Night Lurks (6 page)

“Take him up to the jail. It should hold him and he won't catch a cold. It gets a bit drafty down here.” Not that he could actually catch a cold, but you never know.

I join Alex outside the cell and am a little surprised to find Will waiting with him. He actually followed directions and was quiet, which has to be a first for any of my minions.

“That guard of yours is a little scary. He won't use that knife on me, will he?”

It is a slightly funny to see a vampire scared without any direct threat against him. I am going to have to toughen him up.

“You are safe. Have you by any chance called Gene, or anyone else at the movie set, to tell them about your change in status?”

“I haven't had a chance. I was wondering about that. For at least this film, do you think I could still finish it if they only shot at night? It shouldn't take more than another week for the rest of my scenes.” I can see the hope in his eyes and I don't feel the need to squash it.

“After we get Sebastian back, I think that would be okay. I won't have time to go with you until then and it is probably a good idea to have some vampire backup, even if I don't know what I am doing,” I reply.

“Got it. I will give him a call. I imagine half the crew woke up pregnant this morning and it will probably take them a little while to sort that out anyway.”

True, but I doubt the crew will remember a ton from the night before and they aren't going to realize there might be buns in the ovens until the vomiting begins. That is why I only have sex when I need to reconnect bonds. Any other time would be too great of a risk.

“I heard that. I am pretty sure you weren't going to deny me in the shower earlier,”
Alex adds
.

Alex is right, and what is even worse is that if he were game, I would grab him and take him in one of the nearby cells to have my way with him. There is something really messed up with my system and I would like to see it fixed, pronto.

Chapter 7

My army is ready

Back up in my apartment, the wolf contingency looks ready for World War III. I guess when I tell them to gear up, they don't hold anything back. They are in full-on commando mode with their normal black outfits, but instead of concealing their guns and knives, as they usually do, they are out there for the whole world to see.

They are like my own little plastic Army men. Me likey.

“Ready for our orders, Princess,” Jonas states and gives me a salute. It is too much and I start laughing.

“I want to have some weapons too,” Will says, which makes the situation even better. Everyone starts laughing at that comment.

Jonas walks over and wraps his arm around Will. It is nice to see Jonas not shunning the new vampire on the block. “Do you think you can handle the kind of artillery we are packing?”

Will looks over the pieces he can see on Jonas and nods. “I have had fight training and know how to shoot a gun. I don't think I have all the vampire skills from the brochure, yet, but with a little firepower, I should be able to hold my own.”

I am really hoping I don't need an army just to go to a demon hang out. However, if a mini one is offered, I won't say no. I have never had a great desire to see how demons spend their recreation time, but I assume it is filled with copious amounts of depravity.

“Buttercup, I think the firepower is just a little excessive,” Ben says bringing Clyde over. My little puppy has on his biggest spike collar and matching little ankle cuffs. I can only guess who dressed him. Really, it could be a number of people in the room, but my money is split between two of them.

“Jake put them on, but I brought them to him. Don't I look cool? Do you think one of the guys would be willing to strap a rocket launcher to my back?”

I don't bother responding to that idea and instead respond to Ben's thought. “We aren't exactly going out for a picnic in the park. You said this place was a demon club and even if the weapons don't do us a whole lot of good against them, I like the show of force.” I think if we showed up not looking like we could hold our own, we would be devoured by the beings stopping by for a quick drink.

“Is there any way just you and me can go in the club, wolfy is included in that since he is attached at your hip. Outsiders are usually frowned upon. I can probably make a good case for you, but the others might be an issue.” He gets evil eyes all around. We cannot make ours go red like his, but he gets the picture. “Fine. You are going to have to take this, though.”

He hands me a small vial. I look down at it and then back up at him. “I want the disclaimer before I take something. Last time you didn't bother to tell me you were dosing me and I am not going through with that again.”

“So untrusting,” he says shaking his head and sighing. “It is just going to make you not seem so unique. We agreed that was the plan.” I remember agreeing to that plan. That doesn't mean he didn't think of a way to make it work in his favor somehow.

“Just what will I appear to be, a baboon?”

“That hurts, Nyx. Really hurts. It will bring out the wolf in you. I thought it was best since he is your present mate.”

“And just how long will it last this time?” I try to think of anything else that I should get clarification on before taking the potion. Nothing is coming to mind, which worries me.

“Tonight only. I didn't make it as strong as the other one.”

“Just out of curiosity, now that I am not human anymore, do I get to know just what you are?” Will asks butting in the conversation.

I am tired of just standing around, so I head to the kitchen to mix up a quick protein shake for the road. I am starting to feel a little drained. It has been a really busy night and I still have at least a couple of hours before I can think about getting a small nap in. Yes, I did just leave in mid-conversation and I doubt me walking away made sense to anyone.

“Few people know for sure,” I say in answer to Will's question. He has followed me, so I don't have to worry about checking out whether his improved hearing is online. I don't really like him following me and it goes on the list with staring.

I grab my shaker and the protein powder and start measuring it out. “Rumor is I am a mix of three paranorms. I know the werewolf and vampire parts, but there is a third part that everyone wants to keep a secret from me. It gets on my nerves and I would rather not talk about it.”

“Are there others like you?” he asks missing the part about not talking about it.

“No.” I pour a bit of milk in my mix, the contents of the vial, and then start shaking. My right arm is functioning enough that I can even use it to complete the task. I feel little twinges of pain as things are realigning themselves. I am finding the healing part of injuries is just as annoying as the injury itself. “Why don't you go ask Jonas to get you set up with some weapons? I am going to want to leave in the next few minutes. It sounds like Marcus is back.”

I hear the elevator doors open as I finish my sentence. “How did you do that?” Will asks as he moves out of the kitchen a little to get a peek at who is coming off the elevator.

“You will be able to figure it out soon enough. I thought I told you to go get ready.”

I push him aside and make my way to Marcus. Everyone else is just kind of milling about until I give them the green light to do something. I should have assigned someone to book duty to try to come up with some other solutions to our demon problems. Since that is usually Sebastian's job, it just didn't feel right to hand it over to someone else.

“I am thinking a tank wouldn't be too far out of left field for me to ask for in exchange for what I just went through,” Marcus says as he quickly shakes his head. It looks like he is knocking some cobwebs loose. Knowing where he just came from, I wouldn't doubt it.

“How bad was it? She didn't try to slip you any love spells, right?” Hilda may sell a ton of those things, but I never took her for the kind to use them herself.

“God I hope not. I did have to agree to a date. Why in the world does she think it would ever work out between us? She is a witch, I am a vampire. Those two things don't compute.” He hands me a small sack and I glance in it while trying not to spill my drink.

“I can't ask specifics right now, but she was able to hook you up, yes?” I don't want Ben to know of the mission and how successful Marcus was.

“She was most helpful, oddly enough. She told me to tell you she will be there in a month for the party.”

“The voices in her head need to quit filling it with hogwash. I am not having a party, nor have I ever had one. I am guessing she didn’t happen to mention what grand event she thinks we will be celebrating.” I have wasted enough time avoiding my shake and take a big swig. It doesn’t taste any different, but knowing there is a little bit of something added makes me scrape my tongue across my teeth to try to get rid of the additive.

“I was told you will find out tomorrow. I communicated to her what I figured your reaction would be and let her know you were sorry the invite got lost in the mail,” he gives me a quick smile and then rushes off to his room. “I didn’t know we were going somewhere dressed as G.I. Joes. Give me just a second.”

I can see why he wouldn’t want to look out of place amongst the group. I need to spiff myself up for the occasion. I finish up the shake and run the cup to the kitchen. I don’t feel any wolfier, but I didn’t really feel any different the last time Ben decided to mess with my physiology.

“Alex, you want anything?” I ask as I head towards the bedroom. I stow the bag from Hilda in my closet. When I am able to lose the demon for the day, or night, or just whenever he decides to take a hike, I will ask Marcus about the goodies.

“Nah. It makes me feel important if everyone else around me is armed to protect me.”

What a dork. Even Clyde is playing dress up for this one. I go ahead and strap on my external thigh sheaths. When they are in position I grab Helen and Clytemnestra and slide them into place. I shimmy into my holster and check to make sure all three guns are full of ammo. My Colt is missing a couple of rounds from target practice, so I have to reload. I would hate to get into battle and start dry firing because I didn't count my bullets ahead of time.

To top off my gear, I add a katana to my back. I don't get to play with my swords enough and I bet it will see more action than my guns. Bullets don't have a great effect on demons, or so I am told, but I might be able to stab one a couple of times.

I think that should do it. With the guards as armed as they are, I could probably follow Alex's train of thought and go in naked, but that is not my style. I need to have at least a knife handy in any stressful situation. Even if I don't pull it out to slice someone to little pieces, it gives me comfort knowing it is there by my side.

“Are you sure I cannot convince you to take one of my blades? I don't usually let anyone carry one of my personal stock, but I am willing to make an exception for you,” I pull out one of my bowie knives. It has a sheath that would hang nicely from one of his belt loops.

“If I cannot kill whatever attacks us with my bare hands, what kind of mate would I be for you?” he asks and he is lucky I know he isn't being serious. “Believe me, I will be just fine. I think this is going to be just an information gathering mission. I don't mind you guys playing dress up, but I doubt you will even feel the need to pull a knife.”

“When demons are involved, I am going to play on the side of caution. I don't know enough about them to be lax when it comes to protecting us.” Just to be on the safe side, I decide I better grab one of my boot knives. I am leaving the wrist sheaths off because I don’t trust my right arm to be one hundred percent and wearing a sheath may aggravate it. Wearing only the left one would drive me crazy.

“Crazier, Nyx. You are already way past the point of crazy,” Alex says. I grab a pillow and throw it at him. He catches it and tosses it back.

“You are such a funny boy, Alex. Let’s get the troops together and get this mission over with.”

Chapter 8

Things you hear when you don't have earplugs

When we get down to the garage, I remember that my Suburban is no more. That throws a bit of a wrench in my plans for transportation. With as large as the group is now, the Suburban wouldn't have fit everyone anyway, but I still loved to drive it.

“Just how far are we going, Ben?” I ask as I look at the available vehicles. I am going to let Alex figure out the logistics, but I do have my favorites.

“The demon section of Night Owl is on the very south edge of town. We are presently in what is considered the middle, so it would be quite a walk and I don't feel like transporting this many people myself.”

His transporting methods are definitely out. I know it only hurt because Sebastian was being stabbed at the time, but I don't want to relive the experience.

“Nyx, me, Ben, and Will are going to be in my Camaro. Jonas, Walt, Clyde, and Dante can take the Jeep. Jake, Smitty, and Marcus you can have your pick and please don't spend all of your time arguing about who gets to drive.” Alex commands and drags me over to his Camaro.

It is pretty, but not exactly what I would take into a battle. Not that we are heading in that direction, but I wouldn't want to see it get scratched. I let Will in behind me and then take my place in the front passenger's seat.

“She isn't just for looks, sweetheart. You know how guys are with their toys. She has many enhancements that if you are a really good girl, I might just show you one day.” He grabs my hand and gives it a quick kiss.

“I thought you were only this bad with the fangy one. What have they been putting in your water?” Ben asks as Alex starts up the car.

“I am pretty sure you are the only one sneaking things into my drinks. Why don't you worry about giving directions and leave my love life out of the conversation.”

“But your love life is always on my mind. Hey, that sounds like it would make a good country song.
You run around town with all the different boys. Oh how I wish I could be one of your toys. But sadly you don't even look at me. It is as if I were a tree.
Like how I rhymed? From there it could go into a pathetic chorus about what a stalker this creep really is and if you just throw in a pickup truck, a dog, and some beer, you have a hit.”