Chapter Ten

Ryker.

The office has turned to something resembling anarchy as the guys come running in and suiting up. There is tactical gear and guns and shit everywhere.

As soon as Derek told us that he picked up word of Sato selling and packing up we called everyone in and started gearing up.

I'm geared to the max and pacing in front of the elevator when it opens and Emma rushes out. She isn't expecting me to be right here and almost crashes into me.

"Fucking finally," I growl.

"I'm sorry," she says sarcastically. "If I had known that not having my phone for one hour would be so much trouble for you then I never would have put it down."

"This is your fucking op, Emma," I remind her. I realize I accidentally used her name when she glances around us, but I don't care right now. "Should we just pack it up and call it a day? If you're not in this, then there's no reason for all the guys to be here risking their necks for you."

Her face softens. "No. I'm sorry, Ryker. I'm here. I'm in this. I promise. I had something happen, but I'll tell you about it later."

"Fine, let's go get you geared up." I take her elbow and lead her towards the munitions’ locker.

She takes off her jacket and puts on a shoulder holster. I hand her a bulletproof vest and she looks at it with disgust.

"I'm a vampire, Ryker," she reminds me. "A bullet to the chest won't kill me."

I growl as she puts the vest aside and ignores me. She puts two berettas in the shoulder holster and puts her jacket back on. She straps thigh holsters on and puts a gun in each. I know this is a very inappropriate moment, but she looks so fucking hot, my dick starts to rise.

Minion rushes in. "Is she here yet?"

"Over here, Archie." Emma waves to him.

"I have the collar," he says as he holds it up. She moves towards him, and he fastens it on her. "Here's the remote. Just like you said. This is for both of you. Now watch. This button turns it on. That's all it does no matter how many times you push it. This button turns it off, same thing. This side button here doesn't do anything if you push it alone. However, if you hold down the on and off buttons at the same time and push the side button three times in succession, it'll detonate."

"What?" I bark. "I said no explosives!"

Minion flinches away from me and looks apologetic, but Emma ignores my outburst.

"I told him to make the modifications," she says to me before patting Minion on the shoulder. "You did good."

"You did not do good," I snarl at him. "If she gets her head blown off because of this, there is nowhere you will be able to hide from me."

"She won't." He shakes his head. "Not unless you push the buttons exactly right. So, you know, don't do that when she's wearing it."

I narrow my eyes at him. "We'll talk about this later."

I turn back to Emma to see her stuffing her pockets full of ammo clips. She slips a knife into the top of each boot and looks at me.

"I'm ready."

"When's the last time you've eaten?" Minion asks her, and she frowns and looks away.

"I'm fine." She avoids the answer.

"Before the aerosol this morning?" he pushes.

"Yes," she admits with a sigh.

"Can you go that long?" I ask. I'm not completely familiar with vampire eating habits, but it seems like more than twelve hours is too long.

"Yes," she says, still not looking at us.

"Here, take this, just in case." Minion holds out the inhaler.

She doesn't move, so I take it from him and stuff it in my pocket.

He turns to me. "I only had time for a few tweaks this afternoon so the personality side effects will probably still be semi-bizarre, but it does give her nutrients she needs to survive."

"Okay," I say, because there isn't anything else to say. "We have to get going."

We walk out of the munitions bunker and down the hall. Zeke and Drew are waiting for us in the lobby.

"The first team just left." Drew pushes the button for the elevator. "You two ready to dance?"

"Let's do it," Emma says with a sly grin.

We go down and get into a nondescript company SUV. As soon as I pull out into traffic the phone rings.

"We're on our way," I answer.

"We've got a situation," Derek says. "Hold on so I can conference in Gabe."

After a second, Gabe answers, and Derek fills us in. "They're throwing a little going away party. The whole fucking lot of them is tearing up the house and they've got at least a half a dozen human girls inside."

Derek wasn't able to get eyes inside the house on such short notice, but he has ears all around and eyes on the doors.

"Are they willing participants or party favors?" Drew asks.

"They walked in, but from what I'm hearing, they won't be walking out," Derek says.

"Good thing we're crashing," I say as I glance over at Emma, her jaw is hard and her eyes are flashing with anger.

"We don't have a choice now," Gabe agrees.

"Sato there?" Emma asks.

"Yes," Derek answers. "Confirmed his presence about an hour ago. He's in the middle of the festivities. Hold up, someone's leaving the house."

We're all quiet as we wait for him to continue.

"It's Niles Wright." Derek's voice is tinged with a trace of amusement. "Maria Sato just picked him up, and judging by the kiss, I'd say they're going to have their own party."

Drew snickers, and Zeke snorts. Gabe's side remains quiet.

"Shouldn't have to worry too much about noise," Derek says after another second. "They've got the radio up full blast."

"Ten-four," I say. "Ten minutes out."

We park the car a couple houses down from the house and go the rest of the way on foot. Gabe's team is already in position in the back with Asher and Axel ready for back up. Jack is in a nest somewhere with his scope on the front door. Derek and Luis are in an internet company van down the street.

We flank the front door with weapons drawn. I can hear the music inside plain as day. My heart is beating steady in my chest, but I can feel the anticipation and adrenaline coursing through my veins.

"Ready or not, motherfuckers." I hear Luis say in my earbud. There's a loud bang, and the whole fucking house vibrates.

I kick open the door, and we rush in. Gunshots, screaming and swearing rings out over the thumping music. We charge into the room, shooting every vampire in our path as we go. They take it personally and charge toward us, eyes glowing red and teeth elongated.

Gunshots ring out in rapid succession, and smoke starts to cloud the air, as we pick them off efficiently. After only a minute or two, there are no vampires left downstairs. Zeke shoots the stereo, killing the deafening heavy metal.

"A few are heading towards the back door," Emma says. "Sato and a dozen or so ran up the stairs."

I glance around, shooting a couple of downed vampires in the heads to make sure they stay down. I hear some gunshots out back and figure Asher and Axel are getting their money's worth.

"Ryker, take the stairs," Gabe says in my ear. "We'll clean up down here. We found the girls. They're alive."

I motion to my team, and we run up the stairs. We go room by room, killing one here, two there.

Drew opens the last door, and I storm in, catching Sato with one foot out the window. His black hair is shorter than his picture and done in that artfully messy way, but I recognize him. He turns to me with hatred causing his black eyes to glow red.

I fire the first round, clipping him in the arm, as he shoots back.

I take one shot in the chest, the impact of it knocking me off balance. Emma screams and barrels into me, firing her gun at Sato while we tumble to the ground. She hits him too, but her aim isn't great while we're airborne.

I feel another shot hit my vest and Emma yelps as she gets hit too. It all happens in the span of only a few moments, but it feels like time moves in slow motion as I watch everything around me.

Emma lands on top of me as Drew and Zeke rush in. There's movement to the side, and Zeke turns and shoots the new vampire as Drew puts two rounds in Sato's forehead.

I feel like I got hit in the chest by a sledgehammer, but I'm wearing my vest, and I know I'll be fine. I gesture to Drew and Zeke to sweep the rest of the upstairs for anyone hiding. I hear a few more gunshots as I lay Emma on the floor and lean over her.

"He's dead?" Her voice is weak, blood pouring out of three bullet wounds. She said she could survive a shot to the chest and didn't wear the fucking vest. She's never going to hear the end of this. Not as long as I fucking live.

"Yeah, baby." I nod and give her a small smile. "You okay?"

"I don't think so." She looks down at herself. The shots are scattered, but it looks like two went into her heart.

Depending on their strength and the last time they fed, vampires can survive a shot to the heart, some can even survive a shot to the head after significant recovery time. That's why we employ a world class clean-up crew to burn all the bodies after the gunfire to make sure that nobody is allowed healing time.

I know Emma is strong, but I don't know if she's ever been shot before, and I don't know when she drank last.

"I love you, Ryker," she whispers. She coughs and blood trickles down her lips. I wipe it off.

"You are not allowed to die, Emma," I tell her. I stare into her eyes as the light fades away and her body goes limp. "Emma? Emma? Can you hear me? You can't die. I can't live without you."

My eyes flood with tears, and I panic. I remember the inhaler and pull it from my pocket. I put it in her mouth and push the button. Nothing happens. She's not awake to breathe it in. How can she get the nutrition without inhaling?

"You can't die," I repeat. I pull the knife out of her boot and make a cut on my wrist.

I hold it in her mouth and let my blood drip down her throat.

Nothing happens, and I drop my head, letting the tears fall. I never thought it would come to this. I had planned to take Emma home, lay her down and not give up until she agreed to be with me forever. My shoulders slump, and I hold her lifeless body closer to me.

I don't know what I'll do now. Life without her is unthinkable. I can't even bring myself to consider it. All the fight goes out of me as I hold her, my blood still leaking into her mouth from the gash in my wrist.

After a minute, I feel her teeth elongate and sink into my wrist. My head snaps up, and my eyes search her face, but she's still unconscious. I look down at her chest and watch as the bullets are slowly expelled, and the wounds heal.

I look back to her face, but she's blurry now, I start feeling weak and dizzy as the blood drains from my body. I am ready to sacrifice my life for Emma's. I'll accept my fate. I'll die if it means she lives. The obvious alternative here never even occurs to me.

Emma's eyes snap open and go wide at the sight of my wrist in her mouth. Her eyes follow my arm up to my face, and she gasps and spits my wrist from her mouth.

She covers her mouth with her hands. She looks down at my wrist. She quickly grabs the knife, cuts off a piece of her shirt and wraps it around my wrist, holding pressure tight to try to stop the bleeding.

I'm on the verge of passing out, and I know it's too late for bandages.

"What did you do?" she shrieks. "What did you do?"

Zeke and Drew storm in, guns drawn. They look down at me, see her holding the blood-soaked shirt around my wrist and their eyes widen.

"It's okay." I give her a weak smile.

"It's not okay!" she cries. "What did you do? You should have let me die."

"I couldn't." My voice is weak and breaks. My brain is fuzzy, my body is cold, but Emma is alive, and that's all that matters. "I refuse to let you go. I love you, Emma."