Over Our Heads

by Jan Stryvant

  She then followed up with a fast series of elbow strikes as Demon alternated between trying to breath, and trying to yowl in pain as Roxy yanked on his nuts, dragging him around by that convenient handle, before tripping him up and then jumping on his chest and riding him down to the floor, slamming his head into the ground again and again.

  "Yield you stupid shit," she yelled in his ear, "Or when my mate gets here, he's gonna pull your arms and legs off like a fucking bug!"

  Meanwhile Oak was having his own troubles with Hunter. Hunter wasn't afraid to fight dirty, and neither was Oak of course. Being an alpha to a pack was all about doing whatever needed to be done, and fighting dirty was just another tool in the toolbox.

  It didn't take long for them to start ripping and biting at each other, as they used their teeth and claws, ripping and tearing. Oak had just knocked Hunter back, dazing him with a rather vicious head butt, followed up by a kick to the stomach, when Daelyn's hammer came sailing by and hit Hunter square in the forehead, knocking him back into the wall.

  Hunter's eyes went wide and he howled from the blow, silver! He'd been hit with a silver weapon!

  "Keep your ass on the ground," Daelyn yelled as her hammer flew back to her hand, "or Max here is going to teach you all about the joys of a painful death!"

  "Silver! You brought silver in here!" Hunter gasped, glaring at Oak.

  Oak growled. "I told you, silver no longer has any hold over those who come with us!"

  Looking around, Oak held out his hand to Minnie, who handed back his tag.

  "This, you idiot, is the key!" And putting it on, he turned to Daelyn. "Give me your hammer!"

  "What? You'll ruin him!"

  "That's the point!" Oak said, glaring at her.

  Daelyn sighed and looked at her hammer, "Sorry, Max, but the man's right." Looking over at Oak she tossed him the hammer.

  Catching it, Max growled as it heated up in his hand, but it was plain to see that something was happening.

  "What, what is that?" Hunter said as suddenly the air around Oak got unbearably hot, and the plasterboard wall on his left started to blacken and smolder as the shield went into overdrive, shunting off the excess energy from turning so much silver in the hammer's face into rhodium.

  Oak whacked Hunter in the leg, smiling as it quickly healed. "Well it's not silver anymore, is it?"

  Hunter stared at the hammer, and then at Oak a moment.

  "Demon! Yield!" Hunter growled.

  Roxy was still pounding his second's head into the now broken floor.

  "What?" Demon moaned loudly.

  Hunter sighed and looked at Roxy, "Could you please stop doing that!"

  Roxy responded by jumping off of Demon, moving quickly out of range of his grasp.

  "What, what's going on?" Demon growled, shaking his head and trying to get to his feet.

  "Get the rest of the pack up here, and tell them to behave. We are leaving. With Oak."

  "Umm, I think it might be better to finish up downstairs," Daelyn said, motioning to the wall, which was now smoking, along with the section of ceiling above Oak's head. "I think we're about to have a bit of a problem here."

  Sean watched through the window as spectacle unfolded, listening in via the microphone one of the men had put up against the glass. He quickly identified who Roger McConnell, Charles Ryan, and Sam Wilston were, the other four men watching he assumed were the remaining four senior council members.

  There were also two guards in the room, which Sean assumed were humans, because they were armed with what looked like magical weapons, rather than any sort of firearm. They were keeping their weapons trained on Sam, and listening to the byplay it quickly became clear that Sam was being forced to whip his daughters, who were both hanging from the ceiling, naked and bloody, their toes barely touching the floor. There was also a rather attractive, but young looking, fox-lycan that was cowering against the wall, not far from where the two young women were being whipped.

  Apparently this had been going on for several minutes now, mostly likely having started while Sean and Bill and their men were dealing with the outside guards and surrounding the house. As Sean listened, Bill detailed each of the men on their team as to who was targeting whom.

  "I've got Roger," Sean said as soon as he noticed that Roger was holding the box that contained his book.

  Bill was finishing sorting out the last details when Sean saw Sam pick up a different whip, and lash his daughter with it. They could all hear the pitiful scream as the whip tore several pieces of flesh off her body, and she started to bleed freely as he whipped her a second time.

  Sean was shocked that Sam didn't drop the whip or refuse. What kind of a man would willingly do such a thing to his own daughters?

  "Oh three!" Sean called out, then quickly, "One-Two-Three!" and shooting the window with the beanbag shotgun, he took two steps and threw himself through the window, smashing the rest of it with his body. Working the action on his gun, Sean quickly fired two shots at Roger, knocking him down.

  At that point he felt a powerful spell hit his shield and drain off as his defenses automatically tarballed it. Pointing back the way it had come he signed for 'one' with his left hand, sending the same spell back at whoever had shot it at him. Then he pointed his hand at Charles who was pointing a wand at him, but before he could fire the spell someone knocked him down from behind.

  "Down you idiot!" Someone yelled in his ear as a large fireball passed over his head, hitting the wall behind him with a loud explosion, the heat washing over Sean's back.

  Growling Sean forced himself up and cast the spell at the back of Charles who was now fleeing, surprised that it sucked down half of his remaining magical energy and causing Charles to contort into a painful looking ball as he fell to the floor.

  Sean quickly followed that spell up with a large ball of ice, which used a lot less power, knocking down several more and stunning them. He started to regret having made Roxy's father the necklace out in the van earlier, as well as casting a spell he didn't know, his magical reserves were suddenly a lot less than he was comfortable with.

  Looking quickly around he saw that the two guards were down, one in a ball like Charles was by the door. One of the council members was cutting down one of the girls, and it was not her father Sam he noticed.

  And there, scrambling across the floor on his hands and knees, with Sean's box in one hand, was Roger, making for some tables, behind which was another door.

  Sean shot Roger in the back, knocking him flat a moment, as Sean slowly walked across the floor towards him, then shot him again as he tried to get back up, then a third time, until getting close enough Sean kicked him in the chest, breaking several of Roger's ribs and lifting him off the floor, causing him to fly into the wall with a loud 'thud'.

  Sean bent over to pick up the box, keeping the gun pointed at Roger as he slid down the wall. Picking it up, Sean shook it to be sure it the book was still in it, then tucked it inside his vest and walked over to Roger, who was lying on the floor, staring at him, gasping.

  Squatting down, Sean put the shotgun to Roger's throat.

  "These may only be beanbags," Sean growled, "but if I pull the trigger, at this range, you're dead."

  "What," Roger gasped, "do you," Roger gasped again, obviously having trouble breathing. Sean guessed he'd broken a lot of ribs, "want, filthy beast."

  Sean smiled, "Pretty bold words for a man whose continued existence depends on a kid whose father you had murdered."

  "I," Roger gasped, "will not," gasp, "be cowed!"

  Sean reversed the shotgun, and brought the butt down hard on Roger's right hand, pulverizing all of the bones in it.

  Roger screamed, though not half as loud as either the women had been.

  "Gee, guess you can still feel pain," Sean smiled, as Roger looked at him in shock, choking on something, apparently the force behind his scream had cause him some problems.

  "Animal!" Roger said between coughs.

 
; "Sean!" Bill called out, coming up behind him, "What are you doing."

  "Asking questions," Sean growled, "don't interrupt!"

  Sean looked down at Roger again, and put the muzzle back to his throat. "Who killed my father?"

  Roger's eyes got wide as he realized that this was the Valens' boy! If anyone would pull that trigger, he most certainly would.

  "Chicago," Roger coughed.

  "Yeah, yeah," Sean nodded, "A hitman from Chicago. Give me a name!"

  "Woiseman, the," Roger coughed again, tasting blood, "hyena."

  "Sean! He needs medical attention!" Bill said, grabbing Sean's arm. Sean shifted his weight and braced his feet; he wasn't going anywhere, yet.

  "And who hired him?"

  "Not us," Roger coughed.

  "Then who?"

  "Not sure," Roger coughed again, "another council."

  "Sean, he's dying," Bill growled.

  Sean turned and looked at Bill, scowling. "You saw the shit he was just doing, and you're worried about him dying?"

  Bill recoiled at the look in Sean's eyes. It wasn't hate, it wasn't anger, it wasn't even fear. It was judgment. He heard the sound of the gun firing one last time as Sean pulled the trigger.

  "Some people don't get another chance, Bill," Sean said softly. "I'm sorry if it bothers you, I'm sorry if you can't agree, but they don't. Now, let's see what we've got here," Sean said and quickly went through Roger's pockets, and relieved him of several magical items. He did not find the small knife Sawyer was looking for.

  Then standing up, Sean followed Bill over to the people lined up against the wall, starting at the end where Sam's two bloodied daughters were.

  The first one was lying on the floor, unconscious and barely alive. The female fox lycan was applying direct pressure to the inside of her leg; apparently the whip had cut into a major artery. Considering the rather large pool of blood on the floor, Sean didn't expect she had much time left.

  "What's your name?" Sean asked.

  " Sheila," she said, nervously.

  "Why are you trying to save her?" He asked the fox lycan, curious.

  "She was always good to me, even when the others weren't," Sheila responded with an English accent. "Can you heal her?"

  "She's too far gone, and I'm afraid I don't have enough magic to spare," Sean told her, regretting his mismanagement of his own powers tonight.

  "I don't want her to die!"

  "Then bite her," Sean said, remembering all to well how Sampson had saved him.

  Sheila's eyes got wide.

  "I can't do that!" she said.

  "Why not?"

  "It's forbidden to bite humans!"

  Sean snorted, "Not today. Now do it."

  Sheila stared at him, glanced at the others who where more concerned with the men pointing guns at them, then back at Sean.

  "She's dying. Bite her. That's an order. There, now you can blame me."

  Sean turned to the second girl. She was clinging to the man who had cut her down, and was crying into his chest. He taken off his coat and wrapped it around her.

  "You are?" Sean asked the man.

  "Richard Sorother."

  "Why was Roger making her father whip them?"

  "He lied about that book," Richard nodded to the box in Sean's vest. "Said he hadn't found it. Did Jamison die in the fight? Or did Sam murder him?"

  "Sam killed him," Sean said and standing back up he saw the fox girl had her teeth in the other girl's arm.

  "So, who else do we have here?" Sean said looking around, "And just where is the wonderful Mr. Wilston?"

  "He slipped out the door when you all crashed in," one of the council members that Sean didn't know said.

  Sean nodded, "So, who's in charge of this organization now that McConnell is dead?"

  "The man on the floor curled up in a ball, from the joint locking spell."

  Sean nodded and looked at Bill, "How are the others doing? Do we have everybody yet?"

  "They're almost done, though they accidentally set the building on fire. We have about five minutes to get out of here before the neighbors start to notice."

  Sean nodded and walked over to Charles, whose body was contorted into a ball, his face a mask of pain. He was surprised that Charles was still conscious.

  Oak had regaled Sean and Bill with several stories of Charles' favorite hobbies and past times. Most of it was rumor, some of it conjecture, but the stories all revolved around the fact that anyone Charles got his hands on, were never seen again. As Charles was Roger's right hand man, there was a lot of looking the other way, even if it was one of the council's lesser member's that disappeared.

  "So," Sean said looking back at the three council members in the room, "Is this the man you really want to be in charge?"

  "Kill him," Richard said from where he was kneeling with the girl, "he's as bad as Roger was."

  Sean smiled and pulled out his knife, but then tossed it over to where Richard was. "Do it yourself."

  Standing back up Sean walked over to the unconscious girl lying on the floor and picked her up. He wondered what she'd think when she woke up and found out what had been done to her?

  "Come, Sheila, we're leaving. Bill tell everyone it's time to pull out."

  Sean looked at the three council members then, Richard had let go of the girl and picked up the knife and was looking at Charles rather angrily.

  "We go where there are lycans," Sean told them. "Leave us alone, and we'll leave you alone. But," Sean looked them over, "if we have to come back here, to free them again, you'll like it even less than this time. Let your people know, if we hear stories of torture, death, or slavery, we'll be paying them a little visit.

  "We're not slaves, we're people. It's time to start letting us go."

  Leaving the room, Sean turned to look at Sheila, "Do you know where Roger's room was?"

  "Yes," she said, looking at him quizzically.

  "Good, I need something from it, take me there."

  "Do we have time for this?" Bill complained.

  "Oh come on, Bill. You wouldn't want your buddy to be unhappy with you, would you?" Sean grinned.

  "He's not my buddy," Bill sighed, "and I think I liked it more when you called me 'Dad.'"

  "This way," Sheila said, and led them down a hallway and then into a rather large, but fashionably decorated and understated bedroom.

  "Check the nightstands for a small green knife," Sean told her.

  "Oh, you're looking for the Durnack's Tooth?" she said and going over to the nightstand she picked something up and came back over to them.

  "You know what that is?" Bill said.

  "Oh yes," Sheila said with a shy smile. "It was part of my training, back in my old Master's kennels in England."

  "And?" Bill prompted.

  "It comes from the mouth of the Durnack," Sheila told them as they left the room and headed out of the house. "It's a rather nasty beast, because if you get bit by one while fighting it, it causes a man to go into a rut. So their teeth are harvested and used as a form of aphrodisiac for older men."

  "Magical Viagra?" Sean snickered.

  "Just so," Sheila agreed, nodding. "But they are rare and quite expensive."

  "Gee, I wonder what Sawyer wants one for."

  "I'm more inclined to wonder why he already had one!" Bill said with an evil grin.

  Climbing into the van, still holding the unconscious young woman, Sean could see that the kennel building was now smoking heavily.

  "Time for us to go," Bill said climbing in behind him and closing the door. One of the other men was already in the driver's seat, and starting it up they drove off.

  Sam watched from the bushes as the last of the vans drove away. Apparently they'd only come for the book, and the lycans. From the lack of attention that was paid to him and anyone else who was running away, he quickly deduced that they weren't here to kill anyone.

  It wasn't that long of a walk from here, to his home. Twenty minutes, tops. Less if h
e hurried. He'd get there, grab a few things, and go. He didn't doubt that Roger or Charles would be after him, once the dust settled, and probably the other Gradatim members as well. No, it was time to leave Reno and head east.

  Aftermath

  "Where to, Boss?" The lycan driving the van called back as Sean handed the unconscious girl off to the Sheila, who had shifted into her human form.

  "He's asking you," Bill said to Sean after a minute, causing Sean to feel just a little bit uncomfortable with the realization that he really was in charge now.

  "Where are the drivers we grabbed?" Sean asked.

  "They're in the second van," Bill told him.

  "Well, we promised to take care of their families," Sean sighed. "Tell them to lead us to each of their homes and we'll go get them. I guess we'll start with the family of the one's they killed; Sheila here can tell us where that is."

  Bill nodded, "Sounds like a plan," he got on his radio and started to talk to the team in the other van, getting addresses and planning a route.

  "Oh, get Roxy to meet us with a couple of necklaces and those extra tags while you're at it," Sean told Bill as he leaned back.

  "You have a radio too, Son," Bill pointed out.

  "Yeah, but you're better at this than I am," Sean said closing his eyes, "so I'm going to delegate."

  Sean definitely needed a few minutes to catch his breath and think about what to do next. Shifting back to human before getting into the van had almost wiped him out, magically. Recasting that spell that he had archived through his shield really hadn't been the brightest of ideas, just as Jolene had told him a couple of days ago, the spells coming out of items were fairly powerful.

  Yes, the effect of the spell was impressive; however its cost was as well. He needed to learn that there were limits to his power, and he needed to learn how to operate within those limits. He'd come into everything so quickly that he really hadn't taken the time to get to understand it, to become comfortable with it, to know its limits. He was going to have to work on that.