by Erin R Flynn
“Okay then, thanks,” I accepted, noting he frowned that all he got was a verbal pat on the back. Maybe later, but we had a lot of people already joining us. I went over and sighed when I saw there wasn’t even a dent in my SUV and there hadn’t been a car on that side of me, so we were clear.
For once.
My heart hurt as the guy changed back to a man, sighing as I squatted over him and closed his eyes. “You could have been free of him and all this shit when he died, and instead you’ll rot with him wherever the bad guys end up. What a waste.”
“Sera, you okay?” Brian called over, pushing through people and ordering a perimeter set up from the police that had already arrived on the scene.
“Yeah, just pissed,” I grumbled, getting to my feet.
He frowned as he joined me. “Well, of course.”
“No, I mean this need for revenge that’s in the community,” I explained quietly, taking my turn to pace now that I was so agitated. “Lyon came after me for the prize of what I have but was the pawn for the wolf elder who wanted me put in my place or whatever. Revenge for upsetting the system or doing better than they were when I’m new. Then Lyon’s witch lover got her supposed revenge. Now this guy for his father who hurt others.
“Where does it end? When does the fucking useless pride or vengeance end? That shark shifter came after those who attacked her to bring honor back to her and her family. This kid was thinking the same thing. How is that honorable? Why does this keep being the central issue? Who comes next? Engle had no family so I’m cleared. I am a Dorcus now, so that’s weird. We still don’t know Bob’s name.”
All these months later and I still wouldn’t call a criminal by a fucking superhero name. Bad guys didn’t deserve names like Black Vengeance.
“Will India’s family come after me because I tried to bring her in and she killed herself? I made peace with Igor’s people, but let’s be honest that several probably want to put me in the ground. And so will some attached to this wolf elder. I mean, I’m used to that with the job, but it seems to always be these crazy fucking extremes.”
Brian grabbed my arm and dragged me to the other side of the SUV, immediately letting go once we were alone. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry I touched you, but you were getting loud, and that is not something you want people hearing and recording.”
“No, yeah, thanks,” I muttered, crossing my arms over my chest and then dropping them before moving away a bit. “Sorry.”
“I’m the one who put his hands on you like that,” he rasped, looking away from me. “I’m the one who assaulted the woman he loves. I’m terrified some part of that man is in me too.” He turned and walked away, and I blinked back tears, leaning my head against my SUV and too tired to pull myself back together. We were all so, so messed up from what had happened that night.
And the worst part was none of us seemed to have any idea on what to do or how to work through it. I thought we needed more than a couple of days and some perspective, but we were always around each other besides personal, work or pack or club or whatever, that it was hard. Which was why I thought the apartment idea was smarter than I originally had. It would give the twins and Noah—even Dain if he still cared—a chance to take a step back.
My phone rang, and I saw it was Haton, clearing my throat to get any lingering emotion out of it as I answered. “I’m fine. The bear is dead. Axel’s taking point.”
“I had no idea he attacked, but I’m glad you are both safe,” she replied with her quick way that didn’t show much emotion but wasn’t heartless either. “I called in a few favors, and I believe I have a way to handle this cartel situation if Deputy Director Galvin would speak to me off the record. He is still there, yes?”
“Yup, let me get him and I’ll call you right back. We’ve got a mess with that bear and well, we’ve always just got a mess here in Chicago.”
“ Life is always a mess, Chief Thomas. You’re at the center of clearing a lot of them up, something other places would kill to have, so remember that each time this overwhelms you.”
I thanked her, thinking it was some of the best advice I’d been given about how to handle all the crazy. Even good crazy was still crazy.
And there was always bad crazy.
However, what Haton had come up with was good crazy that led to the miracle of the FBI working on a joint Global Shifter Council cleanup that was bound to make some people shit their pants. Hey, that was half the fun some days.
20
“Good evening, I’m Division Chief Seraphine Thomas, and I’d like to welcome you to my party because it is my party and if you fuck it up, your gift bag will include your entrails,” I said to the large group gathered at the staging area. “If you are unclear as to who is in charge here, I am your cruise director, and refer to the previous statement where I said it is my party. Any questions on that? No, good, moving on then.
“The deal for this bust is in place.” I bit back a smirk at the frowns several had that I kept talking when they might have asked questions but really argue, so fuck them. “DEA gets the drugs. ATF gets the alcohol, tobacco, and firearms. My teams are pulling out the people who are going to the Global Shifter Council and will work with my office and the regular FBI.
“They also get the rest. That is the deal made. This is a private deal they worked out with Mexican authorities who get the win of taking out a whole cartel and whoever might be dirty on their payroll, as this is an international shit fest that started with them trying to purchase endangered shifters, children of the Alpha. That Alpha is me, and that is how my party started.
“By attending this party, you agree to the following—you will keep your mouths shut. And I mean shut . I do not want one whisper of bullshit that supposedly will happen that makes kindergartners look smart when they play telephone. If not, I will show up at each of your doors and sniff out who ran their mouths and fuck them up. This is a once in a lifetime chance to do a lot of good from a lot of players in one swoop.
“And if someone ruins the chance at doing it again when it’s my party, I believe I mentioned what your party favor will be. Everyone agree now or go home.” I waited until lots of people nodded, but there were two problems. I glanced at Axel. “Restrain those two until we’re done, and then I want them because I promised Deputy Director Galvin anyone who wasn’t on the up-and-up.”
Shit started, as one guy was with the Mexican side and one a DEA agent. Axel finally got pissed and let out a huge snarl. “Shut it! This one reeks of guilt, and he’s so scared I think his heart might give out.” He studied the DEA agent and frowned. “I don’t know your deal, but you aren’t on our side of this.”
“He’s probably here to give a detailed report to everyone about how many laws we won’t really break and a firsthand account of a blood bath we’re trying to cover up.” I rolled my eyes when his heart freaked out then. “Yes, because we didn’t plan for someone pulling that shit, asshole. You’re not even on the breech team, so I’m not sure how you would have knowledge of anything, but we’re trying to save lives here, you bigot.”
The good news was the other DEA people gave the guy a look of disgust and had no problem with the guy being restrained.
“Now, back to the rules. People keep their mouths shut. No telling lies when you have to answer your direct chain of command. And no bitching or trying to change the deal later.” I glanced at one guy specifically. “And you’re on the blood. Yes, the vampires will need to feed after they do this, and you’re in charge of the blood. Someone will have to get us shifters food too, as it takes a lot of energy to do this and do it well.”
Again, I waited until people nodded and I had confirmation they were all good with the plan. We’d been worried about all the players and how many knew… Which was why we’d sort of lied about when it was going to happen. Once we’d gotten the okay from the Mexican government—some of whom weren’t always clean, but neither was my government, so I didn’t judge—we’d set it for over a week out knowing
we were going in right away.
Hey, it was a good plan because no one had the chance to even tip anyone off.
“From the moment we go in, Chief Havers is host of this party and can speak on my behalf.”
“Wow, guess she wears the pants of their relationship,” one guy said to his buddies.
“Actually we both wear the pants, but I look great in a skirt or dress too,” I drawled, rolling my eyes at the guy. “He’s the boss lots of times, but this one is mine.” I smirked at Brian, doing it for show, not that I was comfortable with him now. “Though I’m sure you would look fabulous in a skirt. A nice kilt would be lovely.”
“Thanks,” he chuckled, getting what had been said even if he didn’t hear it.
“As I said, Chief Havers is in charge the minute we go live, and if you have any questions or stray thoughts, talk to him and only he will answer questions that haven’t been covered, as he speaks for me. Drinks will be provided on this cruise after we finish, as I know pulling everyone in last minute is a huge pain in the ass, and it’s not like we went around the corner but another country.
“So there is a lovely bottle of fairy nectar for each of you provided by Queen Laila of the fairies, as she was very thrilled at the immediate action to help protect the endangered shifters she adores. I thank you as well and remind you it has quite the kick, so yeah, be careful. Which is hysterical to have a booze reward while on a bust with the ATF, but well, I’ve been through weirder.”
“I am going in with Chief Thomas as leads,” Axel said as he focused everyone’s attention to the map of the compound.
“Why?” someone called out.
“They’re known for having lots of exotic animals, and they won’t like us,” I explained. “They won’t exactly attack powerful vampires, but yeah, they won’t like us and will back away from the main area until we get people out and then we can handle them. We need as many alive as possible so we can extract every ounce of intel that we can and get them all and all of their friends.”
“How are you going to do that?” someone from DEA asked, intrigue in his eyes.
“So you’re the guy who checks out people’s medicine cabinets at a party, right?” I drawled, smiling when several people chuckled. “Not your business. Axel, lay it out.”
He did, and it was impressive, his grasp of the right ingress and egress points, when to split, and all of everything required to handle an op like this. Next, he laid out where the humans would block off to catch any fleeing us, but they weren’t engaging otherwise until we had the whole area cleared. Which most of them seemed surprisingly cool with.
Yeah, it was a bad compound to raid, and cartels were notorious for having more numbers than we thought, but a lot of agents were adrenalin junkies or control freaks who couldn’t stay out of it. Maybe I’d really gotten it in their heads it was my party?
No fucking way, but it was a good hope for one day.
“Come back without a scratch and I’ll show you a great place where we can get tons of souvenirs for the boys, the best dulce de leche coffee you’ve ever had, and a market with fresh fruit that will make your wolf amazingly happy,” Brian said quietly, careful not to touch me.
“She’s super happy at the chance to hunt, but I would never turn any of that down,” I replied, glad he was not just cutting me off or giving me up but treading very carefully. Maybe it was bratty of me, but it helped validate what I was feeling that they understood, and I really did go back and forth between guilt and hurt.
“I’ll keep her safe,” Axel growled quietly.
I blinked up at him, not hiding my shock at all. “So it’s like that?”
“Apparently to my tiger after what they did to you, bespelled or not,” he muttered, not looking all that thrilled about it either. He walked away shaking his head as he went over to gear up.
“No, nothing’s happened,” I said to Brian, answering his unasked question.
“It’s not my business.”
“No, but I would want to know if it was me, and I’m not doing any of this to punish or hurt you guys. That’s the last thing I want.”
“We know that,” he promised, but there was one I wasn’t sure if that was true about, as I’d still not heard from or seen Dain. The last interaction was him walking out of the restaurant.
Because yeah, that didn’t sting and worry me no matter what the others said.
“Mistress, what do we get if we don’t kill any?” Nikos asked.
“Well, you get smacked for calling me that when it’s not a vampire formal thing,” I drawled, noting way too many ears that perked hearing the term. “I know you ancients are used to being respectful to other leaders, but you gotta adjust to some of our ways.” I acknowledged how many were listening and looked out at them. “How many of you just assumed it was a BDSM thing? Seriously, because they think I’m yanking their legs with that.”
“Crap,” Carter grumbled when just about every hand went up. “I do think law enforcement should be better versed in at least the basics of civilities of their own citizens. It’s pretty damn common.”
“Then educate them while I finish getting my gear. I do all the damn time.” They were still talking about it when I came back with everything on and strapped to me, holding the helmet. “You have to think of it as several steps back in history, not how we’ve bastardized so much as Americans. You used to have the master or mistress of an estate or family, not master of slaves like we think of or BDSM stuff.”
“Yes, right,” Carter agreed, nodding. “There were lords and ladies, but yes, also the mistress of the house that was boss. That is Seraphine. She’s boss. We respect Vlad as master of the Chicago coven, but Seraphine has her own pack, her own clan here that she is mistress of.”
“Now if I decide to chain them all up and spank them, that’s totally different and sounds like a fun Friday night,” I teased, smiling when it took several people a few moments to get the sarcasm and burst out laughing. Then again, with the way I was having fun exploring sex, maybe that was up on the agenda soon? “I am also Lady Seraphine to any fae, as they are a nobility system, so I get elevated as a leader.”
“Shit, I always wanted to get the official lady title,” an ATF agent grumbled, shooting me a look like she knew she was helping. “I saw a clip from your club opening. That dress was fairy material and design, right?”
“Yeah, it’s crazy stuff,” I chuckled as we headed to the vehicles since the staging area was a few miles from the compound we were hitting. “I seriously don’t get how they do it. I mean, it can be woven for soft and fluffy sweaters or jammies but also rugs, and then on the other end fancy dress material. And you can wash it . Can you imagine if you threw silk or wool in the washer?”
I nodded when she winced, knowing pretty much everyone had made that mistake at least once. We talked about that, and a few asked me about the greenhouses they’d heard about the whole ride there, pulling over a few blocks from the compound. We were finishing on foot with them to follow, so we unloaded and ran the last check of cameras and feeds.
“Chief Thomas, did you come up with an answer to what I asked?” Nikos checked, smiling brightly that he knew he was being cheeky and brought it up again.
I debated it as I triple checked my weapon and extra clip out of habit. “I’ll give a special bottle for each human brought out without any shots fired. Any you shoot even if still alive, I’ll come up with something like cleaning the hot tubs at the club.”
“What special bottles?” an ATF agent asked suspiciously.
I chuckled. “Blood. They can choose any of the six blood drinks we serve that I have the license for, and we’ll give them bottles of it.”
“Shit, no limit?” one of the other ancients, Emilio, checked, pumping his fist when I nodded. “I hope there are hundreds in there. Those are way better than buying blood bags from human donations. I don’t know why other groups don’t do what yours does.”
“Because it’s a slippery slope with you gu
ys,” I drawled, scanning the screens in the van to make sure everyone was online. I felt the tension and questions from the humans, sighing that we were talking about it more than I’d like when I knew they all wouldn’t be quiet. “My pack and the other shifters in the area donate the blood. It’s ours. It’s got more of a kick than humans for vamps, and if people donate, they get a discount at the club.”
“That was maybe more than I needed to know,” someone admitted. “I hate needles much less picturing someone taking a bite out of me.”
I held up my hand to stop the vampires. “Not why we’re here, so can we get to that?”
They agreed, and we grouped together, Axel and I taking point for each of the two teams, Carter making sure he was on mine. Fine, whatever, I just wanted to make this happen and fast before someone found a way to pull the plug because I’d had that happen on busts before even if we were in another country.
Hell, it was normally the other country that called it off.
Axel counted us down, and we took off, moving faster than most of the humans could keep up with. We shot cameras as we reached the compound’s outer wall. It was about ten feet tall and looked like it was stone, but for all I knew it was really concrete meant to look like stone... But I was just happy it wasn’t barbed wire at the top and meant to look pretty.
We split from Axel’s team to hit the back, and when we got to the right spot, Carter was ready to launch me. I stepped into his brace and jumped as he stood and gave me a good shove. I flipped over the fence, landing soundlessly to face towards the house. They had this part down because I didn’t have to move to get out of the way, Carter landing to my left seconds later as they made sure to give the right space each time.
Once he was down and checking no one came up on us, I started focusing on cameras and took out the three I could see.