Page 70 of Bound by Vengeance
Nathan exchanged a questioning glance withAsher before following Logan to the side of the main house andaround to the back. Logan opened the gate in the eight-foot-tallprivacy fence surrounding the backyard, and they all entered.
A large, gray stone patio surrounded theOlympic-sized pool. At the far end of the patio, an outdoor kitchenwith gleaming, stainless steel appliances was sheltered from theelements by the veranda overhanging it. The red bricks of the firepit on the other side of the patio formed a tapered, ten-foot-tallchimney. A small tiki bar sat next to the fire pit, and ornamentaltrees filled the mulch bed lining the inside of the fence.
This area was more decadent than any of thehunters were used to, but Nathan planned to have a couple ofcookouts here in the spring—another thing never done before.
Logan led them around the covered pool andinto the pool house. The two-story structure, larger than thecabins at the old stronghold, had been converted into a temporarysecurity building until they could construct something more stateof the art. They passed where the patio furniture and pool supplieswere stored as they made their way to the spiral staircase at theback of the first floor.
Nathan climbed the stairs and stepped intothe loft. Closed against the increasing wind and rain, the Frenchdoors across the way led out to a thirty-by-thirty sunbathing deck,another tiki bar, and the hot tub. The wall with the French doorswas made up entirely of windows overlooking the pool, but blackdrapes covered all the glass to keep the various electricalequipment within shielded from the sun.
Roland, the head of security, sat at a bankof computers, frantically typing as he rolled his chair back andforth between the seven computers positioned on the deskssurrounding him. A growing sense of dread formed in Nathan’sstomach as Roland muttered something, wiped the sweat from hisbrow, and pushed his chair over to another computer.
Roland’s salt-and-pepper hair stood up inspikes from his forehead when he ran his hand through it. His roundface was flushed as he continued to mutter to himself. Usually,Roland was leaning back in his chair, coffee in hand, and smiling.He looked ready to blow a gasket.
Years of being behind a desk, instead of onthe hunt, had turned his once lean body toward pudgy, but retiringfrom the field hadn’t been Roland’s choice. At the prime age of onehundred, a vampire broke Roland’s leg off at the knee. A hundredyears ago, prosthetics weren’t what they were now, so Roland leftthe field to become a guard at the stronghold.
Over the years, Roland moved up through thesecurity ranks. Now at two-hundred-two, Roland was a computer guruwho knew the ins and outs of every inch of the stronghold. Still,Kadence had managed to slip out on his watch. Roland had beenimpressed by her ability to get out, but he remained a littlebitter about the fact she’d found a weakness in his system.
“What’s going on?” Nathan demanded as hestalked toward Roland.
Roland’s brown eyes were filled withdistress when he spoke. “The stronghold in San Francisco has gonedark.”
“What do you meandark?” Nathan askedas Asher and Logan joined him.
Standing behind Roland, Nathan gazed at thecomputer screens. One of them showed a map with highlighted areas,one had every stronghold in the world pinpointed with a red dot onthe map, and others revealed security footage of some of thestrongholds.
As he watched, hunters from all over theworld strolled by those cameras, uncaring about being monitored.They were all used to the cameras, and only a few pointed at thestronghold. Most cameras pointed outward, and there weren’t any inthe homes or meeting places.
All the strongholds tried to keep theirprivacy as protected as possible, but they monitored the commonareas in case something went wrong and the other strongholds neededto figure out what happened.
One of the computer screens was black.
“This is San Francisco,” Roland said andpointed at the blank screen.
“Maybe their security feed is down,” Nathansuggested. “It’s happened before, during an earthquake.”
“It has, but we’ve still been able tocommunicate with them either through radio, cell phone, orsatellite phone.” Roland rested his hand on the shortwave radio onthe desk beside him. “I’m getting nothing now, and the strongholdin Ciudad Juárez hasn’t been able to contact them either.” Rolandplaced his finger on the screen and over the red dot of the Mexicanstronghold. “They’re sending their jet and a group of hunters tocheck it out.”
“Is there any other reason why we wouldn’tbe able to contact San Fran?” Nathan asked.
“They could have pulled out of the network.I don’t think that’s likely, but I can’t think ofanyreasonwhy this would happen,” Roland said. “Other than they’ve allvanished or they’re dead.”
An increasingly sick feeling curdled inNathan’s stomach. “When did this happen?” he asked.
“About an hour ago.”
Nathan leaned closer to the blank screen, asif he could somehow pierce through the blackness to see thestronghold beyond. “Do you have footage from San Fran before itwent dark?”
“Twenty-four-hour’s worth,” Rolandanswered.
“Let’s start with their last minutes andwork our way back from there.” Pulling his phone out of his pocket,Nathan dialed Alejandro’s number.
“Nathan,” Alejandro, the leader of theMexican stronghold, greeted in an accented voice.
Alejandro’s tone was more subdued thanNathan was accustomed to from the typically boisterous man. Butbetween Nathan telling the strongholds about his alliance with thevamps and whatever was happening in San Francisco, most hunterswere probably ready to toss him out or hang him.
Alejandro was more on board with hisalliance than the other strongholds, but at fifty-three, Alejandrowas the closest in age to Nathan, and out of all the leaders, hewas most open to change.
“Alejandro,” he replied. “Are your menalready on their way to San Fran?”
