By the time he recovered the glow sticks and finished the clean up, Nick was very dusty and would have to make sure that he brushed his clothes off in the basement before being seen by any of the police who they had met earlier. He didn’t want any questions; though being dusty was the least of the ones they could ask about. Hoping that the thick stone had muffled the sounds of the fight, and apparently getting his wish; Nick collected Charlotte who sneezed at the dust on him.
The extra time taken by the voran to clean up had given her a bit of time to gather her composure. She hadn’t been sick since he had left her, and with a bit of wiping of tears; the pretty brunette looked nearly calm and collected once more.
Sniffing, Charlotte asked quietly and with a lot of sadness, “Did you know that they couldn’t be saved going in there?”
“I knew it when I saw their eyes. It was like finding a pet infected with rabies. Their minds were lost and all that was left was the savage animals that only want to kill and thirst for blood.
“I hoped that maybe one would find their way back out of the darkness, but all I could do was end their slavery to the monster inside.”
She nodded. “I can’t believe that they resorted to turning a child.”
“They were desperate, but using him for food or for fodder; either made them worthy of destruction. Those hearts were truly black inside and out.”
Coming out of the entry after trying to get rid of the dust only took care of one visual problem. Some of the black blood had splattered onto Charlotte from the vampire who had attacked from above. Luckily the color looked a lot like oil while still wet, but the policemen manning the exit didn’t ask though they noticed both were dirtier than when they went inside.
After leaving the north east exit and walking south along Morgan Street, Nick looked to the south roof of the building across the street from the nest and spotted the shadowed heads of the two kasha. He pointed at them and signaled to come down and meet them on the same street heading south.
Once on the sidewalk walking towards the car, the building and distance soon hid them from the police at the nest. Lamassu and Alad popped out of an alleyway as they walked by and Alad asked gruffly, “You look dirty. You didn’t kill all of them without us, did you? We demand our chance at revenge, Nick!”
In a blur, Nick took the lighter weight man and shoved him against the brick wall of the building alongside the sidewalk. Forearm across the kasha’s collarbone, the voran’s hand held his shoulder while his greater weight pressed Alad back. Only with effort could he have pushed him away.
“You killing those vampires doesn’t get you vengeance. These weren’t the creatures who killed Shedu. The ones you want I am hoping my police friend can find before they kill again.
“We simply put down the weak and newly turned. They had all given in to the evil of being vampires and there was nothing redeeming left inside them. All you could have done is torn their souls away. Either way it was just a mercy killing and not a means to revenge through killing such pathetic creatures.”
The voran’s voice had remained even and devoid of feeling. Such calm seemed to resonate in Alad more than any bout of screaming could do.
“They turned a child and an old man,” Charlotte said quietly looking ready to cry again at the thought.
Nick nodded and added, “The vampires of the nest were so pathetic and destroyed that they turned their food sources into vampires just to appear to have numbers. Starving and stuck in madness, most of them only fought and attacked out of instinct. There was only the hunger for blood in them and no intelligence beyond that.
“Does that sound like the something your vengeance would be satisfied by, Alad?”
Grinding his teeth, it was Lamassu who replied, “No, it was just cleaning up trash, Alad. Now show some restraint for Shedu’s sake, if not for your own.”
Nick released the man and reiterated, “I am having my friend, who helped me find you, look for these reapers. When I have a lead, I’ll call you. Go off on a stupid tear like that again and I’ll take you down, Alad. Do you understand me?”
Through gritted teeth, the man of Arabic descent narrowed his dark eyes and said, “Yes, I understand you.”
Lamassu looked like she wanted to argue as well, but Nick understood how these kasha worked now. Like the werewolves, they respected authority and his strength and power enforced the alpha to their beta status making them fall in line. For all Shedu’s ability, Nick thought that the man had barely held Alad in check and perhaps because the two had wills and strength too similar. The voran took any question of who was in charge out of the kasha’s mind.
Dismissing them, Nick took Charlotte home so they could clean up and held her some more on the couch. Normally strong, the woman’s vulnerability was plain to him, but much of that came from the trust and love they shared.
When the evening came and the sun went down, they told Nicola and Sami of their day. There was no partying at the lair that night, but days would pass before any word would come of the reapers again.
The trail had gone cold. Detective Tucker had managed to find the vehicle on a traffic camera, but that was where there luck ended. As feared, the car had been reported stolen and the primary owner was missing. In their circle, missing usually meant dead or turned.
Nick looked at Marek as they sat in the living room in back of the Lair. While Sami joined Lena and Geni out on the dance floor, the adults were speaking on matters concerning the vampires. Nick also noticed other members missing from the circle of vampires.
“I haven’t seen Lenora or Vicki in awhile,” he stated with an air of curiosity.
Spreading his hands wide as if it was out of his hands, Marek replied, “They’ve been going out for weeks now. They tend to drag along Justin with them for protection supposedly. Frankly, I fear that Lenora may not want to stay here much longer.”
Nicola asked looking more at Audrey than Marek, “She doesn’t want to stay or have you finally grown sick of her bad attitude.”
The redheaded, female vampire sitting beside her man smiled at the assessment; but Marek answered with a shrug and said, “She isn’t that way all the time and has been better since the girl has been taking time away. In fact, her attitude has been rather tolerable.”
Audrey nodded and added, “I think going out to the other bars on the pretense of keeping an eye out for strays and reapers was Lenora’s idea, but she doesn’t want to be alone. She began dragging Vicki with her and then they asked Justin.
“If Lenora decided to leave, I am not sure where the others’ loyalties would fall.”
Tony, one of the new vampires added along with the other three mentioned, shook his head and complained, “It’s disrespectful. I think I can speak for Will when I say, that I wouldn’t think of doing this to you after taking us in, when you could have just destroyed us for being with Cyrus.”
“We understood pretty quickly that you all had been controlled,” Marek inclined his head towards the former army ranger. Will had been a marine and both men were loyal to whomever they served, whether it was the government or now Marek. “Lenora has always been willful and seemed to think that she deserved full privileges, but she does nothing to earn her keep or the respect that she wants from us. Vicki is a follower and Lenora controls her, but if pushed she might falter in leaving here. She isn’t a strong girl and I think that she is frightened of being on her own. Whether Lenora is strong enough to make her feel safe or using Justin will help, I don’t know.”
Audrey added, “Justin seems to get along well enough with the girls, but I can’t say that I know where his allegiance would be, if Lenora asked him to leave with her.”
The dark skinned Will spoke up and said, “He’s spoken with Tony and I. While he likes Vicki, he’s complained about Lenora being too bossy, but he doesn’t want them going out unprotected. Justin is still with you. Lenora would have to work magic to make him leave the coven.”
“If he likes Vicki, then Lenora
might have the girl do whatever she can to make him go with them,” Audrey stated thinking how she would try to manipulate a man if in that situation. “Of course, that depends on Vicki’s loyalty.”
Putting up his hand, Marek spoke up into a brief lull, “The loyalty of those three is less important than finding these reapers who are still out there. Has your friend discovered more about them?”
Nick shook his head in disappointment, but having fully foreseen the problems that they might have finding the reapers, it wasn’t a shock. “They were using the car of a missing person. The vehicle was found to the northwest, but there were no video cameras for Fred to follow there. They covered their tracks well. Credit cards that had been used, whether it was the victim or the reapers; were transactions from a week before and in a couple areas.
“The detective hasn’t been able to find a pattern and looking at what he’s given me, I haven’t noticed anything that points any closer than the northwest side of the city. It doesn’t tell us much in a city of millions covering a lot of square miles.
“On the bright side, since the nest had pulled together more than one group of vampires and some individuals, we’ve seen the least activity from strays and rogues in years. The reapers may have lost a lot of numbers, but it’s presumable that they are still here and doing our job for us.”
Jake replied pessimistically, “That’s good and all, until they decide that the only remaining meals are us and start trying to pick us off.”
There were several nods as the other gathered vampires agreed with his worry. Marek tried to comfort their worries as he answered, “That is why we work in teams of three. Even Derek and Sophia will work with either Tony or Will. You may be our best fighters, but these creatures aren’t your typical vampires,” he said leveling a look at the power couple.
Sophia and Derek had become a team early on after he had turned the woman. Originally one of Nicola’s interests, Derek had moved on to his new love and never strayed again. The only problem with the two lovers being together is they liked working as a pair and seemed to know each other’s minds and movements, so any additional people just felt out of place. Nick had run with them several times and they tried to be inviting, but they truly only had eyes for each other, and stray vampires to kill.
Still the two understood Marek’s worry and they had been at the nest to see what they would be up against. They nodded more than willing to have back up.
Nick added, “Even Lenora and the others know to call for help before dealing with a reaper, right?”
Audrey grinned and said, “After she peed herself, Lenora would be the first to call for help I think.”
The degrading comment made the other women in particular smile at the thought. Lenora had steadily alienated herself from the others, Nick noted, and not just from Nicola apparently. It was a shame. If the woman couldn’t work here, eventually that would mean she would be put on the wrong side of their blades. He wouldn’t supply a vampire outside of the coven with blood, which meant eventually she would turn to biting humans and they couldn’t allow that.
Bass thumped as the music of the dance club tried to keep the Friday crowd excited. The more they danced, the more they would need drinks and that meant more money for the bar.
“Where’s Lenora?” Justin asked the pretty redheaded Vicki. Her green eyes seemed luminescent under the strobing lights of the dance floor. She sat at a table now, but the brown haired martial arts instructor had tried his best to get her to dance with him every night they went out.
Smiling at the young man and placing her hand on his forearm leaning on the table, Vicki moved closer to speak in his ear. It was only partly necessary if she didn’t want to scream an answer. She liked Justin and didn’t mind him flirting with her, in fact she encouraged it. “I saw her with a guy before they stepped out for a breath of air.”
Justin’s face went from happy to have the girl breathe in his ear to a frown of worry as he countered, “She isn’t thinking of drinking from him, is she? If Nick and Marek find out that she’s been tasting other men, she might be more than kicked out of the house.”
Vicki looked unsure as she tried to think of what to say. She wasn’t positive that Lenora hadn’t been trying to drink from the men she toyed with, since the vampiress had been talking of leaving the Lair. If they left, Vicki was pretty sure that they would be on their own without Nick’s blood to keep them in line with more human appetites. The girl wasn’t sure that she liked the idea of drinking from humans again. She still had nightmares from the time she served Cyrus. A procurer of new victims both for his army and the feeders needed to keep it fed, the redhead had done a lot of things that she was both ashamed of and frightened by as well.
“I hope not,” she finally said having nothing more creative to say. Vicki answered leaning close enough to lick his earlobe this time. She couldn’t help it. The young vampire was only a year older than her and had some of the same interests from their human lives. His blue eyes drew her in when she looked at him and Vicki wanted him to know that she was definitely interested. “She wouldn’t risk getting kicked out, I don’t think. I mean she’s pretty bold and doesn’t get along with the older girls, but Lenora couldn’t possibly think that biting people would be better than staying with Marek and Nick.”
His hand covered hers on his arm and he leaned in looking less distracted by her attention than troubled over her friend. “Lenora’s been disappearing almost every night from us. Haven’t you noticed the blood on her breath a lot of those nights?”
Her green eyes turned away from him anxiously. She felt caught between her loyalties: to Lenora, to Marek’s clan and even to Justin. While few people seemed to think she was more than a pretty face, the girl still worried and cared for those she loved. Lenora was her friend, but she feared that the woman was making a mistake.
He didn’t wait for her to answer as he could see it in her body language. “She’s going to get kicked out or killed if they find out that she’s been cheating. Hasn’t Lenora been taking her dose of voran blood?”
Vicki was saddened as she realized that Lenora was inadvertently ruining her time with Justin. As she started to reply, a smell that wafted on the air widened her eyes fearfully, “Do you smell that?”
One of the reasons that she and Lenora had been scouts for Cyrus was because of their senses. Not every vampire could track others of their kind or find a certain blood type an elder favored just from their scent, Vicki had that ability and a dark scent was in the air. Justin had just been a soldier in the vampire’s army. He only looked perplexed as he tried to discover what the pretty girl was talking about, though he wondered if it was just to avoid answering his question.
It was a bit faint at first, but then even Justin found the scent and his back tensed.
“You stay here,” he warned. “Call Marek and tell him there are reapers here. I’ll find Lenora. They won’t attack us with all these people around, but if she’s outside...”
Vicki pulled her cell phone hitting number one on her speed dial as fast as she could.
“So Paul, you are a broker? That is fascinating,” Lenora cooed to the tall, dark haired man.
Separated from his pack of friends now, who were apparently all out partying after a long week as the economy continued to make life hard on his profession; Paul had been stunned when the beautiful blonde had walked up to him and started flirting. It wasn’t uncommon for the man and his friends to find women interested in them, if only for their profession; but she was bold and beautiful beyond most of those.
He chuckled leaning closer to the girl and smelled perfume just strong enough to be noticed, but not overpowering. She knew how to dress and the fine points of attracting men, even without her power to glamour. Lenora knew that she could draw in almost any man. “Well, the past few months have been a bit harder in our line of work, but with a few cautious investments there is still money to be made. I can give you my card if you’d like.”
“
Well, I’ve been thinking of diversifying my portfolio of late, maybe you’d like to come talk to me about it?” she asked inferring that it wasn’t money she meant.
Putting down his glass after quickly draining it dry, the man let himself be led across the room. There was a side door there that he hadn’t even known about, but the vampiress knew her exits and what lay outside of them. This one led to the alley, but it was a good place to talk and do other things. She wasn’t the only one to ever use it, but what Paul thought he might be getting from the blonde wasn’t what she planned.
She was fairly tall for a girl especially evening things out with three inch high heals, but she still had to look up at the much taller man. Lenora had always liked tall men. As her blue eyes looked to see his brown, they sparkled with glamour. Their lips kissed and she enjoyed the taste of them, but her interest was hardly just in the lips of the good looking young man.
“So what do you think I led you out here to do?” she asked breathing into his neck as he leaned down to caress her rear.
“Sex probably,” he admitted without thought thanks to the spell he was under.
“Hmm, do I really give off that desperate woman in need of sex vibe? Well, I guess that I did lead you on,” she replied with amusement. “Let me ask you, Paul. Do you have a lot of money?”
“Some, but less since the crash.”
Lenora cared less about the answer, though it made it easier to bite his neck. He groaned in brief pain as she pierced the veins on his neck. Warm blood flowed into her mouth and the blonde vampiress savored the taste. When she had first turned, the idea of drinking blood had disgusted her, but now it was almost a turn on.
She had drank the voran blood and it let her eat other things she liked for example pasta, and taking it now meant the woman didn’t have to drink a human’s blood; but Lenora found that she liked to and thought of her future. Learning how to take without killing would probably keep her off of the others’ radar. She also considered what men she would want to turn. Being alone, even if Vicki and Justin joined her they would be too few, wasn’t an option. She would need strong men, vampires, to keep her safe, plus having a few good men around meant she would have access to other pleasures the woman enjoyed.
Standing Before Monsters (Vorans and Vampires) Page 40
