Thanks for your reviews and welcome comments. Glad you are enjoying the story. Sorry it's so long between chapters; work is taking my writing time, so I hope you understand. Now, it looks like Josef has things in hand, but our other vamps have some issues as well~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chapter 10

Josef and Emmaline were in his study at home. Simon and Otto would join them shortly, but Josef was listening to Emmaline on the phone, talking to one of her contacts in Montreal. After she hung up, Josef asked, "Are your friends willing to help?"

Emmaline nodded, "Yes, but they need as much lead time as they can get."

Both Josef and Emmaline knew that getting enough vampires to Paris to combat the renegades would be a logistical nightmare. They had some vampires in Europe that could get to Paris quickly, but the rest were coming from as far away as Japan. The expense would be staggering but between the Council and Josef, they would manage.

Making it more difficult was the need for secrecy. Pierre du Plessis couldn't be alerted that vampires were coming into his territory. All of Josef's regular work stopped, and he had his office staff working on travel plans for the incoming group, including setting up vampire-friendly accommodations.

Simone came into the room, followed by Otto. "So what's the latest?" She asked.

"I think we have it under control," her husband responded. "As soon as we get the word when the attack is planned we can arrange for our vamps to get the humans into the basement, and then take out the killers. I'm looking forward to killing du Plessis," Josef finished, grimly.

Simone's eyebrows went up. "Wait a minute—you're not going, are you?"

"I have to," Josef said, recognizing the warning tone in Simone's voice.

"You have a region to run," she stated.

Josef looked at Emmaline and Otto for support, but Otto was gazing at a painting on the wall, and Emmaline was looking at the floor, smirking. Then he glanced back at his wife, who was standing there with her arms crossed and a mutinous look on her face.

"Babe, I need to be there, it's my operation. Ewan will handle the region. He can't go because of Sofia, so it works out fine," Josef smiled encouragingly at Simone.

Before Simone could answer, Otto got up giving his hand to Emmaline, saying, "We need to make some more calls. Then we'll visit your ladies, if you don't mind." Both older vampires left the room, trying not to smile at the sight of Josef intimidated by his wife.

As the door closed after them, Simone asked, "When were you going to tell me you were going?"

"Uh, as soon as we finalized the plans."

"Good," Simone said, walking over to him, brushing a bit of lint off his shoulder. "Then there's still time for me to make arrangements to go with you."

"Absolutely not," Josef growled. "You're too young and you're not experienced at fighting."

She huffed in impatience. "I didn't say I was going to fight, but I want to be there. I can help with the humans, or if anyone gets injured."

"Oh," he said, relief evident. Knowing she had won, Simone wrapped her arms around him and nibbled on his ear.

"So you don't mind me coming with you?"

"I think that can be arranged."

Simone snuggled up to him and said, "I'm glad you see it my way. Perhaps we can discuss our plans upstairs?"

"An excellent thought, doll." Josef picked her up and sped up the mansion stairs to their private suite.

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Mick got out of the freezer quietly so as not to wake Beth. They were getting used to the villa near Paris, and were in contact with Ben on a daily basis. Except for the last day or so, Mick thought smugly, not since Megan arrived and the couple was busy getting reacquainted. He was glad Megan was here. They all knew Ben and Megan would soon be meeting with Pierre du Plessis. Mick had heard of Emmaline's plan from Josef and was anxious to see what he and Beth could do to help.

He got into the shower, enjoying the water hitting his body like icicles. Soon a small arm snaked around his chest, and Beth's lithe body pressed up against his back.

Before Mick's brain went foggy from Beth's ministrations, he thought, I'm glad there was plenty of cold water in the house.

Later after drinking some dinner, Mick suggested they go to the jazz club they had been visiting since they arrived. Beth agreed, and dressed accordingly. They left the villa, which was in a gated community, driving toward the club. Beth chatted amiably, but Mick was uneasy. He glanced frequently in the rearview mirror, until Beth noticed he was preoccupied.

"What's wrong, Mick?"

He looked over at her. "I don't know. Something doesn't feel right." Beth picked up on his concern, and looked out the windows, into the darkness. "Do you see anything?"

"No," he said shortly, continuing to scan the area as he drove.

Beth had too much faith in Mick's instincts to discount what he said. "Do you want to go back to the townhouse?"

Mick thought a moment about Beth's safety, but they were in a well-populated area so he wasn't too concerned. "No, but I'll use the valet at the club so we can get inside quickly."

Beth felt a little alarmed, but knew Mick wouldn't put them at risk if he thought there was serious danger.

"Okay," she said tentatively.

Mick gave her a half-smile, and reached for her hand. "It might be nothing, and we've been on edge waiting for this thing with Ben. I could be jumping at shadows."

They pulled up to the club, and a valet rushed out to take the car. Mick hustled Beth into the building, looking behind him to see if anyone was visible. Inside, the music and darkness hid Beth's question, "Anything?"

Mick shook his head. Then he smiled at her. "C'mon sweetheart, lets enjoy the music."

A couple of blocks down the street, Luc had stopped the car, seeing the couple hurry into the building. He settled down to wait. The chienne and her sire were inside the jazz club for the moment. He'd been following them on and off for a few days. All he could report to Coraline was where they were staying and where they went. It was little enough information and he hated failing his lady. She wanted to know why Mick was in France, something that Luc couldn't tell her. The two American vampires seemed to be waiting for something, but what? They stayed close to their townhouse, and no one came to see them. Luc knew his lady had tried to kill the blond and failed, causing her much misery. Perhaps if he could complete the task, Coraline would look on him with favor. He knew he would have to be careful. The dark-haired male looked more than capable, and he knew the female had injured Coraline in Los Angeles.

Luc was almost two hundred years old, but was from the lower classes, not the aristocracy. He was turned by his lover, an Italian countess in the early 1800's. He'd spent his vampire life learning languages, and serving European upper class vampires. He never understood those who wanted independence from their servitude. To him service was his life, and all these years later it was all he knew. It still didn't stop him from looking higher occasionally, to one such as Coraline. She was his ultimate dream, and he would do whatever he could to make her want him.

Now Luc watched the club, and finally saw his quarry exit the building and climb into their car. He waited until they were well away before leaving. He knew the couple would be going back to their residence. He wanted to make some plans, so headed for the Duvall's compound.

After a few hours at the club, Beth had noted that Mick was preoccupied and not enjoying the music as he usually did. She claimed fatigue, and he made no objection to their leaving early. He drove back to the villa, taking alleys and back streets, looking all the while for anyone following them. Finally, he was satisfied, and he headed toward their temporary quarters. Beth was quiet, letting Mick take the lead. When they got through the door, Mick checked the alarms and relaxed a bit when he saw there had been no intrusion.

Mick turned to his wife. "It's all secure."

She poured them some blood and handed him a glass. "Are you feeling like you did in New York with the hunters?"

"Yeah, like we're being watched."

Beth had perfect trust in Mick's gut feelings, so she said, "Do you think it's Coraline?"

Mick had the thought in the back of his mind. "I don't know but if it is, I'm going to take care of her this time." He still could not forget that his ex-wife tried to kill Beth. His Beth was the only reason he had for living a vampire existence. He would not allow Coraline take that away from him.

Beth felt his determination and said, "We don't know it's her. Some vamps might have seen us at the club, or the guy who delivers the blood could have let something slip."

Mick nodded slowly, thinking.

"In any case," Beth said, briskly, "we need to get out of here."

"What?"

"We'll call Josef and find somewhere else to stay. Once we know where, we'll sneak out of here in a laundry truck or something and get to the new place. If anyone's watching, they won't know where we've gone. We can have the rental car picked up and get another one later."

Mick was about to say she was overreacting, but thought better of it. He pulled out his phone and dialed.

Thousands of miles away, Josef Kostan was roused out of a deep freezer sleep. He recognized Mick's ring and thought the worst. Jumping out of the freezer quietly, leaving Simone he answered walking into their bedroom.

"Yeah, Mick?"

"Hi, Josef. Sorry if I woke you."

"What's up?" Josef asked with a sleep-roughened voice.

"Where's Coraline?" Mick demanded.

Josef rubbed his face and replied, "You woke me up to ask me that?"

"Yeah, I think we're being followed and I don't know if Coraline is involved."

"Shit," Josef spat. "That's all we need. Did you see anybody?"

"No, it's just a feeling I have," Mick said, knowing it sounded lame.

At the other end Josef paused, having great regard for his friend's intuition. "Just a minute, let me check with Rider and his guys." Josef put Mick on hold and dialed a number.

"Yes?"

"This is Kostan. I need a location on Coraline Duvall."

It wasn't Rider on the other end, but one of his hired hands. Rider had instilled the need for instant response to Josef Kostan in the computer nerds, and the young human responded immediately. "Just a moment, please sir." The geek consulted a log. "I have Coraline Duvall entering her home at 2300 their time, and not leaving."

"She's still there?" Josef asked.

"Yes, sir. It's 0300 in Paris, and she hasn't left the estate."

"Very good, thank you," Josef said, relieved. He always believed a little praise went a long way with minions.

He pushed a button on his phone and reconnected with Mick. "Okay, it seems our bitch du jour is tucked away at the Duvall mansion and hasn't left for the last 6 hours."

Across the miles, Mick frowned. "Well, I really think someone is out there."

"Do you want to come back?"

"No—no way, but we may have to move."

Josef rubbed his hand over his face. "Mick, it might be difficult. We're bringing in more than 50 vampires to take care of du Plessis. We're short on vamp space right now."

Mick understood Josef's dilemma, but was concerned about Beth's safety. "How about we let some other vampires move in here, and we'll go to one of your other places?"

"That could work," Josef responded. "If someone is after you, they wouldn't be interested in some vampires from Belgium."

"When could we go?" Mick asked.

"Give me a couple of days. We're getting more space set up, but it's taking a little while," Josef said. "You'll be the first to move. I don't want to have Simone on my case if anything happens to either of you."

Mick smiled. "Good choice, man." He knew Josef was just as disturbed about the possibility of Coraline finding out about them as he was.

"Keep me posted if you see anything else," Josef advised.

They hung up and Mick looked at Beth. She'd heard the conversation and said, "I'll see about finding a delivery truck we can use to sneak out of here."

Mick drew her into his lap, feeling soothed by her familiar scent. "Okay, now we just have to be careful until we can get out of here."

Beth snuggled into Mick's lap. "Take me to bed, Mr. St. John."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The building was not new, but the rooms in use were scrubbed and bright. Cynthia showed Coraline around the laboratory and told her about the plans to work on the formula to allow vampires to function in sunlight. Coraline used some of her new-found wealth to finance the project.

Cynthia was delighted to have her friend with her, and was happy to be working on something that would be profitable and bring them status in the vampire community.

"I think this will be a success!" Coraline exclaimed.

"Don't get too excited, cheri," Cynthia warned. "I haven't really started yet. The botanicals are arriving in the next few days and need to work with the formula until it's ready for testing."

"Once it's ready what will you need to test it?" Coraline asked.

"A secure area with UV light," Cynthia said.

"And then?"

Cynthia gave a shrug. "Then we'll have to have some vampires test the compound. I suggest we make some vampires from the human dregs down by the river. Once we've determined the formula works, I'll dispose of them."

"Yes, that's what I did when I was working on the cure," Coraline agreed. Being so close to the family, Cynthia knew about the so-called cure, although she had never taken it herself.

"How long do you think it will take you?"

"Once I receive my supplies, a few months at the most, provided the formula is correct."

Coraline smiled, "I'm sure it is. Just think Cyn, we will be revered if we can provide the answer. Vampires have been suffering in the sun for millennia and we have the answer."

"Yes," Cynthia grinned, pleased at her friend's enthusiasm. "When we accomplish this, it will put an end to the myth that male vampires have all the power."

Coraline tapped her cheek with a red-tinged nail. "Hmm. That reminds me. We must be careful how we announce the news of our discovery."

"Let me think about it. In the meantime, I must make sure it will work before we start congratulating ourselves. Come, cheri, let me take you back to my home. We can celebrate with some blood and champagne."

"Wonderful," Coraline smiled.

They locked the building and Cynthia was hopeful that with the new project her best friend would forget that her ex-husband was in France.

TBC

Poor Cynthia, she really likes Coraline but I think she's too hopeful that Cora will forget Mick. Next, Ben and Megan get more involved in the plot to kill the humans.

Thanks to all of you who continue to read and/or review. It makes me happy that so many of you still want to read about Moonlight.