Rose: Briar's Thorn (11 page)

She must have read my line of thinking because she firmly squeezed my hand and forced me to make eye contact with her.  She mouthed, “Hi lady.” to me and I couldn't help but smile.

After the first hour, the sirens subsided, I guess they figured everyone was up now.  They were broadcasting the staged evacuation plan on every radio and television station.  Police and emergency vehicles were driving the chaotic streets announcing timing for evacuation in the area.  Nobody seemed to be listening as the streets were already crowded with loaded down vehicles.

I was morbidly curious if there was looting occurring already.  In all of the evacuations and wars I have watched from afar, as soon as the chaos begins, there are always a few bad seeds that want to feed that chaos and start looting and rioting.

Before long there was a knock at the door and weapons appeared in hands, and everyone who could was gathering energy around them.  Even Nicole had produced her two short swords from somewhere.

Parker stepped in front of Mari, who was starting to move toward the door.  The woman chastised us all, slapping away a couple of my vines I had subconsciously heading toward the door.  “Honestly ladies.  Do you have to react this way every time someone knocks at the door?”

She pointed at the Red Hood's crossbow and around at all the guns and other bladed weapons.  “Put all of those away.”  Then she playfully shoved at my vines.  “Your botany project too, Rose.”  That crystal, vibrating tone of her voice lent an urgency to her words.

I had to grin at the woman as I recalled my vines, she was so shy and reserved, I could tell she didn't believe she should be in the company of the other women.  She's wrong, she adds something... a humanity to the group.  She reminds us to be human.  Not to mention she has that bag of hers that seems to be packed for about any emergency.

We all powered down and hid our weapons.  I could tell that Rachel and Amanda were law enforcement, the way they holstered their weapons but rested their hands casually on them, just in case.  Parker looked in the little hole in the door, they called it a peephole.  Then she paled and opened the door.

Helena stepped in quickly and hugged the woman then said as she turned back, “The Chief of Police, the SWAT commander, and Detective King wish to discuss defense planning with the group.  I tried to tell them that you had it under control.”

Two men and Detective King stepped into the room. I skittered back against the wall by the bathroom when they entered, hissing, “Get them out of here, just a stray touch of one of my vines can kill them.”

The three looked at me warily.  Nicole stepped in front of me and offered a hand as she said softly to me, “Not as long as I am touching you.”  She prompted me with her eyes.  I hesitantly took her hand and she immediately laced our fingers and tightened her grip on me.  She tugged at me until I started moving back into the room as she told the visitors, “She's safe now.”  Then with a smirk she added, “But you may not want to get too close just in case.”

The three looked at me warily but seemed to relax a little.   Chief Mendez spoke, I recognized his voice from the phone call earlier, “This is standing room only here.  Is there someplace a little less cramped to discuss planning and manpower deployment?  The National Guard is dispatching units to us as we speak.”

I noted that Chief  Mendez hadn't broke eye contact with Daria since they walked in.  Until Daria nodded her head once to him.  An unnatural motion for a wolf to do.  He gave a half smile then turned back to Red.

Mari nodded. “The motel attendant has already been sent off to his place to prepare for the evacuation.  We can use the motel office.”  Then she gave an apologetic look.  “But there won't be much to discuss.  What is coming, your men won't be able to fight.  They would be throwing their lives away senselessly and we would have to split our own efforts to protect them.”

The other man growled out, “To hell with that.  This is our city, and we are damn well going to defend it from the wolves.”

I cocked my head one way then the other and said, “I can feel the movement of the darkness.  Werewolves are the least of it.  And there is an evil that I can't explain, I can feel the movement more than its darkness.  It is a different kind of evil than black magic.  Whatever the Alphas have awakened, it is beyond the capability of your mortal weapons.”

Gretta spoke in a calm, sweet tone, “No, your responsibility is to protect the people of your city.  Without the people, there are just buildings and things.  It is not worth your lives to protect objects.”

The Red Hood caught on to what Snow was saying and added, “Leave the incursion to us.  You cover the civilians who could not get beyond the city walls when it happens.  Use your men and the troops as a buffer between the battle and the innocents.  We will be putting up a poison barrier of vines and brambles to protect them, but you can be there just in case they get through.”

This seemed to placate them to an extent. Then King asked plainly.  “Why?  Why are you women going to fight to stop the Alphas and save humankind when all we have given you is mistrust and treated you with malice and suspicion?  Most are calling for your heads, saying you are monsters too.”

Parker answered for everyone, her crystalline voice low, “Because we are not monsters.  That is the difference between us and the monsters, we care, we know the difference between right and wrong... good and evil.  And we choose to do the right thing.”

Her gaze locked on King. “We were all human, are all human, too.  Just a short time ago I sat in one of your interrogation rooms as a human.  And you wanted me to give you something to hold the monster, my Ella Marie for.  Then the next day I was turned into this...”  She clacked her diamond-hard fingernails together with a clinking sound.

She almost sneered. “Then, just like that, you were treating me like a monster.  But unlike all of you, I never forgot that I am human, and I will always fight to do the right thing, as will every woman here in my new family.  The only thing trying to take our humanity away is... you.”

I tilted my head as I regarded the woman.  Since I met her, she had been growing and evolving.  Ella stepped beside her, beaming with pride, and took her hand.  After a moment of awkward silence King chuckled, “Way to make us feel like pieces of shit Miss Devareau.  Thanks.”

Parker grinned cheesily back and said, “Anytime, Detective King.”

The Chief looked thoughtful, then said, “Alright.  But we will still need to discuss this poisoned barrier, and how to handle things as we aid the evacuation.”

He looked over at Amanda and Rachel.  “I can't believe we are going to be letting wolves into the city.”  Rachel growled.  “No offense intended,” he said quickly.

Rachel grinned and said, “None taken.  Though I and our beta here will be sitting it out, much to our protestations.  We're nothing but beasts on the full moon so we wouldn't be any better than the wolves that come through with the Marcus brothers.  We'll be locked safely away in our cages tomorrow night.”  I could hear the regret in her voice.

Amanda pushed her from behind playfully.  “Stop calling me beta, bitch.”

They moved off bantering.  “I didn't call you beta bitch, just beta.”  “I'm not beta.”  Growl.  “Fine whatever.”  Gretta chimed in, “Children, please.”  Which got a double growl back.  The humans were watching the whole thing with slight looks of amusement on their faces.

Mari looked around then said, “Why don't you three, Fluffy and I move to the office and do some planning.  We can call in the girls as needed.  They need to get some sleep tonight or they will be exhausted when the battle comes.”  Daria growled at being called Fluffy and in the same instant, King and the SWAT commander realized that it was a werewolf in the room, not just a huge dog.  Their hands instinctively went to their weapons but in a cacophony of sound, found a myriad of weapons pointed at them.

Maireni grinned from behind that crossbow she can pull out from under her cloak in less than a blink of an eye. “She's human.  Not a werewolf.  It isn't a full moon for God's sake.”

Helena translated, “Ummm... I suggest you take your hands off your weapons.  Fluffy is on your side.”  Daria didn't look happy when she said Fluffy.  The two relaxed and the weapons pointed at them disappeared again.

The chief chuckled as Mari and Daria stepped forward.  Mendez looked down at the wolf and grumbled, “Always getting in trouble even now.”  He half backhanded the wolf's shoulder, in front of the backpack strapped onto her.  The other two just stared at him incredulously.  They weren't in on the secret as to Daria's true identity and it seemed he was keeping that secret.  Which was good, I knew the sorts of things they would subject her to if the government got their hands on her.

Daria lifted one of her platter sized paws and pushed the man unceremoniously through the door and followed after, the other two visitors stepped back, giving her a wide berth.  Then Red motioned with her arm and they followed.  Helena started to go with them and Mari stopped her.  “We won't need you in there, I promise we'll call you in if we do.  Don't you have someone better to speak with here?”

Helena smiled and inclined her head and we all watched as Mari closed the door behind her.  Then she turned with a huge grin and opened her arms wide.  Ella was already there and they hugged.  Helena whispered, “I'm scared for you Grams.”

Ella shrugged. “We can handle a few out of town wankers.  'Sides, we've got Parker here to watch our ass while we send the bloody tossers packing.”  The shyster looked over to Parker and pulled her into the hug.

We all chatted a minute then retired.  Ella was arguing with Helena in French about getting to safety, but she refused to evacuate, she wanted to stay and watch over our two wolves while we fought.  But once she mentioned that her daughter, Kyla, would need her mother, she agreed.  It wouldn't do for the child to be evacuated with the nanny.

I was a little embarrassed when I sat against the wall watching Nicole as she slid under the covers on my bed.  She looked over at me demurely and held the covers open.  I swallowed and then quickly slid in behind her.  I ignored the “Awwwww.” we got from Parker and Ella in the other bed.  Well if whipping some vines out to yank them out of their bed into a giggling mass on the floor, can be considered ignoring.  I bit down on the urge to laugh, afraid I wouldn't be able to stop it in my imbalanced state.

I glanced down, Nicole was looking back and grinning at me.  I couldn't resist kissing her, and then wishing the others were not in the room.  I pulled her into me instinctively, to both protect her and possess her as I felt her hot body against mine, and the ghost of the memory of her kiss on my lips as we nodded off to the most pleasant sleep I can ever remember.  I dreamed of my silver warrior woman.

When we awoke the next morning, I smiled at Red, who was sleeping on top of her huge wolf on the floor.  It was priceless because this is the first time I realized that the Red Hood snored.  It was like a squirrel crossed with those noisy mechanical saws that they used to cut trees down in modern times.

I looked down in amazement, Nicole was awake and looking back at me with a smile.  I smiled back and she said quietly, “I was afraid I wouldn't awaken again.  When I did, you were here, and I knew I wasn't dreaming.”  She hugged the arm I had wrapped around her.  I looked at her in wonder with a certain amount of guilt that she has those fears.

A pillow was destroyed in the air mid-flight to us as my vines shredded the possible threat.  Ella was mumbling groggily,  “Give it a rest you two.  We can hear your googly eyes from here.”

Parker whispered a reprimand from under the covers of their bed, “Ella Marie Smith, it's sweet and you know it.  Let them have their time.”

Mari was apparently awake now as she said, “Is this what it would be like to go to college?  You are all nothing but trouble.”  I glanced over and she raised her head.  Daria opened one eye in apparent annoyment and placed a saucer-sized paw on Red's head and pushed her back down to her furry belly.

Mari started tickling the wolf who scrambled away.  She chuckled. “Sorry love, we have lots to do today.  We need to fill the rest in on the evacuation and defense plans.  Since they are all up, we may as well be about it.  The authorities haven't slept at all.”  Then she looked around to see that we were all paying attention and then scrunched up her face.  “Sorry ladies.  No rest for the wicked.”

Then she glanced at the far wall.  “I'll go get Snow White and her two dwarfs.”

I actually started giggling, maybe a little unhinged, when we heard Amanda and Rachel growling and Gretta yelling, “You know we can hear you over here Red!”  Mari squinted an eye, she was well aware that they all had wolf-sharp hearing over there.  I thought it amazing how well they all got along, like an actual family.

We all started getting up and stretching.  Parker shooed us to the back of the room as she turned on the television as the other three shuffled in, yawning and rubbing their eyes.  Rachel paused and looked at the shredded mess on the floor that used to be a pillow.  She looked up at all of us and shook her head and rolled her eyes at us and started throwing packages to us.

I caught one and looked at it, then her.  She wiggled her eyebrows.  “Fuel.  I thought...”  Amanda hit her shoulder hard and Rachel grinned and changed tack.  “I mean, Mandy thought we'd need to eat but with the city on lockdown, we couldn't really hit any fast food places or grocery stores.  So she dipped into that damn backpack of hers she carries around, for military rations.”

Amanda gave her a grin. “I told you they'd come in handy.”

Parker turned up the television over their banter and we all turned to it.  The reporters were announcing the progress of the evacuation that had been moving along during the night.  They showed an overhead view of the main north gates of Seattle and showed legions of police entering as civilians were streaming out.

The reporter was saying, “In an unprecedented action, for the first time since the city walls were completed, infected police officer volunteers from Outer Seattle are being allowed inside the city gates to aid in the evacuation.”