Chapter 19: Vampire Inquisition
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“Are you okay?” Lucian asked Cassidy.
Lucian looked suspiciously at Nadja after Petru brought her to a stop in the middle of the U-shaped formation of tables.
“I’ve been better,” Cassidy grumbled back with a scowl on her face.
Cassidy looked back over her left shoulder and exchanged looks with David/Cristiãn and then watched as Nadja and Petru took seats in the two chairs to his right.
“I apologize for that,” Lucian returned pleasantly. “We will try to make this as comfortable for you as possible.”
“So, there’s a comfortable way of killing someone?” Cassidy questioned sarcastically. “That is what you’re planning to do with me?”
“Your future is something that we will be discussing at some point,” Lucian confessed in an apologetic tone. “But that’s not why you’re here now. Right now, you’re here to help us with a concern that we have with your investigation.”
Cassidy was immediately offended by his language. In her mind, they were murderers, one and all. The killing of the nine-people found in the Greenbelt was not a concern. It was an unconscionable crime. By her way of thinking, they were treating human beings like something disposable, and his verbiage supported her perception.
“Concern? So, killing people is not a crime, it’s a concern. You’re concerned that your nocturnal practices will be uncovered. Is that about right?”
“Not completely, Detective. We are concerned about the accusation that one or more of our members are killing mortals,” Lucian corrected. “But we’re not convinced that it’s true.”
“What more do you need?” Cassidy questioned with a look of amazement. “We dug up nine bodies that appear to have died of massive blood loss without any sign of an injury severe enough to account for it.”
Her report caused everyone present to go still and silent. The eyes of all present looked back and forth across the room to examine each other. A short moment later, Lucian broke the silence.
“That was not in the news reports.”
“The medical examiners were not able to confirm it because of the extreme decomposition of the bodies. And the absence of copious amounts of blood on the clothing has them hesitant to speculate that blood loss was the cause of death,” Cassidy explained. “But I assure you that blood loss and poisoning are the only two possibilities left.”
“So, you haven’t discounted poisoning?” Lucian asserted with a questioning inflection.
Cassidy felt no need to conceal the details of her investigation from anyone here. She was convinced that the killer or killers were in this room. And she suspected that anything she said or did that made her presence useful gave her a better chance of surviving this inquisition.
“Several of the victims had signs of unusual bite marks on their bones.” Cassidy explained.
Once again, the room went silent as the nineteen looked to each other for a moment. Cassidy paused briefly to view their reactions.
“You know this is the doing of someone here. Why are you denying it to me?”
“Contrary to what you clearly think of us, it is not our practice to go around killing mortals,” Lucian explained. “If your assertion is right, then someone here has broken with a pledge that he, she or they gave to all of us.”
“Fine, so what’s the penalty for that, double membership dues for a year?” Cassidy countered sarcastically.
Lucian showed no sign of amusement or offense by Cassidy’s sarcasm. He waited patiently for Cassidy to finish.
“No, Detective, the penalty is much more severe than that.”
“Lucian, she has nothing that proves this,” Dumitra asserted with a palms-up gesture. “We can’t turn upon one another based upon what this one mortal says.”
“I agree with Dumitra,” Adrianna supported. “We are all that is left of us.”
“Yes,” Flavia eagerly seconded. “We can get past this. Whoever did it just won’t do it anymore.”
“Do you think this is wise, Lucian?” Eugen asked with a concerned look. “There is the risk that this could put us at odds with each other.”
Eugen, a male vampire, was one of several here that came into the country solely for this meeting.
“Overlooking this breach could set a dangerous precedent,” Stefan jumped in to lecture with emphasis.
“And overreacting to it could lead to our undoing,” Sorin instantly disputed.
“Sorin is right,” Razvan agreed. “Staying united should be our first concern.”
“So, you would have us do nothing?” Stefan challenged with a stern look at Razvan.
“What else dare we do?” Adrianna questioned as though speaking the obvious. “This mortal knows nothing. And if one or some of us did these killings then he, she or they will surely think twice about doing it again. It’s over.”
“And what about the rest of you?” Lucian questioned. “Will you think twice, and what will be the result of that second thought. If there is no penalty, does the law exist at all?”
“Lucian, the woman is guessing,” Dumitra softly insisted. “There’s no evidence that those killings were done by anyone here.”
“Except for the fact that someone here tried to kill her,” David/Cristiãn countered with conviction.
“There is no proof that it was one of us,” Dumitra disputed sternly.
David/Cristiãn had no emotional or political investment in the argument. His sole concern was Cassidy’s wellbeing, which was the reason he brought up the matter. He had no doubt that two or more of them there had tried to kill Cassidy. And he feared they would try again if they survived this inquisition.
“I believe that it was,” David/Cristiãn defended stoically.
“You’re not thinking straight,” Razvan countered, quite perturbed.
David/Cristiãn was angered by the remark but did not challenge it. He had no compelling concern about who was responsible for the killings. His thoughts were focused on any argument that would extricate Cassidy from this deadly situation. That is why he gave Razvan a disapproving glare for a response.
“Detective Tremaine, do you have anything that proves someone here did these killings?” Lucian questioned politely.
“Maybe,” Cassidy returned with a hint of defiance. “But why should I tell you?”
“This is your investigation, Detective,” Lucian countered with a frown. “In case you missed it, we’re trying to find the killer too.”
“And what happens to me when you find the killer?”
Cassidy had no expectations of Lucian’s answer to her question. She did not think any help she provided to their discovery was going to affect her situation. She just knew that she had to use any and every stratagem available to her.
“That hasn’t been decided yet,” Lucian mildly replied.
“I was told you already have,” Cassidy sharply countered.
Cristiãn and Lucian briefly glanced at Nadja after hearing that last remark.
“It is within our power to make you forget everything that has happened here,” Lucian calmly assured.
“But it’s a risk,” Cassidy challenged, “a risk you’re not sure you’re willing to take.”
Once again Cristiãn and Lucian turned their eyes on Nadja. She responded to Cristiãn’s look with a stone-faced expression.
“This is a waste of time,” Stefan roared into the brief silence that filled the room. “If she knew anything, we would have heard it already.”
“What if I can tell you who the killer is,” Cassidy argued back at Stefan.
“Do you know who the killer is?” Stefan challenged without delay.
After hearing his question, Cassidy hesitated for a moment and gave Stefan a hard stare.
“I can find out.”
Stefan returned her stare for a moment then dismissed her claim by addressing the group.
“She’s just stalling for time.”
Cassidy turned to look at Lucian with an expression of desperation.
“What’s it worth to you? I tell you who the killer is and…” Cassidy paused and looked to David/Cristiãn with fright. “You take the risk.”
Lucian suddenly stood and gazed at Cassidy for a moment.
“You forget, Detective Tremaine,” Lucian spoke as he rose from his chair. “I don’t have to barter for anything I want from you.”
David/Cristiãn instantly stood up from his chair and tensed. Stefan immediately reacted to Cristiãn by rising from his chair and going rigid. Petru and Nadja, in turn, stood and tensed at the ready. The remaining fourteen vampires showed no interest in being involved in the unfolding drama. They noted the heightened tension with shifting glances, but no one moved to intervene.
“Wait!” Cassidy called out with her hands up in front of her. “I can tell you who the killer is: but I need my phone.”
Cassidy pointed to her cellphone that was still atop Lucian’s table along with her gun. Lucian, Stefan and many of the other vampires gave it and Cassidy a suspicious look. A couple of seconds later Stefan responded to her request.
“We’re not giving her the cellphone,” Stefan insisted with a look that suggested he thought the request was absurd.
Lucian ignored Stefan’s comment and casually directed his next words to Cassidy.
“I’m afraid that’s not going to happen, Detective.”
“If you want to know who is responsible for those killings then you’re going to have to give me my cellphone,” Cassidy argued.
“This is ridiculous,” Dumitra blurted out. “What could she have on her cellphone? She just wants to call for help.”
“If she knew who did the killings she would have said so.” Razvan supported.
“I don’t know who did the killings,” Cassidy argued at Razvan. “But I have a way of finding out. I need my cellphone to do that,” Cassidy insisted as she turned her attention back to Lucian.
Lucian gazed steadily at Cassidy, then he picked her cellphone up from the table.
“Tell me,” Lucian instructed as he held up the cellphone.
Cassidy realized that Lucian was not going to allow her to hold the cellphone. She breathed out a sigh of frustration, and then submitted to the condition.
“Log into the phone, 2-2-9-7-1-5.”
Lucian paused a moment, then complied with her instructions. Shortly, the cellphone screen was illuminated. Lucian showed the screen to Cassidy.
“Now what?”
“Tap the messaging app at the top left corner of the screen,” Cassidy answered.
Lucian paused again to consider the request and then did as he was told. When a list of messages appeared on the screen, he gave them a glance and then looked up at Cassidy.
“Okay, next?”
“There should be a message in there from Nina Chan,” Cassidy answered. “It’s probably at the top of the list.”
“Yes, I see it,” Lucian replied after a brief look at the phone.
“Open it,” Cassidy directed.
Lucian did this with a touch of his finger. He then took a moment to read it to himself.
“What does it say?” Cassidy asked when she noted that he had read it to himself.
“Here is the phone number,” Lucian read aloud as he looked down at the cellphone. “And there’s a phone number beneath the message.”
Lucian gave Cassidy a what-next-look after reading the message, and her response was concise.
“Touch the number with your finger to dial it.”
Lucian paused to consider this instruction before asking the question his contemplation produced.
“What does this number connect to?”
“The killer,” Cassidy answered with a furrowed brow and a shrug. “If I’m right, that call is going to ring into a cellphone belonging to someone in this room.”
A stunned silence filled the room for several seconds. Confused expressions covered the faces of most there. Many eyes searched for the face of someone there who understood what Cassidy meant. Dumitra boisterously broke the silence with a look of incredulity.
“So, what! She knows one of our cellphone numbers. This is supposed to be her proof that one of us did these killings?”
All eyes turned back toward Cassidy. She slowly scanned the faces of the occupants in the room, bringing her attention to a stop on Lucian’s face.
“Albert Haynes and Andrew Lantz had one thing in common that caught my attention,” Cassidy began with a fixed stare at Lucian. “They used prepaid cellphones that were only used to call other prepaid cellphones. We were never able to find out who owned those other cellphones. But we did find a pattern. And we found something else.”
Cassidy paused, holding her stare on Lucian before continuing.
“Within the last month before Albert Haynes’ death, he made two calls to a prepaid cellphone that was inside this club. We learned that the cellphone he called couldn’t be tracked because it’s no longer in service, but we did track down the store from where that cellphone was purchased. After that, we collected the metadata records from every cellphone sold from that store over the previous three months.”
Once again Cassidy paused to give weight to her words, and then she continued.
“When we cross matched those call records with Albert Haynes’ phone records, we learned that he made or received calls from two other prepaid phones from that store. We also found a cellphone from that store that’s active now and that has the same metadata pattern. It only makes and receives phone calls from other anonymous prepaid cellphones.”
Cassidy paused again to make sure Lucian understood what she was saying. She then continued to explain.
“And I tracked that cellphone here.”
Cassidy came to a stop and studied Lucian for his reaction. He and the other eighteen vampires in the room were stunned by her report. Eyes shifted back and forth between them. The silence between them lasted for little more than a quarter of a minute, and then Cassidy added a final remark.
“All you have to do is dial that number.”
Lucian looked from Cassidy to the cellphone in his hand. He paused to think about what he was about to do. He was an instant away from initiating the call when Razvan spoke up.
“Think about what you’re doing, Lucian. If what this mortal says is true, then you could undo our alliance with that call. We are all that is left of us. We have come a long way together. Knowing could do more harm than good.”
“I agree,” Sorin spoke up in support. “A warning may be enough to end this behavior.”
There were looks and nods of agreement from most of the vampires. Stefan and Helga appeared decidedly opposed to a mere warning. Radu and Flavia were quick to nod their heads in support of it. Adriana indicated a tacit agreement with a slight nod of her head. Lucian considered Razvan and Sorin’s views a moment
“And doing nothing may convince another that the rules mean nothing. How do we prevent this from happening tomorrow if we don’t enforce the rule today?”
Lucian scanned all the faces in the room to see if they understood his point.
“We made a covenant. We all knew what could happen if we did not abide by it. And we know what we promised to do if anyone broke with this covenant.”
Lucian gave the faces in the room another slow scan and then continued to speak.
“If we do not enforce the covenant, then we run the risk of it being ignored altogether.”
Lucian gave the room another slow scan. Most everyone in the room appeared to be noncommittal either way. Stefan and Helga continued to appear to be in support of enforcing the covenant. David/Cristiãn, Nadja and Petru appeared disinterested in whatever the decision. Cassidy continued to hold her focus on Lucian as she waited for him to press his finger to the cellphone. Several seconds into his examination of the room, Lucian initiated the call.
All ears suddenly listened for the ringing of a cellphone. All eyes searched the room for a reaction by another person. For a long moment, there was silence. Everyone was starting to believe that nothing was going to happen when a faint vibrating sound resounded into the quiet that filled the room. The vibrating pulsated on and off. Soon the eyes and ears furthest from it traced the sound to a general area. Those closes to it turned their eyes to the person the sound was coming from.
“Razvan,” Lucian called out after seeing that he was at the center of everyone’s attention.
For a brief moment, Razvan returned Lucian’s look with a smirk and a scowl. Then he stood and turned his attention to Cassidy.
“I should have broken your neck in that warehouse.”
Dumitra stood up behind his statement and directed her scowl at Cassidy.
“You missed your chance,” Cassidy returned with satisfaction and defiance.
Razvan burned his stare into Cassidy for a couple of seconds before responding to her retort.
“Don’t count on it, Detective.”
There was a moment of silence behind this exchange, and then Lucian spoke.
“Dumitra, you too?”
“The covenant is dead, Lucian,” Dumitra exclaimed with brazen rebellion, “dead like the world we left behind. We should not be restrained by rules from a different era—none of us!”
“We agreed to continue the covenant,” Lucian roared back at her.
“That is before we knew about this time… this world,” Razvan decried.
Razvan stepped around his table and stopped in front of it. Cassidy instinctively moved two steps back. David/Cristiãn took a step forward in her defense. Razvan ignored their movements. He panned his attention across the many faces in the room. Several seconds later, he spoke again.
“The rules have changed. We are no longer limited by an inherited social class. In this time, we can have anything we want—everything we want.”
Razvan paused to blaze a scan around the room.
“This is a time when the market rules all, and we have the ultimate commodity—immortality,” Razvan finished forcefully.
“You’re mad, Razvan,” David/Cristiãn inserted into the conversation with insistence. “You know what will happen. That has not changed.”
“It has changed,” Razvan disputed, suddenly clenching his fist. “There is no controlling us in this time. There is no stopping us.”
“You’re wrong,” Lucian returned with a look of incredulity. “Things will go back to the way they were before. But this time the mortals will turn the world upside down to rid themselves of us.”
“Is that what you’re afraid of, Lucian,” Dumitra challenged coolly. “Or are you afraid of losing your station as the leader of our small band.”
Lucian showed no sign that he was offended by the slight, but Stefan’s passive expression promptly turned into a grimace. Razvan took advantage of the silence that her remark created and turned about to examine everyone in the room.
“This is our time,” Razvan pleaded. “We make the rules. There’s an opportunity here, and we need to seize it.”
Razvan looked around him to see if his passion had roused the other vampires to his side. In most of the faces he saw noncommittal expressions, and in the others, he saw rejection. After a moment of silence, Lucian turned his attention to all in the room with a slow pan and began to speak solemnly.
“Razvan and Dumitra knew the risk and took it. They endangered us all and broke with the covenant that we all agreed to. The covenant is more important than any one or two of us. It has been the means of our survival for more than 100 years before we came to this time. If we do not protect the covenant, we cannot expect it to protect us.”
Lucian paused and scanned the faces of all around, then he made a final declaration.
“I vote for death.”
Seconds after casting his vote, Lucian began to look around the room for the decision of the others. Elisabeta followed the lead of her mate after a look from him. Stefan and Helga were quick to add their votes to the termination column. After these the votes came slower. The remaining thirteen vampires submitted their votes with varied degrees of reluctance, but all acquiesced to the decision of the first four. Razvan and Dumitra took note of the voting with shock.
When the last vote was casted, Lucian turned to Stefan and gave him an instruction with a gesture of his head. Stefan moved over to the stage and picked up a decorative polished red oak case with brass handles—five-feet long by ten-inches wide by five-inches thick—and four matching hinges and two matching latches. He brought the case to Lucian’s table, set it down there and unlatched it. Stefan gently swung open the lid until it was lying flat on the table. Inside, cradled in a black cashmere cushion, was a stainless-steel broadsword with a decorative brass handle. The sight of it provoked instant shock and silence from everyone within the room. After a moment, Razvan spoke up without any sign of distress.
“This is not going to happen.”
“Razvan,” Lucian stressed as he began his retort. “You knew the consequences when you started down this path.”
Dumitra stepped around the table to stand by her mate. Her face was a mask of incensed anger. Several other vampires in the room rose to their feet in response to the heightened tension. Dumitra nervously glanced around to see who among them were prepared to assist Lucian and Stefan in this execution.
“Yes, Lucian,” Razvan softly countered with an undercurrent of defiance. “I knew what the consequence could be. That is why I prepared for this day.”
No one except Dumitra seemed to know what Razvan meant. Everyone looked at him with questioning expressions as they waited for clarification. Their eyes followed his movement as he reached inside his pants pocket and pulled out his smartphone. He held it up for a moment so that all could see it, and then began to speak quite glibly.
“This is my smartphone. I love these things. They can do so many things—hold a thousand songs—movies. It’s a library in your pocket. Oh, and email—I love email.”
“Where are you going with this, Razvan?” Lucian asked with a frown.
“It’s my turn to make a call,” Razvan countered with a smile.
Razvan took a few seconds to negotiate the keypad on his smartphone, then he held it up for all to see once again.
“I’ve just sent an email to all of you,” Razvan announced to the room. “I think you should read it before you do something that you’ll regret.”
Every other vampire in the Cavern’s main room, except Dumitra, was confused by Razvan’s words. Momentarily, each of them retrieved their smartphones to examine the email they had just received. The bustle of movement came to a stop when all of them arrived at the same email with a file attachment. After silently examining the file’s contents, Lucian looked up with a stunned expression.
“What is this?”
“That’s you,” Razvan answered in a casual voice. “That’s all of you,” he continued as he looked around the room. “That is why you’re not going to kill us.”
Lucian looked at the email for a few seconds more, and then he looked up at Razvan with a new question.
“You’ve been keeping files on us?”
“I’ve been compiling files on all of you for more than thirty years,” Razvan answered casually. “You’re looking at those files right now.”
Razvan paused to give weight to his revelation, which brought a shocked silence to the room.
“You’re right, I did know the consequence and I took steps to make sure that when we died, you would all share our fate.”
Razvan paused again and watched as Lucian returned to examining the file attachment that came with the email. He then began to respond to possible questions he suspected Lucian may be contemplating.
“It’s all in there, names, addresses, photos, fingerprints—blood test reports. It’s all in there and it all goes public if we’re not here to stop it.”
Every vampire in the room was shocked to hear Razvan’s words. Another four of their number stood up in response. It was more than a betrayal; it was a threat to the existence of all of them. Every vampire there knew that such a study would expose them to the mortals if it ever went public. They all had at least one previous identity over the course of the past thirty years. And they all knew that their blood had distinct differences from that of mortals.
“I can’t believe you did this,” Lucian complained incredulously.
“You say this even though a minute ago you were ready to cut off our heads,” Dumitra roared back at him with rage.
“We made a pack!” Stefan growled into the debate. “You pledged to abide by the covenant!”
“The covenant is no more, Lucian,” Razvan insisted. “I will no longer be controlled by old rules. We are free of your covenant, Lucian.”
As he continued to speak, Razvan turned about and considered the eyes of every vampire in the room, one after the other.
“We are all free,” Razvan loudly stressed with defiance. “We are Strigoi, and this time—this world is ours to do with as we please. The rules of the past are no longer relevant.”
“You are mad, Razvan,” David/Cristiãn shouted with amazement. “The covenant is more important now than it ever was.”
“Stop whining for these mortals, Cristiãn,” Razvan growled as he turned toward his critic with a glare of rage. “They’re food—not pets.”
“You know what will happen,” David/Cristiãn disputed in a strident voice. “We cannot do this.”
“That was in the past,” Razvan retorted without hesitation. “This is a different time—a different world. Things will be different this time.”
“Yes, they will be worst,” David/Cristiãn argued with a look of wide-eyed amazement. “…much worst.”
“I agree,” Lucian bellowed into the debate. “Sooner or later the mortals will turn on us.”
“By then it will be too late,” Razvan countered with confidence.
Lucian had no immediate response to his words, nor did anyone else in the room. They all knew what Razvan meant by that statement, and none of them could be sure he was wrong in his assessment. Cassidy watched and listened to their debate with interest. She had no idea what the logic was behind most of their remarks, but she was eager to learn what was meant by them. She hoped that the discussion would continue, but the prolonged silence that followed Razvan’s last remark suggested an end was near.
“Who’s with us?” Razvan questioned all within the room.
There were shrugs and glances in response to his query, but no one stepped forward. Razvan briefly waited for someone to respond, then he turned his attention to Lucian.
“Now what, Lucian? What will you do?”
Lucian gave his question some thought. He examined the expressions of everyone there and noted that they were waiting on his reply. He glanced momentarily at his cellphone, then he looked at Razvan as he spoke.
“Don’t do this, Razvan. This behavior endangers us all.”
“I am Strigoi!” Razvan declared with defiance and relief. “I will no longer suppress what I was meant to be.”
There were expressions of relief by some, rage by some and indifference by others. Lucian held an angry stare on Razvan, then he matched his temperament.
“Get out, Razvan!”
A look of relief quickly spread across Dumitra’s face. She looked to Razvan with a faint smile on her face, and then she took his arm as she proceeded to leave.
“Let’s go.”
Razvan held his ground despite Dumitra’s urging. He casually turned his eyes to Cristiãn and held them there. Then he turned his eyes on Cassidy.
“She comes with me,” Razvan announced to the surprise of most and David’s/Cristiãn’s shock.
His demand took Cassidy by surprise and propelled her into wide-eyed shock, and Dumitra was nearly as surprised as she. Why her mate wanted to take Cassidy with them was a mystery to her.
“She’s not going anywhere with you,” David/Cristiãn proclaimed unconditionally.
Razvan was unimpressed by David’s/Cristiãn’s refusal to let Cassidy leave with him. He gave David/Cristiãn an indifferent glance and then turned his attention to Lucian.
“Detective Tremaine comes with me,” Razvan spoke with gentle insistence.
“Why? What do you want with her?” Lucian queried back.
“It’s not happening,” David/Cristiãn instantly countermanded.
Razvan ignored David’s/Cristiãn’s remark and kept his attention focused on Lucian as he responded to his query.
“I have a use for her.”
“And why should I care?” Lucian countered angrily.
“If I fail in my felonious pastimes… if I get caught or killed, it will come back on all of you. I need her to make sure that doesn’t happen.”
“Like I said, she’s not going anywhere with you,” David/Cristiãn roared into the discourse.
Lucian turned his head and looked at Cassidy as he considered Razvan’s request.
“I will… take care of her when I’m done,” Razvan delicately said to answer the question he suspected Lucian was thinking.
“You’re not taking her,” David/Cristiãn grumbled with anger.
Razvan kept his attention on Lucian as he waited for his answer. After several seconds of consideration, he gave Razvan a go-ahead nod.
“No!” David/Cristiãn roared while rushing toward Cassidy’s side.
In that same instant, Lucian lunged forward to intercept Cristiãn, ramming into his chest and bringing him to a sudden stop. Lucian’s proximity to Cassidy made his intercept an easy maneuver. David/Cristiãn shoved Lucian aside with some effort and started toward Cassidy again, but before he could reach her, Stefan rammed into him from his left. With Lucian’s help, they forced Cristiãn off course. The three of them tumbled onto and over the two tables Lucian had occupied. Elisabeta and Helga quickly backed away from the scuffle and the sudden flow of tumbling tables and chairs.
Petru quickly stood up to come to David’s/Cristiãn’s aid but drew back when Eugen and Sorin stood up in response to his action. David/Cristiãn continued to struggle and twisted away from Lucian and Stefan’s restraining grasps. Before he could extricate himself, Augustus, the largest of all the vampires there, dove into the fray and helped Lucian and Stefan pin him to the floor. David/Cristiãn continued to squirm under their restraints while repeatedly calling out, “let me go.”
“You’re with me,” Dumitra spoke with a smile as she stepped over to confront Cassidy.
“I’m not going anywhere with you,” Cassidy declared, taking a step back.
Cassidy prepared herself for a fight. She looked to Nadja and Petru to see if they were going to assist her or David/Cristiãn. They appeared uncommitted to any plan of action. As Cassidy turned her attention back to Dumitra, she began to lose all awareness of the here and now.
“Razvan!” David/Cristiãn yelled with rage from his pinned position on the floor. “Don’t do this.”
Razvan only looked at David/Cristiãn then turned and started for the vestibule and the front entrance. Dumitra followed him with a mindless Cassidy by her side, guided along with a gentle tug of her arm. When Razvan stepped into the vestibule entryway, David/Cristiãn called after him with fury in his voice.
“Razvan, if you hurt her, I’ll tear your head off your shoulders.”
Razvan allowed Dumitra and Cassidy to precede him, then he looked back for a moment at Lucian, Stefan, Augustus and David/Cristiãn’s tangled bodies. Several seconds later, he turned and followed Dumitra and Cassidy into the vestibule.
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and then Add to home screen.