by Art DeForest
“According to the map on my phone, we are just outside the Makamah Nature Preserve. We almost made it.” He said with a slight shake of his head. I called Simon while you were attending to Marcus. He is sending a car for us. We’ll have to hike a little way to get to the nearest road.”
It took a bit of leverage and vampire strength to get the sliding door of the compartment open. By the time we did, Marcus had regained consciousness and was growling that he could walk just fine as Sara tried to help him up. Trying to prove his point, he stood up abruptly and just as abruptly sat back down hard as the world spun around him.
Sara put her hands on her hips and looked at him with disparity. “You almost died you big lummox.” she said angrily. “It took most of the blood both Kaitlyn and I had to spare in order to keep you alive, so pardon me if we coddle you for a bit.”
Marcus hung his head a bit sheepishly and nodded as once again, Sara helped him stand, slowly this time.
We had just started our trek up to the road when the phone in Victor’s pocket started to ring. He fished it out of his pocket and scowled at the display for a moment before answering the call. “What do you want Antonella.” He said angrily as the rest of us looked at each other with raised eyebrows.
“Victor my dear, you’re still alive!” She said in an exuberant tone. Hearing both sides of a phone conversation is easy when you’re a vampire.
“As much as you tried to change that condition Antonella, yes, we are still alive and well.
“All of you lived?” She said in surprise. “Well, I’m going to have to hire better help it seems.” Sighing dramatically, she continued. “Be that as it may, Council headquarters is now mine and you and your petty cronies are no longer in power. Give yourself up Victor, and spare yourself the indignity of being hunted down like a dog.” she said in a sweetly sympathetic tone.
“It is you who will be hunted down ‘Nella.” Said Victor in a grim tone. Headquarters is just a place. The strength of the Council is still intact and it's only a matter of time before you are brought to justice for your actions this day.
“Headquarters may just be a place, but it’s my place now. How long will the families stick with you when you can’t even control your own stronghold.” She said with a sneer in her tone.
“Headquarters will not belong to you for long enough to matter.” Victor said with a scoff. “As a matter of fact I do believe you are about to lose it permanently.” He said vindictively as he looked up at Deacon.
Deacon, who had been fiddling with his phone during the conversation looked up and got a nod from Victor. Looking back down, he pressed a single button.
We all heard Antonella gasp in reaction. “What have you done!” She shouted.
Victor smiled grimly. “We took a few precautions when you split from the Council, Antonella.” I do hope you didn’t have anyone important to you occupying the chambers as I’m afraid they’ve rather exploded. Probably a terrorist attack. We’re all very sorry of course.”
There was silence on the phone for a moment. “You will pay for this.” hissed Antonella in rage
“You keep saying that my dear.” Said Victor smugly. “Yet your family seems to be shrinking smaller and smaller every time you turn around.”
A scream of rage issued through the phone before the connection abruptly dropped.
“She always did have a temper.” Said Deacon as he put his phone calmly back into his pocket.
7
Simon was waiting outside the doors to Deacon’s mansion as we all trudged tiredly in from the limo he’d sent to retrieve us. Just as she was about to enter, Sara suddenly turned, raising her arm up, she looked into the night sky. Kangee swept silently out of the dark and landed on the proffered forearm. Leaning forward, he nuzzled her cheek briefly with the side of his beak before hopping to his normal perch on her shoulder.
After entering the house, Victor turned to Deacon. “Might I borrow a computer with internet access? I need to get in touch with the rest of the Council as quickly as possible.”
“Of course sir.” He said, motioning to Simon. “Simon will you direct Mr. Caro to my office? I will make sure the others are settled and join you directly.”
Simon motioned Victor to a hallway below the east stair before leading him off.
“I’m sure you all need rest at this point. I can alert you if anything else develops.” Said Deacon.
“I must notify the Lycan Association of the developments before I rest. It might be a long day.” Sara said with a tired smile.
We all trooped up the west staircase and headed down the hall toward the suites that Sara and I occupied. When we arrived at Sara’s door Deacon opened it and gave the room a quick perusal before he waved Sara through. Marcus stopped at the doorway and took up a guard position beside it.
Sara stopped before entering and looked at Marcus with a raised eyebrow. “What are you doing?” She asked blandly.
“My duty.” Was Marcus’ short reply.
“You were almost dead a couple of hours ago, Marcus. You need to rest.” she said in an irritated tone.
“I feel fine” he said with a smile. “Better than fine really. Whatever mojo you two performed on me worked miracles. I feel like I could take on the world.”
Sara looked at him with a concerned expression. “Okay then, but let me know if you start feeling odd or have any strange thoughts, alright.”
Marcus nodded his head in affirmation. “You bet doc. I’ll let you know.” He said as he took up his position by the door once again.
On sudden impulse I followed Sara into her room. Deacon looked a bit quizzical, but just gave us a nod and closed the door.
“So whats up with Marcus? Is he going to be okay?” I asked in a hushed tone, so the lycan outside wouldn’t hear me.
Sara looked troubled as she stared at me for a moment. “Physically, he’ll be fine.” She sighed before continuing. “The work we did on him is remarkably close to the spirit companion ritual. It wasn’t exactly the same, but there may be some….crossover.”
It was my turned to look troubled now. “You mean he’s my spirit companion like Fangs is now?” I said in astonishment.
“Not exactly.” she said. “I think maybe it will draw you closer together however. It could make things more….complicated.” She said finally.
“That’s all I need in my life right now, more complications.” I whispered in frustration. Marcus was a knockout in the looks department and smelled like the outdoors and The Call of the Wild, but I had always thought of him as more of a friend. Throw Deacon into the mix, with his devastating cobalt blue eyes, italian suits and british accent….yeah, complicated.
Sara smiled sympathetically and gave me a quick hug. “I need to call Jake and tell him what’s going on. You should clean up and get some rest.” She said kindly.
I returned the hug and started out of the room. “You get some rest too. It’s been a long night for all of us.”
I closed the door behind Fangs and I, before looking up into Marcus’ chocolate brown eyes. “You sure you’re okay?” I asked.
“I’m fine. Don’t worry so much.” He said with a soft smile that crinkled the corner of his eyes. “You look beat though.” He said brushing a stray lock of hair from my face.
The touch made me shiver a little inside as my conversation with Sara replayed in my mind. I rallied quickly though. “Just what every girl likes to hear from a guy.” I said, smiling sardonically and turned down the hall towards my own room.
“Hey Kait?” Came Marcus’ caramel smooth voice, just as I reached my door. I turned my head to look back at him. “Tired or not, you’re still gorgeous.” He said.
I managed to give him a smile at the compliment and get into my suite before melting into a puddle of goo. Was it really a new connection being forged between us or was it just the conversation with Sara? Doubt, confusion...and longing clouded my thoughts.
A long hot bath and a longer sleep, curled up with Fan
gs,had me feeling much better about life in general. Dusk was darkening the windows as I made my way to Deacon’s office. I gave Marcus a pleasant smile as I walked past him and headed down stairs.
Deacon and Victor had their heads together behind Deacon’s desk, looking at something on the computer screen. Deacon’s face brightened as I walked in and he greeted me with a smile and a nod of his head.
“Any news guys?” I asked as I approached the front of the desk.
“The Council remains intact...so far.” Said Victor, looking up at me with a nod of greeting. “Our action in taking Council Headquarters out of play has stiffened the spines of our members.” He continued, leaning back in his chair with a sigh. “In addition, we have seriously disrupted the Abandonados plans. It’s unfortunate that Antonella wasn’t in the building at the time.” He said with regret.
“Well, I guess we can’t have everything.” I said. “Any ideas what they’ll try next?
“From all indications they are scrambling right now, trying to assess their losses. Taking over the Council facilities seemed to be a lynchpin for the rest of their plans. My sources tell me that Antonella’s allies are similar to ours in that they want to secure their own interests more fully rather than contribute to a large war.”
“So the rest of the Council, while not abandoning ship, is reluctant to do anything other than fort up and hide behind their walls?” I asked, my tone becoming derisive
“Doing anything on a large scale has met stiff resistance.” Interjected Deacon. “The Council members are reluctant to release any of their family members for a united action.
“Don’t they realize that if we don’t take the battle to the Abandonados that they will simply pick off the Council one family at a time?” I asked, frustration making its way into my tone.
Victor sighed. “We have always been a race that sees to the needs of family first. The Council itself is still a relatively new construct. In the past, none of the families gave a thought to the race as a whole.”
“So it sounds like both sides are reduced to a low level guerrilla actions.” I said speculatively
“Aren’t guerrilla tactics a little beneath us?” said Victor
“We’re on the side of right and members of the established governing body, so what we do are called police actions. The Abandonados are rebelling, so what they do are guerrilla actions.” I said, smiling at the double standard. “Seriously though it amounts to the same thing. We take out infrastructure and support until the whole thing comes crashing down.”
Victor nodded at that speculatively. “I think that is the course both sides have been forced onto, at least for the short term.”
“Are any of the families willing to provide soldiers?” I asked as I tried to envision future action.
“Caro and Caine stand ready to assist. However, the power of our families has always leaned more towards information and finance to achieve our ends.” Said Deacon. “We don’t have the numbers that the Abandonados and their associates can muster.”
We all sat silently for a moment, thinking of the possibilities. “Information and finance can be of great help and even reduce the need for mass amounts of troops, but we still need at least some soldiers.” I said, pondering the situation.
“Once again, I think I may be able to help with that.” Came Sara’s voice from the doorway.
Sara and Marcus entered as we looked up from our deliberations.
“What do you have in mind?” asked Victor curiously.
“Military and paramilitary operations are a strength of the lycans.” She said with a smile. “However, we aren’t a wealthy people. Possibly, we can help each other?”
I started nodding my head as what she was hinting at sank home. “You’re talking about the Council hiring lycan mercenaries.” I said thoughtfully.
Victor and Deacon both looked taken aback by the thought, but both their faces became intrigued as the idea settled in.
“How many troops could be placed in the field?” Asked Victor after a moment.
“We can have enough within the week to provide security for any Council facilities, plus a couple of strike teams for special operations.” Said Marcus confidently.
Victor nodded, pinching his lower lip speculatively. “These teams would be willing to work under vampire supervision?” He asked.
Marcus nodded. “There may be some ruffled feathers at first, but I have two teams in Denver that would have no problem taking orders from Kaitlyn or Deacon right now.” He said, smiling. “Kaitlyn in particular is considered more or less a member of the pack at this point, and we always help our own.”-
“How soon can you get them here?” Asked Victor.
Marcus grinned a bit sheepishly. “Well, the strike teams are already in the air.” He said, his face going serious. “I felt I needed help after …..losing the others.” His voice caught in his throat as he said the last words.
Sara put a hand on Marcus’ arm and we all looked down for a moment as the feeling of loss landed like a heavy shroud on our shoulders.
Victor cleared his throat after a moment. “I’m sorry for your loss. The actions of your valiant companions saved all of our lives. Rest assured, that fact did not go unnoticed. I’m sure you will be contacted by the rest of the Council soon. That kind of loyalty and commitment to security will be very valuable.”
Marcus looked back up with unshed tears in his eyes. “Thank you sir. I will pass on your condolences and I appreciate your kind words.” He said somberly.
“When will your people be arriving?” Asked Deacon.
“They should be here by morning.” Said Marcus, gathering himself together.
“Do the Abandonados have any small operations around the city that you know of?” I asked thoughtfully. “Anything that might be going against Council decree?”
“What do you have in mind?” asked Victor.
“I’m not sure yet. It will depend on what intel we can gather.” I said. “We need a small valuable target that will show Antonella we’re not just waiting around to be attacked. Something that will make their associates want to isolate themselves even more while showing our own allies the strength we can bring to bear.”
“What about Sasha’s?” Asked Deacon looking at Victor inquisitively.
What’s a Sasha’s?” I asked
“It’s a dance club not to far from where headquarters used to be.” responded Victor. “It’s owned by the Abandonado family and it has long been suspected that they use it as a front for their hunting and more...deviant pursuits.” He said with a troubled expression.
“That could be perfect, provided it’s not a fortress or something.” I said with excitement.
Victor nodded his head absently as he considered it. “Very well, I’ll check my sources and see if I can dig up some particulars.” He said, coming to a decision. “In the meantime. Please inform the Lycan Association that we would like to make use of their services in protecting the Council’s backup headquarters.” He said, looking over at Sara.
Sara bowed her head to acknowledge the request. “Where is the Council’s backup headquarters?” she asked.
“You are standing in them of course.” He said with a smile. “Deacon has generously allowed us the use of his estate.”
“I’ve already viewed your current security and procedures. How would you like them modified?” asked Marcus.
“I want to double the guard and use mixed lycan and vampire teams.” replied Deacon. “That should cover any issues of trust that the Council members may have.
Marcus nodded at that. “Plus we can always adjust if a council member has a trust issue with one race or the other.” He said speculatively. “I’ll get with Simon and determine exact numbers, then I’ll put in a call and get the needed personnel headed this way.”
8
The meeting wrapped up. Sara and I decided to take Kangee and Fangs out onto the grounds, so they could stretch their legs, or in Kangee’s case, wings. It was
a pleasant night and the grounds were beautiful. Marcus had remained inside to arrange the particulars for the incoming security forces. “Would you stay on the grounds please?” He wheedled. “I can’t be two places at once.”
I was tempted to tell him to stuff it and make a beeline for the nearest bar just to twist his tail. I pushed down my inner bitch though and promised to behave myself. Sara, placatingly gave a similar promise and, after a quick stop at our suites to gather up our companions, we headed out through the lush grounds.
“Have you noticed any change between you and Marcus?” Sara asked as we walked along the outer wall of the estate.
I watched Fangs trotting along, investigating nearby bushes and flower beds for a minute before answering. “I’m not sure.” I said with a sigh. “H...He told me I was gorgeous, in the hallway after I left your room this morning. I thought I was going to melt.” I said, rolling my eyes a little. “I don’t know if it's some kind of magical connection or that our conversation was so fresh in my head. I’ve never really thought of him that way before, but I am now.” I sighed in confusion.
