“Valdmire told us he wanted you to find out she was still alive. That’s why you originally went to the Telrose Café. Plans changed when you became erratic and killed those two Vampires. He had to improvise and to get you out of the spotlight, that was the best way.”
“Take me back to the den right now, and I’m going to tear him a fucking new arsehole as soon as I see him,” Abner said.
10
Reasoning
What are you going to do to him?” Gerard asked.
The Hunters had driven back to the den in a van that they had left parked near Abner’s prison. The trip had been uneventful, the other Hunters had left Abner alone to his rage and his thoughts.
“He betrayed me and gave me to our enemy. Valdmire better have a fucking good reason as to why,” Abner said.
“Can’t wait to see this blow up in our faces,” Paige said. “He won’t take kindly to this.”
Abner slid open the van door and jumped out into the garage. There was no sign of Valdmire but he could smell him. Abner stormed into the den, walking into the kitchen and spotted Valdmire on his phone over in the lounge.
“Gotta go, call you later,” he quickly spoke into his phone.
“What the fuck were you doing!” Abner asked.
His body collided with Valdmire’s and the two ended up against the wall. Abner’s claws dug into his neck with his other elbow on his heart. He could smell fear on Valdmire. The other Hunters clambered into the room, Dale training his rifle on Abner.
“Abner!” Gerard said.
“Did you tell him?” Valdmire asked. His voice came out in a whisper, Abner crushing his windpipe.
“Yes!” Gerard said. “He still wanted your head.”
“So what was it, Valdmire? A fucking joke to leave me alone with her? You couldn’t have kept the meeting there and cleared everyone out? It looked like to me you were friendly with everyone there,” Abner said. “They still don’t trust you completely do they? Can’t transform the whole way that they do. That’s why you took me away wasn’t it? Or is it because you’re working for Lois?”
“I work for Tal’davin, we’ve discussed this,” Valdmire said. “And we know on what conditions. There is no reason why I would lie to you.”
“I can think of a really good one right now,” Abner said. He pressed his claw harder against Valdmire’s neck.
“And what’s that?” Valdmire asked. He rolled his eyes.
“You’re in deep with Lois and Tal’davin and want to retain your cover. You’re here as an agent waiting to do their bidding and bring what remains of the Huntrey to an end,” Abner said.
“I fund this Huntrey through my own money. I help in any shape way or form I can. The Hunters are a necessary requirement in Taagras. I have trained Dale and Paige. What more do you want from me Abner?” Valdmire asked.
Abner released his grip and retracted his claws. “I don’t take you at your word and until you prove to me otherwise you are a piece of shit that I wouldn’t trust further than I can throw. Stay out of my way and don’t let me catch you doing anything off the books.”
Valdmire rubbed his throat. “Who died and put you in charge?”
“This Huntrey died. Back when I was still a proper Hunter, there was thousands of us fighting the war. We could only do so much to keep the Vampires at bay and this new world is now the result. That’s why I’m in charge!”
“He’s not wrong,” Dale said. “And shit, I ain’t arguing with him.”
Abner turned to the rest of the Hunters. “Right does anyone know anything about Lois Behan and what the fuck she’s doing here?”
“I think I should be able to help with that,” Gabriel said.
He emerged from another room carrying two tablets. The tech wizard walked into the lounge and put one down on the coffee table, flicking the image up onto the screen that looked over the room. Gabriel began to tap away on the tablet, the commands flashing up on the screen as he typed. The other Hunters gathered taking seats on the sofas and armchairs.
“Alright what do you want to know, Abner?” Gabriel asked.
“Who is she, what’s she been doing for the past four hundred years and why the fuck none of you haven’t killed her yet,” Abner said.
“Well that was forward,” Valdmire said. “All I know is that they call her the Empress, and she holds a similar position to me in a couple of Tal’davin’s corporations. He took a liking to her. She rarely seems to make appearances and I’ve met her once in recent times.”
“Why did you meet her?” Abner asked.
“A business meeting between Toldar Corp and Indoforce. Thought she had a product we’d like to buy from her as her company no longer had any need for it. But we looked at it and refused the proposal. Strictly business, nothing else,” Valdmire said. “My other executives still meet with Indoforce on a regular basis on the off chance they might have something we haven’t developed or thought of developing, but in the last ten years we’ve only bought two tenders from them.”
Gabriel now had a silhouette of Lois spinning around on the screen. It outlined her face and images of her were playing all across the screen. Multiple shots had her out in public, holding hands with Tal’davin as they walked down a street, others meeting with people in various locations. One depicted Valdmire in the background as she shook hands with Tal’davin.
Abner pointed to it. “What’s this?”
Valdmire shrugged. “Would have been that meeting I told you about. I had the Hunters watch me in case I didn’t come out alive. They would have had the kingpins that run this world together in one room on a platter.”
“He’s right, Abner,” Gerard said. “I took that shot. Had a rifle ready to blow that room to hell if something went down. You both fucked up in that café, you should lay off Valdmire for a moment. He’s been the best asset the Hunters have had in the last one hundred years.”
“And what were you doing before that, Valdmire?” Abner asked.
“Training and amassing a fortune so that Tal’davin would notice me and take me under his wing. I knew the Hunters were out there I just had to find them,” Valdmire said.
Abner eyed Valdmire with suspicion. “I still don’t believe you, but you better watch yourself.”
Valdmire threw his arms out. “Nothing to hide here. Anyway as you were saying Gabriel.”
“Yes, so the Empress is easily one of the most powerful people or Vampires in Taagras. This is due to her ties with Tal’davin. I haven’t been able to check her bank records yet, it appears that they’re off the grid somewhere, but usually if Tal’davin has a large transaction to take place, she is the Vampire that will get it done.”
“So ideally we should take her out and then we’ll be cutting out some of Tal’davin’s financial operations. Is that correct?” Abner asked. “I don’t know if I can go through with it.”
“Plenty of other ways to take her out of the picture without killing her,” Gerard said.
“Or I could just cut off her head for you, Abner,” Paige said.
Abner shook his head. “No, I want revenge. If anyone will be doing anything it will be me. What can we do to interrupt her operations?”
“That’s easy enough to do,” Valdmire said. “I’ve heard talk that Indoforce have been attempting to develop a serum that makes Vampires impervious to anything the Hunters can throw at them and gives them the strength that the Red Sky does. I’ve also heard that they pump that much money into the project that if something was to happen to the research and development department of the company it would almost topple up. That’s the first thing I can think of if you want an easy win against her.”
Gabriel tapped around on his tablet again and the images of Lois disappeared. In her place was a blueprint of what Abner assumed to be the Indoforce building.
“Luck would have it their main research facility is right here in Rhorn if we want to take a run at it,” Gabriel said. “It’ll be heavily guarded and you’d need a lot of big gun
s to get the job done.”
“Well if Valdmire came with us it’d sure make the job a lot easier,” Paige said. “Two half-Vampires to help our cause would be fantastic.”
“I’ve told you, I can’t go on these high risk missions. If I get captured it’s all over for me, all over for any funding the Hunters receive and let’s face it, without funding and the weapons I can provide you, you’re finished,” Valdmire said. “No I’ve been into the building and from what I can see there’s a few things that aren’t marked on there. I should be able to help you navigate through it from here.”
“And you’ll need to do it quietly,” Gabriel said. “An attack like this on any of Tal’davin’s holdings has never happened before. You should see what happened after your escape from his other lab, Abner.”
A moving image flickered onto the screen. It was Barros’ face, but weary. He was as pale as a ghost and looked as if he had aged ten years. He wore a long greying beard and Abner could see a suit covering his body. The new world had been kind to him. On the bottom of the screen his name ran across a banner, drawing emphasis to who he was. Tal’davin began to speak.
“I have no doubt that this was a Hunter attack, led by the extremist Gerard McCarthy himself. I have had our law enforcement work tirelessly since the attack to track and locate the perpetrators. Rest assured soon these violent terrorists will be brought to justice and peace will be restored. I will do everything I can in my power to stamp them out.”
The scene cut to the burnt-out images of the cars that Dale had wrecked with his grenades and the drunken Hunter laughed with glee.
“Always good to see your hard work get recognized!”
Gabriel flicked off the screen and banged his fist on the table. “Right, we’ve got a chance now to be a thorn in his side. It was only because of Abner and the mess you all made that he’s noticed us.”
“He’s here in Rhorn,” Gerard said. “I’m not going out there with him nearby. He needs to go back to Tyrain.”
“Leave that to me,” Valdmire said. “I’ll get him out of the city.” He started to rise from his chair.
“Where are you going?” Abner snapped.
“I have another tender coming up. This one believe it or not is being pitched directly to Tal’davin himself. Our main office is in Tyrain and that’s where the project is. It’s still a week or two from being completed, but he’ll buy it if he wants to buy it. Should be something to get us over the seas. Our planes won’t fly that far,” Valdmire said.
“Plains will get you over the seas that nobody’s been able to for years? What do you do, build one and run it along the ocean?”
“No it’s an airplane, we now have the gift of flight, Abner,” Valdmire said. “If you’re looking to make a swift attack on Tal’davin I’ll take you for a ride in one.”
“Right,” Abner said. “When do you think you’ll have Tal’davin far enough away from here for us to safely strike against Lois.”
“Give me three hours. Strike tonight. I know that’s when the Vampires are most active, but it’ll send a message. Besides they won’t see you coming,” Valdmire said.
Dale stretched out on the sofa and had somehow pulled another full bottle out of thin air. The Hunter looked at it briefly before grinning and turning it upside down, spilling the contents down his throat within a matter of seconds. “Three hour nap? Sounds fucking good to me! Wake me up when it’s time to blow shit up again. Cya later. I’ve fucking earnt this.”
11
Break In
Dusk had soon settled over Rhorn and the lights of the city had come to life. They’d received a message from Valdmire to proceed with their plan and that Tal’davin had left Rhorn. The Hunters loaded gear into the back of their van and set out into the city. Paige drove, leaving Dale, Gerard and Abner crammed into the back. Gerard held out a small black device for Abner as they moved towards the city.
“What’s this?” Abner asked.
“An earpiece,” Gerard said. “Stick it into your ear and that way if we get separated, we can communicate and this way you’ll get updates from Gabriel back at the den.”
Abner shrugged and fiddled with it in his ear until it felt secure. “Handy I suppose.” Instantly he was greeted with Gabriel’s voice.
“Ah Abner, good to see you’re online. The earpiece not only allows us to communicate, but from here I can also track your vital signs and your location on a map. Just speak normally and I’ll be able to hear you,” Gabriel said.
“Can you hear me?” Abner asked. He felt stupid talking to someone that he couldn’t see even though the other Hunters were right in front of him.
Gabriel laughed. “Loud and clear. Alright you’re coming up on the target. Gerard get the team ready and I’ll brief you when you’re at the entry point.”
“Right, Dale, you’re set aren’t you?”
The drunk Hunter nodded. “Yup got me rifle and pistol, just need another knife if you’ve got one.”
Gerard took a bowie knife from one of the duffel bags and slid it along the floor. He then scrounged around in it and pulled a short sword from it, not much longer than the knife he had just given Dale.
“Abner, what’s your poison?” Gerard asked.
“I’m quite happy using my fangs and claws,” Abner said.
“We need this to be quick and clean. Don’t want anything of this incident being able to be traced back to you unless you’re on security footage. Besides some of your kills might take longer than expected. With a blade or gun they’re usually instant,” Gerard said.
“Word of warning guys,” Gabriel said over the earpiece. “Chances are if you shoot anything it’ll trigger the alarms. Your best bet is to go quiet. Otherwise from what I’m reading here their systems will go into lockdown and you won’t be able to access any files.”
“Can you bypass it?” Gerard asked.
“Probably. Like I’m good but this shit is next level,” Gabriel said.
“Alright keep us updated,” Gerard said. “Abner quick, we’re here. What weapons?”
“Sword if I have to and a couple of those handguns. I want to still be as fast as I can be,” Abner said.
Gerard pulled out a short sword, the blade no more than two feet long and two black pistols. He passed each one to Abner who inspected it as it was handed to him.
“They’re CHGs. Cyclic Handguns,” Gerard said seeing Abner’s confused look. “Keep your finger on the trigger and they’ll keep firing. You’ll shouldn’t even feel a thing when they fire. Excellent for when you’re on the move. They’ll stay in line with where you’re wanting the bullet to go, but you only have a limited number of shots, so don’t miss.”
“Like I keep telling people, Gerard. I am a weapon. These are just being used as a precaution,” Abner said.
“Alright, we’re here, let’s go,” Paige said.
She pushed opened the car door and slid out with her sword in hand. Abner and the rest of the Hunters piled out of the back and they found themselves in a downtown alley. Cars zoomed past on the main road and across the street Abner saw a skyscraper that looked as if it was completely made of glass.
“Yep that’s it, Abner,” Gabriel said. “Indoforce isn’t only an innovator of technology, but it’s also got some of the most beautiful architecture in the world. Now there should be a ladder about twenty paces behind you. Head up it and get to the top floor.”
“Got it,” Gerard said. “Abner here.”
He lugged one of the duffel bags at Abner with a heave. Abner caught it and was surprised by the weight. “What have you got in here?”
“A lot of toys,” Gerard said. “We’ll crack them out when we get up there. Now get climbing!”
The climb took some time, but was overly uneventful, a simple steel ladder their means of ascent. Abner had the duffel bag over his shoulder as he climbed and he threw it to the ground when he emerged on the rooftop. He was above Indoforce, looking down over the skyscraper.
Gerard d
ove into his big pulling a even longer barreled rifle, kicking out a bipod leaving it on the ground for Dale who laid down behind it. He played with the optic and ran his view up and down the building. He gave Gerard the thumbs up who then proceeded to pull what appeared to be a shoulder mounted cannon from the bag he’d been carrying.
A rope exploded from the barrel and went spiraling towards Indoforce. An anchor caught on the lip of the stairwell on the roof and held. Gerard walked towards the edge and placed the cannon on the floor and pressed a button on the side. From the rear another rope came free and Gerard tied it around a pole on the far end of the roof.
“Right should be secure enough,” he said.
Finally from the duffel bag he grabbed three hooks and slid them around the first rope. There was space for on a platform on either side of the hook for someone to grab hold. He pulled on the first, testing it, seeing that there wasn’t much give in the rope. Satisfied he checked his weapons were secured properly and turned to the other Hunters.
“Dale you’re right to go, Paige you can follow me and Abner straight after her,” Gerard said.
“Yeah I don’t think I’ll be able to,” Abner said. “Heights scare the shit out of me.”
Dale laughed and Gerard rolled his eyes. “You didn’t think to tell us before hand?”
“Didn’t think it’d be an issue,” Abner said.
“Ah shit,” Gerard said. “Well there goes the plan, down like a lead balloon.”
He knelt and pushed one of the hooks out further onto the rope. Gerard then stood up and grabbed Abner by the collar, launching him towards the zipline. Abner yelled out of surprise and wrapped his hands around the handles before zooming towards Indoforce. He turned around and stuck his middle finger up at Gerard who climbed onto the zipline behind him.
The Toldar Series Box Set Page 65
