Secret Treaties (The Valens Legacy Book 9)

by Jan Stryvant

  Pushing open the door, there was no one in sight, and the sounds of fighting were still going on throughout the compound. The wall was only twenty feet from the back door, and willing himself not to look back, Sam dashed across the open space. Casting a spell to lighten him, he jumped up and grabbed the edge of the wall and started to pull himself up.

  And stopped. Straining harder, Sam tried to pull himself over the wall, but instead of going up, he found himself violently jerked back down, falling to the ground. Looking up, there was a werelion looking down at him, a vicious snarl on his face.

  "You beat Peg nearly to death, you wounded Cali, you killed those wolves you sent to steal from me, and you stole my father's book."

  Sam cast a firebolt at him and was shocked as Sean just deflected it with a wave of his hand.

  "And now, I'm finally going to beat you to death like you deserve, you vile, nasty, filthy, bastard!"

  Sam cast the cramping spell and was shocked when it had no effect. It was his biggest defensive spell! He started to cast one more, when Sean grabbed his arm and, putting a large foot on his chest, he pulled.

  Sam screamed as his arm was literally ripped from its socket, only to scream again as he was hit in the face with the bloody stump! This couldn't be happening! It just couldn't!

  Peg stood next to Roxy and watched as Sean literally beat her father to death with his own arm. Though by the way he was bleeding from where Sean had ripped his arm off, she wasn't sure which had killed him first, the violent beating that was slowly turning his head to a pulp, or the loss of blood.

  "Sean?" Peg asked softly.

  Sean continued to growl, still beating her father's dead body.

  Roxy snorted, and then putting two fingers in her mouth, let out an ear-piercing whistle.

  Sean jumped and turned to look at the two of them.

  "He's dead. In fact, he's been dead for several minutes. I think you're done here, Hon," Roxy said with a grin.

  Peg nodded. "Thanks for coming and getting me, Sean." She walked up to him then, and grabbing his mane, she pulled his head down and kissed him. "And I especially want to thank you for killing him for me."

  "Are you sure you're okay?" Sean asked, blinking.

  "I'm fine." Peg smiled and rubbed up against him, getting some of the drying blood on her own clothes, not that anyone would notice with all the dirt and burns already there. "In fact, how about tonight I show you just how 'okay' I am?"

  Sean purred loudly at that and straightened back up as Peg let go of him.

  "Let's go find Chad and see how everything is going," Sean said and started walking around the building.

  "Umm, Sean?" Peg said.

  "Yes?"

  "Are you going to carry that arm everywhere? If so, can I have my magic items back off of it?"

  Sean looked down at the arm he was holding onto. How had that gotten there? Oh right…Sean's facial fur bushed out in a blush, and he dropped the arm. Peg was already removing all of her father's magic items, as well as his wallet and a few other things. Sean watched as she quickly stripped the arm, then put the rings and bracelets he'd made for her back on.

  "Okay, now let's go find Chad." Roxy chuckled.

  They found Chad with Steven, Daelyn, and Roberta.

  "Peg!" Daelyn and Roberta both said, running up to her and giving her a hug.

  "How are we doing?" Sean asked Chad as the girls took a moment to hug and kiss Peg. "We done?"

  "Almost. I have their leader calling all those who have lycans, telling them to give them up peacefully, or they'll be killed, along with him, as our teams go house to house."

  "So everything here is secure?"

  Chad nodded. "Yeah, but I'm gonna have words with John after this, that bomb of his killed quite a few lycans."

  "I don't know if you can really blame him for that one." Sean sighed.

  "Oh, just you watch me," Chad growled.

  "Where's Cali?" Peg asked, looking around. "And Jo?"

  "Still recovering," Roxy told her.

  "Recovering?"

  "Cali got shot. Sean healed her, but she's still pretty weak, so Jo's keeping her company."

  Sean sighed. "I better go find the local Sapientia people, see if they kept a lid on this."

  "I know where they are," Steven said. "I'll take you to them."

  "Thanks."

  Steven led Sean out through the gates and across the street to a man who was standing back in the trees.

  "Leonard, this is Sean. Sean, this is Leonard."

  Sean nodded. "So, how much of this did you manage to contain?"

  "Most, but not all. None of the noise got out, but we didn't have enough power to keep anyone from seeing what was going on. I suspect we may have some company soon. No one's reporting any sirens, but that doesn't mean no one is going to investigate."

  Sean nodded and looked around. "I guess we better start pulling out of here. I'll go tell Chad. Hopefully we're almost done with the door to door phase."

  "Door to door?"

  "Picking up the lycans that were at member's homes."

  "I see. What about the other two councils?"

  "We'll be paying them both a visit, very shortly, to let them know they can either do this the easy way, or they can die." Sean shook his head. "I'm really hoping for the easy way. I don't think Gradatim is going to be very happy with us when they get the body count for today."

  "That bad?" Leonard asked.

  "Four died in the ambush, I killed a particularly nasty person, and I'm sure the explosion took out more than a few." Sean looked at Leonard. "So much for coming in unexpectedly Sunday morning and cleaning them out with no losses."

  "Well, if it's any consolation, I don't think the local Vestibulum or Ascendants will give you much trouble. The people up here, most of them really don't care for confrontations.

  "Seattle, on the other hand, I think you're going to have your work cut out for you."

  They were relaxing at a nice hotel outside of town. Apparently Steven's wife owned it, among other things, and she'd set all of them up with some very nice rooms. Sean and the girls were in some sort of VIP suite, and he had to admit it was quite nice. Cali was relaxing on the couch; he was still a little worried about her. While he'd managed to heal her just fine, he knew a serious wound could still weaken you even after it was healed. Both Jolene, who had better healing than he did, and Roberta were keeping close tabs on her, sitting to either side of her on the couch.

  Cali seemed to be in seventh heaven from all the attention.

  Sean smiled. "So, movie?"

  "Actually," Peg smiled coming over to him, "I have a better idea."

  Sean looked down at Peg, she was wearing one of the tight shirts she liked to take a razor and cut all sorts of interesting holes into. The snug jeans she was wearing had also been subjected to the same treatment, and Sean had his hands on her ass and had pulled her up against him without even thinking about it.

  "Oh?"

  "I seem to recall promising to show you just how happy I was to see you back when you saved me?"

  Sean smiled down at her and had to purr, "Oh, yes, I do seem to recall that!" Lowering his head to hers, he kissed her as he let his hands massage and kneed the nice tight butt they were already gripping.

  Peg put her arms around him, slid her own hands into his pants, and did the same to Sean as she pressed against his muscular chest. She found it hard to believe that Sean was once just a normal boy, just as she had once been a 'normal' girl.

  "You know what else I'd like?" Peg smiled up at him when he broke the kiss.

  "To use the bed?" Sean said with a wink.

  Peg grinned and snorted. "No, silly. I want a baby, just like the others."

  Peg smiled as Sean all but melted against her; she'd seen the way he'd been with Cali and Daelyn, even Deidre, when he'd bred them.

  And now, now she wanted to have one of his brats too, and suddenly, suddenly it wasn't just breeding, and it wasn't just some brat
. Apparently sometime in the last week she'd caught the mommy bug from the others. They were gonna make a baby, and damn if she didn't want it!

  "Are you sure?" Sean asked in a whisper.

  "Don't ask, Lion-boy," Peg giggled, using one of Daelyn's pet names for him, "just do!"

  "You tell 'im, Girl!" Daelyn cheered and the others all laughed and clapped.

  Sweeping Peg up into a bridal carry, Sean didn't even hear the others as he carried Peg through the doorway and into the suite's bedroom. Lying her down carefully on the bed, he quickly pulled his clothes off as Peg watched him with a smile.

  "Somebody want something?" She giggled.

  "I was an only child. I always used to dream about having brothers and sisters," he said as he moved up onto the bed, straddling her legs as he smiled down at her. "Now, now I've been blessed with the most wonderful women in the world, and just like me, they all want a family." Putting his hands on Peg's flat tummy, he rubbed it, then slowly ran his hands up her body and under her shirt until he was cupping those nice full breasts of hers.

  Pinching her nipples and causing her to shiver beneath him, Sean lowered his head down and kissed her exposed stomach, enjoying the way she shivered beneath him.

  "Oh, that feels niiiice," Peg whispered. "So you want a lot of kids? Hmmm?"

  "I love you, Peg. Of course I want to have children with you. I've wanted to do this since the moment you came down into my lab in that tight shirt! That you wanted me too," Sean lowered his hands to her waistband and unbuttoned her jeans, "makes me the luckiest man in the world."

  "Lion," Peg moaned and ran her fingers through his hair as he kissed his way down towards her now exposed sex, "you're the luckiest lion in the world!"

  Sean reached her sex then, and just before he dove in, he purred, "A very lucky lion!"

  Peg gasped and moaned and wrapped her legs around his head as Sean went down on her. Jolene had once told her that Sean was a very apt pupil, and she'd taught him everything she knew. Between the use of his fingers, tongue, and teeth, it wasn't long before he had reduced her to moaning and gasping. Sean had developed some serious skills, and he really seemed to enjoy giving oral sex just as much as Peg enjoyed getting it.

  When she finally cried out his name, he let her wind down a little as he removed her pants the rest of the way and slowly kissed his way back up her body. Pushing her shirt up and over her head, Peg pulled it off as his strong hands stroked up along her sides, and his lips and then his teeth, kissed and nipped along her stomach, then her breasts, as his hands slid up from the sides of her body to cup and squeeze them.

  She gasped and arched each time he bit at one of her nipples, and from the noises he was making, apparently Sean was appreciating the way her body was moving beneath his. But Peg knew what she wanted, and being teased wasn't it. Reaching down between their bodies, she grabbed his shaft and tugged, pulling him up and leading him to her entrance.

  "Somebody's greedy," Sean whispered in her ear.

  "Damn right!" Peg growled. "Now quit holding out, Lion-boy, and give your wife what she wants!"

  Sean grinned, and when Peg poised him at her lips, he pushed in, purring at the wet heat of her as she gasped and moaned and wrapped her arms and legs around him, clinging to him tightly as he moved forward and didn't stop until he was deep inside her.

  "Better," Peg gasped, clinging to him tightly as she sank her nails into the skin of his back.

  Sean kissed her and, spreading his own legs slightly, he wrapped his arms around her to take some of the weight off. He began to move slowly back and for inside her, only to have Peg reach down and smack him on the ass.

  "Give it to me, Sean, make me a baby! Give it to me, hard! I need it, Hon, just take me there! Give me a lioness, Sean! Make me a cub!"

  Sean blinked, but he didn't hesitate; the idea of what he was doing was overwhelming, as always, he was making a child. Reaching deep inside, he sent the energy of his lion out into Peg to make her receptive to his seed as he took her hard and fast, just as she was demanding, her hand continuing to smack his ass as she got more and more vocal with her encouragements, as well as lewder.

  Something tripped deep down inside of Peg when she felt Sean's magic flow into her and trigger her cycle. Jolene had mentioned it to the others, how it had felt when Sean had put her 'in heat' to make his cubs, and now that she was feeling it, all she knew was that this was what she wanted more than anything else in the world. Her mother had once told her how much joy Peg had brought into her life, and suddenly Peg understood it.

  She screamed in pure joy when she hit her peak, grinding back against Sean, and he followed her shortly afterwards, biting her shoulder as she shook and bucked beneath him, working back against him, draining him and taking all he had to offer.

  It was several minutes before she'd caught her breath, the idea of what she'd just done making her head spin as Sean kissed her over and over again.

  "Liked that, did you?" Peg panted.

  "I loved it," Sean whispered happily.

  "Good, cause we're going to be doing it all night long." Peg snickered and hugged him back. She'd started on making a baby, a lioness no less! Between her, Sheila, and Cali, Peg was going to make her daughter into a complete holy terror!

  "Life is good," Peg purred.

  "Making it is even better," Sean agreed.

  Cause and Effect

  "Vincent?" Carl asked, tapping on the Director's door.

  "What's up, Carl?

  "We got something going on in Portland, and it isn't anything good."

  "Is this about that shootout yesterday at the pub?"

  Carl nodded, and walking up to Vincent's desk, he pulled a couple of pictures out of the folder he was carrying and laid one of them down in front of him.

  "Is that a lion?" Vincent asked, looking at the slightly blurry picture that showed what looked like a lionman holding a large pistol and shooting one of the men who were pointing what looked like sticks into the pub, which no longer had any windows.

  "Our NSA guy picked this up off the web last night. I sent Jacob and Adams out to get a handle on things this morning. But it gets worse."

  "How can it get worse?" Vincent sighed.

  "I had one of the CIA's imaging birds take some pictures of the area an hour ago. Told them it was for a training class. Here's a picture of the Gradatim compound from Google," Carl set it down, "and here's one from six AM local time."

  "Is that a crater?" Vincent asked, looking closely at the CIA picture, which was a lot higher definition than the Google Maps picture.

  "Yes, and if look closely, the remains of what looks like a car are scattered all over here," Carl pointed.

  "Now, there are probably some businesses down in the city with security cameras that point up in that direction. I'm going to get a FISA warrant, have Jacob and Adams run around to the places we know about with a couple of the local FBI, and see about grabbing any taped evidence so we can get an idea of what time it went off."

  Vincent looked at the damage at the Gradatim compound, then back at the pictures of the shootout at the pub in Portland. The news media was going crazy over that one. Right now it was being ruled a terrorist attack.

  "I better call the Seattle office and have them fly some of our people down to get in front of that." Vincent sighed.

  "I just got off the phone with them. They're sending two people down to investigate this morning, after some rumors they heard late last night from some sources in the magic community. They haven't called in because they haven't gotten there yet, but I think once they see these pictures, they'll swing into gear."

  Vincent looked at the clock; it was just past ten here, which meant just past seven on the west coast. "Nice to know the field offices are on top of things. Who do you think started it?"

  Carl shook his head. "From the look of things, Valens is just showing up, but I can't be sure. I asked the FBI guy I was talking to if the pub had any kind of security system. He said they did,
but all the cameras stopped recording about forty minutes before the attack."

  "How convenient," Vincent grumbled.

  Carl nodded. "I know, right? That leads me to believe that the whole thing was a planned attack. The only question is, who were they attacking?"

  "Maybe they thought Valens was inside? It would at least explain why he was in the area."

  "Then they screwed up, because not only was he not inside, it looks like he managed to kill several of them. There were four outside who were dead from gunshot wounds. The FBI's got them all on slab down at a secure morgue while they run backgrounds on them. It looks like all four of them were locals."

  Vincent swore at that. "So not only where they stupid, criminal, and incompetent, they were sloppy." He shook his head, this was not going to end well, he was sure of it. "How many inside were killed?"

  "Eight. One of them is from Reno, just moved there from Sacramento last month."

  "That doesn't sound good. What about the others?"

  "All locals. One of the cooks said a bunch of people went out the back door when everything started."

  "You talked to him?" Vincent asked, surprised.

  "No, the FBI sent me the transcripts of their questioning all of the witnesses. I had to apply a little pressure though Homeland, by the way. I got the impression that someone out there doesn't want to share, so I dropped our contact at the DOJ on him, just in case he's been suborned by some of the local mages. I also gave Adams a picture of Valens. I'm going to have him talk to that cook and ask him if he saw Valens go out the back door."

  Vincent nodded. "I'm going to call Roberts over at Sapientia and ask for a meeting. This is a pretty clear violation of their 'silence', and I don't think the President is going to want to let this one slide once we bring this to his attention. It's one thing when they're only killing each other, but when they start killing citizens and it makes the nightly news, that's a bit too much."

  Rupert Spencer swore loudly as he looked at the report. "Wilston's dead? Owen Lee's dead? Fourteen of our people were killed, and they raided us in broad daylight! What the hell is going on up there?"