Elise closed her eyes as Irina sobbed at the window, paralyzed by terror. But in the moment the Minion was distracted, Elise's fingers closed around the hilt of the letter opener. She knew it would be a sorry match against the knife her attacker had, but it was better than nothing at all.
The second she got a firm grip, Elise brought the makeshift weapon up in a sweeping arc. It struck the Minion in the side of his neck.
The deep puncture sent him rearing up off her with a howl, his fingers clutching at the bleeding wound. Elise didn't realize he had gone for his own knife until he drove it toward her. She rolled away, narrowly escaping his clumsy, irate strike.
The Minion stumbled a bit, pressing his hand to his neck and looking dazed as the front of his shirt went red with spilled blood.
You f**king bitch!
He barreled toward her again, throwing his weight at her and knocking her to the floor. Elise thrashed in an effort to get out from under him, but he was a big man and he was furious now. She managed to roll over onto her back, the letter opener still clutched hard in her hand, trapped between the Minion's arm and ribs.
She saw his knife come up near her face. No, she gasped, sick with the weight of him and the acrid stench of his spilling blood. Damn it, no!
With a blind stab, she stuck the Minion with the letter opener. It went into his ribs, another deep wound that sent him yowling in pain. He reared back, choking and wheezing, giving Elise the chance to get away from him.
Oh, God, Irina gasped, staring in abject horror. What's going on? Who is that man? What does he want with us?
Irina, get out now! Elise cried, grabbing the letters and shoving the other woman toward the open window.
They both hurried out, landing on the frozen grass below. Elise saw the Minion sitting on the floor inside, pale with shock and going nowhere fast. But she didn't dare relax for a second.
We have to get out of here, Irina. Do you have a car?
The woman said nothing, her face going as pale as the snow outside. Elise took her shoulders and met her stricken gaze.
Do you have a car, Irina? Can you drive?
A glimmer of focus came back into her eyes. What? Oh...yes...my car is parked over there. Next to the alley.
Then come on now. We have to go.
Chapter Twenty-four
Commotion in the foyer of the Darkhaven woke Tegan from a light doze in his guest room. Something was wrong. Really wrong. He heard Elise's voice--heard the elevated pitch in her usually calm tone--and vaulted to his bare feet in an instant, all of his senses tripped to full alert.
Naked except for the pair of blue jeans he pulled on as he headed for the hall outside, he registered the muffled sounds of a female crying. Not Elise, thank God, but she was down there too, talking fast and clearly upset.
Tegan got to the staircase and glanced down to the open entryway of the estate. What he saw just about leveled him where he stood.
Elise, having just returned from somewhere outside, covered in blood.
Holy hell.
He rocked back on his heels, his stomach dropping like a stone to a vicinity somewhere around his knees. Elise was drenched in scarlet. The front of her clothes were stained deep red, as if someone had opened up her jugular.
Except it wasn't her blood, he realized as the metallic odor of it drifted up to fill his nostrils. It was someone else's blood--a human.
The relief he felt in that moment was profound.
Until a desperate brand of anger set in.
He put his fists on the railing and swung his legs over, dropping to the floor of the foyer on a tight-bitten curse. Elise hardly glanced at him as he stalked toward her, his body shaking with the depth of his fury. But all her focus was on stricken, incoherent Irina Odolf, who had collapsed onto an upholstered bench near the front door.
Reichen came in from the kitchen carrying a glass of water. He handed it to Elise.
Thank you, Andreas. She turned and offered the drink to the sobbing Breedmate. Here you go, Irina. Drink a little of this if you can. It will make you feel better. Tegan couldn't see anything wrong with the other woman aside from shock. Elise, however, looked like she'd just come in from the front lines. A livid bruise ran along her jaw and up the side of her cheek. What the hell happened? And what the f**k were you doing outside of this Darkhaven?
Drink, Elise coaxed her charge, all but ignoring Tegan. Andreas, do you have a quiet room where Irina can lie down for a while?
Yes, of course, Reichen replied. There's a sitting room here on the first floor.
Thank you. That should be fine.
Tegan watched Elise taking control with a gentle command that came so easily to her. He had to admire her strength in the midst of obvious crisis, but damn it, he was fuming. You want to explain why you're standing here bruised and bathed in blood?
I went to see Irina this morning, Elise replied, still not troubling herself to meet his angry gaze. A Minion must have followed me--
"Jesus Christ."
He broke into Irina's town house and attacked us. I took care of it.
You took care of it, Tegan said darkly. What happened? Did you fight with the son of a bitch? Did you kill him?
I don't know. We didn't wait around to find out.
She took the glass of water away from Irina, who wasn't drinking much anyway, and set it down on the floor. Are you able to stand up now? she asked the woman, her voice caring and concerned. When the Breedmate nodded, Elise took her under the arm and helped her to her feet. We're going to walk you to another room where you can rest, all right? Allow me, Reichen said, smoothly moving in and taking Irina's slack weight onto himself. He gingerly guided her out of the foyer, toward a pair of open double doors off the grand entrance.
When Elise started to follow them, Tegan reached out and caught her by the hand. Elise. Wait.