Delanie’s Fury
Vampire Huntress Saga
Book Three
Christina Escue
Table of Contents
Copyright
Acknowledgements
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Chapter Thirty-Four
Chapter Thirty-Five
Chapter Thirty-Six
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Chapter Forty
Epilogue
About the Author
Copyright
Copyright © 2019 Christina Escue
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means without prior written permission of the copyright owner. This is a work of fiction.
Acknowledgments
First, I would like to start by thanking every single one of you who is reading this. If not for readers, authors would have no one to write for.
I’d like to send out a very special thank you to the beta readers for taking the time to read, comment and correct. Y’all are invaluable to me. Thank you all so much for your feedback.
To my wonderful family who always supports me, no matter which road my writing takes, you are my reason for being.
Finally, I want to thank those lovely ladies who continue to support me and my writing no matter what. You know who you are, and you know, I love you all very deeply.
Much love to all of you!
Chapter One
Jackson woke and looked around him. He had no idea where he was, but he knew he wasn’t in the hotel room any longer. Shaking his head, he tried to remember what happened. He recalled sitting on the small sofa in the hotel room with Delanie. They’d been talking about her family, and how she’d come to join the Huntresses.
Everything after that was a blur. He remembered screaming but didn’t think it was anyone he knew who’d been making that horrific sound. Looking around again, he took note of the small windows well above his head, and the bars between him and the only door he could see. He was in some sort of a cell, and he wasn’t the only one being held here. From what he could see, there were at least a dozen other cells like the one he was in.
“Oh, you’re awake,” he heard a soft voice say from his left. When he looked over, his eyes landed on a small, dark haired girl who couldn’t have been over twelve or thirteen.
“Where are we?” He asked, hating not knowing here he was.
“Somewhere in Florida, I think,” she answered. “At least we were the last time I knew for sure.”
“Last thing I remember, I was in Boston,” he said and shook his head again, trying to clear it.
“You won’t remember what happened,” she said softly. “The drugs they use are very strong.”
“What’s your name?” He asked her.
“Caia,” she answered softly. “What’s yours?”
“Jackson,” he responded. “How long have you been here?”
“I can’t remember,” she replied. “What month was it when you were taken?”
“March,” he responded.
“If it’s still March, I’ve been here nearly eight months,” she told him. “I was taken the first week of August. I was out shopping with my Mom, then I was here.”
“How old are you?”
“Sixteen,” she responded. “I was fifteen when I was taken, but my birthday was in January. My Mom probably thinks I’m dead.”
“Do you think she would stop looking for you?” He asked, unsure why any parent would stop looking for their child.
“I don’t know,” she responded. “But she will never find me here. The ones who took me are very bad vampires.”
“Vampire,” he corrected out of habit.
“There are more than one,” she told him, not understanding why he corrected her.
“I know, but the plural of vampire is vampire, not vampires,” he told her and shrugged at her look of confusion. “My brother and his girlfriend are both Halflings, and they will find us.”
“Are you part vampire?” She asked and moved away from the bars a little.
“No,” he responded and looked at the fear on her face. “I am totally human, but even if I wasn’t, you wouldn’t have anything to fear from me. I would never violate the new laws and make my brother’s girlfriend kill me.”
“New laws?” She asked, confused.
“You were taken before vampire were made known to the world. But they are no longer in hiding, and there are laws in place to protect the human population from the vampire,” he told her. “My brother and his girlfriend helped write those laws. And they help enforce them.”
“Oh,” she said and looked at the row of windows behind them for a second before looking back at him. “The sun’s going down. They will be here in a few minutes.”
“Who will be?”
“I don’t know their names,” she responded and moved away from the bars and into the small corner of her cell. “But, if we’re talking, we will be punished.”
“We will get out of here, Caia,” Jackson told her confidently.
“No one gets out of here,” she told him. “Unless they’re dead.”
As soon as the words left her mouth, a chill washed over Jackson as the seriousness of his situation hit him. Shaking his head, he pushed the thoughts that started aside and looked back at Caia.
“Karma and Dylan will find us,” he told her, his tone so certain there was no room for doubt left.
Before she could respond, the door opened, and three very large vampire walked in.
****
“Tell us, again, what you remember,” Karma said to Analia. “Anything you can remember.”
“All I remember is him saying he had a place in Florida where he was keeping women,” she repeated what she’d already told them. “These women are all, supposedly, pregnant with his children.”
“And what did he say about Karma?” Dylan asked.
“That she was who he wanted,” she said and looked at Karma. “He wanted to trade me for you at first, then something changed.”
“Yeah,” Dylan said and growled. “He discovered I have a human brother.”
“We will find Jackson,” Delanie said from where she was sitting in the corner of the room.
“Yes, because you did a hell of a job protecting him already,” Dylan spat. “I think you should let the adults fix this.”
“Dylan,” Karma said and laid her hand on his back. “I’m as upset as you are, but blaming the Huntresses isn’t fair.”
“No,”
Delanie said and rose to her feet. “He’s right. We failed to protect him. Our only job was to keep Jackson safe, and we didn’t do it. Nevaeh should dismiss the lot of us for failing to keep him safe. It’s the least we deserve.”
“That’s not going to happen,” Nevaeh said from where she was standing behind Analia. “You couldn’t have anticipated someone gassing the room.”
“We should have had some inside and some outside the room, though,” Nikki said and frowned a little. “And maybe even a couple downstairs to watch for anything odd.”
“Then he would have been more susceptible to a physical attack,” Karma told her and looked at Dylan. “We will find him.”
“We will,” Delanie commented and walked to where he and Karma were standing. “I will not rest until Jackson is safely back with you two.”
“Delanie, you cannot blame yourself for him being taken,” Karma said as she laid a hand on the Huntress’ arm. “We are all to blame. We should have locked him down in a house or an apartment before leaving. We all knew the risks of keeping him in a hotel room.”
“We did,” Nevaeh said and looked at her Huntresses. “And we’re going to need all of your help finding him.”
“Do you think they’d have taken him to Florida?” Karma asked, looking at Analia. “Did Crompton say he was heading there?”
“I don’t remember, but it’s the only place he mentioned,” she said and shrugged a little.
“Then we should start there,” Nevaeh said and looked around the room. “We leave in an hour, and anyone not ready to roll out when we are will be left here.”
“Yes, Ma’am,” the Huntresses all answered and cleared the room to start gathering their things.
“Dylan,” Delanie said from the door. “I know I just met Jackson, but he is unlike anyone else I have ever met. I will do whatever it takes to find him and make sure he’s safe.”
“He’s unlike anyone I’ve ever met, too,” Karma told her and looked into her blue eyes. “And I know he was starting to have feelings for you.”
“And I was starting to have them for him,” she responded. “Which is why, no matter what, I will do whatever I have to, to get him back.”
“Good,” Nevaeh said and nodded. “Now let’s get ready to head out. See you at the vans in an hour.”
“I’ll call the VEB and let them know where we’re heading,” Karma said and stepped out of the room.
Once she was gone, Dylan looked at Analia again and frowned. “Do you think it’s a good idea for you to come with us?”
“I know Crompton better than any of you, and the shock factor of seeing me alive may just be the card we need to rattle him.”
“Then let’s get ready to go,” he said and walked from the room.
“Seems we’re heading to Florida,” Harrison said from where he’d been standing quietly.
“Good,” Nevaeh said and grinned a little. “I’m sick of the cold.”
Chapter Two
“Jackson,” Caia said quietly. “You okay?”
“Yeah,” he said groggily from his cot.
“When they brought you back, I thought you were dead at first.”
“They won’t kill me,” he told her as he shifted so he could see her.
“They’ve killed before,” she informed him.
“Yeah, but they won’t kill me,” he said again. “They need me alive.”
“Why?” She asked, moving closer to the bars that separated them.
“Karma and Dylan,” he answered.
“Your brother and his girlfriend?” She asked. “What do they have to do with anything?”
“Karma and Dylan are hunting Crompton,” Jackson explained. “And, for some reason, Crompton wants Karma.”
“How do you know that?”
“He told me,” Jackson replied. “Said Karma was his end game, and I was just a means to that end.”
“He will kill you then,” Caia told him.
“He’ll never win against Karma,” he said, almost silently as the pain from the beating he’d endured radiated through his body.
“From what I’ve heard from the others, he’s the oldest vampire in existence,” she whispered.
“Maybe, but Karma is faster than any turned vampire I’ve ever met, and I’ve met the Vampire Senate.”
“They have a senate?” She asked in awe. “Like, vampire who make and enforce laws for them?”
“Yes, and they are all really old. Over nine hundred years old, I think.”
“Wow,” she said, and her eyes widened. “You know a lot about vampire.”
“I told you, my brother is a Halfling, half vampire half human, and so is Karma. Dylan’s Father, Harrison, has been a part of my life for a long time, and I’ve studied vampire lore for as long as I can remember.”
“Vampire scare me,” she said, and he saw her shudder.
“They would probably scare me, too, if I hadn’t been around them my entire life,” he told her as he attempted to sit up. “Dylan and Karma, and Harrison and Nevaeh aren’t scary though.”
“Nevaeh?” She asked, picking up on the name he hadn’t mentioned before.
“She’s the leader of a really awesome group of women called the Huntresses. They hunt bad vampire and slay them,” he told her. “Nevaeh is almost like a Mom to Karma. She trained her to slay bad vampire.”
“Wait, so you’re telling me a Halfling worked with someone who kills vampire so she could learn to kill them, too?” Caia asked in confusion.
“Yes, but it’s not as complicated as you seem to think it is,” he said after he finally managed to sit up.
“Can you tell me more about them?” She asked, and smiled a little. “I would really like to learn about what’s been going on in the world since I’ve been here.”
“I can tell you what I know,” he answered. “Which isn’t as much as I wish I knew.”
“Anything is more than what I know,” she said as she sat on the floor and leaned against the back wall of her cell.
“Then I’ll start with the first thing I learned,” he told her.
“Jackson,” she said before he started talking about the vampire.
“Yes?”
“This is going to sound kinda bad, but I’m glad you were brought here. I haven’t had anyone to talk to in a while.”
“I was wondering why there aren’t more people here,” he said and looked at the other cells.
“Most are only here for a short time before they’re moved somewhere else,” she said and looked at him. “And you’re the first male who has been here at all.”
“If this is a place they keep people they’re selling off as blood slaves, that’s very unusual,” he mused, remembering what Karma and Dylan had told him about the containers.
“I don’t think that’s what they’re doing here,” she said and frowned.
“Then what do you think they’re doing here?” He asked.
“I overheard one of the women talking in her sleep,” she said and shuddered. “And I think they’re using this place as a breeding house.”
****
“Delanie,” Nevaeh said after a soft knock on the Huntress’ hotel room door.
“Yes?” Delanie answered from inside the room.
“May I come in and speak with you a moment?”
“Sure,” she answered and opened the door. “I’m just about ready to go.”
“That’s good, but that’s not what I wanted to talk to you about,” Nevaeh said as she walked into the room. “I wanted to ask you what’s going on between you and Jackson?”
“Nothing,” Delanie answered. “We were just starting to get to know one another when he was taken the other night.”
“I know you have feelings for him, I can sense them,” Nevaeh told her. “And I know he has feelings for you, because he told Karma he does.”
“I am starting to develop feelings for him,” Delanie admitted. “But that’s not what you asked. You asked what’s going on between us, and I
answered you honestly. He and I have become close over the time I’ve spent protecting him, which I am a miserable failure at, but it hasn’t developed beyond the getting to know one another stage.”
“Will your feelings for him interfere with what we have to do?”
“Would your feelings for Harrison interfere with finding him if the roles were different?”
“Yes, but that wouldn’t stop me,” Nevaeh answered.
“Then there’s your answer,” Delanie replied.
“And if I ordered you to stay behind?” Nevaeh asked.
“As much I love being a Huntress, and as much as I respect you, if you told me to stay behind I’d likely stake you.”
“Good answer,” Nevaeh said and walked to the door. “See you downstairs in five.”
Once Nevaeh was gone, Delanie sat on the bed and took three deep, calming breaths before standing and picking up her bag. She would find Jackson, even if it was the last thing she did.
Shaking off the thoughts that had entered her mind, she walked out of the room and down the stairs to the waiting vans.
“We’re all set,” Nevaeh said as Delanie walked up to her. “Let’s get loaded up.”
“Nevaeh and Harrison in one van, Dylan and I in the other,” Karma told the Huntresses. “The VEB is wrapping things up here, then they will be meeting up with us as soon as they can.”
“Which part of Florida are we starting?” Gina asked.
“Dylan suggested the Orlando area,” Nevaeh answered. “So, we’re starting there.”
“Why Orlando?” Delanie asked, looking at Dylan in confusion.
“Because Eduardo informed me Crompton used to have warehouses in the Orlando area, so that’s the best place I can think to start,” Dylan answered.
“Where is the Senate?” Delanie asked, just noticing the absence of the oldest vampire she’d ever met.
“They flew back to their homes to try to find out information on Crompton,” Karma answered. “They will call if they find something to help us, but in the meantime, we’re on our own.”
“We will find Jackson,” Harrison told Karma and Dylan. “And we will destroy those who took him.”
“We won’t do it standing around here, though,” Karma said and looked around at the small group of Huntresses with them. “Let’s load up and head out. We have a very long drive ahead of us.”
Delanie's Fury (Vampire Huntress Saga Book 3) Page 1
