21. Manny #2
The trafficker stopped crawling, holding one hand out toward the vampire. The pixie dust was having a stronger effect on him now the mate bond was gone. I could see it being absorbed by his body. “My pet! My mate! We must get our bond back!”
The vampire hissed, “As if we were ever really mates, Niall. Remember how when we met, you forgot to mention you could use our connection to put thoughts in my head? I figured out a long time ago that you used your telepathy to make me think we were mates. And once we bonded, you got my powers, just like you wanted.”
“No! I love you!” He was slurring, barely able to hold his eyes open.
“Liar.” The vampire darted forward, faster than I could follow.
He grabbed the trafficker by the throat and threw him against the wall, the body making a sickening thud as he died on impact.
But the vampire wasn’t satisfied, leaping on his body and throwing it against the wall again, leaving a bloody smear.
Oz, in his superbadger form, stopped beside me.
I ran my fingers over his head, and he leaned briefly against my hip.
Then, when the vampire stepped back from the trafficker’s body, Oz leapt forward, knocking the vampire to the ground.
I retreated to the wall, avoiding the mess of pixie dust and the two guards, one all sparkly and asleep, and one dead.
Rolling over, the vampire pushed off the ground and jumped at Oz, who stood on his hind legs, opened his front legs as if asking for a hug, and lifted his chin to display his fucking throat.
“Oz!” My scream was echoed by Mamá and Eloise, who’d landed beside me.
The vampire struck, gripping Oz’s shoulders with his claws and sinking his fangs into his neck.
I covered my mouth with my hands, and Mamá put her arm around me.
Oz, seemingly oblivious to the teeth in his throat, pulled his head back.
His skin stretched away from his body, and he opened his jaws and rested his own sharp and shiny teeth on the vampire’s jugular.
The vampire froze, then spit out the fold of fur and skin he’d been trying to chew.
I saw a small trickle of blood but nothing close to what I’d been concerned about.
He closed his eyes and sagged against Oz.
“Holy shit!” Cautiously I approached. “Did he pass out?”
Oz made a negative sounding grunt and dropped the vampire to the ground. I watched him carefully, concerned his past trauma getting bitten by this vampire would cause Oz some anxiety or worse, but he seemed fine.
Landing in a sitting position, the vampire put his elbows on his knees and his face in his hands. From slightly behind Oz, I bent over to address him. “Hey, Mister Vampire. I know you’ve been through a lot today, but we need you to promise you’re not going to attack any of us.”
He shook his head but didn’t look up. “No, I won’t. I’m sorry about attacking, but I was trying to make sure he was dead.” He took one of his blood-covered hands off his face and waved toward the mangled corpse.
I snorted. “I’d have done the same.” Oz gave me an exasperated eye roll over his shoulder.
“What? That culero needed to be dead in the worst way. Okay, Mister Vampire here went a little over the top with it, but can you blame him?” I turned to the vampire, not that he could see me.
“How long were you bonded to that fucker anyway?”
He shuddered. “Since 1947.” I gaped, and behind me, Mamá sucked in a breath. “Thank you. Thank you for freeing me.”
From the direction of the reception room, gunfire erupted. Running over to Mamá and Eloise, I ducked down against the wall. Carlyle and Garfield manifested in the center of the room, and the vampire spun up into a half-crouch, hissing and raising his claws.
I called out, “It’s okay. They’re ghosts.”
Garfield scanned the room, pausing at the dead trafficker, Oz, the pixie dust, the unconscious and dead goons, and the vampire, who was straightening to stare at the two ghosts. Then Garfield gave me a thumbs up and vanished.
The vampire cocked his head at Carlyle, who peered down his nose at him before surveying the room himself.
Mamá stammered out, “Senor Blackbourne?”
He regarded Mamá with a delighted expression. “Ah, Carmen! I am pleased to see you looking well. I apologize you were caught up in all this, but don’t worry. The Hunters and, er, their friends are dealing with the last of the henchmen, and they’ll be right in.”
I left off silently mouthing “henchmen” to myself and perked up at the promise of seeing Arch.
I needed an Oz and Arch hug, stat. I gestured toward the vampire, who’d sat down on the floor again.
Shit, that cement had to be cold. “So, Grandpa, this is... uh, sorry, Mister Vampire. What’s your name? ”
He smiled, and his fangs and claws receded a bit.
Still, I made sure to keep my gaze on his ear instead of his eyes.
“I’m Kinnon.” He shook his head. “I can’t remember the last time I spoke my name.
” Then he addressed Oz. “You were one of the prisoners, weren’t you?
” Oz nodded, and Kinnon took a deep breath.
“I thought I recognized your scent. I’m so sorry for feeding on you and the other prisoners.
” He wrapped his arms around himself. “It wasn’t what I wanted, but I didn’t have a choice. ”
Oz nodded. He hadn’t shifted back. Because he was keeping an eye on Kinnon?
I put my hand on his shoulder and knelt down to examine his neck.
He had two small tears under the fur, but no damage to anything below the surface.
I tugged on the loose skin. “Wow. That’s a pretty handy feature.
” He winked at me, and I kissed his nose, squishing his furry face in both of my hands.
Then he wrenched away, spinning toward the door and shoving me behind him as he bared his fangs.
The door swung open, and he relaxed, moving to my side. A Hunter I didn’t know came in, followed by Arch and... Ramon? So those had been his men following us earlier. “Arch!” Holding Oz’s fur with one hand, I held the other out to him.
Arch scanned the room as he strode over to us, and only then did I register that his eyes were glowing. “You good?” He gave me and Oz a once-over, frowning at the blood on Oz’s neck.
“He’ll be fine. What’s up with the glowing eyes, Arch?”
“Good. It’s combat mode. I get extra senses.” Arch gave me a quick hug and kiss, then leaned over and did the same to Oz. “I’ll give y’all better kisses later, but I need to deal with everything first, okay?” He hesitated. “One of the other Hunters will get your statements about what happened.”
I waved him toward the vampire, who was speaking softly to the first Hunter and Ramon. “Do your thing. That’s Kinnon.”
He nodded, then squeezed my hand. After walking over to Mamá and Eloise to check on them briefly, he joined the other Hunter and Ramon.
Mamá and Eloise hurried over, and I was engulfed in Mamá’s arms. “Mijo, are you okay?”
“I’m fine Mamá, but are you alright? I was so scared with the gun—” My voice cracked and I clutched her tighter.
“I was not hurt, and that was not your fault.”
I shook my head. “Maybe, but I think I’m gonna need to spend some time with Oz’s therapist after this.” Not letting go of Mamá, I reached out and grasped Eloise’s hand. “Good job with the pixie dust. And thanks for getting her out of harm’s way.”
Ramon walked up, eyeing Oz with a little wariness. “I’m glad to see you are well.”
“Yeah. Uh, thanks for coming?” I shifted Mamá to my side. “Mamá and Eloise, this is Ramon Fortuno. He, uh, has some friends who live on my street. Ramon, this is my mother, Carmen, and her partner, Eloise.” He bowed his head at them. I put my hand on Oz’s shoulder. “And you may not recognize Oz.”
His face lit up. “Ah. That makes sense. I’m not used to looking at everyone’s magic, and there’s so much here.
Hola, Oz, ladies.” He gestured at us. “One of my people saw you get taken. We were able to get someone to follow long enough to put a tracker on the car, and I came as soon as I could.” He waved toward the open door to the reception area.
“All of the other... employees of this organization have been dealt with. I told your Hunter friends I would be happy to assist with the deconstruction of the business.” He grinned.
“I know a little bit about how a clandestine organization works, after all.”
“I’m sure that’ll be helpful.” First the wolf pack and now a mafia boss or whatever Ramon was? Arch was collecting quite the backup team.
Oz moved against my hip, and I looked down at him.
“You ready to shift back?” He was staring at the vampire, or maybe at Arch, who was standing a few feet away from the vampire, talking to someone on his phone.
No shifting back until the vampire was gone.
Got it. “Okay, well, even so, let’s go see if your clothes are salvageable.
At the very least you’ll want your wallet and keys and stuff. ”
He made a squeaky angry noise that sounded like a complaint, but I ignored him and told Mamá and Eloise I’d be right back.
I started across the room, and a huffing Oz followed me.
His jeans were amazingly unscathed. He must’ve unzipped them before shifting.
His shoes were also fine, but his t-shirt and socks were a lost cause.
I looked around. “Were you wearing underwear?” He shook his head.
I put my hand on my hip. “Oswald Schmidt, you went to pick up my mother at the airport with no underwear on?” I was trying for a scandalized tone, but I didn’t think I pulled it off.
It did get me a wink, though. Oz would be okay.