Ivan was a little surprised. Stephen seemed to be a different person now that he was speaking with the Were Council Pack leader directly. Much more direct and without much give.
“I understand, Herr Stephen. May I ask a clarifying question?”
“Certainly. I am to work with you, Josef. My Queen is not about the old ways. Work with us, and we can work together to accomplish results in a satisfactory way. I have been charged with making sure Europe is safe. Do not mistake my effort to work together as an indication that I will accept anything but the most honest and earnest effort. Now, what is your question?”
Josef weighed his words carefully before he responded. Stephen was rumored to be the most easygoing of Michael’s children, but he was also the one responsible for the night of flames right here in Frankfurt. That he was obviously young and passionate again spoke against the rumors he was ready to sleep a final time. “You say you have a Queen, is this the one who killed Algerian in Brasov?”
“Yes, her name is Bethany Anne. She is the one who saved the American Were and Ivan’s sister, Ecaterina. Ecaterina is the one who captured Petre, and Bethany Anne is the one who chose to execute him and fulfill the strictures.”
“And if I can be so bold, what about Michael?”
“His whereabouts are unknown. We have no information that he is either captured or killed. There is some evidence that he is absent for his own reasons. No, I will not go into that with you.” Josef nodded his understanding. “I can understand the concern about Michael visiting, as he hadn’t come back to Europe in centuries.”
“So, that much was true?”
“Yes, his last known location was in Romania. A few days after Michael left Romania, his plane disappeared on its way to England.”
“What would Bethany Anne have us change? I understand that the American Pack Council had a run-in with her.”
“Yes. So did the vampire Clarita, who is no longer among the living. Bethany Anne can be vengeful or merciful, depending on how you yourself act. She will not visit the sins of the children on their fathers, but if you don’t accept responsibility for your children, she might apply punishment for not taking care of what you need to. In the case of the European Pack Council, she will understand if we work to fix it now. But there will be no second chances. I can tell you this: she doesn’t suffer fools or foolishness. You have one chance to make it right, and that is all.”
Stephen stopped talking, it was time for Josef to decide which way his council would go. If Josef did not choose wisely, there might be a new pack leader before the night was finished.
Josef had been in contact with Gerry in the States. He had shared more about Bethany Anne than Stephen had, but none of what he said contradicted Stephen. Her guards had killed more Weres than she had in their last dustup. With so many years of working around the strictures and keeping mistakes quiet, the knowledge they were going to deal with one of Michael’s children had concerned many on the council. They were all guilty, to some degree, of being loose with the rules. And there was one thing they could not fail to share, or the whole council’s lives were forfeit.
The vampire just stared at him, with unblinking eyes. It unnerved him. Unlike in America, the splinter group in Europe was truly not part of the Pack. They had their own underground organization and most of them were dealing in illegal drugs, prostitution and other crimes. They had been working with three—now two—vampires for the last thirty years. Petre had been one of three. Another was based here in Frankfurt and the third lived in Paris.
They had a tenuous agreement that Weres who wanted out of the pack had to join the underground. There were no other options. They had policed themselves well over the decades and it had worked. Now what was going on was going to come out.
This was going to be seen as his decision, which was why Stephen wanted to speak only with him. It was his decision and would be his responsibility to accept the fallout for it. Stephen was a typical vampire in one respect, he started at the top and if he didn’t get what he wanted, he would get rid of that person and move down.
So, Josef opened up and started explaining to Stephen the underground pack and the last thirty years. He was pleasantly surprised that Stephen didn’t kill him right away. He was good as his word and throughout the afternoon, he asked questions and worked to understand how they could fix the situation. Once Stephen had a handle on it, he told Josef he would talk with Bethany Anne and figure out their next step.
Stephen and Ivan left Josef and went back to the hotel. Their rooms had been cleaned up nicely. They got ready while Stephen drank a bag of blood. They didn’t have a microwave, so he had to drink it cold which was not the high point of his day so far.
Stephen took more time than usual getting ready. Tonight would be the first time in decades he had gone out to acquire female companionship.
Ivan came out of his room. He had dressed in a pair of fashionable jeans and Converse. He had paired the jeans with a white long sleeved shirt and a dark blue blazer. Stephen came out shortly after and he had on a pair of black jeans, white long sleeved shirt with cufflinks and a nice black suit jacket. He had black dress shoes with his ensemble. “Ready wingman?”
Ivan smiled. “After you, Mr. Cruise.”
Stephen started towards the door and called out over his shoulder, “Who is this Mr. Cruise?” Ivan laughed and proceeded to give Stephen the quick version of Top Gun and the actor who played the main character.
They decided to walk to the Velvet Club as it wasn’t too far away from their hotel. It was a little early in the evening, so they went to the bar and ordered drinks. The bar had multiple levels and a dance floor shrouded in green lights. The decor was modern with dark wood everywhere. Stephen talked to the barman and was able to procure a nice table that overlooked the dance floor. They had a glass wall next to them which would block some of the sound, but none of the sights.
Ivan sat across the table from him. “Stephen, how are you going to get the attention of the women from way up here?”
Stephen smiled at Ivan. “It is all about a woman’s biggest weakness, Ivan.”
“Really, would that be Chocolate?”
“No.”
“Diamonds?”
“No.”
“Money?”
“Please, you are being prosaic, Ivan.”
“Ok, maybe so. Remember, my present girlfriend came up to my front door. I don’t have much experience needing to go to clubs.”
Stephen laughed. “Really? Wait until I spring that answer on Gabrielle, I wonder what her response will be?” Stephen knew what her response would be, she wouldn’t care. But Ivan didn’t know that yet.
Ivan put up a hand. “Let’s not be hasty, maybe I’m getting my facts a little off. So tell me, what is a woman's greatest weakness?”
“Curiosity and its darker sibling, jealousy. Having what the other woman has, my good Ivan. Fortunately for you, your woman is past these childish feelings.”
“Really? How long did it take her to get beyond these problems?”
Stephen looked like he was doing some calculations in his head. “Maybe a hundred and twenty years?” Ivan just about snorted his drink out of his nose.
“So, not something a normal lifespan will fix?”
“Oh, probably. Most women get over it by their fifties or sixties. But Gabrielle was still looking like she was in her twenties and thirties and being in that young of a crowd kept her insensible for decades longer than she should have been. Ah, here comes our first two fish now.”
Ivan turned around and saw two women coming up the stairs with red chits in their hands. One was a brunette and the other a dirty blond with glasses. The brunette was smiling like she was part of an in joke and the other looked a little shy. Stephen looked them both in the eyes as they came up and he smiled in a disarming way.
The brunette came up and placed the red chit on the table. “Ok, what is this game you have going on with the barman? He says that you have purch
ased all of the cosmopolitans for the evening?” The blond was covertly looking over at Ivan who was looking at Stephen.
“Yes my dear, in a way. I have purchased the right to provide cosmopolitans to all of the ladies here tonight. I simply ask to know your name.”
“My name? I tell you my name and then the barman will give me a cosmopolitan?”
“Yes. There is nothing else to it. I made a bet with my good friend Ivan here that I could learn the names of fifty women tonight. If you and your friend share your names with me, I will be two wonderful names closer to winning my wager.”
“Really, what’s your wager with your friend?” Despite herself, Terry was getting curious. Neither one of the guys gave off the sleazy vibe she was used to and the one she was talking with acted like he could take her or leave her. He certainly didn’t act needy.
“I’m sorry, but I’m giving a cosmopolitan to learn a name, the details of the wager have a value to me and I can’t simply just announce them.” Stephen fished into his pocket. “So, here are two blue tokens that the barman downstairs will accept for your cosmopolitans. Do we have an agreement?”
She looked at him harder. “You really don’t want our phone numbers or anything else, do you?”
Stephen looked at both of them. “Well, that would be a problem. You see, there are certain qualifications to the bet. If a couple of things happen then I could lose the bet and I would really prefer you didn’t share any other information with me.”
“Oh, why not?”
Stephen acted exasperated. “I’m sorry, but isn’t it enough that we have a small business agreement here? I pay for your drink, you have a wonderful time exactly how you had planned to have a wonderful time except with two drinks you didn’t have to pay for and you help me win a wager with my friend?” Stephen purposefully looked over the brunette's shoulder at another two women coming up the stairs with red chits.
She turned back around and changed her demeanor to be a little more agreeable. She reached out and took one of the two blue tokens, “It’s Evangeline. I’m getting my drink but I’m coming back. I’m going to find out exactly what the wager is between you two.” With that she turned around and started to leave her friend. Realizing she was alone she turned around as the blond reached out to take the second blue token. Stephen took it and with his other hand placed it into her outstretched palm.
She smiled at Stephen. “Paula.”
“My pleasure, Paula.” He smiled at her as she turned around and caught up with Evangeline and they went down the steps. At that point the second set of ladies approached them.
Ivan just watched in amazement as ladies came up to the table and within a short while, they had six attractive women sitting there.
“Oh god.” Evangeline had been watching the dancers when she saw Mathis enter the club with his two lackeys. Both of the guys were easily over six feet and muscular. She had danced with him a few weeks back and then told him no when he wanted to leave the club with her. She tried to lean back but he had spotted her face already and was pointing to where they were all sitting.
Paula leaned over. “What is it?”
“Mathis and his two friends. They saw me already.”
Stephen had heard the conversation while he was talking with another woman to his left. He politely excused himself from that conversation and leaned back towards Evangeline. “Sorry, but I heard you say something you were unhappy about?”
Evangeline glanced back at the stairs, so Stephen and Ivan looked as well. It was obvious who she was looking at since he had her in his sights and wasn’t looking at the people he was bumping into at all. He just ignored people's complaints and pushed his way through the crowd. Stephen was able to smell the Wechselbalg and the vampire as they drew closer. Stephen turned to Ivan. “You might need to bail me out in a few hours, this is one of the guys from our talk with Josef.” He stood up and gently stepped around one of the ladies’ chairs.
Evangeline looked over at Ivan. “What is he doing? Mathis is a jerk, and his two bullyboys don’t care who they hurt! Is he trying to impress me?”
Ivan looked at her. “Believe it or not, Evangeline, everything is not always about you. It so happens that we were discussing this guy with an acquaintance this afternoon. You can stop trying to figure out how to bolt, Mathis will not be bothering you tonight.” Ivan turned back to watch the altercation, under his breath he added, “I hope.”
Stephen walked right up to the younger vampire who never looked at the guy who was staring right at him. Stephen got his attention by failing to move when Mathis tried to push him out of the way. Mathis finally looked to see who was blocking him. He turned his head so the two behind him could hear him, “Get this guy out of my way!”
Why Mathis never thought to wonder how he couldn’t move the guy and yet his Were guards were supposed to accomplish it was beyond Stephen. He figured this Mathis must be taking something that affected his sense of smell.
“Hello Mathis.” Stephen tried to look cordial, but he was starting to get irritated at having his first night out with ladies in over… well, too many years to count, ruined.
Mathis looked at Stephen, trying to figure out how this guy knew him. The Were behind and to the left of Mathis reached over to grab Stephen’s shoulder and Stephen casually caught his wrist and broke it. The Were grunted in pain and pulled his arm back. Stephen looked at the other guy. “If you try that, I’ll just cut it off and it will be a pain to regrow, do you understand?” The other Were looked at his buddy and nodded.
Mathis finally caught on. “Look, I don’t know who you are, but I run Frankfurt. You need to get your little white ass out of my town before I take you out.” Mathis gasped in pain and looked down. Stephen’s nails had grown and become like small knives. Presently, he had all five fingers of his right hand embedded three inches into Mathis’ abdomen.
Stephen stepped closer so no one could see Mathis bleeding. He lowered his voice so that only the vampire and Weres could hear him. “No one runs Frankfurt unless I allow it, Mathis.” Stephen made the end of his name a hiss. “If you don’t come to me tomorrow night at nine at the Steigenberger Frankfurter Hof, I will find you and I will take you to your maker so he can reprimand you. If he doesn’t satisfy me, I’ll just kill him and then kill you.” Stephen spread his fingers and Mathis hissed as additional pain shot through his stomach. “This underground you are running is over. Your partner has one week to leave Europe on pain of death. Every Were that is part of the underground will re-submit to the Pack council here, or will leave Europe within that same week. Do you hear what I am telling you, Mathis?”
Mathis grunted as Stephen twisted his razor sharp nails causing new muscles to be sliced apart. He gasped out, “Who are you?”
“I am Stephen, the son of Michael, and the bondservant of the Queen, Bethany Anne. By her declaration I am lord of Europe and by my decree, your underground efforts are outlawed. Do you understand this decree, Mathis?”
Mathis just sucked in as much breath as he could. Not only because of the continuing pain Stephen was causing him, but because this was the sun-walker and he had heard rumors of the female vampire. If she had one of Michael’s children answering to her, then the UnknownWorld was changing radically. This also meant their dead partner’s maker presently had his hand halfway into Mathis’ stomach. He nodded. “I’ll be there tomorrow night.”
Stephen pulled in his nails and surreptitiously wiped the blood on Mathis’ clothes. “Now leave, Mathis. Take your two Were and get out of my sight. If you so much as think about failing to show up tomorrow, I’ll just find you during the day and drag you into the sun. No muss, no fuss and no mess. Stay away from any humans, you have these hours to do as I command.” He looked at the two Were who had finally realized how close they stood to death walking. “Take my commands back to your pack. You either submit, leave or commit suicide. If I find you I will make it a very painful death so you will be the lesson mothers tell their children about, d
o you two understand me?” They both nodded. “Now turn around and leave.” All three turned away from Stephen and walked back down the stairs. They were significantly less boisterous leaving. Stephen looked down and noticed he had some blood on his white shirt. “Gott Verdammt!”
Ivan came up behind him. “I suppose we’re done for the night?”
Stephen sighed. “Yes, we need to sleep and prepare for tomorrow night. I’m afraid there will be no taking ladies back to my room tonight, it would be too dangerous.”
“I thought as much. I’ve paid for all of the drinks, by the way, Evangeline asked me to give you this.” He handed Stephen a napkin that had a lipstick kiss and ladies handwriting on it, ‘Call me, Terry’ and her phone number. He had thought she had given him a fake name. He smiled and slid the napkin into his jacket. Maybe the night wasn’t a total bust.
14
The Queen Bitch’s Ship Ad Aeternitatem, En Route to Costa Rica
Bethany Anne was in the medical room on TOM’s ship, going over the pod readings. It had been four days since Gabrielle had lain down in the device and it was time to wake her up. She could use another two days of rest, but needs must and the devil was driving. Or in this case, the Nosferatu outbreak was the driver.
Kurtherian Gambit Boxed Set One: Books 1-7, Death Becomes Her, Queen Bitch, Love Lost, Bite This, Never Forsaken, Under My Heel, Kneel or Die (Kurtherian Gambit Boxed Sets) Page 75