Part Six


Resisting the urge to glance around for at least the third time, Eric got into his
car and closed the door.  Ever since leaving the precinct, he'd had the feeling
he was being watched.  This case was sure getting to him.  He shrugged as he
unwrapped his burger.  It was such a beautiful night that he'd had the top down
on his convertible the entire time.  Surely he would have spotted someone
following him by now.


Following the flashy red convertible at a discreet distance had been easy
enough.  It was a surety that the detective hadn't spotted her, even though he
had glanced around speculatively several times.  His current caseload must
have brought on some paranoia.  She smiled, the thought amusing her for some
strange reason.  She leaned forward on her perch, wondering when the best
time to reveal herself would be.

*****

Natalie didn't know whether to be relieved or nervous when the 'on air' light
flickered off as she approached the broadcast booth.  Seemingly on its own, the
door opened before she could raise her hand to knock.

Definitely nervous.

She stepped through the doorway cautiously.  Despite everything that had
happened, and no matter how friendly Lacroix was towards her, Natalie always
felt apprehensive about being alone with him.  Sure, they still had their
differences, but she had to keep reminding herself that he wouldn't hurt her.

Theoretically.

Lacroix stepped out from behind the door as he closed it, smiling that damned
annoying enigmatic smile of his while he did so.  Nat felt most of her
nervousness disappear.

"Good evening, Natalie.  I was beginning to think that you would disappoint
me and not make an appearance."  He gestured for her to sit down as he spoke.

Moving towards her chair, she replied coolly, "I would have been here sooner,
Lacroix, but I had to do an autopsy on the *third* headless body that's been
found.  Captain Reese is not amused."

"I would imagine not," he responded as he sat across from her.  "But as I told
Nicholas, I fail to see how I can help."

Gathering up her courage, Natalie retorted, "I think you do, Lacroix.  What I
want to know is, why aren't you taking care of Branwen before she kills again? 
I know you don't care about mortals, but if she knows you're here, she's
probably going to come after us next."

"It is no easy thing to find one of our kind who does not wish to be found,
Natalie.  Especially if there is only the most tenuous of links," Lacroix replied
tightly.  Off Natalie's look, he continued, "Are you surprised that I am aware of
your knowledge of Branwen?  There are no secrets between Marguerite and
myself."

He paused briefly, allowing Natalie to absorb the full meaning behind his
words.  "Now, why don't you tell me the reason you are so concerned about
Branwen?" he asked softly.

*****

She landed in the rear seat soundlessly.  Leaning forward, she whispered in his
ear, "Candy apple red, nice choice."

Heart pounding in his chest, Eric choked the last bit of soda down.  He spun
around in his seat so fast, he almost gave himself whiplash.

"I used to have a Mustang like this, when they first came out.  Mine was black,
of course, but this color has its appeal.  Very sexy."

Still coughing, Eric was speechless.  She was relaxing in his back seat like she'd
been there the entire time.  After this, for a brief moment he was almost
paranoid enough to believe that maybe she had been.  Almost.

"You...you..." Eric sputtered, unable to get a complete sentence out.

"I scared you?"  She looked at him impishly, the way Nick did when he was
about to have a laugh at Eric's expense.  "I'd thought about walking up to the
car where you could see me, but that's just not my style."

"No, you'd rather try and kill me!  Honestly, Marguerite..."

"Sorry!  Who knew you'd freak out like that?"  Tilting her head slightly to one
side, she studied him briefly.  "Are you okay?"

"Yes.  No.  Oh, I don't know," he exclaimed in an exasperated tone.  "All I do
know is that I can't wait until this case is over.  I feel like I'm stuck in a
Highlander episode."

"Has anyone ever told you that you watch too much science fiction,
Detective?" she asked in amusement.  "Speaking of your case, where's your
partner?"

"His shift is just starting."  He offered her a french fry and she shook her head,
wrinkling her nose in distaste.  Shrugging, he popped it into his mouth.  "I
started mine early so I could do some more research.  I'm supposed to meet
him in a little while."

"Find anything?" she asked curiously.  

"Nothing that would help us," he replied.  His cell phone began to ring. 
"Excuse me, one sec. -- Hello?  This is Detective D'Angelo."

Marguerite leaned back in the seat, feigning disinterest.  She didn't need to be
too close to overhear his conversation.

*****

"It's Nick," Natalie replied reluctantly.  "He wants to go after Branwen on his
own."

"That would be very foolish," Lacroix remarked.

"Why couldn't you have just told him about Branwen?" she asked in
frustration.  "Why does everything have to be so hard between the two of
you?"

Lacroix regarded her silently, trying to make sense of the woman before him. 
One moment, she was nervous around him, and the next, she was haranguing
him like Marguerite would.  He wondered how long it would take her to feel
comfortable around him.

"I am not trying to be difficult, Natalie, but I do not want *any* of you
involved.  When she was mortal, Branwen blamed me for things beyond my
control.  I do not want her using anyone to get to me."

"Couldn't you have just told him that?"

Lacroix stared at her, almost dumbfounded.  Were they both talking about
Nicholas, his son?  "And would that have stopped him, Natalie?  Be honest
with yourself.  Surely, you know Nicholas better than that."

The phone rang before Natalie could answer.  Under normal circumstances,
Lacroix would ignore it.  He had finished with his show for the evening, and he
had no wish to talk to listeners when not on air.  But his monologue tonight
had been aimed at Branwen, in hopes that she would be listening.  The show
was the only way she could have known he was here if she had been just
passing through Toronto, as she had told Marguerite.

The voice on the phone was definitely familiar.

"Good evening, General."

"Branwen.  I wish I could say this was a surprise, or even pleasant," he
remarked drolly.

"It certainly was surprising to me, Lucius, to hear your voice on the radio the
other night.  I thought you dead."

"And I you," Lacroix said simply, not wishing to engage in any more small talk
with this woman than was absolutely necessary.

It was obvious Branwen had other ideas.  "It seems that our children cannot
play nicely.  I wonder why that is.  Do you think it's in the blood?"

So she had children...that had tangled with his.  Suddenly, events of the last
week clicked into place.  And even now, her deductive reasoning was off. 
She'd assumed Marguerite was his child.  He smiled slyly as he replied, "You
may be right.  My children are always pleasant unless provoked.  It stands to
reason that your children share your...*charming* disposition."

"How like you to deny any responsibility for an unpleasant situation," she said
acidly.  "And this *will* be unpleasant, General.  You can count on it."

*****

Eric listened to the dispatcher intently.  There had been an anonymous tip on
where the missing heads were hidden.  A cemetery, of all places.

"Has Knight come in yet?" he asked.

"He was in before, Detective, but we're unable to get in touch with him now."

"I'll catch up with him later.  In the meantime, I'll check this lead out."  Putting
away his phone, he turned toward the backseat.  "Sorry to cut this short,
Daisy, but duty calls."  There was no answer, because the backseat was empty.

Marguerite was back in her hiding place, watching Eric prepare to leave.  As
soon as she heard where he'd planned on going, she'd left the car and let Lucien
know where she was going through their link.  She would have to follow Eric,
of course, to make sure he stayed out of trouble.  If it were a vampire
responsible for the murders, he would have no idea what he was getting into.

*****

"I look *forward* to it," Lacroix rasped as Branwen disconnected the call.  He
uttered a curse in Latin as he slammed down the phone.  He looked at Natalie
and ordered, "You and Nicholas will stay out of this, Natalie.  Do you
understand me?"

"But..."

"Where is Nicholas?" he interrupted.

Nat concentrated.  "Looking for Eric.  Dispatch couldn't contact him when
Nick got to the precinct, so Nick went out looking for him."

Marvelous.  Out looking for his partner, who was surely walking into a trap. 
Nicholas was going to be the death of him yet.  He'd already decided to ignore
Marguerite and meet her at the cemetery.  When he agreed to let her keep at
eye on the detective, it was with the understanding that she would not put
herself in any danger.

The door opened, and Alejandro entered.  Natalie made a face.  "Oh, I have a
babysitter now?"

Despite the gravity of the situation, Alejandro grinned.  "Am I getting paid for
this, Dad?" he asked wryly.

Ignoring the remark, Lacroix practically growled, "I will not tolerate *any*
disobedience in this matter.  Stay with your sister, no matter *what* happens. 
I..."  He trailed off, concentrating on something else.

Natalie could sense something was wrong, but she couldn't tell what. 
Marguerite was blocking her, a thing she rarely did.  Nervously, she asked,
"What's going on, Lacroix?"

It was Alejandro who answered, "Forget it, Nat, he's gone.  I'm taking you
home until this is all over.  Come on."


++++++++++++++++++++


Eric walked toward the crypt cautiously.  Nick was probably out chasing leads
on his own, thinking that his partner might be in danger if they ran into a
suspect of a more supernatural nature.  But he wasn't stupid.  Eric had
suspected that a vampire might be responsible for awhile now.

He had never told Nick this, but he'd been carrying a stake around with him
since he'd found out that his partner was one of the walking undead.  Not to
use against Nick, but once he found out that vampires were for real, he'd
decided that not all of them would be as understanding about him knowing
their secret as Nick's 'family' was.

Eric shone his flashlight on the crypt to see the name.  This was the right one,
according to whoever left the tip.  He pushed the door open and pointed his
flashlight inside.  Seeing no one, he walked in and examined the stone coffins. 
There, in the corner on his left, was one whose lid looked slightly displaced. 
Setting his flashlight where it shed some light on the coffin, he walked over to
it.  He lifted it slowly and peeked inside.  It was still very dim inside, but he
could definitely see that the original inhabitant had some company in there.

He had taken a step back and started to lower the lid into place, when someone
grabbed him by the neck from behind and dragged him outside.  He struggled,
but it was like there was a metal vise around his neck.  He began to panic; he
couldn't breathe, and there was no way to get to his gun -- or the stake --
which were both under his jacket.

Then just as suddenly as he was grabbed, the arm let go, tossing him away like
a doll.  He stumbled and fell against a gravestone, too concerned with catching
his breath and staying upright to do much of anything else.  When he finally
turned to face his attacker, he gasped, as much in surprise as to get enough
breath.  It was a woman, her red hair in wild disarray around her face, her eyes
glowing amber in the darkness, and her expression was fierce.  Dimly, he
noticed the sword that hung from one hand.  But the one feature Eric could not
tear his eyes from were her fangs, which were bared as she snarled at him.  

Branwen walked towards him slowly, the way a cat would stalk its prey.  Eric
backed up nervously, managing to get the tombstone in between himself and
approaching the monster before freezing in fear.  Seemingly out of nowhere,
there was a blur of motion, and the vampire was knocked to the ground.

Two vampires rose from the ground, snarling and hissing at one another.  He
recognized the jacket Marguerite had been wearing before he saw her face.  It
was a man's jacket, the green flannel looking almost black in the darkness.  He
remembered wondering to himself what she was doing wearing it, because it
dwarfed her already small frame.  Marguerite glanced around quickly and
noticed that Eric was still there.  

"Eric, get out of here.  Now!" she yelled.

Startled into action, Eric turned and ran.

Branwen began to circle, and Marguerite kept pace with her as she moved. 
"So you're his latest whore.  I was hoping to get Lucius' son, but this is an
unexpected bonus," she sneered.  "I suppose you think he loves you.  They
always do."

"But he doesn't?" Marguerite questioned sarcastically.  "Honestly, can't you
people think of anything original?  If Lucien is not capable of feelings, then
why do you think it will hurt him if something happens to me?"

"I knew him when we were mortal, girl.  You're his possession, and he doesn't
like to lose what's his.  Don't you think I know what I'm talking about?"

Marguerite's mind whirled, trying to think of things to say that might stall
everything long enough to get Lucien here.  "Marcus knew Lucien as a mortal
too, but he didn't know him any better than you do."

"You could not possibly know anything about Marcus, except for lies that the
pig might have told you.  He died in Pompeii."

Marguerite smiled, but it was not a pleasant one.  "Is that what you believe? 
Marcus died four years ago right here in Toronto.  I should know.  I helped kill
him," she taunted.  She knew it wasn't the smartest thing to do, but the words
had just tumbled out of her mouth.

"Liar!" Branwen screeched as she lunged toward Marguerite with the sword
raised.  Marguerite managed to evade the brunt of the blow, but she was still
injured.  She glanced at the wound, and noticed the slashes in the jacket that
she had borrowed from Alejandro.  There was even more blood from another
wound that she must have gotten when she knocked Branwen to the ground. 
It had begun to heal already, but there was quite a bit of blood.  "Lucius made
you; you would believe anything he said, say whatever he told you to."

"Lucien didn't bring me across, but you should be familiar with my master," she
said enigmatically.  Seeing Branwen had let her guard down in her anger,
Marguerite lunged for the sword, and they grappled for control of it.  "Marcus
tried to kill me, too.  He was too much of a coward to confront Lacroix
directly," she growled.

"He wasn't a coward!  He...  I'm not going to discuss this any further with
you."  Using a burst of strength, she pushed Marguerite away from her, and
lunged with the sword, stabbing the younger vampire in the leg.  "Don't worry,
*I* will be confronting the General...just as soon as I kill you."

She lunged again, but Marguerite was ready for her this time.  Branwen missed
her mark, getting Marguerite's arm instead.  Marguerite hissed in pain and
stepped backwards.  Branwen smiled, thinking her victim was backing away in
fear.  She raised the sword higher as she moved forward, intent on the kill.  

Instead, she suddenly found herself on the ground, with Lacroix's enraged
visage snarling at her.  She struggled, but he had her pinned down.  Her eyes
went from gold to red; she would not let him kill her as he had her mother.

Marguerite took a step forward, wanting to help.  But Lacroix growled, "I will
handle this, Marguerite.  Go help the detective."

She hesitated a moment, not wanting to leave.  It was then she heard Eric cry
out in pain.  She turned and ran to help him.

*****

Eric tried to run faster, but he was still out of breath.  Plus, he couldn't really
see where he was going, after losing his flashlight when he was grabbed. 
Coming around the corner of another crypt, he stopped short.  There was Dani
just standing there, like she had been waiting for him.  Her golden eyes glowed
in the moonlight as she approached him.

"I'm so glad to see you, Eric.  I was beginning to think that the other night had
meant nothing to you."

Not wanting to turn his back on her, he backed up as he spoke, "I've been
busy, Dani.  I'm a homicide detective, remember?"

She laughed, her fangs descending as she did.  "Do you think they'll find your
body when I'm done with you, Detective?  Who will investigate your murder? 
Your partner?" she asked maliciously.

Swearing that he would never talk to another woman at the Raven if he made it
out of this alive, he picked up his pace...and backed right into a wall.  "Are you
sure you wanna kill me?"

"Oh yes," she whispered in a husky voice.  "You smell delicious."  She pinned
him to the wall with her body, and ripped the top of his shirt open.  Seeing the
crucifix glinting in the moonlight, she hissed and backed up a step.

Eric looked around wildly, trying to figure out where to run.  But she was too
close; there was nowhere to go.

Dani was so angry.  She didn't like being kept from her meals once she'd
picked them out, and she'd been denied this one for far too long.  Driven by her
intense desire for his blood, she lunged forward and ripped the chain from his
neck, crying out from the pain as she did so.  Holding him still by his neck with
one hand, she pushed his head to one side.

She growled in pleasure as she licked his neck in anticipation.  "I hope you're
worth all this work, Eric.  I'd hate to be disappointed."

"Or what?  You'll kill me?" he managed to croak out.

"Something like that."

He cried out in pain as she sank his fangs into his neck, his mind reeling from
the experience.  The other night, he had wondered what it would be like if
Marguerite would have lost control of herself.  Funny, but for some reason,
he'd thought it would be a pleasurable experience, as frightening as the idea
was.

He wasn't in pain long.  Dani released him and stepped back, snarling at some
unseen attacker.  No longer being held up by Dani's grip, Eric slid down the
wall to the ground.  When his vision cleared, he saw Marguerite holding Dani
by the scruff of her neck.

"I thought I told you to stay away from him," she growled into Dani's ear.

Dani twisted, trying to get free.  "It doesn't matter what you think.  Branwen
will take care of you after she kills Lacroix."

Sensing movement out of the corner of her eye, Marguerite glanced towards
Eric, who was trying to stand.  Dani used the opportunity to break free and
push Marguerite to the ground.  Eric managed to get upright while they
grappled with each other.  He'd lost enough blood to feel a little woozy, but
he'd live.  He hoped.

"Eric, a little help would be good right now," Marguerite called out.  Normally,
she would have no problems taking on a vampire this young, but she'd been
hurt worse than she'd realized when she fought Branwen.  If Eric helped her,
the sooner she could get him to safety.

"What do you want me to do?"

"Find something you could use as a stake!"

He began to look around before he remembered that he should still have one in
his jacket pocket.  He fumbled through his pockets and found it, creeping
towards the fighting vampires as he did so.  Marguerite saw him coming and
fell to the ground, allowing Dani to think she'd gotten the upper hand.

As soon as Dani had her back totally to him, Eric rushed forward and plunged
the stake into her back where he hoped her heart was.  She cried out in pain
and anger, and then slumped over Marguerite, who warned, "Don't pull it out,
Eric."  She pushed the body off her and sat up, groaning with the effort.

Eric stared at the dead vampire in fascination.  He asked, "That's it?"

"What were you expecting?"

"Dunno...on Buffy they just kind of disappear.  It's much neater."

Marguerite smiled despite herself.  "What did I tell you about watching too
much science fiction, Detective?"  She stood up, leaning against a headstone
for support as she did.  "I can't believe..."  Her words cut off as she cried out in
pain.


End Part Six