49 - The darkest night will pass…

“I quit the force," Leif said.

“You are so shitting me. Why?” Kemp looked at his brother in shock.

“We got a new captain, a real son of a bitch. He reorganized schedules among other things, which pissed a lot of the guys off. Some of them asked to be reassigned to other station houses, others just decided to deal with it.”

“He wanted you to work days I bet.”

“He did, and he wasn’t willing to change his mind. He said there were plenty of undercover jobs that needed a good man on them. But that required me to be available day and night. I couldn’t convince him days were not an option without revealing what I am. So I refused and he gave me the option, quit or be fired.”

“Did the old captain know what you are?” Seth asked.

“He did and he had no problems with it. He figured that made me twice as useful when it came down to it. So anyway, for the moment I’m at loose ends until I can find work. I figured this was as good a place to try as anywhere.”

“Maybe you can apply for a cop job here?” Kemp said.

“I don’t see that happening. I’d run into the same problem here as up there. They’d want me to work days, at least for starters.”

Kemp thought for a long minute. “I bet Sinclair has some ins. He knows a lot of people on both sides of the fence. I could ask, or you could.”

“It’s worth a try,” Seth chimed in when Leif looked doubtful. “Beats the hell out of working nights at a sleazy hotel or stripping.”

Leif snorted. “Like anyone would hire me to strip, even if I considered that an option.”

“You never know, women like big beefy men, or so I’ve been told.”

“Yeah, well forget it. I’ll go have a talk with Sinclair tomorrow and take it from there. For now I hope you don’t mind my crashing here. I could go to a hotel but it’s such a pain when the cleaning people don’t believe the ‘Do Not Disturb’ sign. Came close to frying once when one came in and the sunlight from the hall windows hit the bed.”

Kemp looked at Seth, who nodded, before saying, “Yeah, sure you can stay here, but you get the sofa just like any other guest.”

“Won’t be the worst thing I’ve slept on, trust me.” Leif leaned over to pull Kemp into a hug. “Thanks.”

“No problem. After all, you are family, in a strange way.” He laughed when Leif flipped him off. “No, that’s what Seth’s here for,” he said, making a dash for the bedroom before anyone could make a comment.

“And you deal with that everyday?” Leif shook his head in amusement.

“Yeah, but I’m not complaining—most of the time anyway.” Seth headed after Kemp at a slower pace. “See you tomorrow night, Leif.”

“Sure thing kid.”

A week later, with Sinclair’s help and excellent references from his former captain in Seattle, Leif was officially sworn in to the NOPD. While he’d have to walk a beat for a while, his schedule had him on duty from after dark to before dawn, so all was good. He worked out of the station house on the edge of the Quarter, for a captain was well aware that there were more things lurking in the dark than low-life humans.

Kemp, being a clever young dhampir immediately enlisted his brother to keep an eye out for any vampyres looking for trouble. Leif was more than willing to, as long a Kemp understood that he couldn’t, and wouldn’t, do more than call him to let him know where the trouble was.

And so things settled into a routine. Leif found an apartment not too far from Kemp’s house and on Sunday’s, the slowest day of the week for Kemp and Seth, and Leif’s normal day off, they would get together at one place or another to watch TV or just hang out together. 

The End