Page 39 of Dead

Chapter Nine

Noah entered the warehouse his team had been given to use as an office on the outskirts of the industrial sector. After sending out a text message the second he’d gotten back into Midnight, he expected his men to be waiting for him.

As he approached, two of the five males rose from their seats, watching him come closer. The other three turned in their seats, silence coming across the large space.

“Eilam make it?” Chris, a shifter and detective from the Midnight PD, asked he took a half step closer.

“He’s nearly back to fighting form,” Noah said.

One of the other shifters, Angelo, sighed with relief. “We’ve been worried about you both. Heard there was a second assassination attempt that you were a part of, but information has been thin, at best. The guardsmen are staying tight lipped.”

“We got both assassins… Eilam the first, me the second… but we’re not sure if there might not be more on the way.”

“How’d they get to the king?” Chris asked.

“Magic… dark magic they shouldn’t have had.”

“You think this could be payback for what we did last week?” Las asked.

“Have you heard anything that makes you think that?” Noah asked the witch. If the witches were connected to the attacks, Las might be one of the best ones on the team to ferret out the information.

“It’s been super quiet, so no,” Las said. “But vengeance is kind of their thing.”

“And the fact they failed, not once, but twice, will only add to their anger. The next time they lash out, it will likely be more deadly,” Kane, the half-vamp said.

Noah stared at Kane. The guy was young, a beat cop Noah had taken a chance on. He hadn’t been on Eilam’s list, but had approached Noah as soon as he’d heard about it. Kane’s human family had been murdered by the Midnight Suns, a vampire gang they thought responsible for all the chaos. Kane had been left for dead along with the rest of his family. He’d somehow survived the attack without feeding off another vampire’s blood—and found his way to Midnight seeking vengeance of his own.

The man had never taken another’s blood, yet had much of the strength of a newly turned vamp. Somehow, he fought the bloodlust… perhaps focusing on his need for retribution.

“Not to sound stupid, but if we were the cause, why not go after us?” Donovan asked. “Why attack the king?”

“The king ordered the closure of the portals,” Angelo offered. “Skip the middlemen and go straight to the head of the food chain.”

“Possibly. The thought had occurred to me, too,” Noah said. “Regardless, we have a job to do and it’s even more important now. You guys find anything while I was away?”

“We did find two more possible portals,” Chris said as he walked over to one of the three white boards they had for planning. He pointed to a map of the city. “We believe they’re both in this vicinity.”

“Deep in vampire territory,” Noah murmured as he moved closer to take a peek. “You haven’t made confirmation?”

“I know they’re there, I just can’t get close enough to pinpoint a dot on the map,” Las said. “If only my magic was stronger.” Las was a failed warlock, but he still had a little magic in him. It was one of the reasons Noah had picked him for the team. “The others we’ve closed down were bullshit, little side mom and pop illegals. Families who needed the cash and were willing to step across the line to put food on the table. They weren’t pros, and they weren’t smart.”

“These guys are,” Angelo said. “They’re strong… moved every few days… and controlled by the vamps.”

“So the ones we shut down were likely not even ones the Suns used,” Las offered.

“It’s been hard to get too close, being so deep in their turf,” Chris added. “I’ve made a few inquiries… paid off a couple of feeders to get some info.”

Noah felt the revulsion hit him. The thought of offering up his veins to feed one of those bastards gave him the willies. He’d heard it could be quite the aphrodisiac and that most feeders ended up as sex playthings for the vampires they fed. It became an addiction for some. A deadly one—as sometimes the play went too far and a feeder was drained of too much.

A few were fed on for so long that they forgot to eat or drink—and ended up dying from starvation or dehydration.

With the growing illegal vampire population, came the side effects. Midnight news had recently done a story on the growing numbers of feeders dying in the clinics and hospitals around the city.

Yet none of that stopped those too far gone.

They continued to offer up the vein, seeking the highs and desire that came from a vampire’s bite, and ignoring the chance it could be the last thing they did.

Chris peeked at his watch. “Speaking of feeders… I’m supposed to meet up with one in a few minutes. You want to ride along?”

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