He paused, thinking back over the years, the decisions that benefitted people, while still filling the bank accounts of his family. “Yet, you are willing to die for me, to believe in me for something that has absolutely nothing to do with my money. That is love that I’m not worthy of, but I’m not stupid enough to throw away.” He looked over at Michael. “Would you kill her?”

  “Justice must have blood, or Justice won’t be served,” he replied.

  Paul dipped his head and turned it back to Kerri. “I’m a bastard, I get that. But I’m not such a bastard I’m willing to run from my mistakes and let you hang for them.” He smiled. “Even if you do turn into a wolf.”

  “Is that because I’m sitting here naked in front of you?” she asked.

  “Well, to be honest, it is a bit distracting,” Paul admitted. “But at the end of the day, Kerri, you never hated me for anything I did. You’ve always been nice to me, and… well… if it weren't for the elixir, the blood, and your damned ethics, I would have tried to get into your pants fifteen years ago.”

  “So,” he looked into her eyes, “you have the option to say no, and if you should say no, I’ll take the punishment. My father might have taught me business, but my mother taught me with manners.” He paused. “Kerri, will you marry me?”

  Kerri, shoulders shaking with her silent sobs, just nodded and pulled him into an embrace, her tears falling onto his hair.

  Neither one of them noticed the man and woman stepping out of the suite.

  Twenty paces down the hall, Jacqueline said, “Still think I should have tossed his ass out.”

  “And, if he had been dishonest, you would have been able to,” Michael replied.

  “Would you have really taken her life in his place?” she asked as they walked towards the door to the dining rooms.

  “Justice would have been appeased, Jacqueline,” he said.

  After they had finished passing through the dining rooms out into the hallway leading to their suite, Jacqueline continue, “Michael, that didn’t answer my question.”

  He looked down at her before looking ahead again. “Yes, it did. Consider what Justice would want, and go from there, young one.”

  Even when she went to sleep, Jacqueline couldn’t figure out a solution that satisfied her.

  Michael had Jacqueline use the bed in the suite while he sat in the parlor. Alone in the dark with his thoughts, he occasionally pushed his ability to connect with Kerri to confirm the authenticity of Paul’s decision.

  Kerri might have a hard choice ahead, but she had taken it on willingly. Should Paul Mullins ever decide to stray from the path, she would kill him herself.

  Or, the Dark Messiah would visit again, and it would be her pack that paid the penalty. She had seen the deaths in Denver and didn’t doubt for a moment he could, and would, make good on his promise.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Dirigible Pittsburgh, En Route from Chicago to New York City-State

  Jacqueline, after packing all her stuff and setting her bags next to Michael’s, locked and left the suite.

  She was headed towards the observation deck.

  She passed numerous berths where she could hear people packing, arguing or occasionally making love as she walked down the hall. On her way through the dining rooms, she didn’t find many people. A couple was drinking coffee, and she shared a smile with the lady she had spoken with the previous morning.

  It was nighttime, and the lights of New York City-State shone brightly, the cacophony of the colors along with the lights blazing into the night sky, trying to attract revelers on the ground. It had the effect of making it very easy to find the City-State from a distance.

  She found Michael, hands clasped behind his back, looking out at the city. His reflection shimmered in the window, his expression blank.

  Michael might often know what others were thinking, but Jacqueline always found it difficult to understand his thoughts, unless he was angry. That emotion was all too easy to judge.

  The glowing red eyes tended to be a dead giveaway.

  She walked up and stood next to him. He glanced at her reflection in the window before returning to the scene below.

  “Different?” she asked.

  “Yes,” he replied as he started pointing. “All of this area should be lit up. You could see the whole East Coast of the United States from space, it had so many lights. Now, there are little clumps, like campfires, and then the blazing bonfire that is New York City. After the absence of power in so many towns and cities we have passed, to see it wasted here in New York seems like a mockery.”

  “That’s because you didn’t see Chicago at night,” Jacqueline said. “It isn’t quite this bad, but it is lit up pretty well. The Chicago City-State has more ground lit up, but it doesn’t have the buildings that New York does. Plus, New York has a wall.”

  Michael turned to her. “A what?”

  She pointed down. “Look near the water. They’ve built a wall they can raise and lower. There are a lot of crazies that get attracted to New York.” Pulling her hand back, she continued, “We’ve even had a few Weres that seem to start talking about seeing things or feeling a buzz, and then nothing. Bright colors affecting their vision, something we don’t see standing right next to them. They don’t seem to be living in our world, at times.”

  Michael pursed his lips, taking the information in, but not sure what to do with it.

  “There are a couple of buildings I don’t recognize,” he admitted, “and I see floating police vehicles down there.”

  Jacqueline shrugged. “New York is a tough town. Harder to live, but I understand there’s a lot of money to be had. Lots of people all living in this small of an area. But, the infrastructure from before makes it easy to stay supplied with parts. The nuclear power they’ve run from a reactor up north is almost overkill. So, they expect to continue growing. Their manufacturing is good as is their ability to procure food from the sea.”

  “Which is good, if you like seafood,” Michael said.

  She looked up at him. “You don’t?” she asked.

  “Oh, I’ll eat it, if I have to,” he said.

  “Wait, I’ve never seen you eat. I’m always eating.”

  “You,” he said, “are a Were. Your metabolism requires you to eat more. My nanocytes are powered differently.”

  “That must be nice,” she mused. “No worry about dealing with food anymore.”

  Michael pursed his lips. “True, I don’t have to worry about it like you do, except to keep normal body functions from degenerating. I do eat, if nothing else, to keep some vitamins and minerals in me. I just don’t do it very often,” he finished.

  Try never, she thought to herself.

  The airship turned, taking them further south of the city before it turned due north. Michael noticed the tall towers that had locations to hook up the airships and elevators to offload passengers. He looked down.

  Not enough ground space to let everyone land.

  After retrieving their bags, the two passengers joined the line of those waiting to disembark. Walking with Michael, Jacqueline realized, was a pleasant exercise. Just like on the observation deck, people seemed to naturally give him space.

  Or, she supposed, it could be his bald head making him look fierce.

  “Where are we going?” she asked as they made it out of the elevator at the bottom, the bright lights of the city some blocks away. Michael looked around and started walking towards the lights. There were a few taxis lined up to carry people, something that wasn’t available in Denver. Michael also noticed two police cars and a few men up at the top of buildings holding rifles.

  That was a new development.

  He turned to look at Jacqueline. “We’re going to get you some new clothes.”

  She looked down. “Why?” She rubbed at a spot that she couldn’t get clean on her shirt. “Not that I’m complaining too much, because… girl here. But, these are still in good shape,” she said as she tried to catch a view of herself in a passing window.

  “You stick out because the fashion you’re wearing,” he explained. “Look around.”

  Jacqueline surreptitiously glanced at the others on the street and realized her more rustic clothing style wasn’t similar to the general populace. “Hey,” she pointed with her head to two men who seemed to be trying to chat up a woman across the street. “I see people that look like pirates, what’s wrong with this?” she finished by pointing at herself.

  Michael paid attention as those on the top of the roofs kept watch, not only eyeing the people coming off the airship but those on the streets around them as well. “Those men are trying to be noticed, Jacqueline. Are you?”

  Jacqueline didn’t answer before a bearded portly fellow yelled, “If you are NEW to the city, make sure you REGISTER! If you are NEW to the city, make SURE you register!” His booming voice caught everyone’s attention. Many of those from the ship went over to him and accepted one of the papers he was handing out.

  “No,” Michael told Jacqueline before she got the question past her lips. “We’re not registering.”

  “You know,” she grumped, “that mind reading gets annoying.”

  Michael smiled. “It wasn’t mind reading,” he replied, his mind trying to match up what he could see of this city with his memories of New York when he lived here.

  “Then what do you call it?” she asked as she jogged to catch up with him.

  He blew out a breath, sounding weary as he answered, “Being around people for a thousand years.”

  Jacqueline didn’t have a good response to that. She spent the better part of the next four blocks keeping an eye out for anything strange or concerning until she noticed the jewelry shop window. She paused in front, looking through the glass at the rings and bracelets, some of them sparkling from the lights aimed down on them.

  “Ohhhh,” she murmured, wanting to reach through the glass and pick one up. The brilliance of the reflections made her heart giddy with joy. She would look at one piece, and then go to the next. She tried to understand why certain stones seemed to reflect more than others, not realizing she had stopped paying attention to her surroundings until she was interrupted.

  “Looks like we have a new recruit,” a deep voice said behind her. She glanced up to the reflections in the window and saw four guys standing behind her. One was looking out towards the way Michael had continued walking. “Are you coming along with us passively, or are you going to make us rough you up, sister?”

  She could smell the Were scent coming from them.

  Shit, she closed her eyes. Way to fucking go, meathead! When she opened her eyes, her look of fascination was replaced with a focused determination that didn’t look like it understood the word passively.

  Michael had beaten that out of her back in Denver, and he hadn’t let up on the airship. She might not beat four of these Weres, but there was no way she was accepting any recruiting offer from them.

  And besides, Michael was out there somewhere, right?

  As the first to speak stepped towards her to grab her shoulder. She kicked back and caught him in the kneecap, pushing his leg in a direction it wasn’t supposed to bend.

  It snapped. “You fucking bitch!” he screamed, going down to the sidewalk in a spasm of pain.

  She twisted in place, leaning to the side to allow the club used by the second to miss her, smashing against the window. “It will heal, asshole,” she told him as she backhanded the second in the nose with her right knuckles. She grabbed his right hand, the one with the club, twisted the wrist up, taking control of the club as his scream alerted the fourth that the fight behind him wasn’t going the way it was planned.

  “Listen, you cunt!” the first yelled, “The Enforcers are going to…”

  “Not have a fucking clue I was here,” she replied, cutting short his conversation with a solid swing of the club to his forehead.

  She dodged the second backhanded swing from her opponent but failed to dodge another club aimed at her head from the third guy. The blow caused stars in her eyes. She threw herself to the side to get some space, and a little time to get her focus back.

  Unfortunately, the two remaining Weres weren’t idiots, and now Jacqueline was on the defensive, dodging a swing from one club while blocking the other with hers. She was constantly being pushed backward and then jackass number three came at her from another angle. She dodged his attack and found herself in an alley.

  Oh, for fuck’s sake!

  “We got your ass now, sweetheart,” the fourth spoke for the first time. “Might as well give up, cause our beat down is only going to be more painful for every bit of pain you cause us,” he finished.

  Wonderful, she was now sixty feet back in the alley. It was dark, it was smelly, and these three didn’t have any reason to play nice.

  “You know,” the fourth guy grinned and stepped back out of her reach and put a hand under his jacket. Now, all three of them started grinning like they were in on some grand joke. “We’ve only been playing with you, pussycat.”

  The rod he brought out started arcing up and down with electricity, an eerie blue light causing shadows to play along the stone walls. “This baby is called the persuader because it will encourage you to do anything we ask just to stop the pain.”

  “Kiss my ass!” Jacqueline said, spitting at his feet. “Shock me or not, I’ll never do anything for you.”

  “Oh Johnny,” the second spoke in a high voice putting both hands up to his face, “she isn’t going to do anything for us, whatever shall we do?” he asked and then laughed at his own joke.

  “Well, I guess we need to… persuade… her to listen to us, don’t we guys?” he said as the two of them stepped aside so he could get in front of them. Jacqueline looked around, and she was blocked in. There wasn’t an exit and changing to a wolf wasn’t going to help much against three other Weres.

  Johnny’s voice became soft, almost loving. “You are going to join the Enforcers, little one, or die.” His laughter, such a contrast to his previous tone, seemed maniacal.

  At the far end of the alley, a figure, eyes glowing faintly red, dragged a body into the alley. He tossed it away. The body hit a wall, sliding down to lay in a heap.

  All life gone.

  Jacqueline considered pointing out the death standing behind them, but then gritted her teeth. She was safe enough, but she wasn’t finished here.

  Jacqueline darted forward, raising her club to block the first swing of the electrical rod and kicked out, connecting with his stomach, causing him to bend over, but also causing him to swing widely, catching the edge of her right leg with the...

  “Holy fuckazoid!” she screamed, the pain racing up and down her leg.

  “You…” the guy said, grabbing his stomach and trying to catch his breath, “have only tasted a little.” He slowly stood back up. “That was a lucky shot, bitch.”

  Jacqueline flexed her leg, trying to get full movement back.

  “That was just the tiniest taste, sweet cheeks.” His grin made her feel dirty. He stood back up and waved the club around. “No Mr. Nice guy, this time.”

  “So, you want me to call you Mr. what now?” she asked him.

  “You don’t have to call me anything, except perhaps master,” his grin became feral, his eyes slowly looking her up and down. “And you look good enough to…”

  Her scream split the night. The three men stepped back as her eyes flared yellow, the humiliation, fear and despair she had felt while she was blind rose up in her mind like three demons and the guys in front of her afforded the opportunity to release the pent up fury.

  The pent up rage.

  She forgot about the electricity, the three to one odds, the pain in her leg. She ran into the middle guy with the electric rod and slammed her club at his head, making him use his for defense. She kicked out at the one on her right, nailing him in the crotch and Were or no Were, a man doesn’t heal quickly from that punishment.

  She ducked under the return swing, the electricity humming over her hair and used her momentum to lift the club up from the ground, slamming into the last guy’s head. She used her momentum to pivot outside of the middle guy’s easy swing range. She blocked the second strike from the glowing blue weapon and kicked out, breaking his leg as she swung her club in an arc, trying to deliver a smashing hit to the back of his head.

  Unfortunately, her club didn’t beat his stab and the two hit each other at the same moment. He went down, the back of his skull fractured and she screamed as her body spasmed against her will, the rod’s electric charge coursing through her. She slammed into the concrete, her eyes open, but her body trembling violently, taking away any ability to control her movements.

  The last guy standing, the one she kicked in the nuts, walked carefully over and reached down to pick up the arc rod. His eyes were cruel in the faint light as he spoke. “Well, that was a hell of a fight, I’ll give you that,” he said. Jacqueline was barely able to follow him with her eyes.

  He turned the club to show her a switch on it. “See this?” He knelt down so she could see. “Here, it’s kind of dark, even for our kind. Now,” he looked annoyed and slapped Jacqueline, “pay attention!” Jacqueline tried to get her eyes to focus back on the asshole, trying hard to move, to get out of the way of the pain that was so close to her, the electricity arcing.

  “Now, we have it on half power, thinking a small little female like you… Oh, sorry, looks like Johnny moved it to two-thirds power.” He looked over at her, impressed. “That drops a two hundred and fifty-pound Werebear, you got some big ovaries. But,” he continued, “I’m going to move it on up to max because my nuts hurt like a son of a bitch.” He shrugged. “And they really want a little payback.”

  Jacqueline could only stare in horror as the man looked down at her. Then, another voice cut in.

  “I think not,” Michael said from her left. Jacqueline could see the Were turn in surprise, not realizing another party had been there in the alley with them.