Chapter 26
Chapter Twenty-Six
WHO ATE THE LAST SLICE?
The vamps are long gone with Kallie and her golden boyfriend by the time I manage to dispatch the rest of the feral fuckers who had made her their target.
I’m going to have to have a nice little chat with Stark about feral leeches attacking humans in his territory.
If I hadn’t shown up when I did…
Nobody appreciates how much work I put into being this helpful.
I knew there was a reason I needed to keep an eye on the brunette.
And it definitely didn't have anything to do with wanting another opportunity to run into her.
Or finding out if she tastes as reckless as she kisses.
Nope.
Purely professional.
Or at least that’s what I tell myself as I use my speed rune to sprint back to that prissy hotel castle for my bike.
My phone already displays their location.
I don’t trust that ancient vampire as far as I can throw him, so when I’d tossed him the keys to get Kallie clear, I’d also slapped a magnetic tracker onto the Jeep’s bumper. He never saw it.
I make it to the parking garage in record time—not as fast as the bloodsucking assholes, but close.
There’s no time to grab a helmet if I want to catch up to Stark, so revving my bike once, twice, I squeal the rear tire as I tear out into the nearby street, spooking some pedestrians with the loud obnoxious engine.
I weave through traffic, running a few red lights, but I don’t care. Now is not the time for subtlety. The Guild can give me a lecture about blending in later.
Again.
The thought makes me scoff.
Me. Blending in.
I give my phone a quick peek, seeing the location of the Jeep moving fast outside of the city, and lean down over the bike, feeling the vibrations all the way to my bones.
Come on baby. Let’s see what you got.
I push the motorcycle to its limits, the scenery a blur, and activate my reflex rune—enhanced responses won't hurt in a high-speed chase.
The wind whips through my hair, and I have to admit, going helmetless makes this whole chase feel more thrilling, the taste of danger potent.
The only thing that would make this ride better would be a certain brunette wrapped around me.
All the more reason to drive faster.
I’m making good time, the bike so much faster than the bulky jeep, even with a vampire behind the wheel, and soon a glance at the tracker shows the distance shortening.
Except another motorcycle passes me by, the headlamp turned off, red glowing eyes giving me a quick glance before revving forward.
What the hell?
How do the feral fucks know where they are?
There’s no way they could sniff out a trail in a moving vehicle at this speed.
Unless… they weren’t tracking. They were being led.
My stomach drops in a way that has nothing to do with the road.
I push the bike even harder, an uglier feeling than simple pursuit now driving me forward.
Ah hell no.
Another glance at the tracker shows the Jeep just around the bend ahead, still speeding, but the leech motorcycle gang that just passed me are way faster.
I chose the Jeep because it’s roomy in the back.
In case a certain brunette wanted another taste of danger.
Not only are feral vampires bloodsuckers, they are also cockblockers.
I’m going to put that on a t-shirt.
I finally see the Jeep ahead, just in time to see it slam into a tree and shred apart, the engine block punching through the hood and fuel spraying into an instant wall of fire, the heat and sudden flash making me lose control of the bike, and fall off.
The speed makes me slide several feet on the pavement, my shield rune activating out of instinct, the bike coming to rest beside me.
Thank fuck for leather clothes, or I’d be rocking the no skin look right about now.
Still.
Ouch.
No time to check for bruises though, I gotta get Kallie out of that inferno. If she has even survived it.
Shit.
I reach into the flames, my shield rune magic still activated and tamping what should be an instant burn to a warm sensation on my skin. I yank the back door open, and reach inside, but it’s empty.
Thank fuck.
I didn’t even want to think about what I’d have done if she’d been trapped in there.
Something deeply irrational.
Something very un-Zach-like.
Which would’ve been embarrassing.
So Stark got her out in time it seems. Where did he take her?
I step back from the burning vehicle, and assess the scene.
Multiple piles of ashes are scattered throughout the road, crashed and mangled remnants of motorcycles strewn around.
They clearly fought their way out.
Using my enhanced eyesight I search for clues, tracks, a trail… something.
But we are in a secluded forested area, and all that surrounds me are hills covered in trees, and it would have been easy for Stark to disappear. Especially with vampire speed.
Fantastic. Now I have to track down one ancient leech and one reckless brunette.
I walk back to my bike, pushing it upright and checking it still works. Other than some scrapes on the left side, it’s intact.
Time to go check all of Stark’s known hideouts. I’m bound to find at least a clue somewhere.
I go to turn the key in the ignition but my phone rings at that exact moment, making me pause.
There is only one person who has this number, so getting a call means it’s important.
I accept the call, utter a single word, “yeah?”
A smooth female voice on the other end replies, and despite the heat from the nearby inferno still burning, my skin goes cold straight to the bone.
“The Night Reaper has been sighted. Sending coordinates.”
The line clicks, effectively ending the short conversation, but she didn’t need to say anything else.
If the Night Reaper has been seen, it means he’s planning an attack on another Guild Den, and more of my hunter brothers and sisters will die.
The choice vanishes.
I hate it.
But it does.
I turn the key on the bike, its loud rumbling a familiar anchor as cold purpose settles in my bones.
I rev the engine and take off, increasing my speed yet again, now more determined than ever to catch my brother’s killer.
Stark can babysit her for a few more hours.
If the ancient bloodsucker screws this up, I'll kill him later.
The bike roars beneath me as I twist the throttle harder.
The Night Reaper comes first.
Sorry, Beautiful.