Page 36 of Midlife Vampire Unexpected

“How far away are we?” I asked.

“We’re still about five miles out, but this is a back road. I don’t want to take any chances that they will hear the truck. I would like to get the element of surprise.” Antonio explained.

“Are bounty hunters normally a particular species?” I asked.

“Satyrs or shifters,” he said. “But sometimes you find the odd elemental.”

“Ok. No vamps or Fae?” I asked.

“Not typically.”

“Lead the way,” I balled my fists thinking about the battle to come. The best option would be for us to sneak in and whisk her out of there, but I was pretty sure that option wasn’t going to be particularly easy.

We raced through the forest in single file with Antonio in the lead, taking me through the trees on a winding deer path. We went through some of the most beautiful untouched countryside I’d ever seen.

When we got to the top of a mountain, he stopped. “Look down there.” He pointed to a thin streak of a valley nestled in between two mountain peaks. “That’s where they might have taken her.”

“That was a prisoner of war camp during World War II?” I asked in astonishment. There were a couple of rows of low-lying barracks, a larger building that must have been the officers’ quarters, and a landing strip for large army planes to land with their prisoners.

“Yeah, certainly secure,” Antonio said.

With the speed of a vampire and a shifter, it only took us a few minutes to cross the last couple of miles. Shortly we were in the trees, hiding in the underbrush and looking out toward the wooden barracks for any sign of movement.

It didn’t take long before somebody came out of one of one of the buildings and went to a nearby truck. He was a tall, broad man sporting a crew cut and a tank top; his bulging muscles glistening in the afternoon sun.

“Shifter?” I ask.

Antonio nodded. “Bear.”

“Bears aren’t pack animals,” I said, watching as the massive man leaned against the truck and started surveying the countryside.

“No, but he’s not alone. There’s got to be more inside.”

“We’ve got to take him out with a bit of stealth so we can surprise the ones on the inside,” I said.

Antonio looked over at me appreciatively. “Exactly. Now the question is, who’s going to be stealthier: the werewolf or vampire.”

“I’m way ahead of you.” I gave him a slight grin before I went into action.

Chapter 25

I moved with speed to the far side of the camp, making no sound in the underbrush. I created a wide loop that took me behind the bear. I knew I’d have to lay low and come in hot. I was able to see Antonio on the other side moving toward the warehouse, probably trying to gauge the situation on the inside. Without any level of understanding, we weren’t going to find out what was behind the door until we opened it.

I waited until the bear had perused my region of the forest and as he turned his back, I rushed at him, slipping over the truck and coming down on his back. My teeth sank into his neck and I injected my poison into his veins as I quickly took a large draught of his blood.

He tasted good, wild, and beefy. But I wasn’t here to eat. I was here to weaken him and to get him compliant.

As I felt his body weaken and become more supple in my hands, I moved. “Who’s inside?”

“Too many for you alone,” the bear said, his eyes half glazed with the poison I’d injected into his veins.

“We’ll see about that. Are they all shifters?” I asked. He shook his head. I could see he was starting to lose consciousness. I’d made a mistake on how much blood I should drink.

“Shit,” I muttered, slapping him across the face a couple of times. “Come on. Don’t pass out.” I moved his face back-and-forth, but it was too much. The big guy was a lightweight who couldn’t handle giving blood.

I looked over to Antonio, shrugging with an apologetic grimace. He shook his head and waved me off, motioning me toward the door on the side of the building. He must have one like it on his side, so at least we would enter at the same time. He held up five fingers, letting me know it was a five count before we entered. This was a risky move, but at least we would be coming at them from two sides. Hopefully the bunker was wide open. If it was sectioned off, one of us could be walking into a death trap. Or, both of us.

Five. I counted it down quickly in my head. I’d rather be the first one in the room and get their attention on my side, but it seemed Antonio had the same idea. He didn’t even wait for the count of five. I heard him burst into his side of the barracks while I was still counting on four.

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