Immortal Revenge

by Abshire, Mary

  Riker headed for his usual seat at the desk. Katie followed his stiff stride. As he passed the desk, she noticed the laptop he’d worked on earlier was now missing. Riker pulled the chair out from the desk and sat. “Tell me everything Ben told you.”

  “He said the man was shorter, wore casual clothes and had a tattoo on one arm. He heard the stranger tell Charles to have an officer at the property twenty-four hours a day. Ben thought it was unusual for some unknown person to walk in and give direction to Charles.”

  “I would’ve thought the same thing,” Jules added.

  “Did he hear a name?”

  “Yes, he said Charles called him Brandon.”

  “Our dark-haired stranger is someone else.”

  “It would seem so.”

  “Anything else?”

  Katie chewed on her tongue as she replayed the conversation with Ben. “He waited in the parking lot and saw Brandon get into a black…”

  The last word failed to make it out of her mouth as she recalled seeing a black van the very night of Kyle’s demise. She’d shown up at the Devil and people were piling into a black van. Could the vampires have stopped for drinks and then left to celebrate? The thought chilled her. She’d been close to them, too close without weapons and an emotional state of shock from losing Kyle. Had they known who she was, they would’ve killed her.

  She swallowed and realized she could never put herself in that situation again. Once she removed the threat of the two vampires and claimed her revenge, she’d find some better clothes to conceal the weapons she’d carry with her at all times. Her need to survive was stronger than ever. Even without vampires around, she would be on guard and ready to act in a split second notice. Maybe she was a bit paranoid, but the world wasn’t exactly a safe place, anywhere.

  “Katie?” Jules asked, snapping her from her thoughts.

  “Yeah?”

  “What are you thinking?” Riker asked.

  “I saw a black van the night I found Kyle. It was at the Devil.”

  Jules gasped. “Oh my God. I remember the two guys that came in and bought drinks for everyone. One had short, dark hair. The younger guy never stopped smiling or laughing.”

  Katie’s stomach churned while blood rushed to her head. They’d celebrated Kyle’s demise. Revenge would taste sweet. She couldn’t wait to see the look in their eyes right before she severed their heads.

  “Is there a way you could find out about this Brandon person since you are still linked to the Order?” Katie asked.

  “No, I have few contacts and without a full name, they can’t help us.”

  Katie let her gaze drift. She wanted to find information on the vampires sent to destroy Kyle. Then, she’d have an idea what kind of fighters she had to face. Were they fiercer than Kyle was or amateurs like the Asian?

  “Your facing is healing,” Riker said, jolting her attention.

  “What?”

  “It’s just a little brown now,” Jules said.

  “Huh? Oh.” She’d completely forgotten about the bruise on her face.

  “What information did you exchange with this officer?” Riker asked, steering the conversation back on track.

  “I told him to look up my speeding tickets in their database and showed him my driver’s license. The address in their system and on my license is the same one as Kyle’s.”

  Riker shook his head and his locks swayed gently. “Fucking idiots. The Order is getting sloppy with their clean up.”

  “I asked him if he remembered Kyle as our professor in college. He recalled a male instructor, but nothing more. I told him Kyle was my boyfriend and someone burned the house down and killed him.”

  “You actually told him all this?” he asked in a calm, yet deep tone.

  “Yes. I left everything out about vampires.”

  “Why did you tell him?”

  “Because he’s someone I may be able to trust. He could be a valuable ally down the road.”

  “So you plan to tell him about everything, including the Order?”

  Katie took in a deep breath, hesitating to answer yet knowing she had to. “One day.”

  “Don’t.”

  “Why?” Jules asked, shocked. “We need all the help she can get against people like you. Especially if you’re always attacking us.”

  Riker stood with a heated glare directed at Jules. “You know too much. We don’t need–”

  “Your kind doesn’t want people to know you exist so your kind can rule the world and feast on us,” Katie said with venom. “Fuck your kind.”

  Riker stiffened as he slowly moved toward Katie. “Have you forgotten your lover was a vampire?”

  The question fueled her anger. Katie stood with the same fluid movements, controlled, yet very ready to act in a split second notice. She disliked how he brought Kyle into the mix. She would never forget Kyle was a vampire, but the term was just a label. Kyle was different. He loved her and treated others with kindness, not as if they were food. The few minds he manipulated didn’t cause any harm. While Riker didn’t look at humans as meals, he clearly saw humans as unequal, lower on the food chain. He believed in peace, but even that came with the dirty job of clean up. Lumping Kyle into the race of vampires just seemed inappropriate. He never hurt another human or regarded one so coldly. If anything, he wanted to help humans. Although her lover of nine years sustained his existence by ingesting blood, she would never classify him as belonging to their race.

  “He was my immortal lover and I will never forget him. Never.”

  They stood silently staring at each other. Slowly, Katie cooled her temper. Humans knowing about vampires, specifically her friends, bothered Riker and that was the issue at hand.

  “If you are on my team, then we need Jules and Ben. You will leave them alone.”

  “Uh, I hate to break up the party,” Jules said, coming to stand next to Katie. “But shouldn’t we focus on what to do with the two vampires?”

  Lips pressed together, Katie watched and waited for a response from Riker. When none came, Katie said, “She’s right. We need a plan.”

  “We can plan one after we move,” Riker said.

  “Move?”

  “We need to switch hotels. I have everything ready in my room.” He strode past her and headed for the door connecting to his room. As he opened the door, Jules’s phone came to life with the melody they’d heard earlier.

  Jules rushed to claim her phone from the bed. She lifted it and stared at the screen. “Oh my God.”

  Katie rushed to Jules’s side. She grabbed hold of Jules’s shaking hand holding the phone. Peering at the device, she saw Joe’s number on the screen.

  Not even a second passed before the phone disappeared from Jules’s hand. Riker took it from behind them. They both spun to face him.

  “Don’t destroy it!” Katie yelled.

  “Please, don’t.” Jules pleaded. “What if he is alive?”

  Riker hit a button on the side, silencing the ring tone. “I’m not destroying the phone.”

  “Why won’t you answer it?” Katie reached for the cell.

  He stepped back, holding it out of her reach. “Because we haven’t decided how to deal with them. We shouldn’t talk to them without formulating our plan first.”

  The number flashed on the phone, indicating the caller either disconnected or was listening to Jules’s voice mail. Brandon or whoever had called would not take kindly to silence and would probably call back soon.

  “Then let’s plan,” Katie said with urgency.

  “First, we move.”

  Jules’s sniffle magnified Katie’s desire to plan first rather than move. “No, we don’t have time.”

  “We have all the time we need,” Riker said.

  “No. They want us to meet them. So let’s set the meeting.”

  The color of his eyes brightened. Katie suspected his temper was on the rise.

  “Rushing into the den of wolves will not keep you alive.”

&nbs
p; Quarrelling with Riker wasted too much time. He had the phone and she needed it. How could she get it? If she punched, shoved, or kicked him he would tighten his hold. The only way to get it free was to knock it out of his hand and pray she could get to it before he could. Then maybe, just maybe, she could hold onto it for the next call, which she suspected would come at any minute.

  She glanced down and saw the skates on the floor. “All right, let’s go,” Katie said, then twisted to Jules. “Would you mind carrying the skates?”

  Jules turned her attention toward them. “Sure.”

  Simultaneously, Jules bent to get the skates and the phone sang the melody again. Riker’s gaze lowered while he lifted the phone. Katie snatched the opportunity and swung her fist at an angle to hit underneath his hand. He noticed her punch coming and started to step back out of her way, but his movement came too late. Katie hit his hand and sent the phone into the air. It bounced off Jules’s back as she rose, then sailed to Jules’s other side before bumping into the wall.

  “Ouch,” Jules said, reaching around to touch her back.

  The melody continued unaffected. Katie and Riker rushed for the phone, but Katie had a two second lead. Jules stepped out the way, swinging the skates toward the door where they knocked against it. Katie fell to her knees, grasped the phone with both hands and held it close to her chest. Immediately she rubbed her fingers across the screen to answer the damn thing. Riker grabbed her arms and tugged them back. Her right arm moved, not affecting her hold on the phone but delaying her progress. Riker jerked her up to her feet.

  “Let her go!” Jules yelled.

  A second after Katie turned her attention, the skates thudded against Riker’s back. He released Katie and roared in response. In the next second, he gripped Jules’s arms and the skates fell to the floor.

  Hearing the end of the ring tone, Katie returned her focus to the phone in her hand. The number stayed illuminated on the screen, indicating the call hadn’t gone to voice mail. She lifted the cell to her ear.

  “Hello?”

  “Who the fuck is this?” said the caller with a deep, unfriendly voice.

  Riker jerked his gaze to Katie while he kept his grasp on Jules.

  “You tell me your name, then I’ll tell you my name,” Katie said.

  “Do you think this is a game?” the caller asked.

  Riker grabbed Katie’s wrist while he held onto Jules’s arm. Katie refused to let him take the phone from her. She tightened her grasp as she held the cell close to her face. She lifted a finger and mouthed the word wait.

  “No, but you must think it is since you won’t tell me your name. I guess I’ll hang up now.”

  Riker stared deep into her eyes as she spoke to the caller.

  “Hang up and I’ll gut Joe like I did the dog,” the person on the phone said.

  A chill passed through Katie. Joe was still alive. For how long remained unclear, but the fact he was living made her pause.

  “Let me hear him speak.”

  “Glad to have your attention,” the caller said. “Hold on.”

  Jules met Katie’s gaze. “Joe?” She whimpered.

  Katie bit her tongue, refraining from saying anything. While Joe might indeed be alive, his health had to be deteriorating quickly.

  “Speak.” She heard the caller say.

  “Jules.” Joe’s voice sounded scratchy and weak. “Run. Runaway.”

  Katie’s heart sank and she closed her eyes. Even in pain, he wanted to save Jules. Katie’s anger rose again and she felt flush. The fucking vampires were going to pay.

  “As you heard, he’s alive, but I can’t say for how long,” the caller said.

  Katie opened her eyes. “I’m Kyle’s girlfriend. What do you want?”

  Riker’s eyes lit up. He tugged on her wrist and she struggled to keep the phone close to her. At the same time, Jules tried to break free from Riker. The vampire had two human women working against him, and from the flash of his fangs, it was clear he wasn’t happy. Katie gripped his forearm and squeezed, hoping he would give up his mission to take the cell from her, but it did little to thwart his effort.

  “Well, well. Katie Dillinger. I look forward to meeting you and your friend.”

  “I’m sure you do.”

  Riker finally let go of Jules and grabbed Katie’s other wrist. She struggled to hold the phone close enough.

  “Why don’t you and your friend come by for a visit tonight, say…around midnight?”

  Riker finally gave up tugging on her wrists. Instead, he thrust her back into the wall. Her head hit, but not hard enough to cause any damage other than a slight ringing in her ears.

  “So you can kill Joe, Jules and me? I think not.”

  “Joe?” Jules sobbed as she stepped around Riker.

  “Turn yourself in and we’ll let the two go.”

  Katie fought the urge to laugh. Did he really think she was stupid?

  “What about their memories?”

  “We’ll have to adjust them, of course.”

  Of course. What a fucking liar. From the smoothness of his tone, she gathered he had zero intent of letting any of them walk away. Yet, she pretended to believe him. She needed to arrange some kind of meeting so she could work on a plan to destroy him and the other vampire. At the same time, she wanted to save Joe, if possible.

  “Where?”

  “Are you familiar with the Jennings orchard?”

  Katie’s heart raced. The orchard wasn’t quite five miles from Kyle’s property. She’d visited many times for snacks, juice and wine. She knew the family well since they lived so close, out in the country. The elderly Mr. and Mrs. Jennings owned the land and lived in the old farmhouse while their daughter, divorced five years now and granddaughter lived in a newly built ranch on the other side of one of the orchards. The shop, which they all took turns running, sat at the front of the driveway and the farmhouse was within walking distance behind it. They owned a lot of land, including some that bumped up to Kyle’s boundary. Of all places, the vampires found the perfect one to hide and plot how to destroy Kyle.

  “I’m familiar with the orchard. How are the Jennings?”

  “They’re around. No need to concern yourself with them.”

  Riker shook his head. Katie wondered if he didn’t like the sound of the meeting or the location. Or, maybe he disliked what she was agreeing to all together.

  “All right. Midnight.”

  “Katie, please don’t be late. I’d hate to have to cut off more fingers for your tardiness.”

  She clenched her jaw, hating the sound of his voice and game he was playing with Joe’s life. “Don’t worry. I’ll be there.”

  “Good. I’m looking forward to our visit.”

  Riker stripped the phone from her hand, then stepped away from her as he ended the call.

  “I had to do it. We need to meet with them,” Katie said, pushing away from the wall.

  “They have the upper hand. You realize this, don’t you?”

  They set the time and location. Big deal. It didn’t necessarily mean they benefitted from this arrangement, at least not to Katie. After all, they didn’t know she had vampire blood in her, nor did they know about Riker. The playing field leveled out.

  Jules moved closer to Katie. She wiped her eyes. “Is Joe…?”

  Katie gave a slow nod. “He sounded very weak.”

  Jules covered her mouth with her hand, then closed her eyes. More tears rolled down her cheeks. She wanted Joe to live, as did Katie. Yet the both knew the odds of him surviving were not good. The poor man was probably suffering and he didn’t deserve such treatment. Thank God Jules couldn’t hear him through the phone. Her heart would’ve plummeted.

  Katie turned to Riker and found him staring at her. “We need a plan now that we have a date with two vampires. Let’s move, then figure out how to proceed.”

  Without a word, Riker headed for the door leading to his room. He kept Jules’s phone, which mattered little to
Katie. The meeting time and place was set. Now, Katie had to come up with a way to behead the two vampires before they could kill anyone else.

  19

  Steven grinned and set the phone on the cushion beside him. The conversation he’d had with Katie Dillinger had turned out better than he’d planned. She seemed hesitant, which he expected given her circumstance and knowing what she did about vampires. Her tone, though curt, suggested she was smart. She knew what she had to face. Curiously, he didn’t suspect a hint of fear in her voice.

  “Think she’ll show up?” Brandon stood, leaning on the sofa arm and biting his nails.

  “She’ll show.” He didn’t doubt it. Humans were too attached to their emotions. It was a known fact throughout history and vampires loved to use and abuse, play with and distort those little feelings to get what they wanted. It worked every time. Case in point, she’d agree to a meeting as soon as she heard the dying man’s voice. How could she sit back and let her best friend’s lover die? She couldn’t.

  “Why midnight? Why not ask her to come over now?” He fisted his hand and punched his palm. A loud smack sounded. “I’m ready to kill the bitch and go.”

  “Relax. I don’t plan to wait until midnight.”

  Brandon stepped away from the sofa. “You don’t?” He stood with his legs wide and crossed his arms.

  “No. While you were in the shower, I came up with a plan. Chaz will call soon with the coordinates for the phone numbers I gave him. We’ll find out where she is, then surprise her with a visit. This way, she won’t have time to come up with a way to save her friends.” Or herself.

  Steven had already made plans for Katie before ending her precious life. The firmness of her tone over the phone suggested she would resist and try to fight them. Considering she’d had a vampire for a boyfriend for several years, Kyle probably showed her a few moves. Still, the woman was human–weak and incapable of defeating any vampire. Steven welcomed the challenge and he’d show her a few moves of his own. Ones that included a little biting and a little pleasure, at least for him.

  “Can we check on Debbie first?”

  Steven rolled his eyes and turned away from Brandon. The young vamp needed to get over his dark thoughts about the Asian. Nobody in town could hurt her.