Everyone turned when Lance couldn’t keep his laughter in a third time due to Patricia’s scathing retort. He finally put the phone back to his ear. Frank could hear her cussing Lance out from across the booth. “I didn’t know you still had that kind of language in you, I thought you were a refined woman, imagine my surprise to be learning all of this now. I can tell you aren’t prepared to go on interviews in the private sector, Patricia. You had better hope you get the first job or I don’t think much of your chances otherwise.” He pulled the phone a couple of inches away from his ear for ten seconds. “Ok, look, joking aside I want you on my team. So, figure out how soon you can get to Miami. Sorry, pets aren’t an option. I didn’t know you had any pets. No, sorry you can’t get that cat you’ve always wanted. Get a stuffed one from Toys R Us. Yeah, I’m a coldhearted bastard, trust me, you’ll thank me later. Yeah, give me a call within forty-eight hours to update me. Bye.”
Lance hung up the phone. Frank didn’t look up from his laptop, “First glance suggests that without you being back at the base, a couple of higher-ups decided it might be the best to close your base down for budgetary reasons. Almost everyone would get moved to other locations. The group that is puttering in the lower levels is trying to keep it open for research, but they don’t have the budget.”
“Hell, I’d shut it down just to get rid of those bastards. They were always a pain in my ass.”
Frank shut his laptop. “The research will continue on my main computer, but the behind the scenes maneuvering is going hot and heavy. Since your base isn’t close to any major cities, there aren’t too many politicians concerned with it.”
“It was always a pain to get the best personnel stationed at the base due to decent entertainment being so far away, but it would work like a charm for what we want to do.”
“Think we could buy it?” Frank asked.
Lance considered the question. “Probably not soon enough. We can’t move in next week or anything, but probably within a year, maybe two. We can possibly do a partial, I’ll have to call some old friends and see what’s happening.”
“We won’t have the same infrastructure as one of the bases in Great Britain.” Frank pointed out.
“Yes, but we have all of the buildings and we can afford to move people on base. We have a chance to really handle who gets on and who doesn’t. I’ll take it up with Bethany Anne. It would be a good place to run the company from. We would have our own airport and if we start letting men on the base know a company is going to be buying the place and would need security, some would be willing to stay. They have family and houses in Denver.”
Frank put his laptop back in his bag and stood up. “Well, let’s get busy with operation sock-puppet bitch and go back to Miami.”
Lance grunted in laughter. “Let me guess, my daughter?”
Frank just smiled. “Who else?”
20
San Jose, Costa Rica
The same team was back on Shelly for the third time. They had handled another two smaller groups of Nosferatu the previous night. Now, they finally had some good intel on the location of a couple of Forsaken with Nosferatu on the north side. Bethany Anne had hopes that they could capture one of the vampires.
The police had been asking more questions than she liked, so she told them that they would be welcome to handle the rest of their problems without her team if they insisted on answers. They quickly backed down.
It wasn’t that she didn’t understand the police’s desire to know. They had a tough job dealing with the UnknownWorld without a good background. More than likely, there would be some in their government who knew what was happening, but they hadn’t contacted Frank to open any communications so Bethany Anne assumed they worked for the other side.
Their helicopter had gotten noticed. Costa Rica has a multicultural respect for languages and while Spanish is the official language, many languages are spoken, including English. So that made it easier to get information from some of their news sites.
There wasn’t much she could do about others seeing her helicopter. They were going to ride Shelly to their landing site, and they took the Black Hawk down fully loaded. After the first night, it was decided to add Pete to the group that stayed with the helicopter in case someone got the idea that it would be a nice addition to their personal collection. Bethany Anne never left the area before marking off a quick return zone. If things went to shit, they could call her back if the zone was clear.
She had seen the report on the police officers that had run into the Nosferatu and had died. Until you fought one, and lived, no one would realize how hard it would be for humans to kill the bastards.
Gabrielle was coming along well with her fighting and her leadership. After a couple of other snide remarks, Gabrielle came out swinging every time a Nosferatu group was found. The guys protected her very well. Bethany Anne would stand back with the other two and observe the melee. After the fight was over, she would give pointers and Gabrielle had stepped her already impressive abilities up a few notches.
Shelly could almost make the trip from the Polarus to San Jose and back twice before refueling. So Bethany Anne instructed Bobcat to stay up in the air until they either saw something themselves, or she called them down. Pete was up front with Bobcat. She gave the hand signal for everyone to get ready. She was anxious to get stuck in. Tonight was going to be a slaughter, and she was the Angel of Death. Her eyes started to glow against her will and she felt her fangs starting to protrude. She was having trouble keeping her emotions in check. She made sure Darryl and Eric by the door were safe and then opened the side door, she needed air.
Eric looked over at Darryl who shrugged his shoulders. If the boss wanted to check out the view, who were they to tell her she couldn’t do it? It was her helicopter for fuck’s sake.
She strapped her arm into a hold and hung out the door. She had no skid to step on, as Shelly had three wheels. Some of the armament was in her way as she searched the streets below with her superior vision. It took fifteen minutes before she spotted a disturbance over in a major park to the west of a cemetery. She called to Bobcat over the headphones to head in that direction. She was itching to get into the fight and it was driving her mad. She wasn’t sure what was going on, as she hadn’t felt this kind of influence before.
TOM, why am I feeling on edge?
One moment, I don’t know.
“Bobcat, get me over in that area soon before I decide I need to start kicking something and Shelly is the best choice at the moment!” He didn’t respond, but Shelly dropped suddenly and Bethany Anne’s face lit up in a feral grin. “Fuck YEAAAAAAHHHH!”
Her attitude was infectious; the team prepped their weapons. Everyone knew, loved and respected Gabrielle and believed she was a kickass leader for their group. But going into a battle behind Bethany Anne was an addiction for these men. “Pete!” He turned to look at her as best he could, “When everyone is off, I want you, Killian and Bobcat up top giving us cover. If it gets too much for us on the ground, then use those door guns and fuck everything that isn’t us up. Got it?”
“Yes ma’am!” He started unbuckling.
Bobcat had them coming in at only a hundred feet above the buildings, no one that night would be able to mistake what was flying through their neighborhoods. Many windows were opened as the ‘protector of the night’ came screaming right past them with a woman hanging out, eyes unmistakably glowing.
She saw two Forsaken teams coming together, probably over forty bodies down in that mess. “GET ME THERE NOW, BOBCAT!” She was straining, trying to hold in her desire to rip, to tear, to destroy. She hadn’t felt this out of control since she'd destroyed the wall in TOM’s spacecraft.
Bobcat came over the teams’ radios, “I’ll land in that spot three blocks to the north, I’ll have you down in thirty seconds.”
“FUCK THAT!” Bethany Anne swung over the edge and disappeared.
“BETHANY ANNE!” John screamed her name as she disappeared.
“GOD DAMMIT! Get us down Bobcat.” The team all popped their safety harnesses and prepared to jump, Killian prepped his rifle.
“What the fuck happened?” Bobcat pitched Shelly in a tight ass turn and Pete jumped into the back to man the guns.
“She jumped already, I swear to God if she makes it out of this I’m going to put her over my knee and spank the fuck out of her. I can’t believe this shit.” John was heated, worried about his boss.
Gabrielle yelled into the group, “C’mon Bitches, let’s go get our fucking Queen or we won’t have shit to do ourselves!”
Gabrielle jumped from twenty feet up. The men, as prepared as they were, waited until Bobcat was hovering a few feet in the air before jumping off themselves. Bobcat quickly pulled Shelly back up, Killian giving cover.
Bethany Anne had slipped through the Etheric to come out fifty feet behind the Forsaken group coming in from the cemetery side of the park. Her night vision had a red haze.
Bethany Anne. TOM got no response.
BETHANY ANNE.
WHAT?
I’ve got that answer, what’s going on with you.
What the fuck is it? She took off after the stragglers in the group in front of her. She could hear Shelly screaming in a tight turn behind her.
You’re having your period. You can get pregnant.
WHAT? How the hell was that possible? TOM had told her that wasn’t going to happen. She had figured it was better for her to never have children, so it had only been a relief when she had first learned of her lost cycle. Her anger was making better sense now. She had always been easy to piss off, but during her cycle she was a perpetual anger machine.
Now, she was infinitely stronger, vastly more dangerous and utterly and totally enraged.
Well, it would just suck to be a Forsaken tonight.
She pulled her pistols and started firing, one shot per head. She didn’t want them dead right away, she needed to get her anger out and so fuck ‘em if you have ‘em and she was going to fuck them up tonight.
She shot ten right away, and two more turned at the noise. That left eleven continuing on to attack the other team. Those two groups had just started their own attacks against each other in the park.
She heard Gabrielle catching up with her. “Fucking hell, Bethany Anne. Wait for your backup!”
“I AM MY OWN FUCKING BACKUP!”
The first group of five Forsaken running at her broke against the indomitable rock that was Bethany Anne. Gabrielle, who had been training to spar against Bethany Anne when she was in Vamp mode, was momentarily shocked at the blurring speed and the destruction in front of her.
Gabrielle just caught out of the corner of her eye a German Shepherd tearing through the park. The dog tore into a Forsaken that was coming at Bethany Anne from her right side. The dog dragged it down and ripped its throat out.
Gabrielle heard her team rapidly catching up while she watched the dog attack. “Gott Verdammt. She even has dogs following her into this crazy fucking mess.”
She turned to her team. “Don’t get in her way, this is a contain campaign. There’s no talking to her right now.” The men just nodded and chased after Bethany Anne and the dog; both were covered in blood.
Shelly flew over and the heavy thump-thump-thump of the door guns ripped through the bodies fighting in front of them before it flew across. They heard the occasional shot from Killian. That would be the last safe pass for Shelly before Bethany Anne would be right in the middle of the carnage ahead.
It was later said that the dead rose from the cemetery to fight that night and the screams would infest the dreams of those who lived near the park forever.
The fight was swords, scattered gunshots, ripping and tearing of flesh, shrieks, screams and cussing. Lots and lots of cussing. Most of the cussing aimed at the Forsaken. Some of it aimed at their own boss.
But there wasn’t one face in the Queen Bitch’s Guard that wasn’t smiling during the thrill of the battle. The team fought like a single entity, where everyone knew what would happen next. Scott would duck as Darryl shot over him and then Scott would turn around and shoot a Forsaken in the head. The same head would then be sliced off of its neck by Gabrielle almost instantly afterwards. The team killed, they fought, they protected and they contained the Forsaken.
What they couldn’t do was contain Bethany Anne and the damn devil incarnate dog that had joined her. Eric had been aiming at a Forsaken that had stepped far enough away to be a safe shot when he saw Bethany Anne rip an arm off of one Nosferatu and then use the arm to beat another Nosferatu before turning in a half circle and kicking in the ribs of the Nosferatu missing its arm, knocking it back. Completing the turn she sliced off the second Nosferatu’s head. He noticed she suddenly turned her head to look over at a grove of trees and just disappeared.
Eric screamed to the group, “She’s fucking disappeared again!” Gabrielle had just taken the head of a Nosferatu John had impaled with his knife. John ripped his knife back out of the dead chest and looked around, “Where?”
Gabrielle pointed to a grove of trees. “Look, the dog is running that way.” All of the remaining Nosferatu turned in the dog’s direction. Gabrielle wanted to go after the crazy woman, but her job was to make sure that every one of the Queen’s Guard made it through this fight. Gabrielle wasn’t sure where or why Bethany Anne left but she doubted anything was going to be able to harm her.
Gabrielle pulled her pistols and started firing at the Nosferatu as she had been taught. “Target practice for hell, boys!” One bullet, one head. She missed her shot on the fourteenth Nosferatu. She was disgusted with herself, “Fuck me! Bethany Anne’s going to laugh her ass off.”
The guys grinned as Darryl and Scott plugged the last two. Gabrielle holstered her pistols as she ran towards the farthest Nosferatu. The guys ran and shot each one of the Nosferatu as they healed until Gabrielle came around and removed their heads. It took a vampire’s strength to slice through their necks.
They heard a yelp of pain from the dog and a fierce sword fight going on inside the trees. Finishing up the remaining Nosferatu, Gabrielle led the team into the grove. Twenty yards in, they found the dog mortally wounded.
Gabrielle didn’t think, she just reacted. She pulled her sword across her wrist and forced the dog’s mouth open. John came up to her, “Put the blood into the wounds as well, Bethany Anne helped my chest that way.”
She held her other wrist and John didn’t hesitate to slice it with his Bowie. She forced as much of her blood into the wound as she could. The dog was having trouble breathing. It was all she could do at the moment.
She looked at John. “Detail protection.”
John pointed to Darryl and Scott and then to the dog and got two nods.
Gabrielle's wrists were bloody, but they had stopped bleeding. “Let’s go.”
Gabrielle, John and Eric made up a quick triangle with Gabrielle in the front and ran into the brush. As they came out into a small glade, Gabrielle was surprised by an object the size of a soccer ball sailing through the air at her. She stabbed it and quickly found out it was a severed head. The face had a look of shock. “That’s just gross!” She put the head on the ground and used a foot to help her pull the sword out.
She looked up to see Bethany Anne fighting with a taller vampire.
Both John and Eric had put their weapons down in the ready position. It was obvious to the three of them that Bethany Anne was toying with this guy.
The team heard her talking throughout the battle, “Is that,” clang-clang, “the fucking,” clang-clang-clang-clang, “best you got you,” clang-clang-clang-clang-clang-clang, “cunt lipped bum fucker?”
The other vampire screamed in frustration and attacked with all he had. Bethany Anne just tightened her concentration up a notch as she started laughing.
“You will not laugh at me, you fucking bitch!”
The team started yelling into the fight, “Bad form on that over swing. If you’re going to try and hit he
r, you need to pull your… Nope, not that way fucktard!”
The vampire was not pleased with the help the newcomers were offering, “I will kill this bitch first, then you are next!”
“Uh oh,” said Eric.
“Yup,” John agreed.
“Geez, you would think he would use a different curse word.” Gabrielle opined.
John and Eric both said at the same time, “Sucks to be him… JINX!”
The team heard movement behind them and turned around. It was Darryl carrying the dog and Scott coming up behind him. Scott asked, “What the hell, are you guys having a party?”
The sword fight continued behind them. “No beer near here,” said John. “We’re waiting for Bethany Anne to …”
They heard a sudden thud and turned around to see Bethany Anne crush the vampire's ribs and then they heard his skull crack from a punch. He was lying on the ground holding his ribs moaning in pain each time he tried to breathe.
Bethany Anne pulled out a pistol and shot him in both kneecaps. “Stay the fuck down or I’ll do worse.” She holstered her pistol, “You’re just lucky it was the other galactic jizz midget that hurt my dog.”
She turned to the team. “Gabrielle, detail this asswipe to bring with us. Call Bobcat and make the update to the police.” She walked over to the team, covered in blood and guts. Her eyes were back to normal and her fangs had retracted. She went to Darryl and checked on the German Shepherd. She noticed the slow healing. She looked up at Darryl who used his head to indicate Gabrielle.
She gently took the German Shepherd from Darryl. When she was holding him, he started licking her face. She gently laid him on the ground and lifted an arm in the air. Darryl pulled his Bowie and sliced her wrist. Bethany Anne was able to get more of her blood into his mouth. The dog licked her wrist clean, so she had Darryl slice it once again.
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 81