Slayer's Prey

by Crystal-Rain Love

  Jake focused his gaze on her. “Don’t ever trust a vampire, Nyla. Even if they do a few good deeds, it doesn’t change what they are. I don’t disagree with Dunn—all vamps should be dead—but I don’t agree with his method of trying to make it happen.”

  He raked a hand through his hair, looking toward the building they’d come from, allowing Nyla the time she needed to tightly squeeze her eyes shut. She had to stop the tears threatening to spill over. Jake was clueless to just how deeply his words had cut her, and if she started crying, he’d want to know why. She couldn’t say it was because by wanting all vampires dead, he was also wishing her dead, not to mention the fact that even if he didn’t want her dead, he’d never trust her. They’d never be able to build a life together without trust.

  “Something else just isn’t adding up here,” he said after a long pause. “This victim was found naked. That doesn’t match the others. They’ve always been dressed.”

  “Do you think there’s something significant about her nudity?”

  “I don’t know,” he replied. “I saw the last victim’s picture long enough to memorize the mark on her, but I really didn’t have time to read the file. There was a lot more in there than what was faxed to Louisville.”

  “Well, Peewee’s not going to just let you look at it,” Nyla commented, trying to keep her tone emotionless.

  “No, but I bet I could butter up Luanne and get it from her.”

  “Well, don’t let me interfere with your dating life,” Nyla snapped, a cold bitterness creeping into her blood. “Just don’t get so carried away you forget we’re on a job.”

  “What are you talking about?” Jake’s eyes were filled with incredulity. “You’re the one who flashed your breasts at the LMPD. All I’ll flash are my dimples.”

  Too hurt and angry to come up with a good rejoinder, Nyla growled and spun on her heel, rounding the car. She refused to look at Jake as she opened the passenger door and got in, slamming the door shut.

  She’d barely had time to take a deep breath before Jake was in the car with her, nostrils flared. “What is your problem now?”

  “I don’t have a problem.”

  “Bull. You’re mad at me.”

  “Most everyone you know is mad at you.”

  His eyebrows rose slightly, and he nodded his agreement. “Although that may be true, you don’t have any reason to be.”

  “If you say so.”

  He looked at her for a moment, tightening his hand around the steering wheel. Nyla got the impression he was imagining that hand wrapped around her neck.

  “What happened on that hilltop, Nyla?”

  “What? You didn’t take sex-ed in junior high?”

  “You know what I mean. You have sex with me, then run off acting like it’s the most shameful thing you’ve ever done. I try to be nice and give you your space, but you get all jealous when I mention buttering up some woman for information, information which could save lives, by the way. Are there some rules here I’m missing? Are we in some sort of relationship? Forgive me if I’m a bit confused, but I seem to jump from partner to enemy to fuck buddy to . . . I don’t know, boyfriend or something, pretty damn quick. My head is spinning, dammit.”

  “What do you want from me?” she snapped, exasperated.

  “I want to know what you want from me,” Jake snapped back.

  “I want you to shut the hell up and go catch Curtis Dunn.”

  “That’s not what I was talking about, Nyla.”

  “Look, I don’t want anything from you, all right? You can save the where-is-this-relationship-going speech because it’s not like that. I already know I’m not your type.”

  “Really? That’s interesting considering I don’t recall having a type.”

  “Trust me, you do.”

  “What the—”

  The sound of men stampeding out of the sheriff’s department saved Nyla from having to listen to whatever it was Jake was going to say. Billy Bob, Petie Joe, Bubba Lee and Peewee ran from the building, shouting to each other excitedly as they climbed into their trucks, switching on their sirens before peeling out.

  “You think we ought to check that out?” Nyla asked, welcoming the opportunity to end their argument.

  Jake glared at her for a moment before turning the key in the ignition. “We’ll finish this later,” he promised, turning on the headlights.

  “Of course we will.” Nyla sighed as they pulled out. “If not for arguing and killing people, whatever would we do to pass the time?”

  Chapter Sixteen

  “YOU’RE GOING TO hit a tree!” Nyla yelped.

  “No, I’m not.”

  “Jake!”

  “Would you stop backseat driving? Damn, you’re going to make me hit something if you keep on fussing!”

  Nyla folded her arms, fuming silently as they swerved and careened through the heavily wooded, narrow dirt roads, following the trail of Peewee and his men. She wanted to point out that there were no street lights, and Jake didn’t know his way around the town like Peewee and his boys, but she knew he wouldn’t listen.

  With no other options available, she made sure her seatbelt was securely fastened and prayed Jake wouldn’t kill them both. Her faith in his driving abilities became increasingly hard to hold on to as they whipped around sharp corners, trees looming all around them, following the trucks ahead of them.

  Finally, they skidded to a stop a short distance away from a small aluminum-paneled house. The trucks parked before the house, their drivers quickly jumping out of them. A woman rushed out onto the porch, wailing, her hands waving frantically.

  “You think it’s vampire related?” Nyla asked.

  “Peewee brought his super-duper task force, so I’d say most likely.” Jake tilted his head, listening, or sensing, for something. “I don’t think there are any hanging around.”

  He opened his door, stepping out into the night. Nyla followed behind him, searching the sky for any signs of an air attack. It had barely been twenty-four hours since the last attack, and she wasn’t looking forward to another one so soon.

  They marched toward the house, knowing they weren’t welcome, but she knew that neither of them cared about that little fact. If there was a rogue vampire trying to take over the town, the bumbling idiots in charge of protecting it needed their help. Even if Peewee and his task force shared the IQ of a peanut, they didn’t deserve to be slaughtered or changed into another form of life against their will.

  As they neared the house, the woman’s cries grew louder, more panicked. Something truly horrific had happened. Nyla prayed it wasn’t anything to do with children, her mind briefly flashing back to the night Bobby Romano was slaughtered. She never wanted to see a dead child again. Some things were just too cruel to deal with, no matter how tough you were.

  “What do y’all think you’re doing?” Billy Bob, the mustached, dark-headed member of Peewee’s task force asked, stepping out of the front door entry as Jake put his foot on the first porch step, Nyla following close behind.

  “You need our help,” Jake said. “What happened?”

  “None of your damn business, boy.”

  “You know, I’m eventually going to grow tired of being called a boy and just beat the crap out of all of you, so I’d suggest canning the attitude. Did Peewee send you out here to stop us?”

  “Yup,” The man answered with an arrogant smirk as he drew back his fist.

  “Well, then, you can blame him for this.” Jake grabbed a handful of Billy Bob’s shirt, bringing the man forward as he lifted his knee, sending Billy Bob toppling over it and down the steps. “Come on, Nyla.”

  They quickly entered the house before Billy Bob could lift his stunned butt from the ground and attempt to stop them again. Peewee and Petie Joe turned startled glances toward
them as they entered the small wood-paneled living room. Their startlement changed to glares as they realized Billy Bob had not thwarted them.

  “You two get out of here, now!” Peewee shouted. “This is police business.”

  “If it’s vampires, it’s our business,” Jake said firmly.

  Nyla glanced around the room as the two men continued to argue, taking in the scene. The woman had the ugliest furniture she’d ever seen, but there was no evidence of an attack in the room. Since Bubba Lee wasn’t in here, she realized something must have happened in another area of the house. Bubba Lee was probably trying to track the attacker down like he would an animal.

  She peered down the hallway, her gaze landing on a young boy peeking around a door frame. Although she could only see his head and arms, Nyla could tell the boy was shaking from head to toe. He’d definitely seen something.

  “I’m telling you he was a vampire—or at least some kind of monster!” The woman said, jumping up from the ugly couch she’d been sitting on. “Judd wasn’t the same! He was crazy!”

  “Sit down, Maybelline,” Pewee ordered the small brunette. “My cousin here has got you imagining things.”

  “I know what I saw, Peter Willis Porter! Don’t you dare treat me like a child. My husband was a monster. No person acts like he was actin’.”

  Jake and Nyla exchanged glances, knowing they’d definitely taken a step closer to finding Curtis Dunn.

  “What do you mean by ‘monster’?” Jake asked.

  “You stay out of this!” Peewee warned.

  Maybelline looked as if she was ready to smack Peewee before she looked at Jake and explained, “He was crazy, all wild eyes and just plain crazy, like somethin’ was in him. He came barreling through the back door, tearing the place apart.” A sob shook her before she finished with, “He took our oldest boy. Oh, God, what is he going to do to him?”

  “Maybelline, they are not police,” Peewee said, exasperated. “Let us handle this.”

  She turned on him wild-eyed and shaking with fury. “How can you handle it when you don’t believe me? You didn’t find him when he went missing last week, and now he done come back and took our boy! He’s not the same man, I tell ya. He’s not my Judd!”

  Jake and Nyla glanced at each other again, knowing what had happened. The vampire had changed Judd over, and Judd had come back for his own son, who was most likely being changed over as they stood here.

  Billy Bob walked back into the house, glaring at Jake. “You want me to shoot him, Peewee? I know the guy is your family, but I doubt anyone would miss him.”

  “I’d miss him,” Nyla answered before Peewee could respond, “and I can guarantee that if you hurt him, you will sorely miss your testicles.”

  Billy Bob’s glare turned on her while Peewee muttered a curse. “Jake, don’t make me have to put you in a cell tonight. You are disturbing this poor woman.”

  “And you’re not helping her,” Jake said, seemingly unbothered by the threat of incarceration. “Even if you found her husband tonight, you’d be dead before you could blink. You don’t know what kind of monster you’re dealing with or how to take it out.”

  “You mean you’re going to have to kill Judd?” Maybelline asked, paling.

  Jake swallowed hard, his jaw set tightly, and Nyla knew he didn’t want to answer the woman’s question while looking into her distraught eyes.

  “We might have to,” Nyla answered for him, “if it means saving your son.”

  “Oh, for the love of . . . Get out now!” Peewee roared.

  Bubba Lee stepped into the room, his shotgun pointed at Jake’s chest. “I think you’d better leave, pretty boy, and take your woman with you.”

  “I think you should take that shotgun and ram it up your ass,” Jake responded. “Something is happening in this town, and it’s bigger than anything you’ve ever encountered. Guns with regular bullets will not protect you or anyone else. These aren’t animals you’re tracking, and Curtis Dunn is not just some wacked-out guy who needs a straight jacket. What you’re going up against is pure evil, and you will all die if you don’t let me help.”

  Maybelline let out a startled cry, falling back against her couch cushions. “He’s right, Peewee. There was evil in Judd’s eyes when he took our boy. Our own son! What if he comes back again for Bobby?”

  The little boy Nyla had noticed earlier came running down the hall, quickly launching himself into his mother’s arms.

  Nyla froze, her heart bursting with pain as she watched Jake’s jaw tighten, anger and remorse fusing together in his eyes as he stared at the boy who, though younger, bore the same name as his childhood friend. She knew he was thinking of those hideous monsters getting their hands on this boy and killing him like they had his friend.

  “I won’t let them get to your son,” Jake said firmly, his tone more determined than she had ever heard it. Nyla knew that in those few words he had promised to kill every one of the evil monsters and risk his own life before he’d let them get even close to the boy.

  “Jake, I’m warning you—”

  “And I’m warning you,” Jake said, cutting off his cousin. “These missing people are no longer people. They are being changed into vampires. Hideous, bloodsucking vampires. Seven of them attacked us last night. Now this woman’s husband came back to steal his own child. Wake up and see the truth, Peewee. It’s staring you right in the damn face!”

  “Quit scaring this woman and her child!” Peewee bellowed.

  “I don’t need to scare them, Peewee. They’ve already seen one of the monsters in action.”

  “That’s it. You’re sleeping in a cell tonight, Jake.”

  “On what charge?”

  “Interfering with police business and pissing me off in general, not to mention assaulting an officer.”

  “Who, Billy Bob? He tripped on the porch step.”

  “Yeah, over your knee,” Billy Bob said, removing a pair of handcuffs from his belt. “Hands behind your back, boy.”

  Knowing better than to fight, Jake did as he was told, allowing the grinning cop to cuff him. Nyla watched helplessly, wanting to mutilate the men, but knowing it would only make the situation worse. She and Jake needed to protect the townspeople and that wouldn’t be possible if they were both locked in a jail cell.

  “And as for you, missy,” Peewee said, directing his glare at her. “What’s with the knives?”

  “Protection,” Nyla answered, careful not to let any attitude slip into her voice.

  “I don’t think letting you wander around my town armed is a good idea.”

  “I haven’t broken any laws.”

  “Except for public indecency.”

  Nyla’s face heated as Peewee and his boys shared a good sneer, but it wasn’t from embarrassment this time. She wanted to stomp on them like the cockroaches they were. She looked at Jake, noting the fury in his eyes. He’d promised that anyone who gave her grief over what had happened on the hill would pay, but she couldn’t allow him to attack these men right now. She nodded her head toward him, letting him know she was all right.

  “I haven’t hurt anyone, and I’m not going to hurt anyone. You have no reason to take my knives, which are all of legal length and size,” she said, returning her gaze to Peewee.

  “Oh, but I think I do. And I didn’t miss the sword at your back,” Peewee added. “Call it southern charm, but we don’t like arresting ladies in these parts. Hand over the weapons and you can go. Otherwise, you’re sleeping in a cell tonight too.”

  “Nyla,” Jake said, drawing her attention before she could protest. “Let him have them.”

  He subtly directed his eyes toward the door, and she realized what he was trying to say. He had knives and swords in the trunk of his car, along with quite a few other goodies.

  “Fine.�
�� She removed the knives, handing them and her sword over bitterly. They could have the weapons, but her sheaths were staying. She had every intention of refilling them once Peewee and his toadies were out of view.

  “Why can’t these people help me?” Maybelline asked. “They seem to know more about what’s happenin’ here than y’all do.”

  “They’re messing with you,” Peewee answered. “The sick bastards enjoy scaring people with these crazy tales of vampires and demons and stuff. Jake’s been doing it his whole life. The truth is somebody killed his friend in front of him when he was a kid. He made up stories of monsters because he thought it would sound better than the truth, which is that he’d just stood there and wet himself while thugs attacked his friend, and then he ran away before they turned on him.”

  Jake let out a growl of rage, lunging toward his cousin with hatred in his eyes, but Peewee’s boys grabbed him, holding him back. He struggled against them, slowly gaining ground as they fought to restrain him.

  “Jake!” Nyla placed herself between them and grabbed Jake’s face in her hands. “He’s just trying to hurt you. Don’t let him,” she pleaded. Then leaning toward him, she whispered in his ear, “Don’t let your anger ruin what we came here to do. Don’t give him reason to keep you locked up for more than a night. I need you. This little boy needs you. Bobby needs you.”

  He stopped struggling as her words sank in, as she knew he would, but his tense body told her he was still filled to the brim with rage. It hurt her to know what was going through his mind, how badly Peewee had wounded him with the memory of Bobby’s death, a memory that would never release him.

  “You and I know the truth of what happened that night with Bobby,” she whispered softly. “Who cares what these idiots think when they don’t even have the sense to see what’s happening right in front of them?” She covered his mouth with her own, kissing him softly until the tension in his body drained away.

  “That’s enough, love birds,” Peewee snapped, pulling her away from Jake. “Billy Bob, take Jake to his cell.”

  Jake looked into her eyes, and she saw the thank you he relayed in the depth of his gaze. He was much calmer, only slightly resisting when Billy Bob tugged on him, leading him toward the door. “Wait. Grab my keys, Nyla.”