“Aaah!” Cedric yelled when his back hit the floor.
He tried scrambling away on his elbows but Raul simply followed him. And with the path to the door blocked by Raul’s guards, there was nowhere for him to go.
“You can’t kill me!” he shouted with bloody lips, eyes cracked open wide in panic now that he realized his death was near. “I’m a LaMonte!”
“Were a LaMonte,” Raul said with icy calm. “Now you’re just a dead vampire.”
He jumped high in the air and came down hard on Cedric’s chest with both feet. He did it again. Then a third and final time, completely caving in Cedric’s chest.
Cedric’s end was noisy. Rib cage bones snapped with a loudcrack. Air punched out of his punctured lungs like a popped balloon. Then came a tearing of muscle and squelch of blood when Raul smashed Cedric’s heart under his boot heel. And last, a death rattle in his throat.
Then there was silence. Cedric was dead.
Chapter 42
Raul drove through the dark, near empty streets of Dear Lake. It was the still hour, before most humans rose in the morning and when vampires were inside, settling down to sleep away the day. He glanced down at the hand that gripped the steering wheel. All of his knuckles were busted and bloody. The pain in his hands was negligible, but ending Cedric was worth it no matter how much pain it would have caused.
He wrinkled his nose in distaste. He couldn’t wait to get home and wash the stink of Cedric’s blood off his skin. His passengers were no doubt ready for a hot shower too. Everett and LaToria were both quiet, their heartbeats returned to normal now that the adrenaline rush of the fight was over.
“Do you think there are any sporting goods stores open?” Raul asked into the silence.
Everett shifted around in the back seat. “Why?”
“So I can stop and buy a protective cup for my balls.”
The three of them laughed, remembering Solan’s threat to Raul if Everett were to get hurt. Everett was returning with a bullet wound. It would be healed up soon but Raul was sure that Solan would be pissed regardless.
They entered an area where the homes were acres apart, turning down wide tree-lined streets until they reached the drive to Everett’s mansion. At the call box, Everett punched in his entry code and the black gates swung open on well-oiled hinges.
Raul drove up the long drive to the mansion, where Solan stood waiting in the open front doorway. Every line of his tall, slender frame was tight with tension as he waited for Everett.
“Should have made that stop at the store,” Raul muttered as he got out of the truck. He opened the rear passenger door to help Everett out. When Everett stepped onto the paved driveway, he stood straight and solid on his feet. He appeared fine, but there was no hiding the hole in his shirt or the bloody gunshot wound on his side.
The second Solan noticed the injury, his eyes went wide. He rushed down the front steps, headed straight for Raul.
“I told you what I would do if Everett got hurt!” he angrily yelled.
Solan pulled his foot back, clearly about to kick Raul in the dick. But Everett slid in front of the enraged human, spinning him away from Raul and tossing him over his shoulder in one swift movement.
Solan yelled again. “Damnit, Everett! Put me down! You’re hurt!”
“I’m not that hurt,” Everett calmly replied. “It’s only a graze.”
“Then put me down and let me see.”
“No. Once we’re inside, I’ll put you down and you can tend to my grievous injuries.”
“Youjustsaid you weren’t that hurt.”
“I’m suddenly feeling the pain. Must be the adrenaline wearing off.”
“Liar!”
Raul noted that although Solan yelled, he didn’t kick, squirm, or do anything else that might cause Everett pain.
Everett turned to face Raul. “Goodnight.”
“Good night and thank you for your help,” Raul said as he held a hand out for his fellow Syndicate member to shake.