Brock (9 page)

Wilfred was
dropped again, this time into a pile of shit that he’d avoided all evening waiting for the Owens to return. He didn’t move but stayed where he was as the vampire moved out of the yard and faded into the night. He was ready to stand up and go back to his lair when the vampire turned again. All Wilfred could see was his face.

“You have two days.
At the end of those two days, I will find you.” He was fading away when Wilfred felt the touch of his mind.
“When I return, Wilfred Robin Cole, I will not be as easy on you as you were on your last victims. Death will not comfort you in the afterlife, for I will bring you back many times to kill you over and over until I tire of it.”

Wilfred didn’t move. He’d known about his last meal?
Not possible. Standing up, he entered the house behind him and searched for something to put on. All he could find was a pair of worn jeans that were too short for his legs and hung low on his hips. The shirt, probably the only clean one in the house, had been hanging in the bathroom on a hanger, still damp.

Wilfred took a quick shower and put on the clothes and wondered again where the family was.
They had seemed so eager to do work for him, and he’d been thinking about giving himself another child or two. The ones that he’d made so far had spread out to do their own thing, and he hadn’t heard from them other than once when one of them died. Not a great loss to him, as he’d fathered three, but he still felt the pang of it.

Wilfred
thought about what the man had said and dismissed him. He had done nothing but yap, and now that he’d thought about it, had done nothing but brag about this unseen greatness. No power poured from Baron whatever as it had Jimmy until the end right before he’d left him. Jimmy had assured them all that they would know power when it approached them. Wilfred had felt nothing but fear, and that was more than likely all the power that he had, the gift of fear. But one of his brothers had talked.

He was trying to figure out which one as he entered the lair.
The sun would be coming up soon, and he felt the drag of it on his body. That was the one thing he hated more than anything, the sun’s pull on him. It shorted his night and made him so weak during its time that he cursed it. Wilfred was sitting in the room’s only chair when his dad and brothers came in.

He hated his dad. He was nothing more than an old man who tried to tell him what to do.
Wilfred was nearly thirty years old, well past him being ordered around by his father, especially one as weak as he was. He glared at him as the other three talked about their night. He thought about telling them he hoped they fed well because this was the last night for them, but he didn’t believe that any more than he did anything else the Baron had told him. But he did watch them.

One of them had had to talk to the other vampire.
But which one? All of them knew his full name, as he did theirs. All of them also knew that he had a temper as well, so the last victim shit was just that, bullshit. He watched Steven. He would have the most to gain if the vampire would be able to kill him, but Wilfred didn’t see that happening. Next to him he was the strongest. He never considered his dad because the Baron had said brother.

Maybe he should try bluffing. He’d always been good at it before
he’d changed, and he felt now that he was so powerful that he’d be an expert at it. He’d actually thought of going to one of those all-night games and winning at poker, but he didn’t care all that much for money, as he had as much as he wanted from stealing from the homes he’d broken into. Sitting back, he watched them start to crawl around on the floor trying to find a place that would be comfortable during their rest. He’d taken the only bed to the basement just last night and had been sleeping on it. There was no way he was laying on the floor on the main level of the house so that anyone or anything could come in and bring the sun with them.

“I saw another vampire today.” Nothing from any of them
, so he continued. “He said that we were to leave this area and never to return. And that if we didn’t, he’d hunt us down and kill us all. He also said my full name, like that was supposed to be scary or something.” It had been, but he wasn’t going to tell them that.

“Why?” This from
Steven. “What business is it of his where we are? Do you think that Emma sent him? Or did you tell him where we are just to be bragging again?”

Wilfred
sat up. “Why would she send anyone for us? She doesn’t know we’re coming, does she? I mean, someone would have had to say something to someone for him to know that we’re in town. He also knew about the party we had the other night. And my name? How do you suppose he was able to get my full name?” Not all true, but how the fuck would they know unless they told him the truer parts.

Steven
shrugged. As he lay down on the blanket and settled in, Wilfred was ready to try Shawn when his brother spoke again. “Maybe she knows him. Maybe she has told him all sorts of things about us. She never was one to talk much, but we know that vampires can read minds. Hell, for all we know, she could be his mate that Dad was talking about. We should probably think about what he wants us to do. I’m not all that keen about being killed right now.”

Anger surged over him
, and Wilfred tried to control it. If he tried to kill him now, with the others so close, he might get hurt. He watched as death took them, fighting his own rest. As soon as they were all no longer breathing, he went to the fireplace, picked up a piece of kindling, and broke it in two so that he had a sharp point at the end. Standing over his brother, he felt his fangs drop in anticipation of staking him. He knelt down beside him and kissed his brother’s forehead.

“You should never fuck with anyone stronger than you
, brother dear.” He plunged the wood deep into his chest, feeling the moment that it pierced his heart. His brother woke as blood poured from his chest, mouth, and ears. Black and vile smelling, it spilled to the floor, and curls of smoke came up from it. His fangs dropped, and he hissed at him as he tried to pull the wood from his heart. Holding it where it was, deep in his brother’s chest, Wilfred smiled at his brother as he began to burn. His brother would be no more in a matter of seconds.

Standing up
, he watched as his body incinerated and dust covered the floor. Looking at his other two brothers, he was tempted to do the same to them and his dad. But he might need them. Looking at his dad again, he smiled. He was next. He even thought about doing it now, but the sun was heating the room, and he needed his rest.

Staggering to the basement
, he looked around. He couldn’t just lay out where they could find him if they wanted, and crawled up the stairs again to the attic. He barely got the door closed when he pitched forward. Christ, he was going to hurt himself as he fell and knew it. But he was out before he touched the first rat droppings that covered the entire floor. He needed a safer resting place.

~~~

Peter woke with a start and smiled. He had felt the moment that one of his…grandchildren, he supposed…had died. One down and four to go until he rid the world of their evilness. He felt another…disturbance in the line, and realized that Em had felt the death too. He thought that odd, but she was their sister and maybe it was true that families could feel when a member was killed violently. But as he lay back, he felt Brock as well when he stirred awake. Getting up from his resting place, he went to the window and reached for his maker.

“One ha
s killed the one of their kind tonight. There are now only four of them left, sire.”
He waited for a response, and when none was forthcoming, he spoke again
. “There was…I think that Emma felt the passing. Could it be that she is connected to them still?”

“No. I think…the male
, her mate, he also felt it. They are very strong, are they not, Peter? They are not like the other cats in the streak.”
Peter told him he didn’t think so and told him about the strange thing that had happened with Brock that day.
“Hmm. Do you think he is more than a mere cat? Do you think that what we had hoped is now coming true?”

He didn’t know.
“I believe him to be much more than a simple shifter, and if the other is true then he will be something…more than likely more than either of us dreamed he could. He has an aggressiveness about him that I’ve never encountered before. And as his mate, and now I think his true mate, she is surer of herself as well.”

“It b
ears watching…the two of them, I mean. I don’t mean to say they’ll cause trouble, but the simple fact that they are so different will make it so we keep an eye on them. We have many plans for this family, and all of them will need to be together before this is completed. All of them.”
Viktor laughed.
“The female, Emma, has she come to be friendlier with you?”

“Yes.
She is still slightly standoffish, but she is coming around. The day she sipped from me made me think her to be coming around, but it’s hard to tell.”
He lay back down on his bed.
“You’ll be coming for a visit then? You’ll be here when my children come to see them?”

“I will. I do not think they cannot win against him, especially since they have begun to kill each other off.
The one called Wilfred, he is mad with his newfound power and will be stupid with it. He might just kill himself before they get to your family.”

He hoped so
, but Peter didn’t hold out much hope. In his experience, people like Wilfred would go along for a long time being the way he was, mean and without any kind of repercussions laid at his door, before someone would come along and have to kill him. He knew that Wilfred would kill his father and possibly another brother, but that would just make him feel as if he could win against higher odds. He would have to be killed before much longer. He hoped that he would be there when it happened, too.

Chapter
9

Brock rolled over in the bed and found a cold place where he thought Em should have been. He listened to see if she’d gone to the bathroom, but there didn’t seem to be any sound coming from there either. Rising, he reached for her and found her in the kitchen with his cook. He smiled as he got into the shower.

“Are you sore still?”
She was embarrassed, and he nearly laughed
. “I meant your shoulder, love. I know that my beast broke your bones when he bit you.”

“I’m
okay. I’d forgotten about it until you just mentioned it.”
She paused, and he felt her fear, but before he could comment on it, she continued
. “I think my family is nearer. Last night…Brock, I think one of them is dead.”

He’d felt something
, too, but had thought it was just a dream and had simply gone back to sleep. He was curious as to why he might have felt the death of a vampire, but there wasn’t much about his life right this minute that he understood. He would ask Peter. He was his only source in this matter. He got into the shower as he spoke to her.

“I think
you’re right. I don’t know why I think so, but I’m pretty sure I felt it too. We need to talk to Peter as soon as we can. He might know the reason you felt it, or even if that’s what we felt. It might just be a bad dream.”
Or hopeful thinking too, maybe on both their parts.
“I’ll be down soon. I love you.”

“I love you as well.
And your mom is here. She said she needs to speak to you.”
He sighed, knowing she wanted something he wasn’t going to be able to give her.
“She said you’d better not try and duck her again or she’ll have your hide. Sheesh, your mom is intense.”

“You have no idea
.” Brock finished up his shower and dressed in some tear away pants and a tee-shirt. He was going to go with Em today and help her shift. He’d wanted to last night, but they’d both been so exhausted that he wasn’t sure that if there was an emergency he could have helped anyone. Smiling, he thought it was the best reason in the world to call in sick.

His mom was
sitting at the table, frowning. He didn’t see Em anywhere but wasn’t worried because no one else seemed to be. When he sat down, a plate of food was placed in front of him by Roland, and he offered some to his mom.

“No. You know as well as I do that I was at a breakfast meeting you were supposed to be at with me. You figured sleeping in was a good excuse not to go with me? I’ll have you know that I was embarrassed since you were suppose
d to introduce me as a guest speaker.” He sat back, embarrassed himself. He should have been there.

“I
converted Em last night, and I completely forgot.” She looked at him oddly, then at Em when she entered the room. “We got back here and it just happened. I know I’m supposed to—”

He stopped talking when his mom stood up.
She leaned into Em, who took a step back, and then looked at him. He couldn’t read the look on her face. It was sort of a cross between her being upset and confused.

“I don’t smell you on her.
I mean not at all. It’s as if you’ve never touched her.” He looked at Roland, who shrugged. “Brock, I don’t even smell her on you as her mate at all, and I should. We all should.”

Brock stood up and buried his nose in Em’s throat. She wrapped her hands around his arms and held him as he pulled her to him.
Their cats seemed to touch, and he lifted his head to look at his mom. She looked shocked.

“That I felt. Good heavens
, son, what did you do to her? I felt…I think I felt her cat rub her head on my throat. I’ve never felt that…never in all my years have I felt anything like that. It was as if she marked me.” He reached for her, and she backed up. “Not yet. I think I need to have a seat.”

Roland shoved a chair under her
, and his mom sat down and stared at Em. Em didn’t flinch or fidget like he was known to do when his mom looked at him like that. In fact all of them did, even big bad-assed Ryland. He sat down, too, and pulled Em into his lap to wait.

“She’s an enforcer like you.”
Before he could ask his mom what she meant, she took Em’s hand. “I’ve never known a female enforcer, though I don’t doubt they exist. You’re his true other half, his mate in all ways. My goodness, dear, you are going to be a thing to reckon with, aren’t you, when the two of you are together?”

Em shook her head and looked at him.
He didn’t know what to say to her either. He didn’t understand any of this, and he was pretty sure his mom didn’t either. Em took out her pad of paper and started writing. He watched as she handed it to his mom.

“I don’t know
, dear. I honestly don’t. When they get here, and we all know they are coming, I would bet that they’ll have a hard time even getting close to you, much less trying to take you now. I’m pretty sure that you could kick their asses all by yourself, and I for one want to be there when you do. I’ll be sure to bring my camera and some popcorn. I think it’ll be entertaining to say the least.” She sat back after handing him the note. “I think I might like to see the look on Ryland’s face too when he finds out. He’ll have…what was that saying I heard the other day…? Kitten? He’ll have a kitten?” Em laughed with his mom.

“I’m thinking we need to talk to Peter
, too.” Both women nodded. “But about Ryland…I thought he felt when someone was converted because he was our male. You think he didn’t feel hers?”

His mom smiled and shook her head. “I saw him this morning at the breakfast
, and he didn’t mention it, and I’m sure he would have. By the way, he’s not happy with you either since I gave him an earful. Now that I know why…I’m so happy for you both. I’m sure that he’ll not be too happy with you when he gets here.”

Brock wasn’t sure
, but he had a feeling his brother was going to be really pissed off. Not just because he’d not asked for permission, but because he’d embarrassed their mom. Ryland, as all the boys, loved their mom. They were afraid of her, too, but they loved her. He smiled when he heard someone pull into his driveway and lifted Em off his lap to go out and greet his brother. There was no sense in messing up the kitchen for this. Brock had a feeling his brother was going to hit first and ask questions later.

As soon as Ryland got out of the car and came around it
, he found himself on the ground. His fist had shot out so quickly that Brock had had no time to react. Before he could get up and tell him he was sorry, he heard a crash and saw a blur of gold and black streak past him.

Ryland was pinned against the car hood with a tiger at his throat
. She held him there with the weight of her body, and Ryland didn’t, or maybe couldn’t, move. Brock was still trying to wrap his mind around where she had come from when his mom touched his arm. He looked at her.

“Do something before she kills him.”
He looked at the cat and realized it was Em. “She just shifted and was crashing out the door before I could blink. I’ve never seen anyone shift like that before. Nearly had me wet my drawers.”

He wasn’t going to comment on
that and slowly made his way to the car. He whispered through her mind and was surprised to find his cat wanting to kill Ryland as well. Brock’s cat and the beast moved along his skin, and Em growled.

“He didn’t hurt me.
Please back off before he shifts and hurts you, love. Em, can you hear me? Let Ryland go.”
He ran his hand down her back over her fur, trying his best to get through to her before one of them got hurt.
“Christ, do you have any idea how beautiful you are right now? You’re much bigger than I thought you’d be as a cat, and much meaner. Ryland is going to be pissed when you let him go.”

“He hit you.”
He heard her voice and was surprised at the hatred that came from her.
“He will not hurt what’s mine.”

Brock was trying really hard not to be
too proud of her and looked at Ryland. He was pissed, he could see that, but he thought he saw he was impressed, too. He spoke to Ryland as he rubbed Em’s fur.

“I converted her last night.”
Ryland spoke to him through their link and told him “no shit.” “She’s not happy because you hit me. I’m trying to calm her, but if you let me tell her that you won’t punish her too badly, I think I can get her to let you go.”

“I have no intentions of punishing her at all so long as she fucking lets me go.
I should have…I didn’t know you’d done this. Why didn’t you fucking tell somebody?”
Brock shrugged.
“Please have your mate let go of my throat before she brings my mate to me.”

His voice was so calm that Brock laughed.
He’d sounded like he was requesting that Brock go to the movies with him or something. Brock leaned his face into Em’s throat. He got a mouth full of fur, but he bit her.

“Let him go.”
She growled again but lifted her head from Ryland.
“Now get back so he can stand. You’ve been a bad girl, and I will spank you if you don’t do as I say.”

Her cat purred at him
, but she looked back at Ryland and growled again. He watched as they made eye contact, and could feel the connection like the one between he and Ryland snap into place. He heard Ryland swear, but just then Em leapt off him and sat next to their mom. Brock wasn’t sure, but if either of them took a step toward their mom, Em wouldn’t hesitate in ripping their throats out, and damn the law that said that she couldn’t hurt her mate.

Ryland sat up
and leaned against the car. He had blood on his neck where she’d bitten him, and Brock realized that was how they had connected. He started for Ryland to see how bad it was when Em growled. They looked where she was when she suddenly took off to the house. A car was coming up the driveway.

“Who is it?”
Brock shrugged at his mom. “She must know who it is. She took off like she was afraid.”

“
It’s to do with my family. I’ll wait in here. And if you need me, I’ll come out. I don’t know what he wants, but he smells like them.”
Brock told his mom and brother who Em thought he was, and that she was waiting to see if they needed her. Ryland looked at him as the car came to a stop. He wasn’t any happier now than before, but at least he wasn’t hitting him again.

“She’s going to have to explain to me what the fuck happened here
. And she’s going to have to pledge to Bronwyn too.” He looked back at the house for a second before watching with him the little man who got out of the car. “Christ, do you have any idea how much power she has? She could have killed me and there wouldn’t have been a damned thing I could have done about it. And I’m pretty fucking sure she would have had you not commanded her to release me.”

He only had a chance to nod before
the little man was standing in front of them. He was human, and he did smell of vampires. He smiled nervously as he wiped sweat from his face and neck and held out his hand. Neither of them took it.

“I’m here on behalf of the family of Emma Cole.
” He put his hand down and frowned. “My name is Saul McKinney, and I would like to speak to Miss—”

“So?”
The man looked at Ryland, then back at him as he continued. “Say what you have to say and get the hell off my property. You have no rights here, and, frankly, you’re very close to having me call the police.”

“I
have some information on Miss Cole that you need to be made aware of. Her family is requesting that you cooperate so that this can be settled amicably. She needs to be brought home so that she can be treated.” The man looked over his shoulder, and Brock knew that Em had come out of the house. But when he turned, he saw his mom coming toward them.

“You’ll tell
us what she’s being treated for, young man, or so help me, whatever they think of doing to you, I’m going to be much worse. Spill it.” He and Ryland both took a step back to get out of her way. “Well? Do you think we have all day? Say whatever is burning a hole in your throat before I hurt you. I’ve had a really crappy morning so far, and you being here is not making it any better. I just might have to hurt you so that something feels right.”

“She’s nuts.” The man flushed
when their mom took a step toward him. “What I mean to say is that Miss Cole is ill. Her mother suffers from the same illness. They believe that the males in the family are vampires. And until recently Miss Cole was being treated by a doctor who was working on getting her to where she was well enough to be on a release program.”

“He is lying.
I’m betting he doesn’t believe in weretigers either. Maybe if I came out there and pissed all over his nice suit, then changed to me, he’d believe fast enough.”
Brock covered his mouth and smiled. He told Em to behave and to stay inside but to remain a cat.

“We’ll use your plan later if necessary.
Maybe not the shifting part, but the pissing on him part. Hell, I think my mom might join you.”
He looked at the man and spoke to him. “You say she was being treated? Where? And for how long?”

“Where?”
The man reached into the inside of his coat and froze when a loud growl came from Brock’s mom. “I think…I believe that I should simply go back to the Cole family and express a desire to quit their services.”