Conclave (Hypernaturals 3)

Get in the Car, Helen

Two Vampires waited on the portico of the Lodge as we pulled up, and slid into place in the truck.

The initial lineup in the Suburban was Denise and Anne up in front. Carol, Morgan, and Rachel in the middle row seat. Jessica and I sitting in the back. Three trained killers, a human detective, a newspaper reporter, a Doctor who is every bit as deadly as the Cleaning Crew, and the male Vampire she has been training. I am not sure who is the weakest link here. Morgan is human, but an amazing shot. I am far stronger and faster than her but have only been learning to fight and shoot for less than six months.

There is one more weak link to add. I pulled out my phone and called Helen. She answered with a suspicious "Hello?"

I asked her with a sort of false joviality "Hey. You want to ride with us, or tail us the whole way?"

"What!" Jessica exclaimed, spinning around, looking out the back window, but not seeing her.

I put Helen on speaker as she spluttered. I told her flatly "Look: You are probably safer here with us than at home by yourself anyway. We should not have left you unguarded. Park in front. We'll wait."

"Fine," Helen said, disgusted, and hung up. Rung off she would say. Morgan came agilely over the seat back and sandwiched me between herself and Jessica. Once settled, she looked at me over with a new kind of expression and said: "If you ever want to take up being a detective, I am open to you being an equal partner in the agency. Olsen and Sagan. 'O' comes before 'S' in the alphabet."

Rachel was completely disgusted. "He knows Helen. Not that I shouldn't have figured that out."

"Or I." Jessica said.

"He got there first." Morgan said.

When Helen got in next to Rachel, we added the last person the vehicle could carry without going into college prank levels of occupancy. It is already something of a Vampire clown car. The back seat not really quite big enough for the three of us (we are all three pretty big), but I settled into my fate bravely.

Helen looked over her shoulder at me as she belted up. "You really piss me off sometimes, Adrian." Once she clicked in, we were underway.

"Mutual, Blondie." I returned

As we drove, Carol twisted to look at me. "We have not been formally introduced. I'm Carol."

"Adrian." I replied, extending a hand and receiving a firm grip in return. "You were in the hot tub last night." I added.

"Yes. I was. You handled yourself well last night. I am glad I was not needed for... Anything. Crowd control, shall we say. I think you will be good to fight alongside if you are anywhere near as talented with weapons as you are with verbal sparring."

Carol nodded at Morgan. "It helped that she was there and you two played off each other so well. It was as if you practiced that."

Morgan and I grinned at each other.

Carol twisted a bit farther to look at Jessica, who was directly behind her "Your husband was quite popular last night. I would have thought you would be there to keep the she-wolves at bay, but he never even gave the slightest sign of interest in any of the offers, veiled or not. Most thought he was with Morgan by the end anyway."

Jessica smiled "Yes, well, he has only been a Vampire for a short period of time. He thinks he has to stay true to me or somehow he is loving me less. When I was human, I would have gotten that. And honestly, I have not totally forgotten it. He only gets to cheat on me if I approve it. So that's not really cheating, is it?"

Carol might have been talking about cattle. "Still, a sign that as a human, he was a good one. I begin to understand why he was let off probation so early." Then added slightly more personally "Enjoy it while you can."