Chapter 12

Catherine held the journal reverently. "She loved him." Catherine said sadly. "I wonder if those were his claw marks you found in the dungeon. What do you think happened to them?"

"They loved each other." Vincent said as he placed his hand on her shoulder.

"Why don't you find a quiet place to look through that and the rest of us will keep looking at files to see if we can find out anything else." JT said.

Catherine spent the rest of the day reading Rebecca's journal.

Vincent was splitting his attention from Catherine, who was pretty emotional (her heartbeat was all over the place), while she was reading and the files looking for anything else.

By the end of the day it was obvious to everyone that Vanessa Chandler had been focused on the health of all the test subjects, she might have gotten into this business to help Catherine, but her priority was to make sure that anyone involved with these tests was safe and healthy. Her notes were crazy detailed on everyone's physical condition and what specific cocktail they were given, but no mention of who might have been behind this. If Vanessa Chandler knew anything about Rognvrald, she did not write it down. So why did she have Rebecca's journal in there? It was out of place with all the medical files Vanessa had kept.

Vincent walked over to Catherine. "Hey" he said in that sexy style that was all his own. "Any chance your Mom had a personal journal too? Something she might have written down her thoughts and feelings about what was going on and how she came to be in possession of Rebecca's journal?"

Catherine still holding the journal as gently as a newborn said. "I don't know, I can ask Heather, I was not living at home when Mom was killed and I don't know what happened to all of her personal stuff." Maybe there are more boxes in the storage locker?"

"Vincent, this is amazing." Catherine said lovingly tracing the edges of the journal. "It's also really painful."

"I want to hear all about it, let's get stuff cleaned up here and go home."

Tess and JT took off to complete the work on the beast serum and antidote and also to check the storage locker for any more boxes. Before they left JT told Vincent. "I should have plenty of antidote ready by tomorrow, also I am not making any more beast serum, but I think I know what Sam did to make the beasts obey him, so while I am not going to make any more of it, I do know how to make it.

"Thanks JT; we'll see you two tomorrow. Catherine and I will see if we can get anything useful out of the journal."

Back at the houseboat Vincent and Catherine were curled up in bed going through the journal.

London 1836, Scotland Yard has asked me to assist them in solving a series of deaths that have been occurring. The deaths are taking place at night, in the Whitechapel section of London. There have been 5 and the victims have all been males and death appears to be from an animal attack. The victims have claw and bite marks and death appears to be from severe trauma and blood loss.

They have come to me because my family runs the largest private zoo in England. They are hoping I can help them identify the type of animal that is responsible. What they don't know is that in reality we don't just run a zoo, there are extensive laboratories behind the façade of the zoo and much more than animal care is going on there. I have been uniquely trained by my Uncle in the capture of certain types of "animals"; hopefully I can capture and contain this one as well.

I have suggested a method of capturing the "animal" and hopefully tonight we shall be successful.

"She was a beast hunter, at first. From what I read earlier her parents were killed by beasts and she was raised by her Uncle Leo. Her Uncle trained her and she dedicated her life to hunting beasts. She didn't have the Gem that we found, but she did have a smaller gem in a ring that he gave her. That way she could interact with the beasts in their human form and never worry that they would beast out on her."

I met him that night. He was there in the alley, when I caught the other one, the one that had to be put down. That one was completely feral and only able to remain human while I was touching him. I had no choice, so I put him out of his misery.

He tried to stop me thinking I was going to be hurt. He had been hunting the other one as well. His name is Lucas…..

Even writing his name puts a warm feeling deep in my belly. He is beautifully mesmerizing. He has green eyes and black hair, and his voice is magical. A bit of an Irish lilt, and when he says my name the world stops and there is only he and I.

Catherine leaned into Vincent. "I know exactly what she means."

Vincent tightens his arms around Catherine. "I wish he'd had a journal, I can just imagine what he thought about her, a woman who could kick some ass back in those days, and she must have been amazing. Kind of like her decedent." Vincent said as he kissed her forehead.

"I am afraid to keep reading. We know Rebecca was last seen headed to the dudgeon in 1840 and with those claw marks?"

"Yeah it would have taken some serious stress on Lucas to make marks like that on concrete. But she may have written about her Uncle and anyone else in charge, it might give us a place to start."

Lucas is a victim of an experiment that took place in Dublin when he was a child. His family was poor and had too many mouths to feed, so Lucas ended up an indentured servant to a wealthy Irish industrialist. Only Lucas was smart and athletic and his employer saw an opportunity with Lucas. He was only 14 when they injected him and he spent several years learning to control his beast. When he was sure he had control, he killed his master and escaped. He has been living in London for the past several years; he heard about the killings and had been tracking the beast finally catching up with him just as I did.

I had never seen a beast with as much control as Lucas. He could summon it at will and control it, never once letting the beast control him. He grabbed me by the waist as I killed the other one, pulling me against him. I was breathing heavily and as I took deep breaths I could smell Lucas. He smelled like rain, the kind that falls in Ireland, so lush and green. His arms felt like steel bands wrapped around me. His body hard against my softness.

He turned me around and asked me if I was ok. I laughed because no one ever asks me if I am ok. He ran his hand alongside my face and down my side and instead of slapping him for taking such liberties; I just stood there drinking him in as he looked at me.

"What is such a beautiful woman doing out here?" He asked me.

'What does it look like I am doing? The real question is what are you doing here and who or should I say what are you?"

Before he could answer Scotland Yard agents started swarming and he took off, melting away in the night, but not before he placed his finger on my lips and then on his own. "Till Later, Mo Thaisce."

What does "Mo Thaisce" mean? Catherine asked me as I was already Googling it.

"My Treasure, it's Gaelic," I said to Catherine. "It's pronounced Mo HASHK-uh, he really had a way with the ladies, and maybe I can get a few pointers."

Catherine laughed and put down the journal. She turned in his arms, pressing up against him "I don't think you need any pointers you're pretty capable with the ladies."

Vincent let the beast come out just a little and growled at her, eyes glowing. As the beast subsided he smiled, "Yeah?" Her answer was lost to his kiss.

Later, as he held her in his arms and watched her drift off to sleep, he wondered about Lucas and Rebecca. He hoped there was a happy ending to all of this; Catherine would be devastated if it turned out that the dungeon was also their grave….

Catherine and Tess had to go into the precinct and do some actual NYPD work for the day. Vincent and JT were left to go through Vanessa's boxes and when he got bored with that Vincent started prowling around the Curio shop.

"There had to be a reason that Windsor kept all this stuff, don't you think JT?"

"Sure, I don't think someone like Curt Windsor ever did anything randomly, I mean he had the skeleton hidden here, so who knows what else might be here."

JT went on, "You know, Windsor was a part of Murfield for a very long time, he might have collected information over the years, if for no other reason than to be able to blackmail someone."

Vincent and JT left Vanessa's boxes and started searching the Curio shop in earnest. They looked in boxes and tapped on the walls nothing seemed out of place.

Vincent looked around the shop, and reached out with his beast senses. He could sense the room where the beast skeleton had been. He reached out further, he could also sense another space, and this one was underneath them.

"JT, there is a space under this shop. I am just not sure how to get to it."

"Can't you just beast up and punch your way through the floor?"

"Yeah I could but then not knowing what is down there, I could damage it to."

"Good point, Ok so beasting up is not an option, I guess we do this the old fashion way."

JT shows up a little later with what looks like a lawn mower, "Ground penetrating radar? Did you steal that from the University?"

"Can you think of a better idea? And no I just borrowed it. This way we can see what is down there or at least find a space for you to break in."

"Right here should be good."

Vincent unleashed his beast and made short work of the floor. JT found a ladder and joined Vincent at the bottom. Turning on his flashlight, they begin to explore….

The area down there was dank and dark, it felt like no one had been down there in centuries, but if Windsor had known about it, surely he had checked it out. "This is way creepy," JT says as they walk through the tunnels. "We can't be under the store anymore can we?"

Vincent pauses and listens, "Not anymore, let's keep going, there has to be a reason this is down here."

They come to a door; Vincent can hear the hum of equipment on the other side. "There is something in here."

Vincent opens the door and what they see stops them in their tracks….. Turning to Vincent, JT says, "You better call Cat."

Cat and Tess are just as stunned as the guys. "What is all of this?" Cat says.

JT shrugs, "I am not sure, but if I had to guess I am guessing Windsor's life's work and research into Murfield and those behind it."

The walls are covered with pictures, and maps, lists and arrows connecting everything. There is a server humming in the background. They stand there taking it all in.

Catherine inhales sharply, Vincent looks at her. She is staring at a series of drawings and photos.

"It's Rebecca and Lucas"

In looking over the items on the wall it's clear that someone had been tracking them. There were drawings of each of them and then drawings of the two of them together; there were a few photographs of them as well.

"Windsor could not have done all of this." Tess looking at how much was there and how old it is.

"My guess is that someone else started this and passed it on to Windsor, maybe he is related to all of this somehow." JT explained.

"You realize how big this is, I mean even without going through all this I can tell there is just no way to take them down. There are maps of every major country up there." JT points out.

Vincent looks at Catherine, thinking of the threat to her, to them and is determined to keep her safe; they are not going to end up like Lucas and Rebecca. "There has to be something we can do, we can't pretend we don't know about beasts and we can't just sit here waiting to be a target, or ignoring what is going on. We have to take the battle to them."

JT tells them, "let me dig through some of this and I will see if I can't find something to target or someone."

Tess offers to stay and help JT and Cat and Vincent head home.

None of them notice the small red light blinking on the floor near the door.

Sitting on the sofa Vincent and Catherine read through Rebecca's diary some more that night.

He found me later that night at the apartment house I was staying at in the city. Late at night there was a knock on my window. I was startled at first but when I realized it was him, I opened the window, he sat on the ledge. I leaned against the other side, just close enough to reach out and touch him, yet far enough away that one of us would have to take that first step.

He was surprised that I was not afraid of him; I explained that my family had known about the existence of beasts for generations and that I had been hunting them for a long time. He was shocked, and surprised. I was as well; why in the world would I tell him that, I instinctively trusted him and could tell that he was different from the others I had hunted.

I asked him if he had ever hurt anyone, he said no one that didn't need hurting. He asked me if I was going to hunt him.

How can I explain my feelings, I barely knew him, yet I trusted him. The thought of hurting him, stole my breath and hurt me. I told him that I didn't hunt things that didn't need hunting.

That really wasn't true; I had never run across a beast that did not need to be put down. How could I explain the feelings he stirred in me. Destiny? Fate? I had never believed in them before I met him.

He came to me at night for several weeks; I had staying in the city to make sure that the beast I had killed was the only one. We talked for hours, he seemed sad almost as if the only time he felt human was when he was with me. Every night when he left he'd say Good Night, Mo Thaisce.

After a few weeks with no new cases it appeared that my job here was done. The thought of going back home and never seeing him again was too painful to imagine. My job here was done and my Uncle expected me back home.

I told him I had to return to my Uncle and that it would be too dangerous for us to see each other again. My heart hurt when I spoke those words and it seemed as if he could sense my pain. That night he closed the distance between us and took my face in his hands.

He put his forehead against mine and said "Ta' mo chroi istigh ionat. My heart is within you," he said as he kissed me. We will find a way; for I will not be parted from you.

I clung to him as if he had all the power in the world to take me away from all of the ugliness that surrounded us.

As Vincent closed the book, he looked at Catherine; she was quiet lost in thought over Rebecca and Lucas.

"Are you Ok?" he asked.

"I am not sure, Vincent. I feel for them, I feel like them, in love and so overwhelmed by forces beyond our control. Why can't we just be left alone? I just want to love you and be with you. Why is there always a battle to be fought just so we can be together?"

Vincent shook his head, "I don't know, but we will find a way and Lucas was right about one thing. You carry my heart within you and I will not be parted from you."

With those words, Vincent took her in his arms and kissed her. Catherine kissed him back. Vincent could sense her desperation, her fear of losing him, of them losing each other.

He picked her up, cradling her head in his hand as he kissed her. He held her tight as he walked up the stairs. He was determined to give her what she so desperately needed. Reassurance that they would never be parted, that they were together and always would be.

Catherine wanted oblivion. She did not want to think or feel anything that was not Vincent. She clung to him, kissing him like he was water and she was thirsty. Like he was food and she was starving. She held his head and ravaged his mouth. Vincent picking up on her mood was not gentle. This was not the time for gentle that would come later. Now it was about erasing everything that was not them.

Vincent tore off Catherine's clothing as she tore off his. He picked her up and impaled her on his shaft; Catherine wrapped her legs around him and wrapped her hands around his neck, biting his shoulders. He was so big and she so small he could hold her with one hand. Her small bites on his neck and shoulders were sending shock waves down his spine, centered in his shaft that was thickening inside of her. She groaned and started to move her hips up and down. Vincent held her still, he was so close, and he reared his head back and growled at her, he could tell she was smiling against his neck. He fisted his other hand in her hair and pulled her head up and to his mouth. He kissed her, tongues swirling, teeth scraping.

He turned around and pressed her up against the wall, he started to thrust, slamming home as she cried out around him. Harder and faster he went until she could no longer think, she could just feel him. His strength, his power all held in check for her, he lay everything that he was at her feet and she did the same for him. He could feel her starting to come apart, he increased his pace and he exploded inside her as she was milking him, her muscles squeezing him dry.

Vincent did not let her go; he stood there still inside her and in his arms. He touched his forehead to hers. "Look at me." He said gently. Catherine opened her eyes and looked at Vincent. "I love you, and together we can overcome anything, there is nothing out there stronger than us, we are forever."

Catherine kissed Vincent and said "I love you too and I am sorry I was afraid, I know that there is nothing that I can't do with you by my side."