H.T. Night's 8-Book Vampire Box Set (86 page)

Romero stared at me and didn’t say a word
for what felt like minutes. I stared back at him. I wasn’t backing
down. Guns didn’t scare me. Nothing about this place scared me.
There was absolutely nothing this man could do that would make me
do anything I didn’t want to do.

Oh, so I thought.

Romero calmly looked me in the eye and said,
“You are free to leave and so is Tommy. But I will say this; at
least one or more persons will die tonight. It is up to you who it
is, or who they are.”

I stared at Romero and I knew then just who
he meant. “You son of a bitch!” I yelled. It took everything I had
not to kill him where he stood.

“Come here, Josiah. I want to show you
something.” Romero pulled out his 4G phone. “I get great reception
in this place.” Romero grinned at me, cockily.

I refused to step over to him, so he just
put his phone up, so I could see the screen. He pushed a couple of
buttons and then a video played on his phone. It was Lena. Just
what I had expected, Romero had Lena.

I flew into Romero’s body and I grabbed him
with both my hands and threw him across the room. He had about
twelve bodyguards in the room and every one of them had their guns
pointed at me.

“Shoot me!” I yelled. “You think a bullet
could stop me?”

“No one shoot him!” Romero yelled out.

“She better be okay, Romero. If I hear that
anyone has touched her or hurt her in any way, I will take this
whole place down. I will kill everyone in this room and every
motherfucking billionaire in that crowd! You will be fresh out of
paying customers for your sick and twisted vampire-werewolf horror
show!”

“Okay, just relax, Josiah. Take a deep
breath.” Romero said, both scared and smug. “Now that I have your
attention, you are going to need to hear me out. You will stay in
this suite until it is time for you to fight. You will go down
there and either kill Tommy or be killed. I really don’t care which
happens at this point. If you don’t follow my directions, I will
make sure the mother of your children doesn’t leave here
alive.”

Holy shit, he knew Lena was pregnant!

My head and my emotions were spinning. As I
stared at Romero, it took every bit of control I had in me to not
kill him. I couldn’t do anything at the moment because I didn’t
know where she was. She could be anywhere in this place. I couldn’t
just start tearing into rooms. He would surely kill her and our
unborn children. I didn’t know what to do. I wanted to jump out of
my skin. I wanted to crucify Romero with a staple gun.

“Tonight will not end well for you, Romero,”
I said. “That is a promise.

“Your threats are very cute when I’m the one
holding all the cards, Josiah. Have a seat and enjoy the show. I
hear the ending is really good. Well, that all depends on if you’re
a werewolf fan or a vampire fan. So far tonight, the vampires
haven’t been so lucky.”

I refused to sit down. He might be able to
keep me in his suite till it was time to fight, but there was no
way I was going to relax. I stood back with all guns still aimed at
me from the bodyguards in the room.

So, Tommy knew that Romero had Lena. Tommy
must have been told right before the fight that if he didn’t kill
each of his opponents, they would kill her. He was fighting to save
her life. I didn’t have time to be sentimental about my friend.
Tommy had a nightmare of a fight next.

Tommy needed to transition. I needed to talk
to him. I looked out into the ring. He was still lying on his back,
completely exhausted. Now, I knew why he just didn’t say screw it
and bail out of here. He was fighting for Lena’s life.

Romero left the room and I was surrounded by
his men. They all looked like a Mexican version of G.I. Joe with
their camouflage and goofy military garb.

I knew for me to get Lena, Tommy and me out
of here safely, I needed to keep my head straight. This situation
was putting my sanity to the test. The love of my life, who was
carrying our two children inside her, was being held hostage
somewhere near this compound by a psychopathic billionaire.

Tommy eventually stood up. He was holding
himself up by using the ropes. The guy was exhausted. He had given
everything he had emotionally, physically, and psychologically. He
had two more fights. Unfortunately, one was still with me.

The announcer made his way to the ring.
There was blood all over it. It looked like the slippery, gory
floor at a slaughterhouse and meatpacking plant. Tommy was
bloodied, but not injured in a way that he couldn’t continue. The
announcer took the microphone. His face looked like how Tommy felt.
He said simply, “Wrath,” and walked out of the ring.

The black double doors opened. The crowd
began chanting Tommy’s name. They knew they were watching a person
give every inch of himself. Tommy was giving them the show of their
lives and they showed their appreciation.

The largest man I had ever seen came through
the double doors. He was eight feet tall and looked like he weighed
500 pounds, and all of it was solid muscle.

This was Goliath’s son, who for some reason,
chose to be a vampire and not a werewolf like his father. I
couldn’t imagine how Tommy was going to beat this guy. Tommy looked
as if he had just finished a triathlon.

This kid wanted Tommy dead. Hell, he wanted
me dead, too; we had killed Goliath, his dad. A child’s vengeance
was stronger than anything that was out there. Tommy had his work
cut out for him.

Tommy transitioned into the great gray wolf
on sight after seeing the beast that was making his way to the
ring.

“Tommy,” I said. “I know everything! I know
they have Lena and I know why you’ve been killing your
opponents.”

“I’m sorry, Josiah,” Tommy answered. “I knew
if I told you, you would possibly risk getting her killed. Is she
okay?”

“As far as I know she is. She’s okay and so
are the babies.”

“The babies?”

“Yeah, Tommy. Lena is pregnant.”

“Holy shit.”

“Tommy, you can’t worry about that. You need
to get through these two fights.”

“Do you know who I am fighting last?” Tommy
asked.

“Tommy you need to worry about Goliath’s
kin. He wants your head on a platter.”

“It’s you, isn’t it, Josiah? You’re my last
fight?”

Tommy knew he was going to have to fight me
last. He had probably suspected it the whole time.

“Don’t think about that right now,” I said.
“We’re going to get through this fight. I’m going to help you the
entire way.”

“Okay,” Tommy said.

“Does Goliath’s kid have a name?” I asked
Tommy.

“Yeah, it’s Tiny!” Tommy answered.

“Of course it is.”

Tiny jumped into the ring. The whole ring
shook like a 10.0 earthquake.

“He can’t be as good a fighter as his dad,”
I said. “But I’ll bet he’s stronger.”

“You think?” I could hear the sarcasm in
Tommy’s voice, even in my head.

The sixth bell rang.

Tommy stood his ground on his side of the
ring. Tiny was on the other side, smacking himself all over his
body to get pumped up for the fight.

“Tommy, I said. “The only way to beat this
guy is you need to be relentless. You need to attack first and
never let up.”

“I have very little left, Josiah.”

“Dig deep, Tom. Give me the best ten minutes
of your life.”

“Ten minutes?”

“Well, kick his ass sooner then,” I said.
“You just can’t stop attacking him. Coming at him will only confuse
him. A guy like this only does the attacking.”

So, Tommy did exactly what I said. For the
next five minutes he bit, clawed, scratched, slapped, punched and
kicked Tiny with everything he had. Tommy was getting the best of
him. He was until Tiny got a hold of him. Tiny grabbed Tommy’s
exhausted werewolf body and threw him into the crowd. Tommy crashed
into a table and took out four patrons. Tommy transitioned and got
to his feet. He stood out in the crowd, completely worn out,
looking at Tiny in the ring. He was panting for air, but knew he
couldn’t stop. He jogged up to the ring and slid into it and was
squared off with tiny man vs. man. He looked like a child compared
to this behemoth. It was a classic Rocky vs. Drago.

I knew Tommy hated fighting as the werewolf.
In his mind, he felt he was limited. As long as he was in his Carni
or human form, we couldn’t communicate.

Tommy and Tiny circled the ring, faced off
as man vs. man, not man vs. beast. Tommy still had amazing
quickness, even though he had been fighting for the last two hours
straight.

Tiny was far too heavy. Any striking Tommy
would do would only do minor damage to a guy that size. His only
shot at beating a man of this size was to fight him as the werewolf
even if he didn’t like it.

They traded punches and Tiny was getting the
best of him. Each blow knocked Tommy back at least three feet.
Tommy’s punches were mild, compared to the massive creature’s
powerful swings.

Tiny got a hold of Tommy and for the next
three minutes, beat the crap out of him. It was the hardest 180
seconds I had ever witnessed in a fight. I felt sick, watching Tiny
hurt him. Tiny punished Tommy in a way that wasn’t humane. There
was little I could do.

Or was there?

I couldn’t let this happen any longer. I
turned to Romero’s bodyguards and said, “Get out of my fucking way,
I’m going out there.”

They all stood their ground and there was a
sea of bodies separating me from the door. I didn’t care. I
transitioned into the great white eagle inside Romero’s suite and
began spearing them with my beak. I knew they couldn’t shoot at me,
because it would be too loud and if they missed, the bullets would
go through the glass and into the crowd.

I flew around clawing and swiping at the
men. I was shredding faces and poking eyes out. Eventually, one of
them opened the door to get away. That was all I needed. I darted
through the door and flew myself through down the hallway and into
the holding area. I bolted through the black double doors that were
still opened from Tiny’s entrance.

I flew into the middle of the ring where
Tommy was a bloody, beaten mess. He had fought his heart out. There
was no way this vampire was going to end his life right here. Not
if I had anything to do with it.

I flew into Tiny’s back, knocking him off
Tommy. I quickly transitioned to my Mani form and dragged Tommy out
of the ring.

The crowd went nuts once they realized the
eagle was me. They began chanting my name. They had never seen me
as the eagle and the crowd was beside themselves.

I stood in front of Tiny.

“This wasn’t part of the deal,” Tiny
said.

“What deal? You’re ‘Wrath,’ right? Well, I
was the one who killed your father. Tommy merely helped. I was the
one who took his life.”

Tiny’s eyes stared at me with a glare that
could burn through steel.

“That’s right, Tiny,” I said. “Your fight is
with me and as far as I see it, it’s a little fairer because I
haven’t fought for the last two hours straight.”

“All right, Josiah. Let’s do this.” Tiny
charged me and I kicked him in the face, knocking him back into the
ropes. I flew into him and unloaded a barrage of punches.

Even though this kid was a beast, he was no
match for someone with my skill set. I gave him a beat down of epic
proportions. I would like to say Tiny gave me a better fight, but
it doesn’t really matter at this point. I quickly dismantled him.
In less than a couple of minutes of harsh strikes and kicks, I
bloodied up Tiny as badly as he had done to Tommy.

I knew Tommy needed to be the one to finish
him off. It was a weird loophole, but I wasn’t going to risk Lena’s
safety.

Again, as I stood over a passed-out Tiny in
the middle of the ring, I felt Lena all around me. It was the most
bizarre feeling I had ever felt. I just got done beating a man
senseless, but yet, I could feel Lena in the pit of my soul as if
she was an angel watching over me. Then a fear went through my body
and I wondered if she was already dead and I was feeling her
spirit.

I jumped out of the ring, trying to shake
off the feeling. I needed to trust the Triat wouldn’t allow that to
happen, at least without me having a chance to save her.

So, there it was. It was lights out in Tiny
Town. I went outside to Tommy and dragged him back into the ring.
Tommy had pulled himself up into a sitting position and made his
way over to Tiny’s motionless body in the middle of the ring.

“Finish him off, Tommy,” I said. “You have
one more fight to go!”

I walked out of the ring looking at Romero’s
guards that now had surrounded all the exits. They didn’t know what
to do. I had maimed their fellow soldiers, but I was still honoring
Romero’s agreement. “Bring Romero to me,” I said to one of the
guards at the black double-door entrance.

The guard radioed Romero. Tommy and I were
about to fight to our deaths and I needed a clear agreement when
this was over. By the sound of the crowd, Tommy had finished Tiny
off just like the others. Six were now dead.

Chapter Thirty-one

Romero came down to the black double doors
where I was still standing. This time he had brought 35 to 40 armed
security guards with him. This guy was definitely afraid. He looked
like Muammar Gaddafi being protected by his military.

“Don’t be stupid, Josiah,” Romero said. “If
you want your family to live there is only one way to do that. You
need to kill Tommy, or vice versa.”

“I understand that. All I want to know is:
the second this fight is over, Lena better be delivered to me in
seconds or I will come after you and I will kill you myself. And
know this: if one hair on her head is hurt, this whole place is
done for.”