Warrior (Relentless Book 4)
Warrior: Chapter 36

“You guys hear about that warehouse in Minneapolis?” Raoul called as Chris and I walked toward the control room a week later.

“No, what about it?”

“Last week, a truckload of people showed up at a hospital in Minneapolis, going on about giant lizard people stealing them from their beds and keeping them in cages. The humans were all young – late teens to early twenties – and at first the hospital thought they were a bunch of college kids on drugs. They called in the police to try to make sense of the victims’ stories. No one could tell the police exactly where the warehouse was, but they all said someone showed up out of the blue, killed the lizard people, and helped them escape.

“The Minneapolis unit found the warehouse before the police did. Inside, were two dead gulaks and a dead ranc demon. One of them was a gulak master – a big one – and he had a hole burnt through his chest.”

“Giant lizard people,” Chris said, shaking his head.

“Yeah. They found a bunch of cages too. Looked like the gulaks were running slaves and someone took exception.”

Chris frowned. “Couldn’t have been a rival demon. They wouldn’t have let the humans go.”

“That’s true,” Raoul said.

“How did we not hear about this before now?” Chris asked.

I let out a short laugh. “Because we’ve been too busy to read the reports from the rest of the country.”

“I’ve been searching the central database for any reports that mention strange incidents like this,” Raoul said. “None of these kills were done by our people.”

“Do we have any intel on who might be doing this?” I asked as we entered the control room.

As usual, my eyes sought out Sara who was in her spot on the couch. She smiled at me, and I started toward her.

“Whoever they are, they are deadly and fast,” Raoul said as he and Chris followed me. “I hate to admit it, but their kill rate is better than ours right now with zero human casualties. They move around a lot too, which makes it impossible to get a lead on them. We have reports coming in from all over the country.”

I joined Sara on the couch, and Chris and Raoul grabbed chairs for themselves.

“Are you sure it’s the same people?” Chris asked Raoul.

“No, but my gut tells me it is,” Raoul replied. “All the strikes have the same feel to them, and the hostiles were killed by some kind of weapon we haven’t seen before. The warehouse in Minneapolis, the vampire in Seattle, the nest at the old amusement park in New Jersey. The person shows up, makes the kill and leaves. And each time the victims recovered had no clear memory of their rescuer or what happened to them. It’s like someone messed with their memories. Twenty-two people were rescued from the gulak in Minneapolis, and every one of them gave a different description of the person who helped them.”

“One person?” I stared at him. “Didn’t you say we found a dead gulak master in the warehouse? It would take an experienced warrior to kill a demon that powerful.”

Across the room, Raj looked up from his work and laughed. “Maybe we have a rogue warrior taking it on the road.”

“Or it could be a human hunter with a new kind of weapon,” Brian suggested. “Whoever he is, he has a pair to go into that nest on his own.”

Chris laughed. “Maybe we should try to recruit him.”

“You guys automatically assume it’s a male,” Jordan said derisively.

“No offense, Jordan,” Raoul said. “But the odds are small that this is a female.”

Beside me, Sara spoke for the first time since we’d come in. “Why?”

Raoul smiled at her. “Most females don’t have the stomach for that kind of killing.”

Jordan shot him an angry glare, and I almost laughed when he rushed to say, “Mohiri females do, but I doubt one of them is behind this. I think we are dealing with someone new.”

“Why does it matter who they are as long as they are helping people and killing the bad guys?” Sara asked.

I squeezed her bare foot, which rested against my thigh. “It doesn’t as long as they keep a low profile and don’t endanger humans. We monitor the police bands in most cities, so we heard about the warehouse in Minneapolis and were able to get it contained before the local authorities arrived.”

“It looks like we aren’t the only ones with a vigilante at work,” Brock said. “We also picked up a story about a village in Mexico that claims an ‘angel’ appeared out of nowhere to destroy the demons terrorizing their village. One of our teams down there checked it out and found two dead vampires.”

I’d heard the story out of Mexico weeks ago, and I hadn’t made much of it at the time. But now I wondered if it wasn’t the same people who had done some of these other kills. The Mexican vampires had been burnt through the chest as well.

I didn’t believe it was one person as Raoul did. More likely it was a group of people trying to make it look like a single vigilante. They had to be highly trained, and whatever weapon they used sounded military-grade. Did we have a group of soldiers going rogue, or had the human government decided to join the war against our common enemy?

“Nikolas.”

I looked at Sara as she lifted her laptop and turned it so I could see the screen. On it was a black and white photo of a woman who looked shockingly familiar.

I leaned closer to study the picture. There was no mistaking the face, even with the dark sunglasses and the scarf hiding most of her blonde hair.

Chris got up from his chair to look over my shoulder, and I heard his small intake of breath as he recognized the woman. “It’s Madeline. How the hell did they replace her?”

“I told you they’re the best,” Sara said with a little smile of satisfaction.

“Where was this taken?”

My mind reeled from seeing the face I hadn’t laid eyes on in fifty years. When Sara had told me she wanted to help David and Kelvan search for Madeline, I don’t think I really believed they’d replace her again. I should have known not to underestimate Sara or her friends.

“One second.” She turned the laptop back to her and typed something.

“Yesterday in Vancouver,” she said, reading from the screen. Her excited gaze met mine. “David sent an address where they think she’s staying.”

I stood and called to Brock. “Have your guys ready to go within the hour.”

He jumped up from his chair. “On it.”

“Raoul, can you alert the pilot we’ll be flying to Vancouver, Canada as soon as he gets clearance?”

One of Brock’s team hurried past, and I stopped him. “Calvin, pull up that address and see what we’re dealing with.”

“Sure thing.”

I felt Sara behind me, and I turned to smile at her. “Great work, Sara.”

She shrugged. “Thanks, but David did most of the work.”

David might have been the muscle behind the work, but I had no doubt who the heart of the operation was. “Why don’t you grab your stuff, and I’ll walk you and Jordan home before I leave?” I doubted she’d want to stay here at the command center with most of us out on the job.

Her smiled faded. “What do you mean? I’m coming with you.”

“It’s too dangerous.” We had no idea what we were walking into. I didn’t think Madeline would try to harm her own people, but she was on the run from a Master. I wasn’t taking a chance of Sara being caught in the crossfire if we ran into trouble.

“I can take care of myself, Nikolas,” she argued. “Besides, it’s only Madeline.”

I shook my head, knowing I was about to upset her, but it couldn’t be helped. She’d come a long way in training, and she could fight, but not well enough for the kind of trouble we could run into out there. With the strain our incomplete bond was putting on me, I wouldn’t be able to endure anything happening to her. One cut and I’d probably lose it.

“You’re not ready. We’ll handle this.”

She crossed her arms and her voice rose. “She’s my mother, so if anyone should be there, it’s me. I didn’t work this hard to replace her just so you could leave me behind.”

I steeled myself against the anger and hurt on her face. “You can talk to her when we bring her back here.”

“So that’s it. We’re back to you making all the decisions and me having no say at all?” she said in a raw voice that tore at me. “I thought we were in this together.”

“We are.”

“You mean as long as I’m doing something you don’t think is dangerous,” she said. “Why have I been working my butt off in training if you’re not going to take me seriously?”

“I do take you seriously.” I rubbed the back of my neck in frustration. I didn’t want to leave her like this, but there was no time to work it out with her now. “Listen, this is not the time or place for this discussion. We’ll talk about it when I get back.”

“Fine.” She turned away from me and picked up her laptop and backpack. Her shoulders were stiff, and her voice wavered when she said, “Chris, will you walk me back?”

I waved Chris off, following her to the door. “I said I’d take you home.”

“You have a mission to organize,” she said without turning around. “One of the others can make sure I get home.”

“Chris can get things ready here.” I picked up her coat and she let me help her into it, but she refused to look at me. I didn’t know what to say to her, so I didn’t say anything.

She didn’t speak during the short walk to Eldeorin’s, and when we got to the main door, she reached for the handle without looking at me.

I closed my hand around hers to stop her from walking away. I’d handled things wrong again and upset her. I hated the tension stretching between us, especially since I couldn’t stay and talk things out.

“I hate to leave you upset, but I have to go. We’ll talk when I get back, okay?”

She nodded quietly.

A touch was not enough. I pulled her into my arms, and she came, unresisting.

“I’ll see you in a day or two,” I said tenderly.

My chest swelled when her arms snaked around my waist.

“Be careful,” she whispered.

“Always.” It would take an army of vampires to keep me from coming back to her. I tilted her chin toward me and brushed my lips across hers.

I let her go and reached around her to open the door. I waited until she went inside and closed the door behind her before I headed back.

The team was stowing gear in the SUVs when I got there. I grabbed my own bag, which was always packed and ready to go, and climbed behind the wheel of one of the vehicles.

Chris took the passenger seat and gave me a questioning look, but I wasn’t in the mood to talk about it. He rested his head against the back of his seat and muttered, “It’s going to be a long few days.”

The jet was fueled and waiting on clearance when we got to the airport in San Jose. The current situation in the country had prompted Tristan to supply us with our own jet for reasons exactly like this. If you were going to fight an enemy like ours, it helped to have unlimited resources.

While we waited to leave, I called Tristan and filled him in.

“Are you sure it’s her?” he asked shakily.

“I won’t know for sure until I see her in person, but Chris and I both believe it’s her.”

“Dear God,” he breathed. “After all this time.”

I ran a hand through my hair. “Sara said she and her friends would replace her. I have to admit I didn’t think they would do it this fast.”

“How is Sara doing?” he asked. “She says she doesn’t care about her mother, but this can’t be easy on her.”

“I think she’s more upset that I left her at home.” I remembered her hurt look as she’d closed the door.

“Ah.”

“I understand why she wants to be there when we replace Madeline, but it’s not worth endangering her life.”

“You don’t think she’ll try to follow you?” he asked.

“No.” Sara had promised me at Christmas that she wouldn’t run off again, and I believed her. Though that wouldn’t make her any less upset with me.

I exhaled slowly. It was going to take a lot more than a few kisses to make this up to her.

I thought about calling Roland and asking him to visit, but I already knew that was out of the question. Maxwell wasn’t going to let him and Peter leave New Hastings, let alone Maine, until they graduated from school and worked off their punishments.

I could ask Nate to come, but he was finally writing again, and Sara wouldn’t want to disrupt him. I could think of no one else, except…

When the idea came to me, I couldn’t believe I hadn’t thought of him first. If anyone could distract Sara and cheer her up, it was that arrogant Englishman. And he’d do anything for her.

“Tristan, would it be possible for me to speak to Desmund?”

“Desmund? Uh…sure. I’ll see if I can replace him.”

I smiled, imagining the look on Tristan’s face. I doubt anyone ever called for the warrior. Desmund had been ill for so long I wasn’t sure he knew how to use a phone.

“I’m transferring you to his apartment.”

“Thanks,” I said before Desmund’s phone began to ring.

“Hello?” said a clipped English voice. “Tristan?”

“Nikolas,” I corrected him.

There was silence for a moment. “Is Sara okay?”

“She’s fine,” I assured him. “Listen, are you free for a week or so?”

I figured it would take that long for her to start talking to me again.

“That depends,” he replied haughtily. “I’m planning a trip to England, but I suppose I could postpone it if I’m needed here.”

“How would you feel about a trip to California first? I’m on my way to Canada for a few days, and Sara’s not happy about it. I think a visit from you would cheer her up.”

“You want…me to visit your mate while you are away?” he asked slowly. “Are you not worried I’ll steal her away from you right under your nose?”

I knew he was trying to get a rise out of me, just like I knew he was going to say yes to my invitation.

“I’m willing to chance it,” I retorted dryly.

He took a moment to answer. “I’d love to visit with Sara. When would you like me to be there?”

“Tomorrow, if you can.”

“I’ll let Tristan know I need to use the plane. Tell Sara I’ll see her tomorrow.”

“Actually, I think I’ll let you surprise her.”

Chris waved at me to let me know it was time to take off.

“Listen, I have to go. The plane is waiting for me. Thank you for doing this.”

“I would say you owe me, but it’s my pleasure.”

I hung up and joined the others on the jet. Chris had saved me a seat beside him in the front row, and I sank down into it.

“Did you just invite Desmund to visit?” he asked, looking at me as if I’d lost it.

I shrugged. “Sara likes him, and he’ll be good company for her.”

He studied my face. “On a scale of one to ten, how angry is she?”

I buckled my seat belt. “I think she’s more upset than angry.”

“Maybe seeing Madeline will make her forget she’s upset with you. She’s got years of anger built up for her mother.”

I leaned back and closed my eyes. “We can hope.”

Two hours later, we touched down in Vancouver. An hour after that, we arrived at the address David had given us. We parked our Suburban three houses away, and Chris and I approached the front of a well-maintained, gray, two-story house. Brock and Tyrelle went around to the back. Will and Calvin stayed with the SUV.

I knocked on the door and waited a minute. There was a light on in the living room, but I could pick up no sounds inside, even when I engaged my demon hearing.

After my second knock went unanswered, as well as the doorbell, we quietly picked the deadbolt and let ourselves in. The interior was clean and tidy, and it looked as if someone had been there within the last twenty-four hours, based on the empty restaurant takeout containers in the trash can. Lipstick smears on a napkin told us at least one woman had been there.

“Looks like we missed them,” Brock observed. He looked at me. “What do you want to do?”

I looked around. “See if they left anything behind that will tell us who they are. We’ll watch the place for tonight and see if anyone shows.”

We left the house as we’d found it, and took shifts watching the place that night. The next morning, we met up at the Vancouver safe house and talked to the local team about the reason for our visit. They had a few suggestions for places we could check out so it wouldn’t be a waste of a trip. I wasn’t that familiar with the city, and it surprised me to hear they didn’t have a big vampire problem like we were facing farther south.

Around mid-morning, Raoul called to pass along another address Sara had gotten from David. We went to check it out and found a stately white house at the end of an older neighborhood lined with tall trees.

Chris went in to scope it out, and he came back a few minutes later to tell us someone was staying there. He believed it could be the woman from the previous address because he found takeout containers from the same Thai restaurant. It was enough to convince me, and I decided to watch the place to see if anyone showed up.

We divided into pairs, with Brock and Will taking the first shift. If Madeline was staying here, the sight of a dark SUV might tip her off that something was going on. So they parked the vehicle on a side street and watched the house from the cover of a small stand of trees.

Chris and I were grabbing a quick dinner nearby when Brock called to tell us there was activity at the house.

“What do you see?” I asked him.

“Silver Audi pulled into the garage. Tinted windows so we couldn’t see the driver.” He paused. “Light just came on downstairs.”

“We’re on our way. Call in Calvin and Tyrelle and anyone else who is available. If this is Madeline, I don’t want to take any chances of her slipping past us.”

Brock was standing at the bottom of the street when we pulled up a few minutes later. I didn’t bother hiding the SUV since the person we sought was already in the house. We would soon replace out whether or not it was Madeline.

The others joined us, and I told them I’d take the front door while Chris took the back. The rest of them would take up positions around the exterior to make sure no one slipped past us.

They nodded, and we moved in.

I waited until everyone was in position before I walked up to the front door and rang the doorbell. If the person inside wasn’t Madeline, I didn’t want to scare some unsuspecting human half to death by having armed warriors invade their home.

Focusing my hearing, I picked up faint movement inside. Someone was there, and they were moving around quietly. The thing with older houses is that no matter how well they are kept, they begin to creak after a while, especially the floorboards. I rang again. This time there was no mistaking the sound of a footstep on a noisy stair.

I signaled Brock, who stood at the front corner of the house, to let him know I was going in. Making short work of the lock, I opened the door and went inside.

A small foyer opened into a great room with heavy dark furniture, oriental rugs, and fine art on the walls. Not exactly Madeline’s taste – at least not the Madeline I used to know, who had preferred modern styles over traditional. But then, I hadn’t seen her in five decades.

Chris entered quietly through the back door. I pointed at the ceiling to let him know I was going upstairs. He nodded and began doing a sweep of the first floor. We’d worked together so much in the last two years that no other communication was needed.

Several of the stairs creaked under my feet, but it wasn’t as if the person I sought didn’t know I was there. There were five bedrooms, and I searched them all without any luck. A narrow set of stairs led to an open attic, but a quick search of that turned up nothing as well.

I walked back to the top of the stairs and texted Brock, who assured me no one had left the house since we’d entered. So where was the person I’d heard inside?

Abandoning all pretense of stealth, I called for Chris, who ran upstairs, looking as confused as I was.

“They have to be up here,” he said, walking to the first doorway on the right. “Unless they sprouted wings and flew away.”

The two of us did another search of the second and third floors and met up again in the master bedroom. The room looked undisturbed except for a corner of the bedspread that had been ruffled. I walked over for a closer look. Seeing nothing suspicious, I straightened and looked around the room. Something was off about it, but I wasn’t sure what it was.

“What are you looking for?” Chris asked.

“I don’t know.” I did a three-sixty degree turn. “There’s something about this room that…”

I trailed off as it hit me what I was looking at. “This room is shorter than it should be.”

His brows drew together, and he looked from one end of the room to the other. “You sure?”

“Positive.” I went to the head of the bed, where the cover had been out of place, and felt around the bedframe and nightstand. My fingertip touched a slight depression at the base of the headboard where it connected to the frame. I pressed the area and heard a soft click before a door-sized panel separated from the wall on the other side of the nightstand.

“Damn,” Chris said. “We’re not getting through that thing.”

My lips pressed together when I saw the steel door behind the wall. A panic room. The door was probably an inch thick, and there was no knob of any kind. I’d bet it could only be opened with a remote, and I had a good idea where that remote was.

I glanced at the upper corners of the room, and I wasn’t surprised to see a camera in one of them. No doubt, there were cameras all over this place that fed into a security system in that room.

I stood facing the camera, guessing it had an audio feed as well. “Madeline, we just want to talk.”

Chris shook his head. “Somehow I don’t think it’s going to be that easy.”

My reply was cut off by the sound of pounding feet below and Brock’s hoarse shout. “We’ve got trouble.”

“Jesus Christ!” Calvin yelled. “They’re everywhere.”

I ran to the window and watched a mob of people surrounding the house.

No, not people. Vampires. Dozens of them.

I blinked, unable to believe my eyes. In my whole life, I’d never seen that many vampires in one place – and working together.

A door slammed, jerking me into action. I took the stairs two at a time and had my sword drawn before I reached the first floor.

“Everyone in?” I shouted as warriors ran to take up defensive positions near the windows and doors.

“All in,” Brock confirmed.

Will peered through a closed drape. “Fuck. We’re screwed.”

“No, we’re not.” I strode over to the much younger warrior. “They have the numbers, but we’re armed. And I guarantee half of them are new.”

He nodded and tightened his grip on his sword.

I looked at Brock. “Call Raoul and tell him we’re under attack. Tell him we’ll hold them off, but we’ll need backup ASAP.”

Chris came to stand beside me, his sword drawn. He peered out the window and swore. “Bloody Canadians don’t do anything small, do they?”

Glass shattered all over the house as the first wave of vampires came. The warriors near the windows took the brunt of the assault, and Chris and I jumped in to even the odds.

I sliced through the throat of one of the two vampires attacking Will, sending a spray of blood across the warrior. He didn’t seem to notice, his fear from a few minutes ago swept aside as adrenaline and training kicked in.

A grunt of pain had me spinning to Calvin as he went down with two vampires on top of him. I grabbed one of the vampires by the hair and ripped him away before he could sink his teeth into the warrior’s throat.

The vampire sailed across the room and went headfirst into the stone fireplace. Before he could move, one of the Vancouver warriors was there, finishing him off.

I looked back to Calvin to see him on his feet, facing off against the second vampire. Behind him, Tyrelle and Brock were locked in battle with three vampires.

From all over the house came shouts and the sounds of fighting.

The second wave came at us. Vampires poured through the broken windows, and it hit me that this was an organized breach, unlike the one at Westhorne last fall. They’d waited until the first group had engaged us fully before they sent in the second group to overwhelm us. It was a military tactic, and one we used whenever we cleaned out a large nest.

My blade eviscerated one vampire. He fell to his knees, and I spun to the larger threat. This one was faster and stronger. His claws scored my stomach before I could bring my blade around to counter his attack. With so many bodies in the room, it was getting harder to wield my blade. No doubt whoever was commanding this assault knew that too.

I ignored the burning pain in my stomach and drew one of my knives. The vampire’s eyes flicked between my sword and my knife.

My foot slammed into the side of his knee, and the cracking of bone was followed by his scream of pain. He flailed and fell toward me, his claws reaching for my throat. My knife caught him between the ribs, and his momentum did the rest.

Brock yelled, and I whirled to see two vampires trying to pull him through a window.

I leapt over a couch and severed one of the grasping hands with my sword. It was enough for Brock to yank free and fight off the second one.

“Will,” Chris shouted from the stairs.

My eyes found Will’s unconscious form slung over the shoulder of a big vampire who was carrying him to the closed front door.

A growl burst from my lips, and I let my knife fly as I sped toward them. The blade sank into the back of the vampire’s head, and he dropped like a stone.

I caught Will just before his head made contact with the hard tile floor.

There wasn’t much I could do for the warrior, except ensure he was still breathing. I dragged him behind a large chair where he was mostly hidden from sight. Then I turned back to the fight.

The punch came out of nowhere. My head snapped back, and I barely had time to recover and block the kick that came next.

I dropped my sword, grabbed the foot inches from my face, and twisted. Instead of the bone breaking, the body attached to the foot spun in the air to strike out at me with its other foot. I released the vampire to protect my head, and he hit the floor on all fours like a cat before he came back to his feet.

I faced my opponent and immediately knew he was the leader of this ambush. Tall and muscular with short-cropped hair, the vampire had been in his mid-twenties when he was made. Judging by the speed with which he moved, that had happened at least fifty years ago. He wore camouflage pants and a black T-shirt, and on his bicep I saw a Semper Fi tattoo common among Marines.

We took several seconds to size each other up, and then he struck. His fists blurred as they came at my face and throat.

I blocked them and caught his arm, spinning him toward me. I grasped his shoulders and pushed him down as my knee came up and met his face with a sickening crunch.

Blood sprayed from his broken nose as he grabbed my leg and threw me on my back. In a second, I was on my feet, facing him again.

An arm wrapped around my throat from behind. Instead of trying to pull free, I gripped the arm and flung the vampire over my head. He crashed into the Marine, who batted him away irritably and grinned at me through bloody teeth.

I smiled back.

We began trading strike for strike, kick for kick. He was fast, strong, and he knew how to fight. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d fought hand-to-hand with a vampire who could hold their own against me. He even managed to land a few hits, including a kick that most likely bruised a rib or two.

“Nikolas,” Chris bellowed over the shouts and screams. “Could use some help when you’ve finished your fun.”

The vampire used the brief distraction to kick out and hook behind my knee to throw me off balance.

I rolled onto my side and bounced up behind him. Grabbing his arm, I yanked it behind his back until I heard his shoulder pop. My other hand pulled my second knife free. I drove the blade between his shoulder blades, straight into his heart.

He jerked and sagged against me. I released him, and he slid to the floor. During our entire fight and his death, he’d never uttered a sound.

I surveyed the room. Two of the Vancouver guys were down but alive. Vampire bodies lay everywhere, but the living ones still outnumbered us two-to-one.

The front door opened, and I saw six vampires file outside as if the pied piper was out there calling to them.

I didn’t have time to wonder what they were up to. Chris was at the bottom of the stairs, fighting off three vampires at once. I grabbed my sword off the floor and ran to help him just as two more flew down the stairs.

The two of us fought back-to-back as we’d done a hundred times. All around us, warriors battled with everything they had in them. If we made it through this…

Not if. When. I thought about Sara and the way we’d left things. Nothing was going to stop me from getting back to her.

A vampire sped out of a doorway on my left, and this one was not young. He didn’t have the fighting skills of the Marine, but he made up for that in sheer speed and strength. It took all my concentration to battle him in the confined space. Unfortunately, that left Chris to handle the others on his own.

A flash of pale gold caught my eye as a blonde female ran past the second floor landing. Madeline.

Son of a bitch. She was making a run for it, and there was nothing I could do to stop her.

The vampire must have seen her too. He broke away from me and ran out the open back door into the night.

Before I could give chase, another jumped in to take his place. Goddamnit. Where the hell were they coming from?

“I’m down,” Brock shouted weakly.

“Hold on,” I called back.

My sword came down, severing the head of my opponent. I made my way over to Brock through the sea of bodies, killing two vampires that got in my way.

Brock was sitting on the floor with his back against the wall and a hand over the side of his neck. Blood seeped through his fingers, but it was flowing too slowly to be a major artery. I yanked a throw off the back of a chair and pressed it against the wound to staunch the flow of blood.

“Hold this here until we can triage,” I told him.

He did as I ordered and gave me a thumbs-up with his free hand.

I took up his sword and went to help the others finish off the bastards. The last one ran past me and out the back door. I gave chase and caught him as he hit the night air. My blade sliced easily through his neck, taking his head from his body.

A second vampire fled through a window and tried to run past me. My sword impaled him before he took two steps.

Silence fell over the yard that was littered with bodies.

A small sound brought my gaze around. Standing in the midst of the dead vampires was a masked figure dressed in black. I could see no weapon, though a burnt body lay at his feet.

“Who are you?” I asked, not really expecting an answer. He wouldn’t have hidden his face if he’d wanted me to know his identity. I had a suspicion I was looking at one of our mysterious vigilantes.

“A friend,” he replied in a voice that was oddly distorted.

“That doesn’t answer my question.” I waved at the carnage around us in the yard. “No human could do this. What are you and how did you replace us?”

No one but our own people and Sara’s friends knew where we’d be tonight. Sara trusted David implicitly, and for his part, he could have betrayed her many times before now if he’d wanted to.

“That is because I am not human,” the stranger rasped without enmity. “As for how I found you, I have my ways.”

Not human? Warlock then. Who else could cloak themselves and mess with the memories of all the people they’d saved? I took a step toward him, intending to see what was under that mask.

“Nikolas,” called a member of the Vancouver team.

“What is it, Devon?”

“We found a tablet and some other things, but she’s not here. Looks like she got away.”

Before I could answer, a window shattered on the front of the house and a vampire screamed. Thinking of our injured men inside, I raced to the front of the house. When I got there, I found Chris finishing off what I hoped was the last of our attackers.

Chris straightened and pushed his damp hair out of his face. “I think that’s it.”

“I hope you’re right.” My eyes fell on a pile of vampire bodies in the driveway. “Your work?”

“I think we can thank our mysterious friend for that.”

“Shit.”

I sped to the backyard, but it was empty except for dead vampires. I’d been so close. I couldn’t believe I’d let him slip through my fingers.

Chris came to stand beside me. “I don’t know about you, but I’m going to need a stiff drink – or a bottle – after this one.”

“You and me both. But first, we have to clean up this.”

He groaned and turned to the house. “Going to be a long night.”