An hour later there was a knock on the front door. Charlie, Mikki's bodyguard was the first to stand up and went to answer it. He came back into the room with Steve who wore a traditional bounty hunter outfit. A black t-shirt, black jeans, black boots, and every weapon that he could safely carry. His hair was the same color it always was, a rich blond color.

I could never tell if Steve's hair was its natural color or if it came from a bottle. Isn't it funny how I was noticing his hair color and not how many weapons he had on him? I think I'm losing my knack for this stuff. I thought and wasn't sure if I should be sad about that or not.

I assumed we needed a little privacy and asked everyone to leave the room. Both Steve and I knew that they could hear everything we said anyway, because their hearing was phenomenal. The gesture of leaving us alone was appreciated nonetheless.

“I forgot to ask you what you were doing in town earlier.” I said.

“I had some varmints to clean up locally. I was in the area and figured I could help out my buddy on a vampire hunt.” Steve winked when he had said ‘help out'.

Yep. Good old Steve. Always eager to kill or help kill any supernatural creepy crawlies.

“I'm glad you were there to help me, Steve.” I said and then a thought I'd completely forgotten about popped into my head. “What about the vampire I chased?”

“It's about time you asked. I figured you were getting all soft forgetting about the prey.” Steve said with a smile on his face.

I glared at him for the 'soft' comment. “Just answer the damn question.”

“You got him. After I dug you out of the rubble and got you to the hospital, I went back and kept digging. I found what was left of him about ten feet from where I found you. He was crushed and impaled on half dozen shards of wood the size of my forearm. I guess the floorboards buckled up underneath him before the roof fell on him.”

I let out a long breath of air. I was relieved that I had completed my last job, even though technically the building he collapsed on top of us had killed him. Then another thought occurred to me.

“It's been a couple of weeks since then. Why are you still here?”

“Are you so anxious to see me go?” Steve pouted his lip and then he laughed.

“No, I'm just curious.” I said with an answering smile.

“I told Sally about your accident.”

Sally! Oh, boy. I did not want her to come here to take care of me. That was something she would do just to make sure that Steve and I weren't doing anything... inappropriate. Even though there was absolutely no chance of that happening with me in a wheelchair, she would want to be here just in case.

Steve must have liked the look on my face because he laughed. “She really wanted to come and repay you for rescuing me that time in Mexico by taking care of you.” He said with a big grin. “I told her not to come.”

Oh, Thank God. Thank you, God. I thought in prayer. “Amen.” I whispered.

Steve heard me and laughed again.

I always could make him laugh like that. It was one of the reasons why I've stayed alive this long, I think. You couldn't beat a good sense of humor and a powerful handgun. And grenades. Those helped, too.

“I'm just sticking around long enough to make sure you'll be okay.” Steve reassured me. “I'll be heading back home by Friday.”

“I get your seal of approval then?” I said with a hint of teasing in my voice.

“Yeah, you'll be okay. You've got a lot of support here and you're going to need it.” Steve said, his playful voice going all serious. “I've never lied to you, David. It's going to be hard. Harder than anything you've ever faced before.”

“I don't know, Steve. I've faced some pretty horrible things in my life so far.”

“This isn't something you can fight against or hunt down and kill. You are just going to have to live with it. Don't let it get you down, though. People suffer, David. Life goes on.”

I looked away for a moment before I spoke. “Pearls of wisdom, I guess.”

Steve turned away and headed for the door. “Call me if you need anything.”

“I will. And thanks.”

“Anytime, anywhere, David.”

“Ditto.” I said.

Steve didn't turn around; but, I could see that he slumped a bit when I said that. It was then that I realized that I couldn't do the same for him. Not anymore.

I heard the front door click shut and Steve was gone.

*

Everyone gathered together at the house a week later to brainstorm about my situation. Yeah, there was a lot to discuss about how they were going to try to heal me and where we could do it. After a short debate, it was Jeanette who spoke up first.

“Well, we all have to agree that it should be my darling's were-cats who should try to heal him first.”

“We tried already.” Mikki said.

“Is this true, My darling?”

“Yeah, while I was in the hospital. During my last week there we gathered together after one of my therapy sessions.”

Nina mumbled something like 'sounds like fun'. I ignored her and went on.

“We couldn't get a good enough... I don't know... 'charge' I guess is a good word to use. We gave it the old college try; but, no dice. I even had Mikki try to share her transforming energy as she shifted. Nothing happened.” I sighed and took Jeanette's hand. “I guess what I'm saying is, we should try and call up power with my bond to you and through yours to your vampires to see if that would help.”

“Why don't we try healing with just me first?” Jeanette asked with a sexy smile.

“I'm sorry, Jeanette. In my current state, I can't... perform.” I said and glanced at Mikki. Her face went red and she glanced at her sister, Natalie. Her face wasn't red at all and she just shrugged. She wasn't going to apologize for trying everything she could to get a rise out of me, so to speak.

A lot of things had changed over the last couple of weeks. Jeanette had said previously that we were more or less sharing our personality traits, which was a little scary. Not the part about me sharing hers, since she was more or less normal and didn't overreact to things. It was about her sharing mine. Can you imagine the head of a vampire family acting like a ruthless and merciless vampire hunter? I swear I just felt the biggest shiver run down my spine.

“So, are we going to just stand here or are we going to do something?” Nina asked. That's my Nina. Leave it to her to go from a self-defeating tone to a defiant one in the space of a heartbeat.

“According to my darling, we can't just 'do something'.” Jeanette said in a slightly condescending voice. That's my Jeanette. Leave it to her to get right to the point.

I rubbed my eyes a bit to get some of the tired look out of them. “Jeanette is right, Nina. In my current condition, a lot of our options have been removed.” I said with a little sarcasm. They both looked at me like I hadn't said the obvious.

“My darling, you know what my view on your problem is.”

“Yes, Jeanette. I do.” I said and shook my head in a clear indication of 'no'.

Her solution, in my opinion, was the last thing I wanted to do. She wanted to make me a vampire and her permanent mate. We already had a pretty strong bond and we were already partially sharing personalities. If Jeanette turned me and made me hers, then we would be bound together forever... just don't get me started on if I would still have my soul afterwards if I did it voluntarily.

“I can't let you do that, Jeanette.” Both Nina and I said at the same time. We looked at each other with wide eyes, then we both laughed.

“What is so funny about that?” Jeanette asked with a slightly puzzled look on her face.

Nina chimed in first. “It's the first time in a long time that David and I have done that. It's funny. As to why we said it, you have to agree that making him a vampire right now might mean David will be crippled forever.”

“There is a chance he will be healed when his body is converted.” Jeanette said. Unfortunately, you could hear it in the sound of her voice that she didn't quite believe it herself.

“We... I mean I... can't take that chance. I don't want to be in this chair now, and it's only been a month. Imagine what I'd feel about staying in this chair for eternity.”

“It would be a shame indeed.” Jeanette agreed with a sigh, then she, Nina, and I went into Jeanette's bedroom to get some privacy.

“Come on, if we relax and be gentle, we should kick off sharing energy over the bond pretty quick.” I said with enthusiasm.

Both Jeanette and Nina moved to helped me out of the chair and I gave them the 'if you touch me, your dead' look. They hesitated for a few moments, just long enough for me to move over to the bed and get out of the chair on my own. To make up for not letting them helping me, I sprawled there on the bed and tried to look inviting.

Nina approached the bed only a moment before Jeanette, and they cuddled me from both sides. Unlike all the other times we had been together trying to start something, this time they just held me. Just comforting arms holding me, surrounding me with love. I laid there between them, and I felt... safe. At home.

Usually it takes no time for any of us to generate some kind of emotion, namely unbridled sexual desire. Unfortunately, I had nothing. I realized I had been hiding my emotions like a son of a bitch, so I let them go and tried to concentrate on my bond with Jeanette. Nothing happened. I opened my eyes wide and looked at two of the women in my life.

“Are either of you trying to protect yourselves as hard as I am?” I asked them.

They both turned to me with identical looks of surprise on their faces.

“My darling, I have been shielding some.” Jeanette responded.

“Me, too.” Nina said.

I gazed at them like they had two heads, because I had thought they wanted to help me as much as they could. I concentrated on my bond with Jeanette and felt slight pangs of guilt and a lot of regret. I couldn't tell from whom, so I felt along the bond and Nina caught her breath as the tiny bond with her flared up slightly, which meant we did have an independent bond from Jeanette.

I felt more strongly the regret from Jeanette and the guilt from Nina. That was all. I was this close to them and I should have been rolling in their feelings and vampire powers, because I wasn't trying to block them at all.

I said the first thing that came to mind. “Oh, boy. This is bad. Really bad.”

“That, my darling, is a serious understatement.” Jeanette caught my sentiments exactly.

We laid there in silence for what seemed an eternity, but was actually only a few minutes.

“What are we going to do, my love?” Nina asked, concern in her voice.

“Damned if I know.” I said with a slightly high-pitched tone to my voice. “Apparently, without the feeling in my... ah... private parts, it has technically altered my connection to Jeanette and...” I felt along that tiny bond. “...and to you as well.”

“My darling, this cannot...”

“Quiet, Jeanette. Let me say this.” I said and cut her off. I gave Nina a look and stopped her before she said anything in response, then took a deep breath and continued. “Jeanette is super sexy. It's her main power to be alluring and to seduce. She even affects those around her and makes others both think and feel sexy. I've known this on an intellectual level for a long time; but, it wasn't until my accident that I realized just how much she affects those around her, especially me. Now it seems that I'm immune to it.”

“My darling...” Jeanette started to whisper.

“I said...” My anger flared up, and that part of me that is my power... actually, there was no 'part' because it was just me, now... poured out of me and I shoved it into Jeanette. “...shut up!”

She stopped talking in mid-sentence and looked like she was choking. Absolutely no sound came from her. Nina turned shocked eyes to me and I felt her fear. My power flared at that and I shoved it into Nina and she gasped instead of speaking as my power filled her. There was nothing like swallowing someone else's power to shut them up, so I continued to speak uninterrupted.

“Jeanette was never worried about not being in control, Nina. She was always in control.” I took my arm away from holding Jeanette. “She didn't need to worry about me rebelling or me trying to get away from her, because she had my libido.” I let out the sigh I was holding in. “Until now."

Jeanette writhed on the bed and she clawed at her throat as she desperately tried to speak.

I looked at her and watched for several moments, then with a touch of my power I said, “Speak.”

Jeanette coughed for almost a full minute before she said anything. “My darling, I would never...”

“No lies.” I said and pushed a little more power into her over the bond we had.

Jeanette changed what she said instantly. “You're right.”

Nina looked like a stray dog that was just run over by a truck. “You mean...”

“Yes, David is correct. I was always in control. It is one of the uses of my power to manipulate those around me to suit my purposes.”

“Did you make her say that, David?” Nina asked, both fearfully and curiously.

“No. I can only make her follow 'the dead can't lie' rule.” I said, a little sadly.

Nina glared at her family head. “You've manipulated us this whole time? All these years, it was just one big Machiavellian plot?”

“No, Nina. Not one plot. Several hundred smaller ones that have all come together. Even I cannot plan to that extent.” Jeanette said.

“Well, that's good to know.” I said.

“You have become a wrench in the cogs of this bonding, my darling.” Jeanette said with a glare.

“Well I am so sorry! If I had known that I had to get paralyzed to find out the truth, I think I would have preferred to live in ignorant bliss, thank you very much!” I spat at her.

“I'd have preferred not to know, too.” Nina said, almost in a whine.

“I cannot undo that which cannot be undone.” Jeanette said. “We have come too far to back away now. Until my darling is healed however, there is nothing I can do with our bond altered like this.”

I agreed with her one hundred percent. Without the fully functioning bond to act as a conduit between us, we couldn't call enough power between us to raise the hair on the back of my neck, let alone try to heal my broken spine.

I said what I thought out loud. “We have to generate enough power to try to heal me; but until I'm healed, we can't generate enough power. Great. Just great.” I said, also in a whining tone. “We've got ourselves another catch 22."

Jeanette spoke before Nina did. “Another catch 22? What is the other one, my darling?”

Damn it. I thought. This wasn't the direction I wanted this conversation to go. How could I say it without hurting their feelings? Do I lie or tell the truth? I looked into both of their eyes and decided. Truth. “I love you, but... I'm not in love with you.”

They looked at each other and then looked back at me. Jeanette had her blank face on and Nina was smiling.

“I need to hear you say it, My darling. Which of us do you mean?” Jeanette asked.

“Both of you.” I responded.

Nina looked like the truck that had run over her earlier had backed up over her. Twice. “David...” She started to say.

“My darling...” Jeanette started at the same time.

"No. No debate. No arguing. I love you both and you mean a lot to me; but, I am not in love with either of you. You have special places in my heart and that's it."

“Is it your girlfriend Mikki or Natalie that holds your favor now?” Jeanette asked and seemed angry.

That was fine. I love my anger, because it had kept me alive for years when everything else in my life went to crap. There was no possible way that she could affect me that way.

“Neither of them. It is just like what everyone has been saying about me for years. There's always been a part of me that I kept holding back. I think it's the part of me that loved my mother. When she died, I believe my ability to give that part of me away died, too. I'll never love anyone like I did my mother, and no one...” My anger flared again and gave both of them a taste of my power. “...NO ONE will ever get that part of me!”

Nina and Jeanette sprang off the bed like they had been burned, and I guess they were. My necromancer powers affected the dead and that's what vampires were. Resurrected corpses.

“David, my darling. Please calm down. You're getting excited over nothing.” Jeanette said and rubbed her arms to stop them from tingling.

Nothing? I thought angrily. She thinks that losing my mother was nothing?

After years of being manipulated, used, and abused by Jeanette and any other vampire that she thought would enjoy spending time with me, I had finally had enough. I didn't call up my power, I became it. I harnessed this power and added my anger at the injustice of it all and created a new and kind of terrifying monster to use as I saw fit. And it liked being created. Oh, boy.

You know how sometimes when you do something mystical, that any supernatural creatures around you could probably feel it? Well, when I gave birth to my new self, to say it was like a nuclear explosion was a serious understatement. Ripples of power, pure necrotic power, went out into the world and every supernatural creature and creepy-crawly in the city felt it.

I used that power as I threw my essence out and felt each and every one of them in turn... and discovered that they were afraid. But that's not all. I raised the dead. At least half a dozen zombies in pretty much every graveyard in the city had been raised by me at one point in time over the years.

Those ripples of power touched every single grave in town, and a few outside of town because each one seemed to add to the reach of the power. I knew each graveyard because I had visited them all. I felt like I could call any zombie from them if I wanted to. Oh, I wanted to. It would show... well, everyone... that no one should mess with me.

I wasn't drowning in power, either. It wasn't long before I figured out why. I wasn't fighting it. Unlike all the other times that I had called power, or had it thrust on me unwillingly by Jeanette or the were-cats, I wasn't choking on it. It was like a part of my brain had said, 'Finally!'. It was then that I decided that I wouldn't use the power like this. Not yet, anyway.

It deserved respect and not malice or hatred. I slowly withdrew from that all encompassing feeling and when I came back to settle my essence into my own head, Jeanette and Nina were on the floor. The both of them were touching my ankles and holding hands. I looked down at them and they looked up. I saw both of them had awe and respect on their faces with a touch of fear mixed in.

“You came along for the ride?” I asked, a little surprised.

“We brought you back.” They said at the same time.

I laughed at them; a good full belly laugh. “No, you didn't. At no point did I even suspect you were there calling me or even touching me. It was all me. Not you, Jeanette. Not Nina. Me.”

“If it wasn't for us, you would still be floating around out there, doing heaven knows what.” Nina said.

“So, you were along at least for the end of the ride. You must have felt what I did, Nina. I chose to come back.”

“Yes. You chose not to become a monster.” Nina said and looked both relieved and hurt at the same time.

“I AM A MONSTER!” I yelled at her.

Nina started to cry long and drawn out sobs that seemed fake, because no tears stained her face. I thought I heard her whispering something over and over. I couldn't make it out, though. I wasn't sure what would have been said next, because the bedroom door burst open and a large cat-woman stood in the doorway. It was really strange to see someone I knew like that in the middle of the month and nowhere near the full moon. She looked both pissed and pleased.

“Hi, Mikki.” I said, my anger fading at seeing her cute and furry face.

“I don't know what's going on in here.” Mikki almost spat, then she purred at me. “I felt you call me.”

“What do you mean he called you?” Jeanette asked.

“He called my feline heart and I answered.” Mikki said. “That's never happened before.”

Both Jeanette and Nina looked at her with shock on their faces, because I hadn't shown any kind of ability like that. Ever.

“What of the others?” Jeanette asked.

Mikki gave a quick cat howl and we heard several answering cat howls respond.

Nina turned to me. “You called their beast side?”

“No.” I said, then I thought about what happened when I reached out to everyone and I felt their fear. It wasn't me that they were afraid of, I realized. It was the power calling their beasts that they feared. “Oh, God.” I said and rubbed my face with a hand.

“What is it David?” Nina asked.

“I touched every supernatural creature in town, Nina. I've only got connections with the were-cats; but, if I called their beasts, then the whole city could respond and they might all change.”

“Oh, no.” Nina said.

“Yeah.” I sighed.

“Then fix it. Change them back. You know what we need to eat when we first change.” Mikki said as she licked her lips and stared at me. “Meat... or blood.”

“What time is it?” Nina asked.

“One in the morning.” Mikki said, almost in a purr.

“Good.” I said and thought about what I needed to do. “Stand back.”

Both Jeanette and Nina started to talk at the same time. “What are you...”

“QUIET!” I yelled and a ripple of anger and power went across the room and they fell silent. My power hadn't turned off before. It seemed like I didn't have an 'off' switch anymore. I reached out with my power and essence like I had before by accident and felt everyone that I had touched. I focused my attention on the living this time and I could see them more clearly now.

I recalled how I had felt when calling them mere moments ago and I reversed it. Instead of giving them power and calling their beast, I drained off their energy and calmed them to try and change them back. That took care of almost all of them, since they were mostly in private situations, like in their homes and in bed. Unfortunately, some of them had night jobs and were going to be a problem.

It was such a rush to absorb all that living energy when I was only used to deal with the cool energy of the dead. I knew I couldn't keep it myself though, so I waved Mikki to come over to me and I kissed her furry face. She meowed at me and then the hair on her body stood on end as I funnelled all that living energy into her and into the bonds she had with the were-cats that were her family. I didn't distribute it evenly, though. I tried to give a lion's share to Mikki and her parents, that way they could spread it out as they saw fit over everyone in their pack.

Unfortunately, with the bond I had with Jeanette damaged like it was, I couldn't share the energy with her or her vampire family... not that they would be compatible with living energy anyway. I drained off the last of that energy from the people I had endangered and I felt everyone change back. Mikki's now normal lips kissed me deeply and she had to stop herself before things went too far.

I did not tell her that it was a rush to use her family like living batteries, which meant that I was definitely getting smarter about when to keep my mouth shut.