HUNTERS OF DARKNESS

Wendy’s eyes opened slowly. She was curled up on her side with her arms almost straight out and her legs drawn to her. Naked beneath the sheet and blanket, she was only aware of strange dreams and allowed herself to come around slowly, finally drawing a deep breath as she did. She sat up, rubbing her eyes and slowly she swung her feet to the floor, just sitting on the edge of the bed for a moment as she tried to awaken fully. She was not feeling bad or sick or especially tired, just moving a little slow after a long sleep. Looking around her, she found herself in a room with antique white walls, brown carpet on the floor and a dresser and desk across the room. A door led through the far wall and to the small bathroom. Looking over her shoulder, she saw another dresser, one that looked like it might have been picked up at a garage sale on the bad side of town, and the door out of the room, which was closed. The only light on was coming from the bathroom and she finally rose from the bed and padded that way.

After a shower she felt better and, wearing one of Ryan’s big tee shirts and nothing else, she emerged from his bedroom and made for the kitchen.

Once again wearing blue jeans and nothing else, he was going about the task of setting two places at the table and did not seem to notice her. Two plates were in place, knife and fork, two wine glasses and a single candle in the middle.

With a little smile on her lips, she leaned against the entryway to the kitchen and folded her arms as she watched him work. He seemed to have prepared quite a meal and whatever it was smelled really good. When he turned and finally saw her, his activities stopped and he raised his chin slightly.

“Well good morning, Handsome,” she greeted.

He smiled back at her, looking her up and down. “Can’t say I’ve ever seen that shirt looking better, Red. Oh, and it’s evening.”

Her eyes widened. “I slept all day?”

Circling around the table, he pulled her chair out and replied, “It can happen after the first time you change.” He watched her seductively sit down and then he pushed the chair in for her, continuing, “That and you went feral right away and we weren’t quite sure what you would do. And then you just stayed that way for the rest of the evening. Hell, during the drive back here you even had your head out the window and your tongue hanging out.”

She watched him stride to the oven and open it. “I went feral? What does that mean?”

He took something from the oven and set it on the stove top. “It means you went completely to beast form. For all practical purposes, you were a wolf.”

Wendy raised her brow. “I turned into a wolf? Like you do?”

Taking a pot from the stove, Ryan brushed something onto what he had cooked in the pan. “Well, yeah sort of. As you do this more you learn to control more of your beast form and eventually you become the best of both human and the beast you’ve chosen, that’s how we still walk upright and think like ourselves even when we’ve taken the stronger form.”

“Oh,” she declared. “So we’re werewolves.”

“No,” he laughed. “Werewolves aren’t real. We’re predapires. Didn’t you notice that we aren’t all wolves?”

Wendy looked down and nodded. “Oh, yeah. So, I’m guessing the stories of werewolves kind of came from us.”

“Probably.”

Her eyes slid to him and she smiled. “So you like it doggy style, huh?”

His actions paused. Slowly, he looked over his shoulder and smiled back. “Only one way to find out, Red.”

“Can’t wait,” she drawled.

Going back about his labors, this time reaching for a shaker of some kind, he informed, “Well, we do have the house to ourselves tonight.”

She rested her cheek in her palm and drawled, “Go on.” Her eyes widening, she raised her head and barked, “What? Where’s Nessa?”

“Merrill’s fitting her with body armor.” Ryan turned with the pan and approached the table, stabbing a fork into it as he continued, “He figures she’s becoming useless to Sebastian and the more she pulls away from him the less he’s likely to see through her. That and she really seems to want to help us.” He dished out a large steak and laid it across Wendy’s plate. “Shouldn’t be much longer and he’ll cut her off completely so that we can’t spy on him through her. He probably has already.” Laying two sizeable steaks on his own plate, he half turned and tossed the pan into the sink across the kitchen, where it landed with a loud crash.

“So we didn’t get him?” she asked grimly.

“Slipped out the back,” he replied, looking down to his plate. As he picked up his knife and fork and began to cut a piece from his steak, he continued, “He knows we’re coming for him now and most likely he’ll go underground or flee the whole country.”

She also cut a piece from her steak, not looking at him as she forced herself to admit, “I guess by now you know who the real mole in our outfit was, huh?”

“We always knew,” he confessed. When she shot a startled look at him he just smiled and took the bite of steak from the end of his fork.

“You knew that all along?” she spat. “You couldn’t, like, share this with me?”

“To be brutally honest, Red, we needed you oblivious to the fact that he could still see through you. I wasn’t even aware of it until we got ambushed trying to get your Vanessa something to eat the other night. So, we figured we’d stick with her being the mole and let you in on that part.” When her eyes sank to her plate and that subtle pout took her mouth, he assured, “He can’t do it anymore. Once you changed that first time his hold on you was completely lost.”

“Are you sure?” she asked softly.

“That’s how it works,” was his reply. “Once you found your beast form then anything vampire left in you was torn away. You’re all predapire now, baby. Get used to it.”

She slowly sawed at her steak and hesitantly asked, “So what did you think of me as a wolf?”

He took another bite and smiled. “You were beautiful.”

Her gaze shifted to him and a little smile touched her lips. Slowly raising a bite of her steak to her mouth, she paused and looked down to it, then back to him.

“It’s cow,” he assured.

Later, they sat close together on the couch. She was curled up beside him with her feet drawn under her, encircled by his thick arm. Her eyes were closed as her head lay on his shoulder. His hand gently stroked her hair.

“This is nice,” she purred.

He smiled. “Yeah.”

“How long will the guys be gone?” she asked.

Ryan looked to the clock in the kitchen. “They should be back any time.”

“Want to squeeze in a quickie?”

“No,” he answered in a gruff voice. “No quickies. I want to take my time with you.”

She smiled and shifted slightly. “Don’t make me wait too long, stud, or I’ll just have to start without you.” She loosed a deep breath and snuggled into him. “So what’s the plan for tonight? Or is this it? I hope this is it.”

“We have a meeting with Lady Roeskellov,” he replied.

Wendy’s eyes flashed open. “What?”

“You set this up,” he informed.

“Yeah, but tonight?”

“Yup.”

She sat up and looked up at him. “Who scheduled that?”

“Merrill did while you were otherwise occupied. All we had to know was that she was serious about this meeting, that and he lifted her number from you when you were distracted.”

Raising her brow, she nodded and spat, “So I guess I’m not so important anymore.”

“Sure you are,” he assured.

Someone banging on the door drew their attention and Ryan pushed her away as he stood, and he strode that direction as it burst open.

Wendy sprang up to follow, pausing as she heard someone shout, “Ryan, you son of a bitch!”

By the time she got to the front door she found him locked in a bear-like embrace with a tall man who was a bit leaner than he was. Dark blond hair seemed to be a little windblown but was in good order otherwise. He was wearing an old leather jacket and blue jeans, and what appeared to be combat boots.

“How the hell are you, brother?” the man asked in a loud, joyous voice with a southern drawl.

“Doing great, bro,” was Ryan’s answer. He pulled away and half turned, extending his hand to Wendy as he introduced, “This is our newest predapire, Wendy Shaw.”

The blonde man had a very attractive face and dark brown eyes. His brow shot up as he saw her and he looked her up and down, but finally stepped around Ryan and extended his hand to her, smiling as he greeted, “Good to meet you, Ma’am.”

She took his hand and replied, “Pleasure’s mine.”

“Wendy,” Ryan continued, “This is Clifton McGraw, one of our guys and the best vampire tracker I’ve ever worked with.”

“And I kill the hell out of ’em,” Clifton assured. Looking to Ryan, he asked, “She’s already spoken for, isn’t she?”

“Afraid so,” he assured.

Turning his eyes back to her, he nodded, looking her up and down again. “I tell you what, I’d hang onto this one, bro.”

Wendy blushed and looked away from them, folding her hands behind her.

“The others should be here any time,” Ryan informed. “Want to go sit for a while before they get here?”

“Sounds good,” Clifton confirmed. “You got any beer?”

“One or two,” Ryan assured.

As they retired to the living room, Ryan diverted to the kitchen for some drinks and Wendy sat down on the couch, watching Clifton sit in the recliner. He was a very handsome fellow and she had a difficult time looking away from him or even finding something to say. “So,” she finally started as Ryan returned with three beers, “where are you from?”

Taking a beer from Ryan, he replied with a thicker drawl, “New York. Can’t you tell by my accent?”

He and Ryan enjoyed a good laugh and she crooked her jaw as her eyes shifted from one to the other.

“Seriously,” the blonde predapire corrected, “I’m from a small town in Central Texas. I head up our operation there.” He took a long drink of his beer. “Yep. Killing vampires is my business, and business is good, especially south of the border.” His eyes shifted to the front door as it opened and he raised his brow, then a smile took his mouth as he shouted, “Leon! How the hell are you?”

Leon strode in with a big smile for Clifton as he extended his hand, taking the blonde predapire’s in his bear-like grip. “I’m about as good as I can get, brother. How ya hangin’?”

Clifton stood and embraced the big predapire, patting his back with hard blows as he replied, “Hangin’ down low, bro.” Pulling away, he smiled at the other man and barked, “Merril, you old bastard. What’s the good word?”

Merrill embraced him as well, then pulled away and replied, “We’ve got some serious business going on, that’s what the word is.”

The two predapires laughed, then Clifton pulled away and the smile slowly faded from his face, his eyes widening as he raised his head.

“Here we go,” Ryan mumbled in a low voice.

Vanessa slowly strode toward them after closing the front door. Lacking clothes of her own, she wore one of Wendy’s white tee shirts, short black running shorts and new black combat boots. Her hair was restrained behind her in a pony tail and her big, icy blue eyes found Clifton apprehensively.

With slow, stalking movements, the blond predapire approached the slight vampire girl and extended his hand to her, asking, “And who is this pretty little ray of sunshine?”

Ryan answered, “That would be Vanessa, the vampire we took in that’s helping us against Sebastian.”

When she took his hand, he slowly raised hers to his lips and greeted, “Might I say, Miss, you look simply stunning for someone who never gets to see the light of day.”

As he kissed her hand, she smiled and drew her shoulders up, unable to take her eyes from him as she clearly fought the urge to giggle like a school girl.

Wendy slammed the back of her hand into Ryan’s arm and barked, “Why couldn’t you be that nice to her?”

His eyes sliding to the red haired predapire, he raised his brow and replied, “Believe me, Red. You’d have a real problem with me being as nice to her as he wants to be.”

About an hour before sunup, Ryan’s old truck slowed to a stop in front of the estate where Lady Roeskellov could be found and the engine grudgingly shut down, dieseling for a few seconds before it revved on its own and finally knocked before stopping. He opened the driver’s door and stepped out, growling, “Can you just give it a rest?”

Wendy slid out after him and barked, “You drive around in this POS while all of the vampires are driving luxury cars, little sports cars and limos.”

“This POS saved your butt last night,” he pointed out as he strode around the front of the truck.

She slammed the door and followed him, countering, “I’ll bet a nice big Caddy could have done the same thing, but in style.”

“Sure,” he snarled. “Scratch the paint on one of those and the whole thing falls apart around you.”

Clifton slid out a back door and held his hand to Vanessa, helping her out of the big truck as he observed, “I tell you what, those two may as well be married.”

She giggled and raised a hand to her mouth as her feet found the driveway beneath her.

“We really should have dressed up better,” Wendy grumbled. “This is kind of a formal place and…” She looked to Ryan as she noticed him staring at her. “What! We’re all way underdressed for this.”

Vlad walked by Ryan and patted his shoulder, informing, “We really are. The aristocrats are not easily impressed and it would not hurt to at least try.”

Wendy followed Vlad toward the front door, turning to stick her tongue out at Ryan as she did.

Growling, Ryan shook his head and followed the other three predapires and the vampire girl.

The greeting party of two young looking vampire men that met them inside was, of course, formally attired as they had been the first time Wendy had seen them, and she felt a little awkward walking among them wearing only a tight fitting red tee shirt, very short blue jean shorts and running shoes.

Vlad led the way as they were escorted to Lady Roeskellov’s chamber, and as soon as the door opened and they entered the vampire matriarch stood, her eyes locked on the oldest of the predapires as he neared, and his eyes remained on her. Nobody spoke as the small group of predapires approached. Not lost on Wendy was the absence of Lady Roeskellov’s ever present guards. She only had two attendants with her, one a vampire and the other a loyal, a boy who looked to be in his late teens. This did not settle well with her, but she tried to reassure herself that the lack of guards was entirely about not provoking a fight with the predapires. It had to be.

Slowing his strides, Vlad approached the vampire with a secret purpose and she did not appear to be frightened or intimidated, more anxious, and there was a light in her eyes that Wendy had not seen there before, a recognition.

Reaching the matriarch, Vlad bowed to her and greeted, “Lady Roeskellov.” He dared to take her hand and raise it to his lips.

She bowed her head to him, saying, “It is good to see you again, Lord Tepes.”

“Okay!” Wendy barked loudly as she waved her hands in front of her. “Whoa, guys. Wait just a freakin’ minute!” When the two turned to her and everyone looked her way, she set her hands on her hips and cried, “You guys know each other?”

Vlad raised his brow and informed, “We were not always as we are. We had lives before.”

Wendy rubbed her eyes, shaking her head as she mumbled, “Okay, weirdness is way out of control now. So, were you like an item at one time or what?”

Lady Roeskellov smiled and shook her head, looking back to Vlad as she informed, “Careful of this one, Lord Tepes. She is something of a spitfire.” Her eyes slid back to Wendy. “And yes, my dear, we were once very… Close.”

“Tepes?” Wendy cried, her wide eyes on the older predapire. “Vlad Tepes? Vladimir Tepes, as in Vlad Dracul? Dracula’s Daddy?”

Vlad laughed under his breath and shook his head, confirming, “Yes, detective Shaw, I was once known as Vladimir Dracul, but that was a long time ago, a lifetime ago.” He turned and faced the vampire matriarch. “Much has changed, times have changed, and now we face an awkward arrangement, the uniting of your people and mine. It is something that has never been done before.”

“These are harsh times, my Lord,” the vampire matriarch said, “but I am happy that we have the opportunity.” She turned her eyes down. “I am ashamed to tell you that… The hierarchy began to dissolve a century ago. Many of the vampire clans no longer follow us. We are just thankful that most choose to follow the laws on their own.”

“They realize the laws protect them,” Vlad assured. “These renegade clans are the greatest threat.”

Lady Roeskellov nodded. “Very much so, my Lord.” Her eyes strayed and her hand closed almost tenderly around his. “Lord Tepes, once this is over and we have restored order…”

“Then the order will return,” he finished for her.

“As I feared,” she said in a wisp of a voice.

Wendy finally approached, suggesting, “We could use this as an opportunity.”

Vlad pulled his hand from the vampire matriarch and backed away a step. “The opportunity is to restore order.”

“And then maintain it,” she added. “Look, what if we accept the Roeskellov clan as the ruling caste of the vampires, someone who will keep them in line.”

“It doesn’t work that way,” Vlad countered. “We are what we are and we will all do as we must.”

“We can end the war,” Wendy insisted. “From what Ryan tells me we have way too much to do already, and worldwide there aren’t enough of us left to continue like this. Come on, man, we could end the war with them and…” She trailed off as he raised his hand to her.

“I like it,” Ryan announced. Everyone looked to him and he met Wendy’s eyes, then Vlad’s. “Look, if we have the Roeskellov clan keeping a few of them in line and helping us to ferret out these renegades—”

“Hell yeah!” Clifton barked. “We won’t have to work so hard to find them. They just tell us where they are and we go kick some night walker ass!”

“I’m not sure I like the sound of this,” Lady Roeskellov mumbled. “Lord Tepes, we have always considered ourselves, well…”

“Superior,” he finished for her. “Humans as your food, but you as ours.”

She finally raised her eyes to his. “And without us, you will begin to age again, and your kind will disappear from the world, too.”

Slowly, Vladimir raised his chin, his hard eyes on the vampire matriarch as he guessed, “You would ask for immunity from us?”

A certain vulnerability took her eyes as she stared back at him, and with a subtle nod she replied, “Yes, my Lord, I would ask this for my clan, and in return you would have our loyalty.” She tensed and finished with some difficulty, “We would accept you as our rulers.”

Suspicion was in the old predapire’s eyes as he raised his chin slightly as he saw her fearful gaze flit across the room.

Lady Roeskellov averted her eyes from his, looking to that same place that kept trying to draw her attention. “We will be to you what our loyals are to us.”

Gently taking his shoulder, Wendy looked up at the predapire leader and softly said, “She’s taking a huge step here, Vlad, and you know this can’t be easy for her.”

He just stared back at the vampire matriarch for a long, tense moment and the entire room was gripped by a horrifying silence. His stare was an unblinking one and his eyes never left Roeskellov’s, though hers were fixed on some point across the room.

“No,” tore through the silence as a cannon shot from the predapire’s mouth.

The anxiety on Lady Roeskellov’s face could be read easily. She would not look his way but her gaze dropped to the floor.

“That can only end in disaster,” Vladimir informed. “It is a war in the making and it would only be a matter of time before the bulk of the vampires of the world turned on us both.” He took her chin gently in his fingers and turned her face, her eyes back toward him. “You were never meant to be caged or subjugated, my Lady, and I feel you would not remain so long, even on your word.”

Slowly, she reached to his hand and grasped it with her own. “But after this fight, Lord Tepes…”

“After,” he said bluntly, “we will have time to talk of matters, but I will make no promises now, only that we will do as we must, and so should you. You are vampires, our enemies, and we have almost a thousand years of mistrust for one another.” He glanced at that door, then looked to her and raised his chin, and subtly winked. “There can be no alliance, my Lady. Our purpose is to kill your kind, especially those who would live outside of your laws—and our presence.”

“I understand,” she assured. “You must go, then, and go in peace, my Lord. The next time we meet, circumstances will be far different.” She raised her brow. “And I will do as I must here, as you will do as you must when you leave the walls of my sanctuary to those who await you.”

His response was a slow nod, then he turned and strode past his counterparts and toward the door, warning, “When next we meet, my Lady, things will be as they should be.”

All of the predapires were silent as they turned to follow.

“Wendy,” Lady Roeskellov called.

Wendy and Vanessa both turned and looked to her, and the other predapires paused to do the same.

“A word with you and dear Vanessa before you go?” she asked.

Glancing at Ryan, she nodded to him, then turned fully and approached the vampire matriarch as her colleagues departed. “Okay, so what’s up?” she asked as she folded her arms. “To be honest, I kind of thought things would go better than that, but—”

“I’m sorry,” Lady Roeskellov offered as she looked away. “Please understand I had no choice.”

“Oh, no,” Vanessa breathed.

That door across the room burst open and four black clad vampires stormed into the room. Others had been concealed around the room and also charged forward. Before Wendy realized what had happened she found herself and Vanessa and Lady Roeskellov surrounded by a dozen heavily armed vampires.

“What the hell is this?” Wendy demanded as she glanced from one vampire to the next. She wheeled around as the door opened—and she drew a loud gasp as Sebastian strode into the room, followed by three more of his minions. He was dressed in a long, black coat and black slacks, and wore an evil smile as his eyes locked on her. In his hand was a black box with a silver antenna coming from the top.

Vanessa cringed as he neared and she retreated a step.

Sebastian strode right up to Wendy, glaring into her eyes as he slowly shook his head. “It’s amazing,” he observed. “You actually thought you could beat me.”

“I don’t hear the fat lady singing,” she snarled back.

“Then allow me to expedite things,” he offered, looking down to the radio control he carried in his black gloved hand. With his free hand he flipped a switch up and a red light came on, then his eyes strayed back to Wendy and he smiled as he pushed the red button with his thumb.

The walls of the building they were in trembled as an explosion thundered outside.

“That would be all of your colleagues blowing up,” he informed. “If there are any survivors, my people will take care of them. It would seem that you are quite alone now.” His eyes slid to Vanessa and he finished, “Just you and this traitor.” His arm was a blur as he hit the slight vampire hard in the jaw with the back of his hand.

Vanessa was spun around and collapsed. Slowly, she pushed herself up and reached for her face as she looked over her shoulder at him with defeated eyes.

With a condescending nod, he stared down at her and offered, “Very well, my Pet. I forgive you.” He smiled that evil smile and added, “And well done, my Pet. Well done.” His eyes slid to Wendy and his smile curled wider. “She’s still one of mine, you know, and still my favorite.”

Wendy’s breath caught and she turned her eyes down to the vampire girl, who cringed and shamefully looked away.

“She’s been keeping me informed,” Sebastian continued. “Every move you were going to make and every plan you had was information I had before you even had the chance to make your move.” He turned to Lady Roeskellov and folded his arms. “You upheld your end of the bargain, so you will be allowed to leave. Be sure to give my message to Lord Roeskellov, and be sure that your clan stays in Romania and never returns here.”

Her gaze was on the floor and she nodded in slight motions, replying with hesitant words, “I understand, Sebastian.”

“Master Sebastian,” he corrected.

Wendy folded her arms, raising her chin slightly as she almost smiled. “How about Chump Sebastian?”

Slowly, he turned to face her, his brow tense and low over his eyes. “What did you say?”

“You heard me,” she snarled. “Now have your monkeys drop their weapons and do it now.”

That smile curled his mouth again and he slowly shook his head. “It’s over, my pet. Don’t you understand? Vanessa called me with every plan you had and every decision you made.”

“I know she did,” Wendy informed.

Still lying on the floor, Vanessa’s eyes widened as far as they would go, her mouth falling open as she heard this new revelation.

All of Sebastian’s minions grew uneasy and many exchanged nervous glances.

Wendy set her hands on her hips and looked to Lady Roeskellov, raising her brow as she asked, “Do we give them a head start?”

A snarl took Sebastian’s mouth and he hissed, “You’re bluffing.”

She raised her brow and smiled, folding her arms as he countered, “You just keep thinking that, Sweetie. You just keep thinking that.”

“The rest of you are dead!” he insisted. “Do you mean to take us all by yourself?”

“Whatever,” she sighed. “And dead is a relative term. Tell your goons to throw down their weapons and surrender, and do it now.”

He closed the distance between them with two strides and struck at her face, and she caught his wrist easily in her hand and stopped it cold.

Closing her hand in a powerful grip, her eyes narrowed and she snarled, “Not this time, ass-wipe. This time you’re mine!” She looked to the door to the main lobby and shouted, “Bring it!”

All of the vampires wheeled toward the door as it burst open and all of them raised their weapons as Leon strode in, brandishing a huge fifty caliber rifle!

With a big grin on his face, Leon aimed the maw of the huge weapon to the vampires on the right and pulled the trigger. The weapon replied with an air shattering boom and his first target was hit square in the chest and blown from his feet as his back exploded behind him.

The vampires opened fire as the big predapire strode in and fired a second round, then a third.

Clifton sprinted into the room and slid to the floor with a revolver in each hand, and he aimed at the vampires on the left.

Vanessa sprang up and tackled Lady Roeskellov as two of Sebastian’s minions fired on her. As the matriarch fell, the slight vampire landed on top of her and winced as a number of bullets impacted her back and side. Here she stayed, lying on top of the bewildered vampire matriarch and absorbing whatever her enemies sent their way.

Wendy half turned and kicked Sebastian hard in the chest, sending him across the room to land on the floor flat on his back. Two of his remaining minions rushed to his aid, keeping their aim on the predapires at the door as they moved in to defend their fallen master.

The firefight lasted only a moment and ended with both sides out of ammunition. Leon and Clifton had both been hit many times, but their body armor absorbed most of the fire and they simply shrugged off those bullets that got past it. Dropping their weapons as the last three vampires scrambled to reload, the two predapires were a blur as they charged them and in less than a second were upon them. One of the vampires attacked Wendy and she instinctively transformed halfway to her white wolf form, savagely tearing into his shoulder, and in a moment had torn his entire arm from him. Two more fell quickly as well.

That door that Lady Roeskellov had been glancing at burst open and one of Sebastian’s minions flew back-first into the room, slamming onto the floor and rolling awkwardly to a stop.

Ryan and Vlad stormed in after him. Neither was armed, but neither seemed to need to be.

It was over quickly and Wendy relaxed to her human form once again, looking around her as she got her bearings. Her eyes fixed on Ryan and she nodded to him as he reached her.

Lying on her back with the vampire girl still on top of her, Lady Roeskellov looked about herself, then ordered, “I think it is over, dear. You may get off of me now.” When the girl only nodded and stared at the floor beside them, the matriarch summoned, “Vanessa, you may… Vanessa?”

“I’m all right,” the slight vampire breathed.

“Oh, no,” Roeskellov declared. “Wendy!” She rolled to one side and gently lowered the wounded vampire to the floor.

Wendy and Vlad knelt down beside them and Wendy placed her hand on the girl’s bloody side.

Glancing up at Ryan, Wendy reported in a low voice, “She’s hurt bad.”

“Vampires can take a lot of punishment,” he countered, folding his arms.

With his hand cradling the girl’s head, Vlad shook his head and said, “This one’s not of a stout build and a frail one like this…”

Lady Roeskellov pushed herself up, then looked to Clifton as he took her arm and helped her stand. Turning her eyes to the vampire girl, she informed, “Her injuries are closing well but she will have to feed and feed quickly. Sebastian has all of my loyals locked in a back room. I can show you.”

Extending his hand, Clifton offered, “After you, Ma’am.”

Vanessa was shaking and kept her eyes closed as Vlad gently lowered her head to the floor. Opening her eyes, she looked to him first, then to Wendy, and a weary smile curled her mouth. “I did good, didn’t I? I did good?”

Wendy nodded and assured, “Yeah, girlfriend. You did real good. Just lie still now.”

“I’m sorry for betraying you,” she breathed.

“You did just what we wanted you to,” Wendy assured. She looked around at the vampire bodies that lay about and demanded, “Which one… Oh, Christ! He got away?”

Vanessa nodded and confirmed, “He slipped out when everyone started shooting.” Turning her head to the back of the room, she slowly raised a hand and pointed. “That way.”

Wendy looked, her eyes narrowing. She sprang up and hurdled over the vampire girl, running toward the back of the room to where a hidden door waited behind a red curtain.

She burst through the door and found herself outside, behind the building and in a parking area with a neglected blacktop that was bathed in the early morning sunlight. She paused and looked around. There were two cars parked side by side, both limousines and both facing away from her, and a motorcycle with a red fuel tank parked along the wall about ten feet to her right. This looked like the valet parking lot and a small covered area the size of a bus stop with a board for hanging keys to her left confirmed this.

Ryan pushed the door open ahead of him and took her side, also looking around the parking area as he asked, “You see him?”

Shaking her head, Wendy replied, “Nothing, and he wouldn’t have a car waiting for him if he’d thought he had killed all of us and won. How long can one of them last in the sun like this?”

“Depends,” was his reply. “If he’s covered pretty well he could sprint to one of those cars without getting too badly burned, especially with the sun just coming up.”

Her eyes fixed on the black car and she raised her chin. “Does that one look familiar to you?”

“I believe it does,” he confirmed, slowly reaching behind him.

The car engine turned over and roared to life!

Ryan’s hand emerged from behind him with his automatic pistol and he knelt down as he took aim, and when the car’s tires squealed and it surged forward, he pulled the trigger over and over, pelting the black car with sparking bullets as it pulled away and turned toward the right side of the building. “Damn!” he shouted as he ejected the empty magazine and reached for another. “It’s bulletproof!”

Thinking impulsively as always, Wendy darted to the motorcycle and jumped on, looking down to see the key in it. In seconds it roared to life and the back tire squealed as she throttled up and turned the machine in pursuit of the car.

“Shaw!” Ryan called after her.

She did not hear him. As the limousine turned hard out onto the main road, she was right behind it and gunning the engine of the motorcycle to close the forty feet between her and the car’s back bumper. The driver weaved slightly as if trying to keep watch on where she was. It was clear that this big, heavy car would not outrun the motorcycle, but they did not seem to be that concerned over her closing on them as she was.

They turned onto another road, one that was paved but not well traveled, and where the road straightened out she throttled up and closed to within a few feet of the limo’s back bumper, not knowing what she was going to do, just knowing she did not want him to get away.

The nose of the car suddenly dipped toward the pavement as the driver hit the brake and Wendy found herself slamming into the back of the car and tumbling over the handlebars, onto the trunk lid, and was finally stopped by the back window. The engine roared and the car lurched forward again, and as the bike fell to the road and slid toward the ditch, Wendy rolled from the car and awkwardly hit the pavement hard on her back, rolling for what seemed like an eternity before she finally stopped.

The sounds of the car faded as she lay face down on the pavement and tried to get her bearings. She was sprawled but for one arm that she had come to rest on, and the pain in her shoulder told her it was dislocated. Slowly, she pushed herself up and allowed her injured arm to just dangle for a moment. Lacerations and bruises were all over her and her clothing had been torn and ground through in places by the road. With a loud pop, her shoulder slammed back into place and she cried, “Ow!” as it did. Blood dripped from her head but she could feel the many cuts rapidly closing, the many aches and burns and muscle pulls quickly subsiding.

Rising up on her knees, she settled back on her heels and combed her hair back, drawing a breath as her wits returned to her.

An engine gunned down the road.

She looked that way, her eyes widening as she saw the black limousine now facing her, waiting from about fifty yards away. Slowly, Wendy got to her feet, her eyes locked on the black car that had her in its sights. Finally she knew what that deer in the headlights felt like and found herself unable to move or react at all.

A moment passed.

The engine gunned again.

Wendy swallowed hard and glanced about, looking for somewhere to go when it finally charged her.

Tires squealed and the big car sped toward her.

Quickly backpedaling, she braced herself to leap out of the way right before the car hit her, denying the driver time to react, but when it was only about twenty feet away it veered off, turning toward the ditch.

Ryan’s truck streaked close by Wendy and slammed into the back fender of the limo. The car spun half around and came to rest on the side of the road. As Wendy watched, the back tires of the big truck locked up and the whole back end swung around until the truck was facing the car again. Its tires barked as they looked for traction and the huge machine lunged toward the black car once again.

The limo’s back tires also spun, but it turned away and sped back the way it had come.

Wendy backed out of the way as she watched it retreat, then she looked to the big pickup as it veered to the other side and stopped with the passenger door right beside her. The window was down and Ryan was looking at her as she dumbly stared back.

“Get in!” he shouted.

She quickly complied, and even before she could close the door he punched the throttle to the floor and the truck sped off in pursuit of the limousine.

As she fumbled with her seat belt, Ryan barked, “Are you just trying to get yourself killed? What the hell were you thinking?”

“I don’t have a scratch on me,” she countered, finally getting the buckle to snap closed. “You know, when we heard the explosion and Sebastian told us all that you’d been blown up, I was so hoping—”

“Would you lay off my truck already?”

She finally turned her eyes to him, and she smiled a coy smile. “It’ll cost you, Officer Scott. So, do you actually think you’ll catch them in this thing?”

He returned her coy little smile with one of his own, but only in a glance. “I don’t think it’ll be a problem.”

“Right,” she laughed. “They have a new limousine and you have this old thing that runs off of wooly mammoth pee. Will we go faster if I get out and push?”

He grabbed the shifter and pulled it back into another gear and the truck lunged forward, pressing them both back into their seats.

“Like I told you,” he reminded, “I’ve modified this thing myself. It’s packing a four forty police interceptor engine with a high capacity fuel injection system and blower, regeared transmission out of a later model one-ton truck, modern transfer case, and when I need a little extra boost, a nitrous injection system.”

“That’s very impressive,” she commended, “but all Greek to me, Sweetie. Should we call for backup?”

“And tell them what?” he asked. “We’re chasing a black limo full of vampires?”

“I don’t know!” She looked out the window, then to the black car that grew closer and closer. “Okay, so what happens if we catch up to them?”

“If?” he snarled.

“Okay,” she corrected in a sigh, ”when we catch them, what do you plan to do?”

“More than you planned to do with that bike.” He reached to the dash right under the radio where four covered switches were lined up and flipped the first cover up, then the switch it concealed.

Wendy raised her chin as she heard a hum behind the firewall. “Um, what was that?”

“Another special feature my truck has,” he replied.

Looking ahead of them to the car that was only about a hundred feet away and grew steadily closer, she could see two red laser points dancing on the back of the limousine, and as they grew closer to the car, the points grew closer together. Her eyes were fixed on those points as she mumbled, “You’ve got to be kidding me. You have guns mounted on this thing?”

“You say that like it’s a bad thing,” he countered.

“That car’s bulletproof,” she pointed out, “remember?”

“Won’t matter,” he growled. His thumb moved over the bar across the steering wheel as if to honk the horn.

“Gonna let’em know it’s coming?”

Ryan shook his head, then depressed the horn control, and when he did a horrible banging sounded from the engine compartment, one that was so loud that Wendy barked a scream and covered her ears.

The car had repelled pistol rounds easily. What Ryan’s truck fired tore right through it and left half inch size holes populating the trunk lid in quick succession, largely following the laser points but appearing to hit the car almost randomly. The car began to weave and smoke poured from the front, then flames could be seen rolling over the rooftop. The machine gun burst ended after only a few seconds, but the limousine was mortally wounded.

As the limo careened off of the road and into the ditch, Ryan slowed the pickup and pulled off after it. Up over the ditch, through a barbed wire fence and into a field, the limousine burned the whole way. As is slowed and turned more to the right, it revealed that the side windows had been blown out of that side and smoke and flames poured from them. The doors opened and three vampires bailed out of the car and into the sunlight, two of them pulling their shirts over their heads as the sunlight began to burn them.

Ryan turned the truck hard to the right and fired another burst and the two vampires on that side were torn apart by the heavy machine gun fire. He stopped about twenty feet behind the burning car and flipped the switch back down before he opened his door and stepped out.

Jumping out of the other side, Wendy trotted to him and barked, “What the hell was that?”

He smiled as he strode toward the last vampire, his eyes on him as he replied, “Ma Deuce times two.”

“Would you speak English!” she shouted.

Ryan glanced at her. “Two M-2 machine guns, fifty caliber.”

She drew her head back as she stared up at him. “Um, where did you get those?”

“I have my sources,” was his answer. He stopped with the struggling vampire right at his feet and folded his arms. “You know, I think it’s time for Homeslice here to do a little talking.”

The vampire was successfully shading himself with the coat he wore. Crouched on his knees, he laid as close to the ground as he could and shook uncontrollably against the pain of the morning sun burning him from a few uncovered areas.

Lady Roeskellov backed away a step as Ryan dropped the tarp wrapped vampire at her feet. Her entourage had returned to her sitting room and all of the vampires and loyals looked to the struggling tarp with wide eyes and other mixes of expressions. The other predapires stood behind Ryan and Wendy as they also watched the vampire on the floor struggle free of the tarp.

About six feet tall and dressed all in black with a long black coat, he was slow to push himself up and stand when he realized whose feet he had been thrown to. Fearful, predator’s eyes, dark yellow eyes, met the vampire matriarch’s and stayed there. His black hair was rather long and not well kept of late, but he did not bother brushing it out of his face, nor did he know to close his gaping mouth.

Her eyes almost glowed with rage as Lady Roeskellov glared back at the renegade vampire before her.

He dared to glance about, cringing as he looked to his left and saw Leon standing there with his really thick arms folded and that disapproving look in his eyes. Clifton stood beside him, narrow eyed and he seemed to be grinding his teeth. This seemed to be his day of reckoning, and he knew it.

“You will tell me what I want to know,” the vampire matriarch ordered.

Defiantly, yet fearfully, he raised his chin and sneered, “I’ll tell you nothing, aristocrat. Nothing!”

Leaning her head slightly, Roeskellov countered, “Won’t you, now?” Her hands could not be seen moving as she took the sides of the vampire’s head, digging her long fingernails into his skin, his skull. As he screamed in pain, unable to take his gaze from hers, the color left her eyes until all that remained was a small black dot within the whites of her eyes. “Sebastian,” she snarled.

He grabbed onto her forearms, clearly resisting her power, but finally he stammered, “We… Ah! We were as decoys to lure you away and allow him to escape unnoticed.”

Wendy looked to Ryan and said, “The other limo.”

“Which was gone when we got back,” he snarled.

“Where is he?” Lady Roeskellov demanded as she bored into his mind with hers.

The pain she inflicted upon him was evident in his eyes, on his face, and still he defiantly cried, “No!”

She lanced her mind into his and he screamed in agony, and Vanessa cringed and covered her ears.

With a horrible snarl, the vampire matriarch threw him from her and watched him land some distance away. Clenching her teeth, she hissed, “He knows nothing beyond what he was told to do. He is useless.”

“I wouldn’t say that,” Clifton countered as he strode to the downed vampire. He was surprisingly gentle as he took the vampire’s arm and helped him to his feet, urging, “Come on, buddy. Let’s get you off the floor and go have us a little talk.” He slipped his arm around the vampire’s shoulder and led him toward the main door.

Wendy’s cell phone rang and she reached for it, watching after the closing door as she raised the phone to her ear and answered, “Hello?”

“Lives are depending on you now,” Sebastian greeted.

Her spine going rigid, Wendy slowly raised her chin, knowing not to say anything.

“My secret hideaway isn’t far from you,” he continued. “You and Vanessa should come out, and keep it a secret unless you want the blood of a hundred innocents on your head. They are my guests at my beach house.”

Turning away from the others, Wendy took slow steps away from them as she twisted her hair. “Okay, so what did you have in mind?”

“Bring Vanessa to my house,” he ordered, “and I will send my guests away. Otherwise, I will begin an orgy of blood the likes of which has not been seen in this world in five hundred years.”

With a little nod, she confirmed, “Okay, so we have an invite to your beach house. What will this cost exactly?”

“Only the two of you, my Pet. That’s all I want.”

“Pretty high price,” she observed.

“Not as high as the hundreds who will die in your place. Just be warned that I can still see and hear through Vanessa, that I still control her. Make certain she does not leave your sight or you hers, and be sure that only you know of this.”

“You really have this planned out, don’t you, Sweetie?” His sinister laugh roused her anger, but she kept her composure. “So what happens if I bite on this? How can I be sure that you’ll keep your word and dismiss your guests? How do I even know you have any?”

“Two ways to be sure,” he replied. “One, you and Vanessa come here and see for yourselves. Two, you defy me and watch the news, and know that you could have prevented all of those deaths. And you should know by now that I don’t bluff.”

Wendy raised her brow. “Yeah, you’ve been pretty consistent there, haven’t you? Okay, so—”

“And make sure you come alone,” he added quickly, “just you and Vanessa. Take the main highway north of there and drive east. You’ll hear from me when it’s time.”

“Gotcha,” she confirmed. “So, you wanna have another little party, huh?”

“I’ve left a car for you,” he informed, “a red Mercedes with dark tinted windows. It is still out front waiting for you. You’d better leave. You’ve a long drive ahead of you and not much time.”

She heard the faint click on the other end as he hung up and slowly lowered her phone, sliding it into her pocket as she stared blankly ahead for long seconds. A grasp of her shoulder alerted her and she looked that way, half turning to see Vanessa staring back at her with shame and regret in her eyes.

“Had a backup plan, did he?” Wendy asked.

The slight vampire nodded and offered in a whisper, “I’m sorry. He sensed treachery and was prepared in case this didn’t work.” She turned her eyes down and meekly said, “He’s going to kill us both, and he will do so horribly.”

“Be honest with me, Blondie,” Wendy said straightly, turning fully to the vampire. “Does he really have the hundred people he says he does?”

In slight motions, Vanessa nodded, her eyes not leaving the floor.

Clenching her teeth, Wendy just stared at her for a moment. She felt cornered again and did not like it. Her eyes shifted to Ryan, to Merril, to Vlad… Back to Ryan. “Come on, Girlfriend,” she ordered. As she reached the group, she summoned, “Hey, Handsome. Nessa and me have something to check out. Can you survive the night without us?”

He turned fully and folded his thick arms, a little suspicion in his voice as he asked, “What are you checking out?”

“A lead I got on… We think we might know where Sebastian’s heading but we want to pull a little recon before we—”

“We’ll go with you,” Vlad insisted as he stepped toward them. “Under the circumstances I don’t want you approaching his strongholds alone.”

“Oh, no,” Wendy said dismissively, glancing at Vanessa as she did. “Not a good idea. I think you guys need to get a handle on things here first. We’ll call if we need you.” She glanced at Lady Roeskellov and shrugged. “We need to make sure he doesn’t come back here and try anything.”

The matriarch raised her chin. “I am confident he will not.”

“Still,” Wendy pressed, turning to push the vampire girl toward the door, “I think we can handle it and I can give you a hundred reasons why you shouldn’t come with us. We’ll check in when we can, kay?”

She did not get fully turned when Ryan grabbed onto her arm and spun her back to him, and quickly she turned eyes up to him that told him what he needed to know, eyes that were laced with fear and concern. She also subtly nudged him in the gut with her cell phone and her eyes cut back to the blonde vampire girl twice. “We shouldn’t be long, okay? Don’t worry. We’re big girls and we can take care of ourselves, even if the bad guys are laying a trap for us.”

Vanessa loudly cleared her throat, never taking her eyes from the floor.

Ryan nodded in subtle motions. “Okay, Red. Just stay in contact. How long will you be gone?”

“Not sure,” she replied. “We might stake the place out for a couple of days and see what kind of activity we can dig up, but I’ll be sure to call you every few hours.”

He nodded again. “Just say the word if you want us to come in and help out.”

Wendy shook her head. “No probs, Handsome. We got it covered.”

His eyes widened slightly as her mouth silently said follow and he assured, “I’ll be as close as a phone call, so don’t get in over your head.”

“No promises,” she countered. Reaching to his neck, she raised up on her toes to bring their mouths together, and she kissed him much more passionately than she should have among them all.

Vanessa had turned her eyes to them and looked on with a sense of envy. She had not been kissed so for a long time and subtly bit her lip as she watched them embrace. To her, Wendy was secretly kissing him good-bye, and this saddened her. She drew a start as someone grasped her shoulder and she turned quickly to find Clifton had approached unnoticed.

He took both her shoulders in his hands and raised his brow. “I can’t let you just walk away without—”

She took the sides of his neck tightly in her hands and pulled him to her for a kiss as well.

Wendy pulled away slightly with her eyes begging her to understand the warning behind them, glancing back to the blonde vampire girl as she kissed one of her colleagues, she embraced him with both arms wrapped tightly around his neck, bringing her lips close to his ear as she whispered, “I don’t have time to explain but I need you close behind and unseen, and Nessa can’t know.”

“Gotcha,” he whispered back.

Kissing his mouth once more, Wendy pulled away and turned toward the door, commanding, “Come on, Blondie. Let’s get this road trip going.”

As Vanessa pulled away from him, Clifton pointed out, “It’s still daylight out there.”

Both women froze and looked to each other.

Hours later found Wendy and Vanessa on a lonely road and driving east. The sun was setting and still shining brightly behind them.

Behind the wheel, Wendy had the window rolled down and her arm resting on top of it as her eyes, now tense and in deep thought, watched the road ahead of her. She would occasionally check the rear view mirror, but otherwise concentrated on the road and was lost in thought. A rustling in the back seat drew her attention and she glanced over her shoulder, loudly asking, “How ya doing back there, girlfriend?”

“Is the sun down yet?” Vanessa barked back.

“Not yet, Sweetie,” Wendy replied. “Just get some rest.”

“I’m stuffed under heavy blankets in the back seat again,” the slight vampire complained, “and I’m pretty sure Sebastian means to kill us once we get there.”

“What can you tell me about these people he has?” Wendy asked.

“Probably loyals unless he went out and kidnapped a whole bunch of people he means to turn or feed on. I can almost guarantee he already had them there.”

“You know where we’re going?”

Vanessa loudly shifted again and admitted, “I don’t know. He has villas and houses everywhere it seems, and many loyals that I’m sure Lady Roeskellov does not know about.”

“And Ryan has a crappy little house that’s a throwback from the seventies,” Wendy snarled.

“Wendy,” the vampire summoned in a concerned tone, “you have to understand that this is one of his sick games. He means to kill us both and do it with some terrible ceremony to make an example of us. You have to know that.”

“Yeah,” Wendy sighed.

“Then why are we going?”

“The hundred innocent people who will die if we don’t go.” Wendy pulled the headlights on and checked the mirror as the sun finally disappeared behind the horizon. “Okay, it’s safe to come out.”

Vanessa pushed the moving blanket from her and stuffed it down into the floorboard, then she crawled between the front seats and struggled into place.

“Seat belt,” Wendy reminded.

Shooting her an irritated look, the vampire reached over her shoulder for the belt and pulled it across her, asking as she did, “Is there no way I can convince you not to do this?”

“Doesn’t Sebastian know everything you do?” Wendy countered.

“What if he kills them all anyway?” Vanessa pressed as the buckle clicked into place. “What if he makes you watch that?”

Glancing at the vampire, Wendy’s eyes narrowed and she asked, “Why are you bringing this up? Is this some kind of test he’s making you put me through?”

Vanessa stared out the side window for a moment before she answered, and did so with solemn words. “Wendy, I like you. You didn’t have to be so nice to me, you didn’t have to help me… You offered me your friendship even when I wanted him to kill you. You let me into your circle and you didn’t even let the others of your kind kill and eat me. Because of you they accept me, too. You… You made me feel like I matter.” She combed a hand through her long hair and shook her head. “I guess I still have such feelings after all this time.”

“He’s going to know about all of this,” the predapire warned.

“I don’t care,” Vanessa assured. “He’ll get me sooner or later, but he doesn’t have to get you, too.”

“I need you to look out for yourself now, okay?” Wendy reached to the vampire girl and took her cold, thin hand. “If he’ll take you back into his little clan and take care of you, then that’s what’s got to happen.”

“I don’t want to go back,” Vanessa pouted.

“I know,” Wendy softly admitted. “Just bide your time, okay? Just bide your time.” Her cell phone rang and she knew exactly who it was even before she wrestled it from her pocket and answered. “Yeah, start talking.”

“So far, so good,” Sebastian commended. “Just keep driving. You’ll get off of the road where you see the sign directing you to a party at the beach. It is still a few hours away so you have time to talk Vanessa out of that nonsense that’s going through her head.”

“What if I just let her out?” Wendy suggested. “I’m what you really want.”

“Go ahead and let her out,” he conceded. “I’ll just kill half of my guests when you arrive.”

“And you really have these people there?”

“Vanessa knows. You have two hours to get here, so you’d better not pull over for anything, and make certain that all of my conditions are met.”

“Or you’ll kill us both?” Wendy snarled.

“That is already decided,” he replied. “How many people die with you is up to you.”

“I am so kicking your ass when we get there,” she informed right before hanging up. “Okay, Nessa. Looks like it’s going to be a long car ride. Let’s put on some tunes and talk about boys.”