Devon froze as he stared at the strange boy across from him. He appeared no more than four years old but his soul was far older. Chris and Melissa's heartbeats kicked up a notch as they pressed closer to Devon's back. "We'll come in," Chris agreed.

***

Chris hesitatingly stepped into the kitchen with Melissa close on his heels. Julian and Devon hovered in the doorway, their eyes a bright red and their hands fisted in futility at their sides. No wonder the boy hadn't let them in, though their eyes hadn't been that color until the boy said no. Chris was tempted to shut the door on the demons outside himself, but it was the strange boy that pushed it closed.

The boy's hands were folded before him as he turned toward them. Chris was beginning to realize that he'd rather deal with creepy killer clowns than this strange little creation. "Where are they?" Melissa inquired.

The boy didn't say a word as he pointed down the hall. Past the kitchen the world seemed to disappear, falling off the edge of the earth much like they had thought ships would thousands of years ago. "Stay here," he said to Melissa.

"Chris..."

"Stay here," he commanded. "Show me where they are. Where!?" Chris demanded harshly when the boy remained mute.

The boy tilted his chin up but his small mouth remained pursed. "Chris," Melissa warned.

He felt like an idiot for yelling at the child, but his frustration and trepidation was getting the better of him. He glanced toward the shadowed hall and quickly nodded toward Melissa before making his way forward.

He came across more children sitting upon a couch in the living room. They watched him, but didn't move and didn't speak. His skin started to feel like hundreds of tiny spiders were running up and down it and he hurried on. He turned the corner and glanced up the stairs, but that didn't feel right to him. He could sense Cassie and Luther somewhere within the home, but it wasn't up there, he was almost certain of that.

He turned the corner and slinked down another hall that led to the kitchen. Melissa remained by the door with the boy at her side. Two more children had joined them; they were a little older, but just as mute. He didn't miss the fact that they had positioned themselves in between Melissa and the door.

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Chris's heart beat a staccato against the inside of his ribs as his hands began to shake. Where were they and what had they all walked into? "Chris?" Melissa whispered.

He held up a finger to her before turning back down the first hall. It was like being in a demented game of hot and cold as he strained to take in something that he may have missed.

That he had to have missed.

He focused all of his ability forward as he forced himself to open up even more to Cassie and Luther. He stopped as he spotted the door beneath the stairs. The hair on the back of his neck stood on end as he realized that this was it. This was where they were.

He pulled the door open and peered into the murky depths of the basement. Lifting his arm to his nose he struggled not to inhale through it. He glanced toward the kitchen but he couldn't see Melissa anymore. Chris checked his back pocket and was reassured by the weight of his stake and knife before he slipped down the wooden stairs.

***

Devon stalked around the building, looking for some weakness in its structure but finding none. His anxiety was spiking to epic levels as he spun and returned to the back door. Julian had his hands and ear pressed against the door. "Do you hear anything?" Devon demanded.

Julian frowned as he shook his head. "It's quiet, too quiet."

"There has to be a weakness."

Julian's red eyes turned toward him. "We can't get in anyway."

"If we can get the owner out I'll kill them."

"I don't think they're going to be stupid enough to step foot outside right now."

Devon bit back a shout of frustration, his hands clenched at his sides as he fought the urge to start ripping the outside of the house apart with his bare hands. He opened his body to the bond that linked him to Cassie as he sought out her mind. He was having a difficult time touching against her mind. He tried to search out Chris and Melissa's minds but came up against a solid wall of nothing.

A wall that was even more solid than the one surrounding the building. A growl escaped him, his fangs elongated as he leapt onto the porch beside Julian. "I can't touch her mind; I can't touch any of their minds."

Julian stepped back to survey the brick façade. "What is this place made of?"

"I'm guessing steel, perhaps iron, something solid and nearly impenetrable."

"Nearly?"

"I can still feel Cassie through our bond as mates."

"She's still alive then?"

"She's still alive, but I don't know for how long."

Julian rested his hands upon the door as he bowed his forehead to it. "Never should have let them go in there."

"You think I don't know that!" Devon barked.

Julian lifted his head to look at him. "I meant Chris and Melissa. We've just handed all of The Hunter's over to them."

"If we can get them to open the door again, I can take control of the child."

"I doubt he's the owner Devon," Julian retorted.

Devon sneered at him as he pressed his hands against the door. His fingers curled into the wood facade but it wasn't Julian he was infuriated with, it was himself and fighting with Julian right now wouldn't accomplish anything for either of them. "But he could bring me the owner or I could have the child kill the owner."

Julian's eyes gleamed. "No one would expect it. We'll just have to get them to open it up again."

CHAPTER 18

Cassie slipped as noiselessly as a wraith through the basement. She spotted a hot water heater and furnace, but there was nothing else within the shadowed interior. She found the back wall and ran her fingers across its cool surface as she desperately searched for Luther, for anything. Like a hound on the trail she followed the scent of death as she fought to bury the thirst that churned through her veins and caused her canines to tingle. She was going to find Luther, and she was going to destroy anyone that may have hurt him.

She paused at the end of the wall and twisted her head from side to side as she tried to pick up something. The increasing scent of death drew her toward the right. She prayed it wasn't Luther's death trail she was following, but there was a part of her that was growing increasingly convinced it was. She fought against the sorrow threatening to swell within her, now was not the time.

The wall didn't end as she'd expected but continued down a narrow hallway that ran beneath what she assumed was the ground. She was convinced there were tree roots dangling above her as she tilted her head back to study the gloom. Even with her enhanced eyesight though, she couldn't see the ceiling. The stench of death increased as she was drawn steadily onward.




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