He was dressed casually, which was certainly unusual, therefore, this visit heralded an emergency of some kind.
"Charles!" Wlodek's voice summoned me immediately. It was not unexpected. Gripping my tablet, I followed Merrill through the door.
"Take a seat," Wlodek waved an impatient hand at Merrill and me. We sat. Wlodek's study is richly appointed, from the painting of Napoleon by David on one wall, to the large Monet hanging opposite.
Someone once imagined that everything in his study had a huge, invisible price tag. They were correct. Many collectors would highly prize what Wlodek had ceased to see or consider long ago. Still, vampires sent gifts, in attempts to curry favor or elicit decisions from the Council. Wlodek was never swayed. That was what I admired most about him.
"Tell me," Wlodek leveled a dark gaze upon Merrill, while steepling his fingers. I'd seen the same gesture many times from Merrill, so it was no surprise where he'd gotten it.
"I'd like to borrow the vampires who helped in Corpus Christi all those years ago," Merrill began. "They are familiar with those who need our help, and I think they'd be glad to offer assistance again."
"What will they be doing?" Wlodek's voice was calm. Even. Deadly. Merrill didn't blink; his face remained an impervious mask.
"You've seen the news reports from California, I assume?"
"I have."
"There is something—I cannot say what, exactly—preventing those we know from actively hunting these spawn. They are concerned that spawn are not only being made here, but are also being brought from other worlds to devour the population."
"I cannot imagine why anyone would prevent them from using their full abilities," Wlodek said, revealing a tiny crack in his emotions. There were many reasons for the vampire race to protect humans, the source of blood being chief among them. If spawn were allowed to take over, Earth's vampires would starve.
"They cannot lie—you know this. I heard this directly from Adam."
"Ah. Our former Chief of Enforcers." A multitude of unspoken words lay behind Wlodek's statement. He missed Adam's cool efficiency more than he would ever admit. Russell was a good replacement, but his sense of humor never failed to irritate Wlodek. Oddly enough, Russell was one of those Merrill requested.
Merrill didn't respond, so several minutes ticked by while Wlodek considered Merrill's request. "Very well," he said eventually. "I will allow it. Charles, notify those concerned and have them report immediately to Merrill. I trust you have made arrangements to bring them all to the U.S.?"
"I have," Merrill agreed. "Transport is available and ready the moment I report their locations."
"Good. Keep me apprised; Charles will let you know if we have assignments that cannot be ignored while you chase and destroy these creatures."
I almost breathed a sigh, but held it back. Wlodek had made the correct choice, with no advice or cajoling needed. It was a tremendous relief.
* * *
Adam's Journal
Kyle will come, Merrill acknowledged. As will Russell, Will, and Radomir. I hope that will be enough from our side. Who will come for the Grand Master?
Daniel Carey, I sent. Martin Walters' son, plus Theodore Williams, Second to Thomas Williams, from the Sacramento Pack. He'll send others if Martin requests it. Martin intends to help if the spawn are in this area—he and his pack are at our disposal.
Good. I hope this will be enough, Merrill returned.
There's one more, I responded. My son, Justin. He's a Wyvern and has been deadly against spawn in both battles he's fought. I'd appreciate it if you and the others would assist in his training, and that of Martin's son, Mack. I believe both could be elite fighters with only a bit of tutelage from those most experienced.
I will see it done, Merrill promised. I think Russell will be happy to participate in the training of young ones.
My vampire brother will be a perfect teacher, I agreed. I'll be glad to see him again.
Are you planning to tell Justin that Russell is his vampire uncle?
I believe that would be a good start, I said. Russ is still young enough to engage young ones.
Precisely my thinking, Merrill agreed. Will can help—those two work very well together.
Let me know when you are ready for transport, I said. Dragon and I will come.
I will. Kiarra is truly pregnant with your daughter? He asked before ending the mental conversation.
Yes, and this pregnancy is harder on her, for several reasons. I can tell the Larentii is worried—he's hovering, and he never does that. She has become ill several times, and that never happened with Justin.
That concerns me, Merrill said. How much time does she have before she can no longer employ her abilities?
Four weeks, I grumbled mentally. You know she will push it to the limit, too.
I understand that about her, yes. She despises feeling helpless.
I wish she'd allow us to take care of her, I said. This will be difficult enough, knowing Justin will be in danger. I don't know whether I can handle all this at once.
You love them, that's where the difficulty comes in, Merrill said. Do not fear, many love your wife and will give their lives for her—and for her child.
I hope it doesn't come to that, I responded, allowing the mental sigh to escape with my words.
* * *
Justin's Journal
"This means you'll be homeschooled for as long as it takes, up to the remainder of the year," Dad said. He'd called Mack and me into his study, a place we were seldom allowed. "The Larentii will arrange for all your grades and records to be transferred to the school during the time spent being homeschooled. You will have attended school without having to actually go elsewhere while you're hunting spawn. It is my hope that this situation will be rectified in a month or two, so things will return to normal."
"Seriously?" Mack breathed. He hadn't seen this coming.
Neither had I.
"It also means," Dad continued, "that dates with Gina in the interim will have to be carefully planned around hunting trips. If she has questions, tell her you're working with me. That will be true enough."
"Who'll be teaching us?" Mack asked.
"Joey and Bearcat," Dad grinned. "Be prepared, because Joey will make sure you can graduate from college with the science and math classes he intends to throw at you. Bearcat will teach English and history. Do your assignments or you'll answer to your mother and me."
"Sounds harder than real school," Mack whispered.
"It will be," Dad nodded. "Joey will schedule additional college testing for both of you, and expect you to do well enough to get into just about any school you choose. You're his only students, don't forget. He and Bearcat won't have an entire classroom of pupils, distracting their attention from you two. Mack, we've discussed this with your father and he's happy with the idea that this will prepare you for college—better than what you were getting at Valley High."
"How will we know where to track those things?" I asked. After all, hunting spawn was the reason behind all this.
"Lion is going to teach you how to Look, and that's spelled with a capital L. Pheligar says you have the innate ability, you only have to learn to use it properly. You'll be on location duty for the others—just remember that the vampires can only move at night. That means you'll be working nights, too, so you'll have to plan all other activities accordingly."
"When will they get here? The ones who are coming?" Mack asked.
"They'll be here by Tuesday. We'll construct an underground bunker for the vampires, with a door they can lock from the inside. That's what we'll be doing this afternoon—the Larentii will shield our power signature while we build it."
"It can happen that fast?" I gulped.
"Son, there wasn't anything here when I bought the property two weeks ago. This house went up in a day. We spent a few more days getting it wired, installing the plumbing and placing the furniture."
"Wow," I mumbled. I was too embarrassed t
o ask how much power Dad and Mom actually had. It ought to be staggering.
"Dad's okay with me staying here?" Mack asked.
"He prefers it, since you were followed by the Pierce boy and attacked outside school. He doesn't want any accidents. Now that you know what you are, you are in a position to do real harm to humans. The Pierce boy is nothing more than a bully; he has no idea what sort of threat you could pose to him and his friends. Besides, we have no desire for any suspicion to fall on you again, should you attack a human. That is the fear that faces both werewolves and vampires—that humans will discover their race and attempt to eradicate it."
"I never thought of that, before," Mack said. "Dad told me to keep my mouth shut, but this sort of explains everything."
"Young Mack, your wolf knew to run from spawn because you were outnumbered. It will always know that. From now on, others will have your back when you fight them—at least that is my intention. I have a feeling that your adoptive mother will give you a gift—as her adopted child. Use your gift wisely. Go, now. She is waiting for you at the indoor pool."
* * *
We found Mom right where Dad said she was, lounging on a chair with her feet up beside the pool. The cool water and elevated humidity inside the room made it an oasis compared to the dry heat outside.
"I asked Adam to send you," she smiled at both of us. "Justin, the gifts I'm giving Mack, you already have. This will help keep both of you safe." She beckoned Mack closer.
"I have to put my hands on your head, honey," she said. "This is to give you mindspeech and the ability to Look, so you and Justin will be on the same page. Lion will show you how to use both gifts."
Mack knelt beside her chair. At that moment, I was reminded of a painting where a Queen bestowed a knighthood upon a warrior. I wondered if Mack would ever realize that a warrior-knight was what he'd become.
Mom's hands glowed as she touched Mack's head. They'd called her First. I hadn't asked about that before. Uncle Lion would have to tell me, since nobody else explained what that meant.
"There," Mom took her hands away. "You'll be able to Look and to mindspeak others with the talent. Don't misuse your Looking skills to bypass study and homework. Joey will know and you'll be in trouble with everybody."
"I guess we'll have to be careful," Mack grinned.
"I'm warning you, Martin Everett Walters, Junior," Mom shook a finger at him. He laughed. It was a good sound.
* * *
"Aunt Marlianna," I grinned at her when she and Uncle Lion walked into the kitchen ten minutes later. Mom sent us to the kitchen, and said to wait there for Lion. I had no idea that Aunt Marlianna would come, too.
"I wanted to thank your mother," Marlianna beamed at me. "You're going to get a cousin in about nine months."
"Seriously?" Mack said. "That's so cool."
"It is cool," I agreed. "He or she can go to school with my sister."
"That's what we were hoping for," Marlianna hugged one of Lion's huge arms against her. I could tell he didn't mind a bit.
"Baby, go ahead and see Kee," Lion urged. "I'll teach these young ones how to use what they have without getting into trouble."
When Marlianna disappeared down the hallway toward the indoor pool, Lion turned to us. "Looking," he began, "is a way to search for needed information. I warn you not to make your search too broad, because the information you get will overwhelm you. Narrow it down and Look for specifics. It'll be like looking for Fred on the internet, which will produce thousands of possibilities. You'll have to narrow your Fred search to Fred James from Greenville, Alabama. That will produce a more reasonable response," he said.
"It's like the Internet?" Mack asked.
"The most accurate version you'll ever see," Lion nodded. "You'll only get precise information, and nothing that is wrong or dishonest. It's one of our best abilities."
"How will this help in hunting spawn?" I asked.
"All right, try now. Look for spawn," Lion instructed. "I'm prevented by our superior, but you aren't held back by that command."
I'll never forget that first session. Ever. I Looked, thinking I might find a few here and there, not far away. After all, we'd killed so many already.
"They're all over," I whispered in alarm when my eyes focused on Uncle Lion again.
Chapter 7
Justin's Journal
"Narrow each search to a city, then look for the location within that city," Dad said, spreading a paper map of the U.S. on the kitchen island. When I'd Looked the first time, I'd seen red, glowing spots on states across the union. Dad was now asking me to focus on individual states, and cities within those states.
"There's a shitload in Florida," I mumbled, focusing my skills on that state. "In the Everglades. Here." I tapped the map. "A bunch in Texas—maybe more there than in Florida," I confirmed. Mack had seen them, too, just not as easily or as clearly. That meant I'd take point on the Looking for spawn thing.
Inside my head, I could see cities. Streets in those cities. Street signs and building numbers in those cities. I was surprised the spawn hadn't made their presence known there already. Were they waiting for something?
"Son, they're building their army," Dad said softly. "They want to hit us and hit us hard in those areas, so they're taking the population a few at a time, probably from the homeless and those whose absence won't be so readily noticed. They do this on other worlds, too. It's their attempt to overwhelm the population and make it ready for the real invasion."
"Real invasion?" I croaked. Images of space ships firing on hapless populations swam through my brain.
"Not like that. Who has need of ships when they can fold in and eat whomever they want?" Dad muttered. "Worlds die within a few months after the Ra'Ak and their spawn arrive to feed."
"And you're the only ones standing between those people and the Ra'Ak?" Mack's voice cracked.
"Yes. Seven of us, against that army," Dad agreed. "There are rules, but there are times when the rules are broken—on their side. This is one of those times. We fought and won this planet twenty years ago. Now they're back."
"How long are they supposed to stay away?"
"A thousand years."
"You think there's something here that they want?" I asked.
"We worry that it could be exactly that," Dad agreed. "That whatever it is may be very important to us in the future, and very bad for them at the same time."
"So we can't give it up," I said, squaring my shoulders. "We can't let them have that."
"And we've had our hands tied in fighting them," he said. "That leaves you, Mack and a handful of vampires and werewolves to fight for us."
"This is so weird," Mack sighed and shook his head. "I have questions, but maybe I'll wait to ask them."
"We'll be going to Texas on Tuesday," Dad said. "There's nothing to prevent us from providing transportation for my son and his friends, so Dragon and I will drop you off in Dallas Tuesday evening. Pay attention to Merrill, Daniel and the others—you'll learn much from their tactics. Between now and then, Dragon and Lion will give you a brief lesson in combat."
* * *
"I will teach you bladework someday," Dragon said as we stood before him and Lion in the backyard half an hour later. "The first thing I wish to teach you is this; never let your enemy slip behind you. Always keep him in front of you, or as much in your sight as possible."
"It's better to have at least one or two allies at your back if you are surrounded," Lion said. "Form a triangle. A circle is better if you're surrounded, but take care to keep the circle intact. It cannot be breached, you understand. Close in if one of your comrades falls, but give each other enough room to fight."
"Be prepared," Dragon took over the lesson. "You will see humans in all stages of turning to spawn. Never forget that the human is dead and spawn is what you face. Ignore that you are fighting women or girls. Spawn are asexual. Take them down no matter what."
"They smell nasty. Acidic," Mack confirmed. "All of
them."
"Then let your nose be your guide," Lion jerked his head at Mack. "Do not let them live for any reason, no matter what their appearance may be. Any one of them can destroy the population if allowed to attack unchecked."
"What about little kids?" Mack mumbled.
"Most of those you saw the other day would have been completely eaten if we hadn't arrived to interrupt the meal," Lion sighed. "Those are the first choices as a food source goes, because the meat is tender. You understand that the lake areas and Yosemite are now closed after this latest attack. Authorities are saying to proceed with caution at any vacation spot, as a large group of people provides no safety from what is attacking them. The National Guard is looking for these creatures, too, but they have no idea what they are tracking."
"They're showing the footage from the school attack every five minutes on the news," Mack grumped. "We probably won't be the only ones pulled out of school over this."
I blinked at Mack for a moment. "Do you think Gina can have her classes with us? Do you think her mom will allow it?"
"Dude, will your mom allow it?" Mack asked.
"We're off topic," Lion cleared his throat.
"What? Oh, yeah," I said, feeling embarrassed.
"You cannot allow anything to distract you when you face the enemy," Dragon's eyes narrowed as he studied me. "Always stay focused. You'll keep your life that way."
"Yes, sir," I nodded.
* * *
At five-thirty that evening, I was on my way to pick Gina up for our date. That meant I had a ton of stuff shoved aside in my head to make room for her. Her mother answered the door when I arrived, and I knew she wanted to make sure I was a good candidate for dating her daughter.
I was as honest as I could be when she asked questions.
"You've lived in Fresno all your life?" She offered me a seat in the small living room.
"Yes, ma'am—for as long as I can remember."
"I know your father owns a construction company."
"He does." I watched as her fingers twisted together and worried blue eyes wandered to a photograph sitting on a table beside my chair. Shamelessly, I Looked to see who it was.
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