Riding the Storm (23 page)

Kendra’s last acts before going home were to use Natalia’s
credit card to FedEx a few pieces of her back to Mitroff: one eyeball, an ear,
her lips — cut with enough of the skin around them so they still held
their shape, sort of — and a good portion of her labia and clit.

So, both sets of lips, more or less.

Natalia had suffered greatly, but Kendra hadn’t really had
it in her to torture the woman for three nights. She needed Mitroff to think
she had, though, so even though she killed the bitch halfway through the second
night, Kendra didn’t ship the box to Mitroff until near the end of the third
night.

She took a taxi far enough out of town she could fly with no
one seeing her, and contacted Abbott near the edge of the South Carolina
border.

Abbott?

Yes, Kendra. It’s good to hear from you. Where are you?

On my way back. There’s plenty of cloud cover, and if I’m
fast I should be able to get away with landing on the western side of Lookout
Mountain. Do you mind if I stay at your house tonight? I need blood fresh from
the source.
He’d be happy to see her, glad she was safe, and would want the
details of what happened. Plus, she needed to feed, and while she was
uncomfortable asking, she’d learned to take advantage of the rules when she
returned from battle.

Of course. Ted is here tonight, if you’d prefer to feed
from a male. Eric is camping with his uncle, so I won’t be able to retrieve him
for you.

I’ll contact him in a minute, let him know I’m okay, and
make arrangements to see him tomorrow. I wouldn’t expect to feed from him
tonight, even if he was close. How is he holding up?

Ranger is checking in with Aaron, who tells me Eric is
processing his feelings, and the two are doing well together. They’ve been
mountain climbing, kayaking, hiking, and zip-lining, which apparently involves
riding a cable down a mountain as you hold onto something around the cable.

Okay, I’ll see you within the hour. Thanks, Abbott.

Anytime.

Kendra took note of her position and direction, made a
slight adjustment, and reached out to Eric.

Eric?

Kendra? Are you okay?
His mental voice was sleepy,
and she wished she could be there, in person to hold him, smell him, hear the
sound of his voice. God, she missed him.

Yes. I’m on my way to Abbott’s, and will bed down there
for the day. Abbott tells me you’re with Ranger and have been in the woods
having adventures. How are you holding up?

I was worried about you.

I’m sorry. Natalia will never bother you again.

Am I supposed to thank you for torturing and killing her?

Kendra took a second to consider the tone of his telepathic
words, and taste the flavor of his mood before answering.

She only came after you because of your connection to
Abbott and me. You owe me nothing, Eric. I merely wanted you to know you don’t
have to fear her, anymore. She won’t order your capture again.

But her boss is still in control, right?

Yes, but he has enough other things to worry about,
without trying to infiltrate the territory for a single human. His territory is
a mess, he’s lost a lot of people, and his base of operations destroyed. You’ll
be with either Ranger or myself for a while, to be safe, but I don’t think
anyone will come after you again.

When can I go back to my yacht?

Soon. Can you come to Abbott’s tomorrow afternoon, so I
can see you when I rise?

Ranger and I will be in a wilderness area for the next
four to six days. I didn’t know when I’d hear from you again.

Are you mad at me?

Frustrated with you, and yeah, maybe a little mad. I was
worried and didn’t hear from you. People told me you were likely taking your
time killing her, and it felt like…

After a few seconds of silence, Kendra finished his thought.
It felt as if my revenge against her was more important than my feelings for
you?

Yeah.

His answer broke her heart, and she wasn’t going to make it
better talking telepathically. He needed to look into her eyes when she
explained.

I need to talk to you in person. Give me an idea of the
general area you expect to be in tomorrow night, and I’ll find you.

Ranger said I shouldn’t tell anyone our location. Not
even Abbott.

Your uncle’s smart, and very safety minded. I’ll speak
with you again tomorrow night. Be safe, Eric. I’m sorry you’re upset with me,
and I hope we can fix it sooner rather than later. You need to hear what I have
to say before you decide to be too angry with me.

I’m glad you’re okay.

Well, that was something
. And I’m glad you’ve enjoyed
this time with Ranger. I’ll let you get back to sleep. Enjoy your day.

Eric and Ranger worked to set up their camp for the night
after covering nine miles of the Benton MacKaye Trail in one day. They had no
intentions of hiking the entire trail, but wanted to cover another twenty five
or thirty miles, which should get them into North Carolina, and with a good bit
of scenery on the way.

The two had hiked the backcountry together many times, and
set up camp without even thinking about it, so within ten minutes the tent was
up, bedrolls ready, and they were seated on the ground fixing their dinner over
the small camp stove.

Aaron and Nathan were the only people with the number to
Ranger’s burner phone, and while Ranger had called to check in twice a day, no
one knew their location.

“Do I need to pay you, for the time you’re taking off work?”
Eric asked.

“Aaron tells me I’m getting paid for this week, and I’ve
decided not to argue. Don’t know if he’ll consider it part of my paid vacation
time or not, but I get six weeks a year, and I didn’t take them all last year,
so…” He shrugged. “I’m not hurting for money, anyway. The new job pays much
better than the old, and I’m still spending money at the old standard of
living.”

“You been seeing anyone?”

He shook his head. “I have lots of sex, and it isn’t too
hard to find willing submissives in clubs, when I get a hankering to wield a
flogger, but my lifestyle isn’t conducive to a relationship. A few years ago I
was part of a poly group, so they didn’t miss me so much when I was gone. I
still missed them when I was on a mission, but I didn’t have to feel guilty
about leaving a woman at home alone.” He shrugged. “For a variety of reasons,
we all broke up, and I got my heart broken, but I survived. If I was going to
get serious with someone again, though, I’d like there to be a similar
situation. For one thing, you know how much I love double or triple-teaming a
girl, but mostly, it wouldn’t be fair to get serious with someone when I could
be gone months at a time on assignment.”

“I haven’t decided what to do about Kendra, yet.”

“I know you care about her, and I know you’re freaked by
learning what she’s capable of, but give her a chance. Maybe it’ll work, maybe
it won’t, but she cares about you enough to risk her life by taking so many of
the Media Council’s people out in such a spectacular fashion.”

“Two of her friends have basically told me I’ve given her a
reason to live, again. I guess the oldest vampires sometimes get bored with
life, and she was there. I don’t want that responsibility.”

“Whether you date a human or vampire, you’re going to be
capable of hurting the other person if you break up with them. Giving her a
reason to live isn’t something you do, it’s just what’s happened by spending
time with her. You’ve reminded her of the joys life can bring, reminded her
what it’s like to have adventures, and to grab life by the nuts and
live
it.”

 The two talked until well after dark, but neither was ready
to go into the tent, yet. Eric was sprawled in his trek-chair, his legs out
straight on the ground in front of him, when Ranger was suddenly standing,
ready for a fight. Eric had been practicing holding his shield, and he
reinforced it as he, too, jumped to his feet and grabbed his knife from his
belt. He didn’t know what Ranger had heard or smelled, but he wasn’t going down
without a fight.

He heard Kendra in his head and with his ears as she landed
twenty yards from them. “It me, Kendra. Relax, guys, we’re all safe.”

Eric didn’t relax the grip he had on his knife as he asked,
“How the hell did you find us?”

“We’re linked, Eric. It took me an hour longer than it
would’ve if you’d given me a general location, but I warned you when we created
the mind link, it would let me find you.”

She looked at Ranger and asked, “Do you mind if I fly him to
the next mountaintop? There’s a rental cabin with no one in it and an easy lock
to pick. I’d like to spend some time with him alone, and I’ll bring him back in
a few hours.”

“You didn’t think to ask me if I want to go?” Eric asked.
“Because as of right now, I’m thinking you and I can talk when Ranger and I
finish our hike in a few days.”

She shook her head. “We’re going to talk. We can do it here
in front of Ranger, or just the two of us, on the next mountain. The two of you
can finish your hike afterwards, but you aren’t going to go another night
thinking I tortured someone for three solid nights when I didn’t.”

Eric paused, felt some of the twist in his gut relax, and
asked, “Then why were you gone three nights?”

“So people would think I did.”

Eric looked to Ranger, who told him, “Many of the oldest
vampires take pleasure in torture. Others do it when they must, but it isn’t
something they relish. The former are feared a whole lot more than the latter.
I believe Kendra has tricked the world into thinking she enjoys ripping her
enemies apart and making their death last as long as possible, when in reality
she doesn’t.”

Eric looked back to Kendra, who gave Ranger a grateful look
before telling Eric, “I killed her partway through the second night, because it
took that long to hurt her bad enough to get all the information I needed from
her. I waited until most of the way through the third night to FedEx pieces of
her to Mitroff, with a handwritten note detailing all the ways she’d suffered,
and warning him he’s next.”

Eric sighed, looked at their little campsite, and shifted
his gaze back to Kendra to ask, “I guess this would be the part where we ride
the storm out?” Kendra smiled, and he told her, “I don’t want to leave Ranger
alone, but you’re welcome to hang out with us until we’re ready to turn in for
the night.”

Kendra looked at Eric’s backcountry trek-chair, and Ranger’s
Helinox chair, and said, “I’m gonna borrow one of the chairs off the front
porch of that rental cabin. I’ll be right back.”

She returned with a heavy wooden rocking chair, and Eric
laughed at the incongruity of it, but his heart warmed as she sat and talked to
them of the things he and Ranger had been doing over the past days.

Eric gave her a peck on the lips when they said goodbye, not
quite ready for more, but he told her, “I just need a few more days in the
woods, and then we can talk.”

Kendra was staying in a small, rural home in the sticks
until the situation with South Carolina was resolved. Abbott had moved most of
the vampires out of the coterie house, and the ones still there with an upstairs
bedroom were sleeping in the bunker. He didn’t want both Gavin and Kendra there
at the same time, and Kendra had volunteered to temporarily relocate, as Gavin
had more need to be around to handle day-to-day issues.

Abbott didn’t just think politically, but also strategically
for battle, and he didn’t want all of his most important people bedding down in
the same place. The house he’d put her in had a secret bunker off the basement
for her daytime resting spot, and was situated in the middle of fifteen acres
of forest, with various trip wires to alert her if anyone came in on her while
she was up.

She’d had to leave her phone at home, and a tech guy had
come to her house and done something so no one could trace her online
activities to this house.

Ranger was bringing Eric tonight, as he knew how to be sure
they weren’t followed, and Eric would be staying with her as long as he wanted.

She just hoped he’d want to stay longer than the night.

The security system warned when they pulled onto the
driveway, and then twice more as they made their way down the long graveled
path.

Eric had a backpack and a large duffel, and Ranger unloaded
two dirt bikes from the back of his vehicle.

She hadn’t seen him since the night she’d found them in the
forest, and Eric had only given her a peck on the lips as a goodbye. Now, he
hugged her as if he was glad to see her, and said, “I’ll put my things in the
house. I plan to get a lot of undisturbed work accomplished during sunlight
hours, and I’m hoping for some dirt biking once you’re up. There are some jeep
trails not too far from here, and judging from the map and terrain, they look
promising.”

His warm arms around her felt like home, and she wanted to
cling to him when he let go, but she didn’t.

Eric went inside, the screen door slamming behind him, and
Ranger said, “I kept him safe on my watch, now it’s your turn.”

“Are you staying in town, or going back overseas?”

He shook his head. “I can’t abandon the people working on
the project I’ve been on. Aaron’s sending me back, and it’ll likely take
another couple of months to complete the op.”

“Aaron sent a computer geek guy out, and he assured me no
one will trace the activities coming from here, back to here. He left notes so
Eric would know what he did, but it looks like gibberish to me.”

“Eric can keep ya’ll hidden online, it’s your job to keep
him safe in the real world.” His jaw flexed, his eyes sharpened until she could
practically see the wolf in them, and his scent also told her the wolf wasn’t
far below the surface. “Every instinct screams at me to not leave him alone
with a vampire, but I know you care for him, and took great personal and
political risk to make the point he’s to be left alone. Aaron says Mitroff
appears to be looking for political solutions instead of trying to fight a war
he’ll eventually lose, so hopefully the threat to him will be gone, soon.” He
shook his head. “I know I can’t hold you responsible for not hurting him emotionally,
but I’ll ask you to be kind to him. He’s twisted up inside, and he needs
patience and caring. For all of his worldly travels, he’s been sheltered from
true evil and cruelty, and he’s coming to terms with it.”

Eric stepped back onto the large, wrap around porch. The
house might be small, but the porch more than made up for the lack of space
inside.

Kendra’s heart warmed as she watched the two men embrace,
and Eric told his uncle, “Thanks for everything. It’s been great, and I always
hate saying goodbye to you when you’re headed back overseas, but I know you’ll
be careful.”

“Always. Kendra and Abbott will make sure you’re safe, but
feel free to let Aaron know if you need anything while I’m gone. Or, if you can
reach me, I’ll let him know, but I don’t want you waiting for me if you need
help. Okay?”

“Yeah. I have the burner, and all the numbers.”

They hugged again, and then Eric walked in the house without
looking back. Kendra watched until Ranger’s vehicle went out of site around a
curve, and then followed Eric in.

“Have you been feeding off humans, or bagged blood?”

She hadn’t expected the question right off the bat, but
didn’t hesitate to tell him, “Both. Abbott provided humans my first couple of
days, while I stayed at his house. I brought enough bagged blood to last nine
days, if I’m relatively inactive.”

“Does Abbott regularly provide humans to the vampires in his
territory?” he asked, his voice casual, his eyes sharp.

She wasn’t sure where he was going with the line of
questioning, but she answered, “No, but during times of war, it’s customary for
vampires to be given sustenance when it can be arranged. Also, you know Abbott
and I are friends. He has room to house up to a dozen humans, and currently has
nine living on the premises. When people visit, it’s polite for the Master
Vampire to offer to feed them. He had people who hadn’t been fed from in a
while, and I needed… Eric, why are you asking?”

He shook his head. “I guess I have a bit of an ego, and I
like knowing I can take care of whoever I’m seeing. I’ve had to face the fact
it’s you taking care of me, and the only thing I can offer you, really, is my
blood, and eventually my love, if we get there. You can take care of yourself
physically, and you aren’t interested in my money. You enjoy the adventures
I’ve given you, but if you wanted to do them on your own, you could — or
you could hire someone to take you, if you needed a guide. You don’t need me.
Not really.”

Kendra sat on the sofa, so she was looking farther up at
him. He’d seen her as a monster, and she wanted to make him feel at ease and
comfortable. Wanted him to see her as a woman, his girlfriend. Not a monster.
“I want you, Eric. And truth be told, I need the sunshine you’ve brought into
my life.” She searched her brain for something else to tell him, because that
clearly wasn’t enough. “Even before bagged blood, I never relied completely on
a single human for my needs. I can supplement what you give me with bagged
blood now, and if you want, I’ll promise that — unless it’s an emergency
— if I need to drink from someone else, I’ll keep it to women, so you’ll
be the only man I drink from.”

“Are you bisexual?”

“I’ve had sex with women, but it isn’t really my thing. I
can enjoy it, but I don’t seek it out. I prefer men, and I
much
prefer
you.”

He didn’t say anything, and she looked to the floor as she
considered how much of herself she could offer, and decided she’d give as much
of herself as she had to. Looking up, she told him, “I’ll submit to you again,
if it’ll help? I can’t offer twenty-four / seven, but I’ll offer two whole
nights. We’ll need to negotiate some things, but… whatever I can do to help us
along? I don’t know what to do to fix things.”

Eric shook his head, his eyes pained. “I won’t accept your
submission again until I’m sure I can stick around for the long haul. I care
about you, but I’m not sure I won’t flake out on you again, so I can’t accept
your submission.” He took a breath. “Besides, I owe you my submission next.
What happened didn’t change the fact you submitted to me and I turned my back
on you. Abandoned you. I may’ve been captured, but you fought to find me as
fast as you could, and to keep me as safe as possible until you could get to
me.”

“You don’t owe me anything, Eric. I can’t ask you to submit
to me after you were captured and tortured
only
because you’re important
to me.”

“You may have been indirectly responsible for my capture,
but you rescued me in a fantastic fashion. I, on the other hand, was directly
responsible for the pain you felt when I pushed you away, and I didn’t even
realize how badly I hurt you for
weeks
. I won’t accept your submission
until you’ve given me a chance to offer myself to you.”

Her stomach in her throat, she shook her head. “I don’t want
to argue the point with you right now. Have you eaten?”

He nodded. “Ranger and I had a huge meal before he dropped
me off. I’m hoping you have beer stocked, though. I could use one.”

She nodded and headed to the kitchen, and he followed as she
said, “Make yourself at home. I’d like to think of this as our place while
we’re here. Not mine, not yours. The kitchen’s stocked with plenty of food, so
we won’t need to go out. We’re forty minutes from the nearest grocery store,
and there isn’t even pizza delivery out here.”

“Why do they have you so far out in the sticks?”

She opened his beer and handed it to him. “Abbott wants
Gavin and I in two places, so if something happens to one of us, the other will
likely be safe. Gavin has more to do with the day to day running of the coterie
house, and managing the vampires under us, while I have more to do with helping
Abbott run his empire. He relies heavily on both of us, not to mention Josef
handling security, and Fawne making sure the humans are happy and content.” She
rolled her eyes. “I’d just as soon drive nails into my feet as do Fawne’s job.”

“So, he’d rather Gavin be in danger than you?”

“No, Eric. He doesn’t want his top four people staying in
the same house while there is danger. Gavin runs the house, so it makes sense
for him to stay there. I’m pretty sure Abbott wanted you and I to have some
alone time, so he gave me this safe-house. If there’s an attack, I can put you
in hiding downstairs so no one will find you, and then fly to help them, should
they need me. However, they won’t call me in unless it’s dire, because they
won’t want you left alone, no matter how safe we believe it to be.”

“I still don’t know if you’ve fed yet, tonight.”

She closed the distance between them, slow so she didn’t
startle him, and cupped his cheek in her hand. “I misread the situation. I
thought it would be ill-mannered to assume you’d feed me, so I fed before you
arrived. I didn’t want it to look like I expected it of you.”

He kissed her forehead, and her overstrung nerves relaxed a
tiny bit.

“I didn’t give you reason to think I’d be willing, the last
two times I saw you. There’s no reason to apologize, but you’ll feed from me
tomorrow night, not the bagged stuff. Understood?”

She smiled and leaned into him. “Thank you, Eric.”

His arms came around her, engulfing her in his warmth, and
she relaxed in his embrace as she told him, “God, I’ve missed you.”

“I’ve missed you, too. I don’t have any answers for us, but
I love having you in my arms again. Whoever furnished this place did a kick ass
job. What do you say we cuddle on that gigantic chaise in the front room?”

“Oh wow, it’s so comfortable,” she said, reaching for her
mug of hot tea she’d set aside earlier, wanting to have a little warmth in her
body, for him. “It’s like being cradled by an ocean wave. I can’t wait to share
it with you.”

“What’s this?” he asked as he stopped at the small kitchen
table and looked over the notebook the tech guy had left.

“Aaron Drake sent someone to fix the internet so I can check
email and stuff, but no one can trace me to this address. It’ll look like I’m
hiding out in the basement of the coterie house. Apparently, he was told you’re
a fellow geek, and he should leave instructions of how he set it up. He asked
me to tell you he’d appreciate it if you don’t change anything without talking
to him, first.”

Eric grabbed the notebook and pulled her to the chaise. It
took a few minutes for them to get settled and snuggled in, and then Eric
looked over the lines of numbers and geek speak in the notebook.

“I’m impressed. Aaron has people who know what they’re
doing.”

“Always. Aaron doesn’t mess around with talent. He finds the
best, pays them well, and respects them enough to let them do their job.” She
snuggled into his side a little more. “When I first met Ranger, and realized he
must work for Aaron, I relaxed a little, knowing he was likely one of the good
guys, if Aaron had hired him.”

“Likely?”

She shrugged. “If he has to hire a bad guy, and is certain
he can control him so he won’t give the Drake name a black eye, he will.
Doesn’t very often, though, so the odds were Ranger was one of the good guys.”

“Ranger said something about Mitroff trying for a political
solution?”

“All the supernatural groups in South Carolina, including
the Eagles, have agreed to free their human slaves in accordance with Abbott’s
procedures, which makes sure they all have a road towards self-sufficiency and
aren’t just kicked out on the street. Mitroff is now pretty much on his own,
the only one still holding slaves, which was one of the main reasons Abbott
wanted to take over the state. So, Mitroff is agreeing to treat humans as
people instead of sheep and cattle, trying to negotiate his way out of war.”

“Will Abbott accept? Or does he want control of the
territory?”

She shook her head. “There’s too much in flux right now to
say for sure. My guess is he’ll draw the talks out, get a better feel for
things, before deciding. I’ve advised him Mitroff is weakened and knows he’ll
lose, and if we let him build his forces back up and he goes back on the
treaty, we’ll be back at square one.”

“So you’re advocating war over politics?”

“Nope. I’m advocating we make sure he can’t build his forces
back up, if we go the political route.”

“Did Abbott turn you?”