II. Chapter 4 | Stone

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Stone didn't want to leave Aubree, but he needed to take care of business.

He needed to find and eliminate Carina.

Shortly after Gwen woke up after midnight, he slipped away and left the apartment.

Aubree had fallen asleep next to him, a pillow between them on her bed. She had asked him to stay with her until she fell asleep, which didn't take too long, but he still couldn't tear himself away.

He stayed by her side, watching the rise and fall of her chest with each breath, her eyelids fluttering from time to time, and feeling at peace with himself as her scent buried all of his inhibitions and inner demons.

More than once he had to hold himself back from touching her, whether it was to brush a strand of hair away from her face or to trail a finger along the curve of her shoulder.

He tried not to think of Adelaide. Tried not to compare her with Aubree. For all their similarities and differences, he couldn't help but care for the human female. It hurt to believe he was betraying Adelaide but if they shared the same soul, that meant that the most significant part of Adelaide was also within Aubree. Was with him right now.

More importantly, both of them needed their space away from each other. While Aubree took care of Dan, Stone had to take care of Carina.

That was what he intended to do tonight and every night until it was done.

No more mercy.

He couldn't risk it any longer.

He headed downtown to the bar and club scenes. Thick clouds rolled lazily across the sky, too heavy to be rushed by with what little wind there was, yet not heavy enough to spill open. The air was thick with moisture and growing denser by the minute. The threat of rain didn't bother him, but it would prove a challenge in his mission.

Vampires weren't fond of rain, or water for that matter, but they wouldn't hesitate to emerge from their hiding places if compelled to. Finding Carina, or any vampire, tonight would prove to be difficult.

If he came across any vampires, he knew he'd have to get information out of them before he could terminate them. He didn't enjoy torturing the leeches. The stench of their blood made him want to gag and finish the job quickly.

But vampires, like humans, wouldn't give up information willingly.

Nevertheless, he had to find Carina. The sooner he did that, the better.

Trudging down one of the main streets downtown, he paused when he recognized where he was.

Across the street was the alley he had found Lillian the other night. If he went down there, perhaps he could find a clue as to her hiding place in the city?

An unconscious grumble crept up his throat as he stomped across the street and disappeared into the darkness of the alley. Inhaling deeply, he took in the smells, like fingerprints left behind at a crime scene. Unfortunately, the moisture in the air, coupled with the time between yesterday's encounter and now, left little for him to go by in terms of tracking her down.

There was one thing he was able to pick up that she left behind and that was a trace amount of Lillian's blood staining the ground where he left her. Bending down, he touched it with his fingers, but it was dry.

A growl seeped from his throat.

He shouldn't have been so soft on Lillian. He should have killed her while he had her in his grasp. He was no closer to getting to Carina now than he had been yesterday—even if he did need her to be a messenger.

With a groan, he rose up and surveyed the alley. There was nothing unusual about it. A typical alley with garbage cans, folded cardboard boxes, and other miscellaneous trash littering the ground. It opened up in the back, splitting left and right in a T formation. To the left, he could see a street with a car driving by thirty yards off. To the right was darkness; this direction might lead him somewhere.

As he walked, his eyes swept over his surroundings, taking in everything and embedding it into his memory. There was nothing unusual in the scents that lingered—everything was dank, musty, and rusty. A few fat rodents scurried away from his boots but he ignored them.

More alleys opened up to his left and right, one narrow one after the next. Eventually, he reached another T and picked up a familiar scent to his left drawing a sigh from his lips.

A faint murmur whispered down to him, mingled with tobacco in the damp air.

"They won't come out. Let's call it a night before the rain comes."

The slayers' silhouettes were halfway down the alley, illuminated by the backdrop of the lit city street beyond. Davis was leaning against the wall of the building on the right, his long trench coat hanging open over his broad chest and a cigarette dangling from his lips, while his tall, lanky partner, Thomas, crouched on his hunches picking at something in his hands.

A plume of smoke rose lazily from between Davis' lips. "Hold onto your panties, bro. Give it another hour or two. Darlene can wait. She's waited every night for you thus far, anyway."

Thomas sighed before he let his eyes wander around them. That was when he noticed Stone lingering in the darkness. His facial features hardened in the dim light as his eyes made contact with Stone's. His scent shifted from relaxed to disgust with a hint of fear, as if he could see trouble heading his way.

"What do you want, Lycan?" He spat onto the asphalt, drawing Davis' attention finally.

Suppressing a growl, Stone eased toward them, his hands in his pockets.

Davis' eyes narrowed at him as he took a drag from his cigarette, exhaled, and drew it from his lips with his gloved hands and flicked the ash from its glowing tip. "Again? What business have you got in my city this time?"

Stone crossed his arms over his chest as he leaned up against the opposite wall from Davis several yards down. He wanted to make sure they understood he meant business, not that he would be a threat.

Remembering their discussion yesterday, he pushed down his anxious thoughts regarding how they knew about Aubree. This wasn't just about Aubree, though. This was about exterminating the main threat to him and everyone else.

"Same business until Carina is taken out," he said.

Raising the cigarette to his lips, Davis took another puff as he regarded Stone. A thin line of smoke curled up from the tip as it glowed orange in the faint light. As he exhaled, he asked, "So, you want her taken out now, huh?"

Stone nodded. "It would be beneficial for you to know that I've taken out Adranus last night. My warrior took out another vampire as well, not that it matters as I did not know his name. He was with Carina and Adranus at the time."

Swearing under his breath, Thomas pulled himself up from the ground and stood next to Davis' side, running his hand through his dark hair.

Davis' eyebrows arched up before pulling down in a deep frown. "You're fucking me?"

Stone lifted his chin. "I'd rather not."

The glow from his cigarette reflected in Davis' eyes and began to burn more brightly. "You killed her lover and let her get away? Have you lost your fucking mind?"

Stone's jaw clenched at Davis' tone. "Trust me. If I had it my way, I'd have taken care of her as well."

Tearing his eyes away, Davis took one last drag on his cigarette before flicking the butt over his shoulder and cursing again. His hands balled into fists before jamming them into the deep pockets of his coat. "You fucked up, mutt. You seriously fucked up this time."

Stone tried not to gnash his teeth together. He knew he screwed up. He didn't need to be reminded by these two imbeciles. It was because of this mistake that he needed to take care of her as soon as possible.

"I'm well aware of the repercussions," he said through gritted teeth. "Which is why I'm looking for her here tonight."

Davis shook his head, his temper seeping out and rolling over Stone in hot, bitter waves. "Your fuck-up is going to cost you your human mate's life. Do you have any idea how many vampires are hiding in this city?"

Stone didn't but he was sure that Davis was about to fill him in.

"There's at least a dozen of them, most of them newborns, but some of them have been long-time acquaintances. You've killed a lover, a friend, and a father-figure to them. They're going to retaliate in the only way they know how."

Confirming Stone's own assumptions, he swallowed his mounting anger and dread and pushed them into his gut. He'd been around vampires far longer than these two. He knew how the bloodsuckers operated. He'd been involved in their ploys for centuries. "All the more reason to work together to take them out now, before they grow too numerous."

Davis shook his head again, pulling his hands from his pockets and crossing his arms over his chest. "Are you forgetting how long it takes us to not only recruit new vampire slayers but train them too? We're talking weeks, mutt. We don't have weeks. We have a few days if that. They can multiply tenfold in a single night. There's no way we can keep up with them."

"We will have to team up with the North Fang Pack. Their numbers are far greater than I can offer, but my pack will do whatever it takes to take them out," Stone said.

Davis pinched the bridge of his nose, his body temperature lowering as his mind continued to race and his scent shifting to one of fear. "This is going to draw too much attention from the humans."

"We'll call it a clash of gangs," Stone said, his own anger subsiding as he searched his mind for possible solutions that he could offer.

He didn't want the humans to get involved in this and he couldn't let the truth of their existence come out for the world to see. The Council would surely have his head if that happened.

"I have my connections with government officials in the city," he continued. "We'll warn them ahead of time. They can use the media to try and scare residents into staying in their homes at night. The fewer people out on the streets, the fewer people the vampires have to draw from."

Davis sighed as he pulled his fingers from his face. "That's all well and good—"

"It's a start," Stone interrupted. "Do you have any better ideas?"

Davis thought for a moment, while Thomas finally piped up.

"Daytime raids," he said. "If we can find their hiding places while they sleep, we'll have a better chance of taking them out—especially the newborns while they're in transition."

Stone nodded. Vampires enter a "coma-like" phase before they wake up twenty-four hours later as a fully developed vampire interested in one thing and one thing only—their first meal.

"If we can get more trackers into the city shortly after daybreak, we can track them to their hiding places," Stone said. "The warriors can hunt them during the night and our weaker wolves can hunt them during the day when the vampires are at a disadvantage."

"This is going to turn into an outright war," Davis grunted. "And frankly, I don't see us winning in the end."

"We have to," Stone growled, his lips curling back as his hands balled into fists. "I won't rest until Carina's taken out and the city is safe."

"If we take out Carina and the other seasoned vamps, the newborns will be lost. They'll be easy. We can wipe the floor with them." Thomas grinned.  He closed his eyes with a smile still plastered on his face. "Then, I can finally live a normal life."

Davis rolled his eyes at his partner as he pushed away from the brick wall. "Keep dreaming, dumbass."

Stone followed suit, pushing himself off the wall and taking a step toward the older, thicker-set slayer. "Can I count on both of you with the hunt?" Stone eyed them warily.

Thomas looked to Davis—nervous, yet excited.

Davis sighed and shrugged as he shoved another cigarette between his lips and lit up. He took a long drag before his eyes met Stone's. "Guess we got no choice, huh, Tom? We're in."

Davis put his hand out there and Stone stared at it for a moment before realizing what he was doing. He nodded before taking Davis' out-stretched hand in his and shook it firmly.

Wincing, Davis pulled away, holding his hand against his chest. "Fuck man."

Stone bristled before turning and marching away.

Sometimes he didn't know his own strength.




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Dedicated to Lynae17_happytimes 

*Copyright Jo Lee Hunt (Joflower) 2016*

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