Supernatural Taskforce Academy: Mission One, Scorpion Blood

by J. L. Weil

  “You could say that. We live one state over, so we come here to unwind when we can. Our best friend is getting married, and we are throwing her a bachelorette party.” The first girl pointed to the VIP, where I had seen the tarot-reading girl a bit ago. “I’m Naomie, and these are my best friends Corina, and Emily.”

  “Nice to meet you, you can call me Scorpion.”

  Naomie’s eyes widened appreciatively, she was clearly in charge of the trio and gave me a once over as though the nickname enticed her. I didn’t blame her, it usually had that effect on women. “Is your girlfriend with you?”

  I repressed my smile at the question. Smooth, Naomi, smooth. “Actually, I just got dumped.” I shrugged, remembering Diana’s classy break up text after I let her know I was no longer in the White House. Whatever.

  “Awe.” They pouted in unison and reached for me. “Her loss, handsome. Come dance with us!” Emily offered while her girlfriends pushed my t-shirt up, uncovering my abs. Women were dangerous in Vegas.

  Oh, well. While in Vegas…

  Like a good boy, I lifted my arms, allowing them to take my shirt off, but made sure to tuck it into the back of my pants, securing it over my gun to conceal it. I followed them as they dragged me to the dance floor. This was going to be fun.

  RENNA

  Ambrose accompanied me to the vampire dorms, prattling off my instructions. “This is a quick assignment. I want you in and out of Vegas in less than forty-eight hours. You still have classes to attend on Monday.”

  I groaned at that.

  “You’re allowed to bring two other students with you. Choose wisely. And make sure you grab a drink before you leave, I don’t want you tempted by the mortals. The academy doesn’t need a mess to clean up.”

  “I have more control than that, Pops.” He hated when I called him Pops, which was precisely why I couldn’t resist. “Have a little faith,” I winked.

  “And Renna...”

  Pausing at the entrance to my dorm room, I lifted a brow. This was the first time I would be returning to the mortal world on my own, without him or a guard, and I could tell he was nervous for me. Like a doting father. It was sort of endearing for a vampire who was centuries old. I was the first vampire Ambrose had sired since Claire...

  I’d learned not to ask about her, about what happened.

  “No funny business,” he warned me.

  With only a smile, I closed the door.

  Vegas. The city of lights and sin. Lots of hot, sweaty, good looking sin. And I was on a witch hunt.

  Perhaps one drink wouldn’t hurt. There were plenty of clubs with plenty of fresh-bloodied bodies, and it had been so long since I’d had blood from the source. Another of the academy’s rules. They provided us with blood, but nothing, absolutely nothing could beat drinking straight from a human’s vein. It was like being forced to drink buttermilk, when all you wanted was a glass of warm milk.

  I licked my lips, taking in the flashing neon lights, the ringing of slot machines, and the smells of desperation that clung in the air. Vegas had a vibe you couldn’t find anywhere else in the world. I’d never been to Nevada before, but everything was brighter, bolder, and more exciting with my vampire eyes than I imagined.

  And the clubs were jumping, just the way I liked them. Packed with people, liquor flowing, and music pumping.

  “Focus,” Tricksy whispered in my ear, laying a hand on my shoulder. “We don’t have time to take in the sights, or have a late night snack in your case.”

  “This is so stupid,” I snarled in response, gazing down the strip at the hotels and casinos lining every inch of the road. “How are we supposed to find a witch here of all places?”

  Tricksy bumped her shoulder against mine. “That’s why you brought me.”

  I rolled my eyes. It was why I had chosen her and Oliver to accompany me on my first and probably last mission for the Aereum. “Great. So, I’m doomed. The Aereum is going to kick my ass to the curb.”

  “Could you be any more dramatic?” Oliver mumbled, adjusting his glasses. The rainbow lights reflected off the lenses. “If that was the case, you would have already been expelled. You’re like a cat with nine lives. No matter how many times you screw up, you still get another chance.”

  “Until I don’t.”

  The portal had landed us inside some dingy motel bathroom where no one would question why a guy and two girls suddenly emerged from the mirror. Hallucinogens, rocks, and blowjobs were the only thing you could get from room service in a place like that.

  Oliver loosed a breath as he tucked his hands into the pockets of his skinny jeans. “So just how do we plan on finding this witch?”

  I gave a pointed look to Tricksy on my right. “A tracking spell?” I suggested.

  Wisps of Tricksy’s short, silvery hair blew around her face from the evening breeze. She wore one of those plaid schoolgirl skirts that made me want to gag and a black frilly top. “It’s probably our best bet, but there has to be a hundred or more witches in Vegas.”

  Idly, I adjusted the iron bracelet coiled around my wrist like a viper’s tail. It was not just a pretty trinket I picked up at a thrift shop, but a weapon given to me by Ambrose, capable of rendering its victims paralyzed. Crack by crack, I could force them to submission.

  “Well, we got twenty-fours to find one named Catina Whitlow.” Adding her name to the tracking spell would ensure our chances of finding her. Ducking into a side alley of one of the hotels on the strip, I leaned against the building. Oliver and Tricky followed. “Okay, do that twitching nose thing, or mumble some jumble,” I ordered Tricksy.

  Her eyes narrowed as she shot me a dirty look.

  Like most schools, the academy had a hierarchy. It was just skewed depending on who you asked, but everyone knew it was the vampires that ruled the school. Witches had their uses, but I preferred to fight with my hands than with what I couldn’t see. It wasn’t that I didn’t value Tricksy’s gifts. She was a very talented witch, which was why I chose her for a friend, but in my experience, magic was unpredictable.

  Tricksy huffed, removing the hood of the deep violet hoodie from her head, and crouched down to the ground. “You know it doesn’t work like that.”

  “Just do it,” I shot back, eyes and ears alert, scanning the area for any unwanted visitors. “The sooner we find the witch, the sooner I can have some fun.”

  “Do you really think that is wise? Didn’t the Aereum tell you to take her straight to the academy?” Oliver so diligently reminded.

  Oliver the buzz kill. I should have brought Melody instead. “Need I remind you that what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas? What the council doesn’t know won't hurt them.”

  “Pretty sure it doesn’t work like that. Not for us. I don’t know how you haven’t been struck dead by the gods by now,” he taunted.

  “Which gods?” I countered. “You have to be specific. There are too many of those suckers.”

  “Will the two of you be quiet for one minute!” Tricksy hissed. “I’m trying to concentrate here.”

  I narrowed my gaze at the witch. “Just hurry the hell up. We don’t have all night,” I hissed through gritted teeth.

  Tricksy beamed up at Oliver and me from her position on the ground, where she’d made a circle and placed an onyx amulet in the center. A tracking spell required an object to be enchanted. “Which one of you wants to be my victim?” Her voice was too perky, which made me scowl.

  “Nope. Not happening. I did it last time,” Oliver assured, shaking his head and taking a step back. The big baby. It was a wonder he’d been recruited into the academy at all.

  “But witches love shifter blood. A vampire’s is so dirty,” I retorted just to make Oliver squirm.

  It was true though. The purer it was, the more potent the spell, and because vampires feed from so many different sources, our blood wasn’t ideal for witchcraft, but would do in a pinch. In the end, blood was blood. As long as the conjuring worked, that was all that mattered.

&n
bsp; “It’s a common spell. Yours will do, assuming you ate before we left,” Tricksy mediated.

  “Fine.” Sighing, I held out my arm. “It’s not like I’m squeamish or anything about blood.”

  “Funny,” Oliver replied drolly.

  I flipped him off with my other hand, right as I brought my palm to my mouth, piercing the skin with my fangs. A sharp sting radiated through my hand, but the pain was almost pleasurable. The crimson liquid welled in two little dots. “Take what you need. I can get more.”

  Rolling her eyes, Tricksy smeared the tip of her finger in my blood, and used it to trace the circle she had carved in the dirt, whispering a spell. I watched her lips move, hearing the words that seemed like a beautiful melody but made little sense to me.

  The circle ignited in a glowing crimson flare, like it had been set aflame, causing shadows to dance in the dark alley. Seconds later, the amulet at the center pulsed with life, a hum of magic tingling over my arms. I shifted on my feet and rolled my shoulders, shaking off the tang of power trembling in the air. Then the amulet went cold, returning to its natural state of polished black.

  “It’s done,” Tricksy assured, exhaling.

  “Thank the gods, let’s go find us a—”

  Screams erupted from somewhere close by, too close, followed by the ringing of gunshots in rapid fire. My body froze. “What the hell?” I mumbled, staring down the alley toward the Vegas strip.

  Oliver was instantly at my side, adrenaline thrumming off him. “Did you hear that?”

  I peered over my shoulder at him, seeing his hazel eyes rimmed with gold. His wolf was on full alert. More screams rang through the night, the sounds of people panicking.

  Tricksy scooped up the amulet and stood. “I don’t even have enhanced hearing and I heard it.”

  All the training I received in the academy kicked into place. What if it was the witch? What if something happened to her? My senses told me this wasn’t a human disagreement gone bad, or gang related, not from the other sounds I was picking up. “Let’s go,” I growled.

  “Renna!” Oliver called after me, but I was already running.

  A tremble went through the world under my feet, and I halted at the corner, my eyes darting from glittering building to building. “Did you guys feel that?” I asked as Oliver and Tricksy came panting up beside me. Fear and worry coated their scents.

  “If I say no, we don’t have to check it out?” Oliver asked hopeful.

  “You wish.” My eyes zeroed in on the green glow of the MGM Grand hotel. Whatever was happening, it was going down there.

  6

  SCORPION

  My hips rocked to the rhythm of the music as I continued to dance, or should I say, stand in the middle of the dance floor while Emily, Naomi, and Corina’s sexy bodies writhed against mine. Their hands roamed my abs, squeezing my biceps and chest while Emily kissed my neck.

  On a normal day, Naomi and her friends would have driven me crazy—not that I wasn’t properly stimulated at the moment, I was more than ready—but there was this heaviness in my gut. I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was about to go terribly wrong.

  As the thought crossed my mind, I did another 360 in the nightclub, looking for possible threats, or anything that might have my instincts going haywire. Nothing. My hands landed on Corina’s hips when she took her turn in front of me, just as the lights above us flickered. My gaze snapped up, looking for something among the neon and shadows, but I couldn’t see anything.

  Yet, the blink of light hadn’t been electrical, not like when the power almost goes out during a storm, no. It was as if something had passed in front of the spotlights, covering them.

  But what was large enough to actually cause that blink of light?

  I was sorry I asked.

  Screams erupted from the girls as a massive spider-looking-monster descended from the dome ceiling. I hated spiders, but this sucker was easily ten feet tall. Temporarily paralyzed, we all watched it stop mid-air, and I realized it wasn’t a monster, not completely.

  A long, human-like figure was at its center, with eight crooked spider-legs protruding from the woman’s back, in different directions and lengths. A willowy black dress covered her pale body, mixing with her long hair while clawed hands stuck out of the tattered sleeves, and two thin horns projected from her head.

  What in the actual fu—Adrenaline rushed through me as the creature tilted her head, focusing entirely black orbs on me, and hissed.

  Oh, hell to the no.

  “Everybody out!” I roared, reaching for my gun.

  People screamed in panic, running all around me and headed for the emergency exits, but the creature seemed to be interested in only one thing. Me. The room became silent for me as I lifted my gun, taking aim. The world stopped, all the chaos disappearing as though it was just the monster and me.

  As I entered my zone, an eerie calm fell over me.

  I was in control.

  Pulling the trigger, I shot round after round into the Spider Queen’s chest, only to see the bullets pierce holes into her, and then disappear when her wounds closed up again. The damn creature was bulletproof. She thrashed and screeched in a disturbing way with each hit, but I didn’t stop shooting.

  Letting go of the web she had weaved, her body landed over the now empty VIP section, on the second floor of the dome-shaped club. Her body turned while she crawled down over the walls to the first floor, yet her head remained right side up, looking at me.

  Dandy. Just dandy.

  Standing on freaky spider-legs, she came at me, moving faster than I could have predicted, clawed hands raised while she hissed. Apparently, I had pissed her off. Throwing the empty magazine away, I swiftly reloaded my gun, and aimed. This time, I focused on her moving limbs, using my sniper skills.

  Closing one eye, I let out a settling breath, and shot, aiming at the joints of each spiky extremity. They exploded when the bullets shattered the bone, actually doing some damage. The Spider Queen fell on the ground while I blew each of her eight legs to hell, and I ran toward the bar, jumping over the counter to the other side for cover.

  I had no idea what that was. For all I knew, I was hallucinating the fuck out, but in the slim chance that I wasn’t, I couldn’t let it get out of here and harm everyone else outside.

  I needed to figure out how to kill her.

  Stealing a quick glance over the counter, I saw the guards had effectively vacated the club, and I thanked the Lord for that, but when my gaze connected with the creature my breathing faltered. The Spider Queen’s claws were digging into the floor, dragging herself in my direction with vicious hisses, black orbs focused on me.

  Oh yeah, she was cursing me out big time. My eyes widened when I noticed her spider legs were regenerating as she moved, growing until the full limbs lifted her from the ground once more.

  “You have got to be fucking kidding me!” I snapped, checking the rounds left in my magazine. Only seven bullets remained, which meant I couldn’t go for the legs again—the only part of her that seemed vulnerable—and even if I did, it would only slow her down, not stop her.

  A loud hiss came from above me and I cursed, the monster had reached me. Instantly reacting, I threw a vodka bottle at her before she could lunge at me, the burning liquor exploding as the bottle crashed against her face. I turned away, covering my eyes while she screamed, the vodka scorching her eyes.

  Her blood-curling screeches of pain reverberated through the club, spider legs twitching desperately as a reflex, and jerking to the sides. Getting up, I attempted to run out of the corner I was trapped in, but a sharp stab came from my back, one of the points of her legs had pierced my skin. I threw myself forward, successfully breaking the contact, before her extremity could fully go through my chest and lift me into the air, killing me.

  A muffled scream was trapped by my lips as searing flames exploded in my lower back, where she had stung me. Yet, this wasn’t my first injury during battle, and there was no time
to nurse my wound. I had a beast to kill.

  Harshly falling on my back, I took aim again while the spider queen climbed over me, and I pulled the trigger. The bullet went right into the center of her forehead, but the skin opened and closed, swallowing the bullet—just like it had when I shot at her chest.

  Shit.

  Clawed hands reached for me, but an iron whip wrapped around her waist, yanking her off me a second before she touched me.

  “Not today, you ugly bitch!” A feminine voice snapped.

  I staggered to my feet to find a woman wielding the whip, and throwing the Spider Queen all the way to the other side of the space as though it was nothing. The monster crashed against the dome of the nightclub, and fell back down to the ground, but I was too taken by the sight to move.

  The fierce whip returned to its owner, while a couple more figures stood on the dance floor, circling the creature as though trying to find out how to end her.

  Yet, it wasn’t just a woman who wielded the whip. It was a stunning brunette. And she seemed as frozen as I was.

  Startling sapphire blue eyes pierced through me, seeming to glow in the darkness, and made only brighter by her pale skin and long obsidian hair. She had plumped lips stained dark, and I couldn’t stop my eyes from continuing their admiration. What I considered perfect breasts, were tightly wrapped in a leather crop top that allowed me to gaze at her tiny waist, and flat stomach. Her skin soon took on curves made from my dreams, widening into perfectly round hips clad in tight leather pants.

  Yep. I was done for.

  Blood rushed through my body in response—to all the right places, but at the worst possible moment. When my gaze returned to hers, I found her eyes taking every inch of me too, but she wasn’t just memorizing my eight pack, biceps and pecs, she stared at me dumbfounded. Like she knew me.

  “What the hell are you doing here?!” she suddenly barked, but forced herself to swallow, like the sight of me in nothing but jeans and boots flustered her.