by Sarah Carter
“Wow, Mom,” Claire huffs. “Why don’t you tell us how you really feel?”
“I didn’t realize you had that serious of a problem with me,” Damien says. “I know there’s nothing I can say to make you view me differently. I can only show you over time.”
After a few seconds, Claire’s mom’s shoulders drop and she replies, “You have to understand, Damien—she’s my only daughter. We were always concerned that someone would find out about her issue. I protected Claire as much as I could. Then you spewed all of this information at me and expected I’d come to terms with the fact that my daughter is a succubus. Throwing you into the mix doesn’t help. The Merjyet line wants her because of what she is. How do I know that’s not the only thing you want her for? You don’t have a reputation that suggests we should trust you.”
“Lana,” Mr. Blakely interrupts. “I know better than anyone what my son has done in the past. I let it go because they were human. It’s as much my fault as it is his. We’re a much more passionate species. You know it’s not unusual.”
“I know,” Claire’s mom remarks back. “But that doesn’t mean I want my daughter around that.”
“Listen, Mrs. Livingston,” Damien says kindly. “If I wanted to use Claire for sex I would’ve done it by now. That’s not what I want from her. I love her. I know it’s fast, but I’ve never felt this way about someone. We’re like two puzzle pieces that complete each other.” He looks at Claire, and she smiles back at him. “I love you. I say that with all of my heart. I’ve been through so much and have known so many girls. You’re what I want. This feeling is all that I’ve ever wanted.”
With a soft smile, Claire whispers, “I agree.”
There is a moment of silence, and then her mom whispers, “You have my consent. It’s obvious there are real feelings.”
“Really?” Claire says. She looks at her dad. “And you?”
“I only want you to be happy,” her dad replies. “If Damien is what you want, then you have my well-wishes.”
“Thank you!” Claire exclaims.
The door slams open. Mark is standing there. “Master Blakely, we need to get you out of here immediately.”
“What, why?” Master Blakely asks quickly.
“The guards surrounding the area have been taken down,” Mark replies. “We need to evacuate the building. Come…now.”
Everyone stands up, but there is yelling and screaming out in the main restaurant. Claire smells a pungent odor. “What is that?”
“Now! We need to leave now!” Mark yells.
Lucas grabs Mr. Blakely and starts to move him out the door. Everyone yells, running to follow them.
Alex grabs Claire and says, “We need to help.”
“I will,” Claire replies, as she walks out the doorway. When shots are fired, she starts to see all the Neturu around her fall to the ground. Her eyes look up to see five guys in a half circle around her party. Alex comes up behind her. Claire looks at him. “I’ll take the three on the left. You take the other two.”
“Agreed.”
They take a few steps forward when the guy in the middle lifts up a gun and shoots at them. A dart flies into each of their necks. Alex falls to the ground. Claire grabs the dart and throws it on the ground.
“Ow!” She exclaims. “That hurt!” The guy shoots her again and Claire gasps. “Will you stop that?”
“How…how is that not taking you down?” the guy exclaims.
Claire looks up at him with fury in her eyes and barely whispers, “You have no idea who you just messed with.”
“Freeze, or we’ll kill you!” the guy yells.
Claire starts crying. “Please, please, don’t hurt me,” she whimpers, walking toward the guy. “I won’t say anything, I promise,” she pleads, acting very dramatically like she’s begging. Claire slowly makes her way over to the guy, gasping, “I know nothing about anything. Please, let me and my family go.”
The guy rolls his eyes. “Oh, geez, calm down. We aren’t here for you. We’re taking the Blakelys.”
When Claire is close enough, she stops acting and grins. “Over my dead body.” With that, she pounces on the guy. She quickly knocks the gun out of his hand and then snaps his arm. The guy screams out. Claire turns around and darts her fingers into two pressure points. The assailant screams out in more pain and falls down, immobilized.
Immediately, Claire spins around and kicks the other guy running at her. Then it’s a flurry of movement as she fights off the other three assailants. It takes a while, but finally, Claire exhales. All five guys have collapsed on the ground. Most of them have several broken limbs.
Claire runs over to Damien and shakes him. “Damien! Damien! Wake up!”
He won’t move. Scrambling over to Lucas, Claire presses under his ear and starts yelling, “We need help! We need help! Everyone is down!” She growls and says, “Why can’t they wear something to communicate instead of having it surgically implanted?”
People rush in. Claire takes a ready stance but stops when she sees that they’re guard. “Those guys attacked us!”
“We need to get everyone out of this area immediately,” one of the guard members says. He pulls the dart out of Mr. Blakely’s neck. The guard looks up at her. “How are you not down with the rest of them?” He then turns to look at the assailants. “What happened here?”
“They attacked,” Claire states. “So, I fought back. I’m much stronger.”
A guard member grabs her. “We’re going to have to detain you.”
“Get your hand off of me and help them!” Claire screams.
“Miss, you’re going to come with us,” the guard member replies.
Claire yanks her arm away and says, “Hell, no! I’m staying with my family and Damien!”
“You won’t be around anyone for a while,” he snaps, grabbing her arm.
In one fluid movement, Claire has the guy by his arm and the back of his neck. “I’m Damien’s girlfriend, a member of the guard and future daughter of the Merjyet line. You need to back off.”
“Kaleb Hardwick is down too,” someone says in the background.
“That’s my grandfather,” Claire declares. “I promise you, if you mistreat me in anyway, Drake will be very, very angry.”
“Let me go,” the guy growls.
Claire does but replies, “I kind of go Hulk-smash on people who piss me off.”
More people start to file in. There are stretchers and those who Claire can only assume are medical staff. Another guard member walks up and says, “It would be easier if you went outside and got into one of the vehicles. This is going to be a mess to explain to the police, so we need to evacuate the others as quickly as possible.”
“I can help,” Claire states.
“Go outside with the other guard members and help them, in case something else happens.”
She looks at the guard for a second, then nods. Claire turns and leaves.
* * * * * * * *
Claire exhales and runs her fingers through her hair again. She leans forward and puts her head in between her legs. “Come on,” she groans. “Someone come tell me something!”
When the door opens, Claire stands up. “Dr. Galliger!” Another gentleman walks in and Claire looks him over. She doesn’t recognize him. “What’s going on? I’m locked in this stupid room and no one will tell me anything!”
“Claire, this is Mr. Grandin,” Dr. Galliger says. “He’s now the head of the guard.”
“Your guard members are bunch of jerks!” Claire yells. “They tricked me into this cell.”
“I apologize for that,” Mr. Grandin replies. “We had no idea who you were…or what you were.”
Glaring at him, Claire snaps, “I should have just taken down every single of your guard members. I could have, you know!”
“I know that,” Mr. Grandin states. “We saw the evidence of what you did.”
“I was protecting the people I love most in this world. It was just good that I kn
ew how to fight otherwise I would’ve drained every one of those guys.”
“It was good that you didn’t. That would have revealed what you are. That aside, we’re very happy you were able to protect Master Blakely and his son,” Mr. Grandin says graciously. “You saved their lives and the Merjyet line. Our people are indebted to you.”
She crosses her arms. “Well, I’m technically part of the guard, so I was doing my job. Though if I knew I’d get treated this way, I would’ve just taken down everyone.”
Mr. Grandin nods. “That’s understandable.”
“When can I see my family?” Claire asks hotly.
“Not everyone has woken up,” Dr. Galliger replies. “The only one that has is Master Blakely—I mean Drake.”
“What’s wrong with everyone?” Claire cries. “Wake them up!”
“It was a sedative that we haven’t come across before. Extremely powerful and fast-acting,” Mr. Grandin says. “It’s not deadly, though. They’re just sleeping.”
Claire sighs. “When can I see Damien?”
“We came to get you, but Master Blakely would like to see you first. So, if you’ll come with me.” He turns and walks to the doorway.
Claire doesn’t hesitate to follow him.
They make it through a few hallways when they come to a door. Mr. Grandin knocks. “Come in.”
Mr. Grandin opens the door and Claire follows him inside. Mr. Blakely is sitting up in bed. Claire takes one look at him and says, “God, you look like hell.”
Mr. Blakely bursts out laughing. “I know, it must be the side effects of the drug.” He pats the edge of his bed. “Come here, my dear girl.” Claire walks over and sits down. Mr. Blakely takes her hand. “I am now and forever in your debt, Claire.”
“It was nothing,” Claire murmurs, shyly looking away.
“Claire…be serious,” Mr. Blakely instructs. “Damien and I would be God-knows-where by now, if it weren’t for you.”
“I was just protecting the people I love,” Claire states quietly.
“You saved eight people,” Mr. Blakely replies. “We had no idea what they were going to do to us. You took down five guys!”
At those words, Claire smirks. “I told you I was talented.”
“I didn’t doubt that, but I never knew to this extent.” Mr. Blakely chuckles. “I just want you to know how thankful I’m.”
“As long as everyone is safe, then it wasn’t that big of a deal.”
“Not that big of a deal!” Mr. Grandin gasps. “You did something our most experienced guards couldn’t do on their own. That was five guys!”
“Next time, you should blindfold me. That makes things interesting. Can I please see Damien now?”
Getting a serious look on his face, Mr. Blakely says, “I’m going to ask you to do something.”
Claire gasps. “Are you going to tell me to stop dating Damien?”
“No!” Mr. Blakely retorts quickly. “Not at all. I’ll marry you two when he wakes up, if you want. I can do that legally.”
“Whoa.” Claire exhales, throwing out her hands. “Not ready for that!”
He chuckles. “I didn’t think so. That’s not what I want to ask. This is very serious and…dangerous. You must tell no one.”
A little timid, Claire inquires, “What are you asking?”
“We need you to go on a mission,” Mr. Grandin interjects. “A very serious mission that only you can carry out.”
“Okay,” Claire calmly replies. “What is it?”
“We know who attacked us tonight.” Mr. Blakely sighs. “His name is Fabian. We don’t have a last name.”
“Fabian?” Claire snorts. “His name is Fabian. Is he a European model gone bad?”
Mr. Blakely shakes his head. “No, he’s a murderer and torturer.”
“A Neturu?”
“Yes,” Mr. Blakely replies softly.
“He’s one of the most corrupt, bloodthirsty Neturu that we know of,” Mr. Grandin says. “Extremely dangerous.”
With a quizzical look, Claire asks, “Why don’t you just storm in and snag him?”
“That’s the tricky part.” Mr. Blakely sighs. “He surrounds himself with Neturu and humans. He told the Neturu that if anyone shows up, they’re supposed to slaughter the humans. We can’t risk that.”
“What about when he’s sleeping?”
Shaking his head, Mr. Blakely says, “He has people in the room with him, usually a human woman beside him.”
“So, I need to go in there because I can shut down my energy and pose as a human?” Claire inquires.
“Yes,” Mr. Blakely replies. “He likes his women young and beautiful. It wouldn’t take much for you to get his attention. We need you to infiltrate his group and get him alone.”
She stares at him for a second and then whispers, “You need me to seduce him.”
“I do not want you to do anything with him,” Mr. Blakely states. “You absolutely should leave before anything happens. We need to catch him, but I would never want to compromise you in that way.”
“Are you sure, or are you just saying that because of Damien?” Claire asks.
After a heavy exhale, Mr. Blakely says, “That plays a part in it, but you’re also so young. I couldn’t even imagine you doing anything with some deplorable stranger. That’s wrong. Completely wrong.”
“I wouldn’t have sex with him.” Claire grimaces. “But I can make him think that I’m going to. Get him alone and then drain his ass.”
“That’s what we were hoping for. There’s one more thing.”
“What?”
He looks up at her. “It goes against one of the most important rules of the guard.” Claire raises her eyebrow. Mr. Blakely grips her hand. “You’ll have to go in alone.”
Claire’s heart sinks. “But, I thought no one goes on a mission alone.”
“Normally, they don’t, but Fabian will sense a Neturu from a long distance. He would know something was going to happen. We need the element of surprise.”
“Wow.” Claire exhales. “This is intense.”
“You can say no,” Mr. Blakely whispers. “We never force anyone to do something they don’t want to.”
Mr. Grandin adds in, “But, we don’t know what to do with Fabian. He keeps getting riskier and riskier. He directly attacked tonight with a sedative we haven’t encountered before.”
“It’s similar to the one that Kayla’s kidnapper used,” Mr. Blakely states. “We’re wondering if they knew each other.”
Claire looks up. “Fabian had something to do with the kidnapper?”
“That is our speculation,” Mr. Grandin replies. “The sedatives are very similar. It would be a very big coincidence if they weren’t engineered in the same lab.”
Claire shakes her head in shock.
“It seems as though they wanted to take down the bloodlines.”
“So, what would the plan be?” Claire inquires.
“You’d be given a car,” Mr. Grandin starts. “You would dress the part.”
“And go in, seduce him, and drain him completely,” Claire finishes. “What happens if something goes wrong?”
Sighing, Mr. Blakely says, “Use whatever force necessary to get out of there.”
“And if I succeed?” Claire inquires.
“We’ll implant a tiny chip into you. Press it and we’ll come immediately, but you have to understand, we won’t be in proximity to you. It may take a bit for us to get there. You may need to fight.”
“The fighting isn’t a problem,” Claire states, “Especially if I drain the jerk. It’ll be an added boost.”
“You’ll do the mission then?” Mr. Blakely counters.
Claire nods. “If that’s where I’m needed.”
“Good, thank you Claire,” Mr. Blakely says. “You don’t know how evil this guy is.”
“Can I read up on what you have?”
“No,” Mr. Grandin snaps. “That’s only given to a few individuals.”
; She turns around and looks at him. “You want me to go in alone. You want me to take this guy down, but you don’t want me to know anything about him?”
“Jesse.” Mr. Blakely chuckles. “Of course, she can read the file. It would be good for her to know everything we have about Fabian.”
“That’s step one. Step two, when are we doing this?”
“Whenever you feel as though you’re ready,” Mr. Grandin replies.
“A week. We’ll do it in a week,” Claire declares solidly. “The final step is going to be the toughest.”
“What’s that?” Mr. Blakely asks.
Looking at him, Claire says, “I have to tell Damien.”
“I don’t think it’s a good idea if he knows.”
“Oh, no. There will be none of that,” Claire counters. “He’s your son. He’s a council member. Most importantly, he’s my boyfriend. I can’t go on a dangerous mission without telling him.” Mr. Blakely frowns. “What if I die? How would you tell him that without him feeling betrayed and resenting you for the rest of his life?”
“I know. I just don’t want him to convince you not to go. Half of me is being a father, half of me is being a ruler.”
“I’m sorry, Drake. I need to tell him.”
He grips her hand and says, “I know. When he wakes up, you can tell him.”
“I want to go see him now. Where is he?”
“The room next door,” Mr. Grandin answers. “I’ll retrieve a tablet for you to look over the information.”
Claire nods. “I’m going to go to him.”
“Alright, thank you again my dear,” Mr. Blakely sighs. “You saved us.”
“I protect those I care about,” Claire says. She stands up. “I won’t leave his side until he wakes up.”
“I didn’t doubt that.” Mr. Blakely laughs.
Mr. Grandin steps forward. “Let me take you to him.”
She stands up and walks over to Mr. Grandin. “See you soon, Mr. Blakely,” Claire calls out.
“Bye, Claire. And thank you!”