Page 37 of Bullets and Blood (Hunting Hearts #1)

Chapter Thirty-Two

Nix lay on the roof of the building, watching as male Orlan vampires scurried about making the warehouse secure for his arrival.

He hadn’t seen his sister or any of the Orlan women yet.

Even though he was lying in the shade, the roof was hot, and the heat sank into his bones until he was sure he was melting.

As easy as it would be to start picking off the men, he wanted to wait until the women arrived, and the location couldn’t be changed.

Then he’d start making a mess.

And it wouldn’t be his problem to clean up. He figured he might put down three or four before they worked where he was and stopped him. Then it would all be over. They’d drag him into the building, and the unfun part would begin.

Two hours until meeting time.

He wasn’t in a rush.

A shudder of warning raced over his skin. His fingers closed over the gun, but before he could turn, the cold muzzle of a gun pressed against the back of his neck. His stomach balled up, but he knew the man’s scent as well as his own.

“Don’t move and don’t make a sound,” Lance said.

Nix let some of the tension ease but kept the gun in his hand. He had knocked Lance out and borrowed his car, so Lance may not be feeling all that forgiving. “You shouldn’t be here.”

“Yeah, the plan has changed.”

Nix closed his eyes. Of course it had. Had he truly expected Lance to be on his side when the easy thing to do would be to turn him in? “What did they offer you?”

Lance lay down next to him and put his gun in sight but not out of reach. “Everything.”

Nix looked at the gun, then Lance, and knew he couldn’t make the first shot. He frowned. They were still talking, not bleeding. “Wait. Are you talking about your family or the Reids?”

“Reids.”

Nix rolled onto his side so he could look at Lance. “They agreed to help?”

“That might be overstating it. But the new plan is I walk you in and look like I’ve done my part.”

“And then we all die.” Thus absolving the Reids from doing anything. It was a very tidy plan.

Lance pressed his lips together. “You know, I think you need professional help.”

“Probably. But I’m a bit busy today to start looking for a therapist.” He wanted to reach out and touch Lance, kiss him so he remembered the taste of him for later. His fingers curled, but otherwise, he didn’t move.

“We aren’t going to die, okay? But you need to trust me.”

“You can’t tell me the rest of the plan.” And what he did know sounded shit.

Lance considered him for a moment. “You won’t like it.”

“I already don’t like it. Why wouldn’t the Reids take you in?”

“They would’ve, but I asked very nicely that they help you.”

Nix groaned and rolled onto his back. Nothing was ever free. “They didn’t want to help me when I asked.” Not even when he’d had a body at his feet. “What do I owe them?”

“Nothing.”

“Bullshit.”

Lance reached out, then hesitated before letting his hand touch Nix’s face. “Can we just do this and argue later?”

“And when there is no later? The Reids don’t care about you or me or any of this.

If I were them, I’d be calling up the cops and having everyone involved arrested.

There’ll be enough illegal firearms and conspiracies to commit murder to keep everyone locked up for decades.

Not only that, but I’m also sure your family will rat me out and have the evidence to prove it, and I’ll end up serving several life sentences. Assuming I make it to sentencing.”

Lance stared at him. “I’m going to find you a therapist. And you’re going to stop smoking dope.”

“My paranoia is healthy; it’s what keeps me alive.”

“I snuck up on you.” Lance smiled, then leaned in and kissed him slowly as though they had all day to waste.

Nix wanted to believe they had forever. Lance had snuck into Nix’s heart, which was far more damaging than a single bullet wound.

Lance pulled a heavy-duty cable tie out of his pocket and dangled it close. “Want to put this on so you’re dressed the part?”

“We don’t have time to indulge your predilections.”

Lance’s cheeks turned a pretty shade of pink. “I’m assuming you know how to get out of this.”

“Of course.” Learning how to get out of restraints had been one of the fun things his cop had taught him. He’d also learned a lot about how the police operated.

“I am totally not surprised.”

“You are just a little.” Nix grinned.

“No, not at all. You might be only a few years older than me, but your eyes have seen too much.”

“Are you calling me jaded?”

“Yeah. Now, if you could turn your weapons over, climb down, and put your hands behind your back, we can get this over and done with.”

They had hours…unless the plan was to go in early. “You in a rush to die?”

Lance moved over him and kissed him again. “I’m in a rush to start living.”

* * *

Lance glanced at his watch. He was thirty minutes early, according to his aunt’s demand, but right on time for the plan Garrick had offered him as though one had been created long before he’d stepped into the room.

While he didn’t trust the Reids any more than his own family, it was all he had. That they were getting the human cops involved made him break out in a sweat. He hadn’t confirmed Nix’s suspicions about the plan because if he did, Nix would be running, not calmly obeying.

“I’m going to take you in. You can see your sister, and when you have eyes on her, you can break free. No killing.”

“Not even in self-defense?”

Lance yanked on the zip tie, locking Nix’s hands behind his back.

The bite on his neck and every bruise on his body throbbed from last night, but he’d do it again in a heartbeat.

He had another nineteen ties in the packet, and it would be a shame to let them go to waste if they survived.

“Not even. Okay? We’re playing by the Reid rules. ”

Garrick had been very clear that if they broke those rules, there would be no second chance. They’d be left in no man’s land, not a great place for a banished Orlan and a Hadley. Lance gave them less than a month in no man’s land before someone tried to catch them and turn them in.

“I would really be much happier if you weren’t here.”

“Come on, it will be fun. Like a date. You can meet my family. They’ll hate you, of course, because you’re such a bad influence…”

Nix shot him a glare.

Lance gave him a shove forward. “But I think I’ll keep you.”

“I think I might accidentally shoot you.” He deliberately stumbled and almost got his fingers on Lance’s gun, but Lance had been expecting that. He smiled. “Predictable.”

“Harsh.” He took a few steps forward. “Am I, really?”

“A little, but then I know you. The real you.” Lance stared up at the building. There was a man on the roof. Two down the street, leaning against a car and talking, all Orlans. He hoped the Reids weren’t far away and that they knew what they were doing—and that they wouldn’t betray them. “Ready?”

“No.”

“Great. Neither am I.” Lance knocked on the metal door. The sound echoed. The men up the street were watching. One pulled out his phone. He hadn’t seen any of his family in over six months. He hadn’t missed them either, not after the first two weeks of freedom.

His stomach tumbled but as far as his aunt knew he’d done the right thing, in the end, and brought Nixon Hadley in. That he didn’t trust his family any more than he’d trust a hungry crocodile was his problem. All he had to do was play the dutiful nephew.

The door swung open with a groan. The man who opened it was familiar, some distant cousin whose name he couldn’t remember climbing the ranks the way he’d once wanted to.

Lance nodded and pushed Nix in. “Delivered as promised.”

The man immediately frisked Nix. Nix managed to keep his mouth shut, but his lips twitched as though it was taking all his effort not to be a smart ass.

“Don’t you think I did that already?” They were doing this right, like he’d actually caught Nix.

“Can’t be too careful.”

Lance let the man do the same to him, but when he started to confiscate the weapons. Lance stepped back. “What are you doing.”

“Your mother’s orders. No weapons.”

His mother was there. Had he really expected his aunt to deal with this?

Maybe. He hadn’t seen his mother in over a year.

Ever since Lance had failed to be blooded, she’d refused to talk to him.

She wasn’t going to show him any sympathy; if anything, she’d be crueler because he was her son.

A bead of sweat traced down his spine, quickly followed by another.

How were they going to get out of here without weapons? “You’re armed.”

“I’m allowed. You aren’t.”

Nix’s body tensed, but aside from that small movement, he didn’t react.

“Fine.” Lance handed over the two guns and the knife he usually had at his back. “Happy?”

The man smiled. “Go through.”

Going through meant going down the corridor of what had once passed for office space at the front and into the cavernous warehouse.

The space was filled with dust and litter.

They weren’t the first to use it for nefarious purposes, and they wouldn’t be the last. Old oil stains marked the floor, and three of the glass windows high on the side were broken.

In the middle, as though untouched by the mess, stood his mother.

She didn’t look a day over twenty, and she probably had another two decades before life caught up with her. Her white suit and long hair looked more suited to a fancy party than this. But she’d never worried about blood stains as someone else would clean them out.

Lance stopped ten meters away. Not a safe distance—such a thing didn’t exist. “Mother.”

Nix flinched.

“Lance. So nice of you to finally join us.” She didn’t bother with a smile.