Blood Descendants (St. Clair Vampires Book 1) (32 page)

As the elevator doors
were closing, Jordan let go of my shoulders and nodded towards the
Vampire. Not one to miss out on the opportunity to use my powers
against someone who was stalking me, I hit her with just enough to
interfere with her powers, blowing just a little puff of air out and
watched as her face came into focus. She was shocked and lifted her
head to look at us right as the doors closed. Chloe!

Jordan and Zander had
their arms in the doors in an instant. I reached out and grabbed my
little sister by the arm and yanked with all of my might and the
doors shut behind us.

“
Dang
it, Chloe. What are you doing here?” Zander was beyond pissed
off.

He grabbed her by the
collar of her shirt, holding her off of the ground like she were a
puppy. She was too smart to struggle against our brother, so she just
crossed her arms in defiance. She knew that there was nothing we
could do now but take her with us because it would be far too
dangerous to leave her unprotected.

When we reached our
floor, Zander pushed all of us into the corridor and headed towards
our rooms. He had shifted his hold on Chloe to the bicep and was all
but dragging her along. There was a couple coming out of their room
and I felt Chloe blur our images as we passed them. Watching the
effect that it had on regular humans was amusing. Since their brains
cannot reconcile the fact that something is so out of focus they will
not even register it as having been there at all. It would have been
quite useful if I had known how to do it when sneaking into class
late.

Violeta had the door
open when the rest of us turned the corner at the end of the
corridor. The curtains were open, filling the room with light. It was
a huge suite complete with a living/dining combination and full
kitchen. Zander flung Chloe into the nearest chair and stalked to
the massive windows. He put his head on the glass while getting his
temper under control. Violeta joined him, whispering something in his
ear.

We sat there waiting
for the verdict to come down when Violeta turned toward the couch.
She smiled sweetly at the both of us and I knew we were in big
trouble. Jordan and Tabitha had taken the weapons and were at the
table looking over maps, so they were not going to be of any help. We
did have a mission to complete after all.

Zander slowly turned
around and lifted his gaze to meet Chloe’s. For a long moment
the two of them just stared at each other. I could feel the vibration
in my cushion from her shaking and wondered what, if anything, I
could do to defend her. But then Zander opened his arms and Chloe
jumped off of the couch, flinging herself into them. My mouth must
have been hanging open in amazement because I felt Violeta’s
fingers pushing my lower jaw closed. I looked at her and noticed that
her smile had actually made it to her eyes this time.

“
So,”
Violeta said, “the gang’s all here. Now what?”

“
We
have to get moving. Raphael will be able to sense both of you
together,” Zander motioned toward me while still holding onto
Chloe. He was a good big brother, if not a little bit stiff and
overbearing.

“
We
have a couple of routes to choose from,” Tabitha said from the
table.

She and Jordan had set
up shop immediately upon entering the room. We had a very limited
amount of time to make this happen. Our mother, Zola, knew we were
coming for her. Efia thought it was a trap, as did everyone else. But
I held on to some sort of fantastic idea that our mother honestly
loved us and Grigor had just taken advantage of her. Rescuing her and
killing Grigor were the only two things on my mind besides my pending
Embrace and, recently, Chloe’s safety. Things weren’t
looking good.

I joined everyone at
the table and looked at a map of Henderson, Nevada. The compound was
much larger than Efia’s and made our plan look even less
probable.

Jordan had pinpointed
our best hope of infiltration and began to run down our game plan.
Violeta and Zander inventoried our weapons and laid out the clothing
that we would be changing into. As for me and Chloe, we stood in the
window looking out over the Las Vegas skyline. Looking at the
beginning or the end of everything.

Chapter 23

Part of Grigor’s
property was next to a golf course and Jordan had decided that it was
a point of weakness that we could capitalize on. We moved across the
greens and scaled a low wall only to land in a dog run. We were
greeted by three snarling German Shepherds. Before we could react,
the dogs were circling me and Chloe, herding us into a corner. It was
too cold to panic and our retreat stopped with our backs against a
rock wall. Just as the dogs were closing in, there was a loud grumble
from behind them. Each of the dogs stopped and slowly turned their
heads in the direction of the noise.

I looked over the backs
of the dogs to see Violeta in a crouched position with her canines
elongated. Her eyes had gone almost entirely black, with the whites
disappearing by the second, and they were trained on the alpha dog. I
stared at this new version of Violeta in awe. She was the epitome of
rage and animal ferocity and yet she was just as beautiful as she had
ever been. She growled again, and the German Shepherds dropped to the
ground, presenting their bellies to a superior being.

Chloe touched my
shoulder to lead me away from the wall and past the submissive guard
dogs. As we passed, the alpha raised his head to snapped at my heels
and Violeta pounced. She was so fast that I could barely track her
movement. She had lifted the dog into the air and was holding him a
few feet off the ground.

“
Violeta,”
Zander said softly from a distance. “Violeta, that’s
enough.”

It took Violeta a few
long seconds before she dropped the alpha at her feet. He lay there
catching his breath and being careful to remain still while Violeta
composed herself. Looking at the blood in the corners of her mouth
and dripping down her chin made me wonder what it tasted like. I had
become accustomed to the taste of blood but the thought of dog blood
made the bile rise in my stomach. Violeta’s black gaze turned
on me as I wretched and lost my lunch. It was so embarrassing.

“
I’m
okay,” Violeta said, her eyes still on me and still very black.
“I just need a moment.”

“
Okay,
Cheyenne and Chloe, come this way. Slowly.”

I looked up to see
Zander’s outreached hand and grasped it. As soon as I did,
Violeta moved forward very slightly and very quickly. She moved
forward and then backward in quick succession, fighting some internal
force. She continued to hold my gaze until I began to feel as if I
were prey. Instinct told me to stay very still. The whites of her
eyesappeared to be flickering off and on in the same way that a light
bulb does right before it dies. I could only hope that the light
would not go completely out.

“
I’m
okay,” Violeta repeated, as if she were trying to convince
herself.

She closed her eyes,
breaking eye contact with me. The moment she did, I let out the
breath I was holding and moved out of her sight line. The remaining
dogs were still lying on the ground. I made eye contact with the
smallest of the pack and saw the undeniable look of fear in her eyes.
Her body was shaking as she kept all of us in her sight. It seemed
like she shared the emotions of the rest of her pack.

Chloe and I joined
Jordan and Tabitha while Zander checked on Violeta. I was still in
shock by what I had just witnessed, but the others were intent on
keeping to the plan. Over Jordan's shoulder we could see a small
window near the rear of the house. There was light and the room
appeared to be a prep area for the kitchen staff.

“
We
can get in through here and head to the basement. Mom is being held
on the other side of the compound.”

“
Jordan,
do you see an alarm system?” Zander said, having returned from
checking on Violeta.

“
I
think Violeta took care of the alarm system. Grigor is either too
cocky or just plain stupid.”

“
Or
he wasn’t expecting me to ever return here.”

Violeta was standing
just feet from me, her eyes back to their normal color, whites and
all.

“
Why
didn’t you drop me, Chey? You’re trained for it. Or you
could have just sucked the air out of my lungs.”

Her look was more
question than accusation, but I still felt judged. I hadn’t
dropped her or pushed the air from her lungs because I didn’t
want to hurt her. A few weeks earlier I had realized that I was
stronger than I thought. If I had wanted to stop Violeta’s
attack, I could have. But I had grown to consider Violeta as much
more than just my future sister-in-law and I didn’t want to see
her in pain.

“
I
didn’t want to hurt you,” I said, lowering my eyes.

“
I
appreciate that,” Violeta started, “but the next time
your life is in danger, you do what you need to do. I’ll get
over it!”

Her eyes were
dangerously close to going black again and my pulse quickened. She
glanced at my throat and the decision was made for me. I swept my leg
toward her and pulled at the surrounding air at the same time.
Struggling for breath, she grabbed at her throat and her knees
buckled. Not wanting to hurt her or to attract any attention, I
reached out and caught her before she hit the ground and released my
hold on the air.

“
That
is what you do when you are threatened,” she gasped. “Every
time. No matter who it is. Understood?”

“
Yes,
Violeta, I understand.”

Thoroughly chastised
but relieved that Violeta had used this time as a learning
experience, I tried to concentrate. There would be no time for
hesitation once we broke into the compound.

We followed closely
while Jordan and Tabitha picked the lock on the rear door and entered
the kitchen. A member of Grigor’s staff walked past the
entrance and continued down the hallway. Jordan watched until the man
turned left at the corner and then signaled for us to follow. We
crept down the hallway as quietly as we could and turned right toward
the stairs that led to the basement.

Our senses were
assaulted with the smells of rancid meat and stale blood. I grabbed
Chloe’s hand more to assure myself than to offer her support.
As the only members of our group who were still human, Chloe and I
were not affected nearly as much as the others; their eyes had gone
black and feral. This was going to go badly.

We continued down until
we reached a large steel door with an electronic keypad that glowed
in the darkness. Tabitha stepped up to the panel and began running
through a series for possible codes while the rest of us kept watch.
The smells were worse from here and the source appeared to be on the
other side of this door.

The sound of Tabitha’s
extra fast typing shattered the silence in the corridor and set
everyone on edge. If she didn’t stop soon we would surely be
heard by some passing staff member. If someone heard her we were as
good as dead.

Just before panic rose
in the group, Tabitha cracked the code and the door slid opened. The
smells were indeed coming from the other side of the door. The four
Vampires were almost on their knees as the onslaught of odors came
rushing through.

There was a faint green
light glowing about forty yards from the entrance. My first instinct
was to run in the other direction and to put as much distance between
myself and that room. I held my breath until Zander passed me a damp
cloth. Pressed to my nose, relief was immediate and I breathed in the
deep smell of lilac and cinnamon.

We moved toward the
source of the smells and stopped short when we heard a low and
painful moaning. Every one of us drew the weapons that had been given
to us at the hotel and waited for our orders.

Chloe had her small but
lethal dagger. The handle had been made especially for her small hand
and she held it like a professional. The thought of my sister having
to use the dagger to take a life was horrifying. Her using it to
protect her own life was unthinkable. I wish she would have stayed at
the compound like she was told. I would never forgive myself if
something happened to her.

She looked at me then,
her eyes intense and mature. Suddenly I realized that she was more
prepared than I was. Those eyes belonged to someone who was ready to
kill if need be. Apparently I was the only person in our group with
misgivings. I shook my head to clear my thoughts. I would not be the
weakest link.

There was no need to
try to hide our presence in the room since it was empty and presented
no place to hide. We simply took up offensive and defensive stances
and proceeded.

The emotional tension
of four siblings attempting to rescue their mother from an evil
Vampire Lord charged the air with energy. Feeding off of each other’s
powers and ready for anything, we walked back to back toward where we
thought our mother was held. I prayed that I had what it took to
protect myself and the others. Efia had told me that I was the key to
the mission’s success. It was my blood that had been prophesied
and my Embrace that would bring about Grigor’s destruction. I
felt like Indiana Jones when he was running from that giant
boulder…but I had nowhere to jump.

Chloe and I were the
only ones in our group who could not see in the dark, so we knew that
the others already knew what we were approaching. On a raised stage
was a woman. She was chained to a post that was cemented into the
ground and secured to the ceiling. Her head was down and her chin was
on her chest but we could hear her low moans of pain and agony.