Her breathing turned to panting, but she kept up despite the pain he knew she felt. Her stamina was amazing as they scrambled over a high brick wall and landed on a vast lawn.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Max groaned as Nathan rounded the corner of a small shed.

“Wait. He has been here before. I can smell him.” Bella’s nostrils flared and she clamped a hand over her mouth. “And I smell death.”

They crept to the huge house, a stucco monster with Spanish tiles and creeping ivy. There were no lights, save for a candle in one of the ground-floor windows. Max motioned for Bella to follow him to the back door.

The impressive oak panel wasn’t locked. It led to a small, three-season room with a mosaic floor and a veritable arboretum of plants. He stumbled over something in the dark and swore quietly.

“What is that?” Bella covered her nose with her sleeve.

Max gave the bulky shape a kick, producing a sickening, dull sound. “I’d say the former owners of this place.”

“How many?” She squatted beside him and lifted an arm with a frown. It came completely free of the pile and she dropped it with a gasp.

Max did a quick check. “Two heads.”

“That is impossible. There are more than two bodies here. There have to be more.” Her pupils dilated and her breathing sped up visibly. “We are not safe here. Let’s go.”

With his shoe, Max pushed aside another pile of something moist he’d rather not think about. “Why on earth would you say that?”

“It is not a time for jokes! There is so much death here I cannot breathe.” She stiffened, her nostrils flaring. “Someone is coming. Run! Now!”

On the heels of her statement, he heard it: several pairs of feet clomping toward them. Max ushered Bella ahead of him through the door, but with her injured leg she was too slow. He scooped her up in his arms and ran across the lawn, boosting her over the wall. He vaulted over and dropped onto the grass beside her with a thud.

“What could have done that? And who has that kind of security?” she whispered, peering up at the top of the wall as she sank into a crouch.

“The Soul Eater’s guys,” Max wheezed, his fist bunching the fabric of his shirt over his chest as he struggled for breath. “Looks like someone is keeping an eye on us.”

Bella shook her head. “Or on someone else.”

Max’s blood ran colder than it should have in a vampire. “You’re right. We’ve got to find Nathan or he’s a dead man.”