The Wrath of Pan (The Inglewood Chronicles Book 2) (2 page)

When you get into a fight, you always hope to be the bigger and faster man.  Most of the times you’re either one or the other.  In this case, I was neither.  I’d been clipped twice already by the vampire’s punches.  Let me tell you what, they really hurt.

The second punch had sent me into the crowd of humans.  I unfortunately landed on a corpse and from the smell, one of the first ones to pass away.  I wanted to vomit, but now wasn’t the time.  The punch had also knocked my tanto out of my hand and it skidded across the floor.  Ugga was stalking me and I had to think of something fast.

The only thing I noticed that I could possibly use to my advantage was that big old scar on his face.  It must’ve happened before he was turned as it still had a touch of green to it, like it had once been infected.  If I could get close enough, I might be able to hurt him.

Getting up, I used what speed I could muster and ran straight at Ugga.  As I got close, he kicked at me, but I jumped over his leg and landed on his chest.  The massive man didn’t fall down, but I quickly threw a punch to his face.  My hand hit the soft skin of the scar and Ugga dropped to one knee in pain.  His hands quickly went up, covering the scar.

Being on one knee put him more at my height and I kicked him in the ribs.  The dude was all muscle, but the force of the kick was enough to knock the wind out of him.  He leaned forward and I finished the job by bringing my knee to his jaw.  I felt a bit bad about fighting dirty, but then again I was still alive.

I heard clapping and looked over.  Reno was standing there watching me.  Nikko was lying on the ground, beaten to a pulp.  “Took you long enough.”

“You didn’t feel the need to help out?”

Walking over, “Nah, you were doing fine.  Let’s take a few pictures of this place and call it a night huh?”

Pulling out my cell phone, which somehow survived the short but nasty fight, I got the pictures to show Liz.  I still had one question though.  “What’re we going to do with the humans that are alive?”

We looked over at them.  Their eyes were sunk so far back in their heads and their skin was so pale.  It was obvious they had been here for a few weeks.

“Don’t judge me Vic, but I think it’s best if we put them out of their misery.”

I wanted to protest his decision, but I couldn’t.  “Why don’t you call Liz and get us some backup.  We can take these two outside and decide how best to end this nightmare.”

Reno obliged and by the time we got outside with Nikko and Ugga, Liz and Phil Ruud where waiting for us.  Phil came over and relived me of the burden of carrying Ugga.

Liz ran over and gave me a hug.  Did I mention I happen to be dating my boss?  “Victor, are you and Reno well?”

The sun was starting to peak over the horizon.  “Yeah, we’re good.  But I think for the sake of Reno and Phil, we can wait until we get back to the office to discuss matters.”

A millennia old European vampire, Liz was always prim and proper in both communication and appearance.  Even at five in the morning, she was dressed in a business suit and five inch heels.  How she ever managed to do anything was beyond me, but that was probably the difference between men and women.

“Yes, you make an excellent point.”  Pointing to the two beaten vampires, “Ruud, load them into the van and if you would, put them in the holding cells.”

The big, bald man nodded.  Reno went over and helped him load them up.  With the tasks done, we were all off back to our office, located in a high-rise downtown.  Liz hopped in with me and we were off.

“I know I will see for myself when I get back to cleanse the area, but how bad was it?”

Words didn’t really do the scene justice.  “It was truly terrible.  What Divas did to those poor humans proved the point to the few that know about our existence.  He’s a monster.”

“He saw an advantage with me preoccupied with the late Warren Tucker and used it.  The man is not a fool that much he has shown.”

Putting my hand on her leg, “Don’t worry beautiful, we’ll get the bastard.”

She put her hand on top of mine.  As always, it was cool to the touch.  “Thank you Victor, I know we will.”

“Any word on my passport yet?”

“No.”  The tone of her voice went from sad to full of venom.  “I do not know how the United States government gets anything done.  We put that request in three weeks ago.”

The lady at the passport office said it would take four to six weeks, so I wasn’t surprised.  I was amused with the irony of an impatient vampire who was effectively immortal.  “Don’t worry, I’ll get it soon and then we can go.”

Not that long ago, I was the sheriff of an all werewolf community, Full Moon, in New Mexico.  Liz came to town and enlisted my help in catching a lunatic serial killer named Warren Tucker.  To keep a long story short, a lot of people died and I left my post to take up a job with her, Chief Inspector of the Southwest.

When we had returned to Phoenix, her brother Jonathan and her oldest friend, Roderick, called her with a huge problem.  A very bad dude had broken out of his island prison and was on the loose in London.  They wanted our help, but the problem is I don’t have a passport.

“I know, I am just very anxious about all of this.  Pan was never to leave that island.”

The fugitive in question goes by Peter Pan.  Apparently it’s not his real name, but the title fits.  Liz’s brother saved a young boy by turning him into a vampire.  Unfortunately, you’re stuck at the age you’re turned and being a teenager for all eternity has its drawbacks, namely one’s sanity.

We were at a red light, so I leaned over and gave her a kiss on the cheek.  “Hell, no need to worry about this Pan yet.  We still need to catch Divas before he ruins the city and all.”

“He was fortunate to escape this time.  Next time, we will be much better prepared for him.”

When we pulled into the parking garage, Liz was in a much better mood.  Her lust to make Divas pay for the crimes he’d committed got her mind off what was happening across the pond.

When the two of us got to her office, I pulled my phone out and attached it to her computer.  The images I took appeared on her screen.

“Victor, this is horrifying!  How did the smell not overwhelm you?”

Smiling, “I’ve been practicing that new age meditation crap.  It actually seems to be working.”

“And you did not believe me!”  Yeah, the meditation had been her idea.

Believe it or not, over the years I had trained myself as best I could to keep my senses under control in certain situations.  Liz had seen my struggles firsthand a few times and when we got to Phoenix recommended meditation.  At first I passed it off as hippie crap, but even I couldn’t deny the results after a few sessions.

“It’s not that I didn’t believe you, as you probably invented meditation, I just thought it was weird.”

The evil eye made its daily appearance.  “Just because I’m over a thousand years old does not mean I invented everything!”

Were age related jokes mean?  Yes, yes they were.  But I also knew it drove her nuts that she had fallen for someone like me, especially when most vampires at her age tended to have ‘partners’ of equal age.

Not wanting to push it much further, I admitted, “I know and I’m really lucky to have you in my life.”

It took a second, but the death stare went away, replaced by a smile.  “As am I Victor.  You certainly have brought a different energy back to all of us here.”

“Well, let’s use this energy to find Vincente Divas and put an end to his crazy schemes.”

I’d fallen asleep on my couch.  I was so tired when I got back to my apartment that I crashed hard.  I looked over at the clock on the wall and saw it was four-thirty in the afternoon.  Working for a vampire really messes with your sleeping cycle.

The smell of fresh coffee is what actually woke me up.  I shook off the cobwebs and headed into the kitchen.  Waiting ever patiently for me was my girl.

“You must have been tired.  When I entered two hours ago, no matter how hard I tried to wake you, I was not successful.”

I poured myself a cup of joe and sat down.  “It was a long night.  You try being in a car with Reno that long.”

Liz rolled her eyes.  “Please tell me he did not complain the entire evening?”

“I brought him a crossword to do and yet he still found time to bitch.  At least he’s good in tough situations.”

“That he is.”  Her eyes went back to the paper sitting on the table.  The front page was talking about some sort of freak snowstorm hitting the northeast part of the country.  “The warehouse has been purged.”

I acknowledged that I heard.  It sucked so many innocent lives had to be lost because someone wanted to make the perfect drug.

I took a few minutes to go over my thoughts from the previous night.  I was still pretty upset Divas had gotten away.  “Since we smoked him out of his club, what’s the next step boss lady?”

Looking up from the paper, she reached into her pants pocket and pulled out a business card.  She slid it over to me to read.

Picking it up, “Lucky Dumont, tax consultant?  Who the hell is that?”

“Lucky, real name Lucerne, is another moderately old vampire who has taken up residence in the Phoenix area.    He is a fence who specializes in rare and exotic treasures.  I tolerate his presence because he gives me reliable information.”

“You got a criminal informant?”  I shouldn’t have been surprised, but I was.  That didn’t seem like Liz’s game.

“Reluctantly, but I am glad I do.  Divas contacted him after your encounter to help him flee the country.  Lucky is following through with it on my orders.”

Pushing the card back, “Obviously you’ve got a plan in mind.”

“Of course I do.  Divas will be a passenger on a cargo truck going to Mexico tonight.  He will be in for a very unpleasant ride.”

I sighed.  I knew exactly what that meant.  “Do we have to take my car?”

“We are certainly not taking one of mine!”  Liz owned an expensive fleet of European cars.  “Your Mustang is perfectly capable of the task.”

“I just had it detailed…”

“I will have it professionally cleaned for you afterwards.  Get something to eat; you are whiny when you are hungry.  Meet me upstairs in an hour; Reno and Ruud should be awake by then as well.”

Just like that, my complaints to the situation had been shot down.  After giving me a kiss, Liz headed back to her office and left me to my own devices.  Upon opening my fridge, I realized I was seriously low on food again.  Fortunately, I had a couple of burgers I could reheat.

While I was eating, my mind turned its attention to the upcoming trip to England.  My experiences leaving the country were a drunken weekend in college to Mexico.  This would be a whole new adventure.  Plus I would get to finally meet this Roderick character and Liz’s brother Jonathan.

Let me tell you all about Liz’s dysfunctional family.  She was a born vampire, not made.  It doesn’t happen that often and she’s one of the oldest ones still around.  Liz’s mom apparently had a thing for younger human men and went about creating her own vampire boy toys.  Two of them got close to Liz and became like brothers; Cristof the head of the America coven and Jonathan.

Not that my family was a whole lot better.  I’m from the Red wolf pack here in New Mexico.  My dad, Callum, is the Alpha of the pack and for the longest time I was the Omega.  Being the son of the Alpha and not being able to transform wasn’t the easiest of situations.

At least I’m no longer the Omega.  One of my loudmouth cousins, Kano, spoke up at a pack meeting and challenged me.  Thanks to an unlikely blood transfusion from Liz, I had the cojones to put him in his place.

Kano apparently didn’t like that and fled town.  My dad had no idea where he went, nor did he really care.  Once branded an Omega, that stigmatism follows you.  I know that personally.

Finishing up my burgers and deciding a shower would be good, I started to get ready for another long evening.  I also wanted to check all my weapons, I figured I would need each of them tonight.

I took my time and made sure I was ready for the adventures coming my way.  It was about five-twenty when I left and took the elevator up.  Roscoe was cleaned and ready to go and the silver tanto was as sharp as ever.  Divas wouldn’t get away from me this time.

When I entered Liz’s office, Phil and Reno were already there.  Liz motioned me over to the desk.  “Good timing Vic, I was catching these two up on Lucky’s escape plan for Divas.”

There was a state map of Arizona on her desk.  “I take it the path outlined in red is it?”

“Correct, they are going to be sticking to the back roads that wind through the desert.  If we can get a head of them and ambush them here,” she pointed to the town of Nogales, “that would work the best.”

I could see her point.  If Divas got into Mexico, it would be all over but the crying.  “Cutting it a little close to the border though, aren’t we boss?”

“Lucky’s men will be sticking close to the Coronado Park out there.  That does not offer us much cover, but the closer to the town we are, the more likely we are to find success.”

It was a solid plan, but I hated cutting it so close.  “Do we have an ETA of when they will be there?”

“They will be leaving Phoenix at nine on the button.  Lucky keeps to a very strict schedule.  He said to expect them at eleven-thirty.”

Reno had an idea.  “Why don’t Phil and I leave soon so we can scout a good place to set up shop?”

Liz looked at me and I shrugged.  I didn’t think it was a half bad idea.  “It wouldn’t hurt to do that Liz.”

“Take the surveillance van and use the utmost of caution.  Sunset is in an hour or so.  Wait until then to embark.”

Reno grabbed the keys from one of the desk drawers.  “When we find a place, we’ll call you.”

“You won’t get bored waiting will you Reno?”

He lowered his sunglasses, “Of course not; Phil is a much better companion.  He actually knows the answers to a lot of the crossword puzzles.”

Not even giving me a chance to fire back, the two of them left.  It didn’t matter, I couldn’t argue his point.  I might know a lot of useless pop culture references but when it came to the kinda crap they ask on a crossword, I’m useless.  I did manage to give Reno the finger when he turned around, probably to do the same to me.

“Boys…”

My attention turned back to Liz.  “What’s wrong with us?”  I couldn’t even keep a straight face as I asked.

“One would assume over the thousands of years your species has been on this world, you would evolve.  That is not the case; men have always been exactly the same.”

“At least we’re consistent unlike women.”

You’d think I’d learn to keep my mouth shut.  Liz’s eyes flared and in a low yet dangerous voice, “Are you implying something Victor?”

I felt my face go red, “Of course not, there’re exceptions to every rule and I think you fall under that.”

“I am relieved to hear I am an ‘exception.’  It would have been an awful situation tonight if some friendly fire was to go astray.”

I didn’t know if she was joking or not, so I quickly changed the subject back to this evening’s plan with Divas.  Her expression eventually softened but somewhere in the back of my mind I made a very important reminder, never piss her off.