Chapter Thirteen

EOGHAN

They took the elevators to the lower level of the hotel and followed the signs through the narrow basement corridors to the business center. The room had fluorescent lighting, cubicles, computers, all kinds of charging stations, and a single land line telephone. It smelled almost unused and was unoccupied.

“There it is,” he said, pointing toward the conference room sign at the far end. As they all headed through the empty space, he was unsure why they even needed the privacy of the conference room. Then again, a herd of visiting businessmen may come stampeding through the door at any moment. They followed Joe and Alo with the two Colorado shifters bringing up the rear. Eoghan was pretty sure he could feel the hostility coming off Andy Red Crow in waves at his back.

Funny that Priest had said that young Andy was on board without hesitation. Maybe he’d been getting heat from some of the elders in his clan, but he doubted that. Or those same elders hadn’t liked the fact that Rana Fields was helping him out. Was he doing this to rebel against his elders? Whatever his problem, Eoghan’s goal was to get him to lay it out on the table. He’d always believed that talking out things before they became bigger problems worked best.

As they stepped into the conference room and flipped on the light, he absently wondered if Severin and Invictus were experiencing any resistance from the Wyoming clan leader. He smiled to himself, thinking about how scared shitless he and Ari had been when they’d first met the fire-breathing dragons. As they sat at the circular table and faced each other, Eoghan decided he should be the one to start things off. After all, he was the senior agent from the office who’d asked for the help of these clans.

“First of all, thank you for meeting with Marshal Brown and me. Without your help, we’re not sure we’ll be able to defeat Tillis Bradshaw and his vampires.” When Rana and Red Crow just stared at him, he looked over to Joe and Alo, exchanging a glance with Ari next, and then looking back at them. Deciding he might as well be up front, he slid his phone out of his pocket and nodded at Ari to do the same. He pointed to the Faraday cages sticking out of each phone.

“We flew all this way to ask in person because we have a problem at the Agency. I know that you’ve been in contact with John Townsend but not how much he’s told you about that.” He nodded at Alo and Joe. “Our friends from Tahoe are also aware of a spy at our L.A. office as well as whomever is doing this in I.S.R. headquarters in D.C.”

“What is that?” Red Crow asked, pointing to the small device in the charging port.

Eoghan picked up his phone and handed it to Andy. “That’s a Faraday cage,” he said. “It blocks any passive monitoring of our conversations or our locations from anyone who might be listening in.”

Rana’s eyes widened. “You really think someone from the Agency is spying on you?”

“Yes. Months ago, Deputy Chief Priest noticed that someone had placed a listening device in her office as well as her home. She’s left them all in place and is cautious in all her conversations, saying nothing about King John, so that whoever is listening, won’t realize they’ve been discovered. She’s given us burner phones to talk to her when we’re on the road.”

He pulled out his burner and set it on the table. “We know we’re putting our lives in your hands by even mentioning this. For all we know, you could be part of the problem and are ready and willing to report our plans and movements back to Tillis Bradshaw. We’re told by King John that you’re both trustworthy, so we’re literally staking our lives on it.”

Rana nodded but Andy Red Crow slid the phone back to him across the smooth tabletop before crossing his arms over his chest. “I’m not so convinced but Rana is a friend, and has been a mentor to me since my daddy died,” he said. “I don’t have the same warm feelings about the cold, undead vampires the way my daddy did, but Rana assured me that hearing you out was the right thing to do.” He spread his hands wide. “So, here I am.”

“Your father was a friend to King Townsend as have I been,” Rana said, directing her comments to Red Crow beside her. “He’s bartered with our two reservations over the years, and we’ve had a good working relationship, Andy. For a clan like your Denver tribe who has wealth and gambling, barter and trade with vampires may just have been an interesting amusement for your father but to us in Colorado Springs, it is an essential way of life. Without our bartering contracts for grain and salt we needed from Phoenix, and the water his rez desperately needed from us, we wouldn’t have had the money we did. That’s been cut off now that this Bradshaw bastard has taken over the tribe so, I’d sit back and listen to what these marshals have to say and why you should hear them out.”

Andy glowered at her for a few seconds and then turned to look at Joe and Alo. He gestured with his hand. “And you two clearly agree that I shouldn’t be skeptical of these marshals?”

Two Trees sat forward. “Look, you can be as skeptical as you want but I—” He glanced over toward Ari and Eoghan. “ We trust these men. They have been nothing but straightforward with us and they even solved a massive problem for us.”

“Yeah, we heard about the massive problem these two solved for you. They had your tribal council chief arrested.” Andy sneered at Eoghan and Ari.

“For pedophilia, fraud, and a litany of other crimes,” Two Trees said. “Colt Wilkins set up an innocent clan member for a terrible crime and had him sentenced to Folsom prison hoping that he could then carry-on raping Wilkins own younger sister, who had already given birth to one of his children. He’d been diddling with her since she was a child. He was a monster, so yeah, when I.S.R. Marshals Sapphire and Brown proved to us that there was a fox in the henhouse, they did the Tahoe clan a huge favor. They also brought the girl and her three children home to be reunited with her husband who’s since been released from prison. They’re now back in their home together on the rez, where they belong.”

Red Crow sat back slightly but the insolent expression was still there.

“So, yes, to answer your questions, we trust them, and we believe them when they say letting Tillis Bradshaw take over artificial blood supplies all over the country is going to become a problem. The more blood plants he takes over, and the more drugs he distributes along the same transportation corridors, the more vamps he has to create. As his empire grows, he’ll need to make more vampire employees to guard, transport, and distribute the drugs and blood. By controlling the artificial blood supply, he also makes slaves out of vast numbers of vampire reservations. That kind of crap leads to human attacks and murders by starving vampires who have nowhere else to turn for food.” He pointed to his head. “Think about it, Red Crow. We have the unique opportunity of killing bad vamps to help out good ones. What do you say? Is the Denver rez on board?”

Eoghan cheered inside as he and Ari exchanged silent glances. His partner looked just as happy that Joe had been the one to make their case for them as he was. He’d cut through all the begging and come up with the most convincing argument to be made.

“Come on, Andy, listen to them. You have nothing to lose here,” Rana said. When he still didn’t say anything, she twisted around, reaching out to put a hand on his shoulder, giving it a squeeze. “Will you accept the advice of an older sister and look at these two shifters as brothers, even if you don’t like the fact that you’re committing your tribe to a vampire cause?”

“I hate vampires, and it’s not my business,” he said emphatically.

She dropped her hand. “Then, I guess there’s nothing more for me to say.” She turned back to Eoghan and Ari. “If he doesn’t want to accept what we say because he’s too stubborn, he’s going to be sorry.”

“I’m sorry about that too,” Eoghan said. “Denver is going to be a major distribution hub for the methamphetamine his motorcycle gang is pushing. In fact, the Denver chapter of the Phoenix based Pagans is probably already half vamp and growing stronger as they turn more members day by day. But there’s nothing that can be taught to someone who thinks they’re too smart or too savvy to learn.” He glanced over at Ari and then back at Rana. “You’re on board to help?”

“Yes, of course we are.”

“Good. I’ll make sure the I.S.R. puts you on the no purge list,” Eoghan said, knowing there was no such thing.

“What?” she and Red Crow asked at the same time.

Eoghan could see the bravado of the tribal chief fall away instantly as he wondered what a no purge list was. “It just means that if you are of help to us, and the I.S.R. is convinced all your clan members are with us, we’ll do everything in our power to save you when your time comes.”

“What does that mean?” Red Crow asked, sitting up straighter in the chair and looking very uncomfortable.

Good, Eoghan thought.

“It means that without the help of the I.S.R., you’ll soon be overrun by vampires and your people will be starving because all the humans who drop all that money in your casinos and trinket shops and trading posts owned by the tribe, will be dead. You’ll be desperate to sell whatever you can to buy food once yours runs out, but hopefully you won’t start becoming food for the crazed vamps who’ll overrun your rez before we can get help to you.” He abruptly stood up.

“Wait,” Andy said. “What are you saying? You’re not going to help us?”

“Why would we help a tribe who’s fighting against us when our numbers will be supporting the tribes who are fighting with us?” Ari asked, standing up right beside him. “This is war.”

He pointed to his own chest. “Take it from an Army Ranger. You always help out an ally before you help out one who isn’t.” He reached over and held out a hand to Rana. “Thank you.”

She immediately stood and took his hand, shaking it as Two Trees and Uwaite stood as well. Red Crow sat there, staring at the tabletop as they all shook hands. When they began filing out of the room, the big shifter stopped them.

“I’ll help.”

Eoghan stopped and turned. “You’ll commit the Denver shifter clan to helping put this monster out of all our misery once and for all?”

“Yes,” he said, standing up and walking around the table. “I don’t know what I was being stubborn about.”

Rana hooked her arm with his and craned her neck, looking all the way up at him. “You don’t have any reason to trust anyone your father did except that your father trusted them. You don’t know how important the I.S.R. is or what good they do for the shifter community. They take care of us.”

“They put us on reservations and took away our lands just like the Federal government has always done,” Andy growled. His frown was back.

“The U.S. government did that decades ago. It wasn’t the I.S.R. We’re marshals.”

“Still, you are the Federal government,” Red Crow said petulantly.

“Yes,” Eoghan said. “There have been too many injustices done to Native American nations explained away by the need for Caucasian quote unquote ‘ progress.’”

“Our land was stolen by the Federal government. We were assigned barren land in deserts while the rolling green fields where some of our ancestors had hunted for thousands of years, were given to the white man,” Red Crow said.

Eoghan completely understood where the man was coming from. “I agree with you. There’s been a lot of good done as well, Red Crow. Once humans discovered paranormals, they wiped them out whenever possible. It wasn’t until Teddy Roosevelt decided the reservation model was the only viable way to assure that you all weren’t hunted into extinction. It sounds terrible, and your people have suffered,” Eoghan said.

“I agree—and I think Ari would agree—it’s not fair, but it’s what we have, Red Crow. We try to do our best and every single day, it’s my job to make sure that all of our shifter families as well as our vampire clans and werewolf clans are taken care of and protected.”

He abruptly turned his back and lifted his shirt to his shoulders, showing them all his scars. “That’s what I got for doing my job when a rogue werewolf nearly killed me.” He dropped his shirt and turned around. “I want you to know I’m also invested in being a representative for the U.S. government. The I.S.R. is not just a job to me.” He looked over at Ari who was nodding. “My partner feels the same. We are committed to helping all tribes and clans.”

“And yet, you still do this job?” Rana asked. “That’s remarkable.” She turned to Andy who’d gone pale at the sight of the scars Eoghan had shown them. “Are you convinced that these men, their chief, and our friends from Tahoe here are on a righteous path or are you going to go down in history as a brand-new clan leader who let old prejudices get in the way of what’s best?”

“Yes…I’m…yes, Rana, I’m convinced.” Red Crow turned to Eoghan and held out his hand. “I’m sorry. It shouldn’t have been necessary to show that to me. I should have listened to my elders and done the right thing without that. I’m sorry.”

“That’s okay, Red Crow,” Eoghan said, feeling victorious. He turned and smiled at Ari before looking at the others. “We’ll be here at least overnight. Can we meet with you again this evening, or do you all have to get home right away?”

“We’re happy to come back tonight,” Rana said with a smile.

“Us too,” Joe said.

“Good, then, let’s plan on getting dinner here in the hotel around six?” Eoghan asked. “That’ll give us time to check in with our chief and the dragons. We can find out how it went in Wyoming as well as whether she has a final plan in place for taking on this Bradshaw asshole yet.”

“Wyoming?” Rana asked as they shut out the conference room light and headed out of the business center.

“Dragons?” Andy asked.

“Invictus and Severin from Northern California are fire-breathing dragon shifters. They’re friends who will be helping eliminate the threat from Tillis Bradshaw’s clan,” Eoghan said. “They’ve been dispatched to Cheyenne, Wyoming to talk to the shifter clan leader there and get them on board with this plan.”

“Real dragons?” Red Crow asked as they stopped in front of the elevators. He looked at Joe and Alo who were nodding. “You know about them?”

“Oh, yeah,” Joe said, chuckling. “I sure as hell do know about them. They’re very real and they really do breathe fire…scary motherfuckers. I’ll say this. I’m glad they’re on our side.”

“I should say so,” Rana said as the elevator doors slid open soundlessly and they stepped inside the car. “By the way, yes, six is fine with us.” She punched the button for the lobby level and they all were quiet until it reached its destination. They said goodbye to Joe and Alo, telling them that they’d look forward to their dinner meeting that evening.

Eoghan and Ari turned toward Rana and Andy. Personally, Eoghan really liked Rana and hoped she’d become a good friend. Andy…well, he’d wait and see. He was a bit skeptical about the man but he’d be patient and see if he really had come around or if this was all an act. For now, though, he was optimistic. After Andy excused himself to go to the restroom, Rana looked at the two of them.

“So, how does one make sure they’re on this supposed no purge list?” she asked.

Eoghan started laughing along with Ari. “That was a bit of an exaggeration. We just wanted him to understand that he wouldn’t be getting any help from us when bad vamps overrun his reservation. The actual list doesn’t exist but the sentiment behind it really does,” Eoghan said.

She smirked. “I figured. That’s good. I have a whole bunch of eggs at home, and I was trying to decide where and how to hide them.”

“Jesus, you really are a lizard then?” Ari asked.

A second later, a foot-long, pale blue, forked tongue snaked out of her mouth and went right back in as she partially shifted. Eoghan gasped, feeling his heart pounding out of his chest. It was fucking terrifying, and he hadn’t been expecting that at all. Ari stiffened beside him.

She smirked as they both gaped at her.

“Does that answer your question?” She laughed.

Ari coughed, and all Eoghan could do was pat him on the back.

“Yes,” Eoghan said.

“Yes,” Ari croaked out. “And for God’s sake and my sanity, don’t ever do that again.”

She laughed again, shaking their hands just as Andy Red Crow returned. “Ready?”

“Sure enough,” Andy said. “Let’s go.” He held out a hand. “Again, I’m sorry I was such a jerk. I don’t know what came over me. I guess I should have listened to my elders and trusted Rana here.”

“That’s okay, Red Crow,” Eoghan said, shaking his hand. “We all need each other. We’re much stronger that way.”

“You’re right,” he said, shaking Ari’s hand as well. “We’ll see you back here tonight at six.”

“We’ll be here,” Eoghan said. He glanced at Ari and smiled as Rana and Andy walked out the door. “Mission accomplished.”

“Yeah, mission accomplished.”

“Let’s grab our bags, check out the room, call Priest to give her an update, and see what’s packed in my luggage,” Eoghan said.

Ari’s eyebrows elevated. “Packed in your—” He grinned. “Oh…”

Eoghan was still chuckling when they took the elevator upstairs.