by brett hicks
“Sir, permission to join whatever SWAT division this is handed off to.” I looked at Jon, hope entered my stormy eyes.
Jon gave me a concerned, but stern look and said, “Denied, go home and rest for the night Kayla.”
“Sir, but I…” Jon held up his hand and said, “That’s an order Officer McQueen, please go get some rest.”
“It’s ok, I will watch his extremely well crafted glutes for you Kay.”
Sally stepped between us and she gave me one of her rarest serious looks.
“Please, get some sleep, you will have like a dozen nests to bust into, if the fanged bitch can really be trusted.”
I fixed her with a stern look and my eyes silvered, “I’m a ‘fanged bitch’ too Sally.”
Sally shrugged and said, well you’re like a sister, so I consider those wolf fangs! You know I draw my discrimination at the vampire, not dyamphyr!”
“Yes, got it, sorry, guess I really might need to let these holes close up. This searing pain is pissing me off.”
Sally snorted and gave me a sassy look and sad, “I would have never guessed that. Kayla McQueen, always the personification of professional.”
Her voice was like a tsunami of sarcasm. Jon mutters, “If only that were true…”
I gave them all one last hurt look, then I began to limp out the door.
“Chérie, do you want me to come with you?”
I shrugged off the large, masculine hand reaching for me and I bit my inner cheek and walked out with perfect posture. Stubborn? Me?
I walked out of the station building and I was headed to my Civic, when I felt a strong pair of hands pull me to an abrupt stop and spin me around. My eyes had slit to silver and I felt my fangs descending, I stopped my most instinctual actions, once I realized it was my TO.
Mike’s eyes were alight with fire in them, as if he were looking upon the devil herself. I could feel the stench of his fear and a bottomless pit of his fury. My senses told me that his fight or flight instincts had kicked in, so I knew that he would be much more troublesome to deal with now. If humans did not run at the sight of my dyamphyr, ‘true self,’ then they were inclined to cause me violence.
“How dare you, you blood sucking whore, get me put on modified assignment!”
I shook off his grip and winced in pain, my stomach burned as the wounds were stretching while they tried to heal. I ground out with a gutturally violent tone, “I did not get anyone put on modified assignment!”
Mike punched me in the left cheek, I could have dodged it easily, if I was not reeling from the pain inflicted by Bella. I fell back and my back connected to my Civic’s driver’s door. I felt boots, more than just one set, connecting with my ribcage now. I coughed up blood and the wounds completely reopened now. I felt the steel-toed boots impact my temple and another set impacted to my now bleeding, wound again. I gagged in pain and I just forced myself into a ball, forced my own violent temper into total subjection.
Right or wrong, if I defend myself, I will kill these people!
You will never belong Kayla, why do you even try?
Retribution!
No! Never!
I felt my vampiric power retract from the surface now and then I felt the kinetic force of magic erupt around me.
“Stay away from my daughter!”
My mother’s voice was nothing like the woman who had raised me now. She impaled the two men on javelins made of dense water particles. It was like the object creation magic I could use with ice, but with heavy water. Her steel eyes raged with a tempest of retribution, she was about to end them, I knew it, felt it somehow.
I pushed with all my might, or what was left of it and I forced the watery objects from their shoulders, the wounds were clean and had little blood loss. I froze the elemental weapons over and they shattered on the floor moments later.
“You would protect these filthy mundanes?!”
I shrugged and coughed in the process, wincing in pain. I heard the clatter of footfalls, I felt Sally was among them, she roared in a deafening explosion of power. In a moment, almost imperceptible to a human, or me in my state, Sally was five and a half feet of the wolf and at my side. I pulled her against my leaking chest and she growled angrily, but she would never raise her claws against me, even in a blind rage.
“Sal, don’t, we are not going to prove to be the monsters they need us to be.”
I cast my mother a chastising look and said, “You should be old enough to know all this!”
She did not take her eyes off the two men, I was sure there were more, maybe one or more had run off when they saw my mom coming? Exactly how long was I getting kicked? It all seemed fast, but my perception of time was off, since I was fighting my blood-fury.
“What is the commotion out here?” The Police chief for the 8th was now storming over. His short, but stocky frame was perfectly pressed into a tight fitting blue uniform. His brown eyes were bloodshot with all the extra hours he had been logging.
“Sir, this witch tried to kill us!”
Mike clutched his wounded shoulder and Sally growled, not taking her gaze off Mike now. She looked at him with feral Jadeneyes, like he was now on the menu. I could feel the blood-fury surge through her, so I held her tightly and I muttered into her ear.
“Calm now, we will be fucked if anyone decides to draw their guns right now.”
Sally growled lowly, clearly willing to risk the odds, she was out for blood.
The Chief came to a stop, when his eyes landed on me and my bloody wounds, he did a double take. He scanned me over twice and then he spoke evenly.
“What actually happened here, the truth!”
I coughed and said nothing, I did not plan to ask for them to be charged. My mom on the other hand, she did not care.
“I came from my car and I saw my daughter on the ground being assaulted. She was already injured badly earlier tonight! They were really trying to kill her!”
The Chief nodded his head in the direction of Mike and then the other officer, whose name I never learned, and said, “You do this?”
She gave him the full weight of her gaze and her fury as a mother.
“You’re lucky I did not kill them! They would not have been so kind to my eighteen-year-old daughter!”
“That is a lie!” Mike roared, putting on his best performance.
“Kayla, what happened?” The Chief waited for my response patiently now.
“Nothing, it was just a misunderstanding.”
“Misunderstanding, my ass!” Jon came to a stop beside the Chief now and he roared with anger.
“Chief, if it walks like a hate crime and it talks like a hate crime, it is a fucking hate crime!”
“She hasn’t said we did anything, so there is no crime, except the one her mother committed against two cops!”
“My mother did not assault anyone!”
My eyes were silver again and all the humans, besides Jon, jumped in fear. Even the Chief took a few steps away from me now.
“It was just a misunderstanding, Mike was just mad, something bad happened today, that’s all.”
I looked to him, hoping he would just let it go at that, since I was not telling anyone that they jumped me and preceded to kick the crap out of me! His eyes were zealous, like the eyes of a true believer, someone who would not fold on their convictions.
“Arrest this witch, she magically assaulted two police officers! For all I know, she is this damn sorcerer that everyone is looking for!”
“That’s absurd!”
The Chief looked at me and said, “Did anyone assault you?”
I felt frozen up, I did not want anything to happen to my mom, but I did not want to admit to being victimized by humans! I did not want to appear weak to the people I was supposed to work with.
“Take her away, ma’am you better come peacefully, or we will open fire.”
I snapped out of it and looked up to see my mom being led off in handcuffs and ankle shackles. I did not remem
ber so much time passing, I was in and out of consciousness now, my world began to go dark one last time.
Thirteen:
I woke in my own bed, with a very protective fire-haired werewolf curled up next to me. I did not have full use of my body still, I tripped on my way out of bed and landed with a thud on the floor. Sally was up and growling already.
She calmed and her eyes stopped glowing once she realized I had just been clumsy.
“Sal, how long was I out?”
I felt my memories beginning to rush back to me and my eyes lit with power—with rage.
“Where is my mother!?”
“Kay, your mom’s in jail. They are holding her on assault by magical means.”
I hissed, a very raspy, vampiric sound and my dry throat burned. I needed blood and then a shower.
“I’ll get the blood, you go get naked, we can share a bath.”
Sally knew me all too well by now. My phone beeped and I picked it up. I saw a message from a blocked mobile number, probably a burner phone.
“Resign or your mother will fry.”
“What the hell!” Sally was peering over my shoulder, she saw the message before I could hide it.
“Mike, that slimy little worm! I am going to gut his ass now!”
I shook my head and said, “He’s mortal Sal, no gutting the damn mundanes!”
Sally rolled her eyes and said, “He literally just cub-stomped you, and you are still defending him!”
“I’m not defending him, I just don’t want to incite more, crazy mundanes to violence.”
“Dammit, drink your damn blood and let’s get a very hot bath.”
We had a rather large tub, thankfully. Sally and I had been taking baths together since we were tiny. She was the sister I never had. She helped lather my hair up thick with soap and it felt almost therapeutic. She loved to get me to behave just slightly girly, and long baths was supposedly, a girly thing. Mostly, I was just subjected to her styling my hair and primping us both. Her favorite post-bath activity, well before she went out to find a bed partner, that is.
“Jon texted me before I passed out. He said that the charges are being fought, apparently, your grandmother sent the local coven lawyer down to the station. Everyone is freaking, they know what happened to you, even if you did not admit it.”
“Jon ordered Ben and the others to all take pictures, while we were walking up to the scene of the fight. Jon is now arguing that you are just refusing to tattle on another cop, which seems to be the truth. He also has the DA unsure about the charges going to a court. He is arguing that it will only draw bad press on the department.”
I closed my eyes and sighed.
“They will take it to court, it is a magical charge, they will pursue it.”
Sally sighed and leaned back against the wall.
“This is a lot more fun when no one’s mom is in the pokey!”
I nodded and I submerged my head and began trying to get all the layers of soap out of my hair. Sally really knew how to cake the shampoo in!
****
“Kay, you’re not going to give the creep what he wants are you?”
I shrugged and said, “If it gets my mom out of jail, then yes. I was stupid to think that I could just join the force, dyamphyr’s don’t get to have normal lives.”
Sally threw me a patented saucy look and her voice dripped with sarcasm and she said, “Chicka, since when is your life ever normal?”
My gaze went vacant, I thought back on my life. I was raised among wolves, trained with them and then I began fighting vampires as a pre-teen. I had already killed my first vampire, before I was even in a training bra!
“Well, I mean, I thought I could be a legit police officer. That I could work openly with the humans.”
“Why not? We are doing a better job than them!”
I sighed and shook my head.
“They don’t like the open reminders of their very mundane limitations. We are like a constant taunt to their feeble, fleeting years.”
“Jon’s going to kill you, you know, that right?”
I muttered a few curses under my breath, my mind wandered to all the meals spent with Jon. Brainstorming over open cases with him, his every touch, our lingering gazes. I felt my stomach burn with a new kind of pain at the thought of not spend every day with Jon Divichi.
I closed my eyes and I exhaled slowly.
“You’re really going to do it, aren’t you?”
Sally’s concern was evident in her voice, I did not have to see her, to know that she had that sad smile on her face now. I leaned back until I felt my head rest on her much, more generous chest. She stroked a hand through my wet hair soothingly.
“You know, if I was into girls, we would totally be soul mates chicka.”
I snorted a laugh and I splashed her with freezing water with my magic. Sally yelped in surprise at the cold shock.
“You totally killed the mood, you horny ass wolf!”
“I was being completely serious.”
“I know, and sadly, I know werewolves enough to know that was high praise.”
“Damn straight it was!”
“Nothing was straight about your previous statement Sal.”
“Oh, yeah, guess not huh?”
****
I text the unknown burner phone back. I made it clear that death and destruction would ensue if they did go back on their word.
My bruises were purple and green, the whole station seemed to stop what they were doing as I walked in. I ignored everyone I passed, I felt their anxiety, felt their fear and their distrust for me.
Despite being the clear victim of a crime, I was the one everyone watched with their hands inching towards their service weapons. I took the elevator up and I say Mike’s bulk resting against the wall just outside the Chief’s office, subtle, he was not.
I walked in and the Chief’s eyes rested on me and his brown eyes narrowed. He was alight with curiosity and inquisition.
“Shut the door Officer McQueen.”
I nodded and I shut the door behind me, he gestured with one meaty hand for me to take a seat across from his large oak desk and I quickly seated myself.
He scanned me over, looking at the damage still clear on my face and he exhaled a deep breath, then said, “So, you are going to tell me exactly what happened last night?”
I shook my head and said, “Chief, thank you very much, for taking a chance on a dyamphyr girl like me…”
“Why do I sense a ‘but’ coming?”
I shrugged and said, “Because you did not get your job on good looks and ass kissing?”
He grunted, something between a snort and a chuckle, even my sensitive ears could not really tell.
“I’m here to inform you of my decision to quit the force. It is clear to me now, I am not supposed to be working so closely with humans. It is not good for any of us, and it will only put us all in volatile situations going forward.”
He studied me for a very long moment and said nothing.
“I did not take you for a coward. The first sign of trouble and you jump ship?”
I shook my head and said, “I won’t ever back down from a fight, but I know when to avoid a fight. Some things are just not worth the trouble they can cause, or the harm they could do.” (Like my mother being arrested on bogus charges!)
“I can assure you, that nothing like what happened last night will ever happen again. Miss McQueen, you are an invaluable resource in this department. If this is about your mother, I am sure I can talk to the DA and…”
I held up my hand and shook my head.
“I am not here to barter and anything you think I could do to help, might not outweigh the problems my presence causes. I might look human enough, but you, yourself, were afraid of me when you saw me wounded and in my true form.”
“What about this treaty with the ancient vampire known as Bella of London?”
I shrugged again and said, “I already gave you guys an in with h
er, it is up to you people to decide if that is something your people can handle agreeing to. I am not a vampire, I’m a dyamphyr, we hate vampires by nature, so I am not exactly the best asset for such a political situation.”
“But, you’re the one she approached—the one she trusts.”
“I’m sorry, I really am, but I cannot stay here, there is no room in your world for one of my kind sir.”
“Look, just take some time off to clear your head.”
I slapped my hand down on the table, dropping a letter with a loud thud, the Chief jumped in his seat a little and I sighed.
“My mind is made up, here is my letter of resignation.”
He looked down at the envelope and grunted something incoherent.
“Well, I guess this is good luck and good bye then Miss McQueen.”
I nodded and I stood and I snapped him a crisp salute and said, “Good bye sir, it was an honor, even if a brief one, to server under your command.”
He stood and returned the salute and nodded.
“This is a damn shame, but it was an honor to have you under my command Miss McQueen.”
