Jason came from the back of the plane with a look of determination. He also had a bodyguard and a gun with him.
“You’re not going,” she said with a shake of her head.
“Try and stop me,” he replied.
She glanced at the guard then Xavier, who shrugged.
“You stay close and do as I say,” she ordered Jason. “When we find Nikki, you get her out and don’t look back.”
“You and Xavier are not going to win this alone,” Jason hissed.
Alex adjusted the earpiece and the weapon under her jacket. “We’re not going to be alone.”
Xavier led the way to the exit ramp. Adam appeared from the cockpit. His stare stopped them all in their tracks.
“Where do you think you’re going?” he growled at Jason.
“I can do this, Sire,” he said. “I’m going to do this. I don’t need your permission.”
Adam turned his clouded eyes to Alex. “He dies, you die.”
Alex just nodded and waved Xavier forward.
“Jason and the big guy will be back here shortly,” she said as Adam followed them to the doorway. At the top of the ramp, she turned to Adam. “If we’re not back one hour after they arrive, take off. If your doctor can keep Sebastian and Kai stable, 51 will be waiting for them. No one touches Amy. Your doctor knows what to do when Nikki gets here.”
Adam’s expression softened. “Understood.”
Tomas looked nervous, but Becker was more so. He didn’t want to let Alex down and he sure as hell didn’t want to lose whoever was responsible for Matt’s death. Every waking moment over the last few weeks was spent monitoring Strategic and the Tracker team for any information on Matt’s killers.
As he checked his weapon for the fifth time in as many minutes, he kept the image of Matt’s dead body in his mind. It would help him do what needed to be done to bring the bastards responsible to justice. Not the justice anyone would be familiar with though. He wanted justice to be in the Circle, with Lucas Wolfe. The toughest bastard in any pack in the world. If the guilty were lucky, he’d take them out quick. But, from the looks of Matt’s remains, they didn’t go easy on him, so turnabout is fair play. Money talks in the merch business, and, as of five minutes ago, someone had talked their organization into a capture instead of a termination.
“K.C.,” Tomas interrupted his thoughts. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, just peachy,” he grinned.
“I don’t understand,” he frowned over the passenger seat.
“I’m good,” Becker replied.
His driver and right-hand-man, Marcus, glanced at Becker in the rearview. He was a former Navy Seal. But it’s hard to give up the rush of hunting and war sometimes. When he lost his right foot in combat, he was sidelined.
“Becks,” Marcus said over the heater. “We sure this Stone chick ain’t gonna screw us on this deal? I mean, our client paid us a good chunk of change to bring whoever in. You sure you can handle her?”
Becker understood the hesitation. In this line of business, it was hard to know who to trust, even if that someone saved your life once or twice. “She’s good.”
“Okay,” Marcus sighed. The truck picked up speed. Becker glanced back to make sure the others were still close behind them. He wanted to get there in one piece though.
Dracula’s Castle rose slowly ahead of them in the darkness. Spotlights, yellow and dim, lit up the concrete path all the way to the front entrance. They wouldn’t use the front door this time. Marcus killed the headlights when Becker ordered. He slowed down and eased the four-wheel drive vehicle off the main road.
“There’s a caretaker’s path to your left,” Becker announced. “You should see it soon. Park there.”
True to the map in his head, it was there. Muddy snow piled on either side, but it was there. The two trucks parked. Four big guys exited the truck behind them. As they stood between them, Becker repeated the drill and made sure the comms were in working order.
Two men headed toward the back entrance. Deliveries were made there and a flimsy lock held the bay doors in place. The other pair, led by Tomas, headed back to the main road. Just to the right of the main entrance was a set of French doors. They would gain access from there. Becker and Marcus would take the scenic route.
With their climbing gear secure, Becker, Marcus, and their team stepped up to the lowest wall and scaled it quickly. It would have been much easier if he were still on the drugs, but it felt good to do this as a regular guy. At the top of the building, they dropped the gear, checked weapons and comms, and made their way to a roof entrance. In the near dark, the rusty stairs looked about ready to collapse. At the bottom, a red fire alarm light focused a beam on the hardwood floor. Reaching the bottom without much noise, they waited in the darkness to see if anyone heard. Thirty seconds went by—then all hell broke loose.
Chapter 26
Alex saw flashes of light as they approached from the wooded area to the north of the trucks they found on the muddy path. Xavier and the bodyguard went toward the lights. She and Jason took the loading dock because it was still open.
“Let me lead,” he whispered. “My night vision’s probably better.”
She pulled him back and rolled her eyes. “Just stay close. These guys are not very stealthy.”
He chuckled low and followed her through the small storage area and up the door that led inside the main building. Gunfire cracked in the distance. Voices echoed down the corridor as they moved quickly toward Xavier and his partner.
“Two down,” he said in the earpiece. “I see three just ahead of your current location.” They heard another crack of gunfire. “Make that two,” he returned.
She raised her bio-watch and tapped the screen. At the bottom of the small screen her heat and Jason’s cold signatures were side by side. With a swipe of her finger, Xavier and the bodyguard popped up. A tiny compartment on the side of each watch held miniscule amounts of their blood. Developed by Strategic just that year, the bio-watch could separate and register the owners of the samples as long as they were within twenty-five feet of the device. She swiped back to the screen displaying her and Jason.
Two white dots moved in fast. If they were human, they would have registered red, like hers or Xavier’s. If she had a sample, the watch would have chosen a random color, and initials of the donor, if known, would show on screen like Jason and the bodyguard. They were vampires.
She dropped to her knees, fished a silver dagger from her boot, and signaled for Jason to move to the blind corner across from where they stood. It was dark enough to hide him, she hoped. For some reason, a suit of armor sat in the center of the hallway. Alex moved into the darker shadow and hoped it would give her enough time.
As the figure of one man came slowly around the corner, she flipped the dagger so that she held it by the sharp edge. He stopped and turned toward a noise behind him. When he turned back, she threw the dagger as hard as she could. Just like that, it struck dead center and he began to burn from the inside out. Jason smiled at her.
She ran toward the man as he crumbled and caught the dagger before it hit the ground. Jason yelled and she ducked. He put two silver bullets into the chest of the next vampire but missed his heart. The vampire opened fire in the narrow hallway as he backed up and Jason wrapped Alex in his arms and spun around the blind corner again.
“You hit?” he whispered. She shook him off and pulled him with her as she ran.
“You got a fix on Nikki yet?” she said to Xavier.
“I got a couple of Becker’s guys with me now,” he answered in a jumpy voice as if he were running. More gunfire and grunts filled their heads through the communication devices.
Alex realized they were on their own. She turned to Jason and he closed his eyes. The muscles in his arms and chest bulked suddenly. Under the dim red light of the fire alarm, he turned toward th
e giant staircase and nodded. A tattered sign hung loosely on the wall. Its arrow pointed up to the ceiling; it read: Theater and Ballroom, Floor 2.
She looked at the bio-watch. Xavier and the bodyguard were surrounded by white dots. But there were also green ones—Becker’s guys hopefully. She had to keep moving forward.
It didn’t take long to climb the winding staircase. Almost at the top, they stopped. Jason raised his head first and peered over the last step to make sure it was clear. He pulled Alex with him and they made their way down the wide corridor. When Jason grabbed her arm, he faced a door halfway down the hall. His hand hovered over the entrance.
“Here,” he whispered.
Alex pulled out her modified Sig p226 and checked the magazine. With the safety off, she chambered a round as she took one side of the door and Jason took the other. She pushed it open with her foot. It groaned and creaked as a weird smell tumbled out at them. Jason peeked through the narrow opening where hinges met wall. When his eyes widened, she knew.
She covered his back as he swept through the door. Nikki, in the fetal position, groaned and shivered on a dirty cot against the wall. Jason moved to gather her in his arms but Alex stopped him.
“Don’t touch her,” she sniffed. “Smell that? That’s pure silver and it’s pouring out of her in buckets—just like Sebastian.”
“She’s dying,” he sniffed back. “I have to get her out of here.”
One more glance at the bio-watch and she saw a green dot move in their direction. She put her finger to her lips and waved Jason down. As she moved toward the side, a thin shadow inched toward the door. When it stopped, she raised her weapon chest high, bent her right elbow slightly to account for the kick, then aimed.
Hands in fingerless gloves came into view, then Becker’s bearded face. He cocked his head to the one side and arched a furry brow at her. She lowered the weapon.
“Jeez,” he said as he moved inside after checking the hallway again. “Where’s the love?”
“How’d you know it was us?” Alex said.
“With this,” he answered as he held up an identical bio-watch.
Alex’s heart jumped in her throat. “Is Xavier dead?”
Becker shook his head. “He’s fine, sorry. I borrowed it because he’s watching the exit for us.”
“I need you to take her for Jason,” she said.
“Why?”
“She’s pumped full of some kind of silver compound and it’s killing her,” Jason replied.
Alex nodded at Becker and he gathered Nikki up in his arms after wrapping her in the dirty sheet she was laid out on. His nose twitched at the scent, she was sure.
“Make sure they get to the Jeep. He knows where to find it,” she said to Becker as they made their way back to the stairs. Xavier had a slight limp but looked fine as the bodyguard moved toward them. When the smell hit his nose, he looked ready to vomit.
“Payne will get them back,” Becker said as a wiry-looking, tattooed white guy stepped out of the shadow. “He’s a pretty good field medic too. He knows what to do.”
Jason looked afraid as Becker handed Nikki over to Payne. He followed them to the main entrance, looked back once, then left, gun raised.
“Drive faster,” Payne ordered as he wiped at Nikki’s face and tried to get her to take in some of his blood. Jason saw a gentleness to this man—a man who was killing his kind without a second thought just a few minutes ago. “Come on, darlin’,” he heard Payne drawl. “Just a little.” A weak moan escaped her pale lips.
He had to crack the window to thin out the thick odor as it poured from Nikki’s body. Jason took practically every corner on two wheels. When the airfield came into view, he heaved a big sigh of relief. The gate swung open when he flashed the headlights at the guards. At the plane, a stretcher waited.
“I’ll get her loaded and settled in your med bay,” Payne announced as the truck rolled to a stop next to the stretcher. David waited with the doctor and nurse.
Once Nikki was out and strapped in, Payne help David carry her up the ramp and into the plane. Jason stripped off his holster, jacket, and earpiece. One of his assistants took the gear as he hustled to the medical bay. Inside, his doctor, gloved and masked, attended to Nikki. As an unconscious Sebastian lay shaking next to her, David wiped her body down with wet cloths as the nurse prepared the intravenous blood bags they would use to put as much clean blood in her as possible. She screamed when the needle slid into her arm.
“Jason,” Adam whispered from behind him. “Let them work.”
He let Adam pull him from the room. At the end of the narrow hall, he stopped and turned back around. Adam leaned on the wall across from him.
“She’ll be fine,” he whispered again.
“Any word from Alex?” he whispered as he stared straight ahead.
“No.”
Jason turned, sat on the arm of a leather seat, and sighed. Half of him worried for Nikki as she fought for her very life right down the hall. The other half worried for Alex, who had risked hers to get Nikki out. And how easy was that? A few stray vampires sent in to sacrifice themselves for The Cause—barely turned dupes put in their path to slow them down. And that other team, where did they come from?
“What did she say to you before we left?” Jason demanded as he rubbed his chin.
“We are to leave here in one hour,” Adam replied. “With or without her.”
Jason stood quickly; he moved closer to Adam. “You’re not serious! We are not leaving her here to die.”
“That’s not your decision to make, Jason. It’s hers, and she’s made it. The flight plan has been filed. Area 51 is on full alert. The clock is ticking.”
He stepped back and sat down again. Adam wouldn’t let him leave this plane, not without a real fight this time. That would be a fight Jason would not win. When Nikki screamed again, he jumped to his feet. A few seconds later, David appeared in the hallway, haggard as he removed his bloodstained gloves. Payne appeared behind him as he rubbed at the inside of his right arm.
“The doctor says whatever they used, its new and very aggressive,” David stated to Jason. “They’re trying to slow it down with fresh blood, but with both Sebastian and Nikki affected . . .” he shook his head. “It may not be enough. Adam, he wants to get some blood from you to see if pure vampire blood might have a better effect.”
Jason rolled his head from side to side until it popped. Adam made his way to the medical bay without a word. Payne stepped next to David.
“I’ll be on my way then. I hope what I gave helps your friends.”
“Wait,” Jason put his hand out for a handshake. Payne’s grip was strong and warm. “Thank you.”
“My pleasure,” Payne grinned. After he shook David’s hand and said he’d keep them all in his prayers, he hustled from the plane. A few seconds later, they could hear the Jeep burn rubber on the tarmac.
“Who was he?” Jason asked. David led them to the galley. Fruit and bottled water was lined up on the narrow counter. He took an apple and sat opposite Jason at the square table.
“He said he worked for some outfit K.C. Becker heads up,” David answered. “He was a doctor at one time.”
“Becker? He was a member of the original team, right? Night Command? Why didn’t she tell me she had backup?”
“According to Payne, they just ran into each other yesterday. Kinda lucky, if you ask me.”
“I think Becker helped us get Nikki out,” Jason said, mostly to himself. “I saw him and another guy at the Palace today too. What’s the outfit called?”
David shrugged. “He just kept referring to ‘The Cause’ when I asked,” he said with air quotes. “I’ll see what intel I can get on them when we’re in the air.” He stood, stretched and grabbed a bottle of water. “I’m gonna go check on Kai.”
“Of course,” Jason nodded.
When David was gone, he folded his arms on the table then dropped his head on them. Images of what had transpired over the last hour bounced around in his head: the smell of the castle and the sound of gunfire, how he had found Nikki so easily seemed strange to him.
His head popped up suddenly. The plane was still and quiet. Back in the direction of the med bay, Jason followed the smell of alcohol and blood. He reached the door to find Adam with a laptop propped on his knees as he sat between an unconscious Sebastian and Nikki.
“You should get some rest,” he said when he noticed Jason at the door. “They’ve been sedated, heavily.” He watched as Adam glanced at his smartphone. Thirty minutes had already gone by in a flash.
“I’m going back for Alex,” Jason announced. He stepped up to Nikki and let his hand hover above hers, afraid to touch her. The doctor had warned that the toxic mixture could be passed through such innocent actions.
“No, you’re not,” Adam shook his head and folded the laptop up again. “She left specific instructions. We won’t deviate from her plan. She’s in charge, even if she’s not aboard.”
“You’d see her dead,” Jason hissed, “rather than letting me go help her, wouldn’t you?!”
“If the choice is you and Nikki or her, then the answer is yes.”
Jason felt like punching something. But Adam was right—not about her life or theirs, but she was in charge of the assignment. Her job was to keep him alive and returned in one piece. It wasn’t supposed to be fair, was it?
“It’s a setup,” Jason snapped. “You knew it, didn’t you?”
“We suspected as much,” he answered to Jason’s surprise. “We had hoped we were wrong, but . . .” he stared at Nikki. “I hope she’s as good as everyone seems to think she is.”
“You wanted to draw Tristan here,” Jason continued as he paced the small room corner to corner. “Maybe end it before it reached home. But he’s not here, is he?”
“It doesn’t appear that he is,” Adam stated. He sat back down and watched Jason continue to pace. “But Creed and Jesse are.”
By Blood Sworn Page 26