Red Satin Lips (7 page)

“Slow down.” He wrapped her robe tighter around her and she smiled, not realizing it had come loose.

Taking a deep breath, she looked up at Alton. “Is there any way to find out who the hunters were  and contact all of them? We need to warn them, they’ll be on her hit list too. I think you have been a thorn in her side and she’s getting antsy. She’s going to make a mistake and I’ll be waiting for it.”

“No, we’ll be waiting for it,” Lars snapped and stood. “I mean it, Tamara, you won’t do this by yourself or I’ll lock you up till we catch her.” He stepped in front of her and lifted her chin up.

“You are our world, please include us,” Lars asked and she knew it took a lot for him to do this when all he wanted was too keep her safe.

She nodded. “She’s going to strike again. This woman wants a build-up, death all around her, making sure everyone, including humans, is aware of her presence. It might not be anyone that is connected to us, but she’s not done.” A sense of dread came over her.

“What, what’s wrong?” Gage asked behind her as he wrapped his arms around her.

“There is a connection between us now. I don’t know how, but it’s there. She hasn’t realized it yet. This woman thinks she’s too powerful for us to stop her, which might be our ticket to get rid of her, but not soon enough. They’re killing again.”

Chapter Five

The sixth body was found in the abandoned building, as they watched the horrific scene unfolding in Southfield, Michigan. The local police were calling it the worst gang violence in history, but Tamara knew it wasn’t gangs that were skinning people alive and draining them.

No, the bitch was striking and making sure everyone around her knew it, and it was only the beginning. “That bitch is psycho.”

“We need to call the authorities down there and let them know what they’re dealing with.” Gage snarled, as he sat forward, scanning the crowd of people gathered around the building, waiting. “What do you think? Do you see anything that you recognize?” Gage turned and looked at Tamara as one of their team used a hidden video camera to scan the crowd.

She had played with the camera before Lars’ guard had left. One thing for sure, Tamara loved little gadgets. Both Lars and Gage had teased her about it as she watched. It was now tucked into the man’s hat. No one would know he had it. It was the size of a pea.

“Can he move to the right, there against that building?” Tamara pointed to where Alex stood in the shadows as a man next him leaned against a van. His eyes were almost black as he spotted their man.

The guy grabbed onto Alex’s arm and whispered in his ear. Lars’ brother turned to their guard and flipped him off, before the both of them hopped into the waiting van.

“Why didn’t they just flash out of there?” She looked over at Lars.

“Too many around, plus I bet the woman was in the van watching her handiwork. I don’t recognize the man who was next to Alex, did you?” Lars asked his grandfather, who shook his head.

“I saw him once,” Lars’ mother said. “He was in the hallway in one of the upstairs rooms. I thought it was odd since it was in the West wing and we hadn’t opened that up yet because we were waiting on Gage’s family. The man said he was lost so I figured he was a shifter.” She rubbed her upper arms as if warming herself,

Sensing her distress, Trevor moved closer to his wife and engulfed her in a hug. “When was this, sweetheart?” he asked, kissing the side of her neck. “The thought of that monster near you…”

She patted his arm. “It was yesterday, so we might want to have that wing checked over.”

Four men came into the living room as if they had been asked to appear. “Take a team into the West Wing and get Samuel's dogs in there too. When that is clear, spread out. I want the whole house checked for bombs or traps.” He stopped speaking as she grabbed his arm.

“The playroom, someone needs to check there now.” Tamara stood and moved towards the door. “Everyone out.”

In a matter of five minutes, not a single person was left in the house except for the extra team Lars had called in last night.

“Why do you think there is something in the playroom?” Lars asked standing next to her while Gage held her tight.

“I don’t know, it’s just something clicked when you said bomb. I’d rather be wrong then all of us dead.” Ten of them stood back in the gardens that were now frozen over with a foot of snow.

She was wearing jeans, a sweater and snow gear along with boots Lars had gotten for her from one of the guests. Tamara looked over at her dad and his gaze lifted to hers as he tried to smile.

“If I’m so connected to this woman, can she see what we’re doing? And why can I do this all of a sudden? I mean, I was good at profiling, but not like this. It’s like I’m slowly getting jumbled thoughts from her brain.”

One of the other elders stepped in front of her. “My name is Wallim. I wasn’t at your testing. May I have your hands, please?”

“You’re not going to throw punches at me are you, because I don’t want to risk…” She looked at Lars.

“She carries our children, so any physical testing will have to wait,” Lars more or less ordered as Gage stiffened behind her.

“No, I will not harm you or the children. I will be able to see what kind of gift this is. It might help understand more. I’m afraid I’m a little older than the others and I get restless from time to time so I was off on what you call roundabouts when your testing was done.” Wallim informed her.

“Wallim is one of the angels. You wouldn’t be that old?” Her dad smiled and winked at her.

“Maybe, maybe not, but that is my little secret. May I?” Again he asked and she placed her cold hands into his warm ones and she smiled.

“Umm, warmth, thank you.” Tamara mumbled as a cloud-like sensation traveled up her arms to her head. “Wow, this is different,” she stared into his eyes which Tamara could have sworn now had some kind of white film over them for a few seconds.

“Thank you, It’s as I thought.” He released her hand and bowed to her. “One of your gifts has to the do with the cognitive brain aspects,  As a human you had already trained yourself and your mind to work like this, but now with your father’s and husbands’ blood flowing through you, it has enhanced your abilities. There is no need to worry. She cannot see into your mind, but eventually, if she is as old as we believe, this woman should catch on to that fact you are reading her. When that happens, it could become dangerous.” He looked up at Gage, and then at Lars.

“If she finds the path you take to enter her mind, with her being older… Before you even go there again, you need to work with your men on how to block others from entering into your head. They will be able to help you stop anyone from traveling backwards since they are bonded to you. I believe you haven’t totally entered her mind yet, but you are seeing glimpses of her thoughts, ones she is projecting loudly right now. Soon, with your gift, you will be able to enter her mind and we could have a way of finding her, but I really would not suggest it till the protection barriers are in place.” He stepped away from her as Lars looked down at her.

“Do not even say it. I won’t enter her mind until the barriers are placed. I’m not stupid,” Tamara glared at Lars as she put her hand over her stomach.

“I never said you were stupid,” he said before leaning down and kissing her. “I just want us to be careful. We’ll start forming that barrier as soon as we find out what the team has to say. They’re coming out now.” He playfully bit her nose, before turning to speak with the lead man, Samuel.

“You were very lucky. There were enough explosives to put a giant hole in the ground. The rest of the house is cleared. Lars, whoever did this knows what they’re doing. It took my guys twice as long to disconnect everything.” He looked over at the main building and shook his head.

“I need another team on this, Lars. There is no way my team can search that place without help and have it done by tonight.” Samuel nodded to the two men who came out carrying a large box between them.

“Do you have someone in mind?” Lars asked, moving out of the way as his men moved to the main house.

“Yes, but you’re not going to like it.” He grinned and Lars snarled. “Fine send for Mike, but keep him away from me.” Lars grumbled before turning to scoop her up in his arms.

“The rest of you are welcome to come and sit inside with us while the team works on the main house,” Lars invited the six elders, his family and a couple she hadn’t seen before.

“
Lars who are they? I haven’t seen them before?”
She sent an image to him and he stopped.

Already, her father and the other men were surrounding her as Lars turned to stare at the couple in question. “And you are?”

The rest of the guests had chosen to go into town. A few were even going to stay at the new hotel there that Alton had built. She didn’t see them as a threat, just different. Tamara tapped him on his chest. “Put me down for a minute, would you?”

“Now is not the time to experiment with so many trying to kill you,” Lars, or his other form, snarled.

“They are no threat, just different. Please, Lars trust me on this,” she said and waited as she watched the play of emotions roll on his face. Slowly he lowered her feet to the ground.

“You stay behind us,” he grumbled and allowed the couple to approach

The smiling couple bowed to Lars and Gage. The man winked at her as he stood. “My name is Grim and this is my lovely partner for the evening, Della. We mean you no harm Lars, Gage, but…” He stopped and turned his head towards the main house.

“I must go to work.” Tamara could have sworn she heard before everything went crazy. The West Wing exploded, shouts and screams filled the night air. As the debris fell all around them, Lars and Gage covered her body on the ground.

Her ears were ringing and it was hard to breathe with both men covering her, but she wasn’t about to lift her head when another set of explosives went off closer than the last ones.

“Hotel now!” Alton screamed before the three of them sat on the carpet of what looked like a suite.

“Are you okay?” Lars and Gage ran their hands over her body, searching for injuries.

“I’m fine, my ears are still ringing and I feel like I was smashed like a pancake, but other than that, I’m pissed. We need to find out how many are dead. Lars call off this ball since it’s just too dangerous.:

“I have to agree. We’re lucky we got most of the people out before this, but the servants and those poor men,” Angeline cried into Trevor’s shoulder. “Our home is gone. How could Alex do this?”

“I have no idea, baby, but he’s gone from us.” His father looked to him. Alton nodded as did her father.

Lars stood as did Gage, but Gage scooped her up in his arms. “Come on, let’s go lay down for a little bit.:

She rested her head on his chest, as he carried her down the hallway towards the back room. “What are they doing, Gage?”

He opened the door to a room that had a Jacuzzi tub in it, along with a bar, small fridge, a flat screen TV that almost covered one wall and an oversized round bed. Shutting the door with his foot, Gage made his way to the bed. He kissed the top of her head, before gently placing her on the edge and kneeling before her.

“They are calling in all the elders, death warrants are now being placed on Alex, and the group he is with.” He slipped off a boot and her sock, before going to the next foot.

“I’ve heard of this, but don’t understand what it is. I mean, hell, we’ve been looking for them. Why does issuing warrants help us?” Tamara moaned as he started to rub the sole of her foot.

Resting against the bed, Gage sighed. “The one thing every species dreads is a warrant being issued, because once it has been issued on someone, the monsters of our world are released.”

A cold chill settled over her, as Gage stood and picked her back up, moving to the center of the bed and covering them both.

It had to have dropped at least thirty degrees in the room. “Why is it so cold?” Her teeth chattered as he curved his body around his.

“They will be here soon. Do not make a sound. We don’t need them drawn to you,” Gage whispered and nodded to the bottom of the door. What looked like black fog now covered the floor. Tamara was terrified.

Living with danger was one thing, but the thought of real monsters out there. She shivered and pulled Gage’s arm tightly around her. Needing him close. Just thinking Lars was out there had her tearing up, but Tamara didn’t say a word.

****

He glanced back at the room where Gage kept their woman. He knew that she shouldn’t be a part of what was about to happen. His father had already placed his mother in the other room and sent her into a deep sleep knowing tonight would be just too much for her.

Once the unknowns of their world were released on a target there was nothing that could stop them. He just hopped they had enough information on the female for them to hunt her. Thirty elders gathered around. Lars and his father stood in the back as the victims of said murders.

The room’s temperature dropped as the dark liquid-like fog poured into the suite and surrounded them. It tasted and searched their minds before showing itself, There had been only one other time Lars had sat in on one of these summonses and even now he didn’t know what to expect.

This was a part of their world no one wanted a part, but it existed. There was no way to get around it.

“You seek the death of one of your own?” The voice was like that of a squeaky toy. It was annoying and hurt the ears.

Lars’ grandfather stepped into the center of the circle and opened his mind for it. Showing it what had happened and why they needed its help. Alton disappeared as the black fog covered Lars' grandfather.

In what seemed like an hour, but in reality had to have been about ten minutes, his grandfather reappeared a little paler, but all right. Two figures stepped out of the fog. One was that of a natural-born demon and the other Lars had no idea what he was.

“We need to read the female,” the demon announced looking straight at Lars.