Chapter 16
“I hope to f*ck he said plate.” Sid sighed shaking his head when Jared growled deep and loud. “And my hopes are dashed.”
Never had Jared felt more rage then he did at that moment. It stormed through his body making him want to leap to the ground and kill the half-breed, but his training stopped him.
“Where in the hell is our back up?” Jared scanned the area below, but only saw half-breeds and they were way outnumbered.
“On their way.” Sid poised outside the basket. “I’m good for about three…maybe four of those ugly ass bastards.”
“You go for her grandfather.” Jared looked up at Damon and the rest sending them quick messages. When they all nodded he looked down at Tessa whose frightened eyes looked back to his. “Listen to Nicole.”
“What do you mean listen to Nicole? What are you doing?” Tessa clung to his arm a little tighter. Looking back at the crowd under them all she saw was mismatched eyes staring up at them. “You can’t go down there. It’s suicide.”
“It’s what I do.” He pulled her a little closer to him leaning close. “Stay with Nicole until I can get back to you. She knows what to do.”
“There has to be another way.” Tessa glanced at her Gramps and knew in her heart that if she wanted to see her grandfather again this was going to be the only way. “Let me go. He wants me, then you can get my grandfather.”
His growl was low, but deep. “Never would I hand you over to anyone.” His eyes turned blacker if that was even possible. With everything that was about to come down, a smile tipped his lips. “Trust me.”
Tessa’s heart beat a quick tempo in her chest. Her instinct fought for control, but her heart won out and she nodded. “I trust you.”
“Stay safe.” And with a wink he flipped out of the basket to the ground in one fluid movement, his focus on what had to be done. He didn’t even flinch as Sid, Damon, Steve, Adam and Jill landed by his side. As a unit they moved forward.
“You got a plan?” Sid eyed Gramps who stood to the left of him. Only one half-breed stationed by his side.
“Yeah…win.” Jared’s eyes swept the enemy assessing the situation. It didn’t look good.
Damon nodded. “Good plan.”
Sid snorted shaking his head. “I love this shit.”
Adam glanced over at Sid. “Are you crazy?”
“Oh yeah.” Sid grinned. “Just wait. You’re about to get as crazy as me.”
The cocking of a shotgun turned everyone’s attention. “Thought you all might need a little help.” Sheriff Otis Bowman stepped up beside them. “Seems you’re a little outnumbered.”
“Guess you got silver bullets in that shotgun?” Sid rolled his eyes.
“Hell ya.” The sheriff spat out. “Don’t use anything else.”
“Silver don’t faze us.” Adam said looking toward his grandfather. Even though he hated the sheriff he knew they needed help.
“But I thought silver was deadly for your kind.”
“Not for half-breeds.” Adam sneered. “Guess you’ll have to find another way to kill our kind.”
“Listen Adam, it’s nothing personal….”
“The hell it ain’t.” Adam eyed the sheriff as they made their way closer to the crowd of half-breeds. “You hurt her, you son of a bitch.”
“I’m trying to make it right.” The sheriff sighed. “I’m going to make it right.”
“You go near my sister and I’ll….” Adam went to go after the sheriff, but Jared stopped him.
“Both of you shut the f*ck up.” Jared hissed, tossing Adam back a step without stopping. “Deal with this shit after we take care of our current problem.”
Even though Jared wanted to beat the hell out of the sheriff, at the moment his training had kicked in and his focus was dead on. His current threat stood waiting in front of him. He’d deal with the a*shole sheriff later. Right now he needed to keep the innocent safe. That was their job and he was the best.
“Problem in the ranks warrior?” The half-breed stood steady, his eyes shooting from Jared to the Ferris Wheel behind him. His long ankle length coat floated behind him in the breeze that kicked up, swirling fair trash around their feet.
Forcing himself not to turn to make sure Tessa and Nicole were safe, Jared stopped a few feet away from the small army of half-breeds. His eyes, burning black, didn’t leave the bastard’s eyes. “Let the old man go so we can settle this.”
A sinister smile played on his lips. “You warriors think you rule the world.” He shook his head making a tsking sound in the back of his throat before he leaned forward slightly. “But the world is about to change.”
Jared rolled his eyes a bored expression crossing his face. “Cut the shit breed. You’re boring me with your about to change the world crap.”
“My name isn’t breed.” He hissed, his calm exterior cracking.
“Honestly I don’t care what your name is.” Jared replied glancing at Sid and Damon. “You guys care what his name is?”
Damon just growled low, but Sid tied his long hair back with a smile. “Well, he kind of looks like that sparkly fellow, what in the hell is his name. You know in that vampire movie all the women are going crazy over now, shit, what’s it called?” Sid looked between Damon and Jared, but when they didn’t have the answer he looked back at the half-breed. “Guess we could call him Sparkles, but yeah, I don’t really give a shit about the name of someone I’m about ready to take out.”
Jared laughed, hoping to knock some of the cockiness out of the half-breed. “Okay, Sparkles it is. I am going to ask you one time to give yourself up for breaking Treaty 34.”
“You can stick Treaty 34 up your ass. I don’t know why you want to protect these weak humans anyway.” He sneered.
“Any of you who turn themselves in will be treated fairly and just.” Jared ignored him turning his attention on the others. “Under Treaty 34 set forth by the Vampire Council you have enticed panic and aggressiveness against the human race. If you decide to fight against us you will likely….die.”
Sid popped his knuckles, clearly ready for the challenge. Damon stood ready and waiting for anyone to make a sudden move. The sheriff brought the shotgun to his shoulder as Jill, Steve and Adam waited for the action to start.
“Enough!” Sparkles’ high pitched voice broke over the silence. “You will never win warrior. We outnumber you at least 5 to 1.”
“Listen to me, you piece of shit.” Jared took a menacing step forward his voice loud and strong. “I’m already tired of your game. You could out number us 10 to 1 and you’re still going down. So either give yourself over to the Council now or suffer the consequences.”
A few broke rank walking toward the warriors. “This isn’t worth it.” One of them said as he pushed past the front lines. A few more mumbled their agreement following.
“Last chance for the rest of you.” Jared looked behind them with a cocky grin. “And now would be the time to make the best choice because you just became outnumbered.”
Duncan led a large group of warriors who began surrounding the small army.
“You can’t go with them. We are superior. We can beat them and then all is ours.” He grabbed hold of one of them who was breaking rank going with the warriors.
“You’re whacked dude. They’re warriors and we are manmade half-breeds. Nah man, think I’ll take my chances with them.” The kid nodded toward Jared.
“Manmade?” Sid’s eyes narrowed.
“Yeah.” The boy who looked to be eighteen stood next to Sid. “One minute I was at the mall, the next I was strapped on a table being shot up with some crazy stuff.”
“How long have you been turned?” Jared asked the boy, not taking his eyes off Sparkles.
“Probably over a month.” He looked at his friends who nodded. “Yeah about a month.”
“Have any of you gone rogue?” This time Duncan asked the question, his eyes also on the crowd of half-breeds who had yet crossed to their side.
“No and we won’t. Whatever they gave us is supposed to make us superior to other half-breeds.” The same boy replied. “From what they taught us during our training….”
“Training?” This time Jared turned to look at the kid.
“Yeah, they trained us on how to kill warriors.” The kid replied, quickly stepping back when Sid growled low in his throat. “They know a lot about you. But the main reason we’re here other than him having a hard on for that chick is she was taped destroying the stuff they gave us and taking a bottle of it. They want it back.”
“Shut up!” Their leader roared. “Enough! You give her over and the old man lives.”
Jared took his eyes off the half-breed long enough to turn his head toward the Ferris Wheel. Pissed was not even close to describing what he was feeling right now. So Red still didn’t trust him enough to turn over something so important. He would take care of that issue as soon as he finished with this one. She thought he was an asshat before. That didn’t even compare to what she was going to get once he got hold of her. Sending a quick message to Nicole, he turned his focus back where it needed to be, rage evident on his face.
“No can do Sparkles. Either give up or...”
“Die.” He replied a smug grin on his face. “Yeah, I know, but that isn’t going to happen. What is going to happen after I smash you to pieces I’m going to have her.”
Jared didn’t even reply, kept calm actually. Duncan and Sid were in his head keeping him calm. The last thing he wanted to do was show weakness where Tessa was concerned. Yeah, deadly control was key.
The half-breed leaned slightly closer with a low chuckle. “Wonder if she’s a real red head?” His eyes shot up to the Ferris Wheel with obvious lust before landing back on Jared and with just a wink he sealed his death. “I’ll be sure to keep you alive long enough to let you know.”
Jared’s deadly control went to hell as he leaped at the half-breed with the warriors following his lead. It was about to get ugly.