He shrugged. “Work hard, help others build. That’s what we do and helping others has been very profitable.” He smiled. “Not going to apologize for making money helping people have good lives, Kerri.”

  She stood up and batted her eyes at him. “Why do you think we women find you so attractive, Paul? It isn’t just your dreamy good looks, although those help.” She patted him on the shoulder. “Thank you for breakfast, Paul. I’ll see you in Chicago sometime.”

  He said goodbye and watched her walk from the room. She was right, she was taking care of her figure, and he had wanted that figure fifteen years ago. But unfortunately, she had a rather annoying personality defect.

  She was too ethical.

  He knew there was no way she would support finding, capturing and draining the demons of their blood for medicinal purposes. So there was no chance she would become Mrs. Paul Mullins and her ethics precluded some fun romps in the hay.

  He sighed and turned back around. He might as well read the rest of his reports, what could possibly be worse news than he had already received?

  Behind him, Kerri slipped out of the dining room and walked down to the berths, the rooms and finally to the suites and knocked on the last one. This dirigible was set up with the general rooms in the center and the berths down opposite sides. Paul, she was sure, was on the other side with the elite rooms.

  Her berth was halfway back down the hallway. But she hadn’t missed her room when she had walked past it going to the last. The door she knocked on opened. “Please come in, Kerri.” His smile damn near melted her heart. Which was weird.

  She had never been attracted to bald men before.

  Outside the old TQB Base - West of Old Denver, Colorado (United States Post-Apoc)

  The darkness in the mountains was offset by the beautiful view of the vibrant stars. The Moon was pleasant this evening, half-full, radiating contentment one might say.

  Had you been there, you might have seen a few of the stars twinkle, and twice in one night, shooting stars lit up the sky.

  What you wouldn’t have noticed was the black Pod that silently came down through the evening, its kind not having visited this location in years upon years.

  It circled the area three times, confirming what the communication with the local E.I. was telling them.

  No humans were in the area.

  Setting down outside of Storage Location D.D.2, the deadly looking ship’s top lifted up, revealing three figures.

  “Eve, I swear if you don’t go on a diet, I’m not bringing you on these trips anymore.” A young looking Japanese woman helped the rather short human out of the Pod. The male, keeping his smile to himself, easily jumped out and turned to grab his sword before pushing his senses out across the land.

  Nothing he could feel.

  He turned to see Eve sliding off of the Pod’s side to the ground, landing gently before she started walking around. “If you would make me a seat,” said the young girl’s voice, “I wouldn’t have to sit on your lap.”

  “I don’t make you a seat,” Yuko replied, easily jumping out of the craft herself and rubbing her thighs, “because I’m not allowing anyone to possibly destroy one of our Pods.”

  Yuko looked up at the large building, the normal-sized door about twenty feet away. She walked towards it.

  She looked around at the worn down base. “This place creeps me out, Akio,” she said. “Just thinking this is where Michael died is bad enough. Having to come check on some sort of possible malfunction just makes this all the sadder.”

  Akio connected through the Etheric to give the authorization to open the door for Yuko.

  The door’s lock clicked open for the first time in over a hundred and fifty years.

  “We have our orders, Yuko,” he replied.

  “Some day,” she said, grabbing the door handle, “I want to grow up and be a person who doesn’t bitch about serving our Queen in a hopeless effort to help her love. I mean, it’s romantic and all, and I know she swears he’s alive, but I don’t want to count how many times,” she said as she opened the door and walked into the room, her muffled voice coming from the other side, “we have chased false leads.”

  Akio was watching the forest when he could feel her emotions emanating from inside the room.

  Moments later, she called him, “Akio?”

  He turned towards the door. “Yes, Yuko?”

  “Would you please come in here?” she asked, her voice subdued.

  Akio stepped towards the door and entered, sending the command to the Pod to go up a thousand feet. He walked into the huge hangar.

  “How do we see in here?” she asked him, her voice cracking.

  Akio looked around. “What is wrong?”

  “Please… just, please. I don’t want to be mistaken. How can we get more light in here?”

  Akio said, “E.I. Denver Base, this is Queen’s Bitch Akio, authorize light inside this room.”

  The room was bathed in LED lighting, kept in working order by the E.I.’s robots.

  Akio heard Yuko’s intake of breath and saw her finger, pointing to the middle of the room.

  The coat was gone.

  Akio walked over to the coat display next to the table. He noticed the full-length Katana was still here, but a Wakizashi was missing. The bag, some clothes, Jean’s guns and the coat.

  All gone.

  “Akio,” Yuko whispered, tears dripping from her face. “He came back.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  On the Dirigible Onslaught, En Route from Denver to Chicago via Des Moines

  Paul played the conversation with Kerri over in his mind as he walked back to his suite. He nodded to the staff that stopped those who hadn’t paid for the nicer rooms. He caught the man’s attention. “Please, no interruptions unless necessary?” He turned the request into a question, and the man nodded his understanding.

  Heading towards the last suite, he used his key and unlocked the door, making sure to see if the few strands of hair he had used to gauge if anyone had been inside his room were still in the doorjamb before he opened the door.

  They were.

  Satisfied, he continued into his room, turning to close and lock the door before laying his papers, except for one folder, on the bed. He took off his jacket and placed it on the coat stand. Walking to the desk, he laid the folder down and unbuttoned his sleeves, rolling them up.

  Opening the folder, he pulled out the chair and sat down, deciding what to do about…

  Knock Knock.

  Paul turned around and grimaced. He had just finished telling the staff to keep the interruptions down to a minimum. He walked over to the door, cracking it open, expecting to find someone from the ship’s staff.

  “Yes?” he asked, allowing his annoyance to color his tone so this person would know he was very unhappy.

  His eyes grew large. The man standing in the hallway raised an eyebrow. “I see you have heard about me already, Paul. Won’t you invite me in?”

  Paul shook his head and tried to shut the door, but the man had his foot in the doorway. “Ah,” the man, his voice like silk over steel continued, “I insist you invite me in, Paul.”

  Paul, his mind gibbering in fear, heard his mouth saying, “Won’t you come in?”

  The man smiled. “Yes, we would very much like to come in, Paul Mullins.”

  Paul stepped back, and his surprise was obvious as two more people, women, came in after the man dressed in the black coat.

  The man with no hair.

  He didn’t know the first woman, but the second was smiling at him like she was the cat who had just eaten the canary.

  “Kerri?” he stammered, his surprise evident when he could talk. If he could talk, he could yell and maybe he could…

  “No,” the man told him, his voice echoing in his head. “You will not in any way try to escape or yell for help, Paul Mullins.”

  Kerri took the door from his limp hand. “Here Paul, let me close this for you.” Kerri closed the door and grabbed him by the arm to take him to the bed, sitting down right next to him.

  Like he was on trial.

  The other woman was busy looking around the room but kept her own counsel.

  “Paul,” she said, one arm wrapped around his arm, the other gesturing to the man. “Let me introduce you to the Dark Messiah.”

  Outside, Paul was calm and collected, his eyes going from the man to Kerri and back to the man again. Inside he was screaming in fear.

  “I’m not one for small talk, Paul Mullins,” he said, “and you may call me Michael.” He glanced at Kerri, before back to Paul. “Typically, my version of small talk is killing you.”

  Paul’s blood drained from his face, but his mouth betrayed him, “What is a conversation for you?”

  Michael smiled. “Torture, of course.” Then, he made a little face. “But I’m trying to be better than that, so let’s discuss you, and your options.”

  Paul’s head turned, glancing between the three standing there. “Options?” This conversation was not going in ways he was familiar with. Usually, he spoke, and people not only listened, but they also did everything he wanted and said ‘yes, sir’ and ‘no, sir’ every time.

  The man in front of him matched the description of the…

  Michael smiled. “Oh, I’m him.” Michael’s eyes grew red, fangs coming out of his mouth. “I’m the one to fear the most, Paul Mullins. Your life, and death,” he opened his arms, palms up, “are within my hands.”

  “Kerri?” Paul whispered, trying to gain any understanding she could give.

  “Paul,” Kerri patted him on the arm. “You’ve done some inexcusable things. It seems you have been trying to drain people of their blood, which is why you are so young.” Her eyes flashed yellow, just for a second.

  Or had they?

  She continued explaining, “You see, I’ve been away from Chicago because there was an Alpha in Denver who was detaining me. Imagine my surprise when I’m released from my captivity by the ones responsible for killing Kraven. Only later to have my saviors ask for help to get on this ship without being noticed.”

  She leaned into him, breathing on his ear. “I owe them everything.” She leaned back, her hand still protectively holding onto his arm. “Now, you have two options, Paul.”

  The other female, her eyes dark brown, stared at Paul with disgust. “I still vote to toss his useless ass off the airship so I can hear him scream in the night.”

  Paul shook his head vigorously at that idea.

  Michael glanced over at Jacqueline. “Justice will be satisfied, Jacqueline.” She looked down and nodded her understanding.

  And accepting his chastisement.

  Paul swallowed, trying to take control of the conversation. “If you kill me, there will be hundreds of people after your head, for the bounty my family will put on you.”

  Michael grinned back at the man pursing his lips. “Don’t tempt me, that might be fun.” This time, Kerri looked over at him, surprise on her face. Michael answered her question, “I don’t have to justify deaths to my love if they attack me first.”

  Kerri tightened her grip on Paul’s arm just a little more. Her initial hot infatuation with Michael was cooling, quickly.

  “I’m not threatening, I am merely going to explain,” Michael looked from Paul to Kerri, “to both of you.” She swallowed.

  Now she was beginning to understand, to remember. The bedtime stories from eighty years ago when her parents told her about the days before the fall. When the strictures were in place. When Michael, the ArchAngel he was called, was walking the Earth.

  Paul noticed her grip tightened, and it was starting to hurt. The woman was strong. He turned to look at her and this time, he noticed a little fear in her own eyes to match his.

  “Kerri, you will change,” Michael commanded her.

  “Change what?” Paul asked, looking back and forth as she nodded and stood up, starting to take off her shirt. “What the hell?”

  Paul had wanted to see her naked, but his present situation was such that he wasn’t going to enjoy this. His manners, however, did stiffen his spine enough to argue, “Now, is this truly necessary? I’m sure I can…”

  Kerri put a hand on his shoulder. “No you can’t, Paul.” She turned to Michael. “I guess you can tell me to break any rules you want to, can’t you?” She folded her shirt and put it on the bed. She unzipped her skirt to take it off.

  “Bethany Anne already rescinded those rules, but if you two are going to change Chicago, Paul needs to understand,” he said.

  Soon, Paul realized the clothes had seriously hidden the perfection of her body a lot more than he had realized.

  She was flawless.

  Then, there was a large ebony wolf with white feet staring at him, the intelligence in her eyes shining brightly.

  Then, she growled, and the size of her teeth shocked him. He backed up on the bed. “Oh shit!” he cried, never taking his eyes off of the wolf.

  Michael put his hands in his pockets. “Paul Mullins, you are familiar with the UnknownWorld. There are many more of those that are humans with abilities than you know. We are not demons. We are not devils. We are merely enhanced.”

  He looked over at the wolf and tipped his head in her direction. “Kerri is older than you, and will probably live longer than you as well. But she is stronger, and more deadly, than you ever thought possible. Should she want to, she could kill most of this ship. That she chooses not to is a civilized decision.”

  Michael turned to face him. “Unlike yours.”

  He paused before continuing, “Every drop of vampire blood you drink didn’t come from demons, it came from people. People killed for the selfishness of those with power and money.”

  “My, my grandfather?” he asked, staring at Kerri.

  “What about him?” Michael asked.

  “He died looking young,” Paul explained.

  “Probably killed, or received a bad batch of blood. Or,” he considered the possibilities. “Someone switched out a batch with Were blood and he drank it.”

  “What?” Paul looked back at Michael, pointing to Kerri. “Her blood can kill me?”

  Michael shook his head. “Only if you continue to consume vampire blood would anything happen to you if you drank Were blood. However, once your blood is cleaned of the nanocytes, and most have exited your system, there is a possibility that Kerri could provide you with her bite. Making you a Were.”

  “She could do that?” he asked.

  Michael shrugged. “I would wait a couple of years, and then I would make sure that it is something you both talk about, often.” he said. “I’ve known couples to do that, but it is dangerous.”

  “I still vote to toss him out,” Jacqueline commented. This time, Paul threw her a dark look. She merely returned it, raising an eyebrow. “What? Your partners killed a poor young man, I saw his body, gaunt on a table.”

  “He was a demon… a demon…a…” he faltered when Kerri changed back to a woman and walked over to him, her bare body catching his attention.

  The animal in her was drawn to him like it had been for oh so long already.

  The problem with Paul, Kerri had explained to Michael back in his suite, was he had great ambition but few inhibitions. He wasn’t immoral, just amoral. She argued that he could be redeemed. Michael gave her the option, save his life with her own, or not. Paul would not be allowed to leave this ship without his sins being paid for.

  She agreed, she would be the one to save it, with her life if necessary.

  “Am I a demon, Paul?” she asked, reaching up to push some of his hair out of the way.

  “What?” Paul asked, trying to understand how everything was changing so fast. One minute, he was trying to figure out how to not be killed, now Kerri was sitting next to him, nude, playing with his hair. “What are you doing?” he finally asked, staring into Kerri’s eyes.

  “I’m trying to save you, Paul Mullins,” she said, allowing a little of her animal to show in her eyes. “Michael isn’t a savior for everyone. I made a deal with him. You can only leave this ship if I make a promise on my life you won’t do this again and I go with you.”

  “You would do that?” he asked, confused.

  She nodded.

  “What happens if you make a promise for me, and I get off this ship and leave you behind?” he asked her, but Michael answered from behind her.

  “She dies in your place,” he said.

  “No!” Paul reached out and pulled Kerri to him, into his protection. He turned his head to Michael, anger flashing in his eyes. “I may not have thought all things through, but this is someone I know.” He turned to her again. “Well, I thought I knew.” His head slowly lowered until he was touching her forehead with his. “You can’t do this for me, Kerri. I don’t know what promise I could give that anyone would believe. I may focus on the outcome, but I won’t do this.” A small smile played at his lips. “My mother would come back from the grave, and I’d never hear the end of it.”

  “Dammit,” Jacqueline hissed.

  “Indeed,” Michael agreed, watching them. Michael had read Paul’s mind and his intent. He was honest. He would not give up Kerri’s life to save his own. Even when he had seen she wasn’t entirely human, but something else.

  Something he might have thought as demonic.

  “Marry me?” she whispered, so quietly Paul had trouble understanding before his eyes softened. She was making a promise to him so he could live.

  There was no doubt in Paul’s mind that Michael, or even the other woman, would kill him and not lose a wink of sleep at night.

  Paul’s smile was gentle. “No,” he answered, and her shoulders dropped just a little as he let go of her. “This isn’t the way it is done, Kerri.” She looked up and watched as he slid off the bed and onto one knee, holding her hands.

  “What are you doing?” Kerri asked, letting go of one of his hands to wipe a tear off of her face.

  “I’m doing what needs to be done. I’m offering the promise that’s needed. Trust me, while I may be a lot of things, I understand trust. I don’t care about people I can’t see. I didn’t care about someone else’s ethics when they stopped me from gaining what I thought was the elixir of life.”