Deathtrap (Crossbreed Series Book 3)

by Dannika Dark

  “If it’s all the same to you, I’d like some privacy. Sit in the hall if you want to play watchman, but I’m going into that study, and I’m going to shut the door and smoke my cigarette. Obviously nobody around here needs my help.”

  Regret flickered in Niko’s blue eyes. “Your contributions are valued.”

  “Viktor’s afraid I’ll flip. I get it. Look, we each have a tattoo that binds us like brothers, and brothers have each other’s backs. Think about that the next time you’re in a tight spot with Viktor and need someone to lean on.”

  He clapped his hand on Niko’s shoulder and walked past him into an empty room. After closing the soundproof door, he struck a match and lit one of the lanterns on the wall. Because there were so many rooms in the mansion, most of them weren’t used. Some were bereft of furniture, and others were storage spaces for antiques that had come with the estate. With the cigarette between his lips, Shepherd swiped his finger across his phone and called Patrick.

  “Give me just a moment,” Patrick answered, putting Shepherd on hold. After a minute, his voice came back on. “I’m sorry for that; I was in a meeting.”

  Shepherd blew out a breath of smoke. “I have a name.”

  “Grand.”

  “It’s Cristo.”

  There was a short pause. “C-r-i-s-t-o?”

  “I didn’t win the spelling bee,” Shepherd retorted. “But here’s the deal: I want him. Give me whatever information you can, and we’ll be square. I need it fast, and I need it now.”

  “If that’s what you desire. I have to make another call.”

  “I’ll be here.”

  Shepherd paced. He wanted to get a jump on this while Wyatt was still preoccupied with the auction fiasco.

  After five minutes, his phone vibrated. “Yeah?”

  “I’ll have what you need this evening. I’m sorry, but that’s the best I can do. I can only go as fast as the men who work for me. Will an address suffice?”

  “So long as it isn’t an apartment on the corner of Morningstar. Dead end.”

  No sense in visiting an apartment blown to pieces. Shepherd needed new information, and chances were this guy owned a second residence. Smart criminals didn’t box themselves in with only one car and one house. Cristo had been doing this long enough that by now he’d learned how to keep his hands clean.

  Patrick’s voice took on a more pleasant cadence. “I can assure you that we’ll have this resolved by the evening. But I want to be clear that the information I give you will absolve me from any further debt owed, regardless of the outcome. Obtaining this information puts me in a precarious situation, so I hope you understand. Otherwise, I’m more than happy to pursue this individual at my own speed.”

  “I’ll wait for your call.”

  “Very well, Mr. Moon.”

  Shepherd stubbed the butt of his cigarette in a marble ashtray. After putting out the lantern, he stepped into the hall and immediately noticed something was off. Hurried footfalls sounded from around the corner, and Niko was nowhere to be seen. Shepherd rounded the corner and caught sight of Blue’s long brown hair flapping behind her like a ribbon in the wind as she ran toward the stairs and disappeared. When he reached Wyatt’s room, he peered inside. The lights were on, a half-eaten MoonPie was on the keyboard, and the laptop displayed an auction room.

  But not a soul remained.

  Chapter 19

  When the rear door to the van swung open, the long-haired Vampire from our previous visit greeted us with a sardonic smile.

  Cristo stood several paces back and looked genuinely stunned that we weren’t incapacitated and bleeding out. The gunshots wouldn’t have killed us, but they would have taken us by surprise. Guns were noisy, required bullets, and not a favorite weapon for most Breed.

  Except in the Bricks, where apparently everyone carried a semiautomatic.

  The Vampire slowly licked his lips, his eyes soaking in the blood on my arm and leg. “I can’t wait to taste that juicy vein.”

  Christian edged in front of me.

  “Watch out for the woman,” Cristo warned. “She’s a mutant.”

  I narrowed my eyes.

  Christian torpedoed out of the van and lunged at the Vampire. Their colossal fistfight made the ground quake. I’d never seen him fight like that. So calculated and swift, each countermove followed by an offensive blow. He elbowed the Vampire in the jaw with enough force that it knocked him out of sight. Who was this guy? Jean-Claude Van Poe?

  Lightning quick, I drew my push dagger and jumped out of the van.

  Someone fired at me, so I flashed to the right. Before I could attack one of Cristo’s men, Claude dropped from the rooftop above and crashed onto him. He was in primal mode, all four incisors out and a savage look in his eyes. He sank his teeth into the man’s neck, and a scream poured out—the scream of a Mage powerless against the deadly poison of a Chitah.

  A shooter on the rooftop fired. Since I was out in the open, I flashed back to the van.

  “Fecking hell!” Christian roared as the bullets pinged against the concrete all around him.

  The long-haired Vampire gracefully jumped on top of the van and climbed up an inactive intersection light as if he were an acrobat.

  Cristo looked like a maestro as he watched from the middle of the street. He was in the safest place possible with gunmen protecting him from above. That dickless bastard wasn’t going to make a move until I got shot.

  His eyes widened in surprise when I flashed toward him, dagger in hand.

  I crashed into him, my fangs scraping his neck as I went for his jugular. He flailed, and we went rolling across the snow as sporadic gunshots went off.

  “What the fuck are you?” he growled, shoving my face away as I went for his neck again.

  “Your worst nightmare.”

  I grasped his hands and pulled just enough of his core light to make him tremble with terror. He blanched and scurried back on his elbows, realizing that as a Stealer, I could end his reign of terror by stripping away his immortal light.

  Cristo brandished a long dagger that made mine pale in comparison, and I sprang to my feet. While stunners didn’t affect me, the way he twirled the blade in his hand proved he was skilled with a knife. Cristo was a big guy and had probably taken a head or two, so I backed up a step. He waved his hand, gesturing for someone to join him.

  Claude scaled the building, chasing after the second gunman, but that wasn’t who Cristo was summoning.

  “They’re all yours,” he said, backing away.

  Several goons emerged from the surrounding buildings. I counted seven, one of them a Chitah by the looks of his light hair and eyes.

  Christian shook the intersection light pole, trying to get the fanghole—who was laughing maniacally—down.

  When Cristo flashed away, I chased after him. Snow crunched beneath my boots as I closed in on him. He suddenly stopped, placing a parked car between us. “How long do you think he’ll last on his own?” he asked, jerking his chin at Christian.

  I risked a glance over my shoulder. Two men surrounded Christian, one of them holding an impalement stake.

  Three onlookers descended upon them like hyenas.

  I slammed my fists against the parked car. “Fight me!”

  “Satisfying my ego isn’t worth the risk.”

  “Then why lure us here? So other people can do your dirty work for you?”

  “Bingo. I just make the money, honey.”

  When I moved to the right, he inched left. “A real man fights his own battles.”

  Cristo laughed haughtily. “Real men are only real until they’re dead. You’re just a blip on the radar. Nice knowing you, blue eye.” Cristo fled, flashing down the street in the opposite direction from the van.

  Oh, no you don’t!

  When I caught up with him, I grabbed the back of his shirt and swiped my dagger. It pierced his shoulder, but Cristo didn’t stay still long enough for the blade to sink in. He pivoted, ducked, and tried
to escape as I kept a firm grip of the fabric. I finally just dropped the blade and punched him in the face. He flew back several feet, reminding me that Christian’s blood had given me temporary strength.

  Invigorated with Vampire blood, I lunged, but he raised his feet and slammed them against my chest. The wind whooshed from my lungs as I fell to my side and coughed up blood.

  In the blink of an eye, Cristo scrambled up and flashed off. Still coughing, I staggered to my feet, pants wet from the snow, and harnessed my energy. The instinct to go after him was powerful, but something held me back.

  I looked over my shoulder at Christian fighting off a number of men. I couldn’t leave my partner behind. Without a second thought, I flashed down the street just as a Chitah came up behind him with an impalement stake. I blasted the attacker with energy, and when he flew onto the concrete, he hit his head on the curb and fell unconscious. Christian and I stood with our backs together as the men circled us. I hefted a trash can and hurled it at a beetle-browed man in a blue coat.

  I sharpened my light, throwing myself at one of them and blasting him in the chest. He convulsed, overpowered by the energy. When he involuntarily shifted into a mountain lion, I blasted him once more, taking no chances.

  I couldn’t keep this up. The flashing had depleted my Mage energy as it was, and I didn’t have enough in reserve to fight all the men coming out of the woodwork. Not to mention it wouldn’t even work on Vampires. Still filled with residual Vampire power from Christian, I fought my next assailant hand to hand. I grabbed his beard and gave it a hard yank before kneeing him in the groin. His Mage energy rippled against my skin, so I drove my stunner into his chest to the hilt.

  More gunshots blazed overhead, and I slipped on ice as I rushed to the other side of the van. When someone tried to grab me, I quickly slid beneath the vehicle on my stomach. Toward the front, a man fell, blood spraying the white snow. Claude’s familiar sneakers strode by. When a second set came up behind him, a struggle ensued.

  I did a belly crawl until I reached the front of the van and stood up. To my horror, more men were advancing in our direction. The Vampire perched on the intersection pole overhead watched with a look of amusement.

  This was how people in the Bricks entertained themselves.

  While I’d taken down a number of men in controlled environments, nothing had prepared me for what was essentially a street battle.

  “We’re outnumbered!” I shouted.

  “Damn right you are,” a man growled from behind me as he snaked his arm around my midsection.

  I lifted my knee and pulled out the small dagger hidden in the heel of my boot. He swung me around, and my head slammed against the front of the van. Without looking, I reached up and swiped my blade several times until he made a gurgling sound.

  I stumbled forward, my breath heavy and the cold air burning my lungs and throat. Claude was nowhere in sight, and Christian was fighting five men at once. His eyes were so bottomless that you could almost see the pit of hell in them.

  I gripped my tiny blade and wanted to laugh. Was this how my life would end? In the middle of a snowy street, surrounded by bored men who didn’t even know who they were fighting or why?

  When a horn blared in the distance, everyone turned.

  At the end of the street, a black sedan faced us. I breathed a sigh of relief as Viktor emerged from the passenger side. He ran toward us and gracefully shifted into his grey wolf, his clothes falling away as he lunged at a man and tore at his arms.

  Next came Niko, and he was armed to the teeth with a katana in each hand. His long hair rippled behind him like a shadow in flight as he charged toward us, slicing his blade through a man on his left without breaking stride.

  I winced when a bullet struck my hand. Hearing someone coming up behind me, I kicked my leg back and knocked him in the chest.

  My thoughts crystallized. Though the man was taller and fifty pounds heavier, we fought like equals. I punched him in the throat, jaw, and probably the nipple—anywhere my fist would land. He took a swing, but I dodged his fist and flashed behind him. Sensing his Mage energy, I realized the only way to take him down was by physical force. I pounced on his back and locked my arm around his neck, squeezing the breath out of him and cutting off circulation to his head.

  “Die, you squirmy little bastard!” I growled.

  He flailed in a pathetic attempt to throw me off, but I held on like a cowboy at a rodeo, ignoring the pain radiating across my back when he slammed me against the side of the van.

  “Lights out,” I growled in his ear.

  Applause sounded from above as the Vampire watched on.

  The man stumbled, his face purple and eyes half open, and finally hit the ground. I held on, just in case he was faking. Niko’s spinning swords sliced at another man who had a blade of his own.

  The idiot didn’t stand a chance. Niko was on form.

  Blood tainted the streets, attracting even more onlookers.

  The second I stood up, I jumped back with a start when a ball of light flew past me and exploded in a crowd of men. The energy wave ripped through the air like a meteor, prickling against my skin like tiny spikes. A pile of men lay in the snow, their skin blackened and the stench of burning flesh wafting in the air.

  I turned on my heel, my mouth agape at Gem, who stood at the far end of the street with her arms extended. To the left, Blue was swinging her tomahawk like a warrior. Despite her long legs, shapely breasts, lush lips, and hair like silk, Blue wasn’t a woman who used her beauty in battle. She was fierce, relentless, and spattered with blood.

  I blasted a man with energy while running toward the van. When I reached the driver’s side, I jumped in and slammed the door. The keys were still in the ignition. As soon as the engine started up, I hit the gas and crashed into Amber’s car, knocking it forward a few feet. She had bailed from the scene the moment the fight started.

  I was turning the wheel left to do a U-turn when someone jumped into the back.

  “Claude’s hurt,” Christian said. “Get us the feck out of here!”

  “Shut the door!” I steered over the sidewalk and clipped a guy before skidding back onto the street.

  “Niko!” he shouted. “Get in!”

  I glanced in the mirror and saw Christian helping Niko in the back.

  “Hang on!” I hit the gas, and the van torpedoed through the crowd like a juggernaut. They fell away like bowling pins, but one Vampire suddenly punched through my window and gripped the wheel. I slammed on the brakes, hoping to throw him off, but he held on with fierce determination.

  “Get away from her, you shitebag!” Christian leaned across me and broke the Vamp’s arm before throwing him out. “Get up. I’m taking over.”

  We switched places, and I stepped into the back of the van just as Christian hit the gas. I gripped the passenger seat to keep from falling and assessed our situation. Claude lay unconscious, and Niko was opening one of the back doors.

  “Blue!” he shouted. “Blue!”

  The van slowed.

  “Take my axe!” She reached inside and handed him her tomahawk before shifting. Her falcon ascended out of sight just as an explosion rocked the van.

  I stumbled to the bench, my heart racing. “Was that Gem?”

  I looked to Niko. Staring into chaos, he held on to the end of the closed door.

  My eyes drifted down to Claude, and I realized how grave his condition was. I had initially thought someone knocked him out, but blood pooled on the carpet beneath him in ghastly quantities.

  I crouched beside him. “Claude, can you hear me?” I pulled his eyelids back, searching for signs of life. “He’s hurt bad. He’s not waking up.”

  The van jerked to the left, and my back hit the bench.

  “Hang on,” Christian shouted before slamming on the brakes.

  Niko reached out and pulled Gem inside. Wyatt jumped in behind her, out of breath. Niko’s sharp whistle summoned Viktor’s wolf, who charged inside and
onto a bench. Niko slammed the back door, and we took off.

  I looked around. “Where’s Shepherd?”

  Wyatt stepped over Claude and led Viktor’s wolf to the front passenger seat. “He didn’t come. Holy Toledo, get the hell out of here, Christian. The freshies are everywhere!”

  When Gem saw Claude on the floor, her eyes rounded, and she crawled next to him. She stroked his hair, tears wetting her cheeks. “Niko, you need to help him.”

  “Won’t he heal?” I asked. “He’s a Chitah.”

  Niko stumbled as he tried to find a place to sit. “Not if he’s lost too much blood. Chitahs are good healers, but his light is dim, and we don’t have Shepherd here to stitch him up. I need everyone to stand back.”

  Gem reluctantly scooted away, her crystal pendant swinging from her neck as she leaned over to watch. I collapsed on the bench and peeled out of my leather jacket. I was actually sweating. Blood dripped from my hand, so I pressed the wound against my jeans to stanch the bleeding. While Niko knelt beside Claude and used his X-ray vision to look at whatever energy Claude was putting out, I turned to Christian since I was sitting right behind the driver’s seat.

  “Are we safe?”

  “Aye. For the moment. Unless there’s someone on the roof.”

  “There’s a freshy up there, clinging to the van like a sock from a dryer,” Wyatt informed us. He widened his legs and stared at me from the opposite bench. “If he comes home with us after all I went through to clean the specters out of the house, I’m demanding a raise.”

  “Will you be quiet?” Gem spat. “Claude… Can you hear me? Blink if you can hear me.”

  We turned our attention back to our Chitah. His leather jacket was open in the front, revealing holes and bloodstains in his white undershirt. I counted three. I’d always assumed Chitahs were resilient, but I was learning that everyone had limitations.