Twelve
“Ife, it’s all coming together now. I know we’ve worked our asses off, but oh, Gods, is it worth it!”
“It is. Scottie, between you and Crezia, Mother Earth is smiling on our endeavors here. I started that massive compost dump thirty years ago and hoped it would help heal some of the damage left by corporations using the land for palm oil back then. I can’t believe how healthy it is now. More diversity than I could have imagined.”
“I think we deserve a big party tonight.”
“Set it up.”
“Why don’t you come this time? Ever since you got back from your vacation, you’ve spent too much time alone in the forest.”
“I’m trying to re-bond with the land.”
“Yeah, but something else is bothering you. Crezia and I have felt it from that first day. You need to open up to someone. Why not me? I’m a spectacular listener.”
“You are.” Ife walked away to consider what she wanted to say. At moments, what happened with Jack felt surreal. “I met someone in Oregon.”
“You told us that.”
“But I didn’t tell you that I think he might be a mate for me.”
Scottie whistled low. “No, you did not tell us that. So now, details, lady. Why would you hesitate to tell us? Isn’t that a great thing?”
“Normally, yes. But Jack is a vampire hunter.”
“What?”
“He’s a vampire hunter. Well, was. It’s so convoluted, I never took the time to tell you guys, but Cari and I had to call Xavier in to help mediate the situation. Between vampire hunters running down rogue vampires, people were dying. Vampires, humans…it was terrible.”
“Oh, Ife, what a shitty vacation. Why didn’t you ever tell us?”
“I didn’t know what to think about it. I still don’t. I don’t know how Jack could ever fit into my life. He’s a human who has hunted and killed vampires all his life. His brother was forcibly changed by a vengeful vampire, everything he’s ever believed has now been challenged, and even though we care for each other, he told me he doesn’t know if he could ever convert. How would he ever fit into my life? And he’s doing a critically necessary job now in destroying that which he believed, that his family believed, from birth. Ben is his brother.”
“Ben? The guy you left with Olivia in Vegas?”
“That’s the one. He was a vampire hunter too.”
“Well holy shit!”
“Olivia has the perfect place for a new vampire to learn about his skills and our world. I knew he’d thrive there and he has.”
“Wow. Just. Wow. So, are you going to see this Jack again?”
“I hope so. When we get on target with this final phase in the valley, I may go back to see him.”
“You’ve been, for you, kind of morose, since you got back. Ife, you have to go see him.”
Quiet again, Ife just nodded. On that she agreed, at some point soon, she would have to confront the reality that faced her. The man she loved may not love her enough to be with her. It would be impossibly hard to ask him, but ask him, she must.
“Let’s get home. Enlist some help and put together a party for tonight. I’ll join you, but I want to work on projections for the valley.”
“Not tonight. No. I am coming to get you as soon as the music starts.”
“I’ll be there, I promise. But the work has to get done and only I can do this part of the prospectus. Scots, just do me a favor and put the party together, I’ll show up with my dancing shoes or bells tied to my toes.”
“Oh, that I want to see. All right, but Ife, if you ever need to talk, come to me. We’ll get some cookies and cake and disappear to talk as long as you want.”
“Thank you, my dear. I may take you up on that.”
IN KANSAS CITY
Buck didn’t stand up when they walked in. With all the vampire testosterone in the room, he wanted to remind them right away that he was in control. They were here at his request after all, but that didn’t necessarily stop this violent vampire team.
“Buck.”
Quattro. Always had to have the first word. Liked to have the last, too, if Buck let him. He usually did.
“Quattro.” Buck tried to match the same attitude of superiority that Quattro pushed forth. Yeah, Buck, thought, I’d forgotten what a pain in the ass it is to have two alpha males in the same room.
“You need some serious firepower, it seems.”
Buck nodded, his eyes moving over Quattro’s current team. The Four Horsemen. A pretentious name for the crew, but Quattro breathed arrogance, so that wasn’t unexpected. All four were huge vampires, all dedicated to mercenary work that involved exactly no limits. You wanted someone killed? Call them, it didn’t matter who. Women, children, someone’s pooch, they did not care.
Vampires? Their specialty.
Felix had been with the team as long as Quattro, a man who seemed gentle and kind, yet would carve out anyone’s heart you paid to have carved out. Peele and Monsta had joined some time later, and shortly after that, they were calling themselves the Four Horsemen. Both were brutal bastards who didn’t hesitate to perform any act required. Honestly, Buck had a healthy fear of them, but he wasn’t willing to risk his own life to kill the vampire hunters who were so close to finding him, so he needed them.
“How much would you enjoy killing vampire hunters?”
Quattro lifted his eyebrows and his machete, his even white teeth exposed in a wide grin. “Vampire hunters? Fuck, I almost wouldn’t need to be paid for that.”
He grinned wider. “Almost. So that’s a fucking big yes. You got the intel?”
“Here. It isn’t much, but it’s a good start. There were four in the team, one vampire, if you can believe it, but there may be more. I killed one of them a few weeks ago, but I saw him back in the city tonight along with the two of them I caught here two nights ago. They’re here for me, I’m sure of that. I want the hunters wiped off the earth.”
“We have full discrimination?”
“Sure you do. Just eliminate the threat, however you want to. Have fun. Half your fee has already been deposited. I tracked them back to the coast of Oregon. It’s all in the packet. Listen, I’ll pay double for the vampire. That just fucking pisses me off.”
“Got it. Me and the boys’ll ride as soon as we find your targets. You will be apprised of our progress.”
Thrilled to have them engaged, Buck nodded. “Good to do business with you again. Be careful. I’ve heard some things.”
“Like?” Felix asked.
“Like some weird shit. Some stories, I don’t know how true they are, but about some vampires who can control vampires.”
“Bullshit.” Quattro sneered. “Those tales have been around for centuries.”
“Well, they’re still around. I saw something a few months ago when I was first following this hunter unit. Don’t really know quite what it was, it was over so fast, but I could have sworn one of my old companions stopped and stood on command when a vampire I’ve never seen before told him to.”
“Your imagination, I presume.”
“Could be. Still, watch your backs.”
“Always do, Buck. Nothing’s touched us yet.”
“Good luck with keeping it that way.”
“Have faith. I’ll be in touch.”
Once they left, Buck reached for a bottle of good old-fashioned Coca-Cola. They scared the fuck out of him, if he was honest, and at this moment, by himself in the empty night club, he admitted he sure the hell was.
On the street, Quattro stopped his team long enough to glance through the material Buck had provided.
“He’s heard the tales,” Felix pointed out.
“Yeah, I guess it’s not all secret anymore. Well, the one thing we know is that we’re not the only first bloods working this gig. So, wonder who we’ll go up against?”
“Look, we’re good, sure, but older first bloods? We might lose. They’re particular about vampire protocol and we’ve blown the hell out of it.”
“So, we’ll use the same methods against them. Protocol? Rules? Just a way to tie their hands. Actually, I’m looking forward to battling another first blood. Finally, a worthy opponent.”
Felix watched his friend saunter down the center of the street, his machete perched on his shoulder. He glanced at Peele and Monsta, who were newer first bloods and wondered if they would survive a battle with older first bloods. Looked like they were going to find out.
He followed his leader, waving for Peele and Monsta to follow.
In a high-rise tower near where they’d stayed the last time they were in Kansas City, Jack hooked his holster onto his new belt and whistled to Plato. “Ready? Eva says that she’s found his image on security vid from a night-club not far from here.”
“If you guys’ll get your asses moving. He could be gone by the time you get there. You should have brought one of Xavier’s guys.”
“They couldn’t get here until Thursday. Since you found him, we thought we’d better move.”
“Yeah, well, you’re still gonna miss him. San, tell them.”
“I can’t get these lazy vamps to move! Besides, if they want to, they could get there…”
The door was open and Sanquinetta laughed. Yeah, like she said, the vampires could get to the club fast, now that Jack was learning the hyperfast air-displacement movement from Saul.
Eva barked. “Oh, shit, there they are.”
On her live feed, she and San watched Jack and Saul open the door to the club where she’d caught their target, the vampire who had tried to murder Jack, as he opened it up after-hours and entered.
“I’m heading out to provide back-up,” Plato said and left the room.
San checked her weapons. “I’m gone too. Keep an eye out for us, Eva, and if you see anything else, let me know.”
“Got it. Fight safe.”
Eva’s favorite phrase to all of them. Fight safe. It was good advice which they sometimes didn’t follow. This time, chasing after the vamp who had torn Jack’s throat open, wasn’t smart and it wasn’t safe. They were doing it anyway.
Jack and Saul felt certain that, as long as he was alone, they could take him.
Eva watched the vid feed. Yes, to her knowledge, right now, that target was alone.
Having become fond of everyone in this vampire hunting team, and she wouldn’t admit it to anyone under threat of death, she knew that she was their first line of defense by keeping a close eye on what was happening around them.
“I’m your eyes and ears,” she’d told them often enough since she’d started. Never one to make friends fast, hell, never one to make friends at all, in this case, she had. From the first moment she’d met Sanquinetta, she’d felt a kinship, sisterhood, that she soon realized Sanquinetta felt too. That relationship had only grown since then.
Saul, she had liked and respected from the first moment she worked with him long before she’d been hired to help this team. Plato, a real darling, was like everyone’s best friend; there for you whatever you needed, but big as a bear with kindness to spare.
Jack, now that guy fucking turned her on. She’d have been the last one to be attracted to a vampire, but this guy had kicked in her sexual juices as soon as she’d met his brooding self. Yeah, San had filled her in on the circumstances by which he’d become vampire, hence the buttoned-up emotional damage, but all of that just made him more attractive to her. Not that the all-man hotness and thick organ she’d seen in his pants didn’t add to that.
He hadn’t noticed her, though, not like she’d hoped.
“Aw, well, office romances suck anyway,” she’d lamented, and recommitted to doing her job as well as possible.
The bar was dark inside, few lights turned on, but that wasn’t a problem for Saul or Jack. Searching the large space, not only did they not see anyone, they didn’t feel the presence of a vampire in the room.
“He’s gone.” Saul announced, but didn’t put his gun away.
“Timing. We suck.”
“We have space to span and even with vampire movement, it takes some time. Remember that he’s vampire too and has the same ability. What the fuck was he doing here? It wasn’t for free drinks.”
“Hardly. He said to tell the crew that he was coming for them. He’s working on something. He can’t think he can take all of us that easily.”
“Sure he does. He’s an arrogant S.O.B. who only thinks he has one vampire to kill. The others are human, he thinks he can pick them off like he picks his teeth.”
“I guess. Let’s get back to the room. See if Eva saw him egress.”
Walking out of the bar, Saul grabbed two bottles of whisky and twisted the caps off. “Cheap stuff, but it tastes all right.”
Moving through the doors, Jack relocked them, and turned right to head back to their hotel. He took a big sip from the bottle of whisky. “Not bad. Of course, I’m hardly used to expensive booze.”
Walking along at a normal human rate, guarded, eyes surveying all around, Jack started to tell Saul that he was grateful that he had his back, when they both lifted their heads and looked at each other.
“Blood,” they said simultaneously, searching.
“Fuck. Plato!”
Jack dropped beside his friend, who lay bleeding on the sidewalk, from a deep wound on his head, not the neck like Jack had been.
“Saul, give him blood!”
Already on it, Saul had ripped his wrist open, feeding pumping red blood to the large hunter.
“What the fuck happened to him?” Jack barked, cradling Plato’s head in his lap. He looked over his body and saw that his legs twisted in odd directions, his arms in the same condition. Someone had broken both his legs and arms.
“It’s a message. The vamp who tried to kill you, he must have seen us go into the bar. He must have found Plato on his way to help us and took the opportunity to send us another warning. Plato’s the warning. He’s playing hardball, Jack. We have to kill him as soon as possible or he’ll target every one of us.”
“What the fuck is his damage?”
“We’ll only know that if we find him. My guess is your team has killed someone he cared about. His response is like mine, but so much more brutal. He’s comfortable with killing each and every one of us. And Jack, he knows who we are, or at least, what we look like. It’s our own private war. We need to watch our own and each other’s backs. Plato will live, as I suspect he wanted him to, but he’s got a lot of recovery ahead. My blood will help him heal, but I think his bones are shattered at each strike point. Even with vampire blood, that damage will take quite a long time.”
“All right. Let’s get him out of here before bullets start flying or worse.”
“Good plan. I’ll carry him.”
Saul had Plato in his arms and was gone before Jack could see them move. Good.
Jack lingered. He slowly turned three hundred and sixty degrees, his eyes on every window for movement, his vampire sense tuned in so that the slightest twitch would draw his eye.
This was his warning to the vampire…it sure the fuck wasn’t over.
“I’m coming for you,” Jack bellowed aloud before he repeated Saul’s egress and blew back to their room.
Sanquinetta had just hit the surface street when she felt air move past her. The scent of whisky was strong, so she smiled, aware that it had to be either Saul or Jack. Both were fond of that type of libation.
Moving back into the building, she flew up the stairs, following as quickly as she could, dread building with each step. She felt it, his fury, his frustration, and pain. Something was wrong. Goddam this vengeance mission. Was she going to lose another person she loved?
Shoving the door open, Sanquinetta’s eyes searched until she saw Saul leaning over someone. Advancing forward, her eyes went to Evaleigh, pressed beside Saul, and then to the face on the bed.
Plato. Dear God. The kindest, sweetest man on earth.
“Is he okay? Is he going to need conversion? Saul, tell me.”
“He’s in no danger of dying. No conversion. But he’s badly injured.”
“Where’s Jack?”
“Jack’s fine. He should be here. I don’t know why he isn’t.”
“What the fuck happened out there?”
“San, let me finish giving Plato blood. I have to be careful to get enough to help him heal without triggering conversion.”
“Okay. I’ll back off. Eva, can you get on the computer and find Jack?”
“Of course. Poor Plato.”
Evaleigh moved to the computer, bringing up the surveillance vid for the street in front of the bar where their target had been. She continued down the street until she found Jack, standing, unmoving except for his head, staring around the street.
“He’s okay. I think. I’m not sure what he’s doing.”
Saul looked up from Plato’s face. “Menacing. He’s responding to the warning that our enemy left for us. He’s letting him know we’re answering his call. The battle is on.”
“Fuck. Let the games begin. Again.”
Laughing, Buck raced through the building to the rear exit and down three blocks, over four, around a performance arena that spanned the footprint of two towers, and into his lift-car.
“If you guys only knew what you really face. If it were only me, yeah, you might have had a chance once. But the horsemen, not any chance at all, motherfuckers. I had some nice luck tonight when I found the big bald one. I haven’t had a chance to break bones like that in a long time. God, if felt great! Perhaps I won’t do this strictly from the sidelines after all. It just feels so good to get my hands wet.”
Ah, he’d truly forgotten how good it felt to snap bone in his hands so hard, so quick, they shattered into bits.
Right now, he wanted a good fuck and a good suck.
So early in the morning hours, the sun yet to rise, there weren’t many choices. There, near a fountain that featured a bird in flight, a man, drunk likely, on opioids, but that would just make the blood meal even nicer. If he couldn’t find a pussy, this one would do. It wasn’t his preference, but one must make do, and it had been a while since he had a man suck him off and entered the back door. Yes, that would suit well.
Jack, finally back in their room, sat beside his old friend, a warm wet washcloth in his hand, wiping the blood from Plato’s face and body.
“How long, Saul? He’s in so much pain. How long before he’s well?”
“Hard to say, but he’s looking at probably a year before he can work again. The bones aren’t just broken and have to knit back together. They’re shattered. I can help with biological healing, but he’s going to need surgery and artificial supports. Jack, that vampire really fucked him up.
“How can you have allowed him this close to Plato?”
“We didn’t expect him to attack again.”
“That’s right. We were victims waiting to happen. No more. We are hunting again. San, contact Xavier and let him know we need a first blood. I won’t lose someone else to him.”
“Okay, Jack.”
Sanquinetta used her fone to send a Vtex to Xavier.
“We need you, and now. Can you come? If not, please send a first blood. Follow the GPS on my fone. ASAP, thanks, Xavier.”
“Done. We’ll have a first blood soon.”
“All right, then. Showers, scrub up, then bed. All of you. Tomorrow we prepare our fight.”
Jack lingered by Plato now that Saul had given him all the blood he dared. Once healing began and the pain subsided, and telltale vampire blood would no longer show up on blood tests, they would transport him to Oregon Medtech and let human medicine determine what it would take to repair such damaged bone.
Eventually, Jack pulled his blanket up next to Plato’s bed and fell asleep beside his friend.
What a crazy, fucking amazing, awful looney year it was turning out to be. At one point, Jack almost wished they could go back to how it used to be, but as he fell asleep, the truth won through…he was vampire and in love with a vampire. They were saving lives, for the most part, not killing, and he thought that he might finally be exactly where he should be.
It was still a fucking crazy year though!
Plato tried to smile to his companions, but it was lame and he knew it. Finally, he just gave each of them a gentle hand pump. “Thank you for everything you’ve done for me. I’ll be okay. Just please get that bastard and make it hurt!”
“Without doubt,” San assured him.
“I’ve got his image in my tablet, Playboy, I can track him wherever he goes. I’ll find him again.”
Plato looked at Evaleigh’s tattooed hand wrapped around his. She’d called him Playboy after their second mission together when a group of young women kept throwing themselves at him. He admitted he might be falling a little bit in love with the pale blonde who never failed to touch him when they were together. On the hand, on the knee, on the shoulder, the neck, usually brief, but it really worked on him. When he got better…
Forget it. That was going to be a long road. They were leaving him in a pristine white hospital room and going out into a warzone to kill the vampire who was after them. He was going to miss it all, and it just pissed him off.
Jack noticed Plato’s face before he took his hand.
“Just enjoy the vacation, bro. Wish I could lie around and watch vids all day.”
“That could never happen. You’re not built for it, and neither am I. Just…don’t have the legs for anything else right now.”
Nodding, Jack pushed from the bed. “Let’s go, team. Miles to go before we sleep.”
What he meant was, they’d better get undercover before daylight or two of them were going to be smoking hot, and not in a good way.
Sanquinetta guided their rented lift-car away from Oregon Medtech and back to the beach house where they would all rest until they found their vampire again.
Jack locked the house down after they arrived.
“We stay together now, at all times. No one on their own. That’s how he got us, he’s an opportunist who takes down the vulnerable. Never again. Girls, you can share the third bedroom.”
Saul lifted naughty eyebrows. “Unless either of you feels frisky.”
Evaleigh grabbed Sanquinetta’s arm. “No thanks. Office romance sucks, and we girls have other plans.”
She pushed a surprised Sanquinetta down the stairwell until the door below them closed with a bang.
“Um, that’s, uh, interesting. Are you imagining what I am?”
Jack twisted his neck, his hand working the tired muscles. “God no.” He turned to walk away, then looked back. “Yeah, maybe. I think I’ll go right to the shower.”
“Good choice. See you in the p.m.”
“Saul. Thanks for helping Plato. Helping me. I’m, uh, happy that you’re on our team.”
Surprised at the comment, Saul nodded and continued to his room, closing the door softly. Thankful, he went to his shower, dropping his clothing and stepped under the hard waterfall. He was really a part of the team now, fully vetted and vested. It felt good.
Once he began to soap up, the image of the two beautiful hunters in the bedroom below him kept forming, and particularly a specific vision of them together. His hand went to his cock, lonely since he’d been a hunter, and worked it until he felt the release he needed.