Hunters

Dark Tidings: Volumes I & II

By Gregory Marshall Smith

Smashwords Edition

Copyright 2011 Gregory Marshall Smith

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

ISBN 978-1-927116-02-9

Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise), without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.

PUBLISHER’S NOTE

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead (or undead ;-), business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Table of Contents:

Acknowledgements

Glossary

Prologue

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Epilogue

Acknowledgements

The past few years have been a real stretch for me. From losing my job in Texas to moving to Atlanta, Georgia to find new opportunities, I can honestly say I’ve experienced enough to write two autobiographies. I have delivered holiday packages, fingerprinted people for the FBI, worn multiple hats for the Census Bureau, written freelance sports covering historically black colleges and acted in numerous movies and television shows. In my highly erratic, unplanned style, I have written a lot of short stories, submitting them all over the place and getting a few published because I happened to have actually followed the submission requirements. I self-published with Smashwords and Lulu, almost got taken to the cleaners with the now-defunct (and shady) Mystic Moon Press and was taken out behind the woodshed for a beating for even considering PublishAmerica.

But, now, I am here, ready to step up from having short stories and novellas published to getting a full-fledged novel on the streets.

With that, I want to thank the following people:

C.J. Ellisson – For her encouragement in getting me to join Wicked Writers, Free Fantastical Fiction and Digital Digest. I am an introvert of the worst kind, despite a 30-plus year journalism/sports writing career. Without those blogs, however, I doubt I would have gotten the courage to publish this first novel. And, of course, without her threat to rip my arms off and beat me to death with them, I might not have had the perseverance to stick with the project when it entered the much tougher publishing phase.

Writing.com – I first joined this writing website in 2007 and it was the perfect forum for regular, everyday people to read my short stories and novellas and offer honest critiques and (mostly positive) reviews. It was through this forum that I connected to online publishers like Far Side of Midnight (who published Collection) and Spectacular Speculations (which serialized my novella Crawl), as well as in anthologies like Writer’s Bump and Farspace 2.

Wicked Writers – A nice little blog I am doing with Ms. Ellisson and a few other writers. What started out as a showcase for five writers with five distinctive voices has grown to even more writers with more distinctive voices that have led me to vastly improve my writing to keep up.

Gail Smith – My mother who has always been there for me, even if she hasn’t been a big science fiction fan. She did take me in during my job search, giving me time not only to look for work, but to continue writing.

Eric Smith Sr. – My father who has always encouraged my writing.

Ryk Smith – My older brother who allowed me to stay with him for more than two years in Stone Mountain, Georgia (far past the cold shoulder stage).

Sydney Jelinek and Shontrell Wade – Editors with Red Hot Publishing who somehow managed to make it all the way my vast prose and long list of intricate characters, especially in an area that’s not quite in their normal fields.

Glossary of Characters

The Hunters

Jon-Alex Anderton – Not a hunter, but runs a safehouse for them.

Manuel Avecedo – Runs a garage that masks Hunters’ headquarters.

Horace Garvey – Hunter and former Marine.

Ian Hendricks – Private investigator who works as a double agent, obtaining information for the Hunters while keeping corrupt police officers at bay.

Jessie Kellums – Hunter whose bravado is a lot bigger than her skill. She once had a brief affair with Ian and can’t let it go. Like the other Hunters, she loathes Cantrell Ryker.

Michael Lee – The group’s computer expert, he has little field experience and is more of a liability in combat.

Dolores Montoya – Co-founder of the Hunters after being forced to kill her own daughter who had become a vampire. As determined as she is beautiful, she keeps the group on an even keel, a very necessary skill set now that the group has set its sights on far bigger game.

Jesus Montoya – Co-founder of the Hunters and also Dolores’ husband. He is the driving force behind the group, though lately he has found himself and, by extension, the Hunters, stagnating as he tries to figure out the group’s future.

Angelica Morales – Former professional bodybuilder and bodyguard. She was one of the people who sponsored Cantrell Ryker’s entry into the group and, if she lives long enough, she’ll probably regret it.

Heidi Nguyen – The group’s newest hunter, she was attacked by a vampire and rescued by Ryker and Jessie, only to be allowed to turn to be a guinea pig for Ravi Patel’s experiments.

Dr. Ravi Patel – A hematologist who believes Man cannot win a face-to-face war with vampires. He believes a safer biological means can be found, namely with his serum which, when perfected, could actually reverse the effects of vampirism.

Cantrell Ryker – The group’s most productive member and also its most volatile. Unassuming in appearance, he has a reputation for destruction that has made his name much feared even among vampires. Alas, that reputation may destroy the Hunters if they can’t find someway to get it and its owner under control.

Marcus Van Niekerk – Veteran South African mercenary, he has experienced combat all over the world. With Patrick Wesley, he is the group’s trainer and planner. Like Angelica, he also sponsored Ryker’s membership and soon he may find himself having to sever that connection with a bullet for the safety of the rest of the group.

Patrick Elvis Wesley – Hunter and the group’s trainer. He is third-in-command after Jesus and Dolores, though he often lets Marcus lead field missions.

Kelly White Cloud – Former slave of the vampire enforcer, Lin Tang, she was rescued from death by Ryker and provides administrative support to the group. Though she desires revenge, she cannot go out on the streets, lest she be recognized.

Louis Riordan’s Inner Circle

Porter Coleman – Familiar (a human who willingly works for a vampire). He is the liaison between Louis Riordan and Aurelia Hernandez.

Allison Dowdy – Riordan’s personal secretary and lover.

Duke Drexler – Lin Tang’s personal bodyguard. He also runs drugs on the side and will pay dearly for it.

Aurelia Hernandez – Police detective who is Riordan’s top crony in the Fort Worth police department. She’s not really a bad person, but bad financials forced her to accept a bribe to keep a roof over the heads of her nieces and nephew, whom she treats like her own now that their mother is dead. Once she took the bribe, she was indebted to Riordan. She is the one who begins an investigation to see if Cantrell Ryker is still alive, putting everything – and everyone – she holds dear in serious jeopardy.

Travis Pratt – Riordan’s right-hand security man. He runs a tight ship but has survived on reputation so long that it makes his security apparatus somewhat suspect.

Louis Riordan – Head of the North Texas vampire clan, centered in Fort Worth. He has learned much in his four centuries of living, but he is willing to put it all on the line to create his dream – an awakening where sixteen of North America’s top clan masters unite to counter the power of the European-based Supreme Vampire Council.

Diane Simmons – Leader of Lin Tang’s half-deads (humans so addicted to her bite that they’re basically her slaves). She wants to become a vampire and is willing to pay the price for it.

Lin Tang – Riordan’s top enforcer, she has been trained by the legendary Lo Chang. Her fearsome reputation is enough to tilt the awakening leadership slot to her boss, Riordan. Most of all, though, she desires one thing – revenge on the people who tortured and killed her sensei Lo Chang. Unfortunately, they’re all dead. Until she hears rumors of a name floating on the wind. A name that hasn’t been mentioned in more than three years. A name from the grave – Cantrell Ryker. For the chance to kill him, she would give her very soul.

Clan Masters

Alexia Ciccione – Minneapolis-St. Paul

Beauregard Collins – Atlanta

Luc D’Estaing – Baton Rouge

Mia Dumont – Caribbean

Elisa Fusco – Boston

Tesino Giancarlo – New York-New Jersey

Nyrobi Kenya – St. Louis

Abel Kuster – Rogue who offers himself and his clan as killers-for-hire

Alberto Lupo – Northern Mexico

Esmeralda Lupo – Northern Mexico

Jake Lucabaugh – Houston

Tsukiko Matsutaka – California

Aguelo Munoz – Central America

Nellie O’Roarke – Chicago

Edge Ringgold – Canadian

Jewel Waterston – American Northwest

Miscellaneous

Vicky Adevold – One of Pratt’s informants

Kobe Anwar – Commando brought in especially to deal with the Hunters

Guy Bardon – Detective

Lo Chang – Lin Tang’s sensei and once a good friend to Louis Riordan. Headed a metaphysical school that secretly scouted college students to harbor demons. Killed when a group of supernatural hunters called Moonrise, Inc. attacked the school. He had both kneecaps blown out by Ryker and was then tortured for information by other members of Moonrise. His death weighs heavily on Lin Tang’s mind.

Joachim Danforth – One of Pratt’s familiars who ends up on the wrong end of a run-in with Ryker.

Gina Golightly – One of Pratt’s familiars involved in the run-in with Ryker.

Elise Hu – Detective

Bartoli Kamarov – A finder of hidden information for Aurelia Hernandez.

Kane – Kuster’s right-hand man, he attacks and turns Heidi. However, his ego is not enough to keep Ryker from decapitating him and turning him to ash.

Denny McIlvain – Familiar in charge of prisoners. He has an eye for female prisoners and that might land him in hot water with the Hunters

Avery Menlo – Duke’s cousin. Also helps deliver Duke’s drugs.

Ralph Noonan – Aurelia’s lieutenant

Hunters

Prologue

Kane could not believe his luck. In all his years of hunting and prowling, he had never found a woman so exquisite. He pulled back, gazing longingly into her eyes.

He smiled as her near perfect body writhed in the ecstasy he’d now given her. He felt an incredibly strong pull from this seemingly delicate creature, trying to take him back down to her as they lay on the grass. She was completely oblivious to anything, except the sensations he knew must be sweeping through her body.

The rustle of the trees. The crush of leaves across the jogging path. The almost hypnotic lapping of the Trinity River against a nearby boat dock. All of these served to make the intercourse of Kane and the woman, known as Heidi Nguyen, as close to love-making as either had experienced in far too long.

Kane smiled and, in that moment, decided she had to be his. There could be no leaving her to wake up in the daylight, groggy and unsure of what had happened. He knew he’d regret it much longer than she would, if she even vaguely remembered him at all.

Pulling back his lips, he bared his inhumanly long incisors and plunged them back into her throat. At that, she peaked yet again, arching her back and shaking as she clung to him like a second skin. All the while, he drank furiously, with each drop of her blood taking her closer to his world and further from hers.

So, you like this, do you? Kane said, pulling back for a breath of air. Trust me, my dear. You’ll come to love giving this to others very soon.

He hadn’t known what drove this lovely young woman to suddenly get out of a car on the Main Street Bridge and walk down to the poorly lit jogging path along the river; but he didn’t care. He’d felt her blood pulsing through her veins because she had been angry, possibly at the man in the car. That did not matter now, it was her mistake, and his fortune, that allowed him to pull her into the shadows under the bridge.

Kane never had a problem attracting women. He’d once been one of Europe’s top fashion models, with long wavy hair, a chiseled jaw and muscles like granite, features he kept even after being turned. But, he had only attracted shallow women, who did not have the intellect to sustain the kind of relationship he craved.

It would not be so with Heidi Nguyen. She was beautiful, her body sensuous and powerful. He could feel the intellect flowing behind her almond-shaped eyes. He felt himself blessed by the fates, she’d allowed emotions to overrule that intellect at just the right time for him.

Suddenly, his senses flared, like a four-alarm fire. Someone was coming. He pressed a hand lightly over Heidi’s mouth, melting back into the shadows, nearly becoming one with the darkness. He knew he could easily kill whoever was stupid enough to interfere, but he had someone else to think about now. A cry of help from this stranger, before he died, might elicit the police and force him to abandon his newfound love. No, he needed to err on the side of caution and, if need be, strike at the most opportune time.

Then, to his surprise, he sensed more than one presence. He sniffed the air. Human. He could only wonder why they were on this jogging path, at this ungodly hour; and, he thought with an involuntary shudder, they were walking deliberately toward the bridge. He caught his breath, the silhouettes now producing flashlight beacons to stab into the darkness, playing them across the shadows, toward him.

Impulsively, he leapt forth into the nearest beam, fangs bared, hands now transformed into clawed weapons that could rend flesh as easily as a knife through butter.

Another fly come to my web? he said, fiercely. Or a hyena trying to steal the kill? Which will it be?

Kane never saw who shot him, but he felt it. The intense pain, as something pierced his thick skin, embedding itself deep into his chest, was nearly unbearable. He could not scream, his mind racing wildly as it fought to comprehend its sudden change in status – from hunter to prey.

Y-you dare, he gasped as he staggered back, acting more like a man offended than one who’d been assaulted. D-don’t you know who I am? We own this town.

Yeah, well, we should all have a dream, a deep, disembodied voice replied.

The pain in Kane’s chest was excruciating. He looked down at the stubby piece of wood protruding from his torso. His usually sharp mind could not comprehend what it was.

His legs gave up and he felt himself falling – he gasped for air and feebly waved a clawed hand at his attackers. Soon, he found himself tumbling into shadows much darker than that from which he had sprung.

Alas, even the thought at having finally found eternal companionship abandoned him, for his final thoughts did not include a wisp of Heidi Nguyen.

Above Kane’s body, the two silhouettes stopped. One stepped forward, into the moonlight, pulling something long and shiny from somewhere on his person. He raised it and, with one swing, made sure Kane would never take the blood of anyone again.

God, I hate it when you do that, Ryker, said the woman next to him.

Show some backbone, the man called Ryker snorted. For a change.

The woman glared at him, but stopped when she heard a moan nearby. She played her flashlight back into the shadows. Cursing, she moved over to Heidi’s body.

She didn’t pay attention as Kane’s corpse suddenly flared up like a match, dying out almost as quickly. Caring only about Kane’s victim, she called Ryker over to her.

What about her? she queried, sounding forlorn and sad. She’s lost a lot of blood. She’s well into the turn. You know we can’t let that happen.

No, we can’t, Ryker agreed. But she might be one for the doc.

Always the pretty ones, right Cantrell? the female commented, with disgust.

Au contraire. I saved you, didn’t I?

Glaring at him, the woman fought the urge to hit him with her flashlight.

Very funny, she said finally. Okay, check her out then. If you think she’s worth salvaging, we’ll take her. But, if she can’t be helped, you’re the one who has to finish her.

So I have to do all the work, eh? Ryker commented. What else is new?

Ryker looked down into Heidi’s eyes, feeling pity instantly. He knew she was yet another innocent victim, in a war she didn’t know had been declared. He saw her eyes darting wildly side to side, as if the brain behind them could not handle what was happening to it. Shaking his head, he checked her throat, touched her carotid artery, and looked at her skin pallor.

I’m truly sorry about this, Miss, Ryker said. I really am. But, it’s war and everybody dies.

As he lifted his obscenely long knife into her field of vision, her eyes stopped darting and grew wide in stark fear. Breaking contact with her almost pleading eyes, he lifted the knife and brought it down toward Heidi’s head. Seconds later, he pulled the knife out of the ground, the blade now clean of Kane’s blood.

He looked down at Heidi, showing no surprise, and saw those beautiful almond eyes rolling up into her head, taking her body into sweet oblivion. He glanced up and across the dark river toward downtown Fort Worth. Standing to his feet, he held his knife up to the moonlight and sheathed it.

One more down, Riordan, he said to himself. And one step closer to you.

Chapter 1

Opening her eyes slowly, Heidi almost instantly felt different. As she sniffed the air, she sensed smells she’d never known before. She smelled the very dust of the air and rich aromatic scents of the flowers and water nearby. She looked around, seeing she was in some kind of room, it puzzled her that she could see no flowers or water anywhere in her confines. She wondered how she could have smelled the scents.

Her ears picked up a tiny scratching sound. Spinning around, she zeroed in on a small beetle, inching its way along a far wall. She looked at it for several moments and gasped. The insect was in a darker corner of the room, yet she could see it as if it were in bright light. She could see in darkness like a cat and she couldn’t understand how.

What’s happened to me? she said to herself, her voice shaky and disbelieving, her mind reeling at sensations that threatened to overwhelm her sanity.

She forced herself to calm down, somewhat, and think back. Yes, now she remembered. She’d been on that blind date. She still couldn’t believe she’d actually taken up that creep’s offer to meet; after all, they’d only known each other online. But, she’d been desperate for a date and she was the one who told her students that the Internet was a much better place to meet men and vet out the perverts.

Yet, her blind date had tried to get fresh with her. He had let slip his plans to eat dinner only after they had made a brief stop at a hotel. It served him right for the black eyes she’d given him when he’d tried to cop a feel.

Then she remembered how truly stupid she had been – she’d gotten out of his car on the Main Street Bridge. All she had to do was walk on. She would have been right by the main buildings for the Fort Worth Police and the Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office. She would have been safe.

But, no, she’d reverted to stubborn Heidi, the one who let her emotions get the better of her – at the absolute worst times. She ignored the Heidi who taught self-defense classes to women at the Y. Somehow believing that her martial arts prowess would be some kind of shield for her, as she headed down to the river in the middle of the night to clear her head.

She gasped as her memories now raced a mile a minute. She shuddered as, in her mind, she felt strong arms reaching out, pulling her into the shadows. She remembered struggling, breaking the grip, punching and kicking the source of those arms, only to be pulled into the shadows again.

It was those eyes, she told herself. So mesmerizing. She’d felt her resistance melt away; she willingly let herself be taken. She felt ashamed at succumbing so easily.

Suddenly, her memories disappeared, replaced by a searing pain in her mouth. It was as if her gums were on fire. It felt as if her teeth were growing and, indeed, her incisors pushed further out of her gums, curving downward. At the same time, an incredible hunger began to fill her belly. Subconsciously, she licked her lips, feeling the incredibly sharp points of her incisors.

Totally confused, she looked around again and spied a sliver of sunlight, coming from two small windows she hadn’t noticed before. Making her way over to them, she reached up for the warmth of those sunbeams. Her skin sizzled and she screamed in pain. Pulling her hand back quickly, she saw that her hand was very red. The sunlight had hurt her!

She stumbled back to where she’d been sitting before. Collapsing, she now realized what had happened. The stranger – the one who had made her feel so good – had long sharp incisors.

He’d been drinking her blood!

Now, she had fangs and suddenly craved the same thing. She could hear, smell and see things just like an animal. She looked down at her hand – the one she’d stuck in the sunbeams – gasping upon seeing the flesh almost completely healed. My God, she forced herself to realize, I’m like him now.

She wondered how she could ever go back to her old life. She thought of her friends and had horribly wonderful thoughts of sinking her fangs into their throats. She shook her head, trying to force the horror from her mind. She put her head to her knees and stopped resisting the surge of tears behind her eyes.

Outside of the room, Dolores Montoya fretted and sympathized. Just watching Heidi’s horrible transformation, on the monitor of the room’s closed-circuit camera systems, was bad enough. What made it worse were her own memories of someone very close to her suffering through the same ordeal.

Once, she had been a happy stay-at-home mother. That, however, was before fangs and blood ripped her daughter, Evangeline, from her. Now, here she was, watching the change come over another innocent. She could only wonder if she would have to kill this woman, as she and her husband had been forced to kill their Evangeline.

It had been ten years since that fateful moment, every day since had been nearly as difficult. In a futile gesture, she shook her head, as if to dislodge those painful memories. It was hard enough to bear the loss of a child, but much worse when that loss came at her own hand.

She heard footsteps, looking over her shoulder as Jesus, her husband, approached. A swarthy man, he still resembled the muscular beefcake she’d fallen for almost thirty years earlier. Though his hair was fast becoming salt-and-pepper, he still had the upper body of a man twenty years younger.

She had to admit that he did look exhausted. The eyes that had won her over – and had disappointed all the women in Juarez – had lost some of their shine. Like her, the war was getting to him. They were both nearing fifty and no longer able to handle all the physical and mental aspects of their battle.

What’s wrong? she asked, turning to face him.

Patel’s experiment is what’s wrong, Jesus snorted. "You-know-who called him, letting him know that he was bringing in another test subject. Patel knows the woman is here and is prepping. Now, we have to commit."

Dolores didn’t know whether to fret or breathe a sigh of relief. On the one hand, she hadn’t liked what happened to all the other test subjects, who had suffered mightily when Patel’s previous serum incarnations had failed. On the other, she really did not want to see Heidi killed, not if there was a chance to save her. In that instant, she made up her mind.

Jesus, I need to tell you something, she said. I think we should support Patel on this.

"We should what?" Jesus asked, shocked.

Look, I know you haven’t liked the past experiments, she explained. But, we’re losing the war. Don’t give me that look. Have you seen yourself lately? You’re exhausted. I’m exhausted.

That’s why we brought in the others, Jesus challenged. Fresh blood, if you’ll pardon the pun.

But, it’s not working, Dolores countered. We need a new plan – cornering vampires in deserted barns and farm houses doesn’t cut it anymore. Not when men, like Louis Riordan, are running mob-style clans. I doubt he’s even noticed our little nightly patrols. Jesus, if this war is going to begin going our way, we have got to step it up.

Jesus stepped back and looked long and hard at his wife. She still reminded him of the tomboy, he’d picked over all of the beauty queens in Juarez, Mexico, she was still as stubborn and feisty as ever.

But, we are organized, he finally said, though he didn’t really believe his own words. We communicate with other hunters – through the Internet, we keep tabs by cell phone. We even cobbled together a SWAT-style group to take the fight to men like Riordan.

Riordan has Fort Worth in his back pocket, Dolores shot back. "He has cops on his payroll. Politicians, too. His building is so heavily protected, we’d need an army to break through, and that would only happen if he didn’t call for help from his police cronies.

The only saving grace for us is that Riordan is a megalomaniac. He doesn’t share power. But, God help us, if he suddenly has an about-face and decides to do just that. There are many rogue clans running around Texas and the Southwest, who would love to be part of Riordan’s empire.

Dolores waited for her husband to say something. He didn’t. He only looked defeated and she wasn’t sure that she liked it. She’d never been able to convince him of anything this easily.

Okay, Jesus, let’s just think on it, she blurted out, hoping to snap him out of his doldrums. Let’s see what we can do for Miss Nguyen and move on from there. Then, we can…oh, por el amor de Dios.

Looking down the hallway, she saw a tall, lanky black man in battle-dress uniform approaching. She took a deep breath as Jesus turned, noticing Cantrell Ryker as well. She knew there was one thing lately, guaranteed, to get Jesus out of his uneasiness and that was Ryker, her newest team member

Despite his reputation as a loose cannon, she’d accepted him into her group. It was true that two other team members had vouched for his entry, but she had ultimately kept Jesus from overriding that vote because the group needed a lot more experience. There were days she regretted her decision. She had never worked with anyone who was so disruptive to team spirit before. If he hadn’t turned into one of the best members of her team, she would have cut him loose long ago.

Ryker’s past history guaranteed Dolores’ distrust, especially where an organization called Moonrise, Inc., was concerned. There wasn’t a member of her team, who hadn’t known someone in that organization and felt the loss of their friends intimately. It had been extremely tough for them to accept Ryker, the only surviving member of Moonrise. And that didn’t even take into account his murky legal status.

I’ll handle this, she heard Jesus say. "Don’t worry. I won’t kill him. Yet."

Jesus truly loved Dolores. She meant the world to him and didn’t know what he would do if he lost her. That made it all the more difficult to work with her against vampires. Yet they had endured a decade, in an underground business that sent many a man and woman to prison, to an asylum, or to the grave. Or worse.

He knew she was right about needing to be more organized. For her sake, he’d listened, putting aside even his trademark stubbornness to assuage her. That said, he had very little patience left over for the man fast approaching him. He really didn’t know what it was about Ryker that upset him so. Maybe it was the fact that the man only followed the orders that suited him or his irritating aloofness during tense situations, like he was merely a bystander at a sporting event.

Oh, Jesus, Ryker said as the pair met halfway down the hallway. I was just coming to see if Miss Nguyen was ready.

Have you always been cruel, Ryker, or is this a new thing you picked up in the last few years? Jesus asked. You know, while you were hiding from every law enforcement agency under the sun.

What?

Do you get some thrill watching people change into vampires? Jesus queried. Jessie told me you took great pleasure in finishing off that vampire tonight. Did it get you off? Are your trips to Korean massage parlors not working anymore?

You know where you can go with that sh… Ryker caught himself just in time. Why the hell would you take Jessie’s word for anything? She couldn’t even finish the guy off. That’s a freakin’ liability in my book.

"Well, it’s a good thing we’re not playing by your book. You’re supposed to be playing by ours," Jesus snapped.

Look, the girl – Miss Nguyen – she was well into the turn, okay? Ryker explained. Doc said we had no choice but to let the change take place.

And you would know, since you called Patel first, not myself or Dolores, like anyone else in this outfit would, Jesus snorted. Maybe we could have made the determination about Miss Nguyen’s suitability. Maybe we could have even put her out of her misery, ended her suffering. But now, we’ll never know, will we?

I’m not a sadist, Jesus, Ryker replied, fuming. I just don’t think we can win the war like we’ve been fighting it. We need something better. Anything. Like the serum. Or don’t you want it to work?

What the hell is that supposed to mean, muchacho?

Don’t tell me you like rousting vampires out of hay lofts or raiding graveyards? Ryker asked. If that’s the case, why don’t we all just pack up and get the hell out of here? Go back to Nowhere, Texas and tell distraught parents how their former beauty queen daughter ended up just like Evang…

Don’t go there, amigo! Jesus roared, causing the usually distant Ryker to take a step back. I have had just about enough of your shit!

Jesus could feel his blood pressure rise. Catching himself, he took a deep breath and turned away from Ryker. Seeing the horrified look on Dolores’ face, he made himself calm down.