by Lizzy Ford
“We’re doubling up with Tasha’s team to take out a warehouse,” Charles reported. “Hector, with the Natural.”
The large vamp moved into place beside her.
“You know this is for your benefit not mine, right?” she asked, looking up into his red eyes.
“He’s aware.” Charles shoved her weapons at her. “Remember. Follow the rules.”
“I hate rules,” she mumbled and accepted the weapons she was forced to surrender the moment they returned.
Charles ignored her. Ashley tucked the knives and batons in their places then waited for Hector to finish with his small arsenal. Unlike the others, she wasn’t allowed to carry grenades or guns or anything that might give her more of a leg up. And Hector carried a Taser in case she went off the grid.
Ashley joined the others outside in their teams, waiting for their team’s turn to be Traveled to the raid sites for the night. Usually, Jonny was present to watch over his troops leaving but tonight, the Black God was nowhere in sight.
She was grateful for his absence, too angry and confused to want anything to do him. How did she trust someone who admitted he’d betray her? How did she believe he was going to help Brandon when he cared more about his vamps?
It felt like forever before it was her turn to be Traveled. Charles had given the two teams instructions she hadn’t heard. She’d follow Hector’s lead and then sneak away when she had the chance so she could find out where Valon wanted her to go.
Finally, they were at the site, and she stood quietly to observe the location. The abandoned factory building was isolated from the rest of the rundown neighborhood by a slatted fence topped with barbed wire. No lights were on, but it wasn’t going to be possible to tell how active the place was until they set foot inside. It was absolutely huge, and she guessed the factory had been used to build cars or some other large product by its sheer size. The main building extended the length of a football field with several satellite buildings half its size flanking it.
“Front door,” Hector said and nudged her.
She blinked, still not yet able to focus outside of her thoughts completely, and saw Tasha’s team starting down the side of the building. Charles was headed down the other side, while she and Hector were left alone to tackle the front door.
“Am I bait again?” she complained.
“Vamps like bait.”
She rolled her eyes and withdrew her weapons before striding towards a metal door halfway off its hinges. Hector hefted it open for her, and she stepped inside, pausing to let her senses and eyes adjust.
Her instincts were buzzing rather than tingling, and she frowned. “Hector, something’s off here.” The hair on her arms was on end, her skin crawling with heightened awareness of something she couldn’t quite pinpoint.
“I feel it,” Hector voiced quietly.
“It’s not people. Vamps. Whatever. Is this what a ward feels like?” she asked, puzzled. She’d never felt Jonny’s or Xander’s, simply known they were present.
“No.” Hector sounded as puzzled as she felt. “I don’t know what this is.”
“Well, let’s go be bait and find out.” Ashley started into the bay area. Her senses read the area as clear of obstacles, though it was hard to know for certain with the bizarre energy field around them.
“Wait.” Hector rested a hand on her arm. “I don’t think we should go any further.”
“Charles needs his distraction. I can’t do that from outside,” she pointed out and shook him off. “You’re not scared, are you?”
He said nothing.
Ashley glanced over her shoulder and then turned completely around when his glowing red eyes weren’t there.
Hector was gone. Not moved or retreated to outside the warehouse. Completely vanished.
She went still and held her breath, searching the darkness with her senses for any sign of him or the danger that had caused him to disappear. Nothing was present but the strange energy field agitating her instincts.
Ashley faced the direction she planned to walk and stepped forward silently, ready to attack the moment something came within striking distance. She progressed twenty steps before pausing once more and looking around.
The darkness held nothing she could get a real read on – but something was there. “Where are you?” she whispered.
The strange stillness shifted around her.
“You can sense me?” came a soft voice close enough to make her jump.
She whirled. “Yep. Come a little closer.”
“What fun would there be in that?”
She understood vamps often had Natural talents like she did. Was that what this was? A really freaky Natural skill? Perhaps a masking gift of some sort? The idea there was someone present – and it wasn’t any more of a monster than a vamp already was – made the darkness a little less scary.
“Come out, come out, wherever you are,” she sang. “I can take you.”
Something smashed into her. Ashley’s reflexes kept her on her feet – and managed to help her score a hit with one blade.
“I could’ve killed you,” came the voice.
“Yeah. Ditto. What kind of shitty plan is this?” she taunted. “Keep me busy so the other vamps have a chance to escape before I can take them all out?”
“Not quite.” The creature knocked into her. This time, she sensed him right before he hit and arched away, lashing out with a kick. The strange energy dispersed all around her, confusing her, blocked everything about his approach except for a tiny, tiny spark of red.
“Almost … have you,” she murmured and honed her warrior senses to any movement within arm’s reach. She kept an eye out for the spark.
“Do you?”
Before she could move, something draped around her neck and yanked her off her feet.
Ashley gasped and grabbed at the noose around her neck, gripping it before the force of the sudden ascent could snap her spine. The dim glow of a vamp’s eyes was several feet away, suspended like she was. She guessed it was Hector.
She swung her legs and used all her strength to haul her body upwards, against gravity. Ashley wrapped one leg around the rope holding her and used it to support her weight. She sucked in deep breaths, the rope burning the soft skin of her throat. Shifting until she was stable, she took a moment to catch her breath and assess her options. She dropped one of the batons and listened for how long it took to hit the ground.
The faint clatter drew a grimace. She was at least twenty feet up. Dropping down was a guaranteed broken leg or arm.
Stretching back for one of the hidden knives, she yanked it free and slid it between her neck and the rope. She managed to cut herself as well as the rope as she sawed through it. The noose fell away from her neck, and she grabbed the frayed end with one hand.
“Still coming for me, Natural?” called a voice from the floor.
“I’m a little tied up right now but I’ll be right down,” she retorted. Ashley hauled herself up. “Y’all did all this for little ole me?”
“An ambush is only successful if the most dangerous opponent is taken out first.”
Ambush. She paused, uncertain why her thoughts went to Charles. She didn’t like vamps, and especially not the one who Tasered her regularly. But …
I kinda do like Charles. And he was Jonny’s second, which meant the Black God trusted him. That bothered her as much as the thought of Charles being slaughtered by the same rogue vamps that had her brother.
“I appreciate the sentiment,” she replied. “Don’t count me out yet.” She began to climb the rope and within several minutes managed to reach a beam at the top of the factory. “See? Cakewalk.”
The vamp below her was easier to sense from above. He had generated some sort of field, one that addled her warrior senses and made it almost impossible to track where he really was. But from above, he was completely exposed at the center of his field.
Ashley finished pulling her body onto the beam and launched to her feet, c
omfortable thirty five feet above ground on a narrow beam. She had the balance and agility to move quickly and did so, hurrying to the rope holding Hector.
“Hey, Hector. You alive?” she called, unable to help her concern for the vamp who had become her partner.
He didn’t answer verbally, but his squirming made the rope jerk. Ashley considered the best way to get him down or up and finally decided anything she wanted to do was going to take too long, especially with the vamp freak waiting for them below and the ambush she didn’t know if they’d be able to prevent.
She returned to her rope and sawed it free from the top before returning to Hector’s. She tied one end of her rope around the beam tightly and then the other end two feet down from her. Double and triple knotting everything, she tested it before sawing through his rope.
Hector dropped about ten feet closer to the ground with the extension of her rope. Ashley shimmied down to the large vamp. He was alive and clutching the noose around his neck. Ashley sawed through the rope supporting both of them.
They dropped the remaining ten feet to the ground. Ashley hit hard on one ankle and rolled to reduce the impact. She withdrew one knife as she hopped back to her feet and tested the ankle. It was sore already, a sign she’d be slower than she preferred for a bit.
Hector began coughing and gasping. Ashley drew near him, waiting for the vamp they faced to try something while Hector was down and she was recovering.
“Hey, Hector. Get up!” she ordered him. “We gotta warn Charles.”
“You … should’ve left … me,” he replied and crawled to his knees.
“Yeah, probably,” she agreed. “C’mon!”
She saw the red spark of the attacking vamp a split second before he smashed into her. This time, it wasn’t a glancing blow. He hit her full on and drove her onto her back. Ashley wriggled and lashed out with one elbow, smashing him in the nose.
“Hector! Go warn Charles!” she shouted and then flipped her hips to shove the vamp off her.
Hector stumbled away, back towards the door through which they’d entered.
Her attacker didn’t give her time to get up but tackled her again. Ashley ducked and tagged him good with a knife. She bound to her feet. “That all you got, you idiot?” she shouted.
Suddenly, the overhead lights of the factory flipped on, blinding her. Her instincts alerted her before the sunspots cleared enough for her to see.
More than sixty vamps surrounded her. She faced one, the vamp with the ability to hide himself, while the others hung back around the edges of the factory, waiting for the order to attack.
“You’re good,” said the vamp facing her. He was large, muscular and bristling. Unlike the others, his eyes were pure black rather than red. “I see you refused my offer.”
“Offer?” she echoed.
“To spare your brother if you took care of Jonny.”
Ashley straightened, surprised. “You’re Valon?”
“I am.”
Panic fluttered to life inside her. She didn’t know what to say and had always been a horrible liar.
Valon drew closer without drawing his weapons. He was studying her. The gleam of intelligence in his eyes confirmed what Jonny had said about him. “That’s it? You’d rather let your brother die?” he asked. “Did you misunderstand something about my message, Natural? Or are you stupid?”
“No,” she said finally. “Is he here?”
“He’ll be dead before you are.”
Fear seized her before she recalled what Jonny had said. “You won’t. You can use his mind stealth ability against your enemies.”
“Smart girl.” Valon folded his arms across his chest. “His gift is unique. But you … you’re a nuisance. I can find another warrior, one with less fight.”
“Won’t break my heart not to be vamped,” she replied.
Valon drew even closer. Confident she could fight him now that at least one of her senses had a firm hold on him, Ashley didn’t raise her weapons but met his gaze head on, waiting to see what it was he wanted.
“How do you fight for Jonny? I know Xander. I know he wouldn’t agree to this.”
“I’m here for my brother,” she replied. “Give him back, and Xander won’t have a reason to hunt you down and rip your skin off.”
Valon’s scrutiny was making her uncomfortable. It wasn’t the look of a vamp about to attack but an opponent assessing his enemy. She wished she’d thought to ask more about him, whether he could read minds or anything else. She hadn’t expected him to be able to befuddle her senses to the extent he did.
“I smell him on you,” he said pensively. He appeared less pleased by this than the mention of Xander. “You aren’t just his food, are you?”
Ashley’s anger surged. The answer was too complicated for her to understand herself let alone explain to someone else. “None of your fucking business,” she replied.
“I didn’t expect this,” Valon said. “I didn’t expect Jonny to be so cold as to send in someone he was fucking to take me out. He’s more vamplike than I gave him credit for.”
“Yeah, you’re both dicks.”
“I had planned on detaining you then letting you go to curry favor with Xander for my ascension to the role of Black God. But this … this is even better,” Valon said. “I’d rather fuck up Jonny’s world by destroying the woman he’s fucking.”
Ashley shuddered inside at the expression on his face. It wasn’t threatening. He was happy. And she had a feeling that was the worst news possible.
“That might work if he gave a shit.”
“Then you are a fucking fool and so is he for sending you within my grasp.” Valon stepped away. “Time to see what a real Black God does to Naturals that cross him.” He motioned the vamps around them forward.
Ashley lowered herself into a fighting stance, unafraid despite the overwhelming numbers. “Jonny will crush you, Valon,” she said. “And you better hope you kill me tonight.”
“It would be my pleasure.” He flashed a smile. “Kill her.”
Adrenaline jolted within her, and she glanced towards the door through which Hector had gone. With any luck, he’d be able to bring Charles and the rest of them soon. They weren’t going to win this battle, but they might all escape.
She thought so until the second noose draped around her neck and yanked tight enough for her to be forced onto her tiptoes. Ashley stretched up to cut the rope only for two vamps to charge her.
“Come on … now!” she managed, hacking at them while trying to remain on her toes. “This is hardly fair.”
“The Black God doesn’t play fair,” Valon said, standing back to watch.
You have more in common with Jonny than you know, she thought.
A vamp got a blow in. A second slashed her side. Ashley strained to defend herself when doing so meant she couldn’t breathe. Charles and Hector didn’t appear, and the blows of weapons and fists became an onslaught she wasn’t able to stop. Desperation crept into her, along with pain. Her thoughts went to Brandon first and then Jonny, and she hated herself for admitting she hadn’t been able to decide because she wasn’t able to stop loving either of them.
Not that it mattered. It was about to become too late for her anyway.
Chapter Nineteen
Jonny knew something was very wrong even before the call came from Charles. His gut was heavy and twisting, the sense of foreboding distracting him from monitoring the progress of his teams.
Charles’ text was shorter than last time.
Come now.
Jonny checked their location with Stu before Traveling to the abandoned factory in southern Oklahoma. He smelled blood – and lots of it – the moment he materialized. Charles stood off to one side, hand on his bloodied forehead. Tasha was on her knees beside him, holding her stomach.
Jonny scanned the bodies of the dead vamps, his heart quickening. He counted several dead rogues – and almost a dozen of his own. His losses were going to become crippling soon. “Wha
t happened?” he asked, senses alert for any additional attackers.
“Ambush,” Charles reported. “He had all his vamps here waiting for us. And then they let us go.”
“What do you mean?” Jonny frowned.
“They wanted to send you a message.”
“What message? That this is war?” he looked around. “Where’s Ashley?”
Charles said nothing, his jaw tight.
“Charles,” Jonny growled, anger flaring. “Where is she?”
“Inside,” was the soft response. “We did everything we could to reach her.”
Jonny’s chest tightened until he could barely suck in a breath. His emotions churned, and dread dropped into his belly. “Get everyone back who made it,” he ordered and strode forward, into the factory.
Ashley hung by her neck from a noose tied to the ceiling. She was unconscious and bloodied almost beyond recognition. The scent of her blood made him crave her, and he hurried to her. She’d managed to take out close to ten vamps, whose bodies lay at her feet.
“Ash,” he whispered and wrapped an arm around her. He lifted her to ease the tension on the rope then used his magic to cut her free. “Ashley!”
She didn’t stir. Her pulse was faint, rapid, fading. Jonny rested her onto the ground, listening to her body and ignoring the compulsion to taste her with steely determination.
“Is she alive?” Charles asked from several feet away.
“Barely and not for long,” Jonny replied, at a momentary loss as to what to do. Her gorgeous eyes were closed, her face cut and her dark hair dripping with her blood. Rope burn rendered the skin around her neck raw and he wasn’t able to count the amount of injuries from which she bled.
She healed fast but there was no coming back from this.
“Our healer can’t help Naturals,” Charles said.
“I know.” Jonny touched her forehead to assess the damage.
Ashley didn’t have fifteen minutes. Fear tore through him, the kind of emotion he hadn’t experienced since he took his position as the Black God, since the night he almost lost his sister. He hadn’t wanted to care about her, hadn’t considered what it meant for him if something happened to her. The thought of losing her paralyzed him, left him uncertain what he felt but sure he was already in too deep.
