Page 72 of Taste of Blood

Interesting. “How many dead?”

“Six donors. Five more in the hospital. Dante’s running damage control with the police.”

So the Python is making his move. I wonder if Elaine caught any chatter about this. She hasn’t reached out to me, but she might’ve gotten busy. Who knows what kind of fuckery Asher has her up to for him.

“Any activity around the warehouse we’re watching?”

“Just some guy who left this afternoon,” Zeke offers. “We had two men out on the street who followed him, but he just went to a bar. Been there ever since.”

“What’s the name of the bar?” I ask. I don’t know why, just something niggling at me.

“O’Hara’s. You know it?”

I nod. “I used to hang out there.” Like last week. I’d like to get a look at this guy, but I doubt Gio would let me run off on a scouting mission right now. Especially since they’re starting to load the vans to head out.

Once again I’m paired with Zeke, along with four other men who climb in the back. Unlike last night, this is a full-on assault, with six vans full of men and weapons. Dante arrives as we’re getting ready to leave, and he and his guards take Uno in his Escalade to bring up the rear.

“You ready for this?” Zeke asks as he maneuvers us through traffic to get to the target. We’re taking point on this, so the other vehicles are following behind.

I finger the knife in my pocket and give him a grim smile. “Yeah. Let’s fuck these shitheads up.”

We park a block behind the building so we can approach from its blind side. Gio had sent two guys ahead to disable the cameras and security feeds, and one of them, Russell, calls out the go signal to us a few minutes after we arrive.

“I made a ten minute loop to get you inside,” he says. “The door lock is disabled.”

“Okay, people, let’s do this,” Zeke says. “Everyone remember your positions.”

We slip around the corner of the building and make our way to the side door. As promised, it opens with just a turn of the knob.

It’s almost completely dark inside, the only light coming from the reflection of a streetlight shining through a dirty window high on the back wall. Luckily vamps can see well enough in low light.

Zeke indicates for us to fan out and I follow him around the west side perimeter of the room. We find a line of cages along the wall, with dirty blankets on the floor and the leftover remnants of meals scattered around, but no occupants.

We head toward the back, where we encounter a stack of crates. I recall the one we saw delivered last night and pry a loose board off the top of the first one, hoping to find some evidence of what they’re doing here.

Empty.

The next three are just the same.

“What the fuck?” Zeke mutters.

“Empty cages, empty crates. If there was someone here, I’m guessing they’re long gone by now.”

“How? We only saw the one guy leave.”

Two of the other men join us, reporting the same thing. No sign of life anywhere.

“What’s going on in there?” Dante calls over the comms.

Zeke glances at me before reporting. “There’s no one here.”

“What do you mean, there’s no one there?”

“There’s signs they were here, but they’re gone now.”

The side door opens and Dante storms in with his guards, followed by Gio and Joshua. We meet them at the front of the space.

“How is that possible?” Dante demands. “We’ve been watching this place all day.”