The Slayers Ch. 08

"Are you guys alright?" Winona asked as she put an arrow back in its quiver.

"We're fine," Jian replied as he put an arm around Brittney. He could feel her trembling and knew that she was fighting for control. The first kill was always the hardest for the female mate. They were in for a long, restless night in which Brittney would reply the scene over and over in her head. But he had another question- other than the couples trailing them, who knew that they were going running? An ugly thought crossed his mind, but he discarded it. In the entire history of the slayers, no one had ever aided the enemy. It was impossible. A slayer wouldn't be able to willingly betray one of their own. That left coincidence and he didn't quite believe that either. There was another option he realized. They were being watched by humans and not the vampires. It could be any human that would recognize a slayer when they saw one.

Those things could be thought about later. At the moment Brittney was his priority. Winona, Justin and another couple escorted them home. Both couples decided to stay so that Jian could give all of his attention to Brittney. Both female mates had vivid memories of how they had felt after their first kill. It was especially hard for those of them in the medical field as Kim the mate to one of the other slayer couples was. It had taken her weeks to come to grips with the fact that she had killed and that she was a killer. It was only through her mate's patience that she came to accept it and learned to keep that part of her life separate from her life as a nurse.

As soon as they were home, Jian took Brittney to their bedroom and led her to the master bathroom. He started the shower, undressed her and then himself and took her into the shower. He didn't speak as he held her against him while the hot water washed over them. In a few minutes, the stink of the rogue blood was washed down the drain.

"I killed someone," Brittney whispered against his shoulder.

Jian rubbed her back and waited.

"It was a monster, but at one time it had been human," she continued. "Maybe in its human life it was a good person. Maybe it was someone's father or brother and I killed him. All I could think of was that this could be the thing that killed Amanda. The thought that maybe it had no choice didn't cross my mind and if it had... it wouldn't have mattered. Before tonight I had never killed anything- not even a bug and ..."

Jian held her closer as she cried and tried to reconcile what she had done with the kind person that she was.

"Beloved listen to me," Jian said when he was sure she was done talking. "The first is always the hardest..."

"Was it for you?" She asked sniffling.

"No because this is all that I know. From the time we are able to walk we are taught what our duty is. It is built into our being. We are taken hunting as soon as we are old enough so that we learn to deal with our first kill when we are boys."

"Hunting?" Brittney asked. "What did you hunt?"

"We are given to a very experienced slayer couple," Jian explained. "We lived with, trained and hunted with them."

"How old are you when this training starts?" Brittney asked not sure that she really wanted to know.

"Seven, but remember we are not human children," Jian replied. "By the age of seven, we have the mentality of a fifteen year old. Our mental capacities far exceed our physical build. We look like normal seven year old children but we are far from normal. Turn around and let me wash your hair."

"Seven?" Brittney asked shocked as she turned around.

"Yes, by the time we are eighteen; we are skilled slayers and have the mental aptitude of a mature adult. By the time we are twenty-five, we are as you see us. So it is understandable that our female mates have such a difficult time accepting their new roles."

"How do I accept this?" Brittney asked. "How does anyone accept this?"

"I guess acceptance is the wrong word," Jian replied as he gently washed her hair with a fruity scented shampoo. "It's learning how to live with and incorporating it into your human life and ideas that is difficult. Although you for all practical purposes are no longer human, you have human emotions and you always will. It is those emotions that balance us males. We have the capability of becoming cold and jaded. That is why we seek another mate if our mate dies."

"But an eternity of killing..."

"It isn't always like this," Jian said. "There could be years of inactivity before we are called. I just happened to be here when this thing started. The important thing is that we talk and that you hide nothing from me no matter how small."

He rinsed her hair and began to bathe her as he continued to talk.

"Killing is something that most female mates never get used to. After each encounter they are cared for as I am caring for you now. We will spend as much time as you need alone. If you want to talk to one of the other women, that can be arranged. Whatever you need will be done."

"Am I supposed to be sleepy?" Brittney asked.

"It happens," Jian replied as he turned off the shower and wrapped her and then himself in a towel. "It is your mind telling you that it needs a respite."

"If..." was all she got out before her eyes closed. She wasn't worried about falling; she knew that Jian would catch her. He picked her up, carried her to the mat and gently laid her down on it. He lay next to her, his chest to her back and held her. When she cried or called out, he soothed her with soft words spoken in Chinese until she settled. It was late morning before she fell into a deep sleep.

****

Colt's master watched from a distance. It didn't take him long to realize that while Brittney was a new mate, she was more than capable of defending herself. He hadn't planned on taking the mate of a slayer so soon, but when he received a call that a newly mated pair was in the vicinity- he decided to take a chance and grab the female. He cursed under his breath as he watched the skirmish. He had to admit that the new female slayer intrigued him. She was nervous at first, but then she calmed and actually spoke to the lower rogue that approached her. He was curious as to what she said to it. He would never find out because it was dead.

In retrospect, it was a stupid move on his part but how was he to know how well prepared she was? It wasn't uncommon for a new slayer mate to panic during their first fight. That was why he sent so many of the lower rogues. Numbers tended to unnerve the new mate and the male's attention was divided between her and fighting off the attackers. But not her- she spoke to her mate and he relaxed enough to give his full attention to those attacking him. He had also underestimated the number of slayer couples with them. Why were there so many?

The master took another look at Jian and cursed again. What were the chances that the male slayer would be Jian Bo? It explained why his mate was so well prepared and why there were so many other slayers with them.

"Fuck it!" He swore again regretting his decision to try to take the woman. He was about to call his servants back when more slayers arrived. He knew that there were slayers around; he had counted on it especially after the death of the human female, but so many? When had they arrived and why hadn't he been informed? He would have planned differently had he known. Like Xavier, he didn't suffer fools or incompetence and the fact that he didn't know about the number of slayers was incompetence.

He watched as a female rogue approached the female slayer and paused. Once again, the slayer spoke. The attackers had begun to retreat when the female rogue was hit by an arrow. "Get the fuck out of there!" the master hissed. The wound was meant to maim and not kill. If the slayers took one of them alive, he would have to kill it. But that would leave a psychic trail that would lead directly to him. In fact, he couldn't communicate with them now for that reason. His old heart pounded as he watched the female rogue try to get away only to be shot again with another arrow. This time she fell and to his relief, another rogue picked her up as it ran by.

He abandoned the plan to capture a female slayer for the time being. They would all be hyper vigilant and in the scheme of things, having one didn't really matter. But- he wanted that one. He wanted her for other reasons than finding out information about the slayers. He already knew that she would die before she told him anything. He now wanted her because she belonged to Jian Bo. He hated the Bos' with a passion and to take one of their mates would be an amazing coup. Not for the first time he wondered if it was possible for one such as him to mate with a slayer. What would the children look like? Would they appear as human to those who could see his kind? Where would their natural loyalties lie?

No one knew because it had never been successfully tried. A female slayer had never been caught and male slayers killed themselves before being made to copulate with a female rogue. After a while they stopped trying, but maybe...Later he told himself as he took a last look at Brittney who was in Jian's arms and vomiting.

****

Cherie went to her penthouse confused. This was a new emotion for her. Her life had always been cut and dried. She knew where her loyalties lie- to no one but herself, but now there was the human male. She had never been sexually attracted to a human other than feeding from them and actually found them ugly in an endearing kind of way. Now she was flushed and her nipples ached- a sure sign of arousal. Her tight clothes suddenly felt as though they were suffocating her. She ripped them off, threw them to the floor and tried to steady her nerves. All of this time and she had never been in heat and the one time it was because of a human male.

She walked around the penthouse naked and tried to control her body temperature. Instead of cooling; she got even hotter. At a loss as to what to do, she picked up the phone and called Troy's investigator.

"Get over here now!" she said and slammed down the phone.

Seconds later, Anthony was in her living room. Before he could ask what the problem was, Cherie had him on the floor and was pawing at his clothes. Not one to turn down a free fuck, Anthony helped Cherie undress him. As soon as he was nude, Cherie slammed onto him so hard that he grunted in pain and surprise.

"What the fuck are you waiting for?" she hissed as she rode him hard and fast.

Anthony reached up and grabbed her small breasts that had large pink nipples and squeezed hard.

"Harder..." Cherie screamed as the much needed orgasm approached. She continued to ride him until she had three more climaxes to his two.

"Who's the lucky male?" Anthony asked after Cherie's last orgasm.

"No one," Cherie lied.

"If you say so," he replied, "but I know a female in heat when I see one. Too bad it isn't me that you're hot for, but I don't mind being a substitute until you two get together."

She wanted to refuse, but she knew that she would end up calling him again; but there had to be some rules.

"You cannot come unless I call you and you leave when I tell you to- is that understood?"

"Yes ma'am!" Anthony replied smugly.

"Good and since you're here..."

"What? No breakfast?" He interrupted.

"Fine," Cherie snapped regretting her decision to use the investigator but he was the only one that she could think of. She regretted choosing him for one big reason- if the human male was her mate as she suspected- the investigator would complicate things and make it more difficult to protect the human male.

She poured him a glass of blood and handed it to him without warming it. When he complained, she pointed at the microwave.

"As I was saying," she said, "Since you're here, let's compare notes."

They talked for about an hour before she made the pitch that she follow the detective. To her surprise, he quickly agreed.

"I'd rather follow the female slayer anyway," he replied. "I also think that he wouldn't pick up on you following him as quickly as he would me."

Cheri agreed and then showed him the way out. After Anthony was gone, she realized that she had violated one of her cardinal rules and chose a side. She had just begun a very dangerous game that if she lost... She also knew that the chances that the human male would accept her were slim to none, but that didn't matter.

She took a long shower, put on a set of pink silk pajamas and logged on to her laptop. She updated all of her personal information and made sure that her assets were going to the people that she wanted them to go to. She had no doubt that she would survive- she would, but she reminded herself that she thought that Xavier and those like him were little more than animals pretending to be civilized. Content that all was as she wanted it. She initiated the code which was connected to her cell phone. If she didn't check in at least once in twenty-four hours, her assets would be distributed. On the off chance that she couldn't call in for any reason, she had a separate account set up so she would be alright financially. That done, she set about trying to figure out how to go about helping the human male without him knowing about her.

***

Danielle watched the new and much improved Troy through hooded eyes. This was her fault she thought to herself. She had seen the signs and thought that she had more time. Xavier's request for an alliance had expedited things. She hadn't anticipated that. The two clans had been bitter enemies for centuries and now they were bedmates. Each passing moment took her further away from regaining control. She had begun to resign herself to the fact that she was now nothing more than a basic mate. Troy had made it clear that he was now in full control of the business and their mating and had refused to listen to any of her arguments.

"I gave you a company to run," he told her. "Use your need to control things there, but Danielle, let me remind you of something. As my mate you cannot betray me in any way. You are duty bound to obey me in all things."

"I know this..."

"Good so let me tell you what you may not do," Troy interrupted. "You may not contact Xavier Dubois or any other clan whether it is directly or indirectly without my knowledge and permission. You will not plan and scheme to take control back from me which is where it should have been to begin with. I will no longer address you as mistress but as Danielle. Do you have any questions?"

"Troy," Danielle said softly, "I think that we should talk about this..."

"There's nothing to talk about," Troy said his tone firm. "Do you have any questions?"

"No," Danielle muttered. She had taught him too well and he had been an apt pupil.

"Good, now let's talk about this slayer situation," Troy said patting the empty seat next to him.

Danielle sat down and waited for Troy to speak.

"Someone else is here. I don't know who, but I can feel it. Whoever it is planned the death of a connected human. He didn't plan on the human being related to a slayer nor did he plan on Xavier and me becoming allies."

"He meant to play one against the other," Danielle said.

"Yes, but now that is no longer an option," Troy said. "We must find that rogue before he destroys it if he hasn't been destroyed already. It is the only way that we can find out who this is."

"May I make a suggestion?" Danielle asked.

"I am listening," Troy replied.

"First, be careful of Xavier. I do not trust him to share all that he knows. He has already broken one truce by lying. Secondly, I would suggest that we find out where the leaders of the other major clans are. It might give us a clue as to who we're dealing with."

"I concur," Troy said after a moment of thought. "I will say this," he added. "Xavier has as much to lose as we do. He may have lied during the first truce, but then I would have too; he just beat me to it. Even though we are allies we will never completely trust each other. To do so would be foolish. My guess is that it's one of the Midwest clans, which one I don't know. But I think that he may have made a mistake."

"Do tell," Danielle replied leaning forward.

"A group of lower rogue attacked a slayer and his mate a couple of hours ago."

"Are you serious?" Danielle asked. "What kind of idiot does that? Before we know it the city is going to be swarming with slayers."

"That's the other thing," Troy said. "There's already been an increase in their presence but here's the kicker... the pair that he attacked was no ordinary pair. The male was Jian Bo."

Danielle was speechless. Jian Bo was in Philadelphia? How could they not have known? How long had he been here?

"Fuck me," she murmured as she understood the ramifications of what Troy was telling her. "Do we know where Hsin is?"

"As far as we know he's still in China but I can't swear to it. My question is why we didn't know that Jian was here. I also think that whoever attacked them didn't know who he was attacking. If he had, he wouldn't have done it. I'm going to call Xavier and fill him in..."

"Is that wise?" Danielle asked.

"One of us has to show that we are taking the truce seriously," Troy replied. "So yes it's wise, now if you will excuse me..."

Danielle blinked and bit back a reply. She had never been dismissed by anyone and she didn't like it. She had foolishly thought that Troy was including her in on the decision making process when he wasn't. All he was doing was informing her as a courtesy. She now had an inkling of how Troy must have felt when she did the same to him.

"As you wish," she said with a slight incline of her head.

"Thank you," Troy said with a small smile. "Close the door behind you and be ready for me when I am finished."

"Yes milord," Danielle said softly as she stood. Troy in her opinion was enjoying this too much. He was like a child in a candy store in his demands on her. Sex no longer had the same appeal to her because she was no longer in control- she was being controlled.

As she closed the door, she heard Troy on the phone. She thought about eavesdropping, but he would know. She had the feeling that he would be angry and she wasn't prepared to find out what an angry Troy was like. She knew that he wouldn't physically hurt her- that was prohibited, but there were other ways in which one could be punished. She sighed heavily and went to their rooms to take a bath. She hated her new life.

****

Xavier had just finished another go round with Carmen. He couldn't understand why she wasn't more docile by now. Instead she seemed to be worse. He decided to do an unprecedented fourth exchange and was about to take her throbbing clit into his mouth when there was a tentative tap on the door.

"What?!" he roared.

"I am sorry to ..."

"What is it?" Xavier yelled across the room as he looked at Carmen's glistening jewel. She had been fighting him tooth and nail but he had brought her to climax three times and as working on the fourth.

"Sire- Troy Cross requests to speak with you. He says the matter is urgent."

"I will be there," Xavier replied still looking at Carmen. There was a bright side he decided. She would calm down and he could begin again. "Rest, my dear... I shall return," he said as he kissed and then licked her clit.

"Don't hurry back on my account," Carmen snarled even as she shivered with pleasure and wondered what the big emergency was.

Xavier ignored her and went to his office. Mate or not he didn't trust her. If she was able to fight off the effects of his blood and the mating then what else was she capable of? He closed the door behind him and picked up the phone.

"I trust that this is truly urgent?" he asked his tone clipped in displeasure.

His hand gripped the phone receiver tightly as Troy told him what he knew.