Title: Save a Horse, Chapter Six

Author: Maggie

Archived: www.geocities.com/Margaret_Mary69 and www.taintedfiction.com

Feedback: Welcome if Constructive or at least not too mean, LOL

Genre: Dark Hunter… for info on Cannon Characters go to www.Dark-Hunter.com

Rating: PG (for now)

Disclaimer: Any characters you recognize are the property of Sherrilyn Kenyon. She retains all rights to the characters and does not authorize this work. This is solely for mine and hopefully my friends’ amusement. No money is being made off of this story.

Notes: A Dorian Squire goes on an adventure. It might be more than she planned on. This may contain spoilers through Unleash the Night.

Save a Horse… Chapter Six

Jenny drove down the streets of New Orleans past Jackson Square towards the Garden District. It was getting dark as the sun went down. She was almost to the hotel when her cell phone rang. Pulling over out of traffic to a stop, she took the phone out of her bag. Not recognizing the caller’s number, she cautiously answered, “Jennifer Hearson. May I help you?”

A strong male voice answered back. “Jennifer. I think I have a lead on our young friend. Can you meet me?”

Recognizing the voice as that of her new Dark Hunter friend, Jean Luc, she grinned. “I’m out right now. Was just heading back to the hotel. Where do you want to meet?”

The hunter answered. “I haven’t had dinner yet. Meet me at the Acme Oyster House. It’s in the French Quarter on the corner of Iberville and Bourbon. Park in the garage next door. It’s safe enough this early in the evening.”

Jenny agreed and took two lefts at the next intersections making her way back toward the Quarter and hopefully Nick if she was lucky.

Twenty minutes later Jenny was pulling into a third level parking space at the garage Jean Luc suggested. She grabbed her bag and a notepad to write down any information her new friend had and practically bounced down the stairs to the first level and outside. Entering the restaurant, she saw the pirate waving at her from a booth in the back of the place. It seemed everyone was keeping a safe distance from the man. She headed back and sat across from him.

The pair had barely said hello when a waitress came to take their orders. Jenny ordered an iced sweet tea explaining she had a late lunch.

Jean Luc shook his head and turned to the waitress. “I’ll take a bottle of Corona, the gumbo and bring us a dozen oysters on the half shelf to start. Once I coax this one into helping me, we may need more.” He winked at Jenny as he handed the menus over to the server.

As she left, Jenny grinned over at her companion. “Here I thought you were going to say a bottle of Rum.”

The older man laughed out loud drawing a few stares that didn’t last long when he glared at the offenders. Turning back to Jenny his face softened into a teasing grin. “No. That’s too cliche even for an old seadog like me. Besides beer and oysters are like peanut butter and jelly, only not quite as sticky.”

The girl giggled and shook her head. “Sorry not much for beer. It tastes like something died in it.”

”But I thought you had a fondness for digging up dead things Cherie?”

She smiled. “Yeah to study not to drink. I’ll stick with my tea.”

He shrugged and took a swig as the waitress sat the drinks down in front of them and walked away.

The pair spent the next several minutes talking about Jenny’s impressions thus far of the city. She told him about her visit to Sanctuary and meeting Mama Lo. He nodded telling her, “Mama is a protective of her cubs. From what I heard she is fond of Nick. You’ve done well to make her an ally.”

The archaeologist scrunched up her nose. “Yeah well she may have been nice but she definitely wasn’t helpful. She did a good job of getting rid of me before I could ask any more questions.”

Jean Luc looked up suddenly alerting Jenny to stop what she was saying. The waitress was there with their food and refills on their drinks. Jean Luc dug into the gumbo as Jenny drank her tea and looked around, taking in the locals.

The pirate drew her attention back to the table. “You have to try the oysters Jenny. They’re famous. You can’t leave New Orleans without having a few of Acme’s raw oysters on the half shelf.” He challenged her.

She grinned, put a shot of Tabasco on an oyster and poured it from the shell into her mouth, letting it slide down her throat like a pro. “They are good but I’ve had oysters before. What I can’t leave New Orleans without is some information on my friend. Have you found out where Nick is?”

Shaking his head he took another drink of beer to chase down an oyster before answering. “No I haven’t found out where your young friend is hiding.”

”But I thought…” She started, her face a mixture of panic and grief.

“But I do have leads if you will listen. That involves not talking.” He winked at her.

That elicited a brief smile before she grabbed her notebook and pen then turned back to him. “Okay this is me not talking. What ya got?”

The pirate started to wag a finger at her but the archaeologist pursed her lips and pretended to turn a key with her fingers, then grinned.

He shook his head in disbelief but smiled back at her anyway. “Fair enough. I wasn’t able to find Nick but I was able to find some information on who might be responsible for his disappearance. It seems there was a lot of trouble a few months back. A man named Valerius seemed to be near the heart of the action. I did some checking on him and found out that Nick most definitely considered this guy an enemy. Nick had the word out on the street to all his friends to harass the guy if he darkened their doorsteps. Apparently the kids on the street that know Nick say that this Val decided he'd had enough of Nick and his friends. They are all scared of him now. They say if he took out Nick and his Mom, who knows who he’ll take revenge on next.”

“Took out? Does that mean they know he’s dead?” The young woman looked ashen as the blood drained from her face.

The pirate shook his head. “Not exactly. I think that it’s more a supposition that if Nick was alive, he would have escaped by now.”

“Then why not get his Hunter friends to help them confront this Val? Have you tried checking him out? Searching his property?” She asked as she frantically began writing down notes.

Jean Luc grabbed her hand, stopping her in mid sentence. “Slow down Cherie. One, Nick’s street friends are not aware of his connection to the Hunters. Indeed I doubt they know the Hunters exist unless they have been unfortunate enough to find themselves prey to the daimons before. Even then, the human mind has interesting ways of explaining away anything out of the ordinary.” He waited until she nodded and relaxed her hand on the table. He squeezed it then continued. “As for the questioning Valerius myself or searching his property, that creates a unique challenge for me.” At her raised eyebrows, he asked, “You are aware of the difficulty Hunter gatherings creates?”

She bit her lip, thinking. “Hunters can’t be in immediate proximity to each other for any extended length of time. It drains their powers.” He nodded, waiting for her follow the thought through. She gasped as she looked up at him. “Are you saying Valerius is a Hunter?”

The pirate nodded his head briefly.

“Why would a Hunter attack a squire? I mean you guys depend on squires to aid you as well as keep your secrets. Why would he hurt someone that had pledged to protect him?” The archaeologist shook her head, not understanding.

He sighed. “My understanding that is that Val felt Nick was doing anything BUT aiding him.”

The table shook as the blonde slammed her notebook down on it. “That’s ridiculous. Nick would never hurt a Hunter. This Val person must be covering up something! We need to talk to him.”

He grabbed her hand before she could rise, speaking softly to detract from the attention they were starting to draw. “Cherie. I understand your concerns but as you’ve already noted you understand mine.”

Taking a deep breath, the woman tried to slow her racing heart. She looked across the table into the sincere brown eyes that watched her with guarded interest. Nodding she conceded. “Yes I understand why you can’t confront Valerius but that doesn’t mean that he can’t be checked out. I could go by his place, ask a few questions, see if there was any sign of Nick about.”

The hunter shook his head. “I would not want to have to tell your siblings that I led you into danger and got you killed. I have a feeling that blood rites squire brother of yours would find a way to make me his next assignment.”

“I won’t do anything that will get me killed. Besides it’s not like you are responsible for me. I’m going to check this guy out whether you say it’s okay or not,” she countered.

“You won’t if I don’t tell you where he lives.” He growled.

The young woman was silent for a moment. When she looked up at the man, her eyes had a steely glint, the lines of her face set firm, her tone resolute. “If you don’t tell me I’ll simply go find him on my own. I know who to ask for now. I’m sure it won’t be too dangerous searching the streets for Nick’s contacts alone. Of course if you just told me where Val lived, I could keep you informed. You could even wait outside the residence to make sure I came out in a reasonable amount of time.”

The pirated muttered something that sounded suspiciously like “mon dieu” to Jenny. She grinned, waiting for his reply. He sighed as he looked up at her. “How many brothers do you have?”

“Four, why?”

He shook his head. “It’s not enough. They should demand reinforcements.”

“Does that mean you’re going to help me?”

”I do believe I have lost my senses but yes.” He sighed, his gold hoop earring catching in the light as he turned to flag down their waitress across the room for the bill.

The young archaeologist started packing up her things to leave. “Great, let’s go hunter hunting.”

Jean Luc reached across the table to grab her hand before she could get up to leave. “Jennifer this is not a game. If this Valerius really has gone rogue he is dangerous. Do you even have a plan for what you intend to do once we get there?”

Jenny bit back her retort as the waitress came over to hand them their check. Her companion looked briefly at the bill before handing it back with along with his credit card. Once they were alone again, the young woman answered. “I know this isn’t a game, but don’t you understand? It’s been driving me crazy not knowing what happened to my friend and now I finally have a chance to do something to help him. Wouldn’t you be as eager if it was someone you cared about?”

He nodded as the waitress came back with his receipt. Adding a generous tip, he signed it and wished their server a good evening before she walked away. “Fair enough, but you aren’t going to help Nick if I end up having to save both of you. Now what do you plan to do?”

The young woman sat silently for a moment gathering her thoughts. “Okay I just want to get a feel for the place and find out if it’s worth us trying to seriously investigate. If you’ll point me in the right direction, I’ll head over to Val’s place. We can park down the street from his house. You’ll wait in the car for me to make sure I come out okay. I have a strong set of lungs so I’ll yell if I need help. I’ll just wander up to the front door and see if there is anything obvious we should investigate. If I run into his help, I’ll just claim I was lost, looking for a friend. It will be close enough to the truth.”

“And what if you run into the hunter himself? He’s not going to be easily fooled.”

She grinned. “I’ll just use my famous Hearson charm. He’ll never know what hit him.”

“This is such a bad idea.” The pirate shook his head as Jenny looked at him expectantly. “Let’s go before I wake up and realize what I’m doing. If your brothers sent me to shade-dom, I will find a way to haunt you, charming or not.”

Forty-five minutes later they were parked in the Garden District down the street from a very stately looking estate. The pair watched the front gates wondering how the young woman would get past them. To be truthful, the pirate was glad the added security was there. Perhaps this would deter his young friend from her foolish actions. As he smiled at his unexpected good luck, a delivery truck pulled up to the front gate. Before he could stop her, Jenny was out of the car and casually walking down the sidewalk toward sure trouble. Jenny slowed down, keeping her distance until the gates opened the truck started through. As it’s rear bumper cleared the entrance she sprinted inside, keeping to the shadows as best she could. Jean Luc quietly cursed the fickle fates and settled in to wait.

Jenny hung back near the fence as the truck pulled up the circular driveway to the front door. It was an opulent front yard with lots of greenery, so much in fact she couldn’t see out to the street or her car beyond unless she was standing directly at the gate. She watched a gentleman in a loud Hawaiian shirt come out and start directing the deliverymen into the house. When they safely out of sight, she moved closer. There was a pretty fountain of a goddess bathed in blue light that she believed was Minerva. She was a bit surprised it wasn’t Artemis instead but to each their own.

Quietly stepping near the open door front door, she heard the men’s voices echoing down the hall from somewhere further inside. Unable to resist she stepped into the front foyer and looked around. The place was classy and spoke of old money. There was there no sign of anyone in the front living room.

Walking across the hallway she carefully opened a door afraid the quiet squeak of the hinges would alert the others to her presence. Stepping inside she gently closed the door behind her and moved to look around. She was in a sunroom of sorts.

The central piece in the room was a beautiful marble statue of a woman. She wasn’t any goddess Jenny recognized but she could tell the piece was very old. There was an eternal flame, fueled by oil from the smell of it, burning by her side. This must be a shrine of sorts, but to whom? Shaking her head at her wandering thoughts, she realized that whoever it was, they were too long gone to be of any aid in finding Nick. She wandered the room, searching for another door that led further into the house but the only one appeared to be the one she came in.

Cracking open the door she didn’t hear any voices nearby. She stepped into the hallway and looked up at the grand staircase that led to the second floor. If Nick was being held prisoner he might be up there but did she dare go exploring further? She tentatively placed her foot on the bottom step as she heard a car door slam. Jumping back, she felt the hard grip of a hand snaking out to grab her arm, whipping her around.

She was face to face with the man in Hawaiian shirt. “Can I help you?” The steely tone of his voice countered his causal appearance.

She grasped vainly at a plausible excuse as she heard the gate open, the delivery truck no doubt was the vehicle she heard driving away. She started to feed him a line about being lost when she looked down at her arm and noticed the spider web tattoo on the man’s hand. She saw red. “You’re a Blood Rites! How could you help someone who hurt an innocent squire?”

Never loosening his grip, the man stared at her. “The name is Otto and what in the hell are you talking about?”

The blood drained from the young woman’s face as the squire’s name registered. “Otto… but..but…” She sputtered. “You’re one of Nick’s best friends. Why would you help Valerius get rid of him?”

“Who in the hell told you that drivel?” The man roared.

“We’re pursuing leads from some informants. I suggest you let go of Miss Hearson’s arm before her family comes raining down on you.” Jean Luc said from the doorway. He saw Otto’s eyes go wide as he let go of the girl.

Jenny glared at the pirate though she was secretly relieved to see him. “I thought you were going to wait in the car.”

”When I saw the delivery truck leaving and no sign of you, I figured I better make sure you hadn’t done anything stupid. Apparently my worries were well founded.” The hunter hissed.

“Like I was going to find out anything without snooping around.” The girl rolled her eyes, then told the hunter. “This is apparently Valerius’ squire, Otto.”

Jean Luc nodded at the younger man who looked expectantly from one to the other. “Are you two going through arguing because I would really like an explanation to this nonsense.”

“We have reason to believe that Valerius was involved in Nick Gautier’s disappearance.” The pirate explained.

“Did Zarek put you up to this?” A deep cold voice asked from the doorway.

Jenny looked from the new man back to Jean Luc. The grimace on the pirate’s face told her even more than the Armani suit the other man was wearing, this was indeed the infamous Valerius. She gulped before answering the man. “I don’t know any Zarek. I’m just trying to find my friend. Jean Luc,” she motioned to her companion, “heard through some street contacts that you might be able to help answer some questions about his disappearance.”

“Don’t waste your breath. He isn’t about to tell us if he had anything to do with the boy’s vanishing act, at least not without a little coercion.” The pirate grinned as he reached down to pull a hunting knife out of one of his leather boots. The hunters stood staring at each other, daring the other one to move. It was only then that Jean Luc realized his powers didn’t feel dampened by Valerius’ proximity.

He didn’t have time to question why as a new female voice broke the silence. “What in the heck is going on here?”

The pirate took one look at the newcomer’s face and blanched. “Oh hell. Not again!” He turned to head out the door, hollering “Jenny Run!” over his shoulder.

The new woman ran out the door after him. Valerius barked, “Tabitha, don’t!” before he followed the pair out the door.

Jenny bolted for the door herself but it slammed shut before she got there. She looked up to see Otto with his arms crossed, daring her to move. “Not so fast Miss Hearson. I do believe we have a few issues to sort out. You aren’t going anywhere.”