Innocence and Evil (The Arcadia Falls Chronicles #6)

by Malone Wright, Jennifer

  I gazed at the people around me. I could depend on them, that much was certain. Most of my life I had been surrounded by false friends who bailed when I needed them. I hadn’t had anyone … except my mother, she had always been there.

  This group of people were tight. They were loyal and loved each other. They had taken me in, made me one of them. And here they were, listening to me tell them that I was visited by a Warrior Angel and that we had to go after more humans and vampires … and they believed what I had to say. They may even believe it more than I did myself.

  Beside me, Luke crinkled his nose and began to pace the room. “We should have seen this coming. I agree, we should have known that the pledged humans wouldn’t give up so easily.”

  Chloe stood, “Well, let’s start planning our first move then.” She turned and left the room, her black pony tail swinging as she strode away.

  ***

  A map of the city was spread out on the kitchen table. Its corners, which threatened to roll inward, were held down by coffee mugs. Everyone who had been there when I gave my message was there now. Christina leaned against the counter, looking bored and flipping one of her larger knives end over end. The rest of the group had squeezed in around the table, so that they could view the map while discussing strategy.

  “Zander, what exactly did the Warrior Angel say about the location?” Daniels asked without looking up from the map.

  I sighed. “I already told you like twenty times, he said that there is a group of human in the city. He didn’t give a specific area.”

  “Dammit,” Sarah cursed. “Could be anywhere.”

  I nodded in agreement. “Yeah, it could be anywhere, so … I think that we should place split up into pairs to scout the city for movement that would lead us to them. Once we know where they are, then we can plan further. For now, we just need to find them.”

  “It’s a good plan.” Drew met my eyes as he spoke. “No interaction, just watching at first.”

  I stepped away from the table. “Of course it’s a good plan, now let’s team up so we can get moving.”

  Suddenly, I wanted out of this house so badly. I had been cooped up for way too long, afraid to leave because I didn’t want to hurt anyone. Now I had a mission, and assurance from a higher power that I could go out into the world again.

  I couldn’t freaking wait.

  The teams were pretty much already chosen, it was as it always was. Christina and I usually went out together, Drew and Chloe, Daniels and Sarah, but we teamed Gavin with Alice and Oscar and they went out as a team of three since neither Alice nor Oscar were trained Hunters. Neither was I, but I had Christina and I actually was a vampire hunter, just not the kind that they were.

  I really felt like both Alice and Oscar were capable of going out by themselves, both had been fighting with the Hunters and training with them for a while now and both were great fighters.

  Better safe than sorry, I suppose.

  Luke was going to stay behind. He rarely went out anymore, hadn’t for years as far as I knew. He only went on a mission when it suited him to do so. Like a rescuing his granddaughter from the Pentagon.

  We all left the living room to go suit up. Even though we were only going out with the intention to scout the area, we still needed to be prepared to fight. It was, after all, almost dusk … time for the vampires to come out.

  Christina was already in our room when I got there. As I opened the door, I found her bent over, tugging on a pair of black jeans. “Well, hello there.” I stepped into the room and closed the door behind me.

  “I’m so excited to be going out as a team again.” She stood up straight, buttoning the jeans. She ripped off the blue top she had on, leaving her in only the jeans and black bra. I sucked in my breath, watching her as she turned and opened the dresser drawer.

  “Yeah, me too.” I strode toward her, hoping to get to her before she could get another shirt on. I reached her just as she was plucking one off the top. I grabbed her waist and pulled her toward me, tilting my head so that I could kiss her neck.

  I couldn’t see it, but I know she smiled.

  “Zander … we don’t have time for this right now.”

  “Mmmm, there should always be time for this.”

  She chuckled and grasped my hands in hers, prying them away from her bare waist. “As much as I agree, it isn’t happening right now.” My hands finally came loose and she spun around to face me, giving me a little push. “You are just going to have to wait, all right.”

  I threw myself back onto the bed and sighed dramatically. “Fine, but you owe me.”

  One of her eyebrows shot up. “I owe you? Hardly. I think you’re the one who owes me. You’ve been all depressed and grumpy lately. I’m the one who was there for you, so in that case, you are the one who is in debt.”

  “Fine,” I agreed. “I owe you and believe me, I pay my debts … with interest.” I added the last part and she burst into laughter. “What?” I feigned innocence.

  She pulled the top over her head. “You’re hilarious and it’s nice to see you playful again,” she told me with a smile. “But, you need to get dressed so we can go. We can finish this when we get back.”

  I pushed myself up off the bed and headed over to the table in the corner. A black duffle sat on top of the table. I pulled the bag toward me and unzipped it. Inside were all my guns, knives and a few other fun weapons I had acquired over time.

  I took off my jacket and strapped my holster on over my black tee shirt. It was a double holster, so I carried two guns there. Next, I attached a single holster to my right thigh, checked the clip in my Glock and then fit it snugly inside.

  After all my guns were in place, I found space for my knives and then slid my leather jacket back on. “I’m ready.”

  Christina, who had been waiting impatiently by the door, opened it for the both of us. “Let’s go.”

  ***

  Once, there were thousands of lights twinkling across the skyline of the city. Now, there were far fewer. People didn’t want the remaining vampires to know where they were, so they rose with the sun and went to bed when it fell behind the mountains.

  Many businesses had been destroyed during the Vampire Apocalypse. The owners had abandoned their stores and restaurants, leaving what was left inside for those scavenging for supplies.

  The amount of people who survived during the takeover was many, but the population had gone down dramatically. And those who were left were still scared. They now knew what was out there. The monsters in the dark were real.

  I didn’t blame those who were hiding at all. This was a new world … a world that society was trying to rebuild. But, in my opinion, they were failing. After what happened at the Pentagon, we knew that we couldn’t trust the government anymore. We had wanted to work with them, to help people by being involved, but that only ended in bloodshed.

  These thoughts plagued me as Christina and I parked in an empty lot on the north side of the city. I slipped a beanie over my head before jumping down from the driver seat of my truck. We always hunted on foot, the truck was too loud and anyone could hear us coming, not to mention vampires and their super hearing.

  I had better hearing than most … not as good as Chloe, but still better than a human. Man, it was strange when I thought of myself as not being human. Now, it was even weirder, since the Warrior Angel brought me back. Was I still human at all now?

  The streets were dark and quiet. Not a single street light lit the way for us as we made our way through the neighborhood. For hours we walked in silence. After a while, we reached an area which was mostly old warehouses and historical buildings.

  The sound of voices echoed through the darkness and my enhanced hearing I inherited from my father allowed me to hear it first. I beckoned Christina to be quiet and pointed in the direction the voices were coming from. She nodded acknowledgment and stayed close at my side as we crept through the alley like shadows.

  At the next turn, I knew that t
hey were just around the corner. I stopped and held my hand up, signaling that Christina should stay back. She nodded and then I leaned over and peeked around building.

  Two men were standing beside an old red pickup truck. One of the men was skinny and pale with hair so blond it was almost white. He wore a white tank top with saggy black jeans. The other man was large, muscular and had dark hair. His attire consisted of jeans that actually fit and a black hoodie. Both men had a dragon tattooed on their face.

  They stood close together, whispering. The back of the pickup was open and several boxes sat on the edge of the tailgate. It was hard to tell just yet if they were taking the boxes into the building or carting them out to the truck.

  The next thing I knew, Christina was beside me.

  “Shhh,” I warned.

  She said nothing in response, so I focused my hearing again. I wanted to know what these guys were talking about. If it wasn’t for the Dragons, they could have just been taken for some guys out delivering or picking up some stolen DVD players or something. Ever since the vampire takeover, the looting and crime had actually gone up, not down. So, it wasn’t uncommon to run across that sort of exchange.

  “How many more boxes in there?” Black hoodie tilted his head toward the warehouse.

  Tank top wiped his hands on his jeans. “Six I think.”

  “Well, let’s get a move on, the boss gets cranky when the deliveries are late.”

  Tank top lifted the lid on one of the cartons and reached inside. When he withdrew his hand, a blood bag was dangling from his fingers.

  Without looking away, I tapped Christina’s leg to make sure she saw what I was seeing

  “This is so nasty.” Tank top glanced at his friend. “You ever wonder what it would be like?”

  Black hoodie took the blood bag from his friend and gently set it back in the carton, then replaced the lid. “Don’t touch those.”

  “But do you?”

  The larger man pushed the carton the rest of the way into the truck and then headed for the doorway to the warehouse. “Of course I do, Alec, who doesn’t think about what it would be like to become immortal.”

  The other man, Alec, nodded in agreement. “But what about the blood drinking?” He pointed at the cartons. “Could you do it?”

  Black hoodie nodded as he headed for the door of the warehouse. “Yes,” he answered. “And I would probably love it. Every vampire I’ve ever met loves it.”

  Both men went back into the building. I took the opportunity and pushed Christina back around the corner. “I think we have some questions for these guys.”

  She raised an eyebrow. “We could just follow them. That would lead us to the vampires they are delivering to and probably more Dragons.”

  I shook my head. “No, we don’t have a vehicle, they do. We would never be able to keep up with them.” That was only partly true. She may not be able to keep up with them, but I could. I wasn’t as fast as Chloe, but being a dhampir did have its perks.

  “Crap, I forgot.” She rolled her eyes.

  I leaned toward her. “So are you in? We have to decide now.”

  She nodded, her ponytail swinging. “Of course I am.”

  With the plan made, we waited for the Dragons to reappear so that we could put it into action. When they emerged, both men were each carrying two carton’s in their arms. Neither of them suspected that we were there.

  I counted down from three on my fingers. When my pointer finger disappeared into my fist, Christina and I charged around the corner.

  Just as the two were bent over to set the cartons on the tailgate, Christina grabbed Alec, and I went for the larger man whose name we hadn’t heard yet. My beautiful and fearless girlfriend had a knife drawn, its blade pressed against the tender flesh of the man’s neck.

  In an instant, I had the man in the black hoodie in a headlock, the barrel of my gun poking into his side. “Don’t move,” I whispered, “Unless you want to die.”

  “Wha … what do you want?” Alec stammered.

  Christina pushed him a few steps until his hip was against the tailgate. “Shut up,” she snapped. “We ask the questions.”

  The big man struggled beneath my grip. As he fought against me, I felt a flash of hate, even though I didn’t know him. I forced the gun harder against his side. “What’s your name?”

  “Screw you,” he spat.

  I shook my head. “That’s ok, I don’t need to know your name. I only need to know who you are taking these blood bags to.”

  The man laughed. “Yeah right. If I tell you that, I’m dead anyway, so you’re out of luck, buddy.”

  “I’m not your buddy,” I practically growled, slamming him forward. “Your name?”

  “His name is, Lawrence!” Alec whined from within Christina’s grasp. “Now let us go.”

  Lawrence turned his head to glare at his partner. “Shut up, loser.”

  These two were idiots.

  “I still need to know where you’re taking these blood bags.”

  The man didn’t move beneath my grip. “Not a chance,” he mumbled. And then suddenly, I could feel all his crimes, all of his evil, all of his anger and I felt like snapping his neck. It all flooded into me as if it were part of my own memory.

  “Zander?” Christina’s voice was stern, yet woven with a worried undertone. “Stay with me.”

  What good would he be if I left him to wander the earth? He would only continue to serve the vampires and hurt people.

  Then, that bastard decided he would take the opportunity to fight back. He pulled free and swung in a wide arc. His fist connected with my face. My cheekbone took the impact of his knuckles, but I barely felt it and I sure as hell didn’t act as if I did.

  He lunged, prepared to run, but I was in front of him in an instant. I had my gun in one hand, but I pushed him back with my left. He staggered backward, stumbling into the side of the truck. Without really thinking, I holstered my gun and took hold of his sweatshirt and wrapped it in my fist and then hit him with an uppercut to the abdomen. “What part of ‘don’t move’ did you not understand?”

  He said nothing.

  “You are corrupt and the world would be better off without you. I withdrew my weapon again, this time holding it to his forehead to make sure he would feel the severity of the situation. “All it would take is one bullet.” I shook him hard. “Just one.”

  Then, the Dragon I held captive had the audacity to spit at me. He let it fly, several tiny drops of spittle landed on my face.

  I nearly lost it. I wanted to pull that trigger so badly. To just be done with it and bring society one step closer to becoming a better place. On one hand, I hated that I felt like that. On the other hand, it felt awesome.

  Not that I’d ever done drugs, but I was pretty sure that was what an addict felt like.

  I cleared my throat before speaking. “I don’t think you realize just how delicate your situation is right now, Lawrence. I hold your life in my hands. Don’t ever do that again.”

  He shook his head as if trying to erase what was happening, to make it all disappear. “I’m still not telling you jack. You will have to kill me first.”

  I tilted my head before answering. “That shouldn’t be a problem.”

  “Zander, we can’t stay here all night,” Christina warned me.

  She was right, sooner or later someone was bound to come by. “I know.” I paused and thought for a moment. “Let’s just take them with us.”

  Her eyes widened. “No.”

  “We have no other choice,” I insisted. “We can’t just let them go.”

  The sigh she released was not one of pleasure. “Crap.”

  “I’m taking that as agreement,” I told her, and then I tightened my grip on Lawrence. “Look in the truck and see if there is anything in there to tie their hands with. And blindfold them.”

  She pushed Alec over to stand with his buddy. I pointed my gun at him. “You even think about moving and I’ll shoot you. Got it
?”

  Alec nodded. It was only about a minute before Christina emerged from the truck with some rope and an old tee shirt. We used the rope to bind their hands behind their backs and then cut the tee shirt in half so that we could wrap it around eyes. I patted them down since the opportunity was there. I found only one gun on each man. Neither of them had as little as a pocket knife on them as far as blades went. These guys were either really stupid or they had a lot of confidence.

  “Let’s get in the truck.” I pushed Lawrence toward the driver side and forced him to climb blindly into the cab. Christina was doing the same on the passenger side, only Alec was whining about it.

  “Come on man, why are you doing this? We didn’t do nothin’ to you.”

  Christina muscled him up into the truck and pressed her knife against his neck once he was seated. “Shut up. I’m tired of hearing you cry.”

  “Okay, okay. Just take the blade off me.”

  Even though Lawrence tried to act tough, both of these men were weak. The Dragons were followers. It didn’t matter what anyone tried to say, the Dragons would never find power in anything, they would always be the ones serving what they considered the higher power. Even if that higher power was only one vampire.

  It didn’t take very long to get to where my truck was parked. Christina and I dragged our prisoners out and switched vehicles, which proved more difficult than I’d thought it would be, mostly because neither man really wanted to help so we ended up basically dragging them out of one vehicle and lifting them up into another.

  “We should probably take the blood bags.” I glanced at the cartons. “We can’t just leave them here for anyone to find.”

  Christina crawled into the passenger seat. “If we leave them, they will go bad and won’t be any good anyway. I think we should just leave them.”

  “Well, I’m taking at least one.” I hurried over, snagged one of the boxes and set it the back of my own truck. Then, I climbed up into the driver seat beside Lawrence.

  It was time to radio in to the group what we were doing. I knew that at least a few of them weren’t going to like this so I had intentionally waited until the last minute. I pulled the walkie from my jacket pocket and pressed the button on the side. “Dark Angel checking in. I need everyone to head back now.”