by D. R. Rosier
She asked, “Do you know who I am?”
He nodded, “Annaliese the butcher.”
“Fuck!” Lisa snarled, then flipped him over and cuffed him.
She looked up at me, “I was afraid of this.”
I asked, “You knew?”
She sighed, “I considered it a possibility. We’d had two hours of sex yesterday morning, my scent was all over you, is all over you, all the time really. It occurred to me Gene might not have been staring at you because he didn’t recognize your scent, but because he recognized mine. It’s been centuries, but vampires don’t forget scents.”
Well shit, that hadn’t even occurred to me.
Wait a minute.
“Ask him how he knew we were here.”
She growled, “Answer her question.”
He shrugged, “Part of the briefing package, I have no idea how they knew you’d be here this morning.”
“Shit.” I did. The thing that was bothering me finally showed itself in my mind.
Lisa asked, “What?”
I sighed, “This is going to sound paranoid. But what are the chances an anti-human, rule the world crazy elf shows up the day after the vampires offer to take over for the police. Not only that, but that same elf made sure only supernatural people could save the day, and human law enforcement couldn’t get in the building.
“It’s too convenient. If it was just that, I’d say it was a crazy conspiracy theory, except of course, Gene knew exactly where to send this asshole to get a shot at you, which meant he knew what Jarnis was going to do.”
Lisa said, “That does sound paranoid, and elves are very hard to use compulsion on, at least to that level.”
I shrugged, “Maybe he was just a patsy, Gene could have suckered him with a whole rule the world speech, or something, I don’t know. I still think something like it is likely. At the very least, the vampire council knew Jarnis was in town, and that he was going to hit that bank.”
Lisa nodded, “Maybe. They might just have us under surveillance.”
I frowned. I supposed it was possible, but it all seemed a little too neat.
“I suppose it doesn’t matter, Jarnis can’t answer any questions, and we’d never be able to prove it. So, what now?”
Lisa scowled, “I don’t know, I managed to stay off their radar for three hundred years. Let’s turn this asshole over, and then get back to the office.”
“Alright.”
Now I was worried, would Lisa need to disappear? Why did they even want to kill her in the first place, they’d all wanted the king dead anyway. Politics? Lies? Fear? All three most likely.
Chapter Eight
We were in Brent’s office, after we’d filed reports, we’d come up and had filled him in on what happened after the real incident. I was worried she’d disappear and start a new life, she’d take me with her right? I was a little worried, having the vampire council after her wasn’t a small thing, and then I froze as I saw Brent’s bottle of water, the water was leaning towards me. Not the bottle, just the water inside the bottle. I tried to relax, and the water level went back to normal. I really needed to gain better control. Water magic was too easy, and very much tied to my emotions. I needed true control, or I wouldn’t be able to hide it much longer. It was… getting stronger, and I was still a baby dragon.
Brent said, “I see, that’s unfortunate. I can make a few inquiries. Whisper in a few ears. They might back off if we put them under some scrutiny.”
Lisa shrugged, “Depends. Gene’s paranoid enough to believe I’m making a power play by sending in our girl with my scent on her. If they’re afraid I might try and take over…” she trailed off.
Right, they might want her dead more than they cared about their current plans. And here I’d thought it would be me being half dragon that would put her in danger. Nope, apparently it was our insatiable sex life.
I snorted, “You haven’t been trying to do that for the last three centuries, why would they think that?”
Lisa frowned, “Fear. I’m older and stronger than everyone on the council, I could take over, and for most people that are controlled by their own ambition, they believe capacity equals intent. Power does strange things to people, I’ve already told you how it twisted and changed the king when he feared losing it. They’d hardly be the first political leaders, human or supernatural, to kill someone they thought was a threat.”
“True enough, we need to take precautions.”
Brent said, “For one, I want you to leave your car in the parking structure, and use one of the company cars to get to work and home until we get a handle on this. It also might not be a bad idea to get out of town, I can get by without you two for a few days.”
Lisa sighed, “No ladies’ night at the club then?”
I laughed, “No, not this week.”
Lisa shrugged, “I’ll give it a day or two for official channels and government pressure to take care of it. If that doesn’t work I’ll have to either go, or take more direct action. Eventually, they’ll get lucky and take me out otherwise.”
Brent nodded, “I agree, be careful, and I’ll keep you updated. I should know something by tomorrow.”
Lisa nodded, “Alright.”
Brent asked, “One more thing. How long have you two been together?”
I wasn’t surprised he caught on, the boss wasn’t stupid, and there was generally only one way to embed a scent from one person to another. A lot of close sweaty contact, with other fluid exchanges.
I frowned, “Since Tad fucked up and got her stabbed.”
Lisa shook her head, “It wasn’t Tad’s fault.”
Yeah, she kept saying that, I didn’t believe it.
“Is that a problem, or are you just compiling a report for Theo, you know, to make sure you get the date right?”
Brent clenched his jaw, and I suppressed a smile. He was way too easy a target. I also felt a little guilty, because he couldn’t say anything about his oath with Theo, but not that guilty.
Brent sighed in a longsuffering kind of way, “I need to be aware of these things. I trust it won’t be a problem in the field?”
“No, it won’t.”
It really wouldn’t, most couples would worry about their partner being in danger with love involved. We were both a little crazy though, and almost the opposite, as we egged each other on.
Although, Lisa took point the last two times, clearly with the sniper guy it had been my turn to be the first to breach. Then again, the assassin was trying to kill Lisa, and it wasn’t a job, so I should probably just let it go.
This vampire council thing was far more worrying than our day to day job however. Going after skips and crazy supernatural escapees was easy, relatively if we were careful at least, but keeping her safe from professional assassins would be much harder. Still, that had nothing to do with the job, so it didn’t change my answer.
Lisa nodded in agreement.
Brent dismissed us, and we called it a day a couple of hours early.
Lisa seemed okay, but did brood a bit that evening. It worried me, I knew the past was a painful subject for her. Even though I didn’t think she did anything wrong, and she really hadn’t, it still had to hurt when the king she’d guarded for so long turned on her.
She’d had no choice but to kill him and others in self-defense that night. Still, I tried to imagine Brent going bad and me having to kill him in self-defense, it wasn’t hard to understand her feelings then. Right or wrong, self-defense or not, I’d feel like a monster, and it would hurt.
We wound up spending the night watching movies, and relaxing. It wasn’t so bad for me, but Lisa brooded over the self-imposed restrictions. We’d had to skip nights out before, but never because one of us was under threat. We couldn’t go bloodthirsty on them either, they weren’t part of the job, which would make it murder in the eyes of the government, even if it would be self-defense. They weren’t attacking us directly, but the assassin was clearly sent by them. Clea
rly to us, it would be hard to prove it though.
I was still bursting with energy, which was a good thing because she didn’t seem to be in the mood at all for intimacy. Which I could understand. When bedtime came around, I held her, caressed her, and sang her lightly into sleep. I read again that night, but one handed, as I held my lover close under the covers.
I felt both protective and angry, and hoped Brent would have something for us in the morning.
Chapter Nine
Brent looked across his desk at both of us thoughtfully.
“Any problems last night?”
Lisa said, “I wasn’t attacked, and I didn’t kill anyone.”
Brent bit his lip to stop an amused smile, but just for a moment, and then his visage went serious again.
“First, let’s talk about what I found out. I went through channels last night, and it’s good and bad news. The bad news Lisa, is that the local vampire council along with Gene requested you be turned over for crimes against vampire society.”
Lisa snorted, “What’s the good news?”
“By doing that they basically outed themselves as being behind the assassination attempt. In a nutshell, they were told no, and were also warned there had better not be any more incidents. We are sub-contractors of sorts, but you’re still a government agent, and there’s no way the mayor would turn you over for a crime that occurred three centuries ago which they have no proof you committed.”
Lisa shrugged, “I doubt that will stop them.”
Brent nodded, “In the long term, probably not, but you should have a little bit of breathing room. They want their deal, if they kill a government agent they’ll never get it, and they know they’re being watched. Stay alert anyway, and I still want you to use the company car until further notice.”
That was good, at least they wouldn’t have to worry about snipers, or the car being rigged to explode. The wards would stop either of those scenarios.
Lisa shrugged, “I might be safe now until Gene leaves town, but I’m not sure your estimation is correct.”
Brent asked, “Why?”
Lisa said, “Vampires potentially live forever. They’ll guard their lives to the exclusion of all else. If they fear I’m going to make some kind of move against them, they’ll throw out their current plans and try to take me out. It all depends on how big of a threat they think I am, if they think I’m a threat, everything else will pale in comparison to a perceived threat to their lives. It might be worth it to them to discard their plans and try again in a hundred years. What’s a century in the scheme of things, compared to the chance they’ll lose their lives? If on the other hand, killing me where all others have failed is some political move of Gene’s, and he knows I’m truly not a threat, they might back off for a while.”
Brent asked, “What do you think?”
Lisa shrugged, “It’s hard to say. I know I have no intention of killing them all, but that hasn’t stopped them from naming me a butcher and traitor, and marking me for death. It could be political, they probably didn’t want me involved in government back then when they did it. Problem is, now that Gene sent an assassin and failed, he might believe I am a threat now, if for nothing else than self-defense against him.”
“Are you?” Brent narrowed his eyes.
Lisa smiled, “I like my life here, I have no plans to find and kill him.”
I translated that to mean, if the ass wipe keeps sending people that will change. I wouldn’t blame her, she can’t keep dodging assassins her whole life, if more are sent I’d be right there next to her, killing vampires. Either that, or we’d just skip town.
Brent looked resigned.
Brent sighed, “I understand. Alright, I have a job for both of you.”
He brought up an image on the big monitor. It was a woman that appeared to be in her late twenties, or early thirties, which as a shifter probably put her over a hundred years old. She had an attractive heart shaped face, golden blonde hair, and light brown eyes. She was five foot ten, and her body type was a mixture of athletic and willowy that gave her a slinky sensuous look.
Brent said, “This is Kara James. From her mother’s side, she’s a lion shifter and head of a large pride of twelve. The largest pride in the Dallas area. From her father’s side, she’s a mage. She’s not very strong in power, but after a hundred years she’s very good with what she does have, so don’t underestimate her magic. She’s been under investigation for years for fraud, money laundering, drugs, prostitution, sex trafficking, and gambling. The FBI has built up a case from the organized crime division.
“They’ve tried to arrest her multiple times now. The agents always find themselves waking up someone strange, with no memories of how they got there. They considered going in with a lot of resources and agents, but decided to try using us to get her taken in. This isn’t our usual thing, there has been no trial, no arraignment, no official charges placed. This is an arrest. Don’t fuck it up.
“Probably the best place to grab her is at her club, Purr, she’s there every night at some point.”
Purr? Seriously? I was pretty sure lions couldn’t purr. Still, most supernatural clubs were obviously named, to keep unsuspecting humans out, and to draw in the crazier ones.
I smirked, “Oh good, I love stake outs. We need donuts and coffee.”
I really didn’t, like them I mean, they were boring, and usually got me into trouble. Like the last one, when I broke sanctuary rules at my father’s bar like a dumb ass. That wasn’t my fault though, the guy had called me a skank. I was sure that trigger was still there, not starving myself didn’t get rid of all my pet peeves, just the general bitchiness, and I hated that word.
Brent glared at me.
“I’ll behave boss, it’s the new improved me after all,” I said innocently, and I wondered if I pulled it off.
If we were lucky she’d be there earlier in the day when it was closed, to do the books or train her prostitutes, or something. A club full of humans and shifters wouldn’t be the most ideal place to arrest her, if she didn’t come early, we’d have to wait for the right moment.
Brent snorted, “See that you do, and go through the file while you’re waiting for her to show up.”
Lisa smirked, and looked at me, “I already have my snack, but we can pick up donuts if you want.”
Brent turned red, “Go, get out.”
I winked and giggled rather girlishly, just to push his buttons, and then we headed out. We were silent as we loaded up on silver ammo, and left the building. It wasn’t until we left that we talked.
Lisa said, “This isn’t going to be easy, depending on how many of her pack minions are with her.”
I nodded, “No, we’ll have to subdue her, and most likely several others, without killing them.”
That wasn’t an easy proposition when it came to shifters. The only way to do it was to damage them fast and hard enough to get them in silver restraints, and hope we didn’t kill them on accident. Still, we always had some leeway, if they resisted arrest we could defend our lives. I got the idea this was important though, the FBI had thrown in five years of work to get evidence on Kara to put her away, I doubt they’d appreciate us taking her out and making that effort a waste, for any reason.
I changed the subject, “So, what’s the plan if Gene and the local council sends another assassin?”
Lisa replied, “What do you mean?”
I frowned, “I mean, do we kill his ass and leave town, or just leave town.”
Lisa shook her head, “I don’t want to drag you into this.”
“It’s too late for that Lisa. You are mine. If you try to leave me behind, I’ll kill you myself. If I’m joining you in that, no reason I can’t help with the other.”
Lisa smirked at me, and her voice was honeyed, “You say the sweetest things. I love you too. Hopefully it won’t come to that. I think we’ll find another response though, at least for next time, perhaps some kind of warning. If it happens again after th
at, I’m not sure what I’ll want to do. We’ll see when it happens.”
Huh, turns out she liked death threats from me as much as I did from her. We might be dysfunctional, but we were definitely in love.
We did wind up stopping for snacks, but she picked out healthier stuff than donuts for me to eat. I didn’t mind, at least I got coffee.
Purr was a large white bricked building on the outside, with a garish neon sign of a lion laying on top of the name of the club.
We parked across the street and reviewed the files. Kara seemed to have her hands on everything in the city, from massage parlors, high end escorts, and street walkers in the prostitution end of things. Illegal gambling, drugs, and murder, the woman was a real piece of work.
Once we were done with that, we chatted about anything but our current job, and the fact that Lisa was being hunted by the council now that they knew who she was. Books, movies, the future, we talked about it all. Inwardly though, I was thoughtful. I wasn’t sure I liked the new more introspective me.
I’d never given very much thought to the future before, I’d simply been enjoying my job and what I did for a living. Long term goals were something for other people, I’d been living day to day. Lisa changed all that.
Then, with Lisa, a threat to her life, and a threat to mine with the dragon in me awake. I wasn’t sure how long my current life would be sustainable. It was just a matter of time before the threat level would grow too high for one of us, or both. On the other hand, I had no idea what to do about that, or where to go from here.
It was almost four thirty when Kara James showed up at the club, with her whole damn pride. I’d been hoping she’d show up with one or two guards, but nope. Several cars pulled in, and twelve lion shifters got out including her. It was no longer a question if we could take her in without casualties, but more of a question if we could even survive the attempt.
I narrowed my eyes as they moved into the club. They all moved with a deadly catlike grace. I also took the time to differentiate their songs.