There could be no doubt: this was the work of newborn mutants.
By the silky material around the woman’s thighs, I could tell she had been out enjoying New York’s nightlife. Her last night out. From what I could see of her face, she looked young, no more than eighteen. My heart instantly swelled for her parents. This girl was someone’s Evangeline.
Mage suddenly appeared beside me to observe the body, but only lasted a second before turning around and stalking to the other side of the alley, the blood no doubt the cause of that. “We need to keep moving,” she said through tight lips, adding, “fast. If anyone finds that . . . ” She didn’t need to finish. I knew what would happen. It would make front page news.
I sighed, then muttered, “We can’t leave her here.” We couldn’t have this much attention this close to Viggo and Mortimer’s place. The Sentinel would certainly put two and two together, if they hadn’t already.
“Then you had better do something, and quick. They’re likely still traveling in a pack. They wouldn’t think to do otherwise right now. But soon enough, they’ll scatter.”
And then we’d have five mutants heading in five different directions. I brushed away the giant snowflake that had landed on my nose as I weighed my options. I couldn’t burn the body; the smoke and flames would draw too much notice. And cloaking spells were temporary. I didn’t have time to weave the spell that would mask the evidence properly. Those kinds of spells took more time than we had. I looked at the dumpster. A very unimaginative, human way of disposing of a body.
“I’m sorry for this,” I whispered, throwing open the top of the large green bin. Delicately, careful not to soil my clothes—I enjoyed blood as much as the next vampire, but I didn’t enjoy bathing in it—I hoisted the body up and tossed her in, rubbing my hands to get all evidence of blood off afterward. There. At least when she was discovered, it would take time to trace her back to here. I assessed the blood pool on the pavement. Perhaps I could lift it all—
The second link on my wrist began flashing brilliantly. More fresh blood. The third one went off immediately after. A lot of fresh blood. All thoughts of this crime scene vanished, driven out by fear of what lay ahead. I ran to the others.
“Where to now?” Mage asked, faint red lines still marring her almond-shaped eyes.
“This way. Quick,” I ordered.
We followed the pull of the links for thirteen blocks, ending up in another alley, in front of a gray steel door, where the scent of blood infused the air. My tongue curled, the coppery taste filling my mouth. I turned to see five sets of eager eyes. “Whatever is behind this door could be hard to handle,” I warned.
Fiona and Amelie clasped hands. “We’re ready this time,” Amelie said with stoic conviction.
Caden reached out to grasp the handle. “It’s locked.” With a nod to me, he swung his long leg at the door. It caved in with a loud creak, the frame twisting so badly that the door simply fell over. We stepped down a set of stairs and into a dank concrete hallway. The weak fluorescent bulbs shook violently with each beat of the music pounding in the underground club ahead. They illuminated four large, mangled male bodies sprawled on the dirty concrete, their freshly spilled blood splattered along the walls like abstract art. Their size identified them as the bouncers. The mutants had carved through them effortlessly.
“Keep moving!” I shouted, grabbing hold of Fiona and leading the way to a second set of doors at the end of the hall. I looked over my shoulder to find the rest following, struggling but somehow bypassing the bloodied bodies, Caden with steely eyes and a hand hooked around his sister’s arm.
Swallowing the lump forming in my throat, I listened intently at the doors. I heard no screams, no moans, just hammering music. What would we find on the other side, a mass killing ground? These late-night parties held hundreds, if not thousands of young people. Thousands of fast-beating hearts pumping fresh, warm blood through millions of veins—could the mutants control themselves?
I squeezed the metal door handle. The door popped open, the previously muffled music now exploding through the crack as I peered inside—at a sea of moving, gyrating bodies. I breathed a sigh of relief. No mass killing here. Yet. It was a late-night rave in the giant, low-ceilinged basement of a building, complete with a smoke machine, kaleidoscopic light show, and a dense crowd of wasted revelers. The perfect plucking ground for a hungry vampire.
The six of us quickly slipped through the entrance. Bishop closed the door behind him, bending the door frame to jam it so no one could exit through that doorway and find the bouncers’ bodies. I spent a few moments scanning the crowd for our repulsive targets but soon realized it would be impossible to find them while standing here, even with our abilities.