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

by D N Simmons

  John took the message to Elise and Tatiana, knowing their blood would help heal Richard enough for the shifter to be able to heal on his own. When Darian, Xavier and Richard returned, both women came to his aid.

  Darian laid Richard down on the leather cushions of his sofa. Elise oed the vein in her wrist ready to donate blood as she was both older and stronger than Tatiana and she wanted to heal him quickly before it was too late. She pressed her bleeding wrists to Richard’s mouth forcing him to drink. He began to swallow her blood as Tatiana and Ryan began licking his numerous life-threatening wounds.

  “I swear, the only reason he’s still alive is because he’s old and powerful,” Xavier panted, exhausted after his fight and the flight home. “What’s going on? I’ve never faced a shifter that strong before.”

  Darian collapsed in his chair, wiping the blood from his nose and lips with the sleeve of his shirt. “Neither have I,” he said, absently as if his mind was elsewhere.

  “Darian, what’s going on?” Xavier asked once again, wanting to get any updates that he may have missed. He couldn’t help but notice the new people sitting around their home.

  Darian told him everything he and the shifters had discussed. He introduced Adan and his Pride. He told him what Natasha saw in her vision and about the other bodies discovered that evening.

  “Oh my … ,” Xavier whispered, suddenly relieved that he survived the encounter with a vampire so powerful and his freakishly strong shifter. He continued to watch Elise and the others heal Richard, hoping the shifter would be all right.

  “Are you two okay?” Natasha asked, sitting besides Xavier who appeared to be under a lot of stress.

  “Yes, I’m just hoping Richard pulls through,” Xavier said, tossing a glance toward the sofa where the shifter lay. The three women around him moved away, allowing him room to maneuver.

  With considerable effort, Richard sat upright. “I’m fine, thanks to all of you.”

  “My pleasure,” Elise said, rising to her feet with Sergio’s assistance.

  Tatiana sat besides her husband on the other sofa. “How old do you think the shifter is?” she asked. She was shocked that this shifter was able to gain advantage over both Richard and Xavier. Furthermore, she was unnerved by how much trouble Darian had with the shifter as well.

  “I’m three-hundred and thirty-seven years old. He was far older and stronger than me,” Richard said, rotating his neck straightening out his newly healed muscles, which had been shredded by teeth and claws.

  “He was strong enough to not be the least bit afraid. That is, until Darian got there,” Xavier said, remembering how the shifter “marked” Richard’s genuine leather shoes. He was sure the others could smell the shifter’s scent very well, but everyone remained silent about it, until Sebastian spoke up.

  “Well, at least we’ll be able to track him better since he marks territories. One of you guys must have stepped in his piss,” Sebastian said, hoping he could add something. He smelled the scent of urine strongest on Richard’s shoes; but he felt he was being tactful by not pointing out whom.

  Sergio looked at his naive son. He wad to fuss at him about etiquette, but decided he was the last person to complain about someone’s tact. He left it up to Madeleine, and she proceeded.

  “Sebastian, there’s a lot you need to learn about shifter etiquette now that you’re coming into maturity. We understand that your senses are becoming more acute, but certain things need not be said. Nonetheless, what you stated makes perfect sense,” Madeleine chastised lightly.

  “But Mom, I was just trying to help. What did I say that was wrong?” Sebastian asked in his defense.

  Madeleine opened her mouth to speak, but Sergio interrupted.

  “We can all smell the piss, Sebastian. You didn’t need to bring that part up.”

  A few of the others snickered at the innocence of the situation. Elise lowered her head at Sergio’s tactlessness, but said nothing. She only smiled. He was who he was. She thought to herself

  Sebastian’s face reddened. “Oh,” he said, finally understanding his blunder.

  Madeleine turned toward the others. “Getting back on track, chances are he’s marked the territory of where they’re staying. Now that we know what his scent smells like, we can target those areas during the day. We should split up in teams of two.”

  “I see where you’re going with that. I’ve been thinking about something as well. We need to get information from Warren when these people were killed,” Sergio added.

  “Why?” Adrian asked.

  “Because, maybe it will help us target their location. The distance traveled by them and the time it took for them to kill their first victim,” Sergio answered.

  “That won’t work,” Devin said.

  “Why not? Sounds like a good idea to me,” Justin asked.

  “Because they can fly very fast covering great distances in a little amount of time. It would be impossible for us to be able to determine how long it took them to get to their first victim,” Devin answered. “Also, there’s no way for us to be able to judge how fast they can fly because we don’t know how old they are. It’s not like we can send Darian out on test runs.”

  “Besides, how would we be able to tell what direction they came from anyway?” Adrian asked, finding another hole in Sergio’s plan.

  “What if Marcus kidnapped their victims earlier and then killed them later at different locations or at their hideout?” Devin added.

  “Can’t a vampire fly fast or slow?” Adrian asked, further dissecting Sergio’s idea.

  “You two got any more parades you need to rain on?” Sergio asked, frowning. He was even more irritated because they were right. He hadn’t factored into his equation Marcus’ “freedom in the daylight”, or a vampire’s flying abilities.

  Devin made a face. “Sor Jeez, I’m just trying to help. We need to have all bases covered if we’re going to face off with these guys.”

  “Wait,” Annabelle leaned forward. “I think Sergio is onto something. We may not be able to pinpoint their location based on how long it took them to get to a crime scene. However, we may be able to pinpoint an area where they’re staying based on how long it took for them to get to safety before the sun rose.”

  “What do you mean?” Adrian asked.

  “Well, there was a victim found that had been left there right before sunrise, right?”

  “Yeah, the baby in the department store, and the body that was dumped right in front of the Eclipse night club,” Devin said.

  “Well, we can’t count that one really because Marcus obviously did that,” Annabelle said.

  “How do we know that Marcus didn’t do all of them?” Carmen asked.

  “Because his coven enjoyed killing, too, and they found multiple bite wounds on most of the victims,” Danielle said, finally contributing to the conversation.

  “She’s right. In my vision, they were raping the victim, taking turns. They would want to have something to do with displaying their victims for people to find,” Natasha added.

  “It doesn’t matter. Devin was right, it’s impossible to gauge their location based on flight patterns for all of the reasons mentioned,” Darian said.

  “Well, shit. I’m out of fucking ideas,” Sergio fussed. He looked at Adan. “Anything you want to add? You know more about them than we do, after all.”

  “Great brainstorming. You have a point. When they were chasing my Pride and I, they would do so until time became an issue, and they had to retreat,” Adan said.

  “How does that help us?” Devin asked. He turned toward Darian. “I’ve seen you guys take flight, you’re fast as hell and I’m sure you can cover great distances in a few seconds.”

  “It tells us one thing, it gives us an idea how powerful the other vampires are in his coven,” Xander said.

  “Hm?” Devin was confused.

  “Remember Devin, vampires all must rest at different times depending on how powerful they are,” Justin
stated.

  Devin nodded. “Oh, that’s right. So if they retreat before the sun rises, it’s a good chance that they aren’t as strong as, say, Darian?”

  “That’s the theory,” Sergio said.

  “Adan, were you able to gather a time when they would retreat?” Xavier asked.

  Adan nodded. “They would leave before the sun began to rise over the horizon, when the sky was still a pale morning shade of blue.” He gave them the hours of sunrise in the various locations they were in

  “That’s something. That means that at least one member of his coven is under five hundred years old. Sadly though, I think that’s all we can gather from that information. Even a vampire as young and powerful as Xavier is can cover a fair distance in a matter of minutes,” Darian pointed out, bringing them back to square one.

  “So basically, you’re telling us to simply wait it out … wait them out. Either they attack or they’ll leave?” Sergio asked.

  “We really don’t want them to leave because they would be a lingering threat, but we may not have any other options. They are cunning, powerful, they’ve done this many times and I’m willing to guess they don’t make a lot of mistakes. Tonight, with the shifter might have been a mistake on their part, but even then, we couldn’t capitalize on it,” Darian answered.

  “I see one other option … But I don’t know if it’ll work,” Natasha said, gaining everyone’s attention.

  “Go on,” Darian encouraged.

  “Why don’t we have Adan and his Pride leave our territory, after we station our people in the so-called ‘new’ territory, so when Marcus attacked, we’ll be there to help?” Natasha looked at the others. “He might not be expecting an ambush.”

  “Where were you at when your most powerful vampires got their asses whooped by that guy? And another thing, I don’t fancy being the decoy either,” said Shannon, a member of Adan’s Pride. She had grown irritated by the human and their current situation.

  “Shannon!” Adan growled, giving her his only warning.

  She looked at him then pouted.

  “Hey! Lay off Natasha. At least she’s trying. What have you contributed besides bringing us into your problem?” Devin fussed. He didn’t appreciate hearing someone insulting his friends.

  “At least I’m listening to the conversation and not ‘contributing’ stupid ideas!” Shannon shot back.

  Adan growled before springing forth from his chair and slapping Shannon hard across her cheek, causing her to yelp. “Apologize. Now. To those you’ve insulted.”

  Hearing the commanding voice of her King, she had to control her temper. She nodded. “I’m sorry for being rude,” she said softly to Natasha, Darian and Xavier.

  Darian regarded her with one eyebrow cocked. Xavier nodded.

  Natasha didn’t like her, but was willing to accept the “forced” apology if it would smooth things over. “Apology accepted. Do you have any ideas that might work?” she asked. In a way, she wanted to put the other woman on the spot, since she was so negative. On the other hand, she wanted to know if she did have any ideas that might work.

  “Does it even matter what we think. If this vampire is monitoring our conversation, then he already knows what we’re going to do before we even get a chance to do it. I say we just wait them out. Perhaps we should carry little pagers or something to hit a panic butn whenever one of us encounters them alerting the others. Maybe then we can all meet up and have a chance,” Shannon said.

  “This is fucking demeaning. We’ve narrowed down our options to cowering in one location and panic buttons,” Sergio said. “God, I’d love to face off with this punk-ass coven on a battle field.”

  “I wouldn’t count on that,” Xavier said. “Be careful of what you wish for. What got me was that the shifter looked to be the same age as Richard. How did he get to be so strong?” He looked at Richard to see if he had any ideas.

  “I have my suspicions,” Richard said.

  “And they are?” Xander asked.

  “This is just a rumor, although I’ve never seen anything that could prove the rumor a fact until tonight. It’s not necessarily far-fetched either, but I think this shifter is powerful because he’s consumed the Master vampire’s blood.” Richard looked at the others.

  “You think it made him stronger? What else could drinking vampire blood do to a shifter, besides getting them highly addicted to it?” Justin asked.

  “According to ancient tales, it could prolong their life expectancy, increase their strength and heighten their senses even more,” Richard said, leaning back against his chair. “I didn’t think it was true, and the fact is, most shifters steer clear of vampire blood because it’s highly addictive. I’ve never met a shifter who had drank a vampire’s blood and had gained from it.”

  “So how old do you think he really is?” Xavier asked.

  “There’s no telling. He could be anywhere between four hundred years old or a thousand,” Richard said.

  Xander leaned forward. “I’ve heard of something like this before, but like you, I’d never seen any evidence of it. In ancient times, vampires who kept shifters as slaves often rewarded them with their blood. It was done so to keep the shifters in line … loyal.”

  “If that’s the rumor, how come we don’t know of any shifters who lived past the age of five-hundred?” Devin asked.

  “Maybe shifters who’ve drank vampire blood to live longer don’t tell other shifters about it. I mean, it’s not like the guy revealed his secret to Richard. If I’d done something like that, I wouldn’t tell either and I wouldn’t reveal my age simply for the sake of taking the advantage in battle. It’s best to let your enemy underestimate you,” Ignacio said.

  “I guess it would have to be a really old vampire for that little trick to work?” Ryan asked, not sure.

  “I would think so. No offense intended, but I don’t think my strength would increase if I drank from John,” Ignacio speculated.

  “None taken,” John scoffed. “So Richard may not be able to take out this shifter, but Darian can. I think Natasha was onto something. Maybe we don’t need to know where their nest is. Adan and his Pride might have to be the decoy, whether they like the idea or not. Since they were this coven’s original target, chances are Marcus will follow them just to keep tabs. Some of us will go with you. Hopefully, you’ll draw out Marcus and him alone. We all gang up on him and kill him. I don’t think he’d be able to take us all. His death may draw out his coven, then we can take care of them, too.”

  Sergio shrugged one shoulder. “It’s an enhancement on the other plan, might work. We were so focused on finding their hiding place, we didn’t really think about it that way, so I’m game.”

  “That might be the only chance we have left,” April said.

  “Hold on, wait a minute. I’ve seen this vampire in action, and I don’t think your plan is going to work either,” Shannon said, a frown on her face.

  “Why is that?” John asked, growing annoyed with Shannon as well.

  “Well because he can spy on us and never attack. Your plan is based on if he attacks us,” Shannon said, punching a hole in John’s plan.

  “Well then maybe you should all sit out in the open at a park and if he attacks you, push your panic button and we’ll come in a jiffy,” Carmen remarked.

  “I see you have time for jokes. Glad you find the humor in this situation,” Shannon retorted.

  “I think I speak for everyone when I say, there’s nothing funny about this shit. We didn’t ask for this über-powerful fuck to start threatening us, killing in our territory, but you brought him to us. It’s time for you to hold up your end to solving your own problem,” Adrian said. “You have yet to offer anything but complaints.”

  “You know what, if it wasn’t us, it could have been you,” Shannon argued.

  “It is us, now, thanks to you!” Christopher blurted out in frustration.

  “Besides, he may want to toy with you, just to prove he can. I’m still hoping
we can get something from them I can connect to,” Natasha said.

  “And he may not, your ideas are stupid,” Shannon said, holding onto her resolve.

  “Bitch, you’ve got one more time to insult us and Marcus is going to have one less shifter to kill,” Nicole threatened.

  “Enough! Mon Dieu! Can we stop the arguing!?” Elise silenced everyone.

  Sergio looked at Elise, he knew whenever she slipped into speaking French she was extremely upset and frustrated.

  “The plan won’t work … ,” Darian’s voice trailed off.

  “What’s the problem, Darian?” Natasha asked.

  “If Marcus feels as though he’s being overpowered, he could simply fly away. Or if he sees the other’s with you, he could choose not to engage you in battle as Shannon stated,” Darian said, “Marcus is as wise as he is sadistic. And even if we escort you safely out of town, what does that mean for the rest of us? Marcus may choose to stay, or may choose to contnue to hunt Adan’s Pride down, or he may”

  “Okay, I think we get it,” Sergio said. “Well, are we back to square one?”

  “I think so. It was a long shot to begin with. Marcus probably would have sensed it as a trap in the first place,” Xavier said. “Besides, he doesn’t attack in the daytime remember? And at night, he’s with his coven.”

  The others looked at him, dejected.

  “Great, just great! That makes me feel much better!” Shannon threw her hands upward, relieved.

  “So we’re back to sitting it out and waiting?” Devin asked.