Luke Irontree & the Last Vampire War (Books 8-10), page 5
Alejandro stood and found a glass and some water. He didn’t look like he was taking the news very well, though Erin didn’t look much better. Shifting world views so radically can cause a lot of mental trauma.
Erin looked at Sam. “Is this…” She gestured vaguely around her. “Is this all true?”
Luke couldn’t blame her for checking in with a werewolf. He’d seen this a few times over his millennia of life when he clued in someone new. The desire to cling to the last vestiges of their comfortable blissful ignorance was nearly universal.
Sam nodded, giving Erin a sympathetic look. “Every word of it. One of the worst aspects is that the vampires have been recruiting werewolf packs as their muscle and underlings. We’ve been dealing with that for the last couple of years.”
Erin startled. “Years?”
Luke nodded. “A couple years ago, my friend Pieter, who was the son of the packleader of the Flanders Pack, asked for help. The vampires were making a major incursion into their southern territory. When we showed up, the vamps orchestrated a kidnapping of the packleader, or so we thought. It turned out that Pieter’s brother had betrayed his father to the vampires for his own gain. He murdered his father to secure the support of the vampires.”
Sighing, Luke shook his head sadly. “Secretly, he’d been purging non-white members of the pack and, at least on one occasion, trafficked children to the vampires. And this wasn’t the only pack the vampires had been taking over.” Luke gestured toward Simone.
“Before making their move against Flanders, they took my pack. They provided wealth to those who wanted to replace our leaders and purge our ranks. They killed my parents and gave my little brother to the vampires. We were able to rescue him, but they wiped out all the dissidents. The pack became complete servants of the vampires, serving as their soldiers. Vampires and their pet werewolves do not like the ‘other.’”
“We suspect that they also took over several other small packs along the French-Belgian border. They were operating with impunity along the border and launching their assaults into the French-speaking portion of Belgium.” Luke took a drink from his coffee, trying to force the jetlag to stay at bay.
Erin’s eyes flicked between Alejandro and Sam. “Is this happening in the United States?”
“We haven’t seen it yet, at least that we know of,” Sam replied. “We’ve been spreading out and helping wolf packs who want to clean out the vamps from their areas, but we’ve been operating on a by-request basis. We’ve not been quiet about what we’re doing around Portland and southwest Washington. We’ve had delegations come in to undergo training, but we haven’t tried to move into a city and then met resistance.”
“It would probably be best to assume they are. This is a big country with a lot of space.” Luke looked at Sam and Pablo. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but the wolf packs here aren’t as connected as they are in Europe, where everything is closer and older.”
Pablo nodded. “That’s a fair assessment.”
“It very well could be happening in large numbers, and we’re just not aware of it yet.” Luke gave Erin an understanding smile. “I’m sorry we’ve unloaded a whole lot onto you in the last few minutes, but I think your pack is in danger if they’re kidnapping your wolves off the streets. It’s a hell of a world to have revealed like this. I think big things are afoot, and through a twist of fate, we’re in your territory. While we’re waiting to learn more about what’s going on with the airplanes and airports, we can help you get on a decent footing so you can protect your people.”
Sam reached out and patted Erin’s forearm. “He’s right, Erin. I’ve known Luke for several years now. He’s a good man, and he knows what he’s talking about when it comes to vampires. We can’t ‘live and let live’ with vampires because they’re coming after us. They’re coming after wolves. I haven’t seen true horrors like Luke has, but what I’ve seen is bad enough. Holly speaks highly of you. She says you’re a good leader who really cares about her pack and her community. Well, we’re here right now, and we can provide the expertise to ensure you can keep on caring for your pack and your community.” Sam exchanged a look with Pablo. “Do you have contacts with other local packs? Could you invite them for a meeting so we can bring them in as well?”
“That’s a good idea. Get everyone on the same footing all at once,” Luke said.
Erin nodded, her face going from scared to sure and determined. “There’s a small pack in rural Maine, plus we’re on good terms with the New Hampshire and Vermont Packs. There are a few on the other side of the Canadian border that we keep in regular contact with, but there’s rumor of the border being closed until they can get more answers about the plane crashes.”
“Reach out to them as well. We can teleconference them in or they can go four-paws across the border through the woods. This is really important, Erin.” Sam gave her an encouraging smile.
“Alright.” Erin looked at Alejandro. “Gather up the rest of the council. I want to meet in an hour. I’ll start calling the other packleaders and see if we can get something set up for tomorrow or the day after at the latest. I’ll impress upon them the urgency.”
Luke nodded. “I’ll be at your disposal to help explain things and answer questions when you have the other packleaders here.” He looked at his friends. “We’ll get out of your way while you get things organized. We could use lunch and time to make our own plans. Again, I’m sorry to drop this all on you, but the times aren’t gentle.”
Luke stood and gestured for everyone to follow. Sam walked over to Erin and squeezed her shoulder, giving her a half hug before joining Luke and the rest of the team.
When they stood outside, Luke turned to the crew. “Let everyone else know they’re free to explore the town and have some time off, but be ready to go tonight if Erin wants to take another swing through town.”
They kept business talk to a minimum since the restaurant where they stopped for lunch was full with the local work crowd. They went to Allagash Brewing after lunch, figuring it would be less likely to have a large crowd during the middle of the work week, and they could enjoy one of the popular local institutions while they were there.
“I almost thought we spooked her too hard,” Delilah said.
“Yeah, after last night and then dropping a ton of bricks on her, I thought she might ask us to leave so she could go back to living in ignorance.” Luke took a drink of his Allagash White.
“She came around at the end,” Sam said. “Holly wasn’t wrong about her. She’s a good leader and a good person. I had faith in her.”
“I guess we’ll find out for sure later today after she talks to the rest of her pack leadership,” Roxi said, taking a tentative sip of her Allagash Tripel.
“Yeah. They could override her, though I doubt they’d go against her and Alejandro,” Simone said.
Pablo nodded. “I was watching his face toward the end. We shook him, but he was rallying.” Pablo drank deeply from an Allagash White, sighing happily. “You know. This might even be better than my wit, but I guess that’s what they’re known for.” He looked at Luke. “If we have time, I really do want to get that tour she offered to hook us up with.”
Luke chuckled. He loved Pablo. His friend worked hard both for his pack and helping Luke slay vampires, but he also liked to play hard. A brewery tour would be a bit of both since he’d invariably get ideas to take back to his own brewery, though with the extended travel, he had less to do with the day-to-day operations lately.
“We should have time, and it’s good to get some rest and relaxation to keep us fresh and on our toes. We’re going to need to be extra alert since there’s a lot going on that we’re not privy to. Speaking of which, y’all seen anything new from the available sources regarding the reason we’re here in the first place?”
“We’ve got beers and a quiet table out of the way.” Sam looked at her phone. “And a good Wi-Fi connection. Let’s do some research. Just be sure you have the security features Jamaal installed active. Wouldn’t want to be traced.” She made eye contact with everyone, collecting nods of acknowledgment. “I’ll see if Holly has updates.”
“That’s not a bad idea,” Luke said, pulling out his phone. “Let’s see what we can scrounge up. I’ll look through the local and regional news and see if I can find any of the signs that usually precede these kinds of toothy mishaps. Everybody else, hit the national and international news about the crashes.”
Luke hit the various news sites for the New England region, including the various small-town papers and local boards, taking a brief break to order another Allagash White before diving back into his research. Sam, who’d brought her laptop, had her nose buried in it as she sent emails bouncing around back home to gather information from her sources in Portland. Occasionally, one of the others would check in to make sure they weren’t all looking at the same articles about the crashes.
After a while, Luke called for everyone to set down their devices and report in. He started. “The patterns are right. Something’s happening around here or has been a for a while. But it’s going slower than it did in Portland when we met.”
“I wonder why.” Sam pursed her lips contemplatively.
“Could be they decided they went too fast in Portland and got caught, or it could be that this is a less densely populated area, at least until you get into Massachusetts or New York. It was hard to discern at first, but when you look back far enough and you see the consistent pattern, you can tell the vamps are cooking something locally.” Luke took a drink of his beer.
“How far does it go?” Pablo asked. “Is it just Maine?”
“No, it’s more widespread. I’m seeing disappearances and dead bodies all across the region.”
Delilah laughed. “You could teach a course on research. That’s some high-level data crunching.”
Luke smiled and nodded, acknowledging Delilah’s compliment. “Sam, what news from back home?”
“Not much, actually. Holly has the pack on high alert. She’s called in extra shifts at the ammo factory to stockpile extras.”
“Wish we could get hold of some of that stockpile here. We’re looking pretty light on ammo.” Pablo looked down at his nearly empty glass and then drained it. “And I’m looking even lighter on my beer.”
Luke chuckled. “Yeah. Once Erin talks to the pack, we’ll have to see what resources they have and get some more made if we’re going to be here for a while. Also, if we’re going to have to go cross-country, I don’t want to do it without proper precautions. Put a pin in this, but we should start planning our evacuation and look at acquiring vehicles to transport ourselves. If we can, let’s purchase so we don’t have to deal with rentals, and we can make any mods we need.”
“Sounds good. Let’s look at tomorrow for a planning meeting with the rest of the team so we can have all our ducks in a row and assign tasks.” Sam typed some notes on her computer.
“What about the rest of you? Pablo?” Luke asked.
“I started with Spanish-language outlets. Lot of confusion, a lot of different statements from different governments. The details are coming together on the various crashes. So far, they all seem to have the same details. One passenger goes wild and brutally starts killing the others before killing the pilots. I don’t see any other causes at this point. Saw a few governments not reporting anything. The one thing I started to see, though only a few mentions, was that it might be the work of an unknown terrorist organization. So far, they’re saying no one has claimed responsibility for the crashes.”
Luke nodded. “Delilah?”
“Largely the same, though I started with US papers and then moved to UK and Australian news sources. I saw a few mentions of possible terrorism there, mostly the US and the UK—the usual governments to always look for terrorists to blame, though they haven’t mentioned any of the usual suspects.”
Luke nodded. “Simone?”
“Right. I started with French language papers. I’m seeing the same. A few mentions of terrorism. I reached out to a friend in Senegal to see if she’d heard anything… Wait. She just emailed back.”
“Go ahead,” Luke said.
Simone opened the email. “Sam, I’m sending you a video.”
“OK, I’ll play it on the screen.” She flipped the computer around. “I can’t read the script. It looks like Arabic.”
“It is,” Roxi said. “It says this video was taken when a plane was grounded in Morocco. Oh, my… The vampire didn’t activate until they were on the ground and unloading the plane.”
The video started on the plane as someone launched from a seat. Soon, screams filled the video as people shoved and dove out of the way. Sam hit the mute button quickly before they drew attention. They could literally see blood flying as the assailant worked its way down the aisle. The angle shifted to someone standing outside the plane in a small group of the already unloaded passengers. They’d turned toward the plane at the sound of screaming people running and shoving to get out of the plane. Soon, the attacker got out of the plane and made straight for the crowd. Whoever was recording kept the camera trained on the attacker for a few more seconds before everything descended into chaos. Luke could see the blood-covered attacker—claws and long fangs dripped with gore and viscera, and its hateful eyes burned with ravenous fury.
“Sam, download that video before it gets scrubbed,” Luke said.
“R…r…right.” She turned the computer around so she could save the video. “OK. Got it.”
Luke’s stomach dropped. He took no pleasure in being right. “I don’t think we need to see anymore.”
There was a palpable sense of relief around the table when Sam closed the video. They’d all seen heavy fighting against vampires, but only Luke and probably Roxi had seen a baby vamp turn into a human shredder. The ferocity and wantonness of it all got to even his hardened vampire slayer’s heart. In a way, he was glad for a couple reasons. One, it demonstrated that his friends hadn’t become too hardened or jaded to the violence of vampire slaying, and two, it was a good reminder of how dangerous vampires truly could be.
“Now we know for sure it’s vampires.” Luke shook his head. “That was a brutally coordinated and executed plan. Each turned human was a time bomb waiting to go off.” He turned to Simone. “Did your friend know if they took out the vamp?”
“Um, says guards shot it, but it took well over a hundred rounds to ‘kill’ it.”
Luke shook his head, pursing his lips in disgust. “It’ll start to heal and keep going, even hungrier because of the need to recuperate and its interrupted first feeding. I don’t know if Holly has connections in Morocco, but if there’s a pack there, we should tell them how to deal with this.”
“We should probably check in with Jean-Paul, too,” Simone said. “There are Moroccan wolves in the Parisian pack; they’ll know people back home.”
“Good thinking, Simone,” Delilah said, smiling at her girlfriend.
“If Erin can get the other packleaders here, we have some compelling evidence for them.” Luke lifted his beer and saluted Simone.
“I’m sending it to Holly right now. I’ll also email Jean-Paul about his Morocco connections and send him this video.” Sam was busy clacking away on her keyboard.
“That wasn’t the news we really wanted, but it’s good to know. I’m going to buy us a round of research rewards. Be right back.” Pablo stood up and walked to the cooler displaying Allagash’s specialty bottles.
Pablo made an excited sound and waved Luke over to help him. “Dude! They make lambic-style beers.” Pablo started grabbing several off the shelf, handing a few to Luke.
He bought one of the brewery’s Gueuze-style “Coolship” beers and dropped them off at the bar for the bartenders to open and serve them.
Once they arrived, he raised his glass. “Here’s to surviving another round of hell with the best people I have the privilege of knowing.”
“And to new friends and allies!” Sam said.
They touched glasses and took their first tastes of the funky and tart beer. They studiously put away their electronics for the moment and talked lightly, avoiding the darkness of their world for a few minutes. After the brutality of the baby vampire going berserk, they needed a bit of a mental palate cleanser to reset the mood at the table.
Chapter
Five
Erin had arranged for the local packleaders to visit Portland and meet with Luke. After they’d showed her, Alejandro, and a few of the other leaders of the Portland Pack the video they’d found, she sent it to the other packleaders, increasing the urgency of her appeal. Disturbed by all she’d heard and seen in the video, she asked for another night sweeping Portland to find any traces of vampires and their missing wolves.
Unfortunately, they’d come up empty. They’d even returned to the building, hoping a werewolf nose could pick up fresh vamp scents, but that was a dead end as well. All the scents were either humans or a full day old. Luke could tell Erin was frustrated, even if she understood Luke’s explanation. Jamaal was working on the phone and hoped to be able to provide some more information.
The next day, using the large room where they’d first had breakfast in Portland, Luke gathered their entire team together to begin planning their cross-country trip home. Sooner or later, they’d have to leave, and they wanted to be able to do it on a moment’s notice. After they laid down the basics of the plan, part of the crew went out to visit sporting goods stores to stock up on the equipment they’d need to manufacture their special anti-vamp shotgun shells. Luke, Delilah, and Roxi, along with help from one of the local wolves to act as a guide, were in charge of hitting up thrift and pawn shops to acquire all the cheap silver they could lay their hands on. They figured the three humans would be the best choice to handle that task. People getting sudden burns from the silver might raise questions around town that they didn’t feel like answering. Erin had been gracious enough to provide a small empty building for them to gather materials and manufacture their shells.
