Seizing Darkness (Fur, Fangs, and Fairies)

by Mariana Thorn

  “If he wanted you to know, he would have told you to stay,” I replied with a sweet, innocent smile. I was still going over how Val was acting. “Give me your keys. Carly and I are going to get our things together. Madon, you can give Radek a ride.”

  “And what makes you think I’ll agree to that?” Radek asked.

  “The four of us will be living together for the foreseeable future and you want that time to be nice and peaceful.” I raised an eyebrow at him.

  “She has a point, Dek,” Madon piped in.

  I smiled at him. I knew he was trying to get on my good side so I would help him with Carly.

  “Fine, but be back at Madon’s in two hours.” He handed me the keys.

  “Will do. Oh, grab my stuff from your place for me, will you?” I stood on my toes and kissed his cheek.

  Carly and I raced out of the building. We went to Dante’s first. It didn’t take me long to grab what I needed. Radek had gotten most of my things earlier. We stopped at the store on our way to Carly’s.

  Chapter Twenty-four

  Something wasn’t right. I could feel it. I pulled into Carly’s drive. She felt it too. There wasn’t anything obvious, something just felt off. We looked at each other.

  “What do you want to do?” she asked me.

  “I don’t know. I think we should call one of the guys.” I grabbed my phone just as the safety glass in the windshield shattered.

  I heard the pop of the gun then. Carly and I both ducked down. Someone was shooting at us. I tossed the phone to Carly and threw the SUV in reverse. She dialed the phone. It was Madon that picked up.

  “What do you need, Nat?” he sounded happy when he answered.

  “Someone’s shooting at us,” Carly told him.

  “What?” Madon said with a growl.

  “Shit.” I saw a car behind us. They were shooting from the car now. I pushed the gas pedal to the floor. “They’re following us. Hey, you guys want to do something about this? I’m not used to dodging bullets. Wolves I can handle. This is a little out of my league.”

  Radek’s voice came over the line loud and clear. He must have taken the phone from Madon. “Where are you?”

  “Carly, turn on the GPS and tell them I’m going to drive.” Carly did as I asked. “Where are the flipping cops when you need them? I thought humans had this thing about calling them about every little thing,” I grumbled as I drove, wishing I had the sports car. It would’ve been a little more maneuverable.

  “Hold on tight, Nat. We’ll get to you.” Radek’s voice was tight with his frustration.

  He must have handed the phone to Madon because that’s whose voice came over the line next. “Are either of you hit?”

  “Nope. Why are we running from bullets? I mean unless they hit us in the head, we should be fine. Seriously, let’s play fair. Let me at them with my claws. You know, I was in a good mood, and that just ruined it.” I was ranting and I knew it.

  Radek was back on the phone, “All right Nat, I’ve linked our GPS with yours. We should be meeting up soon.”

  “And what exactly are you going to do when you get here? It’s not like any of us ever carry guns. This is so freaking stupid. You know, I do know a wereboar that has this thing for guns,” I snarled, regressing a bit.

  “A wereboar? Really? And I know Nat, calm down. We also have the police on the way. I called your friend Detective Larson. Just hold on for a few more minutes.” If I didn’t know better, I thought I heard Radek choke back a laugh. If he was laughing, his tail was dead.

  “Did you just freaking tell me to calm down? Carly, next time we’re in trouble you’re calling Val, not these two.”

  Carly snickered. This was ludicrous. We were practically indestructible, and here we were driving like crazy away from someone with guns. I was fighting the urge to turn the car around and confront them.

  “Okay, we’re here,” Radek was saying.

  I heard the sirens too. The police weren’t far away. Just what I wanted to do right now, deal with humans.

  “Didn’t Val tell you to stay out of trouble?” Carly asked.

  “Hey, how is this my fault? They were at your house,” I argued.

  “Is this how you handle getting shot at?” Radek asked. “We’re behind them.”

  “Give me a break. It’s been a long time since someone has shot at me. Or even in my general direction,” I told him.

  He laughed at that. “That surprises me. I thought everyone that meets you wants to kill you at some point. It looks like they’re going to try and run.”

  “Like hell they are.” I jammed on the breaks. The car behind us crashed into ours, slamming us forward with a mighty crash.

  “You know I think I should have done that in the first place,” I said when everything stopped spinning. “Maybe there is something to these seatbelt things. Are you all right, Carly?”

  “Yeah, but the phone went flying,” Carly laughed.

  “That’s okay. I think I can hear Radek from here anyway.” I started laughing too.

  That’s when the cops showed up. We extracted ourselves from the SUV. Yep, Radek was coming in loud and clear. He was a bit upset, to put it mildly.

  “What in the hell were you thinking, Natalya?” he had arrived on scene. Yep, he was mad as hell.

  “I was keeping them from getting away. Actually, if I had thought of it sooner, maybe you wouldn’t have as many holes in your car,” I said with a smile.

  Radek’s mouth opened and then closed. I think I made him speechless. I was saved by the human.

  Detective Larson said, “Good evening, Agent Ignatiev. I heard you might need some help.”

  “Yeah. Those morons in that SUV were shooting at us.” I jerked my thumb over my shoulder. I wasn’t going to take my eyes from the angry tiger in front of me. I didn’t think he would hurt me, but you could never be too careful.

  “So how did this happen?” the detective asked, indicating the mangled cars.

  “Well, I kind of got a little ticked off, and my foot might have accidentally hit the brakes.” I gave him my brightest, most innocent smile.

  Radek ran a hand down his face. I could tell he was frustrated. “That was my car you just smashed, you know,” he growled out.

  “I know. Mine got blown up a few days ago, remember? I’ll buy you a new one.” I turned the smile his way.

  “So what exactly is going on here?” the detective asked, looking between us. He must have caught on to the tension between us. I think he recognized Radek from the other night too.

  “Okay, here’s what happened. Carly and I pulled into her house and someone started shooting at us. We took off. Then those morons,” I pointed to the men that were being pulled from the SUV, “decided to follow us and shoot at us. We called Madon, who was with Radek, and they called you, and now we are all here having this lovely conversation.”

  “Right. Why were they shooting at you?” he had the nerve to ask.

  “How the hell should I know? The bad guys that generally want to kill me usually don’t use firearms. Why don’t you go ask them? It’s not like I read minds.” I shrugged. For some reason I was finding this whole thing funny.

  “They’re humans,” Madon said, joining us.

  “Darn. That means that you get them,” I said to the detective.

  “Yes it does.” He was looking at me like he didn’t know what to do with me. He should join the club, because Madon and Radek were looking at me the same way. I think Val felt like that on occasion too.

  “Do you need us to give a statement?” Radek asked.

  I knew he was just busting at the seams to get me somewhere he could berate me.

  “Yes, that would be helpful. They don’t need to come down to the station; we can do it here, if you’d like,” Larson said.

  I think he didn’t want to take on Radek right now. “Joy. Just how I wanted to spend the evening,” I sighed. “All right, let’s get this over with.”

  Carly and I both gave
him our statements. Finally we were allowed to leave. This was more of a human police matter than ours, so we left them with the investigation. Radek loaded us into Madon’s car and we went back to Carly’s house. Madon and Carly went inside.

  Radek pulled me to a stop outside the door. “Are you sure you’re all right?”

  “Yes, I’m fine. I’m really sorry about the car,” I told him truthfully.

  “I don’t care about the car, Natalya. I care about you.” He took me in his arms and kissed me. I was lost in it for a second, then he pulled away.

  We were joined by Madon and Carly before I could say anything else. The ride to headquarters was deadly silent. Radek ran in and came out with a new phone. It was nearly dawn before we got back to Madon’s.

  “Come on in guys,” Madon said as he led us into his house. “Make yourselves at home. You guys can take whichever rooms you want.” We all trooped upstairs.

  “I’m up for some breakfast. Anyone else interested?” Carly said.

  “I’m in.” I had a feeling food would help. I was just waiting for the call from Val to yell at me. I was feeling a bit run down. How was I supposed to know that there were going to be humans with guns waiting at Carly’s house? I was exhausted to say the least. It was making me grumpy.

  “Go ahead. There should be food in the kitchen,” Madon said as he went to his room.

  “That’s where I’m headed then,” Carly said. I followed her to the kitchen. “You look exhausted, Nat. I’ll cook; you just sit and relax.”

  “Thanks.” I sighed and sat on one of the bar stools. Radek came up behind me and put his arms around me. I leaned back into him and closed my eyes. His chest was hard, but comfortable. I breathed in his scent. I began to wonder when this was going to end.

  His phone went off. He pulled it out of his pocket, but didn’t move away from me. “Yes Father?” he answered.

  “I have news,” I heard Val say.

  “I’m listening,” Radek said.

  “The humans that attacked the girls were from the PAD. Somehow Andrei is connected to this, but I haven’t found the link yet. I want you guys to sit tight today. I have our best people looking into this. Gidget is working nonstop. There is nothing for you guys to do but wait until we have information for you to go on.”

  “You know we’re all going to go crazy sitting on our tails.” Radek pulled away from me and I immediately missed his warmth.

  Great, I thought, now we have to deal with the crazy humans that want to kill us just for being alive. Last I heard, they thought all unnaturals (that’s what they called us) were the spawn of Satan or something to that effect.

  “I know, son. You’ll just have to handle it. Consider it a forced vacation,” Val said.

  “Right, like that’s going to work. A few hours ago some crazy humans were chasing and shooting at Natalya and Carly. Plus there’s Andrei and Louis still out there just waiting to nail our hides to their wall. I’m just supposed to sit back and let someone else handle this?” Radek’s voice was sharp in his frustration.

  “For now, there isn’t anything for you to be doing other than staying safe,” Val reiterated sternly.

  “I know what you’re saying. It makes sense, but I don’t like it,” Radek said, and started pacing like a caged tiger.

  “I don’t like it either. Just hang tight for a little while. If something doesn’t break soon, we can renegotiate the matter.” Val sighed.

  “I guess I can live with that.” Radek let out a heavy sigh of his own. He came back over and pulled me against him again.

  “I’ll call you when I have more details. Keep Natalya out of trouble for at least a few hours. I need some sleep.” Val did sound tired.

  Radek’s chest shook as he laughed at that. I elbowed him. “Ow. Now that’s a full time job.” I elbowed him harder this time.

  “I imagine it is. I’m getting some rest; I’ll talk to you two later,” Val said with a laugh as he hung up.

  “How is it my fault that people keep attacking me?” I really was not in a good mood. I felt Radek’s arms come back around me. He buried his head in my hair and inhaled. That sent warmth flowing through my body.

  “It’s not, but you don’t need to run out and find trouble either,” Radek said against the back of my neck.

  “Breakfast is done,” Carly said, cutting into our conversation.

  Madon joined us and Radek filled him in on what Val had said.

  Chapter Twenty-five

  Radek was upstairs sleeping. Madon and Carly were in the living room watching TV. I wasn’t feeling much like company, so I’d made some coffee and gone out to Madon’s wraparound porch, complete with porch swing. I was now lounging there, covered in blankets. The sun was setting; it was actually a nice day. Very cold, but the sun was out.

  My phone rang. I glanced at it and didn’t recognize the number. The tiny hairs on the back of my neck stood on end in warning. I answered.

  “Hello?” I was hoping it wasn’t going to be bad news.

  “Good evening, my little kitten.” It was a voice that I would know anywhere: Andrei.

  I sat straight up, spilling my coffee, but not paying much attention to it. “What do you want?” I growled out.

  “Well I would like a great many things, and we will get to that at a later time. You’ve been very bad, my little kitten,” he said sternly.

  “Oh I have? You’re the expert in that area, so you would know.”

  “I am very disappointed with you.”

  I could hear the anger in his voice. I wondered how I could use that against him.

  “Get used to it,” I said, keeping a bored, even tone.

  “You might want to hear me out.”

  “Why is that?” I had a feeling that I wasn’t going to like hearing whatever it was.

  “I have an offer for you, Kitten.”

  I didn’t like how he said that, with a little too much cat-that-ate-the-canary tone.

  “Oh really?” He had to be kidding. Like I would accept any offer he had.

  “I have something that you may want.” He sounded way too smug for my liking.

  “Would you care to elaborate?” I didn’t believe him for one second.

  “Check your phone. I sent you a little present,” he giggled.

  That scared me more than I wanted to admit. Vampires didn’t giggle like children. This was not good.

  My phone beeped, telling me I had a picture message. I dreaded looking, but I did it anyway. Val’s still form filled my phone’s screen. I held back saying all the words that came to mind. I put the phone back to my ear.

  “Is he alive?” I growled.

  “For now. Here is the deal, little Kitten. You give yourself over to me, and I will leave your other friends alone. That wolf and his little mate, for starters.”

  “What about Valdimir? Are you going to let him go? And Radek, Gregory and Dante?” I was trying to figure out how the hell he’d got a hold of Val.

  “I will spare all but Valdimir.”

  I knew that was probably as good as it was going to get. But what could I do? Radek was going to be pissed if I went, but I had to try and save Val.

  “Why would I come if you aren’t going to let Valdimir go?” I was stalling for more time to think.

  “If you do not, his torment will be drawn out for eternity.” He giggled again.

  “Well at least I know where you stand. What do you want with me?” I knew, but I had to ask anyway.

  “You know what I want with you, my little Kitten. You must be punished for running away,” he said.

  I’d figured it was going to be something along those lines. Was I willing to give it up for Radek and the rest of them? The answer was hell yes. They would do the same for me in an instant. Would he really lay off Val if I did this? I highly doubted it, but I really didn’t have a choice.

  “So where would this lovely meeting take place?” I asked, wondering if Radek would forgive me for this. I didn’t think it was li
kely.

  “You just get in a car and I’ll give you directions. I would advise not bringing anyone with you. Anyone I see will be killed on sight.”

  I knew he meant it. Anyone I told would try to stop me anyway. I could leave a note at least, I thought. It wouldn’t say where I was going, but it would let them know that Val was taken and so was I.

  “Very well. I’ll leave here in five minutes and call you as soon as I’m in the car.” If Andrei didn’t kill me, I figured Radek would.

  “Good. I look forward to seeing you again, Kitten.” He hung up.

  Now I remembered why I hated being called that. It sent shivers down my spine. Now all I had to do was steal a car and get out of here undetected. That was not going to be easy. I didn’t even want to think about what Val was going to say.

  I was counting on Radek and Dante coming to find us. I, like everyone else in the PIB, had a GPS implant. I wasn’t sure if Val had one, but if they kept us together that shouldn’t matter. It wasn’t common knowledge, so I was betting on it letting Radek know where we were. What else was I supposed to do? They would do the same thing in my position. If Andrei was telling the truth, then I’d just saved everyone but Val. I couldn’t live with myself if I knew that by my inaction I’d caused Val more pain.

  I walked back into the kitchen and spotted Radek’s keys. One of the stops we’d made was getting his other car. I slipped them in my pocket. There was a notepad near the phone, where I quickly wrote a note saying that Val was taken and I was going to get him. It was vague, but would be effective. I just hoped that no one found it until I was long gone.

  Now for the hard part: starting the car and driving away before anyone missed me. I went out the back door and walked around the house. Luckily for me, the room that Radek was sleeping in was in the rear of the house. I was hoping that the TV would be loud enough that the other two wouldn’t hear the car.

  It was now or never. I quickly got in the car and started the engine. I had that thing out of the driveway so fast I was sure that I hadn’t been noticed. I held my breath as I looked at my phone, expecting a call from either Madon or Radek. None came. I had gotten away clean.