Standing Before Monsters (Vorans and Vampires) (3 page)

Wandering into the kitchen area, she complained, “No coffee yet?”

“Sorry, Charlotte, I wasn’t thinking about it,” he answered his houseguest. Having been with him for a couple months now, the voran was almost used to the casual interaction with the pretty woman after being a bachelor for so long. “You wouldn’t happen to have heard of some form of cat creature that would hunt vampires, would you?”

Turning to look at him with a single raised brow of surprise, she questioned, “Did you have a strange night with Nicola last night or is this some new project that you’ve latched onto?”

“Both,” he said with a smile. “We were on the trail of a vampire near Rush and Division when he began to run, but it wasn’t from us. I sensed three more... presences chasing the vampire. By the time I caught up to them, the vampire had been toasted, but not in the usual way that silver burns them.”

Sniffing the air, Charlotte left the kitchen even as he heard the coffee maker hum as it heated the water for a new pot. She walked over to the couch sitting beside him before picking up the plastic bag with a frown. Her nose already wrinkled from the odor even with the bag sealed tight. “It definitely smells like a cat. Thanks for making a werewolf sniff that.” She finished making a face at the scent, but opened the bag before shaking her head and quickly closing it again. “Definitely some form of feline. Do you think there is some form of vampire hunting cat clan or something?”

“
A cat form of werewolf maybe, though they were able to hide their scent after the kill once they fled beyond my sight. No werewolf changes their smell and feel with a change, at least for my senses; but I only caught a blur of shapes in the distance before they ran from the vampire’s corpse and disappeared. If I didn’t mistake what I saw, however, I think they may have found a way to steal the vampire’s power before they ran.”

“Stole his power how?” Charlotte questioned with her brown eyes curiously. Crossing her legs Indian style while keeping her hand holding the edge of the t-shirt to the couch between her legs for
modesty as she turned to face him; the werewolf seemed to barely remember her more human reservations after five years with her former pack. She only tried to respect the man who had helped save her and her brother from that pack, though he had already seen her fully naked in the forest a couple months ago despite her modesty now.

Trying to ignore the extra skin bared next to him, especially since he had Nicola to think of anyway; Nick stuck to looking at her face as he tried to describe what he thought that he had seen, “There was a short fight that the vampire lost, but I don’t think they killed him from a normal wound. If it had been a silver sword or a werewolf’s claws tearing out his heart, there is normally just a pile of dust remaining. They stood over him and seemed to pull his life essence out of him.”

“That would be arguing that most vampires were alive,” she complained as her normal tendency for hating vampires reared its head. Blinking in surprise at her own words, Charlotte tried to clarify by adding, “I’m just saying they are killed to become a vampire in the first place. Nicola and the others are obviously alive in their own way.”

He nodded not getting caught up in the words instead of their intent. The werewolves had worked alongside Marek, Nicola and the others to save the city from Cyrus only two months ago; but that didn’t mean their natural distrust of one another could just go completely away either. He had tried taking Charlotte and her brother Logan along on the town with Nicola to try and help bridge that gap several times. Nicola came over from time to time as well interacting with the werewolves helping to break down those walls.

Changing the subject back to the original question, the dark haired woman asked in return, “Have you found anything that sounds like what you saw?”

She gestured at his computer assuming that was what preoccupied him now.

Looking at the laptop screen before him, he replied, “There aren’t a lot of myths that make sense for what I saw. Cats that speak, mounts for gods and such aren’t close. Werewolves, only a cat version, would make more sense; though only the kasha from Japanese lore even sounds remotely similar.”

“Kasha?”

“They were spirits that stole corpses or souls from evil dead that were sometimes seen in feline form.”

Heavier footsteps from the hallway forewarned of her brother’s approach. Much larger than his sister, who was only a little shorter than Nick but slim and very feminine; Logan looked more like a Norse god and would tower over the voran side by side. Blond with blue eyes compared to his brunette and brown eyed sister, the brother was like light to her night in appearance. In personality, Charlotte was the sweet one, but Logan had once been on the path of a doctor so he was still caring though less personable. He had been told once by Charlotte that her brother used to be more like her, but that was before he had become cursed and a killer of his own family.

“You have a cat now, Nick?” the werewolf paused at the entry to the room sniffing at the air like a dog or more accurately a wolf.

The pair on the couch laughed briefly at the question even as Nick shook his head.
“No, but there may be a cat equivalent to werewolves running around Chicago now.”

Mirroring with his own shake of the head, Logan replied with a sigh, “Great, just what this city needs, more strange creatures that hate werewolves.”

Charlotte interrupted the thought saying, “Not werewolves so far. They killed a vampire though.”

Looking a bit worried, Nick clarified, “Not one of Marek’s. We were looking for strays last night when I discovered one, but it ran into these cat creatures first apparently. They escaped without a trace before I could find out what they are.”

“That’s not like you to lose a trail,” the big man replied as he poured some cereal.

“Don’t take all the milk,” Charlotte warned her older brother quickly.

Making a face at his sister telling her that he wasn’t so stupid, though tempted to aggravate her by doing just that; Logan ignored her taking the cereal dry but taking the first cup of coffee from the maker. Charlotte quickly exited her spot, being less ladylike in her movement and flashing more than the voran expected as he averted his eyes quickly.

Noting their host’s reaction to his sister, the big man frowned and scolded the young woman, “Maybe you should learn to put some pants on before coming out in the morning, Charlotte. Just because you ran with the pack, doesn’t mean that Nick needs to see all of you.”

The woman stopped before him frowning. She hadn’t had her allotment of coffee yet, and he was seriously getting on her nerves almost instantly. Throwing up her hands indignantly, Charlotte reminded him, “It’s not like he hasn’t seen me naked. You’ve seen me naked. The pack’s seen me naked. It kind of comes with turning into a freaking werewolf once a month, Logan!”

Turning on her heels to start down the hall, Charlotte pulled the shirt over her head revealing that underwear wasn’t her priority as she yelled angrily, “And I sleep in the nude, so I was being polite, you jerk!”

After the girl stomped into Nick’s bedroom slamming the door in annoyance, Logan took a seat in one of the other chairs giving a plaintive look to their host. “I’m sorry, Nick,” he apologized with a sigh.

Chuckling at his new friend’s discomfort, the voran informed him, “You shouldn’t have started in on her before her first cup of coffee. Charlotte may be one of the sweetest women I know, but not before breakfast.”

“As if being a werewolf isn’t enough,” Logan sighed again looking pained from the statement. Being the one who had turned his sister, even if it was an accident and unpreventable; the big man always seemed weighed down by his curse even more than Charlotte. “Add being a woman with all that entails and a coffee addict to it besides.”

The two men sat in silence for a moment before the werewolf asked, “Any idea of what you faced last night?”

“Unfortunately I didn’t face them, which leaves more of a mystery. They were fast, as fast as the vampire. I didn’t catch up to them until the vampire stopped to fight back. He must have believed being a vampire meant he was stronger than whatever was chasing him. If he was, he wasn’t stronger than all three together.

“All I found was the remains of a fight. There were cuts from a sword, I believe, and claws; which of them had what I don’t know. No weapons remained, just the damage and a few of these cat hairs.

“Nicola actually seemed to have an allergic reaction to them. She sneezed anytime they were too close to her.”

Looking surprised as much by the last fact as the rest, Logan questioned, “I didn’t think vampires had any allergies other than to silver and the sun.”

Shrugging as he lifted his hands helplessly, Nick replied with a nod, “That’s what I thought too. In fact, Nicola says she’s owned cats and has never been allergic before.”

“If we had access to a lab that wouldn’t ask questions, it would be helpful to find out what they came from, though I am afraid that science won’t have that answer. If it is a creature that hunts vampires, maybe their hair weakens their enemy by having allergic reactions. It would be a handy way of debilitating them to kill them if they can’t stop sneezing.

“Did the one you chase sneeze that you could tell?”

“Not from that distance.”

Nick heard the bedroom door open and Charlotte returned to the kitchen via the living room. Dressed in tight, shorts and a red, half top with spaghetti straps over her shoulders; the woman looked like she was ready to either go to the beach or out on the prowl to catch a man’s eyes. Her makeup was minimal but added to her beauty. Still barefoot and with her smooth legs and arms appearing like anything but a wolf, Charlotte took a large mug before pouring her coffee. A glass of cereal with milk added filled her meal needs and the dark haired woman returned to the couch to sit beside Nick. Her elbows nearly bumped him as she sat and her left knee rested on his leg as she once more pulled her feet under her crossing her legs. The smell of lightly applied perfume wafted to his nostrils and he knew that her brother could smell it with his superior senses where he sat as well.

“So I am a coffee addicted, woman, werewolf?” she leveled the question at her brother narrowing her eyes. “You’re lucky I didn’t slap you across the head for that,” the girl stated after summarizing her brother’s words while she was gone and giving them a negative spin.

Chuckling in response, Logan shrugged pressing his luck as he retorted, “But can you deny any of it?”

Simply rolling her eyes, Charlotte turned to Nick instead, “So where does this take you now?”

“Marek knows and his people know to keep an eye out for trouble, as if they’re ever not with all the strays and rogues. If they smell strange cats that make them sneeze, we may be able to turn a possible disadvantage into an advantage at least.”

“An early warning sneeze,” Charlotte said looking dubious. “I suppose just knowing that there might be an enemy keeps them safer than not knowing.”

A key fumbled in the door and Nick sensed Geni with a second familiar presence. “It’s open,” he called out aiming his voice to the left and towards the door.

Through the doorway a pair of college girls entered the room, both appearing full of energy despite the early hour.

“Hi, Nicky!” the first girl entering called to her employer enthusiastically. She was one of two who seemed to love calling him by that nickname. Nicola was the other one, even before they had started dating.

“Morning, Geni, Lena,” Nick greeted with a wave over the back of the couch. Charlotte turned to smile as well knowing the girls pretty well after the last couple months staying in his apartment.

Closing the door behind them, Lena waved before she came around to sit next to Charlotte exchanging one armed hugs between them. The two had become as close as sisters after the unfortunate circumstances that brought them all together. When Geni had told him of Lena’s disappearance which was in fact a kidnapping by one of the werewolves in their pack, their paths had all become destined to intertwine.

Nick had used his detective skills and reporter contacts to find where she had been held. While held in a cell in the basement of the pack’s house, they had tried to turn her into a werewolf and even let a vampire bite her in a strange turn of events. Little did they know that Lena was a budding voran as
well. Resistant to vampire and werewolf bites, the girl was tormented until after her new powers destroyed the vampire. Then it was up to Charlotte and some of the other female wolves to try and convince Lena that they were just keeping her locked up to prevent her turning into a werewolf and killing anyone close to her.

When it was discovered that Lena wouldn’t turn even under a full moon; Charlotte, with her brother’s support, had protected the girl from harm until Nick could safely take her away from the wolves. He had come back giving them asylum after their pack leader turned them away, which was where they were now and the only one in the room that didn’t know any of it was Geni.

“Morning, Logan,” Geni greeted flirting slightly as Nick had noticed that she had a bit of a crush on his guest. Receiving a mere flick of his hand as a wave to say hello, the big man appeared slightly shy with the girl. It was barely noticed as the girl turned to Charlotte and added with a little gasp, “Oh my god, I love that top, Charlotte.”

The werewolf was a couple years older than the two college girls, but knew how to dress and had the figure to wear anything she wanted. “Thanks. My brother didn’t want me just walking around in a t-shirt, so I thought that I would dress for the day.”