Demigod Down (22 page)

“Thirty minutes,” he responded. “I don’t
understand what six vampires would be doing out here. We are not
the camping type.” He grunted pushing away another bush.

I laughed, picturing Blake and Tate around a
campfire.

Pulling out my phone, I called O’Conner’s
precinct as Blake pushed ahead of me faster and more agile.

“Can I tell him who is calling?” asked the
woman who had previously referred to me as a prostitute.

“Hooker turned snake charmer,” I told her a
smile on my lips.

I heard her pause before connecting me.

“Snake charmer!” O’Conner greeted me.

“I thought that would get your attention,” I
answered.

“It’s certainly not every day that I get my
ass saved by a beautiful woman from a hallucination of a beautiful
woman.”

I laughed at that. “Have you heard anything
about a missing persons cases in Miami, OK?” I asked as a wet
branch slapped the bare skin of my arm.

“Let me look,” he said and I waited while I
heard the typing of keys.

“Nope, not a single missing persons there,”
he answered me. “Why, you got something?”

I sighed, not liking this. “Yeah something,
just not sure what.”

“Be careful out there,” he warned before we
hung up.

“Blake?” I called out, losing my way. He had
taken off and I was having trouble keeping up with his super
speed.

“Blake?” I tried again pushing into a small
clearing catching my breath.

He ghosted up on super speed, growling.
“Nothing.”

“What do you mean nothing?” I asked looking
around having not traveled far enough to come to that
conclusion.

“I can’t find a single trace of any vampire
here or anyone at all, except the damn animals and rain.” He
grunted, turning back the way we came.

“I think there is more going on here. Didn’t
one of the familiars say they reported to the police the vampire
was missing?”

He blasted back on vamp speed, unsettling me
as I pushed over a log. He helped me, reigning in his annoyance at
being assigned this case and not working on the family pet
problems.

“Yes.” He waited for me to elaborate.

“I called the officer I worked with for the
giant snakes and he said no one was reported missing here.” I
informed him.

“That is odd,” He muttered before looking
back down at me. “What do you think is going on?”

I shook my head. “I don’t know, but I’m
betting it’s related to the shifter ring I took out along with the
snakes. It feels like someone or something is playing with me.” I
sighed.

Blake slowed his pace coming even with me as
we walked back.

“Where to now?”

“Back to the beginning. Logan and Darren are
going to be there in a few hours, let’s head down to meet them in
Vinita,” I answered him, watching my feet closely.

I didn’t hear the attack and didn’t sense
anything wrong as a pale vampire face, drawn with hunger emerged
into my line of site. His gaunt body was illuminated in my headlamp
as I looked up. His eyes frosted over with the madness that can
sometimes claim a vampire. His mouth was open and his fangs reached
for my jugular. I dropped to the ground, pulling out a gun as I
went before firing into him.

I hit one heart I was sure as the creature,
no long rational, was slow to come at me again. I aimed, blowing
out a steading breath, and fired twice more. No need to waste ammo,
I thought as he went down into a pile of ash.

Staying low, I searched for the high powered
flashlight I had dropped in favor of my gun. While the light would
undoubtedly make me a target, I was worse off not being able to see
and I was hoping the sudden change from night vision to blinding
light would help gain me an advantage over whatever else was hiding
in the bushes.

Finally, my hand gripped the rubber handle
pushing on the high-powered light. I focused on keeping my
breathing even as I pulled my second gun out taking a moment to
survey in a circle around me.

Nothing moved and nothing stirred the
undergrowth, giving away movement. Something was deadly wrong.

“Blake,” I whispered, knowing his vampire
hearing would pick me up if he was close by.

Not a sound prevailed. Chewing on my bottom
lip, I shouldered a gun, exchanging it for the light I was going to
need as a terrible joke played in my head. How do you bait a
vampire? With a missing vampire.

Sweeping the gloom with the bright white
light, I focused my intent, not allowing the worry creeping in to
settle.

I was going to find Blake.

To my left, the underbrush was damaged and an
aspen tree was sporting a dark liquid spot that was seeping down.
Bingo.

I swept the area again watching for
reflective eyes and finding none, picked my way over the fallen
tree branches. I touched the blood smattered with what appeared to
be brain matter. It wasn’t Blake’s. When vampires haven’t fed,
their blood darkens into a black sludge, which was exactly what I
was looking at here.

It just didn’t make any sense. Rouge vampires
were usually well fed, eating life stock, wild life, human beings,
and supernatural folks until someone put them down. They sure as
hell didn’t abduct other vampires.

What the hell was going on here?

How long had it been since the vampires had
disappeared? It took longer than a few days to starve a vampire to
the condition of the one I had just dispatched.

Blowing out a breath, I set down my
flashlight, pulling out my phone and dialed.

“What?” Tate growled on the other end.

“We have a problem. I think we just walked
into a trap,” I told him softly, not needing to draw attention to
myself.

“Please tell me this is a horrible joke,”
Tate stated, exhausted.

“Not so much. Can you track his phone?” I
asked, sweeping the area in front of me holding the phone with my
shoulder.

“How many were there?” he growled.

“I killed the one that came after me, but I
am guessing at least three to take Blake down,” I muttered moving
forward into the brush, crunching it under my feet looking if I
could find another hint to the trail. The vamps would move faster
than me, even with the extra burden of an uncooperative
vampire.

There was silence on the phone and I was
hoping Tate was doing as I had asked. Moving forward through the
trampled underbrush, I searched the area again moving past the tree
to another smatter of darkened blood soaking into the dry
twigs.

Shifting the light up from my crouched
position, I scanned the area in front of me. My light was not
reaching far enough to see the next patch of blood.

“Have you found him?” I whispered into my
phone, wishing for that hands-free set Tommy was harassing me to
get.

“Almost. Put this call up,” Tate commanded
and I could see him in the technology room ordering everyone around
in my mind’s eye.

“Triangulate Blake’s cell phone,” Tate’s
voice sounded farther away, yet just as clear.

I tuned out the other voices talking back and
forth as I scanned the area yet again looking for a clue. The
ground was trampled in multiple directions as though they had split
up at this point. One set had to be different, heavier than the
rest, yet in the trampled dry twigs I couldn’t see a
difference.

Blowing out a breath, I sent my beam as far
as I could down each path. I didn’t like this. Rouge vampires
shouldn’t be this intelligent. They also shouldn’t form an alliance
with one another.

“Have you ever heard of rouge vamps working
together?” I asked Tate.

The noise on the other end of the phone line
died down.

“What did you just say?” Tate asked.

“Do I really need to repeat myself?” I asked
annoyed.

“No,” Tate said, the shock leaving his voice.
“I have never in my long life ever heard of rogues working
together.”

“How about being intelligent or smart enough
to split up?” I asked.

“You need back up,” Tate answered.

“Probably, but I am not waiting around and
risking Blake’s undead life. Can you guide me to him?” I asked,
losing patience at not moving as I swung the beam from one path to
the next.

“Yes,” Tate answered me before ordering his
people into motion again.

Another deep breath on the phone and then I
had instructions. “Head north Olivia,” Tate informed me.

Looking down at my watch, I turned until I
hit north moving quickly. I debated holstering my gun, eventually
deciding to stow my fire power, while it made me feel better having
it out, I would move faster having a free hand. If the rogues
hadn’t attacked yet, it wasn’t me they were after.

That also didn’t make any damn sense, but as
the air demigod had said, he was the God of Chaos, if in fact my
hunch was correct and both the attack in St Ann and the problems in
Oklahoma were related. My gut demanded that they were.

“What is taking you so long?” Tate demanded
through clenched teeth.

I ignored that comment as I hauled myself
over a fallen tree, scampering up to untangle myself from the tree
branches that tied around my feet before forging on. The ground was
trampled down and it created a path to follow, even as branches
slapped against my skin and face.

My vision and focus narrowed only to the beam
ahead of me in the down trodden path as I pushed to a jog, which
was dangerous, but Blake’s life was on the line, screw caution.

“Am I on track?” I asked between ragged
breaths.

“So far,” Tate growled. “We are contacting
the Mason House to back you up.”

“Are you certain that is a good idea?” I
asked. “Blake didn’t seem to trust the investigation they performed
and given the fact we just walked into a trap I am inclined to
agree,” I muttered, stretching my legs to clear the distance.

“What else am I supposed to do Olivia?” Tate
growled.

I sighed as I hit another fork in the road.
“Fuck there are more than I fucking thought.” I groaned, holding
the light to each path.

“Which way, Tate?” I asked hurriedly.

“West,” a female voice stated clearly.

Checking my watch, I moved quickly as the
underbrush cleared away, shards of moonlight filtering down to
light my path. I broke into a full sprint, the flashlight in my
hand jarring with my pace as the path curved.

I missed the downward slope of the path,
skidding on my ass down the dirt ravine.

“Fuck,” I hissed, the flashlight jarring out
of my hand along with my cell phone.

I blew out a breath looking first to my left
down the muddy ditch and then to the right where a giant tunnel was
nestled into the side of the ditch.

“What the fuck is that doing way out here?” I
muttered.

My flashlight had fallen across the ditch and
I moved to retrieve it, sending the slash of light out in hopes of
finding my phone.

My heart sunk when I did. The screen was
destroyed. As I bent to pick it up, I pushed against the buttons,
hoping for some sign of life. Nothing but the glare of my headlamp
glimmered back at me. I threw it down, annoyed with myself for
losing my help.

Pushing my mind away from the hopelessness
that threatened to swarm me and my inability to help Blake, I moved
toward the tunnel. The mouth of the gaping black hole was at least
four feet off the ground and I stared down at the claw marks on the
bottom of the thick black metal. Absently running my fingers over
the coarse groves as I lifted the light into the darkness, I found
nothing but rats scurrying out of the glare.

Blowing out a breath, I whispered, “Here goes
nothing.”

Setting the flashlight on the rim, I pulled
myself up, leaving a hand against the throwing knives on my thighs.
My guns would give me distance, but the ricochet in such a small
space was more a danger to me than them. Slowly I made my way
forward, shining my light around the circular tunnel leery of
missing a turn off.

Claw marks guided me. Deep ridges gouged the
metal and I was certain they were from Blake. The puddles of dark
blood were more prevalent here as well. It was only a matter of
time before I encountered the nest and I was would be a fool not to
be worried how many I would encounter.

If three or possibly four could incapacitate
Blake, they were stronger than the average rogue and I was in
trouble. Story of my life.

Blowing out a breath, I followed the path
straight until it bloomed into a large cavern. Moonlight streamed
down from above and in its path, I could see scrawny, naked,
creamy-skinned vampires bouncing from wall to wall.

“Holy fuck,” I whispered. I wasn’t going to
count, I told myself sternly as I decided that now was a perfect
time for my guns.

The noise of my flashlight dropping into the
eerie silence immediately drew the attention of amber eyes that
twisted toward me as I pulled both my guns in one swift move.
Hissing, spitting, and mad with blood lust, they attacked, all at
once.

The sparks from my guns lit the darkness,
temporarily blinding me. I fired two shots, each one in each heart.
I had zero ammo left to spare and more deranged vampires than I
could easily handle. I took out the two who had been gallivanting
in the moonlight coming at me directly.

I turned to my left, firing before I aimed,
at such a close range I felt the spit from the vampire, hissing for
my blood before he or she turned to ash.

“Right, Olivia!” Blake’s voice rang out and I
breathed a sigh of relief turning to fire into the oncoming
vampire. That was four down and one alive boyfriend. I like those
odds.

Stepping into the nest of the beast, I
emptied my guns into the next two vampires, ending one while the
second hissed and writhed on the floor. Pulling the dagger from the
small of my back, I thrust it into its chest until the noise
stopped and ash coated my hands.