Obsessions: A Monster Squad Novel 7 (16 page)

Jim turned the bottle over in his hands then set it on the table beside him. “You were just gonna shoot me up with this stuff, but your
vampire
boyfriend talked you out of it.”

“Pretty sad when an undead person had more moral fortitude than me, huh?” She sniffed back the tears she didn’t want him to see.

“Sounds like I might actually like this guy.”

Laura snorted a short laugh. “You probably would. He’s a biologist and chemist and…hell, an engineer. He’s probably the smartest man I know.”

“Hey!” Jim actually sounded wounded.

She turned and gave him her warmest smile as she swiped at her cheeks. “Next to you, I mean.”

“That’s better.” He opened his arms for her to lean in for a hug. She cuddled next to him on his bed while he stared at the vial. “So, what happens if I take that? Every full moon I have to lock myself up in the basement or I chase the neighborhood cats up a tree…or, what?”

“Actually, we have these pills you can take that will keep you from ever shifting.” Her voice was low and quiet. “It’s based off of wolfsbane, and it will keep you human. You’ll still get antsy, and you’ll be an even bigger pain in the ass during the full moon.”

Jim pinched her in the ribs as she spoke. “Watch yourself.”

Laura pushed herself up and met his eyes. “And once you and Crystal get married, you’ll have to be doubly careful to never miss a dose. Or you could infect her as well.”

“Sweetie, Crystal and I won’t be tying the knot anytime soon.” He patted her arm gently.

“Once we’ve cured you and you’re on the bane, I don’t see why not. There’s nothing holding you back.” She gave him a soft smile.

Jim nodded. “Actually, there is.” He cleared his throat. “You see, I told her that…”

Laura pressed her finger to his mouth, silencing him. “You have my blessing, Daddy.”

*****

As the wheels of the jet touched down, Foster was already on the phone making arrangements for cars, enforcers, security personnel, anything and everything he could get his hands on to strengthen their stance.

Rufus Thorn stepped to the rear of the plane and gently reached for the phone. “We won’t be needing this, brother.”

Foster stared at Rufus with wide eyes. “Are you nuts? You expect us to go up against Lilith alone? Just the two of us?”

Rufus shook his head. “
Non
, we have people on the ground looking for their hiding place. Once it is found, we will verify if she has been made whole. If she has, we alert the human hunters.”

“And you think that they can do anything against her? She is evil incarnate. They’ll be ripped to shreds.”

Rufus chuckled. “Suddenly you are worried about the human hunters? How quaint.”

Foster shook his head, his agitation and confusion fighting for dominance. “No. Hell no! I don’t give two shits about the human hunters. I just think it’s a waste of time to send them in to face her. She’ll shred them…and they’ll tip our hand.”

Rufus smiled and patted his brother’s shoulder. “They will keep her busy so that we might strike a killing blow. That is all they must do.”

Foster stared at Rufus, his mouth opening and closing as a multitude of thoughts fought for pole position. “I think…I think I understand.”

“Excellent.” Rufus slipped past him and toward the door. “Have our car brought around.”

*****

Bigby hung up the phone and stood from the chair. Everything he needed to bring the monster squad to their knees was beginning to fall into place. He stared out at the warehouse and the vehicles parked within. Pack enough of them with explosives and another wave of them with the gas, he could deliver a one-two punch that would remove them completely from the equation.

He whistled a little tune to himself as he walked through the warehouse and inspected everything. So little silver had been salvaged that they would have to import more to be able to create their rounds. That would take time; time he didn’t want to spend, but it had to be done. He couldn’t risk sending the men out into town and have them buy up silver trinkets to be melted down.

He walked by the lathe and studied the milled bullets that had already been fashioned. Milled from a silver rod, the shavings caught and melted down to create another rod, the rounds had grooves milled into them that would allow them to break apart once they hit a solid object. He had seen a similar design made of brass a few years earlier and the idea stayed with him. He didn’t mind stealing it. It was one helluva idea. It was called a Trident PFP round and he’d seen the damage it could do first hand.

He ran his hand across the mill and felt the warmth radiating up from the machine. It had been well used the past few hours. Now to get more silver and form more rods…

Bigby spun on his heel and marched back to the office. There were places that offered precious metals in just about every form you could possibly desire. Surely somewhere, somebody offered it as a solid rod. The time saved from having to create their own would be worth the added expense.

Lifting the lid on his computer he opened a web browser. “Well, they say that Google is my friend…”

*****

Mick paced the grounds outside the hangar, his mind racing.
How could she have done that? How could she have mated with this guy? She just met him!
The disgust and pain rallied in his mind, each vying to take over his dominant thoughts.

Mick paused and stared at the sky, his heart hammering in his chest. “Oh no.” His legs went out from under him and he sat staring, his weak mind just realizing what her coupling with Colonel Mitchell truly meant. “I have to call Walter. He needs to know!”

Mick dug through his pockets and pulled the satellite phone out. It still had half a charge when he punched the power button. He scrolled through his contact list and mashed the button for Walter Simmons. As the phone rang, Mick paced the parking lot. His eyes darted to and fro frantically. When the call was answered, he nearly shouted, “Hello! Hello? Mr. Simmons? This is Mick.”

Mick waited for Walter Simmons to finish chewing his ass before he continued, “Mr. Simmons, there was no stopping her. They were going to hop a commercial flight. All I could do was find a way to tag along and…” He paused and listened to the man rant and rave about how a real man would have found a way to stop her. Finally, Mick had enough of being belittled. He clenched his jaw and gripped the phone a little too tightly. “I was just calling to let you know that it’s too late. She mated with the son of a bitch.”

Mick punched the end call button before Walter Simmons could begin a new tirade. He stared at the satellite phone and debated calling the old man back just to tell him to go to Hell. Instead, he squeezed the plastic case until it crushed in his hand, bits and pieces of the phone falling to the ground.

He stared into the sky once more and growled a deep, low growl. He bent low and threw the phone as far as he could. Mick stood and watched as the pieces disappeared from sight then turned and headed back toward the hangar.

She may have rejected him. She may have chosen another over him. She may have even tied her life to this asshole. But that was no reason to let her die just because her father was an ass. She needed to be warned that he was still on the attack…and her life was in just as much peril as her new mates was.

*****

“My queen.” The demon bowed deeply and kept his eyes to the floor.

Lilith turned slowly and studied the man dressed as a security guard. “Report.” She turned back to her maps and schedules, her mind on everything except the man at her door.

“Our sentinels that have been watching the human hunters? They have nothing to report.” The demon remained prostrate, his eyes purposely avoiding hers.

“So? Why come to me if there is no news?”

“That’s just it, my queen. If our reports are to be believed, then they surely have been informed of the cache. They would have sent people out to find them.” The demon began to quiver as it spoke. “It is the belief of our sentinels that the human hunters were never told of the weapons cache. They believe that perhaps the supernaturals plan to handle this themselves.”

Lilith stood slowly and strode to the doorway where the demon was now practically laying on the ground, his hands trembling visibly. “The
sentinels
concluded this? As if somebody gave them permission to think for themselves?”

“Apologies, my queen. I am merely the messenger.” The demon backed away slowly, his eyes never rising to meet hers.

“Who are these sentinels that we have sent to watch the human hunters?” She placed her foot on the demon’s arm to stop him from moving.

The man shook his head vigorously. “I do not know, my queen. I was only sent to report to you.”

“You were a centurion for how long? You should act like it!” She kicked at the man and sent him sprawling.

The man turned his head, refusing to meet her eye. “Word has spread throughout the legion, my queen. You vanquished one of us for not working hard enough…nobody else wishes to be vanquished.”

Lilith stared at the man trembling on the floor and smiled to herself. “How is it that you were sent to deliver this message to me?”

The man crawled to his knees and hung his head low. “We drew lots, my queen.” His jaw trembled as he spoke. “I lost.”

“Yet, you drew lots with the others, yes?”

The demon nodded his head. “I had little choice.”

Lilith willed him to rise. “And yet here you are.” She lifted his chin with her finger until his eyes met hers. “What are you to me, centurion?”

“I am your humble servant, my queen.”

“Stop kissing my ass, soldier. What are you to me?” Her voice took on a hard edge and finally the Roman squared his shoulders and faced her, looking her square in the eye.

“I am your right hand, my queen. You meter of fate. I am your deliverer of pain and regret. I am your servant. My life is yours.”

Lilith stepped back and gave him a wicked smile. “That’s much better. I prefer my soldiers to have backbone.”

“I wished only to avoid being vanquished, my queen.” He met her eyes and she actually took a half step back. “To be sent back to Hell is one thing, but to be sent back as a victim instead of a servant? Intolerable.”

Lilith nodded, understanding now what she had unwittingly done to the other centurion. “And now, what are you to me?”

“I am yours, my queen. To do with as you please. I am Death.”

“Very good.” She clapped her hands slowly. “Go back and tell the men you drew lots with that you are now their commander. Form your own unit of these cowards and beat some bravery into them. Do you think you can do that,
commander
?”

“As you will, my queen.”

*****

The door pushed open into one of the many briefing rooms inside the CIA Headquarters building in Langley, Virginia. A haggard looking man dropped a stack of files onto the table then turned and greeted the two stoic individuals already seated. “So sorry I’m late. I forgot a couple of these files and…” He stared at the two men whose disdain for the analyst was palpable. “Right. Well, I knew you’d want them all, so…here they are.” He pulled a chair out and sat down, sliding the files to the side.

“How long did it take you to acquire this information?” the older gentleman at the head of the table asked.

The analyst glanced at the stack of files and gave a slight shrug. “Actually, it took a while. This information was not easy to come by. You do realize that they keep everything locked down tight there. They have no servers connected to the outside so attempting to breach a firewall or do a brute force attack is nearly—”

“We know.” The younger gentleman stated. He stood and clicked a button on a remote causing the lights to dim. An overhead projector came on and he began clicking through slides. “We at the NSA have been investigating this group for some time now. We had some data sent to us from a now dead Senator that triggered the investigation.”

The analyst watched as the slides flashed images on the screen, and he turned to face the other men. “From what I gather, these guys actually think they’re hunting bogeymen. Like there are some kind of monsters out there hiding in the dark, and it’s their personal mission to waste taxpayer money to hunt them down.” He chuckled as he glanced from man to man. Neither man showed any humor on their faces.

“The CIA has been working hand-in-hand with the NSA and the DIA to dig up what we can on this group, but so far…it hasn’t been much. That’s what we need you to do.” The older man leaned across the table and turned a stern stare toward the young analyst.

“I-I know, sir. And I’ve been working diligently at this for quite some time.” He slid the files over and spread them out before the two men. “These are the men that have been chosen from the field and reutilized within the group over the last six years. As you can see, there are quite a few that are dead. If you ask me, they probably drank too much and it was marked as a training accident to protect their reputations as Special Forces operators.”