Conclave (Hypernaturals 3)

Sirens Beware

I told Larry all the latest trivia. We talked about the joint venture of helping each other stay hidden. That is going slowly since neither group trusts the other. I brought up that The Council is holding a meeting here in town. The existence of the Sirens is going to be further discussed although all Vampiredom, of course, knows about them now.

Even up there on our secret Vampire moon base.

Larry is not sure if we have a moon base or not. I delivered it with a pretty straight face. He is pretty sure I am full of it, but not certain. Hey: The Sirens made me Liaison, so they have to expect shit like that.

I warned Larry that the Conclave means there are going to be many hundreds of Vampires in town. Early registrations are running high. They will all be warned to go nowhere near 'The Firehouse'. No exceptions, unless they are with me. The Council rule is not to mess with the Siren's unless they mess with the Vampire first. Any Vampires caught standing over a dead Siren better have a videotape of them being assaulted first, or there would be repercussions.

Actually, we are not going to tell the Vampires where the Sirens hang out, but I wanted it clear to Larry that a Vampire will be allowed to defend themselves. He knows what that means. Helen and Jessica pounded his ass here in the second fight.

For Larry's part, he reported that Siren senior management is starting to believe that maybe the Vampires aren't going to hunt them down and kill them and that they would not be required to use their countermeasures.

I still do not know what the countermeasures are. Sirens assumed that Vampires would go all speciocidal once they knew that they did not succeed in killing off the Sirens the first time. Revealing themselves implies they think they have something and they trusted that something enough with their collective lives. Whatever the big, bad, Anti-Vampire thing is, it probably is not complicated. It is highly likely Siren plans relied exclusively on the idea that they thought Vampires didn't know about girl Sirens, but if that is true, I messed that up for them. It seemed after I told them I knew about the girls of their kind, the plan's wheels came off. They suddenly made me Liaison and all that.

In our own way, each species preys upon humans. The humans would be miffed if they knew. To paraphrase the Incredible Hulk TV Show: You wouldn't like humans when they are miffed.

I convinced the Siren high muckity mucks, through Larry, that exposing Vampires to the world of the humans would be how we all are killed, not only Vamps. Sirens are easy to find too. Weird vocal cords and the girls lick each other to identify a lost sister, meaning it would be easy to find that chemical and make a test strip. The humans would finish the Siren extinction the Vampires started. Vampires and Sirens would be hunted and there are billions of humans to hunt with. Put a bounty on us, and they will hunt us down like wild game and probably take down a fair number of their kind as collateral.

If the Siren countermeasures are not based around human exposure, then they are more subtle, and that is going to take time to figure out. Sirens can talk their way into any position. Any job they want. They are in positions of power just like Vampires. Who knows what they might have in mind from there?

For right now, our two species are in a truce, and Larry and I the connection point between the two groups. The Vampires are not happy about suddenly finding this new threat on their flanks. Sirens are supposed to be dead and gone. They are even less happy that Melissa was captured and serially raped. It screamed for revenge.

Worse still is that their pipeline to their problem ran through the lowest thing in their worldview: A male Vampire. Me. The Vampire weakest link is what keeps the Sirens at bay. It really gets up their collective feminine noses.

I am not too happy about it either.

After two more beers and two more rounds of exposure to and verbal appreciations of Leslie's physical attractions, we wrapped things up for the evening. I said to Larry "I think we have everything out there we need to talk about for today. You are going to start being busy here soon. Open Mike Night and all.

Larry laughed "Every night is Open Mike Night!"

"Yeah, I know. In any case, I don't want to either fight off more of your women or beat up more of your men." Dealing with Sirens requires a level of braggadocio. Making sure I had Larry's attention, I looked at him unflinchingly in the eyes. "We clear on the Conclave thing?"

"Lots of Vamps in the city. No threat. Not after us. Here ta talk about us. Right. Got it. I ain't stupid."

"I never said you are. It is that this can go sideways really fast if there are any misunderstandings. I don't want the destruction of both our people to be because I failed to be really clear with you tonight."

"Naw. I get it. I'll make sure everyone's on a short leash. Stay way the fuck away from the lake area. All that." Larry shook a finger at me, a grin on his face "In fact, I'll do ya one better. I'll put the word out. Any Sirens caught up that way are fair game, and if they get eaten, there will be no revenge. No retribution. If they want ta be stupid, they'll just be dead. They'll fuckin' hate that idea. Any hero's wanting ta go out in a blaze of glory won't like unavenged death."

"Sounds like a winner. Good to see you as always Larry (I lied). Good luck with Vera (I lied again)." I turned to Leslie, tipping back the last of the beer, and saluted her with it "Leslie: great service as always. Thanks. Take care of yourself. See more of you next time. Feel free to be naked if you want. That's what Vampires do."

That earned a thoughtful look from Leslie. Not sure if it is about the Vampire part of that or if she is seriously considering the idea of a strip show. Me and my big mouth.

Sirens are not big tippers, and I don't pay for my beer when we are having one of these meetings at Larry's insistence. I tucked a twenty into her vest, far enough down to appear to be copping a feel to anyone watching. Leslie pulled the money out and tucked it in a pocket on her vest instead, and pulled the front of the leather garment wide open with a grin, flashing me. "Any time, cutie. Any time."

That had not been the point of my tip, however, I do admit she is easy on the eyes. I gave her a thumbs up and a big grin. "Bigger tip next time!" I told her

"You always give me the best tips, Hon. You give me more than this, I am stripping off for ya. Real slow like. You watch. In the office though cuz ain't none of these jerks paid to see me like you." Leslie enthused.

"Vampires don't like to be teased, darling Leslie. Get naked and stay naked is our motto (That may only be my motto). Till then, extremely lovely to... Err... see you." I replied, hoping that at the very least Leslie would start getting better tips here. Come ON you dumbasses: Compete!