by Terry Spear
"All right, we go together. If you warn him we're coming, you're dead," Boniface said.
"If we don't leave anyone here, we won't be able to keep the place secure," Zachary said.
"We'll clean it out when we return," Victor said.
Zachary nodded and squeezed Pasha's hand. "Let's get dressed."
As soon as they were fully dressed, they headed out to the car and Zachary contacted Adonis. "We're with a newly turned vampire who's taking us to Crichton's lair. We're leaving the house vacant. We don't know what we'll find, but he seems sincere in saying he hadn't killed any hunters and he wants no part of any of this."
"Who turned him?"
"Rutherford."
"All right, tell me where it is, and I'll bring Danai and Daemon with me. It helps to have an ancient vampire with us to fight an ancient, if we need him to."
Zachary gave him the name of the condo complex and then the hunters took off for the place and hoped this battle would help to end some of the conflict in the city. When they finally arrived there, they parked, and headed inside. Zachary halfway expected Alex to disappear before they located the floor and unit where Crichton was staying. When they spoke to the manager, whom they had to wake and was not happy about it in the least, he told them the unit where the man was staying. The manager said, "I wouldn't have even known about it, but the man wanted me to know the couple was going on a cruise and he was condo sitting for them. I thought that was nice."
Nice. Right. Condo sitting and hunter killing and turning humans into vampires. Nice side hobbies.
They headed up the stairs to the second-floor unit and when they reached the door, Alex knocked. "Sir, it's Alex. I went to the..."
A man yanked open the door and his face drained of all color. His eyes were huge as Adonis thrust his sword into the man's heart. The ancient fell to floor, disintegrating in a pile of ash.
"Hell, I...uh, I...I thought you might talk to him first," Alex said as the hunters rushed through the condo, looking for new vampires or any other ancients on the premises.
“A sword stops a vampire from killing us, much better than words,” Zachary said.
"That was Crichton, I take it," Pasha said.
Alex studied the ashes and clothes on the floor. "Uh, yeah. They sure look different from when they're so mean and vicious—the rogue ones I mean. Then just becoming a pile of ash. Not scary at all."
"No one else here," Adonis said. "Now where's Rutherford?"
"I honestly don't know. But I heard another ancient, Whitefoot, more levelheaded than Crichton, is at another apartment complex. He might have moved. If I were them, I'd be doing a lot of moving."
"They get set in their ways," Pasha said. "The ancients don't like the idea that they are being pushed around."
"Right. They're all superior," Alex said, then kicked at Crichton's ashes. "Really superior now."
"Will you come with us?" Pasha asked.
"Yeah, I've been wanting this to happen, but I was afraid to try and approach any of you for fear you'd kill me on the spot, sure I was like the others."
"I wanted to let one go. I think he was like you, not having wanted to be turned, but he didn't want to live like this either," Pasha said.
"I know the feeling, but I'd rather live and try to get on with my life. Some of the abilities I have now are cool, but I'll have to get a night job or work from home. I'm a computer programmer, so maybe I can do that."
"I'm sorry they did this to you," Pasha said.
"I'm sorry they killed your family."
She nodded. Then they all took off in their car, but first to see the police and the vampires they were holding for the moment in cells. Though they could literally vanish and leave the station anytime they wanted to.
"Are the men still here?" Adonis asked.
"Yeah, unless they've done a disappearing act." The officer took the hunters downstairs to the cells and they found the men were still there.
Adonis asked them telepathically, "Can you hear anything from Crichton any longer?"
Pasha knew he was trying to verify that the ancient vampire that Adonis had killed had actually been Crichton.
"No," the one man said out loud, not quite figuring out the telepathic communication yet.
"He's gone silent. He's been telling us what we're to expect and what we're supposed to do as soon as the time is right and then he just went silent. We're so tired, we all wanted to just sleep," another vampire said.
"It feels strange not having him in our head," another said. "I'm glad he's no longer there, at least for the moment. I thought he'd be up all night. We're unable to stay awake tonight, just because we were up all day as humans. It will be an adjustment, I'm sure."
"It will be, but you'll get used to it soon enough," Adonis said.
"So why has he stopped talking to us? As an ancient vampire, he says he is up all night and sleeps during the day."
"He's dead. He can't control you now," Pasha said. At least it seemed they'd verified he was dead now.
The vampires glanced at Alex.
"I'm one of you. A different ancient vampire changed me and unfortunately, he's still alive. The hunters want to help me take him down," Alex said.
"You can't, can you?" one of the vampires asked. "Crichton told us even if we wanted to, we were bound to him, as if he were our master, and we couldn't harm a hair on his head."
The vampires smiled. "I'm glad you eliminated him," another one said.
"Alex helped us to find the condo where he was staying."
"Oh, we couldn't tell you. I mean, we could now, but before, he did something to us to make us forget where he was living, I guess so we couldn't tell the police."
Pasha thought that was interesting. She'd never had anything to do with vampires except to kill the rogues. She'd never known about all the small nuances of how they could influence a vampire or not. Some she knew about because of Adonis and how, as much as he wanted to kill Piaras, he couldn't. The same with Danai. But Pasha didn't know about the business with how anything they told them to forget could come back to them once the ancient was dead.
"Can we leave here now?" one of the vampires asked. "If we don't have to work for Crichton, we shouldn't be a threat. We don't intend to kill any hunters. We never wanted to be vampires. It's sure going to screw up our love life."
"You're free to go, just watch your backs," Alex said. "The others that Rutherford turned, like me, believe Crichton intended to use you to eliminate Rutherford and the vampires he turned. Not to mention you were supposed to kill the hunters too."
"What are we supposed to do then? I feel like we're in the middle of a war that we don't want to fight."
"Choose a side. I have, even though I still owe allegiance to Rutherford," Alex said.
"How can you?"
"He's weak, injured badly. I've been fighting what he's telling me to do. I don't believe he knows what I've been up to," Alex said.
"We'll fight on the hunters' side if we have to fight," one of the men said, the others agreeing. "I mean, if we're stuck in the middle of the conflict, I don't want to die for no good reason."
"Same with me," another of the men said. "It's bad enough that we are what we are now and carry the stigma with us. We're going to alienate our friends and families, lose our jobs, who knows what else. At least we can help fight the ones who were the reason any of this happened in the first place."
"Yeah, I agree. What do we do now?"
"I'm not sure you're ready to fight this bunch. The newly turned vampires have been fighting the hunters—" Adonis said.
"And losing," Alex reminded him.
"Not all of them. Not in the beginning."
"We'll do it," one of the vampires said.
"Good," Alex said, as if he were in charge. "The hunters and I will need all the help we can get."
"You'll go to one of the hunters' homes and wait for anyone who isn't a hunter to turn up. As a group of seven, you should be all right. I'll g
ive you my cell number and you can call me if you have trouble. We'll be there in a heartbeat," Adonis said.
"All right."
"I'll stay with you," Alex said, "and if any of the ones I was turned with show up, I can tell them you're Rutherford's newly turned vampires. They'll believe me and won't fight you. We can text the hunters and then fight the others, if it comes to that."
"You still feel a loyalty to them," one of the vampires said.
"Only in that they are like brothers. Like the seven of you are, once you were turned by the same ancient. But the others killed hunters. I refused to do it."
Pasha wondered if some newly turned vampires had more willpower than others. Maybe Alex would still be okay, even if Rutherford healed up enough to come back in full force.
"Have you heard from Rutherford? Maybe he's dead too," one of the other vampires said.
Pasha wished he was.
“I don’t know,” Alex said.
The police officer released the men from jail and Adonis called Boniface to pick them up. They could stay in the house across from where Zachary and the others were staying. That worked for Pasha. As long as the vampires didn't become convinced they had to fight the hunters.
Then they all returned to the house, and since no one had been staying there to watch over it, they all went inside to check it out. The place was still clear, except for the dead bodies. Adonis called it in to the police to pick them up.
"Do we go back to sleep for what's left of the night?" Pasha asked, stifling a yawn.
Adonis smiled at her. "Yeah. Get some rest. In the morning, you and Zachary will just watch the house and keep an eye on our parents' home. We'll talk to you tomorrow."
At least Pasha was glad the vampire hunters still had the regular sleeping schedule: during the day they were awake, and at night they slept, or she and Zachary would never be in sync. She wondered how it was with Daemon and his mate, and Ephraim and Elizabeth. The vampires slept at night, but the huntresses turned could do what they wanted. She supposed they'd sleep together. What would be the fun in being mated if they didn't?
Everyone said good night again, and this time she hoped they wouldn't be fighting another vampire in their bedroom when they were barely dressed.
They slept late the next morning, not meaning to.
Chapter 20
As soon as Zachary woke, he realized how late it had gotten. He couldn't believe he and Pasha had slept so late when they were supposed to be taking over so Daemon and his mate could sleep. "Come on, sleepyhead," he said to Pasha, kissing her cheek.
She moaned. "It's not that time already, is it?"
"Past that time." He got out of bed and began getting dressed.
She watched him, her arms folded behind her head. "Nice."
He smiled at her. "I'll go relieve the others and you can sleep for a while longer."
She sighed. "No way. We're in this together."
"We won't have any vampires come to the house during the day. I'll be fine."
"Tempting, but no." Pasha got up and started dressing.
"I'll get breakfast started." Zachary left the bedroom and found Boniface and Victor eating the last of their waffles and bacon. "Sorry we got up so late."
"It was a rough night for the two of you when you had to kill vampires in the middle of your sleep time. No problem," Victor said.
Boniface agreed. "I'd hope you'd do the same for us if we had the same situation occur."
"Is Daemon and his mate already asleep?" Pasha asked, coming into the kitchen.
"Yeah, they couldn’t wait up any longer," Boniface said. "We're off to bed." He cleaned up their dishes and both he and Victor said goodnight.
"Do waffles sound good to you?" Zachary asked, handing Pasha a cup of coffee.
"Sure. Just plain or..."
"Blueberry or chocolate chip?" he asked.
"Oh, wow, chocolate chip works for me."
Zachary toasted the waffles, blueberry for him and chocolate chip for Pasha while she brought out the butter and waffle syrup. "We'll have to replenish the homeowners' food supply."
"We will, though I'm sure they'll figure it was worth it that we saved them from whatever the vampires intended to do with them."
"Speaking of food supply," Zachary said.
"Or turning them." Pasha brought them glasses of orange juice and Zachary set the plates of waffles on the table.
Once they took their seats, Zachary began checking in with the other hunters to make sure everyone was accounted for. Even though he hadn't been given that job, he just felt someone needed to make sure everyone was all right several times a day.
Pasha smiled at him. "Somehow, I thought Michael was the one who was always in charge, when it came to the two of you. At least Rachael had mentioned it since Michael is the oldest brother."
"He's been rather...preoccupied with Danai."
"In a good way, or bad?"
"Good. He was all hunter, sure, he had girlfriends, humans, but he never found a huntress he cared enough about to make a long-term commitment."
"Then he meets a vampire turned huntress."
"He was fascinated with her from the beginning. He just was hooked on her. Anyway, no matter what, he wanted to court her, hunt with her, be there for her."
"Then he learned she'd been turned." Pasha bit into her syrup covered waffle and made a sound of pure enjoyment.
"Good, huh?" Zachary really didn’t want to speculate on what Michael and Danai would end up doing. Staying together? Going their separate ways? Zachary had enough to deal with concerning his own situation.
"The chocolate chips make it the best." She continued to eat her waffle while he sipped his coffee.
"Today, I figure we can take turns napping on the sofa, so we get some more rest until we have to do something. I'll keep an eye out on the house across the street in the meantime."
"Okay, it's a deal. I never thought I'd be sleeping during the day. Then again, when we've had to be up all night on a hunt, I do take a nap on occasion."
"That's what Boniface and Victor have been doing," Zachary said. "Would you like another waffle?"
She examined the waffle syrup dripped on her plate. "Sure, one more before I lie down. I'm not sure I can sleep, but I'll close my eyes for a while."
"Sounds like a good idea." Zachary fixed them both another waffle and some more coffee, only this time he made Pasha's decaf.
Once they were done, he washed up the dishes, and she headed for the linen closet for a pillow and a blanket.
Then she settled on the couch and he went into the front room to watch the house. He was in an office with a desk at the window and the chair facing the view. Besides the home, he could see a glimpse of the beach and aqua blue water beyond. It was a sunny day, a breeze whipping the palm fronds of the trees around that landscaped both properties. Pink crepe myrtles, pink flowering cherry trees, and white oleanders were blooming profusely in both yards also, as if the homeowners had color-coordinated their gardens. Each had red fountain grass in a band between properties. The owners here had a pear tree, but Pasha’s parents had a magnolia tree. All were spectacular in their flowery finery.
He wondered if her parents would return to the house, once this was all over with. And if so, where he and Pasha might live, because he was going to mate her if she agreed.
He saw movement then across the street at the home. Which surprised him because vampires wouldn’t be out running around at this hour. Other hunters?
The humans Crichton had turned had taken refuge there.
Zachary telepathically communicated with Adonis. “We have movement at your parents’ home. Did any of the hunters say they were going over there?”
“No, we’ll meet you over there. Wake the others.”
As much as Zachary hated waking anyone who needed their sleep, it could be essential to protecting the vampires who hoped to lead semi-normal lives after Crichton had turned them against their will.
Zachar
y wanted Pasha to stay at the house, but as soon as he said there was trouble, she was going with him. Boniface and Victor were ready in a jiffy, Victor agreeing to stay at the house and watch it while the others went to the one across the street.
Zachary really wanted to just reappear there, but he wanted more to stay with Pasha this time, since he knew she’d run into the house ready for a fight and she wouldn’t like it if he started without her this time.
The three of them raced across the street, intent on taking care of the threat, if there was one. They headed inside the house and heard the vampires pleading with hunters. Zachary had told all the hunters about the vampires not being part of the problem. So he worried other hunters had come for the bounty on Crichton’s head or the other vampires involved in the hunter massacre.
He was surprised to see Adonis, Rachael, Ephraim, Elizabeth, Daemon, and Tezra there already. Adonis was arguing with none other than Gregory, the four hunters with him ready to back him up. Adonis was trying to reason with him. Rachael looked ready to kill Gregory if he moved an inch in her mate’s direction, her sword out and pointed at him in a threatening manner.
The newly turned vampires were behind them, still telling them they weren’t fighting the hunters. “We’re on your side,” the one man said.
“You would be a vampire lover since you’re one of them now,” Gregory said, sneering at Adonis.
“Give it up, Gregory,” Rachael said. “Adonis is my mate, so be a hunter and get over it.”
“You need to be with a real hunter,” Gregory spat out.
“Like you? Where were you when Adonis and I were fighting Piaras?” Rachael asked, sounding as outraged as Zachary felt.
Her life had not been her own until the vampire had been eliminated.
“I was fighting other ancients,” Gregory said, sounding just as furious.
“By the time you reached us, Piaras was dead, a reason for celebration, not more killing,” Rachael said.
“We’re hunters, born that way. We don’t have any choice.”
