by John Conroe
“Afina said you fought three wolves?” Lydia asked.
“I did. The other two jumped in and the werebear locked the door and broke the handle. Didn’t Afina tell you all this?”
Lydia and Senka exchanged glances. Tanya kept watching my face and Galina looked stony. Tzao just watched like a creepy doll.
“She didn’t talk much, she sounded really upset. She said you fought three wolves, but I thought you fought them one at time.”
I shook my head. “No, it was all at once. Brock and his guys couldn’t get the lock undone.”
“You fought three weres in a cage, all at the same time?” Tzao broke her silence to ask.
“Yeah,” I shrugged. “Listen, I don’t know what she said to you, but I helped this girl because it is my fault she is a were. Plain and simple.”
“He’s telling the truth!” Nika said.
Of course I was telling the truth! But it wouldn’t help to start yelling, which is exactly what I felt like doing.
“When did you fight?” Senka asked.
“I don’t know, maybe a couple of hours before I met you guys in the fed building.”
“Are you hurt?” Tanya spoke for the first time.
I shook my head.
“You fought three full grown weres in a cage, approximately three and half hours ago and you’re not hurt?” Lydia asked.
“I said no, didn’t I? Ladies, what the hell is going on?”
Instead of answering, they all looked at Nika.
“He feels honor bound to help the girl. There is something about the rogue that he keeps suppressing, and he won’t dwell on the cage fight long enough to give me any details. Both events trouble him – greatly,” the blonde mind reader intoned.
“Christian, today, when you saw Tanya, what did you feel?” Senka asked.
I couldn’t immediately answer. The stream of emotions had been too intense and I didn’t have the language to put it into words.
“He loves her intensely. He was rocked by how much he had missed her, and he was and is enormously possessive and protective,” Nika spoke. Okay, maybe a mind reader could be useful, especially when the dumb guy couldn’t form words.
“Christian, what happened to your hands today – when you saw Tanya?” Senka asked.
I shook my head, refusing the question.
“What exactly am I on trial for?” I asked.
Six white faces stared at me for a moment, then Lydia broke the silence.
“Among weres it is common for males to fight for the right to pursue a mate,” she said simply.
“So you all thought that I was fighting a series of challenges to what? Pick a werewolf for a mate?”
Lydia gave me the briefest of nods. I pulled out my cell phone and called a number.
“Hi, sorry to bother you, but I could use some help. Could you possibly explain to Lydia what happened today? Thanks.”
I handed the phone to Lydia as Afina was saying ‘okay’. Everyone in the room could follow the conversation easily enough.
“So, Afina, when you told me Chris fought three weres today, I took that to be one at a time,” she said into the phone.
“What? Like mating challenges? Oh hell no! Listen, I’m sorry I was so short before but things have been stirred up since the fight,” Afina said. “The wolf responsible for creating the rogue that bit Stacia, who if you recall is the girl from Vermont, showed up and demanded that she belonged to his pack, Loki’s Spawn.”
“I see,” Lydia said.
“Pack law forbids us from interfering in such a rare event. Stacia had the choice to fight for her right to choose, but obviously that wasn’t an option. However, her sponsor to the Pack could act as a stand in. Chris wasn’t willing to let the Loki’s have her. Between you and me, I think he feels like he has to help her, as if her bite was his fault somehow.”
“Yeah, I’m beginning to think the same thing,” Lydia said with a glance at me.
“Anyway, it was a cage fight between the Loki and Chris, which I was worried enough about, but then the other two wolves went in the cage and a werebear that was with them locked the gate and broke the lock. I, well hell, we all thought Chris was toast,” she took a deep breath. “But, boy was I wrong. Lydia, I’ve never seen anything like it. Nobody in the Pack has ever seen anything like it. He killed all three full-grown weres in less than a minute! Less than half a minute! He moved so fast it was hard to see what he did. He just seemed to touch them and they fell in pieces. And he laughed while he did it!
Scared the crap out of most of the Pack. We’ve been reassuring people all afternoon,” she gave a little, desperate kind of laugh. “Do you believe it? He scared a room full of werewolves!”
“What about the girl?” Lydia asked.
“That’s the thing. I don’t think he even talked to her once!”
“Really?”
“Yeah, he seemed upset as well. The only one halfway calm was my son, Brett.”
“And your people are still upset?” Lydia asked.
“Well between the Loki’s Spawn, which we’ve been hearing a lot of rumors and stories from the southwest and western packs, and the fact that this human that none of the pack but my family really knows turns out to be a holy terror, then yeah, lots of commotion. Although Chris might be providing an answer to our junior pack member problem.”
“Listen, I’ll ask him about that, you sound pretty busy.”
Lydia said her goodbyes and hung up, staring at me thoughtfully. The vamps were all quiet and still in that spooky ultra motionless way they have. Finally, Tanya spoke.
“She is really quite gorgeous.”
I didn’t have to ask who she meant.
“Yeah, I guess she is,” I allowed. “But she’s blonde, I’m partial to brunettes.”
“Oh?” Tanya replied.
“Yes, and she’s got green eyes. I prefer blue ones. Really blue.”
“Hmm,” was her only response.
“I’m pretty sure that Reynolds is not a Russian name. I like Russian girls,” I continued.
She just arched one eyebrow.
“Blue-eyed brunettes from Russia, oh, and they have to be vampires! Natural born vampires!” I concluded.
“Shooting kinda high aren’t ya Slim?” Lydia quipped.
“Way, way over my head!” I held my hand up to show how far out of my league I was.
Tanya’s mouth quirked up in a smile, a small smile, but still a smile. I felt a whole lot better.
Of course, Galina chose that moment to shatter my mood.
“So, somehow he’s scared the entire New York Pack, and you still think he should be around my daughter?” she said to Senka.
The Elder gave her a small nod to acknowledge her point and then turned to me.
“Chris, I don’t think I have heard of this level of skill, speed or destructiveness from you before. Last I knew, you were doing well in your training, but hardly at the level the she wolf described. How is that?”
This was exactly the direction I didn’t want to go. Talking to this particular group about the monster inside me couldn’t result in anything positive. If I frightened them, I would be barred from Tanya for good. I took a deep breath and attempted to minimize the damage.
“Well, the laughing thing is just a left over from the demon blood, I suppose.”
Their eyes widened at this tidbit. Ooops! Not a good start. A public defender I had worked with once, had given me some advice. If you’re being questioned by lawyers or authorities, never offer additional information, never embellish, and never, never get nervous when they’re silent and waiting!
So I waited, letting the silence grow. It’s tough to outwait vampires, but I was desperate. Not able to stay still like they could, I rocked on my feet, the old foot patrol officer’s heel-to-toe rock. The Tear was swinging on its chain and suddenly, Tanya focused on the movement under my shirt.
She moved, a smooth blur, pointing her finger at the bulge under my shirt.
/> “What is that?”
I pulled the Tear of God out from under my tee shirt and they all leaned close to look at it.
“Did she give it to you?” Tanya asked with a chilly voice.
“No, I got it from the witch!” I said.
Even the males’ eyebrows went up at that.
“Witch?” Tanya asked, voice like ice.
“The witch and the warlock had it. It didn’t look like this of course, but Barbiel and I re-set it, and now it’s much different!” I explained as fast as possible.
“Warlock? Barbiel? Is that the angel?” Lydia asked.
“Yes, he said it was a Tear of God.”
Crap! I just blurted that out, didn’t I?
“Tear of God?” Senka asked.
“Yeah, the demons used it eons ago to trap Okwari. The witch and warlock were bounty hunters sent to retrieve my bear. We argued the point with them and the Tear was left behind.”
Senka raised one hand palm out.
“Chris, let’s back way up. Why don’t you give us a complete rundown of the events of the last five days, okay?
So I haltingly explained about the gang attack in Owls Head Park, the hunt for poor George Lassiter, my suspension and the disbanding of the Squad, the witch and warlock encounter, Barbiel’s refashioning of the Tear, and finally the Pack luncheon and cage fight. They already knew about the DOAA abduction, so I ended with the cage fight.
They were quiet when I finished, each working through the information I had given them. I used the time to help myself from the tray of pastries that Remy had delivered part way through my story.
I had deliberately gone light on details of the rage and blackness inside, hoping they wouldn’t push down that road.
“So you have spoken to the angel twice?” Tanya asked.
“Three times if you include last November,” I said.
“And he knows who I am?” she continued. Tanya has an issue with the topic of vampire souls. I know they have them, she’s not so sure.
“Yes, he calls you my other half, but he knows your name. He’s very pleased that we found each other.”
“This Tear of God, it was used for evil? And now you carry it?” Galina asked.
“It was shed when Lucifer betrayed God. It is a repository for God’s anger, sorrow, despair, loss, sadness, and resolve. At least that’s how it was explained to me. Depending on the setting, one can harness the despair and sorrow to weaken almost anyone or anything. Conversely, with a different setting, it can harness the resolve part,” I explained.
“Why?” Galina asked, “Why would you harness resolve?”
“Because daughter dear, it would strengthen your backbone, your determination. It would be a very powerful thing,” Senka interjected, her eyes still watching me thoughtfully.
She turned to Nika. Damn! The mindreader.
“He’s mad at me for telling, but his biggest fear is a discussion of what he thinks of as the ‘monster’ inside. The rage that takes over when he is pushed too far.”
Senka turned back to me, and raised her eyebrows.
I sighed, looked down at the floor and began to explain.
“Ever since the….dining room incident, I have this…this…black rage that explodes up inside me when I lose my temper. I sorta Hulk out, but without the green skin and huge muscles,” I explained, not sure if they would get the reference.
They did. Senka motioned for me to explain further.
“It likes to fight and kill. It makes me stronger, faster and much, much meaner. I let it loose on the three wolves earlier today and as Afina said, it was a slaughter.”
There, it was out and on the table. My gut churned the pastries, but my hyper active metabolism wasn’t gonna let me hurl, even if it would make me feel better.
“Can I see the hand thing?” Senka asked.
I raised my right hand, concentrated, and the monomolecular edge formed around the perimeter of my bladed hand. To my Sight it looked like a purple line around the outside edge of my hand, one that glittered when the light struck the edge. I have no idea what it looked like to Senka, but her eyes widened slightly. So did Elder Tzao’s. The head of the Asian continent’s presence at this interrogation was more than a bit odd. She hadn’t paid much attention to me before and seemed to recognize Senka’s right to supervise her granddaughter, yet here she was.
Senka said something in another language, one I didn’t recognize, and the giant in the back moved up, drawing a black collapsible baton from somewhere in his clothing. He fluidly snapped the baton open and moved out in front of the lady vampires to confront me, holding the long metal weapon at an angle, so that the rounded tip pointed at my face.
Senka gestured at the baton and gave me a sharpish nod. Clear enough.
I swiped the rod with my bladed hand, clipping the top quarter clean off, the haft not even quivering in the giant vamp’s hand. Senka’s slim white hand blurred, suddenly holding the piece that had fallen away. The others leaned in to exam the cut with eyes that could read the date on a nickel from fifty feet away.
“Amazing!” Lydia said. The two Elders didn’t speak, but exchanged a glance instead.
Senka tapped her bottom lip with one finger. It was her thinking pose, one she adopted when faced with a dilemma.
“How did this come about?” Tzao asked.
“Okwari showed me how to do it. He does the same thing to the inside of his claws.”
“Okwari being the elemental?” Tzao asked.
“Ah yes, well about that,” Senka started, “I actually saw the bear first hand today and I’ve been forced to drastically revise my estimation of it. I believe it is much more than an elemental. It may in fact be a minor god.” Her voice was calm and matter of fact, as if discussing a variety of tea.
“A god?” Tanya asked.
“Most religions recoginize a supreme being, a creator, God if you will, Allah, Yahweh. But almost all religions have minor gods as well.”
“Huh?” Lydia asked.
“In answer to your eloquent question, Lydia, even Catholics pray to angels and saints. Christianity has Jesus, son of God and the Holy Ghost, which is somehow described as all part of the same, yet really isn’t. It’s the same with all the others as well. There are multitudes of lesser beings of various power levels. Native Americans describe many powerful entities, and I think Okwari might be one of them,” she said.
“Which brings us to the crux of the situation,” she continued. “Chris, as I see it, there are two problems here. Actually, a whole multitude of problems, but they all fit under two thematic descriptions. First, and I assure you the irony is not lost on me, but it seems you have become extraordinarily dangerous. I had anticipated that you would, but I imagined a process that spanned decades, not months. The ‘rage’ you struggle with makes you a potential danger to all around you. The weapons and abilities that you have manifested are unprecedented. Imagine my surprise when I realize that you are dangerous even to us.”
“I won’t hurt any of you!” I protested. “Hell, I’m more likely to let it out to protect you than to ever hurt you.”
She nodded. “Yes, I saw that very thing today. The soldiers’ rifles were pointed at us, and I actually could see the change come over you. I also saw it reined in by a simple touch of Tanya’s hand.”
She took a breath, something I rarely saw older vampires do.
“But the point remains that you have possessed these extraordinary abilities for a very brief time. In vampire years you are a baby, a mere seven months old. Yet you have abilities beyond even mine and Tzao’s. Vampires take centuries to gain strength and speed, and they learn control along the way. Tanya is the exception, but it has taken her twenty-three years to get to this level, plus being a vampire is all she has ever known. You haven’t had the time. Nowhere long enough to develop control. For all we know you could have a nightmare and kill Tanya in your sleep!”
I rocked back, completely alarmed. I hadn’t thought of that. I
t never occurred to me that I could be dangerous to her. Again, as always, I was a danger to anyone I loved. For the first part of my life, it had been demons, now I was the demon!
“Christian will never hurt me, asleep, awake, enraged, or by reflex!” Tanya stated, matter-of-fact.
“You can’t know that, Tanya!” Senka argued.
“But I do! I know it to my core!”
Tanya suddenly reached, her hand blurring for my own, which still wore its glittering edge. Her grab caught me off guard, too fast to pull away, yet when her hand touched mine, the death’s edge was gone.
“See! Christian is unable to physically harm me. Period!” she said, with a triumphant tone.
Senka looked at her in exasperation, glanced at Tzao and then started to speak.
“ Impressive, yes. But I’m not convinced. However, the second problem is even more important,” she began. “We, the Darkinn, have survived as long as we have by remaining unnoticed by humans. Relatively unnoticed. Sure there are the legends and folklore, books and movies, yet no human really believes it.”
I started to speak, but she waved me to silence.
“Yes, Chris, I understand that parts of the human government know about vampires, weres and other supernaturals. At least a small faction did. But what happened today changes everything. You, my young friend, just became National Security problem number one. Tell me, how much damage could your god-bear do? What weapon in the human arsenal could touch him?” she asked.
I shook my head, “I don’t really know. Guns don’t hurt him. The Tear is the only thing I’ve ever seen him afraid of and I have that.”
She had a point. I hadn’t thought about him as too big of a threat because he only seemed to be interested in me. Hell, I didn’t think he was even aware of the White House, the Capital or any human government. Which was fairly stupid on my part and possibly a little bigoted. I had known he was sentient, but he was so bear-like that I assumed he only thought about bear stuff and paid little attention to human stuff. Today’s demonstration had altered that perception, quite thoroughly.
Senka continued her train of thought.
“Could he appear inside the President’s quarters, inside the House or Senate Chambers and destroy everyone? He seems to favor physical form, but does he need it?” she asked.