“Why do we have to swing around?” Hoary hissed.
“Because you three are going to give the rest of us away with your constant joking around,” Meinard, another in the squad, hissed back.
“You need to get a life,” Hoary commented.
“You need to get laid and grow the fuck up,” Meinard retorted.
Hoary’s friend Darnell chuckled, “Well, he’s likely to grow up before he gets laid.”
“Probably,” Derick’s voice broke into the conversation, “that won’t happen because of your childish behavior. Now, go north and enter through the garden.” His eyes fairly gleamed at them in the dark. “And if this is a vampire, I hope he chokes on your bones.”
Hoary slapped his two friends. “Derick said ‘boner!’”
“Bones, you ass!” Derick shook his head in frustration. “If you fuck up the Duke’s chalet, he will probably end you and my life will be better for it.”
The three started toward the north, still whispering amongst themselves.
Adlar watched them go. “What do you call those three?”
“I call them bait,” Derick admitted when they were out of earshot. He turned to his number two man. “If we don’t hear any screaming in a few minutes, we will go in the front.”
Adlar and the others who had stayed behind chuckled.
“I doubt it,” a female voice told them. “I think your people are dead, and if you don’t slowly step back and return to where you came from, you will be too.”
“Where the hell?” Derick’s eyes were trying to figure out where the voice had come from. The Duke’s chalet had high stone walls, and the voice hadn’t come from up top.
“On the left,” Adler whispered. “I think she is hiding in the shadows by the wall.”
“Hiding?” The female chuckled. “Boys, I don’t need to hide from you. I just need to stay outside of the blood.”
“What blood is that?” Derick asked. Behind his back, he was giving instructions to his team with hand gestures.
“You know, the blood from your wounds when a sword cuts you open?”
Derick smiled, his teeth gleaming in the moonlit night. “I doubt that anyone is going to sneak up and cut anyone, little girl. I see you in the shadows in the corner. Me and my men,” he waved behind him, “will be enjoying your cries of pleasure this evening.”
“I’m sorry,” she said. “You and who?”
“Me and…” Derick turned to point to his team and stopped. He saw five of people dead on the ground and a short man with brightly glowing red eyes and a gleaming sword staring back at him.
“Finish them,” Akio commanded, and two shots rang out in the night. Both men’s heads snapped around from the power of the bullets, and both bodies slumped to the ground. Sabine walked out of the shadows and holstered her pistol. “The other three?”
“I killed them before I came over here,” Akio told her.
“I thought as much,” Sabine admitted. “Michael?”
“Felt them from quite a distance, and had me come out to hunt.”
“Oh.” She looked at the men. “Did you, uh, need to…”
Akio smiled. “I don’t drink blood from humans, Sabine.”
“Right.” She looked around. “Do we have much more to do inside?”
“Come on in.” Akio walked around the bodies and went toward the house. “I know the front is clean of traps.”
Sabine looked him over as they went into the chalet. “How did you not get any blood on you?”
“Practice, little one. Lots and lots of practice.”
CHAPTER EIGHT
Nagoya, Japan
The black box was almost invisible against the night sky. Yuko figured that if it weren’t for her vamp senses, she might have had difficulty locating it in the middle of the park where they had landed. She sniffed the air—no trace of Were scent.
Strange, she thought, not too concerned.
She trudged up to the container and opened the door, stepping into the semi-lit cabin.
“And what time do you call this?” Eve demanded playfully from the other side of a bank of consoles.
Yuko glanced around. “Where are—?”
Eve smiled. “Still out. I checked them in, to the arcade’s hotel for when they’ve worn themselves out playing games. We can collect them in the morning. Besides, I didn’t want them to see your example,” she said, winking.
Yuko giggled. “Right,” she said, contemplating a protest and then deciding she was too tired to be witty right now.
“So,” Eve pressed, “what happened after we spoke?”
Yuko pulled out a seat and slumped down. “Not much. We left the restaurant and finished our date elsewhere.”
Eve’s voice was serious. She peered at Yuko from between two computers. “No more attacks?”
Yuko shook her head.
“So,” Eve continued impatiently, “tell me about the date!”
Yuko’s complexion flushed slightly. “It was…wonderful. We ate fish and chips sitting at the port. And we talked and talked. He told me all about his parents and his grandparents and about the stories they used to tell about us.”
Eve raised one eyebrow. “I thought we wiped their memories.”
Yuko bowed her head for a moment as she spoke and sat up in her chair a little. “Yes, but they would record it on paper and then extrapolate in between. Hirano swore that his grandfather’s recountings were exaggerated each time he retold the story, and with no real memory to go off, he was just inferring from his incomplete notes.”
She paused.
“Though he did get something right.”
Eve held her gaze intensely. “What was that?”
Yuko grinned. “That you were the most intelligent and overwhelming non-human entity he could ever have imagined.”
Eve frowned. “He wrote that?”
“He did,” Yuko confirmed. “Even made Hirano question whether you might have been fiercer than the fiercest vampire or Were!”
Eve stood up and walked around the computers so she could see her friend better as they talked. “Wow. And yet he didn’t seem scared when we met.”
Yuko pursed her lips. “I think he figured that since you were with me, it was one of his grandfather’s confounded suppositions.”
Eve chuckled. “It sounds like they’ve been quite fascinated with our comings and goings.”
Yuko sighed, looking across the room as she sat back in her chair. “Yes, this is true.” She paused, remembering their conversations. “You know, he seems pretty fascinated with this whole concept of space and Bethany Anne having put ships up there. He kept asking all kinds of questions.”
Eve paused, processing. “You don’t suspect he’s a spy, do you?”
Yuko shook her head. “Oh, no, not at all. Just, he’s curious. Fascinated. It’s a good trait if we’re going to spend time together again,” she hinted noncommittally.
Eve grinned. “You mean you’re going to see him again?”
Yuko smiled. “Yes. Well, he asked me, and I said yes. So…”
Eve looked concerned for a moment.
“What is it?” Yuko asked, sensing something was wrong.
Eve shook her head. “It may not be a good time. What with Michael being back and the danger factor rising… I mean, you were attacked tonight for no good reason.”
Yuko started nodding slowly. “You have a point. Those guys weren’t run-of-the-mill criminals. They were trained professionals, and they were after me, for sure.”
Yuko thought for a minute more, her glow and excitement gone.
Eve cocked her head. “What are you thinking?”
Yuko’s eyes seemed to turn down at the edges. “I think I need to tell Inspector Hottie I can’t see him anymore.”
Eve was quiet. “Are you sure you want to do that?” she asked finally. “You’ve waited so long to have a relationship with someone who gets your world.”
Yuko’s eyes had dropped to the floor of the c
abin. “I know,” she said distantly. “But if he had gotten hurt tonight, I wouldn’t have been able to forgive myself.” She sighed. Eve could sense her pain. “And besides, just knowing he’s alive in the world brings me happiness. I need to make sure it stays that way.”
Yuko shook her head, hauling herself out of her chair. She busied herself with tasks—anything to distract her from the hollowness growing in her chest where before she had felt so full she had thought she would burst from happiness.
Eve stood quietly for a moment before broaching her next question. “Do you have any more idea who they were? I haven’t got any footage from the restaurant at all.”
Yuko glanced up, her mood much soberer. “None at all?”
Eve shook her head. “They just don’t have it.”
Yuko frowned. “That’s…odd.”
She mused for a moment, looking around the Pod before continuing her thoughts. “Well, as to what we do know… We’ve made a lot of enemies over the years, but I have no idea why anything would have changed now. Unless…
Eve blinked. “Unless?”
Yuko pursed her lips and pulled herself closer to the computers, booting one up. “Unless news of the ArchAngel has spread and these forces want to try and take us out before the ArchAngel crushes them.”
Eve frowned, voicing Yuko’s counter-thought. “You’d think it would make them want to keep a low profile.”
Yuko shrugged, watching the computer screen. “Unless they feel desperate.” She tapped a few keys and brought up a map of the country. “Either way, we need to be away from here to regroup.”
Eve stepped over to her screen to look at what Yuko was doing. Seeing the map, she placed her hand on the back of Yuko’s chair. “Where are we going?”
Yuko pointed at a lake in the middle of the country. “Otsu,” she said quietly. “It’s remote, and it will give the others some downtime to normalize from the battles they’ve been in recently.”
Eve nodded. “I’m sure they’ll appreciate that. However…” She hesitated a moment. Yuko looked up, and Eve put her hand on her shoulder. “You don’t have to run away from Hirano.”
Yuko lowered her eyes. “I’m not, I swear. I’m trying to keep him safe.”
Eve didn’t push the issue. She nodded and returned to her computer to make some preparations for their trip the next morning.
Yuko added softly. “I’ll go see him in the morning. Let him know.”
Eve nodded again and went back to work.
Peckham, England
“In that building there,” Officer Oscar Williams pointed to the dark brick building. His partner looked to where Oscar was pointing.
“Put your damned finger down!” Leo hissed. “You’re going to get us tagged!”
Oscar yanked his hand back. The two officers were in the shade of a tall edifice three blocks from the large black building, soot having stained the bricks of the outer walls centuries back.
“What’d’ya mean?” Oscar asked his salt-and-pepper-haired partner. “We got the tip that the man we’re looking for is in that building.”
“And he is going to stay there,” Leo told him. He slapped his partner on the arm and nodded down the street away from the black building. “Let me buy you a pint, and I’ll explain something I was hoping to keep you out of for at least another six months.”
Leo swept his fingers through his hair and started walking away, tucking his hands into his uniform jacket. Oscar took one more look at the building, then jogged to keep up with his partner.
Leo shook his head to quiet his partner when Oscar tried to start a conversation. As they walked, the two officers nodded to the ladies on the street and shook a couple hands. “Here,” Leo called over his shoulder and dipped into the Green Antlers Pub.
Oscar was surprised when Leo waved to the barman and kept walking toward the back. The two stepped out of the smoke- and beer-fume-filled bar into a hallway, and Leo reached up above a door and grabbed a key. Ten feet farther he reached up on the wooden wall, twisted a small piece of wood aside and inserted the key, then turned it and pushed open the portion of the wall that was a hidden door.
He waved Oscar inside the room after making sure no one had followed them.
Closing the door behind them, Leo pulled off his hat and tossed it onto a chair. The room was fairly large and included a couple desks up against one wall, a table large enough for ten, and a bar at one end. “They keep the bar stocked for us.” He waved Oscar to the bar. “Take a drink—you’re going to need it.”
“Well,” Oscar walked over to the bar and grabbed the bottle of whiskey he recognized, “not going to argue with a free drink.” Oscar stopped before he poured and turned to Leo. “It is free, right?”
“It is,” Leo answered. “I’ll wait till you finish it. Wouldn’t want to waste your drink.”
Oscar chuckled. After pouring the drink into the glass, he stoppered the bottle and placed it with a thunk back onto the bar. Leo had found a bottle of lager from somewhere. “Drink up,” Leo told him and tipped his bottle back. It took Oscar a second to down his drink.
Oscar’s slight coughing spell amused Leo. “Going to have to practice by yerself a bit harder with the good stuff before you do that again.”
“I’m good,” Oscar replied, setting the glass back on the bar. “Didn’t realize my throat was so dry.”
“Uh huh.” Leo pulled out a chair at the table. “Might as well sit down. I’ve got a story to tell you.”
Oscar dropped his hat on the table. “Ok, I’m warmed up well enough. What’s up with those in that building?”
“You ever heard of blood-baggers?” Leo asked. Oscar shook his head. “Ok, how about vampires and Weres?”
“Well, of course, them,” Oscar answered, and leaned forward. “Wait, those street rumors are true?” He reached out and started playing with his hat. “That would explain a couple of the killings in the park.”
“We keep as much of the truth from the citizens as we can. Usually, the paranormals stay out of the city with their problems because of the blood-baggers.”
Oscar shrugged. “Not following.”
“It’s like this.” Leo tapped his fingers on the table. “The blood-baggers drain vampires and sell their blood. It gives humans some damned good benefits, and the blood-bagger is only killing the undead anyway. The Weres aren’t as big a draw, ‘cause taking their blood is a good way to die if you happen to mix them. But the blood-baggers are willing to grab an occasional Were or two who isn’t associated with any of the local packs for a little R&D. So, in general, they don’t come into town, and especially not this area.”
“So the guy who was pointed out?”
“Is a blood-bagger, and based on your description it’s probably Noah. He’s the Number Two over there and a real asswipe. The other three are George, Thomas and Harry. Harry is the leader, and you can figure which one he is ‘cause of his white hair and youthful face. He has a baby-like appearance.”
“But don’t mention it?”
Leo shrugged. “I’ve never heard of him reacting to a comment on his age. However, I wouldn’t push any of the four. Noah is a jagoff who seems like he is on angry drugs all the time. George is tall and about as wide as a stick, and Thomas is kinda short and a little frumpy. None of them are in bad shape, and for God’s sake don’t get into a fight with them.”
“Fisticuffs?”
Leo shook his head. “Any of it. They are wicked fast and strong ‘cause of the vampire blood they suck down, and they have some of the best weapons cause it’s like their asses print money—selling that blood and all.” Leo eyed his partner to see how much of this warning was sinking in as he sipped his beer.
Oscar was quiet, but a few moments later he leaned back in his chair. “You were going to wait the six months why?”
“Most pubes like you quit in the first six months. Was trying to save you from the darker side of our work.”
“There’s more?” Oscar asked. “I mea
n the freaky-deaky stuff, not the normal human stuff.”
Leo used the bottle to scratch an itch before taking another swallow. “Some stuff even we find hard to believe, like those people who seem to be losing themselves when they sleep and finding some sort o’ gray mist place. But most of them have checked out ok, just having a common dream. The psycho-doctors all give them a thumbs-up, so we write it up as bad digestion.”
“So the people in that place are off-limits?” Oscar finally asked.
“Only the four I told you about,” Leo admitted. “They have an agreement with the higher-ups. They keep down the paranormals, we look the other way. If we have an issue with some of their people, we take it to the captain. If the captain and whoever talks for the blood-baggers decide their guy was in the wrong, then we are ok to grab him whenever he isn’t on their property.”
“The black building.”
“The very one,” Leo agreed. “About now is when most need a second drink.”
Oscar pushed his chair back and turned around to step over to the bar. “Yeah, I think that would be a good idea.”
Leo played with his beer, turning it around and around while he waited for Oscar to pour and toss back his drink and finally cap the bottle once again.
“What’s special about this room?” Oscar asked, taking in all the paper and notes scribbled on the walls.”
“Well, that’s the reason you are going to need a third drink,” Leo told him. He looked around the room before returning his gaze to his partner. “Not all of us are happy about the agreement. We think one of these days we will have to go into the black building, and we wish to be ready.”
Oscar thought about one of the dead bodies he now associated with the stories Leo was telling him. He turned back and grabbed the bottle, pouring himself a double. Capping the bottle, he took a sip and went back to his seat and sat down. “I’m in.”
“Boy,” Leo laughed, “you wouldn’t have been in the room if I didn’t already know there was no way to keep you out of that building.” He pointed to different parts of the room. “I showed this to you, so you know we got plans. So you won’t go get yourself killed before you can be part of those plans and do it right.”
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