Chapter Eighteen
Brone caught Cyrus’s arm. “If you feel out of control at all, tell one of us and we’ll help.”
Cyrus checked out his feelings, and hunger wasn’t one of them. “I’m cool, but I promise to let you guys know if I’m not.”
Brone nodded.
Their group surrounded the home. Cyrus stood on the porch next to Temple, who knocked loudly. Inside the home, Cyrus could hear a television and some noise as if someone was putting dishes away in the kitchen. The door was opened by an older man with graying hair and laugh lines around his mouth and eyes. He’d been smiling when he opened the door, but one look at them in tactical gear, and his smile slipped.
“What can I do for you, gentlemen?”
Cyrus sniffed discreetly. This was not the male whose scent he’d picked up at the restaurant. That scent was branded in his brain, and he wasn’t sure he’d ever forget what the male who’d nearly cost him his life smelled like.
Temple smiled, but it wasn’t the sort of smile that reached his eyes. “We’re looking for Jeffrey Windmer, the owner of the sedan in the driveway.”
“I’m Jeffrey.”
Temple glanced at Cyrus in question and he shook his head.
“Are you the only one who drives the car?” Cyrus asked.
“What’s this about?” Jeffrey asked. “I have exterior motion-sensor cameras, and I know there are a number of swat-type men surrounding my home. I don’t want any trouble. It’s only my wife and me who live here, and I assure you we haven’t done anything to harm any of your kind.”
Cyrus sniffed again. The male didn’t smell like fear, only curiosity and wariness. He decided to get to the point. “Someone driving your vehicle set off a bomb at a vampire-owned restaurant earlier this week. It wasn’t you, so we need to know who it was so we can stop them from harming another vampire again.”
A woman appeared behind the man, ducking under his arm and hugging him. “It must have been our son, Jeff Jr. He set off a bomb?”
Jeffrey pushed the front door open further. “Come on in so we can chat. Invite the others too. I’d put on coffee, but I don’t think y’all drink it.”
“Thanks,” Temple said. He used the communicator on his collar to let the others know to come in. A few minutes later, they were crowded into the kitchen with Jeffrey and his wife, Dahlia, at the head of the butcher-block table.
“You’re not surprised about your son,” Cyrus said, drumming his fingers on the tabletop.
Jeffrey shook his head. “I don’t want you to think we expected him to do something terrible like this, and we’re horrified that he did. But a year ago, our daughter got married to a vampire from a coven near her college. Jeff disliked the vampire from the beginning, and we never really knew why. He refused to come to the wedding and started to spout anti-vampire views to us. When she came to visit after the honeymoon, she’d been turned into a vampire and had joined the coven, which is outside of Indianapolis. All we care about is that she’s happy and safe. It was her life to live and her choices to make. She even offered for us to be turned to join the coven, but we’re content being human with limited lifespans.”
“Jeffy on the other hand,” Dahlia said, shaking her head. “When he saw she was a vampire, he went off the deep end. Said she was dead and should be in the ground, blamed her husband for it and threatened to cause trouble for their coven. We kicked him out of the house and told him he couldn’t come back home until he got his head straight.”
“We didn’t hear from him for months, and then he showed up the other day asking to borrow the car for a job interview. He didn’t bring it back until almost dawn. I happened to be up for work and saw him drop the car off and get picked up by another one. He looked... crazed. I’ve called him countless times, but he won’t answer,” Jeffrey sighed and ran his hand through his hair.
Dahlia toyed with her cell phone. “What’s going on?”
Temple cleared his throat. “We believe your son has fallen in with the hate group The First Church of Humanity.” He slid a tablet across the table and showed them images of their vehicle and their son at the restaurant, and the damage to the building. “Jeff used synthetic tiger scent to blend in with the workers and planted a bomb in the ceiling of the restaurant. No one died, but one of our males nearly lost his life. Not to mention the thousands of dollars in damage that was done.”
Dahlia put her hand to her mouth as she gasped, her eyes glittering with tears. “We had no idea it was that bad. Our daughter told us about the church, and how there’s a branch near her coven that causes problems for them. She can’t leave her home without a guard for fear of being attacked. Why won’t they leave your kind alone?”
“That’s a question we’ve been asking for years,” Rage said. “Do you know where your son is?”
Dahlia’s hand tightened on her phone, and Cyrus knew she knew the answer.
“What will you do when you find him?”
“We’re going to interrogate him to find out the location of those he worked with, and then we’ll turn him over to the human authorities,” Temple said. “We have no desire to kill or harm Jeff; we need answers and we need to stop the violence against our people.”
“You’ll do your best not to hurt him?” Dahlia asked, looking at her husband before turning her motherly-pleading gaze back to them.
“On my honor,” Temple said. “He does us no good if he can’t talk. He’s a pawn used by the higher ups in the church. We want what he knows and then to let him be handled by the humans. We have bigger fish to fry.”
Dahlia nodded and brushed tears from her cheeks. She moved her finger around on the screen and then slid the device toward them. The vampires all leaned over and looked at a map on the screen with coordinates pointing to a building several miles away.
“There’s a tracker on his phone?” Rage asked.
“Yes,” Jeffrey said. “Tell him that we’ll get him a lawyer and help him out, but we don’t support what he’s done.”
“He’s still our son,” Dahlia said. “Even if he did do something horrible. For what it’s worth, we’re sorry for what he did.”
“Thank you for the information,” Temple said, taking a picture of the screen with his own phone. “We appreciate your honesty.”
Jeffrey stood and walked them to the front door. “He shouldn’t have tried to kill people who were like his sister. Just because you’re different isn’t a reason to try to murder you.”
“Trust me when I say that we all agree with that logic one hundred percent,” Ven said.
They left and congregated at the SUVs, quietly discussing the next leg of the mission. Brone called Mishka to share what they’d learned, and in minutes they were on the way to the location, which turned out to be an abandoned dry cleaner.
“They’re living there?” Cyrus asked. He peered out the window to the building which, from the front appeared to be empty, but judging by the band of light around some of the windows at the side, had people in it. The windows had been blacked out, but not well enough to keep any trace of light from escaping.
“It appears so,” Rage said. “I’ll scout the building.”
He and Ven disappeared into the shadows, and the rest of them sat quietly in wait.
When they returned, Ven said, “There was only one security camera at the back door, and I can easily take it out without them knowing. We can hear a handful of males inside, and it reeks of body odor and rotten food. The dumpsters are overflowing.”
“They’ve been there a while then,” Temple said.
Brone checked in with Mishka once more and then their group surrounded the building. Ven took out the camera, and Cyrus was one of the first through the back door, taking the group of humans by surprise. A few of them went for guns, and several shots rang out, but the vampires had no trouble subduing the males. It was almost anti-climactic, which the tiger part of him found disappointing. He was, however, glad they were able to get the couple’s son in custody without harming him.
Cyrus sent Cella a text to let her know that all was well, and received a thumbs-up emoji in response, along with a kissy-face one and several hearts. His cat purred in his mind and he chuckled, sending her back a string of heart emojis before tucking his phone into his pocket.
“It’s easy to tell when a mated male has received a message from his mate,” Temple said with a grin. “Someday that will be me.”
“It’s the best feeling in the world,” Cyrus said.
* * *
Cella looked at the spreadsheet on the screen and frowned, then turned to her desk calendar and checked her schedule. Thankfully, she had several interviews for human food later that night, because according to the spreadsheet which gave an overview of the employees’ hours, she was having a heck of a time lately with several employees showing up on time, or at all.
Calling Angie at the reception desk, she said, “I’ve got a few people coming in tonight for interviews.”
“Okay. I’ll call you when they’re here.”
“Thanks. How’s your night going?”
“Okay, considering I couldn’t start until the guys left for their mission.”
Cella blinked. “What do you mean?”
“Vex and Rage wouldn’t let me out of the chamber until Cyrus was gone.”
She frowned and almost cursed, which was not at all like her. “What on earth for?”
“Because according to Rage, he tried to attack Harmony’s friends. I didn’t mean to upset you, I thought you knew.”
Cella settled back in the chair and rubbed her temple. “No, I haven’t spoken to Cyrus since they left aside from a text or two letting me know how things are going. Did they think he’d attack you?”
“They weren’t sure. They’re just trying to keep me safe. You know how overprotective mated males are, and since no one really knows what’s going on with Cyrus and the changes he’s gone through since the bombing, they’re just erring on the side of extreme caution. Cyrus would most likely do the same with you.”
“Yeah, I understand. It just caught me off guard.”
“I don’t think anyone is worried about being around him as far as the vampires go, but Rage and Vex are insistent that he not be around me or any other shifters until it’s clear that he can control himself. Is it true that you two are actually beloveds?”
Cella wanted to be angry at the males for suggesting that her mate couldn’t handle himself, when he’d proven that he could, but she knew she was being overly sensitive to the situation. And it wasn’t as if he’d been turned months ago and everyone knew exactly what he was and how he’d react in any given situation. It had literally only been a day since he’d woken up from being turned.
“Yes,” Cella said. She thought over what had happened between her and Cyrus, and the sweet relief she had at them becoming beloveds, on top of the sheer confusion at what it all meant for him. Just what was her beloved mate? Was he more tiger than vampire? Or was it truly a tribrid situation, where he was three creatures at once? And if that were something that could happen, why wasn’t it more common?
“I think that’s wonderful,” Angie said. “And for the record, I told Vex and Rage that they were overreacting, but that’s what males do.”
“Indeed,” Cella said. “I’m not mad about it. Your males can behave however they want in an effort to keep you safe and no one would fault them, least of all me. I would feel terrible if you were harmed in any way. I’m sure that Cyrus understood as well.”
Cella ended the call with Angie and then dialed the numbers for the human food who were having subpar attendance while she waited for her interviews. By the time Angie buzzed that the first interviewee had arrived, Cella had contacted seven of the eight people who consistently were either late to work or missed it entirely.
“Selma,” Cella said with a sigh as the eighth person answered her call. “This is Cella from Fang, and I’m calling to check in with you. You’ve been missing a lot of work lately, and you’re in danger of losing your job.”
There was a brief pause, and then the human, who Cella vaguely remembered, said, “Oh, please don’t fire me, Cella! I love my job, I’ve just been having some problems at home. I got sick and I was dealing with a lot of personal stuff.”
The young lady continued to cry and rant, and Cella finally put a halt to her chatter. “Listen, Selma, you’ve been a good employee up until the last five weeks, so I’m not firing you right now. But I’m telling you that you are on thin ice and I’ll be watching you. The coven counts on the food to be here for feedings, and if you can’t handle the job for personal reasons, it would be better to quit than get fired.”
“No!”
Cella had to pull the receiver away with a wince at the loud outburst.
Selma cleared her throat. “I mean, no, please, I promise I’ll be on time from now on. I love my job and helping out the coven.”
“Good,” Cella said, making a note on her calendar. “Since you’re off tonight, I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“You sure will, Cella, and thanks again.”
Cella said goodbye and hung up with another sigh. The eight employees were all very interested in keeping their jobs but seemed to have trouble with being on time.
Cella pushed back in the chair and stood, smoothing her navy skirt and giving the short hem a little tug. It was going to be a long night.
* * *
Cyrus stood between Rage and Brone and watched first Ven and then Temple attempt to coerce the humans to spill their secrets. They were in the abandoned dry cleaners still, with two coven males keeping guard outside.
Ven stepped back with a disgusted snort. “It’s like before with the human couple.”
“Before when?” Cyrus asked.
Ven glanced at him. “The church sent a couple to infiltrate the SyBl factory. They sabotaged the trucks to screw with the deliveries.”
“Why would they do that?”
“We believe it’s because they thought it might throw our people into a starvation-induced feeding frenzy and humans would be killed in the melee, and human authorities would have a reason to take us out,” Rage said.
“The church seriously wanted human casualties to prove a point like that?” Cyrus shook his head. “That’s insane.”
“It’s pretty much their M.O.,” Temple said. “Sacrificial lambs to back up their insistence that we’re the dangerous ones.”
“You are,” one of the humans said, spitting after he spoke and glaring at them.
Ven took a menacing step toward him and he cowered back. “Say that again, asshole.”
The male pressed his lips into a thin line and said nothing else.
Temple and Ven joined the others and shook their heads. “They’re covered with a spell that I can’t get by,” Ven said.
“We could call in the dragons again,” Temple offered.
“No,” Brone said. “It’s unacceptable to continually request help in that way.”
“Agreed,” Rage said. “We need to be able to handle this ourselves, period.”
Cyrus looked at the humans. “I could try.”
Brone looked at him. “Do you think your compulsion ability is stronger than Ven’s?”
He shrugged. “I haven’t really explored what I am yet, but I have telekinesis, which Cella said is pretty rare in vampires. Maybe I have a different sort of compulsion since I’m part of Mishka’s bloodline.”
“It’s possible,” Brone said, rubbing his chin.
After a quick how-to from the males on compulsion, Cyrus strode to the humans and reached into the part of himself that felt like a vampire. It was there, deep within him, cold where his tiger felt hot, powerful in a way he couldn’t really describe. His vision sharpened and his sense of smell and hearing changed to include the ability to hear the pounding of their hearts and the rush of blood in their veins. They knew they were staring at a predator, and it wasn’t because he’d been able to shift into a tiger at one time. He was more. Different. And he liked the feeling of it.
He knew from Jeff’s parents, that he wasn’t a ringleader. The question was, which of the remaining males held the information they needed to shut down the operations in Cleveland and make a dent in the church that would hurt. Judging by what he’d learned from the coven about the church, there was no way that the Cleveland branch was operating solely out of an abandoned dry cleaner’s with only a handful of operatives.
Compulsion was a matter of pushing into a person’s mind to draw out their memories. It involved touch and a lot of concentration. Some humans were naturally immune to compulsion, but most couldn’t defend against it even if they were very strong-willed. Someone had cast a spell on the humans to keep them from compulsion, and Cyrus would need to break through the spell in order to get to their thoughts. Ven who, next to Mishka, had the most powerful compulsion, had been unable to get through it.
Cyrus mentally reached out to touch the minds of the humans in front of him. At first, he felt nothing, and also felt like he looked like an idiot. But then, he thought about forcing the humans to tell their secrets because the safety of the coven was on the line. Cella’s image popped into his head, her sapphire eyes and golden hair, the soft curve of her hips and the way she smiled at him like he was the most important male in the universe. And then he knew he had to force the humans to spill their secrets. A wave of power pulsed within him and he directed it outward, grasping the throat of the male in the middle, who’d defiantly spit at them. There was a strange green haze around his mind, and beyond that haze, Cyrus could see memories swirling like someone overlapped a bunch of scenes. With a soft snarl, he swiped the haze away and the human groaned in pain and started to thrash in his hold.
“Still,” Cyrus commanded, and although the human’s angry glare said he didn’t want to follow his directions, he went ramrod straight and ceased his struggles.
“Fucking-A,” Ven said.
Cyrus delved into the human’s memories until he knew everything – why the male followed the leader of the church, who cast the spell, and the location of the main Cleveland branch. The human couldn’t hold anything back and the pure malevolence for the coven, the disregard for lives whether they be human or vampire in the attempt to drive the coven out of town, was staggering.
“I’ve got it,” Cyrus said, casting his gaze at the males with him. “I’ve got everything. And I’ve also got some ideas.”
“Do tell,” Rage said, smiling coldly at the humans who cowered in shock at their leader who’d been unable to resist Cyrus’s compulsion.
Cyrus wanted to roar in triumph at the power he’d been able to access, and how he could use it to protect the coven, and more importantly, keep Cella safe.