Books 1 & 2 of Connor and Sami: Operation Underworld Trilogy

by Carly Fall

  He sat down at the bar and ordered a beer from one of the male bartenders.

  “Fifty bucks,” the blond-haired, blue-eyed man said as he set down Connor’s bottle.

  He furrowed his brow. “Fifty bucks for a beer? Are you kidding me?”

  Blue Eyes shook his head. “Ten for the beer, forty for the privilege of having me serve you on the VIP floor.”

  He met the man’s gaze, and saw that he didn’t lie. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the credit card Dedou had packed for him, hoping like hell it worked, but assuming it would. Why would she give him a defunct credit card?

  The charge went through smoothly, and he nursed his ten-dollar beer, realizing he could probably get a twelve-pack for close to the same price, which only made the bitter brew hard to swallow.

  Not your dime, man.

  A woman across the bar caught his eye, and he could have sworn it was Sami. However, the glasses were gone, as was the button-down shirt, cleanly scrubbed face, and the blonde hair. Instead, she wore a white tank-top that hugged her breasts, and black hair cascaded down to her shoulders in soft waves. Makeup highlighted her pretty features. He glanced at her again and again, unable to believe it was her, but after a while, he couldn’t deny it.

  She sat with her back to the vampires that inhabited one of the VIP booths. She seemed completed unconcerned with them, a direct contradiction to her demeanor beforehand, and he wondered what exactly she had going on and debated whether to go find out, or to simply keep his eye on her. She had, after all, used him to get in here sooner and obviously lied about meeting friends. He felt she owed him at least some explanation as to what she was up to.

  One of the vampires stood from the table and moved past the velvet ropes. He approached a table of young women and slid in. Connor couldn’t see what was being said, but apparently, the women liked what the vampire had to say. They laughed and gave him their undivided attention, while the one sitting next to him kept caressing his arm as he spoke.

  After a few moments, he stood and helped the handsy woman to her feet and walked her over to the booth behind the velvet ropes.

  As soon as he had delivered her, he gazed around the bar, eventually setting his sights on Sami.

  The vampire slid in beside her, laying his hand on her forearm. She startled, as if she hadn’t expected the touch, then looked up and smiled. The vampire leaned in like he whispered in her ear. A flash of jealousy railed through him, but he kept it in check, and then chastised himself for it. He shouldn’t feel anything but contempt for the liar, but he did wonder exactly what she was up to. If she’d known the vampires, she would have jumped in line with them. Instead, she’d been in disguise and now acted as though she was thrilled to have the vampire shower her with attention.

  Regardless of how he felt about Sami, she was definitely up to something, and he’d be watching her and the vampires very closely tonight.

  * * *

  Two hours later, as midnight approached, he’d seen two of the vampires feed off of one woman. He kept his eye on Sami; there was something distinctly different about her compared to the other women at the table. Whenever a vampire got too close, she’d excuse herself to the bathroom, or playfully push one away. It was almost as if she knew what they were trying to do, but he didn’t know how that could even be possible. How would she be aware that she sat with a table of bloodsuckers who wanted to feast on her?

  Maybe she had some supernatural vampire detection like he did?

  “Do you want another beer?”

  He met the bartender’s gaze and felt a little bad for the guy. He’d been sipping on the same beer since he’d arrived, and he imagined he qualified as the worst customer of the week.

  “No, but thanks.”

  The bartender rolled his eyes and moved on to the next patron.

  Turning his attention back to the vampires, he realized something was about to go down. All the women had faraway looks in their eyes, like they’d been drugged. The vampires then stood, each leading a lady toward a hallway at the back of the bar. Where it went, he had no idea, but he would definitely find out.

  The vampires headed for the back stairs. Yes, something strange was most certainly happening, and his heart slammed against his sternum. He tried to follow down the narrow hallway, but a bouncer stepped in his way and told him to turn around.

  He wouldn’t be deterred.

  With determination, he turned around and pushed through the crowds down the three flights of stairs, and he came to the conclusion that even though heading outside would put the vampires out of sight, it would be for the best. They would have seen him following them, and perhaps even put a stop to whatever plans that had been laid.

  He couldn’t allow that to happen—he had to see what they intended to do with their victims. His whole body hummed with energy, and his gut churned with anticipation. Those women had looked like they’d just been given a lobotomy, and nothing good could come from vampires leading almost catatonic prey out into the night. His instincts told him this was his break in the case. The fact that it had come so quickly only energized him more.

  When he finally made it out the door, the cool night air sent a chill through him, and he wiped the sweat that had formed on his brow.

  Staring up at the building, he tried to figure out where the exit for the back stairway would be. He jogged along the side of the structure following the rooftop lines. He found himself with an alleyway to his left. Could that be right? Could this be where the stairs led? Or, maybe to the other side of the building?

  He moved carefully down the dimly lit walkway, his heart thundering in his chest, but he couldn’t place if it was from excitement or fear. The military had taught him to always trust his gut, and that’s exactly what he intended to do. Every fiber of his being screamed for him to continue on the path he’d chosen.

  The alleyway remained empty, but he thought he heard voices around the other side of the building as he jogged closer. Stopping at the corner, he carefully peeked around the building, hoping he wouldn’t be seen.

  A white box truck idled with the back door rolled open. With the dim security lights on the building, he could see inside. A row of benches had been built in on each side, and men and women sat on them facing each other, all staring straight ahead. None of them spoke, and their faces remained completely impassive, showing absolutely no emotion, almost as if they had been placed under some type of spell. A vampire leaned against the back end of the truck with his arms crossed over his chest, like having a bunch of humans sitting in the back of a box truck was the most normal thing that had happened to him today. The red glow around him appeared almost blinding. He apparently had been very well fed.

  The back door to the club opened, and the vampires he’d watched all night filed out, each with a woman’s arm laced in their own. They helped the women up the stairs into the truck where they sat down, as if being escorted out of a building and into the vehicle didn’t strike them as strange at all.

  Sami was the last to exit the building, her arm intertwined with her escort’s. She proceeded up the steps and took her seat. He had the urge to run up and grab her, but he kept himself in his place. He needed to see how this all played out. Wherever that vehicle was headed, he’d follow, then get to the bottom of what exactly was going on. Based on what he’d seen so far, he felt pretty confident that he’d just found the key to the missing people Charlie had spoken of.

  Damn bloodsuckers.

  The vampires gathered on the side of the truck and spoke in low tones. Sami’s head moved slightly, as if she peered out of the corner of her eye toward him. After a moment, she stood, a direct contradiction to the lobotomized around her. Whatever had happened to make it so they didn’t move, it hadn’t worked on her.

  He once again debated getting her out of there. If she hadn’t been affected by the spell or whatever it was the vampires had done to the rest of their victims, why did she just sit there? Why didn’t she look around and re
alize that it would be best for her to get as far away from the situation as possible?

  Unless, like him, she had other motives for being in the back alley, which made him even more curious about her actions.

  Three of the vampires moved away from him toward the main street. Two, a blond and a brunet, stayed behind and began walking to the back of the truck. Just as Sami sat down again, she came into their view.

  A very uneasy feeling overcame him as he debated once again what to do. Sami wasn’t in the same state as everyone else in the truck. He had no idea what would happen to those people, but he needed to find out. Did he let her stay in there and follow? Or did he get her out now and possibly ruin his chances of completing his mission?

  Sami made the decision for him.

  In one fluid motion, she removed her heels, stood, and stuck her leg out, knocking the brunet vampire in the head with a very impressive roundhouse kick, sending him to the ground with a thud and a groan. She flew off the back of the truck as she held on to the latching that would close it, landing on the second vampire and effectively locking the others in the cargo hold. They rolled around on the pavement trading blows, and it became apparent in a very short time that Sami would be on the losing end of the battle, especially when she took a fist to the face, which momentarily stunned her.

  The vampire straddled her as he pulled back his lips, his long, white fangs flashing in the dim light.

  Connor didn’t even think about his fate as he ran toward the two, slipping the knife from the inside of his jacket.

  Both of them saw him coming. The vampire got up, and Sami turned to her side, perching herself up on her elbow as she took some deep breathes.

  “Back off,” Connor growled at the vampire as he reached down and grabbed Sami’s arm and pulled her to her feet.

  She shrugged out of his grasp and staggered a few feet away, her white tank top now stained brown and black by the putrid city streets. She still seemed dazed as she tried to get her footing, and ended up leaning against the building with her hands planted on her knees and her head hanging down.

  The vampire glared at him, his perfectly coiffed hair now an absolute mess, his expensive clothes defiled and tattered.

  “You’re going to let those people go,” Connor demanded, holding the knife out in front of him.

  “I have no idea what you’re talking about,” the blond said, a small smile on his lips.

  Connor shook his head. His nerves rattled as he’d only interacted with nefarious vampires a couple of times. Yet, he hated when people treated him like he’d just walked off the farm, and the anger overtook the anxiety. He gripped the blade, the one Dedou had said could kill a vampire. Heat emanated from the hilt, warming his palm and sending pulses of energy through his body and goose bumps up his arms, almost as if it knew that its power might be needed at any moment. His wrist where Dedou had cut him also burned, and he looked down to see the cross glowing red. If this situation hadn’t been so damn dangerous, he’d probably be a little freaked out about that, but at the same time, he took it as a reassurance that Dedou’s voodoo was working quite well.

  He wasn’t afraid to use the knife, nor was he afraid of the power it emanated. He’d bury it so far into this fucker, it would come out the backside.

  “You know exactly what I’m talking about. I’m going to count to three, and then I’ll open the fucking door myself if you won’t.”

  “And how are you going to do that?” the blond whispered as he approached Connor.

  As their gazes locked, he became mesmerized by the bluest eyes he’d ever seen. Out of nowhere, a wave of relaxation seemed to roll over him, and his whole body began to go limp, as if his muscles and bones were melting within him. His anger faded away. He found it almost impossible to break the stare, and the urge to lie down and take a nap overtook him. He didn’t care about the people in the truck, the vampires, the fact that Sami had just been beaten up … no, he just wanted to keep looking into those ocean-blue eyes and rest.

  Suddenly, he caught Sami’s movement out of the corner of his eye. He looked over at her as she sank to her knees, and the vampire’s spell over him was broken. Shaken to his core that he’d almost succumbed, he pushed aside the thoughts of what could have happened and focused on the tasks at hand.

  Lifting the knife, he placed it at the vampire’s throat while surprise shone on the pretty face.

  “Open. The. Door.”

  The blond cursed under his breath, walked over, and opened the latch. As the panel rose, Connor caught sight of the victims sitting in the same positions as if nothing had happened.

  He thought he heard the brunet vampire growl at his side, but he avoided his gaze. He wasn’t going to get sucked into that vortex again. Instead, he turned and looked at the guy’s chest, then nicked the vampire’s chin with the blade. “Go help your friend.”

  The bloodsucker began to howl as if Connor had gutted him, and then staggered backward. Smoke emanated from the wound, and a sizzling sound met his ears. He glanced down at the knife, then back at the vampire, completely paralyzed by surprise.

  Holy shit! What spell had Dedou put on the blade?

  The skin around the small nick quickly melted away, the cries from the vampire echoing off the buildings as he clawed at his chin, almost like he was trying to stop the disintegration.

  The police would be here at any moment if he kept that up.

  Connor watched in horror as the small cut turned into a large, gaping hole in the vampire’s chin. Both vampires stared at him with wide, fearful gazes. The blond grabbed the brunet’s arm, and they took off running without looking back. Connor stared at them, wondering if he should chase them.

  The skin boiling away from the vampire’s bones didn’t faze him—he’d seen something similar in Iraq when a man had thrown acid in another man’s face. The surprise lay in the fact that he’d been responsible, with just a simple flick of the blade. He looked down at the weapon and his glowing wrist for a moment, glad he wore a long-sleeved shirt to hide his mark. Whatever Dedou had done, she meant business.

  He walked over to Sami and placed his hand on her back. “Are you okay?”

  She stood upright and wrenched away from him, her black hair a tangled mess around her dirty face. “You ruined everything!”

  Confusion tore through him, as he thought he’d most likely saved her from death.

  “Excuse me?”

  She came at him again, her face a mask of rage. She pushed against his chest, causing him to stumble backward.

  “You fucked it all up! I had everything under control! I’ve been after these guys for months, and I was this close, but you just couldn’t mind your own business!”

  Anger surged within him, and he moved within a few inches of her, his hands fisted at his side. “It didn’t look like you had control of anything. When I showed up, you had a guy straddling you—a guy with fangs who looked like he was going to rip out your throat! So, instead of telling me I fucked it all up, how about thanking me for saving your life?”

  Surprise flashed across her face for a moment. “You saw his fangs?”

  He rolled his eyes. “Of course I saw them!”

  That revelation seemed to take the key out of her ignition. She stared at him for a long beat, her arms crossed over her chest, her face contorted in confusion.

  Finally, she laughed, a strained sound that didn’t sound real in the least bit. “They must have been fake. You know those ones that the kids wear on Halloween? I bet that was it.”

  He narrowed his gaze at her. She sounded like she defended the vampire that had just tried to kill her. Or, was she trying to come to terms with what she’d seen?

  Doubt flickered in her dark eyes.

  “I don’t think you believe that,” he said softly. “I think you know exactly what you saw.”

  She glanced around the empty side street and pushed her hair out of her face. “What, exactly, do you think you saw?”

  He chuckled. No,
he didn’t want to sound like the crazy one in this exchange, but at the same time, he had grown tired the ‘who saw what’ conversation. He had a feeling they both knew exactly what had just transpired, but neither wanted to say.

  “What do you think you saw?” she asked again with more force in her voice.

  He stepped close to her again, then leaned down to whisper in her ear. “We both know what just happened, and what we both saw. What I find interesting is that you seemed more surprised about the fact that I know they exist than with the idea you just almost had your throat torn out by one.”

  She gasped as she looked up at him.

  “How do you know?” she asked, her surprise evident in her wide stare.

  As he debated what to tell her and what to leave out, a groan came from the truck.

  Both turned to see the people inside coming back to reality.

  Sami grabbed his arm. “We need to go.”

  “Why? What will happen to them?”

  She shook her head and began pulling on his bicep. “Nothing. They’ll wake up and freak out a little bit that they’re sitting in a truck, but they won’t remember why they are. We don’t want to be around.”

  “Why?”

  “Because if they see us and recognize us, it could trigger memories, and that’s the last thing we want. Also, the … the others could come back.”

  Confusion tore through him as he furrowed his brow and crossed his arms over his chest. “Why? Why don’t you want them to remember? And why do you care if those other assholes come back?”

  She pursed her lips together and closed her eyes for a moment. “Can you please just trust me?”

  He considered it for only a moment. “You’ve been lying to me since the second we met.”

  She shook her head as her nostrils flared. “Is it really that hard to put your trust in me just for a few minutes?”