The Hand of Pestilence

by Charlie Richards

  Chittering softly, the animal rested its front claws on Aiden’s chest. It stretched up and vocalized quietly. At the same time, it managed to pet his cheek... and it didn’t even scratch him.

  “Aww, you’re okay, little buddy,” War rumbled. “Do me a favor and tell Xerxes that you’re okay.” He grimaced. “I don’t wanna be sleepin’ on the couch tonight.”

  Aiden, answer me!

  Between the animal petting him, War’s comments, and Pestilence’s calls, Aiden managed to calm down enough to focus. He answered his lover first.

  I’m okay. Just a sec.

  Then Aiden focused on the animal—Xerxes. Remembering that was the name of War’s shifter chosen, he understood the huge black-skinned horseman’s comments better. He glanced between them, then forced a smile as he looked at Xerxes.

  “I’m okay. Really. Just—” Aiden paused and nibbled his lip for a second. He felt his face heat as embarrassment flooded him. Focusing on War, Aiden admitted, “You startled me, and I had a bad run-in not too long ago with a vampire. I know you’re not a vampire, but you’re clearly paranormal, and Pestilence never showed me a picture of any of his brothers, and I—” Aiden snapped his mouth shut and mentally groaned. Finally, he managed to whisper, “Sorry.”

  Xerxes chittered once more, and Aiden smiled at the shifter. “I’m okay. Really.” He tapped his temple. “Just still sorting stuff in my head.”

  Nodding, Xerxes chirped once more, then jumped back into War’s saddlebag.

  Aiden? What’s going on, my sweet?

  Your brother showed up. Um, War. He, uh... he sort of startled me. I freaked a little. I didn’t mean to, um...

  Say no more. Pestilence sounded kind, even in Aiden’s mind. Tell him I’ll be there soon. I’m almost done here.

  Will do. Aiden glanced at a waiting, and amused looking, War. Should I offer him refreshments or something?

  Pestilence chuckled through their connection.

  Sure. Take him to the office. There’s finger foods and mead in the refrigerator. Don’t feel like you have to entertain him, my chosen.

  Pleased to have something to do, Aiden nodded absently. Then he realized his lover couldn’t see him. Okay. Love you.

  A surge of affection filtered through their connection.

  Love you, too, Aiden.

  Clearing his throat, Aiden couldn’t stop his grin as he focused on War. “So, um, yeah. This way.” He turned Pestilence’s mount and started toward the front of the estate. Realizing who he was talking to, he snorted. “I guess you know the way, huh?”

  “Still nice to be invited,” War told him. “Where’s Pestilence? I assume you were just communicating with him.”

  Aiden nodded. “He’s on an errand. He should be back shortly.” Then he scowled at War. “You’re not here to decapitate him again, are you?”

  War tipped his horned head back and great booming laughter erupted from him.

  That gave Aiden a few seconds to take in the horseman’s massive, black-skinned and heavily muscled frame. He had large red horns that curved back from his head. His eyes were red as were his huge, bat-like wings.

  Aiden had only seen Pestilence’s wings twice. They weren’t quite as large, and they were a stormy-gray color. His lover didn’t normally keep them out. Aiden’s fingers twitched thinking about them, and he wondered if he could convince his horseman to change that.

  “He told you about that, huh?” War asked, still sporting a grin.

  “Just that it happened during a war,” Aiden admitted.

  War continued to grin. “Well, there’s far more to that story. Maybe I’ll tell you while we wait for Pestilence to get back.”

  Aiden didn’t know if he wanted to hear War’s version of events. Unfortunately, he didn’t know how he could get out of it, either.

  Chapter Twelve

  Garrett strode into Pestilence’s study, General Abyzou flanking him. Spotting the massive, red-winged male taking up nearly the entire leather love seat—as well as the small, sweat-pants-clad man on his lap—he froze. Relief filled Garrett when he spotted Aiden pouring drinks into tumblers at the sidebar.

  “Hey, sweetheart,” Garrett greeted, announcing his presence before his lover could pick up the drink’s platter. “Everything okay?”

  Aiden spun and grinned. “Hey, you’re back,” he cried. Leaving the bar, he hustled toward him. “Are you well?”

  Wrapping Aiden in his arms, Garrett dipped his head and pressed a hard kiss to his lips. “I am.” Then he straightened and peered at the amused expression on the horned man’s lips as well as the beaming smile on the little man’s. “Uh, is everything okay here? Where’s Pestilence?”

  “He’s just finishing up an errand,” Aiden told him. Then he swung his hand and indicated the strangers. “This is War and War’s shifter chosen, Xerxes. Everyone”—Aiden indicated him—”this is Garrett.”

  “Hi,” Xerxes called, waving and grinning. “Nice to meet you.”

  “And you,” Garrett responded instinctively. Then he dipped his chin in greeting to the massive horseman. “War.”

  Appearing amused, War winked. “Garrett.”

  Aiden squeezing his wrist drew Garrett’s attention. “Is it what you thought?”

  Garrett grimaced. “Yeah.”

  Sighing, Aiden stared at the floor. His expression turned crest-fallen. “Damn.”

  “Aiden? Garrett?” Pestilence swept into the room and instantly pulled them both to his chest. “Gods, I’ve been worried.” After planting a deep kiss on each of their lips, he nodded at his brother. “War. Xerxes. Welcome.”

  War rose. “Thanks, brother.” Instead of crossing to Pestilence, however, he headed to the sideboard and the forgotten drinks. Picking up one, he tossed back the contents. “So.” He refilled his drink, picked up a second from the tray, and returned to Xerxes. “Do you mind telling me who you pissed off in Philadelphia?”

  “Ah, fuck.” Garrett groaned. “Are they killing your demons, too?”

  Arching a brow, War handed a drink to Xerxes. “I’ve lost two in that area in the last week and a half,” he told them before taking a sip.

  “Fuck,” Garrett repeated, scrubbing his palm over his face. Turning his focus to Pestilence, he nodded. “It’s Condor, Rizer, and Whitney, as far as I can tell from my call with Daniel.”

  Using his hold around both their waists, Pestilence guided them forward. “Please explain. As far as you can tell?”

  Garrett nodded, following Pestilence’s urging. “Tristan left the line open when he tracked down Second Dale,” he told everyone. Seeing War’s arched brow, he added, “He’s one of my best friends from my old coven. Someone I trust with my life.” Waving his hand, Garrett got back on track. “Anyway, Tristan tracked down the second and bluntly stated that he’d heard our coven had started demon hunting, and he asked if it was true.” Garrett winced, saying, “Second Dale heaved a sigh and admitted to seeing Master Condor, Enforcer Rizer, and Enforcer Whitney heading out after the master took a private phone call. The second didn’t know who the call was from, however.”

  “Soooo...” War’s eyes narrowed. “Someone is tracking the comings and goings of demons and... is Master Condor an ex-master? You didn’t leave on good terms?”

  Pestilence shook his head. “He beat Garrett and refused to honor my bond. I removed him from the coven.”

  War heaved a sigh. “So he’s taking it out on any demon he can track down in his city. Great.” After knocking back his glass, he rose to his feet. “Come on. I happen to know Death has lost a demon, too, but I don’t know about Famine.”

  “He’s not normally in that area,” Pestilence commented, and War nodded.

  Xerxes quickly rose, setting aside his barely sipped drink. War took his hand and guided him to the door. “Let’s go, guys. Time to decide if playing by the rules is necessary or if we can take matters into our own hands.”

  Pestilence urged Garrett a
nd Aiden after his brother. “What did you have in mind?”

  When War smiled over his shoulder at Pestilence, his expression appeared a little feral. “My other chosen, Monte, is working with his coven, at the moment. We’ll visit them and ask.” Then War smirked. “And I’m contacting Death to join us, since we know the bastards have impacted him, too. I’ll send one of my generals to inquire with Famine.”

  Garrett remembered Pestilence telling him about his brothers and their beloveds. Monte was the head enforcer for a coven out in Montana. He still worked closely with his fellow vampires because they’d accepted his bonding with War.

  Smart move.

  Less than ten minutes later, Garrett looked over the sprawling ranch before him. He spotted a half dozen people standing on the porch, mostly wearing flannels, boots, and jeans. The woman sported a peasant skirt and blouse and stood in the embrace of a broad-shouldered vampire.

  A redhead dropped off the porch and swiftly strode toward them. War opened his arms and accepted the man’s embrace, which Xerxes was included in. The vampire sank into a deep kiss with War, which lasted more than was appropriate. Once they broke apart, the vampire kissed Xerxes, too.

  That has to be Monte.

  As they finished up, movement to Garrett’s left caught his attention. He spotted Death approaching. With him were two humans, a wide-shouldered dark-haired man as well as a slenderer blond.

  Daren and Eric.

  Although Garrett wasn’t certain which was which.

  “Give it a rest,” Death called, amusement lacing his words. “You said you had news?” Turning to Garrett, Death smiled. “You look a sight better.” Then he dipped his chin at Aiden. “And you must be Aiden. Nice to officially meet you. I’m Death.” He pointed at the dark-haired man, then the blond. “My chosens, Daren and Eric.”

  After that, introductions to those on the deck were quickly made. Coven Master Dante Mannis was the one holding the skirt-clad, Ruth. The dark-haired vampire was Second Kellan Harlon. The massive, black-skinned male was actually one of War’s demons—Thanach, and he held his blond human amina, Giles Corsair.

  “So, War,” Dante began once everyone was seated on the massive back deck. “Monte said you had something odd come up that I may be able to help with?” He peered around at War’s brothers, interest filling his hazel eyes. “Something affecting all of you?”

  Ruth and the human donor, Hank, hurried around getting everyone drinks.

  War didn’t sugar coat it.

  “If you decided to start picking off demons willy-nilly because you were pissed that I bonded with a vampire from your coven, could I take out your inner circle?”

  Master Dante’s brows shot up, and everyone stared in surprise.

  Shrugging, War continued, “Or is there some vampire enforcers I could contact to make you stop?”

  “W-Well,” Master Dante stuttered, expressing his shock just as surely as his scent did. He cleared his throat, then nodded. “Yes, you could contact the Vampire Council. They would assign a diplomat and a couple of council enforcers to act as liaisons while you met with the coven master to air your grievances.”

  Huffing a sigh, War crossed his arms over his chest. “I’d much rather just kill the bastards.”

  “Me, too,” Pestilence grumbled.

  Garrett took his hand and squeezed it. “I’m sorry my coven master is causing everyone such problems.”

  Pestilence scoffed. “Your asshole ex-coven leader is to blame,” he stated coldly, pinning him with a narrow-eyed expression. “Not you. All you wanted to do was accept my bond to save someone you love.” Pestilence lifted Aiden with one arm from his nearby deck chair and placed him on his lap. Aiden immediately relaxed against him. “Someone we both now love. We’ll make those fuckers pay.”

  War growled, then nodded. “Master Dante, could you please contact whoever you need to? The master of the Philadelphia Rutherford coven is attacking our demons.” Then he narrowed his eyes. “And the only way he’d know when they showed up in his city is with magick.”

  “Uh, I didn’t know anyone in my coven—”

  “Ex-coven,” Pestilence again corrected.

  “Ex-coven had contact with magick,” Garrett finished.

  War grinned broadly, the expression malicious. “We’ll be sure to find a chance to ask your ex-master about that.”

  Dante pulled his cell phone from his belt and dialed a number. “I’d like to report an infraction perpetrated by a coven master brought to me by another paranormal group.”

  Whoever Dante was talking to made things move pretty swiftly after that.

  Garrett sat in the back of a large, Hummer-style limousine with nearly a dozen others. As much as he wished he could leave Aiden behind for the confrontation, he knew his lover wouldn’t have heard of it. Pestilence sat on their human’s other side.

  Pestilence’s three brothers had joined them. While Famine hadn’t personally had any demons killed, that was only because none of his minions had worked in the area recently. If they had, they would have been targeted.

  The rest in the limo were there representing the Vampire Council. There were two diplomats—Caspian Carpathian and Sebastian Russo. The two enforcers were Vincent Marché and Nereo Belmonte. The final man in the vehicle was Vince’s wolf shifter beloved, Frankie Drunger. He remained quiet and watchful, obviously there to watch his mate’s back.

  As soon as the vehicle pulled up to the gate, it opened.

  Nice.

  As the home Garrett had shared with many others over the last several decades came into view, unease twisted in his gut.

  Aiden squeezed his thigh. “Relax,” he whispered. “We’ll be safe.”

  “I didn’t want you to come. I don’t want you in the line of fire,” Garrett reminded him.

  Smiling lovingly at him, Aiden stated, “I know. But I’ll be fine.” He reached his other hand for Pestilence. “I have you guys. I don’t need anything else, and nothing anyone says can change that.”

  “Damn straight,” Pestilence growled.

  Garrett sighed and nodded. “What he said.”

  The limo stopped under the portico, and whoever sat next to the driver up front climbed out. He spoke briefly with someone, then opened the back door. Instead of backing away to let them out, he stuck his head in the door.

  “Fair warning,” he muttered softly. “They’re claiming a countersuit that Pestilence kidnapped one of their vampires, and they only killed demons to get his attention so he’d return him.”

  Sebastian smirked. “Ah, so they know why we’re here.” He winked at Pestilence. “We’ll get this cleared up quickly enough.”

  Growling softly, Pestilence snarled, “Kidnapped? I rescued him from a locked cell where he’d been left beaten and bloody.” He curled his lip as grumbles went through the other horsemen. “He’s lucky I didn’t just pop in and slay the entire inner circle for his crimes against my chosen.”

  Lifting his hands in placation, Caspian murmured soothing words. “We do appreciate that. Very much,” he assured. “Now, let us do our jobs and take out the trash, leaving the good ones behind. Okay?”

  Pestilence snarled once more, then cleared his features. “Let’s do this.”

  War smirked. Death chuckled. Even a glimmer of amusement appeared in Famine’s pale eyes.

  Everyone exited the limo.

  Garrett spotted the inner circle and extra guards lined up along the steps leading to the house.

  So they don’t even plan to let us in. Not good to insult council representatives that way.

  “Coven Master Condor,” Sebastian began, locking his gaze on the vampire. “Perhaps it would be best to step inside to a more private setting?”

  While it was spoken as a question, Garrett knew it wasn’t.

  Master Condor shook his head once as he crossed his arms over his chest. “I don’t think so, Representative Russo.” He narrowed his eyes as he focused on the
horsemen. “I’ve had kidnappers in my house before and won’t have it again.”

  Yep. An idiot.

  “Thank you for returning my coven-member to me,” Condor continued. Snapping his fingers, he pointed at his feet. “Come, Garrett. You’re safe to leave them now.”

  Not just an idiot.

  Unable to help himself, Garrett laughed. He wrapped his arms around his waist, doubling over. Tears leaked from the corners of his eyes as he shook, leaning into Aiden to stay upright.

  “What the fuck?” Enforcer Rizer snarled.

  “Shut it,” Enforcer Caine snapped, glaring at the lower level enforcer. When Rizer opened his mouth again, obviously intending to mouth off, Caine pointed his thick finger at him. “Don’t make me repeat myself.”

  Garrett figured Caine had no idea that Rizer had ended up one of Condor’s favorites.

  “Leave him be, Caine,” Condor ordered. “Or you’ll lose your position.”

  Caine clenched his jaw and fell silent. Rizer smirked snidely. Second Dale’s eyes narrowed, and he glanced around surreptitiously. Surprisingly, Maude nodded almost imperceptibly.

  “If you return my people,” Condor began again. “I’ll stop killing your demons.”

  “People is it now?” Caspian commented drolly. “Before it was just Garrett. Who is the people now?”

  Condor’s face flushed a smidge, but he pointed at Aiden. “Our donor, Aiden Rolston.” His eyes narrowed. “We must deal with him our way, too.”

  “Your way?” Famine hissed, clearly annoyed by the man. “What is your way?” The man clutched a sheath of wheat in his hand, and it twitched, showing his agitation.

  Garrett suddenly realized that War wasn’t the hothead of the group. That title clearly belonged to Famine. The horseman practically itched to attack those who’d harmed his brothers’ minions.

  Glaring at Famine, Condor sneered at him. “How I care for those in my coven is my business.”

  “Actually, it’s our business,” Sebastian stated. “A coven master has no authority to deny his members requests to transfer, especially after being in the area for over four decades.” He pulled out some paperwork. “Daniel and Tristan, the Vampire Council overrides Master Condor’s refusal and approves your request to switch covens.”