| Chapter 35
Josiah walked into the room, surprised to see the curtains wide open as the sun rose over the horizon. �You called mistress?� he asked, approaching her. Raven turned from the rising sun to face him, �The slayers have something that belongs to me. Ready the children, I want him here before the sun sets.� Josiah nodded, turning back toward the door. �Oh and send word to Jennifer. She�s to bring the watcher back tonight, as a member of the family,� Raven called after him. Josiah bit his lip a moment, but nodded just the same as he exited the room. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Tracy entered her LA home and threw her purse on the table next to the door. Jennifer, Howie and A.J. followed her in. �Holy shit ...... this is your house?� A.J. asked, marveling at the elaborate home. �It belongs to my family,� she answered, plopping down on the nearest couch. Normally she was asleep by now, and the exhaustion was catching up to her. Jennifer found a seat, cupping her hand over her mouth as she yawned. �Why don�t you two go get some rest?� Howie suggested. Tracy shook her head, �No, the others will be arriving soon.� �A.J. and I can let them in,� he countered. �You�re just as tired as we are,� Jennifer pointed out. �I�m used to no sleep,� A.J. said, grinning. Howie smiled, �I can stay up for a while. You two get some rest, and we�ll wake you in a while and then rest ourselves.� Tracy debated the idea for a moment, �Alright, but only for a couple hours. We have a lot of work to do before sunset.� Howie nodded, �I know.� ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Nick walked through the door, �Hey, you ready for a break?� Candice looked up from where she was sitting on the floor, �Yeah. You get any sleep?� �Some,� he answered, glancing over at Brian, sound asleep on the bed. �He conked out bout an hour ago. Had a bad night,� she said, getting up and stretching. �Bad night?� Nick asked. Candice nodded, �Seems that animal blood doesn�t do much for them. He was sick half the night.� Nick sighed, looking back at his friend. Candice walked over and put her hand on his shoulder, �We�ll figure something out, after all this is over.� �I sure hope so,� Nick replied, taking her place on the floor. She gave him a reassuring smile, then left him to watch Brian sleep. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A.J. handed Howie a mug of steaming coffee, then sat down at the table. Howie was studying the floor plans. �You think this is gonna work?� A.J. asked. He sighed, �I dunno, I hope so.� A.J. shook his head, �I never thought in a million years something like this could happen. Brian, a vampire for Christ�s sake, and Nick ...........� Howie lifted his head to stare at him, �What about Nick?� A.J. bit his lip, staring into his own cup of steaming liquid. �Alex, what do you know that you aren�t telling me?� Howie prodded. A.J. glanced at his friend, �Well ...... he kinda has some gene or something. It�s not good ....... Kevin�s really worried.� �What are you talking about? What gene?� Howie asked. �I�m not really sure. Something about Nick can�t control the urge to hunt, or something,� he answered. Howie stared at A.J. in disbelief, �Are you sure?� He nodded, �Yeah, that�s what Kevin said anyway.� Howie ran his hand through his curly hair, �God, what else can go wrong?� A.J. shrugged, �I dunno man, this whole thing is pretty fucked up if you ask me.� Howie stared intently at his friend, �Alex, how long have you known about Nick and Kevin?� �Couple days,� he replied. �Where are they now?� Howie asked. �The headquarters,� A.J. said reluctantly. �That�s what I was afraid of,� Howie sighed, �That means they know about Brian.� A.J. nodded, taking a sip of his coffee. �I can�t even imagine how Kevin took it,� he said softly. �Or Nick,� Howie added, �But that�s not our biggest concern now.� A.J. looked up, �What is?� �If Raven finds out about Nick........ God I don�t even wanna go there,� Howie said. �What? What would she do?� A.J. asked. �If she combines her power with Brian�s and then add�s Nick�s blood into the mix ....... there won�t be enough slayers in the world to stop her,� he said. Chapter 36 |