Hope and Vengeance: Saa Thalarr, book 1 Page 8

  Adam, watch out, Joey shouted in my mind. Somehow, he'd known to join the fight, although I hadn't told him where we were. At least fifty creatures, some of them resembling the humans they'd once been, others only bearing the faintest resemblance to anything human, fought us on the banks of the Red River. The nearby road was deserted, and we were far enough down a steep embankment that it wouldn't have mattered anyway.

  This was no fight for humans, after all. The creatures only fell after we took their heads. Daniel ended up fighting off werewolves while Joey, Anna and I fought spawn. Now I knew what she was talking about. What Manuelo was turning into. What Roy Cheek had allied himself with. I needed more information, however, and I'd have to call Xavier.

  If we survived.

  Slicing off another head, I ducked as the creature exploded in a rain of forceful, black dust. Nothing I'd ever encountered died in such a way. Usually it was messy—a death brought about by beheading. Only a vampire left ash behind, and it didn't explode when it died.

  Anna—I barely had time to glance in her direction from time to time. I didn't understand how she was doing it, but if anything got close to her, it was either kicked away or exploded. Eventually, I determined that spawn near her hind legs got kicked. Anything near her head exploded. I had no idea why, and no time at the moment to figure out the mystery.

  More coming, Joey shouted mentally as another wave rolled onto the bank. Some of these—yes—they resembled trolls. Seven and eight-foot trolls. They stomped onto the wet, slippery bank, their clawed feet sinking into the mire beneath their weight and giving them traction. How the hell were we supposed to fight them?

  Joey, get away, I sent. Get to safety and let Charles and Wlodek know what we're dealing with. With four large trolls attacking, in addition to the spawn rolling out of the river, I had no idea how any of us might survive unless we could get away.

  Not leaving, Joey returned, slicing off another head. I recognized the one he'd killed—Ray Wilson's image flashed through my mind as his body exploded in a rain of black sand. Two more took his place, forcing Joey to back up. If the cavalry hadn't shown up, we'd have died, I imagine.

  I almost died anyway when the giant black lion joined the fray, followed by a tall, Asian man with a long, black braid down his back and a steel blade in each hand. Yes, I stared for a moment as the lion snapped off heads with claws and jaws, while the Asian man's blades flew so fast they blurred in my vision.

  The trolls? Anna took care of them. Their explosions when they died were more forceful than the smaller versions. Joey screamed when one of the explosions knocked him down. Several spawn leapt at him. I shouldn't have worried, although if my heart still worked it would have stopped then. The lion leapt to Joey's aid, grasping attacking spawn in his jaws and flinging them toward the Asian, who cut them neatly in midair, relieving them of their heads as deftly as any sushi chef cutting shrimp.

  The battle took about an hour. Or perhaps it was only a few minutes, it happened so swift and furiously. Daniel's wolf, bleeding profusely, stood and panted as I surveyed the wreckage about me.

  "We'll have to get rid of the werewolf bodies," Anna muttered as she walked toward me.

  "Or the pieces," Joey said, gingerly toeing the head of a werewolf and watching it roll down the bank a short distance. We couldn't dump them in the river like that—they'd be found and human suspicions would be raised.

  "Hold on," Daniel sighed, coming back to himself. He was naked and bleeding as he walked toward a nearby tree. Lifting a pair of jeans from a pile of clothing, he pulled a cell phone from a pocket and dialed a number. I heard clearly when William Winkler answered the phone.

  "Got into a scrape with seven rogues and a shit-load of something else," Daniel reported. "Need body disposal."

  "I have triangulation on your phone. I'll have somebody there in a few." The call was ended.

  "Anna?" I turned to her. She was back to herself and decidedly not naked. I only thought to wonder at that then. The black lion? Like Anna, he became himself. No wonder he was called Lion. That's exactly what he was.

  "Adam, you already know Lion," Anna nodded to the tall, muscular black man. "This is Dragon." She introduced the Asian man.

  Does that mean? Joey asked, his sending almost breathless.

  I don't have the slightest idea, I replied as I held out my hand to the man with two blades strapped to his back. What I did know is this—he only wore a black leather vest over black leather pants, and his chest and arms were covered in tattoos. Those tattoos were all red dragons.

  "I brought your blade with me, just in case," Dragon nodded to Anna.

  "I hope I don't need it," Anna said. "Look, I'll see to Daniel, if you want to report to Pheligar."

  "Done," Dragon said. He and Lion began walking up the embankment. I might not have admitted it to anyone right then, but those two were perhaps the most dangerous men I'd ever met in my life. At least one of them was a shapeshifter. The other? I was content to wait to learn about him.

  Joey was already attempting to help with Daniel's wounds. Anna went to assist. Together, they helped Daniel dress. As a werewolf, he'd heal fast enough, and I'll admit I stared when he lifted a pistol off the ground and stuffed it into the back of his jeans.

  "Didn't want to call attention to the fight with gunshots," he admitted as he walked stiffly in my direction. "Got information yesterday from the human wife of one of the rogues you killed in Corpus, Chessman," he nodded wearily at me.

  "What information is that?" I asked.

  "The rogues who attacked you were associated with a Pack in Mexico. They've been running a little side business, hauling undocumented immigrants into Texas for a fee, after promising them work with Roy Cheek and Hartshorne Oil. Winkler's sent some of his bunch in that direction, but Juarez is no place for anybody on the right side of the law. I figure these were sent to kill me after I pulled the confession out of the human woman." I watched as blood soaked through his shirt from numerous wounds and shook my head.

  "That's fucked up," Joey mumbled. "Who knows how many paid to get into the country to work for Cheek, and then ended up dead?"

  "I need to get back to my truck," Daniel said, painfully rotating an arm to loosen it.

  "You're coming with us," Anna insisted. "I'll clean out those wounds and you can sleep in Joey's room. We'll drive you to the casino. Joey can take the extra bed in our room, to give you privacy."

  "Sounds good," Daniel nodded. "My truck is parked a quarter of a mile south of here, just off the road." He flexed his shoulder again, which popped audibly.

  "I'll give you a lift there," Anna said and turned to her alter ego. Daniel barely blinked when I tossed him onto her back, although that was a place I longed to be. I hadn't been riding in a long time.

  * * *

  "Look, I can't repay this debt," Daniel said later after Anna and Joey finished cleaning his wounds and putting him to bed.

  "What debt?" Anna said. "You owe me nothing. I'm just helping a friend."

  "Then I thank you for that," he muttered. Anna and Joey followed me through the connecting door and I shut it quietly between us.

  "Sweetheart, go to bed," I said. "I don't think you've slept four hours out of the last forty-eight."

  "What about Roy Cheek?" she asked.

  "Joey and I have time to change clothes and check on the bastard. Then we'll come back here and go to bed. You'll stay in bed. That's an order."

  "Really?"

  "As much as I can order," I said, pulling her against me. All of us looked as if we'd fought a war, which in reality, we probably had. At least the opening battle of it, and if that was any indication, we had a very hard road ahead of us.

  "I want a bath first," she muffled against my chest.

  "I do, too. Want to shower together?"

  "Hey," Joey said. "I'm right here."

  "You will not be offended. Admit it," I said.

  "Nah. Just wanted to tease you."

  "Adam," Anna si
ghed.

  "Come on, it's just a shower. You're tired. It'll save time."

  "Sure."

  I deliberately misinterpreted her sarcasm. Lifting her quickly, I carried her into the bathroom and shut the door. Before she could complain, I'd razored stained and torn clothing off her with shortened claws before tossing the fabric into the bin. She was just as perfect as I imagined—I watched her shamelessly while I undressed. After a few moments of attempting to cover up, she gave up with a sigh and turned on the taps.

  The shower took longer than it should have, but there was no sex, just a lot of touching as I washed her body thoroughly.

  "Adam, that's not normal," Anna blinked at my erection.

  "Most women have no complaints," I said. "It'll fit, and I'll make sure it feels good, too. Now, I get to kiss these before we get out." I lifted her, encouraged her to wrap her legs around my waist and kissed both nipples. We were so close, but she wasn't ready.

  I dried her off, too, before tending to myself. "Want to touch?" I still sported an erection—I couldn't convince my body to behave.

  "Adam."

  "Come on." I took her hand. She didn't protest when I wrapped her fingers around my penis. I didn't complain either, when her hand moved. "Like my John Thomas, do you?" I grinned.

  "This is so soft—the skin," she touched the head.

  "Meant to be. My body, inside yours. Treating it as it should be treated. Not meant to harm," I explained. "Gentle, when necessary. Rougher if requested." I grinned again.

  "What about you? What do you want?" She took her hand away. I wanted to protest at the loss of warmth. I didn't.

  "I'll let you know what I want. If you don't want that, it'll be all right."

  "That doesn't embarrass you?"

  "Sweetheart, it is extremely difficult to embarrass a vampire more than one hundred years old."

  "I'm going to bed." I watched as she slipped on the oversized T-shirt, which hung halfway to her knees.

  "No bottoms," I pleaded.

  "Fine." She walked out of the bathroom, the neck of the T sliding off a shoulder. I turned and grinned at myself in the mirror before stalking after her, wearing nothing. Joey had seen me naked before. Now, Anna had, too. I intended to sleep that way, when Joey and I returned after checking on Cheek.

  Anna didn't say a word as I sat on the side of the bed to dress.

  "Go to sleep, baby," I breathed against her temple before leaving the room. Joey had taken a shower in record time while I dressed, and he followed, closing the door softly behind us.

  * * *

  Cheek hadn't moved from his seat at the poker table, so Joey and I left after half an hour. We had less than an hour to get back to our hotel, and I wanted to savor being in bed with Anna as long as possible before the rejuvenating sleep claimed me.

  Joey checked on Daniel while I undressed and slid into bed. Likely, I'd go to sleep with a smile on my face. Leaning in, I pulled Anna against me and covered as much of her body with mine as I could. This was the way any vampire protected his mate. An enemy would be forced to kill me to get to her.

  * * *

  "I hear from the werewolves that you were attacked, and still no word from you? Adam, it has been three nights with no contact." Xavier was furious. "Wlodek expects a report as well. What have you been doing with your time? Tell me. Immediately."

  I stared at my cell phone before ending the call and tossing the infernal device onto the bed. I'd awakened to find Anna missing from my embrace. At least she'd left a note this time.

  Gone with Daniel to meet with local pack, the message read. I'd crumpled it in my hand—if that werewolf thought to move in on my territory, he'd have a fight on his hands. My cell phone rang again. This time, it was Charles calling.

  "Charles?" I snapped.

  "I hear you had a bit of a problem." Charles was always smoothly unrattled. About everything.

  "We did. We're not hurt, thanks to Anna and a werewolf sent by the Grand Master. Anna says these things that attacked us are spawn, whatever that means, and that the creature that bit Sam Greene and the others is a type of water demon called a kapirus."

  "We haven't been attacked by spawn in centuries," Wlodek said. He'd been listening to our conversation. "What did they look like?"

  "They came out of the water to attack us. Some of them looked human. Others had darker, scalier skin. None of them spoke; they just attacked. We had to take their heads to kill them."

  Wlodek cursed in Greek, then. I only understood half his words. "Are there more of them?" he eventually asked in English.

  "I assume so, and these appeared to be allied with several rogue werewolves. We were fighting them by the river when the spawn appeared."

  "I've not heard of a kapirus before," Wlodek muttered.

  "Anna says they're not local."

  "What does that mean?"

  "I don't know, and she isn't here to ask at the moment, Honored One."

  "I hear she's a shapeshifter. The Grand Master's report says she's a white horse. Is that correct?"

  "Yes. And quite adept at fighting rogue werewolves as well as spawn."

  "I have no idea how a shapeshifter might know of these things—no shapeshifter is old enough to have knowledge of them."

  I found myself wondering at Wlodek's words—he was old enough to recall spawn. I didn't push for answers, however. It was inevitably a mistake to push the Head of the Council on anything.

  "How well does her psychic ability work?" Wlodek asked. I froze.

  "She says she isn't psychic," I replied.

  "Then what does she do? She seems to know too damn much for her own good."

  "She says she's good with possibilities and absolutes." I repeated Anna's words.

  "What in the name of creation is that supposed to mean?"

  "I don't know, Honored One."

  "She certainly knows too much," another voice spoke. Wlodek had our conversation on speaker, and if I'd thought I was cold earlier, this froze my very blood and marrow. The Seer was there. Saxom. The one I trusted least had heard everything I'd said.

  "What do you suggest?" Wlodek asked. It took a moment to realize he wasn't asking me.

  "I suggest we attempt to turn her," Saxom replied. He sounded almost gleeful to me, and I didn't like that at all. "Her talents would enhance our race, don't you agree? Xavier says she managed to help Adam heal after the attack by rogue werewolves, and this ability—whatever it is—to know things would be an obvious advantage for us. Adam can bring her to us, and we can make the attempt in a safe place."

  "And if the turn isn't successful? You know this will likely fail," Wlodek responded.

  "It is inevitable, don't you think? As you said, Honored One, she knows too much. I suggest we wait to make the attempt. If my vision is correct, then Chessman and Showalter should continue to follow this Cheek person. I see that there will be a trip to Las Vegas very soon. After their return to Corpus Christi, should they survive, then we consider the appropriate time to bring her here and make the attempt."

  Saxom's ability to see into the future at times had earned him the title of Seer among the vampire race. He was employing his ability now, evidently.

  "Who will do this? Chessman has no experience at turning." They spoke of me as if I weren't listening to their conversation.

  "Chessman's sire has much experience," Saxom pointed out. My breath caught. Not only were they intending to gamble with Anna's life, they wanted Xavier to do it. I wanted to explode. Shout at the Head of the Council and his second-in-command. If Anna survived, my sire would have control of her. Female vampires, unless they were extremely old and powerful, were few and shut away from the rest of the vampire world. Xavier would achieve a coup if he had one of his own.

  Not only did I despise Xavier as my sire, I'd despise him more for destroying Anna's life for the benefit of the vampire race. He'd take full credit, too, I had no doubt. Somehow, I had to protect Anna. With my sire's involvement, I had no idea how that m
ight be accomplished.

  "Adam, you will keep this information from her, do you hear?" Wlodek commanded.

  "Yes, Honored One." Frantically, I searched my brain for a way to disobey that command. There had to be something. Some way to save her.

  "Keep me and your sire informed." Wlodek ended the call.

  "That's fucked up," Joey said. He was sitting cross-legged on his bed, blinking at me. He'd heard the entire conversation.

  "Fucked up sounds mild compared to what this really is," I growled. "Get dressed. We need to find Anna and check on Roy Cheek."

  * * *

  "Adam, you know we can't let them do this." Joey's gaze was pointed toward the lights on the bridge we crossed as we drove toward Cheek's newest gambling spot.

  "Joey, I want you to stay out of this. If anybody goes down for trying to protect her, I don't want it to be you."

  "I think there may be a way. I can't tell you right now, but hear me out when the time comes, all right?"

  "I promise to hear you out. Will you promise to stay out of it if I don't think it's a good idea?"

  "Deal. I don't like it, but we don't have much choice." He hunched his shoulders, and I knew he considered what might happen—all I had to do is lay compulsion and he'd be forced to obey me. I didn't like doing that unless there was no other option; Joey was like a son to me.

  Joey's cell rang as I prepared to pull into the parking garage at the Casino. Anna was calling. "Joey," she said, "Cheek's moved to the Sea Serpent Casino, where the tournament is being held."

  "On our way," Joey said. "Anything else?"

  "The local pack is hunting spawn, but they haven't found anything. I think we cleared out what they sent after us, but that doesn't mean there won't be more, later."

  "Anna, can you hear me?" I asked.

  "I can hear you."

  "Good. Where is Daniel now?"

  "With the local Packmaster. They've pulled in some of the Baton Rouge pack to help with the hunt. If they don't find anything here, they'll wait for the Grand Master's response on Daniel's request to send some to Corpus Christi. The Pack there is in flux, since several members went rogue and their Packmaster is dead."