Specters: A Monster Squad Novel - 8 (38 page)

Jameson shrugged. “That’s why I was asking you.”

Ingram shook his head absently. “I don’t know. I just…I don’t know.” He sipped at the soup, not really tasting it. “Is it beyond the scope of the project to have the team perform their initial duty and then wait to provide proof to the Council until we’re in place to strike? Wait until the money is transferred and then have them go in, guns blazing?”

Jameson nodded. “Oh, it’s possible. But we run the risk of the Council finding out that the deed is done before we report it. They cut and run, and we miss our opportunity.”

Ingram continued eating, his mind racing. “We put a tail on them. Satellite surveillance. The whole works.”

Jameson grunted. “They’ve been around for how many centuries and we never knew they existed until they approached us with this job. Do you really think we can track them?”

Ingram smiled. “Part of their remaining hidden was us not knowing they existed. Not only do we know, but we know where they hang their hats. We know where they do their banking. We know their associates. We know their itineraries, their modes of travel, their preferred places to stay, and best of all, their weaknesses.”

Jameson smiled as he stabbed a cherry tomato with his fork. “I’m beginning to like the way you think, Robert.” He popped the tomato into his mouth and added, “There may be hope for you yet.” 

20

Mitchell watched the heat signatures of his two operators as they slipped from object to object, zigzagging through the woods. He motioned to the communications officer. “Please tell me we’ve broken through to the others.”

The man shook his head. “I’m sorry, Colonel. Maybe if we had an exact location we could use a compressed pulse microwave beam, but their portables are just too weak to be effective.”

“Put that on my ‘to do’ list.” Mitchell punched up the drone feed and displayed it on the main screen. “They’re approaching the last known location of the unknown.”

Mitchell scooted to the edge of the seat and watched as the two operators both turned and leveled their weapons on the area where the heat signature was last seen. He flipped the switch on his console and Delta Three’s helmet cam fed the main screen. A clump of ferns filled the view as the two slowly approached the spot.

Delta Four held a fist in the air and dropped low. Using his knife, he probed the ground until he found a seam close to the fern. A makeshift wooden lid with detritus covering it was lifted and Delta Three pointed his barrel into the hole before them. Both men covered the area while Jacobs keyed his coms. “Your call, Colonel.”

Mitchell groaned and wiped a calloused hand across his face. He hated the idea of losing contact with all of his men, but he knew the odds were high that Spalding would need assistance.

He pinched his eyes shut and ground his teeth as he keyed his own coms. “Do it. But for the love of Pete, be careful.”

“Copy that, sir. Going radio silent.” Delta Four switched off his coms and Mitchell watched the two men drop into the hole in the mountain, the helmet cam feed turning to static as they disappeared.

“Somebody find a way to keep in contact with them! Yesterday!” He pushed out of his chair and began pacing the small operations center, his eyes burning holes through the feeds relayed back through the drone and the overhead satellite.

*****

Jack tried not to watch as Kalen moved closer to Brooke. The warrior in him insisted that he pay tribute to one of his own. The soon-to-be father in him grimaced as the Elf lifted the knife to Brooke’s chest and the overhead light glinted off the polished blade.

Paul stumbled and fell to his knees, his hands shooting outward to steady himself. He suddenly appeared paler than normal and his eyes widened with both shock and fear. He trembled as he sucked in breath and he turned to stare at Jack.

“Don’t tell me that bitch jumped ship again?” Jack strode the short distance and grabbed the vampire by the shirt front, lifting him to his feet and shoving him against the wall.

Foster shook his head animatedly. “No, Mr. Thompson,” Foster’s voice shook as he spoke. He lifted his eyes and met Jack’s contemptuous gaze. “Something I fear that is nearly as bad.”

“What could be that bad?” Jack growled as he tightened his grip and shoved him again.

“My brother…” Paul trailed off, his eyes focusing in the distance. “He’s…done the unthinkable.”

“What does he speak of, Chief Jack?” Azrael stepped forward, his jaw set.

“I don’t know.” Jack stared at Paul who seemed to shiver in shock. “What the hell is going on?”

“Chief Jack?” Kalen stood ready, his knife still hovering over Brooke’s still form. “Does Lilith still reside within her or…can she be spared?” He dared not to hope that she had departed, but the words of the Wyldwood echoed in his mind. Even if she could be driven out, only an empty shell could remain. Brooke would be little more than a ghoul.

Allister shook his mighty head. “She is locked within that body. I have seen to it.” He moved forward and nodded toward the raven-haired vampire. “Do it now!”

Jack held up his hand. “Wait! I want to know what the hell he’s talking about first.”

The Nephilim placed a gentle hand on Jack’s shoulder. “That is not a wise course. You have made peace with what must be done. Do it now lest time get away from you and she gets the upper hand again.”

Jack gave Phil a sideways stare. “If she starts to stir, zap her again.” He turned back to Paul and tried to shake him back to the here and now. “What the hell is going on? What did Rufus do?”

Foster turned slowly and shook his head. “He’s the ultimate power now. He…cannot be stopped.” He went limp in Jack’s grip and fell to the floor. “I see it all so clearly now. It was all just a game…a ploy. A power play…a way to rule us all.”

“Rufus?” Jack gave the vampire a puzzled stare. “What did he do, dammit!”

Paul lifted his rummy eyes and shuddered. “He has destroyed the Council. He now rules all vampires.”

*****

Laura stepped back into her office and dropped the last of her things onto the desk. She stood with her hands on her hips and gazed about the empty room. “I guess I should have waited until Matt gave me the go ahead before I unloaded all my crap.”

She ran a finger along one of the shelves still filled with binders full of operating procedures and looked at the fine coating of dust. “I think the cleaning lady stopped coming by in my absence.” She smiled to herself and plopped onto the overstuffed couch that had been her bed on far too many occasions. She sighed as the leather covered cushions enveloped her body, and she suddenly felt like she was truly home.

She tried not to think of what she had done. How she had tried so many times to quit because of her father. How she had stolen the serum and rushed home when she found out how far his health had deteriorated. How she broke every rule in the book to give her father, her hero, what she had hoped would be the cure to his disease. How that cure ended up being the death of Jim Youngblood and the birth of…a monster.

Laura shuddered at what she had done and squeezed her eyes tighter. She couldn’t allow herself to lay blame. She had already accepted responsibility. She had bounced back and forth with whether she should come clean with Matt once she returned and she still hadn’t come up with a viable answer. She opened her eyes and stared at the ceiling. She tried to lose herself in the thousands of tiny holes each ceiling panel held, but her mind kept creeping back to her father turning and walking away from her. She kept seeing him dissolve into the woods, engulfed in the shadows.

She sat up and propped her face in her hands. She refused to allow herself to cry any more. He was gone to her before she left to go home, he was gone to her now. The only difference was, now he lived on. As what, she couldn’t be certain, but she knew that he lived. She had to take solace in that fact. Derek no longer blamed her. The rest of the family believed that their father simply walked into the woods to die.

She stood and squared her shoulders. Time to face the music.

She opened the door of her office and surprised a young Corporal. “Where’s Colonel Mitchell?”

“OPCOM, ma’am. There’s an op underway.”

Thanking him quickly, she brushed past him and hurried down the hall.

*****

Bigby stood a fair distance behind the young airman and studied him. “Where you from, mate?”

“Begone, Celt.” The airman glared at him and Bigby smiled knowingly.

“Let me guess. You’re borrowing this meat suit, and you’re here to serve a purpose.” He stepped closer and studied the man closer. “What are you? Witch? Spirit? Some sort of vengeful jin?”

The airman turned and glared at him. “What would you know of such things?”

Bigby laughed, making sure he kept an eye on the lean young man before him. “I know quite a bit about such things. Used to hunt them down and kill them in my day.” He sobered and gave the man a solemn stare. “So don’t trifle with me, boy. If you’re here looking for the hunters, we might be able to help each other.”

The airman stiffened and gave him a cautious once over. “How do you know of them?”

“Let’s just say I have my own score to settle with them.” Bigby stepped closer and lowered his voice, “It might be in your best interest if we threw in together. Enemy of my enemy…you know?”

“I’m listening.”

“So what are you? What can you bring to the table?”

The young airman gave him a puzzled look. “What table?”

“Abilities, mate. What do you have to offer in this fight? These chaps won’t be easy to deal with. Trust me. I know.” He glanced to the side and lowered his voice to avoid passersby, “I’ve lost two small groups of soldiers to them already.”

The airman glanced past Bigby and smiled. “I bring them.”

Bigby looked behind him and paled. A group of security forces and armed military personnel were marching toward him. “Fuck me.” He turned to face them, ready to run if he could or fight if he had to, when he noticed that they were all staring at the black airman beside him.

The group marched forward then halted before the airman. “Commander. We are all that is left.” Each man saluted by crossing his arm over his chest, his fist covering his heart.

Bigby turned back to the airman and narrowed his gaze. “What are you?”

The airman’s gaze cut through the larger man and Bigby could almost swear his eyes flashed red as he spoke. “Demons of the Fifth Macedonia.”

Bigby stiffened, his eyes shifting over the group of soldiers standing at the ready. “Demons?”

“Roman Centurions. To the last.” Gaius squared his shoulders and eyed what was left of his army. “Prepare yourselves. This one knows where the hunters are. And therein lies our queen.”

*****

“I think you’re being just a bit melodramatic, don’t you,
mon ami
?” Rufus reclined in the overstuffed chair and wiped at the residual ashes on the table absently. “Despot is a bit strong.”

“What would you call it?” Viktor crossed his arms, staring at the vampire.

“I would call it…fortunate.” Rufus smiled at his own joke. “I truly couldn’t know that the power would shift to me once the Council had been removed.”

“But you had strong reason to suspect it was so. Otherwise you wouldn’t have bothered to face them.” Viktor strode to the other side of the table and pulled back the chairs, stepping aside as the ashes fell to the carpet below. “In the past, your so-called death edict held little concern for you. You knew that you were safe on your island. The Council held little concern for the happenings in the west. You were safe so long as you stayed put.”

Rufus felt anger rising within him and he scratched his nails across the finely polished mahogany table top. “And who is to say that I didn’t wish to return to my homeland in peace?”

“So you killed them all?” Viktor nearly shouted as he flung a chair across the table, a trail of ashes hanging in the air as the chair clattered to the far wall. “This wasn’t the act of someone trying to defend himself. This was a premeditated attack. Expertly played and executed so that you came out on top.”

Rufus stood up and squared his shoulders. “So?”

Viktor set his jaw and planted his hands on his hips. “So, you shouldn’t have used me and my wolves as pawns in your game.”

“You were never at risk.” Rufus lowered his voice, his features softening. “It was all a show of strength.”

“The ends justify the means.” Viktor motioned to the two wolves standing guard near the door. “Prepare the others. We’re leaving.”

Rufus stepped between him and the door. “
Mon ami
, wait. Do not leave like this.”

Viktor stared down at the smaller man and shook his head. “Whatever friendship we once shared is over.” He glanced about the empty conference room and motioned with his arms. “The king is dead! Long live the king!”