Chapter 18

Summer was working under the eyes of two armed guards, one of whom watched the field where she was hoeing weeds and one who was assigned only to her. She'd forced herself to leave the cabin the day before, knowing that while Ivan might relish the time she spent staring aimlessly at the wall, she was disgusted with herself for giving in to grief so completely.

The guards, sensing she was a favorite of their boss, had offered her kitchen duty, but she refused. One, it was lighter work and she didn't want to get soft. And two, being in the kitchen offered zero opportunity for escape. In the fields, she had a chance.

She hadn't wavered in her determination to kill Ivan, but she'd shifted her focus. She needed to escape before she could kill him. She had no tools in camp other than the hoe they'd given her. And while imagining the dull edge mashing its way through Ivan's skull was satisfying, it wasn't very practical. A hoe was not a real weapon. She wanted an ax. It was one of her Uncle Ross's favorite weapons, and she had pretty good aim. Or a knife. Killing Ivan would mean cutting his spine, and she'd practiced that on pig carcasses with her father.

She let her mind wander, imagining what Ivan's head would look like split cleanly in two by a throwing ax. Regenerate that, fuckhead. A smile touched her lips.

"Keep working." A rifle butt nudged her shoulder. "You don't work, you don't eat."

Summer dug the hoe into the ground again, fighting back the poison oak that snaked from the forest into the marijuana fields. She needed to eat to stay strong. She needed to stay strong so she could escape.

She hacked at the red-tinged vine with care so as not to let any leaves or stems fly. The plant was insidious and itchy as hell. She knew enough about poison oak to take the coveralls the guards offered even though they made her sweat.

They can track sweat.

She knew her father would be coming for her, knew her uncle could track her. They might come for her at any time—her father during the day, Uncle Ross at night—so washing her scent away hadn't been a big priority. Not since Dani…

She closed her eyes and pushed the thought back.

I'm going to kill him, Dani.

Summer worked steadily through the morning and into the heated, hazy part of the afternoon. Though the air in California was dry, the air in the middle of a marijuana field was heavy and humid, the sickly sweet aroma of ripening marijuana clinging to her skin, the pollen coating her nose and airway. In the distance the forest was quiet, save for the lone call of a mourning dove.

She would give her last bottle of water to jump into the swimming hole behind her grandfather's house. The hole was shaded, so even in the deepest heat of summer, it stayed cool.

"Summer."

She blinked and looked around, confused and surprised to see the guard on the ground, a dart sticking out of his neck. What the…?

"Summer!" A voice hissed from the trees and her eyes went wide. "Keep your eyes down."

She'd recognize her father's voice anywhere. She kept her eyes on her work and returned a mourning dove call to her father, hoping the guard watching at the end of the field wouldn't notice.

"I've got my eyes on you," her dad said. "Uncle Ross is here. We have a whole bunch of friends to get you out, okay?"

She nodded slightly, blinking back tears. Even though she couldn't see him, just the sound of her father's voice felt like coming home.

"Blink once for yes, twice for no. Are you hurt?"

She blinked twice.

"Okay, pumpkin. That's a big relief. Are you in any immediate danger? Is anyone hurting you?"

She blinked twice.

"Thank God. We saw signs that you escaped once. Can you get out at night again?"

She didn't think so. She blinked twice again.

"I hear you. Do you know how many other people are here? How many kidnapped people?"

She didn't know for sure. She blinked twice.

"You have an idea?"

She blinked once.

"Over ten?"

She blinked once.

"Over twenty?"

She blinked twice.

"Okay, honey. And how many guards have you seen? Over ten?"

She blinked twice.

"Okay, over eight?"

She kept her hands on the handle of her hoe but held out nine fingers. That was as many as she'd been able to identify at least. That wasn't counting Ivan.

"Good girl. How many vampires?"

She held out one finger.

Just one. Just Ivan.

"That's it?"

She blinked once.

"Okay, baby girl. It's kind of hard to explain, but we gotta be sure to get that one vampire before he scampers. Is he always here at night?"

She blinked twice.

"Okay. You have any idea if he'll be here tonight?"

Two more blinks.

"Okay." Her dad let out a long breath. "Okay. You keep your head down, Summer. Keep your head down, and when it's time, we're getting you out of here."

She blinked once.

"Either me or one of my friends is gonna be watching you all day, okay? If you are in immediate danger, you give us a dove call again, y'hear?"

She blinked once.

"I'm so proud of you, pumpkin. I'm gonna hug you real soon, okay? Then we're gonna call your mama."

She was blinking, but it was to keep the tears from showing across the field.

"You grab that dart out of that guard now, honey. He'll be waking up soon enough, and we don't want any questions."

Summer reached out, grabbed the small dart out of her guard's neck, and tossed it into the next row just in time for the guard to start groaning. Picking up her water bottle, she crouched next to him and patted his cheek.

"Hey." She reached out and tapped him carefully. "Dude, I think you collapsed or something."

The man frowned, then sat bolt upright and reached for his gun. "What the hell?"

"I don't know." Summer shrugged. "You just passed out. Have you been drinking enough?"

The man looked at the gun, then at Summer, then over his shoulder to the woods.

"I'm not gonna try to escape again." Summer sighed. "I know we're in the middle of nowhere, okay?"

The guard narrowed his eyes. "Did Johnny see me?"

"Who?"

"The guard at the end of the field. The one keeping an eye on the other two girls. Did he—?"

"I don't think so." Summer held out her water. "You want some water?"

Something passed over the man's face. "Fucking hell, don't be nice to me, okay?"

Summer shrugged again. "What else am I gonna do?"

"Not that." He stood and picked up the rifle. "Get back to work."

Night had fallen, and Jamie Mackenzie was staring at the fog-shrouded tree line of the farm with an intensity that told Brigid they had one shot at doing this right. One shot at subterfuge before Jamie and Ross Mackenzie ran rampant over that farm, tearing off heads and taking revenge on whatever human or vampire might have harmed Summer.

"Okay, we've confirmed that the guards are spread out," Brigid said. "Daxa says even more at night. I'm honestly surprised Summer wasn't successful in her escape, based on what we've seen so far."

"Booby traps," Jamie muttered. "The three of us probably neutralized at least a dozen today while we were keeping an eye on the farm from the trees. I suspect they hit one of those and it alerted the guards."

"How many do you think are left?" Brigid asked.

Jamie shook his head. "We eliminated all of them we could. Ross is up there now, keeping an eye on our girl. If he comes across any others, I'm sure he'll get rid of them, but there's no way of really knowing."

Baojia said, "Daxa is keeping an eye on the farm from overhead, but I doubt she'd be able to spot any booby traps on the ground."

"Then we just keep going with the plan we made last night," Brigid said. "And a tripped booby trap or two isn't going to harm that—in fact, it might make the scenario look better. Our best bet is to make it look like Summer—and possibly a few other victims—have gotten away," Brigid said. "If the guards do what I think they'll do, they'll call Ivan. When Ivan comes, we grab him."

"What if Ivan doesn't come after the farm is compromised?" Baojia said. "Then we've just tipped our hand, and he knows that we know about the farm."

"Why would he abandon the farm now? He already knows that Summer and Daniel escaped," Carwyn said. "Daniel even got away and Ivan didn't abandon the farm, so we're guessing that he's not worried that humans will be able to find him here even if they get out."

"He probably figured that Daniel escaped but never made it back to civilization," Natalie said quietly. "Will he assume that about Summer?"

"There's no reason to think that he knows Summer is different from any other human," Brigid said. "He probably doesn't even realize she knows he's a vampire."

Baojia stood from his crouch by the map and addressed his soldiers. "Once Summer is out and the guards are following her, we penetrate the perimeter, break into teams, and search the cabins. If there are any humans obviously in need of medical care or actively being harmed, we get them out. If they appear unharmed, then we have to leave them for now. As soon as we assess the cabins and remove any humans who cannot wait, we pull back and wait beyond the tree line for Ivan."

"But we get Summer out tonight," Jamie said. "That's not negotiable."

"Agreed," Carwyn said. "We're getting her out tonight."

As long as we also get Ivan. Brigid hoped they'd truly received the memo. There were multiple objectives to this mission, and only careful timing would achieve the goal.

"We've got ten hours of night left," Brigid said. "Let's not waste it."

Carwyn left Brigid and Baojia in the trees to watch the compound as he and Natalie moved silently though the forest, skirting along the edge of the farm. They passed one guard, evading him easily, and found Ross crouched behind a large redwood, his eyes trained on the most secure cabin in the compound.

"That's where they're keeping her?" Natalie asked. "How are we supposed to make it look—?"

"Doesn't matter how," Ross said. "They won't be asking questions right away. They'll ask later, but at first they're just gonna be looking to get her back. Hopefully by the time they stop to ask questions, Ivan will be dead."

Carwyn craned his neck to look into the clearing. "The light is shining right on her door."

"Give me a word and I'll tear through the back of that building," Ross said.

"No, if there's video—"

"I don't give a shit." Ross turned to him, his eyes ice-cold. "My niece has been waiting long enough."

"Ross." Natalie put a hand on his shoulder. "Of the three of us, which looks most human?"

Ross looked between Carwyn and Natalie. "You, Red, but only by a fraction. Either of us could pass. Carwyn? Forget it."

"But I probably look the most harmless," Natalie said. "Let me sneak around. If they get me on video, so what?"

"Ivan knows what you look like," Carwyn said. "He won't have forgotten. You could blow the whole op if they send him video before he gets back."

"Then me," Ross said. "I'm going in, and I'll take her across the farm and into the trees. Same route she took last time. That'll make the most sense to them." He glanced at his watch. "Where's Jamie?"

"With Baojia and Brigid."

"I'll signal him when we're headed their way." Without another word, Ross was a blur. Carwyn heard a low growl coming from the vampire's throat and then he was gone.

Summer was staring at the doorway, waiting for it to happen. She'd sensed her Uncle Ross as soon as darkness fell and knew he'd be coming for her. She just hoped he had an ax with him.

She was poised to run; they'd taken her socks, of course, but she'd wrapped her feet with strips of cloth she'd torn from her pant pockets. She squatted in the cabin, already having stretched her legs to warm them up.

The night air was cold, but she didn't feel it.

When the first bang came against the door, she stood back. With two strong kicks, the door collapsed in and her uncle's unmistakable silhouette stood in the doorway, security lights glaring behind him. In the distance, someone fired a shotgun.

"Let's go." Ross held his hand out, Summer took it, and they ran.

He pulled her to the edge of the first field. "They won't be able to sight us in here."

"We headed to the creek?"

A sharp nod. An engine fired in the distance, and the guard began to yell.

"There's a guard along the creek now," Summer said. "They posted him—"

"He'll be taken care of." Ross's voice was sure.

Summer shut her mouth and ran. She tripped a few times running through the rows of marijuana, but a childhood of running through cornfields taller than her daddy had taught her how to move quickly and quietly through furrows.

A shot rang out, and she ducked instinctively.

"They're way off," Ross muttered. "These assholes can't shoot for shit, honey." Still, his grip tightened on her hand. "Keep going."

She was exhausted by the time they broke through the edge of the field and made for the trees. There was still a dirt road to cross, and she could see the headlights of a quad bike coming toward them. More shots rang out in the night.

"She's getting away!"

"That's Ivan's favorite. You better fucking—"

"I'm going as fast as I can!"

More shots rang out.

"Don't shoot her, you fucking idiot! He wants her in one piece!"

Summer kept her head down and ran faster.

"That's my girl," Ross muttered.

They made it into the trees, but Summer didn't pause. If her Uncle Ross had led her this way, he would have cleared the booby traps from the path.

He moved like a shadow through the redwoods, and Summer followed his steps, running as quickly as she could as the tumbled slope gave way to tangled brush along a gravel-strewn path and then the rocky banks of the creek.

She saw vampires moving in the darkness, closing the space behind them, but Summer still didn't stop.

"Ignore them," Ross said. "They're goin' after the Russian."

Summer pulled his arm. "They're waiting for Ivan?" Her eyes went wide.

Ross turned and pulled her into a hard hug. "Don't you worry about him. That bloodsucker is their problem, and—"

"Ivan's not here."

Ross frowned. "We know that. We've been watching, but if he finds out you've flown the coop again—"

"He's not going to come back." Summer's chest was tight and her knees felt like buckling. "Not tonight. He told me last night. He was going up to the hunt."

Within seconds, Summer was surrounded by a bevy of vampires she didn't recognize, a fierce-looking Asian man, a hard-eyed woman with frighteningly pale skin, and a friendly-looking redhead who sidled up to the Asian vampire.

It was the fierce man who spoke. "What do you mean, the hunt?"