The Slayers Ch. 03

She took the necklace from around her neck, kissed Justin's wedding band and took the keys to the padlocks in her hands. Her hands were shaking so hard that she almost dropped the chain. She tried to put the first key in the lock, missed it and had to try again. Ten minutes and three tries later, the chest was open. She almost slammed it shut when she saw the cloth covered weapons. Biting back a sob, Winona reached into the chest and began to take the weapons out and laying them on the bed one at a time.

Justin would be angry with her. The one thing that he had drilled into her was that their weapons must be kept maintained at all times. She could imagine him looking at the weapons on the bed and then at her. His pale blue eyes would be filled with disappointment. He would also be disappointed in the way that she had hidden. He would see it as a dereliction of duty.

"You would be right on all accounts," she murmured as she began to take the weapons out of the thick material. When they were unwrapped, she touched each piece gently as if it were a lover. Her eyes flashed as she came to a decision. She would use Justin's weapons. If she died, it would be fighting with his sword. She knew that she could handle it. Justin had made her practice with his as much as he did with hers.

""Winnie," he said, "You never know when you may have to use my weapon so stop griping and get to work."

Winona laughed out loud. Most of the time she griped just to yank his chain. The laughter turned into sobs. She still missed him. Part of her prayed that he really was alive somewhere and didn't know how to get home. She wiped away her tears, went back to the chest and took out the honing and cleaning equipment. As she sat down, she wondered if Jian would oppose to another workout partner.

****

Brittney was up early. The nervousness was back in full force. What she wanted to do was to go for a run, but she hated running alone. It was barely seven, but she was almost sure that Jian was up. Taking a chance, she decided to call him. After all, the worst thing that he could say would be no. Jian answered on the first ring.

"Brittney?"

"Yeah- hey are you up for a run this morning? I would have gone alone, but it's no fun."

"I would enjoy that," Jian replied. "But under two conditions."

"What are they?" Brittney asked warily.

"One- you complain until we reach the two mile mark and two we add another mile to the run."

"Six miles?" Brittney asked. "We just ran five yesterday."

"This is true," Jian conceded. "It is time for us to push ourselves even harder-unless you do not feel able..."

"Jian Bo! Do you think that I was born yesterday?" Brittney snapped. "I can run six miles no problem! So stop trying to dare me into doing it. What else you got?"

Jian chuckled. "I am glad to hear that you can take whatever I throw at you. I will be there in fifteen minutes."

After she hung up, Brittney wondered what she had been thinking. She should have known that he would say yes to the run. Grumbling, she changed into her running clothes and was already doing warm ups when Jian got there.

"Good morning Brittney," he said with a smile.

"Whatever," Brittney snipped. "What are you grinning about?" she asked when she saw his smile.

"I am glad that you are keeping your part of the bargain- shall we begin?"

Brittney complained until they got to the two mile mark although she had been the one to suggest the run. By the time they got back to her apartment building; she was panting. Jian on the other hand had barely broken a sweat.

"Why aren't you breathing hard?" Brittney asked through her pants.

"After we do our two mile run after work, I do seven more miles," Jian replied.

"Seven- that's nine miles a day! Will you run again tonight?"

"No, I want to begin working with you on using real weapons," Jian replied. "The most difficult thing will be the psychological proponent. The replicas are of the same weight and make as the real ones. Your mind will have to make the transition from fake to real. You already have the skills."

The thought of finally being able to practice with the real weapons made Brittney smile. It was even enough to make her for get her nervousness. Jian smiled back at her happy that she was happy.

"Excuse me," he said with mock severity, "I do not hear any grumbling."

"Whatever," Brittney said and took off running."

After the run, Jian left Brittney at her apartment and ran home to see Mrs. Nolan waiting for him. The first thing that he noticed was that the smell of death was gone. She was indeed a powerful shifter if she could mimic smells. He greeted her warmly as he always did and invited her in for tea. To his surprise; she accepted. He pulled a folding chair from a closet, offered it to her and went to change. When he returned, it was Winona Trump sitting in the chair.

"Skip the tea," she said brusquely. "I'm going to get straight to the point. This morning I was reminded of what I was. You could have done that, but you didn't. You were going to let my guilt and sense of duty do that for you. It wouldn't have worked and I still would have left."

"No you wouldn't have," Jian said as he sat on the floor in front of her. "If you had left, you would have returned. Your sense of honor and duty would not have allowed you to stay away. The thought that Justin would feel shame also would have brought you back."

Winona couldn't deny anything that Jian said so she changed the subject to the reason for her visit.

"As I was saying, I was reminded of what I am-a slayer. I am here to offer you my services in whatever way that you need them. In light of that, I was wondering if I could train with you and your mate. It's been a while since I've wielded a sword or fought hand to hand."

"Thank you for your offer of acceptance and I accept on behalf of myself and my mate. Of course you are welcome to train with us. We have just finished a six mile run and tonight Brittney will be using real weapons for the first time. You are welcome to join us."

"Thank you," Winona said with a bow of her head. When she looked up, she was once again the old woman.

Jian walked her to her house. Once there, she turned to look at him.

"I'm sorry that I didn't reveal myself sooner."

"There was no need for you to have done so," Jian replied. "You revealed yourself at the appropriate time. I do have something that I would like for you to do tonight. When you meet Brittney, see if she is able to change forms like you can. If she can, I want you to teach her how to do it."

"I can do that," Winona said, "but why can't you do it? Your ability is even stronger than mine."

"Brittney needs a female to relate to," Jian replied. "I also think that it will do you some good as well."

"I'll do it," Winona said as she walked away.

*****

Twelve fifteen and Jian was at Brittney's door. She came out dressed in a light pink sundress and pink flip-flops. Jian eyed her appreciatively. One of the things that he liked about her was that she didn't feel the need to show her body. He knew some of the female mates wore clothes that left nothing to the imagination. Why their mates allowed it he didn't know. There was one female mate-Arden who dressed so provocatively that an unmated male- Baron offered to take her home with him. Adam, Arden's mate took great exception to this and a fight broke out. Jian who happened to be nearby broke the fight up.

"What is this nonsense?" he demanded. "We are brothers who are to fight together and not each other."

Adam told Jian what happened and waited. Jian looked at each male and then the female that had been the bone of contention. He addressed the unmated male first after taking them to an empty room.

"You are in the wrong. You know that she is a mated female but you made an inappropriate request. I heard you from where I was sitting. It matters not how she is dressed- she is the mate of another. You will apologize to her and then to Adam."

"I apologize," Baron said humbly.

"I accept your apology on behalf of myself and my mate," Adam said with a nod to his head.

Jian then turned to Adam. He took a moment to think about what he was going to say. He was about to insult both Adam and his mate. He excused Baron and turned his attention to them.

"Adam, as you are aware; your mate and her actions are your responsibility. How you choose to handle that responsibility is your choice. Along with that choice comes consequences. You have decided that the way in which your mate dresses is appropriate. As I said, Baron was wrong to approach her as he did; but what of her responsibility in this? You were prepared to fight for her which is as it should be, but..."

"She should be allowed to dress any damn way she pleases!" Adam broke in his voice furious. "You're making this her fault!"

Jian didn't flinch as the slayer a good five inches taller and several pounds heavier than him raged on. He waited until he was through and then continued.

"Yes she has the right to dress as she pleases," Jian replied. "But she does not have the right to cause disharmony amongst us. Do not say that she is mated, we all know that, but Adam; many of the males who look at her are not. They are not seeing a female who is mated; they are seeing a woman flaunting her sexuality. That may not be what she is doing, but that is what they perceive."

The conversation ended with Adam taking Arden home. They weren't at the next two gatherings, but when they came to the next one, Arden was fully clothed. She still exuded sexuality, but it was tamped down by the clothing.

"Hey," Brittney said as she got into the car.

"Hello- you look very nice," Jian replied realizing that aside from their work out clothes, he had never seen her dressed in anything other than slacks or jeans. He began to feel a tingle in his groin that he hadn't felt in four years and ignored it. There would be plenty of time for that later.

As he drove, he told her that another woman would be joining them for their training sessions.

"Who is she?" Brittney asked unaware of the jealous tone of her voice. "How do you know her?"

Jian looked over at her and smiled basking in the jealousy.

"She is from the neighborhood. Her name is Winona Trump."

"Is this Winona married?" Brittney asked and then she blushed. She was acting like a jealous girlfriend. "Never mind, it doesn't matter so when does she start?"

"Tonight," Jian replied. "You mentioned something about your sister's husband wanting to train with us- he is also welcome."

"Well, they aren't married although I don't know why," Brittney said, "but he's a nice guy and he'll be thrilled."

The closer they got to the Roosevelt Boulevard part of the city, the more anxious Brittney became. She was to the point of nausea. Jian looked over at her, reached over and took a hand into his. Brittney jumped in surprise and then held his hand tightly. The nervousness was turning into fear that she didn't understand.

Jian pulled up in front of the house and waited. Something was wrong. The vibes coming from the house were-wrong. He quickly got out of the car before Brittney could open the door, ran to her side of the car and stood in front of the door so that she couldn't get out. He sniffed the air and grimaced. He finally moved from the car so that Brittney could get out.

"What the?" and then she vomited.

Jian put a cool hand on the back of her neck and held it there until she was done.

"I'm sorry..."

"Don't be, it is in reaction to this place," Jian replied looking around him. If he had been alone, he would have misted and gone into the house alone. He was going to tell Brittney to wait by the car but knew that it would have been pointless. Now wasn't the time to exert his authority.

Taking her hand, they walked up to the house where Brittney stopped. Why didn't she smell food cooking? She could always smell the food from the front door. Alarmed, they walked to the front door and rang the doorbell. After ringing it several times, Brittney pounded on the door.

"Maybe they are not home," Jian said hoping that he could convince her to leave. He didn't want her to go inside the house.

"They're home," Brittney said turning around so that she faced the street. "See that silver Jetta? That's their car. Come on, maybe they're out back and can't hear us."

Jian followed Brittney to the back yard which was empty. A faint odor that he knew all too well assailed his nose. A pain shot through his heart in anticipation of Brittney's pending pain and horror. He moved so that he was as close to her as possible without actually touching her.

"The patio door is wide open," she murmured. "They never leave it open."

She walked in, followed by Jian and looked around. The kitchen was immaculate. Ingredients for one of the vegetarian dishes sat on the counter by the sink, the coffee pot was full-Paul liked a cup of coffee even before he kissed Amanda good morning and his cup sat beside it unused.

"Amanda! Where are you?" Brittney called out as she walked through the house.

A few seconds later, they heard a low mewling sound coming from upstairs.

"Let me go first," Jian said moving Brittney behind him. Brittney allowed herself to be moved and put her hands on Jian's waist peeking around him as they climbed the stairs.

"Paul? Amanda?" she called out. "Are you guys alright?"

They followed the mewling sounds that had gotten louder. The anger, grief and pain in the sounds gave Brittney the chills. They stopped in front of Paul and Amanda's room. Suddenly, Brittney didn't want to go any further. Tears were already streaming down her face; her throat was so tight that she could barely swallow.

"Wait here," Jian said softly as he touched her hands.

"No," she said softly but firmly. "I'm going with you."

Jian nodded, gave her hands a squeeze and slowly opened the door.