Mac Taylor stepped out of the taxi, and looked up at Danny’s building. It wasn’t in the worst part of town, but sure as hell wasn’t the safest area either. He wasn’t surprised the main entrance was unlocked, nor the fact there was some type of deal going down on the first floor landing. He ignored it, making his way up to the fourth floor.
The door was ajar.
Every instinct in his body went into full alert. He pulled his gun, tipped the door back slowly to find Sonny leaning over Danny. “Freeze!”
Sonny stood slowly wiping the blood off his chin. “Detective Taylor. Well this is a surprise.”
“Step away from him Sassone.” He held his gun steady, trying to assess the situation. The destruction throughout the department, showed that Danny fought like hell. There were two other bodies, and a blood trail from the bedroom to the kitchen.
“This is almost too perfect!” Sonny laughed. “When he wakes up hungry and kills you he’ll be mine forever.”
“Step away!” Mac strode forward, trying to gauge how injured Danny was, when he noticed his chest wasn’t moving, he saw red. “You’re going down a as cop killer.”
He rolled his eyes at the dramaticness. “There’s nothing you can do to me.”
Mac calmly pulled the trigger, sending Sonny to the ground, eyes wide in shock. He holsted his weapon and moved next to Danny, fingers moving to his neck to check for a pulse. “Come on Danny don’t let him do this to you.” He frowned with the amount of blood that was on his fingers, moving his head gently Mac noticed the bite mark. “Fuck.”
He quickly turned and pulled his gun, as Sassone picked himself off the floor, snarling at Mac. He was ready to empty his clip, when the door banged open and a tall very imposing black man stood in the frame, katana in hand. Sonny took one look at the new guy, and made a dash for the back window, jumping through it, snagging the fire escape and slid down to the ground.
Mac turned his gun on the newcomer. “Who the hell are you?”
“A friend.” His voice was gruff but soft, he motioned towards Danny. “He’s been Turned?”
“I think so.” Mac looked back down at Danny. “He’s got a bite mark, but it’s still bleeding. Plus there’s blood on his lips.”
He knelt down next to them. “They call me Blade.”
“Mac Taylor, this is Danny Messer.”
“He’s a fighter.” Blade bent over him, checking the mark, which was still gushing blood, the injuries he had received, were starting to heal. “He’s been Turned but the bite hasn’t closed.” He frowned slightly, not really wanting a new Childe, but fate it seemed had other plans.
The Hunter bit down on the previous bite, took some of his blood, then licked the wound to close, before pulling a small knife to cut his arm, letting some of his blood drop into the kid’s mouth. He glanced over to see Mac staring at him suspiciously.
“Sonny Turned him Without Consent, technically I should offer to take his head if he didn’t want to live this way. But with the destruction, and the fact two rogues are lying on his floor, I have a feeling he has no intention of giving up. I’m sure he also doesn’t want Sonny as his Sire, by biting and giving him some of my blood, hopefully a proper Sire Childe Bond will override Sasssone’s.”
“He’ll be okay?” Mac asked.
“Yes.” Blade stood and moved around the apartment looking at the damage. When he stepped next to the first body, he noticed the Rogue’s eyes were open, but wasn’t able to move. Blade glanced at the destroyed bat, and had to give the kid credit, he likely had snapped the rogue’s neck with a blow of the bat. Without hesitation he pulled his Katana and took his head, dust settling in the spot. The second body got up, and tried to stagger to the window, he was dust before his hand touched the glass. “You will not be able to investigate this crime.”
“How did you know what I do? Or for that matter, knew to come to Danny’s?” He asked, as he settled on the floor, the tension drained from his body, knowing Danny would be alright, different but alive.
“I’ve been following Sassone for a while, ended up tangling with some of his boys just enough to distract me from getting here in time. He’s a known Rogue in the area, when he started sniffing around Danny, it was enough for me to pay more attention, especially with the fact you both have odd connections to the Vampire world. I’m just sorry I didn’t make it in time.” Blade pulled his phone from one of the many pockets on his long black coat. “By the way, I knew your uncle from ‘Nam, you look just like him.”
“Uncle Dan.” Mac laughed lightly, as he remembered his uncle. “He was the one who told me about Vampires. Always talked about the insane unit, that saved his ass a few times.” It took a few moments, before he remembered their names. “Colonel King, Sergeant Brooks, Captain Murdock, and Lieutenant Peck.”
Blade bowed slightly. “Sergeant Eric Brooks at your service.” He paused when the phone was answered on the other end. “Don it’s Blade, contact Allan tell him we have a baby Vampire and get to Danny Messer’s address.”
Mac didn’t need to be a Vampire to hear Don’s scream of ‘What?!’ over the phone. There was more cursing, and from Blade’s look he had hung up on him.
“So I’m taking Sassone isn’t part of the whole Clan thing.” Mac still hadn’t moved from the floor, he needed to be near Danny, make sure he was alright. Though he knew this wasn’t his fault, he couldn’t help but think that his actions did contribute. He saw the bottle of scotch next to the overturned coffee table, and the fact Danny hadn’t had his main service weapon close at hand.
“How much did Dan tell you about Clans and the whole Vampire society?” Blade asked as he straightened a few things up. “Once he wakes up we’re going to need to get him into the shower, and more importantly find a Chosen One so he can Feed.”
“I can do that. Uncle Dan told me about moments in Vietnam, named the local Clans … Sylum and Tallikut, I think those were the names he used, but I never got involved. After loosing my wife, I was focused on my career, not what was going on around me,” he answered honestly. “Then Danny showed up in my life.”
“Interesting.” He gave Mac a closer inspection. “I can tell you this, you both would make excellent Hunters.”
They both focused on Danny when he moaned, then suddenly sat up. He blinked a few times, looked at Mac, then at Blade, then back at Mac. “Someone explain to me in less than five seconds what the fuck just happened?”