Dangerous Games (Riley Jenson Guardian 4)

Fuck.

Panic surged, but I thrust it down ruthlessly. To give in to panic would be playing into Gautier's hand. He loved fear. Fed on it.

But I couldn't deal with Gautier and keep an eye on the baby vamp. I'd fought and beaten more than one vampire at a time in the past, but Gautier was the most successful killing machine the Directorate had ever trained. The one time we'd fought, he'd beaten the crap out of me.

I wasn't even sure that Rhoan and I, as a team, could defeat him.

"Rhoan, we have a problem."

"Don't tell me we've lost him. I do not want to spend another night in weather like this."

"I have the vamp. The problem is bigger than that." Bigger and closer. A chill ran over me, but I resisted the urge to look over my shoulder. But my senses told me the darkness that was Gautier was moving forward from the far side of the room.

"Bigger in what way?"

I gave in to temptation and looked my shoulder. "I know you're out there, Gautier."

The words were barely out of my mouth when the baby vamp attacked. He was on me like a rash - a spindly whirlwind of arms, legs, and desperation. I staggered back under the force of his attack, somehow managing to get my arm between us. His teeth slashed my palm rather than my neck, and sliced deep. Pain roiled white hot through my body. I hissed, but it was his greedy sucking that got to me more than the pain. I wasn't about to beany vampire's last meal. I swung my fist, hitting him over the head with the body of the laser as hard as I could. The force of the blow tore him from my flesh, and with a grunt of effort, I thrust him away from me. He landed on his back and slid along several more feet, until he was close to the still-shadowed Gautier.

"Kill him," Rhoan said. "Gautier's probably his maker, and if he's not, we'll worry about it later."

I blew out a breath and hoped like hell he was right - otherwise, Jack was going to be extremely pissed. I raised the laser and fired the weapon, sweeping the bright beam from left to right across the vampire's bony neck. Skin and bone sliced as easy as paper, and the smell of burnt flesh stung the air.

My stomach flip-flopped, but I ignored it, concentrating on Gautier's unseen presence. A presence that seemed even darker and more menacing than usual - and that was something I'd never thought possible until now. "You really can stop hiding, Gautier. I know you're here. Your rotten stench always gives your presence away."

His chuckle ran across the night, a low sound that set my teeth on edge. He walked free of the shadows hiding his form, and strolled toward me. Gautier was an even longer, meaner stick of vampire than the vamp who lay on the ground, and his flesh was just as pale. But like the baby vamp, there was nothing translucent about Gautier's skin - he too had the wholeness of a vampire who ate often and well.

I remembered the stink in the hall, the decaying bodies and many body parts in the various rooms. A chill ran through me. Apparently, Gautier was off the Directorate leash in more ways than one.

"I'm on the landing above and to your left," Rhoan said. "The minute he comes into range, we both fire."

Sounded like a perfectly acceptable option to me. Jack might want to interrogate this sick bastard and uncover what other macabre games he'd been playing since leaving the Directorate, but I was perfectly happy to disobey orders when it came to Gautier.

Though I very much doubted he'd fall into our hands so easily.

As if to give emphasis to this thought, he stopped just near the body of the baby vamp - tantalizingly close to the required laser range - and gave another low chuckle. The sound crawled over my skin and made me shiver. Gautier in a happy mood boded no one any good.

"Shame on you for killing my little friend," he said, tone oily and amused. "Don't you know the Directorate likes to question baby vamps and get the name of their maker first?"

"We both know who the maker is, Gautier," I replied, itching to pull the laser's trigger even though I knew it would be useless. "Though I am at a loss to know why you'd bother with such a poor specimen."

"Good help is so hard to find these days."

Especially when the employer was a bloodthirsty psycho. "So, does your appearance here tonight mean you've finally come to your senses and decided to give yourself up?"

He raised an eyebrow, expression mocking. "Do you really think I would make it so easy for you?"

Well, no. But it never hurts to be hopeful. One of these days fate might actually throw me a gift rather than a spanner. "Then what game are you playing, Gautier?"

"A dangerous one. For you, and for the inventive fellow who has been torturing the others."

Something akin to fear prickled across my skin. How did Gautier know about the other killings? Was he involved? It wouldn't be surprising if he was - after all, like tended to attract like, so it made sense that Gautier would gravitate toward other evil little psychopaths. He wasn't the world's greatest thinker, even if he was a killer born and bred. "So you know the person behind it?"

"Of course. And I have a lot of admiration for his methods."

I just bet he did.

"I'm going to flank him," Rhoan said. "Keep him talking."