We were sitting in my car, a sixty-seven charcoal blue Mustang, outside a Phoenix nightclub. I couldn’t tell you how long we’d been sitting there, but the lanky vampire beside me was getting agitated.

“Vic, this has turned out to be a colossal waste of time. Let’s call it a night.”

Reno was definitely impatient, but I wouldn’t break orders. “If Liz thinks Vincente Divas is in there, more than likely he’s in there.”

“Hmph.” But Reno knew it was true. Liz, our boss, was always on top of things.

“Tell you what. It’s two-thirty in the morning and if he ain’t out here in another hour, we’ll call it a night.”

I couldn’t tell what was going on in his head. Reno always wore those damn reflective lens sunglasses. “Fine, but this night is on you cowboy. I’m going back to my crossword.”

Silence followed and I went back to my task. One of the reasons I was out here tonight was my enhanced senses. Werewolves had the best senses in the supernatural world, but mine were even better. See, I can’t transform into a wolf like most werewolves do. No one knows why, but I just can’t. On the plus side, my five senses were off the chart.

Before we left, Liz gave me a scent to follow. Vincente always wore a certain brand of cologne and I knew what it was. With the window down, I kept sniffing the air in hopes of picking it up.

Nothing of note happened for awhile. Humans started stumbling out shortly after three, the stench of sweat and alcohol filling the air. Reno was nose deep in his crossword and I was about to wave the flag in defeat when I picked it up.

“Divas is coming out, look alive!”

With reflexes faster than anyone should have, the crossword was away and his pistol was out. I picked up my Adams Percussion .50 caliber, nicknamed Roscoe, and got myself ready.

“What’s the plan Vic?”

Liz wanted us to bring him in alive. Divas has been peddling drugs to the humans, a mixture of coke and a few drops of vampire blood. It’s a clear violation of vampire law, so he was to be punished.

“Let’s see where he goes and try to ambush him along the way.”

Minutes started to pass, the faint smell of his cologne still lingered in the air. Suddenly, it began to get stronger. I narrowed my eyes at the entrance to the club and saw our target. He looked to be a middle aged man with slick backed black hair and a pot belly.

Reno started to laugh. “Good lord, I’d only seen headshots! This guy’s a fat ass!”

“Don’t underestimate the enemy. Besides, he has two henchmen with him and those dudes don’t look like pushovers.”

One was a large black man with a big old scar running down the side of his face. The other looked like a guy named Cousin Vinnie. He was carrying a shotgun with him. Were they expecting trouble?

“I don’t like this Reno; I think they’ve been tipped off.”

“Don’t get cold feet on me. I’m sure this is just his usual detail.”

I hoped Reno was right. Divas kept walking and got to a pretty nice looking black car. Cousin Vinnie opened the door and got the boss inside while the other guy headed up front to the driver’s door. With everyone now inside the car, it started going south. I counted to five before turning on the Mustang and following.

I kept my distance, a good four or five car lengths behind. “Any idea where they’re heading?”

“I’m not sure. The only thing down here is a few abandoned buildings.”

One of those abandoned buildings turned out to be the final destination. As the car turned in and parked, I pulled the Mustang off the road, a few hundred feet back from where Divas and his crew were. Something didn’t seem right here, there were quite a few unusual smells in the air.

Reno started to get out of the car, but I put my hand on his shoulder. “Let’s be careful, I got a bad feeling about this.”

“We’ll be fine, just follow my lead.”

He continued out of the car. Leaving me no choice, I got out too and followed him. I tried to tell what these scents were I was picking up, but I couldn’t put my finger on it. Soon the scents were taken over by strange noises, almost like a moaning sound.

When we got into the parking lot, the smells and sounds were very loud and making it hard to concentrate. Looking over at Reno, “Can you hear all this?”

Shaking his head, Reno whispered, “I don’t know what you’re talking about. What does it sound like?”

“Moaning, like people are in pain or something.”

“Maybe he is running an afterhour’s dental business or something.” He then started to laugh at his own joke.

Reno’s lack of concern was a problem, but this was the hand I was dealt. Thank God he was useful in a fight. We kept moving forward, guns out and staying to the shadows. We reached the door where Divas had entered with no problems.

Reno moved in and slowly opened the door. The weird smell came rushing out and it took everything I had not to start coughing. Holding my breath, we entered the building. Dim lights in the hallway produced a low humming noise. There was also an underlying smell of mold; this place hadn’t been used in a very long time.

The initial smell got stronger as we went down the hallway. At the end was a set of double doors. “You told me to follow your lead Reno, so after you.”

He gave me one last look and opened the right door. Immediately I regretted letting him do that, as we found the source of the smell and the moaning noise. Below us, in a large open space were fifty to sixty humans, all in various states. Some were dead; others looked high as a kite.

Sickening, that’s the best word I can use. Imagine if you will, walking into a barn and seeing animals in various states of slaughter. That’s what was below us, a freaking slaughterhouse.

“Welcome gentlemen to my focus group! As you can see the participants are enjoying themselves!”

The voice had a thick French accent to it. Looking to my left, I saw Vincente Divas walking towards us. Reno and I pointed are guns at him.

“What are those pea-shooters going to do to me?”

Growling, “Each bullet in this gun is laced with silver. It might not kill you but it’s going to sting like a bitch.”

For effect Reno fired a shot at Divas. Damn the big guy was fast, dodging the bullet like it was in slow motion. “That was uncalled for Mr. Tavares, but what should one expect with your reputation.”

“Divas, we’re here to bring you in. Why don’t you just come along nice like and you and Ambassador Swansea can work things out amongst yourselves?”

He gave me a look of pure disgust. “I will not, as you law enforcement types are apt to say, come quietly. Elizabeth Swansea has no power over me.”

As he said it, his two henchmen came out of the doors behind us. Shit, we were surrounded. Divas, knowing he had the upper hand, continued. “As for the two of you, I would be most interested to see what Vanish does to you.”

Reno started laughing again. “What the hell is Vanish?”

“A drug of my own creation. Giving the human drug cocaine a few drops of vampire blood gives it such a more potent punch. Look at how my customers are enjoying it!”

If death was enjoyment then I’d be inclined to agree with him. “I’m pretty sure your drug is killing them.”

“Yes, it does have that little drawback, but in the weeks it takes for them to die, they can’t stop taking it. The money that pours in from their usage is tremendous.”

The spark of excitement that was in his eyes as he talked about killing humans made me sick. “Mark my words Divas, this will end.”

He made a quick motion to his two goons. “Tough words coming from a dead wolf. Ugga, Nikko, take out the trash.”

He gave us one last salute and quickly retreated through the door. We had no time to chase as both Reno and I had to jump down to the floor below to avoid the attacks of Divas’s two goons.

“Damnit Vic, he’s getting away!”

I have Reno a no shit look. “We got bigger problems to worry about.”

Ugga and Nikko followed us down. It was obvious both were vampires, so Reno and I holstered our guns. I got out my silver tanto my grandfather gave me a long time ago. Reno had his steel baton, ready for action.

“Look Ugga, the rodents wish to challenge us.” Nikko’s voice had a hint of a Russian accent, ruining my Cousin Vinnie nickname.

Ugga said nothing, just grunted. He then looked at me and went all vampire on me, eyes red and fangs extended. Nikko and Reno soon followed. It looked like there was only one way out of this mess and that was through these two.

Slowly, I started to walk towards the drugged up humans. Ugga followed, excitement growing on the big vampire’s face. Giving a quick glance back at Reno, I could see him and Nikko circling each other. Reno had been around the block for a long time, so I wasn’t all that worried.

Once I got to a spot that I felt was a comfortable distance away, “So ugly, how do you want to do this?”

In a surprisingly low and soft voice, “My master deemed it necessary for your death, so shall I deliver.”

There was a hint of reluctance in his voice. “I don’t think you want to kill me, now do you?”

“I have no choice. If you want to see another sunrise wolf, prepare yourself.”

Before I could offer a rebuttal, the large vampire went on the attack.

BOOK: The Wrath of Pan (The Inglewood Chronicles Book 2)

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