The Complete Vampire Project Series: (Books 1 - 5)

by Jonathan Yanez

  Doctor Livingston shot Edison a dirty look.

  “No, no, you don’t get to look at me like that.” Edison formed the sign of the cross with his hands. “I’m not taking the fall for this one.”

  “How can you say that?” Doctor Livingston looked at Edison as if he had lost his mind. “You open-handedly slapped one of the gang members.”

  “He had it coming. Not only did he not flinch when I told him about the queen’s intentions for the Outland, but he also grabbed Elwood like a stuffed animal. Nearly yanked his arm out of his socket.” Edison shook his head, recalling the incident vividly. “No one pulls Elwood like that. But that’s in the past now. All we can do is free them.”

  “We’ll get them, and then it’s time to get out of Term before we can get caught,” Sloan agreed. “The queen’s soldiers are already in town. It wouldn’t surprise me if they called in reinforcements. There was an incident at a bar where they lost face. Soldiers hate backing down from a fight.”

  “What about Aareth? I can’t believe I didn’t ask sooner.” Edison quickened his pace to keep up with Sloan. “Did he make it out all right? Is he … himself? And Jack and the girls?”

  “Yeah, about that.” Sloan took in a long breath, letting it out of her mouth in a slow puff. “He’s fine-ish. I left him just outside of town. He’s kind of a wolf-human hybrid thing now. I haven’t seen or heard from Jack or the girls.”

  Edison and Doctor Livingston looked to one another with wide open mouths. Before they could ask any more questions, Sloan pointed to a massive house at the end of the block. “Is that it?”

  “Yes.” Doctor Livingston nodded. “That’s where we were held before we were transferred to the prison. That’s where Elwood and Ashley were the last time we saw them.”

  Sloan took a moment to consider her options and take in the lay of the land. Compared to the rest of Term, the building was indeed a behemoth of a structure. It was the first one Sloan had seen made of anything other than wood. Dark red bricks made up the outside of the building. Like the sheriff's station, it was two stories tall, but much wider.

  A pristine, manicured lawn led to the front porch where two figures stood on guard. Torches flickered in the early morning light, casting weird shadows across the grass. The very fact that there was a lawn at all spoke volumes as to the amount of money the unofficial mayor brought in. Watering something like that in the desert would cost hundreds, maybe even thousands, of dollars to maintain.

  “There’s no need to be quiet.” Sloan rotated her wrists and rolled her shoulders. “We’ll go in and speak with their leader and make her give us our people.”

  “That’s one plan we could try.” Edison scrunched his nose as he caught a whiff of Sloan and her stolen cloak. “But is it the best? What’s that smell? Did you piss yourself?”

  Sloan ignored Edison’s comment. “It’s the fastest way to getting our people back, besides going straight in and killing everyone. You two stay close. If things go bad, we have backup within earshot. We’ll be fine.”

  Before either of the scientists could ask what she meant by “backup,” Sloan began to move again. When she was halfway across the dirt road, the two guards standing sentry at the front of the house caught sight of her.

  “Stop right there,” one of them shouted in a nasally voice. He lifted a rifle in their direction, as did his counterpart. “What’s it you want?”

  Sloan kept her sword low by her side. She knew she could be on top of the two guards within a heartbeat. Her accelerated healing would allow her to take the bullets with minimal pain. She hadn’t been shot in the face, though. The idea made Sloan wonder if her body could heal from such a wound. Instead of testing her question, Sloan placed her sword in her belt.

  “You have two of my friends.” Sloan continued to walk forward until she was at the building's gate. She placed her hands on the smooth, metal fence. “I want to speak to your leader about their release.”

  The two guards looked to one another for a consensus. Sloan was surprised to find out she could hear their whispers at such a distance.

  “What do you want to do?” the nasally guard asked his counterpart. “Kill them here, or get the boss?”

  “The boss isn’t sleeping, but she’ll be pissed if we bother her.”

  “Yeah, but will she be more pissed if we kill them and she actually wanted to speak with them?”

  “You’re right. Keep your rifle on them and I’ll go wake her.”

  “Stay where you are,” nasal-voice shouted. “If any one of you three moves, I’ll blow your heads off, I mean it.”

  “Calm yourself.” Sloan raised an eyebrow. “We’re not going to try anything.”

  The other guard disappeared into the house. While the trio of New Hope escapees waited, the guard squinted through the dark.

  “Say, aren’t those the two fellows who were in the sheriff’s station?” He got on his tiptoes and leaned farther off the porch. “They are! You freed them, and then you came here to demand your people be released? You’ve made a bad move, lady.”

  “Yeah, well, I guess that was my move to make.” Sloan shrugged, not feeling a bit of regret at her actions.

  The door to the house swung open again and the guard who had disappeared inside came out. “She said she’ll see you.”

  Sloan looked over to Edison and Oliver. Both of them shrugged.

  No more words were needed. Sloan could tell by their body language the last thing they wanted to do was to enter the house. However, neither of them had seen the latest she was capable of. Along with that, they had no idea Aareth was waiting for Sloan to send a whistle for him to come and help.

  “We’ll be fine.” Sloan opened the steel gate, taking the lead. “Stay close.”

  The gate was heavy, even for Sloan. It was solid steel, the thickness of each bar equivalent to the shaft of a spear. Sloan followed the cement walkway through the front lawn.

  Along with the lush, green grass, Sloan got a better look at the garden. Bushes were trimmed perfectly; apples trees and a few rosebushes added just the right feel. Whoever this Kimberly was, she appreciated order and a well-maintained home.

  Sloan reached the porch where the two guards waited. The one with the nasally voice was tall with a puckered face like he had just tasted something sour. The other one was still a young kid no older than Jack.

  The thought of Jack made Sloan wince. She knew she needed to find out what had happened to him along with the Ahab sisters, but she was only one woman. She could only deal with a single crisis at a time.

  “Your weapon,” the young kid asked, pointing to Sloan’s sword.

  Sloan didn’t think twice. She removed her saber, handing the weapon to the boy, hilt first.

  “We’ll be needing to pat the three of you down, as well.” The nasally guard looked Sloan over. “Wouldn’t surprise me in the least if you were hiding something.”

  “Go ahead.” Sloan spread her arms out to either side of her body. “Just make sure all you’re doing is looking for weapons. If I feel hands where they shouldn’t be, I’ll make you wish you hadn’t gotten out of bed this morning.”

  The nasally guard laughed, but there was no mirth in the act. His expression was nervous as he lowered his weapon.

  “Be careful,” Edison said as he was patted down by the kid. “She means it. She almost castrated me earlier today and I didn’t even touch her.”

  The nasally guard placed trembling hands over Sloan’s shoulders, back, and legs. His touch was quick but thorough.

  “They’re clean,” the boy said, nodding to nasal-voice. “Both of them.”

  “All right, then, inside.” The sour-faced guard opened the front door for them, ushering entrance into the estate.

  As Sloan stepped through the doorway, her heart skipped a beat at the menacing creature waiting for her.

  Chapter Seven

  Aareth

  His body felt more alive than it ever had before. The closest he could come to pla
cing an exact feeling on his state now was when he was in his late teens. Reckless and wild, he had felt indestructible.

  He felt like that now, except he might actually be indestructible. After the fight with New Hope’s new vampire soldiers, he had suffered injuries. However, these injuries had healed quickly, and he sensed his body was still changing.

  The other day he had felt the need to hunt. While out around the city of Term, he had come across a stag. Within seconds of his arrival, the animal had either smelled or sensed his presence and it sprinted in the opposite direction.

  On all fours, a killer scientist had taken over. Aareth caught the animal without having to overexert himself. The stag made one last attempt at survival, pivoting at the last moment and driving its rock-hard antlers into Aareth’s side. Nothing had happened. Aareth’s hide battered against the sharp points as if he were made of steel. A moment later, his muzzle was drenched in hot blood as he finished the kill.

  Somewhere, Aareth understood that he should have been disgusted by the idea of ripping apart flesh with his claws and his maw. He even wanted to be a little disappointed in himself for giving into this new part of him with such ease. But he just wasn’t. He needed to eat, and this was the way of the forest.

  Aareth’s memory was still intact. It was like instead of losing any part of who he was, a part had been added. An animalistic part of him that raged to run free, to howl at the moon, and to roll in the dirt.

  Aareth thought of all of this as he hunched in the shadows just outside the small city of Term. He found a high vantage point on a hill covered in thick trees and bushes, completely concealed while he waited for Sloan’s whistle. The two had perfected a pitch that Aareth would be able to hear at almost a mile away.

  If he sprinted all out, he could be there in under a minute.

  While he waited for the call, he tried for the hundredth time to change back into the man he was. Aareth held his breath as he tensed his paws. He concentrated on ushering the wolf part of himself back into the cage it had escaped from.

  I’ll let you out again, Aareth thought. You have to let me turn back into our human form sooner or later.

  Whether the wolf part of him understood or not was yet to be seen. Nothing, however, happened; Aareth stayed in his half-wolf, half-human form.

  He heaved a heavy sigh of frustration as he sat back on his haunches, listening to the night sounds of the forest.

  Chapter Eight

  Sloan

  As soon as she entered the estate, Sloan found herself face to face with the largest gargoyle she had ever seen. Wide, animal-like feet led to thick legs, curvy hips, and broad shoulders. The gargoyle almost didn’t even have a neck. Her hair was cut into a Mohawk. She wore brown leather shorts and a matching leather sports bra.

  “Welcome, to my home, humans!” the gargoyle bellowed, opening both her muscular arms wide. “I’m glad you’ve come.”

  Sloan looked over at Edison and Oliver with confusion on her face. This gargoyle was what, expecting them?

  Oliver shrugged, but Edison had a few choice words for the self-proclaimed mayor of Term.

  “Listen, you.” Edison stepped forward, both hands on his hips. “What have you done with Elwood?”

  “And Ashley,” Oliver chimed in.

  “Yes, and her, too.” Edison shook a fist at the giant in front of him. “I swear, if you’ve hurt a hair on Elwood’s tiny little head, I’m going to…”

  Edison’s voice trailed off as Elwood rounded the corner to the large sitting room where the group was gathered. He had a massive bowl of cereal in one hand and a large spoon in the other. The shirt he was wearing read “I Heart Term” in thick, black lettering.

  The gnome stopped for a moment, taking in his friends. He waved the tiny arm holding his spoon and spoke in the high-pitched gibberish only Edison could understand.

  To Sloan and everyone else, it sounded like a boy going through puberty, who had just been kicked in the groin.

  “No, I don’t want any of your cereal.” Edison shook his head in disbelief. “Elwood, I’ve been worried sick about you. What are you doing?”

  Elwood carefully maneuvered himself onto one of the overstuffed chairs in the sitting area. He and Edison exchanged words.

  Sloan took the opportunity to study her surroundings. The front room was large with thick, red carpet underneath and dark wood walls. Cabinets were lined against the them with trophies and medals ranging from wrestling to boxing. Extra-cushioned chairs and sofas were staged in the room around an ancient-looking table. A large staircase ran upward to the right of the room; the doorway Elwood had appeared from led to rooms deeper in the house.

  Along with her inspection of the house, Sloan also studied the owner of the house. The two guards who let them in were still standing behind them, guarding the door. Kimberly herself seemed relaxed and confident. A long tail Sloan hadn’t noticed at first swished behind her rhythmically. A pair of grey wings were folded on her back.

  “Well, okay, I forgive you.” Edison walked over to the couch where Elwood sat. “What kind of cereal do you have there? Now that I’m less angry with you, I am kind of hungry.”

  “You don’t seem mad that we showed up at your doorstep.” Oliver looked over to Kimberly. “You had us thrown into a cell and sentenced to death the last time we were here.”

  “Things that have happened were meant to be, human.” Kimberly shrugged her boulder-sized shoulders. “Besides, this provided me the perfect opportunity to test my steel against a worthy opponent.”

  “We’re just here to get our people, and we’ll be going.” Sloan met the gargoyle’s grey eyes. “There’s no reason for anyone to get hurt in the process.”

  Kimberly took a step forward. She was a full foot taller than Sloan, coming in close to seven feet tall. She scratched at the underside of her jaw with fingers that came to points like talons.

  “I disagree, human.” Kimberly crossed her arms over her chest. “This is the deal. Your people, if you can best me in a fight.”

  “Both of our people?” Sloan nodded over to Elwood. “I can see the gnome is all right, but what about Bren—Ashley?”

  “Oh yes, your gnome is great fun. I was hoping to keep him as a mascot.” Kimberly’s eyes traveled over to Elwood, and a huge smile split her face. Fangs showed from under her lips. When she returned her gaze to Sloan, anger rippled over her expression. “But the other one, this Ashley, has caused me a great deal of trouble. She killed a few of my men.”

  “Where is she?” Oliver pressed. “What have you done with her?”

  “Don’t soil your pants, human.” Kimberly motioned with her hand toward the stairwell. “She’s fine. Unlike your friend Elwood, she wasn’t willing to behave herself, so she is being kept under guard.”

  Sloan was listening to the conversation while simultaneously running through her options. It seemed pretty straightforward: either fight her way to Ashley and try to escape, or accept Kimberly’s offer and fight her one-on-one. It was a no-brainer, really. She had the option to fight a single opponent or to fight Kimberly and every guard in the house if she chose to rush upstairs and try to free Ashley.

  The idea of whistling crossed her mind again, but just as soon as it did, Sloan knew it wasn’t the time. That was her safety net, and it was only good for a one-time use.

  “Weapons?” Sloan looked up at the gargoyle. “And where are we fighting?”

  “No weapons.” Kimberly smiled again. “I have a practice ring set up in the backyard. Winner either makes her opponent tap out or knocks the other unconscious. And I’m right to assume you’re the leader?”

  “Well, I wouldn’t go so far as to say that.” Edison popped up, trying to speak around a mouth full of cereal. “I’ve always fancied myself as kind of the leader to our ragtag bunch.”

  Kimberly looked Edison up and down. “Because the leader should do the fighting.”

  “On second thought…” Edison took a moment to study Kimberly’s intimid
ating stare and her thick arms. “Sloan’s more of the leader. She has experience with that kind of stuff. She should really be the one to fight.”

  “Thanks.” Sloan let sarcasm drip from her words. To no one’s surprise, it was lost on Edison.

  “No problem,” he said, retaking his seat next to Elwood. “I just want to be a team player.”

  “You said you have a training ring outside?” Sloan looked over to Kimberly.

  “This way.” The gargoyle motioned.

  Jack

  A soft knock reverberated into their room that night. Jack guessed it was night because of how tired he was. Time in the underground dungeon took on a strange sense when there was no timepiece or view of the sky.

  Abigail’s head rested on his chest and fell with his every breath. She had had a difficult time falling asleep that night. Jack gently placed a pillow under her head instead of trying to wake her. He rose from the bed without a sound.

  He walked to the door, wondering if he had imagined the knocking altogether. It came again, this time a little louder.

  “Jack, is that the door?” Abigail mumbled as she rose to a sitting position on the bed.

  “Yes.” Jack reached the door. “Who is it?”

  A loud click echoed through the room. The next second, the door opened, allowing Elizabeth to walk inside. The door closed behind her.

  “Elizabeth!” Abigail screamed as she bounded from the bed. She ran across the room and wrapped her sister in a hug. “Are you okay? Has she hurt you?”

  Jack reached for the mage lights, flipping the switch and bringing brightness to the dark room. He had a moment to take in what Abigail had failed to notice. Elizabeth wore the same type of dark robe Leah Noble had when she visited earlier that day. Along with this was a tempered smile that ran across Elizabeth’s lips, uncharacteristic to her usual nature.