by Amber Lynn
“That would be a correct guess,” Sebastian confirms.
“So is this target supposed to call or something? How are you going to know where to meet? Why would a target schedule a meeting in the first place?” he fires off.
“Because the target is Alexander Monroe,” Sebastian states like the name means something.
“Oh, now that makes things really interesting.”
“You have no idea,” Sebastian comments.
“Okay, who in the world is this Alexander guy? All my sheet said was he liked to kill kids, but you obviously both know him,” I say.
“Yes, well I can tell you right now that Alex does not go around killing children. The Collective just wants him killed because he is the werewolf leader of their opposition. How they found out that information, I don't know, but obviously they feel threatened by it. We try to keep that kind of info on the down low,” Smitty answers.
“There is actually a group mounting to take on the Collective?”
“You have been a part of them since you were a child, so you don't understand how corrupt they are,” Sebastian says. “I mentioned that one of the things I have kept from you over the years is my real opinion of the Collective and that's mainly because I am a part of the opposition. Your oath at the time was to them, so I couldn't let you know.”
“How involved are you? Maybe if you told me sooner there was this organization banding together against them, I would have gotten out sooner. I have known for a while that there is shady business going on inside those walls,” I state.
“How involved is he?” Smitty asks. “Alex may be the leader of the wolves, but Bastian here is the leader of us all. He has been looking for a way to take down the Collective since they had one of his pals killed decades ago. Probably before you were even born.”
“Wow, look who's been keeping secrets,” I say staring at Sebastian.
“You have to admit telling the Collective's number one assassin that I was trying to bring the organization down, wouldn't have been a very healthy idea on my part,” he claims.
“True, but if I told you my father was Aaron Gentry, would that mean anything to you?” I ask.
“No way,” Smitty says in a whisper. “Aaron has been buried deep underground for months now. After he infiltrated the Collective a while back, he said it was necessary to lie as low as he could go for at least a few months.”
“That's because I told him it was necessary. I had an order of execution for him. It is the only one I have ever been handed that I didn't actually see through. I let him go and marked him as terminated. When anyone asked if he said anything before I killed him, I just always told them he didn't have a chance and didn't clue them in that I found out who he really was,” I inform them. I turn to Sebastian and say, “I told you I wasn't the straight and narrow person everyone always believed me to be. I couldn't kill my own father and I can tell you right now I do not regret that decision.”
“You shouldn't. Aaron hasn't ever done anything wrong except work against the Collective. In your assassin status, you were only supposed to be sent on missions where the target had killed innocents. I wonder if they actually did figure out that he was a spy,” Sebastian says stopping to ponder for a second. “What if that wasn't what the order was about? What if they had figured out that you were his daughter? A simple blood test would have done it. They have had your blood for a couple decades, so if they somehow got a hold of his and put it in their computer a match may have come up. We will have to ask him what he remembers about the time.”
“Why would they order him terminated for just being my father? Not only that, but why would they send me to do it? He might have said something, if he knew the truth and I would think they wouldn't want that to come out,” I say.
“It could have just been to test your loyalties or a test to see if he actually knew. Since you turned in the termination though, hopefully they have closed the book on that chapter and will allow Aaron to live in peace,” Smitty says. “The man has done invaluable work for the cause and he deserves the rest and relaxation he is currently receiving.”
“You knew going into last night who Alexander was and you still let me shoot him, why would you do that?” I ask.
“A couple reasons, really. One, it made me feel better. Two, I had an interest in seeing if the bullet would harm him,” Sebastian replies shrugging at his description lacking reply.
“I take it that is all I am going to get out of you, so moving on in the here and now, what are our plans?” I ask.
“First things first, does Molly's mean anything to you?” Sebastian asks Smitty.
“Sure. It's the code name for an underground bar called Webster's. It is just before the end of the east tunnel,” he replies.
“Good, then tomorrow afternoon we are heading there to have a meeting with Alex. If you still want to,” Sebastian says.
“Might as well. It sounded like he had something he wanted to say and I would really like to know why my bullet didn't do the damage it was supposed to,” I state.
“Oh yeah, I am sure he has tons to say. Sadly, I am sure I won't like a word of it,” Sebastian claims.
“I thought you were like brothers in arms with the guy. Why are you sounding so against him now?” I ask.
“Situations change, my love. There is no doubt Alex is a great guy, I am just having a slight issue with him currently,” he says.
“Well mister, just because you like my mysterious answers, don’t expect the feeling to be reciprocated. In other words, if you got no real answer for me, zip your lips,” I say sticking out my tongue and just now noticing Lil and Bebe have disappeared. Those would be the names I decided to give my fangs for those of you at home.
“That could equate to days without hearing my voice,” Sebastian says sarcastically.
“Whatever, now I am getting a little sleepy. Are we staying here for the day or are we running somewhere else?”
“The spare room is yours,” Smitty says. “Sheets should be clean and you already know where the bathroom is. I am going to step out for a few minutes for a snack, but feel free to make yourselves at home.” Just like that, he vanishes from sight and I hear a quick opening and closing of a door.
“Come on Sleeping Beauty,” Sebastian says picking me up. “You have already visited the bedroom once tonight. This time I will turn on the light, you can actually see there is a bed.”
“Don't bother. Just lay me on the bed and cover me up. If you really love me, you will go ahead and remove my weapons. I am down for the count and can’t be bothered,” I say as he follows orders perfectly and I venture off into dream world.
Chapter 11
This just keeps getting better
“Wake up, love,” I hear Sebastian say as he nuzzles my hair.
“Why? Sleeping is fun,” I reply.
“That it is, especially with you in the bed, but it is noon and I thought it would be fun to show up in the day just to mess with Alex,” Sebastian says.
“That does sound like a fun. I am guessing the majority of people don't know about your love of the sun,” I say stretching trying to wake myself up.
“That would be very true. I am sure none of the wolves know and very few vampires do. I think it is time to let my true power be made aware,” he answers.
“We don't have any clothes here do we? We will have to remedy that after our meeting because I am feeling grungy,” I say pushing him over on his back and giving him a sweet kiss on the lips.
“So are you really offended by me introducing you as my girlfriend? Is there another term you would rather me use?” he asks.
“You don't think acquaintance is strong enough?” I ask sweetly.
“Since we cannot live without each other I think mere acquaintances is a little weak, love.”
“You are probably right. Can I think of what term sounds good to me and get back to you? I guess for now you can go with girlfriend, unless you want to tell everyone I am your midnight sna
ck,” I tell him finally getting out of the bed. “How far away is this meeting location?”
“It will take us about thirty minutes to get there, so we should probably get going. When we are done here, hopefully we can get back to our penthouse and figure out where to go from there,” he says joining me at becoming vertical.
“You think it is safe for us to go back to the city?” I am sure the penthouse is being watched, so I figured we would be going underground, especially since he believes the Collective is trying to kill me.
“Don't worry, we will be well protected. Let's go. Smitty is asleep for the day, so he won't be joining us,” he says grabbing my hand and leading me out into the main room.
He walks over to the television and hits a button causing it to rise into the ceiling. He then stands on tiptoe and presses a button on the wall behind where the television was. The wall slides away opening up a passageway.
“If I spend more time in the penthouse, will I find cubby holes like this?” I ask.
“As I said, we will be well protected there. You cannot go up against an organization like the Collective and not have plenty of secret weapons,” he states walking into the passage.
“And do you consider me one of those secret weapons?” I ask following him.
“Not unless you want to be. As always the choice is yours, and if you did want to become a weapon for our side, you would be the greatest one we have in our portfolio,” he replies.
“I think greatest is a little overkill.” We start making our way down a very long flight of stairs. For the most part everything is dark, but there are little sconces every so often lighting the way.
“You are unique, so no one knows what you can really do, especially since you grew the fangs. I don't think greatest is too far of a stretch,” he responds.
“I do. So, do you know what is going to happen at this little meeting?” I ask.
“This is one of the moments where I choose to be silent. I haven’t seen anything specific about your interactions with Alex since the first time and many things have changed since then. I do, however, know Alex, so it is bound to be exciting,” he says and I can tell he is smirking.
“You should have stopped at choosing to be silent,” I retort.
“But it is so fun to ruffle your feathers, love.”
“Is Tuesday your day to be annoying?” I say as my come back.
“Turn here. We are done with the stairs, now we just have to get to the other side of the city,” he replies. “And no, Tuesdays are not my annoying days. I reserve those for Saturday.”
“Good thing I am in shape, otherwise I would have been dragging by now. How well do you know these tunnels?” I ask.
“I helped build them, so I know them better than most. There are also markings on the wall to indicate where we are going. I am guessing your night vision isn’t active. Just as well, I like leading you around.”
So, he proceeds to just that. If I was asked later to follow the path from Smitty’s to the bar alone, I would be lost. If the way smelled like cinnamon still, I might be able to make it a little ways, but I highly doubt it.
As we go deeper into the tunnels, shops start to appear. A small grocery store, a bookstore and a couple restaurants line the way. Before too long Sebastian stops in front of a nondescript door.
“This has to be it, we are at the end of this tunnel,” he says as he reaches out and turns the doorknob. It doesn’t seem locked, so that is a good sign.
We enter a typical looking bar. There is a giant wood counter lined with a dozen or so bar stools. The wall behind the bar is lined with alcohol of all kinds and giant mirrors. Scattered throughout the room are half a dozen tables. The lighting is low, but I can make out a few pool tables in the back of the room. The time of day evidently is really slow for business because I don’t see a single customer.
“What can I get ya?” a man behind the bar asks. He has an Irish or Scottish accent, for some reason I never can tell those two apart.
“Just here to have a talk with Alex, Joe. Have you seen him around?” Sebastian asks.
“I am a little surprised at ya bringing an assassin into our midst. If Alex hadn’t already mentioned she might be stopping by, I would have probably shot her on first sight.”
“You would have tried,” I remark. “Others have tried and so far no one has been successful.”
“It’s the thought that counts,” he counters. “Alex said you could go on back. Didn’t even ask me to check for weapons. Pretty silly if you ask me.”
“He knows she won’t kill him once they speak, so he has nothing to worry about. When does the traffic start to pick up in here?” Sebastian asks.
“Not until the sun goes down, so you have a few hours. Every once in a while a wolf or shifter may stumble in before then, but it is rare,” the man replies.
“That’s what I wanted to hear. We probably won’t be long, so your customers won’t run away from the sight of her,” Sebastian says laughing as he leads me to the back of the room. On the way, he pulls a light cord hanging overhead and a wall opens.
“How did you know to do that if you haven’t been here before?” I ask.
“The bar and name are new to me, but I know everything there is to know about the location.”
We walk behind the wall into an open area where bench seating around the wall horseshoes the entrance. Alexander is casually lying along the far wall with one of his knees up.
“Babe, you brought the blood sucker. I find myself a little disappointed. Don’t trust yourself to keep your hands off me without him?” he asks.
“I have a name, use it, and my hands are having no problem not reaching out to you,” I reply.
“That really hurts, Nyx,” he says emphasis on his use of my name. “I take it you were able to help her out last night, Sebastian?”
“That was a little rude of you, but yes I helped. It wasn’t my place to say anything and since you were absent I thought it best,” Sebby replies.
“It would have probably been a lot to take in. I am guessing the fangs are a newer touch, since the grapevine hasn’t reported them yet.”
“How did you know about them?” I ask moving my tongue around to make sure they aren’t sticking out.
“The only way Sebastian could have helped last night is if your vampire gene was activated,” he states simply.
“What do you know about my genes?”
“Enough. We have crossed paths before, correct that, I have come across you before. Just one chance passing on a street, told me a world of information about you,” he replies.
“Sebastian, have you been giving him mysterious lessons? Because let me tell you I have had it up to the sky with all this crap. Someone just tell me what is going on,” I scream.
“Well love, last night answered whether or not your werewolf gene could ever be activated now that I have triggered the vampire one,” Sebastian says. “That answer is yes. I did not feed you last night because you were hungry.”
“I do wonder what would happen if she ever tried to take a sip from me,” Alexander interrupts causing Sebastian to growl. “Don’t worry. We aren’t at that point in our relationship yet, fang boy. Babe, the reason you had to take a bite out of him last night is because meeting your werewolf mate made you want to shift. You got all connected on the chemical level everyone is always talking about. If he wouldn’t have interrupted the change, you would have gone furry and since I wasn’t there to assist, it really was best for it not to happen just yet.”
“I sincerely hope you aren’t implying what I think you are. As far as I know, you are the only werewolf I met last night and I would rather die than have you as my mate, you inconsiderate jerk,” I say scowling at him.
“You are just too cute. Apparently, you dying is just what the Collective had in mind sending you after me. If you had been successful, you wouldn’t be standing here right now. Of course, since you have a connection with both of us now, I do wonder if you may be
able to survive a single one of us dying. I guess it will depend on your diet and such, but that is talk for another day,” Alexander remarks.
“That is what you meant by it being a suicide mission,” I say to Sebastian. “But wait I did shoot you, how come it didn’t have the normal effect?”
“That would be because my mate isn’t a normal werewolf and as I imagine parts of your lifestyle are rubbing off on Sebastian, I too get to benefit from our relationship. You aren’t the first assassin they have sent for me. Thankfully, the others came after I saw you eight months ago. Since then, I have learned silver doesn’t have its usual effect on me. I have to assume that is because of you.
“I imagine that is also why the Collective ended up sending you. After three assassins returned to them peeing their pants and two were never to be heard from again, they had to resort to the big guns. Whether or not they know why silver no longer affects me, I cannot say, but I have a hunch they are aware of our tie,” he says finally deeming it time to sit up.