LOGINShare
Chapter 21
Last Updated:
2024-10-29 19:42:56Conversation continued as Jo walked into the cabin, Zane behind her. He didn’t stay there for long. Dax raised a hand to him, and Zane tapped Jo on the shoulder before he went over to say hello. Everywhere she looked, groups of people were swapping stories or getting reacquainted. Some were laughing, as if they were caught up in the glory days of the past. Others were clearly irritated or even downright angry about what LIGHTS had become. A few of them smiled when they caught her staring, but no one approached, and Jo wasn’t sure what to do.
She felt like at least a half hour had passed as the groups ebbed and flowed, people shifting to other parts of the room or disappearing into other parts of the house. No one said anything to her, which wasn’t too surprising considering she didn’t really know anyone save the people she’d arrived with--and Scott. From some of their expressions, it was clear she wasn’t necessarily we
Related chapters
Night Slayer Chapter 22
Jo stared at Scott as he came to a stop in front of her. He took a step to the side and gestured for her to step forward. “Let’s get on with it, Little Mac,” he said.If Scott was willing to listen to her, then everyone else had to be, too. The others gathered around, and Jo tried to determine what would be the best place to start strategizing.There was a pool table in the corner. Jo moved toward it, and the others saw where she was headed. A screech of wooden legs against wooden flooring filled her ears as they moved the table and assembled chairs around it. “Do we have a paper map?” she asked Mila because she was standing nearby and had been there a while.She looked a little confused, but Mikali stepped over with the requested item. It was large, and he’d pulled it from the corner of the room where it had been propped against a bookshelf.“Thank you. I app
Night Slayer Chapter 23
The sky above her was clear, a thousand foreign stars winking down at her. “Russian stars look a lot like American and Canadian stars, don’t they?”She knew it was Scott behind her before she turned her head. In fact, she’d known he was the one who’d come out even before he spoke. She couldn’t read minds like her aunt could, but she did sometimes get a sixth sense about things.It was odd how he’d been glaring at her earlier and hadn’t spoken a word to her until she needed someone to help her out with starting the meeting, someone the others would follow. Sure, Zane could’ve stepped up, but they didn’t know him any better than they knew her, and with a last name like his, chances were they wouldn’t trust him until he proved himself to them either.But Scott was here now, wanting to talk. Jo sank down on a roughly hewn log bench, and he sat at the other e
Night Slayer Chapter 24
Somehow, Jo had ended up getting stuck with the Jeep riddled with bullet holes. After a big fuss where some of the team members yelled at others over who got to take the vehicle they’d rode to the cabin in together, she’d finally settled it by drawing straws. She was still shaking her head about it two hours later as Zane drove them deeper into the snow and ice, closer to the mountains. If all of their team members always acted like this, like kindergartners fighting over a toy, it was no wonder her dad always seemed to be on his last nerve.Ping and Leo sat in the back seat, neither of them saying much of anything. Jo knew now would be a great time to get to know them. It was important for her to be familiar with anyone who might have her life in their hands, after all, but they weren’t voluntarily speaking up, and she didn’t see the point in forcing them. Zane had tried earlier, asking a few questions about where they’d gr
Night Slayer Chapter 25
The table in front of him was littered with poker chips and cards, coins from various European countries and a smattering of bills in the middle. The man in black ripped all of the money toward him, a grin pulling at one corner of his mouth as he wished his rivals a good day. The others tossed down cards, their cries of anger or disappointment evident even though Jo didn’t speak a lick of Russian and didn’t care to use her translator on matters that didn’t make a difference to her.Some of the others departed as she approached, either out of the game or leery of a woman dressed in black leather carrying more weapons than a gladiator. A few stuck around, possibly hoping for a show. Jo ignored them and waited for the American to look up from the cards he was shuffling, his winnings shoved safely into a pouch that hung around his waist.He was ignoring her. That much was certain. It didn’t take anyone that long to s
Night Slayer Chapter 26
The village faded out the back glass as Jo tried to pry her eyes away from the rearview mirror. Night was falling fast, and it wasn’t long until the tips of the rooftops vanished. But it wasn’t the town her eyes were drawn to; it was the strange man sitting behind her, his hood still pulled up around his ears as he huddled in the back seat, his uneasiness pervasive enough to fill the entire vehicle.They hadn’t gone far when he ordered Zane to stop the car. He turned from one side to the other, carefully looking through the darkness for any signs that they weren’t alone. When he was satisfied, he opened the car door and got out.Jo looked at the others, unsure of exactly what was going on. Zane gestured for her to get out as well. The American was standing in front of the Jeep, his hands in his pockets as he waited, the falling snow catching the headlights as it swirled around him. With a deep breath, she pushed
Night Slayer Chapter 27
At dusk, Zane pulled the Jeep to a stop near the spot in the winding overgrown road where Jo had spoken to Ryker the evening before. They couldn’t see the tavern from here, but she imagined the lower the sun sank in the sky, the more scurrying figures could be seen rushing to their homes from the gathering place, their heads down but shifting so that they could check their backs with the corners of their eyes. What a miserable way to exist.“Do you think he’ll show?” Leo asked from the back seat, the skepticism obvious in his tone.“Yes.” One word was all Jo could bother with. After a day of wandering around the frozen Siberian tundra, visiting a few other villages, and getting nowhere. She wasn’t in the mood to explain herself. Checking with the other teams hadn’t given her anything to grow excited about either, though Cass had finally reached the town where Eliza and Lucas lived, not tha
Night Slayer Chapter 28
Sitting on what appeared to be a handmade quilt at least a few decades older than her, draped across a mattress that may have been in the old lodge two villages over, the first one that had had an empty room, since Jo’s father was born, she listened to the rest of her team discussing their options, keeping her mouth shut. Ryker had spent the entire drive cussing them out over how much trouble they’d gotten him into, and even when Jo had handed over twice the cash she’d originally promised him, the man hadn’t shut up. He was downstairs in the bar now, likely spending a chunk of the money he’d just earned trying to forget their predicament, a luxury Jo couldn’t afford. He’d insisted on keeping his bags with him, too, saying he didn’t trust them not to go through them.“I say we leave him here,” Leo was saying, sitting in an old recliner near a fire they’d lit for their human companion when t
Night Slayer Chapter 29
Voices awoke her well before Jo was ready to open her eyes. The sounds of men’s voices discussing something in hushed whispers across the room mingled with another voice, another male, a familiar one, emanating from her own mind, and she realized she’d fallen asleep with her IAC on. That didn’t happen often. By the time she realized it was her Uncle Elliott trying to get her attention, Jo’s eyes were open, and Leo and Zane were looking at her, wearing matching worried expressions.Rather than attempting to explain to them that she hadn’t heard a damn word they’d said, she pulled the blankets over her face and focused on her uncle. “What’s up?” she asked, certain the grogginess in her voice wouldn’t be his only clue that he’d woken her. He’d likely figured that out when calling her name eighty-two times had gotten him nowhere.“Well, if it ain&rsqu
Latest chapter
Night Slayer Chapter 141
How Christian went about opening the portal, Jo wasn’t sure. It was like he cast a magic spell of some sort, though, when Scott asked him how he had done it, all Christian said was, “Science.” The next thing she knew, there was a wavering light in the wall of the black tunnel. An orange boundary grew brighter around the edges, and then inside of that, there was a moving orange light that seemed like a flickering fire in the distance. It was slightly different than the portal they’d come through, but it was close enough, and she was in a hurry to get her mother home where she belonged.Christian went through first, followed by Cadence, Cassidy, and Scott. Ryker followed him, and Zane insisted that Jo go ahead of her. But she grabbed hold of his hand to make sure that he didn’t get left behind. If he couldn’t come through the opening for some reason, she was staying, too,
Night Slayer Chapter 140
“Do you want to hold your mom’s hand?” Jamie asked Mallory as she lay on the operating table in his office. Cadon couldn’t believe how quickly everything was beginning to look like it used to. Even with the American government under collapse and citizens taking it upon themselves to hunt down Vampires and dispatch them, despite the laws that were still on the records, furniture, and other supplies were not that hard to find if one knew where to look–apparently.“Yeah, I’d like to hold her hand,” Mallory replied. She was so nervous, Cadon could see her shaking from his spot behind Jamie and slightly to the Healer’s left. Annastasia was standing on her daughter’s other side and had no problem taking her hand.“It’ll be fine,” Jamie assured her. Cadon had lost count of how many times he&
Night Slayer Chapter 139
The angry monsters were coming at them, and Jo, Zane, Scott, and Cassidy were outnumbered at least ten to one. The chances of them being able to shoot all of the monsters dead before any of them died were slim to none.Thankfully, Cassidy didn’t have to shoot the monsters in order for her to get them out of their way. As Jo and Zane worked on shooting them, Cassidy used her powers to create a bubble around the monsters, one they couldn’t break through. Jo held her fire, afraid she might do something to mess Cassidy’s plan up. The men followed suit. The monsters were contained, but it wasn't clear how long they would stay that way, and they were still blocking the group from reaching the door, the only means of escape.For now.Cassidy directed Jo, Scott, and Zane to move behind her. “Get out
Night Slayer Chapter 138
The penthouse was far quieter than Cadon had ever experienced before. At least, he couldn’t remember a time when his previous home wasn’t buzzing with noise of some kind. Whether it was his parents talking and laughing or loud music coming from his sister’s room, noise always filled the space. Now, he was sitting on a foreign sofa in a room that was painted the wrong color and had no decorations on the wall, and all he could think about was whether or not any of his family members would ever be in this home with him again.He’d decided to stop sitting in Christian’s office after a couple of hours of waiting for Jo to come back through the portal with his mom. It wasn’t that he didn’t have faith in either his sister or his mother. It was just… Ashley had told him the room was finished, and he’d needed to see it.
Night Slayer Chapter 137
Over her twenty-five-year-long lifetime, Jo had had to go to lots of places she would’ve rather never visited. She could think of several. The opera. A friend’s piano recital. The principal’s office. A cave full of bat poop. The gates of hell.Yep, through the doorway that led to hell had to be the least favorite place she’d ever gone that she had no choice but to travel to.Once they crossed through the doors, everything changed drastically, which was a shock to Jo because she thought the portal already seemed so much like hell itself. These tunnels that led down to the depths of despair were even more terrifying and lonely than anything she’d ever experienced before.“Are you getting a signal from Cass on your IAC?” Scott asked as Jo tried to keep her focus. All arou
Night Slayer Chapter 136
Sitting in Annastasia and Mallory’s living room--again--Cadon tried to stay quiet and let Jamie and Ashley answer all of the questions the girl had. Plenty of questions popped out of her mouth as they were talking about the pluses and minuses of becoming a Hunter. Mallory’s biggest concerns seemed to be actually having to fight Vampires and the pain that she would have to undergo in order to turn herself into a Hunter.“I have a medicine I will give to you after I give you the first shot, the Transformation serum,” Jamie was explaining. “I can’t give it to you until two minutes after the first shot, but most people don’t have a reaction until after those two minutes have passed anyway. For most people, the first Transformation shots aren’t painful at all. When some LIGHTS team members have chosen to have a second Transformation shot, later in their career, so
Night Slayer Chapter 135
Standing alone in the tunnel with no way of reaching the hole her mother had just disappeared through was more terrifying to Jo than she was willing to admit. Just a split second after her mother’s feet were gone through the opening, her heart started hammering in her chest, and she felt like she was going to throw up. But she took a second to assess the situation and reminded herself that she was okay. Lots of people knew where she was.That didn’t mean they’d be able to get her out.She knew her aunt could float her out, though. At least she hoped she would be able to. The thought that her powers might not work through the floor made Jo nervous. She took some deep breaths and waited.Only a few seconds had passed, but the panic was already there. “I trust you, Mom,” Jo whispered. &ldq
Night Slayer Chapter 135
Cadon wandered back over to the building where he thought he’d find Jamie and Ashley. He just hoped he didn’t run into them making out again. Even though they didn’t look old, they were still his friend’s parents, and that was kinda gross, sort of like walking in on his own parents making out.Not that that would ever happen again.He pushed the thought aside. Sometimes it was hard to remember that his dad was gone. He just hoped that his sister was having some luck locating their mom.Cadon entered the building and heard voices coming from the office on the left right inside the door. Jamie’s office. The door was open, so he stuck his head in. Ashley and Jamie were sitting across from a couple he didn’t recognize. The male looked familiar for some reason
Night Slayer Chapter 134
Jo could hardly believe that she was walking alongside her mother. She kept wanting to quiz the being beside her to see if she really was Cadence Findley McReynolds, or if this was some sick joke played on her by the Vampires. Maybe this was a demon that happened to look like her mom. Maybe it was a Vampire that someone as powerful as Holland was able to make look like her mom. It was just… surreal.“Do you know where we’re going, honey?” Cadence asked. “I’ve been up and down this corridor lots of times.”“You have?” Jo was surprised to hear that. “Yes, I think I know how to get out.”“Yeah, for the first… I don’t know how long… I kept trying to figure out how to get out, but after a while, I just sort of gave up, I guess. H
