Night Seeker by Yasmine Galenorn Page A

engulfed him. The man who had tied up Peyton was on the ground, bloody and dead—Kaylin was leaning over him with a dripping blade. Wrath had taken out the third man, who was now sprawled dead near his feet. And the fourth was cowering on the ground, his hands in full sight above his head.
    I hustled over to him. “Take your coat off. Slowly. Drop it on the ground.”
    He obeyed, and then I made him strip down all the way. When he was standing shivering and naked, I nodded.
    “No hidden explosives. You can put on your boxers and undershirt again.” He did, as I motioned for Kaylin to pick up the guy’s clothing.
    “Let’s get him inside and see what we can find out about him. Blindfold him first, though.” We couldn’t let him go, but on the off chance he escaped, I didn’t want him casing the joint for info on us.
    We dragged him inside. Rhiannon gave me an odd look.
    “We heard explosions. Are you all okay?” Luna hurried forward. When she saw we’d tied the man up, she pulled out a chair and pushed him into it, firmly knotting the ends of the cord around his wrists to the back of the chair.
    “We’re okay. We survived to fight another day.” I frowned, feeling useless.
    Peyton clapped me on the shoulder. “At least you weren’t tied up with a grenade strapped to your chest.” She tried to force a laugh, but her eyes told me just how drained she was from the experience. Rex came up behind her and led her to a chair, stroking her hair with an unexpectedly gentle hand. I glanced at him and he gave me a soft smile. Right then, I knew that he would love Peyton more than her mother had ever professed to.
    “Yeah…that was…unexpected.” I cleared a space on the table and pulled up a chair, looking at our prisoner.
    Rhiannon turned then, and her eyes lit up when saw him. “Erik!”
    I stared at her, openmouthed. “You
know
him?”
    “Know him? Leo and I double-dated with him and his girlfriend several times.” She suddenly dropped to a chair. “What the hell was going on out there?”
    There was no way to avoid telling her. “This guy and three others came to kidnap the two of us. I’m not sure who the hell sent them—”
    Rhiannon paled. “Erik is a day-runner for Geoffrey, just like Leo.”
    Erik snorted. “Leo ain’t no day-runner anymore.”
    A knot in the pit of my stomach churned. “What do you mean?”
    “Geoffrey turned Leo. He’s one of the vamps now.”
    “Vampire?” Rhiannon deflated, a look of horror on her face. “You mean…”
    “I mean, Geoffrey gave him what he wanted.” Erik spit on the floor, then shivered. “It’s cold, can you give me a blanket or something?”
    “You tried to kill us, and you want a blanket because you’re cold?” He had balls, that much I’d say for him.
    He shrugged. “Believe what you want. I wasn’t sent here to kill you. I was sent here to take you and Rio back to the boss men.”
    “Rio?” Now I was confused.
    Rhiannon bit her lip, tears forming in her eyes. But she left them unshed. “That’s what my nickname was among Leo’s friends.” She examined him, shaking her head. “I can’t believe it. Leo’s really a vampire now?”
    Erik let out a little sigh. He sounded almost disappointed. “Yeah. Geoffrey turned him yesterday. And that means, no more hanging out together. Leo already thinks he’s better than us. Geoffrey promised him that if he served him faithfully, he’d turn him, and now that it’s happened Leo’s already flying high on the pig.”
    I smelled sour grapes. Maybe we could turn this to our advantage. “What happens to you if you go back without us? Geoffrey was smart enough to outfit you with grenades. Obviously he knew we wouldn’t go without a fight.”
    Erik shivered. “The Master’s not going to be pleased.”
    I motioned to Kaylin. “Get a blanket, would you?” Then, casually, I turned back to Erik. “Maybe he won’t do a thing. Or maybe…he’ll give you to Leo to play with. How is Leo handling