Night Calls - Nyx Slaughter Book 1 (13 page)

“As far as we know, the Collective
doesn't know of this place and even if they did we have so many
jammers in place we are lucky we can even carry on a conversation
ourselves,” Alex insists.

“Okay, it was five months ago. I
had actually just finished one execution and got an emergency
assignment. I had never gotten one before, but had heard of others
receiving them, so I didn't think anything of it. The location was
nearby and the offense was killing a woman. I tracked him to the
west side library in Night Owl City.

“I waited for him to come out and
then followed him to a hotel nearby. After following him to find
out which room he was staying in, I scouted the place for a couple
hours to see if anyone came or went. Eventually, I snuck into his
room. He was sleeping at the time and since I like to give my
speech, I nudged him with my gun to wake him,” I tell them
remembering what it was like first meeting my father.

“They are quicker than I thought,”
he said. “Let me straighten up real quick. I want to look my best
for my execution.” I backed up a little giving him some room. The
gun remained pointed at him the whole time, so I wasn't worried
about him getting away. “I find it very interesting that they sent
you Nyx.”

“I was close by and available.
Don't read anything more into it. Your offense was actually pretty
mild for what I usually handle,” I informed him. He stands up next
to the bed and adjusts his clothing. He doesn't totally tower over
me like most male wolves, so he is maybe five nine. He has shoulder
length dark hair, probably black, but I cannot see for certain in
this light, which is preventing me from getting a really good look
at him.

“What trumped up charge did they
get me for?” he asked.

“Have you done so many things that
you don't have a clue what they could have charged you with?” I
questioned.

“Technically speaking I haven't
done anything to warrant death, so you will have to tell me,” he
replied.

“Your crime is killing a woman, and
I have other things I want to do tonight, so let's move on with
this. Do you have any last requests?” I asked.

“I have many, the main one would be
to let me live, but I imagine you hear that one a lot,” he
stated.

“A few times, anything else?
Because that request has never been granted,” I told
him.

“How about the fact that I would
like to live to see my grandchildren grow inside of
you?”

“I will give you a point for
originality. I haven't heard that request before,” I
said.

“Because no other male could make
that request. Since I am the only one that can make the claim and
back it up, I have the right to make the request,” he
replied.

“And just how do you expect to make
me believe that you are my long lost father? I was a baby when I
was left to the Collective to raise and have been told all my life
no one knows who my parents are,” I claimed.

“You have me for a father and just
my werewolf blood isn't enough to make you wolf, but everyone from
my line gets a small purplish wolf head on their right thigh. You
obviously don't have to show me yours, but if you would like I will
show you mine,” he commented.

“That information could have been
found in one of my files. Drop your pants and show me the mark,” I
told him. “Slowly.”

“Yes, dear,” he said and proceeded
to turn a little to the side and work his sweatpants down to his
knees. He then lifted the corner of his boxers slightly to reveal
the birthmark he described that matches mine perfectly.

“Aaron is your dad?” Alex asks
bringing me back to the present.

“You have seen the birthmark?” I
ask.

“No, but the family mark is well
known. They are descendants of the first werewolf. If we had a
hierarchy, they would be at the top. I always thought that the
Gentry's didn't have female offspring,” Alex declares. “In fact, I
am sure I have never heard of one.”

Interesting. I knew I had a lot to
learn about my heritage. Maybe I can find some reliable books
somewhere. “Do you want to see the mark to prove my story?” I
ask.

“No need. I imagine, eventually, I
will see it anyway, but you taking off clothing with all three of
us in a room will not end well, so we should leave that reveal for
another time,” Alex says.

“Good, I didn't feel like doing it
anyway. Well my two potential beaus, I think I have had enough
revelations for a while. What do you guys expect the Collective to
do when they figure out we haven't killed each other
off?”

“They will send more people after
us. As Alex has already said, you are the sixth to come looking for
him. We are currently very durable, well at least us guys are. I
sincerely hope with the two genes activated you have become so,
too. If not, we are screwed. As a precaution, when we get back to
the city I vote to have guards with you at all times,” Sebastian
suggests.

“I am a trained assassin. I will
look like a pansy, if I have to have guards,” I whine in my most
unpleasant voice.

“This is one thing I agree with
fang face on,” Alex comments. “Right now you may be the weak link
between the three of us. If you go down, we all do and as much as
you dislike me currently, we all know you love Sebastian and would
hate to be the cause of his death.”

“Do I get to pick the guards at
least? What about the fact that I am still a baby vampire and may
need to feed on a frequent basis?” I ask.

“I will be in the city and be able
to reach you within a minute. I imagine, at least half of the time
I will be with you anyway. Not in boyfriend, or whatever you want
to call it, capacity, but as a teacher to the real paranorm way of
things. I won't have all the wolf answers, but I will be able to
help you make sense of the lies the Collective has been shoving
down your throat,” Sebastian replies.

“So, I am going to start my new
business with guards shadowing my every move? I don't think that
sounds like something I want to put on my business
cards.”

“Do you have plenty of guards for
the different shifts?” Alex asks. “With all these attempts on my
life, I am not sure I can personally come and offer my assistance,
at least not immediately. I have a few things I will need to tie up
here first. Then, I can bring myself and my guard into town and see
how brave the Collective really is.”

“I have quite a few vampires
readily available. That leaves daytime hours a bit open still. We
usually sleep then and I imagine that might be when the biggest
threat is. Maybe if we turn our hours around for a little while
that will catch them off guard. If you have a few werewolves you
can spare, I think we may be able to give a big enough display that
the Collective will be forced to step back a little. I doubt they
have seen a vampire walking around in daylight. I think that will
be one of the first things I show them upon our return. Just to let
them know what they are really dealing with,” Sebastian says with a
smirk.

“If it is played as a sign of
strength and not just people milling around waiting to jump in
front of a bullet for me, I will go for it. I also want to start
the real vampire training as soon as we get back. If I can prove to
you that I can fight good enough to defeat you, I get to lose any
guards, right?” I ask.

“Sure, I will make that deal,”
Sebastian says instantly.

“I don't know how old he is, but I
think you just made a deal you will ever win,” Alex
provides.

“We will just have to see about
that,” I state.

“One more thing before we go,”
Sebastian says. “She has a wolf that is severely attached to her in
the Collective. Your scenting her will block his attentions,
right?”

It is Alex’s turn to growl. “For
everyone except me, her triple nature should be a turn off. The bit
of wolf they could smell would confuse them more than anything when
the gene wasn’t fully activated. Does the kid have mental
damage?”

“If you were to ask me, yes. He
believes them to be a couple and, last I knew, was hoping to talk
things over so they could get back together,” Sebastian
replies.

“Ryan isn’t a bad guy. He has stuck
by my side all my life. His feelings just went in a direction that
mine didn’t,” I explain.

“His feelings have no place going
in that direction. Yes, it is possible for us to enjoy the company
of others before we find our mate, but usually we keep them to
little flings where both parties know one day it will end with no
hard feelings on either side. We just don’t fall madly in love with
a person other than our mate. I wasn’t joking when I asked about
the mental damage. Are you sure there isn’t something physically or
mentally wrong with him?” Alex asks.

“As far as I know, he is fine. Just
recently, he tried to take a relationship to a place that I wasn’t
comfortable with. Knowing that he had a girl out there somewhere
that was made for him, I pulled away from the relationship. Maybe
he just wanted one of these flings you described and didn’t
articulate that to me. I wouldn’t have consented to it, but that
could have been the case. The last time we talked, though, he was
so irate that I smelled of another guy that he blew his lid. I had
never seen him that way before,” I say.

“I will investigate. We have a
couple operatives in the Collective now, so I will see if they can
get a hand on his medical records. I have a feeling something is
wrong with him,” Alex says. “Now, my dear and fangy, we should
probably draw this meeting to a close. I will try to wrap up my
business and head into Night Owl as quickly as possible. I see no
weapons on our girl, so I assume you have to go back to where you
stayed last night before you leave town and that place is Smitty’s,
yes?”

“That would be correct,” Sebastian
offers.

“Good, I will have two guards sent
to join you on your journey and I will work to rustle up some more
to meet you in the city,” he says. He moves to my side and grabs a
hold of my hands. I am still not really comfortable with his touch,
so I don’t close my hands around his. I can see the hurt in his
eyes at this action, but there is nothing I can do about that. “I
will see you soon, but until then try to keep yourself alive. I
would love to give you a kiss right now, but I have a feeling we
aren’t at that point in our relationship.”

“Your feeling would be correct. It
was interesting meeting you Alex. You will go down with the
heralded after accomplishment of being one of only two targets Nyx
Slaughter had an execution order for that she didn’t carry out,” I
say with a smile.

“I hope in time, I will add many
more accomplishments to that list. For now, I bid you adieu Nyx
Slaughter with the hope of seeing you again soon,” he says
returning the smile.

“Good-bye Alexander Monroe,” I say
and follow Sebastian back out into the bar. 

Chapter 14

Making friends as I go

“That could have gone better,”
Sebastian says as we are making our way back to
Smitty’s.

“You think? I was thinking, at the
beginning, we were really going to have to test that theory on
whether I would die if he were killed. I wonder how many bullets I
could have shot into him before he stopped being a jerk,” I
reply.

“So you really aren’t instantly in
love with him like normal mates would be?” he asks
quietly.

“Are you kidding?” I scoff. “No
way. It will probably take us years of therapy to get to the level
you and I am on, if that is even possible. Not that I really want
another ‘love’ added to my life. I was more than happy just trying
to grow what we have. Even in our relationship, I didn’t picture me
ever settling down and being the quote perfect couple. I love you
and all, but I still don’t see the white picket fence in my
future.”

“You are a very unique being, love.
I strive for us to be that perfect couple, but of course I have
been connected to you a little bit longer. I have spent years
feeling your emotions and adjusting myself to the person you need
me to be,” he answers.

“I believe that answers a question
I haven’t felt like asking just yet. If you wouldn’t have bonded
with me, you wouldn’t be in ‘love’ with me today, would you?” I
ask.

“We will never know. I don’t regret
doing it for a second,” Sebastian says firmly.

“Of course not, you get to eat real
food now and who knows what else you may have picked or will pick
up. So far, the freak events of my birth seem to have great
benefits to the guys involved,” I claim.

He stops in his tracks and turns
around to face me causing me to stumble. “I don’t regret doing it
because I am stuck for eternity to an amazing, strong, beautiful
woman. Like I really care about being able to eat a steak. So far,
your wolf side has done little or nothing for me. Other than them
sprouting fur there isn’t much they can do that I already couldn’t,
so unlike Alex’s new found silver resistance I don’t benefit. The
bond made it so I could only feed from you, so it actually made me
more vulnerable. Does that sound like I achieved tons of benefits
by doing this?” he asks shaking my shoulders gently.