Chapter 198
Granger sat behind his desk, quietly poring over some papers by lamplight. The rest of the hotel was as busy as ever. At the sound of footsteps outside of his door, Granger looked up, but when they passed by, his eyes went back to the documents.
He was on edge, anxious. His teeth chomped down on the end of his pipe, but it wasn’t lit. Christian watched him from the shadows outside of his office window, waiting for the perfect time. He didn’t want Granger to die anxious. He wanted the bastard to be completely relaxed, not to see it coming at all, the way he’d been when Brandy had stabbed him, carrying out orders for this son of a bitch.
The majority of the dozen or so Hunters and Guardians that had stayed loyal to Granger were out looking for Morris and a couple of others who’d agreed to help Jess. So far, they hadn’t caught up to them from what Christian could tell, or else, they would’ve turned back by now. Morris was from Pennsylvania, so he didn’t have a lot of friends out here who would help him, but he was smart. He’d find a way to hide. Jess had filled him in that no one had been told that Christian was dead, only that he was missing. That was good because he wanted to keep knowledge of the existence of the Blue Moon Portal as limited as possible.
The three of Granger’s men that had stayed behind to protect him, two Hunters and a Guardian, were patrolling the hotel, looking for any signs that Jess or one of the others had returned to the establishment in an attempt to end Granger. They were walking around outside in a predictable pattern. It wouldn’t take long at all to take them out of the picture, if Christian chose to do that. He couldn’t kill any of them, and neither he nor Jess could kill the Hunters, but they could be incapacitated. His hope was that they would realize their error as soon as Granger was dead, but then, they had likely helped with Brandy’s execution, in which case, they deserved to be dead, too. Maybe he’d let Jess kill the Guardian and take the Hunters down to the Vampires in the basement--once Granger was taken care of.
A storm was brewing on the horizon, which seemed fitting. Lightning lit the clouds, splintering down behind the distant trees; a rumble shook the hotel. The lone Guardian, Tyler, made his pass around Granger’s office. It would be three minutes before Lyle came around again, followed about four minutes later by Jane. Now was as good a time as ever to end this.
He wanted Granger to see him. He wanted to see the fear in the man’s eyes when he realized he’d screwed up. He wanted to see the terror behind his irises when it registered that he was about to meet his demise.
Moving with the speed and intensity only someone of his kind could do, Christian threw up the window behind Granger and passed through, putting it down silently. For now, Jess would stay outside. When he needed him, his friend would be there. At the moment, he wanted to see Granger face-to-face. Alone.
The boss sensed someone was standing behind him before he turned his fat head to look. He took a deep breath, his exhale catching slightly as nerves bubbled up inside of him, and then he gazed over his shoulder, as if he knew there was no cause for alarm. It wasn’t until he was facing forward again that it registered that something was very wrong.
The second turn was much, much slower. His eyes were wide, and his mouth was agape when he turned to double-check what his mind had told him he’d seen. This time, he did not turn back around. Instead, he stared into the shadows where Christian standing just to further confuse him, and gawked at the man he’d ordered butchered.
“What’s the matter, Granger? Out of clever remarks to make?” Christian asked, his voice nothing but a growl.
“You… you can’t be here,” the Guardian said, swiveling his chair around and pushing it backward. It hit the desk and went no further. “You’re… dead.”
“Better look again,” Christian replied, taking a measured step forward. “For someone who’s dead… I seem to be awfully alive.”
“But… that’s impossible!” Granger stammered. “I know you were dead! I saw the body myself!”
“And yet… here I am.” Christian shrugged and took a few more steps closer. He knew that Lyle would be by momentarily. Granger knew it, too. His eyes went to the window.
Christian took the split second distraction as an opportunity to launch himself across the room at the other Guardian, utilizing the rope he’d brought and moving so quickly, he was able to loop it around the pudgy man, keeping him from getting out of the chair. He twisted the rope tight with one hand while preventing Granger from screaming with his other hand. It would’ve been kinder to shove something in the bastard’s mouth, but ramming his fist into the side of his jaw hard enough to pop the mandible out of its socket was more pleasurable. Granger squealed, his head dropping back as Christian made short work of attaching him to the chair. Now that he wasn’t going anywhere, it would be safer to secure his mouth. He took a dirty bandana from his pocket, one he’d raked through fresh horse manure on his way in, and tied it around Granger’s mouth, being sure his lips were parted so he could get as much out of the experience as possible.
