Delanie's Fury (Vampire Huntress Saga Book 3)

by Christina Escue

  “Now,” Karma said as she sprang from the bushes and had two of the others killed before Gina and Sally cleared their hiding place.

  Letting one of her knives fly, Sally took out one of the others before she reached the fight, and Gina took out a fourth quickly.

  The remaining two tried to sprint to the vans, but Karma was on them before they made it.

  “Going somewhere, boys?” Karma asked as she flipped one of her Sai casually.

  “Fuck,” the largest said and took a step back.

  “Not today,” Karma responded and let her Sai fly. When she heard it rip through his chest and embed into his heart, she grinned.

  “Don’t kill me,” the last one yelped when he noticed he was surrounded.

  “Why should we let you live?” Karma asked.

  “Because I can tell you where the boy is,” he said quickly and Sally grinned.

  “Good,” Karma responded and nodded to Gina. “Bind him while I call the others.”

  While Gina bound his hands in silver, Karma called Dylan.

  “Everything okay?” Dylan asked.

  “We had company,” Karma answered. “A dozen vampire showed up. The traps took out half of them, and we managed five of the others without a problem.”

  “And the last one?” He asked, slightly worried.

  “We are bringing him in,” Karma answered. “I’ll call Baxter and tell him we need a clean-up here, then be on my way after I check with the hotel manager.”

  “Be careful,” he told her and sighed.

  “I’m always careful,” she responded and grinned at his soft growl. “I love you.”

  “I love you, too,” Dylan responded and ended the call.

  “What’s going on?” Delanie asked as she walked into the kitchen.

  “A dozen vampire showed up,” Dylan told them all. “They took out eleven and bringing the last in for questioning.”

  “Then let’s get ready to question him,” Delanie said and walked from the room with a cup of coffee in her hands.

  “Think she’s ready for this?” Dylan asked Nevaeh once Delanie was gone.

  “I don’t know,” she answered. “But, giving her feelings for Jackson, I think we should let her have first go at it.”

  “I agree,” Harrison said and looked at his son.

  “I’ll let Karma know,” Dylan said and walked from the room.

  Chapter Seven

  “No way in hell you’re my Father,” Jackson told the man in front of him.

  “I am,” he responded. “My name is Jack Murray, and I married your Mother twenty-two years ago. Your brother, Dylan, had just turned two when your Mother, Mary, and I met. We married within a year and you were in her belly a few short weeks later.”

  “You could have found their names anywhere,” Jackson spat out, but he had a very bad feeling everything this horrid man spoke was the truth.

  “I could have,” Jack agreed. “But I didn’t. I was there the night you were born, and I was happier than I’d even been to have a son. You were the pride in my life, the joy I thought I’d never have after the life I’d led.”

  “Then why did you cheat on Mom?”

  “Oh, your Mother was the first to cheat,” he remarked softly. “She swears she didn’t, but I know she always loved Dylan’s Father and when I caught them together, she swore they were only talking, but I knew better. That’s when I started volunteering to travel for work. Then I met Bianca.”

  “My Mother,” Caia whispered from her cell.

  “Oh, good, you’re awake for the fun part of the story,” Jack said and looked at his daughter.

  “She said you were dead,” Caia said as she looked at her Father.

  “She thought I was,” he replied and shrugged. “She thought wrong.”

  “You abandoned us like you abandoned Jackson all those years ago,” Caia yelled at him.

  “Yes, well, I had my reasons,” he told her nonchalantly. “Now, if you’ll be quiet, I’ll tell you the rest of the story.”

  “Burn in hell,” Caia spat as she got to her feet and walked to the bars separating hers and Jackson’s cells.

  “Someday,” he said with a shrug. As he watched Jackson walk to Caia, he grinned. “It’s nice seeing you two together at last.”

  “Get on with your story,” Jackson said, wanting nothing more than to choke the life out of the man who fathered him.

  “Yes,” Jack said and started pacing in front of the cells his children were in. “When I met Bianca, I finally saw a way to get revenge on Mary. Then the little whore got pregnant.”

  “My Mother is not a whore,” Caia told him through clenched teeth.

  “Oh, but she was,” Jack responded. “When I met her, she was selling herself for the price of her next hit. When she got pregnant, I got her into rehab. Once she was clean, I found her a small apartment, and had everything set up so I’d be able to take you whenever I wanted. Then Dylan had to go and fuck everything up by falling out of that tree. When I discovered what he was, and that Mary had known all along, I knew I couldn’t stay there any longer because the vampire Senate would eventually come looking for him, and the vampire who sired him.”

  “Why are you afraid of the Senate?” Jackson asked.

  “I’m getting to that, my boy,” Jack said and started pacing again. “I left that very night and never looked back. When I got to California, where you and your Mother were, I started making plans to move to the other side of the country to avoid being on the Senate’s radar.”

  “You’re a bastard,” Caia said as tears rolled down her face.

  “Is that any way to talk to your Father?” He asked, shaking his head at her.

  “Fuck you,” Jackson said as he held Caia the best he could through the bars of the cell.

  “Now, now, enough of that,” Jack said as he looked at his children. “To finish my story, I was hiding from the Senate because I had been working for Master Crompton for a few years and didn’t want them to find out. So, after moving to Florida, we started a new life, and I started working full-time for Master Crompton. He pays very well, and I was able to provide a very nice life for you and your Mother.”

  “Why did you fake your death?” Caia asked, remembering the car crash that supposedly killed him. “And who was in that car? Who did we bury?”

  “I have no idea who was in that car,” he responded with a shrug. “Master Crompton needed me for a special project, and I knew the only way your Mother would let me go was if I was dead, so he arranged it and your Mother got a nice insurance settlement from it. Now, let me finish.”

  “Finish,” Jackson snarled. “Then leave us be.”

  “You, dear son of mine, have been hanging around that brother of yours too long,” Jack snapped at him. “To finish my story, after I left Bianca and Caia, I traveled a bit for Master Crompton. He needed me to help with locating and transporting people for his business, so I did it. After a while, he needed more, so I told him of you, Caia. You see, he’s wanting to build a halfling army, and he wanted someone loyal to help him. You, my darling daughter, are going to carry one of his Halfling children.”

  “Like hell she is,” Jackson said softly as he felt tremors course through Caia’s body.

  “Oh, she will,” Jack said and smiled. “And you, dear son of mine, will also join the army. You see, Crompton is not only using you as bait to lure the one he really wants here, but he is also going to turn you. When he does, he will be able to bend you to his will.”

  “I’ll kill myself first,” Jackson told him coldly.

  “You can try, my boy,” Jack responded. “But as soon as you do, Crompton will be here to turn you.”

  “I’ll never bend to his will,” Jackson said, nearly inaudibly.

  “We shall see,” Jack responded before walking to the door. “I shall leave you two to think about all of this, but I will see you soon, my children.”

  With that, he was gone.

  As soon as the door closed behind
him, Jackson and Caia sank to the floor.

  “I will not let him use you for that,” Jackson told her. “And if he turns me, it will be the biggest mistake he could ever make.”

  “I’m scared,” she admitted, nearly silently.

  “I promise you, he will not hurt you,” Jackson told her and stroked her long, blonde hair. “I will die before I let him use you like that.”

  “And what if he turns you and can control you like Dad said?”

  “I’ve never heard of that happening,” Jackson answered. “And if it can, I will just have to figure out a way to fight the compulsion until Karma or Dylan can kill him.”

  “And if you can’t?”

  “Then I’m going to need you to stake me.”

  “I…I can’t do that. You’re my brother,” she stammered and shook her head.

  “If he turns me and can somehow control me, I will no longer be your brother,” he told her and looked into her terrified eyes. “But we don’t need to think about that right now. For now, let’s focus on Karma and Dylan finding us before it comes to that.”

  “Yeah, okay,” she said with a sniff as she wiped the tears from her eyes.

  “Want me to tell you more about growing up with Dylan?” He asked, trying to distract her from what could possibly be the death of them both.

  “Sure,” she said and laid her head against the wall of her cell.

  As he launched into another story of his and Dylan’s childhood, she let her mind wander to her own, and let the memories take over.

  Chapter Eight

  “Delanie, you ready?” Karma asked as she walked into the kitchen of the rental house they were staying in.

  “More than,” Delanie answered with a grin. “Let’s see what he knows.”

  When they walked downstairs into the basement of the house, Delanie looked at the vampire who was bound to the chair with silver and smiled.

  “What’s your name?” She asked, taking in his muscular build.

  “Travis,” he answered without hesitation.

  “Who sent you to the motel?” Delanie asked.

  “I don’t know,” he responded.

  “You’re lying,” Karma said from where she was standing a few feet away.

  “I am not,” he responded. “I said I would tell you what I know, and I will, but I don’t know who sent us to that motel.”

  “He’s lying,” Karma said and shrugged.

  “Why would I lie?” He asked her.

  “I have no idea, but you are,” she told him as she took a seat beside Dylan. “I’ll leave it to Delanie to find out why.”

  “Oh, do I get to test my interrogation skills now?” Delanie asked with a wicked grin.

  “Yep,” Karma responded. “My little bag of tricks is on that table. Have fun.”

  “You may want to rethink your answers before she finds something to play with,” Harrison said with a grin. “Unless, of course, you like pain.”

  “I’m not lying,” Travis said again. “I don’t know who sent us to that motel.”

  “Oh?” Karma asked as she rose to her feet. “Then tell me, why does your heartbeat increase, and your breathing stagger every time you say that?”

  “Because you’re threatening me with torture,” he responded like it was the most obvious answer in the world.

  “And again, he lies,” Karma told the others and shook her head. “If that were the case, they would be like that now, too, but they aren’t. Your scent, your heartbeat, your breathing; they all change when you lie. So, last chance, who sent you to that motel?”

  “Fuck you,” he answered.

  “Yeah, that’s what I thought,” Karma said and grinned at Delanie. “Have fun.”

  “Oh, this is definitely going to be fun,” Delanie commented as she walked back to Travis holding a silver razor blade in one hand and a very thin, silver knife in the other.

  “Silver won’t kill me, bitch,” he told her when he spotted the objects in her hands.

  “Oh, I know,” she responded as she straddled him. “Let’s see what it will do though, shall we?”

  Grinning, she took the razor blade and pressed it against his forearm, nicking the skin a little before sliding it down, taking a layer of skin off with it.

  Travis hissed, but didn’t move as blood came to the surface, and dried almost instantly.

  “That the best you can do, bitch?” He asked as he pulled against the bindings holding him.

  “Oh, I’m just getting started,” she answered, and scraped his arm with the razor blade again.

  This time, she went a little deeper, letting the silver of the blade seep into his blood before scraping the skin off. His hiss was louder, but he still didn’t move, so she scraped over the same spot a third time, pealing the flesh away like one would peel an apple.

  “Burns, doesn’t it?” Harrison asked from where he was sitting.

  “Fuck you,” Travis responded, but they could hear the answer in his voice.

  “Who sent you to the motel?” Delanie asked, again.

  “Burn in hell, bitch,” he responded and Delanie grinned.

  “I see you want to play some more,” she said with a grin as she exchanged the razor blade for the knife. Grinning wider, she slid the knife down his arm, peeling the flesh from the bone.

  “Bitch,” he said through clenched teeth.

  “Still not talking?” She asked.

  “Go to hell,” he responded, but she could tell he was fighting through the pain.

  “Let’s see if this loosens your tongue a little,” she said as she rose and walked back to the bag. When she came back, his eyes locked on the syringe in her hand.

  “What’s that?” He asked, never taking his eyes off the syringe.

  “This is a simple saline solution,” she responded and shrugged. “With silver flakes mixed in.”

  “What the hell will that do?” He asked, not understanding what she was doing.

  “Did you feel the burning sensation of the razor blade and the knife?” She asked, already knowing the answer. When he nodded, she grinned. “Well, you see, when silver mixes with vampire blood, it causes the blood to burn. So, when I inject this into your vein, the silver will mix with your blood and, hopefully, it will feel like your entire body is burning from the inside out.”

  “Do your worst,” he said, sounding braver than he felt.

  “Oh, goodie,” Karma said from where she sat.

  “You’re enjoying this,” Dylan said with a chuckle.

  “We haven’t tried this one yet,” she responded and shrugged before nodding to Delanie to continue.

  “Tell me if it hurts,” Delanie said before plunging the needle into his Femoral artery and pressing the plunger.

  Within seconds, Travis was pulling against the bonds that held him.

  “Oh fuck,” he shouted as the silver coursed through his veins. “Make it stop.”

  “Tell us who sent you to the motel,” Delanie told him.

  “Just make it stop,” he said again.

  “I will, but only after you tell us everything,” she responded.

  “Jack,” he panted as sweat broke out on his forehead. “Jack sent us.”

  “Jack who?” Delanie asked.

  “Murray,” he answered, and Dylan froze.

  “Is he lying?” Dylan asked Karma.

  “I don’t know,” she whispered. “The pain from the silver has his body functions all over the place.”

  “Fuck, make it stop,” Travis yelled again. “Jack Murray, works for Crompton.”

  “Where are they?” Karma asked.

  “Docks,” He answered, nearly breathlessly.

  “Which docks?” Delanie asked.

  “Make it stop,” he pleaded as what felt like hot iron coursed through his veins.

  “Tell me which docks!” Karma demanded.

  “Orlando,” he gasped as his nose started bleeding.

  “I think that’s all we’re getting from him,” Harrison said and f
rowned a little. “It’s more than we had though.”

  “End his suffering,” Nevaeh told Delanie.

  “I’m going to make it stop now,” Delanie told him as she pulled one of her Kunai from its sheath and embedded it in his chest, ending his suffering as well as his life.

  “Dylan, why did you ask if he was lying?” Karma asked, looking at him. He looked a little pale, and she knew it wasn’t from watching what just happened.

  “Jack Murray,” he said and looked at Harrison.

  “Holy fuck,” Harrison said as realization dawned.

  “What?” Nevaeh asked.

  “Jack Murray is Jackson’s Father’s name,” Dylan told them, and they all fell silent.

  Chapter Nine

  “Karma, where are y’all?” Baxter asked when Karma answered her phone.

  “We’ve rented a house,” she responded. “We need to talk to you before we let the entire VEB know where we are though.”

  “Okay, just me or should I bring Jensen, Martin, and Johnson with me?”

  “Those three are fine,” she answered. “But make sure you aren’t followed.”

  “What’s going on?” He asked.

  “We’ll explain when you get here,” she answered and rattled off the address before hanging up.

  “Well?” Dylan asked.

  “He’s bringing Jensen, Martin, and Johnson,” she answered. “I know they can be trusted.”

  “We’ve fought with them from the beginning,” Nevaeh said and looked at her Huntresses.

  “Yes,” Harrison agreed.

  “Do you think the spy is someone we’ve worked with before, or one of the newer agents?” Delanie asked, trying to recall the VEB members she’d met.

  “I would like to think it’s a newer agent, but I can’t help but to remember Fuller. He worked alongside us for months without any of us knowing he was working for Crompton, too. He even had me fooled,” Karma said and looked at the little group of Huntresses with them. “We need to remain alert at all times. Anyone could be a threat.”

  “Yes,” Nevaeh said and looked up at the sound of a car approaching. “That can’t be them already.”