Blood Judgment (Judgment Series) (13 page)

She shook her head and looked at her hands. “I don’t want to mess up what could be a good thing for us.”

He still didn’t believe her and he had a suspicion of what was wrong. His stomach tightened into hard knots. “There’s no hurry. If something happens, it happens.”

Her rejection stung, though he worked to appear indifferent. He had no right to even fantasize about her. He wasn’t one of them, not really. She was used to purebreds, not mixed-blood mutts like him.

“I don’t want to cut you off like that, but I’m not ready. I’m sorry.”

“It’s all right.” His swollen cock didn’t agree. He moved back and settled against the sofa although he wanted to leave the apartment. He needed air and a little space.

She leaned in close with him, tucked her feet under her, and rested her head on his shoulder. “I promise I’ll make it up to you.”

His breathing slowed and he eventually relaxed while they sat together. Maybe he hadn’t read the situation right. He wasn’t accustomed to being turned down and it had thrown him. He didn’t know what to think and he hated drifting in the unknown.

Chapter Twelve

THE FOLLOWING night, Julian and his roommates stood outside his old apartment in the Chandler Building. They had one hour before Saranna had to be at work. Plenty of time to grab the few things he wanted.

“Do it the way I showed you.” Saranna handed him a little leather pouch.

He selected a tool and went to work.

The lock refused to give. He repositioned and tried once more to coax the mechanism open.

“Slow down,” Saranna said. “You’re making it more difficult.

He forced himself to move with methodical precision. The lock held. Shit, he’d never get it open.

“Try again,” Vali whispered.

After an eternity of
trying again
, the lock clicked. He’d done it. With relief, he pushed the door open.

As they walked through the dark apartment, Julian relived the last time he’d been there. His stomach clenched at the power of the memory.

Everything was still in his room as he’d left it. Why hadn’t Tommy stripped the room bare to remove every trace of him? He was the one thing Tommy despised with a passion.

A deep ache stabbed his chest for the loss of Tommy’s friendship. Tommy had been his best friend. His only real friend.

His hands cranked into fists at the unwanted emotion. Tommy had thrown him away like he was nothing, like he was a sack of garbage. To hell with Tommy.

“Can I help with anything?” Saranna asked.

“No. I’ll get it.” Julian pulled two suitcases from the closet and put them on his bed. Moving fast, he sorted through his clothing, taking the best pieces and old favorites.

He rifled his dresser drawers, taking some items and rejecting others. He gathered up his laptop and digital camera bags and grabbed a few small personal items including his watch, a ridiculously expensive piece he’d blown a month’s pay on.

He fished the box of documents and a scrapbook from his years at Juilliard from under his bed. Then, after a slight hesitation, he pulled out a long, flat box. Other than the violin, the only thing he’d had an interest in was tombstone rubbing. The box was packed with them. Lastly, he grabbed a blue velvet ring box. He held it for a moment before slipping it inside his jacket pocket.

Inside the box was a ring with a large ruby set in an intricately-designed silver band. He’d never worn it. It had belonged to his father.

He gathered up his stuff. “I’m ready.” They retraced their steps through the apartment. On the sofa, a glint of silver caught Julian’s eye. He stepped closer.

What the fuck?

A set of shackles lay partially obscured under a magazine.

What in the hell was Tommy doing with those?

JULIAN STASHED his belongings, then debated how to spend his evening. For lack of anything better to do, he went back out to prowl the neighborhood.

Walking through a low traffic area, he watched for officers or anyone else that might be detrimental to his well-being.

He wandered into an unfamiliar area and the barking of a dog intruded on his thoughts. The animal was joined by others.

The deep baying was that of large dogs, several of them. Cold ran over him and he stopped to pinpoint the dogs’ location. It was unlikely that someone would have a kennel of large animals in the city, but there was one exception.

He followed the deep bass of the dogs to the last building on a dead-end street. Its neighbors on both sides were in severe disrepair and looked as though they hadn’t been used in a long time. The two-story building was lighted on the first floor, but the windows were set so high it was impossible to see inside.

He stood in the shadows across the street. More than likely he’d found one of the places used to house Canary dogs. He shuddered. Used to hunt wanted vampires, the beasts were trained to track and kill their quarry unless called off.

Passing an officer on the street with one of the dogs had become an exercise in fear for him after the first time he’d encountered one when he was a teen.

The dog had fixed on him, pulling against the chain its handler held. The officer had taken one look at Julian, assessed him as nothing more than a human kid, and tried to get the dog under control.

Julian hadn’t doubted for a minute that the dog wanted to tear him apart. And he’d had absolutely no doubt that the dog was capable of doing the job.

From that point on, when Julian saw a Canary dog, he crossed the street to avoid passing it. No way in hell did he want to tangle with one of those dogs.

A white van pulled up in front of the building and parked at the curb. Four men piled out and went to the back. Curiosity peaked, Julian waited to see if they went inside the building.

One man opened the van doors. A moment later, he pulled a shackled vampire from the back and shoved him aside. He stumbled, barely staying on his feet.

The man then pulled two more chained vampires from the van. Weapons drawn, the men herded them into the building.

Something was going down. Something that didn’t smell right. He trotted across the street and cautiously approached the door. He pressed his ear to the cold metal. The deep barking of several dogs was all he picked up.

He tried the door. Unlocked, he cracked it open a few inches. The interior, what he could see of it, was cluttered with boxes, stacks of wooden skids, and an assortment of old office furniture.

He slipped through the door into a cavernous, warehouse-like room. The rest of the building was two-storied with a hallway running dead center on either side leading through the first floor and a set of stairs going up to the second floor on each side of the main room.

Several voices, all but drowned by the baying dogs, came from somewhere down the hallway on the right side of the entry.

Julian eased between piles of skids until he was in line with the hallway. He hunkered down and looked through an opening between the stacks.

About halfway down the hall, the men who’d brought in the vampires were talking to two Security officers. The government goons had the yellow insignia of dog handlers on the sleeves of their uniforms.

A chill skittered over Julian.

An officer guarded the trio with a pole control device. The three captives swayed unsteadily, heavily drugged. The oldest looked about eighteen. Julian picked up the scent of their terror.

Money exchanged hands. Payment for the juveniles? One of the civilians gave something to the officer who’d doled out the cash.

The officer with the pole device passed it to his companion. He unclipped a handheld control unit from his belt, gave the smallest youngster an order, and shoved him into motion. The officer herded him a little further down the hallway before stopping and prodding him into a room. Metal clanked on metal, followed by what sounded like a lock engaging, then the officer went on down the hall and out of sight.

Why had they been separated? Julian’s insides tightened. Why were they there in the first place? Compounding the bad vibe, they had been bought and paid for like animals.

The civilians talked with the remaining officer for a few minutes and then took their leave. Whistling a jaunty tune, the officer went in the opposite direction from the one his comrade had taken, shepherding the other two vampires before him. Moments later, metal on metal clanked and then repeated a second time.

Julian slipped from his hiding place and hurried down the hall where the single male had been taken. He eased the last ten feet, close to the wall until he came to bars.

The captive stood in the middle of a cell. His gaze shot to Julian’s with a look of frightened pleading.

The fine hair on Julian’s arms lifted. Where was that fucking officer?

A dog bayed. Julian and the youngster both jumped. A door opened at the back of the cell.

Julian retreated into the shadows.

An officer brought a huge brindle dog into the cell. The youngster let out a squeal of terror and lurched forward. He grabbed the bars and tried to haul himself to safety. The officer gave a command in a foreign language and the dog leapt forward.

Julian froze, eyes locked on the dog.

Though the animal had to weigh close to two hundred pounds, it launched upward, easily catching the juvenile’s leg and yanking him off the bars. The juvenile fell to the concrete floor. Drugged and weakened into submission, he did the only thing he could. He brought his arms up to protect his head. The dog dragged him across the floor, then released his leg and went for his unprotected stomach, biting, letting go, and biting again.

The kid’s screams filled the corridor.

Julian started to lurch forward, then stopped. He wasn’t armed. Between the dog and the officer, he wouldn’t stand a chance. He couldn’t help the kid. With sick resignation, he watched the carnage unfold.

The officer snapped a command and the dog stopped but stood growling over its prey.

The vampire, now crying, desperately pushed himself backward, away from the dog. The scent of blood was thick in the air.

Whining, the dog jerked but stayed put.

Julian tensed.

When the kid was within three feet of the bars, the officer gave another command and the dog leapt forward, landing on its victim. The dog bit and ripped at the screaming youngster who struck at the dog with his fists and tried to kick the beast off him.

The officer commanded again and the dog stopped, hovering over the vampire. The juvenile’s cries were weak, but he tried to crawl away.

The dog growled.

The officer snapped a command and the dog responded with a frenzied attack. Biting and tearing again and again while the screaming youngster tried to get away.

The dog was all over him, biting, then attacking somewhere else, until the youngster’s struggles slowed and his vocalizations ceased. The dog slashed, leaving horrific wounds in its victim.

Julian’s stomach lurched, but rage coursed through him. How he wished he could kill the motherfucking officer and the dog. But it wasn’t possible. Burning but unable to act, he wanted to turn away. He didn’t.

This was what his kind was worth to humans. To the government. Seen as nothing more than animals, their lives had no value. Their deaths were nothing of consequence. They could be slaughtered by anyone, at any time, and no one gave a damn.

Then, as he watched, the beast went for the finish, closing massive jaws on the juvenile’s throat. The kid gurgled and a muted, garbled scream was his final plea to a world that didn’t care.

The dog, the juvenile, and the floor were awash with blood. The dog backed up, dragging the barely conscious vampire, leaving a trail of red. The dog kept hold of the youngster’s throat until he stopped moving, then, job done, the dog let go.

“What the fuck?” the dog’s handler said. “Who the hell are you?”

Julian’s gaze jerked from the scene on the floor to the officer, who was staring at him. He realized he was growling, not unlike the dog.

“Mac,” the handler called. “Get down here. Someone’s in here.”

The dog focused on Julian. It rushed the locked door, baying and ripping at the bars, trying to get to him.

Julian leapt back.

“Holy hell,” the handler yelled to the missing Mac. “He’s a vampire.” He grabbed for the dog, trying to get the chain attached to its collar.

Julian spun and raced back down the hallway, sprinting for the entrance. A loud bang and frenzied barking were pretty good indicators that the dog and its handler were coming after him. How long would it take the handler to get to the front of the building? Where the hell was the Mac person? What if the bastard unleashed the dog?

If he had a weapon…

But he didn’t. He had to get the fuck out or he was going to end up as dead as that kid.

The other two males… Oh, no
.

He had to do something. He couldn’t leave them to be torn apart. He raced past the door to safety and headed down the other hallway. The youngsters had been taken that way. Maybe they were locked in cells like the other kid.

A dog bayed from somewhere in front of him. A second animal joined in. He skidded to a halt. Assuming they had been locked up like the first one, were the dogs behind the juveniles’ cells? Or were the dogs being brought to go after
him
? Cold rolled over his skin.

They bayed again, closer this time and he had his answer. Holy fuck, he needed to get out of the main hallway while he still could. The dogs were somewhere down a hallway to his right at the end of the building.

Now, the shouts of the handlers registered over the bays of the dogs. Julian charged toward the closest door he saw. If it was locked he was fucked. He grasped the knob. It opened on silent hinges and he dove inside. The room was barren. There were a few cabinets and a long counter and nothing else.

Tromping boots and claws scrabbling on linoleum gave him all the information he needed. They were approaching his hiding place. What if the damn dogs went for the door? There were no windows, no way out. He’d trapped himself.