Chapter 192
Adrenaline rushed through Christian’s veins as he stood in the dark alley behind Miner’s Draft. Now would’ve been a wonderful time to have some sort of device that allowed him to speak to his teammates. It was something he’d been looking into. He’d created binoculars long before humans knew of their existence and had a couple of other dozen devices that made his job easier. He was working on a special mechanism that would make it easier to fire silver bullets out of particular types of guns, and a tracking device that would alert Goodies that Vampires were nearby--rather than just that nauseated feeling many of them got. All of those inventions would be wonderful one day. For now, he just wanted Brandy to be able to tell him that the three bloodsuckers were headed his way.
That would be impossible for her to do, though, without literally screaming, which wouldn’t work because, obviously, the Vampires would hear it, too. If there was something like a telegram she could send directly to him and only to him, without any cords or wires, no poles either, for that matter, or paper… that would work. It sounded ridiculous, but perhaps it was possible….
The quick shuffle of footsteps in front of him let him know he needed to focus. Brandy’s job was to lure the two male Vampires out into the alleyway where he and Jess were hidden from site. Morris was supposed to get the female Vampire. All accounts Christian had overheard in his exploration of the camp today told him it was actually the female who was the most dangerous of all of them, but all three were deadly. The miners only knew that a few of the guys whose bodies had come up missing recently had been seen talking to a pale woman with dark eyes. She was often seen speaking with two older, muscular men. They’d been trying to warn each other to stay away, but Christian knew, once a man had a few drinks in him, any pretty woman chatting him up was going to get him to follow her wherever she wanted to go, especially if she seemed to be offering for free.
“Where’s your room?” The voice of an obviously drunk male, whose steps indicated he was wearing worn out boots, echoed down the alleyway. They were coming this direction. That would make it easier--theoretically.
“Just up a block.” The woman’s voice sounded more like a hiss than a purr to Christian, but then, he wasn’t drunk. It amazed him how many men lost their lives each year because they allowed themselves to be lured from saloons by Vampires pretending to be prostitutes. There should be some sort of write up in the newspapers about it. Not the Vampire part--just the, “Never leave a saloon with a woman. She’s liable to kill you,” part.
The two of them came into view a few moments later. Christian expected Morris to be trailing them, but the short, round, muscular man was nowhere to be seen. It was odd. Perhaps something had gone wrong with the two male Vampires, which Christian had expected to be flushed from the saloon first, and Morris had stayed behind to help Brandy.
At any rate, he and Jess would have to take the bitch by themselves, hopefully without the human getting hurt. Over the years, Jess had gotten fairly good at convincing people that they hadn’t seen what they thought they’d seen. It was helpful when humans survived. If this man made it out of here, perhaps Jess could make him think it had all been a dream. If he became the woman’s last victim, well, then, God rest his soul.
The Vampire froze about fifteen paces in front and to the right of Christian. She was spooked. She’d either sensed their presence or somehow seen them hunkering down behind the trash cans. “Hold on one moment,” she said, stepping closer to the man who had been walking ahead of her, his drunken state only just mild enough to keep him upright. “I think… I forgot something back at the saloon.”
“You can get it later,” the man said, turning toward her and placing his hand on her shoulder. “Come on, darlin’. I want you now.” He leaned in for a kiss, and Christian realized it might be the last thing the man ever did. Before she had a chance to react, Christian shot up, kicking off the siding of the back of the building behind him, and launching himself up into the air, blade drawn. He’d much rather shoot her, but Granger preferred they didn’t make so much noise, despite the fact that gunshots were firing off all around the city all night and day.
She saw him at the last second and grabbed hold of the man, turning him to face her flying assailant. It was a smart move, or at least, it would’ve been if Christian cared what happened to the miner. He didn’t want to do anything to harm the man himself, but he certainly wasn’t going to bargain with the bloodsucker. He brought his knife down and swung it to the side as his feet hit the dirt pathway, jabbing the blade into the soft tissue of her upper arm.
She screeched, sinking her claws into the man’s neck. He screamed as well, and Christian heard Jess curse. He hated it when they had one get turned. That meant they’d have to bring him into Granger. What Granger did with them afterward, Christian didn’t know. Technically, the man could live peacefully as a Vampire forever, so long as he never hurt anyone. The new Guardian Leader was starting some sort of training facility for Vampires, so they could learn how to live in the world without breaking any rules. Maybe Granger sent them to something like that. Christian doubted it, but at the moment, he also didn’t care. He needed to take care of the Vampire.
His knife was lodged in her arm, and she was pissed. She grabbed hold of the hilt and yanked it from her bicep as he pulled another blade from his belt. The Vampire turned his own weapon on him, jabbing it at his eyes. He dodged around the point, and she missed. Christian pushed her hard into the brick exterior of the saloon, jarring the weapon free. The Vampire screeched again and elongated her neck, letting her mouth drop open so that rows of teeth were exposed.
He wasn’t intimidated. Raising his boot, he kicked her in the stomach hard enough to double her over. Then, Jess got into the fight, pulling a silver bladed axe and jamming it into the side of her throat. No screech could make it past the weapon. It hadn’t severed her head, but it was close. Christian grabbed hold of her dark hair and pulled her head straight up so that Jess could pull his axe out and try again. This time, he moved to the other side and slammed the blade in once more. The axe cut clean through this time, leaving Christian holding the decapitated head for a second or two before all of it fell away.
The human miner had lay on the ground, grasping his bloodied neck, watching it all unfold. Now that the two assassins were done with the woman, he just assumed he’d be next. Suddenly sober, he scrambled to his feet and took off down the alley.
He was no match for their superhuman speed, but they couldn’t both go after him. Christian was worried about Brandy. As if he could read Christian’s mind, Jess said, “I’ll take him to Granger. You go check on the others.”
Christian nodded and headed for the saloon, hoping everything was all right with Brandy and Morris. But mostly Brandy.
