56 Story time (1/2)

”OMG!” Raven yelled from the hallway.

Russ pushed his way through the debris as quickly as he could. He watched as Raven quickly got over her shock and rushed farther down the hall. Her words were muffled by the pounding in his ears. His senses were on high alert as the smell of dried blood reached his nose. He stumbled through the wreckage as his brain thought of all the horrible things that could have happened. {Where is my sister? What has happened to Rin? Naru? What does this mean for Jos? Is this what she meant?} A strong hand clamping down on his shoulder snapped Russ out of his brain-fog.

Orion pushed past Russ, ”Part of my job here is to protect you. Move aside while I clear the rooms.”

Russ rolled his eyes as he continued toward the room Raven had disappeared into. ”I don't need protecting just worry about finding my sister… and Joslyn.”

Orion shot him an irritated glance as he stopped in front of the first closed door, ”Joslyn isn't my concern, you and your sister are.” He didn't wait for Russ's reaction as he turned and moved into the room.

Russ snarled at Orion's retreating back, but instead of arguing with the man he continued into the open-door Raven had gone into. His heart leaped into his throat as he took in the room. Raven was meticulously examining the bloodied, motionless body on the ground. The face was bruised and bloodied to an unrecognizable extent but there was no mistaking the scent of his friend. This was Naru. Russ didn't realize he had begun backing up until he bumped into the solid chest of Orion, who had entered the room without him even realizing it.

”What's the prognosis?” Orion asked Raven, stepping around Russ ignoring him as he walked over toward her.

Raven's attention never left Naru as she continued examining his body. ”He'll recover, but it won't be anytime soon.” She flipped his head to one side carefully. ”Someone injected him with something here.” She indicated a faint pinprick in his neck. ”I assume it was to prevent him from shifting.”

Orion took his phone out and began scrolling through his contact list. He called over his shoulder as he walked out of the room, ”I have a first aid kit in the truck.”

Orion had just finished pulling out the first aid kit when he saw a familiar face emerge from the apartment office. He quickly slammed the door and moved across the parking lot with large strides. ”Who called you out here?”

The woman dressed in all black leather bent to retrieve a bag from the ground, not bothering to turn toward the demanding voice behind her. ”You know that information is confidential.” She turned a key in the door and hung a sign in the window to keep unsuspecting humans from stumbling in on the clean up that was going on inside.

Orion slammed his hand against the door just inches away from her face. ”Not when it involves a job I'm doing for the council.”

She met his angry eyes in the reflection of the window. ”You'll be putting me in danger if I tell you.”

Orion sent her a wicked grin, ”You're a big girl, you can handle yourself.”

She turned away from the all too familiar penetrating eyes of her ex-lover. ”Not if it's against the DeMarco's.”

Orion let his hand slide away from the window. ”Are these boys going to give me trouble?”

She turned to face him. ”You don't seem surprised.”

He shrugged, ”I already suspected. Now answer me.”

She held his gaze for a moment before answering, ”Trouble like you've never had before. This isn't the first call I've had since they came to the states over a year ago.” She turned back to the door and turned the key once again, this time opening the door. ”It's not even the worst…”

Orion peered over her shoulder. There was blood everywhere, but the heaviest concentration was around the desk. ”What happened here?”

Her face fell into a heavy frown, ”Dante DeMarco happened here…” She pulled the door closed as she continued. ”The DeMarco attack dog, called in anytime the head needs something done but doesn't want to get his hands dirty.” She sighed heavily as she relocked the door.

Orion crossed his arms, ”Xavier DeMarco?” When she nodded, he arched a brow and asked, ”But isn't he the one trying push for peace among the vamp clans? I thought he was the white knight of the council? Why would he need his brother to do his dirty work?”

She sent him a worried expression, ”Far from it. Dante DeMarco is well known for being a psychopath, just like their father. But what isn't known is that Xavier DeMarco is just as bad… if not worse.” She glanced around the parking lot before meeting Orion's stern eyes. ”If they knew I was telling you this, I'd be in no better shape than the poor bastard we just scraped up in there.”

Orion narrowed his eyes, ”But you're going to tell me anyway.”

She sighed, ”Not here.” She flipped through her keys again and walked over to the apartment connected to the office. ”In here, it's the office manager's apartment.”

Orion followed her inside without saying anything. Once the door was shut and locked he flopped over onto the small sofa and patted the cushion beside him. ”Come sit, I have a feeling this is going to be a long story.”

She sighed heavily as she took the seat beside him. ”The whole peace thing is just a front. Their real agenda is to control the clans and overtake the council… to finish what their father started… and they'll succeed too. Between the two of them, they have something their father never did.”

”And what's that?” Orion tested the sturdiness of the table before propping his large feet upon it.

Fear colored her words as she answered, ”Cunning and cruelty. You saw Dante's work back there. He takes pride in his abilities to torture, torment, and mutilate anyone who stands in his way, but he's not the worst. Xavier's body count nearly doubles that of his brother. The difference is were Dante is sloppy and frequently requires the aid of cleanup crews, Xavier is smart and neat about his. He prefers to charm and manipulate his victims leaving them blinded till the end.”

Orion sent her a skeptical look, ”If he's so clean about it, how do you know whether he has killed or not?”

A blush colored her caramel cheeks, ”The same way I know about you, Orion the hunter.”