Blood Sport (The American Arcane Book 2)

  American Arcane: Blood Sport

  Justen Hunter

  Copyright 2015 Justen Hunter

  Cover photo by Kalen O'Donnell

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the author.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  Also in the American Arcane

  West Coast Witch

  To the people who always stuck by my writing: My mother, who has always listened to my crazy pitches, my dad who introduced me to the things I never knew I wanted to write, and Heather, who put up with so many bad ideas that I'm surprised she hasn't hired a hit man.

  Chapter 1

  I sat in the passenger's side of a jeep, looking over a file. I found it just a little hard to believe that in the past six months, my Friday nights had gone from tending bar in a college dive to traveling to Bakersfield to hunt a vampire.

  The file in front of me was for a vampire named Anselm Bauer. Anselm had been born in Prussia in 1805, and had been turned into a vampire in 1847. He had spent some time in a few vampire courts, before relocating down to Bakersfield to work with an oil company. He didn't have a history of violent tendencies, but this new incident wasn't exactly normal violent behavior.

  I turned to the driver of the Jeep. “So, Amy, what motivates a vampire like Bauer to do something like this?”

  Amy glanced at me from her view of the road. My partner in the business of supernatural law was a tall, slender woman. She had a lovely face with a serene expression, with prominent lines on her features. She had cut her blond hair short since we had started working together, keeping what was left pulled back severely.

  “I do not know, Eric,” She shook her head. “Bauer seems like he is a well-adjusted vampire. For him to do what he did makes no sense.”

  I looked down at the file again. Two days ago, a security camera had caught Anselm attacking a woman and pulling her into his car. The police had tracked Bauer down to a small, abandoned warehouse on grounds that belonged to the company he worked for.

  The Bakersfield Police Department had tossed this one up to Sacramento, and I got called in. As a newly minted Arcane Specialist, I was getting called in now to help occasionally with a case that the CBI or the Marshals couldn't handle. As the Knight of the Bay for the supernatural community, it meant that I could also represent the supernatural community, and that I got to get reamed out by whatever local authority didn't like the supernatural.

  I closed the file and looked over to Amy again. “This makes no sense.”

  “Correct,” Amy's prim, soft tone replied. “It makes little sense. Vampires do not kidnap. They rarely kill, but abduction...” She shook her head.

  “No. So, we're meeting another Knight?” I asked.

  She nodded. “Indeed. Bakersfield has no Knight, and it lies outside the Counties of Gold and Iron and the County of Angels. So, it would be a joint endeavor between you and the Knight from Los Angeles.”

  Someone in the history of California's supernatural territories had decided to get very fancy in naming the various regions of the Duchy of the Pacific. I had slowly started to get acquainted with the ins and outs of the supernatural community, but hadn't yet met the Knight who headed up most of Southern California.

  We turned off the highway, and started off on the drive to the address Bakersfield PD gave us. We drove through Bakersfield's industrial portion for about five minutes before arriving at the warehouse.

  We pulled up to a horde of emergency vehicles. There were a dozen cop cars, a command vehicle, and a fire truck and some EMS vehicles already on scene. Amy pulled the Jeep up to the edge of the vehicles' circle, and we got out of the Jeep.

  “I figure I'll lead off.” I said. “They don't know you, but I've got the badge.”

  Amy offered a small shrug as she grabbed her leather jacket from the back seat and pulled it out. “You are. And you seem to deal better with the human authorities than I do.” She remarked.

  “That's just because you have the social skills of a badger.” I shot back. “Come on, let's go find someone in charge.”

  I headed over to the line of cars, where I spoke to a uniformed officer. “Hey there, I'm looking for Owen Price?” I called.

  The uniformed cop gave me an appraising look, then one for Amy. “The specialist? He's in the command van with the Captain.” He gestured over to our right, where the black command van with SWAT printed on the side with big white letters sat.

  I led Amy over to the van, which had its rear door open, and was packed with people. A few techs crowded around the computer screens set up in the cargo area, while several others crowded behind them.

  “Hello?” I called. “I'm looking for someone in charge.” I pulled out my Specialist's license to show to anyone who happened to turn around.

  An older woman in a charcoal pantsuit turned to me. “Mister Carpenter, correct?” She asked in a sharp tone. When I nodded, she gestured for the two of us to enter the van. “Captain Roberts, Bakersfield PD. I assume you're here to meet with Mr. Price.”

  Owen Price, the Knight of the Los Angeles region, was standing next to Roberts. Or, rather, hunching over next to Roberts. Price was a powerfully built man, tall and broad shouldered. He wore a leather jacket, jeans, and had a big knife strapped to his belt. His dark hair was shaved close to his head, with a few swirling designs shaved into it.

  “Well, nice to meet my counterpart from up north.” His deep voice greeted me, and he extended a hand. “Owen Price.”

  “Eric Carpenter,” I said as we shook hands. “This is my associate Amy.” Price reached out to offer his hand to her, but Amy just kept her arms at her side. “She's not really the handshake type.”

  Price offered a shrug. “So, what do you know about the situation so far?”

  “We know that a vampire named Anselm Bauer kidnapped a woman in town, and you guys tracked him down here.”

  Roberts sighed. “Yeah, we just aren't equipped to head in. My SWAT unit isn't set up for a vampire. We usually ask for the BAA's help on this, but it's a delicate situation, and we want to make sure that Serena Laurent, if she's still alive, is recovered.”

  “Has Bauer contacted you at all?” Amy asked.

  Price shook his head. “No, he's been cooped up in that warehouse for about two days now now.”

  “Any idea if he's made any calls out?” I asked.

  “We've set up a cell jammer eight hours ago. We left the land lines open, though, and rerouted them to us here in the van.” Well, that left a lot of time open, I mused.

  “All right, then,” I nodded. “Price, Amy, and I can go in, try to talk Anselm down, and if need be, we're equipped to take him out.”

  Roberts frowned, crossing her arms across her chest. “I want you three wired up so we can tell what's going on.”

  “That's perfectly fine,” I answered. “Amy and I will need to gear up. We'll be ready to go in fifteen minutes.”

  Price nodded. “Fine by me.” He said. “I'll meet you two near the front.”

  I nodded, and Amy followed me out of the van. We headed back to the Jeep, where I opened up the trunk. I grabbed my duffel out of the back of the Jeep, and opened it up. I grabbed my essentials from the olive drab duffel, and got ready for the undead.

  The first thing I grabbed was my gun. The Colt 1911
was my primary tool for fighting monsters. Sure, I was a witch, but a forty-five was just as good as anything else. I grabbed my holster, then loaded the pistol and slung it. I grabbed my knife next, a simple blade that had seen a lot of work. In situations like this, I forewent the little switch blade I had and went straight with a simple dagger. The blade was still silvered, but I wanted to have something more solid if I was fighting a vampire who was feeding off some twenty-something girl.

  I pulled a leather jacket over to cover my weapons, and to give me a first line of defense. When I was done, I turned to Amy. “All ready?”

  “Indeed,” She nodded. Amy had simply added a leather coat over her skinny frame, and was armed with a longer blade, something that looked like a machete that could also stab. Amy seemed to switch her weapons every other week these days.

  “Come on, let's go.” I said, and I closed up the Jeep before we headed to the ring of police vehicles.

  Owen was already standing there. He had a pump-action shotgun with a pistol grip on a sling hanging across his chest, and a tactical vest over his huge frame with extra shells. He nodded to us as we approached. “Eric, Amy. You both ready to get going?”

  I nodded. “As ready as I'll be.”

  He tossed both of us a little ear piece. “Put them on. It'll let Roberts hear what's going on. If this all goes to crap, the scramble word is Luna. Say that, and the SWAT team'll bust in. Got it?” We both nodded. “Great. Let's head on in.”

  We all headed to the door of the warehouse, a side entrance with double doors. I drew my pistol, and chambered a round with a quick rack of the slide. “You want to take point, big guy?” I asked Owen.

  He offered a little chuckle. “No, I think I'll let you take it.” He smirked. “I'll cover you,” He said, and shouldered the shotgun.

  I shrugged, and I moved to the door. With a careful motion, I grabbed the door handle and tested it. It was unlocked, and I guessed the broken chain lock near the door was the reason. I reached out to the door, and slowly pulled it out, letting Amy and Owen cover the door.

  Since Owen didn't fill the doorway full of twelve-gauge fury, I was guessing it was clear. I looked back to them. “Ready?”

  Amy nodded, and Owen confirmed. “We're clear.”

  I turned around the door, and looked inside. Bauer had killed the lights inside the warehouse, leaving it immersed in darkness. I pulled out a flash light, and I turned it on. “Well, into the dark creepy warehouse we go.” I mumbled.

  “With the creepy kidnapper vampire inside.” Owen grumbled. “Don't you love being a Knight?”

  Chapter 2

  I had gotten a quick description of the layout from Price as we swept through the floor of the building. The warehouse was just the first floor. Above the floor of crates, loading equipment, and dust, there was a whole floor of offices for the former staff who used to work in the building before it was abandoned.

  “Well, it looks like he isn't keeping her here.” I said.

  “Yeah, we'll sweep the second floor next.” Owen said. He nodded towards a door to the side. “Stairs are through there. I'm not even sure if the elevators work, so probably best we just to stick with those.” He said, and he led us towards those doors.

  I liked the idea of that just fine. I had watched too many horror movies to want to be in an elevator with a vampire around.

  The stairway was, like the rest of the building, dark and dusty. Due to the height of the warehouse, the stairs up to the office level were more a two story climb than just one.

  I turned on my flashlight and turned it upwards, checking what I could see up there. “Bauer sure picked the creepiest place to hide out.” I murmured.

  “Vampires tend to feel more comfortable in darkness.” Amy said. “But this feels like there is something we do not know about happening here...”

  Owen shook his head. “Well, we'll get to the bottom of it.” He started up the stairs. “This vamp will-” He found himself cut off, as a dark figure appeared at the top of the stairs and shoved Owen's huge frame into Amy and I.

  We all went tumbling down the stairs, and I found myself thankful for the tough body that I'd developed over the last few months of dealing with things twice my strength. I landed at the bottom of the stairs, sharing the weight of Owen's big body with Amy. I grunted.

  “What the heck was that?”

  A low voice, tinted with a slight European accent, answered. “Leave me be!” It hissed.

  My first guess was that was Bauer. “Bauer, we can't just let you go.” I started to slide myself out from underneath Owen. “You kidnapped that girl!”

  The dark figure at the top of the stairs stood there, looking down at us. “She's mine, and you can't do anything about it.”

  I drew my pistol out from the holster, and focused it on the shadowy figure. “Watch me,” I hissed, but the quick shift of darkness told me he was already moving. I grunted, and looked back down to Amy and Owen. “Crap.” I knelt down, touching both of them.

  Amy stirred first, shaking her head. “That was unpleasant. It would appear that Bauer has fed recently, with his relative speed and power.”

  “No kidding.” I scowled at Owen's frame. “Can you check to see if he's all right?”

  She checked his pulse, then his breathing. “He seems to be knocked out.” She said after a moment. “I will see that he gets medical attention. Do you think that you can handle Bauer on your own?”

  “He won't get the drop on us twice. Stay safe.” I said. “I'll give you the all-clear when we can get a medical team in here.”

  “That will be unnecessary.” She said, and she closed her eyes, placing the spindly fingers of one hand on Owen's forehead. Her fingers glowed with an unearthly light for a moment. “No concussion.” She whispered. “He will be fine. Go, Eric. If Bauer tries to slip on us, he will find me here, and he will not surprise me.”

  There were upsides to having a guardian at times. One of them was a strange power of healing that Amy seemed to have. I didn't totally understand it, and it seemed to be bound by rules I couldn't comprehend. While there were upsides, Amy's secrecy about her nature made it damn hard to work with her at times.

  I looked back at them for just a moment and then headed back up the stairs. I kept my flashlight held slightly above my head, pointed downwards ahead of me. I walked up the stairs to the office floor. I lowered my flashlight and clipped it onto my belt before I opened the door, keeping my gun at the ready.

  The office was unlit. I didn't know whether the power was even on in the building. I took a moment to close my eyes, and I reached out with my senses.

  Witches could sense energies, specifically the magic in the universe. I had spent the last few months learning more about my gifts, but one thing I had learned in the past few months was that everything living had just a little magic in it, and I could sense that.

  I concentrated on spreading my senses over the entire floor, extending my will to cover all the office. And with just a bit of focus, I found them. Two energies on the far end of the floor. I opened my eyes, and took stock of the floor. From where I sensed it, it looked like the two people were in the break room.

  I tapped my ear piece. “This is Carpenter.” I whispered. “I'm approaching Bauer and the girl. I'm going to try talking to him.” I closed the channel, and I raised my voice. “Anselm Bauer!”

  Bauer stepped out between some tarped-over desks, standing in front of me. “What do you want?” He growled. In the dim office, I could make out just some of his features. He was of an average height, with a severe hair cut and a thin, pinched face.

  “I'm here to make you answer for your crimes against the humans, and to make you answer for breaking the laws of this Duchy. Are you going to come peacefully?”

  He growled, and lunged at me. They never came quietly. I ducked down to one knee, and fired off a pair of shots. With that lethal undead grace, he danced out of the path of the shots, still coming towards me.

  I sprung for
ward and launched myself at his legs. This time, though, he was moving with too much momentum towards me, and I tackled him around the legs. Score one for Pop Warner football.

  I brought him to the ground, but before I could go for my knife or try hitting him with my pistol's butt, he swung one of his fists at the side of my head. I cussed under my breath as I saw stars for a moment.

  I moved quickly, and drew my knife, trying to push out the pain. I moved up and shoved the knife in the general direction of his neck, but he rolled his head to the side and I found myself just cutting carpet.

  “Why do you chase me? I just want what I took.” He hissed.

  “She's not yours to take!” I hissed. “She's just some girl!” I lifted my shoulder to take his next punch, then quickly rolled off him into a crouch position. I raised my gun, this time focusing it on Bauer's chest. “Freeze.” I hissed.

  But Bauer didn't. He jumped up, and this time, I let loose the rest of the magazine. Six shots later, the slide locked back, and I saw two dark red stains in Bauer's chest. I grunted, looked down at the gun, then ejected the mag and slipped a fresh one in. Sure, it was silver-alloy rounds, but I wasn't taking any chances as I hit the slide release. I grabbed my knife off the ground, and slid it back into its sheath before looking down to Bauer.

  I should have put one in his head. Silver helped, but some vampires were more resilient than others.

  Like Anselm Bauer, for instance. As I reached out to check to see if he was truly dead, he reached out, and grabbed my wrist.

  He pulled me, and with the kind of strength only a vampire could muster, he tossed me over his body, sending me sprawling.

  The Colt flew from my hands, and I couldn't see where it had gone in the darkness. I felt him move onto my back, hands grasping at my jacket. He grabbed at the leather, trying to pull it off my body so he would be able to reach the meat underneath.

  Images of being pushed against a wall, of fangs sinking into me, raced into my head. I was sure I let out a whimper, and I was completely ashamed of it.