“Like hell I am,” Niko spat and leaped at Karma with a stake in his hand.
When he was inches from her, she grabbed his arm and flipped him over her head. He landed on his back, hard, and dropped the stake he was trying to use on her.
“And now, you are under arrest for attacking an agent of the United States Government,” she said and flipped him over to his stomach. “And the rest of you, unless you’re ready to face a jury made up of both humans and vampire, you will leave here and not return.”
“Why would we do that?” One of them asked from inside.
“Because you’re not stupid,” Karma heard Nikki respond from somewhere inside the house. “And you know your life is better spent eliminating the evil in the world.”
“How the fuck?” Another voice asked. “Who are you?”
“We’re Huntresses, and we work with the Vampire Enforcement Bureau to track down the evil of their kind and see they are brought to justice,” Lexie answered him.
“And when they turn on you?” Another man asked.
“They won’t,” Nevaeh answered from the back door. “You see, I am the Huntress leader, and I am also a vampire, and an agent with the VEB. We do not harm humans, and we do not harm any vampire who are not directly working toward harming humans.”
“They will turn on you,” another man said. “All vampire do, eventually.”
“If they do, I will stake them myself,” Karma said, and they all looked up at her. “I was born a Halfling, and my vampire father killed my human family. I will never allow anyone to harm my family again, and that includes other members of my family.”
“Tell us, how did you happen upon Rick?” Baxter asked.
“We knew he was here, and we kept watch on him,” someone answered. “After you all were here the other day, we started watching him closely, and knew he was going to be joining you soon. Then Niko came to us and told us you were holding his human granddaughter at a compound somewhere, and this Halfling would lead us to you.”
“His granddaughter happens to be my daughter,” Gina spoke up. “And she isn’t being held at a compound, it is our home. I am second in command of the Huntresses and my daughter is safe right where she’s at. The vampire at the compound will lay down their lives to keep my daughter, and the other Huntress children, safe.”
“She isn’t lying,” Karma said after Gina stopped talking.
“Niko, you are under arrest,” Baxter said and pulled the man to his feet. After he read him his rights, he had Johnson call in the human authorities. As a human, Niko would be held in county lockup until he went before a judge.
“You’ll never get away with this, Regina,” he said, and Gina grinned evilly at him.
“Niko, if you ever come near me or Zora again, Nathan won’t have to rip your arms off and shove them up your ass, because I will.”
“I will have my granddaughter,” he shouted as a police car stopped in front of the house.
“You will never have my daughter,” Gina countered and felt her fangs prickle against her lips.
“Calm down, babe,” Baxter said as he pulled Niko down the steps to the police officers.
“She okay?” One of the cops asked when Nathan stopped in front of them with Niko.
“She’s a newly turned vampire, an agent with the VEB and a Huntress, and this man threatened her daughter. She’ll be fine once you have him out of her sight,” Baxter answered. “He’s to be booked on threatening a federal agent with a deadly weapon.”
“Who did he threaten, and what was the weapon?” The younger of the officers asked.
“He threatened me, more than once, and tried to stake an agent. A wooden stake is a deadly weapon for us,” Baxter pointed out and nodded to Karma.
“Here,” she said and handed the stake to the officers. She had it in a sealed plastic evidence bag already.
“I wish all our cases involved feds as the victims,” the older officer said with a chuckle. “Has this guy been read his rights?”
“Yes, but do it again for good measure,” Baxter said and grinned at Niko. “We will see you in court.”
“Burn in hell,” he responded, and Gina hissed. “And keep that beast away from me.”
“Sir, you’re the only one I see causing any trouble here,” the officer holding Niko said and Baxter grinned.
Being a federal agent did have its advantages.
“And Niko, if you do happen to get out anytime soon, I’d advise you not to cross my path. You threatened my daughter one too many times,” Gina warned him.
“Did you just threaten me?” Niko asked, his eyes wide as he looked at the officers. “Did you two hear that?”
“I didn’t hear anything, did you Sarge?” The younger one asked.
“Not a thing,” the one holding Niko said, and grinned at Karma and Baxter. “Agents, call us if you have any more issues. We don’t mind taking out the trash if it helps keep the citizens of this city safe.”
“Thank you,” Karma responded and grinned. When the younger officer winked at her, Dylan growled softly, and Karma chuckled. “I think we got it from here, though.”
Once the officers had Niko in their car, Baxter looked at the other Hunters who’d been with him. “The rest of you, if you choose to continue on your path against evil vampire, you may do so freely, but if you decide to come after one of my agents, I promise you the entire force of the government will rain down on you. My agents are good vampire, and we will do whatever is necessary to protect the human population, even if that means eliminating a band of humans working against us.”
“We will leave the agents be unless given reason to come after one,” the apparent leader responded. “My name is Kirkland, and I am the leader of these men. We believe all vampire have the capabilities of being evil.”
“As do all humans,” Nikki reminded him. “Niko is more evil than any of these vampire before you, yet because he was human you stood with him and against federal agents.”
“I see what you’re saying, but that doesn’t change the fact that a vampire can kill a human without any effort, whereas a human has to work at it a little harder,” he said and Nikki grinned as she leveled her crossbow at his heart.
“Do we really?” She asked with a raised eyebrow. “If I’d wanted you dead, I can assure you, you would be already. Same goes for any of the Huntresses. We have been training for years, under skilled fighters, to eliminate any threat we see. I would not hesitate to take out a human who threatened one of these agents. Also, I now have four sisters who are vampire, and would lay down my life for them, just as they would for me.”
“Do you really think if they had to choose between getting themselves to safety or pausing for a second to save you, they would save you?” Another Hunter asked.
“Yes,” Nikki answered without hesitation. “They already have, more than once.”
“Then we will leave you to them,” Kirkland responded and looked at Baxter for a moment before waving his hand at the Hunters behind him.
The agents stepped aside as the Hunters walked out of the house and down the steps. Once they were gone, Karma looked at Rick and grinned.
“How did you know?” He asked.
“Something didn’t sound right when you called me earlier,” she answered and shrugged.
“And when something feels off to Karma, we all take it seriously,” Baxter told him. “Now, tell me, what were they threatening you with?”
“The one you had arrested mentioned the name of the vampire you told me about when you were here a few days ago, Crompton, and I knew something was off about him, so I made up the story about my landlord to get you all here. I was hoping Karma would bring a team, and was very happy when I smelled everyone,” he responded. “Good thing, too. Those Hunters were saying some horrible shit about vampire. They’d have tried killing you all.”
“Tried being the key word there,” Karma said and grinned. “Let’s get back to the compound, and you can tell us what Niko said ab
out Crompton.”
“Sounds like a plan,” Rick said and grinned at them all. “And thanks for trusting me.”
“Just don’t give us a reason not to, and we always will,” Harrison told him, and Karma nodded.
“I never will,” he responded and grinned when Karma nodded again.
“Looks like we have a new agent,” Baxter said after Karma, Dylan, Johnson, and Rick were loaded into the SUV.
“Yes,” Gina said, but shook her head. “And a new problem. Niko will not stop.”
“Then we will stop him,” Baxter told her. “But, for now, let’s get home to Zora. She needs to see her mommy.”
“Best idea ever,” Gina said and grinned. She was a little antsy about Zora seeing her as a vampire, but she knew her daughter and knew she’d love her no matter what.
Chapter Thirty-Five
“Tell us what Niko said about Crompton,” Karma told Rick after everyone was gathered in the meeting room at the compound.
“He said the Hunters he was working with came across a band of vampire a few weeks ago. The leader of the vampire was named Crompton, and he was looking for Halflings. He said if I didn’t call and get the agents away from the compound, he’d turn me over to Crompton,” Rick started and looked at Karma. “I made up the story about my landlord in hopes you would think something was off, and you did.”
“We’d have brought a team even if I hadn’t thought something was off,” Karma assured him.
“And Niko should have known that,” Nevaeh said and looked around the room. “Before the Huntresses started working with Demetri, we worked with the group of Hunters Niko used to belong to. Gina’s father was from that group, as was Zora’s. When Jaxon was killed, Niko left the Hunters and we didn’t see or hear from him again until the day Zora was born.”
“When he issued his threat,” Baxter said and ground his teeth.
“Yes,” Gina answered. “And until the other night, I hadn’t seen him since that night.”
“What I was trying to say is, Niko knows how the Huntresses operate, and should have known a team would be coming, so why did he want us away from the compound?” Nevaeh asked. “Nothing happened while we were away.”
“I have no idea,” Gina responded. She and Baxter had talked to Zora as soon as they’d arrived back, and she was her usual self.
“I think I may know,” Jensen spoke up as he walked into the room.
“What’s going on?” Baxter asked, noting the look on Jensen’s face.
“I found this on a tree just outside of the compound borders,” he answered and held up a note. “It has Crompton’s scent on it.”
“Read it,” Baxter told him.
Jensen took a deep breath and started reading. “Dear Agents and Huntresses, I am leaving this here as a warning to you all. I know where you live, and I know you have children here. I will leave you all be, safe and secure in your own little area of the world, if you do the same for me. I will not let my creations loose on you, if and only if, you leave me and my business alone. Caia has agreed to do as I want, and as soon as she has delivered the babe, I will be turning her so she can join me in immortality. If you wish to keep your children safe, you will leave this area, and never return.”
“Fuck,” Baxter spat and jumped to his feet. “We have to move the children tonight.”
“No,” Nevaeh commented. “We will finish packing up and load everything, and head out on schedule.”
“And if he attacks?” Gina asked, thinking about Zora’s safety.
“He won’t attack unless he thinks he can win, and he knows he can’t win against us all,” Karma told them. “He will wait until most of us have moved on to attack, and he will send whatever army he has created, but he will not be with them. He will not risk being killed if Caia truly has conceded to him.”
“There’s no way she has,” Jensen said and shook his head.
“I doubt she has, but she may have convinced him she has,” Jackson said and looked at Jensen. “When we were being held together, she was taken once and questioned. She told me then she was ready to die so she could be out of that hell. I don’t think she meant it as much as she wanted the vampire holding us to think she did. This could be the same thing. She’s told Crompton what he wants to hear to save her own life.”
“I’ll rip him to shreds if he’s hurt her,” Jensen said, and the others looked at him.
“And we’ll all be right beside you if it comes to that,” Baxter assured him. “Let’s work on getting the rest of the compound packed up as we carefully try to find Crompton. He cannot be far from here if he was able to leave that note behind in the short amount of time we were gone. Patrols would have spotted him had he been too close for too long.”
“They would have,” Nevaeh agreed. “We have several hours of daylight left, and we almost have everything packed up. The vans we rented are already outside, so all we have to do is load them at this point.”
“Then let’s get busy,” Baxter said and pulled Gina to her feet. “We’ll get the house packed up and loaded.”
“We will?” Gina asked, and grinned.
“Yes,” he responded and kissed her forehead. “Hopefully we can get it finished before sunset.”
“Guess we’re finishing up today,” Harrison said and grinned. “Good thing we have vampire strength and speed on our side.”
“That’s a very good thing,” Nevaeh agreed. “Let’s get to work.”
****
“Where do we go from here?” Johnson asked Baxter and Jensen after they loaded the last of the moving vans.
“Most of the Huntresses are heading east, but we’re staying here until we can find a lead on Crompton. The last information we had was that he’s here, somewhere in Northern California, and now we know he’s close,” Jensen answered. “We have to find him. We have to find Caia.”
“We’ll find her,” Baxter said and looked over to where Jackson was pacing as he talked on the phone. “Young Jackson seems to be frustrated.”
“He is,” Karma said as she walked up with Maggie. “He’s been trying to get a lead on Caia, but hasn’t had any luck. He wants her back.”
“We all do,” Jensen said and looked at Johnson.
“Maggie, what’s wrong?” Johnson asked, and Baxter looked over to see the worried expression on Maggie’s face. This conversation didn’t look like it was going to end well.
“Nothing,” she responded then shook her head. “Or everything. I’m not sure, honestly.”
“Baby?” Johnson asked and she looked around at the others.
“Maggie, what’s going on?” Baxter asked in a calming voice.
“I’m…” she started then stopped and took a deep breath. After exhaling, she looked at everyone again before locking eyes with Johnson. “I got a call from the doctor earlier. All the test results are in, and everything looked normal, except one.”
Baxter’s heart skipped a beat at her words.
“Maggie, you’re scaring me,” Johnson said and stepped in front of her, blocking the others from her line of sight. “What test wasn’t normal?”
“Leland,” she said softly, and he took her face in his hands. She sighed audibly, and Baxter tensed. “Leland, I’m pregnant. We’re going to have a baby.”
“Congratulations!” Karma nearly shouted, causing Maggie to jump a little, which in turn caused Johnson to growl.
“Is she sure?” Johnson asked, and Baxter grinned at the fear in his voice.
“Yes,” she answered.
When Johnson didn’t say anything for a moment, Baxter felt Maggie’s tension level rise, and was about to step into her view when Johnson finally spoke.
“I love you, Maggie,” he said and kissed her forehead. “And you are going to make an amazing mother.”
“You’re going to be a wonderful father, too,” she responded and tilted her head so she could kiss just under his jaw.
“What now?” He asked, pulling away a little so he could see her face.
“Training is suspended until after the baby is born,” Karma said and looked at Maggie. “And you will be a great mom.”
“Leland?” Maggie said, and looked up at him curiously.
“I’m fucking terrified,” he admitted to everyone. “I just found out I have a son, and now I’m going to have another child.”
“A dozen vampire trying to kill him, no problem. A baby he helped create and he’s terrified,” Karma said and rolled her eyes. “We will keep her safe.”
“Did someone say baby?” Eduardo asked, walking up behind Johnson.
“Maggie’s pregnant,” Baxter told him nervously.
“That’s excellent,” Eduardo said and grinned. “Another Halfling.”
“What about a Halfling?” Jackson asked.
“Maggie is pregnant,” Karma told him.
“I’m going to be a big brother?” Rick asked as he walked up behind Maggie.
“Yes,” Johnson answered, and smiled a little at Maggie.
“Congratulations,” Jackson said and smiled at Maggie before looking at Baxter. “But can we wait to celebrate?”
“Did you find out something?” Jensen asked.
“Maybe,” Jackson responded. “There is a place about forty miles from Sacramento called Cool. It’s a very small town, and it’s believed he’s gone there.”
“That’s the town I grew up in.” Karma said and looked at everyone. “That’s the town my family was murdered in.”
“That can’t be a coincidence,” Ramsey said and looked at the others.
“No, it can’t be,” Eduardo responded. “Pack your bags, boys and girls. It looks like we’re heading to Cool.”
“It looks like I’m heading to the one place I’d hoped to never see again,” Karma said, and Dylan wrapped his arms around her.
“I’ll be right beside you, baby,” he whispered into her hair.
“We all will be,” Nevaeh told her.
“And we will all stand with you, no matter what,” Rick told her.
“Thank you, everyone,” Karma said and looked at the family surrounding her.
Gina's Passion (Vampire Huntress Sage Book 4) Page 18