Full Moon Rising - 02 (8 page)

Of course, any people who conquered the known world could afford to strip their conquered of their best.  They could take their best warriors, their best blacksmiths, their sturdiest women, their best food, and of course, their most talented artists, all for the glory of Rome.  He ran his hand along the sculptured muscled arm of the statue in front of him, studying the curve of the triceps muscle, the subtle arches that formed the horseshoe shape at the rear of the arm.  So subtle, yet so realistic.  The sheer talent the artist must have had to capture these curves ca
ptivated him.

“Sicarii?  We have word from the scouts.”  Came a small voice from behind him.  The vampire turned, his short dark hair, just beginning to curl at its ends.  His eyes, dark and piercing, his lashes long and dark, his skin, even after all of these cent
uries, still held a hint of tan, his hand, never leaving the arm of the sculpture.

“What word?” his voice, soft and silky, a hint of accent sing-songing across his lips.

“Word is returning from the four corners, Sicarii.  All are anxious to join in your vision.”  The messenger’s head kept low, his eyes to the floor, his voice low in this once holy place.

The vampire dared a slow smile.  “Soon, Puppet.  My vision of bringing His creation to its knees will be brought to fruition.”

“Yes, Sicarii.”  He whispered.  “There are still a few familia we have not found.”

The vampire looked down at the little messenger.  He stepped down from what once was the altar of the cathedral and stepped toward him.  He touched the messenger lightly under his chin and brought him to his feet.  Slowly he lifted his face until he looked him directly in the eye.  “Tell me which familia ca
nnot be found.”

“They are still being searched out, Sicarii.  You know they sometimes have to relocate.”

“Inform me, Puppet.” He said softly.

“There is one in Persia, another in Russia.”  He swallowed quickly.  “Two in America, one in Brazil.  One in France.”

“Very well.”  He said.  “If they are not found shortly, get me their names and their last known contacts.  I will find someone who can either locate them or discover what happened with them.”

“W-we are doing our best, Sicarii.” The little messenger stammered.

“I know you are.” The vampire replied.  “I know others who can do better.  That is all.” He smiled.  It sent a cold chill through the messenger who simply nodded.  “Not to worry, Puppet.  I will not dispatch you for letting me down.  I will need every available vampire for the upcoming war.”  He turned and stepped back to his statue.  “Even weak ones like you.”

The messenger, still trembling, breathed a sigh of relief.  The sheer power flowing from the Sicarii always shook him to his very core.  Regardless of the situation, he hated being in his presence.  The messenger had been a vampire himself for nearly 80 years.  He wasn’t exactly a baby vamp, but he had yet to reach the century mark.  He would never consider himself a ‘strong’ being, but he had been in the presence of established vampires with true power before and he coveted it.  None of them held a candle to the power that swirled and flowed from the Sicarii.  The kind of power that emanated from him was enough to make him nauseous.  That kind of power caused him to break out in cold sweats and his hands to tremble.  And the saddest part was that he truly felt that the Sicarii was holding back. 

“Thank you, Sicarii.”  He mumbled.  “I live only to serve.” He turned and left, thankful to be away from the presence of such power and darkness.

6

Matt rubbed his eyes.  His frustration level was high, but it was obvious, Nadia had told them what she knew when she spilled her guts topside.  To her, a premonition was like a blurry feeling, not a clear picture and how do you describe a blurry
feeling
?  He sat back in his chair and just now noticed that she and Jack were holding hands under the table, drawing strength from each other.  He sighed and pulled the flask from his pocket again.

“You okay, Skipper?” Jack asked.

“Head’s killing me, Chief.”  Matt looked at his watch.  He still had hours to go before sundown and he was almost out of the wolf-brew that Evan had cooked up for him.  The guard was unable to wake the doc to join them.  No surprise there.  Once a vampire went down for ‘sleep’, they were for all intent and purpose a corpse until they were ready to awaken.

Once he popped the cap on the flask, Natashia waved her hand in front of her nose.  “What are you doing?  Poisoning yourself?”  She grabbed the flask from his hand and sealed it.

“Hey!  I actually need that.  It’s medicine.” Mitchell protested.

“It is poison to a wolf, Colonel.”  Natashia argued.

“Who said I was a wolf?” Mitchell asked defensively.

“Please, Colonel.  I can smell it upon you.”  She smiled.  “And this?” she held the flask up and waved it in front of him, “This is poison to your wolf.  No wonder it is fighting you.”

“For your information, I’ve been shifting for a decade and it just gets worse.” Matt stated, holding his head in his hands.  “That crap takes the edge off.”

“Because you are poisoning your wolf.”  She said sadly.  “You need to embrace your wolf, Colonel Mitchell.  That is the only way to gain any peace in your life as a man.”

Matt raised his head and stared at her through bleary eyes.  “I have no idea what you are talking about.”

“I can show you, if you will trust me.”  She took his hands in hers and his heart raced momentarily.  “Will you trust T
asha?”

“I…um…well.  Do I have a choice?”

“No.  Not if you want peace, then no.  You do not.” She smiled at him and for a moment, his head didn’t hurt.

Natashia turned to Jack and Nadia, “Give to us a moment, please.  Some privacy.”

“Come on, Sweetie.  Let’s let mom work her magic.”  Jack led her out of the interrogation room and gave them a little peace and quiet.  Once outside he whispered to Nadia, “I really hope she can help.  The pain he’s been in has been affecting his ability to lead.  I’ve actually been worried about him.”

“I thought you were angry with him?”

“Why do you say that?”

“I could sense it from you.” She said.

Jack hesitated.  “I’m still pretty sore with him that they didn’t come clean with us about the augmentation process.”  He sighed heavily.  “I understand why they did it, and I understand why they didn’t tell us, but I still think that it should have been my choice. 
Our
choice.”  Jack hooked his chin up toward the other squads.  “Their choice.”

“I understand.” She said and held him close.  “But at the same time, if he had not done what he did, we would not be t
ogether, no?”

Hard to argue with that kind of logic. 

Inside the interrogation room Natashia had pulled a chair over and sat in front of Matt.  “First you need to relax.  Breathe deeply.”  She took his left hand and placed it on top of her right shoulder.  “Hold your hand here and
feel
my wolf call to yours.”

“I don’t want to feel my wolf…I’m trying to control it.”

“Shhh!  You cannot control it.  You must
accept
it.  Now listen to me and shut your eyes.  Hold my shoulder here and feel my wolf.  Let your mind open to your wolf and feel my wolf.”  She took his right hand and placed it on her chest at her heart.  “Feel here.” She said.  She paused a moment.  “Perhaps a bit higher, Colonel…at my
heart
.” She grinned wickedly. 

“I, uh..”

“It is okay, Colonel.  Men will be men.” She laughed. 

“You told me to close my eyes and
feel
.” He offered as an excuse.

“So I did.” She laughed.  “But with this hand, feel for my heart, please.”  Natashia tried to not laugh as the colonel’s face flushed.  She reached for his earlobe and gently rubbed with her left hand.  Softly she told him, “Now, accept your wolf.  He is you, and you are him.  You cannot deny what is yourself.”

“But I don’t want to accept…”

“Shh!  Accept the wolf.  He is a part of you.  He does not want to harm you.  He knows that he is a part of you.  He knows that he can only come out at the lunar cycle, but when he does come out, if he is harmed, you are harmed.” Her voice was like warm silk wrapping around his mind, calling to his wolf.  “A
ccept him as he accepts you.  Do not fight the calling.”

“But why does it hurt so much?”  Matt could feel himself letting go, allowing the wolf a little more access and he realized, the more he let go, the less it hurt.  He let go a little more and more pain slipped away.  Finally, he let go completely and all of the pain slipped from him and his body went from tensed to r
elaxed.

“He is trying to warn you, Mitchell.  Do you not feel the direness of his desire?  He is trying to warn you…there is som
ething looming on the horizon.  Something that threatens you and those you love.”  Her voice sounded as though she were in a trance.  “He warns of the threat that Nadia sees.  The darkness threatens you and your people, your pack, your…your mate?”

“My wife is dead…”

“Your wolf knows that your mate is near…very near.”  She said softly.  “You know it, too.  But you fight him over the acceptance.”

“My wife is…”

“Who is she?” Natashia asked.

“I don’t know…”

“You do.  Your wolf knows her too.  He fights to be with her every time you look at her.”  Natashia could see her face through the wolf’s eyes.  “She is in…ice?  How is she in ice?”

“You can’t know that.” Matt said sounding half asleep.

“Mitchell Mathews, your wolf tells me everything.”  Matt’s eyes flew open at the mention of a name he hadn’t heard in years.  “Accept your wolf, Mitchell.”  The voice he heard now wasn’t the woman he knew as Tasha.  It was his wife’s voice and it broke Matt’s heart to hear it again.  “The wolf will protect you and knows what is best for you.  It is time for you to carry on.  Let us go.”

“What is this?!” Matt growled, he tried to turn away but he couldn’t move his hands, his body wasn’t his.  He started to pa
nic. 

“You accepted your wolf and now, the other side speaks to you.” Tasha told him.  “It is telling you that you’ve held on long enough.  It is time to pick up the pieces and carry on.  Go on with your life so they can go on with their afterlife.”

“This is lunacy…” Matt cried, his voice a cracked whisper.

“No.  This is Fate, Mitchell Matthews.”  Tasha told him, her grip on him getting stronger.  “The Fate of not only yourself and your pack, but all of mankind hangs in the balance.  You may not know it yet, but what you do in the near future will play a very large role in how mankind fares in the war that is coming.”

“What can you know about...”

“The future is clouded, but it is being written.  The alliances you make or don’t make will either decide the fate of mankind or seal it in blood.” She gasped.  “Do not let mankind fall to the Lamia Humanus!  The Sicarii comes!” she yelled, then co
llapsed.

*****

Jack and Nadia found themselves surrounded by a large handful of the Monster Squad again.  Many had questions and only they could answer them.  Unfortunately, most of the questions were of a more ‘personal’ nature.

“Seriously, dude, she’s your mother-in-law?” Gus asked with a wink.

Jack laughed.  “Yeah, man, I know.  But seriously, yeah.  She’s Nadia’s mom.”

“Dude, that is seriously fucked up.  Having a mother-in-law that is as hot as your wife?  I don’t think I could handle it.” He teased.

“He handles her quite well.” Nadia interrupted.  “And that is saying something good, because mother is very much the handful.”

“Oh, you can say
that
again.” Gus smiled.  “I’d love to get a handful of that.” He guffawed. 

“Tracy, could you be any more crude?  She is my mother-in-law.” Jack said.

“Dude, she’s a MILF!” he said.

“You mean, WILF, right?”  Lamb asked with a grin.  “Didn’t she say she was a wolf?”

“I’d say
fox
is more like it.” Jacobs tossed in.

“Oh, no, mother is truly a wolf.  We have no foxes in our pack.” Nadia said straight faced.

Jack leaned in closer to her and said quietly, “He means that she’s ‘hot’, sweetie.”

“But all of us have body temperatures hotter than normal humans, Jack.  It is normal for wolves and shape shifters, too.”  The hunters all looked at her oddly and then snickered.

“Oh, boy.  Umm.  He means that she’s very attractive.” Jack tried again.

“Oh!  Yes!  Mother is
very
attractive.  Men find her irresistible.”  Nadia smiled.  “This is very true.”  The hunters sort of smiled and smirked at her remark.  “And, she is a very good kisser as well, isn’t she Jack?”

They all did a double-take and stared, some open-mouthed at Jack.  “Well, I…er…um.  Well, I suppose.” He said.

“Dude!  You
kissed
her?  She’s your mother-in-law!” Dominic ribbed him.  “That’s gotta be illegal in some states!” he laughed.

“I barely remember it.” Jack tried to downplay the whole thing.

“But it seemed very important to you at the time, Jack.  Remember, you spoke of it so much when it happened.  I remember telling you that it was only because you found mother so attractive.” Nadia reminded him.

“Sweetheart, I think you’re talking too much.” Jack said through clenched teeth.  “These guys will never understand the circumstances, nor will they let me live it down.”

Nadia gave Jack a puzzled look.  “I don’t understand, Jack.  Why would they care if you and mother kissed?”  The hunters burst into laughter and a few made comments that Jack couldn’t quite make out.  Nadia gave them all puzzled looks as well, then her eyes widened.  “Oh.  I understand.  In their jealousy and desire, they wish that it had been them to kiss mother?  Yes?”

Now the hunter’s behavior went into full-blown denial and it was Jack’s turn to laugh.  “Yeah, yeah, you were just co
mmenting on how she is a WILF and you’d like to get your hands on her, but suddenly you have no desire for Natashia?  I see how you hypocrites are!”

Gus stepped up with a hand raised, “Hell, I won’t deny it.  That woman can enter my dreams
any
night she wants!”  As the others teased him with good natured ribbing, the duty officer came up to Jack.

“I need the Colonel or the XO.  Any ideas?”

“Last I saw the Colonel, he was in the interrogation room, but he was busy.  I can radio for Ms. Youngblood.” He said.

“Please.  We have a secondary confirmation.  Looks like its starting early.” The Captain said.

Jack got on the radio and called for Laura or the Colonel.  Both radioed back that they were headed topside and would be there shortly.  Both Jack and the Captain arranged to meet at the leaderboard and Jack alerted the men to find both Spalding and Apollo and get the teams ready for alert one.

As Jack began to walk away, Nadia’s eyes lit up!  The sate
llite phone!  She had completely forgotten the phone!  “Jack!”

“Nadia, please, this is my job…”

“Jack, wait!  When you left the island, did one of the wolves give you a phone?  To call for when you were ready to come back to the island?” she asked, desperation in her eyes.

Jack gave her a puzzled look, his hand going to his breast pocket.  “Yeah.  I have it right here.”  He pulled it out.

“It’s not from Rufus!” she exclaimed.  “We do not know the wolf who gave it to Georgio for you.  We do not know where it came from.”

“What?  Then how did Georgio get it?”

“We do not know, but it is not from our people.  It must be destroyed!  It could be dangerous!”

Jack held the phone out and set it on a table.  He didn’t know if it held high explosives or if it had some kind of tracking device, or…”EOD in here, now!” he called out. 

Both Lamb and Jacobs jumped into the back of the small trailer holding their crates of gear.  They appeared a moment later carrying a large crate and set it on a table next to the one with the phone.  As Lamb and Jacobs began digging through the gear, Donovan grabbed a signal jammer and activated it.  “If this thing is broadcasting or set to receive, it isn’t anymore.”

“Go check in with the Skipper, Chief.  We got this.”  Lamb said.

“As soon as you know what the hell is in that thing, report back to me.” Jack ordered.

“Aye-aye, Chief.” Jacobs responded as he put on the EOD blast suit.  Lamb was helping him suit up while Donovan broke out the gear and spread it out on the table next to it.  Neils Eric
kson was setting up blast shields around the two tables to help deflect any blast should the phone be a bomb and actually go off in the hangar.