Blood Revolution (God Wars, #3) (16 page)

They'd taken over a back room at the bar across the street as a makeshift command post while officers, agents and medical personnel examined the remains of a three-story building. So far, only crushed bodies had been removed.

"Never figured you for an undercover agent, Rome," Thurman mumbled to Jayson before walking away.

"Keep that to yourself," Bill barked.

"Got it," Thurman tossed up a hand and kept walking.

"Jayson, where's Hank?" Bill covered his face with shaking hands.

"Said he had something to do." Jayson pulled out a chair and sat adjacent to Bill. Bill lowered his hands and stared at Jayson.

The bar's back room was reserved for parties and special occasions, with tables scattered throughout. Bill had chosen a table against the back wall to set up, and that's where he'd been for the last two hours, working the investigation with Thurman and the Fire Chief. The whole time, he'd been terrified for Breanne.

The Fire Chief hadn't stayed long—there was no fire to put out. He'd found that puzzling but didn't argue. He did leave his paramedics behind, however, to help those wandering about. Some of those affected were naked or nearly so; others were dressed in unusual ways. All of them seemed confused and unaware of how they'd gotten out of the building.

"Is he looking for her?" Bill asked Jayson.

"I don't know," Jayson sighed. "Hell, I'd like to look for her, but I have no idea where to start."

"Opal's trying to track her, but there are no signs or scents to track," Bill said, pulling his cell from a pocket and scrolling through messages. "No word since the last time I checked," he pocketed the phone.

"I don't believe this." Jayson raked fingers through smudged blond hair. He and the others who'd survived had been coated with a fine dusting of pulverized concrete when the building went down.

"You don't believe it? I have to explain it—to the President," Bill said.

* * *

"Hanlekidus?" he approached cautiously. He knew what his instructions had cost the one before him.

Hanlekidus Frebell, known to those on Earth as Hank Bell and as Li'Neruh Rath elsewhere, raised angry, dark eyes to the Mighty Mind. Hank sat at a booth at Bogey's Bar & Grill, located just outside the Castro District and not far from the club he owned.

"Wisdom," Hank snarled the name.

"I know you're upset," Wisdom, gray eyes expressing concern, took a seat across from Hank. "I understand that completely, and I'm sorry it's costing you like this."

"You understand nothing," Hank growled. "She thinks I'm nothing but an abusive asshole, now."

"She needed to be angry. It gave her enough energy to do what was necessary."

"I don't disagree with the result, just the method," Hank snapped. "And don't give me any patronizing shit about making it up to her later."

"You really have gone native, haven't you?"

"Wasn't that the point?"

"I have no idea what the point was. I didn't witness your conversation with a Shining One."

"It was The Ear," Hank rumbled.

"Ah. So everything said went straight to the One, then."

"Yes."

"Interesting, but irrelevant," Wisdom mused.

"What about Breanne?"

"She'll be away from you for a few days," Wisdom said.

"That's not acceptable."

"You'll have to accept it. I realize this is painful, but it is necessary, I assure you."

"Will she be protected?" Hank's words were a plea.

"I can't guarantee that, any more than I can guarantee my own safety. You know why. I do have a way of tracking her, now, and that in itself is highly irregular."

"Irregular? I didn't think there was any way to track the Vhanaraszh that she is."

"That is true for all others. I recently came across information that enables me to find her."

"What is that?" Hank leaned back and studied Wisdom for a moment. He knew this was Wisdom's true appearance—gray eyes, dark hair, slightly taller than Hank, too. "In case there's an emergency and I need to find her," he added.

"I cannot release that information—it could place her in danger. More than she's in already," Wisdom replied. "If you have need, contact me. I'll determine whether your reasons are sound enough to attempt to find her."

"And this thing—whatever it is—won't harm her?"

"I didn't say it was a thing, because it's not," Wisdom said. "And yes, there is potential for harm from that source, so I have taken steps to minimize that possibility."

"So it's a who."

"I didn't say that."

"You're not denying it."

"True," Wisdom grinned. Hank lifted an eyebrow.

* * *

"Sheriff Trevor?" Corent cautiously stepped inside Trevor's Casino City office.

"Corent?" Trevor blinked at the half-fae in surprise, although he kept a tight rein on any further display of emotion. Trevor knew who Corent was, but Lissa's Chief Gardener had never sought him out before.

"I came to ask a question," Corent nodded his thanks when Trevor indicated a chair in front of his desk. Corent sat down uncomfortably.

"What's that? Having problems with apple thieves?"

"Not recently," Corent shook his head. "That's not the kind of question I have."

"What's the question, then?" Trevor toyed with the comp-vid lying on his desk.

"Do you remember Breanne?"

"Breanne?"

"You know, the one Skel Hawer almost killed," Corent rolled his shoulders, as if they were tight with tension. Corent's hair, too, seemed to have a mind of its own as it transformed from pale to deep blue and back again.

"Oh. Her. No—don't remember much about her or that case. You might talk to Lissa or Norian, though. They'll know more. Why do you ask?"

"Because I think something's wrong," Corent replied. "I know this is forward of me to say, but you should know more than you do about that case, Sheriff. Much, much more."

* * *

Breanne's Journal

Larentii are amazing healers. I employed their skills to bring Gavin back to normal. His body, attuned to the night, breathed beneath my hand. I sat, cross-legged, next to my vampire sire's prone body. I'd transported him to the roof of a building near the Presidio after imploding KingDom's, so I could tend his wounds. It had been close; several claws had pierced his body before I could get to him, and at least one vampire had almost reached Gavin's throat before I could pull him away.

Was I comfortable, staring down at the face of my (at best) indifferent and (at worst) abusive sire? No. I was decidedly
un
comfortable. I'd done a reading, however, while employing a Larentii's healing skills to Gavin's wounded body, and I knew if I didn't stay close to him in the following weeks, he'd die. I kept seeing his death repeatedly, until it was burned on my brain.

I couldn't let that happen. Not only would Lissa's life be affected, the Campiaan Alliance wouldn't exist. As much as I despised Teeg San Gerxon, he'd served a useful purpose and without Gavin, Teeg wouldn't be. I couldn't deny that, even if I wanted to do so.

Gavin groaned and moved. I watched as his eyes popped open. "Feel better?" I asked as kindly as I could. I knew this Gavin didn't know me from any other vampire, so I was willing to cut him a little slack. Until his true colors came to the fore, that is.

"You're a mister," his speech was rough.

"Not the first words I expected from you," I said, "but you're right. I am a mister. And I have mindspeech. I have some Elemaiyan blood. I know you know what that means."

"That you're more likely to have those gifts, although I can't recall both in the same vampire." He sat up and leaned on an elbow, studying me. "You're Breanne Hayworth, from the book."

"Yeah. I'm Breanne Hayworth, all right," I muttered.

"Who turned you?"

"I can't say," I said. Well, it was true. If I said
he
did—in the future—how much trouble might that cause?

"You were instructed not to tell," Gavin straightened and raked fingers through short, dark-brown hair.

"I guess," I shrugged.

Gavin softly cursed the compulsion of my sire. I wanted to laugh, because he was cursing himself.

"Everyone was looking for you," Gavin observed. At that moment, how glad was I that my recent, short stint on television, courtesy of Colbi Wayde, reporter, had been after sunset?

"Yeah."

"How long have you been vampire?"

"I can't say."

"Do you know if your sire was a rogue?"

"It was my understanding that he wasn't," I replied.

"Did he teach you the vampire laws?"

"I can recite all the vampire laws. I can even do them backward, if you'd like."

"What is the first law?"

"Never kill your donor."

I watched as Gavin stood and looked about him, taking stock of our surroundings. "Come quietly," he laid compulsion and held out a hand to pull me up. Was I about to tell him (again) that compulsion didn't work? Not on your life.

Silently I followed Gavin as he strode determinedly toward the edge of the building. Then he turned to me. "I will not harm you," he said before gripping my upper arms in his hands. I almost snorted at his statement before gasping in surprise—he stepped off the edge of the building and floated us to the street below.

We then began a swift trek toward the block where KingDom's had stood. Eventually, I realized we were heading toward a vehicle. Gavin had parked several blocks away, and I was grateful I wouldn't come in contact with anyone who might recognize me. I thought, too, about sending mindspeech to Bill again, but held back. I'd let him know eventually where I was, and why. Probably.

Without a word, I climbed into Gavin's luxury rental car—there would be no economy class vehicle for this vampire. I jerked as his hands pulled the seatbelt around me and fastened it.

"There is no need to be afraid," Gavin soothed. Did I stare at him in shock? Oh, yes.

* * *

"Bill, there's somebody outside who says he has information for you," Opal said.
He's werewolf
, she added silently to Bill and Jayson.
I don't trust him
.

"Then bring him in," Bill said.
Keep your weapons handy
, he sent.

Opal never blinked as Zach Tanner shouldered his way past her with a growl. He recognized the scent of a shapeshifter easily enough.

"Your name?" Bill asked, leaning back on his chair to study the newcomer.

"Zach Tanner," Zach grinned before firing the weapon that appeared suddenly in his hand. Zach was dead before Bill slammed against the wall behind him. Jayson stared at the nine millimeter in his hand with surprise.

* * *

Breanne's Journal

"Climb down ahead of me," Gavin ordered. The trap door was narrow and located inside a closet of the elegant, frame house in San Francisco. I put my foot on the first step, testing the wooden rung. It felt solid enough. I made my way downward carefully, Gavin right behind me.

"Sit there," Gavin ordered, nodding toward a chair behind a tiny kitchen table. We stood in a small living area located across from a bathroom, which divided the two underground bedrooms. "I have a call to make," Gavin continued. "You will remain silent."

I watched as he punched a number on his cell. The call was picked up quickly. "Gavin?" the voice asked.
Wlodek
. Oh, Lord.

* * *

"I always wear a vest when I'm on a project like this," Bill rubbed his chest where the bullet had slammed into him.

"I'm just glad it worked," Hank examined the bruise forming over Bill's ribs. Hank had arrived seconds after Jayson killed Zach Tanner. They'd had to move to another corner of the room—agents were collecting evidence around the body.

"I'll live," Bill reached for his shirt.

"You'll be sore for a while. We can get you to a hospital, if you want."

"I don't have time for that," Bill grumped. "Anything new on Breanne?"

"No," Hank sighed. "I was hoping you'd heard something."

"All I heard was
sorry, Bill
, before the building went down and a hundred people started wandering the street in a daze. Thanks, Jayson, by the way. You're pretty handy to have around," Bill complimented Jayson.

"I'm still trying to come to terms with this," Jayson flopped onto a chair and blinked at Hank.

"First time is always the hardest," Bill grunted as Hank searched ribs for any fractures. "Werewolves are tough to kill. Going for the head was a good idea."

"What are you planning to do with the body after they collect evidence?" Opal asked. She'd gone through Zach's pockets initially, but found no identification. All he'd carried was a gun.

"I'll contact the Grand Master in a minute, when Hank stops torturing me. Weldon may be able to confirm whether this really is Zach Tanner, or whether he was using an alias." Bill hissed as Hank poked another rib. "Either way, local wolves will come for the body."