Close Enemies
Page 34
“Speak of the devil,” he said aloud.
The message was from Lucy and read: Irini had six blueberry muffins for lunch today. It was followed by a dozen smiley faces.
He showed the message to Ez.
“What does it mean?” asked the wizard, puzzled.
“To answer your first question, Lucy is in Europe with Irini. Irini’s going to serve as a mentor to Lucy until Lucy feels comfortable with her new… condition.”
“This is a terrible idea, Michael. I know this used to be Olivia’s sister, but I cannot stand for you befriending vampires. This isn’t who you are.”
Michael ignored Ezekiel’s remark. “Now to answer your second question, this text message means that I was right about Irini. Just as I was right about Lucy. The two of them aren’t real vampires. They’re hybrids. They walk in broad daylight and don’t require human blood to survive.”
“This is nonsense, Michael. You’re just looking for excuses.”
“It’s true, Ez. I’ve seen Lucy eating steaks. She downs the damn things faster than I can eat Skittles.”
Ezekiel’s suspicious eyes went from Michael to Sheila before returning to Michael. “Is this the truth?”
“Have I ever lied to you, Ezekiel?”
“Plenty of times. But never about something this serious.” Ez paused, apparently thinking things over. “I’ll trust your judgment for the time being. But if anything goes wrong with your plan, you’ll need to clean up your mess yourself or you and I will have some issues.”
“That’s fair,” answered Michael. He meant it.
“Where are things standing with the Western Covenant?” asked Ezekiel.
“I believe we’re in a good place. Silvia was the ranking elder behind their involvement and she’s now missing her First Lieutenant and three of her men. We debated whether or not to inform her of their fate but decided against it. I think it’s better to let her wonder. She’ll know in her heart who’s responsible for their disappearance, but she’ll never be a hundred percent certain. She’ll need to explain to Grigore what happened to them without actually knowing herself. That seems like a suitable punishment.”
“You don’t fear reprisals?”
“Not really. They’ve tried their worst before and failed. There’s no reason to suspect things will be different the next time around.”
Ezekiel took his leave shortly after, leaving Michael and Sheila alone on the deserted beach.
“This is nice,” Sheila said, lying on top of Michael and nestling her head in the crook of his neck.
He breathed her salty skin and felt an overwhelming desire rise inside him. This was very nice indeed.
*****
Jason Parrish placed the final period on his report and reread the whole thing one more time. All the information his superiors had requested was summarized in these three pages. The evidence was meticulously documented, undeniable. He pressed the send key and the encrypted email traveled via ultra-secure channels all the way to a server buried deep under a non-descript office building in the suburbs of Washington, D.C.
This had been one of the most dangerous missions of Jason’s career, but he’d been lucky. He still had a mild concussion and the part of his face that had been smashed against the roof of Sheila’s rental was now brown and black, but it could have ended a lot worse for him. He’d gotten off easy. Much more so than Michael Biörn would now that Jason had found proof of what Biörn truly was.
The End
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Thanks,
Marc
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Marc Daniel
After spending significant amounts of time in Ohio, France, and Montana, Marc is currently living in Houston with his wife and three dogs.
When he’s not writing, cooking dinner or playing with his dogs, Marc enjoys woodworking, going to the theater and escaping the city to reconnect with nature.
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