“Oh, you wouldn’t,” Tiffany sassed.
“If people start burning books, I have to stop my crusade and help Tiffany slaughter the stupid people,” Besseta informed Kenneth.
“Hey, I’ll help,” he chuckled, and Tiffany spoke up.
“The year Maliki turned, Herotho ran into him on his way to pay tribute in Rome. Herotho helped Maliki bring his belongings to our house, after helping Maliki pay his tribute,” Tiffany sighed at the mention of Herotho. “I met Maliki when they returned.”
Looking off, Maliki smiled. “Those were some of the happiest years of my life. After I showed Tiffany my orders of course, because she and Herotho had been in Alexandria at the time.”
“Here I was worried you wouldn’t know tactics, but you were a Roman general,” Kenneth said, reaching over and taking Besseta’s hand. “Babe, please don’t pull Maliki’s lungs out his ass. I’m really starting to like him,” Kenneth told her, and Maliki jumped in his chair.
“What did I do?” he cried out and his body tensed up to dive out the window.
“Every time we do something for you, a wave of crap hits us and we won’t even talk about Boston,” Besseta snapped. Seeing Maliki take a breath to protest, Besseta held up her hand, stopping him. “I’m not going to do that,” she droned, and Maliki gave a relieved sigh.
“So, you’re going back to war?” Kenneth chuckled, turning to Maliki.
Giving a nod, “Yes, I join up with my soldiers tonight,” Maliki said, then grinned. “I have them divided into cohorts of eighty, like I used to command.”
“Kenneth,” Tiffany said, picking up her pen. “We need to meet face-to-face more often with Maliki. If for nothing else, than putting fear in the Strong Hands.”
Glancing at Tiffany, Maliki gave a nod. “I would like that.”
“Don’t start,” Tiffany told him as she continued writing.
Thinking about that for a few minutes, Kenneth raised his eyebrows, impressed at the tactful reasoning. “Every few weeks should be good,” he said.
“We meet in hotels I pick out,” Besseta demanded and Kenneth dropped his chin to his chest.
Maliki gave a chuckle at Kenneth’s reaction. “I’ll pick up the tab for the rooms,” Maliki stated, and Kenneth raised his head up with a smile.
“Ready to spank some werewolf butt?” Kenneth asked, looking at Besseta and Tiffany.
Putting her pen down, Tiffany looked over at him. “Kenneth, I’m warning you now. I see more than three ancients, I’m leaving,” Tiffany warned.
“You both will, over my shoulder as I run away, screaming, like a bitch,” Kenneth corrected. “I’ve been in some hairy situations before, but I really thought we were about to die.”
“We were,” Tiffany clarified. “Whatever they are protecting there, they want it to stay a secret.”
“Oh, it’s a research facility,” Kenneth said confidently. “Besseta got that much out of a werewolf’s mind when she was ripping his chest open.”
“The sissy didn’t want to play no more after he got hurt,” Besseta grinned.
“My chest gets ripped open, I know I wouldn’t want to play,” Maliki mumbled.
Tiffany chuckled as she closed the notebook and stacked it with the others. “Kenneth, I know you don’t want to, but we need to head home after tonight,” Tiffany told him.
Giving a fake sigh, “We will go see your dogs,” Kenneth grinned and Maliki almost levitated.
“You have dogs?” he gasped.
“Yes, they gave them to me,” Tiffany smiled at Maliki, then turned to Kenneth. “No. Well, yes, I want to see Jack and Jill, but I don’t like being so far away until precautions are made.”
‘You don’t want Maliki to know they are there?’ Kenneth asked in her mind.
‘If he gets captured, they will know everything he does. He’s not telling us stuff for the same reasons,’ Tiffany answered.
Glancing at Besseta who nodded, Kenneth cocked his head to the side. “Well, there is some stuff I really want to work on that will really piss the Strong Hands off.”
“Whatever it is, let me know the cost and I’ll reimburse you,” Maliki told him. “I guarantee you, I have more than both of them combined.”
“No single individual ever needs that kind of money,” Kenneth gasped.
Leaning over the table, “Kenneth,” Tiffany said, and he slowly turned to her. “I’m willing to bet Maliki has double what Besseta and I have together.”
Rolling his eyes in disgust, “I’ll save the receipts,” Kenneth moaned.
“Why would you do that?” Maliki asked, glancing at Tiffany who just shrugged.
“Never mind,” Kenneth groaned.
Chapter Twenty-Three
When the sun set, the group left and parted ways. Then Kenneth, Besseta, and Tiffany rode west on back roads, tracking the scent of werewolves. Just outside of Whitwell, Kenneth braked and steered his bike off the road.
Jumping off the bike, Kenneth pushed the motorcycle into the woods. He was about to go and help the girls until he turned around and found them pushing their bikes beside his. “Why didn’t we just ride them down here?” Besseta asked.
Pointing at the tires, “Babe, these bikes are made for speed and pavement only. Even rolling on dirt can cause the bike to slip out from under you,” Kenneth explained.
Taking her helmet off, Tiffany hung it on the handlebar. “Kenneth, are we taking the motorcycles home?”
“Um, yeah, unless you two just want to leave them,” Kenneth said.
Tiffany broke out with a huge smile. “I really like my rocket crotch.”
Stifling a laugh so hard, Kenneth felt his ears pop. “That’s, crotch rocket,” Kenneth corrected.
“That’s a vampire,” Besseta said, sniffing the breeze.
“Yeah, let’s go see who they’re playing for,” Kenneth said and the three eased through the woods. It was during this slow movement that Besseta and Tiffany moved in near silence through the woods. Kenneth was certain his shadow from the moonlight was making more noise than they were.
Moving silently for ten minutes, another smell joined the vampire and Kenneth grinned. ‘We know now,’ Kenneth said in their minds.
‘Kenneth, I want you and Besseta to lock them up mentally,’ Tiffany replied by thought. ‘I’ll be ready for trouble. Kenneth, take the vampire and Besseta, the dog.’
Seeing a break in the forest ahead Kenneth prepared, easing closer and saw it was a small clearing. A female with brown hair was looking up at a werewolf that was looking down at her. Until Iowa, Kenneth would’ve been impressed with a nine-foot-tall werewolf.
‘Now,’ Tiffany said in his mind.
Both figures froze, but the werewolf started tilting forward. Starting slow, the leaning figure picked up speed until the tall form crashed into the vampire, sending both to the ground. All three stepped out of the trees and Besseta walked over and stomped on the werewolf’s back.
“I said, stay still,” Besseta snarled. Kenneth knew the weight of the werewolf was crushing the vampire and Besseta’s kick only accelerated the discomfort.
Walking over, Tiffany kicked the werewolf off the vampire. “I meant for you to lock the air around them, not freeze their minds,” Tiffany corrected.
“Hey, that takes a lot more effort,” Kenneth protested.
Casually, Tiffany raised her leg up and stomped on the vampire’s right arm. A loud ‘snap’ rang out as the bone broke. “Guys, you lock up one that’s a powerful psychic like this, and you’ll pay for it. To lock them mentally, you have to form a bridge to their mind and bridges go two ways.”
“Another werewolf is coming,” Besseta announced, turning to the east.
“I’ll take it,” Tiffany said as Kenneth knelt down and grabbed the female’s broken arm.
A few seconds later, Besseta let out a gasp. “Oh, you bitch, you just joined up with the cubus because you were scared. Here, let me show you why you were wrong.”
Kenneth let go of th
e female and grabbed the werewolf as Besseta sat down on the ground and pulled the woman’s head into her lap. Putting her hands on the vampire’s cheeks, Besseta slowly, very slowly, started cranking the neck to the right.
The crash of limbs made Kenneth glance over to the edge of the clearing. Impressed, seeing a werewolf floating out of the trees and frozen in mid-stride, Kenneth turned back to the werewolf he was touching. “Besseta, will you just kill her?” Tiffany whined as the werewolf floated down, settling on its feet.
Letting the werewolf go, Kenneth turned to see Besseta still slowly rotating the vampire’s head, now facing over her right shoulder and still, Besseta continued to slowly turn. “Oh, like I would let you join us,” Besseta snapped as the first crunch of bone sounded.
Walking over to the other werewolf, Kenneth grabbed its arm and Tiffany stomped her foot. “Kenneth, make her just kill it,” Tiffany whined.
“She’s not playing with her food, so it’s okay,” Kenneth chuckled as the slow crunch of bones continued. ‘Tiffany,’ Kenneth said in her mind, somewhat louder than normal. ‘The werewolves are connected to the pack and they are relaying this out. Three more will be here soon.’
Nodding, Tiffany turned to Besseta, who now had the vampire’s head completely turned backwards. “You didn’t let me play on the last ones,” Tiffany huffed.
“Please, they weren’t even a hundred years old,” Besseta laughed as the last of the spine broke. Giving a grunt, Besseta yanked the head off the body. Tossing the head into the trees, Besseta ripped the vampire’s shirt off and then wiped the blood off her leather pants. “Forgot about the mess,” Besseta moaned as Tiffany walked over to the other werewolf.
“You are a bad puppy,” Tiffany smiled as the werewolf lay frozen on its back, looking up at the stars. Bending over, Tiffany grabbed the top and bottom jaw and slowly pulled them apart.
‘Damn, that looks like it really hurts,’ Besseta said in Kenneth’s mind.
‘I think so, because this werewolf just lost bowel and bladder control,’ Kenneth answered.
‘Another plus for locking them up in their minds,’ Besseta replied as she walked over.
When Kenneth took his hand off the werewolf, Besseta lashed out with a kick, toppling the werewolf on his side. Glancing over, Kenneth saw Tiffany still slowly prying the jaws apart until the bottom jaw just ripped off. Tossing it aside, Tiffany stomped on the beast. “The top of your head was supposed to do that,” she growled and then dropped down, grabbing the head and yanking it left and right.
Turning back to the trees, “Oh, they didn’t like that,” Kenneth mumbled, feeling the anger radiating from the three running toward them. The first one broke out of the trees in a dive, only to see Kenneth holding his hand up. The dive slowed until the werewolf was just floating headfirst, in front of Kenneth.
Giving a long grunt, Tiffany yanked the head off her werewolf and stormed over to the one floating in front of Kenneth. “The top of your head better come off, so I can pull your brain out in small chunks,” Tiffany snapped and then grabbed the werewolf’s maw.
Turning to Besseta, Kenneth saw she had pulled both of the werewolf’s arms off and was working on a leg. “Babe, two more,” Kenneth told her and turned around, facing the trees on the other side of the clearing.
Giving a low grunt that ended in a screech, Besseta yanked the werewolf’s leg off and tossed it to the side. “Stay, or you will get in trouble,” Besseta commanded and faced the trees as a werewolf busted out, charging Kenneth.
Kenneth didn’t lock the werewolf up. Instead, he just vanished. Stunned, the werewolf paused her stride and pain exploded in her legs. Crashing to the ground, the werewolf felt both of her hamstrings had been severed. Taking a deep breath to howl, the breath froze in the werewolf’s chest. “No. Share this with your pack and let them feel. Don’t tattle and call for help,” Kenneth whispered as another massive form broke from the trees.
Electricity crackled, making Kenneth and Tiffany startle. They both looked over and saw small streams of electricity emanating from the ground around Besseta, feeding into her body and streaming out of her hands.
The stream hit the werewolf as it flew toward her and Besseta leaned to the side, letting the werewolf sail past and the crackle of electricity stopped. Hitting the ground with a thud, the werewolf slid across the clearing, stopping a few feet from Kenneth, “That was so cool,” he chuckled.
Feeling dizzy, Besseta fought not to wobble as she blinked her eyes, trying to make her vision steady. “Whoa,” she panted and walked over to the werewolf as its body gave off small jerks. “This is a new feeling.”
After the three remaining werewolves were ripped apart, Kenneth looked over at Besseta. “You okay?”
“Now, I know why you were so weak in L.A. That takes a lot out of you,” Besseta admitted, still feeling woozy.
Stepping over, Kenneth picked Besseta up in his arms. “The others in the pack won’t be here for half an hour. How about we just head home?” he suggested.
“Yeah, we can stop in Nashville for a snack,” Besseta grinned.
“What were they doing?” Tiffany asked as they headed back to the motorcycles.
Wrapping her arms around Kenneth’s neck as he carried her back, Besseta snuggled her head in his chest. “Hunting vampires,” Besseta answered. “They found one at dusk and the vampire converged with the dogs, who gave him the option to join them. When he didn’t, they killed him.”
“Yes, those puppies were somewhat young,” Tiffany noted as she grabbed her helmet. “But attacking together, they could give any vampire serious problems. That’s why I don’t like fighting werewolves; you never fight just one.”
Putting Besseta on her bike, Kenneth gave a nod. “Yeah, and the big dogs really hurt when they slash you. The idea of that three-foot-long muzzle clamping down on me makes me want to wet my pants.”
Stepping over to his bike, Kenneth climbed on and grabbed his helmet. “All the older werewolves are being pulled together in spots around the country,” he told Tiffany. “They are sending the younger ones out, and using the big dogs to come in like shock troops.”
Flipping her visor up, “Just how close are the ‘big dogs’?” Tiffany asked.
“Just south of Atlanta and another pack close to Little Rock,” Besseta said, putting her helmet on. “That’s why we are leaving now. The younger ones were supposed to hold us here until they got here.”
Cranking her bike up, “Let’s see if they can keep up,” Tiffany said.
“Watch how I drive out and copy me, so your bike doesn’t fall,” Kenneth said, holding his legs out. Driving back to the road, Kenneth ‘walked’ his bike as it rolled through the trees. Tiffany had to use her tip-toes to copy him.
Being so short, Besseta couldn’t even use her toes to walk the bike through the trees. Giving a snarl, Besseta hopped off her bike and just pushed it to the road. “I want a new bike!” Besseta snapped, reaching the road.
“I’ll have several, when we get home, for you to try out,” Kenneth grinned.
Watching Besseta climb onto her bike, Tiffany was glad her helmet hid her grin. “Kenneth, can we go fast?” Tiffany asked cheerfully.
“Yeah, they know we are here, so let’s boogie,” Kenneth told her and popped the clutch, squealing the tires and zooming off.
Forty minutes later, they were parking at a truck stop on the outskirts of Nashville. “Feeling better?” Tiffany asked Besseta when they both climbed off.
“Yes, but I still feel tired,” Besseta admitted.
“We can go get you a snack and bring it back here,” Tiffany offered. “Kenneth will be much faster than Maliki, I’m sure. I almost beat Maliki with an iron pipe because he just wanted to grab random people. We finally found a group of what Kenneth calls ‘outlaw bikers’ throwing a party. It didn’t take Maliki long, walking through the group and shaking hands, to find a few that fit our criteria for vengeance.”
Kenneth walked into the store and gave a
worker two hundred dollars to keep an eye on their bikes, then the three casually walked out of the parking lot. When they were in the shadows, they blurred away.
Near downtown, Kenneth skidded to a stop and looked across the road at a group of men, hanging around in a vacant lot. “I thought you had to touch humans,” Tiffany said, stopping beside Kenneth.
“To read their memories I do, but not their thoughts,” Kenneth told her, shaking his head. “Five of them need to die, like right now.”
Looking at the group, Tiffany made a quick count of thirty-seven. “Can you be more specific on which ones need to die? And don’t say the one with the red handkerchief, they all have one,” Tiffany asked, and Kenneth reached over, grabbing her hand. Tiffany gave a jerk as her mind merged with Kenneth’s. “I’m so jealous. Besseta is always in your mind and in your thoughts.”
“Duh,” Kenneth snorted as he rolled his eyes, and Tiffany concentrated on the group. Instantly, she knew which five after hearing their thoughts.
“They just killed a family, after breaking into their house!” Tiffany growled. “The one with the shoes that have blinking lights is mine.”
“How do you want to do this? I can lure them away,” Besseta grinned.
Shaking his head, “No, like the Strong Hands, this group needs to know vengeance can come at any time,” Kenneth told her. “We zip over and start a beatdown before any of them pull a gun.”
“I’ll take care of the five. Let’s just concentrate on getting their friends down,” Tiffany said, shaking her hands and Kenneth saw her fingernails extend out the end of her riding gloves.
“I’m first,” Besseta said quickly and vanished.
“That’s cheating,” Tiffany grumbled and darted away, followed by Kenneth.
Before Tiffany reached the group, Kenneth passed her and Besseta already had four down. When Tiffany hit the first one, Kenneth already had two down.
Not checking his strength, Kenneth punched one of the partiers in the chest and felt ribs crunch. In less than sixty seconds, the three looked over the group of men laying on the ground. Only a few were moaning while the others lay unconscious. Five men were standing frozen, only able to move their eyes at the destruction around them.
Vengeance in Blood (Book 3): Reborn Page 28