Luther's Return

Blake parked in the spot permanently reserved for him, and glanced at the other cars. He wasn’t surprised to see Amaury’s sports car and Gabriel’s SUV parked next to the Woodford family’s three cars. But he was surprised to see the BMW Z4 of Amaury’s twins. While Amaury could certainly afford to give each of his sons his own car, there’d been no point: Damian and Benjamin went everywhere together.

The moment the garage door closed behind him, shutting out the mid-morning sun, Blake jumped out of the car and marched toward the stairs leading to the first floor. He heard the voices before he even opened the door to the hallway. When he entered, he walked straight into the open-plan living area where most of the visitors were assembled.

Samson, Amaury, and Gabriel stood near the fireplace, talking, while the hybrids were centered around the dining room table, gobbling down mountains of food. Unlike their vampire parents, who only consumed blood, they could sustain themselves on both.

The twins were stuffing their faces, while Grayson paced back and forth. His younger brother, Patrick sat at the table, head in his hands, while next to him, Vanessa, Gabriel and Maya’s fifteen-year-old daughter patted his arm in sympathy. Her brothers, seventeen-year-old Ethan and eighteen-year-old Ryder, watched Grayson as if they expected him to explode at any moment.

Neither Delilah, nor Nina, nor Maya were anywhere to be seen. Blake listened intently and perceived the faint sound of footsteps from the upper floor. Well, it was best anyway that Delilah was upstairs with her girlfriends. She was too agitated. And right now, cool heads were paramount. Decisions had to be made.

The door to the garage fell shut behind Blake. Several pairs of eyes immediately landed on him as he walked into the center of the living room. The hybrids jumped up and approached, and the three adult vampires stopped talking and looked at him expectantly. Blake felt the weight of responsibility on his shoulders and the tension that came with it, but he was determined not to let anybody down. This was his greatest trial, the one he’d trained for countless times.

“Any news?” Samson’s tight voice cut through the silence.

“We have a positive sighting. A security camera at a gas station. It picked up her red dress. That kind of gown is hard to overlook.”

Samson came closer, hands clenched, shoulders lifted. “Is she hurt?”

“We don’t know. We couldn’t get a visual of her face, and because of the dress’s color… Sorry, we couldn’t tell if she was injured or not, but we know who her kidnapper is.”

Several relieved sighs echoed in the room.

“Who?” Samson ground out, his fangs descending, most likely without him even noticing.

“We ran his picture through facial recognition software and got a match. A small time crook by the name of Antonio Mendoza. Thomas is hacking into the DMV right now to get us an address for him.”

Samson nodded. “We need to get him. Now.”

“I agree. Let’s not wait till tonight. We know he’s got Isabelle, but we don’t know what he plans to do with her.” Blake turned toward the hybrids. “It’s going to be a daytime mission, which excludes us.” He motioned to himself, Samson, Amaury, and Gabriel. “Hybrids only.”

Damian and Benjamin already jockeyed into position. Damian put his arm around his brother’s shoulder. “We’re in.”

“Me, too,” Grayson gritted through his teeth. “I’m going to gut that bastard.”

Patrick stepped next to his brother. “Not if I gut him first.”

“Out of the question!” Delilah’s voice came from the sweeping staircase that led down from the second floor.

Blake turned on his heel, watching how she descended, followed by Maya and Nina.

“Mom!” Patrick protested. “I’m going with them to save Isa.”

“No, you won’t! You’re too young. And you’re not trained yet.”

Patrick spun around, hands at his hips, and faced Samson. “Dad!”

“Your mother is right,” Samson replied. “As much as we all want to go in there and bring Isabelle back, we can’t.” He motioned to the older boys. “Damian, Benjamin, and Grayson can handle it.”

“Dad?” Ryder suddenly said, looking at Gabriel. “With your permission, I’d like to join them.”

Blake watched as Gabriel exchanged a quick glance with his mate, Maya, before nodding. “Of course.”

“It’s not fair,” Patrick protested.

Grayson turned to him and squeezed his shoulder. “I’ll get her back for us, promise. But you need to stay with Mom and Dad. They need you now.”