Page 47 of Immortal by Morning (Argeneau #37)

“What is it? What happened?” Crispin was awake at once, and sitting up even as she scrambled over the bed to put it between

herself and the door she’d just slammed shut.

Seeing her panic, his head swiveled toward the door and he was immediately out of bed. Honestly, the speed with which he moved

was more than a little shocking. One moment he was sitting up in the bed, and the next he was at the door, pulling it open.

What followed was mass confusion and chaos. At first, Abril thought the intruder had tackled Crispin and was rushing him toward

the bed. But when the back of his legs hit the bedside and he tumbled onto the mattress, it wasn’t just the intruder who crashed

down on top of him, but the intruder, Cassius, Decker, and Bricker. The five of them ended up in a pile on the bed, with Crispin

at the bottom.

Abril stared wide-eyed as the quintet began to tussle, and then movement drew her gaze to the doorway. Lucian and Anders were standing there, simply watching with interested expressions. Roberts stood behind them, but at least he looked concerned.

The battle being four to one, it was a short scuffle before the men had subdued the woman and dragged her off Crispin on the

bed.

“Take her to the kitchen,” Lucian ordered. “We will question her there.”

He then waited for the woman to be escorted out of the room by her captors, before glancing to Crispin and ordering, “Put

on some pants before you come out to the kitchen. I have no interest in staring at your butt quack.”

Crispin was left gaping when the door closed. For one moment, Abril wasn’t sure why he appeared so shocked, but then he turned

to her and said, “I do believe Uncle Lucian just made a joke.”

Abril simply offered a weak smile. She suspected that was something unusual when it came to his uncle, but was more concerned

with the intruder and any explanations she had to give. With that thought in mind, she quickly bent to pick up his slacks

and shirt from the floor and walked around the bed to hand them to him before slipping out of the room and leaving him to

dress. It seemed like the smarter move. If she’d stayed around his naked body much longer, they might not have left the room

at all.

The men had the intruder seated on one of the island chairs when Abril came out.

Much to her surprise, the woman wasn’t tied up or anything.

But then she supposed it wasn’t necessary.

Decker and Bricker stood on either side of her, and Lucian was seated with his own chair facing hers.

The other men were ranged around the room on all sides.

There was really no chance she would escape.

Abril had barely had that thought when she became aware that the room was utterly silent. A curious glance around showed her

that the men were presently giving the attractive female intruder that strange, concentrated stare that they had used on her

so often. The one she absolutely detested and now knew was probably the men reading her—and now the intruder’s—mind.

Abril didn’t comment, but looked the woman over. She’d only got a quick glimpse of her before slamming the door closed and

scrambling across the bed to get as far away from it as she could. Now she peered at her, a small frown forming on her face

as she took in her dark hair pulled tightly back into a bun, and her sharp, yet beautiful features. It was hard to believe

she’d mistaken her for a man the night she’d been attacked in her bedroom, but then it had been dark, and the woman had been

all in black. She was also rather tall and strong for a woman. She’d obviously had her hair pulled back then too, which she’d

thought was just short hair. Abril supposed she could be forgiven the mistake.

Like the men, the intruder looked no more than twenty-five or so, possibly thirty. But this house had been built about twenty-five

years ago and this woman, if she was Mrs. Foley, had been a married woman with a child then. She had to be at least forty-five

now. Probably more like fifty years old. Maybe even more. Those nanos were something else, she thought, and then her eyes

narrowed.

“You were with Kim,” she said slowly as she recognized her.

“I saw the two of you outside talking to the construction crew the day the excavator broke down. I went out intending to talk to you both, but you were already at the end of the driveway by the time I grabbed my coat and got outside.” Abril thought the woman had also been the figure she’d seen with Kim on her night walk with Lilith, but couldn’t be positive, and now asked uncertainly, “Are you and Kim friends?”

The woman merely snorted at the suggestion.

“She is a friend to no one,” Lucian assured Abril solemnly as he sat back in his seat, the concentrated expression leaving

his face.

“The control thing?” Abril guessed and when he nodded, she felt anger well up in her at the thought of this woman controlling

Kim. She hadn’t had much interaction with her herself, but Gina had said she’d met the wife and mother at the street party

and that she was very nice.

“Your neighbor Kim has been under her control since the morning you saw them together here,” Lucian told her. “As has the

rest of Kim’s family. She has been living in their home to keep an eye on this house.”

Abril’s eyes widened in alarm. “Are they all okay?”

She knew she wasn’t going to like the answer when Lucian hesitated before giving it. She suspected he did not often hesitate

about anything.

Finally, he said, “They are presently tied up in the basement of their home. She has been keeping them as cattle for blood

until she got her husband’s body back. Her intention then was to finish them off, place them in their beds, and set the house

on fire to hide how they really died.”

Abril’s mouth opened slightly on a gasp of horror and she turned to stare at the monster before her before bursting out, “What the hell is wrong with you? Killing your husband, an immortal, and the twelve other victims in the garden wasn’t enough? You had to add to their number?”

“There have been far more victims over the years than the ones we found here,” Lucian told her solemnly while the woman just

stared through Abril coldly. “Fortunately, not as many as there could have been. But only because she learned that overfeeding

just causes pain, and so reduced the amount of blood she took in. She also started keeping her prey chained up in her basement

like Kim’s family is now. She kept several at a time that she could feed off of as needed. They eventually died due to her

not feeding or caring for them properly, but then she just replaced them with someone new. Usually someone from Toronto or

other nearby cities that she visited to be sure there were not too many missing persons cases here.”

Abril was still reeling over what he’d just said when Lucian ordered, “Roberts, Decker, go to the neighbor’s house and take

care of Kim and her family.”

The two men nodded and immediately headed out of the kitchen.

Lucian then turned to gaze over the remaining men before saying, “Anders and Bricker, I need you to go to the rogue’s house

to see to the victims chained up in her basement there.”

“She has victims there too?” Abril asked with surprise. She’d have thought one houseful at a time would be sufficient.

“Yes,” Lucian said solemnly. “Including someone named William who is apparently somehow connected to you?”

“William?” Abril’s eyes widened. “Not me. Gina. He’s her boyfriend. Or was until he left one day for milk and never came ba—Oh

my God, you bitch!” she snapped at the woman. “You took William? Gina thought he left her. She was crushed! Why the hell would

you do that?”

“She saw the construction company trucks here during the interior work and wanted to know what renos were taking place. She

could have simply read his mind or that of one of the construction crew, but found William attractive and wanted to play with

him... whether he wanted to play or not.”

“Oh my God,” Abril breathed unhappily. She’d been cursing poor William for the last two weeks since he’d disappeared so abruptly.

She’d even told Gina that he wasn’t smart enough for her along with other insults to the man’s character and intelligence

in an effort to ease the blow of what she’d thought was his rejection of her boss. Meanwhile, the whole time he’d been kidnapped

and held against his will to be this woman’s... What? Was she feeding on him? Torturing him? What? Sighing, she asked,

“Is he okay?”

Lucian was silent for a moment, and then said carefully, “He was alive the last she saw him.”

He raised his hand in front of Abril’s face when she started to speak and despite herself, she obediently went silent. The

moment she did, Lucian finished addressing the two men. “You know where her house is? You read it from her mind?”

Anders nodded. “It is the first one when you turn left off this crescent. The big white one with the woods surrounding it.”

Lucian grunted an acknowledgment. “You will need to call Dani or Rachel in to help the people chained up there. Possibly both.

It would be a good idea if one of them checked over this Kim and her family as well.”

When Anders and Bricker immediately left the kitchen, Cassius asked, “What do you want me to do?”

“You and Crispin are going to guard this creature while I call Mortimer, and then we shall wait until backup arrives to take

her away,” Lucian announced and pulled out his phone as he stood up.

Abril sensed movement behind her and glanced over her shoulder to see Crispin stepping out of the mouth of the hallway now

wearing his dress slacks and shirt. He’d left the tie and suit jacket behind. Their gazes met as he approached, and he offered

a crooked smile and a soft touch on her arm that she suspected was meant to reassure her. But then he was past her and taking

up position where Bricker had been on one side of the intruder. Obviously, he’d heard everything and knew he was to guard