Dealers of Light (39 page)

He listened
and grabbed a pen to scribble on a scrap of paper. “Excellent. You’ll receive a bonus for this information.”

“Well?” Desmond arched an eyebrow.

“It’s the owner of the gun store we bribed. He’s identified Rolf in his store this morning wanting to buy assault weapons and a sniper rifle.”

A heady surge of anticipation
triggered Desmond’s lips to lift in a sneer. “How fortunate. He must be planning an attack on us.”

“So it seems. He killed the group in Charleston
, and now he’s coming for us.”

“I want him.”

“Of course, Master. We’ll get him for you and the woman, too.” Carlton rose from his chair, the color returning to his face.

“The woman?”

“Yes. We have the address Rolf used on his gun application, and I remember it from when we tried to locate her before. It’s her house. They must have returned there.”

Desmond wanted them. He craved revenge like a feast after starving. But something about this seemed too easy to him. He paced the room. And yet, there
was no way Rolf could know the gun shop owner would report his presence. It had to be a fortunate coincidence. It had to be.

“Assemble the men. Tw
o should be plenty to pick up the woman, and three can go with you to take Rolf. The rest will stay here in case they escape and come to attack,” Desmond said, turning back to Carlton.

Carlton licked his lips and started to leave.

“And Carlton, I want him alive. I want to enjoy his slow, painful death.”

A smile spread over the younger man’s face. “I’ll make sure you have him
.”

Chapter Thirty-Seven

“Are you ready?” Rolf asked Sean. The two men stood on the side of
Avalon
, their forms only darker shadows in the waning light of evening.

Sean nodded tersely. “Let’s do it.”

Rolf placed his fingers on the younger man’s nape and found his portal. The tips of his fingers sealed the connection, and he detected Sean’s Light flowing beneath the surface of his skin. Sean’s eyes widened as Rolf began taking the Light.

He
admired his man’s courage in allowing this. Determined to only take the necessary amount to make Sean’s energy undetectable from the other Dimmers in the area, he kept the flow slow.

“Okay.” Rolf removed
his hand. “How do you feel?”

Sean rotated his shoulders and raised
his eyebrows. “Okay, I think—a little dizzy maybe.”

“Can you think?”

Sean blinked. “Yeah, I’ll be okay.”

“Good. Grab your computer and let’s go.”
The two men hurried to the car then rushed to Desmond’s. Rolf’s cell rang and he breathed a sigh of relief. “Cara? What happened?”

“It’s all set. I’m going to meet the others at my house. There will be a diversion in front of Desmond’s house in two hours. Be ready.”

“Cara?”

“Don’t worry, it will be okay.” She ended the call before he could ask about her plan.

He gripped the wheel hard. If her diversion didn’t work, they had little chance of getting into the house with so many Takers still there. He had to trust she knew what she was doing.

They parked a block from Desmond’s
place and crept through the shadows of fences and hedges to the side of the house. Rolf scanned the area with night-vision binoculars then glanced at his watch. Sean knelt on the ground, grasping his laptop to his chest.

The sound of voices at the front of the house sent Rolf into the protection of the tall red-tips behind him. Car engines roared to life and Rolf peeked. Two
vehicles passed down the road, four men inside one and two in the other.

“It
looks like the plan worked so far,” Rolf whispered to Sean. “The two are probably going for Cara, and four for me. That leaves seven or eight here. I hope Cara knows what she’s doing. We need the rest of them out of the house if we hope to get the stone.”

“I need to find the wiring for the phone and alarm system
.” Sean rose from his crouched position.

“Get to it,” Rolf said. “The others will be here soon.
”

He hoped Cara and her friends were ready.
Closing his eyes, he pushed away his fear. Flashes of Sakhet’s battered and headless body popped into his mind.

It
can’t happen to Cara, it can’t
.

###

Cara clicked on the overhead light in her living room to battle the reign of thick darkness. The subtle scent of stale air and dust tickled her nose.

She glanced through the blinds
, but the street remained empty. The chill of evening crept into the room, and she rubbed her arms to combat it.

The crunch of tires on the gravel outside froze her in place.
Takers!
Her hands trembled as Dusty barked from the bedroom. Taking a deep breath, she gripped the edge of the bar, waiting.

In only a few seconds, her front door exploded inward and two men rushed in. She
forced a calmness to her features that in no way matched the trembling fear in her gut. No way was she going to show them how scared she was. “What are you doing?” She planted her fists on her hips.

Teeth
bared like wild dogs, their eyes were hungry, the Takers crouched in fighting positions, inching toward her. One of them surveyed the room before his gaze came back to rest on her. His muscular arms bulged against his black shirtsleeves and hung at his sides like a gorilla. “You’re coming with us.” He held an arm out to stop the other man from advancing.

“
Really?” She met his gaze and forced herself not to look toward the bedroom door.

“Don’t be
coy, you know what this is about.” He glared. “You can go with us or we can ask again after we torture you.”

She moved away from the counter, flexing her arms and bending her knees. “Okay.”

A flash of confusion lit the man’s eyes, and he glanced to the side. Dusty barked from the bedroom. “Who’s in there?”

“My dog.
Want to meet him? He’d like to meet you.” She gave him a defiant stare, inviting him to attack.

“Bitch,” he
growled, eyes sparking with anger. He lunged toward her.

Cara balanced on the balls of her feet,
ready. She evaded his grasp, took his arm and used his momentum to swing him into the man behind him.

“
Now
,” she yelled.

The rest of her group burst from the two doors on either side of the living room and entered the
fray. The Takers initially stumbled back in surprise, but one yelled and they attacked, snarling like wolves. Shana got in a blow to one and Marc felled him with a kick to the chin. Tor grabbed the man Cara’d attacked and pushed him into the wall. Dusty rushed in and latched onto his calf, snarling. The Taker staggered until he shook Dusty off, then rushed at Cara. She swung her clasped hands and hit him in the stomach. He doubled over, and she followed up with a downward blow to his neck.

Cara took a hitched
breath as Tor crunched the spine of the man she downed and then struck the one felled by Shana and Marc with precise blows of his foot. No need to take their Light. Marc knelt beside them and confirmed they were dead with a grim nod.

The group stared down at their work, breathing hard. Amber and Alistair had stayed on the sidelines but stared
down at the bodies in horror. Dusty barked at the Takers until Amber grabbed his collar and dragged him outside.

“Let’s finish this.
” Marc frowned. He wiped the sweat from his brow with shaking hands.

“Sorry
, Cara.” Tor gave her an apologetic grimace as he pushed Amber out the door.

Cara nodded,
went into her bedroom and picked up two bags of items she’d salvaged. She gave the house a last survey and followed the others out the back door. Tor remained inside with Marc.

Amber and Shana put their arms
around Cara’s shoulders as flames began to flicker in the windows. Dusty whimpered and pressed against her legs. She turned and buried her face into Amber’s hair, squeezing her eyes to block the tears. Her little house. The remaining piece of her old life, gone. What was she going to do once this was over?

“Let’s go
.” Tor rushed from the back door with Marc and Alistair behind him.

They hurried through the gathering darkness along the shrubs at the edge of her back yard. Slipping between the tall bushes
, they crouched down and ran one at a time to slip into their “borrowed” SUV then sped away into the night.

###

Cara pulled up to the curb a block over from Desmond’s house. Cara’s friends headed to the line of shrubs where Rolf waited for them.

Nicki
and about a dozen of her friends arrived in a beat up van at about the same time and spilled into the street. Mambo snarled and slapped his ball bat into his palm repeatedly. The others carried a variety of knives, chains, and crowbars, ready to have revenge on the people who had targeted their gang and killed a few of its members.

Cara had brought them all up to full Light while at
Nicki’s earlier. “Nicki, over here.” Cara motioned from the side of the SUV.

Mambo walked up to her. “You helped us. I don’t forget.” He gave her a quick nod and went to join his friends.

“Cara! Oh my God!” Nicki ran up to her and grabbed her arm.

“What?” Cara frowned.

“He’s one of them, Cara.” She pointed toward the group by the shrubs, to a man who stood off to the right apart from the others.

Marc
?
Cara’s heart froze, and her knees went weak. She backed up to the SUV for support. “You…you have to be mistaken. What do you mean, one of them?”

“A Taker.”

Cara turned cold all over. “No way.”

“I’m
tellin’ you, he hit on me at a bar a few weeks ago. Don’t you remember, I told you about being attacked by one before the guy that came to my apartment? He had the same crazy look in his eyes. He’s a Taker!”

“How
—how did you get away?” Cara thought the ground had dropped from below her feet and put a hand on the side of the SUV to steady herself. Nicki had to be mistaken. She was just scared. Hyped up.

“I
kneed him in the nuts.” Nicki gave an evil grin. “And I ran away.”

“You’re sure?”

“Positive.”

Cara stood there, mind whirling for a few seconds.
But Marc had fought at their sides, killing Takers since they left Norfolk. 

Hand propped on the hood of the SUV to remain upright, Cara stared at
Marc. No, he was a Dealer. Couldn’t be a Taker. Nicki was wrong. She turned her focus to the troubled girl beside her. The girl nodded, holding Cara’s gaze. Shoulders wide, Nicki stood tall.

Oh
, God.

“Okay, I’ll handle it. Don’t worry. You guys just do your part and help us get inside. If it gets too rough, take off. Got it?” She put a hand on
Nicki’s shoulder and searched her eyes, but there was no doubt there.
Dear God, please, there has to be some other explanation
.

“Got it.”
Nicki flipped out a wicked looking, pearl-handled switchblade, six inches of polished steel shining in the moonlight.

“And,
Nicki?” Cara gave her shoulder a squeeze. “Thanks for the help.”

“Hey, I owe you
, and we want to dust these creeps for what they done to our peeps.” She trotted back to her gang, who waited by their rusty van.

Mambo gave her a two finger salute and the Viper Force jogged down the street to the front of the townhouse.

Cara took a deep breath and followed her friends, her heart breaking.

Chapter Thirty-Eight

Desmond slammed down the phone. “Damn it, Carlton, where are you?” They had better not let Rolf escape or he would slaughter them all.

He stomped
to the front door and reached out to punch in the number of the security code on the alarm system to open the door. The light blinked yellow. An icy fear shot through him. Something was wrong. He keyed in the code but the yellow light remained.

“Hey, assholes,” a deep voice boomed through the closed door. “Come out and play.”

Desmond put his eye to the peephole. Scruffy-looking people holding weapons filled the street in front of the house. He jerked back, stunned. Fury exploded white hot fireworks in his head. The people shouldn’t be defiant yet.

Rolf!

“Chuck,” Desmond roared. “Get the men.
Now
.”