Fortunately, he had a scent too, but it was normal.
He was a man; a bit of sweat was perfectly natural.
But the scent of those vampires…
How should he put it?
It was hard to describe, like rotting wood, or the musty decay of an old person nearing the end of their life.
“Makes sense.”
“I’m not a purebred vampire anyway.
I just integrated the vampire gene.”
Normally, for an ordinary person to become a vampire, they needed a vampire’s Sire’s Kiss, also known as the Embrace.
Locke was different.
He had bypassed that, directly integrating the vampire gene with the ability to upgrade it continuously.
It was only natural that he didn’t carry that decaying stench.
Locke’s mind eased at the thought.
Beside him, Brown’s eyes gleamed as he turned to Locke.
“Should we call for backup and wipe this place out in one go?”
He had been watching.
In just one hour, at least a hundred vampires had gone inside.
If they killed all hundred-odd vampires, it would be enough to avenge his five fallen brothers.
But…
Locke rolled his eyes at Brown.
“These are vampires, not mutants.
Have you forgotten what happened yesterday with just one of them?”
It was night.
This was when vampires were at their peak.
Yesterday, during the day, dealing with a single lowest-grade E-tier vampire had cost Brown five men.
Now he wanted to call for backup and storm their nest?
Wasn’t that just delivering a free buffet to their doorstep?
Besides!
Not everyone inside was a vampire.
He had just watched several female vampires lead their infatuated or gullible human boyfriends inside.
In all likelihood, these ordinary men had been lured in by the female vampires to serve as fresh drinks for the bar.
But there was a fundamental difference between humans being killed as part of a vampire’s twisted foreplay and being slaughtered indiscriminately by the Sentinel Secret Service.
The former carried no political fallout.
The latter?
If it got out, the bored media in New York would have a field day.
Locke didn’t care much; he was a Harvard graduate with powerful backers.
But Brown was different.
He had no safety net.
Brown asked curiously, “Wait, how did you tell that ordinary humans went in?”
Locke chuckled.
“Didn’t you see those guys? Enjoying the story? Read on at g.com.
When they saw the bar, their jaws dropped like hicks from New Jersey walking into Manhattan.”
Brown thought about it.
“Now that you mention it, yeah.
A few of them did look like hicks.”
If there were indeed ordinary humans inside, calling in a Sentinel helicopter to fire an air-to-ground missile wouldn’t be appropriate.
Brown shook his head and looked at Locke.
“Then what do you suggest we do?
We didn’t come here tonight just to watch, did we?”
“Why not?”
Locke smiled, pointing to the roof of the car.
“Did you forget the high-definition camera up there?
Whoever entered that bar tonight, human or vampire, has been caught on film.
Isn’t it obvious what we do next?”
He never fought unprepared.
That was why he had someone install a high-definition facial recognition camera on the roof of the SUV that afternoon.
Every single creature that entered the bar had been scanned and logged.
The next step was simple.
Go back, run the facial recognition database overnight, and tomorrow morning, when the sun was high in the sky, pay them a visit for a little wake-up service.
Most importantly…
A single night was more than enough time for the Sentinel lab to urgently manufacture a few hundred UV rounds.
Once the weapons lab finished the UV bullets by sunrise, it would be one shot, one kill.
This was Locke’s plan.
When you are at your peak, I yield.
When you weaken, I strike.
Hearing Locke’s plan, Brown’s eyes lit up.
“Excellent.
Can the UV bullets really be ready tomorrow?”
Locke nodded.
“Don’t worry.
Debbie spoke with the weapons lab.
We’ll have at least two hundred UV rounds by tomorrow morning.”
Brown nodded.
“Good.
Let’s go…”
Just as Locke nodded, preparing to leave, the phone in his pocket vibrated silently.
It was from HQ.
“Locke Underwood.”
“Sir, the signal is moving.”
“The sig… This story is hosted at g.com.
Eric Brooks?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Where is he going?”
Hearing the night-shift Sentinel agent report that the tracker placed on Blade’s vehicle earlier that afternoon had started moving, Locke’s spirits rallied.
Blade’s tracker was active?
During the day, after locating Blade via Sentinel satellite, he had ordered his agents to stage a minor collision to plant a tracking device on Blade’s car.
Once Blade’s car started up, his team would know immediately and report to him.
Why was Blade out at this hour?
Was he going on a hunt?
Deep down, Locke had no interest in getting involved with Blade.
After all, Blade was a walking magnet for trouble.
But there was no denying that Blade was a magnificent sword for hunting vampires.
After all, in the Marvel Universe, Blade was recognized as the premier vampire-hunting dhampir.
Furthermore, Locke didn’t need to do the killing himself to get Extraordinary Points; any kills made by his squad members counted toward his total.
Add to that the way Blade had looked at him at the office earlier today…
So, keeping tabs on him was definitely the smart play.
That was what Locke thought.
But just as he was about to tell the agent at HQ to keep a close watch on the signal…
The voice on the other end of the line made him fall silent.
On the phone, the night-shift agent stared at the computer screen, watching the beacon rapidly closing in on a specific location.
“Sir…
from the looks of it, he seems to be heading right toward your location.”
Locke’s mind went blank for a second.
Just then…
*Vroom!*
He heard the roar of an engine in the distance.
“Understood.”
“What’s wrong?” Brown asked, looking at Locke as he hung up.
Locke didn’t say a word, simply staring in the direction of the engine roar.
Before their eyes, a pair of headlights sliced through the darkness.
A sleek black car tore into view.
However, the car didn’t head toward them, nor did it pull up to the vampire bar.
Instead, mimicking their own strategy, it killed its headlights and parked a short distance away from the warehouse.
A moment later, a black man who seemed to blend perfectly into the night stepped out of the vehicle.
A long sword was strapped to his back.
The next second, the passenger side door opened.
A woman in a tight black combat suit stepped out.
She had a voluptuous figure and a mane of fiery red hair.
Locke took a sharp breath at the sight.
“Holy…”