Homecoming

by Heath Stallcup

  John nodded knowingly. “In the desert…”

  Spalding gave him a sideways look. “So you’ve heard?”

  John shrugged. “Just bits and pieces. The other new guys were afraid there was some big conspiracy since nobody liked to talk about it.”

  Spalding shook his head again, his mouth in a tight smile. “Ya know, John, we’ve lost people. Hell, we lost nearly a whole squad once.” John’s shock and wide eyes caught Darren off guard. “Oh yeah, it was just a little while before the deal in Nevada. One of my best friends was the only one to survive. And before you ask, he’s no longer with us. It’s a long story, he married another wolf and moved on. But the deal in the desert hit a little closer to home because…” Darren collected his thoughts and took a deep breath. “Well, because for the first time in ten years, we had a female on the team. She was actually Apollo’s girlfriend. She was killed there, too. It hit us all pretty hard.”

  “A female operator?” John kept shaking his head. “I didn’t think there were any.”

  “There aren’t. At least not in the military. No, she was LAPD SWAT. And she was a tough little spitfire. Little Latina with balls the size of grapefruits.” Darren chuckled as he remembered Sanchez. “She had Apollo wrapped around her pinky finger though.”

  “He must have really cared about her.” John hadn’t realized he had spoken his thoughts.

  “Oh yeah, he did.” Darren stood taller and squared his shoulders. “I think we all did in our own way. She was like a kid sister to most of us. And when she died, a little piece of all of us went with her.”

  “I’m really sorry to hear that.” John fought not to remember his own nightmare. His hand instinctively went to his breast pocket, and he felt the stiff paper of the photograph behind the fabric of his BDU shirt pocket.

  Although Darren said nothing, the action didn’t go unnoticed. “I take it that you can relate?” He was fishing, and he knew it, but he hoped that the big man might actually open up a bit.

  John snapped from his reverie. “Uh, no, not really. But I can see where something like that can really affect morale.”

  Spalding nodded slightly and patted the big man’s shoulder. Maybe in time he’d share his own story. “Let’s get ready for the op. Maybe when we get back we can swap some more stories.” John shot him a nervous smile. “I’ll buy the first round.”

  *****

  Foster stepped off the boat and immediately felt the relief of no longer being cooped up with the two oversized guards. Two large men greeted him at the end of the dock, one to take his bag, the other to inform him that his guards would have to stay in the guest house outside the castle. Foster started to balk at the idea, but he knew if Rufus wanted him dead that no amount of body guards in the world could truly protect him. Thorn was older and now that he had control of Paul’s own people, his power had increased exponentially.

  Foster simply nodded and followed the large wolf through the stone walled gate and into the large foyer. “Mr. Thorn will meet you in the dining room.” The wolf indicated the large double doors to the right and turned to leave, “I’ll see that your bags are unpacked for you.”

  Paul started to protest but thought better of it. He inhaled deeply and stretched his neck. Better to just get this over with. He stepped to the large double doors and gently pushed one open. Inside, Rufus was going over a stack of strewn papers with his new Second, Jack Thompson. Paul fought back a shudder as he stepped inside the dining room. “You summoned me, brother?”

  Rufus looked up, and a smile slowly spread across his features. “Paul, so glad you could make it.”

  “You know you could have just picked up a phone and called me.”

  “And risk you not coming? Non, I couldn’t take that chance. I needed you here.” Rufus stepped from behind the table and grasped his adopted brother with both hands, kissing him upon each cheek.

  “You know I dislike that,” Paul whispered, grimacing.

  “Exactement. Precisely why I enjoy it so.” Rufus chuckled. “Come, come. Let me show you what we are planning.”

  Paul hesitantly stepped forward when Rufus suddenly turned on him, “Oh, where are my manners. Are you hungry? Would you like something to drink?”

  Paul held up a hand. “I’m sorry, brother, I’m still having difficulty with the conversion to animal blood. I’m afraid…it isn’t a pretty site to watch me feed.”

  “Allow me to introduce you to my chef. He can prepare a mixture for you that…well, you will be hard pressed to tell that it is not human, oui?”

  Paul gave him a doubtful look. “If he can pull that off, I would be forever in his debt. Or…at least in his debt until you release me from our agreement.”

  “You will enjoy it. I promise.” He leaned out through the single servant entrance and called to his chef. He ordered something in French then returned to the table. “Please, have a seat. Jack and I were just going over some plans for Geneva.”

  Paul paled almost perceptibly. “Geneva?”

  “Oui, we are going to meet with the Council.” Rufus pulled another sheet from the bottom of the stack and Paul felt his legs go very weak.

  “Brother, why on earth would you go to the Council?” Foster nearly fell into his chair.

  Rufus never missed a beat. “Why, to remove the edict, of course.”

  Paul began shaking his head. “Brother, as much as you and I both would like to do so, there is nothing we can do to convince the Council to remove the edict. You know this.”

  Rufus paused and gave Paul a soothing smile. “Ah, but there is.”

  Paul suddenly felt his life wasn’t worth a bucket of warm piss. He could feel his hands begin to shake so he held them under the table, out of sight from those who might see his nervousness. “Nothing we could do or say would…”

  “Yes, there is, and we will.” Rufus sat on the edge of the table and lowered his gaze at Paul. “And believe me when I tell you that it will not bring the edict upon your head either.”

  “No…no, this isn’t possible.” Paul tried to push the chair back and found that he had no strength.

  “Oui, it is possible.” Rufus stood and came across to Paul’s side of the table. “For the longest time, I tried to think of a way to remove the edict without using force and without transferring the edict to your head.” He sat on the table next to Paul and stroked his shoulder. “You have changed so much these past months. I’ve finally gotten my brother back. The brother that our father wanted from the beginning, oui? There is nothing I wouldn’t do to protect you.”

  “But, brother, the edict is set in stone. Even if we destroyed the entire Council, the edict would still stand with the new Council.” Paul could feel his voice cracking, his mouth suddenly going dry. “The only way to remove it from your head would be…would be to transfer it to my own.”

  “Normally, oui.” Rufus stood and smiled down at his frightened brother. “But we have recently come across some information that we can use.”

  “There is nothing new to the case!”

  Jack suddenly stood erect and tossed a photograph across the table to Paul. Foster barely stopped it from going over the edge with his hand and lifted it to his face. “I-I know this man.”

  “Of course you do. He is one of your children.” Rufus sat back across from Paul and raised a brow at him. “He has been stirring all sorts of trouble since you last saw him.”

  Paul shook his head. “I thought he was killed by the Sicarii’s army.”

  “Non.” Rufus looked to Jack who simply nodded. “But by the time we are done with him, he will wish he had.”

  “I don’t understand.” Paul placed the photo back on the table. “What does this have to do with me?”

  “He is your child, you are his creator. You should still have sway over him, non?”

  Paul shrugged. “I don’t know.” He picked up the picture again and stared at it. “Who’s the chick with him?”

  “We don’t know.” Jack leaned across the tab
le and pulled another photo. “But she’s in most of the photographs we have of him.”

  “Where did you get these?” Foster thumbed through the myriad of pictures.

  “Digital pictures taken from a Council spy. We’re not positive, but it is believed that your boy there is attempting to collect the dismembered pieces of Lilith.”

  Suddenly Foster remembered the seemingly minor event that played out at the base in the Nevada. When Damien had asked ‘who is Lilith?’ and Foster berated him. “Do we know why?”

  “Non, but he has collected most of the pieces of her body.” Rufus stood and crossed his arms, an evil smile crossing his face. “He can’t collect them all.”

  Paul shook his head in confusion, “Why not? According to legend, she was scattered to the four corners of the known world.”

  “Because I have her heart.” Rufus’ smile widened. “As soon as we found out what he was after, I made arrangements to have it moved here. It is under constant guard by my Lycans.”

  Paul nodded again, “Okay. But again, how will this help us with the Council?”

  Jack leaned forward again, “We have it on good authority that they’re scared shitless of this guy. They don’t know how to deal with him. Everybody they’ve sent after him ends up dead or eaten.”

  Foster paled again as he recalled the events in the large underground facility. The Mexican whore that Damien had eaten. His transformation to ghoul. “So, you think that if we offer to deal with Damien—”

  “That’s his name?” Jack asked as he scribbled on a pad.

  “Yes, Damien Franklin.”

  Jack paused then looked up at Foster, “As in the late Senator Franklin’s son?”

  “One and the same,” Jack snorted as he continued to write on the pad. “But you think that if we can somehow ‘take care of’ Damien, the Council will just erase the edict?”

  Thorn nodded. “They won’t have much choice. It’s either that or we point Damien in their direction.”

  Paul swallowed hard and he felt his blood turn even colder. “When do we get started?”

  “First we have to convince the Council that it’s in their best interest.” Jack didn’t sound pleased. “And the bastards want to meet on a full moon.”

  Paul groaned. “Great, so you can’t be there.”

  Jack looked up from his paper. “Oh, I’ll be there.” He smiled at Foster. “It’s the last thing they’d ever expect.”

  7

  Mark stepped out of the helicopter and kept his head down as the rotors slowed their spinning. He motioned to Dominic and made a circle with his hand then pointed to the hangars off in the distance. Dom nodded and keyed his throat mic. He called his men to heel and the group double timed it away from the noise of the chopper and the dust from its blades.

  “You saw what the notebooks looked like, didn’t you?” Tufo asked as the group made their way into the abandoned hangar.

  “Yes, sir, he gave me a blank one so we could match it up. He scribbled in some notes so we could compare his writing, but in all honesty, any blue notebooks we find, we’re snagging.”

  “Excellent. The reinforced building we were holed up in took a beating, but there’s a side entrance through this hangar. You’ve studied the schematics, so let’s get a perimeter set up and have a couple of your guys go with me while we tear his lab apart.”

  Dom made hand motions and the rookie member, ‘Mac’ McKenzie headed across the tarmac to the HQ building to set up an overwatch on the operation. Charmichael and Hammer set up sentry while Dominic, Marshall and Tufo headed into the bowels of the building to search for Dr. Peters’ lost schematics.

  As they headed down the concrete steps and into the darkness, Dom had to ask, “Major, what do you figure the odds are that he actually forgot this?”

  Mark never slowed his descent into the darkness. “Honestly, Dom, I figure the odds are about a brazillion to one, but we have to cover all of our bases before we approach someone like Thorn and ask him to cough up something he may have… ‘borrowed without asking’.”

  “You mean, ‘stole’, right, Major?” Marshall asked as his light penetrated the inky blackness.

  “That’s what I mean, but you have to use diplomacy when dealing with people like him.”

  Dom chuckled, “Yeah, otherwise they might rip your throat out.”

  Mark grunted, but neither man could tell if it was in agreement or not. He pointed to the door of the lab. “Check it.”

  Marshall approached the door and ran his hands along the perimeter. He slipped an IR snake under the gap and viewed nothing on the other side. “All clear, sir.” Dave pushed the door open and the three filed inside.

  “Any chance there’s still power down here?” Dom asked.

  Mark pointed to the emergency lighting. “If there was, it would have charged the batteries. They’ve been dead for months.”

  With a sigh, the two operators pulled out helmet lights and attached them. Mark stuck a penlight in his mouth and began shuffling through old file cabinets. Most of which were empty or trashed.

  “Sir, is it possible that one of the other contractors came back and grabbed stuff?” Dom asked while shuffling through debris.

  “Highly doubtful. The base was shut down, and the operations here shifted off right after the battle. They didn’t want to risk the radiation contaminating any of their projects.”

  “I’m coming up empty.” Dave slammed a file door shut in frustration.

  “Same here, sir.” Dom crossed his arms. “Any other place we might search?”

  Tufo pulled the pen light from his mouth and scratched at his chin. “This was the only place he had his stuff.” He scanned the room again. “He was adamant.”

  “I think it’s time to clue in the colonel, sir,” Dom concluded quietly.

  Mark nodded. “I was really hoping it wouldn’t come to that.” He turned to the two men and nodded, “Secure your men and let’s load up.”

  *****

  Laura tried not to fidget as the rope bit into the soft flesh of her wrists. At least this time they tied her to a chair, but she really needed to pee and she was starting to become angry. “You do realize, I’m not a wolf, so these rope burns won’t heal so fast.” She cocked her head to listen in the darkness, but nobody answered. “And I really need to use the restroom.”

  A shuffling sound in the near distance reminded her of either somebody shifting their foot or a very large rodent. Either was possible and both gave her the willies. She held her breath and strained her hearing to try to discern breathing or the rustling of clothing but no other sound came in the darkness. “Oh, come on, I really need to go.”

  “Nobody’s stopping you,” the voice was male and soft, but the unmistakable tinge of disdain was noted.

  She struggled against her bindings once more then slumped in the chair. “The ropes are stopping me.”

  “I ain’t cutting you loose lady.”

  Laura sighed heavily and hung her head. “I’m not asking you to cut me loose. Just escort me to a toilet, please.” She did her best to sound nice without resorting to begging.

  A moment later she heard the distinct sound of wood scraping on a stone floor as the man scooted his chair back and walked toward her. “You try to pull anything funny and it’s lights out. Got it?”

  “Understood completely.” Laura allowed herself to breathe a slight sigh of relief as he untied her bound hands from the back of the chair and helped her up from the sitting position. He kept the black bag over her head, but his grip was gentle as he walked her through a door with a heavy sounding lock and down a short passage. After another brief series of turns, he opened another door and she could hear their sounds echo off tiled walls.

  He escorted her to a back wall and removed her hood. She glanced down at a somewhat clean toilet and saw the very large man standing in the doorway of the stall. She glanced at the toilet again and then down at her pants. “Um. I don’t guess you’d untie me long enough to take c
are of business, would you? I mean, my hands are behind my back. I’m flexible, but even I can’t manage this.”

  He raised a dark eyebrow and gave her a look that was impossible to read. Please don’t offer to pull them down for me…

  With a huff he spun her around and unbound her hands. He spun her back and held the rope in front of her face. “One false move and it goes around your neck. Got it?”

  She nodded as she reached for the door of the stall. “Got it.”

  His arm shot out and blocked the door. “Huh-uh, I’ll stand right over here, but the door remains open.”

  “Really?” She feigned indignation but backed toward the porcelain seat. “Fine, beggars can’t be choosy.”

  She watched him step out of sight before she pulled down her pants and skivvies and relieved herself. Thankfully, her escort whistled a little tune around the corner, but she still blushed. As she tried to finish, she thought adding a bit more noise to the situation might lighten the mood.

  “You’d think that somebody who works with a dozen or so wolves wouldn’t be so embarrassed about something like this, but they do give the ladies separate restrooms.” She flushed the toilet and stepped out toward the sink to wash her hands. “Hey, I’m starting to get a little feeling back in my fingers.”

  He watched her wash and dry her hands then she held them out in front of herself again. He gave her a quick smile and gently took her arm. He pulled it back behind her and bound her wrists as they had been before. She squirmed slightly and noticed that the rope was a bit looser.

  As he lifted the hood to put it back over her face, she looked him in the eye, “Thank you,” her voice was low and soft. She did her best to sound grateful, and the slight nod and twinkle in his eye told her that he believed her.

  He guided her back out of the restroom and back to the holding room. As they walked, she noticed that he wasn’t as quick in his steps as he was before. His grip was softer. “I’m Laura, by the way. We were never introduced.”