Tempest

24 : If at first you didn't succeed

Noah stood watching as his Druids got all the weres ready for the upcoming treatment.

The shifters were pathetic. They had so much power yet chose to live in communities away from the humans. In fact, all the supernaturals chose to live their lives in hiding. He was going to make sure that their being out of sight was permanent. And now he had the means to do it.

He was content. After all these years he would finally have his revenge. The death of his wife and unborn child would be avenged.

He took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

From beside him, she spoke.

"We are almost there," she said softly. Her hand ran over his arm and he smiled. He watched her, his eyes taking in every part of her face. Her red hair was left to flow down her back and her green eyes looked back at him fondly. She was a small thing, always had been. Barely a meter sixty compared to his meter eighty-two. She didn't reach his shoulder but she was larger than life to him.

"I never could have done it without you,'' he said to her. He loved the way her eyes seemed to glow as she smiled at him. She had been there for him from the start, discussing options with him, helping him think things through. He owed her so much. She came to him at a time when he thought his life was over, when he was so close to insanity it would have taken just one small push to get him over the edge.

Then, one day she was there, waiting outside his door and he had invited her in. She had calmed his fears, soothed his anxiety and healed his heart. She had comforted him in ways that had made him feel alive again. She had made him whole. Again.

All of this was for her. She had made it happen and he would be forever grateful to her.

They both watched as the weres were lined up in the hall, the silver binding their arms and legs more effectively than any other constraints could have been. They started with a hundred, just a small sample to test the serum, to see how effective it would be and how long it would take to wear off, if at all it did.

The serum made from the strongest living were and mixed with Vampire blood, amongst other things, was a sure way of attaining his end goal. It had allowed the Vampires to go out into the sunlight. The attack on the Rogues had been a nice little test that had worked out as well as he had expected it to. Norman, his strongest Telepath, had worked them like miniature Barbies in her Malibu beach house.

Soon.

Soon they would be ready for the war and all the supernaturals would be dead. It had taken him a long time but he was almost there. Before the next full moon he would have his army ready and he would be in a position to start the eradication. He would kill them one by one. He would cleanse the world of the curse of all supernaturals.

It was something he had to do.

Soon.

*

Adria had heard the whispers. The warning that the woman had whispered to her a few days ago had had her mind working overtime. She knew she had a finite number of options and the ones she had had only marginal chances of success. She took a deep breath.

She took the key out of its hiding place in her clothing and brought it up slowly to her neck. She looked around slowly, worried that someone might see her.

Noone seemed to be paying any attention to her. The light of the moon was not bright enough to reveal what she was doing. She placed the key quietly into the lock of her collar and then held her breath. After a moment she turned it and was relieved to hear it made no sound. She could only assume that the woman who had given it to her had done something to it to ensure it was so quiet.