Invisible Warrior (The Protectors Series) Book #11

by Teresa Gabelman

  “I don’t know, but it was like we were in the twilight zone for a minute.” Steve tapped a pen against the keyboard. “I just hope they get it figured out soon because this shit makes us weak as a team.”

  “Yeah, you’re right about that,” Ronan replied, tossing his notes to the side. “It’s going to be interesting at training. I bet Jared and Duncan end up teaching a few classes.”

  “That’s a bet I sure won’t take because you’re absolutely right.” Adam chuckled. “It’s going to be nuts, and the poor guys in there now have no clue how bad it’s about to get.”

  “Ah, man. I didn’t think about that,” Steve said, then snorted. “Fuck them. We never had it easy so why should they.”

  “Right,” Adam agreed and then sat up straight. “We’ve got movement.”

  The business was just a cover, that much they knew. Even though it was a legit tattoo shop in the front, what happened in the back was what they were interested in. A girl stumbled out the door, a guy following her. She fell to her knees. The guy kept trying to drag her, but she was too out of it to do anything but be dragged down the sidewalk.

  The three were out of the van, walking down the opposite side of the street watching. It was evident he was trying to get her to a car, but having one hell of a time doing it.

  “Come on, Crystal.” The guy sounded worried. “We’ve got to get out of here.”

  The girl laughed hysterically. “I can’t, Mike.” She laughed again. “I don’t have no legs.”

  “Yes, you do.” The Mike guy huffed as he half dragged, half carried her.

  Crossing the street, they cut the couple off from the car. “What’s she on?” Ronan asked, scaring the guy who hadn’t seen them cross.

  “Shit, where did you come from?” The man dropped the girl as he looked at them nervously. Sweat poured off him even though it was a cool night.

  “Don’t worry about that.” Ronan frowned as he watched her struggling on the ground.

  “Who you talking to?” She tried to lift her head, but couldn’t.

  “Shut up, Crystal,” the guy hissed down at her. “Listen, we don’t want any trouble. She just got a tattoo and is—”

  “Bullshit.” Ronan cut him off. “What’s she on?”

  “I don’t know.” The guy threw up his hands. “Seriously, she went in to get a tattoo, and I came back to get her, and she was like this.”

  Steve bent down and gently lifted her face. Her eyes were unfocused and bloodshot. He knew the signs of a Crimson Rush high and this chick was stoned to the max. “Yeah, she’s on Crimson.” He stood with a sigh.

  Ronan took out his phone, punched in a number, and looked down the street. Steve waited for his orders and noticed the guy, Mike, looked antsy. Before Steve could take a step toward him, the guy took off. Steve was ready for it and tackled him to the sidewalk.

  “Bad move, dumbass.” Steve sneered down at him and knew that the guy finally realized they were vampires. He jerked him, then sat him on his ass. “You make one more move, it will be your last,” he warned.

  “I don’t want no trouble.” The man shook his head. “I don’t know where she got it. I swear.”

  “Who is she to you?” Steve asked, watching him closely, even knowing he could catch him in a second if he decided to be a dumbass again and run.

  “My g-girlfriend,” he stuttered, looking wide-eyed down the street.

  “So you leave your girlfriend in a tattoo shop all by herself to get a tattoo?” Steve cocked his eyebrow at him.

  “Well, yeah,” he replied, glancing over to where Adam was trying to help his girlfriend.

  “You’re a pathetic piece of shit, you know that?” Steve spat at him.

  “Duncan and Slade are on their way to get these two. She probably needs medical attention,” Ronan stated before grabbing the guy by the shirt and lifting him completely off the ground. “Now listen here, asshole. You’re going to answer my questions, every single one of them. Do you understand me?”

  “Uh, yeah. Okay.” The guy was scared shitless and looked about ready to cry. “Whatever you want, man, just don’t hurt me.”

  Steve rolled his eyes, wanting to hurt him himself. What a fucking loser. To leave his girlfriend and then to drag her down the street when she was too messed up to walk. Yeah, this guy needed his ass kicked.

  “Who did she get the stuff from?” Ronan’s tone was more serious than Steve had ever heard.

  “I don’t know, man.” The guy then squealed when Ronan jerked him around like a ragdoll. “Wait! A guy named Drago is all I know.”

  Steve glanced at Ronan because that was a name Ronan had mentioned earlier when they were planning for the job.

  “Is he in there?” Ronan asked and then shook him again when he didn’t answer quick enough.

  “Yeah,” the guy all but cried. “I don’t want no trouble.”

  “How many people are in there right now?” Ronan hissed.

  “I don’t know” was his lying answer.

  Ronan slammed him against the nearby wall. “How many?”

  “Five, but I don’t know how many in the back.” He cried out, “I swear, man, I didn’t go back there. I just went in to get her, and that’s it. But there are five in the front. Two guys and one girl tattooing, and two dudes getting tats.”

  Just then Duncan and Slade pulled up. Steve glanced in the direction of the shop; even though they were around the corner slightly, anyone who walked out far enough would see them. Slade quickly assessed the girl, then frowned at Ronan.

  “Hope you guys got this because she’s OD’ing.” Slade picked her up and put her in the car.

  Steve looked at a silent Duncan. He wasn’t much of a talker, but something was different with him tonight, and it was freaking Steve out. This conflict made them weak, dammit. There couldn’t be strife within their unit. He knew this. Why didn’t they?

  “We got it.” Ronan finally let the guy on his feet and pushed him toward Duncan. “Make sure he gets put away. He left his girl in there alone.”

  Duncan nodded, growled at the guy as he cuffed him, and put him in the car. Steve, Adam, and Ronan watched them go.

  “You guys ready for a tat?” Ronan asked as soon as the car disappeared.

  “Nah, man. I’m good,” Steve replied, not really thinking of what Ronan was saying because he was still thinking about Duncan and the shit that went down earlier.

  “Steve, get your head out of your ass.” Adam rolled his eyes.

  “Oh, you mean….” Steve shook his head. “Sorry, this has been one fucked up day.”

  “Yeah, well, let’s make sure the next few minutes don’t get fucked up,” Ronan replied as they headed toward the tattoo shop. “You know the plan.”

  “Yeah.” Both Steve and Adam nodded.

  Steve felt his energy level spike like it always did before they were close to pulling some shit, and this definitely was going to be one for the books. He just had that feeling. Ronan went in first with Adam, and then he followed.

  “Can I help you?” A woman with more tats on her body than not stood behind a counter. She had piercings everywhere, and her hair reminded him of Jill’s.

  “Yeah, heard this place was the place to come for badass tats,” Adam said as he looked around.

  “You heard right,” she replied, but didn’t smile. Actually, she looked at them with suspicion.

  Steve noticed they all were looking at them with suspicion, even the dudes getting worked on. What the fuck? Did they have VC Warrior signs written on their fucking foreheads, or was he being paranoid?

  “So, what would it cost me to have you put a tat on me?” Ronan leaned against the counter flirting with her.

  She looked at Ronan, her face expressionless. Ronan was a handsome guy—not that Steve noticed that kind of thing a lot—but when he was in a situation where his ass was on the line and a girl who didn’t look like she got a lot of action was being flirted with by a man like Ronan and didn’t fold, well yeah, you
didn’t need to be a fucking genius to figure out shit was about to go down.

  “A lot,” she finally answered.

  “Then how about Drago?” Ronan’s voice turned deadly.

  And there it was, and here it came… the second shit storm of the day. Steve watched as the woman reached under the counter, but Ronan was too fast and slammed her head against the counter, knocking her out before grabbing for his whip and snapping it toward one guy who pulled out his gun. The tip of the whip wrapped around the man’s wrist and, with one sharp tug, the gun flew out of the man’s hand.

  Steve rushed for the others while Adam did the same. Just as he was jumping over the counter, he felt white-hot pain before he actually heard the gun go off.

  Well fuck! I’ve been shot, Steve thought as he rushed the guy holding the smoking gun.

  Chapter 16

  Steve slammed into the compound, his shoulder on fire. He was already healing, and that sucked. He may be a tough vampire on the outside, well most of the time anyway, but on the inside, he was screaming like a little bitch. If this healed all the way, then Slade was going to have to cut the bullet out, and numbing shit didn’t work on vampires. They may not die, but they hurt just like anyone else, and pain was not his friend.

  He headed toward Slade’s office wishing he would have shoved that gun up the fucker’s ass, but instead, he’d beaten his ass and put him in cuffs for Sid and Damon to take away. The main guy, Drago, got away because Ronan had jumped the damn gun, which in the process had got him shot. Turning the corner, he saw that the lights in Slade’s office were off.

  “Dammit.” Steve turned and headed in the other direction. He grabbed the phone out of his pocket and sent a text to Slade. A few seconds later, Slade responded by calling him back.

  “Are you shot in the head?” Slade asked before Steve even had a chance to say hello.

  “Ah, no.” Steve frowned.

  “Then suck it up.” Slade’s voice was harsh and undoctor-like. “I’ll be there as soon as I get done at the hospital.”

  “Well go fuck yourself, asshole,” Steve said into the phone, thinking Slade hung up on him. “Your bedside manner sucks.”

  “Steve.” Slade’s voice came out of the phone as Steve was taking it away from his ear. “I’m still on here.”

  Steve had never hung up his phone so fast in his life. “Fuck!” He stared at the phone as if Slade had the power to come out of it and kick his ass. Slamming himself against the wall, his injured shoulder hit first. “Son of a bitch! Somebody just kill me now.”

  Leaning his head back, his eyes shut tightly. “I’m going to die because he’s going to make this as painful as fucking possible.” Steve then glared at his phone, started to say something, then checked to make sure he had definitely hung up. “Why didn’t you just hang up like you always do when you’re talking to me?”

  “Ah, are you okay?”

  Looking from his phone, he saw Mira and Kira, who was holding Drew, staring at him. He hadn’t realized he had stopped close to her door. He dropped his arm with the phone then tried to look cool. “Yeah, totally.” He went to lean against the wall again and landed right back on his shoulder. “Dammit!” He flew off the wall like he’d been shot.

  “Is that your blood?” Kira asked, but something in her look and tone made Steve very hesitant to answer that question. She looked excited that he may be hurt.

  “Ah, well….” Steve hemmed and hawed around the question.

  “Oh my God.” Mira hurried toward him. “What happened to you? You’re bleeding everywhere.”

  “I’m fine,” he said, but his eyes were still on Kira, who he didn’t trust at all. “Just a little flesh wound.”

  She pulled his jacket back and cried out. “That’s no flesh wound.” Mira stared up at him with concern. “You’ve been shot.”

  “Here, take Drew, Mira.” Kira passed Drew off then disappeared into Mira’s room. “I can help. Don’t move!”

  “I don’t know.” Steve glanced down the hall and hoped to hell he saw a pissed off Slade storming his way, but unfortunately, that wasn’t the case. “Slade is the doc here, and he’s on his way.” He lied because knowing Slade and what Slade heard, the doc was probably going to make him suffer while he stopped off for a steak dinner.

  Kira rushed back out the door with her bag. “Come on. I need water so let’s go to the kitchen.”

  “Oh, well, see we can’t do that.” Steve found his out. “Sid will have a cow. He doesn’t allow blood in his kitchen.”

  “He let you change Drew’s crappy diaper on the counter,” she shot back then reached out and grabbed his bad arm, making him howl in pain.

  “Hey, watch it.” Steve howled again. “Damn!”

  “Stop being a puss,” Kira said as she pulled him down the hallway.

  Steve turned his head to see Mira following with a worried look on her face. “Does she know what she’s doing?”

  “Of course I do,” Kira answered before Mira could. She opened the door to the kitchen, pulling Steve in behind her. Grabbing a stool by the counter, she pushed him toward it. “Sit.”

  “Kira, I don’t think now is the time to be trying some new potion.” Mira’s worried eyes went from Steve to her sister. “He needs a doctor.”

  “New potion?” Steve went to get off the stool, but Kira stopped him with a hand on his chest.

  “You move and I’ll tie you down,” she warned, and her face clearly stated she meant it.

  “He’s a vampire, Kira,” Mira reminded her while giving Steve an apologetic glance. “Our magic doesn’t work on—”

  “It isn’t going to hurt anything then now, it is?” Kira was busy pulling out stuff from her bag.

  “Well….” Mira bit her lip as if really thinking about it.

  “Well?” Steve glanced over to see what Kira was doing. “Well what?”

  “Stop being a big baby and just relax.” Kira peeked up at him then quickly looked away as she almost gleefully fixed up a batch of something that smelled like death with a tinge of skunk stink. “Mira, get me some water.”

  “What is that?” Steve stared at the concoction in horror.

  “Hey, what are you guys doing?” Tessa walked in then wrinkled her nose. “If that’s Drew, I really think Slade needs to take a look at her.”

  “It’s not Drew. It’s me,” Steve replied, glancing from the stuff Kira was mixing up to Tessa. When she cocked her eyebrow, he frowned. “I didn’t shit myself. Though I may before this night is over.” He glanced back at Kira.

  Tessa frowned when she saw Steve and all the blood. “Steve, you’ve been shot!”

  “Welcome to the party,” Steve said sarcastically. “What clued you in? All the blood maybe? The undeniable pain on my face?”

  “Actually, the blood, yes. But you look more scared than in pain. I mean, you have been shot before, so it’s not like it’s something new,” Tessa bit out just as sarcastically.

  “You’ve been shot before?” Mira gasped, her eyes going between Tessa and Steve.

  “Yes, and I actually died,” Steve added and then frowned at what Kira was doing. “Oh, hell no! You are not putting that anywhere near me. Smoke just shot out of that. A freaking puff of blue sparkly smoke.”

  “Ooh, are you doing some hocus pocus?” Tessa’s attention left Steve to go to Kira as she walked over. “How exciting.”

  Kira looked at her and smiled. “It really is.” Kira nodded, then smashed and stirred with a rock-looking thing in a thick rock bowl. “A friend of mine owns a wiccan shop. She knows her stuff, let me tell you. This is a new potion that’s supposed to fix almost anything from—”

  “You are not—” Steve started to say she was not coming anywhere near him with that, but he was shushed by Kira and Tessa.

  “What the hell is going on in here?” Sid walked in, Jared close behind.

  “They’re doing some weird shit, and I’m bleeding all over your kitchen, which is breaking your most important rule,” Ste
ve all but shouted, so relieved to see Sid and Jared he almost fainted.

  “Actually, no sex is the number one rule,” Sid said, but his eyes were on what Kira was doing when another puff of blue sparkly smoke spiraled out of the bowl. “What the fuck is that?”

  “Are you freaking kidding me?” Steve went to stand, but Kira slammed him back down with just a look. “I’m shot and all you care about is what she’s doing? She’s going to try a new potion or whatever in the fuck you call it on me and—”

  “Ah hell, dude.” Sid glanced away from the bowl to Steve with a look Steve didn’t like. “Try it. It isn’t going to hurt you. You’re a vampire.”

  “Exactly!” Steve threw his arms up then cursed in pain. “I have got to stop doing that!”

  “Kira, he’s not going to take it.” Mira jumped to Steve’s defense. “Plus, you aren’t even for sure you have it right.”

  “Yeah, Kira.” Steve held his injured shoulder. “Listen to your sister.”

  Kira picked up the bowl and headed toward Steve. “I know exactly what I’m doing.” She gave him a smile, and Steve knew right away she was lying. “Now open wide.”

  Steve snapped his mouth closed and even sucked in his lips for good measure, and that was hard to do with fangs. No fucking way was he putting that shit in his mouth.

  “Come on, Steve,” Tessa urged him. “It won’t kill you. You’re already dead.”

  Steve only snorted since he refused to open his mouth. He did notice that Jared hadn’t moved and was staring at Tessa. Dammit, they needed to get their shit fixed. He hated when the Warriors and their mates fought. As he looked back at Kira, he noticed the rock-looking spoon was closer to his mouth. Holy shit, he needed to fucking pay attention to what was going on and not focus on the love lives of the Warriors. He leaned further back.

  “I can hold him down and pry his mouth open,” Sid suggested, crossing his arms looking thoughtful.

  Shaking his head back and forth, Steve gave Sid a few words with his mouth sealed shut, which came out like Charlie Brown’s teacher. “Wah wah wah wah, waaah,” which loosely translated to “Shut the fuck up, Sid.”