Rise of the Fae (8 page)

Driving past the half-vacant businesses reminded Neeman of his firefighter days. Every three or four buildings there was a burned out one, from arsonists. A bakery stood open. Next to it, the flower shop had closed down. The outbreak of the V2000 virus had wiped out over half the world’s population. The rest now lived as the blue-collar servants of the Vampire society, subservient to Vampire and vampyr alike.

He passed the stadium. No longer used, the building still stood as a testament to the country that had once been.

“Do we know what we’re looking for?” asked Stephos from the passenger seat.

“A demon,” said Neeman.

“Then he could look like anything. Mason’s demon and he looks like a human.”

“Then I guess we look for a human. There aren’t many Vampire down south, so a human would be as out of place as a bright orange demon with a tail,” Neeman replied.

Stephos closed his mouth and looked the other way.

Going on a run without much of a description made Neeman’s gut queasy. On his missions, he was used to knowing where they were going and what he was looking for. Not enough intel got people killed.

Neeman was sorry for being hard on Stephos. He didn’t like being harsh to his men. They needed to know he was in charge, but being an ass didn’t garner camaraderie. His whole life was in upheaval, though.

There were murderous beasts coming to their area. Chase was missing and Russians had come to Chicago without invitation. He was craving blood more and more each day and it was getting hard to resist. He was on a mission with no idea what to expect. Even worse a female was in his house who had no regard for either boundaries or rules. One he’d thought about sleeping with, but she most likely was in love with the same man who Danika was in love with. And that man, Mason, he wanted to hate more than anything, but he couldn’t. It wasn’t Mason’s fault he’d been dragged to this plane. He hadn’t asked to be caught by slavers and sold to Danika at auction. In many ways, Mason had more in common with Neeman than anyone knew. Even Mason.

Neeman turned on some music and tried not to think about anything, but all that kept popping into his head was a beautiful, ebony-haired, green-eyed girl, with a tongue like a whip.

Thirty minutes later, Neeman pulled the vehicle into a gas station near Chicago Heights and got out. A group of young vamps stood by the entrance. He walked toward them and they stopped talking.

“You from around here?” he asked.

“Down the road.” One of them pointed.

“You hear or see anything strange lately?”

The boys all looked at each other and then at Neeman.

“There’s some kind of big party down off 16th and Aberdeen.”

“A party isn’t exactly what I was thinking of.”

“This one might be. It’s being held in one of the abandoned houses. A human took up residence there a few days ago and all the female vamps in the area have been flocking to it. Parties there every night this week.”

A human, alone, in an abandoned house. Sounded like what he was looking for.

“16th and Aberdeen? Have any of you gone down there to check it out?”

The boys shook their heads.

“A girl from work went there yesterday and didn’t show up for her shift today, though,” said one.

“Thanks for the help.” Neeman walked back to the car. “A human has taken up residence in an abandoned house a few miles from here. Probably our guy.”

Stephos cracked his knuckles. “Then let’s go knock on his door.”

* * * *

It wasn’t hard to figure out which house the boys had mentioned. All they had to do was follow the stream of female vamps walking up to the front of a boarded up house and through the door. From behind the wooden slats, multicolored light and loud music emanated. A group of male vamps had gathered on the lawn.

Neeman stopped the car and he and Stephos got out. Riley pulled up behind them and both he and a human named John exited their car as well. They grouped up and set a plan.

“I’ll take Stephos and get a feel for what’s going on. Riley, you and John head around the back and see if the door is accessible. If it is, cover it. I’ll call if we need you. I’m hoping this will be an easy one.”

“Do we know what we’re looking for?” asked John.

Neeman clenched his jaw. “A human male.”

“A human?” John’s eyes widened.

“Come on.” Riley tugged John away. “I told you not to bug Neeman,” he whispered.

Neeman and Stephos retrieved their weapons and headed for the front. They passed the group of male vamps.

“Go home,” Neeman said. “We’ll take care of this.”

“My wife’s been in there for two days,” said one male.

“Go home.” Neeman tried to keep his temper in check.

The vamps watched him and Stephos for a minute and then turned and walked away. He made sure they were halfway down the block before continuing. The scent of blood hit Neeman as he stepped onto the crumbling porch. His stomach lurched. It wasn’t human, but vamp blood, sour and almost rotten.

“That’s not a little blood,” said Stephos.

The music pounded out the front door. “Stayin’ Alive” played loud and hard. Neeman took a deep breath and readied himself for whatever he might see. He and Stephos stepped through the door. The front room was empty, not a vamp in sight. Neeman motioned for Stephos to go left into a different room and he continued right. The blaring stereo sat on a table in the corner. Neeman turned it off, his gaze constantly scanning the area. The suddenness of the silence made his ears buzz.

Giggling drifted down the staircase. Stephos came from the back of the house followed by Riley and John.

Neeman pointed upstairs. Stephos nodded.

“The stench is coming from the basement,” Stephos mouthed.

Neeman locked eyes on Riley and pointed. Riley nodded and he and John headed to the back of the house once more.

Neeman followed Stephos to the staircase. They reached the bottom stair the same time as a female vamp. She smiled and then her smile faded.

“You’re not supposed to be in here. Master Rex will be most displeased.”

She turned, but Neeman grabbed her by the arm. “Get out.”

She laughed. “Of course not. Master Rex likes me. I’m his favorite.”

Neeman gripped her tighter. “Get. Out.”

Her brows furrowed, but she kept on smiling.

The hairs on Neeman’s neck prickled. Something wasn’t right. Before she could move, he backhanded her. Her head rocked to the side.

She blinked twice, her smile fell, and her eyes widened.

“Where am I? Get me out of here,” she whispered. She looked up the stairs and her frame shook. “Get me away from him. Please. He’s a monster.”

John and Riley ran to meet them.

“Bodies,” said Riley. “The basement. It’s full of dead female vamps.”

“Get her outside,” said Neeman.

Riley took the female’s hand and helped her to the door.

“I don’t hear my music!” A male called from upstairs.

“Let’s go.” Neeman and Stephos took the steps two at a time, trying to keep the creaks to a minimum. Peeling and faded green-striped wallpaper was held up only by faded, yellowing photos of a human family. The threadbare, matted carpeting barely covered a scratched wooden floor. At the top of the stairs, several doors were open and light shone from inside.

They passed the first. Naked females sat on a sagging bed braiding each other’s hair. Neeman stared at the scene in disbelief for a moment. He motioned to Stephos and nodded. Stephos stepped into the room. Neeman passed other rooms full of equally saggy and worn furniture with naked women in them. They were all doing innocuous female things. Fixing their hair, putting on makeup, laughing, talking.

“Wife number one, where is my music?” called the male again.

The voice came from the end of the hall. Neeman stopped just outside the room. Riley joined him, with John behind.

“Get the females out,” Neeman whispered.

His finger twitched on his gun and he pushed open the door. He took a step back and covered his nose with his arm in an effort to keep from vomiting at the smell. Bile gagged him forcing him to get a hold of himself before stepping in the doorway again.

The dirty, crumbling room was mostly bare except for a wooden chair and a small broken table. An enormous old claw-foot tub loomed in the middle of the worn wooden floor. In the tub lay a man. Two female vamps held a third over the side of the tub, her throat slit and bleeding out. Neeman’s stomach lurched again.

The man held a cup in his hand and he dipped it into the liquid filling the tub. His smile fell at the sight of Neeman. He looked Neeman up and down for a minute but said nothing. The females paid no attention to him, continuing to hold the dead vamp over the tub.

“It’s not as good as human, I’m afraid,” he said. “But it’s better than what we get where I’m from. I’m assuming you were sent to fetch me.”

“Get out of the tub,” Neeman ordered.

The two females noticed him for the first time. They looked between Neeman and the man in the tub.

“I’m Rexius,” said the man. “But my friends call me Rex.”

Neeman cocked his gun. “I said, Get. Out.”

Rex laughed. “Put the gun away, it’ll do very little against me, I’m afraid.”

Stephos and Riley entered the room. They holstered their weapons, took the dead female from the other two vamps, and set her on the floor. Then Stephos grabbed both women by the arm and dragged them kicking from the room.

“No need to be rude,” said Rex. “If you’d just asked, I would have told them to go voluntarily. My wives are very obedient.”

“I’m not going to tell you a third time,” said Neeman.

Rex shrugged and stood. Dark blood oiled his body. He stepped out, dripping onto the floor, tossed his cup into the tub, and raised his hands over his head in a dramatic fashion.

“Well, now you’ve got me. What are you going to do with me? Beat me into telling you what I’m doing here?” The demon’s dark hair was matted to his skull and drying black vamp blood clung to his form in a similar fashion. Rex licked his lips and then his fingers, making Neeman’s stomach turn.

“Where are your clothes?” Neeman demanded.

“Sorry, haven’t gotten any. The portal doesn’t let you bring anything through.”

Son of a—

“Let’s go.” Neeman gestured toward the door. He backed up, his gun still trained on the demon. He stepped in the doorway of the adjoining room and waited. How the hell was he going to get Rex in the car without ruining the interior? He could send Riley to get some clothes from a neighbor, but he didn’t want to stir up the vamps any more than needed.

With Rex in front of him, Neeman moved down the stairs toward the entrance. Outside, Riley, Stephos, and John waited. The female vamps huddled together and walked down the street.

Neeman stepped out the front door, grateful for the fresh air. He did no more than blink and suddenly Rex was no longer in front of him. Riley and Stephos looked around, but it was Neeman who spotted him. Quicker than any of them could move, Rex had John on the ground, tearing at his throat. John’s eyes widened and he looked at Riley. He gurgled once before his eyes went dead. The whole process had taken less than seconds.

Rex stood from John’s limp body and turned, a huge smile on his face. Row upon row of razor sharp teeth peppered his mouth. His eyes were completely pitch black.

“That was amazing. I haven’t had human in I can’t tell you how long!”

Neeman crossed the yard in a blink and knocked Rex upside the head with the butt of his gun.

The monster swayed on his feet. “Ow. That hurt, you—”

Neeman bashed him in the head again and Rex dropped to the ground. Riley rushed to John and felt for a pulse. He looked up at Neeman and shook his head.

Neeman cursed a blue streak. He reached down and smashed the unconscious Rex in the face several times before Stephos pulled him off.

He’d never wanted the humans to be trackers. He’d never wanted to train them. He’d told Danika it was a bad idea. He turned from Rex and kicked at the grass before yelling into the night. Simple assignment, his ass.

“Get me a collar from the car,” he barked. “And strip off John’s pants and put them on this bastard.”

Stephos and Riley exchanged a look.

“Did I stutter?”

They both shook their heads. Stephos went for the collar as Riley removed John’s cargo pants.

Neeman shook his head and stared up into the night sky. He tried to concentrate on finding Orion, but couldn’t locate him. This bastard didn’t deserve pants. He didn’t deserve to live. He deserved a lifetime of torture and misery for what he’d done.

Neeman reached for a cigarette and pulled out the gum. Why had he chosen now to give up smoking?

One thing was for sure. The tactics they’d learned, to fight Vampire, vampyr, vamp and human, were not going to work on demons. If this was a lesser demon, they were screwed. All of them. Totally screwed.

* * * *

Neeman pulled the car up to the side of the compound and pushed the button to open the bay door. John’s death weighed on him. He’d told Riley they weren’t ready and now he had a human’s blood on his hands. Something he’d never wanted.

He rolled the vehicle inside and waited for Riley to pull his in before closing the door. Stephos opened the back passenger side and yanked Rex out. The still unconscious demon flopped to the floor, his head smacking the cement.

“Owww!” Rex awoke and grabbed the back of his skull.

Stephos slammed the door. “Get up, scum.”

Dazed, Rex sat up and looked around, still rubbing his head.

“Scum? That hurts coming from a Vampire.”

Stephos yanked Rex to his feet and punched him in the gut. “If you speak to me again, you’re going to wish I’d killed you back on that lawn.”

Rex laughed heartily. “Oh please, do you know where I came from? This is nothing.” He smiled and his lips moved silently.

“Don’t!” Neeman raised the remote. The collar lit up. Rex cried out and fell to his knees. Neeman continued to hold down the button on the remote until he was satisfied, with Rex curled in a ball on the floor. He released the button. “This is the collar we use for slaves. If you get far enough from me, your head will explode and I don’t think even you could survive that.”