Not the workouts. The testing, and treating me as if I were less because I was a half breed. If this was how the other four were treated and raised, no wonder they rebelled.
I walked into the kitchen, and pulled some sandwich stuff out of the fridge. Ham, Swiss cheese, roast beef, cheddar cheese, tomatoes, lettuce, mayo, and mustard. Wow, that would make a horrible sandwich, but it was for everyone. We didn’t have time to make and eat a hot meal.
Matt and Christina had followed me and grabbed the bread out of the pantry, so I joined them at the counter.
Matt asked, “What were you thinking?”
His voice had been full of judgement, but also a little bit of curiosity that took some of the sting out of it.
I laughed, “Really? I was thinking we work hard, risk our lives, and a few hours to bond as partners and have fun is a good way to recharge the batteries, to not burn out. Duty is important, I’d even venture to say it should be given the most priority, but without balance it’s only half a life. What was I thinking? I foolishly thought I was trusted to watch out for my partner. Apparently, I’m only trusted to do that when our lives are on the line, who knew?”
Matt grunted. Awesome conversational ability, that one. Christina was thankfully quiet.
I pulled out four slices of bread, and made myself a roast beef and cheddar, with lettuce, tomato, onions, and salt and pepper, with a liberal amount of mayo. I also made a ham and Swiss, with mustard. Gross, but Serena didn’t like roast beef. Crazy, I know, but no one’s perfect.
We just finished up when our phones went off, and we all looked at each other, and then grabbed a paper towel to wrap our sandwiches. I quickly threw what was left back into the fridge, grabbed some bottles of water, and headed back to the office. Looked like we’d be eating on the go.
I handed Serena her sandwich and water as I sat back down, and she gave me a shocked smile of thanks and her eyes widened a little bit. She also didn’t look very happy, and I wondered what their conversation had entailed. No doubt she was now forbidden to see me outside of official duties as a Blood.
I smiled back and took a bite of mine, and then looked up over at Carl who was gazing at me suspiciously. What the hell! It was just a sandwich. I figured she might not have time with having to answer his questions and all, so it was his fault anyway. I couldn’t win, so I decided to stop trying. Not that my actions would change, I just wouldn’t expect to gain trust anymore. It was too exhausting being the outsider.
Carl turned his gaze, and said, “Jo called, she said he stopped at Garfield park.”
That was where the first kill was, did his instincts drive him back to the same place? Because it sure as hell hadn’t been the human intelligence, although they say people always returned to the scene of a crime, so maybe it was human stupidity. Or maybe that was his Chicago den or something? I hadn’t had time yet to research cougars, which in hindsight was a mistake, but meant I wasn’t sure if that was even a thing.
Carl continued, “The park might be too crowded to act right away, but get there now and see if you can get eyes on him. He won’t change in front of a large crowd either.”
“What if he flees? I’m sure he’ll recognize our scents and what we are.”
Carl narrowed his eyes, “Follow him, and take him as soon as you have the privacy to do so. Jo will be around to take care of any witnesses, if they’re few enough.”
Christina and Matt stood, so Serena and I stood too, and followed them out.
“Everything okay?” I asked softly when were out of the building and heading for the closest El stop.”
She took a bite of her sandwich before answering, and I knew it wouldn’t be good. She washed it down with a sip of water before she replied.
“I can’t tell you, yet. Orders,” she said with a level of disgust that surprised me.
Whatever it was, it wasn’t good. It also made me angry. Angry enough that I finally started to plan. I couldn’t sit on the information much longer, not if I didn’t want to lose Serena.
Lose Serena? Where did that thought come from? I didn’t have her. Well that wasn’t entirely true, she was my friend at the very least, and I didn’t want to lose that.
Regardless, I thought long and hard about what I’d need to do to survive after revealing the truth, and I came to one obvious conclusion. I had to play this game with my strengths… which wasn’t my fighting ability, or even the way I handled a gun. I was fast, and strong, but still lagged behind the others by a large margin in regard to physical prowess. Only one thing made me stand out, and able to stand shoulder to shoulder with the three Blood warriors with me. An equalizer I’d used in the past when fighting Macy’s insanity and minions.
Necromancy…
Now I just had to figure out what to do with it. I didn’t want to create blood thirsty vampires, but then Macy had taught me a way around that, hadn’t she? If I used my own blood to create connections to them, they wouldn’t have to hunt, or act like slavering animals. My own power being fed to them would keep them sane, lucid, and intelligent.
Except, I wouldn’t enslave spirits either, I knew I wouldn’t be able to cross that line. Which meant I’d need to find willing dead allies. How the hell was I going to get around that pickle of a problem? The dead hated and distrusted necromancers. I wasn’t sure yet, but I searched for the answer, and I was sure I’d figure something out. No idea what, but I didn’t have a choice.
I looked over at Serena again and almost laughed as the truth of my new conviction and determination hit me.
Once again it had taken a woman to give me the push to do something stupid, and as necessary and right as it was, it was definitely still stupidly dangerous. Good to know that some things never changed, I was still a sucker for a pretty face…
Chapter Fourteen
We were familiar with Garfield park, Serena and I had been there twice before, and Matt and Christina at least the once. It wasn’t quite five yet when we got off the El and moved into the park that was filled with families, children, dog walkers, and late afternoon joggers. Rush hour was also in full swing, which meant there were people all over the place.
Way too public to empty four clips of ammo into someone, and cut off their head.
Humans had to be kept in the dark, and taking down a shifter wasn’t a subtle process, which was an interesting problem and meant a long evening ahead of us. We stayed together as a group of four as we walked through the park, all of us watching the tree line, and the crowd in the empty field. I’d have rather split up, but some things were more important than the drama in my life, or the feelings of betrayal, and I’d watch Christina’s and Matt’s backs just as much as I’d watch Serena’s.
It was too dangerous to do otherwise, for this we were a team of four, and I wouldn’t hold back. My heart rate was a bit high, and I felt nervous as we searched for the shifter we knew was there somewhere, but hadn’t found yet. We doubted he was inside the conservatory, but there was more than one field to search, not to mention the woods.
I also noticed that Serena wasn’t standing or walking as close to me as usual, but put that aside as well so I could focus on what we were doing. Still, I wondered if it was because the others were with us now, or because of whatever her father told her. Too many secrets, too much distrust and paranoia, prophecy or not it was hard to imagine one person fixing it. I pushed that down too, I needed to focus on the solutions, not the problems. If I couldn’t fix it alone, I’d find allies to help.
Serena said, “The place is too packed, can Jo narrow it down any?”
Christina replied, “I don’t think so, not without coming inside the park with us anyway.”
Matt said, “Wait, is that him over there, sitting down right outside the tree line.”
Well, that would explain why a six foot three person built like a linebacker wasn’t standing out in the crowd. I looked over and took the guy in. He did have black hair, and he was alone, but he was too far away to see his eye color, or
the definition of his facial features.
“Maybe. I think we’ll have to get closer to be sure.”
No one had a better idea, there was no way we were going to sneak up on him anyway, he had our scents. Not specifically perhaps, but he’d know we were Blood. We started walking that way, and Serena took my hand. I was startled for a moment, and a little confused until I notice Christina and Matt had done the same. Right, just a cover, so we didn’t look like four freaks hunting in the park to the humans.
It was far too easy to pretend, and her hand felt good in mine, but I didn’t lose my focus as I tried to look like I wasn’t focused on the guy halfway across the field. We stopped walking after another twenty feet, and Christina’s comment echoed my own thoughts.
“It’s him.”
After about ten seconds I said, “Now what?”
People would notice if we just stood there for too long, I had no doubt the shifter knew we were here, but he hadn’t reacted yet.
She turned and we walked toward the edge of the field, about thirty yards from the cougar shifter. There was an empty picnic table about ten feet in, under the shade of the trees, and she led us too it and sat down. Why it was unoccupied became obvious after a minute, it was a lot cooler without even the waning heat of the fall sun on our skins.
Serena slid a little closer, our legs, hips, and shoulders touching. Which really worked for me. I wondered if I was mental, how could I be falling for her too, when I was still in pain from the first one? That was fading, which is probably why I could even consider it, but I was still a mixed up mess in my head. Which… wouldn’t be fair to Serena, would it?
Not to mention it was all still impossible, which made me an idiot of monumental proportions.
Matt said, “If he moves into the woods, or tries to leave, we’ll follow, otherwise we need to wait until this place clears out, and then force the issue.”
I nodded, “Agreed, but do you think he can hear us right now?”
I remembered how good the alpha’s hearing was the other night. We were still ninety feet away or so, but I didn’t think it was nearly far enough. Shifters had insanely phenomenal hearing.
Matt grunted and looked a bit chagrined at his mistake, and I took that as a yes.
Christina and Matt were sitting on the side with the best view, the angle from Serena’s and my side was too sharp for casual glances, and I felt my shoulder blades itch without him in my sight, but I couldn’t keep turning around to stare either. Finally, I pulled out my cell phone and leaned it against Serena’s purse at an angle, so I could keep an eye on his reflection with my peripheral vision.
That was almost better, but I still wondered just how insane this was.
Then it got crazier, because he stood up and stretched, and then moseyed in our direction as if he didn’t have a care in the world. The four of us stood up and turned, but he had an amused look on his face as he closed the distance. I looked at his chin, not because I was intimidated, but because I didn’t want to set him off. If he was rogue who knew what he’d do in a rage.
He said, “Relax, I’m not going to do anything in this large crowd.”
I wasn’t too sure of that, we’d have to fill him with bullets, but how much of a scuffle would it make if he lunged forward and snapped one of our necks? I was glad Serena was mostly behind me in that moment, but of course she moved around me and stood next to me a second later.
He was also far younger than I’d expected, just on the cusp of adulthood, maybe seventeen or eighteen.
Christina asked coldly, “What do you want? Your fate is sealed, you broke the oath and you’re rogue.”
Was that the oath they’d made? Not to hunt humans? Carl had alluded to an oath, something about the shifters giving up certain practices the other races found distasteful, but he’d never explained past that. Did they used to hunt humans for sport or something?
The Nephilim were screw-ups, that much I was sure of. I was sure that was just one more unintended consequence of them playing god. I just hoped the last Nephilim had gotten things right, and as he’d intended, or… I was screwed, as were the rest of the necromancers.
Sam replied angrily, “I have no quarrel with you, but this is my territory now, and I’ll do what I wish on it. I never gave an oath, and I don’t recognize your authority.”
She asked, “Is that why you left your pack? Did you refuse to honor the oath when you came of age?”
He nodded, “Yes, the oath was not given, so has no hold on me. You will not stop me. Stay if you wish, you will greet your ancestors.”
And with that strange death threat, he turned around and marched back to his spot, and sat against one of the trees. We all sat down again, before we stood out, but it was disconcerting. He was so obviously not human, unlike the Blood or witches who could pass for human with a little effort. There was also something savage about his presence, something I hadn’t picked up from the alpha or his mate, who must suppress it.
Serena took my hand under the table and squeezed it as she slid closer again, and then didn’t release it. I didn’t mind. We were also uncomfortably silent, and it was a good thing we’d planned earlier, because it was too late to do it now, he could hear us. I knew it would only take him about twenty seconds to shift, so we had to be close and couldn’t afford to lose him once he made his move.
Easier said than done, he was faster than we were, but the park was relatively small and we were by no means slow. Without humans around, we could run damned fast.
Sunset wasn’t that far off, only about an hour from when we’d arrived. The sun was down by six PM in October.
Still, the wait made me a bit edgy as time dragged, and more than once Serena absently started to caress my hand with her fingers. It helped on some level, to keep me from tensing up too much, but was incredibly distracting on another level. It felt really good, too good, and inspired thoughts that led in an entirely different direction than they should be focused in at that moment. Directions that would get me killed by Carl.
Slowly the park started to empty out. The dog walkers, children with parents or nannies, whole families. I cursed as I saw him stand up, even in the trees there were far too many humans left in the park to start unloading weapons. He disappeared into the trees, and we got up and ran after him, staying in the trees in an attempt to hide our speed from the humans left in the field.
Grimly, I pulled my weapon anyway as the others did. I guessed Jo was going to be busy with a cover up when the cops got here, because it was doubtful we’d be able to do this, dispose of the corpse with the enchanted knife, and disappear without any witnesses.
He was wickedly silent even in human form, but not perfectly, and while our ears were nothing compared to his, they were good enough to follow the slight noises through the brush. We started to gain ground, and my heart was racing, if he stopped to shift now we’d probably get there in time.
Then we raced into a grove of trees, and Matt started cursing up a storm. I’d have to say I’d have been impressed, except we were staring at a large coon house cat. I immediately spun, looking around us and into the trees. It was obvious I’d made a false assumption, he wasn’t loud in the brush at all, he was as silent as death in his human form, and he’d had a plan to mislead us and give himself time to change.
We were so screwed.
Christina said, “Back to back, watch the trees.”
We all stood in opposing directions, forming a square facing out. We moved as one around the grove, almost like a dance, trying not to give the shifter a stationary target. My heart was pounding, and my hand was a little sweaty, but I had a firm enough grip on the weapon.
“They can control animals?”
Christina said, “Of their type, sort of, it’s more communication than control, keep alert, questions later.”
Right, so he asked a cat to dupe us as a favor? And it said yes? My life just got weirder.
Think idiot. The wind was blowing from east to west, woul
d he attack from the west like a cat would, staying downwind of his prey? Or would he be smart enough to know we might know that and be more random. It wasn’t like we could smell him coming after all.
I wasn’t sure, and I supposed it didn’t matter, we had every direction covered. But where was he? We’d been moving around the grove for a few minutes now, like some demented dancing gun show. I heard the loud cracking of sticks and leaves that couldn’t possibly be him, and we froze for a second trying to figure out just what it was.
“Freeze! Police!”
Oh hell, you’ve got to be kidding me. That shifter must be laughing his ass off right now, he had no intention of fighting us, we’d been set up twice in a row. We froze as two park police and about ten other officers of Chicago’s finest raced in the clearing with their guns out and pointed at the four of us. All our guns were pointed at the ground, and we weren’t moving.
“Drop em! Now! On the ground, hands behind your head and cross your legs, now!”
We dropped our guns, and I wondered if Jo could get us out of this mess, or if she even knew we were in it. Then again, I’d not learned a lot about this real world, and I knew the Blood had an in of some kind with the human authorities. They just didn’t bother to explain to me what that was, so I just decided to keep my mouth shut and go along with things.
“Lay on the ground. Now!”
We reluctantly did as ordered. Four of the cops walked over cautiously and picked up our weapons, while the other six kept us covered. I wondered what they thought, or more accurately what they’d been told. The asshole was probably trying to pin his murders on us too. I also knew better than to talk or ask questions, they might take that for resisting arrest.
Revealed: Necromancer's Blight: Book 2 Page 10