Elizabeth wrinkled her small nose and rolled her eyes to the sky. She smacked her forehead with the palm of her hand. “Duh, yeah, of course it was the White House. Why didn’t I recognize it right away?”
“You were upset and disoriented. It’s not surprising you didn’t recognize it. But what the hell is Jackson doing there?”
Elizabeth pursed her lips and shrugged.
“Maybe he’s visiting the President.”
Chapter Three
Sebastian decided they couldn’t wait another night before searching for Serenity. Elizabeth’s vision had been too powerful to ignore. Such a precise location as the National Mall meant pinning her down might prove easier than before.
Another thing worried Sebastian—the reason for Jackson being in Washington. He was pretty sure Jackson wasn’t just sightseeing. What possible reason could Jackson have for being right in the center of things like that—for taking Serenity right into the middle of everything? Serenity was officially a missing person and anyone might spot her. Perhaps Jackson didn’t care, but even so, something set Sebastian’s nerves on edge.
“Are you sure you’re okay to travel?” he asked Elizabeth as they stood in their vast hall, preparing to leave. “If you feel ill or dizzy in any way, you’d tell me, wouldn’t you?”
“I’m okay,” she said. “I’m just a bit sad about Mommy.”
Sebastian’s heart broke. He wished he could make things all right again, but he was doing what he could. He hated that their little girl had been forced to grow up without a mother and he felt her pain as clearly as his own.
Bridget went some way to being a stand-in mother for Elizabeth, but they all knew no one would ever replace Serenity. Bridget had come recommended to him by another vampire who lived in San Francisco. Though she was one hundred percent human, her son had been turned when he was in his late twenties. Her son told her everything and, as a spiritualist, she’d accepted the nature of his existence. Sebastian offered her an inordinate amount of money to come and take care of Elizabeth, and of course as soon as Bridget met the beautiful child she would be looking after, it was impossible for her to say ‘no’.
But Sebastian lived with his own pain. How he’d let Serenity down made him feel sick every time he thought of it. He’d promised to keep her safe, but he’d failed her by being part of the circumstances that had allowed Jackson to kidnap her.
Though part of him argued with himself that he’d made the right decisions at the time—that Serenity would have always chosen for him to save Elizabeth from the water in the mine before thinking of her own safety—he couldn’t help questioning the choices he’d made. If he’d never taken them into the mine, Serenity might still be with them now. He’d been a fool to take them to such a dangerous place and assume the only danger would be from Jackson.
Sebastian lifted Elizabeth in his arms. She wrapped her arms tight around his neck. Sebastian moved fast enough to not be seen, but he needed to slow slightly to accommodate both Elizabeth’s presence and her fragility. Her part-vampire genetics meant she withstood the speed in a way most humans could not, but she was still only a six-year-old girl and he wanted to protect her.
Even at his supernatural speed, it would still take hours to reach Washington. If they wanted to catch Jackson and Serenity in the same place Elizabeth had envisioned him, they needed to move fast.
With his daughter clutched against him, Sebastian left the house at human pace. The huge front gates to the property opened before them and he passed through. Once on the sidewalk, Sebastian broke into full gait. Within moments, he’d left the city far behind. He had no need to stick to the roads or highways, and instead cut across wilderness areas, traversing across roads when he needed to.
Sebastian didn’t tire; his body wasn’t capable of such a thing. Elizabeth, however, did. As they cut through New Mexico, the city of Albuquerque in the distance, he felt her arm around his neck loosen and he slowed to human pace.
“Are you okay?” he asked, setting her down for a moment.
“Yeah, my arm was just getting a bit sore.”
“Okay, let’s rest for a while.”
“But what about Mommy?” she said, a hint of panic heightening her pitch. “We might miss her.”
“We’ll be able to pick up her trail easily,” he said, though he wasn’t sure how much he believed that. They’d missed her on numerous occasions before and always lost whatever trail they found. Jackson’s ability to move in the light when Sebastian needed to shut himself away gave Jackson an advantage.
They sat side by side on a boulder on a hillside, the shadows of rock formations all around. In the distance, the twinkling white and gold lights of the city spread out before them, looking like something out of a science fiction movie.
Before Elizabeth had come into his life, Sebastian had forgotten how it felt to love a daughter. He’d forgotten the total forgiveness and acceptance that came from the love of a parent for a child. There was nothing Elizabeth could ever do to stop him loving her. The protectiveness he felt toward Elizabeth was fierce and powerful, and as he’d gotten to know her more and more over the past couple of years, his emotions had only grown in intensity.
He still hated that he would never be a part of her daytime life. When Serenity first disappeared and Elizabeth came to live with him, he had considered home schooling her and keeping her to his schedule. However, the possibility only flashed briefly in his mind. He didn’t want Elizabeth to miss out on the normal experiences of childhood—to play in the sun, to go to the beach, to attend birthday parties with her friends. Because of this, he’d had no choice but to employ Bridget to take care of Elizabeth during the day.
He found the summer months to be the hardest, when the days were long and the nights short. He hardly got to see her and found he almost looked forward to the times they went away in search of Serenity. During those times, Elizabeth lived to his schedule and he got her all to himself.
Beside him, Elizabeth stretched out her arms, rubbing at her aching shoulder muscles and wiggling her fingers. Sebastian sat, trying to remain patient and ignore the bubbling pit of nerves that roiled in the pit of his stomach.
I should have left Elizabeth at home, he thought. I’d be in D.C. by now.
But he needed Elizabeth. If they got to the city only to find Serenity and Jackson had vanished again, Elizabeth may well pick up on something else.
Sebastian was keenly aware of the passing of time. Well over an hour had passed since Elizabeth’s vision and with Jackson’s speed Serenity could be miles away by now. Yet, something about the precise location made Sebastian think Jackson had more of a reason to be there than simply taking in the sights; a reason that might keep him there for longer than a fleeting pass-through. When he’d been human, Jackson had been a bully who’d enjoyed nothing more than watching others—in particular, Serenity—suffer. Now, in his supernatural state, what would stop him from wanting to continue his bullying ways on a whole new level? The idea of creating fear amongst the whole of humanity would surely be something that would give Jackson an entirely new sense of purpose.
Washington D.C. was one place he could do exactly that.
“We can go now,” said Elizabeth. “My arms feel better.”
Not wanting to wait any longer, Sebastian jumped to his feet and pulled Elizabeth up with him. He picked her up again and took off at a burst of speed with his daughter huddled against him.
A couple of hours later, they hit the outskirts of Washington. It was still late evening and traffic flowed at a steady stream through the city’s wide streets.
Not until they reached the National Mall and he saw the monuments Elizabeth had described did he slow to human pace. A couple of people walking nearby started in surprise at the sudden appearance of the man and little girl, but, as most people do when they see something they didn’t quite believe, they shrugged it off as ‘imagining things’ and kept walking.
Sebastian crouched to Elizabeth’s level. �
��Are you all right?”
“I can sense her close by,” Elizabeth shivered despite the unseasonably warm night.
Sebastian nodded. Jackson’s rancid scent tainted the air, like rotting trash cans left open in the sun. The odor gave him hope, but he didn’t want to give in to it. They’d missed Serenity so many times before; to allow himself to hope would only mean heartbreak once again when they couldn’t find her.
Tourists meandered around them, unaware of the horror in their midst. They stood and posed in front of the monuments, flashing billion-watt smiles or double handed ‘victory’ signs. None of them looked at Sebastian and Elizabeth with anything amounting to suspicion. The good-looking father and daughter appeared no different than any other tourist. Sebastian knew Jackson and Serenity wouldn’t be blending in so easily. They were close by, and wherever they were, they’d be catching people’s attention.
“We need to catch him by surprise,” Sebastian said, keeping his voice low. Although they were nowhere near Jackson yet, the monster had the hearing of a vampire. If he were listening out for them, he might pick the voice of another immortal out from the crowd.
“What do we do when we find them?” Elizabeth asked, her tone matching her father’s.
“I’ll take out, Jackson,” he said. “As soon as Serenity sees you, I’m sure she’ll remember who you are. Just take her hand and run away as fast as you can. Don’t worry about what direction you’re heading in. Just put distance between your mommy and Jackson.”
Elizabeth nodded, the head on her shoulders far too mature for a six-year-old.
“And, Elizabeth,” he continued.
“Yes, Sebastian?”
“Whatever you do—whatever you hear—don’t look back and don’t try to come back for me. I’ll find you.”
“What if you get hurt?” Worry turned her voice into a whine.
“I’ll heal. Don’t come back for me, Elizabeth,” he warned again. “You’re only six years old.” He held himself back from saying; you know what happened last time. The guilt she’d lived with for the past two years was already far too great for any child to bear. He suspected any normal child may have forgotten some of the event—after all, she’d barely turned four when everything happened—but Elizabeth was no normal child and she remembered the events with a clarity that was unnerving.
“I won’t,” she said. “I promise. I’ll do what you say.”
He pulled her close, squeezing her in a hug he needed to restrain for fear of crushing her with his inhuman strength. He dropped a kiss on top of her head, relishing the feel of her soft hair against his face and the innocence of her smell.
Sebastian stood up straight and took Elizabeth by the hand. Together they walked, their feet crunching on gravel. Tourists wandered past them, relaxed and happy, but Sebastian and Elizabeth were caught in a bubble of tension.
“There!” exclaimed Elizabeth, pointing into the distance.
Serenity stood in front of some iron railings, her arms wrapped around her skinny frame. Her voluptuous figure was nowhere to be seen. She’d wasted away and was emaciated. If Sebastian hadn’t known better, he would have immediately thought her to be someone suffering from anorexia or a severe drug addiction. Her hair hung in dirty ropes around her face and down her back, almost brushing the tops of her non-existent buttocks. Her cheeks were hollowed, her cheekbones sharp beneath her dirty skin. Her eyes were sunken, dark and haunted with abject misery.
Jackson stood beside her, his hand wrapped around Serenity’s upper arm. Even from this distance, Sebastian could see Jackson’s fingers digging into Serenity’s flesh. The hold was clearly not one of affection.
Jackson looked no different than the last time Sebastian had seen him; his face white and cracked, his eyes milky. The monster’s hair resembled Serenity’s in texture, though was much shorter.
Something about the similarities of their appearances snapped the band of rage he’d kept tightly strung within him for the last two years. Fury boiled through him like nothing he’d felt before and he dropped Elizabeth’s hand.
“Jackson,” he growled, his voice a low rumble deep in his chest.
Serenity’s captor turned at the sound, his eyes narrowed. Before Jackson even had a chance to consider who’d uttered his name, Sebastian leapt. Where two years ago the idea of sinking his teeth into the monster’s throat had repulsed him, he no longer cared. He would rip the evil brute who’d done this to Serenity to shreds.
Jackson had become complacent. He’d not given Sebastian another thought, whereas Sebastian had spent two years nurturing his hatred for Jackson. Now, seeing what he’d done to Serenity took his anger to a whole other level.
Sebastian ran between the tourists in a blur and collided with Jackson, knocking him away from Serenity. The creature let out a yelp of surprise and the two fell backward, Sebastian landing on top of Jackson.
Around them, tourists cried out in shock.
Sebastian’s fangs elongated, his jaw jutting forward, morphing the shape of his face. He felt his eyes burn and knew they would be glowing yellow; a terrifying vision for anyone who might catch sight of them in his pale face.
Sebastian’s sheer anger made him stronger than Jackson, but that didn’t stop Jackson from fighting back. The monster bucked under Sebastian’s weight, his head twisting from side to side, trying to snap at Sebastian with his pointed, yellowed teeth. Sebastian’s strength, fury and dominant position kept Jackson beneath him.
With one hand, he pinned Jackson’s head down, pressing his cheek to the ground. Jackson’s eye—the only eye visible—widened in shock when he realized who his attacker was, but before he had the chance to react further, Sebastian lunged down and bit.
The bite wasn’t that of a vampire about to feed, but the bite of an animal intending to kill. He sank his teeth deep, forcing his body not to react to the repellent blood flowing over his teeth and tongue. He fought against the desire to expel the substance from his mouth and forced himself to rip across. A huge chunk of flesh came away in his mouth. Jackson tried to shriek, but the sound came out as a wet gurgle.
Sebastian sat up and wiped his face with the back of his hand. He looked down at the wounded monster below him and his nose wrinkled in disgust. A dark pool of blood crept out from beneath Jackson’s head, edging toward the people who’d gathered by.
The tourist’s yells of surprise had morphed into screams and curses of “What the fuck?” The group of bystanders began to back away, some turning to run. Others seemed unable to tear their eyes away from the scene, some sense of morbid curiosity keeping them close.
Elizabeth, Sebastian thought. Where’s Elizabeth?
But he couldn’t allow himself to be distracted by her or Serenity. Not this time. He needed Jackson dead.
As though he knew not to touch the gaping hole, Jackson’s hands fluttered by his throat. He didn’t make any attempt to turn his head to look up at Sebastian or fight back. The vicious attack had left him stunned and seriously wounded.
Somehow, the speed of the attack didn’t feel satisfying enough for Sebastian. Even though their previous encounter had ended badly and he’d known he needed to take Jackson out quickly, part of him wanted Jackson to fight back. He wanted to take out all the grief and rage he’d experienced over the past two years. He wanted to bite and hit and claw until he’d purged himself of all the pain Jackson had caused his family.
Though there was a gaping hole in Jackson’s neck, Sebastian knew it wouldn’t be enough. Given time, his throat would heal.
He took Jackson’s chin roughly in one hand and twisted his face so Jackson had no choice but to make direct eye contact with him. A thrill went through Sebastian as he saw the panic, pain and fear in Jackson’s eyes.
When he spoke, his voice was level, all of his anger channel into his actions. “This is for what you’ve done to Serenity. This is for all the years of torture you put her through. For every time you hit her, or called her names, or even looked at her in the wr
ong way.”
Jackson’s eyes began to flutter shut and Sebastian gave his head a brief but vicious shake. His eyes opened and despite the extreme blood loss, he managed to focus on Sebastian.
“For the last two years, you’ve taken a mother away from her child. You’ve forced a little girl to grow up knowing and experiencing her mother’s pain. This is your punishment.”
With that, Sebastian drew back his arm and punched forward, his fist plunging into Jackson’s chest. His knuckles smashed through Jackson’s ribcage, shattering bone. Thick, viscous, cold blood surrounded Sebastian’s fist. His fingers closed around the monster’s motionless heart and, with one swift movement, he yanked it out, tearing arteries, muscles and connective tissue.
Jackson bucked, convulsing.
All around them, total panic had taken hold. People screamed and pushed to get past each other. Sebastian glanced up, trying to spot Serenity and Elizabeth but they were nowhere to be seen. Good, that was good. He didn’t want Elizabeth to see what had just happened, though it wouldn’t surprise him if she’d seen it in some other way or would dream about it later.
Still holding the cold heart in one hand, his fist and arm drenched with black blood, he got to his feet. This place was full of security and they’d be here any minute.
He flung the heart away and wiped his hand on his pants in disgust.
As he stepped away, what looked like a gray mold started to creep over Jackson’s body. Like rapidly growing tree roots, the mold sent out tendrils of itself, spreading over Jackson’s cheeks and forehead. It rippled across his skin, filling in his eye sockets, creeping up his nose, masking his already hideous features. The gray substance met in the middle, completely covering his face and, only a second later, Jackson’s thrashings ceased.
Sebastian stepped forward and drew back his booted foot. With one move, he kicked the monster’s corpse. Dust exploded around him—a cloud of death.
The Serenity Series: Box Set: Books 1-3 Page 46