by Unknown
In a panic, I grabbed the arm of the closest geek. “What happened?”
He smiled wide. “We got him.”
“We killed a Royal,” his buddy said next to him.
I worked hard to hide my horror, but felt my heart drop like a stone. Sam, my best friend, was gone now. Why hadn’t anyone texted me?
“No,” I whispered and took out my phone to text Nicholas.
- call me NOW!
This couldn’t be happening.
I pivoted in a circle and staggered into the street. “Alora! Scarlett!”
The disaster, leveling me in my spot, urged me to beg my enemies for help. I’d do anything at this point. With no answer, I ran into the house and riffled through the drawers, looking for keys, any keys. One of the geeks left a set to a Toyota on the table, I hovered my hand over the top, tempted to steal them.
“What are you doing?” Luke asked.
I yanked my hand back and pulled him aside. “Something is wrong. Dad’s not back. I’m going.”
“Going where?”
“Downtown. I know where the sting operation went down.”
“Dad said to stay here.”
I looked him dead in the eye. “Something is wrong, I know it.”
“I’ll just call him.”
“Then do it.” I held out my phone.
Just like I thought, Dad’s phone rolled over to voicemail and he didn’t respond to our texts.
“See?”
Luke grabbed the nearest geek by the arm. “Where’s my dad?”
He furrowed his brow. “He’s not back yet? Let me check.”
I watched as the ambiance of the room flipped from excitement to confusion. Somehow, Dad didn’t make it back with the rest of them.
“What do you mean you don’t know where he is?” I barked. “Who’s in charge of this operation?”
Boba Fett wiped his brow. “Russell, your dad is.”
“Great.” I slapped my hands against my thighs. “So who’s driving? We need to go find your illustrious leader.”
Chapter Twenty
Quiet anxiety filled the car on the ride downtown and rightfully so. Rule number one: you don’t bust open a vampire ring and leave your leader behind. Someone’s head was going to roll, if not all of them.
Luke, who wouldn’t stay home alone and insisted on going, sat behind me, shook up and scared. They’d made him put on a suit and armed him with a laser. I only took the special glasses so my eyes wouldn’t fry if I looked at the light.
We parked out front on the eerily quiet street. I stepped from the vehicle and a chill of evil settled heavily over my bones. Smoke still lingered in the air, reminding me of what Nicholas and I did earlier. I gulped and confirmed with Luke he wanted to go through with this. He nodded.
Boba Fett and the cute guy, who I found out was Austin, put on their bulbous helmets and flanked me as we walked inside. Great, escorted by the bug patrol. We moved through the double sets of broken doors Nicholas had destroyed earlier, into a back room, and filed down a set of stairs leading underground. The air changed, weaving its icy fingers over my skin as we traversed each step. Flashlights from the crew illuminated the corridors. I reached out to feel Dad’s presence inside the oversized tomb and couldn’t find him. Dread clenched my stomach.
Creepy laughter echoed from deep within the belly of the structure as bloodlust imprinted it’s ugliness on my psyche.
“There are vampires down here,” I said to Austin. “You didn’t finish.”
“Impossible.” He made some signal with his fingers and a few of the geeks branched off.
I grabbed Luke’s arm with one hand and gripped the laser with the other, finger on the button. I didn’t trust the geeks in the slightest to protect him.
Nicholas, where are you?
My hysteria made encapsulating the bloodlust impossible, completely masking any other weaker feelings I might have sensed. But the task might have been useless anyway. If he was unconscious, void of feeling, I’d have nothing to detect.
“Where did you see him last?” I demanded.
“Here,” Austin said as we stopped at a room that looked like a laboratory with a wall of freezers lined across one side and a metal counter on the other. Foggy air leaked from a busted glass door and billowed over hundreds of broken vials of what I assumed to be venom.
“Together we found Doctor Evi—Volynski here,” Austin said, motioning to the pile of dust on the floor. “Everything happened quickly. There wasn’t much of a fight.”
“When?”
“About two hours ago.”
I pursed my lips. Right before the ETers arrived, two of the doctor’s newborns had attacked me. How could that be? Were they not the doctor’s kin?
“How did you know it was him?”
“Looked like him.” He stood with his legs wide and hands on his hips, like a hunter showing off his kill. “And he wore a lab coat with his name on it.”
I choked back my tears as I analyzed the remains of the doctor on the floor. Austin hadn’t a clue they’d also murdered my best friend at the same time. Somewhere else, Phil was probably going nuts over a matching pile of ashes, scattering in the wind like Katie’s had not too long ago. I fought an overwhelming desire to grab his collar and tell him what a moron he was.
“So what happened to my dad?” I asked openly. “Did anyone see where he went?”
I was met with blank stares and questioning faces.
“Well then what are you all standing here for? Find him!”
The group scattered and finally someone found the lights.
“I’m sorry, Julia.” Austin touched my arm.
I shrugged him off and bore daggers into his face. “Don’t you have a protocol for this? Don’t you have a boss somewhere you need to report to? My dad is missing and we need to find him!”
Austin gulped and stared at the floor. “We went in unauthorized. Russ said it would be a quick in and out. We’d get the doctor and worry about the other stuff later. Easy.”
Easy? I laughed hatefully. “I can’t believe this.”
My arms fell to my sides. This was nothing more than a revenge mission orchestrated by Dad. Austin, some genius who lacked street smarts to realize the danger, was only his subordinate. And Dad had the audacity to get on me for being dangerous.
I put my nose inches from his. “Stop apologizing and call whoever’s in charge. I don’t care who gets in trouble. We need help to find my dad.”
Austin’s hands shook as he took out his phone and dialed.
I adjusted my glasses and left the room to give him privacy. Luke, still in shock and utterly confused, stuck to my side as we walked farther down the hall. I planned to search every inch of the place if it took me all night.
The more distance I put between the ETers, and us the easier it was to concentrate, except for Luke’s overwhelming fear and agitation. The monotony of the rooms drilled holes into my already aching brain—large metal tables, stainless steel sinks, more refrigerators, and cabinets. My father wasn’t in any of them.
“Was that doctor one of them?” Luke asked.
“A vampire? Yeah.”
Luke shuddered at the mention of the word “vampire. “Why was Dad after him?”
I took a deep breath. “Long story.”
We pushed on, deeper down to stairs leading back up to the ground floor. From the outside, the building above didn’t seem as vast.
“Can anyone bust these doors open?” I yelled. My voice was greeted with a return echo followed by unnatural laughter.
“No,” the faceless vampire whispered. “You’re trapped.”
“As if,” I called back, knowing the bloodsucker was near. “Come and get me.”
I was so ready to fry some vamp butt; I only needed a target.
“Don’t do that,” Luke whimpered behind me.
“What? Taunt them? I have to, or it’s going to stop us from finding Dad.”
Suddenly, I was ripped backward i
nto a darkened room, my pen yanked out of my hand. I went to scream when fingers covered my mouth.
“Shhh,” a soft, warm breath tickled my ear in my ear. My body melted like taffy once I recognized Phil’s voice. “Don’t scream.”
I agreed and he let me go. “Have you been here the whole time? Where’s Sam?”
“Here,” she said behind me in the dark.
“What?” I swiveled around and ran for her voice. My arms squeezed around her neck upon contact. “You’re alive.”
“Get your brother in here,” Phil said in earnest. “Quick.”
Luke hysterically called for me in the hall, followed by a high-pitched wail. I ran out of the room to find him.
“It’s okay, Luke.”
He jolted around. The smoldering arms of a vampire were attached to his suit. “It’s not okay!”
I pulled off the crispy appendages and led him into the room, closing the door behind me. The exit sign illuminated a disturbing green glow over his wide eyes. His breath puffed in and out in quick succession.
“It’s okay. Just breathe.”
“It’s not okay,” he yelped. “You left me out there with that thing. Where’s the lights?”
“Take the pen from him,” Phil whispered.
“Who’s here?!” Luke stumbled backward and hit his fist against the wall.
The bright florescent lights assaulted the room. Sam and Phil hid next to a set of cabinets. I lunged for Luke’s extended arm and knocked the activated pen from his hand just in time.
“Damn, that hurt!” Phil nursed a spot on his leg where the laser nicked him.
Luke fell to the floor to seize the pen. I kicked it away and grabbed his shoulder, igniting a burst of red hot light.
“Argh,” I yelled and let go. “They aren’t going to hurt you. Calm down!”
He backed up against the wall, trying the door I’d closed behind us. I stopped it with my foot and grabbed his hands. He fought me and canvassed the room, his eyes wide. “Sam? What happened to you?”
She shrugged and smiled, a little too large, flashing her canines. Luke panicked again and pushed me hard against the wall.
“They aren’t going to hurt us. Just take off that suit before you hurt me again, or someone else for that matter.”
He shook his head and eyeballed Phil, terror exploding off of him in an invisible fireworks display. “No. They’re them!”
I moved to block his view of Sam and Phil. “They are not going to hurt you. Please stop freaking out.”
His fragile psyche bordered on hysteria. I looked to Phil for help.
“Luke. It’s all cool, dude.” He held up his hands. “I’m not like them and neither is Sam.”
She locked eyes with him and walked up slowly, taking his hand. Peace bounded from her invisibly. Luke’s shoulders relaxed.
Phil appeared behind me. “I think I gave her some mindreading juju like what Alora’s got.”
“What?” I swirled around.
“I had to ensure she wouldn’t die, so I … you know,” he cocked an eyebrow and smiled, waving his hand to highlight the puncture wound on her neck.
“You bit her?”
“Well, yeah.”
My mouth perched open. “You sucked her blood?”
“No,” Phil said adamantly. “I did not. You would have been proud of me. I just didn’t have any other way to inject her directly.”
He gave a weak smile as I contemplated what happened. He’d infused her existing venom with his. Ingenious.
“Is that why she didn’t die?”
“Die?” he asked. “Why would she die? I’m confused.”
“The doctor. They got him. I saw the ashes.”
“They did?” Phil’s brows creased. “It’s not Dr. V. We took him to the storage building at the boardwalk like you asked. Nick’s with him.”
“I’m so confused.” I pressed my hand to my forehead. “Then who did they kill inside?”
Phil shrugged. “Beats me. We got here. Nick had Dr. V, so we transported him via sky D’Elia to the boardwalk like you wanted.”
“You captured Dr. V?”
“Well,” Phil curled up the corners of his lips. “Sorta. Nick actually did.”
I sobered up immediately at the thought of the doctor being locked up in a cage, the same cage I was in not too long ago. “And my dad?”
“What about your dad?”
“You didn’t see him?”
“I’m kinda avoiding vampire hunters,” Phil snorted, looking to Sam for confirmation. “I don’t think there’s anyone human here, besides those freaks in the suits and you two. There aren’t even that many vamps.”
Sam let go of Luke, who took a deep cleansing breath and dropped his shoulders. “We only came back to get Todd and once I see him, he’s going to get it.” Sam slammed her hand into her palm.
“So, do you think he might be here?” I questioned “Did some vamps escape? Could he have been captured by Todd’s coven? Where would they take him?”
Phil held his hands up in surrender. “I don’t know.”
“Why then didn’t Nicholas text me or call me and tell me? I’ve been worried sick.”
“Dude doesn’t know how to use the phone. I’ve had to show him every time,” Phil said, his smile a little too bright. “His amnesia is deep, let me tell ya.”
I shook my head, overwhelmed with decisions and details. A wave of bloodlust hit, warning me more vampires were clued in on our location.
“I guess we should go to the storage facility and decide what to do with the doctor.”
Phil shrugged. “It’s your call. We don’t really need him around anymore.”
“True.” I shifted my weight. Something about executing Dr. Volynski apart from the heat of battle didn’t feel right. I threw my hands up in the air. “Fine then, let’s get out of here.”
Phil gestured toward Luke. “Not until he takes off that vamp smokin’ suit. I don’t trust him.”
I turned to Luke. “You have to take it off.”
“No.” He folded his arms across his chest. A red glow emanated from his biceps.
I put my hand on my hip. “Then you’re going to have to stay with the ETers. I’m leaving with Phil and Sam to find Dad. And the way we’re traveling, you can’t wear that coat.”
“How are we going to travel?” Luke said, curiosity piqued.
Chapter Twenty-One
“You didn’t say we’d be flying!” Luke screamed, clawing onto Sam like a cat about to be given a bath.
I laughed as Phil and I flew together just a few feet away.
“This is awesome!” I yelled into the night sky. The cold air whipped my hair around my face, bringing back fond memories.
“I’ve missed this,” Phil whispered in my ear.
“Me, too.” I squeezed his hand that rested firmly against my stomach. “You’ve been a little busy to cart me around these days.”
He hummed and my heart warmed at his nostalgia. Even in the midst of chaos, his presence made me feel safe and whole with his body pressed against mine, his arm around me. I’d always cherish him as one of my closest friends.
“Lucky for me Nick lost his memories, huh?” he teased. “Or that reunion might have turned out really ugly”
“Yeah.” I smiled as he chuckled.
Out of the corner of my eye, though, I caught him watching Sam. A feeling of admiration and attraction stirred from within him, surprising me.
I tried to shake it off and rested my head against his cheek.
“So after all this, you gonna stick around? Or run off somewhere? There’s nothing really keeping you here.” A twinge of sadness gripped my heart at the thought of him leaving, but things wouldn’t remain like this if Nicholas regained his memories.
“I guess I could travel the world. See stuff. Maybe Sam will want to come along?” I stopped the gasp in my throat before it escaped. “What about you and Nick? The fab four could travel together.”
His sugges
tion gripped my stomach. He and Sam? Together? I wasn’t so sure I was on board with this.
“Ummm. I do need to finish high school,” I spit out.
“You could join the dark side and quit like me,” he suggested, his voice brimming with husky sexiness that made saying no difficult.
“No. I could not. That wouldn’t go over well especially with my dad and his line of work.”
The thought of my dad made my stomach somersault. We shouldn’t be talking about the future. We should be focused on finding him before it’s too late.
“It’s fun, Parker,” Phil sing-songed. “You know you want to and I’ve got plenty of venom to share.”
“Let’s just find my dad first, deal with Dr. Evil, and—” I gasped, completely forgetting about the real news, about Cain coming to town.
“What? What’s wrong?” Phil gripped me tighter.
“I got a visit from Alora tonight. And Scarlett. They had a big cat fight in my front yard. Alora said the necklace was his and he was coming to get it. We have to hide. If he finds Nicholas, or any of us, we’re all dead meat.”
“Whoa. Slow down. What are you talking about?”
“Cain! He’s coming here! We’re all in a lot of trouble.”
I explained what happened at the house and Phil didn’t say much more, but the great deal of protectiveness he exuded spoke volumes. I crawled underneath it to feel secure until we arrived at the boardwalk.
Down below, the Ferris wheel spun empty. The apocalypse was upon us, ready to rip our world apart. Good thing tourists knew and stayed far away. Phil swooped me down just outside the storage structure.
Sam did the same and Luke lay down and kissed the sand. “Firm ground.”
“Come on,” I said and pulled his hand to help him to his feet. His adrenaline rush fed my desire to get to Nicholas.
As we opened the door, memories of being captured here not too long ago worked a heaping dose of guilt as I stared into the doctor’s eyes. He was quite a bit older than I imagined.
Nicholas got to his feet with his cell phone in hand. Frustration that could register on the Richter scale rolled off him in abundant loads. “I don’t know how to work this thing.”
