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  Then again, he had hundreds of years. She was less than two years old. The taxi dropped her off in front of a very nice one story light stone, dark wood and glass steak house. The lighting was very subdued as the young man opened her door and she stepped out. She kept her bag with her. She could easily see everything and everyone, even those in the darkest booths. She stepped through the door that was held open for her.

  After giving her name for the reservation, they took her to a small private area that overlooked the city. It had a small table set for one and the walls had vines running all through them. You stepped through a doorway of plants and then turned left to step through another doorway. You could not see back into the restaurant and it did a good job of reducing any sounds coming from the diners inside. The wall was very short, but the view was spectacular as you looked at the lights from the homes and streets below down into the town proper. Just in the distance she though she could see the flames still being fought in the warehouse area. She was easily able to find Clarit’s home. It had blue lights in the courtyard.

  She looked at her watch, still another hour to go. She ordered some food, she might as well enjoy the results of the teams labor with a snack or two. Whenever she felt like just throwing in the towel on her revenge, she remembered Martin and the anger was right there on the surface.

  She needed this for closure. It would also send a necessary message to those in the UnknownWorld that to attack her would be retaliated.

  She sighed.

  She watched as another fire could be seen down in San Jose. That should be number three, she thought. She wondered if number two was too tough, or just had a good sprinkler system.

  She had finished her food and ordered coffee. It helped her with the crappy blood aftertaste. She was going to need access to all of the energy she could hold at one time. TOM had said that she had at least three times what she had back in the Everglades stored up. She finished the coffee and paid attention to the house with the blue lights. It seemed maybe an affectation Clarita had. Who knew, it just made it easier for her to tell where she needed to go.

  She told the waiter that she was done and would like the bill. When he came back, she paid the bill in dollars and left a significant tip. She asked to be left alone for twenty minutes. He dipped his head and left her with two after-dinner mints.

  What the hell, she dropped the mints into her bag. Making sure he wasn’t coming back, she stripped and changed her clothes to her leathers. She put on her under shirt, then the vest with the ceramic protection. Every time she suited up, she would think about Petre’ shooting her in the back. She had gotten through it ok, but it was a mental problem for her, still.

  She strapped on her shoulder holsters and put in the .45’s. The sword went over her shoulder. She tied her hair back.

  Martin, it was time to deliver your vengeance. She grabbed her bag and stepped up to the wall. Other customers of the steak place thought the saw a lady jump off of the wall, but she disappeared and no one heard a body hit below. They all thought maybe it was a reflection. A quarter mile away, Bethany Anne appeared thirty feet above Clarita’s house. Taking the shortest time possible, she found a balcony and slipped through the Etheric to land inches above it. Easily taking the weight, she made no sound when she reappeared.

  Well, she was here. Now what?

  While she waited to get her bearings, she could barely hear yelling coming from inside the house. It seemed that her team was certainly making someone quite upset.

  She tested the door that came out to the balcony, it was locked. Why wasn’t it ever easy?

  TOM, what happens if I slip out of the Etheric into a solid object?

  Well, if you actually accomplish that I imagine you would either fuse with the new material, or cause something akin to a small atomic blast when the atoms are pushed away from each other and a blast occurs.

  Either way, I’m fucked, right?

  Well, sure. A little crass but accurate.

  This comes from the alien who watches Housewives of Orange County?

  Well, actually I haven’t watched any of that since we left Miami. Pete isn’t watching it anymore.

  Oh, so the brainwashing is done then?

  Perhaps.

  Great. Can’t wait to find out your next fixation. Do I have some options here?

  Well, if you were to pause in the Etheric you could probably just try to ‘see’ into the next location and check it out.

  You don’t sound so sure of this.

  That’s because it takes a fair amount of time for a Kurtherian to learn the trick. Seeing how we have never tried it, I’m not really sure what would happen.

  Ok, sounds like a bad idea in the middle of an op. Well, I hope your life insurance is paid up.

  Why, what’s life insurance?

  Bethany Anne stood up aimed at the door and walked through it. She planned to go one foot forward and she let out her breath slipped through the Etheric and walked into a bedroom that had no furniture. She guessed that they might not use the upper floor of the house that much. She was able to hear the yelling a bit better now.

  Yup, the team was pissing Clarita off very well. She glided over to the door and cracked it open the smallest amount. It was dark in the hallway, however; the sound was well amplified and she guessed it was Clarita yelling.

  “You tell that spineless crab I will take every colón out of his hide if he can’t find the people that destroyed my club! I don’t pay the police to sit on their asses when a business of mine is attacked.”

  With that, Bethany Anne heard her slam a hand down in frustration. The phone rang again.

  “Hi Maria, what? Do WHAT? How many attacked? Five? Wait, one was a woman? Why was she hard to see. Uh huh, moved too fast to see you say? That bitch Bethany Anne must be attacking my interests to get me to come out there. One minute…. Julian!” Bethany Anne could hear someone below moving quickly. “Julian, take a team and go over to the business office. That bitch must have figured out all of my interests here in San Jose. No, leave me Hugo and Jorge. I’ll be fine. Move it! Yes, take the guns! They aren’t fucking around down there. I’ve lost three places already. Hold on. Maria, when did they leave? Ok. Fine. Get the police and the fire support there as quick as possible. Goodbye. Julian, it will take them a minimum of twenty more minutes to get to the business office. Get there and prepare to ambush them, you have ten minutes.”

  Bethany Anne heard a team of at least six people leaving the house. She waited until she heard two cars take off. She slowly pulled the sword out of it’s sheath and one of her .45’s. She wanted so badly to be able to slip through the Etheric to the room below, but the chance she took just a minute ago should have her breaking out in a sweat if she thought about it too much.

  The phone rang again below.

  “Hello. Yes Claudia, she has started her attacks. No, you and your siblings stay out of Costa Rica. I don’t want you around. I will either take care of the bitch or not, I don’t want you involved. No, this is Anton’s fault and mine for doing what he wanted. No, I really didn’t have a choice. However; if I die you stay hidden from Anton. He might assume this Bethany Anne has killed you too.” There was a long pause. Bethany Anne took the chance to look down the hallway. It went about ten feet before going down some stairs. Clarita started talking below and Bethany Anne slowly made her way to the stairs trying no make sure she wouldn’t cause the floor to creak and give her away. “No, you and your siblings have the right of it. I am not for making humans our food either but I’ve been in this too long to change now. I don’t wish you to change, but don’t kid yourself and think I can change too much either. Tell your brothers I love you all. I have another call, bye.”

  Bethany Anne was touched that Clarita had any feelings for her kids. She was like a Forsaken version of Stephen in a way. Except Stephen’s kid was going to the dark side and it sounded like Clarita’s might be heading towards the light. From the top of the stairs, Bethany Anne could see Clarita’s
shadow moving back and forth on the floor at the bottom. She prepared her sword in her right hand.

  “Hello? Yes, hello commissioner. Yes, I have been informed my businesses have been under attack. Yes, I believe I do know who is doing this. No, I don’t think your people will be able to stop them, however; you can backup my group at the business offices. Yes, the ones on the 177. Don’t go over there with your lights flashing, I want that bitch to get caught in an ambush my group is setting up for them right now. You will need to come when you hear the gunfire. Yes, that would be good, thank you.”

  While she was talking, the shadow stopped right at the end of the stairs. Clarita hit the call end button on her phone as 12” of razor sharp Japanese steel suddenly protruded out of her chest. She coughed up blood which smeared her phone. Her sudden grunt caused Hugo and Jorge to come into the room only to receive two bullets to each of their heads. Both went down. The person with the sword swung her around like a marionette and frog marched her over to where Hugo and Jorge were writhing on the ground. She heard two shots and finally registered that both of her knees had been blown out. The person holding the sword dipped it towards the floor and she slid off the sword to the ground in a lump. Barely registering her freedom as the pain in her chest and now her knees consumed her attention. A black clad female took a bloody sword and casually sliced both men through the necks. Their eyes remained open, unstaring as their blood covered the floor.

  She heard a voice above her, “Bobcat, Bethany Anne, call back the team. I’ll meet you at the pickup point.”

  Clarita pushed herself over in agonizing slowness. The whole time she was focused on the team in San Jose, she was stalked by this woman. She looked at the vampire above her and knew that Anton had certainly killed her by going after Bethany Anne.

  It was her poor choice to use Adrian in America. Her chest and knees were healing, but she couldn’t move quickly at all and it would be some time before she healed enough. She doubted that she would be given much time now.

  The woman looked down at her. “Anton will pay for what he has done. I will not forgive him. Unfortunately for you, it was your hand that sent Adrian. If your children stay out of my path, I will not go after them. It is the most I can give you.”

  “It is the most I can ask.” Clarita had been alive for centuries. She had made it through countless revolutions, political parties and efforts of other Forsaken to take her place as the Queen of Central America.

  She had made one bad choice and sent a fool to get information without counting the cost. She watched as Bethany Anne aimed her gun at Clarita’s forehead. She saw the twitch of Bethany Anne’s finger on the trigger and then knew no more.

  Bethany Anne used her sword to make sure Clarita would not be able to heal from the damage of the three .45 bullets at close range. She walked over to Clarita’s sink and cleaned her sword.

  She walked around the house and found her laptop. She put it into her bag. They needed intel and if Nathan and Frank could pull information from what was in it, great.

  TOM, can I get to the landing location with the amount of Etheric energy I have left?

  Yes. You are becoming more adept at moving longer distances.

  Yay me! So, no blood at the end?

  No, you should be fine.

  Good to know.

  She dialed Bobcat again, “Bobcat, one coming in.”

  “I read you five by five, Bethany Anne. Good to hear you boss.” Bethany Anne smiled at that.

  Bethany Anne took one step towards the front door and finished the step out at the landing site just two feet away from a large rock. Pete came over to her and handed her a packet of baby wipes. She smiled remembering the first time she had used baby wipes in Shelly. “Where are the others?”

  Pete answered, “They got the message, probably take them about ten more minutes to get here. The town is a fustercluck with all the damage they did.”

  “Everyone ok?”

  “Yeah, Gabrielle took a round in the chest, but it was stopped by the vest. When she went down someone got one in her leg. We think we counted her cussing in three known languages and one none of us could figure out.”

  “A woman after my own heart.”

  “Yeah, team says she was taking one that was aimed at Eric. He had missed someone on his six and she was able to get the guys attention, but it was almost point blank by that time. Eric got him before he was able to do more than shoot her in the leg. They got some blood in her so she’s mostly healed.”

  “Ok, let’s make sure we have this timed to leave immediately when they arrive. I don’t want to stick around San Jose right now.”

  Pete reached up and clicked on his mic and relayed the request to Bobcat who started the process to get Shelly hot. They had just started the rotors turning when the team came through the bushes. Bethany Anne had informed Pete about the team coming in so he wouldn’t be surprised and shoot anyone by accident.

  Bethany Anne saw that Eric was supporting Gabrielle as she walked. Bethany Anne looked at Gabrielle and raised an eyebrow, Gabrielle just shrugged her shoulders as if to say, ‘what can I do?’

  Bethany Anne went over to the two of them. John, Darryl and Scott went around her to put their equipment on the bird.

  She put up an arm and made Eric and Gabrielle stop. “Eric, what the hell are you doing?”

  He looked blankly at her, “I’m helping my teammate who was shot because of my stupid ass get back to the bird!” Now he had a focus for his self-recrimination. Before he could get started Bethany Anne she put up a hand to stop his talking and looked over at Gabrielle.

  “Gabrielle, take off those fucking pants.”

  Gabrielle knew when to question orders and this wasn’t one of those times. She reached down and untied her shoes and then took them off. Then, she unbuckled and took off her pants which had blood all over them.

  Bethany Anne put a hand out to Eric, “Eric, light.” She could have used Gabrielle’s light, but she was trying to make a point and Eric was slowly getting it. When she turned on Eric’s own flashlight and looked at the pair of very attractive and very female legs, there wasn’t a scratch or scar on them. She turned the light off and handed it back to Eric. “What she needs, ass wipe, is a pair of clean pants. Know your partner’s skills. She was letting you hold her because she didn’t know how to get through your mental pissing on yourself. Your The Queen Bitch’s guard and now so is Gabrielle. So suck it up and thank her by not forgetting she is a tough motherfucker, not a helpless little girl. She can bench press you, remember?”

  Bethany Anne could tell that Eric had gotten the point. She turned on Gabrielle. “Stop treating them as something that breaks easily! That won’t help them, understand me? If you do, I’ll personally slap the ever loving shit out of you until it takes a week for you to heal. You won’t do me or them any good. Now let’s get out of here. Costa Rica can kiss my ass for now, I’ll enjoy it another time.” She turned around.

  The team was so tired they didn’t realize that it was Bethany Anne who was the last on and closed the door.

  Two hours later, they were back on the Polarus which turned to the northeast and starting putting on the power. Chief Engineer John Rodriquez already had the ship running faster than it was supposed to be capable of by ten percent. However; he had plans and just needed the time and the budget. This ship was going to sing through the waves.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  Costa Rica & Panama

  Back in San Jose, Julian’s team made it back to Clarita’s house where they found the three dead bodies. Julian called the police commissioner and informed him that there had been a hit at this house while they were out. Life was going to become very dangerous for the Forsaken in Central America as different powerful vampires struggled to see who would come out on top.

  Three others, however; decided that they would calmly and quietly slip into the night. Two days later, each of them received an email from their mother’s email address. It informed the
m that Bethany Anne had killed their mother for the sins of Adrian and their mother when attacking her personal friend in Washington D.C. They were told that Bethany Anne promised their mother that if they stayed out of her path, she wouldn’t come after them.

  Over in Panama, Claudia argued with both of her brothers to reach out to Bethany Anne, but got nowhere with them. She finally took it upon herself to email and request an audience with Bethany Anne on the phone.

  She was surprised to have her phone ring not even five minutes later.

  She picked it up, it was an unknown number. “Hello?”

  The voice on the other end sounded European. “Hello, this is Ecaterina, I work for Bethany Anne. Is this Claudia?”

  “Yes.”

  “I understand from your email that you wish to speak with Bethany Anne. Unfortunately, she is up in the air at the moment on her way to Europe. How may I assist you?”

  “You would help me?”

  “No, I asked how I may assist you. If you ask the right question, they my assistance will go well for you. If you say the wrong thing, my assistance might be to help you to an early grave. So be careful what you ask for or tell me. So, Claudia, how may I assist you?”

  That caused Claudia to get her thoughts together. “I am calling on behalf of myself and perhaps my two brothers. They don’t want to bother Bethany Anne but I don’t know where to go.”

  “Explain better, please.”

  “Ok. Anton, who is one of Michael’s children, commands all of Central and South America and Mexico. However; my mother was the head of Central America under him. If we try to stay in Central America, then whoever takes over here for Anton will find us and kill us. We cannot go to either Mexico or South America either. So, we either need to fight or flee. None of us wish to continue as Forsaken but we don’t know where to flee to.”

  “I see, can you get out of Central America?”

  “Yes, if we move soon enough it will not be a problem.”

  “Then you have two choices. You can meet with Bethany Anne when she gets back to America. I can’t tell you when that will happen.” Ecaterina heard Claudio gasp at that. Ok, so that wasn’t a choice Claudia was comfortable with. “Or, you may meet up with Bethany Anne in Europe. You will need to contact Stephen in Romania and ask his permission to come into his area of influence. If you want, I will contact him on your behalf. However; I will warn you in advance that if you do anything that Stephen considers disrespectful in word or deed to Bethany Anne you won’t need to worry about her. Stephen will kill you himself.”