Seizing Darkness (Fur, Fangs, and Fairies)

by Mariana Thorn

  “Stop, stop! I’ll talk just make it stop,” he screamed out. “Don’t eat me.”

  “Damn. I was just beginning to have fun. Start talking then,” I gave a disappointed sigh as I stuck a syringe full of anti-venom in his leg. It was a painful way to administer the anti-venom. I stepped back as the pain and spasms lessened. I motioned to Radek to start questioning him.

  “So speak up or she’ll start all over again.” Radek didn’t even flinch when he met my gaze. He looked damn good to my other half. She wanted to have a little fun with him. I reined her in so that I could concentrate on the job at hand.

  “I know who’s involved, but I don’t know where they are. I only set up the meetings and gave them people.” Tain’s voice was rough with the pain that still lingered. He kept looking at me like I was going to eat him or something. So I may have had the reputation, but I swear it was false.

  “Start naming names.” Radek sounded bored.

  Tain started rattling off names. One of Madon’s men was writing them down as he spoke. I was ready to move on to my next victim. I didn’t realize I was tapping my foot impatiently until Radek glanced at me in concern. I stopped and shrugged at him.

  He shook his head at me in amusement. Luckily it was a short list of names. Radek spoke when he was done. “Tain, this is your last chance. If there’s anything that you would like to change about your story, do so now. Otherwise, if we find out that you have lied at all, I’m sure Natalya here will think of something to do with you. Do I make myself clear?”

  I guess he’d picked up on Tain’s terror of me. I knew I might have to explain that later. In the state I was in now though I didn’t really care. My emotions were completely shut down.

  “Yes,” Tain panted out. I figured the pain would last a few more hours.

  Now it was time for my favorite type of target: vampire. The one closest to me was shaking in fear. I think he might have heard me tell Tain who I was. I was debating whether or not I wanted to kill him when Radek spoke.

  “Either one of you want to come clean?”

  I felt mild disappointment that he was giving them a chance; vampires were fun to torture.

  “I’ll tell you anything I know.” The one speaking didn’t smell as old as the other vampire. I would’ve put his age at less than a century. “Just don’t let her near me. Whatever you did to me hurts.” Vampires always thought they were invincible until I got a go at them.

  “Talk first. Then we’ll make it stop.”

  This vampire was obviously only a lackey. He wasn’t able to give us much information. That didn’t mean that he wasn’t telling the truth. He did tell us everything he knew. I didn’t cause him any more pain. But I also didn’t remove the restraints or give him anti-venom. He hadn’t enough in his system to warrant it, and I wasn’t overly fond of vampires.

  Now it was the last vampire’s turn. I was hoping I could have a little fun with this one.

  “So have you decided to talk or do we have to continue?” Radek stood and watched the vampire for a minute. When it became obvious that he wasn’t going to say a thing, Radek nodded to me.

  I approached the vampire and put one hand on his head, running my fingers through his blond hair and pulling it down to my level. I wanted to make this one hurt. His eyes were red with his anger and defiance. I placed the mixture just below his eye. A blood curdling scream echoed through the building as the vamp jerked his head from my grasp. It made my ears ring for a second. I stepped away from the thrashing vampire.

  “Okay, I’ll talk, I’ll talk,” he screamed. He started to curse in several languages. He was too easy. I’d been hoping for a challenge.

  “Start talking, then it’ll end.” I sighed and grabbed another syringe of anti-venom, tapping it against my leg.

  “I know where they are.” His voice was high pitched with agony.

  I grabbed his head and jerked it down to my level to look in his eyes. “Keep talking.”

  He went on to describe the house that they were staying at. I administered the anti-venom. Silence permeated the barn as they were each released from their ties and cleaned up. Then they were led away, back to where they were being held.

  Soon Radek and I were the only ones left. I took a few deep breaths to take down the walls and let my emotions back in. I couldn’t look at Radek. I wasn’t sure how he was going to react to what I’d done and how I’d acted. I just began to clean everything up.

  My head snapped in his direction when I heard him cry out, “Crap that shit burns.”

  “What?”

  “I got a freaking splinter. You were not freaking kidding! This stuff hurts like hell.” He was breathing hard. He fell to the ground as his muscles started to contract. He must have gotten an undiluted dose.

  I quickly grabbed one of the syringes. He was moving around too much for me to stick him with it. “Will you hold still for a second so I can give you this?”

  “It feels like my body is being torn apart.” His voice was strained from the pain.

  I finally gave up being gentle and jumped on him. Once he was pinned beneath me I was able to stick him with the needle. I sat on him, pinning his hands above his head, so he couldn’t hurt himself while I waited for it to take effect. His breathing was erratic.

  I looked down at him from where I was sitting on his chest with my hands on his wrists, holding them to the ground. As his breathing slowed he looked up at me. The heat flashed through my body as I realized how I was sitting on him. I caught myself leaning down toward him when Dante and Jenna walked in, saving me.

  Even though he should have known better from reading my thoughts, Dante still had to tease me. “Are we interrupting?”

  I jumped off Radek and turned to Dante and Jenna, blushing. “Not like you didn’t know. He got venom in a cut. So just shut up.”

  Dante laughed. I think Radek might’ve heard your other name. I’m surprised you used it. You know that it’s going to get out now, don’t you?

  You know just as well as I do that I was letting my other half do all the work. What will happen will happen. I’m sure it would’ve come out eventually anyway. By the way, this sharing thoughts thing is so old now. When did Val say this would wear off?

  A couple of weeks. I think. He smirked at me.

  Great. A couple of weeks.

  “Will you two knock it off? You’re giving me a headache.” Radek got up off the ground. “Damn Natalya, that stuff sucks.” He brushed himself off.

  “I told you to be careful with it,” I aimed back at him. I quickly gathered everything up. The big garbage bag of rags was still sitting where Radek had dropped it.

  “We should keep that stuff until everything is verified. I don’t want to have to remake everything,” I said.

  “I’m not touching that stuff again.” Radek backed away from it.

  “That stuff can’t hurt you for at least a half hour. I just injected the anti-venom. So it would be safer for you than anyone else.”

  “Are you serious? Why didn’t you just give it to me before in case something happened?”

  “I figured you were smart enough to follow instructions and wear gloves.” I glared at him.

  Val chose that moment to walk in. “Are you two arguing again?”

  “You should have seen them when we walked in.” Dante was smiling.

  “Will you shut up, Dante?” Radek was still having trouble breathing. That would explain his foul mood, but not mine.

  “If you will all knock it off, we have work to do. Dante, you and Jenna go to Gregory’s. I want you checking into that house.”

  “Radek, Natalya, if you two can stop squabbling and keep your hands off each other, I’d like you to check the list. You should know most of the beings on it. Our usual suspects weren’t listed, of course. I’m sure one of them is somehow involved. We know that Andrei was in the area. We need to find out how he got here without any of us knowing about it. Any questions?”

  “I know how he found out
about Nat and so does she. That’s if she thinks hard.” Dante was looking at me, waiting for me to remember.

  “Holy shit, you’re right. I remember now. Louis was visiting Andrei just before I left to come here. He’s the one that asked Andrei to send me to assassinate you, Val.” The memory flashed to the forefront of my mind. Everyone turned to look at me. I only knew it was Louis because I had seen him in Dante’s memories. At least some good had come from us sharing memories.

  “Well that would explain a lot,” Val said calmly. “That doesn’t change much other than giving us the ability to take him down. I’ll get the paperwork for that out of the way. You four have your orders. I’ll make sure you have the backing to do whatever is needed.”

  Val gave Radek a hard look when it looked like he would argue. He closed his mouth and sighed, “Fine. Come on, Nat.”

  I took off my gloves and followed him to the house. He was walking ahead of me and I couldn’t help but admire the view. I could see the slight stiffness from the venom. He still stalked like a predator. Damn he was sexy. I was a little disappointed when we got to the house. He held the door for me. I inhaled deeply as I brushed past him.

  Madon was waiting for us when we walked in. He wasn’t bad-looking either. He was just a hair shorter than Radek with a muscular build. He was someone that every woman would stop and take notice of. Plus he had that whole alpha wolf thing going for him. When I glanced into his normally green eyes I saw the yellow of his wolf, and I realized how close he was to shifting. I wasn’t concerned though. Even without Radek, I could probably hold my own against him, but I doubted he would attack me.

  “Well that was very educational,” Madon said. He was leaning against the kitchen counter.

  “It was, wasn’t it?” Radek glanced at me.

  I was curious if he’d heard my use of my assassin name, but I didn’t want to bring it up.

  “So what’s the plan now?” Madon asked, looking between Radek and me.

  I’d dodged the bullet for now.

  “We verify what they told us, then go take out the bad guys,” Radek replied.

  Madon started pacing the kitchen. “When do I get to carry out my execution? Plus now I have to open the pack up for challenges. That leaves my position open as well. Whoever is behind this has to be stopped. I suspect that there are more wolves in my pack involved that weren’t named. I don’t like how this is turning out. I need to put an end to this as soon as possible.”

  “We know, and plan on it. Have your people come up with any connections yet?” Radek was trying to calm Madon’s wolf.

  I just stayed out of it because even though I could possibly take Madon, Radek was a whole different story. There was no way I would get between an alpha werewolf and a male weretiger. They were just too tense.

  “Yes, we were able to link someone on the list to the house that the vampire said they are using as their base of operations.” Madon stopped pacing.

  “That’s a start, at least. We’ll check that out. Are there any signs of Andrei?”

  “Who’s that?”

  “He’s just an evil, maniacal vampire that wants to take over the world, nothing new. He would really like to see my father’s head on a spike. Natalya’s too.”

  “Oh I think he wants you and Dante just as badly. Don’t think for a moment that you two aren’t on his list as well. I would know since I’ve seen his list.”

  “There is that. I doubt that we’ll be able to link this to Louis. That’s how it always works out. Andrei too. We’ve been after him for years. He has committed just about every horrific crime that exists. In fact I’m sure some of the laws were created because of him. I think that Louis though has finally made a mistake.”

  “Oh I think they both made a few. I’m still alive and kicking ass, for one,” I reminded him.

  “That you are.” Radek looked me up and down with that sly smile of his. “For now we need to focus on the people we can do something about.”

  “So what do you want to do then?” I asked him, choosing not to comment on his look.

  “We look for the money. Operations like this need money. We find that, we find them.” Radek walked to the front door as he talked. Madon and I followed him through the house. “I’m going to get my computers; then we can start checking out the people. We might as well stay here for now. If that’s all right with you, Madon?”

  “That’s fine with me. Do you guys want some food or anything since you might be here a while?”

  Madon’s scent and eyes were back to normal. He gave me a smile when our eyes met. I sighed in relief – it looked like everyone was finally calming down. I wasn’t going to need to call Val and Dante.

  “That would be great. I’ll be right back.” Radek went out the door and I was hoping that the cold air would take the rest of the edge off. Madon went in the kitchen.

  I sat on the couch and put my head back. That had taken a lot out of me. I was mentally tired. The whole thing was a little fuzzy in my memory. That’s how it always was when I did things that way. I took in deep breaths, letting the quiet lull me into a trance-like state. As far as I could tell, there was no one else in the house but Madon. It smelled like wolf everywhere though, so there was no telling for sure. I heard Radek come back in. I didn’t move or open my eyes as he joined me. I let myself drift to sleep.

  Chapter Seventeen

  My nose twitched as the scent of coffee wafted over me. My eyes snapped open. Madon laughed as he and another wolf came in the room. It was Carly, his most alpha female. I sat up fast and heard Radek laugh. “Coffee,” was all I managed.

  “I took the liberty of calling in some reinforcements. I thought you could use this,” Madon said.

  I could see his amusement out of the corner of my eye, but I focused on the cups of coffee. He handed me a venti peppermint mocha. I could feel Radek’s gaze.

  “Good thinking, Madon. You are a gentleman among wolves.” I blissfully sipped from the cup. I closed my eyes and as the warmth slid down my throat I barely contained a moan. “Thank you Carly.” I felt content as I drank the first few drinks.

  Carly was one of my few friends in the wolf pack. She was eyeing Radek. She glanced from him, met my eyes and winked. He accepted his coffee from Carly without looking at her. He was concentrating on the computers.

  “You are most welcome, Nat. I heard your house was burned down.” Carly took the seat across from me.

  “Yes, that’s how I ended up with this lughead as a partner.”

  Radek snorted as he choked on his coffee. “Lughead. You couldn’t come up with something better than that, Princess?”

  “I thought we decided that we wouldn’t be calling me that anymore.” I glared at him as he typed away on the computer.

  “I never said that. Start entering names.” He pointed me to the second laptop.

  I gave him a dirty look, then started in on the laptop. Madon took the chair next to Carly. I tried to ignore them. Madon had his eyes closed and Carly was trying not to get caught looking at him. She was in love with him and he barely acknowledged her. He was so blind sometimes.

  Val entered a few minutes later. “I see you two haven’t killed each other yet. That’s a start. Do I smell coffee?” I glanced up at him and he winked.

  “Yes, there’s one for you.” Madon pointed to the kitchen.

  I noticed that Carly sat up a bit straighter when Val came back in drinking his coffee. Madon made the introductions. “This is my first female Carly. I don’t think you’ve met her yet.”

  “It’s a pleasure to meet you Carly, my dear. Thank you for the coffee. It’s a wonder that some wolf hasn’t snatched you up as his mate.” Val kissed her hand.

  I rolled my eyes. Seriously, I thought. “Val is really laying it on thick,” I leaned over and whispered in Radek’s ear.

  He laughed quietly.

  “I heard that, Natalya. Have you two found anything yet?” Val asked.

  “We’re working on it. Don’t you h
ave something more useful to do than harass us?” Radek said.

  “Hey, I got something,” I exclaimed, stopping any reply from Val.

  Radek leaned over my shoulder, looking at the screen. “The money came from an account in the Caymans.” He took the computer from me and typed something into it. “I have an account number. Perfect.” He kept typing.

  I drank my coffee, enjoying the rich sweetness of it. Madon was still leaning back with his eyes closed. Val was messing with his phone. I observed Carly looking between the three men. They were all very attractive, I had to agree – and a little intimidating as well. That was part of their charm. I’d met very few ugly shifters in my life. Actually only one that I know of. I couldn’t help but smile at the memory.

  Radek looked at his father. “The account belongs to one of Louis’s people, and get this: the money was transferred into that account from Louis himself. We got him. That’s where the trail ends for now.”

  “I have people working on the paperwork. Who was the account linked to?” Val was typing into his phone.

  “Our very own Joshua,” I read through clenched teeth over Radek’s shoulder.

  Radek’s phone rang. “Yes, Dante?”

  “Can we move on the house tomorrow night?” Dante’s voice was barely audible.

  “I can arrange it. So it checks out on your end?” Radek replied.

  “Yes. I’m bringing Jenna back to the safe house, then crashing. I’ll leave the planning to you,” Dante said.

  “All right, we’ll meet you guys there. We have what we need to go after Louis. Now we just have to find him and Thane.”

  “We went and checked it out. It looks like Thane is around.” Dante’s voice sounded deadly calm.

  I didn’t know all the history between them, but I was sure that Dante didn’t like Thane one bit. From this distance, I wasn’t picking up on what he was thinking. I didn’t feel like accessing the memories either. Right now I really just wanted to shut down for a while.

  “Perfect. Do you think they know we’re on to them yet?” Radek leaned back against the couch. He looked exhausted.