The Blood Order (Fanghunters Book Two) by Leo Romero

don't the people just rise up against the Order?" Dom then asked.
    Trixie opened her eyes and stared at him. "Who'd believe a story about vampires running society? And what would they do? Enough people are comfortable in their lives with their TVs and their jobs to give a damn. Not everyone lives like this." She nodded her head at their surroundings.
    "I know, but they're victims as well. We all are."
    "They don't see it that way, Dom. As long as the football's on and MTV is still running shows, we could be run by flesh-eating aliens from Mars and they'd accept it."
    Dom puffed his cheeks. "That's some scary shit."
    " Hmm-hmm. Sure is. Besides, that's the very reason Order give us voting machines."
    Dom shook his head.
    They crawled along the broken street in silence, both of them soaking in the cracked atmosphere.
    "Pull up over there," Trixie ordered, pointing over by a dented fire hydrant. Dom slid the car over, pulled up and killed the engine. From their position, the spine-tingling was at its strongest since entering the street.
    Trixie looked over both shoulders, then stared hard into the side-view mirror.
    "There's definitely a vamp around here," Dom said with a shiver.
    "Yeah. Right in there," Trixie answered, pointing at a three - story building to their left. Dom looked over her shoulder at it. The brickwork was pocked and worn. All the windows on all floors were boarded.
    "Okay," Dom said with a nod. "Whereabouts?"
    "Basement."
    "How many fangheads?"
    "I've only seen the one come and go at irregular intervals. There's no specific timing with him. There could be more inside. There's usually a minimum of two for guarding breaks. So, I'm expecting at least one other inside. But since I haven't seen anyone else, and I've been scooping this place for a couple of weeks now, I'm thinking this could be a lone brood deal."
    Dom nodded, just as a knot of nerves tied itself up in his stomach. He licked his lips. "So, what's the plan?"
    "Same as usual. We go in there, kill the vamp, then go home."
    "Yeah, sounds easy."
    "Well, at some point I'll probably have to intervene and stop you from getting killed."
    Dom gave her a sideways look. "Yeah, yeah. Just pass me the dart gun."
    Trixie had another look around before she reached beneath the seat and pulled out a dart gun. "This one's loaded with holy water," she said as she discreetly handed it to him. Dom took a quick glance over both shoulders to make sure no one was looking. All he saw was an empty sidewalk. He took the gun, gave it a check, then stuck it in his belt.
    Trixie then retrieved another gun from the glovebox. "And this one's got tranq, just in case our friend is inside."
    "Well, let's hope he's not," Dom retorted, taking the gun and sticking it in the back of his belt.
    "Try not to forget which gun is which," Trixie said.
    "Front is holy water, back is tranq. I got it."
    "Let's hope so."
    Dom sucked in a series of quick breaths. The nerves were playing up again, just like on the Drake job. He tried to get himself to think of the positives of the job: how he survived and won his prize, how he helped make the world that little bit more of a better place. Then he thought of himself almost getting killed and a flotilla of butterflies shot through his stomach.
    He glanced back at the building where Trixie said a vamp was hiding out. He shivered.
    "Hey, just relax," Trixie then said and he flinched her way. She had a kind expression on her face; something he hadn't seen yet. Warm eyes, a friendly smile. She placed a soft hand on his shoulder and he suddenly felt much better about things. "I've got your back," she added with a sincere smile.
    "I know that," Dom told her. He took a moment to close his eyes and breathe in deep.
    Come on, he said to himself. Let's go.
    He popped the door open. Without hesitation, he stepped onto the worn tarmac and shut the door behind him. He went straight to the trunk and opened it up. From inside he grabbed a pair of radios, a flashlight,