Page 95 of Betrayed in Blood
“There aren’t any in here. What about a soda?”
“Check the pantry. I like them warm.”
And just like that, Simone’s expectations came to fruition. Bored and uncaring about their missing vampire. If she radioed that she had to move, they would hear her, and that wasn’t the protocol for tonight’s mission.
The minute the pantry door began to swing open, she waited until it was almost fully open before slamming it shut. It hit the vampire in the face, then, just as swiftly, she pulled the door open and yanked the vampire inside. She slit his throat, stabbed him in the kidneys, and pushed him back so she could get out of the pantry before the other vampire noticed.
The vampire slammed against the shelving harder than she’d intended, and the entire wall of shelves crashed down. The noise rang in her ears. She ignored it and ran, rolling as she exited out the door and into the kitchen. She heard two things simultaneously—Devon’s voice yelling go and a gun being fired.
Lucas,Ginger, and the other six vampires spread out along the back of the property. Lucas remained halfway between the back gate and the back of the house. Ginger was to his right, standing behind a fir tree where he could see her. Two of the vampires were positioned at the back gate in case anyone slipped by Lucas and Ginger. The other four had split, with two moving to the right of the house while the other two disappeared toward the pool house. Though he couldn’t see them from his position, he didn’t question they were where they were supposed to be.
Their job wasn’t to move in unless Sergi countermanded their mission. They were to hold the perimeter and would only make radio contact if they engaged the enemy.
As much as he hated his father, he appreciated the military tactics he’d been taught that had come in handy through the decades. In this type of scenario, where a perimeter had to be maintained, some leaders considered it a position for their weakest fighters. The ones who wouldn’t have to face the enemy head-on.
They were so wrong.
It didn’t matter the type of battle or how well-trained a vampire was, everyone had an instinct for survival. Most would keep fighting, even when all seemed lost. That was a critical moment for an army. When it appeared the battle couldn’t be won, the last thing a leader wanted was for soldiers to give up hope. It was the moment each warrior discovered how much faith they’d placed in their leader to persevere. If there was the slightest doubt, fear for one’s life over the mission could shatter an army.
If only one or two ran, it didn’t mean the end of the battle. But if more followed, then doom was only a matter of time. Lucas knew someone would run. If these were Venizi’s vampires, he guessed that two might run. If these vampires were from a lower House aligned with Lorenzo, they could all scatter.
It was imperative their team held the line.
When the gunshot, muffled as it was, came from within the house, it was unexpected. Although everyone wore armored vests, vampires didn’t typically rely on firearms, and they rarely stopped another vampire. It might have been April who fired it. Either way, he immediately knew who would respond poorly to the sound.
He glanced over at Ginger as Devon’s command came through. Lucas followed it with a stern, “Team Six, hold your position.”
Ginger had taken two steps from her hiding spot and turned to look at Lucas. He shook his head, and she turned hers toward the house.
Come on, Ginger, don’t do it. Don’t make me come after you.
He was ready to give the command to hold again, but she stepped back to her position. He blew out a breath just before two vamps raced out the back of the house, both heading for the alley exit.
Decker hada bad feeling no matter how well this plan looked on paper. It was difficult to judge someone’s actions until they were put in a tough position. He might be a shifter, but he’d been around vampires his whole life. Devon and the cadre aside, his dealings with vampires came mostly from The Den, a fight club he owned in the Hollows.
Some of the vampires, especially the fighters, were rogues with loyalties to no one but themselves, but most of his vampire customers belonged to a House. What most of the vampire and shifter communities didn’t understand was that the two species weren’t that different from each other. And one of those truths came down to the strength of the House or the pack.
When it came down to a struggle between life and death, loyalty or survival, a vampire or shifter would give up their life for their leader. But only if they were strong leaders, fair leaders, leaders who wouldn’t put their Family or pack into unnecessarily dangerous positions.
This particular mission might be considered unnecessary by some. The likelihood of it impacting the fight against Venizi and a corrupt Council was minuscule at best. But Cressa was Family and a strong ally to Remus. She was a burgeoning dreamwalker who could solidify a strong alliance between vampires and shifters. And that meant that saving her human family from what appeared to be another ploy by Venizi to lure Cressa out in the open made this a critical mission. One that everyone here, whether from Devon’s House or Remus’s pack, was willing to lay down their life for if needed.
Decker glanced at the manor and then scanned the landscape, searching for anything out of place. All was quiet since the vampires had returned with Cressa’s half-sister. There were still an estimated six vampires in the garage unless they entered the house through the utility door. He couldn’t tell from his current position, but he hadn’t seen anyone head out for perimeter duty. That meant that without knowing where these six were, they had to be considered a high risk. It was also the reason he put two vampires outside the garage, in case someone tried to use an SUV to run.
Team Five’s mission was to monitor the front of the property, including the front gate and this side of the pool area, to ensure no one escaped. The three wolves on the team were assigned the closest to the house. They’d come armed, but they were at their best once they shifted to their wolves.
Some inner instinct scratched at him to shift. He never ignored his gut.
He pulled his shirt over his head and unzipped his pants, stripping down in less than a minute. They were supposed to remain radio silent, but this was too important. He whispered into his headset, “Going wolf.”
He could see Rachel from his position but not Elijah. When he saw Rachel had already begun stripping before his words were out of his mouth, he knew Elijah had probably already turned. The instincts of an Alpha were too strong for anyone close to ignore the call.
The transition typically took ten minutes, but Elijah, as a powerful Alpha, could force a faster change. And that had to be what was happening because the shift was intensely painful, and Decker sucked in a deep breath to stop from howling.
The timing couldn’t have been better. When the first vampire ran from the house, Decker thought one of Devon’s vampires would have to take care of him. The vampire was a good distance down the driveway, racing for the gate, before the solid gray wolf known as Rachel dragged him down.
Decker howled into the night, pleased when another vampire, who’d been in the garage, raced past his reddish-brown wolf. The hunt was on.
Devon threwthe door open and leaped out. April was standing in the middle of the hall, staring at Jasper’s back as he raced toward the stairs.
