Death Deceives: Book Three (Mortis Vampire Series) by J.C. Diem Page A

the lights of the town. By now, the army would be aware that they weren’t dealing with normal humans. The show I’d put on when we’d been fighting the imps would have ensured that. The soldiers would be pretty eager to get their hands on us so they could try to figure out what we were. It was still a mystery to me how I’d managed to pop a bunch of the monster’s heads all at once. However I’d done it, it had come in very handy.
    Only when I reached the outskirts of the town did I slow down to a fast jog. Before attempting to sense Luc, I stopped for a meal. It was late enough that most people were in bed. The pickings were going to be very slim.
    Hearing heavy, clomping, footsteps down a side street, I hurried to investigate. Peering around the corner, I spied a lone soldier. He was probing dark areas with his flashlight and whistling quietly. Despite the fracas at the roadblock, he wasn’t exactly on full alert.
    Creeping up on him silently, I reached out and spun him around. With a strangled yelp, he poked his machine gun into my chest. Before he could pull the trigger and shred my torso to pieces, I caught his eyes. Instantly mesmerized, he smiled happily and the gun drooped in his hands. “You are the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen,” he said in Russian.
    I didn’t have time to argue with him so ignored the comment. “Sleep,” I told him and he became dead weight. Holding his bulk easily, I gently turned his head and sank my fangs into his neck. It didn’t take long to fill the half empty hole in my stomach. When I was done, I sat the man down against a wall and put the gun on his lap. The twin puncture wounds on his neck were already healing and would soon become small scabs that might be mistaken for mosquito bites. If I’d had more time, I would have questioned him about the army’s knowledge of the imps. Since I didn’t have time and he might not even understand English, I decided not to.
    Now to find Luc. Closing my eyes, I sent out my senses and found a vampire on the far side of town. Unable to distinguish anything more than that, I stealthily jogged through the streets. The lone soldier I’d stumbled across wasn’t the only one patrolling the town. I dodged two more as I made my way towards my target. The pickings hadn’t been quite as slim as I’d predicted.
    Sensing the vampire dead ahe ad, I searched the street and couldn’t see anyone, alive or undead. “Luc!” I called and a dark head popped up from behind a five foot high wooden fence.
    “ We need to hurry,” Luc said in greeting as I reached him and entered through the gate. If anyone just happened to glance out their windows, I didn’t want them to see me vaulting over the fence. “More soldiers are entering the town to search for us. I don’t want to become pinned down.” While we were fast on our feet, cars were faster still. We needed to find a suitable vehicle, quickly.
    “They’ll have roadblocks set up at all the exits by now,” I deduced.
    “We will have to take a different route then,” Luc said enigmatically and headed for the back of the property.
    Rounding the house, my attention was drawn to a beat up old jeep. Mossy green, it was caked in mud and dead insects. “Nice,” I complimented my companion sarcastically on his choice of transportation. He gave me a quick grin then jogged to the fence. Only when he swung open a hidden gate did I notice the muddy tyre tracks leading out to a grassy field. Whoever lived here had created their own private road in and out of town. Maybe they had some kind of illegal smuggling operation going on. “You think you’re clever, don’t you?” I said in mock admiration.
    “Yes,” Luc replied with a smug smile then set about hotwiring the jeep.
    Seconds later, he drove out through the gate. I swung it shut, making sure it latched before climbing inside. Luc propelled us down a muddy track away from the town. He handed me his phone and I called the others to see