Page 220 of Broken Bonds

That was Morning’s idea, and he gets points for style. Because he has friends in the US Marshal’s office, they have a group of officers on alert and waiting, including officers ready to move in from behind to pin down the attackers. Morning’s story is that they’re a drug gang expecting to go in and raid a rival drug warehouse.

One of the big-cat shifters holds up her hand. “Not that I’m leaving until we’ve killed all those fuckers, but how can we be certain they’ll attack in the morning?”

“We’ve baited them,” Marchman says. “Sterling thinks his wife and son are there and are being moved out of the country later in the day. Not only does he think they’re leaving, he thinks they’re going to out him, so he’s desperate. We’ve deliberately set up this window to force an incursion. The latest report from an hour ago is that his people are in the area. We have them under surveillance. We’ll be in place well before dawn, and likely attacked before noon. They never attack at night, when they know vampires are active.”

Once we’re ready, we move in, three witches taking turns shuttling us in from our staging area via various work vans, so we don’t have a bunch of cars parked around the building drawing suspicion. Morning has had people watching the building for two weeks, and they detected men scouting earlier today, after Freya and Mal’s phones pinged there. One of Sterling’s men is currently hiding on the roof of a building catty-corner from the warehouse.

What that sentry doesn’t know is that he’s already compromised, and has been since his arrival. Two fae were in hiding and took him over immediately, controlling what he says to his handlers. And the charms and glamours they’ve put in place around the building to make it look like it’s an active vampire nest have done the trick.

Having Freya and Mal’s phones inside doesn’t hurt, either.

The drivers drop each group a few blocks from the building, and we approach from different directions, led by the fae and witches who’ve set the charms to conceal our arrival. Only a couple of vehicles and vampires have actually driven through the gates, their presence uncharmed, to make it look real.

Now, all we have to do is wait.

Inside the building, the vampires prepare by donning skin-tight spandex jumpsuits, covered by form-fitting leggings and long-sleeved shirts with hoods, with thin tactical gloves.

I watch, curious, until Marchman notices and smiles. “UV protection, in case. Easier to move around in than a cape. Bela Lugosi never did parkour.”

I laugh at his playful smile. The more time I spend around him and his people, the more ashamed I am of my initial mistrust and revulsion. You’d think I would’ve known better, but at least I’ve finally learned the lesson and vow to do better moving forward.

The vampires also put on body armor, riot helmets, and tactical gun belts, and have special protective goggles ready to slide down over their faces in case the attackers use UV spotlights or break windows. Vampires aren’t impervious to injury and death, but they have better regenerative powers than humans and most shifters. Combined with their speed and agility, they don’t die nearly as easily as one of us.

Holy water is bullshit—as is garlic and most of the other myths. Wooden stakes through the heart are effective, but all someone has to do is nail a perfect sniper shot with a hollow-point in their heart or brain. Decapitation also works, but that works on pretty much anyone.

My people also wear bulletproof vests and are fully armed because we’re not fucking around. No one except our people will leave the building alive. Hopefully, we can capture a few of the attackers alive and get taped confessions.

The next step is taking out Sterling in person.

But first, we need to deal with these assholes.

We settle in to silently wait once everyone has completed their final preparations.

It’s nearly 10:00 when a woman whispers, one of the fae.

“They’re here. Twenty-five. A block away. Coming in two waves.”

This building was chosen because it’s also blocked off on three sides by warehouse buildings that prohibit access to this building. The other buildings are vacant, but our attackers won’t realize that. The vampires own the entire block.

Meaning the attackers are funneled in the way we want them to arrive.

Then they run a gauntlet of metal containers we’ve set up in the front near the street, glamoured so our visitors won’t notice them on the way in. Once the attackers are inside, witches will throw out rolls of razor wire glamoured to hide it. If the attackers try to run, they’ll hit that and funnel into the narrow canyons formed by the shipping containers.

Where snipers lying in wait will quickly pick them off. Any who survive that and manage to reach the gate will be held in place by the fae and witches, who will move in to secure the perimeter around the entire block. Part of their charms involve disguising the sound of gunfire to make it sound like construction noises so as not to attract attention. Two sets of small decoy work crews using jackhammers help sell that.

Inside this cavernous space is another gauntlet of shipping containers for the invaders to maneuver through, and more glamoured razor wire for them to get tangled in.

No one moves, no one makes any noise, as a sentry up at the windows on the second floor signals the progress of the attackers.

The fight is surprisingly quick and bloody, with the vampires and their spooky speed taking out most of the attackers before the rest of us even get off a single shot. In all honesty? They really didn’t need us. But still, I’m happy to be here ensuring all the attackers are dealt with.

We capture three of them alive, two wolves and a human, and after a severe hour-long interrogation I’ll spare you the details of, we find out that yes, they were sent by Sterling.

Even better?

One of the men whose head now lies a good five feet from his body is Sterling’s eldest son, Thad.

That’s one down.