Thorne Ch. 09

"You die tonight," William whispered and vanished to the kitchen so that he could eat and feed.

He opened the fridge to take out a unit of blood, stopped and looked at them closely. Something wasn't right about them. Then he realized that they had been tampered with. He almost laughed out loud. He knew that it had been Rufus thinking that he had finally come up with a poison that would kill vampires. What Rufus didn't know was that no matter what the substance was, it would be quickly metabolized before it could do any harm. It once again showed how illiterate Rufus was in regards to the vampire race.

William sensed Rufus watching him and decided to drink the blood. One, it might not taste right, but then it would give Rufus a false sense of security. He poured the blood into a glass, smelling it as he did so. He smelled nothing out of the ordinary and put the glass in the microwave. He could feel Rufus's excitement as he took the warmed blood out of the microwave and downed it in one long drink. Deciding that he needed a bit more blood, William heated a second unit and quickly downed it. He turned to see Rufus watching him.

"Hungry huh?" Rufus asked attempting to be interested but failing. William could see the excitement in his eyes.

William didn't reply, but glared at Rufus in such a way that Rufus's hand went to his pistol. Still staring at him, William raised the glass to his lips and drank it straight down. Without pause, William opened a third bag and poured it into the glass. For effect, he moved slowly. He couldn't wait to see the look of frustration of Rufus's face when he realized that he had failed again. He drank the third glass slowly and decided to have a fourth bag. It was going to be a long night and a little extra nourishment wasn't going to hurt anything. William almost laughed when he heard Rufus's heart rate rise in excitement.

"You can't get drunk on that stuff can you?" Rufus asked seriously.

Again, William didn't reply but warmed up the blood and drank it. He rinsed out the glass and finally spoke.

"What are your plans?"

Rufus blinked. He was remembering that Caleb was the one with the plan but he was dead. Now that he had calmed down, Rufus realized that he had made a huge mistake. He looked at William and walked away. Surely Caleb had made notes of some kind.

"Damn it!" Rufus exclaimed as he looked through the desk and finally online.

"Is there something wrong?" William asked from the doorway to the office.

"What do you want?" Rufus snapped.

"Time is passing, what are your plans for Olivia's rescue? Do you know where she is?"

"I don't have to tell you a damned thing," Rufus replied angrily. It was an attempt to cover the fact that he had no idea of what Caleb had planned nor did he have any idea of where Olivia was being held. The attempt to cover his ignorance failed and he knew it from the smirk on William's face.

"In other words, you have no idea of where she is and you have no plan," William said smugly. "Caleb had the plan, but you killed him before you found out what it was. How many of your hunters will you sacrifice to continue a war that you cannot win? You have dissension in your ranks. Many of the men here were friends of your late second in command..."

"Shut the fuck up!" Rufus screamed.

"I think that I understand what is happening," William continued. "You chose Caleb because he has many friends that will follow him. You were going to lead through him. What? Are you surprised that I am able to think beyond my next feeding? A fool could see what was happening. And what about Olivia? Is she going to be one of your acceptable losses or an offering for the cause?"

He knew that he was dangerously close to giving how he felt about Olivia away, but he didn't care.

"I also happen to know why you have so many other species working for you. You're hoping that we'll do your dirty work for you and kill each other off. I do have to give credit where credit is due," William said as he leaned back against the kitchen counter. "Harry pointed it out. I didn't want to believe it at first, but it's true. Do you know what your problem is? You don't listen. You should have listened to Caleb... by the way, thank you for killing him for me."

Rufus's eyes narrowed as he raised the pistol and aimed it at William.

"Go ahead, shoot and see what happens," William taunted. "I should also tell you that whatever you put in the blood-it did nothing except to give it a slightly sour taste."

"You know where she is don't you?" Rufus asked ignoring the comment about the blood.

"No I don't," William replied, "but what I do know is that she's hell of a lot safer where she is than she is with you. Who was going to kill her? You or were you going to have that coward Caleb do it?"

"What's going on in here?" a voice boomed from behind Rufus.

"Nothing," Rufus said smiling coldly at William and lowered the pistol. "Nothing at all. Are the men assembled?"

"They're all here," the hunter said giving William a suspicious glance. "The other crews are in place."

"Good I'll be in shortly," Rufus said his eyes never leaving William's face.

When they were alone, Rufus grinned at William. It wasn't a pleasant grin. It was a grin that promised that he would be dead before the night was over.

****

Harry stayed in the shadows following the crews that were all human. He wanted to decimate them, but at the moment, they weren't important. There would be time enough for that later. The important thing was finding Nadine. He had heard that a maker could find his creation if he concentrated enough. He had never taken the time to find out if it was really true. It wasn't until they arrived in L.A. that he had seriously begun thinking about finding her.

"No time like the present," he murmured and softly said Nadine's name. At first there was nothing so he said it again. "Nadine, where are you, you murdering bitch?" His heart pounded when he thought he felt something. Encouraged, he said it again but added, "I'm coming for you and whoever the son of a bitch that you're mated to is." This time there was no mistake. He was gratified when he felt a cold blast of terror that was followed by something else that made him frown. The feeling was there and then gone before he could grasp it.

He followed the hunters for a short while and then reluctantly let them be. As he walked, he thought about everything that he was going to do to Nadine while her mate watched. He hadn't given much thought as to how he was going to capture them and counted on her fear and the mate's rage to help him. Then he stopped dead in his tracks. Hans. He had forgotten about him. He had no doubt that Hans would be somewhere nearby. If that were the case, there would be no way in which to take all of them.

"Shit," he cursed. As much as he wanted Nadine, he wasn't willing to die for it and Hans would kill him. What he needed was his family behind him to even the odds, but that wasn't going to happen. William was out of the question and if they were smart, the others were long gone. He began to wonder about his decision to stay. He now knew that he could reach out to Nadine and eventually with practice he'd be able to locate her. The idea of tormenting Nadine from afar held a certain appeal for him. By extension he would be tormenting her mate and Hans. The more he thought about it, the more he liked it. He had more than enough money to last him and centuries and in which to follow through with his plan.

Suddenly William's suggestion that they all leave made sense. Harry also realized that in a roundabout way; William had helped him. He chuckled out loud as he imagined what William's reaction would be if he knew that he had inadvertently helped him in his revenge against Nadine. As he vanished, he blew Nadine an imaginary kiss and murmured something into the warm night air.

****

Nadine was getting dressed when Harry's first attempt at reaching her occurred. It felt almost like a light brushing across her mind. She felt a sense of foreboding that she didn't understand. The second time it happened, she broke out in a cold sweat. Her body began to tremble as what she knew had to be Harry's touch grew firmer. She looked around to be sure that Leon wasn't in the room before she let herself cry. She hadn't thought Harry smart enough or patient enough to try to contact her as he just had. She wondered if he knew that he could now find her. A few minutes later, along with the touch were words.

"I will see you again; enjoy your life for as long as I let you live."

Then he was gone.

"Dina?" Leon called from the bathroom. "What just happened?"

She started to say nothing, but Leon stopped her.

"And don't you try to lie to me."

Seeing that she had no choice, Nadine told him about the feelings that she had experienced.

"What else?" Leon pressed.

When she told him about what the voice said, Leon was livid with rage. He picked up the phone, called Hans, Nathan and finally Ethan. He had the longest conversation with Ethan.

"I know that I said that I wanted to be the one to kill the bastard, but he's up for grabs. I want him dead and I don't care who does it."

After he hung up, Leon wondered if he could reach Harry in the way that he had reached Nadine. Before he tried, he decided to talk to Louise.

"I was just going to call Nadine," Louise said when she answered the phone. "Is she alright?"

"She's scared although she's trying not to show it," Leon replied. "I gather that you sensed him too."

"Yes, but Leon; he's leaving."

"But he isn't going to stay away for long. Lou, he can talk to her," Leon said. "He all but threatened her. My question to you is this; do you think that I can talk to him in the same way?"

"I don't know," Louise replied after a long pause. "I can sense and even see them, but I've never been able to talk to a vampire. That's Kevyn's thing. Have you tried reaching out to him?"

"No but I'm going to. I was hoping for some pointers."

"I would suggest that you talk to Kevyn first. My feeling is that it's a gift that you have or you don't, but Leon be careful."

A few minutes later, Leon was talking to Kevyn while a very anxious Nadine listened. She didn't want him to reach out to Harry but as with the hunt, she knew that it would be pointless to try to stop him. Kevyn reiterated what Louise said.

"It's something that I was born with I guess. The only way to know for sure is to try it and see what happens. One thing though, he may not know where she is so make sure that you don't inadvertently give out any clues."

"Leon," Nadine said when he hung up.

"Don't try to talk me out of it," Leon said. "I know what he's up to. Now that he knows that he can reach you, he's going to make our lives hell. This ends tonight and I don't care who does it."

Nadine could only nod her head. It was going to be a long night.

****

The men, including Victor met in the living room. Ethan and Thorne stood side by side as allies and explained the plan.

"There is one change," Ethan said. "If any of you spot Harry, kill him. Don't waste time by calling Leon, Hans or Nathan. He has figured out that he can contact Nadine and it's only a matter of time before he learns that he can actually find her. Leon will give a description before we go. In regards to William who was also a member of Olivia's team- he is to not to be harmed in any way. Thorne and I have agreed to give his family with the exception of Harry twenty-four hours to leave town. If they are spotted, let them be unless it's obvious that they're still working with Rufus."

"Why the free pass?" Joseph asked.

"William saved the life of one of ours," Ethan replied. "He contacted us through Travis- the one that he saved. Travis read his hands and vouches for him."

"There's another reason," Thorne added. "Olivia asked that he be spared as a favor to her. But more importantly, William may be the one to kill Rufus. If he can do it before the night is over, the hunters will disband for now and that will give us time to get Olivia into place as the new head of the hunter organization."

"What about her father?" Martin asked.

"He dies," Ethan replied. "Olivia spoke to him and gave him the option of walking away and he refused. We need to find him before another group does. We promised Olivia that we would give him a quick death..."

"That won't happen if one of the other groups finds him first," Nathan replied. "If the group from the east side of the city finds him first, he'll be tortured and turned only to be tortured some more."

"True, but there are other groups as bad," Joseph said.

"The important thing here is that we all come back in one piece as well as honor our word to Olivia as much as we can," Ethan said.

Ethan felt his phone vibrate in his pocket, took it out and looked at the caller ID.

"William, what's happening? When? Yes she is still safe. Call when you can."

"What happened?" Thorne asked.

"Rufus killed his successor," Ethan replied. "He accused him of being a traitor and killed him before finding out what the plan for tonight is."

"That's good news for us," Thorne commented. "Alright, go spend a few minutes with your mates and be back here in ten minutes."

Thorne stayed where he was for another minute before deciding to go see Barb and to comfort the baby.

****

Barb paced the room trying to figure out who was talking to her if not the baby. Between the voice and Gene she had been hearing some hard truths that she still wasn't ready to admit to. That was the reason that she turned Kevyn and the others away. To her to have let them in was to admit that she had been to some degree wrong.

"What will it take?" the voice asked startling her. "You are on the verge of living alone for all time. Even your child does not want you. Do you understand what that means? A child loves unconditionally, but you have already lost that love. Your family loves you, but you continue to turn them away. You will have your money, but who will you share it with? The humans have a saying- be careful of what you wish for. I would encourage you to heed that advice."

"Who or what are you?" Barb asked not sure that she really wanted to know.

"I am who you have deliberately ignored from the time that you could talk," the voice replied. "I am who you ignored when you tried to make your family give you more than they were able to. I am who could have saved you much pain, anger and sadness had you taken the time to listen to me and not concentrated on your own needs."

"Are you saying that you're my conscience?" Barb asked out loud.

"I am many things," the voice replied.

"What kind of answer is that?" Barb asked irritably.

"It means that what I am changes with whatever is happening," the voice replied. "For instance, let's think about that prom dress. Part of you felt guilty for the way in which you acted did you not? That was me speaking to you and me that you subsequently ignored. The same goes for your ex-husband. When you lied about giving him a child,that was me speaking to you. In those cases I was as you call it, your conscience. Let's move forward to the night that you went to the club. Something told you not to go but you did. Even as you stood in line, something was telling you to leave, but you stayed. When your family came for you, you knew that you should have left with them but your greed led you to ignore what you knew to be true. In those cases I was your instinct."

"What are you now?" Barb snapped. "My advisor?"

"I suppose you can think of me as such," the voice replied. "I am also the one who can help you salvage your relationship with your family and child if you so wish it. But more importantly, I can help you salvage your relationship with yourself."

"There's nothing to fix!" Barb retorted.

The voice sighed and then spoke again.

"There will come a time when even I will grow weary of you and my patience is supposed to be infinite. There will come a time when you will no longer hear me. That day is rapidly approaching."

"Oh just great! My so called conscience bails on me too!" Barb exclaimed.

"Unfuckingbelievable," the voice said. "Have you not been listening? Even after all that I have told you, you continue to think of only yourself and your needs. I understand now. You want a whipping post. Your only interest is blaming others for your choices. You don't want to make amends with your family. You don't want to find a way to accept and love the child that you carry nor do you truly want a mate. You only care for yourself. I do have to wonder where this attitude came from. Your parents were kind and loving people. I know what you say-abuse, but you and I know that its bullshit. It's just an excuse that you use so that you can treat others as you please."

"I was abused..."

"Again, I repeat," the voice said. "It is utter bullshit! I was there remember? Mark my words Barbara Yancy Simpson... your time grows short as does my patience."

Before Barb could say anything, the voice was gone.

Adrianna watched from the small den that adjoined the bedroom. "Just give a little," she murmured. When she saw Barb do what she had done for her entire life, Adrianna shrugged and went back to her laptop. Her thesis was due in a little over two months.

Barb shakily sat on the bed. It felt as if the conversation with herself had taken more than an hour instead of the fifteen minutes that had passed. She wondered if she was losing her mind and if she had a psychiatric condition. Schizophrenia topped the list. Thorne screwing with her came in second, the baby came in third.

After thinking about it, Barb came to the conclusion that none of the three options were true which meant that she really had heard and carried on a conversation with the voice. Whether the voice was all that it claimed to be was another thing altogether, but deep down she knew that it hadn't lied to her about what it was.

She still maintained that she couldn't change into the nice person that her sisters and brothers were. She wasn't even sure that she wanted to. As far as the baby was concerned, she hadn't changed her mind on that either. She knew that her sisters were hoping that once she had him and saw him that she would feel an overwhelming amount of love for him. But she knew better. She was who she was and part of that did not include a child.

"But can you at least admit to your part in his conception?" the voice asked and then faded.

Barb was going to reply when Thorne walked in.

"We're leaving in ten minutes," he said. "I want to spend a few moments with our son. I'm sure that he is frightened."

Barb bit back a sarcastic remark and lay down on the bed. She looked down at her stomach and frowned. Unless she was imagining things, it had grown. The barely noticeable bump was now very noticeable.

"Vampire babies grow quickly in the womb although they are carried for a longer time than human babies," Thorne explained. "Didn't Gretchen tell you this?"

Barb thought back. She vaguely remembered something being mentioned the rate of growth, but she hadn't cared so she didn't listen. Instead of admitting that she hadn't listened to half of what Gretchen told her, she snipped.

"Of course I remember! I just forgot."

Thorne gave her a cool grin telling her that he knew better. When she was settled on the bed, he placed his hands on her stomach and began to massage it as he spoke in low, soft tones.

"I will return so try not to worry or be frightened," he said as he continued to rub. "If by some very small chance I do not return, you will be with those who will love you as if you were born to them. When I return, I have many things that I have to change if I am to be a good father to you and I will be a good father. Rest easy; I love you."