Blood & Tears (Jane #3)
Page 6
I called out to Ado, drawing his attention as Ronin raced down the hall, barreling into Ado's opponent. I tossed the pistol to the free man and turned to help Felipe. He was on his knees with his enemy in front of him on his backside. Felipe had the vampire in a headlock and the creature was beating him in the face. Felipe's nose was swollen and purple, dripping blood onto the other vampire's shoulder. For the briefest of moments, I thought about how sexy Felipe was, even with a broken and bruised face, then I pulled my weapon and stood behind him. He leaned his head away and I pressed the barrel to the other vampire's skull before pulling the trigger.
Nastiness sprayed all over the wooden floor, some of it shooting far enough to splatter the three battling vampires. The wounded vampire slumped to the floor, temporarily incapacitated. Felipe picked up Jax's butcher knife and, in two very powerful swings, sliced through the flesh, muscle, and bone that kept the man's head attached to his shoulders. My lips curled involuntarily and I found myself wanting to gag.
By then, Ado and Ronin had neutralized the other vampire male and were staking him. Ronin's hand pressed forcefully to the thing's mouth, muffling the sounds as it screamed with pain. My immortal teammates stood, gathering around me. I stared at the woman—no, not woman; girl—crumpled on the landing above us. She was young, too young. Was she even eighteen? Had she been stolen from school and turned against her will?
"She came out of the basement after I heard those two brutes break through the door. I think she was trying to escape." Ronin's voice came from his place beside Jax, where he was helping Benton check the fallen man over.
"Can we take her with us?" I turned to Felipe, silently pleading with him.
His lips set into a grim line, his jaw clenching and releasing rhythmically as was its habit when he was stressed and deep in thought. A minute passed before he tore his gaze from her broken body and turned around.
"How's Jax?" he asked, effectively changing the topic and avoiding a decision for the time being.
"He'll live. Looks like his wrist might be snapped and he has some nasty wounds on his face, but he'll be alright."
Felipe nodded, watching his soldiers work on one of their own, then headed down the staircase to the basement. Ado remained upstairs, but Ronin and I followed him in the damp darkness. The missing vampire was nowhere to be found, but the three humans were all crumpled on couches arrayed around the room. One was dead, probably for over a day. The other two had clearly been the evening meals for the dead vampires and were passed out from blood loss.
Felipe pulled out his cell phone. There was a special cleaning crew standing by to take care of any mess we might make and he called them in. When we heard a growl out on the porch, he stepped outside to quiet the remaining dog. The cleaners, a team consisting of three humans and four vampires, brought the two dead canines into the house and set to work righting our wrongs.
Ado stood at the foot of the stairs, his piercing eyes boring into the unmoving figure of the young girl. His fingers toying absently with the hilt of his sword, an unsettling sneer playing faintly across his lips. While I watched him, Felipe joined us, placing a hand on Ado's shoulder.
"She lives," he said, softly and simply.
Ado turned so fast I could hardly follow the movement, his sneer turning to a viscous snarl as he faced Felipe. His eyes burned, hatred, anger, and pain engaged in a horrible dance across his irises. His nostrils flared and his hand tightened on the sword. Felipe said nothing and made no movements, his face remaining passive, his eyes remaining firm and hard. I held my breath, not daring to draw attention to myself by either one of them. Several very terrifying moments passed before Ado scoffed and shoved past Felipe, stomping out the door. I breathed a sigh of relief and put my arms around Felipe. He returned the gesture, kissing my sweaty, matted hair.
"Go make sure she's alive, babe. Then take her to the car, would you?"
He handed me a set of vampire-grade handcuffs and I bound her hands behind her, cringing when I realized what kind of pain that arm would be in when she woke. As I was walking with her to the car, a shadow flickered in the corner of my eye. It was gone when I turned my head. I set the wounded vampire in the back seat behind the driver's side and Ronin placed Jax beside her before heading back to his own vehicle. Felipe chatted with the cleaning staff for a bit before joining us. He opened my door and the dog hopped in, settling calmly at my feet.
"What are they going to do with the humans?" I asked when he climbed into the driver's seat. My hand absently stroked the creature who had tried to kill us not an hour before.
"The ones that are still alive will be taken to rehab. All of them were pretty doped up. They'll have a hard road ahead of them. But hopefully they'll be able to be rehabilitated. If not..."
I nodded. He didn't need to tell me what would happen. It was obvious. He put the SUV in gear, pulling out of his parking spot. I checked behind us to make sure the boys were following. I watched the other car for a moment, worried about Ado. Suddenly, my body jerked forward and my elbow smashed into the dash. It was lucky I'd remembered to put my seat belt on or my head might have met glass. A pained yelp told me that the dog had not been so fortunate. I turned quickly, wondering why Felipe had slammed on the brakes so violently.
Standing in front of us, his face very much like Ado's had been in the house, stood a vampire. He was one I'd never seen before. His hair was shoulder-length and dyed black. He wore a black t-shirt and leather jacket. His face was painted white with too much mascara and blood-red lips.
"Conrad." The word drifting from Felipe's seat was filled with venom, confusion, and a tinge of something else, maybe despair.
Before I could ask him who Conrad was, the creature in front of us pounded a hand on the hood, leaving a dent two inches deep, then used that leverage to launch himself over the car. Felipe was out of the vehicle in microseconds and I wasn't far behind him. As we reached the back of the vehicle, I saw Conrad, the mysterious man in black, grip the underside of the other SUV and flip it through the air. It landed on the other side of the road, the roof caved in.
Ado and Ronin had reacted swiftly, pulling themselves from the vehicle in mid-air. Benton had not been as quick. I could see him struggling inside the crumpled interior, trying vainly to free himself. As the boys stalked toward the intruder, I headed to Benton's aid. Using what extra strength I possessed, I put the Jaws of Life to shame and ripped at the car. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, I was able to pull Benton from the vehicle. His leg was damaged, but not broken. He was able to walk with my assistance and I helped him back to my SUV. When I finally got him to relative safety, I turned to the ensuing battle.
While Felipe and Ronin circled, Ado engaged the new vampire directly. It was a brutal, fast battle, with both combatants clearly trained in dealing as much damage in hand-to-hand combat as physically possibly. Both of them were bleeding profusely, but Ado was listing badly, holding a hand tight to his side. He feinted, drawing the other man to his left, then swung, connecting with a sickening crunch. The man reeled, pulling away and Ado made to follow. It was a mistake.
As Ado chased after him, the man lunged, reaching for the sword that rarely left Ado's side. Before my teammates could react, the blade whistled through the air, slicing cleanly. A peacefully confused look crossed Ado's face and time seemed to pause. I stood there, clinging to Benton, unable to breathe, the world blurring before me. It felt like an eternity passed before the silence was finally broken by the evil vampire's cruel cackle. We all watched as Ado's head tilted unnaturally, then tumbled to the ground like a bowling ball, his body dropping beside it.
Felipe howled with rage and he and Ronin launched themselves at the murderer, but the man was too quick. He raced through the trees, with the boys hot on his heels. I stood there next to Benton, unsure of what to do. When I looked down, tears stained the man's shocked face. His eyes were wide, unblinking, salty water pouring from them unhindered as he stared at his defeated friend.
A small face peeked through a curtain on a second story window, eyes wide, mouth slightly open. Forcing a brave smile, I waved and a little hand waved hesitantly back. When I held a finger to my lips, the boy nodded, locking his own and throwing away the imaginary key before turning from the window.
By the time I got everything salvageable out of the overturned SUV, Felipe and Ronin were back. They were panting and covered in sweat, but they had been unable to catch the man. He had escaped, leaving behind a whole mess of carnage.
Ronin picked up Ado's body and put it in the back of the only working SUV. He climbed in beside it, somehow finding a place to curl up among the various gadgets and equipment. Felipe talked to the cleaning staff and they agreed to handle the destroyed vehicle. Then he pulled himself into the driver's seat once more and we headed off back home to lick our wounds and plot our revenge.
Other Titles Available From This Author
Vampire Assassin (Jane #1)
Available on Kindle & Nook.
New Blood (Jane #2)
Available on Kindle & Nook.
Redemption (Jane #4)
Available on Kindle & Nook
Blood of the Dragon
Available on Kindle, Nook, & in paperback.
About the Author
Samantha Warren owes her love of reading to Laura Ingalls Wilder, without whom she would not own a rumpled, torn, beautifully pink book called Farmer Boy (the first book she remembers reading repeatedly). Her favorite book of all time is Frankenstein, a fascinating study in the dichotomy of mankind.
Samantha lives in upstate New York and milks cows in her free time. She spends way too much money on lattes at the Village Cafe, but wouldn't have it any other way. She is also an avid short story writer and many of her pieces can be read at http://mariytasmusings.blogspot.com/.
Contact Information
Twitter @_SamanthaWarren
Email samantha@redinkrevision.com
Website http://mariytasmusings.blogspot.com
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Table of Contents
Blood
Midpoint