Drew was at my side, “It’s over,” he whispered.
I released a long breath, trying to calm myself. “For now it is,” I answered. We were in the heart of New Orleans in the middle of the Vampire Apocalypse, this was far from over by any standard.
“Let’s go,” Anthony waved us on.
I moved back to my previous position at the back of the pack where I could hear anything coming at us from behind while Anthony continued to lead us through the French Quarter.
“Over here.” Anthony beckoned us all toward him where we crowded around to hear him whisper. He crouched down and pointed at a building across the street. “That is it, right there.”
The building wasn’t what I’d expected. It a lot plainer than I would have imagined a haunted mansion to be. The gray, three story mansion was set on a corner lot. The gallery, situated on the middle floor, wrapped around the length of the building. Windows … there were a lot of windows. I don’t know how the survivors of the resistance would be able to keep anything a secret in that house with all the stinking windows. This didn’t seem like a very good place for a hideout.
We all crouched down in the shadows and watched the place for a little while. Looking for any signs of life and for the first time I wondered how we were going to approach these people, especially with a vampire in tow.
We sat there in the darkness for over an hour before Zander finally nudged me. “The roof,” he whispered.
Our eyesight was better than the eyesight of a full blooded human, so Zander, Anthony and I could see better in the dark than everyone else. I focused to the roof and saw what he was talking about. A slight movement where the house rounded the corner caught my attention. Yup, there was a sniper up there. Once I was able to really focus on the movement I could see the shadow of a person up there, although I couldn’t tell if they were male or female. What I could see was the length of a rifle held out in front of them and aimed right at us.
It was a wonder they hadn’t shot at us already.
“They know we’re out here,” I whispered loud enough for everyone to hear.
Drew cocked his head to the side. “We should probably let them know we have spotted them, a surrender, so to speak.”
“Yes,” Luke nodded, “that would be best.”
“Well, who’s going to do it?” Zander asked. The risk of the situation was crystal clear in his voice.
“I will,” Gavin volunteered, already holstering his gun.
“No,” I told him. “One of us would be better off since we can see what’s going on up there.” Really, I just didn’t want to see him get shot. “I’ll do it.”
“No,” Drew shook his head, “not you.”
I rolled my eyes. Here we go. I sighed and then explained. “I heal fast. If I get shot I can withstand it better than any of you.” Meaning, I probably wouldn’t die.
“Chloe…” Drew and Gavin both muttered in unison
“Guys, I can do it.”
Anthony adjusted his position. “I would volunteer, however, I imagine I would be most likely to be shot.”
I nodded. “We know that, Anthony. I’m going.”
“Chloe,” Gavin set his hand on my shoulder. “You are a better shot than any of us, plus your eye sight is better. That is why you can’t do it, you need to keep your eyes on the guy up there so that if he is going to shoot me, maybe you can get him first.”
I didn’t like this. “I don’t know.”
Finally Christina opened her mouth. “For crying out loud, this is so dumb. I hate it when everyone gets all ‘Ohhhh, we can’t put Chloe at risk’ on us. Someone get your ass out there or I’ll do it. I’m not scared of those idiots. I mean, they are hiding out in plain sight in a freaking haunted mansion. Who does that?” She raised her eyebrows at her own question.
Gavin stood and stripped off his holster, then took off his white tee shirt. I bit my lip when the shirt went over his head. I’d forgotten just how sexy those abs were.
Focus, Chloe, focus!
He shoved his guns into the back of his jeans and twisted the tee shirt around his fist. Then, without a second look back at the rest of us, he strode out into the street.
Immediately, I focused on the rooftop. The shadow trained his weapon onto Gavin the instant he stepped off the sidewalk. I didn’t think my pistol would have the range that the sniper’s rifle would have, so I removed my bow from my shoulders and slid an arrow from the quiver on my back. Still keeping my eyes on the guy, I fit the arrow in place and took aim.
Gavin had made it to the middle center of the street, where he stopped and then spread his arms wide, the signal of ‘look I’m unarmed.’ He gripped the tee shirt in his right hand and waved it around, hoping that whoever was watching would get the idea of what we were doing.