Chapter 31

Early June
In the Vicinity of Nexus Ranch
Near Harborton Washington

Barghest barred his 6 inch long fangs in pleasure. His keen eyes had at long last detected what he had been waiting for. As he lay belly down in the dirt with just his coal black head visible. His soulless eyes tracked two dark suv’s as they left the protected area. All of the special human meat pieces were leaving the protected place together! His preternatural sense of smell confirmed it. He snarled to the rest of the scouting pack to pull back into deep cover, leaving just one at the treeline on sentry duty.

It was time to get back to where his newly enlarged pack had bedded down for the day. From the hiding place he could send the howl signal to Master. There were hundreds of them now, pulled from the darkest Hell, and they were all hungry since they had been forbidden from hunting. Hellhounds could go indefinitely without food from the mortal realm, but to truly thrive and to avoid the maddening hunger, they needed bloody meat and the terrorized souls of their victims. Soon all the food that had been dangling in front of them for months would be theirs! Humans, Fae, and other beasts would no longer be protected from the slaughter and the orgy of feasting that would follow.

Master had promised.

Later the Same Day
Harborton High School
Harborton, Washington

“Ben dear, this is my dad. Daddy this is Ben Clarkson,” said Sarah with a grin.

Ben thought that just maybe Sarah was enjoying this a little much. The evil little quirk of her mouth was a give away. Ben was just happy she was finally getting back to her teasing happy self even if it was a little at his expense. Unlike most daughters would be, Sarah wasn’t the least bit awkward about introducing her much older fiance to her dad. Ben could tell she was looking forward to being entertained by the ensuing carpet dance.

“Nice to meet you, er, Mr. Sorenson,” said Ben a bit nervously.

“You too Ben,” said Sarah’s Dad with a slight glint in his eye as they shook hands.

Ben knew that Sarah had already had a long talk with both her Dad and her stepmom to clear the air and to be certain that they knew at least most of what had been happening with her, Ben and Nexus. But still, he was the much older man putting her in danger, not to mention boinking her on a regular basis. Any father would be sizing Ben up for a wooden overcoat at this point. Sarah had apparently put her dainty little foot down hard on any attempt to interfere with her love life though.

It wasn’t hot under the graduation venue tent but Ben could feel himself start to sweat. He didn’t care what anyone thought about their relationship. He loved Sarah and would with his last breath, but also he knew how important her dad was in her life and her dad was the one person he really wanted to make a good first impression on. Thankfully, there was an interruption to the tension.

“Oh you must be Ben, I’m Janet, Sarah’s stepmom” said a very attractive, slim, brunette woman about Ben’s own age as she turned away from a conversation with some student parents.

Janet reached out to shake his hand and Ben could see the expression on Janet’s face morph from slightly aloof, to quizzical, to a knowing look the instant they touched. Sarah must have seen the same thing as she gave Ben’s arm a squeeze where she was holding it and Ben could feel her hidden smile. It looked to Ben like Janet had just gotten a first hand experience of one reason why Nexus had formed. Thankfully, Sarah’s dad had assumed a ‘don’t ask don’t tell’ policy about his daughter, her new sisters and all of their intimate relationships with Ben, but Janet knew exactly what the score was, She maybe hadn’t completely understood it until now though.

“So nice to meet you as well Mrs. Sorenson,” Ben said genuinely.

Ben had been in the Caribbean on the day that Sarah’s parents had come for a tour of the ranch, but he’d heard that talking with Jill, Adona and Consuela had really helped reassure both parents that he wasn’t just an aging Lothario intent on plundering their innocent daughter. Hah! fat chance of that he thought, he was often the one being plundered! Sarah looked like the dewy eyed, sweet girl next door, but at times she was as lusty as a bar full of Shanghai sailors.

In any case, both parents had been impressed with the facilities and the mission of the ranch and had a chance to meet with and hear some of the stories of the women they rescued.

“Please call me Janet,” Sarah’s mom said with a warm smile. “Are Siofra and Jess here today?”

From what Ben had heard, Janet had turned into something of a Fae-ophile if there was such a thing. To cap off their tour, Sarah had gotten the approval of the Fae to introduce them to Janet and Sarah’s dad. Jess and Siofra had made quite an impression on Sarah’s stunned parents.

“They wouldn’t miss Maria’s graduation for the world! She’s a favorite with them. You may not quite recognize them, they are wearing glamor so they won’t cause a fuss,” said Ben. “I think that old cuss Ferguson is having too much fun squiring them around here somewhere.”

Maria was the only one of the girls who had remained in school full time past the winter semester. Lizzy and Sarah, both had qualified for and taken early graduation. Ben had reluctantly resigned from his teaching position earlier in the year. There just wasn’t enough time to manage Nexus and teach full time. Maria had been Sarah’s best friend since they were 14 and Sarah’s parents were excited to be there for her graduation ceremony.

“I hope we get to see them!” said Janet.

Ben could tell that Janet was another one entranced by the knowledge that magic was real and alive in the world. His new friend trooper RayJay Johnson and his wife Katy were much the same. Sarah’s father was a little more sanguine about the whole thing, but even he had to admit that what Nexus was involved in was an incredible venture.

“I’ll be sure they find you, and if not you are both welcome at the ranch at any time to come see them. Also please keep our offer in mind. We really need people we can trust and we’ve got a ton of suitable work for either or both of you on a volunteer or paid basis,” said Ben.

“Yes, well, speaking of careers, we were really thinking that Sarah would take a different path,” said Sarah’s dad.

“Dad!” started Sarah with a sharp look at her father.

“No, sweetie, I get it now. Your work is really important, vital even, and I don’t understand or approve completely but I trust your judgment about this whole ‘Nexus’ thing. But I’m your daddy and I will always worry about you,” said Sarah’s dad.

“Daddy, I love you too, and I will always be your little girl! But this little girl has a mission and purpose,” Sarah said as she left Ben’s side to throw her arms around her dad’s neck and give him a kiss on the cheek.

“And Ben, I know a little of Marines from my time in, and Sarah had me look your citations up. I trust you are an honorable man and will always do right by my girl?”

“Yes sir, on my honor and my life I will protect and love your daughter always,” said Ben quietly.

“I can vouch for that!” said a voice behind them.

“Lauren, it’s good to see you!” said Sarah brightly as she turned toward Lauren, the French teacher.

One major surprise to Ben was that all the girls and Lauren had become fast friends. Lauren had fought gossip and fuddy duddy thinking on their behalf for the last 6 months. The tsunami of bullshit that had arisen once Sarah, Lizzy, and Maria had decided to spend as much time as possible with Ben out at the ranch, was astounding, but probably familiar to anyone who had lived in a small town. Lauren had even organized volunteers to work out at the ranch with the rescued women and animals and had really helped them establish a good name in the community.

“You as well Sarah! Hi Ben, Mon Cher. Are Lizzy, Mei and Kelly here?” said Lauren warmly.

Ben blushed slightly; he still wasn’t used to the thawed relationship the girls had with Lauren and strongly suspected something was up with all of them. Not being a complete idiot he didn’t let on that he was suspicious, but he knew they were quite good at ambushing him.

“Um yeah they’re here recruiting volunteers for your student team,” Ben replied. “I think they have every one of the incoming senior class ready to sign up!” Ben finished with a laugh.

Janet arched an eyebrow at the slightly overfamiliar approach of the very sexy raven haired beauty wearing a classic strapless summer dress and low heels.

“I’m Sarah’s mom. You must be Lauren! Sarah has told me so much about you!” said Janet with a slightly tight smile.

“It’s so very nice to meet you Mr. and Mrs. Sorenson, Sarah is always talking about you. You raised a wonder of a young woman,” replied Lauren.

“Thank you dear, please call me Janet,” said Sarah’s mom as she shook Lauren’s hand.

“And I’m Jim, young lady,” said Sarah’s dad, also shaking her hand. “Now what were you saying about vouching for this fellow?”

Lauren gave Ben a little side eye glance. Then boldly stepped up and kissed him lightly on the lips. Ben and Sarah’s parents’ eyebrows all shot up at this, but Sarah just smirked.

“Well, Ben here is entirely too modest to ever mention it, but he was responsible for saving my mom’s life as well as 75 other Doctors Without Borders staff and hundreds of villagers in Afghanistan,” replied Lauren.

“Hmm that’s odd, his official citation for the Navy Cross never mentioned that,” said Sarah’s dad.

“Probably because he refused the order to withdraw his troops when it became clear that he was outnumbered more than five to one. The Taliban would have slaughtered everyone in the village that my mom was working at if not for Ben keeping his men where they were and fighting them off,” said Lauren.

“Well, the radios weren’t working that day, and it was my men that fought the Tali’s tooth and nail and made all the sacrifices” said Ben, clearly uncomfortable.

What Ben didn’t mention was that radio reception had cleared up at one point just enough for them to receive the order to withdraw but he and his radio operator. Smitty had pretended not to hear it. Later the brass hats weren’t able to prove anything and the positive publicity was so good they had to give him the Navy Cross, deserved or not.

“See what I mean. He’s not mentioning that he was wounded three times and refused evacuation to keep fighting,” Lauren said, rolling her eyes. “But if Ben says he will protect Sarah with his life, it isn’t idle talk,” she finished.

Sarah’s Dad had been an 18 year old Navy Hospital Corpsman in combat with Marines in Vietnam and knew exactly what he was seeing now. PTSD symptoms took many forms, survivor’s guilt was one of the most common and he’d never met a major medal winner who felt he had deserved it.