Night Howls (3 page)

“I have two questions. What is your name and just what are you? For as little as you are, I know you cannot be human when you tackled me with that much force.”

“My name is Nyx, not that it is any of your concern. Just what species I am, you will never find out, nor do you need to know. Just pray you don't have to see me after today,” I tell him and continue with my walk.

I didn't get a good look at the guy, but I already have enough man problems. I don't really need to pique the interest of some human. I got my gun back and that is what I came here to do.

“Excuse me, miss, but I was wondering if you had any acting experience?” The director type person has caught up with us because of our delay. He seems to have forgiven me for ruining his scene. “I am Gene Phillips, I am sure you have heard the name before, and I am looking for a female that could do some fighting sequences for us.”

Damn it. I should have let Paul send his gofer to take care of the exchange. This is turning into a hassle.

I spin around so I can make sure my point is heard loud and clear. My fuse is really short today to begin with and it just ran out. “You are a human, so your name means nothing to me. I came here to get my new gun and I am leaving now. I don't act and would probably kill anyone you tried to get to fight against me. I don't care how big and macho your leading man is. Five seconds in a fight with me and he would probably never be able to have kids again.”

I can see the leading man now and he is very well filled out, as far as humans go. He stands as tall as Sebastian, so I would say he is 6'4”. He has short, dark hair; the length makes it hard to tell if it is black or a dark brown. He has ice blue eyes that are probably contacts in place for the movie because they don’t seem to match with his general complexion. There is a thin white scar that runs the length of his left cheek. Again, chances are that is just for his character.

“Are you sure? I think Will could handle it. We have a few women we are trying, but none of them have made the fight scenes realistic enough,” the director says trying to push his case. Great. The humans don't seem to understand English. I just tackled the guy, what even makes them think I can fight? Just because I make a good bulldozer, doesn’t automatically equate to great fighting acumen. Most people look at me and think I belong safe at home behind an apron, even with the guns usually strapped to my sides.

“We could at least try a scene together,” the lead guy, who I am taking is Will, says to try to help the director. “I promise I would go easy on you.”

I hear every one of my guys chuckle under their breath at the comment. The taunt, of course, makes me want to teach the guy a lesson. I don't think he realizes what he has done.

“Sure, we can give it a try. I should warn you that only one of the guys next to me can actually beat me in a fair fight.” Let's see what he has to say about that. Sebastian is the only one that can kick the crap out of me. Alex and Walt are pretty much even with me in skills and Jonas is almost to their level. Jake is good, but I can for sure beat him.

Will looks over at the guys and just shakes his head like I am making up a story. “Let's give it a try.” I warned him, so whatever happens is his own fault.

“Out of curiosity, how much can you bench press?” I ask. The man has some muscles, but I doubt he can beat me in any of the different kinds of strength determinations.

“395,” he replies with a wink that indicates he thinks it is impressive. “You?”

“I can lift a good 650 with about any muscle you ask me to,” I inform him.

He looks me up and down and his smile spreads even wider across his face. “Can I get some private demonstrations on those different muscles in action?” I forgot I was dealing with someone of the male persuasion. I should have been more careful with my wording.

“She is taken,” Alex and Sebastian say simultaneously.

“By who?” Will asks glancing back and forth between the two of them. I think he is trying to judge whether he could take either of them in a fight. The answer would be not unless he wants to become a pancake.

“Both of us,” Sebastian answers for the duo.

“Really? You too much for one man to handle?” he questions turning his gaze back to me.

“It is not by choice and I thought you wanted to try a test fight scene. Let's get on with that and you can find out for yourself how hard it would be for anyone to handle me.”

“Right this way,” Director Gene says ushering us to an open space on the set. It appears he wants to move this along before it becomes an all-out fight.

I crack my neck a few times and do a couple of stretches. I really don't think this is going to tax my system all that much, so I don't waste too much time. Will starts hopping around from foot to foot and practices a little weaving. I cannot decide if I want to take it easy on him in hopes of not totally embarrassing him, or just obliterate him with a few punches.

“Come on, Tinkerbell. Let's get this fight started,” he taunts.

Obliterate it is.

For fun, I do two flips to land right in front of him. He sees me coming, so he goes to swing his right fist at me. I weave out of the way and do a quick leg sweep to knock him on the ground. He springs back up and tries to land a punch in my midsection, on his way to his feet. He is borderline fast. Fast may not be the right word, but he does have some speed to him. Too bad for him, it won’t be enough against the likes of me.

I block the shot and catch his fist in my hand. I squeeze tightly using about half of my strength. I see him wince, but he doesn't cry out like I was hoping. I let go and land my own punch to his gut, which causes him to double over. While he is in that position, I place a good uppercut to his jaw before the fight is interrupted. Will is laid out on the ground, so I don't think there would have been much more action as far as he is concerned.

“This was a bad idea,” Gene says moving to stand in between us. Hey, I tried to warn him it wasn’t going to be a fair fight. “We can see you can fight, but in our scenes we don't connect the punches with that much force, if at all. We cannot have our leading man all bruised up before we really get into filming.”

“He asked for it,” I remind the director. Don't they have makeup artists to take care of any marks I leave behind? He got me all riled up and now I don't get to take my aggression out. I think there is a punching bag with my name on it back at the fort.

“You are right, we wanted to see what a fight scene would look like with you and I think we got the information we needed. If you don't want to actually do the fighting yourself, would you at least consider working as a fight coordinator for us?”

“No. We need to be going,” I say ready to leave these crazy humans in my dust. Sebastian is preparing to leave and I need to make sure to give him a proper, clothed, send off.

“At least take my card,” he says shoving a small rectangle of paper into my hand. “Maybe something will change your mind.”

Doubtful, but I am tired of arguing, so I put the card in my pocket. I turn my back and walk away vowing nothing is going to stop me this time. Miraculously, nothing does and we make it back to the Suburban without any further interruptions.

“You make friends everywhere you go, don't you?” Walt says with a laugh as we climb back in the Suburban. He has been around long enough to know just how easily people attach themselves to me. People tend to either love me or hate me. I wish there were less people on the loving side of things. I deal with fighting better than hugging.

“I know. It is a curse,” I say taking the slow way back home to try to prolong my time with Sebastian. Even the slow route doesn’t take that much time and we arrive back at the penthouse before I know it.

Chapter 4

Good-byes are never easy

“Why don't you send Marcus ahead to take care of the last minute details?” I ask Sebastian as I sit on my bed and watch him pack a few things from my room. His bag is full of his stuff already, but he wants to take some things that have my scent. It is a little creepy, but I allow it as long as he steers clear of my underwear drawer. That would be crossing the line. Although, I don’t doubt he has already pilfered from there for the nights he doesn’t share my bed.

“Marcus is coming with me and will be dealing with a lot of those issues, but I still need to be there. Believe me, this separation is not going to be any easier for me,” he says coming over to caress my face. Sadly, a little caress isn’t going to make things any better.

“Something bad is going to happen,” I say voicing, yet again, my dread.

“You will be safe. Alex won't let anything happen to you and you know you can defend yourself against anyone. Stop worrying. People are going to forget what a bad ass you really are if you sit around and complain all day,” he tells me as he leans down to kiss my forehead. When he is done, he lifts me up to my feet and walks me out of the room.

At the present moment, I don’t care if everyone in the world thinks I am a giant sap. I really don’t want Sebastian to go on this trip. As far as I am concerned, it isn’t truly about our bond and the distance that will be separating us.

“It isn't me I am worried about. Make sure you have at least Marcus with you at all times. I know Dante is going to be hanging close because of Alan being at the summit, but I don't trust him as much as Marcus and don't get me started on Smitty.” None of the vamps have returned from their dinner, so I feel free to voice my concerns. Well, at least some of my concerns. If I really got going, he would be delayed at least a week.

“Nothing will happen and I am always well-guarded at these things. Alan may try to call me out, but after about a hundred losses on his part, I doubt he will want to go through the embarrassment again.” Nothing he can say will reassure me. If he put himself in a giant impenetrable bubble suit for the weekend, I would still worry about something happening. Yes, it is that severe of a feeling. He is supposed to have some clairvoyance abilities. Why aren’t they cluing him in on the problem? My stupid woman’s intuition is shouting the issue from the rooftops.

“Fine. Have it your way, but if something happens to you I am going to severely hurt you when you get back. Even if you come back as dust, I will find a way to resurrect you, just so I can beat you down. In that case, I will probably end up killing you again just for the Hell of it. Then I will go about starting the process all over until I feel you have learned your lesson.”

“Now that is something I would love to see. I have to go, but we will talk every day either by phone or mind, so I am sure you won't even notice I am gone.”

“With Ben's help, I am sure I could accomplish the task of resurrection, so you better keep your eyes open,” I say trying to work myself out of my funk. I have plenty of stuff to fill my days while he is away and Alex and I have been getting along pretty well, so it isn't like I will have time to mope or feel like I am not getting enough attention.

“I love you, always,” he says as we make our way to the elevator. I refuse to walk him down and watch him fly away. Our good-bye is being said here.

“And I you,” I reply. He drops his bag and lifts me up into his arms to bring us face-to-face. He tilts his head to the right and I follow suit as our lips meet.

Kissing has never been an issue for us and this time is no different. I open my mouth immediately to allow him in for a quick war of tongues. Neither of us wants to give the other the satisfaction of leading the kiss and it turns into an all-out battle. It is a common occurrence between us and usually I will let him win, but this time I am determined to be the victor.

Way too soon, he pulls back and just hugs me close. He quickly lets go and hits the elevator button. “I will call when I get there. Like I said, you won’t even know I am gone,” he says stepping into the elevator still trying to convince me everything will be fine.

“Be safe,” I reiterate and wave at him as the doors close.

“Finally. I thought he would never leave,” Jake says breaking my moment. “Who is up for having a big party while the fuddy-duddy is away?”

“Do you ever know when to keep your mouth shut? It isn’t the right time for comments like that,” Jonas says throwing one of Clyde’s toys at the jerk. I haven’t spun around to face them, yet, but I hear the telltale squeak of one of the few toys Clyde hasn’t gutted. We had to stop buying anything with stuffing from the beginning. He moved on to pillows when we took the toys away, but I think he has finally grown out of that stage.

“What? You know everyone here was thinking it,” Jake says defending himself. Most days it is hard to remember he is actually older than me.

“Last I checked this was my place of residence, not Sebastian's. He may own the building, but the apartment is mine, so I believe I would be Ms. Fuddy-Duddy to you,” I say walking over to the couch he is laying on and I swat his legs off to make room for me.

“We could invite all of your new friends from the movie set,” Jake suggests not giving up on his party idea.

“Alex, do you actually do mental capacity testing on your guards? I am pretty sure Jake fell through the cracks.” He undoubtedly hit his head a few times on the way through those cracks.

“Jake has always been a little, how should I say it, on the special side of things,” Alex replies jokingly.

“It is probably because his little brain does all his thinking,” Jonas supplies stating a well-known fact. One that Jake is often teased about, as it is brought up at least thirty times a day. You would think we would get tired of talking about it, but, so far, it hasn’t happened.

“I think I have had enough of this conversation. Don't we need to get you down to your office or something?” Jake asks already growing tired of being made fun of. He is usually good for at least a few comebacks.

“Not really. I finished all my paperwork on the Miller case yesterday and my phone hasn’t rung all day,” I inform him.

“So what, are we just going to sit around here and stare at each other all night?” he replies and stands to start pacing around the room.