“What about the human guards?” Kathryn interjected.
Nicholas gave her a blank look, as if he wasn’t used to counting the humans as part of the threat. Which he probably wasn’t. Lucas’s earlier demonstration had stung—in more ways than one—but it had driven home very explicitly just how outclassed humans would be against even a small force of vampires.
“You said the mob guy would have his own guards?”
A look of comprehension crossed Nick’s face, and he nodded. “I expect no more than seven humans, including McKinney.”
Kathryn nodded. At least some of the human guards would probably remain outside to keep an eye on the gate, because they wouldn’t trust the vamps to do it for them. So, they’d be her first targets when Lucas gave the word. She frowned. What was the word anyway? She drew a breath to ask, but listened instead as Lucas began to detail the attack plan for the night.
“There are only two main entries,” he began, “so we’ll go in front and back. You’ll take out the gate guards first, Nick, but I don’t want them dead. I don’t want Klemens to know exactly what we’re doing until we hit the house. Once we’re through the gate, we’ll have a small roving force around the house, but most of you will concentrate on the two major points of entry. You take one, and let Zelma take the other. As soon as you’re set, I’ll start projecting, and you hit the doors. I’ll handle Klemens and whoever tries to block my path. The rest is up to you.”
“Sire,” Nicholas acknowledged with a sharp nod. “I’ll tell the others.”
Lucas nodded his permission, and Nicholas made his way down the aisle and began conferring with the rest of the vampire force.
“What did you mean, when you said you’d ‘start projecting’?” Kathryn asked.
Lucas had been studying the house schematic, but now he looked up at her with a smile that melted her heart. She wanted to resist him, but her face seemed to have a will of its own. She smiled back at him.
He took her hand, playing idly with her fingers as he answered her question. “Vampire lords have unusual talents, some of which are unique to the individual. One of my most useful talents is the ability to connect with other vampires on what I think of as a visceral level. It’s not telepathy—it’s both more and less than that. For example, in battle, I can share my far greater strength with my warriors, boosting them both physically and psychologically. But the other side of this particular talent is that I can also drain away the strength and courage of my enemies, can make them believe their worst nightmare is upon them.”
“Are there limits?” Kathryn asked, somewhat amazed by what she was hearing. “I mean, why do you need any warriors at all? Why not just zap Klemens and his troops from the get-go?”
“Because Klemens is also a vampire lord. And once he realizes what I’m doing, he’ll eventually be able to block me from affecting his people. That will take time—not much time, no more than a few minutes—but it will be enough to give us a head start, because Klemens won’t be able to block the initial assault, and the shock effect will be considerable. Especially for the newer or weaker among his vampires. They will be hit harder and recover more slowly, leaving them vulnerable when we crash the house.
“But, in the end, it will come down to a brutal, bloody war of vampire on vampire. At least until I destroy Klemens.”
Kathryn gave him a worried look. “But you can do that, right? I mean, you’re stronger than he is.”
Lucas shrugged. “Obviously, I believe I can. I’m not suicidal. Why? Are you worried about me?”
She was worried about him. But she wasn’t going to admit it. Wasn’t going to admit that he was important to her, that maybe she cared more about him than was healthy . . . for her anyway. Instead, she changed the subject by asking, “What about my brother?”
Lucas frowned, as if he knew she had feelings for him and was irritated that she wouldn’t admit it. But then he couldn’t possibly know that. So maybe it was just his considerable ego wanting to be stroked.
“I told you, Kathryn. I don’t think Klemens has your brother.”
“So you’ve said, but what if he does?”
Lucas sighed. “If he does, he’s probably locked up somewhere. Probably the basement, which is the safest place for him.”
“Make sure Nicholas tells—”
“Nick has already briefed everyone on the possibility. We’re not looking to kill any humans tonight, and certainly not anyone being held prisoner by Klemens.”
He stroked an absent hand over Kathryn’s tightly bound hair, tugging gently on her braid.
“The rifle meets your standards?” he asked.
Kathryn nodded. Nick had managed to round up the rifle and scope she wanted before they left Minneapolis. While Nick and Lucas had gone straight to the airport to confer with the various groups of vampires heading out for the battle, she’d gone to a gun range with the Minneapolis security chief to calibrate the weapon and adjust it to her specific requirements. But she didn’t think Lucas was asking the question because he doubted the weaponry. He was trying to gauge her mood. He was concerned about how she’d react once the killing started. He hadn’t come right out and said anything, but he’d hinted around on the subject all the way to the airport. She would have liked to reassure him, but she still wasn’t certain how she felt about it herself. Nothing about tonight’s engagement was legal, not according to human law. And her job was to represent that law, a job she took very seriously.
“The weapon’s fine,” she assured him. “Your guy had already calibrated it to a hundred yards. I just did some fine-tuning. When I look through that scope, it’ll be like I’m standing right next to you.”
“Well, don’t shoot me.”
Kathryn gave a breathy laugh and nudged his thigh next to hers. “I won’t. I’m very clear about my targets before I pull the trigger.”
“You’ll be warm enough?”
That made her turn her head and smile at him, erasing the somber note that had flavored their interaction since leaving Minneapolis. “I’m wearing two of your long-sleeved T-shirts over my own sweater, plus this nice, warm jacket Nick found for me. The leggings are mine, and they’re winter-weight so perfectly adequate. I’d rather have my tactical boots, but the running shoes and socks are warm enough, and at least they’re black. Do I pass inspection?”
Lucas tugged her braid again, harder this time. “Smart ass. I’m sending Mason with you to the neighbor’s.” She opened her mouth to protest, but he kept talking. “He’s not going to stay. He’ll just get you through the house and set up on the roof. The house is supposed to be empty, but there’s no sense taking chances.”
She nodded, businesslike.
“Try not to shoot any of my guys, okay?”
That was greeted with a sideways scowl. “I told you, the scope is good, and I’m very careful. Besides, according to you, my little gun won’t do much damage to a vampire anyway.”
“Hey, it hurts to get shot, even if it doesn’t kill you.”
“So I’ve heard. I’ll do my best.”
Kathryn started to say more, wanting reassurance in triplicate that her brother wouldn’t be hurt accidentally. But Nicholas rejoined them just as the plane angled left and entered a sweeping turn. She looked out the window and saw the lights of Chicago in the distance.
“Buckle up, Kathryn,” Lucas advised her. “This war is about to start.”
Chapter Eighteen
Chicago, Illinois
When they arrived, theirs was the only jet, hell, the only plane, moving at the small airport. Lucas did a quick survey of the area as he followed several of his warriors down the stairs, then waited as Kathryn descended more carefully, the long rifle case visible over her right shoulder. Mason had tried to carry it for her, but she’d declined firmly. Something about no one touching her weapon. So the big vampire had grabbed a couple of huge duffle bags, pointed out their vehicle and headed off to do his own equipment check.
With Lucas on the grou
nd inside Klemens’s territory, everything was in play and moving fast. He had grabbed Kathryn for a final hard and fast kiss when she reached the tarmac. “You stay up on that roof, until I tell you it’s safe.”
“Yeah, yeah,” she said, already securing her various pieces of gear on her body. “I know the drill.” She stopped suddenly and grabbed the front of his black shirt, which was just like the ones she’d borrowed from him. “Take care, Lucas,” she said, meeting his gaze seriously. “I’ll see you on the other side.”
Lucas frowned. The superstitious Irish street tough he’d once been didn’t like the sound of those final words, even though he knew it had a different meaning in the modern context. He watched her run toward the waiting SUV, watched Mason slam the cargo hatch, then climb into the driver’s seat. Lucas tracked the taillights until they disappeared around the main terminal, then followed Nick to his own SUV and the many vampires waiting for his command.
The minute Lucas had landed in Chicago, Klemens had known he was here. He wouldn’t know Lucas’s precise location immediately, only that he’d violated Klemens’s territory. They were counting on the Chicago vampire lord’s reaction being stalled somewhat by the presence of his human guest. The mob boss was too egotistical and too important to Klemens’s operations to dismiss lightly, which meant Klemens would have to disengage diplomatically, and that would take time. Even if he sacrificed the mob boss and broke away quickly, it would still be a few minutes before he realized that Lucas was literally coming through his front gate.
As they raced down the midnight streets of Chicago, Nick kept up a steady murmur of conversation, checking in with the troops already in place around Klemens’s compound—close enough to keep watch on who came and went, but not so close that their presence would trigger any of Klemens’s own security. War craft was much easier in this technological age than it had been when Lucas first started out with Raphael. Not that they’d had to fight that many wars on this side of the Atlantic, not once the North American vampire community got a taste of what Raphael could do. There hadn’t been that many vampires on this continent then, and those were mostly concentrated along the Atlantic corridor. But early on, Raphael had made it clear that his interest lay in the far West. As long as the vampires whose lands they passed through left him alone, he left them alone, too.
Lucas still thought sometimes about how much easier his life back then would have been with a good pair of binoculars, and maybe a motion sensor or two.
He looked up as the SUV slowed, and Klemens’s monstrosity of a house came into view. It looked more like an asylum than a home, but the Chicago vampire lord probably liked it that way.
“Sire.”
Lucas turned to Nick. “Everything set?”
“The gate guards are down, and the entry teams are in place.”
“The human, McKinney?”
“Still inside, my lord. One of his bodyguards was with Klemens’s gate guards, and there’s an empty SUV with the door open on the street. I’m guessing the human guard was supposed to remain with the vehicle.”
“Is the human dead?”
Nick nodded.
Lucas was glad Kathryn wasn’t there to debate the issue. He took a moment to search out every one of his vampires, reaffirming their connection to him, offering strength and courage, as well as verifying their positions around the estate.
“Let’s do this, Nick.”
* * * *
Kathryn settled into position, making sure everything she needed was within reach. She and Mason had broken speed limits all the way across town, getting here in what had to be some sort of record. Once on the scene, they’d set another record, making it into and through the house so quickly that she was sure someone had scouted it out ahead of time. The door they’d entered through had been unlocked, and once inside, he’d shown no hesitation. He’d known exactly where to go and had literally carried her up the stairs, simply slinging an arm around her waist and moving. It had been exhilarating and terrifying all at once. Getting to the roof hadn’t proved a problem either, since she’d already decided she wasn’t going to work from there. One look at the steeply pitched roof as they’d pulled in behind the house, and she’d known it wouldn’t work. The only place she could have set up securely on a pitch like that would have been the peak, and that wouldn’t have given her a good line of sight on Klemens’s house next door. So, she’d shooed Mason on his way, then set up in one of the third-story bedrooms instead. It was very nearly as high off the ground as the rooftop, and from the window, she had a nearly 180 degree view of Klemens’s estate. She could see any movement along the front and back walls, as well as the side nearest her position.
The window was one of the older double-hung kind that operated on a pulley system to open straight upward. With the window wide open, she had arranged her sandbags on the broad sill, then set up a Sig SSG 3000, which was nearly identical to the one she used back at Quantico. Setting the rifle carefully on a table she’d pulled over near the window, she lifted her binoculars and swept the scene in night vision mode. Lucas hadn’t arrived yet, but the advance team vampires were on the move, taking up positions all around the house.
Raising her field, she checked out the building itself with the night vision off. There were a few lights inside, mostly concentrated on the second floor, a corner room on her side of the building. The curtains were drawn, but the occasional shadow of movement could be seen along the edge of one window. And that was it.
She heard the roar of multiple engines and shifted her gaze just in time to see several big, black SUVs tear around the corner and come to a tire squealing stop in front of the wrought iron gate. Kathryn had a bad moment, fearing they’d been discovered, but then the doors popped open, and she recognized several of Lucas’s vampires as they poured through the gate and disappeared into the shadows around Klemens’s huge compound.
She kept watching, her eye on the one SUV whose doors remained closed. The night grew abruptly silent. No truck engines, no quiet commands, not even the sound of traffic from nearby Lake Shore Drive. Suddenly, the doors opened, and Kathryn sucked in a breath as Lucas emerged to stand silently, his gaze sweeping from side-to-side, seeming to catalogue every detail down to the exact location of vampires Kathryn had long ago lost sight of. His head turned slowly, his gaze settling on the window where she sat watching, as if he could see her despite all the precautions she’d taken to remain invisible. He shot her a quick grin, then sobered and turned back to face his enemy.
Lucas started forward, surrounded by his troops, and it was a terrifying sight. They were the warriors of their race, tall and bulky with muscle, their eyes glowing an eerie red, like the pits of hell. They were dressed completely in black combat gear, with not a telltale gleam of metal among them. Their weapons varied, some carrying long, wicked-looking knives, others a variety of guns, and some several of both. And all of them, Lucas included, were fully fanged, the white gleam of their teeth a stark contrast to their uniformly somber garb.
Of them all, only Lucas wore no weapons, not even a simple blade. But he was armed more lethally than any of them. The power he’d told her about, the power of a vampire lord that she’d only half believed in, was made real as he strode toward the house. A wind picked up out of nowhere, quickly escalating from a breeze that rattled the trees and sent dead leaves scurrying to escape his footsteps, to a raging storm that stalked the ground ahead of him, pounding the shutters and doors of Klemens’s mansion, shattering the windows in their frames. The air, which had been so quiet and still only moments before, was now heavy with a sense of doom, as if the night itself understood that a great battle was about to take place.
Lucas strode forward, dressed in the same black combats as his soldiers, his long leather coat blowing behind him like a cape as the storm of his power spun before him. His black hair was slicked back from his handsome face, and his eyes burned the purest gold, casting a brilliant light on the path he cut across the manicured lawn, a beacon
guiding his vampires onward. Kathryn shivered, and not from the cold.
Lucas was several yards from the porch when the door opened, only to be quickly torn from the hand of the man who stood there, bracing himself desperately against the storm of Lucas’s power. A piercing white light smeared the frosted yard, giving it a dull, silver cast, and silhouetting two humans. Kathryn immediately dropped the binocs onto the pad of blankets she’d scavenged and placed her eye to the rifle scope.
She centered on Lucas, then moved carefully toward the doorway, marking the two men, first one, then the other. The humans had gone old-school, each carrying an Uzi sub-machine gun, held gangster-style at the hip, with an automatic 9mm sidearm in the other hand. She assumed these were the mob boss McKinney’s bodyguards, since Lucas had indicated they’d be the only humans in the house.
One of the two took an aggressive step out onto the front porch, his hair and clothes blowing wildly as he shouted something that the wind tore from his mouth and tossed away. Lucas and his vampires kept coming, as if the man didn’t exist. Kathryn swore silently and placed her crosshairs on the foolish human. Lucas might be nearly immortal, but only nearly. And she didn’t care what he’d said about bullets not taking down vampires. Enough bullets could do a lot of damage, and if that guard turned his Uzi on Lucas, it would tear him apart. She sank into her sniper space, her mind and sight riveted to the events unfolding far below, every detail as clear as if she stood two feet away. Her entire world became the small circle of space revealed by her scope. She saw the guard’s arm tense as he lifted the gun fractionally, saw him snug the weapon closer to his hip to stabilize it, saw his finger twitch.
She blew out a breath, began her slow squeeze of the trigger . . . and froze as her target disappeared. Moving so fast they’d been nothing but a dark blur across the face of her scope, Lucas’s vampires had taken the two human guards down. One moment the two men were getting ready to fire, and the next the doorway was empty, and there were two bodies lying in a huddle on the cold ground. She swallowed hard as one of Lucas’s vampires dragged a body up off the ground and sank his teeth into the man’s throat, drinking deeply before tossing him aside. She brought up the binocs and took a look. The man was on his back, his head at an unnatural angle, his throat torn out. If he hadn’t been dead before, he was now, and she wasn’t sure how she felt about that. The human was a gangster and probably a killer, but . . .
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