Yes, Master 16.2 (Second Half)

I know I had a little bit of an audience increase from this weekend's hop, so if you're just tuning in: listen up. Start at the beginning of the series which you can find HERE. For a complete list of chapters or to view my other stories, click HERE. Haha, okay now that everything is settled in that department, let's move on.


We are nearing the end everyone and I'm kind of sad about it, but I'm also happy.  By the end of this summer, I will have completed the first three stories in my vampire series. This means more time to revise Cade and then give it a shot at publishing. So I'm kind of excited for that. :)  I hope you're all excited too, because that means a lot of new material from Cade and Micah. *Squeals* And hopefully all in one book...to read all at the same time...with a pretty cover.  Oh my God...Gahhh. Calm down, calm down. It's not anywhere near done yet, but I can dream.

Let's get to the show though shall we?  Thank you so much for stopping by and I hope you like tonight's piece of Yes, Master. :D

XOXO NIGHT TEMPEST

Last time on Yes, Master....

Confusion between the three parties was now at its peak, but fate had another doozy to add into the mix. More gunfire came from outside. A voice sounded from a megaphone.  SWAT filled every entrance of the warehouse loading dock. That was when I looked at King and he nodded. I clutched Tate to me and ran for both our lives.

Yes, Master 16.2

“N.Y.P.D.! Put down your weapons and put your hands in the air, now!” A static filled megaphone announced to the warzone filling the loading dock.

Girls screamed, some trying to run for it, some hiding at the back of the truck for shelter. I housed Tate in my arms, taking cover behind a crate that was three feet from the door. If I could get outside, I could get to that car, and get my boyfriend to a hospital. For some reason though, I had a feeling that if SWAT got a hold of us, we wouldn’t be the victims here. We would most definitely be the criminals from their view.

The leader of the SWAT team held his rifle higher, his men fanning out around the boys from the Cartel. “I said put your weapons down or we will have no choice, but to open fire!”

Hopping down from the crates J.J. took off after Joss, who was being thrown over the shoulder of a rough looking vamp. This guy wasn’t pretty in the least—looking more like a mountain man that lived in a back alley than a vampire supermodel. Joss kicked and punched, scratched and bit.  She knew she had a chance now—her father’s men coming to her rescue only serving to fuel the last of the fight within her. She was getting out of here, it was in the way she moved, the way she tried to catch someone’s eyes for help. 

Focusing my eyes back on Tate, he coughed.  Hiding his face in my chest, he stirred while I tried to put pressure on his wound and that’s when I felt the tip of something sharp touch my fingertip. It burned on contact, leaving my hand with a strange, yet amazing feeling. Pulling Tate close to me, I looked down to the back of his shoulder.  He hadn’t been shot with a bullet and it was only now that I realized what had done all that damage.

About the diameter of a pencil, a metal rod was just peeking out of Tate’s back.  How deep it went, I wasn’t sure, but I knew that it had to come out.  I’d seen enough television to know that pulling the rod out of his back would probably cause him to bleed faster, but he looked like he was in so much pain. Then again as I swept his hair out of his face, the look of pain started to morph into something else entirely.  His short breaths of anguish became deep, almost sensual.  His mouth opened softly, his eyes dazed and heavy.  Was he…high? Oh hell no. What was this thing in his back?

“Oliver,” he moaned my name, his nails starting to bite into my arms.

With a look of shock, I searched what I could see for another wound. Maybe his body was in such a state of trauma, this was his way of coping. What the fuck did I know though, I wasn’t even good with band aids, let alone this shit. “Baby, snap out of it. You’re bleeding all over the place.”

“Feels so good, Olly. Ah yeah,” he sang, his voice carrying to the SWAT now rushing past our hiding place.

Clamping a hand over his mouth, I looked between the boxes at the officers trying to secure the loading dock perimeter. Yeah, good luck with that, I rolled my eyes. A rustle inches from me stopped my train of thought and possibly my heart. Turning to the other foot of space next to me, Ghost was looking down at Tate with confusion.

“I thought you said he was shot.  What the fuck is he doing?” His whisper was thickly accented, his dark brow raised almost comically.

Again situating Tate against my chest, I showed Ghost the rod in his shoulder. “I don’t know what it is, but it’s no bullet, and he just started doing this cat in the cream routine a few seconds ago.”

“He take anything before we met up earlier?” Ghost touched the rod gently.

“No. I was with him the whole time.” I tried to be quiet as Tate’s hands started to roam my body, his breathy voice making low moans that I was scared others could hear.

“Hm. Then he’s been drugged. That thing, whatever it is, needs to come out.”

Ghost received a look of obvious menace from me. “Yeah, no shit.  We have to get out of here first.  Why aren’t you out there with them?”

“The cop disappeared when SWAT found him and this big ass motherfucker just showed up with some nasty looking boys. I’m getting you out of here like promised before shit goes down.  J.J. is getting Joss and they’ll meet you at the car.”

“How Ghost? How is any of that going to happen?  J.J. just got into that trailer with a bunch of…thugs by himself, we’re surrounded by NYPD wearing enough Kevlar to be immortal, it’s about to be west side story meets the mother fucking apocalypse in here, all while my boyfriend is bleeding out and having a great time doing it. How…” I tried not to cry, but the frustration of our situation was starting to get to me. “How do I keep him safe during all of that?”

Ghost stopped and looked between me and Tate slowly. His deadly eyes softened, his hand found my shoulder. “You love him?”

“Yes.”

He nodded. “Then trust me.”

“Trust you?” It wasn’t really a question, more of an agreement I was trying to make with myself. Trust the assassin who killed people for one of the ugliest mob families in the city?  I could do this, for Tate.

“Trust me.” Ghost agreed quietly.

“Fine, tell me what to do.”

“We’re going to have to take that thing out of him first. If we have to run and the rod is jostled, it could go deeper into the wound, and we’d lose it.” Ghost twisted around a small pack from his back, zipping it open.  “Take his shirt off and try to rip the front into strips for me. Just lay him on his side.”

Growling, screaming, more gunfire—the cops were firing back now. I took a deep breath trying to ignore the war around me. We were working on time we didn’t have.  The minute one of those red eyed blood suckers came close enough to specify the alive, but leaking human, we were fucked. With that thought, I draped Tate over my chest to cut the shirt off his back with the knife Ghost handed me. He in turn kept his gun ready in case of immediate danger in our vicinity.

Once Tate’s chest was free of fabric, Ghost instructed me to keep him still against me. Not liking his limited writhing room, Tate fought me. 

Ghost sighed, looking to the side. “Uh, keep him occupied yeah?  You know what I mean?”

“He’s like a toy dog going at my leg here, Ghost. What do you mean keep him occupied?”

The enforcer gave me a questioning eye. “I mean, give him what he wants. Keep him satisfied while I pull this out. I’m sure you can think of something.”

“You mean you want me to? Here, now?” This little ass hole was suggesting I grope my boy in his presence? Not going to happen.  But, then again, when did I become so damn conservative? Just a few weeks ago, I had made Tate jack off in front of that security guard. Why was this any different? Oh I remember. We were sitting in the middle of a vampire war for world domination. That’s right.

“Look Oliver, I’m not asking you to have him sit on your dick for me to watch. Just kiss him or something. It’ll distract him from the pain.” Ghost rolled his eyes, scooting closer on his knees to inspect the wound. The blood looked almost watery as it dripped down Tate’s back, the result like some emo’s idea of a craft project.

“Right, just be…be gentle.”  I whispered. Tate nuzzled his face into my neck, his tongue tracing today’s dark stubble around my jaw.

“Got it. Hold him still.” Ghost put his fingers to my boyfriend’s back, getting a moan from Tate’s lips.

Holding Tate around the waist, I brought my mouth to the opposite side from Ghost was.  My lips sealed over Tate’s skin, and he stilled with a small tremor of excitement. He was so hard in my lap, it was eerie that he could be experiencing this much pleasure while he had a rod—who knew how long—penetrating his shoulder. Whimpering into my neck, Tate rolled his hips in my lap, my arms tightening to keep him still.

“Shh, just be still baby.  Almost done, right Ghost?” Kissing Tate’s neck, I looked over.  The rod was an inch farther out than before. Ghost’s gloved fingers were covered in Tate’s blood.

“It doesn’t feel that deep.  You know what I mean?  It’s not stuck,” he responded and
I wanted to throw up. Blood started to flow from the wound faster than before.  Not gush like most people would automatically conclude with a situation like this, but it did trickle a little quicker, a little thicker, not so watery anymore. By far though, the craziest part was that instead of crying and screaming like most people would, Tate moaned.  His pleasure surpassed any pain that he possibly felt.  Oh God, he really was high.  LSD, cocaine, heroine—what was he on? 

The last of the rod slipped from Tate’s shoulder, a whole four inches with a razor sharp tip, into Ghost’s palm. We both stared at the weapon of choice for a minute before Ghost’s eyes widened as he looked back to Tate’s shoulder.

“Ay dios Mio,” Ghost gasped.  “Oliver, look.”

As Tate continued to moan and grope me, I held him tight to look at the wound, what was left that is. The hole that had been bleeding profusely began to move, the inverted edges of the circular wound flexed slowly.  The skin pulled tight as those edges met in the middle, sealing together again.  Tate, had healed himself. Not possible. Not fucking possible.

“Fucked up shit,” Ghost breathed, palming the crate for support. The crate that was whisked away , bringing Ghost’s gun up to greet the face of Yuri.

“Get up!” He roared. “Get them outside. Our people have the ground covered. South East gate, look for a black car, go now!” That was when I noticed the SWAT team. Their moves were robotic, their aim was perfect, they had been…

“You didn’t!” I screamed back, lifting Tate in my arms.

Yuri pulled his gun out and shot above us several times. A vampire body with half a head landed between us. I looked back to Yuri, blood spattered across my pants, and he growled. “How the hell did you expect to get out of here?  They are safe, safer than you at the moment. You, get these two out of here. We’ll meet up later, I have your number.”

Ghost narrowed his eyes, his bloodied glove sliding over his gun in thought. “Call me.” He grinned, but the smile didn’t reach his eyes. Two killers making a temporary pact, but one didn’t know he was no match for the other. Ghost was smart to just say yes, even if he didn’t say it that way exactly.

J.J. appeared at the end of the open trailer, Joss under his arm, blood covering them both. Joss had a gun in her hand, J.J. had a small weapon of mass destruction along his arm.—some kind of rifle that must’ve worked if he made it out of that trailer alive. He was hurt though and that much was clear as Joss helped him hobble to the edge of the ramp, where a group of Cartel was covering them.

Time slowed down in that moment. The smell of sulfur united in the air with the coppery scent of freshly spilled blood.  Every hair on my body rose to attention, goose bumps poured over my flesh with the rise of fear in my chest. My heartbeat next to Tate’s became the only sounds I could make out over the deafening noise of guns blasting from every direction. Yuri screamed something and Ghost lunged forward like a lion ready to murder his prey.

Hands snatched us back, arms locked around our bodies, as Alex appeared from the back of the truck. J.J. and Joss were halfway down the ramp when Rutovsky raised his gun at Joss. Alex’s mouth moved, J.J. turned as fast as he could, a shot rang out above the others, or maybe that was a trick of my mind. But, I saw everything clear as day.  This shot was different from all the mindless violence going on around me. I knew J.J., I’d known him since I was in high school, he was family—Cartel or not, he was part of us.

Shoving Joss out of the way in the blink of an eye, J.J. took a shot to the neck, a shot to each shoulder, and a shot to the hip.  His body jerked with each hit, his feet managing to stay upright for the duration of the blasts. Then he went to his knees, his head hanging low, his hair hiding his eyes. Joss scrambled out of the way, the Cartel moving in with the thunder of a hundred bullets for their dying comrade. Time moved again, and Alex slipped down the other side of the ramp like a snake into the grass—his thugs creating a wall of defense for his escape.

Those girls were now on that truck and that was a blazing thought among many as the gate to the back of the big rig trailer was pulled down from the inside. Delicate, yet piercing screams were sealed inside those four walls of moving hell, leaving us with another horrific reality. This was hell on earth.  This was the true definition. 

“Ghost, I will take care of him.  I will not let him die!” Yuri was yelling to Ghost.  The Latin’s nostrils flared, his lips were pulled back to reveal his clenched teeth, his eyes narrowed dangerously. I prayed to never be on the receiving end of that kind of hate, because even human, Ghost was Death among the living.  The vampire at Ghost’s back let him go. 

Making his way to Yuri after shrugging off the vamps, Ghost put his gun to the Russian’s chest. “If he dies, if you let my best friend die, I will kill you and your entire family.”

“If you let those two die and waste more of my time while my boss is out there in the middle of this, I’ll kill you.  Deal?” Yuri pushed Ghost’s gun down until it pointed to the ground.

“Deal,” Ghost hissed through his teeth. He took one look at J.J. as the vampires and a few Cartel thugs rushed him down a dark hallway. Joss flung herself at Ghost with tears, words escaping her. With a strangled breath, Ghost put his arm around her and looked away from the hallway.

Yuri nodded, grabbing the nearest SWAT member. Lifting the guy’s shield, Yuri shared a long look with the man. Putting the shield back down, the man seemed to break free of the spell and grabbed his radio on his shoulder. “Be advised, the rig has hostages. Proceed with caution, suspects on board are armed and dangerous.”

Yuri looked to us. “I’ve got this.  Get them out Markos.”

“How do know my…” Ghost screwed up his face.

“It’s my job to know everything,” Yuri replied.  With that he turned his back to us and pointed his finger. “Open fire!” Every member of SWAT—completely under the vampire’s control--circled in on Alex’s remaining guards, pelting them with a lead shower, and giving me a nightmare show that I would never forget.  Even if Yuri wiped my mind, I still would see the mayhem in my head for years to come.

Tate stirred in my arms, his ecstasy turning into exhaustion.  He was shaking, his high coming down, and his skin cool yet sweaty.  “Ghost! Let’s go.”

Wordlessly, Ghost glanced at me to follow him. His arm locked around the young Joss and his gun in the other hand, we were led out by a mixed group of Cartel and vamps. The truck’s engine vibrated outside as we broke through the back door—a set of yellow concrete steps waiting for us. Black SWAT vans and numerous city patrol cars were parked across the concrete grounds. Red and blue lights twirled against the night, radios and phones chattered against the otherwise silent sounds of the waterfront, and over a hundred faces watched us descend the steps.

I waited for them to rush us with guns and handcuffs, but I noticed the glazed look in their eyes.  Then I noticed the plain clothes men mingled among the police.  They watched us back silently, the vampires reminding us of how powerful they really were. If these were just the guards, I wondered exactly how powerful the queen and her crew were.

“Who the fuck are they?” Ghost growled, clutching Joss to him.

A large vamp behind me hummed with humor. “Don’t worry about it. Just be glad you’re on our side tonight.”

A horror movie set.  That was what this was comparable to.  Littered across the grounds were dead vamps, some poor souls that might have been cartel, but I could be wrong. But, the cops just standing there watching was the scariest part of all. Like at any moment they were going to morph into zombies and come for our brains. The last cop I walked past was so close, I could feel his breath across the back of my neck. If I didn’t have a person in my arms, I would have punched him for giving me more goose bumps.

Once we reached the edge of the grounds, the last two vamps in our party turned around.  An army of boots shuffled along, weapons were positioned, and the hundred plus cops silently moved into position under the eye of the vampires. Like pawns for the queen, the humans surrounded the rig—the driver behind a tinted windshield.

“Leo,” the vamp spoke into an ear piece. “Let the driver move away from the dock. We want that rig a distance from the others. Once it’s reached the gate, take out the tires, then the driver. You know what to do from there.  Good, get it done.” The guard turned back to us.

I took a step towards him. “What are you going to do with those girls?”

“Relax, they will be cared for and returned to their families.”

That wasn’t good enough. “But, those guys are still in there with them.”

“You care for your own and we will care for the girls.  They have seen things that they weren’t supposed to.  We can’t just return them without having cleared a few things up, could we?” 

I got what he was saying. Those girls had seen quite a bit of fangage and then some. That kind of information would be dangerous, not only for the ‘deep in the closet’ vampire community, but for the girls in general. One word of vampires from them and the wrong kind of people could come a knockin. Or worse, they could be locked up on the grounds of insanity. They had to be cleaned. It was the only way.

The vamp seemed to sense my inner struggle, tapping my arm to reassure me. “They’ll be alright.  I give you my word.”

“Fuck all of this. Let’s go, Oliver. No more, just…no more.” Ghost said over his shoulder before walking back towards the gate. 

“What about, you know,” I whispered to the vamp, cocking my head to Ghost as he walked away.

He leaned forward. “We don’t leave loose ends. Don’t worry about a thing. He will be dealt with.”

“Oliver!” Ghost hissed over his shoulder. “Now.”  So the bad boy had a breaking point?  Yep and I think we just found it.

“Go,” the vamp put a hand on my shoulder. “Bana will take you to Micah.”

“What about my father and Isaac?  Are they…” Tate shivered violently in my arms, his body slackening.

“If you don’t get in that car, I’ll put you in it.” The vamp began to lose his gentle façade. “The queen will contact you about those matters."

“The queen?” I backed up. I’m not sure that I wanted to meet their queen after all this. Hell, I wasn’t sure all the sudden I wanted to get into the car with the head of the Cartel either. But a sudden fierce grip on my arm decided for me.

“Bye Oliver!” The vamp waved as Ghost directed me to the car.  A long, black Lincoln luxury sedan—new, tinted windows, meant for a criminal—sat waiting for us.

The door was opened, Ghost helped me maneuver inside with Tate, and then the door shut behind us. Two bench seats faced each other, leaving me staring right into the soft brown eyes of an elderly man. His hair was a thick gray, his frame small, but stocky, and his arms were wrapped around his young daughter who was in tears.   Joss was whispering over and over in Spanish, her mind taking a back seat as her heart poured out in the form of rambling words.

I held onto my own loved one while sandwiched between Ghost and one of the vampires. My body was finally feeling the effects of tonight’s events just like my mind was coming to terms with everything that had passed comprehension with all these vampire, drug lords, and Alex…hold up Alex!

“Wait, Alex is still out there.” I tensed, getting ready for something, but I didn’t know what yet.

“Look out the window,” the vamp on my right said calmly.  Sure enough, the truck was being moved away from the dock by Alex’s boys. About ten yards from the entrance, the tires were taken out by the police—or vampire’s if we were getting technical. Like any stupid criminal would have done, the back to the trailer was flung open, and SWAT began the process of taking out every dumbass vampire via sniper from the roof as the bloodsuckers came to the edge like lemmings. This was real. I wasn’t imagining this or watching it on television. I was actually viewing this in real time.

So it shouldn’t have come as a surprise to me when Alex and his remaining crew came around the corner with guns blazing for their merchandise. Apparently Alex—the top of the top—still had an ass to kiss. His boss must be something to behold if the guy could get Rutovsky to actually go to all this trouble.

“And, there he is.” The vamp broke the silence with a smug tone. ‘He’ came in the form of one very pissed off Yuri.  Both side doors burst open, the remaining SWAT on the inside flooded the asphalt to surround Alex. My heart beat against my chest in anticipation.  Even though I knew wanting someone to die was wrong, I couldn’t help but savor this moment.  I swallowed hard, squeezing Tate gently, and watched Alex realize he had no way out.  Sure his vampire minions tried to calculate an escape with their red eyes.  In the end though, it was a hopeless plot that never even began to take flight.

One of our guys handed Yuri something large, something that he swung onto his shoulder that connected to a pack on the ground. I couldn’t quite make out what it was, but I knew where the large cylinder was aimed at. As our driver switched on the ignition, I had a second to see Alex’s face turn toward us. He may not have been vampire, but he knew where we were, and who was sitting behind this tinted glass. His face wasn’t clear to me. Then again, you didn’t have to see someone’s eyes to know that their gaze was burning into you.

Our car slowly rolled forward and through the chain link gates, we all watched as Yuri set the entire lot of them on fire.  Alex Rutovsky melted into the throng of screaming bodies and I turned my face away. Oliver Caldwell: alive. Alexander Rutovsky: dead. That was the only score I needed to know tonight.

After a good ten minutes of mulling over tonight’s events, Joss looked up. Her doe eyes searched over Tate while Bana rubbed her back. “He okay?”

“I…I think so, but I don’t know.” It was the most honest I had been with myself all night.  Now that the action was over and done with, or so I hoped, Tate was all I could think about. Was he alright? Did he need a hospital? He was still breathing and his skin was warming back up, but was that good or bad? Shit.

“I hope he’s okay, you know. And…and Juan, I hope he’s good.  What he did, I just hope they can…” She burst into tears again, burying her face within the safety of her father’s chest.

“Aw mija, it’s alright.  Don’t cry,” Bana murmured to his beloved daughter.  “Juan is too strong to let go.  He will not leave us tonight.” His eyes were unsure of his words, but he masked his own grief for the sake of Joss. It was clear that this man was a softie when it came to his boys. Juan was probably like a son to him, maybe even Ghost if the guy let anyone get that close. 

“You are Oliver then?” Bana looked at me again. A gold cross ring glinted as he rubbed his hand over his daughter’s back.

“Yes.”

“I have my daughter in my arms, Oliver. Whether it is because of you personally or not, I heard that your men helped mine bring her back to me. For this…” He paused and held out his hand. “…I give you our friendship.”

Staring at his hand, I felt that this was planned. I was being put in a position of authority on some level—a seat at the power player’s table had been created for me. This meeting was bound to happen, this man meant to be across from me, my hand covering his in an agreement between mutual players.

Sparing a glance at the vampire next to me, his eyes confirmed my discovery, a knowing tilt of his lips giving away what I had just figured out.   Putting my hand in Bana’s, I knew I was sealing my fate.

~~~~~~~~~~

The tarmac was clear of anything except for the sleek private jet that belonged to the queen. The vampire that had eventually introduced himself as David has filled me in on that minor detail.  I was beginning to see the bigger picture on how far the queen’s right arm went, pretty damn far. The luxury that dripped whenever her title was mentioned went beyond classy.  A class all her own, this queen was really something, and that was without having met her in person yet.

Moving my gaze away from the jet, I watched David gently carry Tate from the car to the descended staircase of the aircraft.  Micah was waiting at the top step, his face blank.  Something bad had happened. That look was one I had perfected myself. Instead of following David though, I watched Bana step out of the car, diverting my attention from Micah. Ghost followed him with a half-masked exhaustion.

“Oliver, I wish we had time to celebrate this new friendship between us, but I am afraid circumstances obviously are not allowing such festivities.” Bana clapped me on the back with a sad smile.  “You will take care while you are away?”

“Yeah, I will.  You take care too, alright?” I looked at him hard.  He was giving up his seat as the head of the Cartel to Ghost temporarily. On our car ride over here, his men had called. Word was the Jing had put a price on Bana’s head for the loss of their merchandise.  The Cartel had made it clear they weren’t pussies and stood united, but they wanted Bana safe, Joss safe to grow up, so they made arrangements for Bana to go home to Spain. It was almost surreal to know that these mob families really were family—that they cared for one another after a day of cutting off fingers and selling kilos of cocaine.

One could almost forget that Bana was one of the smartest criminals in the United States. His soft eyes looked up at me and it was then that I saw the dangerous glint behind his gaze. “I always take care, Oliver, always.”

“I’m sure you do.” I smiled and let go of his hand. “Ghost, I uh…I…” I thrust my hand at him in lieu of words.

His eyes flicked to the jet then he moved into my space, clutching my hand in a death grip, his lips moving to my ear. “I didn’t forget what I saw earlier, Oliver. I don’t know what the fuck your boyfriend is or who the hell these things are, but you better watch yourself.”

“Markos,” Bana warned carefully, reading Ghost like a book.

Ghost moved back with a smile that read like a knife across my throat. “Have a safe trip, Oliver. I’ll be here when you get back.  Don’t miss me too much.”

Before that icy feeling of dread could travel too far up my spine, David came walking back over. His hand on my shoulder ended the rest of our lovely parting chat.  “See ya round, Bana.”

“Count on it, Oliver.” He raised his hand.  Joss offered me a small smile and Ghost crossed his arms over his chest—no goodbye there. 

Turning around, I walked toward the plane that was bright enough to cut through the dark backdrop of the night. My hands grabbed the railing to the stairs, my feet felt heavy as I took one step then another.  Something urged me to turn around. I looked over my shoulder to see two men walking forward from the airport tower.  They smiled at Bana’s guards before David made me turn back to the doorway.

“It’s necessary, Oliver. They can’t know about us. Would you want to always be looking over your shoulder knowing that the person behind you could have fangs?  Or worse, what if they said something to the wrong person, someone connected to the enemy?  They would all die, Oliver.  Trust me, this is best for everyone.”

Stepping onto level ground within the frigid plane, I turned around. “Is it though, David?  What is so wrong with them knowing the truth?”

“Everything.” That was my answer, a solid challenge for me to go against him on this. His long fingers gripped the door handle and he pulled it closed with a sealing noise as he cranked the latch in place.  “Why don’t you take a seat Oliver?  It’s going to be a long flight.”

I walked into the cabin.  Just what you would expect from someone richer than a rich person—it was luxury that knew no bounds. Marble, leather, the smell of new, this place was enough to make a blue collar cream themselves at the mere sight. I on the other hand could care less where we were, as long it involved safety and Tate, I didn’t give two fucks and a buffalo nickel how much the plane cost. 

Tate was laid out on a three piece leather couch.  His shoes and socks had been removed, and his dirty skin was covered with a light blanket. I chose the floor next to my boyfriend.  He needed the sleep and I needed to be near him, so it made sense.

“Oliver, there are…” David shook his head when I gave him a look. “Fine.”

From somewhere behind the partition, Micah appeared with the same grave face as before. His eyes were rimmed with red, glassy and glazed around the iris.  He’d been crying.

“Micah?”  I stood up, my thoughts immediately going to my father. Please, no. Please not yet.  We had just…

He put his hands on his hips and took a deep breath. “Isaac and Melaina are dead.”

“What?”

“Dead,” he repeated, collapsing into a chair.  “The vampire big wig had them followed.  He took them out while we were dealing with the warehouse.” Micah ran his hands through his hair with a labored breath.  “Fucking just blew them up. For what?”

I went to my knees and gripped his shoulder. “Micah, are you okay?”

“No!” He shouted and smacked my hand away. “I’m not okay.  They were like family to me. Now they’re gone and Cade is unprotected while I’m traipsing off to Europe.  What if they kill him while I’m gone, Oliver?  I just…just can’t.”

“Cade?” I stood and he looked up at me.

His eyes softened as he pulled out a red journal from inside his jacket pocket, looking at it as if it was the most precious thing in the world. I knew that look too, fucker was in love. “Yeah.”

“Okay, I need a second to process all of this. So much to sift through.” Without thinking, I pulled Tate’s upper body into my arms and sat down. His arms wrapped around my lower body, a sigh of pleasure from his mouth. Much better, I blew out a long breath, and tried to still my shaking hands. Isaac and Melaina? Fuck.

David came and sat down across from us and I rubbed my eyes. “This is what I know and then you can fill me in on the rest.” Keeping calm under stress was what I did best, in business anyway. “Alex is working for someone bigger then all of us. He’s using scapegoats to do his dirty work as most crime bosses do. He’s trying to collect the members of the mob families in his pocket so he can be on top of the city. My guess is those missing people Ghost was talking about earlier were brought over to the dark side. They were promised to be turned or something for services rendered, just like Alex.  Who wouldn’t want that?”

“So now you see my point? Why we can’t tell them?  Humans are scared to death of death, even the criminals. Not only would it be detrimental for their safety, it would be for ours as well. Everyone would want to live forever.” David pointed out.

I stroked Tate’s head. “I get that, but if that’s your stance, tell me why you brought me into this?  You could’ve just wiped my mind. Let Tate and I live in peace, instead of this big show.”

“I didn’t bring you in, Oliver. You were hand-picked by Isaac and the queen.  Your impressive business skills, your fresh perspective on development, your ability to command attention, it was decided that you were the future. Isaac was going into retirement and he knew Cade didn’t want to be at the top unless he had to, not to mention Cade has his own role to fill.  We just didn’t know that the decision regarding you would be made so quickly or under these circumstances.” David rubbed his knees. He was upset as well. Isaac and Melaina had meant so much to a lot of people. My eyes stung with tears, why did this have to be so hard? When did my life get so complicated? 

“I just got off the phone with your father before you arrived.” Micah murmured. “He wanted you to know that everything was gonna be okay, that he was fine, and to call him tomorrow.  But he also called to say that the queen had made the decision final.”

“Oliver?” David looked at me seriously. “The queen has declared you the new manager of New York City.”

My eyes went wide, my brain not understanding. “I’m sorry, what?”

TO BE CONTINUED….