Out of the Night (Harlequin Nocturne) (21 page)

“Tonight,” he said in answer to Kaja’s question.

Kaja laced her fingers together and bent them backward to crack her knuckles. She was ready to kick some Soulless vampire ass.

In contrast, Sophia was sitting on a dark brown leather couch reading one of her science journals. She might not work in a hospital or treat humans anymore, but she liked to keep up with medical science. As he looked closer, he noticed a tight look on her face.

“What’s wrong, Sophia?” Campbell asked.

She glanced up at him, but part of her was still far away for a few seconds until she fully reengaged with the world around her. “Maybe nothing.”

“That doesn’t sound too convincing.”

“It’s just a story about a couple of scientists who’ve gone missing.”

“Please tell me they’re not from here,” Colin said.

“No. One, a geneticist, is from Duke University. The other works for the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta.” Sophia looked up with an expression of concern. “She’s a phlebotomist.”

“A fla-what?” Len asked.

“Phlebotomist. A doctor of the blood.”

“Could be a coincidence,” Campbell said. “Can’t imagine that scientists’ blood tastes any better than anyone else’s.”

“I know. It’s just...something feels off,” Sophia said.

Campbell didn’t much like it either, but the truth was those two scientists could have slipped up and been killed by vampires. They also could have been taken by abductors of their own kind for a purpose that had nothing to do with vampires. Heck, they could have just flown the coop.

Whatever had happened, it wasn’t his responsibility. He and his team had enough to worry about in their own backyard. As he finalized the details of the raid on the club, he tried to focus on the fact that he was just doing his job. But the reality was that this was personal. He needed to put an end to these kidnappings so Olivia would be safe, so he could stop worrying about her.

At least stop worrying about this particular threat. The damage he’d caused in her life was another worry altogether. When he took care of Salmeri’s operation, he was going to do what he could to ensure her customers came back or she at least got some new ones.

His cell rang. After glancing at the caller ID, he answered. “Hey, Chloe.”

“They’ve got Olivia and Mindy,” she said, frantic and out of breath.

White-hot fear shot through him as he sat up straighter and nearly crushed the phone in his grip. “What?”

“Witnesses in the neighborhood said the kidnappers were in the process of taking Mindy when Olivia showed up at her place. She managed to shoot one of them, but they took her.”

Campbell’s world spun off its axis. “The guy she shot, is he alive?”

“Yeah. At least he was when they hauled him away in the ambulance.”

“Travis, find out where they took a gunshot victim today. Get me his name and everything about him, now,” Campbell said, punctuating his words with jabbing gestures.

“What’s going on?” Colin asked.

“Kidnappers took Olivia and Mindy.” He couldn’t believe he was saying those words.

“Campbell, what can I do?” Chloe asked.

“Stay with your brother until we take care of this.” He hung up and stared at the door he couldn’t yet exit. He’d burned for her once, but that had been only moments and had nearly done him in. As much as it killed him, he had no choice but to wait.

“The NYPD?” Sophia asked.

“They won’t be able to go wherever the humans are stashed,” Len said.

Campbell roared and cursed the sun.

“We’ll get them,” Colin said. “We stick to the plan, and we’ll save them all.”

Somewhere beneath the fear and rage, Campbell knew Colin was right. It didn’t make the wait any less agonizing.

“Gunshot victim is a Troy Giani. Has a rap sheet of petty stuff,” Travis said. “Looks as if he’s picking up his game.”

“And got a slug for his trouble,” Len said.

“Yeah, right in the chest,” Travis said as he pointed to the report on his computer screen.

That Olivia had not gone without one hell of a fight made him proud of her but also afraid she’d be punished more than the other abductees, and before he could get to her. He paced the library. He had to save her. He had to.

* * *

When Olivia woke, the first thing she noticed was how parched her throat felt. Next came the throbbing pain in her wrists. She blinked her eyes several times to try to push away the fogginess in her brain. Gradually, memories slipped into place from wherever they’d been floating. Going to Mindy’s. The spilled groceries. The movers who weren’t movers at all. Shooting the guy who had Mindy. Then something being pressed over her mouth.

That last thought made her jerk more awake. Her movement sent pain shooting down her arms.

“Olivia?”

She turned her head and saw Mindy in the dim light. She was shackled to a stone wall, her arms stretched out above her and her ankles spread. That was when Olivia realized why her wrists hurt. She was shackled the same as Mindy, the same as the rest of the people beyond Mindy.

Oh, God, they were in a blood den. Cold, ripe fear shot through her. She saw it reflected in Mindy’s eyes. Tears streaked down her friend’s face.

“How long have we been here?” Olivia asked.

“I don’t know. I just woke up a few minutes ago.” Mindy looked the other way, toward the other captives. “We’re going to die here.”

“No, we’re not. We will figure out a way. Campbell will find us.”

“Campbell? He’s the reason we’re here in the first place.”

Olivia flinched at the ferocity of Mindy’s words. She told herself that Mindy was scared, and if anger kept her going, that was okay. Olivia did her best not to give in to panic and fear herself. She pulled as hard as she could at the restraints, but they didn’t budge.

The door at the top of the stairs opened, and loud music filtered through. Bile rose in Olivia’s throat as three well-dressed vampires descended, a woman and two men.

“You have impeccable timing tonight,” said the guy in the front to the others. “We just acquired two new sources today. One is already spoken for, but the other is the blood type you require. She’s young and healthy, so you can both tap her together.”

The vampire couple looked at each other and smiled. Olivia got the feeling that simultaneous feeding was somehow erotic to them, that it would be a sexual act as well as the gaining of sustenance.

The guy in the front met Olivia’s eyes, and she hated him on sight. She would have hated him if he’d been human. He had that slick “I can get away with anything” look about him.

“This one proved a challenge,” he said as he gestured to Olivia. “But I have a distinct feeling she’ll pay for it later tonight.” He gave her a knowing smile that sent cold rushing through her veins. Then he led the couple to Mindy, who struggled in vain against the restraints holding her.

“You’re wasting your energy,” the guy said. “You might as well stop struggling and enjoy it.”

Mindy spat in his face. He slapped her with such a ferocity that Olivia gasped and worried that he’d killed her. But then Mindy moved.

“Leave her alone,” Olivia said.

The guy moved slowly toward Olivia. “Can’t stand to watch what you caused?”

Olivia forced herself not to flinch from him. His kind thrived on seeing fear in others. “You can keep me. Just let her go.”

“No,” Mindy said.

“She’s right. We’re not letting either of you go,” he said. “You might as well set that pretty little head to accepting your new existence because it’s all you’ll ever see for the rest of your miserable little life.” Suddenly, he grabbed her breast and ran his other hand down her stomach. His vile touch turned her stomach. “Too bad you’re spoken for or I’d enjoy banging you against this wall while your friend watched helplessly.” He smiled, showing the tips of his fangs. “Instead you will be the one to watch as your friend lives her worst nightmare.”

He stepped away suddenly and motioned for the couple to come forward. In a flash, they were at Mindy’s sides. When they both sank their fangs into Mindy’s neck, she screamed the most horrible scream Olivia had ever heard. Olivia struggled as fat tears streamed out of her eyes. Her pleas for them to stop fell on deaf ears.

The man who evidently ran this den headed up the stairs, looking very pleased with himself.

“You’re going to die for this, you monster!” she yelled at him.

He smiled at her. “That I highly doubt.”

She’d never hated anyone so much in her life. She closed her eyes and prayed that Campbell found them soon, before the couple drained Mindy dry. Before the sound of Mindy’s screams drove Olivia mad with grief and guilt.

* * *

Sometime during the feeding, Mindy passed out. Olivia’s tears flowed a long time after the vampires left. She wanted nothing more than to be able to pull Mindy into her arms, but she was as helpless as anyone else hanging from this cold stone wall.

“I’m sorry about your friend.”

Olivia looked beyond Mindy to a young woman and realized it was Jennifer Watson, who’d been abducted behind her apartment building. “Me, too. How are you doing?”

“Still here,” she said with a shaky smile that seemed to cost her all her energy. “Not sure how much longer I can take this, though. I wonder if I’ll die or go crazy first.”

Though her own hope had suffered a lot in the aftermath of Mindy’s ordeal, Olivia found she wanted to give this young woman a reason to believe they’d be rescued. “I have faith someone will find us.”

“Someone named Campbell?” Jennifer shook her head. “There’s no way anyone can find us down here. There are too many vampires.”

Olivia looked toward the door and wished she had just one bit of knowledge—what time it was, where they were, if Campbell even knew she’d been taken. Deciding to focus on something she could determine, she looked past Jennifer. She recognized the teenage boy who’d been snatched up on his way to school. There were four others, but she didn’t recognize them. The reporter, Leila Russell, wasn’t among them.

“Has there been anyone else kept down here?”

Jennifer leaned her head back against the wall and closed her eyes. Were it not for the shackles holding her up, Olivia had no doubt Jennifer would crumple to the floor.

“A couple,” Jennifer said. “One...one boy died. Another woman was taken somewhere else.”

“Leila Russell?”

“Yeah.” Jennifer shook her head slowly. “I’m not sure if I saw this or dreamed it, but I’d swear a man in a black cloak took her. I couldn’t see his face, but...there was something terrifying about him. It was more than him just being a vampire.”

Olivia swallowed past the dryness in her throat and prayed again that Campbell and the rest of V Force found them soon.

Jennifer lapsed into silence and Olivia thought maybe she’d fallen asleep or passed out. Endless minutes passed with the occasional moan from someone else in the room. The minutes stretched until Olivia wondered if they’d become hours.

“Liv?” Mindy said, sounding weak.

“I’m right here. I’m so sorry, Min. I never meant for any of this to happen. I’m sorry I wasn’t able to prevent them from taking you.”

“It’s not your fault.”

“It is.” Fresh tears ran down her cheeks.

Mindy was quiet for several moments before she spoke again. “It’s not your fault. The world just isn’t a good place anymore.”

Olivia didn’t like the tone of Mindy’s voice, as if she was giving up. “Min, listen to me. We will get out of this. I swear to you, I will figure out a way.” She thought she saw a weak smile on Mindy’s lips, one of those that said she didn’t believe a word she was hearing but appreciated the effort.

The door at the top of the stairs opened and the slick vampire descended, thankfully alone this time. He didn’t even spare them a glance as he walked the length of the room and opened a door at the end. After a long moment passed, three people in cloaks walked in. Hoods obscured their faces as they seemed to glide into the room, ever closer to Olivia. When she could see them better, she noticed two of them wore red while one was cloaked in deep black. The story Jennifer had told about Leila caused Olivia’s heart to accelerate. If they took her out of here, she feared she’d never be found and be doomed to a life of horror.

“This is the one I told you about,” the slick guy said. “She’s not been tapped, and she’s AB negative just like you requested.”

Olivia pressed her back against the wall as if she could dissolve into it. The pain she’d seen on Mindy’s face as she’d been fanged made Olivia’s neck burn in dread.

The person in the black cloak nodded once, and the ones in red stepped forward and unshackled her. Immediately, she fought them, but it did no good. Their grips were ironclad.

“No,” Mindy said, her voice still weak but determined. “Let her go.”

They ignored Mindy’s pleas as much as Olivia’s struggles as they dragged Olivia toward the door at the end of the room.

“Liv!” Mindy called out, a bit more forcefully.

“Stay strong,” Olivia said right before she was dragged into a dark corridor and the door shut behind her.

She couldn’t help the thought that the door had just shut forever on the life that she’d known.

* * *

When night finally fell, everyone was already geared up without any direction from Campbell. They knew their jobs and did them well. They all had their own reasons for wanting to put lowlife vampires like Salmeri away.

An hour before Salmeri was supposed to be at the club, Campbell texted Matt with Team 2 that they were heading out and his team should do the same. Everyone had their assigned positions and would be in them within minutes.

Campbell had to tell himself over and over to stay in control, stick with the plan. It was the best way to ensure Olivia, Mindy and the others stayed safe. The best way to make sure they found them and made certain this time Salmeri paid for his crimes. That he didn’t hurt anyone else.

They fell into the premission silence as they walked the now familiar series of hallways to the garage. They climbed into their new truck and Colin drove them out on their first foray since the bombing. Campbell could tell by the focused look on everyone’s faces that they were eager not only to save the human abductees but also to dish out some retribution for Billy’s death.