Reaper Uninvited

“What’s your name?”

He looked up sharply at me. “Bobby.”

“Thanks for the info, Bobby. I didn’t know that.”

He smiled shyly at me. “But aren’t you the Dominus?”

“Trust me, having a title doesn’t mean you know everything.”

“And knowing everything doesn’t get you a title.” His eyes were shadowed by sadness.

I wanted to give him a hug, but instinct told me that would probably be a bad thing, not for me, but for him. It didn’t take a genius to figure out that these Loup rewarded and prized alpha male behavior, and this little guy was no alpha. He was a poet or a scholar.

“They’re headed back,” dickhead Loup said.

Sariah reached me first. “Around the side of the building, the boards are off, and the windows are broken. We figure that’s the way in.”

I nodded. “Okay, we split into two teams once we get inside. We have comms. So, Dean, if you take one of my team, you can stay in touch with us.”

“I’ll go,” Sariah said.

“I’ll give you a wolf.” Dean jerked his head toward a stocky specimen with shoulders that bulged above his short neck. “Henry’s a rabid fighter.”

“I’m sure he is. But I’ll take Bobby if you don’t mind. I have brawn.” I indicated Nix and Nox. I’d love brains.” I smiled at Bobby.

Dean’s hard expression softened slightly. “Bobby is the smartest Loup we have.”

Bobby blushed.

“Great, then it’s settled. Let’s do this.”

The inside of the museum smelled of dust and chemicals. At one time, the arched roof of the central chamber had been made of glass, allowing sunlight to stream into the vast space, but now it was boarded up, allowing only slivers of moonlight in through the narrow gaps between the crisscrossed boards. It was more than enough to see by, not that Bobby had an issue. His eyes glowed in the dark as he led the way along the right side of the vast chamber. There were pillars to our left and rooms with arched entrances to our right. The place was massive. The fuckers could be holed up in any tiny part of it.

I spotted Dean and his team on the far side of the chamber just before they ducked into one of the exhibition rooms.

Bobby stopped and sniffed the air. “Blood,” he whispered.

I couldn’t smell anything, but then he was a wolf, and I was a demon.

We followed him into an exhibition room up ahead. Posters littered the unswept floor, and a couple of empty crates sat up against the wall. Empty exhibition cases dotted the room and shafts of moonlight sliced across it like ineffectual silver lasers while motes of dust danced in the light.

“There’s nothing here,” Nox said.

“The blood is strong here,” Bobby replied.

A faint hint of copper hit my nose. “I smell it.”

Nox shot a sharp glance my way.

Bobby walked further into the room. His eyes closed. “I remember reading about this place. I went online for a tour. They said there were vaults where they kept the most valuable artifacts and tunnels between the three museums.” His eyes popped open. “But to be able to smell the blood from this floor … There has to be a lot of it.” He crouched and touched the ground. “There has to be a room beneath here.”

“So, let’s get down there,” Nox said.

Nix tapped a message into his comm to let Sariah know what we’d found, and we headed back toward the main chamber. The pillars holding up the balcony were a couple of meters in front of us, and the main chamber lay beyond. Sariah emerged on the other side of the room. She raised her hand in greeting, and I was about to do the same when my scalp pricked and the hairs on my nape tingled.

“Stop.” I held out an arm to warn the others not to step out from under the balcony.

Sariah’s eyes widened, and then an arrow whizzed through the air and embedded itself in the ground with a thunk. Shit. Another arrow followed the first, landing in the same spot and vibrating with the force of impact.

A show of excellent aim.

A show of power.

“Come out,” a female voice called out. “Come out, you mangy wolves, and we might kill you quick.”

Wolves? They didn’t mention demons. I tapped a group message into my comm.

They don’t know there are reapers here.

They didn’t pick up the scent.

Nox and Nix nodded as they read it.

This was our advantage.

I leaned in to whisper to Bobby. “Is there a way up there without going into the main chamber?”

He closed his eyes for a long beat, then nodded. “Yes, the exhibition room up ahead. There’s a stairwell. Same on the other side.”

I tapped the information into the comm and waited. Sariah read it and turned to Dean, leaning in to inform him of what I’d said. He nodded. My comm lit up.

Dean is going to play mouthpiece. I’ll circle around and meet you up top.”

I gave her a thumbs-up, then led my team toward the exhibition room we needed. We were shielded by the balcony ledge, but the threat up above us was an acute awareness on the top of my scalp and a cold grip on the back of my neck.

I ducked into the exhibition room just as Dean’s voice rang out across the chamber.

“We just want our alpha. We don’t want to fight.”

Lie. But if it bought us time, then good. Dean had seven wolves, and I had three reapers. I needed to know what number of vamps we were up against. The fact they were utilizing such a huge building was a worry, though. Why did they need so much space?

This room was darker and smaller than the others but housed a narrow stairwell to the upper floor.

“They renovated this not long before they closed it down,” Bobby explained. “The staircases are new.”

But surely the vampires would know about these. “We better expect a guard at the top.”

“Good point,” Nox said.

And then he and Nix took the lead, blades at the ready. I went next, and Bobby made up the rear.

“No one up top,” Nix whispered back.

“Just be careful.” My senses were going haywire, screaming that danger was close. Too close. Like almost on us, and then the scent of magic hit me. My vision blurred. There was a shadow up ahead. A glint of silver.

I grabbed the back of Nox’s and Nix’s shirts. “Get down!”

They both ducked as something silver whizzed over our heads.

A muffled curse drifted down the staircase, and then a feral growl filled the stairwell. A dark shape shot over our heads from behind. There was a shriek and a snarl followed by the nasty sound of flesh tearing. We ran up the stairs to find a slender dark wolf standing over the prone form of a man. The man’s throat was ripped out. He was dead.

Bobby lifted his canine head, brown eyes glowing amber, maw coated with blood, as if to ask, did I do good?

I resisted the urge to pet the wolf and settled for nodding.

“Vamp,” Nox said.

“He was invisible,” Nix added. He gestured at a green gem hanging around the vamp’s neck. “More fucking magic.” His gaze slid my way. “You smelled it.”

Later. “We have to keep moving.”

We were on a landing, and another archway was farther up to our left.

Bobby bounded in front and through the arch. He led us through an empty room and then slowed down as we approached a door.

“There’s nothing you can give us, Loup,” the female vamp called out. “Let this be a lesson to you. The Pires are rising. No longer will we cower and hide. No longer will we scavenge for scraps. Together we are strong.”

“We can come to an arrangement.” Dean’s voice drifted up to us.

This was the top balcony. The one that looked down on the main chamber. It was beyond this door. I sidled up to it and peered through quickly. Five vamps? Maybe six with their backs to us and, oh, God … They had Grayson, bound and bleeding on his knees. So much blood. His golden hair was spattered with it, falling across his cheeks like a curtain to hide his face.

My stomach churned, and my chest filled with rage.

“But he tastes so good,” the female vamp drawled.

One of the other vamps yanked back Grayson’s head and sank his teeth into the alpha’s neck. Grayson didn’t make a sound, but his face contorted in agony, and my body burned with the need to rush onto the balcony and attack.

I pulled back instead, eyes burning with suppressed rage. Vampires liked Loup blood? I’d have thought the opposite. There was still so much I didn’t know.

My comm lit up. Sariah must be at the other arch on the upper floor. She had a different vantage point.

I see six vamps.

I messaged back, hands trembling with suppressed rage.

We can take them.

I drew my dagger and nodded at my companions. Bobby’s haunches bunched, ready to attack, but I placed a hand on his back to stall him. Stealth first. We could get more of them if we used stealth.

I indicated for him to stay back, and then the guys and I slipped onto the balcony. Moving silently on the balls of our feet, we came up behind the vamps.

Don’t look at Grayson. Don’t let the anger take hold. Focus. Think. Act.

We took down three of the vamps simultaneously. Grabbed hair, yanked back heads, and slit their throats.

The three that were left turned on us with snarls and fangs. They attacked, but we were ready. I caught a flash of movement to my left, but there was no time to check it out. Vamps taken unaware were one thing, vamps in full fight mode were another. The fuckers were fast, like a blur-in-your-face fast. Bobby’s snarls and growls were a symphony as I allowed my body to take over. Slash and stab, duck and dive.

My back hit the balcony as one of them slammed me up against the barrier. He gripped my dagger wrist and smashed that against the railing. My comm crunched, but I kept hold of my dagger. The vampire grinned triumphantly as he opened his mouth to bite, but Azazel had taught me a trick or two. I pulled my head back and then whipped it forward, slamming my forehead into his nose. His scream of pain was cut short by my dagger in his throat.