Wen Read online

  He inched down the stairwell into the finished basement.

  The sight of eight bodies shocked him. They’d been callously dumped on the floor. He only picked up a few heartbeats, and they were faint. He silently mouthed a curse. He hadn’t expected victims. He walked closer and crouched beside the one nearest him.

  There was blood around the man’s mouth. Wen leaned in and sniffed.

  Dread hit hard as he glanced at the others. He could see some of their faces. They had blood around their lips too. Vamp blood.

  Fucking Horton had turned them.

  Another heartbeat suddenly joined the others. They were turning from dead to undead.

  Wen sheathed his knife to free his hand. He touched the one next to him, using his finger and thumb to open the eyelid. Rage hit next as he stared into the bloodshot eyeball of the unconscious victim. Not a Vamp. It was going to wake up a soldier. He was certain of it. The proof was in the eyes, and the fact that he had died before turning.

  Just to be sure though, he released the eyelid and leaned in closer to study the man’s complexion. He saw the beginnings of very faint, darkening veins under the skin, but the victim still smelled human. That fight last night must have made Horton worry about the Lycans outnumbering his nest.

  It was a fucked-up situation, but Wen knew what he had to do. He rose up, ignoring the still bodies. They wouldn’t be dangerous until the sun went down and they were done turning. He had more pressing matters to deal with first.

  He walked down a small hallway, paused near a closed door and frowned. It was a security door with at least four locks. He moved to the next room and eased that standard door open. It was a storage space with some furniture inside, no scent of Vamp there. Next, he went to the room across from it. It contained cleaning supplies, some paint, and other things that were probably used to maintain the building.

  He returned to the furniture storage and glanced around, found metal bed frame rails, and lifted two of them. He tested their strength by trying to bend them. They held. He kept very quiet, entered the hallway, and studied the enforced safety door. He set the rails on the floor and returned the maintenance storage room. There was no rope but he found cables. They’d work. He returned to the hallway and tied them tight around the railing, then pushed the railing against the walls across the door, pressing his body up against them to keep them from falling. He attached the cords to the doors that opened inward.

  The Vamps might try to open the door from the inside but they’d have difficulty. He backed away, eyeing his handiwork. The rails would work as a reverse brace. The door wouldn’t open more than about four inches before the rails slammed against it. He grinned, then entered the room with furniture that was right next to the Vamps’.

  He eyed the drywall, glad it wasn’t brick. He took some deep breaths, rolled his shoulders, and then bent, retrieving his hunting knife. He withdrew another one from his boot, rose up, and surged forward.

  He hit the wall hard, using his shoulder and tucking his head, going straight through the cheaply constructed barrier.

  All four Vamps were there. They had set up two bunk beds. Horton woke and rolled out of a top bunk. He hissed as he landed on his feet, looking confused as Wen shook off debris from the wall and insulation.

  “What the hell are you doing?”

  Two of the Vamps stirred but they were more sluggish. The fourth didn’t move at all. It was a mistake that Horton hadn’t made him stronger after he’d survived the Lycan fight. Then again, Wen wasn’t surprised. He didn’t think much of the bastard.

  “What do you think? You want to turn my mate into a soldier. Fuck you!”

  Wen lunged, going for the closest Vamp, who’d managed to get to his feet. Wen took his head off with his blades and dust filled the room.

  He went after Horton next.

  The master hissed and leapt, jumping back onto his bunk. Wen knew he’d try to dive over him to get to the wall he’d broken through, or attempt to reach the grate he saw on the floor under one of the beds. That was probably the escape route out of the building. He couldn’t let it happen.

  He shoved one of his knives into the heart of the second Vamp to free his hand, grabbed the guy by the throat, and threw him at Horton.

  Using his superior speed and strength to reach them quickly, Wen tossed the Vamp aside and grabbed Horton. He punched out with his second knife, the blade sinking into Horton’s neck.

  The master screamed, the sound coming out more of a gurgling noise.

  The injured Vamp leapt on Wen’s back but he ignored it, keeping hold of Horton as he gripped the handle of the blade and violently twisted.

  He felt fangs sink into his shoulder, the bastard on his back trying to weaken him. But he refused to let go of the master.

  Horton stared at him with horrified eyes for a precious second—and then it was over. His head came off and he burst into ash.

  Wen stabbed the Vamp behind him in the head, reached back to fist him by his hair, and ripped him off him. He threw the bastard on the floor, trying to use his boot to stomp him in the ribs, but his foot slipped in all the blood coating the guy’s upper body from the stab he’d taken to the chest earlier.

  The room spun but Wen ignored the dizzy moment, fell on the Vamp, and yanked his knife free. He hacked at his neck, removing his head. The body under him disappeared into ash.

  Wen sat there on his knees, slowing his breaths before reaching up, feeling the rip in his shirt. It was soaked.

  He turned his head, angling it enough to see how much damage had been done. The bastard had torn him open with his fangs. It would heal, but he’d bled a lot. He stayed down for a few more moments, taking deep breaths. He finally rose, reached the sleeping Vamp, and ended him with the flash of his blade.

  He picked up his other blade, wiggled through the hole in the wall, and left the furniture storage room. The master and his Vamps had been taken care of. Now he just had to deal with the soldiers.

  More heartbeats sounded now. The dead were coming back to life. They couldn’t be saved, it was too late for them, and they wouldn’t turn to ash if he removed their heads. He’d have to kill them and destroy the bodies with fire.

  Guilt hit but he pushed it back. Their fates had been sealed the moment Horton had forced his blood into them, then killed them. He couldn’t allow a bunch of bloodthirsty savages to be let loose on a city.

  Noise sounded above his head and he tensed. It was a miracle the Lycans hadn’t already come downstairs. They had to have heard the fight that had taken place in the other room. He sheathed his knives, no longer needing silence.

  He unleashed his claws and waited. It didn’t take long. The door above burst open with the sound of wood cracking. Footsteps thundered down the stairs. Joel was the first one to arrive.

  “It’s over,” Wen told him. “Horton is dead. Just walk way.”

  More Lycans filled the room behind Joel. The alpha held up his hand, glaring at Wen. “What did you do?”

  “Look at the bodies on the floor. Do you know what they are?”

  “Dying humans.” Joel glanced at them, curling his lip. “The Vamps feed off them.”

  “Wrong. Your little fight with Horton last night must have made him uneasy. These were humans, but by sundown they’ll become soldiers. Think super-tough Vamps with bloodlust unlike anything you’ve ever seen. They’ll recover faster than a normal Vamp and grow more insane every time they’re injured. He brought them into this building to use against you. And they would have turned your pack into food. Understand? I did you a favor.”

  “Horton was going to make us rich.”

  “You’re an idiot if you believed anything that Vampire told you, Joel. He was using you until you weren’t needed anymore. Then he would have slaughtered your pack with these things on the floor. Did you hear him last night, ordering me to fight your pack? Notice how I didn’t? My beef isn’t with you.”

  More Lycans eased into the room. Wen kept track. There wer