Dangerous Days

by C. L. Quinn

  “That’s what I think.”

  “Except they have no way of knowing where we are. I paid attention, and calculating from speed and time, we’re about thirty minutes away from Buddy’s, and we’re in a hole in the ground.”

  “They’ll find a way.”

  “Oh, ye of impossible faith. Okay. Then, yeah, I’m hungry and thirsty.”

  Noise outside the room brought Evaleigh upright and Jack’s attention to the opening.

  “Hey, my little hunters.”

  Peele entered followed by another vampire even larger than him. “So, Monsta, you want sucked off tonight, Jack’s yours. This pretty little thing,” pointing to Eva, “is mine.”

  “Aw, fuck that. Why don’t we just share?”

  “Sure, sometime, but not tonight. I want her first.”

  “Felix gonna let you?”

  “Felix doesn’t really care. You notice he’s been kinda interested in a different profile lately?”

  “Yeah, lately, I notice he’s going out. He isn’t really bringing his fuckbuddys back.”

  “He seems to be more interested in muscles than mounds if you get my drift.”

  “I noticed. In that case, he’ll probably want this guy for himself.”

  “Probably. Okay, let me have the girl tonight and she’s yours tomorrow.”

  At the opening to the underground space, Kwano insisted on being the first off the metal steps, followed close by Saul and then Quattro. Dani and Sanquinetta stayed near, but behind them for safety. On the ground level, Dani recognized it as a common nuclear fallout shelter from around her timeframe in the early twenty-first century. Lit by small LED’s strung along the wall at 36 inch intervals, dim, because they were likely failing, the main room was empty. Continuing further into what felt like an underground tomb, they found small rooms coming off a long hallway beyond.

  “Check out the rooms, but be careful.”

  They started to open a door when a loud bang ahead down the hallway drew their attention.

  “So someone’s here,” Sanquinetta whispered.

  Kwano nodded and led them forward. As they continued through the hall, Saul pushed past Sanquinetta and Dani to take up the rear. Now the threat could easily lie in front or back of them, so he made sure they were in the center between the powerful vampires.

  As they closed in on the end of the hall, voices came to them.

  “I’m busting in and freezing anything in the room. I won’t freeze Felix if he’s there, but if I’m lucky, I’ll get a shot off first.”

  Kwano disappeared using air displacement, Quattro right behind at the same speed. Dani and Sanquinetta started to run once they disappeared into the room, feeling that it had to be safe if Kwano had succeeded in freezing anyone there. Saul stayed near.

  Rounding the edge of the opening, Dani was only inches behind Sanquinetta, both sets of eyes scanning furiously. The two vampires they’d seen in the video were frozen near a bed where Eva sat, looking up at one of them. Jack sat on another bed nearby, his eyes locked on the vampires.

  Kwano was shaking his head. “Felix isn’t here. I don’t feel another first blood lifeforce, and although he could be blocking it, I doubt he’d bother. I’m going to unfreeze Eva and Jack.”

  With a small hand movement, Jack began to move slowly, twisting his head toward the new arrivals, a slow grin on his face.

  He looked at the other bed where Eva had just come from her frozen status, thrilled to see her beatific smile.

  “The cavalry!”

  The three women embraced as Kwano and Saul man-hugged Jack.

  Saul pushed back. “You guys okay? They didn’t get a chance to hurt you, did they?”

  Eva shoved Peele as she rose from the bed. “A few hours from now, I was gonna have that guy’s dick in my mouth, so thanks for the timing. Otherwise, they’ve left us alone. We gonna get out of here safely?”

  “So far, these are the only vampires we’ve found here. Quattro, we need to eliminate them?”

  “They’re dicks, murderers, for certain. If you guys judged them by your hunter’s standards, you’d destroy them.”

  “Fuck. I’m not ready to deal with that tonight. We’ll take them with us, keep them compelled and decide later.”

  Shuffling the two vampires in front of him, Kwano led the group, San still hugging Jack, Dani arm-in-arm with Eva, through the corridors back to the stairs. Climbing, Monsta and Peele exited first, and as Kwano started out of the hole, his head exposed, a bullet slammed into his forehead.

  In what seemed like slow motion, Kwano’s body pitched backward, over the railing, and fell the twenty feet to the dirt floor.

  “Fuck!” Jack jumped over the side to land on his feet next to Kwano as Saul pushed forward to pull the heavy metal access port closed, pushing a long slide in place.

  “Back down, everyone. We should have known. This was a trap.”

  Quattro nodded. “Fish in a barrel. Gods protect us if he has a large force with guns. Just trying to move out of here, we’ll have so many bullets coming at us, they are likely to kill all of us before we can get out safely.”

  “Is that the only opening?”

  Evaleigh answered. “I think it is, Jack. I didn’t see any other outlet, but I’ll check it out.”

  “Not alone. Saul, go with her. Quattro, any idea what your old friend has planned for us?”

  “I don’t, but he’s clever, devious, and vicious. This isn’t good. I think the best plan is to use air-displacement and get out of here too fast for the bullets to touch us.”

  “That won’t work well if he has a lot of shooters. Dodging multiple bullets, even with that kind of speed, isn’t assured.”

  “Well, like I said, Felix is smart, and you’re right, it’s likely he isn’t alone. If he truly planned this as a rathole trap, then he’s committed, and since he wants all of us dead, it’s going to get a lot worse.”

  “If we decide to do air displacement, each vampire will have to carry someone. We have three conscious vampires, three humans, and Kwano to move. We can’t take everyone. Plus we’d be using hyperspeed with a heavier load that will slow us down. It’s not a great combination.”

  “It’s not. We can’t stay here, though. I know Felix, he’s likely to set the whole place on fire.”

  “Then we have to go. Fuck this shit! Your Felix is dead if I get a hand on him.”

  “Good luck with that. He’s first blood with no moral restraints. That’s scary enough, but factor in a vendetta against me, and this move, this attack, is indeed the beginning of a full blown war.”

  “Let him come.”

  Sanquinetta sat on the floor with Kwano’s head in her lap. “Gods. This was all too easy. Why didn’t we see it coming?”

  Evaleigh led Saul back from their excursion.

  “No other exit. It was built for protection from radiation and looters, so I expected that. What’s the plan?”

  “Quattro thinks we need to make a run for it. It’ll be difficult. We don’t know how many shooters Felix has up there, and we’ll all be carrying a passenger. Plus, unless one of us can handle two people, someone will have to be left behind. We’d come back for them, but that creates another opportunity for Felix to get one or more of us.”

  Jack paused to let everyone get the idea of how humped they were. This would be a desperate attempt to get out of this mess, with little more than luck to ensure a good outcome.

  “So?” Sanquinetta asked. “Is that what we’re doing?”

  “I guess it is,” Jack answered after another pause.

  All this time Dani had been sitting on the cold metal stairs absorbing everyone’s conversations, reactions, and ideas. Once Jack confirmed that they were going to make a run for it through what was essentially a gauntlet of bullets, she found herself shaking her head. Moments later, she stood.

  “No.”

  Heads turned to her, waiting for her to finish.

  “We don’t try to run through gunfire. We don’t le
ave anyone behind.” Dani looked at Saul and Quattro. “You remember what I did the night you two fought? That’s the earth right there beneath our feet. Let me tap into her and see if I can help.”

  “Dani, what can you do?”

  Smiling, she moved down the stairs, one step at a time, with purpose. “Jack, my dear friend, you’ve never seen earth magic like this. I wasn’t sure how much I could tap into it without my companions, but on the beach at your house, I felt an unlimited merge. I just have to focus it.”

  On the floor now, Dani leaned over to untie her boot when Saul was there untying the other one. Smiling, she leaned on him as he pulled one and then the other off her feet. His hands caressed her ankles and feet as he slipped her socks off and lay them next to the boots.

  “Thank you,” Dani whispered, and as he stood, she leaned in, her lips to his ear, and said, barely audible, and only for him, “I love you.”

  Emotions tore through him as Saul stepped back to allow her room. His belly twisted and his heart pounded. She’d told him the one thing he’d wanted to hear and at a time he couldn’t answer her back. Watching her kneel on the hard-packed soil, he waited for her to look up at him so he could mouth it back. He needed her to know. But her eyes were closed, gone into a trance as she had the other night. Saul glanced up at Quattro, who had moved closer, too close, his eyes unmoving from Dani.

  Saul couldn’t help himself, he just wanted to punch the motherfucker again.

  Jack stood back, wondering what the hell this magic could do to save his team. The first bloods were extraordinarily powerful, and they didn’t have a way to stop Felix, how could Dani, who was essentially human? On the other hand, she was brilliant and pragmatic, so if she thought that she could fix this, he trusted her. He just didn’t know how.

  When Dani moaned, Sanquinetta and Eva started toward her, but Quattro and Saul stopped them.

  Quattro dropped his hand which he’d placed on Sanquinetta’s arm.

  “She’s contacting the magic and when she merges with the mother earth, she’ll awaken fully. Until then, we need to let her be.”

  “And how do you know that, horseman?”

  Horseman. He hadn’t had time enough to prove himself to them, so that was fair enough. “I also carry earth magic, and while I’ve never used it like she can, it’s remarkable and must be respected. She’ll come awake soon.”

  Having said that, Quattro was still surprised when Dani suddenly stood and whirled. After that, she didn’t move again for another five or so minutes.

  Dani’s eyes opened. “There are twenty-two compelled men and women with rifles, placed evenly around that hatch. They are all commanded to fire instantly at anyone coming from that hatch and continue firing. Felix is not here. So if we get free, he isn’t waiting to take us. Apparently he has other plans.”

  “Okay. Now we know there are a lot of bullets waiting for us if we try to get out of here.”

  “Not a problem, Jack.” Dani turned to Quattro. “Come here. With your help, I think we can disable all of them from in here.”

  “My help?”

  “You have earth magic. Together, we are stronger, and I believe we can break their compulsions at the same time.”

  “I’m game.”

  Quattro’s eyes stayed on a furious Saul as he walked to Dani and took her outstretched hand.

  Obviously aware of his reaction, she turned to Saul. “Stay. It’s all right.”

  Quattro’s smart-assed grin didn’t help. The need to punch him in the face increased tenfold.

  Turning into her, Quattro took Dani’s other hand, and closed his eyes too, so he could look inward and join her on this quest. It felt good to touch her, to merge with her, to feel their powers tangle and spark. This was real, this fusion of magic, earth, himself, this beautiful woman.

  Within the spirit world they walked now, he spoke to his magical partner. “I’ve never experienced anything like this before.”

  “Can you feel it, Quattro? You were meant to. You were made to share this power and protect the mother who cradles us as safely as possible to her heart. In time, we will both grow stronger. Know that, so that you will understand what your future holds. For now, we need to focus, the two of us, with her help, can disable Felix’s little army.”

  “I’m here for you.”

  “Follow me, Quattro.”

  Instantly, pressure began to build in his head, so much so, he felt pain begin. At one point, he wasn’t sure he could take much more, so he told Dani they needed to stop.

  “No. We’re there. Now, we just need to push it out and push out our needs with it. Disable and destroy any compulsions for anyone within five hundred yards of this place. Send them home.”

  Ready, Dani and Quattro felt close, intimately, as they allowed their unique but similar magics to bind. Their combined magics shot out in an arc from their positions and did exactly as she asked it to do. Only moments later, Dani knew she was coming awake, and leaned heavily on Quattro for support, as he was doing with her.

  Attached to each other, during the magic thing or whatever the hell she’d done with Quattro, Dani and he had been touching, hands at first, but then, later, they’d moved close, body to body. Saul was pretty sure he was going to explode. When it was apparent they were coming out of it, he moved forward fast to support her and pull her away from Quattro. Without her to support him, Quattro collapsed, giving Saul a moment of joy.

  He noticed Evaleigh move in to check on Quattro, but his concern was for Dani. In his arms, she opened her eyes. “Saul. Hi. We did it.”

  “I never doubt you. Are you all right?”

  “Um, good, yeah. Is Quattro?”

  Saul glanced behind him to where Evaleigh was pressing a hand to Quattro’s cheek and the asshole was smiling. “He’s good. Can you stand?”

  “Yes, but I’ll take your support.”

  On her feet again, Dani looked at Jack and the others.

  “We can go safely. The shooters are neutralized and Felix isn’t there. I felt, though, through the magic, his presence on the periphery, and he isn’t finished with us. I think he’s playing with us; testing our abilities.”

  Nodding, Quattro agreed. “He is. It’s his way. When he pounces, though, it is with deadly sharp precision. This was only meant to fuck with us tonight.”

  “Let’s just get home, get some blood in Kwano, and get him well again. We’ll deal with all of this later. The question is, where do we go that’s safe?”

  Evaleigh lifted her hand to be acknowledged.

  “Anywhere Felix doesn’t know about. I know how he found us at Buddy’s. While we’ve been held, I checked us over, and I found a tiny tracker on Jack’s neck. Felix probably put it there at Saturdays the night we met. It was as small as a tick and buried into his skin so he wouldn’t know it was there and it wouldn’t fall out. I can get it out before we go to our new location.”

  “Okay. This has been an interesting night. Let’s get that tracker off Jack, destroy it, and find somewhere to overnight and let Kwano heal. I’m going to miss Buddy’s.”

  Downtown L.A. two hours later

  “This is nice. Forty sixth floor, multi-room suite with balconies on two sides with amazing views, endless room service. This I could get used to.”

  Evaleigh had always imagined herself in a high-end tower apartment far above a busy city. While money was no object for vampires, she’d never put together enough to even consider buying one.

  She lingered on the balcony with an ocean view, the ocean islands built sixty years ago lit up in spectacular lighting. Turning, she headed back into the apartment.

  “We need to visit the islands during the day. Ladies, would you two like to go one morning?”

  The rest of the crew seated around a large living area, a dozen pizzas and various alcoholic drinks scattered about, Saul answered her.

  “Not until this psycho is caught.”

  “Gotta agree.”

  Quattro entered the room from on
e of the bedrooms that came off the main room wearing only a low slung towel wrapped around his hips.

  Sanquinetta and Evaleigh watched every movement with undisguised interest, while Dani glanced up, afraid of the strong sexual pull she’d had with him.

  Moving toward them, a nearly naked Quattro should have shot her libido into overdrive, but, surprisingly, gratefully, that intense reaction was gone. Dani glanced at Saul moving back toward the sofa to where he sat with a glass of San’s cherry wine. He looked up at her when she bent over, a hand on his shoulder, her lips to his ear.

  “I love you,” she whispered, much as she had earlier that night, at another time when it had been impossible for him to respond.

  Grabbing the bottle of cherry wine, Saul stood and pulled Dani from the room out onto the wraparound balcony.

  Dragging her beyond the sight of the team, he set the bottle on a table and yanked her to him, kissing her, his tongue playing with hers, he let her know that, more than anything at that moment, he wanted her.

  As he moved back, Saul looked into those enchanting dark eyes. “I love you. My Gods, Dani, I wanted to yell it back to you in the bunker, but it wasn’t the right time.”

  “I know, Saul. I didn’t mean to tell you then either, but I had to. It just came out. I hope you realized when I came to you at Buddy’s that I had fallen completely for you.”

  “We didn’t get a chance to talk with everything that’s happened since, but that morning, in my bed, when you crawled in and I felt you snuggle up to me, I knew that I never wanted to let you go and hoped that you felt the same way. I didn’t know with certainty until you whispered that you loved me.”

  “It came instantly on the beach when we bonded. I didn’t want to trust how I felt because it happened so fast. We have no history together, Saul. I don’t even know what you like. What colors you like, what your favorite dessert is. What do you like to do for entertainment? It just didn’t make sense that we could be in love.”

  “Yet we are. Love doesn’t fit in a box, all pretty and tied up. I’ve always known it was messy and didn’t fit any rules, but I never believed in love at first sight until I saw you in that vampire’s den, captured, regal, beautiful. Dani, I fell right away.”