Minion (19 page)

“It's deep,” Shabazz said, rubbing his jaw and studying nothing on the floor. “When Marlene told me, I didn't want to accept it. But after what I saw tonight, Mar ain't overreacting.”

J.L. muttered, walked in a slow, dazed circle. “Damn, Mar.”

“In the meantime, you're telling us that until she's one hundred percent through this Neteru adolescence, we have to be sure she doesn't roll some master vamp?” Rider wiped his palms over his face. “Geez, Louise!”

“She'll be testy, evil, and wearing us out.” Shabazz sighed.
“That's why ever since the heavens aligned, Mar has had this place under total lockdown. Tomorrow, we've gotta fill in Mike and Jose, assuming Jose is strong enough to come home.”

“Would you all explain this planets thing you've been tripping about since May? What the hell? Might as well put it all out on the table now, don'tcha think?”

Marlene nodded, found a stool, and sat down. “We started going on the offensive because she needed to totally conquer fear and get ready for a battle with a master vamp. Think of these other minor skirmishes as going up against sparring partners. I just didn't want her to take unnecessary risks on her own until she was fully prepared.” Her eyes were sad, as though she'd been defeated before the real fight had even begun.

“That much I'm stringing together,” Rider said in a weary tone. “It's the astrology I'm drawing a blank on.”

Marlene used her finger to mark invisible points on the table, and the crew gathered around her. “There was a five-planet array that happened in the heavens in May . . . Jupiter, Mars, Saturn, Mercury, and Venus—they made a straight line for the first time in several hundred years, and in the next hundred years, this will only occur three more times.” She glanced at the blank expressions each guardian offered her as a response. “Don't you get it?”

“Duh-uh, noooo . . .”

“Rider, people, the planet Jupiter is known as the planet of expansion. When it shows up and transits, big things that are either very good or very bad on a major scale occur. A vampire huntress being born, and then going through a Neteru heat in a new millennium is a big thing that is good, but it's also occurring at a time when some major bad stuff is happening on the planet.”

“Deep.”

“Right, J.L.” Marlene paused for dramatic effect, satisfied that
she now had the group's full attention. “Saturn is the planet of karmic lessons—its lining up in direct alignment with Jupiter means that some very big lessons will be taught by the unforgiving taskmaster of the universe, Saturn. Then comes Venus—the planet of love, combined in alignment with the planet of war, Mars, lining up with Mercury—the universe's messenger.”

She let her breath out hard and crossed her arms over her chest. “This constellation won't happen again until 2040, then again in 2060, and 2100. If we count this alignment, with the others, it means it will occur three times within a Neteru's lifespan . . . she's dealing with huge issues—good or bad, karmic lessons, war, love, hinged on communication. And, it just so happens that our huntress has a window in which to conceive during this first alignment.” She stopped speaking for a moment when they all gaped. “Something else happened, too, after the initial alignment.”

“There's
more
?” J.L. whispered.

“Three of the planets most influential in this particular alignment subsequently formed a giant pyramid in the sky. Mars—war, Venus—love, and Saturn—lessons, broke straight-line formation to create a spectacular celestial gathering.
That's
when I knew. This first transit is forming a triangle in the sky, a trinity. The pyramid shape told me this thing we're dealing with was raised from old Egypt, Kemet. There will be three sides to the battle, a trinity of forces our slayer will have to cope with—love, war, and her old lessons.”

Shabazz just nodded. J.L. stared at her without blinking. Rider didn't say a word.

“We're in for the ride of our lives, gentlemen. That's why we cannot afford any slip-ups, people getting drunk, off somewhere unaccounted for. This is very, very serious.”

For a moment, no one spoke, but allowed the silence to help
them absorb the bomb that had just been dropped on them. Their expressions were a combination of awe and fear.

“I have a confession to make. . . .” Rider cast a sheepish glance around the table, even as he avoided Marlene's gaze. “When we were on two-by-two detail, I sorta told her to go ahead and get her run out—get the Carlos thing out of her system.”

Marlene closed her eyes and shook her head. “Some human boyfriend is the least of my worries. The only reason I object to that knucklehead is because he's a distraction, and his lifestyle is so negative.”

“But I thought—”

“I'm not worried about her
virginity
, Rider!” Marlene fought to steady her breathing. “I know you all think I'm just some uptight old bat, but let me inform you that, I, too, once was young and had a life.”

Marlene held them all in a glare for a moment before speaking again. “Damali can still die from a gunshot wound, or a car accident, or a stab in a bar brawl—if she's not paying enough attention to avoid it. Our huntress could wind up in jail, where she'd be isolated from the team without a weapon, and anything could slip through the bars at night.”

“I hear you,” Shabazz murmured. “Lotta stuff comes in the lockdown wards.” He smiled. “Ask me how I know.”

J.L. and Rider let their breaths out in unison, causing a combined whistle.

“That's right,” Marlene said flatly, her hands now on her hips. “Somebody like Carlos lives in the streets, primarily at night, where they both could get jacked by a vampire posse while out clubbing and
having fun
, as you call it, and all his militia won't be able to protect our slayer. Or they could roll up on her while
she's in Carlos's bed, with all her defenses down and no blade on her; something could slip through a window or a vent, and trust me, that girl wouldn't see it coming—she'd be distracted! Been there. Trust me.”

“Damn, Marlene, I'm sorry . . . I didn't—”

“You didn't fucking think, Rider!” Marlene began pacing. Even Shabazz looked at her with trepidation. “I want the very best, and only the best, for that girl. I want her body cleansed of all toxic substances, like chips, and preservatives, and other crap—so her physical transition can happen as quickly as possible. I don't want her high, or drunk, or love-dazed—I want her to be a lean, mean, fighting machine so she can ward off what-ever's coming for her! I want her consciousness raised, her spirit focused—it's a trinity transition, fellas, a mind, body, and spirit thing she's dealing with.” Marlene was breathing hard, but as she paused, her eyes dared anyone in the room to speak.

“
That's why
, until she's ready, she needs to be with us. Got it? After that, she can go where she pleases, sleep with whomever she wants. She'll be able to protect herself. Until then, I will rip out the throat of any member of this team who sabotages my authority as her primary guardian again.”

“We've
all
been practically living like monks for a reason,” Shabazz finally said in a forceful tone. He glanced at Marlene and waited for her nod as she calmed down. “Marlene hasn't been tripping for no reason.”

“Damn, Mar. I'm sorry,” Rider said again. “I just didn't know.”

“Me neither,” J.L. said quietly. “Sorry for giving you the blues.”

“Now you've been schooled, so no more team dissention. We clean up our act until Damali fully transitions. Right now, she's
vulnerable to a master vamp attack. She's wide open, sensing everything in her environment . . . learning, cataloging, growing so fast internally it's wearing her out.”

“You mean
we
brought on her outburst earlier?” J.L. asked in a near-whisper. “When we were all feeling rammy, and needed to get out . . . and she started ragging about everything?”

Shabazz held the team enthralled with a steady gaze. “Yeah, brother. And what that means is, if you feel something, Damali will inadvertently pick it up from you. You go out and indulge in
anything
, you bring the vibration back to a Neteru in sensory transition. Get drunk, she's slightly lit. Get pissed off, and start cursing and causing chaos, her fight instincts kick in. Get—”

Marlene held up her hand. “Oh, Shabazz . . . don't even say it.”

 

Alejandro leaned his weight against his front door as he inserted the key in the lock. Giving the unmarked squad car the finger, he entered his beach house, and began taking off his suit jacket. It was all fucked up. Everything about the situation. Carlos was tripping, was about to start a war on three fronts—blaming the Asians, the Russians, and the Dominicans, possibly even the Jamaicans, without proof positive, and their ranks were too thin to bring it on. They couldn't bury their boys until the police were finished with the bodies, then it would be a closed casket deal for all of them. This was no way to live.

Pure disgust filled him as he passed through the foyer and stepped down, into the sunken living room. Spanish tiles echoed in complaint under his heavy footsteps. They had made their money, and had come up from the bottom. Now it was time to go totally legit and chill—but Carlos was always pressing for more power, more territory. Alejandro crossed the living room to his
private bar and poured a drink, and then stood before the sliding glass doors that led to the deck. His gaze scanned the horizon. Beach was in front of him, a pool to the left, a Jacuzzi to the right, white on white was behind him, leather everything, a sound system to die for, and a fine woman upstairs in his bed. He sipped deeply from his glass, allowing the fumes of the fifty-year-old scotch to burn the back of his throat with bitter sweetness.

Life was bittersweet. He took off his tie and threw it on the glass coffee table behind him. Was a time when he couldn't have dreamed of owning a seventy-five-dollar tie, let alone all of this. And Carlos wanted to start a war? To what end? Their cousin and their best friends were already dead. Enough was enough. He was out.

Alejandro finished his drink, considered the stars, then pulled a small package out of his silk pants pocket. He took a hit of coke, allowing the sting of the drug to blast his nasal passages with a burn that became another bitterness on the back of his tongue. Good product. He made a sound and cleared his throat with it, setting the glass down by his tie as he left the room to head toward the bedroom. He hoped Sophia was awake, and wouldn't start no shit. Tonight he didn't need to hear a bunch of bull—just needed to get laid and go to sleep.

Thank God. She was sleeping quietly on her side. In the dark he could tell that she was naked under the sheets when he'd entered the room. He glimpsed her briefly and turned to take off his clothes. Alejandro went to the chair and kicked off his leather slip-ons, and began undoing his belt when he heard her stir.

“Glad you're home early,” she whispered.

“Yeah, me too,” he murmured, noting that the sound of her voice was unusually smooth. That's why he kept this one around—she knew how to read her man.

He walked to the side of the bed and sat down, slipping off his pants and placing his pager/cell-phone on the nightstand. She rubbed his back and he closed his eyes. God, her hands felt so good, and her breath was so warm against his cheek. Tension drained from him as she stroked away the stress in every muscle.

“Come to bed, baby,” she whispered. “Whatever it is, you won't solve it tonight.”

He covered her hand at his shoulder with his eyes still closed, feeling the softness of her skin under his palm. “I know. Cops are outside, and Carlos . . . well. A lot is going on right now, and you're making me forget all about it.”

He could feel the bed shift as she moved against his back.

“Take off your jewelry, baby.”

Her breaths were coming more like rasps, her tone wanton, sexy—yes, that's why he kept this one around.

“I never take off my cross,” he murmured, allowing her kisses down his spine to send a shudder through him. Yeah, she could do that down the front, too, in a minute. His body was ready for her, just from the thought of it.

“I don't want it to break when I ride you.” She laughed from a low place in her throat.

“You plan to rock my world hard enough to break my chain?” He chuckled.

“See for yourself—you be the judge,” she whispered. “I know that piece is special to you, because it came from your brother when you joined his squad . . . but if you want to really see what I can do, take it off. It's your choice.”

He smiled, sitting up just enough to reach behind his neck, find the clasp, and open the thick chain, dropping the silver jewelry on the nightstand without looking at it. “I don't do this for everybody, you know.”

“I know. That's what makes it all so special.”

He moved around her and laid on his back, smiling up at her pretty face as she straddled him. The moonlight coming through the window gave her an aura like that of an angel. Wet, hot woman surrounded him and made his eyes roll to the back of his skull. He shuddered as she moved against him in a low, grinding circle.

“It better be worth it,” he murmured, admiring her naked breasts that jiggled ever so slightly each time she circled his groin.

“Oh, it will be, I promise you.” She chuckled, throwing her head back.

“Yeah, work it, baby,” he breathed, his eyes closing to slits as he glimpsed her riding him in the wall of mirrors by the bed—and froze.
No fucking reflection?

A scream lodged in his throat as he watched her head tilt forward and her jawbone unhinge under its skin. Her fingers dug into his flesh, her French manicure becoming retractable claws surrounding his arms with an iron grip. His member was locked in a freezing, slimy cavern, and then acid began to burn away the skin of his groin. Pain so intense sent him into immediate shock; he shook and gulped air, eyes wide, and a silent scream strangled him as he watched massive incisors rip through her gums like they were giving hideous birth.