Seizing Darkness (Fur, Fangs, and Fairies) (20 page)

Chapter Eighteen

I glanced at my watch; it’d been six hours since we pulled in. I listened to everyone sleeping, Radek’s breathing coming from the bed next to me. I turned my head in his direction. He was laying on his back with one arm over his torso and one on the bed. He hadn’t bothered with a blanket or a shirt. His chest and abdominal muscles were well defined. His pants had ridden down a little to reveal the muscles just above his hip. I really needed to get a grip. What was I, a teenage girl with a crush?

Coffee. The craving hit me. I pushed myself up and left the room, heading to the kitchen. That was better than the other thoughts going through my mind. If I hadn’t gotten out of there I would have ended up in his bed.

After hunting through the cupboards for a few minutes, I came up with what I wanted. Soon I had coffee brewing and bacon sizzling. I was humming away, cooking up French toast when Radek came in. I could feel his eyes on me. He leaned his hip against the doorframe and folded his arms over his still shirtless chest. It was distracting, but I tried to ignore him. He didn’t notice his father approach behind him.

“Having fun?” Val said, making Radek jump. Val chuckled.

“You really shouldn’t sneak up on people,” Radek said moodily.

“Hey guys, why do
n’t you come and help?” I was unexplainably happy. It was like the calm just before the storm. I knew it wouldn’t last.

“And what would you like us to do, Princess?” Radek said.

“First off stop calling me that, and second you can go set the table.” I handed him a stack of plates. “Val you could get Jenna? The food is almost done.” I finished up the last few pieces of bread and added them to the plate that was already overloaded.

“As you wish.
” Val smiled and turned to leave.

Radek went and put the plates on the table. “So what’s with all the food and stuff?”

I shrugged as I brought the plates of French toast and bacon over. “I was hungry and figured you guys would be too.”

“We have about four hours until Dante wakes up,” Val said as he and Jenna returned. “This looks amazing, Natalya. Thank you.” He pulled out a chair and sat down. I brought the carafe of coffee over once everyone was seated.

“You have a plan yet, Dek?” I asked in between bites.

“We’ll have about a dozen people, so I’m thinking groups of two. We surround it, then go in. When Dante gets up
, we should have a few minutes to go over what he saw of the layout. Really this isn’t too bad. There are about three of them to every one of us. That’s pretty decent odds.” He sounded like this was an everyday occurrence.

“As long as you think so,” I said sarcastically. “How are we going to divide the teams?”

“We’ll see the layout, then decide,” Val said.

“Dante drew it all up. He and Gregory disappeared for a while, and when they came back they had the blue prints of the buildings,” Jenna said.

“That’s wonderful news. Do you know where he put them?” Val asked.

“I’m not sure what he did with them.” Jenna shrugged.

“So he got the blueprints and forgot to give them to us.” Val shook his head. “Anyway, I have some more interesting news. I talked with my military human contacts last night before I went to bed. They say they’re not giving us any support other than satellite, and equipment. Also, we have a capture and no kill order for all humans present. There will be a team nearby to take all humans into custody. Just to make our lives more fun.”

I rarely heard Val being sarcastic so I was a little surprised to hear it now.

“Well I’m done so I’ll go look through his stuff.” Radek got up and disappeared into the back room.

“Since you so kindly fixed this wonderful breakfast, why don’t Jenna and I clean up? You can have the showers first, my dear.” Val’s irritation with the humans was still there behind his smile.

I didn’t envy him his job. He had to walk a very fine line keeping the non-human and human worlds from colliding. It was a violent world we lived in. He was one of those that kept the fragile humans from experiencing it.

“Thanks
, Val and Jenna.”

I retrieved my bag and stepped into the shower room. It had three shower stalls. I went to the nearest stall and turned on the hot water. I really wanted to use my vanilla scented soap
, but knew that I couldn’t because that would give me away later tonight. The hot water was relaxing though. I wrapped a towel around myself and stepped out of the shower just as Radek walked in.

“Hey, I found the blueprints. You want to go over them with me when I get done in here?” He was looking at me intensely.

I turned from him before answering. Call me a coward, but I didn’t think I could handle looking at him right then. “Of course I’ll look them over with you.” I went over to the mirrors and pulled out a hair dryer.

He got in the shower while I did my hair.

Tension filled the room as I tried to ignore how easy it would be to join him in there. I was relieved when Jenna came in. I was done so I rushed out, almost running into Val. He must have known the direction my thoughts were going because he laughed when he saw my face.

It was about an hour before everyone was cleaned and dressed. Val and Jenna left to meet up with his military contacts to retrieve the gear we were being allotted.

Radek spread the blueprints on the kitchen table with notepads and pens everywhere. The point of attack was a fifteen acre wooded residence between Puyallup and Tacoma. There was a two-story house with a basement and a large barn on the property. Jenna had said that the wolves were in the barn and the rest were in the house. They hadn’t been able to get much on the house, but Dante had been able to enter the barn undetected.

“If we break off into groups of two we can come at this from different angles,” I suggested, pointing to areas of the map that I thought would be good entry points.

“That’s as good an idea as any. How about you and I go in from here with Madon and his wolves as back up? If we take on the wolves, we can leave the rest up to everyone else,” he suggested.

“You want to partner with me?” I was surprised he didn’t want Dante with him.

 “Wouldn’t want anyone else watching my tail. Besides, Father and Dante are better at dealing with vamps.”

“Thanks.”
I guess,
I added in my head.

“We’ll see the most action. The six of us against around fifteen wolves. We can divide their forces – that will leave better odds for everyone else.”

“What about Thane?”

“He shouldn’t be a problem. Never was a good fighter. Any one of us should be able to take him out.”

“How should they get to the house? And how do we keep their forces separated?” I asked.

“I’m thinking that if we can get someone in the house beforehand to have a sniff around it might be helpful. That will be tricky though. I would feel better about this if we had more information on who and what is in the house.”

“Isn’t Val getting us a military satellite with thermal imagery?” I asked.

“Yeah, Father will probably have Gidget step in on that front.” Radek was deep in thought, staring at the papers spread across the table.

“Gidget? I’ve only worked with her once. Have you ever met her?” I was curious about the communications expert that was reportedly never seen.

“Nope. I’m not sure what she is either. I think she’s a shifter of some sort. Not sure though.” He smiled.

“I would’ve thought you would know,” I teased.

“Anyway, she’ll most likely be the one yelling in our ears. Father will have briefed her by now. That’s the only way I see this playing out. Once we have the teams figured out and where we’re all starting, we can relay the info to Gidget and then she can confirm our plans. She will be our eyes in the sky.”

“I think it’s all set then. The two teams should come from here and here,” I said, pointing to the opposite sides of the house. “There are a few windows on both sides of the house. How many vamps are coming with Gregory?”

“I think just two. I agree with you on that. I still want someone on the inside before this starts.”

“We could have Val and Jenna walk up to the front door,” I suggested.

“It’s risky,” Radek said, but he seemed to be considering it.

“If it’s the humans that answer then it shouldn’t be much of a problem.”

“True, but how do we assure that it will be humans that answer the door?” He raised an eyebrow at me like he was wondering about the chances of that happening. It was strange how I could tell what he was thinking sometimes.

“When the thermal imagery is up, Gidget can tell us where everyone is on the property. We can go from there. They wouldn’t be suspecting us to just walk up to the front door and knock,” I insisted. It may be risky, but I felt like it would work.

“Okay, let’s say we do it that way.” Radek started drawing on the plans. “This is you and me. We come from this way. Then Madon and the other wolves come from here. You and I attack first. Once we’ve drawn the wolves out, Madon’s pack arrives.”

“That could work.” I chewed on my lip and leaned over the plans. He was close to me and I could smell his spicy scent. I breathed him in. I couldn’t tell if he was being affected like I was.

“Before we attack, Father and Jenna approach the house from the front while the others are making their way to the sides of the house. They can come in through the back. We will have to draw out the wolves before the other two teams break the cover of the trees,” Radek went on.

“This has to be timed just right.”

“Yes. There are too many humans involved, but I don’t think we will get away with not shifting. It might be best if we and the wolves go in shifted.”

“That just makes this more fun then. I don’t think we will be able to get away with it this time either. I’m sure that the wolves will attack as wolves.” I had to admit I was kind of looking forward to this. It would feel good to expend some energy in a fight.

 
“Well, there isn’t much else we can do with this. What would you like to do?” he asked suggestively.

I was so not going there with him right now, so I suggested something tame. “Want to watch some movies? I think I have a couple in my bag still. Or we can play cards.”

“Popcorn?” He gave me the evil sexy grin again.

“You make it and I’ll grab the movies.” I jumped up and went to retrieve the movies.

Radek went into the kitchen and I heard his phone ring.

“Hey Gidget,” he answered.

I could just make out what she was saying while I dug through my bag.

“I pulled up the schematics for the property. Val said you were working on a plan.” Her voice sounded young.

“Well hello to you too. Yes, we have a working idea,” Radek said with a laugh.

“Sorry. Good afternoon Radek, how are you doing? Are you and Natalya getting along well?” she said sarcastically.

I laughed.

“I’m doing well. Whatever gave you the idea that we wouldn’t get along?”

“Oh, just something Val said. Now that we have that over with, I sent you what I have. Would you please take time out of your busy schedule to draw up what you are planning and send it back to me? The satellite link will be up in a couple of hours. They’re scrambling the satellites now,” she said with veiled impatience.

“Why, I would love to do that for you,” he responded in a mocking voice.

“Thank you. I’ll call you after I look it over.” She was muttering under her breath when she hung up.

So I wasn’t the only one that he annoyed. That was good to know.
“What was that about?” I passed him carrying a small stack of DVDs to the living room.

“Gidget. I’m to send her our plans. She sure woke up on the wrong side of the bed today.” He finished up the popcorn.

I tried to suppress my laughter. “I could do it for you,” I said when he came in the room and handed me a coffee. I’d already started the movie.

“Cool. She sent it to my phone – here.” He handed me his phone. He sat back into the couch and watched the movie. It was a spy flick.

I sat back too as soon as I was finished. We were laughing and making fun of the movie when Val walked in. He smiled at us. The smell of the pizza he was carrying made my stomach growl.

“I’m gathering that you two have made some sort of a plan and forwarded it to Gidget,” he said.

“Of course, why don’t you guys join us?” I said, jumping up to retrieve one of the pizza boxes.

Val and Jenna made themselves comfortable. For the next few hours
, we watched movies and joked around. Dante joined us when he got up. About an hour later, everyone else showed up.

Chapter Nineteen

We went through the plan with everyone a few times. Then Val called Gidget. “Are you all set?”

“I’ve been waiting for you. I’ll relay the information as I get it. I need you all to get your gear on. I want to do a check before you go in. The satellite is just coming up now. By the time you guys get on the road, I’ll have it analyzed. I’m sending the places I want each group dropped off to your phones. Since the wolves, Nat and Dek will all be shifting, you won’t be able to talk back to me. You should be able to get the neck straps loose enough to wear while shifted though. That way you can at least hear what’s going on.”

“Thank you, Gidget.” Val was in a relaxed state of readiness.

I was sure he’d been through things like this many times. It made me wonder again how old he was. As for me, I was revving to go. My fur was just beneath the surface, eager to come out.

“Anything for you, Val,” she replied.

“I’ll call you back as soon as we’re geared up.” He hung up and turned to the rest of us. “I have all the communication devices we need. I know that some of you are opposed to using more mundane ways of communicating, but it is essential that we be in as much contact as possible. I want to reiterate to everyone there is a capture and no kill order on all humans. I expect that to be upheld. There will be human soldiers on hand to take our prisoners for us. Is that clear?” He looked at each one of us in turn. When he was satisfied that we’d all heard him, he said, “Let’s get going guys; the moonlight’s waning.”

I’d changed into black cargo pants, a black long-sleeved shirt and my black Puma shoes. Everything was easy to take off and would be nice and warm when I was ready to put it back on. Val would be dropping us off and we would leave our clothes in the car. Those few seconds between human and tiger were going to be cold. I was pulling down my sleeves when Radek came in. He looked me up and down.

“Are you ready, partner?” he asked. He handed me the neck strap with the communication device. He was in a dark pair of sweats and damn he looked good even in that. 

I smiled at him. “As ready as I can be. Let’s go and kick some wolfy tail. What do you say?”

“I couldn’t have said it better myself.” He held the door as we rejoined everyone else. Jenna was looking a bit nervous and sticking close to Carly. Madon and the other two wolves looked stoic. The vampires seemed bored like always. Val made the call to Gidget. Soon we were all hearing her voice in our ears and checking in.

“It’s time,” Val said.

Radek and I jumped in the back seat of Val’s SUV. We were split between three vehicles. It was a snug fit, but we didn’t have far to go. Radek and I were the farthest away and would have to trek the rest of the way in by foot. Val barely had time to stop the car before we jumped out.

We quickly undressed and threw our clothes in the vehicle. The shift took seconds
, but it was a damn cold few seconds. I shook off the remnants of whatever magic allowed for it to happen. I heard the doors slam as I glanced over at Radek. He was next to me stretching. 

“Beta are at the drop point,” we heard Val say over the comm. units around our necks.

“Proceed to Rally point,” Gidget said.

Val drove away to drop off the next group, leaving Radek and I alone.

We kept to the shadows as well as we could as we made our way to our positions. We heard when the others came online. Soon everyone was where they were supposed to be. Madon, Trent, Jake and Carly were making their way toward our location. They were our backup. We would hit the wolves in two waves.

“Alpha
, proceed,” Gidget said. “Beta, stand by. Make your way closer. Everyone else hold positions.”

We did as we were told. There was a tense pause as we waited for it to begin. My tail was twitching in anticipation. We were both crouched on the edge of the clearing. The barn was now in sight. I could feel Radek next to me. He was vibrating in anticipation of the coming fight.

“Beta, go.” That was our signal.

Radek and I went for the big doors of the barn. They were wide open. I let Radek go in first to surprise the wolves inside. He made sure they got a good look at him, then we took off back int
o the trees. We went just slow enough, so the wolves would follow. I put on the speed as we split up. The voices of the others were a distant thing as I focused on my mission and Radek. I was circling around to rejoin him. My breath was coming out in pants of excitement. It was like hunting, but more fun.

The first wolf caught up to me. He launched at my head. I dodged him. As he was flying by
, I rolled over and snagged him with my razor sharp claws. I had his head sliced off and flying through the air in the blink of an eye. Blood rained down on me as I instantly regained my feet. That had given the others a chance to catch up. They hesitated after seeing me so easily dispatch the first wolf. They were all shifted. I could easily take on the seven wolves that followed me. I smiled, showing my fangs as they approached.

“Beta
, two, Beta one is about twenty-five yards to the north of you. He has six. Wait, there is another. Charlie team is on their way to your location. There is a small group of wolves between them and you.” Gidget’s voice sounded in my ear. “There are many more wolves than first estimated. Watch your back and regroup as soon as possible.”

Another wolf leapt at me I used my giant paw to slice his side and gut open. I was covered in more blood. Two others attacked then.
I maneuvered out of the way, caught one between my teeth by its paw and swung it into the other. Only two of the seven wolves were dispatched and I was already breathing hard. Man, I was out of shape. After this I was going to start working out again every day. One wolf was lying down with a broken leg. He was out for the time being.

There was something nagging at me; I felt it was important to get to Radek. My gut was telling me this. Decision made, I jumped out of the way of an attacking wolf and ran for Radek. I got there just in time. Radek had his focus on the four wolves that remained. That’s when I spotted the cat above him in a tree. I didn’t have time to warn him. The cat jumped and landed on Radek, ripping into the back of his neck.

There wasn’t any time to hesitate. I leapt into the air. I latched onto the back of the cat’s neck as my body collided with his and knocked him from Radek. I twisted around as we landed, my jaws closing around his throat. My four-inch canines brushed his spine as I dug in. My long claws sank into his pelt as I pushed my whole weight onto him. I felt his neck snap between my teeth. The blood pumped into my mouth for a few seconds, then stopped. He was dead. I gave him a shake in my anger. The growling that I heard was my own.

The battle going on behind me soon registered in my head. I could hear that Radek’s breath was coming out erratically. He was keeping the wolves off, but just barely. I let the body drop and tried to spit out the blood. A wolf jumped on my back. I rolled with it and leapt aside.

Madon and his wolves now joined in the fray. There were wolf bodies flying everywhere. Snarls and whines filled the air. The scent of blood and death were heavy. I needed to get to Radek.

It took a while before I could make it over to him. I watched him go down. The bleeding hadn’t stopped yet. I leapt for the wolf that had attacked him and latched onto the back of his
neck with my massive jaws. I flung him into a tree. I stood over Radek’s body, protecting him from further attack. I couldn’t hear him breathing. Soon the others had finished off the last couple of wolves. I recognized Joshua’s bloody carcass. The wound had most likely been caused by Radek. It looked like Madon had taken a little damage, but was holding his own. I didn’t know what was going on at the house, nor did I care. Radek was down and barely breathing. He was dying, I knew it, and there was nothing I could do.

The scent that hit my nose next nearly made my heart stop. My growl deepened, my ears were back pinned to my head and I saw red. Madon and Carly were in front of me.
He
was behind them. All I could think of was ripping him into tiny pieces.

It was Andrei. He was here. The smile on his face drove me mad. I crouched down, ready to spring. Madon hadn’t seen the vampire behind him, so he didn’t know that I wasn’t attacking him. I didn’t pay much attention to him. I was too focused on Andrei. I leapt at him over Madon’s head. Andrei took off into the trees and I followed. Radek was dead and I wanted to take Andrei out. He came to a stop. I looked for a way to attack. He wasn’t leaving me an opening.

 I never saw him coming. I found myself with my snout in the dirt. I could smell who was standing on me. It was Val. I didn’t understand it though. What was he thinking? I couldn’t move his massive weight off of me. He was growling. I could hear Andrei talking.

“Well, well, well. If it isn’t the great Valdimir. What, you can’t talk, nasty little kitty?” he laughed. The sound of it ran down my spine like nails on a chalkboard. I was snarling uncontrollably, yet Val kept me pinned.

“I see that you have your paws full. Just so you know, I’ll get her back and wipe you from the face of this Earth. Of course, that is after I have a little fun with you and your sons. Have a good evening, Valdimir.” And then Andrei was gone.

I couldn’t stop the roar of my frustration from coming out. I laid there even after Val let me up. I was drained of all energy. My vision started to go. I suddenly heard Val’s frantic voice.

“Natalya, get up,” he sounded like he was far away. I wanted to know why he sounded like it was so urgent, but I couldn’t get up. I let the blackness take me away.