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You have a minor choice to make. It will change the order you do things and possibly gain you more clues. Will you call the black magic practitioner immediately or someone else?

A) Call the Witch. B) Call for help. C) Call Mikki. D) Call Sanchez.

Despite Mikki's acceptance of my plan, she's still pissed at me. Sanchez hasn't called me and I know for a fact that he would if he had something, unlike Rick. The Witch? She was a complete unknown. I thought. Screw it. I can definitely use more help. I choose B.

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I decided to call Steve and left a message with his answering service. He called me right back and I let him know what had been going on. I filled him in on the murders across the country and the murders and kidnappings here in the city. I told him about the copy of the security video I borrowed from Jeanette and he told me to keep it hidden until he got there.

Of course, being slow on the uptake, I asked him why he was coming. He said that he wouldn't miss a vampire hunt if his life depended on it, even if he was ‘officially' retired from bounty hunting.

His wife Sally had convinced him that he had made enough money that he could invest it and spend more time with her and the kids. He agreed on one condition. If he was needed for a hunt, he was going on a hunt, regardless of money and the circumstances.

I had assumed that she would have put her foot down at such a blatant bypass of retirement, and all she said was that she would have expected nothing less from him. It had made me laugh when he told me.

Two hours later, his plane landed and he called to say he would be there soon. I didn't have to wait long for Steve to show up at my place, once he was back in town. He knocked at the door only half an hour after his call and Mikki led him into the kitchen where I was sitting at the table.

I drank a cup of coffee while Steve explained that he had a private plane booked on standby since my accident, just in case I called and said that he was needed. I thanked him and asked how much that had cost him.

Steve shook his head. “I tell you about my noble gesture and all you can think about is how much it cost me to do it?”

“You've always known I'm a practical person.” I smiled. “You know I can't help it.”

Steve laughed and sat down across from me while Mikki gave him a cup of coffee the same as what I had. Black and two sugars. I had Luke's manila folder on the table between us and pushed it toward him. He read it all and looked at the list of victims.

“Interesting. These are all people who have crossed paths with you over the years.” Steve said.

“You're the only one who actually got that.” I said and took a drink of coffee.

Steve looked at me, then at Mikki, and back to me again. He squinted his eyes a little and spoke. “So, what you're saying is, I'm the only one in your life at the moment who actually knows you good enough to understand the significance of this?” He held up the list and shook the piece of paper.

Mikki sat down at the table with us and fidgeted in the chair a little.

“Yes.” I said, not looking at Mikki, even though it was quite hard not to.

“O-kay.” Steve said. “Now that that's out of the way, do you have that security video?”

I passed over the DVD that I had stashed away since the car accident that had miraculously not broken it, and he pocketed it without even glancing at it.

“Aren't you going to watch it?” I asked, curious.

“Not here. I've got a guy who handles this sort of stuff for me. I'll have him check it and get the plate numbers of the car if he can, as well as pictures of the perps.”

“I know one of the perps. Her name's Mina and she used to work for Jeanette.” I said. “May still be, since I'm not sure how you actually fire a vampire that betrays you.” I pointed to his pocket. “She'll be the female vampire. It's the other one I'm concerned with.” I said, my face angry. “He's the one I want.”

I had the thought of having my hands wrapped around that bastard's neck and squeezed. The poor mug I had a death grip on shattered into a hundred pieces and they flew everywhere. Luckily, I had just finished drinking the contents and I didn't have to scramble to gather up the papers that Steve had scattered across the table, from being ruined by splashed coffee.

Steve looked at me expectantly for a moment, as if looking forward to having me along for the hunt, then the light faded from his eyes as he remembered that I was still confined to a wheelchair.

I noticed the look on his face and hopped out of my chair, knocking it over. “Damn it, that was one of my favorite mugs!” I said loudly and waved at the mess.

Steve was glued to his chair and sat there, dumbfounded. His eyes never left my legs.

I was pretty sure that I could have pulled a knife from my boot, cut off one of his ears, drawn my gun and shot him at least twice, before he spoke. Yes, it was that long. I almost felt bad about surprising him like I did. Almost.

“I... I'm not dreaming, am I?” Steve asked me, his voice full of disbelief.

I just smiled at him and shook my head. He jumped up from the chair even quicker than I did and took me into a big bear hug. I was so surprised by it that it was me who could have been shot or maimed without realizing it.

Steve broke the hug and moved back from me with what looked like a tear in his eye before he wiped it away. “God, it's good to see you this way. I don't care how it happened. Or why.” He sat back down and continued drinking his coffee.

I picked up my chair and got another mug from the cupboard. I filled it with coffee and sat back down.

“I think it hit me harder than I thought it would when I saw you for the first time in that wheelchair.” Steve said, his voice sounded weak and subdued.

I was speechless. I had never heard that tone from him before.

“Then you said you would always have my back. I... I knew that it would never happen while you were stuck in that damned wheelchair.”

“I knew it the second I said it, too.” I said, my voice sad. “There was no way I could ever help you again. There would be no reason for you to help me, either.” I looked at his face. “At least, I didn't think so at the time.”

We exchanged glances and saw each other's expressions. Then we both laughed.

Mikki, who had watched the whole show, spoke up. “I don't understand. Why are you laughing?”

“It's hard to explain.” I said and Steve nodded. I looked at Mikki's puzzled expression and tried to put it into words. “It's like this. When Steve realized I was paralyzed, he knew he would never get to kill anything with me again. When I realized I couldn't help cover his ass in a sticky situation, I wouldn't ask him to help me kill stuff, either. Not that I could with useless legs.”

Mikki still looked like she didn't understand.

“We both knew that we had lost that something... special between us. Our friendship was built on it and we would never have it again.” I said and then chuckled. “I told you it was hard to explain.”

“I think it would be better to think of it as missing a continued shared experience.” Steve said.

Mikki nodded her head; but, I don't think she got it. Actually, unless she was like Steve and myself, I don't think she would ever understand it.

Steve assumed the point had been made and moved on. “I'll call you as soon as my source has anything.” He said and stood up. “It's good to have you back, David.”

“It's good to be back, Steve.” I said and saluted him with my new coffee cup and we nodded to each other.

“I'll see myself out.” Steve said and left.

That night was one of the longest nights I could remember. Not only did I not sleep, Mikki didn't, either. Neither of us wanted to go to bed together or by ourselves and it was really awkward. We have almost always had Natalie with us, either together or individually, and now that we knew we would never be able to do anything with her again, ever, we didn't want to do anything at all. Or, at least I didn't. I wasn't sure how Mikki felt because we haven't spoken at all since Steve left.

The next morning, we sat at the kitchen table and just stared at each other over our uneaten breakfast. Just when I thought I couldn't take the silence anymore, the phone rang.

Mikki, who looked just as distressed as I did, grabbed for the phone like a lifeline. She listened for a minute and hung up the phone. “I have to go. Pack business.”

“Okay.” I said without looking at her.

Mikki turned away and started to walk towards the bedroom to get changed, when the phone rang again. She stopped and grabbed the phone again, almost faster than the eye could see. She sighed a little and held it out to me.

“It's for you.” Mikki said.

I looked at her for a brief moment and she let me see the hurt in her eyes as I took the receiver from her. It made my heart stop beating for a moment. “Hello?” I said when the moment passed.

“David, it's Steve.”

“Steve.” I said and my spirits soared, because he said he would only call if he had something. “What have you got for me?”

“Just had my guy finish up with the security video. I'll fax you over the pictures of the vamps. I've got a couple of other connections working on the plate number right now.”

“Great. I'll take the pictures over to the mansion and see if Jeanette and her... oh, damn.” I sighed.

“What?”

“I almost forgot. There's no point in going to her right now. She hasn't talked to me, let alone seen me in person, in two days.”

“Why? What happened?” Steve asked.

I recounted most of the story, but left out a few pieces, like Natalie making me into a were-cat. That's not something Steve needed for me to tell him over the phone. That was an 'in person' discussion if anything was.

“Then how are you going to find out about the male vampire?” Steve asked.

“She's not the only vampire in town, you know.”

“No, but she owns a good portion of them as the head of the family, doesn't she?”

“Yeah, but I've still got connections.” I said, thinking of Charlotte and Nina. Of course, Nina was avoiding me just as much as Jeanette was. Guilt and accusations could scare even vampires away.

“That's my old partner.” Steve said. “I'll call when the licence plate gets traced.”

“On my cell.”

“You got it.” Steve said and hung up.

I turned around and went over to the fax machine to wait for the pictures to come through. The thing was old and it looked like it had been dropped down the stairs a few times. It still worked, though. The first picture that came through was a pretty good picture of Mina. The second picture was an almost full face shot of the male vampire.

I had a knee-jerk reaction to it and my anger and power burst out. I almost smashed the fax machine before I caught myself. Calm down, David. Get a grip. He'll be yours, soon. I took a deep breath and hit the button to print the fax again. I've got to find out who he is. I thought, then realized it was morning and I would have to wait until tonight to ask the vampires I knew about it.

Mikki came into the kitchen dressed to go out. “I'm leaving now.”

My eyes brightened and my face lit up when she looked at me. I might not be able to talk to the vampires yet, but I sure as hell could see if the were-cats knew anything.

“I want you to do something for me.” I said and stepped close to her.

Mikki squinted her eyes at me, almost as if she was trying to decide if I was joking or not, then I held up the picture of the male vampire.

“This is the bastard that killed Natalie.” I said and held it out to her. “I want you to pass this around to everyone in the pack and see if anyone knows who he is, or even if anyone has seen him.”

Mikki very gingerly took the picture and stared at the male vampire's face. It looked like she was memorizing it. After a few moments, she looked at me and nodded.

“I also don't know the name of the missing were-cat that was used as a sacrifice.” I reminded her.

“We're still looking, David.” Mikki said, frustrated. “You know there's so many around that...”

I reached out and touched her shoulder tentatively. “I'm not demanding anything, Mikki. I was just reminding you that if you did know who it was, they were involved and this picture might help you find out who it is.”

Mikki took in a sharp breath and looked at the picture again. “I understand.” She said. “Thank you.”

“We're in this together until the end, one way or the other.”

Mikki had wide eyes for a moment, then she stepped close and tried to give me a quick kiss. When our lips touched, an electric shock went through the two of us. My anger and power were right there, since I hadn't tried to push it away after receiving the fax. Mikki's anger was also right below the surface, and when we kissed, our bodies need to express that anger.

We both growled into each other's mouths and the quick kiss became a full on make out session. Mikki's hands were all over me, her nails digging in and marking me, everywhere she could reach. I was doing the same thing, except I still only had human fingernails. I still marked her up good, though.

“You bastard!” Mikki spat at me as she broke the kiss.

“I really am.” I said.

“No! You're supposed to call me a bitch!” Mikki said and punched my chest.

“Ow.” I said and rubbed the spot. “Even if you were a bitch, I'd never say it.”

“David!” Mikki punched me in the face and I stepped close to her, so she couldn't get much strength behind it. “You're supposed to fight! Fight, goddammit!”

“I am.” I said and grabbed her nice shirt and tore it open. Her bra broke and her breasts bounced and jiggled. “I'm going to fight you so goddamn hard!” I said and dug my hands into the soft and tender flesh of her chest.

“Oh, god!” Mikki exclaimed and then she moaned as my mouth followed and then bit her nipple. “Harder, you ass!”

I bit her hard and tasted blood, and Mikki roared a cat-like sound and then I was suddenly on my back on the floor, my pants and her skirt were shredded, and she had me in her mouth. I was hard instantly for her and she growled as she sucked, then she was riding me as hard and as fast as she could.

“I... fucking hate... you!” Mikki said and moved faster. “You... killed... my sister!”

“I did.” I said and saw her falter at my blatant admission. I took the chance to gain the advantage and rolled her over. She fought and tried to hit me, so I caught her arms and leaned over her to use as much leverage as I could. Even though she was still a lot stronger than me, being a full were-cat, leverage still gave me the upper hand.

“NO! Let me... LET ME UP!” Mikki yelled.

I didn't say anything and started to move in and out of her. “I'm going to make you mine again!” I said loudly into her face, then I let her hands go and buried my face into her neck. I hugged her close, so she couldn't hit me except on the sides, and I rammed myself as hard and as fast as I could into her. Her fists pounded my sides for several minutes as I forced myself on her, then her fists slowed down. Her hands opened and the punches became slaps, then they stopped and she hugged me back.

Then I bit her neck.

Mikki's whole body shook and shivered from pleasure. Her eyes almost rolled into the back of her head and she lost most of the strength in her limbs.

I noticed the difference and slowed down my movements as I stopped biting her.

Mikki came back to herself and she glared at me. “That wasn't fair!”

“Who said fights were fair?” I asked her and let her out of the hug.

“What are you...” Mikki started to ask, then I grabbed her ankles and almost bent her in half as I pushed her legs to the floor.

“We're still fighting.” I said and then jammed myself so hard into her that I thought I had pushed things too much and had gone a bit too far.

“OhhhhhHHHHH!” Mikki moaned and came, clamped herself so hard on me that I almost lost all feeling in my penis, then I came, too.

I collapsed on top of her as I let her legs go and she put her arms around me to hold me. “Mikki, I...”

“Don't.” Mikki said and looked into my eyes. “Don't ruin it with words, David.”

I nodded and carefully licked her neck where I had bitten her. It was already healing and she squirmed a little at the feeling of my tongue.

A short time later, Mikki was showered and dressed again. She stopped before she left and looked into my eyes. She moved in close and just before she kissed me, she stopped and growled. I made a short mewling sound and her eyes flashed satisfaction, then she kissed me.

The spark was still there and it went through us again; but, we knew its power now and accepted that whatever happened between us, sex was definitely not a problem.

Mikki broke the kiss and gave me another pointed look, then she left. She was going to be very late checking in with her pack and she had the perfect excuse. Me. No one questioned her about it, either.