“It is,” Leo answered. “I’ll wait till you finish it. Wouldn’t want to waste your drink.”

  Oscar chuckled. After pouring the drink into the glass, he stoppered the bottle and placed it with a thunk back onto the bar. Leo had found a bottle of lager from somewhere. “Drink up,” Leo told him and tipped his bottle back. It took Oscar a second to down his drink.

  Oscar’s slight coughing spell amused Leo. “Going to have to practice by yerself a bit harder with the good stuff before you do that again.”

  “I’m good,” Oscar replied, setting the glass back on the bar. “Didn’t realize my throat was so dry.”

  “Uh huh.” Leo pulled out a chair at the table. “Might as well sit down. I’ve got a story to tell you.”

  Oscar dropped his hat on the table. “Ok, I’m warmed up well enough. What’s up with those in that building?”

  “You ever heard of blood-baggers?” Leo asked. Oscar shook his head. “Ok, how about vampires and Weres?”

  “Well, of course, them,” Oscar answered, and leaned forward. “Wait, those street rumors are true?” He reached out and started playing with his hat. “That would explain a couple of the killings in the park.”

  “We keep as much of the truth from the citizens as we can. Usually, the paranormals stay out of the city with their problems because of the blood-baggers.”

  Oscar shrugged. “Not following.”

  “It’s like this.” Leo tapped his fingers on the table. “The blood-baggers drain vampires and sell their blood. It gives humans some damned good benefits, and the blood-bagger is only killing the undead anyway. The Weres aren’t as big a draw, ‘cause taking their blood is a good way to die if you happen to mix them. But the blood-baggers are willing to grab an occasional Were or two who isn’t associated with any of the local packs for a little R&D. So, in general, they don’t come into town, and especially not this area.”

  “So the guy who was pointed out?”

  “Is a blood-bagger, and based on your description it’s probably Noah. He’s the Number Two over there and a real asswipe. The other three are George, Thomas and Harry. Harry is the leader, and you can figure which one he is ‘cause of his white hair and youthful face. He has a baby-like appearance.”

  “But don’t mention it?”

  Leo shrugged. “I’ve never heard of him reacting to a comment on his age. However, I wouldn’t push any of the four. Noah is a jagoff who seems like he is on angry drugs all the time. George is tall and about as wide as a stick, and Thomas is kinda short and a little frumpy. None of them are in bad shape, and for God’s sake don’t get into a fight with them.”

  “Fisticuffs?”

  Leo shook his head. “Any of it. They are wicked fast and strong ‘cause of the vampire blood they suck down, and they have some of the best weapons cause it’s like their asses print money—selling that blood and all.” Leo eyed his partner to see how much of this warning was sinking in as he sipped his beer.

  Oscar was quiet, but a few moments later he leaned back in his chair. “You were going to wait the six months why?”

  “Most pubes like you quit in the first six months. Was trying to save you from the darker side of our work.”

  “There’s more?” Oscar asked. “I mean the freaky-deaky stuff, not the normal human stuff.”

  Leo used the bottle to scratch an itch before taking another swallow. “Some stuff even we find hard to believe, like those people who seem to be losing themselves when they sleep and finding some sort o’ gray mist place. But most of them have checked out ok, just having a common dream. The psycho-doctors all give them a thumbs-up, so we write it up as bad digestion.”

  “So the people in that place are off-limits?” Oscar finally asked.

  “Only the four I told you about,” Leo admitted. “They have an agreement with the higher-ups. They keep down the paranormals, we look the other way. If we have an issue with some of their people, we take it to the captain. If the captain and whoever talks for the blood-baggers decide their guy was in the wrong, then we are ok to grab him whenever he isn’t on their property.”

  “The black building.”

  “The very one,” Leo agreed. “About now is when most need a second drink.”

  Oscar pushed his chair back and turned around to step over to the bar. “Yeah, I think that would be a good idea.”

  Leo played with his beer, turning it around and around while he waited for Oscar to pour and toss back his drink and finally cap the bottle once again.

  “What’s special about this room?” Oscar asked, taking in all the paper and notes scribbled on the walls.”

  “Well, that’s the reason you are going to need a third drink,” Leo told him. He looked around the room before returning his gaze to his partner. “Not all of us are happy about the agreement. We think one of these days we will have to go into the black building, and we wish to be ready.”

  Oscar thought about one of the dead bodies he now associated with the stories Leo was telling him. He turned back and grabbed the bottle, pouring himself a double. Capping the bottle, he took a sip and went back to his seat and sat down. “I’m in.”

  “Boy,” Leo laughed, “you wouldn’t have been in the room if I didn’t already know there was no way to keep you out of that building.” He pointed to different parts of the room. “I showed this to you, so you know we got plans. So you won’t go get yourself killed before you can be part of those plans and do it right.”

  Oscar picked up the glass, noting how the dark amber whisky reflected the light and took a sip. “How many have tried to help before me?” he asked as he looked at the older cop.

  “You are the seventh. Two are dead because they wouldn’t take my word for it. I’m sure that bastard Noah killed one and I think it was Thomas who killed the other. Four are on the force and waiting for our time, and the other was killed in a freak accident over off Carnaby.”

  “Did I know any of those killed?” Oscar whispered.

  “Sorry, son,” Leo told him. “One of them was your brother Jack.”

  Oscar thought about the closed casket funeral he had attended. His mother crying as her oldest was laid into the ground. The number of police officers who had attended the funeral had surprised the teenaged Oscar. Seeing them all there in their uniforms had solidified his desire to be a cop—over the objections of his mother.

  He lifted the glass to his lips and tossed back the rest of the whisky. When he had set the glass back down gently on the table, he looked at his partner, his eyes obsidian. “Just tell me what I’ve got to do, sir.”

  Leo nodded. “Don’t think I won’t, young man.” He pointed his beer at Oscar. “We will both,” he pointed the end of the bottle between the two of them, “make damn sure that asshole is dead and buried.”

  Chapter Nine

  Peckham, England

  Harry sniffed and reached up with his handkerchief to wipe his nose. “Damned dust,” he commented. He and his top three men were inside the core meeting room of their fortress.

  Noah was to his left, George was in front of him and Thomas was to his right. They were sitting around their personal planning table. Two bottles of clear alcohol rested in the middle along with three bottles of stout.

  George pulled up his shirtsleeves. The fabric did nothing for his lean physique. The vampire blood he consumed gave him excellent strength for what should have been a man you could break over your leg. The lids of his eyes were drooping. “So it’s true?”

  George was never one to waste time.

  Noah poured some of the liquor into his glass and put the bottle back down on the table. “Yes, it’s true.” He tossed the drink back and smacked his lips. “It took two of my men and three of theirs, but we got the right proof.” He reached into his pocket and tossed some pictures onto the table. “Watch the blood.”

  Thomas oofed as he shoved his chair back to give him room to lean forward and pick up one of the pictures. “That’s the Dark Messiah?”

  “The very one,” Noah agreed. “The team that had this information wanted too much money for it.”

  “Who’s the other guy?” George asked. “Captain of the ship?”

  “Yeah.” Noah reached for one of the stouts. “From what I can tell,” he held the bottle a couple inches from his lips and winked at George, “he’s English, and the vampire told him to shout out that he was coming for another vampire in Europe.”

  “The Duke,” Harry said, his deep voice cutting through the talk. “We have dueling deadly vampires.”

  “Either the score of the century,” Thomas commented, “or a good way to die.”

  Noah leaned forward and put a downward-pointing finger on the tabletop. “I choose to think of it as a good way to rid mankind of a couple monsters and make ourselves the most powerful humans in existence as we sell their blood.” He looked at Thomas and George as he spoke. “We can get a shitload of money for mere drops.” Noah leaned back and smiled. “Drops, guys. Not ounces, drops. We lock these freaks down and feed them, right? We are damned near immortal, I bet you.”

  George looked at Harry, his blue eyes contemplative under his bushy white eyebrows. It was quiet for a few moments. “It’ll probably be our final score.” Harry agreed and looked at all three men in order: Noah, George, then Thomas. “We need to either leave these two vampires to—no pun intended—duke it out, and we go after the winner if there is one. Or we go after the new guy who probably doesn’t know his way around too well, and once we have his blood, we go after the Duke himself.”

  Thomas rubbed a finger under his nose while George pursed his lips. Noah just sat in his chair grinning. His mind, Thomas thought, was probably already made up.

  “We got enough blood?” George asked, looking across the table. Harry nodded.

  All three men looked at Thomas, who shrugged. “What the hell, we been together since we all beat the shit out of Charley William in fourth grade. We can beat another bully, right?”

  Harry smiled and leaned forward, grabbing a beer. “To our last Charley William!”

  All men grabbed a drink, the sound of clinking bottles and glasses hitting each other breaking up the quiet as the men toasted.

  “I’ve got home fort,” Harry told the three. “Each of you take a team and a copy of the pictures and find this Dark Messiah. Let’s crucify him on the cross of pain and agony.”

  Noah grinned as he pushed his chair out far enough to stand up. “That’s down on dungeon level three, right?”

  Nagoya, Japan, Hirano Residence

  Hirano was surprised but excited when Yuko rang his bell at eight o’clock the next morning.

  She made her way to the second floor to find his door ajar and the smell of coffee wafting into the hallway. She went in, closing the door quietly behind her.

  “You drink coffee?” he called from the kitchen.

  “No, thank you,” she responded. “I can’t stay long, but I thought I needed to say this in person.”

  The clattering of cups in the kitchen stopped and Hirano emerged into the living area drying his hands with a dish towel. He slung it over his shoulder, now looking concerned. “Why?” he asked. “What’s wrong?”

  Yuko stood motionless, her eyes fixed on the floor, trying to find the words.

  Hirano approached her. Before he got within two steps of her, she looked up and spoke, stopping his advance. He dropped his arms to his sides. He’d been reaching out to her.

  “I’ve been thinking about the incident last night,” she started.

  Hirano nodded. “The army of ninjas you took out single-handedly. Hard to forget.”

  She dropped her eyes again, clearly distressed. “I… I can’t see you anymore,” she blurted quietly. “I’m sorry.”

  He stepped forward again, but she shrank from his outstretched arms. “Why?”

  “It’s too dangerous. You were in danger last night because of me. And if they find out that you mean something to me, then we might not be so lucky next time.”

  “Is this because Michael is back?”

  Yuko nodded solemnly. “It may be. We just don’t know anything yet.”

  Hirano looked pained. “But I don’t want you to just disappear.”

  Yuko looked back up at him. “I don’t want to either, but I have to. I have to get my team away from here, and we need to let you be safe.”

  “When will I see you again?” Hirano asked, now moving closer and holding her shoulders between his hands.

  Yuko shook her head, looking down again. “I don’t know. Maybe never,” she confessed.

  Hirano frowned, holding her more tightly. “What do you mean?”

  Yuko sighed and stepped back a little, forcing him to let go. “Well, if our mission goes according to plan we’ll be leaving Earth soon,” she explained.

  He looked bewildered and torn up inside. “So that’s it? You just leave?” he pressed, unbelieving.

  “Yes,” she confirmed. “I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have gotten in touch. It was unfair. I wasn’t thinking of the repercussions. I was selfish, I wanted to see you.”

  Hirano moved closer again and put a finger on her lips. “No, you weren’t,” he told her firmly. “And whatever happens, I will always be glad that you came to see me, even if our time was brief.” He dropped his finger from her lips and leaned in and kissed her, just as a tear ran down the side of her face.

  Yuko headed out the front door of the apartment building and back to her Pod. Hirano’s last words rang in her ears. “Always know you can come back to me. I will wait for you. Come back to me when you feel ready. We have something that is worth holding onto.”

  She swiped at another stray tear as she hopped into the Pod. She thumped down into the seat and contemplated not even doing up her harness. Right now she didn’t have the energy for trivial things in light of what she had just had to do.

  Her heart ached with a pain she had never known before.

  Happiness, she thought to herself. Is it really worth all this hurt?

  The Pod lifted off, and Hirano looked out of his living room window in time to catch sight of it out of the corner of his eye before it was gone from his world for good.

  Otsu, Japan, Lake Biwa

  The large black box rested on the lush greenery on the banks of Lake Biwa. Given the relocation into the middle of nowhere, Jacqueline had encouraged the team to take a day off to rest and recoup from the excitement of the city.

  Eve suspected it had more to do with Jacqueline wanting to spend some time with Mark, but there were many things Eve could do given a little downtime from the incessant battling they’d been doing since the return of Michael.

  Yuko, on the other hand, was busying herself in distraction from her brief encounter with actual happiness.

  Eve cocked her head, processing something abnormal.

  Yuko noticed. “What is it?”

  Eve held up one finger, and then a moment later resumed normal functioning. “I was communicating with Akio. We have new orders.”

  Just then, Jacqueline stepped back into the black transport box, cum office. Her hair and skin were wet, and it looked like she had just slipped a dry set of clothes over the top, that was consequently now damp in patches. Around her neck, she had slung a towel from the gear that Eve had issued them when they entered the box.

  Yuko glanced up from her computer terminal. “Where’s Mark?” she asked casually.

  Jacqueline’s eyes narrowed. “Why?” she asked suspiciously.

  Yuko shook her head. “Jacqueline, it’s ok. I’m not after him. I was just inquiring.”

  Jacqueline’s face relaxed a little as she caught herself acting like the needlessly jealous girlfriend.

  Eve turned to join the conversation, adding a semblance of logic. “She’s not interested because she’s got the hots for Inspector Hirano, remember?”

  Yuko lowered her eyes, her cheeks flushing a bright shade of pink. “We have a job to do,” she said, changing the subject.

  Eve agreed. “We have new orders from Akio,” she explained. “He’d like us to investigate the whereabouts of the pieces of the Kurtherian ship.”

  “The Kur-what-ian-what-now?” Jacqueline asked, her mouth skewed to one side, perplexed by the strange words.

  Yuko smiled at Jacqueline’s reaction. “The Kurtherians. The name of the alien race. Didn’t Michael explain this to you?”

  Jacqueline shrugged. “He may have mentioned something, but as you know, he’s not the most wordy or explain-y of people.” She pulled the towel from around her neck and ruffled her hair vigorously, drying the dripping ends.

  Just then Mark came stumbling up the steps into the black box, grabbing Jacqueline’s butt surreptitiously. Jacqueline’s face lit up at the attention of her boyfriend, which Yuko and Eve could only imagine she had spent the morning trying to exhaust.

  “What did I miss?” he asked, pulling a t-shirt on over his enhanced vampire six-pack.

  Jacqueline turned to look at him, his arms now around her waist. “We have another mission. To find some pieces of a boat.”

  Eve shook her head. “Not boat. Spaceship.”

  Mark’s eyes widened. “No shit?”

  Eve nodded. “Yes shit.” She realized what she had just said and clamped both hands over her mouth, giggling at herself.

  Yuko stretched her legs out a little as she began to explain. “Ok, it looks like there are a few things you still need to know. You might have heard how Michael’s love, Bethany Anne—our Empress—is off amongst the stars?”

  Jacqueline and Mark nodded. Jacqueline spoke for both of them. “Yeah. I mean, it’s pretty intense, but we’ve gotten that much of the story.”

  Yuko bowed her head slightly before continuing. “Well, the Kurtherians took over the Yollins, and sent them to Earth with the hope of subjugating the human race the same way.

  “Bethany Anne and her team of scientists were able to get into space and took out the scout vessel before it could bring through the rest of the army. And when I say ‘through,’ I’m talking about through a gate which joins two distant points in space.”