Luther's Return (Scanguards Vampires Book 10) (12 page)

“Investigating.” She caught up to him and did her best to keep pace with his long strides.

Luther shook his head. “So you don’t steal, but breaking and entering is okay. What other crimes do you manage to justify to yourself? Just so that I’m prepared.”

“I don’t know what you mean.”

“Do you consider killing a vampire a crime?”

“What are you trying to say?”

“Just want to know if your sense of justice extends to vampires. Or whether I’ll need to watch my back to avoid a stake in my heart.”

“I didn’t stake you when you were sleeping.”

“I didn’t sleep,” he claimed, but Katie knew it was a lie. “I was aware of you at all times. If you’d tried anything, I would have had you pinned to the ground in a millisecond.”

“That’s funny,” she responded, “considering you had a nightmare I couldn’t wake you from.”

Luther whirled his head to her, glaring at her. “That’s a lie!”

It wasn’t. In fact, she’d awoken from an uneasy few hours of sleep when she’d heard Luther’s voice. He’d been resting on the couch. When she’d entered the living room, she’d found him tossing. His hands had turned into claws, his fangs fully extended. But his eyes had been closed.

“I shook you by your shoulders, but you didn’t wake.”

“I’m warning you. I don’t have nightmares.”

He looked ahead and increased his tempo, anger rolling off him in waves so violent that she could almost see his aura. It looked like flames were licking around him, trying to consume him.

Equal parts frightened and fascinated, Katie ran her eyes over the powerful vampire, while trying hard not to be left behind. She wasn’t used to this kind of tempo, had never been a runner, and felt woefully out of shape for this kind of nightly exercise. If Luther didn’t slow down, he’d leave her in the dust. He continued to charge ahead as if he didn’t care whether she followed or not.

“Slow down!” she called out to him, but he didn’t seem to hear her.

It irked her that he showed no regard for her limitations. After all, she was human, or witch, not a vampire, who could run without breaking a sweat.

Desperate to make him slow down, she searched for something to make him listen. She grasped at something she’d heard Luther cry out during his nightmare. “Who’s Vivian?”

Luther came to a dead halt. His shoulders pulled back, his hands curled into fists. But he didn’t turn his head, didn’t look over his shoulder. Which was almost worse than if he’d whirled around and glared at her.

Only the breaking of twigs beneath her shoes was audible as she caught up with him. When she reached him, she heard the deliberate breaths that came from Luther. She recognized them. Those were the breaths of a person trying desperately not to succumb to a fit of rage or panic. She knew, because she’d been there before. Been at the point where the sheer mention of a name, of an event, catapulted her back to that moment, making her relive her ordeal again.

And at this very moment, she regretted having asked the question. “I’m sorry,” she murmured, choking back a tear. “That was uncalled for. It’s none of my business. I apologize.”

“No, it’s none of your business. So stay out of my life, or you’ll regret it.”

She already did. But it was too late to take anything back. Too late to turn around and start fresh. They were both in this now, and they had to see it through. Soon, she would have the name of the man who’d kidnapped Isabelle, and with Scanguards’ help, they would catch the guy and rescue Samson’s daughter.

“Now move,” Luther ordered gruffly. “If you can’t keep up with me, you’d better turn back now.”

Katie focused all her energy on her legs. She had to see this through. She owed Isabelle, and more so, she owed Samson. He’d been instrumental in saving her life twenty years earlier, and now was the time to pay back her debt.

Even if that meant duking it out with a vampire who clearly couldn’t stand her.

“I’m coming,” she murmured to herself.

17

Luther bit back a curse. He knew Katie would be trouble. He just hadn’t expected the trouble to start this early. Or his reaction to it to be so uncontrolled.

The nightmares had gotten less frequent than twenty years ago, but they’d never stopped. At least this time he hadn’t dreamt the version where his bloody hands clawed into Vivian’s pregnant belly. The symbolism of that particular dream didn’t escape him. It signified his own guilt, because it had been
his
unborn child that had killed her. He had as much blood on his hands as if he’d killed Vivian with his own claws.

He’d come to the conclusion that there was only one way for history not to repeat itself: he would never commit to another woman.

“You okay?” Luther grunted, glancing at Katie, who walked next to him.

He’d slowed his tempo, knowing his anger had made him unreasonable. It wasn’t her fault that he’d had a nightmare, and that she’d heard him call Vivian’s name. In fact, he was surprised that she hadn’t bolted, and had instead tried to wake him from it.

Luckily, Katie hadn’t succeeded, or he might have unwittingly unleashed his rage on her. A fellow V-CON had once found himself at the mercy of Luther’s claws, when Luther had awoken during a nightmare. Because of some temporary overcrowding in the prison, several V-CONs had had to double up in cells for a few weeks, until a number of prisoners were moved to facilities in other parts of the country.

Katie didn’t reply. Well, maybe he deserved the silent treatment.

“We’re almost there.” He didn’t expect an answer.

“I didn’t mean to listen to what you said in your sleep.”

He grunted, not knowing how to respond to the apology.
Thank you?
Yeah, that didn’t sound right. He was glad that in the distance ahead of them, a concrete wall appeared. Luther could already see it with his vampire vision, but he knew Katie’s eyes couldn’t penetrate the darkness like his. He reached his hand out and grabbed her elbow to stop her.

Her breath hitched. “What?” Her green eyes sparkled like precious emeralds in a bed of black velvet. Lush and tempting. More beautiful than any jewel.

“Once we’re inside, you have to follow my commands to the letter. Do you understand?”

Katie nodded.

“There’s an emergency access tunnel leading into the center of the prison. We’ll use it to get in.”

“How do you know about it?”

“I designed it.”

Her chin dropped. “What?”

“You heard me.”

“But I don’t understand. Did you dig it so you could escape?”

Luther shook his head. “I was the original engineer when the council decided to build vampire-proof prison facilities. My blueprints became the basis for all current prisons the council operates, even though I left the project to join Scanguards before the first stone was laid.”

She still stared at him in surprise. “How can you be so sure they didn’t change the design after you left?”

“Because the council didn’t want to spend any more money on plans.” He paused. “And because my design was genius.”

“But if you knew of a way out, why would you stay for twenty years?”

He blew out a breath of air. “I didn’t say I knew of a way out.”

“But you said you can get us in.” A panicked tone snuck into her voice.

Luther nodded. “I can. But it’s only accessible from the outside. A fail-safe in case of a prison riot. Nobody can get out in case of a lockdown, but reinforcements will have a way in to help the guards on the inside.”

“And you’re only mentioning this now?” Katie braced her hands on her hips, an action which involuntarily made his gaze drop to her heaving chest. This wasn’t the first time he noticed her perfect proportions, her well-formed breasts, her slim waist, and her shapely hips. A perfect hourglass figure.

He shrugged, finally tearing his eyes away from her. “You didn’t ask.”

“Well, that’s just great,” she grumbled. “What else have you not told me?”

Her demanding tone riled him up. “A bunch of stuff that’s none of your fucking business.” When her lips tightened to a thin line and her eyes narrowed, he couldn’t help himself, and continued, “Or did you wanna know about the hookers the guards ferried in from time to time and pimped out to those V-CONs who could afford to pay for them? Would you like to know the sordid details about that?”

Christ, he didn’t know why she was riling him up, or why he was fighting back by provoking her. But he just couldn’t stop himself.

Katie thrust her chin up. “I don’t give a damn who you fucked in prison, or who the guards or the other prisoners fucked. All I care about is getting into that damn building and finding out who kidnapped Isabelle. Can you get that into your thick skull?”

“As long as you can get it into your thick skull that I’m the one giving the orders here.” He turned and walked toward the wall. “You coming, or what?”

With satisfaction he heard her stomp after him.

For now he had the upper hand. And it was absolutely necessary for it to remain that way. She needed to listen to him to survive inside the prison walls. Katie knew that. But once they had what they’d come for, he couldn’t wait until they went their separate ways. Because a woman like Katie could get under a man’s skin, in more ways than one. And that was another thing she knew only too well. Or why else would she swing her hips in that enticing way, and dangle her boobs in front of him as if she were offering them?

Luther suppressed another curse. Maybe Katie had
already
gotten under his skin, because as much as he wanted to regret the kiss he’d stolen from her, he couldn’t. For the first time in over twenty years he’d felt alive. And the thought of never again feeling like that drove him half insane. It took all his self control to restrain himself and not pull her back into his arms and bring that kiss to a much more satisfying conclusion. One that he could guarantee would be satisfying for both of them.

18

The hidden entry was exactly how he’d designed it. The mechanism was opened by a sequence that was easily deciphered if one understood the system behind it. It was a combination that changed daily and depended on a number of factors including the longitude and latitude of the prison location, and the time and date. Simple but effective.

Luther wasn’t surprised that they’d never changed the system to a random code controlled by the guards inside; he understood the reasoning behind it. In case of a prison riot, reinforcements had to assume that all the guards were dead or unable to communicate, which would delay access to the building if they had to be given the code from somebody on the inside.

When the heavy steel-and-concrete door fell shut behind them, Luther didn’t look back. He knew there were no indentations, no ridges, no grooves on this side that would even indicate that it was a door. There was no way out. Even trying to blast a hole with C4 would be an exercise in futility. A deadly one: the force of the blast had nowhere to go but down the long tunnel leading away from the door. Anybody standing in its deadly path would be incinerated.

The tunnel was equipped with low level lighting strips running along the floor, the same type of strips that guided passengers on a plane to the emergency exits.

Luther looked over his shoulder. Katie’s emerald eyes sparkled in the dark like a beacon. It wasn’t hard to guess why she’d gotten movie roles. Even he could tell that the camera loved eyes like hers, expressive and full of mystery. With those eyes she could capture her audience and make them forget everything around them.

“What is it?” she suddenly asked and stared past him.

Luther forced himself to look toward the end of the tunnel, motioning to it. “Once we’re out of the tunnel, you need to do exactly as I say. Your life will depend on it.”

She nodded, her jaw tight.

“Can you see well enough?”

“I’ll manage.”

He reached for her elbow and noticed her jolt at the contact. “I’ll guide you until we’re out of the tunnel.”

“I don’t need—”

He started walking, not giving her a chance to complete her protest. “Just accept my damn help when I offer it. Next time I might not be offering.”

He’d never heard a woman grunt, but by God, his ears were not fooling him.

“You’re welcome,” he ground out and continued marching toward the end of the tunnel.

Her arm felt rigid under his grip. As if she was disgusted by his touch. Less than twenty-four hours earlier she’d sung an entirely different tune. She’d yielded to his touch. None of that submissiveness was evident now. Well, it appeared kissing Katie against her will had been a stupid move. One he wasn’t going to repeat.

“Where does this corridor lead to?” she suddenly said into the silence.

“We’ll emerge in cold storage.”

She gave him a sideways glance. “What’s that?”

“You’ll see.”

He slowed as they came to the end of the tunnel.

“There’s no door!” Katie’s voice was laced with panic.

Luther squeezed her arm. “There is. It’s just not evident. Trust me.” He let go of her and ran his hands along the left side of the wall. He felt the indentations almost instantly. His fingers slid into the grooves. With only the lightest of pressure he pushed against the indentations.

A small number pad appeared, and he typed in the same combination as before. A series of clicks confirmed that the code was correct.

“Step back.”

The wall moved toward them, swinging to the side. Blue light flooded into the corridor, making him adjust his focus. Cold air blasted him and the low humming sound of a motor reached his ears.

“Stay close behind me,” he ordered and stepped forward. A cloud of fog built in front of his face as he exhaled.

“It’s a refrigerator,” Katie said in surprise.

“I hope you’re not squeamish.”

“Why would I—” She stopped and let her eyes wander around the large refrigerated storage room. “Oh.”

Luther motioned to the bags of blood that were stacked neatly on stainless steel racks, sorted by blood type and age. “They can’t let the prisoners starve.” Even though some of the guards had surely tried.