The Bite That Binds (The Deep In Your Veins #2) (33 page)

I understood why; this way, both possible routes that the Handlers could take were covered.

“Nervous?” Jared suddenly asked me, and I understood that he wasn’t talking about the assignment.

I smiled. “Not in a way that means I’m unsure. But I’m nervous of being the centre of attention. And of seeing the dress that Fletcher played a part in designing.”

Jared’s brows arched. “He did? Good. I always like the stuff that Fletcher picks out for you.”

“That’s because you’re a pervert.”

He gave me an unapologetic, devilish grin. “So you’re not going to try to run on me?”

I shook my head, still smiling. “You’re stuck with me.”

“I like being stuck to you.”

Just then, the molecules returned to the backseat. “They’ve just collected their ‘package’,” revealed Stuart, angrily, once he shifted back. “How can people sell
babies
? How can they kill their mothers and sell their babies? It’s fucking sick.”

“You’d be surprised what people would do for money,” said Jared, “especially those who want it there and now – which seems to be the case with the vampire running this op. He
wants a lot of cash, and he wants it fast. I’m guessing he has to be young in vampire years. The longer a vampire has lived, the more time he’s had to accumulate money. An older vampire wouldn’t need to do this, or to take these kinds of risks.”

Stuart leaned forward. “Do you think he wants it fast because he
needs
it fast?”

“No. Maybe he was used to a certain lifestyle as a human and he wants it back. I’m willing to bet that he was involved in criminal activity as a human and this is the only way of life he knows.”

“Good theory. Hey, maybe when he was a human he was involved in an operation where he had a role similar to Wendy’s, and maybe he saw too much and they Turned him rather than kill him.”

“Maybe,” allowed Jared. He stiffened as he added, “We have movement.”

The Handlers turned out of the side street and crossed the intersection, placing them on our side of the road.

I took a long breath. “Right, let’s go slaughter the fuckers.”

Jared slipped behind the SUV. “Sounds like fun.”

As before, he kept two car spaces between us and them as we followed the SUV down more roads. It wasn’t long before Chico was once again in front of them, and Max and Butch had taken a place on either side of them. Jared did all the usual things; he sped up when he needed to, he slowed down when necessary, and he switched lanes often. Always he managed to keep the Handlers in sight, and all without drawing attention to himself.

Things got a little worrying, though, when we started to enter a rural area. Although, on the upside, it meant that the traffic wasn’t hectic, it also meant that we would stand out more. Obviously sensing my concern, Jared spoke reassuringly.

“It’s okay. Chico’s giving me some advice.” Listening to that advice, Jared kept a reasonable distance between us and the SUV as he drove; only closing some of that distance when turning corners so that he didn’t lose sight of the SUV. Once back on a straight section, he pulled back, giving them a wide berth again.

Butch and Max followed that same example, keeping far behind us, as parallel surveillance would arouse suspicion at this point. The thing with rural areas was that everybody tended to know everybody, and strange vehicles would attract attention. Four strange vehicles…Not great.

“We need to all split up,” I said. “The next time we come across somewhere that would be a good idea to park and conceal the cars, tell them to pull in. We’ll catch up with them after we’ve seen where the Handlers stop.”

Jared nodded. “Good idea.” He was quiet for a short moment, and I knew he was communicating with the others. “I’ve also told them that if we see another good hiding area on our way, we’ll tell them to head to there.”

About fifteen minutes later, the SUV took a right turning. Jared sped up until he reached the corner.

“It’s some sort of converted farmhouse,” said Stuart.

Rather than stopping, Jared kept going straight.

“Want me to go take a closer look?” At Jared’s nod, Stuart switched to his other form and flew out of the window.

Jared puffed out a long breath, clearly agitated. “There’s nowhere to park around here. Not unless we want to stick out like a sore thumb, anyway.”

“Maybe we should head back to the others. The campground they stopped at isn’t that far away. It’s not like we can’t get back here quickly if we need to.”

Nodding, Jared did a U-turn and passed the farmhouse. “Stuart said there’s no psychic alarm around the house.”

Good. “I suppose that means that it wasn’t a precaution for all those involved in the op, it was simply added to the Handlers’ home.”

“It’s most likely Zeke’s gift as we know Blake’s gift is to mess with memories.”

I was about to say something else, but Jared held up his index finger, gesturing for me to wait. I guessed he was talking to someone telepathically so I remained quiet, waiting for him to finally pass on the info.

“Stuart said there are two female vampires in there, who I’m guessing are Lynne and Moira. He said there are also five male vampires – he’s not sure whether they’re serving as guards, but if they are, they’re not acting very vigilant. That means that, with Zeke and Blake, we’re facing nine vampires in total. I’d say we have a very good chance of ending this now.”

“The rest of the squad will be happy to hear that.” It turned out that I was right. They were extremely happy to hear that, as was Jude.

She made a good point, though, when we were discussing strategies. “I’m not comfortable with having a big battle around a baby.”

I sighed as I leaned back against one of the cars. “Neither am I.”

“Then our priority has to be to get the baby out of there, and to do it fast,” said Jared.

Harvey, who was standing beside him, nodded. “Like in paintballing.”

My brows flew up. “Say again?”

“During our first round of paintballing, our objective was to get inside a building, obtain something, and quickly get it out again, right? This is pretty much the same.” That was my Harvey – full of ideas.

“Very true,” said Jared, looking impressed. “So, we cover the fastest here – which is, hands down, Butch – while he slips in and out with the baby.”

“The vampires in there will surround the house as best they can,” Chico pointed out, “which means they might not be so preoccupied with the baby.”

Another good point. “I say we split into teams of two like we did at paintballing, but this time we work together. We come at the rear of the house from either side. The attack will not only mean the death of those vampires, but it will provide the perfect distraction for Butch.”

Jared nodded. “Most importantly, we move
now
in case the Handlers decide to leave soon.”

After Jared had relayed the plan to Stuart via telepathy, we all abandoned the four cars at the campground – planning to return to them after the attack. Quickly and stealthily, we made our way to the trees that surrounded the farmhouse.

Time to split up
, Jared told me.
Stay safe, baby.

You, too. Oh, and keep an eye on Jude. We don’t want her doing anything stupid.

Don’t hesitate to call on Dexter if you need to.
It was an order. It was an order because he knew me well enough to guess that I was too protective of Dexter to want to expose him to this kind of danger. Yeah, I know that might sound kind of backwards since Dexter was supposed to be there to protect me. But every time I recalled him limp on the floor after a harsh blow from Magda, I felt ill.

Fine
, I lied, knowing Jared would push if I didn’t give him an answer.

I know that you’re lying. Christ, you’re so damn stubborn.

Then why bother me?
Ignoring his flow of curses, I led my team – Chico, Butch, Salem, David, and Harvey – to the trees that were on the left of the large stretch of land at the rear of the house. That placed us directly opposite the rest of the team, who were hiding in the trees parallel to ours. Despite my enhanced vision, I wasn’t able to spot any of them – not even the glow that would undoubtedly be coming from their irises.

It was as I sat there studying my surroundings that I realised something; due to the many acres of land around us, this place looked a lot like an open field. The same open field that Luther had seen in his vision? I’d like to think not, but it wouldn’t surprise me. In fact, I’d suspected that the attack in his vision would be something to do with the op. I’d just kind of hoped I was wrong. Great.

Although I heard two vehicles approaching in the distance, it didn’t occur to me that the cars might be intending to stop at the farmhouse. Why would it? None of the others that had approached had stopped here. But not only did one of these particular cars do so, they both did.

I cursed silently. Nobody liked a spanner in the works, especially when the plan was ready to put into action. Indicating for the team to remain in position, I silently hurried toward the trees that were closer to the front of the house. My new Pagori speed got me there in an instant. It still felt strange to be so much stronger, but at this particular moment, I wasn’t going to gripe about it.

From my hiding spot, I could see that two cars had parked beside the Handlers’ SUV. Four male Pagoris exited one vehicle, but didn’t pass by the other; instead they waited just behind it. It seemed to be a gesture of respect, an acceptance of their position in the hierarchy of vampires there.

Two vampires exited the other car, and one of them then went to the rear door and opened it courteously. It was reasonable to assume, then, that this just might be ‘the boss’. Well that would make sense. The only thing left to happen at this stage of the operation would be for the baby to be handed over to the Buyer, and it was probable that he would wish to be present at each transaction. This worked out quite nicely, as it meant we could kill him.

I cursed again when who was potentially ‘the boss’ exited the car.

Obviously sensing the cocktail of surprise, agitation, and anger circulating through me, Jared asked,
What’s the matter?

Their boss has arrived, and he’s brought seven vampires with him.
But that wasn’t what had me feeling enraged. The rage was owed to the fact that we knew this person, we’d been in their presence, and had we known that they were behind the op, we could have ended this some time ago. At the idea of that, nausea swirled around my stomach.

What is it?

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

(Sam)

It’s fucking Orrin.
The vampire’s walk was nothing like it had been at his home. Back there, he had seemed somewhat bashful and introverted – ‘seemed’ being the key word. The bloody bastard had played us, and he’d played us well. Now his walk was confident, purposeful, and imposing. In the place of the timid smile that he had worn for us was a harsh scowl.

Oh he was sooooooo going to die tonight. And very, very painfully.

The bastard, I’ll kill him,
growled Jared. I sensed that he was as frustrated with himself as I was with myself for not looking closer at this particular vampire, at not even considering him. All right, maybe it was fair to say that there hadn’t been anything to make us link Orrin with this op, but had we paid more attention, we might have sensed his little act. Might have questioned just
why
he was putting on a little act.

Returning to my team, I took a calming breath. “The boss…it’s Orrin.”

Salem, who had gone inside Orrin’s home with us a few evenings ago, blew out a breath. “I never would have guessed.”

That made me feel slightly better. “He’s brought seven vampires with him.”

“That takes the people count up to thirteen versus sixteen,” said Chico. “Still good odds, though.”

Too pissed off to stall any longer, I contacted Jared again, staring at the spot that he and his team were waiting.
I’m ready to move.

Good, let’s do this.

Whereas usually I would have had to absorb the energy around me, things were very different after the brothers’ meddling. Now the energy − both kinetic and solar − was already clinging to me, filling me. I let it buzz through me, invigorating
me.
On three. One, two, three.
And then I manipulated some of the energy into a fireball and threw it. As I’d planned, it caught the clothesline that was hanging at the rear of the house, setting alight some of the garments pegged on it.

As we’d hoped, several of the vampires came dashing outside to investigate. Before they could even think to act, a bolt of lightning struck the small shack behind the clothesline. Suddenly all of them, other than one female, were there, ready to fight…and away from the baby. This not only gave Butch a chance to get inside, but it meant that the battle was happening away from the baby.

“Go,” I told Butch, watching with satisfaction as he slinked through the trees, heading toward the front of the house. There wasn’t room for optimism yet, however.