Rooms three-oh-eight and three-oh-nine were actually on the next floor down. Check on the whole more-than-meets-the-eye thing. Once Ryder had grabbed an extra set of keycards, he’d looked to see how many of the rooms on that floor had been booked. Answer? Zero.

Suspicious? Damn right.

In the elevator, Ryder called Cortez with an update. “They’re on their way,” he told Lex.

Naia’s gut twisted and churned, bubbling with an innate terror, a fear of the unknown. What would they find in those rooms? What would Dante deem sufficient enough to take down an empire? What if this was some kind of trap meant for Cortez alone? Or was she being led like cattle to the slaughter? A trick to get her down here without fuss or fight?

A deserted floor? No one to hear her scream?

No one here is going to hurt you, Lex had said. There had only been two people in the room when he made that statement. That left a lot of other people to do the harming.

“Calm yourself,” Lex muttered, placing a palm on her shoulder.

“What, can you read minds too?”

“Your heart is fluttering like a butterfly. If I didn’t think you’d run off and get yourself killed, I would have left you in the lobby.”

Okay, maybe they weren’t going to kill her. Why reassure your murder victim when there was already nowhere to run?

A ding sounded and the elevator doors slid open. The entire floor was darker than dark. The word pitch could be applied.

“I’ll be happy to head back up to the lobby now,” she said, edging to the back of the brilliantly lit elevator.

“We got you, girl.” Ryder disappeared into the darkness. He must have found a switch, because the place was suddenly as bright as the floor above had been; same golden-brown hues and similar motif, only the place was deserted. Ominously silent.

Lex put his palm on the small of her back, stepping with her out of the elevator. She followed behind Ryder who took a right down a corridor lined with identical brown doors that broke up the jasmine colored walls. She tallied off the room numbers in her head as they passed. Three-oh-four...three-oh-six...three-oh—

Ryder slowed. “You smell that?”

“Blood,” Lex replied. His hands clamped on her shoulders, swiveling her so her back was against the wall. “Stay here.”

Her pulse went into hyper-drive. When a vampire looked worried it was damn-well time to worry.

Ryder didn’t bother knocking on room three-oh-eight. He swiped the keycard and rushed the room like he was busting in on an armed brigade. She waited, her heart blasting painfully against her ribs.

“Jesus Christ.” The solemn curse shot back at them through the opened door.

Lex joined him inside and then huffed a curse of his own.

With no gunfire and no sound of a struggle, the compelling force of curiosity commanded her through the entryway.

Blood was everywhere, the floor, the walls, the ceiling, the lamps. It was a gruesome artist’s delight.

Her gaze was drawn to the bed, and she let out a choking sob. The body was so mutilated it was nearly unrecognizable…but those boots. She knew those boots. Goldie never let anyone borrow those boots. Not even her.

Mindless, Naia rushed toward her friend, shaking her and crying for her to wake up.

In the next instant, she blinked at her hands, covered in blood. The red stuff was down the front of her shirt as well. One of the vampires was pulling her off of Goldie’s lifeless body. It was Ryder, telling her to calm down, that he still sensed a heartbeat. Naia’s gasps were little slices of pain in her chest. Her lungs were a furnace of pain.

Suddenly Cortez was there. He swiftly assessed the situation and then took her from Ryder.

Sobbing, she curled into his chest and tried to catch her breath.

“It’s okay,” he cooed, holding her to his chest. “Shhh.” Even as agonized sounds erupted from her that she couldn’t seem to control, she was grateful for this small offer of comfort, even though he’d wanted nothing more to do with her.

Someone called from the bathroom to their right. “There’s another one in here!” The voice belonged to Dane. When had he arrived? Oh, God. Did he say there was another one?

She blinked slowly, the world swimming.

Cortez was holding her steady by the shoulders now, mouthing that everything was going to be all right. Or maybe he was saying it out loud. Her ears were a rush of white rapids and a harsh rhythmic banging that could only be her heartbeat. Her vision blurred. My hands are covered in blood.

“I know,” he replied like she had spoken. Had she?

“Goldie’s blood.” She heard her voice crack. “They killed her.”

“Lex is helping her,” Cortez said. “She might survive.”

She glanced toward the horrifically bloody lump in boots. Lex was hunched over it. Feeding her his blood? As panic stormed her, Cortez seemed to be checking her for injury.

“This one’s gone,” Dane called again from the bathroom.

Fresh terror stabbed her brain. “Cole?”

“It’s another female,” Dane replied.

Relief weakened her knees.

Cortez propped her against the wall. “I need to go investigate. Will you be alright if I leave you?”

Woodenly, she nodded and forced her stark eyes to blink.

She must looked freaked out, because he didn’t look convinced. “Do you want to wait in the hallway?”

She shook her head. “I’ll be okay here.” She wanted to stay nearby in case Goldie woke up. She didn’t know how fast vampire blood healed, but Goldie shouldn’t awaken to strange faces after…whatever horror she’d been through.

Cortez nodded and then went into the bathroom where he, Dane, and a couple others all talked in hushed tones. Naia leaned her back against the wall, working on evening her breath. Lex was talking to Goldie, encouraging her to fight. Had he started CPR?

Shakily, Naia wiped her forehead with her sleeve, managing to smear more of Goldie’s blood on her skin.

The room rolled. Bile churned.

She blinked a long blink, then dragged her heavy lids back open.

Everything became like a dream. Warped in a way that said she might just pass out from shock. She fought against the temptation. Lex rhythmically pumped Goldie’s red-stained chest. Blood dripped down the headboard.

From the corner of her eye, Naia noticed a door to the adjoining room was cracked open.

“Three-oh-nine.” She whispered absently, dizzy.

She blinked. Lex was working Goldie’s chest. The others were still in the bathroom. No one had heard her. Maybe she hadn’t spoken aloud.

An uneasy feeling skittered over her spine. Her subconscious suspected what her waking mind wasn’t quite comprehending. That darkness beckoned.

Abandoning CPR, Lex’s wrist was back at Goldie’s mouth. Were his efforts working? Naia couldn’t tell.

She blinked. Her legs took control. She swayed on her way across the room.

Planting her palms on the adjoining door, she pushed it open—

She blinked.

And lost her ever-loving mind.