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CHAPTER FIFTEEN

The driver opened the bus door, bounded out, and waved us outside. “Welcome. Don’t let the digs scare you. We have to operate under secrecy for everyone’s protection. Please watch your step. This place has been abandoned since the fifties.”

“Is this the old insane asylum?” the hat guy asked.

“It is. Lots of really cool old stuff in there.”

“I heard it was haunted,” a woman said. “I saw it on a ghost hunter show a few years ago.”

“I can guarantee it is not. In fact, our meeting room is set up so you don’t even know you’re in an abandoned building.”

Vena grinned, loving this “adventure.”

I shoved my trembling hands into my pockets so I wouldn’t give my fear away. Going to a vampire meeting was bad enough. Attending one in an abandoned insane asylum? No amount of sweet bribes was going to make this better once it was done.

However, it did help that other buses were showing up. Part of me found comfort in “safety in numbers,” but the other part knew that meant there would be more victims if things went south.

Our driver opened the main doors and led us through an old entryway that had all the creep factors. Broken tiles scattered the floor, along with decaying pieces of lobby furniture and enough cobwebs to turn a horse into a mummy.

Vena and I would be in so much trouble if this were a horror movie. Like cast extras, we dumbly followed a stranger down a dark hallway…into a place my gut said we wouldn’t be able to escape from. To meet vampires!

Vena snaked her arm through mine, an excited smile plastered on her face as she pinched my inner arm in warning. Taking the hint, I tried to slow my breathing.

The driver opened the doors to a large, slightly less terrifying room lit with several lamps.

“How do you have electricity here?” Vena asked.

“Generators.” He gestured to a table with a notebook on it. “Please sign into the guest book, then have a seat. The meeting will start soon.”

He and the other bus drivers congregated around the doors, repeating the same thing to attendees that continued to file into the room. We stood in line and signed the guest book, which was nearing its last page. It was a testament to how many people had become victims.

Someone clapped loudly as we were following the people in front of us toward the seats.

“Welcome, new friends!” a familiar peppy voice said. The neatly dressed man didn’t fit the dismal surroundings. “Please sit, and we’ll get started. I know you all have questions and are eager for answers.”

I realized he was the person who’d spoken with Vena on the phone.

When the room settled, he smiled. “Welcome to the night life! Who here came to find a sponsor?”

About half the people in the room raised their hands.

“And who is here to support the vampire cause? To be an ally to persecuted vampires?”

The remaining people raised their hands, including Vena and me.

“You all are in the right place, and we will celebrate this unity in just a few minutes, but I want to introduce you to our beloved queen and leader, Orphia Prince. She is the driving force behind our efforts and has saved countless vampire lives from those genocidal maniacs, the werewolves. We owe her gratitude and obedience.”

I felt Vena bristle next to me. I placed a calming hand on her arm.

The man turned on a large screen, and Orphia’s face stared back at us.

“Hello and welcome,” she said, all diplomatic smiles and faux warmth. “I’m so glad you’ve joined us this evening. Vampires need your help. We cannot survive without the support of people like you, so thank you all for being here.

“We have lived in the shadows for so long. The wolves murder our kind without hesitation or motive. Humans fear us because of the lies they have been told. Yes, we consume human blood to live, but we don’t harm our donors. We source our blood ethically, ensuring the safety and wellness of our donors so they're able to donate again in the future.

“Humans have no reason to fear us. It’s all propaganda pushed by the wolves. We’ve been slaves to the fae, always having to find them food but never for ourselves.

“It’s time we end this tyranny. For those who are looking for a sponsor, I applaud you and your bravery. Know that this is a great time to become a vampire because we are close to winning the freedom we deserve. We will show those who dare to oppress us that we are more than the fabled shadows they think we are.

“For those who are here not to convert but to support, I applaud you as well. We need allies like you. Please fight these injustices alongside us.

“In order to fight these injustices, I want you to know who to watch out for. These people have done everything in their power to push us down. They’ve killed countless vampires in brutal mass attacks.”

A slide show of people I knew came on the screen. Cross, Shepard, Anchor, Doc, and…

My face flashed on the screen, along with Vena’s. We looked at each other in wide-eyed panic.

“Sorry about this, Ev,” she said a second before she pulled a pin from the cuff of her shorts and stabbed my leg with it.

I jumped to my feet, calling attention to us. Vena yanked me back to my chair, but it was too late. If we hadn’t been recognized before, we were then. People turned to look, and recognition flashed in their gazes.

“We’re not enemies of anyone,” Vena said, holding up her hands. “We haven’t even finished college yet.”

She sounded so dumb and clueless that it convinced a few. Not the guy on the stage, though.

“Bar the doors!” he yelled.

We watched the drivers run out of the room, and I turned to look at Vena.

“Breathe, Ev,” she said softly. “We’ll be okay.”

An alarm went off. Not the emergency kind but like a timer.

“If you’re here to find a sponsor, please stand,” the man said. “Our benefactors have arrived.”

The side doors, which had been closed, opened suddenly, and people poured in. The first one inhaled deeply, and his eyes went black. He grabbed the first person standing.

“Welcome to the night life,” he said a second before biting into the man’s neck.

The room exploded into chaos as vampires swarmed the people standing and started a frenzied feeding. Those of us sitting remained glued to our chairs in shock.

I was so focused on the spectacle that I was unprepared for the hands that closed around my arms and lifted me out of my seat.

“Orphia wants to speak with you, Everly,” a woman said with manic glee in her voice.

“Fuck you!” Vena yelled, springing to her feet lashing out with her lucky knife.

The woman dropped me and gripped her bleeding arm. Her eyes were pitch black, and the surrounding skin was a web of veins as she looked at my best friend.

“Orphia isn’t interested in you, though.” She opened her mouth, hissing at Vena and showing her teeth a second before she lunged.

Vena dodged and swung out with the knife, again. This time, the woman avoided it and smiled slowly.

People were screaming and crying. The scent of blood laced the air. Panic and fear boiled inside me. Desperately, I scanned the area to find a way to help Vena. Overturned chairs lay scattered everywhere. So I picked one up and hit the woman across the back like I was a professional wrestler.

Unlike a pro, when she turned toward me unaffected, I dropped the chair in fright and held up my hands.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that. Is there any chance I can have a do-over?”

The vampire woman laughed in a cruel and creepy way and slowly shook her head.

“That’s too bad,” I said as Vena took the opportunity to stab her in the back, right into her heart. The woman gasped and stumbled a step with the knife still embedded in her.

Vena dodged around her and grabbed me. She dragged me around feeding vampires and backed me into a wall.

“Didn’t you bleed?” she asked.

I looked down at my thigh where she stuck me and didn’t see anything.

“I don’t know. Aren’t your glasses working?”

“I don’t know.” She pulled a small knife from her bra strap. “We can’t risk it.”

Without another word, my best friend for life nicked me with her blade.

The squeal I made was similar to a pig being led to market. And the reaction of the vampires around us was instantaneous.

Several heads whipped our direction, and all I saw was a sea of black eyes. I grabbed onto Vena’s shirt as she stood in front of me with her tiny, backup blade ready.

Suddenly, the main door burst open, and more people rushed in. The familiar faces of Shepard’s men almost made me cry. They moved fast, peeling off their clothes and shifting into wolves as they began their attack. The other people who rushed in didn't shift but moved just as lethally as the werewolves. They beheaded vampires faster than I thought humanly possible, but not with the blurred speed of an otherworlder.

Then Cross was in front of us, his fangs out as he grasped a vampire by his neck and tossed him like he was a wet towel into the fray. He spun around and grabbed me.

“Where are you hurt?” he asked.

Vena pointed to my neck as she stuck to the wall beside me.

Cross’ mouth was on my skin a moment later, suctioning softly. I wrapped my arms around him and melted into the safety of his embrace as he lightly fed and closed the wound.

“I might kill Hugh later,” he whispered as he hugged me tightly to his chest. “I’m sorry we weren’t here sooner.”

Wrapped in his arms, I didn’t witness the carnage in the room, but I heard it. People’s dying screams echoed around us, and then everything went quiet.

“If you’re human, please stand,” Hugh said.

Cross released me, and we turned to take in what was happening.

As some of the survivors stood, another group of people filtered in. They carried blankets and medical kits and began walking among the bodies scattered on the floor, checking for pulses. Some bodies were headless. Some were heartless. Between them, people were crying and crouched low, covering their heads. The ball cap guy wasn’t one of the survivors. His lifeless eyes stared up at the cobwebbed ceiling.

The angry woman was there, though. She slowly stood with several others. She didn’t look so angry anymore. Her eyes were wide and filled with fear.

“What was that?” she asked in a shaking voice.

“The feeding frenzy you just witnessed, or the werewolves who stopped the vampires from killing more of you?” Cross asked.

“I don’t know,” she burst into tears.

Cross sighed and turned her toward one of the medical people. They were sorting everyone out, dealing with those who were bleeding and giving blankets to those who were falling into shock.

Hugh spoke above the noise. “We can provide medical treatment at no cost to you. You can also refuse treatment. The right is yours. However, everyone must give their statement regarding what happened here once we move you to a safe environment. Please bear with us until then.”

The medical people treated the survivors one by one and escorted them from the scene. Anchor and Shepard joined us as they tugged back on their clothes.

“Are you all right?” Shepard asked.

“Fine.”

“I’m fine too,” Vena said. “Where’s ‘my good job, Vena’ for keeping Everly safe.”

“Good job, Vena,” Cross said as Shepard’s gaze swept over me.

Hugh called Shepard’s name.

“I have her,” Cross said. “Go.”

Shepard gave me one last longing, regret-filled look and jogged away.

A small group of men and women who had infiltrated with the wolves returned. I wasn’t sure where they had gone or who they were. They didn’t wear the DOS uniforms, yet they had swiftly mowed down vampires. I would have suspected they were undercover DOS agents, but they had a unique vibe, almost like they didn’t belong…yet did.

“Who are they?” I asked, pointing to the group.

“Vampire Hunters,” Cross said.

Vena’s expression filled with awe. “They’re here? I want to talk to them.”

She grabbed Anchor’s arm and pulled him over. We followed them across the room, hearing one hunter say, “We cleared the building. There were only a few hanging behind.”

“Thank you,” Hugh said. “Make your escape before news crews invade.”

“Wait,” Vena said to them. “How do you become a vampire hunter? Is there a test?”

“You just have to be quick and a little crazy,” a female hunter said with a laugh. “And good with a knife.”

“That’s me!” Vena said. “I’m in. How do I sign up?”

Anchor groaned when the lady handed Vena a card.

Vena stared at it as if she’d just received a golden ticket.

“Good luck with that,” I said to Anchor.

Hugh stepped over to me. “I’m really sorry we were delayed. I had to make sure everything was by the books, and I needed as much evidence from the glasses cam as possible. We need the world to see Orphia’s deception for what it is. Hopefully, we’ll be able to save more lives.”

“Evidence is great, but what about answers?” Vena asked. “I thought the goal was to come in and ask questions. The guy on the stage was human.”

“Not everything went as well as we’d hoped.” He took the glasses back from Vena. “I’ll be in touch to get each of your statements, but you can go while I deal with this. It’ll take a while.”

I stared after him in disbelief as he walked away, and my gaze again caught on the pancreatic cancer man. My whole body started to shake with residual adrenaline and anger. Yet, the need to cry burned my eyes.

“Everly, look at me.”

My gaze found Cross’.

“Tell me what you need,” he said tenderly.

“To leave quickly.”

He took my hand, and as we headed out at a hurried human speed, I saw personnel walking in with armfuls of empty body bags.

How many lives could have been saved if things had happened differently? If people had shown up sooner? If they’d taken at least one of Orphia’s people alive?

Outside, we veered to the bus to grab our phones, which were still in the box. Some of the other people had already claimed theirs. I glanced at the phones left as Cross grabbed mine and saw the lifeless bodies in my mind again.

A van with a city news station logo on it pulled in. A reporter and camera person hurried out, and Cross and Anchor steered us toward the vehicles.

“Wait. Can I interview you?” one of them called to us.

I shook my head as Vena said, “Sure.”

A man put a heavy camera on his shoulder and nodded to the reporter.

“What happened in there?” the reporter asked Vena as Cross continued to lead me to the SUV.

“What about Vena?”

“Anchor has her.”

Behind us, Vena said, “Vampires just slaughtered people who were there to support them. No hesitation. No consent given. That’s all I have to say.”

“Wait,” the reporter said. “Where are the vampires? Tell me more about what you witnessed.”

I glanced back and saw Anchor and Vena moving toward his car and Shepard jogging our way. The camera person filming the reporter caught sight of Shepard and did a double-take.

Cross helped me into the backseat and looked up at Shepard.

“If you’re in back, you’re focused on her,” he said.

Shepard nodded and got in next to me. My shaking grew more pronounced as he wrapped his arms around me and kissed my temple. I felt Cross’ gaze on me as he drove and knew they were both worried about me. I wasn’t acting like I usually did. No complete meltdown this time. What did that say about my life? Too much was happening.

I tried to tell myself the trauma of the night hadn’t been for nothing…that even though we hadn’t caught Orphia or any of her people, we had footage that should stop her from luring in more innocent people. At least for a little while.

Still, the images from tonight would run on a loop in my mind for a long time, along with the sounds of the screams and cries.

I shivered.

“We’re almost home,” Shepard said.

Home wouldn’t fix what was wrong, but it was a haven I needed to regroup. When we finally arrived, I headed for the shower and stripped off my blood-stained shirt. I was pretty sure it was splatter from vampires hitting arteries on victims.

I shivered again.

Cross followed me, turning on the water for me. His gaze swept over me as I washed.

“Want me to join you?” he asked.

I nodded.

A second later, he was behind me, naked and rubbing his hands over my back.

“What happened tonight?” I asked.

“Hugh was being cautious. He kept the team back until the meeting started, worried that the incoming vampires would scent the werewolves. He didn’t want to tip them off.”

Cross let out a heavy breath. “Even though my scent would have blended with theirs, he asked me to stay back as well because I’m too recognizable.”

He grabbed a scrubby and soaped it up.

“When your identities were revealed, we rushed the building, but those precious seconds gave them the advantage. My heart stopped beating when you bled the second time. I thought?—”

His arms wrapped around me from behind. The hold wasn’t sexual. It was desperate.

Turning in his arms, I met his dark gaze.

“I would have killed everyone in that room if anything had happened to you.”

I believed him. The webbing around his eyes was the darkest I’d ever seen.

“Nothing happened. I’m here. I’m fine. Shaken up. Angry we didn’t get what we needed after all that risk, but fine.”

He kissed me gently as the bathroom door opened, and Shepard walked in without a stitch of clothing.

Seeing them both naked at the same time sent a little jolt of panic through me.

“Is there room for one more?” he asked.

“I knew your aversion to Shross was just a front,” Cross teased, his anger bleeding away from his expression as his sexy smile appeared. “Don’t worry, Everly. Despite the kiss I gave him, he’s not my type. I think it got him curious about what I have to offer, though, since I’ve seen what he has to offer you. First impression was that it wasn’t much, by the way.”

“It was cold the morning you stole my towel at the Hunter’s house,” Shepard said. “And I’m not here to look at you.”

“So you claim. I’ll save you the trouble and embarrassment. You have a pinch more girth, and I have a smidge more length. Otherwise, we’re fairly evenly matched.”

“I’m not looking at you. Get out. It’s my turn.” His gaze locked with mine, softening.

“What? No cleaning train?” Cross asked with a laugh.

He kissed my shoulder and strutted past Shepard with a grin. Shepard’s soft growl didn’t stop until Cross wrapped a towel around his waist and disappeared from the bathroom.

“It’s more than a pinch,” he muttered as he joined me.

I grinned, grateful for and loving their distracting banter, even as Shepard grumbled about Cross’ poor eyesight.

When I finished helping Shepard wash his back, he wrapped me in a towel and carried me to the bedroom where Cross was waiting. He already wore the shorts he favored for “sleeping” with me. I climbed into bed and surrendered my towel while Shepard put on a pair of shorts as well.

“That blank wall needs something,” Cross said as his arms wrapped around me from behind. “Something soothing. Something to inspire a good night’s sleep.”

As Shepard set his arm over my waist and kissed my forehead, I hummed my agreement.

Cross had impeccable taste. Whatever he chose would be beautiful.