Truce and Lies

Grant: swing back 'round the morgue

"Now what?" Aidan inquired, once we were suitably far away. I was making my way back to where I had met the vampires before. It was dark enough that they probably wouldn't think anything of my presence.

"I don't really know," I admitted. "The hunters will have arrested my father by now. Of course, Tish will say that the blood on her face threw me into a frenzy and I sprinted away. Oh, and of course, that you're a werewolf."

"I'm sorry," Aidan winced.

"Don't be. She deserved it."

"Oh good. You rescued your boyfriend from the hunters."

Aidan swung around, but the vampire simply sidestepped his fist with a smirk.

"Slow little wolf," Mike laughed. "Did you learn anything else from the hunters today?"

"They have the bodies in a morgue, but I didn't get to see them," I admitted. "We had an altercation. Aidan socked a hunter in the face."

"Sorry," Aidan winced.

Mike clapped him on the shoulder. "Don't be. That's awesome. And Pat's great with getting into places she shouldn't be; you just tell us where this morgue is. Do you think the hunters will be waiting for you there?"

"No. They're probably out looking for me, waiting for me to drop a body. I won't be, obviously."

"All the same; let's get off the street," Mike remarked. "Come on."

We followed him though a couple alleys, up a flight of stairs into the room we had been before. It was a small studio apartment that seemed normal until I noticed there was no bed. Of course, vampires had no need for beds. Aidan's stomach growled. He looked down and over at me with a sheepish grin.

"Pat? Can you order some pizzas?" Mike called.

"Muh, why? I'm not going to watch you eat pizza again, it's pitiful," Pat called, coming into the room. "Oh. For the werewolf. Yeah, he's allowed to eat pizza."

"You two are really really calm," Aidan remarked, sounding bewildered. "Does this happen...often?"

"We're both really really old," Mike replied. "We haven't been murdered by hunters in a hundred years, then we're probably not going to be. There's not a lot that is surprising nowadays."

"Speak yourself," Pat shot back. "Your wish to eat human food against all reason will constantly surprise me."

"Just order it, woman," Mike groaned. "I won't touch it, I swear."

She rolled her eyes, pulling out her cellphone and chatting easily with some pizza delivery. Aidan shuffled around me and sat on the couch.

"If you're so much older why is Stefa the clan leader?" I inquired

He shook his head. "It's not about age. I mean, I think in some clans it is. But Pat and I don't want to run a clan; that's how you get yourself trussed up and delivered to the hunters. And I mean, if you two have met Stefa, you know she is very influential even without using her persuasion. She's a good clan leader."

"Okay, pizza is ordered," Pat remarked, setting her phone done. "What about you, newbie? Are you all right?"

"I have a name," I protested. "And yes, I'm fine for now."

"Not one that matters," she shrugged. "So, do we have a plan? What's going on?"

"Grant says that the hunters have the bodies in the morgue," Mike explained. "We can go over there and take a look, see what we can find that the hunters did not. After the werewolf eats; I don't want him to get hungry and munch on a body."