Supernatural Enforcement Bureau, Book 1, The Dragon and The Vampire: Book 1 (4 page)

Sam snarled, his frown deepening as Ronan’s words hit their mark. “Okay, a couple of times things got out of hand, but mostly everything’s okay. That’s why I’m sticking to Wolves for a bit of fun for now. They know it won’t go anywhere with me being a Vamp. They want their true mate and pups ‘n all that shit. I’m just a bit of fun for them...and that suits me just fine, thank you!”

“
Whatever, Sam, whatever,” Ronan mumbled, he cared for his friend deeply, but he sure as hell didn’t like the amount of women Sam went through...mostly for casual sex.

Not that Ronan didn’t indulge in some of that himself, he did, just not nearly as often as Sam and always letting the other person know that’s exactly what it was. He would never dream of leading a woman on the way Sam sometimes did. Granted the stalker wasn’t Sam’s fault, he himself had been present when Sam had told her in the beginning he was only looking for some fun, nothing serious. She obviously hadn’t been listening as her behavior spiraled totally out of control.

A transfer was the least of her worries, as Ronan had insisted on some serious psychological help for her before she could resume her duties.

“
I don’t mean to hurt anyone.” Sam’s voice was now full of feeling and Ronan looked up to see the pained expression on his face.

“
I know you don’t, Sam, but you need to make things crystal clear in the beginning. It’s not acceptable that your actions cause pain to these women. Just try, please, to let Miriam know straight off that this is all fun. I don’t want her Alpha coming after you because you’ve wronged her in some way.” Ronan knew that was a distinct possibility, as that particular Alpha was a little too hotheaded for his liking.

“
Okay, okay, I’ll let her know, before we go on our date.” Sam pulled his frame away from the wall, where he had been leaning and went to the door, stopping as he got there, “Look, I’m sorry, honest, I’ll try to be more responsible,”

Ronan nodded, knowing Sam didn’t set out to hurt the women, even if he ended up doing so.

“Okay, just try and be careful, you know Miriam’s Alpha is a lunatic. I don’t want to have to deal with him now, when we’re trying to find the girl.”

“
I hear ya, boss,” Sam threw over his shoulder as he returned to his own office.

Chapter 4

Ronan carried on with his paperwork but couldn’t settle, his mind returning time and again to the girl, the Dragon. Her eyes clear in his thoughts and her words irking him more as the day wore on. She had been quick to judge him and he didn’t like that, not one bit.

His phone rang, interrupting his musings. Not fully listening, he answered. “Ronan, it’s Seth, we just raided that address and you’re not going to believe what we found.”

Ronan sat up; listening intently now as Seth led the team he had sent to raid the sect’s premises. The sect whose previous and present leader was out to harm...no, not harm...kill, Peri, his Sire’s mate.

He frowned as he listened to the report, snarling in several places as Seth told him everything. It wasn’t good news.

As his operative finished his verbal report Ronan sighed. “Okay, Seth, thanks. Get me the written report as soon as you can. I’ll take things from here.”

“
Will do, bye.” Seth hung up the phone and Ronan realized he would have to let Josef know.

Opening his laptop and his emails he started to type a new message.

‘Sent a team to site, rounded up several dozen folks, most of whom were glad we had arrived! Seemingly terrified of their new leader and glad to be ‘rescued’ ... their words not mine. Some young women were taken immediately to the emergency room to be treated for rape and beatings. The abuse was, apparently, pretty severe. This new guy wasn’t there; he had seemingly become very agitated earlier in the day and left, taking a large suitcase and two of his closest men with him. Nobody knew where he was going, or if he would be back. Sorry Josef, looks like he escaped. I will, of course, keep the search open for him and if I get any new information or my men catch him, I will let you know. Take care of Peri.’

Pressing send, he knew this was not the outcome Josef was hoping for and wished he had been able to take out this new threat to Peri. He hoped Josef and Gabe could keep her safe, even though she was a powerful Witch in her own right.

He was now feeling pretty ill-tempered–first not catching the Dragon, her biting words, Sam, and now this. He closed down his laptop, standing up and leaving the paperwork where it lay. It would be there for him in the morning. Tonight he was going home to have quite a few drinks.

Luckily, he didn’t have far to go. The SEB owned the building their offices were in, six floors with underground parking and a Penthouse apartment on the top floor. That apartment was his, as Director, and he made his way up to it with a scowl on his face.

As soon as he was inside, he made for the small bar area, set up in the corner of his lounge, pouring himself a large bourbon. He drank it down in one gulp, before refilling the glass and going to his favorite chair. A large, reclining, leather armchair sat directly in front of the floor to ceiling windows, which ran the entire length of the lounge. The chair facing outwards so he could sit and watch the city–loving to watch the sun rise and set.

He relaxed his huge frame into the chair, pressing the button to recline it slightly, before sipping his drink. Ronan’s thoughts were scattered as they wound from Josef, to his hometown, to Peri, to the Dragon and inevitably settling on the girl.

He hoped they could find her and convince her they wanted to help. Maybe she thought they had been hunters? It would’ve been a logical assumption if she was used to Vampires chasing her. Maybe that was why she had spoken to him in such a harsh tone…

He guessed if he was being hunted, he wouldn’t be too gracious either, to folks turning up in full combat gear. Ronan was well aware of the sight he projected, even when not dressed for a mission. Downright scary was probably the words to describe him. Which meant the girl had even more courage than he thought, throwing that insult out at him as she had.

Stretching his legs he grimaced, realizing he was still in his combat gear, including weapons, which were now digging into him. He placed his glass on the side table next to his chair, and stood up, already starting to undress. The weapons he placed on the bar, then he continued on down the hallway to his bedroom, throwing the clothes in the hamper as he removed them.

Once down to his underwear he about turned and went back to his seat, the leather slightly cold against his skin for the first few seconds. Picking up his glass, he sipped some more of his drink while he stared out the window...for once seeing nothing...apart from violet eyes.

Ronan had no idea how long he stayed there, only moving when fatigue started to lower his eyelids. Peeling his body from the leather, he placed the glass on the bar and went to bed–a very large bed, one which accommodated his huge frame and had cost him a small fortune to be made. It was one of the few items he treasured.

Moving the sheet he lay down, hoping to rest, after all, he had a mission to carry out the next night and he wanted to be on top of his game.

After tossing and turning for hours Ronan fell into a fitful sleep, waking after just three hours. It was still early, before dawn, as he gave up trying to sleep and went for a long, hot, shower. Dressing in one of his suits and retrieving a small packet of donor blood from his fridge. He placed the package on the counter-top and left it. He would eat in an hour or so, once the chill had gone from the blood.

D
esperate for coffee, making himself an instant instead of his usual filter and carrying his coffee with him, Ronan sat back down in his chair to watch the sun rise over his city. He realized he was worried about the girl, but he was also worried for the people that lived here, in Denver.

If those wielding dark magic brought their fight into the city then there were going to be casualties...probably humans. That didn’t sit well with him and he sipped his coffee as he thought on what to do.

Ronan decided to place more teams on the outskirts of the city as lookouts for possible trouble. The last thing he needed was to have to deal with the mess that dark magic wielding Witches could bring down on the humans, living oblivious of any danger.

They were fragile, most still unaware of the vast amount of Supers that actually lived in and around them. Humans had ruled for so very long, that they were complacent to the threats that were right there on their doorsteps. Most of them still thought they were at the top of the food chain...stupid, naive, uninformed, primitive.

It was still his job to ensure they weren’t harmed by any of his own kind. A hard job...but someone had to do it.

He sighed as he finished his coffee, realizing it was stone cold, and then checking his watch to see that almost an hour had passed while he sat and watched the slow rise of the sun. Standing up and stretching his body he then went to place the cup in the sink, grabbing his small packet of blood as he did so. His fangs descended, as they usually did when he was about to feed, ripping the pack at the top and drinking down his sustenance for the day.

As he finished, his fangs retracted and he licked along his lips, making sure there were no visible telltale signs of the red liquid. The empty packet he placed in the waste and walked to the bar, retrieving the weapons he had worn yesterday.

He carried them in his hand as he left his apartment, making his way to his office. Still too early for most of the staff, although he did see a few folks already in and working at their desks. Ronan nodded once or twice to a couple of them as he carried on, thinking he should really take note of who was putting in extra hours.

The first thing he saw when he entered the office was the paperwork he had left behind. He groaned, knowing he really should get through that today. If not, then the funding would get held up, and folks’ wages wouldn’t get paid on time. Sometimes he actually wished he had passed the promotion up, preferring a much more hands on approach to keeping folks safe, and he knew he wouldn’t have to worry about hiring an assistant.

Steeling himself, he sat down and started trawling his way through the mounds on his desk. He was almost finished when he smelled coffee– fresh, strong, black, coffee. Raising his head his eyes met Sam’s who stood at the door with two to-go cups of Starbucks in his hands.

“Thought you might need this. I saw you earlier so went out and got us some decent stuff.” Sam sipped from one as he moved in and held the other out to Ronan.

“
Thank you, I’ve just about finished this and could really do with a break.” Ronan took the offered coffee and swallowed some of the black liquid, almost moaning in appreciation.

“
Yeah, I guessed you’d been in a while––most of the paper is gone from your desk.” Sam sat down, placing his feet on the edge of the desk.

“
I didn’t sleep well last night. So I got in early and got rid of all this shit. I really need to get an assistant to help out. If not, I’m not sure I can carry on...I hate all this paperwork.” Ronan carried on savoring the coffee as he spoke, even the smell of the caffeine perking him up.

“
I know, I’ve got a lot less than you and it bores me shitless. Can I get an assistant too?” Sam cocked his head to the side, waiting on Ronan’s answer.

“
If you do get one...no women...if you’re that desperate for help then help is what you’ll get. That means a male and I’m not kidding around, Sam. I won’t approve anyone else for the job, so don’t try and pull one of your tricks.”

Ronan had enough to do, without dealing with an office romance just two doors down. Especially as he could imagine how it would go. Yet another heartbroken woman to add to the very long list that was in Sam’s wake.

“What? That’s, that’s...sexist! You can’t do that, boss.” Sam was staring wide eyed, with a shocked look on his face.

It was a look Ronan knew well and he ignored it.

“I can do whatever the hell I want, and I’m telling you, if you want an assistant you are
not
hiring a female. Wait, yes you can...if she’s old, grey, and definitely not your type...so suck it up.” Ronan was pleased to see Sam’s crestfallen look and almost laughed.

“
Jeez, what the hell, Ronan? You certainly got out of the wrong side of the bed this morning,” Sam complained as he drank some more of his coffee before getting up and leaving.

Ronan said nothing more, just smiled as his friend frowned at him.

Opening his laptop, Ronan opened his emails, starting to write one informing folks he was looking for an assistant, and advising what was required. He sent it to all heads of departments, asking them to print it out and place it on the notice boards dotted around the building. He hoped he could find someone who would be good for the job. He really didn’t think he could carry on without some help. If he had to do another month’s expenses and wages on his own again, he would quit and retire some place nice.

The rest of the day went as normal, phone calls, emails, sorting the extra teams to scour the perimeter of the city near to where the hunters had been seen. Ronan wanted plenty of advance warning if they ventured into the populated areas. He took a break after meeting with Sam, Drake and Serge, going over their mission.

Feeling a little off kilter, and having no idea why, Ronan went for a long walk, then spent a few hours in the gym on the first floor, next to the locker room. He had a small one set up in his apartment, using one of the spare bedrooms, but he wanted to use just about every piece of equipment the larger gym held. He worked himself hard, dripping in sweat by the time he was finished. He needed a long shower to clean himself from the smell of his workout, before going to get suited up for their mission.

His workouts weren’t just a vain act to keep him looking good. Ronan needed to be fit and as strong as possible to hold his position. With some of the antiquated laws, both Vampire and Wolf, he sometimes had to ‘intervene’ in a dispute. The intervention usually involved some kind of one on one fight, so he kept himself as fit and strong as he possibly could in order to make sure he would win in any conflict related scraps.

That was actually part of his job that he enjoyed...far more than the paperwork side.

Esther was waiting on him as he exited the elevator in the parking area, a serene look on her old face. She may look like someone’s grandmother, but he could feel the power inside the woman as he walked over.

“Good evening, Ronan. I trust you are well?” Esther smiled up into his face as he came alongside her.

“
Yeah, I’m good. We all set for tonight?” his eyes moved to find the rest of his team and saw them sitting waiting in one of the larger SUV’s.

“
Yes, yes, we shall see what tonight brings, I am hopeful all will go well.”

With that Esther turned and walked over to the vehicle, got in the back with Serge and Sam, as he followed and got in front. Drake was in the driver’s seat again, and he guessed there had been a tussle or two over that.

Seeing the frown on Sam’s face confirmed it.

“
Okay, let’s go.” He motioned with his hand and Drake pulled away, on their way back to where they had seen the girl.

“
Please remember, this girl has probably been hunted for a long time, so she will not trust easily. We have to try and make her understand that we are no threat to her, and are, in fact, trying to help. That may not be easy...but we have to try.”

Esther’s calm voice settled Ronan slightly, as he hoped they could do exactly what the old woman was saying. He really wanted to find and help that girl...the girl with the violet eyes.