Dauntless

by Thomas G. Atwood Jr.

  “God yes,” I said, giving him a peck on the lips. “Let’s stay.”

  “I’d love that,” he said, squeezing my hand as a grin curled across his face. “You know we can’t, though.”

  “Yeah, big day tomorrow,” I moped. “Do you think we’ll make it?”

  “I think I have been around for ages, and I have never met anyone, ever, that can stand against you,” he said, holding me close. “You are amazing in so many different ways. Drake won’t know what hit him.”

  “Thank you,” I returned, smiling. “If I don’t make it, I want you to know…”

  “No.”

  “No?”

  “We’re not having that conversation. If there’s something you need to tell me, tell me after. I don’t want to imagine, even for a second, the world without you in it. We’re going into that battle together, and we’re sure as hell leaving it together. I love you Kacey Alexander, and I plan to have you by my side for a long time.”

  “How long?” I asked, teasing, prompting him to chuckle.

  “You’ll have to stick around and find out.”

  The Ferris wheel deposited us on the ground, and Aidan and I stepped out as it faded into mist. The entire park vanished in an instant, the evening breeze carrying it out into the night sky. Soon the only thing that remained was a pink, stuffed bear Aidan won for me. I picked it up, smiling at the button eyes and the way it opened its stuffed arms as if looking for a hug. We walked to the truck and began the long drive back to The Mansion.

  When we returned, Aidan walked me to the room where I’d been sleeping, giving me a peck on the cheek as I beamed at him. I stared into the room beyond, the comfortable, plush bed singing a siren song I wasn’t able to resist.

  “God, I can’t remember the last time I had a good night’s rest,” I said, prompting Aidan to chuckle.

  “Me either. Get some sleep, Kacey,” he said, stepping away. I grabbed his hand to stop him.

  “I don’t want this night to end,” I said, gazing into his eyes and biting my lip.

  “Me either, but we’ll have many more like it.”

  “No, I mean I don’t want this night to end,” I whispered, pulling him close. I kissed him with a mad passion, my entire body on fire as I pulled him into the bedroom. I gasped for air as he pressed his body close to mine, unable to think through the haze clouding my mind. I wanted him. Every fiber in my body screamed his name. I pulled off his shirt, and we both chuckled in frustration as it became stuck, bundled around his shoulders like a strange scarf. He slipped it off and kissed me, his gaze gentle as he slid next to me. I ran my hand up his stomach, gasping at the feel of his muscle under my fingertips.

  “Are you sure?” he asked.

  “I’ve never been more sure of anything,” I assured him, running my fingers over his chin.

  “Have you…?”

  “No. Have you?”

  “A few times,” he admitted. I pulled him close to me as we pulled the blanket over us, giving myself over to him.

  Chapter 29

  A knock on the door interrupted my peaceful sleep, and I shook off the grogginess as I opened my eyes. Ripper opened the door, and I yelped in surprise, rolling off the bed as I reached for my clothes. Ripper’s eyes went wide, and he closed the door in a flash.

  “Okay, knock, wait for a response, and then open the door,” I snapped, scrambling to throw on my clothes. “That’s how people in a polite society work!”

  “We have work to do. Get dressed and get downstairs.”

  “When?”

  “Twenty minutes ago,” he barked. I threw on my clothes as Aidan opened his eyes, raising an eyebrow as he watched me get dressed. My cheeks burned bright red as he gazed at me.

  “So last night…”

  “Was fantastic,” I finished, kissing him and running my hands down his cheek. I squealed in surprise as I felt his hand run up my shirt.

  "Good enough for an encore?” he asked, a sly smile on his face.

  “You are a terrible influence,” I said, batting his hand away while I grinned. “I love you for it. Come on. Ripper needs us.”

  “Well then. Duty calls.” I straightened my hair as he threw on his clothes. I walked outside to see Ripper leaning on the wall outside.

  “Hey, we were …” I said, my hands waving as I searched for an explanation.

  “I know what you were doing,” Ripper replied, walking down the hall with me.

  “Really?” I squeaked, blushing as I groaned.

  “I’m fifty-two, and I have a son. I know something about the subject.”

  “I…”

  “Were you careful?”

  “What?”

  “Were you careful?” he repeated.

  “Of course.”

  “Then what do I care? You’re an adult.”

  “Are you going to tell my dad?”

  “Kacey, you can rest assured that I have no interest in telling your dad about your sex life for three reasons. One, as I said, you’re an adult, and can do whatever you want with whomever. Two, your dad is one of my oldest friends, and that is one conversation I have no interest in having. Three, and I cannot stress this enough, I don’t care. In the wide, wide world of problems I have to deal with, you and your boyfriend are close to the bottom. It’s right between how to groom toy poodles and which shade of pink to paint my car for Valentine’s Day.”

  “Fuchsia. You should go with Fuchsia,” I told him as I stormed down the stairs. I walked down the hall where everyone was waiting. I stood next to Kat.

  “Hey. Are we good?” I asked her.

  “That depends, have you learned your lesson about hasty decisions?” Aidan chose that moment to walk down the stairs, prompting my cheeks to burn. Kat rubbed her eyebrows but a wide grin crossed her face.

  “Sure. I have not made a single hasty decision since then. Promise,” I babbled.

  “Why don’t I believe you? Did you have fun at least?”

  “We did,” I said, prompting Kat to chuckle as she shook her head. Aidan started to walk next to me, but Ripper grabbed his shirt and pulled him over.

  “Hurt her, and they will never find the body,” he sneered, causing Aidan to raise an eyebrow.

  “You do care,” I teased, smiling at Ripper as he walked past.

  “Who cares about what?” Dad asked as he and Frank walked in, each carrying a steaming cup of coffee.

  “Sports,” Aidan blurted out.

  “TV,” I said at the same instant. “Sports on TV,” I clarified as Dad raised an eyebrow, stirring his drink.

  “You know what? I don’t want to know,” he said as Frank walked over to the TV that hung in the center of the room. He plugged a flash drive into the back of it and turned it on. A map of the city appeared.

  “Okay, I’ve confirmed what Kacey said with a few of my friends still working for Olympus. They’re using the blood drive to draw people out. They’re going to drive the trucks as a convoy into the center of the city and then release them. The monsters will slaughter everyone in the Shade and get stronger with each life they take,” he said, a grim scowl on his face.

  “So will Drake if the ritual worked,” Kat added.

  “Right, which is the first problem with this plan. Drake’s not going to be at the blood drive.”

  “You’re kidding,” I exclaimed, prompting Frank to shake his head. “This was his baby; why wouldn’t he be there?”

  “According to my source, he knows we’re planning something. He’s hedging his bet. If we get lucky and succeed…”

 
; “He can still lay waste to the town himself,” I grumbled. “Either way, they get stronger.”

  “Either that or he can jump town. So we can go after the army or Drake.”

  “Can we split up?”

  “Drake has dozens of those creatures. We’ll need everyone if we’re going to stop them.”

  “Besides,” Kat added, “Drake is going to be stronger than anything we’ve ever faced. He’s powerful enough to kill all of us, even if we all jumped him.”

  “Can you spare one person to go after Drake?” I asked, rubbing my chin as I paced up and down.

  “If your friend's cure works, sure. Why, what are you thinking?”

  “Never mind, keep going.”

  “Alright,” Frank said, cocking his head at me. “The second problem we have is that even if we can engage them, we’re still risking civilian casualties.”

  “I have a friend on the police force,” Kat replied. “If I can think of a cover story, she can evacuate the area. Bomb threat?”

  “Go with an escaped prisoner,” Frank suggested. “A bomb threat wouldn’t explain a group of armed people storming the area. The third problem is that we have no way of knowing where they’re going to attack. The Shade is a big place, and there’s no way of knowing where they plan to unload their army.”

  “We don’t need to,” I replied. “Mark Sheffel Bridge is the only way into the Shade. They need to take that bridge if they’re going to do the plan there. If we block off the area around it, we’ll be able to ambush them.”

  “What’s stopping him from changing the plan once he sees we’re waiting for him?”

  “He won’t. Drake’s an arrogant bastard. Even if he sees we’re waiting for him, he’ll want to crush us. It doesn’t matter how ready we are.”

  “Alright,” Frank replied. “Onto the good news. We won’t be facing Morrigan.”

  “What?” Ripper said, narrowing his eyes. “How do you know that?”

  “It seems they had a public fight in the lobby of Olympus tower. Morrigan told him he had to handle it alone.”

  “Small favors,” I said. “Did Laurie get the cure done?”

  “Yup, she finished it today. It’s in aerosolized form, so all we have to do is toss it in the middle of a crowd and let them breathe deep. All we have to do is worry about Drake.”

  “No, you don’t,” I said, causing everyone to stare at me. “I have to worry about him. You guys are going to track down the army and take them down. I’ll face down Drake.”

  “Or, and I believe I’m the voice of reason, not,” Aidan said, giving me a wide-eyed stare. “You’ve heard how powerful he is, right?”

  “I did, and that’s why it has to be me.”

  “I’m not following you.”

  “Drake hates me beyond thought and reason. If any of you face him, he’ll kill you.”

  “And you’re saying he won’t kill you because he hates you?” Dad said, raising an eyebrow. “That doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, kiddo.”

  “He won’t go for the kill while fighting me. He’ll go for the pain. He’ll try and hurt me and toss me around. He won’t go in for the kill until he’s bored of tormenting me. That should give you the time you need to take down his army.”

  “And what help will that be?”

  “If I’m right, that should give me everything I need to bring him down.”

  “And if you’re wrong?” Aidan asked.

  “Then you’ll still have the time you need to take down the army. Besides, it’s not like I’ll be around for you to yell at me.”

  “That’s not funny.”

  “It wasn’t meant to be. No one else can do it. We can’t go after Drake together, and for anyone else it’s a death sentence.” Everyone stared at the floor and shifted, uncomfortable with the plan. “I know what this sounds like.”

  “It sounds like suicide,” Dad returned.

  “It’s not.”

  “For God’s sake, Kacey, you don’t even know where he is.”

  “He’s at Olympus Tower. He’s not going to be anywhere else. He’s not going to give up the chance to lord over the city like Zeus on his throne. I know I’m taking a risk, but that’s what I signed up for. Besides, I’m not going alone. The lessons you have taught me will be going with me. I’m going there with my family.” I beamed at all of them. A few weeks ago, many of them were strangers, a collection of people that tried to help out a scared and confused girl. These days they were more important to me than anything in this world. I relied on them, leaned on them each day.

  “I know you’re skeptical, and why shouldn’t you be? I’ve made mistake after mistake. I’ve put some of your lives in danger in the past. You’d be well within your rights to tell me to sit down and shut up. I’m asking you to have faith. Faith in the lessons you’ve taught me and faith that I can put them to use.” The room was silent for several long moments until Ripper crossed the room, setting his hand on my shoulder.

  “Of all the recruits I’ve ever trained, you are the least useless. Kick his ass.”

  “Thanks. Does this mean you like me?” I said, a smug smirk on my face. Ripper snorted and turned around, walking off.

  “Well, who’s going to watch my back?” Kat said, walking up to me with a single tear trailing down her face.

  “I’m sure Aidan’s up to it,” I said, smiling at her.

  “You’re coming back, right?”

  “Count on it,” I assured her. Frank followed, giving me a quick clap on the back.

  “I love you,” Aidan said, wrapping me up in a hug.

  “I love you too,” I said, giving him a peck on the cheek. “Stay safe.” Dad groaned as he walked over to me.

  “Dad…” I started, but he held up a hand, stopping me.

  “No,” he replied. “No way. You are not going to face down that psychopath alone and let him serve you up for the slaughter.”

  “I have to.”

  “No!” he barked, pointing his finger at me. “Don’t you give me that crap. I will toss you in your room and lock the door before I let you face him.”

  “This is my job, Dad. I’m not a child anymore.”

  “You’re my child!” he yelled in response. “I don’t care how old you are, and I sure as hell don’t care what job you have. It’s my job to protect you and I cannot, I will not let you go and toss your life away because of…what? A theory?”

  “It’s all we have.”

  “I don’t care!” Dad bellowed. “I can’t lose you. If anything happens to you, I…” Tears rolled down his face as he gazed at me. “You’re all I have left, kiddo. If you…If I lost you…I can’t deal with that. I can’t let that happen.”

  I ran over to him, hugging him as he sobbed. “Dad, you have to let me go. I’m coming back. I promise. No one else can do this. I need you to believe in me.”

  “I’ve always believed in you. Each time you put your mind to something, you’ve pulled it off. I’m so proud of you, Kacey. I love you more than you will ever know. I don’t want to lose you.”

  “I promise. You won’t.”

  Dad let me go. “You’re a lot like your mother, do you know that? She would be so proud of you. Listen to me. I want you to play this safe. Don’t take any unnecessary risks. I want you to come home as soon as possible.”

  “I will. I love you, Dad.”

  “I love you too.”

  Dad walked away, and I went over to the armory. A short sword hung on the wall, and I slung it over my back. I sprinted to the garage and started up the Shelby. I raced down the road and
stopped as I looked into the mansion. All my friends and family gathered around, preparing for war. I beamed at the sight of them. They mean everything to me. I felt a pang in my chest as I thought that I wouldn’t be there to stand beside them. I raced down the highway toward the massive tower in the distance.

  I pulled into the abandoned parking lot. I let out a sigh, desperate to quiet my nerves. I stormed through the front door, looking through the empty building as a secretary popped her head up. She glared at me before returning to her typing.

  “Hey, I…”

  “Yes. Mister Drake is waiting for you on the roof.” I strode past her, and she sneered at me. “You know, I was almost fired when you snuck in earlier.”

  “Well, if we all make it through this, I’ll apologize,” I said, stepping into the elevator. The steel doors closed like a coffin around me. The lights began lighting up, one by one, each one announcing the coming battle. I grimaced and bounced up and down on the balls of my feet. I wanted to run. I wanted to go screaming as far away as I could, leaving the town behind. I couldn’t do that, though. I couldn’t turn my back on everyone. This was my home. This was where I’ve lived my entire life. No one comes into my town and picks a fight. The blood of everyone consumed in the fires he started screamed out for vengeance. It was time.

  Drake dies tonight.

  Chapter 30

  Thunder cracked through the air as I stepped out of the elevator, its roar shaking the ground with its fury. Scarlet lightning cracked through the air, each bolt like a malevolent talon. Drake floated in midair throughout the storm, his arms outstretched as he laughed. The booming sound drowned out the chaos that surrounded me. He glanced over his shoulder and floated to the ground, his twisted and deformed face inspecting me with a grin. The sword Aidan gave me hung off his back. I glared at it, white-hot rage flowing through me at the sight of the weapon.

  “You have something of mine!” I shouted.

  “Kacey. It’s good to see you. Isn’t this beautiful?” he asked, his arms spread wide as he gestured out into the city. “After tonight, there won’t be any pain or fear for our people. After this evening, the weak and powerless will no longer drag us down. After tonight, everything will be as it’s supposed to be. This city will be a sanctuary for the mystical, and I will rule it with an iron fist. You’ve lost.”