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CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

ZAND

T eresa’s smoldering remains made small smoke clouds a few feet away. We needed to leave Belmont Harbor before law enforcement showed. Natasha appeared through the darkness. She was walking up to us from a grassy path of the harbor. She was alone, and I was alarmed. Where was Donté?

“Sorry King. Lonzo got away.”

“What happened?” I needed details.

She explained. “We chased him down Lake Shore Drive, going south. But the barrage of traffic made capture too difficult. We lost sight of him near the Shedd Aquarium. I made the decision for us to split up to cover more ground.”

“Where is my son?”

“I’m not sure, King. I went east toward the Adler Planetarium and Donté went west, in the direction of the Field Museum. After I made it to Northerly Island, I texted Donté, and he didn’t respond. I didn’t spot Lonzo, and I came back here to you.”

I was quiet, thinking. “Can you track his phone?” I asked.

My phone vibrated against my thigh. I reached for my cell. The text message preview made my vampire heart tighten with something I hadn’t felt in decades. There was urgency combined with hope. Donté, my son, had found Lonzo.

I swiped to open the text, and my eyes scanned the message from my son.

SON

Found Lonzo. Soldier Field North Garage. Level 3. Looks injured. Will keep eyes on him.

The second message arrived immediately after.

SON

Hurry.

OTW

I texted back.

“King.” Natasha called to me. “It’s a group text.”

Donté was smart enough to include Natasha in the text to me. The timer had started to tick. I turned toward my remaining team. They all stood silently watching Teresa’s ashes scatter across the lakeshore. My gaze found Morgan and Harlen first. The duo was still vibrating with the rush of vengeance.

“Harlen, Morgan, collect what remains of Teresa. Every ash, every ember. I want nothing left. Hurry.” My voice was eager and intentional. “Put her remains in the containment vessel. I’ll decide what to do with them later.”

Morgan’s eyebrows lifted slightly, but she didn’t question my order. Harlen soon returned from my Jeep with the specialized vacuum equipment we brought for just this purpose. The captured vampires were already on the highway with Marco and my men.

“Josh.” I continued. “I have a line on Lonzo’s whereabouts.”

Josh, ever stoic, inclined his head in acknowledgment. “And Ms. Taylor?” He asked.

Chanel stood slightly apart from the group. Her arms wrapped around herself against the chill in the air.

“You take her home first. You can meet us la—” I began.

“No.” Chanel interrupted. The single syllable boomed with authority. She took a step forward and her eyes met mine. “I’m coming with you.”

Josh shifted uncomfortably, looking between us.

My jaw tightened. Sunrise was only a few hours away.

I didn’t know how long it would take us to find, chase, and eliminate Lonzo.

He had a personal vendetta against Chanel.

Every instinct screamed to send her home, to protect her from what would happened next.

But I had learned enough about my fiancée to recognize the futility of arguing against her determination.

“Chanel.” I said, keeping my voice low as I stepped closer to her. “This isn’t over yet. Lonzo is dangerous, more so now that he is a vampire.”

“I know exactly what he is.” She replied. “I was there when he tried to kill me the first time, remember?” She sassed me. “I want to see this through to the end. I want to watch him burn, just like his sister.”

Her words didn’t disturb me. Her need to embrace the violence and her thirst for retribution was sexy. I felt a surge of pride. She was becoming more than my fiancée. She was becoming my queen.

“Fine.” I conceded, reaching for her hand. “You follow every instruction without question or hesitation. Understood?”

Her fingers intertwined with mine. “Understood.”

I turned back to my team, issuing rapid-fire orders. “Natasha and Josh, you’re with me. Harlen and Morgan follow us in the Jeep. Donté has spotted Lonzo at Soldier Field.”

My phone buzzed again. Another text from Donté.

SON

Got my eye on him. Blood on his clothes.

I gestured toward my SUV, and Natasha immediately moved to the passenger seat while I guided Chanel to the backseat. Josh jumped into his role as driver. As both vehicles rumbled to life, I added Josh and Harlen to the text chain with Donté, ensuring everyone receives the same real-time updates.

“Go.” I instructed. “Soldier Field North Garage. Hurry.”

The SUV lurched into motion. The run-flat tires sprayed gravel as we accelerated away from the harbor. In the rearview mirror, I watched Harlen and Morgan follow us as we merged onto Lake Shore Drive.

Chanel sat beside me in the back seat. Her posture was rigid with tension. She was twisting her engagement ring on her finger. I reached over to touch her hand briefly.

“Don’t worry. We’ll get him this time.” I assured her.

“I’m not worried. I just want that muthafucka dead.” She turned from looking out the passenger side window to look at me.

Another text from Donté illuminated my phone: He’s pacing near the northeast elevators.

Natasha immediately pulled up a schematic of the garage on her cell phone and showed it to me in the backseat. “Three entry points to that level.” She murmured. “We need to cover them all.”

“Josh can guard the Eastern entrance right outside the garage on Special Olympics Drive.” I decided.

“You and I will approach from the North on E McFetridge Drive. Harlen and Morgan can go inside the main entrance where Josh is parked and move in from there. With Donté’s location, we will just move in toward him until we spot him or Lonzo. ”

“And me?” Chanel asked.

“You stay with me.” I told her. I wanted her to stay with Josh, but I also didn’t want to argue with her. Chanel wasn’t like us, a vampire. We could move so much faster and cover so much more ground. Natasha and I were going to have to adjust having a human with us.

“Text the plans to Harlen.” I ordered Natasha to do. “And tell them to wear face masks. There are cameras everywhere.”

The city flashed by outside our windows.

Early morning Chicago was mostly asleep.

Chicagoans were unaware of the vampire hunt unfolding in their midst. The winding road that was Lake Shore Drive made it hard to speed.

The highest speed was 45mph and Josh could only drive ten or fifteen over the limit to get us there in five to eight minutes without the vehicle ending up overturned or worse, somewhere in the lake.

The massive structure of Soldier Field loomed ahead. Its stone facade was pale in the darkness of night. My phone buzzed continuously with brief updates from Donté, each one confirming that our prey remained within the concrete maze of the North Garage.

Our latest intel stated that Lonzo had moved from the elevators to level 1A, which was actually below ground.

I thought that maybe Lonzo had gotten ahold of Donté’s cell phone.

I quickly dismissed this theory, noticing the jargon sounded exactly like my son.

These messages were written in his voice.

When we arrived, I instructed Josh to drop us off at the Field Museum. Josh and Harlen drove to the main entrance of the garage and parked two hundred yards from the entrance. Josh would be close enough to observe, but far enough to not be immediately detected.

All my security knew to shield our license plate numbers when we were doing anything humans considered illegal.

Breaking into a city parking structure was on that list. Having a button in all my vehicles that automatically concealed our state issued license plates was a plus.

Natasha even had a device that could scramble and sometimes wipe out the CCTV live surveillance cameras.

We came prepared. We lived to shield our true selves from the world.

Already masked in ski masks, Natasha, Chanel, and I walked up the sidewalk that connected the Field Museum to the Soldier Field.

“I’ll scout ahead.” Natasha said with her hand already resting on her Cripo Glock. It was a good idea. She knew Chanel would slow us down.

I nodded. “Go. We’ll follow.”

Natasha disappeared with vampire speed. She turned left into the vestibule that housed the stairwell and elevators of the garage. With my enhanced hearing, I could tell Natasha took the stairs. A good choice for a sneak approach.

Chanel and I were going to take the elevator now that Lonzo was currently on level 1.

We were standing at the elevator on the ground level, which was level 4, when the doors opened.

The North garage was an enormous underground structure.

Our advantage was there shouldn’t be any cars inside the garage.

The North garage didn’t have overnight parking.

While inside the elevator, we stood side by side. I could see Chanel’s alert brown eyes through her mask. She didn’t have noticeable fear in them, and that was a good thing.

“I’ve never been to a Chicago Bears game.” She whispered, attempting to lighten the mood.

“I’ll be sure to take you to one.” I muttered back, helping with the mood alteration.

When the doors opened for us to exit on level 4, I said. “Stay close to me.”

We stepped out into a garage that swallowed us with its cheap lighting and emptiness.

Level 1 of the garage was a maze of concrete pillars and plastic wall signs.

We were standing in level 1B. We needed to head over to 1A.

I guided Chanel to the right. The arrowed sign told me I was headed in the right direction.

I moved stealthily, with Chanel following closely behind me.

Unexpectedly, a shadowy figure detached itself from behind a concrete column thirty feet ahead of us.

Fuck! Lonzo stood motionless. His newly transformed vampire body was unnaturally still.

He watched us with eyes that blazed with recognition and pure hatred.

He had bloodstains on the front of his opened shirt, exposing his colorful skull tattoos. Was it his blood or someone else’s?

My Cripo Glock was in my hand before a conscious thought registered.

The gun draw was so swift, Chanel flinched beside me.

I aimed directly at Lonzo’s chest, where the paralytic serum would surely hit and spread most efficiently through his transformed circulatory system.

I didn’t take the shot. Missing would mean he could escape again. I needed to be closer to him.

“Well, well, well.” Lonzo’s voice carried a resonance all vampires possessed. “The great Alexander Valentine. Coming to finish what you started, huh? Too bad it didn’t take the first time.”

He remained perfectly still, making no move to attack or flee. I recognized his stance. It was just the same as the one he took when we were back in Chanel’s apartment.

“This doesn’t have to be difficult, Lonzo.” I warned.

“Put the gun down, you fuckin’ coward.” He taunted.

“You’re outmatched and outnumbered.”

A sinister sneer spread across his face, revealing his fangs. “I don’t see anyone but you, and that human snitch.”

“I don’t know what Teresa told you, but I roll with an army.”

“Hey ese, I’m not alone either. Teresa taught me a few things before you killed her. Things about your weaknesses.” His gaze shifted to Chanel and his expression turned vicious. “Like how you’d risk everything for este perra negra (this Black bitch) who ruined my life.”

Beside me, Chanel stiffened but didn’t flinch at his crude remark. You didn’t have to be fluent in Spanish to figure out what he was saying. I edged slightly in front of her. My posture shifted to better shield her body with mine. Where the fuck were my people?

“Watch your mouth.” I warned, with my finger tightening on the trigger. “Or I’ll end this conversation right now.”

Lonzo laughed, and the sound echoed unnaturally off the concrete walls.

“With that fancy gun? Why don’t you fight me like a man?

” He spread his arms wide, inviting confrontation.

“Or are you afraid I might be stronger than you? I know I’m faster than you.

I outran that Russian bitch and that skinny Black boy. Who said Mexicans weren’t fast?”

“Lucky once doesn’t mean lucky always.” I replied dismissively. “You barely understand what you’ve become.”

His face contorted with rage. “What I’ve become?

I’m superhuman. I’m a fuckin’ supervillain because of her!

” He jabbed a finger toward Chanel. “Did I say thank you? I would’ve let it all go.

I would’ve lived forever as a vampire, but you killed Marisol.

My sister’s dead because of you. Teresa told me all about it. ”

“Teresa lied if she told you I killed your sister.” I sneered.

“Chanel, baby girl, you’re with this fuckin’ punk. He won’t even claim his bodies.” Lonzo addressed Chanel instead of me. He didn’t faze my future queen.

Chanel exhaled. “Lonzo, I killed your sister.” Her voice boldly came from behind me. “It was me. I did it.”

“She’s right.” I goaded him. “I merely provided the opportunity.” I said, trying to get him to make a move.

Lonzo’s eyes enlarged and darted from me to Chanel. He was in disbelief. I could see it.

“That’s right.” Chanel said, stepping slightly to the side to face him directly. “I watched her burn. I even asked for her ashes as a souvenir.” Her voice didn’t waver or break. It carried the weight of absolute conviction. Then she pulled her ski mask up revealing her entire face to him.

This was my soulmate.