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Chapter -4- Everyone Everywhere

July 30, 2049 Tokyo, Japan ...

Tamamo-no-Mae gave a tug at the loose-fitting restraints. It was better than handcuffs but only marginally so. She shifted her weight in the out-of-place sitting chair, facing a man in his mid-thirties. "Why have we been separated from the other people? I noticed this ward has a smaller population."

"I keep forgetting you're new," said the man. "We are being monitored but probably studied. I overheard that gods are being processed for a special group."

"Explain yourself," she said in curt tone.

"You are on suicide watch, lady. I will most likely wind up placed into a new study group, just outside of the city. It's headed by a team of doctors that are fascinated with possessed humans and gods trapped in human form."

Tamamo arched her brows. "They know?"

"Of course they know. They finally realized it's best to keep us separated from the mortal humans. It's part of a study on our kind."

Tamamo frowned. "What shall I call you?"

"You can call me Gozer the Gozerian." He paused, watching her expression and frowned. "How can you _not_have heard of me? I am the Destructor. Volguus Zildrohar; Gozer the Traveler and Lord of the Sebouillia."

"My sincerest apologies, Gozer, but I am not familiar with you."

"I am a Sumerian shape-shifting god of destruction. I have been separated from my demigod servants, Zuul and Vinz Clortho. They act as my Gatekeeper and Keymaster, respectively. I came to modern Earth twice since it became industrialized. Once in 1984, and once in 1991."

"I am deeply sorry, I have no idea who you are," she replied with a frown.

"My first visit to this world was in Mesopotamia in 6000 BC. I was worshipped by both the Hittites and Mesopotamians. My greatness swelled to its height a few thousand years later in Sumeria. We crushed the followers of Tiamat in a drawn out war, but my followers faltered, allowing Tiamat's followers to ultimately defeat my worshippers. I was banished from this world for a time. I attempted to return this year and take back what was rightfully mine, but something is wrong. I am powerless."

Tamamo frowned. "There was an attack on the Celestial Realm. It may have something to do with your ... Impotency."

"Unfortunately I am stuck in the shape of this human, with the face you now see."

She nodded. "I ... understand."

"I am stuck this way, without my powers."

She frowned. "Yes, I understand your meaning, Gozer-san."

He sighed. "I am nearly powerless. The drugs they give me here ... that may have something to do with it."

Tamamo frowned again at the way he repeated himself. She looked down at the cloth mitts over her hands. "A very simple yet effective method was employed to keep my elemental abilities under control. Clever humans."

"Oh?"

"If I conjure fire, it will burn this body suit I have been forced to wear. Doing so will burn the vessel to which I am bound. I am not sure you heard what I said, so allow me to be clear - I have horrible news, Gozer."

"You do?"

Tamamo nodded with a frown. "As I said, the Celestial Realm was overrun. This means the portals have been closed for a time. We cannot go home until I locate Kalen Kincade. His mistress, Natalia, is in possession of the mirror that would still allow access to our home realm."

Gozer sighed in frustration. "If it weren't for those mortals who called themselves the Ghostbusters, I would not be stuck in this shape without my powers."

Tamamo furrowed her brows, eyeing the man. "Are you mocking me? The court of Konoe-tenno could attest to the fact I was knowledgeable in all things, from academia to trivial knowledge."

"Excuse me? Then," he trailed off briefly, "surely you must know I'm telling the truth, because surely you must have heard of the Ghostbus-"

"You are lying," she snapped. Her eyes narrowed and a delicate line of annoyance marred her forehead. "I am familiar with the American story-cinema of which you speak. As I said, I am versed in things of trivial knowledge."

"No, the movie was a retelling of reality; it was changed only slightly for the sake of comedic storytelling."

Tamamo stood up from the chair and glared at the man. "Next, will you claim to have appeared in the form of a titan constructed out of confections?"

"Marshmallow, yes. The Government did a fair job of covering up..."

"Iie! I am Tamamo-no-Mae, a kitsune messenger of Inari-no-kami! You are a charlatan! An imposter!"

"You insult me? How _dare_you!" The man clenched his jaw and pursed his lips.

Tamamo, frustrated with him, brought her cloth-covered hands together and struck him across the face. "How dare you lie to me?"

A door at the west end of the room burst open. Two hospital guards came in and approached Tamamo from behind. One of them pulled on a strap at the small of her back. It tightened a threaded set of straps inside of her clothing, which forced her arms to become bound close to her chest.

She struggled against the restraints. "Release me!"

The guard closest to the door sighed. "Here we go." He shook his head and rolled his eyes. "We can't keep her at the hospital if she's going to swing at people and make threats."

"I thought she's only here for observation?" said the other, drawing a small handheld object from his pocket. He thumbed a button on the device. A blue flash of electricity danced between two metal prongs on the front. "Lady, you need to calm down. Don't make me use this."

Tamamo sneered at the man nearest to her. "You, first guard, I demand that you bring me before the Emperor. I will prove my identity! Then you will see that I..."

The first guard touched the device against her hip.

She gasped in pain and doubled over from the electric shock.

"Pipe down, woman."

"So help me, I will scoop out your eyes for your insolence!"

"Patient," said one of the guards, "you get one violent outburst. _That_was it. Now sit down or we will be forced to..."

"You have been warned!" Tamamo exclaimed. "I will melt the flesh from your bones if you do not release me immediately!" She tightened her hands into fists. "I can find another vessel if I must use my element of flame in this cloth jacket, but you will release me!"

"That's it," said the second guard. "I've had enough of this. I don't know what the shrinks find so goddamn interesting about these idiots, but I've had enough." He pushed a syringe into Tamamo's arm. The needle slid through the fabric sleeves with ease.

She began to struggle against the weight of her own body. "How ... how dare..."

"Throw her in 'The Pantheon' with the other morons claiming to be gods. Rush the paperwork on this one since she's being violent."

"She's going to the asylum?" The first guard carefully wrapped his arms around Tamamo's slumped body. "And what about 'Gozer,' here?"

The second guard leaned closer to Gozer, who flinched in reply. The guard smirked and said, "No, he's not violent. He can stay in observation for now, but get this woman out of my psych ward. I want her in that new program up at Edo Springs Asylum. Make sure you document that she physically assaulted this guy. The doctors need to know she's violent. Keep her sedated until she's out of this hospital."

"I understand, sir." The first guard hauled Tamamo from the room.

A string of drool dribbled down from the corner of her lips, collecting beneath her chin.

X

X

July 30, 2029 - evening Somewhere in Europe ...

James Parker reached back and used his fingers to rub a sore spot behind his left shoulder. "We've been casing this place for a few days. And the more we train in this stupid warehouse, the more I'm starting to think we should come at this from another angle."

Conner turned away from his uncle and faced the mockup props used to simulate the layout of a private museum owned by an art collector. "Okay, let's look at the facts. One, the headdress is supposed to be important. Two, if anything, it belongs to Egypt. Not some British dude. Three, this guy is a well-respected thief. I don't know if he has an ability or if he's just damn good, but his family went from rags to riches in the past fifteen years because he..."

"Conner, it doesn't really matter if we're stealing from a thief or not. I still have a problem with stealing. Besides, I have no proof he's a thief. The cops don't, either, or he'd have been arrested for it. For all I know, this guy we've been casing is just a wealthy private collector."

"Uncle James, we've been told by a higher power, so to speak, that this piece is important. It's a two-man job. I need your help. If it's that big of a deal, we can return it afterwards. But not before letting Egypt know who has the piece. It was theirs first."

"I said I have another angle. Why not just buy it from the guy? Everyone has a price."

"People like this don't care about putting a price tag on something they know to be priceless. They care more about having something unique - one of a kind. Where's it hurt?"

"Excuse me?" James paused then turned away from Conner and motioned with his fingers to where the pain was, adjacent to his shoulder blade. "I pulled a muscle or something."

"Have you been doing your stretches?"

"Not as often as you've been telling me to." James turned to his nephew with a wan smile. "Does a lion stretch before chasing a gazelle?" He said with a theatrical tone of voice.

"Huh? Are you quoting something?"

"It's a movie. Zombieland. You haven't seen it?"

"Nope. Anyway, follow me." Conner gestured for his uncle to follow him to an office at the end of the rental warehouse. He opened the door and turned on the light. Gym equipment lined the walls. Conner picked up what appeared to be a volleyball, or at least half of one, built into a rounded board. He sat the half-ball on the floor and pointed to it. "Lay down on that." He touched a finger to the upper-section of his uncle's back. "Do it so that your weight is right here, on that ball."

James laid down on the ball.

"Now lift your ass off the floor and spread your arms out on either side."

James arched his hips up and opened his arms outwards.

"Alright, now you're going to close your arms a bit like a butterfly." Conner took two five pound dumbbells and put one into each of James' hands. "Bring them up, together, nice and slow." He waited while his uncle followed the instructions. "Now extend your elbows, slowly, and bring the two weights down to your chest. Hold them there." Conner counted, then continued. "Now extend them back up. Keep them together. Lift them over your head and hold, two, three, four, five. Now back straight up over your chest, and open your arms, but don't let your knuckles touch the floor. Hold them, two, three, four, and five. Now back up over your chest, together. I want you to repeat that for a few minutes. I'll put on some iPod music. Three songs should be long enough."

James looked up at his nephew, from where he lay on the half-ball on the floor. "This will make my back feel better?"

"Yup. And if you'd been doing this sort of stuff all along, you wouldn't have pulled anything."

James arched his brows. "Is that so? How many times should I do this before the pain stops?"

"Before breakfast, lunch and dinner. The pain should be gone by the time you wake up tomorrow unless you _really_did a number. Then two or three days before you're pain free. You just got to work the kink out. But you _should_do this every day, man. After the second song, switch to the eight or ten pound dumbbells."

"Well if this is all it takes to feel better, you got anything for my lower back?"

"Achy pain or sharp pain?"

"Achy."

Conner nodded and pointed to a weight bench with a weight bar. "Load that thing up with twenty-five pounds to start. Put it across your shoulders. Then do squats. Building muscle in your lower back will take pressure off your spine. Unless, of course, you really want back pain later in life. Not me. Your back is everything, Uncle Jaye. You don't want arthritis creeping in, you don't want to crush the discs between the vertebrae, and you don't want to pinch a nerve - there are a lot of ways you can screw up your back. So you've got to keep it strong."

"You sure know a lot about this stuff."

"Good physical health is part of the family business." Conner walked over to a small _Bose_radio, which cradled an iPod. He navigated the user interface with his finger and queued up a playlist. "Three songs. Again, I suggest you graduate to an eight or ten pound weight after the second song."

"Where are you going?"

Conner scoffed then grinned. "I'm going to call our victim and offer to buy that headdress from him. See? I'm not above trying it your way first." He pressed 'play' on the iPod screen and walked out of the room.

James smirked. But he was glad to hear that his nephew, for all of the boy's shortcomings - a quick temper, a bossy personality, and a lack of scruples - Conner did have an open-minded side ... at times.

Jaye released the weights, fished out his cellphone and checked his text messages. The most recent one from Dawn read, "I'm ME again. I'm on a plane home. I'm exhausted. I'm going to sleep on the flight and I PROMISE I'll call you when I land. Too grouchy to talk right now. I love you." He read it over an hour ago, and again just now.

It was still the most recent message. He knew it might be a while before the next one. He set the phone off to the side a bit, reached for the five-pound weights again and started working with them the way Conner told him. "I hope this works," he murmured, glad the exercise wasn't causing any pain. "Gotta admit, I'm surprised it doesn't really hurt doing this."

X

X

July 31, 2049 - Mid-afternoon Paris, France ...

Karla sighed and touched an earpiece. She plucked it from her ear and stuffed it into a small pocket sewn into her skirt. "One down. That didn't take long."

Reno glanced up from the dining room table. He pushed an empty plate away from himself and stretched. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"James Parker was dating this girl, Dawn. You remember Tamamo-no-Mae?"

"Yeah, of course."

"Tammy _possessed_this girl's body, Reno. Just for a few days or something. It wasn't that long. Anyway, they found Tammy a new 'vessel' or whatever. Dawn is her normal self again, only ... she's not. Instead, she's freaked out. Sinopa said this poor girl couldn't handle learning about Tammy's past. She couldn't handle knowing what it's like to bang Topaz's fifteen year old son."

"So, wait, Dawn has all of Tamamo's memories?"

"Apparently." Karla shrugged. "Sinopa said if a spirit fox stays in a body for a while, the kitsune's memories become imprinted on their vessel or whatever. It's like when you save all your computer files to an external drive, then move all those files to a new computer. Dawn was the external drive. She had to carry Tammy's spirit to a new body. Well, those files are still on the external drive. So Dawn remembers things she wasn't prepared to learn, I guess."

Reno frowned. "Damn. So, let me get this straight ... you told me that James Parker is the son of Jonathan, right? My fiancé's dead older brother. So that would make the kid about twenty-six right? And his girlfriend was forced to carry Tamamo around in her head for a few days? So what's the deal about 'banging Conner'? Tamamo is dating a fifteen year old kid, who is James' nephew?"

"Yeah. Now Dawn has these detailed memories of what it was like to sleep with her boyfriend's teenaged nephew. So she freaked out. Sinopa put the girl on a plane back to Chicago."

"What a bunch of drama." Reno stretched and leaned back in the dining room chair. "If Nichole was here ... my Nichole Parker ... she would yell at me for slouching at the table. Heh, she had a thing about dining etiquette."

"The Parker family is rich. So they try to have some class since they would rub elbows with the social elite." Karla grinned at Reno then she waved her hand, causing the empty dinner plate and glass mug to disappear. "I should have made you take them to the kitchen."

"Heh, wouldn't be the first time," Reno mused, remembering the time on the yacht.

"Yeah, twenty-five freaking years ago. But anyway ... I won't make you this time."

"Lucky me."

Karla smirked. "I just feel sorry for you - that you laid in a bed for several months."

"Well let me know when the sympathy runs out so I can milk it."

The succubus grinned. "How was the leftover steak and potatoes?"

"Yeah, I'm stuffed. That_was a _meal."

Karla scoffed. "That_was _ten meals," she exaggerated. "Anyhow, back to what I was saying earlier, we haven't even started fighting Aris Falcon again, and we've already lost two members of the team."

"Two?" Reno asked, brows scrunched up. "I thought that girl, Dawn, was the only one."

"Dawn's done!" said Karla, aggravated. "She's on her way home to hide under her bed. But while Sinopa was helping Dawn, Tamamo got into trouble, too."

"Wait, what?"

Karla sighed and threw her hands up. "She thought it would be best to take over some lady who was nuts. She figured it was better than messing up another sane girl like Dawn used to be. But it backfired. Sinopa said Tammy wasn't prepared for whatever this woman went through. Then, Tammy and the new body were sent to a local hospital's psychiatric ward. Sinopa tracked Tammy down, but by the time she showed up, Tammy had been sedated and shipped off to an insane asylum."

"Holy shit, seriously?"

"Yeah. And they won't give Sinopa the address. Why? Because Sinopa isn't a family relative of this woman whose body is Tammy's new playground. But at this point, the body is probably more of a prison for Tammy Fox. So, now Dawn is quitting, and Tamamo is missing."

"Jesus. What a mess."

"Yeah," Karla nodded in agreement. "Let me just tell you how much we're in trouble. There's no way we can go after Aris Falcon like this. This new team can't get its shit together."

"So let's just find other members to add. Either that, or we go down there Bonnie and Clyde style."

"The two of us can't do it alone, Top Cop." Karla offered a weak smile. "But at least I can count on you." She sat down at the dining room table a few chairs away from where he sat. The succubus reached for a TV remote, sitting on the table, and thumbed the power button.

A holographic image of a news anchor appeared in the corner of the room. "...The mysterious attacks against the Hamas groups located in Gaza. Authorities have failed to locate the attackers responsible for leaving bodies in the street. Israeli's new director of Mossad said, in a statement, that the likelihood of Israel's involvement is absurd. As of yet, no one has come forward claiming responsibility for the attacks."

"Who are Hamas and Mossad?"

Karla slumped in her chair, matching Reno's posture. "Hamas is some Palestinian Islamist Fundamentalist gang. HaMossad leModi?in uleTafkidim Meyu?adim is the Israeli intelligence agency."

Reno rubbed his face. "What are they talking about on the news, Karla?"

Karla fidgeted with the remote control. "Over the last few days, terrorists all over Egypt have started showing up dead. Whoever is doing it is leaving the bodies in the streets."

"That's pretty wild. How many bodies are we talking about, here?"

"Six hundred bodies have turned up in the last three or four days. No witnesses. One of the terrorist cells was three hundred fifty well-armed dudes. They were all wiped out at the same time, and their bodies littered a parking lot. Whatever got'em uses claws. The bodies are said to look like they were shredded by a pack of wild animals or something."

"Jesus."

"I saw pictures on the internet. I think it's a werewolf. It's not Rufus, because he's with Kalen somewhere on the District Coast. But whoever is doing it, well, they're focused, and they're only targeting Islamic militant extremists. And it's only in Egypt."

Reno rubbed his chin. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"You want to work with someone who kills hundreds of humans and leaves their bodies out for public display?"

"Well, not when you put it like that."

Karla shrugged. "I'm not against it, babe. We could take'em down to Falcon's city and turn them loose. They apparently have a good eye for who is innocent and who is not, so ... we just need to find them and see if they're worth recruiting."

"Right on."

"Speaking of RueBear..." Karla rubbed her face with her palms. "I wonder what Rufus is up to right now..."

X

X

July 31, 2049 - 10:40pm Local Time Historic Anacostia, Washington DC District Coast ...

Rufus Tucker Darken was an old school southern man from Savannah, Georgia. Fairly long jet-black hair, matching boots, and blue jeans matched his personality. A simple white t-shirt and an open flannel with the sleeves half-rolled up, he never tried to be a fashion statement. Comfortable clothes matched his relaxed expression and kind eyes.

In contrast, Kalen Kincade stood nearby, beneath a lamppost with his arms folded. He wore a black thigh-length leather jacket, a v-neck black shirt and fashionable pants and footwear. At a glance, they looked almost like dress shoes.

Rue and Kalen kept their eyes on an approaching man, trudging up the street towards them. The man stopped and cut his eyes from Rufus to Kalen and back. "The vampire and the werewolf. Aren't you two just the epitome of manly out here on the street corner..."

A grin tugged at the corner of Rue's face. "Sorry, teams are locked. You cain't join."

Kalen grinned but said nothing.

"You two are part of the group rumored to be gearing up for an assault on those bastards in black that hunted the EC twenty-five years ago, correct?"

Kalen glanced at Rufus then back at the man and tilted his head. "You're the contact sent by whatever is left of the new Esoteric Council? Usually your kind dislikes our ... methods."

The man shrugged. "I'm only here to point you in the direction of someone who might be able to help you."

Rufus arched his brows. "Is that a fact, Jack? We need a bonafide badass to help us punch a hole in the side of Aris Falcon's lil' waterpark. We don't need one of you political pencil-pushin' ass-wipes."

The man withdrew a small card from his pocket and handed it to Kalen then cut his gaze back to Rufus. "His name is Albert DeLioncourt. He's like you."

"A werewolf?" asked Rue.

"Not a wolf. A lion."

Rufus glanced at Kalen.

Kalen furrowed his brows, somewhat amused, and shrugged. "They have werelions now? That's a new one."

Rufus shrugged in return. "It was a rumor they existed."

"It's no rumor," said the man. "Albert recently manifested and only a handful of their kind manifest per generation. They're an apex predator. Typically, they manifest in their teenage years and grow to be overly aggressive. This one manifested in his early fifties. He was broken and humbled by rough social circles. A disposable job, high rent, not being able to see his granddaughter, and a system that penalized him for never having enough money to have anything more than debt."

Kalen tilted his head. "So you're saying he's a tame cat with the heart of a lion?"

"When you say it like that, yes, it's cringe-worthy. But the lion-kind are related to an Egyptian warrior cult. They fight until they're dead or drunk, and leave mountains of bodies in their wake. However, this man only_just_ manifested. He's set in his way, and won't kill everything mindlessly. This is a rare opportunity."

"What's your name, son?" Rufus folded his arms, matching Kalen's posture.

"Does it matter?"

"Answer the question," Kalen said in a firm tone.

The man glanced at the ground with a sigh. He grimaced and lifted his gaze. "Simon Linden."

Kalen frowned then smiled. "Von Linden?"

"Von is a title that denotes the status of landholder. My family had that title; I do not."

"You're related to Baron Byron von Linden?"

Simon frowned. "Byron was my grandfather. I'm Trevor's son."

"Trevor didn't manifest anything," said Kalen. "But Byron was an impressive..."

"I never met him," Simon interjected. "I lived in his shadow so to speak. Everyone holds me to ridiculous standards based on things my grandfather was said to have accomplished. I understand he aged slowly, too, and I have that in common with him. How do you know so much about him? Aren't you from California?"

"I spent a lot of time in San Francisco, yes," said Kalen. But I've been to europe enough times to know Byron. I also knew his sister. Her son, Michael, was also famous in our circles. He was one of the 'four horsemen'."

"I don't know much about Michael Richter except that he was loyal to the council for a long time, and then suddenly became a glorified mercenary for hire. I never met him either."

Kalen nodded. "Mike Richter died fifty years ago. They called him The Judge. So you age slowly like Byron - interesting. What about...?"

"Yes, I have Michael and Byron's ability."

Kalen tilted his head. "Then you should join us in..."

"No. I don't use it for predictive combat. I use it to determine who I can trust. Look for Albert. The lion doesn't know much about his own kind or their roots, but having a warrior like that will increase your chances of survival against Falcon." Simon glanced around the empty street corner. "I have to return to Chicago, gentlemen. I appreciate you two taking the time to meet with me. I'm sorry I couldn't tell you my identity until meeting in person. I had to know if I could trust you."

Rufus unfolded his arms. "And you can tell that by being near us?"

"That's how his ability works," Kalen murmured in reply with a sidelong glance to his friend. "It's basically low power telepathy."

The southerner nodded and glanced back at Simon. "Look, we're not out here to recruit people. That's Karla's job. I'm out here to find a backdoor down to Falcon's place. We're the infiltration and extraction team."

"You'd pass up on this opportunity? This would be your only chance to fight alongside of a warrior descendant of Bastet, the were-lioness."

"Simon..." Rufus sighed. "We're run a bit thin. We can't do several things at once. Lookie here, son, I got your email on my phone. I met you like ya' asked. But that doesn't_mean I'mma stop what I'm doing and run errands for you. I appreciate what'cha told me. I'll pass it along to Karla, a'ite?" Rue paused then asked, "Is his name _really DeLioncourt?"

"Their kind are very rare to manifest, and they're proud of their lineage. The descendants of Bastet took up lion-esque surnames as part of their pride."

Kalen eyed the man then said, "Did you mean to make that pun?"

"Pun?" Simon frowned. "What did I say?"

Rufus smirked. "Lion_surnames as part of their _pride."

Simon frowned. "I'd forgotten that's what feline packs are called. No, it wasn't intentional."

Kalen closed his eyes and shook his head slowly. "You certainly don't have the charisma of Byron or Michael. Listen, young man, you helped us. We appreciate it. We'll send someone to find Mr. DeLioncourt. Does he even know about his heritage or did his manifestation come as a surprise to him?"

"He was in shock at first, but he came to embrace it rapidly. Again, please stop bringing up my ancestors. And don't judge me by their actions or fame. I don't appreciate that."

Rufus stuffed his hands into his pockets. "Well, if'n that'll be all, we'll let you get back to doin' your thing. We'll have someone find this guy, don't worry. Kalen 'n I, well, I reckon we's gotta lot on our own plate. Y'know?"

Kalen eased off the lamppost, unfolded his arms and turned directly to Simon. "In February, I was working on testing a blood sample for a new vampire. I proved that this person is of my ilk, but I couldn't determine who turned them, as no one has permission to do such at this time. Has the Council been able to learn anything?"

Simon frowned. "Yes. The vampire you met at the beginning of the year belongs to the Myrell clan. This vampire is related to Jarth."

Kalen frowned. "I thought Jarth died in the inquisition cleansing of 2023?"

Simon shook his head, "No ... obviously Jarth is alive because he created a vampiric offspring - the one you met, whose blood you tested when you found the body of Reno Nevada. When was that, again? March?"

"Last day of February, I believe," said Kalen, adding, "Jarth would be a powerful ally..."

"Jarth doesn't seem the kind of man to fight," Simon replied. "You need warriors."

"If you'd let me finish," Kalen retorted with a smirk. "I was going to suggest that he would be a valuable ally to the Esoteric Council. Jarth was a leader of my kind throughout the 1900s. The Council would benefit from a man with his leadership experience. I suggest you find him and ask him to help with running the council."

"I see." Simon looked from Kalen to Rufus then back to Kalen. "I will speak to him if I can find him. Gentlemen, thank you for agreeing to meet with me. Good luck with finding Falcon and finishing what you started in 2024. Try and see it through this time."

Rufus grinned. "So we have the blessing of the EC to kill that sumbitch? You're not going to yell at us for using powers?"

"Try not to make things public. We don't yet have the money or the manpower to fix any blatant public mistakes. Lord knows it took decades to fix the superhero stunt of 2024, with Mr. Nevada, Ms. Howard and Mr. Balmoral. Good luck, gentlemen. Keep your noses clean."

Rufus snorted in amusement. "C'mon, now, have some respect. I'm an endangered species, these days. I'm the last goddamn werewolf around."

"No you're not." Simon eyed Rufus, brows quirked. "Were you joking or do you really believe that?"

"You got proof otherwise?"

Simon nodded. "Of course. Ulfey and her son live on the American west coast. There are at least three other small packs of werewolves scattered throughout America. They live with Native American groups that have agreed to raise them quietly for us."

Rufus replied with a weak smile. "Ulfey, huh? From Iceland?"

"Yes. I believe you've met her. I read, somewhere, that you saved her life and sent her to Athens with the last Oracle."

"Ayup. She has a son, eh? I only met'er the once, but she was a'right." Rufus shrugged somewhat. "Alright, take care, kid. We'll be in touch."

Simon nodded and walked away in silence.

"Ex-girlfriend?" asked Kalen. "You've already got one of those, Rue."

"Karla don't count. We never dated. And Ulfey was a one-night stand. C'mon, leech. Let's get back to work."

"Very well, mutt. Lead the way."

Rufus grinned and gestured for Kalen to follow. "Think I will, son. I want'cha to feel comfortable."

Kalen quirked his brows. "I missed your joke."

"Naw, no jokes ... I just know it comes natural for you to follow the lead dog." Rufus gestured to himself with a thumb. "I'm the ultimate lead dog, son."

Kalen closed his eyes and shook his head. "Christ."

Rufus smiled as they walked. "Thanks fer the compliment, but you can jus' call me 'Rue.' Heh." He drew quiet, pondering what it might be like to see Ulfey again. After all, last time he saw her, twenty-five years ago, they sort of had a chemistry connection.

"What's on your mind?"

Rue grinned. "I hope Ulfey ain't with her son's father anymore." He trailed off and thought about her again. He wanted to make a connection again ... with Karla, with Ulfey ... at this point, he just wanted to touch a woman again. "There's somethin' healing about a woman's touch."

"I'll take your word for it," said Kalen as they walked up the sidewalk together, headed towards the crumbling remains of old I-295.

---

Next chapter:

https://www.sofurry.com/view/735192