CHAPTER SIX
Susan was a bit confused by the vastness of the Addams layout. It wouldn't take much to get lost in the ten-thousand-plus-square-foot building that had some secured areas and some that were open to the public.
One of the first things Leo did was take her to an electronic scanner for a hand and retinal imprint that would allow her access to their locked facilities. It would also allow them to find her if she ran, or, her favorite part of all, identify her remains should the Daimons get their hands on her for torture and mayhem. She would also need to get a copy of her dental records for their files... just in case.
Yes, she was really enjoying the prospect of being part of this world. Maybe they could even manage a few ritual slayings just for fun and practice!
But one of the more interesting parts of the building was the very front, which was a small coffee and pastry/deli shop that let out onto Pioneer Square. It was dark in tone, with pine paneling and a black ceiling. Even so, it still managed to have a homey, old-fashioned feel to it. And spookily enough, it was one she'd eaten at several times in the past with Angie and Jimmy whenever they came down here for the antique store on the corner that Angie had dearly loved.
While they showed her around the shopfront, from behind the scenes innocent people came and went without realizing that just past the business area was the Twilight Zone. Only a few hours ago, she would have been one of them, too.
In fact, with the exception of the small eating area, the counter, the bakery area, and one small storeroom, the rest of the monstrous building was essentially command central for the Seattle-based Squires. There were high-tech computers that kept tabs on virtually everything to do with them. Where they lived, shopped, and patrolled. There were databases of local businesses they owned. Lists of who worked for the city, state, and federal government, and those who were assigned to particular Dark-Hunters in the area.
Apparently, there were nine main Dark-Hunters in various parts of the city while another six were assigned to outlying areas such as Bainbridge Island, Bremerton, and Redmond.
There was also a hospital set up to tend any Dark-Hunter or Squire who was injured in a way that didn't lend itself to visiting a traditional medical facility without freaking out the "ords." Ords being a slang term for "ordinaries," who were people who had no clue about their world. Personally, Susan wanted to return to being an ord, but she knew better than to even ask.
But what fascinated her most was the one lone man who sat in an office where he monitored all the local emergency bands. He'd been the one to tell her that the call hadn't gone out on dispatch to those cops who had come to her house, when she and Ravyn had been attacked. If it had, he'd have known it. They had been sent from behind the scenes, which begged the question who had sent them.
"Here, Sue."
She turned to find Leo behind her with what appeared to be a leather-bound phone book in his hand. "What is that?"
"The Squire's handbook I told you about."
He handed it to her and she almost dropped it. The huge thing had to weigh at least fifteen pounds and it smelled like her grandmother's old mothball-infested cedar closet. "You've got to be kidding me."
He gave her a grim stare. "And you'll be tested on it, too."
She gaped.
"Just kidding." He smiled. "But it will explain exactly who and what we are. There's also a lot more information in there about Daimons, Apollites, and emergency numbers for every major city."
"And the Dark-Hunters? Is there anything about them?"
"Oh, yeah. Lots of stuff about them. Their history and origins. If you go to our Web site, Dark-Hunter.com, there's an online database that tells you the names of all the Dark-Hunters, as well as a profile page about their general age and background. "
"Really?"
He nodded.
Now that could be useful. "Is it safe? I would think having all that online would just be inviting hacker trouble."
Screwing up his face, he shook his head. "Not really, but we have our own hackers who keep the rest at bay. And if someone does, perchance, find their way around our security precautions, they get a rude visit-"
"Let me guess, from Otto?"
"No... people who make Otto look fluffy."
Now that was something she would love to see, but not knocking on her door.
Susan tried to balance the book in one hand to flip through it, but it was too big for that. So she resorted to asking more questions. "What about Squires? Does the Web site tell about them, too?"
"Only a handful. We keep a lower profile as a rule. And there are a lot more of us than there are Dark-Hunters. They number in the thousands while we are tens of thousands worldwide." He tapped the cover of the tome and winked at her. "Happy reading."
Susan grunted at him. "Up yours, Leo."
He gave her a devilish grin. "Yeah, I know."
Sighing, Susan decided to find herself a quiet room to read in. She opened the first door she came to and pulled up short as she found herself in the same room as Ravyn, who was asleep on a red futon.
It was all she could do to catch her breath as she saw him lying facedown, entwined in the stark white sheets that seemed to just highlight how tan his skin was. And the man was tan all over. That dark, tawny shade appeared to be his natural skin tone.
It was enough to set her heart pounding. He was all sinewy muscle. All man-in a shapeshifting... leopard... undead kind of way. And even stranger than that, most of the bullet wounds on his back were nothing more than puckered scars. Leo had told her that the Dark-Hunters healed fast, but dang. They really didn't waste any time with mending those wounds.
He opened one black eye to stare at her. "You need something?" His voice had a rumbling quality to it that was deepened by his sleep.
"I thought this room was empty. Sorry."
He stretched before he rolled over, and the sheet slipped to give her a nice view of one bare hip and the trail of black hair that ran from his navel to a thicker patch of hair. A wicked part of herself was hoping the sheet would pull down another few millimeters so that she could glimpse the rest of him.
Okay, so she already knew what he looked like naked, but earlier she'd been a bit occupied to notice the finer details of his body. Now she was feeling a little greedy and if the man wanted to run around naked...
Well, far be it from her to complain.
"No problem." He yawned as he scratched the arm that up until a short time ago had also had a bullet in it. Now it appeared all healed like the rest of him. "You doing any better?"
His question and the concern she heard in his deep voice surprised her. Why would he even care, and yet a part of her was grateful that even if he didn't, he at least pretended to. Having spent her entire adulthood alone, she really ached to have someone just for her. Someone whose love she didn't have to share. It was selfish, but she really did want to find that one person who could love her unconditionally. "I honestly don't know. What about you?"
He looked down and ran his hand over his tight, perfect chest. "Pretty much healed."
It was so strange to try to reconcile this man with the one she'd seen viciously kill the half-Apollite earlier. A chill went down her spine at the memory. Ravyn might be acting friendly toward her at the moment, but he was a ruthless killer. He hadn't even blinked or hesitated at taking the lives of those men in her house. Whether justified or not, it was a sobering thought that life meant so little to him.
Suddenly uneasy, she stepped back into the hallway. "Well, I won't keep you. You probably need more sleep."
He pulled the sheet up higher and tucked his exposed leg under it. "Yeah."
Nodding, she pulled the door closed and backtracked to the room she'd been in earlier that held the computers Leo had told her were for regular Squire use.
Kyl was in there alone, typing furiously at one station.
"Can I borrow one?" she asked hesitantly. Kyl, like Otto, still acted as if he'd like to kill her.
He looked up but didn't break in his typing at all. "The one on your left."
She sat down, placed the book beside her, then wiggled the mouse. As soon as the screen came up, she tried the site Leo had mentioned, only to pull up a porn site. "Holy cripes. I don't think this is right."