shore up the foundations of their houses and keep their children fro away, and as I unbound the ward, I redirected its energy toward her Our hope was that the spell wouldn’t even notice that the heavy object it now guarded was a granite boulder and not a ate

It worked

We would have been inside the house in moments if not for the inconvenient interruption of one of Benjaarette only to discover the front gate standing open His eyes widened

A small hole appeared in his forehead

One eye disappeared Then another

Benjamin’s son clutched at his throat Blood welled between his fingers, and he erander into the man’s heart

The simultaneous loss of blood frorab thethe vampire instantly With another wrench his head came off his shoulders

It had taken about forty-five seconds from the time Marcus fired his first shot to the moment Baldwin put the vas started to bark

"Merde," Ysabeau whispered

"Now Go" Baldwin took e of Janet Marcus tossed his rifle to Ha whistle

"Shoot anything that co after the dogs"

Unsure whether the whistle was hts of Lazarus, I hurried along into the co It was no warmer inside than out An emaciated rat scurried down the hall, which was lined with identical doors

"Knox knoe’re here," I said There was no need for quiet or a disguising spell now

"So does Benjarimly

As planned, we parted ways Ysabeau went in search of Matthew Baldwin, Janet, and I were after Benjamin and Knox With luck ould find thee upon thehts of Lazarus once they breached the lower levels of the compound and made their way upstairs

A soft cry drew us to one of the closed doors Baldwin flung it open

It was the roori the snow, nurease pencil on the walls, even the chair with a tweed coat lying over the back

Mattheas sitting in another chair, his eyes black and his mouth open in a soundless screa his slow-beating heart, the regular sound of which had brought me such comfort whenever he drew me close

"Fuck" Baldwin rushed toward him

"It’s not Matthew," I said

Ysabeau’s shriek in the distance told me she had stumbled onto a similar scene

"It’s not Matthew," I repeated, louder this time I went to the next door and twisted the knob

There was Matthew, sitting in the sa hands that touched me with such love and tenderness--had been severed at the wrists and were sitting in a surgical basin in his lap

No matter which door we opened, we found Matthew in some horrific tableau of pain and tored especially for me

After my hopes had been raised and dashed a dozen ties with a single word I didn’t bother looking inside any of the open roo, and Knox’s were very good indeed But they were not flesh and blood They were not h those I had seen would remain with me forever