“Motherfucker!”
“Is this guy seriously here to steal my mobs?”
“Fuck!”
Locke watched Blade step out of his car and immediately start checking his weapons.
He was completely speechless.
He had still been debating whether to team up with Blade so he could comfortably leech some Extraordinary Points off his kills.
Yet before he could even make up his mind, Blade had shown up, ready to snatch those very same points away.
Beside him, Brown also realized that Blade’s objective seemed to align with theirs.
“Shit.
Isn’t that the FBI?
What the hell are they doing here?
Locke, what do we do now?”
*You’re asking me?
Who am I supposed to ask?*
Locke glanced at Brown.
However…
He watched Blade nod to Natasha, then begin walking toward the vampire bar.
His mind started racing.
What now?
Should he back down?
Or fight for it?
No!
He couldn’t back down.
In the span of a single heartbeat, Locke weighed a hundred different possibilities and made his decision.
In the next second, he reached out his right hand and switched on the SUV’s strobe lights and sirens.
*Wail!
Wail!
Wail!*
*Clang!
Clang!
Clang!*
Instantly, the black Ford SUV—which had been parked quietly behind the overpass pillar, blending seamlessly into the darkness—burst to life.
The roof strobes flashed brilliantly, and the blaring sirens, symbolizing “law enforcement is here, clear the area,” shattered the silence of the night.
At the entrance of the vampire bar, two vampires who had been lazily sharing a cigarette immediately noticed the commotion.
“What’s going on?”
“Fucking cops.”
“Are they our guys?”
“No.
Go tell the boss.”
“Alright.”
One of the vampires quickly spun around and ran back inside the frozen meat warehouse, while the other hit the switch to close the massive warehouse doors.
The heavy steel doors of the warehouse began to slide shut.
Blade, who had been marching toward the bar, and Natasha, whose hands were resting on the pistols at her slender hips, both froze.
What was going on?
What cop in their right mind would show up in a godforsaken corner like this at this hour?
Something wasn’t right. Enjoying the story? Read on at g.com.
Blade stared at the police cruiser flashing its lights under the overpass, a look of brief confusion crossing his face.
Beside him, Natasha also knit her brow.
Having accomplished his goal, Locke looked at the closing warehouse doors and buckled his seatbelt.
“Let’s go.”
“…That’s it?”
“Yeah.”
Locke watched the dark silhouettes of several vampires dart out from the corners of the warehouse and flee into the distance.
He smiled.
“That’s more than enough.”
Clearly, the vampires inside had just been alerted that a police cruiser of unknown origin had been lurking outside.
Some of them chose to immediately cut their night short and head home early.
So, even if Blade decided to force his way in now, Locke wasn’t worried.
The grass had been thoroughly beaten, and the snakes had been startled.
Blade going in now couldn’t possibly wipe them all out in one clean sweep.
If Blade wanted to go in, let him.
Some of the prey had already escaped anyway.
That was enough.
As long as there were still vampires left for Locke and Brown to hunt tomorrow during the day, they would get their Extraordinary Points.
Brown saw the dark shadows fleeing like lightning from the warehouse and realized what Locke had done.
He nodded, tapped the accelerator, spun the SUV around, and drove away.
Standing in the dark, Blade naturally saw the fleeing vampires as well.
But he didn’t move.
Instead, his gaze remained fixed on the black Ford SUV as it receded into the distance, eventually vanishing from sight.
After a long pause, Blade’s thick lips parted slightly.
“Blood thrall.”
Natasha frowned.
“What blood thrall?”
Blade explained, “Ordinary humans who worship vampires and willingly serve as their slaves.”
Just as there were normal humans who envied mutants for their powers, there were also humans who envied vampires for their immortality.
Therefore, these humans willingly served vampires, becoming their thralls and doing their bidding, all in the hope that one day their masters would show mercy and turn them so they could enjoy eternal youth together.
The professional term for these people was “blood thralls.”
They were the lackeys of vampires.
Among these thralls, the ones vampires coveted most were humans working within various law enforcement agencies.
Blade recalled the senior Sentinel Secret Service agent he had met earlier that day, connecting it with the scent of the departing SUV, and seemed to understand.
“He’s not a vampire.”
“What?” Natasha looked at him.
Blade said in a deep voice, “The man we saw today, Locke Underwood.
He isn’t a vampire.
He’s a blood thrall.”
No wonder Locke Underwood had carried a scent that felt similar to his own kind, yet distinctly off.
Now it made sense.
Locke Underwood was a blood thrall.
Hearing Blade’s explanation, Natasha’s beautiful eyes narrowed slightly.
She frowned.
“That can’t be.
Blade cut her off expressionless.
“I’ve seen plenty of wealthy and powerful people throw themselves at the feet of vampires to become thralls.
For those kinds of people, the more power and wealth they possess, the more they fear death.”
Natasha’s brow remained furrowed.
“Can you spot a blood thrall?”
“Yes.” Blade nodded without hesitation.
“Every blood thrall bears a mark.
It’s like a vampire’s personal seal.”
Just as free-roaming goats would be branded with their owner’s family mark, blood thralls were no different.
Natasha raised an eyebrow.
“Where is the mark?”
“Under the tongue, behind the ears…
anywhere easily hidden.”
“Is that so?” Natasha murmured thoughtfully.
Blade didn’t say anything more.
He glanced at the now heavily fortified frozen meat warehouse, then turned and climbed back into his car without hesitation.
He wasn’t afraid of a horde of vampires, but the warehouse was clearly on high alert now.
As strong as he was, he wasn’t stupid enough to walk straight into an obvious trap.
After all, he currently had a massive bounty on his head in the vampire community.
***
Meanwhile, as Locke and Brown drove back toward Manhattan, Locke’s phone rang.
It was the Sentinel agent they had left behind on watch.
“Sir, he’s leaving.”
“Understood.
Keep an eye on him, see where he goes, and log it.”
“Copy that.”
Locke hung up and smiled at Brown, who was watching him from the corner of his eye while driving.
“He’s gone.”
Only then did Brown let out a sigh of relief.
A moment later, he frowned.
“But why did that guy show up there in the first place?”
Locke shrugged.
“Have you forgotten?
The vampire that died was their informant.
It’s completely normal for him to know about that place.”
Brown nodded in agreement.
“But this won’t affect our plans, right?”
“They play their game, we play ours.
They are the FBI; we are the Sentinel Secret Service.”
Brown thought about it and laughed.
“True.
Who cares if he lives or dies, as long as he doesn’t mess with us.”
Locke smiled and said nothing more.