He stared at her. “Actually, that’s not a bad idea. I’ll think about it and…” A foul stench reached him.
Eliana grimaced. “Ugh. Why is personal hygiene the first thing vampires abandon when insanity starts to kick in?”
Humans who were infected with the vampiric virus suffered progressive brain damage that rapidly eroded their impulse control and drove them insane. Fortunately, Nick and Eliana had escaped such a fate. Both had been born gifted ones with advanced DNA that granted them special gifts and protected them from the more corrosive aspects of the virus. Since they hadn’t descended into insanity when they were infected, they spent their nights hunting and slaying psychotic vampires to protect humans. And unlike the vampires, they actually enjoyed taking showers.
The stench that floated on the breeze mingled with a subtler aroma: perfume.
He shared a look with Eliana. She nodded her head in the direction of the building to their right. A security camera perched on one corner.
He whispered a curse.
Winking up at him, she stepped closer and slipped her small hand into his as they picked up their pace.
It was a ploy they had used often when hunting together on college campuses. He smiled.
The first time she had taken his hand, she had burst out laughing at the surprised look on his face. “Relax,” she’d said. “It’s just for show. If they think we’re a couple, they won’t freak out over the way we’re dressed.”
An unfortunate number of the mass shooters in the United States had garbed themselves all in black. So instead of thinking him a Goth or some guy trying to look cool or tough, people now often viewed Nick with suspicion… particularly on college campuses. But vampires tended to be creatures of habit and often preyed upon students who were too drunk or distracted to pay attention to the dangers that lurked in the shadows.
Hunting on U of H’s campus could be tricky. There were somewhere in the neighborhood of 1,400 security cameras scattered about. The last thing immortals or vampires needed was to be caught on camera. An overwhelming majority of humanity remained oblivious to the existence of both preternatural beings, thanks to the network of humans and gifted ones Seth had built over the years. Vampires might be crazy—or well on their way there—but most remained lucid enough to understand that any humans who found out about them would hunt the vampires as vigorously as the Immortal Guardians did. And it was far easier to evade one enemy than it was to evade two.
Immortals and gifted ones also understood the dangers discovery would unleash because most had already been subjected to the consequences at one time or another. Whenever humans got a whiff of gifted ones, the advanced DNA they possessed, and the gifts that DNA bestowed upon them, the humans hunted the gifted ones mercilessly, either wishing to kill them for the supposed threat they posed or to use them for their own personal gain.
In recent years, the few outside the loop who had learned about immortals and vampires had tried to capture them and use them to create a race of supersoldiers they could hire out to the highest bidder. Such had resulted in some pretty catastrophic battles with mercenary outfits. Nick still didn’t know how the hell the network had managed to cover it all up.
The stench on the breeze thickened.
“Damn, they stink,” Eliana muttered.
They really did. Humans might not detect it, but Nick’s enhanced sense of smell was picking up body odor, old blood from multiple victims, and more.
As soon as they reached a portion of campus that lacked cameras, he released Eliana’s hand and the two shot forward at preternatural speeds the human eye couldn’t follow. They could run right past a human and the human would only feel a breeze. At most, he or she might see an indistinct blur. But most humans walked with their heads down, staring at their phones, so they remained oblivious.
He and Eliana stopped in the shadow of a building across campus, then peered around the corner.
Three female students walked along a path, heads bowed over their phones. Bright screens cast blue light upon their faces, flickering as the young women scrolled through whatever held their interest. All three wore skinny jeans. One wore a tank top, her bare arms beaded with chill bumps in the cooler autumn air. The other two wore long-sleeved sweaters that left their stomachs exposed. One of the latter wore sneakers. The others wore boots with chunky high heels.
All three were totally oblivious to the vampires stalking them.
The women reached an intersection of three wide sidewalks and absently turned up one.
Four vampires, whom most onlookers would mistake for students, strode up one path behind them. Four more strolled up another.
The pack—all male—merged at the intersection and followed the women without a word. One or two looked as though they had made at least some effort with their appearance, so they might be recently turned and not yet mad. The rest were slovenly, greasy-haired, and wore clothing that bore dark stains consisting largely of blood from previous victims.
The women never once looked back.
Eliana shook her head. “Aren’t they old enough to know they should pay some damn attention to their surroundings?” she whispered, her voice preternaturally soft so it wouldn’t carry to the vampires.
Yes. But he’d seen older women and men do the same.
She nudged his arm. “Let’s go.”
The two of them left the shadows and crossed to the sidewalk. Eliana again slipped her hand into his as they strolled toward the women.
The one in sneakers glanced up, then looked at her friends. “Who are they supposed to be,” she muttered sarcastically, “Neo and Trinity?”
The blonde beside her didn’t even look up.
The other one glanced at Nick and Eliana, then returned her attention to her phone. “Who the hell are Neo and Trinity?”
Sneakers rolled her eyes. “From The Matrix?”
“What’s The Matrix?”
“Don’t you watch any of the movies your parents mention?”
“No. I figure if they like it, it must be lame.”
Sneakers sighed and shook her head.
Nick prepared to smile and nod at the students as they came abreast of them, but none even looked up. He sighed. Where the hell was the Southern hospitality he’d heard so much about before coming here?
The students continued along the path behind him, occasionally muttering about posts and he didn’t know what else. Now Nick and Eliana faced the pack of vampires who continued to trail the women, no doubt waiting for them to reach an area with no cameras.
Eliana squeezed his hand, warning him she was about to begin.
He fought a smile. Eliana had the most unorthodox approach to vampire hunting he’d ever seen. Usually he and his fellow Immortal Guardians just dove in and attacked when they encountered vampires. If any seemed newly turned, he and his colleagues would sometimes try to talk to them and determine whether they were worth trying to save. So far they had found… maybe a dozen who were and who wanted to be saved. Most vampires, however, were so drunk on the new speed and strength they’d acquired after transforming that they had no interest in searching for a cure or treatment. They enjoyed scaring and hurting others too much.
The vampires slowed as they shifted their gazes from the students to Nick.
Vampires in general weren’t the brightest bulbs, so it usually took them a moment to conclude—based on his clothing, coloring, and mannerisms—that Nick was an Immortal Guardian. Then they would either flee or attack. In these numbers, they always attacked.