CHAPTER 10

Promises

(Portland)

"I don't think this is a good idea." Quinn frowned as he listened to Parker and Hardison. "Didn't Eliot tell us not to do anything risky like this?"

"Are you a bad guy? A criminal?" Hardison arched an eyebrow at Quinn.

"Well yah, but what does that have to…"

"So that means we can break the rules, disregard the laws. We can…" Parker spun around as she hopped over one of her ropes.

"But he's the Alpha." Quinn crossed his arms.

"But right now, I'm the Wolfy-in-Charge!" Parker smiled happily as she clipped the buckle on Quinn's Harness.

He growled and showed her a little fang.

"Oh come on." Parker cajoled. "It'll be fun."

The wind whipped across the top of the building and Quinn swallowed hard. He looked at Hardison who was tapping at his tablet. "You know werewolves aren't actually immortal right?" Quinn fought back the wolf whine that tried to sneak out when he glanced at the edge of the building. Hardison's mocking eyebrow pushed him from scared to irritated. "You could die! It doesn't scare you?!"

"I'm used to it by now." Hardison commented as he tucked his tablet into his bag.

Quinn watched as Hardison and Parker both moved closer to the edge. "What is wrong with you two?"

"Psychotic." Parker chirped as she hopped onto the edge.

"In love." Hardison shrugged as he checked his lines and his harness. "Same thing really." He sighed as he looked back at Quinn. "Come on man, you jumped off that wall at the dam like it was nothin'. I rewatched the security films over and over just for the look on Chaos's face."

"It wasn't as high up as this and there was water at the bottom." Quinn glared. "Why are we even doin' this?" He tried hard not to notice Parker's toes hanging over oblivion.

"I told you, we know that Edwin had a silent partner. We couldn't prove it for the cops, but we know."

"So? Everybody's got friends and backers." Quinn watched Parker leaning into the wind. "Parker can you please stop that!"

She smiled and held her arms out like a bird. "It's fine."

"So we know that Edwin's partner was getting a take from the Ponzi scheme. He's been using it to buy jewels. Diamonds mostly."

"We'll clear out his safe and be home before anyone has a chance to notice." Parker's eyes were closed, and she smiled dreamily as the wind whipped her hair out like a flag.

"You can wait up here if you can't make the jump." Hardison gave Quinn a pat on the arm.

Parker checked her watch. "Okay, it's time."

Hardison stepped up onto the ledge and Quinn stepped up next to him.

"Are you sure?" Hardison asked as he turned around and leaned out over the edge.

"I promised…" Quinn gasped as he followed suit. "That I would protect you two. And I intend to keep the damn promise." He shoved away from the edge.

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(New Orleans)

Barry and Toby exchanged stories about being in the Marine Corps while Eliot checked windows and doors. Night was fast approaching, and he needed the norm to go home.

"Barry, it's getting late. Can I walk ya home?" Eliot smiled as he headed back to the kitchen.

"No need. It's only next door." He smiled as he got up. "You fellas have a nice night and let Marie know she can call on me anytime."

Toby and Eliot followed Barry to the front door and watched as he made his way home.

"I think you better do the same." Eliot turned to Toby. "Do you think you can drive?"

"Yep. Had my bell rung pretty good but I can make it back to the station."

"Thanks for looking after Marie and the boys. I'll check in with ya tomorrow." Eliot walked Toby out to his car.

"I could ticket you for parking like that." Toby teased when he saw Eliot's haphazard parking job.

"But you won't."

"You sound awfully sure of yourself." Toby sat gratefully behind the wheel.

"I'm sure you don't want to do that much paperwork with the headache you got."

Toby snorted. "Too right." He closed the door and rolled the window down. "I better hear from you tomorrow."

"You will." Eliot turned and headed back up the walk to Marie's house.

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(Portland)

Quinn was relieved to be back in the van even if Parker was driving. Somehow her driving seemed more sedate after he'd survived hanging from the side of a very tall building. He ran his hands through the bag of loose jewels one more time before he pulled the drawstrings tight and tucked the bag into Hardison's duffle bag. He looked out the window and noticed the sign for the next exit.

"Guys did we pass by the exit for the pub on purpose?"

"Yep." Parker smiled and changed lanes.

"Why? I thought the cops weren't onto us?" He glared at Hardison.

"We can't take a plane from the pub silly. Besides Tyrel is waiting for us at the airport so there's no need to go back to the pub." Parker changed lanes again in a fashion that had Quinn clinging to the back of Hardison's seat.

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(New Orleans)

Eliot heard three heartbeats coming from the room at the end of the hall. He wrapped a knuckle lightly against the door.

"Come in." Marie called quietly.

Eliot opened the door a little and was happy to see Marie and the boys curled up together on her bed. "You guys okay?"

Marie nodded and ran her hand over the top of Liam's sleeping head.

"There may be a little more noise tonight. Just stay in the house. If it looks like something has gone really wrong, you call that number for Ms. Theriot."

Marie held up a slip of paper from her nightstand to show that she had the number handy.

"Goodnight." Eliot pulled the door closed as quietly as possible.

As he headed for the kitchen, he realized some part of him had fully expected to sit down at the table and talk through the plan with Parker. He missed Parker, he missed his pack. Two more nights till full moon and his wolf was restless. Things weren't totally settled between him and Gemma and he needed to get his head in the game to deal with Missy tonight, but he was pretty sure that as long as he survived tonight, he'd make it home for full moon.

He slipped out the kitchen door locking it behind him and surveyed the yard. No sign of minions or vampires. He hopped to the roof and settled in to wait. Slipping his phone from his pocket he turned the brightness of his screen down and low as it would go and sent a text to Gemma.

'Sorry I had to run out. Everyone here is okay now. Hope you have good dreams tonight.' He smiled as he sent it.

A moment later she replied. 'Goodnight. Be safe.'

He sent a text to Hardison. 'Can you book me a flight home for day after tomorrow?'

He slipped his phone back in his pocket and leaned back against the roof for a moment. The shingles were still hot from the day and the warm air was almost oppressive. He felt something happening with his pack; Quinn was scared, and Parker was excited. Hardison had resigned himself to something he didn't like. Eliot thought about calling Parker to find out what she was doing but decided that whatever it was it was probably an opportunity for his pack to work things out between them. As long as no one ended up hurt he'd leave them to it.

Sitting forward again he went back to keeping watch.

~~o0o~~

There had been a few light rain showers throughout the night, and most hadn't lasted more than a few minutes. A peal of thunder that Eliot could feel in his chest rolled across the night dark sky. The city lights reflected off of the clouds overhead adding an odd orange color to the sky that made the skin at the back of Eliot's neck prickle. It was well past midnight when the sky opened up dumping rain in a true deluge. Eliot was barely able to spot Ash's blond hair in the alley through the downpour. He crouched low on the roof and waited. A flicker of movement caught his attention near the street. He watched as a vampire slid around the end of his SUV and, sticking to the deeper shadows, slipped into the yard.

Eliot slipped two stakes out of his back pocket and waited.

A vampire Eliot thought he'd seen before, peeked around the edge of the back fence. She looked around the yard and then turned to talk to someone that Eliot couldn't see yet. She stepped cautiously into the yard. Eliot waited until he saw Missy slink in after the first vamp girl. He moved to the side of the house where he'd seen the other vampire sneaking in. He saw a flicker of movement and he felt his wolf come to the fore. He spotted another vampire in Barry's yard. So far that was six vampires. There should have been seven. A tingle at the back of his neck that Hardison would have called his spidey sense made him turn. But not in time.

By the time that his ears picked up the grit of a sneaker on the roof shingles and he turned, it was too late. The vampire was on him. Eliot had tried to rise to meet the vampire's attack but ended up at an awkward angle as he and the vampire grappled on the edge of the roof. The man was big, close to six foot tall and had probably been strong in life. With the strength the man had as a vampire, it made Eliot feel like he was wrestling with a tank. It didn't take long before Eliot felt a foot sliding over the edge of the roof. The rain washed his hair into his face and stole the traction from under his boots.

Rather than fall haphazardly he gripped the vampire's arms so that he couldn't let go and then Eliot shoved back, flipping them both off of the roof. Eliot rode the vampire to the ground. The house was fairly standard, so the drop wasn't anything life threatening for a wolf, but the landing was still jarring. The squish and crunch he felt underneath him told him that his landing on top of the vampire had caused plenty of damage.

The two vampires in the bushes immediately leapt at him. Ignoring the grip that one of them had on the flesh of his back he rolled. The motion pulled the vampire under him and tore her fingernails loose from his skin. In the split second that he had to look at her he saw the iridescent 'x' on her cheek. He staked her before she had a chance to recover.

"Victor? Victor are you okay?" The second vampire to have rushed at him from the bushes seemed much more concerned over Victor, than she was that her erstwhile companion was now ashes.

Eliot climbed to his feet and was immediately attacked by the vampire he'd seen in Barry's yard. This man didn't start scratching and clawing, like most vampires that Eliot had encountered. This man had had training. Eliot smiled as he settled into a real fight. He was still on alert for other attacks because he knew there was no way they'd all sit back and take it in turns. The fact that he wasn't currently fighting multiple opponents was a little surprising. He landed a punch to the man's cheek, and he saw an iridescent 'o' on the corner of the man's jaw.

They'd exchanged several blows and Eliot had just used a side kick to break a couple of the vampire's ribs and gain a little space, when he heard his own voice at the back door of the house.

"Marie! Marie, let me in!"

Eliot distracted, by hearing his own voice somewhere else, didn't react before the vampire grabbed him from behind in a bear hug. Swinging his arms out and twisting his torso he threw the vampire to the ground in a classic judo throw. He stomped on the man's head and heard his skull crack as he ran for the back door. He hoped that the guy would recover but he wouldn't be heartbroken if he didn't either. He saw Victor stagger to his feet and Eliot shoved him down again on his way past.

"No! Don't open the door!" He yelled as he ran for the back of the house.

"Marie, Liam, help me!" Eliot heard his voice again. He didn't know how the vampires were doing it but he had to stop them before they coaxed someone out of the house. Just as he made it to the back of the house, he heard the door open.

"Close the door!" He bellowed.

There was a high-pitched squeal and Eliot knew it was one of the boys even before he made the corner and saw Andre struggling with the first vamp girl he'd seen come in through the back fence. She hadn't gotten a grip on Andre himself yet just his clothes, but Eliot knew it would only be seconds before she had enough of a grip on the boy to snap his neck or worse.

Eliot leapt at the vampire and felt himself hit Andre hard with his side. The boy was knocked free, but Eliot lost track of him almost immediately as Missy and the vamp girl he'd gone after both started clawing at him. He could hear some other commotion but couldn't spare the attention to find out what was happening.

He elbowed Missy in the face knocking her back and used the same motion to punch the other vampire. As her head rocked to the side Eliot spotted an iridescent 'x' on her neck. He reached for the stakes in his back pocket and drawing one he shoved it into her chest. She keened as she fell but instead of falling to ash a very old corpse was left in her place.

Eliot didn't get even a second to enjoy his victory before Missy and another vampire were on him. He spun and the vampire that had been on his back slid across him. Her claws dug into his shoulder and raked down his arm as she tumbled away. Missy rushed at him, but he was able to catch her, trapping her under his arm. He let claws form at the tips of his fingers and dug the claws of his right hand into the soft flesh under Missy's jaw. He tossed his rain-soaked hair out of his face and looked around to see where the others were.

"Kill him, Victor!" The vampire that Eliot had spun away from him shouted as she staggered to her feet.

Victor looked between her and Eliot. "Jessica, he's got Missy." He sounded a little confused. Eliot didn't know if it was because he just wasn't that smart or if he was still recovering from his fall from the roof.

Eliot could feel the burn of the deep claw marks that Jessica had left across his arm and shoulder. He spit blood to the side as he looked at Victor. "You move a single muscle, and I will tear you apart." Missy started to struggle in his arms, and he let his claws sink a little deeper under her jaw.

"Victor, put the boy down." He jerked a little to the side when he picked up movement near the corner of the house. It was Marie and Liam. Ash was holding them both back and for that he was grateful. "Victor." He growled. "Put the boy down." He could feel the slight movement as Missy tried to nod.

Victor looked at his mistress. Missy was being held sideways with her arms trapped under Eliot's arm. The werewolf was digging his fingers into the flesh under Missy's jaw making it clear that he could permanently kill her at any moment. Victor saw the panic in Missy's eyes, and he set the boy on his feet.

Eliot wanted to sigh in relief at the sight of Andre running for his mother. "Marie, take the kids inside. Ash you stay out here." He was grateful that Ash was being helpful, but he didn't want the vampire to take advantage of the situation and get himself invited into the house. Eliot waited until he heard the backdoor slam before he curled his fingers and yanked, tearing Missy's head off. He let the body drop and the head roll out into the yard.

Jessica screamed and started toward Missy's body when Victor caught her around the waist. "Monster! How could you?!"

"You're right I am a monster." He wiped the blood off of his hands onto his pants. "So maybe you should watch your tone because right now vampires are dying like flies." He stepped toward her, and she shoved back into Victor as she tried to escape him. His wolf reveled in the hunt, the urge to chase down prey.

He'd been tracking Ash's movements as the vampire slowly approached them. He appreciated the man's caution. "Ash, you said there was some way to bind these ones to you?"

"No!" Jessica looked shocked. "I won't serve him! He's a traitor!"

"If you want to keep existing, he's your only option. You agree to the terms I set here tonight, or I end you." Eliot glowered at her. "Your first step is to be bonded to Ash." Eliot hated the idea of forcing an unwanted bond onto anyone even a vampire. But the thought of Jessica or any of the others continuing to attack the people that belonged to him was even less acceptable.

"Fine." She looked away, hugging her own elbows.

Ash stepped past Eliot and pulled a small silver knife out of his pocket.

Eliot could smell the silver and growled.

Ash looked over his shoulder at Eliot. "Easy. You and I already made our peace." With a casual motion he flicked the knife down his forearm opening a deep cut.

Eliot watched as Ash held his slowly bleeding arm out and Victor and Jessica both drank. After a moment he pinched the back of Jessica's neck and then Victor's. They each let go and Ash tilted Jessica's head to the side before sinking his fangs into her neck. She gasped and whimpered but held still. After several long swallows he laved the wounds with his tongue. He turned to Victor and repeated the process. With hands on their foreheads, he started to quietly chant something that Eliot didn't understand.

While Ash was busy Eliot went to the other side of the house to where he'd last seen the other vampire he'd broken. Walking around the front of the house he found the man he'd fought earlier. The vampire's fingers on his left hand twitched and his right eye blinked.

"Ya ain't dead then." Eliot squatted down and picked the vampire up throwing him over one shoulder like a large bag of dog food. He walked back toward the back of the house and noted the slightly darker spot on the wet lawn where the first vampire he'd killed had gone to ash. As he came around the back of the house. He spotted the twisted and emaciated corpse where he'd staked the second vampire. He saw Marie standing at the kitchen window shakily holding the crossbow he'd left her. He moved closer to the window.

"Marie, check Andre for scratches or cuts if there's anything at all we'll need to put medicine on him. Don't put anything on him now though. Just check him over." She still held the crossbow in his direction, but she nodded. He waited a moment until she moved away from the window before he went back to Ash and the other vampires.