Eliza’s team was parked outside of the bar Cassidy had identified, just down the street far enough that the black SUV wouldn’t draw too much attention from anyone, hopefully not the Vampire they were after, at any rate. While it would’ve been nice to have Cassidy’s ability to jump into Honey’s head and make sure she was still close by, Eliza had to take her word for it, at least until she asked the Hybrid to help out again, if she dared to do so. She couldn’t blame the teen for hating her guts, but she did seem willing to help them out, despite the history between Eliza and Cassidy’s sister, which was likely due to the fact that there wasn’t much going on in Kansas City these days, not because Eliza had proven herself to be worthy of help.
“You’re sure this is the place?” Sergio asked from the driver’s seat.
“I’m sure it was the place,” Eliza replied. “I have no way of knowing if she’s still in there because Gimu isn’t communicating with me right this second, but I can ask him, if you want.” Going with the whole Gimu thing seemed to be the best way to handle the situation for now, even though Eliza would’ve been keen to take all of the credit, the way Cassidy suggested, if that would’ve been an option. Since it wasn’t, she’d just have to do her best to make sure she was the one who got the kill. Her success with other endeavors recently, particularly when she’d taken out the six Vampires Honey had led her to, had earned her enough brownie points with Mila that Eliza was taking lead on every hunt, including this one, so she should be the one to take Honey down when the time came, unless there was funny business involved. Eliza wasn’t a fan of funny business.
“Why don’t I just do a walk by?” Mila had the front passenger door open before anyone could even respond. “I’ll be back.”
The stirring inside of Eliza’s stomach that indicated there were Vampires nearby told her that there was at least one mark in the vicinity. Whether it was Honey or not remained to be seen. Assuming she was still in the bar, and Mila didn’t tip her off, they should find out soon enough.
Even walking at a typical human pace, it only took Mila a couple of minutes to come back. She pulled a hand out of the long black coat she’d been hunkered down in to blend in with the humans who were rushing by fighting the cold, and jumped back in. “Yeah, she’s in there. In the back. Looks like she’s about made her choice, too. So we should probably get into position.”
Eliza’s stomach started dancing again, but this time it was with excitement, not because of the Vampires being close by. She was about to have the opportunity to kick some of their asses.
“Sergio, Eliza, take up that alley across the way,” Mila gestured with her head. “Dom and I will go around back and keep an eye on the exit while Andor and Brit can set up down the street a ways,” she pointed in the direction ahead of them, “in case she slips by.”
“Sounds good,” Eliza and the others agreed. She felt in her pocket to make sure she still had her knife, which she did, and double checked her Glock.
“Remember, Hannah said these Vampires seem to be the supercharged ones, like the others we’ve encountered recently, so be prepared to use knives. Guardians, keep an eye on your partners.” That was to Eliza and Andor who were the only other Guardians besides Mila herself. “Hunters, be careful. Don’t be afraid to let the Guardians take the lead this time. Honey’s not going down easily, and if there are others around here whom she has created, we can bet they will be just as fierce.”
Once again, everyone nodded in understanding, and Eliza followed Andor out the door away from the street, a smile on her face. She went around the other side and fell in behind Sergio, whose legs were almost as long as her body was tall, and followed him across the street and up the block so that they could take position in the alley Mila had mentioned. They should have a great view of the front door of the club Honey was still inside. Eliza just prayed she wasn’t planning on sneaking out the back.
“You in position?” Cassidy asked in Eliza’s head, which surprised her at first because she assumed she’d heard all she was going to from the teen for one night.
“Yeah. Mila said Honey’s still in the bar. That right?”
“She is. But she’s not going to be for long. Give her a few minutes once she comes out or she’ll know you’re there and run. She’s already suspicious.”
“You read that in her mind?”
“No. I didn’t have to. She keeps glancing around the bar, like she’s afraid someone’s going to sneak up on her. She’s not afraid of you, either, by the way. She just has a suspicion you’ll be on to her soon, if you’re not already.”
“Got it.” Eliza could see what a benefit it was to have someone like Cassidy on the team, someone who could read the enemy’s mind and then relay what she’d found to others. It was too bad she couldn’t pass along all of that information to the rest of her team, but she understood why it was Cassidy didn’t want her sister to know that she was helping out on this mission, or any others out of her local area, without having permission from her boss.
It seemed like an eternity passed as Eliza and Sergio made themselves as small as possible in the shadows between two buildings. Hardly a car passed by, but when one did, Eliza strained to see around it, afraid she’d miss Honey exiting. There was more foot traffic, people in and out of buildings. The bar should be closing any minute now, so Eliza knew their wait was almost over. “When she comes out, let’s give her some space, let her get away from here a little bit so we can see where her friends are hiding,” Eliza said through her IAC to Sergio, though she knew Cassidy could also hear.
