by Karen Lynch
“Giant lizard people,” Chris said, shaking his head.
“Yeah. They found a bunch of cages too. Looked like the gulaks were running slaves and someone took exception.”
Chris frowned. “Couldn’t have been a rival demon. They wouldn’t have let the humans go.”
“That’s true,” Raoul said.
“How did we not hear about this before now?” Chris asked.
I let out a short laugh. “Because we’ve been too busy to read the reports from the rest of the country.”
“I’ve been searching the central database for any reports that mention strange incidents like this,” Raoul said. “None of these kills were done by our people.”
“Do we have any intel on who might be doing this?” I asked as we entered the control room.
As usual, my eyes sought out Sara who was in her spot on the couch. She smiled at me, and I started toward her.
“Whoever they are, they are deadly and fast,” Raoul said as he and Chris followed me. “I hate to admit it, but their kill rate is better than ours right now with zero human casualties. They move around a lot too, which makes it impossible to get a lead on them. We have reports coming in from all over the country.”
I joined Sara on the couch, and Chris and Raoul grabbed chairs for themselves.
“Are you sure it’s the same people?” Chris asked Raoul.
“No, but my gut tells me it is,” Raoul replied. “All the strikes have the same feel to them, and the hostiles were killed by some kind of weapon we haven’t seen before. The warehouse in Minneapolis, the vampire in Seattle, the nest at the old amusement park in New Jersey. The person shows up, makes the kill and leaves. And each time the victims recovered had no clear memory of their rescuer or what happened to them. It’s like someone messed with their memories. Twenty-two people were rescued from the gulak in Minneapolis, and every one of them gave a different description of the person who helped them.”
“One person?” I stared at him. “Didn’t you say we found a dead gulak master in the warehouse? It would take an experienced warrior to kill a demon that powerful.”
Across the room, Raj looked up from his work and laughed. “Maybe we have a rogue warrior taking it on the road.”
“Or it could be a human hunter with a new kind of weapon,” Brian suggested. “Whoever he is, he has a pair to go into that nest on his own.”
Chris laughed. “Maybe we should try to recruit him.”
“You guys automatically assume it’s a male,” Jordan said derisively.
“No offense, Jordan,” Raoul said. “But the odds are small that this is a female.”
Beside me, Sara spoke for the first time since we’d come in. “Why?”
Raoul smiled at her. “Most females don’t have the stomach for that kind of killing.”
Jordan shot him an angry glare, and I almost laughed when he rushed to say, “Mohiri females do, but I doubt one of them is behind this. I think we are dealing with someone new.”
“Why does it matter who they are as long as they are helping people and killing the bad guys?” Sara asked.
I squeezed her bare foot, which rested against my thigh. “It doesn’t as long as they keep a low profile and don’t endanger humans. We monitor the police bands in most cities, so we heard about the warehouse in Minneapolis and were able to get it contained before the local authorities arrived.”
“It looks like we aren’t the only ones with a vigilante at work,” Brock said. “We also picked up a story about a village in Mexico that claims an ‘angel’ appeared out of nowhere to destroy the demons terrorizing their village. One of our teams down there checked it out and found two dead vampires.”
I’d heard the story out of Mexico weeks ago, and I hadn’t made much of it at the time. But now I wondered if it wasn’t the same people who had done some of these other kills. The Mexican vampires had been burnt through the chest as well.
I didn’t believe it was one person as Raoul did. More likely it was a group of people trying to make it look like a single vigilante. They had to be highly trained, and whatever weapon they used sounded military-grade. Did we have a group of soldiers going rogue, or had the human government decided to join the war against our common enemy?
“Nikolas.”
I looked at Sara as she lifted her laptop and turned it so I could see the screen. On it was a black and white photo of a woman who looked shockingly familiar.
I leaned closer to study the picture. There was no mistaking the face, even with the dark sunglasses and the scarf hiding most of her blonde hair.
Chris got up from his chair to look over my shoulder, and I heard his small intake of breath as he recognized the woman. “It’s Madeline. How the hell did they find her?”
“I told you they’re the best,” Sara said with a little smile of satisfaction.
“Where was this taken?”
My mind reeled from seeing the face I hadn’t laid eyes on in fifty years. When Sara had told me she wanted to help David and Kelvan search for Madeline, I don’t think I really believed they’d find her again. I should have known not to underestimate Sara or her friends.
“One second.” She turned the laptop back to her and typed something.
“Yesterday in Vancouver,” she said, reading from the screen. Her excited gaze met mine. “David sent an address where they think she’s staying.”
I stood and called to Brock. “Have your guys ready to go within the hour.”
He jumped up from his chair. “On it.”
“Raoul, can you alert the pilot we’ll be flying to Vancouver, Canada as soon as he gets clearance?”
One of Brock’s team hurried past, and I stopped him. “Calvin, pull up that address and see what we’re dealing with.”
“Sure thing.”
I felt Sara behind me, and I turned to smile at her. “Great work, Sara.”
She shrugged. “Thanks, but David did most of the work.”
David might have been the muscle behind the work, but I had no doubt who the heart of the operation was. “Why don’t you grab your stuff, and I’ll walk you and Jordan home before I leave?” I doubted she’d want to stay here at the command center with most of us out on the job.
Her smiled faded. “What do you mean? I’m coming with you.”
“It’s too dangerous.” We had no idea what we were walking into. I didn’t think Madeline would try to harm her own people, but she was on the run from a Master. I wasn’t taking a chance of Sara being caught in the crossfire if we ran into trouble.
“I can take care of myself, Nikolas,” she argued. “Besides, it’s only Madeline.”
I shook my head, knowing I was about to upset her, but it couldn’t be helped. She’d come a long way in training, and she could fight, but not well enough for the kind of trouble we could run into out there. With the strain our incomplete bond was putting on me, I wouldn’t be able to endure anything happening to her. One cut and I’d probably lose it.
“You’re not ready. We’ll handle this.”
She crossed her arms and her voice rose. “She’s my mother, so if anyone should be there, it’s me. I didn’t work this hard to find her just so you could leave me behind.”
I steeled myself against the anger and hurt on her face. “You can talk to her when we bring her back here.”
“So that’s it. We’re back to you making all the decisions and me having no say at all?” she said in a raw voice that tore at me. “I thought we were in this together.”
“We are.”
“You mean as long as I’m doing something you don’t think is dangerous,” she said. “Why have I been working my butt off in training if you’re not going to take me seriously?”
“I do take you seriously.” I rubbed the back of my neck in frustration. I didn’t want to leave her like this, but there was no time to work it out with her now. “Listen, this is not the time or place for this discussion. We’ll talk about it when I get back.”
�
��Fine.” She turned away from me and picked up her laptop and backpack. Her shoulders were stiff, and her voice wavered when she said, “Chris, will you walk me back?”
I waved Chris off, following her to the door. “I said I’d take you home.”
“You have a mission to organize,” she said without turning around. “One of the others can make sure I get home.”
“Chris can get things ready here.” I picked up her coat and she let me help her into it, but she refused to look at me. I didn’t know what to say to her, so I didn’t say anything.
She didn’t speak during the short walk to Eldeorin’s, and when we got to the main door, she reached for the handle without looking at me.
I closed my hand around hers to stop her from walking away. I’d handled things wrong again and upset her. I hated the tension stretching between us, especially since I couldn’t stay and talk things out.
“I hate to leave you upset, but I have to go. We’ll talk when I get back, okay?”
She nodded quietly.
A touch was not enough. I pulled her into my arms, and she came, unresisting.
“I’ll see you in a day or two,” I said tenderly.
My chest swelled when her arms snaked around my waist.
“Be careful,” she whispered.
“Always.” It would take an army of vampires to keep me from coming back to her. I tilted her chin toward me and brushed my lips across hers.
I let her go and reached around her to open the door. I waited until she went inside and closed the door behind her before I headed back.
The team was stowing gear in the SUVs when I got there. I grabbed my own bag, which was always packed and ready to go, and climbed behind the wheel of one of the vehicles.
Chris took the passenger seat and gave me a questioning look, but I wasn’t in the mood to talk about it. He rested his head against the back of his seat and muttered, “It’s going to be a long few days.”
The jet was fueled and waiting on clearance when we got to the airport in San Jose. The current situation in the country had prompted Tristan to supply us with our own jet for reasons exactly like this. If you were going to fight an enemy like ours, it helped to have unlimited resources.
While we waited to leave, I called Tristan and filled him in.
“Are you sure it’s her?” he asked shakily.
“I won’t know for sure until I see her in person, but Chris and I both believe it’s her.”
“Dear God,” he breathed. “After all this time.”
I ran a hand through my hair. “Sara said she and her friends would find her. I have to admit I didn’t think they would do it this fast.”
“How is Sara doing?” he asked. “She says she doesn’t care about her mother, but this can’t be easy on her.”
“I think she’s more upset that I left her at home.” I remembered her hurt look as she’d closed the door.
“Ah.”
“I understand why she wants to be there when we find Madeline, but it’s not worth endangering her life.”
“You don’t think she’ll try to follow you?” he asked.
“No.” Sara had promised me at Christmas that she wouldn’t run off again, and I believed her. Though that wouldn’t make her any less upset with me.
I exhaled slowly. It was going to take a lot more than a few kisses to make this up to her.
I thought about calling Roland and asking him to visit, but I already knew that was out of the question. Maxwell wasn’t going to let him and Peter leave New Hastings, let alone Maine, until they graduated from school and worked off their punishments.
I could ask Nate to come, but he was finally writing again, and Sara wouldn’t want to disrupt him. I could think of no one else, except…
When the idea came to me, I couldn’t believe I hadn’t thought of him first. If anyone could distract Sara and cheer her up, it was that arrogant Englishman. And he’d do anything for her.
“Tristan, would it be possible for me to speak to Desmund?”
“Desmund? Uh…sure. I’ll see if I can find him.”
I smiled, imagining the look on Tristan’s face. I doubt anyone ever called for the warrior. Desmund had been ill for so long I wasn’t sure he knew how to use a phone.
“I’m transferring you to his apartment.”
“Thanks,” I said before Desmund’s phone began to ring.
“Hello?” said a clipped English voice. “Tristan?”
“Nikolas,” I corrected him.
There was silence for a moment. “Is Sara okay?”
“She’s fine,” I assured him. “Listen, are you free for a week or so?”
I figured it would take that long for her to start talking to me again.
“That depends,” he replied haughtily. “I’m planning a trip to England, but I suppose I could postpone it if I’m needed here.”
“How would you feel about a trip to California first? I’m on my way to Canada for a few days, and Sara’s not happy about it. I think a visit from you would cheer her up.”
“You want…me to visit your mate while you are away?” he asked slowly. “Are you not worried I’ll steal her away from you right under your nose?”
I knew he was trying to get a rise out of me, just like I knew he was going to say yes to my invitation.
“I’m willing to chance it,” I retorted dryly.
He took a moment to answer. “I’d love to visit with Sara. When would you like me to be there?”
“Tomorrow, if you can.”
“I’ll let Tristan know I need to use the plane. Tell Sara I’ll see her tomorrow.”
“Actually, I think I’ll let you surprise her.”
Chris waved at me to let me know it was time to take off.
“Listen, I have to go. The plane is waiting for me. Thank you for doing this.”
“I would say you owe me, but it’s my pleasure.”
I hung up and joined the others on the jet. Chris had saved me a seat beside him in the front row, and I sank down into it.
“Did you just invite Desmund to visit?” he asked, looking at me as if I’d lost it.
I shrugged. “Sara likes him, and he’ll be good company for her.”
He studied my face. “On a scale of one to ten, how angry is she?”
I buckled my seat belt. “I think she’s more upset than angry.”
“Maybe seeing Madeline will make her forget she’s upset with you. She’s got years of anger built up for her mother.”
I leaned back and closed my eyes. “We can hope.”
Two hours later, we touched down in Vancouver. An hour after that, we arrived at the address David had given us. We parked our Suburban three houses away, and Chris and I approached the front of a well-maintained, gray, two-story house. Brock and Tyrelle went around to the back. Will and Calvin stayed with the SUV.
I knocked on the door and waited a minute. There was a light on in the living room, but I could pick up no sounds inside, even when I engaged my demon hearing.
After my second knock went unanswered, as well as the doorbell, we quietly picked the deadbolt and let ourselves in. The interior was clean and tidy, and it looked as if someone had been there within the last twenty-four hours, based on the empty restaurant takeout containers in the trash can. Lipstick smears on a napkin told us at least one woman had been there.
“Looks like we missed them,” Brock observed. He looked at me. “What do you want to do?”
I looked around. “See if they left anything behind that will tell us who they are. We’ll watch the place for tonight and see if anyone shows.”
We left the house as we’d found it, and took shifts watching the place that night. The next morning, we met up at the Vancouver safe house and talked to the local team about the reason for our visit. They had a few suggestions for places we could check out so it wouldn’t be a waste of a trip. I wasn’t that familiar with the city, and it surprised me to hear they didn’t have a big vampire problem like we
were facing farther south.
Around mid-morning, Raoul called to pass along another address Sara had gotten from David. We went to check it out and found a stately white house at the end of an older neighborhood lined with tall trees.
Chris went in to scope it out, and he came back a few minutes later to tell us someone was staying there. He believed it could be the woman from the previous address because he found takeout containers from the same Thai restaurant. It was enough to convince me, and I decided to watch the place to see if anyone showed up.
We divided into pairs, with Brock and Will taking the first shift. If Madeline was staying here, the sight of a dark SUV might tip her off that something was going on. So they parked the vehicle on a side street and watched the house from the cover of a small stand of trees.
Chris and I were grabbing a quick dinner nearby when Brock called to tell us there was activity at the house.
“What do you see?” I asked him.
“Silver Audi pulled into the garage. Tinted windows so we couldn’t see the driver.” He paused. “Light just came on downstairs.”
“We’re on our way. Call in Calvin and Tyrelle and anyone else who is available. If this is Madeline, I don’t want to take any chances of her slipping past us.”
Brock was standing at the bottom of the street when we pulled up a few minutes later. I didn’t bother hiding the SUV since the person we sought was already in the house. We would soon find out whether or not it was Madeline.
The others joined us, and I told them I’d take the front door while Chris took the back. The rest of them would take up positions around the exterior to make sure no one slipped past us.
They nodded, and we moved in.
I waited until everyone was in position before I walked up to the front door and rang the doorbell. If the person inside wasn’t Madeline, I didn’t want to scare some unsuspecting human half to death by having armed warriors invade their home.
Focusing my hearing, I picked up faint movement inside. Someone was there, and they were moving around quietly. The thing with older houses is that no matter how well they are kept, they begin to creak after a while, especially the floorboards. I rang again. This time there was no mistaking the sound of a footstep on a noisy stair.