Night Howls Read online

  “I figure they have finally lost all touch with reality. It is the only explanation that makes a bit of sense,” Jonas offers from the backseat. As far as he is concerned, their grasp on reality has been nonexistent for a long time.

  “It is a very odd move on their part. They don't do anything without a reason, though. I expect we will be enlightened soon enough. I don't think whatever it is will hurt us, so for now we just need to keep our eyes open,” Alex says.

  I hope the visitors take one look at me and decide to give me a wide berth. I don’t think I look frightening enough to pull that off, but I can still dream. Too much exposure to humans gives me a rash. It is a rash only I can see and feel, but it is there and I like to try to avoid it.

  “When exactly are you leaving, Sebby?” I have avoided asking the specific question as part of my tantrum. I have been trying my hardest to pretend there wasn't going to be a separation, but the weekend is fast approaching, so I have to prepare.

  “It will most likely have to be right after this little errand. I need to get there early to make sure everything is set up properly and there are no issues with the lodging arrangements. A lot of these vampires that are coming in don't get along too well with each other, so there is a lot of shuffling that needs to be done.”

  “I still don't see why you are making me stay behind. I am a vampire, too. I should get to come to your little party.” I know his reasons, since I have heard them fifty times over the last week or so, but I refuse to acknowledge them.

  Sebastian sighs, probably wishing he would have recorded himself giving me his arguments the first time so he wouldn't have to repeat himself. “First, it is not a party. It is a meeting of all the vampires not choosing to be governed by the Collective. We make decisions on where our species is heading in the following year and appoint heads of the different regions. Vampires from all over the world will be flying in for this summit.

  “It would not be an atmosphere I want you caught up in. There will be no doubt to these people that you aren't just a vampire and making all of them believe what you really are would be impossible when we don't even know your third nature. Next year, you will be able to join me. By then, your father will have told you what you are and we can build a stronger case for you being included in the craziness of the weekend.”

  “I could have Ben just make me up some of that vampire boost potion, so the other vampires wouldn't sense anything else on me,” I provide. I haven't heard from Ben for a while, but he told me all I have to do is say his name and he will come running.

  “Come on, Nyx,” Alex says from somewhere behind me. “We are going to have a great weekend alone without Sebastian. We can find some woods outside of town and go for a midnight stroll, just the two of us. Maybe I can show you what it is really like to do it doggie style.”

  He must have that phrase on his mind. Maybe a couple of smacks to his head will remove it because that is so not happening. Well, the midnight stroll perhaps, but getting it on as wolves is not something I see transpiring anytime in the near future, or probably ever. Since he can read my mind, I don't even bother voicing my opinion aloud.

  “Maybe one day,” he says not letting my thoughts drown all of his hopes. There tends to be a lot of wishful thinking done on his part.

  “I cannot believe you are leaving me alone with him,” I tell Sebastian trying to change my tactic.

  “You have your uncle around now to protect you. I am sure Walt won't let Alex do anything you don't want. Clyde will probably ensure that as well.”

  Damn it. I just don't feel good about his leaving. I don't know what it is, but there is something just off about it and I want to either make him stay or convince him he needs to take me along. Maybe I can just follow after him and play his shadow for once.

  “You do remember that you cannot do that anymore, right? I will know your plans and just make Alex tie you up to a bed. You can just envision the fun he would have with you in that position,” Sebastian's voice says curling around my mind. Stupid new bond. I now not only have Alex's dirty mind to contend with in my head, but Sebastian has also started to intrude.

  Rumor is this is the way bonds are supposed to work, but who wants anyone else to have the ability to roam around in their mind. I, being the lucky person I am, get not only one person able to do it, but two. If I think about it, I wouldn't doubt if Ben was also able to read me like a book. He seems to always know what I am thinking and can hear what the guys say when they communicate telepathically with me. It really is too much for one girl to take.

  More and more each day, taking an ice pick to the noggin sounds like a good idea. Maybe after a lobotomy, they won't be able to get in. I have read in books that there should be a way for me to build walls to limit when they can sneak in and what information they are able to get out. I have been unsuccessful in actually making it work, though. I hope that with more practice it will eventually become a reality.

  On the road ahead, I see a mess of trailers and people running around. I imagine I am in the right place, so I pull over into a parking spot and prepare myself for the joyous task of conversing with humans. I don't see any ambulances, so I think I made it in time before someone was turned into Swiss cheese. I choose not to consider the fact that Night Owl City doesn't have any ambulances.

  Chapter 3

  Take that, you big buffoon

  “Quiet on the set,” a man with a booming voice yells as we make our way towards the set. I see that he is yelling through a megaphone, so in reality he probably sounds like a troll. Trolls have really odd nasally voices. I have only met one of their species; maybe I am just making generalizations that aren’t true.

  We reach the crowd watching a scene play out. It looks like the leading man is chasing a bad guy around their cutaway house. I have chased enough bad guys that it doesn’t really appeal to me and it looks ridiculously fake in my opinion. All the darting around the furniture is a little much. Dude, just jump over it and tackle the man.

  When the leading man takes out a gun and aims it at the bad guy, I jump into motion. If they have my bullets in that gun, I cannot allow them to just kill each other. Sometimes I hate my annoying conscience.

  With my speed, I am on the gun wielder in seconds and tackle him to the ground. A loud whoosh of air escapes his lips and I am pretty sure I have left a few bruises. Better discolored than dead, at least that is my way of thinking.

  “What in the world is going on?” I hear someone shout as we make contact with the hard fake floor. Wow, the man really does sound like a troll. I was just joking when I originally thought that might be the case.

  I wrestle the gun out of the guy’s hand and quickly flip it open to find my rounds in the chamber. The fact that it is the gun I was expecting to be delivered today made it pretty obvious what I was going to find. Seriously, they couldn’t tell those weren’t blanks? I close the chamber and stand up keeping the gun in my possession.

  “Just who do you think you are, barging into my scene like that?” a very irate looking man with salt and pepper hair says towering over me. It is the troll and my guess is that he is the director.

  As with most humans, I am not impressed. Sure, he is taller than me making him seem large, but a five-year-old can also loom over me. He is a bit on the portly side and has dark cocoa eyes to go with the graying hair.

  “I am retrieving my property before you idiots kill each other,” I say walking over to Jake who is holding the box we brought with us. I take it away from him and shove it into the yelling man's hands. “Here are your handcuffs and blank ammunition. You might want to get a better prop person if you thought my rounds were blanks.”

  For effect, I point my gun at an empty chair nearby that is free from bystanders and shoot at it. It basically disintegrates as my bullet and its pieces rip through it. Startled gasps are heard around the set. Just think of the noises they would have made if it hit a person. Larry from Tango Charlie would need to get a very good lawyer.


  Having retrieved my goods, I am ready to leave, so I begin to guide my group back to our vehicle. I see Jake wink at someone and can only assume it is his girlfriend. I smack his arm to get him into motion. He can flirt on someone else's time.

  “Wait,” a man's voice says running to catch up with us. Clyde doesn't like his approach and turns to growl causing the man to slow down.

  I pause for a second, not even bothering to turn around. I know it is the man I tackled just from the scent that he is giving off. He doesn't immediately say anything else, so I am forced to prompt him. “I don't have all day. Speak, or I am out of here.”

  “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.