by Judith Post
"Ready?" Bart called to him from the kitchen.
Enoch pushed himself to his feet and went to join them. Claudia handed him a glass of wine as he walked to the kitchen's island. "Glad you took some time to revive yourself, but sleep's better," she said. "Not that you have that option."
Voronika yawned and rubbed her eyes as she came to stand beside Enoch. She looked out the window over the sink and frowned. Leaning forward, she tried to get a better view. "Who's that?"
Enoch's stomach churned when he saw three of Vixtra's soldiers marching someone into his yard. His heart clutched. His breath caught. If anyone rushed to help the captive, they'd kill him. How had they found someone so fast? How did Vixtra know the people he cared about?
They led their prisoner to the cherry tree in his back yard and raised her arms so that they could bind her to an overhead branch. Enoch frowned. It was a woman, dressed in old-fashioned garb—a long flowing skirt and a white peasant blouse. She had long, auburn hair that waved past her shoulders. He couldn't make out her features exactly, but she reminded him of someone.
A mental gasp came from the garage. Nula cried, "My daughter!"
Enoch looked at his companions in the kitchen, all of them stunned. The young woman looked to be in her mid-twenties. How could that be? Unless….
"Come to us!" Bart called to the others.
Nula and Elijah hurried to the house from the garage, along with a few of Leam's men who'd been assigned to them. Eva and Amado, with their handful of soldiers, flew in from the shed. Ulrich and Keb, with their men, were the last to arrive.
Vixtra was in no hurry. She waited for Bart to search her out with his mind. "What trick is this? Who is this girl?" he asked.
A low laugh came from the woods. "Doesn't Nula recognize her own daughter?""Impossible," Bart replied. "She'd be dead and gone."
Nula's face was ghostly white. "I protected her when she was growing up. But when she married, she asked me to leave, to stay away. I respected her wishes. Vixtra must have…"
"Aida tasted almost as good as you did," Vixtra taunted. "Such a pretty girl, sweet and young. But no one looks good with big, red blisters where the sun hits them. Not that it will matter. Aida will be dead soon after that, hardening like stone as each ray moves up her skin. A painful death, I'm told. Oh, and one more thing…" Vixtra's voice turned cold. "One glimpse of Enoch, and I tell my archers to fill her with stakes on the spot."
A feral growl escaped Nula. She struggled to fly to her daughter, but Bart and Claudia blocked her way. "You can't help her if you get yourself killed."
Keb looked troubled. "We need to think. Something's wrong."
"It's a trap," Elijah said. "We all know that, but we have to help her."
"No." Keb looked directly at Nula. "Your daughter lived centuries ago. Where has she been? Why hasn't she looked for you? She hasn't even sent you a message with telepath."
Nula turned on him, angry. "She's not a warrior. She couldn't escape. Maybe Vixtra's used her all these years…" Her voice gave and she couldn't go on.
Claudia sided with Keb. "Vixtra doesn't stay with anyone. If this is your daughter, she'd have come to you as soon as she could."
"If she's….. You don’t think she’s my daughter?" Nula took a deep breath, glancing at the girl with long, auburn hair. "She's an exact replica of the girl who asked me to leave, to free her from the world of vampires, to grant her a normal life."
Enoch put a hand on Nula's shoulder. He couldn't imagine how much she must be suffering now. Fears, regrets…they must be overwhelming. Vixtra was counting on that. "We only want you to be safe, to stop and think."
Tears glittered in Nula's eyes and she blinked them away. "But if she is my Aida…"
"We'll help you save her," Keb said. "But we have to be sure."
Nula closed her eyes, trying to think. Finally she turned to the door and called to the girl, "Who was your father?"
"A Druid priest." The girl's voice cracked with fear. "Help me, mother!"
"How did he die?" Nula persisted.
"You killed him." The girl pulled on her bindings, twisted and turned, trying to free herself. "You did it for me."
Leam turned to stare at her.
"Why?" Nula called.
"I was little. There was no rain. Crops were dying. He meant to sacrifice me."
The blood drained from Nula's face. Enoch grew alarmed how pale she became. He reached for her, expecting her to faint. Instead, she licked her lips and nodded. "I never told anyone. I killed him and said he died in a surprise attack."
Ulrich's eyebrows rose. "He'd sacrifice his own child?"
"I won't let her die," Nula said.
Enoch went to the dining room and returned with the bullet proof vests. "Put these on. You'll need them. And these came today." He tossed another package on the table.
Ulrich opened the cardboard box and smiled. "I'd kiss you, old friend, but Voronika might get jealous."
"We'll make one, big circle," Bart said. "Generals on the outside. Troops on the inside. And Nula in the very center. We'll go up and come down around the tree."
"And you stay out of this." Nula pointed at Enoch. "You can't help us this time."
"I'll go to the balcony with Voronika." Worry churned in his gut. He had a bad feeling about this, but what else could they do?
The generals tugged their vests on, then covered them with their regular clothing. They stuffed their new toys in their pockets. "Okay. Now!" Bart shouted.
Enoch watched them shoot out and up. Immediately, Vixtra's soldiers attacked, but Bart’s men took their positions and battled their way to the cherry tree. Then, at a signal from Bart, they all dropped to form a circle with Nula in the center. Vixtra's soldiers didn't follow. They hovered while hunters stepped out of the tree line.
"Now!" Voronika called.
The vampires on the outside circle pulled mesh hoods from their pockets and yanked them down over their heads and necks. The wooden stakes hit the mesh, but couldn't penetrate them. It had to hurt, Enoch knew, but the generals' hearts and heads were protected. The hunters had learned from the last battle and aimed higher. Enoch had expected them to, but now it would do them no good. When Vixtra's soldiers dropped into the battle, Leam's troops in the inner circle were ready for them.
Nula raced to her daughter and sliced through the bonds that held her. "You don't have to be afraid. My friends will protect you."
Aida grinned. "I already have friends who protect me."
When Enoch, straining to hear over the noise of battle, heard those words, his heart froze. "Run!" his mind screamed to Nula, but it was too late. Aida grabbed a stake from a holder on her thigh and rammed it into her mother's forehead.
Nula gaped. "Why?" She couldn't say more. Her body was already changing, disintegrating.
Aida watched her and laughed. "I caught the fever after you left, wasn't going to make it, so I left my family and went to Vixtra. She gave me life." Shaking her head impatiently, she hissed, "Aren't you ever going to die?" Hitting the stake again, she drove it farther into Nula's skull—the finishing blow.
Fury pounded through Enoch's veins. His message went out swiftly. "Get Aida! She killed her mother." He started for the stairs, determined to chase the girl down himself if he had to, to wade through hunters and rogues to kill her, when Bart's mind stopped him.
"Stay where you are. This is our battle."
"But it was a trick. I can help you now."
"Stay! I have my reasons."
Enoch ground his teeth, but turned back to the balcony. He respected Bart. If he wanted him to stay, he'd stay. But he didn't like it.
"Where is she?" Elijah killed the rogue he was fighting and plunged through Leam's men to find Aida.
Voronika answered. "Heading for the woods. Get her!"
Elijah rushed after her. Stakes flew at him, hit his vest and mesh, and bounced off. She was too far away. He'd never reach her. He stopped to gather his strength. With all of his m
ight, he threw his shepherd's crook. It slammed through Aida's back, the point protruding from her chest. Aida's mouth opened in surprise. "Vixtra!" she called, before her ashes rained to the ground.
A scream came from the tree line.
"Get the bitch!" Ulrich and the other generals rushed the hunters. They grabbed them and tossed them against trees or smashed them into each other. When Vixtra's soldiers plummeted down to save them, the generals grabbed them too. Necks snapped. Stakes slammed into skulls. Heads cracked against each other. The generals fought with an intensity Enoch had never seen before. When the shrill whistle sounded, Vixtra's soldiers tried to retreat, but Bart's troops picked off as many as they could from behind. It was a messy finale, and when there was no one else to fight, Ulrich and the others returned to the house.
Enoch and Voronika went down to the kitchen to join them.
"You could have come out and helped us once Aida was killed," Amado complained to Enoch.
Enoch tossed him a dark glance. Bart hurried to say, "I asked him not to. It's better this way. That was Vixtra's entire strategy—to keep Enoch out of the battle. Now she knows we defeated her without his help. We walked into her trap and she still couldn't beat us."
"Nula's own daughter betrayed her." Elijah gripped his Torah with white knuckles. "The daughter she protected from her own husband." He sank onto a chair and buried his face in his hands.
"But why?" Claudia asked. "Why did Aida do it?"
Enoch explained about Aida's illness and how she searched out Vixtra to make her an undead.
“But why not call her mother?” Claudia insisted.
"I'd guess she was afraid Nula would refuse to help her," Keb said. "Nula hated being a vampire."
No one spoke. Finally, Bart gave a low sigh. "It's been a long night. It's time we change our strategy."
"It's time we eliminate Vixtra." Elijah pushed himself to his feet. "I don't care which one of us does it, but I want her true dead."
Chapter 52
Enoch couldn't blame Elijah for not wanting to stay in the garage anymore. He clutched his Torah to his chest like a life raft. "Not without Nula," he told them.
"You can stay with us in the shed," Eva offered.
One of Leam's soldiers shook his head. "Don't do it. They're always touchy-feely. It gets old."
Voronika's eyebrows rose. "Touchy-feely?"
Amado scoffed at that. "We're on our best behavior with four youngsters underfoot."
"Youngsters!" One of the female soldiers glared, offended. "We might be newer than you are, but most of us started training as soon as we escaped our masters. What about you? Did you flee the woman who created you and rush to become a soldier?"
Keb didn't wait for Amado's answer. "The shed won't suit Elijah. He needs more privacy so that he can read. He can stay with me at the gravel pit."
Bart nodded. "And you, Ulrich? Would you like the garage now?"
"It has a refrigerator, doesn’t it?"
"Yes, but I'll monitor the beer," Bart said.
"At least there'll BE beer. And it will be cold." Ulrich looked at the two men and one woman from Leam's troops who were assigned there. "Let's eat, drink, and be merry." He winked at the girl, and a blush stained her creamy complexion.
Enoch shook his head. "You're at it again."
"Can I help it that women find me irresistible?"
The two men exchanged glances and laughed. "Ellora isn't interested in romance, only weapons."
"She hasn't met me. I can teach her moves that Leam never thought to mention.""None of them suitable for the battlefield," Enoch told the young girl.
"We don't fight all the time," Ulrich pointed out. "A vampire needs a variety of skills to pass the centuries."
"You're impossible. Be off with you," Bart said. "Get any new supplies you need and rest up. The next time Vixtra comes, we're going on the offensive. We'll meet back here tomorrow night to make plans."
That news made everyone happier. They went to their own areas, talking excitedly. Bart motioned for Leam and Enoch to stay, and once everyone was settled, he laid out his strategy. "What do you think?"
Leam nodded. "I like it."
Enoch waited for the vampires to settle before he called Danny. "Thought you should know we had to dump a lot more hunters," he told him. "This time, Leam's men took them farther away to drop, all the way to the Michigan border. They even took the van the hunters drove. They didn't scatter them here and there. They left them in one big pile like a mass killing. You should warn Tony, so that he can decide what to tell the press."
Danny was silent a moment. "How long is this war going to last? What's going on with you guys now?"
Enoch explained about last night's battle, how Vixtra used Nula's daughter as bait to kill her.
"Scumbags. Both of them—Vixtra and Aida!" Enoch could hear Danny's fingertips drum on wood.
"Are you at work?"
"This early? It's daybreak, pal. The kitchen table and a big cup of coffee. I'm trying to stay awake." There was a pause. "The kid knew Vixtra's the one who took her mother, right?"
"Right."
"So why go to the creep who ruined her mom's life? Why not call her mom and ask her to bite her?"
Enoch smiled. Danny always asked the right question. "Keb came up with the answer to that one. Nula would have argued with her, told her that it's better to be dead than undead."
Danny was silent again, thinking about that. "I wonder how that would go down if you put it to a vote. People spend a lot of money to stay young and healthy. Planned obsolescence sucks. We were made to wear out and die. Doesn't seem fair."
"You'd rather drain other humans and live forever?"
"I'm thinking some people would pay for it."
"Now that's just sad."
"I can see a lot of people lining up behind Aida."
"I have more faith in mankind than that."
"Easy for you to say. You don't get diseases and grow old and die."
True. Enoch watched humans struggle with the trappings of mortality every day, but he didn't have to. "That doesn't mean Aida had to become a foul, odious being like Vixtra. She could have gone to someone else."
"The problem is this, pal. Some people are odious to begin with, and I'm guessing this Aida chick was trouble before she ever got sick." Danny covered the mouthpiece on his end of the line and called, "Hang on a minute! I'll be there in a sec."
"Sounds like you've got to go," Enoch said.
"It's Maggie. I woke her up."
"I called too early. Sorry. Go be nice to your future wife."
"Thanks for the heads up." Danny hesitated. "The wedding's only twelve days away. You know that, don't you?"
"Voronika's keeping track. Things are heating up. This should be finished sometime soon." They hung up and Enoch turned off his cell, then wandered into the kitchen for another cup of coffee. He looked out the window at the green lawn and blue sky. Roses covered the trellis that led to the flower garden in the side yard. The Earth offered so much beauty, so much abundance if everyone would just share. But how could he expect humans to work together as a collective when Lucifer and Caleb had been dissatisfied with perfection? He sank into a chair at the kitchen table and studied the battle plans they'd made the night before. Mortal against mortal. The undead against the undead. All pitted against one another so that a few could have more than others—more power, more money, just more. He shook his head and went to the door, locking it and the grid behind him as he left. He was restless. He set off on a long walk.
Chapter 53
Bart looked out the kitchen window and watched Enoch stalk down the driveway toward the house. Everyone was gathered in the kitchen to discuss strategy, but Bart was waiting for his friend to join them.
Voronika came to stand behind him. "He's worried."
"He should be. I am too."
She didn't mince words. "If the big three come, you should hide in the house. They can't come in without an invitation. Le
t Enoch deal with them."
"He's dealt with enough."
"It's what he wants—to help you. Let him. If he does all this, and the big three destroy you anyway, what was the point?"
The kitchen door opened and Enoch stepped inside. Bart gave her a quick nod. "I just hope we survive until the big three get here."
She slanted him a look. "You're tougher than that. You will."
Bart squared his shoulders. Her words had braced him. He went to the table and began going over plans. If Enoch believed in them enough to fight by their sides, they wouldn't let him down. His generals didn't say anything, but all of them were nervous. The battles kept getting bigger, the odds worse. But numbers didn't always determine victory. By the time he and the generals had hashed out strategy, Bart was feeling better. They could do this.
Vixtra and her army never showed up that night. He hadn't expected them to. Vixtra would be regrouping, preparing for something new. She didn't come the next night or the one after that. But Bart and his men repeatedly took their places, lying in wait.
Finally, on the fourth night, Vixtra's rogues flew past them while Bart and his soldiers hid in tree tops and shadows. Bart tensed as the rogues circled Enoch's yard. This time, before they could attack, Bart gave his signal. Claudia sprang forward and led the charge. He cussed under his breath. The damn woman had no patience! Was she just trying to get herself killed? On the same cue, Enoch strode out of the house and began firing Light at any enemy he saw. Vixtra's soldiers were caught between Caleb's army and Enoch's Light. Either way, for them, was deadly.
The rogues panicked for a moment, and spurts of dust fell everywhere. When they finally shot into the air to run, Bart signaled for his troops to chase after them. Enoch tried to keep up, to follow them back to Vixtra, but it was hopeless. There were some drawbacks to being an angel, so Bart took sympathy on him. He sent Ulrich a quick message to give him a lift. As usual, Ulrich enjoyed himself. He nabbed Enoch under the arms and took off with him.