Kiss Me When the Sun Goes Down (32 page)

“You know you don’t have to do that to get him to talk,” I pointed out.  My compulsion would do the trick without any bloodshed, but I didn’t scold him very hard.  I wanted the guy to suffer for what he’d done. 

“I know, but I wanted to.  This guy hunted us down like animals, I was just repaying the favor.  He doesn’t seem to be cooperating though.”

“You could try removing the gag out of his mouth.”

“Spoilsport,” Carter muttered, pulling the sock free.  The shooter spit out a mouthful of bloody phlegm, but made no sound as he glared up at us.  I had the feeling that I’d seen him once before, but that was about it.  I definitely didn’t remember any kind of argument or interaction to justify his actions against my family.

“Does anybody recognize him?” I asked.  His clothes had that commando look that the Order members were so fond of, but Bishop shook his head along with Carter.  I knelt in front of him, surprised to find a human, not a vampire, as I’d believed.  I put my face right up to his, so that I had his undivided attention as I unleashed my compulsion on him.  “I’m not going to mess around.  I want to know why you did this.”

“I ’ave me orders.”  His accent was British and roughened by the streets.  Not too unlike Rob’s, but lacking his clarity of speech.

“Orders from who?”

His brows drew together into a single dark line.  “I... I ’ave me orders.”

“Tell me who gave you those orders,” I insisted, and his mouth worked without any sound before he shook his head.

“I ’ave me orders.”

Carter let out a disgusted breath.  “Shit... he’s been compelled.”

“Son of a biscuit,” I frowned.  “Okay then, what are your orders?  To kill me?”

“No.  Just everyone you loves.”

“Everyone I...”  Words deserted me as the terror of that statement sank in.  Was that what Hanna’s car accident was about?  Taking away someone I loved?  “Is that why you killed Lee first, before we got home?”

“That’s the cowboy fella, yeah?  I didn’t kill ’im, I killed the big bodyguard.”

“And you shot me,” Bishop grumbled, but the guy shook his head. 

“No, me orders was to take out the bodyguard, the secretary chippie, and the pet ’unter.”

“You’d better not mean me,” Carter growled, and I laid a hand on his shoulder.

“And my sister?”

“Don’t know nuffin’ about your sister.  That was the other bloke.”

“Who is the other guy?” 

“I... dunno.  I ’ad me orders, and ’e ’ad ’is, just the same.”

“What happened to him?  Is he still out there?”

“I reckon ’e ran after ’e stuck your wolf.” 

“Where did you get these weapons?” Bishop asked, kicking at the captured rifle with his toe.  “They look Order issued.”

“Answer him,” I nudged when he remained silent. 

“Dunno.”  He gave what might’ve been a shrug, if he hadn’t been so tightly tied up.

I decided to try another tack.  “Do you know the person who put you up to this and you can’t physically say it, or do you not remember who they are at all?”

“I... don’t remember.  I got the orders and come to do the job.”

“What are you supposed to do after the job is done?” Carter asked. 

“I’m to go ’ome again, but only after the word is given.” 

“Then he or she will be contacting you again?  How?  Do you have a cell phone?”

“I dunno.  Could be the phone, I couldn’t say.”

“I think it’s safe to say this guy is less than useless,” I sighed, feeling very tired all of a sudden.  “Go ahead and stick the sock back into his mouth.”

“Wait,” Bishop stopped Carter.  “Do you know what’s supposed to happen to Anja after everyone she loves dies?  Was the other guy supposed to kill her too?”

“Dunno.  Just know she wasn’t to be ’armed in this strike.”

“Oh, what about the tainted blood prank at the New Year’s party?” I remembered suddenly.  “Did you have anything to do with that?”

“Blood?  Dunno nuffin’ about it.”  He shook his head. 

“Which means exactly nothing,” I frowned, motioning for Carter to gag him again.  “So all we know is, someone hired this guy and one other to attack my loved ones, but not me.”

“Not yet.  The next step could be an attempt on your life,” Bishop pointed out.  “Let’s focus on what we know for now.  This guy’s British, well equipped with Order caliber weapons, with obvious training, probably military.  We all know you’ve got an enemy in Simon Corley since you got him kicked out of Vetis.  Maybe he decided to pick his moment and move on you now?  Just because he didn’t come openly with Jennike doesn’t mean Corley’s not here.  He could be holed up in the house across the street right now for all we know.”

Carter had a different take on it.  “Yeah, but last we heard they wanted Anja alive for their plot to unite the Houses.”

“Which I not only turned down, I told Jennike not to listen to Corley’s advice any more.  Maybe this is his retaliation for that?”

“How would he have known you compelled her to drop the idea?” Carter asked.  “My money’s on Bakareh.  That little bastard was one petty motherfucker, and we know he’s not your biggest fan.” 

He was right about that, I
had
made an enemy of the Child King.  But had I offended him enough to come after everyone I loved?  “Do you really think it’s Bakareh?  This kind of seems like overkill for my calling him out on his tantrum, doesn’t it?”

“You not only stood up to him, you booted him out of your House.  That made him lose face in front of the other Houses,” Bishop replied.  “I agree, it’s a bit extreme, but I think he’s capable of a move like this, and hiring out is definitely his style.”

“And now Lee and Gunnar are dead because I mouthed off at the guy.”   

“You can’t look at it like that,” Bishop disagreed, trying to soothe me.  “Whoever did this is to blame, not you.”

Easy for him to say, but I couldn’t help but feel responsible.  If it wasn’t for that person’s vendetta against me, my friends would be alive.  Maybe if I’d stayed out of politics when I had the chance, none of it would’ve happened?  I couldn’t think about it for the moment though, I had to try and stay focused or I’d drive myself crazy with what ifs. 

“Okay, so what do we do with this guy?”  I kicked his bare foot with my shoe.  “Turn him over to the police?  We can’t just compel him and let him go.  He has to pay for what he did.”

“I’ll make him pay,” Carter growled. 

I was surprised to hear his venom directed at a human for once, but he was right, the guy deserved it.  “Alright, I’ll trust you to take care of it.”

“Nothing that leaves a trace or the Order will have to be involved,” Bishop warned, and Carter fixed him with a withering stare.

“Duh.”

“Come on, let’s get you inside.  We don’t know where that other guy slipped off to yet,” Bishop suggested, wrapping an arm around me to guide me into the house. 

Inside, Kane stood by the couch, giving instructions to Maggie, who scribbled them down in a notebook.  Tucker lay on his side with a Captain America throw blanket barely covering him, but he didn’t look cold at all.  In fact, he was burning up, his skin beaded with sweat and his eyes unfocused. 

“Is he going to be okay?” I asked softly, not wanting to disturb him.

“Yeah, he’ll be fine,” Kane replied, his face no longer pinched with worry.

“But he looks so miserable and sweaty.”  I laid a hand to his brow, and found him burning to the touch.

“That’s normal, it’s how we heal.”

“Can my blood help him?”  I’d have to have some bagged blood from the fridge first, but I felt confident I could share my blood if it would help speed along his recovery.

Kane’s face twisted as if he’d tasted something foul.  “We don’t need your blood.  It’s unnatural.”

“But will it save him pain and misery?”

“Keep your blood, he’ll be fine,” he insisted, his lips pressing together into a grim line.

Maggie looked like she might argue, but we were all distracted by the step of boots on the front porch.  “It’s the police,” she reported, darting a look through the window.

“I’ll take care of it,” Bishop offered, striding to the front door, but I called to him before he opened it.

“Lee’s out front...”

“I’ll take care of it.” 

I nodded, closing my eyes as a wave of weariness rolled over me.  I knew I should have a mug of blood to replace what Bishop had taken, but the idea of eating and going about my business seemed wrong.  There were too many things to do before sunrise, which was right around the corner.  Step one should be taking care of our loved ones, not myself.

“Kane, would you please bring Lee inside for me?” I asked.

“With the cops out there?” he balked, darting a nervous glance to the window.  “I don’t want to get caught up in your mess.”

“Bishop will square it with them.”  Hopefully whatever story he concocted would keep them from coming back.  “I don’t want him sitting out there any more.”  I couldn’t explain why, exactly.  I just didn’t like him being out there all alone. 

“Yes, ma’am,” he agreed without further argument.  Kane brought Lee in and laid him out on the dining room table, where we all stared down at him.   He looked so pale, his lips tinged blue and limbs stiffening already.  “Do you want me to take him?” he offered, and I felt a flare of panic.

“No, we’ll see to his burial.”

“He should be buried in pack lands.”

“You weren’t his pack.”

“But he is still a shifter, not a vampire.  There are traditions...”

“We’re his family, I’ll take care of it,” I cut him off, the subject not open for discussion.  I couldn’t let him take Lee away, I wasn’t ready to say goodbye yet.  Kane must’ve heard something in my voice, because he simply nodded and accepted it without arguing the point. 

“I’m sorry for your loss.”

“Thanks.”   

“And don’t worry about the business, I’ll keep things going fine.  When you’re ready, we can talk about any long term plans.”

I hadn’t even thought about that.  I had no clue who’d inherited Lee’s share of the security business, but I was happy to let Kane run things for the time being.  “Thank you, I’ll give you a call when I’m ready to talk about it.”  It got me to thinking though, would Lee’s family want to come to his funeral?

Once Kane had gone, I turned to Maggie.  “Maggie, can you try to find a way to reach Lee’s family tomorrow, after you’ve had a chance to rest?”

“I’ll look into it this morning,” she nodded.  “He spoke with Tucker often about where he was from.  Maybe it’ll help distract him from the pain to talk about it.”

“Thanks.  Maybe ask him about some of those shifter traditions too.  I’d like to honor his ways, but I couldn’t let him take Lee.”

“I understand.  And Gunnar?”

A lump rose in my throat as Gunnar’s last moments swam to the forefront of my memory.  “I’ll go out and gather his ashes when the cops are gone.”

“It’s too dangerous.  You should let me...”

“No!” I said, harsher than I should have, from the startled look on her face.  “I’m not the one in danger, all of you are.  You’ll have to stay inside until we can figure something out.”

“Surely not during the day.”

“That guy who attacked us tonight was human, and he wasn’t after me.  He was after you.  All of you.”

“But why?”

I just shook my head.  If only we knew, then I might begin to make some sense of the night’s events. 

Bishop slipped in, with no trace of worry.  “We’re all set.  There’s going to be a record on file of a drive by shooting, with a bogus description of the car, but no real suspects.”

“Why have any record of it at all?”

“Because people reported the shots fired, and there are three bullet holes in the front of the house.”

That made sense, and I added that to the mental list I had going to take care of.  “And Lee?”

“I persuaded them not to see him.”

“Thanks for taking care of that.”

“Of course,” he said with a somber nod, studying my face carefully.  “Are you alright?”

“Just tired,” I nodded.  “What about you?  Are you sure you’re okay?”  I wanted to tear open his shirt and check the wound again, but I took him at his word when he replied.

“I’m fine.”

“Then kiss me and tell me...”

His lips cut off the rest of my words, his kiss tender and sweet.  “It’ll be alright,” he soothed, giving me what I needed.  “Maybe not for a while, and it’ll suck before it gets better, but it’ll be okay.  I promise you, Anja.”

And I believed him.

* * *

T
he rest of that night is sort of a blur to me now.  You know that scene near the end of
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
, when Cameron goes into a strange, coma-like state and then tips into the pool?  That’s exactly what I felt like.  Everything seemed as though it was under water.  I felt isolated, as though there was a buffer between me and everyone else in the room.  Voices sounded strange and distorted, everything was blurry, and I couldn’t figure out why.  Gradually, I came to understand that I was weeping, though I didn’t have the sensation of crying at all.  No ragged breaths or sobs, only the steady leaking of sorrow from every pore. 

Bishop held me without words or judgment, offering his stoic brand of comfort, but I barely felt his arms around me in that state.  My thought processes shut down, nothing made sense anymore.  So much death – and for what?  If only I knew why, then I might be able to process it all. 

And then I realized it wasn’t over.  His orders were to kill everyone I loved, and he had specific targets.  Lee’s death and the dart fired at Bishop seemed to point in the direction that the other shooter had specific targets as well – all on the same night that my sister nearly died in a car accident.  What if it was no accident at all?  Would my parents be next? 

Shaking myself out of the fog, I surged up, pushing my way out of Bishop’s arms.  I’d already wasted so much time!

“What’s wrong?” he frowned, immediately casting off the drain the rising sun brought with it. 

“I have to get to my parents, I have to keep them safe.  Whoever’s doing this might strike at them next.”

Bishop didn’t argue the point, but he did lay a hand on my shoulder when I would’ve thrown open the door to charge into the lightening sky.  “Let me take care of it, I’ll make some calls.”