Luke pulled up his phone’s camera and hit the button to flip to the selfie camera as they waited in their base for this mission—an inn in Bonn Germany. He still wasn’t used to looking at the face that stared back. His dark brown hair with a bit of gray at the temples was replaced by sandy blond hair. His nose was smaller with a bit of an upturned end. The beard he’d trimmed had a bit of a reddish tone to it. The eyes though, those were the most difficult. He could see himself in their blue depths, but they weren’t his normal brown. A month after laying down the first pieces of their plan around a table in Pablo’s pub, they were ready to carry out their first strike.
He fidgeted. Though, he’d been able to relax some after they settled at his cottage, their base for the duration, the anxiety had returned in full flush as soon as they departed for Bonn. Sam and Pablo had designated themselves as his keepers for the flight over and the trip to the cottage to establish their base of operations, keeping him entertained and distracted so his anxiety wouldn’t overwhelm him. He’d used to like flying… Who knew if he’d ever get that back? He exhaled noisily.
“Still getting used to the new face?” Sam asked.
“Yeah. You wear one face for two thousand years, and you get a bit comfortable in it. We have the address?” Luke forced his eyes away from the phone’s screen, letting Sam distract his disquieted mind yet again.
“Yes. Pablo’s run through it a few times already. We’re good on the location. Backup teams are in place in case we need them. We’re just waiting on the package to arrive,” Sam said.
She wore tight, black running tights and a matching black shirt. Her black hair was pulled up into a tight bun at the base of her skull. Luke wore a similar dark outfit, as did everyone on their teams tonight. Even though he’d be going in covered, the team had all agreed that Luke should keep his magical mask on at all times unless he was safe at home to prevent any chances of blowing their cover.
Pieter poked his head into the room. “The package is on the move.”
Luke nodded and pulled on the shoulder strap and holster that held the tranquilizer gun. Every member of the extraction teams had one, all of them magically dosed for a werewolf. Pulling on the black sport coat, Luke grabbed a pair of black gloves from the pocket and pulled them on. Together, Luke, Sam, and Pieter trooped out of the small inn and into the rainy night.
Pablo waited out front in Luke’s BMW X5 M. As soon as he saw his friends emerge, he turned on the car. Luke and Sam hopped in the back with Pieter taking shotgun.
“Welcome to my BMW. Please be careful of the upholstery.” Pablo fondled the steering wheel while staring lovingly at it.
Pulling onto the street, Pablo navigated their way through the wet streets of Bonn. When he pulled over and parked, they were a block from the house of Heinrich Netzke’s mistress. They only had to wait for the message from Heidi saying Heinrich was on site.
“So he’s in town for ‘business’? And the business is a mistress?” Sam asked.
“According to Heidi, they do actually conduct business while they’re in town, both business business and pack business for the members who live in the area. She says he’s got a few mistresses spread about,” Pieter replied, rolling his eyes.
“Not one for marital fidelity, is he?” Sam shook her head.
“No. He prefers his non-monogamy to be non-ethical,” Pieter replied.
“He was faithless with us; did you think he’d treat his wife any better?” Luke commented, bitterness seeping into his tone.
Pablo chuckled. “Let’s hope he doesn’t develop a sudden case of the morals when we ask him to spill his guts about his allies.”
“Indeed. His lot usually squeal when it comes down to a choice between their skin or their allies.” Pieter looked like he’d bitten into something bitter. “I never cared much for him. He was always a bit too slick and smarmy.”
“And you’re sure you can trust Heidi?” Sam asked.
They’d never quite received a definitive answer from Pieter about his relationship with Heidi other than his father might have tried to seek a marriage match between them, but it hadn’t worked out.
“Yes. Outside you all and Amiata, I trust her more than almost anyone else. We’ve known each other a long time and know plenty of each other’s secrets. I trust her.” Seeing the looks on everyone’s face, he raised his hand placatingly. “I’ll be cautious and if you feel you’re getting a bad feeling from her, I promise to listen.”
Luke smiled lightly and nodded. “You know you have my trust, Pieter. I’ll lend that to Heidi for now on your behalf, but when we get a moment, I’d love to have a sit down with the beta of the Rhein Pack.”
Pieter jerked, pulling his phone out of pocket. “Speaking of the devil, she says Heinrich has entered the house.”
Sam scowled at Pieter.
“Sorry… The package is in the basket. Remind me why we’re using code words again?” Pieter asked.
“Because it’s fun!” Sam pulled down the black mask to cover her face.
Everyone else followed suit. When they were done, they looked like four bandits ready to rob a bank.
“You’re sure these darts will take out a werewolf?” Pablo asked, pulling his out.
“Oh, yes.” Luke grinned under his mask. “Selene assured me they’ll keep the wolf at bay and accelerate the effect of the tranquilizer.”
“How?” Pablo asked.
“She’s one of the goddesses who took in wolves and made silver their weakness. The silver of her moonlight should be very effective.”
“Will it kill them?” Pieter asked.
“No, it should take them out and leave them unharmed when it wears off.” Luke pulled his tranq gun out. “You ready to do this?”
Locking the car behind them, they strode around the block until they saw the car Heidi had described. The cherries of two lit cigarettes marked the car, two people inside waiting. Keeping their guns hidden, they made their way toward the car. They didn’t seem to be paying attention to their job, the sound of a football match pouring out of their open windows. When Luke and his team neared, Pieter walked out into the street, slipping along the driver side of the cars while Luke stayed close to the passenger side of the parked cars. Luke stepped up to the passenger window as Pieter stepped up to the driver window.
Luke raised the tranq gun.
“What the fuck!” the man yelled in German.
Luke pulled the trigger, putting the dart in the man’s neck. Pieter put his shot into the other man’s shoulder. Luke thought he saw a little flash of silver when the dart hit flesh. The two men struggled to reach for unseen objects. Luke’s target tried going for him while Pieter’s target stuffed a hand into his coat, pulling out a gun until his hand flopped down as the dart took him to unconsciousness. Pieter snagged the gun and tucked it away. Shrugging, Luke reached in and took the gun from the other man while Sam and Pablo blocked the view.
Waving Pieter off the street, they darted through the gate of the suburban house set up for the packleader’s mistress.
“You! Stop!” someone shouted in German.
A tall, muscular looking man reached into his coat, no doubt going for a gun. Heidi, the Rhein Pack’s beta, stepped behind the man and out of way. While he’d tried to tell himself he could trust Heidi, that she’d helped provide information that ultimately led to his freedom, he just couldn’t suppress the surge of distrust at the sight of her. Shaking his head, he forced himself to pay attention to the action.
Sam poked her arm out from behind the tree she hid behind and popped the man with a tranq dart. His hand dropped to his side, and he tumbled to his knees, his muscles losing the battle with verticality. Pieter and Luke grabbed him and dragged him into the shadows, stripping the gun from his loose hand.
Heidi looked down at the downed man then back up at Luke and his friends, then back at her packmate before clearing her throat. “Damn, those darts are fast and effective.”
Luke nodded as Heidi fished a key out of her pocket. As she twisted the key, taking it through the several revolutions required to unlock a European lock, the crew huddled around her. When the door opened, Sam and Pablo swept into the house while Pieter and Luke carried the unconscious man inside. From somewhere upstairs, a woman screamed, and a man cursed in German. Two tranq guns firing stifled their noise. A moment later, Pablo ran downstairs and out the door to bring the BMW around.
Luke and Pieter ran upstairs. Sam was unfolding a large body bag and laying it out on the ground next to the naked body of Heinrich Netzke. Finished with the bag, Sam stepped out of the way, letting Luke put on specially constructed handcuffs and ankle cuffs that would withstand the strength of a werewolf. Pieter and Luke picked up Heinrich and stuffed him in the body bag, then Luke scooped up his scattered clothes and tossed them into the bag after searching the pockets. Zipping the bag shut, Pieter picked up one end and hoisted the bag over his shoulder.
“Let’s get out of here,” Luke said.
Sam nodded, jogging out the door and downstairs. Luke let Pieter go first, then followed him down. When they got to the exit, Heidi was the only person, besides the unconscious man, downstairs; Sam had already left.
“Clear,” she called, stepping behind the BMW and opening the rear hatch. Pieter walked out the door and dumped the unconscious packleader into the back of the Beemer, shutting the hatch.
Luke nodded at Heidi. “Thank you. We’ll be in contact.”
He appreciated her help in planning this operation. It certainly went toward earning some of Luke’s trust, but he still didn’t know how deep of a game she was playing and what her real objectives were. He trusted Pieter but didn’t want to blindly go along with his friend’s trust, not until he’d learned how involved Heidi had been in his abduction.
Heidi nodded, a tight smile on her face. She turned to walk out.
“Sorry about this,” Luke added, raising the tranq gun.
Heidi’s head whipped around. “No…”
Luke put a dart in the cheek of her ass, then stepped forward and caught her before she could fall, laying her on the ground so she wouldn’t hit her head. Pulling the door shut, he smiled under his mask, enjoying the pettiness of tranqing her. She still had a long way to go to earning his trust entirely.
He climbed into the backseat, and Pablo put the car into motion before Luke even finished closing the door.
Pieter waited until Luke had his seatbelt buckled before turning to him. “What the hell? Why’d you tranq Heidi? She helped us out there.”
“It needed to look natural. If Heinrich’s allies in the pack suspect she’s been compromised, then we lose our inside agent.”
Pieter clamped his jaw shut, still glaring at Luke but not pressing the issue.
“She’s unharmed. I covered her safety within the pack, and she can file a complaint with me later.” Luke sagged into his seat, relaxing for the long drive home.
Pieter probably suspected that Luke didn’t entirely trust Heidi and had shot her partially to extract some vengeance, and he wasn’t wrong, but Luke didn’t care. Heidi was playing a deadly game, and she needed allies if her pack found out she’d helped with the abduction of their packleader. When this was all over, he’d apologize to her if his mistrust had been ill-placed. Until then, he assumed she’d eventually betray them when she got what she wanted from them. The silence in the cab of the BMW felt brittle as Pieter stewed, so Luke pulled out his cellphone and played Gotye’s “Hearts A Mess” through the car’s stereo.
* * *
Luke fixed himself a carafe of coffee and grabbed a cup. The click of toenails on the hard floor alerted to him to Brutus’s presence. Luke held the door for the giant dog as they headed out the front of his manor and toward the back cliff wall. The morning sun was high in the sky, for all the good it did behind a thick layer of fall rain clouds. He popped the umbrella open as soon as he stepped away from the awning. He never used an umbrella in Portland. They marked one as a tourist or for ridicule, but in Europe he could walk around and keep his head dry.
He punched in the series of codes to open the shed then the larger door covering the entrance to the cave that led to his Mithraeum. Before he crossed the threshold, a gentle silvery light filled the Mithraeum, spilling into the cave. When his eyes adjusted, he saw a figure sitting on one of the benches.
Luke bowed deeply. “My Mistress.”
She bent her neck gracefully, acknowledging her servant. “Welcome, Lucius.” She gestured toward the bench across from her.
Brutus padded over and snuffled Selene’s hand before laying out of the way. Luke sat, filling the coffee cup, then handed it to the beautiful pale woman with rich, dark hair sitting across from him. Cupping her hands around the steaming cup, she lifted it to her nose and inhaled before taking a sip.
“Ah, this is a worthy beverage.” She smiled and returned the cup to Luke.
Blowing over the cup, he took a sip and cringed from the heat. “Still too hot for my mortal tongue.”
She reached out and laid her hand on Luke's knee. The pain of his scalded tongue receded and disappeared.
He nodded his thanks, blowing over the coffee to cool it down.
“Did your mask work satisfactorily?” the goddess asked.
“Aye, as you promised, as did the darts. They worked perfectly. There’s not a chance they’ll cause harm, is there?” Luke may have enjoyed tranqing Heidi, but after a night of sleep, a bit of guilt weaseled its way into his heart.
“Nay. As long as they don’t combine with a natural health problem, the darts will be most gentle.” She took the offered cup back for another sip.
“Good. Any word on the entity that called itself Zalmoxis?” Luke asked.
“Nay.” Selene sounded frustrated. “My brother and I spoke of it, trying to dredge up old memories to see if he crossed them in life or later. We have few occurrences beyond one of your wiki pages.”
Luke nearly choked on his coffee as he tried to process the goddess’s words. She had used “wiki”—and correctly.
“I have more than oracles available to me in these modern times,” she said pertly, addressing his signs of skepticism. “The Wanderer is trying to locate his master to see if we can get any aid in finding his master’s counterpart.”
Luke’s expression grew pensive. “Do you think it was the Lord of Darkness and Chaos? That it’s taken a corporeal body?”
“If it’s not the creator of the vampires, who could it be?” Draining the last of the cup, she handed it to Luke to refill. “Could it be the body of Zalmoxis?”
“Interesting questions, indeed, worthy of our exploration.” Luke sat, eyes unfocused.
She stared at the coffee cup as Luke held it, absentmindedly staring off and thinking about the goddess’s words.
Noticing her gaze, he blushed and handed the cup over. “My apologies, My Mistress.”
She smiled at him fondly, taking the cup. They sat in silence after that, mulling over their unanswered questions, more popping up without having answered any of the previous ones as they passed the cup back and forth. When the cup needed refilling, Luke poured the last of the carafe into the cup.
“Now, I sense you want to ask me something else.” Selene inhaled the wafting scent before taking a sip.
Luke always had one burning question branded into his mind these days, the one he tried to ignore or hide away—the one that was all-consuming whether in the front of his mind or back—was Roxi OK? He didn’t want to waste the goddess’s time with his mortal pains, not when they had far more pressing issues to deal with.
“Your heart aches, my brave soldier. I know it’s linked with the thoughts in your head, the ones you want to ask.”
He nodded, sighing. “You always could read me well.”
“Sometimes you wear your heart on your sleeve, as the modern saying goes, and I know you well after all this time.”
He plunged on before he could halt himself. “Do you have any updates on Roxi? Can you see her?”
“Not entirely. She did not accept me fully into her heart. I can feel her, but I don’t know where she is. She’s closed herself off. All I can sense is she’s far to the east of us.” Selene seemed sad she wasn’t able to give him better news.
“So still the same. Is she well?” Luke asked.
Shaking her hand, she reached across and grabbed Luke’s hand. “She hurts. The illness and hunger proceeds. I’m sorry I cannot provide better news to you.”
Luke hung his head, staring at the floor between their feet. He set down the cup of coffee and took the goddess’s other hand, then raised his eyes to her. “Please, if you can look out for her and guide her to me if she lets you in.”
“I shall do everything in my power to bring her back to you.”
He took a deep breath and held it, willing himself to ask the question he needed more than everything else. “Can you heal her? Can you fix the compulsion without her rudis?”
Selene pursued her lips, looking frustrated. “No. I objected to the compulsion put on you and the others, but it had already been placed on you, and he refused to remove it. Only Mithras can aid you and your Roxiustana Surena.”
Luke nodded. Brutus pushed his nose and head under Luke’s hand and settled on his lap. He scratched the dog’s ears, enjoying the feel of the soft hairs.
Looking up briefly, Selene dropped her eyes back onto Luke. “I believe your friends are seeking you out, and I must depart. Thank you for the coffee.”
He gave her a seated bow. “Thank you for everything, My Mistress.”
Selene, her glow intensifying, leaned forward, kissing him on the forehead. “My continued blessing be upon you. And upon Roxi as well.”
Her light flared brightly, forcing Luke to close his eyes and squish them shut. He’d have to confront The Wanderer—his master, Mithras—and demand he take care of Roxi either by removing the compulsion or repairing her rudis. The god hadn’t responded when they tried to reach out via his shrine in Portland. He’d avoided the god for too long, even after Mithras summoned him back to the temple Luke had first visited nineteen hundred years previously. For Roxi, he’d face the god that had given him this life without fully informing Luke of the consequences. For Roxi…
When the dots stopped dancing in his closed eyes, he left the Mithraeum to seek the sky and his friends.