The Blood of a Nightlock

Chapter Twenty-One

Mitchel stepped in front of me. "We're friends."

"I know." Jimmy said sadly. "And I'm messed up about it."

"Then why would you do this?"

"They have my son." Jimmy said. "He's a Nightlock. I thought I could protect him and I was wrong. They took him. If I don't find a replacement for him, they're going to drain him for his blood. If I give them a female I'm fine. Anthony's fine."

"What do they want with a female?" Mitchel asked.

"A queen." I said. "That's what the vamp that attacked me on the second floor told me."

Jimmy nodded. "They have a male. They need a female. They need a strong female." He glanced at me. "They need Wren."

"Well that's not happening and you know that." Mitchel said.

"Do you know how hard it was to figure it out?" Jimmy smiled at him. "You did a good job keeping her quiet. Then I watched your private training sessions with her and I thought, 'Man, he's really gearing her up for battle here'. I thought, 'what if Chief Grayson fathered a Nightlock and asked you to keep it safe?' Not so far-fetched." He said. "Then I started thinking about him leaving Dragon Tribe. I started wondering about the whole Jade Mackenzie debacle. They were hot and heavy their whole lives. She disappears for a while and comes back just to retire a few years later? Did she maybe birth a Nightlock? Had to run off to have her little Nightlock baby in a secluded area sans human doctors? Sounds plausible. That's what I had to do with my wife. She was the Nightlock and she never even knew. We found out when weird things happened during her pregnancy. She carried the gene and passed it to my son. We had the baby in a barn. No blood testing, no poking and prodding. No one could know.

'They would have had my wife, but they didn't think she was strong enough. They needed someone young and fresh. They needed someone who could lead. So they used her..." He choked on some tears. "They used my wife as a feeder bag and they went out and raided homes for a Nightlock. If there was a rumor about your family, they were there investigating it. Someone told them that Chief Grayson had a Nightlock for a daughter. They said Chief Grayson was a Nightlock. They wanted to turn him. They wanted to make him like them to conform to what they needed. If they lost the blood, they at least had a warrior who could convince his strong Nightlock daughter to come with them. Then you showed up and demolished that plan. They had no proof that Jeff was a Nightlock though. They did the same to every house they raided. The same thing. Turn the parents. Check the children. Then you hid her in Briarwood. Faked her records so they couldn't find her. It was truly genius." Jimmy said. "But, too many people knew."

"The wrong people knew. People I trusted."

Jimmy nodded. "I feel bad about that." He said. "These people you surround yourself with to protect you are turning on you. The sad part is if you would have just given them the Nightlock, no one would have gone against you. Everyone loves you as Chief. But I had to do what was best for Anthony. I have to protect my son."

"They're going to kill him, Jimmy. Whether you present them with the Nightlock or not. They're going to kill him. Might already be dead."

"We had a deal. I help them and they return him to me unharmed."

"Regardless of needing a female, he's a Nightlock. They're like junkies, if you put it in front of them they're going to take it. He's as good as dead and you just helped them do it. If you would have come to me and told me, I could have helped you get him back."

He shook his head. "No, you couldn't have. This was the only way."

"And the mind control?" I asked.