59. A Different Type of Riding

H arlow followed his boyfriend down an alleyway, away from their Jeep where Foxx had just stashed his sunsuit. He stretched his arms up, grunting when his joints popped. Apparently, swinging a fucking club repeatedly for hours could, in fact, cause aches to someone who wasn't human.

"Feeling putt-putt, huh?" Foxx adjusted his puffy cap over his black curls with a snicker. The man waited for him to catch up, before they continued on side by side.

"You seem fine."

"Of course, but then again, I wasn't tense the whole time, or swinging my club hard enough to send balls flying through cement, trees, and electronics." Foxx smiled. "Don't worry, the aches will be gone in about thirty minutes, I'd assumed."

"Question is, what will we be doing in thirty minutes?"

As it turned out, Wacky Jackie's Putt-Putt Palace had been smack dab in the middle distance-wise between Houndside Hazard and Sunfall. Meaning their location had allowed them to shave an hour off their drive.

Tony must have left before calling them, because they'd arrived around the same time. After a brief conversation about the number of infected they suspected, followed by picking their team's name, they'd grabbed an earpiece, a tracker, and had loaded up with automatic injectors filled with the joint counteragent. That was two hours ago…

So far, the only thing they'd accomplished was getting some exercise in, while gaining an overview of the types of calls that the police of Sunfall dealt with. Police scanners…were not as entertaining to listen to as some may think.

At least they weren't alone in their boredom, as all the other teams had been doing the same damn thing as they had… Well, the hunter teams and the…werewolves. Based on what he smelled during the meet up before setting off…at least forty of Santiago's pack was here—Santiago included.

They drew to a stop when there was a clicking noise from their earpieces. Soon after, a woman's voice that he didn't recognize spoke over the line. "Disturbance near 21st and Grant Street, in Sunfall. Team Ball Buster advancing."

Foxx snorted. "We got to pick our team names and that's what they went with?"

His brow rose at that. "Foxx, you named ours The Sadistic Sunshine Brigade."

The vampire huffed. "Well, I mean, it's your cute nickname for meeee! Though I did drop the ball part as it didn't fit."

Harlow frowned. Had he ever told Foxx that… "How do you know I call you that?"

Foxx's head tilted. "You said it on the video."

"Ah! The torture video. I did say that out loud, didn't I?"

"Mmhmm." The vampire nodded, a wide lopsided smile on his face, the man's dimples were flashing, along with one of his fangs.

"Like the nickname, do you?" He chuckled.

"I do!"

They went quiet when their earpieces clicked once again. The woman who spoke last time sounded out of breath as she said, "Team Ball Buster checking in. Two targets…neutralized. Civilian injuries…but no deaths. Pick up and medical needed."

Tony's voice came on the line straight after. "Houndside Hazard Guild Director Tony Varley here. Pick up and medical is on the way. As for the rest of you, this shit show has officially begun. Our warning notice to the public will be delayed, but the cities of Sunfall, Hastings, and Jorden are now on lockdown.

"As I speak, light barriers and solid silver fencing is being set in place to keep all infected contained in those areas as best we can. Hunters and groups assigned to Hastings and Jorden, be prepared to branch out in case some have managed to spread beyond the borders.

"As of now, your job is to keep your eyes and ears open, and head to any questionable 911 calls that are nearest you. Keep an eye on the location of other hunters. We stuck a tracker on your asses and provided you with a digital map showing them all for a reason. Do NOT bunch up. We want you to be where you are needed as quickly as you can be.

"Be aware that as you inject the counteragent, the target will likely fight until it has time to take effect. At which time, due to how long the poison has been coursing through them, they will pass out. Like Team Ball Buster did, call in for a pick up, and medical if needed, once target, or targets, are neutralized. The goal is to keep casualties low on both sides. Is that clear?!" There were a bunch of clicks, hunters using the button to talk to confirm they understood. "Good, get your asses moving then!"

"Let's go!" Foxx chimed, skipping forward as he did.

Shaking his head, Harlow followed.

"Wait." Foxx held his hand up. "Do you smell that?"

Before the dhampir even had time to answer, Foxx took off. As he ran, he retrieved an injector from his dungaree pocket.

Running alongside him, Harlow asked, "What do you smell?"

"Rot."

The same scent he had smelled when they'd been fighting that first group of vampires over a month ago. They both remained quiet, Foxx slowing as they turned a corner. The streets were oddly empty for this early in the night… Empty except for a couple. Their hands were linked, and they were walking on the sidewalk less than a quarter of a mile down the street.

Foxx took a deep breath in, his eyes scanning, looking for the threat.

"There." Harlow's word was a soft whisper as he pointed towards an alleyway up ahead, just as two vampires appeared at the mouth. One was tall, the other was more his size.

Foxx took off as soon as he saw them, Harlow not far behind, and he lunged when they did.

"RUN!" he screamed, alerting the couple of the danger as he plowed into the larger vampire on the right.

Wrapping an arm around the man's neck, Foxx slammed the injector into the vampire's shoulder. The casing at the tip collapsed, while the needle embedded itself. He pressed the button on the end.

Needle pushing in deeper, the counteragent shot into the vampire's body. Foxx then did the only thing he could do…he held on for dear life as the man bucked like a wild bronco, while he clawed at Foxx and tried to yank him off. By the time the vampire finally collapsed and stopped moving, Foxx's world was shaking in a bad way.

"Oh…being bounced up and down repeatedly is so much worse than spinning." He shook his head. It took a moment to get his bearings again.

Foxx glanced over at Harlow, and couldn't help but glare in disgust on finding the man just pinning the other fucker down with his weight. Harlow shrugged. "Benefits of weighing more than a hundred pounds."

"I weigh more than a hundred!"

The dhampir snorted. "Not by much."

He blinked, his gaze flicking forward when he realized they still had an audience. Foxx eyed the couple who were still standing there, looking shocked and frozen in fear.

Apparently…yelling ‘run' had not been clear enough. "Um, hi… We are hunters… Please, for your own safety, return home, or at the very least, get off the streets as soon as possible. The city is on lockdown. You should be getting a notification on your phone very soon."

Foxx wasn't sure why it hadn't gone out already. Or maybe they couldn't do it until a commotion actually happened. At the sound of multiple phones buzzing at once, their own and those in the buildings surrounding them, he chimed, "Oh, that will be it now."

The woman remained frozen, but the man finally moved. His gaze flicking from him to the vampire Foxx was still sitting on, the man slowly pulled his phone from his pocket. The human's eyes widened and he gripped the woman's hand tighter as he started tugging her away, basically repeating the same shit Foxx had just said.

Pushing up off the vampire, knowing he likely wouldn't be able to move for hours, Foxx tapped his earpiece and said, "Sadistic Sunshine Brigade checking in. Two targets neutralized, human couple left unharmed, pick up needed."

A man's voice came on the line, but it was not Tony's. "Sadistic Sunshine Brigade, pick up is on the way."

Harlow stood up, getting off his guy.

"You really didn't put any effort in at all, did you?!" Foxx huffed, glaring at the man.

The dhampir rolled his eyes. "You went for the bigger target, instead of the one your size, despite knowing that they are stronger than normal right now, and that you'd need to ride shit out until they passed out. Yet you are mad at me because I, someone who is more than twice your size, didn't struggle with taking down a vampire your size. Am I getting that right?"

"Yes!" he huffed, trying to keep the glare up, but his smile broke free seconds later as he started to giggle.

"Brat."

They both looked back down the road at the sound of sirens. Foxx couldn't help but frown at the approaching police van.

Pressing the button on his earpiece again, he said, "Sadistic Sunshine Brigade here. What's the license plate of our pick up?"

The same voice as before said, "Sadistic Sunshine Brigade, the plate number is 7613. Reminder to all teams, this information is something you can check on the digital map."

"It matches," Harlow drawled, just as the police van pulled up to them.

Two police officers got out; both had brown hair, but one was at least twenty years older than the other.

"Our pick up?" Foxx asked with a hesitant smile.

The older officer nodded. "I'm Officer Noland, and this is Officer Nash. We're here to pick up two neutralized vampires from…" The man barely kept the smile off his face as he said, "The Sadistic Sunshine Brigade."

"That's us," Harlow snorted.

As Foxx watched them open the doors and load the vampires inside, he asked, "Where are you taking them?"

"Sunfall General Hospital."

Foxx cursed. "Is that safe?"

The other officer nodded. "It's as safe as it can be. We locked down and secured a ward. And with the city-wide lockdown in place, protesters are, at this very moment, being removed."

As safe as it can be was…he supposed, all he was going to get.

Claws catching on his pants leg, Iggy cursed, "Holy shit," as he was dragged down.

Rolling to the left, his pants tore, and he just barely avoided getting gouged. Before he had time to think of some sort of plan, Oceana was suddenly there, jumping on the back of the werewolf, slamming an injector into it.

Leaping to his feet, Iggy quickly backed up, getting out of range of the tussling pair. Spinning around, intending to get even further away, he yelped as he bumped into the chest of a giant fucking werewolf in its bipedal form. On instinct, he stabbed the wolf with the injector in his hand and pressed the button, taking an instant step back as the growling started...which was when he noticed the three glowing pairs of eyes behind the werewolf he just majorly pissed off.

"Oh, shit!" he squeaked, stumbling backwards. Iggy spun around, intending to run away, but went down hard as a heavy weight landed right on top of him. With the sharp prick of claws digging into his back, Iggy slammed his eyes shut—ahh…he was going to die…

Just as suddenly as the weight came, it was gone. But yet, his fear continued to spike as someone or something wrapped an arm around his waist and lifted him up. Squealing in fright as he flailed around, Iggy was about to strike out at whatever had a hold of him, when a deep rumbling voice made him pause.

"Calm yourself, blue bird. I'm not here to hurt you."

Iggy blinked, feeling slightly breathless. With his hands balled up and pressing against a firm, thick chest, he stared wide eyed into the deep honey brown gaze of a man who looked like a literal fucking God. With dark tan skin that appeared to be natural, and a diamond shaped face, the man had a plush bottom lip, a straight, slightly upturned nose, sculpted cheekbones, and a gently dimpled chin. He also had what Iggy liked to call the perfect five o'clock shadow going on.

Adding on to all that hotness, said God-like man had some major muscles, along with this beautiful, long flowing black hair that from this close he could tell wasn't true black, but the darkest of browns. Had someone sculpted this guy out of clay or something?!

When his gaze flicked down, Iggy realized the God had not only swept him up off the ground, but at the same time, had managed to pin and inject the giant wolf that had been on top of him as if it was nothing. Just how fucking tall was this guy? Oh, he felt small… Why did he like that?

"Uh… H-hi…I-Iggy," he stuttered, his cheeks heating when he realized that what he'd just said hadn't actually made sense.

The God's brow rose. "Iggy?"

"M-my name!" Iggy squeaked. Wincing in mortification, he added, "It's, well, Ignatius, actually, but I go by Iggy."

"I see, I'm Santiago." The man smiled warmly. "Are you hurt, blue bird?"

His heart fluttered a bit… Oh…Iggy could be his blue bird if that's what the man wanted. He was fine with that.

Iggy swallowed. "N-no. I don't think so."

"Good." Santiago smiled. The sight of the man's bright white teeth, and sharp canines, made his heart do another odd little flutter—a flutter he was beginning to feel concerned about.

"A LITTLE HELP HERE!?" Oceana screamed angrily from behind them.

Santiago frowned. "Zane, Bodie, Carlo!" the man rumbled angrily. "What has delayed you?! Surely those three wolves are taken care of."

"On it! Sorry, we just wanted to watch to see what happened!" a rather large, and thickly muscled, redhead chimed with a laugh, seeming to appear from nowhere…or maybe Iggy hadn't been paying attention enough to have noticed him. Two others walked past with the man, but Iggy was too focused on the God to care.

Santiago slowly set him on his feet. Iggy did his best not to harden as he slid down the man's body. Looking way up, the height difference was very noticeable now that he was on the ground. Being six foot two, running into people taller than him was… How tall was this guy?! His heart fluttered once again.

"Why don't you stay here and let us handle the rest, blue bird?" Santiago suggested sweetly. Well, it had sounded sweet to him, as it was exactly what he wanted to do.

Biting his lip, he nodded. Sure…he would wait right here. This was…not really…his forte, anyway. Even Tony had questioned them volunteering. Iggy…just hadn't had the heart to say no when Oceana had asked. She'd looked so determined to help… But he should haven't said yes.

The fact was, his ass was not made for injecting people and riding out their violent attacks, which often entailed rolling and jumping around, until they passed out.

With his eyes glued to the man… No, not man, werewolf… Iggy found himself licking his lips. Perhaps…he could try a different type of riding…