Dark Temptations

by Eric Alan Williams

  "Vaughn is training with my father, as for your dad, he is also training with my father. I guess, my father is trying to, I don't know, get to know his son-in-law and his grandson."

  Cecilia looked back at the computer screen. "Damien did hit it off rather well with Xairin, so I am sure that will all work out."

  Sara smirked. "He definitely seems like he is trying to make up for lost time."

  Cecilia looked up from the computer, "Can you blame him?"

  Sara agreed, she plopped down on a sofa. "No, honestly, I can't blame him. He was denied ever having a daughter, grandkids, and his great-grandson, so no. I just wish he would cool it down a bit."

  Cecilia scoffed. "Mother, I would be doing the exact same thing if Xairin would let me get close enough to try. Another reason I have to help with this situation in Bastion City. If I can help, maybe it will be the olive branch I need. Plus, Draven, I just can't believe this entire thing, links both my son and my late husband."

  Sara leaned forward, resting her elbows on her black leather pants. "Cecilia, do you ever think about moving on and dating again?"

  Cecilia looked at her mother, the look on her face alone gave her answer. Sara looked away. "I'm sorry I shouldn't have asked.

  Cecilia nodded. "You're right, you shouldn't have."

  "Do what you need to do Cecilia, I will pull my Queen card on the council. But Xairin must report for his tour, remind him, he has until the 20th, the tour coming, may take a week or so."

  "Do you already know what the assignment will be?" Cecilia asked.

  Her mother nodded. "I do. While the majority of our hardest hitting teams will be descending on where my mother may be held, on the 20th, several others will be attacking Conclave High Command locations."

  Cecilia stood up. "You're sending Xairin into high command territory?"

  Sara shrugged. "Your son, wishes to remain a sentinel, he has every chance and the choice to allow me to give him a Queen's pardon, but no, he is as stubborn as you are."

  Cecilia cocked her head. "As I am? I think it is safe to say that being stubborn is a family trait we all got from you!"

  Sara got up and rolled her eyes. "My father is Dracula, and my mother is Lilith, I think stubbornness, and danger, is something we inherited from them so you might as well get used to it."

  Sara pointed her finger at her daughter. "Remember, it was you and Vaughn, that helped push me into bringing all of us out of hiding. Even if it was the right thing, it is time to deal with our family situation because once the war between us and the Conclave starts, it will be a bit more dangerous for all of us."

  Cecilia scoffed. "Not if we win and put an end to all this bullshit once and for all."

  Sara left the room. Cecilia went back to reading from her computer screen.

  _____

  Ezra was sitting in a flying cruiser that had landed and was parked out of sight. It was night. He was watching an apartment building. The screen to his cruiser was zooming in for him. With a wave of his hand, the screen would expand, and diminish as his hand directed. He was looking for Polanski to leave his apartment so he could be apprehended. Enough evidence had already been established for his arrest. He was hoping to catch him leaving, till then, he was waiting on backup.

  Marine was two blocks over, while Grace and Hannibal were each positioned in three other locations, each watching and waiting. The order to apprehend had to come in, and given Polanski being an agent, Fentrose wasn't taking any chances. Their commander told them specifically to wait on her orders unless he came out on his own.

  So far, nothing was happening.

  Ezra, if he was honest with himself, if it wasn't for the windshield acting as a camera zooming in, that was the only thing helping him stay focused. Seeing Xairin with that man was still bothering him. Ezra knew he had messed up. He hadn't felt like this about anyone, in so long, that it hurt. His heart was starting to break. He kept thinking about seeing Xairin on that stage, seeing him and hearing him sing. The song Xairin sang, haunted his soul. Xairin was like a drug to Ezra; he needed him, another hit, his heart was in withdrawals, and the only thing that would settle it, was Xairin being his. He couldn't believe he had given up the way he did.

  Xairin was love at first sight for Ezra. Knowing his history, he wanted to keep Xairin safe, comfort him, and wrap him up in his strong arms. That gnawing feeling in his stomach, had him unsatiated, his heart racing, and Ezra was running out of tissues.

  "Xairin, I am so sorry." He whimpered.

  "Will you stop sobbing over that vampire and get your head back in the game?" Marine said over the commlink.

  Ezra shook his head. "What?"

  Marine was speaking to him over a private channel. She had used her werewolf hearing to listen in. "Don't worry, Ezra, wolf hearing, remember? But still, you gotta pull yourself together Ez, this is getting out of hand."

  Ezra noticed it was channel 88, which was just between Ezra and Marine. "I can't help it, Marine. I have feelings for him." He said in a whimper.

  "Well, you saw it at that new gay bar, he was with someone else, so suck it up."

  "Do you always have to be a stone-cold bitch?" He asked.

  "Yes, I do, and you haven't seen anything yet if you don't pull your head out of your ass and keep your eye on the prize. Now suck it up." She said sternly.

  Ezra broke down. He was full-on crying. "I think I fell in love with him, Marine. I can't help it."

  Marine gripped her steering wheel. She wanted to tell him again to get a grip, but she, too, was hurting. Her husband had left her, and the first time he had cheated, being an Alpha, he bonded. Marine was fighting her own demons. She had to admit to herself that she was taking it out on Ezra, and it wasn't fair. She sighed. "Ezra, tell Xairin how you feel. Do it over a text, do it in person, or call him, one way or another, let him know how you feel. Do it before you have no chance at all. Now… Get your head on straight, and let's catch this tubby bastard."

  Marine spoke slowly. "If you can catch Polanski, then we may catch the bastards that hurt your crush; think of it as bonus points if we do Ez."

  Ezra nodded. "You said you could smell that the guy Xairin was with, is a werewolf, right?"

  Marine nodded as she spoke into her headset. "And probably an Alpha, which means, if he hasn't bonded, you are running low on time. You don't want to come between an Alpha werewolf and the person they have bonded too. That bond makes Alpha's a little crazy when it comes to jealousy, not to mention, not being able to just drop the bond. That shit can take years. So. If you're going to fight to win him back, you need to be top of your A-game now!"

  Ezra shook it off. He wanted to win Xairin back. This could help if he could catch Xairin's attackers, it could make him a hero in Xairin's eyes, giving him the justice that Ezra knew Xairin deserved, along with everyone else these sick bastards had killed, not to mention some closure for the families.

  Ezra's screen to his windshield lit up and zoomed in, he could see a heavyset man leaving the apartment building in a business suit. The facial recognition software announced. "Body type match, facial pattern inconsistent." Ezra looked, the man that was leaving had a longer nose, chubby cheeks, and blond hair, the eyebrows, and facial structure looked similar, but it wasn't Polanski. Ezra sighed. "Damn it."

  Ezra's team, along with two other teams, waited for Commander Fentrose to give the okay, it took nearly two hours until they finally heard. "Proceed, with orders to capture and apprehend. Per Judge Burnside's decision based on evidence collected from other townships, terminate if necessary, has been approved."

  Ezra smiled at that. Marine also grinned from behind the wheel. "It's about fucking time!" She said.

  Ezra was the first out of his cruiser and had his laser pistol ready. Grace followed behind, along with Hannibal. Marine was behind, while nine others followed closely. Several enforcers showed up in white and blue cruisers and began surrounding the building.

  Ezra and Marine took one elevator, while Hanni
bal and Grace took another. Several enforcers dressed in black Kevlar body armor were going up the steps, while the other teams of agents took other elevators on different sides of the apartment complex.

  Ezra arrived at Polanski's door; Marine arrived a second later. Both Ezra and Marine were using their abilities to sense inside. Marine couldn't hear anything, and Ezra couldn't hear any thoughts. They both kicked in the door together.

  Polanski's room was vacant for the most part, other than a twin-sized mattress without a frame or box springs. There was a table with one chair, hardly anything in the kitchen. There was dust on the floor, with skid marks around the room. The room had been cleaned out before they got here. There was nothing, no clothes, no silverware, not a shred of paper, only an old dusty mattress with marks on the floor from furniture being moved.

  "Run a bio scanner," Ezra said.

  While the teams checked out the closet, and the bathroom, an enforcer, wearing a helmet placed a small black cube on the floor. He pressed the side, and an antenna shot out of the top with a rounded end. A blue light shot out from it, scanning the room in all directions. The enforcer watched on a tablet and looked at Ezra. "Nothing, just dust particles, not even dead skin or hair in the room. According to the printout, this room aside from some dust has been sterilized by a laser sanitizer."

  Ezra pointed at the enforcer. "Log that in and transmit it to the base and make sure you make a copy of that file and send it to Internal Affairs and to my team's computers. I want to make sure there are as many copies of your findings as possible. Run it in every room and send your reports."

  Marine looked at Ezra as she lowered her laser pistol. "A sanitizing laser, one's been used at each of the murder scenes, well don't that just add to the evidence pile."

  Ezra nodded. "So, it does."

  The enforcer running the bio scan placed his scanner in every room, the two closets, each location turned up the same reading, traces of a sanitizing laser burn had been performed within the last six hours. He followed Ezra's orders.

  Grace was looking at her tablet as the enforcer's readings uploaded. She made a backup file just in case. "Every room has a laser burn reading. The sanitation burn is consistent with the same level of intensity and wave output as each of the murder scenes linked to our cases."

  Ezra pointed at her, "Make sure that sticks out in the report."

  Ezra looked at Hannibal. "I want you to go through his personnel file again. Figure out what churches he attended, previous home addresses, all of it, any family contacts, anything you can think of, and see if Eve can come up with something."

  Hannibal smirked. "Already on it. "It has it listed that he has a son living in Corpus Colony and an ex-wife living in South Bridgeport."

  Marine smirked. "I thought he had a wife all along?"

  Grace shrugged. Hannibal smirked. Hannibal looked at his tablet. "According to his file, they divorced over ten years ago, and apparently, he had child support being automatically drafted up until two years ago."

  Ezra smirked, so that picture he kept on his desk was pretty much just a cover."

  Grace motioned. "Hold up, he has child support listings for three children." She looked around at her co-workers. "He has two children out of wedlock."

  Ezra pulled out his tablet and began accessing the files that Hannibal and Grace were looking at. When he looked at the children listed that were receiving child support funding, he gasped. The face of one of the children, who stopped receiving support just six months ago, was on his screen, it was a heavier set individual, recently turning nineteen. The face is what stuck out the most. His mind drifted back to Rory Winstead's funeral, to the protestors that had congregated there. The heavyset young man, holding one of the signs and wearing a t-shirt that matched his sign's hateful message. He recalled the sign saying, "Mind-witches and race traitors must burn."

  Ezra's eyes slowly looked up. "Marine, you were at Rory Winstead's funeral, you remember the protestors, right?"

  She nodded. "Yeah, why?"

  Ezra handed her his tablet. "Marshall Dingus, nineteen years old, and look who his father is…"

  Marine swiped the tablet and looked. Her eyes bulged. "Mother fucking bad apples never fall far from the mother fucking tree."

  Ezra had to make some decisions since he was the lead agent. "Hannibal, take your cruiser and fly to South Bridgeport and interview the ex-wife, get anything you can."

  He looked at Grace. "Grace, I need you to go check out the oldest son in Corpus Colony, I want both of you with lights and sirens blazing so you can go three hundred air-miles per hour." He turned to look at Marine. "Check out the daughter, living here in Bastion City, while I check out our protestor."

  She scoffed. He became insistent. "Four leads people, lets split up and stay in constant contact. I will let Fentrose know what we are up to."

  He looked around. "Move it, someone might know where he is and may have insights into his past that we can use no GO!"

  Ezra pressed a key on his tablet that patched him in. Fentrose appeared on his screen. "Commander, I am transmitting you some information we have obtained so far. I am sending each of my teammates to investigate some leads, and I need a unit of enforcers to meet me at the address I am sending you."

  A moment later, Fentrose looked up at him. "Why do you need a unit sent to this address in ward 2?"

  "Marshall Dingus was one of the protestors that showed up at Rory Winstead's funeral, and as you can see on the file, his father is listed as none other than Roland Polanski…"

  She nodded. "Enforcer Unit approved. Get on it!"

  _____

  The Haze

  Ethan wasn't too happy with Xairin moving out so soon. Peggy and Justin were on the same note, they too opposed it, but given the orders by Damien, they had little choice now that Ethan’s house had been declared an offshoot of Damien’s house. Xairin requested his own privacy, and Ethan literally had no choice but to comply with the Grand Alpha’s orders. When Xairin arrived with Jason for his things, Ethan and Xairin had a private conversation which had the werewolf waiting for over an hour.

  Xairin and Jason finally had arrived back at Xairin's new home with all of Xairin's things. A trio of house droids was assisting. "Just carry those boxes and bags to the master bedroom. I will sort through it later."

  Xairin looked at Jason. "That feels so weird, saying master bedroom." He looked around. "I still can't believe this is happening."

  Xairin and Jason walked into the living room, he noticed his grandfather had stayed true to his word, the house was mostly fully furnished. Xairin was digging the furniture settings he had picked out. Jason was just in sheer awe. "Dude, this black leather couch and sofa set? He then pointed to the giant three-hundred-inch flat screen on the wall in the living room. "Xairin, that's like cinema quality."

  Xairin looked around. "Looks like I could host some nice movie nights."

  Jason playfully smirked as he pulled Xairin by his waist, closer to him to kiss him. "Babes, you could host your own movies and charge admission for as big as that thing is."

  Xairin shrugged. "Or watch some really nice porn streams."

  Jason growled a little playfully, "Don't get me started, or we might not make it so I can meet your friend at his club here in a bit."

  Xairin sat down on the black leather sectional couch. It was long, fitting half the room. It had two foldouts built into it, and two chaise lounges at both ends. Jason just rolled his eyes, given it could fit about twenty or more people comfortably.

  Xairin noticed the way Jason was looking at it. "Hey, I guess, in my family, go big, or go home."

  Xairin looked at the in-tables and pulled out the drawers, they were empty. "I was figuring hidden weapons, but oh well." Eventually, he found the remote to the TV in one of them.

  Jason seemed a little coy. "Are you okay?" Xairin asked.

  "I've been doing some thinking. I did some reading today while you were asleep. I looked up the murders and how many g
ay men have been killed. I think it really got to me."

  Xairin frowned. "So, do you blame me for wanting to do, what I'm planning?"

  Jason shook his head. "Sometimes, the worst monsters are humans. Hell, need a wolf to help?"

  Xairin smiled. "maybe."

  Xairin got up and ran upstairs. He went into his bedroom and started going through boxes and bags. He found one of the new outfits he wanted to wear tonight and put on a sleeveless black button-up shirt with red buttons. It had wing slits built into the back. He put on a pair of matching black cargo pants and matching combat boots. He was going for a darker look.

  Jason was already dressed in a white t-shirt, brown cargo pants, and brown boots. The two contrasted with each other. "Nice sleeveless shirt."