Free Blood Apocalypse - 04 by Heath Stallcup Page B

jaw again. “It still makes me want to rip out her—”
    “No,” Viktor interrupted, “we had an agreement with the Lamia Beastia for centuries after you left. For many years, we would cycle wolves through to act as security for them. They would spend a few years at each Beastia Familia and then come home. All she did was to assign us a permanent duty to Rufus.” Viktor looked away. “At least, that is how we chose to see it.”
    “You did not feel yourself as slaves to him?” Max asked i ncredulously.
    Viktor shook his head. “No. In fact,” he smiled, “Rufus is my friend. I’ve grown to trust him as I trust few others. And he trusts me as his Second.”
    Max’s eyes grew wide with astonishment. “That is most unusual.”
    “Yes, it is.”
    They both stood for some time and thought about each other’s circumstances.  Finally, Max turned to his son, “So what do you plan to do when Victoria and her pack finally make it here?”
    Viktor turned to his father and smiled. “Why, take my righ tful place as pack leader, of course.”
    Max slapped his son across his back. “Now that’s the wolf I knew I raised.”
     
    *****
     
    Jack helped Pablo Montanez and his Monster Hunter squads grab their gear and get set up in what was now the barracks. The Brazilians had brought their own armaments and wanted to ensure that they made it to the armory, along with their own armory officer, so Jack escorted them as they stowed their weapons. He radioed for Lamb and Jacobs who took over tour duty and gave the new hunters a once over of the base.
    To be on the safe side, Jack went by the Wackenhut office to inform them that they had visitors and let the duty officer know that first thing in the morning, they would get them to Pe rsonnel for some kind of base ID badge. He didn’t want anybody getting shot at until then. The duty officer gave him a puzzled look, but said he’d make a note in the log and let the crews on watch know, but normally base ID badges were only necessary for entering and exiting the base or gaining access to secure buildings. Jack thanked him and made a mental note of what the man told him.
    Jack headed to the Headquarters building to speak with Colonel Mitchell about what the Wackenhut duty officer told him when Apollo called to him. “Yo, Jack! You seen the col onel?”
    “I was just heading to his office. Care to join me?”
    “Just came from there, man. He ain’t in.”
    Jack stopped short and shook his head. “Then I have no idea. I was over at the new Command Center a few minutes ago and they hadn’t seen him either. They said he took off with Laura somewhere.”
    Apollo grinned. “I always wondered about those two.”
    Jack shook his head again. “Naw, man, just because you and Maria are bumping boots doesn’t mean that the Colonel and Ms. Youngblood are. Besides, she likes Doc,” Jack teased, but n oticed that Apollo stiffened slightly at the mention of Maria.
    “Yeah, well, it’s not like she’s gonna marry a vampire, right?” Apollo said rather coldly.
    “So what’s up, big guy? You got this weird look on your face all of a sudden. Something wrong?”
    Apollo shook his head. “Naw, man. You know me. I just got a thing about vamps is all.”
    Jack shot him a worried look. “You never had a problem with Doc before.” He searched his face. “But you got this weird look about you when I mentioned Maria.” Apollo’s face went cold when Jack mentioned her name. “See? There it is again. So what gives, brother?”
    Apollo sighed and glanced to either side, ensuring nobody was within hearing distance. “It’s just…she been spending an awful lot of time with the Padre, right. I mean, they on the same team and all, so I get that. Hell, I put her there!” he explained. “But like, they get back from this one op and suddenly she’s all ‘Ooh, Padre, teach me how to use the sword’ and ‘Ooh, Hank, you swing your sword all super cool’ and shit.”
    Jack smiled and