Blood Warrior (The Arcadia Falls Chronicles #4)

by Malone Wright, Jennifer

  Alice nodded. “Yeah, it’s too quiet.”

  The others nodded in agreement. I looked up and down the street. “Just be careful,” I told them and then turned back to Drew, who was staring at the fence with his usual expression of seriousness.

  “I’m going to have to lift you over and then Gavin or Oscar … or both are going to have to help me over. This fence is doing its job of keeping people out, that’s for sure.” He knelt down and clasped his hands together for me to step on.

  I raised my eyebrow and couldn’t help my sarcastic reply “Really?”

  “What?”

  I shook my head. Sometimes I wondered how he could forget the simplest things. “Dhampir, remember.” I backed up until I was a decent distance between myself and the fence. Just a couple of days ago I jumped up onto a bus so this should be easy.

  “Chloe,” Drew reached out and grabbed my arm. “If you don’t make it you could impale yourself on one of those posts.” He gestured in the direction of the fence. It was true, each post had a pointy top that with a blunt spike on top.

  I patted his hand. “Don’t worry, I’ll be fine.” I backed up a little bit more until I had enough of a berth between myself and the fence and then I sprinted forward. My body knew on its own when it was time to start the jump. I felt my knees soften and my feet lift up off the ground.

  I cleared the fence easily, every time I made a big jump it got easier and easier. Once I was on the other side I turned back to watch Zander and Oscar help lift Drew over. He had to balance until he could get both feet up onto the fence. Each of his shoes were placed in one of the gaps between the spikes. He finally got both feet up there and then jumped down onto the grass.

  “Ready?” he asked.

  I nodded and then glanced back at the rest of the group. “You guys be careful.” I met my Grandfather’s eyes and smiled. He nodded acknowledgment and offered me a small smile in return.

  Everyone we left behind the fence waited in front of the vehicles as Drew and I made our way across the crunchy, dead lawn and up to the house.

  The mansion loomed before us. Even though it was painted white, it appeared dark and intimidating. We cautiously ascended the wide stone steps between the pillars, making our way to the massive front door. Drew had his gun out already, while I kept my hand near my holster, ready to draw if anything happened.

  I kept darting my eyes back and forth, looking for anything that might be a threat, but the house remained silent. No movement or noise came from inside or anywhere around us.

  Anthony knew we were coming, so I sort of expected him to be waiting for us at the front door … or something.

  Finally, we stood in front of the door and the only thing left to do was to ring the bell or just open it and go inside. I decided against the latter, since Anthony was supposed to be waiting for us. After casting a quick glance at Drew, who raised his eyebrows in question, I raised my finger and poked the little button for the doorbell.

  We heard a muted, ding-dong, echo throughout the interior of the house. After waiting a moment and not hearing any movement within, I poised my finger to ring the bell again. The second my fingertip touched the bell, the door was flung open by an unseen force.

  “I assumed you vampire hunters would understand that when the sun is up that is the time a vampire must slumber.”

  “Hello Anthony.” I offered the greeting, though apparently he was grouchy from being woken up. I couldn’t see him, he stood far from the door, away from any rays of sunlight that could possibly touch his skin.

  “Hello, little Hunter. I see your journey into the city has been successful.”

  You think?

  “Yes, we made it. Can you open the gate for the others?” I gestured to where the vehicles were waiting on the street. “We need to get those cars out of sight.”

  “Of course, and please, come inside, away from the heat.” His voice faded as he moved to wherever it was that the controls for the gate were located.

  Before we went inside, we turned and watched the gate roll open, allowing the rest of the group access to the property. Both vehicles drove in and followed the paved driveway around the side of the house. They parked in front of a huge garage that could probably fit five of my Escalades inside.

  “Let’s go.” Drew nudged me toward the threshold.

  “Don’t you want to wait for the others?” I asked.

  “Nah, they will find the way. I’m sweating like crazy, this heat is insane.”

  I led the way into the house. He wasn’t the only one who was covered in sweat. My tank top was pretty much saturated.

  It was a lot cooler inside the house. Once we entered into the foyer, I could feel the blast of cool air from an air conditioner. It felt amazing. I don’t think I’d ever been so uncomfortably hot in my whole life.

  Anthony rounded the corner into the foyer. “Welcome to one of my many homes.” The dark skinned vampire spread his arms wide. “You are welcome to stay for as long as you need or want.”

  Drew practically recoiled in response, but let out a small laugh. “Honestly I hope we don’t have to stay that long. Once the others come inside we can do the introductions and get down to business.”

  “As you wish, little Hunter.” He executed slight bow in a mocking manner.

  I heard the rest of the group on the porch, their footsteps not even attempting to be quiet. I reached over and opened the door before they had a chance to ring the bell.

  “Welcome,” Anthony greeted them.

  Luke was at the head of the group. He rewarded Anthony with a nod and stepped into the house with his hand extended. “Thank you for this hospitality and your willingness with the mission. We are grateful.”

  I flicked a glance at the others. Christina wore a grim expression and had one hand hovering over the handle of her knife. Zander actually had his gun out and resting at his side, but his facial features were more relaxed. That wasn’t unusual for him since he was a more laid back kind of guy.

  Alice’s swords were still crossed at her back, but she could use magic for a weapon if she wanted to, the same went for Gavin. Oscar didn’t have a weapon drawn, but his eyes were moving back and forth, looking for more vampires in the shadows.

  Everyone here had their reasons for being nervous around the undead and not trusting them at all. As far as Anthony went, I think he was far more nervous than any of us were. He was truly the one putting himself in danger by surrounding himself with Vampire Hunter’s and humans with supernatural abilities.

  “It is my pleasure as far as both issues. Now,” he rubbed his hands together, “I have acquired some items for the pantry in anticipation of your arrival.”

  Food! Thank God. Getting a good meal these days wasn’t very easy for those not pledged to the Vampire Council. My mouth watered just thinking about meat.

  “If you will follow me, we can prepare a meal and as the little hunter has suggested, introduce ourselves and get down to business.” He spun around and stepped out of the foyer, into the main house.

  I followed him, with Drew close at my side and the rest of the group tagging along hesitantly. I knew they were uncomfortable, but they were just as hungry as me.

  “This is the sitting room,” Anthony described as we passed through a room with delicate Victorian furnishings. “Anyone play?” he pointed at the piano. “I am a fantastic pianist, however, it is always much nicer to listen to someone else play.”

  No one answered, so apparently none of us knew how.

  “That is a shame.” Anthony shook his head at the lack of answers he received. “And this is one of the restrooms on the main floor if you have the need.”

  We traveled down a short narrow hallway which opened up into a very large dining room with a huge dining table at its center. “This is our formal dining room and where we will be taking our meal shortly.”

  Then, we followed him through a swinging door which led us into the kitchen. “Normally, I would have someone on staff t
o prepare the meal, however, help has been somewhat hard to find lately.” He shot me a pointed glance.

  Dang, I wish people would stop blaming me for the Vampire Apocalypse? I already felt guilty enough without everybody rubbing it in.

  Alice stepped forward and shyly pushed a lock of blonde hair away from her eyes. “I can help with the cooking, if you like.” She was ogling the kitchen, envy bright within her blue eyes. While the appearance was very antique, all the appliances were modern. A large rectangular island took up most of the center of the room, allowing a nice work space that we could all walk around.

  “I’ll help too,” Luke volunteered.

  Anthony’s lips widened into a smile so broad a bit of his fangs were visible. “Fantastic!” Let me show you where everything is kept.”

  The next half an hour or so was spent with prep work. Alice and Luke put everyone to work doing small things like chopping, peeling and washing. The whole time, my stomach grumbled. We were active people. With all the training and physical work, we all needed to eat more to keep up our energy. I was freaking starving.

  While we were helping with the food, I introduced the group to Anthony. He appeared to genuinely appreciate meeting them, while at the same time, my friends were more apprehensive about buddying up with a vampire. Christina even went so far as to say, “This better be legit, bloodsucker.”

  Most of us were used to her blunt comments, but still, I felt my face flush with embarrassment. “Christina, he has invited us into his home. Keep it to yourself, all right.” She responded with an indignant look in my direction.

  By the time everyone was seated around the dining room table, I was practically drooling. I could not have been happier when Alice entered the room carrying a tray with the best looking pot roast I had ever seen in my life. Everyone had already brought in all the side dishes. We had a giant bowl of mashed potatoes, massive amounts of corn on the cob, green beans, and a huge bowl of green salad.

  Anthony had gone about setting the table while we were prepping the meal, so there were five tall candles lining the center surrounded by all the food. He had even used some really nice dishes which included two plates and two forks.

  Anthony sat at the head of the table, with me directly to his left and Luke to his right. “Now,” he began, “we can enjoy this wonderful meal that everyone has helped to prepare.” Everyone took that as the signal and began serving themselves.

  Once we had all eaten enough that we could possibly speak over our chewing, it was time to discuss things. Anthony took initiative and got us started. “I am assuming you will want to begin the hunt for Korina as soon as possible.”

  Luke nodded. “You assume correctly. The sooner we can end this, the sooner society can begin to rebuild.”

  Drew finished chewing a bite of pot roast and stabbed another one. “If we can get one bloodline eradicated, that only leaves Pavlos and yours, which means far less vampires to deal with than we have now.”

  “I have a few ideas on where she might be.” He had eaten his meat and then resorted to pushing his mashed potatoes around on his plate. “I feel the need to inform you, however,” he paused, “New Orleans is a city owned by its people and they aren’t going down without a fight. There is a resistance.”

  Christina tilted her head, “You mean the survivors?”

  “Indeed.”

  Luke leaned back in his chair, “and what do you mean by resistance?”

  Anthony met Luke’s eyes as he continued. “The survivors are gathering together, preparing to battle the vampires for New Orleans. As far as I know, there are no other Hunter’s in the area who have yet found the resistance. I’m thinking that these survivors may be of some use to you.”

  My plate was empty, so I pushed it a bit further away from myself. “If you know of the survivors and the resistance, then surely the Vampire Council knows about them too.”

  “Yes,” Anthony agreed. “Most likely they have discovered these survivors by now. I do not think it will be much longer before the vampires move against them.”

  I looked over at Drew and then Luke before speaking up. “I don’t want to use these innocent people as decoys just so we have a better chance of accomplishing our mission.”

  Drew placed his hand on my leg. “I don’t think that is what he meant.”

  “I don’t care, that is what we would be doing if we ask them to help us.”

  “But, the resistance is about getting rid of the vampires, so I think that helping us is what they would want to do,” Drew countered.

  “I agree with Drew,” Luke said in a low voice.

  Gavin, who was working on his third corn cob, added, “Me too.”

  Of course they all thought we should do this, like we didn’t put enough innocent people in danger lately. I exhaled a long breath. “What about the rest of you. Do you all want to find the survivors?”

  I was quickly out voted. Everyone nodded their heads and voiced their agreement in favor of Drew and Luke. “All right, I’m with you guys then. But, no one fights who doesn’t want to.”

  Luke narrowed his eyes, “Chloe, you should know that we would never make anyone do something they didn’t agree to. Let’s find them first, and then we can see where it goes from there.”

  I accepted the fact that it was going to happen. I wasn’t happy about it, but I asked anyway, “Should we go out tonight?”

  It was Anthony, not Luke or Drew. “Yes, we can’t waste any more time. Each day that passes the conditions get worse and worse.”

  I frowned. “What are the conditions like?”

  Anthony leaned back in his chair. “In expectation of your arrival, I have done a bit of reconnaissance throughout the area and discovered quite a few interesting facts.” He paused and there was a stagnant silence as everyone waited for him to let us know what we were going into.

  “First of all, the soldiers are thick here in New Orleans. The most obvious reason for this is that even before the Vampire Apocalypse, the city was full of people who were obsessed with the undead, thought they were a vampire, or were simply into the dark and mysterious. These humans found it far more fascinating and … well, safer to join up with the council rather than have to fight for their lives every day.”

  Dang. People were flocking to join up with the vampires here, that was encouraging.

  “The survivors are congregating in the French Quarter. Thus far, I have only been able to locate them going into the LaLaurie Mansion and the pirate bar.”

  Christina rolled her eyes. “Well they aren’t being very secretive are they?”

  “No. No, they are not. I was able to spot the humans without seeking them out. It is safe to assume that the Vampire Council will have been watching them for some time now. They are probably waiting for the survivors to get their numbers up before they pursue and attack.”

  I nodded, understanding what he was saying. “The more survivors gathered, the bigger the massacre.”

  “Precisely,” Anthony agreed.

  Luke drew in a deep breath. “All right. This gives us a good idea of where to look for the survivors, anyway. What are your ideas as to where Korina might be?”

  “Yes, of course, Korina. She is not active with the Vampire Council, well not that I know of anyway. I investigated her plantation home and there was no sign of her having been there. I found two of her pathetic minions and asked of her whereabouts, either they truly did not know or they lied, however they both insisted that they did not know.”

  “Dammit!” Christina slammed her fist into the table. “They’re going to tell her that we’re looking for her.”

  Anthony dismissed her with a small wave of his hand. “Truly, I’m wounded, do you honestly think me dense enough to let them live? I took care of them accordingly. Although, finding them leads us to the assumption that she is, indeed, in New Orleans.”

  I tilted my head back and closed my eyes, taking in the information. “So, we are still left having to hunt her down.” I sighed
with exhaustion. I was so ready for a nap.

  “Yes, little Hunter, but that is what you do so well.” I caught the flash of Anthony’s grin as I tilted my head back up. “However, I am here to assist you, which should ease the difficulty of that particular task.”

  Another wave of exhaustion washed over me and I yawned, stretching out my arms. “I need to get some sleep before we head out tonight.”

  Anthony pushed his chair out and stood, “of course, let me show you to your rooms. They might be a little dusty, but the beds are still comfortable.” He gathered his silverware onto his plate and picked it up. We all followed suit, clearing the table and putting the food away. Then, Anthony led us all upstairs to show us our rooms.

  ***

  The burgundy comforter fluffed up around me like I was laying on top of a cloud. I couldn’t sleep, which was strange for two reasons. One, I was exhausted and two, over time I had learned to sleep whenever I could.

  It was the thoughts of possibly being able to end a vampire bloodline that kept me awake. Would it really help? Could we take back society with the one task alone?

  There was a light knock on my door and then it opened a crack. “Chloe, you awake?”

  I lifted my head off the pile of pillows and looked up at the sound of Drew’s voice. “Yeah, I’m awake. I can’t sleep.”

  He slipped inside and shut the door softly behind him. I turned on my side and patted the bed, inviting him to lay down beside me.

  “Maybe you would get more sleep if you actually tried taking your clothes off and getting under the covers.”

  I smiled. “Oh look at you, trying to get me out of my clothes.”

  He rolled his eyes and shook his head. “You know that is not what I meant?” He slid onto the comforter next to me and wrapped his right arm around me. “Seriously though, you even have your shoes on.”

  “I can’t help it. I’m not comfortable here.”