Hunger Within (A Sable Hart Vampire Slayer Novel Book 1) Read online

  Then I was out of the parking lot and roaring down the street. I turned off 14th Street into the first residential road I saw – Rigsbee. I drove through that maze of residential streets, constantly turning either left or right at every intersection, before I finally allowed myself to believe I had lost them.

  I picked up my phone to warn Dane and arrange a meeting when the phone rang in my hand.

  "Son of a —!" I dropped the phone and sideswiped a car. “Oh crap.”

  I drove around the next corner and stopped. The phone was still ringing. I picked it up and looked at the caller ID. Unknown. I didn't recognize the phone number displayed either. So I answered it.

  "Hello?"

  "Hello, Sable Hart," a deep male voice said. He had a thick Russian accent. "My name is Yuri Romanov. I understand you escaped, but not for long. I am going to kill you for taking my Anastasia from me."

  He hung up.

  I sat there in stunned silence for several minutes. My blood thundered in my ears as I struggled to breathe. Yuri was hunting me.

  I called Dane.

  "Dane!" I cried. I took a deep breath. The deep breaths didn't work as well as they used to. "Yuri sent a biker gang after me. He knows where I live."

  "Yuri? Yuri Romanov? Are you okay? What happened to the bikers?"

  "I got away. I don't care about the damned bikers."

  "We have to get you to a safe house."

  "Duh." I paused to rub my aching head. How many knots did I pick up during that tumble down the stair? "I'm sorry. I'm a little bit rattled right now."

  "I understand. I'd be rattled, too." He was much better under pressure. "I'm heading out the door now. Where are you? I'll come get you."

  "No! Don't. I'm in my car. I'll come over there."

  "Come straight here. You hear me? Straight here. I'll take you over to the Carrollton house. Don't worry; I'll take care of you. I won't let them hurt you."

  I heard the deep rumble of motorcycles. Harleys.

  "They found me!"

  I ended the call. I turned off the engine and pulled out the keys as I forced the door open. There was damage to both sides and the rear: a lot worse than I realized. Opening the trunk, I found my spare vampire staking pack. I pulled out the pistol, a twin of the Beretta Px4 Storm 9mm in the main pack. The silver-plated bullets would kill humans, too.

  A biker stopped at the intersection two streets up from me. I closed the trunk and hurried back into the driver's seat. He spotted me and gunned the gas. He started shooting a few seconds later. With my left hand out the shattered window, I returned fire as I pulled out. I took a bead on him with the car and floored it.

  Suddenly, killing a mortal wasn’t incomprehensible.

  He dropped the pistol and turned his bike hard right and smashed through a wooden privacy fence. That was good enough for me, but one of his friends picked me up at the next intersection. Damn.

  By the time I reached 14th there were two bikers behind me. So I turned west. Of course that’s when my phone rang. It was Dane, so I answered.

  "I'm not in a position to talk right now." I checked my rearview mirror. "I have two… oh, make that three bikers chasing me."

  "Where are you?"

  "West on 14th."

  "I'll call the police."

  "You do that."

  I threw the phone into the seat next to me and hung a left onto Greenville. It was a horse race all the way up to Plano Parkway, where cars were stopped at the light four deep. The right turn lane was empty. I took it and almost rammed into a red Trail Blazer when I ran the red light. The biker closest to me got hit by a pickup when he followed my example.

  Ouch. Bet that hurt.

  More cars were waiting at the Central Expressway service road lights. I had to go up over the curb and onto the bare earth, and then hit the brakes to let a subcompact go by, before hitting the gas and going over the bridge.

  They were gaining on me. Only two now. There were cars at the light coming up just past the mall. Couldn't I just get one green light? One of the bikers raised a pistol and took aim. I watched him in the rearview mirror with morbid fascination, until the danger struck me.

  I stomped on the brakes.

  A pair of Harley-Davidsons slammed into the back of my car. One of the bikers smashed my rear window out, head first, and the other flew past on the right. The light changed and the cars moved out. I hit the gas. The unconscious biker rolled off the back of my car. At least, I hoped he was just unconscious.

  My phone rang. I leaned and grabbed it from the floor. "Dane?" I answered, not taking the time to check caller ID.

  "Yes. Are you all right?"

  "Um, yes and no." I looked all around and checked the rearview mirrors for bikers. "I'm westbound on Plano Parkway, past the mall. I managed to take out the three bikers who were chasing me."

  I heard a sharp intake of breath before he spoke. "You killed them?"

  "Possibly. I didn't stop to check. And yes, I’m still alive, and thank you for your concern."

  "Sorry."

  "No, I'm sorry." I was still looking all around: panicky. "I'm going crazy. I am in so much trouble, Dane, I can't begin to realize how much."

  "How’s that?"

  "Yuri knows who I am, so I'm outed as a slayer." I gnawed on my lip as I tried to wrap my feeble mind around that and all it meant.

  "You're right. We have to get out of here. Maybe even out of the state." He was starting to sound frantic. Didn't help my sense of doom at all. "Scratch the Carrollton safe house."

  "What? Why?" I said. "Carrollton is the closest safe house."

  "I called Wendy to meet us there, and she said it's been compromised."

  I hated my life. "Then where?"

  "Royal Lane."

  "There's no safe house on Royal Lane."

  "It's new. Gabe bought it last week." He rattled off an address and directions. Enough for me, anyway. "I've been talking to her. She'll be waiting with Anson. Gabe is on the way there, too."

  The whole gang getting together? This had the makings of a truly tragic made-for-TV movie. An army of evil men trying to kill some sweet, delicate flower of femininity, while her friends gathered to protect her. They'd eat it up on Lifetime.

  "You don't want me to come to your apartment?"

  "I 'm not there. I'm heading towards you now, and if I see any more bikers coming after you I'll take care of them."

  That made me pause. Dane would "take care of them?" He was willing to kill for me? The thought kinda excited and repulsed me at the same time.

  "Okay," I said. "I'm heading that way. Love you."

  "Love you, too. Be careful!"

  "Too late."

  ~**~**~

  It took longer to get to the new safe house than I figured. The address was further west than was respectable. When you get a Royal Lane address you think big house, manicured lawns, and wealthy neighbors. Unfortunately, this house was too close to the railroad tracks. Literally. It was small and, quite frankly, a dump.

  A familiar, dark-haired young man in desert camouflage pants and a black t-shirt was waiting on the porch, so I knew I was at the right place. Anson opened the garage door and waved me in. He closed it behind me.

  He looked through the shattered window. "Are you hurt?"

  Anson looked amazed at all the damage to my car. I couldn’t open my door now, but Anson forced it. He was a big, stocky boy, and it was a strain for him. I stumbled out. My legs were a bit wobbly. My left ankle throbbed now when I put weight on it, but I forgot all of that when I turned to look my car over.

  It was totaled. I could never drive that on the street again. It wasn't safe, and it was way too easily identified. Only the windshield and front passenger side window were intact, and the windshield had two bullet holes on the passenger side. Both sides were caved in and the trunk was a tangled mess.

  "You survived that?" Wendy said from the door into the house.

  Wendy and Anson are first cousins, on their mothers�
� side, but you couldn’t tell by looking at them. She’s a freckled-faced redhead with an athletic body. Wendy was as light as Anson was dark. Dane called them Ying and Yang.

  "Well, it didn't happen all at once."

  Wendy shook her head and hugged me. "You must've been born under a lucky star."

  "Ah, yeah. That's what I was thinking." I paused to look her over. I’d never seen her in a suit before: very sharp dark gray slacks and jacket. “Do you have an appointment or something?”

  “Not anymore.”

  I leaned back into the car, and gathered up all my worldly possessions: pistol, lipstick, and my wallet. Oh yeah, and my phone.

  The house was sparsely furnished, apparently from the Goodwill reject pile. Sofa and two mismatched chairs. No TV. Nothing on the walls, and the carpet was a bigger disaster than my car. Nasty.

  The windows were sealed up against daylight well enough to make a vampire smile, and that made me wonder about the previous owner. In the master bedroom I checked the chest of drawers, and found the one with my spare clothes. Anson said they’d brought them over from the Carrolton house. I replaced my torn polo with a white tank.

  ~**~**~

  Dane arrived about forty minutes later, wearing the same clothes as yesterday. His long, dark hair wasn’t combed, and he was badly in need of a shave.

  “Dane!” I cried, and we ran to each other.

  I guess our kiss was a bit long. Wendy cleared her throat, and when that didn’t stop us, she said, “There’s a bed in the next room.”

  “Sorry,” I said, relaxing my hold on him, and then laying my head on his chest as he stroked my hair.

  “You don’t look sorry,” Wendy said.

  “I’m not.”

  ~**~**~

  Gabe came in an hour after Dane, in full outlaw biker mode. He reminded me of the bikers trying to capture me, big, heavily-muscled, and hairy. He had shoulder-length brown hair and a neatly trimmed beard. His jeans, white t-shirt, and leather vest didn’t look too clean.

  "Now what?" I was sitting on the end of the couch, next to Dane. Gabe sat in one of the uncomfortable looking chairs. Wendy and Anson stood before us, fidgeting nervously.

  Gabe grinned. "We break out the heavy artillery."

  "What heavy artillery?" Dane said. "Are you nuts?"

  "Of course he is." Then I leveled my best "don't mess with me" gaze. "What are you talking about, Gabe. I'll stake you if you waste my time."

  He laughed. "You don't have the equipment to stake me, but I have —"

  "Don't you dare go there!" I jumped to my feet, my finger in his face. "I'm not here to trade sexual innuendos with you. I was just moments shy of gruesome death. If you don't have anything useful to contribute, then take a goddamn hike!"

  Gabe was speechless for a long minute. It happened sometimes. I wished the camera on my phone still worked. No one would believe me.

  "Sorry, Sabe." Gabe looked a little put out for a second. He glanced quickly at me, and then shook himself. "I can contribute."

  "Then, by all means, contribute."

  I sat back down beside Dane, but continued to eye Gabe sharply. Dane was so stressed and angry he was shaking; he lit another cigarette. The ashtray on the coffee table already held five butts. I held onto his left arm, pleased to see my touch had a calming effect on him.

  Gabe smiled with wicked glee. "I have a little place on Harry Hines."

  "Why am I not surprised." I shook my head. Harry Hines Boulevard was a notorious red light district. "Perv."

  Gabe laughed. "Well, yeah, I am a perv. In a good way. But this will make you all happy. Heavy artillery. Major vampire splattering shit."

  Dane sat up straighter. "What do you mean?"

  I have to admit, the prospect of "major vampire splattering" anything got my attention. Gabe was a hardware kinda guy. He always had the best toys.

  "I built my own armory," he said. "I've made silver hand grenades; I have M60 machine guns with belts of silver bullets; I even have a .50 cal with silver bullets. Big bang shit."

  I looked at the Beretta 9mm sitting next to me on the sofa, then at Gabe's grinning face. His toys were definitely bigger than mine. I'm from Texas. Bigger is better.

  "Anything I could carry?" I said.

  "Uzis with silver bullets. I have silver cased katanas, too."

  Swords, javelins, spears, crossbows were the surest ways to kill vampires.

  "Ooo, no head means dead." The silver grenade made me wonder. If it totally destroyed a vamp's head or heart, how could he recover? "No tanks?"

  Vampires could only be killed a few ways: wooden stake through the heart, chop off his head, cut out his heart, dissolve his head or heart in holy water, burn him up, or expose him to direct sunlight. Otherwise, any wounds healed in seconds, broken bones a bit longer.

  "Haven't figured out how to get a working tank. Yet."

  If anyone could, it would be Gabe. He was crazy enough to try, too. One of the reasons he was so successful.

  "I want to be your friend, Gabe," I said.

  We shared an evil grin.

  "You wanna go see?"

  "Yes."

  So we all loaded up in Dane's Explorer and Gabe's Chevy Silverado 1500, four-door. Dane and I followed Gabe and the cousins over to a strip mall on Harry Hines. It was deep in the worst part of Harry Hines's hooker country. There was a titty bar on the far end, called Crazy Girls. Figures Gabe would rent there. Gabe spent half his time in strip clubs. Few vampire slayers were pure of heart and soul, but Gabe really pushed it. He rented the former auto detail shop on the other end. It had two bays, so we got both trucks inside and out of sight.

  My phone rang. It was Yuri again. "Hello, Sable Hart. I look forward to finally meeting you tonight."

  "Like hell you will." I ground my teeth. "Don't call me again, bloodsucker. I don't want to speak with you. I do want to pound a wooden stake through your corrupt, foul heart. Slowly. I want to watch you suffer."

  "I do not think you have the proper respect for vampires, Sable Hart."

  "Respect? Vampires are the vilest creatures in all creation. They are despised above all others by God. Vampires are so corrupt and vile, even Jesus can't forgive them. Do you understand the depths of evil you have to sink into to be deprived of our Savior's mercy?"

  "Far better than you, Sable Hart. I've seen evil so foul you could not wrap your mind around it. I am capable of being that evil."

  That made me pause. Who bragged about being evil? Was he trying to shock me? Scare me?

  “I’m going to stake you, Yuri. I’m going to kill your whole godforsaken vamp family.”

  "You will try, but you will fail: like all of the others, and then I will have you, Sable Hart. I have decided to let you replace my Anastasia."

  My blood ran cold. My mind was filled with the vision of Dane staking Anastasia, only she had my face. "What?"

  "I am going to turn you into what you hate the most." Wicked delight tainted his voice. He knew he'd finally shocked me. I couldn't deny it. "And you will take your place as my consort."

  He hung up on me. I hated it when he did that.

  I stood there. Speechless. Heart hammering.

  "What is it?" Dane said.

  I opened my mouth, paused, and shut it. I couldn’t tell them what Yuri planned. To say the words would give them credence. I shook my head instead.

  "Yuri is looking for me. He seems pretty confident he’ll find me tonight. That kind of confidence worries me."

  Would Dane stake me if Yuri succeeded? It truly seemed to hurt him to stake Anastasia, but he’d tried to stake her as soon as he learned her fate. It was probably the main reason she had high-tailed it out of Dallas.

  "Shouldn't he be tucked away in his coffin?" Gabe said. "It's noon."

  "Insomnia, I guess." I looked around at all the interesting firepower to distract myself from those disturbing thoughts about Dane. "Where's that sword?"

  Gabe grinned. "A traditionalist at heart, I see."
<
br />   The shop looked larger on the inside than it did from outside. One wall had racks of automatic weapons – including five M60 machine guns. It had to be illegal to own those. There were a dozen Uzis and Mac-10s next to them.

  I pulled down an Uzi and noticed he had different kinds of holsters on the shelf below them. The magazine had silver bullets already loaded and ready. Nearby was a rack with five katanas and two European straight swords. I picked up a katana with a black hilt and black sheath.

  "If you open up a second room like this one, Gabe, I'll have your baby."

  He slapped his forehead. "Dammit, I could've leased the shop next door, too!"

  "Life sucks, Gabe. Better luck next time."

  Gabe gave me a curious look. "I like you better every day."

  I graced him with a smug grin, waggling my brows at him. Gabe was speechless. Again. Two for two.

  "If you two are done flirting, then maybe we can make some serious plans," Dane said.

  He took my hand, gave it a squeeze, and started up the conversation on what we needed to do to get me to safety. I, of course, refused to run away like that. I had willing friends and some “major vampire splattering” weaponry. Yuri and his homicidal vamp family had invaded my city, so why should I leave? I wanted to take the battle to them. Gabe agreed, then Wendy came on board and Anson followed. We had to drag Dane in kicking and screaming, but once he understood I would not run away, he was hell-bent on killing Yuri and his whole vamp family.

  ~**~**~

  We spent the afternoon tossing around and subsequently shooting down different schemes and ploys to get Yuri and his followers to come to us at a time and location of our choosing. Ambush was the best bet. Gabe had enough crossbows and javelins to turn the whole vamp family into pin cushions. We just had to figure out how and where.

  “What about the Van Viegens? You think they’ll come help us?” I asked.

  The Van Viegen Family was family of vampire slayers. They were Fort Worth’s guardians against the undead. There were only four of them, but they were good. Unfortunately, Gabe bit one of them a couple years back and changed Victoria into a werewolf, and they blamed our whole team.