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Chapter 44
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2024-10-29 19:42:56Begin Volume 2/Shadow Stalker
Lenin Street in Magadan reminded Jo of pictures she’d seen of Europe after World War II. Buildings were toppled, some of their brick and stone edifices pouring across sidewalks into the street, metal frames jabbing up into the air as if to serve as a reminder of what could happen to those who don’t heed the new world order put into place by the Vampires after the Revelation. The place was deserted, as abandoned as most towns in the western United States had become, and as Jo McReynolds drove along in the beat up Jeep with the bullet holes riddling the back, she was reminded a little of Denver, Colorado, the place she’d taken to calling home a few years ago when her split with LIGHTS, and her immature berating of her father, had caused her to leave this team, and all teams, behind.
Now, she was back with LIGHTS, though not physically with them at the moment. The only other soul
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Night Slayer Chapter 45
On the other side of the gate, she began to understand his reason for doubting the level of difficulty. Dozens of armed guards took up positions on either side of the Jeep, escorting it toward the large house at the end of the lane. Their eyes glowed amber, an indicator that all of these people were Souled Vampires. She hadn’t gotten the impression from Cassidy and her parties visit that they’d been quite so amassed, but then, perhaps Jo hadn’t been paying quite enough attention.Slowly, Jo eased the Jeep along, awaiting instructions from these greeters, should they bark them. It wasn’t until she was near the house that one of the men signaled for her to stop and shouted something she didn’t understand. This time, it wasn’t in Russian, but his broken English was uninterpretable to her.“He said turn it off,” Zane said. He always was more attuned than she was.She did as s
Night Slayer Chapter 46
Jo paused, waiting to see if Eliza would say more, but she didn’t, so she took a deep breath and continued. “When the Vampire used that name, Asteria, I got chills. I realized then that it did make sense that it could be her, that it almost had to be. She’s one of the only Vampires that’s ever been able to create the sort of shields from Cassidy that she’s experiencing now. The other was Daunator, and he exploded, so I don’t think he could be back.”“God, I should hope not.” Eliza wiggled her shoulders, like she’d gotten the heebie jeebies.“You were there, weren’t you?” Jo asked, straying from the topic slightly, but her curiosity had gotten the better of her.Eliza nodded. “I was there when your mom and Christian used some special grenades he’d come up with to blow Daunator into a billion pieces.”Swallow
Night Slayer Chapter 47
“Well?”The sound of Zane’s voice brought Jo back to the Jeep. She glanced at the clock on the dashboard. It had only been about ten minutes since they’d left Eliza and Lucas’s house, but it seemed like she’d been lost in her thoughts forever. The conversation she’d had with Eliza, after the official meeting was over, had revealed much more about the situation than the few minutes of discussion she’d had with the couple in the living room. She thought there was a good chance they’d agree to help her team find Holland, but she wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing.“Well--what?” Rather than just blurt all of that out to Zane, she decided to give him a chance to pull it out, piece by piece, like a dentist in the 1800s trying to extract a shattered molar. That’s how Jo tended to do things.“What do you think?” He had on
Night Slayer Chapter 48
The bed next to her was empty when Jo woke up the next morning. She shouldn’t have been surprised; as much as she’d wanted to jump Zane the second they’d walked into the room, to take the passion he’d displayed when he’d kissed her in the Jeep to the next level and let all of her emotions out in one fast, furious fuck, she’d realized that it would be a mistake. He didn’t deserve to be objectified in that way, even if she was beginning to realize her feelings for him were still alive, just buried deep, and he wouldn’t have minded the abuse--on the surface. Eventually, when he saw that it hadn’t meant the same thing to her, he’d begin to regret it, and she didn’t want there to be anything else between them, not if she ever planned on attempting to salvage this relationship. For the first time in months, she was beginning to realize she wanted to.She looked around the room and saw that she w
Night Slayer Chapter 49
Hardly a living soul was visible as Jo and Zane walked down the streets of Magadan. The wind was blowing at a sharp clip, sending the snow from the ground swirling and biting into their skin. It didn’t bother either of them, but a human would’ve found it quite unpleasant.Jo was glad for the solace of it. They made their way down the deserted streets, away from the hotel and the mostly closed up shops toward what used to be a city park. Now, the plants had taken over much of the area, the high grass visible above the snow, the tree branches clearly needing a good trim, and the play area rusted, many of the attractions missing key parts. It looked exactly how she would expect a park abandoned after an apocalypse to look, which made her feel quite welcome.A large pond took up the far western quarter of the park. Jo headed there. Her keen eyesight cut through the distance so that she could see the surface long before she arriv
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The drive back out to the compound was relatively silent. Jo hated that her relationship with Zane was currently strained. Since she’d arrived in this hell-hole of a mission, he’d been the only one she could consistently rely upon to keep her moving forward. She needed someone like that, someone who believed in her even when she couldn’t see past the fact that she had never been anything but a mess up. The situation needed to be fixed, but if she was any good at correcting her mistakes, she wouldn’t feel like a screw up all the time to begin with.This time, when they arrived outside of the gate, Lucas’s band of Souled Vampires were already waiting for them. Not only were there far fewer Vampires escorting them in, the ones that were there had their weapons slung against their backs, not at the ready as they had been the night before. It was clear something had changed. Whether or not that should make Jo feel better or not r
Night Slayer Chapter 51
“A few of your associates?” Jo repeated, her feet not budging from the hallway as she continued to stare into what could only be described as a library or office full of Souled Vampires. Every single one of them was looking at her, amber eyes shining, as they took her in. Just as her intestines were on fire as the enemy sent her bloodstream ablaze, their natural reaction was to see her as the enemy, someone they needed to destroy.“Yes,” Lucas said, his forehead crinkling as he looked at her, gauging her reaction. “Didn’t Eliza tell you that?”“Uh… if she did, I didn’t process it correctly,” Jo stammered.“No, I didn’t tell her that you wanted her to meet with a dozen of your strongest, scariest Vampire henchmen--and women,” Eliza replied, coming up behind them. Jo didn’t dare take her eyes off of the room of Vampires to address
Night Slayer Chapter 52
The hotel near the next X the team had decided needed to be addressed was only slightly better than the first hotel they’d stayed in almost a week ago when they’d first entered the area. Zane pulled into a parking space in a nearly empty gravel lot, and Jo hopped out, glad to be out of the Jeep.They’d hardly spoken at all on the way back. She’d done her best to spend her time wisely, checking in with her teammates, including a long conversation with Elliott about how much it sucked to be stuck in Turkey, which is where his team was currently dealing with transportation issues, and an update on the situation in the US where the Australian Army was amassing near the southern border, and President Crimson still wasn’t willing to budge. It looked like the situation there was about to get ugly, and she was honestly glad she wasn’t having to deal with that mess, even if the challenges that lay in front of her were not exact
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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
