“You would betray the one who created you?” Another male asked.
“In a split, fucking, second,” Jackson responded. “Just as he did me when he tried to manipulate me into killing my brother.”
“Enough talk,” Jensen spat. “Tell us where he went, or die. I’m done playing with you fucktards.”
“You’ll never find him,” the male said and shifted into a fighting stance.
“Have it your way,” Jensen said and threw the dagger in his hand.
“Fuck,” one of the others said and tried to run, only to be stopped by one of Delanie’s Kunai.
“Please,” one of the other females said and dropped to her knees in front of Karma. “Please don’t kill me. I have a daughter.”
“Then tell us where Crompton went,” Karma said and placed her hand on the woman’s head.
When the woman tried jumping to her feet with a stake in her hand, Karma shoved hard, and shattered the bones in her neck.
“These vampire don’t realize how strong Karma is,” Dylan commented and grinned. “Their mistake.”
“They also don’t realize that I’m not their fairy fucking Godmother, and I don’t grant wishes,” Karma said as she sliced the vampire’s head off with the knife she pulled from her boot. “And this is the weirdest fucking battle I’ve ever had. They’re trying to stall us, and I’m tired of it.”
With those words, the agents took out the remaining vampire, and the fight was over.
“They were supposed to slow us down,” Harrison said and frowned at the others. “And I’d say they did their jobs well.”
“You left one alive,” Delanie said and kicked at the female who had crashed into the wall.
“That was intentional,” Karma told her and smiled. “She’s going to tell us what she knows, even if she doesn’t want to.”
“Huntress interrogation?” Dylan asked and grinned when Karma nodded.
“Harrington, you and Larson take her back to the compound. We’re moving forward. There are houses up this street, and one of them is owned by one of Crompton’s shadow corporations. We’re going to check them out, then we will be back at the compound,” Baxter said, and Harrington nodded.
After Karma secured the female with silver, Harrington pulled her to her feet.
“You made the wrong decision,” he told her softly then shook his head. “Siding with the bad guys is never as good a plan as people think it is.”
Once Harrington and Larson walked away with the female between them, Baxter nodded to the others, and they moved toward the houses.
After passing the first three, Karma froze at the fourth.
“This is the house Crompton owns, right?” She asked, and Baxter nodded. “It’s empty right now, but it’s occupied.”
Baxter noted the full trash can beside the house, and the scent of vampire inside.
“What’s wrong?” Dylan asked, noticing the look on Karma’s face.
“Not sure,” she said and stepped closer to the house. When she inhaled deeply, her frown deepened, and she turned to face them. “I’m pretty sure it’s not a vampire living here.”
“All I smell is vampire,” Jensen said and looked at the others. When they all nodded, he looked back at Karma. “But all the evidence says human.”
“Yes,” she said and inhaled deeply again. “Which is why I think a Halfling lives here.”
“What makes you think that?” Johnson asked.
“The scent,” Karma responded.
“Smells like vampire to me,” Baxter said and inhaled again.
“Not entirely,” Karma responded and frowned again. “We will have to return later and hope someone is home. Right now, though, we need to get back to the compound and find out what we can from that female.”
“Yes,” Baxter said and looked at the house again before shaking his head. “I still think it’s a vampire who lives here.”
“Maybe, maybe not, but we cannot enter the house either way,” Karma said and looked at the others. “We will bring Huntresses with us when we return. If no one is inside, they can enter and see if they can find something for us.”
“Good plan,” Nevaeh said and looked at the house. “Let’s return to the compound, and see what that female has to say.”
“Yes,” Jensen said and walked away before anyone else could say anything.
He needed to find Caia and the longer it took, the more volatile he became.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
“We’ll start with an easy question,” Nikki said as she looked at the female Harrington and Larson had brought in. “What’s your name?”
“Ashley,” she answered, and Nikki looked at Karma. When she nodded, Nikki smiled at the female.
“Very good,” she said then walked over to stand beside Larson. “Where is Crompton?”
“I don’t know,” she answered immediately, and Karma nodded again.
“Not lying, good,” Nikki said and smiled at the girl.
“He may have told Mathas, but he was the only one Master Crompton truly trusted.”
“Which one was Mathas?” Karma asked, thinking it was probably the one who’d spoken first.
“The first one you killed,” Ashley responded. “He was older than the rest of us, and had been with Master for a while.”
“How long?” Jackson asked. He’d never seen the vampire, but that didn’t mean anything.
“A decade or more,” she answered and looked at Karma. “He was a very strong vampire, but he died so easily.”
“Vampire aren’t difficult to kill if you know what you’re doing,” Nikki told her. “I’ve killed many, and I’m human.”
“I don’t want to die,” Ashley said and looked around at the vampire and Huntresses surrounding her.
“Crompton can track her,” Jackson reminded them. “As long as she’s alive, he can track her.”
“And he could have been hoping we’d capture and question one of them,” Delanie added.
“Tell us, did Crompton tell y’all that he could track you?” Baxter asked.
“No,” she answered and Karma grinned.
“She’s lying,” Karma told them. “Kill her before Crompton and his merry band of douchbags end up in the middle of the compound.”
“Wait, he has no idea which one of us lived. You can just let me go,” Ashley pleaded.
“Can’t do that,” Nikki told her and frowned. “You’d just lead him back here, and they result would be the same.”
“But, I don’t want to die!” She shouted and Nikki shook her head.
“Should have thought about that before you did Crompton’s bidding,” Nikki told her as she pulled a stake from her bag. “It’ll be quick and painless.”
“No!” Ashley shouted as Nikki brought the stake down. Her cries were silenced when the wood pierced her heart.
“Merry band of douchbags?” Baxter asked, looking at Karma.
“I sorta stole it from Gina,” she responded. “When she was interrogating the vampire we captured when the compound was attacked, she called them a merry band of asshats, I just changed it to suit me a little better.”
Baxter chuckled and shook his head. “You Huntresses amaze me.”
“I’m not a Huntress,” Karma reminded him.
“Maybe not, but you were training with them, and you sure as hell act like them,” he responded, and Nikki glanced at him over her shoulder.
“And just what is that supposed to mean?” Nevaeh asked before Nikki could say anything.
“You stepped in it now,” Harrison teased, and Karma chuckled.
“It means, I’m going to check on Gina now,” Baxter responded and left so fast none of the saw him move.
“Good response,” Nikki chuckled and shook her head. “Let’s get this cleaned up, then I think it’s time for some lunch before we all head back to that house you want to check out.”
“I’ll be with Maggie,” Johnson told them then walked to the door.
“We’re leaving
in about three hours,” Jensen told them all and Johnson nodded before he walked out the door. “Anyone not ready will be left behind.”
“We’ll be ready,” Dylan said as he wrapped his hand around Karma’s. “We’re always ready.”
“Good,” Jensen said, then walked from the room. He was ready to have his Caia back.
****
“Gina?” Baxter said softly as he walked into the house.
He knew she was inside, and Zora was the only other scent in the vicinity, so he knew she was safe.
“In the bathroom,” she called out and he smiled.
“Need some help?” He asked as he rounded the corner and poked his head through the open door.
“No,” she answered and grinned at him through the mirror.
“Okay,” he responded and stepped out of her view.
“Nathan,” she said softly, and he popped his head back around the door frame and grinned at her.
“Yes?”
“I meant what I said earlier, about changing me.”
“And I meant what I said,” he told her and walked into the room. When he wrapped his arms around her from behind, she leaned into him and let herself relax into his embrace. “I will change you very soon. Just not right now. We have to go back out in a little while, and I just wanted to see you before we went. Being apart from you is hell.”
“You need to feed before you go back out,” she told him, and he kissed her neck.
“I want to feed from you,” he said and kissed her again. “But I will wait until you’re healed.”
“Drink from me, Nathan,” she said and tilted her head so the vein in her neck was pressed against his mouth. When she felt him pull away a little, she whispered, “please.”
Her soft whisper nearly broke him. He turned her to face him and lifted her into his arms.
“Not here,” he said as he carried her from the bathroom and through the door to the bedroom they’d been sharing for the past few weeks. He laid her on the bed and crawled in beside her before he picked her back up and settled her in his lap. “This is better.”
“I’ve seen you rip the head off of immortal beings and not bat an eye, but when you look at me, I can feel the fear inside you,” Gina told him as she shifted in his lap as much as the brace on her leg would let her. “I told you earlier, Nathan, I am not a delicate flower that needs to be sheltered.”
“I know,” he responded and sighed. “Every time I close my eyes, I see you on the ground, unconscious again, and I am reminded that I’m the reason you’re hurt. I know I don’t need to shelter you, but I also know how fragile you are compared to me. I will change you, and it will be soon, but until then, please let me take care of you.”
“I will if you will drink from me. You need to feed, and I know my blood makes you stronger. You’re heading back out soon, and I want you to be as strong as possible when you walk into whatever situation you’re walking into.”
Without another word, he bent his head and brushed his lips across the vein in her neck. Feeling his fangs pressing against his lips, he opened his mouth and bit deep. Her blood was the sweetest thing he’d ever tasted, and he knew he could lose himself in the taste of it.
After drinking as much as he dared, he released his bite and sealed it before gently kissing her again and raising his head.
“Do you have any idea what the feel of your fangs in my neck does to me?” She asked and he grinned at her.
“I smelled your arousal before I even bit you,” he told her then shifted her so she was laying against the pillows.
“What are you doing?” She asked when he moved away from her.
“Just relax and enjoy,” he told her and trailed his hand to the hem of the ankle length skirt she wore.
“Nathan,” she breathed when his hand gently brushed her ankle then trailed up her leg. “We can’t.”
“Just relax and enjoy,” he said again and smiled when he brushed his fingers against her already damp panties. Sliding them to the side, he slid two fingers into her folds and caressed her gently.
As his fingers moved inside her, he leaned down and pressed his lips to hers, swallowing her cries as the first orgasm ripped through her.
Moving his fingers inside her, he stroked through a second orgasm, then a third before he stopped. Removing his hand, he licked his fingers clean then kissed her again before he rose from the bed.
“I have to meet with everyone before we head out, but when I get back, we will finish what we started here.”
“Nathan,” she breathed, and he grinned at the relaxed tone of her voice. “When you come back, we will talk about you changing me.”
“Yes, ma’am,” he responded, and she chuckled softly. “I love you, Gina.”
“I love you, Nathan,” she replied, and he could tell she was on the verge of sleep.
“Sweet dreams, my love.”
Before he walked out the door, he heard her breathing steady, and knew she was asleep. His only hope was that she’d nap until he returned.
Chapter Thirty
“It’s a Halfling,” Karma repeated what she’d said when they were here the first time.
“How can you be sure?” Baxter asked.
“Same way I knew Dylan was a Halfling when I met him,” she said and shrugged. “I just know.”
“She’s right,” Dylan said, and Baxter looked at him. “She knew immediately what I was.”
“You knew she was a Halfling, too,” Jackson reminded him.
“Yes, but I’d reached maturity, she hadn’t,” Dylan said, and Karma shrugged.
“Doesn’t matter what happened then, there is a Halfling inside this house. I’m going to knock on the door and see if someone will answer,” Karma told them in a tone that left no room for argument and walked straight up the steps with Dylan right behind her.
“What if they attack?” Jackson asked as he followed them up the steps.
“That’ll be a huge mistake,” Delanie replied. “There are six vampire on this porch, and a dozen more in the yard and that’s not counting the two dozen Huntresses stationed around.
“Shh,” Karma said and leaned a little closer to the door.
Dylan looked at her and mouthed something, but it was too quiet for Baxter to hear.
“They’re coming this way,” she whispered then leaned away and knocked.
“I don’t want visitors,” a masculine voice said from just on the other side of the door.
“Vampire Enforcement Bureau,” Karma told him softly. “We know what you are, and we’re only here to talk.”
“What do you want?” He asked as he jerked open the door and Karma gasped.
“Rick?” She asked, and Baxter could hear the shock in her voice.
“Karma, is that you?”
“I didn’t know you were a Halfling,” she responded and grinned at him.
“I knew you were, which is why I left town five years ago. I knew if the vampire who kept showing up in town found me, he’d kill me,” Rick told her. “But, you’re not a Halfling anymore.”
“No,” she responded and looked around at the agents and Huntresses with them. “Can we move this conversation inside, please? There are too many places out here where ears can hide.”
“The only vampire around are the ones with you,” he informed her. “And I’m not inviting all of them into my home.”
“What about just six?” Karma asked and looked at Dylan. “Just the six right here with me.”
“No,” Baxter and Johnson said at the same time.
“Baxter, Johnson, calm down,” Karma said and rolled her eyes. “Rick, I am here in the official capacity as an agent of the United States government. We are looking for a vampire named Crompton. About five weeks ago, he kidnapped a teenage girl named Caia, and we tracked this address to one of his organizations.”
“I don’t know anyone named Crompton,” Rick told them. “And if a vampire showed up here with a human child, I would definitely question it.”
>
“Who is your vampire father?” Harrison asked, and Rick snapped his head toward him.
“What does that matter?” Rick asked.
“It matters because you are one of a very few Halflings who weren’t killed upon birth,” Karma told him. “There are only three others that I have met, and none of us are Halflings any longer.”
“Why would you want to be changed?” He asked, and looked at her.
“I didn’t ask to be changed, but I was nearly killed, so Dylan had one of the Vampire Senate change me,” she answered.
“The Senate didn’t kill you?”
“No, and they didn’t kill me or Analia either,” Dylan answered him.
“I was told if I was found, the Senate would kill me,” Rick commented.
“Who told you that?” Karma asked, hoping he’d reveal who his father was.
“My father. It was just after my mom was killed. He told me the Senate was looking for me, and they killed her to draw me out.”
“Demetri is the only Senate member who was threatened by the Halflings,” Karma told him then looked at Johnson. “And he was killed eight months ago when vampire came out of hiding.”
“Who is your vampire father?” Harrison asked again.
“A vampire named Ron Booker,” he answered this time and Johnson gasped.
“How old are you?” Johnson asked.
“Thirty-one, why?” Rick answered.
“Your mom, what was her name?” Johnson asked.
“Kerri Ward,” he answered, and Baxter felt Johnson stiffen beside him. Something about that name sparked a memory with Johnson, and he wanted to know what it was.
“Why?” Rick asked, and Baxter looked at Johnson.
“The Senate didn’t kill your mom. Ron Booker had her killed.”
“How do you know?” Baxter asked, knowing Johnson had never killed a human.
“Remember me telling you that Booker wanted me to kill a human, and that’s when I left him?” Johnson asked and they all nodded. “Her name was Kerri Ward, and he wanted me to kill her, but I refused.”
“Why? Why would he kill my mom?” Rick asked.
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