Page 22 of How to Stake a Vampire (Diary of a Reluctant Werewolf #2)

FAMILY REUNION

The back of the blood bank was a maze of sterile corridors and fluorescent lighting. Alarms started blaring as we raced down them, the red lights casting an ominous glow across the wet floor and walls.

“Mindy managed to regain control of the security system!” Nigel yelled in our earpieces.

The sprinklers stopped just as we reached a junction.

“This way,” Barney said tensely. He turned left.

Samuel and I followed him.

The vampire slowed as we approached a set of double doors.

“The main cold storage is through here. If Ludvik’s after premium blood, this is where he’ll be headed.”

I frowned. “How do you know that?”

“Because I’ve been here before,” the vampire said grimly. “And even you should be able to smell the blood bags from here.”

I made a face as my wolf picked up a veritable buffet of scents coming from the cold storage. A brouhaha rose from the front of the building. Didi’s sharp tone cut through the raised voices.

“And I’m telling you people you need to leave. Now!”

“This is most irregular,” Count de Vile protested shrilly.

Several other voices joined in, each sounding as pompous as the others.

“You can complain to management afterward,” the witch snapped. “Now, I suggest you vamoose before you get accidentally fried by an excited dragon newt.”

“Yeah,” Gavin groused. “I have sparks and I’m not afraid to use them!”

Detective Johnson suddenly cursed in our earpieces.

Samuel’s shoulders knotted. “What is it?”

“Something just flew past the van. I couldn’t catch a good look!”

I heard Bo barking in the earpiece and met Samuel’s amber gaze, my heart racing. “It’s him!”

The lights flickered.

A cry from the direction of the reception area had us whirling around.

Didi cursed in the distance. Gavin yelped.

The hairs rose on the back of my neck. Something was coming.

A low growl left Samuel as he prepared to transform. Crimson filled Barney’s pupils, the vampire growing a foot in height. I’d barely loosened my hold on my wolf when a figure flashed around a corner and barreled toward us.

I caught a glimpse of hungry red eyes and sharp fangs before it slammed into me and sent me crashing through the double doors into the storage area.

“Abby!” Samuel shouted, the word an alarmed half growl.

I landed on my back with a grunt. My eyes widened.

I rolled and narrowly missed the claws headed for my eyes, my breath misting in front of my face in the icy room.

The vampire lunged at me with inhuman speed.

The transformation hit me hard and fast. My bones lengthened, my muscles expanded, and my senses exploded as my wolf emerged under the flickering lights.

My world shifted into a myriad of colors, scents, and sounds.

Ludvik’s eyes blazed with an unholy light as he approached, his features etched sharply across my enhanced vision and his heartbeat anything but steady in my ears.

I could smell his fear. His rage. And something else—something old and rotten that clung to the vampire like expensive cologne gone bad and made my stomach roil.

I missed his attack by a hairbreadth, raked his chest with my claws as I leapt, and landed behind him with a solid thud.

Samuel’s black wolf joined me, the anger thrumming through our mate bond reflected in his glowing eyes and his vicious snarl.

Are you okay?!

I nudged him with a shoulder. Yes.

Barney flanked my other side, his face tight.

Ludvik straightened and stared at us with an ugly expression.

He was tall and lean like Barney, with sharp cheekbones and the kind of eyes that suggested he’d outlived everyone he’d ever cared about.

His dark hair was perfectly styled and his clothes immaculate but for the damage my claws had inflicted.

I lowered my head and growled when he touched the blood I had drawn and licked his fingers.

“What a waste.” A cold light suffused Ludvik’s crimson gaze as he studied Barney.

“Uncle Barnabas, you haven’t changed one bit since I last saw you.

Where was it again?” His mouth twisted mockingly.

“Oh yes. The Austrian vampire court. If I remember correctly, you tucked your tail between your legs and disappeared like the obedient dog that you are the moment you were instructed to do so.”

Barney ignored the insult and narrowed his eyes. “You, on the other hand, have changed a lot, dear nephew.”

My wolf stirred uneasily at the undercurrent of dread in Barney’s voice.

Ludvik smelled wrong for a whole lot of reasons I didn’t understand. Even Samuel watched the vampire with a wary look, like he couldn’t make out what he was exactly.

I tensed when Ludvik’s gaze found me.

“So this is Amberford’s famous white wolf. You are not quite what I expected.” Disdain underscored his words.

My hackles rose. I bared my fangs with a feral sound, muscles bunching.

Ludvik’s laughter was cold and empty.

“How refreshingly direct. That’s about the only thing I ever liked about you dogs.” He paused and smirked. “I must say, your friend’s transformation was highly disappointing. I had hoped she would provide a suitable distraction.”

I froze.

“A feral newborn vampire tearing through Amberford’s human population would have been perfect cover for my work,” Ludvik continued in a slightly bored voice. “Especially the best friend of Amberford’s new hero. Instead, I hear the girl’s been… domesticated . And by that Tremaine boy, no less.”

Fury surged through my veins, a hot feeling that electrified every cell in my body. The bastard had known exactly who Ellie was when he’d targeted Bean Me Up.

Barney took a step forward before I could leap for Ludvik’s throat.

“Stop this madness, Ludvik,” he said coldly. “Your plan will never work. You cannot take on the whole of Amberford, let alone the clans of New England.”

“Oh, I think you would be surprised at what I can do, Uncle,” Ludvik said in a brittle voice. “And I fully intend to put things back the way they should be, this time around. Vampires ruling.” His gaze flitted to me and Samuel. “And lesser creatures knowing their place.”

I moved.

Abby! Samuel shouted. He cursed and bounded after me.

By then, I’d closed the distance to Ludvik. My belly clenched when he blurred out of view. I skidded through the space where he should have been and slammed side-first into a shelf.

Metal caved under the impact.

Samuel hunkered over me as boxes rained down on us.

We shook ourselves free and looked around.

Ludvik was nowhere to be seen.

There was movement out the corner of my wolf’s eye. My head snapped around.

Barney was moving in a way I’d never seen the vampire move before.

He practically levitated off the ground as he leapt, his face locked in a furious expression and his crimson gaze focused on something above us.

My blood ran cold when I followed his gaze.

Ludvik was upside down and clinging to the ceiling, the vampire’s face a rictus of rage.

He blurred again, his outline edged by thin dark trails. Barney snarled, his claws missing Ludvik by an inch.

A grunt suddenly left Samuel. A flash of pain echoed brightly across our bond. I realized he was bleeding and whimpered.

Ludvik had cut his leg.

The vampire flitted like a shadow around us as we regrouped in the middle of the room, his attacks faster than anything I’d ever faced. He punched Barney in the solar plexus and sent him smashing into a wall. Blood sprayed from the vampire’s lips as he dented the plasterwork with his back.

I barely managed to block Ludvik when he came for Samuel again. His blow caught my shoulder and sent me spinning me across the floor. Pain flared through my left rib cage when I crashed violently into a metal cabinet. My werewolf healing kicked in.

Samuel slipped out of the way of Ludvik’s claws with a snarl, feinted to one side, then struck on the other, his jaws finding a slim gap in the vampire’s defenses.

Ludvik hissed in pain when the black wolf caught his wrist with his fangs. He backhanded Samuel across the face.

I watched in horror as the force of the blow sent my alpha flying into a row of shelves. He landed hard on the floor. I was beside him in a single leap and kept him at my back as I turned to face his attacker, my hackles trembling and my wolf ready to shred the bastard to pieces.

There was movement behind Ludvik. I lunged, Barney coordinating his attack with mine.

He vanished before our eyes again.

Barney swore as we crashed into each other and plummeted to the ground in a tangle of limbs.

The double doors clattered open.

I looked around where I’d cushioned Barney’s fall.

Ludvik was making his escape with several blood bags, his form leaving a faint shadowy imprint in the air.

I wriggled free and gave chase, Barney and Samuel scrambling to catch up.

Cries erupted as we dashed out into the reception, the ghoul staff falling back in panic at our sight. By the time we got outside, there was no trace left of Ludvik.

Samuel and I stopped beside Barney on the road and shifted back to our human forms.

“Where the hell did he go?!” I snarled, heart pounding and breaths coming hard and fast.

“I don’t know,” Barney replied grimly.

Samuel spun on himself and searched the skies. He stiffened. “There!”

We followed his gaze as he pointed to the south.

A shrinking flock of bats was etched starkly against the pale clouds.

I scowled at Barney. “Is it normal for a vampire to move like that?”

“No,” he replied, his voice a mix of anger and dread. “I have never witnessed that kind of speed in a member of our race. Not even the Lords of the Old Country.”

This wasn’t the kind of news I needed to hear right now. Samuel and I exchanged a tense look.

We were in over our heads and we all knew it.

Footsteps pounded on the road. Didi and Gavin were running toward us, Detective Johnson following closely.

“You should do something about your leg,” Barney told Samuel.

My chest tightened when I saw the ugly wound on my alpha’s thigh, the fresh scent of his blood tickling my nostrils.

“It’ll heal in no time,” he reassured at my expression.

I clenched my jaw harder.

The others reached us.

“We got all the customers out,” Didi said, her wary gaze taking in our battle-worn appearance.

Gavin paled a little at the sight of Samuel’s injury.

Detective Johnson frowned. “I take it Ludvik escaped?”

“Yes.” I fisted my hands. “And he’s far more dangerous than we’d realized.”

Our earpieces crackled to life, startling us and causing Gavin’s horns to pop out.

“The cameras are back online,” Nigel said somberly.

Detective Johnson choked on a gurgle when a translucent figure materialized beside us.

It was Mindy. She flickered in and out of visibility, shaken and disheveled.

“I’m sorry. I tried to stop her!”

I stared. “Stop who?”

“The ghost.” Mindy met our puzzled gazes, her eyes wide with fear.

“That vampire is forcing a ghost to help him. A wraith. That’s why the cameras have been going dark.

This wraith—she’s been dead a long time but she’s bound to him, somehow.

” Her expression crumpled. “I could feel her pain. Whatever he’s doing to her, it’s hurting her badly. ”

“He must have an object of hers,” Barney said flintily. “Something her soul is chained to in the mortal realm.”

Dread squeezed my heart as Didi and I did our best to comfort Mindy.

“I know it’s a lot to ask, but do you think you can track her?” Samuel asked the ghost quietly.

Mindy sniffed and nodded reluctantly. “I’ll try. It won’t be easy.”

“Just do your best,” Samuel said.

I looked around. “Where’s Bo?”

Our earpieces crackled to life before anyone could answer.

“I hate to be the bearer of bad news but we have another situation,” Nigel said cagily.

We traded another round of fraught glances.

“What kind of situation?” Samuel asked warily.

“The kind that involves Abby’s dog trying to arrest a vampire.”