Immortals After Dark 05 - Dark Needs at Nights Edge Read Online Free

body.
    Hadn’t Elancourt seen enough of it?
    In a panic, she raced downstairs and shot her hands up, exerting an invisible force against the doors. She used all her strength to keep them sealed tight. No one could bust through this hold—
    The doors flew open. The men barreled through her, making her shiver as though she’d walked through a cobweb. A gust of wind rushed inside, following them in to stir the leaves and grit coating the floor.
    Just how strong were they? Yes, they were huge, but she’d held the doors with what had to be the strength of twenty men.
    Once inside the darkened room, Nikolai cast a chain across the floor with no care for her Italian marble.
    The lunatic broke free once more, making it to his feet. He was towering! He lumbered toward the door, but his bound ankles ensured that he careened into an antique armoire covered with a sheet. It collapsed under the impact. Crushed.
    She’d had to dance two performances to afford that piece, and remembered lovingly polishing it herself. It was one of the few original furnishings that remained.
    After Murdoch and Sebastian hoisted him out of the wreckage, Murdoch wrapped his thick arm around Conrad’s neck, cupping the back of Conrad’s head with his free hand. She could see that Murdoch was tightening this hold with all his might, his face drawn with the effort, the muscles in his neck standing out with strain.
    Somehow Conrad was unaffected for long moments. Eventually, his thrashing eased and he went limp. While Murdoch laid him on the ground, Nikolai hastily affixed the chain to the same radiator he’d tested last night, then attached the other end to Conrad’s handcuffs.
    That’s why Nikolai had been inspecting it? Because he intended to jail this lunatic here?
    Why here?
    “Could you have found an eerier place to keep him?” Sebastian said between breaths as they all stood. At that instant, lightning crackled just outside. The high stained-glass windows were broken in places and cast tinted light, distorting the shadows within. “Why not use the old mill?”
    “Someone might come across him there,” Murdoch answered. “And Kristoff knows about the mill. If he or his men discover what we’re planning... ”
    Who’s Kristoff? What are they planning?
    Nikolai added, “Besides, Elancourt was recommended to me.”
    “Who would ever recommend this?” Sebastian waved a hand around. “It looks straight from a horror movie.” She wished he was wrong, but a bolt flashed then; hued shadows appeared to slither and pounce. Sebastian raised his brows as if his point had been made.
    Nikolai’s gaze focused on his brothers’ faces, studying their reactions as he answered, “Nïx did.” He hesitated, seeming not to know if they’d laugh, rail, or nod.
    Murdoch shrugged and Sebastian nodded grimly.
    Who’s Nïx?
    Sebastian glanced around. “Raises my hackles, though”—another flash of lightning—“almost like it’s... haunted.”
    Sebastian gets a cookie.
    “And you know that’s something for me to say. It’s spooked Conrad as well.”
    Yes, because otherwise he clearly would be fine.
    “The weather makes it seem worse.” Nikolai ran his hand through his wet hair, then wiped his face with his shirttail. “And if there are spirits lingering about? You forget what we are—any ghosts would do well to fear us.”
    Fear them? No living thing could touch her.
    “It’s actually ideal because the place scares people away,” Nikolai continued over another bout 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