Page 4 of The Master’s Holiday (Pittsburgh Vampires #27)

W alker was shocked and dismayed, to say the very least. His perfect weekend getaway had turned into some sort of dreadful action movie. Worst of all, they were trapped, unable to use the skills available to them because they were among humans and surveillance cameras.

This place had been his dream, having heard about it from a friend at the garage who had brought his wife and had a splendid time. Walker had researched it with the help of his best friend Stanley, and it looked like the perfect, private place to spend a lovely weekend with your significant other. He presented the idea to Nik, and although it took a while, Nik had never forgotten his request, and when it was possible, he booked the weekend.

“I wish I’d never heard of this place. I wish I could go back in time and find something else, something less violent with fewer bullets." Walker grumbled.

“I have no complaint up until, as you say, the bullets started flying. Yesterday and last night were wonderful, and I loved spending them with you in our gorgeous room with a lovely view of the forest and the lake. The food and service were impeccable. Do not blame yourself, my love. This difficulty will be resolved soon." Walker saw him glance at Dumas when he made the final statement, and Dumas nodded.

“How many in total do you think are involved?” He asked Nik.

“The five here of course and then whoever they have guarding the property and keeping people out so guards at the gates probably at least two so we’re looking at least seven.” Nik responded. “I didn’t get a number when I checked out the large one’s mind. The people he’s working with are not a priority to him, but people like this don’t usually show a lot of loyalty.”

The large one came to their table and held open a cloth bag, thrusting it toward them. "All your valuables in here." He barked, and Walker was about to hand over his watch when Nik captured the man’s eyes, holding him entranced. It was a subtle glamour and would not be recognized if caught on camera.

“You have all of our things now move onto the next table.” He told him and kept his voice low and Walker saw the man nod and walk to the next table. He worked his way around the room and then took a stance by the door.

“Now it’s time to pull out your wallets and start to transfer money. I know you have it so don’t even try to play any games. He took his handgun out and shot out the chandelier and also the mirrors on the far wall. It was performative but effective people immediately started reaching for their wallets.

"We've already killed two people, so a few more will not matter." He seemed to be bragging, which was in really bad taste.

“I hate that guy.” Walker couldn’t hold back his opinion.

“Yeah, he's easy to hate," Dumas added.

The guy opened the door and the shorter heavy set man walked in and started making the rounds getting people to wire them cash. Walker assumed it was some kind of secret account otherwise it would be pretty easy to follow the money. "I wish they could have just robbed the safe and left because it would have made life easier for all of us.” Walker voiced his thoughts.

The short man came to Nik’s table and tried a heavy-handed approach, but he calmed him down and backed him off with a dark stare and a wave of his hand. He stepped back, confused by his own behavior. "You're Nikolas Hadden, everybody knows you." He scoffed. "Either hand over some cash, or we may find it necessary to kill that pretty piece of fluff sitting behind you.” The man smiled sickly at Walker. “My rifle could really tear you to pieces, sweet thing." He acted tough, but even Walker could sense that he had little to back up that attitude apart from his rifle. The words, though, did have an effect on Nik.

Walker could sense that Nik was using every ounce of restraint he had to stop himself from ripping this man apart. His knuckles turned white as his fingers curled into tight fists.

“I could cut up your bodyguard here and make you watch, and that would be entertaining for all of us." He spoke in a weird, melodic voice. It was becoming clear that the man was not rational.

“Take your best shot.” Dumas stated and captured the short one’s gaze and Walker saw the flash of the hellhound in his eyes and the man jumped back startled. It threw him off for a moment, but he then shook it off and moved away from Dumas.

"I can open the safe," Nik stated flatly, but Walker had no idea what he was planning. He reached out and clutched Nik by the upper arm, not wanting him to leave.

“Take me to your safe, I can open it.” He repeated and put his hand over Walkers and channeled a quiet calm. Walker relaxed but kept his eyes on Nik and that ridiculous goon. The guy reached out to grab Nik but in the last second thought better of it and simply asked him to stand.

Walker hated the idea of them being separated but he trusted Nik and figured he had a plan. He would try and not make it worse by getting worried and upset which would simply end up splitting Nik’s attention.

“Come with us.” He said to Nik, and Dumas made to stand, but the man turned back and shot a couple rounds into the floor. The guy seemed taken aback when no one at the table flinched. “Your hired muscle and your piece of ass will stay here.” Nik winked at him, and Walker knew at that moment that everything was fine.

Nik followed the guy back out into the lobby, where they were met with two more men in masks holding guns. "What are you doing?" One of them reacted and got into the guy's face. "Take him back to the restaurant.”

“He said he can open the safe.” The guy explained and the others stared at Nik speculatively wondering if he was serious or working some angle to escape. Their minds were filled with chaos and attempts at plans to salvage this mess.

“How would you know how to open this safe?” One of them asked and stepped forward. Nik rattled off the name and number and all the specifics regarding this particular safe. He’d pulled this information from the guy’s mind. It seemed to impress him enough that he stepped back and became interested.

“Take him to the office and see if he’s telling the truth.” He finally decided and then shot a round into the floor at Nik’s feet for effect. The theatrics were becoming tiring. "If he's lying, kill him." He said, then turned his back on them and headed for the conference room.

Nik watched as he tried to open the door, but it would not budge. “Get this door open.” He said to one of the others who rushed over and tried to open it to no avail. Nik found the display mildly entertaining.

“This is Nikolas Hadden of Pittsburgh if we kill him we will be hunted to the ends of the earth.” The short one warned, and Nik decided perhaps he was smarter than he looked.

"I don't give a fuck who he is. If he's lying, shoot him in the fucking face." Nik caught the guy's gaze and held it captive for a few seconds, and sent every horrific thought and nightmare that had ever entered the guy's mind back at him in real-time. This man was the bartender that Dumas had suspected was involved. The guy gasped and dropped back behind the others standing there. Then, he closed his eyes and grabbed his head with both hands. “What the fuck was that?”

The others stood there confounded as to what he was referring to. They ended up not saying anything and stood there silently waiting for more.

He caught his breath and straightened, looking around at the others. Finally, one spoke to him. “What’s wrong with you?”

“Nothing, nothing that a few thousand bucks wouldn’t fix.” He spat. “Now get that conference door open and make sure you get all their valuables.”

“The door won’t open. Maybe they locked it from the inside. We should try the windows."

“There are no locks on these doors. It's a conference room; for fuck sake, now knock it down if you have to." The short one eventually grew bored with watching them try and open that door and guided Nik to the office behind the front desk.

When he stepped inside, he saw the bodies of two men lying near the desk. “Don’t let them bother you. They got what they deserved."

“Did you kill them?” Nik asked, already knowing that he'd killed the assistant manager and his partner, the larger man from the restaurant, had killed the manager.

“Open the safe.” He demanded and pointed to the safe located in a side room behind the manager’s desk. Nik moved around the desk and toward the side room when the office door opened and the large one walked in.

“He’s going to open the safe?” He asked.

“He said he knows how.” The short one responded.

“Bullshit.”

“We’ll know soon enough.”

Nik stepped into the side room and waited until both of them had joined him. He stepped back and sized them up to their consternation.

“Open it.” The large one shouted and raised his gun, and Nik struck. He entered the man's mind, and in a split second, the man turned his gun on his friend and shot him, and the friend returned fire. Still half alive, they started peppering each other with bullets until they fell to the floor, both dead and, in the words of the short one, having gotten what they deserved.

Nik would have preferred killing them with his bare hands, but that would have been difficult to explain to the police and no doubt the police would arrive soon. He moved around the bodies and went back to the office. “Two down and five to go.”

“Come out of there with your hands up.” Someone yelled from beyond the office door. “We have your friends, so come out, or they die." Somehow, they knew that Nik was the survivor.

“What happened?” The bartender asked and made an aggressive step toward Nik but then stepped back again, not comfortable being too close. Nik wanted to rip their hearts out so badly.

He looked over at Walker and Dumas and could see they were okay. Walker was protected, and Dumas could take care of himself, so they had nothing to fear from these morons. The disrespect was getting on his nerves, and this being careful and waiting was wearing thin. He recalled the diagram that Dumas had sent him, pointing out where all the cameras were located.

In the lobby, there were only two, one by the front doors giving a clear view of the front desk and the general manager's office door, one by the desk giving a clear view of the front doors. There were no cameras inside the office.

He needed to get them into the office, and there they could be killed. Having them all suddenly shooting each other here in the lobby could possibly raise some awkward questions. Away from the cameras, Nik could concoct whatever story would fit the scene.

"They started to argue, and then they shot each other," Nik stated flatly and with a calm that had a chilling effect.

“Why didn’t they shoot you?”

“I wasn’t arguing.”

The bartender put his gun to Walker’s temple, and before he could pull the trigger, Nik had taken the gun, which was now pointed at the shooter, who was on his knees. His comrades did not know what to do at this point as they all came rushing to the lobby, so once again, chaos rang out at the Glendale Lodge. Shots were fired recklessly. Dumas had gotten Walker away from the melee and was standing guard over him near the front doors.

Nik made sure that a spray of bullets took out both cameras before taking the man on his knees and lifting him to his feet to stand before him. "You were going to murder my husband," Nik stated clearly and calmly as if they weren’t standing in the center of complete pandemonium. The man saw bullets flying around them, and not one hit Nikolas Hadden, although several were absorbed by his flesh. They burned and bled, and Hadden still did not move or flinch.

“What are you?” He asked between trembling lips. Nik allowed his vampire to come forward. His face distorted, and his eyes turned into a raging fire. The man screamed and tried to fight, but he was already a dead man the moment he threatened the beloved of the Master.

“I am the Master.” He said and caught the man’s gaze and bore into his mind stripping it of all thoughts and emotions all signs of life and vitality until there was nothing and this man was nothing. He dropped him onto the floor and then took a moment to observe the madness that surrounded them. He raised his hand and motioned to Dumas and Walker.

Dumas had performed admirably during this ill-fated vacation and had provided Walker with a level of protection near to Nik’s own. The would be robbers were currently killing each other so Nik did not interfere. He met Dumas and Walker, who were standing near the doors. Dumas had moved behind a half wall that separated the lobby from the little coffee lounge but still gave them a clear view of the entire area.

"That looked satisfying, sir," Dumas said with a grin, referring to the demise of the man who threatened Walker.

“It was. His panic and fear at the end were very satisfying.” Nik responded casually.

“Well, your piece of ass, thanks you for getting me away from that creep," Walker spoke up from behind them.

“My gorgeous, magnificent, and adorable piece of ass." Nik corrected and turned to drop a quick kiss on the top of Walker's head.

“We still have whoever they have guarding the gates and the grounds," Dumas spoke up as the lobby began to fall quiet. They had managed to kill one another in a most efficient style.

“I don’t think we have to worry about that.” Nik said and glanced over at the main doors where Josef was busting through. “I believe the grounds are secured.” He stepped out from behind the wall and greeted him.

“Hello Josef, it’s so nice to see you.” The sarcasm was thick, but so was the gratitude.

“My God, what happened here?” Josef looked around the lobby and then at the room behind them filled with people who were tentatively stepping out. Nik waved his hand, and the conference room doors disengaged and soon those patrons were also joining them.

“No guests were harmed, and I do believe no criminal survived. I assume that the grounds are cleared.” Nik commented.

Josef nodded. "The grounds are cleared. Two were at the gate, and three were roaming the grounds; all disappeared. Michael and his team are combing the area, making sure none remain.”

"Good, good, the less explaining, the better.”

Josef took a cursory glance at the lobby and cocked an eyebrow at Nik. “It looks like there will be plenty of explaining.”

“Yes, but nothing supernatural.” Nik reached out and pulled Walker up to his side. He then told him what had taken place that day and about Dumas' suspicions of the prior evening.

“What a fuck up. All these men and not a one knew how to carry out a proper heist?” Josef shook his head. “They killed the only man who had the combination to the safe.” He was astonished at their level of incompetence. “The research, the planning, the recruitment involved with this and then to do everything wrong.”

“They had more anger than ambition, and apart from the money, they seemed to want to wreak havoc on the lives of people who they saw as having too much. It was doomed from the start, I believe." Nik gave his opinion. Walker looked back over his shoulder at the remainder of the mayhem behind him.

“I now know what it means to reap the whirlwind.” He said softly and Nik gathered him more tightly to him.

The other patrons were starting to approach them and ask questions for which they all had the same answers. “They simply turned on each other.” The police showed up and after hours of sitting and waiting and filling out reports they were cleared to leave.

Nik felt bad for his beloved and wished that their weekend had been more what he’d expected. He held him close in the car on their drive back to Pittsburgh. “I’m sorry this ended so badly my love.” Nik said softly while running his fingers gently through Walker’s stunning blond hair.

"Like you said, the first night was beautiful, and I had a wonderful time. I'm going to focus on that and forget what came after, although it was impressive how you and Dumas managed to get the upper hand even without supernatural assistance.” Walker smiled and ran his hand down Nik’s chest to gently grasp his hardening cock.

Nik caught his breath and closed his eyes for a moment, savoring the touch of his beloved. "Any time spent with you is wonderful, baby," Nik commented in a soft, raspy voice. Walker's hand had slipped inside and was now cradling his aching erection. Nik bent forward and closed the panel separating the front seat from the back for privacy. He then opened the front of his pants in order to give Walker easier access.

"Maybe next time we can just turn off the phones, lock the doors, and have a vacation in our apartment," Walker suggested.

“Whatever you wish, my love, I will make it happen." Nik laid his head back against the upholstery and closed his eyes as Walker took him down his throat, swallowing his hot, throbbing cock and loving him like only a beloved can.

"I love you, Walker.” He said.

Walker popped off the end of his cock just long enough to respond. “I love you too, Nik." This was going to be an absolutely delicious ride home.