Now or Forever (9 page)

She nodded.

“Good. Now for the other advantages. VAL Headquarters knows about this. They probably tracked us. And if we’re very lucky, we’ll have associates on the ground and ready.”

“They know?”

“In all likelihood, that’s who sent the code. I’d like to think it’s because Stan escaped and told them, but I’m going to go with worst-case scenario and guess it’s because they got to the pick-up point and we were AWOL.”

“Ah. That is Absent Without Leave. Because we weren’t in the shack in Laos. I learned that term in a war movie. Very amusing. You have a gift with phrasing, don’t you, Leonard?”

“I like to think so. I hope you don’t get all pissy on me about it.”

“Pissy?”

“Look. Tassanee. Since we’re going to be mates for like eternity and all that, I should probably warn you. I’m a smartass. I put my mouth in gear before the transmission is ready, and I say things I shouldn’t. A lot. I’ve been called a sarcastic asshole more than once. Okay. Almost daily. Can you put up with that?”

“Oh...Leonard.”

“And there she goes with the tears again. You are really cute. Know that? Here. Tissue. Buck up, babe. We’re starting the descent.”

But then, he softened his words by opening his arms and taking her close. And darn if his heart didn’t give him another stutter.

CHAPTER NINE

The plane cabin was spacious. Even Len had room to stand and bend his head back and forth emitting cracking noises from somewhere in his torso. And he was well-defined and very visual. Tassanee licked her lips. He should probably find a shirt and don it. Or fasten his jacket.

“Now that was one smooth landing. Really smooth. You wouldn’t know, though. Would you? This was probably your first ‘non-Tassanee-powered’ flight. Come on. We should probably thank our pilot. Or both of them, in the event we have two.”

The plane was still moving, but it was jolting a little. That must be what Len was referring to as he approached the front of the jet.

“We should?”

“Yeah. That gives us a good reason to open this door. Wait. Hear that?”

The sound outside had changed. The engine sound was echoing weirdly. She nodded.

“That is the sound of a private jet entering a large cavernous space. Something on the lines of metal and concrete. Get it?”

She shook her head slightly.

“We’re in a building. Maybe underground, but it’s not a cave. That is not an earth-sound. We wouldn’t have that kind of sound reverb. That’s metal. And from the size of the echo, it’s large. And that means there probably won’t be a lot of hiding spots close by. If I can just get...this loose—what the hell did you use on this ax? Cement?”

Tassanee watched him push the ax she’d shoved into place for several moments before reaching behind him and smacking the center of it. The wood splintered. The handle part fell out easily. The ax part dropped next, making a dull thud in the carpet. Len looked over his shoulder at her and raised his brows, putting his eyes above the rim of his sunglasses as he peered down.

“Thank you. Thank you very much. Remind me to have you around when I need a jar opened.”

“All right,” she answered.

“That was sarcasm, Tassanee.”

“Why?”

“Because it covers up my failure.”

“What failure?”

“Things like...inability to open a door.”

“But I had the handle jammed in there. And I am stronger than you.”

“Right. Like I said. Thanks. Maybe you could give me a bit of leeway next time. Allow me to work things out on my own before stepping in?”

“Why?”

“My machismo. Remember?”

“You need to be in charge?”

“Never mind. Look. We’re just going to pull this lever, and wow. This is unexpected. Hi there.”

Len’s right hand went up while he moved his shoulders that direction, shielding her. His left was around the handle of the gun tucked into his belt at the back. Right at her bosom level. Tassanee went on tiptoes to see. The cockpit was smaller than the cabin, and had a lot of switches and dials and monitors and flashing lights. There were two pilot men. One was sitting in his chair, looking wide-eyed up at them. The other one was standing. He was shorter than Len and had a gun pointed right at Len’s chest.

“So. Hey. How about lowering that thing, buddy? Or at least taking this back into the main cabin? No reason to ruin a multi-million dollar cockpit, now is there?”

“You make no sense.”

“I mean, the lady and I might want to do another flight, and blood splatter would make everything so... messy.”

“What blood would splatter this direction?”

The last was a lot higher. Probably because Len had his gun at the guy’s groin.

“Yours,” Len answered.

“Even if you get the shot off, you’d be dead. Your heart would be the first casualty.”

“Did you hear that, Tassanee? The man is threatening me with a bullet. I guess nobody told him he was transporting vampires.”

“But Len—”

He interrupted her.

“Okay. Your little bullet might do a little damage for a little bit of time, but hey. Mine is going to make you a lifetime soprano. If you live through it. You know. I think I’ll try and make certain you do.”

The man’s hand shook slightly, and Tassanee reacted. She grabbed Len’s jacket shoulder, the move pushing him to the left against the cabin wall. That gave her room for a spin kick. Her left toes kicked the man’s gun into the belly of the other man. Her right foot took the pilot’s head off. His head bounced off the left window, ricocheted off the right and then flew back past them, landing somewhere in the cabin since Len dodged to avoid it. The headless torso sagged slowly down the consoles, spurting blood outward in a disjointed rhythm that caused all sorts of hissing and ringing sounds from the instruments beneath him.

“Wait! Don’t kill me!”

The little man screamed it as the body flopped back into the spare seat, blood finally slowing and then turning into a thin flow. Tassanee worked at pulling her fangs back as she looked up at Len. She’d ended up almost in his arms. He didn’t look pleased. He didn’t look displeased, either. His eyebrows were raised, he’d sucked in his cheeks, and he’d stuck his lips out, putting some of the light coming through the windows on the whiskers of his upper lip.

“I’m just a pilot! Don’t kill me! Please?” The other guy screamed it again.

“Oh shut up already. And get up. Tassanee?”

Len stepped back, taking her with him, and then he pulled his sunglasses off, found another tissue from his jacket somewhere and started wiping his glasses off. The entire time he was looking at her. And then he shook his head.

“Well. That’s that, I guess.”

“What?”

“That is exactly the blood mess I was referring to. Maybe worse. Nobody can fly a plane if the controls are all...uh. Yeah. Pretty much out of commission. How about it, buddy?”

The other pilot was standing in the doorway to the cockpit. He was her height. And covered in blood spray. He looked faint. Or maybe he was that pale and shaky normally. He shook his head.

“Yep.” Len put his glasses back on. “One multi-million dollar jet. Out of service. Just like that.” He snapped his fingers.

“I’m sorry,” she replied.

“Oh hell no, babe. That was incredible. You are something, you know that? I mean, Akron told me you were a badass, but hey. He didn’t tell me
how
bad. I suppose that was a
Bokator
move?”

She nodded.

“Well. Babe. What can I say? You are definitely on the team.”

“What team?”

“Ours.”

“Oh.”

“So, hey. Buddy. You got any information that will keep her from knocking your head into next week? Or...maybe I’ll have her aim for the luggage compartment this time.”

“Well I...”

“Speak up already. Or...oh, what the hell. Start talking or we get to see the next
Bokator
move. I’ve heard it’s a doozie.”

“I’m just a pilot!”

“Yeah. I heard that part. You heard it, too, didn’t you, honey?”

Len looked over at her. She nodded.

“But little weasel guys usually hear a lot more than they admit. So, tell me. Where are we? What kind of force is out there? And what kind of firepower?”

“I don’t know anything!”

“You don’t even know where we are?”

“Longitude and latitude! That’s all I was given! I swear!”

“Speak. Now already. Or forever be silent.” Len put his pistol against the man’s temple and cocked the mechanism.

“I didn’t memorize them!”

“Why on earth did they hire you? And why on earth am I wasting my time? Jeez. You even make a piss-poor weasel.”

“I told you! I’m a pilot!”

“Right. And I’m just an innocent bystander. Tassanee?”

“Yes?”

“Eliminate this bum.”

“Wait!”

A red sphere lit the man’s head before she could move. And then his skull exploded, splattering brains and gore all over, making almost as big a mess as the cockpit. And then Len grabbed her and slammed into a side wall, taking the brunt of it with his body.

“Can you get us through the roof?” he hissed.

She nodded.

“Then do it!”

A loud whine accompanied his words. Tassanee hit the ceiling with her back, pulling Leonard with her, at the exact moment the entire plane became a fireball, shooting flames out in every direction, singeing her feet, and starting his pants on fire. And still she ascended, going up until the top of the cavern stopped her. That’s when she dropped slightly, ending up crouched atop an iron cross piece. She still had Leonard in her arms, slapping at his pants and gyrating, making it difficult to keep him from plummeting back to the floor. And it looked a long way down. She held him until he straddled a beam and locked his ankles under him. Even then, she kept her hands close.

“Shit. And shit again. That was close.”

“What was that?”

“My pants were on fire. Damn. And I paid almost twenty bucks for these.” He grinned at her, but it looked sickly. And his sunglasses were broken and hanging crookedly from one ear.

“Is that a lot?”

“No. Actually it’s a pittance. Hell. I know associates who pay upwards of a thousand for their leather slacks. Rafaele something-or-other Santiago, for instance. He loves the premium leather look, and he likes them tailored. And he’s large so the poor guy has no choice. He has to get them tailored.”

“Larger than you?”

“I told you babe. I’m fairly average.”

“I still don’t believe it. But if you didn’t pay much for your clothes, why do you care about damage? I don’t understand.”

“If I make fun of the small shit, the big shit gets easier to deal with. It’s part of the smartass and sarcasm package.”

“Oh. I get it. Well...in that case. Look what it did to my pants.”

“Whoa, Tassanee. Babe. That is not a good idea. Especially now.”

“Why?”

“Well. I’ve got a few well-armed Hunters chasing us, I’m lost somewhere in Eastern Europe, I’m perched some ten stories in the air, and I’m astride an iron beam that’s about what? Four inches wide?”

“Closer to six inches. And you never did say why.”

He pulled off his glasses, folded them as if they were perfectly aligned and straight, and tucked them into an inner jacket pocket. And then he looked back at her. And her reawakened heart skipped a beat. She actually felt it.

“Tassanee. You are too gorgeous. And way too curvy. And I am not immune. I am your mate, remember? Everything about you calls to me. It’s like a never-ending signal. So. Right now? It would be mucho appreciated if you wouldn’t call my attention to the fact that you don’t wear enough and never have. And where in the hell is your cloak, anyway?”

“Down there.”

She pointed. The both looked down in time to watch the plane explode again, this time with less sound and debris, although it sent more flames and black smoke out the sides and then billowing up. And coming out of the sides of the area were small figures toting equally small guns. They looked like little ants swarming an ant hill.

“Well. Look at that. A bonfire. And I didn’t even bring marshmallows. I would say this is another prime example of Hunter intelligence. And lack, thereof.”

“What is?”

“They think we’re still down there. They’re waiting to stake your heart and put a bullet through mine, should we make it through the flames. Not one of them thinks we’re fast enough or smart enough to escape an RPG. I’m telling you. Some days they don’t demonstrate the brains Mother Nature gave an onion.”

“Onions don’t have brains.”

“Yeah. I know.”

She laughed. “I get it. I do. You’re very funny.”

“You’d think Chester would teach his minions some fiscal responsibility, wouldn’t you? Then again...maybe he doesn’t care how many English pounds they blow up. Must be nice to have so much money you need to burn it.”

“They must want you really bad, Leonard.”

“Oh no. Not me. More you. But I think their real objective is Akron. They look like ants on an ant hill, don’t they?”

She caught his eye.

“What?” he asked.

“I was just thinking that.”

“Wow. I think there’s hope for us yet, babe.”

“That looks like more than a code eight on the threat level, Leonard.”

“Well. We didn’t check for updates. But you’re right. This is getting close to a sixteen.”

“In that case, it’s a good thing we went with your original plan.”

“Oh, we did, did we?”

“Wasn’t I supposed to fly up out of the way and hide?”

He grinned. “Oh. Yeah. Good one.”

Sounds of gunfire started erupting below them. They both looked down again, although Len rocked a bit on his perch before steadying himself.

“Hey. Check it out. A 4D Team has finally decided to rescue us. About time. Man. I almost wish I had popcorn. Talk about a front row seat. And look. Isn’t that Stanislaw at the front? In the khaki outfit?”

“What’s a 4D Team?”

“A group that excels in mayhem, death, and dismemberment. Looks like they sent us the Blue Team. Our operative, Sasha, leads that one. With her not-so-attractive mate, Stuart. And that really is Stan with them. Will wonders never cease? Because rescuing him was my next objective. Nice to know I can move onto the next one.”