Luke Irontree & the Last Vampire War (Books 8-10), page 10
Sixty minutes later, they found their wolves huddling at the bottom of a hill. On the other side of the hill, lights glowed into the night.
“That must be our camp,” Luke whispered.
Jeremy nodded.
“OK, Jeremy, I want you to stay here and watch our escape trail. We’re going to work our way up the hill and take a look. If you hear anything back here, give a little yip.”
Jeremy laid down on all fours and moved his head about, keeping a look out. Luke figured he would have argued but was glad he’d listened to the order. Luke took another minute to catch his breath before starting up the hill, carefully picking his path to avoid making too much noise. A few minutes later, they crested the hill and found some bushes to hide under.
Jung-sook unfolded the bipod for the sniper rifle and set it up, sweeping the gun side to side to check out all the sights. Ahmed handed Luke the backpack. Pulling out a set of binoculars, he took his first look at the camp. Pablo settled down on Luke’s other side, sweeping his ears, nose, and eyes around to pick up anything the others might miss with their equipment or human-ish faculties.
It did look like a prison camp. There were barracks, some isolated away from the others. The entire thing was surrounded by a high fence composed of various types of wires, including concertina razor wire. Luke guessed it was electrified as well, based on the configuration of the posts and the heavy wiring and cables.
“That’ll be a real bitch to get through,” Ahmed whispered.
“No shit.” Luke swept the binoculars over the entire camp. “Ready to take down some numbers?”
Luke read off distances using the range finding feature of the binoculars. Once they returned to town, they could create a more precise map of the camp and the size of the buildings. After he got the numbers, he settled his gaze on a man who looked like a vampire walking next to a man in the mysterious uniform Jeremy had mentioned. At this distance and in this lighting, Luke couldn’t read any of the patches or make out any of the emblems on the man’s uniform. They stopped. The changed angle allowed some light to reflect off the vampire’s mouth. His fangs were out for all to see. Then the man saluted the vampire and jogged off.
“Looks like the mercs know who their employer is.” Luke followed the vampire as he walked into a building.
“How’d they build all this way out here?” Ahmed asked.
Luke grunted. “I think I see a road on the other side leading from a gate. I think it goes west. We should mark the coordinates and see if we can figure out where that road is.”
“Yeah. No cell reception out here. Let me grab the GPS.” Ahmed perked his head up. “I think we’re going to get a breeze.”
Luke felt the air stir as at swirled around lightly until it settled into a steady light wind blowing into their faces. Luke’s stomach sank. Next to him, a low growl rumbled in Pablo’s throat. Reaching out, Luke settled his hand on Pablo’s back between his front shoulders.
“What is that stench?” Ahmed asked as he tried to cringe away from the smell.
Ahmed hadn’t been at the Wapato assault when Luke first collaborated with the North Portland pack. Only Pablo had gone up that hallway with Luke, though he imagined the wolves near the infirmary hallway couldn’t miss the stench even if they wanted to. He didn’t know if it was his imagination, or sound carrying on the wind, but Luke thought he heard an agonized scream.
“Death.”
Chapter
Nine
“Are you sure?” Erin asked.
Luke wiped a hand over his tired eyes. “I wish I wasn’t, but I know what that place is. I’ve seen them too many times over my lifetime. They’ve taken many forms over the centuries, but that smell is universal. It’s a vampire nursery, and it’s being guarded by vampires, werewolves, and what looks like mercenaries.”
He paced back and forth, his friends and the people Erin approved of watching him. Tension and fear hung heavy in the room. He stopped, resting his hand on the back of a chair.
“Erin. This is bad. I’ve been scanning the papers for the last few days. There have been a lot of missing people in the region, far more than historical trends dictate. Now your wolves.”
Mary sighed. “There are a few from our pack that have gone missing recently. We’ve been quietly looking but haven’t found them.”
“I bet whichever pack is providing muscle for that camp sold off those who didn’t agree with the arrangements, and they’re in that camp in one of those barracks, feeding the vamps. That camp is a death factory. They’re turning their captives into brand new vampires and feeding the rest of their captives to them. Dammit all.” Luke’s knuckles whitened as he squeezed the top of the chair. “I wish we had the whole team here, but there’s no way they can get here in a timely manner.”
“We’re not trained soldiers, but we can fight and shoot,” Mary said. “You’ll have my pack.”
Erin nodded at Mary.
Luke closed his eyes and took a breath before turning to Mary. “How well do you trust the St. Johns Pack?”
“I’d trust them. They’re good folks. They like a good tussle as much as the next wolf, though they’d prefer it be on ice with hockey sticks, but they’ll fight if we ask them. If we let them know how bad it is,” Mary replied.
Luke stared into Mary’s eyes. She held his gaze.
He made the snap decision. “OK. Fill in their packleaders and get them moving this way. Whatever weapons they have, bring them. We’re not going to have enough anti-vamp weapons, but you can still do a lot of damage to a vampire with a regular gun, and something’s better than nothing.
“Erin? Can you talk to George?” Luke asked.
“Right. I’ll do that immediately. I’m guessing we’re done sweeping streets?”
Luke caught everyone’s eye. “We’re done patrolling the streets. We’re going to war.”
It took the better part of the rest of the afternoon and the next morning for everyone to filter into town, with the Canadians from the St. Johns Pack arriving last after smuggling what weapons they could across the border and meeting up with Mary and Erin’s most trusted people to finish the trip over.
To keep things on the down-low, Luke kept training going and turned out the trainees for nighttime sweeps. With only a handful of the most trusted people outside the joint leadership group knowing the details, Luke and Erin hoped to keep the movements of their reinforcements under wraps. They didn’t know who the mole was, or even if there was one, but now was not the time to get sloppy and blow the operation, especially since it was taking so long to assemble his forces. He hated the delay, but they needed people.
While the rest of his team handled the trainees, keeping the routine going, Luke and the people he’d taken out to the vamp camp grabbed a few hours of sleep. When he woke, he met with Erin and Mary to sort out how to organize the influx of new people with the limited intelligence they had about the abilities of those who were showing up. Guns would be useful, but bipedal form werewolves would be better.
Even untrained, they could handle a vampire and take some damage, especially if the enemy wasn’t using silver or wood. He hated having to send in green recruits, but time was not on their side with a ticking time bomb on their hands.
He had no idea what the various packleaders told their people. He’d only asked them not to reveal the exact nature of their timeline or the specific destination and mission. He’d insisted their packs seek volunteers for an important and highly dangerous mission that was vital to the safety of their packs and the local region, but he left the rest for them to handle.
Now with the plans set and the personnel on hand, they dipped into Owen’s bag of fun acquisitions and loaded everyone into their vehicles. Somehow, Erin had acquired several mini buses. As their improvised army loaded up, Luke had his people activate the cell jammers to ensure whoever the mole might be couldn’t get a message off, then briefed their buses as they rolled.
Luke would have to trust to his people. He had a different mission and wouldn’t be able to communicate with the others until all units were in place.
“Are you sure this thing is reliable?” Luke asked, as they loaded their weapons into the back of a beat-up box van.
“The engine and suspension are good,” Owen said. “It’s not pretty, but it’ll do what it’s made to do, and that’s all you can ask of it.”
Luke nodded. He stepped back as his assault team finished their final preparation before getting on the road. He missed not seeing Jung-sook, but her sniper rifle would be far more valuable with the other team on the hills overlooking the camp from the back end. Roxi, Pablo, Sam, Ahmed, Owen, and Charlie were reliable people to have on hand and the people he trusted most. The others he truly trusted would lead teams on their own missions. He missed Delilah and Simone’s presence, but they were needed elsewhere.
“Mr. Irontree…Luke.” Jeremy stood, his hands clasped in front of him as he twisted them.
“Hey, Jer. What can I do for you? Got a message from your mom?” Luke asked.
“No. Um. Can you talk to her, please? She won’t let me go. I can fight. You need all the help you can get going up against all that.”
Luke’s eyes narrowed slightly. “She said no?”
Jeremy nodded.
“You’re not my werewolf to command, and I can’t countermand your mother. We’re her guests and allies.”
When Jeremy protested, Luke held up his hand to forestall him. “But. We’re meeting briefly for a last check in before we roll out. I will speak to her, but I’m making no promises. Understand?”
Jeremy’s face brightened. “Thank you, sir.”
“No matter the verdict, you obey her word. Got it?”
“Yes, sir.” Jeremy, with a hopeful smile on his face, turned and joined in loading the last of the heavy crates.
As Luke walked away to join the last-minute check in, he stopped Ahmed. “Keep an eye on Jeremy.”
“A little over eager?”
“I’m guessing he’s already done more than his mother wanted him to do and he’s eager for more.”
“I’ll keep an eye on him,” Ahmed replied.
Luke nodded and took off. The vehicle leaders sat around in the living room of the large farm house that sat on the property they’d been using for their training sessions.
“Sorry I was late. Young master Jeremy stopped me and asked me to intercede on his behalf with the leader of his pack.” Luke sank into a chair next to Roxi.
She smiled faintly at him and handed him a can of sparkling water.
“And you told him…?” Erin arched one eyebrow practically into her bangs—the quintessential mom signal that Luke was walking on thin ice.
“That he wasn’t my werewolf to command, and that I was a guest and ally of his pack, and then I made him promise that he’d abide by whatever answer I received from you.”
Erin stared at him for a few seconds, considering his answer and whether he might have trespassed somehow until finally she nodded. “My answer is the same as when he asked me earlier. He has responsibilities to the pack here.”
Luke nodded. “Now that that’s settled. Final check in. Owen?”
“You’ve got all the weapons I could scrounge up. We’ve already activated the cell phone jammers. Short of someone showing up with a tank, we’re as armed as we’re going to be.”
“Excellent. Erin, all our personnel here are briefed?” Luke asked.
“Yup. They have the stage-one information and are on board. We’ll fill them in on everything else on the road.”
Twisting in his chair, Luke smiled at Sam. “Do you have the special equipment I asked for?”
“I do. Though I’m not sure what your plan is.”
“The vamps changed the name of the game when they brought down those airplanes. It’s time to change our approach to meet the new state of affairs.” Luke looked toward Erin’s second. “Alejandro, you’ve got your drivers briefed about the first stop and their secondary objectives?”
“Correct. I’ve got paper maps and GPS units. All the rigs have CBs, and we stocked up on some hand-held radios.”
Sam raised her hand.
Luke looked at Sam, tilting his head slightly. “Yes, Sam?”
Her face dead serious, she straightened and looked around the room. “Does everyone have cool CB handles picked yet?”
Luke snorted. Pablo and Delilah chuckled, covering their mouths.
Forcing his face into a semblance of seriousness, he made eye contact with Alejandro. “If you need suggestions on cool CB handles, I suggest you consult with Sam. She is the expert on the topic.”
Sam, narrowing her eyes, moved forward to the edge of her seat and looked intently at Alejandro. “Alejandro, you strike me as a ‘Rubber Duckie’ kind of man…”
Alejandro looked confused, which only increased the poorly contained snickers of Pablo and Delilah.
“Simone, Delilah. You’ve got your objectives. I’ll leave it to you to use your teams as needed when you get within striking distance. And keep an eye on Brutus, though he’ll probably be fine.” The dog had been a vital part of tracking down Le Mousquetaire a few weeks ago in Paris.
“Are you sure you want to bring him along?” Delilah asked.
He shrugged. “He always refused to be left behind. He’s a strange beast.”
“Right.” Delilah, a smirk on her face from her earlier laughter, saluted Luke. Simone nodded seriously.
“Jung-sook, do you have someone who can use the other Steyr?”
Jung-sook nodded. “Yes. And a few of Mary’s folks have some good, well-scoped hunting rifles, so I’ve got six snipers.”
“And that brings me to the last piece. Does everyone have their strip of white cloth and has it been impressed upon them how important it is to wear it, even in wolf forms? Since we don’t all know each other by sight, we need to be able to identify each other quickly.”
Luke saw a room full of nods. “OK. Let’s move out. Good luck and stay sharp.”
In ones and twos, people stood up and left to attend to their teams. Standing just out of the way of the exit, Luke pulled Roxi in for a brief kiss.
“What was that for?” Roxi asked, a soft smile on her face.
“Just ‘cause.” Luke ran his hand along her cheek. “Just taking a moment to appreciate you before we get busy dealing death and destruction.”
Roxi chuckled. “It’s a weird world we inhabit, dōšagīh. I’m glad to know you.”
“Me, too.” Luke sighed. “Now I have to go tell a young man that his mom says he can’t go to war.”
“How old were you when you enlisted in the legions?” Roxi asked, slipping her hand into his as they walked back to the vans.
“Seventeen. But this is a different world, and I can’t blame her for wanting to keep her son from going down the same path I did all those years ago.”
Roxi laughed. “Hanging out on a corner, smoking cigarettes, and playing with your switchblade?”
Luke shook his head. “I joined the legions, not a 1950s gang of street hoods. I wasn’t having a dance fight with the Jets; I was trying to keep Dacians from peeling me out of my armor with a falx. What were you doing, general’s daughter? Going to prep school with the other elite girls?”
“If prep school was assassinating my king’s rivals and any Roman I could get an arrow into…”
Now it was Luke's turn to laugh. “You and I don’t exactly have teen years that translate to modern young people, that’s for sure.”
Roxi chuckled. “That is a truth.”
Seeing them walking up, Jeremy jogged over, an eager expression plastered on his face. When Luke shook his head, the young man’s face fell.
“I’m sorry, Jer. She was adamant that you had other responsibilities.”
“But… Everyone else gets to go. I’m a grown man…”
“Be that as it may,” Roxi said. “She’s your mother and your packleader. We aren’t going to cross her wishes.”
Jeremy made a disgusted sound and shook his head. “Fine. I’ll go finish loading boxes since that’s all I’m good for.” He turned and stormed off toward the box van to help with the last of the ordnance.
Luke shook his head as Jeremy stomped away. “I bet my mom wished she could have kept me home from the legions, but I guess I survived, at least physically.”
“None of us made it out whole, even if our physical injuries were light,” Roxi replied. “It’s better he be disappointed today than see what we’re about to do.”
Luke nodded. “Yeah. It’s not going to be pretty in there. What people see in there is going to stick with them far longer than they want.” He just hoped they’d all be coming home, no matter the injuries, physical or emotional, they might sustain.
Chapter
Ten
Luke and his team stopped at their designated ready point. Except for the driver of the van, they all climbed out and lined up at the back of the box van. A couple of the werewolves stared at the roll up of the van, eyes narrowed and faces suspicious.
As soon as the driver opened the door, Luke discovered why.
“Jeremy, you’re not supposed to be here,” Luke said, his face stern.
Jeremy puffed up his chest and straightened his spine. “I want to fight. I want to do my part for the pack.”
“Damn it, if anything happens to you, your mother will be crushed, and she’ll blame me.” Luke shook his head. Ahmed was supposed to be watching him. It was too late to do anything about it now, and there wasn’t time for an ass chewing, though that had never been Luke’s leadership style, anyway. “Get out of there and go to the van.” Luke turned to Charlie. “Keep an eye on him and don’t let him slip into the compound.”
