Crimson Dawn

by Ronnie Massey

  I filed the smell away and tossed Priest the car keys, "Time to get to work. I'm closer and I don't mind walking.” I checked my directions and gave Irulan a quick hug. Weird, who hugs their partner when they're on a manhunt? This is just not realistic.

  Priest pulled his black gloves tighter onto his hands as he sneered, "This is nice, ladies. Are we gonna do the manis and pedis before or after Tristan takes down a few more innocent people?"

  I was about to come back with a snide remark, but he looked a little flustered. He proved my instinct right when he tugged me away from the car casting an anxious look back at Irulan. "I know she's powerful Trumaine, but does she have the experience to watch my back if things go bad while we're in the field?"

  To be honest, I was wondering the same thing myself, but I wasn't gonna tell him that. Being powerful and all was nice, but anyone could freeze in a fight if they don't have the proper training.

  During the time that I've known her, Irulan's been a chef, a seamstress, and a teacher. Those professions don't exactly scream 'I’m capable of some awesome ass-kickery', but then again, my life was only a third of hers. When I was a child, she entertained me with tales of her life at court in Tir Na Nog, but that was decades ago and not one of those stories was a war story. Not wanting to put any further doubts in his mind, and not wanting to outright lie either, I gave him the best answer that I could think of. "Marcus wouldn't have agreed to let her work with us otherwise."

  Priest accepted my answer and gave me a curt nod of his head. I don't know why he pulled me away from the car; a Sidhe's hearing is almost as keen as a Vampire’s is. Irulan was gonna give him hell when the two of them were alone.

  "Text me with each location change. Call me if you come up with anything. I'll meet you as soon as I get done checking in with this Descantes." I waved at Ire, slapped Priest on the back, and started down the palm tree laden street.

  Part of me wanted to draw the walk out and make it a nice leisurely stroll, so I could enjoy the sights and sounds of a new city. But my mind was already preparing itself for what lay ahead of me. A big part of what made me a successful Sentinel was my ability to get inside the head of my quarry and anticipate their moves. I had a gift for finding my target. Vampires are natural predators. Just because you could easily kill something, didn't automatically mean you were adept at tracking it down.

  As much as I prided myself on my tracking abilities, I equally despised the trip down memory lane, but I knew it was unavoidable if I was to get a better take on Tristan.

  I replayed arguments and conversations that we'd had about our dreams and aspirations. I recalled his reactions to specific events and his unease around his father at times. I painfully dredged up anything that might be of some use to me.

  Before I knew it, I had arrived at the local CMS. Thanks to the GPS on my phone that I somehow managed to pay attention to, I made it without getting lost. Upon first glance, I thought that I'd put the wrong address into my phone.

  The house in front of me was a majestic, pre-civil war plantation house. There was nothing Extras about it. When I walked through the public entrance, I quickly changed my opinion.

  Sitting behind a receptionist desk was a seven and a half foot tall Golem. Although I'd never actually seen a Golem before, I recognized him by the Sigilis that were inscribed on his head. The magical symbols were what gave him life.

  The Golem looked up from his computer screen and took a quick assessment of me before pointing to a set of double doors off to the left side of his desk. He wiggled his fingers, as if shooing me away, then he promptly went back to his work.

  I'd just been dismissed as if I were a gawking tourist trying to get a picture with a Were or something. This was so not the welcome I expected. I went to the desk and knocked on it as hard as I could without doing any damage, earning me a deadly gaze from the Golem whose nametag said 'Stephen'.

  The Golem reluctantly pulled his head away from the screen and spoke in a voice that was surprisingly soft coming out of such a large body. "May Stephen help the rude little Vampire?"

  Rude?! What? No, he didn't! I'm gonna get a complex if people don't stop it with the rude bit. I honestly didn't have a comeback for the Golem. I mean, it wasn't often I was criticized by a living marionette.

  It took me a minute to find my voice, and when I finally told him my name and what I was there for, he looked at me as if I were the biggest moron on the face of the planet.

  The Golem, Stephen, rose to his full height, and pulling his long brown hair back, leaned over to stare me in the face, "Stephen is well aware of who you are, daughter of Hadrian and Anya. I served your family for over five hundred years, but that is neither here nor there.”

  He motioned his head toward the same set of doors again, "The commander is waiting for you. That is why Stephen pointed to the door in the first place. Are you not only rude but daft as well?"

  My eyes blacked over, and I had Stephen by the scruff of his shirt in less than a second. Luckily for his face, the Sentinel Commander caught my fist before it made contact.

  Unluckily for me, the commander just so happened to be an extremely irked Djin, if the tattooing down one side of his face was accurate. Well, hell's bells. I had to go and piss off one of the ancients. All just part of my charm I guess.

  Before I could even fix my lips to utter an apology, the Djin spun me around and pointed towards the same door I assumed was his office, "That is the door that Stephen directed you to, Ms. Trumaine."

  He leaned down from his full height of about 6 ft. 3 to whisper in my ear with a slight African accent, "I've read your service record. I'm not impressed. Therefore, I'm not going to tolerate your antics like Commander Daniels does."

  If Golems could smirk, I'd swear that Stephen did. As I matter of fact, his deep, booming laugh followed me all the way down the corridor as I tailed the commander to his office.

  As I followed him, I took a quick inventory of his features. He wore pissed remarkably well. His hair was dark brown and medium length. It fell in soft, beautiful curls to the bottom of his neck. His skin tone was a little lighter than my own, almost olive. His lilac eyes had a slight Asian slant to them. All in all, he wasn't a bad looking guy. No, change that, he was downright gorgeous.

  A familiar tingling fluttered through my stomach, and my fangs dropped slightly. Not the time to turn into a horny toad, Valeria, I mentally chastised myself. Thoughts of Irulan suddenly popped into my mind chasing away temptation's ugly head. Oh joy, maybe I'll consider therapy once I'm done with this case.

  The C.O. smiled as he stood holding his door open for me. "Forgive my gruffness. I had to put on a good show for my Golem," he said as I looked around his office. Some office! I walked into a space furnished with a huge, mahogany desk that took up a fourth of the room.

  Tapestries telling tales of the Djin through the ages covered the walls. Two large, brown leather couches and a recliner that looked as if it could swallow me whole completed the room's decor. It didn't look like a cop's office at all.

  The commander sat down on one of the couches and motioned for me to do the same. "Ms. Trumaine, my name is Ahmad Jhahule Descantes. You may call me Descantes during your duration here. I won't insist on formalities as you are not one of my Sentinels.” He smoothed the fabric on his pants leg and settled back into the leather.

  A shadow danced across his face for a slight second, "I'm also going to insist you refrain from manhandling the staff. Stephen was very hard to attain. His kind is rare in these modern times. It took quite a lot of bartering to attain him from Saragon many years ago."

  The frown that creased his forehead smoothed as he saw recognition pop into my eyes. So that's what the Golem was referencing. I hadn't given it a second thought after he pissed me off. "How long did you know my grandfather?"

  Descantes smiled and ran his hand through his beard before crossing his legs. "I knew him before his conception. As a matter of fact, I gave his father Kemet the name Saragon, aft
er the ruler who granted me my freedom eons ago."

  Oh, this was getting better by the minute. I was ogling a guy who was practically kin and older than Methuselah. If my thoughts of Irulan weren't enough to rein my hormones in, both of my grandfathers' names certainly were.

  I cleared my throat and attempted to get on point. "I apologize for what happened earlier. I can assure you, Descantes, it won’t happen again. My primary focus during my time here is Tristan. I won’t have time to beat up on any other of your employees.” I shifted a little to cross my legs, "Speaking of which, the sooner I can talk with your downed Sentinels, the quicker I can get onto his trail."

  Descantes narrowed his eyes and the lilac coloring got darker, "What makes you think you can accomplish what my best team could not?" I shrugged my shoulders and didn't give him the answers that were running through my mind.

  I didn't think he'd take too kindly to my calling his people unprepared and sloppy, so I kept my opinions to myself. "This is personal for me, Descantes, as I'm sure you're well aware of. I know him. We’ve shared a bed and blood, and that gives me some insight into his mind that your people didn't have."

  Descantes shook his head and smoothed out a wrinkle on his couture trousers. "The Lifeborn Sentinel that you requested to see can say the same. Tristan is her Sire, he turned her sixty years ago, but that failed to keep her out of a hospital bed."

  He leaned forward to look deeper into my eyes, "She has to have constant transfusions to help her body repair the damage that was done to it, and even still, she may not make a full recovery."

  Damn it all to hell, it took a lot to render the regenerative powers of a Vampire null. I'd never heard of one needing more blood than our feedings could provide.

  Descantes was obviously trying to scare me off, but it wasn't going to work. It only made me more determined. "The fact that she's his turn makes her more susceptible to him, but you know that. I'm Pureblood. He won't be able to roll me."

  Descantes pulled a small box out of his jacket pocket. "You're definitely a Trumaine, so confident you think nothing in the world can stand against you.” He sighed as he absent-mindedly tapped the box. "I'll give you carte blanche of our facilities. Anything you need is at your disposal."

  I nodded, "I'm very grateful for your hospitality, Descantes. I'll be sure to let Marcus know how generous you were."

  "Be that as it may, because you are not one of my own I'm going to have to insist you wear a standard issue locator.” He tossed me a thin, clear disk the size of a half dollar and chuckled. "I'm told Charlotte's CMS has had to take out extra liability insurance to cover the expense of your collateral damage."

  I blanched as I wagged my finger in the air. "That's not entirely true...” Descantes cut me off with a wave of his hand and ran his tongue across his lips in a seductive manner. I felt a small surge of power dance across my skin.

  "Commander...um Descantes...I'm not sure what the purpose of..." Then my breath caught in my throat as his powers became more intense. His blanket of power surrounded me and pulled all of my apprehensions and self-doubts right out of my mind.

  Once he was done, Descantes took his seat behind the desk. “Your hopes and dreams are very clear and surprisingly pure for a Vampire of your stature. Most of you only aspire to gain power. You may very well survive this after all."

  The SOB just used his powers on me. "What in the hell did you just do to me?"

  Descantes eyes sparked with power, and he tossed me another disk, this one was quarter-sized, obsidian and covered in writing that I had never seen before. "You know I am Djin. We were once the granters of Humankind’s dreams. Take this. It will help you remain focused."

  I turned the disk over in my hand and found the same writing on the other side. "That still doesn't explain what you just did to me."

  "I looked into your heart’s mind and saw your dreams. You're very strong Valeria, but your doubts will cloud that strength. I took them away from you to make the path to your hopes clearer. That's all.” He pointed to the small disk, "Keep that with you and it will duplicate the effect to a lesser degree."

  I thanked Descantes, who pointed to the locator in my hand. I reluctantly pressed it to the back of my neck and felt the momentary buzz as it hummed to life then was silent.

  "There, done," I pouted, and then got directions to the hospital ward. Five minutes later, I was in the sterilized, secured unit three floors below.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  The moment my foot exited the elevator, the emotions of the floor's occupants slammed into my mind. The sheer amount of pain, longing, and frustration rattled me to my core. I slammed my shields down as tightly as I could and continued to the nearest nurses’ station.

  Her nametag said 'Nurse Manning'. She looked up with the required work smile, and asked if she could help me. "Yes, I'm here to see the two Sentinels that were injured in the line of duty," I replied coolly.

  It wasn't anything personal, but I hated hospitals. Before the Awakening, Extras avoided Human hospitals like the plague because of the possibility of revelation. I've never been able to shake the years of teaching that my parents ingrained in me.

  I guess the nurse didn't like my tone of voice. "Visitation is restricted to staff, family, and law enforcement,” she said, with a slight edge to her voice that wasn't there before. I held up my hand to show her my signet ring that marked me as a Sentinel. She eyed the ring and, with a huff, turned to look back in the charts. "Officer Goings is in room 431," she pointed to a room to the right of her, "And Jones is in room 440.”

  She slapped two forms on the counter and held out a pen. "Both patients are in sound proofed, warded rooms, as such they are monitored by video. Please sign the release giving permission for your likeness to be recorded."

  I signed the forms and headed for the closest room. I knocked, pushed the door open slightly and waited for a reply, but got nothing. Entering the deathly silent room, I found Goings lying on the hospital bed hooked up to enough hardware to open a small electronics store.

  "Officer Goings," I called out softly, but he didn't move. I inched farther into the room and called him again, no answer. Surely, he wasn't dead, I mean nothing was going off or making any funny noises. All the monitors had the up and down valleys that represented life in his body. I called his name once again, this time louder, but still nothing.

  I pulled his chart from a nearby wall pocket and thumbed through the pages. A coma. Great, just great. It would have been considerate of Descantes to mention this beforehand. I inched the shield up in my head and met with peace and quiet. Encouraged, I dropped them totally and slipped into his conscious. "Officer Goings, can you hear me?" I nudged softly.

  This time around, I heard a deep, gruff voice shakily reply, "I heard you the first time. Sorry, I couldn't answer back. I'm a little indisposed at the moment."

  I took a seat in the nearest chair, and focused on Goings' thoughts, so he wouldn't have to work so hard at communication. "No need for apologies, Officer, I completely understand.” Goings thoughts were amazingly strong and focused. He seemed to have a clear understanding of what was going on, not like other comatose minds I'd touched in the past.

  He immediately picked up my train of thought, "That's because I'm not in a coma, Officer. My body is in hibernation while it heals.” My eyes glanced over the pages spread out in his chart and found his classification, Bear Shifter. Bear Shifters and Weres adapted to their animal counterpart’s hibernation needs. Over time, it evolved into a type of healing hibernation for a severely traumatized body.

  "You're a Bear Shifter. That explains why you look like the Hulk. But how did you know I was a Sentinel? I haven't introduced myself." I replaced the chart and waited for an answer.

  "Easy. You don't smell like disinfectant and sickness, so you're not a nurse," he laughed. "And you certainly aren't related to me, so that leaves Sentinel since they're keeping me on restricted visitation."

  "My name is Valeria Trumaine. I'm a Sen
tinel from Charlotte, North Carolina.” Finally making a formal introduction, I forged on, "The CMS has assigned me to locate and apprehend Tristan Meriwether for unnatural crimes against Humanity."

  "You and what army?” The playfulness had completely evaporated from his voice. “I'm a strong guy, not much in the way of mentals, but all Ursidaes can shield with the best of them. It just comes naturally with our strength. That thing tore through my shields as if they were made of wet tissue paper."

  A shiver went down my spine at the steel laced throughout his words. "Go home, Officer. Go home and pray he grows bored with whatever it is he's doing. You can't win this fight.” That was a lot coming from a Bear. His race is relentless when it comes to a fight. They are never ones to admit defeat of any kind. His concession shook me much more than Descantes' attempt to frighten me.

  "You made it out alive,” I protested. "You did something right, Officer Goings. I just need to know what, so I'll have a better perspective on what angle to take.”