Nadia was near hysterics as Rufus did his best to calm her. Rather than send them via commercial air, Rufus would send them on his private plane. There would be no waiting and they could leave as soon as they could get to the small airport nearby. They could file their flight plan while Nadia and her mother were en route. Nadia thanked him profusely, but Rufus knew that he was also protecting his best chance at saving his own people. Without the support of the Monster Squads, the Lamia Beastia would surely fall to both the human hunters and the Humanus familia in short order. Rufus didn’t know if God would hear the prayer of a vampire, but it did not stop him from sending Him one in hopes that He would protect both the wolves en route to Jack’s aid and the human hunters that he hoped would one day assist him and his people.
Georgio loaded their bags into the minivan and they headed to the private airport. A small jet was waiting for them, its engines warmed up and the pilot standing by. Nadia and Natashia practically sprinted from the vehicle and up into the waiting plane, time their biggest enemy. Not only to warn Jack, but knowing that the full moon was that night and neither could fight its pull.
As the plane taxied into position and began its departure, Nadia turned to her mother and asked her the question that had been nagging her all along. “What if we are too late?”
“My love, do you regret mating yourself to him?” she knew the answer before asking the question.
“Of course not. I just hope…”
“Nadia, you’ve always been…’sensitive’ to certain things.” She said. “I am certain we will be in time, and he will be safe. Rufus is searching for this Mario, they will find the way to contact him on the satellite phone and all will be fine by the time we get there.” Natashia sat back in the overstuffed leather chair and appeared, for all intent and purpose as if she was leaving for holiday. “We will most likely arrive in time for Jack to be departing for the island and we will all be laughing about this. You worry over nothing.”
Nadia rolled her eyes at her mother. “I appreciate your attempt at levity, mother, but we both know that when I get these feelings, bad things happen. And when they surround one person, then bad things happen to that person, unless I can warn them.”
“Jack is a big boy, my dear. He can most certainly handle himself. If nothing else, he can give the threat a ‘purple nurple of death’.” She said flatly, looking out her window. She slowly turned to her daughter and their slow smiles turned into giggles. When their giggles were over she went to sit beside Nadia and pulled her into an embrace. “Trust me, darling. He is a warrior. And he is surrounded by warriors. Whatever this threat is that you sense? I feel sorry for them for attempting to harm the human hunters.”
Nadia nodded and considered her mother’s words. She did have a point. Jack and his people were specially trained to deal with most all supernatural beings. Unless they were hit with just sheer numbers that could overwhelm the United States military, she could see where her fears were unfounded.
Why then this sense of foreboding? And then she sat up. “Mother?” she gasped.
“What, Nadia?”
“You speak as if they are unstoppable, but…remember how Jack came into our home. His entire team was taken out by one small group of natural born wolves.” She said softly.
“Well, yes, Nadia, but they were led to believe they were going after vampire in broad daylight and then ambushed by wolves…”
“So they were unprepared for what was out there. They didn’t know the whole truth…” she trailed off.
“Well…yes.” Natashia answered. “But now Jack is informed and he will tell the others.”
“But that is what we know about wolves. What of other creatures that we don’t know of?” she asked. “Who is to say that ambushes can’t be made using others?”
*****
This time Damien didn’t have to beg to get past the guards at Foster’s chamber. They opened the door as soon as he and the enforcers came strolling up with the punk in tow. As usual, Paul’s inner sanctum was lit by candle and women in various stages of undress were milling about as though dazed. Some were for food, some were for pleasure, and some were for both. Damien tried to keep his eyes off of them and keep his mind on business.
He half pulled, half dragged the punk into Paul’s sanctum and deposited him roughly on the stone floor, purposely avoiding any carpeted areas, just in case things got messy. Foster slipped off his bed like water flowing from a rock in a river and slipped into his smoking robe. He used the sleeve to wipe his mouth, but Damien felt he always left that little smear on his chin and throat for effect. Look like a savage and folks tend to pay a little more attention to you. If you look too human, well…you just don’t get the same effect.
The punk had pissed himself as soon as they entered Paul’s chamber from the wave of power and he knew this vampire was nobody to be trifled with. Foster eased himself over by Damien and slipped an arm around his shoulders so that he could whisper in his ear. “Where’s the other one?”
“Master, the other one wasn’t at the den. This one claims he is feeding out on the streets but doesn’t know where. Even after roughing him a bit, he didn’t know. I thought that if he truly did know, he would tell you.” He mewed suggestively, more for the punk than for Paul. “He did offer up the other one’s name, though. Monroe? Another punk, so I doubt it would hold meaning to you, master.”
Foster nodded. “You’re right. The name means nothing to me.” He walked slowly around the punk and watched him shiver. He ran a nail along his jawline then flicked it up, cutting the gag loose from his mouth. “There. Is that better?”
The punk spat out the rubber ball that had been caught behind his fangs and immediately withdrew them in a sign of submission. “Thank you m’lord.” And he lowered his eyes.
“See, Damien? He has some manners after all.” Paul said with a flourish. “Now then. Let’s see if he can be forthcoming with a bit of information?” Foster leaned down and placed the nail under the punk’s chin, drawing blood as he raised his face to his. “I need to know what you know.” He said, his eyes dead, but his smile spreading.
“A-anything!” the punk sputtered.
“Good.” Foster snapped his fingers and one of the women pulled a highbacked chair for him to sit in. The punk remained on his knees. Paul studied him a moment then asked, “Tell me of the upcoming attack on the human hunters.”
The punk looked confused for a moment. How could anybody know of the attack? But obviously, this vampire knew, and he wanted to know more. “What do you want to know?” he answered, lowering his eyes.
“Look at me when you speak.” Paul commanded without raising his voice. The punk raised his eyes and his face went blank. “I want to know everything.”
The punk drew breath, but when he spoke, he was monotone, as if under Paul’s spell. “Our gang was contacted by another sister gang from out of state. Everybody knows whispers and rumors of the hunters and everyone fears them. We were told that somebody is organizing the vampires, building up an army in order to overwhelm them. Over run the hunters and decimate them in one fail swoop. Leave no survivors, nobody to turn after the fact.”
“And when is this attack supposed to occur?”
“We don’t know when exactly, but soon. Right now they are trying to get everybody on board. It’s all voluntary but from what I’m told, everybody is for it. They all want a piece of this action. We get to pull a surprise attack like those bastards have done to us.”
“Who is behind organizing this little war party?”
“I don’t know who started it, but it was our sister gang who contacted us. They said it was a biker gang that contacted them and a rival biker vamp gang that got in touch with them. It’s all word of mouth.”
Paul contemplated his words and growled. He really didn’t like being kept out of the loop on something this monumentally stupid. Not only would something like this throw off the status quo, it would alert all humans to the existence of vampires an
d they would have egotistical Van Helsing wanna-be's running through the streets trying to stake every newborn baby vamp they could find.
He remembered the days when villages would rise up against vampires and send them packing to the next county or the next country. Those were not pleasant times. It was usually because some idiot would pick the daughter of a village elder or the wife of a governor or something else monumentally stupid and make a midnight snack of her. Men get so possessive of their women. He really couldn’t see why. There were so many of them. And really, one tasted just as good as the next.
Paul sighed. “Whoever these dumbasses are should realize that by doing this, they will alert the entire world to our presence.” He said more to Damien than anybody. “Once that happens, we will be hunted like we once were.”
“That is their hope.” The punk said. Paul was shocked and felt his anger instantly rise. “Except they want to move into positions of power as soon as people realize we exist. They intend to make humans into livestock and farm them.” His monotone voice stated.
Paul sat back, shocked. He had heard rumors of this vampire lunacy before, but…for someone to actually attempt to implement it? Absolute craziness! It could never happen.
He jumped up from his chair and when he did, the punk seemed to snap out of it and was gently shaking his head as if waking from a dream. “This is insane! Can’t they see what this will actually bring?!”
Damien stepped forward, “Master, if this happens, and we are brought to light, it will be much more than just the hunters to deal with, won’t it?”
“See?! He’s an idiot and even he can see the bigger picture.” Foster stated. “I have to find out who is behind this and either convince them to stop it or destroy them before it begins.”
“You’re crazy, man.” The punk said. “This is way bigger than even you! This is like worldwide, man!” he began to laugh. Before he could take a breath to build up his first round of laughter, Paul staked him and watched the blood erupt from his throat. Damien stepped back just as the punk splattered face first on the stone floor.
“Get that thing out of here.” Paul ordered and the enforcers stepped forward to cart out what was left of him.
“What do we do?” Damien asked.
“Find the other punk. Perhaps he knows more.”
Damien paused. “Master, I will do whatever you say, you know that. But I doubt seriously that the other punk will know any more than this one.”
Paul turned slowly to Damien, his brows raised. Damien raised his hands in defense. “Remember, master, the punk said that their sister gang told them about this attack, and they were told by a biker gang who was told by a rival biker gang, etc. It’s all word of mouth, yes?”
“Go on…”
“They know nothing. Just that somebody wants to know if they would be interested. Somebody is testing the waters to see if they can raise enough interest in the attack.” Damien’s gears were going, trying to think like his dad would. “Obviously there is interest. Vampires across the world want payback. But it’s not just here in the states, but worldwide. My father had told me that all of the Monster Squads were hit last month and they all lost some men. Some only had one team and they are completely out of the game until they retrain replacements.”
“And your point is?”
“Whoever is behind this may have been behind those attacks as well.”
Foster debated a moment on the next step. “Did your father have any idea who these vampires were?”
“No, but there are always rumors…”
“Tell me what you know, Damien. This is not the time to trifle with me.” Paul growled.
“That’s just it, master. I don’t know, it is just rumors.” He defended himself. “But as I was saying, there is one rumor that one of the hunters survived the attack here. The Beastia had an infiltrator with the Humanus and…the infiltrator carted off one of the hunters.”
“Where?!” Paul demanded.
“We don’t know.” Damien admitted. “But it is a start, yes? If we watch the hunters, perhaps they will…”
“No.” Foster said. “We have nobody who could effectively do that. But perhaps we can find the Beastia.” Paul’s eyes narrowed. “As much as it pains me to even consider the thought, perhaps an… alliance with the goat suckers would be in the best interest of all vampires… if we work together to stop the anarchists.”
4
Mitchell approached Evan Peters’ lab station apprehensively. His mind was racing and he felt like his heart was beating through his chest. After more than a decade of shifting with every full moon, the shifts were becoming harder and fighting the aggression of the wolf was becoming more and more difficult. He saw Evan’s station was empty. Where could he have gone? The computers were shut down and his notebooks were put away. Although Evan rarely slept, that must be where he was. Matt knew from experience that waking Evan was like waking the dead. Literally. But this felt like an emergency. A personal emergency, true, but an emergency nonetheless.
He went to the elevator and punched in the lower level button and slid his key card for access. Very few could access the level where Evan had set up his room, as stark as it was. Matt waited for the doors to open then took the hallway right until he reached what used to be a supply closet. He knocked loudly on the door, hoping to wake him. The door opened and Evan gave a rather surprised look at the colonel. “I’m still up, Colonel. Is something wrong?”
“I really hate to bother you Evan, but could you brew me up another batch of that secret sauce of yours? The stuff you gave me before?”
Evan nodded. “Helped, did it?”
“Took the edge off quite a bit, but my nerves…feels like it burns through whatever calming effect it has pretty quick.”
“Let me grab my lab coat and some shoes.” Evan turned away from the door, but didn’t shut it. Matt looked inside the room, curiosity and the cat, he supposed. Still as stark as before, but Evan had added a small table desk and chair with a reading lamp by his single cot.
“I like what you’ve done with the place.” He said, not really meaning it.
“Oh, thank you. I thought of bringing a flowering plant, but since there’s no light, I really…oh.” Evan caught the sarcasm, finally. “Yeah. Well, it serves its purpose. I do spend most of my time in the lab, anyway.” He slipped his shoes on and stood. “After you, sir.”
As they reached the elevators, Matt asked, “Would the effects of that cocktail last any longer if there was more, or maybe if you made it stronger?” Hoping to extend the relief to his system.
“Perhaps I could extract more of the effective phenols from the plants and herbs if I used steam and an extractor rather than simply brewing it. If the concentration were stronger, then it is likely the effects would last longer.” Evan tapped his chin as he thought. “I’m not so sure that quantity would be more effective, but rather, quality would be the key to extending the effective…”
“Whatever you think, doc.” Matt winced as the doors opened.
“Are you feeling okay?” Evan asked, turning him around. He clicked on his penlight and checked his eyes. “Matt?”
“I’m okay, it’s just…my guts feel like they’re twisting.”
“Considering the effects of the moon, I doubt seriously you’ve contracted an intestinal bug…”
“If I have, it would be the first one in over ten years.” He joked.
“Oh, yeah. Good point.” He checked his pulse. “Good heavens, Matt. Your heart rate is through the roof. I can barely keep track of it.”
“Sounds about right. Feels like its beating out of my chest. I can barely breathe.”
“Okay. Let’s see if we can get you calmed a little with some of Doc Peters Canine & Wolf Juice.” Evan quipped.
“Cute.” Matt muttered as they exited the elevator. He all but staggered toward Evan’s lab. Evan began mixing dried flowers and herbs and something that looked like…well…it looked like a finger dried into jerky un
til he tossed it into a coffee grinder and pulverized it. When he was finished, he tossed all the dry ingredients into a filter bag and placed it into a beaker over a Bunsen burner.
“Sorry, Colonel. No coffee maker here.” He smiled sheepishly.
“No complaints from me on how you make it, doc, as long as it works.”
“I added more bane to this mix and a bit more acetyl L-carnitine to help convert choline into acetylcholine in your brain.” He saw Matt’s face go slack. “Umm, think of it as a natural form of the ADD medicine Ritalin. Right now, your brain is fighting your body’s systems because of the wolf’s hormones shooting throughout it. You’re going to shift tonight and your body is preparing it by flooding it with hormones and…’stuff’, okay?” Matt simply nodded. “Your brain isn’t prepared to deal with it all and it is going into hyperdrive, and you simply aren’t used to it. You need something to ‘calm yourself’ like a child who takes Ritalin. This is a mixture of bane, to calm the hormones and a natural form of Ritalin to calm your brain, by stimulating it.”
“You calm the brain by stimulating it?”
“I know, right?” Evan chuckled. “But it works. I promise.”
He pulled the beaker off the burner and swished it around. The infusion was very dark this time and much thicker. He wafted the steam toward his nose and pulled the beaker back. “Oh, yeah. Nice and stout, this time.” He smiled at Mitchell. “Let’s hope I didn’t over do it.”
Matt frowned at him. “If you did? Then what?”
“Well…I’m not rightly sure. You’ll either sleep until you shift or bounce off the walls like a ferret on a triple espresso.” He poured the concoction into a coffee mug and handed it to Matt. “Bottoms up!” he smiled.
Matt smelled the mix and pulled back with a grimace. “Eww. It smells like boiled assholes.”
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