Nocturne 040 – Scions 02 - Patrice Michelle - Insurrection (2 page)

“Three months.” Landon settled on a tall barstool and called to the bartender, “I’ll have a Guinness.”

After the bartender set his draft in front of him and walked away, Landon took a deep drink. The thick beer tasted good going down. Eyeing Jachin, he wondered how Jachin’s human mate was faring living among the vampires. “How’s Ariel? She’s a resilient human, surviving that bullet wound like she did.”

Jachin frowned. “If it hadn’t been for my sister’s medical knowledge…”

He paused, then shook his head and chuckled. “My mate’s tough. She’s finally feeling herself again. She’s pregnant and has been throwing up like a champ for several weeks.”

A child? While a smile tugged at Landon’s lips, a burning sensation spread through his chest. Was that jealousy? Probably indigestion. Damned raw steak he’d had for dinner a few hours ago.

“How are things with your pack?” Jachin rolled his empty shot glass along his cupped palm and his gaze turned serious.

Tension whipped through Landon, knotting his shoulders at the center of his spine. He gripped his mug’s handle tight and stared at the dark liquid in the glass. “The Alpha kicked me out for challenging him at the sacrificial circle.”

“Attacking your Alpha was ballsy.”

Landon’s gaze snapped to Jachin’s. “Nathan was too caught up in you trespassing on Lupreda land. He would’ve called for the entire pack to kill you, no matter the losses on either side. I had to give you enough time to move the ascendancy chalice and claim your leadership. With you as the new vampire leader, peace between our races might one day be a reality.”

“You shouldn’t be separated from your pack.”

Landon shrugged at the anger in Jachin’s tone. He knew he’d eventually kill Nathan. Was it justifiable homicide if the man deserved to die from sheer, arrogant stupidity? But dammit, if he did take the bastard out, Landon didn’t know if there was anyone with enough balls to lead the pack. Nathan had brass ones. Unfortunately, the shithead didn’t have the brains to go with the role.

After a few tense seconds passed, Jachin said, “There’s a reason you called me here.”

Landon met Jachin’s steady gaze head-on. “The Omega want to know if the Sanguinas have anything to do with the disappearance of three of our weres.”

Jachin’s easy smile faded. “The Lupreda think the Sanguinas are responsible? Why?”

“Because our men are missing.”

The vampire’s deep blue eyes narrowed and his angular jaw hardened.

“You’d better have more than that if you’re going to accuse the Sanguinas, my friend.”

The tension levels between them increased considerably. Landon heard Jachin’s heart rate lower to a deadly slow thump and smelled the vamp’s testosterone levels increase. The primal scent hung heavy and thick between them…as if the man was intentionally waving a red flag in front of Landon just to rile him.

The posturing smell made Landon’s nose hairs burn. He snorted and pinched the bridge of his nose to keep from reacting. A good brawl was probably exactly what he needed, but it wouldn’t be conducive to his reason for being there.

“The weres weren’t taken unharmed,” Landon said in a cold tone.

“And who could’ve done that, Landon?” While his black eyebrows drew downward, Jachin’s expression held sincerity.

“What Sanguinas would be able to walk into the middle of a wolfpack and take three weres without being detected and attacked by the rest of the pack?”

The hairs on the back of Landon’s neck rose in defense. “The weres weren’t living with the pack.”

A lethal calm settled over the vampire’s features. “Why would these other weres be living outside of the group? Did the Alpha kick them out, too? The Lupreda’s best defense is their cohesiveness.”

“No humans could’ve taken these men,” Landon said, evading Jachin’s question. “So I’ll ask you again…are the Sanguinas responsible?”

Jachin’s fingers cinched around the shot glass, shattering it. Shards of glass scattered across the bar top as he growled in a low voice, “Have you considered the possibility one of your own might’ve attacked your missing weres?”

Landon’s chest tightened at Jachin’s comment. He didn’t want to think an insurrection was possible—that a Lupreda could be responsible, but Nathan had been the one who’d wanted to eliminate the weres once they went zerker. Only the Omega’s humane ruling had saved the young weres’ lives…even if the zerkers had to live away from the pack. Had Nathan won others to his side and taken out the zerkers, despite the Omega?

When Jachin opened his hand and pieces of glass fell to the bar, Landon saw the vampire’s cuts heal right before his eyes. Obviously Jachin had fully recovered from the sickness that had almost destroyed the vampires twenty-five years ago when human blood mysteriously turned poisonous to vampires, forcing the vampires to withdraw from the human world. When a human woman wrote a book about vampires three months ago, Jachin knew she was the one to fulfill his father’s dying prophecy of a better way for vampires to live. He took over the clan and claimed the human named Ariel Swanson as his mate. From the fast healing Landon had just witnessed, Ariel’s blood was indeed viable. Landon’s gaze jerked to Jachin’s furious one, his concern growing for his pack’s safety. If the Lupreda ended up going to war with the Sanguinas, fully recovered vampires would have a definite advantage. “There have been reports of a few homeless humans who’ve gone missing the past couple of months. Have you discovered that other humans’ blood is viable as well?”

Jachin nodded. “Apparently the sickness is being bred out of the humans. The younger ones’ blood isn’t poisonous.”

Landon clenched his fists. “Have other vampires been feeding then? Missing humans isn’t a very humane approach, Jachin.”

Jachin’s gaze narrowed before he finally answered in an even tone.

“There are some vampires who deserted the clan when I became the Sanguinas’ new leader. Our Sweeper unit hasn’t located all of the rogue vampires yet. A few still remain at large, evading our detection. It’s possible they’ve discovered how to tell which humans are no longer poisonous.”

“If that’s true, your rogue vampires could’ve taken our weres.” As Landon stared intensely at him, the vampire’s jaw began to tic. They each were weighing the other’s sincerity.

“No matter your and my goals for peace, hatred still runs deep between our races,” Landon finally said once his temper had settled to simmering tolerance.

Jachin smiled then, his white teeth flashing in the bar’s dim light. “Then it’s up to us to set a positive example.” He inclined his head slightly.

“Though I don’t see how the rogue vampires could’ve attacked and taken your weres without leaving their scent behind, if they did take your brethren, their actions wouldn’t be condoned by me or any member of my clan.”

Landon nodded. “The Omega won’t like the answer, but they might understand it.”

Jachin brushed the last bits of glass from his palm, then ran his credit card through the payment machine on the bar counter in front of him. As he slid the card into his leather coat pocket, he said, “We’ll step up the Sweeper unit presence in the city. I have no idea what the rogue vampires would do with weres, other than enjoy battling with them. Their food source is in town, not in the Shawangunk mountain range.”

Stepping down from the stool, Jachin continued, “You never did tell me why the missing Lupreda weren’t living with the pack.”

Landon made his payment and stood up, the wooden stool scraping the hard floor behind him. He was slightly broader in the chest than Jachin, while the vampire had at least an inch on Landon’s six-foot-two height. The men faced one another, each measuring the other with steady, assessing stares. Landon inhaled, posturing instinctively. Decades of distrust still smoldered between them. Like dying embers in a fire, the slightest whiff of aggressiveness would ignite the blaze once more. Old habits died hard.

Trust had to be earned…over time. “They didn’t walk in line with the Alpha,” Landon said. As he turned away, he mentally grunted at the double meaning behind his honest response.

“I heard you were awesome with the kids at Handleburg Hall tonight.”

Kaitlyn snorted into the cell phone and peered out her car window into the dark parking lot. “For cripe’s sake, Abby Brooks, I haven’t even left the orphanage yet. Who’s your spy and is he old enough to work for the NYPD?”

“I have my ways,” Abby’s smug purr came across the line. “I hear you’re coming back next week. Are you getting hooked on these kids like I told you you would?”

She’d had a great time tonight. “Yeah, you could say that.” Kaitlyn might’ve grown up in a loving home, but she had one thing in common with Handleburg’s troubled teens. The sobering realization had hit her tonight when one of the kids had challenged her during her speech on working for the police. He’d told her she knew nothing of what his life was like.

That was true enough. She hadn’t grown up in a drug-riddled home or had to worry about gang shoot-outs happening in the middle of the night or day. But in the not-too-distant future, just like these young men and women, she’d be parentless, too. Then her police coworkers, Abby and the “Hall” teens would be the only family she had. If nothing else, she hoped she could give the teens the support they needed to know that they didn’t have to follow the same path their parents had.

“Thanks for hooking me up for the lecture. Oh, by the way, they want me to help demonstrate in your tae kwon do class next Thursday,”

Kaitlyn said as she turned the key and started the car. “And drum roll…

I’ve decided to commit at least one night a week to Handleburg.”

“That’s wonderful, Kaitlyn. But what about your mom?”

Kaitlyn turned up the heat to ward off the chilly fall air.

“Mom has a lot more bad than good days now. When she’s having bad days, she doesn’t want company. The pain medicine makes her sleep a lot. I thought spending time with the kids would keep my mind off her. Otherwise, I just…” She paused. Worry for her mom clogged her throat.

“That makes sense to me, hon. Did you get the gift I sent to your new digs?”

Kaitlyn laughed. “Yes, thank you for the congratulations gift. I’ve already attached the small voice recorder to my key chain.”

“I figured you could dictate during boring stakeouts, but hey, I’m not done. Let’s go to Fuel and celebrate your promotion to detective.”

Kaitlyn pulled out of the parking lot and drove down the road. “Not tonight, Ab—”

“You really should celebrate and cut loose. Not to mention, it’s been a while since you’ve been out on the ‘scene.’ Mr. Right could be there at the bar, waiting to sweep you off your bonnie Irish feet.”

More like the guy’d be ready to jump into the sack with the first woman who said yes. She knew Abby’s suggestion that she help out at Handleburg and now this invitation to the bar was her best friend’s way of helping her find someone to care for in her life, yet Abby’s casual

“Mr. Right” comment caused thoughts of her last boyfriend to flit through Kaitlyn’s mind. She hadn’t dated anyone since she’d broken up with Remy two years ago.

She’d initially been attracted to his clean-cut charm and understated bad-boy edge. After dating the guy for a little over a year, they’d grown apart, seeming to have less in common than she first thought. The man’s obsession with being a Garotter like his father finally became more than she could deal with. Remy chose to live in the past. She didn’t. She wasn’t surprised when she heard Remy had joined up with the old vampire hunter group. The Garotters had reinstated themselves three months ago in response to a woman’s kidnapping. Ariel Swanson had been abducted right after her fictional book about vampires was released to the public. Sheesh, it was just a book! While it was true vampires had cut a murderous path through the human population in their past, the monsters had been extinct for a good twenty-five years.

“Sorry. I’ve got an early day tomorrow. Along with my new promotion, I was assigned my first case. I have a good bit of research ahead of me.”

“So dedicated.” Abby gave a resigned sigh. “You know your father would be proud of you.”

Would her father be proud? Kaitlyn wondered as she rolled to a stop at a stoplight. She hoped so. She missed his gravelly voice and lilting accent.

Blinking back the moisture in her eyes, she pushed on the gas pedal when the light turned green. “Thanks for the congrats and for your friendship. I don’t know what I’d have done without you these last few years. Call me tomorrow and tell me how Fuel went.”

“How’d you know I was going anyway?”

Kaitlyn laughed. “This is you we’re talking about. I’ll talk to you later. Bye.” Once she closed her cell phone, out of habit, Kaitlyn turned on her police scanner instead of the radio.

While listening to the calls coming in and the police officers responding, she considered the biggest crime situation facing the force today. Other than drugs, gunrunning had always been an issue for the city. A couple months ago, a Tacomi vehicle loaded with pulsar guns had been hijacked on its way to a government warehouse. The laser weapons had been created to give the police an advantage over criminals now sporting Kevlar. Apparently, the thugs had wanted the pulsar weapons the police were carrying, but when rumors had come through that the Garotters were active again and carrying pulsar weapons, most police officers had turned a blind eye. Except for her boss.

Kaitlyn’s headlights sliced through the darkness as she took a side road that led to the interstate.

Her boss had set his sights for a bigger role and he wanted a juicy “win”

to bring to the table when promotion time came around. His informants had told him this new self-funded Garotter regime had ties to the Mafia, which fell in line with the greater number of pulsar weapons being carried by well known Mafia men, too. Kaitlyn’s first assignment was to ferret out the Mafia connection, if there truly was one. Hence, the major research she needed to do tomorrow.