God, did she want to punch this guy in the face. What an arrogant, bossy, self-centered prick. More than once she almost walked away. The only thing stopping her was the promise to her father. She studied the man in front of her. Sure, he was striking with his short dark hair and well-groomed, three-day shadow that covered a strong jaw. Eyes the color of melted chocolate bore straight to her soul. The black tattoo on the left side of his neck peeked out from under the collar of his leather jacket. She wondered what the rest of it looked like.
Stop looking at him!
“Now who’s checking who out?” he chuckled.
Damn it. Caught in the act. “I’ve no idea what you mean. I’m simply sizing you up in case I have to kick your ass.”
This time he outright laughed then turned serious. “Your father is Stan Reed?” He raised a questioning brow.
“Was. The Red Death took him.” She tried not to choke up when speaking of his death. Show no weakness.
“Damn. Captain Reed was a fine man. Well respected by myself and several men in this convoy. I’m sorry for your loss.” He folded the paper and handed it back to her. “You will be under my protection.” He jerked his head toward the black SUV. “It will be tight, but we can squeeze you in here if you don’t mind being uncomfortable.”
Comfort was history. “Am I going to have to offer blood and sex?” She was well aware of his rules and despised them.
“Sex is your choice, but I must insist you help nourish my men.” He seemed to contemplate for a moment. “Because you are Captain Reed’s daughter, I will make a concession and ask you to only feed one of my men.”
“One? Do I get to pick?”
“No. He will be of my choosing, but you will have the same protection as all the other women.”
“Which is?”
“You will be treated with respect. No means no, and any male who breaks this rule will be dealt with swiftly.”
“What does swiftly mean, exactly?” She knew there was a hidden meaning behind everything. Her father had taught her that.
“Death. I will not allow my men or any others who come along to harm a woman. On this I will not bend.”
She didn’t doubt for one second the man in front of her would keep his word. Kayla wasn’t naïve and knew that being a female in this new world would be full of danger. People would be at their worst. “Fine. I accept.” What else was she supposed to do? Her father trusted this man and therefore Kayla was forced to do the same.
He held open the back door for her.
“I’ll move,” replied a young blonde who had scurried all the way to the back before Kayla blinked.
“Thanks.” She climbed in, got settled, then Ryder shut the door. Climbing into the driver seat, he made an imposing figure in front of her.
I made it Dad, as promised. Now she only had to continue to survive. The thought of someone drinking her blood left her edgy. How did this happen? Did they really have fangs? She hadn’t noticed any on Ryder. His flash of pearly whites had been without sharp points. Her curiosity got the better of her, and she turned to the mousy girl next to her.
“You ever feed one of these creatures?”
The girl glanced up from her lap. “Yes.”
“Tell me about it.” She lowered her voice. “How does it work? Does it hurt?” She lowered her voice.
“Their fangs appear and they bite you in the neck and no. It… Well…” Her face brightened to pink. “No.”
Kayla leaned closer. “It what?”
The girl chewed her lip and started to speak when Ryder interrupted.
“What she is trying to tell you is our bite brings pleasure. Not pain.” He stared at her in the rearview mirror. “You might actually find yourself begging the male to fuck you.” Was he grinning? Prick.
“You’re such a bastard.” Then why did her body heat at the thought of Ryder’s lips on her skin? Panic increased her pulse rate until it was thumping at her neck. She didn’t want to be begging anyone for anything and especially not sex.
“Do you know the cause of the Red Death?” she asked as she stared out the tinted window.
The blond male in the front passenger seat looked back at her. “Well, Lucifer would be the one to blame since he opened the damn gate.”
“Gate?”
“Gate of the Gods. He managed to get it unlocked and opened to a place in Hell where they kept their worst offenders.”
She blinked. “I could swear we were already in Hell.” It certainly felt like it. Everything she knew and loved was gone. The vision of Mary and putting a bullet between the girl's eyes played over and over in her mind like a damn horror flick. She kept telling herself she had done the right thing, but taking a human life was wrong no matter how you looked at it. She would relive that nightmare until her dying breath.
“You could say that since it spilled out here,” Ryder replied. “But it was Morbus, a demon, that started the plague.”
“Morbus means disease in Latin,” she replied.
“Pretty and educated.” Ryder grinned back at her in the mirror.
She rolled her eyes and ignored his comment. “I never believed in Heaven and Hell. Now, I’m not sure what to believe,” she muttered then focused on the reflection in the rearview mirror. His eyes held a hardness, as if he had actually seen the end of the world firsthand. She supposed being a Navy Seal, he had experiences she could never imagine. “What happened to you?”
His brows shot up. “You mean, how did I and the others become vampires?”
Yeah, and why was she forced to trust any of them? She only nodded. Her body so numb she thought she would never feel again.
“Again, Lucifer. Seems there was an Inca king whose daughter became ill, and the king made a bargain to save her life. My understanding is she was put to sleep only to be recently awakened by a fallen angel. When she woke, she was a vampire and began feeding. It’s how myself and a few others were created.”
There was that panic again. “You and a few others? I was under the impression there were more than just a few of you.”
“There are. Our structure is rather complicated. Jaden over here is one of mine.”
Jaden leaned in and flashed a smile, revealing a bright pair of pointy fangs. Waggling his brows. “Pleased to make your acquaintance.”
“So, you turned Jaden into a vampire?” She touched her neck. “You plan to turn us all?” Was this a plot to push humanity out of the way? It made sense. Start a plague that killed humans but not vampires. Any mortals who survived would be consumed as food or turned themselves. Suddenly, she wondered if she would be better off on her own.
“I only turn those who request it, and then they must meet certain criteria,” he shot back. “Don’t look so disgusted.”
“What criteria, exactly?”
“Well, they must be young, fit, and male.”
“Why not female?” Not that she wanted to be changed.
“We have no idea if we can procreate. I’m not willing to risk any women to the change only to find out they become barren.”
Well, that made sense. She looked back at Jaden, who was still smiling at her. “Why would you want to become one of them?” Trying to wrap her head around this caused a massive headache.
Before he could reply, an explosion blew up chunks of highway in front of them. Ryder slammed on the brakes and with a little defensive driving, managed to avoid the debris in front of them.
Ryder had his HK45 in hand before the vehicle came to a complete stop. From the corner of his eye, he saw Jaden was already on alert with a weapon in one hand and a grenade in the other.
“We’re sitting ducks here,” Ryder stated as his years of training kicked into full gear.
“What do you suppose they want?”
“I’d lay money on our supplies. If they know we have women, they’ll be a bonus.”
A Jeep appeared out of a cloud of dust and screeched to a halt in front of them. Four armed men jumped out. Three with assault rifles and the fourth a rocket launcher. Must be what they used to blow the road apart.
“Human,” Jaden snarled.
“Yes. Clueless to what we are. This should be an easy takedown, just follow my lead.” Ryder studied the men as they rushed closer. Their leader wore dark jeans with holes in the knees, and a red bandana covered his head. Though he held a swagger of confidence, Ryder was an expert at body language. The man was nervous. Likely this was his first time committing a crime of any kind. Criminal activity would soon become the norm for any who survived. Unfortunately for the bandit, Ryder’s Seal training and skills were heightened by his transformation. Being vampire did hold advantages.
Guns were now pointed directly at them, and shouts for them to surrender rang through the air. Ryder held up his hands, pistol in plain view when his door was jerked open. A mistake that showed the bandits were definitely amateurs. Lucky for them, Ryder had women in the vehicle, or there would have been several bullets finding soft flesh from Jaden when that door was opened.
“Out! No quick movements. Those hands lower and I’ll blow your head off.”
Ryder moved at a snail's pace until he was out of the vehicle.
“Toss the gun.” The bandit jerked his head and Ryder threw the weapon, taking care to not put too much force behind it. Next thing he knew, the butt of a gun met his jaw and he fell to the ground, a boot pressed into the back of his neck.
He was going to relish killing this fucker.
Jaden followed the same fate, sprawled out on the ground.
The bandit who held Ryder shouted, “Anyone tries any funny stuff and my friend and I will blow their heads off.”
Ryder opened his mind, reaching for the link to the men he had turned. Another useful tool in his new arsenal bag. He was able to communicate telepathically with those he sired.
Jaden?
Yeah? Please tell me we are going to kill these bastards.
Patience. We need to take out the one with the launcher first, or we put the others in harm's way.
I’m close and got him in my scope. I’ll gladly put a bullet between his eyes, Gordy replied. Ryder should have known the vampire would already be assessing the situation since the female he had grown attached to was now in danger. Gordy was also one of their best snipers.
Perfect. Jaden and I will take down the ones close to us. Gordy, you get that launcher and we’ll hope number four over there doesn’t hit one of us before we rip his throat out. They would heal, but it would slow things down. On my command.
“You have women,” the bandit said. “Boys, we’ll be having us some fun tonight.”
Take these fuckers out, Ryder commanded.
With the speed of a striking cobra, Ryder grabbed the ankle of the prick with his boot on the back of his neck, and in a rush of power twisted until bones snapped. As the guy screamed in pain, Ryder pulled him to the ground. With fangs poised, Ryder ripped the guy's throat out, silencing him forever. When he looked up, asshole number four was aiming his assault rifle at Ryder’s head. He calculated how many shots the guy could get off before Ryder got to him. However, before he was able to launch himself, a shot rang out from behind him and asshole number four dropped to the ground. Ryder looked back and, to his utter delight, found Kayla lowering her weapon.
He got to his feet, wiping blood from his mouth. “Impressive. Your father taught you to shoot.”
All threats now taken out, she tucked her gun back into her waistband. “I’m not going down without a fight.”
This female with her silver eyes and pink-streaked hair intrigued the hell out of him, and in that instant, he decided her fate.
Kayla climbed back into the SUV and tried to keep her shit together. Oh the bandits didn’t scare her. It was the voices again, but this time she realized where they came from. Ryder and Jaden had been in her head. Then another by the name of Gordy had popped in. Ever since the illness, she heard voices. At first, she had thought she was going crazy. Another side effect from the Red Death. The voices had at times been in a language she didn’t understand. However, when demons had entered her home, she realized it was their voices she heard. It tried to speak to her, but she hadn’t understood.
She stared out the window as they started to roll down the road again and wondered what the hell was wrong with her. What had the illness done to her? Kayla needed to understand exactly what was going on, how the plague worked, but she wasn’t sure who to trust. Sharing her little secret might not be a wise decision. As her father taught her, always know your enemy. Right now she had to assume everyone meant her harm and therefore was her enemy. Especially the man behind the wheel. The very one her father instructed her to seek refuge with. There was something about him that was dangerous, and it was more than the fact he had just ripped a man's neck open so savagely. For a brief moment, something passed through his eyes. Something dark and soulless. So, why did she find him fascinating?
He was a trained killer, but then her father had been as well. A Navy Seal had to be strong, resourceful and while on a mission, a cold-blooded killer.
“Thanks for saving me from a couple of bullets.” Ryder stared at her in the rearview mirror again.
She lifted a shoulder as if it were nothing. “You’re my meal ticket.”
He appeared unfazed by her comment. “I’d like you to help train the other women.”
She met his gaze in the mirror. “Train them to do what?”
“Handle weapons. Everyone needs to be able to fight as we don’t know what’s going to be thrown at us.”
Kayla’s vivid imagination had no trouble. “Have you encountered any demons?”
“A few. You?”
“Yes. They don’t seem to want to stay dead.”
“Can be difficult, but they die,” Jaden replied.
“How? I stabbed one in the heart then shot it between the eyes. Damn thing still wouldn’t croak.”
“Their hearts are not always in the same place as ours. Depends on the species or so I’ve been told. Taking their head off seems to be a sure promise of death,” Ryder stated.
“Huh. How did you learn so much about them?” She needed to learn all she could because there may come a time when she would have to venture out on her own. Despite her promise to her father.
“Some by trial and error, some from the angels.”
She snorted. “Angels. So much for them helping us.” There had been hope when the plague first started in Peru that the angels would be their saviors. Instead, the heavenly beings had only cared about the nephilim. Women who were fathered by angels and bore a special marking. The rest of humanity had been left to fend for themselves.
“They didn’t want to walk away from us, it was commanded. Tegan offers as much help as he can.”
“Tegan?”
“One of their elite archangels. Something about his son supposedly being the savior for those who survive this mess.”
Kayla rubbed her temples. Her headache growing worse, she only hoped it didn’t take her out of commission like it had in the past. “So where is this son now?”
Ryder laughed. “Still in his mother's womb. We have a while to wait before he will be old enough to be of any help to us.”
“Great,” she muttered. Resting her head against the cool glass of the window, she closed her eyes. She’d be long dead before this child was old enough to be any help to humanity. That is if she even believed the story.