Vampire Drug Lord (Hypernaturals 5)

Sparring in Austin

Morgan and I sparred "lightly" on exercise mats outside the house near the back tree-line. Vampire lightly, that is. Any human and even many full power Vampires would be damaged or dead at this level. We train hard.

Jessica, our normal instructor, was off being 'Doctor Sara' in Mexico at the little free clinic she founded with some other Vampire doctors. Our baby daughter Diana is with her.

The free clinic is a 'win-win' thing. Vampires need to maintain alternate identities: Stay in practice on professions they have picked up over the years. This tiny, out of the way Pueblo would have no other medical care available without going north to Puerto Vallarta, and that assumes they could afford even that. Jessica came up with the idea of building and staffing the clinic as a way to maintain professional practice and credentials, and help some people along that way. There was also that Jessica's father came from southern Mexico in the1800's. For many reasons beyond just being a Vampire and her being over one and a quarter centuries of age, Jessica did not know any of her paternal relatives. It still felt to her like a trip to the ancestral home and a way to 'pay it forward'.

'Jessica' is not her birth name any more than 'Sara' is. She was born 'Maria' but when she seduced me that fateful day at Hippy Hollow, she was Jessica. She will always be Jessica to me because of that. Helen gave up calling her Maria a while ago, even though that was her name when Helen seduced her.

I have never been apart from Diana for more than trips to the store since she was born and the current two weeks of torture were coming to an end. Morgan and I were going to fly down to Puerto Vallarta later today and Jessica and Diana would take a boat up from the clinic to meet us. Morgan misses them almost as much as me, and if you ask her, she will say she misses them more. Not possible.

Nothing helps you forget separation pain quite like physical pain, and as an Ex-Cop Morgan can bring the pain. Morgan has all my unusual Vampire enhancements, other than fangs (We'll need to understand Vampire genetics far better than we do to know how she missed out on fangs!), however, we were staying out of 'hypertime' for the training session. We both want to be able to fight well in real time so that when we extend our hyper-senses, we can have that much more advantage. We always train together but the distraction is especially welcome now with Jessica and Diana out of country.

Helen was acting sparring supervisor and she and I were at our usual odds. Helen is more of a drill Sargent than Jessica. Where Jessica might say 'oh, come on, you can do better', Helen will say something like 'Are you two fucking idiots ever going to even TRY to do this?".

Rather than our old being at odds, since we married Helen her insults (at least about fighting capabilities) come from a good place in her heart: I have a proven track record of getting into trouble since I turned. Helen worries about me being able to take care of myself when she was not around to protect me. After being raped by the HPA, I am surrounded by mother bears. Jessica, Helen, Morgan, Angel. All of them. Even Lori, Danny's girlfriend.

Morgan and I do not take supervision well.

Helen is a good and qualified Drill Instructor and is an excellent fighter. I guess when one is bisexual English royalty born during the War of the Roses, you learn to fight. She has never let her skills fade over time.

"What the fuck, Adrian?" Helen did not sound amused. "I know you know how to fight better than that. You've let Morgan into your space three times now! Forget she's a woman. Fight the bloody fuck back!"

I was trying, but I am used to my hypertime crutch: My ability to slow my perception of time down, and to react with speed and consideration. Morgan was getting inside my arms, grappling, and throwing me to the ground with daunting regularity.