Hawk nodded saying, “He did me a favor. This is my sister’s fiancée.”
As she stood in front of the other man, he glanced over her at his future brother-in-law. “She’s one of the owners, Jose, so is he,” the bouncer added gesturing to Nick. Even so, the big man noticed Sami and shook his head. “She looks a little young, Nick.”
Nodding, the voran said, “A niece of mine, she’s under age, but is only passing through. If she manages to find alcohol in her hand on my watch, my brother will kill me.”
Both Charlotte and Sami looked at him in surprise, Nick laughed and joked, “I’m fostering her, but like I said no alcohol for the fifteen year old.”
Hawk laughed at the joke. A common practice for men with their mistresses or other escorts was to call them their nieces. Since he didn’t need anymore girlfriends in his life, he certainly didn’t need that kind of niece.
Taking the younger girl’s hand, Nick led her through the door into another good crowd. He heard her say, “Whoa”, as they skirted the dance floor. The older girls urged him to take Sami onto the dance floor for a song or two. Feeling like the uncle he joked about earlier, Nick watched as the girl followed the beat well in front of him. Nicola and Charlotte found their way to them and the four danced together for several songs.
Nick ordered drinks, specifying a simple diet coke for Sami, much to her disappointment. Vampire or not, she was still fifteen and he wouldn’t start her off drinking on their first night watching over the girl.
With Nicola leading them through the VIP section, the four were within the true lair soon enough. Lenora and Vicki had followed them into the vampire only section of the warehouse. Without missing a beat, Lenora set on Nicola, “Oh no, did Nick get tired of you and trade you in for a newer, smaller model?”
Nicola’s hand was on Nick’s arm and started to tense in anger. She managed to say calmly, “Is Marek on patrol?”
“Of course,” the rival blonde retorted.
Sami frowned and asked, “Who is this jerk?”
The comment brought an angry look and the woman said to Nick, “You need to teach your pet to behave.”
Placing his hand across the teen’s stomach as she started to step forward, Nick stated, “Marek hasn’t managed to teach you any manners yet, Lenora? Vicki at least knows to hold her tongue for the one who let you live.
“The others tolerate you because they hoped to replace the friends they lost and because we hoped that you five might be able to find a home here. You might wish to remember that any of your hosts who allow you to stay here, are vastly more powerful than you are. They are also your elders.”
He could tell that his words fell on deaf ears. If anything over the last month, Lenora had become more insufferable. She acted like she ruled the coven instead of Marek, though in front of him she tried to act like a model citizen. Normally, the woman would at least try to pretend for Nick as well.
Using a burst of speed, the voran was at her side, an aura blade before her face reminded the vampire that she had nearly been sent to the final death two months ago. He said quietly, “Know your place, child.”
As if a vampire could turn even whiter, Lenora paled in fear. Her eyes revealed that she was listening now and looking at her death. She forgot that he was a vampire hunter and had begun to just think of him as Nicola’s boyfriend or one of the vampires. Reminded of the night Nick helped Jake and Ray kill the elder vampire Cyrus, the blonde said weakly, “Yes, I remember.”
The blade retracted and Nick stated, “You are here to help the coven. We let you stay here and expect you to pay your dues before you get the same rights as the others.”
Her eyes narrowed as she took a step back with her hand guarding her throat warily. “You aren’t even a vampire.”
“This coven is founded on my blood literally. I have as much say here as anyone since I can take away my gift even easier than I gave it,” he warned the woman again. While his anger was not riled up by the woman’s constant digs at Nicola and her snide comments meant little, Nick felt that he was looking at someone that had been given a chance and was simply taking it all for granted. Whether he could see sparing such a spiteful creature for long, the vampire hunter wasn’t sure. He had never killed one of Marek’s clan, but there was always a first time for everything. They offered redemption and the woman was squandering her chance.
Vicki tried to act as the voice of reason and said, “They’re obviously not in the mood for your jokes tonight, Lenora. Why don’t we go into the club and mingle?”
“I think I could use a break from the club tonight,” the blonde said acting wounded from the confrontation. “Maybe we should go to a different club and get a little perspective?”
Looking less convinced, Vicki started to nod.
“Be careful out there,” Nick warned. “We came to warn the coven that a group of vampires known as reapers attacked a nest of vampires. They kill both humans and normal vampires for their blood and tissue. If you leave the Lair, make sure you keep an eye out for trouble.”
“Vampires that kill other vampires?” Vicki asked squeamishly.
He nodded.
Lenora seemed to think that he was exaggerating, and gathered her purse from her bedroom. Once returned, she made Vicki join her after telling Nick that they would indeed be careful.
It wasn’t long after that Marek returned with Jake and one of the newer recruits, a man named Tony, who had been an army ranger before he had been turned. Marek’s eyes revealed surprise at the four visitors to his home.
“Hello, Nick, I see that you’ve brought the ladies and a new little one that I have never met.” He sniffed the air and knew that Sami was a vampire; but who had turned her was more of a mystery.
“Marek, this is Sami. I found her today in a nest of dead vampires.”
This part of the story raised some eyebrows. As they were about to continue, Audrey’s scouting party returned and the final group was expected to arrive in a few minutes. Rather than continue only to repeat himself after the remainder of the coven’s return, they waited. The vampires made normal meals and poured various types of drinks after the hours of searching for stray vampires.
Once Derek and Sophia arrived, Nick reintroduced the girl, who not surprisingly didn’t seem very shy despite the number of vampires surrounding them. He added quickly, “The kasha that you ran into and I came to an agreement the night of the full moon. Only two days later they called to inform me that they had tracked a rogue vampire back to a nest of a dozen or more in an abandoned store. It was a large, old building and with so many possible enemies they called me.
“With three werewolves along, we entered the building only to find all of the vampires and their human victims dead, torn apart or drained of their blood by other vampires known as reapers. The kasha had heard of these creatures but had never come across them in person.
“In the basement, I found a shaft that led deeper under ground where I stumbled across Sami nearly dead. She absorbed some of the vampire blood before she died and you know where that leads. With what she knew added to the information we could deduce from the scene, we know that three or four from the nest escaped using the shaft and the sewers it leads to. How many reapers hit them, we aren’t sure; but we are guessing perhaps seven or eight.
“They seem to be stronger than the average vampire. They drained their blood like a vampire drains humans, but to the extreme that not one drop of fluid remains. Also they tore out the guts and often ate some of the muscles from the victims. Humans were treated nearly the same, so they don’t discriminate.”
Marek noted, “They don’t use silver weapons to kill though or there wouldn’t have been such good corpses to find for your discoveries. Since this nest didn’t have swordsmen, we can assume that they weren’t very well trained, Nick. With our blades, I am guessing that they won’t be as much of a threat for us as the strays.”
Shrugging his shoulders at the man, Nick replied quickly, “I only bring th
e information I have. If you come across them, be careful even so.”
One of the other new men, a former marine named Will asked, “They still attacked by night?”
Nodding, Nick replied, “As far as we can tell, they must have the same strengths and weaknesses as any vampires; but their tastes might give them greater strength and other abilities. It’s just conjecture since we saw nothing beyond a normal vampire attack.”
Marek sat on the arm of the couch beside Audrey, whose hand rested on his leg. The power couple in the coven seemed to share one mind at times and as he spoke, she nodded. “We don’t truly know the numbers that these reapers have brought here. From what you have said of the kasha, ripples of the battle with Cyrus must have found their way into the community somehow. While we’ve kept ourselves separate from whatever vampire society there might be, there’s a possibility that someone who escaped from Cyrus’s defeat might have gotten word back to some other elders.
“The reapers could have been dispatched to cleanse the city or even might be looking for us. They hit a decent size nest and emptied it, even though a few might have escaped. I definitely agree that we need to keep our eyes open.
“I think a new rule needs to be in effect with this new threat. If any team contacts them, run and call us with your cell. We’ll meet anywhere but at the Lair. Each patrol will have a fall back point from now on and the rest will hurry to their aid. As long as they believe that there are only three or less vampires to follow, they might fall into our trap.”
Looking around, Marek said, “Lenora and Vicki will need to know the rule as well. I won’t give these reapers the advantage of knowing where we live because of the new girls leading them back here. While the club gives a certain amount of cover that I doubt even these assassins would dare, anonymity has always been our kind’s best asset and I’m sure that they work similarly. Leaving a club full of corpses isn’t good for anyone, but after 2 AM we’re closed and there are still a few hours before dawn to catch us off our guard.
“Let’s not be caught off guard. We’ve had enough losses this year. We don’t need any more.”
The handful of the original coven could all nod in agreement with that thinking. For Nick, who spanned both the coven and wolf pack, the impact of the losses was magnified. He had lost good friends of decades and newer friends of only a few weeks in the battle.
“If it comes to a fight and we find out that they are stronger than we think, I am pretty sure I can get the kasha and Eric’s pack to join us as well,” Nick mused aloud. “The pack owes me again and Shedu and his people called with the nest information pretty quickly. While I don’t completely trust them around the coven, so far they’ve given me no reason not to trust them either.”
Marek nodded.
With the matter pretty much tabled; Sophia, who was sitting beside her partner Derek, pointed to Sami and asked, “So what are you going to do with the little cutie?”
Sami sighed and rolled her eyes. As both a new vampire and the only one turned so young, she was destined to be looked on as the baby for a long time, if not forever.
Taking a deep breath, Nick decided, “For now, she’ll stay with us.”
“Yes!” the girl hissed as a grin crossed her face and she bounced on the balls of her feet before grabbing his arm. “Thank you, thank you, Nick.”
The older vampires couldn’t help chuckling at the girl’s obvious preference and Nick continued, “I’ll probably regret it, but Nicola’s willing to share until we can eventually find a space for Logan and Kate. Either that or I am going to have to move into a bigger apartment.”
With laughs at his expense, he could tell that Charlotte would prefer to have her brother around, so the second idea might need to be considered. It wasn’t like he didn’t move every couple decades or sooner to avoid being noticed as ageless. Still he had liked this apartment and been there for several years feeling very grounded with some roots.
Turning a little more serious, Nick asked Marek in particular as he asked, “Do you think it is too much of a risk to go to her family and let them know that she still lives?”
A couple gasps of surprise from the older vampires were lost on the younger, though they seemed interested. Marek shook his head, but not because he was against the idea, the vampire merely warned, “We set the precedent of avoiding family and sometimes leaving the area just to prevent them from discovering their loved one was a vampire. It isn’t like it’s an official rule. Times have changed, though even a few years ago there have been a few vampire hunts. They followed humans instead of actual vampires making them look like superstitious idiots, but it proves that some people can’t deal with the supernatural civilly.
“I don’t govern you, Nick, and I respect your judgment. Since we’ve never taken in a child,” at Sami’s frown, he adjusted the term, “or one so young, we have no precedent. We also turned those who wanted to be one of us, and she was turned against her will. Essentially she was a mistake, no offense intended, young lady.
“We’re in a modern society. She hasn’t finished schooling and trying to enroll her in a day school is obviously not possible. What do you hope to achieve, Nick?”
The question made him think more than the voran would have believed before asking Marek his question. What did he hope to accomplish?
Nicola spoke up as he tried to understand why he felt that they should talk to her parents. “It would put them at ease and let us maintain a current identity for her. If we just take her, the government watch dogs might think we were the ones who kidnapped her. Getting the parents onboard and getting guardianship over her would certainly prevent things from getting ugly, which would also bring attention to our kind.”
Sighing, Marek scrubbed his forehead and said, “This modern world has continued to become overly complicated.” He looked at Sami and asked, “What do you think will happen if you tell your parents that you have been turned into a vampire? I doubt very few will understand, but more importantly would they keep the secret.”
It was Sami who was forced to contemplate the situation, “I think that they will be able to handle it and hide the information, but don’t vampires have a way to erase or enforce fake memories or something like that?”
Audrey nodded and added as Marek and Nick were caught merely thinking, “Bring Nicola along. She can force their minds to forget or enforce silence with glamour. If things go awry, she has the ability to fix it.”
Eyes moved to the blonde dancer, Nicola’s gray orbs took in their questioning looks before she shrugged. “Sure, why not? If Charlotte and I go with Nick and Sami, it might make it easier for them to believe and personally I would like to meet her parents anyway.”
The young men, who had been conscripted by Cyrus, looked at each other. Perhaps there was a chance that they could reach out and let their families know that they were alive and well also. Marek and Nick knew what changing their practices for Sami meant with all of them, and it was a great risk after a century of living in secret. Hiding what they were, even from loved ones, had been the sacrifice for them all.
With matters mostly settled, Sami went with Nicola and Charlotte back out to the club and the dance floor. Some of the other vampires joined them to check the vibe of the club and to relieve some stress from the patrols.
Marek, with Audrey still sitting by his side, shook his head at Nick. “You’re taking on another stray?”
Taking a deep breath, Nick sat in a chair angled towards the couch and answered with a shrug, “It’s getting crowded in my apartment, but I couldn’t make myself just leave her to die in that sewer. Then she and Nicola bonded before Charlotte and I could even return from buying her some clothes.”
“Which means that Charlotte likes her as well,” Audrey said with a smile and nod of understanding. “She seems to be a very likeable girl and quite adorable, but are you ready for a more fatherly role? You’ve never had children of your own unless you’ve hidden that side of yourself from us.”
&
nbsp; Marek chuckled and said, “She also has a crush on him, I think.”
Rolling his eyes at his oldest friend, Nick said, “Even if I wasn’t over one hundred thirty, she’s all of fifteen and looks more like twelve. I know children see themselves as older and wiser than they are, but I should still look ancient to her, maybe because I am ancient.”
“We understand the passing of time while still looking young as much or more than you do, Nicholas,” Audrey went into lecture mode quickly despite Nick being more than three decades her elder as well. “You still look young and some girls genuinely love older men.”
“Plus he saved her,” Marek nodded. “He’s her hero as well.”
Holding up his hand to stave off the conjecture, the voran replied, “Whether she thinks of me as anything doesn’t matter. My plate is full times two. I don’t need anymore girlfriends or girls wanting to be one. If things go well with her parents, she’ll be my ward and I’ll see to it that she finishes her education as much like a human as possible.”
“If they go poorly, Nicola could coerce them to give permission instead,” Audrey offered with a smug look. She could assume that Nick was going to settle things one way or another to make it possible to keep Sami with him until the girl was old enough to be emancipated anyway.
Nick wasn’t positive what he would do if they didn’t cooperate. Dealing with human parents of a newly deceased and returned daughter was likely to be uncomfortable to say the least. It was probably another reason why the coven didn’t take people who weren’t willing to join them. By now most of their families were gone, of course, save for descendants; so it was no longer a worry. He wondered how many had ended things with family while human before being turned. The voran had never been as deep inside the circle of vampires as he was now. Such things dealt with in the past, Nick had mostly ignored but having Sami as his responsibility was new for him and could no longer be disregarded.
Standing Before Monsters (Vorans and Vampires) Page 29