Midnight Shadows
Chapter Sixteen: Lyons, Tigers, and Bears
BY: Tammy

Disclaimer: Anita, Dolph, Jean-Claude, Jason, Asher, Zerbrowski, and any other recognizable characters belong to Laurell K. Hamilton. I’m borrowing them. This was written purely for entertainment and not monetary gain. Cara, Calin, Tanon, the Queen, and Dr. Zimmerman belong to me.

Author’s Note: This story is told from Anita’s and Cara’s view points. They alternate back and forth from chapter to chapter.

Cara's P.O.V.

I never saw Anita leave. All of my attention was fixated on the stage before me and the elf sitting there quietly observing the audience. Suddenly he looked directly at me and he gasped in recognition. I felt the inquisitive brush of his mind against my shields. I relaxed them enough to allow his mental touch through.

“Who are you?” I “heard” mentally.

“Cara, from Caelian, elder,” I sent back respectfully.

“Why are you here?” he demanded. I could feel his anger riding the wave of his thought. I didn’t understand why he was mad.

“To find you, learned one,” I responded.

The anger in his mental tone melted into surprise. “Wait for me after the lecture. We need to talk.” And he was gone.

The next hour dragged by. I really didn’t listen to what he said to the audience. Mostly I rehearsed what I was going to say to Tanon when we met. How could I convince him to return to Aradorn? He obviously had made a life for himself here on Earth. Had he stayed by choice or had he been unable to return? So many questions.

Finally, he wound down and the auditorium began to empty. Jason, Nathaniel, and I waited until most of the crowd had moved out and then we headed for the lobby.

“Well, now what?” Jason asked. “Anita said to wait for her before attempting to talk to him.”

“Now we wait for Tanon, like he asked,” I said calmly. Inside I was writhing with anticipation and nervousness, but I wasn’t going to show it to anyone else.

“Like he asked? What are you talking about?” Jason asked. Confusion marred his handsome face.

“Before the lecture began, Tanon and I spoke mind to mind. I don’t know what word you would use to describe it,” I explained.

“Telepathy,” Nathaniel said.

Before I could reply I saw Tanon walking toward us. When he reached us I curtsied as deeply as was appropriate. He bowed his head in acknowledgement.

“You are strong, child,” Tanon said. His speaking voice was deep and melodious. I could hear the musical tones of our language through the English he was speaking. Just the sound helped to ease some of the homesickness I felt.

“Yes, elder, I am. The strongest born since you left,” I said.

“Well, introduce me to these young men and then let’s find ourselves someplace to talk. I suspect our discussion will be a long one and I at least want to be comfortable,” he said looking at Jason and Nathaniel. I knew he could tell they were lycanthropes just as I could, but he didn’t say a word.

“Tanon, allow me to introduce you to Jason and Nathaniel. They have been kind enough to help me since I arrived on Earth. Jason, Nathaniel, this is Tanon, Elder Shalandar of Caelian.”

Jason grinned broadly and offered his hand to the elf. Nathaniel just nodded gravely and stood a bit behind Jason. I really did not understand his behavior at all. Tanon and Jason shook hands.

“We can talk at the diner down the road,” Jason offered when no one said anything else. “But you’ll have to give us a ride. Anita had to leave. I’ll have to find a phone and give her a quick call so she knows where to pick us up.”

“That will do,” Tanon agreed. He headed for the doors of the auditorium. The rest of us followed in his wake. Tanon wasn’t giving me any clues about what he was thinking and not one emotion leaked past his shields. I wasn’t even sure why he was masquerading as a human. This place certainly had enough odd inhabitants that one would not have thought an elf would cause comment.

“Are you sure he’s the one?” Jason whispered. “He doesn’t look like you. He looks like an ordinary human. He even smells human.”

Smells? “He is Tanon. He’s using glamour to disguise himself,” I whispered back.

It was dark out and the moon had risen. The wind had picked up and was blowing my hair around into my face as we walked into the sea of parked vehicles. Between one moment and the next the quiet parking lot suddenly seemed dark and perilous. Before I could even begin to look for a cause, Jason shouted, “Look out!” and pushed me to the ground.

I felt something pass above us and looked up and saw a shadow shove Tanon to the ground, hard. In the blink of an eye, the shadow whirled and turned to face us. Jason was on his feet facing a man. He was very pale and I saw fangs when he barred them at Jason. A vampire then. He was short, with muddy brown hair and hazel eyes. He was dressed in a button down gray shirt that only accentuated his white face and black slacks. Unremarkable all together, except for the twisted _expression on his face. He was in a towering fury. The anger rolled off him in waves; he was making no pretense at shielding them.

I was climbing to my feet when the vampire said, “Get out of my way, puppy. She’s mine.”

“No.” It was all Jason said. Nathaniel was at my elbow trying to pull me down behind a car. I shrugged off his hand and stepped up next to Jason. Nathaniel lurked behind us. Perhaps guarding our backs?

“I’m not yours. I don’t even know who you are, vampire.” My voice was ice coated in scorn, but I was careful not to look at his eyes. I remembered Anita’s advice about vampires and their tricks.

“You don’t remember me? How disappointing. Allow me to introduce myself then,” he said with false brightness. “My name is Lyon. And I am your master, girl. I bit you and now you will feel my power. You were such an easy mark. Where did you find the shifters to guard you?” He stared at me intently as he finished and I felt a brush of dark power that reminded me of Jean-Claude’s against my shields, but that was all.

His _expression was priceless. He gaped in astonishment. “How did you erase my taint?” he asked me with a snarl.

Jason tried to step in front of me, but I wouldn’t let him. This was my battle and I’d face it.

“Erase your taint! You bastard, you gave me your damned marks and have tied me to you for life.” Rage filled me as I snarled right back at him. I began to gather my strength and added to it by pulling energy from the land and people around me, intending to lash out at him with a bolt of pure energy that would fry him where he stood. I didn’t care if it killed me along with him as long as I took his sinister power with me.

“No, child!” Tanon’s voice brought me back to myself before I could loose the power. “It is forbidden!” He had tried to get to his feet, but he was bleeding from his temple. He had lost his glamour and now appeared to be the elf he was. His call seemed to rob him of his strength and he fell back to the ground unconscious.

“Marked!! I did not mark you! Your power will be mine! I will have you!” Lyon howled.

He lunged for me and I knew I’d never evade him. I tried to dodge to the right, away from Jason. Lyon caught me by the arms above my elbows and pulled me close. I tried to push back at him with my arms, but the angle was wrong. I could see Jason creeping up behind Lyon and forced myself to relax.

Jason snaked his arm around Lyon’s neck and began to pull him away from me. At the same time, I pushed at Lyon with the same silent wind I’d used to pin Jean-Claude and Richard the day before. Between the two pressures Lyon lost his grip on me and fell back onto Jason. He turned on Jason as he tried to stand and shoved him into a car. I heard Jason’s head crack against it with sickening finality. Jason fell in a crumpled heap on the pavement.

Nathaniel again tried to pull me away but I shrugged him off saying, “Check on Tanon.”

Lyon came at me again and instead of trying to avoid him physically, I went on the offensive. With a quick thought I hardened the wind and tried to use it to immobilize him, but he moved too damned quickly for me to catch. He kept coming at me in lightning fast lunges and it was all I could do to push him away from me. There were probably a dozen things I could do if I knew more about vampires, but I didn’t have the information and my strength was limited. I didn’t want to exhaust myself on fruitless attacks and be left unable to defend myself.

He kept at me like a dog worrying a bone. Before too much longer he was going to wear me down and then I’d be his. I looked around wildly for any aid I could get. I didn’t see Nathaniel anymore, but there was a waist-high black cat pacing behind me. I knew it must be Nathaniel because he glowed like he did in his human form, but he seemed only willing to guard my back. Tanon and Jason were unconscious. It was getting harder and harder to push Lyon back. Things were not looking good.

A movement to my left caught my attention for a fraction of a second. It seemed as if the shadows pulled back like a lifting blanket. Another vampire was revealed. Just what I needed. In my brief look I didn’t catch anymore detail than the fangs gleaming in the lamp light as he attacked Lyon.

“O’Malley! What are you doing here?” Lyon gasped. He shifted his attack from me to O’Malley in a heartbeat. I gratefully let the wind stop and felt exhaustion close over me in a wave. I fell to my knees. I didn’t have enough strength left to move a butterfly and now there were two vampires. At least they were fighting each other.

I watched them fight. Their movements were so fast that they blurred, but I could see that they were both bleeding.

“I’m here to protect my human servant, Lyon. You won’t have her!” the one called O’Malley said as he swiped his hand at Lyon’s neck. Suddenly Lyon was bleeding from a long gash under his chin. He broke away from O’Malley and ran to where Tanon was laying and scooped him up over his shoulder.

“If I can’t have her, I’ll take this one for my own!”

Anita’s green vehicle was racing up the lane. He turned and ran at it. He leaped onto the hood, then the roof, and launched himself into the sky.

Anita jumped out of the Jeep with that odd object I’d observed under her arm at the hospital in her hand and said, “What the hell’s going on here?”

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