Death's Servant(32)

My own naiveté chokes me. Good God, what an idiot I am. I shake my head, trying to clear the bloody images from my mind. Worry creeps in when I realize who we haven’t freed from these upstairs rooms. “We haven’t come across Raine, yet.”
The vampire’s face takes on a faraway look. “Does she have short dark brown hair, skinny as a rail, and soulful blue eyes?”
In my mind’s eye I think of the young Were, the woman who was able to resist Cecil’s compulsion thanks to a spark between us, the dimple near her upturned mouth and the twinkle in her eyes. “Yeah, that sounds a little like Raine.”
“Well then, you’ll get your wish.” She motions down the hall. “I’m pretty sure she’s on the other side of the last door on the right.”
“How do you know that?”
She moves stealthily down the carpet toward the last room. “That’s a story for another day, wolfman.”
Dria eases to one side of the door. Her green eyes seek out mine as her body tenses. “It’s not going well in there. We need to get in there quick—it may already be too late.”
Without another word from the vamped-out killer, she kicks open the door. The second man who attacked me last week, Thomas, lies naked on his side, his body wrapped around the unmoving form of Raine.
Another rush of adrenaline floods my body, promising a wicked crash when the danger is finally past. Fire surges through me with the desire to rip and tear the leech limb from limb. Raine’s eyes are closed and her pale skin almost glows in the half-light of the bedroom.
“You’re too late,” Thomas calls from the bed. “I heard your... exterminating techniques a few minutes ago and knew my fate was sealed.”
Dria steps into the room, her eyes locked on the vamp with the bloody mouth and not the ripped out throat of Raine on the bed. My God, we might be too late. The urge to rush forward and save her compels me forward, but the strong arm of the redheaded vampire bars my passage.
“Why kill her?” Dria asks. “She did nothing to you.”
He ignores her and asks a question of his own, “I felt you in my mind, didn’t I? I’ve never felt the presence of another vampire in my awareness. You were hard to miss.”#p#分页标题#e#
My senses strain toward the girl on the bed. Is she truly gone or can we save her? I try and listen for her heart beat, but can’t discern anything over my own pounding pulse.
“Shh...” Dria says, and the man on the bed goes silent. There’s a frown on her face when she turns to me. “Jon, check to see if she still lives.”
I stride past the redhead, watching Thomas the whole time. Will he leap on me and rip out my throat when I approach?
Once I reach the side of the bed I place two fingers on Raine’s wrist, hoping for a response. Nothing. I lean down and rest my head on her chest, hoping, straining for some sign of life. Pain wells and grabs my heart, like it’s being crushed in my chest. She’s well and truly gone.
Anger and pain over her loss battle inside me. I want nothing more than to rip apart the vampire who did this to her, to feast on his flesh, and gorge on his blackened heart. As the muscles in my shoulders bunch and I prepare to leap, one thought holds me back. I judged Dria just moments ago, and yet I’m ready to do the same damn thing—kill and destroy an enemy who hasn’t even lifted a finger toward me. Why is it he hasn’t moved? What the hell is she doing to him? Reining in my primal urges for vengeance takes every ounce of will power and strength I gained from eating Cecil’s heart.
“Why?” I ask him, my voice harsh with the devastation of losing Raine. “You hear us coming and you still didn’t try and flee? You went after her instead.”
The vampire stares at me silently, not moving a muscle, not twitching an eye. It’s like he’s frozen.
“What he has to say doesn’t matter, Jon.” Dria says. “If she’s gone I can’t bring her back and nothing he could add would make you feel better—it will probably make you feel worse.” A hand lands on my shoulder, the touch light and reassuring. “Would you like to end him or shall I?”
Disgust coils in my gut and bile rises up my throat. I shake my head, afraid to speak and spew the hatred coiling inside me. I pull the limp form of Raine away from him, picking her up in my arms, and cover her nakedness with the bed sheet. Cradling her lifeless form to my chest, I turn and leave, letting my actions answer for me.
Halfway down the hall I hear the door close behind Dria and the distinct splatter I’ve come to recognize in the last few minutes as the quick and final death of another vampire.