Wayward Son (33 page)

Kalen worked his way back to their quarters and knocked lightly on the door of Azrael. It still surprised him each time he saw the gargoyle up close. He stared upward into the Azrael’s face. “I could use your guidance, friend.”

Azrael opened the door further, allowing Kalen to enter. Once inside, he noted just how small the room was with Azrael inside it. The gargoyle motioned to the small chair. “Please. It is much too small for me to use.”

Kalen sat and stared at nothing. Azrael waited patiently for the Elf to open up. Finally Kalen turned to him. “What am I doing wrong with Brooke?”

“You mean Raven?”

“Yes, Raven. It seems that everything I do upsets her. Even when I try to compliment her, she gets extremely upset.”

Azrael sat down gently on the edge of the bed. “Tell me what occurred.”

“We had to go through a drill that teaches teamwork. She continually caused us to fail. I said something to her about it. I told her that failing it on purpose served no purpose. She finally came around and when she applied herself, we passed the first time.”

“Good.” Azrael nodded. “So she
can
be a team player.”

“Yes, and I even told her as much. I told her that towards the end of the drill that I actually held the belief she could be counted on. It upset her.” Kalen gave him a confused stare. “I do not understand.”

“Perhaps you should have stated your belief in a different manner?” Azrael scratched at his chin. “Is it possible that she took offense to your remark? Perhaps she felt that you should have been able to count on her the entire time?”

Kalen shrugged. “I do not know. But I do know that she is now upset with me and without explanation.”

Azrael shook his head. “I’m afraid I cannot explain this one to you. This could be a ‘female’ thing or it could be a ‘vampire’ thing. Either way, it is beyond my grasp on human interaction.”

“But, Azrael, she is not human. She is vampire.”

Azrael patted the young elf on the shoulder. “Ah, but therein lies the conundrum. She once was human then became vampire. I fear that human complexities still exist, even if they are turned to the undead.”

Kalen sighed heavily. “I am not well versed in either dealings with humans or dealings with vampires.”

“What of dealings with females?”

Kalen gave him a surprised look. “Even less.”

*****

Lilith purred as Samael threw the inert body of Gaius out of the office that she used as a bedroom. He stood and glared at her, fury burning in her eyes. “You allowed the Roman to touch you?”

She sucked on her lower lip and gave him a pouty stare. “You weren’t here.” She swayed her hips as she approached him then doubled her fist and punched him hard across the jaw. “In fact, you haven’t
been
here in well over two millennia!” Samael stared at her in shock as she puffed out her chest. “What did you expect me to do? Wear a chastity belt and cry each night for your return?” She waved him away flippantly as she spun and pranced back to her bed.

“Do not turn your back on me, woman!” Samael advanced, growing in stature with each step.

Lilith sensed his reaching for her and jumped to her bed just as his hands closed on empty air. She bounced on the bed and spun to face him, a mischievous smile crossing her face. “Oh, so now you care?” She kicked at him as he crawled across the bed, reaching for her.

“Do not mock me, woman.” He grabbed her ankles and pulled her to him. “I have waited too long to be with you again.”

She giggled and laughed as he pulled her into a rough embrace. “Don’t act like you’re truly jealous, Samael. I know better.” She kissed him; gently at first, and then with reckless abandon. He dropped her to the bed and pinned her with his arm, his tongue exploring her mouth. She pushed him away and sucked in air, trying desperately to catch her breath. “Oh, my God, I missed you.”

“Wait until I’ve taken my full form,” his voice growled, low and menacing.

“You can do that? I thought you could only inhabit others?” She pushed him back and stared into his crystal blue eyes.

“Even now, I am altering this body. This…dead flesh.” Samael stared down at the body of the vampire he had taken. “Why did you keep a ghoul?”

She smiled and stroked his chin. “A pet, my love. A means to an end, that is all.”

He grabbed her roughly and pulled her to him. “A toy? For your pleasures?” He bit at her neck, and his rough whiskers excited her.

“He collected the pieces of my body and performed the ritual to breathe life back into my physical form.” She giggled and kicked as he nipped and nibbled his way down to her breast.

“Why keep him around afterward?” Samael suddenly looked up. “And how did he survive the ritual? A life for a life. Vampires and ghouls have no life to offer.”

She laughed and threw her head back. “He stocked up on power. A regular vessel that one.” She wrapped her arms around his ever widening back and pulled herself closer to him, pressing herself to his flesh. Her probing hands felt the nubbins on his back that would soon burst forth and form wings. “Oh my…you are altering this body quickly.”

Samael grasped her hair and pulled her head back, staring at her. “It’s been too long since I’ve had a physical form. I want this one perfected as quickly as possible.” He bit her neck, and she screamed with delight as his teeth scraped along the tender flesh.

“Oh yes. You will be perfect, that’s for sure.” She pulled him closer and bit his earlobe. “Now quit teasing me and do what you came here to do.”

Samael jerked her hair back and pulled her writing body flat to the bed. “Your soul is mine. I now claim your body.”

“Don’t just claim it. Take it, dammit!”

She wrapped her legs around his waist and thrust herself upward to meet him. “Take me…take me now!”

*****

“Bravo team, this is Team Leader, sound off,” Spalding whispered into his throat mic.

“Bravo Two, southeast corner secure.” Wallace scanned his coverage area with the SCAR 17. “Zero Tangos.”

“Bravo Three, northeast corner secure. Zero Tangos,” Popo reported.

“Bravo Four, northwest corner secure. Limited visibility. Zero Tangos.” Gus Tracy shifted his position as he reported, trying to get better coverage.

“Copy that, Bravo team. Approaching now.” Spalding used hand signals to send Delta team forward and fan outward.

“Team Leader, be advised, you have a single guard heading your location. Five Zero meters,” Bravo Two reported in a whispered voice.

“Copy that Bravo Two. That should be Apollo. Hold fire unless you see hostile movement.” Spalding stepped from the shadows and walked down the middle of the roadway to the open gates.

“Spanky, that you?”

Spalding released the breath he’d been holding and keyed his throat mic. “Affirmative. Contact made. Confirm Tango as Apollo.” Spalding stepped out of the shadows and into the glow of the sodium light. “Apollo, it’s good to see you again, brother.”

Apollo shot him a toothy grin and reached out to take the man’s hand. “Damned good to see you, too.” He pulled the operator in and clapped him on the back. “How many are you?”

“Delta and what’s left of Bravo.” Spalding kept his voice low, but was sure the other team members heard the conversation.

Apollo’s stature slumped and he lowered his eyes. “I can’t tell you how sorry I am that…” he turned away and shook his head. “Who’s left from my team?”

Spalding cleared his throat and answered softly. “You lost Bone. If it’s any consolation, he went down fighting.”

Spalding could have sworn he saw the big man’s lower lip quivering as he nodded. “He was a good man. Hell of a warrior.”

“Listen, Apollo, I have to tell you something.” Spalding wasn’t sure exactly how to broach the subject and had played this conversation out in his mind numerous times. It never went well. Since there wasn’t really a good way to broach the subject, he felt the best thing to do was to simply spit it out.

“Yeah? What’s that?”

“Before we left, Mitchell pretty much gave us two options.”

“You mean me, don’tcha?” Apollo rubbed at the back of his neck then wrapped his arms around his chest. “Hit me with it, baby. Whatever it is, I have it coming.”

“Well, see…he pretty much said our choices were to bring you back in chains or a body bag.”

Apollo exhaled hard as the words struck him like a physical blow. He shook his head and stared down at Spalding. “I don’t want to go to no prison, Spanky. I can’t do it. I know I deserve it, but—”

Spalding held up his hands to stop him. “We came up with a third option.” He pointed into the shadows. “Actually, Ing came up with it and the rest of the guys all signed on. All of them.”

Apollo inhaled deeply. “I don’t guess that third choice was anything like ten Hail Marys and come back to work, was it?”

Spalding shook his head. “No, brother, it wasn’t. I’m sorry.” He placed a reassuring hand on the big guy’s shoulder. “We’re calling it banishment. Basically, after tonight, you disappear. You just fade into the night and forget that the squads exist. Try to find a pack or something, or…hell, anything. Just steer clear of mercenary work, don’t let yourself become a threat to humans and we both forget the other exists.”

Apollo nodded, his eyes staring into the shadows. “But if I ever pop back up on the radar…”

“Then we do what we do best.” Spalding watched as the big man’s eyes turned to him. “Neither of us wants that, Apollo.”

“No. You got that right.” He turned and blew out a hard breath. “Thank you, Spanky.”

“Don’t thank me, brother. It was unanimous. Both squads voted on this and…it wasn’t just me.”

Apollo pulled his friend into a tight bear hug. “In case something happens tonight, thank you, brother.”

Spalding tried not to groan or break as Apollo squeezed him. “Any time, buddy.”

Apollo let him drop to the ground and wiped at his face. “We got work to do.” He waved Spalding and the other operators on. “Follow me.”

Leading the team through a myriad of abandoned metal buildings, they soon came out to a clearing where multiple rows of shipping containers formed lines through the facility. “They’re in there. Silver lined coffins.”

“Accesses?”

“Rooftop. Ventilation and access ports.” Apollo pointed to a ladder and Lamb and Jacobs immediately hit the metal rungs and were standing atop the first container.

Lamb dropped a silver nitrate grenade down the ventilation shaft, and the pair waited for it to go off. The following roars and howls let them know that the grenade did its job. Ing opened the access port and the pair opened fire on the weakened wolves.

Other members of Delta passed Jacobs and Lamb and jumped to the next container. Lamb whistled to get their attention. “Save the grenades. There’s silver over the access port. Just pop the top and let ‘em have it.”

“Roger that.” Donnie gave him a thumbs-up and Little John cracked open the access port and eased it open. Confirming that the silver mesh covered the area, he threw open the lid and the pair opened fire. As they were cleaning up, Lamb and Jacobs passed them and jumped to the next one.

Spalding elbowed Apollo. “Care to join them?”

Apollo nodded. “Why the hell not. These sons of bitches deserve every shot.” The pair went to the next row and climbed atop the containers. Spalding keyed his throat mic again. “This is going a little too easy. Keep your eyes open.”

Three clicks echoed back in his earpiece as acknowledgment. Spalding watched as Apollo tossed open the first of the access ports and the pair opened fire. Satisfied that the wolves were dead, they jumped to the next container.

“Movement,” Gus Tracy reported. “Can’t get a clear bead.”

“Bravo Four, Bravo Two, location, over?”

Tracy shifted again on the rooftop and tried to spot whatever it was he saw moving. “Bravo Two, east of the blue metal outbuilding. Over.”

“Scanning.” Bravo Two shifted his line of sight and scanned the area, coming up empty. “I’ve got nothing. Bravo Three?”

“Negative. Field of view is empty from here.”

Spalding paused in his clean-up efforts and keyed his throat mic. “Bravo Four, are you sure you saw something?”

“Bet my life on it, Spanky.” Tracy continued to scan the area, his finger hovering just above the trigger of the SCAR heavy.

“What’s wrong?” Apollo asked as he closed the access port.

“One of the perimeter overwatches noted movement.” Spalding turned and stared in the direction of the reported incident. “Nobody can verify.”

Apollo shook his head. “Everybody but me should be in these crates.”

Spalding continued to stare toward the sighting. “Should be are the key words there, brother. What are the odds somebody didn’t go in?”

Apollo shrugged. “They’d be a wolf. Sort of hard to miss.”

Spalding keyed his throat mic, “All units, be advised, we may have a rogue wolf in the area. Overwatches, cover your six. Delta team, on your toes.”