Nos Faux Ratu Ch. 02

"There's more than one kind?" Jenna picked up her just-delivered coffee. 'This is amazing,' she thought after her first sip.

"Oh yeah. I'm not gonna go into all the different races, but I need you to accept that they exist. And for the most part, they stay out of humanity's way. For a while it was becoming difficult, but now you humans . . . well, even you kind-of humans, you've basically cut yourselves off from each other. Everything is on-line. Between CGI overlays on personal computers and advances in cosmetic surgery, anyone can look like anything. The Night Breeds can, in most cases, live out in the open without fear. That is, until someone or someone made them afraid of us again."

Jenna started to say something to the effect of "What does that have to do with me?" but realized she was past trying to fool anyone. "Until someone started making them afraid."

Nessa nodded, relieved that they were past the game-playing stage. "What's weird is I actually respect the concept. You guys do covert ops, you strike fear into the hearts of evil-doers everywhere, and . . . well, I don't know what your mission statement is, so I don't know if its getting accomplished. And I don't need to know what it is," Nessa assured Jenna. "I don't need to know the inner-workings of whatever organization you belong to, though I AM curious --"

"Please continue," Jenna said, finishing her coffee and then looking around for the bartender.

"Samuel, another Irish Coffee!" Nessa shouted.

"What's an Irish Coffee anyway? The cream on top was a nice touch."

"You . . . you've never heard of an Irish Coffee? That is what you asked for, right?"

"No, I just said coffee. Why?"

Nessa grinned. "Irish Coffee is an alcoholic drink."

Jenna actually looked momentarily panicked. "Alcohol? I can't --"

"Sorry," Nessa interjected. "I didn't know. Is it a health issue? A religious one?"

For a moment, Jenna's mind went away, and she was back in that place.

"Sins of the flesh and spirit are numerous," He told her. "They are your enemy, and you must be ever vigilant. You must fight them with all your heart and what is left of your soul." He had a bottle of some hazy brown liquid in his hand. "Are you ready to fight?"

There was not much she could do. Her ankles, wrists, waist, and neck were all tied directly to the heavy wooden table where she had been confined for two days. But she would fight as much as she could, because that was what He demanded. He demanded it in exchange for His love. She nodded. When He started to pour the liquid down her throat, she tried to twist her head or close her mouth, but he managed to get the neck of the bottle in her throat after breaking one of her teeth. The liquid burned as it went down, and it made her want to cry. But she did not cry. After the first two weeks, she had been broken of that habit forever.

"You fought," He said, "but not hard enough. No mortal bonds should stand in your way."

"I am sorry," she responded. She felt so much shame that she wanted to die. She had failed Him. Again.

"Do not be sorry. Be strong." He put His hands on each of her knees, preparing to push them apart. "Are you ready to fight again?"

"Jenna?" Nessa was asking when the other woman phased out for a moment. "You okay?"

"Fine. Actually, I'm not really thirsty after all," she said. "So back to the issue at hand. There are these Night Breeds who don't want attention drawn to them. I understand that. You believe that I am a covert operative that is at least partly responsible," she said, making it plain with her eyes and tone that she was not actually denying anything but would not admit it either.

"Sounds right so far. And I need to find a way to get them to stop what they're doing, or at least do it in a different way. Seriously, why not just be mysterious commandos? Guys down at the federal genetics labs just want to test out their new techniques?"

Jenna did not take the bait. She was not going to acknowledge the government's involvement one way or the other. She liked the attempt though. "If a meeting were to be set up, what would be the end goal?"

"A change in methods or stopping what you're doing completely. You're good at this vague negotiation thing, did you know that?"

"Thank you. What do you bring to the table?"

"What do you mean?" Nessa replied, leaning back against the bar and thrusting her breasts out a bit. 'C'mon, give me SOME kind of reaction,' she thought.

Jenna did not even blink. She could control every bodily reaction down to her heartbeat. "I mean, what would you offer to get this group to stop their activities? You yourself mentioned that it has been successful, and since the concept of a vampire is hardly something you could copyright --" She stopped and just let the sentence trail off.

Nessa leaned forward and put one hand on Jenna's knee. Finally, she got a flinch, but it was not an excited flinch. It was a "don't touch me" flinch. "Okay," she said, "here's our offer. Stop what you're doing and I promise not to kill you, everyone you work with, and everyone you work for."

Jenna pulled her leg away. 'No one touches me,' she thought angrily. 'Especially not someone beautiful. No one can want me.' "Not much of an offer. Why would you do that?"

"Because we can't afford to be found out." Nessa's eyes darkened a bit, and her smile lost some of its luster. "I remember the days when we were hunted by superstitious humans. Some of my less-swift brethren were burned alive, tortured, and had things done to them that you couldn't even imagine."

"Don't presume to tell me what I can and cannot imagine." As the words left her angry mouth, Jenna realized that her control had slipped.

"Jenna, I am over two thousand years old. I have seen everything that humans could possibly do to one another. I will not allow for my people to become the targets of that savagery again. If these false vampires continue to attract attention, then it is me and mine that shall bear the brunt of it. Do you understand now that I mean what I say? I have nothing against you personally, but I will kill you if I have to. I will kill everyone you work with and whoever made you, and I will salt the ground so that no more of you are grown."

Jenna's hand crept towards the gun she had been given. "I will defend myself as necessary."

"I wouldn't expect otherwise."

There was a moment of tense silence as the two women measured each other, then Nessa broke the silence again.

"And anything I threaten you with, what Garon and his people would actually do is worse. They wouldn't just silence you. Oh no, they'd make an example out of you."

Jenna retracted her hand from the weapon. "He really doesn't like you."

"No," Nessa said, smiling broadly again, "No he doesn't."

"What was the crack about his wife?"

"I slept with her."

Jenna looked confused. "Why?"

"If you'd ever met his wife, you'd know." Nessa looked over at Avery. "Tell her how hot the woman was."

Avery, normally a bit stoic, said, "She was very attractive."

"And that's all it takes for you?" Jenna asked, slightly annoyed. She was not sure why.

"No, but it helps. Okay, Garon is a werewolf --"

"I got that part."

"Well, werewolves are pretty patriarchal to begin with, but Garon is a misogynistic asshole on top of that. To him, women are for breeding and cleaning up after him and that's it."

Part of Jenna's heart fell down to her stomach. That was a line of thought she had heard before, and knew all too well. "So you fucked his wife to prove a point?" She was getting angry. She never got angry.

"No, I fucked his wife because she was beautiful and lonely and needed someone to treat her like a living being rather than a servant. She'd been his punching bag one too many times, and I couldn't deal with it. Our territories butted up against each other at the time, so I ran into him pretty often. I saw her and knew that I had to get her out of that situation. He had claimed her when she was just a young wolf, so she didn't know that she did have the right to refuse a pack leader."

"She didn't know?"

"Werewolves are supposed to be told Pack Law when they are created. Garon never did that. He just saw a beautiful young woman and decided to take her for himself. So I found her at a sort of conference that the Night Breed has every year. He had instructed her to wait in their room and only appear at social functions and the like. Well, I brought her back to my room and let her be in charge for a while. I must say," Nessa continued, her voice warm and her eyes sparkling with fond memories, "she took to being on top pretty well."

Jenna took a slow, deep breath. "What happened to her?"

"Garon had threatened the entire pack if anyone were to tell her her rights or to help her. So I told her, and I showed her what life could be like if she let passion into it. Garon lost a lot of face with his people after that., and he's still a bit pissed at me about it. His now-ex wife currently living in Amsterdam with a new pack and a total stud of a boyfriend. I got to do a threesome with them once. Oh, a werewolf who can use his tongue! Where was I?"

"Braggin' 'bout yer sexual exploits again," Anabella said from nearby. "Listen Nessa, it's gettin' close to time."

"Time?"

"Sunrise," Nessa said.

"So the part about you bursting into flames in the sunlight is true?"

"No. We blister and turn to ash after a few minutes. But outside of direct sunlight, we just get sleepy during the day." She stood up and stepped closer to Jenna. "I need a response tonight as to whether or not you're going to help me. You know where I live," she continued, her eyes half closed. "Of course, if you'd like to think about it over a nightcap --"

"You're going to just let me leave?"

"You know how important the stakes are now. Even if you went and got all your friends and brought them back here, this place is hardly undefended. You would all die or, if by some miracle you didn't, you'd be hunted down by the Breeds. I can only keep Garon at bay for so long. The longer it takes to work this out, the more credence his claims will have. You'd much rather deal with me than him."

Jenna walked towards the door, and no one moved to stop her. She actually was met by Avery, who was holding a bag of all her gear.

"Thought you'd want this back," he told her.

"Thank you," she said.

"I'll give you a lift home," he told her.

"No you won't," she replied.

"We can't have you seen by anyone who might still be watching the place," Nessa said. "Let Avery --"

"You don't get to know where I live. If it makes you feel better, take me to the edge of Downtown, and I'll find my own way."

"Fine," Nessa said. "Please, think about my offer. We don't have much time."

"I'll be back here tonight. Tell your demons to be expecting me."

"I will, and Jenna?"

"Yes."

"How DID you find this place?"

For the first time, Jenna actually smiled. She did not answer, but she smiled, then let Avery lead the way to the garage.

"You impressed her," he told her as the long black hover started up.

"That means the world to me," Jenna replied, her voice betraying just a hint of sarcasm.

"Hey, it's a lot easier than having her as an enemy."

"I suppose."

He glanced back through the window separating the driver area from the passenger compartment. "Not much phases you, does it? I knew some guys in Omni Force that were that cool, but I never managed."

"You were Army?" she asked. The United States Armed Forces had actually combined into a single unit twenty years earlier, including all the newer units that had been invented to try and revitalize national defense.

"Yep." Without looking back, he added, "Not many people knew about Omni Force. Outside of the DoD at any rate."

While outwardly she stayed calm, inwardly Jenna was kicking herself. She had walked right into that. She was distracted, and that was not acceptable.

"What do you get out of this?" she asked.

"A long life. My family has served her for almost a thousand years. In return, we get a long life, good health, lots of perks, and life is always interesting."

"Medical and dental?"

"Yep. Optical too, but these peepers are 20/20."

"Damn," she replied. Those did sound like good benefits.

"And she's been a good friend. There was a time my whole family tree might have been wiped out if she hadn't gotten them out of Poland during World War II."

"So you were a soldier and then straight to being a chauffeur?"

Avery shook his head. "I went to college and worked as a federal cop for a while. Honestly though, working for Nessa is probably a lot more dangerous."

"You see a lot of monsters."

"I saw monsters as a cop. Now, I just see weird looking people with powers."

"I believe you."

"So, you always this chatty?"

Jenna smiled a bit in spite of herself. "What can I say? I'm a social butterfly."

They rode in silence for a while. Jenna could not remember the last time she was in a vehicle for any length of time, and certainly nothing ever this comfortable.

When he stopped to let her out, he stepped out into the street as well. "She's a good woman," he told his former passenger. "If you don't mind taking a word of advice, I'd work with her. She means you no harm, and I can't say the same for option number two."

Jenna thought back to the kind of person that Garon was reported to be. "I'll think it over." She waited for him to leave, then climbed to a rooftop and started checking her gear. She found three tracers and a couple of recording device in her investigations, and she smiled a bit. They were pretty smart, but not smart enough. She put her gear back on, extended her glider wings, then took to the night sky and headed for home.

Avery got back to Devil's Night and found that Nessa was still awake. "So, what do you think?"

"I think she's a very intelligent, determined, and cautious woman. You could have done worse."

"True. I'm really curious to find out how she found us."

"I doubt she'll give that up easily. She seems to play things close to the vest. And like I said, she's smart. She disabled the tracking devices by the time I was halfway back."

"But do you think she found our other surprise?"

"She's not familiar with magic, so I doubt it. I don't think she'll appreciate you doing that. She's a private person."

"She found us, so we get to find her. Thems the rules." Nessa stretched.

"There's somethin' wrong inside her," Anabella said softly.

Nessa raised an eyebrow. Her banshee friend had special insights into the nature of people, so she took her at her word when she voiced an opinion.

"What do you mean? She's sick or --"

"I barely felt her soul. It's there, but faint. Like it's being muffled." Banshees were the harbingers of change in the spirit world. A shout from them could inflict pain, but it was their song you wanted to be wary of. A banshee could "smell" the souls of those around her and, if they smelled sick, the Banshee sang the Song of Ending. The only ones who could hear it were those in danger of death.

"You think she's dangerous?" Avery asked. It always made him uncomfortable when the ancient spirit spoke like this. It was the sort of think that reminded him that behind that sexy barmaid visage was an old spirit. Almost as old as Nessa.

"I think she's wounded, and any wounded animal is dangerous. She's fenced part of herself off. Built walls so high that even she can't scale 'em. Just . . . just watch where you put your feet with that one. I know she's beautiful, but so's a snake, and they'll bite ya as soon as look at ya."

Across town, Jenna was lying on the stone floor of her maze. She had been distracted and unable to make it through her timed maze. It had closed off the corridors so that only air could pass through. Jenna was angry at herself. The whole time she had been attempted to navigate, she had been thinking of vampires and werewolves and demons. More importantly, she had been thinking of the woman in the red lingerie who had commanded such power. She was sexy and strong. Nessa McGowan was everything that He would have despised. She was everything that Jenna herself, once upon a broken dream, would have wanted to be.

Jenna curled up on the hard stone and settled in for four hours of restless sleep. She would still be able to make coffee with Nigel and hopefully he would be able to help her decide on a course of action.

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That afternoon . . .

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"I have no idea," Nigel said. "I can barely wrap my head around what you're saying, much less provide you advice."

"You," Jenna said glumly as she kept her eyes on the schoolchildren out on the street, heading for home, "are less than useful."

"But real vampires? Are you sure?" He blanched a bit under her withering glare.

"If I'm convinced, you should be as well. Don't you think I considered every possible alternative? You didn't see what I saw or experience what I did. There are creatures out there that are more amazing than anything we could have imagined, and now I've seen some of them. And we may be putting them in danger and, by process of cause and effect, ourselves as well."

"But . . . vampires?"

"Yes. Can we move past that to figuring out what to do?"

"The Fool will never believe you."

"Why not?" she replied irritably.

"Because its crazy. You know that I have faith in you, but I'm the only Nightwalker who knows you. You've distanced yourself from everyone else, and most of them think you're some kind of freak."

Jenna noticeable blanched. She had not known that. "Really?"

"Well, freak is a strong word. They --"

"Straight talk," Jenna requested.

"Yes, they think that you're a freak. You don't socialize with anyone besides me, you don't tell anyone about yourself. I don't want you to take this the wrong or that I'm propositioning you or anything, but you're a beautiful woman. Probably one of the most attractive women that I've ever seen. Yet you don't date or even show interest, as I have seen all too recently."

Jenna was squirming a bit in her chair. She was not attractive. She knew that. Was Nigel just trying to freak her out? "What does that have to do with anything?"

Nigel hated that he was making Jenna uncomfortable. He never understood why she was unable to look at herself the way others looked at her. "It means that some people think that you've gone too far into this image. You're aloof and apart, and some of the other Major Arcana are wondering if you're losing it."

"I've always been 'apart' from other people," she told him defensively. "It's just who I am."

"I know that now. I don't understand the 'why' of it, but I get that you're just quiet. But the Fool doesn't know that. Our bosses at the DoD don't know that. The Major Arcana cards don't know that. Only the fact that your field performance has been exemplary has kept you from getting a psych review."

"What?!"

"You don't pay any attention to the water-cooler talk at the TACCP, so you don't know what people are saying these days."

"That's not my job!" she muttered angrily. This was twice in less than twenty-four hours that she had lost her temper, and she did not like the feeling.

"You're part of a unit," he told her. "An organization. I'm not the most talkative guy either, but I still stop and say hello to people when I'm around. Now you want to walk into the base and tell a bunch of people who you've given no reason to trust you and tell them that you've found vampires? Or that you've blown your cover and want them to meet with someone you claim is a vampire? How do you expect them to respond?"

She wanted to say that they would respond with the respect due her, but after what Nigel had just said, she was not so sure. "This is going to happen fast," she said. "Either Nessa's people or this other guy Garon's people are going to need to answer to this Council of theirs."