snail's pace.
Then I noticed the tire marks leading to a dirt driveway. At the top of the driveway was what looked like a house-a one story, modest house that stood out like a blemish against the otherwise barren landscape. Parked in the driveway were the Towncar and the Ford.
I stopped the Wrangler and reached for the binoculars in Knight's lap. I grazed his anxious unit and when he grabbed my hand, I realized I’d reawakened his libido. Damn it all.
I pulled against him but he held me rigidly. “Knight, for Hades sake, go stand behind the bushes and wank!”
His eyes blinked open as they settled on me. “That won't help.”
I sighed, knowing I was fighting a losing battle. I reached around with my other hand, grabbed hold of the binoculars and bashed them against the back of his head.
He let go of my hand. “What the hell did you do that for?” he yelled and grabbed his head.
Hmm, he didn’t seem to have enjoyed getting hit upside the head so maybe he was coming back to himself. “To knock some goddamned sense into you.”
Knight continued to rub his head, glaring at me while I brought the binoculars to my eyes. No one was in the front, and it didn't appear anyone was in the back either. They must have already gone inside. Not wanting to make a drastic mistake, I continued watching the Towncar and the Ford for any sign of occupancy. After another five minutes, I was convinced they were empty.
I dropped the binoculars into my lap, and put the Wrangler into drive so I could pull off the road. The engine groaned as it ascended the small hill. A grove of pepper trees looked perfect for hiding the car so I pulled behind them.
“Knight, are you ready to go after them?” I asked, seriously suspecting he wasn’t.
He nodded, undid his seatbelt, and as he was reaching for the door, I grabbed the lapel of his shirt, wanting to prove how serious I was.
“You need to focus or you could get us both killed.”
“You don't need to warn me.”
I laughed at the irony in that, and grabbing the binoculars, opened the door, and jumped to the ground. My sneakers barely made a sound as I ventured to the back of the Wrangler and pulled my Op 6 from inside the spare tire. It was always good policy to keep an extra weapon hidden. Knight caught the flash of the gun in the moonlight and grinned his approval.
“What are you armed with?” I asked.
He pulled the waistline of his pants forward and revealed the butt of his weapon. I shook my head. “You know, one of these days, that's going to misfire and you'll be a eunuch.”
He just chuckled and we started down the hill. At the foot of the hill, I crouched down and motioned for him to do the same. “I think I should go for the front of the house, and you go for the back,” I said.
Knight motioned for the binoculars. I handed them over, and he positioned them on top of his aquiline nose. “Looks like you've got your choice of two windows toward the east end of the house. I think those are your best bet.” I motioned for the binoculars to double check, and decided he was right. “How are you going to get in?” he asked. I shrugged. “Break the window. I'll use my magic so it won't make a sound.”
Knight nodded, apparently satisfied. “I'll take the back and meet you in the middle. Try to keep them in the living room-easier to contain that way.”
“Good luck.”
Hopefully he'd have the stamina to do his job. I could just imagine him finding some secret spot to tiddle his widdle and where the hell would that leave me? “Knight, you aren't going to get…sidetracked are you?” He frowned when he got my meaning. “No, I won't.” “Okay, just wanted to check.” “Shoot to kill and ask questions later,” he said. I knew the real Knight was in there somewhere. “Understood.” I started forward but Knight's hand on my arm prohibited me. I turned to face him. “Be careful, Dulce.” I nodded with a smile. “Ditto.”
Then I started forward and ran for the windows at the east end of the house. Reaching the windows, I tucked the Op 6 into my jeans and peered into the dirty bedroom window. It boasted nothing but an old mattress and a pair of even older sneakers. This looked like the best way in.
Now, how to break the glass. I could bust it with my arm (wrap said arm in my sweatshirt first) and magic out the sound but that required a lot of energy. So, I decided to use magic entirely. Summoning a palm of fairy dust, I blew the dust at the window and focused on the pane of glass. I imagined it slicing down the middle and opening out like French doors. The glass obliged. Grabbing hold of the window pane, I hoisted myself up to the ledge, being careful not to make a sound as I dropped onto the stained carpet below.
Facing the window again, I imagined the separated glass melding back together and smiled at my handiwork. Not bad.
Pulling the Op 6 from my jeans, I cocked the gun and held it at eye level, starting for the hallway. The only light in the small house emanated from the living room where I could hear voices. Three were deep and one was a high-pitched, grating tone I knew only too well.
Zara, the hooker.
“Please let me go,” she said in an uneven voice, fraught with tears. “This ain't none of my business. I swear I won't tell a soul.”
“Shut her up,” someone grumbled, followed by the sound of a slap and Zara's pronounced sobbing.
I threw my back against the wall and sidled down the hall until I reached the threshold of the living room, but was still hidden by the darkness of the corridor.
“Don't feed me to that thing!” Zara said in a voice made tight by tears, but her tone held an angry edge. I could only imagine the “thing” in question was the creature. So, they were planning on using her as a snack? Hmm, who knew what grisly chore they were designing for the creature in return.
“It's hungry,” a deep voice said. “What would you have us feed it?”
I'd heard enough.
Hoping the deep voice was someone in charge, I honed in on it until I figured it was coming to the left of me, on the opposite side of the wall I was leaning against. Holding the gun out before me, I pivoted and stepped out of the darkness. I immediately held my Op 6 against the temple of the perpetrator much to the shock of the other living room guests. He'd been exactly where I'd thought he was. Yay me.
“Nobody move a finger,” I demanded as I wrapped my arm around the flabby guy's chest and secured the barrel of the gun against him. He was a human-I could smell his sweat.
“Dulcie,” Zara said, gazing at me like I'd just ridden in on a white horse and was sporting the latest in shining armor.
I returned my attention to the two men in front of me. One was a vamp-tall, skinny and had the general look of someone who hadn't eaten food in centuries and the other a gnome-small and angry. The vamp would be the harder to take down. He held a leash to the creature who was half in its human state and half…not. The upper part of its face was human, that of the redheaded siren, and the bottom part was hairy with those razor sharp teeth I'd come to know so well. Its body was covered in hair but its forearms and hands were human. It looked like someone hadn't separated their humans from their monsters in the wash cycle.
Its eyes fastened on Zara who sat on the floor in front of it, mascara and red lipstick smudged across her face.
“Zara, get out of here,” I snapped, resisting the urge to take my gun away from the human’s head in order to put a bullet between the creature's eyes. If I so much as flinched, the vamp would be on me. “Nobody touches her, got it?”
They sullenly nodded, although I noted the twitchy composure of the vamp. He wouldn't stay immobile for long. Luckily, it seemed the human was the one in charge, otherwise they would've let me kill him by now and they'd both be working on putting my wick out.
Zara didn't waste any time in flying for the door.
“Hey, Vampy, throw her the keys to the Explorer,” I said, realizing it wasn't like she could get a bus out of here. He hesitated so I rammed the barrel of the gun further into Pudgy's head. “Pronto!”
The vamp fumbled inside his pants pocket and tossed the keys to Zara who took them eagerly. The creature eyed her longingly, as if its peanut butter and jelly sandwich was about to escape with its glass of milk.
“Zara, go find Quillan and tell him to get his ass out here asap,” I said, no longer concerned about Knight's
