Vampire in Geek's Clothing (Psy-Vamp Book 6)

by Cassandra Lawson

  The human started to put the gun down.

  “Bitch!” Hayden practically screamed, slapping Helena hard enough that she probably would have fallen if he weren’t still gripping her hair.

  Just like that, the compulsion was broken, and the guy on top of Phoenix pointed the gun at her head again.

  “Get me some fucking duct tape,” Hayden shouted at the other human. “We’ll have to make sure my vampire whore can’t talk. Then, I think we’ll have a little fun.”

  Chapter Fifty-Three

  “How much farther can they be?” Isaiah demanded. They’d picked up Aiden and his father along the way, hoping the four of them would be enough to save his mom and Phoenix. Justin and Roman were also heading this way, as were the hunters, but traffic was making it difficult to get there.

  “It’s just up ahead,” Aiden replied. “You were right about your mom and Phoenix being together. We should park along the road so they don’t hear us coming.”

  “Bet they’re using a barn,” Drew remarked after parking the car.

  “Why a barn?” Josef asked. “It could just as easily be a house.”

  “It’s a barn,” Drew insisted, not seeming the least bit worried. Then again, Drew was a sociopath and not known for his concern for others.

  Sure enough, they found themselves outside an old barn.

  “At least, it’s not a warehouse. I’m getting tired of rescuing people from creepy warehouses,” Aiden said.

  “Barn’s not much better than a warehouse. In fact, it’s just a warehouse for farm stuff and animals,” Drew pointed out before his attention strayed.

  Isaiah saw it, too. There was a woman running along the side of the barn. She moved with surprising grace as she scaled the side of the barn and slipped in through a window.

  “I’ll go after the crazy chick,” Drew told them.

  “Good idea,” Aiden agreed. “We have no idea who that is.”

  “I know who it is,” Drew stated, sliding out of his seat and taking off after her.

  “You know he’s likely to get us killed, don’t you?” Aiden grumbled.

  “Let’s just worry about saving Helena and Phoenix,” his father suggested, sounding surprisingly calm.

  Isaiah wished he were calmer, but he was honestly terrified.

  “So, how are we going to handle this?” Aiden asked.

  “Hayden’s short on people helping him,” Isaiah mused, considering their options.

  “What makes you think that?” his father asked.

  “If he weren’t, there’d be guards outside the barn. It’s always possible he’s just so arrogant that he believes no one can find him, but I’m guessing he’s spread thin,” Isaiah explained. “Still, it might be best if we don’t all walk in there together until we know what’s going on.”

  “I’ll go in first as a distraction,” his father offered. “You should both go in the back entrance, if there is one. It will be safer that way. I can call you, so you can listen to what’s going on. That is, if I can figure out how to keep the phone from disconnecting in my pocket.”

  Isaiah considered his father’s suggestion. “Okay. We’ll hurry and circle around the back. Just try to let us know how many of them are in there.”

  His father placed a hand on his shoulder. “Be careful.”

  Isaiah just nodded because he didn’t know what to say. His father had changed a lot in the last couple of weeks, and Isaiah still wasn’t sure how to react to those changes. They took a moment to set up the call between Isaiah’s phone and his father’s. Thankfully, Isaiah had a good noise-cancelling Bluetooth headset with him, so he’d be able to listen while they made their way into the barn.

  “I sure hope we don’t get killed,” Aiden muttered. “Tempest would be pissed.”

  Chapter Fifty-Four

  “Get off of her,” Hayden snarled at the human holding Phoenix down.

  The guy glared at Hayden, probably wondering why they were taking orders from him, but the wiry human shouted at the guy on top of her. “We won’t get all our money if we piss him off.”

  “Glad one of you still remembers who’s in charge,” Hayden snarled, shoving Helena at the wiry human. “Cover her fucking mouth so she can’t make a sound.”

  The human holding Phoenix down tucked his gun into the back of his pants, before dragging her to her feet and holding her from behind with one arm wrapped tightly around her ribs.

  The wiry human’s hand slid over Helena’s mouth, but she didn’t let him manhandle her. Helena knew she was much stronger than any of the humans in the room, and she used that to her advantage, slamming an elbow into his belly with enough force to knock him back several steps. Phoenix used that distraction to punch the human behind her in the diaphragm. She figured if it was enough to take Drew down, it would definitely work on a human. Sure enough, he flew backward.

  “Run!” she shouted at Helena, but the woman seemed determined to stay and help her.

  “Fucking bitches!” Hayden shouted, pointing a gun at Helena. “I’ll fucking kill her if either of you move.”

  “Take the gun away from him,” Helena told the humans, using vampire compulsion.

  Things all moved quickly from there. The door slammed open, and Josef raced toward Helena as Hayden fired the gun. Helena fell to the side when Josef’s body slammed into her, just as the bullet tore through his body.

  “Josef!” Helena screamed. When Helena pulled herself out from under Josef, one of the humans was on her, slamming her head against the floor so hard she blacked out.

  “Tie her up and duct tape her mouth,” Hayden ordered in a voice that shook with rage. “I’m going to deal with my slut cousin first.”

  His glare turned on her, and Hayden kept the gun pointed at Helena as he approached. “You just fucked up big time, bitch,” he growled. “Before we get the fuck out of here, I’m going to show you who’s superior. If you cause me any more trouble, I’ll put a bullet in the vampire whore’s head. This is your last warning. Do you understand me?”

  Phoenix nodded. “What do you want?”

  Chapter Fifty-Five

  Isaiah had no plan when they made their way into the back of the barn after hearing a gunshot. There was no longer any time to worry about anything else. It would have been nice if his father could have told them how many people were in the barn, but he’d obviously had other things to worry about. The commotion made it easier for him and Aiden to slip in the back unnoticed.

  It took all his self-control not to rush into the main part of the barn. Both of his parents were unconscious. Based on the blood around his father, he’d say he was the one who’d been shot. The crazy bastard, Hayden, was waving a gun around like a madman, gripping Phoenix’s hair and throwing out all kinds of vile threats.

  Aiden tapped his shoulder and put his hand up, making a finger gun motion toward Hayden.

  Isaiah nodded because that was the best solution. They needed to take Hayden down, and then the humans would be easy to deal with. The problem was angles. From where Hayden was standing, and the way he kept jerking around, Isaiah risked shooting Phoenix. Now, he wished he’d scaled the side of the barn with Drew.

  Pulling his pistol, he aimed and waited. “Come on, asshole. Let her go so I can send you to hell,” he said quietly.

  Chapter Fifty-Six

  Drew had been pretty sure the crazy chick with the sweet ass was Shayla. Even if she wasn’t, he figured someone needed to see what she was up to. The chick hadn’t done a very good job of concealing the pistol. Most people might not have been able to sneak up on her, but he’d had a lifetime of training to make him the killer he was today. Stalking had been a big part of his training.

  The crazy woman was lying at the edge of the loft, aiming the handgun.

  The first thing Drew noticed was the way her hands shook, and he knew there was no way she was going to make the shot. Actually, he had to admit that the first thing he’d noticed was her round ass wiggling around, but he pushed that to
the back of his mind.

  “Let me help you,” Drew said softly, hoping she wouldn’t startle and shoot him. She rolled over, pointing the gun at him. “Try not to shoot me, babe. I really am here to help.”

  “Why would you want to help me?” she asked. He saw the recognition in her eyes. He looked enough like his father that she couldn’t help but see the relationship. “Who are you?” she demanded, still pointing the gun at him.

  Sick bastard that he was, he was getting turned on by having her aim a gun at him.

  “Andrei was my father,” he explained with a casual shrug. He figured someone needed to remain calm.

  She nodded and rolled back onto her belly. After taking a deep shuddering breath, she looked over her shoulder. “I need to do this.”

  “No, baby, you don’t need to do this,” he crooned softly. “Give me the gun.”

  She shook her head wildly. “He’s just going to kill someone else. You don’t know what kind of monster he is.”

  “I do know what kind of monster he is,” Drew assured her. “Give me the gun, and I’ll take care of everything. I’m not going to let him walk out of here today.”

  Reaching his hand out slowly, Drew waited to see what she’d do. The strange part of all this was that he wasn’t waiting with indifference like he’d expect. He should be standing here, curious to see how this played out but not really caring who put a bullet in Hayden’s head. While he could argue that he was only trying to convince her to give him the gun because he was worried she’d screw this up, that would be a lie. Drew was genuinely concerned about how this would impact Shayla.

  “Baby, give me the gun, and let me do this for you,” he urged. “You weren’t meant to be a killer.”

  Finally, she nodded and set the gun beside her on the loft floor. Drew dropped down beside her and took the gun, carefully aiming at Hayden, trying to get a good shot that would minimize the danger to Nixie. Gently squeezing the trigger, he cursed under his breath when Hayden suddenly moved, and the bullet slammed into his shoulder instead of his head.

  Chapter Fifty-Seven

  The bullet in Hayden’s shoulder was enough to make him drop his gun, which is when Isaiah passed his own gun off to Aiden and lunged at Hayden. While he’d planned to kill him, it felt wrong to shoot an unarmed man, no matter how evil that man was.

  Aiden remained calm and started barking orders at the humans.

  “Set you weapons on the ground and line up against that wall,” Aiden commanded, and both humans obeyed.

  Hayden pulled a knife and tried to stab Isaiah as they rolled around on the ground. It was surprising how strong Hayden was with the shoulder wound. Hayden managed to stab Isaiah in the arm, which hurt like hell. Isaiah slammed his other fist into Hayden’s shoulder with the bullet wound, causing Hayden to scream and release his hold on the knife.

  Struggling to his feet, Isaiah wasn’t having quite as much success ignoring the pain, making his moves more sluggish when Hayden came at him again.

  Phoenix moved between them and slammed her fist into Hayden’s wounded shoulder, knocking him back two steps. A second bullet came from the loft area, hitting Hayden in the chest. Screaming in pain, Hayden collapsed onto the barn floor, bleeding heavily from the chest wound.

  “Are you okay?” Isaiah asked Phoenix.

  “Sit down,” she told him. “Oh, God, he stabbed you. We need a doctor.”

  “Call Justin and see when he’ll be here,” Isaiah told her, pulling the phone from his pocket since Aiden was busy securing the humans at the other end of the room. “I’m going to make sure Hayden doesn’t have any other weapons.”

  Isaiah searched Hayden, even though he was pretty sure the bastard was close to death and incapable of pulling a weapon.

  “It’s Phoenix,” she spoke into his phone, her voice trembling slightly. “I hope you have your medical bag. Your father’s been shot, your brother’s been stabbed, and your mom is unconscious.”

  “I’m okay,” Helena croaked.

  “Your mom just regained consciousness,” Phoenix amended.

  “Okay,” Phoenix replied before ending the call and turning to Isaiah. “They’re here now.”

  “Where the fuck is Drew?” Aiden called out.

  “Drew was with you?” Phoenix asked.

  “Yeah,” Isaiah told her. “He should be in the loft area. He followed a woman we believe is Shayla in through a window.”

  Chapter Fifty-Eight

  Justin, Roman, and Caitlin raced into the barn and spread out to start offering help to those in need of medical attention. Since Josef was the most seriously injured, Justin sent Caitlin to help Isaiah and stayed with his father.

  “I need to check on Drew and Shayla,” Phoenix said before making her way to the ladder and climbing up to the loft. Up there, she found no sign of Shayla, just Drew lying on his stomach, with his head turned to the side. He wasn’t moving, so Phoenix rushed over, kneeling beside him to check for injuries.

  Drew groaned and slowly opened his eyes. “Stop poking me, Nix.”

  “What happened?” she asked.

  Pushing himself up onto his knees, Drew rubbed the back of his head. “After I saved your lunachick cousin from having to shoot her own brother, she bashed me over the head and took off.”

  “Should we go after her?” Isaiah asked. Apparently, he’d decided to follow her.

  “Yes,” Drew replied immediately.

  “No,” Phoenix said at the same time.

  “Are you kidding me?” Drew demanded. “She’s in danger.”

  “From what?” Phoenix asked.

  “Herself,” Drew insisted.

  Phoenix couldn’t really argue with that, but at the same time, her cousin was an adult. “She’ll contact us if she needs help.”

  Struggling to his feet, Drew looked seriously pissed when his eyes landed on Isaiah. “Did you climb a fucking ladder with a stab wound?”

  Phoenix would have laughed at Drew’s incredulous tone if she weren’t a little angry with Isaiah for that very reason.

  Isaiah shrugged, and then winced from the pain. “What can I say? I couldn’t resist coming up here to see if you’d gotten your ass kicked by Phoenix’s cousin.”

  “Fuck you,” Drew shot back with no real heat. “I’m going to look around outside for clues about where Shayla went.” With that, he climbed down from the loft, leaving her alone with Isaiah.

  Phoenix gave Isaiah a stern look. “You are old enough that you should know how reckless it is to climb a ladder while your arm is bleeding. Aren’t you supposed to be down there letting Caitlin take care of you?”

  “What I need is to be close to you.” His words stopped the rant she was warming up for. “I love you.”

  Tears pooled in Phoenix’s eyes. “I love you, too,” she replied.

  “Don’t cry,” Isaiah murmured, gathering her against his chest with his uninjured arm. “You scared the hell out of me today. Please don’t do that to me again.”

  His words only made her weepier.

  “Why are you crying?” he asked, sounding helpless and clueless.

  “After so many years of thinking I had to be alone, I’m still having trouble believing all of this is real,” she admitted. “I never thought I’d have a normal life.”

  Isaiah let out a strained chuckle, pain etched on his face. “I’m not sure anyone would call life with my family normal, but it’s definitely not boring.”

  Epilogue

  To say things had been crazy in the last month would be an understatement, but Phoenix couldn’t deny that she was happier than she’d ever been. Isaiah’s stab wound was healing nicely, even though he mostly ignored Justin’s advice about not using that arm. Josef was alive and incredibly cranky, but he’d live. There had been no romantic reconciliation between him and Helena after he’d saved her life, but Helena was actively involved in his care. Phoenix was pretty sure they were developing a friendship, which seemed to shock Josef more than anyone else. As for Drew,
he was no less obsessed with Shayla, and Phoenix was convinced that would end badly for them both. Of course, there seemed to be no talking Drew out of trying to find her. Every day, he was on the phone with Isaiah trying to track her down. Poor Isaiah was on the verge of changing his number.

  Looking at the boxes that needed to be unpacked, Phoenix shook her head. She still couldn’t believe she was moving into her new home. The part that shocked her most was that she was moving in with Isaiah—a vampire of all things. Even while she’d been arguing that vampires weren’t so different from hunters, she’d never expected to end up living with one, let alone being in love with one.

  “What are you thinking so hard about?” Isaiah asked as he came up behind her and kissed her neck.

  Turning, she looked at her sexy nerd. He’d just gotten his hair cut unbelievably short, and now it was its natural dark brown. She wasn’t sure she liked it this short. He’d explained that he only got around to having it cut a couple of times a year, so he always got it cut really short when he finally went in.

  “Just thinking how crazy it is that I’m living with a vampire,” she admitted.

  Isaiah chuckled. “You haven’t spent a single night out of my bed since the first time I got you naked.”

  “What can I say?” she asked, placing her hands on his hard chest. “I just can’t resist a sexy nerd.”

  “If you think I’m sexy now, just wait until you see what I brought with me.”

  By the teasing look in his eyes, she was almost afraid to ask. “Do I want to know?”

  Isaiah turned away from her to grab something from the laptop bag he must have carried in with him, and then he began fumbling with his dress shirt. When he turned around, Phoenix laughed so hard, she had to brace herself on the table for support.

  “Pretty hot, huh?” he asked, waggling his eyebrows and gesturing to his pocket protector.

  “You were right,” she admitted. “Pocket protectors are definitely sexy.”