Page 22 of His Eternal Temptation

Damnation.

“Any idea where he came from? Was anyone seen with him?” Felix asked.

Ava shook her head.

Rowan asked about the witches killed, and Ava gave their names. She refused any help with putting them to rest and confirmed no humans were caught in the crossfire this time. She also made a point of having no enemies herself. Same for the other lone witches living in her building.

“We’ll take the vampire from here,” Rowan said. “If you wouldn’t mind pulling the van into the alleyway so we aren’t seen, I’d appreciate it.”

The man who’d spoken earlier quickly obliged, probably eager to leave.

Ava watched him reverse along the narrow drive with tired eyes. “How do we know this won’t happen again?”

“We don’t.” Rowan hated being unable to reassure her. Random acts of violence were far more difficult to combat than covens that confronted him openly.

He asked a few more questions about where the feral vampire was first seen, but no one noticed him before he was inside their building. It wasn’t located far from Felix’s encounter with the other feral. He and Cecile hadn’t uncovered anything helpful last night. Had the culprit released both vampires at once, or dropped them on specific targets? The first victims being human suggested it was random.

They’d have to check the area again, in case they’d missed a lead. Rowan didn’t expect the sire to stick around after releasing his beasts, but there was nothing else to go on. Maybe one of the cameras in the area had caught something.

Down the alley beside Rowan’s building, safely hidden from the street, Felix opened the windowless van’s rear double doors, Rowan at his side, and Lane at Rowan’s elbow. A headless corpse lay in the back with a bloody cardboard box at its feet.

Lane made a sharp, strangled sound that cut through Rowan like a knife. He whipped around in time to see Lane’s face drain of color, his eyes wide and features twisted in horror.

“Are you all right?” Rowan’s heart skipped. Had Lane never seen a body like this?

His pained expression hardened, skin going ashen. “This is fucked up.”

“It is. I’m sorry. I didn’t think.” Rowan gently guided Lane away from the open doors. He should have made sure Lane wasn’t looking, or warned him what he was about to see.

“I’ll take care of this.” Felix caught Rowan’s eye before addressing Lane. “I’ve gotta get to the door over there, so look away a moment, will you?”

Lane didn’t respond. His color was nearly as sickly as it’d been last night. Rowan nodded encouragingly to him, and he seemed to shake himself, then slowly faced the wall.

Rowan positioned himself between Lane and the van. “You good on your own?” he asked Felix.

“Yep.” He heaved the vampire over one shoulder and gathered the box under his other arm. “Get the door for me?”

Rowan opened the side entrance leading to the stairwell, and Felix disappeared with vampire speed. Rowan closed the van, giving the witches the all clear, and it pulled away.

“Lane?”

He didn’t turn around. “I’ve never seen a dead person before.”

Shit. “I’m sorry.” The apology felt thin and unbearably inadequate.

“Why are you sorry? I shouldn’t have looked. You didn’t make me.” Lane pressed his palms to his eyes. “Fuck, I think I’m going to be sick.” He doubled over and heaved.

Rowan was lost for what to do. He’d said the Valeros weren’t big on bloodshed, and they weren’t, but that was a matter of perspective. Lane would likely think Rowan’s life full of horrors if he knew the details. Rowan should do something for him, but what? He couldn’t even give Lane privacy as he got sick.

When his stomach seemed empty, Lane straightened with a groan and wiped his mouth. “Sorry. Fuck.”

“Don’t be. Come on, let’s get out of here.” Rowan gently steered Lane toward the side door. “We won’t run into Felix. He’ll be long gone, so don’t worry.”

The urge to offer more reassurance nagged as they ascended the stairs. Would Lane welcome it or be embarrassed? Rowan waffled silently until it had been too long to say anything further without betraying his awkwardness.

Lane stayed closer than he had been, his steps less than steady. Rowan prayed he wouldn’t faint. He’d catch him, of course. His reflexes were superhuman, but that wasn’t the point.

This had been a fuck-up.