No Man's Land Read Free Page B

assessing this new threat. One vampire would have been child’s play, but three? And these weren’t just lone scouts or spies; these ones were warriors.
    Half crawling, she cautiously peered around the cinder blocks that supported the mobile home. Two warriors, she corrected. They were both old and strong enough to give her pause, but the third one raised the skin on the back of her neck. He seemed an attractive human male in an expensive suit, but the feel of power rolling from him set her on edge. It was a young power, raw and untrained, but it still felt like a fist against her senses. The odds weren’t in her favor taking on these three. It would be better to take a hit to her pride and live to fight another day.
    “What stinks here?” the large one complained, holding a beefy hand in front of his nose. “Don’t these rednecks ever bathe? It smells like a cross between dogs in heat and old ham.”
    The one in the suit ignored him. Jaq could see by the buzzing street light that his outfit would have cost more than every car on the block combined. It fit well, like it was custom made, and glided in a quiet rustle as he moved. Silk , she thought, sniffing the air.
    They pulled something out of the trunk of the car bundled in sheets. It looked like a body. Jaq could smell the old blood. Lots of blood. Her nose told her it was a strange mix of human and vampire blood. Had they killed a human? she wondered uneasily. If so, she might not be able to let them leave without a challenge, regardless of how it would probably end. Trespassing was one thing, but poaching was unforgivable.
    But why was there a faint vampire smell to the old blood? None of the men appeared injured, so it probably wasn’t coming from them. Was it a dead human in that sheet or a dead vampire? And why would they dump a body outside their own territory?
    The large, complaining vampire tossed the body over his shoulder and strode up the rickety wooden steps into the trailer. Jaq saw a thin white arm dangle loose from the sheet and she caught her breath. A woman? A child? Silently she glided in the shadows back around to the rear of the trailer and peeked through a corner window. The large man threw the body down carelessly, unconcerned that a portion of it landed hard against the coffee table before rolling onto the carpet.
    “Take the sheet.” The tall one laughed. “Don’t even leave her with that.”
    The large one ripped the sheet from the body, thumping it against the floor and edge of the couch. “I’d take her clothes off and leave her naked if they weren’t so filthy with blood,” he said in amusement.
    The two men left the trailer and Jaq moved to see the inside better through the window. The woman on the floor was tiny, with a cap of dark hair. Her legs and arms twisted unnaturally, and blood seeped out in a slow spread across the carpet.
    Her scabs must have been ripped off with the sheet , Jaq thought. She watched the spread of crimson slow to a stop and winced. The poor thing probably didn’t have much blood left in her to lose.
    The trailer door banged open again and Jaq froze, afraid to move lest the vampire notice her looking through the window. The man wearing the suit came in and stared down at the body. He removed something from his jacket and placed it on the coffee table.
    “Ten grand says you don’t make it three days,” he told the body. “I really like to win my bets, so I’ll leave you this gift.”
    He left the trailer, and Jaq heard the big car crunch its way down the gravel road. Carefully she made her way around to the front of the trailer and in the door, wincing as it squeaked open on rusty hinges. The body remained motionless on the ground.
    “Hello,” she called softly. The woman hadn’t responded from being tossed around the floor, but Jaq wasn’t taking any chances.
    The body stayed still, and Jaq cautiously approached, leaning down to check the periodic pulse and occasional breath. This woman