Rain lowered his head. “Tell me these two idiots didn’t just pull a knife on us.”
“Shut up, you two!” the taller guy shouted. “I don’t have time for this shit! Wallets, now!”
This isn’t exactly how I had envisioned the night would play out. I bet the girls weren’t having near as much fun.
The other guy became increasingly nervous. “Come on, Mike,” he said, “I don’t think this is such a good idea anymore.”
“Shut the fuck up, Dan!” Mike yelled at him. “Thanks for using my name!”
The two wannabe muggers took their eyes off us for a single second, but that was all Rain needed. When they turned their attention back toward us, Rain had vanished. Mike’s face was painted with confusion. He aimed the tip of the blade toward me.
“Hey!” he shouted. “Where’d that other guy go?”
Rain kicked Mike’s knees from behind, and as if on command, he fell to the ground as the knife clanged to the sidewalk.
Dan let out a slight whimper.
“Run,” I suggested to Dan. “Now.”
There was clearly no loyalty between the two. Dan took off running full speed.
Rain had his foot on Mike’s back, pinning him to the ground as he struggled to get free. It was pointless for him.
“We don’t need this,” I said to Rain. “Just let him go.”
I knelt down so Mike could see my face. “If we let you go,” I asked, “will you go home to mommy and climb straight into bed like a good little girl?”
Mike began crying. “Yes, man! I swear! We were just goofing!”
“Let him go,” I said. “Karma will catch him sooner or later.”
Rain had an unusually evil grin on his face, kind of like when the Grinch decided to steal Christmas from Whoville.
“What?” I asked, not wanting to know the answer.
Two minutes later, Mike was sprinting down the street in nothing but his shoes, which Rain so generously let him keep. I had to hand it to Mike; he moved pretty fast, considering his hands were busy covering his private parts, leaving everything else exposed to the chilly night air.
“Run home to mommy!” Rain yelled town the street after Mike. “Same time tomorrow night?”
Mike never looked back as he stumbled over the curb and around the corner.
Rain opened up the dumpster in the ally. “Well,” he said, tossing Mike’s clothes in, “I don’t think our new friend there will be telling anyone about us anytime soon.”
“Rain, you have an unusually effective way of dealing with the world’s little problems.”
He swung the dumpster lid, shutting with a loud bang. “Those two,” he grinned, “will never know how close they came to taking their last breath.”
My brain gave me a good kick in the ass to remind me I was playing stakeout with a Shadow Vampire. I needed to keep my senses sharp and my eyes on Rain.
My ECHO device turned on in my ear. “… has been spotted.”
It sounded like Ember, but the transmission was cut short.
“Repeat,” Morgan requested.
“Jade has been spotted,” Ember said.
“Excellent,” I responded. “Are you confident it’s her?”
“If this isn’t the girl from the picture,” Ember continued, “then it’s her clone. Aerona made first contact, in the restroom of all places, and now they’re having a drink at the bar to celebrate Aerona saving Jade from being hit on by an obnoxious guy old enough to be her father.”
“What’s our move?” I asked.
“If Aerona is successful making friends with Jade,” Kasiah suggested, “then we may be able to move up the time frame. We’re going to wait for Aerona to report back with Jade’s after bar plans. Surprisingly, it looks like Jade is here alone. Although, every guy in the bar is trying to make sure she doesn’t leave like that. I’m warning you guys right now, those pictures do not do her justice. This girl is stunning.”
“Kasiah,” Whisper said, “why can’t we hear what Aerona and Jade are saying?”
“Because Aerona’s ECHO is in her pocket. She said it would make her nervous if she had little voices in her ear.”
“That’s the only flaw in my design,” Whisper retorted, clearly not impressed with Aerona’s decision to disable ECHO. “It has to be in place and turned on to work.”
“Don’t worry, Whisper,” Ember said, “Aerona’s more than capable of handling this situation. Kasiah and I have our eyes on Jade. She’s not going anywhere we don’t want her to go.”
Whisper grumbled something about working with warlocks and wasted technology.
“Hold on,” Kasiah said, “here comes Aerona.”
Rain and I turned the corner and headed back towards our SUV.
“Hey guys,” Kasiah whispered, “we’re coming your way. Jade told Aerona she’s done for the night and heading home. We’ll give her a few minutes to get out the door. We’ll be right behind her.”
“OK, Kasiah,” I said. “Rain and I are parked a block down the street from Jade’s place, at a Copper Bank parking lot. We’ll be on the lookout for her.”
“Copy that,” Morgan confirmed. “Whisper and I have a few more routes to check, then we’re headed back in. We’ll meet everyone at the bank parking lot.”
“ECHO off.”
With ECHO off, it was dead silent, except for the now familiar purr of a Raptor’s engine. The truck wasn’t moving this time. It was sitting idle somewhere close.
Rain answered before I could even ask the question. “It’s behind us on the next block over.”
“Echo—” I started.
“Wait,” Rain said, cutting me off. “Let’s see who this is before we go alarming everyone over nothing.”
“Jade is headed this way right now,” I argued. “We don’t have time to debate this.”
“I agree,” Rain said. “No arguing. Are you coming, or are you going to sit here and suck your thumb until your sister gets here to hold your hand?”
“Lead the way,” I sighed.
Rain grinned. “We go up.”
“Up?” I asked, confused.
Rain pointed to an old rusty fire escape bolted to the side of the building next to the bank. There was just one problem, the retracted ladder was at least twenty feet off the ground.
“I didn’t know Shadow Vampires could fly,” I said sarcastically.
Rain crouched down as if he was about to tie his lace, then jumped straight up and grabbed the lowest rung of the fire escape, unlatching the locking mechanism. The ladder came sliding down, sounding like a freight train barreling down the tracks. A spray of sparks chased the ladder all the way to the ground, clanging loudly as it hit the stops.
“That was subtle,” I said. “Are you trying to wake the dead?”
Rain started climbing the ladder. “I’m already wide awake.”
I shook my head and followed Rain up the ladder. With every rung I grabbed, the more concerned I became that the rusty bolts would give away, and I’d be forced to remember my levitation spell in a hurry.
To my surprise, we reached the top alive. The roof was empty and flat, except for a large air conditioning unit in the center. The view from the rooftop was amazing. The moonlight painted a dim halo over the distant mountain peaks. The cool breeze from down the sidewalk turned into a chilly gust of wind at the rooftop.
We slowly moved to the edge of the roof and peered over. Just as Rain had predicted, the Raptor was sitting idle with its lights off on the opposite side of the building. The engine was growling ever so softly, just waiting to be unleashed.
“What do you think,” I asked.
Rain looked curiously at the truck. “I doubt that’s a yellow cab waiting for the next fare. What do you figure he’s waiting on?”
I looked back and forth down the block both ways. “Us.”
“Well, do you think we should go down there and introduce ourselves? They might be lost and may need directions. We could offer to let them use our
annoying GPS.”
The nice, soft tone of a woman’s voice startled us from behind. She sounded young, maybe in her mid-twenties. My heart actually skipped a beat when she spoke, not because of her smooth, eloquent English accent, but because she had used my name—my Shadow name.
“Aeron of Stonegate,” she stated, “by authority of the Shadow Council and the Shadow law, you are being placed under arrest and transferred back to the Shadow World, where you will be tried as a jumper.”
THIRTY-ONE
Aeron of Stonegate. I hadn’t heard that name spoken out loud in many decades, and I admit, it frightened me. The only thought that ran through my head was the fact that our rooftop visitor knew my real name, which meant she was a Shadow Vampire.
Our uninvited guest was a lot to take in at one time. She was as beautiful as I’m sure she was deadly. Her hair was long, straight, and black as the night sky. She was slim and every inch as tall as Rain. The moonlight shimmered off her eyes, enhancing their electric blue to a fierce fire-like stare; I had seen the same fierce look in Rain’s eyes after the bikers grabbed Ember. It surprised me when Rain didn’t hear her approach us, which was more proof of her skills as a Shadow Vampire—a Shadow Vampire who had just tracked her next target to a rooftop in Missoula.
Believe it or not, this was the first woman I had ever seen dressed head-to-toe in skin-tight black leather and latex, complete with black leather boots. I wondered how many comic books she had had to research to perfect her hunting suit style. Two silver buckles strapped the suit’s collar high on her neck, making it appear sexy and long. A thin, full-length custom leather trench coat hung open loosely, revealing an intricate embroidered black leather corset that complimented her sculpted Shadow Vampire body.
I couldn’t help but think how Kasiah would have looked in the same tight clothing. I forced the image to the back of my mind; it would be foolish to risk being preoccupied while a Shadow Vampire was standing less than ten feet away.
The Shadow Vampire didn’t move a muscle. She stood as still as a century-old statue. Her eyes never left mine as the seconds ticked by. It didn’t look like she had even noticed Rain, which meant she had no idea who or what he was, which I was counting on to get us out of the situation. She may have tracked me down, but she apparently had no idea I had my very own Shadow Vampire.
“Your name is Stonegate?” Rain asked, also ignoring the only other Shadow Vampire on the roof.
“Rain,” I said, trying to remain calm, “now is not the time to discuss my surname.”
“Aeron is correct,” she said in a soft yet commanding tone, nicely complimenting her slight English accent. “This does not concern you, boy, and if you’re smart, then you will leave while you still can.”
Rain, just like any other Shadow Vampire, didn’t like to be told what to do.
“Who died and made you queen of the rooftop?” Rain questioned. “Boy? Who the hell does this chick think she is?”
“I am not the queen of anything,” she said. “My name is Ashes. You will not have a second chance to leave on your own.”
“By what authority do you claim your jumper?” I asked, hoping to hold Rain off from starting a rooftop war in the middle of us extracting Jade and saving the world.
“By order of high council member Malance,” she said, “I have strict instructions to deliver you and your sister back to the Shadow World.”
Malance’s name sliced painfully through the memory of my parents’ death. The only reason he would want us alive would be to torture any useful information out of us himself.
Slowly, Rain moved one step to the left.
Ashes, with her eyes still glued to mine, shifted her arms back slightly, opening her jacket to expose a black leather belt strapped around her waist. The butts of two glimmering handguns and several full magazines were visible on the belt.
Reasoning with a Shadow Vampire is never a good idea; reasoning with an armed Shadow Vampire is just plain stupid. Somehow, I needed to buy us a few moments to get us off this roof. I may not have been able to move faster than Ashes, but if Rain could somehow manage to draw her attention for even a second, then we had a chance.
“You don’t understand,” I pleaded. “Malance is corrupting the council. The only reason he would want us back alive would be so he can destroy us himself. Everything you think the council stands for is a lie.”
“You are the lie,” Ashes declared, “and you’re not the first jumper to try and talk your way out of the laws you have broken. Your fate is not for me to decide. I have strict orders to return you and Aerona to the council. Malance will decide your fate.”
Rain took a second step. The three of us were now spaced out equally on the rooftop, although Rain and I were at a disadvantage with our backs to the roof’s edge.
“Do not move again,” Ashes commanded, still not taking her eyes off me, “You have made your decision to stay. A foolish choice.”
“You know something, Ash?” Rain started, shifting his weight to take another step. “You and I have something in common, neither of us like being told what to do.”
Anticipating Rain’s movement, Ashes lunged towards him; the length of her trench coat trailing behind her. For the first time since our unplanned meeting, her blue eyes left mine. Rain avoided Ashes’s grasp easily. She appeared surprised to find he had the same superhuman speed as her. The two had essentially switched spots. Ashes back was now at the roof’s edge. She had made a vital mistake underestimating her opponent, but she recovered quickly. In a move too fast for even my eyes to catch, Ashes drew out both her handguns; one found its sights pointed at Rain, and I was staring down the barrel of the other.
Contrary to my own self-proclaimed warlock greatness, if shot in a specific spot deep within my brain, the bullet will kill me, and unfortunately, it appeared Ashes knew the exact location.
A grin spread across Rain’s face. He had probably been shot before, and he knew it would hurt, but he would recover quickly. Honestly, sparring with another Shadow Vampire would be good for him, assuming Ashes doesn’t tear his head off.
Ashes stole a quick glance over the roof’s edge, calculating her odds. “Aeron,” she continued, “I was unaware you had a pet vampire. He moves with unusual speed for a vampire in this world. You have trained him well.”
“You’re no snail yourself,” Rain jeered, admiring Ashes’s abilities. He had never come in contact with anyone with the ability to match his rare gifts.
“You can either leave with me or I can take you,” Ashes said, wasting no time redirecting the conversation. “The choice is yours to make. I advise you to choose quickly, before your friend here does something to end his life.”
I was always more of a visual kind of guy, so I preferred to show Ashes my decision instead of plainly telling her. Rain must have read my mind, or he had just been around me and my sister long enough to know we enjoyed solving tough situations with fire. He bolted toward the fire escape, which was a fitting escape route for what was about to happen. Exactly as I had hoped, Ashes trained both guns in Rain’s direction, and bright orange flashes exploded from the muzzles as she fired two simultaneous shots.
I had to act quickly. Two more shots rang out, chasing Rain as he disappeared over the roof’s edge. Ashes wouldn’t be distracted for long. I drew in every ounce of energy I could find, and that’s when she made her second mistake of the night—taking her eyes off the warlock.
Realizing her mistake, Ashes stopped firing and slowly turned her electric blue eyes back toward me. My hands controlled a growing sphere of intense blue flames, perfectly matching the beautiful color of her eyes. I lowered my head and extended my arms out in front of me, sending a gigantic wave of electric blue flames racing across the rooftop.
When the flames extinguished, Ashes had vanished along with them. I doubted she was incinerated by the intense flames. Although, hopefully, it made her retreat long enough for us to get off the rooftop.
My ECHO turned on with Ka
siah’s voice in my ear. “Did you guys hear gunfire?” she asked.
Rain responded first. “Sounded like firecrackers to me,” he said, grinning.
“All clear here,” I said, reaching for the fire escape.
There was no need for the team to take their focus off Jade. Ashes had lost the element of surprise. She wouldn’t make another appearance until she regrouped. Hopefully, we could get Jade out of Montana before that happened.
“We’re all clear out here,” Morgan said, checking in. “We’re about ten miles outside the city limits.”
Kasiah wasn’t buying the firecracker story. She had heard gunfire numerous times before that night. “That was no party popper,” she said. “It was faint but definitely the echo of several gun shots. They were elevated, maybe on a rooftop. Eyes open everyone. Jade has left the club and is headed home. She’ll be there in approximately five minutes.”
I didn’t like the fact that a Shadow Vampire was lurking around town. Although if Ashes had any idea why we were actually here, she wouldn’t have tried to arrest me on the rooftop. She would have waited until Jade was in sight. I was confident she didn’t know about Jade.
I finally made it down the old rusty fire escape to meet Rain. He had two holes in the front of his blood-soaked shirt—exit wounds. His flesh had already healed.
“Are you OK?” I asked.
“I owe her two to the back,” he said, inspecting his shirt.
“Be thankful you’re alive,” I pointed out. “We haven’t seen the last of Ashes. She has spent her entire life training to be a hunter, a killer. She’ll be back. I’d bet on it. Let’s get back to the SUV.”
Rain and I double timed it to the SUV parked at the bank, keeping our eyes peeled for Ashes. We arrived to find glass scattered under the driver’s side window.
“Ashes?” Rain asked.
I scanned the parking lot, looking for other signs. “I would guess not,” I said. “Shadow Vampires are more tactful than breaking random windows that would draw unwanted attention. I’m beginning to think the crime rate in this city is higher than what’s reported.”
The Blood of a Stone Page 22