It was like these vampires had forgotten how to fake being mundane and were walking around wearing clown outfits because someone on the Internet told them that was how real people dressed.
Sophia stared at the guard. “He’s going to kill you the moment he doesn’t think he needs his personal army anymore.” She pointed at the Ten Gallon vamp talking to Ranger. “Once he’s in control, he’s going to behead you and your entire crew.”
“Sophia!” Gabe whispered. “Leave the vampire alone.” The last thing they needed was to egg on a vampire.
The bodyguard’s lip twitched.
“Did he tell you who we are?” she asked the vamp. “You never liked Mr. Oil Man’s son, did you? No one liked him. He was dangerous even to your kind. Messed up in the head like…” Her eyebrows pinched together. “… like an old coyote who’d been feeding on garbage too long.”
How did she know so much?
“You were in on ignoring him, weren’t you? Part of the team that let him slip his leash and go eat people like us.”
The bodyguard’s lip twitched again.
Sophia’s eyes widened. “You all did it on purpose hoping the elves would come down from the north and take care of your problem for you! And now you all act like my papa didn’t do you a favor.”
The guard did a little Heh movement with his shoulders and eyebrow.
Sophia pointed at the vamp but turned to Gabe. “They eat college kids who come here to party.”
Not that Gabe knew anything about South Padre Island, other than that it was where several of the Gulf Coast Clans ran tourist businesses, and that they were never, ever to come down here for any reason whatsoever, now or in the future.
At least that’s what Momma told Papa one night when they thought all the kids were either playing or asleep. She’d said something about asking the elves to “deal with the problem once and for all,” and Papa had responded with something about the vampires being “slave runners before the Civil War. There’s money and heritage involved.”
It still didn’t make any sense why the vampires had been allowed to run businesses in South Padre Island. In Alfheim, the elves always “took care of the problem.” Except for their own vampires. And look how that had turned out.
Ten Gallon pointed at the sword, then raised his hands. Seemed these bloodsuckers didn’t want anything around that would give the elves an excuse to come around again.
Sophia stared at the sword. “The elves don’t care about you, Mr. Vampire.”
The guard moved his head to look down at her, but he didn’t say anything.
“They care about us,” Gabe said. “So you know. Even if your boss leaves that sword in the dirt, the elves definitely have an excuse to pay you all a visit.”
“Mr. Bjorn was soooo maaaddddd, wasn’t he, Gabe?” Sophia asked. “And Ms. Benta can be mean but she likes Momma a lot and Ranger there hurt our momma who’s about to have another baby.” She inhaled. “And that made Ms. Benta soooo maaaddddd.” She shook her head.
“Sophia…” Gabe whispered.
“I tell the truth, Gabe!” she said. “It’s going to be like that television show about the Vikings but with magic and a lot of dead vampires.” She scrunched up her little face. “I bet Mr. Magnus would be happy to buy all the resorts here. Papa says he’s a good businessman.”
“Sophia!” She’d told him not to talk to the vampire but here she was poking him with a stick.
Sophia leaned toward the guard. She twisted her head to the side. “Do you have a plan?”
The vampire gave her a little nod.
She leaned back and cupped her hands over her mouth. “He has a plan, Gabe!” she shout-whispered.
Behind them, in the clearing in front of the copter, Ten Gallon gave Ranger a little shove. Ranger responded by swinging the sword around and pointing it at Ten Gallon’s head.
The bodyguard sighed. He stripped off his black-lensed glasses.
His eyes were so blue and bright they looked like ice from a glacier. “Darlin’,” he drawled. “I suppose those elves of yours don’t know nothin’ about American Chosen One lore, huh? ‘Cause they ain’t real Americans.” He snorted. “I should kill you now and save myself some future agony. But where’d the fun be with that?”
Ten Gallon laughed as Ranger backed away.
“What’s your name?” Sophia asked the vampire.
“Oh, sweetie pie, I’m Faceless Thug Number One.” He turned away from them so fast Gabe didn’t see him move. He placed three shots into Ten Gallon’s head, and another three into his heart.
Sophia screamed.
“He shoulda realized when I didn’t heed The Call that I was a threat,” the vamp said.
Ranger, sword in hand, ran for the bushes. The shots got the female vamp’s attention, but not so much that she stopped looking bored. The pilot sat behind the controls and didn’t seem to notice what was happening.
The bodyguard pulled a machete off his back as he walked toward Ten Gallon. “Run along, lil’ Chosen Ones, before I change my mind.”
Gabe grabbed his sister and they ran as fast as they could into the trees.
Chapter 25
The copter lifted off just as Ed and Wrenn burst through the brush. Ed’s shotgun wouldn’t do damage, not twenty yards down the beach, nor was it likely to even nick the paint on that particular machine. The thing was as black as the night and looked fully shielded.
“You’re a witch!” he shouted. “Zap it or something!” Not that he believed she was a witch any more than he believed Frank Victorsson was a jotunn.
But they had to do something. His kids were on that copter.
“I’m not a strong witch!” Wrenn threw a rock at the copter as it lifted into the air. “That kind of intervention takes a full magical.” She pulled out her
