Seizing Darkness (Fur, Fangs, and Fairies) (23 page)

“Are you okay in there?” he was asking.

I yawned, the water was cold. “Yeah, fell asleep sorry.” I stood up and shivered. I was going to need a hot shower now. That gave me an idea. I walked to the door and opened it, dripping water everywhere as I went.

“Oh good, you’ve been in there a while. I just wanted to make sure.” He stopped talking when I opened the door. His face froze.

“I’m cold,” I said as I pulled him in the bathroom and into another of those scorching kisses. As I kissed him, I walked backwards to the shower.

He pulled back for a second. “Nat, are you sure?” he asked, breathing hard.

I kissed him again in answer. That was all he needed. He reached behind me to turn on the shower. I stripped him of his clothes. Soon we were both naked and under the warm water.

* * *

Hours later, just as it started to get dark, I woke up feeling better than I had in days. It was almost time for the meeting so we quickly dressed. We were picking Carly up so we took his SUV. She seemed much better as well when she got in the car. Coffee was the next order of business. It looked like we were the last ones there, I noticed when we pulled in. We came into the conference room with drinks for everyone. Well, everyone that didn’t drink blood.

Val said, “I’m glad you are looking happy. Thank you for leaving them in one piece.”

I glanced around the room at Madon, Gregory, Carly, Dante, Val, and Radek. It was quite a group.

“All right you guys, settle down,” Val said. Everyone took seats. “We may have won the battle the other night, but not the war. We lost some good people and others were injured. Unfortunately, I have recently discovered that by participating in that incident, you all have been added to a hit list. I have people trying to track down both Louis and Andrei. We believe that they are still somewhere in the area. That means that everyone in this room is in danger. I don’t want any of you alone.”

“Who do you think they’ll go after first?” Dante asked.

“My guess would be Natalya. I believe that she and I are at the top of that list. Sorry.” Val looked at me in apology.

“I figured. That isn’t anything new.” I shrugged. “And I say bring it on, fang face.”

Radek
rolled his eyes and Dante laughed.

“I think everyone needs to hear why though. We can’t protect you if everyone doesn’t know the story.”

Joy, I thought. Madon, Carly and Gregory all looked at me. Val was giving me the option of telling them myself, or having him do it. What a choice, I thought. “Will the shortened version work?” I cringed thinking of the full version.

“Of course,” Val gave me a reassuring smile.

I felt Radek’s hand on my thigh. Dante shifted a little closer to me as well. They were letting me know that they were there for me. I did feel a little better with that knowledge.

“Fine. I’m not sure how it happened, but when I was a cub
, I ended up in Andrei’s care. He did this mind control thing to me.”

Gregory nodded his understanding, but Madon and Carly looked confused. “You can ask the vamps for the details on that. Anyway, it allowed him to control my actions. He couldn’t read my mind, but could control what I did. He raised me as an assassin for his own gain. Long story short, he did something to really piss me off. Made me kill someone I didn’t want to. So I went searching for a way to break his hold. I was able to obtain something that would work temporarily. He sent me to kill Val, and that was the perfect time for me to try it out. It kind of worked. It wiped my memory and broke the connection. That was until he found me here last week. Then Dante broke it for good a few days ago, returning my memory. Now Andrei is really, really pissed at me, to say the least.” I paused and looked at Val. “Is that good enough Val?”

“That will do. As for my part in this, when Andrei was turned, he was married with a child. I didn’t know that at the time and fell in love with his woman, Mircea. She chose me over him and so he hates me.” He glanced at Dante and Radek before continuing. “Dante is his son and Radek is the son that I had with Mircea. It’s not common knowledge that these two are half-brothers. Andrei slaughtered their mother when they were children. He wants me dead almost as much as, if not more than Natalya. He wouldn’t mind taking out at least Radek as well. I’m still not sure if he wants to kill you or not, Dante. I can’t figure out why he didn’t take the opportunity to kill you when he was given the chance.”

“That’s true. It’s something to look into,” Dante said thoughtfully.

“Now the rest of you would be collateral damage to him. I don’t think you’re directly targeted, but we can never be too careful. Since he knows that you were with us, that puts your lives in danger as well. He might use any of you to get to one of us. We do have information that Louis might be working with a group of humans. That hasn’t been verified, but be on the lookout.”

“What do you propose we do?” Madon asked. He was back to being the alpha that I knew.

I smiled.

“Nothing for now. I’m offering you Gregory and Madon, and you too Carly, a chance to be in on the hunt.” Val looked at each of them.

“I’m in,” Carly said. That earned her a stern look from Madon. She just raised an eyebrow at him in challenge. I silently congratulated her. He sighed after glancing at me. Maybe he was learning.

“You don’t even have to ask,” Madon added, still looking at Carly.

“I want to finish this as well. After all, I have a stake in this too,” Gregory said.

Madon looked at him questioningly. Gregory looked to Dante who just shrugged. Then he said, “Dante is the one that made me.”

“Now that’s interesting. We’re all connected in some way. For those in this room that don’t know, Val here is the one that raised my pa from a pup,” Madon revealed.

It all seemed to fall into place. Val had taken all of us in at some point in time. Gregory didn’t have to say it because I’d seen it. Dante had taken him straight to Val after he had been turned. Val had helped Dante keep him alive. Everyone in this room owed Val their life. No wonder he had been elected Council Head and the director of the PIB. Probably half of the non-human population owed him their lives.

That would also explain why Andrei was targeting them. He knew Val would give his life for them. I really hoped he came after me first. I had a feeling that now that I wasn’t under his control, I could take him. I’d been trained extensively on how to kill vampires.

“Yes, that’s right. I’m still not sure who gave me more trouble: you, your father or Radek,” Val said with a laugh.

I snorted at that. Radek and Madon both glared at me. I was betting on Radek. Carly and I shared a smile.

“Great, they’re bonding,” Radek whispered to Madon, motioning to Carly and me.

Val cleared his throat to keep our attention. “Anyway, back to the matter at hand. I don’t want any of you alone from now on. I realize that Gregory and Madon have a seethe and a pack to take care of. I’m offering you our assistance in any way you deem necessary.”

“Thank you. I will accept. Any of you are more than welcome to stay with me.” Gregory was actually beginning to grow on me a little. When he was around Dante and Val, he dropped that pretentious vampire act.

“My place is available as well,” Madon added.

“I was hoping you would say that. Carly, I think its best that you stay with your alpha. Madon, would you have room for both Natalya and Radek?” Val seemed to have already thought this all out.

“Of course. It would be my pleasure,” Madon said.

Carly was looking at me. I just shrugged. I was beginning to wonder if Val was trying his hand at a little matchmaking. I couldn’t be sure though.

“Gregory, if you wouldn’t mind Dante and I staying with you, that would be most appreciated,” Val continued.

I was wondering what he was up to. I didn’t know how I knew, but I knew something else was going on. He wasn’t sharing.

“It would be my honor, Valdimir,” Gregory responded, nodding his head respectfully toward Val.

“Very well, let’s get everyone all settled in. I should be receiving a briefing soon on the possible whereabouts and actions of Louis and Andrei. I’ll let you know if there’s any change. Thank you all for coming. I would like to talk to Carly and Natalya alone for a moment before you all head out.”

Dante laughed as he went out the door with Gregory. I wasn’t sure what he was laughing about, so I couldn’t decide if I should be mad or not. Madon and Radek dragged their feet as they left. This was the only soundproof room in the building, so when the door closed behind them, we knew they couldn’t hear the conversation.

“I want you girls to watch those two. Don’t let them get away with anything.” Val was sure acting strangely.

“Do you actually think we would let them, Val? I think they’re more afraid of what we would do together.” I studied him, trying to figure out what to ask.

“I’m a little worried about that myself. Just don’t drive them too crazy,” he laughed. “Radek may be my son, and Madon might as well be too, but you two are like daughters to me. I don’t want to see either of you hurt, even by them.”

“Val, don’t worry. We can take care of ourselves, right Carly?” I didn’t really like how he was sounding. It was almost like he wasn’t going to be around anymore.

“Yes sir, we have each other. Nat has a real knack for keeping them in line,” Carly added with a smirk.

“That she does. And Carly dear, you can call me Val like the rest of them. I don’t like being called sir by family,” he said gently. He pulled her into a hug. “Welcome to our little family, by the way. I hope you lead Madon on a merry little chase.” He kissed the top of her head. Yes, something was very off here.

“Thanks,” she said.

Then Val grabbed me into a bear hug. “Now you, my girl, have got to stay out of trouble. It seems to just follow you around. I barely held Radek back last night. You did well, by the way. I’m very proud of you. Now you stay safe and don’t let my boys annoy you too much.” He kissed my cheek and released me.

He walked out the door, leaving it open. I glared at his back. Madon and Radek were just on the other side, leaning against the wall. They both waited as we followed Val out.

“Well, what did he want with you?” Radek asked.

“If he wanted you to know, he would have told you to stay,” I replied with a sweet, innocent smile. I was still going over how Val was acting. “Give me your keys. Carly and I are going to get our things together. Madon, you can give Radek a ride.”

“And what makes you think I’ll agree to that?” Radek asked.

“The four of us will be living together for the foreseeable future and you want that time to be nice and peaceful.” I raised an eyebrow at him.

“She has a point, Dek,” Madon piped in.

I smiled at him. I knew he was trying to get on my good side so I would help him with Carly.

“Fine, but be back at Madon’s in two hours.” He handed me the keys.

“Will do. Oh, grab my stuff from your place for me, will you?” I stood on my toes and kissed his cheek.

Carly and I raced out of the building. We went to Dante’s first. It didn’t take me long to grab what I needed. Radek had gotten most of my things earlier. We stopped at the store on our way to Carly’s.

Chapter Twenty-four
 

Something wasn’t right. I could feel it. I pulled into Carly’s drive. She felt it too. There wasn’t anything obvious, something just felt off. We looked at each other.

“What do you want to do?” she asked me.

“I don’t know. I think we should call one of the guys.” I grabbed my phone just as the safety glass in the windshield shattered.

I heard the pop of the gun then. Carly and I both ducked down. Someone was shooting at us. I tossed the phone to Carly and threw the SUV in reverse. She dialed the phone. It was Madon that picked up.

“What do you need, Nat?” he sounded happy when he answered.

“Someone’s shooting at us,” Carly told him.

“What?” Madon said with a growl.

“Shit.” I saw a car behind us. They were shooting from the car now. I pushed the gas pedal to the floor. “They’re following us. Hey, you guys want to do something about this? I’m not used to dodging bullets. Wolves I can handle. This is a little out of my league.”

Radek’s voice came over the line loud and clear. He must have taken the phone from Madon. “Where are you?”

“Carly, turn on the GPS and tell them I’m going to drive.” Carly did as I asked. “Where are the flipping cops when you need them? I thought humans had this thing about calling them about every little thing,” I grumbled as I drove, wishing I had the sports car. It would’ve been a little more maneuverable.

“Hold on tight, Nat. We’ll get to you.” Radek’s voice was tight with his frustration.

He must have handed the phone to Madon because that’s whose voice came over the line next. “Are either of you hit?”

“Nope. Why are we running from bullets? I mean unless they hit us in the head, we should be fine. Seriously, let’s play fair. Let me at them with my claws. You know, I was in a good mood, and that just ruined it.” I was ranting and I knew it.

Radek was back on the phone, “All right Nat, I’ve linked our GPS with yours. We should be meeting up soon.”

“And what exactly are you going to do when you get here? It’s not like any of us ever carry guns. This is so freaking stupid. You know, I do know a wereboar that has this thing for guns,” I snarled, regressing a bit.

“A wereboar? Really? And I know Nat, calm down. We also have the police on the way. I called your friend Detective Larson. Just hold on for a few more minutes.” If I didn’t know better, I thought I heard Radek choke back a laugh. If he was laughing, his tail was dead.

“Did you just freaking tell me to calm down? Carly, next time we’re in trouble you’re calling Val, not these two.”

Carly snickered. This was ludicrous. We were practically indestructible, and here we were driving like crazy away from someone with guns. I was fighting the urge to turn the car around and confront them.

“Okay, we’re here,” Radek was saying.

I heard the sirens too. The police weren’t far away. Just what I wanted to do right now, deal with humans.

“Didn’t Val tell you to stay out of trouble?” Carly asked.

“Hey, how is this my fault? They were at your house,” I argued.

“Is this how you handle getting shot at?” Radek asked. “We’re behind them.”

“Give me a break. It’s been a long time since someone has shot at me. Or even in my general direction,” I told him.

He laughed at that. “That surprises me. I thought everyone that meets you wants to kill you at some point. It looks like they’re going to try and run.”

“Like hell they are.” I jammed on the breaks. The car behind us crashed into ours, slamming us forward with a mighty crash.

“You know I think I should have done that in the first place,” I said when everything stopped spinning. “Maybe there is something to these seatbelt things. Are you all right, Carly?”

“Yeah, but the phone went flying,” Carly laughed.

“That’s okay. I think I can hear Radek from here anyway.” I started laughing too.

That’s when the cops showed up. We extracted ourselves from the SUV. Yep, Radek was coming in loud and clear. He was a bit upset, to put it mildly.

“What in the hell were you thinking, Natalya?” he had arrived on scene. Yep, he was mad as hell.

“I was keeping them from getting away. Actually, if I had thought of it sooner, maybe you wouldn’t have as many holes in your car,” I said with a smile.

Radek’s mouth opened and then closed. I think I made him speechless. I was saved by the human.

Detective Larson said, “Good evening, Agent Ignatiev. I heard you might need some help.”

“Yeah. Those morons in that SUV were shooting at us.” I jerked my thumb over my shoulder. I wasn’t going to take my eyes from the angry tiger in front of me. I didn’t think he would hurt me, but you could never be too careful.

“So how did this happen?” the detective asked, indicating the mangled cars.

“Well, I kind of got a little ticked off, and my foot might have accidentally hit the brakes.” I gave him my brightest, most innocent smile.

Radek ran a hand down his face. I could tell he was frustrated. “That was my car you just smashed, you know,” he growled out.

“I know. Mine got blown up a few days ago, remember? I’ll buy you a new one.” I turned the smile his way.

“So what exactly is going on here?” the detective asked, looking between us. He must have caught on to the tension between us. I think he recognized Radek from the other night too.

“Okay, here’s what happened. Carly and I pulled into her house and someone started shooting at us. We took off. Then those morons,” I pointed to the men that were being pulled from the SUV, “decided to follow us and shoot at us. We called Madon, who was with Radek, and they called you, and now we are all here having this lovely conversation.”

“Right. Why were they shooting at you?” he had the nerve to ask.

“How the hell should I know? The bad guys that generally want to kill me usually don’t use firearms. Why don’t you go ask them? It’s not like I read minds.” I shrugged. For some reason I was finding this whole thing funny.

“They’re humans,” Madon said, joining us.

“Darn. That means that you get them,” I said to the detective.

“Yes it does.” He was looking at me like he didn’t know what to do with me. He should join the club, because Madon and Radek were looking at me the same way. I think Val felt like that on occasion too.

“Do you need us to give a statement?” Radek asked.

I knew he was just busting at the seams to get me somewhere he could berate me.

“Yes, that would be helpful. They don’t need to come down to the station; we can do it here, if you’d like,” Larson said.

I think he didn’t want to take on
Radek right now. “Joy. Just how I wanted to spend the evening,” I sighed. “All right, let’s get this over with.”

Carly and I both gave him our statements. Finally we were allowed to leave. This was more of a human police matter than ours, so we left them with the investigation. Radek loaded us into Madon’s car and we went back to Carly’s house. Madon and Carly went inside.

Radek pulled me to a stop outside the door. “Are you sure you’re all right?”

“Yes, I’m fine. I’m really sorry about the car,” I told him truthfully.

“I don’t care about the car, Natalya. I care about you.” He took me in his arms and kissed me. I was lost in it for a second, then he pulled away.

We were joined by Madon and Carly before I could say anything else. The ride to headquarters was deadly silent. Radek ran in and came out with a new phone. It was nearly dawn before we got back to Madon’s.

 “Come on in guys,” Madon said as he led us into his house. “Make yourselves at home. You guys can take whichever rooms you want.” We all trooped upstairs.

“I’m up for some breakfast. Anyone else interested?” Carly said.

“I’m in.” I had a feeling food would help. I was just waiting for the call from Val to yell at me. I was feeling a bit run down. How was I supposed to know that there were going to be humans with guns waiting at Carly’s house? I was exhausted to say the least. It was making me grumpy.

“Go ahead. There should be food in the kitchen,” Madon said as he went to his room.

“That’s where I’m headed then,” Carly said. I followed her to the kitchen. “You look exhausted, Nat. I’ll cook; you just sit and relax.”

“Thanks.” I sighed and sat on one of the bar stools. Radek came up behind me and put his arms around me. I leaned back into him and closed my eyes. His chest was hard
, but comfortable. I breathed in his scent. I began to wonder when this was going to end.

His phone went off. He pulled it out of his pocket
, but didn’t move away from me. “Yes Father?” he answered.

“I have news,” I heard Val say.

“I’m listening,” Radek said.

“The humans that attacked the girls were from the PAD. Somehow Andrei is connected to this
, but I haven’t found the link yet. I want you guys to sit tight today. I have our best people looking into this. Gidget is working nonstop. There is nothing for you guys to do but wait until we have information for you to go on.”

“You know we’re all going to go crazy sitting on our tails.” Radek pulled away from me and I immediately missed his warmth.

Great, I thought, now we have to deal with the crazy humans that want to kill us just for being alive. Last I heard, they thought all unnaturals (that’s what they called us) were the spawn of Satan or something to that effect.

“I know, son. You’ll just have to handle it. Consider it a forced vacation,” Val said.

“Right, like that’s going to work. A few hours ago some crazy humans were chasing and shooting at Natalya and Carly. Plus there’s Andrei and Louis still out there just waiting to nail our hides to their wall. I’m just supposed to sit back and let someone else handle this?” Radek’s voice was sharp in his frustration.

“For now, there isn’t anything for you to be doing other than staying safe,” Val reiterated sternly.

“I know what you’re saying. It makes sense, but I don’t like it,” Radek said, and started pacing like a caged tiger.

“I don’t like it either. Just hang tight for a little while. If something doesn’t break soon, we can renegotiate the matter.” Val sighed.

“I guess I can live with that.” Radek let out a heavy sigh of his own. He came back over and pulled me against him again.

“I’ll call you when I have more details. Keep Natalya out of trouble for at least a few hours. I need some sleep.” Val did sound tired.

Radek’s chest shook as he laughed at that. I elbowed him. “Ow. Now that’s a full time job.” I elbowed him harder this time.

“I imagine it is. I’m getting some rest; I’ll talk to you two later,” Val said with a laugh as he hung up.

“How is it my fault that people keep attacking me?” I really was not in a good mood. I felt Radek’s arms come back around me. He buried his head in my hair and inhaled. That sent warmth flowing through my body.

“It’s not, but you don’t need to run out and find trouble either,” Radek said against the back of my neck.

“Breakfast is done,” Carly said, cutting into our conversation.

Madon joined us and Radek filled him in on what Val had said.