A man walked out from around one of the bodies hung around the group. His light brown hair was long and hung around his pale face and dark blue eyes. He wore a long, black leather trench coat. Clearly, he wasn"t as adjusted to the cold as Brandon.
"Who the h.e.l.l are you?" Amara was already furious. She was getting tired of these new faces. "Where"s Brandon?"
"I sent him chasing after your wolf. You"ll be glad to know the traitorous b.i.t.c.h ran after the three of you were knocked unconscious," the man said coolly and smiled a bit. Evidently, the pun was intended.
"What do you want?" Amara let the question of who he was go for now. As long as she was tied up and helpless, it really didn"t matter who he was. What mattered was how they were going to get out of there. She had the distinct feeling he wouldn"t simply untie them.
"I want my business to flourish as it has been," he said as he picked up one of the knives from the table and held it up to the light to examine the blade.
"What are you talking about?" Stephanie finally chimed in, her voice hoa.r.s.e. "Brandon owns the diner."
"No," the man said in a very light, casual tone, and set down the knife. "I do. I also own Brandon," he smiled, and just a peek of fangs were exposed.
"I should have been able to sense it." Disappointment washed over Amara as she put it together. "Brandon is your lackey."
"Slave," he corrected her. "I own him. You didn"t really think a werewolf could really be behind all of this, did you? The careful coordination. The carefully placed bodies." He paused to laugh. "A werewolf isn"t capable of that much thought."
"Sounds a little racist to me," Amara said, but then again, Spirit had just abandoned them. Maybe she shouldn"t be so quick to defend her. The recognition finally hit her. "You were at the diner that night, weren"t you? You were at Alexander"s meeting. You*ve been planning this."
"The last horse crosses the line." He chuckled.
"Then what is all this?" Stephanie shouted. "A joke? Getting people to eat their own kind."
"No, no. It"s just a business. A way to save money." He smiled to the girl. "Do you have any idea how much money I"ve made since I"ve bought this little shack? People eating people, who*d have guessed the concept would be so popular?"
"It"s sick," Stephanie snapped.
"Maybe," the vampire shrugged. "It won"t matter in a bit. You"ll all be glad to know that you"re invited to dinner." He smirked. "I"m sure you"ll make tonight"s guests very happy."
Amara glared at him, but then his aura struck her. She knew who he was. She suddenly knew why he was doing this and how he managed to enlist Brandon. It was all so suddenly clear.
"You"re in Kyren"s blood line. You"re Warrick. G.o.d d.a.m.n it. You"re the friend she told me about. Kyren is friends with Steven. That"s why you"re doing this. Not quite the same but the same sick fetish. You were there that night. When we first visited the restaurant."
He nodded gracefully. "Yes, I was. I was trailing you before then. I didn"t want anyone finding out about my business. When the Administration poked it"s nose into my business, I had to intervene. I sent two a.s.sa.s.sins after you, but I suppose when it comes down to it, if you want a job done right, you really do need to do it yourself."
Warrick sat down on the edge of the table; the motion had an eerie elegance to it. He hit the table as softly as a feather falling on a pillow.
"I instructed Brandon to make another scene, something gory enough to get your attention straight away. I needed to know you would follow him here and find him. Then I waited."
"That"s why he was so calm when I arrested him," Amara thought out loud.
"He knew I"d be waiting for the right moment," Warrick said as he picked up a knife again. "Though I have to admit, he got a bit nervous when you started to walk him out. I suppose he thought I was going to let him take the blame."
"You had other plans." Amara glared at him. "To take down a few hunters if you could."
"Now it"s come to that time," he smiled. "The food here is reasonably priced for a reason." He got up, walking over to Amara and twisting her a little on the hook. She didn"t struggle;, she was trying to keep her calm. If she panicked, there was no way she would make it out of here alive. If she could bide her time, there might be an opening, and even a plan as vague as that was better than no plan at all.
On the other hand, Christopher struggled violently. He kicked his feet a little and arched his back, making himself swing on the chain very lightly.
"Don"t bother. Swinging won"t do you any good," Warrick said to him, not taking his eyes off Amara. He sliced into her back carefully, and Amara bit her tongue, trying to keep herself from crying out in pain.
The blood didn"t spill from the wound. Instead there was a long moment, and then the tiny red drops of blood finally beaded to the surface. She felt him starting the second cut, this one just a few inches higher. He was carving the meat from her back.
"Stop." Stephanie shouted frantically, "Just stop."
"You"re next girl," Warrick warned her, but his voice sounded distant;, he was focusing on his work. "I wouldn"t be in such a rush for me to be done with this one if I were you."
"Please just let us go," Stephanie pleaded with the vampire, who finally looked over at her.
"Now, why on Earth would I do something foolish like that?" He tilted his head a little as he questioned her.
When he looked away, Christopher pulled his feet up. Amara watched him as she tried to figure out what he was doing. Chris pushed his feet against the large metal hook, and there was suddenly a loud snap. He hit the ground and ran for the table to grab his gun.
Warrick turned quickly and tried to beat Chris to the table, but Chris got there first. He fired at the vampire"s head, and Warrick disappeared quickly. Chris grabbed a knife and ran to cut Stephanie and Amara down. He managed to get the rope around Amara"s wrists cut and was quickly sawing on Stephanie"s binds when Warrick reappeared.
The vampire focused the energy around himself to form a physical force. He sent the energy in a blast at the group. Chris pushed Amara and Stephanie out of the way just in time. Christopher hit the wall hard enough to knock the wind from his lungs, and Warrick ran at him full force.
Stephanie grabbed her gun from the table and fired at Warrick. The shot managed to stop him in his tracks, but he threw up the energy like a shield around him. It was enough to block the bullet. I In the next instant, he threw that same energy at Stephanie. The witch read his aura and watched the energy. She moved quickly out of the way and just in time. The energy hit the table and knocked it over with a loud crash.
Amara grabbed one of the knives and threw it at Warrick, maybe bullets wouldn"t work, but she could distract him with the knife. When Warrick turned to catch the knife, Stephanie fired off another shot for at his back. As the bullet dug into his flesh, the vampire cried out in pain.
Warrick lashed out full force again;, this time he sent all three hunters into the wall. Stephanie was caught off guard. Her gun dropped to the floor as she flew backward. Amara finally screamed as she smashed into the barrier behind them. The pressure on the wound in her back brought on enough pain to bring tears to her eyes. Blood drenched the back of her shirt and soaked into the rim of her jeans. Chris tried crawling to her to help her, but Warrick scooped up Stephanie"s gun from the floor and pointed it at him.
"Don"t even think about moving, boy," Warrick threatened breathily. "If everyone cooperates, I"ll be sure this is over quickly for you all." He pointed the gun to Stephanie. "Let"s start with the little one, hmm?"
Christopher struggled to his knees and put himself between Stephanie and Warrick. "I"m not going to let you hurt her."
"Awe," Warrick sang the word in a taunt, "your little girlfriend? Fine. I"ll take care of you first."
He fired a shot into Christopher"s shoulder. He cried out in pain. He held his arm but didn"t move from his protective spot in front of her.
"Oops, missed," Warrick sneered and fired another shot into his leg. He smiled as Chris screamed in pain again.
Amara tried to push up but slipped back to the floor. The blood loss finally caught up with her and stars danced in her vision.
"Funny. The Administration sends its best hunters, and they come ill-prepared." Warrick gave a hearty laugh. "If this is the best they"ve got, I"m starting to wonder why I hadn"t taken out the entire organization a long time ago."
Stephanie leaned forward and watched Warrick with wide eyes. She kept a hand on Chris to try to comfort him. She tried to drain away some of the pain, but it was the most she could do. Amara was too near pa.s.sing out for Stephanie to risk it with her current state. If she drained the pain away, Amara might lose consciousness.
Warrick raised his gun to shoot Stephanie, but before he could pull the trigger, there was suddenly a werewolf in front of him. Spirit seemingly appeared from nowhere. She pounced on him and tackled him to the ground, and the shot went wide. Warrick threw Spirit off of himself and pushed to his feet when he saw Alexander standing a few feet away.
"Alexander, my dear friend." Warrick smirked as he pushed to his feet.
"Save it, Warrick. We have a problem here," Alexander said, his tone dark and ominous.
Chapter Seventeen.
Energy buzzed around Alexander like angry lightning. His normally honey-brown eyes and bled to black in fury as his power built up. His energy was like a wind that rustled the edges of his black jacket and pressed dress clothes. He looked like he had just come from a business meeting. Spirit stepped up, just a few feet behind Alexander. She knew better than to get into his way when he was about to fight.
"Alexander, is there a problem?" Warrick asked. He kept his voice even as if he had no idea that anything was going on.
"You came into my territory, killed my people, and tried to profit off it. Yes, there is a problem." The table cracked down the center as Alexander"s power stretched outward, and he took an aggressive step forward. "You knowingly disrespected my claim of power here."
Warrick didn"t flinch, but he watched the vampire very carefully. When the table cracked behind him, he let it go without a glance. If he were distracted, Alexander might make the first move then.
"You killed my wolf, didn"t you?" Warrick asked. Only the slightest bit of distressed was in his voice, as if it were more of an inconvenience than a real loss.
*No," Spirit said as she licked her lips clean of the blood matting the fur around her mouth. *I did that."
"Now, now, Alexander," Warrick said as he walked around what was left of the table. "I"ve heard of your generous hospitality. I never expected you to take such offense to my business venture here."
"Your business venture shouldn"t have included killing the humans in my land and feeding them to each other." Alexander took another step toward him, then like a light flickering off and on, he was directly in front of Warrick. "You should have thought before you came here. Moreover, you should have thought before you hurt the humans in my protection."
"In your protection?" Warrick laughed as he stood up against Alexander, their auras pressed against each other in a challenge. "You can"t protect every human in this city. As far as I"m aware, you had no claim over the people Brandon killed save for the fact that they live in a city you own."
Alexander pointed over to the other side of the room quickly toward the group of hunters. Amara pa.s.sed out before Alexander arrived. Stephanie was huddled up to Christopher, who still bled badly. She tried tying off the wounds, but it wasn"t helping by much.
"Mirth Parson," he snapped as he pointed to Amara, then to Chris, "Christopher Hoyt."
Warrick gave a nonchalant shrug. "Your personal expeditions don"t pertain to me. They attacked me first."
"Bull s.h.i.t," Alex shouted, his aura lashing out a bit and pushing Warrick back a step.
Warrick stepped back up again to close that s.p.a.ce. He pushed his own aura against Alexander"s, and the room suddenly became oddly hot. Uncomfortable.
Stephanie moved closer to Christopher, trying to keep him awake, but the fight in the room was getting strange. She had never watched two vampires battle like this before.
She watched the colors in their auras change as they touched. She could see the tiny sparks and lightening-like flashes that most humans would not be able to make out. Being able to see auras gave her the ability to watch the full clash of the battle. To a human being, the two would simply appear to be standing there, facing one another angrily, but Stephanie could watch the war unfold.
"What exactly are they doing?" she asked as she held onto Chris.
"Measuring each other up," Chris answered, his voice weak and hoa.r.s.e. He didn"t need to be psychic or a witch to know what Alexander was doing. He watched him fight before.
"Who has the greater power?" Stephanie asked him, hoping if he really spent that much time with Alexander he might know the answer. Their lives depended on the winner of this fight.
"I guess we"ll find out," he whispered as he leaned against her, fighting. He fought for consciousness.
Then, like an explosion, Warrick released his energy. It was like a small bomb had gone off. The cracked table split in two, flesh flew off the hooks, and they speared into other hunks of meat. Stephanie nearly screamed, and threw an arm up to shield her face, but the sound caught in her throat.
Alexander fell backward and landed wrong. He cracked his elbows off the hard floor of the cooler and cried out in pain as the sting raced up his arms. He countered the attack with his own blast of power. Alexander"s power wasn"t like the explosive power of Warrick"s aura;, his was sharp and direct. Focused. It was as if he struck out with a whip. A large, bleeding gash ripped across Warrick"s chest in a splattered rush of blood. The wound was black and red, a gaping, messy hole in his body.
Alex stuck out again;, this time the cut appeared across Warrick"s face. Blood ran down into his right eye. His hands instantly went to his face to try to clear the blood away. Warrick"s aura exploded again. He tried to keep Alexander out of range while he recovered. Having his vision ripped away with his skin caught him off guard and left him vulnerable.
Alexander threw up his aura as a shield this time, protecting himself from the blast. He started to counter, but as he drew the energy back, Warrick"s. .h.i.t him like a hammer to his gut. Alexander"s energy whip disintegrated, and he keeled over. He hadn"t expected the attack to come out of nowhere like that.
Another strike hit Alexander"s cheek, and he fell over onto the floor again. He felt the broken bone beginning to mend instantly, but that didn"t stop the throbbing pain The world spun around him, but he pushed up as quickly as he could. When Warrick threw his next attack, Alexander was ready. He dodged it and whipped Warrick again. This time he cut him out at the knees, and Warrick fell forward.
Alexander got to his feet quickly and built up power. As far as he was concerned, it was time for this to be finished. Warrick felt the power building up and smashed his aura into the group.
Stephanie screeched as the power hit them and pieces of meat flew around the room.
When the dust and smoke cleared, Alexander saw the hunters lying on the floor. He turned back, but Warrick was already there. He had a butcher"s knife in his hand and swung it at Alexander"s throat. The blade may not have been silver, but he knew if he could get a good, clean swipe at Alex"s neck, he could probably take off his head. No vampire could come back from a blow like that.
Alexander moved backward quickly as Warrick swung the knife at him. He pushed one of the carca.s.ses in front of himself. Warrick"s knife sliced deep into the meat. The frozen meat locked the knife inside long enough for Alexander to swing it toward Warrick hard. Warrick fell backward but caught himself and ran for Alexander again.
As Warrick recovered, Alexander pushed him back with his aura.
"You think you can win, Alexander?" he shouted. "I"m clearly the stronger of the two of us." Warrick laughed wickedly, and the sound bounced off the walls. "After I kill you, I"ll take over the city. We"ll see what happens with those peace talks then, hmm?"
"You"re insane, Warrick," Alexander snapped at him.
"You"re right." The vampire smiled widely. The blood dripping down his face only emphasized the look of madness.
"You"re out of options, Alex. Adios." Warrick built up power for another strike, but Alexander reached into his jacket. He pulled out his own hand gun and fired the gun twice. The bullets went wide and dug into the meat. Warrick rushed forward.
Alex leveled the gun with Warrick*s face and pulled the trigger. The close range was enough to give the bullet enough power to blow his head clear off his shoulders. Pieces flung up into the air and made small splattering sounds as they rained back down onto the floor, but this all went unnoticed by Alexander.
He ran over to Christopher, who still lay on the floor and scooped him into his arms. "s.h.i.t," he cursed as he looked around. He had to get the hunters out of here and back to somewhere safe where they could heal, but where?
Chapter Eighteen.
Christopher"s eyes fluttered open as he slowly woke up. For a moment, he enjoyed the black silence in the room he was in. He was caught in that moment when a person first wakes up and remembers nothing of what happened before they fell asleep, just the relaxing darkness surrounding him in a comfortable bed. He could lie there for hours wrapped in the warm blankets. Not a bad thing in the world. No cold, blocks of human flesh hanging from hooks and scattered on the floor.
That was when the memories resurfaced. He sat up quickly and gasped as pain washed over his body like a crippling tidal wave. He took a moment to let the pain subside and looked around the area when he could breathe again.
He recognized this room. He had been here before. The red fabric draped over golden walls. The soft beige carpet that he knew was softer to touch than it looked. He was wrapped in a gold sheet that felt unimaginably soft and a fluffy, warm crimson blanket. Layers of pillows were piled behind him in a way that made him think the bed had been freshly made and the pillows arranged before he moved them in his sleep. A gla.s.s of water rested on the antique, dark brown nightstand. Someone went through a lot of trouble to make him very comfortable, to make him feel very welcome. It wasn"t hard to guess who that might be.
When he moved, he realized his wounds were wrapped. He felt st.i.tches in his arm and leg, but gauze was wrapped around the st.i.tching. Alexander wouldn"t have done it himself. He wasn"t the best doctor, but he took the time to have someone else come in and treat Christopher"s wounds. The fact that someone bandaged him up didn"t bother him, but the threaded silk pajamas made him a little uncomfortable. Where were his clothes?
Chris timidly took the gla.s.s from the table and drank the water. He hadn"t realized how thirsty he really had been before he started drinking the water. As soon as the water was gone, he wished for more. Of course, he wouldn"t do what Alexander wanted. He wouldn"t call for someone else to get him the water. It would be Alex"s little way of saying *stay with me, Chris", and it just wasn"t going to happen.
He put his feet over the side of the bed. As soon as they touched the carpet, he couldn"t help but smile a little. The absolute softness was some comfort against the pain in his chest. He used the backboard of the bed to help steady himself as he pushed to his feet, then sat back down. For a moment, he"d forgotten about the shot he took to his leg.