Angus patted him on the back. "Lad, ye're going to fit right in at MacKay S and I."
J.L. smiled. "Just let me hitch a ride with one of you."
Olivia sighed. "And what am I supposed to do?"
"I'll stay here with you," Barker said.
"Verra well." Robby stepped back and drew his sword. "Call the number on speakerphone, J.L."
All the Vamps drew their swords and waited for the beacon to teleport. The phone rang.
"Be careful," Olivia told Robby.
He smiled. "Doona fash. I'm finally getting my revenge."
"Kansas City Exports," a female voice answered the phone. "How may I help you?"
Robby and his eight companions teleported, landing in a small office with a shrieking woman. Angus quickly erased her memory, and they all dashed from the office building. They headed toward the old warehouse.
Angus silently divided them into three groups of three, then they slipped inside. Angus took his group to the right, Jack veered to the left with his group, and Robby led Connor and J.L. down the wide path in the center.
Dim lights shone overhead with dust motes dancing in the weak, golden glow. The air was musty and stale. Robby passed rows of stacked wooden crates and boxes, then came to an open area in the center of the warehouse.
On the far side of the open area, close to a double stack of crates, Yasmine sat tied up in a chair. Definitely a trap. She couldn't have sent the text to Olivia with her hands tied behind her back.
A clash of swords sounded on the right, then another clash on the left. Angus's and Jack's groups were under attack.
Robby slowly advanced into the open area with Connor and J.L.
Yasmine spotted them. "Help! They're going to kill me!"
"That's what you said last time!" J.L. yelled back.
"I'm sorry," she wailed. "The prisoners said they would kill me if I didn't find someone else for the vampires to feed on."
"So you chose me?" J.L. glared at her.
"Please!" Yasmine cried. "I'm so scared. I didn't know Otis would become a vampire!"
"Doona approach her, lad," Connor said.
"Don't worry," J.L. grumbled. "I'll never trust her again."
Yasmine's desperate look vanished and she glared coldly at them. "Where's Olivia? I promised him Olivia."
"He will never have her," Robby said.
Yasmine lifted her chin. "Fine by me. She'll never love Otis like I do. I can make him happy - "
"You stupid bitch!" Otis zoomed from behind the crates and backhanded Yasmine across the face. "You failed me again."
"Otis," she cried. "I'll do anything for you."
J.L. charged toward Otis, but he teleported away just as J.L. lifted his sword. "Damn!"
Yasmine laughed. "You'll never catch him. He's too smart for you."
Connor ran behind the crates to see if another vampire was hiding there.
J.L. gave Yasmine an incredulous look. "What is your problem? How can you help a monster like that?"
"Otis needs me. He said I was different from the others. He said I was special. He hates other women, but he loves me."
J.L. scoffed. "He loves Olivia."
"No!" Yasmine struggled against her ropes. "He said I would be with him forever. All I had to do was help him drive Olivia crazy."
"You're the crazy one!" J.L. yelled.
"Enough." Robby held up a hand. The clashing of swords in the distance had stopped. He pivoted, searching the warehouse, then focused on Yasmine. "Is Casimir here?"
She glowered at him. "Why should I tell you anything? Otis hates you. I told him Olivia was dating you, and that's when he had me put the apples in her apartment to punish her. I'm the one who really loves him. When he realizes that, he'll change me into a vampire. Not Olivia. And then we'll be together forever."
"He's just using you, Yasmine," J.L. muttered.
Connor emerged from behind the crates. "It's clear."
"He loves me!" Yasmine shouted. "Otis loves me."
"Enough, woman!" Connor shot a vampire mind zap at her, and she slumped unconscious in her chair.
"Wow," J.L. whispered. "I need to learn how to do that."
Connor shrugged. "'Twill no' make you verra popular with the ladies."
The other Vamps ran into the open area.
"We killed two," Angus reported.
"We killed one," Jack said.
"Bravo," a voice said from above. Casimir stepped off a rafter far overhead and floated down to land on top of the crates. He held his sword in his right hand. His long coat didn't hide the fact that his left arm was bent in an unnatural way. His left hand was gloved and curled up against his chest. "It only took nine of you to kill three of my men. How very brave of you."
Robby reached a gloved hand into his pocket to grab hold of the silver chain. He teleported to the top of the crates and whipped the chain out.
Casimir pointed his sword at him. "Do you think you'll get revenge? The joke is on you, MacKay. I found a new way to torture you, and the wound will cut deep. You see, Otis stole the Asian's cell phone last night while I was feeding on him."
J.L. felt his pockets. "He's right. It's gone."
Casimir chuckled. "I wonder if the lovely Olivia will answer a phone call from her friend? If she has, Otis has already teleported there."
Robby's blood turned cold.
"What will you do, Robby?" Casimir sneered. "You can make a feeble attempt to kill me, or you can rush back to your woman and discover you were too late to save her."
Olivia was pacing in Barker's office, waffling between anger and anxiety. She was worried about Robby and J.L., but also angry that they hadn't allowed her to go with them.
"Relax," Barker said from behind his desk. "They'll be fine."
"J.L. isn't used to being a vampire yet. He shouldn't be fighting so soon." Her cell phone rang, and she checked the caller. "Oh my gosh, it's J.L."
She flipped the phone open. "Hello?" She shot Barker a worried look. "J.L.? Are you there?"
"I'm right here, darling."
She gasped and spun around. Otis was in the office, holding J.L.'s phone.
"Shame on you, darling." Otis affected an injured look. "You were supposed to come to the warehouse. But lucky for me, I had another way to find you."
She dropped her phone and drew her weapon.
Barker jumped to his feet, aiming his pistol.
Otis tossed the phone on the floor and stepped toward her. "Now, at last, we can be together."
Barker shot at him, but Otis vanished. Olivia spun around, looking for him.
She heard Barker gasp. His face contorted in pain, then he slumped to the floor. Otis was standing in his place with a bloodied knife in his hand.
"They left you poorly protected, didn't they?" He wedged the knife under his belt.
Rage exploded in Olivia. She fired her gun. And missed.
Otis had moved out of the way at vampire speed, his body zooming across the room in a blur. He knocked the gun from her hand. She jumped back and drew her dagger.
Otis smiled. "You like knives, too? I knew we were perfect for each other."
She lunged forward, stabbing at his chest, but again he vanished. He was suddenly behind her, yanking her up against his chest and ripping the dagger from her hand.
She elbowed him in the ribs and stomped on his foot. When his hold loosened, she broke free and ran for her dagger on the floor.
He tackled her from behind, slamming her onto the carpet. Before she could catch her breath, he flipped her over. She swung punches at his face, but he grabbed her wrists and pinned her arms down.
"At last." He breathed heavily. "I'll make you mine forever." He reared his head back and his fangs sprang out.
She kneed him in the balls. He hissed, and lifted her up just to slam her back onto the floor.
Pain shot through her skull. Her vision cleared in time to see him drawing closer to her neck. She struggled, but he was too damned strong.
He flinched and pulled back. "What?" He regarded her with horror. "You've been marked. You let someone else bite you?"
"I'll never be yours. Never," she hissed.
"You bitch!" He pulled his knife from his belt.
A silver chain was suddenly looped around Otis's neck and he cried out in pain. The knife tumbled from his hand.