Shards - Chapter 4

[Bynw]

Pulling into the parking lot of the Triple H Bar is like arriving at a country concert. The parking lot is packed full of big trucks, jeeps, motorcycles, I think there are even a few Bentleys to the side. Tonight is going to be busy since there is another huge show being performed. On the card is a local band just starting out in the business but I know they will do well, they opened up for some guys that frequent the bar, and put their seal of approval on them. I drove around back and parked in my normal spot, jumped out and grabbed my gear. I don't have to lock it for two reasons, one there is nothing in there to steal besides the radio, and two, if you steal anything in this lot you're basically offering your life up in trade. Not by me of course, Mr. Wyrmwood does not take kindly to theft in any form and he takes it personal if anyone of his clientel are taken advantage of.

Walking up to the back door I see the new guy Jimmy on duty. Jimmy is a good kid with a good heart, he has dreams of going to school at Texas A&M for a degree in sports medicine. He seems to know his stuff and I wish him the best of luck with his future. I am just hoping that summer doesn't kill him. He is a little too intuned with his surroundings for the job. He has noticed that not everyone that comes here are your normal customers and I hope it changes soon, or he can kiss his dreams goodbye, as well as his possible life.

"Hey boss, thought you had the night off?" I hear as I approach him.

"Yeah, but Mr.Wyrmwood had some questions about a few upcoming gigs and wanted me to come in to share my thoughts for security."

He straightened up real quick and a smile leaped across his face. He could barely contain his excitement and with a nervous tone busted out, "If you need any extra help, I would be glad to work those dates. I could use the work and the experience."

Poor kid had no clue what the world was really like, and who was I to tell him otherwise to bring his world tumbling down. I just gave a smirk and nodded and reassured him with a, "I will keep it in mind Jimmy. Now keep a look out, people like to sneak into the vehicles when the show is going on."

He gave a quick nod and stared back out into the graveyard of a parking lot, looking for any non-do-gooders. I almost chuckled to myself as I slid through the door behind him. The crowd roared with cheers and bellowed out enjoyment from the show at the front of the club. It looked like a good showing for the local boys. Making my way through the back towards Lucian's office, passing the security office, the dressing rooms and the lounge I end up face to face with Samuel.

"Evening Samuel, how fair you this night?" Keeping the tone as professional as possible so anyone listening doesn't put together that we are actual friends. It is not that I can't be friends with whomever I want, but in this place, I need to make sure my two worlds never are seen blending. Samuel understands and always follows suit.

"Daj I am doing well thanks for asking. Mr. Wyrmwood would like to see you as soon as possible. He has some guests he needs to introduce you too." He steps to the side of the stairs and allows me to pass. Showing my normal pleasantries, I nod in his direction and then head up the stairwell past him.

Once we start up the stairs, Samuel leans in and whispers in a very questioning tone, "What the hell are you wearing? Dad is so going to be pissed when he sees you. He told you to dress appropriately. You are my best friend, but when he sees you I hope I don't have to find a new one."

All I could think in my head was, if it is good enough for Johnny it is good enough for anyone. If it is good enough for Johnny it is good enough for anyone. When we come to the end of the hall there are two huge solid wooden doors, the kind that would be on some Hollywood Star's house. They are about eight inches thick and I believe they each weigh about eighty pounds. Both doors swing wide open before I come to a complete stop in front of them. Blocking the entrance now was a mountain of a man, if you could classify him as a man. The being stood about seven foot two inches tall and looked to be about three hundred and seventy pounds of pure kick ass in a four thousand dollar suit. The scent he projected was that of a predator of a carnivore nature and was looking for something to chew on. His small beady black eyes looked at me with a deadpan stare.

He must use this technique a lot to intimidate people in his world so I did the only thing reasonable in this situation, I returned his deep gaze with a look of your boring me. I could tell from a gleam in his eye he wasn't use to having someone stare directly at him, as his jaw tightened and I seen a vein on the left side of his neck starting to pulse vigorously.

With a firm but non-threatening resonance in my voice I simply said, "You're in my way, please move."

The man became more tense, he moved his left foot back about six inches and started to bring his hands up to my chest, but before he could touch Mr. Cash on my chest, my right hand was holding a loaded and cocked Sig to the still pulsing vein in his neck. He froze in an instant, I said I was a commoner I never said I was slow. The dark pupils in his eyes grew four times in size the instant he realized he fucked up. I stood there calmly and slightly cocked my head to the side, while still staring at his full blown pupils. Never blinking and never moving, I just stood there and listened. The whole room fell quiet at the exact moment that they realized what was happening at the doorway.

Someone in the background started to move, but I heard Lucian clear his throat and the movement stopped. The mountain in front of me only moved his eyes from left to right and back to see if there was any help coming to his aid, he found none. I didn't speak for another full minute; the time seemed to pass like molasses in winter. A small bead of sweat leaked its way to the surface of the mountains forehead, and started to run down his right eyebrow. I straightened my head up and made the same statement in the same tone as previous. "You're in my way, please move."

This time the mountain took the hint and took two steps backwards and to the right never taking his eyes off me. I did not follow him; I simply took a statuesque stance in place and waited for him to stop moving. Once the mountain came to a stop and was not about to move, I un-cocked the gun and slipped it back into the holster and let my shirts fall back into their original location to cover them back up, and then waited patiently for my invitation to enter.

My resolve brought a huge smile to Lucian's face. The vampire's smile was from ear to ear in pure enjoyment of how the situation panned out. Lucian loves to know that the people he employs have a backbone and are willing to stand up to any and all challenges that come their way. Once he realized I was waiting to be invited in, he came to terms with the room and said in a most generous and joyous tone he spoke.

"Mr Hoyle, Arbiter of the Supernatural world and my guest for this evening. Please enter my office under the laws of the lands, and take notice that you will be safe in my place of business. Also take refuge in knowing that no harm will fall upon you as long as you are my guest." He then scanned the room to make sure he was noticed before finishing with, "And if anyone wishes to press my resolve in such a manner, you will find the outcome to be unflattering for you."

I bow to Lucian and before I enter the room I pronounce my attention for being here. "Thank you Mr. Wyrmwood for your invitation. I was called upon this evening as the Arbiter for a matter I have not been made aware of. I will honor my host with the utmost manner as long as I come to no harm. If I believe harm will befall me, I will act in accordance of the laws of the land and make sure I survive this meeting. Are my terms agreed upon by all in the room? If so raise your left arm." Then I wait for a response.

In one unanimous motion everyone in the room raised their hand in approval, even Sam behind me raised it. I damn near busted out laughing. I bowed again and then entered the room. As I passed the mountain to my right he tightened up but did not budge a single muscle. The room looked like that out of a movie. There was the huge desk in front of a giant window that over looked the club floor below. The carpet on the floor was a nice black with red and blue slashes spread out through it. There was a small bar area on the left side of the room that had about four guys standing at it. On the right side of the room there was a huge fish tank that had about six salt water fish in it. Blocking the view of the tank was about another three gentlemen. There are two big chairs in front of the desk that Lucian was standing behind. The two chairs each had a gentleman in them with another man standing behind them.

I make my way across the room to shake the hand of the host for the evenings event, Lucian. I do this first to show him the respect he deserves, for allowing this meeting to take place in his business. I then turned to the two men to my right, since I already knew them. One was Samuel's father, Jebidiah Longstrum the leader of the Nashville wolf pack. The next man was his second in command Leo Detti, he came to the area about ten years ago and worked his way up in the ranks of the pack. I don't know much about him, but from the stories around, he is dangerous, lethal and very loyal to Jebidiah. I shook both of their hands with a slight bow as well.

My attention was then made to the men to my left, who I have never seen before. The first one was tall with a slender build, but looked like he owned the room. The charcoal black suit screamed Armani, and he had a crimson red tie with a matching handkerchief. Short black hair that was combed backwards, clean shaven and a defining jaw line. On his right hand he was wearing a ring looked to be made of gold, that has an insignia on it and engulfing his wrist was a gold matching Rolex. The shoes looked to be made of alligator and they were very well polished. There was power the radiated from this man and I could tell by how the others never kept their gaze on him, he was feared or respected, maybe even both.

The man behind him was about six foot tall and about one hundred and thirty pounds. His jet black hair was combed straight back. He also adourned a suit that would cost in the thousands, but his black suit was trimmed with a colbal blue tie and matching handkerchief. He was also wearing a gold watch which I presumed was a Rolex, and matching gold cufflinks. If I had to make a guess I would say he was either the man's bodyguard or second in command. He stood there with his hands behind him, like someone you would see in the armed services. As I went to shake the hand of the bigger gentleman, he introduced himself to me as he took a firm forceful grip.

"Sanford Delequiox, Mr. Hoyle, I am the Alpha of the Southern Werewolf Chapter of North America. I am very pleased to make your acquaintance." The words poured off his tongue in a manner of a plantation owner from the Deep South. The dialect and the tone reminded me of a confederate general who has seen many wars and can call bullshit when he hears it. I got a distinct feeling that I should have listened when I was informed to dress differently, and that my dress attire may be disrespectful to this man. Then came a shock I was not expecting.

"I was very good friends with Mr. Cash," as he gestured to my shirt, "You honor me by wearing that shirt to our first meeting." Then a widening smile came across his face of pure joy. If it's good enough for Johnny, is all I could think.

"I greet you Mr. Delequiox, and wish to apologize for my entrance but something was going to make me late, and I have a reputation I have to maintain." I quickly informed him.

That southern tone rolled out again as he said, "Don't take no never mind of Jacob, he was doing his job. Although at times he is a little zealous and forgets his manners, or forgets he is not invincable. It was good to see him take a second notion again."

"Well, I do appreciate someone doing their job, as long as it does not infringe on me having to do mine." I simply stated. "How may I be of service to the Alpha?"

A gentleman from behind Lucian brought forth a chair for me to sit in. I never seen this man when I first entered the room, so I believe he must have been one of Lucian's coven. Lucian gestured for me to take a seat, but I waited till everyone else sat first then I took mine. Sanford snapped his fingers and the gentleman standing behind him pulled out a vanilla colored folder from behind his back and handed it to him. He then returned to his stance like that of a military man.

Mr. Delequiox handed me the envelope and spoke in a very diplomatic tone. "I have a multiple homicide that needs your attention, sir. There are two clans that are in question for this heanious act. I need you to go through the material that I have provided and for you to do your own investigation. Find out who the guilty party is and then deal out justice as you see fit."

Accepting the folder, I opened it to see the first picture showing what appeared to be three bodies in a dingy boat ripped to shreds. From what I could make out, there was a girl and two boys no older than maybe seventeen. The photo made it look as though their throats were ripped out, stomachs tore open and maybe parts of their organs were missing. Another picture showed three hearts in mason jars of what appeared to be water or was that moonshine. A couple of other pictures looked as though there were footprints in a muddy sandy area around the boat. After looking through what had to been about fifteen to twenty pictures I looked up at Sanford.

He continued, "This happened over on the Midway Lake, by Council, Arkansas, it is on the border of Mississippi and Arkansas. The moonshine on the boat, as well as in the heart filled jars, belongs to the Stornville Clan out of Little Rock, AK and the Brody Clan out of Jackson, MS. The only thing that can be figured out is maybe the two clans were trying to swap some shine and things went sour. Before you ask, no the three bodies have no identification on them. What is stranger than that is that no one is claiming them either. I sat down with both clan leaders to get their sides of their story and both are denying they had anything to do with this. As the Alpha, I cannot have this travesty go unsolved."

I looked at Jebidiah and asked, "How does the Nashville clan sit in this matter? No offense to you sir, but you could have just gave Mr. Delequiox my information, why are you here?"

Jebidiah leaned forward in his chair and confessed, "Nathaniel Brody is a close friend of mine, and we ran in the same areas growing up. That was until he moved to Mississippi to take lead of the clan there. He called me about the incident at hand and I reached out to Sanford. Nathaniel told me straight up that this is not his doing, and I believe him. I want this matter to be solved, no matter what the outcome will be."

Leo very aburtly leaned over and whispered to his alpha, "We should stay out of this boss. This is not our affair and this has no effect on our clan. If we do get involved, then it could overspill onto us. Then I will have a very hard time protecting you."

Jebidiah became irate with that last remark and jolted out of his chair like a shotgun. With a stern voice he looked down at Leo and made it clear, "I don't need protection! I am the Nashville Alpha! I am the one who does the protecting and right now one of my oldest damn friends needs help. Am I fucking understood?"

Leo dropped his head in accordance and whispered, "Yes sir, I understand, I beg your forgivness. I overstepped and I will try to not let it happen again."

Jebidiah sat back down in his chair, leaned back and then did a slight nod at me, as to let me continue. So I did. "In that case, I have a contract that must be signed by all parties involved, so when my verdict comes to fruitation, there will be no contridictions nor any retribution."

Removing the contract from the backpack I hand it to Mr. Delequiox. Continuing my speach, "All parties in attendance, please read it completely and sign it in agreement."

After about thirty or so minutes all five members signed the contract. Lucian, Leo and the mystery man with Sanford signed as witnesses and Sanford and Jebidiah as the employers of the contract. Taking the contract after Jebidiah signed it, I then applied my signature as well. Solomon Jim does amazing work with his contracts because they actually can never be destroyed. Having seen so many people try to cancel or destroy the contract if they found my decision not in their favor. It has become a very useful thing. The other thing amazing about every contract he creates, is that I can make multiple copies of the contracts by just removing the top sheet. The contract magically creates a one hundred percent duplicate of the original signed contract. So the person I give the contract to, gets the actual signature, not a duplicate or fraudulant one. This is very handy when I am about to face two clans that don't know that I have every right to kill them if they interfere with my investigation.

After all parties have received a copy of the contract, I grab my backpack and start to head out. As I try to make my exit, the door mountain gets in front of me again. I stop about two feet in front of him. There is now a gleam in his eye, like if he wants to say or do something.

"Is there something that I can help you with?" I question in a monotone voice.

The mountain trys to hide it but iti is easy for me to see, he is scared. He still trys his best to hold hiself firm and he stammers out, "The boss hasn't given you permission to leave and I um can't let you leave, until he says so." He took a gulp and put his right foot back again and waited.

Raising my index finger up on my right hand, I turn slowly back to the group of men, and ask, "Is there anything else I could do for them, before I make my leave?" All five of them shook there no in some what of a unison manner. I then announced, "In that case I will make my leave, may you all have a blessed day."

I then turn back to the behemoth that is between me and my exit, and lower my index finger. "It seems that I am no longer needed, so you are in my way again. Do you wish to have a blessed day?" Then I make a small smirk, again I know he is doing his job, but the overbearing just makes me want to remove him. He doesn't move but he does quickly pipe up with a crack in his voice. "Mr. Deleqiox, is it clear for him to leave?"

That southern general tone came from behind me, "Jacob you can either let him leave or he will make you let him leave. I have already let him go, but you keep standing there, so it is now your call."

Jacob finally took the hint and stepped to the side, "I am sorry sir, just trying to do my job."

I stared at him and cocked my head to the side again, "Have a blessed day, Jacob." Then taking my leave of the office I headed back down the stairs to make my way to the bride of Franky.

When I open the back door to the parking lot, Jimmy wasn't there. I looked around but he was nowhere in sight. I called out for him but there was no response. Taking a few steps forward I still could not hear anything. The back door swung open and Sam was standing there. He started to talk but I brought my index finger up to my lips to make sure he stayed silent. I pointed to my ears and he took the hint quickly. I yelled out for Jimmy once more but no response. Sam shot his head to the left and pointed. I dropped my bag and we both ran full bore in that direction. A werewolf is damn fast, even in human form they can easily pass the fastest man alive. I did my best to try to stay in stride with him, but the effort was pointless. With a dead sprint between vehicles I was just a few steps behind him.

Coming around the corner of a Dodge truck Jimmy was laid out there on the ground. His face looked as if a meat cleaver was taken to it, repeatidly. His wrist and fingers were broken and a sharp object tore a chunk out of his chest and thigh. There was at least a three foot puddle of blood that came from him. The footprints around his body made it look like there was at least four assailants. I started checking on the poor kid for vitals and a pulse, meanwhile Samuel was sniffing the air for any clues. Turning to me he stated, "It was three men and a woman.

It appears that they headed back into the bar. They smell of Old Spice, leather, motor oil and snakeskin oil"

"First we need to get Jimmy to Lucian so he can try his best to heal him, then I find who did this."

Sam lifted the leftover of the torn body over his shoulder in a fireman's carry and then we ran back inside. As we enter the back door we fly up the stairs, clearing five steps at a time. I kicked the doors open and eight of the men from around the room quickly came between me and the entrance. I yelled out above all, "Lucian Wyrmwood, Jimmy is hurt on your property. He is in dire need of your healing assistance now. Please have these men move or I will move them, so be it." The room filled with a black cold shadow that would block out the brightest of lights, and in an instance Lucian was standing in front of me. He looked down at Jimmy on Samuel's shoulders with an appalled gesture. The group of men were quickly brushed to either side of the room by an invisible force.

"Bring him in and lay him on the table Samuel." as Lucian led the way to his desk.

The men looked on in amazement and some what bewilderment to something none of them have ever seen or felt before. Not only did a man materialize in front of them, but somehow they were brushed out of the path of that same man, when they never seen him move. Leo took off his jacket and made it into a pillow to put under Jimmy's head as Sam laid him down. This was the first time I seen Leo without a jacket on. The man was body builder ripped under his suit. His almost see through white dress shirt showed off his tattoos. I could easily make out most of the ink on his arms and back.

Lucian looked up and his red eyes with black flecks peered deep into mine and with a voice that could have brought gods to their knees demanded to know who did this. No one else spoke not even Sanford, they all waited for my response. I informed him of how we found him and what Sam noticed. Lucian looked back down to the shredded remains of Jimmy's face and said in one firm tone, "Daj, justice needs to be done."

With that I took my queue, spinning around on my heels I made my way to the door. I heard Sam start to follow suit and Jebidiah spoke up, "Sam you point them out, but it is the Arbiter who is to act, do you understand?" Sam grunted then followed me down the stairs.

As we entered the main room of the bar, the crowd was packed. Wasting no time, I cut a path to the front, and with one giant jump I was standing on stage with the performers. Swiping the microphone from the main act in mid lyric, all music stopped. They went to say something and the crowd starting becoming enraged with the interuption. I held up my right hand to get their attention.

"I am the lead security officer of the Triple H Bar and there was a crime committed in this parking lot. A group of individuals took it upon themselves to harm one of my employees and now I am here to find them. I am sorry for this interruption but I will be as quick as I can so you can get back to your show."

I tossed the microphone back to the man I took it from and leaped into the crowd. The crowd quickly dispersed and gave me a wide berth. Panning my eyesight left to right, I make my way toward the bar. At the end of the bar I see Sam, who is now pointing to six men and a woman drinking and hooting and hollering at a table. The girl is proudly wearing Jimmy's necklace around her neck like a trophy on display, and like a tank, my path makes a detour to their position. The crowd never buckles, they keep their distance but now everyone is trying to see where I am heading next. Once I reach my destination four of the seven stand up immediately, and take a defensive stance. The man who is occupying himself with the girl looks up and smugly scoffs at me.

In a hissing like voice he focused his eyes onto mine and said, "It would beneficial to your life choices if you walked away now otherwise; you may never get to walk again." With the accent on the end I had seen his tongue flick out and back almost faster than human eyes could see. The scent in the air, the forked tongue, the snake like accent, it was easy to tell what I was about to deal with, Naga. I dealt with these when I was on assignment in the Amazon, in Brazil. Two things Nagas hate are silver and being disrespected, good thing I have plenty of both to give tonight.

"I am sorry, but you have to have a set of balls to talk to me and I can tell that since it took four of you to beat on a single man, none of you have a set between the seven of ya. So you bitches need to take your leather clad asses out my bar."

His split eyelids blinked twice then he jumped to his feet and leaned over the table. With spittle in his words, and I am sure some venom to prove his point he spat, "Boy you have no clue what hell you are asking to befall on you. You better get out of here before we drag your ass out and do to you what would look like a gentile hug to the other guy."

Scoffing I replied, "Come on now I can see in your eyes that your so damn scared you got piss rolling down your thigh now.

It is ok, I understand I wouldn't want a straight up fight either if I knew I would get fucked up in two hits. Why don't you ask the misses there to let you borrow her skirt so you can ran back home to your mommy."

That struck the nerve, he launched at me like a child having a tantrum, too bad for him I knew it was coming. I slid my body slightly to the right and with one quick jab I slammed my knuckles into the side of his temple and he slumped to the floor with a loud thunderous thud. The crowd around us exploded with ohs and oh my gods. I think I heard someone one quote the Friday movie with, "You got knocked the fuck out!"

Before his other nest mates had a chance to respond I grabbed the leader's ankles and drug him to the outside doors and slung his limp body out them. I then turned to his comrades and asked, "Now, which one of you bitches are next?" I then step through the doors where two more of my security team are on the outside. I turn to Richie and Mark and calmly say, "We have a code red, follow standard protocol. There are five men and a woman following me out. When they are outside you know what to do. Do you both understand?" They both have been here a few years and this has happened on more than one occasion. They both nod their head in agreement and stand on both sides of the door and wait. The Naga leader started to come around and was pushing himself off the ground with his arms when I waltzed up and kicked him smack damn in the side of the face. He rolled down the stairs into the parking lot between a Silverado and F150.

Making my way slowly to him to make sure when his friends came out they seen me, I reached down to my right boot and pulled my knife out. The doors slammed opened and the five soldiers and the female drifted out of the entrance, Richie and Mark quickly pushed the crowd back into the bar and locked the doors behind them so no one could get in or out. Now with everyone inside and there are no witnesses I was about to rain hell down upon this wretched snakes. Two of the snakes turned to the door and tried to get back in, when a giant metal gate slam down over the door. Each of them went to grab it but got burned from the gate itself.

"Silver," I informed them, "Burns like a bitch don't it? That is the problem with Naga, you idiotic snakes think you can do whatever you want and never have to answer for your actions."

One of the burning ones went to speak but I continued before they could open there mouths.

"Like tonight, that kid was doing his damn job and four of you decided to rough him up for what? Maybe a few items in someone's ride. Or hell maybe you just wanted to do it because he was in your way?"

The girl shouted out, "Well if the fucking human would have minded his own damn business then he wouldn't of gotten hurt. But no he took his job seriously, so we gave him a serious beating, Tit for tat and all that, right boys?"

The five of them started laughing and egging each other on like they were in the right and now I am just going to have to put them all down, especially her.

The two near the doors started to change shape. The fleshy toned skin began to shed revealing their true form. A nine foot tall half snake half man form was replacing the disguise they were dawning moments earlier. Their exteriors were covered in green scales with yellow tinted highlights. The back of their heads foiled out a little like that usually seen on cobras. Two eight inch fangs that extended out the sides of their mouth and a huge tongue flickered in the air. Where there hands were moments ago now had six inch long claws on their webbed like hands. A tail protruded out their backside and extended down to the ground which began slithering to and fro. Standing there, hissing and bending their bodies back and forth, in rythm. I never twitched a single muscle while they were in transformation, and that seemed to agitate them more. Three of the creatures let out an almost primal howl, and spittle flew in the air with their snake like roar.

I stood tall in their numbers and in an almost like judgmental tone I stated, "My name is Daj Hoyle, I am the Arbiter of the supernatural word, and my word is law. You have been found guilty of human suffering on this land that is under protection of Lucian Wyrmwood. He has sent me to punish you for breaking the law of the land and my justice will be swift. By this day you will be blessed."

The woman's face filled with shock when she heard the words. Her eyes widened and her mouth gaped open. Fear overcame her as she took off running around side of the building to the backside of the bar. The other three Naga in human form shifted and now all five surrounded me. The one to my right spat out, "I heard of the Arbiter, but you are not him. You will die in your false belief and I will bathe in your blood."

With a coiled strike he lunged at me, only to have me side step with ease and drive my silver boot knife hilt deep into his skull. The weight of his body pulled the knife from my hand, as I knew it would have, and I adjusted my stance to the remaining four. The two next to him made their move to attack as well, one did a tail swipe while the other lashed with his sharp claws. As I bent my body backwards to dodge the claws, they tore into Johnny, and I felt them tug at my flak jacket. The tail connected with my calves and brought me down onto my back. I accounted for this when falling, so with my left hand I grabbed the dagger out of my boot and with my right hand I put it around the handle in the fallen snakes head. I then did a kip-up and brought my prone body back up to a standing position, and now I stood there with a both daggers ready for the next attack.

The leader on the ground started to move again, so with the heel of my right boot I kicked him in the back of the head to make him go to sleep once more. The one who struck me with the tail swipe seen me kick the leader again and went to strike at me again. This time it was different, when his tail went for my leg I put my dagger down to block it and it sliced clear though the tail as if it was warm butter. With the dagger in my right hand I sent it hurling to him and he caught it, between his cold black eyes. Mr. Claws at Johnny came in close to make another strike, but I brought my left foot around and landed a kick to the side of his mouth. Three pale white crescent shaped teeth flew into the air. I followed the kick all the way through to the ground where my dagger met his stomach and this innards met the ground. The last two Nagas where now standing there trying to decide to run or press their luck. They decided to run, as they turned to take off, they each caught a silver bullet to the back of their brain pans.

The leader grabbed my pants and tried to bite me in the leg. I dropped my knee onto the back of his neck and put the Sig to the back of his head. Leaning over as close as I could I whispered, "Don't you dare move cupcake the boss wants to meet you personally." Then with a quick thrust I slammed the gun one more time into his head, sending him back into an unconscious state.

Removing the belts off two of the bodies that were close to me, I tied the hands and feet of the leader, then began dragging his limp unconscious body to the back door. To my surprise Lucian was standing there with Samuel and the girl that took off running. The girl was being held by her throat two feet off the ground while Lucian just stared at her.

"Mr. Hoyle is this one of the people who is responsible for Jimmy?"

"Yes she is, this one here is her leader and then there are five bodies in the front that need to be removed before the crowd from inside comes out." I toss the leader at the feet of Lucian.

"What should I do with her Mr Hoyle? What is your judgment on this matter?" And before the last word rolls of his tongue a shot rings out through the still night. And her head explodes all over the wall of the bar behind Lucian.

"Death," is all as I say as the smoke from my Sig Sauer trails off into the night air. Putting my gun back into its holster, Lucian loosens his grip around the girl's lifeless throat and she slumps into a puddle on the ground in front of him. I nudge the leader with my foot a little closer to Lucian, "This is the man in charge of the events that took place. Since this was on your property I offer you him to punish as you see fit, and justice will be done. However, if you wish to refuse this offering I will finish judgment now."

The smile that came across Lucian's face would have made the Devil nervous. All he said was, "I accept your offering and thank you for another job well done." He motioned for Samuel to take the body inside, and he followed the orders poste haste.

Accidently hitting the leaders head on the door, then on the side of the building before dragging him inside. Lucian started in after, but I grabbed his arm. When Lucian turned to me he must of seen the worry on my face. His face changed from a man of anger and distain to that of my friend again and in a soft and reassuring voice said, "Jimmy will be ok Daj, I swear it. I have already seen to his healing and he will not remember this night. In fact the poor kid got a bonus from the local act for doing such a good job. I swear it."

I lowered my eyes in thanks, reached down and snatched the necklace from corpse at our feet and handed it to Lucian. "This is Jimmy's, his mom gave it to him before she passed away, please make sure he gets it back. Have a blessed day." He took the necklace, as I turn and took my leave. I grabbed the backpack still on the ground where I left it, got into the Bride of Franky and headed for home.