“No. He’s still on the run with the other kid, but it looks like he’s now in Austin.”
Isaac’s shoulders slumped. “You’re kidding.”
They drove to the small private airport to fly home and continue the chase.
The sun was rising when they stopped at an abandoned factory in their hometown of Austin. It had been a long night and Lexi was exhausted. Maggie wheeled her finger around to indicate that they were shielded and safe to speak without being overheard. She opened the window. Her hand had barely raised when her eyes snapped open. “There’s a living human in there.”
Braxton checked his cell phone. “There are three exits on the back. We’ll have to take one each. He turned to Lexi. “You’re up.”
Quickly, she took her lipstick out.
Braxton narrowed his eyes. “What are you doing?”
She tried to speak and apply her lipstick at the same time. “Make me a vampire.”
“I don’t think so. Not after the last one.” He turned to Maggie. “Give her the lead.”
“Have you seen my doggie?” Lexi rolled her eyes. “It’s five thirty in the morning. He won’t risk opening the door to the sunrise for a lost dog.”
“The front is still in darkness. You only have to distract him long enough for us to get in the back. Don’t go in there.”
Braxton, Maggie, and Isaac raced to the rear of the building while Lexi took the lead and headed across the street. She knocked on the door with boards across the previously glazed section. It opened immediately.
She faced a handsome young man with long black hair. Her guess was that it was dyed. She shook her head, distracted momentarily by his white, frilled shirt.
You have to be serious.
“I’m sorry to bother you. I was walking my dog and she got away. I saw her around here, but she disappeared. Have you seen or heard her?”
“As a matter of fact, I was just investigating a whining noise.” He sounded like a bargain basement Dracula with the worst attempt at a Romanian accent she’d ever heard. “It sounded like an injured animal. This place is quite big for one person to search. You can help if you like.” He opened the door fully and stepped behind it.
Lexi paused.
He raised an eyebrow. “It’s your dog we’re looking for.”
It was a good point and she had no counter to it, so she walked in. The place was in darkness and it stank.
“What’s her name?” he asked.
“Maggie.” Her senses alerted her to danger a fraction of a second too late. Everything went black.
When she came to, she seemed to be sprawled on a gritty surface with jagged edges that bit into her cheek. A hand grasped her jaw and turned her face up. The flesh was cold and her eyes opened. She was confused and dizzy. Everything was dark and she couldn’t remember where she was.
Lexi tasted blood in her mouth. Had she bitten her tongue? Split her lip? With a grimace, she swallowed.
She dragged in a lungful of air. The darkness was ripped away as she looked into the face of the vampire.
I’ve been tainted. The fucker’s trying to turn me.
Horrified, she looked around, able to make out the boarded windows but unable to see where the light came from. It occurred to her that other more talented legacies were always able to see in the dark like this, a benefit of the supernatural blood used to make them what they were.
He had pinned her down. “You Kindreds think you’re so clever. But you can’t have him.”
Energy flooded into her muscles and the sudden strength was intoxicating. “Wasn’t it enough to kill one kid last night? You’re a disgusting blood-drunk junkie. You won’t turn me and you won’t kill that kid.”
Dimitri frowned. “What?”
While he was momentarily distracted, she slipped a shuriken from the lining of her vest and sliced it up his belly. The gush of blood and gore that poured onto her made her gag. She pushed him off and ran to the hallway. A last glimpse into the room made her giggle at the sight of him trying to stuff his insides in.
Lexi glanced toward the back of the building. It was completely blocked off, which explained why the others hadn’t appeared yet. Maggie would want to teleport into the building but it was against Kindred rules to teleport somewhere you’d never seen. A sob drew her attention.
She raced to the next level, not sure if she was running toward the child or away from her family. The main thought in her head was that she’d been infected. There were stories about what happened to Kindred legacies who were contaminated.
But they’re only stories. Why am I so terrified?
It felt like there was something—a memory just beyond her mind like a word on the tip of her tongue—and the feeling propelled her up the stairs.
I have to get away from my family.
Lexi found the boy lying on a mattress beside a pile of snacks and drinks. He was bound and crying, but he was alive. She checked his neck for bite marks.
Logic seemed to take control and she knew her pupils would be huge like the vamp’s—a giveaway, never mind the blood in her mouth. She hurried to the pile of snacks and sifted through them. Candy bars, Cheetos…she found a can of Coke and opened it. Without looking at the kid, she poured it into her hand and washed her face and neck with it, then drank some and sluiced it around her mouth several times. Hopefully, that would take care of the blood in her mouth.
With that done, she hauled the kid up, dug in her leather jacket, and retrieved a small explosive charge. She set the timer for five seconds and slapped it over the covered window. Quickly, she took him out of the room, stood to the side, and held his face away. The explosion almost made her ears bleed.
The room was full of dust, but the morning
