Getting the team together was one thing; having a plan was something else. Assembling everyone from the cabin less the team that had gone with her Aunt Cassidy hadn’t taken long, but all of them wanted to know what Jo had in mind as far as the attack was concerned, and she didn’t have too many answers.She’d spent as much time as she could discussing the obstacles in front of them with Cassidy and Branden as well as Elliott. Those were the people she trusted most that she could easily access at the moment. Now would’ve been a great time for her dad to come barreling through a nearby portal opening, but that likely wasn’t going to happen, especially since she hadn’t sent him a text and Elliott had. No, if Aaron was able to make it back to help anyone, it would be the Africa team. Jo was basically on her own. And these veterans wanted answers.Mikali and Mila had volunteered to take point, with Sergio a

The two bloodsuckers Mikali was holding at gunpoint in a dark cavern looked exactly like what Jo had been imagining when she’d picked out two potential snitches in her mind. Both of them were groveling on the ground, sweat pouring from their undead foreheads as they pleaded with the Guardian to let them go. Mikali was glaring at them, standing at his full height, which had to be at least six three since he towered over Jo, alternating the target at the end of his Beretta from one sniveling bastard to the other.She left Ping out in the hall to “guard the door” and then went inside. “Nice job, man,” Jo said, coming up behind him but hesitating to actually touch the large man on the back the way she might pat a teammate on the back if they were playing a team sport, rather than hunting monsters. “Have you figured out which one of them gets to live yet?”“Not yet,” Mikali growled in his

The sound of laughter cut through the clank of glasses and the crush of peanut shells under foot, mingling with the crooning sound of music sung in a Slovak language she didn’t speak as Jo tried not to breathe in the smoky air. Crossing the bar wasn’t as difficult this time since this establishment wasn’t as crowded as the one she’d first met Ryker in, and the lights were up, perhaps in an attempt to allow patrons to spot pointy teeth before they became a problem. Or maybe it was the fact that this tavern was attached to a hotel, unlike the seedy back alley haunt Ryker normally played cards in. Either way, she wasn’t impressed with his ability to pick watering holes and would’ve just as soon left him behind when her team pulled out of town. But she’d more or less made a promise she would look after him, and even though he’d been the one to take off without telling them where he was going, she still felt the pull of obligatio

There was an arm around her waist. It was an odd way to wake up, but as Jo came back to consciousness, it was the first thing that registered. Before she even opened her eyes, she was aware that she was being held. It wasn’t a strong grip at the moment, nothing to be leery of. No Vampire had snuck in during the night and waited patiently for her to open her eyes before squeezing the life out of her. No, whoever it was, they were being kind with their loose grip, not trying to end her.A few more seconds of wakefulness quickly led her to the conclusion that this person was also male. Again, she didn’t have to be fully conscious to know that. For a moment, it entered her mind that perhaps Ryker had felt badly for being such a jackass the night before and climbed into bed with her, but then she realized she knew the scent well. It wasn’t the human--and as interesting a conversation about why he was there as it might’ve been if Ryker

The opening to this cave was much larger than the last one. Standing back at the tree line, which was about a hundred paces from the entryway in question, it appeared that Jo would be able to run inside without doing much more than ducking. That should be a plus compared to last time when they’d had to slide down into the opening. This would be more treacherous, though. With an opening that wide, Jo could send more people in at a time, but it was clear there was some sort of a barrier, a door of sorts, several feet into the entryway, something they’d have to blast their way through. Unless the Vampires were kind enough to open up and let them in, which she doubted.She had a couple of regular grenades, the kind one would use to blow a hole into such an obstruction. A silver nitrate grenade wouldn’t affect the area around it, just the Vampires. Mila and Mikali would need the other kind to get through that door. Even then, it would be tou