Page 29 of Salvation
“Fighting in the street last I saw. I’m now your bodyguard.” She pulled Luna back to the stairs and headed upward. Midway, she lost control of her power and released the rogue, who was probably wondering where the hell his prey had gone. She wasn’t sure where to take Luna that would be safe because at the moment, no place was. So, to her room, they headed. Her floor was quiet. Too much so for her comfort, but outside was definitely out of the question. Once inside her suite, she knocked on the connecting door that led to Lilith’s room.
No answer, and she didn’t sense the demon inside. She wondered where she was but had more pressing concerns. Like wetting a cloth in the bowl of water and cleaning Luna’s wound. While not deep, it was more than a scratch.
“Hold this on your neck to help stop the bleeding.”
“Thanks for coming to my rescue. You’re Aurora, right?”
“I am.”
“He still loves you.”
Aurora turned from the window she had been looking out of to stare at her new charge. “Doesn’t matter. We ended when he changed me, then left me on my own.”
“He didn’t do it on purpose.” She shifted in the chair she had sat in, clearly uncomfortable. Her belly had grown in the weeks Aurora had been at the hotel.
“Why are you defending him? You’re carrying his baby, for fuck's sake.”
“I’m sorry. It wasn’t something either of us planned.”
“Why are you apologizing to me?”
Luna pulled the cloth away from her neck and studied it. She was so young, and Aurora really felt for her to be in this situation, but there was a part of her that wished the girl would just fall off the face of the earth. She was pregnant with Michaels’s baby. Maybe if she kept Michael and Wolfe as two separate beings, she could survive this heartache. Michael was dead.
“Because I slept with your man. I’d be out for blood if I were you. No pun intended.” She offered a half-hearted smile.
“None taken.” She looked back out the window. Her room faced the street, and she had a clear view of the bloodshed outside. This would not turn out well. The screams from the hall were an indicator the rouge were on her floor. Fuck her life.
* * *
Wolfe foughtwith his bare hands and fangs. He was not about to waste precious ammunition unless absolutely necessary. His body was a weapon of its own and it was times like this, when he was tearing limbs from rogue vampires, that he wanted to actually thank Arsenia for turning him. He only wished he could take them all out at once. His people were dying, and it fucking pissed him off.
He grabbed a rogue by the neck and twisted. Bones cracked and tendons stretched to the point of tearing as he screamed his rage at the universe. He let the corpse fall to the ground, where it would turn to ash like the rest.
Michael, I have Luna in my room. We are safe for the moment.
Every time Aurora called him by his birth name, it reminded him of what he had lost.Any idea the status of the hotel?
They are in here as well. I fear there will be a lot of dead or missing people.
Yeah, that was his fear as well. Aurora’s room would not be a safe place for them. Somehow, she needed to get Luna out of there.
Can you escape to a safer place?
I will assess the situation and let you know.
He knew it was asking a lot from the woman who would have been his wife if not for the Red Death, but what other choice did he have?Thanks, I owe you.
She didn’t reply, and he busied himself with shoving his blade into the neck of a rogue and took its head off. It was the only way he knew of to kill them. Once that one had dropped to the ground, he looked around him. Blood was everywhere. On the pavement, on his clothes and the scent of his enemy mingled with those he had vowed to protect.
Xavier?While he had not felt the death of his best friend, he still needed to hear his voice.
Still kicking and heading into the hotel by the back.
I will meet you inside. Aurora says they are on the third floor.He took off on a run and was in the lobby in seconds. All was quiet. Too quiet for his comfort, and all he saw was blood. No bodies which could be both good and horrible. Rogue had a tendency to take their victims with them. Still, they would have to look over any dead they found and make sure there were no fang marks. Same with the living. Once bitten by a rogue, it was only a matter of time before you turned. If any bodies were left behind bearing the mark of a rogue, they would have to behead them.
As he raced for the back stairs, he spotted Xavier at the other end of the lobby, surrounded by four rouges and a demon. They had his friend backed into a corner and the sun was coming up and filtered through the window. Xavier fought bare-handed, a sign he must have lost his blade somewhere. The stench of burning flesh told Wolfe all he needed to know.
His friend was in trouble. Outnumbered and being forced into the sun, Wolfe had a tough choice to make. Run to help Xavier or head to the third floor where Aurora and Luna had been. Using his senses, and connection to those he had sired, he searched for Aurora. It had only been since he had encountered her that he’d developed that bond, which struck him as odd. All the others he had connected to as soon as they converted. Of course, he hadn’t even known about Aurora.
