Page 47 of Blood of Vengeance

“Adam,” I said as soon as he had reached the gate, offering a head nod. “You know my brother Zed.”

The demon with the generic name looked Zed up and down then refocused on me, sizing me up. “What is this energy you have surrounding you, Wolf Flinch? It’s delicious in its chaotic nature.”

“No idea, man. I’m just here to ask about a missing vehicle.”

Adam stared at me in silence, the intensity of his gaze inciting my need to growl. I bit that back, though. No need to throw this meeting into destruction before we’d even really started talking.

After a long, hard staredown, Adam grunted and stepped to the side to open the mechanical gate. Zed and I stayed put, not rolling onto his property. Not putting ourselves in a situation where he could close that gate with us on the wrong side. This wasn’t my first rodeo.

“Wolf Zed.” Adam kept his eyes on me but stood closer to my brother. “What’s changed in Wolf Flinch’s life? What is this energy around him? I’ve sensed it before on others but can’t quite place it.”

Zed never wavered, never even looked my way, as he answered, “Fuck if I know. I’m just here to find a truck.”

“What kind of truck?”

My turn. “The kind with longhorn antlers on the front.”

“I’ve seen one recently. Red truck, older, smooth engine.” He smiled slowly, the grin creeping across his face and making my wolf even more uncomfortable. “Delicious death energy radiating from it.”

Zed shifted his weight on his bike, the only sign of how uncomfortable he’d grown, though enough of one to attract Adam’s attention.

“Your wolf doesn’t like me,” Adam said, staring at Zed. “Does he want to come out and play?”

I held my tongue, keeping my eyes on the demon. Knowing Zed wasn’t stupid enough to fall into his hands but still on edge. Adam had a way of getting what he wanted, and if he wanted to play with Zed’s wolf…

“Nope,” Zed finally replied, sitting just a little deeper in his seat. “We’re just fine where we are.”

“Too bad. I could use the exercise.” Adam returned his intense gaze to me. “The truck you’re looking for was brought in to be junked. I turned them away.”

“Who brought it?”

“Vampires. I recognized the stench before they even made it to the gate. I don’t fuck with their kind.”

Fucking vampires. I hated those creepy bastards. “Happen to know where the truck is now?”

Adam shrugged. “Find the vamp nest, you’ll find the truck.”

Which translated to he didn’t know shit.

“Thanks.” I adjusted in my seat, popping up the stand and steering as I inched the old girl backward. “I appreciate your time. You see that truck again, let me know.”

“Will do.” Adam pulled his face into an expression that likely should have been a wide grin but instead showed more teeth than a human would and made his eyes look positively unearthly. The demon peeking out. “Come play sometime, Zed. I haven’t had a good fight in too many years.”

Zed said nothing, just backed his bike up and followed me down the road. We made it about halfway to the highway before we stopped, both of us cutting engines right there in the middle of nowhere.

“So,” Zed started with a slow, repeating head nod. Looking like one of those dashboard critters people bought. “We’re dealing with vampires.”

I laughed. It was all I could do. The man looked ready to explode with that knowledge in his brain but still nodded his head as if it were on a spring.

“You okay over there?” I asked, still chuckling.

The nodding stopped, and he released a heavy sigh as he ran a hand over his face. “Fucking vampires.”

Yeah, I felt that one. The world of supernaturals tended not to overlap too much—barring the occasional demon or witch who ended up in the same area as shifters—and we fully avoided vamps. Death sacks with teeth didn’t get along with our wolf sides. Not a whole lot could kill us in a fair fight, but vamps could, for sure. Which meant Chiggy’s death had just gotten a lot easier to understand in regard to the how.

“Call Cutter.” Zed looked my way, eyes dark and wolf growl present as he spoke. The man was spooked. “This changes everything.”

I pulled my phone from my pocket and tapped to dial, knowing the words Zed had spoken were as true as could be. Vamps changed every rule and required much more skill and finesse to deal with.

---