Breed of Innocence (The Breed Chronicles, #01) (27 page)

“We will,” Linc and I answered at the same time. We didn’t hear Felecia chime in.

Linc sent me a small smile. “Good luck.”

“You too.”

Peter pulled out his headset and put his earwig in place. “Get your headsets ready. We’ve got ours on already, so we can communicate with each other, but you three don’t need to worry about yours until we tell you.”

I wrapped the headset around my neck and put the earwig in as I glanced around. Adam was standing only a few feet away, looking in Harry’s direction who was standing across the street. After a second, I heard Adam say ‘testing’ and saw Harry nod.

Peter pulled Dale to the side and said something to him. After a minute, they clasped hands, then Dale walked away.

Adjusting his vest, Peter turned back to us. “Radios in place, earwigs in?” When we nodded, he said, “Good. Let’s move out.”

Harry and Adam took off in the lead, followed by me, Linc, and Felecia. Peter stayed behind us all. As we neared the first block, the group split off into three. Adam and Linc went to the right, Harry and Felecia to the left, and Peter and I kept straight ahead.

“What do you think?” Peter asked after a few minutes.

“About the hunt?”

“Yeah. Not exactly your first, but it is your first official one.”

“Nervous.” I shot him a quick look. “Kind of scared, actually.”

“Why? You’ll handle yourself fine.”

“Maybe.” I hoped so. “But still. Like you said, this is official. The first time doesn’t really count. You did all the work.”

“And the second time? With Felecia?”

I groaned. “Did everyone hear about that?”

“Probably everyone inside the CGE walls, yes.”

Tasha had said as much, but I hadn’t believed her. Or maybe I hadn’t wanted to. “How’d you find out?”

“Greene. He asked me to keep an eye on you.”

“I’ve barely seen you since that first day.”

“I know.” He winked. “That’s the point.”

I made a
humph
sound that made him laugh.

“Alright, back to business.” He walked over to the sidewalk on the left side of the road. “Radios on,” he murmured.

I turned mine on quickly, in time to hear two people—Adam and Harry, I thought—respond that their Prospects had their radios on.

Peter looked down at me and I nodded.

“Okay, Prospects. What are we looking for?”

“Vampires,” I heard Felecia say.

I could almost hear her eye-roll.

Peter’s jaw clenched. “Didn’t we already establish that, Felecia? Director Greene told you this
wasn’t
a group assignment, didn’t he? You don’t pass just because someone else provides the answers. I’m not saying you have to provide them all either, but your participation is required if you want to pass. Are we clear?” When a few seconds passed and she didn’t respond, Peter’s tone dropped. “Do you or do you not want to participate in this assignment?”

“I do.”

“Good. Feel free to chime in if you think of something constructive to add,” Peter said. His tone was friendlier this time, but his jaw was still clenched. He waved me forward and we started down the road again.

“How aware are vampires?” I asked.

“In what way?”

“I mean, they were human at one point, right? That’s what the books said. But how…conscious…are they of their once-human half? The books touch on it, but they don’t really go into a lot of detail. It’s all about tracking, capturing, terminating.” The books could really only teach you so much, couldn’t they? I knew the information, but how different was it to real life experience?

“Most demons aren’t all that aware, or smart, I guess you’d say. They’re a lot like wild animals or serial killers—no thought, just action. Vampires are like that, too, but they are more aware. They’re not human anymore, at all. Don’t misunderstand that. They’re still dangerous and still serial-killer like in their attacks, but they’re clever too.”

“Thanks.”

“No problem. Ask what you feel like asking. This is a test, but you’re allowed some questions,” he said with a wink.

I stopped at the end of the next block. “This is a nice area,” I said slowly, looking around. Most of the houses were two-stories, double-garaged, and with perfect lawns. “Nine-to-five homes.”

Peter raised an eyebrow. “Nine-to-five homes?”

My cheeks heated. “My mom used to say you could tell the nine-to-five people by their houses.” I pointed to different ones around us. “It’s only a little after ten, but most of the lights are off.”

“This is Harry. Felecia thinks we’re on to something.”

Peter and I both came to a stop. Drawing a tablet from his pocket, he accessed a map. I scooted closer and leaned in so I could see. There were seven dots on the screen, each with a name above it. “Confirm your location.”

“We’re at the corner of Fourth and…Maple,” came Harry’s reply. “We’re going to check it out. Give us a minute.”

As we waited for Harry and Felecia to check back in, I glanced around. Most of the houses had trashcans out front.
Guess it’s garbage night.

After two minutes had passed, Harry said, “False alarm.” His tone was brisk.

“What’d you see, Felecia?” Peter asked.

“Nothing,” she said.

“I know you didn’t find anything, but what made you think you’d found the nest?”

“Nothing,” she repeated. “It was just a guess.”

“Excuse me?”

“That’s what we’re here for, isn’t it? To guess?”

Peter shook his head. “No, Felecia. We’re not guessing, and if we are, we go off a system better than eenie, meenie, miney, moe.”

“Whatever. Let’s see little Miss Perfect do better.”

“Oh, come on. I didn’t even say anything!”

“Exactly. At least I tried something, which is more than—”

I scoffed, but before I could respond, Peter said, “Enough! We’re here for a reason. Focus on the task at hand. And Felecia? I don’t mind guesses, but don’t just take a shot in the dark. At east make it a semi-educated guess.”

I couldn’t see her, but I knew Felecia had to be fuming. She was probably sending death glares my way.

Peter clicked off his headset for a minute. “Don’t engage her, Jade.” He rested a hand on my shoulder. “If she wants to fail, let her. Don’t let her you mess you up again.”

I still wanted to say or do something, but instead I let out a harsh breath. “Fine.”

He winked at me, then turned his radio back on.

Everyone stayed quiet for the next half hour. I caught a glimpse of Peter’s map as he tracked our progress and the places we’d covered. We’d already circled our area once and were on our second pass.

I slowed my pace and looked from house to house. My gaze landed on one and I touched Peter’s arm to get his attention. “Hold on.”

“We might have a possible location,” Peter said over the headset. “What do you see, Jade?”

“The trash cans.”

Felecia’s laughter rang out in my ear. “Seriously? That’s her big clue?” She scoffed. “And
I
was yelled at for guessing?”

“What about them, Jade?” Peter prompted.

“The houses.” I pointed. “All of them before now have had trashcans out front. There are three on this block that don’t and a fourth that’s out but knocked over—”

“Wow, that’s remarkable. You found some houses that don’t have trash and one who had their trash knocked over by animals,” Felecia said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. “Bravo.”

“Save it,” Peter snapped. “Go on, Jade.”

“I’m guessing three of them belong to early risers or people who just forgot. But…”
Jade, if you’re wrong, you’re an idiot. Don’t be wrong.

“But what?”

I pointed to one of the houses. “Animals didn’t knock that can over. There’s nothing inside it. There’s no trash on the ground.”

“Anything else?”

“Mind if I check something real fast?”

“Stay in sight, Jade.”

“I will.”

He nodded at me, so I crossed the street and tiptoed my way up the driveway. After glancing around, I made a few mental notes and started back. When I passed the car, I sighed.

“Well?” he said.

“This is it,” I said. “They have kid toys in the front yard and a car seat in the back of the van, but there’s not a bit of trash in their can. How many people—especially with kids—don’t have at least one bag of trash?”

“Maybe they’re on vacation, Jade,” Linc said, speaking for the first time since we’d separated.

“I considered that, and, while it’s been a while since I’ve had the whole family thing, I can’t imagine a family going on vacation without the car seat.”

Linc said, “You’ve got a point.”

“Okay, let’s check it out,” Peter said.

“Seriously? Because there’s no trash?” Felecia argued. “How is that any better than my guess?”

“Because yours was
just
a guess. You didn’t have an ounce of fact or reasoning to back it up. Maybe you’re right and Jade’s wrong, but at least she’s putting in real effort.”

Don’t smirk, Jade. Don’t do it.
“It’s not just the trash or the car,” I said slowly, turning to look at Peter. “It’s the blood on the ground beside it.”

“Well done,” Peter said, clasping my shoulder. “Teams, it looks like we may have found our nest. We’re on Brick Street, house…1320.” His lips raised in a smile, and when he spoke again, his tone held laughter. “Look for the house with the knocked over trashcan.”

I groaned as I heard Linc’s voice in my head. “Seriously? Trash? I don’t remember that being in the books.”

“Bite me,” I said.

Peter held back a chuckle. “He raises a good point. That wasn’t in the books.”

“The trash was the first thing that struck me as off.” I shrugged. “And,” I said, pointing to the lawn, “the grass has drag marks.”

Shaking his head, Peter laughed. “And she didn’t even catch the blood.”

“What?” I squeaked. “I caught the blood.”

“By the car, maybe.” He pointed to a spot on the sidewalk, a few feet from the trashcans. “But not that blood.”

“Well, shi…skabob.” I gave an
oops
smile.

His mouth opened, closed, then his shoulders shook with a contained laugh. “Nice save.”

I grinned. “Thanks.”

“And way to think outside the box, Jade.” He smiled. “Greene’d be impressed. Hell, I’m impressed.”

Within ten minutes, the other three teams appeared, walking up from different directions. I saw Linc immediately. He wasn’t hard to miss, since he spotted me at the same time and started shaking his head. I could almost hear him laughing.

Adam looked at me, raised an eyebrow. “Trash? That’s a first.”

“Not a bad sign,” Harry said. He looked to Peter. “What’s the plan?”

Peter split the groups again. “Adam, Linc, you’ll take the back door. Harry, you get the north. Dale, you’re south. Felecia, Jade, and I will take the front.” He gave us hard looks. “Stay close. Defend yourselves if you have to, otherwise do not engage. Clear?”

I nodded, even as my heart started to pound. Back at the CGE, when we’d been loading up with weapons, I’d been nervous and excited. But now… We were on the hunt.

Holy crap. It hadn’t seemed so…real before.

Peter faced us, kept his face serious and his tone nonsense free. “We don’t know how many are in here, so eyes open, weapons ready, and stay focused. I don’t want to explain to Greene why I left with three Prospects and came back with less, hear me?” When we all nodded, he said, “Okay. Teams, take your positions and makes sure your radios are still working properly.”

As the other teams went to their designated spots, Felecia and I followed Peter onto the porch. He turned the doorknob. The door was unlocked. He waited until we both had our stakes out, then turned to me. “Jade, on five, turn the knob, and then stay clear until I give you the go-ahead. Okay?”

I nodded again.

“We’re going in five.” As he counted down, he pulled out a stake in one hand, a taser in the other. When he reached one, I pushed the door open and jumped back. Peter ran in immediately, before the door opened fully.

“Clear,” I heard him whisper.

Felecia stepped in next and I followed behind her. My already-racing heartbeat picked up speed. The stench of blood and death hit me first, made me immediately nauseous. I breathed through my mouth, trying to keep my breaths even.

The house was pitch-black.

“Prospects, hold your positions and stay quiet,” Peter said, walking away.

We waited in the living room. Felecia stood a few feet away and crinkled her nose.

“Try breathing through your mouth,” I whispered.

She rolled her eyes. “I know how to breathe.”

Why did I bother?

“One down,” I heard someone say—maybe Adam. It was hard to tell since the voice was so quiet.

“Two down,” Peter said. “Dale, Harry, we’ve got at least two more and could use some assistance.”

I heard them confirm Peter’s request and, about a minute later, Dale came in through the front door. He paused at us, said, “Wait here,” and then headed for the stairs. Harry must’ve come in from the back, because he was right behind Dale and following him up the stairs.

Felecia and I glanced at each other as we waited in silence. Felecia bounced foot to foot, like she was just waiting for the chance to do something. A small part of me wondered if she’d just run again.

What was taking them so long? I wondered. It’d been at least ten minutes now without a word from anyone. I wanted to call to someone, to see if they were all okay, but I didn’t. What if I said something and it distracted them?

Another five minutes passed, then a scream echoed throughout the house and the headset. Linc should’ve been safe at the back door (hopefully), and Felecia and I were at the front, so that left one of four people.

What did we do?

Someone yelled for the van driver, seconds before I heard Peter say, “Vamp coming out the front!” His voice was loud, out of breath. “Do not engage! I repeat, get out of the way, and do not engage!”

There was a moan and the sound of something breaking. In the next second, a dark figure appeared out of the shadows, coming in from the kitchen. I caught the sight of fangs and ducked out of the way as a vampire ran out of the house. The breath in my lungs caught and I closed my eyes. When I reopened them and started to move forward, I froze as another vamp ran at me. It shoved me to the side. I hit a table and fell as the vamp went out the door.