Vampires Not Invited: A Night Tracker Novel

by Cheyenne McCray

  “We will use it to our advantage.” Tobath seemed to expand in size, like Kali did when her hair rose on end right before she attacked an unseen foe. “Being in control of the serum protects us, you worthless hundoff.”

  “From what?” Negel raised his hands at his sides. “We as a race have been fine for millennia after millennia.”

  I winced at the brazen way the little Sprite was talking with the self-appointed leader. This was not going to go well for Negel. I’d have to show myself soon, before Negel managed to get himself killed.

  Negel appeared to know he was getting nowhere with Tobath and he turned to plead his case to the other Sprites. “Do you understand what this means to all of us, our families, our paranorm world? We have to turn it in,” Negel continued without pause, but a murmur of voices from other Sprites started traveling around the chamber. “The Trackers will take us down or the Vampires will. We cannot win.”

  Anger on Tobath’s face told me that he sensed Negel was reaching some of the Sprites. Tobath drew one of the swords strapped to his back and raised it. “You smell of a traitor, Negel.”

  He gave a nod to the lieutenant on his right. “Get the hundoff. I will deal with him.”

  “This is a mistake,” Negel said as two male Sprites grabbed Negel by his arms and dragged him closer to Tobath. “A huge mistake. You can’t let this happen.”

  My cue.

  “Stop.” I had my hand on my buckler as I stepped out of the depression in the wall. “You’re surrounded by Trackers. You can’t escape.” I said my words with slow deliberation. “We didn’t come to hurt anyone and we don’t want a fight. We came for the serum and the antiserum. You will give it to us.”

  Tobath looked like he might explode with rage. “Traitor, you led the Trackers here,” he shouted as he brought his sword down on Negel.

  I flung my buckler. It reached Tobath’s sword before the blade could sever Negel’s head from his neck.

  Tobath’s sword was jerked from his hand by the force I’d put in throwing the buckler.

  A stunned look crossed the large Sprite’s face as his sword clattered across the stone floor of the chamber.

  The buckler returned to my hand and I replaced it at the front of my belt in a fast movement. “Where are the serum and antiserum?” I asked even though I was sure it was in the shoebox near his feet.

  “It’s there!” A high-pitched voice shouted from the back of the room. “The red box. Don’t kill us, please.”

  “Grab him.” Tobath pointed at the Sprite who had spoken up. “He is a traitor, too.”

  Then Tobath bared his pointed yellow teeth and drew his other sword. “Get the Tracker,” he said to the lieutenant on his left. “I will take care of this one.”

  Tobath stared at Negel who started struggling to get away from the two Sprites holding him.

  The lieutenant looked at Tobath. Looked at Negel. Looked at Tobath again.

  “Now,” Tobath said in a roar as he glared at the lieutenant.

  The lieutenant stepped forward and raised his sword.

  And swung it at Tobath.

  Tobath’s ugly gray face froze into an expression of complete shock.

  Blood splattered Sprites and the chamber.

  Tobath’s head rolled across the floor.

  His body crumpled forward, landing on his second sword.

  The chamber went completely quiet.

  My own surprise at Tobath’s execution caused me to hesitate just as I started to walk away from the wall.

  At the same time my senses went on full alert. Something beyond Tobath’s execution was desperately wrong. I felt a presence … something that didn’t belong.

  “Negel should be our leader.” The lieutenant who’d slain Tobath straightened and swept his gaze around the room. “He speaks sense. I do not wish this terrible serum to be unleashed on any paranorm. It would mean our deaths as well. Our people are not evil.”

  Murmurs started in the chamber like an ocean wave, then shouts echoed in the chamber like the wave crashing, followed by cheers that rose up into an almost deafening crescendo.

  “Negel,” they started to chant over and over. “Negel should lead us.”

  I looked around me, trying to see what was bothering my senses so much, while I still tried to keep track of what was going on with Negel.

  The two Sprites holding Negel stepped away from him and Negel let his arms fall to his sides as he looked around the chamber.

  For a moment confusion was on Negel’s face as he stared at the Sprites cheering for him. Then he straightened and he wore an expression that showed a strength and bearing I would never have guessed Negel possessed. He actually wasn’t bad-looking for a Sprite.

  The room quieted when Negel raised his hands in a motion that meant he wanted to speak.

  “We are a brotherhood.” Negel cleared his throat. “Sprites have never had a leader and we do not need one now.”

  “But you will have a leader.” A deep male voice rang out and I jerked my head in the direction it came from.

  Volod.

  He smiled and his fangs glinted in the dim lighting. “And that leader will be me.”

  FOURTEEN

  “Not only will I be your leader, but I will be so much more.” Volod casually walked across the chamber from one of the entrances.

  Icy prickles erupted all over my skin. I couldn’t believe I hadn’t known it was Volod who had set off my senses. Immediately I drew a glamour around myself, hoping the Master Vampire hadn’t noticed me. If I was lucky, he hadn’t been there long enough to have seen me earlier.

  Maybe all the nooks and crannies impaired my ability. More so, the fact that they’re dead. It’s easy to sense the living. It’s not so easy to get a read on the dead.

  “It is simple.” The Master Vampire’s smile was disarming, charismatic. He had an expression of confidence, like a man who knew his orders would be carried out without question. “With the serum I will control everything. I will easily control every paranorm being that exists.”

  My heart thudded as I stared at Volod. The Vampire’s presence almost overpowered the room. His expression was one of confident arrogance.

  As Volod strode toward Negel and the box, power rippled not only from his presence but from his bearing. The flex of his muscles through his snug polo shirt, the broadness of his shoulders, his athletic build.

  Volod came within twenty feet of Negel before he stopped, but didn’t seem to see the beheaded Tobath who was blocked by some of the other Sprites.

  “You Sprites wanted to be a part of my reign. You started your service strong to me. I wanted to make sure Sprites were held above other paranorm beings, but I didn’t like that you chose to hold back a prize.”

  “None of our brotherhood wants to be under your rule anyway.” Negel’s expression was firm, his big eyes hooded. “We will not bow to you.”

  The Vampire shrugged. “It makes no difference what you say or believe at this point. What matters is that we have the documentation, the formula, and now you will hand me the serum.”

  How did Volod know about the serum? Supposedly Ecknep had only alluded to the fact that something was held back from the Vampires.

  Not only did we have a Master Vampire to deal with, but we had an incredibly charismatic evil Vampire who could easily take in those around him without having to put much effort into it.

  So not good.

  I sensed Joshua as shadow beside me and I wondered where my other team members were. How had Volod made it in here without my team getting word to me? There had to be Vampires at the entrances that my team members were having to deal with or they would be here.

  Vampires began walking into the chamber through the exits to the right and left of me.

  I caught my breath.

  Two. Six. Nine. Thirteen. Seventeen. Twenty-three. Twenty-nine. Thirty-three.

  Thirty-four Vampires, including Volod.

  Now that I had focused on the dead I could sense all o
f the Vampires in the chamber. Could feel the undead like falling into a crude oil slick and being coated with oily filth.

  My mind raced. All of these years had passed … well over a hundred Earth Otherworld years … and it was thought the Vampires had lost the desire for power.

  Apparently not.

  As a group of beings we had become complacent and had taken the Vampires’ defeat to mean we didn’t have to deal with them anymore. Volod was proving that wrong. Oh, so wrong.

  I swept my gaze across the room, taking in each Vampire male and female. I didn’t doubt that we had an incredible fight on our hands.

  We weren’t even sure what we were up against. What powers did the Vampires still have that we thought were gone with the Master Vampires who had been destroyed? A hundred-plus years might seem like a lot to those who lived in the Earth Otherworld, but to beings from my Otherworld, that amount of time was nothing. Not even a drop of water.

  Whatever the case, I had a feeling we needed more backup than we’d originally thought. I touched the cell phone on my weapons belt and without looking, pressed the speed dial number for Rodán.

  Nothing. I sensed nothing.

  No signal in the sewers.

  No additional backup at hand.

  I gathered my elements to me. This time I’d be ready for Volod. I had plenty of air; I could control and use water from nearby water mains; fire from the torches around the room was at my bidding; and perhaps most importantly of all, I had no shortage of earth at hand. I also had the element of surprise because Volod thought I had died when he threw me out his penthouse window. At least I hoped he wasn’t aware of my presence.

  For the most part, the Vampires didn’t wear black like in human movies. These Vampires wore anything from jeans to slacks to dress suits, gowns, and tuxedos. In Volod’s case he wore black Dockers and a polo shirt like he had the time I’d seen him at the Paranorm Center. I had the weird image of Volod playing a nighttime game of polo and had to mentally shake it out of my head.

  “How did you find us?” one of the lieutenants shouted as he drew out a dagger. “This location is not on the list of known brotherhood meeting places.”

  A bored expression crossed Volod’s face. “I have no time for interruptions.”

  Volod held out his hand. Invisible power slammed into the Sprite. He was flung backward so hard, so fast that when he struck the wall his head exploded. Blood splattered Sprites nearby. Murmurs and shouts of fear erupted in the large chamber.

  “I will answer your question.” Volod spoke as if he hadn’t just murdered the Sprite whose lifeless body he was staring at. Volod looked over his shoulder, gave a brief nod, before returning his gaze to the chamber. “It was extremely easy to find you.”

  From behind Volod two Vampires dragged in a bloody heap of rags. Make that thirty-six Vampires now. Not very good odds at all if my team didn’t get here. They must have faced some opposition outside. I couldn’t think of another reason why my team wasn’t already in here.

  The two new Vampires raised the pile of rags and I swallowed when I saw it wasn’t a bunch of rags at all.

  “It is Ordox,” one of the Sprites shouted, and sounds of fear and horror moved through the room.

  I clenched the hilt of one of my dragon-clawed daggers tight as I slowly recognized the Sprite. Yes, the bloody being was Ordox, the same Sprite whose nose I’d broken just a couple of nights ago at the Statue of Liberty.

  Ordox’s eyes were swollen shut, which was a feat considering how huge and bulbous Sprites’ eyes are. His thick lips were split, his nose impossibly flatter than when I’d broken it. Even his tuft of hair was covered with blood.

  “The list that you Sprites obtained for us.” Volod said with a casual smile, “has all of your other locations. All we had to do was search them one by one and then we found this worthless trash who led us to this toilet you call home.”

  Volod’s eyebrows narrowed as he continued. “You Sprites held back from me—the serum and the antiserum. Did you really think I would not find out?”

  The pity I felt for Ordox should have surprised me, but it didn’t. After getting to know Negel in the short amount of time I’d spent with him, it was easy to see Ordox as just another being. Unfortunately, this Sprite was one of those malicious, nasty beings who make his whole race look bad.

  I concentrated on my elemental magic. My powers surged through me and waited for me to set them free. An almost nervous, anxious feeling that made me a little jittery.

  Volod tossed Ordox onto the floor in front of him. The Sprite landed with a thud and moaned, but didn’t move.

  “So you survived.” The Master Vampire looked at me as if bored. “Did you enjoy your flight out of my window?”

  Shock coursed through me. Volod had seen through my glamour. Did my emotions reveal me again?

  “Did you not think I knew you were standing there, Purple One?” He bared his fangs at me. “You thought to hide yourself when I made my presence known. You cannot hide from me.”

  I straightened, reining in my power. “You won’t get the serum.”

  Volod laughed. “You could not defend yourself against two Vampires. What makes you think you could possibly stop us now?”

  “We will.” I clenched my jaws before adding, “You’re not a match for me or the other Trackers.”

  A flash of impatience crossed Volod’s face as he dismissed me and turned to Negel. “The serum, please.”

  “No.” Considering what we had all just witnessed, Negel showed even more strength than I’d ever thought him capable of. It might have been stupidity instead, but I was going with the former. “You will not take it from us.”

  “Get out of here, Volod.” I stepped out from the shadows, gripping my dagger. “Trackers have you surrounded.” A thought that I hoped was true. What if the Vampires had totally disabled my team before getting into the chamber? I had a hard time believing that was possible. “Even if you were to find it, you won’t be able to get the serum past us.”

  “We will take it now,” Volod said in a calm arrogant tone that had me grinding my teeth. “Attempt to stop us and I’ll finish the job I started in my penthouse.”

  The Master Vampire made it clear he was ignoring me, that he found me a mere nuisance. He raised his hand, his palm facing Negel.

  My heart raced and blood pounded in my veins.

  I shot my power through the earth with all the elemental strength I had.

  The floor of the chamber bucked beneath Volod’s feet.

  Shouts echoed in the room as dirt began raining from the chamber’s ceiling coating everyone there.

  The Master Vampire stumbled backward.

  My earth element gripped me as if I was encased in it while the element strained for me to set it free.

  I did.

  The room bucked harder. More screams. More yells. More dirt falling from the ceiling and sliding down the wall.

  The other Vampires struggled to stay on their feet.

  Volod turned his scowl on me just as I used my earth element to open a fissure where he stood.

  He shouted as he dropped.

  At my command an entire wall slid and pounded down on Volod, burying him in the huge crack in the chamber’s dirt and rock floor.

  “It is she who caused this to happen.” Danut’s voice came from my right. “That blue-haired bitch violated one of our sanctuaries.”

  I cut my gaze to him to see him raise his hand, his palm facing me. I had just enough time to throw up an air shield to block the power he shot toward me.

  Danut’s own power rebounded and slammed into him. He fell on the chamber floor and skidded across it before hitting his back against a wall.

  Vampires descended on me, their mouths opened in fierce grimaces showing their brutal fangs.

  Adrenaline rushed through me, feeding my power over the elements.

  But I didn’t know if it would be enough to fend off the nine Vampires charging me.

  Where w
as my team?

  I drew both of my dragon-clawed daggers. I felt the dangerous white flash in my eyes.

  With a warrior yell, I charged the closest Vampire, catching him off guard. One stroke made a clean slice across his throat, severing his head from his neck.

  I rammed my other dagger through the heart of a second Vampire.

  More Vampires came at me. Blood pounded in my ears.

  I called to my fire element and a wall of fire tore from the torches to either side of me and engulfed three Vampires. Unfortunately, fire won’t kill Vampires. Their tissue regenerates within minutes. Take their heads or hearts—that’s the only way to get rid of Vampires.

  Angel’s shout cut across the mayhem.

  Reinforcements. Finally.

  From my side vision I saw Angel wrap her barbed whip around a Vampire’s neck. She jerked her whip and blood spurted from the Vampire as she yanked his head from his shoulders.

  Olivia crouched behind a boulder and each of the shots from her Sig rang off the walls. Adam had her back and he was putting bullets into Vampires.

  I had told them what to expect so they were using hollowpoints. One bullet in the heart could take out a Vampire by obliterating the organ. Adam and Olivia were tough, but they also knew they had some human limits. On cases like this they worked as a team, back to back.

  The Werewolf, Ondrej, growled and snarled just before he snapped his jaws on a Vampire’s neck. With a ferocious jerk of his muzzle, Ondrej ripped out the Vamp’s throat. The Vampire started healing at once. It was going to take more than a sore throat to bring a Vampire down. Ondrej never paused. He flung his body forward and drove the Vampire to the ground.

  Joshua bellowed and swung his flail at another Vampire. The Vamp moved in a flash, just before his head could be smashed against a wall. Drago. The Vampire’s eyes flashed with green flame as he dove for Joshua.

  I started to go after Drago and help Joshua, but another Vampire came after me and I had to behead her.

  Lawan gave a battle cry as she raised her Krabi, a sword from Thailand, her native country. Just as she swung, the Vampire she attacked shot a burst of power at her and knocked her onto the floor.