Chapter Nine
Claudia stepped away from me and scowled. “So, you’re already imagining me pregnant with your child.”
“No, I’m imagining the process of getting you pregnant,” I admitted with no shame, “In fact, that thought consumes most of my time.”
Excerpt from Roman Draksel’s blog
Tempest sent out a silent prayer for this to be their lucky day. It was mid-afternoon. Most of the attacks had occurred during the day, but there were a few scattered attacks at night. As always, when hunting, she looked the part of a carefree college student walking alone. She appeared distracted, wearing ear buds to make it look like she was listening to music. She’d chosen the black wig to fit the victim profile even better. It wasn’t easy to hide her long blonde hair under the wig, so she’d added a hat.
Suddenly, Tempest sensed the predator approaching. It was impossible to miss the waves of aggression in the air. Hatred and lust blended together. She wasn’t a strong empath like Ivy, but she easily sensed this monster. She couldn’t believe she’d mistaken Aiden for this man. Of course, she had a stronger advantage today.
That’s him! Ivy’s voice spoke directly into her mind. I can see the images of what he wants to do and what he’s done.
Now, all she had to do was lead him into the trap. She walked into the alley. Many of these alleys were shortcuts to main streets. It was easy to get distracted and walk into the wrong one. It was hard to tell there wasn’t a small side street until you neared the end.
She heard his footsteps behind her. He made no attempt to be quiet. She removed the ear buds from her ears and looked around in feigned confusion.
“This sure ain’t your lucky day, bitch.” The venom in his voice would frighten most.
Tempest turned toward her prey and smiled. The fool still believed he was the hunter. Proving evil was easy to hide, the man was truly beautiful. Looking at him she could understand why she’d assumed Aiden was the man they were seeking. This man stood nearly as tall as Aiden. He obviously spent a great deal of time working out, but he was not as muscular. He had an almost feminine beauty, marred only by the sinister curl of his full lips. His hair was completely covered with a stocking cap, and sunglasses masked his eyes.
“Funny,” she cooed, “I’m feeling pretty lucky.”
He advanced on her slowly and waves of hatred surrounded her. The hand behind his back appeared, holding a vicious looking knife. She wondered how someone managed to conceal a knife that size. It’s not like the guy was wearing baggy clothes or a bulky jacket. He had on low-rise skinny jeans and a black hoodie.
“If you make one sound, I’ll cut you so bad you’ll wish you were dead.” His threat sounded so calm and rational, it seemed completely out of place. It sounded as though he was merely making pleasant conversation. “If you’re a good little bitch, I’ll let you walk out of here unharmed.” His laughter was a dark, crazed sound. “All you have to do is take a walk with me and pretend you’re my girlfriend. Now, doesn’t that sound easy?”
Why did they always say stuff like that? She supposed it was because women still believed it. No woman had ever escaped this man unharmed, and some hadn’t even escaped with their lives.
Tempest gathered the energy from the air around her and formed it into an invisible ball. While she couldn’t absorb it into her body, she could manipulate it. She allowed her own energy to explode out of her like a violent storm. It crashed into him. His face registered shock just before he hit the ground.
Ivy entered the alley, already on the phone. It wasn’t long before the van pulled up. They quickly loaded the man into the back and secured his hands and feet with duct tape. Her cousin, Rose, was driving and her cousin, Willow, scooted into the back to help secure him. Aside from a nasty bump on the back of his head, he seemed fine.
“Are you sure you want to do this?” Willow asked.
“What choice do we have?” Ivy asked her.
Willow let out a sigh and nodded.
Normally, they would have handed him over to the police. They had contacts in several law enforcement agencies that were more than willing to accept their help. In areas where they had no local law enforcement contacts, they relied on a friend at the FBI. In this case, they knew a detective at the San Francisco Police. They were creating a lot of trouble for their contact, but they had no choice.
“I hate it,” Tempest admitted. “But we have a chance to help those poor women, and we need to take it.”
After they had him secured, Tempest climbed into the front seat next to her cousin Rose. Rose and Willow had been a part of the center from day one, and Tempest loved them, even if they irritated her sometimes. Tempest could tell by the way Rose kept looking over at her that this was going to be one of those irritating days.
“Just say whatever is on your mind,” Tempest finally told her.
“How long are you planning to keep that thing in the basement?” Rose asked.
“We’ll have the ceremony tomorrow night,” Tempest answered, intentionally misunderstanding Rose’s question. “Until then, we’ll keep him confined in the cell in the old barn. In case you’ve forgotten, the basement is full.”
Rose rolled her eyes. “You know what I’m talking about. That thing we picked up last time.”
“Are you referring to Aiden?” Tempest tried hard not to let the annoyance seep into her voice.
“Whatever,” Willow added from the backseat. “We don’t really care what its name is. We want it out of the center.”
Tempest blew out a frustrated breath. “I’ve found out some interesting things about him.” She decided not to share all she’d learned yet. It might have been fun to watch their reactions to Aiden being their cousin while they were feeling so superior, but it might be ill-advised to share that information with Rose while she was driving. “I’m thinking he’d be a good sperm donor for me. He’s against the idea, but I’m hoping to change his mind.”
Ivy was doing her best to pretend she couldn’t hear the conversation.
“Ew!” Rose nearly shouted. “That thing isn’t even human. It would be like having a baby with a dog or something.”
“I think a dog would be a better choice,” Willow added with a snort.
“At least, you don’t want to have sex with it. It would be totally gross,” Rose said with a shudder of revulsion. “I don’t know how you even managed to touch it to treat its wounds.”
Tempest was quickly losing her temper. “In case you’ve failed to notice, we aren’t exactly human either,” she pointed out as calmly as she could manage. “Human or not, he is probably the hottest guy I’ve ever met.” Tempest felt the need to defend Aiden. The way she was treating him was wrong, and she wouldn’t add to it by insulting him for what he was.
Rose began to tap the steering wheel with her fingers as she drove across the Bay Bridge. “If you’re so desperate for a man you would screw that thing, I suggest you hit the club and find some relief.” Rose was practically sneering. “Don’t let your hormones make you scrape the bottom of the barrel.”
“What I do with Aiden is none of your business,” Tempest ground out. “Am I making myself clear?”
“Fine, go ahead and pollute the gene pool with that thing,” Willow mumbled from the backseat. “Ow!” she screeched, and Tempest smiled knowing it was probably because Ivy had smacked her in the back of the head.
Thankfully, the rest of the drive back was blessedly silent.