Page 53 of Forever Midnight

Thorn twirls and dances down the sidewalk, completely at odds with the way he’s dressed. He looks like…well, like an assassin, but he acts like a teenager on his way to an epic house party.

“Do you think we’ll get to kill anyone tonight?” Thorn asks, his tone almost like a song. “I need it.”

“Not Vinni,” I say. “Not until I get what I need.”

“Copy that, little madman,” Thorn says, grinning. “But there’s more losers than just Vinni out here.”

“Feel free to kill anyone you like,” Midnight answers. “Just not Vinni, as our little madman stated.”

I find myself grinning at the nickname. I guess I am a little unhinged for believing I could take these guys on by myself.

When we finally reach the apartment building Syn mentioned, we stop on the sidewalk, just looking at the darkened building.

“It’s a notorious drug den,” Thorn says, rubbing his hands together. “Lots of squatters and addicts inside. A lot of other shit too.”

“Other shit?” I ask.

Midnight’s face hardens. “Rape, murder. Other shit.”

“I hope we find someone fucking up inside,” Thorn says. “I wish a motherfucker would try to rape someone in front of me. I’d have fun with that one.”

His words should probably scare me, but instead, I find them pretty cool. They don’t kill for no reason or just to be assholes. There’s a method to their madness.

Just a few seconds later, Syn and Bowie show up and the four men exchange knowing glances. I’m aware that somehow they communicate silently, but I push back my annoyance this time. I told Midnight I trust him, so I’m going to.

“Ready to go in?” Syn asks.

Midnight shifts his gaze to me. “Are you?”

“The sooner we find Vinni, the sooner this nightmare is over. Let’s do it.”

Syn kicks the door open and the five of us enter. I don’t know what’s going to happen next, but I’m damn sure glad that I’ve got Midnight by my side.

ChapterTwenty-Three

MIDNIGHT

I’m not really sure how we plan to take out some rogue vampires without revealing ourselves to Tru, but nevertheless here we are. We burst through the door, hoping the element of surprise gives us an advantage, but they are vampires, so we have to be on alert just in case they’ve sensed us.

“It’s quieter than it should be,” Thorn notes.

“Yeah. Something’s up.”

“Guys,” Bowie says. “Do you hear that?”

A low hum of murmured voices reaches me. We’ve noticed that Bowie’s sense of hearing is more sensitive than ours, perhaps because he’s new and hasn’t learned to block as much as we have.

Syn nods, pointing down a hallway that leads to the sounds. I grip Tru’s hand, aware of how he trembles. How brave he is to be so afraid but willing to do it anyway.

We find the room where the noises are coming from only to discover three vampires fucking their mortal victims. The scent of sex and blood is as thick as fog. One of them finally notices us, but makes no move to stop what he’s doing. I scan the room, relieved when it’s clear Vinni isn’t here.

“What the fuck are you guys still doing in New Onyx?” Syn demands, kicking the leg of one of the vamps while a clearly drugged out man rides his cock.

“What, you guys have a run on who can have fun here too?”

“Yes,” Syn growls. “You promised you would leave. Besides, I don’t think sexual assault counts as fun.”

“These guys came willingly,” another vampire says, pounding into a barely aware man. “Besides, we didn’t say we’d leave. We said we’d leave your gang alone.”

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