Blood Moon Ch. 09

"Its Gerald or Smith, not Smithy. And I don't drink on the job." Gerald replied calmly. Inwardly, he was seething.

"Suit yourself, more for me." Winston shrugged and poured himself another glass.

The expensive alcohol was passed around. Six men, five men who made up Winston's team and Nate who idolized Winston, all accepted a drink. The five men who shared Gerald's vision didn't dare accept the drink.

"You take yourself too seriously, mate." Winston called over to Gerald, his New Zealand accent indiscernible between an Australian or British lilt to Gerald.

"Unlike you, I am serious about this job. When we kill who is responsible for establishing that lab, we will be eliminating a key player."

Winston raised his glass. "I can drink to that."

Gerald was sure he'd grind his teeth into nothing before they would reach England. Although Winston got his kicks out of harassing Gerald, he knew not to push too hard. The man was a zealot to his cause and wouldn't let Winston get away with a lot more. Very astute, Nate intervened.

"The hard drive that's being decrypted shows that they were doing research to figure out how to bridge human and vampire DNA."

Grateful for the interruption, Gerald nodded. "They were probably trying to find easier ways to infect humans."

"What makes you think they weren't trying to find a way to be human again?" Winston commented lightly from his plush seat.

"There's no return once the blood switch is done. The most merciful thing to do is kill the infected. Without any hosts, the virus can't survive. All of the infected need to be killed." And Gerald's mission was to do just that.

---

Elizabeth left Derek and Lilith to think over her words several hours ago. She told them about her involvement in the second prophecy. Her father and uncle were said to be the chosen to break the curse when two became one. Since translated from another language, the 'became' part could be interpreted as either one was left in the end or as the two combining into one. Elizabeth believed the latter.

Frowning at her buzzing cell, Elizabeth picked it up. If her heart worked, it would have skipped a beat when she saw Keo's number. In a moment of weakness, she had given him her number before she sent him back to Hawaii. With an eleven hour time difference, it happened to be three in the morning there. She put the phone to her ear and answered in a nonchalant manner.

"Elizabeth speaking."

"Hello, Elizabeth." It was not the voice she had expected.

"Mikhail." She strove for indifference, but fell short by a centimeter. "What do you want?"

"The council is not happy with you, m'dear." Mikhail replied smoothly.

She told herself to loosen her grip on her phone lest she crushed it. "I do not fall under the jurisdiction of the council as I forwent the protection of the VPA."

"Does it really matter if you consider yourself part of the V Nations or not? Your actions are affecting us."

"Us?" Elizabeth questioned. Last she recalled, Mikhail went rogue, like her. Not that either of them would be wanted in the Vampire Nations, Mikhail most definitely not. Most rogues were killed as they never had a knack for remaining inconspicuous.

With a population of about a hundred-thousand left in the world's six billion people, Elizabeth didn't recognize the measly number as a 'nations'. Elizabeth never threatened exposing the V Nations so they left her alone. Until now.

"Us. Them. Semantics, Elizabeth." He tsked. "The explosion was the last straw. First you administer a supposed antidote that is like a plague killing off our kind."

The antidote Mikhail mentioned had been a work-in-progress and only successfully worked on suppressing the vampire virus in Lilith. "It was never supposed to be released into the public. It's not my fault the council sent an incompetent intern to my lab to steal it. Not only was he an incompetent intern, but also a moron to have sold those vials to the different Sanctuaries."

Mikhail laughed. "How was I supposed to know you hadn't perfected the serum? Many were willing to pay top dollar for the rumored cure you were believed to have completed. We live a long time, Elizabeth. I needed to recuperate my funds since I did not invest too wisely and now this economic downturn. Who knew immortals would have to worry about such trivial things like money?"

"Why did the VPA send you again? After your mess up, I would have thought you'd be on their 'to kill' list."

"Actually, I am on their 'to kill' list. A bounty has been placed on your head as well. I figured, if I could get back into their good graces by capturing you, they'll take the bounty off of my head for my head." He sighed. "So here I am. Really though, Elizabeth...this one isn't your usual fare. I will admit his blood smells delicious. A hint of salt. Must be from all the surfing he does."

She remained silent for a long moment. "Again, what do you want?"

"A trade."

"You want me for Keo?" She asked.

"Isn't that obvious?" Mikhail replied with feigned surprise. "The moment you turn yourself in to the VPA and tell them that I am the one who convinced you to turn yourself over, I'll release your friend."

She was so close to an answer. An end. "No. I will not turn myself over. Hell will freeze over before I do that."

Like Elizabeth, Mikhail didn't play games. "Then add another death you could have prevented on your conscience. I'll be seeing you shortly."

With that, the line went dead.

She pressed the end button and set her cell down carefully. Reaching for her laptop, she realized her hands were shaking. As if recognizing it too, Slim peered over curiously. Much bigger than when she found him weeks ago, he hopped onto her desk and rubbed against her shaking hands with a purr.

Silently, she picked up Slim and held him close for a long time.

---

"Was that from your brother?" Casey appeared at the archway that led from the halls to the large living room.

Dressed in a clean shirt she stole from Rowan's closet, the shirt just about swallowed her tiny frame. She made her way towards Rowan on the black leather couch when he motioned for her to join him. After a small kiss, she settled in next to him.

"You should still be sleeping." He pointed out after glancing at the time that read three AM. "Yes, it's from Derek. He and Lilith are doing well. Elizabeth revealed her connection to all of this." Rowan let out a sigh before he explained the contents of the email to Casey.

"Wow. She's been looking for a way to become human again all this time?" Casey frowned.

Rubbing the back of his neck, Rowan nodded. "Seems that way."

Although Keo returned home two weeks ago, Casey decided to stay with Rowan. When Keo called Casey to tell her that he was fine, he had been at the airport in New York. Elizabeth left him there with a handful of cash and no further explanation. He returned to Hawaii even though Rowan offered for Keo to stay with him in San Francisco if he wanted. Keo's reply had been that he had a life to get back to.

"I'm glad Derek and Lilith are safe." Her voice trailed off into the silence. With Keo back at home and Lilith obviously being well taken care of, it was time for her to return home as well. "I think I should go back home." She had no excuse to linger.

Rowan knew better than to ask Casey to stay. Her involvement in his world ended as quickly as it began. There wasn't a reason for her to stay. No reason he wanted to admit to himself. But still, he couldn't force out any words of agreement.

Instead, he found himself telling her not to go. "Stay. I don't mind having you here."

"I know you don't mind, but there isn't anything keeping me here is there? Keo is back at home, Lilith is safe. Like my brother said...life goes on."

Rowan shifted slightly and looked at Casey. She had run a brush through her sex mussed hair. Besides his shirt that she drowned in, the only indication of their love making of a few hours ago was the puffiness of her kiss swollen lips. She was a goddess. His goddess.

"Stay. Stay because I want you to stay." Rowan murmured.

Casey didn't want to push it. She knew Rowan already felt guilty about not being faithful to his late wife. Love wasn't something to be forced and Casey didn't want to force Rowan. She loved him, but she didn't want him to say he loved her because he thought that's what she wanted to hear. Even though the difficulty of not telling Rowan she loved him exponentially grew every day, she agreed.

"Okay." Casey whispered. "I'll stay."

Lifting a hand, she touched Rowan's cheek. He turned his head and pressed his lips to the inside of her palm. Tears pricked at her eyes. She knew Rowan loved her as much as she loved him; he just didn't want to admit it to himself.

The sound of house phone ringing ended their tender moment. Recognizing the ringtone she set for her parents, Casey's brows drew together in confusion. It would be six in the morning in Hawaii. Rowan reached for the phone and handed it to Casey.

"Hello?" Casey answered.

The roar of the background noise of sirens and shouting made it near impossible to hear what her father was saying. Her mother's sobbing made Casey go cold. Finally, she made out her father's strained words. Never in her life had she heard her father so close to tears.

"Maka, come home. Keo's house was burnt to the ground. They found his body inside."

---

Lilith woke up in a cold sweat. She had a nightmare that Casey, Keo, and Rowan were all dead. Her sudden movement in bed woke up Derek. He reached for her and pulled her close. Kissing the top of her head, he muttered something in his sleep roughened voice.

"Hm?" She asked, trying to relax in his warm embrace and forget that awful dream.

"I asked if it was a nightmare. You're trembling." His arms tightened around her.

If Lilith could melt into Derek's arms, she would have. She wanted to be completely pressed up against him until they dissolved into each other. During the past weeks, she found herself getting peeks of the Roderick she used to know centuries ago. He still said charming things that caught her off guard and got that boyish look of delight when he found something funny. Lilith was fascinated by all the different expressions that crossed his face.

She was still in love with Derek.

"I'm worried about Casey, Rowan, and Keo. After what Elizabeth told us, I've been uneasy." Lilith replied as she turned in his arms. She couldn't see his face in the dark, but she knew he was there.

"Come here." Derek hugged Lilith to him. "We can't be in hiding or living in fear forever. Elizabeth isn't the only one working on some things. Rowan has called a gathering of the clans. We're hoping they'll be able to help locate the threat." Since these murderous bastards were out to kill all shifters, Derek was sure that would get the attentions of the clan leaders. "I won't let anything happen to you."

"Roderick," Lilith whispered as she cupped his face. "I love you." She wanted him to know that. The gods only knew what would happen next and she couldn't stand the thought of never telling him that she loved him.

There was a long silence before Derek inhaled deeply and hugged her tighter. "I love you, Lilith. It has always been you." He tried damn hard to forget about her through the centuries, but she was never far from his thoughts.

Lilith smiled widely at the admission of his mutual feelings. At fifteen, she used to dream about hearing those words, but the dream didn't come close to the happiness she felt in that moment.

She gasped softly when Derek pulled her on top of him. His erection pressed between her legs, she rocked on him. With a groan, he barely caught Lilith's playful words that something else of his seemed to love her too.

Crushing her lips on his, Lilith didn't give Derek a chance to reply. She continued to grind on him as his hands skimmed over her satin covered skin to cup her breasts. After this, he was going to demand they both sleep naked for efficiency's sake.

In a quick move, Derek sat up and held Lilith to him as he reached down and slipped her panties to the side. He loved that she was always so wet for him. His fingers slid over her slicked lips before he began to play with her clit.

Since knowing that Elizabeth could probably hear them, Lilith did her best not to make a sound. She buried her face in Derek's neck as she rose on her knees slightly to give him better access. When Derek's fingers stilled, she nipped at his neck.

"Don't tease." She whispered, realizing Derek's tension at the last moment.

Frozen still, Derek's arousal was completely doused when he smelled smoke. It wasn't a fire kind of smoke either. Then he noticed the tendrils of chemically-infused gas crawled up from under the door. He reached for the sheet to cover Lilith's mouth, but it was already too late. The room started to become fogged. His movements became slowed as Lilith slumped against him. Men wearing gas masks burst into the room just as Derek lost consciousness.

---

Elizabeth woke up with a bitching headache. The bright lights didn't help either. She was a little disoriented until memories came rushing back, followed quickly by her rage. Men had broken into her home. Mind controlling the youngest in the group had been easy. She made the boy turn on the other men, shooting a few with those horse tranquilizers before his teammates shot back. One, maybe two tranquilizers, she could still function, but not the four or five darts shot into her. Obviously the men were there to capture, not kill.

Looking at her surroundings, she was drowned in white. She tested the strength on the beeping device that kept her wrists bound and knew she couldn't break the damn thing without tearing off both her hands. Her handcuffs weren't the only high-tech looking piece of equipment. The door almost blended into the wall if it wasn't for the tiny window. She walked over to the door and pressed her hands against it. Before she could try, an unfamiliar voice over the speakers spoke to her.

"I wouldn't try that. Its Inconel 625. I don't think even vamps have the strength to break that down. My employer would like to request a meeting with you."

Elizabeth cocked a brow. "And if I refuse?"

"Then I guess, we'll just have to torture your friends for information we both know that they don't have."

"With an invitation like that, how can I refuse?" She said coolly, looking straight at the camera in the opposite corner.

There was a pause. "Excellent. I'll send down a couple escorts. Don't try anything."

Five minutes later, the doors unlocked and two heavily armed men had her exit her cell. She followed them down a long hall up to an elevator. The doors opened to a big study with large windows. Temporarily blinded by the flood of sunlight, Elizabeth had to squint to see the silhouette of a man.

The man had his back to her. She frowned as he waved at the two men to leave. Pressing a button, blinds came over all the windows and dimmed lights turned on. Her eyes adjusted.

The man spoke as he turned around, his voice all too familiar. "Elisabeta."

Elizabeth's shock kept her speechless before she could finally force out one word in Romanian. "Unchi."