They'd taken me from one cage and put me in another, and I was still shivering from being carried by the icy asshole who'd grabbed me in the first place. To top it off, all the black-cloaked people around the big-mouthed bitch had ugly blisters all over their skin, like they had the plague or something.
I drew in a painful breath.
The plague.
These—they had it and they were giving it to—everybody else.
What had I gotten myself into?
"Tell me what you know about the Grand Master," cloaked bitch snapped at me.
"I don't know who that is," I snapped back. "Grand Master of what?"
"The werewolves, you trollop. Clifton Young."
"What? You're a crazy whore," I shouted at her. "Werewolves are a fairy tale."
"Why were you following him? Why did you burn down his house? You know him, and I want that information." Her words were hissed at me. "Who are his friends? We failed to find the address book you mentioned, or was that one of your fairy tales?"
"Let me kill her now, for calling you that name," a man approached my cage and snaked a boil-covered hand through the bars. I shrank away from him.
"If she refuses to give me information, we will allow her to starve for two days. If she is not cooperative then, you may do as you wish, Werlekk." The woman stalked away while others fell in behind her, leaving me in this dark pit with little light and the man who threatened me.
"We are Shakkor Agdah," the man hissed. "We are not human and have never been. Humans are insects to us, and we will kill all of you."
He turned and left me, too, walking away into the darkness until I heard a door shut and a bolt slide into place.
Cassie
"What did I miss?" I scuffled into the kitchen the following morning, yawning and still dressed in my pajamas.
"I think we should install a revolving door in this place, the way folks have been coming in and going out since five this morning," Beverly pointed a spatula at me. "How's the arm?"
"It's fine." I turned my right shoulder toward her so she could see the pink puckers where I was shot the day before.
"Too bad humans don't heal that fast," she shook her head. "How do you want your eggs?"
"Over easy, please." I walked toward the coffee pot to pour a mug for myself.
"Hey," Jon and Richard walked in together.
"Beverly, where are your helpers this morning?" Richard asked.
"Carmel and Liesl took food and coffee over to the guest house, where Parke and the others are still hashing out some business," Beverly replied. "They'll be back in a few."
"Good," Richard sounded relieved.
"They're fine workers," Beverly waved her spatula at Richard, now. "They know what to do and when to do it, so I barely have to tell them anything."
"This job pays well," Richard nodded as he accepted the mug of coffee I handed to him before pouring one for Jon.
"It sure does. I hope Cassie wants to hire a permanent cook, too, since that house in Atlanta got destroyed. Damn good kitchen, too. What the hell was that hellion thinking?"
"Not sure thinking was high on his to-do list," I said. "Want coffee, Beverly?"
"Sure."
"Coming right up."
"Never had a boss get me coffee before," Beverly grinned.
"I never had such a good cook before," I handed Beverly a fresh mug of coffee.
"Then here's to good cooks and good bosses," Beverly lifted her cup.
"Cheers," Jon raised his mug, as did Richard.
"Come on, you're embarrassing me," I said and took the barstool next to Jon's.
"Oh good, you're up," Cliff walked through the side door from the garage.
"What's going on?" I asked him.
"It's raining," he said. "How about taking me to Atlanta around nine?"
"I think I can do that," I said. "Have you been up all night? Want coffee?"
"I've only been up half the night. After the Vampire Council agreed with Trey's plan, I was on board, as was Parke. They've been hammering out particulars since then. I checked in with them just now, and they're still arguing minutiae."
"Parke's an attorney, he just can't help himself," I said as Beverly put breakfast in front of me.
"That's part of the agreement they've been working on," Cliff said. "That humans can't rescind educational degrees, or fire our kind from jobs and the like, if they discover that we've been working among them for years with zero repercussions."
"They do love to hate what's different," Beverly plopped Richard's plate in front of him.
"Yeah," I nodded as Beverly's eyes locked with mine. "They do, and it's wrong."
Carmel and Liesl walked back in. "We'll finish this," Carmel offered to take over Beverly's spot at the stove. "You've been on your feet for three hours. Time for a break."
"You had breakfast, yet?" I asked her.
"Help eats last."
"Not anymore. Take a chair. I'm sure these lovely ladies can fix something for you."
Beverly settled onto the barstool next to Cliff's, and soon enough, we were all eating breakfast, drinking coffee and talking about nothing in particular, which was just fine with me.
We'd had enough hard news in the last day or so, and light conversation was more than welcome. Was it bad that I had absolutely no reaction to Morton King's death? I'd have killed him myself if I'd been in Parke's place. Too bad Dalton got away, but Gorham and Franks got what they deserved, too, even if they killed a source of information before dying.
It meant, too, that Shakkor Agdah was down three demon servants. "Do you suppose they'll go looking for replacements for Gorham and Franks?" I said aloud.
"Huh?" Jon asked.
"Sorry—I was just thinking about Gorham, Franks and Morton King, and whether Shakkor Agdah will go looking for demon replacements. Until now, those demons have been useful to them."
"Or they could find human slaves, maybe. Money or blackmail can be big motivators," Cliff said.
"Damn. That's not a comforting thought," I replied. "They did have help with Fli-Bi-Net—shifter help," I added.
"That company had something to do with this?" Jon's eyes widened as he stared at me.
"Hmmph. Ask me what happened to Geoffrey and Annabel," I snorted.
"Uh, what did happen to them?"
"They were shifters and helped kill Parke's father. Geoffrey's pig got chewed to death by a werewolf. I boiled Annabel's shark in her own swimming pool."
"They deserved it," Parke walked in with Jerry and Pete behind him. "They were also involved in the attempted coup against the Chancellor, trying to further their aims and that of Black Myth at the same time."
"I hope you're thinking about sleep," I told him. "You look exhausted."
"I am. I intend to be up when the Vampire Council wakes and convenes, so we can get the public announcements recorded. Today, Trey's department will be putting out information about Shakkor Agdah and the disease they're spreading."
"So look for widespread panic," Cliff said.
"When are they scheduled to make the announcement?" I asked.
"Noon, today, but they're already running chyrons on all television stations that a live statement from the President will be broadcast then."
"He'd better have plenty of guards, and not just the human kind," I said.
Parke went still. "I'll make a call," he said and walked out of the kitchen.
"I should have kept my mouth shut," I mumbled as Cliff, Yosuke, Rob and I joined the President's Secret Service cortege two hours later. The President was scheduled to speak in less than half an hour.
"We're relying on what we've been told by the President's Secret Department," the Chief of Staff told us as we were led into a briefing room.
"You mean that we're good enough—and safe enough—to guard the President?" Cliff asked.
"Yes." The man was brusque and straightforward, at least.
"He'll come to no harm from us," Yosuke said quietly.
"Th
at remains to be seen. I've arranged for you four to be in the second tier around POTUS, with his best guards close about him. They will be ready to employ their sidearms if anything unusual happens."
"Look, I got shot yesterday by the police. I'd like to make that an infrequent occurrence if possible," I retorted. This guy was making veiled threats, when we were here to help him.
"You were in the hospital room when those two—creatures attacked?" He focused an intense frown in my direction.
"Yes. We were trying to save the witness, but that, as you know, didn't go very well after the police broke through the door."
"You're calling that man a witness?"
"He had information we needed. He was also a murderer and an attempted murderer, but the information he carried was vital. Now, we no longer have Lilith Sloane or Jinx Hicks to explain things to us. Black Myth has Lilith, and I imagine she'll be dead soon enough at their hands."
"Are those creatures real—the ones you call Black Myth?" an agent asked.
"They're real—and they're deadly," Rob said. "I was there when they used the Black Death against humans. That disease may not have been designed by them, but they saw its usefulness and spread it quite well."
"You were there?"
"My race is immortal, unless we are killed in battle by someone stronger."
"Damn," the Chief of Staff swore. "This is more complicated than we thought. Look, no insult is intended, but we have the President to protect."
I have not had time to lay a perimeter shield around this building, Yosuke informed me. It is larger than what I normally protect, so it will require more time.
I think we can do that together after this is over, I suggested.
Thank you.
Parke
I stood inside a room connected to the Communications Director's office, where several large screens lined the walls. For now, all of them showed the same scene; the President's desk in the Oval Office, where the President would give a preliminary statement, before cutting to the video of Shakkor Agdah attacking the police station in Atlanta the night before.
Then, he'd read a statement prepared by Trey's department, with input from me, Cliff and the Vampire Council. He'd caution them to be watchful, but not to panic. At least not yet.
Jerry and Pete stood by the door, watching everybody who came in and out of the room. They were here to protect me while Cassie, Cliff and the others stood near the President.
Cliff, Rob and Yosuke weren't willing to let anyone else stand with Cassie. I'd told her to go, since she was the best bet we had against a sudden attack by Shakkor Agdah. They'd attacked the police in Georgia last night; there was nothing to prevent them from trying the same here.
Especially if there were a leak somewhere, telling them the subject of today's press conference. Maybe this was their new strategy—rather than hiding, they were coming into the open to cause mass panic.
This announcement would be a two-edged sword—verifying Black Myth's existence and trying to control the resulting panic at the same time.
At least Cassie's disguise and new identity were in place—here, she would be Beatrice Chaumont, with blonde hair and brown eyes. I had to keep my fingers crossed that she wouldn't need her fire on live television. That would tell Black Myth exactly who and what she was.
We're about to walk into the Oval Office, Cassie informed me.
I'm watching the live feed from the Communication Director's video suite.
In case I didn't tell you before, she began, thank you for killing Morton King and saving me the trouble.
Uh, you're welcome.
I watched as people filed into the Oval Office on the screens; no doubt secret service agents lined the walls already. Cassie, Cliff, Rob and Yosuke came in, just before the image narrowed and focused exclusively on the President's desk.
He'd be in the shot; the others wouldn't. Made sense—I was too tired to think properly after being up for nearly forty hours.
When the President walked in, I was surprised to see the Vice President with him. So were several others; the murmur wasn't shut out of this live feed I watched.
The President sat behind his desk; the VP, hands crossed at his waist, stood behind the President's left shoulder.
This is an unplanned addition, Cassie sent. I have no idea why they're here together. Wait—oh, shit.
What? What's wrong? I demanded, just as I watched the VP pull a knife from a pocket and attempt to stab the President in the neck. He screamed when the fire hit his hand the same moment a secret service agent shot him in the shoulder.
Jerry and Pete had to hold me from running out of the room and straight to the Oval Office.
Cassie
"They have his family," I snapped at the President. Yeah, I could get shot myself for yelling at POTUS, but if I hadn't burned the VP's hand and knocked the knife away from him, the President would be bleeding and on his way to the hospital right now, instead of pacing back and forth.
"How do you know this?" The President stopped in his tracks and turned to stare at me.
"I saw it—a vision when he moved his hand to get the knife from his pocket."
"It is something she is becoming adept at," Yosuke came to my defense. "Some of us can see visions, although we cannot command them."
"His family was taken two hours ago," the Chief of Staff was back to make a report. "Three guards are dead—the other is in the hospital. All were in contact with the disease, Mr. President. A message was left behind, sir."
"Where is it—the message?"
"They wrote it on the wall of the VP's residence, sir. In blood." He pulled a phone from his pocket and approached the President.
"Kill the president or we kill your family?" POTUS blinked in disbelief at his Chief of Staff.
"The ah, physicians say the VP has also been exposed to the disease."
"Did he give it to me?" POTUS demanded.
"We have to get you to a safe place, and then run tests," the Chief of Staff murmured.
"No, dammit. I'm doing this announcement. If they can get to the VP, they can get to anybody. We have to do this, now. You can test me afterward."
In ten minutes, everything was back in place, the President seated himself behind his desk and the message began.
"Good afternoon, my fellow Americans. Today, I must tell you the most difficult thing any president has ever had to tell his country; there is an alien race among us, whose goal is to kill everything human on the face of the planet."
Chapter 15
Cliff
"They say there wasn't enough contact from a newly-infected VP to give the President the disease. There are no leads on the VP's family, and he's been sedated after screaming his head off about evil invaders at the hospital."
Trey's announcement had come after sundown, on what had proven to be a terrible day. News reports were filled with interviews from doomsday groups saying we told you so, and refusing to take anyone else inside their hidden bunkers.
"Thank goodness for some better news," Cassie said. She'd found me and Trey on the back porch where I was having a beer and staring at Sandpiper Lagoon.
"I need to get back inside; the announcement will be televised tomorrow and we're making sure everything is just right." Trey walked into the house, closing the French doors behind him.
"Grocery stores are running out of everything, since people believe that locking themselves inside their homes is the best way to stay safe," Cassie told me.
"I wonder what they'll do tomorrow, after our press conference reveals werewolves, vampires and elemental demons?" I took another swig of my beer.
"At least they hadn't started broadcasting when the VP attacked," she shrugged.
"The only bright note of the day."
"Well, Yosuke and I managed to put a shield around the White House. Doesn't include the Capitol building, though, since they're two miles apart."
"If he leaves the White House, he could be screwed," I pointed out.
>
"I know." Cassie pulled a camp chair over and flopped onto it. "I'm tired and wound up at the same time."
"We could go visit Doc Chalmers."
"We could do that. Want to?"
"I'd love to." I tossed my beer bottle in the trashcan somebody had thoughtfully left on the back porch.
"Let's go. Maybe you can convince him to come here when they let him out."
Seconds later, we were at Bournemouth Hospital, checking in with the staff. We had to be cleared by the guards posted outside the room, too, but it didn't take long.
"Cliff," Kirk Chalmers grinned at me when I walked in the door first. "Good to see you. Tell those white coats outside I'm good to go home."
"Doc, how the hell are ya?" I grinned back and held out a hand to shake.
"I'm great. Heard the asshole who shot Muriel and me got what was coming to him."
"Yeah. That's a story I'll have to tell you later."
"Muriel's family isn't doing so well right now, what with all the mess on the TV today, and the funeral scheduled for tomorrow."
"Something else to discuss later," I said, sitting on the chair beside his bed.
"I'd like to go to the funeral, but I don't know if I can," he changed position on the bed, as if the admission made him uncomfortable.
"You can leave against medical advice," Cassie said quietly.
"Huh? I guess I could do that," Doc admitted. "I'm fine—the wounds are almost healed, too. No reason for me to stay here."
"What if I told you we can take you somewhere safe, and still get you to the funeral tomorrow?" I said.
"I'd say that sounded great," Doc said. "But I need clothes, first. The ones I wore when I got here were trashed."
"No doubt," I said.
"What sizes?" Cassie asked. "I think I can get you something that'll make you decent in public. Enough to leave, anyway."
"Large sweatpants and a T-shirt is good enough. Maybe slippers, size eleven," he told her.
"I'll be back," she said, and disappeared.
"Tell me she didn't just disappear," Doc blinked at the space Cassie occupied moments earlier.
"She did. It's a relatively new development. Don't worry about it, though. She and I will get you to that funeral tomorrow the same way."
Worth Your While Page 21
