To Walk the Night (28 page)

I slowly approached Telia’s headless body. I was pretty sure she had been beheaded by the same weapon that had killed the others. Whoever had done this had somehow snuck up on her and the first blow had severed her spine. With all the dead lying around, I have no idea how that was even possible. She should have heard something, should have known things weren’t well within her House.

A strange feeling crept up my gut. I didn’t believe this was an inside job. I was almost positive it wasn’t done by a Major House either. This looked a lot like something I would have done years ago, before I was changed, before I had silver weapons.

I hurried out of the room and headed for the basement. If anyone was still alive, it would be down there. Vampires usually kept cages there where they held their Pureblood prisoners. If someone was trying to copy my earlier work, then there was a chance they left the Purebloods down there.

I threw open the basement door and nearly ran down the stairs. I almost stepped on another werewolf corpse as I hit the concrete floor. I staggered to the side, bringing my gun to bear, just in case the wolf wasn’t dead.

It didn’t take more than a glance to know he wasn’t getting up again. He didn’t have a head.

I took a deep breath and immediately regretted it. My fangs pushed the rest of the way through my gums and I started panting. There was so much blood down here, it was intoxicating.

My gaze roamed the room and my shock was all that kept me from giving in to my demon.

The Pureblood prisoners were mostly still in their cages. Those who had gotten too close to the bars had been torn apart, pulled through the bars piece by piece. Arms and legs looked gnawed upon, and someone’s jawbone lay against the wall.

Those Purebloods who had managed to huddle far back in their cages hadn’t been able to escape the hungry jaws of the beast that had fed here. The bars of their cells had been ripped open and they had been killed where they cowered, easy prey to the wolf who had done this.

My hunger warred with my disgust. I couldn’t figure out who would have done this. Why would a werewolf need a sword when he would have his claws? None of this made any sense.

I turned and fled up the stairs, knowing I was wasting my time here. House Telia was no more, but it hadn’t been by my hand.

I slipped in a pool of blood at the top of the stairs and nearly fell. I growled deep in my throat and bolted for the front door. I could feel the urge to feed so strongly it nearly had a hold on me. I couldn’t give in. Not now. Not like this.

I hurried out of the house, down the driveway, to my Honda. The fresh air did me some good, cleared my head, but it did nothing to stop the anger that came bubbling forth.

Mikael had to have known this was going to happen. It was the only thing that made sense. Why else wouldn’t he have told me everything he knew?

I started up my motorcycle and sped away from the house. Everyone was dead inside, even the Purebloods. Whoever had done this was just as dangerous as Telia had been. They had to be stopped.

And I was going to be the one to stop them.

KENSINGTON BOOKS are published by

Kensington Publishing Corp.
119 West 40th Street
New York, NY 10018

Kensington and the K logo Reg. U.S. Pat. & TM Off.

ISBN: 978-0-7582-7760-2

ISBN-10: 0-7582-6872-6