Chapter 30

Chapter 30

Good Run Of Bad Luck

Nera

As we did with the other girls, Charlie had brought more bags of essentials, ready for us, and the girls were grateful. They called their families, and even though it was the middle of the night, all of them picked up the phone.

I couldn't even imagine what those families had been through.

Alicia and Miranda told us they'd been nabbed in a nightclub a week ago.

"That seems to be their M.O.," I said between gritted teeth.

What kind of world did we live in that young women couldn't even go out for a night of fun with their friends without the fear of being kidnapped by sadistic, bloodsucking assholes? Hell, even the human bastards were no safer. Human trafficking was becoming a bigger problem these days, but there was nothing I could do except work with Shep and his team to bring them down.

"Same protocol, get them to the Greyhound station in the morning," Shep said.

Thankfully, all four girls were locals from Mississippi and Louisiana and would be picked up in the morning.

The downfall was, we needed a vamp's help.

"Why don't you make that asshole hypnotize them?" I asked, pointing at the cage where the blue-eyed vampire sat with his arms around his legs, staring at us, dried blood on his neck.

"Because I don't trust him," Shep replied.

I couldn't blame him there.

He looked at Trigger and Menace. "I need to make a phone call." He grabbed my hand and led me behind the bar of Rumble, where he flipped through his contacts and hit the call button, putting it on speaker. It trilled several times before Viper picked up.

"I might have to start charging you by the job," he answered.

Psycho smiled and said, "Well, if you could keep these fucking vamps under your thumb, I wouldn't have to call you."

"Fair enough. Whatcha got?" Viper asked.

"One of the traffickers was stupid enough to hide out in the bayou. Unfortunately for him, it's the bayou where we turn."

"Ooh, that's a good run of bad luck," he commented.

"It sure was. We have him here and while I'd love to kill him, he's been very cooperative, so I'm giving you the chance to come get him and do with him what you will."

"I appreciate it," Viper replied.

"Also, I smoked two vamps at a condo in Bay St. Louis. They were feeding on the vics we tracked. I snatched their wallets before we left, in case you want them."

"Yeah, good call."

"I'll hold this vamp 'til sundown if you want him. Otherwise, I'm cutting him loose at dawn and he can fend for himself. Supposed to be 80 and sunny. Just sayin'."

He snorted a laugh. "I'll be there in thirty."

"Hey, Viper," Psycho said.

"We're gonna need some more… hypnotherapy."

"No problem." He ended the call.

"We should just put a vamp on the payroll for that shit," Shep said, looking at me.

"I mean, it's not a bad idea, but I get the feeling the Nighthawks like doing it for free. It keeps their entire species out of the funny papers."

He leaned in and pulled me closer, flush with his body, and kissed my nose. "You make me smile every single day. You're smart and beautiful and brave and bold. You did fantastic tonight."

My heart sang at the compliment, and I beamed up at him, my cheeks flushing. "Why are you so good to me?"

"Because you're amazing." He brushed some hair back from my forehead.

I looked at the tables inside the bar. The two drugged girls were coming to nicely with sodas, coffee, and some delicious spaghetti Cutter had made. They were lucid enough to make phone calls to their families and were grateful for the toiletries to get cleaned up. They also had only been missing a week or so. I was relieved that after the Nighthawks got done with them, that they'd only need time to heal from the abduction and wouldn't have the extra trauma of knowing vampires were real. They were so young and I hoped they would be more cautious when going to nightclubs—or they'd avoid them altogether. Like I planned to do for the rest of my natural fucking life.

I left Shep to do whatever he was doing and sat down with the girls.

Alicia looked at me. "You said this happened to you? How did you get through it?"

I reached over and squeezed her hand. "You're stronger than you know. There are a lot of bad people out there, but you know what? For every bad person there are a hundred good people. Don't let this experience leave you jaded. Help those in need. But first, help yourself."

She nodded, a wisdom belying her youth shining from her warm brown eyes.

I looked at Miranda. "That goes for you too, sweetie."

Miranda dipped her fork into the spaghetti, twirling the noodles. "Were they… vampires?" she asked meekly.

I looked at Alicia. "No, they were pretending. Sick cosplay stuff. Fangs and contact lenses."

"Sure seemed real. I could hear them swallowing my blood." Alicia shuddered.

"Don't let this shit get to you. They were just sick weirdos, okay?" I was glad they hadn't seen the two turn to ash or that would have been a lot harder to explain.

"Thank you for rescuing us. My daddy is so excited to see me. He said he thought"—Miranda hiccupped a sound of emotion—"he thought I was dead but said he never stopped looking for me."

"You're lucky to have him. Never take him for granted, girlie." I smiled at her.

"I won't. I promise."

Just then, the door opened and Viper, Phoenix, and another vamp I could only assume was Face by how ridiculously gorgeous and model-like he looked—holding an electronic tablet like Wizard always did—walked through the front door of Rumble.

Vamps must be able to sense each other, because the one in the cage suddenly found some energy and began rattling the cage bars. "Hey! Get me out of here."

Viper looked at him, then at Shep, who was now at my side with his hand on my hip. "This him, obviously?"

Shep replied, "Yep. But we'd appreciate you taking care of that before we cut him loose." He indicated the table of girls.

Viper nodded at Phoenix.

"On it, boss," the redhead replied.

He went and sat the table, presumably doing what he'd done before. Face followed him and oddly recorded the interaction on his tablet.

We watched as Viper approached the cage and crouched down to get at eye level with the vamp. "What's your name?"

"Elliott," he replied.

"Hey!" I said, chuckling. "How many times did we ask him?" I looked up at Shep.

"Viper's got the magic touch, I guess," he replied, kissing me on the head.

Viper turned and looked at us. "No, I don't. Elliott just knows what's good for him."

Damn sensitive vampire hearing.

"Well, Elliott, if I let you out of this cage, you gonna come willingly and calmly with us to the Nighthawks' clubhouse?" he asked.

He nodded vehemently. "Honestly, sir. I would like nothing more than to join the Nighthawks."

"We'll see about that. When were you turned?" Viper asked.

"Like, a year ago. I heard about y'all but Deon wouldn't let me go after he turned me. I was… stuck."

Well, shit. That sounded shitty. Fucking Deon. We had to get him.

Viper yanked the lock, twisted it, and threw it to the side.

"I had a key for that," Shep groaned.

Viper turned and grinned at us. "Sorry."

Phoenix seemed to be done with what he was doing, and he and Face joined Viper and Elliott, who were heading out before daylight arrived.

"Thanks for the heads up. I got it from here."

"Oh," Shep said, pulling something from his pocket. "The wallets from the dead vamps." He handed them to Viper.

Viper held them up in thanks with a chin lift.

Wizard approached Face and they had a conversation I couldn't hear. I probably wouldn't be able to track it anyway. Techie stuff was not in my wheelhouse.

The vamps left the bar and Menace and Chaos walked in.

"What happened?" Shep asked.

Menace shrugged. "The fucker wouldn't talk so I stabbed him in the brain in the back of his creepy fucking van and then watched him turn to ash."

I shuddered.

Shep bit back a smile. "Well, that was dramatic."

"Then we torched the van and left it in a parking lot. Here's the plates." He handed my boyfriend two charred plates.

I furrowed my brow. "How did you get back here?"

"Uber," Chaos said with a shrug.

"I would have come and got you," I said, punching him in his massive bicep. Poor Uber driver. Menace was scary enough without the arc of blood that still stained his face.

Chaos raked fingers through his long hair and smiled at me with a white megawatt smile. "Nah, it's all good."

I shook my head. These guys were a trip and were growing on me every day.

I yawned and looked at my watch. It was almost three a.m. and it had been a good but long day. We hadn't caught Deon but I had faith the Bayou Wolves would get him.

And I'd be right by their side to watch the motherfucker burn.

After the girls were dropped at the Greyhound station, Shep drove me to therapy. My therapist, Melanie, was great. I'd only been to one session but she seemed very easy to talk to and knew all the right questions to ask. She even had a cat named Smoky who cuddled in my lap when I'd get emotional.

"So how are things since we last spoke?" she asked me in that softspoken manner of hers. Her entire office was painted a soft lavender with purple and blue accents. Supposed to be calming, I guessed.

I went on to tell her about how more girls had been rescued. I didn't tell her the police weren't involved or that vampires were, of course.

"How did you feel when you learned more girls were being held against their will?" she asked.

"It was a triggering, I won't lie. But all I wanted to do was help them. To get them away from the bastards."

"And did the police catch the one who'd hurt you?" she asked gently.

I shook my head. "No, he's still unaccounted for."

"How do you feel about that?"

I looked down right as Smoky jumped in my lap. I petted him, which did relax me. Though I knew if I stayed with werewolves, I'd never be able to get a cat of my own. "It worries me, but Shep makes me feel safe. I don't fear for my safety but I do for other young women who might fall victim to him."

"I can tell you're a very selfless person, Nera. Helping more women will be very therapeutic for you, but remember to take care of yourself before you help others."

I smiled, remembering I'd told the same to Miranda, because it was the right thing to do. "I know, and I will."

We chatted some more and before I knew it, an hour had passed.

Shep was waiting for me outside of Melanie's office and he grabbed my hand. "Feel better?"

I shrugged. "A little."

"Do you think this is helping?" he asked, jutting his chin toward the building while handing me a helmet.

I took it and said, "Yeah, I guess."

He smacked me on the ass and said, "Get on."

I climbed on after him and held onto his waist as he drove us somewhere to get lunch.