Luna's Sokjan (Book one) (37 page)

“Are you okay?” Jennifer
asked from behind me.

“I am fine.” I
replied.

“Good, I may kill you
myself.” Gabriel said from behind her.

The accent in his voice
told me everything I needed to know. I was in tremendous trouble,
great.

“Jennifer would you please
go stand by Angus, while McKenna and I have a talk.” He ordered
her.

I knelt down by the
headless body and pulled his shirt up to look at his
chest.

“What are you looking
for?” Gabriel asked and knelt across from me.

“Master vampires mark
their baby vampires. We just have to find the mark, and compare it
to the list I have, and it will tell us which master it is.” I told
him and ran my hand over his chest.

Gabriel’s low growl made
me glance up at him.

“Do you have to touch
him?” He asked as he grabbed my hand.

“Honestly, Gabriel! The
vampire is dead.” I told him and jerked my hand away from him.
“Help me roll him over I want to see his back.”

“Are you going to touch
his back also?” he asked as we rolled the body over.

“I don’t know, maybe.” I
replied pulling up his shirt.

I studied his lean back.
There was a small dragon tattoo on his right shoulder and an Asian
symbol on his mid back.

“I’ll get Adam to get me
copies of the autopsy reports on both of these guys.” I said more
to myself than Gabriel. “I need to look at the other body, before
the police get here.”

We stood up together and
walked over to the other body. Kneeling down by the body I reached
for his shirt, but Gabriel jerked it up for me.

“You have a list of master
vampire marks?” He asked me as we studied the vampire’s pale chest.
“Adam can get you a copy of the autopsies?”

There was a small dragon
tattoo with a circle around on his right shoulder. I looked down to
his waist and found the Asian symbol there.

“Gabriel, remember I did
have a life, before you.” I said absent mindedly.

These weren’t Willow’s
baby vampires. She usually didn’t throw her children lives away
like this. I looked up at the people gathered around us. Most of
them were werewolves mixed in with the humans.

“If you sent out new
scouts to follow someone, would you follow them to see how well
they followed your orders or would you wait for them to come back
to you with a report?” I asked him.

“I wouldn’t follow them.
My scouts are well trained. All my men follow my instructions to
the letter or they will explain to me why they didn’t.” Gabriel
told me. Standing up and he offered me his hand. “We need to get
you cleaned up, before the police get here.”

Taking, his hand I let him
pull me to my feet. Flashing lights and the loud screams of sirens
announced the arrival of the police at the scene.

“Where’s Jennifer? I need
my cell phone.” I told Gabriel. “I’ve got to call Ted and let him
know what has happened.”

“She’s over there with
Angus and her pack.” He said and pointed over to them. “Now you can
tell me what happened and why you didn’t use the wolves to help
protect you and the kids.”

I seriously looked at him
for the first time tonight.

“Okay, but first let me
call Ted.” I agreed.

We walked over to Angus
and the kids.

“Jennifer, please let me
have the cell phone.” I said to her. “Get the keys out of my coat
and get the black bag out of the back of the car and bring it here,
please.” I instructed her.

I called Ted as I watched
the cops flood into the area and take over. They moved the
witnesses back into the restaurant and talked to the manager,
before they walked to us.

“Ted, hey it’s McKenna.
I’m at the China Moon Restaurant on Eighth Avenue.” I told him when
he answered the phone.

“What’s going on McKenna?”
he asked.

“I killed two vampires,
and the human cops are here. I have a restaurant full of people
that saw what happened, but I would appreciate it if you could make
sure things go smoothly.” I told him.

I genuinely didn’t want
the cops to misunderstand what had happened and try to arrest me.
With Gabriel here, I didn’t think that would go over particularly
well.

“Okay, let me make a call,
and I’ll be there as soon as I can. Don’t resist them if they try
to arrest you, okay?” he asked me.

“Huh, Ted, Gabriel’s here
and I don’t think that will go over very well.” I
replied.

“Well shit, are you
telling me that you killed two vampires with the Alpha of the
Castilian Springs pack right there with you?” He groaned into the
phone.

I could almost see him
reach for a bottle of Tylenol.

“No, I was eating dinner
with the kids and this guy came up and started some shit with me. I
killed him and his little friend, who was hiding in the parking
lot. That’s what I’m trying to tell you.” I informed
him.

“Okay, I’ll take care of
it.” He promised me.

We hung up.

Jennifer came back with my
bag. The bag contained everything I would need to clean myself up
with, and it had extra clothes, which was useful if the cops wanted
my clothes. The CSI had shown up while I was talking to Ted, and
they were circling the bodies.

“Mr. Garrison we need to
talk to your wife and the kids that were with her. About what
happened here this evening,” Officer Whitehead said to
Gabriel.

“Officer, Ted Jenkins is
on the way here sir. I don’t have anything to say to anyone until
he gets here.” I told the officer.

“Mrs. Garrison things will
go smoothly if you cooperate. We are taking statements from
witnesses and the restaurant staff.” He explained to us.

“Officer Whitehead, Ted
Jenkins is the only human police officer that I will work with and
you can’t have permission to talk to the kids.” I explained to him.
“Gabriel can call his lawyers, and we can see what they have to say
on the matter.”

“Mrs. Garrison, I just
want a statement from you at this time. There's no need to involve
lawyers, but it is your right if you want to call your lawyers. We
need a list of names for the juvenile’s that were with you and
their parent’s contact information.” He informed us.

I called Ted again and
handed the phone to Officer Whitehead. Captain Ted Jenkins told
Officer Whitehead that he would take our statements when he got
there and not to push us for any more information. Captain Jenkins
also informed Officer Whitehead that, because supernatural beings
were involved with the murder. He would be taking over the
investigation, when he got to the scene. No one should touch the
bodies
.
I know
all of this because I listened to every word of their
conversation.

Half an hour later Ted
Jenkins walked into the China Moon restaurant, and I was glad to
see him. While we waited for Ted to arrive, the kids and I
explained to Gabriel, Angus, and Sam what had happened.

I hugged Ted in greeting
when he finally arrived and ignored Gabriel’s warning
growl
.

“Well hell cat, what have
ya done now?” He asked with a smile. “Gabriel, it is good to see
you again.” He offered Gabriel his hand.

Gabriel stood up and shook
hands with him. “It is good to see you too. Sorry we had to disturb
you this evening.”

“That’s what I’m here for.
Who are these young people here?” He asked as we all sat back
down.

I introduced everybody to
him and vice versa. Ted was particularly interested in Angus. I had
told Ted stories about my family while I was healing, after he had
saved my life eight years ago.

“Gathered together quite a
little family since the last time I saw you, McKenna.” He said.
“You need to stay in touch better, my friend.”

His kind eyes smiled at me
and I smiled back at him. He had been and always would be my
dearest friend.

“I will do better in the
future.” I promised.

“I’ll hold you to that
promise McKenna. Now, hell cat what happened here tonight.” He said
pulling out his little black book. “And what did you do with the
clothes you were wearing during the fight?”

I had changed clothes and
cleaned up the best I could in the restaurant bathroom. The cops
had my bloody clothes in evidence. What kind of evidence I didn’t
know, but they had them anyway.

Between the kids and me,
we covered everything that led up to the fight. I explained to him
what happened during the fight.

“Okay to sum up. This
first guy just walked up to your table and started threatening all
of you?” he asked.

“Yes. He threatened
everyone at the table.” I confirmed. “I not sure what happened to
his little fan club after the fight broke out, but they are gone
now.”

“Why did he come after
you? Did you say or do anything before he came over to the table?”
Ted asked me.

Gabriel gave me a look.
Really?

“I didn’t even see this
jerk until he came up to the table.” I told Ted. “And what the fuck
was that look for?” I asked Gabriel. “Think I came to a Chinese
restaurant, with my kids, to pick up guys?”

“Can I talk to the
children?” Ted asked with a quick smile.

“Go ahead.” I told him and
glared at Gabriel.

When Ted moved over to the
kids to ask his questions, Gabriel leaned in closer to
me.

“We will talk about why
this happened when we get home and how you’re going to pay for all
the damages.” He told me.

We sure as hell would talk
about that look when got home, and I already knew how I was going
to pay for the damages. With my credit card and then I was going to
be reimbursed by this master vampire, either in blood or money.
Either, option worked for me.

Two hours later we were
heading back to the house. I had made arrangements for the manager
to call me with the estimates the next day.

“Don’t you have wolves
that work in construction?” I asked Gabriel on the drive back to
the house
.

“We do.” He answered me
tightly.

“Good, I’ll hire them to
do the work.” I decided.

He gave me a
look.

“What?” I
asked.

I seriously needed a Milky
Way.

“You belong to the pack
all the time McKenna, not when it’s convenient for you.” He told
me.

“Okay. I belong to the
pack.” I repeated back at him.

He growled at me, I
growled back at him. I turned away from him and stared out the
window, until we got home. I headed straight for the
kitchen.

“Go to bed.” He ordered
the kids.

I pulled a Milky Way out
of the freezer.

“Hey they didn’t do
anything wrong.” I told him. “Don’t treat them like this was their
fault.”

Unwrapping the candy bar
and I placed it on a plate.

“It’s late McKenna. They
are young and need their sleep.” He said as he stalked towards
me.

“Whatever. I don’t care.”
I told him and placed the plate into the microwave. “I’ll make sure
that they understand tomorrow.”

“If I let you talk to them
tomorrow.” He growled at me.

“What!” I yelled at him.
Turning around I pulled power to me as I faced him. “You just try
to stand between me and my kids and see what fucking
happens.”

He crushed me to
him.

“I will do whatever I need
to do to keep those kids and you safe. If it means separating all
of you, I will.” He growled down at me.

“I don’t think so. I am
keeping those kids, Gabriel. Tonight was not our fault. We didn’t
look at anyone funny or talk to anyone, but each other. We nodded
to the pack members at the restaurant, but that was all. I need to
look up the symbols to find out which dumb ass sent those idiots
after me.” I told him
.

“Ah yes, let’s talk about
this list of master vampires that you have. How did you get it?” He
asked me.

“I have been collecting
the master vampire’s names and symbols for years. I don’t
understand what the big damn deal is. It’s not as if I've met all
of them.” I said.

The microwave
beeped.

“You haven’t met all of
them?” His said tightly and his anger was over flowing at this
point.

This was getting us
nowhere. As a matter of fact it was getting worse. I tried a
different approach.

“You can go with me when I
go talk to this guy after I figure out which one it is.” I told him
and hugged him to me. “Gabriel I understand that you’re mad, but
all I did was defend the kids.” I rubbed my hands over his
shoulders. Wrapping my energy around us, I leaned up and kissed
him. “I love those kids. Please don’t make me fight you over
them.”

I peered up into his amber
eyes and realized I didn’t know who I loved more, those kids or
him. I didn’t want to ever find out.