Obsessions: A Monster Squad Novel 7 (3 page)

“Very well.” She turned and he watched as she made her way back to the warehouse office. “Have somebody notify me when the rest of my army arrives.”

Samael nodded to Gaius. “You heard your queen.”

Gaius dropped to one knee and bowed. “As she wills, so shall it be done.”

Samael turned and followed Lilith into the office. He stuck his head back out and looked to Gaius. “Bring us water and wine. We’ll be thirsty soon.” He gave the man a wicked smile before shutting the door.

2

Mark stepped out of the OPCOM and leaned against the wall, his thoughts turning to the past when he and Apollo had interacted not only as coworkers, but as friends. He tried to shake off the anger he felt as the images replayed in his mind. He knew that Apollo had turned against them. Hell, he was the reason he had been attacked and infected. But still…it just didn’t seem
right
that somebody should shoot the man like that.

Had it been in the heat of battle and he had been injured, that’s one thing. If he had been tagged for a body bag and taken out by one of the squad members, that was another. But to be sniped once the dust had settled? That was chicken shit. If you’re going to drop a guy, do it face to face.

Mark pushed off the wall and felt the pangs of hunger tearing through his midsection. He made his way down to the chow hall and absentmindedly filled a platter, his mind still replaying the events of the night. As he sat alone in the furthest corner, he continued to replay the events. His body went through the motions of stemming his appetite without ever truly tasting the food or remembering what he had eaten.

He pushed the platter away and stared at the stack of bones, a momentary lapse in memory causing him to question where they originated. He sighed heavily and leaned back in his seat, his mind playing back to the battlefield. If all of Simmons’ men had shifted, then who fired the shot? Surely this Simmons character wouldn’t trust humans to work alongside his wolves? Mark scratched at his chin as his mind raced. If not another human, then who else could have…he shot from his chair and practically ran from the chow hall.

“What’s your hurry, Major?” Hammer asked as he darted past him.

“I need to make a call.” Mark skidded to a stop and turned on the man. “Any idea what time it is in England right about now?”

*****

Rufus hung up the phone gently and turned to Foster. “We have our audience. The gypsy witch will see us.”

“Hooray for us.” Paul stretched on the bed and flicked at his nails. “And you truly think this witch will tell you the truth? What is to prevent her from lying to you for shits and giggles?”

Thorn called his valet and ordered his bags readied. Preparing a cognac, he spoke to Foster absently. “She will speak truly. It is her way.”

“How can you be assured?”

“She is sworn to her sister. That sister is Viktor’s mother, and if Viktor has arranged the meeting, then she has sworn an oath to him to serve my purpose honestly. Viktor will have seen to it.” Rufus sat down gently and sipped at the cognac.

“You put an awful lot of trust on an awful lot of maybes.” Foster slid his legs off the edge of the bed and shook his head. “I fear I will never be as trusting as you are, brother.”

“I must be.” Rufus stared deeply at the snifter of cognac, his mind playing out possibilities. “My fears are not with whether Angelica may lie to us. My fears are with if she tells us the truth.” He turned and faced Foster. “Then we will have to face Damien and possibly the demon whore Lilith.”

Foster snorted with derision. “He shall answer the call of his maker or be undone.” He stood and marched to the door separating the rooms. “And as for Lilith, if she has truly been reanimated, then we shall do the world a favor and shred her heart once more.”

Thorn watched as his brother marched purposefully back to his room and prepared to leave. His own valets entered and began packing his belongings while he contemplated the future. If Lilith was once more walking the earth, surely they’d know. Wouldn’t they? She would have made her presence known the moment she became whole.

He swirled the cognac in the snifter and sipped at it, his mind considering the numerous possibilities. If Lilith was once more amongst the living, their safest course of action would be to allow the Monster Squads to deal with her. If he could only
know
for sure one way or the other.

“Monsieur Thorn, your belongings are ready.”

Rufus looked up and nodded to the valets. “Very well. See them to the car.” He drained his snifter and placed it back on the tray. “Notify my brother that I’ll be waiting downstairs.”

*****

Jack sighed heavily into the phone. “No, I don’t know where he might be staying. I only know that the Council demanded that they meet on the full moon and that—” He pulled the phone back and rubbed at the bridge of his nose. “Yes, I understand that was two nights ago for you, but he may still be in town.”

Lieutenant Gregory reached for the phone. “Chief? Can I give it a try?”

Jack shrugged and handed the phone to the junior officer. “Give it a whirl.”

“This is Lieutenant Gregory with Team Four. With whom am I speaking?” Jack watched as the man jotted down the name. “Captain, we’ve been asked to coordinate with Team Two in trying to apprehend a wanted fugitive who has stolen classified data and attempted to build what we believe is a Doomsday weapon. This person of interest had an appointment in Geneva yesterday evening and we have reason to believe he may still be in the area. All we are asking is for you to send some of your people to check it out. If he’s vacated the area, we’d appreciate the feedback. But if he’s still in the area and you can apprehend him for us, we’d be very much in your debt.”

“It ain’t gonna work.” Jack leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms behind his head. He stared at the ceiling and shook his head with frustration.

“Thank you, Captain. You can call me back at this number, day or night. I truly appreciate your cooperation in this matter.” Gregory shot Jack a smirk as he hung up the phone. “He’s got spotters in the area, and they’re going to hack the local hotel registries to see if Thorn signed in under his own name. If anybody from the States checked in with an entourage, they’ll check it out and get back to us.”

Jack leaned forward and stifled a smile. “How in the hell did you…”

“You catch a lot more flies with honey than you do with vinegar.” Gregory shrugged.

“I was using honey!” Jack stood as Gregory stood and left the room. “I was!  I know how to use…” He stammered after the man’s back. Jack fell back into his chair and chuckled. “I don’t care if you used black strap molasses, as long as they’ll cooperate.”

*****

Matt opened the door to his office and stopped dead in his tracks. Laura stood so quickly that he nearly jumped. “Ms. Youngblood.” He nodded to her then slipped behind his desk and poured a cup of coffee. “I suppose I have you to thank for brewing this?”

“Yes, sir. I assumed you’d want some as soon as you got out.” She sat as he took his chair.

“Thanks.” He sipped the dark bitter nectar and sighed. “Ahh, now that hits the spot.” He smiled at her then noted the look on her face. His smile slowly faded, and he placed his coffee mug on his desk. “I’m not going to like this, am I?”

“I’m ready, Colonel.”

Mitchell gave her a confused look at first then realization struck him. “Oh.” He glanced around his office, hoping to find something else that needed doing before she could officially ‘leave’ their service. “I, uh…”

“I brought her in just like you wanted. You don’t need to travel any longer and leave the squads behind.” Laura cleared her throat and rubbed her palms across her pants leg, attempting to dry them. “Mark is all but healed completely. He’s more than capable of taking over all of my duties.”

“And, uh…Evan? He’s okay with…”

“We’ve talked. He knows that I need to go and he understands that I’ll be back.” She stood and nodded. “Colonel. I
need
to go.”

Mitchell stood slowly and shook his head. “I guess you do.” He stepped out from behind his desk and shook his head. “I just don’t understand why you have to go so quickly.”

“If I don’t get out of here, I’ll never go. This place has a way of sucking me back in. It seems like every time I turn around there’s something else that is threatening the world, and if I could just stick around a little bit longer…” She gave him a tight lipped smile. “I will be back. Eventually. But right now? I have to get out of here or I’ll go insane and take everybody else with me.”

Mitchell nodded as he held out a hand to her. “Understood.”

Laura reached for his hand then paused. She stepped forward and wrapped her arms around the man that had become a surrogate father to her. “I’ll come back. I promise.” Her voice sounded tiny and small, buried in his chest.

“I’ll hold you to it.” Mitchell stroked her hair gently and allowed her to let go and wipe at her face. “If you don’t, you know a certain vampire that will definitely come looking for you.”

She sniffed back a tear and nodded. “Yes, sir.” She stood at attention and snapped a perfect salute. Mitchell sobered then returned it. He felt his chest tighten as she spun and marched out of his office. As he watched her walk away, he felt like his family was being torn from him once again.

He stood alone in his office for a moment, unsure what to do next. He turned slowly back to his desk and sat down, suddenly weary. He reached for his coffee cup as his door opened again. Captain Jones stepped just inside. “Have a moment, sir?”

Mitchell glanced up and waved him in. “How did the op go last night, Jericho?”

Jones approached his desk and laid a report down gently. “It could have gone better.”

Mitchell snapped to attention. “Casualties?”

Jericho nodded. “One, sir.” He tapped the report. “Apollo.”

Mitchell released the breath he had been holding and nodded slowly. “So that’s what the men decided.”

“Negative, sir.” Jones seemed to be in a state of shock, or disbelief. “The men took a vote and decided to banish Apollo. He could no longer be a part of the squads, never pop up on our radar or face their wrath. They were going to tell him to just fade away. Maybe find a pack and lay low.”

“What happened, Captain?”

Jericho slowly shook his head. “Sniper, sir. And he got away. He’s still out there somewhere.”

“It wasn’t any of our perimeter watches?” Mitchell picked up the report and thumbed through it.

“Negative, sir.” Jericho nodded toward the report. “It’s all covered in there.”

Mitchell closed the report and looked up at Jones. “Are you okay, Captain?”

Jericho inhaled deeply and let it out slowly while he chose his words. “We lost an operator tonight, sir. Whether he was actually still with us or not, that doesn’t matter. He was one of us.” He turned toward the door then spun back toward Mitchell. “I know this makes no sense, but it would have been different if the squad had decided to…” He trailed off.

Mitchell stood and approached the man. He placed a comforting hand on his shoulder and nodded. “I understand what you’re saying, son. Somebody took it upon themselves to lay down judgment on one of our own.”

“Exactly, Colonel. They don’t have the right.” Jericho turned reddened eyes to him and shook with rage. “If we had decided that, it’s one thing, but we didn’t.”

“This isn’t over, Captain. If there’s still one of theirs out there, we’ll keep hunting until we find him.” Mitchell squeezed his shoulder gently.

Jericho inhaled deeply and nodded. “Apologies, Colonel.”

“No need, son. Apollo was with us for a very long time. He may have strayed and done things that we have trouble understanding, but I understand exactly where you’re coming from.”

Jericho nodded his thanks and turned for the door. “Oh, by the way, sir, Major Tufo is on the horn with Team One in England. I think he may be following up on a hunch.”

*****

Bigby maneuvered his stolen car through the industrial park and toward the interstate. Once he was back onto the freeway, he quickly blended with the early morning traffic of those who diligently trekked to and from work like drones. He drove aimlessly until he found himself north of the city and passing well to do homes. He saw a billboard for model homes and without thinking took the exit.

His body was exhausted and his mind raced at what to do next. He knew he needed to let Mr. Simmons know what had happened. He debated on whether to paint Sheridan as an idiot for having trusted the Yank or not. He finally decided against that move. If he made Sheridan out to be inadequate, there was a good chance that Simmons would consider him to be as well.

Big pulled the stolen car into the housing complex and noted the finished homes near the front of the entrance and the new construction in different stages of completion the further you drove. He drove the car through the area and once he was satisfied that the crews had yet to arrive, he turned back and pulled to one of the last homes that appeared finished. He pulled the car up to the garage door and stepped from the running vehicle. The garage door was locked as was the front door. The back door was locked as well, but a quick elbow to the glass gained him entry.

He walked through the semi-furnished home and through the garage, opening the garage door for the car. He pulled the car in and killed the engine. Shutting the garage door, he noted that the first of a line of work trucks had just begun to enter the subdivision. He walked back to the living room and pulled slightly at the blinds. He smiled to himself as the trucks all pulled to the other side of the small subdivision and crews began their daily trudge.