Serena place her hand on my shoulder. She wasn't subtle with her strength, just pushed me aside. “And I need to know what I've gotten into. I need to know Bauer's bloodline.”
“As this is a question I will answer in the future, perhaps we will exchange it for a future favor. Fair?”
Warning bells went off in my head. “Serena, I-”
“I need to know this.” She said. “So, we do it.”
I swore to myself that if we were going to get into this, well, I was going to back Serena. This was her choice. “All right. You shake on it.”
Dumont smiled, and he extended his hand again. “I don't bite.” He said, inviting her.
Serena walked to the opposite side of the desk, and she placed her hand in Dumont's. The older man yanked, bringing Serena to sprawl over the table. Dumont seemed to bury his face in her neck.
I drew my gun, chambering a round. “What the hell? Let her go, Dumont!”
“Patience, witchling,” Dumont growled. “She had an interesting smell, and it piqued my curiosity.”
I didn't holster the gun, but I didn't put my finger inside the trigger guard either. “Harm her, and I turn your face into pulp. Serena?”
I listened for a moment. I could hear Serena's breath, labored, fast. “I-I...Eric. I'm okay.” One of her hands had grasped at the desk, turning the wood into splinters in her grasp. “But if he hurts me, go for it.”
“I don't intend to hurt you.” Dumont said. He lowered his head to her neck, sniffing. “Something is wrong, however.”
“Wrong?” I lowered the gun to the ground, Holding up a pistol continuously was hell on my arms.
“She doesn't smell right. Vampires, their blood has a certain scent. But hers, there's...something.” He let go of Serena, and sat back down in the chair. “Has she only fed off humans?”
My mind flashed back to the night I had met Serena, and when she had killed Anselm. My gun raised for a moment. “Can we trust you to keep your silence on this?” I asked, my voice quiet.
Dumont nodded. “Of course. I don't just spread things around willy-nilly. I wouldn't be a good information broker if I just shouted secrets.”
“I mean it.” I said. “This information can't go up for sale.”
His features grew somber. “Of course. I can do that. What happened?”
I looked to Serena. She picked herself off the desk, and dusted herself off. She took a second of breathing to calm herself, then she started. “When Bauer turned me, I woke up hungry. Really hungry. I was mad, and I wanted to hurt him.”
Dumont seemed to catch on pretty quickly. “Oh, hell.”
“I killed him. I ripped out his throat, and drank his blood.” Serena looked down at the floor. “I...I hadn't ever hurt anyone before. Not anything close to that.”
“You drank his blood.” Dumont nodded, understanding. “That's not exactly a common thing. In fact, it's an extreme taboo in vampire society.”
“I thought vampires couldn't drink other vamp's blood, originally.” I noted.
Dumont shook his head. “Oh, they can. It's just a very frowned upon practice.” He paused a moment. “There's a reason you don't let Teresa feed off you, isn't there?”
Serena looked to me, confused.
“Yeah. She can get my powers if she bites me. Or at least, there's a chance she can get some abilities. We killed the first vamp that bit me for that reason.” I explained, feeling incredibly self-conscious.
“Power runs in the blood,” Dumont explained. “Drinking your own maker's blood...Most accounts of it are anecdotal, fairy tales.”
Serena looked between us. “So, what does it mean? I got a super kick of his blood or something?”
“I honestly don't know.” He mused. “Time will show, but my first guess is that you'll have a very potent arsenal from whatever bloodline Anselm Bauer belonged to.”
“Then it means I need to find his maker.” Dumont said, quietly. “I'll do some digging and sort out my contacts.” He nodded to us. “If you don't mind, I am a busy man. I'll have-”
He was cut off by the door opening, Daniel rushing into the room. “Sir, we have a perimeter breach.”
“Explain.” Dumont said.
Daniel looked between Serena and I before continuing. “Someone, no, several someones tripped a wall alarm. We had four alarms and our outer patrolman hasn't reported in yet.”
Dumont sighed. “Damn.”
“Get this often?” I asked.
“Every once in a while.” Dumont looked to Daniel. “Get them somewhere safe.”
Daniel looked to Serena and I. “Ma'am, Sir, if you'll follow me.”
“I can help.” I said as I drew my pistol. “Who's doing this?”
“This time? No clue.” Daniel shrugged. “Let's get you and Miss Laurent somewhere safe, though.”
I considered disagreeing, but it didn't seem like an appropriate time. “Alright, lead the way.” Let the professionals do their work, and let them stop the monsters. I was just an observer here, right?
Chapter 10
Dumont headed out towards the front of the house, while Daniel took us towards one of the doors in the hall.
I had my gun raised, and Serena had drawn her knife. Daniel didn't even question that we had weapons on us, which meant they probably knew we were armed even before we stepped out of the car. They just didn't mind. We stepped into another office, this one a study with a number of tables covered with sheets.
“Well, we can just wait here until things cool down.” Daniel said, lowering his gun.
Shots rang out, muted by the thick walls. I heard someone scream. It wasn't a sound of fear, it was full of pain and anguish. I looked between the two of them. “Crap. What do we do?”
Daniel's voice was tinged with fear. “We stay here.” He looked around, as if sure something was going to go wrong.
“Serena, how are you doing?”
Serena was holding on to her knife with both hands. “Something's out there. I can smell them. A lot of them.”
“How do they smell?” I asked, voice soft.
Serena closed her eyes for a moment, then opened them with huge pupils. “Like wet dog.” She hissed.
“God damn,” I groaned. “Werewolves.”
Growls started to come closer. They were coming from outside, I realized. They were stalking the house.
“How many guards are on the grounds right now?” I asked Daniel.
“I...” He paused a moment. “Shit. Seven. Two on the patrol, five in the house.”
“So five.” I said. “Maybe four, if that scream is anything.”
He worried a lip with his teeth, and I could feel the tension. A growl rumbled from outside, closer, right from outside the window.
“Shit,” Daniel hissed. “They're getting closer.”
I lifted my gun, pointing it towards the window. I wasn't fast enough.
The window had already shattered, a mass of black fur and muscle streaking through the newly created space. I reflexively raised an arm to shield my eyes from the glass.
A shot rang out, presumably from Daniel's gun. I heard a snarl and a wet ripping sound, and I spun around.
Most shapeshifters played by the rules of conservation of mass. The common gray wolf could top out at about one hundred pounds. A good-sized human male, transformed into a wolf form, made them look like monsters. The werewolf inside the room was a man-wolf that stretched out to almost seven feet tall, all long limbs and claws and bunches of muscle.
I immediately lifted my gun and put two silver rounds into his back. The wolf howled, and spun around on me. Its orange eyes bore down on me, and I tied to go for a head shot.
The wolf sprung on me next, and my body protested in pain as it slammed me onto my back. “Hell!” I hissed as I tried to struggle. The wolf snarled, and I lifted my arm again to shield my face.
The wolf howled, and slumped down against me. I grunted as I felt two-hundred-plus pounds of dog fall on me. “What the...”
Someone pulled the wolf away from me, and I looked over. There was a knife in the wolf's back, and I recognized the knife. “Serena?” I turned back to look up.
Serena was standing there, hands shaking as she looked up at me. “I did that.” She whispered.
I nodded. “Yeah. It was messy, but you saved my life.” I pulled myself up off the ground, and took a look at Daniel. His throat was missing, ripped with a violently efficient tear of powerful wolf jaws.
I looked over to Serena, who was staring at the wound. “Shit,” She whispered. “Help me out here, Eric.”
Immediately I stepped in between her and Daniel's body. “Serena, you're not going to feed on him.”
I watched as her eyes narrowed, focusing on me. “It's there. I want it.” She groaned.
“We need to keep our focus on getting out of here alive.” I explained. I took a step back. “Can you use a gun?”
She nodded. “My uncle has a pistol. Taught me how to shoot it. Said I should always know how to defend myself.”
“Good.” I knelt down next to Daniel, and grabbed the gun off his corpse. “We're going to make a break for the Jeep. This isn't our fight, this isn't my territory.” I held out the gun to her.
Serena took the weapon and inspected it. She then stepped around me and plucked the magazines from Daniel's shoulder holster. “What about them?”
“My first priority is us.” I said. “I don't know what's going on, honestly. If we can help people, we do, but we're getting out of here. I brought you here, I'm getting you out.”
Serena checked the magazine on the weapon, then nodded. “Alright. We go out through the front?”
“I think so.” I said. “I don't really relish going out the window and going across the grounds.”
I walked to the door, and opened it, looking out into the hallway. There commotion was coming from outside the hall. I gestured for Serena to follow, and I bit my lip as I waited. I didn't know how Serena would hold up in a prolonged fight. It was best for us to just get out as fast as possible.
We hurried down the hall, past the relics in the case, and towards the entry hall. I opened the door into mayhem.
There were two guards still standing, another two sprawled out on the floor, bloody messes. The other two were holding compact machine guns, firing at the assailant shapeshifters.
The werewolves had busted through the front doors, tearing them off their hinges. Wolf men, all with varying fur colors, poured in through the space where those large doors had been. They advanced in, moving fluidly, trying to spread out to surround the guards.
Dumont, however, wasn't having any of that. The ancient Arcane had a pistol in one hand, and a blade in the other. I hesitated to call it a dagger just from the sheer heft of the blade, but it certainly didn't look big enough for a sword. He stood in between the two guards, firing well-aimed shots at any shapeshifter that dared advance too close.
“Carpenter!” He snarled, seeing us.”Where is Daniel?”
Shit. Just calling towards us had sent two weres shifting their heads towards us. They charged, and both Serena and I raised our weapons.
We took shots at the charging wolves, and one of them fell. The remaining one lunged at me with a claw, and I stepped back out away from it, dodging it narrowly. I raised my gun, and put a round into its gut.
It hissed, wheeling on me again and striking. This time, its claws cut into my flesh, and I immediately felt warm wetness on my shirt.
Serena spun on the werewolf, and slammed her knife into it. I heard a bone crack as Serena slid the knife through it, a sickly sound that made me worry for the knife. That quickly dissipated when the wolf started to thrash around in death throes.
It howled, sending a chill through me. I slammed my knife into its throat, sending warm blood gushing over my hand. I groaned, pulling the knife free.
There were two more wolves charging towards us. “Serena!” I called.
I rolled away from the now-dead first wolf, dodging away from the charging pair. Fear rushed through me, and I had to glance over at Serena for a moment. I saw her dancing away towards the wall of the entry hall, but that cost me in itself.
The momentary distraction pulled me away from the werewolf charging me. It moved faster than I could raise my gun, and the blow of its claws striking me sent me spinning away.
The floor rose up to meet me below. I covered my head with my arms, softening the blow slightly. I grunted still, and I felt the weight of the wolf settle on my back.
Its hot breath hit the back of my neck, and I tried to wiggle out from underneath it. It grabbed me, its claws tangling in my hair.
“Let's see how you taste,” It growled into my ear. I froze, realizing that I was totally at its mercy. I sure couldn't reach the wolf with my knife, and my gun was on the ground.
Then the sound of wet flesh and metal filled my ears again, and for the second time in the night, a wolf fell on me.
“Come on, Carpenter.” Dumont hissed. His face was twisted in a fury, his eyes focused down on me. “They're falling back..” He held out his hand to me.
I took his hand, and I felt the brush of his power as I was helped up. It was unlike anything I had ever felt before. It was old, and subtle, but definitely there. It wasn't like any vampire or were I had felt before.
“So, what was that?” I asked as I looked over to Serena. She was cleaning off the blade on a werewolf's fur.
Dumont reloaded his pistol. “I have my enemies. Some of them like to hire mercenaries. I don't know why they chose tonight. I'll have a car follow you back to San Francisco.”
I bit my lip, thinking for a moment. “I think I know where I'm going to have to go next. Have you had any one look into it?”
“I know who's responsible for hiring them. I'm forced to take indirect means of retaliation.” It seemed weird for a guy to be talking about indirect means of retaliation while wearing blood-stained Superman socks.
I shook my head. “Those are still mercenaries operating in my territory. I'm going to talk to Finnegan.”
He gave me a little look. “Well, best of luck in that.” He remarked. “As soon as reinforcements arrive, you can leave and I'll have two of my men see you safely back to San Francisco.”
I thought about that. “We'll wait half an hour.” I said. I looked away from him, and I walked towards Serena. “Hey, how're you holding up?”
Serena had placed the gun on the floor, and was just wiping the knife off on her pants. “That...shit.”
“I know.” I slid my gun into the holster and then sheathed my knife in the ankle. “I wasn't a fighter before I got into this.”
“From how you were getting whipped around, I would say you still aren't.” Serena smiled slightly.
“It's the magic that got me the job. Still learning how to keep myself alive.” I nodded towards Dumont. “He's offering us an escort back to the City.”
“I think I'll take it. Did he say who was responsible for these goons?”
I offered a shrug. “Out of my jurisdiction. He's independent, and he brushed it off. I'm not going to push.”
“So, what's the game plan for what comes next?”
“Simple, we go visit the shifters.”
Chapter 11
Connor Finnegan was the local shapeshifter boss. Irish as hell and almost two hundred, he wasn't one of my favorite Arcanes. In fact, he ranked pretty low. He and Amy had history, and I wasn't sure that any of it was positive.
Before we left Dumont's, I got my cuts looked at. They were mostly superficial wounds on my chest, and I ended up just getting some bandages. I changed out of my now-bloody shirt and into my back up that I kept in the trunk. Yes, an Atlanta Hawks tee was totally a great back up. Hindsight is twenty-twenty.
The drive back to San Francisco was quiet. The SUV behind us was unnerving, but knowing it had Dumont's men in it at least kept me from freaking on it.
It was outside of Finnegan's shipping business hours, so I pulled my
trump card with the weres. I dialed up Jackson Miller on speed dial and set it to speakerphone. Pesky California laws about Bluetooth and all that.
It wasn't the werebear that answered though. Instead, a little girl's voice answered. “Hello, Miller Residence.”
I chuckled softly. “Hey there, Callie, it's Eric. Is your dad around?”
“Hi, Eric!” She said, enthusiastically. “Is Miss Amy there?”
“No, she's not, I-” I should have known better than to engage a five year-old in small talk.
“Next time she's over, I want to make her try mac 'n' cheese. I know she doesn't eat meat or drink milk, but we have almond milk. That's all right, right? Mom turns into a giant zit, or that's what she says, if she drinks milk. What's a zit?”
I glanced over to Serena for a moment, who was trying not to break out into laughter. Evil vampire. “Callie, I need to talk to your dad. I promise I'll drag Miss Amy over soon. We can braid her hair.” I heard her inhale to start talking again, but I interrupted. “But I need to talk to your dad real quick. Okay?”
She let out a little groan of indignation. “Fine,” She said and I heard her scream. “Dad, it's Eric!”
Both Serena and I winced as it came over perfectly clear on the speakerphone. As adorable as Callie could be, she had little notion over how loud she could be. She was going to be a hellion, if her voice was any indication.
A few moments later, I heard the awkward shuffling of a phone as it changed hands. “Hello, Eric. It's good to hear from you.”
Where Callie was a bouncing ball of energy, Jackson Miller was one of the most cool and centered people I knew. His voice was calm, low, and even.
“Hey there, Jackson. I've got a problem. You know Arnaud Dumont outside of town?”
He paused for a moment. “The information broker? Yes, I do. Why?”
“I was at his place tonight, and there was an attack. Shapeshifters. I'm going to assume they're out of towners, but I need to talk to Finnegan. Where can I find him?”
Jackson paused a moment. “Eric, why do you think I-”
I groaned. “Because you're second in command, and you know where he spends his nights.”
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