Blood for blood

by Tobi Grim

  “Little Red, Dameon, how good to see you. How are you doing? What can I help you with? Are you her to see… the Commander?”

  “Hey Lucy,” Lupa replied, “We’re good. Um, yes actually, if she available now or do we need to make an appointment?”

  Lucy tapped away on her computer briefly. “Sorry sweetheart, looks like she’s booked up today. There’s been fifteen new cases put in over the weekend, the Commander and Jackie have been locked up together all morning. Looks like the Commander has put through a message saying she won’t be seeing anyone else today. My, my, my!”

  It grated on Lupa’s nerves the way Lucy made a point of calling Slasher ‘the Commander’ every time she spoke to her, but she guessed that that’s the way things usually ran and fuck it if Lupa was practically Slasher’s child.

  “Ok, can we book in to see her tomorrow at all?”

  Lucy gave them a strained smile and tapped away some more. “How’s nine thirty?” Lupa nodded and turned her back to leave, Dameon already with his hand on the door. “Oh, and Lupa... Sorry about Karl.”

  Lupa didn’t even bother to turn around. She just nodded and let Dameon lead her out. Yeah right she was fucking sorry. She didn’t really fucking know him, what bullshit.

  ⃝

  Lupa and Dameon sat in Slasher’s office the following day, waiting for her to explain the circumstances around the nest hunt, and why she went on it with such little information. Slasher looked uncomfortable. Lupa felt her heart pick up a little and not in a good way.

  “Well... yes, you’re right, not everything is in the files... but uh... it wasn’t a mistake.” Slasher folded and unfolded her hands, “You wouldn’t know this, Little Red, but ... Hammer is Tank’s brother.”

  Lupa felt Dameon’s eyebrows shoot up as quickly as hers did. “What?”

  “Ok, this isn’t public information, so you’ll have to keep it to yourselves. Hammer is one of Tank’s little brothers. A half-brother. They don’t see each other very often because of Tank being a part of The Organization… and they don’t really get along, but when he came to us with this information, we knew that things must be serious. Hammer has a very mild magickal ability, he can sense things, but that’s about it. He doesn’t want that information to be known, because he doesn’t want The Organization keeping tabs on him. So Hammer came directly to us. Tank managed convinced him to make a formal report, but as you can see… Hammer left a lot of information out… and I kind of want to keep it that way…” Slasher took a deep breath and looked from one to the other. Lupa kept her mouth closed, and Dameon followed suit.

  “Hammer knew where the nest was because he had gone there to do a... transaction. The magick in his blood wasn’t strong enough for them to sense him, but with there being purebloods present he could feel that it was more than just some watered down wolfbloods, and that there was far too many of them together for them to just be a regular group of people looking to sell... some of his products. He suspected that they were planning an attack. I’m not exactly sure how he came to that conclusion, when I asked him he closed up about it. But he wanted them off his turf. Hammer doesn’t care much about those with a little wolf in their blood, because in that part of town, they can be... useful enforcers. And so he came to us... and I didn’t include that in the reports, for Tank’s sake more than anything…” She leaned back and looked Lupa in the eyes. Waiting for her to say something.

  “Can I talk to him?” Lupa asked slowly.

  She trusted Slasher, and she knew that this was a very good reason in her eyes to leave things out, but she didn’t give a fuck about the reports, what she wanted was answers. And blood. Blood for the blood spilled.

  “Of course, but I have to ask you to either do it as though you’re going off what is in the reports, or you say you’re asking off the books. Although it’s not against the rules, I want to keep Tank out of it as much as possible, and that means keeping Hammer’s bloodline out of the official stuff. And I know Tank would appreciate it. We both would.”

  “Ok. Well...we have our explanation then, and we can work with that. Did The Organization not ask any questions about it? Especially Darwin?”

  Slasher grinned, her face relaxing. “Oh he did, but I think I convinced him I’m just that good that I knew Hammer was telling the truth. I can’t be sure, but he hasn’t contacted me about any of those type of details since interviewing everyone. He’s only asked questions about you... and now you too, Dameon.”

  Dameon nodded and glanced at Lupa out of the corner of his eye. Lupa bit her lip, feeling guilty, he had known she wanted to avenge Karl, but having an official investigator on his case hadn’t been in the job description.

  “I’m having dinner with him tonight,” Lupa nodded, “I would rather go on a dinner date with a fucking wolfblood, but I’ll do it. And hopefully he’ll fuck off soon.”

  She felt Dameon shift uncomfortably in his seat next to her, she sometimes forgot that other people didn’t speak to their Commander like that, but Slasher wasn’t just her Commander, she was much more than that.

  “Well... be careful. Baxter is a slimy little bastard. All investigators are, that is what makes them so good at their jobs. But it’s hell for people like us, especially seeing as he doesn’t seem too interested in the case anymore. The jerk doesn’t believe that there’s any more purebloods here, none of them do. Our lookouts’ word mean shit to him. He even managed to convince one of them that they must have been seeing things and that they needed to take a fucking vacation. Now he’s got his sights set on you, Little Red, I suspect he’s hoping that you’ll give him some kind of clue how to unlock that power of yours, so that he can be the hero and bring the information back to Central.... have you learned anymore about it? You’d have told me, right?”

  “Slash, as if I’d keep something like that from you. Fuck, if I had, I’d be down at yours planning a way to roast all of the fucking wolfbloods in Black City.”

  “Of course... I know. But... yeah...” she gave her that worried motherly look, then passed her gaze over to Lupa’s Protector. “And Dameon... I want you to keep an eye on her, and I’m not talking about in a Protector’s sense either. I’d advise you to be waiting for her after that dinner, don’t want her going out and getting into a fight to get out her frustrations.”

  Lupa snorted. Very fucking funny. “Right.”

  “I don’t know, Commander,” Dameon grinned, “I wouldn’t mind seeing that. Aint seen her fight for real yet...”

  “Speaking of which,” Lupa sent him a mock glare, “We were wondering if there were any cases going? Something small maybe, to start us off?”

  Slasher nodded with a smile and stood up. She thumbed through the case files and pulled out a thin folder. “There’s a guy suspected to be wolfblood in Slateton, there’s been reports of a few people going missing over the last few weeks, and a body of a girl was found with her flesh torn in what appears to be teeth marks, and her stomach ripped open. The rest of the information and reports are in here, you know the drill.” She dropped the file in front of Dameon. “Good luck with your first case together.”

  “Thanks Slasher, we’ll get right on it.” Lupa stood and bowed with Dameon before heading out.

  “The Commander usually keep shit like that from you?” Dameon asked as they walked out the building.

  “No... But... I don’t often hunt with her. And I haven’t exactly wanted to do much talking about the specifics until now.” She glanced to him as he was running his thumb up and down his jaw. “She wouldn’t hide it from me on purpose. Her and Tank have been together for over twenty years, she was fighting before The Organization was even public.”

  “Hmm.”

  Lupa could tell he wanted to say more, but she was kind of glad he didn’t. Lupa pulled out her phone and glanced at the time. Already twelve thirty. This day was going by far too quickly, hurtling towards that fucking dinner she’d have to attend in the evening.

  “Hungry? Wanna go get lunch?”
Dameon asked, dropping his hand to his side, “We could look over the file and work out who to start questioning tomorrow?”

  “Yeah sure. We could always head down and start today if you want? You must be eager to do your first proper case... well uh, shit... not proper but, you know... first one where you aren’t a tag along... fuck, I mean...”

  Dameon laughed, she felt like a fucking idiot. “Think you might wanna stop talking now, Little Red, I wouldn’t want you to eat your whole leg all at once.”

  She laughed. “Yeah, sorry about that. But aren’t you keen to get started on this as soon as you can? Or does it not feel that different?”

  “Oh, I’m keen! I never been at this stage before, only ever been asked along after the investigating has been done before hand, only ever filled in as needed. But... you got that dinner on tonight, pretty sure it’s going to be hard enough for you to concentrate as it is. Tomorrow is fresh. I can always do a bit myself, y’know-”

  “No. Never go alone, you know the deal.”

  He shrugged, “Sometimes these things are better done alone, the people in Slateton probably don’t want to talk to or be intimidated by Organization members.”

  Sure, sometimes people didn’t want to talk to them because of what they were, but you still never went alone. “Yes, I agree to some extent, but that’s not how things work when you are partnered. If you’re going to ask anyone shit alone, I’ll need to be nearby. Ok?”

  He shrugged and waited for her to unlock her car. As Lupa stepped around the front of the car something made her stop in her tracks. Her heart started pounding in her ears, her knuckles going white as she gripped her keys.

  “Red...” Dameon was reaching for her, she tried to turn but she couldn’t, “Red, get down...”

  Something caught in her chest, what was he trying to say? She couldn’t breathe, she couldn’t move, white hot pain was spreading through her body. She blinked but it seemed like her vision was shrinking, everything was going dark. Lupa collapsed on to the road, hearing Dameon roaring her name but….

  ⃝

  Lupa opened her aching eyes to see her crack riddled roof above her. Fuck. What had happened? Her body felt heavy. She could hear people talking. Wait, that wasn’t right, she could hear Dameon talking, half yelling, and Slasher responding quietly.

  “...you better be fucking reprimanding them! Isn’t it against the fucking Rule...? I don’t give a fuck if they thought it was a fucking joke, you don’t fucking use magick against fellow Hunters! I’ve got half a mind to go down and bash her fucking face in...”

  “Dameon,” she heard Slasher respond quietly, “you need to calm down. You won’t hear me until you calm down...”

  “Calm fucking down? They could have gotten her seriously fucking hurt! If I hadn’t been there…”

  Lupa gingerly sat up, finally regaining control of her body. Her chest was aching but she needed to find out what the fuck was going on. She could see Slasher leaning against the kitchen bench, and Dameon pacing back and forth in front of her.

  “Lupa! You’re awake,” Slasher approached her with a glass of water and sat down on the end of the couch. “How are you feeling? Are you alright?”

  Lupa drank the water slowly, unsure of her own voice.

  “Little Red,” Dameon was on the floor kneeling by her, holding her head in his hands and searching her face, “Are you ok?”

  “What happened?” she croaked, already knowing, already feeling, that some fucker had used some damn spell curse against her. She couldn’t understand why, though.

  “That fucking bitch! Some fucking-”

  “Dameon. Let me talk please. You’re too angry.” Slasher gave Dameon the look that had always made Lupa shut her mouth as a protesting teenager.

  “Don’t fucking sugar coat it” he mumbled, letting go of Lupa’s face and placing a protective hand on the back of her neck.

  “Little Red, someone has used a spell curse on you. Not a lingering one, you were only out for three hours. From what I’ve found out so far it was someone playing a joke on you, and no, not a funny one but that’s what everyone is saying the person meant to do. Dameon says he saw who it was, and I’ll be questioning her. But right now, I need to make sure you’re ok. Do you want me to call Mr Baxtor and cancel? I don’t think you’re in much of a position to call yourself, and you definitely aren’t going the way you’re looking…”

  Lupa looked down to see all the visible veins in her body angry, black and pulsating. What the fuck? She knew exactly what it was, a spell curse designed to knock someone out. Usually used on particularly difficult humans in league with wolfbloods, or on wolfbloods themselves. It was written in Magickal Rule that spell curses were never to be used against another employee of The Organization; unless that employee had become hostile or violent.

  “Yeah... please call him for me.” Was all she could think to say. Who the fuck would ... “Who was it, Dameon?” she asked, turning towards him.

  “The chick from the library yesterday, Brianna. I saw her lurking across the street in the alley. Fuck, Red... I should have grabbed you quicker, I’m supposed to fucking protect you! That bitch can’t get away with this! How dare she! And to think I wouldn’t fucking see her, I fucking saw her clear as day!”

  He suddenly grabbed her head and pulled it to him, the abrupt action making Lupa’s head spin. She closed her eyes for a moment, trying to still her mind again.

  “Well, we don’t know for sure it was her...” Slasher began.

  “Fucking hell, yes we do. I fucking saw her. I know... I know who she is, I’d fucking recognise that bitch anywhere. This is your fucking daughter, you don’t need to be diplomatic right now, right here, what you need to do is to go and fucking get that stuck up bitch.”

  “Dameon, please stop squeezing my head,” Lupa wheezed, he let her go gently, his fierce eyes glued on Slasher.

  “Dameon, I believe you, and don’t ever insinuate again that I don’t care about Lupa, she’s... she’s my daughter. I will find out what happened, but you know I can’t make any assumptions yet. You know as Commander I have to be un-biased about this, any hint that I’m siding with you two and ... well, Brianna could go above my head and get off for it. But we can talk about this more when Lupa is feeling better and once I’ve had a chance to talk to Brianna. Let me just go call Mr Baxtor, I’ll be right back.”

  Slasher stalked out Lupa’s front door to give Darwin a call in the hallway. Dameon moved to take her spot at the end of the couch, his eyes travelling over Lupa’s body, pausing, looking closely at the veins in her hands.

  “Dameon... do you know Brianna?”

  Dameon coloured slightly. “Uh... yeah. Kinda. We dated. Briefly.”

  Great. “So... was this because of you? Not as in... your fault, but like... because she still has a thing for you? Why didn’t you tell me you dated her?”

  Dameon shrugged and looked back up to her face. She noticed that his eyes looked a little pink, shit. He’d been pretty worried about her then. Fuck, he’d yelled at their Commander, the woman who raised her. Not many people would’ve had the balls to do that no matter how worried they were.

  “I think she’s dating Grey now, so I don’t see why she would be... and I didn’t want you to associate me with that bitch. I dunno, just seemed petty to say something...”

  Fuck. Fuckity fuck fuck. Grey wouldn’t have said anything would he? She didn’t really know him well enough to know... She needed a fucking drink, and a smoke. Lupa got up and grabbed a couple of beers out her almost empty fridge. She handed one to Dameon and flopped back onto the couch.

  “It’s just one thing after another at the moment. Fucking hell.” She lit a smoke, and took a long drink. “Darwin is going to have a fucking field day with this, he seems like someone who enjoys this sort of gossip. Ugh.”

  Slasher came back in the door, but didn’t close it. “Mr Baxtor was so very understanding. That guy gives me the creeps. He said he’d call you next week, I told hi
m I had just given you a case and that you needed time to recover and get back to work. Unfortunately, it means he’s staying longer, but at least you don’t have to worry about it for now. I’m heading back to HQ, Tank’s found Brianna and her Protector, Shane, he’s bringing them in for me to question. I’ll call you later?”

  Lupa nodded. Dameon didn’t look at either of them, fishing out his cigarettes, he gave the packet his undivided attention. Slasher noticed, of course, but she just smiled at Lupa and left, closing the door gently behind her. Lupa sighed as she opened the draw in her coffee table, rummaging around the mess and found two pills to take. She was pretty that sure whatever they were, they would help with the headache beginning to pound in her head. What a fucking day.

  “Are you ok?”

  “Yeah... I’m ok, headache. Sore, and a little embarrassed, but ok. You going to hang around now that I don’t have to go to dinner?”

  “If you want me to... shit, Lupa... wait, can I call you that?” she nodded as he continued, “I’m sorry for going off at the Commander. I know she raised you, and I know she’s gotta do this by the book... but it just seemed like she wasn’t as mad as she should be. Aint my place to judge. I dunno what it’s like to be her, but fuck, Lupa... it just scared the shit out of me. I thought you were dying. Only had you in my life for like... a week or something, but... shit, I dunno. I didn’t mean to over react or nothing...”

  She grabbed his hand before it reached his face. “This isn’t just regularly getting to know someone, they push you to be close quick. That’s why they do the tests, you have to know... you have to trust your partner one hundred fucking percent. This connection isn’t entered into lightly, don’t ever feel weird about it. Our lives are bonded now. Don’t worry about Slasher, she understands. I’ve seen Tank look like that once before too, he broke a guy’s legs for trying to… attack her… actually he did a bit more than that, but she knows. And if she does for some reason happen to care, I’ll talk to her.”