“We need to break their bond. Divide and conquer the Damned.”
“Hmm, never thought of it that way. I’ll suggest it to Rathe and Faeroes. You might be onto something here. For now, let us do some recon on our enemies.” Heading to the door, he opened for her. “Shall we?”
“Do you know where Club Vampyre is?” she asked as she walked past him into the hallway.
“No,” he answered ruefully. “Can you locate the club?”
Rolling her eyes at him, she said, “Give me a second.” Her eyes had a faraway gaze and when she blinked, he knew she’d found it. “It’s not far from here. It’s in the same building where you went with Aldric and later fed on the prostitute.”
Alex stopped, forcing her to look at him. “You saw that, too?”
“Uh, yes, in the dreams you were having. It was like watching a movie and I didn’t have the stop button. Sorry.”
Uncomfortable about her seeing him at the brothel, Alex opened the stairwell door for her. Walking down the stairs, he forced out. “I am … uncertain how to feel about you knowing so much about me.”
“I-I will try to block you from here on out. It was not my intentions to pry or bring up bad memories.”
Alex grimaced at the hurt in her eyes. “Forgive me. I … I am not used to being exposed and have a habit of resorting to a defensive position.”
✝✝✝
Unsure if he was trying to placate her or was being honest, Kai let it go, and they left the hotel.
Around the block, they encountered Club Vampyre. On the front of the brick building that was once White’s Gaming Hall, the name of the club was emblazoned in a huge, neon pink sign. The bottoms on the ‘p’ and ‘y’ were shaped into fangs.
“Rooftop.” Alex led the way across the street, into the alley. They leapt onto the roof, crouching low as they moved to observe the club.
Music boomed inside Club Vampyre, the bass rattled the windows. Laser lights flashed in rhythm to the music. Humans waited in line to enter the club, dressed exactly like those in London, right down to the fake fangs. They weren’t alone. Demon vamps mingled amongst them.
“You see ‘em, Alex?”
“Twenty demons. Two ghouls are checking ID’s at the door.”
Not surprised to see Waters’ SUV pulled to stop in front of the club. Two muscular vampires, dressed in dark, expensive suits, exited the club and parted the crowd and went to the rear passenger door. One opened the car door, and Jeremy Waters slid out. Boy, did he look pissed! The two vampires followed him inside the club. The flashing lights and music stopped. People started pouring out of the club, angrily protesting the early closure.
Alex nudged her and whispered, “Apparently, he found his missing men. Kai, can you read him?”
“Yep. He’s too mad to block his thoughts. Jeremy is sending those two vamps to the hotel he told us to stay at, to get us. He wants Lisle dead before dawn.” Below them, cars arrived and parked in front of the club. Men and women in them hurried inside.
“Kai, can you lock onto Lisle?”
“She’s hungry. Wants more blood. Not human blood. Lisle wants to feed on the Damned. She won’t feed on humans. Only her own kind.” She shuddered in revulsion. “Eeew! That’s really gross. Since we aren’t on the menu, how do we bring her out into the open?”
“Maybe, if we provoke she will come out into the open and we can attack her as a team?”
“The only way to really goad her is for me to be all over you and that could majorly backfire on us. She’s demonstrated she is willing to kill others when she can’t get to you.”
Alex helped her stand up. “Let’s return to the hotel.”
“Why?”
He gave her a poignant look and leaned closer to her. “Nothing will upset Lisle more than you and I enjoying some private time in our hotel room.”
Swallowing hard, unsure if he meant they would actually make love or just return to their room, hoping Lisle was watching and would follow them. “The plan is: kill Lisle and make a run for it?”
He actually looked disappointed. “Yes.”
They jumped off the roof and landed in the alley. A nasty stench was their first warning they weren’t alone. The click of a whole lot of guns was the second. Not the smell of dead bodies, body odor of humans who bathed infrequently. Crap.
“Hands in the air!” was ordered to her and Alex as fifteen vampire hunters aimed their machine guns at them.
A tall, brawny man, dressed in camouflage, stepped into the street light. Strikingly handsome, the human had a Desert Eagle holstered at his right hip. In those intense eyes the color of pewter; she saw strength and power that was barely restrained. “Follow us, Mr. Wulf, Miss Jordan. Mr. Harklee wishes to have a word with you.”
Kai glared at the armed men. To Alex, she grumbled, “First the Damned, now them. What the hell?”
“Ma’am, sir, if you will accompany us without resistance, I promise you will be safe. I give you my word.”
Alex asked, eyeing the nervous humans warily, “Why does Harklee want to speak with us?”
“That is between you and him, sir.” The man signaled his men to move out. “Our vehicles are parked a block from here.”
“Kai, let’s find out what Harklee wants.” Alex said to her mentally, “Play along. We have an opportunity to learn why the vampire hunters blew our plane up and why Harklee has had a sudden change of heart not wanting us dead.”
“Why not. Not as if we have anything better to do.”
“Keep your weapons blurred. We will mostly like have to fight our way out.” Alex calmly took her hand in his, and they followed the vigilant hunters, who ran check points, military-style.
“Alex, are they scared of us or the Damned?”
“Right now, I believe it’s the Damned. Too many are gathered in one area, and the Damned love to get their hands and fangs on human hunters.”
“Shall I call the Damned in, like the Calvary?” Kai asked sarcastically.
“Not yet. I want to find out what Harklee wants to talk to us about.”
“Ever hear of the saying, ‘curiosity killed the cat’?”
“We’re caught between the Damned, who could easily take Lisle down by using vast numbers, but they aren’t, and vampire hunters who suddenly want to chat with us. If my guess is correct, we’re about to be asked to help them out as well.”
Kai hated the idea of being outnumbered and they were way outnumbered between humans and demon vamps. She pulled her hand free of Alex’s, ignoring his questioning look. As much as she liked holding his hand, instinct told her to keep it free and ready, in case of an ambush. Her right hand itchy, she wanted to draw her gun.
Keep calm, it will be just fine.
God, she wished Mina and Sin were here!
Three dark SUVs waited for them.
“Why does everyone drive SUVS and travel in threes?”
“Tactical.”
She let out a derisive snort, winning curious glances from the humans. “I’m betting on them watching a few too many spy movies.”
Dropping her fangs, she grinned at the men. They recoiled and placed a safer distance between her and them. Alex gave her a warning glare. She batted her eyes at him, trying to look innocent, unable to hide her amusement at their reaction.
The leader waved them toward the second vehicle. Alex opened the car door and stood back for her as she carefully climbed in, made difficult with a backpack and her sword strapped to her back. Alex had a rougher time since his broadsword was longer than her sword by at least a foot. Luckily, the human chose to ride in front with the driver. Doors closed. The hunters piled into the other vehicles. Speeding down the street, the driver turned onto the freeway, heading east.
Alex leaned forward in his seat and asked the one in charge, “Where are we going?”
“We have a safe house not far from here, sir.”
Strange how he speaks to us respectfully. Usually vampire hunters shot first, burned the remains la
st. Odd, too, was how the human was not afraid of them, not like the driver who constantly checked his rearview mirror tilted to keep her and Alex in view.
Kai had to ask, “So, what brought you into the vampire business?”
The human turned in his seat and faced her. Instead of angry or defensive, he seemed to be genuinely amused. “I am what my superiors call an adrenaline junkie. Special Forces weren’t dangerous enough so I signed up with these guys.”
“Met other vamps yet?” Alex glared at her to stop asking questions, of course which she ignored.
“A few. None like you and your companion,” he admitted with a half-smile.
Grinning at him, her fangs long, Kai said, “No, there aren’t many like us.”
Instead of being scared, he asked curiously, “What makes you different from those at Club Vampyre?”
“We have souls, they don’t.”
“Really? Is that why you do not smell like rotted corpses baking in a garbage dump?”
Surprised, too, by the human’s remark, Alex asked, “You can smell the Damned?”
“Why, is that unusual for a human?” Suddenly, he looked unsure and uncomfortable.
Alex answered, “Some have been known to possess a more developed sense of smell than others. Usually the Damned mask the smell of their dying bodies.” He explained when the man gave him a questioning look, “Cannot entice prey to you if you smell like a rotting corpse.”
“Is that what makes the Damned deteriorate? No souls?”
Alex leaned forward, his green eyes glowing in the dark interior of the car. “Why are you curious about us?”
“Because I have seen some hideous creatures and you, two, strike me as different than those I’ve put down.”
She watched Alex and the man size each other up. “I am Alexander Wulf.” Alex extended his hand out to the human, who shook it in a firm handshake, shocking the hell out of her and the driver. Releasing his hand, Alex thumbed at her, smiling as he introduced her, “And she is my formidable and quite curious companion, Kai Jordan.”
“I’m Sam Winter.”
“Nice to meet you, Sam. I’m curious, did Harklee tell you why you needed this many men to bring us in?”
“He said you and Miss Jordan were dangerous and were not to be trusted.”
“Harklee has everything to fear about us. You do not need to fear us, Sam. We, Slayers, only kill those who threaten us or those we love,” he directed the last to the driver, who went from being nervous to scared.
Winter didn’t seem to be threatened. In fact, he looked curious. “Slayers? I’ve never heard of them before. Are you a different breed of vampire?”
He and she exchanged a quick, confused look that he never heard of Slayers. “Ah, no, we hunt down the Damned and destroy them.”
To the driver, Winter asked, “Did you know there were different kinds of vampires?”
“Don’t care if there’re differences. It’s best to kill all vampires and walk away alive.”
“Sam,” she asked, “do you know how long we will be visiting Harklee?”
“Why? Have somewhere pressing to be?”
“Actually, yes, we do. We need to go to ground before the sunrise. Otherwise, I’ll get pissy, and you really don’t want to be on my bad side if I’m denied my sleep,” she warned, coldly glaring at the driver.
“I thought you, vamp, slept in coffins?” Clearly, Sam hadn’t been educated about vamps when he was accepted into the vampire hunters’ club.
“You need to study what you hunt, otherwise, you won’t be in this business for long,” she advised. “The Damned sleep in coffins; the Borne sleep in the earth.”
“Good to know. I’ll ask the boss when we arrive what he has planned and make arrangements if the meeting takes longer.”
“Much appreciated,” she said sarcastically. “Hate to meet the sun and burn to a crisp.”
Alex gave her a warning glare. She scowled back at him. “What? If he’s gonna be a vampire hunter and wants to stay alive, he’d better start learning about what he’s hunting!”
“We want to keep him as an ally, so don’t antagonize him, please?”
“He will follow orders. Ex-marine. Hopefully, we won’t have to kill him. I like him.”
“You like him, huh?” Alex sounded jealous.
Biting her lip from smiling, she replied, “He’s handsome for a human.”
The surprise on Alex’s face was priceless. It probably wasn’t the best time to be messing with him, but she couldn’t resist the opportunity. Checking the dashboard clock, three hours to dawn. Were they prisoners or guests? The differences meant sleeping in the ground or in a cell. Either way, being in Harklee’s company was a dangerous situation, one she wanted to make a short visit.
They left the freeway and proceeded down another road. Twenty minutes later, they turned down a dirt road. At the end was a stone house, illuminated by lights. “Shit! UV lights!” she yelled, flinging her arm over her eyes, feeling it burning her exposed skin. She felt Alex’s weight on her and realized he was using his body to shield her.
“Dim the lights,” Alex shouted, “or we’ll die!” She opened her eyes, watched in horror as his skin on his hand blistered. Heat was sizzling off him. He gritted his teeth as he burned again.
She heard Winter’s yelling, “Turn the lights off! They’re frying the vamps I was ordered to bring back, you stupid bastard. Turn ‘em off!” he yelled.
The lights shut off.
Alex drew back, checking her over. “Kai, are you hurt?”
“I’m fine. You?”
He held up his hand, already healed. “I’m good.”
The car came to a halt. Opening the door, Alex climbed out first, she followed. Surrounded by vampire hunters, their machine guns aimed at them. Hatred spewed from the humans, bore out of their eyes, their minds, their emotions. They wanted to kill them, pour gasoline on their corpse and watch them burn into ash.
“Easy, boys,” Winter held out his left hand to the humans, while resting the right on the butt of his Eagle, “they are our guests.”
“They’re vamps,” someone shouted. “Better to kill them now before they hurt us.”
“Harklee’s orders were to bring them in. Back off and let me do my job.” Drawing his gun, Winter motioned for Alex and her to walk in front of him, he eyed the others warily as they made for the rundown mansion.
The double doors opened and a stocky human in his early fifties exited. His dark hair was silvered, the scars on his arms and face evidence he’d seen battle. At his hip, sheathed in a worn scabbard was a machete. He sauntered to them, an irritating smirk on his flat face. Never would she forget that smirk.
John Harklee.
“Well, well, well, Alexander Walker and Special Agent Kai Jordan. I never thought Sam would survive trying to bring you in to me. Good job, Sam. I see a promotion in your future.” Harklee clapped Sam on the back, not noticing how the taller man gave him an arched look at his comment about not making it.
Alex smiled tightly at Harklee. “Been seven years. How’s life treating you?”
“Been better. How’s your ex-girlfriend’s visits to your family’s estate been going? Has Lisle killed the gypsies squatting there yet?”
“Careful what you say, hunter,” Alex warned. “Lisle has a nasty habit of turning up unexpectedly and with terrible results. As your men found out when they wandered onto my property. She could be out there,” he waved a hand at the fields stretching out around the mansion, “right now, listening, waiting for the perfect moment to attack us, to attack you.”
Not as cocky, Harklee put his hand on the hilt of his machete. “I’m not the only one who lost men to that crazy bitch. I heard Waters had a bad night. Lost a lot of men to the Wolf of Magdeburg. Convey my gratitude to Mrs. Breber whenever you see her next. She’s making my job much easier.”
“I shall. I’m quite certain Lisle will find it amusing you think she’s assisting you. Now that we have the niceti
es out of the way, what the hell do you want with us?”
“Excuse me; I need to send my men on patrol since I had to turn off the UV floodlights. Can’t have Lisle wiping out the rest of my men. Took a helluva long time to assemble a good team and don’t fancy building another. Sam, monitor the cameras in the house.” Sam went inside as Harklee shouted orders, sending the others scrambling to patrol the perimeter.
Harklee returned, rubbing his neck as he glanced around him. “You’re right. No need to bullshit each other. I need a favor, Walker.”
“What do you want?”
“I need to be converted.”
She shouldn’t have been surprised, except in light of the recent attacks, she was. “Are you insane? Dude, you shot our plane down in daylight, sent your men hunting us in the forests, and then had them attack the gypsies! No freaking way are we gonna make you a vampire!”
Instead of being pissed, Harklee replied, “That was before Lisle Breber returned home.”
“And you think turning vamp will keep you safe from her?” Alex arched his eyebrow at the human. “You do know she feeds on her own kind now?”
“What?” Harklee obviously hadn’t heard that bit of information.
“Lisle killed Waters’ men tonight and fed on them. He told me that she no longer seeks out humans, only the Damned.”
“I still want to be a vampire,” he said with bullish determination he was famous for. “Make me one and I’ll share some valuable information the King of the Borne. Something he would be very interested in.”
“What kind of info?” She knew she should read his mind but held back, not wanting to again, not after she had seven years ago. His enjoyment of torturing vamps, raping them, burning them slowly and roasting marshmallows over the flames, remained in her brain and she had a hard time even looking at him.
Harklee grinned at her as he tapped his temple. “You’re welcome to take a peak.”
Stepping up to him, she was a good nine inches taller. A half smile curving her mouth to the side, she purred, “Human, are you sure you want me inside your mind? I guarantee I’ll make it unpleasant for you.”
His eyes went wide and his confidence slipped. “Have you wondered why the Damned are so hot and bothered to kill Lisle and need you to do it?”
Wulf's Redemption (Borne Vampires Book 3) Page 21