Blood Empire Reborn, page 16
Luke squeezed Pablo’s shoulder. Pablo patted Luke’s butt, then sprang up, grabbing the top of the wall, and pulled himself up, dropping to the other side. Luke took a quick look through the camera again—nothing and no one stirred. After handing the camera to Simone, Luke squatted by the wall, cupping his hands for Delilah. As she balanced herself, Luke hoisted her up; she jumped and grabbed the edge of the wall. Luke tucked under her as she pulled her legs up. He grabbed her ankles and guided her feet to his shoulder so she could stand up and crawl over the top of the wall.
He took the camera back from Simone and checked again. Behind him, Simone breathed shallowly and quickly, on the border of hyperventilation. He set the camera and monitor down and sidled up to her, placing his hand on her shoulder and squeezing reassuringly.
Listening for a moment, he leaned forward until his lips were next to her ear. “You’ll do fine. You’re tough and smart. Listen to us and stick to the plan. We’ll get you through this. OK?”
Simone nodded nervously and whispered, “OK.”
Luke checked the camera again, then gave Simone the thumbs up. She squatted and jumped, catching the ledge of the wall, and pulled herself up. She lay flat on the top of the brick wall and lowered a short rope with a hook on the end. Luke hooked the first duffel bag to it and let her haul it up to be dropped onto the other side for Pablo and Delilah. After the hook dropped again, Luke attached the second bag and Simone hauled it up, repeating the process. She had the third bag half way up the wall when the sound of an opening door dumped adrenaline into Luke’s veins. He heard a small gasp from the top of the wall.
With the open door, two male voices argued in French.
“We’re not supposed to be going outside,” the first voice said.
“Fuck off, I just want a cigarette,” the second replied.
“Do you want to get us in trouble?”
“If you shut your mouth, no one will get in trouble. If you can’t, I’ll rinse your corpse down the drain of the bathtub.”
“Asshole,” mumbled the first voice.
The door shut. A few second later, the sound of a lighter flicking was followed by the scent of tobacco smoke. Luke looked up; Simone’s face hung over the edge of the wall, her eyes as big as saucers as she tried to control her breathing. Every second of the cigarette felt like an eternity. Simone licked her lips and squeezed her eyes shut. He listened hard, praying not a sound would escape his companions. After what seemed an hour, the smoker finished his cigarette and returned inside, slamming the door behind him. They waited for a few moments longer to make sure he was gone. When Luke made eye contact with Simone, he nodded, and she brought the last duffel bag up.
Luke poked the camera up for one last check, then handed it to Simone to drop to Pablo and Delilah. Simone slid off the wall and fell to the other side. Luke took a deep breath and leapt up, catching the wall, and pulled himself over. He dropped to the other side, landing nimbly in the weedy back area of an abandoned convenience store that stood at the end of the row of vampire houses.
Simone, her body shaking, leaned into Delilah as the taller woman enfolded Simone in her strong arms, holding the back of her neck. Luke took the camera for one last check of the side yards and found nothing. He disconnected the handheld monitor, coiled up the spy camera, and tucked it away in Delilah’s pack.
Luke looked up at the flat room of the store. Sam, standing on the roof, leaned up against the wall of the first vampire house on this side, her arms crossed as she watched from on high. She’d jumped up from the front of the one-story building after stashing the car. Luke smirked and shook his head, giving her a quick wave.
While Delilah soothed Simone, Luke tossed the rope up to Sam so she could bring the bags up to the market’s roof. By the time they finished, Simone had calmed somewhat. Luke was impressed she’d held it together stranded on the wall top, holding a bag halfway up. She was scared, and her confidence wasn’t strong at the moment.
Luke fixed his eyes on her, holding her gaze. “Simone, you did really great on the wall,” he whispered.
She nodded, taking a calming breath.
“Ready for the next part?” he asked.
She nodded, getting lined up just under the edge of the abandoned shop’s roof. She leapt, grabbing the edge. Sam helped her up. Next, Luke and Pablo formed cups for Delilah to stand in. She climbed up, steadying herself on the bottom of the roof’s overhang. Luke and Pablo squatted with Delilah then lurched upward, tossing her at the same time she jumped. She caught the edge of the roof, Sam and Simone helping her up and onto it. Pablo bent down and cupped his hand for Luke and launched him up like they’d just done for Delilah. Luke scrabbled up and over the roof’s ledge. Moving out of the way, he helped Pablo when he latched onto the ledge.
They took a moment to move their weapons, so they’d be easy to draw and strapped shotguns over their backs, stowing the duffel bags in Delilah’s backpack. Looking down the line, Luke collected a nod from each of his friends. They’d successfully snuck into their first objective without detection. Now he had to hope the rest of their plan went as smoothly.
CHAPTER
FOURTEEN
Luke peeked around the corner of the first vampire house, finding the second-floor balcony empty. He couldn’t tell if anyone was in the room off the balcony; no light spilled out. Readying himself, he edged forward until he only had one foot on the roof while gripping the wall with one hand. He swung himself over, grabbing the balcony railing and landing one foot on the floor. After he climbed over the rail, he drew his gladius.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Pablo poke his head around. Luke reached out and grabbed the door handle. He was about to push the lever down when it was yanked out of his hand, pulling him into the threshold.
“What the fuck?” a vampire gasped in French.
Luke slammed his shoulder into the vampire, knocking him to the ground. Dropping to his knee, he plunged the gladius into the chest of the vampire, sending up a cloud of dust. Luke, coughing, stood up and tucked in next to the door, feet pounding on stairs coming from the other side. A feminine grunt drew Luke’s attention briefly back to the balcony. Sam poked her head into the room then darted in, pulling the rapier from its scabbard. She hid behind the open door into the bedroom.
“What’s going on up here?” someone called.
Luke, trying to sound like the vamp he’d just killed, replied in French, “Nothing. Just tripped.”
The foot falls stopped but were replaced by sniffing. As soon as Luke heard a floorboard squeak, he stuck his foot out, catching the vampire in the ankle and sending it tumbling into the bed. Sam sprang from behind the door and ran him through with the rapier, covering the bed in a thick puddle of reddish-black goo. As the next vampire came in, their momentum too much to stop after the rapid death of their compatriot, Luke shoved them in the back as they flew by, sending them tumbling into the goo that had been their friend. Sam struck a second time, finishing them off.
Luke didn’t want to get bogged down in their first room and get stuck fighting their way out. He needed to make more room for his friends to enter so they could all get to work. The third vampire in line was more cautious after the first two were so easily dispatched, so Luke grabbed their arm and yanked them into the room, blocking the doorway with his body so no one else could get in. He shoved backwards, tripping another vampire and going down with them.
As he landed on his back in a pile of vampires, he rolled off and into a crouch. With a quick lunge forward, he stabbed a female vampire in the gut, then pulled his blade and finished her in the heart. Sam had followed him out, albeit more gracefully. She quickly tidied up the last couple vampires tangled in each other and struggling to get up.
As the bodies dissipated into goo or dust, Luke stood and backed against the wall next to a door on the opposite side of the hall. Sam stepped out to block the door as Pablo, Delilah, and Simone joined them in the hallway. Pablo had taken a minute to strip off his clothes and make the shift to his bipedal werewolf form. He hoped his pal remembered to duck when going through doors. Delilah drew her jian, standing next to Sam to block the hallway. Simone stood behind them.
Luke waved Pablo over, then grabbed the doorknob he stood beside and pushed, storming in. The room looked empty. When Pablo ducked into the room, Luke pointed toward the bed with his gladius. Pablo solved the problem by picking up the bed. Luke bent over and looked under it. Nothing.
Signaling Pablo to set it down, Luke turned to the closet. He eased the door open. The closet had a door at the back end. A rattle behind him followed by a thump and feet scrabbling on the hard wood drew his attention. He spun around.
A vampire had attempted to hide in a wardrobe. Thinking Luke was in the closet, he’d tumbled out and tried to run away. Pablo handled the situation, wrenching the vampire’s head off before it could make so much as a peep. Luke finished the body with a stab to the heart.
Luke returned to the closet, poking aside some clothes to inspect the back of the space. He saw nothing unusual, so he waved Pablo in behind him. Twisting the knob and pulling it back, he slipped into the room. As far as he could tell, it was empty except for a bed. There was nothing under it, thanks to a helping paw—two of them, from Pablo. But what was unusual about the room was the lack of a second exit into the hallway. The only entrance was through the closet. The window was even boarded up, no light peeking in from outside.
He waved Pablo closer. “Do you smell any recent habitation in this room?
Pablo gave him a thumbs up.
“Same vampire as one you just killed?” Luke asked.
Pablo shook his head.
“Many?”
Pablo nodded.
Luke nodded toward the closet. “Let’s go, wolfboy.”
Pablo stuck his wolfy tongue out between his long, canine fangs. Luke chuckled and followed Pablo from the room. When they rejoined Sam, Delilah, and Simone, they found more bodies on the floor, including a couple human-looking bodies. Luke wasn’t getting “vamp” from them. Simone looked a bit shook up but held her blood-coated dagger steady.
“We had some company.” Sam pointed to the mess on the ground where the goo and dust of young and old vampires mingled, trickling down the stairs.
“I didn’t hear a thing while we were in there. What about those two?” Luke pointed to the two bodies.
“Werewolves,” Delilah said.
“Simone’s pack?”
“Yeah.” Delilah rubbed her hand up the back of Simone’s arm.
Luke and Pablo swept the last room on the floor, finding nothing. The few vampires on the floor must have responded to the incursion on the balcony.
“Clear up here. We’re going to need to check for hidden rooms,” Luke said. “Ready? Delilah with us.”
When Delilah slid up next to him and Pablo, they ascended the stairs and headed left, leaving Sam and Simone to watch the stairs coming from the ground floor. When they swept through the upstairs rooms and found nothing, they rejoined Sam and Simone, then made their way downstairs, creeping slowly while avoiding the trickle of vampire goo.
They found the ground floor empty while checking for any doors, obvious or secret, that might lead to a basement or hidden subfloor. Again, they came up with nothing. Even the back yard was vacant. As they worked their way toward the stairs, his friends looked nervous, darting their heads around, their eyes moving over every inch, looking for something they were missing—more vampires and werewolves.
The lack of resistance felt wrong, especially after the fangers so boldly kidnapped a powerful pack alpha in their effort to reclaim the southern half of Belgium. Back on the second floor, Luke and his team stepped back out on the balcony once they determined the balcony next door was clear. He led, leaping across the narrow gap. This time, the door was locked. The doors and windows had been upgraded in the last few years and were thick, double pane numbers.
Shrugging, he knocked on the door loudly, then stepped behind the brick segment separating the door from the window. He knocked again, this time louder. The light inside flicked on.
“If you locked yourself… Oh my God…” The woman who’d opened the door backpedaled, her eyes opening wide.
Luke didn’t get “vampire” off her, but he had no idea if she was a werewolf or some human thrall. Thus far, she hadn’t been aggressive toward him, so he merely followed her into the room, keeping his gladius in front of him. She looked like she was about to scream, so Luke lifted his finger to his lips and shushed her, raising the gladius slightly to emphasize the point.
As Luke’s friends joined him in the small room, the woman trembled as her back ran up against the wall, her hands raising above her shoulders to look non-threatening. When Simone, who was second to last, entered the room, the woman’s face flashed from disbelief to fear into a moment of cunning, then relief.
“Oh, Simone!” she said in French. “I’m so glad to see you.”
Luke flicked his eyes toward Simone. Everyone else was watching the woman, so Luke was the only one who saw Simone’s eyes change from a moment of terror to pure hatred. She yanked her dagger from the scabbard on her belt and advanced.
“No! Simone… Please, I didn’t mean… It wasn’t me… They forced me…” the woman pleaded.
“Liar!” Simone yelled.
Luke cringed at the noise. They were going to have company soon.
“Do you think I didn’t hear the racist words you called me and my family? The other non-white pack members? That you weren’t one of the ringleaders to ‘purify’ our pack?” Simone’s hands shook, her breathing shallow and quick between clenched teeth.
The woman’s shocked face, clearly feigned, changed to disgust as she started to grow. Hair sprouted from her arms and face, claws extending from her fingertips.
Simone reacted instantly, diving forward and plunging the dagger into the woman’s chest. Simone’s tormentor gasped, air wheezing from her lungs as she shrunk back to her previous proportions, the hair and claws disappearing. As the woman sagged against the wall, Simone pulled the dagger out and plunged it into her heart again and then a third time. She looked about ready to keep going when she pulled her arm back, ready to strike again, but instead, she stepped back, loathing on her face. When the woman sagged to the floor dead, Simone spat on her body.
Luke whipped his head around when he heard a deep, grumbling growl. Pablo, his lips drawn back, snarled.
“We’ve got company, Luke,” Sam said as she set her rapier down and stripped.
Finally hearing the heavy footfalls and the occasional low yip or growl coming from outside the door, Luke locked it and shoved his shoulder against it, planting his feet and legs to stabilize the door leading to the hallway. Simone, her face a mask of determination, handed her dagger to Delilah and stripped down as well. In a matter of moments, three werewolves filled the room. Simone’s werewolf form was a bit shorter than Sam’s and several inches shorter than Pablo’s. Unlike Pablo’s brown fur and Sam’s more creamy tan, Simone’s fur was a lustrous black. Delilah gathered everyone’s clothing and shoved it into her backpack before slinging it over her shoulder.
Pablo stepped to the front while Simone and Sam reclaimed their blades. Sam, with one paw, moved Delilah behind her. Pablo looked at Luke and tapped his chest, then raised his paw to count to three using his claw-capped wolf fingers. When Pablo curled the last digit into his palm, Luke unlocked the door and hauled back on it hard. As soon as there was enough space, Pablo surged out, Sam and Simone following. The wolves released a cacophony of growls and snarls, the war cries of their kind.
“Delilah, we got to be really careful out there. Dart in, dart out. Be precise. You and me, let’s watch each other’s backs and help our friends.” Luke said, half pep talking himself. He’d only seen a few werewolf-on-werewolf fights in his nearly two-thousand-year life, and they were terrifying memories.
Delilah, her eyes wide in shock, nodded, gulping down air. Counting down in his head, Luke plunged out the door, tackling the first wolf he came in contact with, one who’d slipped behind Luke’s friends. The wolf was not expecting the power of Luke’s body slam and was taken completely by surprise, letting up a piteous yelp as Luke plunged his gladius through the werewolf’s chest. The wolf’s body collapsed, robbed of fight, and began shifting back to its human form.
With the threat to his friends neutralized, he saw they’d effectively blocked the hallway and prevented the rest of the enemy wolves from getting behind them. The hallway and the stairs helped Pablo, Sam, and Simone nullify the enemy’s superior numbers.
“Luke!” Delilah cried, shoving past him in the opposite direction from their werewolf friends.
She lunged forward, catching the first vampire in the chest. The blade Luke had commissioned for her received its first blooding, destroying the vampire, albeit slower than one of Luke’s enchanted blades. As soon as the vampire sloughed off her jian, she kicked out in front of her, catching another one. She followed the kick with a slash and brought the blade around for another strike.
Checking back on the wolves, it appeared they had the situation under control. Sam’s and Simone’s martial arts training served them well as they mixed the brute strength and speed of a werewolf with their deadly arts. Simone had integrated the dagger into her savate to good effect, although it looked a bit awkward. Pablo just waded in, ripping and biting with his muscular power, mixing in the fighting he’d been learning in the year they’d been working together.
Delilah was no longer visible. Luke sprinted forward and slid into the room where she’d disappeared. He found her just inside the room, holding off several vampires using some cool kung fu sword techniques designed for just such occasions. He backed up a few steps to ensure he didn’t foul her movements.
“Dee, I’m right behind you. Break left on my signal.” Luke kept his voice low so it wouldn’t distract her or potentially alert their fanged foes. “Go!”
