Immortals After Dark 05 - Dark Needs at Nights Edge

of thunder. “And the Valkyrie compound isn’t far from here—not many from the Lore will venture anywhere near their home.”
    Valkyrie? Lore? She remembered a newspaper article a few years back on “Gang Speak.” These men were speaking Gang. They had to be.
    Murdoch said, “Perhaps the Valkyrie won’t appreciate vampires so close to Val Hall.”
    Vampires? Not Gang? They’re all mad. Mon Dieu, I need a bourbon.
    “Is it even habitable?” Sebastian asked in a scoffing voice.
    Nikolai nodded. “The structure and the roof are solid—”
    As rock.
    “—and once we do some modifications, it’ll be suitable for our purposes. We’ll fix just what we need: a couple of bedrooms, a shower, the kitchen. I already had the witches come around today to do an enclosure spell along the perimeter of the estate. As long as Conrad’s wearing those chains, he can’t escape the boundary.”
    Witches? Oh, come now! Néomi moved to rub her temple, felt nothing, but was somewhat soothed by the familiar act.
    In the lull, Murdoch cased the main salon, plucking at cobwebs. “Conrad knew we were going to be at the tavern.”
    “No doubt of it,” Nikolai answered, crossing to a dirt-caked window to glance outside. “He was awaiting us. To kill us.”
    “Obviously he’s gotten good at it.” Sebastian patted his ribs in an assessing manner and winced. Looking more closely, she could see that they all seemed injured in some way. Even Conrad appeared to have been clawed across the chest by some beast. “He likes it.”
    Likes to kill? A murderer in my home. Again. Was he the same kind of man as Louis—one who would stab a defenseless woman through the heart? Tamp it down, Néomi... . The wind picked up. Control the emotion.
    Murdoch said, “I suppose he’d have to, if the word about his occupation is true.”
    A professional killer?
    “Finding him now... it couldn’t come at a worse time,” Sebastian said. “How are we going to manage this?”
    “We fight a war, deceive our king, try not to worry about our Kaderin and Myst, all the while attempting to salvage Con’s sanity,” Nikolai replied evenly.
    Murdoch lifted a brow. “And here I thought we would be busy.”
    The brothers began exploring nearby rooms, testing wood for rot and pulling sheets from furniture, examining their surroundings.
    In the past, she’d been fortunate with those who’d occupied Elancourt. Nice families had come and gone, a few harmless vagrants. Nothing about these men said We’re nice and harmless!
    Especially not the chained murderer. He lay on the floor, blood collecting at the corner of his parted lips to drip down.
    Drip... drip... A crimson pool was stark against her marble. Just as before. Tamp it down. Control it.
    The madman’s eyes flashed open. She couldn’t warn the others! In the space of a bolt of lightning, he somehow shot to his chained feet, hobbling forward with unnatural speed. Before she could even raise her arms to exert pressure against him, he’d stretched the chain taut... the radiator was bending under the pressure.
    He couldn’t break it. Imposs—
    Like a whip, it snapped free as he charged across the room for the door—the door where she stood. As she stared in disbelief, the radiator trailed in his wake, destroying everything in its wildly sweeping path.
    Suddenly, the underfloor web of attached heating pipes burst up through the floor, foot after foot of groaning metal and exploding marble and splinters.
    The three men dove for him once more, the pile of them skidding to a stop right at her slippers.
    She gaped. Her home, her beloved home. In fifteen minutes, the madman had wrought more destruction to Elancourt than it had sustained in the last eighty years.
    Her hands fisted. Control it. But her hair had already begun to swirl about her face, rose petals floating in a tempest around her body. Outside, the wind kicked up, streaming through the holes in the high windows, sweeping the grit and dust until she was able to see all the destruction.
    The marble! When her eyes watered with frustration, rain poured outside.
    Tamp it down.
    Too late. Lightning bombarded the house, illuminating the night like successive bomb blasts. From under the pile of men, Conrad yanked his head up at her.
    In a flash, Néomi twisted round, sweeping her hair over her face as she dissipated. Reemerging on the landing, she gazed down at him.
    Conrad continued to stare at the spot where she’d stood, blinking and easing