Damned and Cursed (Book 2): Witch's Kurse (49 page)

She sighed at the memory.
 
Her hand shook as she reached for her glass of orange juice.

"The leader of the pack that attacked me approached me.
 
He said I belonged with them, that I was no longer human.
 
I politely declined, but…"
 
Her face twisted in anger, and she didn't realize it.
 
"They felt they needed to give me a reason to leave humanity behind.
 
So, they killed my parents."

Jack nodded slowly.
 
"I see why you don't run with a pack."

"
Fuck
packs," she said, drawing attention from a couple three booths behind them.
 
"Anyway, it was bloody mayhem in Sandy Cliffs for a while.
 
The town freaked out when they found my parents' bodies, and then the other corpses started showing up.
 
Bloodied, destroyed, silver spikes sticking out of them."

He put the clues together.
 
"You killed an entire pack of werewolves?"

She nodded.
 
"I buried who I could out in the woods, but not all of them.
 
I got interrupted a few times, and the town thought they had a monster on their hands.
 
All they saw were human bodies after I was done."

"I know," he said.
 
"Wolves change back to human when killed with silver.
 
You should see a vampire when the sun hits them.
 
They turn into a big pile of dust.
 
Break out the vacuum cleaner."

"They didn't have a chance," Marie said, the violent memories playing through her mind.
 
"I was so angry.
 
I ripped into them, mangled them.
 
Then I shoved silver into their hearts."

"Ah, on that note," Jack said, spotting the server with their food.
 
"Let's eat."

Marie laughed shortly, although her mood soured somewhat.
 
She relived the memories over the decades, but never shared them with anyone.
 
Her past certainly didn't affect Jack's appetite, as he dove into a stack of pancakes.

"So," she continued.
 
"I left Sandy Cliffs.
 
Been gone almost fifty years, until recently."

"You did what you had to do," he said between mouthfuls.
 
"And you moved on.
 
I approve."

"Oh, well, all is right, now that I have your approval.
 
Anyway, I came back here to run my parents' bar.
 
It's cool that I got that chance, even if just for a few weeks."

"For what it's worth, I wasn't honest before.
 
I did like the place, before it burned down."

"Ah, thank you so much."

They shared a genuine smile, holding eye contact just a second longer than necessary.
 
Jack was violent, deadly, dangerous.

Just like her.

"So, you came into some unexpected money," he said.
 
"What are your plans?"

"It'll certainly be enough to get to another town, start over.
 
With that much cash, I can stay out of the system for a bit, make me hard to track."

He stopped eating for a moment.
 
"Ah, so you're running like a little bitch."

"Did you not hear a word I said?
 
I've done enough killing in this town."

"I haven't seen you change completely into a wolf yet.
 
When you do, is there a yellow streak down your back?"

"What would you do, Jack?"

"I'd kill every single one of them."

"More would come."

"Kill them, too."

"Ah, so simple."

"It is.
 
I'm a genius."

They laughed together once again.
 
The strangeness of their situation wasn't lost on Marie.
 
A grown man and woman, eating breakfast at a restaurant, laughing and joking about killing humans.

"I've told you," she said.
 
"I just don't want to be part of another bloodbath in this town."

He shrugged.
 
"Hey, it's your life.
 
Live it any way you want."

"Now it's your turn.
 
Enough about me.
 
Tell me something about yourself."

He thought a moment, keeping his eye on her as he drank tea.
 
He certainly stood out in a crowd, even if he didn't want to.
 
Strong features, handsome face.
 
He had that dangerous twinkle in his eye.
 
After spending time with him, it was obvious it was so much more than a twinkle.

"I've been wanting to die most of my life," he said.
 
"But I can't.
 
I thought I'd seen it all, and I was sick of the world.
 
It wasn't until I met Tiffany, my daughter, and Erica, that I learned mortals could still surprise me."
 
He looked her up and down.
 
"It's nice to know other monsters in the world can surprise me, too."

"Who you calling a monster?"

He held his hands up in defense.
 
"Sorry.
 
I'll go with mortally-challenged."

They finished their breakfast, enjoying their conversation along the way.
 
Marie was sad when the time funneled to an end.
 
Jack paid for their meal, and again Marie was reminded of how long it had been.
 
Talking with a man, sitting across the table from him, feeling like her words mattered.
 
Jack had no motive for spending time with her, no business to conduct.

He simply enjoyed being with her.
 
Marie could tell, and felt the same way.

They drove back to her apartment.
 
He opened the trunk and reached for her bag once again, handing it to her.
 
She slung it over her shoulder as they both stood there, neither one moving.
 
She wanted to say something, but words escaped her for a moment.

"You ruined my dream, the last place I felt close to my parents.
 
But, for whatever reason, I don't hate you."

He nodded.
 
"What a wonderful compliment.
 
My good looks, perhaps?
 
Even though you have fleas and would probably piss all over my carpet, I don't hate you, either."

Marie smiled.
 
"If I didn't have to pack, and you didn't have someone to kill, I think I'd spend more time with you."

Jack laughed and reached into his coat, fumbling in the pockets.

"I want to give you a very rare, special gift."

He unveiled a business card.
 
Marie laughed aloud as he handed it over.

"Oh, wow, Jack, you shouldn't have."

"You don't realize what an honor this is for you."

"That's not true.
 
I definitely feel the honor."

"I give one of these out maybe once a decade.
 
It's got the number to my favorite private secretary, and my personal cell phone number.
 
You never know.
 
Maybe today isn't our final meeting."

Marie found herself hoping he was right.

But she had work to do.

"Maybe," she said.

Jack held out his hand.
 
She stared at it in surprise.

"You'd better hurry," he said.
 
"This hand won't stay out there forever."

Marie pushed it aside and shocked him with a hug.
 
Jack gasped, and his instinct was to throw his arms out.
 
She enjoyed the simple contact, her face buried in his chest.
 
He was considerably taller than her.
 
His chin touched the top of her head.

"Uh, what exactly are you doing?"

"Hugging you.
 
You should try it.
 
A hug won't kill you."

"
Nothing
will kill me."

He slowly wrapped his arms around her.
 
She was embarrassed when a quiet, contented sigh sneaked out.
 
A simple hug with someone that knew she was a werewolf was a new experience for her.

"Hmm.
 
I've never hugged a dog before.
 
It's not as bad as I thought it'd be.
 
Just don't start humping, okay?
 
That would look weird."

"You know just what to say to a lady."

She pulled away and flashed him one final smile.
 
He responded in kind and gave her a polite nod.

"Goodbye, Marie.
 
I would wish you luck, but I don't believe in it."

"Neither do I."

She watched as he drove away.

*****

"Yo, Sean.
 
Wake up.
 
We're just about there."

Sean Faraday opened his eyes to see the roof of the car.
 
The sky and trees moved in the passenger's window to the right, almost making him nauseous.
 
They hit a bump, and his stomach shifted as he bounced in the seat.

"Jesus Christ," he said, inclining forward.
 
"They should fix the damn road.
 
Or you need to learn how to drive."

"Don't be jealous of the driving skills."

He wiped the sleep from his eyes and glanced at Nolan.
 
Nolan was ten years older than Sean, one of the more experienced hunters in their unit.
 
The guys liked to poke fun at his age, but with that fun came a certain respect.
 
Everyone knew Nolan had killed his share of werewolves.
 
There was even a rumor that he'd killed one with his bare hands once before.
 
When confronted, Nolan had only responded with a
maybe
.
 
The younger guys were always in awe of him, and Sean could see why.

"We're…what, about ten minutes out?"

"Yeah."

Sean sat up straight and grabbed his laptop and cell phone from the back seat.
 
There were procedures and plans to follow.
 
He knew his team like he knew his own family.
 
Sean and Nolan were the last two to arrive, and the rest of the men were already hard at work.
 
He didn't need to check up on them, but it was his job.

Taylor, one of his best men, answered his phone on the second ring.

"Hello?"

"It's Sean.
 
We're just about into town.
 
Give me good news."

"The people here speak English."

Sean frowned.
 
"Taylor, come on—"

"I'm kidding.
 
We're just about done here.
 
The space is all set up.
 
We're just killing time, really.
 
Seeing the town, reviewing the notes."

"How is the space?
 
What do we got?"

"You really have to talk to management about what they give us, but that's a talk for another day."

"Not good, I'm guessing?"

"It's office space.
 
I've seen worse.
 
We're setting the gear up on the first floor, the cots on the second."

"It sounds fine to me."

"I know.
 
I'm just thinking of that Seattle job, where we all had our own hotel rooms."

"That was privately funded.
 
It's a small town.
 
We have to deal with what we got."

"I know, boss.
 
I know.
 
Just griping.
 
Also, Vance had to leave.
 
His wife's going into labor, so he's heading back south."

That left the team with eleven people, with a surprise twelfth on the way.
 
Sean wasn't sure he was comfortable with the count.
 
They still weren't sure how many puppies they were dealing with.

"Okay, we'll make due.
 
I'm gonna stop by and pick up my brother.
 
Then we'll all be over.
 
I'll pick up some food on the way.
 
I don't see any reason we can't get started tonight."

"
We'll
all?" Taylor said, picking up on the phrase.
 
"Is Rob in?"

Sean just smiled into the phone.

"No comment.
 
I'll see you soon."

"You got it, boss."

He hung up.
 
Lost in the paperwork, the preparation, the day to day operations of the organization Sean worked for, was the quest of his younger brother Rob.
 
Rob had personally gathered the necessary data on the last two werewolves they killed, with the latest, Marie Johnson, being the third.
 
He did it all on his own, with no help from anyone, and reported directly to Sean.
 
With each assignment he took more risks, with the latest involving working for the target in question.
 
Rob was wild and unpredictable.
 
It took a monumental effort on Sean's part, but he finally managed to convince the organization of a simple fact.

With guidance and the right team, Rob would be a tremendous asset.

Sean already had his words prepared.
 
He'd deliver them in person, but wanted to call his brother first.

Nolan cast him a sideways glance as Sean dialed the number, smiling slightly.
 
Sean liked to keep his private life to himself, even though he was very close with the team.
 
Everyone knew how close Sean and Rob were.

Rob didn't answer the phone.
 
Sean waited for the beep.

"Hey, little brother.
 
It's me.
 
We're in town now.
 
I'm gonna swing by your place.
 
I've got some news for you.
 
Just to give you a little hint, you can go ahead and quit your job.
 
I'll catch you in a few."