Blood Judgment (Judgment Series) (32 page)

His heart seized up and froze rock hard.

He couldn’t go home.

If they didn’t apprehend him on the street, they would follow him. He would endanger everyone.

He had to hide.

Yeah, right. How the shit was he going to do that when he wasn’t able to go any faster than a sun-baked slug? He sensed them behind him and his heart galloped in a race between panic and despair.

He lumbered forward, tried to go faster, and lost his balance. Unable to catch himself, he sprawled on the sidewalk. His forehead hit the concrete and stars blazed before his eyes. Head throbbing, the warm wetness of blood trickled over his skin. He lay unmoving in a heap of twisted limbs and crutches.

Two women approached, then gave him a wide berth and kept on going. The brands on his splayed-out arm were plainly visible. No one would offer help.

Fear pushed him to struggle into a sitting position. His head thumped and his vision blurred. He waited until his sight cleared and pulled himself up with the aid of the crutches.

A sob of icy terror tore out of him and he careened over the concrete. Dying was one thing; being starved and tortured to death was another.

Openmouthed and struggling for breath, praying for a hiding place, he cut into an alley.

The building to his left appeared vacant and he headed toward a double set of mottled rust and white doors.

His sensitive hearing picked up the heavy clumping of booted footsteps approaching the alley.

Balancing on the crutches, he put his shoulder into the door and pushed with his weight. Luck favored him. The door gave under pressure and there was no sign of the men at the mouth of the alley. He maneuvered inside and pushed the door shut.

He leaned against the cold metal wall and used the crutches to lower himself to the concrete.

Only a trace of light filtered through a few windows set high above the floor. But it was enough for him to see the vast emptiness of the warehouse.

Hoping to sleep, Vali pulled his legs into position with his hands and curled up on the cold, damp floor. If he slid into the blackness of sleep, he wouldn’t be aware of his hunger or anything else.

JULIAN HELD the pistol with one hand and steadied his aim with the other. He squeezed the trigger and a neat hole appeared in the target.

Ashton nodded approval. “Remember, hitting a moving target isn’t the same as pegging a piece of cardboard.”

“I know.” He reloaded and emptied the clip again.

Ashton leveled his weapon and squeezed off a shot.

Julian had spent a good deal of time over the last week at a hole-in-the-wall firing range with Ashton and Slade. As it turned out, he mastered the weapon much quicker than any of them expected.

Much to his pleasure, his natural ability with a firearm rivaled Slade’s skill. Having a feel for shooting gave him smug gratification every time he thought about it. That his skill irritated Slade made it even better.

With the gun tucked in the back of his waistband, its reassuring weight felt right. The gun was an equalizer.

“We’re done for tonight,” Ashton said. “You did well. Tomorrow night, when we go out, you’re coming with us. Assuming you want to.”

“I want to,” Julian said. Holy shit. Ashton had cracked the door for him. He’d proven himself worthy of getting a chance and he sure as hell wasn’t going to blow it.

“Good.” Ashton stuck his weapon in his waistband. “Let’s pick up Saranna and call it a night.”

JULIAN PUSHED open the door and revealed a dark, empty apartment.

Saranna moved around him and flipped on the light. “Did Vali say anything about going out?”

“No.”

“It’ll be light in a couple hours.” She worried her lower lip with her teeth.

“I’m sure he’s fine,” Ashton said. “He probably wanted to get out for a little while. He’s been cooped up for days.” Ashton didn’t look like he believed what he’d said.

“Oh, no.” Saranna sat on the sofa with a plop. “I bet he was hungry. I didn’t even think about him. He hasn’t fed since…”

Julian watched her mentally calculate the days.

“It’s been way over a week since Rene was here. He had to be hurting.” A cloud of guilt passed over her face.

Ashton cursed. “No one thought about it. Vali must think none of us give a shit. Do you know where his blood partner lives?”

“No,” Saranna said. “He’s quiet about his habits. I just know it’s a young female.”

Julian felt bad for her. Her body language spoke louder than words. She blamed herself.

He felt worse for Vali.

”He can’t defend himself,” Slade said. “We better go look for him.”

“Come on.” Saranna snatched her keys and herded them out of the apartment and on to Ashton’s car.

As Ashton drove the streets, Saranna kept dialing the landline at the apartment, hoping he’d returned, but no one answered.

Julian hated the pain he read in her eyes. He pulled her tight against him. It wasn’t her fault. None of them had given Vali’s feeding needs a second thought.

He didn’t want to think something might have happened to Vali. But unless he’d made it to his feeding partner and planned to spend the day with her, he should be home. And he would have left a note or called if it was a last minute change of plan.

Something was dead ass wrong.

VALI OPENED his eyes and didn’t know where he was until reality kicked in. His head pounded. He touched his forehead and crusted blood flaked off.

Biting his lip, he hauled himself off the floor with the crutches. Dawn was coming on and he had to move his ass fast. He almost laughed. Yeah, he would haul ass all right. Maybe he should hole up there for the day. He didn’t relish the idea of being incinerated on the sidewalk.

He crutched to the doors and cracked one open. Quiet darkness greeted him.

He eased out and made his way back to the street. At the mouth of the alley, he scanned the sidewalk in both directions before leaving the safety of the shadows.

Dawn would break over the horizon in about a half hour. He should have ten minutes or so to spare by the time he got home. Unless he misjudged the time, in which case he was going to get a suntan.

Other than a few early morning business people, a cluster of homeless men, and a stray vampire on the other side of the street, he was alone.

Nonetheless, he looked over his shoulder every few steps until the apartment building loomed ahead.

Relief flooded him. He’d made it. Maneuvering as quickly as possible to the steps, he hauled himself up to the doors. One hand on the knob, he surveyed the street one last time.

And there they were.

Two uniformed men. One spoke into a cell phone. The other gave him an evil smile that spoke volumes of intent.

“Fuck me.” Vali hobbled through the double doors.

Chapter Thirty-two

A HEAVY thump against the apartment door brought Julian and Saranna to their feet.

Julian yanked the door open. “Damn, Vali, you scared the hell out of us.”

“Where have you been? What happened to your head?” Saranna reached for him before he made it inside.

His balance lost, Vali fell against her. “I was hungry,” he snapped as he tried to steady himself. “I have to feed
sometime
.”

“At least everything’s okay.” Julian took Vali’s weight from Saranna and helped him to the sofa.

“Wrong. Everything’s perfectly fucked up.” He dumped the load on them in a quick rundown of what had happened.

“Fuck.” Julian’s insides knotted. “We’re trapped in here.”

“They don’t know which apartment we’re in.” Saranna’s hands fluttered like frightened birds.

“They’ll know soon enough,” Julian said. “Call Ashton and let him know what’s happening. We’re going to have to fight them.”

Saranna made the call and spoke in low, panicked tones. She ended the call quickly. “He can’t make it here before dawn. We’re on our own until tonight.”

Julian hadn’t expected Ashton to come to the rescue. He had the loaded gun and three spare clips. When he ran out of ammunition, they were going to be in trouble. The call had been in case none of them survived until nightfall.

FRAMER STRODE toward the two officers standing outside the decrepit apartment building. “You’re sure it’s the juvenile they broke out?”

“It’s him,” Mike Riley said. His partner, Richard White, bobbed his head in agreement.

Framer unfolded the warrant. “Okay, I’ll find the manager and see which apartment he’s in.”

He entered the building and paused at the tenant directory. The manager resided in apartment three.

How had the juvenile survived after being injected with the virus? He should have died about a week later. His survival showed a major flaw in the virus. Carriers couldn’t be permitted long-term survival.

He wrapped on the manager’s door.

A middle-aged woman answered his summons. “Can I help you?”

“I’m Charles Framer from the Vampire Control and Security Center. May I come in?”

She opened the door and stood aside. “My husband will be right with you. He’s the manager.”

A moment later, a slightly-past-middle-age man greeted them. “What’s this about?”

“You have a wanted vampire living in this building. I need to know what apartment he’s in.” Framer produced a photograph and the warrant and handed them to the manager.

“That’s Saranna Daniels’ cousin,” The manager said. His wife’s eyes were huge with surprise.

“Saranna Daniels?” Framer didn’t need more vampires to deal with, but he wasn’t surprised.

“The girl in apartment six. He’s her cousin.” The manager handed back the photo and warrant.

“Maybe he’s her boyfriend,” Framer said.

“No. I’ve seen her hanging on another young man. He lives there too.”

Framer handed the man a folder. “Look through these photos and see if you recognize any of them.”

The manager took the folder and thumbed through the stack of photographs. He looked at one for a moment and handed it to Framer. “This one. He’s her boyfriend.”

Framer snorted. “They’re both wanted. They’re dangerous. They’ll put up a fight. Are all these apartments occupied?”

“Yes,” the manager said. “But everyone, except an old lady in apartment two and a couple in apartment eight, will leave by seven-thirty.”

“Good. Let the place empty out. We’ll tell the people in two and eight to get out until this is taken care of. Then we’ll get the males out of here.”

“What about the female?” The manager’s wife asked. Her hands fluttered about as if she didn’t know how to keep them under control.

“The female will be taken, too. But she isn’t wanted, so she’ll be set free once she’s processed. The males will be put down immediately. You won’t have to worry about them coming back and causing trouble.”

“Oh, my.” Her eyes darted between him and her husband “I hope you aren’t going to shoot the place up.”

“We take them down with tranqs. Besides, they aren’t as difficult during the day when they need to sleep.”

“Oh, thank heavens. I’d hate to see the building torn up.” She still looked unhappy about the matter. “If you’ll excuse me a moment, I have fresh baked pastries. You may as well have some with coffee while you’re getting ready,” she said and scuttled away.

IN MINUTES, light would spill across the sky and they would be trapped.

Julian paced, needing to do something, anything, to get them out of danger. He stalked into the bedroom and checked the street through a slit between the heavy drapes. Three uniformed men conferred among themselves.

The possibility of Saranna being captured and processed was more than he could stand. Yet, there was no way for him to lead them out. He knew the exact moment daylight broke over the city and sprung the trap.

He returned to the living room. Two pair of eyes settled on him, hope and fear warring on their faces.

He’d never felt so helpless. And worthless.

Saranna’s cell phone rang. She snatched it up. The rapid conversation ended with Saranna saying, “Thank you, Mrs. Baxter, you’ve saved our lives.”

She tucked the phone in her pocket. “The landlady said for us to go to the basement. There’s a hidden space under the stairs.”

“Why is she helping us?” Suspicion swept across Vali’s face.

“I don’t know, but we don’t have a choice.”

The relief in her voice sent the heat of shame through Julian’s blood. He should have been able to get them out. Instead, he’d failed to protect them. He snarled, wanting to refuse aid from a human.

“Come on, we don’t have time to spare,” Saranna said.

Julian tucked the pistol in the back of his jeans and Vali struggled off the sofa.

Saranna headed for the door, but Julian cut her off. “No way. I’m going first.”

She didn’t argue.

Julian opened the door a crack and surveyed the empty hall. Satisfied the officers hadn’t entered the building yet, he stepped over the threshold and waited for Vali and Saranna.

They hurried to the stairs at the end of the hall. The steps leading down into the basement were carpeted, but steep and narrow.

Vali hobbled down the steps with Julian and Saranna pinning him between them. “Thanks,” he said at the bottom. “Don’t know if I could have made it alone.”

Julian and Vali followed Saranna to the underside of the stairs.

“She said the wall is a thin panel that slides,” Saranna said.

The wall appeared to be ordinary sheetrock, but when Julian placed his hands on it and pushed, it slid, revealing a small closet-like space inside. “Come on.”

Saranna ducked inside and Vali followed. One of his crutches hit the door and he almost fell. “Son of a fuck.”

“Oh, damn. Don’t shut it.” Saranna scooted past Julian and went to the dryer.

“What are you doing?” Julian said.

“We need something to sit on.” She opened the dryer and pawed through one of their neighbor’s laundry. “We need a comforter or something soft. I’ll go get the one off the bed.”

“Like hell you will.” Julian intercepted her.

“I’m getting it. We can’t sit on concrete all day.”