The Bite That Binds

CHAPTER EIGHT

(Sam)

I’d never liked those ‘I know something you don’t’ smiles, and I especially never liked them when they belonged to Evan. He was a great bloke and all that, but he was also a sneaky bugger. I immediately narrowed my eyes.

Jared, who knew his brother well enough to know what that look meant, groaned. “Okay, what did you do?”

Evan shrugged innocently. “Who says I’ve done anything?”

“Spill it.”

“Bro,” whined Evan, putting a hand to his chest. “I’m hurt that you’re so suspicious. Secrets aren’t always bad secrets.” He looked to me for some kind of character back-up.

“Yeah, I’m with Jared on this one, Ev. It’s never good when you’re smiling like that.”

He seemed delighted rather than offended. “Ready for your Binding gift?” he asked me.

“Should I be worried about what it is?”

“You’re going to love it.”

Jared shook his head at his twin. “Do I at least get to come and see this gift that’s supposed to be for both of us?”

A little patronisingly, Evan patted him on the back. “Sure. You’ll love it too, because it’s work-related. But it’s mainly for Sam.” He peered down at my feet. “Oh good, you’re wearing cross trainers.”

I frowned. “What does that have to do with anything?”

That smile was back. “You’ll see.”

Excited in spite of myself, I followed him down the hallway where we came across Fletcher. He was holding a shopping bag, surprise, surprise.

Evan spoke to Fletcher. “If anyone asks, they’ll be gone most of the evening. And they’ll be having way more fun than they would have at the opera-thing that Antonio’s got planned.”

Jared exchanged a baffled look with me before asking his brother, “Gone where all evening? And why will we be gone all evening?” His twin merely winked in response.

Fletcher put his hands on his hips, studying Evan over the rim of his glasses. “Hang on a minute, why are you smirking like that? What have you done?”

“I’m only taking Sam to see her Binding gift from me.”

My best friend’s expression morphed into one of intense curiosity. “Don’t think you’re leaving me behind.”

To my surprise, Evan’s smile faltered a little. “Are you sure you’re not too busy, Fletch?”

“When there’s a gift involved? Not at all.”

A very impish grin spread across Evan’s face. “Okay then, if you want to come, by all means come.”

Now I was even more suspicious…but I was also more intrigued. Curiosity won over, and I followed Evan out of the building. When he led us into the rainforest, I went from curious to ‘what the fuck?’ Still, I remained silent as he took us deep into the rainforest, in the direction of what the legion immaturely called ‘the four tits’ – basically, they were four mountains clustered together, surrounding a huge stretch of land.

Evan came to an abrupt halt when we neared the narrow opening that lay between two of the mountains, leading to the land nestled between all four. The excitement on his face made me smile, despite my impatience. “You ready?”

I shoved him. “Move out of my way so I can get through and see what it is.”

“No. You have to close your eyes.”

“Ev, don’t take the piss. I don’t have much patience left.”

“Just do it.”

Releasing a put-out sigh, I nonetheless did as he asked.

“Bro, Fletch – both of you stay quiet until I’ve told her to open her eyes.” He took my hand and guided me through the narrow opening. I heard Fletcher gasp and sensed Jared’s surprise and…awe? That made me even more desperate to look. Finally, Evan brought us to a halt. “Now, Sam, do you remember a month ago you told me how you thought the legion would benefit from having a tactical field to train in? Look.”

When I opened my eyes, I gasped just as Fletcher had done. Tactical field my arse. It was more like a small, abandoned village. The only thing stopping it from looking real was that the buildings were made of plywood. And of course no one has gas drums and piles of tyres just lying around here and there, do they. There was even a bus and several other vehicles lining the ‘streets’. “How did you do all this in a month?”

“I designed it, but every squad member and every one of the commanders – other than Jared, because I didn’t tell him about it – all came together to help me build it. Like it?” My smile must have been answer enough for him, because he chuckled and curled an arm around me. “Then you’re going to love what I’ve got planned for the next six hours.” He slipped his free hand into his pocket and fished out a single, spherical, gelatin capsule.

Anticipation shot through me. “Paintballing?”

He chuckled again, nodding. “Paintballing. I got one of Antonio’s guards to teleport all the necessary equipment here. The squad will arrive any minute. They’re eager to play; they’ve been looking forward to this for weeks.”

I hugged Evan tightly, laughing at Jared’s playful growl. “I haven’t been paintballing for years.”

Stroking a finger through his collar, Fletcher cleared his throat. “This isn’t really my scene, luv. I’m more of a pacifist.”

I gripped Fletcher’s hand. “Oh please stay. It’ll be a laugh. Honestly, it’s addictive, you’ll love it.”

Just then, Chico entered through the narrow opening, followed closely by the rest of the squad…and someone I really hadn’t wanted to see.

Fletcher curled his upper lip in distaste. “What’s Widow Twankey doing here?” She didn’t appear to appreciate that nickname, though she probably had no idea he had named her after a pantomime dame that was always played by a man.

Salem, who I then noticed was holding her lower arm, frowned down at her. “We found her wandering aimlessly. Apparently, she’s looking for you, Coach.”

Fletcher snorted. “Yeah? Well she can sod off.”

Magda lifted her chin, scowling at Fletcher. “As I told Sam, I think it would be good for her and I to spend time together if she intends on Binding to one of my vampires. Besides, if she’s going to one day be responsible for my protection and the protection of all vampirekind, it is only fair that I get to know her.”

Jared, Fletcher, and Evan all went to object, but I held up a hand. “No, she’s right.” I smiled brightly at Magda. “If you’d really like us to become better acquainted, there couldn’t be a more perfect time. You can join us for a few games of paintballing.”

Magda gaped. “Paintballing?” Going by the distaste coating that one word, she thought this kind of thing was beneath her. I sensed Jared’s amusement.

“Don’t worry. I’m not one of those really competitive people who take it too seriously.” The guys all snorted, knowing me too well.

Magda straightened to her full height and forced a smile. “I accept your invitation.”

“Invitation?” repeated Fletcher. “What planet are you on? This is gate-crashing.”

“Nah,” disagreed Evan, “it’s important that she and Sam bond.” He winked at me, humour lighting his eyes. “Come on, let’s go get kitted up.” He led us all to a small hut where, as I’d expected, he’d kept the supplies. “First, I want to talk you all through everything. I know some of you haven’t been paintballing before – particularly Fletcher, Reuben, Damien, and David—”

“And me,” Magda informed him.

Evan nodded. “And Magda. But don’t worry, you’ll all enjoy it. You’ll be split into two teams, and the aim of the game is to complete each mission without getting shot by a paintball. It’s as simple as that.” He shrugged to emphasise the simplicity of it, but then he held up one finger as he continued.

“There are rules for the game. I know that some of you will have big advantages because of your gifts…and that’s why rule number one is that none of you are to use your gifts at any time. Rule number two: if you are hit, you do not need to leave the game unless you’ve been hit in the torso or the head – they’re the only areas that would have any real effect on a vampire. At that point, you simply raise your gun, declare that you’re hit, and head to ‘the dead zone’ – no one is to shoot at or go near this zone. I’ll show you where it is in a minute.

“If you’re hit in the head, it’s considered a fatal shot and you will be eliminated from that particular game. If you’re hit in the torso, you need to only spend ten minutes in ‘the dead zone’ before you can return to the game. But unless the paintball breaks and leaves a mark the size of a quarter, it doesn’t count. And nor does paint splatter, which means that although the paint grenades will do well at distracting the other team, they won’t count as ‘deadly’. Rule number three: do not take off your safety mask unless you’re in ‘the dead zone’ or unless the game has ended. Rule number four: you must allow surrenders. And the final rule: no bodily contact. This is not about combat. That all understood?” Everybody nodded.

Ten minutes later, all of us were dressed in camouflaged overalls and padded gloves. It was when Evan pulled out a bag and handed it to me that I understood exactly why he’d been wearing that smile earlier. Inside was a pink tutu, a headband with pink horns attached, and a white ‘L’ sign. Bastard. In seconds, I was dressed like an army slut. Of course everyone thought it was hilarious, even Jared.

I snarled at my fiancé. “Thanks a lot, Judas.”

Evan huffed at him. “I don’t know what you’re laughing at.” He then pulled out another bag. Jared’s face fell when his twin fished out a Borat-style, lime-green, lycra mankini. Then it was my turn to laugh.

“You’re fucking kidding me.” Jared shook his head. “No way.”

I put my hands on my hips. “Oi, if I’m going to look stupid, you can as well.”

He stood, seething, as his brother and Fletcher helped him put the mankini on over his camo gear. The icing on the cake had been when Harvey took a photograph with his smartphone. Jared made a dive for it. Obviously having anticipated that, however, the others held him back as Harvey dashed off to hide the photographic evidence of us looking like plonkers.

Once the laughing had died down, Evan clapped his hands twice to get everyone’s attention. “Okay, let’s split you into teams. Sam and Jared will each be a leader, which places them on opposing teams. I’ll be refereeing, since it wouldn’t be fair to have two commanders on one team.”

My team ended up consisting of Fletcher, Chico, Butch, Harvey, David, and Salem. As such, Jared had Reuben, Max, Denny, Damien, Stuart, and Magda. The bitch was staying as close as physically possible to Jared, of course. I shot her a ‘you better watch yourself’ look. She returned it, although she did seem nervous. She should be.

“We’re going to be playing lots of different games,” began Evan, “but before we start, we’ll do what’s called ‘walk the field’. This way, you can all familiarise yourselves with the place, see where everything is. You’ll find that on opposite sides of the field are the base camps, which are also the starting points for each team.”

It was as we were walking around that Evan explained, “The first game is called ‘Ammo Retrieval’. In the centre is the tallest of the buildings, which has the sign, ‘Bed and Breakfast’. Inside there is a crate of ammunition. Your objective is to retrieve the crate and take it back to your base camp. The team that manages to do that wins. Simple. If you claim the crate and think you have the time to stop, feel free to reload your paintball guns, as there are pods of pellets inside the crate.”

Having completed the walk through and studied the field – which was absolutely bloody brilliant and topped every Binding gift we’d been given so far – we returned to the supply hut. Evan gave us all the necessary equipment: a protective mask, semi-automatic marker, hopper, smoke grenades, paint grenades, a pod pack – which looped around the waist – and two spare pods of pellets. Magda also had to swap her high heels for a pair of spare boots that were too big for her dainty feet. We then each tied coloured ribbons on our sleeves; blue for Jared’s team, and yellow for mine.

As each team was ready to split and enter their assigned base camps, Jared smacked a kiss on my lips. I could feel the excitement thrumming through him. “Good luck, baby. You’re going to need it, since we both know I’ll win.”

“Sure, sure.”

“I mean it, baby, don’t expect any mercy. I’m going to beat your sexy little ass at this.”

I patted his arm. “It’s sort of cute that you really believe that.”

He laughed and jogged away with his team. Magda gave me a sly smile before trailing after them. She honestly thought it would bother me that she was on Jared’s team? Okay, it did bother me. But I would rather that she wasn’t on my team, since I planned to shoot the crap out of her.

Our base camp was a detached bare house on the border of the field further down from the supply hut. Jared’s base camp – also a detached house – was on the opposite side of the field. Due to the streets of buildings, their camp was out of our line of vision, just as ours was out of theirs. As the ‘B and B’ was in the centre of the field, both teams were equally far from it.

In base camp I turned to my team. “Right, although this is supposed to be all about fun, please understand that I have every intention of winning this. You all with me on that?” Everyone other than Fletcher nodded enthusiastically. “Good. When we need to get into position, I’ve found it often works best to form a ‘U’ shape. Any volunteers for the front? I’ll need two. I’d happily offer, but I’m not too proud to admit that – as a Sventé – I’m the slowest here.”

“I’ll do it, I used to play this a lot as part of my police training,” said Chico.

Salem raised a hand. “I’m fast, and I have a real good aim.”

“Me too,” claimed Butch.

I shook my head. “No Butch, I want to keep you as protected as possible. You’re the fastest here so you’re the obvious person to be responsible for getting the crate back to camp. Chico and Salem can lead. You and I will take up positions behind them. Then Chico can pave the way for you to get inside that ‘B and B’.”

I looked at the other three. “I’m going to put you all at the rear so—”

“Luv, I’ll be no good at this,” declared Fletcher. “I’m too scared to get hit. I’ve heard it really hurts.”

“It’s not that bad. It’s like a hard pinch.”

“I don’t like hard pinches. Seriously, luv, I’ll be hopeless at it.”

“Paintballing isn’t really that difficult. It’s about ducking, diving, creeping, running, and crawling.”

“I’m no good at stealth. I’d give away my location in seconds.”

He was probably right about that. I sighed. “I’ll tell you what: you stay back here and defend our camp. I doubt anyone will get past us but if they do, shoot them.”

He nodded, appearing both relieved and nervous. “I can do that.” It wasn’t so much a statement as it was him trying to convince himself of that.

“Great. Now, I have a few rules of my own. These will help us as a team. One, don’t ever go off alone. I’m not saying stick to someone’s side. I mean, don’t wander away from the rest of the team. You won’t last long if you do. Two, don’t hang around in one spot, keep on the move. If you don’t, you’re liable to be seen. Then all someone has to do is get a good enough angle on you to shoot you. Three, never stand out in the open; you want to be under cover as much as possible. When you move, you move to more cover. Four, always have your gun up, ready to fire. Lastly, enjoy yourselves.”

Harvey cocked his head. “Do you think Jared will cheat and use his telepathy? You know how competitive he is. He won’t want to lose.”

I had to agree with that, but I strongly doubted that he would cheat. “The glory would mean nothing to him if he did that, so no. Right, to sum up…Until we reach the street where the ‘B and B’ is located, we have the luxury of running without being seen. Let’s make that count. Once we reach that street, we form the U shape and we shoot any fucker in the way, covering Butch so that he can go get our crate.” The boys all nodded, somehow managing to look serious and giddy at the same time.

At that moment, Evan’s voice rang out. “Both teams ready?” Hearing Jared and I respond with ‘yes’, he then shouted, “Three, two, one…Game on!”

As one, we sprinted at vampire speed past the first street and the second, but stopped at the corner of the next one. Knowing that the other team would have reached the opposite end of the street at the same time, I didn’t hesitate in getting everyone into position. Following my hand gestures – after months of training, they knew my signals well enough – Chico and Butch crossed over to the other side of the street. Chico slipped inside the second building along while Butch took position behind the car at the corner of the street, placing him a little distance behind Chico yet close enough for them to watch out for one-another.

At my signal, David and Harvey positioned themselves behind a row of gas drums in the middle of the road, keeping at the rear. Satisfied with their locations, I gestured for Salem to run on ahead of me as we kept close to the buildings on our side. On reaching the second house along, he hid behind a large pile of tyres there, while I dashed inside. As we had all moved at vampire speed, it had taken mere seconds.

Inside the house, I headed quietly up the stairs. Once on the second floor, I went to the balcony and crouched behind a gas drum there. My enhanced vision allowed me to spot some of the other team, but unfortunately I didn’t have a clear shot. There was no order to where they were positioned…but that was Jared’s plan, I realised – unpredictability. He figured that if I couldn’t guess where any of them were, I couldn’t move into position to pick them off. It wasn’t actually a bad strategy. He wasn’t going to win, though. Not a bloody chance.

Wanting the other team’s attention on my side of the street to give Butch the best chance at slipping into the ‘B and B’ without being noticed, I jumped up and leaped over to the next balcony. Although I’d moved at vampire speed, the others saw me clearly, and paint pellets headed for me. But the moment I landed on the balcony, I’d rolled to the gas drum for cover.

My move seemed to have sparked the rest to act, because suddenly people were darting from spot to spot, and pellets were flying through the air. Knowing better than to stay in one place, I quickly darted down the stairs. Flat against the wall near the entrance, I took a quick peek outside. Salem had moved from his position near the tyres and was now squatted behind a gas drum further along the street. He was also exchanging shots with Stuart, who was crouched behind a car. Although there was a little paint on Salem, it was only on his leg.

Some sixth sense beat at me, telling me to look up. I did just in time to see that Damien was lying on the roof of one of the buildings across the road, aiming his marker at an unsuspecting Chico. I didn’t have a good enough angle to take the shot, but Salem did. “Salem, ten forty-five.”

Without hesitation, he swerved and shot. The pellet hit Damien’s shoulder, surprising him; he lost his balance and tumbled down the roof, onto the balcony…and right into Chico’s line of fire. A second later, there was a splat of yellow paint on his mask. Damien held up his gun, growling, “I’m hit.” With that, he marched off to ‘the dead zone’, grumbling to himself.

One down, six to go.

Distracted, I almost didn’t notice that not only was Max training his marker on Harvey – typical, since they didn’t get along very well – but he had a nice, clean shot. Quick as lightning, I turned sharply and rained pellets at him, forcing him to take cover. Although a few hit him, they didn’t catch him in a fatal spot. Cursing silently, I darted to the car outside and hunkered behind the wide-open-door.

“Harvey, learn to hide better!” I called. His cockiness was his downfall sometimes. This proved to be true when, only seconds later, he stood with his gun high above his head, declaring that he’d been hit…by Max.

Of course, Max was absolutely delighted. That was until Salem managed to hit him in the torso, temporarily cutting him out of the game. Much like Damien, he grumbled his way to ‘the dead zone’.

Two down, four left to go. But I didn’t have time to laugh about it, because suddenly pellets were hitting the car I was hiding behind, catching my sleeve. I tucked myself in tighter, avoiding the spray. I quickly realised that the pellets were coming from two directions. A peek to my left told me that Reuben was one of the arseholes responsible. No way would I give the two teammates a chance to flank me – which was exactly what they were trying to do. While one shot at me, the other advanced forward, and vice versa.

I took a smoke grenade out of my pocket, and flung it over the car. Five seconds later, it exploded. I wasted no time in rushing around the car, delivering a fatal shot to Reuben’s mask, before leaping onto the balcony above. However, rather than staying up there, I quickly scampered down the stairs. I was right to do so, as no sooner had I moved than paint pellets were being fired.

Startled by movement in my peripheral vision, I almost shot David. Likewise, he almost shot me. We both sighed. I’d have been as embarrassed as all shit to have to walk out of there, declaring I’d been hit by a member of my own team, and that I’d hit him too.

Gesturing for him to follow me, I went to leave the house. I had barely taken a step when an array of pellets came flying my way. I managed to dodge most of them. The ones that made contact had only hit my leg and foot.

I turned to David. “While I shoot, you run to the pile of tyres outside. Once you’re there, you take over firing. I’ll head to the gas drums a few feet away from you. Got it?”

He nodded. The second I popped out my head and gun and began shooting, David rushed out as instructed. As I pulled back, David started firing. Bent over, I ran to the gas drums, giving David a grateful and approving nod. As David continued exchanging shots with Stuart, I glanced around the gas drums, only to quickly pull back as Magda fired shots at me from behind one of the cars.

Thankfully the bitch had a crap aim. She was even dumb enough to look over the car rather than around it. Truly, it was a wonder that she was still in the game. It wouldn’t have surprised me if she’d been hiding there the whole time, simply waiting for me to come near.

I was about to finish her when a better idea came to mind. Yeah, okay, it would be best to take her out of the game, but this would be more fun. I grabbed one of the paint grenades and threw it at the car, satisfied at her outraged cry when it exploded all over her. I probably should have been ashamed that my laugh had sounded more like a cackle, but whatever.

The problem was that this would have given away my location to anyone around. Wanting to quickly reposition myself so that no one could get a good angle on me, I headed over to a pile of tyres. An array of pellets zoomed at me, but I managed to take cover before they could land on me. Something told me that the person responsible had been my fiancé. A quick peek to the right confirmed my suspicion.

That wasn’t great news, because Jared had a real good aim. We fired some shots back and forth as I took in the angles around me, looking for fresh cover. I didn’t pop out of the same place each time, hoping the unpredictability would keep me in the game – and that it would make the bugger frustrated. Sometimes I’d peek out of the top left, sometimes the low right, and so on and so on. At one point, I stuck my head out on my right, and then dived to my left and fired. But the trick didn’t work because he was too bloody fast. Fucking Pagori speed.

My focus flew to David as he stood upright with his gun held high and a blob of paint on his mask. Crap. I nearly had a sodding heart attack when Salem appeared beside me. I jabbed him with my gun. “You little shit.”

“Look.” He pointed at the ‘B and B’. I looked in time to watch Butch hurrying inside it, while Chico covered him by pinning Denny in place with pellets. Meanwhile, Salem was shooting crazily at Stuart, who was squatted behind a car beside the ‘B and B’. Had Salem not pinned him in place like that, Stuart would have been inside that building at the same time as Butch.

“We need to cover Butch as he runs with the crate,” I told Salem as I reloaded. I had every confidence that Butch would get the crate in a matter of seconds. I was right. As soon as he appeared in the doorway, Salem launched a smoke grenade. Butch waited only until it exploded before he sprinted out of the building. He hadn’t taken his gun with him, trusting that those of us left – me, Salem, and Chico – would cover him as he ran. We did.

It took the other team a few seconds before they realised what was happening and started firing at him. Salem, Chico, and I ran backwards, exchanging shots with Jared, Denny, and Magda. Although the other team had now redoubled their efforts, so had we.

Unfortunately, though, it wasn’t long before Jared picked off Chico – the fucker. Pissing me off even more, Magda almost took me out. Time to get rid of the bitch. A well-aimed shot to the head eliminated her from the game. But – fuck it all! – a well-aimed shot from Jared took Salem out of the game no more than a second later. It seemed only natural to then turn on my fiancé, who at the same time turned on me, and we eliminated each other simultaneously. He dived on me then, knocking me to the ground and lounging on top of me, laughing.

Chuckling myself, I turned my head to watch Butch, ready to yell in victory as he reached base camp – something he was literally seconds away from doing. Although Denny was chasing after him, his shots were going wide and it looked like we had definitely won. But then Max – who I’d forgotten was only out of the game temporarily – appeared from around the corner of the last street and shot Butch right in the head.

Growling, Butch halted and dropped the crate at his feet.

Jared and his team started cheering and clapping, but Evan tsked. “Until you get the crate to your own base camp, you haven’t won, guys.”

Shrugging and laughing, Max and Denny both walked toward the crate. Startling all of us, there was a loud battle cry and Fletcher came charging out of our base camp, firing a series of pellets that seemed to go in every direction. Miraculously, some of his totally inaccurate shots caught Max and Denny’s masks.

Cheers rang out from my team.

“Fletcher, put the crate in our base!” I shouted.

Nodding, he dragged it into the small building and then came back out, mask off, grinning like a Cheshire cat. As the cheers rose in volume, he adjusted his glasses and curtseyed.

Maybe it was childish, but I whipped off my mask and laughed in Jared’s face. “How do you like that?”

He removed his own mask, appearing stunned. “How did I forget about Fletcher?”

I’d forgotten about him, too. But I wasn’t about to tell Jared that. I smiled, joining my hands around his neck when he kissed me. “All part of the strategy.”

He kissed me again. “Well played. But I will win you at the next game.”

I gave him a sympathetic look. “I’ll allow you to have your fantasies. I sure hadn’t thought that wearing a mankini would be one of them, though.”

His smile was quickly replaced by a scowl.

I began teasing him about the mankini again when we woke the next evening – even going as far as to call him Borat. That got me a punishment in the form of him pinning me down and shagging me until I came so hard I saw stars – ha, like that was a deterrent. We were lying in the bed, still reverberating with the aftershocks, when I noticed that he was staring. He did that a lot, never feeling uncomfortable as if it was totally normal to just stare at someone. I playfully snapped, “What?”

He flashed me an innocent smile that quickly turned roguish. “I like looking at you. I like looking at you, knowing I know this body better than even you do. Like knowing you belong to me.” His kiss captured and muffled my ‘I belong to myself, thank you very much’. When he pulled back, he had the oddest expression on his face. “That’s not you touching my leg, is it?”

I looked down the bed to see that Dexter had made his way from the living area to the bedroom and was now slithering his way up the bed. I giggled. “Maybe he’s starting to warm up to you.”

“More like he’s jealous that I’m touching you,” grumbled Jared.

Yeah, Dexter often hissed at Jared, not yet comfortable with him.

“I’d appreciate it if you moved him away from me. He’s heading in a direction that I’m not happy about.”

Smiling, I gently coaxed Dexter over to me. He came easily. “Only I get to bite that part of you.”

A devilish grin took over his face. I’d just joined my lips to his when we heard two distinct beeps. And we knew just which mobile phone was beeping. Swallowing hard, Jared retrieved Leon’s mobile phone from the kitchen drawer and brought it to the bed. “It’s from ‘Del’.”

This was what we’d been waiting for. This was what we’d been stressing over since meeting Jude. This was also something that was going to cause a humungous argument between Jared and me. “I’m not staying behind.”

“There is no way you’re going on this assignment, Sam.”

“Oh I think you’ll find I am.”

“Oh I think you’ll find you’re not.”

And on and on it went.

(Jared)

A full hour. I’d spent a full hour trying to make the homicidal bitch listen to me, trying to make her see reason. What had she done the entire time? Smiled indulgently at me, much like a parent would at a teenager having a tantrum. “Sam, you can’t expect me to be okay with you going out there helpless.”

“I’m not helpless.”

“Really? Conjure your whip. Go on.”

I watched as she absorbed energy into her palms, just as she had done thousands of times before. As I’d anticipated, nothing happened. Well, one thing happened: a stream of energy shot out of her palms in the form of water, drenching Luther.

Wincing at him in sympathy, she said, “Sorry, Gandalf.”

Dignified, he wiped at his face. “It’s quite all right.”

I gestured at the soaking wet Advisor. “And that is why I want you to stay behind.”

She snorted. “Tough titties. I’m going. Everything shouldn’t always come down to my gifts…unless you’re saying they’re all I have to offer?”

The woman always knew what cards to play. “Of course I’m not.” I truly wasn’t. To me, she was intelligent, skilful, determined, tenacious, strong, resilient…and still not going.

“I won’t send off my co-commander and my squad on a risky assignment while I stay home all safe and sound. Jude doesn’t have an offensive power, yet you haven’t objected to her going.”

“Jude isn’t the woman I intend to Bind with.”

“No, she’s not, but you wouldn’t allow any person to go on an assignment unless you thought they were capable enough to handle it. So am I to take this as you think she’s capable, but I’m not?”

Damn, how did she do that? How did she take something I’d done or said, twist it around, and use it against me?

“You have so little faith in me, do you?” That smile was back. She knew I was struggling with this one, and she was enjoying it. Of course I could declare that neither female was going, but in that case there would be uproar – particularly since Jude was out for blood. “You believe I’m weak like those Master Vampires who’ve come to supposedly offer their congratulations to us?”

“Stop twisting things.” I was ashamed to say that had come out sounding a little petulant. She appeared to have enjoyed that, too. “I just want you to be safe. If you can’t properly defend yourself, you won’t be safe. Right now, as much as it pains us both, you can’t—”

She held up a finger, wearing a look that reminded me of one of my old school teachers. “Quiet now. It’s your own time you’re wasting.”

Chuckles burst of both Antonio and Luther. How supportive of them.

“So I’m the only one who cares whether or not she’s safe?”

Antonio quickly sobered. Well, sort of – he was no longer chuckling out loud, but his body was still shaking with it. “You know Sam’s well-being is of great importance to me. If I believed, for even one moment, that she could not handle this assignment, I would insist that she remained behind. But Sam is right; there is more to her than her gifts. You are simply unable to look at this objectively and I understand why. Bear in mind that you will not be facing vampires, but humans. Sam may not be a Pagori or a Keja, but she is still significantly stronger and faster than any human.”

Before I could respond, Sam said brightly, “Now that that’s all sorted, why don’t I tell you my plan?”

Plan? Why did I get the feeling that I wasn’t going to like this?

“You remember I took Janine’s artificial baby bump after Jude had killed her, right? You never wondered why I wanted it?”

Oh shit.