had worked with the APL on occasion. However, he wasn’t a white supremacist. Nope, first and foremost Ned was a drug dealer. Mainly weed, but Jayce had received a tip that Hartwig had expanded into vampire blood. The guy wasn’t in Connor’s territory, though. Unfortunately this wasn’t the only tip Jayce had received about vamp blood trafficking in the state. There was another supposed dealer closer to Winston-Salem, but that was in the opposite direction and Jayce would rather talk to someone he knew first.
Seemed the shit was popping up everywhere lately. And no one had any idea who the source was. Or if it was multiple sources. If it was voluntary or if some dumbass humans had captured a vampire that they were now using as a blood source. God help anyone who was stupid enough to do that.
Vampires might be more individualistic and scoff at the type of pack mentality shifters embraced, but if someone fucked with one of their own, they got pissed and retaliated. There was nothing subtle about the way vamps reacted either. If they thought someone had wronged them, they more or less killed first and asked questions later. So in addition to that concern, Jayce was definitely worried about what would happen if the wrong person got hopped up on vamp blood. He could just see the headlines, and it made him cringe.
Moss and low-hanging branches from an abundance of thick, old trees nearly blocked the crumbling paved path. The fact that it wasn’t completely dirt was a miracle. Part of the reason was because the property Ned lived on had once held an antebellum mansion. That structure was now just ruins, lying about a mile from Ned’s trailer.
After hiding his bike in the underbrush, Jayce ducked into the woods and jogged parallel to the path. He knew for a fact that Ned had booby traps rigged, and even though he could survive damn near anything, he didn’t feel like getting his ass blown up and he didn’t want to announce his presence sooner than he had to.
About thirty yards farther along he noticed a trip wire stretched between two trees. He avoided it and slowed his pace until he came to the clearing where the rusty school bus and trailer were. Listening, he heard a steady heartbeat from the direction of the trailer. So he made his way to the bus.
He checked for traps, then hoisted himself up and through one of the open windows. Once inside, he froze for a moment. The seats had all been removed and what looked like one long, haphazardly built bench lined the left side. Odd.
Jayce tapped on it, then ran his hand along the rough-hewn material until he realized that it wasn’t nailed down. It was like someone had just nailed some wood together to create a giant L shape and then shoved it over . . . a bunch of mini-refrigerators.
Anger burst inside him as he removed the wood covering. Before he’d even opened one of the fridges, he knew what he would find inside. He opened one after another, fury building in him with each display of long, cylindrical tubes containing blood. Just to make sure it was what he thought it was, he opened one and smelled its contents.
Vampire blood had a sweeter, more distinctive odor than human blood. This was definitely vamp blood. He replaced the wood cover on the refrigerators, then slipped out the way he’d come in. Once on the ground, he realized that the electrical cord he’d seen draped from a hole in the bus must lead to a power source. Following it, he was silent as he crept up to the trailer. The windows were boarded up and he could see a couple of mounted video cameras, so he avoided them.
As he neared the trailer he changed his mind and backtracked to the bus. He would bring Ned to him. Grabbing the cord with both hands, he wrenched it apart. The soft hum of the refrigerators died instantly.
Jayce grinned to himself. Ned was a survivalist conspiracy-theorist type who didn’t believe in banks and hid all the cash he made from drugs only God-knew-where, so Jayce had no
Seemed the shit was popping up everywhere lately. And no one had any idea who the source was. Or if it was multiple sources. If it was voluntary or if some dumbass humans had captured a vampire that they were now using as a blood source. God help anyone who was stupid enough to do that.
Vampires might be more individualistic and scoff at the type of pack mentality shifters embraced, but if someone fucked with one of their own, they got pissed and retaliated. There was nothing subtle about the way vamps reacted either. If they thought someone had wronged them, they more or less killed first and asked questions later. So in addition to that concern, Jayce was definitely worried about what would happen if the wrong person got hopped up on vamp blood. He could just see the headlines, and it made him cringe.
Moss and low-hanging branches from an abundance of thick, old trees nearly blocked the crumbling paved path. The fact that it wasn’t completely dirt was a miracle. Part of the reason was because the property Ned lived on had once held an antebellum mansion. That structure was now just ruins, lying about a mile from Ned’s trailer.
After hiding his bike in the underbrush, Jayce ducked into the woods and jogged parallel to the path. He knew for a fact that Ned had booby traps rigged, and even though he could survive damn near anything, he didn’t feel like getting his ass blown up and he didn’t want to announce his presence sooner than he had to.
About thirty yards farther along he noticed a trip wire stretched between two trees. He avoided it and slowed his pace until he came to the clearing where the rusty school bus and trailer were. Listening, he heard a steady heartbeat from the direction of the trailer. So he made his way to the bus.
He checked for traps, then hoisted himself up and through one of the open windows. Once inside, he froze for a moment. The seats had all been removed and what looked like one long, haphazardly built bench lined the left side. Odd.
Jayce tapped on it, then ran his hand along the rough-hewn material until he realized that it wasn’t nailed down. It was like someone had just nailed some wood together to create a giant L shape and then shoved it over . . . a bunch of mini-refrigerators.
Anger burst inside him as he removed the wood covering. Before he’d even opened one of the fridges, he knew what he would find inside. He opened one after another, fury building in him with each display of long, cylindrical tubes containing blood. Just to make sure it was what he thought it was, he opened one and smelled its contents.
Vampire blood had a sweeter, more distinctive odor than human blood. This was definitely vamp blood. He replaced the wood cover on the refrigerators, then slipped out the way he’d come in. Once on the ground, he realized that the electrical cord he’d seen draped from a hole in the bus must lead to a power source. Following it, he was silent as he crept up to the trailer. The windows were boarded up and he could see a couple of mounted video cameras, so he avoided them.
As he neared the trailer he changed his mind and backtracked to the bus. He would bring Ned to him. Grabbing the cord with both hands, he wrenched it apart. The soft hum of the refrigerators died instantly.
Jayce grinned to himself. Ned was a survivalist conspiracy-theorist type who didn’t believe in banks and hid all the cash he made from drugs only God-knew-where, so Jayce had no
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