The Vampire SEAL Collection, page 105
“I may be ruthless,” Bruno said. “But I wasn’t bluffing. She’s going to give Edmund and me everything we want. Now, I’ve come to say good-bye.”
Keep him talking. He was still so close that I would bet he’d forgotten how close he was standing to a hungry vampire. “I thought you needed sentinel blood?”
That bald beast stuck his head in the room. “We’ve got ten minutes to get out of here.” Then he disappeared.
One side of Bruno’s mouth quirked up. “I have all the blood I need. However, if I need more, then I know where you and your team live.”
I counted to three in my head.
“Enjoy the fireworks, London,” Bruno said.
Just as he turned, I attacked, sinking my fangs into his shoulder, close to his carotid artery. Immediately, blood spilled into my mouth. I sucked as hard as I could, my eyes rolling back into my head at how my body came alive. I came alive.
Bruno roared as he tugged, trying to get free. But my fangs were deeply embedded in him. He head-butted me before one of his elbows landed in my gut.
I felt nothing except euphoria each time I swallowed his blood. Each pull gave me renewed energy. I could feel my organs awakening. My vision sharpened. My hearing homed in on voices in other cells. I stopped for a split second as I heard Olivia’s voice. When I did, Bruno jerked forward and free. Blood spilled down his back. I savored the remaining mouthful of blood as though I was sampling a fine bottle of wine. Hell, his blood was wine in my book. A small amount of dizziness made me sway. Too much, too soon.
After Bruno left, I stood stock-still, taking in a deep breath along with the stench in the air. I breathed in and out as the walls around me spun like a vortex. I definitely ingested too much blood way too soon. I couldn’t say for sure how much time had passed when an explosion rocked the cavern, sending me careening backward into the wall. My body splattered, bones shattered, and my head cracked. Before I could react, another explosion went off. The cell walls started to crumble as the ceiling rained down on me.
6
Jo
The atmosphere in Darcy’s bedroom was just what the doctor ordered, although I’d been trying to come up with a plan on how to sneak past my security detail, who waited outside in the car.
Darcy snapped her fingers. “Earth to Jo.”
I blinked, and her big brown eyes came into focus. “Sorry, I’m not great company.”
I adjusted myself so I was sitting next to her, up against the headboard. We’d been watching a movie that I couldn’t remember the name of. All I kept doing during the movie was looking at the time on my phone and thinking about how in the world I would get to the Fall River Airport, which was a thirty-minute drive from Darcy’s house.
She muted the TV on the wall over her dresser. “Why do you keep looking at your phone? Is it time for you to feed? Or are you trying not to bite me?”
I busted out laughing. “Granted, your cotton-candy scent always gets my fangs to drop, but I’m not hungry. You know I’ve learned how to control myself. Otherwise, my father wouldn’t allow me here, and your parents would definitely put up a fight.” Well, her father would have. Her mother didn’t know about vampires, and Mr. Rose, who represented vampires in court for a living, wanted to keep it that way. So did Darcy. I couldn’t tell her about Bruno or what I was about to do. I didn’t want to get her involved. She’d been through too much already with vampires. “I meant to tell you. Ben is staying on base. He wants our help.”
She tapped me on the arm. “You waited all this time to tell me. Is he okay? Is he human?”
“We don’t know. He seems like his old self, though—kind and friendly.”
The doorbell rang.
“I think that’s your cue to go.” Darcy jumped off the bed, her blond ponytail swinging behind her.
My curfew was eight p.m., but I didn’t tell her that. I had approximately forty minutes to get to the Fall River Airport and still no clue as to how to coax my guards to take me without alerting my father. I didn’t have the ability to compel anyone like Webb or even Sam.
The doorbell rang again.
I darted in front of her. “Let me answer it.” I didn’t want to take the chance that maybe the person calling wasn’t my security detail. I opened my senses, sniffing the air, but Darcy’s sugary scent was overpowering.
When I reached the door, I motioned with my hand for her to move behind me. Once she was in place, I slowly opened the door.
The cool fall air breezed in along with Sam.
Darcy pushed me out of the way and threw her arms around him. “Hi.”
My muscles tensed. If Sam was here, then something was wrong.
He managed to untangle her from his six-foot frame.
“You cut your hair,” Darcy cooed. My best friend had a huge crush on my brother.
He narrowed his green eyes at me, and I checked the street. My guards were gone. “Is everything okay?”
“We need to go.” His tone was even.
“Where?” Darcy stepped back. “To a fight. You’re all garbed out in one of those black sentinel uniforms.”
Black cargo pants, a black T-shirt, and military boots were standard attire for my brother on most days. I hardly saw him in jeans anymore. Regardless, I was now in a pickle. I wouldn’t be able to dodge my brother. He knew me too well. He wouldn’t let me walk into the hands of an enemy.
My mind raced. “Is it Webb?” Maybe Webb had escaped or word came in alerting my dad to his location. If so, then I wouldn’t have to follow Bruno’s orders.
Sam fidgeted as he flicked his head toward the black SUV in the driveway. “I’ll tell you in the car.”
The hairs on the back of my neck stiffened. If he was antsy, then that meant a threat. Maybe Edmund was making his move. If that were the case, then I couldn’t be here. I couldn’t put Darcy in danger. So I hugged her. “We’ll talk soon. Lock the doors.”
She let out a nervous laugh. “Locked doors don’t stop vampires. But I have my cobalt dagger,” she said as her face paled. “I can handle myself, and my dad will be home any minute.”
Thank God. Mr. Rose knew a thing or two about how to handle a vampire, and so did Darcy, thanks to Sam. He’d taught her how to protect herself against a vampire.
I gave her a weak smile. “Call if you need us.” Then Sam and I left. I hated leaving her, but I relaxed a bit knowing Mr. Rose would be home soon.
Once inside the military issue SUV, Sam turned to me. “When were you going to tell me about Bruno?”
My mouth fell open. “Can you read minds now?” After my excited behavior in front of him and Ben, Sam probably went down to the control room and did a search on who called my phone. Sam had learned how to extract and find information, a feat he’d gotten good at with all the access he had to computers. “Or are you tracking my phone?”
He backed out of the driveway. “Bruno called me.”
Gasping, my mind scrambled to figure out why Bruno would clue Sam in on the deal. “What does he want with you?” Sam and I were twins, but our DNA structure as vampires was slightly different. According to Dr. Vieira, I was in more demand since I had a quadruple helix DNA makeup, while Sam had the normal natural-born vampire triple helix makeup.
“Not sure. But he said that we needed to be on his plane at six thirty sharp. And if you weren’t with me, he’d not only kill Webb and his team, but Pops too.” He negotiated stop signs and traffic lights as we headed toward the Fall River Airport.
“Bruno said the deal was with me and no one else. I don’t understand. Something must’ve happened in order for him to change his mind, unless his plan was to include you all along. But then, why not tell me?”
“Sis, it doesn’t matter.”
“It does. He wants me for my DNA. I’m sure of it, even though he didn’t come out and say it. Our DNA doesn’t match. So there’s no reason he would need you unless…” I froze as I thought back to the day of our physicals. “Remember when Dr. Vieira told Dad about my unique DNA? And you asked Dr. Vieira if you were normal? His response was ‘Your earlier tests are normal.’ Then he sent another series of samples from our physicals to that lab in Boston. No sooner than the lab received them, someone broke in and stole our medical records.”
He tapped his fingers on the steering wheel. “Are you saying that we have the same DNA?”
“Think about it. You’re becoming as powerful as me.”
“So this dude Bruno stole our medical records?”
“Either him or Edmund. And they’re holding the sentinels hostage now until they get us. This is all making sense now. We’re exactly the same. Remember last month when we were practicing our powers down by the shore and we joined hands?”
“Shit. Rocks started to explode, and the water became turbulent while the wind whipped around like a hurricane.” His knuckles turned white as he gripped the steering wheel.
Businesses clipped by as we sped down the road.
“When we told Dad, he raised an eyebrow and got all pale. He said that was impossible.” I glanced at Sam. “Speaking of Dad, did you tell him about where we were going?” I didn’t think he had. If Dad knew, he would’ve been on Darcy’s doorstep rather than Sam.
A muscle jumped along Sam’s strong jaw. “Hell no. He’d go commando, and that’s the last thing we need. Besides, I’ve grown rather fond of our father, and I’d like to see him live.”
I didn’t want to put Sam in danger again. He’d been on his deathbed when we rescued him from Edmund. “I have an idea.” I didn’t think he would go for it, but I had to try. “Drop me off at the airport. Let me go alone. Give me a head start. Then you can tell Dad what’s going on. You can track my whereabouts with my phone.” I would bet money that Dad was or would be tracking our every move if we didn’t return to the base soon. “Once we land, you’ll have a location to send in the cavalry.”
“No,” he said in a tone that sounded like our dad. “Again, Bruno’s instructions were explicit. Any deviation, then the shit storm starts.”
The so called shit storm had already started. “Sam, please. I don’t want to lose you. You’ve been poked with enough needles already by Edmund and our uncle Patrick.”
His face reddened. “There is no fucking way you’re going alone.”
Something wasn’t adding up with Sam. “Why aren’t you talking me out of this or hauling me back to base?” If Bruno went after Dad, our father would tear him to pieces. After all, Dad was considered the most powerful of all vampires among us.
He growled. “If we tell Pops, then Webb and the others are dead. At least if we follow Bruno’s plan, then we have a chance to save the sentinels. Plus, I can’t sit around anymore and wait to hear if the team is alive. I’m suffocating on that base.”
My jaw hit my chest. This was the first time in ages that Sam had expressed how he really felt about being barricaded on a military base. My brother had always kept most of his feelings to himself unless someone angered him. But since we’d become vampires, he’d learned how to temper those anger outbursts.
Sam flipped on the blinker, the sound ticking as fast as my heart. Cars zipped by as Sam merged onto the highway.
“Glad to know I’m not the only one,” I said. Even before Webb went missing, living under Dad’s thumb had been and still was quite exhausting. Not that walking into the arms of the enemy was going to be a party. When I let out a sigh, something occurred to me. “Why do you think Bruno is luring us out of the city?” We still didn’t know where we would meet Bruno.
“My guess? He wants us as far away from Pops as possible, somewhere we can’t be found.”
I shivered at his last sentence. “Maybe this isn’t a good idea.”
Sam reached over the console and squeezed my hand. “Look, we can survive. We have strong powers on our own, but think about the damage we can do together. Plus, Bruno doesn’t know the strength we have together. All they may know is we have the same DNA structure, if that’s even true.”
Sam had mastered the ability to manipulate water, air, earth, and fire just like me. He could read someone’s feelings in the blink of an eye. He had an uncanny ability to compel his victims, even the strongest of vampires. What made Sam unique was the ability to compel multiple victims at once. Webb could only compel one person at a time. Somehow, Sam could command a group of people with his mind. Regardless, he was right, especially if we could save Webb.
I sat up straighter. “Then let’s kick some ass.”
He laughed as the sign for the airport came into view.
“Where do you think Bruno is holding Webb?” I asked.
“I imagine since Webb’s plane went down over the Alaskan mountains, that’s where we’re headed.”
He slowed as we exited the highway. When he came to a stop, my phone vibrated in the cupholder. We exchanged a tentative look.
Then I glanced at my screen. “It’s Dad.” The phone kept dancing. “I’ll just tell him we’re on our way back.”
“Don’t answer it,” Sam said as he turned left off the exit.
The vibration stopped. My heart didn’t, though. My bravado wavered once again as my pulse raced. More than anything, I wanted to see Webb, touch him, help him, kiss him, and do all the boyfriend-girlfriend things that couples do. But doubt niggled in the back of my brain, not only because of what we were walking into, but because I was betraying Dad’s trust.
“You know it’s probably a trap,” I said.
“Always is with our enemies.”
After three additional turns, Sam wheeled into the quiet and quaint airport. Two men decked out in camouflage uniforms waved us over to the open hangar in the distance. Beyond them, a small jet sat idle with its stairs down.
My phone vibrated again. Again, Dad’s name came across the screen.
Sam slowed to a stop inside the hangar, our tires screeching on the shiny cement floor.
I grabbed my phone and went to pocket it when I heard Dad’s voice.
Sam narrowed his eyes, and I shrugged. I guessed I’d accidently hit the answer button. Before I could do anything, one of the men opened my door. “Phone,” he said as he held out his calloused hand.
“Sorry, Dad,” I said in an elevated voice, not sure if he could hear me.
“Jo,” Dad shouted.
The large man dropped my phone then stomped on it with a booted foot the size of Sasquatch.
I tossed a look over my shoulder. The other camouflaged man did the same thing to Sam’s phone. There went my plan of Dad tracking our location.
The plane’s engines powered up, pushing my pulse into overdrive. If Bruno kept his end of the deal, and Webb was alive, then Sam and I were doing the right thing.
7
Webb
A boulder sat on my chest, making it difficult to get air into my lungs. Water dripped from high above, splattering everywhere but my mouth. The faint sound of voices echoed. Then I remembered Olivia’s voice. Suddenly, I bolted upright, or tried. Bruno’s blood hadn’t given me enough strength to easily pop to attention, but I managed to push the boulder off me. Once free, I sucked in all the dust-filled air I could as I stood and swayed.
As I tried to shake off the dizziness, thoughts of Jo bombarded me. Surely, Bruno wouldn’t bring Jo into his den, not when he knew he would be blowing up the place. After all, she was a valuable commodity to him and Edmund. I had to pray I was right. I had to pray she wasn’t anywhere near this place.
Voices groaned from somewhere in the earth.
“Olivia,” I shouted in a scratchy voice that echoed far and wide through the cavernous dungeon. “Olivia. Sloan. Kraft. Kodiak. Anyone?”
I heard more groans and muffled sounds.
I began moving rocks and debris, cutting a path to nowhere.
The entire area was closed in from the explosion. I tilted my head back and found that a metal bridge connected one side of the rock wall to the other. The good news was that the bridge survived the explosion. The bad news was that the way out was at least twenty stories high with no access from where I stood. I scanned both sides of the bridge for a door but didn’t see one. I darted my gaze forward, but I was met with darkness. My vampire eyesight was impeccable in the dark, but I needed more blood to sharpen my senses.
A burning sensation flamed around my wrists. Damn cobalt cuffs. I squatted down on a rock then banged my right wrist against the stone to break the lock on the cuff. Once free, I did the same with my other wrist. Then I resumed my search, bellowing, “Sloan. Kraft. Olivia. Kodiak.”
A woman groaned again from somewhere in the darkness.
I climbed up one rock then down another. When I reached another pile of debris, a strong animal-like scent hit my nostrils. I licked my dust-crusted lips. If an animal was near, that meant blood was too. I swept the immediate area with a mechanical precision. As I turned back to my right, I found myself standing face-to-face with a wolf, a very large wolf with golden-yellow eyes. He bared his teeth as he growled. I snarled, showing my fangs. I’d fought a wolf or two in my day. They were easy to take down. But this wolf wasn’t any ordinary wolf. The one before me was a human who had shifted. Shifters could be large, depending on their human size, although the one I was about to tango with was of medium build.
The muffled sounds continued.
I needed to feed first, then I could continue to search for my team and a way out.
The wolf bowed his head as though he was ready to tackle me to the ground. I stood my ground, ready to battle, when the animal slowly shifted. Bones snapped into place as the wolf lost its reddish-brown fur, golden-yellow eyes, and large fangs, until he was completely human. Only he was a very naked she. The redhead stretched her neck one way then the other as she stuck out her bare breasts, rolling back her shoulders.
