The Chaos Order (Fanghunters Book Three) by Leo Romero Page B

Snakes. Heard of it?”
    Alicia shook her head. “My father was always looking for ancient stuff. I was never really interested. Why do you need to find it?”
    Dom and Trixie glanced at one another.
    “Well...” Trixie began.
    “There’s an ancient vampire locked away in the temple that Vincent has sent us to kill,” Dom said straight up.
    Trixie turned away and scratched the back of her head. Dom watched Alicia as her mouth popped open.
    Alicia then began to nod. “My father was always talking about vampires controlling the cartels. I always thought he was crazy. I never believed it. But, after they killed him, we sent some guys up to Víbora’s hideout, Castillo Serpiente, to assassinate him. Only one of them came back. He had this... wound on his neck like someone had taken a bite out of him. Before he died, he told us Víbora did it to him. He said Víbora is a vampire, and that he was too strong to kill.”
    “It’s all true, Alicia,” Dom said. “Your dad was correct. The cartels are controlled by a faction of vampires known as the Chaos Order. The head of the Order is Magdalena. And we think she’s in the Temple of Snakes. If we can stop her, then we can hopefully stop the cartels.”
    “So, you know how to kill vampires?”
    “Absolutely! We’re experts.”
    Alicia gave him a skeptical look. “The guys we sent were good. Víbora killed them all.”
    “Yeah, but we’ve got methods. Proven methods,” Dom told her.
    “Okay. I’ll make you a deal. My father kept notes on everything he found out about the cartels and ancient Mayan culture. Maybe there’s something in there about this temple you’re looking for. If you help us kill Víbora, then you can have my father’s notes, and we’ll help you find this temple.”
    Dom glanced at Trixie.
    Trixie shrugged. “Deal,” she said to Alicia.
     
     

 
     
     
     
     
     
    CHAPTER THIRTEEN
     
     
    T hat evening they had a meal of fresh chicken and rice covered in lime juice picked from one of the trees outside. It was one of the freshest, tastiest meals Dom had eaten in a long time. The chicken came straight from a backyard farm, and with the lime cooling the heat of the jalapenos, it was a new twist on the processed garbage he was accustomed to. He washed it down with another Corona, which helped cool down the heat of the chili further.
    He let out a gasp of satisfaction. He was enjoying his stay in Mexico more than he’d expected. While they ate, they all exchanged stories. Alicia and la Sagrada Família told of their battles with the local cartels, while Dom and Trixie relayed their episode in the I-Sore Tower against Leviah’s Blood Order and Blacklake. La Sagrada Família all listened intently, absorbed in what Dom and Trixie were telling them, Alicia translating as and when she needed to.
    The stories and hatred for the orders and cartels were similar. Venom addiction versus drug addiction, fangheads versus gangbangers, an order controlling things; it was all the same. Only the attitudes on how to approach the battle were different. The autodefensa didn’t seem to have any qualms putting bullets into Chaos Order affiliates. As far as they were concerned, cartel members were criminal scum who deserved to be put down. When Dom and Trixie explained the use of tranqs to sedate fangheads, it was met with derision.
    “Why would you want to save the lives of the enemy?” One Sagrada Família member asked them, Alicia translating.
    “Because they’re victims,” Dom answered, the image of that merc he killed flashing in his mind. “Victims,” he repeated, watching his unconscious body drop into the abyss.
    After dinner, Dom and Trixie went shooting with Rafa and the other Sagrada Família members. They took their assault rifles and submachine guns out to the fields surrounding the town to shoot targets made of cans, stones, and bits of wood. The guys lit up the field with the strong lights attached to their Humvees before setting up the