Rufus turned slowly to face the Council once more. “Oui?”
“What do you know of our concerns? How do you know of Franklin and his efforts?”
Rufus gave the Council members a slight smile and stepped forward once more. “I am aware of your efforts, and your inability to stop young Damien. I believe you have found your people… eaten, oui?”
A much older vampire stood and walked slowly toward Rufus. He studied the vampire standing before him and tucked his hands behind his back as he spoke. “What is your proposal, Monsieur Thorn?”
“My proposal is simple. A reprieve in any further attempts on my life. My compatriots and I will find Franklin, put a stop to him, and his efforts in resurrecting Lilith. Once we bring you proof that his efforts are thwarted and he has been permanently stopped, you grant the pardon.” Rufus crossed his arms over his chest, his gaze unwavering.
The older vampire studied the younger man and chuckled lightly. “And if you fail?”
“Then it will cost me my life. For I will not stop until I have succeeded or am dead. You will have your verdict seen through, and your issues with Franklin may or may not have been taken care of for you.”
The older vampire narrowed his gaze on Rufus. “Our intelligence tells us that there is a good chance that Lilith has already been restored.”
“Then she will be stopped along with Franklin.” Rufus turned back to Foster and motioned him forward. “My brother is his creator. It is my belief that although Franklin has become a ghoul, he can still be reached by his maker.”
“And if he can’t?”
“Then he shall be brought to the blade. His head will be returned to you regardless.”
“And Lilith?”
“Her remains shall be scattered to the four corners once more, her heart and head brought to this esteemed body to be held.”
The older vampire turned to the seated Council members. A silent passing of agreement was made by imperceptible nods. When he turned back to Thorn, the older vampire’s face was stern. “You have your reprieve, Thorn. But heed my words. If you fail to perform…if you fail to hold up your end of the agreement, we will hold nothing back in bringing your head back. Am I understood?”
“Completely.”
*****
Lieutenant Gregory sat at the stainless steel table going over the notes he had made while questioning Mick. “And you’re sure that he only employs wolves?”
“To my knowledge, yes.” Mick sighed and stared at his watch. “How many more times are we going to go over the same stuff?”
Gregory ignored him as he made more notes and read through his previous questions. “But you claim you’re not a wolf, correct?”
“Correct. I’m a werecat.”
“Yet, Mr. Simmons employed you to take care of his daughter?”
“He didn’t really employ me. He just threatened to have me killed if I didn’t.” Mick crossed his arms and glared at the human.
“And that was simply to keep her away from here while they attacked?”
“I don’t know. I guess so.” Mick stood and pulled a cigarette from his shirt pocket.
“There’s no smoking in here.” Gregory turned back to his notes.
Mick crumpled the cigarette and fell back into the chair. “How much longer will this take?”
“Until we have covered everything. Do you know when Mr. Simmons plans to attack again?”
“No.” Mick glared at the man, his hands tightening into fists.
“He didn’t say anything that might give you an idea his timeline?”
“Look, mate, I wasn’t exactly on his best friend list, okay? He told me that if Jennifer took off again and came to me, that I should do everything in my power to keep her away from this place. That’s it. There is no more. He didn’t show me any plans. He didn’t tell me anything else. He didn’t pull out a map and point to anything. He didn’t name any names. He didn’t…” Mick threw his hands into the air. “How much longer, mate?”
Gregory closed his notes and stared at the man. “Why? You taking medication?”
“No. Actually I’d like a chance to talk to Jennifer before she has to shift for the moon.” Mick’s frustration level was at an all-time high.
Gregory shook his head. “I highly doubt that’s going to happen.”
“To hell with this.” Mick sat up so quickly that his chair flew backward, hitting the wall behind him. As soon as he was on his feet, the door to the interrogation room flew open and guards flooded the room, shackles in hand. “What the hell?”
“If you refuse to cooperate, then we do this the hard way.” Gregory stood and nodded to the guards. “Take him to the secure room.”
Mick struggled and fought as the guards shackled him and dragged him down the hallway and into a room very much like the room they were in. The difference being that the chairs and table were bolted down and there were steel loops in the floor and tabletop to run the shackle chains through. “This is bullshit!” Mick struggled as they held him down and chained him in place.
“Had you cooperated, this wouldn’t be necessary.” Gregory sat down opposite him and opened his notes once more.
“I came here of my own accord, asshole!” Mick fought against the chains and slammed his fists on the table.
Gregory stared at him stonily and closed his notes. “You conspired with a megalomaniac who sent an army of supernatural creatures to our base of operations and attacked us unannounced. Good men died in that attack. If you truly wanted no part in Mr. Simmons’ actions, all it would have taken was a simple phone call and we could have at least been alerted.”
Mick’s glare softened and he slumped in his seat. “I didn’t know. I swear I didn’t. He didn’t say who he was going after. I had no idea who you chaps were; where you were located…all I knew was somebody in the States had kidnapped his daughter and held her for nearly ten years.” Mick raised his face and stared at the man opposite him. “Tell me something. You got kids? What would you do if somebody had stolen your little girl and ran all sorts of ungodly experiments on her for ten years? Would you just sit back and do nothing? Would you let bygones be bygones?”
Gregory shifted uncomfortably in his chair. “I don’t…I’m not the one in question here.”
“Yeah, that’s what I thought.” Mick smirked at the man. “Once that shoe is on your own foot, it doesn’t fit so well, does it, mate?”
Gregory opened his notebook and clicked his pen. “Back to the questions. When you were with Mr. Simmons…”
*****
“Jennifer, you need to get a grip.” Matt backed to the door and reached behind himself to lock it. He watched as he eyes continued to glow amber. “I’m not going to hurt you and I’m not trying to…”
“Get out of my way. Coming here was a mistake.” Her voice growled as she spoke and he could almost watch as her teeth elongated.
Matt squared his shoulders and shook his head. “No.”
Jennifer backed up a step. “What? I’m not joking.”
“And neither am I. I can’t let you leave. Not like this.” He crossed his arms and stared down at her. “My wolf would never forgive me. And to be honest…neither would I.”
She shook her head as she continued backing up. “I can’t be here.”
“I need you to calm down,” he lowered his voice, speaking to her as soothingly as he could. He extended a hand to her. “I’m sorry, Jen. I don’t know why I said what I did. Maybe it was nerves. Maybe it was…fear. I don’t know. But I know that if you leave now…”
Her eyes slowly ebbed and faded back to normal. “My wolf senses your emotions.” She watched as Matt slowly slid down the door and sat on the floor, his face buried.
“I have no idea what I’m doing.” His voice threatened to break.
Jennifer felt herself soften and she took a tentative step forward. She reached out for him then slowly withdrew her hand. “I don’t know what to say.”
Mitchell lifted his face and
she saw his eyes, reddened and wet with unshed tears. “Neither do I.” He sniffed back the pain and wiped at his nose. “This is so damned confusing to me. I’m torn, and I don’t know what to do about it.”
She squatted down next to him and rested a hand on his arm. “Talk to me.”
Matt shrugged and tried to look away. “And say what? That I used to stare at your image when you were frozen and feel…something. That I hated myself for having feelings for you?” He gave a short self-loathing laugh. “For the longest time, I truly did hate you.” He saw the pain return to her face, and he placed his own hand on hers. “I think it’s more accurate to say, I hated what your wolf did. And I kept trying to blame you, but…I knew. You didn’t do it. Your wolf did.”
“I’m still responsible.” Her voice was barely a whisper as she slid onto the floor beside him.
“You can’t be held responsible for what your wolf does.” Matt sighed and lowered his face again. “Just like I couldn’t help what I allowed to happen over the years as you were locked away.”
“You’re saying you have feelings for me?”
“I’m saying I don’t know what I feel. All I know is I’d have dreams of you. And I really did try to get you released, but…” He shook his head in frustration. “They just wouldn’t hear of it.”
Jennifer scooted closer and wrapped her arm around his. “This feels right somehow.”
“I know. And that scares the bejeezus out of me.” He turned and stared at her. He could see her emotions painted across her face just as he knew his must be. She was just as scared, just as confused and just as worried as he was. “Part of me worries about betraying what I had with Jo Ann. Another part of me completely freaks out at the idea of not having you in my life.”
She nodded. “I’m in the same boat. I have all these haunting memories of when you shot me. When you hunted me down. When I escaped here. It’s like a big part of me just wants to turn and run away, but an even bigger part of me is scared to death of going against the Fates.”
“Aren’t we a fine pair?” he snorted and rubbed her arm. “Maybe two basket cases make one complete person?”
She chuckled and squeezed his arm. “Or it makes an even bigger basket case.”
“Oh, we’re screwed then.” He turned to stare at her and saw the vulnerability in her eyes. Everything he feared suddenly slipped away as he stared into her big, beautiful eyes. Matt felt himself being drawn closer, her chin lifting as he closed to kiss her.
A buzzing sounded from his desk, snapping him out of the trance he was in. He pulled back quickly and stood from the floor. He held out a hand to lift her up then reached for his phone. “Go for Mitchell.”
“Colonel, it’s Jack. It’s about time, sir.”
Mitchell glanced at the clock and cursed silently. “Thanks for the heads up, Chief. We’ll be down there in a moment.” Mitchell turned to Jennifer. “It’s time. The sun is almost down.”
Jennifer wiped at her face and stepped aside for Mitchell to open the door for her. “I guess this is it, isn’t it?”
Matt gave her a puzzled look. “What do you mean?”
“Our wolves are about to meet for the first time. They may not let us change our minds.” She looked to him hopefully.
He gave her a reassuring smile. “I don’t care what the wolves think. I’m not letting you go again.”
*****
Apollo watched as each man strode outside to the shipping containers. They had the foresight to leave their clothes behind lest they be ruined either during the shift or by their wolf after the shift. Sheridan directed each man to his container then headed for the unit on the end. He turned to Apollo and gave a mock salute before rounding the corner and disappearing from view.
Apollo gave each man a few minutes to secure their door themselves then announced over the bullhorn that he would be sealing the electronic locks in 30 seconds. He counted down the time then pushed the button. He heard the series of bolts being thrown simultaneously and smiled to himself.
Like shooting fish in a barrel.
He made his way back inside and tossed the electronic lock mechanism onto the counter then picked up the phone. He dialed the number for the duty officer and reported that the area was secure. Once they hung up, he’d head toward the gates and open them for the squads.
Apollo hung up then worked his way outside. He paused as he listened to the men begin their shift, grunts and howls coming from the containers followed by angry outbursts as the wolves discovered the silver mesh lining each container. For the briefest of moments, he almost felt sorry for the poor bastards. “Better to go out like this than having you pull another sneak attack.”
He worked his way to the front gates and quickly unlocked the padlocks holding the ends of chain together. Pulling the chain out from between the two chain link gates, he slid one side open, then the other. Apollo worked his way back to the warehouse and dropped the tailgate on a pickup parked within. Hopping onto the back of the truck, he waited for the squads to show up and make quick work of the wolves locked away.
*****
“Failure. Back to the beginning,” a voice echoed over the intercom.
Kalen was nearly ready to collapse. He collected his arrows and walked back to the entrance of the CQB simulator. “If you’d just come in behind me and look pretty, we could get this over with once and for all.” Brooke stuffed her throwing stars back into her belt and sheathed her sword.
“Simply follow you? Did you forget we are supposed to work together?”
“Yeah, yeah. Teamwork building. I get it.” She leaned against the pillar outside the door of the CQB sim room. “But face it, Sugar Cookie, that just ain’t gonna happen.”
“Because you refuse to be a team player.” Kalen hung his bow over his shoulder and stood at the ready.
“Because I’m not a team player.” Brooke pushed off the pillar and come to stand beside him. “I’ve been on my own for far too long. I don’t play well with others.”
“Learn,” Kalen growled. “I do not wish to be out here all night. I’d like to get a little rest before dawn.”
Brooke snorted. “This is my daytime, Keebler. I can drag this out for days.”
Kalen turned on her, his pain and exasperation painted clearly on his features. “Why? Why do you insist on being this way? Is it truly so hard to rely on another?”
Brooke turned away from him. “I don’t do well with partners.”
“You need to accept assistance from others. Learn that your team is there to help you. We all have strengths and we all have weaknesses. Those who excel in one area can assist the others who do not. It truly is a simple concept to grasp.”
Brooke shook her head almost imperceptibly. “I don’t need help.”
The claxon sounded and a yellow strobe light went off indicating the beginning of another round. With each round through the training simulator, different bad guys and good guy targets were popped up in different locations. No two drills were exactly alike and Kalen truly felt that if Raven didn’t get her act together, they would see every possible combination more than once.
“You want left or right?” Kalen stacked on the right side of the door.
“Just go in. I’ll take what you don’t.” She shot him a hateful glare.
Kalen counted down…three…two…one…and kicked open the door, immediately turning to the right, his bow drawn and ready to fire. Raven disappeared to the left and began sweeping the room left to right. Kalen ascertained the targets and just as he put his arrow into the ‘bad guy’ target, Brooke’s throwing star sliced into the target just below his arrow. He shot her a warning glare then advanced to the next area. Brooke entered without stacking up outside the room and began throwing stars at all of the targets, regardless of their identifier. Immediately, the claxon sounded indicating their failure once more.
The voice echoed through the simulator, “Failure. Back to the beginning.”
Kalen slumped his shoulders and be
gan collecting his arrows. “I told you, Sugar Cookie. Just fall in behind me and we’ll be—”
“No!” Kalen turned and threw a finger into her face. “We will work this drill as the instructor stated. We will work as a team or we will continue to run it until Chief Jack returns and makes you become a team player.”
Brooke gave him a crooked smile. She opened her mouth as if to say something then pulled his finger into her mouth and sucked the end of it. “Mmm. You even taste like a sugar cookie.”
Kalen pulled his hand back and stared at her wide eyed. “Why would you do such a thing?”
“To diffuse your anger, Keebler.” She shot him a wink. “Fine. You want to play like a real team and get this over with? Then let’s do it. One time like we really mean it.”
Kalen narrowed his gaze at her and set his jaw. “Are you being truthful?”
“Yup, I mean it.” Brooke stepped out of the CQB simulator. “But as soon as we kick this drill’s ass, you have to learn how to have a little fun.”
Kalen stiffened. “I know how to have fun.”
She shook her head. “No, Sugar Cookie, I mean real fun.” She winked at him then squared off for the next round.
“I don’t think I like the sound of that.”
“Is it a deal or isn’t it?”
Kalen considered her bargain then nodded. “Agreed. It is a deal. But nothing against the rules.”
Brooke laughed as the claxon sounded. “You didn’t say whose rules.”
*****
The teams loaded their gear and extra ammunition into the black trucks parked in the parking lot. Neither truck had been fitted with the ceramic armor plating or the 30MM canon. As of now, this was simply a transport vehicle.
Spalding called for a coms check and each member checked in. He nodded to Lamb who started the truck and pulled the Raptor out of the gravel lot and out onto the paved roads of Tinker Air Force Base.
“First Squad, you are essentially under Spalding’s command for this operation,” Jericho Jones announced over the communications channel. “Drone will be airborne in one-zero mics.”
Wayward Son Page 26
