Page 116 of Taste of Blood

“And I don’t want to die,” Zeke snaps back.

I drop my axe and pull out my knife, slipping up behind the third vamp while he’s focused on Zeke.

“Nighty night, asshole.” I reach the blade around his neck and slice his throat from ear to ear. It’ll only weaken him, but that’s all Zeke needs.

“Thanks,” he says as he chokes up on the pipe and finishes the job the knife started. The vamp’s head rips clear of his shoulders and lands in the street, barely missing a parked car before it rolls into the gutter.

Zeke glances around at the other two then back up the street toward our guys. “Don’t just stand there, shoot ‘em.”

“Thought they were dead,” TJ says.

“Let’s make sure.”

A bolt to the neck of each of them takes care of that problem. “Anyone else?” Zeke asks the guy on the roof.

“Negative. Streets are clear.”

I look around. There’s no foot traffic right now but there are still cars passing by. “We can’t leave these guys here.”

Zeke pulls out the keys and tosses them to Eddie. “You two go get the van. Watch your back.”

While we wait for them to come back we drag the bodies into the alley and recover the head from the gutter.

“Let’s check their pockets,” I say, digging into the first vamp’s jacket. I find a wallet and a cell phone in his pants. I check for ID and find a Pennsylvania driver’s license.

“Sean Riddick from Pittsburgh.” Has to be fake since the birthday puts him at twenty-three years old. Unless he was just transitioned, he has to be older than that.

Zeke checks the decapitated body and finds another cell phone and ID, this one from New Jersey. The third guy is only carrying a burner phone, no wallet or ID.

“At least they’re not Dante’s,” he says as he pockets the cache.

“He’s pulling them from outside the city.”

I think back to what I know about Thalium. Rich businessman, multiple companies. Probably travels quite a bit, which would give him access to a variety of Clansmen. How is he finding the ones with the skills he requires, and what is he using to recruit them?

“How deep does this go?” Zeke murmurs, echoing my own thoughts.

“And how long has he been at it?”

Eddie pulls the van up to the alley and jumps out to help us load the bodies. “What do you want to do with them?” he asks when we’re done.

“Take them to the burn site and dispose of them then come back and park in this alley,” Zeke tells him.

“What are you guys going to do?”

Zeke glances at me then up at the roof. “I think we need a bird’s eye view of this area.”

I nod and look around for an access point. The building next to us has a fire escape that leads straight to the roof. “There,” I say, pointing up.

“Go,” Zeke tells Eddie, then he and I cross the alley and climb the ladder.

We’re on the roof of the building across from where our other guys are, giving us a commanding view of the streets surrounding the bar.

And now we wait.

I pass the time taking inventory of everything I know about this guy.

He’s got the pull to find and recruit Clansmen from cities throughout the area. Who knows, maybe the whole country.