The Lion's Den (Knights of the Darkness Chronicles)

by D N Simmons

  “Officer, let him through!” Warren called to the uniformed cop. He pointed toward Tony. The cop nodded and lifted the tape as Tony slid underneath.

  “Thanks, do you know what’s going on?” Tony asked once he reached Warren. He looked at Warren’s partner. “Hey Matthew.”

  “Hi, Tony,” Matthew greeted. He kept a few paces back, the sight of the exposed flesh was getting to him.

  Warren looked over at his partner and lover. He walked towards him. “Look, Matthew, why don’t you go inside and talk to the witnesses. I can handle this out here,” he suggested, seeing that his lover was having a hard time controlling his hunger. Without saying another word, Matthew walked inside the club to where witnesses were being held for questioning.

  Tony watched him disappear into the club. “He’s still having trouble at the crime scenes, I see.”

  Warren nodded. “Yeah. It’s been pretty peaceful around here for the past several months. And when it wasn’t, we didn’t really have a lot of gruesome murders. So he hasn’t seen anything that can really set him off. Mostly just petty crimes. Darian must have the vamps in this town scared shitless to cross him.”

  “Hey, we vamps aren’t the only ones committing crimes, Warren, damn,” Tony complained.

  “I know that. Xander, Richard and Elise are keeping the shifters in check, so I just assumed Darian was handling his business as well, that’s all. No need to get testy.”

  “I’m not getting testy. Besides, that’s not even important, this is.” Tony pointed to the mass of broken bones and flesh that used to be a living being.

  “I’ve never seen anything like this before, that’s for damn sure.” Warren walked closer to he body, squatting beside it for a closer inspection. “It’s definitely a lion.”

  “Yeah, and the fact that it’s apparently bloodless does suggest vampires. Well, that and the scent I’m getting,” Tony said. “Not that something else couldn’t have drained him, though.”

  Warren nodded. “This reminds me of a case Matt and I had a few years back. A vampire and shape-shifter were leaving bodies in remote locations public enough to get noticed eventually, but not enough to be a target audience spot. The bodies were found mutilated, drained of blood and all of them were headless.”

  “Well, whatever did this wants notoriety,” Tony said.

  Warren nodded. “I agree. Witnesses said it fell from the sky and it’s no coincidence it happened smack in the middle of one of the most popular strips in the city.” He rose to his full height and began circling the corpse, trying to find any evidence that could help him piece together what had happened and why?

  “I’m going to tell Darian about this. If we have another rogue vampire on the loose, he’s going to want to put an end to this asshole before more bodies start dropping in,” Tony said.

  “You got that right,” Matthew said as he came up from behind. He stood several paces away from the body and beckoned for the two men to join him. They did. The three men took their conversation away from prying eyes and ears towards the alley where Christopher and Gary waited.

  “Tell me more,” Tony said.

  “Every witness I spoke to inside the club all said the same thing. They were standing in line waiting to get in, when all of a sudden a body dropped out of the sky landing right in front of them.”

  “Did anybody s”

  “No, not one person could tell me any more than that,” Matthew said, interrupting Warren’s question. “No one saw where the body came from. The building itself is only two stories and I don’t think falling from that height would do that kind of damage to the corpse.”

  “I agree, we can probably rule that out, it’s highly unlikely,” Warren said.

  “Shape-shifters are pretty strong, right?” Christopher asked, bringing attention to himself.

  “Yeah,” Warren confirmed.

  “Well, wouldn’t that mean that someone stronger than that shifter had to kill him. I mean, he was really fucked up, he looked gross.” Christopher swallowed hard.

  “You’re not going to puke again, are you?” Gary asked him.

  Embarrassed, he shook his head. “No!”< />

  “Vampires get sick?” Warren asked, eyebrows arched in amazement. He looked to Tony for an explanation.

  “We can. Not like humans. We don’t catch colds or anything like that. But my specialty drinks have been known to put a few vamps on their asses or their heads in the toilet,” Tony answered.

  “He just got nauseous at the sight of the body. His virgin eyes never seen anything like it before outside of a movie screen,” Gary explained.

  “Oh, I didn’t know that. Learned something new.” Warren looked at Matthew. “We need to get back to the scene.”

  Matthew nodded. “Look guys, we’ll keep you in touch when we find out what’s going on.”

  “I’m thinking about what you said, too, Chris. Because the shifter is dead, I can’t get a read on his aura, so I don’t know how powerful he was. But based on what we know about vampires, they have to be as strong as Xavier if they’re flying,” Warren speculated.

  The other men nodded in agreement.

  “We’ll keep you posted,” Warren said. He and Matthew walked back to the crime scene.

  Tony turned toward the other two. “Okay, so our night of fun is officially ruined. Let’s get back to the mansion.”

  “Before we go back home, can I get something to eat?” Christopher asked.

  “Feeling hungry?” Gary asked.

  “Yeah, I am.”

  “Fine, let’s make it quick,” Tony said.

  The three vampires walked with Christopher until he found his victim, feeding quickly. Afterwards, they headed back to the mansion to tell Darian what they knew.

  Tony knocked on Darian’s bedroom door. He waited for permission to enter. Once he heard his Master call to him, he opened the door. “Master, I think we have a problem.”

  Xavier turned towards Tony. “What’s the matter?”

  Darian sat up in the bed, swinging his legs over the edge. “Tell me.”

  “A body was found right outside of that new nightclub, Eclipse. We were on our way there when we saw all of the S.U.I.T. surrounding the building.”

  “Human?” Darian asked.

  Tony shook his head. “No. Shifter. Warren and Matt were there on the case. They said they would keep us posted. It looks bad, Master. The body was completely drained of blood, I’m talking gone, bone-dry. It was also flayed from head to toe, not a piece of skin to be seen. All of the witnesses said the body just dropped out of the sky, no one saw by what or whom.”

  “Were you able to catch any scents off the body?” Xavier asked.

  “A vampire’s scent, but no one I recognized. I know another shifter didn’t have anything to do with it, at least I don’t think so. The shifter scents I smelled on the body were too faint to be recent.” Tony looked back at Darian. “Master?”

  Darian was thinking about his next move. He didn’t have an answer for Tony yet. “Thank you, Tony, for getting this information to me. You may go.”

  Catching the hint, Tony left, leaving the two vampires alone.

  Xavier looked at Darian. “What do you think is going on? Think it’s a challenge?”

  “I don’t know. I’d be lying if I said this didn’t alarm me. We could be dealing with one very strong vampire or even two. I can’t determine that now because I don’t know how powerful the shifter was. I have to go on the fact that this vampire may have the ability of fight or an airplane,” Darian smirked.

  “Do you need my help?” Xavier asked.

  Darian shook his head. “No. I don’t think I’ll have any trouble tracking down this menace on my own. If this vampire is killing in so bold a manner, they should have an aura I can detect easily.”

  Xavier nodded slowly. “So, first thing tomorrow night … ”

  “I’ll hunt.” Darian finished his sentence for him.

  Xavier laid down beside his son, but
not taking the toddler into his arms. The sun was rising and he was feeling the effects. He kissed his son, Natasha and Darian before his body relaxed to rest. Darian laid beside him, snuggling next to his cooling form. He closed his eyes, letting his body rest.

  Chapter Three

  The loud ringing on the telephone woke both Xander and Tatiana up immediately. He reached over her, snatching the cordless off its base.

  “Hello?” he asked in a groggy, annoyed tone.

  “Xander, I’m sorry if I woke you, but this is important.” Warren began to tell his Alpha about the death he was investigating. “What do you think is going on?”

  “This is disturbing. I can’t tell you anything yet, I’ve never heard of a shifter being murdered and disposed of in such a brutal fashion before, believe it or not. At this point, there’s not much to go on. Please keep me updated with whatever you discover. I’ll contact Richard and Elise, let them know what has happened,” Xander said before ending the conversation with Warren.

  “I heard everything. You’ll need to get in contact with Darian as soon as the sun sets. Since this appears to be a vampire crime, he’ll be the one to deal with it,” Tatiana said.

  “True, but I still want to contact the others, they need to know that a shape-shifter was the target of this attack.” Xander dialed Elise’s number, and waited for her to answer.

  “Hello?” answered Sergio, his voice gruff as he forced himself out of his slumber.

  Xander greeted him before requesting to speak with Elise.

  “She’s still asleep, Xander, what’s going on?” Sergio asked.

  “I assure you, it’s important, I’d rather you both hear what I have to say.”

  Taken aback by the urgency in his tone, Sergio woke Elise up, handing her the telephone. He propped himself up on his forearms, listening as Xander told her everything that he knew about the murder.

  “My goodness!” Elise gasped softly, appalled by the viciousness of the crime. She thanked Xander for telling her before ending the call.

  Xander called Richard next. When the other Pack Alpha answered, he greeted him and told him the situation.

  “We need to find out how old the shifter was. That will help us determine just how strong the killer is. Tell Warren to focus on that. I’ll talk to Matthew,” Richard said.

  “My guess is, Darian may be taking care of this later on tonight when he wakes up. I just wanted the three of us to be on guard until then,” Xander said before saying his goodbyes. He climbed out of bed, stretching his long form, working the powerful muscles underneath his skin.

  “Why don’t you come back to bed, staying up worrying about this is not good,” Tatiana suggested.

  Xander turned towards his wife. “Perhaps, dear, but I can’t help it.” He smiled sadly.

  “Very well.” She sat up, brushing her long dark brown bangs from her eyes. “I’ll start breakfast.” She climbed out of bed, gave her husband a sweet kiss before entering the bathroom to freshen up. When she was done, she headed toward the kitchen. Xander stepped out onto the balcony of their bedroom, relishing the crisp, fresh morning air. The delicately cool summer breeze helped relax him as he thought about the complexities of Warren’s new case.

  ***

  “So there’s another dumb-ass rogue vampire on the loose,” Sergio stated as he watched Elise combed the tangles out of her long, wavy, brown hair.

  “It looks that way, but we’re not sure. Xander, as always, never rules humans out of the equation,” Elise said.

  “Shit, I don’t blame him. Humans have been responsible for the deaths of a lot of supernaturals. Our history with the bastards prove this to be more than a notion,” Sergio said, pulling the cool silk sheets up over his chest getting more comfortable.

  “I agree. Warren and Matthew are investigatie. I want you to go to the scene. Take someone with you, see what you can find out,” Elise ordered.

  Sergio looked at her from his relaxed position. “Now?” he asked, slightly disappointed.

  She nodded. “Unless, of course, you’d rather go back to sleep.”

  “Is there any way to answer that question truthfully and still get some tender lovin’ later on today?” he asked, grinning wolfishly.

  “Not if your answer is ‘yes’, there isn’t.” Elise’s eyes met his and she smiled slyly.

  “Ahhh, shit,” Sergio groaned as he tossed the covers aside, climbing out of the bed. “Of course not, darling. I would rather investigate this silly-ass crime than get much needed rest. As a matter of fact, I’m betting Danny would agree. I’m taking him with me.”

  “Sarcasm will get you nowhere,” Elise commented.

  “Who’s being sarcastic?” Sergio tossed her a mischievous grin as he walked into the bathroom. Showering quickly, he then dressed in a pair of black jeans, boots and black t-shirt. He walked towards Elise, standing behind her chair. Leaning over, he began to kiss her neck, tickling her with his perfectly groomed goatee.

  “Stop tickling me with your whiskers!” Elise said, giggling.

  “Okay,” Sergio said, he began licking down the length of her neck, hoping to get her in the mood.

  “Sergio, sweetheart?”

  “Yeah, baby?” he answered as he trailed his kisses over the creamy smoothness of her bared shoulder.

  “First business, then pleasure.”

  Getting the hint, he ceased his seduction. “You’re no fun,” he whined before leaving the room, heading towards Daniel’s and Miranda’s shared bedroom. He knocked hard, purposely, hoping to jar the couple out of their peaceful sleep. A second later, Daniel swung the door opened, a look of pure outrage plastered on his face.

  “What the hell?!” Daniel exclaimed.

  “Congratulations! You are the unlucky winner of an early morning, one hour commute to a downtown club to investigate the murder of a shifter. Hurry now, get dressed and come with me!” Sergio said, feigning enthusiasm.

  “You’re an asshole sometimes, you know that?” Daniel said, rolling his eyes.

  Sergio laughed. “I’ve been called that by other people with much more conviction behind that word than you. But seriously, I’ll fill you in on the way there, get dressed. I’ll be waiting downstairs.” He walked away, leaving Daniel to get prepared.

  Ten minutes later, Daniel joined Sergio in the foyer. “Let’s go.”

  The two men climbed into Sergio’s Sidewinder SUV, traveling down the winding scenic route towards the interstate. fontiv height="0">

  “Okay, what the fuck’s going on?” Daniel asked.

  “Some other asshole killed a shifter. Elise wants us to search the crime scene and see what we can find. Warren and Matthew are on the case, but she wants to do her own investigation. They’re young, we may pick up on something they didn’t,” Sergio informed.

  “Oh.” Daniel looked out the window at the beautiful flowers and trees as they passed by. “Did this happen last night?”

  Sergio nodded. “Yeah, from what we were told. Well, actually, it happened around three or four this morning.”

  Daniel didn’t speak any more about the murder, he and Sergio discussed other matters until they arrived at their destination. S.U.I.T. tape blocked off the entire Eclipse nightclub, which meant the new establishment was not going to do any business until the matter was settled and the club and its’ employees were cleared of any involvement. There was a police squad car parked in front of the building. A uniformed officer exited the car and began walking towards the two men as they approached the scene.

  “I’m sorry gentlemen, but no one is allowed near this crime scene.”

  “I left my wallet here last night, they told me to come in today to pick it up,” Sergio lied, hoping it would get him some kind of access.

  “I’m sorry, sir. But there’s no one inside to retrieve your wallet for you. Why don’t you write down your name and I’ll forward the information to the club owner. That’s about all I can do for you at the moment, I can’t allow you inside.” The officer
handed Sergio a pen and paper and told him to describe his wallet.

  Sergio scribbled a brief description with a fake name on the paper and handed it back to the officer. “Thanks.”

  “No problem,” the officer said, taking the paper and pen back.

  “Hey what happened here anyway?” Daniel asked.

  “I’m not at liberty to say, sir.” The officer stood his ground, silently letting the two men know that he wasn’t going to let them pass. The expression on his face told them he wouldn’t answer any more of their questions either.

  “I’ll call and check back later,” Sergio said, tapping Daniel on his arm, leading him away. The two shifters climbed back into the Sidewinder SUV. “Fuck! That was a waste of time.”

  “I guess having a vampire now would help. John or Xavier could have hypnotized his ass and got him out of the way,” Daniel said, slightly disappointed that they couldn’t do their own investigation.

  “Yeah, I agree. Hey, did you manage to catch the scent of the shifter or anything else?”

  Daniel nodded. “I did, confirming what Xander told Elise, It’s definitely a lion.”

  “You know that’s an interesting aspect. Lions are extremely terrial. I wonder where he came from.”

  “They are also the strongest of the feline species,” Sergio said.

  “Depends on his age. I wonder if he had a Pride with him?” Daniel speculated.

  “I was wondering about that, too. If he did, where are they?” Sergio asked.

  “If they aren’t dead, they should be looking for another alpha male to protect them.”

  “True. We should see if there’s been any movement among lion Prides as of late.” Sergio pulled out his cell phone, calling Elise. Once she answered, he told her that they were unable to investigate the scene. Also, he told her about his and Daniel’s opinion on the situation.

  “I was thinking the same thing, I’ll call Xander, he may already be on the same page,” Elise said.