If Van Helsing was not a real person, then that could only mean that monsters were real. Otherwise, why would the caliber of soldiers that he had just passed be willing to take orders from someone that was only a character in a book?
No matter what was going on, General Brian Greyson knew that his time to figure out what he had gotten himself into was over. Pulling up to the main steps leading up to the mansion, Greyson looked up at the doors. Where he never really took them into account during the day, in the darkness of night, they looked sinister and foreboding.
Maybe he should have rescheduled until the morning when Natalia was able to see him instead of insisting on a meeting now. Oh well, hindsight was always 20/20. He was here now and he refused to tuck his tail and run. He was the commanding General for the Alpha Team of Green Berets. If they could go overseas and fight without fear, then he refused to show fear on US soil.
Getting out of his Jeep, he closed the door but did not bother to lock it. After all, with so much security, who was going to break in? Taking only a second more to compose himself, he walked up the step with a sense of confidence that he really didn't feel. But, fake it until you make it and all that.
As soon as he approached the wooden doors they swung open without him even knocking. Holding his head up, he took a step forward, only to have the doors shut quietly behind him and to be swarmed by 10 men in complete combat gear.
Raising his hands to the side, he stood there quietly, waiting for whatever was going to come next. However, the level of security in this place right now compared to yesterday left him with a sinking feeling in his gut.
Slow, measured steps sounded in front of him and he looked up at the grand staircase to see a lone man walking down the stairs. Unable to make out his face in the darkness, Greyson assumed that this was the legendary Van Helsing.
As the man stepped onto the marble floors of the entranceway, Greyson was finally able to make out the man's identity.
"Mr. Singer," he said, the authority in his tone a complete contradiction to the confusion he was feeling inside.
"Call me Van Helsing," said the other man as the soldiers in front of General Greyson parted like the red seas to allow the feared Monster Hunter to approach.
---
The beeping of the communications device beside the bed woke Viktor up out of the most comfortable sleep that he had ever experienced. For once, the need to hunt had been quiet and he could just enjoy the peacefulness of sleeping with a beautiful woman in his arms.
He hardly moved as he reached over to put the earpiece into his ear. He didn't want to disturb his Little Cub, in fact, after the night that she had, he might consider killing anyone that tried it. They had only been asleep for a couple of hours, the revelations from the night before making it impossible for an easy sleep and he valued his time like this with her.
She had her right leg flung over his midsection and her arms were crossed against her chest and pinned between her body and his as she rested her head on his chest. He couldn't easily move without her feeling it, but at the same time, a pride of lions couldn't tear him away at this moment.
"What do you want?" he said in a voice so low, no one could be expected to hear it. However, given the fact that Knights Security had the best technology on the market, and created even better ones, the person on the other end was able to hear him perfectly.
"There is a General Brian Greyson here to see the Head of House," came the crystal-clear voice inside of his ear.
"Which one?" asked Viktor, his eyebrow raising and the feeling of a tick on his face developing took him out of whatever good mood Natalia managed to put him in. There was a brief silence before the voice came back.
"House Gypsy," it said.
Viktor looked down at the woman nestled into his arms like the cub he always called her. He gently raised his left hand and brushed a lock of hair out of her face. "She is not available, it is me or nothing," he growled, not wanting to wake her up to give attention to another man.
After a few more minutes, his soldier let him know that Greyson was willing to meet with him. Viktor quietly scoffed at that idea, his almost non-existent temper rising to the surface at being forced out of bed. He could even feel his monster protesting at the very idea.
Slowly extracting himself from his woman, he practically rolled himself out of bed and onto the floor just so he wouldn't disturb her. As he stood up, he looked down at the girl and rubbed her wrinkled forehead.
"I'll be right back," he assured her in a soft voice and smiled as the wrinkles smoothed themselves out and she went back to sleep.
Getting dressed, he would ensure that this was the shortest meeting on record or heaven help the person that kept him away from his Little Cub too long.
-----
Viktor led Greyson back into Natalia's office and sat down in her chair as he looked the man up and down. Tilting his head to a chair, he waited until the man sat down before he started. "Want to tell me what you are doing here at this hour of the morning, asking for a meeting?" The man in front of him might appear calm, but Viktor could hear his heart beating like a rabbit that was in the presence of a wolf.
"General Duncan Richards called me at 3 o'clock this morning to tell me that a Senator from California had died and he wanted me to look into it," the man started as if giving a report of a superior.
"Why?"
"Because he thinks that it has something to do with the new Head of House Gypsy and wants dirt on her." Viktor scoffed at the very idea of someone being able to get dirt on Natalia. Even if she didn't live her life like a saint, which she did, that didn't mean that he wouldn't destroy any so-called dirt on her.
"So why are you here?"