Chapter 52
New York City, America, 2000
The Blue Moon Nightclub was a popular destination for humans and Vampires alike. While the NYC team had always patrolled it closely, recently a well-known European Vampire had taken a liking to the place, and Aaron’s old friend Morris, now the Area Leader, had called him for help.
The Vampire was what they commonly referred to as “ancient” even though she wasn’t one of the original Vampires, which were the true ancients. Still, she’d been around for centuries and her power had grown strong over the years. Likewise, she had hundreds of children—their term for the minions Vampires created by infecting others. While Morris had a strong team, he was certain he couldn’t handle this on his own, and so he’d called Aaron in, hoping that if they couldn’t defeat her, at least they could run her along.
Aaron assembled his strongest team members and flew them on one of LIGHTS private jets to NYC to assess the situation and see how they could help. He finally had a strong Hunter on his team, a blonde by the name of Laura Comer, and he was confident in her skills, although recently there had been some issues while they were engaged in battle; she didn’t listen to instruction nearly as well as she had last year when she’d first joined the team. Aaron knew that was mostly his fault. After years of casual dating, humans only, he took a chance and went on a date with the beautiful Hunter. Now, six months later, they were a couple. It was the first relationship he’d been in since Aislyn, and it turned out he still probably wasn’t ready for it, and neither was she.
Sitting next to Elliott on the plane, he looked through maps of the nightclub through his IAC and concentrated on the facts he had at hand. He knew where Holland preferred to hang out. He knew her longtime boyfriend, Carter, was absent, and she was surrounded by several of her children each night. So far, she’d been on fairly good behavior, but she had committed enough atrocities over the years that they could take her out the second they saw her without a word and be fully within their rights.
“You doin’ okay, bossman?” Elliott asked. “You’re lookin’ a little constipated.”
Aaron shook his head, not sure how to respond to that. “I’m fine, thanks. Just coming up with a plan.”
“Good idea. Here’s a plan. Break up with Laura.”
Aaron looked up at him and then away. “It’s a little more complicated than that.”
“Nah. It’s simple. You say, ‘Hey, Laura, let’s be friends.’ Works every time.”
“I like her,” Aaron reminded him. “She’s nice. She’s funny. She’s really pretty.”
“She argues with you, distracts you, and makes you lose your mind,” Elliot pointed out. “You know, Jamie tells me of a magical time when you had no girlfriend, were not dating at all, like for a really long time. Let’s go back to that time, shall we?”
Aaron scoffed at the idea. “It’s a little more complicated than that. I had my other hang-ups, you know.”
“Yeah, well, at least we didn’t have to listen to her squeaky voice shouting at you through the IAC. I tell you what, if she doesn’t do exactly what you say this time, I’m gonna go kick her ass. I don’t care if she is a chick. She needs to toe the line.”
“All right,” Aaron said, attempting to calm his friend down. “She’s assured me this time she will do a better job of listening.”
“Yeah, well she better—or else you cut her off. Cut that bitch off. No hanky panky for her!”
“I don’t think that’s your business,” Aaron said, trying to change the subject. If Elliott knew that was half the problem, maybe he wouldn’t be so quick to cast judgment on Laura. It had been difficult enough to date again after Aislyn passed; sharing more was a struggle he continued to face even though he truly cared about Laura. Her patience was wearing thin.
Hopefully, this hunt would go well, and then they could take some time off together and work through their issues so the rest of the team didn’t have to suffer through their petty spats.
* * *
The music was pounding, and even at 3:00AM, the club was still packed. A meeting with Morris and his team had led to a solid plan, and Aaron was certain his team could trap Holland and end her once and for all.
Morris had ten of his best team members spread throughout the club. While he would be running operations on the ground, Aaron would direct from a perch on a second story balcony where he could see most of the floor below. Because of the huge crowds and the potential for numerous witnesses, Elliott was stationed on the roof outside, his key job being to look out for cops and news reporters. While LIGHTS carried badges and were authorized to do whatever necessary, most local jurisdictions did not know this, and it was easier to avoid them than explain.
Jamie was stationed nearby in case anyone was hurt and Christian was also there, as well as Hannah and Laura. That made sixteen of them, and even though Morris had voiced his concern about another Vampire who was spending most of his time with Holland, sixteen on two seemed like pretty good odds to Aaron.
“I’ve got eyes on them,” Christian said through the IAC a few minutes after they moved in. “They don’t seem to have noticed us yet.”
“Affirmative,” Aaron replied. There were dozens of Vampires in the location, but thanks to the tracker system, many of them were tagged so that the team knew exactly who they were dealing with. It was now mandatory for all new Vampires to turn themselves in to be tracked, so technically there were several Vampires at the club that night who could’ve been destroyed for not following protocol, but getting Holland and her “son” Giovani was of utmost importance, so that’s where the team was focused for the moment.
“Is everyone in position?” Aaron asked. Responses came back from everyone except for Laura, so he shot her a personal message. “Laura? Are you in position.”
“No, not yet,” she said. “I’m getting there.”
“Let me know when you are,” he said, trying to keep his voice even. She was young. She hadn’t been doing this very long. But she was also the best Hunter they had on the ground right now, and the rest of them were counting on her.
“I will let you know,” she said back, her voice showing agitation.
“We’ve got movement,” Christian said. “They are out of my view.”
“Copy that. We’ve got them,” Morris said from his location in the back, his best Hunter, Nelly, alongside him.
