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

by D N Simmons

  He watched the truck, waiting for his little playthings to be discovered. He waited for the sun to set which wasn’t too much longer. His lover and Master joined him, settling down silently on the rooftop beside him.

  “Having fun?” his lover asked.

  “I’d be having even more fun if the law officials would actually pick up on my set-up,” Kiren complained. “You know how impatient I can be.”

  “Want my help?”

  “Would you?”

  “For you, anything.” Marcus smiled as he mentally searched for a child nearby walking with his mother. He controlled the two, forcing them to walk toward the abandoned ice cream truck. Then he planted suspicion in their minds and left them to their own devices. “There, that ought to do it.”

  “Thanks. So what were you doing earlier?” Kiren asked.

  “I was watching the other shape-shifters who occupy this territory. They work together, which is odd. I can honestly say that I hadn’t anticipated this manner of unification. The last time I saw more than two species living together in harmony, was … maybe three hundred years ago in Beijing. For the most part, we are all very territorial and oftentimes, each other’s domain is not breached by the other. However, these supernaturals that live here are not only sharing this entire territory, but they are friends and lovers. I’m extremely intrigued.” Marcus looked down at his lover, his long blond lashes practically brushing his cheeks.

  “Well, it’s an anomaly, no denying that. What about the vampire Master here?”

  Marcus smiled. “He started early this evening, searching the cities. I’ve taken great pleasure in spying on him. I don’t know how old he is, because I do not wish to alert him to my presence by invading his mind. When I am ready, I’ll do so, but not now. He also left instructions for a few of his coven vamps to search for us in teams of twos. Only he is searching alone, oh, and he’s left the rest of his coven to watch over his humans.”

  “Should we pay him a visit, kill his humans?” Kiren asked, wanting to perform yet another bold move.

  “Not yet. All in good time, my impatient one. Right now, I want to watch him sweat. I want to watch all of them sweat and I want to smell their fears rise from beneath the surface.”

  Marcus stepped behind his lover, wrapping his arms around the shifter. He leaned forward, burying his face in the other man’s neck, sinking his fangs. Kiren gasped, arching against his lover’s chest. He moaned in ecstasy as his blood rushed through his veins toward the vampire’s thirst. He reached up, pressing the back of Marcus’ head downward, pushing the fangs deeper into his flesh. The vampire’s mouth widen, taking in more blood. Finally, the moment came that they were both waiting for. Indescribable pleasure coiled inside of them, working it’s way toward the surface. Marcus covered Kiren’s mouth with his hand, muffling the shifter’s screams of his sexual release as their orgasms exploded, one dry, one wet. Once, he was done, he pulled away, retracting his fangs. He held Kiren against him as the younger man’s body shook in the aftermath.

  “Can you stand?” Marcus asked once his lover’s body ceased its erratic movements.

  Kiren nodded weakly. “Please,” he panted.

  Marcus smiled, knowing full well what the shifter wanted. “Please what?”

  “Let me taste you, I want it … I need it!” Kiren begged, desperately.

  Without making him suffer a longer delay, Marcus ran a razor sharp nail across the blue vein beneath the skin of his wrist, opening it. Blood bubbled up from the wound, and Kiren dove for his wrist, instantly locking his mouth around the fount, sucking greedily. Falling to his knees in front of Marcus, Kiren’s mouth stay fastened to the wrist he held firmly in his grip. He sucked harder and harder enjoying every drop. In the distance, he could hear Marcus moan and he knew he was the reason for the Master vampire’s pleasure and that excited him even more. Time seemed to stand still; he only became aware of it when Marcus pried his wrist free from him.

  Kiren looked up, dazed and still under the effects of the vampire’s blood. He groped for Marcus’ wrist, reaching behind him for it. “Please! More!”

  Marcus pushed him to the ground and away from him. Immediately, his foot was on the shifter’s chest, pinning him to the tar-covered roof. “Gain control, Kiren, or we’ll not do this again.” His voice was low, but commanding, forcing the other man to control himself. He knew it was a struggle for his shape-shifter lover to do so, but he was satisfied when he finally did. Once Kiren had regained his composure, he removed his foot.

  “I’m sorry,” Kiren apologized, looking up at him.

  “Do I have to wean you of my blood?” Marcus asked, both eyebrows raised.

  Kiren shook his head. “No. I’ll do better next time. I won’t act that way. It was just, earlier, I fed so much … the blood, it only added.”

  “I’ll let it slide this time, but do not behave this way again.” Marcus held his hand out, offering to help Kiren to his feet.

  Once the shifter was standing, both men watched as a police squad car pulled up next to the ice cream truck.

  “Ah, finally, things are starting to pick up,” Kiren said, smiling. He was still buzzing from the blood flowing inside of him as well as from being bitten. His face lit up with glee as he watched the officer approach the ice cream truck with a flashlight, peering into the windows.

  ***

  The officer walked around the truck, examining every detail. He called in the license plate number and waited to get a reply. When he heard back from dispatch, it was as he suspected. That ice cream truck was the same one reported missing along with the driver only a few hours earlier. The cop continued his investigation, using a handkerchief to open the unlocked door. Stepping inside, he looked around, guiding the flashlight over the compartments of the truck’s interior. The first thing he noticed that was out of the ordinary was the large puddle of blood that covered the floor. He immediately called for back-up. The blood trail led to the freezer, which he followed, carefully stepping around the blood as not to contaminate the evidence. Using the same handkerchief, he opened the freezer door, peaking inside. He closed it quickly, fumbling backward, bumping into a shelf. He stepped into the puddle of blood in his haste to exit the truck. Once outside, he ran toward his squad car as he fumbled with the radio attached to his uniform. He called in a code 187, he was in the middle of reporting what he’d seen when a violent wave of nausea caused him to lurch forward. He vomited a filthy stream of a half-digested combination of cheeseburger, fries and milkshake on the ground beside his car.

  Once he was done, still shaking from his entire ordeal, he continued to report back to dispatch. Within a matter of minutes, two more blue and white squad cars pulled up, not fully aware that the initial report was now confirmed to be a S.U.I.T. matter. The four officers got out, immediately checking on their fellow officer. He told them what he’d seen and two of the officers went to investigate for themselves. One cop had the same reaction the first officer had, vomiting in the alley beside the church. The other criticized the first for leaving a footprint in the blood. He told him the bloody footprint led from the truck to his squad car.

  “I didn’t expect to find what I did, okay! Fuck!” Officer Brown cursed as he ran his hands over his buzz cut. Sixteen months on the Force, he’d never seen anything like what he saw piled in that freezer.

  “Let’s just hope the S.U.I.T. doesn’t try to chew our asses for it, that’s all I’m saying.” Officer Nicholls said then he turned toward his partner. “You okay?”

  His partner, Officer Beals nodded. “I’ll tell you what, I’m glad we don’t have to deal with this shit. Anyone who cs nodo that to children needs to be fucking skinned, burned and buried alive.”

  “So now what, we just wait on them?” Officer Townsend asked, another rookie, six months new to the Force.

  “Yeah, that’s how this kind of thing works,” his partner Officer Whitney confirmed. Several other squad cars pulled up, the police maintained the scene, blocking it off wi
th the official S.U.I.T. tape they were provided with, keeping onlookers from getting too close as they waited for the S.U.I.T. to arrive.

  ***

  “Well, that was entertaining,” Marcus said, chuckling.

  “Yeah, their reaction was funny, but I really want to see what the S.U.I.T.’s reaction is going to be.” Kiren was impatient; he wanted to see the next stage of law enforcement’s reaction to his handiwork. “By the way, what are the others doing?”

  “They’re feeding and searching for my little lion Pride that we tracked here.”

  “Adan and his women … I can’t wait to get my paws on them,” Kiren smiled wickedly.

  Marcus tossed him a look. “I’m sure.”

  “Shouldn’t be too hard to find them,” Kiren speculated.

  “We always do, no matter what tricks he comes up with. I will admit, he’s a crafty one, he’s making the chase very exciting. It’s because of him that we found this interesting little territory. Eventually, I’ll have my way with him and this city. For now, we haven’t even begun to turn the city upside down.”

  The two men waited for the S.U.I.T., which they knew were on the way.

  ***

  Sitting in their cars in separate locations, the S.U.I.T. detectives assigned to the case all received simultaneous calls. They all looked down at their cells. Calling dispatch to inquire, they received the information. Once they had the location of the newest victims, they each raced to the scene. Warren and Colin were first to arrive. They entered the truck, viewed the carnage, and exited. Both came out, taking deep breaths, each for different reasons. Warren’s hunger was growing as was his disgust and Colin was fighting the nausea that swirled in his stomach as well as his own repulsion for the way the children were murdered. When Matthew and Brian arrived, they both had the same reaction as Warren, Matthew struggling a lot more to contain his animalistic urges and hunger.

  “My God … my God!” Brian hissed, unable to hide his emotions as he leaned against Warren’s car.

  “I take it they’ve increased their creativity when it comes to how they murder their victims from when you had to deal with them?” Warren speculated, judging by both Colin’s and Brian’s reaction, he knew he was right.

  Brian shook his head. “Nothing like this.”

  Colin nodded. “Nothing,” he added.

  Clicking his cell phone closed, Matthew gave everyone the update. “All right, Marshall’s team is on their way, should be here in the next fifteen minutes. We need to talk with an Officer Brown, since he was the one who first discovered the bodies, also, it’s his bloody footprint that contaminated the evidence.” He wanted to keep everyone focused.

  “We’ll speak with the mother and son who called in the abandoned truck,” Colin said, tapping his partner on the arm, getting his attention. The two walked toward and patrol officer who pointed out the woman and child standing behind the red and white S.U.I.T. tape. Brian nodded in return and they headed in her direction. By the time Warren and Matthew were done questioning Officer Brown, Barry and Gabriel had arrived. Pulling in behind them was Marshall and his team in two Sidewinder S.U.I.T. SUVs.

  Barry and Gabriel approached Warren and Matthew as the two detectives were making their way around the ice cream truck.

  “We got here as fast as we could. How many victims?” Gabriel asked.

  “Four. From what I saw, they’re all little children,” Warren answered.

  “Jesus Christ,” Gabriel hissed. Exasperated, he rubbed his hands over his face, palm covering his mouth as he struggled to maintain his emotional control.

  Barry patted his partner on his back. He looked at the other two detectives. “Whose shoeprint is that?” He pointed to the bloody shoeprint trail leading away from the truck.

  “Don’t get too excited, it belongs to a PC who fucked up the scene after viewing the bodies. He ran from the truck and puked his guts out somewhere over there,” Warren said, gesturing toward the cop’s patrol car.

  “Shit, how bad did he fuck up the scene?” Gabriel asked.

  “Just the shoeprint. Marshall and CSI should be able to work around it. He said he didn’t touch anything and used a handkerchief to open all of the doors,” Matthew answered.

  “At least he did that part right,” Gabriel remarked.

  “What else do you have?” Barry asked.

  Warren shrugged one shoulder. “It’s disappointing, because it isn’t much. What you see here, is what we’ve got, nothing more,” he said, handing Barry his note pad.

  The two detectives were going over the other’s notes when Brian and Colin joined them.

  Brian filled the others in on what they found out. “She doesn’t know anything. She said her and her son ‘suddenly wanted ice cream for some reason. They looked over and saw the truck, approached it and saw that no one was inside. She then called the company to report an abandoned truck. She said she wasn’t quite sure why she did any of it. What do you guys make of that?” he asked the others.

  Warren and Matthew gave each other knowing looks. They were thinking the same thing … they suspected that woman and her child were under vampire manipulation. Warren couldn’t wait to call Xander and report this; all he needed was a minute alone to do so. He decided he should excuse himself at that moment. The other detectives nodded, not fully concerned about where he was going as they continued their own speculations.

  Warren pulled out his cell phone and called Xander. When his Alpha picked up, he began telling him everything.

  “My God,” Xander said, appalled. “I’ll get back with you, I need to make some telephone calls.”

  “Sure thing, I’ll keep you posted.” Warren closed his flip cell and returned to the others. The detectives waited around for Marshall’s preliminary report. They kept watch as Marshall and his team along with CSI meticulously worked the scene as they continued their own investigation. However, they weren’t the only ones watching.

  ***

  Kiren and Marcus watched and listened to the controlled chaos below, each pleased with the outcome.

  “This is the beauty of it, they don’t know when it’s going to end, they don’t know how to stop it, and they don’t know anything more than what we want them to know. They are completely in the dark … all of them,” Kiren said, smiling.

  “And it’s right where I want them,” Marcus agreed.

  “The wolf called his Alpha, this should be interesting.”

  Marcus looked at him. “Why? Why would it be interesting?”

  “Because, the Alpha, this Alexander … he’s going to call the Master vampire and maybe the other leaders and I think we should stick around to see if they come to see for themselves, my artistic contribution,” Kiren replied.

  “Oh, they’ll come … but I’ll be the one waiting for them, not you.”

  Kiren was disappointed and angry. “I want to stay. I want to see their fucking faces. Why do I have to leave?”

  Marcus took hold of his chin, applying a bit of pressure, silencing the shifter. He tilted his head upward so that their eyes met. “I realize that I allow you to take certain liberties and I’m not as strict with you as perhaps, I should be. But never forget who and what I am. Never forget that I don’t have to answer to you. I don’t have to explain my reasoning or myself to you. Have I made myself perfectly clear?”

  “Yes.” Kiren nodded. “Perfectly. I’m sorry.”

  Marcus released him. “Good. In addition, to emphasize my meaning, I’ll refrain from explaining my reasons for why I don’t want you here. As a matter of fact, leave now.”

  Kiren was upset, but he dared not argue anymore. Instead, he leaped from the rooftop away from prying eyes and ran away faster than any mortal or shifter in the area could see. As Marcus watched hm retreat, he smiled. The last thing he wanted was for their target to zero in on his shifter, his lover and occasional “pain in the ass”. Cloaking his aura, which helped him contain his scent, he blended into the curious crowd effortlessly. A younger vamp
ire wouldn’t be able to pull such a stunt off as they don’t have the ability. He did and he was intrigued and wanted to see the others when they arrived.

  ***

  Xander ended his final call for the moment. He’d called Darian, Elise, and Richard, alerting them of the newest developments. Darian and Richard were going to go to the scene. Elise decided to drive around with Sergio, patrolling the city. She shared the others feelings of anger, pain and frustration. The coven killed people in various locations throughout the state, but she believed that their main hideout was Chicago and she wanted to see if they would be able to track them down from there instead of running around the entire state as they had done earlier. For some reason, Elise believed the coven felt it would be a greater insult to hide right in the very heart of the city, right under their noses. Xander suspected that they might be in the nearby suburbs of Chicago, simply hovering over the city to keep from being easily detected. Both ideas were acceptable so he decided to send Adrian and Nagesa to one suburb. Tatiana and Justin were sent to another while he investigated one on his own. Elise sent Daniel and Carmen to search the north and south side of Chicago, while Miranda searched the west side. It was worth a shot, of that, they were certain.

  Chapter Twelve

  Darian thought that their plan was practical, as best as any he’d be able to come up with. He traveled to the location of the most current crime scene, noting a shifter was involved. He met up with Richard who was standing nearest the truck in question.