Chapter 21 Counterinsurgency

Walking away from the car rental counter, Will announced, "There is an FBI agent waiting for us at the passenger pickup. I'll find him."

Saul inhaled and coughed slightly at the scent of humidity and city. He decided Charleston smelled like New Orleans except for the scent of intoxicated humans.

Nicolea shouldered her bag. "I wonder if Liam came here after he set off the bomb?"

"Are we certain he isn't dead?" Saul growled.

"Galen said no. When a clan member dies, everyone feels the return of their life-glow or what you would call magic. Galen may hate his clan and reject it, but he can still feel them. He said Gerard's attempt to take Shalom and Justice from Monarch Mountain cost him half the clan, and the ascended one's presence at the end of the battle meant their power left this realm instead of returning to the clan. There are less than a dozen still alive beholden to Gerard and Morgana. He worries Gerard will start feeding on the weaker ones to keep himself alive," Nicolea revealed. "We have to stop him before he gets too weak. When a Demonus craves..." She was interrupted by the sound of her name in Shalom's voice. "Nicolea Trinity... Merle Greyson... Is anyone there?"

She began digging through her bag as she pulled out a messaging mirror, then she touched the corner as she drew a symbol on it.

Shalom's voice repeated, "Galen Morganason... Galen, help us! The Demonus are attacking! Galen, where are you? Nicolea Trinity... Merle Greyson... Is anyone there?" as her panicked face appeared in the messaging mirror.

"I have to get to Bianca, and we have to get to Shalom." Nicolea shoved her bag at Saul as she warned Shalom, "Stay put. Keep your cloak on. They won't be able to see or touch you. If you are cornered, hold the mirror in front of you. We're coming."

"Where? How?" Saul demanded.

"I have to get to Louis Cathedral. Don't worry, Bianca and I will save them." Nicolea handed him the messaging mirror then stepped through the security glass like it wasn't even there and shimmered away as a shadow, faster than his eyes could follow.

"Where's she going?" Will demanded as Saul turned.

"The Dark Fae attacked the airport where the Monarch and Vice President are meeting the reps from the Vampires." He looked at the woman standing beside Will. "We gotta go and hit that place now before they find out what really happened at Cades Depot."

"Agent-in-charge Edouard, call me Catherine. SWAT and Military Police are at the staging area. Are they certain that this is the place where the Revelation Night chemical weapon was made because the air tests don't show anything but sugar and alcohol when they ran a drone through the smoke plume of the distillery."

Saul ran his tongue over his teeth. He didn't like working with humans he didn't know but there was no choice. "The weapon is made of the sap and pollen of a specific type of tree and tests as completely organic. The scientist are still trying to figure out what the salts on the outside of the carbohydrate molecule are but we do know what it does and how it works because those rescued from a facility in South Carolina all suffered from being exposed to it."

"And how did you get this information?" Catherine demanded calmly but she smelled distrustful.

"From the computers at that location. They blew up their own lab to hid the fact they were abducting and exposing more innocent people to the bio-chemical vapors." Will revealed as he opened the door of the SUV. "They have been changing more werewolves into Ravers and dumping them in the Q.Z. to try to make it look like it isn't safe for any werewolves to return there. Shalom and her group of survivors met a pair of them. One was a boy who was barely twelve. Now they want to dump tankers of the stuff into Hurricane Tonia so when it hits between New Orleans and Houston the entire Gulf Coast will be contaminated."

Catherine stared in the mirror at him as she started the SUV, "That's millions of people."

"Yes, and any male who is a non-human or has one of the non-human genomes will be affected," Saul reminded.

"What about you two?" She asked worriedly.

"I'm just here as a representative of the Werewolf Monarchy," Saul explained. "And I have a gasmask so I don't breath it."

"And I'm here in case someone gets exposed and goes Raver. I was a Raver that night and recovered. Only those who have been through it and come back can resist the madness the weapon causes," Will confessed.

"How will you know if it is really being made there?"

"If I smell it, I'll know," Will retorted.

"Let's get this over with," Catherine responded. She drove quickly to the edge of the city and west on a state highway.

As the trees flew past, Saul and Will read the incoming messages after the attack. Nearly thirty were wounded but the worst injured person was James who had no physical injuries at all, blessed Demonus Petra Lumin consumed his soul's energy and according to Nicolea and James had let her. They noticed Catherine sped up as she received a flurry of text messages.

"You shouldn't text and drive," Will chided to hide his worry.

"Who would have thought werewolves obey traffic laws?" She snapped then rubbed her forehead and handed her phone to Saul. "Sorry... Read these. You'll see the problem soon enough."

Saul growled so he wouldn't curse. The messages were about the distillery which was now in flames. He handed the phone to Will.

A new message chimed.

"Read it," Catherine ordered as she turned.

"It says, No survivors found. Secondary explosive device deactivated on storage tank. Chemical release contained." Will revealed then turned his head to look at a gasoline truck that drove by. He rolled down the window, causing the humid air to rush inside. Sniffing hard, he reached forward and grabbed her shoulder. "Follow that truck! Saul, get your mask on."

Flipping her lights on, she swung the SUV in a tight 180 turn. For a moment, Saul feared the top heavy vehicle would roll as Will braced himself in the back while texting the information on the truck back to the counterinsurgency team.

"The pictures showed three tanker trucks at the distillery this morning. We didn't pass any others. Where are the other two?" Saul demanded. Will texted the question after he asked.

"Hold on!" Catherine warned as she swerved an oncoming pickup that tried to ram them. The truck turned around and gave chase. Bullets fractured the glass as the SUV was struck. Catherine handed her gun to Saul as she tried to keep them from being killed and still pursue the tanker. "It's got fourteen rounds, don't waste them."

Grinding his teeth, he wished for a cigar to chew as he aimed; he fired four times at the vehicle. The driver slumped back with a red spatter behind his head. Another man cartwheeled out the back like a ragdoll with his automatic rifle still firing. The passenger-side gunman grabbed the wheel as the truck cut hard to the right and rolled, sending the last two men flying into the air.

"Will, tell my team to pick up those men." Catherine ordered as she accelerated to catch up with the tanker.

"You got a text back. The tankers at the site are empty." Will revealed then added after a ping. "They are coming, and the state patrol is setting off a roadblock ahead."

Suddenly, the truck turned down a side road and almost rolled over. A man crawling along the top of the tanker began shooting at them.

"Kill him!" Catherine snarled as she swerved.

"I can't, if I hit the tanker, the Elm syrup will leak everywhere," Saul refused through his gas mask.

"If we don't stop them, they are going to drop that tanker in Lake Pontchartrain," she snarled at him.

"Get beside him!" Will demanded as he stripped.

"What are you doing?" Catherine gasped as she glanced in the mirror then accelerated into oncoming traffic.

"Letting my Raver out. Don't be afraid." Will grew into his Raver then opened the door and kicked it off. The giant gray wolf-monster climbed onto the roof and leapt onto the tanker. It grabbed the shooter's arm with its massive teeth and shook him before flinging him onto the road. Then he crawled forward, pulled off the driver's door, only to flinch back when bullets hit him. The tanker flipped on its side and slid spilling the Elm syrup. Suddenly it stopped, and Catherine slammed on her brakes with a scream of fright. A large burning bird stood in the road between the cypresses. Will seized the human and jumped down sprinting toward Catherine's SUV as a burst of blue flame seared the liquid pouring out with the echoing screech of a raptor's scream.

Catherine threw the SUV's gears into reverse and backed away as fast as she could. "What the hell is that thing?!"

Saul shook his head. "It's... It's a firebird... uhm, a phoenix. They are supposed to be extinct!"

The door opened and a Native American man wearing a balaclava and respirator to hide his face blinked at them. "Are you both okay?"

"Fine, who are you?" Catherine demanded as Saul panted inside his gasmask.

"Just some friends sent by Greyson to help you." His eyes grinned at their shock. "My little sister is getting rid of the syrup. Keep your mask on until the fumes clear, Wolf, unless you wish to become like your little brother."

He walked away toward the flames, nodding to Will's Raver and the human who were talking to a beautiful naked woman with long black hair. She was holding the human's face and his fear was clear as she spoke to him. The truck was a smoldering wreck, melted and unrecognizable. She became a giant burning bird that looked like an eagle with a swan's neck then flew skyward with the man on her back. The trees around them were burning. Will shrank to his wolf then his mortal. He picked up the wounded human and carried him back to Catherine's SUV.

"Tell them what you told Hasí Pacihowá," Will growled. "Where are the other two tankers?'

"Gone, they left as soon as we were warned the wolves were coming. Please don't let her burn my family," he sobbed. "We just wanted the werewolves and vampires to leave our country."

Catherine cuffed him as she snapped. "And killing two million innocent people is okay with you. Putting ten million or more at risk! Where are the planes to dump the chemical weapon in Hurricane Tonya?"

"I don't know. I'm just a brewer and driver," the man seemed less scared now that the firebird was gone. "I want a lawyer!"

"You attacked a federal officer and attempted to drive a truck full of a chemical weapon into Lake Pontchartrain in a failed terrorist attack," she pointed out.

"You can't prove anything, it was just syrup and she burned it all."

"Not all," Will handed Catherine a test tube with a tarry substance in it. "I bet this will match the stuff found in Colorado."

"You can't prosecute me; you can't prove anything! That... That bird thing destroyed the evidence," he claimed.

"The firebird saved a million lives today and I am going to make certain you are in the general population. When the prisoners in Jefferson Parish Jail find out the harm you tried to do to their beloved city... they may be criminals but, you sir, you won't make it to trial when they learn what you did." Her threat was clear. Will dressed and got in quietly, as she forced the terrorist into the backseat and chained his ankles and wrists to the floor ring.

"You can't do that. I have rights! I want to be put in solitary confinement!" The man shouted in a panic. "I'm a patriot!" She slammed the door in his face.

"Saul, did I ever tell you how my best friend and her children barely escaped Colorado. She lost her husband of two decades when he went to help his best friend rescue his wife from her coven. He was a good man, they both were.." Getting in the driver's seat, Catherine sneered at in the mirror at the man in handcuff. "A lot of good people died that night. Their species doesn't matter to me... We don't negotiate with terrorists. Those planes are the only thing keeping you alive."

Driving back to the brewer, Will confirmed the presence of the Elm syrup, but they had no idea where the missing two trucks had gone with eight thousand gallons of the Samhain Elm Syrup.

VvvvvV

Shalom...

Not knowing where to go or even if I could get off the base, I retreated to a small office next to the bathroom. The windows were shattered by gunfire, the furniture too, but there was no blood spatter, so I shook out the cushions and sat down to nurse Justice. Luka's grandfather said I was a Jacobian. I didn't even know what that meant other than it was another thing that put my last surviving child in danger and was the reason my parents and baby brother Beau and Aunt Judith were murdered. Nursing Justice I tried to ignore the Ravers standing beyond the wall. Matthias came in and knelt in front of me.

"Shalom? Are you okay?"

"I wasn't hurt. What did the doctors say about James?" I tried to change the subject.

"He's basically brain dead, or that's what they told Jake a few minutes ago. I meant, about being a Jacobian?" He looked worried.

"I don't even know what that means. My parents moved around a lot, and they died on my tenth birthday. I came home from school, and they were dead. The local police were werewolves and covered it up as a murder-suicide. They told Saul they filed a report with the Monarchy, but no investigation was ever done, and he thinks Paul buried it." As I shifted Justice to burp him, I left my distrust seep out. "Do you think Saul knows or suspects who I really am?"

"I don't know, Shalom. He could just be trying to protect you until you get used to the idea of being the Monarch's mate. Being a Jacobian is like... Do you remember when Diane Spencer became the Princess of Wales?" He asked and I could just stare at him. "Okay, maybe that was a little before your time. She went from being this normal young woman and teacher aide to one of the most recognized women in the world. Everyone knew who she was, security people and stalkers followed her around, and the press harassed her constantly. She had no peace from the royal wedding until her death. None of us want that for you. If you are the daughter of the missing Jacobian Princess, that is who you will be to the werewolf world."

My breath wouldn't leave my lungs. It was caught behind the lump in my throat. The idea of never having a moment's peace for the rest of my life was terrifying. I made myself exhale. "I need to talk to Jake and the others. I don't want anyone to know who Lord Viktor thinks I might be."

Standing, he held out his hand to me, and pulled me off the battered sofa. As we walked back toward the plane, I paused. "Matthias, do you know why my mother was still human?"

He nodded his head. "The Jacobians have been almost wiped out several times. They have many customs and one of them is that their children are not changed until they reach thirty if they are not born a wolf. Another is that females must bear four children before they are changed. Your Aunt Myriam was born a wolf, that's why it was hard for her to get pregnant."

"But my mother wasn't. I wasn't. I've been a human my whole life until..." I couldn't say the date as I looked up at Jacob standing at the top of the stairs. He looked so worried as he came down the steps.

"Shalom, we are leaving in a few minutes to start the raid on the chalet where Gerard has the Princess, and they are going to hit the brewery in Louisiana. I... Would you go with Lord Viktor and Luka back to Canada afterward?"

"Why?" I asked.

"So they can get you to safety with your family if we fail to stop the H.P.M.," he answered but through our bond I could feel his doubts and his fear. I could hear his soul whispering, I need you to be safe.

I wanted to scream at him that there was no safe place, not anymore. He flinched slightly at my mental rant, then nodded.

He started to step toward me and I wanted to retreat, but instead, I stood my ground calmly and asked, "May I go back to Colorado? We know about the hacking and are closing in on Aliza and Gerard. Lance and I can keep going through Kenneth's notes and comparing them to the new files from Cades Depot."

"I can have you there in a few hours."

"What about the Ravers?" I asked, "I won't let them be put down."

"I actually wanted to talk to you about that. I am sending them to join Will and Saul in Louisiana... Something went wrong with their mission. They were warned by a rogue NSA agent who killed Padget's NCIS agent. One tanker truck and the distillery were burned. The general, the pilots, and two tankers of the Samhain Elm Syrup are missing. All non-humans are being evacuated from the coastlines of three states because we don't know where the hurricane will hit. I need you to find us another clue in Kenneth's notes. We need to know where those planes are taking off from."

"I... I don't know." I could feel his fear overlapping mine and smothering me. "Kenneth fought to stop the air dispersal of the A.S.H., I don't know what to look for."

"You found Cade's depot and the distillery. I believe you can find this. He left clues only for you. You knew him better than anyone else," Jake begged, even though I could feel his anguished resentment toward my late husband.

"I'll try."

Jake wanted to hug me, to hold me like we did only this morning, but I walked away, going into the bathroom to wash my face.. Learning who I might be was building another wall between us because I didn't want the life of a werewolf princess. I didn't even want to be a werewolf. I longed for my simple life, or the life I was enjoying in Terryall with Richard and the Ravers. I hadn't even gotten to grieve my friend because I was too busy trying to save the world for my son. He hadn't even been dead a day and I hadn't shed a single tear for him. I couldn't, there wasn't time.