Target

by Connie Suttle

  "Go ahead and send it, Son. I think I'd like to see this." Aedan was surprised to hear from Ashe.

  "All right." Ashe walked into his office and powered up the computer. The scanning was complete a few minutes later. "Did you get it?" Ashe asked. By that time, his mother had joined his father inside Aedan's study.

  "Aedan, look at this," Ashe heard his mother's voice clearly as the information popped up in an email to his father.

  "I wish we'd seen this earlier, but that's neither here nor there. I don't think I have to warn you not to let any of this get out, and whatever you do, don't let anyone you don't trust see anything other than what they've seen already, all right?"

  "Sure. I sort of figured that out already."

  "I know you're cautious. Just be doubly so, all right? Is Anthony Hancock still there?"

  "Yeah. I may have pissed him off earlier, though."

  "While he may have more patience than a lot of vampires I know, that patience isn't limitless. Tread carefully, all right?"

  "He has mindspeech, Dad. Did you know that?"

  "I did know that. I trust you'll come straight to me if there's a problem in that area? I'm older than Hancock, by a long way."

  "I'll keep that in mind," Ashe muttered.

  "The older ones can place compulsion on those younger. Nathan and I are both older than Hancock. Remember that. Son, whatever you do, never let them know you're not susceptible to compulsion. They don't like it when they can't handle someone like that."

  "I will." Ashe was shocked to be getting information from his father like this. That spelled one thing—Aedan Evans was worried.

  * * *

  "My Queen, our spies have reported. We have watched our Dark cousins for a while, now. Baltis is sending some of his to a place in the country of Mexico. They tell me the nearest city is called Juarez. A violent place, it seems. I have taken the liberty of sending some of our own there, and we now have better information. All it took was a bit of bribery to a politician who has escaped pending charges against him. All his assets have been frozen, so compensation from us was quite welcome. He informed my spies that an attack is planned, just before the full moon. Somehow, they gained information regarding our intended raid upon the community at the full moon and plan to usurp our attack. I also received other valuable information."

  "And what is that, Sapphire?" Friesianna gave her Sentinel a cold stare. Was one shapeshifter worth all this trouble? She was about to step back and allow the Dark Ones to take him.

  "The boy is a mister," Sapphire announced triumphantly. "We hold hard evidence of this fact. The spy for our cousins sent images of this, and it is rumored that the boy may have other talents. I know not exactly what those might be, but he is a valuable property and those creatures our Dark cousins have allied with have designs on him as well. They intend to wrest him from beneath Baltis' nose and use him for their own illicit purposes."

  "Baltis will kill them—he has no living misters. All of them disappeared years ago, for reasons unknown to me." Friesianna settled her silk dress around her, lounging gracefully upon her throne. Had she a mirror, she might have checked the position of her crown. Instead, she struck as haughty a pose as she could. "Find out what else the boy can do and bring the date of the attack if you can. I command that you and your brothers do what you must to take what rightfully belongs to us. The boy is becoming more useful by the hour."

  "Of course, my Queen." Sapphire bowed low and rushed away.

  * * *

  "I did not let her know we have other spies," Sapphire informed his fellow Sentinels. "It was a stroke of luck finding the quarter-blood, but now it is difficult to get information from him. Who knew that humans would lock him up so tightly that he would not be allowed visitors? Would that we had a mister at our disposal—that would give us everything we need. Unfortunate it is that the Foreseer is Dark and only quarter-blood—the Queen will never allow him within our encampment. Rabis gives the Queen only what she asks for and nothing more. I question his loyalty at times."

  "The Queen sent Rabis away centuries ago when his prophecies failed to tell her what she wanted to hear," Emerald pointed out. "Now that Hilbah is no more, she was forced to call Rabis back. I cannot say that I would have the most positive of attitudes under such circumstances."

  "You speak treason," Ruby snapped.

  "He speaks truth. Just as Rabis spoke it in the beginning. However, we are all committed to our Queen, are we not? We must do her bidding and no other, as she instructs. We may speak the truth among ourselves, as brothers and Sentinels." Diamond looked at all of them. "It will be good, will it not, to have a mister and shapeshifter at our command? We hold the skills to force his will to ours. As does the Queen. He will do our bidding and with his help, we will crush the Dark Ones. It is time they recognized which race will survive."

  "Then we must position our troops. Do we attack in Mexico, after they have acquired the boy, or do we preempt and take him in Texas?" Sapphire asked.

  "I say we wait until they get him away from his parents and the others in that community who seek to protect him," Diamond said.

  "I wish to consult Rabis," Ruby whined.

  "No! Consult Rabis at your own peril. He will report to the Queen. She will have no difficulty with our decision, once the final outcome is to her liking. I follow my brother Diamond in this. Let the Dark Ones think they score a victory against us. We will be waiting for them and take the boy when they do not suspect. And if those rogue creatures think to prevent it, then they will be most sorry, I assure you," Emerald smiled. "We will call in our best troops. They will be ready to follow us quickly, should the need arise."

  "Have you given a thought to whom the boy's parent might be? Will she object to his treatment? He is High Born; else he would not mist or shapeshift."

  "We will make sure they do not object," Diamond clenched his fists. "The Royal House is all but gone, destroyed by the predations of our Darker cousins and a few, well-placed assassinations, here and there. At the Queen's command, of course."

  "Of course," Sapphire agreed. Diamond was firstborn of the brothers, and often acted as assassin for the Queen. Sapphire was next, followed by Ruby and Emerald. Their parents were dead—killed by Baltis' Destroyers. They certainly wanted revenge and would stop at nothing to obtain it. "We will protect our Queen and bring about the downfall of Baltis and all his subjects."

  * * *

  "We strike on Friday, the day before the full moon," Ezekiel informed his werewolf troops. "We know where the groves are and most of the older children are working there. They are our targets. We have no use for the younger ones. Our compatriots, here," Zeke nodded to the two Elemaiya standing in a corner of his trophy room, "will grab the boy they want—he works elsewhere. We'll go in full daylight so we won't be fighting vampires. Pruitt, I want you and Rutherford to go with our guests to take the shapeshifter boy." Pruitt, sitting not far from Ezekiel, nodded his understanding. He and Rutherford were Zeke's most capable and deadly among the rogue werewolves. It was their job to take the Elemaiya down, once they had Ashe in their possession. A rendezvous point had been agreed upon—in Rockport, a small town north of Star Cove. Three boats would be moored there, ready to take the entire party out to a larger ship anchored at sea. Zeke figured the parents and the Grand Master's werewolves might not suspect they'd take them that way, expecting the kidnapped children to be transported by vehicle or plane. Ezekiel had many contacts in the drug world and most of those contacts had a fleet of boats at their disposal.

  "What if we meet up with any of Shirley Walker's wolves?" One of Ezekiel's werewolves asked.

  "Kill them. I'm handing out the assault rifles. They won't likely be armed if they're nearby. No witnesses, got it? I don't want anybody left alive who can identify any one of you."

  "What about me? I can handle a gun just as well as the next person," former Congressman Jack Howard spoke up. "I think I wouldn't mind doing a bit of murder." He cracked his knuckles pre
tentiously.

  "Howard, it amazes me that you could actually convince people to vote for you," Ezekiel snapped. "You'll stay here. You get caught in the states; I won't be forming a posse to rescue any part of your sorry ass. Stay here, you're safer."

  "Then take me along to guard the boat while you're off it," Howard suggested. "Surely you can't argue with that logic."

  "Fine. You stay with Julio and guard the ship. Julio, if he steps a toe out of line, shoot him." Ezekiel nodded to a grizzled rogue who grinned, showing missing teeth.

  "Hey, wait just a minute," Jack Howard huffed.

  "Howard, you ceased being important to me when they froze your assets. Right now, you're as useful to me as lips on a chicken. Stay out of my way—you'll live longer. Any questions? You all know the plan?" Zeke looked at those gathered around the room. Nobody said anything. "Good. We'll travel by land to the gulf, through Matamoros. The boats will be waiting for us south of the Las Palomas Wildlife area. Be ready to carry your gear on foot for a little way. We leave tonight."

  Chapter 14

  "Ashe, I convinced Tony to give me a copy of what you got," Winkler called Ashe to his office after breakfast. Winkler had a copy of the three pages in his hand when Ashe sat in front of Winkler's large desk. "How many of these things can you do?"

  "My dad doesn't want me to discuss those things," Ashe said. "And I really couldn't say. I haven't tried most of them." Ashe had been thinking about the one regarding Relocation. When he'd played around with that ability, he'd done it repeatedly, without tiring. The information on the pages made it sound as if the Elemaiya wore themselves out after doing it two or three times, so they held it back for emergencies.

  "Kid, this has me worried. Do you think the Elemaiya know exactly what you can do?" Winkler's forehead was creased in a frown.

  "I hope they don't know anything except about the bat. That's all Dad will allow, except with Marcus, Marco, Marco's mother and Micah and Greta Rocklin. Well, Nathan, too. And Cori knows. That's it. The rest of them think I'm a wimpy shapeshifter."

  "Three years ago," Winkler sighed, "I hoped we'd gotten the leak, after you pegged Paul Harris. Now I'm worried that someone else might have taken over his spot, or was working independently as a spy. It bothers me that somebody seemed to know Wynn would be traveling to Amarillo to visit relatives. And somehow, their mutant creature was headed right for Cloud Chief when he killed that human boy." Winkler stood and raked fingers through his hair.

  "You think somebody told him where to look?" Ashe was frowning now. "That he didn't just track us down?"

  "Ashe, when you're in this business, you have to look at all possibilities. Honestly, I was keeping an eye on Ben Billings, but he's taken himself out of the game. So, if there is a leak, then it wasn't Ben. Or if he was involved, then he's conveniently out of the way."

  "Mr. Winkler, that wasn't Principal Billings. Well, it was him, but he wouldn't do something like that. What if somebody placed compulsion? Forced him to do that? I don't think Dad or Nathan would even consider it. But what about another vampire?"

  "Ashe, you read these pages," Winkler held up the copy he had. "The Elemaiya—some of them, anyway—can do that too. But I can't figure out why somebody would tell him to make a challenge."

  "Yeah. This is so confusing," Ashe sighed. "And now he's dead. Is this the way it feels?" Ashe studied Winkler's face. "You have someone you consider an enemy, and when he dies under unusual circumstances, it's—just weird."

  "Weird is a good word. Mixed emotions best describes how I feel. Billings was old school. He remembered too well the race war between vampires and werewolves. Back then, we were trained to track and kill, Ashe. Weldon and Wlodek knew both races were headed toward extinction. They hammered out a peace agreement. So far, it has held. There are a few on both sides who don't like it, but most of us see the sense in it. We both hold to our own laws, and both races have a law against killing humans. Mostly it's to keep the races hidden. If my sources are correct, the vampires don't place compulsion for unethical reasons. Your father and Nathan are trying to protect you. I know that's a little hard to accept right now, because you have talents that most people only dream about."

  "Next time, you rescue the girl, hand her over to your best friend while somebody else takes the credit and see how that feels," Ashe snapped.

  "Ah. I think I'm beginning to see." Winkler huffed out a breath. "Ashe, I'm sorry about that, but I don't see any way out of it now. We all want life to be fair, and it so seldom is."

  "What does not destroy me makes me stronger? Is that what you're trying to say?"

  "Spoken like a true dead philosopher," Winkler grinned.

  "Mr. Winkler, I've been thinking about the vampires who got permission from the Council to have children. I wonder if it's given permission recently. The big drawback in having a vampire father is that I never get to see him during the day. Mom and I go shopping alone most of the time. If Dad goes, it's late at night. If anything happens during the day, he doesn't know until he wakes. Like Principal Billings' challenge. It frustrates him, it frustrates me and it frustrates Mom. She won't ever say it, but there have been times—like when I got shot—that she really needed him and he was asleep."

  "Ashe, Tony told me last night that the Council has shut down the experiment with vampire children. That's what it was—an experiment. And those reasons were cited. Children are a huge responsibility, and I can only imagine that the vampires have had a terrible time dealing with kids who could walk in the sun. Mates, too. The Council hasn't given permission for twelve years. I think you were among the last to be born. And Nathan having two children is almost unheard of."

  "Yeah. I think you're right. What did you want me to work on today?"

  "Actually, I'd like some files cleaned out in my computer system. I'll hand my desk over to you and let you take care of a few things. I have a list of files here that I want deleted." Winkler lifted another paper and waved it at Ashe before setting it on his desk and moving away. "I have some errands to run in Corpus today, so if you need anything, ask Trajan."

  "All right." Ashe traded places with Winkler, watching as the werewolf walked out of his office before settling in to delete files.

  * * *

  "I got flowers?" Dori stared at the pink roses Mr. Dawkins dropped off. He'd been manning the guard kiosk located outside the gate and signed for the delivery. Lavonna had shown them to Dori the moment she got home from working in the groves. "Who are they from?" Dori sniffed a delicate pink bloom.

  "Read the card," Lavonna smiled. Dori lifted the tiny envelope from the bouquet and opened it.

  "It says Happy Monday—Ashe. They're from Ashe. This is so cool! Wynn didn't get flowers!" Dori was hugging the card to her chest and bouncing on her toes with excitement.

  "I'm not surprised Ashe sent flowers," Lavonna laughed.

  "So we found out who the Lothario was?" Cori walked in from the deck.

  "Here, read for yourself," Dori passed over the card and sniffed another pink rose. "They smell so good."

  The doorbell rang. Cori went to answer, finding Wynn on the porch. "Come on in, Dori's having a fit about the flowers Ashe sent."

  "Dori got flowers?" Wynn was in the kitchen quickly, cooing over the pink roses and reading the card. "He sent you flowers 'cause it's Monday?" Wynn sighed. "That's so romantic."

  "Do you think I should call?" Dori looked at her mother.

  "It's polite, to let him know you got them," Lavonna said. Dori pulled her cell phone from a pocket in her jeans and dialed Ashe's number. He picked up right away.

  "Ashe, I got the flowers. They smell so good. I love them."

  * * *

  "Somebody sent somebody flowers," Marco teased. He, Ashe, Wayne and Wynter were dressed for a run on the beach before dinner. Ashe was standing on the deck dressed in shorts, running shoes and an old T-shirt when Dori called.

  "Did you like the color? I saw your pink bikini and earrings and thought you might like
pink," Ashe said, coloring a little. Marco stood nearby, listening to the conversation and smirking.

  "I love pink, Ashe. These are the first flowers I've ever gotten. Thank you."

  "Great. I'm glad you like them," Ashe was now fending off Marco, who was grinning and trying to flip Ashe's ear. "Dori, I have to go. Marco wants to get a run in before dinner. I'll talk to you later, all right?" Dori agreed and hung up. "Dude, I can depants you the next time you're kissing Cori in front of the entire universe," Ashe threatened Marco.

  "You think you can? You have to catch me first," Marco grinned and took off, running down the steps to the deck and then out to the beach, Ashe hot on his heels. Wayne and Wynter struggled to keep up. Ashe was keeping up with Marco easily. Running was easier for him now, and the weight lifting with Trajan was showing some results. "Man, now I have to give Cori flowers, just to keep her happy," Marco grumped good-naturedly as they ran.

  "Hey, slow down, some of us are out of shape," Wayne jogged up beside Ashe. Wynter was still running gamely behind.

  "Trajan can fix that," Marco grinned. He slowed down anyway.

  "I'll be in the weight room in the morning, I promise," Wayne sounded out of breath.

  "Hey, slow down a little more," Wynter called out. Ashe slowed his stride and soon he was running alongside Wynter, who was very pretty, with black hair and nearly black eyes. Ashe thought the twins favored their father quite a bit.

  "So, one more year in college, huh?" Ashe asked conversationally.

  "Yeah. One more year of marketing and business. Dad has a PR firm, but he wants me to keep an eye on things for him. I think he's got somebody in mind for me, too, but I keep telling him that I won't marry anybody unless I like them."

  "You haven't met him yet? That sounds odd." Ashe watched Wynter as she concentrated on her running, long black hair tied in a ponytail and swinging as she ran.

  "It's not odd. He had somebody picked out for Aunt Whitney, too. Only she eloped with Sam Sheridan. I hear there was quite a bit of growling and snarling over that."