Carpathian 21 - Dark Peril

laboratory where the humans lived and worked. Dominic pushed their need for blood up as far as he dared. He wanted more information, and Giles’s control over his conclave was beginning to unravel rapidly.

    “Our puppet awaits our orders. He will be programmed to drive a truck with the bomb into the prince’s home. His lifemate is with child. We will get every one of them. From beneath the ground, two of our best will destroy everything above them. And from the air we will destroy everything below. Once he is gone, the vessel will cease to exist.”

    Dominic waited for the roar of approval to quiet. “What of his daughter?” he asked, keeping his voice pitched low so the vampires had to strain to hear.

    Giles looked annoyed. “She is of no consequence. She is female.”

    He’s been too long in Brodrick’s company. Solange’s sarcasm filled his mind. The jaguar-men are slinking into the forest. They sense something is going to happen and they don’t want any part of it, she added.

    Are they coming toward you?

    The idea that the jaguar-men might go after her while he was otherwise busy shook him. He should have been prepared for them to abandon the site. Wild animals had sharp senses, reading emotions. They couldn’t fail to read the ravenous hunger and the discontent of the vampires. It was even possible the hunger had gotten to them as well and they had gone hunting.

    No. But I’ll stay alert. You just worry about being in a nest of very dangerous killers.

    And you remember that where those two are, Brodrick is not far behind.

    He felt her uneasiness and knew she was concentrating on protecting him rather than herself. He bit back his inclination to give her the order to retreat. She wouldn’t do it. He wouldn’t have done it if their positions were reversed. He had to trust in her skills.

    I love you.

    Three little words. Her soothing, tender tone. He took a breath. She would be careful for his sake. He needed her, and she knew that.

    His orchestra was in place; all he had to do was start conducting. He sent the pieces of the plan to Zacarias.
    They didn’t have a timeline, but Giles wasn’t going to give one, not when they wanted to test their plan first. It was now or never. He had to destroy as many of the undead as possible. He didn’t want anyone escaping to know that their plan had been compromised, so that feeding frenzy had to start with someone else. He looked at Giles’s trusted vampires.

    You’re smiling.

    Am I? Maybe I am feeling just a little mean.

    He felt her take a steadying breath. He did the same and reached for the technician inside the laboratory.
    Take the guard’s gun and wound the researchers inside the building. Force them to come outside.

    The overwhelming sight and smell of blood would send the vampires spiraling out of control. All it would take was for one to go after the wounded humans and the dam would break. The others would follow suit.
    He was certain Giles would try to assert his authority and send in his lesser vampires to control the mob, and that would open them up for attack. The guards on the roof would begin firing in an effort to protect their colleagues from the undead, and in the ensuing mayhem, he and Solange would be able to kill at will—he hoped.

    The sounds of gunshots were muffled by the thick walls of the laboratory, but distinct nevertheless. Giles gave up holding the attention of the crowd, stopping abruptly as they all turned toward the commotion.
    Lightning forked across the sky, sizzling, blinding with white-hot heat, very close. One bolt slammed into a tree just to the edge of their group. The tree exploded, branches splintering, the trunk blackened. Flames rushed through the network of limbs.

    Men poured out of the laboratory, running into the cleared ground between the forest and the building.
    White coats and guard shirts were splattered in bright red, inviting blood. A few of the men, obviously just awakened and without wounds, shouted for the guards. The computer tech rushed outside brandishing a gun, firing into the chaotic crowd.

    A shot rang out from the roof as a guard fired. The sound echoed through the forest. The computer tech staggered, and on the fringe of the vampires, the one called Milan fell to the ground.

    Done.

    Solange’s voice whispered in his mind and he directed a series of strikes at the shocked vampire group. He incinerated the fallen Milan as well as two others who had been close. Even as he