I looked back as we scuttled up the hill’s patchy, dying grass. “That was all true, I give you my word. Now stay close and keep an eye out. Seriously, this time.” I clicked off the flashlight, so as not to give away my approach, and handed it to Serenity.
“Damn, it’s heavy. You could brain someone with this,” she said, grasping the light like a club.
“That’s exactly what you do if any creep sneaks up on us from behind.”
She gulped but nodded, and we continued up the hill. I trained my gun on the old lab’s nearest door, my jaguar raging, snarling to get out and kill anyone deserving, before they dared to do any harm to his mate.
The scream rang out again and I charged fast toward the old lab with Serenity in close pursuit.
Goddamnit, I should’ve just taken her to Moonbucks.
Serenity
Istood behind Dagger at the old lab’s side door, clutching my flashlight turned club while my heart thumped in my ears. He took out a little metal gadget, wiggled it around inside the lock until it clicked, and carefully creaked the door open a couple of inches. Hearing raised voices, we both peeked in, not knowing what danger might await.
One look, and my ears whined, body shutting down as cold shock doused my system.
Across a broad kitchen and hallway, standing in the middle of a shadowy living room were the last two monsters I’d have wanted to meet on a dark night: Conrad and Armand.
Slumped on the filthy floorboards between them was a young girl of around fourteen or fifteen, clothed in lilac pajamas and matching socks. Apart from the crimson blotched and dribbling down her neck, her skin was pale as bone, and her lifeless green eyes stared into infinity. Pointed ears and shining blonde hair said she was a Fae, and she’d been a beautiful one too.
My lungs expelled quivering breaths in frantic bursts. Quailed by an invasion of evil memories, I clung to Dagger like a life raft, hoping he was as tough as he looked.
“You greedy bastard!” Conrad was hissing to Armand. “I said you could have the first taste, not drain her dry. What’s left for me, eh? I’ve been down there slaving all day and night, making sure it’s all running like clockwork, and you’re having a non-stop party, fucking around like this is all a joke.”
With his shoulder-length umber hair and hazel eyes, Armand had movie star looks—and the morals of a crocodile. He turned on the conciliatory charm with a celebrity smile. “Would you relax? I was parched. If you have a hankering for a Fae, I’ll just have a prowl round one of the rich neighborhoods and snatch another out of bed. It’s easy.” He dipped his head to address the corpse. “Isn’t that right, sweetheart?” He bent down and grasped the Fae girl’s limp head by the hair. Putting on a mock female voice, he shook her jaw up and down and said, “Well, that’s what he did with me, and that worked a treat. Now I haven’t a worry in the world. Gee, thanks Armand.”
Armand’s macabre ventriloquism turned Conrad’s scowl into a cackling grin. “Ha! You’re a regular impressionist.” His smile reformed back into stone as he pointed to another door toward the back. “Now go out and get another one. Something exotic I can really sink my teeth into. And if you even have a nibble on the next one, so help me…”
Armand shrugged. “Exotic? The Fae viscountess was hard enough to find, but okay I’ll try my best. Was there anything else?”
The two horrors’ conversation turned to boxes and shipments, and they both stood with their backs to us as they confirmed weights, numbers and times.
Dagger was nodding, seeming to make mental notes of the shipment details as he muttered under his breath. “Killing kids. Motherfuckers. That’s that Conrad, fucker, isn’t it?” he asked. “Didn’t get the best look at him.”
“Yes,” I breathed. “The guy with him is Armand, the other one I told you about.” Nauseous with fear, I yanked hard on Dagger’s sleeve. He closed the door carefully, and as he turned toward me, I grasped his leather jacket, tugging myself closer and bolting my gaze onto his. “You asked me on the way here if I trusted you, right? I don’t know why, but I do. Do you trust me?”
He nodded. “I do. With all my heart. What is it? Tell me quickly.”
I returned the nod. “I’ve personally seen those twothingsin there murder, torture and abuse children, countless times. God knows how many victims there are. You can’t let them get away.”
Scowling, he raised his gun to waist level, still pointing the barrel downward. “They ain’t going anywhere. Now, stay as close as you can”—he opened the door a couple of feet, lowering his voice to a whisper—“we’re gonna bag some trash.”
Wham! Dagger ripped the rotten door off its hinges with shocking ease and stormed into the house, shouting, “Police! Move and I’ll blow your fuckin’ heads off!”
I followed in quickstep, hiding behind Dagger’s broad frame, hoping neither of those cockroaches would notice me.
Dagger continued to bellow orders, with his pistol trained straight at Conrad’s face. “Put your hands behind your head and walk toward me slowly.”
I stole a peek beneath Dagger’s raised arm. Conrad obliged Dagger’s order, but a grin spread across his face, flashing fangs in a look that made my neck throb with remembered pain. Dread twisted my gut. Something wasn’t right.
“Okay, now down on your knee—”
Conrad disappeared into thin air. I’d seen a couple of vamps perform feats of speed they called “blurs” in the feeding den, but this was different. He literally vanished on the fucking spot.
Armand smirked and shrugged, his hands still up behind his head. “Still, cuts the paperwork in half, doesn’t it?”
Dagger must have been as shocked as me because he made no retort. My mouth was agape as I heard footsteps hurriedly croaking down the wooden stairs to the old wine cellar under the house. I could hear Conrad screeching orders, clattering metal and the repeated smashing of glass.
