Night Lurks

by Amber Lynn

  Will looks over the pieces he can see on Jonas and nods. “I have had fight training and know how to shoot a gun. I don't think I have all the vampire skills from the brochure, yet, but with a little firepower, I should be able to hold my own.”

  I am really hoping I don't need an army just to go to a demon hang out. However, if a mini one is offered, I won't say no. I have never had a great desire to see how demons spend their recreation time, but I assume it is filled with copious amounts of depravity.

  “Buttercup, I think the firepower is just a little excessive,” Ben says bringing Clyde over. My little puppy has on his biggest spike collar and matching little ankle cuffs. I can only guess who dressed him. Really, it could be a number of people in the room, but my money is split between two of them.

  “Jake put them on, but I brought them to him. Don't I look cool? Do you think one of the guys would be willing to strap a rocket launcher to my back?”

  I don't bother responding to that idea and instead respond to Ben's thought. “We aren't exactly going out for a picnic in the park. You said this place was a demon club and even if the weapons don't do us a whole lot of good against them, I like the show of force.” I think if we showed up not looking like we could hold our own, we would be devoured by the beings stopping by for a quick drink.

  “Is there any way just you and me can go in the club, wolfy is included in that since he is attached at your hip. Outsiders are usually frowned upon. I can probably make a good case for you, but the others might be an issue.” He gets evil eyes all around. We cannot make ours go red like his, but he gets the picture. “Fine. You are going to have to take this, though.”

  He hands me a small vial. I look down at it and then back up at him. “I want the disclaimer before I take something. Last time you didn't bother to tell me you were dosing me and I am not going through with that again.”

  “So untrusting,” he says shaking his head and sighing. “It is just going to make you not seem so unique. We agreed that was the plan.” I remember agreeing to that plan. That doesn't mean he didn't think of a way to make it work in his favor somehow.

  “Just what will I appear to be, a baboon?”

  “That hurts, Nyx. Really hurts. It will bring out the wolf in you. I thought it was best since he is your present mate.”

  “And just how long will it last this time?” I try to think of anything else that I should get clarification on before taking the potion. Nothing is coming to mind, which worries me.

  “Tonight only. I didn't make it as strong as the other one.”

  “Just out of curiosity, now that I am not human anymore, do I get to know just what you are?” Will asks butting in the conversation.

  I am tired of just standing around, so I head to the kitchen to mix up a quick protein shake for the road. I am starting to feel a little drained. It has been a really busy night and I still have at least a couple of hours before I can think about getting a small nap in. Yes, I did just leave in mid-conversation and I doubt me walking away made sense to anyone.

  “Few people know for sure,” I say in answer to Will's question. He has followed me, so I don't have to worry about checking out whether his improved hearing is online. I don't really like him following me and it goes on the list with staring.

  I grab my shaker and the protein powder and start measuring it out. “Rumor is I am a mix of three paranorms. I know the werewolf and vampire parts, but there is a third part that everyone wants to keep a secret from me. It gets on my nerves and I would rather not talk about it.”

  “Are there others like you?” he asks missing the part about not talking about it.

  “No.” I pour a bit of milk in my mix, the contents of the vial, and then start shaking. My right arm is functioning enough that I can even use it to complete the task. I feel little twinges of pain as things are realigning themselves. I am finding the healing part of injuries is just as annoying as the injury itself. “Why don't you go ask Jonas to get you set up with some weapons? I am going to want to leave in the next few minutes. It sounds like Marcus is back.”

  I hear the elevator doors open as I finish my sentence. “How did you do that?” Will asks as he moves out of the kitchen a little to get a peek at who is coming off the elevator.

  “You will be able to figure it out soon enough. I thought I told you to go get ready.”

  I push him aside and make my way to Marcus. Everyone else is just kind of milling about until I give them the green light to do something. I should have assigned someone to book duty to try to come up with some other solutions to our demon problems. Since that is usually Sebastian's job, it just didn't feel right to hand it over to someone else.

  “I am thinking a tank wouldn't be too far out of left field for me to ask for in exchange for what I just went through,” Marcus says as he quickly shakes his head. It looks like he is knocking some cobwebs loose. Knowing where he just came from, I wouldn't doubt it.

  “How bad was it? She didn't try to slip you any love spells, right?” Hilda may sell a ton of those things, but I never took her for the kind to use them herself.

  “God I hope not. I did have to agree to a date. Why in the world does she think it would ever work out between us? She is a witch, I am a vampire. Those two things don't compute.” He hands me a small sack and I glance in it while trying not to spill my drink.

  “I can't ask specifics right now, but she was able to hook you up, yes?” I don't want Ben to know of the mission and how successful Marcus was.

  “She was most helpful, oddly enough. She told me to tell you she will be there in a month for the party.”

  “The voices in her head need to quit filling it with hogwash. I am not having a party, nor have I ever had one. I am guessing she didn’t happen to mention what grand event she thinks we will be celebrating.” I have wasted enough time avoiding my shake and take a big swig. It doesn’t taste any different, but knowing there is a little bit of something added makes me scrape my tongue across my teeth to try to get rid of the additive.

  “I was told you will find out tomorrow. I communicated to her what I figured your reaction would be and let her know you were sorry the invite got lost in the mail,” he gives me a quick smile and then rushes off to his room. “I didn’t know we were going somewhere dressed as G.I. Joes. Give me just a second.”

  I can see why he wouldn’t want to look out of place amongst the group. I need to spiff myself up for the occasion. I finish up the shake and run the cup to the kitchen. I don’t feel any wolfier, but I didn’t really feel any different the last time Ben decided to mess with my physiology.

  “Alex, you want anything?” I ask as I head towards the bedroom. I stow the bag from Hilda in my closet. When I am able to lose the demon for the day, or night, or just whenever he decides to take a hike, I will ask Marcus about the goodies.

  “Nah. It makes me feel important if everyone else around me is armed to protect me.”

  What a dork. Even Clyde is playing dress up for this one. I go ahead and strap on my external thigh sheaths. When they are in position I grab Helen and Clytemnestra and slide them into place. I shimmy into my holster and check to make sure all three guns are full of ammo. My Colt is missing a couple of rounds from target practice, so I have to reload. I would hate to get into battle and start dry firing because I didn't count my bullets ahead of time.

  To top off my gear, I add a katana to my back. I don't get to play with my swords enough and I bet it will see more action than my guns. Bullets don't have a great effect on demons, or so I am told, but I might be able to stab one a couple of times.

  I think that should do it. With the guards as armed as they are, I could probably follow Alex's train of thought and go in naked, but that is not my style. I need to have at least a knife handy in any stressful situation. Even if I don't pull it out to slice someone to little pieces, it gives me comfort knowing it is there by my side.

  “Are you sure I cannot convince you to take one of my blades? I don
't usually let anyone carry one of my personal stock, but I am willing to make an exception for you,” I pull out one of my bowie knives. It has a sheath that would hang nicely from one of his belt loops.

  “If I cannot kill whatever attacks us with my bare hands, what kind of mate would I be for you?” he asks and he is lucky I know he isn't being serious. “Believe me, I will be just fine. I think this is going to be just an information gathering mission. I don't mind you guys playing dress up, but I doubt you will even feel the need to pull a knife.”

  “When demons are involved, I am going to play on the side of caution. I don't know enough about them to be lax when it comes to protecting us.” Just to be on the safe side, I decide I better grab one of my boot knives. I am leaving the wrist sheaths off because I don’t trust my right arm to be one hundred percent and wearing a sheath may aggravate it. Wearing only the left one would drive me crazy.

  “Crazier, Nyx. You are already way past the point of crazy,” Alex says. I grab a pillow and throw it at him. He catches it and tosses it back.

  “You are such a funny boy, Alex. Let’s get the troops together and get this mission over with.”

  Chapter 8

  Things you hear when you don't have earplugs

  When we get down to the garage, I remember that my Suburban is no more. That throws a bit of a wrench in my plans for transportation. With as large as the group is now, the Suburban wouldn't have fit everyone anyway, but I still loved to drive it.

  “Just how far are we going, Ben?” I ask as I look at the available vehicles. I am going to let Alex figure out the logistics, but I do have my favorites.

  “The demon section of Night Owl is on the very south edge of town. We are presently in what is considered the middle, so it would be quite a walk and I don't feel like transporting this many people myself.”

  His transporting methods are definitely out. I know it only hurt because Sebastian was being stabbed at the time, but I don't want to relive the experience.

  “Nyx, me, Ben, and Will are going to be in my Camaro. Jonas, Walt, Clyde, and Dante can take the Jeep. Jake, Smitty, and Marcus you can have your pick and please don't spend all of your time arguing about who gets to drive.” Alex commands and drags me over to his Camaro.

  It is pretty, but not exactly what I would take into a battle. Not that we are heading in that direction, but I wouldn't want to see it get scratched. I let Will in behind me and then take my place in the front passenger's seat.

  “She isn't just for looks, sweetheart. You know how guys are with their toys. She has many enhancements that if you are a really good girl, I might just show you one day.” He grabs my hand and gives it a quick kiss.

  “I thought you were only this bad with the fangy one. What have they been putting in your water?” Ben asks as Alex starts up the car.

  “I am pretty sure you are the only one sneaking things into my drinks. Why don't you worry about giving directions and leave my love life out of the conversation.”

  “But your love life is always on my mind. Hey, that sounds like it would make a good country song. You run around town with all the different boys. Oh how I wish I could be one of your toys. But sadly you don't even look at me. It is as if I were a tree. Like how I rhymed? From there it could go into a pathetic chorus about what a stalker this creep really is and if you just throw in a pickup truck, a dog, and some beer, you have a hit.”

  Will starts laughing. I don't find the song that funny and Ben's singing voice leaves a lot to be desired. I glance over at Alex and he rolls his eyes when he sees me looking.

  “I think we should leave the song writing to the professionals. How about those directions? We do have vampires amongst us and that sun is eventually going to rise,” I tell him ready to get a move on it.

  “Just head towards the old human cemetery on Oak. The entrance to where we are going is in the cemetery.”

  Great. Cemeteries have never been my friends. The ghouls that hang out in them get along with me about as well as most of the witches I know. The only good thing about the ghouls is the fact that they cannot speak. They do like to mess with people though and it gets on my nerves.

  “Why would a demon bar be in a cemetery?” Will asks.

  “Because most people are smart enough to stay away,” I reply. “The things crawling around in the cemetery probably don't bother with the demons, either. They are way past the point a demon could have fun with them. It must be a great place for demons to unwind.”

  “It is definitely a place where we can be ourselves. You will all figure that out as soon as you walk through the doors. I would like to hear more about curious Will. Just how did you guys meet up? I thought humans gave you a rash, Buttercup.”

  I don't remember actually giving him that information, but I let it pass. He could just be making guesses and I hate confirming or denying anything for him.

  “We met on the set of my latest movie. I imagine you will be first in line when it comes out. Will is the leading man and I got to play the damsel in distress,” I inform him.

  That starts a laughing fit from the demon. If it wasn’t the truth, I might be joining him because of how absurd it sounds. “You know I am not going to believe that for a second, right? I don’t think there is a big enough bribe out there for you to be put in that position.”

  “When you want your copy of the DVD autographed, remember that thought. They only had me for a day and I rewrote most of the script to suit me. If we are going to discuss what we were doing since we last saw each other, why don’t you tell us all the demon pastimes you were busy partaking in?”

  “I spent a week going over my annual review with the Great One. To say it was interesting would be an understatement. I am still loved and my fatherhood desires were acknowledged. There were a lot of questions on that front,” he replies.

  A job review with the Devil, I am glad to say I have never experienced one of those and there are no plans for one in the future. The fact that it took a week might be even worse. When I was with the Collective, I did get called in once a year to go over things with Frank. They only took about five minutes and tended to be just him telling me to keep up the good work.

  “Why would it take you a whole week to go over things? Did you have to give descriptions of your bowel movements?” I could see that taking a whole week. It would be about all I would have to discuss with the person doing that job review.

  “Being the important person that I am, in the scheme of things, gives us tons of stuff to talk about. My review didn’t last all that long, but we did have to discuss all of my underlings. That is what took up the majority of the time. Figuring out who needs to spend a little extra time in the torture chambers is really time consuming.”

  I am sure that does take a lot of consideration. As far as demons go, I am trying to figure out if the torture chamber part is a reward or a punishment. From the little reading I have done of the matter, I am actually leaning towards them enjoying it.

  The conversation pauses for a second, somewhat of a miracle with the two talkers in the backseat, so I take a second to try to knock around on the wall Sebby has created. I really don’t understand why he won’t let me in. It could only be helpful for us to be able to communicate. There has to be something interfering somehow. I know our bond is unbreakable, but I wonder if there is some kind of jammer being used.

  “Ben, since you are the expert on this new bond me and Sebastian share, what could cause us not to be able to connect? I still feel him out there, but I cannot get a direct line.”

  “I doubt there is anything that could accomplish that. Your boyfriend is most likely just playing it safe. Candy can pick up your private conversations just like me. If he allowed you to broadcast in, she may be able to make a beeline right for you. I have spent plenty of time with Candy and her going to this extreme isn’t exactly out of character, but to take the vampire leader isn’t really bright. I don’t imagine she was aware of you or she wouldn’t have wasted her t
ime.”

  I highly doubt that. She didn’t seem to care about anything other than trying to make a slave out of Sebastian. Thinking that Sebby would allow something like that is pretty moronic, but I guess she doesn’t mind if that word is used to describe her.

  “Me being in the equation makes no difference, other than to maybe aggravate her more. I have it on good authority that it will make her want to try some really sadistic techniques out on one half of my man bits.” I have decided that the guys’ private regions belong to me, so speaking as if they were actually on my body isn’t weird at all.

  “I guess the fact that the dreams must already be starting is a good thing. If you cannot speak directly to him, it is the only explanation for you knowing future events. When did they start? I have been doing a little more research on just what changes you can expect in the next few weeks,” Ben answers confusing me more than usual with his words.

  Yes, I am having dreams of the future, but what in the world does that have to do with anything else? I thought they were coming from Sebastian’s side of things more than mine. He is the precog in our relationship.

  “I don’t want to confirm or deny anything, but I do want to hear more about this reading you have been doing. Just what other changes do I have to look forward to?” I turn around to look at him while he responds. He is looking out the window, but turns to look at me. He gives me a wide grin that doesn’t assure me one bit.

  “We should probably pretend I didn’t drive the conversation to this point. I cannot tell you what I read without revealing what you are and no one wants that. I just wanted to see if there was anything really interesting that may be passed on to our child.” I figured he wouldn't give me any information, so I turn back around and sulk a bit in my seat.

  “Whoa. Wait just a second. You are pregnant? Weren’t you worried about the baby when you were shot with me? Bullets can’t be good for a baby’s health. How close did the bullet come to it?” Will asks what would be a logical question, if I was actually in a motherly way.