“I’m guessing you have a reason for getting us back here alone, other than you wanting to take a sip, which would be inadvisable,” she warned again.
“I smell blood from the house. A great deal of fresh blood.”
“Damn it. You shoulda told me that right off,” she stated, sounding pissed. The tone of a woman quietly furious. The tone of a commander holding in rage.
EJ was betting she had been active duty in the war.
“Yes. I would have, except the null sheathing in the walls kept me from scenting properly,” he lied, to keep Rocas from knowing about the queen’s people in the security system. “Icaught only a faint hint. The breeze changed direction and brought the scent from the back of the house. Now I smell it quite well.”
He added, “Too well.So much lovely blood.”
That meant it was fresh. Very fresh.
Rocas spoke into her comms, saying, “Vampire IC claims there’s blood inside the house. Request backup. Vampire and I are at the rear of the house. No visible unsubs present.”
The reply was muted by her ear-patch. A military patch, end-of-war or postwar. Something she had either paid for herself or taken with her from military service. EJ was betting on the latter.
“Affirmative,” she said. “Copy that.”
Walter said, “I heard a moan. I believe that someone may still be alive inside.”
Rocas turned to be picked up by the hidden cam in the headgear. “How many? How many wounded? How many DBs?” DBs meant “dead bodies.” These were questions a warrior in the Witch War would have asked.
The war he had signed up for when he was sixteen, when the Rus witch clan—all male, some vampires—had called EEBs from another dimension, and used them to attack the vampires of Europe, and then the humans. It had been four bloody, possession-ridden years of horror.
EJ looked at the rookie. Scared shitless. No help in a fight. Kid would piss his pants if he saw someone who was demon-ridden.
The sound of Walter inhaling, little snorting puffs of air, ended with his lungs deeply filled, the sound distinct over comms. “The blood of two humans, one still bleeding, one freshly dead. Perhaps one other human, not bleeding. Silent but alive. Mithrans have been here, but their scents are buried beneath the blood.”
“Two potential human vics,” Rocas said into her mic. “Multiple potential unsubs. Unknown Mithrans have been on-site, may still be on-site. We are at the back door.”
EJ saw what Walter did through his cam, as they each peeked through the door’s window.
Rocas whispered, “Mother of God.” Into her mic she said, “There’s blood on the floor in the kitchen. One vic in sight, potentially still alive. Exigent circumstances. Medic and woo-woo backup requested. Yes, sir. Affirmative.”
Her tone changed in EJ’s headgear. “Officer Stevens.”
“Yes, sir,” the rookie said.
“Ring the front bell. If the door is unlocked, and appears safe to the witch, enter the premises. Announce yourself and secure the entrance. You and the witch are to remain at the entrance. Do not further enter the house until I’ve cleared it.”
“Yes, sir.”
EJ didn’t disagree with the orders, despite the fact that the rookie had no idea how to handle whatever this was. Stevens pulled his weapon and took off in a crouched run. EJ followed, his own weapons at the ready.
Rocas said, “You. Walter. Can you locate the unsubs and the others by scent?”
“Yessss,” he said, the word hissing as it passed between his fangs.
Blood to a vamp was like food to a starving man. And their protector hadn’t fed enough for battle.
“Stay behind me,” Rocas said.
EJ shadowed the kid, covering their six and both sides, because the kid didn’t. He also followed Rocas on the screen. She opened the door.
Walter was much faster than the sergeant, much more likely to survive a bomb or a shooter or even a magical attack thanshe was. He might be caught up in blood-scent, but according to his cam, he was still thinking rationally, still in control. He positioned himself so he could grab Rocas and throw her to the side if there was danger.
EJ moved left of the kid. They stepped onto the sidewalk.
