“Damien, thank you for telling us this and for treating us like adults instead of cutesy dolls who need a man to protect them.” Too bad Damien wasn’t the alpha, Rico would probably be much easier to manage.
“Rico really stepped in it, didn’t he?” Damien directed his question to Kat.
“Yeah. I would have slapped him if he said those things to me. The guy needs to learn to chill and trust Jenna more. She really has improved, and now with magic, we can kick some serious demon butt.”
“Alright, there are two rules. I will treat you just like my pack members if you follow these two rules.”
“What are they?” I could follow two rules, I hoped.
“One, you listen to what I say. There must be a hierarchy when in battle. All military units function this way. including local police.” Damien was someone I could follow into battle. He had proven to be fair and trustworthy. Plus, he didn’t treat me like a fragile doll.
“Ok, I can do that. What’s the second one?” I stated while Kat nodded her agreement.
“Two, you let Kat use the magic first. I know you used up a lot of magic yesterday. Rico wasn’t kidding when he said you needed to recover.”
“But…”
“No. You listen to me. This is part of following orders. I have no problem with you using magic, as long as it is done properly.”
“What if I need to use a force field spell, and Kat is busy?” Surely, he wouldn’t have a cow if it was life or death.
“Only use a spell if there is nothing left to do. Save it as your Hail Mary. Trust me. I have seen humans overdo it with magic. It’s not pretty.” He was right, of course. Joseph warned us all about overuse of magic.
“I can do it. I won’t use magic, unless there are no options left for me.” I could do this. There were other ways I could help, like ushering the girls to safety if we found them. Or fighting off any acolytes.
“Thank you, Jenna. If you don’t follow my rules, you won’t be going on any future patrols. This is very serious. Disregarding orders can not only get you in danger but also the rest of your team. I won’t allow you to do anything which could injure or kill anyone on my team. Got it?” Now Damien was starting to sound like a drill sergeant, or at least what I assumed one sounded like.
“Got it.” I almost saluted and said, aye, aye, captain. Something told me my snarky attitude wouldn’t be appreciated at the moment.
For Damien, and Rico, to take me seriously, I had to behave properly. I’ve seen enough to know this isn’t a joking matter. While I was still ticked off with Rico, Damien had a few good points. I needed to follow orders, something I was never good at.
Outside of my sisters, I had never been much of a team player. This situation called for something different than my normal style. It was time for me to join the team and help where I could, not just do what I wanted to do.
“Damien, I really do want to help. So just tell me what to do, and I promise to do my best.” Giving it my best was really all anyone could ask of me.
“Thank you, Jenna. We should check the attic of the mall. Sometimes, vamps will set up temporary nests here. It’s a great place to hide. At night, once everyone has left, they can steal all they want from the shops, if they are in the corridors.”
“Luke, why don’t you join me and the girls? Jose, you split off with the rest of the pack and search for signs of blood-sucker activity. We’ll take the attics.” Damien led Kat and I to the entrance of the area marked “Employees Only.”
“What’s back here?” I had never worked in a mall so I never had access to these areas.
“Mostly just the back entrances to each store. There’s a hallway going from one end of the mall to the other. This is how they take out trash during the day and receive deliveries as well. The doors are usually locked tight. So let me know if you see a door wedged open or looks to have been forced open.” Damien opened the access door and held it for both Kat and I. All of the men in this pack were gentleman, for the most part.
I heard Damien answer his phone. It sounded like he was talking to Rico. I didn’t want to eavesdrop, but I did.
Sounded like Rico wanted to join us. I really hoped he didn’t.
Did being a gentlemen go hand in hand with being a misogynist? Or was it just my bad luck to meet gentlemen who had no belief in women’s abilities?
I don’t hate men. Actually, I love them. So why is it I have had such back luck in the romance department? Something to ponder another time, I suppose. Now, it was time to focus on the mission and pay attention to details.
We turned left and headed to the far end of the mall. As we went along, I read the signs on the doors. My credit card itched to come out and shop when we walked past Vicky’s Closet. They had the best pajama sets.
I continued to scan the doors and stopped in front of one with no sign. “Damien, look at the lock on this door. I can’t tell if it’s been broken into, but it looks to be an empty store. The deadbolt has been scratched a few times where it locks into the jamb.”
Damien turned around and came back to where I stood. “Good eye, Jenna. Stand back.” Damien wiggled the door handle, and it opened.
Kat and I took several steps back and let Damien and Luke go first.
Inside was black as night. The only light shone in from the hallway we were standing in.
Once the guys were inside, I stuck my head in and looked around. “Kat, do you have a penlight? I can’t see much.”
Without saying a word, Kat handed me a small flashlight which looked more like a black ballpoint pen than a flashlight. After I clicked it on, I flashed a small amount of light over the floor. There were stacks of boxes surrounded by discarded paper and trash. Even some Chinese take-out boxes were strewn on the ground.
I whispered, “Damien, someone’s living here. That take-out box is fresh. There aren’t even any bugs hanging out yet.”
He turned around and put a finger to his lips. Of course, he knew it already. If someone was inside, he could probably hear them. A wolf could pick up on a heartbeat at least twenty feet away.
Vamps didn’t have heartbeats, but storm girls and acolytes did.
Chapter 26
Rico
“When am I ever going to learn?” I knew pushing Jenna away from the case was wrong. She’s too strong-willed for her own good. I just didn’t think it would push her away from me or make her so mad she would go out to patrol without me by her side.
Women. Can’t live with them and can’t live without them. How do couples last so long?
“Damien, I ticked off Jenna like you wouldn’t believe.” I dialed my second in command hoping he was going to work with Jenna, and protect her.
“I know. She and Kat are here with me now. Don’t worry, I’ll watch over her and protect them both.” Damien was the next best wolf to protect my Jenna. She would be safe with him.
“How do you suppose I make this up to her? She compared me to all of her idiot ex-boyfriends. I always thought I was a better man than most. Am I really that bad?” I couldn’t be so awful, could I?
“You are a fantastic Alpha, Rico. I think with Jenna, you just need to dial back the Alpha role. She’s a very modern, independent woman. From the sounds of things, she’s had back luck with guys trying to control her. I know you don’t want to control her, but maybe you can come off as a control-freak to a human who doesn’t get the whole alpha role?” I hadn’t thought of it in those terms. Damien made a good point.
“Alright, I’ll try to let her make more of her own decisions. I just don’t know how my wolf will handle letting her walk into a dangerous situation.” This was the crux of the problem. My wolf.
He sees Jenna as our mate. It’s the male’s job to protect the female. I know all about women’s lib, and I support it. There are several females in my pack who could kick some serious butt. Some of them would best all of the men, except for Damien and me. There’s a reason why I’m the alpha, and Damien is the beta. We have proven ourselves t
o be the strongest in the pack.
A wolf pack hierarchy is based on strength. He, or she, who is the toughest gets the leadership roles. The only reason Joseph is regarded so highly is because he has the magical connections, and he saved my pack many times using his knowledge of alchemy. Otherwise, he would be the lowest of the low in the omega group.
Omega’s are the bottom of the pack. They do the jobs no one else wants to do, kind of like a grunt in the military. Some packs treat their omegas like dirt, but I don’t. Sure, they get the grunt jobs, but they aren’t beat up like in some other packs.
Dialing back my wolf when it comes to Jenna is going to be very tough.
“Hey, do you mind if I come by the mall and check on Jenna? Do you think she would hate me more if I did so?” I wasn’t going to tell her what to do, I just wanted to be around in case she needed me.
“I wouldn’t, if I were you. If you do, just hang back. Don’t join our team. Maybe you could lead the other team? Or take some of the pack from Jose’s team and check out somewhere else? It could keep you close by, but not too close to make her feel watched.” Damien was smart. I knew there was a reason I confided in him.
“Right. I’ll call Jose and meet up with them. Thanks Damien.” I hung up and dialed Jose. If Damien ever left us, Jose would be in line for the Beta role.
“Hey, boss. What’s up?” Jose answered on the second ring.
“I’m heading your way. Wondered if you had some men who wanted to join me in searching the area around the mall.” I really wanted to be closer to Jenna.
“Did you want to take over my team? I’m cool if you want to lead.” Jose never seemed to mind when I took over. He knew his position in the pack well.
“Nah, you can keep leading, I just wanted a few wolves to help me search nearby. I don’t want to be at the mall, unless you need me.” Not really the truth, but it was reality.
“Sure thing. Call me when you get here. I’m heading to the south side of the mall. Damien and his crew are going to search the attic.”
“See you soon.” I was about to hang up when something in Jose’s voice changed.
“Boss, don’t hang up. You better hurry and get here. Something’s going on. I see people running from where Damien’s team should be right now.”
“Jose, go back them up. I’ll be there as soon as I can.” I hung up, jumped in my car, and sped to the mall. There was no way speed limits would get in my way of protecting Jenna.
I dialed Damien, but it went to voicemail after four rings. It meant he was busy, probably fighting vampires. Then I tried Jenna. No answer on her phone either. Surely she would have answered me if she could, right?
Kat was next on my list to call. If she didn’t answer, then I knew they were in danger.
“Son of a biscuit eater!” Kat didn’t answer either.
Chapter 27
Jenna
“Jenna, so good of you to come and bring your friend. We could use some more fresh blood.” Oh stink! I recognized the voice. It was Alexy from the storage facility.
“I don’t think you’re going to like my friends. They tend to kill vampires in very gruesome ways.” Now I wished Rico was here.
“The wolves aren’t welcome, I meant Kat. Yes, I know all of your bandmates. Scott may not have been the smartest acolyte, but he was right when he said we were all fans of your music. If you would just agree to serve me, you and your sisters would live. I would take very good care of you.” Alexy was delusional if he thought we would become acolytes.
“Sorry, the wolves have a much better health plan. I think I’ll stick with them.” The wolves would do everything they could to keep us alive, I doubted the vamps would keep us alive for very long, even if we volunteered.
“Oh, don’t be like that. We can give you immortality. What can the wolves offer? Furry kisses? Obedience? Wouldn’t you rather play your music for eternity?” His voice kept moving around, almost like he was flying above us.
I turned to where I heard his voice last and didn’t see anything. In fact, I didn’t even see the wolves anymore. They had disappeared while I was chatting up the vamp.
“Kat, where’d the guys go?” I whispered in her ear.
She looked around with wide eyes and shrugged. They must have moved super fast, just like the vamps.
“Get some spells out. We’re gonna need them,” I whispered again.
Kat reached into her bag and pulled out a few of the different colored stones. She put the red ones back. Again, we weren’t in a place where throwing bombs would work well. Maybe in open spaces, like a park, we could use them safely. Well, as safely as you can use a magical bomb.
I picked out two pink charms and two yellow ones. Those worked the best when I fought the vamps yesterday. Kat shook her head, so I put them in my pocket to show I was only going to hold them for in case of an emergency. She nodded in understanding.
She also picked up a few each of the pink and yellow ones. Kat even pulled out two blue stones, then she put the rest back in her bag. I never did get around to using a blue one. I hoped she opened with it when the vamps were close enough.
I jerked my head to the left when I heard boxes falling. With the penlight, I tried to see what was going on. Whatever, or whoever, knocked over the boxes was too far away for my little penlight to see. At best, we could make out the outlines of boxes up to five feet away.
“Jenna, the door.” Kat pointed to the door we came through, and we tried to make our way back to it. If we could get the door opened, we might have more light to see.
“Uh, uh, uh. No leaving now that the party is just starting. You two are the special guests.” Alexy was toying with us.
He stayed in the shadows so we couldn’t see him. Smart. It would make throwing spells at him harder.
“Alexy, we just wanted to get some light on the party. Unlike paranormals, we can’t see well in the dark. Who wants to party when they can’t see everyone?” I continued to make my way to the door.
Hands grabbed me from behind and fangs tried to grab onto my neck. The protection charm warmed my wrist and covered my body in a warm glow. Alexy was thrown back against the wall with a thud.
Since I knew where the sound was coming from, I turned my pen light toward Alexy. His face was set in a scowl, and he tried shaking the effects of the electrical discharge off before getting up.
“Now, Kat. Blue,” I hoped she heard me whisper.
Kat pulled out the blue spell stone and threw it at Alexy’s chest. He put his hand out to grab the spell.
“Ow!” Alexy screamed as the stone blew a hole in his hand and landed in his ribcage.
It wasn’t a death blow, but it had to hurt like a knife or steak to the chest would.
I could see the hole in his hand. His disbelief was evident on his face as he looked between his hand and his chest.
This was my chance to end him. I pulled a stake from my backpack and ran at him with Kat on my heels.
Alexy must have been too stunned to pay any attention until I was right in front of him. I dropped to my knees and slammed the stake in his chest, next to the spell stone.
The vampire’s eyes turned red with rage, and he grabbed my wrist and pulled it back from his body. I left the stake in his chest, and he laughed.
“Oh, that hurts. Jenna, why would you try to hurt me after all we’ve been through?” Alexy used his other hand to pull out the stake.
For some reason I was too weak to drive it far enough into his chest. Was this why I shouldn’t be out so soon after using too much magic? Was my physical strength zapped away?
Kat was directly behind me and holding her own stake. She lunged at the vamp who moved me directly in front of him. I was now a vampire shield.
“Oh, Kat. You don’t want to hurt your sister, do you? She’s decided to protect me from you.”
“Let her go, and I will willingly give you my neck.”
“Kat, NO! You can’t do that.” What was she thinking?
“I’m not falling for any tricks, girl. I know I can’t bite your neck until your protection spell wears off.” Alexy stood up and pulled me tight against his body, while wrapping one arm around my middle to keep me in place.
“It’s no trick. If I agree to allow you to bite, you can.” Kat was nuts.
“Drop your stake and come closer. Why would you want to let me bite you?”
“Because I’ve been bitten before. I want that euphoria again.”
“Kat, what are you doing? Damien will save us as soon as he’s done with the other vamps.” We could hear some scuffling and sounds of grunts. I guessed our two guys were fighting the other vamps. I hadn’t seen or heard anyone else yet.
“Ah, yes. Why weren’t you made an acolyte? If you enjoyed the vampire who tasted you, why are you with your sisters?” Alexy was licking his lips next to my ear. The sounds made me cringe and gag.
“Don’t do this, Kat. It’s not worth it. We can hold out.”
“Actually, you can’t. If you get in the way, I will just snap your neck. It’s a waste of perfectly good blood, but I will do it, if you don’t shut up. I want to taste your sister who’s willingly giving herself to me. It’s so much more enjoyable when a human begs to be drank.”
“I don’t want to hold out. I dream about the vamp who drank from me over a year ago. This is what I want. He was supposed to come back for me, but he never did.” Kat never told me about this.
Was it a ruse? Or did she really feel this way? If it was a ruse, Kat’s a great actor.
“Your wolf friends must have killed him. It’s alright, you can join my acolytes. Seems we are a bit low at the moment. If you are good enough, I will eventually turn you into an immortal god like myself.” Alexy really had issues if he thought he was a god.
Either way, I had to play along with her moves. “Kat, don’t do this. You’ll lose all of us if you join him.”
“Jenna, you have your wolf. I want a vamp. Can’t you understand? Human men just don’t do it for me. Not since I learned about the paranormal.”
Hurricane of Magic Page 15