Page 29 of Bonded By Blood
Chapter Eight
“I like to consider myself a capable man,” Joe said as they continued down the hall, “but does this place come with a map?”
Brianna laughed softly and curled her arm around his. “It does not. But as long as you remember which wing is generally considered to be mine, and which isn’t, you should be fine.”
An amused grin tipped Joe’s lips and he shook his head.
Brianna was giving him the closest thing to a grand tour he could probably expect to get, and while he’d seen his share of oversized manors, there was no question this one took the cake. She hadn’t told him the square footage, but the word massive came to mind without much effort. It was three stories, discounting the basement he—apparently—didn’t want to see, and a pseudo-attached garage on a large, well-maintained piece of land surrounded by a classic, black, iron fence. Every single window was custom tinted to minimize the suffering of the household and still allow for some natural light. Joe was honestly surprised by how many windows there were, and by how many weren’t covered up. The entire top floor was dedicated to live-in staff, human and vampire alike.
Most of the rooms on the first floor, at least that Joe got to see, boasted unique and admittedly stunning crystal chandeliers. Great for reflecting light even when they weren’t producing any. It was possible the First Family was keeping the entire industry in business single-handedly.
The grand foyer opened into an obscene great room, from which the mansion branched off. The eastern wing was considered Trista’s, and Brianna didn’t take Joe beyond the sliding door off the great room in that direction. Trista’s wing was invitation-only. He got to see Brianna’s library, the likes of which book enthusiasts around the world would drool over, as well as their impressive indoor pool and Jacuzzi, and the literal theater suite—three whole rooms—along the back. He lost track of some of it, but he was impressed to hear they had an infirmary for their human staff—ironically run by a vampire doctor. The main kitchen was top-of-the-line, complete with a walk-in pantry larger than the average bedroom.
They’d just exited the incomparable laundry space—it was too large, and too efficient, to be described as a room—when he heard the first shout. It was faint, muffled by distance and thick walls, but Joe recognized the pitch of urgency all the same.
Beside him, Brianna stilled. Her hand tightened on his arm, just above his elbow.
“What is it?”
Her dark stare was focused, eyes narrowed, down the hall ahead. “I’m not sure.” She spoke just slowly enough that he could tell she was trying to listen, to figure it out for herself.
So he held still and did the same.
There was another shout, from another male, but it didn’t sound like the same voice. Moments later, Joe realized he could hear the pounding beat of heavy, racing footsteps. There had to be half a dozen of them. That, or Brianna had forgotten to tell him she owned a zoo and the elephants had escaped.
“Check everywhere!” Joe didn’t know the speaker, but he heard the words fairly clearly.
Why do I think the elephants would be preferable?
Brianna drew in a deep breath and her hand slid down to his wrist. “Come on, I need to find out what’s happened.”
He didn’t argue as she took the lead, striding down the hall, but apprehension twisted his gut. “If something’s wrong, maybe you should be staying away from it?”
She offered him a small, warm smile as they drew closer to the sounds of panic. “I’d rather know what’s going on around me. Especially in my own home.”
He really couldn’t fault her for that.
Bodies rushed past as they reached the great room. They were men, all in dark, full-coverage clothes. It took Joe a moment to realize they were dashing, and that he could see the details he could because of his own enhanced sight. Usually at top speed a vampire’s movements were all but invisible to the human eye. Instead, he was able to watch as three men dashed down an adjacent hall, two side-by-side and another right behind. Scurrying footsteps carried down from above, assuring Joe that whatever had happened extended beyond the scene before him.
A single side-table had been pushed over, as if it were in someone’s way. The contents once resting atop—a decorative vase and a matching pair of crystalline figures of some type—shattered on the floor. The formerly blooming bud of one of the two flowers from the vase was crushed, as if having been stepped on. And then there was the blood, forming a trail across the mess, either coming from or leading to the hall those vampires had disappeared down. It was a splattered, inconsistent line across the floor. Judging from the still-fresh, sweeter scent, Joe guessed it was human blood.
He remembered hearing once a description of the basic difference in scents between human, vampire, and wolf blood. In short, human blood smelled sweet and appetizing. Vampire blood smelled “stale,” or dull, and generally uninteresting. Werewolf blood was “the worst,” according to the chatty vampire he’d met during his college days. It stank like curdled dairy or rotten fruit—something no part of you would want to eat. Joe had almost forgotten that conversation, right up until this moment.
Brianna stiffened at Joe’s side. “Garvin.” Her voice was barely a whisper and, when he glanced toward her, her stare was fixated on the blood.
Garvin? If Joe remembered correctly, that was the name of the human blood donor he’d met—in a manner of speaking.
Another flicker of movement in his peripheral vision caught Joe’s attention a moment before someone spoke, a female vampire he didn’t recognize. “Lady Brianna,” she said, almost cautiously. “It’s dangerous here. Please, move to an interior room.”
Brianna turned to face the woman, older only on the outside, and firmly demanded, “What happened? Why is Garvin’s blood all over the floor?”
The vampire flicked a glance at Joe, as if gauging his worthiness.
He held her stare silently.
She looked back to Brianna. “Garvin was attacked, ma’am.” She drew a nervous breath. “But really, you should—”
“By whom?” Brianna interrupted pointedly.