"That's not right," Joey joined the conversation.
"The meat is tender," Lion rubbed Joey's back. "These are predators. Never forget that."
"They don't remember they were human?"
"They have no memory. All they know to do is follow the orders of their maker."
"Does their maker have a memory?"
"If they live long enough," Anna shrugged. "It takes roughly five years to recall that they can speak. A few more years past that they'll remember some things, but by that time, they're so immersed in what they've become, it no longer matters."
"Those trolls we saw in Shreveport?" Joey asked.
"Were around twelve years old. They could have spoken if they wanted to, but you wouldn't have understood their language."
"Why?"
"Because they weren't from Earth, kid," Lion explained.
"Then how are they getting here? Who's shipping them in?"
"That's something we can't explain right now," Lion said. "You'll have to trust us. Anna, Dragon says to hop to Kansas City if it becomes necessary." I watched as he gave a slight nod in her direction. Somehow, I had the idea that this was something they'd already discussed between themselves while Joey and I had been sleeping.
"Adam, that is still hovering in the possibilities section. It hasn't become an absolute, yet."
"Remember Pheligar's warning," Lion nodded in Anna's direction a second time.
"I won't forget that." She sounded uncomfortable, and I couldn't explain it. Her pretty face was set and unreadable. I'd never seen that from her before. Something troubled her and I had no idea what it might be.
"I'm worried that everything might happen at once," Lion muttered, nodding and gazing into his coffee cup.
"I'm worried that the Powers That Be are worried," Anna responded. "I thought I'd be working alone on this. You see what that turned into." She swept out a hand.
"It means this is more important than anybody realized," Dragon said, nodding to me and pulling out a chair to sit on Lion's other side. Like before, he wore leather pants and boots, but the vest had been discarded in favor of a more conventional, white, long-sleeved shirt. The cuffs had been turned back, revealing a red dragon's head on each forearm. The teeth on both dragons gleamed against Dragon's skin, and I wondered at the skill needed to produce a tattoo of such quality.
"LaFranza," Dragon shrugged.
I had no idea who—or what—LaFranza was, so I remained silent.
"Pheligar says he's ready to transport Lynx and Tiger in if it's necessary. Wolf is still out on assignment."
"This is a mess," Anna mumbled, rubbing her forehead. My arm stole around her and I squeezed her shoulders solicitously. My mind worked furiously at the same time, attempting to decipher this conundrum. That didn't mean I wouldn't take every opportunity I could to touch Anna.
Adam, what's going on? Joey sounded upset, even in mindspeech.
I'm trying to determine that. Keep your ears open, son. We'll figure this out.
I like it when you call me that.
I know.
While he was human, Joey never had a father figure in his life. I knew that from reading his records, and his mother never said whom his biological father might be. I was happy to fill that role, as I'd never get a child of my own.
"Who's tracking the spawn from the killings?" Anna asked.
"I am," Lion said. "I'm heading back that way when I finish this." He held up his coffee cup.
"I'll keep an eye on things in Corpus Christi. Daniel went back to calm the Pack, and he's staying in touch." Dragon pulled a cell phone from his shirt pocket and laid it on the table.
"Want coffee?" I asked. Dragon hadn't ordered anything.
"He prefers tea so black and strong it can pump iron," Anna sighed. "They don't serve that here."
"I'll have water," Dragon nodded, his eyes hooded. He spared a slight smile for Anna, however. I signaled our waitress, who quickly brought a glass of water.
* * *
"This gets weirder every day," Joey flopped onto the sofa beside me.
I'd chosen to watch a rerun of the local news while Anna slept. We'd driven her back to the safe house after Dragon offered to keep an eye on Roy Cheek and his menagerie.
Roy was currently hiding in his hotel room at the Emperor's Palace—he'd been chased there by a pack of journalists. All of them wanted answers on his recent run of luck after Kirby Lee's husband disappeared and the refinery shut down in Corpus Christi.
The last thing Anna said to Dragon before we left the casino, was that she felt Roy's luck was about to run out. Dragon didn't reply, he'd merely given her an enigmatic nod.
"He's become too much of a liability, no matter what he did for them," I said aloud.
"What?" Joey asked.
"Cheek. Whatever deal he made with those things—the enemy, as Anna says—he's no longer useful to them. Too many people are following him around, now."
"You mean he's toast?"
"I think he was toast the moment he was approached by the enemy."
"I've seen at least fifty hits on the 'net, saying Kirby Lee murdered her husband, and fifty more saying Cheek did it so they could be together."
"Understandable, how they might arrive at that conclusion."
"How is Cheek connected? The police in Corpus think this is about a boat and a cheating wife. It's not. Why would the enemy come to Cheek for anything, other than a ready supply of fresh bodies that he wouldn't have to pay and nobody would go looking for? It can't be just that, can it?" Joey turned a worried gaze in my direction. "Surely they can round up their own food source."
"Let's look at our facts," I began. "Cheek hired undocumented workers, got them to work for him and then handed them over to the enemy before he had to pay them, so he could keep the money to gamble."
"Yeah. Then he made a big show out of the EPA closing the refinery in Corpus, over violations. The refinery is still closed," Joey said.
"True. Then, the Corpus Packmaster and I are attacked by rogue werewolves in Rockport. They intended to kill both of us. Anna shows up and I don't die."
"The first kink in their plans. They come looking for Daniel in Shreveport. We help him and again—you don't die. Daniel doesn't die, either."
"Because Anna, Lion and Dragon are there. I'm not sure we could have taken down the trolls, Joey. They were too big for us to handle."
"This is fucked up."
"You are correct."
At that moment, a flashing banner crossed the television screen, announcing breaking news. I stared as the words crawled across the bottom of the screen. If I'd thought things were complicated already, I was very, very wrong.
Body washes up on Port Aransas beach, the crawler announced. Identified as Anna Kay Madden, a popular local investigator. Stay tuned to News Eleven for more details as they become available.
"If that's Anna," Joey's eyes were huge as he blinked at me.
"Then who's sleeping in my bed?" I growled.
* * *
My cell phone buzzed as I stalked toward the bedroom, Joey stepping fearfully behind me. I ripped my pants pocket with partially formed claws as I pulled it out and glanced at the text.
The message was from Dragon. While I stared at the screen, a second message appeared—from Lion.
Harm her, Dragon's text read, and I'll have your head so fast you'll never see it coming.
Hurt our girl, Lion's text said, and there won't be enough of you left to fill a matchbox.
What the fuck? Joey read the texts over my shoulder.
"Where do you think you're going?" An eight-and-a-half-foot blue giant appeared before me. Joey shrieked. My cell phone clattered to the floor as I stared in shock.
* * *
I recalled the memory vividly. I'd been in Chicago in the 1920s, chasing a rogue. Louis Armstrong was playing at a club near my hotel, so I'd thought to go hear the music that everyone was talking about.
They stepped in front of me as I walke
d toward the line of humans waiting to get inside the venue. Three people. A tall, sandy-haired man with broad shoulders, who moved with the grace of a cat. A woman, only slightly shorter than he, with a tawny mane of hair that hung to her shoulders. Like the man, she moved with the grace of a stalking panther.
Out of place beside them stood a woman, perhaps five-three or four, with long, platinum hair down her back. It looked as if the gazelle had joined the lions for a night out. The fashion of the day was short, bobbed hair, so the pale-haired woman was doubly out of place.
She wasn't dressed in the fashion of the day, either, choosing to wear slacks and a jacket. I'd seen only a few women in pants up to that time, so her outfit puzzled me. My breath caught when she turned, offering her profile. She was beautiful. If my heart had been beating, it would have stopped at that moment, I was so taken with her.
I never took my eyes off her for the duration of Armstrong's performance. Following the group afterward, I meant to discover where she was staying. Intended to make her mine. Somehow, the three managed to elude me—a vampire. I hadn't had sex in more than ninety years after that night. I looked for her everywhere, but she'd disappeared for good, leaving me with only a memory.
Until now.
"Adam, if you'll stop woolgathering, I can explain."
This wasn't Anna. The blue giant stood next to her, frowning at me. He dwarfed the safe house basement and terrified Joey.
"Who are you?" I demanded, my voice a raspy growl. I was angry. More than angry. I'd been deceived—in the most devious manner possible. Was this a trick, too, that she was taking this form as her present appearance? Had she stolen the vision of the woman I'd seen so long ago, to confuse or upset me?
"Her name is Kiarra," the blue giant spoke.
"Pheligar, let me handle this," she said, raking fingers through long, platinum hair in frustration. "They did this on purpose," she added. "First they weighted the body and dumped it offshore before I arrived, then let it wash up now to cause problems."
"Because they suspect," Pheligar snapped. "While others might be able to change appearances, they suspect that you are what you are. They're calling you out."
"Then they'll expect the second Anna to show up and refute the findings. They'll expect the body to be altered to prove the authorities wrong. What if we don't do that? What if we let things stand as they are? Change the airline records. That's all it will take."
"I've already done that," Pheligar sniffed.
"Good. Anna can stay dead, now."
"Who the fuck are you?" I demanded a second time. They'd held a conversation while ignoring me, as if a vampire weren't a dangerous entity to either of them.
"I am Pheligar of the Larentii," Pheligar announced. "I can separate your particles if I find you annoying. Be silent."
"Pheligar, please leave. Adam and I need to talk," she said.
"I will separate your particles if you harm her," Pheligar said before he disappeared.
"That's the third threat I've gotten tonight," I growled, crossing my arms and staring at the woman before me. If I'd seen her on the street, I'd have followed her without question. She'd been with me for days, in disguise and obviously lying to me.
"This disgusts me," I flung out a hand and turned my back on her.
"If you'll let me explain," she began.
"I want nothing from you. You've done nothing but lie and misrepresent yourself," I said, walking toward the kitchen and snatching up the keys to the rental. "I'm leaving. Joey, are you coming with me?"
"Adam, I want to hear what she has to say," Joey's voice was timid as he begged me mentally to stay. I didn't respond to his mindspeech.
"Fine. Stay here and listen to the lies." I flung myself toward the stairs leading to the trap door overhead.
* * *
"Our kind can't lie." Lion took the barstool next to mine. I'd found a casino bar that was mostly empty and sat there, nursing a drink I had no intention of consuming while feeling sorry for myself.
"What kind is that?" I took a huge swallow of the bourbon I'd ordered.
"Our kind. I can't say the name, because the enemy is listening."
"Convenient." I slapped the glass on the bar and nodded for the bartender to fill it again.
"At the moment, it's completely inconvenient. Of all the times for this to happen," Lion shook his head. "I'll have a double," he said as the bartender held up the bottle of Jameson's in a silent query.
"For what to happen?"
"For Kiarra to find a mate."
"I'm not her mate."
"A day ago, I'd have said that's a lie."
"I might have said it, too. Things change."
"You don't turn feelings on and off, like a light switch," Lion pointed out philosophically. "I know you feel betrayed. All I can say is there's a reason for the subterfuge. A very good reason. Kee wouldn't hurt you like this if there were any way to avoid it."
"Sure." I emptied my glass a second time.
"She can do things for you that nobody else can do."
"Like what?"
"That's not my information to give. You need to talk to her."
"I don't care if your kind can't lie. I don't choose to believe you."
"She's saved your life three times. That doesn't mean anything?"
"Maybe it would be better if she hadn't."
"You don't mean that."
"Fuck you."
"Not gonna happen. I have a mate."
"Then leave. I'm not in the mood for any philosophical, motivational speeches."
"That's what I used to do," Lion said with a sigh. "Before. Know how old I am?"
"No, and I don't care."
"You should. Make a guess. Tell me how old I am."
"Fine. Shifters live around two hundred years, on average. You're one hundred seventeen."
"I'm sixteen thousand years old, give or take, allowing for variances in size and lengths of planetary rotations."
"That's a lie. I know," I held up a hand. "Your kind can't lie."
"We can't."
"Why are you here?"
"Because I wanted to talk. Dragon wants your head. I felt discretion was the better course of action."
"You think he can take me? A vampire?"
"With no trouble, and keep your voice down," Lion cautioned.
"Perfect. How old is he, by the way?"
"He's slightly younger—by a thousand years."
"This is a fucking joke," I muttered.
"I fail to see any humor in this situation." Lion shifted. I watched as the muscles beneath his shirt flexed and bulged as he settled himself more comfortably on the barstool. The leather seat creaked beneath his weight, and I considered that I might not get away if Lion chose to chase after me.
"You wouldn't. I've tracked and killed things that were faster than you." He emptied his glass and thumped it on the bar. "Daylight is in two hours. What will it be, Chessman? You know too much already. Now, I can take you out of the game, or you can continue to play along. Either way, you won't be upsetting Kiarra. Any more than you have already, anyway."
"I won't go down without a fight," I hissed.
"Oh, it won't be to the death. I can have you removed from the planet until this is over, though. Make your choice. Do it now. You won't get another opportunity. If Dragon comes, he won't be half as polite."
"If I go, then Joey comes with me."
"That's not what I hear. Joey's talking with Kee. He's staying."
"Fuck."
"Again, no, thank you. The way I see it, you're staying. You have a job to do and an adopted child to protect. Do it, Chessman. Who knows, maybe you'll have a change of heart."
"Doubt it. I don't like betrayals." I tossed a hundred on the bar, nodded to the bartender and slid off the barstool.
"Then you have a long, difficult way to go," Lion growled low and followed me out of the casino.
* * *
"He'll play along, but he doesn't like it," Lion announced a
s we stepped into the basement of the safe house.
Anna—not Anna, I reminded myself, rose from her seat at the kitchen table. She'd been crying, that was easy enough to see. Her nose and eyes were red. If I were more forgiving, I'd have said she was still beautiful. That no longer figured into the equation for me.
"Thanks, Lion," she said softly. "I've moved my things into the third bedroom. I'll have Pheligar remove the M'Fiyah when he comes back."
"Kee, don't do anything rash," Lion said.
"You think this is rash?" She tossed a hand helplessly. "No good deed goes unpunished." I watched as she walked down the hall toward the smallest bedroom in the safe house. The door closed behind her moments later.
"Someday, vampire, you're going to regret every minute of this," Lion said. "I have work to do." I watched him climb the steps to the trap door without a word.
* * *
"Adam, I don't want to interfere in your business," Joey began.
"Then don't."
"You don't know everything."
"I have no desire to listen." I stalked toward my bedroom, realizing that I was punishing myself, just as much as I was punishing Joey and the woman. I still couldn't bring myself to say her name. For me, the Anna I knew lay dead in Corpus Christi, and a changeling had taken her place.
* * *
"I have information that says the woman you've been working with is very much alive. I want photographs," Xavier insisted. He'd called almost the moment my eyes opened after sunset.
"That may prove difficult," I said. "We aren't on speaking terms at the moment."
"Go fuck yourself, vampire," Dragon pulled the cell phone from my hand and spoke to Xavier.
"Who is this?" I clearly heard Xavier's demand.
"Somebody you shouldn't mess with," Dragon responded.
"Your name?"
"I don't give out my name. Most people call me Dragon. Tell your puppet master that." Dragon ended the call, offered me a scowl and tossed the phone on the bed. Without a word and with his black braid swinging, he stalked out of my bedroom.
"What's going on?" I demanded as I walked into the kitchen. Joey sat at the kitchen island, morosely drinking a bag of blood.
"Cheek's dead," Joey muttered. "Manuelo went nuts. Killed Kirby Lee first, then attacked Cheek. At least he did it in an alley behind one of the casinos. Anna—Kiarra," he corrected himself, "had to kill him. After that, a crowd of people was attacked outside a business in Summerlin. Fifteen died. The bodies were half-eaten when the police showed up."
Hope and Vengeance (Saa Thalarr, book 1): Saa Thalarr, book 1 Page 11