Twilight Vendetta

by Maggie Shayne

  “How many?” Dev asked.

  “Three,” Bell said. “None on your side?”

  “No. Which tells us my side is the way we have to go in.”

  Emma put her hand on Devlin’s bicep, then felt the hard bulge of it and almost forgot what she was going to say. She had to focus hard to find her train of thought again. “Um...right. Or it might mean this side is the way they hope we’ll try to get in.”

  “You tink dey knew we would come for de kids?” Tavia asked.

  “Maybe. Why else have snipers posted like that?”

  Tavia narrowed her eyes to mere slits. “How could dey know?”

  Emma shrugged. “At the very least, they must think someone is liable to show up. They have the two teens. They know they were with four other people, and they’re pretty sure you’re vampires. It might just be a precaution. Either way, we should do the thing they would expect least. Go in on the side where the guards are, because they want us to go in on the side where the guards aren’t.”

  Devlin looked at Emma’s face for a long moment. She thought she saw admiration in his eyes. “All right, that’s what we’ll do. Lead us to these snipers, Tavia. We’ll take them out, quick and quiet.” He strode off in the direction the others had come from.

  “Take them out, how?” Emma asked, running to catch up and gripping his forearm this time. Less distracting, though she was dying to run her hands over that bicep again. And again. “And what do we do after?”

  “We take them out by whatever means is necessary,” he said.

  “But we don’t have weapons.”

  “We are de weapons,” Tavia said.

  Emma looked from one of them to the other. “You...you mean just sneak up on them and...and bite them? Drain their blood? Kill them?”

  “That’s exactly what I mean,” Devlin said. “If you don’t have the stomach for it, Emma–”

  “There is no need to take their lives. If you do that, you’re no better than they are. Besides, it will just give DPI another PR weapon to use against your entire race. They’ll say you murdered military men. Soldiers, they’ll say. Boys whose mothers sent them off to serve their country–”

  “They are not boys, Emma,” Bell said softly. “They’re seasoned, not raw recruits. These men are mercenaries, hired guns.”

  “Trained vampire killers,” Tavia said.

  “I understand where you’re coming from, Emma,” Bell rushed on. “But they shot Wolf and Sheena in the water. You were there.”

  Emma closed her eyes, nodded. “All that’s true. But the men who did that are dead. Just because they wear the same uniform doesn’t mean–”

  Devlin spun around and gripped her shoulders. His face was fierce, his eyes blazing as he stared into hers. “Go back back to the Jeep and wait for us.”

  “What? No, I–”

  “Go. And do not be seen, Emma, or you’ll get us all killed. Veer a few hundred feet away from the fence before you get to that camera we spotted before. That should put you out of range.”

  “I want to go with you. I need to save my father–”

  “If he’s in there, we’ll bring him out. Now go.”

  She straightened her spine, lifted up her chin, faced his ferocity and said, “No.”

  “Then this mission is over. Everyone, let’s go.” He kept on walking, and Tavia grabbed Emma’s arm, looked imploringly into her eyes. Almost like she was trying to speak mentally to her, and she did, in a way. All with those huge dark eyes.

  “All right, all right, I’ll go back to the Jeep.” Emma lowered her head. “But please, please, Devlin for the sake of your people, don’t kill anyone unless you have absolutely no other choice.”

  She could have sworn she heard him growling softly as she turned and walked away.

  Devlin stopped near the first guard tower, which was tall, lopsided, and unsafe looking against the night sky. But on closer inspection, it appeared to be deliberately so. The tower was a square platform with a slanted roof to protect it from sun and rain alike. One strip of its steel roofing was pulled loose and curled up on one end. However, it was also twisted in a way that would send rainwater down over the side, near the lowest corner, rather than in onto the guard. The ladder that led up to it was missing a few rungs. But never two in a row. The remaining ones would be easily climbed all the same. There was a rail around the platform’s perimeter, to keep a man from falling to his death, two-by-fours nailed to each of four corner posts at knee level and again at chest height. The boards were unpainted and weathered looking, but Devlin’s keen eyes recognized new lumber, deliberately distressed. It even smelled new. There were strips of camouflage netting that hung like tattered curtains, as if they’d been there for years. But they were positioned to hide the human behind them while allowing him to see out.

  They did not, however, prevent Devlin from seeing in.

  So the tower was solid, the guard in it alert and watchful. Clearly he knew high-value prisoners had been brought here and that trouble was likely. All the guards had probably been warned.

  Devlin wondered if this place had only recently been commandeered for its current purpose, or whether DPI and its attending militia had been using it for a while.

  Not that it mattered.

  He waited for the others to get into position. Tavia near the second guard tower, Bell near the third, and Andrew back in the other direction where there were neither towers nor guards, just to watch and see what transpired that way.

  It was a beautiful night for this, Devlin thought, looking up at the black fingers of cloud veiling the face of the moon. It was almost as dark as night could get. And the perfect time for the first skirmish. His vampire resistance movement was being born here and now, this very night. Rescuing the twins and Emma’s father hadn’t really delayed his plans after all. If anything, it had hastened their development.

  I’m in position, Tavia whispered inside his mind.

  So am I, Andrew said.

  Bell didn’t reply, but he had farther to go, and tended to be a bit more cautious than most. Still, he could move with vampiric speed, so it wouldn’t be long. Devlin wondered where Emma was. There hadn’t been time for her to make it back to the Jeep yet, and he couldn’t communicate with her the way he could with the other vampires.

  The thought of her brought her words back into his mind. “If you kill them, you’re no better than they are.”

  He closed his eyes.

  Bell said, I’m ready, Devlin.

  Dev nodded. Then he said, Drink, but do not kill. Leave them weakened, bound if need be, enthralled even.

  So de little bird, she got to you after all, Tavia’s mind whispered to his.

  On my word, we spring as one, Devlin told them. Three, two, one, now!

  He pushed off from where he stood, clearing the dilapidated perimeter fence, and landing on the tall tower’s platform right in front of the guard, a burly fellow with bad teeth and a straw-colored flat top. There was no time for the man to react. He couldn’t even raise his rifle before Devlin was pressing his head all the way to his shoulder, and sinking his fangs deep into the man’s neck.

  Blood rushed into him with the force of an adrenaline fueled heart. He drank deeply as a rush of images and memories flashed into his mind. Wars the world over. Soldiers, even innocent villagers, mowed down by an automatic weapon, seen through the eyes of its wielder. Remembered. By this man. Devlin wanted to kill him more than he wanted to see another moonrise. But he wanted to win this war even more. And propaganda was a powerful weapon. Emma was right about that. He need not arm his enemy.

  As the man’s heartbeat began to slow, Devlin withdrew. The pinprick holes made by the razor sharp tips of his fangs sealed themselves enough to prevent him from bleeding out. This was one crow who wouldn’t be capable of doing anyone harm until he’d had several transfusions and time to recover.

  Devlin released his hold on the front of the man’s black flak jacket and let him fall to the floor. Then he ju
mped down again, hitting the ground, opening his mind, and feeling Tavia and Bell doing likewise.

  Come to me, he told them as he kept to the shadows, eyeing the smallest of the buildings, the one where he could sense the energies of Sheena and Wolf.

  And then he waited for them, until he heard, very clearly, Oh, hell. I think I’m in trouble here.

  What is it, Bell?

  Bell’s energy was trembling with fear when he replied, I’m pretty sure I just stepped on a land mine. If I move my foot, it’s going to go off.

  Emma did not go back to the Jeep. She ran all the way to the front gate, keeping out of sight of those hidden cameras Devlin had pointed out to her, and retrieved her phone from the hollow in the tree, just in case. Then she found a spot where she could crawl underneath the fence. She moved on hands and knees, following the tire marks she could still make out in the dirt.

  They led, not surprisingly, to the motor pool, a long, arched metal building. She followed the tracks right up to its closed oversized doors. There, she stopped, looking carefully around her for alarms or cameras or other obstacles. And for people. She looked carefully for people. But she didn’t find any.

  The door itself was too big to open without drawing attention, but there was a worn path around the building. Crouching low, she followed that to a smaller door on one side, and rising up a little bit, she tried the doorknob.

  It wasn’t even locked.

  Of course it wasn’t locked. A locked door would signal something to hide. And besides, these guys didn’t expect anyone to get in undetected.

  She turned the knob slowly, pushed the door open a crack, and looked inside. It was pitch dark, dead silent, and the hulking shapes of vehicles were everywhere.

  Crouching once more, she waited for her eyes to adjust a little, and then crept through the place in search of anything she could use as a weapon. Instead, though, she found a rack of keys, each one labeled with a letter and a number. Frowning, she pulled out her phone, moved up very close to a vehicle, and dared just once to use her flashlight app to look at the writing on the driver’s door.

  A letter and a number.

  Okay. Silently, she peeled off her button down shirt, leaving her in only the tank top beneath it. She spread the shirt on the floor, removed every single key from the rack, and then rolled them up in the shirt to keep them from jangling. Knotting it, she stuffed it into her backpack, and tiptoed to the door again. She was just exiting the motor pool when an explosion rocked the night, jostling her off her feet and onto her knees. Fear for Devlin, for her father, for the others made her heart pound so loud she thought it must be audible.

  A giant spotlight flashed on from somewhere above and started sweeping in giant arcs over the grounds, and men came pouring out of somewhere.

  She lunged behind the rusting shell of a Jeep that had no frame, wiggled her way underneath it, through the opening of a wheel well that didn’t have a wheel, belly crawled to the other side, and peeked out. That small building, the one where Devlin sensed people, was only ten yards ahead of her. Goops–crows as Devlin called them–swarmed out of it, wearing black fatigues and riot gear, and charged toward the area the explosion had come from.

  One of them came flying back again, landing on his back on the ground directly in front of her. No doubt one of the vampires had pounded him or thrown him or...didn’t matter. He was there. And he was unconscious, and therefore, a gift.

  She crept out silently, grabbed him by his boots, and dragged him under the Jeep.

  Devlin was not expecting land mines. Can you move fast enough to survive, Bell?

  I think so, his young friend replied. Anyway, if I don’t try, I’m a pretty good target for those crows I see heading my way.

  Devlin heard Bell’s mental countdown, followed by a huge explosion, followed by Tavia’s anguished shouts of “Bell! Bell!” Those shouts drew a hail of gunfire. Dev moved closer, but only in time to see Bellamy, thank the Gods, diving into Tavia like a wrecking ball, and taking her down in a tangle of limbs before the crows could shoot her where she’d stood.

  Retreat! Devlin told them. Get back to the Jeep. Go, now!

  Bell and Tavia sprang up and took off at speeds no human eye could follow. He felt them leap the fence and race toward Emma’s waiting car, which they’d left hidden a half mile away. They would make it in mere seconds. Devlin darted from one piece of wrecked equipment to the next, each sprint rendering him a dark blur in the night. He’d managed to get behind the crows, who were flocking into a large half-moon shaped motor pool building where lights flashed on. Crouching low, he watched as a larger door was wrenched open, revealing the dozens of vehicles inside. He expected them to come to life and go speeding after his crew, but for some reason they didn’t. And then someone was shouting about missing keys.

  He frowned, then called out to Tavia and Bellamy. Are you back at the Jeep yet? Is Emma there?

  We are, Devlin. And no, Emma’s not. Andrew was here before us.

  There was something in Tavia’s energy there, something in her tone, for her voice came as clearly into his mind as if she was speaking aloud. He’d had misgivings about Andrew for a while now. He’d told her as much, silently, when he’d sent her off with him and Bellamy.

  Get back to the island, Devlin told Tavia. Do it now. I’ll contact you as soon as I can. Make sure you’re not followed and don’t forget to grab your phones. Leave mine.

  But–

  Do it. Trust me, this is the best move. Get back. I’ll contact you. Until I do, you’re in charge, Tavia.

  She didn’t reply and he could only hope she had decided to obey him. He had plans for that island, big plans. But he couldn’t go and leave Emma here. And now that he was nearer the main part of this secret base, he felt her energy. Just as he had always felt it. Like a siren’s song, luring him in to get her out of whatever jam she’d got herself into. He only hoped this time she wasn’t leading him straight to his own demise. If she was this close to the building, there could be only one reason why. She’d been caught.

  He couldn’t resist going after her, and wouldn’t walk away even if he was capable of it. He could tell himself it was because she was one of The Chosen. But he knew better. No other woman, Chosen, or vampire, or ordinary human, had ever attracted him the way she did. The force she exerted over him was powerful and it was unique. He was helpless to leave her. And even if he hadn’t been, he still would have gone after her.

  So much for remaining detached.

  As men came pouring out of the motor pool, he rose from his hiding place, raised his hands over his head, and said, “You’ve caught me.”

  There was a soft sound, punctuated by a jab in his chest. He looked down at the dart sticking out of him, reached up to pluck it free, and sank to his knees as black ink seeped into his vision, into his awareness, covering it completely.

  Emma couldn’t believe what she was seeing! Devlin with his hands up, surrendering? Then knocked out with some kind of tranquilizer dart? What was he thinking?

  As he fell, first to his knees, then in ultra slow-mo facedown in the dirt, men swarmed around him, and she ran forward too, unable to stop herself.

  “Stop right there.”

  Emma froze, ice water trickling down her spine at the voice from behind her. It was a voice she’d heard before, commanding crows on the Pacific shore the night two teenagers had been shot and taken prisoner. She didn’t dare turn around, glancing down at her ill-fitting black fatigues and wondering if they concealed her identity at all. There were thirty or forty men there. No women that she’d seen so far. Had she remembered to silence the cellphone that was tucked inside one too large boot? She thought she had and prayed it wouldn’t make a sound if she hadn’t. They were all around her; she’d lunged right into their midst when she’d seen Devlin go down.

  Then she noticed that everyone had stopped moving, and they were backing away from Devlin.

  “Alpha Team Leader, organize your men and sweep the oute
r perimeter. Vampire combatants are to be taken prisoner. Humans, shot on sight,” said the commander.

  One of the crows stepped out, gave a snappy salute. “Yessir, Commander Hobbs, sir! Alpha Team, on me! Double time!”

  About ten of the men quickly separated themselves from the crowd and went jogging away behind their leader.

  “Team Beta, search the grounds,” Commander Hobbs shouted. “Inspect the fence. Bring back a damage report. Same rules apply to the enemy. Go.”

  A second group, this one also including ten men, took off to obey.

  The crowd was thinning. She still had on her riot gear, though some of the men had removed their helmets and visors by now.

  “Delta Team,” the commander went on. “Return to barracks and get some shut eye. You’ll take watch in four hours. I need a volunteer to take our new prisoner to a cell.”

  Emma swallowed the fear in her throat, pivoted smartly, offered a salute, and didn’t say a word. She kept her eyes downcast, and hoped the vest hid her breasts.

  “Excellent, Ruis. Let’s do it.”

  Ruis? Oh, right. Their names were on their pocket patches. She walked right up to where Devlin lay on the ground, bent down when the commander did, hooked her arm under Dev’s just as he did, and then hefted him up and tried to pretend it wasn’t an effort. They carried his upper body, letting his legs drag behind. She managed to hold her own, despite that Commander Hobbs wasn’t as much help as he would’ve been without his pronounced limp. They headed for the entrance to the building where Devlin had said he’d sensed lives.

  She sneaked a look at the commander as they moved forward, then snapped her eyes front again, having confirmed he was the same hound faced man who’d been in charge down at the ocean, when they’d taken those two kids captive.

  They went through the door of what looked like a decrepit building that was long and rectangular in shape. Inside, dead ahead, was a ruin. Crumbling walls, broken windows, plaster dust and debris. But immediately to the right there was a landing with metal stairs going down about four steps, then another landing where the stairs turned at a right angle, four more steps, another right angle landing, and so on. Devlin’s legs and feet banged over them all the way down, and the noise of that echoed and bounced off the steel and the narrow walls. Emma cringed and hoped he wouldn’t wake up hurting and bruised.