Page 81 of Vanessa’s Bravery

“Are you sure those guns will kill the vampires?” Cole asked, pointing at the weapon in Gabriel’s hand.

“Trust me, the UV-rays they emit will turn any unprotected vampire to dust in seconds.” He pointed to one of the other vampires in the van. “Isn’t that right, Luther?”

Luther nodded. “We use the same guns at the vampire prison in Grass Valley, though I recently made a little adjustment to the ones Scanguards has.” He winked. “They have a little more power behind them, but they need to be recharged more often.”

“You mean they’re gonna run out of juice in the middle of the fight?” Cole asked, alarmed.

“Doubt it,” Luther claimed.

“Team one and two, to the front entrance. Team three and four, to the alley.” Samson’s voice came through the earpiece everybody wore, even Cole.

He was also wearing a bullet-proof vest, but no helmet. There hadn’t been enough equipment to dress him in the same fashion as the vampires. Cole didn’t mind. The Kevlar suits looked heavy, and would make it hard for him to move. The vampires didn’t seem to be worried about the weight of their uniform. Gabriel and Luther put the visors of their helmets down, as did the other two vampires in the van. One of them slid the side door open, and one by one, they exited the van.

Gabriel’s team was assigned to the alley entrance of the building. From the blueprints they’d studied before leaving HQ, they knew that the building the hybrids were held in also had exits to the main street, but on that side, there was no garage door, meaning if Milo’s men wanted to escape during daytime, they could only do so from the alley side, leaving in one of their vans.

Scarlet, Naomi, and Anita were in one of the other vans, making sure that the hybrids knew when to expect the rescue team, and informing the rescue team of the goings-on in the building. The drones were still in the air, but wouldn’t be much help once the Scanguards teams entered the building.

“Cole, stay behind us at all times,” Gabriel cautioned.

With a nod, Cole acknowledged the demand and followed the six vampires who crossed the street, looking like a military special ops team. He glanced at the cars on the street, and noticed that they stopped without complaining to let them cross unimpeded. In their windshields, he noticed a red V sticker. This had to be the Vuber drivers Gabriel had mentioned, and he now realized what they were: a driving service for vampires.

Arriving at the entrance to the alley, onto which the van carrying Vanessa had disappeared, Cole’s heart was pounding out of control. Despite the fact that Scanguards was clearly experienced in operations like this, he was worried. Too much could go wrong.

Vanessa listened for any sounds coming from the outside of the building. She knew from Ryder that Scanguards was on their way, but there hadn’t been occasion to talk in detail about what they were planning, because some of Milo’s henchmen were too close to the chained hybrids, and could overhear their conversations. They couldn’t risk tipping them off. Everything depended on the element of surprise.

She wasn’t sure how much time had passed since Milo had made his demand. Everybody on the ground floor had heard him speak to Samson. Was the hour nearly up? She felt her heart beat faster. While they were all chained to the big iron rings on the floor, they were sitting ducks. Their kidnappers were carrying weapons, and she was sure that they were loaded with silver bullets.

Vanessa’s ears suddenly perked up. She heard a sound of metal scratching against something. The sound was coming from somewhere near the doors to the alley. Her gaze snapped to the two vampires who were guarding the hybrids, and she realized that they had heard something too. Fuck! She couldn’t allow them to go to the door and investigate the sound.

Making a spit-second decision, she lifted her hands and rose. “Excuse me, hey,” she said loudly, addressing the two vampires.

Both snapped their heads in her direction, instantly alert, raising their weapons slightly.

“Sit down!” one of them ground out.

“I’m sorry, really sorry,” Vanessa continued. “But I have to pee.” She crossed her legs to pretend that it was urgent. “There must be a restroom somewhere in here. Please.”

“You’re gonna have to hold it!”

The other vampire let his fangs extend and snarled in her direction. She pretended to feel frightened and gasped loudly, drowning out the scratching sound from the door. She was certain now that somebody was picking the lock.

“I’m sorry,” she added, just as loudly, and raised her arms in surrender. “It’s just that I drank a lot of coffee this morning.”

“Fucking hybrids!” the vampire griped. “Serves you right for eating human food!”

“Now sit down!” the other guard added.

Slowly, Vanessa dropped down next to Patrick, exchanging a brief look with him. A second later, there was a sound of a siren approaching. It came from the front of the building that was abutting the main road.

Several of the vampires ran in that direction, calling commands out to each other, when someone from the stairs that led up to the second floor called out, “It’s a fire truck.”

Milo came running and headed to the stairs, while the siren was still wailing outside. “What’s it doing?”

A second passed, before the answer came. “It stopped on the other side of the street. Looks like there’s smoke coming from the building across.”

Vanessa exchanged a clandestine glance with Ryder, who nodded confidently. This was the diversion. She felt her body tense. It was time.

The door was pushed open an instant later, and all hell broke loose. A man in a full-body Kevlar suit entered, his head hidden behind a helmet with a reflecting visor. From the gun in his hand, a strong ray of light was emitted. It hit the vampire closest to the hybrids with full blast, vaporizing him in less than a second. Behind the Kevlar-clad men, others swarmed the building. The next ray of the UV-gun turned the second guard into dust. The kidnappers were screaming, running for cover and reaching for their weapons.