“I’ll call and tell everyone we’re pulling off,” Dylan said and radioed the others.
“This is as good a place as any,” Karma muttered before turning the van into a nearly empty parking lot.
“What’s going on?” Baxter asked, getting out of the SUV.
“When we were at that house Jackson gave us the address to, did you smell the vampire inside?” Karma asked ignoring Baxter and looking at Jensen.
“I smelled vampire, but it wasn’t as strong as it should have been with that many inside,” he answered. “I didn’t think anything about it at the time, but now that you mention it, it’s weird they were able to get the drop on us like that.”
“I didn’t think about it until Delanie mentioned it a couple minutes ago,” Karma told him. “I didn’t smell any vampire at all.”
“How is that possible?” Baxter asked, looking at the Senate as they joined them.
“Scent masking,” Eduardo answered. “There are chemicals that will mask the scent of a vampire, or other creatures. It can be drunk straight or mixed with blood, but it wears off fairly quickly, so unless it’s ingested multiple times a day, it isn’t a viable option for hiding one’s scent.”
“How long does it last?” Baxter asked.
“A few hours at best,” Ramsey answered.
“What time did you leave that house?” Dylan asked his brother.
“Around four in the morning,” Jackson answered. “But the only ones around were a few humans Crompton kept for blood.”
“I wonder if the humans had consumed the chemical without knowing, and the vampire fed from them,” Constance mused. “That’s how I’d administer it.”
“Okay,” Karma said and started pacing. “We have to see if Crompton is at this address, but we have to be extremely cautious. We cannot lose anyone else.”
“We could send a Huntress to knock on the door,” Delanie suggested.
“I’ll do it,” Gina spoke up and Baxter growled softly. Ignoring it, she continued. “I can knock and tell them my car broke down or something and ask to use a phone.”
“And if there is a horde of vampire inside?” Baxter asked, snapping the question out through gritted teeth.
“I’ll never actually enter the house,” she retorted and rolled her eyes. “If anyone answers the door, I’ll be smart about it. I have been doing this for about a decade now, and I know how to kill a vampire.”
“Do you know how to kill fifty?” Baxter snapped back.
“Enough,” Karma said and looked from Baxter to Gina before turning to Nevaeh. “It’s your call. You’re still the leader of the Huntresses.”
“Baxter, Jensen, do either of you have a better idea?” Nevaeh asked, looking at the two agents.
“I don’t,” Jensen answered.
“Whatever,” Baxter said and walked back to the SUV.
“What’s wrong with him?” Delanie asked, having never seen the cool and collected vampire that rattled.
“I have a theory, but it can wait,” Aleyn said and smiled a little before looking at Gina. “We won’t be far. If there are vampire inside, do not go in. Take a few steps from the door and scream. We will be there in a flash.”
“Yeah, okay,” Gina said and looked at the SUV Baxter was in. “Despite what some think, I am capable of protecting myself.”
“Then prove it to him,” Ramsey told her and touched her shoulder before walking back to the SUV they were riding in.
“Okay, here’s the plan,” Karma said once the Senate had left and everyone listened as she spoke.
“I can do this,” Gina said as they walked back to the SUVs. “I have to do this.”
“You can do this,” Karma assured her.
“Yeah,” she responded then climbed into the SUV with Baxter.
When he didn’t say anything to her, she sat back in her seat and closed her eyes. She would prove to him she was capable of handling herself, or she’d prove him right and die trying.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Gina took a deep breath and walked to the door of the house Mitch had said Crompton was staying in. Stopping at the door, she listened for a moment before she raised her hand and knocked then took a step back from the door, so the others could see her clearly.
“What do you want?” A gruffy looking man asked as soon as he opened the door.
“Umm,” she answered and fiddled with her hair nervously. “My car blew a tire about a mile down the road, and my cell phone is dead. Do you, maybe, have a phone I can use to call Triple-A?”
“Sure, hon,” he answered and poked his head, looked around for a second, then stepped back. “Come on in, and I’ll get that phone for you.”
“Could you, umm, just bring it to me? I’m not sure I should go inside a stranger’s house,” she responded meekly.
“Sure thing, beautiful,” he responded with a wink and she had to physically stop herself from shuddering. He was revolting, but she wasn’t sure if he was human or not.
“Thank you,” she responded in a soft whisper and looked at him through her lashes. She knew her part to play.
Once he was inside, she glanced to the tree line again and tucked a strand of her long, black hair behind her ear, signaling the others that someone was inside the house.
“Here ya go, beautiful,” the man responded and placed a cell phone and a note in her hand.
“Thank you,” she responded and read the note as she dialed Karma’s number.
“Triple-A, how may I help you?” Karma answered brightly just in case there were vampire near who could hear the phone call.
“Umm, yes, my name is Regina Whitecloud,” she said and looked nervously at the man in front of her. Apparently, he was human, but there were vampire inside. “My car blew a tire and I’m not entirely sure where I am.”
“We can activate the GPS on your car and find you,” Karma told her, and Gina smiled.
“Thank you,” she replied. “I know I’m just outside of Cleveland Ohio, but I don’t know what road I’m on. My cell died, and I lost GPS a while ago.”
“Don’t worry, hun,” Karma told her and nodded to the others. That’s exactly what Gina was supposed to say if there were vampire inside. “Just go back to your car, and we will have someone there as soon as possible.”
“Thank you,” Gina responded and ended the call. As she handed the man back the phone, she saw a movement inside, and took a step back. “Thank you for letting me use the phone. The rep said I should wait with my car, so I’m going to go back there now.”
“You can’t,” the man said with a frown. “I cannot let you leave.”
“But, I have to get back to my car,” she said and took another step back. “They are sending someone to fix my tire.”
“I cannot let you leave,” he told her again.
“You don’t have a choice,” she told him and stepped back again before he could grab her arm.
“You’re the one without a choice,” he told her and stepped out the door. When three large vampire followed him out, Gina had to suppress a grin.
Their plan was working. She just needed to get them out of the house a little bit further.
“Who are they?” She asked, feigning fear.
“The ones he told you about in that little note he slipped you,” one of them spoke and she shivered a little at the coldness in his voice.
“I can’t help anyone,” she told them and took three more steps back, drawing all three vampire into the yard.
“You’ll work well as food,” another said and looked her over. “I bet your blood is delicious.”
“You’ll never find out,” she told him and pulled two daggers from her belt just as the bolt from a crossbow embedded into the middle vampire’s chest.
“Fuck,” one of the others shouted, and attempted to make it back to the house, but Gina threw one of the daggers, and it sank straight into his heart as Delanie landed on the other and quickly took him down with a swift strike with her Kunai.
&n
bsp; “How many more are inside?” Nevaeh asked the human man.
“Nine,” he answered.
“We can’t go inside, but we can make them come out to us,” Karma commented as she pulled a lighter from her pocket and quickly climbed to the roof of the house.
A couple minutes later, she hopped back down and grinned.
“That should do it,” she told them.
“What did you do?” Dylan asked.
“Ripped off a few shingles and lit them on fire then tossed them down the chimney,” she answered. “They won’t burn the house down, but the smoke will make the vampire seek out clear air.”
“There’s a back door,” the man told them.
“We’ve got the house surrounded,” Karma assured him. “Even if they break down a wall to escape, we will get them.”
A moment later, a loud crash sounded from the other side of the house, and Karma grinned.
“Idiots,” Dylan muttered when he saw Nikki shoot off a bolt from the trees.
“Eight left,” Delanie muttered and grinned when two came out the front door.
“Got em,” Jackson said and darted toward them with Delanie right beside him. When he ripped the head off one, and Delanie killed the other with her Kunai, he grinned.
“Impressive,” Dylan muttered as he watched his brother. “He seems to be enjoying this a little.”
“Nothing wrong with that,” Karma told him as she watched another vampire emerge from the house.
“Jackson, behind you,” Gina yelled out just as the vampire reached Jackson and grabbed him from behind.
“Fuck,” Delanie shouted and ripped the vampire away from Jackson.
“She’s almost as fierce as you are,” Harrison told Karma from behind her.
“It happens when you have everything you love ripped from you,” Karma muttered in response as she watched Delanie fight with a fierceness she recognized very well. “That should have been the last of them. Let’s check the inside of the house.”
“Keep a team on the perimeter,” Baxter told Jensen before he walked to the door of the house. “Everyone stay alert.”
When they walked inside, they immediately spread out and started searching rooms for anything they could find. They knew Crompton wasn’t here any longer, but they hoped to find where he’d gone.
“We have a problem,” Delanie said as she walked into the kitchen where Karma and Dylan were.
“What is it?” Dylan asked, and Delanie handed him a piece of paper.
“He has the address of the house here,” Karma said and looked at Jackson. “Let’s go.”
“Running will be faster than the cars,” Delanie said, and Karma nodded.
“Johnson,” Karma called out. “Crompton has the address to the house.”
“Fuck,” Johnson said and started running without a word to anyone else.
“Anyone else think this was a set up?” Delanie asked.
“Yep,” Karma answered. “Let’s go.”
Karma took off behind Johnson and the others followed her without hesitation.
They knew they could be running directly into the grasp of a mad man, but it didn’t slow them down. They had family in that house, and they’d do whatever was necessary to keep them safe.
Chapter Forty
“What’s going on?” Maggie asked when she heard a knock on the door.
“I don’t know,” Sally answered, looking around at the other Huntresses. “No one other than VEB knows we’re here, right?”
“As far as I know,” Lexie answered.
“It’s Crompton,” Caia told them in a whisper.
“How did he find us?” Maggie asked, as she pressed into the wall beside her.
“How do you know it’s him?” Sally asked, looking at the child.
“I looked out the window,” she responded. “It’s him and about five other vampire.”
“They cannot come inside unless we invite them,” Ashtyn reminded them. “Lexie, call Nevaeh and tell her Crompton and his men are here. Maggie, Caia, head to the basement. If they try anything, we can at least slow them down before they can get to you.”
“But how did they find us?” Randee asked, looking at the others.
“I don’t know, but how isn’t important at the moment,” Sally responded. “What’s important is keeping Caia and Maggie safe until the others get here.”
“They’re already on their way,” Lexie said as she walked back into the room. “They found this address in the house Crompton was reportedly staying in, and headed this way immediately.”
“Who is coming?” Caia asked.
“I didn’t ask,” Lexie answered and narrowed her eyes at the child. “Why?”
“Just wondering if Jackson is coming,” she responded, then headed to the basement.
“There’s something off about that child,” Sally said once she was gone. “I can’t place what, but something isn’t right with her.”
“We can’t worry about that now,” Lexie told her and looked up as another knock sounded on the door. “We have vampire to deal with.”
“Give me the child and I’ll leave,” Crompton called out from the other side of the door.
“You’ll have to come in and get her,” Lexie called back as she pulled her weapons from her sides.
“Tsk tsk, you know I cannot come inside unless invited,” he said. “Ask me in for a cup of tea.”
“How about… no?” Sally retorted.
“Is that any way to speak to a guest?” He asked, his cool composure slipping a little.
“You’re not a guest,” Randee responded. “And you’re not welcome here.”
“I could tear the house down around you,” he shot back.
“You could,” Ashtyn agreed and shrugged. “But you won’t because it would draw too much attention to you. You like hiding in the shadows and letting others get their fingers dirty rather than doing anything for yourself.”
“That is one of the perks that comes with age, young one,” he responded and sighed. “I suppose if you’re going to be like that, I should just leave.”
“Yeah right,” Lexie mouthed to the others and took a step toward the window just as a Molotov cocktail crashed through.
“Fuck,” Sally yelled as she darted into the kitchen and pulled the fire extinguisher from under the counter.
Just as she got the fire put out, another one sailed through the window in the kitchen.
“He’s going to burn the house down,” Lexie called out as Sally extinguished that fire, too.
“If you let me in, I’ll let you live,” Crompton told them, his voice louder than it was before.
“Of course you will,” Randee retorted. “And I’m a dancing monkey.”
“That could be arranged,” he responded.
“Fuck off,” Sally yelled as the front door crashed and a large vampire holding a gun appeared on the other side.
“Well, that changes things,” Lexie said and dropped to the floor just as the first shots rang out.
“Stay low,” Ashtyn yelled, as she headed for the stairs.
“Give me the girl,” Crompton said again when the vampire stopped shooting.
“You’ll have to kill us first,” Randee called out from behind the sofa.
“And I will,” he responded.
“FUCK!” One of the vampire with him yelled out and Sally risked peeking from behind the kitchen counter to see what happened.
One of the vampire with him was laying on the ground with an arrow sticking out of his chest and she grinned. Ashtyn had made it upstairs to her crossbow.
“She will kill you all before you can flee,” Sally called out and Crompton snarled.
“Time to go,” they heard a voice say, and then everything went silent for a moment before they risked looking out again.
“Maggie?” They heard a voice they recognized call out, and knew they were safe.
“Agent Johnson,” Sally greeted him with a soft smile. “We sent her and Caia to
the basement. They’re okay.”
“And everyone else?” Karma asked, entering the house.
“We’re fine,” Lexie responded. “The house isn’t though.”
“The VEB’s insurance will cover it,” Jensen told them. “As long as you’re all okay, nothing else matters.”
“Crompton got away,” Harrison told them when he walked in.
“And he wasn’t alone,” Ashtyn told them as she came down the stairs. “We need to go to the basement, now.”
“Why? What’s wrong?” Johnson asked, not liking her tone.
“Just go,” she told him, and he headed down the stairs with Karma on his heels.
When he opened the door, he was surrounded by darkness and he blinked twice, bringing his eyes into focus.
“Fuck,” he said when he spotted Maggie laying in the floor.
“She’s alive,” Karma told him, hearing her shallow breathing. “But where’s Caia?”
“The window’s open,” Jackson pointed out after he flicked on the light. “An adult would be too big to fit through those tiny windows, but Caia could.”
“Crompton was carrying her when they left,” Ashtyn told them. “They got into SUVs and headed North, but I don’t know if we could find them now.”
“But how did he get to her?” Karma asked, knowing everything the child had told her to that point was the truth.
“This,” Jensen said and handed Karma a cell phone. “Sally just found this in Caia’s things. The only number that’s been called is Crompton’s.”
“Where did she get a cell phone with Crompton’s number?” Karma asked and looked around the room at everyone.
“That’s Mary’s phone,” Baxter commented and frowned. “I had it secured in a lock box. How did she get it?”
“We will find that out when we find her,” Karma muttered and looked at Jackson.
“Caia,” Maggie muttered, stopping all other conversation.
“Shh,” Johnson said and dropped to the floor beside her head. “Let’s get you up and then you can tell us what happened.”
“Caia,” she said again as Johnson scooped her into his arms and carried her from the basement.
Delanie's Fury (Vampire Huntress Saga Book 3) Page 19
