by Terry Spear
“One, but we took care of her first,” Laura said.
“Let’s get this done then,” Jeremy said, and they all began helping each other to haul out the bodies.
Zachary let Adonis know that Rachael and the rest of the hunters were fine.
“Once you’re done with the bodies, have Jeremy and Laura return to the house across the street from theirs, but make sure no one has arrived there while you all were at the other home,” Adonis said.
“Will do and then we’ll drop Rachael back off at your place.” Zachary let everyone know the plan.
Once they had filled up the storage shed with dead vampire bodies, they checked out the house where the dead vampire was and moved her to another storage shed.
“Let us know if you have any further trouble,” Pasha told Jeremy and Laura.
“Will do. The woman we killed told us no one was in our house,” Jeremy said. “She obviously had lied.”
After Laura and Jeremy left them, Rachael said, “I’ve called on my girlfriends to back us up.”
“Girlfriends,” Zachary said.
“Yeah, you know the ones. My army girlfriend who married the army guy and both are hunters.”
“She was turned,” Zachary said.
Rachael smiled. “Yeah. As far as we know, she’s the first one who was turned against her will. Vampire lore states that our blood is poisonous to them, but after she was turned, the word spread that it isn’t.”
“And she couldn’t hunt vampires.”
“Well, that changed once one turned her. Anyway, then there’s my Scottish girlfriend who—”
“Mated a vampire whom she loved from the time when they lived during the Black Death, only he was turned into a vampire and she, a huntress.”
“Right. And she wanted to be one of them.”
Zachary shook his head. “What do their mates say about any of this?”
Rachael smiled. “All for one and one for all.”
Well, more help from hunters would be welcome. Zachary was afraid Crichton would begin to do a massive vampire turning if they didn’t get to him first.
Chapter 12
After letting Rachael off at the house where Adonis was staying, Zachary and Pasha returned to the house where they’d watch for movement at her parents’ place.
Thankfully, the residence was still clear. They couldn’t tell about her house.
“I can’t believe Rachael has so many hunter-turned vampire friends,” Pasha said, settling at a window and observing the house across the street.
“Yeah, it was a surprise to the family too. We were afraid Piaras would get to her and she’d be one of them but forced like her army friend had been.”
“How did the huntresses all meet? They seem to be from different areas of the country,” Pasha asked.
“They met on Facebook. That was before they were turned. They all met up with Rachael in Dallas, and they’ve been friends ever since. They all had…issues. No one could understand Crystal being a huntress who couldn’t kill vampires. They’d kicked her out of the family.”
“Ohmigod, that’s a surefire way for a huntress to be the target for the vampires.”
“Yeah, exactly. That’s when Robert came in to protect her. Well, after he figured she wasn’t a vampire. Then Elizabeth was having dreams of being with a vampire in a way no huntress should dream of. Ephraim ended up being on her terminal list,” Zachary said.
“What? No way. And she agreed to have him turn her?” Pasha asked.
“Yeah. He wasn’t a rogue.”
Pasha sighed. “And Rachael was marked by Piaras. Not to mention my brother wanted her in the worst way.”
“Right. And borderline rogue huntress Tezra had the worst nightmares any huntress should have to deal with, all having to do with her parents being murdered by a vampire. Daemon took her under his wing before she got them all in trouble. There’s another they’ve befriended, Selena Towson, who killed a hunter and she is now on the outs with the hunter community. But she’s still a huntress. We invited her to join us in Dallas, but she loves Portland, Oregon, so she intends to stay there. At least for now.”
“That’s Daemon’s territory, isn’t it?”
“Right, but she’s a huntress and not affiliated with the vampires.”
“The hunter she killed probably deserved it,” Pasha said.
“I’m sure he did,” Zachary said.
“Hey,” Pasha said, “a ponytailed guy just arrived at the front door of my house.”
“A vampire?”
“At this hour, most likely, though why he didn’t just enter the residence beats me.”
Another vampire answered the door, greeting him.
“Hell, they must have discovered those who attended the bash are no longer there,” Zachary said.
“That one has to be an ancient come to check it out, don’t you think?” Pasha asked.
“Yeah. Stay here. I’ll transport to the house and listen in on what they have to stay.”
“Stay safe.” She kissed Zachary on the mouth, and he couldn’t have been more surprised. And pleased.
He kissed her briefly back, and then inclined his head. “I’ll be back.” Then he vanished and reappeared next to the house, out of sight of the vampires. He was well-hidden in the shrubs, should anyone be watching the house, even Pasha.
“You’ve searched the whole house?” the vampire asked the one in the doorway.
“Yeah. I mean, there’s evidence that a party had been going on, booze, music still playing, and sofa pillows scattered on the floor. Not like in a fight but used for the vampires to satisfy their thirst while drinking the hosts’ blood. Bed linens in disarray for the same reason. The usual. But no vampires or hosts are here partying.”
“Do you know which hosts were coming to the party?”
“No. We don’t make lists.”
“Okay. Have you tried contacting anyone who planned to be at the bash to see where they are now?”
“Listen, everyone’s from somewhere else, okay? Rutherford made sure that a clan of vampires didn’t come here and try to usurp his power. By having all of us come from other regions, none of us know each other. Truthfully, none of us care. The bash wasn’t given as a way to enjoy time spent with our fellow vampires as it is to get blood from hosts, safely without police interference.”
“So there’s no one you know who planned to be here tonight that you can contact.”
“No, Dennison.”
“All right. I want to see the place.” Dennison went inside with the other man.
There were only two men and Zachary figured taking two out would be the best way to deal with Crichton’s minions. He wondered who Rutherford was. He didn’t want to wait for Crichton to send more men to investigate.
Zachary had this. He walked inside the house and heard the men walking down the hall to the bedrooms. He was afraid Dennison would vanish and return to tell Crichton what he’d learned before Zachary could take care of him and the other vampire. Zachary assumed Dennison was somebody important. Zachary was about to join them in the hallway when he heard someone closing in behind him.
Heart pounding and ready to do battle, Zachary swung around, drawing his sword at the same time. Pasha stood before him, brow furrowed. He was getting the distinct impression she didn’t trust in his new abilities and his instincts. Immediately, he indicated the two men were down the hall. She nodded, but he knew she wasn’t happy he had decided to take matters into his own hands and hadn’t called on her to help.
“Unless there was a huge force of hunters who killed them and then disposed of their bodies,” Dennison said, “I assume the vampires left the party for some other reason.”
“I did consider they may be meeting to plan a way to take over from Crichton.”
Pasha and Zachary flattened themselves against the wall, waiting for the right moment to make their move.
As soon as they were near enough, Zachary vanished and appeared before Dennison.
/>
“Hell,” Dennison said. “You nearly scared the shit out of me.”
Zachary smiled, loving how his vampiric abilities confused the rogue vampires every time. “The bash was crashed.” Zachary buried his sword into Dennison’s heart, just as Pasha came around the corner of the wall, brandishing her sword and swinging it to behead the other vampire and finishing the task.
Hers was newly turned. Zachary’s was an ancient. Both were very dead.
“Let’s get out of here,” Zachary said. “I can’t believe how easy it is to kill ancients, when it’s always been so difficult.”
“You totally throw them off-guard. Shouldn’t we remove the bodies to the garden shed at least, to keep Crichton and his vampires confused for as long as we can?”
“Yeah, but let’s hurry.” Zachary was afraid Dennison’s going missing wasn’t going to be so easily explained and Crichton would know the hunters were wreaking havoc with his minions.
Once they had moved the two bodies, they quickly left the house, but as soon as they did, Danai called Pasha and she put the call on speakerphone. “We’ve seen five hosts and a vampire in the hotel lobby. We’re afraid they might know we’re here.”
“We’re on our way,” Pasha said, and she and Zachary sped back to the hotel, praying they wouldn’t be too late to protect them.
Zachary let Adonis know what was going on.
“Let us know if you need our help. We’re going to try and keep this area secure for now.”
“We’ll let you know.”
Hosts were one thing. They could fight, but most were just everyday civilians and not fighters. And most had no interest in fighting. Not like the vampires. Newly turned vampires could be from any walk of life, but their vampiric condition made them fight-worthy at once. They might not be able to handle a sword or dagger, but they could fly, vanish, reappear, and strike with their teeth. Some hosts were loyal to the vampires, but these seemed more eager to keep their heads intact and ran away instead of helping the vampires to destroy the hunters.
One vampire with a number of hosts shouldn’t be a problem. But what worried Zachary was if there were more vampires than that coming for Danai and her charges.
Pasha was terrified that harm might come to the children, Danai, and her grandmother. She really thought the vampires wouldn’t have located them at the hotel. She didn’t want to let on how she was feeling, not when she was a mighty hunter and she didn’t want Zachary to see that she was distressed.
When they arrived at the hotel, they hurried out of the vehicle and went into the lobby to check on the situation. Zachary listened to see if he could hear any telepathic communication between vampires, and then he said, “I heard a woman talking to a man.”
He pulled Pasha toward the sitting area. “I’m monitoring some conversation,” he whispered in her ear, and she put her arms around his neck and offered her mouth to him.
He smiled down at her and kissed her lips.
But she ramped up the kiss and took it for all it was worth. He was hot and sexy, and she couldn’t get enough of his mouth, his tongue caressing hers in a wickedly, passionate way. Oh, she could get used to this as much as she told herself she shouldn’t even be thinking that way.
Then Danai called Pasha, interrupting the kiss and Pasha asked, “What’s happening, Danai?”
“One of the hotel staff called me per Zachary’s vampiric orders to let us know if anyone was searching for hunters. He heard four men talking to each other about the vampire-hunter war and he assumed they were hosts. The other man glowered at them and they shut up right away. The clerk assumed the guy was a vampire.
“Rachael called and said her friends were arriving. I had word from them already. They’re meeting in a banquet/meeting room that’s free and want us to have the vampire sent there, and any others should they come here looking for us. Since Zachary told the hotel staff not to take orders from anyone other than the hunters here, I went downstairs to speak to the staff to ensure it was working as planned,” Danai said.
Pasha relayed the information to Zachary.
“Hell,” he said. “She’s supposed to stay with her grandmother and the kids at all times.”
“What if the vampire and his hosts went to the room where they’re staying? If we hit the vampires at the meeting room, we’d keep the kids safer than bringing the battle to them,” Pasha said to Zachary, annoyed.
Zachary conceded she was right. Though Pasha knew he only worried for Danai’s safety and that of the others she was helping to protect if anything had happened to her before she could return to the room. Or even that the kids and Grandma could have been in danger if the vampire had attacked when Danai wasn’t there to protect them.
Danai continued, “The hotel clerk told the vampire that he’d overheard a hunter talking to another about the vampire scourge in the city—exactly what I had told the clerk to say—and that they were in the Magnolia Room. So the vampire and hosts are headed that way. Oh, and they asked if there were more than the two hunters and the clerk told him no, that they were an elderly couple, a man and his mate. That would definitely give the vampire a false sense of security.”
“Did the vampire go to the meeting room with just the hosts?”
“He called another man and he brought someone else. So now there are three vampires. But Rachael’s friends showed up right after I called Pasha and they’re waiting for the vampires in the meeting room.”
“How many of them turned up?”
“The army officer couple—Robert and Crystal, she’s a hunter turned, and her two brothers are here, Victor and Boniface. Also, the Scottish couple, Ephraim and Elizabeth. He’s a vampire, not a hunter, both are ancient. She’s a hunter turned. The vampire Prince Daemon and his mate, Tezra, a hunter turned, are also here. If they need more help, he’ll send more.”
“Wow.” Pasha smiled.
“Yeah, and Rachael told Adonis what was going on so they’re staying put at the house they’re occupying.”
“All right. Once we meet our reinforcements, we may need to return to our parents’ house to continue to watch for more of the rogue vampires,” Pasha told Danai. “Do you want one of us to join you?”
“No. We’re good as long as the fighting is done in the banquet room.”
“We’re headed there now,” Pasha said. To Zachary, she said, “I can’t believe the vampires aren’t warning Crichton about what is going on. I keep thinking we’re going to have a full-scale battle on our hands and we’re not going to be ready for it.”
“I agree.” Zachary motioned to the meeting rooms on the second floor. “If he’s turning more people, even after we’ve gotten rid of several of his, we could have a real massacre on our hands. Do you think Danai and your grandmother will be all right?”
“If she has any trouble at all and she can’t call me, she’ll telepathically contact you.” Pasha could see where that could be a good thing. Hands free communication in the middle of a fight. “I just feel a little uneasy meeting more—” Pasha at once guilty about what she was going to say, remembering he was the same as the other turned hunters.
“Hunters who had been turned?” Zachary asked.
“Uh, yeah.” No matter how much she could see the good in what the turned hunters could do, and that they weren’t rogue vampires, she still didn’t feel totally comfortable about it. She still had a hard time reconciling herself with what he and the others had become. “Sorry.”
“Don’t be. It’s going to take time for any of us to get used to. I’m just glad that at the moment the vampires don’t know about it and are at a disadvantage. They could start to channel their telepathic communications for one thing. Right now, I can listen in on them if they’re close by.” Zachary held his fingers to his lips and whispered, “Two vampires are speaking in that room up ahead.”
“Telepathically?” she asked, since she didn’t hear anything.
He nodded.
When they reached the door, Zachary heard
a man with a Scottish accent say telepathically, “Aye, we’re part of the newly turned vampires he sent to find the hunters who are wreaking havoc with our number. A minor trouble for now, but it might become more.”
Zachary thought the man speaking was Ephraim MacNeill, the ancient Scottish vampire that was a friend of Rachael. Zachary and Pasha stood outside the closed doors of the meeting room.
Then Zachary pushed open the door and said telepathically, “We’re more of Crichton’s men, Zachary and Pasha. The vampire Rachael sent us.” He hoped Rachael’s friends would realize they were her friends too.
The hunters grew more relaxed and smiled at them. He hoped that was a good sign and not that they were smiling about the notion they planned to eliminate them too.
“You are all here because of two old hunters?” the rogue vampire asked, his brow furrowed. The other two with him agreed.
“We were concerned more would show up,” Zachary said. Then he frowned. “Do you have any idea how many there are of us now?”
“No,” the vampire said. “Why should I know that? That’s up to Crichton.”
“We should know so we can determine the hunter threat to us. Why should we be kept in the dark about this?” Zachary asked.
“Do the three of you know each other?” the Scottish laird asked. “None of us know each other.” He motioned to everyone in the room. “I wondered if you knew any of the men or women here?”
“I don’t know them or any of you. Crichton did it that way on purpose, we figure. His only clan was wiped out by feuding between the members. Backstabbing, killing parties, switching sides. Only Crichton and one of his best friends survived the war. So he doesn’t want that to happen here if a bunch of vampires from a particular clan showed up.”
“And tried to take over,” Zachary guessed.
“Exactly. We were told the hunters were here,” the vampire said. “So where are they?”
“We dealt with them already.” Zachary smiled and pulled out his hunter’s sword.
