Paul had been hunting Vampires for decades, and only once or twice had he ever registered even the slightest bit of fear. But tonight was different. He wasn’t sure if it was bad memories from the last time he was here or if Holland was somehow messing with his mind, but as he leaped down silently from the two-story house, his heart beat slightly out of control. The idea that he could be trapped in there again, that they could begin to harvest his tissue, or worse, that they had figured out whatever it was they were looking for through the experiments they were doing on him, wasn’t calming his nerves, and as he thought about the rest of his teammates, he prayed that no one else would end up in the position he had been in.
Aaron had let him know a good hour ago they’d be going in without Cassidy’s help, which was a real letdown because she’d been such a huge assistance to him personally the last time they were in this position. She had also been able to direct Paul’s team to his location and help them rescue him. When he’d envisioned this attack, it had been with her in his back pocket, but without her, things would be much more difficult—doable, but difficult.
“All right,” he said as he joined Becky and Steph near the cast iron gate. “We are ready to move in. Remember, IAC silent unless you have to say something, and if you don’t remember the code word we discussed before we even got in the SUVs, then don’t say anything at all.” He knew Holland was capable of messing with their internal communication devices, and the last thing he wanted to do was screw up and get someone hurt because they thought they were talking to a team member when it was really the enemy. Aaron had also warned him that she was capable of making people see their worst fears—yet another reason to turn around and run if he had been the running sort.
But Paul Larkin wasn’t a runner, and he couldn’t have his team seeing how terrified he was. The first wave, which included him, six of the Guardians from Roatan, Becky, and Patsy, all began to approach the gate, dressed completely in black, not that it would matter with the night vision the Vampires had. He just hoped they weren’t drastically outnumbered.
He approached the iron gate himself, looking up to see several of the letters had fallen off, and the name was no longer legible, not that there was any doubt exactly where they were. Paul assumed he and some of the others would have to manhandle the rusted iron to get it open, but he gave it a tug, and it swung open, creaking ominously as it seemed to invite them inside.
Paul looked over his shoulder at his teammates, exchanging a nervous glance with Becky. He had his Glock in his hand as he took a few steps through the opening and into Holland’s world.
His binoculars hadn’t failed him. There certainly were giant thorns on the shrubs that grew here. It reminded him of a cartoon he’d seen a long time ago, Sleeping Beauty or something like that, where a prince has to crawl through all sorts of knife-like bushes to get to the sleeping princess. Paul wasn’t seeking a beautiful dreamer right now, though, and he signaled for his team to be cautious as they stepped through. For all he knew, they couldn’t be killed by these razor sharp plants, but he didn’t want to test out exactly what Hines had discovered before they even reached the walls of Larundel.
Paul ducked under one thorn while straddling another at his feet and carefully snaked his body through. He had broad shoulders so it was difficult to twist by unscathed, but he managed to get through the first row of hedges by acting as if he was a contortionist. He’d had to holster his weapon, though, and he imagined this would be a great place for an ambush.
A whimper escaped Patsy’s lips as she got snagged by one of the thorns, but she pushed her way through, signaling to him that she was okay. He could see she was bleeding and considered moving to heal her, but he knew that would drain him slightly, and he thought he should wait to see if his powers were needed elsewhere. His ability to heal others was quite limited, and he was thankful that Aaron had sent him two other Healers from Roatan, but neither of them was nearby, and Patsy looked as if she was okay to move on.
Checking on the other Guardian was all the distraction it took for him not to see the blue mist monsters headed through the bushes in front of them until they were right on top of his team. There were four of the creatures. They hung like blue lights between the two rows of thorny bushes for a split second before they divided, each headed for a different LIGHTS member.
Paul had never fought one himself, but he’d seen the footage from the battles the others had had with them and knew what to do. He didn’t think they’d be too hard to take down since all one had to do was reach for the part of them that should be a neck. However, the bushes had some of his team members in compromising positions, and as he reached up to decapitate the misty creature floating near his head, he heard Becky let out a scream.
Dispatching his assailant as quickly as possible, he sprinted the few steps to help her. She was caught between two thorns, crouched down as she had been about to climb her way through, and he saw her arm was bleeding, but he didn’t think it was from the shrubbery. The fangs on the mist monster were exposed, and he assumed the creature had taken a bite out of his second in command.
It was facing the other direction, but Paul grabbed ahold of it anyway, assuming his hands were in the right position, and he started to pull. It fought back, something the first one had not done, and Paul found his boots leaving the ground as it started to lift higher into the air.
Unwilling to use his weapon at this point because he didn’t want to sound the alarm, he continued to fight with it, trying his best to decapitate the monster as it began to buck on the breeze like a wave at high tide. He reached around into his belt and pulled out the silver tipped knife Aaron had suggested he carry and began to stab into the area where he thought the heart should be. It felt like he was stabbing nothing, and his hand that was still wrapped around the neck was wet but otherwise felt empty. However, with his five stabbing motions, the mist monster let out a small gasp like steam escaping a teapot, and Paul’s feet came back to the ground.
“Are you all right?” he whispered to Becky as soon as he regained his balance.
“I’m fine,” she said, making her way out of the bush. “It’s just a scratch.”
Her “just a scratch” was bleeding pretty badly, and he didn’t think it was a good idea to let her continue that way. Becky was a tough girl; she had a defiant look in her brown eyes, and her jaw was set, but Paul was still the boss, and even though he thought he might regret it later, he reached out and laid his hand on her arm. He felt energy drain from his body and transfer to her, and a few seconds later, when she pulled away from him, he could see that the wound on her arm was healed.
“Thanks.” Becky gave him a look that said she wasn’t really appreciative because he’d drained himself a little, and Paul held back a snicker. The other two mist monsters had been dispatched now, and the team moved on, picking their way through the next row of shrubbery while the second wave of Guardians and Hunters moved in behind them. It was going to be a long night.
