They’d hopedto concrete them in eventually, just as they’d already done with the outlying exit, but time had caught up with them.
Will studied the exit and saw nothing amiss, but a snuffling sound from the top of the hatch halted him. He cocked his head and inhaled. Vampires directly overhead. And something else. Not vampire or human, but…
He looked up sharply at the sound of a long, baying bark, followed by more snuffling and yips. Matthias had brought in fucking dogs, and if they hadn’t found the hatch yet, they were close. Scanning the exit room, Will’s gaze lit on a can of paint, left over from some of the interior work.
He pried open the lid and looked around but saw no sign of a paintbrush.
Shit
. He climbed halfway up the ladder, dipped his hand in the can, and lifted out a palmful of “Satiny Sage.” It had just the strong paint odor he wanted, and he spread a thick coat of it around the hatch entrance. He didn’t know if it would be strong enough to throw off a scent, but God knew Matthias had access to enough of the town’s clothing and personal items to give the hounds a boost.
Scraping off as much paint as he could along the rungs of the ladder, he descended. The noises of the dogs had disappeared, and he no longer scented their presence beneath the cloying odor of the paint.
One thing was clear, though. Matthias was close. They needed two heavily armed guards in this exit room around-the-clock. Vampires couldn’t stage a raid during daylight hours, but humans could, and Matthias had plenty of money to make it worth their time.
Finally satisfied that the immediate threat had ended, Will reentered Omega and locked the steel door behind him.
The entrance to Randa and Liv’s room stood ajar, and he paused in the hallway. His first instinct was to keep walking; he didn’t want a confrontation. Talking about Shelton had brought up a lot of heavy baggage he’d been ignoring for a long time, and he wanted to discuss security with Mirren. But after last night, he’d at least progressed enough with Randa that he didn’t want to go on solo patrol and leave her behind. Asking her to join him in talking to Mirren might help make up for previous bad behavior.
And if Randa wasn’t in there, maybe Liv was. His feeder was another problem he needed to handle. He’d never led her on, never made her think there was a chance for them being mated, but he knew she wanted it. And he’d been a real asshole lately. Time to suck it up and be honest with her.
Truth was, this whole business with his father had dealt him all he could handle, and Liv would never be more than a casual feeder. She was an enthusiastic lover, but she bored him outside the sheets. Lately, even under the sheets. Maybe it was time for them to have “the talk,” the one where he gave her the
we’ll-always-have-Penton
speech.
He pushed the door open wider, but Liv and Randa were nowhere in sight, only a brunette with one of those short, choppy haircuts, sitting at a small table with her back to the door. A pretty brunette staring into a mirror with a horrified look on her face. Will had thought he knew all the Penton residents at least by sight, especially the ones who’d gone into Omega. This one, he didn’t know.
“Oh!” The woman spotted him in the mirror and turned a wide-eyed face to his.
Holy shit.
“Randa?”
R anda’s new haircut had been nothing more than an impulsive whack of scissors. The dye job had been courtesy of Liv, whose natural hair color turned out to be a mousy light brown, and she’d had the foresight, or vanity, to move a box of hair dye into Omega with her clothing.
It was a girly kind of fun Randa had seen others have but had never enjoyed herself. Her mom died when she was a kid, and with a military dad and four brothers,
girly
didn’t play well in the Thomas household. She and Liv had made a mess and giggled, and it had been a big release of stress and pressure.
Until Liv went off in search of
Will studied the exit and saw nothing amiss, but a snuffling sound from the top of the hatch halted him. He cocked his head and inhaled. Vampires directly overhead. And something else. Not vampire or human, but…
He looked up sharply at the sound of a long, baying bark, followed by more snuffling and yips. Matthias had brought in fucking dogs, and if they hadn’t found the hatch yet, they were close. Scanning the exit room, Will’s gaze lit on a can of paint, left over from some of the interior work.
He pried open the lid and looked around but saw no sign of a paintbrush.
Shit
. He climbed halfway up the ladder, dipped his hand in the can, and lifted out a palmful of “Satiny Sage.” It had just the strong paint odor he wanted, and he spread a thick coat of it around the hatch entrance. He didn’t know if it would be strong enough to throw off a scent, but God knew Matthias had access to enough of the town’s clothing and personal items to give the hounds a boost.
Scraping off as much paint as he could along the rungs of the ladder, he descended. The noises of the dogs had disappeared, and he no longer scented their presence beneath the cloying odor of the paint.
One thing was clear, though. Matthias was close. They needed two heavily armed guards in this exit room around-the-clock. Vampires couldn’t stage a raid during daylight hours, but humans could, and Matthias had plenty of money to make it worth their time.
Finally satisfied that the immediate threat had ended, Will reentered Omega and locked the steel door behind him.
The entrance to Randa and Liv’s room stood ajar, and he paused in the hallway. His first instinct was to keep walking; he didn’t want a confrontation. Talking about Shelton had brought up a lot of heavy baggage he’d been ignoring for a long time, and he wanted to discuss security with Mirren. But after last night, he’d at least progressed enough with Randa that he didn’t want to go on solo patrol and leave her behind. Asking her to join him in talking to Mirren might help make up for previous bad behavior.
And if Randa wasn’t in there, maybe Liv was. His feeder was another problem he needed to handle. He’d never led her on, never made her think there was a chance for them being mated, but he knew she wanted it. And he’d been a real asshole lately. Time to suck it up and be honest with her.
Truth was, this whole business with his father had dealt him all he could handle, and Liv would never be more than a casual feeder. She was an enthusiastic lover, but she bored him outside the sheets. Lately, even under the sheets. Maybe it was time for them to have “the talk,” the one where he gave her the
we’ll-always-have-Penton
speech.
He pushed the door open wider, but Liv and Randa were nowhere in sight, only a brunette with one of those short, choppy haircuts, sitting at a small table with her back to the door. A pretty brunette staring into a mirror with a horrified look on her face. Will had thought he knew all the Penton residents at least by sight, especially the ones who’d gone into Omega. This one, he didn’t know.
“Oh!” The woman spotted him in the mirror and turned a wide-eyed face to his.
Holy shit.
“Randa?”
R anda’s new haircut had been nothing more than an impulsive whack of scissors. The dye job had been courtesy of Liv, whose natural hair color turned out to be a mousy light brown, and she’d had the foresight, or vanity, to move a box of hair dye into Omega with her clothing.
It was a girly kind of fun Randa had seen others have but had never enjoyed herself. Her mom died when she was a kid, and with a military dad and four brothers,
girly
didn’t play well in the Thomas household. She and Liv had made a mess and giggled, and it had been a big release of stress and pressure.
Until Liv went off in search of
Similar Books
