“The same person who taught my tongue to do that move between your—”
“Oh no, no, no, no. We are not talking about your sexy times with my sister when I’m standing right here. We’ve got a monster to kill.” Romi walked out the door huffing and puffing. “Get it together, vampires.”
She tapped her foot impatiently.
Chapter Forty- Nine
Tatsou
I moved through the shadows of the building and searched for hidden soldiers. I found two idiots who didn’t have the chance to hiss before I ripped out their beating hearts. Kano didn’t want an army that could possibly defeat him, so he turned his people into just-barely vampires, forced to hide in the shadows where the real monsters liked to play, where I played. Angel said there would be more, but he must have lied. I’d enjoy torturing him later.
Enric used his charm to enter the building through the door. Asta would stay outside the building to fight anyone off. Rei and Romi sat in an office across the street. She’d be our eyes and ears. The goal was to act as humanly as possible to not risk exposing our kind. I’d always been against the masses knowing about us. I liked peace and privacy. Once the public knew vampires lurked in every city, there’d be panic. With panic came meaningless destruction.
Kat, Eleanor, and I would find the crime lord and take him down. The plan appeared easy enough. I’d executed much harder missions in the past. However, I usually worked alone, and there were no vampire guards.
About thirty minutes after we positioned ourselves, three black SUVs pulled up with a silver sports car in the middle. Kano Sakura had arrived. Three guards stepped out of their vehicles to walk around him while the other cars sped off suspiciously.
“Lan, follow them,” I instructed via the ear communicators Romi had given us. A well-connected team was an effective team. I watched Lan follow the cars from the windows and heard as Kano entered the building.
“Time to kill your father.” I looked at Kat, dressed in an outfit made for a runway and not battle. I shook my head and masked my emotions. Kat was nearly indestructible, but her tiny percent of vulnerability frightened me. She wasn’t a warrior. She had practiced fighting techniques for a few days, but she was still Kat. My little flower.
“I’ll be fine. You’re going to ruin that perfect face if you keep scrunching it up like that.” She leaned up to kiss me, and I gripped her to me longer. We parted ways once her father made it past security and a male escorted him to the elevators. I nodded once, and the ladies took their positions. My body blended into the shadow of a column, and I waited to strike. I’d rip his head from his body before he took his first step out of the elevator.
“Ding.” The sound of the doors opening signaled our strike.
I released my shadows into the small space and released the ninjato blade from its sheath. One powerful swipe coursed through the shadows and met no resistance. In fact, the blade sliced through nothing but air.
The door to the emergency stairs flew off its hinges as vampires ran into the room, teeth bared.
“Tatsou! Find him, we’ll take care of this,” Eleanor yelled, as she dropped from the ceiling where she’d hidden. Three vampires jumped like raptors to overtake her, but she was faster.
“Go!” Kat yelled as she used the techniques I had showed her to incapacitate two males.
I jumped into the nearest shadow and searched for the sound of Kano’s voice. He was good about keeping silent but someone in the building would eventually give him away. I followed the shadows to the Prime Minister’s office and opened the door. The man sat in his chair looking at the papers on his desk like nothing exciting was happening a floor below him.
“If you’re here to save or kill me, you’re already too late.” He placed his hands on the desk as his head lifted up.
“Where is Kano Sakura?” I growled and the man’s eyes darted behind me. I whirled around, blade in hand to slice Kano’s throat but my body froze. The evil crime lord stood in his pressed suit with a smirk.
“Funny how vampire powers manifest. I thought I’d become a typical vampire, but I am stronger, thanks to you being my maker. However, my intentions were to gain power and become the most feared. This power chose me, and with it . . .”
He lifted his hands, and my hand dropped the blade. My teeth clenched as I fought the power he had over my body. He flicked his wrists, and his hands moved up like a puppet master. My hands followed like they were at the end of his strings. Fuck. I’d forgotten how intense this power was. The original who had it before grew very powerful with a lust to conquer his enemies. We’d taken him down, but it hadn’t been easy.
Kano laughed, as I moved as he willed me to. I summoned shadows to block his vision, the key to his gift. Without sight, he had no control. The room turned dark, and I slipped closer to the nearest heartbeat, grabbed the Prime Minister, and jumped us outside. The man fell to the ground and vomited as the scene before me came into clear view. Hordes of vampires rushed the building. Asta and Lan were doing their best. Enric had come out to fight and protect his wife and I looked up to the second floor where Kat and Eleanor fought.
The scent of burning flesh coated the air as vampires burned in the light but kept coming. Some made it through to the shady areas and crashed into the building.
“Get out of here.” I snarled at the Prime Minister. He crawled away as fast as he could. I’d hunt him down later, if I needed to. Right now, I needed to find Kat. My hands tore into vampires as I ran back to the building. Blood dripped from my hands and mouth as I found her pinned to the ground, bullet holes in her stomach.
I roared and all the vampires turned to me. Their egos demanded they fight me, defeat me, and become the top of the food chain. These creatures had been misinformed from the start. They could not defeat me, even if they descended on me at the same time.
Kat used the two males’ distractions and thrust her hands into their rib cages and yanked out their hearts. Blood dripped onto her, and she winced as their bodies fell to the ground. Instead of running to me or fighting, she raced to the windows and ripped all the blinds off to obliterate the shade for the vampires. My smart kitten knew how to make power plays.
“Cover your ears,” Eleanor said, and I ran to Kat, pulling us both behind a column for safety. I covered my ears, and Kat did the same. Seconds later, Eleanor released her power. A high-pitched scream rippled through the building. Every vampire caught in her sound waves gripped at their heads. Fingers ripped hair out as blood flowed from their ears and eyes. When she finally closed her mouth, Kat tried to move but I held her close. Eleanor may be done with her voice for now, but it tended to attract other creatures.
No sooner than I had the thought, bats crashed through a broken window and attacked what vampires had survived.
“Holy crap. Eleanor is frightening.” Kat relaxed her hands from her ears and looked in awe at the terrifying scene.
