“What are you doing?” Jess asked, wrinkling her nose in disgust as she watched Jaden put his hand into the puddle and come out with a large, slimy handful of sand and clay. She glanced at Cain in confusion and wondered if she would ever get used to hanging out with vampires and their odd customs.
“Getting dirty,” said Jaden as he smeared the mud over the car’s license plate.
When it appeared he wasn’t going to offer any further explanation, she again looked to Cain for clarification. “We don’t have time to hide the car right now,” he said, offering Jess his arm. She accepted with a smile, tucking her hand into the fold of his elbow. “But this will at least make it a little more difficult to identify the car from a distance should anyone be looking for us.”
“Come on,” said Jaden, straightening up and leading the way. “Let’s go see if Oscar is home.”
As they cut across the park towards the cul-de-sac, Jess asked who Oscar was.
“Oscar is an old family friend. He is a bear shifter. He works with an organization that helps shifters and vampires live among humans.”
Jess shot a look at Jaden to see if he was serious. His expression told her he wasn’t joking. Okay. I’m about to meet a bear shifter. “So, this organization, that’s a necessary thing?” she asked. She still found the whole idea of vampires and shifters hard to grasp. To think that there was an organization dedicated to helping them live among humans was an even stranger concept.
“Yes, the world has changed so much in the last twenty-five years or so. Technology has made privacy a thing of the past. Shifters and vampires have to act as human as possible to fit in. For some, that’s a very challenging task.”
They’d reached the house. Jaden stepped up to the door and knocked. Despite the dark windows, the door opened right away.
“Jaden. Cain. Thank goodness you’re okay,” said the man standing in the doorway.
“Oscar, meet Jess,” said Cain as he nodded towards her.
“Come on in. Let’s get you three out of sight,” said Oscar, stepping aside to let them pass. He led them into his living room, dark and cozy as a den. They sank into a large overstuffed sofa and Oscar sat opposite them in a matching chair. He continued, “Tell me what happened.”
Jess studied Oscar. He was an older man, late sixties, she guessed. Taking in his large, burly frame and thick black and gray beard, Jess could easily imagine him as a bear.
“The vampire council attacked. Serena sent me a text warning me, but it was too late. The hunters attacked Cain in a public place, with humans around,” Jaden said.
Oscar shook his head in disgust. “You were not the only ones attacked. Tomas is dead, and many, many others. Any humans that know the truth are being killed off. Anyone in our organization is dead or in hiding.”
“Can you explain to me more about the organization?” asked Jess. She understood most of what they were discussing but some of the details were confusing.
“Shifting Humanity Corporation,” Oscar said. “It’s one of the companies dedicated to helping shifters. We believe humans, shifters, and vampires can live in harmony. We’ve worked hard towards achieving that goal, but the council has attacked our people. Tomas was in charge of American operations.”
“Who’s running things now?” asked Jaden.
“It’s chaos now. So many are dying everywhere. Every day, more and more are being attacked, humans, vampires, and shifters alike. And with all the wars going on, no one notices.” Oscar paused and shook his head sadly. “Brad is still here,” he continued. “He and Tomas’s widow are upstate. It might be the only safe place left.”
Jaden frowned, “Safe? How can anyone be safe now?”
“We knew something was brewing with the council. Months ago, they started by murdering humans involved with shifter programs. When Tomas was found murdered in his apartment, we knew they were sending a message. History indicated that they would not stop at killing Tomas, and that they would go after his widow, Erica. To try to save her, we brought a gargoyle to America.”
“A gargoyle? Did it work?” asked Jaden.
“Pardon me?” asked Jess, sitting forward and interrupting the conversation.
“Yes, my dear, a gargoyle,” Oscar said, smiling at the confused look on Jess’s face. “A long time ago, gargoyles were powerful protectors of humans, but in this day and age, they are few and far between.”
“Oh, I see,” she said, sinking back into the sofa. I’m not even surprised anymore.
“Yes, the council sent a hunter squad after Tomas’s widow,” Oscar said, turning his attention back to Jaden. “The attack triggered the gargoyle. It saved Erica and Jeffery. Brad and Erica are now bringing shifters to the estate. They are calling it Sanctuary.”
“Jeffery is with the gargoyle? That’s good,” said Jaden. He turned to Jess. “If Oscar is right and a gargoyle is protecting Erica, then that’s the place we need to get you. You’ll be safest there.” He stood suddenly and began pacing the room. Jess could see his mind was racing as he formulated a plan.
“I need to get rid of the car first to make sure no trackers can find us. Cain, you stay here with Jess, you and Oscar can keep her safe.”
“Be careful, brother,” said Cain.
Oscar squeezed Jaden’s shoulder. “Yes, please don’t do anything foolish, Jaden.”
“You don’t have to worry about me,” said Jaden.
“You? I’m worried about us. I’m too old to fight off a kill squad,” Oscar said with a gruff laugh. “I’m relying on you to get myself and this young lady to safety.”
Jaden gave him a wry smile and slipped out the door.
Jess turned to Cain when Jaden was gone and noticed he was looking tired and drawn. “Are you okay?” she asked, placing a hand on his forearm. “You really don’t look well. Should I call Jaden back?”
Cain shook his head. “No, let him go, I’ll be okay in a while, I just need to sleep. Accelerated healing aside, I got my ass handed to me last night, and I still need some rest.” He looked at Oscar. “I hate to be such a terrible guest, but would you mind if I stretched out on your sofa?”
“Of course, Cain, I don’t mind at all,” said Oscar. “You’ll be of much better service to us if you’re feeling one hundred percent anyway. You make yourself comfortable, I’ll just grab you a pillow.”
“Not much of a hero now, am I?” Cain said when Oscar left the room.
“Don’t be ridiculous. You nearly had your heart ripped from your body last night.” Jess shuddered as she recalled how he looked, torn and bleeding, lying in the back seat of Jaden’s car. “I can’t think of any man I know who would be up and walking around the next day after a night like that.”
“Here you go,” said Oscar as he returned with the pillow. He handed it to Jess and she slipped it under Cain’s head. She took the throw from the back of the sofa and placed it over him.
“Sleep well, my hero,” she said and placed a kiss on his forehead. Cain smiled at her and closed his eyes. She turned to Oscar, who motioned for her to follow him, and they went down the hallway into the kitchen.
“Well, young lady, how are you holding up? I’ll bet this has been a very trying time for you, a lot to digest,” Oscar said once she was seated at the kitchen table.
Jess nodded in silent agreement. No kidding. She traced the pattern on the placemat in front of her with her finger as she gathered her thoughts. “Twenty-four hours ago, I lived in a world where vampires and shape shifters only existed in works of fiction. And gargoyles were just ugly statues at the top of old buildings. Now I’m running for my life because I’ve become a target on some vampire hit list.” She looked at Oscar and felt comforted by the kind smile on his grizzled face. She liked him. “It is all a bit much to take in.”
“My dear lady, please excuse my digression as a host. I do believe you could use a drink.”
“Oh, yes, please,” said Jess, laughing. “I was hoping I wouldn’t have to ask.”
Jess wa
tched as Oscar worked in silence, leaving her to her thoughts. He put coffee on, brought out two large stoneware mugs, and a bottle of brandy. When the coffee machine had gurgled to a finish, Oscar poured a healthy slug of brandy in each much and topped them up with steaming hot coffee. He brought them over to the table, placed a mug in front of Jess, and sat down next to her.
“This is perfect,” she said, after taking a cautious sip. The warm mug felt good cupped between her hands and the distinctive aroma of fresh ground beans rose with the steam, pleasantly caressing her nostrils while the brandy warmed her chest.
“Who are Jeffery and Brad?” she asked, wanting to focus on something other than the fact that a deadly organization of vampires was after her and the Butler brothers.
“Jeffery is the most handsome and smartest bear shifter that ever lived. Well, besides myself, of course,” said Oscar with a wink.
Jess smiled. “Your son, I take it.”
“Yes, he’s my son. Jeffery has been working with Brad off and on for a while now. When the vampires started hunting Tomas’s widow, Jeffery volunteered to protect her.”
“And Brad? Who’s he?”
“Brad is more complicated. He was Tomas’s business partner. He has a talent for finding open-minded humans and getting them to understand shifters, but he has a dark side as well. He is much like Jaden, a mix of darkness and goodness. A long time ago, they worked together. You won’t find two more dangerous creatures than the two of them. But they both changed and left that behind them.”
“Oscar, how well do you know the Butlers?” she asked, stealing a glance at the kitchen doorway to make certain Cain wasn’t standing there, listening. “Can you tell me about Jaden and Cain? I hardly know Cain and I only really know Jaden as Cain’s brother. It seems now that my survival is very much tied to them and I wouldn’t mind knowing a little more about them.”
“How about you tell me how you met the Butler brothers, then I’ll fill in the details for you,” said Oscar.
Jess agreed. She told Oscar her story, leaving nothing out. She told him about her own history, how everyone she loved seemed to die and how messed up she had been when she went to the club that night. How she had almost been raped, and then rescued by Cain and Jaden. How they had taken her home and put her to bed. She told him about Cain sending her the beautiful designer dress and how she had decided to take a chance and go to the club. She explained how surreal it was talking to Cain. How he had told her he and Jaden were vampires and how she had felt about it. Then the text from Jaden came and Cain knew he was about to die. How he had asked her to look after Jaden. How confusing his words had been. Jess poured her heart out to Oscar.
When Jess finally finished her story, Oscar took her empty mug and refilled it without asking. Sitting down again, Oscar looked at Jess. “You have had a hard time, Jess, no doubt about it. Losing loved ones is always hard. Every time you do, it can feel like a little bit of your own heart has died. You think you are the common thread to all those deaths. That somehow you are responsible for them dying. You are wrong. But that was your old life. Everything you knew about the world yesterday has changed. Your old life is gone. That might not seem fair or just, but this is your new reality. Now you can choose to mope and whine about how unfair life is, or you can square your shoulders and look ahead. You could have died in that alley, but you have been given a second chance at life. It might not be the same life you had before, you can never go back to being the old you. The vampire council would kill you. But you can live, and you can be a new person. You can be a strong person, a survivor. You are only witnessing the beginning of whatever the vampires are planning. God only knows what hardships are coming. All you can do is choose how you’ll face adversity.”
Jess sat there, absorbing the blow of his words. They were harsh, but she knew she’d needed to hear them. The truth was she had been mopey and self-absorbed, wallowing in despair after each death as they came. For a short while, Mike had dragged her out of her slump, but when he died, she had fallen back into her depression. Mandy had tried to drag her back out of it, but Jess had done nothing to help herself. Jess looked into Oscar’s eyes. “So what do I do?”
Oscar shrugged. “I don’t have the answers. That’s a question you’ll have to answer for yourself, but I think you’ll surprise yourself. You’re stronger than you think. Cain sees something in you. Maybe something you don’t even know is there, but he sees something. And Cain Butler has a special gift for reading people. It’s both his gift and his curse. Cain has an unnatural ability to see into people’s souls. Most vampires have some sort of unique skill or gift; Cain’s is his ability to read people. He isn’t a mind reader, but he can tell the quality of a person. It’s made his life very challenging, always being able to see the best and worse in people without having to spend much time with them. It’s made for many short relationships. The fact that he’s pursued you means that he sees something special in you. He saw you at your worst and yet he came back.”
Jess wasn’t sure what it was that Cain might have seen in her, she could hardly think of anything good about herself. It was a sad thing, but Oscar was right. Yesterday was a different day. She could never go back, so she needed to worry about the future. Maybe with time, whatever Cain saw in her would come to the surface.
“Now that I know your story, let me tell you about the Butler brothers. Among the vampires, there are many different bloodlines. The majority of vampires out there today are ones that have been turned, bitten by a vampire strong enough to resist finishing off their prey. Once the vampire virus takes over, its host the vampire is born. However, on rare occasions, you’ll have mating between vampires. Sex between vampires is not rare, but reproduction is. Something about the vampire genetics messes with the reproductive cycle. It’s science beyond my understanding, but the results are simple. Natural born vampires are extremely rare. The Butlers are third generation natural born vampires, their mother and both of their grandmothers gave birth, making them unique. Cain and Jaden’s parents were extremely influential vampires, and some of the first to openly call for treating humans as equals instead of as cattle. That was a long time ago, when the boys were very young. Those ideas the Butlers had made them very divisive figures. They had many allies and even more enemies. During the First World War, the boys’ parents went to Europe to help shifters being targeted under the guise of war. A sect of vampires was openly killing any shifters and humans they found. With the war going on, no one noticed. The boys’ parents defended and saved many shifters, including myself, from the vampire sect. However, they were trapped and killed before the end of the war.
“Jaden and Cain had very different reactions to their parent’s deaths. Cain started working with shifters, helping them to adjust to human life, and carrying on the work his parents had advocated. He used his unique abilities to read people to figure out the best way to help shifters adapt. He recognized their strengths and weaknesses and helped them adjust accordingly. The help he provided eventually grew in scope as other vampires and shifters took on the cause. Organizations like the one Tomas and Brad started owe their origins to Cain.
“Jaden took a very different path. His anger over the death of his parents brought out his unique skill set. Jaden went to Europe and hunted down the sect of vampires that killed his parents. He tracked them down and one by one, he killed them, until the remainder had to disassemble and flee to the corners of the globe to hide from Jaden’s wrath. When he had no one left to kill in the name of revenge, World War II had started and Jaden had a new cause to fight for. Now he hunted and killed in the name of democracy. Jaden is much like Cain in that he has very strong beliefs about right and wrong, but he lived in the trenches fighting the battle in his own way. It was Cain that convinced Jaden that there were ways of fighting for a cause other than killing. That extreme rage that he gets when he sees wrong is something that Jaden has worked hard at suppressing. Now that the vampire council has made them a target and attacked Cain,
Jaden will have a hard time avoiding that rage.”
Jess thought about what Oscar had said. She could empathize with Jaden. She understood the pain of losing loved ones, especially parents. She too had felt a rage at the drunk who’d crashed into her parents and killed them. She would have gladly killed him as well. She knew the pain Jaden had felt. She’d been there so many times with each loved one that she’d lost.
Jess lifted her chin and put her drink down. Now was not the time to get drunk on alcohol or pity. She needed to think about what was needed to be done to survive. “Oscar, how much food do you have in the house?”
“I’m a bear, we have healthy appetites, even an old bugger like me,” said Oscar with a wink.
Jess smiled. “Let’s pack up as much as we can. We’ll need food when we leave, blankets, and any medical supplies you have.”
Oscar smiled and nodded. “Yes, Ma’am.”
“I don’t suppose you have a gun or two. I’m just a mere human, I don’t come equipped with claws and sharp teeth.”
“No, sorry. I’m more of a bite and claw guy, never needed a gun.”
Jess was not deterred. “Well, I’ll just have to see what you have in the kitchen. A knife would be a start.”
Oscar chuckled. “You know, the chances of killing a vampire with a knife are about as being struck by lightning, but I like your spunk.”
Jess looked at him and scowled, undaunted. “Well, even if it’s a false sense of security, at least I won’t feel completely helpless. And besides, perhaps I could hold him off long enough for help to come along.”
“Yes, you’re right, my dear. Let’s see what we can find for you,” Oscar said as he reached for the knife block on the counter.
39
ERICA
Now that Dante was clothed, even if in Jeffery’s ill-fitting clothes, Erica was less distracted and able to focus on the fact that Garg was indeed Dante. The revelation was huge. It was almost as huge as learning humans shared the earth with creatures that were supposed to be imaginings of movie producers and writers exploiting their talents and making millions of dollars scaring the shit out of people, for a few hours. It was supposed to be called entertainment, not reality. Vampires, werewolves, werebears, were all too strange! Now she could add gargoyles to the list.
The Shadows Awaken (Guardians of the Night Book 1) Page 17
