Night Light

Unlike those from the other night, these were being influenced by something even darker, more sinister, than Dean had ever encountered.

Dean frowned wondering why he hadn’t sensed it when they cleaned out the first group that had taken residence here. This influence was very old and very powerful. As suddenly as he sensed it, the darkness was gone and only the vampire presence could be felt.

The fallen gained access back into the church to check up on the old man and make sure he got out alive.

Chapter 4

Trevor and Kat had tracked the vampire they’d discovered halfway across the city.

“What the hell is he doing?” Kat whispered, starting to get suspicious.

“Looks like he’s going shopping,” Trevor answered when the vampire stopped in front of a shop window and looked at the darkened display.

This vampire was young, barely eighteen from the looks of him. He had straight black hair and wore round-rimmed eyeglasses. With his hair pulled back, he would have looked almost presentable except for his pale skin.

The two picked up their pace when the vampire abruptly turned away from the window and started walking down the street again. Even with the shops closed, the sidewalks were busy this time of night.

They’d discovered the body of the vampire’s latest victim sprawled out on a well-manicured lawn. With their sense of smell, they’d been able to catch up with the bloodsucker just as the vampire reached Rodeo Drive. From there, Trevor had to hold Kat back a bit explaining that there were too many people around for them to just run in blindly.

Now, here they were, following a vampire on foot and neither one in the mood for conversation. Next thing they knew, they were on a city bus not really paying attention to its destination. Finally, the vampire reached up and pulled the cord to get off. Kat and Trevor rode down to the next stop and got off themselves before resuming their pursuit. The vampire continued walking and Kat growled in frustration.

“I’m starting to think this vampire is on drugs. We’ve almost made a complete circle.” She complained. “We’re only a few blocks away from the club.”

“There he goes!” Trevor exclaimed and ran toward an alley where the vampire abruptly vanished.

Trevor’s sneakers made a skidding noise when he reached the mouth of the alley and peered into it. Kat stood beside him, ducked down a bit so they could both peek around the corner.

“Damn,” Trevor cursed and drew out his 9mm.

“I still don’t understand why you carry a gun,” Kat said even though she knew Nick carried one too. It wasn’t the gun Nick relied on… it was the specially made wooden bullets that filled it. “Those things are useless against vampires.”

Trevor smirked, “You forget who I work for. These bullets are specially designed to explode on impact and the center is hollowed out and filled with just a bit of muriatic acid. That shit will eat through just about anything.”

“Why doesn’t the acid eat through the bullet then?” Kat asked, secretly gathering info to bribe Nick with.

“There’s an inner casing placed inside the bullet when it’s hollowed out that the acid can’t eat through. I forget the name of it at the moment.” Trevor explained. “It’s strong enough to not be damaged by the acid but fragile enough to break when it collides with something.”

Kat slowly stood upright, “Shall we go in?”

Trevor tightened his grip on the gun and headed in first, followed by Kat who had a razor sharp dagger in each hand; courtesy of Trevor. They combed the entire alley before they realized the vampire had vanished.

Trevor released his stance and let his gun arm down. “He’s gone!”

Kat released a frustrated sigh, “Well, since we’re this close, we may as well go back to the club.”

“As much fun as I had tonight leading the two of you idiots all over the city,” a voice said from behind them. “I must insist that you stay for dinner.”

Kat and Trevor whirled around toward the voice and froze when they saw the vampire they’d been tracking along with five others.

“The son of a bitch knew we were following him,” Trevor growled as he brought the gun back up and steadied it.

With walls on three sides and the vampires in front of them, Kat knew she and Trevor would have to fight their way out of here. She crouched down low when the vampires quickly closed in on them. One with flaming red hair leapt up hoping to get the drop on them, quite literally.

Kat immediately pushed up from her crouch and tackled the vampire in mid-leap. Her long nails now resembled claws even though no change had taken place. They crashed to the ground with the vampire on his back beneath her.

The bloodsucker gripped her right wrist so tight, she felt the bones start to grind together painfully. Swallowing the sickly pain, she flicked her wrist downward, driving the dagger into the vampire’s wrist as payback. Gaining her freedom, Kat wasted no time driving her right hand into the monster’s chest and pulling out his heart.

Trevor took aim and fired at the vampire they’d been tracking all night. The bullet hit the creature in the throat and, for a moment, he just stared at Trevor with an expression of disbelief before he started to scream and claw at his own throat. The scream abruptly cut off when the acid released from the bullet reached the vampire’s voice box.

Trevor didn’t actually see what happened next as he was immediately attacked by another vampire. His body was thrown against the alley wall where he slid to the ground. His 9mm went flying while he tried not to count the stars forming in his vision. The other vampire was closing in when Trevor felt something against his leg. Looking down, he saw the head of the vampire he’d shot and reached for it.

Taking the severed head by the hair, Trevor threw the still disintegrating object at the approaching bloodsucker. The creature dodged it and snarled at him, ready to pounce. Something shiny flashed across his vision and Trevor saw a long dagger sticking out of its chest. Turning his head, Trevor saw Kat standing there looking like a bloody mess.

“Look out!” Trevor yelled.

Kat raised her other dagger and gasped when the vampire took hold of her hand and drove the blade downward at an ark, directly into her inner thigh. The pain alone gave her the strength to push the vampire off her. She quickly stumbled backwards toward Trevor and managed to pull the dagger out of her thigh. Warm liquid quickly followed and made a path down her leg.

Trevor knew something had to be done. They were both injured now. He could feel the pain in his ribs and shoulder where he’d hit the wall and was finding it hard to breath. Looking up at Kat, who was standing protectively in front of him, he thought about their next move.

He needed to shift into something big enough and strong enough to fight them and survive. The downside was if he shifted, he’d give away his true nature to Kat. His kind had never gotten along with the other shifter tribes because of their diversity. They could blend in with any of the clans and disappear without a trace, sometimes for decades at a time. They were the perfect weapons in a war.

Because of this, any animal he chose would always be ten times stronger than that particular animal. In his human form the same rules applied, but it hadn’t helped them much so far. However, if he didn’t shift, their asses were goners.

Suddenly Kat dropped her weapon and hunched over. Because of her injuries, the change was seconds slower than normal. Her body shifted until she was on all fours. The clothes fell from her body and a beautiful tan and black spotted fur coat took their place.

One of the remaining vampires attacked and Kat rose up on her hind legs, blocking him with some kind of wrestling hold. Her claws dug into the creature’s shoulders and her long teeth were bared at him. Without thinking twice, Trevor chose that moment to shift.

The two remaining vampires hissed angrily when the human they were closing in on transformed into a Kodiak bear. Trevor swung a giant paw at the closest one and took the entire half of its body clean off, leaving the legs to fall lifelessly. Knowing the vampire wasn’t dead, Trevor ambled over to it anyway and crushed its head with his powerful jaws.

He rose up on his feet to help Kat when the last two vampires attacked him full force. Trevor stumbled back a few steps before roaring loudly and pulled one off, throwing him down the alley. He roared again when the last one sank its teeth into his shoulder blade. He heard Kat’s jaguar scream and felt the brick wall ram into the side of his temple before he fell from the impact.

*****

Quinn and Warren had combed the entire area in a five-mile radius from the club.

“There’s nothing around.” Quinn stated and tried to let go of his frustration. Something wasn’t right… he could feel it in the air.

Warren heard the tightness in Quinn’s voice. “After the fight at the warehouse, I’m not that surprised.” His phone buzzed causing both men to jump and realize just how tense they were. He pulled the cell phone out of his jeans pocket.

“Hello,” Warren said into the cell phone and then nodded after a moment. “Okay, we’ll go check it out.” He hung up and slipped the phone back into his pocket. “That was Nick, seems they found an underground tunnel under the church.”

“We should go check it out,” Quinn stated trying to ignore the fact that his skin was crawling with adrenalin and he hadn’t a clue where it had come from.

The distinct scream of a jaguar pierced the quiet night making both men freeze in their tracks. They turned their heads in the direction of the sound before looking at each other.

“Kat!” they exclaimed in unison.

Warren immediately removed the cell phone from his pocket and placed it in an elastic holster around his ankle.

There was no hesitation and a few seconds later the two men had shifted and were racing down the street. People screamed and ran to get away from the huge cats, causing quite a commotion. Quinn took the lead and ran out into traffic causing a car to slam on its brakes. The car behind it crashed into the first one from behind, creating a chain reaction.

Warren leapt onto the hood of the first car and glanced in to make sure the people were all right before chasing Quinn across the roadway.

The driver of the car was shaken by what just happened and picked up his cell phone.

*****

Jason was bored out of his mind. Nothing had really happened for the last few days and with Tabby and Envy out of town, he was going stir crazy.

When the phone rang he nearly jumped out of his skin and quickly reached over to answer it.

“Ranger station,” Jason said in a dull voice.

“Yes,” a shaky voice answered. “I’d like to report something unusual.”

Jason mentally sighed and grabbed a pen and paper. “Okay, tell me what you saw, sir.”

“The damnedest thing I’ve ever seen,” the man said breathlessly. “I just saw a cougar and a jaguar running loose in the middle of town. I slammed on my brakes when the cougar ran out in front of me and a jaguar appeared on the hood of my car, looked at me, and then took off after the cougar.”

“It’s probably another escape from the zoo,” Jason said, even though that was a lie they told the public to hide the fact that the city seemed to be teaming with dangerous wildlife these days.

“No,” the man exclaimed. “The jaguar had a cell phone strapped to its hind ankle.”

Jason looked up at the other ranger in the office with him, Jacob Savage.

“So you’re saying the jaguar had a cell phone strapped to its leg?” Jason asked.

Jacob nearly choked on his coffee and set the cup down, wiping his nose indicating that some of the liquid had gone up into it.

“That’s exactly what I’m saying!” The man shrieked loud enough for Jacob to hear it.

Jason nodded, “All right sir, calm down. You said it ran off, so you’re safe. Thank you for calling, we’ll look into it.”

Jason hurriedly hung up the phone and stared at it for a moment like the device was going to jump up and eat him.

“Alrighty then,” Jacob managed after he cleared up his coughing fit.

*****

Warren finally caught up with Quinn just as they neared an alley were Kat’s scent was the strongest. Rounding the corner, they were just in time to witness Kat rip the throat out of one vampire and an enormous bear drive its huge claws through the chest of another. The bear claw came out the backside of the vampire, clutching the vampire’s bloody heart before squeezing it like a water balloon.

Kat blinked, realizing somehow during the fight… the vampires had multiplied. She barely had time to take a breath before she was attacked by one of the remaining vampires. She released a primal scream when the sharp fangs dug into her flank. Her claws pierced the back of the attacking vampire trying to pry him off. Suddenly, the weight on her side was gone and she fell over, passing out from pain, blood loss, and exhaustion.

Quinn saw the vampire attack Kat and felt rage well up in his chest. He ran down the alley not caring if Warren was with him or not. Tackling the vampire to the ground, he snarled menacingly in its face before ripping into its neck with his sharp teeth. He could feel its claws digging at him in panic but he didn’t care as he kept ripping. Tossing the head aside, he turned back to Kat and growled.

Trevor had made short work of the last vampire, ripping it apart until there was nothing left but a headless, limbless torso. He looked up when he heard Kat scream then saw a cougar pounce on the vampire attacking her. When she transformed back into her human form, Trevor moved to stand over her nude and unconscious body, hunching down to protect her from further attack.

A deep growl caught his attention and he met the gaze of a very angry cougar stalking toward him with a very obvious intent to kill… Quinn Wilder.

Due to the fight, Trevor was tired and that made his reflexes slow. He wasn’t able to drive Quinn off and took the full force of the attack in the side. Trevor was knocked across the alley and into the brick wall for the second time that night.

Trevor growled and was able to stand up on his hind legs for a total of two seconds before he leaned back and slid down to the ground. Quinn was coming closer and he didn’t want to shift back in front of the cougar but knew he had to. Kat would eventually tell them anyway… so what did he have to lose? Unable to see his wounds under all the fur, he slowly shifted back and tried once more to rise to his feet.

Quinn paused when he saw the human male from the bar… Warren had called him Trevor. He hissed when his sense of smell told him that Trevor wasn’t a normal shifter… or at least not any kind he’d ever run across. Not knowing what he was up against didn’t do much for easing his temper.

He took another step forward but Warren strode into his line of sight and approached Trevor, shifting back to human form as he did so. When Trevor swayed, Warren grabbed him by the arm and brought it over his shoulder. He hadn’t seen a reason to let Quinn kick a man while he was down.

Trevor looked up at Warren and smirked when he realized their predicament. “Fine mess, now were all naked,” he murmured and promptly passed out.

Warren shook his head and couldn’t help but grin because Trevor had a very good point. It was times like this he was glad he brought his cell phone with him and carried it in the fashion he did. He gently set Trevor against the wall and was about to get the cell phone when he heard Quinn start growling.

Quinn had shifted and was looking over Kat’s unconscious form. Her clothes were a few feet away, shredded by her transformation and not wearable. Deciding to think on that later, Quinn started examining her wounds and paused when he saw the blood still oozing from her inner thigh.

Moving her leg just enough to examine where the blood was coming from, he froze when he saw a mating mark. The growl erupted from his throat before he could stop it. Someone had mated Kat, given her the mark and abandoned her.

Quinn felt jealousy rise up deep inside and leaned close to sniff her skin to see if the scent still lingered. That only infuriated him even more… she didn’t smell like another man, she smelled wonderful.

Looking up at the other man Warren was crouched in front of, Quinn wondered if the mating mark was given to her by the blonde bearshifter.

Warren took out his cell phone deciding to ignore Quinn’s little tantrum for the moment. Kat needed help and he wasn’t about to tell Quinn who the mating mark belonged to. Let him go through the hell of figuring it out for himself.

“Mrs. Tully?” Warren asked then smiled. “I’m doing just fine ma’am. I was wondering if you could meet me at Moon Dance. My sister and her friend Trevor have been hurt and they need medical attention only you can give.”

Warren was quiet for a moment then nodded, “Thank you, Mrs. Tully.”

“I didn’t know you knew Tully.” Quinn said quietly. He’d met Tully not long after the families had split up.

Warren smirked while dialing another number. Did Quinn think he was the only one allowed to spy? “Nick has gotten into more trouble than I care to remember. Mrs. Tully is forever patching him up and her home is always open if we need a place to lay low.”

“I’m surprised we haven’t crossed paths before now.” Quinn responded becoming a little more suspicious.

“Nick, we’re in an alley ten blocks west of the club and we need a ride. Bring clothes for three men, your sister, and drive the Hummer.” Warren hung up the phone without waiting for Nick to respond and turned his attention back to Trevor.

“Is he the one that gave Kat the mating mark?” Quinn demanded.

“That, my friend, is not my story to tell.” Warren said cryptically.

Chapter 5

Nick had just dropped Steven and Jewel off at Night Light when he got the call. Jewel had been very quiet since Dean’s little stunt at the church but he could tell that whatever the fallen had done to keep her calm was starting to wear off. The further away from the church they got, the more paranoid she’d become. He could only imagine the hell his friend was about to go through.

Waving to Steven, Nick quickly picked up his phone and juggled it for a moment when he almost lost his grip. Finally he caught it on the third ring and flipped it open.

“Speak,” he growled. His expression melted into one of deep concern before pushing the gas pedal to the floor. Luckily, he had decided to drive the Hummer to take Steven and Jewel back to Night Light.

He did a quick mental inventory and breathed a small sigh of relief when he remembered that Warren still had some extra sets of clothes in the vehicle from their last camping trip. No one had bothered to remove them and it saved Nick the trip back home. It was a good thing that Warren and Quinn were around the same size… there was nothing worse than trying to squeeze into clothes that were too little.

Turning on the GPS tracker in his phone, he got Warren’s exact location. Turning the next corner without slowing down, Nick knew he wasn’t going to like what he saw once he got there.

As an afterthought, Nick took out his cell phone and called Devon to let him know the new developments. Devon may have left the city willingly, but he’d made Nick promise to call him several times a day to keep him up to date on everything.

*****

Steven got Jewel inside the club and quickly escorted her upstairs. When they made it to his room, he closed the door but didn’t lock it. He didn’t want her to feel trapped.

Jewel blinked her eyes and looked around at the room she’d been brought into. The bed was king sized with a deep green comforter spread over it. A couple of decorative pillows sat on the bed and, of all things, a stuffed animal… a cougar. She couldn’t help but smile at that and a nervous giggle escaped before she could stop it.

The dresser was a black lacquer with a large mirror and in the center was a small bamboo plant. On the other side of the room was a pair of beanbag chairs, a huge flat screen television mounted on the wall, and a game console with numerous games scattered around in front of it.

Jewel couldn’t understand why she felt so calm but it was slowly fading and being replaced by dread. What the hell did she think she was doing here?

“Why did you bring me here?” Jewel asked spinning around to face Steven.

“Because you’ll be safe here,” Steven answered. “You’re not going back to your fiancé or your father.”

What was left of the calm feeling immediately fled and Jewel shook her head vigorously. “No, I have to go back! If I don’t, Anthony will kill me.”

“He can’t kill you if he can’t find you,” Steven reasoned in a voice that was so cold it sucked some of the warmth right out of the room.

“What about Father Gordon?” Jewel demanded her voice level rising. “If they go to him, they’ll find out where I am.” Jewel started pacing. “Daddy’s gonna be so mad and Anthony… I don’t want to think about what he’ll do.”

Steven had a flashback of the handprint-sized bruise she had been wearing earlier. “Why the hell would you protect your daddy when he obviously doesn’t protect you!”

“Who gave you the right to give a damn!?” Jewel yelled back more comfortable now that he was yelling at her.

“You know what? Fine,” Steven opened the bedroom door. “There’s the way out, go back to your fiancé and a marriage you’re being forced into because of Daddy’s inability to take care of business. No real father would ever sacrifice his children to pay off a debt he created.”

Jewel stared at the door and took an uncertain step forward before backing up and sinking down on the bed. She gazed toward the alarm clock and knew it was too late to sneak back in ether way. Two AM… that’s when the guards changed shifts and that had been the only time she could return without being caught.

“What do I do now?” Jewel asked and looked up at him with tears in her eyes. “Where would I go?”

Steven shut the door and knelt down in front of her. “How about you start by telling me everything?”

“Like what?” Jewel asked.

Steven gave her a small smile, “We can start with your last name.”

Jewel sighed, “My last name is Scott and my father manages a resort in Palm Springs for my… fiancé. God that word leaves a bad taste in my mouth.”

Steven felt a huge weight lift from his shoulders seeing again how much she hated the fact she was being forced to marry this guy… not that he would ever let that happen now. “Okay, calm down and back up. Try starting from the beginning,” he suggested.

Taking a deep breath, Jewel calmly started talking, just letting it all go. “I was in boarding school when Daddy ran into some trouble at the resort. A government agent had checked in undercover and was trying to uncover all the mafia activity going in and out of the place. When Daddy found out what the man was… he was given orders to kill him.”

Steven nodded, “What happened?”

“Daddy waited too long to kill him… the agent had already given his superiors all the information. When the agent didn’t check in or whatever it is they do, the FBI sent more agents and Daddy was arrested. Anthony Valachi bailed him out of jail after he did something, probably bribed one of the top officials, and all the charges were dropped.”

“Now Daddy’s in debt to his boss. Not knowing how else to pay off the debt, when I came back from school, Daddy told me I was engaged to Anthony and he was actually happy about it.”

Jewel took another breath and swiped her hand over her eyes. “I don’t want to be married yet… I wanted to do something with myself, go to college and work for a living, maybe travel a little bit. This man is twice my age. Now I’m a prisoner, a slave to that bastard and my father’s mistake.”

Steven nodded and fought the urge to get up and pace the room. Losing the battle, he did start pacing. “I can fix this,” he stated firmly but kept pacing. His mind was going a mile a minute.

“Yeah right,” Jewel frowned, “you and what army?” She suddenly remembered the angel she had seen at the church and glanced up hopefully.

Steven recognized the name as the same guy Micah had gotten into a fight with a couple weeks ago before he vanished. Micah had thrown the man out of the club after giving him a face full of his fist, knocking the smart ass right out of his chair. Steven still had trouble not laughing when he thought about it.

Quinn hadn’t thought it was too funny though. Maybe Quinn had known Anthony was a big wig in the mafia and was trying to just watch out for Micah. As a matter of fact, it was the same night Micah had disappeared.

He glanced back at Jewel as he passed in front of her. She was right… Anthony Valachi had been twice her age and a self-righteous asshole to boot. There was no way in hell he was going to let her anywhere near that man or her abusive father… father… the priest at the church. Now that man owed him a favor, and with a little help from Dean… he was going to pay up.

Flipping open his cell phone, he clicked in several numbers and smiled as the other side picked up. “Dean, are you still at the church? Good, retrieve the priest and wait for me there.” He ended the call and closed the distance between him and Jewel. Dropping back to his knees in front of her, he took her hands in his, rubbing his thumbs soothingly over her soft skin.

“How far are you willing to go?” he asked in a steady voice as he searched her face.

“It needs to be more than just running away,” Jewel hated how her voice had sounded so tiny. She hadn’t meant for her fear to show through like that. She bit her lower lip wondering what Steven was up to.

“If we can do this right, you won't have to run any further than here.”

“What are you thinking?” Jewel started to pull her hands away but he held them firm.

“I’m thinking that you can’t get married twice.” Steven flinched when she jerked hard enough to gain her freedom. Pushing up from the floor, he stared down at her as she nearly crawled across the bed in her attempt to put distance between them.

“Listen…” he started.

“No,” Jewel almost yelled as she climbed off the other side of the mattress, feeling a little safer now that the bed was between them. Her face instantly went up in flames realizing the bed was between them in more ways than one if she agreed to go through with this insanity.

She snapped her gaze from the bed. “I didn’t want to get married in the first place! Why the hell would I marry you?”

Steven’s eyes narrowed at the insult but he wasn’t going to let her pride get her killed. If he had to scare the hell out of her then it would be worth it. Besides… at the moment, she was the only lead he had on Micah. Steven’s lip hinted at a devious smile now that he’d successfully added another reason for doing what he was about to do.

“Why marry me, you ask? Because if you can pretend that the marriage is real in front of my family and yours… then in the bedroom it will be in name only. And that army you were wondering about, remember I’m not human and neither are my family or friends. So when you’re jilted ex tries to retaliate… we will be waiting on him.”

“Why would you do any of this?” Jewel shook her head. “And what do you mean pretend?”

Steven held his hands out indicating the bed between them. “To answer your first question, I have a brother who’s been missing for a couple weeks now and the last person besides his family that he was seen with was your intended and it wasn’t friendly. So, what better way to get his attention then to yank his chain.”

“As for your second question, in order for this to work, everyone will have to think we are in love and intend to stay together. But when we are alone, you sleep on your side of the bed and I’ll sleep on mine. It’s not like I want to give up my freedom ether. If you can fake… it then so can I.”

Jewel relaxed some of the tenseness in her shoulders seeing where he was going, “no one else will know the truth?”

“Just our guardian angel… Dean,” Steven smirked when her fingers instantly rose to brush across the cheek that Dean had made a show of healing.

“And once Anthony is no longer a threat?” she murmured.

“Then our good friend the priest will give us our annulment and we will go our separate ways. But first, he has to marry us and, in order to get him to do that… he has to be convinced we are in love and have already consummated it.” When she gave him an appalled look he shrugged, “He’s a priest and above lying so we will just have to do the lying for him. Once it’s over, then we can tell him the truth.”

‘But there will be no consummating our marriage,” Jewel confirmed with a hard look.

“I can control myself if you can.” His pointed gaze matched hers knowing he’d just won the first battle. Now he would just have to pray he could control himself because right now it was taking every ounce of willpower he had not to come across the bed after her and claim her before Anthony Valachi got another chance.