Once Upon A Midnight... (The Firsts Book 9.5)

by C. L. Quinn

  Things had changed, though, he knew that. Because he hadn’t been fed today.

  While it was true that he couldn’t gauge time very well in this black hole, he was fairly certain that the guard should have come with their tray by now. So it signified one of two things.

  He’d either caught Merry, hurt or killed her, and was ready to finish Taggert off shortly. Or he was through feeding them since, 1) the reason for their kidnapping was resolved, so, 2) it was time to kill them both and go home. He wouldn’t be bringing food anymore in either case.

  Fuck, what a way to end his life! After all of the shit that should have killed him in the Middle East, then the crazy fucking monsters he’d worked for this past year, betrayed, and then switched sides to work for the vampires, to die trapped in a building in Chicago. No fucking way, not until his last breath, by God!

  Claude had been brilliant to take Merry. He thought that the vampires, particularly Marc, would be willing to do a lot to get him back, but Merry…God, she was a beautiful person. He could see how Lauren would be motivated to ensure that she wouldn’t be brutally murdered by that butcher. He would have too. He had. Fuck, he prayed that the headstrong florist would heed his demand to not come back here for any reason.

  Taggert’s eyes were getting heavy and he couldn’t allow that. Now, he had to remain alert. At any moment, the guard could come through that door to shoot him and he had to be ready. Pushing off the floor, he began aerobic movements to keep his heart rate up and stay awake.

  She couldn’t see where she was going now. Her feet barely bent, so she scuffled along, trying doors on buildings, but everything was locked down. No phone booths anymore. It had to be Christmas night, the place looked post-apocalyptic, empty of life. God help her, she was going to fail.

  No! If she had to make her way back there herself and try to take out the guard, that’s what she would do. Merry turned to retrace her steps when a light crawled through the whiteness and then stopped in front of her. Two murky yellow lights. Yes! Headlamps!

  “Lady, are you okay?”

  The voice of a hero came to her out of the smoky white covering the world, and then a dark figure resolved into a recognizable shape and then into that of a tall man.

  “Please, I need help. I’ve been kidnapped and there’s another victim. He’s going to kill him! I need the police!”

  The last thing Merry remembered was a warm arm around her, losing her balance as she tried to walk, and then feeling the ground come out from under her. As she lost consciousness, she thought how nice and warm she felt. She’d done it, she’d found someone to help her. It was going to be all right.

  Ummm. Warmth. Oh, couldn’t she just linger here forever? The blanket was as soft as a kitten’s fur. Merry wanted to sleep until summer.

  But weird sounds kept interrupting her as she tried to go back to sleep. What the hell were those beeps and chimes?

  She forced her eyes open. Her focus was poor at first, but then, abruptly, her surroundings came in sharp and clear. This was a hospital room. Was she sick?

  No! Hell, no! Merry looked for the call button for the nurse and pushed it repeatedly.

  Moments later a slightly heavy-set woman about Merry’s age came into the room.

  “Darlin,’ okay, okay. I’m here. Are you all right? What do you need?”

  “How long have I been here?”

  “Not long…”

  “How long!” Merry knew she was yelling but she couldn’t control it.

  “They brought you into the ER about two hours ago. You’re fine, just dehydrated, frost bite on your toes, could have been worse, and disoriented.”

  “Was I conscious? Did I say anything?”

  “I don’t think so. But the doctors have checked you over…”

  “I’m sorry, I don’t mean to be rude, but I need a police officer right now! I was abducted and there’s another victim who needs to be rescued immediately!”

  The nurse nodded and reached for the phone.

  “Betty, get me Butch on floor 3. Will you tell him I have a kidnap victim who needs to speak with him urgently?”

  The nurse hung up the phone and turned back to Merry. “Butch is up there cheering up his daughter and the other kids in the ward. She’s had a minor surgery and he didn’t want her to be alone for Christmas. He’ll be here lickity-split. Now, let me get you some cool water and something to eat.”

  Sighing deeply, Merry leaned back against the pillow.

  “Thank you. Uh, yeah, that would be nice.”

  “Okay then. Be right back.”

  Moments later, pulling a coat on over a uniform jacket, a stocky man walked through the door, pushing his carrot red hair back with quick fingers.

  “Hey, I’m Butch. I understand we have a situation.”

  “Yes. I just escaped from two days locked in an office building downtown. I had a companion and he’s still there. You have to get a team of officers over there right away, they’re going to kill him today!”

  “Wait, wait, you were abducted? Who did this? Why?”

  “Doesn’t matter. You need to get to Taggert. Now!”

  “Calm down. We’ll get to him. Do you know the address?”

  Merry nodded. “Hamilton Building. It was the first thing I checked when I got out.”

  “Let me call in.”

  Butch pulled his cell phone from his pocket and walked out into the hall.

  “Whew. Thank God,” Merry whispered, and closed her eyes to help calm down.

  He was tiring, but Taggert didn’t rest. He stayed on his feet and paced, back and forth, around in circles, but always just behind the door so that if it opened, he could lunge at whoever came through it and attempt to gain control of the gun. Guns, he knew well. You just had to be the one holding it!

  The food tray had never come and he was dying to find out why. Did the guard know about Merry? Had she gotten out? Chuckling, he made another wide circle. Dying to know. Yeah, that was about right…

  When the sound of the latch sliding back finally came, his body hardened and he went into stealth and attack mode. The soldier that he’d been nearly all of his life took over.

  Now, he would fight for his life.

  As the door began to open slowly, Taggert knew the one thing that was going to fuck him up was the light. Having been kept in complete darkness for over 4 days, his eyes would not adjust quickly to the light and it would, in essence, blind him. So, he kept his eyelids down to minimize the visual compromise so that he could focus on the man coming to shoot him.

  The sharp shaft of bright light bounced off what Taggert could easily see now were white tiles, the guard’s shadow clearly defined. He was carrying a rifle, probably automatic, and when a moment later he pushed the door wide, a bright flashlight on the end of the gun blinded Taggert again. He hit the ground and shot across the room to slam into the guard’s legs, both men taking the hit hard, breath knocked out of each. Taggert recovered first.

  As he grabbed for the rifle, the guard swore and kicked out towards his attacker, catching Taggert in the gut with a booted foot, and Taggert lost contact with the gun. Both men knew that one of them wouldn’t survive this, so the fight became brutal.

  Landing a hard blow on Taggart’s jaw, sending splinters of light flashes behind his eyes, Taggart blew backward against the wall. His eyes aching, but beginning to adjust to the light pouring through the open door, he scanned for the guard and saw him crawling toward the abandoned rifle. Shooting up, Taggart threw his entire weight as hard as possible on top of the guard, blowing the air from their lungs. Taggart held onto his intended murderer, arms tight around him and rolled them both away from the gun. The gun would decide this battle.

  The struggle between the two motivated and powerful men went from brutal to vicious. Blood covered the tile, the men sliding in the slick stickiness when they tried to move.

  “Ahhhh,” the guard yelled, as Taggart pummeled him in the face and couldn’t stop. Having control for t
he moment, Taggert wrecked the guy with his fists. This was life or death, his life, so he had to win this fight. And he was. A few more hard punches ought to put him out, and Taggart could get to the gun. Then this nightmare would be over. Raising his fist, he prepared to land the final blow, and felt someone grab his arm.

  Yanked up and off the guard, pulled backward into the fully lit hallway, Taggart whirled to face what he assumed was the guard’s accomplice. All that his poor vision told him was that another man had him by the arms, so he fought to get free.

  In the room, a second man reached for the guard that Taggart had pounded into a bloody mess, but as he did so, the guard shoved the man, pushed up and slid across the tile to the rifle. He grabbed it and was out the door before anyone could stop him. As he cleared the doorway, his eyes moving over the ten men suddenly filling the hall, all police officers, then scanned to his right to where another officer was fighting with Taggert. He raised the rifle and fired.

  At the same moment, one of the officers fired on the guard, the guard’s bullet hit its target, and Taggart’s head blew back into the officer that held him. They both went to the ground. The guard was down.

  But Taggart didn’t get up either.

  “What a fucking mess!” an angry deep voice yelled in the now silent hall. “Shea, Bill, check the area. Make sure there aren’t any other armed surprises. Dave, get an ambulance here for this guy. The one I shot is dead, but that one, fuck, he probably is too. I think he’s the victim the girl was kept with. Well, this just went all directions of wrong tonight. Bradley, you and Kurt check the adjacent offices, see if anything else is going on here.”

  The big police officer issuing orders squatted in front of Taggert as he inspected the seeping hole in his head. “Sorry buddy. It doesn’t look like Santa’s coming for you tonight.”

  Ten

  “So he’s gone. That’s okay, it’s exactly what I expected. Eillia can easily find him with a blood trace when we’re ready to look for him. I don’t suppose that he left any information on Taggert or Merry’s whereabouts.”

  Tamesine turned to lean against the balcony railing and gave the pissed Xavier a kind smile. It wasn’t his fault. All the fault here lay with Claude and Claude alone.

  “Nay. Ye’re kind, lass, but I should not have fallen asleep. I should not have been drinkin’ as much as I have been.”

  “It wouldn’t have made any difference, and it’s a holiday. I appreciate you staying at all. This man is an opportunist and he would have done this regardless of our preparation. He knows vampires and now that he is one, he’s going to be a challenge to stop. But we will. Now, though, we have to do what we can to find our missing friends.”

  “We’ve checked everywhere we could for them, watched surveillance in London, done what we can in Chicago, although it’s a mess there. Chicago has a nasty snowstorm rolling through right now.” Marc answered his wife’s concern. “But we’ll begin again. I’m going to fly to Chicago tonight. Get to the flower shop and begin searching from there to see if we can track Claude’s movements after he took Merry. Koen is going with me.”

  “I’ll come, too. How long has it been since I’ve seen a proper snowstorm?” Xavier volunteered, and Tamesine let herself linger on the obnoxious, oversized vampire and realized for the first time that she liked him. He had a huge heart, but he kept it secreted away so that no one would know. Now, she could see it. She could see him.

  Like everyone, human, vampire, or supernatural, he just wanted to be loved. He probably didn’t even know it himself, but she sensed suddenly, knew, that he was on the same journey that they all had traveled recently to find someone to share the big and little moments of a life with. He needed to find his mate.

  “We would certainly have an excellent team in you three.”

  “Four.”

  The voice behind them belonged to Lauren. “I’m going back to Chicago with you to look for Merry. It’s not like I have to worry about Claude anymore. Now, we’re hunting him instead of him hunting us. Let him try to outrun me. After this, he can’t run far or fast enough. So, make room for me on your jet, okay, Koen?”

  “And me, lass.”

  Bryn came out of the house onto the already overcrowded balcony. He slid a hand around Lauren’s waist. “Ya go back to Chicago with me, or not at all, ya get that?”

  “Aye, you big lug. I’m grateful. Koen, are you leaving tonight?”

  “The jet’s ready.”

  “Okay, then. Let’s fly.”

  “I’ll grab yer bags, Lauren.” Bryn left quickly.

  “Lauren, good luck. Marc’s torn up, too. He and Taggert have a very close relationship and it is unacceptable that Claude captured them and may have hurt them.” Tamesine came forward and hugged Lauren.

  Still, not sure how to react, Lauren finally put her arms around Tamesine and hugged her back. It was odd to have this woman who had tried to kill them less than two years ago so close and so affectionate. Cherise had told her that Tamesine had come a long way in healing and she’d seen her laughing and beautiful these past two nights, but this near to the powerful vampire who nearly burned them all to the ground was unsettling.

  She held on tighter when a moment later she reminded herself that everyone deserved a second chance…she herself was living her own second chance right now.

  Pulling back, Lauren smiled at the woman who once frightened her more than anyone she’d ever known.

  “Thank you. Now it’s up to us to go get them.”

  “You will succeed.”

  Lauren nodded and turned to join Bryn.

  Koen grinned. “Another American adventure. I think I’ll buy a house there, we end up flying over so often these days. Come on boys.”

  Marc touched Tamesine’s fingers, letting their fingertips slide from each other’s as he followed Koen and Xavier off the balcony. He and his mate had already said goodbye, or the French equivalent of until later.

  Tamesine’s eyes returned to the gentle surf. Christmas night was nearly gone. The children were in bed, exhausted and elated with their toys and surprises.

  Smiling, she remembered Cairine’s expression when the little girl came into the room with the big Christmas tree and saw all the gifts that Santa had left around the bottom of the tree.

  The child was just as happy as the others with her presents, but her eyes kept moving up to seek her parents and the other adults. It was apparent...Cairine still did not believe in Santa Claus.

  An almost imperceptible cry let her know that her own daughter was asking for her. Tamesine watched the sea for just a few more moments, then went inside, closed the doors, set the UV barrier in place and went to see what her baby needed.

  Eleven

  Merry had just finished some vanilla ice cream when Butch walked through the door of her room. Her eyes shot to him, her spoon stilled.

  “Did you find him? Is he okay?”

  Butch didn’t say anything immediately as he approached the hospital bed and Merry knew. It wasn’t good news. Her eyes burned as moisture filled them.

  “He’s dead, isn’t he?”

  “No. But he’s badly wounded. Merry, he isn’t expected to survive. I’m sorry.”

  She couldn’t respond, couldn’t move, couldn’t swallow. Pressure built behind her eyes enough to cause an immediate severe headache. The shocking news left her emotionally paralyzed. The lights were too bright, but closing her eyes didn’t help.

  Without opening her eyes, when she could speak again, she said, quietly, “Tell me what happened.”

  “He was already engaged with the perp when we arrived. They were in a fist fight and one of our team pulled him off the assailant. Unfortunately, the assailant pushed free and got to a rifle. He fired at the other captive and shot him in the head. It’s just one of those situations that got out of hand and didn’t turn out the way we intended. I’m sorry.”

  Seconds passed, then seconds more. Finally, Merry opened her eyes again. “I understand. I’m sure
that it isn’t your fault. I want to see him.”

  “He’s in ICU. I don’t think they allow…”

  “I do not care what they allow. If he is dying, I have to see him. I have to be there for him. It’s a promise, officer, that I will not break. We were kept in total darkness so neither of us ever saw what the other looked like. I need to put a face to the voice, to the man. This memory will always stay with me and I have to see him. More than that, I have to let him know that I came back for him, that he isn’t alone, even if he’s passing beyond this life. I won’t let him die alone.”

  Shoving the sheet aside, Merry slipped off the bed and walked to the officer who stood at the foot of her bed.

  “Butch, make this happen.”

  Nodding, he smiled. “I guess he deserves that. And you do too. I will. I’ll make it happen. Give me a few minutes and I’ll be back for you.”

  Trying to ignore all of the odd sounds around her, Merry stopped just outside the room where Taggert lay dying. Butch was right beside her.

  “Do you want me to come in with you?” he asked.

  Merry shook her head. “I want to go in alone. Thank you. You can go if you need to. I plan to stay with him.”

  “That might be a problem.”

  Merry’s bright eyes sought Butch’s. “The problem will be for anyone who tries to stop me.”

  Butch smiled and shook his head. “I get that. Well, it won’t be me. Take care of yourself. If you need anything, let me know.”

  “Thanks for everything.”

  “I wish we’d gotten there sooner.”

  “Can’t change the order of the universe. It’s taken me a while but I finally get that. Que sera, sera, and all that. Have a nice New Year, officer. I hope your little girl gets better soon.”

  “Thank you. Best of luck to you too.”

  Butch waved a thank you to the desk nurse, who smiled, and walked back towards the double doors that separated the ICU from the Heart Care Unit next door, but paused to watch Merry go through the door to meet the man she would remember forever. He couldn’t help but think that the man dying in there would have been lucky to have had a chance to meet her too, and he felt sorry that he never would.