What did I do to deserve this? Holden Laux couldn’t help asking himself. He did his best to keep his opinions to himself while the bullets flew overhead. There wasn’t time to complain, the was barely time to rationalize.

The air was thick with gunpowder and smoke, and his ears were deafened by the high pitched scream of firearms. So many shots fired in confined spaces killed his ears, sending them ringing with pain. He was near deaf by the sudden experience.

It didn’t help that he was also soaking wet from the fire suppressing system from overhead. There was an old maxim to war, that the greatest plans never survive the first shots of combat. Holden never intended for things to get this bad. They hadn’t even brought enough ammunition for most of their weapons! They were meant for show! He never imagined agents of the crimson convent would be here, or that Kamillah Crimsonfire herself would be waiting for them. And now, he knew they had to work fast.

Holden always expected complications, but never like this. It was pure pandemonium, a botched scheme that was quickly falling apart. Under normal circumstances, Holden would’ve ordered an immediate withdrawal. Given the authorities outside, and the convents agents amongst them, he knew that wasn’t an option. Where plans failed, desperation might succeed…if one was willing to put everything on the table. Holden grinned, he wanted to laugh out loud amidst the noise. Even like this, it’ll all be worth it if he could capture the prize. What he came for would change everything, nothing else would matter.

The first floor of the hotel was bathed in chaos. The tourists, vampire and human alike, surrendered to pure undiluted panic. Most ran, choking the stairways and stampeding over one another like lunatics. A few fought back, and their was a surprisingly large amount of armed citizenry who weren’t afraid to shoot back.

Four of Holden’s team were on the floor bleeding, another eight were scattered. All the while, the police had them surrounded outside.

Kamillah Crimsonfire had disappeared, likely gone to regroup and protect what Holden was really after. While the plan was no longer feasible, Holden couldn’t help but wonder how she knew they were coming? For now it was a minor concern, although he would have to investigate later.

He cried out to one of his subordinates nearby. “On three we use the screamers!” Holden’s voice was just barely audible over the screams.

“Roger that sir,” the soldier reached for a small orb on his belt. On first glance it looked like a small marble, when in fact it was a tiny contraption designed to incapacitate vampires.

The screamers were a simple device created to discharge a high pitched squeal into the general surroundings. Only audible to vampires, this high frequency noise brought enormous pain. It was worthless out in the open, but in a confined space the small spherical device would disorient, and even knock out, the fanged creatures of the night. It would only work for a limited amount of time, but that was all he needed.

Another of his crew was shot in the leg, and soon another fell flat onto his back. Time slowed as Holden watched both of them collapse onto the ground, grabbing their wounded limbs, and shrieking in pain.

Holden looked up, and noticed the small crack in the window. Cold realization ran through his veins. They had snipers outside!

“Throw it now!” Holden yelled at the man alongside him. Another crack of broken glass meant another soldier was down. Soon he would have no one left on the first floor.

Holden’s subordinate let the screamer fly. It resembled a sailing pebble through the smoke in the air. Small trickles of moonlight broke through the clouds, reflecting off the metal as the screamer soared towards the center of the vast room.

But just before it hit the floor, something knocked it clear out of the wind, and sent it hurling through the window.

“What the!” Holden looked to the side.

There was a new vampire across the room. Tall, slender, with greased back hair and razor sharp eyes, he had a collection of daggers between his fingers. Somehow the vampire managed to knock out the grenade mid air!

Holden froze just looking at him. He could tell this wasn’t a normal vampire. There was an aura around him, a timelessness that defied death itself. Despite his youthful vigor, clearly this was someone of importance. Holden knew it was further confirmation that he was on the right track. The Lucien garnet was here! The sudden confirmation renewed the tempest in his soul.

“Well, I guess we do this the hard way.” Holden withdrew a pair of silver cufflinks and wrapped them around his fingers.