Page 31 of Vampire Runner

The earpiece picks up Lan’s voice but not clearly. The derisive tone tells me his opinions of the security well enough.

“Keep an eye on Rhys. Let us know if he goes overboard.”

Malachi scoffs in my ear. “When doesn’t the man?”

Cassandra and I slip through an open doorway into the aforementioned main hall. Just as she said, another door is ajar so the bathroom is obvious. Towards the entrance foyer are stairs up to the next floor. Places like this often don’t have basements because of frequent flooding, but if there is an old root cellar, it’ll be harder to get to.

“Which way?” I ask my wife, listening to all the heartbeats in the area. Being considerably younger than Ambrose and Kasar, I can’t hear as far. I’m powerful enough to track the few staff in the busy kitchen, the fellow guests we’ve left behind and the security detail posted outside the front door. There’s even a cat sleeping soundly a few rooms away. We might be alone now, but we can’t linger.

Cassandra closes her eyes and, in spite of the situation, I wish she looked like herself. Part of me gnashes my fangs that she doesn’t look like my mate, that if she has only days left, she shouldn’t be disguised. I shut those thoughts down, refusing to consider we might fail.

The small frown smooths from her forehead a moment before her eyes flutter open and meet mine. “Upstairs, definitely.”

“Mal?” I ask. Using the main stairway in the front of the estate is too high of a risk, one I want to avoid if possible.

A moment of silence and then Mal reveals a narrow stairway just outside of the kitchen entrance. It’s closer to people, but the staff have no reason to be on guard. They’re too busy focusing on feeding the entitled sycophants.

I grab Cassandra’s hand, keeping my touch gentle, and lead her down the stairs. My steps are silent, a skill mastered over the years working for Ambrose. Cassandra sneaks as quietly as she can, wincing when one of the floorboards creaks under her toes. I have to bite my cheek to stop the smile at her frustration. She hates it when I’m better at something than her.

“How did you get so sneaky?” she hisses accusatorially when I reach the service stairwell. Its entrance is disguised in the wall, the paint and edging flowing almost seamlessly together. The wealthy never want to be reminded of their staff, no matter the era.

Double doors three feet away are closed but the sounds of the busy kitchen and staff talking are loud enough for even Cassandra to hear. Any minute one of them could walk out and find us here. A lie is already prepared on my tongue; we wanted a recipe or we got lost looking for the bathroom. My heart beats steadily but my nerves are on edge.

Experience with this style of house has me pressing my fingertips lightly to the middle right. A click sounds like a bullet in the quiet hallway as the hidden door swings inward and we both freeze. I wait for someone to come out of the kitchen or one of the guards out front to walk in. It goes unnoticed, and I push the door the rest of the way open and guide Cassandra inside. I don’t answer her question until I’ve eased the wall panel shut again.

“I’ve learned a lot of new things over the years.” I give her a grin and raised brow.

Even in the soft lighting of the service stairwell and under her glamour, I see her cheeks redden. The side of my lip climbs higher and my fangs tingle as the blush travels down her chest. The scent of her arousal is sharp and sweet. I crowd her against the whitewashed walls, bracing my forearms beside her head. Dipping my head, I trail my nose along her delectable neck. It’d be so easy, so sweet, to sink my fangs into her.

“I know it’s been awhile, but if you two could keep it in your pants for a bit longer, I’d appreciate it,” Malachi says with a drawl. “Then again, I don’t mind listening if you don’t.”

I bite back a growl, glad Cassandra can’t hear Malachi’s commentary. He’s right, though. We don’t have time for this.

I touch a knuckle under my mate’s chin and brush my thumb over her parted lips before stepping back. I tilt my head towards the stairs, and my will is tested when her pretty pink tongue darts out to wet her lips. The thought of that tongue of hers on my cock—no, I need to focus. I don’t need an erection while skulking through an archangel’s mansion.

I take the lead again, the stairs so narrow my shoulders almost brush the walls. At the first landing, I look over my shoulder in question. She purses her lips before shaking her head and pointing upwards. Nodding, I keep climbing.

We’re almost to the next landing when Cassandra pauses and presses a hand to the wall.

“What’s on the other side of the wall?” I ask while she focuses. This time it’s Lan who answers.

“It should be a mezzanine balcony.”

“Cassandra’s got a lead,” I say after she gives me a nod. I try to hear past the wall, but whatever is there may as well be ten feet of concrete. “We’ll check it out.”

“Copy,” Lan says. “Wait thirty seconds before exiting. You’ve got a guard bored at his post wandering around.”

I send my senses out opposite the silent void and, sure enough, there’s a single heartbeat moving aimlessly nearby. I hold a hand up to Cassandra, and she waits obediently as I creep the rest of the way to the landing. If only she was as obedient all the time. Then again, she wouldn’t be the witch I love if that was the case.

The stairwell is quiet, the air hardly moving around us and the midday heat making it stuffy. But I don’t move, tracking the guard’s heartbeat with single-minded focus. The guard finally reaches the end of the hall, his pace never faltering as he begins to explore another wing.

“We won’t have much time,” I warn Cassandra before I open the panel door. “We assess the situation quickly and retreat to plan.”

“Got it,” she says, her face hard with determination. Her nerves radiate down our bond and I’m damn proud of my mate as she refuses to hesitate.

I move to open the door, freezing when she’s suddenly beside me gripping my wrist.

“What?” I murmur, flicking my gaze towards the wall as if I can see through it.

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