Vampires Dead Ahead

EIGHTEEN



My eyes stung and I rubbed the bridge of my nose. Silence reigned as I stood in the PI office surrounded by all the New York City Trackers who could be out in the daylight.

The exception was Nakano, who was with the Vampire-Doppler prisoner. Those who could only come out after dark were on a conference call with us.

“The Pit is compromised now, so that’s why we chose my office as an alternate location to meet,” I said. “But I do believe we need to find a new, safer place to meet in the future.”

Several of those around me nodded.

“What, are we reduced to hiding in holes?” Ice said. “That’s not how Trackers operate.”

“We operate smart,” I said. “We have to stay alive to defeat this threat. If Volod and his Vampire paranorms find out where we meet, they could ambush us. We need to find the right place to do it.”

I continued, “I contacted the chairman of the Proctor Directorate first thing and let him know what has happened.”

“It doesn’t seem real.” Lawan stood next to Max and had her head resting against the arm of the big Werewolf. Her eyes looked red. “None of it seems real.”

No, it didn’t seem real. It was like a death.

It was a death, only worse.

Nadia had tears in her voice, tears I wished I could cry. “I can’t believe Rodán is going to be one of them.”

“Rodán will never be one of them.” My words came out in an angry rush. “This is Rodán we’re talking about. He’s too powerful and he would never completely turn.”

“Monique was powerful, too.” Robert spoke calmly, almost too calmly for me at that moment.

“That’s true, Nyx.” Nadia wiped tears from her eyes with her hands. “From what you and Desmond told us yesterday, Monique has completely succumbed.”

The truth in their words stung, but it didn’t make anything that had happened seem more real.

“We need to find Rodán’s body.” Ice’s jaw was set, his normally snow-bright blue eyes dark with anger. “Before he rises.”

Surprise made me unsteady on my feet. My mind spun at the thought of digging up Rodán’s body and disposing of it before the transformation was complete. The very thought was admitting the hopelessness that I felt deep down.

“Find his body?” Lawan said, saving me from voicing the same thing.

Angel glanced at me, making it clear she was waiting on me to either speak or tell her it was okay to do so herself.

If I was going to assume leadership—and it seemed that was now expected of me—then that’s what I had to do.

I squared my shoulders as my mind ran through all that needed to be done. “I’ll appoint a team of three Trackers to try to locate Rodán’s body.” I swallowed. “And I’ll take it back to Otherworld.”

I looked over the Trackers. “Robert, Phyllis, and Nancy, you’ll take on that responsibility. I’ll discuss it with you further when the meeting is over.” The Doppler, Werewolf, and Pixie nodded in response, their expressions grim.

Part of me was so shattered I didn’t want to continue. I wanted to run upstairs to my apartment, curl up in bed, and pretend that none of this had happened.

But this was the real world and I had to get a grip.

I took a deep breath. “We need to figure out what is happening. What Volod is up to. What exactly he wants. And then we need to find a way to stop it. We just don’t have any information. There are Vampires out there who know something, and we need to find out answers. Volod is no match for us.”

“Volod is responsible for the missing Trackers.” Dave leaned back against the desk, his arms crossing his chest. “He’s back and he’s hell-bent on revenge.”

“So far,” Robert said, “whether we want to admit it or not, the reality is that he has taken on very powerful Trackers and he is winning.”

“It is obvious that he wants control of his Vampire world.” Angel’s long blond corkscrew curls fell down her back and she brushed them aside as if they were an irritant today. “He tried it before and failed. He wasn’t going to just stop. We can safely assume he’s after the same control he sought before.”

“We know he is turning paranorms,” Nadia said. “But how? What does he plan on doing with them?”

I nodded as I looked to the other Trackers. “We all know Vampires want the freedom to live their lives at the expense of others. Vampires never had a chance at keeping that freedom when paranorms came after them. Not a chance.”

“They are simply no match,” Angel said. “We all know they hate our suppression of their feeding on humans. The only thing that stops them has been our ability to control them. Now they are turning paranorms on paranorms. It’s obvious this is all about a plan to gain the control they’ve never had.”

I shook my head as I thought about what we were facing. “It’s amazing that for all these years, there have been no Vampire paranorms. There was no such thing in the Otherworld. So how is it possible now?”

“Good question.” Dave rubbed the stubble on his jaws. Werewolves tend to grow facial hair faster when it’s getting close to the full moon. “Years ago, before the Paranorm Rebellion, a few paranorms were turned but immediately killed.”

Robert looked thoughtful as he spoke. “Vampires have no taste for paranorms. Our blood makes them ill.”

“Obviously he’s figured out how to overcome that.” Lawan raised her head from where she’d been leaning against Max. It hit me then that Max was looking at her protectively, lovingly.

“He’s probably willing to live with the distaste for paranorms if they serve his purpose,” I said. “He likely figures making a few Vampires ill is worth it.”

“Nyx is right. If not for the Trackers, Vampires would run rampant.” Fere, a Tuatha D’Danann—a great winged Fae warrior from Otherworld—had his hand on the hilt of his sword. His wings would not be visible until he needed them. “The game has changed, however. He is coming directly after paranorms now, and Trackers no less, and making his very enemies his powerful allies.”

“He has us in his sights.” I tapped my chin with my finger. “He is coming after each one of us. We are now fighting our own kind who are magically strong and know our ways. These Vampire paranorms are powerful, much more powerful than the Vampires we’re used to fighting.”

Angel nodded. “Plus these aren’t just any paranorms who have been turned. They were some of the best Trackers around. Volod did his homework.”

“And they know our weaknesses. Remember, they have the list the Sprites took,” Nadia added.

“They accomplished this with the element of surprise so far. They no longer have that.” Joshua looked like he was working a problem out in his head. “Next time we’ll be prepared for them.”

“Yes.” I nodded. “We’re in a fight for our lives and those of our paranorm families. The humans also.” I rubbed my forehead as I thought about the situation. “Our fellow paranorm Trackers had no idea of the threat, and as far as we know they were taken by surprise. Things have changed now. Next time we’ll be prepared.”

Fae bells chimed at the front door. An early-morning spring breeze followed Desmond into the office.

My heart rate picked up and I straightened where I was standing. “Hi, Desmond.” A few of the other Trackers greeted him, too.

Desmond gave a slight nod in response as he worked his way through the crowd to my side.

“Do you have news about Rodán?” I hoped beyond hope for any news he could give me that would tell me there was a way to save Rodán. A childish wish … wanting to know that nothing bad could happen to a friend and mentor I loved.

Desmond shook his head. “I scried this morning, searching for answers. What I saw will give you little solace, but perhaps some.”

“What is it?” Colin asked from where he stood behind me.

Desmond’s long, wild hair seemed even wilder than normal, like he had a bad case of bed head. “I can tell you what paranorms are not affected by a Vampire’s bite.”

“Okay,” I said. “Let’s hear it.”

Desmond looked at Colin first. “Dragons are safe from being turned by a Vampire bite.” He moved his gaze to Nadia. “Water and amphibian paranorms are not affected. Sirens as well as Undines are safe.”

The Sorcerer’s gaze went from one Tracker to another. “Dopplers with sea animal or amphibian forms, and Shifters who can take those forms, are also not at risk like the rest of us.”

He turned to me again. “And Drow. Drow are not affected by a Vampire’s bite.” Before I could express my surprise, he continued. “But since you are half human, Nyx, I do not know how you would react.”

I nodded, relieved that at least Colin and Nadia were safe. As for me, I wasn’t going to worry about that. I didn’t intend to get caught.

But Volod had bitten me once, during our Vampire case months ago … all it would take was one more time.

I shook the thoughts from my head. “At least water paranorms aren’t affected.”

“Doesn’t do us much good unless we’re fighting the Vamps in the Hudson River,” Ice said with his characteristic smirk.

Right then Ice’s expression didn’t bother me. The look on his face gave me a feeling of normalcy that I hadn’t had for a while.

Nadia braced her hands on the desk she was sitting on. “Your brother, Tristan, should be safe. What about others?”

“No other Drow that I know of live in this Otherworld.” I touched the collar around my throat as I thought about my father. He had fought hard to make me stay there, but I had finally won. “It’s a close-knit society, and they keep to themselves belowground in Otherworld.”

Fae bells rang again on the door. This time Nakano, a Japanese Shifter, walked in. Behind him was Gary, the Vampire-Doppler prisoner, followed by two PTF agents. Gary was locked into a compression suit.

“Glad to see you,” I said to Nakano. I looked over at Gary. His suit’s garlic-and-holy-water lining was obviously making him ill. The suit was like a human’s straitjacket, but lethal to Vampires. The lining made them so ill they could hardly think straight, much less try to escape. Gary looked almost green instead of pale. Perhaps more than just a regular Vampire.

If making the Vampire sick didn’t work, a cross was sewn to the front of the suit. If the Vampire made any sudden movements, the cross would burn into his skin, causing him excruciating pain.

Another important enhancement was a disk made from Dryad wood and infused with Dryad magic, which was affixed over the Vampire’s heart. If the Vampire tried to escape, or if anyone but his Doppler PTF agent guards tried to take the suit off, the disk expanded into an eight-inch stake, piercing the Vampire’s heart in a flash.

As if that weren’t enough, a slim wire wrapped the neck, made from an alloy mined by the Dark Elves. In an escape attempt, the band would slice through the Vampire’s neck, beheading him.

Considering Gary had tried to kill himself when we captured him, I wasn’t so sure the suit was a good thing. The Vampire-Doppler was still alive, so I certainly wasn’t going to say anything that might give him any ideas.

As the other Trackers made room to allow the small procession through, I felt almost guilty for how bad he looked. After all, not that long ago he’d been one of us. The good guys. As for the suit, something about holy water and garlic made healing a lot slower for Vampires—and apparently Vampire paranorms.

When the sick-looking Vampire-Doppler was brought to me, I looked into his bleary eyes. “Hi, Gary.”

He stared at me with a dazed expression and mumbled something I couldn’t hear.

“All of this will be over if you just tell me what I need to know,” I said as I looked up at him.

“How were you taken?” I asked. “How is Volod doing this?”

“A group of Vampire paranorms came at me in my territory. I never saw it coming,” he said.

“How many paranorm Vamps are there?” I asked. “And how many Vampires?”

Gary looked away from me like he was trying to think of the number before he looked back at me. “Right now, over twenty-five Vampire paranorms, and he’s brought in more Vampires from nearby states. Around another ninety Vampires.”

I sucked in my breath. Close to 115? That was odds of nearly five to one against our city’s Trackers.

I took a deep breath before I continued. “Where do the Vampires bury the dead before they rise on the tenth day?” I asked.

Gary seemed unsteady on his feet. I motioned for the Doppler agents to put him into one of the chairs in front of my desk.

I repeated the question. The Vampire-Doppler looked at me, his eyes unfocused. “I never buried anyone.”

“I don’t care what you’ve done.” I frowned. “Where does Volod bury them?”

“It is different in every city.” Gary sounded like he needed a glass of water. His words had a dry scratchiness to them. “We just came to New York. I don’t know where he buries his dead here.”

“We need to check all cemeteries in Manhattan as well as the surrounding areas,” I said to the team I’d assigned to the task.

“Won’t matter.” Gary slurred his words. “I heard that Volod does some kind of magic thing. Makes it look like the grave was there forever. You will never be able to find any of them on your own.”

“Then you need to help us.” My patience was dissolving along with any sympathy I may have had. “You know what we can do to you.”

I think he would have shrugged if he weren’t in the compression suit. “Doesn’t matter, because I don’t know any more than that.”

“We’ll come back to that in a moment.” I didn’t want him to think I was giving up that easy. “What is Volod up to?” I got in Gary’s face, close enough that I could smell the lining of his suit.

“I don’t know.” The Vampire-Doppler looked away from me, refusing to meet my eyes.

“Tell me now or I’ll let Max and Nakano both have at you.” The snarl in my voice was enough to make him flinch. “Or better yet, Desmond.”

Fear swept across Gary’s face, but he didn’t say anything. I wondered if he was too scared to talk.

Desmond stood in front of him and extended his hand. From it the green fist extended and wrapped around the Vampire-Doppler’s neck, just below his chin.

Gary made a gurgling sound, and then resignation was clear in the droop of his shoulders and his expression. He looked like a being who didn’t care anymore. No matter what Volod might do to him. He just didn’t want to experience more pain.

He swallowed. The wire pressed against his throat. Desmond kept the magic fist around Gary’s neck. “Volod wants to create far more paranorm Vampires than he has. He wants an entire army.”

Chills rolled over me. “An army,” I repeated.

He licked his lips. “Volod plans to—”

A pinging sound. A red stripe across his throat. A stunned look on Gary’s face.

Gary’s head tipped forward. And fell from his shoulders and landed by my feet.

Shocked silence followed the head as it rolled across the office floor.

I looked at Desmond, who had a surprised expression. “Oops,” he said.

Somehow his magic fist had set off the wire.

“What the—” Ice started when the Fae bells jingled yet again at the front door.

A male being entered through the doorway. He paused as he swept his gaze over us and looked at Gary’s lifeless head on the floor. The male was a Dragon, and a powerful one if his scent and my senses were right, and they usually were.

He was a tall male, confidence and arrogance in his clear, dark eyes. His head was shaved, gleaming in the morning light streaming through the window. His well-muscled body hummed with strength and power.

“Private meeting.” No amount of friendliness was in Ice’s tone as he spoke to the stranger.

I walked through the crowd of Trackers until I stood in front of the male, who was about a foot taller than me. “Is there something I can help you with?” I wasn’t in the mood to be polite yet I did a credible job of it.

The male looked from me to the headless body then back to me. He sniffed the air then scowled before looking back at me. “I believe it’s a matter of what I can do for you.”

His gaze was piercing as he glanced at the other Trackers—it was the kind of look that could instill fear in lesser beings. But we were Trackers. The intimidation factor wouldn’t work with us.

“We’re busy.” I kept my arms loose at my sides, but I was feeling anything but casual at that moment. I was limber, filled with anger, and ready for anything.

“Such attitude.” The Dragon spoke with a smooth Cajun accent. “That will change.”

Every Tracker in the place bristled. Ice pushed away from where he’d been leaning up against the desk.

“I am Armand Despre.” The tall, powerfully built male spoke in a commanding voice. “Your new Proctor.”