by Trina M. Lee
It was hard to put a number on just how many agents there were. Their crossbow pistols had thermal imaging devices mounted on top that allowed them to detect who was undead. Right away the Feds set about separating the humans and herding them out the tiny rear exit behind the stage. The band was ushered out along with them. Thankfully Crimson Sin hadn’t been playing tonight.
As quickly as they began dragging out humans, they started killing vampires.
Those crossbow pistols, equipped with long, deadly sharp, stake-like bolts, were wielded without discrimination. However, the vampires didn’t stand idly by while a small army of Feds picked them off. The fight was on. As Feds went down, necks were broken, and weapons were turned back on their owners.
We were severely outnumbered. Only about half of the city’s vampire population, an estimated couple hundred in a city of one million, frequented The Wicked Kiss. The rest of them hunted the streets or found their own willing victims elsewhere. For all I knew, some of them could’ve been hitting the blood banks. Smart vampires learned fast how to get blood on the down low. A small few ran amok, killing without thought and leaving a pile of bodies in their wake. So why the hell were we all being punished?
“Oh my God, where’s Wendi?” Jez frantically searched the crowd from where we stood as Feds shoved into us.
“They’re taking humans out. Just head for the door. They’ll think you’re one of them. Get out of here.” My shout was lost amid the shrieks and bellows.
I turned to tell Shaz to get out with Jez, but we’d already been separated. Heavily equipped bodies slammed me around. Arys had been pushed several feet away, and as I fought back against the agents that dared to get too close, I saw the distance between us grow.
They were working to isolate us.
My panic level shot off the charts. With hands raised and power flowing, I turned a slow circle, flinging Feds around and tearing guns from heavy grips. In my peripheral view, I saw a vampire go up in a cloud of ash.
Where is Shaz?
I couldn’t see him. A tranquilizer gun in my face drenched me in the cold, raw realization that Winston had given orders to bring me back alive. For my blood. Good Lord, these people were fucked in the head.
A quickly formed power circle protected me from the onslaught of tranquilizer darts. They bounced off, leaving my attackers frustrated and confused. Did they not realize who Winston had sent them after?
I took that moment to glance about for my companions. Arys was under heavy attack by more Feds than I could count, but they weren’t using tranq guns on him. They held crossbow pistols, shooting to kill. He evaded their attempts with face-smashing punches and vicious power assaults. Agents dropped like flies around him. For every one he took out, another took their place.
“You fucking idiots,” I shouted at the Feds hovering outside my circle. “If you kill him, you may kill me. Winston wants me alive, doesn’t she?”
My words fell on deaf ears. They weren’t hearing me. They didn’t give a shit. We were just another job to them.
I dropped my circle to slap them with a psi wave that swept through every agent crowded around me. Circle back in place, I searched for Jez. The humans were emptying outside, but the place crawled with FPA.
The vampiress who’d instigated the earlier human fistfight broke the neck of an agent before being swarmed by half a dozen. They put her down with two crossbow bolts to the heart. Then they turned to find their next victim before her dust had settled.
Justin crushed agents like bugs. A bolt jutted from his shoulder. He grabbed hold of one agent’s protective collar and, with a little effort, tore it from his neck, almost taking his head with it. Blood poured from the guy’s artery before he knew he’d been bitten.
I thought I caught a glimpse of Jez’s golden hair, but it was quickly swallowed up by the sea of bodies in combat. She and Shaz should be safe since they’d pass a thermal test. I had no choice but to keep my focus on Arys and the jackasses surrounding us both.
Having little options, I kept dropping my circle to take a shot before putting it back in place. After successfully dropping four of them, a tranquilizer dart grazed my arm. Too close.
Blood stained the air. The agents’ dead count soared, but they brought it on themselves.
Jerking a big, burly guy close, I held him like a human shield while I targeted the rest of them. My intent was to disable the tranq guns rather than the agents holding them. Without those things, they posed little threat. It didn’t take much power to disable the guns. But I struggled to maintain focus with so much bedlam going on around me. That focus was key in controlling my power attacks.
I turned to keep moving, always trying to keep an eye on what was going on behind me. Echo appeared out of the melee. She grabbed an agent poised behind me with gun raised and broke his gun arm. She rounded on another and another, doing the same.
During this impressive feat of strength and intent, she took several crossbow stakes. Her limbs were littered with them. That didn’t slow her down. Echo waded through the Feds surrounding me. Breaking bones and trashing weapons, she did it all with a war cry and crazed eyes. Hell hath no fury like a vampiress seeking vengeance.
I joined her in the battle. Superhuman speed gave us an incredible advantage. Anticipating each move, we were able to counter each move before they’d even made it. A wall of agents packed in around us, forcing Echo and me into the center. Back to back, we cut down each front line of Feds while dodging bolts and tranq darts.
“Go!” Echo shouted, landing a kick in a big guy’s face. “Get to Arys if you can. I’ll hold them off.”
Leaving her to take on so many alone didn’t feel right. But I didn’t hesitate.
A boom erupted throughout the building as I slammed the wall of agents with a psi blast that parted them down the middle like the Red Sea. The power went out from me, throwing Feds off their feet as I ran. I almost made it to Arys before a stray tranq dart clipped the back of my hand.
I plucked it free before it could do much damage… to me. Arys went into a frenzy. Feds dropped at his feet, clutching their collar-covered throats as he mentally squeezed the life from them.
Though I shouldn’t have done it, I risked a glance back at Echo. She still fought hard, but her strength waned. As I watched, a Fed slipped past her defenses while she focused on another. At point blank range, he fired a crossbow stake into her back at heart level. Her mouth dropped open in shock. And then it was over. She was dust.
Echo had jumped into that fight knowing she wouldn’t make it out. After losing her husband, I doubted she cared about anything but going down fighting.
True love is forever. Sometimes Til death do us part really means Take me with you.
My stunned pause was amateur and stupid. A bolt found its way into my side, wrenching a yelp from me. Someone shouted at the shooter to “refrain from firing at the blonde.”
I ripped the bolt free and dropped it, intent on getting to Arys.
A brave but stupid woman stood in my path, wielding a heavy duty Taser.
Furious, I grabbed the collar she wore and, with a pulse of power, easily shattered it.
Her eyes widened and she swung the Taser wildly.
I caught her wrist, snapped it, and dragged her close. My fangs tore deep, spilling blood from her carotid. As she hit the floor, I snatched up her Taser and gleefully turned it on every person to stray too close, then telekinetically threw them aside.
All it took was one glimpse of a bolt protruding from Arys’s shoulder blade to send me from calculated fighter to the beast unleashed. I slipped into that killer headspace where I’d go when the darkness took over. I would kill them all.
No more defense. No more focused attacks and strategic moves. The most ravenous, primal parts of me assumed command.
Everything became a blur. I broke collars, slashed throats, and brought agents to their knees with a look. Blood poured from their eyes, noses, ears, and mouths. I moved so fast they couldn
’t keep up with me. Shots fired went wide, finding their way into other agents.
All I could smell was blood. Pausing to lick a smear from the back of my hand didn’t slow me down. I cut down the Feds standing between Arys and me with little trouble.
Until one of them hit the floor and his tranq gun discharged. He wasn’t even aiming, and yet the damn dart found its way deep into my back.
With a shriek I pulled it free, but already I felt the effects. Refusing to go down, I shoved toward Arys, reaching for him. My head grew foggy.
Fuck the FPA and their tranquilizers.
My legs felt like lead. What was a blur began to move in slow motion instead. My hand found Arys’s, and he pulled me in close, shielding us with a circle.
“Take my blood,” he urged. “It’ll help purge the tranquilizer from your system.”
I could barely keep my eyes open.
He slapped my face hard, holding my lolling head up. When I struggled to respond, Arys grabbed my hand and dragged my claw over his jugular.
The cool aroma of a cold winter night hit me.
He pressed my face to his neck, demanding that I drink.
Blood smeared on my lips. I ran my tongue over them, tasting the pure power that was Arys. With the last shred of strength I had left, I drew hard on the wound. His undead blood reached inside me and grabbed hold.
Strength, love, destiny.
The dynamic force between us exploded like fireworks. I came crawling up from the pit of that drug-induced haze alert and ready to throw down.
We could’ve leveled the place already. Could’ve killed everyone with little more than a thought. There had been no choice but to hold back on account of those who didn’t deserve to die here. Jez. Shaz. The human clientele. In a swarm like this, it was difficult to target only those who deserved it. I didn’t want the wrong people caught in the crossfire.
No more holding back.
I could only hope Shaz and Jez had made it out. Please let them be safe.
Arys and I exchanged a look. No words needed, we held hands and lit the place up.
The circle dropped and our power exploded forth. Sparks of gold and blue rained down on the shocked agents. Low and behold, they could see it. That was new.
A tingle in my gut followed the force that rippled out over the sea of agents. It smashed them all at once. Together the two of us drew on our darkness, letting it take us to a place of danger and violence. A place that knew only death and destruction.
Blood poured from every orifice in their heads. We were quickly forgotten as guns dropped and agents clawed at their helmets and collars. Some fell immediately, others fought until their very last blood-filled breath.
I watched them drop and felt only satisfaction. One poor soul’s head exploded, showering those around him in gore. Still, I felt no regret.
Agent Winston could have that unfortunate emotion. She’d single handedly killed more agents in one go than Briggs had in several poor decisions.
Briggs. The thought of him brought a storm of vehemence and rage. None of this would have happened if he hadn’t been so hard up for my blood in the first place. Along with his sick need to have me as his very own weapon, he’d become obsessed with creating hybrid soldiers just like me. This was all on him. Again.
Too many times I’d let it slide. Too many times I’d been the bigger person, showing mercy to a man who continued to screw me over. Perhaps letting him live as long as I had, had contributed to this mess.
Bodies littered the floor. A few near the exit made a pathetic attempt to drag themselves outside only to be stopped by Justin. In mere moments, it was all over. The place was a blood bath.
I surveyed the damage. Agent Winston had sent these people to die. I doubted she’d send a clean up crew for what was left of them.
Arys tugged on my hand, pulling me tight against him. His hand in my hair, he held me as the high-frequency power gradually fell away. I clutched a handful of his shirt and screamed my rage and hate into his chest.
“They won’t get away with this shit,” I seethed. “Winston will regret this.”
“Of course she will, love.” Menace seeped from Arys. He kissed the top of my head. “We need to check the damage outside.”
Stepping over bodies, picking through the carnage, my hatred for the FPA grew. Perhaps they’d had success using force to manipulate and control our kind before. That was about to come to an end.
Outside we found a strange sense of disquiet. There was no sign of the Feds who’d ushered out the patrons. Several dark vans sat parked haphazardly about the lot. Black skid marks near the street showed that some had left in a hurry.
No Shaz. No Jez.
“Where are they?” My panicked shout echoed through the parking lot. I reached out, sensing for shifter energy in the vicinity, and found none. No. Please, God, no. “They’re not here,” I said what didn’t need to be voiced. Because it was painfully obvious they weren’t here, and that could only mean one thing.
Arys fell silent, a strong silence that writhed with murderous intentions. If anything happened to our wolf, Arys might be the one Winston needed to fear most.
“We have to go get them.” I was stopped from marching to my car by Arys’s hand on my arm.
“No. That’s what she’ll expect. We need to play the game. See where she’s going with this. Rushing in immediately is dangerous. We have to be more careful than that.”
I tended to be a hotheaded mess when driven by anger. Arys had learned over the centuries to take a calm, calculated approach. He was right. Again.
An irate sob lodged in my throat. “I can’t just leave them there.”
“We won’t.”
With Justin’s help, along with the dozen or so other vamps who’d remained standing, we filled the vans with the bodies of those littering my nightclub. The clean up would be a bitch.
I continued to choke on my rage. I didn’t know how long I could hold back. The need to seek my vengeance burned hot and demanding.
When my phone rang and Shaz’s name came up, I knew this would be the final straw, the last action that would push me over the edge. “Harm one hair on either of their heads, and I will keep you as my personal pet and torment you until your dying day in ways you can’t yet imagine.” Not my best opener but I felt good about it.
Winston turned on the fake charm. “Always nice to speak with you, dear. I don’t suppose you left many of my people alive, seeing as they didn’t come back with you as instructed.”
“You suppose right.”
“Well then, I’d better get right to it. I’d be more than happy to let your friends go unharmed. All you have to do is walk in here, alone, and give me a nice, big sample of your blood.” She made it sound like the simplest of requests. Like she wasn’t asking me to help her create an army of monsters.
“Oh, is that all?” I asked, fist clenched tight enough to draw blood from my palm. We both knew, if I walked in there, she had no intention of letting me walk back out.
“Don’t try to play the heroine, Alexa,” she said, her tone mocking. “We both know you’re the villain. Take some time to think about it. If you come raging in here to get them, they both die. When you’re ready, come peacefully and come alone.”
She hung up before I could tell her to sit on her threat and rotate. I turned my fury on one of the vans, smashing windows until my hands were a bloody mess.
When my phone rang next, it was Owen and my unease grew.
“Alexa,” he gasped. “We were hit by the Feds. I got Hanna and Izzy out, but everyone else… They’re dead.”
They’d killed the wolves? Sure, why not? They could always make more in the lab.
“They hit us too.” My voice finally broke as the emotion became too much. “They took Jez and Shaz.”
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Fired up to rush over to FPA HQ to tear Winston’s head off and stuff it up her ass, I turned on my heel.
Arys caught me before I reache
d my car. Spinning me to face him, a warning blazed in his eyes. “No, Alexa, I can’t let you go.”
“Excuse me?” My anger sought a target. “Can’t let me? I don’t need your permission, Arys. Back the hell off.” I shook free, putting real effort into it when he resisted. Having a confrontation with him in the parking lot wouldn’t bode well for the united front we needed to show, but in that moment all I saw was red. My anger left no room for clarity.
Pulling keys from my pocket, I unlocked the door with a button push and reached for the handle.
Arys intercepted me. Moving fast, he slammed the door shut and leaned against it.
“Get the hell out of my way,” I demanded. “This is childish.”
“Damn right it is. Take a moment to calm down and think about what you’re doing. Going off half-cocked isn’t going to help anybody.” Grabbing hold of my wrist, Arys pried the keys from my hand, bending my fingers backward in the process.
“Ouch, goddammit.” Irrational and furious, I slapped him with a blast of power that knocked him aside.
Arys recovered fast, throwing one back at me with just enough force to make me stumble.
How could he stop me from going after my wolf? Our wolf. I stared at him, aghast. “What is wrong with you?” I demanded. “How is it possible that any single part of you doesn’t want to go get them?”
“Of course I want to go after them. I also want to avoid getting them killed.” He caught and neutralized the next shot I threw at him. Before I could throw another, he caught me by both arms and slammed me against the side of the car.
“Let me go,” I hissed into his face, growing more irrational by the second.
He shook his dark head, staring down at me with grave concern. “Fuck no. Not until you think this through.”
A frustrated growl shook me. “Why are you doing this? We’re wasting time here.”
“Because I fucking love you, dammit. And as much as you refuse to believe it, this is for your own good.” Arys tried for a dark glare, failed, and rested his forehead against mine in emotional defeat. “Please, Alexa. Make the right choice. Wait. Plan. And then… Kill them all.”