Beryl stood at the railing of her yacht in the harbor and watched the waves crash into the ocean. She was tired of waiting for the man who belonged to her. She needed some progress, and she was growing impatient. Tomorrow, she had a meeting set up with Sapphire, the brother of a dead small-time criminal who had blown up the police station.
"He killed Rubeus," the man, standing to the right, informed her. "But he claims that the man had intruded on his territory, and he then worked with a group to help stop him."
"Do you trust him?" Beryl asked.
"Absolutely!" the man assured her.
She flicked her wrist, dismissing him. He seemed pleased with how everything had gone, but she realized he was an idiot. One of her rules to live by was to never trust anyone.
Now alone on deck, she rhythmically drummed her pointed fingernails on the railing. She had agreed to meet with Sapphire to assess him. She hoped he was at least clever. If he were, he would help pass the time. She was bored and looking for someone who was a challenge to outsmart.
One of her servants came on deck and stopped waiting for her signal. She let him approach and ordered him to speak. "The boxes have all been delivered to their destinations," the man said, informing her that preparations were complete.
"Good," she said in acknowledgment. "Update the logs and then go lie in my bed. I will properly reward you."
"Yes, Queen Beryl," he said, bowing. "Thank you."
She turned back to look over the harbor and frowned. She felt like everything was taking too long. It turned out that finding one lone man in all of Tokyo was really hard. Especially when everyone at the police station was so tight-lipped about Yamato's intern. His name wasn't on one lease or home in Japan anymore.
Beryl let some of her magic crackle at her fingertips. She felt a little better as she watched the dark purple malevolent energy snake around her fingers. She remembered who she was and why this was taking so long. She wasn't ready to force him to her will, not yet.
Her desire that he come to her of his own free will wasn't working, though. Since that probably meant she would have to force him to her side, she knew she had to be patient. Her energy was increasing, and she was close but not there yet—but she would be.
She then walked away from the railing —she had a subordinate to reward.
Naru walked into her bedroom, and she smiled over at Sapphire. "You've been preparing for the ritual."
"It's all ready, and I know my part by heart," he replied.
"You're looking forward to this."
"You aren't?" he asked, incredulous.
Since he knew the answer, she walked over, ran her hand over his chest, and said, "What blood were you able to get?"
"Our human friends volunteered to help. I returned the favor," he said, smirking.
"We got the blood for the ritual, and they got the blood for sex?"
"To be fair, they gave me their blood for us to have sex too."
She looked over at their bed and said, "Our sheets are going to be so stained."
"Who cares? I don't. We'll just buy new ones."
Naru looked over at the different vials and bottles on the nightstand by the bed. "They're labeled?"
"I don't want to worry about using the wrong one on you." Sapphire rubbed her back and added, "This is important." He traced a slow circle on her stomach and said, "Each one I use on you is important. It needs to be right."
"It sounds like we're all ready then. I'm glad we're doing this together. Bastet tried to get your past self to perform this ritual instead since he had already done it once."
The anger rolling off Sapphire was palpable in the room, and it was precisely what Naru was going for. Suddenly, the oddity of everything going on with the ritual and how intimidating it all felt was washed away by the desire burning in her. She loved it when he got possessive of her.
"I should kill her," he fumed.
Stoking the fire even more, she said, "Her first idea was a threesome. She thought your past self would enjoy that."
He cocked his head at her and pulled off her top. "That sounds like something Bastet would try."
"You weren't against it back then," she told him, smirking.
He removed the rest of her clothes and said, "You're doing this on purpose."
"I am. But it's still true."
"Were you even the slightest bit interested," he pressed.
She shook her head. "No —you two look exactly alike, though."
With her naked, he picked up the first vial and dipped his finger in the scented oil. "In this ritual, I bind you irrevocably to me. Apparently, for the second time. I wonder if that fact makes this bond even stronger."
She lay there in position for him so he could perform every step perfectly. He then began drawing out the required runes and designs on her. "Before I can't say anything anymore without messing up the ritual, I want to say this: not even past me could make you feel like I do. I know you and your body too well."
"I didn't want this just to be performing a ritual. I wanted to press you into wanting to show your own me. I need this."
He finished the first step and spoke the words to activate what he had completed, and they both felt a profound change. It dawned on Sapphire that she was right. This ritual was about ownership and binding them to each other. He felt her being linked to him. Feeling it this early on in the process made him realize that she would be deep under his skin by the end.
He put down the first vial and picked up the second, removing the stopper and getting some on his finger.
Now was not the time for conversation.
The gentle clicking of the keyboard was soothing to Artemis. Nights like this, when he was sitting on the couch next to Luna while she worked, were comforting to him.
The horrors of the police station being blown up and believing his wife and unborn child were inside made him adore the fact that she worked from home and sometimes Usagi's penthouse.
As a smile spread across his face, he watched her eyes to see what that particular smile meant. By the gleam in them, he knew how to interpret this smile. She was the predator, watching in anticipation as she was about to take down her prey.
Sure enough, three minutes later, she whispered, "Got you!" and pulled out her cell phone. He watched as she dialed Usagi and put her on speakerphone.
Usagi answered quickly, and Luna said, "Get Mamoru and put him on speakerphone."
"Hello," they quickly heard Mamoru say. Neither of them was surprised by how fast a vampire could move.
"Artemis is here too. I haven't told him yet. I wanted to update everyone at the same time."
Luna moved her laptop to show Artemis what was on it, and he started laughing, "She thinks I can make any sense of what's on her screen."
Usagi chuckled and said, "It's cute that she believes we can keep up with her on that computer stuff."
"What it shows," Luna said as she blushed, "is that I just found the mole in the police department who stole Akai's gun from the evidence locker."
"You're brilliant," Artemis said as he kissed her on her forehead.
Luna smirked, "Then you'll really be impressed with this. He's not only our mole, but his father is the Kyushu Regional president for the Order of Van Helsing."
"So they're the ones who supplied Akai with his gun since they smuggle guns," Mamoru stated.
"Precisely," Luna replied. "Good news for us is that I hacked…." She looked over at Artemis and coughed, then moved on. "I got information that a federal agency is investigating him." She didn't want to come right out and say that she hacked a federal database.
"Hatori doesn't know?" Mamoru asked, puzzled. "I would think they would tell him."
"Unless they aren't sure how far the corruption goes." Luna set her laptop aside and added, "They won't say anything until they have an idea."
"Is he in any danger?" Usagi asked.
Luna scoffed. "I'll pretend you didn't ask that. I wouldn't let anything link to him even peripherally."
"So what does that mean?" Mamoru asked.
"It means the Kyushu Regional Order isn't long for this world. After reviewing their roster, I noticed that many of them are in the police force there, and that's where our mole transferred from. The Feds are going to do some of our work for us."
"What's the chance we get lucky and they've given guns to more of the Order in other regions?" Artemis asked.
Luna smiled and said, "Well, here's the thing. I've done some… groundwork and left evidence that they supplied guns to some of the other groups. I only did that with two-thirds of them since I don't want to make it obvious that I'm leaving the Kanto Region untouched. With Satoru being president and Yuki there too, I'm not taking chances."
"What time frame are we looking at?" Mamoru asked.
"I made it appear that they will move a shipment of guns soon. They aren't selling them then, but the guns do exist. They are being stored in the place I've marked as the spot of the gun sale. The Feds will have to raid the place in two days. I wanted to control the timeline."
Mamoru spoke up and asked, "Will they get them, though? The Feds won't have the names of the men in the other chapters."
"And this is where the flash drive comes into play, which Usagi's friend got from the Grand Inquisitor. He keeps exceptional records. I used it to link to the names of everyone in the regional chapters I implicated."
"Luna, thank you," Mamoru said sincerely. "It finally feels like we're making good progress."
When the call ended, Artemis closed the laptop, crossed his arms, and said, "A federal agency? You hack those now?!"
She shrugged and said, "And I bet you were feeling all smug that I was safe at home and not working at the police station."
"I was," he confirmed. "I won't underestimate you again. I now see how much trouble you can get in -even from here."
"The station wasn't my fault," she protested lightly.
"I know," he replied, reaching up and cupping her cheek. "There is something epically wrong with me. I'm a police detective, and I find this so hot!"
She smiled and said, "I'll race you to the bedroom!"