Caught in Darkness

by Rose Wulf

  It took an effort to keep from crushing his phone as his free hand tightened into a fist. So much for making progress on his hunt.

  “Could’ve sworn I just heard you talking to the Slayer,” Jasen declared from the entrance to the hall.

  Seth dropped his phone back into his pocket, body tense, and nodded sharply. “He’s given up trying to recruit his niece, so now he’s holding her hostage.”

  “He’s using her as bait,” Jasen clarified shortly. “Good to know family doesn’t mean anything to them.”

  Meeting Jasen’s unreadable expression, Seth said, “Bait or not, I have to go. He’ll kill her if I don’t show.”

  A slow, small smirk tipped Jasen’s lips and he replied, “Even the best bait doesn’t guarantee he’ll catch what he wants. All we have to do is kill him first.”

  “You’re coming with me?” Seth asked, eyes slightly widened. He knew Jasen wouldn’t mind a shot at the Slayer, but he also suspected that Jasen would prefer to leave Veronica’s situation to him. Not to mention that dealing with this was taking them away from their main goal.

  “Of course,” Jasen said. “You did say we were dealing with the last Claypool, didn’t you?”

  Releasing a breath, Seth nodded and turned. “We are.” And though he wasn’t sure how Veronica would feel about it, chances were high that the Claypool line was about to become extinct.

  Knowing that Claypool was only expecting him, Seth had suggested that he and Jasen split up. Surprisingly, Jasen had easily agreed, and Seth let him out several blocks down from Veronica’s house. Ever the one for subtlety, Jasen dashed off in the direction of the house as soon as his feet touched the ground. But Seth put the thought from his mind, trusting Jasen to have his back when it counted, and pulled into the driveway. He parked behind Veronica’s car, unsurprised to note that Claypool’s vehicle wasn’t there. The man had probably parked farther away and walked the distance.

  Chest tight, Seth climbed from his car and strode to the front door. He would have to be careful if he wanted to avoid taking a stake to the heart before he’d successfully rescued Veronica, but he knew he could do it. This wasn’t nearly the first time he’d been forced into a corner with a reckless Slayer. Still, he knew better than to barge in without having at least an idea of what was going on on the other side of the door, so he stopped and closed his eyes—listening.

  He heard two different heartbeats—both human—one seemingly at rest and the other slowly building with anticipation. Claypool knew he was there, but that was to be expected. There was a shifting sound—fabric on fabric—and Seth imagined Claypool was probably sitting on the couch. At the right angle it would give him a perfect line of sight to the front door.

  Have to assume he’s got a crossbow loaded and aimed. He would have to move quickly.

  Taking a deep breath, Seth moved backwards two steps, paused, offered up a silent apology, and dashed forward. He crashed into—and through—the front door just as he’d intended and, as he’d anticipated, he only barely dodged a flying stake as it sailed through the entry. By the time it embedded itself into the now-broken door Seth was far out of range. He’d spotted Veronica, slumped in and tied to her own kitchen chair, her right cheek starting to swell from a recent backhand, and his blood burned a little hotter.

  “A fang playing the hero,” Claypool called mockingly, “it’s almost funny. But go ahead, stand there long enough to untie her. Saves me the trouble.” As he spoke he raised his already-reloaded crossbow, aimed in Veronica’s direction. They both knew that, in order for Seth to successfully untie her from the chair, he would be vulnerable. But Claypool was slipping. He hadn’t registered the presence of the other vampire in the vicinity—the one standing just to the side of Veronica’s back door.

  Seth came to a stop between Veronica and Claypool, knowing full-well that the Slayer wouldn’t hesitate to fire if she was in the way. “What kind of an uncle uses his own niece as bait?” The answer didn’t really matter he supposed, but he couldn’t stop himself from asking. He’d never understood a man who could raise his hand—or his weapon—on his own blood.

  Claypool scoffed, eyes narrowing, and replied, “She’s the one who chose monsters over family; ask her.” He shifted the crossbow, squeezing the trigger as soon as Seth was in his crosshairs, but it was already too late.

  Seth dashed to the side, letting the stake sail over his shoulder—and over Veronica—to crash into the far wall. He turned his back to Claypool then, having more important things to do. He didn’t want to get so lost in his anger that he forgot to tend to Veronica.

  In the same instant that the stake tore free of the crossbow the back door flew open, slamming into the wall and denting it, as Jasen made his arrival. The crossbow was torn from Claypool’s hand before the Slayer even realized what was going on.

  “What the hell?” Claypool exclaimed, wide-eyed as he took a half-step backwards. His expression returned to angry and determined as he reached back to tug his machete from his coat. “Missed your chance, fang,” he grunted as he swung the blade out and up.

  Seth kept one eye on the fight as he worked to tear off the ropes holding Veronica to her chair without hurting her. His more primal instincts were begging him to push Jasen aside and tear Claypool to shreds with his bare hands, but he was just as desperate to get Veronica out of this dangerous situation before it got worse. He couldn’t do both, so he held his position and told himself to trust that Jasen wouldn’t be merciful.

  “Your reputation is slipping, Claypool,” Jasen taunted as he stepped just out of reach of the swinging machete. He stepped slightly to the side, subtly turning the Slayer’s focus away from Seth and Veronica while Seth worked.

  “Let’s see how well you say that when your head’s not connected to your shoulders,” Claypool growled, following Jasen’s turn and lunging in again with his blade.

  Veronica groaned, drawing Seth’s attention from the fight and stilling his hands over the ropes. Her heart rate was picking up and her breathing shifted, indicating that she was waking up. Not wanting her to wake up with cords of ropes wrapped around her, Seth gave a sharp tug, snapping two more. But it wasn’t enough.

  As consciousness returned to her Veronica jerked upright, gasping and straining against the two cords still tight around her stomach.

  “Try to stay still,” Seth called gently, reaching over and covering one of her hands with his. “I’ll have you out in a minute.”

  “…Seth?” Veronica groaned, blinking her eyes several times before slowly looking around. Her breathing changed again and something between fear and anger began boiling to the surface in her eyes. Her gaze landed on Claypool and Jasen—who were parallel to them now—and the anger took over. She struggled for a second, trying and failing to get up, before her eyes finally fell to the ropes still around her.

  Seth reached up, placing the tips of his fingers to her shoulder, and lightly guided her back until she was leaning into the chair. “You have to hold still,” he reminded.

  She swallowed and nodded as she pulled in a deep breath.

  Without another word Seth returned his hands back to the ropes, grabbed the remaining cords, and pulled. The ropes snapped at the same time as Claypool’s machete buried itself in the wall almost directly between the living room and kitchen.

  Claypool cried out in pain as Veronica reached over to rub at her upper arm and she returned her gaze to the fight near the back door of her house, calling, “Wait!” Her voice was a little off, more because of the swollen cheek than her recent return to consciousness, but the word was clear all the same.

  Jasen froze, the Slayer lifted nearly a foot off the ground, and rolled his head to the side in order to give her a vaguely irritated look. “Don’t tell me you want me to spare him,” he said.

  Veronica pushed to her feet, Seth moving swiftly to stay at her side, and started forward after only a brief balance-check. “I just want you to wait,” she replied. Her glare returned to Claypool and
she demanded, “Did you get a name?”

  For the first time Seth felt a flicker of confusion. A name? What was she asking about?

  Claypool dragged in a breath and mustered a glare from his awkward, uncomfortable position. “Why would I tell…a traitor like you?”

  Veronica sucked in a breath and stalked right up to him, until she was standing directly beside Jasen. “You don’t have the right to withhold that information!” Her arm flew up practically before the words were out of her mouth and the resounding echo of a slap filled the room. “You have a chance here to do the right thing—don’t screw it up.”

  “Go to hell,” Claypool replied with a sneer.

  Seth watched silently as Veronica’s fists clenched and unclenched, his nostrils flaring when he registered the scent of salt in the air.

  “Fine,” she said, her voice hushed and almost eerily final. She took a step back, out of Jasen’s personal space, and added, “I’m glad Dad severed his ties with you. I’d have hated to have been stuck with you my whole life.” She turned, then, and reached out for Seth’s nearest arm as she whispered, “Can we get out of here?”

  Her hand was shaky and her voice wavered, just a little, when her eyes met his. Salty liquid was shimmering behind the tormented blue and he knew that whatever had been said between them before he and Jasen had arrived had been difficult. His heart ached at the look on her face. He nodded, wrapping his arm around her back to help guide her toward the opposite doorway.

  Without breaking stride Seth glanced back, over his shoulder, and called, “You know where to find me.”

  He held Jasen’s gaze only long enough for the other man to nod in understanding, and then he returned his gaze forward. Veronica was walking carefully but steadily, one arm now curled around his back as well. She was still fighting back tears and he was desperate to know what else had happened, but he knew the time wasn’t right. He just had to trust that she would tell him when she was able.

  They stayed quiet as they made their way to his car. She made a sound in the back of her throat that was probably supposed to be a ‘thank you’ when he opened the passenger door for her and he nodded silently. Once she was seated he eased the door shut, and he made a point to keep his expression the same when the scent of freshly-spilled blood wafted to his nose.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Veronica took a deep breath as Seth’s Corvette came to a stop in the parking garage the next night. In some ways, it felt like a lifetime had passed since Dennis had used her as bait to lure Seth to her house, but in other ways it felt like only an hour had passed. She’d gone over the things Dennis had said about her father a thousand times and she just couldn’t deny the possibility that he’d been telling the truth. Fortunately, when she’d explained everything to Seth, he’d agreed. He’d even gone so far as to spend the evening researching her father’s case while Jasen focused on what was supposed to be their real hunt.

  And now, just after ten o’clock on Friday night, Veronica found herself about to come face to face with the Head vamp—Robert.

  It hadn’t been Seth’s favorite idea when she’d first asked to go with him. He’d argued, using his logic against hers, and when that had failed he’d tried to scare her off the idea by pointing out that there would be a lot of potentially-dangerous vampires around. That hadn’t worked, either. And though she knew that he was still unhappy over the whole thing, she couldn’t help but find herself focusing on something that shouldn’t have made a difference at all.

  “Why is Jasen coming with us?” she asked, turning her gaze toward Seth as she unlatched her seatbelt.

  Seth spared a reflexive glance through the windshield, noting Jasen’s half-shadowed figure in front of the elevator, before replying, “Because there’s a chance Claypool was right. And if a vamp is responsible for your father’s murder then that vamp needs to be found and dealt with. That, technically, is Jasen’s job.”

  Veronica frowned thoughtfully before saying, “Don’t get me wrong, but…why would that matter so much to anyone other than me?”

  Seth sighed, letting his hand fall from the handle without opening the door, and said, “I wish I could say that it’s against our laws to kill a human because murder is wrong, but that would be a lie. The truth is that the vampires who put our laws into effect saw humans as food, not living beings. But they also understood humans outnumber us, and it would be bad to draw that kind of attention to our existence, so we’re supposed to leave you alone as much as possible.”

  Hearing it said aloud like that didn’t do much for her confidence, but she had to acknowledge that she understood his point. So maybe the reasons for their outlawing the murder of humans are wrong; at least they outlawed it. It was a small consolation.

  “Come on,” Seth added after a moment before popping his door open.

  She took his hint and climbed from the car, nerves beginning to twist her gut. There was a chance that someone might finally be able to make a little progress toward identifying her father’s killer tonight, and that was nothing short of a miracle. But before she could get to that point she was going to have to sit across from the guy in charge of the local Family and accuse one of his people of murder. Even with Seth—and, technically, Jasen—by her side the thought of it still made her a little queasy. And what if he’d authorized it? What if he’d figured out that her father had once been a Slayer and that was why he’d had him killed?

  “What if they know, and it’s been swept under the rug because Dad used to be a Slayer?” Veronica had asked that morning, after Seth had declared that he was going to talk to Robert about her father’s murder.

  “That doesn’t make a difference,” Seth had assured her calmly. “He wasn’t active and he wasn’t threatening the Family. He was behaving like an ordinary human, which means he should have been treated like one.”

  She had to hold onto that now. She needed to remember that Seth knew a whole hell of a lot more about how to handle this situation than she did and if he thought it was a good idea to talk to Robert about it then she should just follow his lead. But none of that logic did a thing for the nerves sloshing around in her stomach.

  If Jasen-the-Enforcer is six-five with the biker boots, then how tall is Robert-the-Head-vamp gonna be? It was a stupid thought, really. Size didn’t exactly denote status. But then again, maybe in their world it did. She certainly wasn’t a vampire authority. More importantly than height, however, was the overall ‘imposing’ factor. Seth was impressive (though he’d never actually scared her), and Jasen scared the daylights out of her. She couldn’t help but worry that Robert would put them both to shame.

  By the time the elevator reached the top floor of the apartment building Veronica was conjuring up images of broad-shouldered, cape-wearing, cold-eyed vampires pushing seven feet tall and trying to figure out how on earth she was going to stand her ground in front of that. She was barely resisting the physical need to bury her hand in Seth’s for a little extra strength, but she didn’t want to make it too obvious (in case Robert didn’t already know) exactly what their relationship was. She wasn’t entirely sure that Seth wouldn’t get in trouble if they were found out.

  Maybe this was a bad idea. Maybe she should have let Seth and Jasen talk to Robert alone. Maybe—no. She was a grown woman and it was her father’s murder they were dealing with. She had a right to be there no matter who—or what—they were talking to. She just needed to remember that.

  And maybe she also needed some Aspirin. All the vampires in this building were starting to give her a headache.

  “Hunter,” an unfamiliar male vampire called as the trio stepped into a large, expensively decorated sitting area. The vampire who’d spoken was already striding toward them, flicking deliberate glances over at her with a disapproving scowl. “You know you can’t bring company without notice.”

  Seth stopped, keeping himself slightly forward and between Veronica and the vampire, and replied, “Robert’s expecting us.” He lied so smoothly sh
e almost fell for it, despite having been right beside him when he’d made the call. Robert was only expecting him.

  The vampire’s narrowed eyes shifted back to her and lingered as he said, “I somehow doubt that.” He shifted his focus back to Seth before adding, “She waits outside or she waits with us, but she doesn’t go in.”

  “She stays with me,” Seth returned firmly, his own eyes narrowing in a silent challenge.

  The vampire opened his mouth to argue, but it was Jasen who spoke. “I didn’t realize the guards around here were afraid of a small human woman whose best threat is the half-empty bottle of pepper-spray buried in her purse.”

  Veronica couldn’t decide if she wanted to smack Jasen for his snide commentary or give him a bright, cheerful smile for intimidating the other vampire into letting them pass. Either way, they started forward again as the vampire backed off, fuming in Jasen’s direction. It was almost funny. But before she could really acknowledge the humor they were standing in front of another door and her nerves were kicking into high-gear. Robert was on the other side of this door.

  Seth lifted his loosely curled fist and tapped on the door twice in rapid succession.

  Veronica pulled in a shaky breath and held it, willing her heart rate to settle into something healthier.

  “Come in,” a muffled male voice called.

  Veronica slowly exhaled and followed Seth as he stepped into the room. For the first time she was actually grateful for Jasen’s presence behind her: intimidating or not, at least she felt she could trust him. And then the door clicked, quietly, behind them and she realized she should probably not start out this conversation by staring at the floor.

  “Oh,” the voice said as she dragged her eyes away from the plush white carpet. “You brought a friend….” The surprise in his voice was obvious.