Vengeance in Blood (Book 2): Tribulations Page 15

Letting out a sigh, Tiffany said, “I hate doing that, but it was worth it. I’m going to be tired when we get there even with this lotion on.”

  “We don’t have to run as fast as we can in the daylight, just a normal run,” Besseta said. “You lead at a comfortable pace. I don’t want you tired because we may have to really run later.”

  Nodding, Tiffany headed toward the woods, running faster than a human could but not as fast as she could. Besseta looked around at the squalor. “I hate these kinds of killers. They have nothing and take everything.” Then Besseta followed Tiffany through the forest.

  Chapter 10

  They reached the campground just before the sun set. They didn’t see any other vehicles or people. Besseta grabbed Tiffany’s hand and pulled her over to the picnic tables beside an outside basketball court.

  “You tired?” Besseta asked as she sat down.

  Sitting beside Besseta, Tiffany admitted, “No, I feel really stupid for not thinking of suntan lotion. It really does help.”

  “That’s my baby.” Besseta smiled then gasped. “I forgot to call Kenneth.”

  Taking her pack off, Besseta dug down and pulled out her phone. “Besseta, you haven’t committed a moral sin. Besides, we just got here. Kenneth told you to call him before dusk and tell him what you see here. This is when you were supposed to call him. Actually, you’re calling early,” Tiffany pointed out with a nod at the sun still over the horizon as Besseta dialed.

  Not processing any of Tiffany’s words, Besseta brought the phone to her ear. “Baby, we just got here,” Besseta said as soon as the phone quit ringing.

  “You see any problems?” Kenneth asked, out of breath.

  Furrowing her eyebrows, she said, “No, why are you breathing hard?”

  “Moving stuff,” Kenneth said, and they heard the phone drop on his end. “Damn it!” Kenneth shouted, picking up the phone. “Sorry, baby.”

  “Are you okay?” Besseta asked with a worried tone.

  “Ah yeah,” Kenneth answered. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

  “I was just worried.” Besseta smiled, reaching up with her other hand to twirl a finger in her hair.

  Kenneth chuckled. “Don’t worry about me. You keep your mind on the here and now. That means on you, Tiffany, and the area you’re in. If you get hurt, I will do very violent things and won’t care who gets hurt in the process.”

  “I will, baby,” Besseta grinned, “don’t worry.”

  “Sorry, but my baby isn’t here, so I have to worry, but you keep your mind on you,” Kenneth said, and in the background, Besseta heard something heavy and metal hit the ground.

  Tiffany leaned over. “What was that?”

  “What was that, baby?” Besseta asked and pulled the phone away from her face. “Tiffany, I was going to ask.”

  “Just something I’m working on,” Kenneth said. “Bonnie, put that down,” Kenneth snapped with the phone away from his face. “Clyde, bring that back now. I’m not in the mood to chase you anymore. I mean it. Right now.” Besseta looked down at the phone and slowly put it back to her ear. “Good boy. Now you two sit,” Kenneth said then returned to the phone. “It seems the babies want to play all the time now. If Tiffany is close, let her know the dogs don’t understand why they can’t run on the water when she’s not here. I’ve been in the water three times so far today.”

  Tiffany gasped, putting her hand over her mouth. “Oh my.”

  “She heard, baby,” Besseta told him. “If they are being that bad, make them stay inside.”

  “Why? The water feels great,” Kenneth replied. “You have everything set up for the meeting?”

  “I will as soon as I get off the phone,” Besseta answered. “Kenneth, you aren’t doing anything you could get hurt on, are you?”

  Evading the question, he said, “Will you stop worrying about me and get your mind there? You may be tough, but I’m certain what we come up with is pretty close.”

  “What you come up with because my baby is the best,” Besseta beamed.

  “You two had to give me the information. Now, I want you to get ready and call me when you are on the way back,” Kenneth told Besseta then moved the phone away. “Bonnie, I need that. Quit chewing the paper!”

  “I will, baby,” Besseta said, smiling, as Kenneth argued with the dogs.

  Fumbling with the phone, Kenneth answered, “Your kids are starting to drive me insane.”

  “Oh, they are my kids now?” Besseta laughed.

  “Hey, you’re the one that spoiled them. They used to always mind me, then you bring your friend over that spoils them just as bad. They don’t respect me anymore,” Kenneth stated.

  “I’ll talk to them when I get home,” Besseta promised.

  “Clyde, leave him alone. He doesn’t want to play,” Kenneth barked, and Besseta jerked the phone away from her ear.

  Looking at Tiffany, she asked, “Did he tell Clyde to leave a boy alone?” Tiffany nodded. “Thought so.”

  “Baby, call me if you have any problems,” Kenneth said as Besseta put the phone back to her ear.

  “Kenneth, what is going on there?” Besseta snapped. “Who is Clyde playing with?”

  “You will find out when you get home,” Kenneth said as barking sounded over the phone. “Bonnie, that doesn’t mean you can play with them!” Besseta pulled the phone away from her ear. “Baby, I’ll call you right back,” Kenneth said, hanging up.

  Besseta jumped up. “I’m going home,” she said, putting the phone in her pocket.

  Tiffany grabbed her arm. “Besseta, Kenneth’s fine,” she said just as Besseta was getting ready to take off. “If something was wrong, he would tell you.”

  “Then what’s going on?” Besseta shouted, breathing hard as fear gripped her chest.

  Standing up, Tiffany put her hands on Besseta’s shoulders. “Kenneth is doing something as a surprise for you.”

  Relief washed over Besseta, making her knees weak just as the phone in her pocket vibrated and rang. Besseta jumped high enough that her shoes were even with Tiffany’s eyes. She grabbed the phone out of her pocket. “Baby,” she answered before she landed.

  “I’m okay, but Bonnie is in jail,” Kenneth announced.

  Stomping her foot, Besseta snapped, “I don’t like her in that kennel. She looks scared when she’s in it. Put her in one of the rooms. In fact, make one of the rooms into their bedroom.”

  A long pause answered her. “Ah, I hope you’re kidding?” Kenneth asked, stunned.

  “No I’m not. They have clothes, so we can get them a dresser and a bed of their own,” Besseta informed him.

  “No,” Kenneth answered. “On that, I’m putting my foot down.”

  “Baby, don’t put her in the kennel. Bonnie does the sad eyes and looks like she’s in jail,” Besseta whined.

  “I’ll let her out in ten minutes,” Kenneth offered.

  “And give her a treat for being brave,” Besseta told him.

  “Besseta, she’s being punished. You don’t give treats for being punished,” Kenneth informed her.

  “But she’s being brave in the tiny jail cell,” Besseta shot back.

  “Baby,” Kenneth snapped. “You get your mind there and not here. I love you, and call me when you leave, and don’t forget to set up.”

  “Oh okay,” Besseta moaned. “I love you,” she said, and Kenneth hung up. Putting her phone up, Besseta turned to Tiffany but didn’t see her. Looking down, Besseta found Tiffany face down, beating the ground in laughter. “Bonnie doesn’t like that jail cell,” Besseta informed her.

  Rolling over, she laughed out, “Oh, you two have it bad.”

  Smiling, Besseta held out her hand. Tiffany grabbed it, and Besseta pulled her up. “I know I do.”

  “What do you have to do to get ready?” Tiffany asked.

  Besseta dug in her pack and pulled out several items. “This,” she said. Reaching down, Besseta put a pin with an eagle on her shirt then picked up a box with a wire. Grabbing the end of
the wire, Besseta plugged it into the back of the eagle then clipped the box to her belt. “It’s a video camera,” Besseta explained.

  Looking back at the table, Tiffany saw another box with buttons. “What’s that?”

  “A voice recorder,” Besseta picked it up, “but it has two small video cameras as well.”

  “Kenneth wants to see as well as hear what is said,” Tiffany more stated than asked.

  Besseta nodded. “Yes, he says you learn more by a person’s body language than what comes out of their mouth.”

  “When do you think Maliki will be here?” Tiffany asked, looking up as the sun slipped below the horizon.

  “Not long,” Besseta replied. “He’s not but fifty or so miles away. I think he rode in a car today.”

  Taking a deep breath through her nose, Tiffany said, “Then he will set out with full darkness. I take it you can’t read Maliki’s thoughts?”

  Shaking her head, Besseta said, “No, but I’m beginning to think he blocks them like Kenneth. I only get a few words.”

  “No one but Maliki knows what he can do,” Tiffany told her. “I have my suspicions on what he can do, but that is for another time.”

  Besseta looked around, feeling true strength flowing through her body now that the sun was gone. “If we have to leave fast and get separated, let’s meet at the hotel in Chicago,” Besseta told her.

  Taking off her sunglasses, Tiffany put them in her pack. “Agreed. If it comes to a fight, I will lock them and run. They won’t stay locked up after I’m a mile or so away.”

  “Well, all we can do now is wait,” Besseta said, climbing up on the table and sitting down, letting her legs hang off.

  Tiffany joined her. “The only way Maliki would attempt anything would be if he was under control of either an incubus or succubus.”

  Swinging her legs as she sat on the table, Besseta smiled and hummed, thinking of Kenneth back home. Suddenly, she stopped swinging her legs. “The here and now,” she mumbled.

  “What?” Tiffany asked.

  “Nothing,” Besseta said, jumping off and walking to her pack. “Just remembering what my Kenneth told me,” she said and pulled out a notebook, a book, and a large envelope, setting all three on the table.

  Curious, Tiffany slid down and walked over. “The Holy Bible?” she said, looking at the book.

  “It’s for Maliki,” Besseta said, really confusing Tiffany.

  “You two need to start letting me in on some of this.”

  “We would have, but you were outside playing with the dogs,” Besseta told her then whipped her head to the south. “Maliki’s coming.”

  Tiffany took a deep breath. “Well, if I was playing with the babies, it’s okay,” she mumbled, longing to hold the dogs again.

  “Maliki is freaking fast,” Besseta mumbled.

  Barely nodding, Tiffany said, “The only one I know that’s faster is you, and you weren’t the last time I saw you.”

  Feeling Maliki moving toward them as she breathed through her nose, Besseta had her doubts. “He’s stopped,” Besseta announced.

  “His sense of smell is pretty remarkable; he’s just seeing what’s around,” Tiffany told her.

  Slowly, all the stuff about Maliki that Tiffany had told her over the years and last few weeks started adding up. “You really know him,” Besseta blurted out. “Not of him. You know Maliki.”

  Tiffany sighed. “Yes, but another time,” Tiffany whispered in a low voice.

  Then Besseta really smelled him. “Hello, Maliki,” Besseta said in a normal voice. “It’s just us.”

  A gust of wind blew, and Maliki was standing before them. “I wasn’t expecting an ‘us,’” he said, “but I recognized Tiffany’s scent, so I wasn’t alarmed. Everyone knows you two are quite the pair.”

  “Oh, Maliki, don’t be an ass so early in the meeting,” Tiffany groaned.

  He tilted his head to Tiffany. “If I am, I do apologize.”

  Not expecting that, Tiffany smiled. “Thank you. I see you still dress for protection,” she said. “I trust you read over what we sent?”

  “Yes, and even if it’s half true, it’s very troublesome,” Maliki responded. Like always, Maliki was wearing his black, silk, long sleeve shirt with leather gloves and black pants and boots.

  “He always dresses like that,” Besseta said, pointing at Maliki.

  Smiling at Besseta, he said, “Yes, the succubi and incubi have to touch skin to gain control.” Besseta’s eyes widened. “Ah, I see some of my peculiar habits are falling into place for you, little Besseta.”

  Besseta waved her hand. “I’m faster than they are, so I don’t care.”

  “Ah,” Maliki said, raising a finger. “You have never faced one then. True, some don’t have our strength or speed, but some do. You can’t detect them by smell, not even William could, and he was the best.”

  Hiding her shock, she asked, “So William faced one?”

  “He ran across two, or I should say they tracked him,” Maliki said, glancing around. “They can smell us very well. Luckily for William, I told him what to look for.”

  “So what the hell do you look for?” Besseta asked, getting worried at the fear in Maliki’s eyes.

  “The way they move, Besseta. It’s almost fluid and hypnotic. They are beyond beautiful, so much so you can say they are breathtaking. It’s all distraction of course so they can get close and touch,” Maliki said. “I’m sure Tiffany has told you this.”

  “I’ve told them what I could in the time we had,” Tiffany corrected. “If I would’ve told them everything, this meeting would be months away for me to finish.”

  Maliki’s mouth fell open. “You mean you didn’t tell them everything and Besseta’s initiate still made the connection?”

  “His mind is quite extraordinary,” Tiffany confessed. Maliki smiled as visions filled his mind of the possibilities.

  Balling her fists, Besseta stepped forward. “He’s mine, so whatever you’re thinking, stop it.”

  Maliki held up his hands. “I was just dreaming of what our kind has to gain with this new initiate—provided he survives.”

  Besseta crossed her arms over her chest. “I can damn well guarantee you it won’t be till all this is over with.”

  “Ah, very wise, little Besseta,” Maliki nodded. “Too much to risk when you’re uncertain of the gain.”

  “Tiffany’s right; you’re being an ass.”

  “Why, little Besseta,” Maliki smiled, looking at her, “do I sense a true fondness of this…Kenneth?”

  Dropping her hands to her side, Besseta balled her fists again. “Maliki, don’t push your luck.”

  “I wasn’t reading your mind,” he assured.

  “I know. I didn’t feel it. That’s not what I was talking about,” Besseta almost growled.

  A wide grin filled Maliki’s face. “So little Besseta has had someone steal her heart.”

  “That’s it; I’m breaking your face,” Besseta growled, moving to Maliki only to have Tiffany grab her.

  “Besseta,” Tiffany said. “He’s just saying what’s written all over your face.”

  Glancing over her shoulder at Tiffany, Besseta turned her gaze back to Maliki. “You try anything with Kenneth, and I’ll make you suffer a thousand years before I kill you.”

  “Tsk, tsk, Besseta.” Maliki shook his head, not seeming worried by her threats. “I’m truly happy for you if you have found someone. Very few of our kind ever do; I’ve only known two,” he said, looking over at Tiffany.

  “Enough,” Tiffany snapped.

  Maliki bowed at the waist to Tiffany. “Like always, I feel for your loss of Herotho, Tiffany. He was the only one I ever considered a friend.”

  Thankfully too stunned to speak, Besseta’s mouth fell open. “Maliki please,” Tiffany said, “but thank you.”

  Straightening up, he asked, “Did little Besseta tell you she wiped what you owed in tribute and waived your future tribute?”

  “Pfft,”
Tiffany huffed, “I don’t see the need to pay to live in this world anymore. If you think otherwise, I pity who you send to collect.”

  “I never allowed the League to send anyone, did I?” Maliki asked, grinning. “It was not out of fear, I assure you.”

  Shaking her head to try to stop her mind from running, Besseta held out her hands. “Okay, both of you stop.” She looked at Tiffany. “You have some explaining to do later.”

  A look of remorse was on Tiffany’s face, but she was looking at Maliki and not at Besseta. “Yes, I know Maliki very well, and he can’t read your mind. Like most telepaths, he can’t read another telepath unless they let him. He and Herotho were very good friends.”

  “Little Besseta,” Maliki said, making Besseta look at him. “My presence brings back memories as she does for me.”

  “I’m sorry,” Besseta said, stepping over to Tiffany. “Let’s get this going.” Tiffany nodded, still looking at Maliki with longing and remorse.

  Besseta guided her to the table, and Maliki moved to the other side as Besseta stepped away from Tiffany. “Maliki, the box on the table is a recorder. Kenneth wants to know what was said so he can form a better picture,” Besseta said, pointing to it.

  Relieved, Maliki nodded. “Very smart, and I agree something could be left out.”

  Besseta reached down and slid the Bible over. “Take this,” she said. “We will send you messages using this as the code. Only this version can be used as the key, not just any bible. The text will just be numbers. The number by itself is the page, and the first number in the group is the line, and all numbers following are the letters on that line. That’s how we will make words, understand?”

  Maliki’s eyes got wide. “Genius,” he exclaimed. “Even if they intercept it, they can’t break it. I trust this came from Kenneth?”

  “Yes, and I don’t like how you’re grinning when you say his name,” Besseta said, lowering her voice.

  Maliki laughed and looked up at Tiffany. “My, she has it bad.”

  For the first time in centuries, Tiffany smiled at Maliki. “Trust me; Kenneth’s just as bad.”

  “This renews my hope for our kind,” Maliki smiled back.

  Besseta handed over the envelope. “Inside explains the code again and is a list of message boards we will use. Rotate which one you use each time. You will find a red flash drive that will encrypt what you send to us and we send to you. Careful who sees that and who you tell because that is the key, and if someone gets it, the bible code can be broken. The black flash drive has a program on it that will allow us to communicate over the internet encrypted. There is a list explaining that and the other two flash drives. Kenneth asked if you could read that and destroy the instructions or write them in a code only you would know.”