He stabbed a fat finger at the entrance. “Three humans are shooting darts at vamps like they’re target practice. I’m not hanging around to find out what’s in those suckers, especially if it’s some endotoxin. That shit might not be able to kill some of the elite military vamps, but I’m just a lowlife.”
My slow vampire pulse ramped up to a hundred beats per minute in less than a second. I didn’t have time to question him about how he knew of the endotoxin. That was top-secret government info, but we had our own dark web where info could be found.
If those darts were filled with the endotoxin, then the correct dose could kill any vampire. Even as one of the military elites he’d referred to, I wasn’t immune. But I wasn’t worried about myself. Ben was in more danger since he was part human.
I started to run towards the club when the heavyset dude caught my arm. “Don’t go in there if you want to live.”
“They’re human,” I said. “Surely, a vampire can take them out.”
He laughed, walking away. “It’s your life.”
2
SAM
Iwas met with ghostly silence as I entered, almost tripping over the bouncer, who was out cold. I could still hear his heartbeat, so he wasn’t dead.
“Olivia, Kraft, we have a problem,” I said into my comm. “The humans are shooting darts filled with some type of drug. Kraft, stay put and detain whoever exits the building. Olivia, get down here and guard the front entrance.”
Both returned with “copy that.”
I pulled out a leather strap from the side pocket of my cargo pants and tied my black hair back into a low ponytail. Then I jogged down the long hallway. The smell of stale beer co-mingled with the humans’ sweet fragrance. My gums throbbed. The thirst for blood was stronger than ever as adrenaline coursed through me at warp speed.
I slowed as I approached the doorway leading into the main part of the club.
“You don’t know what you’re getting into.” Ben’s voice trickled out into the hall, but I couldn’t see him yet.
“Shut up, or I’ll gut you like a fish,” one of the female humans replied.
I stepped off to the side of the doorway to get a glimpse of what I was dealing with. Vampires were passed out on the floor or slumped over tables, and the shorter brunette was pointing a gun at the back of someone’s head who I couldn’t see from where I stood.
I opened up a telepathic connection.Ben, what are we up against?
The three women have dart guns filled with a drug that shuts down limbs and knocks you out. The two brunettes have Roman at gunpoint. He’s not passing out like the other vamps. Not sure why. The redhead who seems to be the leader has a needle primed and ready to jab in my neck,Ben responded.
Is Roman the only vamp awake?I relayed to Ben.
Yep. The bartender is out behind the bar. The owner of the club, Jose, is also slumped over at Roman’s table.
What the fuck do they want?
You, man,Ben replied.
What the fuck do humans want with me?It was a rhetorical question, and the only answer that came to mind was that it had to do with the CIA.
Granted, there were a handful of top human officials high up in the chain of command who knew of our existence. The Council of Elders worked with the human government to keep chaos from erupting. I doubted those humans were behind this. They knew their lives were on the line as well as their families’ if they so much as whispered the word “vampire” to anyone.
The CIA wasn’t one of those groups. However, we’d had a run-in with two CIA agents who had teamed up with our enemy five years ago. But their knowledge of vampires had been erased from their memories.
A popping sound followed by a grunt severed my thoughts.
“Motherfucker. What’s in these darts? Has to be cobalt because my skin is burning from the inside out.” Roman sounded like he was in pain. That had to be him talking since he was the only vampire not comatose.
“Why isn’t he passing out?” one of the women asked with panic evident in her tone.
Roman laughed, evil and murderous. “When I get out of this, you three ladies are dead meat,” he grunted. “What the fuck do you want anyway?”
“Sam Mason,” Red said, “who I suspect is listening to us.” Her airy tone sounded like a siren’s call luring me home on a foggy night.
