Obsessions: A Monster Squad Novel 7

by Heath Stallcup

  “You might be surprised.” He laughed and wrapped his arms around her. “The way I’m feeling, you may not need them!” He kissed her cheek again then howled playfully.

  *****

  Jack propped his weapons alongside the wall of the cavern and dug through the cache again. “All I know is, she said that this Lilith is one bad hombre.”

  “I do not know of an angel named Lilith.” The Guardian watched jack intently as he dug through the weapons, searching. “I have heard my father speak of nearly all of the angels before, but never this Lilith.”

  “I don’t think she’s an angel, buddy.” Jack picked up a mace and swung it a few times. Shaking his head he tossed it aside. “I want something that has a little more distance to it.”

  Kalen handed Jack his bow. “Perhaps this?”

  Jack glanced over his shoulder and shook his head. “Naw, you’re Robin Hood in this merry band of misfits. I’m hoping there’s an angelic bazooka in here somewhere.”

  Brooke snatched the bow from Kalen’s hand. “Yo, Chief. How about this?” She drew the bow string back, then let it slip forward slowly, the arrow that manifested dropping harmlessly to the ground. She picked it up and handed it to him. “Have your guys melt this down and make you some bullets from it. That should work, shouldn’t it?”

  Jack stared at the arrow and spun it around in his hand a few times. “I don’t know.” He turned to the Guardian. “Will it?”

  The Nephilim shook his head. “I do not know what you ask.”

  “Can these arrows be melted down and made into another weapon? An effective weapon?”

  The Guardian stared at the arrow then shrugged. “I cannot say.”

  Jack hooked a thumb toward the bow. “How many arrows does that thing come with?”

  “As many as are needed.”

  Jack smiled as he turned to Kalen. “As soon as we get back, you’re gonna make me a big pile of arrows.”

  “Very well.” Kalen took the bow back from Brooke.

  Gnat tapped the side of the cavern. “Chief Jack. It’s time. It should be dark on the other side.”

  He looked to the Guardian. “Care to close the door and seal out the light?”

  The Nephilim rose and easily slid the rock back into place. Kalen waved his hands over the rock and the portal began to appear. Once moon glow shown through the portal, the fine crusting of rock covering Azrael cracked and crumbled off, falling to the ground like ash. He stretched and looked around the cavern. “Is it time to leave?”

  “Grab your gear, big guy. We’re out of here.” Jack handed him the sword and hammer he had chosen.

  “Excellent.” Azrael hefted the oversized hammer and propped it over his shoulder.

  The Nephilim paused at the portal and stared through to the other side. He glanced back at the weapons cache then back through the portal. Jack came up beside him and placed a reassuring hand on his arm. “It will be safe. In all the time you’ve guarded it, has anybody else come looking for it?”

  The Nephilim shook his head. “But what if others come? I won’t be here.”

  Jack peered back at the darkened cavern. “If anybody breaks in here while you’re gone, I’ll help you hunt them down and get back what they take.”

  The Guardian nodded cautiously and stepped through the portal. Kalen stepped through last and closed the portal behind him. The party took in their surroundings then turned to make their way to the hangar.

  Jack had barely made it out of the gravel yard when footsteps were heard making a quick approach. “Chief Thompson!”

  “Over here.”

  Lieutenant Gregory slid in the gravel as he skidded to a stop. “Your father-in-law has been trying to reach you. He said it was imperative that you contact him as soon as you returned.” Gregory handed Jack a slip of paper with a phone number.

  Jack tossed the man a worried look. “Did he say what it was about?”

  “Negative. Just that you needed to call him as soon…”

  Jack took off at a dead run, thoughts of Nadia and his unborn child racing through his mind.

  *****

  Mitchell escorted Jenny to his office and opened the blinds to the windows, giving her a command view of the different operations that went on under the hangar. “From here, I can see most of the day to day operations. On this side we have the different technical aspects. Dr. Peters’ lab is down there on the left. There are the different machine shops. We have weapons designs and testing. Over there is the armory.” He escorted her to the other side of his office and pointed out the window. “Over there is the CQB trainer and the hand-to-hand training areas. That room over there is the gym, and next to it is the lounge where the men rarely stand down.”

  “Amazing. And this is all just on this floor.”

  “It’s a lot bigger than it looks from above.” A loud banging sound caught their attention. The pair walked back and stared out toward Dr. Peters’ lab. They watched as a large black pickup was lowered from the main floor on a lift. “Looks like Doc is about to start modifying another truck for us. We had one but it got tore up pretty good when we were attacked.”

  She turned and gave him sad eyes. “By my father.”

  He pulled her in close and squeezed her reassuringly. “I can’t say that I blame him. If it was my own child and…” Mitchell trailed off.

  “He knew that I was okay. And I told him that my fated mate was supposed to be here. He chose to attack anyway,” she huffed in frustration.

  “You don’t think he’d try again, do you?”

  Jenny thought about it and shook her head. “No. Not now that I’m here. He’s stubborn and borderline crazy, but he wouldn’t do anything to risk my…” She stared out the window and her words stuck unspoken in her throat.

  “What’s wrong, Jen?”

  “Is that…Mick?” She pointed to the floor below and the man she had grown up with. He tried to act casual as he moved from piece of equipment to piece of equipment, stopping just long enough to bring something to his eye and pause then move on again. “What is he doing?”

  Mitchell followed her arm and studied the man. “He’s taking pictures.” He turned and snatched the phone from his desk. “This is Mitchell. Get me security.”

  *****

  Bigby walked through the makeshift munitions lockers that Martinez’ men had built. He had to admire the craftsmanship. Somewhere amongst the warriors a carpenter was missing his true calling. He stared at the line of weapons and the filled magazines, the grenades, the tactical vests, the handguns…everything in its place and resembling a true armory. “They did good work.”

  “My men are nothing if not professional in everything they do.”

  “I’ll give them that.” Bigby glanced back to the area taped off to be where the mock-up would be built. “Maybe I was wrong about your plans, mate.”

  “Perhaps so.” Martinez followed him a half step behind. “Once we have more accurate pictures of what to build, we shall be able to properly construct a training area.”

  Bigby sighed and rubbed his hand across his face. “About that, mate.” He placed a hand on Martinez shoulder. “I’ve been thinking about our strategy. I’m thinking that our best bet is to gas them. Just shove some chlorine into their ventilation ducts and let nature run its course. No sense in risking anybody’s life here.”

  Martinez glared at the man as if he had just stepped in dog shit. “That would put Miss Simmons’ life in danger.”

  “Not if we time it right, it won’t.” Bigby smiled at the man and it reminded him of a shark. Dead, lifeless eyes. “If we wait until we know that she’s not in there, then she’s not at risk.”

  “But she is mated to their leader…if harm becomes him, harm becomes her.”

  Bigby shook his head. “That’s a wives’ tale. There’s no truth to that.”

  “Yes! It is true.” Martinez stepped back and pushed a finger in Bigby’s face. “We will do nothing that will risk the life of—”

 
; “Fine!” Bigby interrupted the rant. “It was just a suggestion. I was just trying to save your life and the lives of your men, that’s all. You don’t have any idea the caliber of men you’re talking about going up against. If you could drop a car on their head and walk away from it, you bloody well should. These are the kinds of men that you don’t just walk in and shoot. You need to put poison in their coffee and then while they’re in the head puking up their toenails, you might have a chance of getting the drop on them.” He shook his head and gave the man a tight-lipped smile. “You have no idea. These are the kinds of men that you could drop in the middle of the fucking Sahara desert with nothing but their skivvies and a pair of toenail clippers and a month later they’re running some piss ant third world nation, sipping piña coladas on the beach.”

  “Weren’t you one of these ‘bad asses’ once upon a time?”

  Bigby threw his hands up. “Hey, mate, I still am. But I’m only one man.”

  “And you have all of us.” Martinez motioned toward the men outside the office.

  Bigby snorted. “And all of you together might equal one of them.” He pointed out to the yard. “Do you remember all of the others that were sent here to fight them before? These blokes just waltzed in here and put a bullet in their brain like it was a day at the park. There was no challenge there for them.”

  “They shot them while they were caged.”

  “It just made the clean-up easier on them, that’s all. Trust me.” Bigby plopped into his chair and stared at Martinez. “If you want your men to stay alive, you need to listen to me. We can lure the little bitch out of the hole. And when we do, we need to drop a canister of fucking mustard gas on them, then go in guns blazing and drop the ones that the gas doesn’t kill.”

  Martinez shook his head slowly and pointed an accusing finger at Bigby. “You’re a coward, that’s what you are.”

  “No, mate, I’m a realist. If you truly want theses bastards dead, then you need to listen to me.” He pointed out the window. “Get your boys in gear making whatever kind of gas they can make with shit we can buy over the counter and make preparations to use it. Otherwise, you need to buy a whole lot of body bags.”

  *****

  Little John heard the duty officer report that Jack and his team had returned. He breathed a quick sigh of relief and decided to make himself scarce. Let her come to me. Let her come to me. Let her come to me. He went to the gym and started hitting the weights. It didn’t take long to work up a hot, sweaty lather and soon the fatigue set in.

  Tracy and Donovan came in shortly after and started lifting as well. “Did ya hear about McKenzie?” Tracy asked as he slid plates onto the bar.

  Donovan shook his head as he patted his hands down with chalk. “What happened?”

  “Seems like the goofy fucker just kept getting out of hand in the CQB trainer.”

  Little John didn’t mean to eavesdrop, but he found himself listening intently to the conversation. Tracy slapped the last plate on the bar and locked it into place. “Seems like when they kept screwing up and it was Chad’s fault, the team sorta cornered him and told him to knock off his one-man-army shit. He got all kinds of bent out of shape.”

  “What did he do? Did he comply?”

  “Negative,” Tracy laughed. “He went off on ‘em. Ol’ Dom had to set him straight. Sidelined him from what I hear.”

  Little John sat up and turned to the two operators. “Couldn’t have happened to a bigger dick.” He pulled his towel and wiped the sweat off the bench he was using.

  “Why you say that? I thought you two was tight?” Tracy asked.

  John shook his head. “Nope. Mac is a hot head, and he’s jealous of anybody who can one-up him. And his buddy Charmichael isn’t much better. But Mac?” Little John draped the towel over his shoulder. “The guy just ain’t ‘team’ material.”

  “What the fuck do you know?” All eyes turned to see McKenzie standing just inside the gym glaring at Little John. “You don’t know shit about me, Sullivan.”

  “I know you’re a liar and a manipulator. I know that you’ll do anything to make somebody else look worse if you think it will make you look better.” Little John bent and picked up his gym bag. “You don’t play well with others, Mac. You’re a liability.”

  “You’re the liability, Sullivan!” Mac roared. “You’re fucking nuts and everybody knows it. You want to talk about team players? Who keeps to hisself all the time? You do, that’s who. Who doesn’t hang with his teammates at all? You, that’s who. If anybody around here isn’t a team player, it’s you, you jolly green fucking fag!” Mac screamed until his eyes bulged and the veins in his neck stood out.

  “Jolly green fucking fag?” John rubbed at his chin. “I can think of worse things to be called.” He turned to Donovan and Tracy. “See you guys in the field.”

  Little John walked past Chad as he left the gym. “That guy is a menace,” Chad mumbled.

  “That guy is an operator.” Donovan stepped away from the weights and slowly approached McKenzie. “I don’t know what your major malfunction is, but you need to get your shit together and learn how to become a part of the team.”

  “And you need to pull your head out of your ass.” Mac turned and huffed out of the gym.

  Donovan turned to Tracy. “I think Dom needs to know his boy is going off the rails.”

  *****

  “Work together…how?” Lilith eyed the vampire warily as she clutched to Samael. The Fallen one soon rolled over and pushed himself from the floor. She rose with him, her hands steadying the large angel as he got his feet back under him.

  “It would be in all of our best interest to work together, non?” Thorn walked slowly as he paced the small office. “You are Lilith, Queen of the damned. This is Samael, your first lover, the fallen Angel of Death, right hand of Lucifer.” Thorn paused and studied her, looking to see if what he had learned from the ancient texts were correct and if his foreknowledge impressed her. She watched him, her head slowly nodding. “He has returned now that you have been made whole and…” He motioned toward the outer wall of the office, “I take it that these fine workers are your demon army, oui?”

  “Yes, you are correct.” She turned to Samael and whispered, “How can he know these things?”

  “Hush, woman, most of these things were once common knowledge and taught by men.” Samael stared at the vampire, his fear biting at his chest but his curiosity getting the better of him. “What do you want, vampire?”

  Thorn smiled a soft and pleasant smile. “A partnership, of course.” He stopped pacing and cocked his head to the side. “You are assisting her in her steps at world domination, oui?”

  Lilith turned to Samael and watched as the angel slowly nodded. “That is the plan. What business is it of yours?”

  Thorn gave a short, pleasant chuckle then sobered. His eyes narrowed and he glared at the pair. “You forget that humans are not the only creatures that inhabit this planet.” Rufus gave them a moment for his statement to sink in. “We vampires have spent centuries setting up the infrastructure to many…holdings which we would like preserved. Not to mention that you will be endangering our very food supplies.” He glared at the pair and shook his head. “This will not go over well with the numerous familias.”

  Lilith stared at Samael who squared his shoulders and narrowed his gaze at the vampire. “What then do you suggest?”

  “I suggest a partnership.” Thorn turned and slowly began pacing again. “If you are to follow through with these plans, and I see no reason not to, then we need to ensure that no vampire businesses or safe houses or familial projects are damaged in the overthrow.”

  Samael turned to Lilith and the two exchanged unspoken agreement. “I believe that can be agreed upon.” He turned back to the vampire. “What else.”

  “Of course, we’ll have to ensure that certain humans are unharmed. They are protected familiars to the different familias.”

  Samael nodded. “I’m sure we can work
something out.” Lilith glared at him as he spoke. “Is there more?”

  “Our food supply.” Thorn turned slowly and eyed them both. “I do not know what percentage of the population you intend to destroy in your takeover, but we must maintain a high enough population that my people can be fed, and you will still have people to subjugate.”

  “But of course.” Samael ignored Lilith and stepped forward, “If that is all, perhaps you could give us a few moments to discuss these matters?”

  “Of course. Take your time.” Rufus went to the door and stepped through. “Try not to be too long. Sunrise is not far off.” He pulled the door shut and walked away.

  Samael watched his shadow fade away through the covered windows, his hand held up holding Lilith’s tongue until the vampire was far enough away to speak safely. “I know what you wish to say.”

  “I don’t think you truly do, lover.” Lilith’s eyes blazed with hatred as she slapped at his chest. “How dare you!”

  He grabbed her wrists and held her. “That vampire has a control over me!” His whispered voice growled. “Don’t you see? If he can control me, there’s a chance he may wield some form of sorcery over you as well. Did you not see how he behaved once he realized who we were? There was not a single drop of fear within him!”

  “I do not care! This is my world now!” Lilith stomped her foot. “I will not be denied!”

  “And I am not saying that you will be.” He pulled her closer and whispered into her ear. “I am saying that we agree to his terms until we know for sure what his hold is over us and then we kill him. Once we know that we can be safe, we destroy him. We can stake him out on the ground and let the sun take him. We can shove a wooden stake up his ass, throw him in a vat of holy water, lock him out in the sunlight, whatever it takes to reduce him to ash, but not until we know that it will not affect us.”

  Lilith calmed herself and forced her breathing back to normal. “Very well, I don’t like it, but I’ll play along.” She turned and poked a finger into his thick chest. “But only as long as we have to. The very moment you discover his secret, we kill him!”