To Protect and Serve Ch. 08

"We felt the push, but they weren't able to get past our shields to locate us. We're sure of that at least. We haven't lost anyone since. We may not be big, but no one comes into a faerie colony with hostile intent who isn't willing to pay a price."

"I am quite willing to believe in the power of the faerie race," Shamira replied.

"If this is a morning star issue as you say," the Princess said, trembling now with anger, "then they must be stopped. Our people should not pay the ultimate price so that some human can feel powerful for a moment. It is barbaric."

"I agree. Had you heard of such disappearances from other colonies?"

"Only from Sunshine Downs. It's near Savannah. They lost a couple several months ago and were wondering if they'd run away up here. They pretty much circled the wagons after that, much like we have. They're the oldest colony in North America, so they have enough power to keep their shields and still check their messages."

"I understand. If we need to contact you again, would it be easier for us to come down here then?"

Princess Coramen actually looked a little embarrassed as she scanned around to make sure no one was close enough to listen. "Call my cell phone."

Shamira stared, then had to suppress a snicker. "How did you get a cell phone?"

Coramen grinned. "I have certain abilities that make it easier for me to interact in the human world. I wanted a damn phone. Even have V-Cast."

"What abilities? No, it's not my place to ask."

"Maybe I'll get a chance to show you," the insanely cute Princess said while giving a grin that was very grown-up. She looked over at Sebastian. "I wouldn't mind showing him either. Or her. Damn, are they all this hot where you come from?"

"I'm actually the homely one," Shamira said.

The Princess raised an eyebrow. "Homely? Lady Shamira, if you're homely, then I'm a troll with acne. And since I'm pretty sure I'm not --"

"She gets like this sometimes," Sebastian interrupted with a grin. "I'm Sebastian, by the way, and this is Bunny."

"Oh crap. I forgot to introduce everyone."

"It's okay," Bunny said. "Faeries are cool!" She had been watching the King and Queen beat the holy hell out of each other until they'd finally been separated by their guards.

"Did you see how I stuck out my tongue earlier? Go ahead. It's a traditional faerie greeting," Shamira said, wanting to impart some of her limited wisdom. Both Sebastian and Bunny greeted the Princess, Shamira exchanged phone numbers with the faerie, and then the vampires and were headed for home.

They hadn't been on the road long when Shamira noticed a patrol car in their rear-view mirror. She double-checked to make sure she wasn't speeding, letting off of the gas just a bit. She didn't see anything odd about the situation, so she was surprised when the cop's lights came on.

"What the hell?" Shamira said.

"Guys, I don't have my new ID yet," Bunny said from the backseat.

"Fuck!" Shamira said. They were an odd assortment to begin with, and to have a girl Bunny's age with them and no form of identification . . . it wasn't illegal, but it was going to be damn suspicious.

"Our licenses should check out, so Shamira's my wife and you're her little sister, visiting from college who left her ID at the house."

"And why the hell are we out at this hour so far from Atlanta?"

"Visiting that friend who lent us the trailer," he said with a grin.

Shamira wasn't sure how she felt about lying to police. This was the first time she'd encountered any since she'd been killed in the line of duty. She actually felt a bit cheap when Sebastian suggested that she show some cleavage, though she quickly acquiesced. Hey, she liked being looked at. She pulled over and watched the guy get out of the car, and she immediately became even more uneasy. His hand rested on the butt of his gun. The guy's partner got out of the car on the other side. Then, another patrol car pulled up in front of them.

"This isn't good," Shamira said.

The driver of the first car came over and looked in the window. "License and registration please," he said.

"Yes sir," she said. Luckily, everyone in the house was on the insurance for every vehicle. But a traffic ticket was the least of their worries. They did not need two cars for a routine traffic stop. She glanced at his side mirror and noticed something else odd. The man stepped back and gave his partner a look, giving Shamira a chance to mutter, "Those cuffs aren't regulation," she said so that just her passengers could hear. "They look more like manacles, and they look more like --"

"Silver," Sebastian said, looking out the other mirror, seeing that the other guy was carrying them as well. "This is an ambush."

"But how . . . you don't think the faeries set us up do you?" Bunny asked.

"No," was Shamira's response. "That reaction we got wasn't fake. They're scared too, and these guys wouldn't have had time --" She clammed up when the guy came back to the window.

"Ma'am, please step out of the car."

"Why? Why did you pull us over?" she asked.

"Ma'am, please just step out of the car," he said again, his hand resting menacingly on the gun. If these guys were carrying silver manacles, then they probably had silver bullets.

"Honey," she said, keeping her eyes on the cop while talking to Sebastian, "I don't feel very safe right now. Could you call 911 and --"

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," the cop said, glancing at his partner then at the other car. Two more "officers" got out of that vehicle. "Just step out of the car and keep your hands where I can see them."

"Officer, what exactly is the problem?" Sebastian said, leaning over and poking his face into the window. Shamira felt something cold press into her hand. It was a gun.

"Sir, get back in your seat. Ma'am, get out of the car."

Shamira's eyes met Sebastian's. "Your call," he whispered.

"Ma'am --" the officer threatened.

"Yes, I'll get out of the car," she said, reaching for the handle, "as soon as we get home." She reached through the window and grabbed the officer's shirt, yanking him against the car as hard as she could, which was hard enough to send him reeling to the ground while she fired up the car and put the gas pedal on the floor.

"Duck!" she shouted as the car jolted forward and the remaining officers pulled out their guns. As she passed the other patrol car, she shot out its back tire and made the two humans dive for cover. She heard gunshots and heard the impacts on her car as she sped down the road. Bunny was down on the floor, pulling a 9 mm out of her purse while Shamira handed the gun back to Sebastian and pulled her Desert Eagle special out from under the seat.

"Keep your head down," Sebastian shouted to Bunny shortly before the rear windshield got hit. Strangely, it didn't break.

"Fuck, we have bullet-proof glass on this thing?" Shamira said, admiring the foresight.

"You didn't know that?!" Bunny shouted from the back.

"Nope." Strangely, the thought made her grin. This was kind of fun.

Sebastian was grinning too. "They're following. Looks like they all got into the car you didn't shoot. Think they're involved in the disappearances?"

"Damn straight. This must've been what Daniel warned us about."

Up ahead, a third car was tearing down the road towards them, its sirens and lights coming on while it turned to block the road.

"Bullshit! This county probably doesn't have this many fucking patrol cars and they certainly wouldn't be on the same nowhere road," Shamira growled. It was time for some "defensive driving."

"Get ready to shoot," she said, grabbing the emergency break and starting a skid towards the blocking vehicle, turning the passenger side towards the enemy. Two supposed patrolmen were just getting out, one armed with a pistol and the other with a shotgun.

"Are we willing to deal with fatalities?" Sebastian asked.

Shamira froze for just a fraction of a second. If she was wrong . . . No, she wasn't wrong. "This is self-defense," she said. "Do what you need to do."

Sebastian squeezed off a whole clip into the two officers and their car, and both officers were dead before they ever hit the ground. Shamira was able to shoot forward again, getting out of the way of the pursing car and letting it plow into the one blocking their path.

"Well, I guess we fight it out," she shouted.

"Try to take one alive," Sebastian said. "I want answers."

They got out of the car and took positions around the patrol vehicle. There was no motion inside, so Shamira took a step closer.

"Please step out of the vehicle," she said, feeling a little smug about being on the other end of that statement.

"Move in," Sebastian said.

Bunny was actually crouching so low that her skirt was riding up to her hips, exposing her g-string clad nether region.

'Yep, they're pink too,' Shamira noticed. She watched the young woman move to the back of the car and saw her breathing heavily almost out of reflex. 'Fuck, she's probably never fired a gun before in her life.'

"Hold there," she told the younger vampire. She moved to the driver's side while Sebastian took the passenger side. They needn't have bothered, as everyone inside was dead. None of them had bothered putting seat belts on, and they'd hit the other car doing about fifty-five miles per hour. No airbags appeared to have deployed. "This is an older model car than I thought," she told Sebastian. The were was rooting through the remains of the front of the vehicle.

"We need to get these off the road and quickly," he replied.

Shamira nodded, then noticed the expression on Bunny's face. The girl was numb. She'd just been in a firefight . . . people had died. "It's okay, Bunny," she said, wrapping her arms around the girl. "I know just how you feel, but I need you sane right now. I need you to help Sebastian get these two cars off the road as far into the trees as you can, and I'm going back for the other one." She looked at Sebastian. "Come to think of it, I may call the Princess and see if she and the faeries can hide these things once we're gone."

"Good thinking," he said. "Bunny, grab their identifications and those guns. I don't want anyone finding those on accident. Then --" They made plans while Shamira shadow jumped back to the scene of the first crash. She was loving the vampire strength as she drove the car, bad wheel and all, back to a small dirt road and then pushed it into the trees. She called the number she had, wondering how a faerie princess could answer a phone, but Coramen picked up on the fourth ring.

Shamira explained what had happened, and the Princess assured her that the faeries would be more than happy to make the cars and the bodies "disappear." Shamira and company had just rid them of potential enemies, so they had just earned bonus points with the colony of Golden Grass. Shamira jumped back to find that the cars were off the road and her compatriots were cleaning up debris.

"Take a look at what Bunny found," Sebastian said, tossing a small stone circle to Shamira. "Look at us through it."

Shamira did, and both of her friends were suddenly surrounded by red glows. "Hell! Magical creature finders?"

"Looks like it. They probably just sit by the side of the road and pull over anyone they see who they don't recognize. Not a bad system," Sebastian muttered.

"The faeries will make sure the forest hides the remains. That was a lot more excitement than I was expecting. You okay?" Shamira asked, wrapping an arm around Bunny's shoulders.

The girl was trembling a little. "I've never seen anyone killed before," she whispered. "Not even me."

Shamira could see the loss of innocence in that moment. This was permanent death. There were no take-backs, just-kiddings, or rising for the six men who had accosted them. "You did good," Shamira said. "I've got a whole bunch of stuff I could tell you from my days back on the force that might help, but I'm not sure you really want to listen right now."

"I don't mind listening," Bunny said, forcing a smile.

"Fine, but I can't do two things at the same time, so you're going to have to drive."

Bunny's face lit up. Sometimes, being given responsibility, however small, makes people stand up a little straighter. So they got back on the road and headed for home, Shamira and Sebastian telling war stories from their days before coming to Shane's house. Shamira had gone from the "new girl" to the veteran, and it was a heady sensation.

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Back at the house . . .

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"You got into a shootout . . . with police," Shane said calmly, his voice as chilly as a winter night.

Shamira was a little surprised by her chilly reception, but plowed forward regardless. "Yes sir. We tried to make a break for it, but they had a third car." She'd already explained everything, so she wasn't sure why she was repeating herself.

Shane looked over at Sebastian. "And you felt this was the best course of action."

"It was Shamira's call and yeah, I thought it was the right one. She tried to avoid loss of life first, but they weren't going to give a choice. They were hunting magical beings. She spotted the cuffs right off, they were behaving weird for cops, and then when we popped their magazines afterward and saw the silver bullets --"

"This was a very dangerous situation," Shane interrupted. "The Tribunal meeting is just a week away and has become a far bigger event than I had anticipated. We cannot afford to draw undue attention to ourselves."

Shamira was pissed. Why was Shane asking Sebastian? It had been her run. "Would you rather we just let ourselves get captured next time?" she said, then wished she hadn't.

"Shamira, do I need to remind you to treat me with respect?" the lord of the house said icily.

"I . . . no sir. I just don't understand what I did wrong or what you expected me to do. This was still technically within your territory, so it wasn't like we'd stumbled into someone else's yard."

"True." Shane leaned back and pursed his lips. "Very well. Yes, you probably made the best choice under the circumstances, but it was too close. I think that we need to hold back on the morning star investigation until after the meeting."

Shamira should've known to keep her mouth shut, but she couldn't. "So you want us to let kidnapping and murder happen just because we don't want to risk looking bad for the guests?"

Shane looked at Sebastian. "Excuse us."

Sebastian stood up and left, leaving Shamira to feel quite abandoned. He had admitted that she'd been right, but apparently wasn't willing to help her stand up to Shane.

"Shamira, I realize that you're still young, but I can't afford to have your inexperience hurt this house. You may see this upcoming meeting as just a social event, but the balance of power in the magical world can change in events like this. We have to work in the shadows, and avoiding exposure is incredibly important. Another thing that is important is acknowledging the chain of command. If you insist on challenging me constantly and in front of others, it makes me look weak. And I think that it's time to talk about punishment."

"Punishment?! I did everything right, and I'm going to be punished because of what I said in front of Sebastian? Who agreed with me?!"

"Actually, I just wanted to discuss with you the kind of punishment that we have. Yes, you were correct to do what you did down south, but you can't keep challenging my authority whenever you see fit."

"Even when I'm right?"

"Even when you're right. Please come with me." Shane led her to the basement where she knew people had been "interrogated" in the past. Of the main room was a hallway containing a number of doors with sliding panels about face level on an adult sized being. Shane opened one of the doors to find what was for all intents and purposes, a standing padded coffin. "Twenty-four hours is not uncommon for minor offenses. Food is provided for longer stays as necessary. Once locked in, no one will be allowed to communicate with you. Violation of that rule means getting put in the cell next door. Understand? I want you to step inside and I'll close the door. I promise it will just be for a minute."

Shamira paused for a moment, then stepped forward into box. There was just enough space to turn around, but that was it. Shane closed the door, leaving his charge in total silence. The overhead light was ensconced in a thick glass casing, and the area was bathed in an eerie white light. Shamira began to realize how much her new senses had developed when she found herself completely cut off from the world. Except for the light, this was how she'd felt when she'd woken up dead the last time. She was already feeling a bit claustrophobic when Shane opened the door again.

"I don't like punishing my people, and you're probably thinking to yourself that this is cruel or disgusting. But that is because you're still thinking about this in the logic of your old world. This is actually somewhat progressive for ours."

Shamira stared at the ground, then looked up. "Permission to speak freely?"

Shane felt a little relieved. She was trying to learn, which was as much as he could ask for. "When it is just you and me in a room, you always have permission to speak freely."

"I don't get it," she muttered, looking him in the eye. "I don't understand how ceremony and image is more important that actually doing good work. You've seen that video that Henry had about the bleeding houses for morning star dealers. How can you ask that I wait until . . . until it's convenient?"

"I ask because it is necessary. If this meeting goes well, it means more power for me and this house, which means we have more authority afterward. That might mean getting permission to bring over more vampires, which gives us more assets to hunt our enemies down. And I'm not saying to stop work, but make it more on the research side of things. If you really need to step out any time for the next week or so, you need to make sure it's important and you need to make sure that you keep it low profile. Understand?"

Shamira didn't understand, and she'd never understand the way things worked around here. "It's just that this goes against everything I know." She stiffened her spine and said, "And I won't knowingly let an innocent person die for the sake of propriety, even if it means getting punished."

Shane nodded his understanding. The very things he admired about this woman were the same things that frustrated the hell out of him. She was single-minded and honorable, and she now lived in a world where one couldn't always afford one or the other. "Well, we need to find some kind of compromise," he told her. "I want you on my team, but I need you to play ball." He smiled slightly. "Even when you're right."

She couldn't bring herself to smile back. "Was there anything else you needed to talk to me about? Sir?"

Shane should've just let her go and think, but he was afraid that she'd mope and let her anger and irritation build up inside. "Monique wanted to see you about a fitting for uniform for the gathering. Then maybe you should go find someone to play with . . . just to unwind."

Shamira had turned to leave but then she stopped. "Don't patronize me. Give me that at least. If someone actually wants to fuck me, they can order me. Besides that," she muttered, "I'm going to sleep."

This time, Shane pinched the area on the top of his nose, a reflex action from his living days for when he was fighting an urge to scream. He'd make sure that no one requested Shamira for the morning. To be forced to submit in her current frame of mind would be disastrous. 'Hopefully Clara can calm her down,' he thought.

Shamira went walking through the house, trying to avoid the places where people might catch up with her. She had so little sexual desire at the moment that she was almost impressed. She'd been a bundle of sexual energy for weeks. Standing outside the room she shared with Clara, she heard the sound of leather on flesh and a male voice moaning.