Shadows Strike

by Dianne Duvall

  The others found seats as well.

  Darnell, Chris, and Sheldon manned laptop computers that would keep them apprised of the battle in Russia.

  No television helped the others while away the time. No music pulsed through the room. All cell phones and tablets remained tucked away.

  No one wanted anything to impede the immortals’ ability to hear an enemy’s approach.

  Even little Adira remained quiet aside from the ih-eeh-ih-eeh-ih-eeh sound her rubbery teething ring made as she chewed on it. Her big green eyes studied them somberly while she leaned against her father’s chest.

  Ethan glanced around. “Where’s Aidan?”

  “Downstairs,” Darnell answered. “He’s listening to ensure the escape tunnels won’t be breached without our knowledge.”

  Every basement bedroom boasted a wardrobe with a false back that concealed the entrance of a tunnel that led deep into the evergreen forest that thrived on David’s property. Though David’s home had never been attacked en masse before, he had wanted to cover all bases just in case and ensure immortals would have a safe avenue of escape—day or night—should the need ever arise.

  “Okay,” Darnell murmured, staring at his computer screen. “The battle has begun.”

  Knees bobbed up and down as Darnell, Chris, and Sheldon fed them live insights into the fray. Shoulders tightened as minutes crept past at a snail’s pace.

  The ih-eeh-ih-eeh-ih-eeh noises ground to a halt as Adira’s eyelids grew heavy and sleep claimed her.

  Marcus rose, cuddling her to his chest. “I’m going to put this one to bed and give Aidan a break.”

  Sheldon closed his laptop and stood. “We’ll come with you.” Tucking the laptop under his arm, he reached back and took Tracy’s hand.

  Tracy rose, and the small group headed down to the basement.

  A moment later, Aidan strolled into the living room.

  Aidan studied Ethan and Heather.

  How he envied them. Envied him. Ethan had only been immortal for a century and had already found a gifted one he loved and whom he hoped would one day transform for him.

  Aidan suspected she would. He had little difficulty reading her thoughts and knew she was already considering it. Their feelings for each other had hit them both like sledgehammers. Quick, hard, and heavy. Really the only thing holding her back was a deep-seated fear that Gershom had further plans for her and might use her against Ethan and his immortal brethren.

  Aidan liked her. She was an honorable woman, willing to sacrifice her own happiness to ensure the welfare of others.

  Would he ever find such a woman for himself? A woman who could love him despite the darkness that had crowded him for centuries now? A woman who could alleviate the darkness, perhaps eradicate it entirely? A gifted one who would transform for him so he could actually welcome the endless stretch of days and nights before him?

  A sound reached his ears. Miles away. Too far away for Ethan to hear yet, Ethan being so much younger than Aidan.

  Swearing, Aidan rose. “Here they come.”

  Every man and woman present leapt to his or her feet.

  “Who?” Ethan demanded.

  “Vampires, by the sounds of it. A hell of a lot of them. Five miles out. Chris, prepare your men.”

  Aidan teleported to the basement hallway just outside Marcus and Ami’s bedroom.

  Marcus stepped into the doorway just as Aidan appeared.

  Sheldon and Tracy sat in chairs in the bedroom behind him, their eyes on Sheldon’s laptop. Both glanced up at Marcus’s movement.

  “What is it?” Sheldon asked.

  “Vampires,” Aidan announced and met Marcus’s gaze. “Dozens of them. I’m going to take Adira to network headquarters.” Striding past Marcus, Aidan crossed to the crib.

  “I go where Adira goes,” Marcus said, picking up a bulging bag Aidan knew from experience was packed with toys and diapers and whatever the hell else babies needed.

  Aidan reached down and carefully lifted the slumbering toddler into his arms. “No. All is quiet at the network. She’ll be safe there. And you’re needed here. Badly. You’ll understand that in a moment when you hear just how many vampires are headed this way.”

  Yanking the bag away from Marcus, Aidan teleported to the network’s infirmary, the other man’s curses ringing in his ears.

  Melanie jumped and emitted a startled squeak at his sudden appearance. “Damn it. I’m never going to get used to that.”

  Bastien, Linda, and Alleck all lounged nearby.

  Aidan tossed the diaper bag to Bastien, then turned to Melanie. “David’s home is under attack. Too many vampires to count.”

  Alarm pinching her pretty features, Melanie hurried forward to take Adira.

  Bastien frowned as he rose. “Do you want me to go back with you?”

  Alleck stood. “I can come, too.”

  “No,” Aidan said. “Stay here and keep your ears open. If anything—anything—happens, call me immediately so I can come get Adira. If we allow anyone to harm so much as a hair on that baby’s head, Seth will slay us all.”

  Aidan teleported back to the basement of David’s home.

  A fist caught him in the jaw as soon as he arrived.

  “Take me to my daughter!” Marcus roared.

  “She’s safe,” Aidan gritted and drew his short swords. “As I said, all is quiet there and I told them to call me in an instant if that changes.”

  Rapid suppressed gunfire—a lot of it—disrupted the quiet outside.

  “Get your head in the game,” Aidan ordered, halting further protest, “and make sure none of those bastards find their way in through the tunnels. I’ll help Chris’s men outside.”

  Sheldon and Tracy armed themselves with automatic rifles and joined Marcus out in the hallway.

  Aidan teleported outside, appearing between the two soldiers who guarded the front door.

  Sensing movement, both men swung around.

  Aidan used a telekinetic push to keep them from shooting him.

  Recognition lit their features.

  “I thought you could use some help,” Aidan told them.

  Nodding, they turned their weapons back upon the figures swarming toward them over David’s lawn and opened fire.

  So many vampires. Almost as many as he had slain at Shadow River. How the hell had Gershom raised such a large army without their knowledge?

  The human soldiers sprayed the vampires with bullets. Some vampires stopped short and danced backward as the painful projectiles struck them. Others continued to flow forward, weapons glinting in their hands as they bared their fangs and roared with rage and pain.

  Aidan gathered his energy and thrust out a hand. A strong telekinetic push yanked weapons from the hands of all the vampires in his line of sight and sent the blades flying into the dense trees behind them.

  The vampires stopped and jerked around. Mouths fell open in astonishment.

  Aidan took advantage of the lull and swept forward. Bullets struck him as he swung his swords and tore through the vampires. Such could not be avoided short of his ordering the humans to lay down their weapons. He moved faster than their eyes could follow, teleporting from one side of the house to the next, slashing every vamp within reach.

  Richart suddenly appeared a few yards away, doing the same. “I’ve got this side.”

  Aidan nodded and teleported back to the front of the house.

  Jenna darted outside and threw her blades into the mix.

  Aidan gritted his teeth as more bullets struck him.

  When a few of the network soldiers hesitated, realizing they’d shot him, Aidan sent them all a telepathic message: Don’t worry about shooting me. I’m an elder. I can take it. Just kill as many vampires as you can.

  And he could take it . . . to a point. Even three-thousand-year-old immortals had their limits. He swore silently as another bullet tore through one shoulder, and hoped Jenna and Richart would fare better.

  Deflecting the bla
de of one of the vampires who had managed to hang on to his weapon, Aidan swung his short sword in a powerful arc that would remove the vampire’s head.

  Ethan backed away from the windows. “Go down to the basement,” he ordered Heather.

  “No. You can’t take them all on by yourself.”

  “I’m not,” he assured her as vampires began to crash through the windows and gunfire erupted. “I have a roomful of Seconds to help me.”

  And they were doing a hell of a job stopping the first vamps inside.

  Like Ethan and Heather, the Seconds had backed toward the wall that divided the living room from the kitchen so the vampires would all come at them from the same direction and there would be less risk of shooting each other.

  “Ed!” Ethan called.

  “Yeah?” his Second returned, his gun spitting as many bullets as the other Seconds’.

  Like the network soldiers outside, the Seconds had all attached silencers to their weapons. They really did think of everything. The deafening noise of weapons being fired inside an enclosed space mere feet away would have been as painful as a wound to immortals with preternaturally sharp hearing.

  “I want you and Heather to prevent the vampires from getting downstairs. Ed, take the top of the stairs. Heather, take the bottom.”

  Heather shook her head. “But—”

  “Aidan took Adira to the network. But if things get hairy there and he ends up having to bring her back, Marcus will need help protecting her.” And Ethan needed Heather farther away from the first wave, damn it. “Just go. I’ll be fine.”

  Reluctance to leave him pinching her features, she nodded and hurried down the hallway.

  Ethan breathed a sigh of relief as Ed followed.

  Leaping forward, Ethan swung his short swords.

  Bastien watched his wife cuddle little Adira to her chest. Every time he saw the two together, regret that they could not have a child of their own inundated him.

  The toddler slept on, oblivious to the tension around her.

  Alleck and Linda sat nearby, shoulders stiff, ears peeled for any sound that would indicate the network was under attack.

  “Bastien?” Melanie said.

  When he met her eyes, he found fear rising in them. “What is it?”

  “I’m starting to get that feeling,” she told him, face full of dread.

  He swore.

  “What feeling?” Alleck asked.

  “The same one I had the night mercenaries bombed the original network headquarters.”

  The German immortal swore. “You have premonitions?”

  Linda paled. “Should we call Aidan?”

  Bastien shook his head. “Not yet. Not until we absolutely have to. Adira may be safer here.” He motioned to the baby. “Let’s take her to Cliff’s apartment.”

  Linda’s brow furrowed. “I don’t know that Marcus would like that.”

  “It doesn’t matter if he likes it,” Bastien replied, his eyes on his wife. “She’ll be safer there if something goes down.”

  Melanie nodded, understanding dawning. “Those rooms are built to prevent vampires from being able to escape. They should serve just as well to keep vampires out.” Turning, she headed out into the hallway and down to Cliff’s apartment.

  Bastien and the others followed.

  “Would you swipe my key card for me, honey?” Melanie asked.

  “Where is it?”

  “Back right pocket.” She turned away to give him better access.

  A faint smile curled his lips as he slipped the long fingers of one hand into her pocket. “Can I cop a feel while I do it?”

  “I was counting on it,” she teased.

  “Come on, guys,” one of the vampires complained from his apartment down the hallway. “I can’t take the lovey-dovey stuff today.”

  Melanie laughed.

  Bastien swiped her card and entered the security code for Cliff’s apartment.

  When a thunk sounded, Bastien pushed the door—as heavy as that on a bank vault—inward.

  Melanie entered first, Bastien on her heels.

  Cliff waited inside, his face sober. “I don’t think this is a good idea.”

  Bastien’s heart ached for him. Ever since his break, the vampire had lived in constant fear that he would hurt those around him again.

  “I don’t think I should be around the baby,” Cliff continued, confirming Bastien’s thoughts.

  “You won’t hurt Adira,” Bastien told him with utter confidence.

  “Maybe you should drug me,” Cliff suggested. “Or maybe I should hang out in Stuart’s apartment, just to be safe.”

  Bastien looked over his shoulder at Linda and Alleck, who hovered in the doorway. “Linda, would you and Alleck open the doors to the other vampires’ apartments? It’ll save us some much-needed time if something goes down.”

  The two left.

  Bastien crossed to stand close to Cliff, Melanie at his side.

  Conversation erupted out in the hallway as the rest of the vampires were freed.

  Speaking preternaturally soft so his words wouldn’t carry, Bastien said, “I need you here, Cliff. I need you clearheaded.”

  “But—”

  “David’s place has been overrun with vampires. If vampires should attack the network, too, it will be up to us to keep this baby safe. And you’re an exceptional fighter.”

  Melanie caught his gaze. “Are you sure we shouldn’t call Aidan?”

  “Aidan will only have two choices if we do: Take Adira to David’s place and hope they can keep the vampires from getting to her there or teleport from place to place with her instead and hope Gershom won’t catch on and pursue him. Because alone, Aidan will be no match for him.”

  Melanie swore.

  “No vampire should be able to break through that door,” Bastien told Cliff. “But if they do, I trust you to take them out.”

  Swallowing hard, Cliff nodded.

  Bastien turned to Melanie. “Let me have the baby.”

  When Melanie handed the little one over, Bastien awkwardly settled the child against his broad chest. “Grab a box,” he told Melanie, “and bring a shitload of tranquilizer guns loaded with darts that will drop a vampire. I don’t want you to have to stop and reload, and I don’t want you to have to engage any of them in battle. I know you can kick ass, but today you’ll have to stick close to the baby, so I don’t want vampires getting anywhere near you.”

  “Okay.” Melanie hurried from the room.

  Bastien met Cliff’s gaze. “Gear up.”

  Accustomed to following Bastien’s orders, the young vampire swiftly donned hunting togs and adorned his body with the many impressive weapons Bastien had purchased for him when Seth had given Cliff permission to hunt.

  Chris Reordon would hit the roof if he ever found out Bastien let Cliff keep the weapons in his apartment.

  Melanie returned, carrying a banker box full of tranq guns and darts. The hilts of two short swords poked out above the rest. “Just in case,” she said.

  Bastien nodded his approval. “Put them in the bedroom. Unless the vampires tunnel through fifty feet of soil and use explosives, the only way into that room is through the door.”

  Melanie nodded and set the box just inside the doorway.

  Bastien followed. “Let’s put Adira on the floor between the wall and the bed.”

  Melanie yanked a cover off the bed and spread it on the floor. Then Bastien laid the baby atop it.

  Adira rolled onto her side with a sigh.

  Bastien stood. “Does she need a blanket?” The baby girl looked so tiny and fragile.

  “No, she’s fine.” Melanie rose.

  Bastien slipped his arms around her. “Still have that feeling?”

  “Yes. And it’s getting stronger.”

  He pressed a kiss to her lips. “You have Aidan’s number?”

  “Yes.”

  “If vampires attack us, I’ll do everything I can to keep them on the ground floor. But s
hould any get past me and manage to force their way into this apartment in numbers you and Cliff can’t handle, call Aidan.”

  “I will.”

  “And if you have even the slightest suspicion that Gershom is here, call Aidan immediately. Gershom can teleport, so even the thickest doors and most complex locks won’t keep him out if he comes looking for the baby.”

  “Okay.”

  “I love you.”

  “I love you, too. Be careful.”

  Cliff caught Bastien’s gaze. “I’ll guard them both with my life.”

  “I know you will. Thank you.” Bastien clasped Cliff’s arm and pulled him into a hug. He never knew from day to day when Cliff might reach the point of no return.

  Alleck stepped into the doorway. “What should we do with the vampires?”

  Bastien strode from the apartment and closed the heavy door. “Todd,” he called, heading toward the heavily armed human guards positioned in front of the elevator and the door to the stairwell.

  “Yeah?” Todd asked.

  “We have reason to believe an attack may be imminent.”

  The guards all swore.

  “I want each of you to give one of your tactical knives to a vampire.”

  Todd looked at the others and hesitated. “What makes you think an attack is coming?”

  “Melanie has a bad feeling. Lest you discount the significance of that, the last time she had a bad feeling, mercenaries bombed the hell out of the original network headquarters.”

  Every human guard present handed over a tactical knife. Some handed over two while Todd spoke into his walkie and gave the rest of the guards in the large building a heads-up.

  “Send all of the elevators up to the first floor, then disable them. I’m going to head up to the lobby.”

  “Linda and I will head up to sublevel one,” Alleck said.

  Bastien eyed Linda doubtfully. He had never seen her in action before, so he didn’t know how skilled she was with weapons.

  “Don’t worry,” she said, guessing his thoughts. “I’ve trained as extensively as Melanie has. Alleck and I will do our best to keep any vampires from getting past us.”

  Bastien nodded and turned back to the human guards. “Melanie and the baby are in Cliff’s apartment. The rest of the vampires will stay here and help you guard them.”