The Making of Vampires Ch. 09

Stephany stuttered a moment and then said, "But shouldn't I get paid the same for doing the same job a man can do? I actually am one of a small group that can do certain things in chemistry that others can't. Shouldn't I get paid as much as the men who can do the same or less than me?"

August asked, "Less than you? You don't appear to be arrogant."

Stephany answered, "It is empirical. I have scores and accomplishments to prove my statement."

Gabriel asked, "And do you get paid equal to the men?"

Stephany nodded, "As far as I know, I do."

Martin said, "We have three women on the SWAT teams. Each has asked for transfers off August's squad because we wouldn't allow them to enter a dangerous situation first or they felt we treated them differently because they were women."

Stephany's heart continued to race as she asked, "How did you treat them differently?"

Martin replied, "We opened doors for them. We pulled out their chairs. We would lift the heavy stuff for them." He shrugged. He was from an old school or more precisely, from an ancient school, where men provided everything and treated women differently.

Stephany's brows creased in thought as she tried to find a way to share her opinions in a diplomatic manner without offending the Morsus brothers. "They passed the qualifications to be a member of SWAT; doesn't that prove they are your equal?"

Martin said, "They get paid the same. Isn't that what matters?"

Stephany lost her patience, as she said, "No. That isn't all that matters because you are still discriminating against them. You are preventing them from participating fully in their career by your actions."

Martin asked, "We call it manners. So do the men you encounter at work treat you exactly the same as they do the men?"

Stephany opened to her mouth to answer, but stopped. The various generals assigned to supervise her work talked softer to her than they did the men. They smiled more at her than they did the men. They shook her hand gentler than they did with the men. They sent her emails informing her of extra items they were sending her in the next supply drop that were just for her, such as chocolates or gourmet coffees. Similar things happened in the dessert with the soldiers who would go out of their way to help her in some manner. At the university, she thought the difference in treatment was due to her young age, but now she didn't know.

It wasn't until Stephany felt a hand touch hers that she remembered her company and her location. She cleared her throat and said haltingly, "Well, I work alone, so it wouldn't be a fair comparison." She almost cringed at the lame answer and hoped the Morsus brothers didn't recognize the unsaid lie. The brothers kept the smiles off their faces. They were cops and recognized evasive answers.

While Stephany was still distracted in thought, Gabriel pulled a small wax object in the shape of a shield from his pocket. He hid it under the table and broke it in half releasing the magic of protection spell. He reached over to touch Stephany's hand as if comforting her, but she looked up quickly and focused her attention on him. The vampires heard her heart beat faster, they detected her blood pressure rise, and they smelled the adrenal flooding her body announcing her fear.

She kicked out scooting her chair away from the table and harshly whispered, "I know the feel of magic. How the hell do you have access to it?...or should I ask what are you that you have access to it?"

Audrey, one of the baristas, called from behind the counter, "Dr. Tinkerton, is everything okay?" She kept her eyes on the table just in case there was trouble.

Gabriel lowered his voice as if to calm her. "Stephany, humans have access to magic. It is just a protection spell."

Stephany called over her shoulder, "It's okay, Audrey. Everything is okay." She would not have anyone placed in danger on her behalf, especially with magic involved. Then she lowered her voice as she said, "I noticed you specified humans. The implication is that you are not."

Martin asked, "What else is there?" He had heard Gabriel's gaff and felt this was the best way to cover and possibly minimize Stephany's concern and her growing tension.

Stephany slowly stood. "You tell me, Marty." Then she turned her attention back to Gabriel. "I don't want your magic. Don't cast it on me." She backed away from the table forgetting her coffee.

Martin watched as she reached the door and pushed it open leaving the building. "Well, damn it. It would be much easier to keep her safe with the use of magic." He turned to his brothers and saw the look of worry on Gabriel's face. "Hey, we'll find another way. How were you to know she would feel the magic?"

Gabriel said, "That isn't what concerns me. She knows the feel of a spell, which means she has had experience with it. We can assume the caster was her vampire friend Henry. My concern is that we don't know what spells he cast on her nor why he did." He looked at the now worried faces of his brothers.

***

Able Creed sat hidden in a tree a few houses down from the Tinkerton home. He expected another night of boredom and he was correct. He had tolerated the indignity of the surprise visits of Martin's generals, Marcus and Suwon, because he feared fussing would result in a visit from Martin himself. There was always one visit each night. At least now, they knew he was capable and he would soon get the recognition that he deserved. He may be one of the youngest, but that didn't mean he would be the last in line for advancement in the vampire clan.

Creed looked up at the stars. It would be hours before one of the generals came to relieve him. He didn't bother trying to learn their names. They were Martin's henchmen and they didn't really deserve his respect. Martin was, after all, not in charge. His sire, August was in charge. His plan had him outranking Martin's men very quickly so why bother wasting time on their names.

He looked around and decided to take a break. Suwon had already checked up on him. Creed was doing nothing, but wasting his time anyway. He would go to the nearest club, pick a woman, have his way with her, and feed. He would be back in plenty of time before the next general got there.

He took a final glance back at the darkened house. Vincent, the father, was out playing cards with some friends. Tony, her bother, was working with Martin and August. The older two sisters were out. Stephy, he hated the nickname that made her sound like some child, was asleep. She was pretty enough, but a bit too independent for his taste. He missed the days when women stayed in the home, where they belonged.

For an instant, he had the desire to turn her and bind her to him. That would prove that Martin wasn't even in charge of the soldiers as everyone pretended. The only thing that stopped him was the knowledge that August would be upset if his youngest brother lost another woman. It would eliminate a third of his competition for advancement in the clan because Martin's men would follow him into darkness or die in a civil war. Creed could claim that he lost control near her.

He dropped from the tree and sped his way to the nearest club for a bit of amusement.

***

Carol was very proud. She found a couple of men in very fine suits, much better than her fiancé could afford, outside a swanky hotel. It hadn't taken long to wrangle dinner invitations from the men.

Now, they were going back to the Tinkerton home, but she would be reserved. She would play hard to get. Carol considered herself a classy woman and needed to dump her fiancé before sleeping with another man.

Jennifer unlocked the door and Carol took hold of the arms of both men, giving them her best smile. They smiled back and the one named William winked at her. William was meant for Jennifer because he wasn't as cute as Curtis was. Curtis was taller with a dark full head of hair, a very handsome man.

After the click of the deadbolt, William opened the door, holding it open for the women to enter. He exchanged a glance with Curtis who gave a slight nod. He closed the door and then walked over to the open curtains and closed them. Glancing around, he made sure this room was not visible to anyone outside.

Curtis pulled out a gun, as did William. Carol laughed as she tried to put her arm around Curtis. She didn't find this amusing, but would play along with the joke. The punch caught her off guard and she fell several feet back where she lay on the floor, dazed. Jennifer stood motionless with her eyes wide with fright.

Curtis said, "Where's your sister, Stephany?"

Carol couldn't speak through the cloud of fog in her mind. She barely registered the words. Jennifer tried to speak, but after only managing a squeak, she pointed up the steps.

William walked quickly up the stairs. All the doors were shut so he asked, "Which door?" He wasn't worried about running into the men, the house had been watched, and they followed the sisters after the men had left. They followed the sisters and approached them outside an expensive hotel pretending they were staying there.

Carol mumbled, "To the left. The last door on the left."

William quickly moved to the door. He opened it quietly keeping his gun at the ready. He saw her. The light from the hallway revealed her sleeping face. He smiled and then sat on the bed. She continued to sleep until he tried to move the covers lower to see what she wore to bed.

Stephany opened her eyes expecting to see her brother or father, but she didn't recognize the man sitting on her bed. As she sat up, Stephany saw the pistol in the man's hand. It wasn't pointed at her, but the hand holding it was resting on his leg and could easily aim it in her direction. He gave her half a smirk, lifted the gun to make sure she caught the threat, and leaned in to kiss her.

Stephany twisted away from him, trying to get to her bedroom window. The man grabbed her hair and yanked her painfully back to the bed. He slapped her hard causing her to see stars.

William sighed. "As much fun as this is, we don't have time for foreplay." He allowed his eyes to scan her body. She wore a plain red t-shirt and white silky panties. Then he grabbed her arm, lifting her from the bed.

William carried Stephany, nearly dangling by her left arm, down the stairs. The way he held onto her hurt. Stephany couldn't get any leverage to fight the guy. She barely got her toes on the steps as she hanged from his hand.

The scene at the bottom of the stairs wasn't comforting. Another man held a gun pointed at Carol and Jennifer. The man smiled at her and held out a zip tie to his friend.

William said, "Stephany, put your hands behind your back." He lowered her to the floor.

Stephany kicked back slamming her heal into his shin. Now that she had leverage, she recalled the hand-to-hand combat knowledge given to her from Henry's spells. After she almost died in the desert, Henry placed hand-to-hand fighting techniques, including blade use, in her mind, as he didn't have months to train her.

William let go of her arm as he hopped back on one foot. She turned allowing her momentum to add force as she fisted her hand and swung it hard into his abdomen. She smiled inwardly as he doubled over. Then she felt a jolting pain, a white flash, and then she remembered nothing.

Curtis caught her limp body, laughing, "She is going to be fun after the boss is finished with her." He had hit her head with the butt of his gun. William grabbed her hands, placed them behind her, and slipped on the zip tie.

Curtis passed her limp form to William and said, "You take her. I'll take care of her sisters."

William threw her over his shoulder and headed to the door. "I can't believe you two thought guys like us could ever be interested in you."

Carol, indignation giving her courage said, "I'm special and any man would be lucky to have me."

William turned at the door and gave her an astonished look. "No man is looking for a woman who will cheat on him with the first guy she sees outside a hotel." He allowed the statement to settle and when he saw the shock on her face said, "It's our job to know about the mark and the people around her." He passed through the door and walked quickly to the car.

Curtis aimed his gun at Jennifer's stomach and pulled the trigger. Jennifer dropped and whimpered. Then he aimed at Carol's midsection and pulled the trigger as she opened her mouth to talk. She fell back with a grunt. Then he walked calmly to the door and left.

***

Able Creed chose a different tree to sit in, one closer to the house. He moved to get comfortable and that is when the scent hit him. Blood. There was a lot of blood. His eyes moved to the Tinkerton home where the scent originated. Dread filled him and he closed his eyes to calm himself.

He was dead. He knew he was dead. Martin had told him what would happen if he failed. The generals told him. Marcus told him. Suwon didn't tell him but she made sure to carve a wooden stake in his presence whenever possible.

Creed had to flee. If the woman at the club had performed better, he would have gotten back sooner and could have prevented this. He wanted to kill her, but he didn't have time. He had to leave. He dropped from the tree and disappeared into the darkness.

***

Tavian Truman could detect blood nearly two blocks from the Tinkerton home and sent a message to Martin. Boss, there is a lot of blood coming from your bride's house.

Martin, who had been sitting at the weight bench, immediately launched to his feet. His eyes found August and, not caring if there were any humans present, used his preternatural speed and slammed his brother into the wall. Cracks formed from the impact.

Martin's eyes burned into his brother as he said, "There is blood in the Tinkerton home. Unless your man has given his life to defend Stephany, all hell will break loose. Prepare you men for civil war or surrender. It is up to you."

August said nothing. He knew his man wasn't dead. He would have felt the loss of connection, but he had never worked at their link, so he wasn't able to get a location on the man or to read his thoughts at this time. He knew his leadership and life were at risk. August knew he put his trust and support in the wrong vampire and that vampire failed.

Martin released his grip and turned taking inventory of the men in the room. Bobby saw the confrontation. Gabriel walked in responding to the emotional blast from his younger brother. Gabriel shrugged, walked to the spider web cracks on the wall, and cast a spell erasing the evidence of the conflict.

***

Flashing lights from a dozen cop cars surrounded the captain's house. Carol and Jennifer left in ambulances. Jennifer was unconscious and Carol panicked requiring sedation. Martin stood outside the house with his brothers. His anger growing, especially against his oldest brother.

Martin issued a death sentence for Able Creed and divided the warriors into two groups. The youngest half of his warriors left immediately to hunt down the man who allowed danger near Stephany. The eldest, the strongest, members of the clan awaited orders to help in the rescue of Stephany Tinkerton. Most of the spell casters would remain in the chambers. Only a handful would participate in the rescue, the strongest.

Max Uberman walked from the shadows. "We can't find her trail. It leads to the curb and then vanishes. Even if she got into some type of vehicle, we could track it, but we cannot perceive anything at the curb."

Gabriel said, "Magic. The reason you would not be able to detect anything would be due to magic." He looked around at the vampires mixed among the crowd and said, "I need to get back to the chambers to use my magic. I need something of Stephany's in order to locate her."

Gabriel walked to the house pulling out his badge as he did. He showed it to the uniformed officers at the door who allowed him entry. The captain stood, arms crossed and jaw clenched, listening to the investigating detective from the Major Case Squad as the man explained everything they knew of the situation. Tony stood at his side.

The captain looked up to see Gabriel, from the Homicide Squad, and his face fell. Gabriel shook his head and said, "No, her body has not been found and she is still considered abducted. I just wanted to have your permission to look around. Maybe I might see something that could help."

Vincent Tinkerton took a deep breath and said, "I'm not turning away any help, but you can't neglect any of your current cases."

Gabriel nodded once and said, "Absolutely Captain. I think you should know, Sir, that everyone wants to help and officers are asking their informants if there is any word on the street." Then he turned toward the stairs. He would go into her room to get an item of hers.

Gabriel looked around the room. The forensic techs moved carefully dusting for prints, photographing every inch of the room, and spraying the room with luminal. He pulled out his phone and took some pictures of the room as well. He didn't really need them, but it would account for his presence.

He could detect Stephany's scent, her perfume, and the chemical smell of her cosmetics. Gabriel could also detect the foreign odor of a man. It wafted through the room, but the strongest concentration was from the bed. Fortunately, he could tell the man hadn't violated Stephany, not in this room, but he had no idea what took place after the man removed her.

He slowly moved to her dresser where her cosmetics set covered in a silver dusting powder. The evidence the forensic team had collected prints. He saw a few flat cases, which he knew from experience with Sophia, probably contained some type of powder. He saw many lipstick tubes and he doubted any would notice the removal of one. He purposely bumped the desk knocking several to the carpeted floor.

He acted shocked and said, "Damn, did I mess this up?"

A female tech looked up for a second and turned back to her dusting, as she said, "No worry Detective Morsus. We are finished with that area and the photographs will show where everything was."

Gabriel knelt to pick up the cosmetics and said, "Thank goodness. I can't believe I did such a rookie mistake."

The woman answered, "Everyone is a bit off their game. It's the captain's house. None of us ever expected this."

Gabriel pocketed a tube of lipstick as he replaced the other items to the top of the dresser. "I guess you are right on that one. It feels even worse because we knew her."

The woman looked up slowly. "Detective, you probably shouldn't refer to Dr. Tinkerton in the past sense. Unless you know something we don't."

Gabriel walked to the door. "You're right. Sorry about that. No, I don't know anything at all about her fate," he said honestly. As he descended the stairs, the realization that he already thought of her as dead hit him hard, but he must have realized that. He made his spell casters prepare spells to immobilize and destroy a vampire, but he had referred to Able Creed when assigning the tasks. He now believed those spells would have to target his younger brother when they found her remains.

***

Stephany's head hurt so badly she felt as if she were rocking. She laid on her side, and wondered what had given her such a bad headache in her sleep. She opened her eyes slowly and grimaced as her vision doubled. She moaned from the pain and tried to move her hand to her head only to realize her hands were stuck behind her. She tried to look behind her at her hands, but froze when she heard a chuckle.

The bed behind her dipped and a body pressed against hers. "Hello, sweetheart. I was worried you would not wake up."

He rolled her onto her back, causing pain as Stephany's weight pressed against her hands and arms. She saw a stranger, a naked man, with a malevolent smile. Behind him was a circular window. She smelled the salt air and realized the rolling sensation was from being on a boat. The stranger stroked her face with one hand, giving her shivers. Then she noticed the other arm ended in a stump above where his elbow should be.