“I can tell you,” Eve admitted to the group.
Michael didn’t look. “They are playing a game of Who’s the Biggest Bitch.”
“Hey now,” Mark exclaimed, then started wondering what he was going to say if Michael asked him to follow up his comment.
He didn’t.
“Bitch, female dog, Werewolf. It’s a common term, Mark.” Michael replied as he looked at the Container just in time to hear the first howl from a wolf.
Followed a fast moment later by a howl from a monster. The next thing the group saw was a large wolf being tossed out of the Container to land about thirty feet away, rolling on the ground before she came to a stop. A large female Pricolici followed her, mad as hell and not willing to take any more shit from anyone.
---
“I amm soo fucking tirredd of taaking shiiit from everyyyone who mmouuths offf too mmeeee!” Jacqueline growled out as she walked towards the large female wolf, who was getting up and making her own noises of annoyance.
Lilliana dove forward, not waiting for a repeat of her surprise from the first time. When the young woman had changed to a Pricolici, she had hesitated long enough for the girl to grab her and throw her out. She aimed for the calf, trying to mess up her legs.
That’s when the world went upside down. The ribs on her right side felt crushed, and her snout was full of grass. She was starting to heal, her bones mending, when a clawed hand grabbed her and lifted her into the air face up. “You can gooo naakeed.” By the time she was ready to make another try at the girl, she was close enough to see everyone in the group watching them.
She was also close enough to realize that three of those in the group were day-walking vampires. She could curse her stupidity. She had allowed her frustrations to get the best of her, and now what position was she in?
She was fucked, that was for sure. She had just smelled that young male vampire and she recognized the same scent was on this woman.
She had attacked and tried to make some damned vampire’s girlfriend submit.
She truly had her head up her own ass.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Michael nodded to Yuko. She turned and walked past Jacqueline and the new arrival, who was being carried like a pup. Jacqueline didn’t even seem to be straining to hold up the large wolf. Eve had brought the Container closer, so Yuko headed in and found the clothes that Jacqueline had pulled out before they had their disagreement.
She grabbed the clothes and took them back outside. The female Wechselbalg was on the ground; it looked like Jacqueline had just dropped her. She had changed at Michael’s command.
Yuko walked over. “Here,” she said aloud to catch the woman’s attention. “Wear this.”
Lilliana nodded to the new lady, a vampire as well, then stood up and pulled on the one-piece suit. The fabric wasn’t what she expected. It stretched wonderfully, and now she looked like she was a member of this group.
“No, you are not.” Michael told her. When she looked at him, he continued. “This group has forged relationships. You just attacked one of us who was trying to give you clothing. No matter the justification, that was not acceptable.”
Lilliana stayed quiet. All the death around her was distressing enough. She didn’t need to add one more body to the count.
“You are the Alpha of the other pack of Weres the Duke sent to attack Paris,” Michael said. “I permitted your pack to live from looking at your history as you led your group here.” Lilliana’s eyes grew round.
“Do not be surprised. I know more.” Michael assured her. “The important thing you need to decide is whether you intend to take advantage of this opportunity, or shall I have Jacqueline kill you now and take over the pack?”
“Oh, hell no!” Jacqueline looked at Michael in disgust. She no more wanted to run a pack than she wanted kids at the moment. Either one of them was a lot of work, sacrificing yourself for a bunch of snot-nosed malcontents. He winked at her as Lilliana answered quickly.
“No!” she got out, before Jacqueline had finished speaking. She turned to see Jacqueline’s expression of concern mirror her own. She no more wanted to give up her pack then this woman wanted to run it. She could tell that the young woman could easily have beaten her in a challenge, but running a pack wasn’t in her future.
At least for now.
Lilliana hung her head. “I apologize. I acted inappropriately; it was a good reminder that there is always someone who can surpass you.”
Jacqueline wanted to hate this Alpha, but her humility around Michael made it hard. Then again, if someone wasn’t humble around Michael, he usually took care of it.
A small smile graced her face as she thought of Mark. Michael took very little shit from anyone, except Mark and herself.
—
“So, there are the Duke, his six followers and this one human named Gerard?” Michael asked, looking for confirmation from Lilliana.
“Yes.” she agreed. “Rumor is that the Duke will come out at midnight tonight to accept the city from Gerard. He was the one who sent the message to attack the city.”
“When?” Michael asked.
“When what? When did he tell us?”
Michael nodded.
“He sent the command earlier this morning.”
“So,” Michael turned around and looked out over the city, “he could be somewhere nearby, then.”
“Or,” Akio interrupted, “he has air capability and has seen us from a distance. Perhaps the people in the last pack signaled before they died? Some prearranged meeting or contact they failed to attend?”
“True, there is more than one possibility,” Michael made a face, “although I’m going to go see if I can find him. I would like to meet this…” he turned to Lilliana, an eyebrow raised.
“What?”
“What is he?” Michael asked.
“Human,” she answered.
“No!” Jacqueline argued, eyes wide.
Inside Paris
The building was the highest that Gerard could find that he trusted not to collapse on him. He had used his device three times now, and no one had responded. Either the Packs were still attacking—unlikely, since he heard nothing like battle sounds coming from the west—or they were dead, or had decided to betray the Duke.
If they were dead, he would need better information for the Duke when he woke up. If they had decided to betray the Duke, then he needed data so that he could best advise the Duke.
It moved towards late afternoon as he considered his options.
Two minutes later, he exited the building and headed towards the entrance to the catacombs. There was a time and a place for everything, but being found by a bunch of humans who would be worried about their safety after these attacks wasn’t one of them.
Outside Paris
Jacqueline moved over to Michael, who had one eyebrow raised. He hadn’t reacted as far as she could tell, but her outburst wasn’t appreciated.
At all.
“I’m sorry.” She put on the same face she had used for her dad when her emotions ran ahead of her mouth.
He nodded his acceptance, and she saw that the hard edges of his eyes had softened. It was the only tell her subconscious picked up about his feelings. No wonder a lot of older women went after younger men; they were so much easier to understand, and probably much easier to deal with. Bethany Anne was seriously taking one for the team when she chose to connect with Michael, that was for sure.
“I don’t want you going out alone. You don’t know what this guy has cooked up, if he is even here, and I don’t want to wait if you don’t come back for how long…another hundred and fifty years?”
Michael’s lips pressed together as he reached up to fix his hair. When his hand touched his bald scalp, his eyes once again flashed in annoyance.
She never got tired of him being pissed about his missing hair.
“Akio and I will go,” he told her, putting a hand on her shoulder and nodding to Mark. “You and Mark nee
d to go with Yuko and Eve back to Japan.”
“What about me?” Sabine asked, and they turned to her.
“Sabine, you will need to stay here with your people,” Michael answered, then held up a hand. “Not because you aren’t worthy to join us; you are. But because you need to recover from everything you have seen today, and we need to focus on taking out the Duke. That is not something you can help with right now.”
“May I?” Akio interrupted, and Michael nodded his acceptance. Akio turned to Sabine. “I have a small communicator that will allow you to reach us. If something goes wrong again—if there’s another attack or we need to touch base with you—it can be used. It does not have infinite power, so use it sparingly.” He turned to Eve and asked, “We do have one in the Container, yes?”
“We do,” she agreed.
Akio turned back to Sabine. “For now, your job is to stay and protect, connect with your family, and work through the events of this last day. We will not be that far away.”
“Japan,” Sabine retorted, “at least from what I know, is damned far away.”
“Yes, but Akio and I won’t be in Japan,” Michael admitted. “I don’t think William is going to leave Europe.”
“Why not?” Mark asked.
“Who is William?” Sabine asked.
“I suspect that William is the man you are calling the Duke,” Michael answered and nodded towards Lilliana. “I’ve seen what he looks like from our Alpha here.” He turned to Mark. “He was always an aristocrat lover, playing the political game until I caught him abusing his powers.”
“What did he do?” Yuko asked.
Michael’s face went dark. “He was taking the blood from people who didn’t have a clue about him, and abusing them. You would call it a date rape drug.” He looked around. “Ok, I have no idea what you would call it since I doubt those drugs are around anymore.”
“You didn’t kill him?” Sabine pressed.
Michael’s face was annoyed. “Obviously not, or we wouldn’t be having this discussion right now,” he answered. “I punished him by shutting him up in a crypt and blocking it. I expected him to take decades to die, a fitting punishment for those ladies who would have to live their lives with the scars from his abuse. He would live long enough to regret ever hurting them and as they finally passed away, so would he.”
“How did he survive?” Eve asked.
“I’ve no idea, although I could make an educated guess that the nanites in his system must have damped it down, allowing him to hibernate far longer than I would have supposed.” He looked over to Sabine. “I’ll make sure to kill him permanently this time.”
“So,” Akio asked, “are you good with our plan, Sabine?”
She turned to him and smiled a little. “Can we negotiate for another thousand rounds of ammunition?”
---
“What are you thinking we need to do?” Mark asked. He was excited about going to Japan, but his concern for Jacqueline’s feelings was front and center.
She smiled wistfully at Michael and Akio as they started walking Sabine back to the resistance group. “We go to Japan.” She shrugged. “Michael never said he would protect me forever, and I have to admit that the fighting, what little the old bald-headed bastard allowed me, was enough for now.”
She stopped when Michael turned his head and glanced at her, reaching up to touch his ears.
“Who apparently has goddamned super-hearing.” She whispered before speaking louder. “Love you, Michael!” He smirked and turned his head back. “Why am I always sticking my foot in my mouth?”
Mark, watching the two men, answered truthfully. “You are passionate in your feelings and have almost zero ability to filter what comes out.”
Jacqueline gazed at him, but his thoughts were elsewhere. Her eyes narrowed, but her voice was sweet. “So, the ability to filter is because I’m too slow?”
Mark’s mouth opened to speak, but then he clamped it shut as he turned to look at her. “Oh no you don’t!” He shook his head. “I answered truthfully, and now you are twisting my damned words. Why?”
Jacqueline’s annoyance was plain on her face. Mark waited and watched as she flipped a hand. “Probably because occasionally girls are very needy emotionally; we need constant approval. Since guys are usually very guarded with their answers, we seek to confirm them in the most efficient way possible.”
“By luring us into a verbal trap and springing it?”
“No, by checking your answer appropriately when your guard is down.” She paused a moment, then smirked. “We create traps and spring them on you when we are pissed about other things and just want a target. I’ll try not to do that to you.” She thought back on the times she had argued with her dad as a teenager. “I’ll try pretty hard,” she amended.
Mark reached around her shoulder. “I’ll try to damp down my lust for all things tech, and give you time.”
“At least tech doesn’t have a nice rack or sashay as she walks away.” Jacqueline agreed.
Mark looked out over the horizon, ready to get out of this horrible place. “No, but it doesn’t say ‘I have a headache’ when it’s plugged in, either.”
Yuko snorted when Jacqueline punched him.
“Or pummel me when I just speak truth,” Mark grunted out, holding his stomach.
---
Kirk, James and Timothy were the first three out of the building as they started towards the people coming in their direction. Kirk looked up and noticed that two guys had their rifles aimed in Michael, Akio and Sabine’s direction. He turned to Timothy and asked, “Can you make sure those two assholes up there pull their guns back? I don’t want to discuss things with someone who is unnecessarily antsy.” Kirk turned back to look up at the top of the building. “Or have to listen to someone moan when we pull a rifle out of their ass.”
Timothy turned and jerked his head at Alan, who peeled off from the group and jogged over to the other building. Kirk looked at him, and Timothy smiled. “I’m on to you, Kirk. James is related, so if I’m gone, you’re good if Sabine wants a guy.”
James chuckled as Kirk argued with Timothy. “I’m not trying to keep you and Sabine apart!” The chuckles from those behind them had Kirk realizing it didn’t matter what he said. “Fine, keep up the fantasy.”
A couple of minutes later, the three were close. Kirk watched Michael’s easy walk and was a bit jealous of the fit of the coat, the weapons on his hips, and the sword on his back. Kirk had to admit that his full head of hair beat Michael’s chrome dome though.
“Thank you,” he got out, holding his hand to shake. First to Michael, then Akio, who pointed to Sabine, who was surprised and reached out to shake his hand.
“Yes,” Kirk agreed and smiled at Sabine. “You too.” She was embarrassed by the attention, he could tell, but she didn’t seem at all uneasy about how the weapons and holsters fit. From what they knew, she’d only been using them for twenty-four hours. But he sure as hell wasn’t going to get into a shooting match with her.
“Thank you,” Michael replied. “Sabine is going to stay here with you, since this is where she was headed before she decided to join us last night.” That got a snort from Sabine and a slight smile from Akio. “She will need to rest, and there could be some emotional damage from our fight.”
“Damage?” James spoke up.
“Yes,” Michael agreed.
Timothy interjected, “People were killed.”
“They were only Weres.” A guy with brown hair commented from the back.
Sabine’s eyes turned flint-hard. “And I have a Were friend. Would you like to meet her?” she asked, her anger showing easily on her face.
He raised his hands and Kirk came to his defense. “Remember, we hadn’t met a good Were,” he nodded to Michael, “or vampire, no offense intended.”
Michael nodded. “None taken.”
Kirk returned his gaze to her. “For years, Sabine. It could take us a while to come to grips with it.”
Sabine nodded her understanding and added, “Sorry, I’m a little overwhelmed and still feeling twitchy.”
“That will go away,” James told her.
“No,” Akio interrupted, “it probably will not.” As they turned to him, he added. “She has seen much battle right now, and I believe she has changed, period. She ran for miles from the Weres last night. She doesn’t have a bone in her body that is willing to quit. I doubt that she will change from this new Sabine.”
“Ok,” Sabine thought a moment. “That’s both scary and rather cool.”
Kirk turned to Timothy and raised an eyebrow. Timothy silently mouthed back, “I’m not quitting.”
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Yuko closed the door after Eve, Jacqueline and Mark entered the container. She turned to the two additions to the group. “You will be able to drop seats from the sides there,” she pointed left, then right, “or over there.” She was pleased when the two took seats next to each other.
Young love was so beautiful. She turned to Eve, who shook her head. “What?”
Eve smiled. “It is nice to see the change in your willingness to fight after all these new adventures.”
“I was not unwilling to fight,” Yuko interrupted. “I was unwilling to kill. I’ve told you how many times? My job was to be a diplomat.”
Mark asked, “Did it drive Akio crazy?”
Eve answered, “Not so much crazy, as it increased his concern level that she would try to talk her way out of a situation where immediate action was warranted.”
“That is because Akio is very quick to judge when violence is warranted.”
“And we,” Jacqueline asked pointed to the four of them, “just left him with Michael?”
Mark snickered.
“It’s not like Michael isn’t already slipping into old patterns,” Eve replied. “We have data from his time in the old United States. If a situation required him to get involved, then he usually left a massive path of death.”
The Darkest Night (The Second Dark Ages Book 2) Page 14