“Wow,” Tiffany gasped, blinking her eyes and sitting up, “what a rush.”
“Tell me about it,” Kenneth said, putting his arms around Besseta and hugging her tight.
Shaking her head to try to get her vision to stop moving, “I can shoot any gun you’ve ever shot,” Tiffany said amazed. “Shit, I know how to be a detective,” she said, jumping up. “That’s just like that computer movie we watched.”
“The Matrix,” Kenneth chuckled as Besseta sat up on his lap.
Reaching up and taking Kenneth’s face in her hands, “Baby, you’re everything to me, and have been since I first saw you,” Besseta said, then kissed him. Breaking the kiss Besseta looked down, but cast her eyes up to look at him shyly. “I’m sorry if I hurt your feelings, drooling over your younger body.”
Laughing, Kenneth pulled her to his chest. “No, you’re not.”
“Well, maybe a little,” Besseta offered with her face buried in his chest.
Tiffany spun around, looking at Kenneth. Well, looking at Kenneth under Besseta as he held her. “You’re between twenty and twenty-one,” Tiffany said.
Reaching up and rubbing his smooth face, “About where I figured,” Kenneth said. “I didn’t have hair on my face to shave until I was twenty-three.”
Spinning around as she went over everything she had learned, “That was awesome!” Tiffany shouted.
Besseta sat up looking at Kenneth, “Can you do that to me?” she asked.
Shaking his head, “I don’t think so,” he said. “I’ve tried, but nothing I can do with my mind seems to work on you.” Staring at Kenneth, Besseta started thinking and Kenneth listened. “I don’t think it will work, but I’ll try,” Kenneth said.
Groaning, “Hello?” Tiffany said patting them, knowing they were talking to each other in their minds. Nodding at Besseta, Kenneth grabbed Tiffany’s wrist. “Oh, shit, already?” Tiffany said as Kenneth grabbed Besseta’s hand and a jolt hit her.
Unlike before, Tiffany just stayed suspended over a circle of lights, but didn’t enter. She would get closer only to fly back. Then the circle flew at her and stopped right below her and she heard voices coming from the circle of light. Concentrating on the voices, Tiffany realized it wasn’t voices but a voice, Besseta’s, giving a dictation of her life. Suddenly, another jolt hit, and she was on the couch
Seeing Kenneth was now drenched in sweat, Tiffany reached over and felt the heat his body was giving off before her hand touched his skin. Getting up, Tiffany vanished and reappeared holding a wet towel, putting it on Kenneth’s chest.
“How in the hell can he do that?” Besseta moaned, finally blinking her eyes open. “I feel like someone sucked the life out of me.”
“Besseta,” Tiffany snapped, making Besseta sit up. “Warm up some blood fast.”
“What’s wrong?” she asked, reaching over to Kenneth.
“Go!” Tiffany yelled and Besseta disappeared. “He’s drained,” Tiffany called out after hearing Besseta in the kitchen. “You were trying to use his mind to show us, weren’t you?”
Besseta reappeared holding a glass of blood. “Yes, I didn’t think it would take that much out of him,” she said as Tiffany lifted Kenneth up. “I saw my life from the first day, but I didn’t feel either of you there.”
As the blood hit his lips, Kenneth started drinking and Tiffany’s eyes got wide. “Oh shit,” she gasped.
Pulling the glass away, “What?” Besseta cried out. Seeing half the glass was gone and feeling Kenneth’s breathing get much stronger, Tiffany laid him back gently. Seeing the alarm on Tiffany’s face, “Tiffany, you’d better start talking,” Besseta snapped.
Jumping off the couch, but still looking at Kenneth, “We weren’t with you, but I think Kenneth was forcing his mind to join with yours to see your life,” Tiffany whispered. “I heard your voice coming from the circle of light and sometimes, it slowed down and sped up. The circle would get closer, then shoot far away.”
The empty glass fell from Besseta’s hand, shattering on the floor. “What?” she asked, getting pale. “Will you make sense?”
Closing her eyes, Tiffany replayed parts of the vision in her mind several times and became convinced she was right, but not positive. “Sorry, that’s the best I can come up with, and that’s the only thing I can think of that would drain him like that. He can’t join with your mind, but he was forcing himself to. He was pushing himself to do something his mind can’t do,” she said. “Sunlight can’t reach us in here, so that is out.”
Looking around, Besseta realized it was late afternoon. “If he couldn’t do it, why did we stay in that vision so long?” Rubbing Kenneth’s chest, Besseta grinned and looked up at Tiffany. “I can’t believe you slept with Maliki.”
Tiffany shook her head with a scowl. “I was drunk, so don’t start.”
A groan sounded out from Kenneth as he sat up. “Shit, that was rough.” Wiping his face off, he got up off the couch and headed to the kitchen.
As he walked away, Tiffany looked at Besseta. “He smells the rest of the blood in the bag,” Besseta explained.
It wasn’t long before Kenneth came back, smacking his lips. “Man, I needed that,” he said, sitting down between them.
“So I take it, you heard what we said?” Tiffany asked.
“No,” Kenneth said. “I know what was said because Besseta’s been thinking about it since I came to.”
Lifting her chin up, Besseta dared her face to blush. “So, was Tiffany right?”
“Yes, and I tried really hard to join your mind, but it was like hitting a brick wall. I heard your narration of your life, but I didn’t see it,” he said, looking over at her.
Getting off the couch, “Well, what are you going to tell Maliki?” Tiffany asked, cutting her eyes at Besseta and daring her to say it out loud again. She knew Kenneth knew, but didn’t like to be reminded of it.
All emotion left Kenneth’s face. “Bereno is going to die a slow and painful death,” Kenneth said. “Your narration of that part of your life was not easy to listen to.”
Closing her eyes, “Babe,” Besseta said, shaking her head. “I know he was an ass and I moved on. Hey, I had to watch those bitches in your life.”
“I couldn’t see your vision, but I could tell a difference when he was close to you. But more importantly,” Kenneth stared at her until she opened her eyes. “He has another ability you don’t know of, not only does he have power to hit someone from far away, he can control others through touch. He has to touch them every few days to keep the control. I’m positive on that much and if Tiffany’s willing, I’ll make sure. I got that much when Tiffany met him, but didn’t dwell. His power doesn’t work on Tiffany. If he has others, I don’t know, but when that part was going on, your mind felt asleep.”
As her eyes narrowed, Besseta’s face filled with anger. “I’m going to break his legs,” she growled.
“Oh no, you’re not, he’s mine,” Kenneth snapped. “He enjoyed dragging you along, being an ass and keeping you away from Tiffany.”
Walking over to Besseta, Tiffany grabbed her hand. “Let Kenneth handle it,” she said with a smile, “unless we get to Bereno first.”
Shaking his head, Kenneth looked at them and disappeared, then returned carrying his laptop. “Maliki had the right idea about setting traps for them. It was just bad luck that we went to the city he set the trap in. I think he would’ve hurt them bad, if we wouldn’t have shown up,” Kenneth said, opening his laptop. “I need you two to go and get your computers. We have some work to do.”
They both vanished and returned, sitting on either side of Kenneth and opening their computers up. “Kenneth, we are going to talk about your decoding program,” Tiffany said, turning her computer on. “You know how long it took us decoding those messages and encoding our own?”
As Besseta moved over until she was touching him, Kenneth turned to Tiffany. “Yes, but you need to know how to do it by hand, then you can use a computer.”
&
nbsp; “What do you need us to do?” Besseta asked, wrapping her leg around his and leaning her head over on his shoulder.
Smiling as Besseta used as much of her body as she could to touch him, “I found two properties we need to get,” Kenneth said, sending her the links. “One, fifty miles south of here and the other, on the Canadian side of the lake. I know you have some over there already, but I want a backup.”
“They will be ours tomorrow,” Besseta smiled, opening the links.
“I also need you to sign up an aircraft service for us,” he said, patting her leg. “Tiffany, I need you to check the boards and compare them with what Maliki has found out about Europe,” Kenneth instructed as he started typing.
“All the other councils are writing Europe off,” Tiffany told him as she started scrolling through pages. “There hasn’t been a confirmed contact with anyone in weeks.”
“Yes, I’m going to get Maliki to start watching money transfers,” Kenneth said as he continued typing.
The three sat and worked for several hours quietly until Kenneth said, “Maliki already responded.”
“What did he say?” Besseta asked, looking over at Kenneth’s computer.
“Cubus have New York,” Kenneth answered. “It seems they are going to move out from there.”
“How can so few cubus control so much?” Tiffany asked.
Reading the message, “Well, being able to touch someone and control them definitely has an advantage,” Kenneth said.
Shaking her head as she leaned over to read the message, “It doesn’t make sense. Each one can only control so many vampires or werewolves, right? Even the cubus must follow the same rules we do. The more you control, the more it will cost you physically in energy.”
“Maybe they are just better at it,” Besseta offered as she read. Kenneth finished reading the message first and looked up to just stare into space, then Besseta and Tiffany finished reading almost at the same time. “The cubus lost most of the government support here, but gained most of the governments in Europe. That’s not good,” Besseta said.
Closing his laptop, “We need to go to Maliki now,” Kenneth said, getting up.
Groaning as she threw her head back, “That sucks! Having to run all over the country, just to have a sit-down conversation,” Tiffany said.
“No, we leave in the morning,” Kenneth told her.
Jerking her head off the couch, “I know you and Besseta can narrow down where he is, but if we just go, it will take time to find him,” Tiffany said.
Shaking his head, “No, Maliki is in Las Vegas at the MGM hotel,” Kenneth replied.
Closing her laptop as she stood up, “I know he’s near Vegas, but how do you know what hotel?” Besseta asked.
Shrugging his shoulders, “Don’t know, but I know he’s up high. I know the spot and that’s where the MGM is at,” Kenneth said. “You get the charter jet?”
Nodding, “Yes, we have a jet and crew on standby for us,” Besseta smiled. “I like not having to go through an airport.”
“Tell them to meet us in Springfield, Illinois tomorrow at seven a.m.,” Kenneth said. “Let’s get the dogs enough food and water out for four days. Then, pack a nice suit in a backpack. We run down to Springfield tonight.”
Throwing her hands up, “What good is having a plane if we have to run a thousand miles to catch it?” Besseta shouted.
“In case someone figures out we were on it and backtracks it,” Kenneth told her. “I’m going to refresh my skills to fly, so then we won’t have to worry.”
Just before midnight, the three gathered at the front of the house. “Ready?” Kenneth asked and they nodded. Three jets of water shot up in the air, going away from the island as the three took off into the night.
Chapter Ten
With the morning sun just over the horizon, the three stood dressed in business suits and watched the charter jet land at the Springfield Airport. “Just why the sudden urge to talk to Maliki face-to-face?” Besseta asked.
Straightening out his tie, “He needs to get the word out to all vampires, they can either fight or live as slaves,” Kenneth told her. “This sitting on a cloud and guiding the fight has to stop.”
Picking her foot up and taking off her dress shoe, Besseta wiggled her toes. “Shit, all I want to do is live with you and continue on my crusade. Then this shit has to happen,” she grumbled, putting her shoe back on. “I’m ready to kill something now for having to wear these shoes.”
“I’ll kill something with you,” Tiffany said. “Why do some women feel the need to wear stilts?”
Wrapping his arms around them, “Ladies, when we get to Vegas, we will get new clothes and pay Maliki a visit tonight. Remember, we are undercover and Tiffany, those heels aren’t even an inch high,” Kenneth said.
“You want to wait until tonight to see him with how fast you made us leave?” Besseta asked as the plane taxied over.
Nodding, “Yeah, we don’t need to risk exposing ourselves until we are at strength,” Kenneth said, wrapping an arm around her. “Remember, we are executives going to close a deal in Vegas,” he told them again as the plane stopped.
“Never been an executive,” Besseta smiled, looking at the plane. It was much bigger than she’d thought it was going to be. “This is the plane you wanted, right?”
“Yeah, I wanted one small enough to use private airports, but large enough that our friend wouldn’t freak out,” Kenneth smiled, cutting his eyes toward Tiffany.
Brushing her long, straight black hair off her shoulder, “I don’t freak out,” Tiffany snapped. “Those cardboard planes you are referring to are dangerous. This one will do,” she smiled, nodding toward the plane as the door opened.
“I told them to stock vodka,” Besseta smiled as the stewardess came down the steps.
Giving a sigh, “Oh, thank you,” Tiffany said, relieved.
Kenneth led the girls over and nodded at the stewardess. “Ma’am,” he said.
“Mr. Reynold?” she asked his cover name.
“Yes, ma’am. Ben Reynold,” Kenneth said, handing her a business card and stepped aside, holding Besseta’s hand as she walked up the stairs. “Kim Taylor,” Kenneth told the stewardess and then held Tiffany’s hand as she walked up, “Alexa Green.”
“Pleased to meet you,” the stewardess said, showing them to the back.
Tiffany was pleasantly surprised at the room inside with the executive chairs. She turned to see Kenneth still had room above his head as he walked. “Yes, this will do,” she said, sitting down at a table that had four executive chairs around it. “Vodka, big glass,” Tiffany said, dropping her briefcase.
“Yes, ma’am,” the stewardess smiled and left as an older man came back.
“Hello, I’m your pilot today, Dennis Lowell,” he said, extending his hand. Kenneth reached out to shake his hand and Dennis’s body gave a jolt, making Tiffany and Besseta jump. Besseta looked at Kenneth who was just staring at Dennis, who seemed frozen. Concentrating, she heard voices filling Kenneth’s mind.
Dennis gave another jerk as Kenneth said, “Pleased to meet you, Captain. Nice plane.”
Still smiling and not sensing anything wrong, “It is one of our nicer ones,” he said, letting Kenneth’s hand go. He moved over and shook Tiffany’s and Besseta’s hands, then walked back to the cockpit.
“What the hell are you doing?” Besseta whispered harshly.
Leaning back in his chair, “Just got my refresher lesson,” he grinned. “Now, I’m certified on jet engine. I think I like them more.”
Tiffany jumped and she gasped at Kenneth, about to speak when the stewardess came back carrying a big glass of vodka. Tiffany snatched it and drained it, shocking the stewardess. “Keep them coming until I can move to wine,” Tiffany instructed, wiping her mouth and making the stewardess laugh.
When she was gone, Tiffany leaned over to Kenneth. “You’d better not have sucked the knowledge out of him on how to fly this plane,” she snapped in a low v
oice. Besseta nodded, impressed that Tiffany had thought of something else to worry about while flying.
Kenneth laughed. “Did I suck out your knowledge?”
“No, but I’m not the one that’s going to be flying the damn plane high above the ground.”
Looking at her, Kenneth smiled. “I can fly this plane now. If you want to get technical about it, I flew it in.”
The stewardess came back and Tiffany leaned back, glaring at Kenneth. The stewardess set down a bottle of vodka. “Our flight time today will be five hours. If you need anything, let me know. Would you please buckle in?” she said and watched everyone buckle in.
“You are the first one that has been smart enough to bring her a bottle, instead of running back and forth until she’s relaxed enough for wine,” Kenneth said, reaching over and holding Besseta’s hand.
“Seemed appropriate. Ms. Green seems nervous and we had instructions to have a case of vodka onboard for her,” the stewardess said, then headed back up front.
Draining her glass, Tiffany refilled it. “I should’ve found those damn brothers and ripped their heads off before they got that damn thing in the air.”
“The Wright brothers had a lot of competition,” Kenneth said as the plane taxied out. “Several others were only a few weeks behind them.”
“Assholes,” Tiffany growled, draining her glass.
When she set the glass down, Besseta grabbed it, filled it up and drained it, making Kenneth look at her. “Just in case you sucked the knowledge out of his head,” Besseta said.
Tiffany snatched up the bottle, taking a long pull. Lowering the bottle, she was starting to feel much better. “You couldn’t have waited until we landed?”
“Sorry,” Kenneth offered, as Besseta grabbed the bottle and refilled the glass. “You know, we can do things with our minds. You think you two need to be tossing so many down?”
“That’s why we are doing it,” Tiffany said, grabbing the bottle when Besseta had set it down and draining it when she felt the plane picking up speed. “You’ve seen my life, you should know why.”
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