Forbidden

Subterfuge

"You didn't mention Van would be here." The leader lowered her weapon and zeroed in on the girl at his side. "This will cause too much trouble."

Van bristled, then went motionless. Luca reached for her, afraid she'd finally snapped, but then she bolted toward the group. She was so fast he could barely follow her, and the two people in the back yelped in surprise when their leader's head snapped back as Van's fist made contact.

"You bitch," Van shouted, drawing her arm back for another strike.

"Stand down," the woman shouted at her comrades before barely dodging another blow.

Uncertain, Luca watched the women circle one another, strongly suspecting the woman was Trixie. Van moved with a nimble grace that spoke of years of training, but he suspected it was her Helsing blood giving her an edge, the same way it had the night of the accident. The other women's stance remained defensive, and he suspected neither one would welcome his interference.

Van managed two more hits- one to the stomach and another to the face. The last one sent her opponent to the ground, and she cupped her mouth before spitting blood into the snow. As if deciding she the fight was done, she launched herself at Van, pinning her against the ground.

"Stop, Van. Stop!"

"I sat in your living room, and you could have just told me then," Van sobbed and quit struggling.. "The truth. That's all I want from you people. Is Hailey in on it?"

Luca started. Hailey?

Honey blonde sprang free when the woman pulled back her hood. When she removed the lower face covering, the entire picture came together, and Luca was looking at Hailey twenty years in the future.

"Mrs. Francis," he croaked.

"Sorry, Luca," she said, rising and helping Van to her feet. Van shoved her away and stood on her own, drawing a smile from Nancy. "We had planned on revealing things slowly once we got you both back to base."

"Why all the subterfuge?" Van demanded.

"Van," Nancy sighed, "A secret society doesn't last very long if we tell everyone about it. I couldn't trust that you weren't buying into what your father was teaching you. I was hopeful it wasn't the case because of what Tommy told us, but we needed to be sure."

"No, you needed me to get that file, and you used the identity and help of this group as leverage."

"Come on. Let's get in the car. We'll talk about it somewhere that's not so exposed. The Slayers are on high alert, and Van, to answer your question about Hailey. No, she doesn't know. Her father and I didn't want to put the pressure of a double life on her. We hoped if we taught her to love everyone, it would eventually occur to her that the Slayers were wrong."

"Come on," Luca said, putting his arms around her shoulders and moving her to the car. He understood why she was upset, but Nancy was right. This place was outside of the Slayers normal areas of patrol, but that didn't mean they were safe.

When they climbed in the vehicle, Van propped her elbow on the door handle and stared out the window. Nancy alternated between watching her from the rearview mirror and twisting around in her seat to openly stare at the girl. Luca squeezed into the middle seat, wishing for more leg room but not trusting their new companions enough to not put himself between Van and them.

"I'm Scott," the man beside Luca said. Both of the other people had removed their hoods and face coverings once they were on the road.

Scott was a giant black man, and Luca wondered how much of his bulk was because of the coat he was wearing. From the way the seams strained every time he shifted in his seat, he guessed most of it was all muscle.