Page 13 of Silent Stalker
I took that to mean vampires could adopt more than one shape on their whim. “What separates us from the weres or werewolves?”
“Consider it a matter of choice; we use magic to become our alternative shapes. They are locked to their other form. We are not. I’ll explain it to you later. Get the Wagyu from the trunk and have a bottle before bringing the rest of the blood here. We need to get them fed before we bring them to the brood safehouse. We’re on a time limit.” Ben eyed the staked vampires and raised a brow.
Right. While it hadn’t taken me long to find the kids and rescue them, the sun would inevitably rise, and the last thing we needed was the three vampires going crazier from exposure to the sun. “What about my stakes?”
“Once we have the blood ready, I’ll help them drink, and then we can remove them. I do want to remind you that this would not have normally worked.”
“I remember,” I said, shivering at the memory of Ben and Emerick testing me with various stakes until they found one that wouldn’t kill me. Ben had left the fob for the Civic on the driver’s seat, and I hit the button to pop open the trunk. An entire case of blood waited inside, and I found the one marked as Wagyu, popped the cork, and chugged it down before grabbing three of the other bottles. The first I delivered to Luca, helped him get the cork off, and secured the bottle in his hand until he stopped shaking enough to handle it on his own. On second thought, I left all three bottles with him and grabbed a new batch to take to Ben. “How many bottles will they need?”
“More than we have, but this will calm them enough we can safely move them. How badly were the victims injured?”
“Not as bad as I thought. The girl got bit in the shoulder, and the boy got hit in the arm. They were able to struggle enough to keep them off their throats, I guess.” I glanced in the general direction of the ambulance on the other side of the overgrown park. “They weren’t as strong as I expected, although still strong enough.”
“They’ve been starving a long time, then. They probably haven’t fed since they’d been taken, and they were let loose. Fortunately, they’re too weak to be effective hunters. You were malnourished, but you were drinking frequently enough to avoid some of the more extreme symptoms.” Ben popped the cork off a bottle and situated the vampire so he could drink. “Hold this for him while I get blood into the other one.”
I obeyed, taking Ben’s place and helping the vampire drink the bottled blood. “I couldn’t help but notice you brought the Civic.”
“I tailed you in my car with Maddox while Emilio tailed me. Emilio has my car, and Maddox has Emilio’s car and is checking the area to make sure there aren’t any other incidents while we’re busy. The rest of the brood is preparing for three starved vampires at the safehouse.”
“Where is the safehouse?”
“About twenty minutes from here. After I took the Civic, that’s where I went to wait. We figured you’d stay mostly out of trouble on your first night out considering the ultimatum you received.”
I shot Emerick a glare. “The nose does not count as even a scratch, you.” The large cat huffed and turned his head, both of his ears turned back. I assumed we’d have an argument over it later, and to prove I didn’t care if he got fussy, I displayed my middle finger. “Considering the situation, my performance was flawless, and I expect to be showered with praise.”
“Don’t worry about him, Pepper. While he is often unreasonable, he is not going to be a jackass over this situation. You ultimately had five victims to worry about, and you’re used to one-on-one. We will be having lessons on how to handle multiple victims.”
“We are? But why?” I nodded at the two I’d staked. “I got them both at the same time. It was the third one that was a problem.”
“Sorry,” Luca mumbled.
“No need to be sorry, Luca,” Ben replied, and he laughed. “You taught her an important lesson, and I’m sure she’s just going to love when she has her nose set after this. Honestly, I’m impressed you’re already coherent. You haven’t had enough blood yet.”
Luca gestured to my stake.
“Ah, yes. That’s a very potent one.” Something about Ben’s tone warned me I would need to ask some questions regarding the regular abilities of stakes—and what made mine different.
I expected to receive a shrug in response, but it would have to do. Once the vampire I helped finished his first bottle, I uncorked a second. “Is he safe to release yet, Ben?”
“Probably. It’s better if he can drink on his own.”
I eased the stake out of his shoulder, tensed, and waited for the vampire to react.
He focused on the bottle of blood, and I helped to make sure he had a good hold on it before backing away and letting him drink on his own.
“The Civic isn’t going to have enough room for everybody, will it?”
“It will. Cats don’t have to wear seatbelts, and they can sit in the back. That’ll keep Emerick from getting fussy.”
Right. Cats didn’t have to wear seatbelts. Of course. I should have known. “We’ll just take them to the safehouse? What happens then?”
“We contact their brood masters, and we get instructions after making sure they won’t lose control again. We’ll also make sure the kids that were attacked are compensated and work with law enforcement. It should work out; preternaturals who are victimized do have protections under the law, and we can verify Luca had been kidnapped. Any damage a kidnapped vampire does becomes the crime of the kidnapper in this case. Luca, were these two kidnapped as well?”
“Yes,” the vampire replied. “I don’t know who they are, though. I don’t think they’re from the area.”
“That will complicate things,” Ben admitted. “Are you able to walk?”
“I think so.”
“All right. Let’s get this show on the road. The last thing we need is some helpful bystander making more of a mess of things.”
