Commander

by Kim Faulks

  My hands shook, knees fucking trembled as I bent and snagged the bear from the floor. “I’m going to wipe those motherfuckers from the face of the earth.”

  “Commander, hang on…” Alpha started.

  “Hang on? Hang. On? They have my goddamn family,” I wrenched the bear high in the air, wielding it like a goddamn blade. “They have my daughter!”

  “Jesus…” He whispered and stared at the stuffed animal in my hand.

  “I tried to fight them. But they threatened Hanna. They knew everything…everything.”

  The world was spinning out of control. I couldn’t catch my breath, couldn’t fucking think. The world was graying, fading into nothing right before my goddamn eyes. A flash of white caught my eye. The corner of a folded piece of paper peeked out from the back of the seat.

  I sucked in a breath, grabbed the edge, and pulled it free. “Light, Alpha.”

  I fumbled with the corner, unfolding the edge as the bright gleam cut through the thin parchment. He moved closer, angling the light to read the neat scrawl.

  If you want to see your family unharmed, Commander, then accept this invitation to a meet and greet. 10pm tomorrow at level twelve, 104 Lexicon Street, Davonport.

  Oh, and come alone. The Guardians aren’t welcome.

  “They’ve got my family.”

  We don’t know that,” Alpha growled. “Not for sure.”

  I lifted the bear. “I know. I have to go.” I grasped the bear and stumbled for the door. “I have to save them.”

  “This is what they want.” Alpha barked, stilling my steps cold. “They want you panicked, making wrong decisions. They want you running, Commander. Don’t do what they think you’ll do.”

  The words were gravel, gouging my throat. “You expect me to what? Wait, see what they do, hope they don’t fucking kill them?”

  He reached into his pocket and shook his head. “No. I expect you to be the man I know you to be. I expect you to command, and let others make sure your family is safe. You trust me, right? Trust I’ve got your best interests at heart?”

  Faces filled my mind, men Hanna and Neve knew. Men who’d stop at nothing to make sure they were safe. Men like Terror. “Who?”

  “Senator Artemas Roth. He’s got men at his disposal all over the country. One call is all we need. Now do I make that call or not?”

  Images crammed my mind. The beautiful faces of my family, and the white lines on the highway to get to them. It’d take me all night and most of the next day. I wouldn’t get to them in time, and these sonsofbitches knew that.

  “It’s up to you, Commander. Do I make the call?”

  I strangled the bear’s paw and turned around. “Find my family. Make the call.”

  His fingers danced on a split screen as Alfie rose from the chair and stumbled. “I’m so sorry, Samson. I gave them nothing. You have to believe me.”

  I pulled the bear close and nodded. It didn’t matter, they didn’t come here for information. They already had what they wanted. Alpha’s voice filled the darkness. He spoke fast, giving all the information we had, and then lowered the phone. “The address, Commander.”

  “One five six Hartvale Valley Way in Black Lake. The code…they’ll need a code to enter if they’re already gone. It’s nine six two zero. Matt…Matt’s the name of her new husband.”

  “And you’re sure that code is still good?”

  I could hear the hidden question. How could a woman who’d moved on keep a code for a man she barely knew. But they didn’t know Hanna like I knew her. The woman was loyal, more loyal than I’d ever been. She’d not change the code, because changing the code would mean I had no place in her life…and no place with our daughter. “The code’s good, Marine. It’ll still work.”

  He spoke quickly and then ended the call. “His men are on the way. They’ll be there in the hour. He wants to meet, you think you’re up for that?”

  If he had to ask the question, then the Marine didn’t know me a well as he thought. Wolf or not…abduction of my family or not, I was awake now, fully present and trembling with wrath.

  12

  Samson

  I stared at the cracked walls of the Senator’s mansion as I climbed out of the Jeep. The bullet holes still fairly fresh, the scorched ground was torn and a goddamn mess. “Had some unwelcome company I see?”

  “Yeah,” Alpha muttered. “You could say that, these Shadow bastards have been a thorn in our side long enough.”

  “Why the Senator? What axe do they have to grind with him? Is he…you know, one of the Guardians?”

  The harsh bark of laughter was sudden, and alien, considering the circumstances. The Marine shook his head as he rounded the side of the SUV and headed for the front door of the towering beast of a house. “No, he’s not a Guardian. Just a man, Commander. An honest man who’s in the spotlight because of this goddamn war.”

  “So a martyr in the making, then?”

  He stilled, turned his head. Ice seeped into his words. “Don’t judge the man until you meet him. He’s been there for us when the world turned its back. Every one of us would take a bullet for the man without a second thought.”

  Loyalty raged in the Marine’s eyes, turning my remark to ashes in my mouth. Shame filled me. “I apologize. I don’t know what’s come over me.”

  “You’re panicking, just like all of us would in your shoes. Don’t be too hard on yourself, Commander. Just remember, we’re all on your side.”

  He turned away, leaving me standing there filled with respect. He punched in a code, and the outer door buzzed. I surged ahead, meeting him as he heaved open the steel door. I stepped inside, and then into some kind of damn airlock. The place was a fortress, and it made me wonder what kind of enemies the man had.

  The hiss of air was accompanied by a heady thud. The lock disengaged and was opened on the other side.

  “About fucking time you got here.”

  I knew that feminine growl. I stepped clear and lifted my gaze to Gunnery Sergeant Regan Rivers.

  “Why do you always have to bust my balls, Gunny?” The Marine whined. “You’ve got the Dragon now, bust his balls instead.”

  “I like your balls,” she countered, raising a steely gaze to me as I stepped through. “Commander,” she reached out, grasping my hand.

  It was just reflex, but the warmth of her palm was like fire. I winced, pumped her hand softly and dropped her grip.

  “Sorry about your family. I think the Senator’s on the phone with his men now.”

  I flinched and looked to the open area behind her. “Already?”

  “Follow me,” she turned. “I’ll get you in front of the man, then you can ask all the questions you want.”

  She moved fast, rushing through the hallway. The rooms blurred under the haze of desperation. She turned, and then turned again and stopped at an elevator. Blood marred the timber doorframe. The kind of blood that was embedded. I glanced to the floor as she punched in a set of numbers.

  Something happened in this place, something more than a spray of bullets. Death lingered. Death and danger.

  The elevator rumbled. The phantom Wolf moved under my skin.

  I was sinking into the darkness, one slow, torturous step at a time.

  Every second I spent with these people changed me…

  And it wasn’t for the better.

  The elevator gave a ding and opened. I followed the Marine, stepping in close. “An elevator that goes down.”

  “Can’t be too careful, Commander,” the Gunnery Sergeant growled.

  She turned her head and stared at me. There was something in her eyes, a kind of darkness that stilled my breath. My stomach tightened. “What happened to you, Regan?”

  “The same thing that happened to you,” she whispered. “And will happen again to someone else. We are who we are, Commander. This war won’t stop until we make it stop, and there’s worse things out there than the Lowest Kynd. Believe me.”

  And I did. I believed her
without a second thought.

  The elevator slowed and hit the bottom with a jolt. A second later, the doors slid open and I followed her out into an open area and toward a hallway as the elevator gave a shudder and the doors closed behind me.

  She made for a door to the left, gave a sharp knock and then opened it. The deep masculine tone flooded the room. I scanned the room and stopped at an imposing male seated behind the desk. He lifted his gaze, gave me a nod as I entered, and then rose from behind an expansive mahogany desk.

  I’d heard his name before, and whispers of his cause. But I wasn’t interested in the man, not before today. I’d been wrong. I could see that now. Wrong on so many levels.

  This man was no martyr. This man was a warrior. His words were his weapons, as were his expensive designer suits and calm, powerful demeanor.

  “Excellent, that’s good news indeed. The Commander’s just arrived. I’m sure he’d like a to speak to his wife and daughter.”

  Ex-wife.

  The words were blinding as he held out his phone. My damn hands shook. I glanced at him. Years and years of heartbreak lay out before me. What if she refused to speak? What if she blamed me…

  A dark pit of despair welled deep inside. They should blame me like I blamed myself.

  “It’s okay,” Artemas murmured. “There’s no pressure here, no rush.”

  Cool plastic turned warm under my fingers as I grasped the phone.

  “I’ll be just outside,” he said softly, “let you have some privacy.”

  The faint sound of soft sobs pulled me. Lust was long gone between us, but there was a love, one that’d never die. I lifted the phone against my ear and muttered her name. “Hanna.”

  “Samson? Samson, is that you?” Her pain was a damn stake to my chest.

  “It’s me. Are you okay?”

  “These men came to the house this morning, said they were friends of yours. They wanted to come into the house, wanted to speak to Neve. Thank God she was at her boyfriend’s.”

  “Boyfriend?”

  Fire lashed, burning all the way into my stomach.

  “Yes, boyfriend. You don’t get to have an opinion on that, Samson,” she snarled.

  “No, of course not. I just wasn’t prepared, that’s all. They came to the house…”

  “I told them to leave. Told them if they were sent by you, then they could send their damn selves back.”

  The corners of my lips curled. She’d always had a hot head, that’s what I fell in love with.

  “Who were they, Sam?”

  I swallowed hard. What could I say? How could I explain the goddamn mess my life had become. “They’re not my friends, they’re not anything. I want you to do something for me, can you do that?”

  “You know I will, tell me. Tell me everything.”

  “I will,” I murmured. My fist clenched around the phone so hard it crackled. “I swear to you, I’ll tell you everything. But right now, I need you to stay with those men, they’re Senator Artemas Roth’s men, and they’re going to keep you and Neve safe.”

  “And Matt,” she reminded.

  “And Matt.”

  “It’s not every day the Secret Service knocks on your door, Samson. So I want that explanation. I won’t drop this.”

  Secret Service? I flinched at the words and dropped my gaze to the monstrous desk. What kind of man was this Senator? That kind of power, to just pick up the phone and have the President and his men at your disposal was impressive.

  A chill raced through me. “No, I know you won’t. For now, you do what those men say. They’ll keep you safe. I have to go now…”

  “Got bad guys to find.”

  They were our words, this was our thing. I’d leave and she’d pick up the pieces. “Yeah, I got bad guys to find. Hanna…”

  “Yeah?”

  The thunder of my heartbeat filled my ears. “Give Neve a hug for me, will you? Tell her…tell her, her father loves her.”

  “I do all the time,” she whispered. I could hear her pain, hear all the damn years she’d stood tall when there was only her.

  Goddammit. Selfish bastard.

  “But I will tell her again. Thank you for looking out for us, Sam.”

  “Yeah,” the damn word stuck in my throat. “Sure, no problem.”

  I waited while she took a breath, waited while she dragged the phone from her ear—waited while she ended the call.

  Waited while all I could do was stare at the phone.

  Hanna was the mother of my daughter. She was everything I should’ve been, strong, caring…fucking there.

  Blue eyes drifted to the surface of my mind, and the memory of her cold touch followed. My damn heart sped, breath left my body. I was on fucking fire when I thought of her…Annabelle.

  An ache spread, pinching tight in my balls. I wanted to see her. Need filled me as a soft knock came from the door. I wanted to see her, and this time…this time there’d be no more running, no more leaving.

  I had a second chance. Vampire or not, I wasn’t leaving, not now that Hanna and Neve were safe.

  “Everything okay?” Artemas stepped into the room, and his entourage followed. Gunny, Alpha, and now Ace.

  “Yeah,” I took a step and returned his phone. “Thank you for all you’ve done. I’m in your debt.”

  “No, you’re not. We protect each other with whatever means necessary. I wasn’t about to stand by and watch another innocent woman suffer because of this damn war if I could help it.”

  “Why?” the word slipped free. “Why go after Hanna and Neve. What could they hope to gain.”

  “They’re pruning the tree,” he said and stepped around his desk. “Just like they did with my Margaret.”

  “Bastards.”

  The husky growl came from behind me. Dread snaked along my spine, leaving a frigid touch behind. I turned my head as the room filled with thick, towering immortals, and stared at Marcus Kane.

  “They went after the Senator’s family,” Gunny said, drawing my gaze across the towering wall of bodies. “Just like they went after yours.”

  “Only you have something they don’t have,” Lucas snarled, dark eyes glinting with the kind of cruelty that made a man weak. “Something so powerful it’ll tip the scales in your favor.”

  I tried to think, tried to keep my shit together in the face of this terrifying family. “What?”

  “Us,” the word resounded from every Guardian and Marine, and even the Senator. They all stood. They all pledged. They’d fight for me again and again.

  No matter how long it took.

  No matter how many bodies they buried.

  I’d fallen somehow.

  Fallen into a family of deadly immortals. The letter crackled in my pocket with a sudden return, wrenching me back to one obvious problem. I speared my fingers into my pocket and dragged the paper free. “They said no Guardians.”

  Hunger glinted in Marcus’ eyes. He glanced at the paper and gave a slow nod.

  “I’ll go,” Alpha growled.

  “No,” Gunny growled, her word final. “That’s not happening. Not again. I almost lost you and Ace the last time. You forget the limitations of your mortality, Marine. I’ll go.”

  He shook his head and turned to stare at Gunny. “You’re forgetting one thing. They have my father.”

  The room stilled.

  “We don’t know that,” Regan whispered.

  She lifted her hand to brush his arm. But the touch never quite made it, lingering inches from his arm. I’d seen it so many times before. Men and women trained to hurt…and trained to kill.

  But who trained them to love…who trained them to comfort?

  “I’ll go.”

  The words were soft but deadly, like the kind of storm you never see coming…until it was far too late.

  Pale hair shone as Annabelle elbowed through the wall of thick, muscled chests and fiery tempers. She lifted her gaze, and those electric blue eyes met mine.

  Blue on white spark
led, drawing me into her. My heart lunged, slamming against the inside of my goddamn chest.

  “I’m no Guardian,” she whispered. “No threat. I have nothing they want, and I care about only one thing…that’s getting you out alive.”

  No threat? If she thought that, then she was delusional.

  “Let her go, she seems intent on risking her damn life over this one.”

  I wrenched my gaze behind her. To death, as Eva followed in Annabelle’s wake. Pale eyes held me, flayed me…and picked me apart piece by piece.

  “You sure?” Marcus growled. “She’s your…”

  “—I know what she is, Guardian.” The Vampire Queen snarled, her gaze boring into the Vampire who approached me. “She’s my warrior. My protector…my friend.”

  Pride raged in Annabelle’s eyes. I knew what it was now…what her journey had been all along. She’d been lost…just like I’d been lost.

  She lifted her head, spine rigid, and stopped at my side.

  I gave a slow nod. “Tomorrow night, just you and me.”

  “You and me,” she echoed, and the tips of those long, white fangs peeked through, growing longer with the cruelest, most stunning smile I’d ever seen.

  13

  Annabelle

  The Commander was nervous, looking behind us at the quiet city streets of Davonport. I glanced at the remains of the Marine Corps Headquarters in the distance. The bombs, and the Lowest Kynd, had left little behind. Shattered remains, really, all hidden behind a towering chain link fence.

  But it wasn’t the shards of glass, or the twisted steel that was the most dangerous. It was what lingered underneath the shattered concrete and the rubble…

  The Portal to the Demon world, now at the mercy of anyone with a desire to unleash Hell on earth.

  As if we needed more Demons…

  “It’s too quiet,” he murmured, glancing over his shoulder to the burnt-out cars that hunkered against the curb behind us.

  “It’s quiet because everyone’s either asleep, or dead.”

  He flinched and wrenched his gaze to me. “Thanks for the reminder. You know, you really need to work on your people skills.”