Page 8 of The Master's Holiday

"I don't give a fuck who he is. If he's lying, shoot him in the fucking face." Nik caught the guy's gaze and held it captive for a few seconds, and sent every horrific thought and nightmare that had ever entered the guy's mind back at him in real-time. This man was the bartender that Dumas had suspected was involved. The guy gasped and dropped back behind the others standing there. Then, he closed his eyes and grabbed his head with both hands. “What the fuck was that?”

The others stood there confounded as to what he was referring to. They ended up not saying anything and stood there silently waiting for more.

He caught his breath and straightened, looking around at the others. Finally, one spoke to him. “What’s wrong with you?”

“Nothing, nothing that a few thousand bucks wouldn’t fix.” He spat. “Now get that conference door open and make sure you get all their valuables.”

“The door won’t open. Maybe they locked it from the inside. We should try the windows."

“There are no locks on these doors. It's a conference room; for fuck sake, now knock it down if you have to." The short one eventually grew bored with watching them try and open that door and guided Nik to the office behind the front desk.

When he stepped inside, he saw the bodies of two men lying near the desk. “Don’t let them bother you. They got what they deserved."

“Did you kill them?” Nik asked, already knowing that he'd killed the assistant manager and his partner, the larger man from the restaurant, had killed the manager.

“Open the safe.” He demanded and pointed to the safe located in a side room behind the manager’s desk. Nik moved around the desk and toward the side room when the office door opened and the large one walked in.

“He’s going to open the safe?” He asked.

“He said he knows how.” The short one responded.

“Bullshit.”

“We’ll know soon enough.”

Nik stepped into the side room and waited until both of them had joined him. He stepped back and sized them up to their consternation.

“Open it.” The large one shouted and raised his gun, and Nik struck. He entered the man's mind, and in a split second, the man turned his gun on his friend and shot him, and the friend returned fire. Still half alive, they started peppering each other with bullets until they fell to the floor, both dead and, in the words of the short one, having gotten what they deserved.

Nik would have preferred killing them with his bare hands, but that would have been difficult to explain to the police and no doubt the police would arrive soon. He moved around the bodies and went back to the office. “Two down and five to go.”

“Come out of there with your hands up.” Someone yelled from beyond the office door. “We have your friends, so come out, or they die." Somehow, they knew that Nik was the survivor.

“What happened?” The bartender asked and made an aggressive step toward Nik but then stepped back again, not comfortable being too close. Nik wanted to rip their hearts out so badly.

He looked over at Walker and Dumas and could see they were okay. Walker was protected, and Dumas could take care of himself, so they had nothing to fear from these morons. The disrespect was getting on his nerves, and this being careful and waiting was wearing thin. He recalled the diagram that Dumas had sent him, pointing out where all the cameras were located.

In the lobby, there were only two, one by the front doors giving a clear view of the front desk and the general manager's office door, one by the desk giving a clear view of the front doors. There were no cameras inside the office.

He needed to get them into the office, and there they could be killed. Having them all suddenly shooting each other here in the lobby could possibly raise some awkward questions. Away from the cameras, Nik could concoct whatever story would fit the scene.

"They started to argue, and then they shot each other," Nik stated flatly and with a calm that had a chilling effect.

“Why didn’t they shoot you?”

“I wasn’t arguing.”

The bartender put his gun to Walker’s temple, and before he could pull the trigger, Nik had taken the gun, which was now pointed at the shooter, who was on his knees. His comrades did not know what to do at this point as they all came rushing to the lobby, so once again, chaos rang out at the Glendale Lodge. Shots were fired recklessly. Dumas had gotten Walker away from the melee and was standing guard over him near the front doors.

Nik made sure that a spray of bullets took out both cameras before taking the man on his knees and lifting him to his feet to stand before him. "You were going to murder my husband," Nik stated clearly and calmly as if they weren’t standing in the center of complete pandemonium. The man saw bullets flying around them, and not one hit Nikolas Hadden, although several were absorbed by his flesh. They burned and bled, and Hadden still did not move or flinch.

“What are you?” He asked between trembling lips. Nik allowed his vampire to come forward. His face distorted, and his eyes turned into a raging fire. The man screamed and tried to fight, but he was already a dead man the moment he threatened the beloved of the Master.

“I am the Master.” He said and caught the man’s gaze and bore into his mind stripping it of all thoughts and emotions all signs of life and vitality until there was nothing and this man was nothing. He dropped him onto the floor and then took a moment to observe the madness that surrounded them. He raised his hand and motioned to Dumas and Walker.

Dumas had performed admirably during this ill-fated vacation and had provided Walker with a level of protection near to Nik’s own. The would be robbers were currently killing each other so Nik did not interfere. He met Dumas and Walker, who were standing near the doors. Dumas had moved behind a halfwall that separated the lobby from the little coffee lounge but still gave them a clear view of the entire area.

"That looked satisfying, sir," Dumas said with a grin, referring to the demise of the man who threatened Walker.

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