To Woo A Warrior (Southern Sanctuary) (11 page)

   *               
*                     
*

Vaughn sat at the head of the large
kitchen table crunching budget numbers on his calculator.  Easily ignoring
the chaos going on around him as Drum readied the evening meal. Dash and Flynn
yelled at one another as they duelled on their Gameboys.  Nate chatted on
his phone to some female. Marcus had his head down buying and selling Maat
knows what on his laptop whilst Rafe whistled as he cleaned and aligned the
weapons they’d agreed to take with them this evening. 

His first clue something was wrong
was the sudden eerie silence. 

His second clue was Rafe’s heartfelt
plea.  “I swear to Maat it’s not my fault!”

Vaughn looked up to find Hadleigh
standing in the doorway looking completely badass in her black skin tight
Para-X team outfit and about the sexiest thing he’d ever seen on two legs,
those mile high never ending legs.  Hadleigh glared at them, her scowl for
some reason just
ratcheting
up the sexiness vibe for
Vaughn.

“Maat Hadleigh, you look mega
cool.”  Flynn crowed.  “Like a cross between a…”

“Ninja warrior…” Dash added.

“Meets Angel of death meets…” Flynn
continued.

“Dominatrix meets…
” 
Dash’s turn

“Goddess of sex, who…
” 
Flynn contributed.

“Masquerades as a high class call
girl by day.”  Dash finished.

If anything Hadleigh’s scowl grew
deeper.  “Are you trying to say I look like a hooker?”

“Forgive the stupid twins
here.”  Marcus coolly appraised her with vivid blue eyes as if she were a
new acquisition he was thinking of purchasing.  “They live in fantasy game
world land, for them that was the highest of compliments.”

The twins turned and looked at their
team mates
with bewilderment in their eyes.  “Hey
we said high class!”  They defended themselves in stereo.

Rafe continuing to look worried
glanced at Vaughn trying to gauge what his Captain’s reaction was whilst at the
same time stealing glances at Hadleigh who stood in the doorway looking like
every teenage boy’s dream of a bad girl come to life.  “You look very …
very professional Hadleigh.  The material works on you kind of
different.”  Now it was Rafe’s turn to scowl, he’d taken the measurements
from Hadleigh and even factored in some leeway.  “I wasn’t expecting
that.  Maybe the vest will add some … bulk.”

Hadleigh’s scowl softened. 
“Don’t beat yourself up over it Rafe.  This always seems to happen to
me.” 

“Really?”  Even Drum was eyeing
her speculatively now.

Vaughn didn’t like it one bit. 
In fact all his team mates could use a good kick in the pants, well except
for ….
hold
on.  Vaughn turned
his head to stare silently at Nate and slowly one by one so did the rest of the
team.  The man had yet to say a word, just sat there reading a text on his
mobile.  As silence once again fell across the room Nate glanced up to
find everyone staring at him questioningly. 

“What?”  He shot back, giving
them all a mocking look.  “Do I look like I have stupid stamped across my
forehead?”

And just like that the tension left
the room, laughter and noise filled the space and Hadleigh was once more just
another member of the team. Taking a seat in an empty spot by Vaughn she leaned
over, grey eyes still a little wary.  “I don’t look foolish do I?”

Vaughn stared into those gorgeous
grey eyes and couldn’t help but smile.  “You look perfect.”

Hadleigh wanted to let it go but the
pants were so tight, the
top
so fitted.  “Are you
sure?”

“You look exactly what you are, a
badass warrior, like I said perfect.”  

And the way he grinned at her, for
the first time in a long time Hadleigh felt comfortable in her own skin.

Chapter Twelve

The vest did nothing to hide
Hadleigh’s attributes. If anything the bloody thing lifted and shoved her
cleavage right into the face of anyone who was looking her way.  And the
one person doing all the looking was Professor Xander Marr. 

Vaughn was going to kill
him.  

Xander should be grateful to Maat
that Vaughn and his assigned team were currently searching the attic of the
Adams Morgan five storey abandoned villa.  Distance was the only thing
keeping Xander breathing. 

The leering bastard was so
distracted he kept flubbing his lines.  The Professor might have been many
things; vain, egotistical and narcissistic but above all else he was a
professional reality TV star and he knew time was money.  The more he
tried not to look Hadleigh’s way the more his eyes tended to drift there of
their own accord.  It was a train wreck and the rest of Vaughn’s team and
the camera crew
were loving
it. 

Drum leading his
two
man
team was investigating the basement whilst Flynn was outside
checking the grounds and the roof.  Every member of the team had the same
equipment, so like Vaughn they were all riveted to the action being fed to them
on their micro monitors by Benny and
Pepsy
; the two
grommets that manned the cameras and cut and edited all the film.  Being
complete techno lovers the two at the first sign of danger would quite
literally melt into the nearest piece of technology until the threat disappeared. 
That meant Hadleigh’s only responsibility on this mission was to keep Xander
safe and oblivious to any real action that was taking place elsewhere on the
premises. 

Vaughn’s team had almost completed
their investigation of the vast attic space when Benny finally announced they
had enough useable footage of Xander’s introduction piece which set the scene
for the supposed haunting that they could go mobile and head upstairs. 

Hadleigh performed a quick check with
the team, giving them a heads up that they were officially on the move heading
up to the first floor.  Her tone only sounding a little peeved as Xander
could be heard on the feed provided by Benny reminding her to let him go first
on the stairs, as he was the more experienced in dealing with situations like
this.  On their micro monitors they watched as Hadleigh froze on the
bottom step and cocked her head to the side.   “Hey did you just hear
something?”

Xander swung around so fast he
almost broke an ankle at the top of the stairs. “What?”  He cleared his
throat and asked in a much more normal pitch.  “What did you hear?”

Hadleigh waited a beat.  “It
was probably nothing.”  With her hair back in a ponytail, her cap low and
sticking to the shadows she looked like a pin up gal for a swat team pictorial.

“I thought I heard something
too.”  Benny piped up, obviously fighting hard to keep the laughter out of
his voice. 

On the screen Xander’s eyebrows
dipped ever so slightly which was for him the equivalent of a deep frown thanks
to his frozen in time forehead.  “Well we’ll just take things slow and
cautious then.  Maybe we’ll get lucky tonight and get actual proof that
the ghost of Meredith Fox still walks these halls seeking vengeance on her married
lover who bought about her untimely death.”

Only Vaughn and his team heard
Hadleigh’s derisive mutter under her breath. “Yeah lucky.” 

It seemed that their newest member
was not impressed with her babysitting job.  Not that any of the team were
likely to see much action tonight.  This rambling abandoned mansion,
isolated from its neighbours by a ring of dense hedges had been chosen more for
its dark ambience and sordid history than any real looming threat.  They
saved the real action for the off book, off camera missions.  Still Vaughn
and all his team were professionals, they stayed sharp and they knew what
indicators to look for. 

“I have a rune.”  Flynn’s voice
came over the secured
comms
. 

Vaughn halted his team.  “Come
again Flynn?”

“There was some disturbed dirt in
the south-west corner.  Did some digging and found a rune, sending you a
picture now.”

The team flicked their screens over
to look at the photo.  “Marcus?”

“Yeah I’ve got it.”  There was
a pause as Marcus studied his screen.

Vaughn was impatient, he didn’t like
surprises,
he
especially didn’t like them on missions
with Xander and the cameras present.  “Is it a shield to keep something
nasty out?”  He asked, wondering if the previous occupants had been magic
practitioners.

Marcus ignored Vaughn’s question. 
“Flynn, I need more info.  There will probably be others.  Check out
the other corners of the property.”

“Roger.” Flynn affirmed he’d heard
the request. 

Whilst they waited on Flynn they all
listened as Xander led Hadleigh and the camera crew into what at one time would
have been the ballroom.  It was kind of eerie listening to him recount how
police determined that Meredith Fox was first attacked in that room, stabbed in
the stomach before she made a futile dash through the house trying to escape
her attacker, the man who had been her lover.

“Got another one.”  Flynn’s
voice cut through the silence of the team
comms
line.  “Sending it now.”

A minute passed, then two. 
Finally Marcus spoke.  “Shit.  Okay we have a potential
problem.  These runes don’t keep the nasties out, they keep something
nasty in!”

“Define the nasty?”  Shot back
Vaughn.

“It’s not specified on either of the
runes Flynn has found so far.  There’s probably a centrally located one
that holds the focus and will have the species written on it.”  Marcus
supplied.

“The focus ruin, will it be in the
house?”  Drum’s gravelly voice asked.

“Unknown.  Best place for it if
the four corners of the property of the estate are marked would be the
roof.”  Marcus postulated.

“I’m on it.”  Flynn’s voice
sounded sure and steady.

“Okay.” Vaughn started issuing
orders.  “Dash make a hole and get out on the roof as well. Hadleigh keep
Xander distracted, we’re on our way to your location.  Once there we’ll
escort everyone out and off the premises until we can do a full sweep.”

Vaughn took off at a run, Nate close
on his heels.  They were on the stairs, between the third and second
floors when there came a dull roar, as if the earth was being torn
asunder.  The house shook and groaned, dust falling in a steady cloud,
their strobe lights working extra hard to cut through the gloom.  Vaughn
was about to request an update when there came shouts and a tremendous crash.
The threat had yet to be determined but this mission had just been officially
upgraded from cakewalk to a five alarm.  

Vaughn with Nate dogging his heels
joined Drum, Marcus and Rafe at the open double doors of the ballroom. 
The house continued to shudder beneath them and there came the sound of
breaking glass from somewhere deeper in the house. 

“Maat, what’s going on?” 
Vaughn yelled at Drum for an update.  “Where’s Hadleigh?”

“They’re in there.”  Drum
pointed across the room.

Vaughn went to move past his second
for a closer look but Drum fisted a hand in his vest yanking him back. 
Away from the massive whole in the floor, that gaped wide and descended past
the ground floor all the way to the basement.  The edges of the hole were
charred and in some spots still smoking.

“What are those things?”

At first Vaughn didn’t know what
Nate was referring to, then he saw them; three of them, clinging to the
shattered remains of what once would have been the chandelier.  They were
like small black monkeys, if monkeys could be made of black rock with bright
orange veins running across their shells.  Those veins reminded Vaughn of
lava and from the smoking
floor boards
he was guessing
he might not be far off.  They chittered like monkeys, glowing strangely
in the near dark.

Drum shook his head.  “No idea
but a minute ago they were the size of my fist.”

Vaughn squinted, trying to see the
creatures better through the haze and smoke.  They were now the size of
small dogs and appeared to be growing. 
The chandelier
swaying and starting to pull away from the ceiling.

There was no sign of Benny or
Pepsy
but through the strobe lit room he could make out
Hadleigh and Xander huddled behind what looked like a painting, no wait, it was
a mirror that Hadleigh had managed to yank off a wall.   It appeared
to be working as a deterrent keeping the lava monkeys at bay, at least
temporarily. Though Xander appeared to be struggling and it was all Hadleigh
could do to keep the man still and shielded by what limited protection the
mirror provided.

“They look like fire monkeys.” 
Nate commented, firing a couple of bullets into one of them. 

It barely took its focus off
Hadleigh and Xander long enough to turn and spit a gob of fire towards the
doorway.  The burning wad fell far short, disappearing into the depths of
the house. 

Marcus rolled his eyes.  “We’ve
tried the guns already Romeo.  Bullets don’t seem to hurt them.”

“They seem fixated on Hadleigh and
X.”  Rafe followed up with his observation.

“Probably like the smell of X’s
aftershave.”  Nate groused.

“Oh for Goddess sake.” 
Hadleigh’s exasperated tone came over the secure
comms
line.  “Find some water to put out the Drexel.  And you.”  They
watched Hadleigh yank Xander down closer to the ground and practically sit on
him.  “Stay still, you make a break for it they’ll swarm you.”

Vaughn looked at Rafe.  “Find
some water stat.” 

As Rafe hurried away there came the
sound of a muffled
whomp
and fresh smoke billowed up
from the basement.  Seems like the flying spit had ignited Maat knows what
down there. 

“This whole house is going to go
up.”  Vaughn turned to look at Drum.  “I need to get over there.”

Drum nodded.  “Marcus and I can
throw you over.”

“We’d better hurry.”  Marcus
was in the process of tying a rag around his nose and mouth.  “That
chandelier is coming down.” 

They all looked at the
chandelier.  Where it wasn’t burning or melting it was slowly being pulled
away from the ceiling, edging ever closer to the floor.  Once those Drexel
touched down the rest of the floor would be toast.

“Do it.  I’ll throw Benny and
Pepsy
back over then help Hadleigh wrangle Xander out of
here.” 

Vaughn lay on the floor, allowing
Drum and Marcus to pick him up by his ankles and wrists.  With three big
swings they launched him across the gaping hole in the floor like an
acrobat.  He managed to tuck and roll but still his landing was far from
graceful.  At least he was across. 

Grabbing the two cameras he tossed
them back over the divide to Nate.  Who would make sure the cameras got
safely outside and coax Benny and
Pepsy
out of
hiding.  The Drexel continued to ignore him in favour of chittering,
spitting and general arm waving in the direction of the mirror.  They were
the size of Rottweilers now but way
uglier
. 

Ignoring his instinct to immediately
go to Hadleigh’s side to help Vaughn instead turned and headed for the boarded
up windows.  Finding one that had a couple of boards with some give in
them he started to pound away at them using the heel of boot.  One gave
way on his first kick; the next two took some time.  “I have an exit
Hadleigh.  Can you sidle on over here and bring Xander?”

“On our way.”  Hadleigh
voice sounded rough and smoke
affected.

Vaughn monitored the Drexel whilst
Hadleigh crab walked sidewise, holding the mirror and dragging a still
struggling Xander. The Drexel appeared really excited now that their prey was
on the move.  One lost its hold on the drooping chandelier hitting the
ground with an audible
thunk
and sizzle.  Smoke
immediately pouring out from underneath it.  Great the bigger they got,
the hotter they got. 

Okay this was going to hurt, Vaughn
was poised to launch himself between the creature and Hadleigh when suddenly
the floorboards beneath the Drexel gave way and the thing dropped out of
sight.  One down, now causing havoc on the ground floor below, two immediate
threats to go.

 “I found it.”  Flynn’s
voice on the
comms
could barely be heard over the
roar of the basement fire.  “Repeat
,
I found the
focus rune.” 

Everything seemed to happen at
once.  Rafe had discovered some water and hoses, Drum using one to spray
the two remaining Drexel from the doorway with a torrent of water.  They
hissed and sizzled, immediately beginning to shrink in size under the
onslaught.  At the same moment Xander stumbled, causing Hadleigh to lose
hold of the
mirror which crashed to the floor irretrievably
smashed.