9. 8

8

Serina

S am: Brielle said when she was in town last week that there was a group of Vampires lurking around an abandoned warehouse off the highway into town. I don’t know if they’re still there, but I’m going to assume they were there for a reason. Stay safe.

I received the text this morning. I knew Sam wanted to talk to me more. Ask me how I was and offer to meet me somewhere to help me.

I knew because over the months since my father died, she had done just that, but I refused her every time. I wouldn’t have someone I loved so close to me again.

Especially not when I was on a war path straight to hell.

So instead, she helped me the only way she could.

She did the research and would send it to me, so I didn’t have to waste time going from one hunt to the next.

Tonight, I would be heading out for a hunt hoping to find some answers. I hadn’t heard anything from the Davorin brothers since I was at their house a few days ago, but I couldn’t deny their offer still rolled around in my mind.

No, ugh, fuck their offer. I don’t need their help. I don’t want it.

I stood outside, leaning against the flimsy old railing right outside my motel room, looking over the trees in the distance as sunset settled over the sky. I was ready to go early tonight, as anticipation was thrumming through me.

Hopefully I’d kill a few more monsters tonight or get a name of the Vampire who’d orchestrated the whole thing.

Any normal Vampire wouldn’t have left us to bleed out the way they did. Maybe our blood was like acid on their tongues after all the monsters we had killed over the years. Doubtful.

But it didn’t matter; they should have killed me that day because now, I wouldn’t stop until I’d satiated my need for revenge.

As the sun dipped lower, I began walking down the narrow hall to the stairs that led to the parking lot. I passed doors of other motel rooms on one side while there was open railing facing out toward the woods and the small parking lot.

I made my way down the stairs and got to my motorcycle. Double-triple-checking I had all my weapons where I wanted them before slinging my leg over the bike and starting it with ease.

I kicked up the stand, still feeling a dull ache in my leg from the day in the alley, but it was mostly healed now.

With that, I took off out of the parking lot, feeling the roar of the engine under me.

The warehouse definitely looked abandoned. The only thing sitting on the outside of it was an old, beat-up green dumpster. Some of the windows were spider-webbed with cracks, others completely broken.

I had walked the perimeter of this place three times now and hadn’t seen any signs of life. I looked around one last time before pushing forward to the building’s back door. I snuck in, closing it gently behind me, and turned to look at my surroundings. Tall arched windows were on either side of the massive space illuminated by the thick rays of moonlight beaming through them. Trash, broken glass, and graffiti lined the brick walls. Industrial pipes jutted out along the ceiling.

You could hear a pen drop in here, it was so quiet. I stepped forward carefully, holding a stake in one hand and my gun in the other.

The small crunch of broken glass under my boots sounded with each step I took. My eyes looked for any movement in the shadowed corners but came up empty. It seemed like no one was here, but this was only the bottom floor, and if there were Vampires present, I was sure they had heard my steps by now. But still, no movement came from the shadows.

I made my way through a large room. A massive set of double doors sat to the right, and a smaller single door sat to the left with a sign above it indicating the stairs.

I headed for the smaller door, looking down the stairwell and aiming my gun that direction before doing the same for upstairs. I took each step slowly, letting my eyes adjust to the darkness since there were no windows in this part of the building.

The flickering light, suspended from a single frayed cord overhead, cast erratic shadows on the crumbling walls. It didn’t help my sight much and only made this place that much creepier.

I made the first turn to the right on the staircase and moved up to the next floor. The moonlight casting through the open door up to the next floor ahead proved to be my only light.

I turned quickly. Not giving myself enough time to doubt myself before I stepped across the open floor.

The layout was the same as downstairs except up here there were old machines that looked like they hadn’t been used in years. I moved past everything, looking over the machinery.

I was about to head back downstairs before I froze. Laughter and footsteps echoed from the open door to the stairwell.

Hell, it must be my lucky day. I must have beat them here.

I hid behind one of the large machines, silently hoping they wouldn’t smell me. I wore a perfume that dulled my scent, something Brielle had cooked up for me along with all the other witchy things she had given me over the years. But regardless of that, my breathing and heartbeat would give me away if I didn’t calm down. I closed my eyes.

Breathe, sweetheart. My dad’s voice murmured in my ear as it did on all the hunts we had ever gone on together. It grounded me.

I steadied myself just as they started coming through the door. There were four of them. Fuck .

Maybe I could take them out one at a time.

I watched them as they sauntered to the center of the room exchanging conversation.

“I've been monitoring their online activities. They're using encrypted channels to communicate and share information on Vampires. We should infiltrate their networks and manipulate their intel,” the only woman in the group said. “Then we could be lying in wait when they arrive.”

“While that is an excellent idea, we also need to hit them where it hurts. Find their bases, expose their identities. Make them question their own safety. They’ve done well at staying hidden, and the ones that aren’t are moving too fast between hunts.”

Were they talking about me? I grinned to myself. Did they think I was a small group of hunters? Honestly, I couldn’t blame them; I'd been moving from hunt to hunt faster than anyone I’d known, leaving a blood trail behind me.

I was determined. Even Sam didn’t know about all the hunts I’d been doing. She’d be pissed if she saw the chaos I had been creating.

I made a mental note to let Sam know to up her security if they planned on trying to infiltrate our methods of communication to feed us false information.

Suddenly, a hand wrapped around me, knocking my stake from my hand. I struggled against the male’s hold.

“Looks like we have an unwelcome visitor,” he hissed as he moved me to the center of the room where the others were.

Fuck, there had been five of them.

Had they known I was here the entire time?

Before he could shove me to the ground, I grabbed for another stake at my hip and twisted it around in his arms before shoving it through his chest.

He had underestimated his unwelcome visitor. I gave him a smug smile as he fell to the floor clutching his chest.

When I shifted around on my feet to face the others, they weren’t there. They were gone, but the hairs still rose on the back of my neck with the presence of them hunting me.

I didn’t move, watching my surroundings as carefully as I could. When the shadows shifted to my left, I grabbed my shotgun hanging on my back in one smooth motion and fired it in that direction. A growl and a thud followed, and I rushed toward it.

Before the bleeding monster could run, I shoved my stake through her chest, thrusting my body weight behind it to be sure it went straight through her breastbone.

The squelching sound of blood and cracked bone echoed through the room as her final breaths left her lips.

Suddenly, I was thrown across the room. No hands touched me, only the prickling sensation of magic. Whoever this vampire was, he was older and had already gained abilities with his age.

The older they were, the stronger they became.

Eventually, they developed powers. Telekinesis, mind reading, causing pain, the list went on.

My body screamed in agony as I slid across the sharp shards of glass, cutting through my clothes and embedding into my sensitive flesh.

I felt the warmth of blood leaking down my thigh and looked down when I finally skidded to a stop to see the biggest piece of glass deeply embedded in my leg. I cursed as I yanked it free and stumbled to my feet.

“You fucking bitch,” the man that had tossed me across the room cursed, his voice trembling in anger, but another emotion lay just under it.

A feeling I knew well. Sorrow.

I assumed the woman was his partner as he cradled her body against his. His love…

I honestly never thought about a Vampire’s life beyond hunting them for the damage they caused to mortals, to me. I wondered if she was someone he shared a sire bond with?

I had heard it connected you in deeper ways, but I didn't let the thought linger as I settled my mind back into the dark void it remained in. The killer inside me.

I looked for the fourth and fifth man briefly but came up empty; I assumed they ran. Fuck, if the Davorin brothers hadn’t sent word to any of their fellow Vampires, they certainly would. So much for staying on the down-low. I hadn’t had a single hunt in the last eight months where anyone was left alive.

But I couldn’t think about that now. I walked over to the one crying on the floor. Soft sobs left him as he held her unmoving body and rocked gently back and forth.

“Who initiated the attack eight months ago?” I asked, aiming my shotgun at his chest.

He sneered, “Go fuck yourself.”

I shot without warning, and it blasted him back from the woman’s dead body as he whimpered in pain.

“Wrong answer. Try again,” I said, and he spit blood my direction. I walked the few feet over to him and shoved a stake into both of his shoulders as he screamed. “There was a whole horde of vampires in those woods that day. It was planned; who was behind it?”

“All I’ll tell you is that you don’t stand a chance. He’ll kill every last one of you.” His voice trembled, and blood leaked from his mouth.

“Who?” I questioned, grabbing one of the stakes and twisting it deeper.

He roared with pain and determination as he grabbed the stake in his other shoulder, yanked it free from his own flesh, and shoved it into my side.

I moved to dodge the attack, but he still got me as I rolled away from him. The moment the stake pierced my skin, it felt like a searing hot poker had been thrust into me. Every nerve ending screamed in protest.

I grabbed my side, ripping it free, and pain washed over me in waves, thrumming through my body with the beat of my heart. Sweat beaded on my brow as my adrenaline spiked.

The Vampire tried to rip the other stake from his other shoulder, but he was weak, his moments slow after the exertion of trying to take me out.

I regained my footing, raising my gun just as he rose to his feet and flew at me with speeds faster than my eyes could keep up with. His magic prickled at my skin as he shot me across the building, but I blasted my shotgun before my feet came off the floor.

My body smacked against the brick wall, but I ignored the pain as I looked up. He was still standing, but half his head had been blasted off. Chunks of skin and brain matter splattered the floor as his body fell to its knees before thudding against the cold concrete.

I stumbled over to his limp body. It would probably take a few days, but he would heal from this unless I ended him with a stake through his heart.

I grabbed one of the wooden stakes strapped to my thigh and rammed it through his chest with a scream. One filled with all-consuming rage. I sat next to their bodies for too long, a numbness overtaking my mind and limbs.

Before the sun rose, I slowly stood. Blackness crowded my vision, but I pushed past it. I needed to make sure their bodies were in front of a window for when the morning came.

I grabbed the Vampire’s feet, dragging him in front of the large arched window before doing the same to his little girlfriend. At least they didn’t have to live without each other long. I lay them next to each other before I looked around for anything I could use for cleaning.

On the other end of the room, I found a janitor's closet. I moved to the small closet where I found a long contractor’s broom with thick bristles.

I grabbed it and the few half-empty bottles of forgotten cleaners from whatever this place had been before it fell into ruin.

I used the broom to brush the chunks of what was left of his head over to the window right next to him. With a satisfied sigh, I moved over to the blood stains and soaked them in cleaner while they were still wet to hopefully prevent them from leaving to much of a stain behind.

Let’s be real, blood always stains.

I took the large bristled brush and began scrubbing the best I could. So focused on cleaning was I that I didn’t hear anyone come up here.

I heard a whistle and instantly looked up, about to shank the man with the broom stick lost in my delirium. I aimed it at him like a weapon.

“Whoa,” he said, his hands up, and I realized it was Nox.

I stumbled but then braced myself against the broom stick, using it like a cane for leverage.

“What the fuck are you doing here?” I demanded, and then Bastian and Thorne emerged from the shadows of the entrance. Both bloody.

I grabbed for my stake, trying to take a few steps backwards, but I faltered, unable to keep my balance.

Nox caught his hand on my hip to hold me upright, and my pulse quickened. I was far too close to a monster who loved blood.

“Let go of me!” I protested, shoving out of his hold, grounding my feet to the floor, and he backed away with his hands up. Blood now covered the one he had touched me with.

“Serina, we’re not going to hurt you. You’re bleeding, and you can barely stand,” Bastian called out from behind Nox as he moved toward me.

“As if I’d believe you,” I spat, taking another careful step back, and Bastian tossed two bloody heads at my feet. “For fuck’s sake, I just cleaned in here,” I growled, and Nox rolled his eyes.

“Look,” Bastian said, nodding toward the heads at my feet.

I used my boot to make the faces look in my direction. It was the guys that got away earlier.

“Why?” I murmured, letting my gaze fall over each of them. Though I was sure my cover could have already been blown with them knowing my true name.

“We’re trying to help you,” Thorne spoke up for the first time next to his brothers.

“You're not answering my question… Why would three Vampires want to help a hunter kill their own kind? What is your motive, because the whole ‘better world’ thing sounds like a load of shit to me,” I snapped, swaying on my feet. I could feel my body starting to grow heavy from the blood loss. I wouldn’t last much longer upright, if at all.

I needed to stop the bleeding. I wobbled over to the wall so I would have something to lean against and slid down to the ground. I didn’t wait for their response before I cut them off with my own.

“You really want to help? Get my bleeding to stop so I can get back to my motorcycle,” I said, shucking my shirt over my head. I gasped, air hitching in my chest as the world spun off its axis.

I caught my breath, leaving my top half in only my bra.

Nox’s eyes flared like he’d never seen a woman half naked before, and I shot him a lopsided grin through the pain.

Bastian and Thorne rushed me, both examining all my injuries. Bastian worked on my thigh where I was cut open from the glass while Thorne worked on my side. His fingers were so gentle, his touch barely hurt.

I looked over at his soft, kind features. I hated the benevolence behind his gaze. Was this what Thorne was good at? Working the people they wanted on their side with his kind-natured facade?

Or was this who he truly was? Were Vampires even capable of feeling such things with their undead hearts?

I looked away as they packed my wounds, and I grinded my teeth, holding back my screams. Well, tried to. Darkness clouded my vision.

"Stay with us," a voice implored; I didn’t know whose it was. But the sound broke through the fog of pain for a moment.

They wrapped up my wounds using strips of their shirts, and both of them were only wearing undershirts now. Tight tanks that showed off their lean, muscled figures.

Fuck, I had lost too much blood to be admiring Vampires’ physiques. I gave myself a mental shake and did my best not to scream through the pain of them dressing my wounds, knowing I had failed a few times.

By the time they were finally done, I leaned my head back against the cool brick wall behind me and took a few minutes to steady myself before trying to stand.

“Easy,” Nox urged as he reached for me, and I batted his hand away.

“I can do it myself,” I hissed, and Bastian rushed me, pinning me against the wall.

“For fuck’s sake, Serina, you’re going to let us take you to your bike.” He lifted me effortlessly into his arms.

Honestly, I had no energy to fight, so I just scowled at him.

I could feel the vibrations of Bastian’s frantic heartbeat against my ear as he held me. Was he afraid? Worried? He cradled me with an urgency that seemed tinged with fear.

He held me against him, but each step jostled my wounds, sending a fresh wave of agony rolling through me. I wanted to tell him to stop, to let me lie still on the cold floor so the pain wouldn't dance along my nerves with such fervor, but the words were lost, tangled in the thick haze of my consciousness as I tried to breathe through the pain.

I could tell he noticed my distress because his steps became smoother—softer. He held me tighter against him to prevent me from moving too much. I decided to talk to try and distract myself from the pain and from how close he was to me.

“How did you know I was here?” I asked, panting through the ache.

“You want the honest answer? Or the full-of-shit answer?” Nox asked from the left side of Bastian.

I huffed, “Both. Enlighten me.”

“Honestly, our house isn’t too far from here, and we heard the gunshots and figured you were up to no good.”

“Full-of-shit answer?” My voice sounded labored the more I spoke.

“We thought this warehouse would make for a lovely stroll, don’t you think, Thorne?” Nox teased, and Thorne huffed a laugh with a shake of his head.

Jokes… The Vampires had jokes.

We made it to my motorcycle pretty quickly, and I pushed out of Bastian’s arms with the little strength I had left. He didn’t fight me.

I started the bike and swung my leg over, feeling my face scrunch as I fought through the pain as I got into position.

“You know, we could just take you to your hotel,” Thorne offered, but I shook my head.

“I think I’ve asked for enough of your assistance tonight.” I kicked up my stand and prepared to take off, keeping my features neutral.

“Have you thought anymore about our deal?” Bastian asked.

“Nope,” I lied plainly, before taking off into the changing skies of the early morning.