Move in hard and fast, and don’t let anyone get in your way.”
When Campbell moved forward at full speed, he sensed the rest of his team doing the same. The bouncer saw them at the last second and started to block their path inside. Campbell knocked him aside so hard that the guy crashed into the side of the building next door.
The moment they were inside, internal security descended. If this were a law-abiding club, no one would have messed with a V Force team. The fact they were meeting resistance was all the proof Campbell needed that something illegal was going on here.
Colin and Kaja parted a path for him, and he scanned the club until he spotted Salmeri sitting in a corner yet again, this time with a leggy brunette draped over him. He dumped her on the floor the moment he saw Campbell and tried to make a smooth getaway.
“No such luck, you bastard,” Campbell said as he sped after Salmeri and tackled him in a flying leap. Before Salmeri could buck him off, Campbell clamped a set of silver cuffs on him behind his back.
“You better have a damn good reason for assaulting me,” Salmeri spat over his shoulder.
Kaja placed her booted foot on his head and shoved it back to the floor. “We’re just taking out the garbage, and you’re stinking up the neighborhood.”
“Bitch.”
“Big mistake,” Kaja said then called Salmeri a rather unflattering name. She pressed down until his cheeks flattened.
Campbell let her have her bit of payback then signaled for her to back off. She did so with a final sneer in Salmeri’s direction. Campbell jerked him to his feet, and not gently. A quick glance around the club showed him his team had trussed up the security goons, and the club’s patrons had been herded onto the opposite side of the glowing dance floor.
He returned his attention to Salmeri and leaned in close. “One chance. That’s all you get to come clean about the abductions and the location of the people you took.”
Salmeri answered by spitting in his face. Campbell responded with a fist to the other vampire’s jaw. Then he simply stood and looked at the crowd.
“Everyone stay where you are. There’s another team outside armed with stakes and enough holy water to float the U.S. Navy.” Matt came through the front door then. “Watch this no-good piece of garbage.”
“With pleasure,” Matt said as he settled his hand atop a stake at his waist.
Campbell looked at his own team. “Tear this place apart. Look for anything that might lead us to the captives.”
They searched every room on every floor, but it wasn’t until they descended the stairs to the basement that they found what they were looking for.
“They’re here,” Colin called up the stairs.
Campbell couldn’t get to the basement fast enough.
A line of humans stood against the wall, their hands chained to it above their heads and their feet manacled and secured to large metal rings in the stone floor.
“Oh, my God,” Sophia said.
One of the women looked up and started whimpering. “Please, not again,” she said. Though she’d only been gone a few hours, Mindy was pale from multiple feedings.
“We’re not here to hurt you,” Sophia said as she moved toward her.
Mindy flinched and tried to get away even though she had to know it was no use trying. But the human survival instinct was strong.
He scanned the faces of the rest of the captives but didn’t see Olivia. Was he too late? No, he couldn’t be. He refused to believe it.
“Mindy, where’s Olivia?” he asked. His question was more like a command, and it made her recoil.
Colin gripped Campbell’s shoulder. “You’re scaring her.”
“I need to find Olivia.”
Colin centered himself a few feet in front of Mindy. “Hi, Mindy. I’m Colin. I know you’re scared, but I also know you want to save Olivia. Do you know where she is?”
“She needs to go to a hospital,” Sophia said to Campbell. “They all do.”
Mindy stared at Colin in confusion. “I’ve died, haven’t I? Or I’m having a dream.”
“No, you’re awake and if you’ll let me come closer, I’ll take the restraints off you,” Colin said. “We can free all of you.”
Tears streaked down Mindy’s cheeks, and Campbell knew exactly what she must be thinking. That she’d thought she’d never see the outside of this basement ever again. But he desperately needed her to focus.
With what little energy Mindy had, she nodded. Campbell motioned to the rest of the team to start releasing the prisoners. Colin moved forward slowly. Even with freedom not far away, Mindy couldn’t hide her vivid fear of him. Once the chains were off Mindy, Colin helped her slide to a sitting position on the floor and offered her a bottle of water they’d brought in the hope they’d find the prisoners alive. With shaking hands, Mindy sucked the bottle dry in seconds. It seemed to push away some of her hysteria. When she looked up, she appeared to be thinking more clearly.
Mindy closed her eyes and took a shaky breath. “Olivia. They sold her, to someone really scary.”
“Scary how?” Campbell asked.
“These people came in wearing red cloaks with hoods, then a guy with the same kind of cloak, only black. He never said a word, but...there was something about him. Cold, made my skin crawl.”
“Some vamp with a weird fetish?” Len suggested.
“Maybe,” Campbell said, but he was getting a distinctly bad feeling. “How long ago did they leave?”
Mindy looked confused for a moment, as if she’d lost all track of time. “Not long.”
Campbell headed for the stairs.
“No,” Mindy said with more force than she’d exhibited since they arrived. She pointed toward the other end of the room, toward a half-hidden door in the shadows. “They went through there.”
Campbell nearly ripped the door from its hinges in his haste to reach Olivia. He heard more feet pounding behind him, but he didn’t look back to see who it was. He ran as fast as he could through a series of dark corridors. He’d lost count of how many turns they’d made when he rounded another and saw movement up ahead, the fluttering of cloaks. Two big guys in red turned toward him, and he saw Olivia hanging between them. If they’d hurt her, he was going to slice the flesh from their bodies before he staked them.
They shoved Olivia into the darkness ahead of them and turned to fight. Campbell and Len hit them full steam. Fists flew and Campbell took a couple to the jaw and an elbow to the gut. Another blow busted his lip and rattled his fangs. Not in the mood to let this guy live any longer, he pulled his stake-shooting gun from his hip and pressed it against the guy’s chest. He pulled the trigger and the fight went out of the guy like a light switch being turned off.
Campbell let him drop and stood in time to see Len make a powerful swipe with a knife that severed the other guy’s head from his body.
When Campbell looked ahead, Olivia was gone. “Damn it.” He raced past the dead vamps. He refused to believe he’d gotten so close only to lose her. He rounded another corner and skidded to a halt. Olivia lay in the middle of the floor, struggling to lift herself. He ran to her and dropped to her side. She yelped and tried to crawl away.
“Shh, Livvi. It’s me.”
When she saw him, tears sprang to her eyes and she crawled into his arms. “I knew you’d come for me,” she said. “I knew it.”
He held her close. “Are you okay?”
She nodded against his chest. “Now I am.” She sat back suddenly. “Mindy?”
He framed her face with his palm. “Safe. The rest of the team is getting them across the street to a human-owned building.”
“Mindy needs to get to the hospital. She’s lost a lot of blood.”
He ran his hand over her mussed hair, needing to reassure himself that she was really there in front of him, really safe. “We’ll take you both to the hospital.” He glanced down the darkened corridor, considered sending Len after the guy who got away. But he was probably long gone, and getting the humans help was more important at
