Adalaide squirmed in his tight grip to no avail.
“Do you really think they’re going to stop me? Or even do anything about it? This is New Orleans, where there’s a show on every corner.” Jose picked up Adalaide and threw her over his shoulders like a sack of potatoes.
Adalaide screamed, and Jose laughed. “Show’s over, folks. Looks like they might be throwing the red beads tonight, head on back to the festival.”
There were festivals almost nightly this time of year. Something was always going on. Even when there weren’t floats, someone was throwing beads.
Jose’s phone rang while we were walking back to my apartment. The guy was strong! He held a squirming woman over one shoulder with his right arm, and picked up his phone with his left. “It’s Jose, go.”
I couldn’t hear what he said, but when he picked up his pace, I knew something was up.
“What, who was that? Did they get Acadia? Please tell me this is over?” I hoped and prayed it was!
Chapter 14
Rico
“Kyrie, shut off the feeds to the girls. I don’t want them watching this. If it goes down wrong, I don’t want those two triplets watching their sister die. Got me?” I had Kyrie in my Bluetooth while I was driving faster than the speed limit to catch up with Lukas.
“Got it, boss. The second I can turn theirs off I will. Right now I need both hands to keep you going.” Kyrie was typing away at his keyboard.
He was right. I needed him focused on getting me to the vampire first. As soon as I arrived, he could cut their feed.
“Turn left at the next stop sign. You should see them.” Kyrie was feeding me step by step directions.
“Did you say a black SUV?” I could see a black SUV but no people.
“Yes. I saw them go inside the house across the street from where they parked. Number is 2813. It’s a shotgun.” NOLA was famous for strange names.
A shotgun house was no different. Basically, it was a house split down the middle turned into a duplex or a long narrow house which didn’t share walls with another home. Some were actually built that way. Each room was stacked behind the other. Some houses had the doors inside of each room leading to the next, and some had narrow hallways along one side.
Driving past the house in question, I scanned the area looking for anyone outside, or standing in the windows. Five houses down, I parked, and got out of my car.
“Kyrie, how long until my back-up arrives?” Since I was driving, I used my Bluetooth device.
“It should be less than two minutes before the first truckload arrives. I’m bringing them around the street south of you. So it doesn’t look like they were following you.” Kyrie knew how to coordinate a raid.
There was an eerie feeling in the air. The hairs on my arms stood at attention, but I couldn’t see anyone watching. However, I felt eyes on me. Most of these houses must belong to vampires or their acolytes.
It wasn’t uncommon to have an entire neighborhood of vamps and acolytes.
Slowly, I walked around to the back of the car and opened my trunk, like I didn’t have a care in the world. Inside, I picked up several stakes and a couple solid silver knives. I liked to start out in human form and only shift to wolf when it got frenzied, especially when I was fighting in the city.
I couldn’t be sure, but my guess was there were no humans living here who hadn’t been exposed to our world. Although, even one naïve human seeing me shift could get me into trouble. I needed to remember to shift inside, if need be.
“Boss, they just parked a block away from you. They’ll take different ways into the house. Give them two minutes.” Kyrie was great at timing.
“Kyrie, did you cut the girls’ feeds?” I was sure he had, but wanted to double check.
“Of course, boss. I don’t want them watching this either. I’m confident you’ll save the human, but the Dolls don’t need to watch the bloodbath.” He was smart.
I grunted my response and turned off my Bluetooth device. Both phone and earpiece went inside the trunk of my car. It wouldn’t do for me to smash them in a fight. Learned it the hard way a couple years back. New iPhones are expensive!
Just about everyone in the paranormal community had great hearing, and shifters were no exception. I could hear my guys coming, just barely, but I heard a few boots scuffle along. If I could hear them, there had to be some vamps who could as well. Time to get moving.
I wanted all eyes to stay on me, not my pack. Whistling seemed like a great distraction, so I began Whistling Dixie. It’s not just a phrase, there’s an actual tune to accompany it. Look it up. I did.
It seemed to grab attention. I began to see eyes peering out at me in the dark. Three sets of eyes followed my movements as I walked by a green with white trim shotgun house.
My stakes were out in the open. I didn’t bother trying to conceal them. I also had four silver knives attached to my belt. However, I did have a concealed knife in my boot, just in case. The idea was to keep all eyes on me, wondering what I was up to as my guys made their way to the house from various angles. I knew I couldn’t keep them all from being noticed, but if I could keep just one or two invisible, it might be worth it.
2813 Toulouse was a white with blue trim, double shotgun. The curtains in the front window rustled as I meandered up the walkway. Someone opened the door before I even made it to the porch steps.
“Hi there! How goes it? Nice night, huh?” Fragdaggle! I wasn’t ready for someone to open the door yet. What could I say? I’m here to kill you all? Southern charm is what my momma taught me growing up, so that’s what the vampire would get.
“Not for you, mutt. You aren’t welcome in this neighborhood. Now leave, you’ve been warned.” The blonde-haired vampire began to shut the door.
“Wait, I have a question.” I stopped on the steps and waited for the vamp to look at me.
“Well, I don’t have all night. Are you lost or something? I don’t got no GPS here.” He snorted at his own joke.
“Actually, I’m looking for someone. Can you help me?” I hoped being nice would get him to open up the door but didn’t expect it.
“I don’t swing that way, sorry.” He began to shut the door.
I raced up and put my foot between the door and the jamb, stopping him from closing it. “I’m sure you don’t. The person I am looking for drives a black SUV, like the one across the street. He goes by the name of Lukas.”
“Lots of black SUV’s. There’s also lots of Lukas’. Sorry, can’t help you.” He kicked my foot, trying to move it out of the way.
He must not have expected me to be pushy, with my southern manners an all. When I pushed my body against the door, he flew backward, and the door bounced against the wall and hit my shoulder.
“Gentlemen, we are all gentleman, right?” I smiled at the group of six vampires in the living room.
They began to snarl and hiss. Fangs were making their way out of all those mouths. It wasn’t a pretty sight. I never did understand why women swooned over the literary versions of vampires in books and movies. The real things were quite disgusting.
“We don’t want your kind here. Get out before we tear you apart. We’d be within our rights, too.” A black-haired guy began inching his way toward me.
“I’m on official council business. You have no right to stop or harm me. Just tell me where Lukas and the human are, and you can go back to playing your game. Is that cribbage? I didn’t know vampires played old lady games.” I shook my head and watched as each of them looked to their card table with furrowed brows. They were playing poker. I just needed a distraction.
I took a stake and slammed in through the heart of the vamp who opened the door. Then I moved left to stake the second closest bloodsucker before they all turned back to me.
Four vamps left.
I pulled a knife off my belt and threw it at the heart of the vamp with black hair. The three remaining rushed me, and I got a stake into the heart of one of them.
; Two vamps left.
They took positions on either side of me. One batted the stake out of my hand. I pulled another knife off my belt as we did our dance. One would feint toward me while the other was actually going for my throat. Not that they would drink my blood. Vamps hated shifter blood. They would tear my throat out, if given the chance.
I swiped my weapons at them as we twisted and turned. The space the small. It was only about twelve feet wide.
When they both attempted to rush me from opposite sides at the same time, I tucked and rolled forward into the living room.
I came up from my roll shooting my left hand out and got a vamp in his gut. Not a kill shot. He pulled the stake out and threw it aside.
“Missed your mark there, dog.” The gutless vamp laughed and lunged at me. I got my knife up in time to get him in the heart. He had enough time to get one fang on my shoulder. It didn’t hurt. I’ve been bit too many times to count. This was more like a love bite.
One vamp left.
“Alright, it’s just us now. I killed five of your friends. You can either cooperate, or you go down next. Your choice.” I was being rather magnanimous giving him an option.
He didn’t think so. “You’re the one who’s going to die!”
I sensed someone behind me before they wrapped an arm around my neck. I felt the fangs graze against my throat as I leaned forward and threw the devil’s spawn over my shoulder. He landed on his back with a loud whack.
Unfortunately, two vamps left.
I pulled the last knife off my belt and leaned forward to stab him in the heart, but he leapt away. When he moved his arms came up and grabbed mine. With his movement, I was pulled down by his side. My head was near his feet, which meant my feet where near his head. I kicked back against his head, and he loosened his grip on me enough so I could pull away.
On the ground near me was a stake, I grabbed it and lunged it upward as the other vampire came toward me. I got him in the eye instead of the chest. Pulling out the stake, I brought my hand down and slammed it into the heart of the vamp on the floor, the one who came from behind.
One vamp left.
The one-eyed vamp backed up and began screaming and yelling, “My eye, my eye!”
I jumped to my feet and grabbed a silver blade from the ground nearby and drove it straight through the heart of the remaining vamp.
No vamps left in this room.
A shimmer caught my eye. On the ground was one of my silver knives. Picking it up I attached it to my belt. I turned around looking for more weapons and was rewarded with two more knives and a stake.
There were still a couple of rooms left to enter before I could exit the back of the house. So far, no sign of Lukas or Acadia. The scent of a human wafted in the air. My nose followed the perfume through room after room. No sign of anyone left.
I heard a muffle. Stopping, I turned my head to where I thought it was coming from. I was now in the last room of the house, a small bedroom. There was a door that led to the backyard, but nothing else. I turned my head again when I heard another sound. It was a scraping noise, like nails on wood.
Outside vampires were fighting my pack. Inside, I could hear another muffle and a stifled scream. A normal human wouldn’t have picked it up. The sound was so low. The scream sounded like it came from beneath me. Which would be impossible. No one digs a basement in NOLA. Not with the floods we have to deal with all the time.
The clatter sounded like it was coming from directly beneath me. I looked around for an access panel which might lead down below. While it made no sense, it actually did make sense. What better place to hide, then below a house on a floodplain.
For generations, the city had flooded many times. Parts of the city are actually below water level. It’s one of the reasons our graves are above ground, to avoid the low water table.
I spied a rug with its corners scrunched up. Slowly, I walked toward it. When I stopped next to it, I heard scratching. Quickly, I yanked the piece of carpet away and discovered a doorway to the underground.
Opening my senses, I was able to discern a large cave below the house. I wondered if they used this as a series of tunnels. Or was it just one large open area below this house? Some space to hide a body or two?
It wasn’t very deep, maybe five feet below the opening. I looked around as much as I could without sticking my head in and making me a huge target. No one was within my sight, but I knew someone was down there. Vamps don’t have heartbeats, but humans do. I could hear the rapid pattering of someone’s heart, they had to be scared out of their wits if they were trapped below with a vamp or two.
In my hand was one stake. My hidden knife was still securely in place. This was it, my moment of truth. Jumping in was the only way.
If only I had brought a flashlight, this would be easier. I can see just fine in the dark, but the light would have helped to blind any vamps in its path for a few moments.
“Here goes nothing,” I whispered, then jumped.
Crouching on the soft dirt, I scanned the area around me and saw the human tied up not too far from me. It was a trap; it had to be. There was no way any vamp would leave their human and run from one wolf shifter, even if it was me.
Circling, I focused my eyes on my surroundings. There were tunnels leading to what I assumed were the other houses on this street. Smart. It meant they could get around during the day without any issues. The cavern was made up of a soft dirt floor and reinforced walls of wood and cement.
As the room opened up, the floor tilted down. At the center of the room, it had to be over six feet high. The vamps could stand up in here or at least most of them. They would have to bend as they entered the tunnels since they seemed to go back down the five feet high mark, at most.
My ears perked up when I heard a tiny scuffle. It wasn’t the human on the ground near me, it had to be a vamp itching to attack. This would not be a great space for fighting as a human, but it would be great to fight as a wolf.
I put all of my weapons back on my belt and shifted as fast as I could. When we shifted, our clothes and everything on us went to some other place. Since our shift was magical in nature, it was all preserved for when we shifted back to our human form. No tearing of clothes or losing weapons for us.
In wolf form, my eyesight and hearing were increased ten-fold. I could see four vamps in the tunnel making their way to me. One of them was Lukas. This was going to end right here.
Chapter 15
Indie
“Kat, what are you doing? Jose has men watching us. You can’t leave now.” I followed Kat to the back room, it must have been how she was sneaking out before to meet Ivan.
There was a window with a fire ladder next to it. You know the kind, where you latch it on the window and throw it over so you can climb down in case of fire or emergency?
“Indie, we know where Lukas came from. Rico probably followed Lukas and is fighting him now. We need to go and checkout where Lukas came from.” Kat turned around and looked at me.
“Kat, I don’t think you should do this. I know you’re tough and all, but come on. This is vampires!” I shook my head and her stupidity.
“I have been stocking up on supplies.” Kat walked to the cabinet against the far wall and opened it up.
There were bottles of water… holy water? It also housed a boatload of stakes and an entire shelf of silver daggers and knives.
“Whoa! When did all of those show up?” Stepping up to the cabinet, I lifted a long, silver dagger and moved it around. The weapon was actually pretty lightweight.
“I’ve been stockpiling for a rainy day for the last month. I guess none of you have needed to get into this cabinet, or someone would have said something.” Kat pulled out a bottle of water.
“Holy water. I’m not sure if it works, but thought I might as well grab some from the church every time I pass it.”
“We should have asked Rico what can kill a vamp. I think that’s something we need to know going forward.” I
pulled a bottle out and looked at it. It was nothing special, just a small vial with water.
“Yeah, I tried contacting my vampire friend but couldn’t reach him. Sorry I don’t know more.” Kat grabbed a messenger back and loaded it with various weapons, including a couple vials of water.
“The least we can do is scan the area so we will know if Lukas has been hiding out somewhere in that cemetery. We could even be the ones to hide and wait for his return. If he gets away from Rico, we could be there to intercept Acadia. I won’t lie, this is really dangerous. I could use your help.” She stopped what she was doing and looked me in the eye.
“Um, I… I don’t know.” I took a couple of deep breathes. If she went on her own, she would surely die. Would my going be any help? “Alright, fine. If we can get away from our watchers, I’ll go with you. But the first sign of trouble, we run. Got it?”
“Of course. I’ll even bring my phone so we can call Rico if we get into trouble.” Kat smiled and went back to stocking.
“Here, put this belt on, you can store a few knives and two stakes. Then grab that backpack and fill it with stakes and holy water.” She handed me a leather belt with several sheathes already attached waiting for knives.
“Okay, should we tell anyone where we’re going? You know, just in case?” I started to load up on supplies as we chatted.
“No, let’s not tell anyone. They would stop us. If Rico or Jose found out, they would tie us to a chair, I’m sure.” Kat laughed.
“That’s not funny. I don’t want to be tied to a chair.”
“Well, not exactly, but you know. Jose would probably sit inside with us and keep an eye on us until morning. I’m tired of being the one sitting around waiting for the man to help me out. I know this isn’t your kinda thing, so if you want to back out, I’ll understand.” She was giving me an out, but I wasn’t gonna take it.
“Nope, I’m in this with you. No one would forgive me if I let you go off alone. If you get me killed, or worse, I’m going to torment you forever!” This had to be the most asinine thing I’ve ever done.
New Orleans Magic: Urban Fantasy Series (The Voodoo Dolls Book 1) Page 9
