Drew D'Amato:Bloodlines:02 by Drew D'Amato

secrets to life.  We have a chance to become human again, what are we then if we do not take it?”
    Jericho was closer now in understanding Vlad’s true motivations.  This wasn’t just about being a human so he could be in love.  Giving up this power was something more, something deeper, sacrifice—salvation.              
    Vlad had accepted his life as a vampire as punishment for the brutality he showed as a human.  He felt this was his last chance to get right in the eyes of God.  Fighting Radu and protecting humans was what made it right.  Staying a vampire or letting Michael and others stay vampires after the death of Radu, was not an option.  He had to end vampires.  That was his penance.  He believed he had to save the world from vampires to save his soul.
     

SEVEN
    1
    T he men got back to the Hilton a little bit before sunset.  No one said much on the ride from the castle.  Everyone had their own thoughts to process as the sun started to set over the rolling Transylvanian countryside.  Once they got to the hotel though they got to work.  Michael checked them in under his fake ID.  Malachi oversaw Deacon and Andrew as they painted the special silver paint on the ammo and then lubed up the bullets.  They dried them on wax paper.  They would be ready in a few hours and then they would load them in their guns.
    They had gotten two rooms—suites—each with two beds and a couch.  Jericho, Michael, and Vlad planned over the tactical side of the attack in the other room.  They would strike at nine in the morning, sure by then it would be daylight and the Radusons would be sleeping.  It was still a gamble, a big one, but after what they had been through at the airport, and the vision Vlad received at his old castle, he felt destined to come out on top.
    “Should we go out and hunt tonight?” Jericho asked.
    “How about we attack Boris and his men?” Michael asked.  “I’m sure they were responsible in one way or another for a few deaths.”
    “No, we are not going out to hunt,” Vlad said.  “This is his land.  There is too much of a chance we might run into some Radusons.”  Vlad looked out the screen door onto the balcony.  He himself had been tempted to go out and fuel up on some blood before the big day, but he realized there wasn’t a point to it.
    “Master, I understand the risk, but do you expect us to go to Radu’s house and kill him while low on blood?” Jericho asked.
    “Radu’s house is the key word,” Vlad said.  “Blood won’t have any affect on us tomorrow.  We will be in his house uninvited.  We will be humans, remember.”
    Jericho and Michael nodded, they understood.
    “Now, being human means a lot of things, but one thing you cannot forget is that you will no longer have your vampire quickness.  You will not fire your guns as quickly, aim as quickly, or shoot as accurately.  More importantly, if they are up, and they are out of the sun, they will still have their abilities.”
    “So if they wake up, we are pretty much destroyed,” Michael said.
    “That’s why this is a very dangerous mission.  Suicidal, I think Malachi called it.”
    Vlad walked off and made a whiskey neat from the minibar.  The rest of the night the men tried to avoid thinking about the mission, like it was some kind of bad luck.  Vlad recommended that they actually get to bed, since humans performed better if well-rested. 
    As Michael tried to fall asleep on the couch of their room, with Vlad and Jericho in their beds, he contemplated just killing Vlad right then.  He had three reasons not to.  The first was Radu, who would be upset.  Killing him then would have been like killing him two weeks ago.  Radu would be upset and feel cheated of the chance of watching his brother die.  Then he wouldn’t keep up his end of the deal.  He would probably kill Michael, too.
    The second reason was the actual process of doing it.  If he did it now he would have to worry