“A few. Not like before.”
“Let me see.” The nurse lifted her bag and pulled the blanket down to my feet. She removed and unfolded a surgical pad, spreading it on the bed and sliding it under my butt. I felt something cold and metallic on my leg as she tucked it in. “Don’t react to it or show it,” she whispered. “Help is coming soon. If vampires come for you, fight back. Don’t let them move you, or your family will never find you.”
“Why are you doing this?”
“It’s not right.”
She pulled out a small device with a long, narrow probe. “This is a portable ultrasound unit with an internal probe. I’m going to use this to verify the ectopic pregnancy is clearing out on its own, all right?”
Like I could refuse anything down here. “OK.”
She used a lubricant on the probe, then inserted it into my vagina and started to move it around. The screen on the device showed all kinds of stuff I didn’t understand, and she pressed a button to freeze the screen. “It’s good news,” she said. She pointed at a dot. “This was the original ectopic site. It looks to be breaking up, with smaller cell groupings here and here,” she said as she pointed at other spots. “Flushing the lines clear may take a while, but this means the drug worked. You may get the occasional sharp pain as the clumps of cells move down the tube, like passing a kidney stone. I don’t see any permanent damage.”
“I can still have children?”
“Only one of your ovaries was affected, so that was never an issue. Once the cellular clumps are clear, the travel of eggs on your left side can resume. There is a potential complication; scarring of the tubes can make future ectopic pregnancies more likely. That risk is minimal since we caught it in time, and you are young and healthy.”
I was letting out tears of joy and sorrow at the same time. It was proof my baby was gone, but the hope of another pup in the future when we got out of here. I had to keep faith in my family and Pack that they would get us out of here; I knew they would stop at nothing to get us back. I had to be the Alpha the girls needed and keep it together until help arrived. “Thank you.”
The nurse put the ultrasound unit away and took a blood sample. She finished her examination and cleaned me up before placing a new pad in place. “You’re doing fine,” she continued with her usual speaking voice. “Keep to the bedrest for another two days, and notify the guards if you get frequent sharp pains or excessive bleeding. Make sure you eat and drink frequently.” She left a couple more maxi-pads on the bed. “I’ll check on you tomorrow night.”
“Thank you.” I laid back down as she waited for the jailer to let her out; I didn’t move until after they were upstairs. Moving a hand down under the sheet, I felt for the object the vampire had left me. I slowly pulled the knife up along my right side, feeling the wooden handle and the long blade. It felt like a chef’s knife from a kitchen, maybe ten inches long. I moved it until it was near my shoulder, just under the covers. “Fiona, can you come here a minute?”
“Sure, Alpha.” The other girls went back to watching television, while Fiona came over and knelt by me. “Did everything go all right on your checkup?”
“Hug me and reach your hand under the sheet by my chest. Take it and hide it, and make sure the cameras don’t see it,” I whispered to my bodyguard. She leaned forward and embraced me while her arm slid under the covers. She stilled momentarily but recovered. I felt her holding the knife, and when she leaned back, she was hiding it under her left arm. “Help me up? I need to use the bathroom.”
“Sure,” she replied. I pulled my covers off, then Fiona wrapped her left arm behind me and pulled me up. I gave her a moment to stash the knife under her pillow, then walked over to use the bathroom. When I got back, I pretended to cry, and Fiona crawled into the narrow cot with me. She held my face to her shoulder while I whispered what had happened. “Get your rest, Vicki,” she said as she got out and tucked me in.
I should try and sleep, but the news had me too wound up. Someone was working against my captors, and my family was on the way. Fiona spread the word to one person at a time, making sure it didn’t look suspicious.
“They’re replaying your Woods Hole documentary at seven, Vicki,” Amy said.
“Great,” I said. “What’s next? THESE TITS got me kidnapped and stuck in a Mexican vampire prison?” Even the twins had to laugh at that. “Let’s watch it. At least the sharks are cool.”
Carla made sure we all had drinks and snacks, and we all settled down to wait for the show to start. The opening had just started when I heard multiple explosions mixed with gunfire. “Get down,” I said as the building shook above us. Dust and dirt shook loose from the hewn-rock ceiling, and I rolled back against the wall. The twins ducked under the table while Fiona, Amy, and Carla ran for the beds.
***********
Alpha Steven Dauntless POV
The wolves remaining in Cancun had five hours left before we’d lose our only shot at taking out the local Vampire coven. At eight PM, we either attacked, or they’d disappear.
Killing Mateo and his Coven mates would be immensely satisfying, and I wasn’t going to miss my chance. We needed a way to do it away from the heavily policed, camera-thick Cancun hotel area if we wanted to escape jail.
The plan we came up with was complicated, and we had little time to implement it. I sent most of the people left from the Southern Cross, Stillwater, and Miesville Packs out to set up our ambush.
At five in the afternoon, I gave Mateo a call on the number he’d left for me. “I got a call from the kidnappers,” I told him. “They want a million dollars per woman. We’re going to pay it tonight.”
“That’s good news,” Mateo said. He was an excellent liar because I didn’t sense any deception. He damn well knew the girls weren’t here, and money would never get them back. “How can I help?”
“We’ll be carrying a fortune and meeting up with bad people,” I said. “I need everyone you can get me for backup and to help us past any checkpoints. I can’t get stopped carrying guns or money in this town.”
“It’s a good way to end up dead,” Mateo agreed. “When and where?”
“We’ve got cars, so if you can meet us in the hotel parking lot at seven, that would be perfect.”
“We’ll be there,” he promised.
I could imagine. Mateo probably figured to get us out in the jungle, kill us, and keep the money.
At seven, I had eight warriors in two vehicles, plus a van with a single driver, waiting in the lot. We’d retrieved all of the guns from the hiding place in the garden, and I had them in the trunk of my vehicle. We’d gone over our plan, and I reminded everyone to stay in the cars until I called for them. I got a call from Mateo. “We’re pulling in now,” he said.
“Drive through, and we’ll follow you out,” I said.
“No. You come to my car, and I’ll send one of my people back to yours,” he said. “That way, there won’t be any communication issues.”
Shit. I didn’t have a choice. “You have the machetes,” I asked Luna Karen. The Stillwater Luna was sitting behind me in the car, her mate in Mexico City with Leo.
“Of course,” she said.
I nodded. “Take his fucking head off as soon as I give the word.”
I got out of the passenger seat and walked forward; it was Esmerelda who exited the back seat of Mateo’s car. I said hello to the petite vampire as we passed, then I took her place in the back of Mateo’s ride. “We appreciate your help in this,” I said. “The guns are in my vehicle.”
“I know, that is why Esmerelda is there. She’s old enough to get you past any searches.” I suppose that was good, but I was also putting my people next to a powerful vampire. Any slip-ups, and we were all dead. “Where are we headed?”
“West, towards Valladolid,” I told him. The city in the center of the Yucatan Peninsula was over an hour away.
The vampires got us through two checkpoints on the way out of town; no searches, but we did get warnings about ‘recent kidnappings’ outside the area. It was dark as we drove through the jungle, with a few towns interrupted by long expanses of nothing. The tollway was moving along fast, and pretty soon, we were coming up at the exit for 305D towards Playa del Carmen.
“Everyone in place at the site,” I asked.
“In place and waiting,” came the response.
“Two minutes out.”
“We need to gear up and test-fire our weapons now that we’re past the checkpoints,” I told Mateo. “The satellite map shows a cleared area with an access road coming up on the right in one kilometer. Can you pull off there?”
“Of course,” he said. His driver slowed as I called down the distance, and we pulled off the pavement and onto a logging road. When we reached the clearing, I asked them to stop. “It will only be a few minutes,” I said as I got out.
Walking back to my car, my warriors already had the bag out and were handing out pistols. I took two, cocking one and putting it into my pocket before our group walked away from our cars, facing the open area. Looking at my phone, it was one minute to eight at night. I joined the group, firing one round from each pistol to make sure it worked. “Anyone not ready, say so now.” There were no responses. “Five, four, three, two, one, GO.” As one, we turned and opened fire on the vampire’s car.
Luna Karen’s POV
For a vampire, Esmerelda was pretty cool.
I’d gotten most of her story on the drive through the jungle. Mateo had killed her family when she was twenty and a student at University in Mexico City. She’d come after him with a knife, not that it did any good. Instead of killing her, the sick fuck turned her and bent her to his will. She’d adapted to her vampire nature, using her brains to survive in a world ruled by raw power.
She got quiet as we turned off the highway and onto the empty road. “Mateo is going to betray you,” she said quietly. “He’ll wait until you meet the kidnappers, then kill you all and take the money.”
I didn’t know what to say to that. “Why?”
“Power, money, and control,” he said. “The same things vampires always want.”
“Why warn us?”
“I don’t want to be destroyed over Mateo’s hubris. He’s smart enough to stay away but keep Vespucci’s favor as he grows in power. There is no one around to challenge him. At least, not until your group arrived. All I ask is that you let me go free. I’m in the human records as his wife, so when he dies, I’ll inherit his empire.”
“You’re willing to betray him so you can take over?”
She laughed. “Vampire life is nothing like what I’ve seen from you. I didn’t choose this life. A newborn vampire wishes for the life of a slave, and even after all these decades, Mateo still takes me when he wants. My only chance at a better life is to take his place. I won’t forget the favor.” She looked forward again, letting me think.