Bite Back Box Set 2

by Mark Henwick

  “He’s stumbled onto something? I told you your House gave the FBI too much—”

  “Not exactly, no.”

  I sat down without being invited.

  “Y’know, Naryn, what sucks about being part of House Altau isn’t the secrets, it’s keeping all the secrets in the right compartments.”

  He leaned forward on his table, lacing his fingers together, and stared at me.

  “You know that Diana has projects that cannot be reported to Skylur?” I said.

  “Yes.” He looked as if he was going to leave it there, but I waited until he went on. “In the old Assembly, Skylur had to be able to deny involvement with significant projects that hadn’t been approved by the Assembly, or its committees. So…” he shrugged.

  “Yeah, because the Truth Sensors would rat on him if he told a lie. Good.” I looked around, spotting the coffee machine. “It’s gonna be a long night; can I make us some coffee?”

  He waved me toward it.

  “That was the old Assembly,” I said. “Is the new Assembly going to have the same setup?”

  “It’s likely,” he said. “What has this got to do with—”

  “I’m getting there. Diana recruited me into a scheme, and I don’t know if she recruited you, or that she ever expected me to have to recruit anyone else.”

  His machine made a vicious cup of coffee. It came out black and thick as the stuff you get in Turkey.

  I made two of his small cups and gave him one.

  “Since she’s not available, and we’ve gone critical, I’m recruiting you.”

  “You don’t know if she’d approve of recruiting me. Surely, if she did, she would have already.”

  “Well, if you can get Diana to call and give me instructions…”

  Bullseye.

  He twitched. Whatever had happened that put Diana out of contact, Naryn was in on it. And he had instructions to keep me out of it. Peachy.

  He tried to recover. “You drop this on me without warning and you say it’s gone critical. How critical?”

  “If I hadn’t kidnapped him on the way to his FBI safe house, by now he would have handed over everything he’s gathered on paranormals to his boss, who happens to be the Deputy Director. I gather the Director was waiting in line for his report as well.”

  Naryn had a Mediterranean complexion that didn’t do going pale easily, but he managed it.

  “Killing him wouldn’t have helped. He’d have his files where his boss could get to them in an emergency.”

  Naryn held me in his steely glare. “Binding him or kidnapping him would be no more than a temporary reprieve.”

  I nodded.

  “So…” I dragged the word out. “The last option seems to be what I would have suggested to Diana anyway: recruit him. Make him aware of the danger to everyone from Emergence without preparation. Get him to work with us.”

  “This ties into your project with Diana?”

  “It does. Diana recruited me to open a line of communication that would end with the President of the United States. She wanted me to use Colonel Laine and the military. When the Ops group got taken down by the FBI, it seemed to me that the lead agent of that operation would be a much better starting point. That’s Ingram.”

  Naryn was silent. He leaned back in his chair and studied the ceiling.

  I had to pass this to him. He knew that. I was too junior, too unsure of my abilities, to be trusted with this task. However busy he was, he couldn’t dodge this. He looked down.

  “I see,” he said finally, grudgingly. “We build a relationship with him, so he can introduce us to his boss, and then to his boss, and so on. You have to hand this to me, and I have to accept the restrictions of not reporting to Skylur at the moment. So until Diana is…available again, I have to manage her secret project.”

  Yes!

  I tried not to leap out of my chair with joy.

  Naryn wasn’t about to let me off everything else.

  “What about your tasks, the Were negotiations?” he said.

  “The LA packs have agreed to discuss making an alliance with House Tarez. I’ve had to leave Alex as main liaison on that because they’ll respond better to him than me.”

  In my imagination, a ghost of a smile passed Naryn’s lips and disappeared.

  “I’ve made introductions between House Trang and the Albuquerque Were,” I continued. “It went well enough that they’re offering help for Bian to set up her House. That’s not finished; formal alliances have to be negotiated centrally in Santa Fe, where the senior alpha is. I expect to be called to attend that, and when I do, I can open the conversation about getting Assembly representation for what they’re calling the League of Southern Packs.”

  “Good.” Naryn finished his tiny cup of coffee. “Larimer?”

  “I’m scheduled to attempt another ritual tonight. That should cement the Denver pack’s alliances with about a dozen packs, some of them in loose association already.” My stomach flip-flopped. As long as the ritual worked. Me looking like a fool wouldn’t be so bad, but it would reflect on Felix as well, and because of that, it could be dangerous for the pack. “Felix has accepted that Pack Deauville is a sub-Pack and he’s given no indication he has a problem with an association with Altau. No one in a position of authority here has ever gotten around to confirming that to him, though. And when that conversation takes place, it’d be a good opportunity to introduce the idea of representation on the Assembly.”

  “I’ll call him tomorrow,” Naryn said. He gathered the reports on his desk and stacked them neatly to one side, nudging them into perfect alignment. “You know, if you keep doing the impossible, people will keep giving you impossible tasks.”

  I needed to get my ears cleaned out. I couldn’t possibly have heard what I thought I’d heard, but in case I had, this was the best timing for my last task on my to-do list for this meeting. I took a piece of paper out of my pocket, unfolded it and placed it neatly on the top of his pile.

  He raised one bushy eyebrow.

  “The…ahh…costs of bringing Agent Ingram here.”

  He glanced at it without comment, then sighed and rubbed his face with his hands.

  “Bring him in.”

  Chapter 35

  Ingram ambled through the doorway, his most disarming, good-ole-boy face on and his eyes sharp as a snake’s.

  “Agent Harold Ingram, head of the FBI’s ultra-clandestine Project Anthracite,” I said, enjoying the tic that came in response to my teasing. “And this is Naryn Bazhir, House Bazhir, second-in-command of the Athanate in North America.”

  Naryn stood and they shook hands.

  “I have to say, sir, I expected you to look different.” Ingram squinted and swiveled his head.

  I understood what he meant.

  Through the work of Project Anthracite, including the disbanding of Ops 4, Ingram knew the outline of the Athanate. Knew that it was Athanate, not vampire. Knew that it was an old and powerful group. A race of paranormals.

  And here was one of the most senior Athanate in North America, wearing common clothes and sitting in a plain office behind an ordinary desk. A man you might pass on the street without a second glance.

  Naryn smiled, and there was genuine humor behind it.

  “I apologize for not meeting expectations. I seldom wear my cloak to the office.”

  “Yuh.” Ingram played along with the joke as they sat. “And the teeth.”

  “That can be arranged.” Naryn looked up at me, still smiling, and got his revenge for the bill I’d left on his desk. “House Farrell.”

  Bastard.

  He was completely within his rights to check on me. He was ultimately responsible for me and I was only days out from a treatment that’d never been attempted before. A treatment to reverse the process of going rogue.

  Could I manifest fangs and not get swept up by the need to bite?

  He needed to know. And just like Skylur, there were layers to his request.

  He n
eeded Ingram to know in his gut what the Athanate were. That was better coming from me than from him.

  And on top of those worthy reasons, he was teasing me. The man had a sense of humor.

  I closed my eyes and concentrated.

  After a moment, I felt my fangs manifest and opened my eyes to see Ingram going pale.

  His heartrate had doubled too.

  Yup. One thing to know it as information, another to know it and see it right in front of you.

  Little Ms. Farrell drinks blood, Agent Ingram. And likes it.

  I felt the stir of hunger, but put the fangs away without going Blood-crazy and Naryn nodded, satisfied.

  Ingram tried to cover his unease by clearing his throat loudly and shifting in his seat. “I have to lay it down plain, Mr. Bazhir; I come to this meeting making no promises.”

  Naryn could easily have responded neither do I, but he just said, “I understand.”

  If Naryn couldn’t persuade Ingram, what would he do?

  Best not to think of that.

  “I realize that you folks have stayed out of sight for a long time,” Ingram said, “and that inviting me here represents a departure from that practice.”

  “It’s not just a departure, it’s a huge risk for us,” Naryn said.

  Ingram snorted. “I guess I just might be risking myself here as well.”

  Great, a my risk is bigger than yours contest. The good-ole-boy face hadn’t lasted long.

  I got my oar in before they could start paddling in circles. Best diplomatic hat on. “Can we agree that the risk isn’t on one side or the other? If we get this wrong, everyone is screwed.”

  The pair of them sat back in their seats. Ingram stroked his chin thoughtfully. His heartrate had slowed.

  While they chewed on that, I made some more coffee.

  “Should we start by stating our objectives for this meeting?” Naryn asked me as I handed the tiny cups out. No way I could tell if he was being sarcastic. Much.

  “I’d prefer to start with the ultimate aim,” I said.

  “Mine is easier to state,” Ingram said. “I’ll keep it brief, since it appears you kinda know it already. Project Anthracite was set up to report directly to the Deputy Director of the Bureau. Its mission is the termination of illegal clandestine organizations operating domestically.”

  I bit back a smile. Project Anthracite wasn’t on the standard organizational chart of the FBI. So they’d set up an undercover operation to seek out undercover operations.

  “A wide remit,” Naryn commented. “At that level of brevity, I’ll say that I represent the Athanate of North America, and some of the Were and Adepts. Our aim, as House Farrell has put it, is to reveal ourselves in such a way that it does the least amount of damage.”

  Ingram grunted. “That’s vampires, werewolves and witches in old-fashioned talk?”

  “Popular culture has a great deal to answer for, but that’ll work as a starting point.”

  “And you, sir, are looking to reveal yourselves through the FBI?”

  “Before you find us anyway. It’s no longer possible to evade your detection, though not all Athanate outside of North America believe that.”

  Ingram ignored the compliment to the FBI. His eyes narrowed. “That goes for your werewolves and witches as well? Not all of them on board?”

  Naryn nodded.

  “That seems to be a problem right there, among many other problems. In fact, more problems than a hound chased across a creek full of gators.”

  Naryn almost smiled. “If we focus on the problems—”

  “Yup. We lose sight of the other bank. You say discovery would do you harm—what do you mean by that?”

  I got in before Naryn. “It would do both of us harm, Agent Ingram. I’m not talking about firefights.” How had David and Pia put it, when they presented to the Assembly?

  Naryn was better at voicing it. “We’re talking about worldwide irrevocable damage to the structures of modern society. The collapse of major sectors such as banking and healthcare. The breakdown of confidence and security. Not that these are our intentions; however, we have considerable socioeconomic research that supports these findings, which we would be happy to share with you. All of that destruction would hurt us as much as you.”

  “We’re in this together,” I said and laced my fingers through each other. “Like this. We are dependent on each other in this country.” It needed something more. “We are you.” It sounded stupid as I said it, but it seemed to register with Ingram.

  There was a long silence, then the creak of his weight settling more in his chair. We had his attention and he was expecting a long session. His heartrate had sunk back to its normal level.

  “Do you need to send some kind of signal to your team?” I said.

  “Already have, Ms. Farrell. We have time. Not too much, but we have time.”

  Had to have been something he set up before. There’d been nothing once I’d gotten him out of his car.

  “I had some leeway when I started this project,” he went on. “I’ve been profligate with it of late. I do hope to return to my former level of credit with my organization.” He laced his fingers together in imitation of me and studied them, turning them this way and that before settling them across his stomach. “It would be remiss if I didn’t lay down my boundaries and explain my situation.

  “I’m here in part because I believe in folk, y’see. Strange, isn’t it? All this high-falutin’ talk comes down to my belief that I know you and trust you. If I’m expected to continue in that trust I will have to have continuing contact with people I trust. Without,” he peered at me, “unexplained gaps.

  “If I don’t have that access, or I am unable to rejoin my team, you need to be aware that my files and analysis would be available to my superiors, and that body of work would be sufficient to reconstruct my knowledge.”

  A dead-man switch, just as I’d assumed.

  “I make you no guarantees, and I have oaths and a criminal code to uphold. I also have a distrust for any organization that’s not state or federal but which claims jurisdiction over people within the United States. And I may add, my distrust extends to any organization that has military force not under the purview of the government.”

  He stopped and waited for a response.

  It was an opening for Naryn to get tough. Maybe to casually reveal Athanate telergy powers, which theoretically could have been used to nullify the protections Ingram thought he had. All of which would have been a mistake in my opinion.

  But Naryn didn’t go there. “I’m immensely reassured that you’ve come to talk,” he said. “It shows at least one of us has gained a level of trust with you.”

  “And that’s the way we need to grow it,” I said. “We talk until you trust us to a level where you’d introduce us to your boss and then we do it again. All we’re asking is you don’t make decisions until we’ve had a chance to explain.”

  Ingram grunted. “The Director, Chief of Staff, and so on, all the way to the top,” he said.

  Naryn nodded. “To the president.”

  “We sure have some work to do, Mr. Bazhir.”

  Naryn laughed.

  Chapter 36

  I left Naryn and Ingram much later, still talking details and forming a grudging respect.

  Ingram got along better with Naryn than I did. I also had to admit, Naryn was a much better person than I was for this.

  Yelena was waiting. While I’d been in with them she had returned our ‘borrowed’ car and picked up the Hill Bitch from Manassah, where Tullah had left it after driving up from New Mexico.

  We made it to Bitter Hooks only a few minutes later than I’d said.

  It didn’t matter. Felix had had a change of heart and broadcast an offer to any packs within reach of Denver, except the Confederation. That’d messed up his preparations, and people would be continuing to arrive here until about 1:30 in the morning. Many of the packs who’d gotten the broadcast were too suspicious, b
ut Felix was expecting to double the number of halfies he’d given during our first conversation.

  Yelena was restless. “This is going to go on late. I’m supposed to remind you to get regular sleep. You’re still recovering.”

  “Hmm. Yes, nurse.” I leaned back against her. It was cold. I was wrapped up in my shabby stockman’s coat and she had borrowed a ski jacket.

  We were sitting on the rocks at Falcon’s Bluff.

  An area had cleared around us. My own personal zone of awe.

  Beyond that, the halfies and their pack companions milled around.

  I had to remind myself that these were the critical cases from every pack in every bordering state. Just the critical cases, just the closest packs. A sense of hopelessness swelled up in me.

  Despite their unease about other packs on their territory, the Denver pack had really made efforts for their guests. There were metal drum barbeques off to the side. I could confirm the ribs, steaks and potatoes that came off them were excellent. There were coolers with beer, which I’d also sampled, hydration being important.

  Following my instructions, the pack had built three bonfires. On my word, they’d toss the barbeque coals on the bonfires and the ritual would start.

  Felix and Ricky were walking through the crowd, making sure they shook hands and welcomed every single one of them. Nick, Ursula, Olivia, Ben and all the other cubs that had been at the last ritual were down there repeating their stories for everyone to hear.

  Yes, I’m the halfy that changed.

  It happened, I saw it.

  I was right next to her.

  You’ll be fine.

  It was barely working. Not just because of the ingrained doubt in the minds of the other packs. Were didn’t mix like this, pack brushing against pack, none of them on their own territory with the sense of grounding that gave. Push any group of Were from this many different packs together on another pack’s territory and they’d be tense and skittish. Add in the feelings of the halfies, which ranged from nervousness to outright terror, and the result was a churning mass of jumpy shifters.

  The baleful glow of the barbeques didn’t help, side-lighting the scene like an artist who only had red paint and black paper.