by John Conroe
“Why all the wolf and witch show stuff?” Holly asked as they got back on the road. They waved to Trooper Jacoby, who was talking on his cell phone, seated inside his cruiser.
“Well, number one, I’m trying to do a better job than I have recently with law enforcement. And two, we probably were the ones who scared that doe and wrecked their car,” Declan said.
“Who’s this we, leprechaun boy? You couldn’t scare a rabbit. That was Holly and me,” Stacia said. “But yes, we do have to improve our relations with the cops.”
“I thought your step-aunt was a cop. That’s what the Oracle agent said to Jacoby, who was kind of cute, by the way,” Holly said.
“Darcy is a deputy sheriff, but I might have shaken up her fellow deputies and some FBI types,” Declan said.
“Not scary, huh?” Holly asked Stacia.
“He has his moments, but not usually with wildlife. Got that whole witch and nature thing going on there,” Stacia said.
“So do you think that whole charade back there helped?” Holly asked.
“Sure, probably. Well, possibly… Maybe,” Declan said.
“Officer Jacoby is being debriefed by Agent Cotter of Oracle right now. Jacoby is reporting that all three of you were helpful and friendly,” Omega suddenly said through the car’s speakers.
“You know that whole File six-six-six thing is insulting,” Declan said.
“Agent Krupp had some input in that designation, I believe,” Omega said.
“Figures. But anyway, we still going to your mom’s?” Declan asked.
“Absolutely. You want her to find out tomorrow that she’s fired?” Stacia asked.
“Omega, what have you got?” Declan asked.
“I have compiled a list of fifty-two high probability jobs that might appeal to Lisa Reynolds. Thirty-one of them are in close proximity to her New York apartment and twenty-one are within a fifty-mile radius of Bennington, Vermont in case she feels she would like to return there.”
“What do you know?” Stacia asked.
“I have picked up keywords during her phone calls indicating a certain longing for the quieter lifestyle of Vermont. This way, we are prepared.”
“It does job searching too?” Holly asked.
“Omega does almost anything Omega decides to do,” Declan said.
“Within certain constraints.”
“How likely is she to have a shot at these jobs?” Stacia asked.
“On her own, seventy-three to eighty-four percent likely to be hired. The current low unemployment rate is in her favor. However, with behavior incentivized by actions on my part, the probability climbs to ninety-four percent for all of them.”
“Well, let’s go face the lion in her den. We can drop you at your home, Holly. Last chance to ditch, and all that,” Stacia said.
“If it’s okay, I’d still like to meet your mom?” Holly asked.
“If she doesn’t throw us out, we’re likely to crash there for the night. You okay with that?” Stacia asked.
“Yeah, my parents are really great and all, but I get bored and then I feel… urges,” Holly said, looking out the window.
The glass reflection showed the two in the front seat exchanging a glance.
“Well, anything to keep the urges under control,” Declan said, turning to Holly as he spoke. “Can’t have you eating the asshole neighbor or anything.”
“You ass,” Stacia said, smacking his arm.
“Actually, he’s right. My neighbor has always been a giant asshole. Doubt I’d eat him, but it’s best I keep with you guys for the rest of the night.”
Another glance was exchanged. “No problem, Holly. We got your back,” Declan said. “We’ll be our own little pack,” he said, turning his own head to look out the window. “Like a Vermont pack or something.”
Stacia’s eyes met Holly’s in the rear view mirror and the blonde Alpha nodded once in agreement.
Holly nodded back, then settled into her seat, her gaze drawn once more to the window and the scene outside. A little smile played on her lips. Just as well; these two were already way more interesting than the rest of the New York Pack. The light shifted on the window as the car took a turn, Holly’s own reflection replacing the great outdoors. She was struck by how good she looked. Lean, with actual muscle definition, cheekbones revealed from under lifelong chub. For the first time since the attack, she felt like maybe being bitten wasn’t actually a curse. Screw the New York Pack of pricks. The Vermont Pack would kick their asses.
Queen for a Night
A night in the life…
The numbers were starting to blur together. Just running all into each other like a numeric demolition derby. And the letters weren’t helping. EBITDA, EBIT, POA, POI, Free Cash Flow, Capital ratio, diapers to child ratio. That last one just wrote itself as my mind wandered, my hand flicking through pages on my iPad and Lydia’s funny note on baby vampire excretion habits popping up. Not to mention the lists of weapons, troop training projects, new weapon production figures that all fought with the strategy maps and global response plans. And the clinic results.
“Hey, you still at it?” my heart’s voice asked. I had felt him enter the room but had been too focused on trying to focus to pay any attention.
“Finance wants to make a presentation tonight and I have to have a grasp of these before they do,” I said. “And Nathan Stewart asked my opinion on the most recent contingency write-up.”
“You do? You have to know the numbers before they show you the numbers? I thought the whole point of having a finance department was so that they could crunch the numbers and then serve them to you on a platter,” Chris said, moving up behind me and putting both powerful hands on my shoulders.
“But I have to know them inside and out so that I can stay ahead of them,” I said.
“Then why bother with another meeting?” he asked, oh so reasonably. “In fact, why have them at all? Cut the staff, close the department, do it all yourself and save the money.” His head was leaning down on my right side and all I had to do was turn slightly and glare.
“That would be a lot scarier if you didn’t look like you were gonna fall asleep at any moment and if you actually got your eyes uncrossed,” he said.
I started to move, but he danced back out of my reach, easily avoiding my swing. I felt a frown on my face. His own eyebrows rose. “Oh, you are tired… and slow,” he taunted with a sly smile. I didn’t like how effortlessly he’d dodged me. Maybe I was overtired—me—the Darkkin Hope. My slump was real, but when he came back to hug me, I shot out of my chair, surprising him. My legs jumped around his narrow waist, left arm went under his and right went over and around his neck. Hands clasped, arms pulled and my fangs were right at his neck. He froze for a micro-second. Then he slowly pulled his head to one side, baring his neck. Blood thundered through the thick veins just under the skin.
“Well? Snack away,” he said.
“Fang junkie,” I said, mouth against his neck.
“Yup. Also Blood Ho, Vamp addict, and oh yeah, Chosen of the Queen,” he said, pushing forward so that his skin touched my slightly parted lips. “Now eat. You’re exhausted, you were up half the day with the twins, you’re pushing too hard with the company and Oracle, and you haven’t eaten in two days.”
“I have too. Late morning, just before bed,” I whispered, still hovering over his jugular, savage hunger welling up inside.
“A donor bag? What was that? A whole pint? Give me a break. The twins are draining you dry. Now chomp down and fill up. I’m full to the brim with the good stuff,” he said, his hand coming up and pressing my head down against his skin. My mouth was slightly open when he did and a fang pushed into his delicious skin. The thunder of his heart matched the thunderous hunger inside me and I gave in. My fangs had to work a bit to get through his thickened skin but then sweet salvation poured into my mouth and I drank him down.
Three minutes later, I lifted away from him, hunger abated. We were sitting o
n the floor, his back against my desk, me wrapped around him like his favorite turtleneck. Actually, I am his favorite turtleneck.
“Better?” he asked, voice a little fuzzy sounding. Blood daze. Vampires sometimes got blood drunk and their donors could fall into an unfocused state we called blood daze.
“Yeah, much, actually. Who’s got the twins?” I asked.
“Auntie Lydia is reading them a story about Boris and Natasha and world domination. Complete with Russian accents and creepy sound effects,” he said, head lolling to one side. Those used to be my favorite stories when I was little.
“Hey, speaking of world domination, how did that exorcism go?” I asked.
“The one in the Bronx, the one in Hoboken, or the one just above New Haven?”
“You had three?” I asked, pulling back to look him in his purple eyes.
“Yes. Popping up like kettle corn,” he said. “Goes along with the uptick in violence, active shooters, and plots of active shooters.
“You look smug, so I’m gonna guess they went okay,” I said.
“Yeah. Kept Kirby hopping, but they were low-level Hell punks. All the possessed are safe. But it’s the sheer number of them. Wade went through our notes and he said there hasn’t been three in one night in the same hundred-mile radius since we started.”
“Wade went with you?” That was news.
“Along with Deckert and some of the guys. Nobody else was available and he’s fascinated.”
“I bet he is. Nobody was around?” I asked, unhappy that he’d had so little backup.
“Stacia’s up in Vermont with her mom and Holly. Declan’s at school, also in Vermont. Lydia was still asleep when we left and then had baby duty. Nika’s on her flight back from Kansas City, and Arkady needed to be here when night fell, which is why Deckert went with me,” he said.
“What about ‘Sos?” I asked.
He pointed across my office to the couch between us and the the door. Dark fur lifted up from behind the couch and a head like a dorm fridge looked our way. “He was guarding the queen.”
“I’m in the middle of the Tower!” I protested.
He held one finger up and twirled it. “Big whup. You’re buried in work. ‘Sos wanted to stay and guard and frankly, I felt better for it.”
“I can protect myself,” I said, pushing against his muscled chest with one hand while the other grabbed his chin and forced his still-slack head to face me.
“Blah, blah, blah. Hotshot vampire princess—sudden death in every direction—beat down by the terrible twinsome and so focused on work that she didn’t hear me leave and return.”
I wanted to refute him, to deny his words, but the last forty-eight hours of memories flooded back into my head. Most of it involved numbers or babies or both.
“Okay, so maybe I’ve been a bit distracted. But there’s so much to do. The logistics of preparing this company and, hell, preparing the world, for fending off the Vorsook are crazy, and then there’s the Clinic.”
“Omega, how accurate are Finance’s numbers?” Chris asked the empty room.
“I have checked and cross-checked all of their figures, Chris. The results are accurate.” Omega’s voice came from the Bluetooth speaker on my desk.
“You don’t even need Finance. You’ve got Omega. And there’s certainly no need to beat yourself to a pulp over numbers when both Finance and Omega are on the job. Maybe you should delegate more and focus on the big picture instead. Isn’t that what Nathan Stewart asked you to help with? Advising and coordinating world readiness logistics?”
I didn’t answer, chewing my lip as I thought about what my recent life had become. And about Omega. The all-knowing, all-manipulating super computer.
“I could inform Finance that the meeting is unnecessary,” Omega said over the ceiling speakers.
“No, they worked hard on it. I better keep the meeting. I just won’t have as many questions for them,” I said.
“Why have any questions at all?” my heart asked.
“They expect questions, so they’ve been preparing for every conceivable query. Gotta throw a few at them,” I said.
“Okay, why don’t you have your meeting, ask your questions, then shut it down quick and we’ll step out on the side of the building and enjoy the night?”
That did sound kind of nice. Certainly not quiet because, hey, it’s New York, but still, it’s relaxing to Cling to the side of the Tower and observe the world below, while the wind swirls and blows around you.
“Deal,” I said.
“Okay, then. I’m gonna go eat. I’m starving all of a sudden,” he said, smirking.
“Look at you, all smug.”
“Hey, I fed my zayka. Means I’m doing something right,” he said, standing up as smoothly as if I wasn’t plastered to his chest. It takes a lot more weight than I could provide to slow him down. Maybe if ‘Sos sat on him.
Forty-seven minutes later, I saw the last of my numbers people out the door and went looking for my Chosen. My bond pulled me deeper into the apartment, past the twins’ room where both Nika, who must be newly back, and Lydia engaged my children’s growing minds. I found him in one of the extra bedrooms, the one he sometimes used as an office. An empty pie box and a vacant half-gallon carton of ice cream were stacked in the garbage can.
He was sitting on the edge of the bed, staring at the wall monitor that looked like it was possessed by Omega. A Google map filled a third of the screen, tables of information on the other two thirds.
“Whatcha doing?” I asked.
“Well, Omega’s been looking into those possessions, and violence, and looking for links. He found that all three individuals have recently come back from Florida. Orlando, Florida,” my Chosen said. “Also, the string of attempted shootings runs from south to north along the eastern seaboard. Not to mention the Declan trap of demon shit we found on Toni’s necklace. Something big is up, and we need to know about it.”
I sat on his lap, one arm around his neck, and looked at the screen. The tables were actually three names listed with three different itineraries listed under them. One name was highlighted on all three trip lists.
“What’s the Pines Palace Inn?” I asked. The screen instantly changed to show me a motel brochure photo that was more photoshop than photo and live camera views from the real deal. It looked bad.
“The place all three of those possessed victims stayed in when they were in Orlando. Also, it holds the distinction of having the very lowest ratings from Trip Advisor for the entire Orlando area. Wanna go?”
“Well, the kids are a bit young for Disney, but what the hell. Maybe it’s time for a quick family getaway. And I have to say, it looks absolutely dreadful.”
“That’s the spirit, or maybe the spirit is at the motel,” Chris said.
“Who do we take?” I asked him. It was obvious that he and Omega had been at this for awhile.
“Everybody. All hands,” he said way too cheerily. Then he shoved a piece of paper in my direction.
It was hand drawn, pencil and blue pen. His own work, or rather, done by his hand but without him driving that hand. The scene was a flat section of ground with a single palm tree in the background and an enormous hole in said ground taking pride of place in the drawing. A single, scaled hand was extruding from the hole and gripping the ground with long black talons.
I looked at him. “It’s from the past. Recent, but I’m not sure how recent,” he said. “It’s on or near the hotel grounds.”
I looked at the dates on the itineraries. “At least ten days ago,” I said.
“Yeah, and my gut says not much earlier than that.”
“What’s the plan?” I asked.
He smiled. I normally insist on doing almost all the planning. This was a departure and he knew it.
“Well, you probably don’t know this, but today is Friday,” he said with a smirk. Smartass. “So we’ve already alerted the troops. Declan has a paper to write but he’s gonna work on it on the pla
ne. Stacia and their new sidekick, Holly, are driving north to meet Declan. In a couple of hours, they’ll all catch a flight from Burlington to JFK. We’ll meet them there at the corporate jet. Oh, and Nika got back about fifteen minutes ago.”