Since leaving the hospital, she’d been feeling a little run down. Now, even after that marathon sex, she felt a bit...rejuvenated. “Sure. If you’re good, maybe you’ll wrangle an invitation out of me to join in while I’m there. Too bad we only have thirty minutes.”
He grinned. “I could work with that.”
“You are—”
The door crashed open, a piece of the security chain popping off and flying across the room at lethal speed. The noise was a shotgun blast in what had been almost near-perfect silence. Shards of wood from the broken door scattered across the cheap carpeting of the motel room and for some reason, the little bits grabbed her attention. When she lifted her sight to the person responsible, a weight plummeted in Alice’s stomach.
They’d run out of time anyway. Antaeus Stavrou had already found them.
* * *
Bast leaped from the bed, yanking Alice behind him. He met the executioner’s cold stare, almost daring the man to make one wrong step in Alice’s direction. He’d most likely die trying to defend her, but there was no way in hell that he’d allow the man to lay one tainted finger on his woman.
How the fuck did he find them so quickly? He asked the executioner, barely stifling a growl beneath every syllable.
Antaeus replied, “You were careless.”
He stepped inside the doorway and removed a broad brimmed, black hat. Equally dark shades went into the cap after he’d stepped into the shadow of the darkened room. Bast studied the large human standing outside the doorway, figuring there was probably at least another one of him guarding the only exit. Antaeus was smart enough to bring back up this time. While Alice could still stand hours in the sun, she would have been hindered by it. Smart executioner didn’t want to take the chance that the couple would make another escape attempt, because they would have. Now, they’d have to spend a little more time thinking about their next move.
Antaeus nodded at the door and the human leaned in, grabbed the knob and tried to leer at Alice. Bast took a single threatening step forward, letting the man see the do-not-fuck-with-what-is-mine in his eyes. The human’s lip crimped in arrogant defiance but he backed out, closing the door behind him.
Bast turned, grabbed the sheet from the bed and took his time draping it over Alice. “We’ll be fine,” he said softly. She looked up at him, hope and trust set into her features. She nodded, and he couldn’t stop himself from pressing a quick kiss on her lips. “Do you still want a shower?”
“But—” Her attention darted to Antaeus and back.
“He’s not taking us anywhere yet,” he replied a little louder. “The Council does not travel in daylight. Go on. I’ll be waiting for you.”
Bast waited until the bathroom door closed before going to the bed. He draped an old worn throw over his lap and stared down Antaeus as he sat across from him. “So, care to tell me how you found us?”
His mouth kicked up at the corners. “Why not? It doesn’t matter now.” With an exaggerated glance, he searched the room. “Where’s your cell phone?”
“My cell...oh, fuck me.” How could he have been so stupid and so careless? Sure, it’d been smart not to use his credit cards, easily traceable for the lowliest of hackers. Everyone knew cell phones came with a built-in tracking device, only deactivated by removing the phone’s battery. He’d been so concerned about Alice’s safety, about her health, the thought that he should toss the device hadn’t crossed his mind. Not once.
“I’ll admit that I thought you’d left it in some inconvenient place, using it as a red herring, but a single phone call verified the couple checking into the motel at such an odd hour. And when I came here about half an hour ago and caught wind of that scent...” He let out a low whistle of approval. “So tempting when they’re transitioning, aren’t they?”
Something deep in Bast twisted in understanding. Even now, he could smell Alice on the other side of the bathroom door. It was something all newly turned vampires underwent. A subtle shift in their anatomy that announced their newborn status. The sweet, beckoning fragrance of cinnamon designed to lure more mature vampires to them.