CHAPTER 4 GROUND ZERO

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Luka stepped into our home with and two vampiresses, one of whom Jon knew, and a vampire that could only be his much older relative. Father or grandfather, Jon didn't know, but he repressed the urge to flee; there was a part of him that instinctively knew he was in the presence of a deadly predator. It was strange to Jon because he never felt this way around Luka or even the Raver Werewolves of Monarch Mountain before. He feared them, knowing he would be a fool not to, but this was different. This was that cold fearful curl of certain death brought on by the one who stood over his friend's shoulder staring at Merle.

"Luka," Jon nodded politely as they clasped hand, with a grin, then Jon turned to the vampiresses, offering his hand, "Bethany, I am glad you made it."

"Me too. How are you, Dr. Lance?" she smiled, but it was tainted with sadness.

Jon knew without asking her human beloved had not survived the Revelation Night. Crane had none of the non-human genomes in his DNA, he was fully human. They knew her coven master's bite would have killed him, instead of turning him, but she loved him anyway. She introduced Jon to the over vampiress. "CSI Dr. Jon Lance... This is my coven sister, Samantha."

The other vampiress also carried the unmistakable sadness of having lost her soul mate as she smiled, "Call me Sam." She shook his hand firmly.

"Just Jon, and that's my husband, Dr. Merle Greyson. We've been on scene since the beginning."

Surprisingly the other vampire with Luka hadn't spoken, he just kept looking from Merle to Jon and back to Merle, then he took a tentative step toward him.

"I am happy you joined the Covenant, Viktor," Merle used his soothing voice, holding out his hand. Hesitantly Viktor shook it, but his eyes flicked over Jon's face again and again, like he thought he knew him.

Viktor's expression was troubled, and Jon wondered, Guilt? Shock? Both?

Seeming to answer an unspoken question, Merle said softly, "And I have forgiven you, Viktor. It was centuries ago."

Viktor dragged his eyes back to Merle, "Thank you, ancient one. I am honored by your mercy."

Greyson pulled him into a brief hug, releasing him only enough so that his hands rested on Viktor's shoulders. "You were young and angry; you did not know whom you killed or even why. But you learned, you strove, and you overcame. I am proud to call you friend now."

"Thank you for your grace." The older vampire trembled under Merle's hands, nodding slowly. Whatever had happened between them, this vampire seemed to believe that the Fae would kill him. He could kill any living creature with a thought and subtle gesture, but he wouldn't, not even Ravers.

Jon thought, He may have known Merlin, Son of the Grey Lady six centuries ago, but he does not know my husband as I do. Merle Greyson would never kill anyone he deems as worthy of life, meaning anyone who had a chance to redeem themselves from whatever evil they committed. He was the truest pacifist Jon had ever known. Merle glanced at Jon, reading his thoughts and gave his spouse a gentle smile.

Clearing his throat, Jon explained the plan, trying to break the awkward silence. "So, we are going to Erie Municipal Airport, located just east of here. We can't drive because we do not know how many Ravers remain locally. We haven't seen any signs close to our house, but this was Flatirons Pack and Inverness Coven territory. We are not sure what we are looking for except that it is the related to the Revelation Night disaster. If you smell anything strange, sweet-smelling, leave the area immediately and come back here. Especially you, Luka and Viktor, as males you will be more affected. We believe the airstrip in Erie is where they launched the aircraft that sprayed the chemical weapon into the storm. Sam and Bethany know what it smells like, so if they say go, you go. If Ravers attack us, kill them or flee. Do you understand?"

Both vampire males nodded. Vampiresses Samantha and Bethany just looked at Jon with grim determination. They all carried the silver-plated swords and were ready for a fight.

"Good, let us go and return as quickly as we can," Merle said.

Merle's four wings unfolded, appearing as if by magic. Viktor bowed to one knee in respect, but the younger vampires gaped, open mouthed, before following his example. Luka's eyes bulged in shock because only the most powerful of Fae had wings like that, and he had known Fae Merle Greyson for months without realizing his true nature.

"Please don't," Greyson insisted, holding out his hand to Luka. "I am still the same Fae you met in Westcliffe."

Luka stood shakily. "I apologize Angeles Greyson; I did not realize your status."

Chuckling, Merle shook his head, "It is not my status that you need concern yourself with, young Luka, only that I am your friend. If you could watch over my sealed one, while I scout ahead, I would be most appreciative."

Luka's head bobbed like a toy.

Bethany leaned into Jon and whispered, "You knew?"

"I married him, didn't I?" Jon nodded, flashing her a smug smile. "He's a keeper."

She breathed out a single word, "Wow."

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Luka carried Jon as they approached the small airport in the center of a newer neighborhood. The number of decomposed dead bodies made me cringe. Looking around, Jon had no idea how they would ever identify them all. Greyson flew ahead, scouting for Ravers. The vampires could move as fast as a car, and far more quietly. No one spoke while they traveled the ten-minute trip. When they arrived at the airport, they all breathed a sigh of relief at being undetected by the monsters who were what was left of the local pack and coven. Jon glance around worried. He was very concerned by the number of clawed trees and buildings he saw.

"We'll take the perimeter." Running his hand over a set of claw marks the younger vampire scowled, then Luka and Viktor began to patrol at the edge of the airport fences while the rest began to search the area.

Wearing a respirator mask Bethany clapped loudly twice and waved Jon toward the small building next to the taxiway and tarmac. The two people inside the airport terminal had not died from the Revelation Night's Raver attacks; both had been shot in the head at point-blank range. As a fellow CSI, she took her job very seriously, photographing the bodies, while Jon carefully checked the pockets. The first man was the airport manager and owner of Vector Air. His wallet had pictures of grandchildren, planes, and a boat somewhere tropical. The second man's identification made Jon's throat go dry. The world was looking for Dr. Keith Strawford of the Human Purity Movement. His corpse was badly decayed, but the photo ID and the body dimensions confirmed his identity. Jon bagged his wallet and the access card he carried in his front chest pocket.

"Tell Sam to bring Greyson," Jon ordered Bethany. She raised an eyebrow at his tone. There was no reason to hide the truth from her, so he revealed, "This is the man we think made the chemical weapon. Dr. Phillips stole much of Strawford's research from the Human Purity Movement and left it with..." He paused not wanting to reveal he knew Quinn Phillips, "There's a lot we haven't been allowed to release to the public, but I was right about this being the place they launched the attack from."

Bethany's eyes narrowed as her irises slit like a cat's showing her inner predator. Jon knew if she wasn't wearing the respirator, he'd see her fangs elongating. "My friend said she thought they had sprayed it into the storm with air tankers."

"Is she a meteorologist?" They could use a meteorologist in Westcliffe.

"She was an elementary science teacher."

"Was?" Jon asked, because he had a bad feeling about the answer.

"She began blogging that the path of the attack followed the movement of the storm, proposing something dumped into the storm caused the Revelation Night, and not from the chemical in evaporated ground and surface water. She claimed it couldn't be the stuff the human government said it was. She had maps made from statements of the other survivors. Timelines matched with the NOAA data on the storm's movement. She claimed the storm itself was used to disperse some other agent and that evaporation of contaminated water wouldn't have created the concentration that resulted in the disaster. She died in a car accident two months ago. They said she was driving drunk, but she didn't drink, not ever. Her sister was killed by a drunk driver. I know they killed her because she was figuring it out. And she isn't the only one, several who were claiming it was something besides the A.S.H. chemical had accidents or heart attacks or just died in their sleep. Sam and I took her children and fled to Montreal, Canada, and the Rougemont Coven. When Luka contacted Viktor to get help in the QZ, Sam and I were the first to volunteer. We want answers before it happens again."

"It will not happen again if we can stop it," Merle said firmly. "Dr. Lance, there is a tanker truck on the tarmac that was set on fire but only the cab burned. Sam says it smells sweet, like the snow that night. She says it is making her thirsty. Bethany, you need to stay away from it. Finish here and join the others."

"Yes sir." She handed me the backpack filled with the tools of our trade.

Walking by Merle, Jon glanced at the frown lines deepening on his husband's face. "We'll figure it out," Jon insisted softly, but the ancient Fae didn't look at him as dressed quickly in a hazmat suit to avoid getting any of the Project Elm Street chemical on him. It only took him a few minutes to find the source of the fire. Jon was grateful they didn't know what they were doing.

"Whoever burned the truck had not counted on the intensity of the blizzard putting out the fire. I found the remnants of a small explosive device still attached to one of the fuel tanks; it had ruptured the tank and spilled the fuel into the snow and that's why it did not explode. Diesel fuel does not ignite as easily as gasoline does. Whoever tried to destroy this evidence obviously did not know that."

Nodding Merle, breathed out, "At last, we can prove Kenneth innocent for Shalom."

"Have you... I mean, is she?"

"Safe? Yes," Merle glanced toward the mountains. "And protected by those whose souls she is healing."

"What about her soul?" Jon murmured as he worked, remembering Nicolea's rant about how damaged it was and how Galen had tricked her into damaging it more.

Instead of answering, Merle spread his wings and flew away. It took Jon nearly two hours to collect samples and photographs. The tanker was filled with something sticky, and the dry air of the Rocky Mountains had evaporated it to the consistency of molasses. Even through his mask, Jon Lance smelled the syrupy sweet scent, that reminded him of his favorite maple toffee. It made him want to inhale it. Jon was glad that he was pure human and carried no non-human genomes or it would be making him ill too then Jon pondered a moment, Is the aggression an illness?

Pulling off his mask and changing gloves, he began to pack the evidence kit and seal it as Merle Greyson landed next to him.

"It had to be a lot thinner than this to be sprayed into the storm," Jon observed, "But at least I have enough to run it through a mass spectrometer."

Picking up one of the contaminated gloves, Merle touched the tacky substance between his finger and thumb, watching as they stuck together, before putting them in his mouth as Jon stripped out of the hazmat suit.

"Don't do that Merle, we don't..."

"Easy, Jon, this is no more harmful to me than maple syrup is to you. And your fancy gadgets will only tell you that it is elm sap and pollen, cooked and concentrated. Not that it is from a very specific elm tree which should not exist anymore. She thinks she's so clever, but she isn't. I will find it and destroy it." Merle muttered almost to himself.

"Merle, do you want to tell me what else is going on? Who is she?" Jon whispered in a low voice; glad the breeze was carrying their voices away from the vampires gathered near the airport gate.

"My half-sister Morgana is trying to start yet another war between the species using the Dust of Rage made from the pollen and sap of the extinct Samhain Elm." His voice sounded haunted.

In the bright moonlight, he glowed as he stared at the sky. "Remember when I told you that during the Dark Ages, there was a war, much worse than World War Two. Over half of all living beings in this world died because of the plagues and violence the Dust wrought. We burned all the forest in Ireland to rid the world of the Samhain Elm so no more Dust of Rage could be made, but she must have saved one. After half a thousand years, I am going to have to face her again. My past has finally caught up with me."

"We'll figure it out together. Just tell me what to look..." Before Jon get more information, Bethany shouted, "Ravers!"

A warning immediately followed by the screeches and howls of hunting vampire and werewolf Ravers. Jon turned to see Bethany blurring toward them and shout at her, "Bethany, stop!"

Greyson scooped him up in his arms and in a moment, they crossed the distance to her.

"I have to save Luka. Tell Galen and Nicolea everything I told you. Wait for Shalom in Westcliffe, she'll come to you if she gets flushed from her hiding place near Terryall. Go to the house and take the truck. Don't wait for us. I love you Jon, stay alive." His voice had a tone of finality in it that had Jon's heart clenching.

Jon grabbed his arm, "Where you go, I go."

Merle pressed a kiss into his spouse's temple and pushing the evidence kit into his arms, responded, "Not this time. Thank you for your love." Then he was flying toward the others and the Ravers, shining with a light as bright as the sun.

Jon shouted after him, "I love you, come back to me, Merlin. Don't die!" But it felt like they were saying their last goodbye.

"Get on my back and hold on," Bethany hissed.

She took his weight easily, then she ran across the landscape faster than a car on the highway. Arriving back at Jon and Merle's home in Sunshine Canyon, she collapsed in the passenger side as Jon started the Hummer and drove out the back end of the canyon and up into the mountains. Suddenly, Bethany gasped and clutched her heart.

"What is it?" Jon demanded, wishing he could sense Merle the way vampires and werewolves could sense each other.

She looked at him with tears streaming down her face. "Sam's dead."

"Oh God, Bethany, I'm so sorry."

"No, it's okay. I think she wanted it this way. She craved the darkness of final peace. She hadn't been the same since she killed Bergen then Cherise on the Revelation Night. She didn't care about any of the other males we killed, but he was her beloved. He went mad and attacked her in front of their daughter. When he hesitated to kill Kylee, Sam cut off his head. We barely got out of the coven alive. Crane lured the crazy ones away from us so three of us could escape with the coven's children, but Cherise went thirsty, and Sam had to kill her too. She wanted to die doing something that mattered. Please, tell me you got what we need?"

Jon nodded. "I need to run some test but yes, I got it."

"Good." Bethany looked out the back window.

Nothing followed them but Jon didn't tell her the news was anything but good. Merle's worry was confirmed, as were Nicolae's suspicions that the Project Elm Street weapon was an organic compound, and Jon prayed that it couldn't be synthesized as he drove.

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Which do you like better first or third? I love Jon and Merle as a human-Fae couple. 
If I continue to write this one like the first 2 then only Quinn Shalom Phillips and Jake Vanguard will have first person POVs.