by Art DeForest
Sara hitched a thumb my direction with a smile. “She’s buying tonight.” she said brightly. “She let one get away.”
Jake’s eyes grew serious at that. “What’s this then?” He asked as he set our drinks in front of us.
I shrugged, trying to keep up the nonchalant act. “Some vamps tried to kill us as we were walking back here,” I said in a bored tone.
Jake’s look became stern as he considered us both. “And why are there vampires in my territory that I didn’t know about?” he asked, piercing me with a brown eyed glare.
I sighed and gave up the indifferent act. “Abandonados or freelancers hired by the Abandonados I suspect. Their mouthpiece said something about being there to kill us before I dusted him.”
“What’s this about dusting someone?” Came a caramel smooth baritone from behind us.
I looked over my shoulder and smiled at Marcus Quinn. Quinn’s day job was that of detective for the Denver Police Department, so I usually saw him in a suit. He was off tonight however and had dressed down in jeans and a black tee shirt that hugged his broad chest and shoulders snugly. Yumm.
As the Pack Beta he was one of the folks around here with a need to know, so I replied. “Sara and I were attacked on our way back from our walk. Ten vamps. One got away.” I said succinctly, like I was giving a report.
He took a step closer and rested a warm hand on the small of my back protectively. “Are you alright?” He asked in concern.
Marcus always smelled so damn good when he was up this close. I may have leaned into the hand on my back a little bit, touched by his obvious concern. “We’re fine.” I said, looking up into his eyes. “Ten low level street thugs. I let one get away.” I said casting my eyes down.
He smiled down at me and winked. “Well, I suppose we can forgive you letting one get away when the odds are five to one. You are buying the drinks though, right?” he said wiggling his eyebrows at me.
“Belly up to the bar.” I said, waving to an open spot. “We’ll drink to the death of more Abandonados.”
Jake poured shots all around and we did just that. After all the empty shot glasses hit the bar, Jake looked up and met my eyes. “Can we expect this kind of thing to continue?”
I looked back at him apprehensively. “Probably, at least in some form or another.” I said. “They aren’t going to stop coming after me. Not after I killed Gino in front of Antonella that way.” Killing the heir apparent to House Abandonados, in front of head of the house didn’t make you very popular apparently.
“You’ve killed a lot more of them than Gino. He is simply the latest and they won’t forget the rest either.” Said another deep male voice behind me. This one was cultured with a hint of british accent to it.
I turned around with a broad smile on my face. “Deacon!” I said, jumping off my barstool and quickly walking into his waiting embrace. “Why didn’t you tell me you were coming?” I asked as I stared up into his cobalt blue eyes.
“It was a last minute decision.” He said releasing me and straightening his black silk suit. A contact within the Abandonados warned me of an attempt on your life. I came as quickly as I could.” He looked down at me with a gentle smile on his blond nordic features. “I take it from what I heard that I was a little late in arriving?” He asked.
I smiled back up at him. “Yup, Sara and I took care of the problem just a little while ago.”
Deacon looked back at me with a puzzled expression. “I didn’t think Aiden would go down that easily.” He said.
“Aiden?” I said, my eyes going a little wide. “As in Aiden Grey, the assassin?” I asked in shock.
“Yes, he has reportedly taken the contract on you and Sara both.” He said with a grave expression.
“Who is this guy?” Growled Jake, from behind the bar.
Deacon looked over at him seriously. “He is the most notorious assassin in vampire society. Few know what he looks like, but he has reportedly killed thousands of our kind over the centuries.”
“We met once.” Said Sara. A slight smile crossed her lips as she stared off into the past for a brief moment. “We were actually after the same vampire, so we didn’t come into conflict.” A slight look of sadness crossed her face. “I honestly didn’t think he would ever come for me. They must have upped the bounty significantly for him to even consider it.”
Her facial expressions while talking about Aiden Grey had me wondering what kind of ‘meeting’ they’d had.
““That it has.” said Deacon. “Reportedly, the bounty on each of you is $10,000,000.”
I whistled in surprise at the amount, but my face became worried. “Crap, every scumbag on the planet is going to be coming after us.” I said worriedly.
“What can we do about this?” Asked Marcus, looking with concern at both Sara and me.
Jake snorted in derision. “Fort up and let ‘em come. We’ve already proven we can kick their pale skinny asses in a fight. Especially on our home turf.” he said, looking around like he hoped a vampire would come jumping out of the shadows at him.
I shook my head a little in negation. “I don’t like the idea of being locked down under protective custody.” I said looking around at the bar. “I’d rather take the fight to the Abandonados. They can’t pay on a bounty if there aren’t any of the sons of bitches left.” I said with a snarl.
Deacon and Marcus both began to protest at that. Both going on about how I needed protection and how I couldn’t take on the world by myself. I looked over at Sara and she flashed me a small smile and rolled her eyes. Men. As much as I enjoyed the tingle it gave me to have two insanely hot guys doing their macho best to protect me, I needed to nip that line of thought in the bud as soon as possible.
“Enough” I said raising an open palm to each one of them. “Since when did I become some kind of delicate flower that needs your protection?” I asked, glaring at both of them with an arched eyebrow.”
Deacon started sputtering “This is a serious situa….” While at the same time Marcus started in with, “It’s not just you! Sara could…” I cut them both off with my raised hands once more before turning first to Marcus. “Sara could what?” I said sarcastically. “Take you and any three of your buddies in a stand up fight without breaking a sweat? Why yes Marcus she could!”
“And you!” I said turning to lock my eyes on Deacon, hands on my hips. “How would you like to take this outside and see just how well I can protect myself?” I said, my voice getting loud.
Jake chuckled behind the bar as Marcus hung his head under the sudden glare of Sara’s surly expression. Her eyes seemed as black as her raven familiar Kanjee as she stared him down.
Deacon backed up a step and raised his hands to shoulder height. His eyes went wide as a low throated growl started by my right knee. Glancing down, I saw my own familiar and best buddy Fangs standing at my heel with his hackles raised. Apparently he’d heard my raised voice from his favorite chair in back and came to see if I needed protecting.
This wasn’t the first time that Deacon had been on the wrong side of Fangs and he knew not to push it. Fangs, a Savannah Cat, was a lot more impressive now than he was back then too. Sara had performed a ritual on Fangs and me. Using my blood, she had bound us together making him my familiar, or as she called him, my spirit companion.
We both saw benefits from ritual. I was able to tolerate the light of day with almost no pain involved now. My speed had also improved quite a bit. Fangs healed with the speed of a vampire now. He also became bigger and stronger. Muscles bulged under his tawny spotted coat and he looked more like a small leopard than an overly large house cat.
“I apologize if I have given offense.” Said Deacon formally as he glanced surreptitiously at the big cat. “I am simply concerned. Even you cannot take on an army by yourself.”
I relented a little at that. “Perhaps,” I said in a more normal tone of voice. “But I refuse to cower in a hole somewhere while other people die trying to protect me. We need to
take the war to them.” I insisted once more.
“I’m glad you feel that way.” He said seriously. “I come bearing news.”
“What news” I said suspiciously, unsure of his sudden seeming change of heart.
He shook his head, looking troubled. “As we feared and hoped, the council has broken.”
An audible gasp rang around the room as the long awaited information sank in. “The council voted to banish House Abandonados. The vote was very close.” He said with a sigh.
“What does that mean exactly.” Said Jake from behind the bar, scrutinizing Deacon closely.
“It means that over forty percent of the families have removed themselves from Council rule with a promise to form their own governing body in direct contravention of the Council’s decrees. The Council, for its part, has vowed to enforce the laws on all vampires even if they have sworn fealty to this new governing body.”
“So, basically it’s a civil war for the vampire species.” I said in a troubled tone.
Deacon nodded his head somberly. “No battles have been fought thus far, but it's just a matter of time. “That’s the main reason I have come here.” Looking over at Jake he said, “I’ve been asked by the remaining Council to seek your support in this.”
Jake looked at Deacon thoughtfully. “What exactly does the Council mean by support?” he asked.
“That’s open to negotiation of course.” Said Deacon. “At minimum we hope for a compact of non-aggression. We are willing to talk about a closer relationship of course. Up to and including, representation on the Council. “
Jake nodded consideringly. “I’ll have to contact the other Alphas before anything official can be considered, but I think we can informally agree on a non-aggression pact, at the least.”
Deacon walked up to the bar and put his hand out. Jake took it in a firm grip. “Agreed” said Deacon.
Jake withdrew his hand and his face became angry. “Now, what are we going to do about the assassin running around my city?” He asked the room at large.
“I have one more bit of information that may have some bearing on that.” Deacon said, turning to me.
I looked up at him curiously and made an ‘out with it’ motion.
“The Council wishes to formalize your position under its banner.” Deacon said with a smile.
I looked at him in consternation. “What position?” I asked. “I signed on to take out Darius. That job has been done for a while now.” Darius had once been the head of House Abandonados. He was also the monster that forcibly turned me when I was a teenager, so I could survive more torture. He liked to play with his food.
“True” he replied. “There are still monsters out there, however. Monsters like Darius, but also monsters like Aiden Grey, who kill at the behest of the highest bidder..”
“We’ve had this discussion before Deacon.” I’m not going to be anyone’s hired killer.” I said, crossing my arms over my chest.
“I understand.” Said Deacon. “This is a much larger position than that of paid assassin however.”
“How so?” I asked grudgingly, still not convinced.
“The Council is establishing a true law enforcement arm. With almost half our people openly defying Council Laws, we need people who can step in and protect the human population as well as doing what is necessary to maintain our secrecy.” He said in a persuasive tone.
To be honest, I was intrigued by the proposition. The part of me that refused to let other’s have control over me, balked at the notion however. Still, it couldn’t hurt to get more information. Could it? “What exactly does the Council have in mind.” I asked.
“The Council would use us as troubleshooters, similar to how we functioned here. We’d be sent into areas that are having issues and investigate. We would also have the power to do what is necessary to correct the situation.”
My eyes narrowed as I picked up on something. “We?” I said with a raised eyebrow.
“Ahem” he said, clearing his throat nervously. “Well, you see, the Council was rather impressed with our performance here and thinks we should continue to ermm...collaborate.” He said.
Secretly, I enjoyed working with Deacon, but I had to establish some ground rules first. “Collaborate, as in partners? We would have equal power while working together, correct?”
“Yes of course.” He replied with a nod. “You have already established that you do not wish to be... micromanaged. We would be working as a team while on assignment.”
I nodded a bit grudgingly at that. “Okay, what if the problem is being caused by a young rogue? Like what we thought we were dealing with here. I’m not going to kill anyone that I can save.”
“We will be given discretion to handle each incident as we see fit on a case by case basis.” He assured me.
“Alright” I said. “I think I can work with that.” A smile started to grow on my face as I thought of giving some pain back to the Abandonados.
“That’s all well and good.” said Jake. “But that still doesn’t tell me what I’m going to do about the assassin in my territory. He said a bit grumpily.
“I think the best thing I can do is to leave your territory.” I said, looking worried and sad at the same time. “I don’t want to get anyone hurt standing between me and this Aiden character.”
“The pack protects its own and like it or not you’re pack now.” Growled Marcus protectively. “Besides, he’s after Sara too.”
“Exactly” I said. “Let’s not make it easy for this creep by keeping both his of targets in one spot. If I leave, Sara still has the full protection of the Pack as well as her own formidable skill. If I leave, he has to find me before he can do anything.”
Marcus opened his mouth to disagree, but closed it once more when I continued on. “Besides” I said. “We need to take the fight to the Abandonados, not sit here and cower in fear.”
Marcus looked at me with an intense stare. “I can’t stand the thought of you being in danger. I...I mean both of you of course.” he said, suddenly seeming embarrassed.
“We already had the discussion about being able to take care of ourselves, right?” I asked gently.
“Yeah, I just….yeah” he said hanging his head.
Trying to steer the conversation onto a less awkward heading, I looked over at Deacon. He had a disgruntled expression on his face. “Does the Council have an assignment for us yet?”
“Not yet.” He replied, bringing himself back on topic. “We weren’t sure you would accept the position, so assigning a case seemed premature. I take it that you are accepting the job?” he said, a hopeful smile starting to cross his lips.
I looked off into space for a moment as I considered it one last time. “Yes, I think I am.” I said, reaching down to absently rub Fangs ears. He started a deep rumbling purr as he sat beside me. “It gives me the best shot at finally ending the terror caused by House Abandonado. The Council has more intel and resources than I can muster on my own.”
Deacon nodded affirmatively. “We will need to go back to New York. At least for a brief time. The Council members would like to meet with you personally.”
“What do they want to talk to me for?” I asked apprehensively. I spent most of my life not trusting the Council. Old habits die hard.
“Your position needs to be made official.” Deacon shrugged dismissively. “The city has always been a stronghold for the Abandonados also.”
I nodded at that. After all, it was why my current apartment was there. It would be nice to sleep in my own bed again. “Very well” I said with a sigh, acting like it was a burden.
Deacon turned his attention back to Jake. “If you wish, I’ve been authorized to take a lycan representative back with us as well.”
Jake thought about it for a minute. “I need to call the other Alphas. Can you delay your departure for a day?”
“Of course.” said Deacon. “We have time to do things properly.”
Jake nodded his thanks and poured
another round. “In that case, I believe we were toasting the downfall of the Abandonados.”
“Cheers!” We all said heartily.
3
We sat at the bar speculating about the future for a few hours after that. Topics included: Would the lycans join the council? What would the Abandonados do next as well as several stories of the legendary Aiden Grey.
Gradually the bar emptied of it’s mostly lycan patrons and we decided to call it a night. Jake had calls to make and I had go back to my hotel and start packing.
Deacon rose with me. “I’ve reserved a room at your hotel. Is it alright if I walk with you?”
“Of course.” I said with a small smile. Waving at the others, I said, “We’ll talk to you tomorrow.” Jake and Marcus waved saying “Good Night.” Sara gave me a small hug and smiled. “Be on your guard constantly. You never know if those goons were the only ones out to get us.”
