by Seth Eden
“We’ll be in Los Angeles in no time,” Kal said. “Just relax.”
The first few hours of the flight passed smoothly and Tess was able to relax just fine. Kal rubbed her feet and then Crystal passed out plastic tubs of chicken pasta salad she’d packed for the flight as well as blood packs for the guys. Tess ate and chatted with the girls. It all felt very domestic. She even pretended she was one of those rich ladies, the kind of person who would be taking a charter jet in the days before the invasion. She pretended she really was going on some fancy couple’s retreat with her friends and not on a serious mission to convince humans and Vampyrens they should stop brutalizing each other.
They were close to Los Angeles when things started to go wrong. They were so very close.
It started when she noticed that Mark kept checking his watch and wincing. Kal noticed too and said, “What is it?”
“We were scheduled to land a while ago,” Mark said. Now that Tess looked outside, she saw how dark it was. The sun had long set. They were supposed to land and get an escort to their lodging in downtown Los Angeles. “But the pilot hasn’t said anything.”
Tess glanced at Loren, in his seat by the window. But he was snoozing. She couldn’t blame him. He’d organized the whole thing and was probably worn out from his duties in the Council. But now she felt nervous that something was wrong. She sat back in her seat and took a long drink of water. Kal picked up on her tension and reached over to squeeze her knee.
“Let’s just check on the pilot,” Kal said. He was trying too hard to sound calm. She could hear the tightness in his voice. But she only smiled at him.
“I’ll go with you,” Mark said.
The two brothers got up and headed to the cockpit. Tess took yet another deep breath and sat back in her seat, Crystal shot her a reassuring smile even as the plane hit a bad bit of turbulence and shook around so violently that Tess yelped in surprise, holding her stomach protectively.
“Crystal,” Tess said, tears pricking her eyes. Crystal grabbed her hand in squeezed it.
“We’ll be okay, sweetie,” Crystal said.
But then she heard shouting from cockpit and her heart skipped a beat.
“You’re traitors!” The pilot was shouting. “I’m taking this plane down! I’m taking this plane down with all you traitors in it and your human whores!”
The plane dipped and then began to plunge.
“No.” It was the only word Tess managed. She was too afraid to scream. But Loren was awake now and dashing to the cockpit along with the other guys and Cassie, who looked fit to murder.
“It was a set-up,” Cassie said as she ran by Tess who felt frozen to her seat. “It was a fucking set up!”
The men were taking down the pilot as the plane dove in a death spiral towards the ground.
Tess opened her mouth and screamed bloody murder.
“Fuck!” Mark was shouting. “Oh shit…”
Tess shut her eyes as she gripped the arms of her seat with white knuckles. She was going to die, she thought. She hated that she had no profound thought about it. There was only a desperate fear and her heart was pounding so loud it was painful. She felt something on her face and opened her eyes again. Crystal was fixing a breathing mask over her nose and mouth, fixing the strap behind her head. She heard a thump as if a body had hit the floor and then more scrambling and shouting.
They were going to crash. They were going to crash and die…
“Okay, okay, okay,” somebody was saying. Danton, she thought. He sounded far too calm.
But suddenly the plane was evening out. Tess’s stomach lurched as the nose pointed up again and then more evenly descended toward the ground.
“I gotta land!” Danton was saying. “There’s not enough fuel to get to L.A.! Son of a bitch never planned for us to get there! He was gonna crash us along the coast!”
Cassie said, “I think we’re somewhere around Orange County. Can you land?”
She was pretty sure she heard Danton say, “Not well.”
“Oh fuck everything,” Tess murmured into her mask.
They should all be wearing masks, shouldn’t they? Her mate was standing there as the plane bumpily descended and she wanted to scream at him to sit the fuck down. Finally, they did, everyone scattering back to their seats at Danton’s insistence and buckling up. Kal sat next to her and strapped on his mask before grabbing her hand. She looked into his eyes and saw no fear, only strength, and love.
“We’ll make it, baby,” Kal said, his voice muffled. “We’ll be alright.”
The landing was so bumpy that Tess thought they were actually crashing. She was far from the window and relieved by that. She didn’t want to see the ground rushing up beneath her and even now she shut her eyes, squeezing Kal’s hand tight, his fingers clasped with hers.
The plane hit the ground with a bump so hard, everyone flew up a little in their seats and Tess’s seatbelt squeezed her stomach uncomfortably. But the nose of the plane hadn’t hit the ground. They were flat and skidding along the ground. It felt like a fast, but lengthy car accident, but they hadn’t crashed after all. Tess still screamed as the plane bumped along and she opened her eyes to see buildings blurring by on one side and expanse of beach on the other, the ocean a serene and endless blue. They had likely landed in the middle of some wide road.
The plane seemed to skid along forever and then Danton turned them slightly and it slowed and finally came to a stop.
Meanwhile, the body of the pilot, whom the men had killed, came tumbling out of the cockpit with the hard landing and was now lying on the floor, his slit throat gushing blood into the carpet.
“Is everyone alright?” Keira said.
Everyone was in shock, having collectively come so close to death, and they all murmured that they were okay. They took a few minutes to get their bearings and Tess unbuckled her belt and just sat, breathing and patting her stomach. Kal took off her mask and she took a drink of water before hugging him tightly.
“What… happened?” She said shakily.
“He was against the new Council,” Loren said darkly. “He was going to crash the plane with all of us in it. He had a parachute. He flew us so far west because he was supposed to meet a cell of Vampyrens who are like-minded. We lucked out stopping him.” Loren knelt in front of Tess, looking regretful. “I’m sorry I put you in danger, Tess. What with…” He nodded at her stomach, looking vaguely uncomfortable.
“I fought the Council Battle of Chicago while pregnant,” Tess said, getting to her feet. “What’s a little plane crash?” She patted his arm and Kal wrapped an arm around her. It took them a while to get the ladder down from the door and they all climbed down to the ground.
They had indeed landed in the middle of a wide road just off a sandy beach. The town around them looked like the kind of rich beachside neighborhood where wealthy families lived. Tess had to assume not many of them were left anymore, the town looking as bombed-out and decayed as most of Chicago.
Everyone looked to Cassie for help since she was the only human from California among them. They stood around in the street silently and Cassie tossed them all a nod before wandering off.
“Let me see if I can pin down a location!” She shouted back.
Kal stood behind Tess and wrapped his arms around her, kissing her neck. He was kind enough not to say anything, but he could doubtless sense how panicked she was. Who knew how far they were from Los Angeles? They had some supplies, but not enough to last them more than a week at most. She rubbed her stomach, all the questions as to how they might survive this situation racing through her head. Worst of all, she didn’t know this part of the country. There might be rogue vamps in this area.
There might even be Lucian.
She didn’t even want to think about that.
“Newport Beach,” Cassie report, jogging back from a gas station on the corner.
“How far is that from L.A.?” Mindy said, her arms slung around Alek’s waist.
&nbs
p; “Well, by car it’s probably an hour,” Cassie said, resting her hands on her hips. “But we don’t have a car at the moment.”
Loren looked to Danton tentatively. “What about the plane?”
Danton only blinked at him and then blurted a thunderous laugh. “I can’t fly that. We barely landed. I only have a passing knowledge of Vampyren aircraft. I don’t know these human planes at all.”
How will we get home? Tess thought. It was hard not to freak out a little. But all they really needed to do was find their people in Los Angeles. From there, they could figure out a way back to Chicago.
“There must be something we can drive around here,” Alek mumbled.
“We don’t know the area,” Loren said, sighing. “And it’s already nine. I say we camp on the beach and find our way in the morning. We can look for vehicles along the way, of course.”
“I doubt we’ll find anything,” Cassie said, sighing. “Abandoned cars get snapped up quickly. We might be walking to L.A. but eventually, I’m sure we’ll stumble onto a ride.”
On the bright side, they had all packed light, not expecting to be out of town for more than a few days. There were some supplies from the plane and Danton and Alek carried the extra weight. Now they shouldered their bags and made their way down the beach. Kal took Tess’s duffle on her insistence. At the sight of a long-dead Vampyren man lying in the middle of the street, they cast each other wary looks and walked around.
“This might be rogue territory,” Cassie said. “Vampyren who deserted their units but aren’t exactly excited by the idea of joining up with humans. That happened a lot in California.”
“Sounds like California,” Crystal said, smirking.
They walked down along the beach until they found a spot where the sand looked smooth and there was a fire pit. The beach was quiet but Tess was no less on edge being in such an unfamiliar place. What if those rogue Vampyren decided they were thirsty for her blood or thirsty for something else entirely? She knew the men would fight to the death for them and they’d fight for themselves tooth and nail, but she’d been hoping they could avoid life-threatening danger just this once.
“What is that?” Mindy said. Her voice sounded strange; hollow and scared.
They’d walked down to the shore and now as they came around a stone wall dividing the sidewalk from the sand, they saw what decorated it; human and Vampyren heads hung from ropes nailed into the stones with iron spikes.
They all stood there, shocked into silence. Tess had never seen Vampyren do anything like that and why would there be both Vampyren and human heads? There were symbols too, painted in blood all over the wall.
You know what it is, she thought. She felt fear raise the hairs on the back of her neck as a salty wind blew her hair back. You know exactly what it is.
“Lucian,” Alek whispered.
Loren looked one way down the beach and then the other. There was no one around. He wrapped an arm around Keira’s waist and nodded westward. “Let’s keep going. Farther down. Way farther down.”
As if choreographed, they changed formation as they walked, the men walking on the outside of the women, except for Cassie, who walked up front next to Loren. Everyone brought weapons, just in case of an emergency like this.
Tess had a gun in her duffle bag and a dagger strapped to her jeans, but she still felt next to naked as she walked with the others. There was a feeling of anticipation among them all now as if they knew they were destined to fight the Lucian now.
It was just a matter of when.
4
Kal
They walked for about a mile and Kal would have liked to walk further, but he could tell how tired Tess was.
He did not have a good feeling about any of this.
They had a few tents in their supplies from the plane. They would have shelter and food. They had some water and they were all armed. But in the face of that foreboding display on the beach, everyone was grim. Kal kept shooting Tess reassuring smiles that felt like a lie. It seemed as though the nightmare they had all waited for was finally coming true.
He had fought Lucian before. He was glad of that, at least. He knew how brutal and insidiously stealthy and sneaky they could be. But those had only been scouts, sent ahead to investigate the future conquests of the Lucian.
Whoever hung those Vampyren and human heads were not scouts. That was for sure.
They set up the tents and started a fire in the fire pit. It was usually not wise to announce your presence with something as attention-grabbing as a fire. But Kal knew the Lucian well enough to know, if the Lucian were close, they would catch their scent long before they saw the fire.
They ate frugally from their emergency rations; freeze-dried fruit and jerky for the humans and just enough blood to keep the men sated. They talked for a while but everyone was tired. Kal and the other men had a lengthy argument about who should keep watch first because everybody insisted on doing it. Kal suspected they were all trying to impress their women who only seemed amused by the whole thing anyway. They finally drew straws and Danton and Loren both won, or lost, depending on how one looked at it.
Kal begrudgingly retired to his tent with Tess. But he knew he wasn’t going to be sleeping much. Even with two experienced Vampyren warriors on guard, the Lucian were so fast and stealthy, they could start attacking you and by the time you realized what had happened, you were dead.
“You’re worried,” Tess whispered, as she snuggled up beside him. They had a sleeping mat and one blanket. It wasn’t the most comfortable set-up, but the sand was soft beneath the tent anyway, and it was summer in California, so they weren’t very cold.
“I should’ve told you not to come,” Kal said, clenching and unclenching his fists. “You didn’t want to come. I shouldn’t have encouraged you.”
“Kal,” Tess said with a snort. “It wasn’t your fault. You didn’t know the pilot would be a terrorist. I trust Loren. I know he’s doing the best he can, running basically everything. At least we crashed not too far away from L.A. We just have to survive and get to L.A. If anything, I feel more motivated for this whole mission, you know?”
“Yeah?” Kal said, stroking her hair.
“Yeah,” Tess said. “We’ve done a good job in Chicago. Uniting people. We just need to get everyone else to get on board and come together. If we can do that, we can all get through whatever the Lucians throw at us.”
“I love it when you’re optimistic,” Kal said, kissing her cheek.
The attack, when it came, was as stealthy as Kal had suspected.
Kal had managed to fall asleep. Spooning behind Tess, he had lain there worrying and plotting for what felt like hours as the night wore on. He imagined the quiet buzz of movement and how he would have to jump to his feet and grab his blade that lay on the floor of the tent right behind him. He imagined it over and over. He pictured himself defending the tent himself, but he knew he would probably have to leave Tess there to fight. He’d insisted on her loading the gun and keeping it on the floor in front of her, where she could easily reach.
They weren’t even positive you could kill Lucians with guns. But it made him feel better. He was sure a bullet would at least injure a Lucian. Kal was considering this as he finally dozed off.
But when the Lucians came just before dawn, they didn’t wake Kal or anyone else who had finally fallen asleep.
It was Danton and Loren’s shouts that woke him and everyone else, and then the scrape of blades and an eerie kind of high pitched shriek that made Kal’s hair stand up. It was nothing human or Vampyren. But he’d never heard Lucian make a noise like that either.
“Grab the gun!” Kal said, as Tess sat up with a gasp. “And stay in here.”
He wasn’t actually sure if she shouldn’t try making a run for it. But who knew where safety was on this beach and what if they lost track of each other? Kal grabbed his blade and climbed out of the tent.
It took him a second to get his bearings if only to make sense of
the movement of bodies in front of his eyes. The Lucian could move fast. He quickly realized that Vampyren were darker shapes and Lucian were almost translucently pale. He moved quickly and jumped into the fray. Loren and Danton were fighting off two Lucian but now a couple more appeared and Kal charged forward, shouting the warrior call of old that he’d learned as a child. It wasn’t used much anymore in real battle, but he found himself screaming it, the others joining in, and it made him feel stronger as he swung his blade at the pale figure moving like a blur towards him. His blade missed, the Lucian moved so fast, and he growled, whirling quickly on his feet and catching the creature in the back of the leg.
The Lucian punched him in the neck, so hard that he saw stars and fell like a rock to the ground. The hit had felt like a boulder thrust into his neck. But he recovered and hopped to his feet, flipping his sword in his hand. Somehow the shock had rattled his brain, but he found himself falling into the rhythm of battle. Vampyren, he thought, might be bad at dancing to music but they were good at dancing to battle. The Lucian’s bodies made a buzzing sound when they moved very fast, but it sounded just before they moved so that if he was listening hard, he could tell when and which way it would go. He sensed the creature was about to right and swung his sword just in time, going low when he’d been holding it high, and bringing it cleanly through one of the thing’s legs, cutting the limb clean from its body. Danton darted over and finished it off when it was on the ground, cutting its head clean from its body.
The Lucian screamed and its companions screamed with it.
They had an acrid and metallic scent to them. The rumors of them smelling terrible weren’t completely true. They didn’t smell bad, they smelled… like something that wasn’t animal. They smelled strangely like machines.
They never spoke. Kal found that creepy. He wasn’t sure if they couldn’t talk or they chose not to, but most Vampyren theorized they had some kind of psychic connection with each other.
Something hit Kal hard and just then he saw Mindy go flying into the ocean, landing in the shallow tide with a thump, but she was moving and getting to her feet again. A Lucian had thrown her. Kal was rattled, but not so rattled that his mind didn’t race with the thought that it could have been Tess and it would have hurt the baby. As much as he cared for his friends in the soft, human way to which he’d become accustomed to after just a couple of years, Tess came before everything.