Lavos Read online

  “My name is Lavos.” He watched her closely. “You’re bleeding.”

  She ignored the blood siding down the side of her face near the ear her hair had been stuck to. “Tell me something I don’t know—like what you and your friend are. Not human, with those sparkler eyes and that super strength. Aliens maybe? Please don’t be that. I laugh at those people who say they’ve spotted little green people. Of course, you’re not little or green, but you see where I’m going with this. No ass probes either. Not my thing.”

  Club Threads got her to glance his way when he chuckled. He smiled and she was glad to see his eyes looked normal. She stared at the biker again.

  “I’m glad that your friend thinks this is funny, but I don’t. I’m having a real bad night, Lavos.” She used the gun to tap the bars. “I’m claustrophobic on top of it all, and armed. Not a good combo. Plus, there’s the whole horrendous thing with my dad. Start telling the truth or I’m going to see how many bullets it takes to put you down.”

  “We’re not aliens,” he stated.

  “Good.”

  “We’re really law enforcement, but not one you’d know about. I tried to embed suggestions into your mind but you have a very strong will.”

  “Is that why your eyes are doing that mega-bright thing? Stop it.”

  She was relieved when his eye color returned to a nice-looking blue that didn’t freak her out.

  “You’re better off not asking questions,” his pal said. “The more you know, the more dangerous it is for you. We have laws to follow.”

  “I said shut up,” Lavos growled. It was a very animalistic sound, reminding her of a guard dog.

  It was a hint that Jadee jumped on. “Werewolves?”

  Both men looked at her in an alarming way that had her taking a step back. “Okay. I like dogs. Wolves are good. I can handle that way better than aliens.” She focused on Lavos. “Please tell me that if you kill the master Vampire, it will return my father to normal…or is that movie bullshit?”

  He was either brave or stupid, she wasn’t sure which with her gun still pointed at him, but he took a step closer. His shoulders were broad enough that both sides of them nearly brushed against the hallway walls.

  “I’m sorry, but there’s nothing we can do for him except stop him before he tries to kill again.”

  His statement dashed her hopes. “You don’t know for certain if he’s killed anyone.”

  “It’s irrelevant. Everyone in this region is dead except you and perhaps a few others, if they were lucky enough to find sanctuary. This bunch did it. It needs to end before they travel to another town and kill those residents. There’s no way to cure or bring him back from this.”

  That news devastated Jadee, but she believed him. “There are at least three more that I’ve seen, plus my dad and the one you have on the floor.” She stepped back and sat heavily on the bed, placing the handgun on the mattress next to her. “Do it.” She lowered her head, staring at her lap. “Please don’t make the one who used to be my father suffer. He was a good man. He wouldn’t want to live at the cost of innocent lives being taken.”

  “Jadee!” Victor sounded outraged. “Don’t do this, honey!”

  She winced and wrapped her arms around her waist. Pain squeezed at her heart but she didn’t beg the two strangers to release what used to be Victor Trollis.

  “Take him outside,” Lavos ordered. “You heard her. Make it fast and don’t allow him to suffer. I’ll be out in a few minutes. Wait there.”

  “Okay,” his friend replied.

  Jadee closed her eyes, hating to hear the sounds as her father was removed from the RV.

  “He wasn’t a Vampire.”

  That soft, masculine voice had her peering up at Lavos. He’d come closer, right to the edge of the bars to grip one of them with his hand. His other one was hidden behind his back. She should have been afraid but she didn’t jerk away, pretty certain he couldn’t reach her. She had nowhere to hide if he possessed a gun. She said nothing, waiting for him to speak.

  “He was a soldier.”

  “He said he was a Vampire.”

  “Vampires can create these kind of halflings they call soldiers. Do you want to know more?”

  She hesitated, stood, but kept back from him. “Not really.”

  He frowned. “Why not?”

  “I heard your friend. Knowledge is dangerous, right?”

  He moved slowly, withdrawing his hand from behind his back. She held her breath, expecting him to point a gun at her, but instead he fisted a plaque her father had kept hanging in the hallway. “Explain this to me.”

  She knew the words inscribed on it, since she’d been the one who’d bought it. “What do you want to know?”

  He glanced down at the writing, then back at her. “Best Bump-in-the-Night Hunter? What does that mean?”

  “I was ten at the time, and didn’t know how to say paranormal-slash-legend tracker.” She shrugged. “That’s what my dad did. He and his research team searched for things like you and that asshole who changed him into a monster.”

  She didn’t miss the way Lavos seemed to slightly pale. He returned her gift to her father to its hook on the wall. He kept his back turned away while he took a deep breath. It made her once again notice his broad shoulders. He slowly faced her. The grim look on his features didn’t bode well for her.

  “That’s why you were in the area? Hunting for Vampires? Were you looking for anything else?”

  “You mean Werewolves? No. I’m not a part of my father’s team.” She paused, realizing her dad had to be gone by now. “He called me a couple weeks ago and begged me to come visit. I had to arrange time off from my job and caught a flight this morning. I got a rental and drove here. I made it right before the sun went down, and he showed up a little bit ago the way he is now. Was. Whatever. The dad I knew was dead by the time I got here.” She shifted her stance and got a look at Mitch. “The dickhead behind you is moving. Don’t those things ever stay down?”

  Lavos spun, took a few steps, and made Jadee wince when he brutally brought his boot down on Mitch’s head. She swore she heard bones break but no sympathy welled. Lavos returned to the gate as if he hadn’t just bashed in someone’s head.

  “He’s not moving now.”

  She had to give him points for having a sense of humor, twisted as it was. “You didn’t answer my question. How do you kill one of those things?”

  “Remove the head and it dies forever. What were they investigating?”

  She debated answering but he’d saved her ass. At least for the time being. “From what I understand, someone reported seeing Vampires. They came to check it out but they lost contact with their source on the way here. The team captured four of these things but then they somehow managed to escape. I’m not clear on all the details. That moron on the floor got ahold of my dad after that. The rest of my dad’s team is locked inside a trailer they use as a headquarters for these little hunts. They’re alive—or were recently, when I spoke to them via a tablet.” She hesitated. “It’s on the table behind you in the kitchen area.”

  He walked back down the hallway and lifted something. She couldn’t see around his body but he turned, holding the electronic device so she got a good view. It was smashed, the screen shattered. Her father had probably broken it when he’d been thrown onto the table.

  Lavos dropped it and returned to the gate. It was unsettling to watch his expression harden and his eyes start to glow again. But the sight was equally fascinating.

  “You can remove your weapons and lay them all down.”

  “Not a chance, and your eyes aren’t working on me.”

  The corners of his mouth curved upward for a second. “It was worth a try.”

  “Are you going to kill me?”

  The seconds of silence had her guts twisting. He finally shook his head. “I see no reason to if you help me.”

  “I’m not opening that gate across the door. No way, no how.”

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