Air of Seduction (Elemental Enforcers #3)

Chapter 6

Ronan

I quickly scan what I can see of the interior of the house before I cross the threshold. It’s worn but tidy.

The narrow hall is partly filled up by the stairs going up to the second floor. The door at the end of the hall is open to what looks to be a kitchen bathed in natural light.

I take another step. The door to the front room is closed, but I doubt there’s a vampire hiding in there, since I could make out the interior of the room from outside through the thin curtains.

So, that leaves the upstairs, and if there is one, the basement.

I make my way to the door beneath the stairs and open it carefully. The space is filled with shelves of all kinds of junk, but there are no stairs going down to a basement. I squat and examine the floor but can’t find a trapdoor.

Getting to my feet, I look at the people behind me and shake my head. I then close the door and make my way slowly into the kitchen.

The room is deserted, and there are no dirty dishes in the sink. Whoever was there last cleaned up after themselves.

There are no other doors in the room except the one I just came through and the door to the backyard. The floor is smooth without any crevices to indicate a trapdoor to a hidden basement.

Turning around, I lock eyes with Payton, who’s standing in the doorway. Her eyes are wide, no doubt anxious to find her friend. And so am I.

Giving her a small smile, I walk up to her and take her hand. I shouldn’t be touching her like this, but I can’t seem to help myself. Particularly not when she looks scared or unhappy.

Giving myself a mental shake, I point behind her to indicate where we’re going next.

She takes a step to the side, and I let go of her hand before I squeeze past her and continue past Lucas and Erica to the door to the front room.

I’ve just lifted my hand to open it when something creaks upstairs like someone just put their foot down on the wrong floorboard. Or it could be something else. An open window moving in the breeze perhaps. It’s impossible to be sure before we check the rooms upstairs.

I turn my head and look up the stairs. I can’t see much of the second-floor landing from where I’m standing, so someone might easily be hiding up there. And if they’re aware we’re here, they might jump us as soon as we reach the top of the stairs.

Fuck. I’m torn about what to do next. I should check the front room before we make our way to the second floor, just to make sure no one is hiding there who can come up behind us when we go upstairs. But what if someone comes barreling down the stairs as soon as I disappear into the front room?

Lucas and Erica are right behind Payton, and rationally, I know they are perfectly capable of protecting her if something happens. But the thought that someone might hurt her because I wasn’t close enough to get to her in time makes my chest feel tight.

Stop it. Forcing my concern to the back of my mind, I open the door. I know it’s the correct thing to do.

The room is as empty as I expected, but unlike the kitchen, there are used plates and cups on the table. And judging from what’s left on them, they’ve been there for a lot longer than a day or two. But I’m not sure that tells us anything about the current occupants of the house, if there are any.

As soon as I’ve checked the walls and the floor for an entrance to the basement, which there isn’t, I return to the hall where the others are waiting.

Lucas raises an eyebrow at me in question, and I shake my head to tell him I didn’t find anything. Then, I point up the stairs.

He nods, and my gaze drops to Payton. But as soon as I see her anxiously biting her lip, I almost groan. Yanking my gaze away, I have to physically force myself to turn around and move toward the stairs.

My whole body is shaking with the need to take her into my arms and tell her not to worry. What’s wrong with me? I’ve never felt like this before, not even with Patricia. I care about people, but I’m not this soft.

I move slowly and silently up the stairs. There’s no point rushing, since I have to assume whoever is up there already knows we’re here.

My gaze constantly scans the upstairs landing as it comes into view. But there’s no one there. No one to greet us or ambush us.

There are three doors leading to other rooms, one of which I assume is a bathroom. There’s also a staircase leading to the third floor.

I carefully open each door in turn and check the rooms, but like downstairs, there’s no one here. Which leaves the third floor and possibly an attic.

Someone lets out a dejected sigh behind me, but I don’t turn around. I know it’s Payton without looking, and I also know I won’t be able to refrain from consoling her this time. So, it’s better for everyone, or at least for me, that I don’t turn around and see the fear and sadness in her eyes.

I move up the stairs while I listen for any sounds to indicate someone is waiting for us. But the landing is empty with another three closed doors.

Lifting my gaze to the ceiling, I nod to myself. There’s a hatch leading to an attic and another possible hiding place. Although, I doubt a vampire would want to stay up there during the day. It’s the room in the house closest to the sun, and it can get quite hot when our local star shines on the dark roof. But we’ll check it just in case the rooms on this floor are empty.

My muscles bunch in preparation as I push the first door open. But again there’s no one. It seems we might be in for a disappointment checking this house. According to Callum, Barry and Olivia stayed here yesterday, but they don’t seem to be here today.

I move to the next door and push it open with a sigh. I barely have time to catch the movement to my right before a foot connects with my sternum, knocking the breath out of me.

Trying to draw breath into my lungs, I stumble. But I still see the fist coming my way, and I lean to the side just in time to grab it and use his momentum to pull him forward as I back out of the room.

It’s his turn to stumble this time, and his face meets my knee with a crunch that would be sickening if I hadn’t been at this game for a long time.

After dropping him to the floor, I put my knee on his spine and twist both his arms back. I get a sense of deja vu when I notice this is the same guy I took down in the alley before his friend threatened to kill Payton if I didn’t let him go.

“Olivia?”

The sound of Payton shouting her friend’s name inside the room I just backed out of, makes me snap my head around. What the fuck? She was supposed to wait.

Lucas is already entering the room after her, but he stops dead not two feet from the door. There’s a growl from someone I can’t see, and Payton lets out a scream.

Without hesitation, I lift my knee off the vampire beneath me, before I drive it down into his spine. He gasps when his back snaps like a twig. He will heal, but it will take a few minutes before he can stand on his own two feet again.

I throw myself into the room but immediately freeze when I see the malicious grin on the face of the man who’s got Payton in a chokehold in front of him. The same man who knocked her head against the brick wall in the alley.

Payton’s eyes are wide with fear so stark it’s almost tangible.

My heart slams against my ribs, like a wild animal desperate to get out of its cage. This is exactly what I wanted to avoid. Precisely why I didn’t want Payton to come with us at all.