Total pages in book: 154
Estimated words: 145721 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 729(@200wpm)___ 583(@250wpm)___ 486(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 145721 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 729(@200wpm)___ 583(@250wpm)___ 486(@300wpm)
Finally, she stepped into an aptly named bar: Blood. The place looked exactly as any grimy dive bar did above, save for the monsters and pitchers of what appeared to be human blood on tap. Kierse took up a seat in a corner of the bar and ordered a beer that she refused to touch. She sat there long enough for the bartender to ignore her and for her to hear way too much from a goblin crowing about how King Louis had forty-eight acres down here and still he couldn’t find space for his new human-murdering business. He didn’t say it like that, exactly, but it was both disgusting and terrifying to think of the breadth of King Louis’s reach if he had Walter handling nearly fifty acres of property plus his private quarters.
Finally, she found her opportunity as the bartender came over to investigate if she’d want another drink. She slipped him a fifty-dollar bill and leaned forward. “Actually, just curious if you know where I can find someone.”
The monster palmed the fifty and waited expectantly. “Depends on who it is.”
“Orik Thompson.”
He held his hand out for more money, and she handed over another fifty. Good thing she’d added cash to her pockets just as she’d added her heavily concealed weaponry.
“Sure. Orik works at a place around the corner.” He eyed her crudely up and down. “Why? You want a job?”
“No, thank you,” she said, sliding another bill toward him. “Directions?”
“Place is called Red Velvet.” He smirked as he told her how to get there.
“Okay. And how will I recognize him?” Another bill.
“Can’t miss him. Short and bald with a long, blond beard.” He grinned, showing off his pointed vampire canines. “He’s going to like you, if you know what I mean.”
She was afraid that she did know what he meant. But at least she had a lead. The first one she’d had in a year. It was time to get some answers.
She dropped more money in his tip jar as she left.
“Forget I asked,” she added.
The bartender waved her off like it was normal business.
The directions were good, and Kierse successfully navigated the market to find Orik’s workplace. Kierse’s blood ran cold at the sight. She’d known exactly who the monster was and the crimes he’d committed, but seeing it in person made it all so much more real.
Red Velvet was a vampire brothel. Humans hung in the windows, their bodies on display, their necks exposed. The lavish red exterior was a stark contrast to the blacks and dark grays of the rest of the market.
Was this where Torra had been taken? Had she been sold to these people?
She was furious at the thought, but there was nothing to do but use her anger and disgust.
First, it was time to have a little chat with Orik Thompson. A bullet might not kill a vamp, but it sure would slow him down long enough for her to cut his head off.
Chapter Forty-One
Orik Thompson was a lackey.
The fact that she had been thinking he was a player in these games for a whole year made her sick to her stomach. He didn’t even own the brothel. He just kidnapped people from above and kept a steady supply of humans available to the vampires below. He was one in a string of cronies working for the actual owner of Red Velvet.
It took more time than she’d planned to dedicate to the task to finally get Orik alone. She’d clocked him coming out the back of the brothel with some other vamps, shouting about the “good time” they’d had. She’d wanted to kill them all right then and there.
Unfortunately, she couldn’t make a scene. This was revenge, but she wasn’t stupid. She couldn’t jeopardize the mission with Graves. She still needed access to Third Floor and to find that exit to get Graves inside. Time was running short, but now that they knew she could get inside, she could recon night and day.
The other vampires patted him on the back, and he continued off alone through the market. She trailed him at considerable distance. He was a vampire brute, exactly as described by the bartender, with a stout build and wrinkled brow, as if he’d been turned many years into his human life. It didn’t make him any less deadly.
When he entered an empty alleyway and pulled out a cigarette, she took her chance. Kierse checked the auto-silencer on her pistol before putting a bullet in his leg.
Orik cried out, falling to the ground and clutching his knee. It wouldn’t keep him down long. She needed to make her move now.
She stepped out of the shadows at his side and felt all her pent-up energy from the last year unleash from her. She didn’t give him a second to speak before burying her fist in his face. It didn’t do enough damage. There was a reason she didn’t normally go up against a monster. Not like this. She was usually stealth, not muscle. But this time, it didn’t matter.