It was after five o’clock before they had an unused treatment room across the hall from Aiden’s set up as their command central. Colton handed her a map and she laid it out on a gurney.
‘Mark where the attacks have been.’ She handed him a pen. He circled two locations almost directly across from each other. She picked up the handheld.
‘Gamma Kitten One, Gamma Kitten One, come back, over.’ Meryn released the button.
‘Is this really necessary?’ Sascha replied.
‘Yes, and you didn’t say ‘over’. When Aiden gets up I’m going to go over how ridiculously lax your security is when it comes to technology. Anyway, assign a heavier concentration of men north and south of the city, they have already hit east and west. It looks like they are trying to keep the warriors on the outskirts of town. Tell the two units in the city to keep their eyes open.’
‘Roger that, over and out.’
‘Normally six units are more than enough to keep the city safe, now we’re stretched so thin.’ Byron observed. Meryn looked up and realized if anyone, he should be in charge.
‘Dad, I’m so sorry, you should be doing this.’ She indicated to the map.
He shook his head. ‘You’re doing just fine. You’ve done everything exactly as I would have done. Have you studied battle strategy?’ He asked.
‘No, but I do play World of Warcraft.’
‘Sounds useful, you’ll have to show me later.’
Meryn smiled slyly. ‘Sure, I bet you would love it.’
Meryn looked up and saw Adair sitting with his mother, her eyes then went to Colton. She looked back to Adair then back to Colton again.
Colton pushed himself off the wall and stepped forward. ‘What?’
‘Adair, the training academy is located in the city right?’ She asked.
Adair looked up. ‘Yeah, why?’
‘How many trainees do you have?’
He looked confused for a moment before answering. ‘Thirty, five for each unit.’
‘Maybe…’ Meryn pulled her laptop out. She started accessing the city’s wireless feeds. She looked around.
‘Where are Darian and Gavriel?’ She knew Keelan was assisting Adam in the infirmary with healing spells. In addition to Aiden, two members from Gamma had also been injured, one with a head injury and the other with a broken leg.
‘Outside I think.’ Colton said.
Meryn put her laptop on the map. ‘Be right back.’ She sprinted out the door. For her plan to work she would need Gavriel or Darian. She was about to open the door when she heard Darian’s elevated voice. Not wanting to disturb them she eased into the room beside the exit and stood next to the cracked window, their voices were easily heard.
‘Whatever you’re doing it’s not working Gavriel.’
‘I’ve got it under control.’
‘Bullshit! Aiden is in there hurt right now because of you. You couldn’t keep up and we had to double back for you and got caught between two groups.’ Darian’s voice sounded more frustrated than angry.
‘Do you think I don’t know that?!’
‘Then do something about it! Vampiric transition is nothing to be ashamed of, so you’re weaker than normal and need more blood, it’s not like you slacked off training. How much longer do you have?’ Meryn heard a heavy sigh.
‘At least another month.’
‘A month? Gavriel you’ve been in transition for nearly two weeks now.’
‘I know.’
‘The longer the transition, the older the vampire; I’ve never met a vampire who needed six weeks for transition, just how old are you?’ Darian’s voice had a trace of fear.
‘Old enough. I’ll get the additional blood I need, but it’s taking a while. I can’t order all from one center or the Elders get suspicious. I have to do a lot of smaller orders.’
‘Shit. Okay. Listen, you do what you need to do, I’ll do whatever I can to help cover for you.’ Darian promised. Meryn tiptoed back to the exit door and banged it open.
‘There you two are. I need your help. Darian, can you go see if Adam needs anything? He’s been in with Aiden since I got here.’ Darian nodded and went inside. Gavriel looked at her amused. She crossed her arms over her chest.
‘Six weeks my ass.’ Meryn watched him, she didn’t know how she knew he was lying but he was.
‘Meryn it’s very important that the Elders don’t find out how old I am.’
‘I don’t care if you have to make one massive order and tell the Elders to kiss your ass, what happened tonight, Aiden getting hurt, don’t let it happen again.’
‘I promise.’
Meryn felt like shit, he seemed so sad. ‘You’re okay right?’
His face brightened. ‘Yes, I’m okay.’
‘Good. I have a job for you to do that may cover your ass until this transition thing is over.’
‘Do tell.’
‘Come on I’ll show you.’ They went back to command central. Darian had already checked in with Adam and was waiting on them. Meryn went to her laptop and started her program. Smiling she picked up the handset.
‘Gamma Kitten One, Gamma Kitten One, come back, over.’
‘Gamma Kitten One here, what’s up Menace?’ Meryn was going to kill Aiden for giving her that nickname.
‘Reassign the two units in the city to the perimeter, over.’
‘But Menace, that will leave the city empty, over.’
‘Menace is good, Menace is wise. Trust the Menace, over.’
‘Aiden is right, you don’t speak English, over.’
Meryn stared down at the handheld then around the room. All she saw were blank expressions.
‘Come on! That was Twister!’ She stamped her foot. More blank stares. She pressed the button on the handheld.
‘Just redeploy the men at the perimeter, over.’
‘Roger that, over and out.’
‘What in the hell do you think you’re doing!’ Meryn would have been relieved to hear Aiden’s voice if he weren’t yelling at her.
‘I’m helping, I…’
‘I am the Unit Commander, not you. These men are my responsibility and I won’t allow them to be killed because you wanted to play around!’
‘But I…’ Meryn felt tears prick her eyes. Why wouldn’t he listen?
‘No! I’ve had enough of your antics Meryn, just go home and wait for me, at least then I’d know you’re safe and not meddling.’ Aiden leaned against the doorway.
She handed the laptop to Gavriel and pointed to what she had wanted to show him. His eyes widened. She picked up her backpack and walked towards the door. She stood in front of Aiden feeling like he had stabbed her in the heart.
‘And I was worried about you! Asshole!’ She pulled her foot back and kicked him as hard as she could in the shin.
‘Ow! Dammit Meryn!’ She walked away; she didn’t want to hear him complain about her anymore. She made it to the end of the hallway before the tears started falling. She stopped mid-step and covered her eyes with her arm. Felix patted her cheek trying to comfort her. Ryuu wrapped an arm around her shoulders and steered her into an examination room. He picked her up and sat her on the edge of the table.
‘He didn’t mean it.’
‘Yes he did!’
‘No, he didn’t, not really. He had just woken up after being critically injured, he doesn’t know if his men survived or where they are and he hears your voice. You’re not at home safe behind locked doors, you’re here with minimal guards. It was his fear talking not his heart.’ Ryuu explained. Meryn buried her face in his chest.
‘He hates me! I never used to care if people hated me, because I didn’t like them, but Aiden can’t hate me, because I love him.’ Ryuu held her close and kept drying her cheeks. A grunt at the door had them both turning. Aiden leaned heavily against the doorway before he walked into the room on unsteady feet.
‘He’s right Meryn, I was scared to death when I realized you were here. I’m not one hundred percent and wasn’t sure I could keep you safe.’ Aiden was holding his side tightly.
‘I’ll be right outside.’ Ryuu walked out closing the door behind him. Aiden leaned against the back of the door.
‘You’re a fucking asshole.’
‘I know.’
‘I had everything under control, your dad said that I was doing things the way he would have.’
‘I know.’ Aiden winced as he took a deep breath.
‘You’re a fucking asshole.’
‘You said that already.’
‘You were such a huge asshole I had to say it twice.’ She couldn’t stay mad at him. He looked so damn pitiful. She walked over until she stood in front of him.
‘Does it hurt?’ She pointed to his side.
‘Not as much as my damn shin.’
‘You deserved that.’
‘I guess I did.’ Aiden cupped her face with both of his hands, pride shining in his eyes.
‘Gavriel called me every type of idiot and told me to beg for forgiveness on my hands and knees if need be. He said that you had singlehandedly doubled our resources. He showed me what you did on your laptop. By hacking into the city’s cameras we can monitor the city streets and send reinforcements the second one of the trainee units got into trouble. This allows us to put all seasoned warriors in the field without splitting our resources between the city and the perimeter.’ He kissed her gently.
‘Please forgive me. I love you and your antics. The thought of life without you scares the hell out of me.’ He placed small kisses all over her face. Careful of his injury she wrapped her arms around him, he held her close.
‘Forgiven, though gifts of chocolate later won’t go unappreciated.’
‘Duly noted.’ When he leaned forward and captured her lips, she felt it all the way to the center of her being. He made her soul sing. She squeezed him tight and he grunted.
‘Oh my gosh, sorry!’ She stepped back and he fought to catch his breath.
‘Let’s head back to the others.’ Aiden took her hand.
When they walked back into command central Adelaide looked relieved.
‘I am forgiven.’ Aiden announced to the room.
‘Good, because we were about to kick you out of Alpha and put her in charge.’ Colton teased.
‘Does this mean you’ll show me how to use grenades?’ Meryn asked.
Colton paled. ‘Maybe not.’
Aiden laughed then groaned.
‘You should be in bed.’ Adam admonished.
‘I’m fine. Meryn has set up everything so that I can keep track of everything from here.’ Aiden eased down next to Gavriel and watched the cameras.
‘Your brother is an idiot.’ Gavriel pointed to the laptop. Meryn looked over Aiden’s shoulder and saw that Adair was in front of one of the cameras in the city with a trainee unit. He was twerking against a light pole. Aiden laughed and moaned, caught his breath and kept laughing holding his side. Meryn was laughing when a huge yawn overtook her.
Aiden pushed her towards the door. ‘Head to the barracks, get some rest and feed Jaws. I’ll be there soon.’
Meryn hesitated. ‘Are you sure?’
He just looked at her.
Meryn pecked him on the cheek. ‘Okay, okay, I guess I’ll let you be in charge for a while.’ He swatted her on the butt.
‘Hey, not in front of your family! They don’t need to know how much of a sexual deviant you really are.’ She rubbed her bottom. Aiden’s mouth dropped and he began to blush. Darian and Colton started to crack up.
‘Wait until I get you alone.’ Aiden muttered.
‘Promises, promises.’ She winked and turned to the door.
Colton threw a set of keys at Ryuu. ‘Just follow the road, it’s the huge house on the right. Can’t miss it.’
Ryuu bowed. ‘My thanks.’
Once they were in the SUV Meryn closed her eyes. It had been a draining day. She never wanted to get news that Aiden was injured again. A few minutes later they were pulling up to the barracks. As she hopped out she got the evil eye from Ryuu. He didn’t like that she didn’t wait for him either. She stuck her tongue out at him. He unlocked the door and walked in, she was right behind him. All she wanted was to feed Jaws and go to bed. Before she was even in the house enough to shut the door Ryuu stopped directly in front of her.
‘What?’
He held up a hand to silence her. He turned facing her, looking for something. Suddenly he brought two fingers up to his lips and produced a high pitched whistle. Meryn watched in horror as a man shaped object appeared behind Ryuu, she opened her mouth to warn him when he was struck from behind. A tiny light flew from her shoulder and out the door. She felt a spurt of hope when she realized that Felix had gone for help.
She turned for the door and was grabbed by the hair and thrown to the floor. ‘No!’ She kicked at the slightly amorphous hands and managed to get to her feet as she unholstered the gun and gripped it tightly.
‘What good is a gun if you can’t see what you are trying to shoot?’ A voice mocked. Meryn turned her head slightly so that she wasn’t staring right at him. He didn’t know that he was visible. She had to wait until he stopped circling her to get a good shot.
‘Why are you doing this?’ The longer she kept him talking the better the chances Ryuu would wake up to help.
‘Just following orders.’
‘Whose orders?’
‘Uh uh uh. No more talking. I’ve been looking forward to being with you for almost a week, you smell so delicious.’ The rusty voice taunted. He stopped his circling and stood in front of her. Smiling she brought the gun up and began shooting. She didn’t stop until she ran out of bullets yet he was still moving towards her.
‘Sticks and stones may break my bones, but bullets will never kill me.’ He cackled. He backhanded her to the ground, the wind got knocked out of her leaving her gasping for breath. Seconds later she felt his weight on top of her pressing her into the floor. Gulping for air she fought blindly.
‘No one can save you. All the toy soldiers are along the perimeter and the baby soldiers are in the city. We’re too far away for your mate to have heard your tiny gun.’ He leaned forward and ran his tongue between her breasts, up her chin, before forcing it between her lips. She gagged at the intrusion.
‘Time for you to die.’ He pulled his arm back revealing he was holding a knife. She kicked and screamed, bringing her hands up to deflect the blade. But it never came.
She felt the floor vibrating before the sound of an ungodly roar shook her. Seconds later her attacker was lifted off her and thrown into the wall. He fell to the floor covered in splinters, dry wall and plaster. Meryn looked up and her eyes couldn’t make sense of what she saw. It was a creature unlike anything she had ever seen before. Rounded ears, brown fur, short snout, all on a humanoid shaped head. It had an abnormally long torso and arms that extended nearly to the floor. It was wearing what used to be a pair of pants, which on this creature looked like frayed shorts. Even crouching low, shoulders hunched forward, it was nearly nine feet tall. If they weren’t in the foyer it would be scraping the ceiling. At the end of his multi digit fingers claws extended and swiped at the faintly glowing attacker. Each strike resulted in ripped flesh and broken bones.
She didn’t know when it registered that what she was looking at was Aiden, but suddenly she knew. This creature was her mate and he was pissed! Only when the intruder stopped twitching did Aiden stop. All of the Alpha Unit and Aiden’s family watched from the door. Aiden sniffed the air and walked over to her. When he nuzzled her hair she yelped. When his tongue began to retrace the path that the attacker’s had taken she lost her shit.
‘Don’t lick me! Eww!’ She pushed at his hulking form. He snarled at her and she froze.
‘I know you aren’t snarling at me!’ She yelled reaching up to wag a finger in his face. The snarling stopped almost immediately. He lifted her up and nipped at her neck. She relaxed in his arms.
‘She didn’t even flinch.’ Colton sounded impressed.
Meryn turned to him and noticed how high up she was. ‘This is great! Is this what you tall people see every day?’
Aiden gripped her as his body began to shift and shrink. After a few moments he was back to his normal human self.
‘Thank the Gods you are okay!’ He buried his face in her hair.
‘Thanks to you.’
He shook his head. ‘Thanks to a sprite named Felix. He made himself known to Darian and told us what happened.’
Felix appeared hovering close to her head. She lifted her hair and he dove under for cover. Darian stared in amazement.
‘When were you going to tell us you had a sprite?’ He asked.
Meryn shrugged. ‘It’s been a long day.’
Gavriel and Colton walked over to what was left of the body of the attacker. It was still barely visible except for the faint glow.
‘Keelan is this a spell?’ Gavriel asked.
Keelan shook his head. ‘None that I have ever seen.’
‘It is a shikigami, a servant of mine. It made the assailant visible.’ Ryuu sat up and rubbed the back of his head. He rolled to his knees before placing both hands on the floor in front of him and bowing low, touching his forehead to his fingers.
‘Denka, I failed to keep you safe. Though it will cost me my life, you are free to sever the bond that ties us and proffer for a new squire.’
‘Oh Ryuu, get up, please. Your, whatever it was, made this guy visible so I could shoot him and Aiden could fight him. It’s not your fault he attacked you from behind.’ Meryn couldn’t stand to see such a proud man on his knees.
Ryuu stood and bowed fully at the waist. ‘I swear this won’t happen again.’ He vowed.
‘I’ll forgive you even if it does. What’s a shikigami?’ She asked.
‘They are trained spirits I have summoned.’ He explained. Meryn was impressed.
‘They came in handy tonight. Could you make us some tea? I know I’ll need a cup to calm down.’
He bowed low again and immediately left for the kitchen.
‘Good man there.’ Darian observed.
‘He’s the best.’ Meryn looked down at her would-be attacker.
‘What’s around his neck?’
The men looked down. Aiden set her down and walked over. ‘What do you see?’
Meryn pointed to the tiny sphere hanging from a cord around the dead man’s neck.
‘Meryn I don’t see anything.’ Aiden turned to her in confusion.
‘It’s right there!’ She pointed again. This time Adelaide and Byron came over to look.
‘Meryn I don’t see anything either.’ Byron told her.
Meryn walked over to the body and she was about to lean forward when Aiden grabbed her arm. She let out a screech and swatted at his hand.
‘Don’t do that! Are you trying to give me a heart attack? You don’t just grab someone’s arm when they are about to bend over a dead body!’ Meryn clutched at her chest trying to slow her breathing.
‘I don’t want you near him.’
‘Aiden, his brains are on the foyer floor, I’m pretty sure that is a universally accepted indicator that a person is dead.’
‘Fine, but be careful.’ He groused.
She knelt down and pulled on the cord until it snapped. Once the necklace was no longer around the body’s neck it became completely visible and the faint green glow disappeared.
She held it out. ‘An invisibility spell?’
Keelan shook his head. ‘Not like any I have ever seen.’
Meryn stood when the foulest odor she and ever smelled hit her in the face.
Gagging she turned her head. ‘What in the hell is that smell?’
‘That is what a feral normally smells like. Normally it’s what makes tracking them easy. It’s a by-product of losing your soul. You begin to rot from the inside out, it’s a bit unpleasant.’ Aiden explained.
‘Unpleasant? My eyes are watering, it smells like Cheetos. Cheetos and hot ass!’ Meryn covered her nose with her hand. ‘Agggh! It’s so strong I can taste it!’ Meryn wiped her tongue on her sleeve.
Colton stared at her like she was a genius. ‘How come we never described it like that? It’s perfect! Cheetos and hot ass, wait until Sascha hears this one.’
‘Oh Colton.’ Adelaide sighed. Meryn noticed was now standing on the front porch.
‘I hate it when the enemy discovers something new.’ Darian grumbled.
‘Let me see it baby.’ Aiden held out his hand. When she went to hand it to him she accidentally dropped it and it smashed on the foyer floor. Meryn turned to Aiden ‘I’m so sorry it …’ She stopped mid-sentence when two small golden orbs floated upward through the ceiling.
Meryn watched them drift away. She turned to Aiden. ‘It’s over right?’
Aiden pulled her close. ‘Unfortunately baby, I think it’s just starting.’
*****
‘Are you sure you’ll be okay living with the guys?’ Aiden asked for the thousandth time.
‘Yes. We need to be together and you need to be here. So that means I need to be here.’ They were just finishing up moving her in from the main house.
‘How did you get my mother to agree to it?’ Aiden asked.
‘I told her that her chances of becoming a grandmother would go up if we were sleeping together on a regular basis.’ She laughed at the lecherous look Aiden gave her.
‘Plus we get Ryuu and his amazing cooking.’ Colton was practically skipping with excitement. The men from the other units groaned and started complaining that they didn’t have a squire living with them. All six units had turned up to help her move. They started throwing empty boxes and packing paper at him but he dodged them easily.
Meryn laughed when Sascha tripped Colton sending him sprawling to the ground. She was about to join in the fun when she noticed two SUV’s coming down the road. The men watched as they came to a stop. Elder Evreux climbed out of one SUV and Byron out of the other. The unit warriors formed a semi circle around her and Aiden.
‘There she is! I want her arrested! She illegally hacked into the city’s mainframe and took command of the unit warriors putting lives at risk!’
‘For fuck’s sake.’ Meryn rolled her eyes.
‘She saved lives René and you know it. As it stands of course she was forgiven for using our mainframe. But your complaint against Meryn commanding the unit warriors was overruled at council. You cannot bring a civil suit against her.’ Byron was nearly apoplectic.
‘She is not the Unit Commander, Aiden is.’ Elder Evreux screeched.
Aiden rubbed his chin and nodded. ‘That is absolutely true councilman. I am the Unit Commander. I command every man standing here today and every unit warrior in the four pillar cities.’
‘See! See! He agrees with me.’ The Elder started.
Aiden held up a hand. ‘It is true that I am Unit Commander and command the men, but…’ He paused and wrapped an arm around Meryn.
‘But Meryn commands me. So if you follow true chain of command she can rightfully give orders to the men.’ He explained.
Elder Evreux looked at the warriors. Sascha and a blond warrior that Meryn didn’t recognize stepped forward.
‘Men! Salute!’ They barked. Moving as one solid entity the men stood to attention and saluted.
‘Fine! Let the dignity of the unit warrior be degraded by this… this…human!’ Elder Evreux turned on his heel and got back in his car. His wheels squealed as he peeled away.
‘And good riddance! Jerk!’ Meryn flipped the retreating car the bird.
Male laughter filled the air.
Meryn turned to Aiden. ‘Did you really mean it?’ She clutched the front of his shirt and he pulled her close. She felt him breathe in the scent of her hair and kiss her neck gently. She would thank Fate everyday for the gift of this man. He pulled back and kissed her senseless. When they broke apart he was smiling, a rare Aiden smile.
‘Of course I did, you’re my commander.’
