Warrior Mate

by L. J. Red

  Chapter 6

  Cleaver looked down at the floor below him in satisfaction. Black vans were parked along one wall and his hunters were arranged around them, ready for the next contingent to arrive.

  Ever since vampires came out two years ago he’d known the world was going to change, and he would have to act fast to be at the front of that change. The rest of humanity had been seduced by their glamour, or too stupid and lazy to act. Not Cleaver. He had started recruiting at once. First digging up the few vampire hunters that had been hidden away across the country, aware of vampires but powerless to do anything about them. Then he’d begun training them, arming them, seeking out backers to finance their operations. HUNT, they called themselves. And that was exactly what they did. They hunted down the vampires and killed them like the vermin they were.

  Soon he would have the chance to be more than the secret head of an outlaw operation. One day they would have the official recognition of the US government, but until then he would keep his men in line with brutal efficiency. Soon, HUNT would come into the public eye, financed and embraced by the military and politicians alike. Then he would have the power to make real changes across the country. HUNT was the vehicle he would use to propel himself to real power. Of course, no one knew he was in charge of HUNT. It wouldn’t do for that information to get out too early. No, he ran his operation in total secrecy. Carefully, he checked the mask over his face was secure.

  Oh, he hated vampires, that was true enough, but the more people the vampires killed, the better his political campaign went. Yes, he had no problem letting a few mad vampires slip through the cracks if it made his life better. He didn’t care what deals with the devil he had to make to get there; he would do what needed to be done.

  A momentary feeling of unease crossed over his shoulders. Deals with the devil indeed. One devil in particular…

  His thought process was broken off as the factory doors rattled open and a black van drove in, parking by the others. Hunters rushed around the side of it, pulling the captured vagrants from the interior. Cleaver grinned behind his mask as he watched them coming out. Some struggling ineffectually against the iron grips of his Hunters.

  It was genius. The perfect way to gather large numbers of people who wouldn’t be missed. He could do what he liked to the captives and no one would suspect a thing.

  His second-in-command pulled himself out of the van, and Cleaver gestured for him to join him on the walkway. He came up the stairs slowly, with a slight limp.

  “Sir,” he said, saluting. His brows were drawn down low.

  “What happened to you, Hanson?” Cleaver asked,

  “We had some trouble.”

  Cleaver glared at him. “What do you mean trouble?”

  “I mean we got seen, sir. Lewis and James were taken. I think they’re both dead, and I barely made it out.”

  “What happened?”

  Hanson swallowed nervously. “It was a cop, sir. She was tracking one of the women we grabbed and she tried to stop us. There was a fight and then…” He hesitated. “Out of nowhere, sir, a vampire turned up.”

  Cleaver’s gaze sharpened on Hanson. “A vampire? How the fuck did a vampire find out about us?”

  “I don’t know, sir. I don’t think he was tracking us. He couldn’t have been. He didn’t come after us. It was just a coincidence.”

  Cleaver growled, stepping forward and slamming Hanson against the railing with a thick forearm. “There’s no such thing as coincidence,” he said. “I don’t have time for any more fuckups; if any of this comes out, my political career will be ruined and you know what that means. If we don’t get the backing we need, HUNT is dead in the water.” He snarled, his jaw tight. “No backing means no funding; no funding means we can’t work on our anti-vampire weapons, and without them humans don’t stand a chance. You may as well go back to being a useless hunter running around with wooden stakes. You want that?”

  “No sir.”

  “That’s what you were when I found you, just a ragged group of idiots barely able to find a vampire, let alone take one down. You want to go back to that?” he repeated, pressing down on Hanson’s throat.

  “No sir,” Hanson choked out.

  Cleaver held him against the railing for one more second then released him, stepping back and letting Hanson drag in a rough breath.

  “Did anyone else see you?” he asked Hanson “Other than the cop and this vampire?”

  Hanson coughed to clear his throat. “No sir,” he said hoarsely. “There was no one else there.”

  “Good,” Cleaver said, taking a step back and straightening his lapels. “No one will listen to the vampire, not with the anti-vampire sentiment running rife through Chicago. And the vampires themselves don’t think of us as a threat. They won’t. Not until it’s far too late.” He smirked viciously. “As for the cop… that won’t matter much longer. I have my own ways of dealing with that.” He nodded to himself. Yes, his careful planning would pay off. He had taken precautions when he began HUNT, recruited carefully, used both bribes and threats to place his people exactly where he needed them. Some nobody cop couldn’t hurt him.

  “Lock up the new captives and do something about your leg,” he ordered Hanson, before striding down the metal stairs toward the doors. He couldn’t spend too long here in case anyone started to wonder why he kept taking these trips out of the city. A shout came from behind him and he turned to see a young woman had broken free of her captor’s grip and was running for the doors. Cleaver shot out his hand and gripped her bony shoulder as she came past him, tugging her sharply off her feet and clutching her against him. She wriggled and tried to break free, but she was smaller than him and not nearly as strong as he was. That was what happened when you lived on the street. He sneered at her.

  “Where do you think you’re going?” he said.

  “Get the fuck off me.”

  “Now, now, no call for swearing, young lady,” he said sternly. “You should know better.”

  “You’re a God damn kidnapper,” she said. “You should know better.”

  “Oh, I do,” he said. “Don’t worry, I’m going to take real good care of you. Once you’ve been…” He stopped. No point ruining the surprise. He grinned down at her, his smile hidden by the mask, only his eyes visible. “Oh yes. Once he has seen to you we’ll be getting to know each other very well over the coming months.” He felt her shiver in terror and laughed, flinging her toward one of his hunters. “Keep this one back until my next visit. I want to make sure she gets his special attention.”

  “Yes sir,” the hunter said, a thread of fear in his voice.

  None of them like dealing with him directly, but it was a necessary evil. It would all be worth it in the end. Cleaver would have his weapons and the vampires wouldn’t stand a chance.

  Chapter 7

  “I’m home,” Brigit called out, pushing open the front door and looking around.

  “Through here,” her mom called from the kitchen.

  Brigit almost tripped over the jackets left in a pile in the hall and barely caught her balance, the box of cannoli in her hand rescued at the last minute.

  “Oh good,” her mom said when she reached her, giving her a quick kiss and accidentally pressing soap suds to a shoulder before returning to the dishes. “The boys were asking for those. There’s dinner in the oven if you want—”

  “No,” Brigit said, “I’m good, Mom, thanks. I ate earlier.” She placed the box of pastries on the side and leaned back against the counter. “Sorry I haven’t been back for a while,” she said pre-empting what she imagined would be her mom’s next words.

  Her mom shrugged. “I’m sure you’ve got a lot to do at work.”

  “Yeah, it keeps me busy,” Brigit said, waiting. There was silence for a moment. Here it comes…

  “But do they really have to put you on all those night shifts?”

  “I’m not doing any more than I used to, Ma. It’s just they’ve been closer toget
her lately.”

  “Aren’t they supposed to spread them out?” her mom said, not turning to look at her.

  “You know why they haven’t,” Brigit said awkwardly. “It’s because of Dana.” The line of her mother’s shoulders was tense. An awkward silence fell. Brigit didn’t know what to say. Ever since they’d become friends on the first day of the Academy Dana had been welcome at her family’s house, from Thanksgiving to Christmas, and even the relaxed family dinners. Dana hadn’t wanted to impose, but gradually the McReeve clan had broken down her walls. Dana didn’t have family, so Brigit’s family had been happy to adopt her into their noisy, boisterous circle.

  “I suppose she doesn’t have time for humans now that she has her vampire family,” her mom said finally.

  Brigit looked up in surprise from where she had been staring at her fingers. “No, no,” she said, “it’s not that. I just I wasn’t sure if you’d be comfortable with—”

  Her mom turned, pink washing-up gloves on her hips. “If I’d be comfortable?” she said, raising her eyebrows. “Brigit McReeve, are you telling me you haven’t invited your poor friend here ever since everything happened to her because you thought I would have a problem with her being a vampire?” She at stared Brigit and something in her eyes changed. “Oh honey,” she said, walking up to her and this time remembering to pull off the gloves before wrapping her arms around Brigit in a comforting hug. “She’s still your friend, Brigit, even if she’s a vampire now.”

  “I just,” Brigit started, muffled against her mom’s shoulder, “I thought you would—”

  “You thought I would lump her in with that awful serial killer who went around roaming the city?” She leaned back to look Brigit in the eye. “Honestly, your friend has been coming over here so long, I see her more often than I see my boys. She’s part of the family. Nothing’s changing that. You invite her round next time, you hear me?” Brigit nodded, chastened. “Good. Now go give those to the boys; they’ve been desperate for them. I never hear the end of it, like my desserts aren’t good enough for them.” She turned away, shaking her head.

  Her mom was right, Brigit thought, picking up the box. Dana being a vampire changed some things, sure, but it didn’t change their friendship. She just needed to find a way to tell Dana that instead of getting tied up in embarrassment over letting it go on so long. She sighed, feeling a little lighter and better for her mother’s comfort, and went out into the backyard where her three brothers were lazily flicking a football back and forth. Mike, the eldest had been the only one to inherit their dad’s height and brown hair, the other two were short and blond, like Brigit. Louis was running a little to fat since he’d become a dad; his twin daughters were playing on the grass and his toddler jiggling on his wife’s knee. Brigit waved at her sister-in-law with a smile.

  “Hey, it’s tiny Brigit,” Mike said and came over to try and put her into a headlock. Some things never changed.

  After the requisite roughhousing, and once the cannoli had been turned into just a few stray flakes and bits of sugary cream, Brigit sat under the tree, kicking her feet to make the hanging bench sway and staring up at the sky between the branches. Her younger brother Callum came up to join her, thumping down on the seat and making it rock sharply backward.

  “I heard you got chewed out by Mom,” he said with a grin.

  Brigit ducked her head. “Yeah, but I guess I needed it.”

  “About Dana, right? I thought I hadn’t seen her around here much lately.”

  Brigit shrugged. “I just… I know it will be awkward. Things have changed.”

  Callum looked at her knowingly. He’d always been too smart for his own good. “Have they changed,” he asked, “or is it just that you think they ought to?” He settled back. “Turns out a lot more people than you think have been vampires all along. Not sure it makes much difference after all.”

  “Like who?” Brigit asked with a frown.

  “Like Mr. Miller on the corner.”

  “Miller, who owns the grocery store?”

  “Yup.” Callum nodded. “Vampire for like a hundred and seventy years now.

  “No,” Brigit said, shocked.

  “I kid you not. He told me all about it when I was doing the extension for his sister-in-law. She was a piece of work.” He rolled his eyes. “Stiffed me on the check. Miller had to step in in the end. Just goes to show, sometimes humans are the ones who need to be sorted by the vampires.”

  Brigit though uncomfortably of the vampire who had come to her aid in the alleyway. Had she dismissed him too quickly? She’d turned around and he’d been gone. She hadn’t even thanked him.

  She’d never expected her family to be more embracing of vamps than her. It made her wonder if she was being foolish holding Dana at arm’s length. Why was she doing it? Was it because she was a vampire, or was it something else? Was it because Brigit felt betrayed? Like Dana had chosen vampires over her? She flushed; was it jealousy? Not of Dana but the vampires themselves for stealing her away? That was ridiculous. No one had stolen her; Dana was still here. Hell, Dana had tried more than once to reconnect, inviting Brigit for a coffee after work. Brigit was the one who had given excuses and escaped back home. That was going to stop. She owed it to her friend to grow the fuck up.

  “Come on, Callum; you giving me a ride or what?” Mike called from inside the house.

  Callum rolled his eyes. “Duty calls,” he said and straightened, reaching out to give Brigit a quick hug. She grabbed the blanket she’d tucked around herself and followed him inside. She waved at Mike and Callum as they headed out, their mom plying them with Tupperware containers of leftovers on their way out.

  Turning away, Brigit went into the living room where her dad was quietly watching football.

  “Hey, Dad,” she said, dropping a kiss on his head.

  “Hey, sweetie,” he said, “how are you doing?”

  “You know,” she said. “Not good, not bad, just hanging in there.” He smiled at her usual response.

  “I don’t suppose there’s any cannoli left?” he asked.

  Brigit shook her head guiltily. “Nope,” she said and tapped her stomach. “I’m afraid it’s all in here now.”

  Her dad laughed. “Damn.” He snapped his fingers. “Should have got in there early.”

  “I can go grab some more if you want,” she said. “Cafe’s not far away.”

  “Actually, I’m supposed to be watching my sugar,” he said, guiltily looking through the open door to the kitchen. As if called, Brigit’s mom came through at that moment and sank into her chair on the other side of the room.

  “You staying the night, honey?” she asked Brigit.

  “No,” Brigit said. “I’ve got to get going.”

  “I can pack you up some food,”

  “No, no, Mom, please don’t. Sit.” She pressed her back into her chair. “You’ve been on your feet all day. And I can actually cook, you know.” She caught her dad’s eye and grinned. “I only burn it about fifty percent of the time.”

  “Atta girl,” her dad said.

  Her mom rolled her eyes at them both. “You know,” she said after a moment. “I was hoping Mikey would bring his girlfriend along tonight.”

  Brigit said nothing, not wanting to get into the usual round of discussion about her and her brothers’ partners. But when her mom looked at her, she realized she wasn’t going to escape without at least one comment. She raised her hands. “There’s no one, Mom. You know there’s no one. I’d tell you if that changed.”

  “Is it so wrong for me to want my little girl to find someone?”

  Brigit tightened her lips. “I haven’t been a little girl for a long time. And it’s not that you want me to find someone; you want someone to make me settle down. There’s a difference.”

  “Your job is so dangerous, honey.”

  “Hey there, come on. Leave the girl be; she does good work.”

  Brigit glanced gratefully at her dad and decided this was probably
a good time to make her escape. She gave her mom a quick hug and her dad a wave on her way out the door. She dragged her coat on quickly and shouted, “Love you,” from the door before pulling it closed behind her.

  Her mom would never let a visit go by without commenting on Brigit’s love life. Hell, she’d even done it to Dana. If there was one thing that showed that Dana was part of the family, it was being subjected to the romantic inquisition.

  It wasn’t like Brigit didn’t want to find someone. Hell, she’d love to have someone to bring to the family dinners. Ideally someone who could put her brothers in a headlock in return, she grinned, but where was she going to find this imaginary guy? She spent all her time at the precinct, and the chance of finding someone there was slim to none.

  Her entire body flushed when she thought of the vampire that had intervened in the alleyway. Hell, he could put her brothers in a headlock—he could tie them into knots, one-handed—but he wasn’t ever going to come back here for a McReeve family dinner. The idea was laughable. He probably spent his evenings in the Sanctuary sharpening his knives or something. Maybe he just hung himself up in the cupboard like a bat. No, Brigit would just have to deal with the damn question every time she visited her parents. She climbed into her car and pulled out. Finding someone who could hold their own against her family, someone who could balance out her fire, her energy, someone who could understand why she threw herself into her job, why she loved protecting this city more than anything? Yeah, that was never going to happen.

  Chapter 8

  Roman shoved open the doors to his Bloodline’s house. His pale, bloodless hands stood out against the dark wood. The interior was dim and cool. Silent. He swept his lank, white hair back from his head. For a while, the empty building before him had been full of his vampires. He had come to Chicago with a handful, and their ranks had swelled when he began turning the Vampire Ravagers. With them, his power had swelled too. But now the Ravagers were gone, some at the Shadows’ hands and the rest at his own.