Hurricane of Magic

by J. L. Hendricks

  “I thought the queen abandoned that neighborhood? Didn’t she want to put as much distance between her coven and those vampires who broke the law?” Jose asked.

  “Yes, I patrolled those streets not two weeks ago, and the houses were still vacant. Are you saying there are people living in the houses? Or underneath them?” I had even gone through one of the tunnels looking to see if vamps were hiding out there. Dust had started to settle inside the house, and there were enough signs of rats, I assumed the vamps hadn’t been back since.

  “I saw two vampires and one male acolyte walking down the street. I followed them, and they went inside one of the abandoned houses. They could have just been scavenging, or they could be staying there. I’m not sure. We need to go back and take a closer look.” Luke could lead the team checking out the neighborhood.

  “Alright, grab a team of ten wolves and be there before the sun sets. I want all of the houses checked out before going underground, preferably during the day.” One team down.

  “Anyone else have targets?”

  Damien stood. “I wanted to check the old factories. You know, the ones we’ve seen rogue vampires use before.”

  “Yes, I know the ones.” It took every ounce of willpower not to look at Jenna.

  Damien was referencing the location Jenna almost died earlier this year when a rogue vamp kidnapped her. Those abandoned warehouses would be a great place to hole up, especially for rogues.

  “Damien, you lead a team of at least fifteen. Call back to the compound and get some more wolves to come in. That place is really large, and I don’t want anyone going in alone, understand?” If I could keep at least teams of two together, our guys would have a better chance of survival.

  Most of our fighters were men. Although, I did have a few women who were tougher than most of my men. They just chose to protect the compound instead of coming into town for patrols.

  Sometimes they wanted to change things up and would join a patrol, but with all of the families we had, our fighting women chose to stay home and protect the pack. While I had great respect for their decision, they might need to join the hunt this time.

  “Jose, call ReeAnna and see if she can get a team together to come and patrol the city while we are searching the two target locations. I don’t like the idea of having no one in the city to protect the humans, especially right now.” With the hurricane damage, not as many tourists have returned yet, so the streets aren’t as safe as usual.

  “Joseph, will you stay here with the girls? I want to go with Luke and check out the neighborhood. Something bugs me about what he saw. I have a bad feeling about the place.” Rubbing my jaw, I sat down and considered what it could all mean.

  If vampires are returning to the neighborhood, is the queen condoning these attacks? I would have to pay her a visit, probably tomorrow. I wanted to get more information before speaking with her. She was never very forthright. The more I knew, the more I could get out of her.

  “Of course. I can use this time to train them more on the use of the magical charms I brought them.” Joseph could always be depended upon.

  His alchemy background helped him to understand the chemical makeup of the spells the witches used. He also had created some flash bangs as well as a few potions of his own to counteract spells. They didn’t always work, but more often than not, science could be used against magic, if you knew the ancient alchemy secrets.

  Chapter 16

  Rico

  “Luke, you take lead on this. I’m just here as back-up.” I also wanted to check out what’s happened since the last time I was here.

  The tunnels connected to most of the houses within a few blocks should still be swamped from the hurricane. It seemed very odd the vamps were here at this time.

  Surely they had to know we would check this place out whenever there was a vamp problem. Right? Or were they this stupid?

  “Sure thing, boss.” Luke was a good Lieutenant and would lead this mission well. He just needed a bit more practice, and then he would be great.

  “Simon, Roger, Rock, Gustave, and Remy. I want all five of you in wolf form. Sniff out the vamps and their trails. The rest, stay human unless you need to shift in order to fight. We need to keep a few humans in case we come across the girls. I doubt they will be open to us in our shifted state.” Luke directed the wolves and men on where to go, and I followed my nose.

  When I was here last, I fought beneath one of the houses two streets away. I intended to check it out, along with the tunnels underneath. First, I needed to ensure all of my men were on target and didn’t need me.

  “Luke, I think you know where I want to go. Do you have this all under control? Or do you need me to do anything first?” My nose had picked up on a scent.

  In human form we had excellent senses, but in wolf form it went to a whole new level. If my human nose smelled vamps, there must be some very close by.

  “Rico, I think I have it under control. Just be safe. I’m sure you smell them. I have no idea why they are here, or where they are, but there are vampires close by.” Luke nodded, and I stalked off toward my target.

  “You too, Luke.”

  With my ears on alert, and my nose smelling the stench of death, I took off to find the house where Acadia almost died.

  Quietly, I crept along in the shadows. I kept my eyes and ears alert for any sounds or smells which didn’t belong. When I was about halfway to the street, I heard a crunch. Someone had stepped on a dry leaf or paper. The sound came from around the house I was approaching.

  With my back up against the house, I slowly inched my way to the edge of the wall and peered around the corner. In the yard was a human male. He didn’t look familiar, and he carried a gun.

  As far as I knew, the locals near this neighborhood avoided it like the plague. While I doubted they knew the truth, they suspected something was up with this neighborhood. Last time I was here, I witnessed local humans walking two blocks out of their way so they wouldn’t have to walk down the streets controlled by the vamps.

  If he was a local, maybe they were attempting to take back the area. Or, maybe he was a new acolyte protecting his masters.

  The man had to be over six feet tall, with short, curly brown hair. His clothes looked like they had been thrown in a corner wet, and he just put them back on without even washing them. Not uncommon for an acolyte to wear dingy clothes. They were basically slaves after all. Slaves to their vampire masters who decided how they lived and what they wore, if anything at all.

  I continued to watch the human and scanned the area looking for vamps. There was a humming sound coming from across the street. The house I found Acadia in seemed to be the source.

  One of the best parts about a shifter is my speed. Even in human form I’m much faster than normal people.

  After looking around to see if there were any vamps visible, I ran full speed to the guy with the gun. I knocked the gun out of his hand and turned it on him.

  “Who are you? What are you doing here?” I kept one eye on the intruder and one eye scanned the street for signs of the enemy.

  “Hey, give me that back! I have every right to be here with a gun.” This guy didn’t seem frightened of me. Huh. Maybe I should have shifted.

  “Why do you need a gun in a deserted neighborhood?” The electric noise I heard earlier was louder, it sounded almost like a generator was running. Why would they need electricity here if they abandoned the houses?

  “To keep scavengers like you away from our property. Listen man, you really don’t want to mess with my employers. If I was you, I’d turn around and forget about this neighborhood.” He was warning me? Now that was funny.

  I chuckled. “Really? Who do you work for? Vampires, or something?”

  His eyes opened wide, and I heard a creak from a door behind me. The sun was still setting, but on this street, the night had already descended. Most of the yards were shadowed in darkness. Stronger vampires could come out now. Newer ones would still feel
the effects of the sun for another ten minutes or so.

  At the end of the street, I could just make out the last of the sunlight fading on the sidewalk.

  “Have you ever met a vampire?” A smile crept along his face, and he crossed his arms over his chest.

  I knew a vampire was near. The feeling of death and destruction was always close when a vampire was in the area.

  “Yes, I have.” I still held the gun.

  I spun on my heels as I heard a rustle and knocked the vamp’s arm away right before he reached for my neck.

  “Tsk, tsk. Romero, you know better than to attack me.” The vampire took a step away from me.

  “Rico, I didn’t realize it was you hassling my acolyte. Give him the gun back. I gave it to him for his own protection. Have you seen all of the riff-raff ravaging poor neighborhoods like ours?” The vampire smirked. He thought he had the upper hand, but he didn’t.

  “You knew exactly who I was. I just can’t believe you thought you could sneak up on me and try to kill me. I should kill you, and your acolyte, where you stand for attempting to attack me.”

  “You have no proof I was going to hurt you.” The sniveling idiot was right, but I wasn’t going to tell him that.

  Instead I arched an eyebrow and said, “I’ll let it go on one condition.”

  “What?”

  “You tell me where the missing girls are. If you aren’t involved in their abduction, you will have nothing to worry about.”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Romero seemed to be telling the truth.

  “Haven’t you seen the news?”

  “No, once I heard a hurricane was coming I turned off the TV to prepare. Been cleaning up our neighborhood ever since we could get over here.” Dangit, if he was telling the truth, we were in the wrong spot.

  “What is the noise I heard? Are you running generators?”

  “Of course. We don’t have electricity here. We are cleaning up the houses and pumping out the water. Can’t have the neighbors complaining to the city about not keeping up appearance, now can we?”

  “I guess you won’t mind me checking out a few of the houses, right?” If he was telling the truth, I needed to know right away.

  “You have no authority here. We are not doing anything wrong, so you can’t just barge into our houses.” Romero narrowed his eyes.

  “If you don’t have anyone here against their will, I don’t care what you are doing right now. You shouldn’t have anything to worry about if you’re just cleaning up as you say.” I heard a noise coming from one of the other houses on this street.

  Maybe he was lying after all?

  “Let him search. I heard about those missing girls. You believe vampires are responsible?” Another vamp walked out of the house next to where we stood.

  “Nick, good to see you. I heard you left town a few weeks back. Something about not getting along with the queen?” This was interesting.

  “You heard wrong. The queen herself asked me to make sure our nice, quiet neighborhood stayed that way. I’m here on official business. Why are you here, Rico?” Nick walked down the stairs, and through the front yard, keeping his eyes peeled on me the entire time.

  “We had reports about vampires hanging out in this abandoned neighborhood. Along with humans. I don’t recognize your acolyte. How long have you had him?” Granted, I didn’t know all of the acolytes, but to give a gun to one meant you trusted him. I should know all of the ones they trusted so much.

  “Don’t worry, he’s legal. Miller here has been with me for ages, haven’t you?” Romero looked to his human servant.

  “Of course, master. My life is yours and has been for close to two years.” The sniveling turd held his hands behind his back and looked to the ground. His knees bent, and then, he stood up straighter. I swear he was about to bow down and worship the blood-sucker.

  “Miller, you chose to serve the vampires? They didn’t coerce you at all?” I asked all acolytes I came into contact with this question. One just never knew.

  “Of course! My master has given meaning to my unworthy life. I take great pleasure in serving him.” These acolytes were so brainwashed, it was pathetic.

  I sighed heavily and turned my eyes back to Nick.

  “I see your mind control works just fine on this one. Have you seen any of the missing girls? We rescued one who swears she ran away from vampires.” I wonder if he knew anything at all.

  “My queen has personally promised to stake any vampire to the ground just before sunrise if we take anyone against their will. No one would dare defy her orders.” Nick was one of the vampires rumored to be on the outs with the vampire queen, Celeste.

  I wondered if he was here as punishment. Cleaning up after a hurricane isn’t fun. Vampires were very selfish and never did anything to help anyone but themselves. If they were cleaning up, it would be a fitting punishment for going against the queen.

  “Good to know. I’m going to start checking out all of the houses, and some of my pack are already here looking around the neighborhood. I would suggest you tell your acolytes to leave them alone. Unless you don’t care if my wolves maul them?” I raised an eyebrow and watched Nick try to keep his composure.

  “This is our neighborhood. We have a right to protect it as well as ourselves. If your wolves stick their noses where they don’t belong, I can’t be held responsible for what happens.” Romero walked up next to Nick and tried to give me the evil eye. These guys were such drama queens.

  “Boys, we are on official business. We have been notified by one of the missing girls there are still some alive who were abducted by vampires. Don’t get in my way, or I will be notifying your queen. Do you remember what happened last time I was on official business and a vampire got in my way?” He was killed. I know they knew it.

  “Fine, just leave our workers alone. They have a lot of work to finish before the sun comes back up.” The sun had barely set and the only one I had interfered with so far was Miller. He wasn’t doing anything but watching the street.

  “Let’s start with this house, shall we?” I walked over to the house Nick came from.

  “I wouldn’t go in there, if I were you.” Nick snickered.

  “Really, and why is that?”

  “It’s breakfast time.” Romero shrugged and walked up the steps and inside the house.

  “I hope you aren’t feeding on innocents for your breakfast.” These demons were disgusting.

  I didn’t want to go in there if they were feeding, but I had to check out the acolytes and make sure they were all here willingly.

  Before I even entered the house, I smelled the coppery scent of blood mixed with humans’ scents. Female scents to be exact. There was even a hint of vanilla and jasmine underneath the stench.

  I prepared myself for girls prostituting themselves out to the blood-suckers. Why so many women, and men, gave their bodies so freely to vampires was one of the great mysteries of this world.

  It didn’t matter how good the sex was, how could anyone allow a demon to suck their blood?

  “Oh, Buddha! What is this? Are you running a bordello right in town?” The sight in front of me made me want to puke. Young, pretty girls dressed in nothing more than lingerie were all over the room.

  Some were up against the walls with vampires drinking from their necks. While others were sitting in the laps of vampires. The only thing stopping me from puking was the fact all of the men still had their clothes on. I hated to think what this room would look like in another few minutes.

  “Alright, that’s enough. Leave the girls alone.” I really didn’t want to watch one more minute of a vampire version of The Best Little Whorehouse in Louisiana.

  “Girls, do any of you know of any humans taken against their will?” I didn’t see any of them struggling against the fangs in their necks. Most had looks of pure pleasure on their face. These all must be here willingly.

  None of them looked at me. Either they were ashamed of their
behavior, or they were trained to look at the ground. I’m betting the latter.

  “Girls, I need someone to answer my questions.” There is no way six missing girls wouldn’t have been seen somehow, especially if it were vamps who abducted them.

  One girl who appeared to be around twenty-five looked up into my face. “My masters would never force a girl to do anything. We all volunteered because we love our vampire masters. How dare you accuse them of such things!”

  Another crossed her arms over her chest and narrowed her eyes while her nostrils flared. “You should die for your impertinence! No one makes such claims against our family and gets away with it!”

  Nick had a smug look on his face. “As you can see, all of our women are very happy to live with us. They are getting exactly what they want, as are we. No one is getting hurt. Are you my loves?” Nick rubbed his hand down the arm of the closest girl to him.

  She looked up at him with love in her eyes. Or maybe it was crazy eyes, not really sure. She was a petite blonde wearing a pink teddy and matching high heels. She tilted her head and invited Nick to bite her.

  When he sunk his fangs into her neck, I had to turn my head. My stomach churned with revolt. I wanted nothing more than to get as far away from here as soon as possible. However, this would be the perfect cover for hiding those girls. I needed to search the house.

  “Romero, do you want to accompany me on this search?” I wanted one of the vamps close in case I did find the missing girls. He would be a great target to lash out at should I discover them breaking the accords.

  “Of course. There is nothing here for you, unless you want to partake in some blood? We have more women in the rooms upstairs, if you like such an experience?” Romero knew he disgusted me. I think he took pleasure in turning my stomach.

  I searched each and every room. There was even a trap door in the mudroom off the side of the kitchen. It led to a flooded tunnel.

  “Is this what you are trying to clean up? Your tunnels?” It made sense. They would need to get the water out of there as quickly as possible if they wanted to be able to use these tunnels at any time.