109

It was nearing five pm when I parked the truck on the outskirts of Broadview and opened the bag Jack left for me on the back seat. It contained combat gear and I had to smile at how well he knew me when it came to things like this. I changed my clothes as I stood next to the car and checked the weapons bag.

Damn, I love that man! There was a bow and arrow and I caught the scent of poison on the arrows. Jack had included knives and guns and enough bullets to take out a small army, I knew they would all be laced as well.

I strapped everything to my body and I felt more comfortable in my own skin than I had in a long time. We were both looking forward to ending this thing and killing our enemies. It was almost dark by the time I was done and Abeloth separated from me and stretched his massive body.

“Did you put on weight?” I asked him as he blew smoke in my direction.

“Just get on my back halfwit,” he said as I smiled.

“Just like old times my friend,” I said as I mounted him.

“Yeah I do all the hard work and you take all the glory,” he said as I laughed.

Abeloth rose gracefully into the sky and took off in the direction of Broadview and the house visible on the hill. There were plenty of lights on in the house and as he soared over it I counted ten armed guards surrounding it. I shot the first two guards on the roof with the bow and arrow and Abeloth swooped in lower as I shot the remaining seven guards on the ground.

He dropped me on the flat surface that formed part of the roof and merged with me once again as we waited for the last guard to come out of his hiding place. I had an idea of where he was but I didn’t want to waste my arrows.

“He’s out there,” Abeloth said.

“Yes, I can smell his fear,” I said to him with a grin.

Twenty seconds later I could see his eyes starting to glow as the sky had darkened and he peered out from his hiding place. The arrow went through his throat swiftly and he fell forward without making a sound. The guards on the ground had been a mixture of wolves and dragons and the two on the roof had been vampires.

I slid down the trellis covering one part of the roof and made my way over to a patio. Two hard pulls on the patio door rendered the lock broken and I slid it open quietly. The room was in total darkness and I could smell about ten different scents in there with ten different heartbeats.

I could make out the sleeping forms of children on bunk beds as I crept towards the door and heard a different heartbeat on the outside of the door. I got my knife out and stabbed the vampire in the back of his neck the moment I opened that door. I partially severed his head and closed the door behind me.

The hallway was short and I faced another door with five more heartbeats on the other side. I pulled the two guns out and tapped on the door aiming my guns high as I took a step backwards. The door opened inwards and I started shooting.

I got hit in the shoulder as I shot the last vampire and by now everyone in the house would know there was a trespasser. Their guns were loud whereas mine only made a faint popping sound and enough bullets had been fired to alert everyone to my presence.

“Hunter,” one man said as he tried crawling away from me and I shot him in the back of the head as I stepped over him.

I rounded the staircase crouching low and the bullet whipped past me where my head should have been and I shot another man twice in the face. Gunshots rang out all around me as I stayed behind the wall and counted to five. I rounded the corner and fell to my back as I kept shooting praying that I was hitting my targets.

The gunshots stopped briefly as I changed magazines and I peeked out from around the corner of the opposite wall. I had a staircase in front of me going down to a large open plan area and as I took the first two steps a vampire zipped up towards me, my hand shot out automatically morphing and ripping his heart out.

The house was eerily quiet after that as I made my way downstairs looking at Carlson as he stood in the middle of the room watching me with amusement on his face.

“I was told that you were dead,” he said to me.

“Clifford was over eager, that was his mistake,” I said to him.

“You surprise me Ryder, I really can use someone like you on my team,” he said as he watched me walk closer to him.

“I don’t play well with others,” I said to him.

“You played so well with Felix,” he said.

“Don’t ever fucking mention his name,” I said angrily as I pointed the gun right at his head.

“I see you’re still upset about that,” he said and chuckled softly as I pressed the gun harder against his head.

“On your knees,” I said to him.

“I bow to no one,” he said and I kicked his foot backwards forcing him to go down.

“Any last words?” I asked him.

“Say hi to Felix for me,” he said as about twenty vampires spilled into the large foyer from the doors flanking it.

They made a semi-circle around Carlson and I took the second gun out and looked at them. This was bad, I was outnumbered and in the chaos of them attacking me Carlson would escape. A few of the vampires hissed and a few others laughed as I took in my surroundings, there wasn’t enough space for Abeloth to separate from me.

I kicked Carlson with the heel of my boot in his face sending him staggering backwards as I started shooting with both guns. I smelled blood and I could hear screams as the poisoned bullets went through flesh. I tried keeping Carlson just within my reach as I kept shooting until both guns clicked empty and I threw them to the side and grabbed my knives.

I had been bitten about ten times already as the vampires tried taking me down to the floor. I saw Carlson as he reached the front door, he turned around and grinned at me as he faced the door again and I saw him fly backwards and slide across the tiled floor and I stopped him with my foot.

“Little Ryder!” Tank’s voice echoed through the foyer.

I saw vampires go down as Elio and Basil made swift work of them and Tank was shooting the ones that tried to swarm me, I killed three more and felt the last two being lifted off of me as I caught sight of Marlo’s electric blue hair.

“See, I told you guys he’d need our help,” Elio said wiping his mouth with his handkerchief.

“And to think we were almost too late,” Tank said as he looked at the carnage that was the foyer.

“I was handling it,” I said and Marlo laughed.

“Sure you were, just say thanks asshole,” she said with a smile.

“Thanks assholes,” I said as Tank slapped me on the back and I almost lost my balance.

“What are we doing with this piece of shit?” Basil asked as we stood around Carlson as he held his hands up still laying on the floor. I took my phone out and called Chase.

“Hello,” he answered as I heard laughter and music in the background.

“Where are you?” I asked him.

“We’re at the General Sires Honour Gala,” he said.

“Are you shitting me? You go to a gala with everything going on?” I asked him.

“Don’t have a choice little bro, you’re supposed to be here too,” he said.

“What about Albert?” I asked him.

“Chained to the wall in the basement cell,” he said.

“I’ve got to go, I’ll talk to you later,” I said to him and ended the call.

“What’s the verdict little Ryder?” Tank asked me.

“We’re going to a gala,” I said to him.

“I don’t have my tux with me,” Elio said and we all started laughing.

“Bring that piece of shit, I assume you guys came in a car?” I asked.

“No you idiot we flew in on my broom,” Marlo said as Basil laughed.

“I’m driving,” I said.

Tank placed Carlson in the boot of the SUV as he climbed into the passenger seat next to me and Marlo sat squished up between Basil and Elio in the back. I drove to where I left my truck and threw the keys to Tank, “follow me.”

I drove the thirty miles to Aurora and parked in front of Lucas’s house half an hour later. I told the team to wait for me as I unlocked the front door with my key. I walked down to the basement and Albert’s scent hit me instantly. He was in one of the nicer cells, being fed and looked after.

“Hello Albert,” I said to him and his eyes opened instantly from where he was laying on the bed with his hands behind his head.

“How the…” he began to say as I leaned against the bars with my arms.

“How am I alive? You should know that killing vampires is my specialty,” I said to him.

“It wasn’t personal,” he said as he backed up to the wall with his hands in front of him.

“I’m sure it wasn’t for you, it sure as hell was for me,” I said as I unlocked the cell door.

“I’m entitled to a fair trial!” he said panicking.

“I have Carlson in the boot of my car, if you talk first you’re punishment won’t be as severe,” I said to him.

“What do you want to know?” he asked me and I wanted to gag from the stench of his fear.

“I want the locations of where the other children are being kept, all of them, I have teams standing by, if you lie to me your death will be painful and long,” I said as my eyes flashed yellow.

Albert wrote down the exact addresses of their other houses and told me how many vampires and wolves were guarding which location. He gave up the names of the vampire covens buying the children, the delivery routes, bank account details, how the transactions worked and the names of other dragonkin involved.

After an hour I called Wentworth and gave him all the details he needed to send his teams to those locations to take out the last rogue groups. I grabbed Albert’s arm and dosed him with an injection of Dragon Lily that we always kept in the basement and threw him over my shoulder.

“What the hell took you so long?” Elio asked as I dumped his limp body in the back of my truck.

“He wanted to talk,” I said and Tank raised an eyebrow at me.

“I didn’t touch him,” I said innocently.

“So where to now?” Basil asked.

“Chicago, apparently we’re missing out on an awesome party,” I said.

We got back into the two vehicles and drove towards Chicago and Jasper’s hotel where the most prominent Sires were gathered with the Elders to boast about who was the best of the best. I certainly wasn’t dressed for a gala in my combat gear with the knives strapped to my chest and blood streaks over my face.