Minty Read online

  I don’t have a sister, I was an orphan. I don’t believe in Vampires, they are myths that make interesting movies.

  Say this three times and three women find out that what they had believed in all their lives was wrong, they had sisters and there were Vampires.

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  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  Minty

  Copyright © 2013 M. Garnet

  ISBN: 978-1-77111-471-4

  Cover art by Carmen Waters

  All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher.

  Published by eXtasy Books

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  Minty

  Blood Sisters 2

  By

  M. Garnet

  Dedicated to three special gal friends, so it only seems natural that I write three stories about three women and their loves, no matter how strange love might be.

  Since I started these stories some time ago, I had dedicated them to three friends, since there are three sisters in these stories. But we have lost one of our friends, so hopefully she is still enjoying my follies, as she watches over my shoulder.

  Prologue

  The museum was the most amazing place she had ever seen. She was back in an orphanage, shuffled between foster homes and into some nameless group home with nameless others without families.

  This was free, the homes looked for cheap and free, and someone had found transportation for them. Unlike the other kids, she fell in love with the stories, not the artists, not the space to run in, not the echoes.

  The stories behind the pictures, the words she read within the faces and frozen movements were what fascinated her.

  She saw a beautiful painting called Death and the Maiden. Where others seemed to shudder, she saw that the maiden did not resist the horrid corpse that was caressing her. She had her palm up on his face in a soft acceptance.

  She paused before another called A Dance of Death. The men and women were dressed in beautiful flowing robes, but there were ugly macabre characters dancing around them. What she saw was that the beautiful people accepted the fright.

  There was a beautiful pale painting of three naked people, two beautiful women and one ugly, bony man with an hourglass, seeming to lead the two women. They did not resist him. One of the boys giggled at the naked women and the assistant hurried them out of the room.

  Over the afternoon she learned to stay quiet and linger in front of any painting that spoke to her, until finally a disgusted volunteer came and pulled her to join the smelly bus that took them back to the dark, cramped home. But wait, did that man in that painting have fangs, as if to bite deep into the woman? Yet the woman did not seem to be pulling away. She thought about the painting long into the night on her rough bunk.

  Chapter One

  The dark streets of Cicero were the perfect haven for all on the wrong side of the law, no matter what law it was. There had been a time where this suburb of Chicago had been the place to build and take a rich man’s family. The working class had also discovered it and many modest but pleasant homes had filled up the streets that expanded away from the business districts of Chicago.

  In the 1920’s and 30’s the gangsters had moved in, and more with big money came in during the takeover’s in the 50’s. It had still remained a safe haven with lots of better class people living among the gangsters, who kept it safe since no one robbed anyone who had the thugs with guns to protect them.

  But as the law broke down, so did the property values. The houses got sub-divided into multi-family units or cheap hotels, and the outsides were not taken care of, so there came crime to the streets. The people of ill repute migrated away from the towering buildings of Chicago to these types of outskirts. The rich gangsters moved west or east and their sergeants moved in, without the strength to enforce any compliance from the smartass street gangs.

  The few honest blue-collar workers walked carefully and locked up completely and tried to avoid the streets at night.

  It was the perfect place for a meeting in a basement off a dirty dark alley that was scattered with garbage that never made it to the front sidewalks for the weekly pickup. Only this meeting was not a group of street thugs. Anyone who walked in could tell the difference immediately.

  They might be dressed to be street thugs. Heavy boots, dark cargo pants or dark jeans, all crossed with chains. Leather jackets with worn creases, the sagging to indicate some types of weapons or heavy objects in the pockets.

  Still, they were all tall, broad shouldered, healthy looking, and for the most part handsome men. Very few scars showed, but there was still a look of danger, even evil about them. The talk was low and hushed. At the edge of the alley, under a burnt out streetlight, stood a shadow that was not part of the street, building, or alley. He looked around, seeming to be alone, but he knew where his men were, all close enough for the right purpose.

  A low rider cruised past and he ignored it as he waited patiently for the meeting to end and the attendees to come out. He swore under his breath as the low rider came back, music cranking out of its open windows. The car stopped and one brave, drugged-out boy, trying to earn his marks in the gang, jumped out with his Glock tilted sideways at the large dark figure.

  “You don’t really want to do this.” The large shadow turned to look at him and spoke in a quiet voice. The kid was a little spooked that the man did not seem to be upset by the gun and the gang in the car behind him. Most people ran.

  “Fuck you, hand me yo’ cash.” He side-walked closer, looking over his shoulder at his cronies in the car.

  Suddenly the shadow had his hands on the gun and the boy’s hand. He had possession of the gun and turned it around, and holding one of the kid’s fingers, he jammed the trigger finger into the barrel. The kid screamed in pain as the flesh pealed back from the bone being pushed into the small opening. The towering male walked the screaming kid back to the open car door and pushed him in. He gave a mental order for the driver to leave and the car squealed away. He looked down the alley but there had not been any appearance. It was not a surprise. Screams and gunshots were normal nighttime noises on these streets.

  He did feel a real irritation. One of his men was approaching him. They knew to let him be the first in the fight and so they waited, until he called them in—so why would one be brazen enough to approach? His crooked grin broke on his harsh face. The man dressed all in black and ready for war was his blood brother, Alexander Bider, also a Council Lord.

  Alex stopped by the corner of the building so that he would not be seen by anyone down the alley.

  “Slumming, brother, or does Rome bore you?” The whisper came from the crooked smile of Rad’s.

  Alex put a long slim cigar into his lips and lit it with his gold lighter. The flare of the bright flame lit up the handsome face. Long blond hair, clear deep blue eyes the color of the south-seas ocean, a mouth that women fought over to kiss, and a solid chin. But tonight, a hardness from the drawn eye
brows down, which would not let anyone be fooled by the handsome face. Tonight the look said death and destruction.

  “I had a request from a friend to visit Chicago, but the heat in my blood said to come and join you while I was in the area. You know how the heat goes in my blood more than anyone else.” His blue eyes disappeared as the flame went out, but Rad knew he looked at the alley with anticipation.

  Yes, Rad loved this man, but he also knew the man’s dark side. The need to hunt, to hurt, and even to kill, was a part of him that he might keep hidden from a lot of those around him. It was hidden behind the beautiful face and smooth muscular body. He had also kept it hidden from those he had close contact with. But Rad knew of it, because there had been a time or two when Rad had been called to help clean up some mess that had gotten out of hand. Alex was a Dom and had learned to choose mates, female or male, who sought to be submissive. But there had been a time or two, as he had learned his control and his needs, that he had read someone wrong and forced the wrong attentions on someone, and needed Rad’s strong talents to help wipe memories and heal someone up.

  Now that he had Rad’s mate’s blood in him, the magical serum had served to help him avoid any mistakes. Big help. But Rad had to smile inside, because the beautiful face made a formidable ally when it came to a fight. Alex just did not stop. It did not hurt that he enjoyed what he did.

  “How many?” The low question came from Alex as he stepped closer to Rad.

  “An unlucky number, thirteen. I have backup just down the street.” Rad nodded in the direction of his team.

  “Fucking unlucky for them, but not for your backup. I don’t think we will really need them.” Alex took a long pull on the slim, then dropped and twisted his boot over it.

  Rad sent a message to his team. Cover both ends of the alley. No one hits the streets alive. Leave the alley itself to us. He nodded at Alex, and Alex was gone. The large blur of his body was at the other end of the alley.

  They both started walking into the alley as the first of the rogue Vamps came out of the basement door, exiting up the short flight of steps. The rogues were on alert and they noticed immediately one or two strangers, but were not too worried. Yet.

  The rogues began to split up and everyone saw the knives come out. This would be a quiet fight, unlike the gang fights. This was meant to take out and destroy the enemy, not to make any statement, except for the statement of elimination.

  For Rad it was too simple. He was so much stronger since absorbing the blood of his female. He froze the first male as the male approached, driving his silver knife deep into the male’s heart. Behind him two more split up to try to take him before he could enter their minds. He went shadow and they could not see him. He was solid behind one. He drove the knife behind and into his heart, and immediately was deflecting the next one’s knife as it did take a shallow slice from his shoulder.

  He felt no pain as he drove the other’s knife hand upward, brought his other hand up with his second knife, and plunged it first into the attackers stomach then mercifully into his heart. By this time two more were advancing. He went shadow to move into position. He dispatched the first one when he went solid and the second threw his arm up in surrender, but there was no surrender in this war, so the knife ended his attempt. As Rad turned to take on another, he saw his brother in blood at the other end of the alley.

  Alex had gotten a lot of extra powers for such a young male of the night, when Rad’s mate Misty had shared her rare blood serum to save his life. It had made him powerful, much more than his age warranted, and it had earned him a seat on the Council due to Rad’s backing, even though others were not happy to have someone young to help make the rules. Alex had already proven to be of great benefit, since he was more of the modern world and able to understand the mortals that were part of what they had to deal with on a day-to-day basis. He had a following that added to those that supported Rad. But of course, they both had enemies, that was politics.

  Rad knew that unlike himself, Alex enjoyed the backstabbing of politics. He liked the game and the play behind the scenes, he liked winning. But he did miss paying dues to his dark side. So right now there was a very wicked smile on his handsome face. He had many rogues down around him, but he had only dusted one of them. When a Vampire was stabbed in the heart by a silver knife or some types of wood, they finally died and turned immediately to very fine dust, leaving only whatever they wore or carried in a limp heap behind.

  His sadistic side had him slicing the hamstrings of the men, eviscerating them and leaving them to try to hold their guts together as they lay in the dirty alley. He moved on to the next ones who approached.

  Finally both men looked at each other, as they were the only ones still standing.

  “Rad, do you need any information from these?” Alex pointed to the pathetic heap at his feet.

  Rad just shook his head. “Alex, quit feeding your dark side and dust them. I am going down to their meeting area to see if there is anything new. My men are coming—don’t shock them and don’t kill any of them.”

  Rad disappeared down the short steps and began to look around the room. He stood still, eyes closed and just listened, absorbing what the walls had to say. The walls repeated what had been said in the room. He felt the anger build. He could not control it—he let out a roar. He stopped and listened to the building, going from floor to floor. It was empty. Not even a wino in a hallway. He needed this. He closed his eyes and he let the heat build and build. When he opened his eyes, the entire room was on fire. He turned to walk to the door and Alex was standing there in the heat and smoke.

  “Fuck, Rad. What have you become?” Alex did not seem to be too upset.

  “They killed a family of Vamps and a lot of mortals.” Rad pushed Alex hard, shoving him out of the blazing basement that would soon consume the entire building.

  His men were standing around in the alley. He pointed to one. “Call the fire department. I don’t want to burn down the whole block. Someone pick up the hardware and dump the clothes, quickly.” He walked out to the main street with Alex dancing on his heels and his men following, one on a cell phone.

  “We have a safe house nearby, follow us there.” He spoke rapidly to Alex and was gone.

  Chapter Two

  Minty looked at the man across the counter from her, trying to maintain her calm. She really hated this shitty job.

  Her job was to trace down fathers who were not paying child support by computer tracking. Sometimes she could find them and just send an email or a phone call, and they came in to explain why they weren’t paying. Sometimes she sent the information to the police and child services who sent someone after them. Sometimes she even had to go to court to prove what the computer trail had turned up in jobs and income, etc.

  But she really hated it when they came in, because they hated her, and she was someone they could strike back against. Some gave her excuses, some cried, some yelled, and some blamed her. The state had provided her with a bullet proof Plexiglas window to sit behind, because of the possible violence. She often thought it made the fathers angrier.

  “What kind of crazy name is Minty?” The guy pointed through the glass at the metal nametag on the plaque in front of her.

  “Sir, it is just what I was given. It does not have any meaning. Now the records show that you have not met your obligation for the last six months. If you would like to give us a statement now, I can take it down and forward it to Family Services for you.” Minty pushed a loose strand of hair out of her face. She really needed to just cut it all off.

  “The bitch just used me. I don’t think the kid is really mine. Besides, I haven’t held a fuckin’ job for a year. How the hell can I pay anything if I can’t work?” He leaned back in the chair and yanked at his zipper in his jacket.

  “Sir, have you applied for unemployment compensation?” She pulled at her collar. She wore a blouse that was one of her usual, a pale color with long sleeves and buttoned up to the neck. She l
eft the make-up for the pretty girls with the big boobs and just pulled her hair back in a severe clip.

  “Fuck no, I haven’t been able to stay in one place long enough to file. Besides, you need a computer to file online. I can’t afford one.”

  She let out a sigh. This was her last interview of the day. She spent the mornings on the computer doing the tracings. She was good at it, so they gave her extra time. In the afternoons she had to do the interviews. That was the part she hated. She did not deal with people well. She lived alone and preferred to stay alone. She just was not a people person.

  “I need to give you this summons.” She slid the paperwork out through the lower slot in the window.

  “What the fuck is this for?” He looked at the paper as if he had picked up a foreign object.

  “That says you have to report next week to Family Services Court. They will want to talk to you about setting up some type of payment system.” She waited to let him answer.

  He stood up, wadded up the paperwork and threw it at her. It just bounced off the window and he walked out of the building. Okay, she was done for the day. She pulled the shade down over the window. She shut off the monitor and pulled her purse and sweater out from under the desk front and pushed her chair in neatly. She turned to walk through the office in back to punch the time clock and head for home.

  “Hey, Minty, do you need a ride? We will all be there.” The voice was Angela’s, the beautiful woman with the boobs and the makeup. Actually, she liked Angela. The other women were jealous of Angela, but the pretty woman in reality was very shy. She usually did not say much to anyone and turned aside all the passes from the male workers. They all said she was stuck up, but the time or two that Minty had been in the bathroom alone with her, she had given Minty a small smile.