I winced and pulled the phone away from my ear. “Where are you?”
“I sense we are perhaps five furlongs from you. I transferred my warriors into this—this … do you call this a forest?” he said. “It is nothing that compares to Otherworld. I had bad information and didn’t make it to our target, so I need someone to come collect us.”
“No, the forest doesn’t compare.” I had to smile at that. When it came to nature, nothing was as pure as Otherworld. “Tristan and I will go out and meet you.”
“I shall wait for your arrival,” Father said, and then the connection was severed.
“You gave Father a phone?” I handed the device back to Tristan.
He shrugged. “Convenient, is it not?”
I just shook my head at the thought of the warrior king of the Dark Elves having a cell phone.
After making our way out of the pyramid, Tristan and I ran to meet my father.
The evening was cool as we cut through the night. It was impossible to hear or see Elves—Dark or Light—if they didn’t want you to. But as Drow, Tristan and I could both sense them.
When we came upon the warriors in the forest, just off the road, they let us by without speaking. Tristan nodded to the warriors we passed. I was aware of their gazes. I wondered what they were thinking now that I was a Vampire.
I was not actually certain they’d all even heard of Vampires before they joined my father’s special force.
Father stepped out into the forest, and emotion surged through me. I threw myself into his arms. I didn’t care that his warriors were watching. I needed my father.
He embraced me. “Nyx.” His voice was thick as he squeezed me tight to him. “You tempt me to take you back to Otherworld and lock you away.” He drew away and held my face in his palms. “I have almost lost you too many times.”
“I know, Father.” I hugged him again and rested my cheek against the cool metal of his breastplate. “I think I need a vacation.”
Tristan and I walked with my father and his warriors back to the pyramid. The warriors did not change their bearing, but I could sense the wonder and wariness they all felt at being escorted into this bizarre world.
It made me think of when Rodán had brought me to New York City. The surprise, excitement, and even fear I’d felt in such a strange place. Almost three years later I was a changed person.
We escorted them through the foyer of the pyramid, up the staircase, and to the ballroom. The paranorms had been told to expect a contingent of Dark Elves but there was still a sense of wary interest on both sides.
Colin and my father greeted each other like longtime friends.
There was barely any room to move now. There had to be over a hundred of us packed into the enormous ballroom. When daylight came we would have the Drow warriors sleep inside the pyramid or down in the catacombs.
I left my father and Tristan, and I squeezed through the crowd with Colin to the head of the room where Armand waited. Desmond was there, too.
Armand raised his hands and made a motion for everyone to quiet down and listen.
When the room was silent, he spoke. “Thanks to the Sorcerer Desmond, we have learned where the Vampires are gathered.”
A murmur traveled through the crowd of paranorms.
“Based on what Desmond told us, a recon team was sent in. They have just returned,” Armand continued, “bringing valuable information.”
He gestured for a paranorm to come forward. I recognized a Tracker from upstate New York, a Shifter named John.
Armand clapped a hand on his shoulder. “John, share with everyone what you and your recon team learned.”
“By shifting into one of my smaller animal forms, I was able to enter Volod’s mansion. I found this.” John raised a piece of paper. “This is a list of all Vampires and Vampire paranorms who are or will be at the Vampires’ lair shortly. It’s a much shorter list than we expected. There are fewer than a hundred names on it.”
“How do you know that number is correct?” Dave asked as a murmur traveled through the room.
“It appears very accurate based on the numbers of Vampires I saw.” He went on to explain that the compound had human guards on the perimeter while the vampires were asleep, much as when they had controlled the pyramid.
“The guards are replaced by Vampires about ten o’clock. We will need to take care of the guards,” John said with a smile. “Which shouldn’t be hard being they are human.”
He held up the paper again. “This also has an agenda for the next two days. It has times listed down to the quarter hour. From what we observed, they are following that agenda.”
We made plans to penetrate the perimeter forest to just outside the main mansion, where there was a huge assembly building. It was just north of the mansion with two huge outdoor fireplaces and chairs set up. A large roll-up door in the rear was unlocked. Not that a lock kept me from getting into anything.
According to John, there was a huge back room that was used for storage, but it had plenty of empty space for our fighters to lie in wait. A drape separated the storage room from the main room. We had to get into place with a large team before the Vampires assembled. Apparently the Vampires generally didn’t come out until at least an hour or so after sundown.
“That hour will give our fighters time to set up for the attack,” Armand said. “Many of them will be inside. We will plan on having twenty to twenty-five there. The rest will be on the perimeter and will attack the building on signal as well as going after any Vampires who run out of the assembly hall or remain outside or in the mansion.”
“Last night,” John said, “Volod talked to the Vampires about who they are, what they are entitled to, how they are superior to everyone now. According to their agenda, he’s now about to lay out the next step in his plan. He likes to get his troops excited, practically in a frenzy.”
“Yeah, I’ve been to a couple of these meetings,” Olivia said. “It was called Amway.”
A little laughter was sprinkled around the room. I knew a Shifter who was an Amway distributor and I’d bought soap from him. Still, I doubted that most paranorms had heard of the company.
“We thought we would have to take the Vampires down in tight quarters,” Armand said. “This will work out perfectly. We will go through what we know about the Vampire paranorms; we have a dossier on each one, and we know their respective skills. I believe that we have more than enough firepower to take them all out.”
It was difficult still to think of destroying these beings, these Vampire paranorms. If they only understood that Volod would ultimately destroy all of them after he was done with them.
Not long ago, we were on the same side fighting Volod. To think we had been so close to destroying him less than a year ago. And now he was on the brink of taking over New York City. I couldn’t imagine a more cunning or evil being.
“We have the element of surprise in our favor,” Armand said, drawing my attention back to him. “And we have numbers. A numbers advantage was not what we expected. Adding the Drow warriors will help ensure victory.”
“Why don’t we go in daylight when the Vampires are in coffins or catacombs or wherever the hell they are?” Olivia asked.
Armand turned to her, resting his hand on the hilt of the sword sheathed at his side. “Good question. The mansion is virtually impenetrable when it is locked down. There are also tunnels belowground, so some could escape.
“And there is one we want to look in the eye when he dies.” Armand’s jaw tightened. “Volod. We don’t want him slipping away. Also, a good number of our fighters cannot be out in the daylight.”
Armand moved his gaze around the room. “As it is an isolated area with no airport available, we will go by tour bus.”
“You’re kidding. Tell me you’re kidding.” Olivia’s voice rang out, a hint of laughter in her tone. “A bunch of powerful paranorms have to go to a battle in tour buses?”
Armand managed to look matter-of-fact. “D
ue to a shield that we believe a Vampire-Sorcerer has put up, we cannot use transference reliably. The shield seems to mess with the transfers. It is just not accurate. We could end up in the middle of the mansion with our entire team, or half of us might land ten miles away. Our recon team had problems with it and had to walk a few miles in. They did not have problems transferring out, however.”
There were a few groans mixed with some snickers. I was one of those who wanted to laugh. I looked up at Colin. “Please tell me you can get us up there without taking a bus.”
Colin rested his hand on my shoulder. “Unfortunately, no.”
This time I groaned. A tour bus?
“What about the Dark Elves?” I asked. “They can’t be out when it’s daylight.”
“We are specially outfitting one of the buses,” Armand said. “We are certain it won’t be a problem.”
After Armand quieted everyone again, Desmond created a three-dimensional map of the upstate location where Volod’s lair was hidden. Armand used the tip of his sword to point out the topography and the layout of the buildings.
Desmond’s magic showed us areas we would never have been able to map out otherwise. Still, the recon team had also done a great job gathering information that Desmond could not.
Desmond would be able to use his magic to jam any modern weapons like guns, eliminating that concern.
Armand spent time going over the specifics of our planned attack. He assigned me to lead a team of nine, counting Desmond.
Not all of our Trackers would be able to go, which was one reason why we numbered little over 120, even including the Dark Elves.
“Let me make something very clear.” Armand moved his gaze around the room. “You are to kill all Vampires and Vampire paranorms in your paths. Do not allow yourself to feel pity for these beings.”
“What about her?” an out-of-town Tracker said. Everyone looked at me.
“Nyx is half Drow, which made her less susceptible to the infection of Vampirism,” Armand said. “I have seen for myself her loyalty to our cause and our people. Those of you who know me … Do you really believe that if I sensed a threat, she would be here right now? I hope you trust me more than that. She is one of us.”
That seemed to stop the questions, but I still sensed lingering distrust.
Armand concluded, “The buses are outside and waiting. Let’s clear out of here and ensure that Vampires never harm paranorms again.”
The paranorm Trackers in the ballroom cheered and shouted. I could feel the enthusiasm of the crowd sweeping us on to victory.
Armand clenched his jaw as he added, “We know our enemy is formidable, but we have an excellent plan in place. We have great fighters. We outnumber them. We have the element of surprise. This will be the night that Volod will go down. We will not lose.”
Cheers erupted in the room from the teams. I felt goose bumps. Yes, this night, Volod would go down.
THIRTY-SEVEN
“If they sing ‘one hundred mugs of ale on the bus’ one more time I’m going to go bust some skulls.” Olivia had her eyes narrowed at the back of the bus, where twenty Drow warriors and a king were being led in a rowdy rendition.
I, on the other hand, was laughing so hard my sides hurt. To see my father and his warriors singing along with other Trackers was almost too much. For Olivia it apparently was.
“Why don’t you take a nap?” Nadia turned to Olivia. “You could use one.”
“Listen, fish brain,” Olivia glared at Nadia, “if I want your opinion I’ll … come to think of it, I’ll never want your opinion.”
Nadia gave Olivia a sly look and her sea-green eyes glittered. “From what I hear, whips are your thing. They’re not mine.”
Olivia glanced at me. I raised my hands in an I-have-no-idea-how-she-found-out gesture.
In the back, they started the next round at forty-nine mugs of ale on the bus.
“I have an idea.” Olivia looked immeasurably pleased with herself as she gave Nadia a wicked grin. “Green gills, why don’t you sing them to sleep?”
Nadia brightened. “I would love to.”
“No.” I stood in the aisle and blocked her. “Nooo singing.”
“Bummer.” Nadia flopped back into her seat. “But it would be soooo much fun.”
“Come on,” Olivia said. “It’ll be great.”
“Sirens know one song when it comes to men, and it always means death for the males.” I glared at them both. “We need them for this assignment.”
Nadia and Olivia looked at each other. “Then we’ll do it after,” Olivia said and she and Nadia shook on it.
“Forty-eight mugs of ale” floated up from the back and I almost said, Go for it.
But no, Nadia would not get to sing. The last time I’d heard her, she’d almost killed two Shifter males at the Pit who’d made some sexist remarks about her.
Sirens hate lewd males. And Sirens from the Bermuda Triangle do not know the meaning of restraint.
She flipped her luscious long red hair over her shoulder. “I think I’ll take a nap. Must rest up my voice for the trip back.” She covered her mouth in a pretty little yawn and curled up.
Nadia and I had been close friends since I’d arrived in New York City. She’d been one of the first Trackers to ask me out on a girls’ night. She adored the opera, and I went with her when I could. The last one we’d gone to was a few weeks ago, Pelléas et Mélisande at the Met. She had a lovely singing voice when males weren’t around.
Those in the back got even more rowdy at “forty-five mugs of ale on the wall.”
Olivia banged her head on the seat in front of her. “I should have gone in the SUV with Armand, even if it meant sitting next to stinky Penrod.”
Sprites smell like burned broccoli, so I couldn’t blame her. “Desmond cast a spell on everyone,” I said. “If you’ll notice, you can’t smell any odors. It’ll keep us from being smelled by Vampires.”
“Damn.” Olivia banged her head again. “On the way back I am so riding in the SUV.”
I glanced over my shoulder at Ice and Cindy, who were seated a couple of rows behind me. I’d never, ever seen Ice act like he did around her—a gentleman instead of a wisecracking jerk. It was amazing. I wanted to ask them if they enjoyed each other more in the form of mice or as they were now.
Megan, the Witch, sat with Bruce, the pit bull, on the cushion beside her. The falcon, Tate, perched on the back of her seat.
I ran my gaze over the other Trackers from Armand’s bunch as well as some of the Trackers from states across the continent, in addition to our own from New York City. The fact that we’d all pulled together and were ready to go to war against Volod made me shiver.
Colin made his way from the back of the bus to where I was still standing. With the blacked-out windows and the double-black curtains blocking out the light from the front of the bus, it was dim inside, but I enjoyed the view of the Dragon.
When he reached me, he placed one hand on my hip and kissed me. It was a kiss filled with warmth and restrained passion, one that made me feel all melty and gooey inside.
“Are we there yet?” Kelly flopped back in her seat with a scowl on her usually pretty face. She crossed her arms over her chest. “We’ve been driving forever and we can’t even see out. They’re so loud back there. I’m hungry.”
Olivia snickered. “I say we stick her under the bus with all of the weapons.”
Now, there was a thought with merit.
“Better yet,” Olivia said, “since Kelly is a Doppler bunny, she can be our lucky rabbit’s foot. We just need to remove one.”
I held back a laugh and shook my head instead.
Earlier we’d played a game of twenty questions—Colin did the Otherworld version and Dave did the Earth Otherworld version.
The hardest part for me was being around all those paranorms in a confined space … hearing all of those heartbeats … smelling all of that rich blood pumping through their veins … It was a good thing C
olin had insisted I drink from him earlier or I might have gone crazy.
When we finally reached our destination the Drow warriors and my father stayed on the bus while the rest of us piled out into the afternoon sunlight. My skin reddened immediately. Fortunately I could handle it well enough to be outside without turning into a Drow-human-Vampire blowtorch.
A strong wind bowed the tops of the trees, reminding me of the sound of a rushing river.
“What is this place?” Kelly had her hands on her hips as she looked around. We were surrounded by forest, forest, and oh, more forest. “Where can we go for dinner?”
Megan and Rachel, a Shifter Tracker from Boston, brought up an ice chest and opened it. It was filled with sandwiches. “We have turkey, ham, egg salad, roast beef, and veggie,” Rachel announced. “They’re wicked good.”
Kelly screwed up her face. “There must be a McDonald’s nearby. McDonald’s are everywhere.”
I was surprised she wasn’t too good for Mickey D’s.
My stomach rumbled and Megan leaned in close to hand me a wrapped package. “Brought a steak sandwich for you. Rare.”
“Thanks, Megan.” I took it from her and smiled, suddenly wishing I had a pint of blood to wash down the steak.
“How’s the ‘gift’ working for you these days?” she asked as I bit into my sandwich.
I chewed and swallowed. “It helped me a lot and then it stopped.” I smiled. “Thank you. It was a special gift.”
“I was meant to give it to you.” Megan smiled back. “I’m glad it gave you what you needed.”
After I finished eating, it was time to get into position.
Volod’s mansion sprawled across a huge clearing in the woods. No other homes or buildings were closer than five miles in any direction. According to our recon team, during the day the entire place was locked down with retractable metal shutters and barred entrances.
The buses parked a good two miles away. As various beings got out their bows and arrows and assorted other weapons, Olivia looked at me and shook her head. “How did this happen? A bus full of grunts on the way to fight a Vampire war. This is as bizarre as it gets.”
Vampires Dead Ahead: A Night Tracker Novel Page 29
