"We'll be staying in Winkler's guest house and Kellee is banned from the kitchens while meals are being prepared. Winkler doesn't want her poisoning anybody," Weldon grinned. "He's got half the Pack in the house, I think, and they're all watching her."
"That might be different," I said. "I don't think I've met very many of his Pack. How many are there?"
"Dallas has the largest Pack in the U.S." Weldon informed me. "Most other large cities have more than one Pack since there are so many wolves. Dallas and Miami are the two holdouts that haven't split up. Dallas has more than a hundred wolves."
"Wow," I said. "So, that would be a real feather in Karl's overly large hat."
"It would. The Boise Pack has about twenty-five wolves."
"Is it hard to keep up with all this stuff?" I looked at Weldon. He was still a handsome man when all was said and done, even if he was overly fond of flannel.
"Not usually," he grinned. "The worst was remembering all those new Packmasters when thirty-six of them were replaced at once."
"That brings up pleasant memories," I grumped.
"We got through it and we're still alive," Weldon was looking on the positive side of things.
Oddly enough, I was thinking about all the times I'd stayed up on a Saturday night before becoming vampire and before Don had gone into the hospital, just so I could finish a book without any interruptions. I'd given up sleep, then, just to do it. Now there wasn't any staying up past my bedtime. It was a shame. Weldon and Davis wrapped me in my body bag and zipped me up when the sun rose. At least I didn't fry when the sun came up; I know that much.
* * *
"How's the bitch?" Davis asked Winkler as he helped Weldon carry Lissa's body bag off the plane.
"As foul tempered as ever," Winkler said, pulling the bag away and lifting it over his shoulder. The back of the van was open so he settled it to one side and then stood guard, making sure nobody placed anything else on top of Lissa.
"Kellee's behind this," Weldon heaved a bag into the back of the van on the opposite side.
"I know that," Winkler snapped before recalling that he spoke to the Grand Master.
"Does Kellee know who you're bringing in?" Weldon asked, pointedly ignoring Winkler's gaffe.
"Not yet," Winkler laughed humorlessly. "She probably thinks Davis is going to take this. Or maybe Trajan."
"Trajan might be a good choice if Davis didn't want it," Weldon nodded. Trajan was nearly seven feet tall and all muscle. He had no desire to run a Pack, however, and seemed content to be just a member, although he was a good fighter.
"We have Lissa." Winkler sighed and climbed into the passenger seat of the van. He'd driven to the airport by himself, but Davis was driving now with Weldon and Kipp loaded into the back seat.
"Thomas Williams is coming," Weldon informed Winkler as they made their way toward Winkler's mansion in Denton.
"I would too, if I were in his place," Winkler nodded.
* * *
"Look at this." Dr. Frazier showed Tony the new footage. The chimp was disappearing immediately, once he'd received the compound with the new blood. "Not only does he change immediately but he can walk through the wire of his cage. The small dose lasts around fifteen minutes. I was afraid to give any more since we're limited on the supply for the moment. We need more but I have enough to test it on six volunteers this afternoon."
"You're going ahead and doing human testing?" Tony handed Frazier a skeptical look. They still didn't know what the side effects might be if there were any, or what long-term problems might arise.
"This is too good to pass up," Frazier replied. "We have the supply on hand now and since I don't know what the shelf life is on the fresh tissue and blood, we're going ahead with this. The chimp is doing fine so far."
"I think you're pushing this and we won't have the donor for much longer." Tony didn't like doing this, realizing that he might have made a mistake, offering Lissa as he had. She certainly hadn't volunteered.
"What do you mean you won't have the donor for much longer?" Frazier frowned at the Director.
"Just what I said," Tony gave Frazier a level look. "She was loaned out to us for a limited time. We have four more weeks, tops, before she goes home. And if I understand things correctly, if her fiancé finds out what we're doing, that might not be a good thing." He didn't say that if Lissa found out, it might not be a good thing either.
Dr. Lawrence Frazier huffed a bit at Tony's words. "Who is he? The King of the Vampires or something?" He was attempting a joke.
"No. He's an Assassin for the King of the Vampires," Tony said flatly. Dr. Frazier stared at his Director in alarm.
* * *
"Paul Winthrop," the werewolf introduced himself and shook hands with Merrill. Gavin, standing off to the side, didn't offer so Paul knew not to shake with him. "We have a sighting—and the scent, of course," Paul went right into the information he had. "There's an old cottage roughly three kilometers from town and it's falling to ruin; we've tracked him there. We've caught vampire scent, too. That's why we wanted to present this to you, hoping you could help us with that little problem. We'll take the human in and give you the other."
"Fair enough," Merrill nodded. "We have backup; they're waiting just outside the village." Merrill and Gavin had met with the werewolf officer in a tiny village between Mildenhall and Brandon in East Anglia. The small pub was moderately busy so Merrill was careful not to draw too much attention. He and Gavin were dressed in jeans and knit shirts since they were going to be working. If their luck held, that is.
"Would you like a ride?" Merrill asked politely as they walked into the foggy night. Paul saw the Range Rover parked right outside the pub and taking a chance, accepted. He called the other two werewolves who'd worked on the investigation with him while Merrill drove to the rendezvous point outside the village. Merrill pulled to a stop when they came upon two other vehicles. Henri and Gervais were both there, as were Radomir, Stephan and Brock. Rolfe was even there; he'd begged Wlodek to allow him to come and Wlodek had reluctantly agreed. The other two werewolves showed up shortly after Merrill, Gavin and Paul arrived. Brief introductions were made and they began their trek on foot toward the small, long-abandoned safe house—the only safe house—in the area.
Henri and Gervais became mist and went to check things over inside the house. A small import was parked in high grass and weeds outside it; Merrill and Gavin knew the odds were very good that Sebastian and his human slave were inside, hidden in a cellar beneath the small, stone structure. Henri and Gervais returned quickly with verification.