2. Your sacrifice is appreciated. #2
“Our preferred shape is that of hierofalcon, but a species long extinct. As your husband’s maker has surely informed you, I am quite old.
I will not bore you with the original species name; we would lose an hour dealing with your wretched efforts to pronounce it to your satisfaction.
In English, it translates roughly to the golden sky hawk or the blazing sun hawk of the dawn.
How we spoke its name depended on our mood and if we were celebrating a holy day.
They were the blazing sun hawk of the dawn on our holy days and the golden sky hawk the rest of the time.
Take a lanner falcon but give it sun-gold plumage with black tears and crown with a pale chest. Quite a striking bird. ”
I got out my phone and searched for a lanner falcon, whistling over its beauty. “It’s like a Peregrine falcon.”
“They are similar, yes. Eugene, teach your sister the trick of it. That will give you time to discuss merging your brood with hers. You will want safety in numbers in the days to come. Alisander, warn the other hunters that there will inevitably be more miscreants on the rise. History has a tendency of repeating itself, and our primary quarry has stirred the lesser evils. Benoit, you know what to do.”
“I do,” my brother replied. “Do you want the Sleepers to converge with Emerick?”
“That would be wise. Pepper, how much did you learn about the vampire you killed this morning?”
“His name, mostly, as well as his bounty value. I rescued two of his victims so I could get evidence of his guilt before positioning myself to hunt him today,” I replied, wishing I’d been able to work faster and prevent a few of his other killings.
“I brought more stakes than sense, as that tends to keep Emerick somewhat calm. But only somewhat. I carved the stake I used just for him. He broke the entire damned tree hitting it with his car! I have an entire tree of wood. He killed a tree.” I hissed over the loss, which had been a five year old apple tree in someone’s yard.
The bastard had hit it escaping from me after attacking the second victim I had saved. Fortunately, the home’s owner had been willing to sell the tree to me for a pittance in the form of buying them a new one.
“Pepper,” my father scolded.
“It was a baby apple tree, and he killed it.” I sighed.
“I bought the owner a nice new apple tree and removed the old one. Emerick thinks I am silly for keeping even the roots, but I’ve been cleaning everything, peeling the bark, and preparing it to be carved.
It didn’t seem right to waste the tree, and I didn’t just want to see it condemned to be firewood. ”
My father shook his head, staying silent while navigating through Manhattan, especially the nastier parts where someone might do something foolish like hit my car, and aimed for SoHo, my new home.
I expected Emerick paced and waited, as the guards would have let him catch a few hours of sleep before waking him and notifying him of my dastardly deeds and my escape from our bed. With a little luck, he would do his best to convince me never to leave our bedroom again.
“You’re attempting to carve an entire tree?
” My father pulled into the driveway for our parking garage, pressed the button on the intercom, and waited for it to buzz.
“I located my daughter doing questionable things in questionable locations. I will be leaving you with her brothers, and I will be taking Emerick’s daughter for maintenance, so if you can bring his keys, I will be out of your hair in short order. ”
“I’ll bring the keys down, Mr. Francis,” Ben promised. “And yes, Pepper, Emerick is onto you, and he is in his office muttering curses. I was told to wait for you to come home and get him, but I’ll let your dad steal the Beetle first.”
“You’re the best, Ben. Thanks.”
The garage door opened, and my father eased the car down the ramp. I directed him to the spot I’d claimed for my new car, which was nestled between my Jaguar and my purple SUV. “Isn’t my SUV beautiful?”
“She is an excellent and bold vehicle. I see you have put your vehicles in a row.”
Once he killed the engine and Eugene got out, I bounced to my Jaguar and gave her a loving pat on her hood. “I’m really looking forward to driving this.”
My brothers came to investigate my father’s present, and Eugene circled my car. “I can understand why a brood of cats would like this vehicle.”
My father nodded. “Your sister has always had cat-like tendencies, so I thought she might enjoy it. Eugene, do work with her in the SUV before giving her a taste of true speed and power. Perhaps you could earn your brother-in-law’s respect should you take her for driving lessons on a racetrack.”
“Hey,” Alisander and Benoit complained.
“We can all go,” I said, aware my brothers would start fighting with each other. “We can all take turns driving the fancy cars on the track. Then I will graduate by taking our father on a drive. That might kill him off, dealing with me behind the wheel.”
My father snickered. “Unlikely, but a good try, little girl. Ah, there’s Ben.
” He held out his hand for the keys. Both Ben and I handed over the keys to Emerick’s Beetle.
“I will return her almost as good as new, painted in her original color but wrapped in silver so he can appropriately show off his plumage. I will be kidnapping my daughter’s new child and putting her in purple wrap when I go to take his daughter to the body shop for the work. She can still be driven, yes?”
“Be careful in second gear. She is prone to stalling, and she’s bleeding oil. We top her up weekly, so she’ll be fine to drive. Her max limit is thirty miles before she needs to be checked.”
My father sighed. “I will take her to my home and have the mechanics begin work there, and if my lift and tools are insufficient, I’ll have her shipped.
It should be fine, especially once the boys source all the parts.
I want the Beetle ready to be wrapped in two weeks, so don’t disappoint me, children. ”
My brothers saluted our father before returning their attention to my Jaguar.
Ben stared at my new daughter, and he raised a brow. “If you park that in his spot, I can ask him to come downstairs so I can question what happened to his Beetle when he wasn’t paying attention to her.”
I snickered at the trick, which wouldn’t last long, as my Beetle had different plates from his. I’d gotten custom plates, which read BLACKCAT.
It amazed me nobody had claimed it already.
“I can move her car after you leave, Dad,” Alisander offered. “We can also start preparing Emerick for the reality of being one of your sons.”
My father chuckled, opened the engine compartment located at the back of the car, and began poking around.
“A lot of love has gone into keeping this poor daughter running. I admire that. I will return her as good as new, and any parts we cannot restore with magic will be returned so he can keep them. But I am hopeful we won’t need any of those parts.
I will not appreciate the bill, but she’s in better shape than I anticipated.
Excellent.” My father closed the compartment, gave the Beetle a fond pat, and got behind the wheel, coaxing the engine to life.
We got out of the way, and I appreciated how my father took great care with Emerick’s car, waving as he left.
Alisander took the keys of my car, got behind the wheel, and moved her into Emerick’s spot.
Ben chuckled, got out his phone, and tapped at the screen before holding it to his ear. “Emerick, I have apprehended Pepper in the parking garage, but we have some questions for you. What did you do to your car?”
That question would inevitably induce panic, and I would have myself a grand time when he realized what I’d done. After a moment, Ben returned his phone to his pocket. “He’s on the way. He, for the record, exclaimed he hadn’t done anything to any of his cars. You’re rather evil, Pepper.”
I was. “Look at my plates, Ben. He’ll figure it out if he looks at my plates. If the paint job doesn’t tip him off, the plates will.”
Ben crouched for a look at the plates and their frames, which featured a black cat wearing a witch hat. “That’s great. But where did you get one of these cars?”
“I spent some of my bounty money. Honestly, the bounty I bagged this morning will pay for her bill. Oh, that reminds me. The head.”
Alisander pointed at the box, which waited near my SUV. “I already did the groundwork for you, so the police will be by in a few hours to bring your check and claim the head. They did ask that we at least refrigerate it until they get here.”
Fortunately, the brood had a freezer dedicated to bodies, body parts, and other things nobody had any business eating. “I’ll put it in the appropriate place before I’m apprehended and taken upstairs.”
“What happened to my car?” Emerick demanded, stomping out of the elevator and heading our way.
For him to have arrived so quickly, he had already been on route to the garage when Ben had called him. I grinned and gestured at my vehicle.
He stopped, and his eyes widened. “That is not my car.” To my delight, he checked the plates first. “That is definitely not my car. Where is my car?”
“I’m afraid she was stolen,” Ben replied, and he made a show of sighing and shaking his head. “You might never see her again. Maybe she’ll be held for ransom.”
“Ben,” Emerick growled. “Where is my car?”
I giggled and raised my hand. “I gave my copy of your keys to a sketchy individual, who left with her. I gave your keys to the same sketchy individual. You’ll get her back, but I’m pretty sure she’ll be held for ransom.
If it makes you feel better, my baby daughter will also be kidnapped by the same sketchy individual. Honestly, he drove her here.”
“Your father is a sketchy individual, so I’m assuming he’s the thief, especially as he has left you with your brothers. Eugene, please tell me Pepper behaved.”
“She behaved,” my brother confirmed. “She bagged a bounty, and as she had no interest in getting into a scuffle with a rapist who was also a serial killer, she stayed up past her bedtime to take him out while he slept. She’ll sleep well tomorrow, but she’ll probably be energetic until dawn.
She couldn’t handle the thought of wasting any of his blood. ”
“He tasted terrible,” I complained.
My husband sighed. “All right. I understand how this situation came to be. Can I interest you in some supper? I’ve got the ingredients in to do some older recipes, and Pepper’s due to have a proper meal tonight.”
Within a few months, I held hope that my digestive system would be closer to normal for a vampire, although I kept setting myself back every time I killed and drained a miscreant.
However, if I ate a proper meal after draining a miscreant dry, I had an easier time with food for a while.
“What era will we be eating from today?”
My husband eyed my car, shook his head, and came to my side, kissing my cheek.
“I like your car, and what irritates me is that I was considering purchasing her, but I decided that the winning bidder would make me angry and likely refuse to lose. Good job on that purchase, Pepper, but I really hope that this is not the donor car you were talking about getting.”
“I saw her, loved her, and had to have her as my daughter. So, what are we eating? You always do something fancy when you get ingredients.”
That he had enough to feed my brothers indicated he meant to do a banquet, and he’d be recruiting help from the older vampires in the brood, feeding everyone in the complex.
“Clarke arrived an hour ago with your mother, who is sleeping on our couch. I may have suggested we do a meal from his youth. When I told him what I acquired, he made arrangements to visit. I’m not sure if I’m disappointed your father already left.”
“We can call him back if needed. He’s not going far,” Benoit said. “Does Pepper’s mother want to see our father?”
“It wouldn’t surprise me,” Emerick admitted. “According to her, your father is one of her best friends, and she wants to thank him personally.”
Alisander made a thoughtful sound, got out his phone, and sent a text.
“He’ll call me once he is safely parked.
This will simplify things. We come bearing a gift of news, and Master Clarke will want to know.
My father can bring ingredients as well and make things from his youth. He delights in resurrecting the past.”
“Then it’s settled. We’ll invite your father, make dinner for the brood, and talk business.
And we’ll save the business for last, as I would rather not sour supper with bad news.
” My husband wrapped his arm around me and herded me in the direction of the elevator.
“That he sent all three of you over tells me that there will be bad news aplenty.”
“I wouldn’t call it bad,” my eldest brother replied, and he shrugged. “At least not yet. But it could be bad if we fail to act. That Father is ready, willing, and able to act tells me everything I need to know. He only does so when he absolutely must. That is something I refuse to take lightly.”
“Eugene? Benoit?” Emerick asked.
My brothers exchanged a glance, and Eugene made a disgruntled noise while wrinkling his nose.
“The Sleepers are awake, and they’re coming your way.
An Original is also coming, and when he thinks you’re going to be a critical part of what is to come, I agree with him.
Had my father been the only one to suggest we merge our broods, I would have thought about it.
But when that one is making the suggestion, too?
I think we need to join forces before it’s too late.
The problem? Nobody knows what is coming or why.
But we’re all certain something comes, and when it does, it’s going to be bad. ”