I took a deep breath just before he added, “They have also chosen you to lead the team.”
A well of emotion rose up in me with a knot in my throat and it pressed behind my eyes. I straightened and walked into the conference room.
When Adam came in just behind me, his hand resting on my shoulder, expressions changed again, this time to surprise. I expected Ice to be openly hostile but amazingly he wasn’t. Maybe it had to do with Adam showing up on the Werewolf op and working with my team, which had included Ice.
On the other hand Kelly was scathing. “What’s the norm doing in here? Bad enough we have one,” she said referring to Olivia.
I had to grab Olivia’s arm to keep her from walking past me, straight for Kelly. She’d probably do more than just punch Kelly’s arm.
When I wouldn’t let her by, Olivia made little kissing sounds. “Here, bunny bunny. I’ve got a carrot for you.”
Kelly scowled and Joshua interrupted with, “I’ll see your carrot and raise you one.”
Rodán ignored the exchange in favor of moving on to what was important. As Olivia, Adam, and I took our seats he was saying, “There is much to accomplish. Others will be joining us in just moments, as they are already here.”
Ondrej, the Werewolf from Beketov’s pack, came through the nightclub door just as Rodán finished speaking. He stood near the back since there was standing room only.
The same door opened again followed by low murmurs from the Trackers as at intervals several different beings filed through, representatives of almost every race of paranorms. A Doppler, Shifter, Shadow Shifter, Witch, and Tuatha Fae warrior each made their way into the conference room. The last was a Sprite—Negel.
“We are adding to our forces.” Rodán gave a nod to those who now gathered around the conference table, “One representative of every race has been invited to this meeting. Each will then select their best paranorms to participate, as we need as many fighters as possible to join our mission.”
Rodán allowed no time for questions or comments. He gestured to a wall beside the conference table. The layout the draftsman had prepared was fastened to the wall. The draftsman was Fae and his drawings were three-dimensional and interactive.
Negel’s additions were added in glowing red as opposed to my contributions in neon blue. According to the layout, it looked like Negel’s knowledge of the pyramid and compound was far beyond mine. I quickly studied the enhanced layout and memorized it.
Rodán and I had gone over everything on the phone, but this was the first time I’d seen the composite.
We’d discussed all that Negel had learned when debriefing him as well as sharing with Rodán plans I had come up with the night before. From those details we developed a general compound invasion and serum/antiserum rescue plan.
“Nyx.” Rodán jarred me from my thoughts as he called my name. “As you will be leading this mission, you may take over now.”
My belly flip-flopped a little as I pushed back my chair and walked around the conference table to the wall. Some Trackers were looking at me with a different kind of interest, and I realized this was the first time some of them had seen me in my human form.
Fair skin instead of amethyst and black hair instead of blue, not to mention no pointed ears and no little fangs, as well as less defined musculature, made for a very different-looking Nyx Ciar. The fact that I was in Dior slacks and a cashmere sweater instead of a two-piece black leather fighting suit might have made them look at me differently, too.
For some strange reason I felt a little nervous being in charge of the entire team of Night Trackers and representatives of various races of beings. Despite the fact that I was compromised as a carrier of the virus, they were willing to follow my lead.
“Negel, please.” I indicated with a slight movement of my hand for him to join me at the front of the room.
Tension filled the air as the Sprite walked toward me. He looked nervous and his form wavered a bit, like he was seriously tempted to disappear behind a glamour. Sprites hadn’t exactly been welcomed before and this was a stretch to have him in the meeting.
“This is Negel of the Sprites.” I looked slowly around the room, meeting the gazes of each Tracker, including Kelly. “Thanks to Negel,” I said as he stood beside me, “we have detailed information about the Vampire compound.”
I cleared my throat. “Negel was extremely brave and resourceful in coming to the compound, finding me, and giving my Tracker team my warning. Not only that, but he has given us detailed information that I will show you on the layout.”
With the interactive layout, Negel and I proceeded to show the newly expanded team all of the entrances and exits we had discovered first. We also went into descriptions of the various rooms, chambers, and other locations in the pyramid, including the catacombs with the Vampire coffins.
Negel provided invaluable information about where guards were stationed as well as where weapons were stashed.
“Volod told his brother and the other Master Vampire that he wanted the number of guards increased as a precaution,” Negel said. “Now that the paranorms know the Vampires do have the serum and antiserum and we now know the location of the pyramid, they could face some opposition. They are arrogant enough to think they are safe in the pyramid, though, with their doubled guards and the treatment of the serum.”
“Doubled up on their guards…” Ondrej shook his head. “That means nothing. We will take them out.”
“The best time to attack is during the day while the Vampires are still in their coffins, when they are completely helpless.” Joshua leaned back in his chair. “We should get there before night falls. That does not give us much time.”
“We considered a daylight attack,” I said. “However, we would give away our element of surprise because their human guards would alert them. Not only that, but all of the Vampires would be in the pyramid and would wake and be ready for us.”
“As opposed to waiting until most of the Vampires have left for the night to hunt,” Negel said.
I explained how the pyramid was designed so that no light could get through, meaning the Vampires had no chance of daylight entering their sanctuary. Even their entrances were deep belowground, including their parking garage. The Vampires had their full abilities during the day, so long as they remained in the pyramid.
“We should infiltrate the pyramid when most of the Vampires are out hunting,” I said.
“That would be close to midnight,” Nadia said.
I nodded. “It’s definitely the best time to get into the compound and the pyramid.”
“What then?” Ice gave me a hard look. “You go in alone again and this time get yourself killed?”
My face burned hot. As Drow my cheeks don’t show red if I’m embarrassed or angry. It’s another story when I’m human.
“A select team,” I said, “will go into the pyramid first and prepare for the next team to aid in securing the area. If we are successful in securing the serum and antiserum, we will make our way out. If we have problems and you are called, or once we have the serums, the rest of the team will storm the pyramid.”
“You mentioned getting the serum and antiserum when the first team goes in,” Angel said. “Do you know where it’s being kept?”
I gave Negel a nod indicating it was his show now.
“I know the exact location of the serum and I believe the antiserum as well.” The Sprite’s ears wiggled. “It is in a safe beneath the carpet, under a bookcase, in Volod’s office.”
“How do you know that it’s in that safe?” Ondrej asked from the back of the room.
“I followed Volod who returned the large bottle of serum to the safe after injecting Nyx,” Negel said and I flinched at the sound of Volod’s name. The Vampire bite on my neck burned.
Negel looked at me with fear for me in his big eyes. “His brother Danut was there and Volod told him if only the purple Tracker knew the antiserum was so close in that safe.”
Th
e room went quiet as everyone looked at me.
“Amethyst,” I said to lighten the mood since almost everyone knew I hated to be called purple. “Not purple, amethyst.”
“Excellent work,” Nadia said to Negel and there were other murmurs of approval.
Lawan shifted in her chair. “What about getting into the safe? Is there a lock or combination?”
“I watched Volod open it himself, saw the combination number he used, and memorized it,” Negel said. “I was looking right over his shoulder as he stooped over.”
Tracey leaned forward, her forearms braced on the table. “Great job, Negel.”
This time the Sprite looked like he was blushing.
“Thank you, Negel,” I said, and his mottled cheeks turned even redder.
“There is something that makes this more urgent than you realize.” The room quieted as I spoke.
“According to what Negel overheard,” I said, “Volod is planning on dividing up the serum into three parts. I tried not to flinch from saying the name which was followed by a burning sensation where the bite mark was. “He is keeping each part at separate locations. A scientist is coming tomorrow.”
Negel’s ears flopped as he nodded. “During the day. The scientist is human.”
I clenched my hands into fists. “In addition, the scientist is supposed to develop a misting method of distributing the serum throughout the city if the Vampires believe our threat to them is too great.”
“It could be spread on the wind,” Negel said, “and kill us all within days.”
“There is no telling how potent the serum is.” I rubbed my temples, almost feeling the imprints of the head cage bolts still there.
Deep concern was in Negel’s voice. “Volod is also considering having the scientist destroy the antiserum.”
My stomach pitched even though this wasn’t the first time I’d heard that fact. Rodán had told me all of it earlier over the phone when we discussed Negel’s debriefing.
Murmurs of concern over all of the news sped through the room.
“Can I ask an obvious question?” Joshua leaned back in his chair. “Why don’t we simply develop more antiserum right away?”
“We had recovered only a small amount of antiserum.” Rodán stepped forward. “We never recovered the formula from the antiserum … that recipe died with the scientist.”
Rodán met the gazes of paranorms around the room. “That was why the serum was at the Paranorm center. The council planned to have the serum and antiserum studied in order to develop more antiserum in case other quantities of the virus serum turned up. The only antiserum that we know of is in the Vampire’s safe.”
“This makes everything more urgent.” I touched my collar by habit, then drew my hand away. “We have to take control of the compound tonight. We have no choice.”
All of the Trackers and others in attendance nodded in agreement.
“We have plans for this mission,” I said. “However, all Trackers are resourceful and we are open to brainstorming.”
Everyone at the meeting was all business as we got down to our plans. I assigned leaders for each team after we estimated the totals of paranorms which included each race represented.
At least twenty compression suits were available in the detention center. In storage from the Paranorm Rebellion were the countless small crossbows used to shoot stakes at a Vampire’s heart. The crossbows and stakes had been fashioned from Dryad wood, making them even more accurate because they were infused with a little Dryad magic.
In large supply were plenty of garlic tablets and holy water, along with a few other items that would help in a battle against Vampires.
“We know what’s at risk, we have a plan, we know our enemy.” I put my hands on my hips as my gaze traveled the room and I saw the seriousness in every paranorm’s eyes. “Now let’s go destroy that enemy.”
TWENTY-FIVE
My heart pounded as Team One and I eased through the dark forest and approached the Vampire compound. Through a break in the clouds, moonlight cast a silver glow on everything except the pyramid which absorbed the light.
The smell of rain edged the air. When I looked up, dark clouds closed the gap and hid the moon. A raindrop hit my nose.
When we were at the edge of the tree line and were a hundred yards from the front gate, Mandisa came up on my right, Ice on my left. Behind us were Lawan and Joshua. Taking up the rear were three big Doppler males.
Three Vampire guards stood at the huge black iron gate that was between the high stone walls. One of the Vampires paced back and forth from one end of the gate to the other. The razor wire on the stone walls glittered in another patch of moonlight that peeked through the dark clouds.
I gripped the hilts of the two extra daggers I’d brought with me. My weapons belt was heavy with my dragon-clawed daggers, my buckler, my new phone, one of the small stake crossbows along with a few wooden stakes, and some other items that might come in handy.
Adam had procured twenty radios with earpieces and we were using them to relay instructions and responses from both teams that were going in covert, as well as communicating with the leaders of the force surrounding the perimeter of the compound.
The fact that I’d been injected with a deadly virus was always at the back of my mind. I tried not to think about the virus being in my blood, but the thought was still there.
I couldn’t allow myself to dwell on it at all. What was important was getting my people in and out without injury and procuring the serum and antiserum.
My muscles tensed as I got ready to roll with our plans.
Heat burned in my belly when I thought about the reports already pouring in to the NYPD and to the news stations tonight.
Captain Wysocki had told Adam earlier that there had been even more attacks over the last few nights—people murdered, injured, or missing—than the NYPD had released to the news stations. Tonight had started earlier than the other nights and reports were coming in fast.
The city was in an all-out panic. Adam said Captain Wysocki was starting to believe that they were dealing with Vampires. Real Vampires. Not wannabe norms, but truly real Vamps. Nothing human could be doing what was happening to countless innocent people.
I narrowed my eyes at the gate. We would stop the Vampires from attacking humans ever again.
Team Two consisted of the rest of the Trackers. That team was being led by Angel and would come in on my signal.
The balance of our forces had gathered in an enormous circle around the compound, far enough out of range that they wouldn’t be spotted. Despite the size of the force, it would be difficult for the Vampires to know that we were stationed as close as we were. There were benefits to having the variety of races of beings on the force.
Shifters could shift into any type of warm-blooded creature that lived in the forest.
Dopplers often had forms of forest animals, like Angel who was a squirrel. She and the Doppler leader had selected only those Dopplers who could fit in undetected.
Of course since wolves lived in this area of western New Jersey long before man drove them out, Werewolves were essentially indigenous.
Elves and all races of Fae belong in nature and are just as difficult to identify by scent or sight.
I had the gift of a keen sense of smell, but even I was having a hard time distinguishing one race of paranorm beings from another by scent in the forest tonight.
The middle Vampire guard continued his pacing while the other two stood sentry to either side of the gate.
I looked over my shoulder and nodded to the three Doppler males who each gave a nod in return before they separated. They would come at the gate from three different directions. One Doppler shifted into a great horned owl, another into a skunk. The third morphed into a large black bear.
The owl hooted and flapped its great wings as it took to the sky and flew silhouetted against the filtered moonlight over the guards.
“Look at the size of that thing,”
one Vampire guard said.
“Never seen one so big before,” added one of the other guards.
The skunk strolled out of the forest, its tail high, as it approached the guards. They were preoccupied by looking at the owl that had landed on one of the stone walls.
A guard glanced down in time to see the skunk raise its tail. “Shit!” he cried out and started to run from the gate. “A skunk! Kill that thing!”
The other two guards scattered but none of them made it far enough to avoid getting sprayed by the Doppler skunk. Then the skunk shot after one of the guards who kept running.
A second guard was trying to beat off the owl that had taken flight, then swooped down to claw at the Vampire’s head.
The third guard ran straight into the black bear. It tore the guard into pieces before ripping out his heart.
Once they were away from the gate, the owl and skunk shifted back into their human forms and slammed the Vampires to the ground.
I took the two extra daggers I’d been holding and flipped them end over end toward the former skunk and owl Dopplers. They each caught a hilt in their hands, then used the large daggers to carve out the Vampires’ hearts.
Within moments the Dopplers had tossed the Vampire bodies into the forest. The males took their places at the gate, replacing the Vampire guards.
I wiped away a raindrop that hit my forehead, then pressed the tiny button on my earpiece. “Team One. Break,” I whispered into the mic. “Team Two, hold until I give the word.”
In case the gate opening and closing triggered some kind of notification in the pyramid, we would find alternate ways of getting into the compound.
Joshua slipped into his shadow form and skimmed a moonlit patch of grass before he disappeared into the dark forest. His objective was to find a crack, any opening to the garage, and slip through it. He would enter the pyramid from that angle.
Lawan morphed into a Siamese cat. She stepped with a cat’s delicacy and grace through the shadows and to the front gate. She easily slinked between the bars of the gate and headed for the north entrance of the pyramid.
Vampires Not Invited: A Night Tracker Novel Page 25
