Obsessions: A Monster Squad Novel 7 (5 page)

She smiled wickedly and pulled away from him. “So we skip the holy part and go straight to domination.”

“It will be much more difficult.” He stroked at her hair with his massive hand.

“Perhaps. But we have a demon army that cannot be destroyed.” She chuckled as she pulled back and stared up at him. “One thousand may as well be ten million when their numbers cannot be depleted.”

3

Mark hung up the phone and went over the names on his list. He shook his head at the potential shit storm he had written down on paper and got up from his chair. Mitchell knocked just as Mark stepped out from behind his desk. He glanced up at the face poking through the door. “I heard you were running up the phone bill.”

Mark waved him in and took his seat again. “I was running a hunch.” He tossed the tablet across the desk. “Those are people who used to be with Team One.”

Mitchell picked up the notebook and scanned the list of names. “What do you mean, ‘used to be’? I thought Sheridan was the only one removed from—”

“The rest are either MIA or confirmed dead.” Mark chewed absently at the end of the pencil in his hand. “I have a sick feeling in my gut, and it isn’t from eating in the chow hall.”

“So let me get this straight. Roughly a third of Team One has been killed or is MIA and nobody thought to say anything?” Mitchell slapped the notebook down on the desk and glared at Mark.

“Apparently it was one here, another there…it all took place over the last five or six months.” He shrugged. “They didn’t have reason to believe it was anything other than normal casualties during high risk missions.”

“Normal casualties?” Mitchell sat down hard and stared at Mark disbelievingly. “How often do they lose people, I wonder?”

“They would find just enough evidence for them to convincingly place the person in the ‘deceased’ pile. Whether it was a bloody uniform or…hell, what does it matter? They’re pissed that we didn’t inform them that Sheridan slipped WitSec.”

“Like we’d have any idea that weasel had. There’s a reason it’s called witness protection. They don’t even tell us where the son of a…” Mitchell forced himself to stop and take a deep breath. “So the weasel not only slipped from WitSec, he recruited from his old team.”

Mark nodded and tapped the list. “The ones who wouldn’t join, he removed from service. Permanently. I guess he couldn’t risk them telling anybody that he was back and about to stir up trouble.”

Mitchell reached for the phone. “Get me the clean-up crews.” He turned to Mark. “We need them to wait on incinerating the bodies. I want every one of them bounced off this list until we can tell if any of the MIA are with the dead.”

*****

Rufus loaded the plane just as his phone rang. He took his seat and answered it. Foster fell into the chair across from him and watched his brother’s eyes widen slightly. He spoke quietly into the phone then thanked the caller and ended the call. “Who was that?”

Rufus tucked the phone back into his coat pocket and buckled his seat belt. “That was one of our hired security. It would appear that representatives from an unknown military group came to the hotel looking for a party meeting our description.”

Foster sat up, his curiosity piqued. “What did he say?”

“Only that they inquired as to whether or not we might have stayed at the hotel.” Thorn sat back and closed his eyes, his face unreadable.

“And?”

“And the hotel staff is worth every Euro.” He opened his eyes and a slight smile crossed his features. “They said that they’ve had no large parties check into the hotel in months. The human hunters left, accepting their answer.”

“Something must have led them to that particular hotel.”

“
Non
, security followed them to the next hotel where they asked the same questions. We are safe. For now.”

Thorn closed his eyes again as the plane’s engines began spinning up. Foster chewed nervously at his lower lip. “Was Thompson with them?”

“
Non
, Jack would be in the States still. Remember, he had to shift with the moon. I doubt that he would be in any condition to travel.”

Foster leaned back in his seat and stared out the window. “Still, we had better keep on our toes. If Viktor had not secured the meeting with the Gypsy…”

“
Oui
, we would have been caught. Rather, we
could
have been caught. It truly would depend on the diligence of the hunters.”

“Tell me where we are going next. I need to set up security ahead of our arrival.” Foster pulled his PDA from his coat pocket and began tapping into it.

“
Non
. We will not need additional security. We are invited by the wolves, we will be under their protection. We have the pack master’s word.”

Foster glared at his brother. “You, of all people, should know better than to trust your life…no,
all
of our lives, on somebody’s word. We need extra security before we get close to—”

“
Non
!” Rufus sat up and shot Foster a stern stare. “When it comes to wolves, who knows better how to deal with them? Only I. If I say that Viktor’s word is good enough, you shall accept it.”

Foster prostrated himself in his seat and bowed his head. “Forgive me, m’lord. I meant only to keep you safe.”

“The best way to keep me safe when dealing with wolves is to keep your mouth shut, your opinions to yourself and be grateful that they are willing to be of service. Regardless of your personal feelings toward wolves, they are a proud people with a strong sense of honor. You would do well to respect them and the power they wield.”

“Of course. I meant no harm.” Foster cast his eyes to the carpeted floor and only chanced a glance upward when the plane pulled forward and began taxiing toward the runway.

“Rest now, brother. We have a long flight.”

*****

“What’s in the case, Laura?” Evan continued to stare at the image of the aluminum case stuffed into the rear of her Jeep and listened to the phone while she shifted it, the sounds of traffic driving by highlighted by her breathing.

“I don’t want to say.” Her voice trembled as she spoke. “If I don’t tell you, then you won’t have to lie for me.”

“Nobody but the two of us even knows about it. I won’t have to lie, because nobody is going to know to ask me, will they? Please don’t make me do a complete inventory. It will take far too long and you know how I am. I
will
do one if I think you are less than truthful.”

Laura sighed into the phone and Evan knew the truth was about to pour from her along with some kind of explanation. “My father isn’t well, Evan.”

“And?”

“And, he’s too young to suffer like this.” She shifted the phone again and he could hear her putting the Jeep back into gear. She began driving again, and he wasn’t sure if she was returning or driving away. “I had to do something.”

“What did you take, Laura?”

“I took the protocol for the squad members.” Her voice had changed to defensive, and Evan was too floored to understand why.

“You took the…
why
?! You know what that will do to him!”

“Yes, I do. It will save his life!” He could hear the engine accelerate as she spoke, her emotions taking over, causing her to ‘run away’ as she admitted to him her wrong doings. She knew it was wrong, but she did it anyway.

“Laura, you don’t want to do this. Take it from me. I know. If I could refuse or remove what I am and be human again, even if it meant death.”

“But that’s because you’re a vampire, Evan. This is the wolf. He can live a perfectly normal life as long as he takes the bane. He may get a little antsy around the full moon, but…” Her voice trailed off.

Evan felt his guts twist as she spoke. As if being infected with one virus wasn’t ‘as bad’ as the other. Apparently all of their talks about being human and what that truly meant had fallen on deaf ears. He tried not to take it personally. This wasn’t about him, this was about her. And her father. He inhaled deeply and blew it out slowly.

“Laura, you still aren’t thinking this through.”

“Yes, Evan, I am. When I left Nevada, I came back to Tinker to grab a few things from my office and grab this. He was sick then, but he’s getting so much worse. I was getting desperate. It was now or never. So I grabbed it. Not a lot, just a couple of doses. I needed to be sure it took.”

“How many did you take?”

“Two vials. That’s all I planned to take. I know that one will do it, but with two…it
is
a gene therapy ‘thing’, right? I mean, he’ll only need the one real dose.”

“What color are the caps?” Evan rubbed the back of his neck as he saw the different dosages in his mind.

“One is blue. The other is a burnt orange. Almost red.”

“Give the red first. Three days later, shoot him with the blue. The day after that, shoot him again with the blue. Just make sure you destroy what you don’t use. Don’t give more than 15ccs per dose. You got that?”

She sniffled into the phone. “Thank you. I mean it, Evan. Thank you. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

“You’ll get us both arrested if you get caught. Maybe even get your dad…never mind. Just make sure he understands what you’re doing to him. Don’t tell him it’s some miracle cure. Make sure you tell him. I mean it, Laura. Give him the choice. Don’t you dare decide for him. No matter how much you love him and want to save him. Promise me that.”

“I love you.”

Evan chewed at the inside of his cheek as he waited for her to promise. “I love you, too. But I mean it. Promise me you’ll tell him.”

“I’ll tell him.” There was something about her voice that he didn’t quite believe.

“Before you give him the shot. Promise me, Laura. Let
him
choose.”

She paused a little longer than he would have liked, but she finally capitulated. “I promise. I’ll let him choose.”

“Call me once you’re done. Just so I know there aren’t any complications.”

“I will.”

Evan heard the phone click and he leaned back in his chair. He reached for the mouse and deleted the images of her and the aluminum case from the computer systems. “What the hell have I just done?”

*****

Mitchell walked back to his office, the list of Team One soldiers still on his mind when a familiar voice called out. “What’s a girl got to do to get a meal around here?”

He turned and knew he had a goofy smile before he ever laid eyes on her. “Please excuse my lack of manners.” He held an arm out to her and she wrapped her arm around his. “Allow me to escort you to our fine dining facilities.”

“Fine dining? I’m impressed.” She fell into step alongside him and was just realizing how large and imposing he might be to someone he wanted to intimidate.

“I may have stretched the truth a little.
Fine
might not be the best descriptor. But it
is
a dining facility.” He punched the button for the elevator and held the door open while she stepped inside. He studied her and his brows knitted in confusion. “Say, weren’t you a brunette when you arrived here? When did you change your hair to blonde again?”

She patted his arm. “That’s a byproduct of the shift. If a gal wants to keep her hair dyed, she better buy stock in Miss Clairol. Every time you shift, your hair returns to its natural color.”

“Must be really rough once someone goes gray.” He absently ran a hand alongside his own hair.

“We age so slowly that very few wolves actually go gray. Those who do are usually quite proud of it.” She gave him a knowing look. “Besides, it makes you look distinguished.”

“I was thinking old, but I’ll take what I can get.” The doors opened and the smells of food wafted into the elevator. “As you can tell, the chow hall is right down here.” He motioned down the hallway and escorted her inside.

“It’s bigger than I would have thought.” Jenny stepped in and found a few people milling about, some eating, others simply sitting and drinking coffee, reading while waiting to start their shift, or relaxing after coming off of one.

“We have a couple hundred people that we service. Naturally, the operators have pretty healthy appetites, so it’s like having to feed three hundred. We go through quite a bit of meat.”

“That goes without saying.” She nodded to the stacks of bacon, the hams, and large chunks of roast behind the sneeze guards.

“We serve just about anything you could want at all hours. If you want breakfast at three in the afternoon, just come down here and tell the cooks what you want. They’ll whip it up in no time.”

“Oh, I’m liking this. This is better than room service.” She elbowed him in the ribs. “A girl could definitely lose her figure with a place like this.”

“Believe it or not, you get tired of the same foods. They have pizza night, steak night, Chinese food…it just depends on the day of the week. They try to switch things up pretty regularly. Still, the wolves usually stick with red meats.”

“Have you already eaten?” She nodded to his empty hands and he shrugged.

“I was actually pretty hungry until I saw you. Then…”

“You’re saying I killed your appetite? I’m not sure how to take that.” She raised a brow at him.