The Keeper's Vow (43 page)

She might die before Tristan.

“It’s not like that. It’s hard to explain.”
Katie braced herself as Mercedes hit the brakes. They’d almost hit
a woman. Mercedes cursed and sped off. Somehow, the other guys were
still right behind them. They never missed a beat.

“I know how to drive,” Mercedes said,
maneuvering through cars.

“Just not used to driving like this.” Sharp
Right. “How do you know Tristan?”

“He saved my life once. Back when he was a
Death Dealer. Our old pack leader hated the threat of another Alpha
in the group, even if it was his own daughter. He hired Tristan’s
lead commander to killed me, you know, under the table. Tristan
made sure I stayed alive long enough to take my father’s seat at
the top.”

Why did everyone have terrible parents or
people out to destroy them. Katie counted herself lucky, her dad
just drank to much and forgot to come home at night. Then again her
other father neglected the only child in his care and had a psycho
brother.

“We are almost at Eshmael’s.”

Katie didn’t need her to say it. She felt
it. Her bodied burned with every turn that brought them closer.

“My guys, Franco and Johnny, will do
whatever I say—they’d die for me. But I don’t want them to. I don’t
want them dying for you either.”

Katie cringed. “I’d never want them
too.”

“You led us here. It can end there. You can
wait in the car, or I can let you out a few blocks away, call your
people and have them pick you up. We aren’t walking into a tea
party. Shadows will be shooting at us with the intention to
kill.”

Katie swallowed.

“If this is as far as you can go, I’d
understand. Tristan would understand.”

The car stopped. Did Mercedes mean for her
to get out now? Katie couldn’t move. He was so close. Her body
hurt, not just from him, but from being this close. The closest
they’d been for months.

“If you’re going to get in the way, you’ll
get us killed. We can handle ourselves and the shadows. But if we
have to protect you too, one of us will end up dead. I can’t lead
my guys in there to get killed like that.”

Katie fidgeted in her seat. The words
weren’t coming out, but she couldn’t get out now. Mercedes leaned
over her and opened the door. “Get out.”

“No,” Katie said. “I’m going. I won’t get in
the way. I can’t abandon him because it’s dangerous. He’d save
me.”

He’s always saved her. Every time. No matter
what. Maybe because he’s bound by the bond, or because he cares. It
doesn’t matter. He puts his life on the line. She couldn’t walk
away. Not now.

Katie closed the door. “Do you have an extra
gun? I have knives and I’m good with them. I’m good with a
gun—”

“It’s not just about if you’re good. You’ll
have to kill someone. Tristan understands that. He’s killed before.
I know you haven’t. A girl who’s killed before doesn’t walk into a
bar scared of a few drunk men. We’re going in to kill. Not take
prisoners or make friends.” Mercedes opened the glove compartment
and put a forty-five pistol, two clips, and a holster on Katie’s
lap.

Katie picked it up. It was heavier than she
remembered it should be. She wasn’t a little girl anymore. She was
a guardian—no she was half-vampire. Lucinda didn’t teach her how to
shoot for fun. Always before every lesson Lucinda would say:
“Don’t aim unless you’re willing to pull the trigger.”
Lucinda was preparing her for the day she’d have to point a gun at
a living person.

“I’m going to do whatever it takes to get
him back. Drive.”

Mercedes nodded and drove down a few blocks
before stopping the car again. They were surrounded by classic
victorian-style city buildings. Wrought iron fences around each
home and old-style lamp-post lighting up the street. “We have to
walk the rest of the way.”

Mercedes signaled for Franco and Johnny to
split up and they slipped into the darkness. Mercedes led Katie
silently in the shadows. They crept over garbage bags and scaled
iron gates that irritated her skin. Katie surprised herself and
Mercedes with her stealth. She was in the zone. Her objective was
to get Tristan back. No matter what it took. She told herself that
over and over. As she unsheathed one of her knives.

“You better use that power you have. We’re
here.” Mercedes pointed across the street. A single man stood on
the steps of the biggest house on the street—nearly half the city
block. He sucked on his cigarette and looked up and down the
street. “It’s a shadow nest. Maybe ten or fifteen will be in there.
I have no idea which room Tristan will be in. You have to lead me
there.”

“How are we going to get past that guy?”
Katie watched him throw his cigarette. Her question was answered
before the cigarette hit the ground. Franco emerged out of the
darkness and a knife flew into the back of the vampire’s head.

“Shadows shouldn’t smoke. It makes it hard
to smell when a dog is creeping up from behind.” Mercedes smiled as
Franco dragged the body into the darkness.

Johnny signaled for them to cross the
street. Katie took in a deep breath as she leaned against the
brick. She was closer. He was very close.

They scaled the fence around the house. It
wasn’t real iron.

“Everyone ready?” Mercedes said. She touched
Katie’s hand. “I told you. Use that power you have.”

Katie panicked. She didn’t know how. She’d
only been able to do it for a few seconds before it flew out of
control. Now, she would never be able to concentrate long
enough.

Mercedes cursed. “I should have left you in
the car.”

Johnny waved at them as he peeked around the
corner. They ducked.

“Where’s Randall?” a voice said from around
the corner. She heard the door open. “Damn idiot and his smoke
breaks. This place reeks.” The door closed again. What was the
plan? Walk through the front door and go all action movie on them?
Would they jump behind couches and shoot up walls? Katie heard a
noise. She looked behind them.

Nothing. It was like metal dragging across
cement. The others heard it too. They crept farther down the side
of the house until they found the origin. A small window at the
bottom of the wall. Katie peered through. Down below, a man dragged
a filing cabinet across the floor. Katie felt the pull. Tristan was
close. Down there somewhere. He wasn’t up top in the house.

She pointed at the window and Mercedes
nodded. Katie could hardly make out the muffled voices.

“It’s not down here—you look then—when’s the
last time he’s even seen his golf clubs?”

Golf clubs? Tristan was somewhere being
tortured and they were looking for golf clubs. Another sick thought
filed her. What did they want the golf clubs for? The man left the
room. The window was small, but Katie could fit through it if she
tried. The drop to the ground would be far. She pulled at it. It
didn’t budge.

Mercedes pushed her aside and started
working on the lock.

Franco appeared from the darkness. “The
body’s gone, but there’s no way in except the front door, and we’re
too big to fit through that window,” he whispered.

The lock clicked. “You and Johnny stay out
here and keep an eye out. If it gets noisy, call in for back up. If
it looks like we’re dead. Don’t stick around. Go back and you
better avenge me or I’ll haunt you until you die.” Mercedes smiled,
but Franco didn’t return it.

“You aren’t going to go in there by
yourself. I don’t care how good you think you are.”

“I’m not going alone.” Mercedes winked at
Katie.

Franco frowned. “I’ll find an opening in the
front. Johnny and I will be enough of a distraction for you to slip
in, find the blood licker and get out.”

Mercedes and Franco watched each other for a
moment. “Don’t die. You’re second in charge.”

“You don’t have to do this, Mer. You don’t
owe him anything.”

“I owe him my life.”

Franco pulled her up and to him. Katie
blushed. “What about the pack? What about me?”

Mercedes pulled away. “If you wanna keep
watching my ass, you better go and make a good diversion.” Mercedes
pulled away from him, opened the window and shimmied through.

Katie looked back but Franco was gone.

This was it.

She put her knife away. Working her legs
through, she dropped through the window. She landed on her feet,
but didn’t anticipate the far drop. She tripped, but Mercedes
caught her.

“Sorry,” Katie whispered. She looked around
the room. It was a storage room, piles of boxes and furniture lay
scattered throughout.

“Be more careful.”

“I mean about Franco. I didn’t know you guys
were—you know.”

Mercedes’s hazel eyes flickered. “Don’t get
me killed and there won’t be anything to feel sorry about.”

Katie nodded and followed Mercedes to the
door. Mercedes motioned for her to wait on the other side.

“He’s on the other side of the house.”
Katie’s wrist burned and she felt Tristan jerk in his chains. He
knew she was there. Hysteria filled him and Katie lost her
balance.

“
What’s the matter?
” A voice said to
him. She couldn’t see him, but she could hear him. “
She’s coming
isn’t she?—Oh. You didn’t know that I knew did you? How about we
give her a reason to hurry?”

Katie fell to the ground and Mercedes jumped
on top of her and covered her mouth. She was screaming, but it
didn’t matter if anyone heard her. Tristan’s scream was much
louder. Katie curled onto her side. He’d cut him with more flames.
Iron.

It was iron, slicing down his chest.

Mercedes’s eyes widened and she looked to
the door. They waited. Had anyone heard her? Seconds passed and the
door stayed closed. “Did he kill him?” Mercedes whispered.

Katie shook her head and Mercedes uncovered
her mouth.

“We better hurry up then.” Mercedes got up
and began to open the door.

Katie stopped her. “Eshmael knows I’m
coming. He—he knows.”

Mercedes searched the room with her eyes.
“He’s going to have the front door guarded.”

She opened the door slowly and sniffed.
“There are only four bodies down here—and a lot of blood.” She
closed the door again and looked towards the window.

“What about Franco and Johnny?” Katie
said.

“I don’t know. There are a lot of bodies in
this house, but I don’t know exactly where. Franco and Johnny will
be fine. They’re night hunters.” Thunder struck the house and Katie
pressed her hands over her ears. Brick and cement rumbled as the
building shook. Mercedes smiled. “And they’ve just started.”
Mercedes grabbed the door once more. “Are you ready?”

Katie pulled the gun out of her holster. She
cocked it. The metallic screeched and echoed. Chills slid down her
back. It was like the very first time she’d shot a gun. Tristan
told her then that there was no going back.

“Ready.”

Mercedes nodded and opened the door slowly.
There were a rush of footsteps above them. People screamed and
single shots fired off from different parts of the house. Voices
shouted commands to go left then right. It was chaotic. Mercedes
signaled to her. “Watch my back.” They left the room and Mercedes
held out her gun ready to shoot anyone in her path. They walked
down the long hallway but it ended. They would have to go upstairs
and find another way back down. Katie steadied her hands. They
circled back and found a staircase.

Wood creaked, cement and brick crumbled as
it fell from the wall. Every noise made Katie grip her gun. She
tried to steady her breathing. Dust from the debris started to fill
the hallway. It thickened as they climbed a staircase.

Mercedes fired off two shots, and two bodies
dropped. She saw the tops of their heads. Or maybe not. Maybe she’d
imagined that. It was a little foggy and dark. Katie did all but
scream as Mercedes pulled her into a room.

“Did you see it?”

Katie didn’t see anything. It was hazy and
she was too busy watching that last body snap back as it fell.
Katie swallowed.

More shots fired off and more footsteps
changed directions. What had Franco and Johnny done? Set off a
bomb?

“Down the next hallway looked like a
staircase. There are still some bodies up here. Maybe two I can’t
tell exactly from all the smoke.”

Mercedes led her out of the room and they
made their way down a foggy hallway. With every step Katie checked
their back. When they passed a room, Katie double checked for any
sign of life. Mercedes stopped at the end of the hall. There was a
big gap from where they were to the next hallway. Furniture pieces
and wood littered the floor. This must have been where Franco and
Johnny set of the explosion. Light from the outside poured in. They
were near the entrance hallway.

In front, Mercedes cleared it and they
started to cross. Katie saw a man out of the corner of her eyes. He
was in the doorway and lifting his gun right at Mercedes back.

Katie put three bullets in his chest. One
right after the other. The fourth shot came from Mercedes and it
flew right through his head. His blonde hair snapped back with his
head as he hit the ground.

He didn’t move. Of course he didn’t move. He
was dead.

Mercedes grabbed her hand and pulled her
down the hallway. Katie gripped the gun. She was supposed to feel
like a murderer, to feel like she’d stolen something that belonged
to someone else. She didn’t feel anything. Only the ache in her
side as she got closer and closer to Tristan.

Mercedes stopped quick and pointed her gun
into a room with an open door. She lowered her gun and sighed.
“You’ve caused quite the mess.” Mercedes waved Katie into the
room.

Franco was in there checking one of the
windows. “We got most of them. Johnny set up a few traps outside
and lured them out. I smell a lot of blood down that staircase,
Mer.”