Hidden in the Night

by Fall, Carly

  Once in there, Holly rolled up her sleeves and turned on the sink.

  “Holly, please," Hugo almost scolded. "Just leave those there. I have it covered.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Absolutely,” he said as he brushed by her to get to the sink. He froze. His eyes went wide as he looked down at her. He inhaled deeply.

  “No,” he whispered. “It can’t be.”

  Holly had forgotten Hugo didn’t know what she was. He must have assumed she was human like Emily. Surprise, big guy.

  She looked him in the eye, and felt her nerves rattle just a bit. “Yes, Hugo. Female vampire.”

  Hugo stared at her for a beat, and then bowed his head. “It’s an honor to be in your company, Holly. Whatever I can do to make you comfortable, don’t hesitate to ask.”

  As their eyes met again, she could see the questions in his. Where had she been? What had she been doing? She gently put her hand on the man’s arm. “Sometime I’ll fill you in on all those questions you have,” she said softly.

  “I look forward to it.”

  Holly left the kitchen and headed back to the dining room. Cy had retreated back to his computers. Emily yawned. “I’m going to wrangle those boys and get some algebra done with them,” she said.

  Holly thought the female looked tired. “Go rest, Emily. I’ll make sure they get the algebra done, and then I’m going to kick their little butts in a game of Wii Bowling.” She just hoped those boys knew what they were doing because she hated algebra and didn't understand it at all. But Wii Bowling? Those boys had no idea what they were in for.

  Emily smiled. “I’m tired,” she murmured. “This pregnancy stuff really takes it out of me. Are you sure, Holly?”

  Holly nodded. “Absolutely. Now go.”

  Chapter 22

  As Thaddeus and Aiden walked the streets east of the strip, they were approached by drug dealers and hookers, all offering their goods at discounts. Must be a slow night. Aiden and Thaddeus ignored it all.

  They patrolled the streets for a few hours where the newscaster had said the killings had taken place, and found nothing. They were looking for more vampire activity, and hopefully if they could catch the vampire, or vampires that were killing humans, they could get some information on Victor Marano.

  “Let’s take it to the shadows and see what pops out if we’re out of sight,” Aiden said quietly.

  “Agreed,” Thaddeus said. They found an empty doorway with a broken street lamp above it. Perfect.

  The wind whipped around them.

  Thaddeus cursed the weather under his breath.

  “Don’t understand why you live here if you don’t like the cold,” Aiden drawled, gazing out into the street, certain they couldn’t be seen unless someone literally decided to take up residence in the doorway as well.

  “I like looking at the snow,” Thaddeus retorted.

  “Excuse me?”

  Thaddeus looked Aiden in the eye. “I like looking at the snow, especially if I'm in front of a nice fire with a glass of whiskey. I hate being cold, but there's nothing prettier than watching the snow fall at night.”

  They both looked out to the street again. Aiden couldn't argue with him on that one.

  Aiden closed his eyes and could feel the scenario about to shift. It wasn’t anything he could see, smell or hear; it was instinctual. He knew he got that sixth sense from his father who had been a tribal leader in Africa. His mother had never told Aiden his name. From what he knew, the guy had been a revered and respected leader within his tribe. She had told him once of the man’s sixth sense, of knowing when the enemy approached or even when the weather would change that could bring destruction to his village. He relied on it fully, and Aiden had always thought it was such a shame that his father hadn’t used that sense to see his bitch mother coming at him. Yeah, because after she drew him into her bed under the disguise of a young female, she had uncloaked herself to reveal her true, hideous identity and killed him, draining him dry. His mother's face was not the last face you wanted to see on your way out. Her long bony white head, her dark pits for eyes, her talon-like hands, and those fangs . . . those fangs hung over her lips by an inch or so. Seeing his mother in her true light would definitely make anyone a believer in hell.

  Aiden scrubbed his face and opened his eyes, ready and waiting. He took a deep breath and sunk down on his haunches. He didn’t have a lot of good qualities like Thaddeus, and he was very aware of that. He had a hard time relating and talking to others. He was as charming as a pissed off grizzly bear. What he did have, unlike Thaddeus, was a fucking shitload of patience. He would sit here all night if it meant taking him one step closer to his prey.

  As he stared at those doing their deeds in the street, his thoughts went to Holly. What a surprise. It seemed that female was the only thing on his mind these days. He thought of that kiss she laid on him before he left. His hand rubbed his lips. That had been one hell of a kiss. Almost as good as the first one they shared.

  Maybe, just maybe, it would be okay to see where things led with Holly. Whatever this thing was. He knew there was the sexual attraction. Yeah, that was covered on both ends. But after all this mess was swept up, she would want to go back to her life, wouldn’t she? And really, what did he have to offer her? He was a cold bastard who relished the hunt and loved the violence of a good fight. His heart was broken, and it felt like it couldn’t be repaired. God knew that "time healed all wounds" adage was such a load of bullshit. His heart was sealed in plexi-glass, a brick wall, and armed with cannons. Nothing was getting to the fractured decrepit thing. He had built those walls around it to make sure that didn’t happen. He would never, ever feel anything like he felt for Natalie.

  Maybe that was all Holly was looking for—sex. It had been so long for him, and Holly made him hard. He wanted her. It was pretty simple. Yeah, maybe just sex would work out to both their benefits. He imagined that with her hiding under the radar, she hadn't had much sex either. He couldn't see her messing around with human men. Well, he hoped she hadn't been messing around with human men. He felt a growl rumble in his chest. The thought of her messing around with any man—human or vampire—made his blood boil.

  Before he had any more time to get crazy about Holly sleeping with another male, his eye caught two men walking toward them. He squinted to get a look at their faces, and realized they weren’t men, but kids around seventeen or eighteen. They each had dark hair and wore low-slung jeans. Both had brownish hair. One had on a leather biker jacket; the other wore a Harley jean jacket. Aiden's sixth sense began to holler.

  “Thad,” he said softly, and stood up to back himself more into the shadows of the doorway. After they had passed, Aiden began walking, keeping himself about twenty yards behind them. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Thaddeus make his way to the other side of the street, walking parallel to him.

  The boys turned down an alley, and a drug dealer came out of the shadows, asking the boys what poison they preferred. There wasn’t an answer, but something passed between the boys, some type of signal. They were on the dealer within a second, dragging him down into the blackness of the alley.

  Aiden felt the surge of adrenaline, the pumped up feeling he got just before battle. He felt his muscles flex in anticipation, his stride held a little more purpose. A low buzz registered in his ears, as though his blood was pumping through his veins a little too fast. He loved this shit.

  He got to the head of the alley first and ran into the shadows with the hope of saving the drug dealer's life. A small voice wondered if that was the smartest plan: saving a drug dealer's life so the drug dealer could help end the lives of others. However, the Behavior Doctrine mandated that humans should be revered. It didn’t differentiate between drug dealers and saints.

  He pulled the boy with the Harley jacket off the man, and cringed at the shape the dealer was in. His wrist had been torn open, and his throat was deeply gouged. He was bleeding out, and would be dead within a minute or
two.

  As he bent down to pull the other kid off the dealer, Harley jacket came at him and tackled him from behind, sending him skidding across the pavement. He had a brief thought that the kid was strong, stronger than he should be. But then he slipped into business mode. Fine, the kid wanted to do a little street fighting, he would get some street fighting.

  Aiden flipped over and made sure his fist connected with a lot of force into Harley's chin. He flew off of Aiden, into the brick wall of the building. Aiden glanced over to check on the second kid, who was flying through the air thanks to Thaddeus Airlines.

  Harley came at Aiden again, this time with a knife. As they ducked and shucked, Aiden was struck by the training the kid obviously had. His moves were advanced, and he handled the knife like a pro. The kid bared his fangs at Aiden and lunged.

  Aiden grabbed Harley's hand and used the momentum of the lunge to bring the arm with the knife close to his body. He put pressure on the wrist and the kid howled, but dropped the knife. Aiden then swung him back around to the other building, and got satisfaction when he heard the thud of Harley's head making contact.

  Just then a shot rang out, and Aiden looked over to see Thaddeus get hit in the shoulder. The kid he was battling stood there, gun outstretched, ready to fire another round into Thaddeus. Thaddeus ducked, and hit the kid like a battering ram right in the chest and threw him over his shoulder. The kid landed with a thud, and struggled to get his breath. Thaddeus was on him in a second, grabbing for the gun.

  Aiden picked up Harley by the coat collar and dragged him over to his friend. He noted that Harley's coat was torn, which was a shame. It was a nice coat. Thaddeus and Aiden stood over them.

  “Let’s chat, boys,” Thaddeus said through hard breaths, getting down on his haunches. The boys just looked up at him, hatred gleaming in their eyes.

  “A couple things I want to know. First, I want to know who trained you to fight like that. Second, I want to know where that person is. And third, I want you to take me to him.”

  “That’s three,” Harley said. Thaddeus’s eyes narrowed on the boy. “You said a couple. A couple means two, and that's three,” the boy grinned.

  Aiden bent down, grabbed the boy's sneaker, and twisted. The boy howled as his ankle snapped.

  “Didn’t your mama ever tell you that sarcasm is the lowest form of wit, asshole?” Aiden said quietly as Harley's cries died down.

  “So, anyway, back to my questions. Or are you boys that stupid that I need to repeat them?” Thaddeus asked.

  The boys began to talk. They had been taken a few months back by someone named Victor Marano, who was their father. No earth-shattering intel there. Aiden had already guessed that these two were part of the Victor Marano problem. First, they were young, just as the boys were that had been taken by Victor. Second, not many vampires would go after prey as they had and been so bold about it. It was terribly apparent that they had no regard for the Behavior Doctrine that stated that humans shall be revered, never killed, and humans must never find out about the Vampire Nation. Defying these rules would be punishable by death. Now that Thaddeus was in charge and he had taken on a human mate, he was figuring out how to alter the Behavior Doctrine so that it wasn’t as strict, but still kept the Vampire Nation a secret from the humans.

  As the boys lay in the alley, their jaws becoming a little looser, a shot rang out. Aiden looked to the mouth of the alley and saw no one. He looked down at the boys, and one of them had a red spot forming in the middle of his forehead, his lifeless eyes staring back at Aiden. A second shot pierced the night and landed next to Harley who was still alive and trying to get up off the pavement. Aiden reached for him, ready to throw him in the doorway for cover. They needed information on Victor Marano, and Harley was their best lead. A third shot rang out, and Aiden heard it wiz by his ear, and then watched it land in Harley's chest. The boy gasped once, his eyes widened, and the life drained out of him.

  Another shot sent Aiden and Thaddeus back against the brick building while they looked around to see where the gunfire was coming from.

  “Has to be from above,” Aiden whispered. The mouth of the alley was still empty.

  “Maybe from a window or the roof,” Thaddeus whispered back. Two more shots rang out, hitting the pavement by the dead boys.

  “Whether it's roof or window, it’s coming from this building,” he said tapping the bricks at his back.

  They waited for another shot, but it didn’t come. “They could be waiting for us to step out where they can get a better shot. Right now they can’t hit us,” Thaddeus said.

  Aiden agreed, but he wasn’t about to sit around all night and wait to find out. They had to get to that shooter. Now that it was apparent that someone had wanted both boys dead and unable to talk about Victor Marano, it seemed the shooter was their best line for information.

  “Cover me on three, Thad,” he said in a low voice.

  On three, Aiden took off for the mouth of the alley to get to a side door he had seen on their way in. Thaddeus had stepped out from the brick wall, his Magnum pointed upward.

  Aiden grabbed one side of the plywood and pulled. The slab of wood went flying a few feet down the alley. He pulled out his Glock and looked around the dark room for the stairs, his eye catching those of a hissing cat standing over a junkie passed out on a mattress. He saw the stairs to his right and bolted up them.

  He figured the first and second floors wouldn’t be where the gunfire came from. The trajectory wouldn’t have been right. When he reached the third floor he paused and looked around.

  The building had once been a small apartment complex with four apartments to a floor. Thanks to the junkies and squatters, all the doors had been removed. Aiden went to the first apartment on the side where the shots had come from. He went from room to room, checking everything out, his Glock leading the way.

  He went to the second apartment, and repeated his actions. He knew that the shooter would most likely have heard him enter the building, so he quickly checked the other two apartments just in case the bastard was trying to pull a fast one.

  He came up empty, except for a dead mouse and a homeless guy who had seen better days. Aiden ran up to the fourth floor, and duplicated his actions, and did the same on the fifth.

  Nothing.

  With nowhere to go but up, he kicked open the door to the roof, sending it skidding. He stood quietly, listening, his Glock out in front of him, his eyes scanning the shadows of the old air conditioning units and air vents.

  When he came up empty, he cursed. He tucked his gun back into the holster under his arm and began to walk around, looking for any clue the shooter may have left.

  He found the spent rifle casings next to the ledge. As he bent down to pick them up, another shot rang out, pinging the brick next to his head. He rolled, his fangs punching through his gums, and pulled out his gun again. He heard footsteps on the building next door. Aiden ran for the lip of the building he stood on and then launched himself to the roof next door. He heard a door open, and then slam shut. He ran to the roof access door and flung it open. He heard feet pounding down the stairs, making their way to street level. His own boots echoed in the dark stairway, dust billowing around him. When he reached the second floor, he heard a window being broken on the first floor. He flung himself over the rickety railing, landing solidly on the first floor, a plume of dust rising as if he had just set off a nuclear bomb. He saw the glass on the floor catch the reflection of the streetlights. He ran over to the broken window and peered out.

  Nothing. It was as if their shooter had disappeared into a wisp of smoke. Aiden cursed violently. He turned around to find a way out besides the window, which was too small for him to fit through. That meant that the shooter was either a small male or another kid. He cursed again when he saw the front door to the building boarded up pretty tight. He knew it also went out to a main street, and he figured it wouldn’t be a good idea for a pissed off vampire to break through the plywood and ma
ke an appearance on a main thoroughfare. He grudgingly began to go back up the stairs to the roof. As he opened the roof access door, he was met with the business end of a gun.

  Thaddeus quickly dropped the weapon to his side when he realized it was Aiden.

  “Anything?” he asked gruffly.

  Aiden just shook his head and kept walking. Thaddeus fell in beside him.

  “How bad are you hit?” Aiden asked.

  “Went clean through. I’m good. Pissed about another coat having a hole in it though.”

  “You need to stay out of the way when someone points a gun at you or that's going to happen. Know what I mean?”

  “Yes, I do,” Thaddeus said. “Yes, I do.”

  ***

  On the way back to Thaddeus’s house, Aiden called Cy as he drove. He explained that Thaddeus had been shot, but it looked as though it went cleanly through. “A couple of stitches, some peroxide and a bandage, and he'll be fine,” Aiden said.

  “Tell him not to say anything to Emily,” Thaddeus said. Aiden looked over at Thaddeus, wondering if perhaps the male had taken a bullet to the brain he wasn’t aware of.

  “I don’t want her getting upset now. She’ll be upset enough when we get home. No use having her worry before I get there.”

  “Probably the stupidest idea I've heard in a while, but whatever,” Cy said, hearing Thaddeus. “I’ll get the First Aid together and see what Holly is up to. See if she feels like doing a little sewing. What is your ETA?”

  “Fifteen minutes,” Aiden said.

  They hung up and Aiden kept one eye on the road, the other on Thaddeus.

  Thaddeus laid his head back against the headrest and closed his eyes. “You like her,” he said quietly.

  Since Aiden’s thoughts had already returned to Holly, he knew Thaddeus was talking about her. Besides, it wasn’t like there were a lot of hers around, and Thaddeus would eat Aiden’s heart for breakfast if he ever showed any interest in Emily.