Defender's Blood The Return (An Urban Fantasy)

by A. K. Michaels

  Defender's Blood

  The Return

  Book 4

  by

  A K Michaels

  © 2013 by A K Michaels All Rights Reserved

  This book, or any portion thereof, may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission by the author except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Author's Note:-

  Ava’s Other Work

  Chapter 1

  Zach came awake suddenly ... hearing something which tore at his heart. His mate, Alexina, lying next to him in their large four poster bed and she was sobbing into her pillow.

  She was trying hard to stifle the sound, but to his vampire ears it was loud and clear. His mate was in pain ... so was he.

  The anniversary of the day their unique babies had disappeared from the nursery ... right in front of them. Three long years ... a life time ... the pain and sorrow still as raw as the very minute it had happened.

  Zach moved closer to his mate and enveloped her in his arms before trying to talk – it took a couple of tries because of the lump in his throat, “My little one – I know you're hurting – come here.” and she turned and sobbed into his chest, his arms encircling her body.

  She stayed there while Zach rubbed her back trying desperately to comfort her. She looked up at him with her tear stained face - “Why Zach? Why were they taken away? I just don't understand!”

  The despair in her voice raised a host of emotions in him – the one at the forefront was anger. Anger at who had taken them and he could only assume it was 'him upstairs'.

  He sighed as he answered, “I don't know honey – why that prick upstairs would do what he has – well I have no idea. He made us for each other, I found you and that was the beginning of the happiest time in my life. For him to allow us to have children – our twins – and only let us have them for such a short time – FUCK – I don't know why and it makes me angrier than hell!”

  His anger was evident to Alex, his vampire eyes burning red. Over the past few years she had tried not to get angry – but that was Zach's way of dealing with the hurt. She moved her hand and stroked the side of her vampire's face, “I know Zach – the fact that Conall let Tatiana know they would be leaving – that gives us some solace. She said they would be back – I just wish it was soon. I don't know how to go on – it hurts so much.”

  Zach nodded as he spoke, “Indeed!” and Alex smiled. That was Zach's favourite word and he used it on many occasions – and depending on the inflection it could be in anger, as it was just now, or incredibly sexy.

  She pinched him hard, “I'm going to start an 'Indeed' box – instead of a swear box and you'll need to put something in each time!” she half laughed. Still sad, still upset, but being in her mate's arms always calmed her – his touch was magic on her skin.

  She moved even closer, if she could get inside his skin – well she would do it. Zach smiled, “Well now – what to put in? No point in money so what if I put in rewards? I could write a reward – for you of course – and place it in and then once a week you could pull one out? What'd you think?” His tone had gone from angry to sexy in the beat of a heart.

  Alex squirmed, thinking, “Well what kind of rewards?” she asked him. His eyes had gone from red to shining – a sure sign of what was on his mind and his voice was like velvet as he answered - “Well if I tell you then it wouldn't be a surprise – rest assured you will like whatever I put in meine Kleine!” at his pet name for her – my little one in German – her stomach did a little flip.

  Zach pulled her on top of him, “Why don't I give you a little taste of what I had in mind?” and he kissed her deeply – igniting the fire that he always did with his touch.

  Zach took his time – letting his mate know exactly how he felt about her and it seemed to soothe her – even if just a little bit. It was quite some time before they made it out of the bedroom – Zach taking Alex to the shower for their usual after sex sex and then cleaning her thoroughly.

  Alex loved that part ... it was something that she cherished and loved Zach all the more for, his loving ministrations ... making her feel the most loved mate in the world. For a short while she didn't feel quite so desolate and once more she wondered at her luck in having him by her side, she knew with absolute certainty she would not have made it through this without him.

  They had to get to work though, so they dressed and made their way outside – after they had their coffee. Breakfast was no longer made in their home – both of them vampires and not requiring it. They both still liked to eat but it was usually a once a day thing now – both enjoying sitting down to a nice meal in the evening with wine. It certainly saved on the washing up and grocery bills.

  They got in the car and headed out of the built up area of the town – waving to some people they knew. Vlad, Zach's friend for centuries, was out walking his dog – they laughed at him – he had had the dog for more than four years and it still didn't do as he told it.

  They stopped at the side of the road and Alex shouted - “See the training's going well Vlad!”

  Vlad turned – tall, muscular and damn good looking, but also deadly, his smile was forced as he answered, “If this fine animal doesn't start doing what it's told I'm going to take it to the nearest pound!”

  Alex laughed again – Vlad loved that dog – he would never take it to the pound and Zach chuckled, “Maybe you should get that dog whisperer Vlad – or failing that, get Irina to train it!” Irina – Vlad's mate was a wolf – Zach was sure she would get through to the animal better than Vlad.

  Vlad snarled, “No – I said I would do it – but this bugger of an animal just won't listen!” Both Alex and Zach smiled - it was funny to see the Head of Security battling wits with a dog.

  “How's Tatya Vlad?” and as soon as Alex spoke his face lit up.

  “Oh Tatya is just great – she's like her mom – a naughty puppy! So this mutt here – fits right in!”

  Zach laughed and they started moving again and Alex shouted out the window, “Remind Irina we'll be round this evening – I picked something up for Tatya on our last mission.” Vlad waved and nodded then went back to trying to get the dog to walk at his side.

  Alex thoughts moved to Tatya – she was a gorgeous child – goodness shined from her eyes and she was a beauty. Blonde hair, blue eyes – if Vlad hadn't been a vampire he could've been mistaken for her biological father.

  The little girl had brought so much happiness and love to their friends and even though it made Alex sad, as she didn't have her little ones, she loved the little girl deeply. Zach's hand came over and grasped hers – knowing what was running through her head.

  Zach tried to take her thoughts away from the twins - “So what's on the agenda for today my little one?” Alex smiled – knowing what he was doing and loving him all the more.

  She thought on what they had t
o do today – paperwork – lots and lots of paperwork. She sighed, “Zach we need to get caught up – there's reports that should have been done two weeks ago and they're still waiting to be done. So, my vampire, today is going to be very boring. We'll split them down the middle and try and get through as much as we can. I've been thinking on asking Thadius for an extra body – someone to do all this paperwork.”

  They drove on and out to where their offices were now located - they had their own premises now, on the far outskirts of the town's limits – with nothing else around it. It worked well for their needs - Zach and Alex now heading up the Special Unit that they had started just after their babies had been taken. It specialised in sex crimes committed by Supers.

  They had started this after a particularly harrowing case and soon found out it wasn't the rare crime that they had at first thought.

  The location of their building was to keep the victims away from the other Supers – if they had been abused and hurt by them – well it was better to keep them apart. It put less stress on the people they had started to bring back to their town. It had started as a trickle but now it was more times than not that they had to bring someone back. The victims ranged from young children to fully grown women – both human and a host of different Supers, wolf, witch, and even a few Vamps. The Vamps were rarer as they were usually very strong – however – if they had been shot with silver encased bullets it weakened them dramatically.

  It was always the children that got to Zach and Alex and rescue missions for those usually resulted in all of the adults involved NOT making it back for trial. Zach was one of the oldest of his race alive and he was also one of the most powerful and deadly.

  They parked and got out, now having staff working under them and it was quite a large operation which took most of their time. Time spent working meant less time to dwell on their babies.

  Dmitri was standing outside – the huge Russian waiting on them. He had once been Vlad's second in command but Zach and Alex had hijacked him and he was now THEIR second in command, something that Vlad never let them forget.

  As Zach got out Dmitri walked forwards – a sheaf of papers in his hand, “We've got another one Zach – looks urgent.” and he handed over the papers to Zach. He started to read as he walked and Alex heard him growl and snarl in several places. Must be bad she thought, steeling herself for the horror that they would undoubtedly come across.

  Zach turned to Dmitri, “When did this come in?”

  Dmitri spoke in his accented English with a scowl on his face, “It came in last night – I opened my emails this morning and that's when I found it. It looks bad Zach.”

  Alex knew his method of dealing with these 'fuckers' as he usually called them – well it was usually harsh and brutal and it looked like this was one of those times.

  Zach turned to her, “Sorry hon – no paperwork today – this comes first.” and he handed the paperwork to her. As she read she felt the usual sickness in the pit of her stomach – how could all these bad things keep on happening.

  She raised her eyes after finishing reading and realised they had walked all the way to their office – Dmitri's was next to theirs but more often than not he was either in theirs or out on a job.

  “Ok I'm going to phone Thadius – we need help, the paperwork is just mounting and mounting – we can't continue like this.” and she picked up the phone, dialling and very quickly Thadius answered.

  “Thadius.” was all he said so Alex carried on the conversation.

  “Thadius – sorry to trouble you but we need help – I mean really need help. We have so much going on that we can't get any of the paperwork completed. Would it be possible to get an extra body – even part time to do that for us?”

  Thadius' voice softened when he heard Alex on the line, they had grown close over the past few years and she knew this huge, powerful wolf loved her. “Alex – good morning – yes I think we can manage that. I've got a couple of people looking for some work so I'll get their names to you later and you can decide.”

  Alex smiled, Thadius always came through for them - “Thank you Thadius.” she said with real emotion.

  Thadius knew what day it was, his little fairy Tatiana had been bringing it up for a few days. However, he would not have forgotten anyway – the day etched into his brain. His voice was soft as he spoke - “How are you and Zach today Alex? I know this day is always hard for you both.”

  Immediately tears were in her eyes and Zach lifted his head to watch his mate – knowing she was upset. She took a deep breath before answering - “Bad start but bit better now. We've got another case we need to deal with today so at least we'll be busy.”

  Thadius didn't know how she got through each day, but she did, “Ok Alex – you know if you need anything or just to talk I'm here. I'll get those names over to you soon.” and then they both said 'bye' and Alex put the receiver down.

  Alex took a few breaths to calm herself before she spoke, “Ok that's sorted – Thadius will send me some names and then we can decide who we want. Even if it's part time – it will be a great help.” Zach nodded and Dmitri smiled – she knew he hated paperwork.

  Dmitri started to give them the information he had to hand -”Ok I've already started on this case – been in touch with the local Council and they know we'll be there on this mission. They have a lot of information already so we've got a head start – they have also advised that they will take anybody we rescue and help them. That is if they want that or if they want to come back here James is ready with the jet – of course Lisa will be going too.”

  He finished and Alex smiled – James and Lisa were now inseparable – where James went so did Lisa – regardless of the mission or any danger. A bit like her and Zach.

  Zach looked at the paperwork again then thought for a minute before talking, “So – San Francisco it is – we'll do the usual – I'll take Alex then pop back for you Dmitri. Once we're there we'll get any further info from the local Council if they have any. Once we've got all relevant data we'll check the place out. If we need more people on the ground we can do what we normally do – ask the local Vamps or Wolf pack. Once we have decided if we're ok to go on our own or with additional help we'll make our move. I want to make sure we get the guy in charge this time. The past few times he has escaped and to be honest I think it's the same one – I know it's been all over the US, however, something in my gut tells me it's the same person behind it all. What's your opinion Dmitri?”

  Dmitri did that snarl that always made Alex take a slight step back – then nodded, “Da Zach – I would agree – they all seem to have been organised in the same manner – always underlings on site – we need to find this guy – or he'll just move and start up again.” Zach nodded, pleased that Dmitri had agreed with his deduction.

  This case was like the one they had dealt with the previous month and was almost identical in the way it was being run. Alex looked at her mate, “We need to stop this guy Zach – what he's doing is diabolical – I know it's not exactly a sex crime but it's still up to us to deal with this. How many have died? Far too many – so let's get this maniac this time – ok?” Alex spoke with conviction and hate in her voice, she couldn't wait to get her hands on this guy.

  “So Dmitri do the local guys have any idea who is behind all this?” Zach asked.

  “Well they are pretty sure it's a Wolf – but that's about all they have at the moment. He's a devious son of a bitch that's for sure. He only takes to order. The black market for this type of stuff is growing – humans just do not have enough donors. Taking supers with their healing abilities and harvesting organs to order is big business. I'm afraid to say that Russia is a thriving market in this sort of thing. So I was thinking on using Alex's skills as a hacker – getting into airstrips or airports in the area – see what's going on and maybe getting details and then doing deep background checks. We might come up with whomever has chartered flights or own the jets then seeing if m
embers of their family are ill. Take it from there?”

  Alex smiled at this – her hacker skills had come on leaps and bounds – Vlad was an expert and had taught her well. It was something she very much enjoyed doing but didn't get the chance very often to do.

  Zach was impressed with that idea, “That's a good idea Dmitri, if you give Alex the whereabouts of the locations of what's going on she can then search airstrips nearby. Hopefully we can come up with something. That might lead us to the guy behind all this. It's all very well us just reacting to situations but with him getting away time and again he just starts all over. We need to stop him and we've got the go ahead from the Council to use any methods necessary.”

  Dmitri nodded, “Good – though if we find this person I am not sure what would be worse for him – death or jail?” Alex agreed, she wanted to rip him apart – but then a lifetime in a Council Jail – well that could be a lifetime of hell.

  Zach agreed and added his thoughts, “Well I guess we'll just have to wait and see – sometimes the circumstances denote what's going to happen – I know we all want to rip this fucker's throat out but if he doesn't put up a fight then we have no option but to bring him in for trial.”

  Dmitri snarled, he obviously wanted just a few minutes alone with this head honcho – he may come out alive – but then again he may not.

  Alex was also extremely powerful, Zach having to turn her after the birth of their twins – she had bled out and it was the only option open to him. At the time he had worried she would resent him but she had embraced her Vampire powers as if she had been out for a casual walk.

  Her abilities though were vast – everyone thought it was because it had been Zach that turned her but Zach didn't know if that was the case, he only knew she was extremely strong in the abilities that she had. They fought side by side and had such a reputation that they got requests for help from all over the globe.

  They never turned down a call for help and were kept very busy. This had saved them in more ways than one – the busier they were the less time they had to go insane thinking about when their babies would return to them.