“We will work with you on how to track him. It’s all about concentration and control.” Demetri explained.
“Concentration I can do, control may be a different story,” Karma told them. “When it comes to Vincent, I have found my temper takes the driver’s seat and my control takes the back seat.”
“Then we will have to teach you how to control your temper,” Constance interrupted Karma before she could continue. “You’re going to have a hard time convincing the humans vampire aren’t going to harm them if you can’t control your vampire side.”
“I’m not, that’s how. I am not this one you all seem to think I am. I am going to hunt down and kill Vincent then I am going back to Oregon with Dylan and we are going to live a quiet life on his farm. That’s it, that’s all I want.”
“You’re just going to walk away from your destiny?” Aleyn asked.
“I don’t believe in destiny. I’m a firm believer in freewill, and, as an adult, I choose to complete my mission and then go home,” Karma slid out of Dylan’s embrace and rose to her feet. “Now, let’s discuss what we came here to discuss or I’m leaving and resuming my hunt for Vincent.”
“Fine, let’s discuss how we need to go about eliminating Vincent, but once he is dead and this threat in over, we will discuss everything else,” Demetri told her, and she knew there was no convincing him she wasn’t who he thought she was.
Two hours later Karma and Dylan left the conference room and headed up to their room. Once they were inside Karma turned to Dylan and kissed him.
“Thank you for sticking by me down there,” she said when she broke the kiss.
“Karma, I will always have your back. Even when you’re wrong, I’ll have your back,” Dylan reassured her, and she smiled.
“Dylan, I think Demetri may be right, but I’m not going to work for them and that’s exactly what I would be doing if I agreed to become the one who sets out to unite the races. That life isn’t for me, and it sure as hell isn’t what I want.”
“I don’t want that life for you either. This may be selfish sounding, but I want you beside me for all my immortal existence. I don’t want you traveling all over the world, spreading the word that vampire do exist.”
“That isn’t selfish at all. I actually love the idea of being at your side forever,” Karma grinned up at him as he wrapped his arms around her waist. “There is one more thing. Dylan, I’m pretty sure I’m in love with you.”
****
Dylan stood there, just holding her in his arms as her words penetrated the fogginess of his brain. Love, he thought as he looked into her eyes. Did she say love? Before he could respond she pulled from his embrace and walked across the room.
“I didn’t say it to freak you out. I just wanted it out there because we never know what’s going to happen tomorrow. If things go as planned, we will be headed back to Oregon by sunset. If they don’t…” She trailed off, not wanting to finish that thought.
“I know. I don’t want to think about what will happen if the plan doesn’t go the way it’s supposed to. I keep telling myself that everything will be okay, that we will complete what we set out to complete and we will be able to return home soon. Oh, and just so you know, I know I’m in love with you.”
“You love me?” She asked. “How long have you known you love me?”
“Since the night we fought the vampire at my house. I knew then I would never be able to let you go. I knew then I would never want to let you go.”
“Dylan, I don’t want to be the one who tries to unite the vampire and human races. I don’t want to have that much interaction with anyone but you and Jackson.”
“Baby, you don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do. No one can force you or take away your free will. You’re an adult, and you have reached maturity. You are your own person and make your own decisions.”
“I say we follow their plan until we destroy Vincent, then we head home where we belong.”
“I think that’s an excellent plan. For now, though, I think we need to get some sleep. We have a really long day tomorrow and I want to feel you in my arms for as long as possible before we head out.”
“Tomorrow is going to be tough, especially if Vincent takes off before we get there.”
“Do you think he will?” Dylan cocked his head and looked at her questioningly.
“Yes. I think he will because I think one of the elders is sending him information about what we know. I think someone doesn’t want him stopped. I just don’t know which one, or how to stop them. I will find out though, and when I do, there will be hell to pay.”
“What makes you think one of them is helping Vincent?”
“I don’t know. Just a gut feeling I guess, but I have learned to follow my gut and it’s telling me one of them isn’t as opposed to Vincent as we think they are.”
“Karma, I trust your gut too, and if you think one of them is feeding him information then I support your theory one hundred percent.”
“Thank you, Dylan. You supporting me means everything to me. You have no idea how much I need someone to support me right now. All my life my parents supported me in everything I wanted to do. They always encouraged me to do my best, and they were always there for me, no matter what. To find that in someone else is something I never thought I’d find because of what I am. I am so glad my rumbling stomach led me to that diner. I am so glad my instincts led me to you.”
“I always felt the same way. I felt like no woman would ever accept what I am, so I never expected to find someone to love who would love me for what I am. That day in the diner I couldn’t stop staring at you, and I had no idea why. When you asked Jackson and I to join you, so we could talk, I was surprised, to say the least. I had never encountered another like myself and I was beyond curious about you. You flipped my stomach upside down that day and it hasn’t been the same since.”
Karma stood on tiptoe and brushed her lips over Dylan’s. “I think we need to get some sleep tonight and worry about tomorrow when it gets here.”
“I agree. I love you Karma.”
“I love you, too, Dylan.”
Once they were both in bed Dylan pulled Karma into his arms and kissed her forehead. They fell asleep instantly.
Chapter Eighteen
“He isn’t here,” Karma murmured as the neared the town Demetri said Vincent was in.
“What do you mean he isn’t here?” Constance asked with a sneer. “Demetri said this is where he was.”
“I mean he isn’t here. You’re the ones who told me what to pay attention to and I promise you, he is nowhere near here. Maybe Demetri got some bad information.”
“My spy said he was still here as of this morning,” Demetri said from the back of the van.
“Well maybe he left, but he isn’t here,” Karma told them again.
“You must be wrong, child,” Demetri told her with a shake of his head.
“Believe whatever you want, but I am done wasting my time here. He is not here, but there are vampire inside. I say we capture at least one of them and see if they know where he went.”
“Sounds like a plan to me,” Dylan said and started to open the door to the van.
“Wait,” Karma whispered and grabbed his arm just as several vampire exited the woods and surrounded the van. “Shit! As soon as those doors open, we’re going to have to exit fast and fighting. Let me out first, Dylan, I’m faster than you and have more training.”
“That would hurt my feelings if it weren’t one hundred percent true,” Dylan said with a grin and leaned back so Karma could crawl across him.
“Open the door quickly and I’ll jump out.” Karma said and pulled her Sai from their holsters. “Now!”
Dylan jerked the door open and Karma hopped out, taking out two vampire before her feet hit the ground. By the time the others joined her she had taken out three more.
“Damn she’s fast,” Ramsey observed as soon as he was out of the van. “Demetri may be correct ab
out her.”
“Demetri is right about her, even if she doesn’t want to accept it,” Aleyn said as he battled a vampire.
“Then we must believe her when she tells us Vincent isn’t here,” Holbrook told them as he snapped the head off the vampire closest to him.
“She will lead us in the right direction,” Langley added as he staked the one he was fighting. All conversation ended as Karma took out the last two that were in the clearing.
“There are at least twenty more at the compound. One of them may know where Vincent went, so don’t kill them all, please,” Karma said as she walked back to the elders.
“You need to tell yourself that,” Constance told her with a grin. “You took out more alone than the rest of us did together.”
“Only because I was first out of the van,” Karma said with a grin.
“Bullshit,” Dylan told her and shook his head when she tried to deny it. “Karma, you are faster and stronger than anyone here, including the elders. You can handle anything now.”
“I don’t know about that,” Karma said and took off through the woods toward the compound.
“Guess that’s out cue to follow her,” Nevaeh said with a grin as she followed Karma silently into the woods. The others followed just a silently and less than a minute later they were standing outside a large gate.
“Up and over?” Dristen asked as he stopped beside Karma.
“That’s the only way I can see in,” she answered and crouched low. When she jumped, she was half-way up the gate and was over it half a second later. The others followed, and less than two seconds after stopping at the gate they were all inside the compound.
“Okay, let’s spread out in pairs and see what we can find. They may have a lab here, and we need to know how far he’s gotten on that serum,” Karma said to everyone in a soft whisper. When they all nodded, she continued. “Since there are eleven of us, Demetri can come with me and Dylan. I know he wants to try to prove to me Vincent is here, and he can’t do that if we aren’t together.”
Karma was using that as an excuse to keep an eye on Demetri. She didn’t trust him and did not want him alone with anyone else.
“This way.” Karma said as everyone scattered, after agreeing to meet back up in an hour, and Dylan and Demetri followed her silently. They walked for about ten minutes, looking into buildings along the way, before they met up with two vampire. Karma took out one and Dylan the other within seconds and they moved on.
“I think we should capture the next one we come across. There was a chair in the building back there that looked like it was set up for interrogation,” Demetri suggested, and Karma nodded her agreement. They really did need to know where Vincent was.
About five minutes later they came across three more vampire and Karma staked two while Dylan and Demetri subdued the third. Within seconds they had him chained to the chair in the interrogation room.
“What do you know about Vincent Duprée?” Karma asked as soon as he was secured.
“I don’t know who you’re talking about,” the vampire told them, but Karma knew he was lying.
“You’re lying. Now, I’ll give you one more chance to tell me what you know about Vincent.”
“Go to hell, bitch,” he spat at her.
“Have it your way,” Karma said as she pulled a silver knife from her boot. “This is going to be fun.”
An evil grin crossed her face as she took her knife and slowly slid it down the vampire’s cheek. “Silver may not kill a vampire, but it sure does burn like hell-fire when it cuts one.”
The vampire screeched in pain as Karma slid the knife down his other cheek. “I’ll ask again, what do you know about Vincent?”
“He left three days ago,” the vampire finally stammered out as Karma slowly cut his arm from wrist to elbow.
“Where did he go?” Dylan demanded.
“Oregon. He said he had some unfinished business there,” the vampire answered in a strained voice. “That’s all I know. I swear.”
Karma and Dylan exchanged a worried glance before Karma turned back to the vampire.
“Now, was that so hard?” She asked with a grin and he shook his head.
“I’m going to kill you now,” she told him just before she pulled one of her Sai from its holster and buried it in his chest.
“We’ve learned all we can here. Now we must go to Oregon,” Karma told Dylan and Demetri before she turned and walked out the door.
****
“What did everyone learn?” Ramsey asked as they all met back at the gate a little while later.
“Vincent left here three days ago,” Karma told him.
“Yeah, we were told the same thing,” Constance said with a pointed look at Demetri. “Want to tell us what’s going on, Demetri?”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Demetri looked at the group and shook his head. “I guess my spy was bought, or threatened, so he lied.”
“I don’t believe you,” Holbrook stepped up to Demetri and touched his arm. “Why are you lying?”
“What are you implying, Holbrook?” Demetri pulled away from him and turned to the group at large. “Do you believe I could betray my race? Is that what you are all thinking?”
“I’m not implying anything, Demetri, but you basically called Karma a liar earlier when she plainly told us Vincent wasn’t here. That leads me to believe you are hiding something.”
“Calm down everyone,” Karma intervened. “No one is accusing anyone of anything. All we want to know is why you insisted I was wrong.”
“My spy is a vampire I created many years ago. He has been in my employ for over two hundred years and I trust him. I had no reason to believe he would lie to me.”
“Obviously your trust was misplaced,” Langley said dryly and turned to Karma. “What do we do now?”
“We head to Oregon. I think I know where he’s heading, and we have to stop him.”
“What’s in Oregon?” Aleyn asked.
“My family,” Dylan said, and everyone nodded their understanding.
“Then let’s move out,” Nevaeh told them and climbed into the van.
The trip back to the hotel was silent and as soon as they arrived Karma and Dylan tossed their bags onto their bikes and took off toward home. They had to get to Jackson before Vincent could hurt him.
“I texted Harrison on the way back and he said he hadn’t seen Vincent yet,” Dylan informed Karma through the headsets they had picked up along the way. “He promised to keep Jackson safe and I have to believe in him.”
“We will get there. We will keep your brother safe,” Karma reassured him, but she could hear the worry in his every breath. “Dylan, I love you and I will do everything in my power to keep those you love safe. I’m sorry I took you from Jackson.”
“I don’t think he’s going after Jackson. I think he’s going after Harrison and that’s what worries me. If he goes after Harrison, then Jackson will get caught in the crossfire. My brother will be caught in a war he has no chance of surviving.”
Karma didn’t know what to say to that because she knew it was true. Jackson would never leave Harrison, and unless Vincent came alone, Harrison would never be able to protect Jackson.
With that thought Karma pushed her bike to go faster. She knew they had to get to Oregon fast, or Dylan would lose everything he loved.
“I love you, Karma, and I don’t regret joining you. What I do regret is not hiding Jackson. I regret not sending him far away from home until we returned. I made the choice to let him stay, and that’s a choice I may have to live with for the rest of my life.”
“Dylan, remember how you told me that my family getting killed was not my fault? Well this isn’t your fault either. This is Vincent and his sadistic nature. He’s the murdering bastard who is doing all of this. You did what you felt was the safest thing for Jackson, and I agreed with you. Hell, you left him with a vampire for goodness sakes. You couldn’t know Vincent would return to Oregon. Who
’s to say he’ll even know how to find Harrison anyway?”
“I guess we will see when we get there. We aren’t stopping you know?”
“I know, and I agree. Can we at least hope since Harrison knows Vincent is coming, he hides Jackson somewhere, so he doesn’t get hurt?”
“I think that hope is the only thing keeping me sane right now,” Dylan said and accelerated his bike a little faster.
For the next twelve hours they flew down the highways as fast as their bikes would take them. When they crossed into Oregon, they slowed a little and made their way to Dylan’s farm.
When they turned on the dirt drive the sight before them made them stop in their tracks.
Chapter Nineteen
“Dylan, are you okay?” Karma asked softly as she wrapped her arms around him.
“It’s gone,” he replied as he looked at the spot where his beautiful home used to sit. “The house, the barn, everything is just gone.”
“Not everything,” Jackson said as he walked up beside them. “If not for Harrison, I would have been in the house when they showed up. After you talked to him, he made me move everything into the storm cellar and lock myself in there. I have no idea where he is now though.”
“I think he’s dead,” Dylan said with an air of sadness he hadn’t felt since his mother died.
“What makes you think that?” Karma asked.
“Know how the elders taught you how to open yourself up to the link between you and Vincent? Well, I was practicing it too, and I can’t feel Harrison.”
“Maybe he’s just left the area to lead Vincent away from Jackson. I can’t feel Vincent anywhere around either.”
“Maybe,” Dylan said doubtfully. “Jacks, what all did you take to the cellar with you?”
“The stuff we had of Mom’s, the pictures, and some of my clothes.” Jackson answered. “I figured everything else could be replaced if something happened.”
“Thank you,” Dylan said and pulled his brother into a one-armed hug.
“You’re welcome,” Jackson replied. “That stuff will be safe for now, but we need to find a place to stay for a while.”
Karma's Vengeance (Vampire Huntress Saga Book 1) Page 8