Blade

 

I knew roaring into the parking lot of the warehouse Vlad used as his auction house wasn’t going to go over well with the usual guests, but when I arrived, the parking lot was empty. I didn’t expect that. Still I pulled up to the entrance we used and parked near the door, keeping my bike out of the way of the guests, who should have been arriving shortly. I hadn’t expected to be there before anyone else.

 

I killed the engine and hopped off. I turned and walked to the door where guests would usually enter. I expected to see it open with one of Vlad’s men-with-clipboards waiting to greet me and tell me I was late. It was closed. I pulled on it. Locked.

 

What the fuck?

 

With one hand, I pulled out my phone. The other grabbed my gun. I held my gun at my side, ready for anyone who wanted to try something. I texted Vlad to see what was going on.

 

I’m here. Door is locked. Where are you?

 

Come around back. Our guest values his privacy.

 

I deposited my phone back in my pocket and started to walk around behind the building. I kept my gun out and ready. The thought occurred to me again that I possibly needed backup, but there was no way I was going to call anyone from the Marauders and tell them what I was getting into. I stopped a few steps away from the door, curious. I wanted to throw a little bait out to see just how bad the trap was.

 

Send someone to the door. It will be quicker, I texted.

 

He says no one up front. Wants everyone to meet around back. Wants to keep it very quiet. Please don’t make this difficult, Blade.

 

“Something’s wrong,” I said aloud. Either someone was using Vlad’s phone to message me, or he was in trouble and couldn’t do it himself.

 

I did a quick double-check of my gun to make sure it was loaded and ready in case I ran into anyone on my way to the back of the building. Everything looked good. I cocked it and walked with it in front of me.

 

I could see my breath in the cold night air. Winter’s bitter cold had really taken effect over the last couple of nights. My thin blazer wasn’t doing anything to keep the chill from reaching down to my bones, but I hadn’t expected to be out in the cold all night. I had planned on being inside, where Vlad had heaters to keep his “merchandise” and guests from getting cold.

 

The old yellow lights in the parking lot only provided so much light, leaving pools of pitch-black darkness near the building itself. I crept through the darkness, keeping my eyes wide open, looking for anyone who might have been waiting for me. A feeling deep in my gut told me not to go any farther, but I could see the end of the building.

 

I was walking right into a trap, and I knew it. There was nothing I could do to keep it from happening, either. I knew if I resisted and called Vlad – or whoever it was – out for trying to lead me into a trap, I put everyone in even more danger, including the MC, Vlad himself, and Maggie, who seemed to either be part of it or one of the targets.

 

My phone buzzed in my pocket. I stopped at the corner of the building. Beyond my position, there was nothing but parking lot. I leaned against the wall and pulled out my phone.

 

Sending someone for you. Watch out for them, the text read.

 

About that time, a shadow stepped around the corner. I jumped and raised my gun, but I could see the hands raise up.

 

The shadow laughed as he started to come into view in the dark. “Hey, man, Vlad sent me to make sure you knew where to go,” he said in a friendly voice.

 

I remembered the text I had just received, though I didn’t recognize the man standing in front of me. Even in silhouette, he didn’t resemble anyone I knew from Vlad’s staff. I lowered my gun, but I didn’t put it away. I kept it cocked and ready to go.

 

“All right,” he said with a nervous laugh. “Come right this way. Everyone’s back here.” He stepped aside and raised a hand to usher me around the corner.

 

Still suspicious, I decided to try to strike up a conversation with him, hoping he would say something to give away his identity or intentions. “So, how long have you worked for Vlad?” I asked him.

 

“Oh, sorry, I don’t work for Vlad. My boss is meeting with him tonight for this special auction. Vlad says he has some special girls available tonight, but he doesn’t want to get started until everyone’s in place,” the young voice said behind me.

 

Judging from his shadow, my guide was a large, wide man. He would have made a formidable opponent if we were to get into an actual fight. I hoped the gun in my hand could prevent that from happening.

 

“What’s your boss’s name?” I asked.

 

“He’d rather keep his identity confidential,” my guide said.

 

Not a good sign.

 

The lights were out on the back side of the parking lot, making the night grow even darker as we walked nearer to the back side of the building. The glow of the nearby streetlights on the interstate helped us see. Like the glow of the moon, the newer lights along the interstate had a blue-white glow to them, and it spread beyond the nearby road, spilling over onto the blacktop around the auction house.

 

I gripped my gun tight and felt its weight in my hand. It felt like confidence and power. The hair on the back of my neck stood on end. I knew if I didn’t do something, I was going to be in danger by the time we reached the next corner, so I turned on the guy. I pressed my gun under his chin, careful to keep my finger off the trigger. I wanted to wait for the perfect moment to shoot him, not to accidentally pull the trigger and splatter him all over the parking lot or the wall of the building. “Who is your boss?” I growled.

 

“Hey, man, I’m just here to escort you inside. Vlad said you run the show, pal. He said he can’t show us the women until you’ve had a chance to make sure everything is secure. He said Blade is the key to making it run smoothly,” he said, not missing a beat, as if the gun under his chin didn’t even faze him.

 

“Stop buttering me up, punk. Who the fuck do you work for? If you don’t tell me, I will squeeze this trigger,” I threatened him.

 

He looked at me with eyes so calm, so fearless, that they even cut through the darkness. He was not the least bit concerned I held the power to end his life. “If you shoot me, my boss will shoot your boss. Then, he will shoot the girls your boss has inside— the innocent girls he picked up off the street, the ones he says you have a soft spot for. And on the way out of the building, he will shoot you before you have a chance to even lift your gun in self-defense,” he said calmly.

 

His voice was hypnotic. Even more concerning was the fact that he knew about my “soft spot” for the girls. Whoever his boss was, he was very knowledgeable about what went on in our territory. It made sense that Vlad would want to hold a special auction for someone so big and powerful. I decided not to shoot the guy and started to lower my gun again.

 

“Good,” he said. “Now, can we finish our walk? My boss is impatient. He doesn’t like to be kept waiting, but Vlad insists it will be worth the wait.”

 

I un-cocked my gun and held it at my side, keeping it handy just in case. I turned around and continued walking. The man behind me didn’t make a sound. I couldn’t even hear him breathing. “So, you’re unarmed?” I asked.

 

“What makes you say that?” he replied.

 

I laughed. “You haven’t pulled a gun or anything else on me yet, and I’ve given you plenty of reason to.”

 

“True. If I were in the habit of carrying weapons, I supposed you’d be right. But let me ask you this: will that gun do you any good?”

 

The question chilled me deeper than the cold. I felt my skin raise up in goosebumps. I slowly put my gun away, realizing it probably wasn’t going to do any good against this guy. I had no idea what kind of goon I was going to end up pitted against, but he sounded pretty intimidating.

 

We walked around the back corner of the building. There was a yellow light above the concrete steps leading up to the back door. It was a rusty metal door standing partially open. There were only three cars parked by the door. One of them was Vlad’s limousine. The other two were official-looking black sedans with blacked out windows. They looked like they should have belonged to the Secret Service, not some common criminals, another testament of this mystery crime lord’s power.

 

What I didn’t see was any sign of other guests. I stopped where I was. There wasn’t even anyone standing by the door, keeping an eye out for either invited or uninvited guests.

 

“Where are the other guests?” I asked the man behind me.

 

“They haven’t arrived yet? That’s disappointing,” he mocked me.

 

My blood ran cold as I realized my worst fear was coming true. I was stepping right into a trap that had been set specifically for me, and there was no one there to help me. I had to talk to buy myself some time.

 

“There’s no auction tonight, is there?” I asked, slowly stepping to the side and turning around.

 

“Nope, not tonight,” my guide said in a deep, humorless voice, all the friendliness gone. As I suspected, it had been staged to begin with.

 

“What’s going to happen to me when I walk into that building with you?” I asked, stepping back to put some distance between us.

 

A devilish grin spread across my opponent’s face. “There’s only one way to find out.” He hunkered down like he was going to charge me.

 

“Not a chance,” I said, but as I reached back to grab my gun, another set of arms wrapped around me, and a rag was in my face. I tried to hold my breath, to jerk away. The person behind me was much smaller than the behemoth approaching me.

 

The big guy stepped behind me and put his arms around me, holding me in place with no chance of breaking free. The other guy, who turned out to be much smaller, stepped around in front of me. He was dressed all in black.

 

“What was taking so long?” the little one asked the giant.

 

“He kept stalling, trying to ask all these questions,” my guide responded.

 

“Why didn’t you just knock him out?”

 

He laughed. “I thought it would be more fun to surprise him. I wanted to see the look on his face. You little guys always have to cheat to get people to go along with you,” he said.

 

“Well, we can’t all be blessed with superhuman strength, can we?” the little guy asked. Then, he turned his attention to me. “I think he looks pretty surprised. This will just have to do.”

 

He put the rag back up to my mouth and nose. I tried to hold my breath, but the vapors started creeping in anyway.

 

“Just go ahead and take a whiff of it, man. You’re not going to be a hero tonight.”