My Eternal Soldier

by Krystal Shannan

  “The others still need you, love. I’ll be fine. I already feel like I could sit up.”

  Killían’s voice pulled me out of my thoughts. I shook my head. I wasn’t ready to leave his side again. “Not yet. I can take just a minute longer.”

  “No, you need to go. Every minute they stay in that house is a minute the SECR comes closer to finding them. One satellite image and a launched missile will end them. They’ll never see it coming.”

  He squeezed my hand and then brought it to his lips. The tenderness in the kiss melted the resolve in my heart. He was right. I hated being wrong. But I was. We needed to hurry.

  “Bailey and Erick are going to help. It will only take us two trips. I’ll be at your side again in no time. Please just rest.”

  “I’ll be fine, my beloved. Go.”

  I leaned forward and pressed my lips to his, absorbing the taste of him and wishing I could just crawl into bed and stay with him forever. Instead, I was going across the river to slaughter more soldiers and save people I considered family before the fucking SECR or Xerxes could murder them.

  “I love you,” I whispered across his lips.

  “I love you, too. Be safe, my beloved.”

  I blurred from his side and stopped next to Erick and Bailey. Jared stood directly across from us. “Let’s do this. The lake house is a long run. We need to drink a lot before we start.”

  “Luckily, we have an army to eat on our way out,” Erick said, rolling his neck from side to side. He licked his lips. “It’s been quite a while since I enjoyed a buffet of human blood.”

  Bailey’s body quivered with excitement, but her face was masked by dread. “I’ve been training over the last few months, but I’m not sure I can really kill those men.”

  Erick’s arm encircled her shoulder and pulled her tight to his chest. “I’ll take care of it, love. You will just need to drink your fill so the thirst doesn’t overtake you on trip back.”

  Her head jerked, and her mouth quirked slightly, still not completely convinced. But I could see that she trusted Erick explicitly. He would make sure she was safe. Between him and me, we would easily be able to take out a hundred soldiers before they sounded the alarm. The way the SECR soldiers were spread out along the river bank made them easy to pick off in small groups.

  It wouldn’t take them long to realize vampires were hunting them after this run. Our last trip would be the hardest. But there wasn’t time to think on that now.

  One step at a time.

  “Let’s go. We don’t have a lot of time before the sun rises. With no shadows, we are more easily targeted. If we do this right, we can come and go twice before the sun shows its face.”

  I nodded. “Follow me.” I took off at a regular run, but sped to a blur by the time I reached the fence. Launching myself into the air, I cleared the hot wires and landed softly on the crunchy grass. Together, we sprinted toward the riverbank and hurled ourselves over to the rushing river.

  The cold ground met my feet with a thud, and I crouched low, touching the muddy bank with my fingertips to feel for vibrations. Two thuds on my right signaled they had made the leap as well. Now the hunt was on.

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  EIRA

  We moved swiftly through the thin ranks of the SECR soldiers. Killían had given me Jón’s Dragonbreath and it cut through their bodies, ending their existence in this life. Their blood ran dark, filling me with the energy I needed to save my friends.

  I didn’t feel guilt in the slightest over killing any of them. They would’ve killed each and every one of my friends without thought.

  The world was a better place without them.

  I glanced up from my latest kill and whispered Erick and Bailey’s name on the breeze. A moment later they were at my side, both wiping the last traces of their kills from their lips.

  “How many?”

  “Eighty between the two of us,” Erick answered.

  Bailey cringed when he spoke the number.

  She was so young. So innocent of how many deaths followed a vampire through their life.

  “That should be enough. Follow me.” I started at a jog, giving them a moment to find their bearings. Then I leapt forward, blurring across hundreds of miles of hills and forests before coming to a stop in front of the lake house.

  Heartbeats of those inside pounded loudly. Mikjáll’s orange eyes glowed bright in the darkness through large bay window. He met us at the kitchen door.

  “It is good to see more help has come, but how will we feed all three of you? Alek and I are the only donors left.”

  “We ate a lot before we came. If you could spare each of us a little, we will be able to make it back safely,” Erick responded.

  The Drakonae male nodded and produced a small blade from his waistband. “After this, I cannot feed you again this night.” He slit his upper arm and allowed it to fill three small glasses on the table. His skin was ashen, and his movements sluggish as he cleaned the knife and healed his wound.

  He truly had given everything he could to save people he didn’t know and claimed to care nothing about.

  “You must take me and Riza this trip. I am no use to you here any longer. I need to rest.”

  “Of course, friend,” Erick said, picking one of the glasses on the table. He handed the first to Bailey and the second to me before downing the third himself.

  I lifted the cool glass to my lips and took in the delicious scent of Drakonae blood –a mix of sunshine and pure magickal energy. Nothing on the planet tasted better. Energy rushed through my body, invigorating every cell.

  “I’ll fetch Riza and the baby.”

  “Thank you.”

  I passed Alek in the hallway and stopped. “You have to stay for the last run. We will need to feed again to make the last trip safely. Your blood is the only other source of powerful magick.”

  He nodded. “I know. You need to hurry.”

  The urgency in his voice made my heart clench. He was right. With everything happening at the Vicksburg bridge, Xerxes had to be closing in.

  “We will.”

  I turned away and hurried into the living room. The scent of Riza and the baby was strongest there. Sure enough, they were cuddled into a large recliner in the corner of the room.

  “Riza. It is time.”

  The small woman’s eyes opened and flashed black for a moment. I cocked my head to the side and considered her curiously.

  “What are you, Riza?”

  “A Kitsune,” she said softly, re-wrapping the baby’s blanket to swaddle it tightly.

  “From Japan? I’ve only ever heard whispers of the Kitsune.”

  “We were hunted nearly to extinction. Only a few hundred of us are left in the entire world. My baby is the first born in nearly fifty years.” Her tired voice dragged, filled with pain and grief. She’d lost a lot. Ended up in Xerxes’ prison.

  “The baby’s father?”

  She shook her head. “He died, trying to keep us out of Xerxes’ hands. The monster slit his throat in front of me.”

  “I’m so sorry. You will be with good people in Sanctuary. Mikjáll seems to have made you his personal charge as well,” I added. “You won’t find a better bodyguard than a Drakonae for you and the little one.”

  “He is very kind. He reminds me of my husband. And we both share the bond of losing our spouse. It helps. In a small, strange way.”

  I moved to her side. “Tuck the baby tightly against your chest. Remember how fast we went last time.”

  “We will be fine. I remember.”

  “Ready?” Mikjáll’s voice questioned from behind us.

  “Yes, come outside. It will be easier if I don’t have to blur through the house.” I jogged out of the room and through the kitchen door, took the porch steps two at a time, and waited for the others to join me.

  The night air was warming slightly. The soft glow of sunrise was turning the horizon just a shade warmer than the sparkling midnight blue that stretched
over our head now. The stars were fading. Soon they would be invisible again as the sun rose and its light bathed the land.

  The door slammed open and shut several times. Heavy footsteps pounded on the rickety old porch. Soon I was surrounded. Bailey stood next to Jesse. She was so young Erick wouldn’t let her carry two people for the trip. It was probably a wise choice. Beside Erick stood Malachi and Garrett. To my right, Mikjáll stood behind Riza, who clutched her baby so tightly her knuckles were turning white.

  “I promise it won’t last long,” I said, trying to give the small woman a little reassurance. “Let’s do this.”

  Bailey and Erick gave a nod. We each grabbed our passengers and leapt into a run toward the forest. Minutes later, we emerged on the bank of the Mississippi. One more leap and we would almost be there. I took it first, panting as I carried the very uneven weight of a Kitsune in one arm and Drakonae in the other.

  I lunged forward, landing on the western bank a half dozen feet from the water’s edge. A few running steps led into a vertical leap that cleared the wire fence.

  The ground sped toward us. I made sure to lift them high so my legs could take the brunt of the landing. My ankle snapped, and I screamed through the pain, refusing to let either of them hit the ground.

  “Eira!”

  I released Riza, and she stepped away with the baby. Mikjáll knelt beside me on the ground. The smell of his blood filled the air, and I turned to him, gritting my teeth through the pain of my body knitting together the broken bones.

  Bailey and Erick landed a few feet away with the others only a few moments later.

  My fangs descended, and I nearly bit into Mikjáll’s exposed forearm.

  His hand encircled my throat and pointed my mouth up, so that the blood from the cut he’d made dripped into my mouth. A few minutes later, he released me.

  I stood next to him, catching his arm when he swayed uneasily. “You gave too much, you big oaf,” I whispered.

  He chuckled, something I’d never seen him do before.

  “Thank you, though. It would’ve taken precious time for my leg to heal without your blood,” I said, knowing he was hurting from losing so much blood in one night.

  He nodded. Riza took my place at his arm and helped him walk away.

  “Eira, are you okay?” Erick asked, pointing his passengers toward the tent where I knew Killían was resting. I could still smell him, and I recognized his heart’s pattern.

  “I am now. We have to hurry.” The sky was half lit with the sunrise. Darkness had left us. Our people were more vulnerable now. As well as us. We could move more freely in the dark. And there were fewer people to see under the cover of night. The roads we’d used would be filled with cars now —morning commuters.

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  EIRA

  Erick’s hand touched my shoulder, cautioning me from moving forward. I turned and surveyed the camp before me again, noticing a guard to my left across the field. He was hidden away in a tree blind.

  “I’ll take him,” Erick whispered, his voice barely at a decibel I could hear. “Those are yours.” He pointed to the two guards half-dozing to my right. “Bailey stay where you are until we clear the area.”

  She nodded and crouched lower.

  He blurred away first. The snap of the guard’s neck was the only distinguishing sound that could be heard from the tree. The guards to my right hadn’t even noticed.

  I moved next, running as I drew Dragonbreath from my back. They never saw me coming.

  None of the soldiers did.

  We moved stealthily through the outer guards and closer to the panicked center of their command. They knew vampires were hunting them. But their fear made them stupid and careless. We picked them off one by one. Blurring through, grabbing them, and carrying them off to the edge of camp where no one was watching anymore, we fed until we had enough and then raced for the lake house.

  I stopped at the edge of the forest and gasped for breath I did not need. The house was gone. Nothing more than a burning pile of rubble. I sniffed the air. The smell of explosives was acrid and thick in the air, but I couldn’t detect any human or diesel fuel. No trucks. Where were the soldiers?

  Erick and Bailey came to a stop next to me. We stood in the shadow of the trees and stared in disbelief together.

  Had they escaped? Were they captured?

  The howl of a wolf sounded from across the field.

  “Someone made it!” I ran, staying with the line of trees. A moment later, the thwack thwack of a helicopter beat the air above me, and shots rang through the trees, pounding into the branches above my head.

  Fuck! I blurred in short spurts, hoping to keep their attention and draw them away from where I’d heard the wolf. The last thing I needed to do was lead them to our survivors. Bailey and Erick were still in the clear. They could move without detection as long as I went slow enough to keep their fire aimed at me.

  The hiss of a missile made the hair on my neck stand on end. I leaped to the right and blurred a hundred yard away, disappearing from their view. The explosion behind me sent shards of trees flying like spears of death. I could only pray none had hit a target.

  I peered around the trunk of the large tree I’d hidden behind and came eye to eye with a piece of wood the size of my arm impaled into its trunk. Shaking off the close call, I peered through the branches and listened as the chopper circled, trying to detect my location.

  “We have them.” Erick’s voice cut through the din of the helicopter above my head. “Run.”

  “All four!” I shouted.

  “They didn’t all make it out!”

  Damn it!

  “Run, Eira!” Erick’s voice thundered. A human would barely have heard him over the roar of the engine, but I heard him like he was standing next to me shouting into my ear.

  “I’m going,” I shouted again before jumping into a ground-eating run.

  The brightening landscape rushed past me. Roads. Cars. Trees.

  Thirst burned in the pit of my stomach. I could feel it creeping up, growing stronger and stronger until all I could see was the beat of life surrounding me. Heartbeats of the people in the cars I was passing. Heartbeats of the animals in the forest as I blurred past.

  When we arrived at Vicksburg, all three of us would be ravenous. We had all been prepared to feed some from Alek. I needed to reach the Army base first. They had to be prepared.

  I pushed myself harder, using every reserve of energy I could muster. I leaped the Mississippi and then the fence.

  “Jared!” I stood from my crouched landing place. My vision was red, and I licked my lips as a soldier rushed past me a few yards away. His heart raced as fear blossomed like an orchid in his mind.

  Two thuds behind me signaled that time was up. They were here.

  Erick released Alek and growled for him to run.

  Bailey was carrying Lisa, one of the Lycans.

  That was it. No more? Only two? The guilt of losing more friends cut through the devouring thirst that drowned out my reason. I had failed them a second time.

  A scream roared from my throat as I fell to my knees. The thirst and the pain of my guilt overwhelmed me. Jared’s scent filled my nostrils, and I fought not to attack him as he knelt beside me.

  “Drink this, Eira.”

  He held a plastic cup to my lips, and I sipped the warm, thick liquid. Blood. His blood. I hadn’t had the blood of a Phoenix before. It was spicy and rich and filled with magick. Just what I needed to regain control of my lucidity. As I downed more, my faculties returned, and my vision went back to normal. My fangs retracted, and I sat up next to him on the ground.

  His body sank down beside mine, tension flowing from his muscles.

  “Thank you,” I mumbled as I finished off the last few drops from the cup.

  I turned to meet Alek’s glassy stare. He was sitting in the grass a few feet away. Lisa had disappeared. Erick and Bailey were leaning against each other, both sipping from a red p
lastic cup like the one Jared had brought me.

  “Only two?” I waited for a response from the Gryphon.

  He blinked and then met my gaze. “When I heard the missile, I barely had time to grab Lisa as I threw myself out the bay window. If she hadn’t been sitting there at the table with me, I would’ve been the only one. Even so, the blast would’ve killed her had I not wrapped her in my wings.”

  I sighed and took in his appearance a little more carefully. His face and hands were blackened with soot. His hair was singed, and his clothes were burned in several places.

  “I’m sorry. It’s just hard. We ran s-so h-hard,” I choked. Tears poured down my cheeks. I’d lost them. So many friends. So many I’d called family. Just gone. For no reason other than hate.

  “Eira.” Killían’s voice called to my heart, and I gazed up into his glassy blue eyes.

  “They’re gone,” I sobbed.

  He exchanged places with Alek, and I crawled into his arms. Tucked into his embrace, I sobbed as he rocked me, telling me how proud he was of me. How what I’d done was amazing. And that I couldn’t blame myself for any of their deaths. That I’d done everything in my power to save everyone.

  The words didn’t help, but the tears eventually slowed. The pain tearing at my heart would be there for years. Charlie had lost her parents and more than half the pack.

  Killían hands ran soothingly through my hair. He tugged the hair-tie loose, and my long tresses fell down in a silky wave. Cradling the back of my head against his chest, he worked his fingers into the knots in my tense shoulders.

  I allowed my eyes to close. It wasn’t that I needed sleep, but just to shut out the other things around me. I focused on his heartbeat. On the sounds of air leaving and entering his lungs. On the spicy smell of his skin.

  Through all of this, the fates had allowed me to keep him. No gift could be more precious than that.