Harper's Adventure

With His Life

Smith had Zane tied up in a chair. Vampires for the West Council had promised to turn him if he spied for them. Smith was spying on Eve and Harper and he was using Zane. He had to marry Zane to keep up appearances. Zane was hurt and had no idea that he was just a pon.

Zane was beaten up but he was tough and could handle a fist to his face. The fact that it was his husband that punched his face, crushed him. His thoughts of how much he hated Smith were interrupted as people arrived. He thought one was Harper but his eyes were swollen from being punched in the face.

Anders had the computer and the alien memory stick but Harper had made a copy with Blair's help. It was a good thing that Nero didn't know that the content of the memory stick was already sent and copied. Blair helped with that and spread the news. Nero had nowhere to hide. Zane and Blair would make a great team if they ever worked together.

Hale wanted to keep Harper a secret so he stood beside Harper and Jack. The vampires wouldn't know Harper was a vampire past Hale's signature. They would blur together anyway and appear as one vampire. No one checked the registry until there was a problem so no one knew that Harper was turned except Hale and the band.

The vampires with Smith would mistake Jack's human signature with Harper. Harper was pleased. He wanted the element of surprise and had to get Zane back. He would protect Jack. Harper promised Anders and Jack. Jack didn't want to leave Harper's side but the band stayed out of this...except Charlie. He loved a good fight. Lee and Krista appeared in the back behind the enforcers. Anders rolled his eyes. No one listened to him. He told them to stay away.

Hale was in charge here. Harper was out of his league here. He was a freaking accountant not an enforcer. But today he was a decoy.

Smith glared at the group. "I said come alone." He punched Zane in the face. Hard.

Zane spat blood at Smith. Charlie smiled. He liked Zane. "We are so over! I want a divorce if they don't kill you." He demanded. He knew it was silly but it needed to be said out loud. Harper would have laughed if the situation was different. But he was scared for Zane. He was still scanning the vampires looking for Eve.

"Give us the human, Zane, and I will give you the computer and the stick." Hale began to negotiate.

Nero, the West Council member, appeared beside Smith. He was a tall vampire, an elder. He was wearing a nice business suit and his hair was slicked back. He looked like he was heading to a board meeting instead of a hostage negotiation.

"Afraid that won't work. We need a better trade, Hale. We need to be able to get out of here. I see we don't stand a chance with all of the enforcers you brought with you. I brought my own vampires because I never trusted you." Approximately thirty vampires walked in behind him as Charlie suspected.

Harper glared. "Where is Eve?" He was scanning the crowd and ignoring everything else.

"I killed Eve a few days ago." Nero smiled a pointy threatening smile.

Harper was ready to charge. "No! You're lying!"

Anders grabbed his arm.

Nero shook his head. "Afraid not. She wouldn't give us the information we needed and I accidently went too far. She didn't make it." He looked at Harper. "It wasn't my intention to kill Eve. She was tough. I had no use for her anyway. We had Smith here and he turned out to be a better investment."

Harper tried to breathe. Eve couldn't be dead. Harper was killing that guy.

"This human will be next if we can't come up with an agreement, Hale." Nero looked at Zane.

Zane glared at Nero and Smith. He spat again. "Don't let them win, Harper, take them out and forget about me!" He looked at Charlie. "Well, rescue me if you can." He wasn't a complete martyr. He wanted to live.

Charlie looked at Zane and nodded his head. He made up his mind already that he was saving Zane. He wanted to kill Smith. He didn't understand his need to save Zane but it was strong. Anders saw Charlie nod his head. "I got him, Anders." Anders nodded a small quick nod.

Harper was freaking out and tried to breathe. Jack took his hand and gave it a light squeeze. "Easy." He knew Harper would shift into a vampire if he wasn't careful. Harper nodded. He would have to grieve for Eve later.

"I want to keep this from being a bloodbath, Nero. What do you want?" Hale was stalling.

"A way out after I get what I came for." Nero kept it simple. He knew that Hale knew what he wanted.

"A way out. You mean you want to get away? I doubt that I will let that happen, Nero. You're going to be persecuted under the full extent of the law for this." Hale wasn't just going to let him go. His idea of persecuting Nero under the full extent of the law was death.

"If you want the human alive, I would suggest letting me go when we're done here. I want a car and freedom to leave this building." Nero wasn't moving.

"In exchange for the human, Zane, Alive. You get the stick, computer and a car? Seems unfair." Hale shrugged. "What do I get?"

"The human and your life. I won't kill everyone in here." Nero smiled.

Hale laughed. Nero couldn't kill everyone but Hale didn't want to challenge him. He looked at Glacier. He nodded. "There is a car out front, it's all yours."

Nero smiled. "Fine. Take the human but you had best honor your deal." Nero was ready for a fight.

"Send one vampire and the humans and the computer with the stick." Nero wasn't negotiating. "Then you can have this human." He was planning on sending a dead human. Smith was ready to kill Zane for Nero.

Hale looked at Anders and Charlie. They both nodded. Charlie took Harper's hand and they walked toward Nero. Toward Zane. Charlie knew he had to act because Smith would kill Zane.

Charlie knew that Anders wasn't going to be okay for very long. His friend, boyfriend and dad were walking into danger. He wasn't okay by a long shot. He wasn't losing any of them today. He knew that Charlie would see to that. He would depend on Charlie to keep his man safe.

Anders found himself surrounded by enforcers and found himself smiling. He was proud to be a vampire right now. Smith stood Zane up and pushed him hard.

Zane stumbled and glared at Smith. "Don't touch me, dick!"

Charlie wanted to smile just hearing Zane curse at Smith. He squeezed Harper's hand and walked forward with Harper and Jack. Anders repeated to himself that Harper can take care of himself. Eve had trained him his whole life and he was tough and he was a vampire.

Smith got to the middle of the room with Zane and Charlie met them. He caught Zane's eyes and nodded. "I'm just fine but be sure to kill this asshole for me!"

Charlie smiled a pointy smile. "My pleasure." He growled and Zane got goosebumps. The good kind.

Focus perv! You are still tied up and in danger. Charlie was losing his mind now and having weird thoughts.

Hale sent a silent signal and the battle began. The enforcers were faster and more trained. The thirty rogue vampires didn't stand much of a chance. Lee, Krista and Anders stayed back and out of the way. Charlie was in the middle of it. Anders knew he was happy. It was tough to tell what was happening because it was just chaos.

Charlie smiled at Smith. "Time to die!" He was on Smith as Harper grabbed Zane and Jack and pulled them to safety. Zane watched as the hot vampire killed his ex-husband. He cheered the vampire on.

Jack helped pick the handcuffs and they fell to the floor. Zane rubbed his wrists. He was tired and weak but he enjoyed watching the hot vampire tear his...Smith to pieces. Charlie didn't even bite him.

When the dust settled and the fight was over, Hale was injured but he was okay. He healed pretty fast. Nero was dead along with several others on the West Council. Six others were being detained for questioning. There was going to be a storm when this was over. The most asked question was answered several times. Eve was dead.

Charlie stood beside Zane. "Are you okay?" He had to ask.

Zane smiled and rubbed his wrists. They burned from the cuffs. "I will be, thanks to you." Charlie just stared at the human for...well, far too long. He knew he should walk away but he couldn't. He didn't want to. He was staying beside him to keep him safe.