Blood Lily (Lilith Adams Vampire Series Book 1) (42 page)

“Shit, fucking drug addicts.” Whitmore shuffled back to the trunk of his sedan and pulled out the
standard cop-issued shotgun.

Lilith leveled a look at Cohen and he just shrugged
. Comparing Ashcroft to some out of control druggie with an axe to grind. It was kind of like comparing angry fighting fish to a colossal great white shark. Still, he was trying to keep things as quiet as possible and it was the closest to an explanation he could give without just telling the truth. He had to tell them something so they’d take this seriously. They had to be prepared as much as they could without telling them what Ashcroft was. Not that Whitmore would ever believe him, or the all too silent Officer Humphries for that matter. In fact, the Officer seemed content to just stare at Chance with cautious suspicion. Yeah, this wasn’t awkward at all.

“Okay.” Cohen stuffed a 38 special in his side holster and grabbed another shotgun out of the trunk before closing it. “Whitmore, you’re coming with me. Humphries, you’re going with these two.”

“Wait one damn second. We are not…”

Cohen cut Whitmore with a steely glare that would intimidate just about anyone. “No discussion. The building he’s holed up in is pretty big and we have to act fast. Plus, I think plodding in there like a team of Clydesdales is a bad idea.
Let’s move out.”

He headed straight for the gate, leaving everyone trailing behind him. Whitmore jogged to catch up to him and it definitely
wasn’t a pretty sight. Humphries, however, felt it necessary to walk several paces behind her and Chance. Unnerving was a little bit of an understatement. She could see the tension in every single muscle of Chance’s body. She knew it wasn’t just the Officer’s stare, but for a moment she could pretend.

Lilith slid her fingers through his. It wasn’t just to be supportive. She was honestly scared out of her mind. Yes, this was awkward, but what waited for them in
the looming block of concrete was terrifying. She kept seeing Ashcroft’s cruel, pointed face hovering over her, smelling her, grinning at her with his crooked teeth. The sight of him crawling across the floor, his splattered brains trailing behind him as he reached a taloned finger to slice through the Doctor’s skin.

Chance squeezed her hand
and leaned in close enough for his breath to tickle over her ear, completely derailing her morbid thoughts. “If we can withstand Officer Humphries staring holes in our back, I think we’ll be just fine.” Lilith stole a glance over her shoulder. Sure enough, the death stare was firmly in place. She smiled and squeezed his hand a little harder.

Once they were inside the complex, Cohen signaled to them and then he disappeared with Whitmore behind a few buildings.
It was a good thing that Chance spoke cop sign language. Apparently Cohen and his partner were going to look for a back entrance to try and cover all the bases.  That left them with the front doors of a weather-stained office building.

Ashcroft had to be expecting them. The fire was a way to force their hand, push them into action. It also left them no choice. Either leave everyone to die or show up and risk stepping into a trap. He knew them, knew the family. He’d been researching, tracking, getting information from Spencer. This wasn’t a risky move for him, he already knew the outcome. It was checkmate and Ashcroft definitely knew it.

Chance took point, motioning for them to stay back. He pumped the shotgun, and held it loose against the fleshy part of his shoulder before creeping towards the ominous, steel double doors
of the one story office building. There wasn’t a single window in front and the ones on the side that she could see were small and dark. At least that was in their favor, less visibility from inside.

Not that she expected Ashcroft to pounce on them as soon as they entered the cinderblock building. He didn’t need to. He knew they’d head right for him and he wanted the audience for his work. More than anything, he wanted to be seen, recognized. Part of his recent plans may have been a result of Gregor’s discussions of going public and possibly the blood sample turning up as well. But she was getting the sneaking suspicion that a big part of his motivations stemmed from the desire for people to know that this
was all his handiwork. The staged muggings and car accidents didn’t instill the sort of terror that made his blood sing. Ashcroft liked being a monster, he craved it, craved the violence, the hunt, the fear.

Behind her, she heard Humphries click the safety off, reminding her to do likewise. Just like in the lab, she kept the gun loose at her side. She’d wait til
l she had something to shoot before actually aiming. If she made it through this alive she was definitely gonna log more hours in at the shooting range. On the other hand, this trip was the first time she’d ever had to use her gun outside of the shooting range. Hopefully this wasn’t an indication of her life changing in new and violent ways. Considering she’d almost died, several times, she didn’t think she’d actually survive a world where she needed to use her gun on a regular basis. She’d be more than happy to leave that to the professionals and just study the aftermath.

Chance put his back against the
rain-stained wall next to the double doors of the dilapidated office building. Lilith and Humphries followed his lead. The concrete smelled like wet mildew and she could feel the dank cold of it on her back even through the police sweat suit. She wished that she’d had the foresight to grab her green winter coat before leaving the lab when she’d been there cleaning the big bag of clothes. Of course, considering how things went, crashing into a ditch and almost dying, it’d just be soaked in blood and useless anyway. Hell, almost all the clothes she’d brought from New York were covered in blood. She was in loaner clothes from an incubus right now for a reason. God that was depressing.

The whole place was eerily quiet in the same way that graveyards and creepy houses were
, the sinister silence that creeps into the bones and slinks up the spine. It made all the hair on the back of her neck stand up, goose bumps flying over every inch of her skin. Either the office building had excellent sound-proofing or Ashcroft had decided not to play with his new toys yet. Of course if the second was true, that unfortunately meant he was completely healed and didn’t need to carve up his guests yet. Neither thought was very comforting.

Lilith
tried to just focus on the sound of her breathing. She couldn’t think about Ashcroft preparing to carve up any of the people she loved. The last thing she needed to do was drive herself into a panic. Just breathe. It seemed that they stayed that way for a really long time, lined up with their backs to the wall. Maybe Chance was just giving Cohen and Whitmore time to get into position or maybe he was focusing on his breathing, too.

Eventually, he hooked one hand into the door handle and tried the latch. It wasn’t locked. Of course, why would a suprem
ely powerful monster bother with a stupid deadbolt? She couldn’t imagine many people wanted to break in here anyway. Well, with the exception of teenage Satan worshippers and ghost hunters, of course. Though the sheer size of the place and how remote it was might deter that a bit. When Chance slowly inched the door open, it wasn’t completely silent. There was the low sound of metal on metal that happens with any door, but at least it wasn’t the rust-induced banshee scream she was dreading.

Chance nodded to Humphries, who nodded back with unified purpose. Huh. Apparently if you gave two enemies guns, dumped them in a mutually threatening position and stuck a girl between them, they’d actually work as a team. Men never made any damn sense.
Of course, she didn’t care if they made a play date to bake chocolate chip cookies if it meant getting out of this place alive. Chance slipped inside and Lilith hurried after him with Humphries right on her heels.

The door slowly shut behind them with a quiet little click
that echoed eerily and suddenly, they were in complete darkness. Lilith froze, completely terrified. Her body felt heavy, her chest felt tight, her eyes moved rapidly, trying to find some little pinpoint of light to hold on to. She was panting for every strained breath. She wanted to move, but her body wouldn’t listen. It was like her legs were made of stone.

Something brushed against her back and she jumped, just barely keeping a scream from actually leaving her throat.
She choked on the thick, heavy, stale air while her whole body vibrated with the urge to run but it still refused to respond. It was so hard to breathe. She needed air. Fresh air. She finally started to back up toward the door when a muted flashlight kicked on.

“Lily,” Chance’s voice was a rushed whisper full of concerned authority. “Stay close.” Her eyes flicked to the side and she caught the highlights of Humphries’ business-like face hovering next to her. That explained the brush against her back. Slowly, her eyes began to adjust and she was able to reign in the panic. She caught herself wishing she was like the vampires in the movies that had super powerful night vision built in. That would definitely come in handy here.
Of course so would the all black outfit that turned them into an instant kickass ninja. Deadly and stylish definitely outranked her borrowed Knoxville Police track suit. The random thoughts definitely helped her calm down a little bit, at least enough to actually get her legs to respond.

Lilith moved up next to Chance, leaving Humphries behind them. She leaned in close and whispered as soft as she could. “Sorry.
I just… this place…” Even she could hear the pure terror in her voice as her eyes moved frantically around, her illogical brain certain that the boogey man would start slicing them up any second now.

He smiled at her
and there were so many micro-expressions that she couldn’t really pick them all out. Fear, compassion, desire, those stood out the most.

“Here, take the flashlight, I can’t hold it and have the shotgun ready at the same time. Just walk a little ahead of me, hug that wall like your life depends on it and don’t point the light
any higher than hip level. Keep it as steady as you can. Don’t swing it around wildly if you can help it, ok? Slow and steady.” His voice was soothing like being wrapped up in a warm blanket. It was completely impossible, but she knew in that moment that she loved him. He was right there saying the perfect thing in a perfect way. Not only did he know how to keep her sane, he acted without any hesitation to do so. It brought tears to her eyes and she had to look away.

She bit her lip and nodded, staring down at the little light in her hands like it was a lifeline. Her hands were still shaking. She closed her eyes for a second, trying to relax, trying to get things under control.
Her emotions were spiraling out of control. Where the hell was the calm focus she always had at crime scenes? So much had happened. She’d learned things about important people in her life that completely changed how she saw them, for better or worse. She’d almost died four times in as many days. She was right to be terrified of what was waiting in the dark for them. It was understandable that she was such a mess, but now was definitely not the time.

“Lily.” When she peeked open her eyes, she saw Chance staring intently at her. He caressed a hand over her shoulder and it rippled through her body like
a warm electric hug. “You don’t have to do this. You can go back to the car. We can handle this.” He wanted her to take the out. She could see that much plain on his face. It had nothing to do with the chauvinistic notions that most people would jump on. It wasn’t because she was a woman. It was because she was the woman he loved and he wanted desperately to keep her safe. Problem was, he was the man she loved and she wanted to do the same thing. If she sat in the car, she’d only go insane with worry about all the people she cared about.

“We don’t have time to give her a pep talk. The longer we stay here, the longer the Detectives are in the open.” Humphries definitely wasn’t compassionate, he was
angry and anxious. His impatience was completely reasonable, but it rubbed her the wrong way. The anger made her feel better. Funny how the first thing he’d said to them all night was completely irritating but exactly what she needed.

Chance threw a look at the Officer that definitely said ‘Shut the fuck up’ and returned his attention to her.
Before he could say anything, she spoke up with a lot more confidence. “I can’t do that, Chance. I have to find Gregor. I have to know that he’s okay and I have to make sure you’re okay.” She drew in a deep breath and let it out slow. “I’m all right. I’m just scared.” Actually saying it out loud made her believe it. Right now she was okay. She could do this. She stood a little straighter, held the light with one calm hand as the other gripped her 9mm a little tighter. “Let’s go.” She had just enough time to catch the conflicted look of pride and fear on his face before she pushed in front of Chance.

Lilith hugged the wall, her heart still pounding. The hallway looked like something out of a creepy videogame or
some horror movie, but a million times worse. There was something very real in the dark, real and definitely evil. Even the air smelled like death, decay, pure evil. The ancient linoleum was yellowed and cracked where it wasn’t covered with dirt and chunks of the crumbling drop ceiling. Sickly off-color paint was peeling off the rotting drywall, making the wall rough against her back. It seemed even colder inside the building, like a looming cloud of ice tightening her chest.

Each time they came across a doorway, she would stop, Chance would swing out with the shotgun while she angled the light around the corner for him and for a few seconds, Lilith wouldn’t breathe. When nothing happened, she’d breathe a sigh of relief and push her body to move forward. They all seemed to be vacant offices, or at least rooms intended to be offices at some point.
A few had rusting metal desks or office chairs with moth-eaten seats, but none of them were complete. It was just random clumps of thirty-year old furniture.