by Martha Woods
“Honestly the stuff that you can do…” She trailed off, breathing a small sigh, “Just be careful, that’s all I want to say. I love you Amy.”
“I love you too Cara, be safe.”
All things considered the call could have gone worse, but now I was sitting here with more questions instead of less. She’d had the same dream every night for the past few nights, always the same, all of us being ambushed somewhere in town and being slaughtered to the last man, so why would that suddenly change? Apparently it was the same place that she saw, but no one was there, could that mean that we actually managed to stop it? Or is something else coming to replace it? Once again, I was stepping out of my room not knowing what was coming ahead of us, but at least I can be certain that I don’t know.
That’s just about the only certainty that I get anymore.
“Hey Amy?” Damon said, bunching his coat up around him and shivering, “Why are we always going to do this sort of thing on the coldest nights of the year?”
“It’s the only time that any of you can actually get out and fight if you need to, and it’s not even that cold!” My breath misted in front of me, a giggle replacing the word I was going to say next. “Ok I guess that’s a lie, but aren’t you cold blooded?”
“I’m no-blooded, I don’t even have anything warm going through my veins!” His teeth chattered, the paleness of his skin somehow even more intense in the cold air. “I don’t know how all of this works, I’m still finding out new things.”
“You hunted vampires for how many years?” Vincent asked, “And you never thought to learn this?”
“Why would I have ever needed to know that you get cold at night? I thought that you didn’t even feel anything! Hell, you didn’t think you felt anything until you met Amy, then suddenly it’s like sensation just bursts right back into existence!”
“I think you’re thinking of the wrong kind of feeling, I was certainly capable of telling what was cold and what was hot.”
“Oh whatever,” Damon sniffed, waving his hand in dismissal, “Standing in the middle of a park in the middle of winter, this asshole better be worth it. He’s already late.”
And late he was, the meeting had been set for Dusk yet the sun had already dipped below the horizon, Damon and Vincent coming out from their hiding places from the sun to stand by my side, given that everyone already knew that they would be nearby anyway. We’d been in constant contact with everyone through the city, so it wasn’t like they were attacking someone else while we were distracted here. Maybe he fell over and snapped his neck trying to put shoes on.
“If he takes a half hour longer then I’m going to grab everyone that I can and just go find him out in the forest myself, fuck keeping the peace,” Damon grumbled, rubbing his hands together in a futile attempt to get more circulation, “Fucking no-shows.”
“Oh I assure you there’s going to be no need for that!” We looked to our right, seeing the hunter stepping into the light with a small entourage accompanying him, Claire to his left and a larger shifter to his right, clearly ready to change forms in the blink of an eye. “Don’t worry, we’re here to talk. I know that you’ll shoot us if we try anything else.”
“This meeting isn’t meant to be a threat, this is a chance to talk,” I said, “But if that’s what it takes to get us to have a civilized moment without kidnapping anyone then I’ll take it.”
“Smart girl, you know you’re much different to the pushover that I thought you would be when I first came here.” He pulled out a chair at the table that we’d set up, taking his seat and crossing his arms in front of him. “Though I have no doubt that my wife had a part in convincing you to change your ways, I have to admit that I’m impressed by what you did to those shifters that were sent to kill you.”
“We figured we had to make an impression,” I said, taking my own seat and feeling Damon tense next to me, “I take it that it worked?”
“Oh yes, you definitely pissed a lot of people off, including the families of those three shifters that didn’t come back alive. But that’s war, and they were the attacking party, so I at least understand that you are not completely to blame for their loss. Though I will admit that your act of throwing one of them through a roof was… excessive.” He grinned. “Excessive, but impressive. Even he was laughing about it, once he got over his friends being dead.”
“You seem to be taking this well,” I said. Too well, time to play dumb. “Why would you? If you ordered the attack in the first place?”
“That… wasn’t my orders. I prefer to drag out conflict, let them be delivered to me, it’s how we’ve worked many times in the past.” He grimaced, and for a moment a truly frightening amount of rage flickered across his face. “My wife evidently didn’t agree with my decision to take things slow, and thus you were attacked in a way that I would consider to be a last resort. And here we are.”
“This isn’t making me feel more comfortable about trying to negotiate,” I said, trying to worm in whatever doubts I could, “I mean, you’re not even in charge of all of your forces now. Would this even do anything? Why would I try and negotiate when you’re not even the one giving the orders?”
For his part, he chuckled, “I assure you, I am still very much in charge. An issue of miscommunication isn’t grounds to believe that I’m suddenly losing control of the whole situation, I’m not that naive. And I am very aware of what you’re trying to do, I’m not going to begin doubting my wife over one decision.”
“Maybe you won’t, but what about everyone else? Do they still think that you’re actually calling the shots?” I flicked my chin at the shifter to his right, then to Claire. “What about you? You?”
“It doesn’t matter what you think about this…” He started with a chuckle, before cutting himself off at my next words.
“Maybe you’re right, maybe I’m just trying to get you to doubt her, maybe I’m just trying to make you doubt yourself, I can admit that might be a plan. But you’re… what, fifteen, twenty years older than me? All that experience, you should know that even if you can convince yourself that what I’m telling you is part of my agenda, that doesn’t mean that it’s not true.”
He took a moment to speak, and when he did his tone was clipped. “I think that for the sake of negotiation that we should move on from this topic, don’t you?”
“Fine, go ahead,” I said, leaning forward on my elbows, “Why’d you want to have this meeting? If you’re willing to kill us now why don’t you just keep at it?”
He shook his head, actually managing to look dismayed before I realized it was likely just another play. “I used to be a hunter Amy, in many ways I still am one, I don’t like to involve people other than my target in the process of catching and killing my target. Not only is it unpleasant, it’s highly unprofessional, I can keep my focus to the people that deserve killing, not… misguided good Samaritans.”
“That’s the thing though, you were a hunter, not anymore. Why don’t you just… stop? You’re still fighting a war that you don’t even have any reason to fight, why don’t you just call it a day and start another life?”
“I’m sure that many other hunters can probably tell you this exact same story, but we don’t generally choose this job because we’re bored, or because we want to. I lost someone, a long time ago, and I don’t consider that fight to be over no matter who that I’m aligned with.”
“All due respect, we have a lot of hunters working with us right now, some of them probably have a rifle trained on your forehead, all to protect us. Us, two vampires and a witch, can you imagine that? What I’m trying to say, is why don’t you just get over it?”
“A boy doesn’t forget his father being killed in front of him lightly, so I don’t think getting over it is much of an option, thank you though, I will consider it for the future.” He clenched his teeth, running his hands along the table to compose himself. “If you hand over those shifters, right now, no questions asked, I will make sure that not a single
person in your city is harmed by my forces, or those of my wife. On top of that, I will offer full restitution for those related to those that have already been killed, to try and make things even as best I can. That is a far better deal than I offer anyone else, I strongly suggest that you take a few minutes to think about it.”
As much as I don’t want to admit it, I definitely considered it for a moment, but that’s only natural when you’re offered a deal that would result in an end to the bloodshed. That cold equation popped into my mind again, sacrificing a few people that I didn’t know in favor of saving those that I possibly did, but it was still an unthinkable sacrifice. I wasn’t going to force anyone to fight if they didn’t want to, but I couldn’t personally stand by and let these people be slaughtered.
On top of that, trying to pay us for the hunters that were killed? That was… just plain insulting, like you could put a price tag on a human life, as though murder can be forgiven just by throwing a few dollars at the problem. I didn’t work in law enforcement anymore, that is not how I want things to work.
“As equal parts flattering and insulting that deal is, I’m going to have to turn it down.” His brow twitched, barely keeping his expression schooled as I continued, “I don’t have any reason to trust you, not after our last negotiation tactic was kidnapping me and trying to coerce me into accepting your terms. Who am I to think that you won’t just turn around and kill all of us anyway once you get what you want? You’ve made a name for yourself for how much you hate paranormals, let’s not pretend like you don’t absolutely despise us on principle.”
“I’m travelling with a group of paranormals right now if you didn’t notice…”
“And you treat them like your pets, like loyal dogs who’ll do all your bidding, so long as you’re standing there with a treat and a whip.” I was risking insulting everyone else standing by him with this, but with any luck it might strike a chord with some of them, and most importantly, piss him off and make him lose his focus. “You get a sick little thrill out of making them kill their own, because you’ve brainwashed them into thinking that you actually care about any of them at all.”
“I do care…”
“Bull. Shit. I was a cop once, you think that I don’t know how to tell when someone’s lying? Those soldiers that we killed, where’s your anger about them? Yeah sure, they walked into a situation they created and they didn’t walk out, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t be angry, doesn’t mean that you can’t care, but you? No, you don’t give a single shit that they’re gone, you’re just pissed off that they died because of an order that wasn’t yours, because if a paranormal dies it’s got to be because of you doesn’t it?” The shifter to his right tensed up as I stood, not relaxing as I leaned over the table and looked down at his master. “You’re just pissed off because she’s getting more done than you, because she’s ruining your little game.”
“I would strongly suggest that you sit down,” He said through gritted teeth, finally letting his frustration show through properly, “I have offered you every chance, every opportunity to end this with some measure of peace, and I don’t appreciate you throwing it back in my face. Taking the memory of my father and disrespecting the impact that his loss had on me, now that is low.”
“Oh please, we’ve all lost something because of paranormals, my cat was murdered a few years ago, you don’t see me bitching about that now do you?” The sheer shock that flickered through his eyes might have been my favorite part of this whole farce so far. “Sooner or later you’re going to have to admit to everyone that the only reason you’re still fighting a war that you’ll eventually lose is because you like it, not because of anything else. And now the first time that you actually have a sit down is because you’re upset that your wife stole all your thunder, how sad that you’re not the center of attention for once.”
“Alright, we’re through here,” He said, pushing himself back from the table and getting to his feet, “If you want war? Fine, you’ll have war, don’t say that I didn’t at least give you the chance to end things peacefully.”
He was already walking away when I asked the next question, wanting to make sure that all bases had been covered. “Who was your father?”
“My father?” He replied, looking over his shoulder, “Why do you want to know?”
“If his loss was such a formative experience then he must have been someone important to you, most fathers are, but there must have been a reason that he was killed by paranormals. Or was he one of the random ones that they killed for no reason?”
“He… was a hunter, he was stationed up north when he got ambushed one night, a group of shifters took issue with his journeys into their territory and they made an example of him. I didn’t see him die, but I saw the body after it had been displayed, that’s not something that a young child forgets.”
“That does sound rough,” I said, and I was being genuine. He wasn’t always a monster, once upon a time he was just a child who lost his father. But still, even with that… something that he’d said before had stuck with me. “But… if he was a hunter, and if he was moving into their territory, couldn’t you say that they were only defending themselves? If those shifters who were lost yesterday were no big deal, why should he be too?”
When he turned his eyes had narrowed into furious slits, his fists clenched at his sides and a vein bulging in his neck. He marched forward with very clear intent to march right past the table and into me, but the snap of a bullet smashing into the surface of the table and the resulting echo of the rifle stopped him dead in his tracks. It stopped me too if I was being honest, I definitely hadn’t expected anything to be shot around me.
Instead of the violence that he so clearly wanted to dish out, he had to resort to threats. “I will make sure that you die last, after you’ve seen me take everything I can away from you. Then maybe we’ll see if you can so easily brush off their deaths as no big deal, if you would be able to forgive those that took them away from you.”
“You can try, but those threats are pretty hollow when you’re working with the same people that killed your father in the first place. You want to honor the memory of your father, but you work with the people that took him away from you, you want to pretend that you care about the shifters that you’ve gathered together, yet you’re perfectly willing to brush their deaths aside like nothing. You don’t seem to have many convictions at all, so I’m just wondering what you’ll actually be able to do when it comes down to it.”
“You’ll see,” He said, grinning viciously as he walked away, “You’ll see.”
Watching him disappear into the darkness, I finally let go of the breath that I’d been holding in my chest, glancing over at a clearly shocked Damon and Vincent. “Do you think… maybe that was a little much?”
“A little much? You basically scalped the fucking guy, I almost grabbed you and made you stop myself.” Damon rubbed the back of his neck, grimacing to himself. “At least it stopped him from recognizing me properly, that probably would have been bad news for Claire if he did.”
“Oh shit I didn’t even think of that!” I was worried for Claire, but I’m fairly certain that she could handle herself if it really came down to it. “Still… at least it worked out I guess, hopefully some of those seeds are going to grow into something bigger.”
“I don’t know if you could hear his heartbeat Damon,” Vincent said, “But whenever she mentioned his wife or in anyway doubted his strength, it sped up a little bit. He’s good at deflecting, but he can’t hide that from us.”
“No, the piece of shit’s too insecure for that,” He agreed, “Now we just wait and see if anyone’s going to attack us from now on huh? Hopefully when it happens we’re ready for it.”
“I’m sure we will be, otherwise just about everyone in the city is screwed.” Taking their hands, I led them away from the table and towards our car, in the opposite direction from where he had disappeared in. “Let’s go home, I’m wiped.”
> Chapter 9
The next day came and went without incident, an outcome which wasn’t exactly high on the list of things I wanted to happen. What is it that they say about explosions? One of the most awe-inspiring sounds is the explosives going off when you activate them, and the most terrifying sound is when they don’t. That’s what I felt like right now, like I’d hit the trigger on a truck load of explosives and I had no idea if the boom was coming, or how big it was going to be when it did.
“You are entirely too stressed,” Damon said, squeezing at my shoulders, “Just relax and believe that everything is going to be ok, we’ve taken all the steps necessary to protect ourselves. Now we just have to wait.”
“It’s the waiting part that’s bothering me, if someone wants to punch me I prefer them to just get it over with.” I shook my hair out, still wet from the hot shower that I’d stepped out of moments before in a fleeting attempt to soothe muscles still bruised from the fight. “I’m not the only one affected by this, I know that, but everyone else at least has a lifetime of fighting before this. I just investigated things like this.”
“Well, don’t doubt yourself anyway. Everyone is confident in how you’re leading us, no question about that, we just need you to believe in yourself, ok?” He pressed a kiss to my temple, smiling when I looked up at him. “I’m going to go out with Julian tonight, he has a few things to discuss with me, who we want where, what sort of fight we should be gearing up for, I promised that I’d give my input.”
“You were a hunter after all, it makes sense that you’d be one of the ones that is asked about that.” I brushed my hand along his cheek, taking his and pressing my lips against his knuckles. “Say hi to him for me, I want him to know that I’m grateful for everything that he’s done for us.”