"No, but I might be open to suggestions," he said, looking through his bag. "I"ve got seven stakes. That should be enough. I hope."
"Three more victims. Three more chalk marks on the board. I wonder if the female contingent of our four newborns are the culprits. After all, Dredge and the men were busy kidnapping Erin." I found it odd that n.o.body had noticed any of Dredge"s cronies wandering the area. They would look just as out of place as he did, but the two vamps who helped him kidnap Erin had been our newborns. What was going on?
"You think he"s trying to build a master nest here?" Roz frowned. "If he can form a big enough one, then he can hive them off. Maybe he"s looking to take control of the area." He paused for me to answer but before I could speak, he waved toward the park. "Something"s going down over there. I can feel it."
He was right-something nasty was going down. The scent of blood hung so heavy in the air that it seeped through the closed windows of the car. I skidded to the curb and thrust open my door, hitting the bricks before I had time to say a word. Roz was close behind me. I heard a screech as Delilah"s Jeep skidded to a halt near ours, but I was already on my way into the park on the corner lot intended to beautify the area.
As I lightly skimmed the ground, my heels making the barest clicking sound, my fangs extended. The smell of vamps filled the air-that unmistakable fragrance of blood and death and hunger.
The park was half a block square, and filled with fir and maple and weeping willow. I dashed into the dark, following my nose. At this point, I could hear the last gasps of someone dying.
Strike someone someone, and make it a mob, I thought as I broke through into a small clearing shrouded from the view of the street. Our gang from the theater was there, having a heyday. Two women lay on the ground, each with her very own hunka-vamp leaning over her. The two females were holding a struggling young man between them. He looked around fifteen and he"d already been bitten. As I watched, he went limp in their arms.
"The master said take them with us this time!" one of the women yelled as they spotted me racing toward them. "Let"s go."
"What about this b.i.t.c.h?" asked one of the men. His name was Bob. I recognized him from the morgue photos.
The other shook his head. "Leave her. Dredge said she"s all his."
I poured on the speed as they tossed their victims over their shoulders and took off running. "Follow them!" I yelled back to Roz as I dodged trees and leapt over rocks trying to keep them in sight. They were fast, but I was faster, and I managed to get within arm"s reach of good old Bob, who was struggling to keep hold of the plump matron hanging over his shoulder.
He spun, hissing, and I let loose with a swipe that ripped his shirt, leaving a trail of deep scratches down his back. As he tossed the woman"s body to the side, a crack crack fractured the night air as something inside her snapped. There was no time now to let myself worry about her. She was already dead. fractured the night air as something inside her snapped. There was no time now to let myself worry about her. She was already dead.
As Bob spread his arms, ready to meet me, fangs out and eyes glowing, I leapt at him, growling as I body-slammed him to the ground. I was older, I had more experience, and I was far more ruthless. As he keeled over backward, I swiped at his throat, gashing a long slice from ear to ear.
"Here!" Roz tossed a stake to me and I caught it firmly in midair. As I held it over my victim, though, I paused. "What are you waiting for?" Roz said. "Stake him now-stake him while he"s down."
"No. He"s alive and he knows Dredge. Maybe he can tell us where that c.o.c.ksucker is!"
Roz knelt beside me, keeping a wary eye on the retreating backs of the others. They"d managed to elude his attempts to catch them. "They sure learn fast, don"t they? Give loyalty to Dredge, and to Dredge only. Anybody else falls, leave them behind."
"You got it. That"s how he works," I said. "Hey, have any silver twine on you?"
"I"ve got better than that," Roz said with a grin. "I put this little goody together today." He pulled out a rope and I recoiled immediately. It had been drenched with garlic oil. "Yeah, I thought that would do the trick," he added, smiling at my reaction.
"Keep that s.h.i.t away from me," I said. "Tie him up with it. You think it"s strong enough to hold him?"
"You want me to tie you up and see if you can get loose?"
I flashed him the evil eye. "Yeah, and I want to go dance in the sunlight, too. Hurry up. We"ve got to get out of here in case they return with reinforcements."
Just then, Delilah and Wade caught up with us. "What"s going on?"
"Check that woman over there. Is she still alive?" I motioned to Wade. "You do it. Delilah, I need you to help Roz tie up our friend here with this delightfully stinky rope."
As Roz held the dude down, Delilah wrapped the rope around his arms, and another length around his feet. The minute the rope hit the vamp"s skin, he screamed.
I kicked him in the side. Hard. He"d been in on the kidnapping and I had zero sympathy for him. "Shut up or I"ll give you a good reason to scream. My sister"s learning death magic. I"m sure she and her partner have something to corral a vampire." I was bluffing, but he didn"t have to know.
Wade motioned me over. "She"s dead, and she drank. Look at her chin."
The woman"s face was splattered with blood. Bob had forced her to drink before she died. It wouldn"t be long before she started to rise. I blankly turned back to Roz. "Give me that stake."
Wade blanched as I leaned over her. "I"m sorry," I said. "I hate doing this but..." Grimacing, I plunged the stake into her heart and shuddered as a low wail filled the air and her body exploded into dust. She"d been turning fast. The newborns were gaining power at a rapid rate. Dredge"s blood was strong. All of his children-including me-were exceptional in strength.
"Menolly, the morgue," Delilah said. "We don"t have much time."
s.h.i.t. The morgue! In my excitement over catching one of the newborns, I"d almost forgotten. "What are we going to do with him until then? We don"t dare leave him alone or he might call his grave-mates and he has information we need."
"You go on ahead. Wade and I"ll take him home. You"ll just have to take care of the vamps in the morgue yourself." Delilah dusted off her jeans as Wade yanked our prisoner to his feet. Lucky for us he was in obvious agony from the sting of the garlic-infused ropes and paying little attention to what we were saying.
"Are you nuts? We can"t allow that creature in our house! Let me think for a minute." I mulled over our options and then snapped my fingers. "Got it. Come here, the two of you. Roz, can you watch over our buddy here for a moment?" Roz traded places with Wade as I motioned for Delilah and Wade to follow me over to where I hoped we couldn"t be heard.
"I want you to take him to the Wayfarer. It"s closed now, so there won"t be any customers there to question you. Downstairs, near the room with the portal in it, you"ll find a metal door. Tavah knows you, so she won"t attack. Here"s the key for that room." I removed a heavy key from my key ring and pressed it into Delilah"s hand. She curled her fingers around it and let out a little mew. The key had some iron in it. A tiny puff of smoke rose from her hand. "Yeah, I know it hurts, but it"s not enough to damage you."
"What"s behind the door?" Wade asked.
"A magic-proof chamber, built to house rogue OW visitors the Wayfarer might need to deport. The OIA built it, and Jocko kept it top secret. I don"t think he ever told Wisteria, and none of my bartenders know about it. When I took over, Headquarters let me in on the secret. That room will hold a minor demon, so it should hold a vamp. He shouldn"t be able to send any messages out on the astral, either. Lock him in and head for the morgue. And don"t dawdle."
Delilah let out a rough laugh. "That"s going to come in handy, probably more than we think. Okay, get moving and don"t worry. Wade and I can handle it. But... give us one of those stakes. Just in case?" Her eyes took on a feral gleam and I had a dark sense that someone was watching through her eyes. The scent of bonfires filled the air and then, with a gust of wind, was gone.
"I think you have company on your shoulder," I said softly, handing her my stake.
"I know," she whispered. "I can feel him him here. The Autumn Lord has been around since the first bodies were found." here. The Autumn Lord has been around since the first bodies were found."
"Well, we don"t have time to ask why. Go. Keep your cell phone on." I pushed her and Wade back over to Bob"s side, where they yanked him to his feet and headed toward the Jeep, dragging him between them. Roz and I followed, keeping an eye on them till they sped off in the night.
"I hope they"ll be okay." I couldn"t bear it if something happened to Kitten because of me.
"They"re strong, they"re experienced." Roz shrugged and handed me the purse the woman I"d staked had been carrying. "Here, you might want this... to identify her with. Come on, let"s get to the morgue. I hope we"re not too late."
I carried the purse gingerly. Within it were the last things she"d touched. Dredge had purged her of her life. I"d purged her of her death. I could only hope she was walking with her ancestors.
We were only a few blocks from the Faerie-Human Crime Scene Investigations building where Sharah had ordered the new bodies brought. As we screeched into the parking lot, we saw Trillian and Chase climbing out of the car.
"What the h.e.l.l took you so long?" Trillian asked. "Stop for a drink or something?"
"Shut up, Svartan Svartan. We came across the first four newborns in the park, harvesting more victims. Three of them got away. The other vamp is on his way to a holding pen for now."
"And their victims?" Chase asked, paling.
I stared at him, daring him to comment. "They carried two of them off with them-one a teenaged boy. The third we dusted. She was already starting to turn."
He paled, then rushed to the building with me hot on his heels. Roz and Trillian brought up the rear. Roz was readying stakes and tossed one to Trillian, who grunted, catching it lightly.
I paused at the door. "Here we go again. Take two on Stake-That-Vamp. Let"s go see what we have. If they already rose, Sharah"s in a heap of trouble." I pushed open the doors and once again, we hustled down the stairs to the morgue.
During our trip the other day, I hadn"t noticed the surveillance cameras but now they stood out, near the magical detection that allowed the guards upstairs to track OW guests and prisoners. As we raced by one of the sensors, it started to howl.
Chase pulled out his gun, turned, and shot it point-blank. As the ward exploded in a fiery shower of sparks, he let out a low laugh. I stared at him. "What the h.e.l.l are you on, Johnson?"
"Just blowing off steam," he said.
Trillian grunted something to him that I couldn"t hear.
The morgue was in the bas.e.m.e.nt and as we approached the doors to the second examination room, I could sense that something was terribly wrong. We were too late. I knew it in the center of my core. I pushed ahead and slammed the doors open, flipping on the lights. Three steel slabs lay empty, sterile sheets draped on the floor, no longer pristine.
"Oh, h.e.l.l! They"ve risen. Watch your backs." I immediately slid into reconnoiter mode, circling the room, stake at the ready.
"Sharah!" Chase let out a harsh bark as Trillian moved to cover him. I traced the scent of the freshest batch of newborns. Three more vamps on the loose. With the three that we"d lost in the park and their two new victims, that meant at least eight under Dredge"s control.
They could be anywhere-in the building or out of it. I just prayed Sharah had gotten out of the way.
"Chase, stay with Trillian and keep an eye on each other. I"m going to explore the back. Roz, cover me." I headed toward the backroom off the morgue, where they performed tests and disposed of the remains.
Roz swung in behind me as I raised my booted foot and slammed it against the door. The sound of ripping metal shrieked as the hinges twisted and the heavy metal door fell, toppling into the other room. I leapt over it, Roz right behind me.
I"d only seen this backroom one time before, when Sharah gave us a tour during the post-Christmas party Chase had thrown for the FH-CSI team. The walls were lined with cupboards and sinks, counters filled with serrated knives and bone saws and dental hooks, and instruments that I didn"t even want to fathom the uses for. The room was lit by a dim fluorescent light, and the scent of decay undermined the sterile odors coming from the antiseptic soap and bleaches used to clear away the traces of the dead. The last stop on the train. No more journeys, no more travels in the current body. That is, unless they"d been given their tickets by Dredge.
"Every cupboard-open and check." I slammed open door after door, looking for any sign of Sharah or the newborns. There were bottles of liquid with hearts and eyes and livers floating in seas of formaldehyde, bottles of blood, and bottles containing items better left unidentified. But no vamps.
Roz took the other side and we worked in silence until we came to the end, facing the other door. Without a word, I took the front and he covered my back. As I shoulder b.u.t.ted it, the wood shook, then splintered as the lock gave way.
The hall was dimly lit-again the low shimmer of fluorescent lighting-and it led to bathrooms and a fire exit. The fire exit was open, the wires to the alarm cut. I stuck my head outside, staring at the greenbelt that lay beyond the back of the building. They were gone. I could smell their essence, but they"d pa.s.sed through and left.
I turned back to see Roz pointing at the women"s bathroom.
"Someone in there?" I said, barely whispering. He nodded.
I slipped over to his side and cautiously cracked the door. The bath held a shower and two toilet stalls, and I could hear a faint whimper coming from one of them. I recognized the voice.
"Sharah! Sharah, is that you? It"s me, Menolly. Come out." I carefully made my way over to the stall. What if they"d attacked her, turned her, and she"d already risen? Vampiric elves could be freakier than regular vamps. Like vampiric Fae, their powers were usually stronger and darker. And with elves, the change went against their basic natures and usually sent them over the edge into madness. Very few found their way back.
The door to the toilet stall swung open. Sharah staggered out. She was hurt, that much was obvious, with blood dripping down her shoulder and from her wrists. But her mouth was clean and I caught no sense that she was one of the undead. She was still alive.
"Quick, did they make you drink from them?" I asked, tossing my stake to Roz, who caught it and kept watch on the door to the hall.
She shook her head. "No, no... smell if you want."
I motioned for her to stay her distance. "You know better than that. You"re covered with blood and I"m in hunting mode. Don"t come near me." I paused. She needed attention, and fast, but we"d have to get her back to the others. I couldn"t chance staying with her while Roz went to get help, and I didn"t want to chance leaving him here with her unprotected, just in case the newborns took it into their heads to return.
"Roz, you carry her back into the main morgue."
"Do you think we should move her?" He handed the stakes to me and caught her up in his arms.
At the flicker in his eyes when she pressed against him, I shook my head. "Don"t get any ideas, wise guy. She"s hurt bad."
With a sly grin, he shrugged. "A demon can fantasize, can"t he?"
Sharah gasped. "Demon?"
"Hold still or I might accidentally drop you," he said gruffly. "I"m an incubus. Get over it. We"re facing far greater dangers than I will ever pose to you, my elfin lady."
She glanced into his face, then nodded and leaned against his shoulder as he swung out of the room and I followed. I stopped to close the fire exit. There wasn"t much I could do to brace it shut, but we didn"t need to leave an open invitation to anybody who might be pa.s.sing by, be they vamp or human or Fae.
We rejoined the others in the main morgue, where we found Delilah and Wade had made it back. Delilah was looking p.i.s.sed out of her mind.
"That didn"t take you long. Have any trouble with Bob?" I asked.
Delilah nodded. "Yeah. Halfway there he managed to get loose from his ropes. We had to stake him or we would have been toast."
"d.a.m.n it-" I started to say, but Wade raised his hand.
"There was no other choice. Chalk it up to bad luck, or whatever you like, but he"s gone. Let"s focus on the here and now."
I grumbled but knew he was right. There was nothing we could do now, and Delilah was a good fighter. She wouldn"t stake our potential informant unless the danger had been all too real.
Delilah took one look at Sharah as Roz carried her into the room before she raced over to help him, Chase right on her heels.
"Upstairs," he said. "We have a medic station. Follow me."
"Be careful. We don"t know if they rampaged the joint before they escaped. They might have circled round and come in topside." I wouldn"t put anything past Dredge and his children, especially if it was sneaky, underhanded, or designed to inflict as much pain as possible.
Wade and Trillian guarded the rear while Roz and I led the way. We stopped by the elevator doors, which were next to the stairwell.
"I don"t want to chance the elevators," I said. "If there are a bunch of vamps up there, we don"t want to be trapped in a little metal box."
Chase eyed the stairs. "That means we have to carry Sharah up three flights and she"s pretty badly hurt."
I stepped back. "I could carry her with no problem, except..." I paused, and Delilah immediately understood.
"She"s bleeding. Let me do it." Delilah was stronger than Chase.
Not one to get in a snit about it, he immediately acquiesced. "Take her. You can carry her easier and quicker than I can."
Delilah swept Sharah into her arms and, with Roz and me at the helm, began the climb. Chase kept pace right beside her, helping to steady or balance her when she needed it.
At the top of the stairs, I peered through the windows gracing the double doors that led into the main room. While Chase worked out of an office at police headquarters, he also had an office here and divided his time between the two stations.
"Chase, do you know that guy at the desk?" I asked, motioning for him to edge up the steps and peek through the window.
Chase nodded. "Yeah. That"s Yugi. He"s an empath from Sweden."
"Human?" I asked.
"An FBH just like me," he said. "Do you sense something wrong?"
"No, but-" I stopped as Yugi spotted me. He jumped up and called something over his shoulder. Three men came racing around the corner and headed our way. "Why the f.u.c.k didn"t they hear the magic sensor go off and come to check on what was going down? Or hear your bullet hitting it?"