Chapter One
THANE
Fucking Vampires.
Of all the creatures from Hell, they were the worst. Sure, any demon could kill faster than a human. Most of them could rip a man apart. Vampires, however, left a mess when they did it. It was almost like the damned things enjoyed playing in their food. While Dale, the team leader, listed off the state of the latest victim - and the blood covering the alley he was found in - Thane was strapping the tools of his trade onto his body. Out of sight, of course.
Bullets did nothing to these things, so guns were useless. Garlic was a joke. Crosses had power, but only specific versions. That was why they all had the Celtic cross tattooed on their left forearm. It burned the fuck out of any demon spawn thanks to the power of their faith. Unfortunately, it also burned the hunter wearing it, but not as badly.
Unconsciously, Thane rubbed a hand across the divine symbol tattooed on his left forearm. It had been placed there by the Church when he turned eighteen. That was the day they’d made him a hunter. The day they’d forced him to kill a girl - but she hadn’t been human. It was the day he’d learned that he would either spend his life destroying the spawn of hell or the Church of the Holy Inquisition would destroy him.
That was the nature of their faith. There was no room for doubt. Doubt was how demons had gained so much power on Earth. It was how they’d escaped Hell in the first place. God had given certain bloodlines the abilities necessary to fight back, and the Church couldn’t risk their hunters being corrupted. The tattoo had been charged with God’s own glory to burn in the presence of evil.
That burning worked as an early warning for the hunters, but it sure wasn't comfortable. Then again, that was why the priests didn't have it. Oh, no. Those pompous fuckers wore their wards as jewelry, able to take them off when they weren't convenient.
Thane hated them all - except one. His brother got a pass, but only about half the time. The rest of the Church of the Holy Inquisition could all die, in Thane's opinion. To them, the hierarchy was just proof of God's plan. The oldest son became a priest while the other siblings bred the next generation, unless the power coursing through them was too much. If that was the case, they became a hunter - like him.
Thane was damned good at it. After thirteen years, he should be.
Shoving a pair of silver spikes - his clavum - into a hidden pocket at his waistband, he looked up at the team leader, who was still going on about the murder scene in the Dallas club district. One dead frat boy. One vampire who'd left a witness alive: a homeless man had watched the entire thing. That meant they'd know who they were chasing this time. Should be an easy hunt. Get in, grab the bloody bitch, and get out.
Then Dale changed all the rules. "She has a thrall."
"What?" Thane snapped. "And they're both in the club, right now?"
Dale just flicked a finger. "Which is why we need to move out. Thane, Scott, Brice, Lucas, and Harrison. You five will scope the club. If she's not feeding, then don't make a scene. If any of you can lure the vampire out, we'll have a full unit of priests waiting, as well as the rest of us." His eyes looked over them all. "The thrall will try to help. We need to separate them. So, one of you boys needs to get the thrall, and the other four get the damned vamp out of the goth club!"
With that, they headed out. Thane drove the first of three SUVs. His team leader rode in the last. It wasn't the fastest trip, but with their church in a Dallas suburb called Addison, it brought a little less attention. Out here in Texas, mega-churches were no big deal. No one would stop to wonder what all went on in a building that size. They certainly wouldn't expect this church to do more than offer absolution in some confused mixture of Catholicism and Baptist sermons.
Started in the fourteen hundreds, this branch of religion operated more like the Knights Templar than a true church. Each of them had been born into the faith. From father to son and mother to daughter, the power of God passed through their blood. That power was what allowed them to fight back against the creatures from Hell that preyed on the weak and innocent, - people like that college guy.
Half an hour after being notified of the vampire attack, the hunters arrived on the scene. Thane headed to the parking lot of the club where the monster was still enjoying herself. The second SUV turned down a side street to set up as backup. The last one turned the other way, most likely heading to the crime scene. Somewhere in the area were priests, ready to use the power of God to keep this from getting out of hand.
Parking the truck, Thane ran over the plan with his team again, then the group headed over to wait in line. Right now, they looked like nothing more than a group of horny guys hoping to find an easy piece of ass and a few cheap drinks. They couldn't skip the line without causing a scene and tipping off the vampire. That meant a few more precious minutes were wasted while they shuffled forward to have their IDs checked like everyone else.
"So, how hard do you think it'll be to find her?" Brice asked.
"We have an Asian girl in a red dress, and a busty blonde in a silver dress," Scott said. "Besides, from the look of things, the blonde should stand out. Everyone else has black hair."
"And lips," Lucas grumbled. "Not sexy. So not sexy."
Thane just chuckled. "I dunno, it's working for me. Along with the electrical tape." He subtly pointed to a girl wearing only an X of tape on her nipples. That was the extent of her "top."
"I take it all back," Lucas breathed. "Black is working very, very well."
"Let's make this fast and clean," Thane told them. "Split the pair up, get the Asian girl out, and then we can go back in for... drinks."
"You mean ass," Harrison teased. "We get this done in under an hour and I'm buying a round for all of you."
"Sounds like a plan," Thane agreed as they reached the bouncer checking IDs.
One by one, they each passed over a plastic card that would pass any inspection. Their pictures were of them, but the names and ages weren't even close. According to this, Thane was just twenty-eight, and his name was Maddox. When the bouncer returned his fake driver's license, Thane shoved it into his back pocket and checked his clavum one last time.
Four spikes, each one was eight inches long, and they were made of silver. No metal detector would complain about them. Even better, they didn't truly look like weapons. They looked like some kind of prop with ends that were only vaguely pointed, and yet these were the one weapon that worked on all the creatures from Hell.
Then they were in. The club was dark. The strobes were bright. The air was thick with vapor and the scent of bodies. Dozens of them, maybe even hundreds, and everyone was moving to the beat of the music. Loud, wailing vocals made it nearly impossible to talk to each other, so Thane pointed to the side, picking where he'd look for the vamp.
Each of them went a different direction, and yet they'd all keep an eye on each other. They'd done this enough times that it was old hat. Maybe not this club, but for some reason the creatures they hunted loved the party scene. House parties, night clubs, or the more exclusive kind, it didn't really matter.