Shade's Loss

by Christina Worrell

  She followed him silently into the house and dropped the bags by the kitchen door.

  “Gideon said this is one of his newborn’s houses. The one who we think died.”

  Shade nodded and finished off the bottle of blood then located the trash can and tossed the empty bottle while Mikhail checked the upstairs for anyone.

  Shade walked around checking out various things until she came to what looked like an armory. It did not make sense when you looked at the rest of the house with its big screen televisions and game systems. The only decorations were posters of random rock bands. Three guitars and an amp stood in one corner of the living room waiting for someone to pick them up and play them. If Cody was indeed dead they would not be played for some time unless they were sold. A flaming red one beckoned her but she left it alone in silent tribute to the fallen newborn.

  The war room held crossbows, swords, hammers, axes, and many other things Shade could not begin to fathom. She found tiny daggers in sheaths that attached to the wrists. When the wearer bent their wrists and hit the tiny switch they flew out. Shade practiced with those for a bit trying to catch one of the daggers and aim the other.

  Just weeks ago she had been in school worried only about boys. Now she was no longer a virgin but a fledgling vampire. Her brother was a disheartened werewolf forced into this by his own mate. Now both stood in a newborn werewolf’s home waiting for her mate and his Master. They were hours away from taking on a handful of overlords who were ancients with only one weakness, sunlight.

  Shade found various other weapons she had to test out and found that she liked the keris, daggers with curved blades like flames. There were also utility belts of all sizes to hide ammo and other blades. She found one her size and tried it on. The belt had a strap that extended to her thigh with another holster which wrapped around her thigh. It was uncomfortable but she felt it may come in handy. She hid several blades and ammo the special ammo to the guns they had gotten from Garrote. She tucked the gun into the holster after checking the safety.

  A month ago she would have never touched a gun, now her life and Damon’s depended on it. Many things had changed about her including the fact that she feared fewer things. She was an elfin vampire now for crying out loud, and she should act like one.

  It was nearly dusk and the ancients would be grouping together to discuss Damon’s disappearance and what they planned on doing about his rogue-like actions. In two hundred years he would be a thousand years old and at his peak. He would be nearly unstoppable, except perhaps against a tank, machine gun, or a nuclear weapon.

  Shade had a feeling in her chest as if someone had broken her heart. Pain shot through her chest and left her breathless.

  “They should have been here by now Shade… there’s got to be something wrong,” Mikhail started to say.

  “Something is wrong!” Shade cried at nearly the same time. She fell to her knees as the feeling increased and her head began to feel as if someone was stabbing her with hot railroad spikes. Mikhail pulled her up and into his strong arms. Shade cried out in pain and Mikhail did his best to comfort her.

  “Damon!” she screamed at the top of her lungs. Her hands gripped her temples trying to block the pain.

  Moments later flashes of red interrupted her vision intermittently at the same time they heard an echoing boom as if a car had just exploded. Both jumped up and ran out the front door to find an apocalyptic war zone. The street was ablaze and debris from the explosion was everywhere. Cars were upside down and trees uprooted. It looked like they had died and fallen straight to the depths of hell.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  A vehicle was on fire fifty feet away and two men, who looked as if they had been thrown out, struggled to get away from it. Another two men were running towards the overturned car.

  Shade recognized Damon’s blue hair and with an audible gasp she flew out the doorway and into the street, Mikhail calling for her. Gideon was half carrying Damon and their bags. He must have gone back in for them.

  She took Damon’s other side and they rushed into the yard. Mikhail came from behind the house, down the drive, and stopped next to them. The two men, presumably demons, were less than forty feet away now. If they could resort to this then they would do anything. Shade jumped in the back seat and pulled Damon along with her. Gideon closed the door and joined Mikhail in the front. Mikhail revved the engine and stomped the gas almost knocking their pursuers down as they tore out of the driveway.

  Damon was conscious but severely wounded. Shade offered him a bottle of blood and he downed it in two gulps. He shifted so that he could lie down with his head in her lap.

  “Gideon what happened?” Mikhail asked after he glanced to the back to see what condition Damon was in. He had a head wound still pouring blood and his arm looked singed.

  Shade found a t-shirt in one of the bags and tore it in strips to stop the bleeding on Damon’s head until his vamp abilities took over. She tenderly held it to his and used another to clean the blood from around his eye.

  “We were followed. They must have assumed we may come back here and they set up a trap. When they saw Damon they activated it.”

  “Why not when we came in?” Shade asked, looking up and into Gideon’s eyes.

  “More than likely they set up after you came in,” Gideon replied checking on his vampire.

  “It’s a good thing we followed you two. If we had not had another vehicle we would have been screwed. Damon is in no shape to fight, I hate to think of what could have happened.”

  Mikhail was right. Damon was in no shape to be fighting off the demons. He may have died without her there, without both of them.

  Shade could not stop looking at him. He was her whole world. Her hand caressed his side trying not to go near any wounds.

  “Are they following us?” Shade asked.

  “Doubtful. They could not get back to their car in time. Mikhail take a left here and then another when you hit the red light. Follow that until you see the interstate.”

  “Gideon you may be compromised now.”

  “I agree Shade. I called Leila earlier and told her to get out. No sense and giving them hostages.”

  Shade and Mikhail agreed.

  “Why did you come after me?” Damon whispered with his eyes closed. Shadows passed over him giving her clearer glimpses of his face. His right side was bruised. She cleaned more drying blood from his hairline.

  “Why wouldn’t I vampire? I love you too much to be left behind to worry for you. I am not the same girl who barreled into you in the park. I grew up and became a good little newborn that refuses to listen to her maker,” Shade replied just as quietly. Her quirky sarcasm was dearly missed.

  They drove on in silence. Damon eventually either drifted to sleep or was unconscious.

  “Will he be okay Gideon?” she asked.

  “Yeah, it’s mainly superficial cuts and bruises. The head wound though we should watch. He will be out of it for an hour or so. Vampires heal quickly.” He did not tell her how Damon had received the wound. It would only worry her. He was grateful his vampire was strong. His head would have been crushed when they were thrown through the front windshield and onto the payment as the car flipped over them. If Gideon himself had went through first it could have been fatal. Damon saved him because it was his head to shatter the windshield when he went through it. Gideon lost his self in darker thoughts.

  Shade remembered how her head felt prior to the explosion. Had she foreseen it somehow?

  Mikhail glanced back at her and knew the truth. It was time she did as well.

  “Shade,” he called back to her.

  “Yeah?” she asked looking up. Her hands shook as she tried to figure out a way to help her mate.

  “You knew it was going to happen didn’t you? That something was wrong with Damon?”

  She contemplated her answer in silence.

  “Yes.”

  “It is not the first time either is it?” he continued to qu
estion her.

  “No.” She had also known many times when her old coach would come for her, if she was paying attention.

  “That is her dark elf abilities,” Gideon replied.

  “What happened in there Shade? You were holding your head.”

  “I got a bad feeling like someone had died and then my head exploded in pain, sharp and hot. It was too much for me at first.”

  “I want you to think about this fight we are headed to Shade. Think about it really hard. Imagine yourself there and the outcomes. It is an average sized business with about ten to twelve floors including basements. The roof is designed for outdoor parties. The first floor is reception and the next three are meeting rooms,” Gideon explained.

  He knew if it had been a smaller building they would have been caught. He had obtained the blue prints just before heading south to meet with Damon. He also had gone ahead to the sub tunnels to find a direct route to the garage and basements. Once in the maintenance and septic area in the second basement he had found the air shafts. He did not know which room the overlords would use so he had went to get Damon before making more plans.

  “Okay…” Shade replied, clearly confused.

  “If you get any feelings off of what I told you tell me as soon as you can, understood?”

  She nodded.

  It had been a long time since he had done field operations. He spent some time in several wars and learned quite a bit about black operations. Things most mortals could never even imagine. Just before he had left for Columbia he called his oldest friend. He was a mortal from their last war, a Navy Seals captain. He owed Gideon a favor and he intended to collect. His friend would personally deliver explosives to an empty warehouse just up the road.

  The explosives were made for underwater expeditions, like cave exploring. The Navy explored caves overseas for entrances into other countries.

  Gideon was thankful that this friend was trustworthy and reliable. The Captain knew Gideon was not human and had since the war.

  They stopped long enough to switch drivers. Gideon knew the area better than the rest aside from Damon. Shade was dozing, cuddled around Damon.

  “She is becoming like him,” Gideon whispered to Mikhail as they hit the interstate again.

  “Lethal?” Mikhail asked.

  “I see it in her eyes. She is losing that innocence. It hurts me to see it. I know it must hurt you more.” Gideon ran his hand through his grizzly hair.

  “It does but Shade has been through so much already and whether she knows it or not she is strong.”

  “You have been through the same things, yes?” Gideon asked him.

  “Not exactly, her school coach tried to take that innocence from Shade a long time ago but she managed to stop it. I beat the man within an inch of his life and got locked up.”

  Mikhail looked beaten in every way but physically. He was preparing to give up.

  “Where did she go then?” Gideon asked checking his rear view for any followers. A silver car had been about two cars back for the last ten or fifteen miles but he did not think they were after them.

  “A group home and I got out as soon as I could and filed for guardianship or custody but she was seventeen before I got her back. She won’t tell anyone what happened exactly.”

  “You were full of anger and she was full of fear. Siblings that are alone in the world tend to be close. You did your best to protect her?”

  “When I didn’t let the anger get the best of me.” Mikhail grimaced at the flashing memories within his head.

  “Your mate is cold, calculated, and ruthless Mikhail but out of all of us she has the purest heart. She had fought claw and fang to get where she is so she is very protective of what is hers. You belong to her now Mikhail and she will be furious that you betrayed her for Shade and the vampire’s problems.”

  “I know but I did not have a choice,” Mikhail replied.

  “Not many of us do, pup.”

  Mikhail stared out at the full moon as they passed over a river. He thought he saw a sign a while back but it was not worth the time in remembering. Not when much darker memories plagued him. They rode in silence for another forty-five minutes before they exited and proceeded into the heart of the city.

  Gideon drove down back allies and side streets to the warehouse to pick up the explosives. The idea was that they would provide adequate distraction so the vampires would be expecting the attack from above. When they all tried to go for an exit they would find themselves blocked by their group and would be mowed down with the weapons they’d bought from Garrote.

  One exit would be rigged with a different type of explosives and would take out anyone that went out that way. The guard wolves would be difficult but the silver cased ammo would put them down and more than likely keep them down.

  Gideon pulled into the warehouse and he and Mikhail quickly and quietly loaded the package into the rear of the SUV. Gideon got into the driver seat again and went several blocks over to the entrance to the sewers. Mikhail woke Shade and Damon before getting out and helping Gideon.

  As the oldest Gideon would slip in and plant the bombs and get to an exit to stop the vampires. Mikhail’s job was to get inside the elevator shaft and when the vampires attempted that escape route he would be waiting for them and prepared to fire on them the moment the doors opened.

  The vampires would more than likely send their guards out first to see if the coast was clear leaving them grouped together without guards. Damon would toss a grenade with a special blend of toxic chemicals in to the room to blind them. The chaos that would ensue would also aid them. The princes would scatter to different exits from doors to windows, or so he figured. Nothing ever went according to plan.

  Gideon explained his idea and Damon pointed out several better options.

  Shade listened and watched her mate. His head wound had completely healed and he seemed back to his normal self which was a major relief to her.

  While Damon drank down another bottle of blood Gideon proceeded to plant the bombs. The vampires would be sending in the guards to the building soon to make sure that no rogue named Damon had slipped in. When they found the coast clear the ancient overlords would come in and the meeting would begin.

  Damon made sure Shade was prepared and instructed her over and over what to do. She was to block the stairs by the main entrance until she ran out of ammo or if she became outnumbered. If she made it out alive and was not followed she was to come back to this spot.

  “You are not to come for me or wait for me. Do you understand?”

  Shade refused to look him in the eye.

  “If I have to worry about you I will be unfocused and more likely to get hurt.”

  “Fine, I’ll meet you here,” she replied trying not to get angry.

  They embraced for the two seconds they had left and then headed into the tunnels and made their way to the basement subfloor. They would wait for the explosion which was the cue that the vampires indeed had arrived and the mission was a go.

  Fifteen minutes later a rumble began and windows shattered. Car alarms went off and passing mortals screamed and ran for cover. Damon kissed Shade one last time before the three of them ran for their designated areas. The building was groaning and shifting around them.

  When Shade reached the stairs two human shaped werewolves burst through the door and headed for her. She raised the gun and fired two rounds into each. It was nothing like target practice but she still managed to hit them. They dropped immediately like she expected them to. She checked to see if they were alive still. One was and he was angry. He reached for her but she fired another bullet into his eye and he finally lay still. Shade went through the door and up one story to the first floor. Trying to be stealthy she went through the door and caught a vampire prince trying to hit the main entrance.

  “Who are you?” he asked as she fired five rounds into the vampire. He stumbled and made it ten feet before he collapsed within reach of her. Shade took the sword and
with both hands prepared to take the vampires head. A werewolf came through another door just as she closed her eyes and howled as it changed before her.

  This werewolf was not like others. This one was bigger, much bigger, and had long incisors. He was way over muscled, hairy as a real wolf, and his black claws curled into vicious points. His legs looked contorted. From the hip to knee they were human thighs nearly as thick around as her body. From the knee down they bent like a wolf’s and stretched into razor sharp feet shaped more like what she would envision on a raptor.

  The shoulders were massive, corded tendons overlapping. The ears reminded her of a bats sticking straight up into the air. The beast’s forehead sloped over to the black eyes and flat nose. The face was a distinct mixture of human and wolf. A row of deadly teeth and a set of fangs set it off.