Jadee had missed seeing them enter but she’d heard it all. She’d dropped the comforter that had shielded her from flying glass shards cutting her skin when Mitch had begun his rampage of showering her with anything breakable he could fling at the bars.
The biker and his pal wearing the trendy club threads had handled the Vampires as easily as if they were rag dolls. They were both in shape, with those muscles and thick bodies. Both of them looked like contenders for fighting. Often.
The biker wore black leather pants with a matching muscle shirt stretched over a buff body. Dark stains on his chest were probably blood, and he had some on his hands. His blond hair almost hit his shoulders and it had some curl to it. He had gorgeous hair. She doubted they were Vampires, with the deep tans they both boasted. His good looks were model worthy, but he had enough masculinity not to be a poster child for any of the magazines she detested. He had to be about six foot two and probably two hundred and forty pounds of solid muscle.
His eyes were stunning, with their bright blue color, but with the way they glowed as he spoke, Jadee was assured he was something not natural. No human could do that.
Those eyes were gorgeous enough to almost make her stop listening to what he said, but the words penetrated.
“I’m not tired, and why don’t you start telling me what you are?”
His lips parted and she studied his mouth. No fangs showed, a good sign in her book. He had nice teeth, white, and it looked as if his parents had sprung for braces. His mouth was the only part of his face that became unattractive when he clamped his lips together into a tight line, showing off a faint dimple in his chin.
Her gaze rose to once again appreciate how odd yet striking his incredible eyes were. She’d bet they’d literally glow in the dark.
“Shit,” his friend whispered.
“Shut up,” the biker snapped, never taking his gaze off her.
She raised her other arm and pushed back her hair from one side of her face where it had fallen forward. His nostrils flared and those eyes of his seemed to grow brighter. They reminded her of a blue neon sign over the bar at her job.
“So, what are you, Bright Eyes?” She was ready to leap back if he came at her. “I’m racking my brain here but coming up blank. Those kickass boots you’re sporting are at least a size fourteen but you aren’t hairy enough to be a Bigfoot, and you’re too tan to be allergic to the sun. That’s a bad joke. Sorry. I’m trying to remain calm.”
“My name is Lavos.” He watched her closely. “You’re bleeding.”
She ignored the blood siding down the side of her face near the ear her hair had been stuck to. “Tell me something I don’t know—like what you and your friend are. Not human, with those sparkler eyes and that super strength. Aliens maybe? Please don’t be that. I laugh at those people who say they’ve spotted little green people. Of course, you’re not little or green, but you see where I’m going with this. No ass probes either. Not my thing.”
Club Threads got her to glance his way when he chuckled. He smiled and she was glad to see his eyes looked normal. She stared at the biker again.
“I’m glad that your friend thinks this is funny, but I don’t. I’m having a real bad night, Lavos.” She used the gun to tap the bars. “I’m claustrophobic on top of it all, and armed. Not a good combo. Plus, there’s the whole horrendous thing with my dad. Start telling the truth or I’m going to see how many bullets it takes to put you down.”
“We’re not aliens,” he stated.
“Good.”
“We’re really law enforcement, but not one you’d know about. I tried to embed suggestions into your mind but you have a very strong will.”
“Is that why your eyes are doing that mega-bright thing? Stop it.”
She was relieved when his eye color returned to a nice-looking blue that didn’t freak her out.
“You’re better off not asking questions,” his pal said. “The more you know, the more dangerous it is for you. We have laws to follow.”
“I said shut up,” Lavos growled. It was a very animalistic sound, reminding her of a guard dog.
It was a hint that Jadee jumped on. “Werewolves?”
Both men looked at her in an alarming way that had her taking a step back. “Okay. I like dogs. Wolves are good. I can handle that way better than aliens.” She focused on Lavos. “Please tell me that if you kill the master Vampire, it will return my father to normal…or is that movie bullshit?”
He was either brave or stupid, she wasn’t sure which with her gun still pointed at him, but he took a step closer. His shoulders were broad enough that both sides of them nearly brushed against the hallway walls.
“I’m sorry, but there’s nothing we can do for him except stop him before he tries to kill again.”
His statement dashed her hopes. “You don’t know for certain if he’s killed anyone.”
“It’s irrelevant. Everyone in this region is dead except you and perhaps a few others, if they were lucky enough to find sanctuary. This bunch did it. It needs to end before they travel to another town and kill those residents. There’s no way to cure or bring him back from this.”
That news devastated Jadee, but she believed him. “There are at least three more that I’ve seen, plus my dad and the one you have on the floor.” She stepped back and sat heavily on the bed, placing the handgun on the mattress next to her. “Do it.” She lowered her head, staring at her lap. “Please don’t make the one who used to be my father suffer. He was a good man. He wouldn’t want to live at the cost of innocent lives being taken.”
“Jadee!” Victor sounded outraged. “Don’t do this, honey!”
She winced and wrapped her arms around her waist. Pain squeezed at her heart but she didn’t beg the two strangers to release what used to be Victor Trollis.
“Take him outside,” Lavos ordered. “You heard her. Make it fast and don’t allow him to suffer. I’ll be out in a few minutes. Wait there.”
“Okay,” his friend replied.
Jadee closed her eyes, hating to hear the sounds as her father was removed from the RV.
“He wasn’t a Vampire.”
That soft, masculine voice had her peering up at Lavos. He’d come closer, right to the edge of the bars to grip one of them with his hand. His other one was hidden behind his back. She should have been afraid but she didn’t jerk away, pretty certain he couldn’t reach her. She had nowhere to hide if he possessed a gun. She said nothing, waiting for him to speak.
“He was a soldier.”
“He said he was a Vampire.”
“Vampires can create these kind of halflings they call soldiers. Do you want to know more?”
She hesitated, stood, but kept back from him. “Not really.”
He frowned. “Why not?”
“I heard your friend. Knowledge is dangerous, right?”
He moved slowly, withdrawing his hand from behind his back. She held her breath, expecting him to point a gun at her, but instead he fisted a plaque her father had kept hanging in the hallway. “Explain this to me.”
She knew the words inscribed on it, since she’d been the one who’d bought it. “What do you want to know?”
He glanced down at the writing, then back at her. “Best Bump-in-the-Night Hunter? What does that mean?”
“I was ten at the time, and didn’t know how to say paranormal-slash-legend tracker.” She shrugged. “That’s what my dad did. He and his research team searched for things like you and that asshole who changed him into a monster.”
She didn’t miss the way Lavos seemed to slightly pale. He returned her gift to her father to its hook on the wall. He kept his back turned away while he took a deep breath. It made her once again notice his broad shoulders. He slowly faced her. The grim look on his features didn’t bode well for her.
“That’s why you were in the area? Hunting for Vampires? Were you looking for anything else?”
“You mean Werewolves? No. I’m not a part of my father’s team.” She paused, realizing her dad had to be gone by now. “He called me a couple weeks ago and begged me to come visit. I had to arrange time off from my job and caught a flight this morning. I got a rental and drove here. I made it right before the sun went down, and he showed up a little bit ago the way he is now. Was. Whatever. The dad I knew was dead by the time I got here.” She shifted her stance and got a look at Mitch. “The dickhead behind you is moving. Don’t those things ever stay down?”
Lavos spun, took a few steps, and made Jadee wince when he brutally brought his boot down on Mitch’s head. She swore she heard bones break but no sympathy welled. Lavos returned to the gate as if he hadn’t just bashed in someone’s head.
“He’s not moving now.”
She had to give him points for having a sense of humor, twisted as it was. “You didn’t answer my question. How do you kill one of those things?”
“Remove the head and it dies forever. What were they investigating?”
She debated answering but he’d saved her ass. At least for the time being. “From what I understand, someone reported seeing Vampires. They came to check it out but they lost contact with their source on the way here. The team captured four of these things but then they somehow managed to escape. I’m not clear on all the details. That moron on the floor got ahold of my dad after that. The rest of my dad’s team is locked inside a trailer they use as a headquarters for these little hunts. They’re alive—or were recently, when I spoke to them via a tablet.” She hesitated. “It’s on the table behind you in the kitchen area.”
He walked back down the hallway and lifted something. She couldn’t see around his body but he turned, holding the electronic device so she got a good view. It was smashed, the screen shattered. Her father had probably broken it when he’d been thrown onto the table.
Lavos dropped it and returned to the gate. It was unsettling to watch his expression harden and his eyes start to glow again. But the sight was equally fascinating.
“You can remove your weapons and lay them all down.”
“Not a chance, and your eyes aren’t working on me.”
The corners of his mouth curved upward for a second. “It was worth a try.”
“Are you going to kill me?”
The seconds of silence had her guts twisting. He finally shook his head. “I see no reason to if you help me.”
“I’m not opening that gate across the door. No way, no how.”
“It would be difficult for you to help me otherwise. Have you seen the fifth soldier? We located a man and woman in the woods, then what used to be your father, and Mitch behind me. That’s only four. You said there were five. One is missing.”
“I got a good look at three of them when they were attacking the research team in their trailer. I saw the feeds from their cameras. Then those same three came over here to try to get into the RV before I hit the panic button. They took off after that. High-pitched sirens don’t seem to be their thing. Victor and Mitch didn’t show up until after that. I could describe the three I saw to you. Would that help?”
His mouth twisted into a grim line. “They recorded these attacks?”
She debated telling him the truth but decided to be honest. “Yes.”
“Shit.”
“Are you going to kill me and my father’s team? Last I saw, all three were scared shitless and only wanted to get out of this mess alive. They bit off more than they could chew, pun intended.”
“I don’t like to kill anyone unless I absolutely have to.”
“So what’s the verdict on this mess?”
“I like you.”
“Is that going to save my ass?”
He seemed to relax a little and the harsh expression faded. “That depends on a few things.”
“Name them.” She didn’t want to play games.
“We have laws.”
“That’s what Club Threads said.”
He looked perplexed. “Why do you call him that?”
“Open pirate shirt, slacks and black shoes. He looks like he belongs at a dance club in Miami or something, instead of out in the woods.”
He laughed. “His name is actually Kar. Our laws are clear. We can’t allow the outside world to know about us. You’re smart enough to understand why.”
“History,” she muttered. “You don’t want idiots coming after you, trying to burn you alive. Witch hunts, only the Werewolf updated version.”
“Exactly. But with modern weapons it would be a lot worse than being tied to a pole and lit on fire. You’re taking all of this extremely well.”
“You obviously can’t read minds or you’d know I’m freaking out on the inside. But it’s not a nightmare I can wake up from, and I’d like to survive. That means keeping my shit together.”
Lavos stared at her and gripped the bars with both hands. She tensed, expecting him to test their strength. He didn’t tug or jerk on the metal though. Instead he loosely held the bars between his fingers.
“We don’t kill your kind unless they pose a threat. We protect them from assholes like the one on the floor stirring behind me, or the Vampire masters who made him. Keeping our existence a secret is priority number one. Do you pose a threat to me and mine?”
His words and their meaning sank in. “I see no reason to ever tell anyone what actually happened here tonight. I’ve heard about Vampires since I was a little girl, and you won’t find any news footage of me being interviewed about their existence. I…I’m also pretty sure I’ve seen a few over the years. I got the hell out of dodge.”
“Excuse me?”
“I used to love to go dancing, but not after I thought I’d spotted a couple Vampires. They’re hard to distinguish unless you know what you’re looking for. I decided club hopping wasn’t good for my health, to be on the safe side. I didn’t even tell my dad. He and his team would have gone after them—and gotten themselves killed a lot sooner. Live and let live is a good motto. I still can’t believe they found any out here in the middle of nowhere.”
“Your father wanted to prove their existence, right?”
“Yes.”
“But you didn’t? I find that hard to believe.”
“You didn’t have my childhood. It was hell. Everyone knew what my dad did for a living. They made fun of me. I was always the freaky kid with the nutjob for a father. I like having a normal life and not being the poster child for weirdness. Is that so tough to understand? The last thing I want is for more people like my father ending up with his fate. I kept telling him it was dangerous.” Pain rose and she fought tears. “Look where it got him. That wasn’t the man who raised me that you saw. My dad would have done anything to protect me, but that thing wanted to hand me over to the dickhead behind you. He’s trying to crawl toward the door, by the way.”
Lavos released the bars and strode back down the hallway, grabbing Mitch and hauling him to his feet. He pushed him toward Jadee but stopped at the bathroom. He shoved him inside.
“Stay put and be still or I’ll rip your fucking head off.” Lavos closed the door, then addressed her. “I’m hoping your father’s team aren’t immune to my eyes. I can wipe their memories and send them safely home. I’ll need to destroy any evidence they have too. Otherwise there’s no guarantee how this is going to end. They do this for a living in hopes of proving our existence, but you see the problem with that. I would like your help.”
“What do you want me to do?”
“I’d like for you to talk your father’s team into calmly meeting me.”
She was immediately leery. “You could kill them.”
“Your immunity to my eyes is very rare. I’m hoping they’re able to be memory wiped.” He blew out a breath. “I don’t want to kill anyone except bad guys.”
“I don’t trust you,” she admitted.
“You don’t have a choice. You’re intelligent. There’s no cell signal in this area so you can’t call for help.” He touched the bars. “These wouldn’t protect you if I really wanted in. That gun would hurt me but I’d survive. You saw how fast those things heal. I’m stronger.”
She swallowed hard. “I don’t have silver bullets.”
He grinned. “That’s cute.”
“I take it that’s a bullshit TV myth too?”
“Bullets hurt no matter what they’re made of but I have no allergy to metals.” He reached up and gripped a chain around his neck, lifting it from beneath his shirt. A thin silver ring hung from it. “Want to guess what this is made of? It belonged to my grandmother. I wouldn’t keep it against my skin if it burned.”
She stepped closer but kept out of his reach if he put his arm through the bars. “You actually expect me to open this up so nothing’s between us?”
“I’m willing to trust you to keep your silence. You’re going to have to trust that I won’t hurt you. We need to work together if you want to save your father’s friends.”
Jadee studied his eyes, trying to judge if she could believe him. It was a tough call. “This is going to suck if you’re lying to me.”
“I’m not a bloodsucker.”
“You know what I mean.”
“I promise I won’t hurt you.”
“What about Club Threads?”
“Kar takes orders from me.”
“Can I keep the guns?”
He glanced down at her weapons, then back at her. “Fine, but I’ll warn you now that I have no sense of humor when I get shot. Am I clear?”
“Crystal.”
“Just the ones in the holsters.”
She gave him her back and walked to the other wall. Her heart felt as if it wanted to jump out of her chest. She hesitated over the release button—but then pushed it.
Jadee turned, her entire body tense.
The gate slid open.
Lavos didn’t lunge forward, but instead calmly stood there regarding her. “Let me grab this asshole and we’ll go outside. We need to find the last soldier. I’d advise you to stick very close to me in case it attacks.” He backed up. “And I strongly suggest you start calling Kar by his name. He’s been a bit testy tonight. We didn’t expect this mess when we were sent out to bring a message to a family that hadn’t contacted their mother. We thought a storm must have taken out a few telephone poles.”
It was tough to take the first step toward the open doorway. Lavos turned his back on her, opened the bathroom door, and reached inside. He jerked Mitch out and shoved him forward.
“Run and I’ll kill you,” Lavos threatened.
Jadee wasn’t sure if he spoke to her or the dickhead in front of him. She followed anyway.