"Oh. Yeah. You make a good point," Sid said, looking a little embarrassed.

  Taking Care of Business

  Tank sat down on the ground, panting. They'd had to dodge several patrols to get here, and not human patrols, but lycan ones. He wasn't sure if they were looking for him in particular; they seemed mostly to be rounding up the lycans from the main group that had made it here.

  What had happened to the main group he had no idea. When Air Force One had taken off, he'd realized their mission had been a failure; the president had survived.

  "Think any of the others made it?" asked Streak, one of the two survivors from his squad. The other one, Card, just dropped to the ground with a grunt.

  Tank shook his head. "I don't think so. The last comms I got from Quick said he was engaging that lion, and that he'd already killed Fist and Hammer."

  "Missed the president and the lion," Card grumbled. "I'm glad we're not going back, they'd be pissed at us for sure."

  "Maybe if the rest of our army had shown up and given us better support, we would have done it!" Streak growled.

  "Yeah, the magic users really screwed up on that one," Card agreed. "Who knew the president's guards would have silver bullets? The others we drafted didn't last very long."

  "Stop looking for excuses," Tank sighed. "We lost. We were outmatched. Obviously that lion's a lot tougher than any of us realized.

  "But in any case, it doesn't matter. We're free now. That was the deal. We do this, and we're done."

  "But we didn't exactly do it, did we?" Card said, sitting up.

  "The mission was to try and kill them both. We tried."

  "So now what?" Steak asked.

  Card laughed. "I know what I'm gonna do."

  "Oh? What?"

  "Gonna go back to that cute whore I spent last night with, Cindy. Gonna drag her off, infect her ass, then spend the rest of my life putting my pups in her belly."

  "Think she'll like that?" Steak asked, looking thoughtful.

  Card snorted. "I'm not asking, I'm doing. What about the rest of you?"

  "Canada," Tank said. "There was this cute she-wolf up there I met once. Gonna see if she's still available."

  "Canada?" Streak said.

  "Hey, we just tried to kill the president. I want to be long gone and far, far away from here. Go someplace where they don't know who or what I am."

  Streak shifted back into human form. "Well, might as well start dumping…"

  Streak's pack exploded, cutting his body in half and throwing both Tank and Card back as their bodies got peppered with shrapnel and bloody body parts.

  "What the…?" Tank snarled and rolled to his paws.

  "Something in his pack exploded," Card said.

  "What? None of us were carrying explosives, and we used up all of our hand grenades!" Tank said as he padded over to nose through the remains. Streak was unconscious and dying. There was no surviving that kind of wound.

  "I don't see anything missing," Tank said, nosing through the scattered remains of the torn backpack.

  "I do," Card said, then growled deeply. "That son of a bitch!"

  "What?" Tank said, looking up at him.

  "What did Lucas pass out to each of us this morning after we got done with those whores?"

  Tank's eyes narrowed. "The box of gold bars Adams gave him to pass out to us as a reward when we were done."

  "Guess they're not exactly gold, are they?"

  Tank swore. "If we shift to human or hybrid form, our packs come back, and we die. Shit, shit, shit, shit!"

  "You know, for the first time I'm regretting we got these collars," Card said with a sarcastic laugh.

  "Hey, at least we got a chance," Tank grumbled.

  "I guess this means they never intended to let us go after all, huh, Tank?"

  Tank shook his head angrily. "No. No, I guess not. Damn, now what? I wish Quick was here, he'd know what to do!"

  Card turned around and looked off to the south.

  "Well, you know the guy who made these things lives just to the south of here." Card snorted, and then grinned. "I'll go beg for mercy. If he doesn't give me any, I'll shift and take him with me when I blow up!"

  "That might not be a bad idea," Tank said as the germ of an idea formed in his head.

  "Join me?"

  Tank shook his head. "I doubt he has enough mercy for two of us. Besides, I think I know of someone else who deserves a visit a lot more than that lion does."

  "Oh?"

  Tank ducked his head in a nod. "Good luck, Card. I don't think we'll be meeting again."

  Card nodded. "Not in this life, at least."

  Tank watched as Card loped off, heading southwards, then turned his own eyes to the east.

  Todd Adams sighed and answered the special magical 'telephone' that connected him to Jeremy Mays, the Vestibulum council member in Brussels on the leadership council he answered to.

  "Yes, Jeremy?"

  "What happened, Todd? I haven't seen any reports anywhere that the president is dead, much less that he was attacked!"

  Jeremy sighed. "Oh, he was attacked alright. I checked in with our council leader in Reno, Al Summers, you may remember him?"

  "Vaguely," Jeremy admitted.

  "He told me that there was some kind of attack on both the airport and Valens' place. Apparently it was pretty loud and fairly obvious to everyone."

  "Then why haven't we heard anything here?"

  "Because the press is reporting that the National Guard has claimed they were engaging in an exercise, and there was an accident."

  "And people believe that? Didn't anyone see anything?"

  "Well, I could ask Al to investigate further, but that would mean telling him that we tried to assassinate a sitting president and failed. I'm sure you'd rather not let that information get out, am I correct?"

  Todd smiled as Jeremy sputtered on the other end of the line for a moment.

  "Jeremy, why not ask your inside man what happened? The one who was supposed to have planted that magical beacon?"

  "Because I can't reach him! I've tried to contact him twice now, and I've gotten no response! He wasn't even seen getting off of the president's airplane when it landed."

  "If you already knew he wasn't dead," Todd retorted angrily, "why are you even bothering to call me?"

  "Because I'm concerned, that's why! Just how many people knew about this?"

  "Living or dead?"

  "What do you mean by that?"

  "What I mean is, I took precautions. Everyone who knew what we were planning is dead now. I made sure to arrange a scapegoat for after we'd succeeded. Well, that scapegoat works just the same even after we've failed.

  "No one knows about this other than you, me, and whoever else on the leadership council agreed to it. And," Todd paused a moment to let that sink in, "I've taken a few precautions, just in case you've decided to hang me out to dry as well."

  It took almost a full minute before Jeremy responded.

  "Well, I'm glad to see you were thinking ahead. What about the wolves? You didn't kill them all, did you?"

  Todd snorted. "Like you would care. I killed the ones who knew about it; quite a waste of talent, that. But as far as anyone will know, one Lucas Stokes thought this all up by himself. Everyone else knows what the original plan was, and they know that Lucas is the one who changed it in an obvious grab for glory.

  "Trust me; I have a lot of witnesses."

  Jeremy laughed then, surprising Todd. "You know, you are wasted over there in the States. Perhaps we'd all be better served if you were here in Brussels with the rest of us!"

  "Why, thank you, Jeremy, I appreciate the sentiment."

  "Sentiment? This isn't sentiment. You deflect this from us, Todd, and I promise you, you will have a seat on the leadership council! I must go and inform the others, but keep us informed."

  "Of course," Todd agreed, then turned off the device as Jeremy closed the connection. He felt a brief moment of regret for the recriminations Lucas' parents would no doubt suffer before this was all over. But he didn't regret sacrificing the young man for a moment. Or his team of Primes. Sacrifices always had to be made to further one's career, and the best sacrifices were always those made by somebody else.

  He'd have to call a council meeting soon. Inform them that Valens was still alive and their attack on him hadn't succeeded. He'd follow that up with an innocent question as to whether anyone had heard from Lucas and if the other young men who had gone had either checked in or their bodies had been accounted for. But nobody had seen Lucas for several days since he'd left them in Utah.

  #

  "Finally," Sean said, and sliding back from the dinner table, he stood and stretched. "Dania, Rania, or whoever cooked that, it was delicious. Now," Sean smiled and looked over at Cali, who was looking back at him, "I seemed to recall somebody saying something about tonight being 'Cali' night?"

  Cali blushed as Roxy and the others all laughed.

  "Don't forget about the rest of us, Lion-boy!" Daelyn added.

  "Oh, trust me, I won't, but you may have to wait until morning, otherwise it wouldn't be Cali night, now, would it?"

  More chuckles and a few whispered jibes came from the girls around the table and Sean noticed that even his mother had joined in the teasing. Stepping over to her, Sean moved her seat back for her as she stood, then bending over, he kissed Cali, taking his time with her as he pulled her close into an embrace.

  "Come, my wife," he whispered in her ear, swept Cali up into a bridal carry, and started back to the bedroom.

  "Sean!" Oak called, coming into the dinning room.

  Closing his eyes and swearing under his breath, Sean stopped.

  "What?"

  "There's a wolf outside. He says he's a Prime. The last surviving one from today's attack."

  "So?"

  "He wants to see you."

  "Can't it wait until morning?" Sean all but growled.

  "He claims it can't. That he has something to tell you."

  Sighing, Sean set Cali down. "Don't go anywhere," he told her.

  "Take me to him, Oak."

  Sean followed Oak out the front door, where a wolf was sitting. There were several guards standing there as well, with their guns pointed at him.

  "Okay," Sean said, looking at him. "What's so damn important that it couldn't wait until tomorrow?"

  The wolf peered at him a moment. "You're the lion?"

  "Yeah, I'm him. And you're not endearing yourself to me right now, especially as I've had to spend all day dealing with things I'd rather not. Now, why are you here, and please don't tell me you came all this way to throw your life away in some stupid act of revenge."

  "They're all dead now. I came to beg for mercy."

  Sean sighed, his hand coming up to his forehead as he looked down at the ground. "I'm sorry about your friends, and of course I'll grant you mercy. Oak, get him something to eat and a place to sleep."

  "Wait, that's it?" the wolf said, looking at him in surprise.

  "What, you need a proclamation?" Sean said, looking back at him. "At one point or another, everyone here was trying to kill me. Even Oak over there, and those guys holding you at gunpoint. It's over, you're free. What more is there?"

  "Umm, I have a small problem," Card said, looking down at the ground.

  "And that can't wait until morning?"

  "Todd Adams, the Vestibulum leader…"

  "I know who he is," Sean interrupted.

  "He booby-trapped us. When I shift back to my human or hybrid form, there's a bomb in my backpack that will go off and kill me."

  Sean sighed and shook his head. "Okay, okay. Cali is gonna kill me."

  "You can help me?" Card asked, looking up at him.

  "Yeah, I can help you. I made that collar, I know how they work. Oak?"

  "Yes, Sean?"

  "We got something I can drop a bomb in or behind? Say, a sheet of steel an inch thick?"

  "Ummm, best I can do is a steel-clad fire door."

  "How big is the explosion?" Sean asked Card.

  "Enough to cut me in half."

  "Okay, we can make this work. Oak, meet me out at the berm behind my shop. Harris," Sean pointed at one of the guards, "go inside and tell my wives I'll be with them in a minute. The rest of you go back to work.

  "What's your name?" Sean asked the wolf.

  "Card."

  "Come on, Card. Let's get this done."

  "What are you going to do?"

  Sean headed off around the house and back towards his shop.

  "Fix this, of course. I'd ask you to wait until morning, but I doubt you'd sleep all that well knowing you've got a bomb on you."

  "Gimme a sec," Sean said, then popped into his shop and came out with an axe.

  "What's that for?"

  "You well enough to regenerate?"

  Card nodded.

  "Good."

  Sean lead him behind the shop and up onto the berm. Oak showed up with the door as they got there.

  "Okay. Oak, dig a six-inch-deep trench along the top here, except for in the middle," Sean pointed to a spot, "that we can set the door in on its side."

  Oak nodded and got to work.

  "Sit and give me your paw."

  Card did as he was told and Sean touched it to the tag on his collar, gripping it between the toes and pulling it off.

  "Okay, that unlocks the necklace so I can remove it. Now hold still, I need to change a few things."

  Putting his hand on the collar, Sean turned off the encryption and looked at the inventory. Everything that disappeared when you shifted into animal form was held in a type of stasis, best described as a 'bag of holding' from a D&D game. Only this stasis was wrapped around your body, with the collar acting as a gateway. If your collar came off, the stasis dropped, and your items came back on your body.

  What he was going to do was make them come back in a pile on top of the collar. Basically, he was going to short circuit the magical 'routine' that directed it to the place on your body each item had come from and let them just pile up at the focal point as they exited it.

  "There, that should do it," Sean said and turned the encryption back on. "Now comes the tricky part. Once the necklace is no longer touching your body, all the stuff in it will come out of it. I've changed it so instead of coming out on you, it'll just drop around the necklace in a pile. Now, come up here."

  Card came up on top of the berm.

  "Hold that door, Oak. Card, whatever you do, don't let go of the necklace. Now, give me your paw again."

  Sean put Card's paw on the collar with the links going between his toes. Grabbing it with one hand to make sure Card didn't lose contact, he undid the latch with his other hand, then lowered Card's paw to the ground in the flat spot between the trench.

  "Don't move a muscle," Sean said and carefully let go of Card's paw.

  "Okay, Oak, put the door in the trench."

  Oak set the door in the trench, and Sean pushed the dirt up around the hole so only Card's leg was coming out of it, with his paw and the necklace now on the other side.

  "Take cover, Oak." Sean motioned for Oak to move way back as he got down on his own knees behind the door.

  "Ready?" Sean asked Card.

  "I can't let go of it, it's stuck between my toes!"

  "I know."

  Casting a shield spell on himself, Sean picked up the axe, grabbing it close to the blade, and cut Card's foot off where it went under the door.

  Card's howl of pain was drowned out by the explosion, which knocked the door back with enough force to crack the wolf's skull, but not enough force to kill him. Sean's shield spell deflected most of it, and what little got through his regeneration was able to handle.

  "You okay?" Sean asked Card.

  "That…hurt…" Card mumbled.

  "Yeah, so did today. Just be happy you're alive and that lions don't hold grudges. Oak!"

  "Yes, Sean?"

  "Take care of Card here."

  "Got it!"

  "And no more interruptions unless the damn world is ending!"

  Walking back into the house, Sean walked in the front door and headed over to where Cali was patiently waiting.

  "Was than an explosion I heard?" Roxy asked.

  "That, or I'm just happy to see you," Sean said, and putting an arm around Cali, he bent over and kissed her again. "Now, where were we?"

  "On our way to the bedroom, my Husband," Cali replied in a husky voice.

  "How could I forget?" Sean said with a smile Picking her back up, he went down the hallway into their room, and setting her on the bed, he quickly shed his clothing.

  Crawling up onto the bed, Sean nibbled at Cali's ankles, making her giggle. Cali was still wearing the dress in which she'd fought the demon. How she'd managed to keep from getting any dirt or blood on her, Sean really had no idea. But the way she'd danced and woven her body around the attacks that had been made against her had shown that Cali's lithe body was indeed well trained.

  Working his way slowly up those dark and toned legs, Sean took his time, enjoying every square inch of the trip, kissing and licking, massaging and stroking as he made his way slowly onward and upward.

  Cali's breathing had slowed, little sighs of contentment coming from her lips. When he reached the end of her legs, however, those sighs soon became soft moans of pleasure, as Sean reached his target and discovered she hadn't been wearing any underwear, or she'd shed it at some point prior to their adjourning to the bedroom.

  Diving in, Sean put his lips and fingers to work, along with his tongue and the occasional teasing nip with his teeth. So engrossed was he with his tasting and teasing of his wife, Sean didn't realize the others had joined them in the room at first. It was only after driving her to completion and he'd started to lick and nuzzle further up her panting body that he realized her dress had been removed by the others, who were using their hands to lightly stroke and caress Cali's body.

  Caressing a breast, he lowered his lips to kiss her when there was a knock at the door.

  "What!" Sean growled loudly, looking towards the door.