Adrian (The Dark Shadows Book 4) (11 page)

“
W
e’ll find her
,” Teague assured Adrian as they walked along the main street of the small town of East Haven, Alabama. It was late, and not that many people lingered around the street at night. That was the difference between the big cities and small towns; everything closed up early. “Gadiel has tracked her to this town. You know that he can find a needle in a haystack.”

Gadiel was one of the youngest vampires in their Dark Shadow unit. He hailed from the Olaru’s old country of Romania, and was a master hunter. Adrian trusted Gadiel with his life, and knew that he would be able to trust Gadiel’s instincts on finding Angel. So far, his tracking had led them to the very depths of the state of Alabama, in a small town located near the Gulf Coast.

He growled his frustration as he looked around at the small town’s storefronts. It was a much smaller town than Cleveland, but he knew that a town this size was the perfect place for a vampire on the run to hide. It had been almost two weeks since Angel had disappeared, and he prayed to the Gods that they would find her safe and sound.

“I found something.” Gadiel’s Romanian accent broke him out of his thoughts. Gadiel motioned to the corner of an alley. Adrian’s heart skipped a beat as he and Teague jogged toward the other Shadow member.

Each day that Angel was gone, left a pressure in his chest that would not go away. He knew that it was the mating bond.
The curse of the vampire mate.
If he didn’t find Angel alive and unharmed, he would go bat shit crazy. If she died, then he knew it would only be a short period of time before he would die of a broken heart.

He snorted, thinking of the vampire mating bond. It was fate’s way of making sure that a vampire spent eternity with the perfect mate, but why did it have to cause so much pain?

He stood at the mouth of the alley and watched Gadiel stoop down and pick up what looked to be a child’s hoodie in his hand. His breath caught in his throat as his eyes locked on the blood splattered across the grey material.

“
Este al ei
,” Gadiel said, speaking in their native language, handing the hoodie to Adrian.
This belongs to her
.

He sniffed the dried blood, confirming it to be Angel’s. The soft scent of his Angel still lingered on the dirty hoodie. He would know the scent of her blood anywhere. He balled up the hoodie in his hand and looked around, trying to gather himself. He would kill whoever made her bleed, and if she was dead, he would kill every rogue or necromancer that he could find.

“
Da, este
,” he said, confirming it to be hers.

“She is not far,” Gadiel announced. “This hoodie has not been here long. We’ll find her, My Prince.”

Adrian’s head jerked in a nod, unable to speak around the lump in his throat. He prayed that they would not be too late.

“Teague!” Adrian called out for his brother as he made it to the mouth of the alley.

“Yeah,” Teague answered with a grim look on his face.

“Call Bella and make sure Angel isn’t on her radar.”

He couldn’t look at his brother while making such a request. He needed to know if Bella could sense Angel’s pending death. Teague’s mate was a Valkyrie turned demigoddess, whose primary job on this Earth was to escort the newly departed to their appropriate destination; Heaven or Hell.

Teague let loose a curse. “Adrian, seriously—”

“Just do it,” Adrian snapped, holding up his hand. “Please. Just do it,” he repeated in a softer tone.

“Yeah, sure,” his brother muttered, pulling his phone out of his pocket as Gadiel jogged back across the street to join them.

“There is a camera over there.” Gadiel pointed to the brick storefront directly across from the alley.

The dark, ugly building was as unwelcoming as the name. The Grimm Leprechaun Pawn Shop shined bright in the darkness. The scowling Leprechaun etched into the large window stared directly at them, as if daring them to enter the establishment. “If it’s a working one, I’m sure it would have caught everything that has went on in that alley.”

“That angle is perfect,” Adrian murmured in agreement. They dodged the few cars as they crossed the street. “Let’s go talk with the store owner and find out whether or not that camera has caught any recent action.”

* * *

A
drian
, Teague, and Gadiel instantly went on alert the moment the door closed behind them. The interior of the building matched the exterior in its dreariness.
It was a pawnshop, all right.
Adrian would believe that the business was a legitimate store when unicorns returned.

The store held shelves full of electronics, televisions, stereos, and DVD players, all of which Adrian was sure were illegally obtained.

“Vampires,” a deep voice, with a strong Irish accent boomed from behind the counter.

A large, dark-skinned man stood poised with his arms across the front of his massive chest. His unruly hair was draped over his forehead, doing little to hide the scowl that graced his face.

They were certainly not welcomed.

The air shimmered slightly around the man, displaying his true form for a brief second.

Demon.

The fucking establishment was owned by demons.

“Demon,” Adrian said, stalking to the counter, with Teague and Gadiel behind him.

He knew that when dealing with a demon, nothing would come for free, but they needed to see what was on the camera. He would be willing to pay any price to find Angel.

“I nu dat yer are not ‘ere ter browse dis gran’ establishment,” the demon said in his strong Irish brogue.

“You’re right,” Adrian said, placing his hands on the glass countertop. “We’re not. My name is Adrian Olaru. This is my brother Teague, and our associate, Gadiel.”

“Waaat is it dat yer want, Shadows?”

A snort, followed by a cough, could be heard behind Adrian, and he knew it was Teague without bothering to look.

“A couple of nights ago, there was an incident in the alley across the street.” Adrian’s voice was cool and hard, as he tried to keep all emotions from showing.

“Is dat so?”

“We believe that a female vampire was assaulted and kidnapped from the alley directly across from your store.” Teague stepped up, coming to stand next to Adrian.

“And we believe that your camera caught it,” Adrian said, glancing at his brother before turning back to the demon.

“An’ yer are wantin’ ter review me video tape?” The demon leaned forward, a cynical smile spreading across his face.

“You’re going to let us view it,” Adrian growled, not backing down from the large demon.

He would fight to the death to find his mate, and if dueling with the demon would get him closer to her, then so be it. The jingle of the bells over the doorway sounded, but Adrian didn’t take his eyes off the demon.

“Jirak!” a female’s harsh voice barked from behind them. Adrian turned, recognizing the voice, and found Teague’s mate, Bella, standing by the door.

“
Y
er called
a feckin goddess on me?” the demon growled, slamming his large fist down on the counter. Teague stiffened as the demon turned his furious gaze toward his mate.

Bella was dressed in her warrior leathers, adorned with multiple weapons. The look on her face was that of a fierce warrior as she marched up to join them. She stood next to Teague, holding her hand up to silence her mate.

“Jirak, you are to show them what they seek,” Bella stated, staring the large demon down. “You are not welcome here, and it would be in your best interest to assist these vampires,” she threatened.

The Irish demon stared at her, his jaw tightened. “Waat ye gon ta do? Call yer pappy on me?”

“Oh, I won’t need to do that. I can handle you on my own,” she said, her voice dropping low. “But my father, the God Adros, won’t take too kindly to finding out that Fomori demons are running loose in
my
territory.”

Adrian sucked in a quick breath, as his eyes shot back to the large demon. Fomori demons were known to be the direct descendants of the God of Death, Balor.

A few months ago, Bella and her Valkyries were honoring an age-old agreement between the Valkyrie and vampires. She and her warriors had come to Earth to help in the war. She was killed, protecting the vampire queen, only to reappear a few months later, returning from the dead as the Goddess of Death.

While she was in Heaven, Bella had discovered that her father was the God Adros, the ruler of all deities. Her newly appointed job on Earth was to guide the souls of the newly departed to their respected destinations, Heaven or Hell, as the Goddess of Death.

Balor was the demonic God of Death, who was completely opposite of Bella. He was known to steal the souls of the dead and give them to his demons to feast on. He was killed centuries ago, at the hands of his own son, and legend had it that the Fomori remained hidden in the caves and seas of Ireland. And right now, one was standing right in front of them.

“Now, are you going to show them the video tape, or are we going to have a problem?” Bella asked.

The room grew still, and was laced with tension while they waited for the demon to make his decision. Adrian glanced at Gadiel, his blade out, ready for battle, while Teague’s murderous gaze was locked on the demon.

“Fine. Oi don’t wan any trouble.”

* * *

“
T
eague
, how’s it going?” Adrian asked as he paced the back room, impatiently waiting for his brother to work his magic with the video. Bella and Gadiel were out in the store room, keeping an eye on the disgruntled Jirak.

“Patience, brother,” Teague murmured as his fingers flew across the keyboard. Adrian walked over and peeked over his brother’s shoulder at the monitor. “The uploads from the camera are digital, meaning that it records twenty-four hours straight. I’m rewinding as fast as I can.”

“Remind me never to get on your mate’s bad side,” Adrian said, patting Teague on the shoulder.

“I know! Her in leather alone gets me hard—”

“Teague, honey, I don’t think your brother wants to hear about our um...relations.” Bella cut him off as she walked through the door. “Adrian, I’m sorry about your mate.”

He nodded, unable to speak around the lump in his throat. He watched, envious of his brother, as Bella ran her fingers through his hair, and laid a kiss on his forehead. He looked away and cleared his throat.

“Thanks, Bella. Not that I mind extra help, but why are you here?” he asked.

“Teague called me, asking me if Angel was on my radar, which she’s not…yet.” She was quick to assure him. “But, when he told me where you were—”

“Hey!” Teague interrupted. “Got something. You are not going to like this.”

Adrian and Bella rushed over to Teague, catching the first glimpse of Angel on the screen. She stood at the corner of the alley, leaning against the building as if she didn’t have a care in the world. Adrian wished he could hear the conversation between her and the human, but there was no audio. Even without sound, he knew what needed.

She needed to feed.

His gums ached as he watched the human follow her into the darkness. Minutes later, the human returned back on the screen, almost as if in a trance, walking out of the alley.

“Come on, baby,” he murmured, almost willing her to walk back out of the alley. The pit of his stomach dropped as he watched a large threatening presence saunter up to the mouth of the alley, blocking Angel’s only exit.

“Shit. This doesn’t look good,” Teague murmured.

“Who is that?” Bella asked.

They all watched as the new figure threw his head back and laughed, then dashed forward into the alley, out of the camera’s sight. Adrian’s heart skipped a beat as he glanced at the time on the screen, and watched it continue to tick away. Time seemed to stand still as they all watched and waited, to see who would walk out of the alley the victor.

“A rogue,” Adrian growled as he watched the large vampire walk out with Angel’s limp body thrown over his shoulder.

A dark SUV screeched to a stop, blocking the camera’s view. Seconds later, it pulled away, with Angel and the rogue vampire no longer in sight. “A dead rogue.”