Death Before Dawn

by Amelia Hutchins

  “I have a good teacher,” I replied absently as I trotted up the steps of the Army Surplus store behind Azrael. He wrenched the door open and cocked his head to one side as he listened for any disturbances. I hung back a little, still reeling from what Cayla had done, and praying that Jaeden would be able to fix her without Shamus finding out. At least not right away.

  “That you do,” he agreed as he motioned for me to go ahead of him into the store.

  I took two steps and stopped. I turned as I tilted my head, listening. Something had changed. “Do you feel that?” I asked, as gunfire ripped through the quiet day and blood splattered my face. “Oh my God,” I gasped and cried out as I caught Azrael. He’d been shot!

  “Wait…for…” he mumbled, blood dripping from his lips as he dropped his head to rest against my shoulder, and his body sagged and went limp and heavy in my arms as I collapsed under his weight.

  “No, no, no, get up,” I begged. As more shots rang out, sharp pain tore through my shoulder as I tried to hold on to his lax form. I felt warm, thick liquid flowing over my hand that was holding on to his back. He’d been shot in the back of the head! I wasn’t sure if we could come back from that. “No,” I pleaded, as another shot tore through Azrael’s chest as I struggled to get to my knees, and felt the next three bullets as they ripped into my chest.

  Blood gurgled in my throat as I tried to get words out. I could feel my lungs struggling to work, and my eyes grew heavy as I leaned against Azrael. I tried to send my senses out, but I couldn’t feel him. Panic started to sink in, desperation to keep him with me. A sob bubbled up, but my lungs were ceasing to work and I felt as if my heart had been shredded.

  “Isn’t this sweet?” Shamus’s voice asked coldly. My eyes rose up to find him and Astrid both staring down at me. A malevolent smile quirked at the corners of Shamus’s mouth as he raised a handgun, pulled back on the slide, and emptied the clip into Azrael’s chest, then kicked his lifeless body as I struggled to try to defend him. “Grab her; she’ll heal in just a little bit. Him on the other hand…” Shamus’s words trailed off. “Do yourselves a favor and don’t touch him with bare hands, just in case. Use gloves when you move the body. They said they wanted proof, so whatever you do, don’t damage his face so they can identify him,” he directed, as his men moved in to roughly grab me.

  I was losing consciousness, but my last thought was of Azrael. He wasn’t supposed to be able to die easily, so what had happened?

  “Remind me to thank Trina for her helpful insight on how to get rid of this trash. I never would have guessed that you can kill a Sentinel this way. I thought for sure we were going to have to decapitate him, but the chances of getting close enough to take his head were next to nil…I still might take it, but they were pretty specific that they wanted him as intact as possible,” Shamus mused as he kicked Azrael’s body again. “You on the other hand, Emma, you I have been looking forward to having for a very long time now. You’ll scream so prettily for me, won’t you?” he asked, his smile cold and malevolent.

  “Kill…you,” I whispered, or tried to. Blood oozed from my lips as the blissfulness of unconsciousness took hold of my mind.

  *~*~*

  Drip-drip.

  I groaned as I forced my eyes to open past the pain to get my bearings. My chest and shoulder were on fire, alerting me to the fact that I hadn’t healed very much since I had been out. The dim light that flooded through the dust-covered windows in the room I was in told me it was late afternoon, which confirmed that only a few hours, at most, had passed.

  I tilted my head back and squinted at the leather cuffs on my wrists that were attached to chains that suspended me from the ceiling, my feet barely touching the floor. I tested the chains, finding them firm and more than adequate to support my weight. That one small exercise had me gasping and coughing up blood. Son of a bitch, it burned like hellfire in my chest. I looked down, and saw blood crusted to the shirt I’d worn. I’d been sloppy, foregoing the Kevlar for comfort and speed, and since I’d had an army out sourcing with me, I didn’t think I was going to need it.

  I forced my eyes to remain open as they tried to close on me. I could make out beds in the room beyond this one, maybe a hospital? It didn’t smell of death, so it wouldn’t be one of the large hospitals. Maybe Eastern State Hospital, the hospital for the mentally ill…fucking hell.

  I could smell the coppery scent of blood, but I wasn’t sure if it was mine or someone else’s. I could hear noises, but I couldn’t make out where they were coming from.

  I closed my eyes, sending out everything I had to search for Azrael, knowing he was here somewhere. He had to be. He couldn’t be dead. Azrael had said we were near impossible to kill, but he’d been shot in the head. In the head! I remembered back at his house, he had told John to shoot me in the head, like it was something I could come back from. But if we could, why didn’t he get up? What the hell had they used to shoot us with? The back of his head looked like it had been torn apart, from what little I could see. Hot tears built behind my eyes as I swallowed the urge to scream and cry. If he was dead, I’d have to mourn him after I got away from Shamus.

  The others would have noted that we hadn’t come back by now, so they were probably out looking for us. I’d made sure Lachlan knew where we were going; he knew my scent, and he would see mine and Azrael’s blood splattered all over the entryway of the surplus store.

  “It wakes,” Astrid mused, her tone snide, which matched the ugly smile on her otherwise beautiful face. “How I’ve waited for this day, sweet Emma,” she hissed. I felt weak, really weak. I wasn’t healing fast enough to prevent her from hurting me yet, and I knew she wanted to in the worst way. “Shamus has some very perverse needs. Some of them, I assure you, will be to die for,” she laughed. A chill snaked up my spine at her words. “Poor, sweet Emma, the stupid little slut that every man wants,” she crooned. She poked me with her sharp fingernail, making me wince. “Why is that? What’s so special about you? You’re nothing,” she seethed. “I am royalty, and his wife!” She slapped me, and my head snapped back; my eyes glazed over and blood dripped from my nose. I hadn’t made a fucking sound. I wouldn’t give her that satisfaction no matter how bad off I was. “Shamus says your blood is different, maybe I should taste it and see what it is about it that draws men to you?”

  “Go ahead, Astrid, taste me,” I whispered through cracked lips that burned and hurt. My tongue was heavy; it felt like I’d licked sandpaper.

  “Think I won’t?” she hissed, moving closer as she raised her hand and slapped me once more. My head flew back from the force of the blow, and I laughed.

  “You hit like a little bitch,” I smirked. I dropped my head as I tried to look at the snide witch, blood dripped from where she’d reopened a wound on my lip, and I licked it, letting her see it. Hoping it would tempt her. One taste and this bitch would be mortal, and I couldn’t think of anyone else who deserved to be weak and exploited as she did. She deserved to feel helpless and vulnerable like those she preyed upon.

  “Astrid, enough,” Shamus warned as he loomed just outside the doorway. I hadn’t even heard him approach the room, which told me I wasn’t paying attention. I had to find a way out of this mess quickly. “Return to the Ark, and let the others know it’s almost time,” he instructed.

  “I want to be a part of this,” she whined, her bottom lip pushed out in a little frown as she turned to pout at Shamus. “I want to watch you take her, and hurt her over and over, like we did to Cayla a few days ago. I love it when you hurt them; when you use things on them.”

  I wanted to throw up. Use things? Fuck me? Oh hell no.

  “We did have fun with her, didn’t we?” Shamus smiled at my reaction as if he was feeding from my fears. “She took all of my men between her slender white thighs, and we took turns experimenting with different…items. Forcing them inside of her while she
begged us to stop.” He walked closer to me, his red eyes filled with lust and a sickness I’d never noticed before. “We stretched her so much that I feared she’d rip apart, and unfortunately we had to stop. She hadn’t fed enough to heal properly, but you, Emma, you heal without feeding, don’t you?” he mused. “My men can’t wait for their turn with you. I told your mother you wouldn’t be harmed too much, but she didn’t seem to mind us having fun with you. In fact, she preferred you weak and a little broken.”

  “My mother?” I asked, fighting against the panic that was sinking in no matter how much I tried to push it away.

  “You are so gullible, Emma. You think I found your father by chance? Because he was searching the internet with keywords? I was led to him by someone who understood what an asset I would become in this war. Trina told me where to find your father, and how exactly to convince him to do as I needed him to. Yes, I compelled him to increase his desire to build the Ark, of course. Time was of the essence. I gave him the plans for the Ark, knowing he’d build it for me, because he couldn’t say no. Trina assured me that it would be mine when she took you. You, however, were more trouble than she thought you would be.”

  Shamus casually paced in a circle around me, and I had to close my eyes to keep from getting dizzy. “I knew the end was coming because I helped your mother from the very beginning. I gave her our maker, knowing that he was the strongest of the elders and would be the most challenging to overthrow. Mahar was the oldest living vampire, and only a Sentinel would be able to bring him down. It freed me and all of his progeny from his control, not that they knew it,” he chuckled darkly. “And since I was the first vampire he sired, I naturally took over, becoming father to all of the children he created.”

  He grabbed my chin in his hand, making my eyes pop back open as he forced me to look at him while he gloated. “Trina promised me the world, and so far, she’s delivered it perfectly. The only thing she has asked me for in return was you and a Sentinel going by either the name of Adriel or Azrael; which by the way, thank you so much for bringing him with you when you returned.” His voice dripped with sarcasm as he patted my cheek. “I should thank you for saving the others and bringing them to the shelter, as you provided me with an endless food supply that I’ll enjoy for centuries to come, but since you didn’t do it with the knowledge that you were helping me, I won’t. Instead, I’ll show you my thanks for that by taking it from your flesh.”

  Shamus ran his hands over my breasts and moved closer to murmur in my ear. “The first taste I had of you only fueled a need and obsession to have you. I should thank Jaeden, really; he gave me the first taste of your blood.” His hands slid down to my inseam and he cupped me intimately with one hand, as if remembering and savoring what he had done. “He is responsible for this need I have to break you. I’ve been forced to watch your little love story play out, but eventually, I had to drive a wedge between you so that I could finally take my turn. And, well, your mother didn’t care for you taking him as a lover. She’s obsessed with Knights, whatever that means. I’m obsessed with breaking pretty little things,” he announced, his confidence mounting with each little bomb he threw at me. “Once I found out you had a Sentinel following you, I had to slow our push to Provo down even more so we could get him too. I had a feeling she would be willing to wait a little longer for you if he panned out to be the Sentinel she was looking for.”

  “So all this time, you were really just taking me to her…” I rasped. “Did Jaeden know?”

  “Of course not; I told him about the Sentinels in Provo. He thought we were going to raid them so we could get your brother. Once he believed that, he fell in with my plans quite nicely.”

  “Too bad the Clarkston Army had dinner plans for you, huh?” I wheezed and watched his face darken at the jab to his oversight in his grand plan.

  Shamus pulled a dagger from its sheath at his waist as Astrid moaned, as if the sight of the blade turned her on. I shrank back, fighting the bubbling scream that threatened to rip from me as he pushed the blade against my shirt, cutting through the material like butter. He nicked my skin, his eyes glowing as he watched the cut open; those horrible eyes rose to mine as I choked down a sob, refusing to give him what he wanted. The blade went deeper, sliding a path from the bullet wounds in my chest to my navel, and yet I still refused to allow any sound to leave my lungs.

  It burned; the blade sliced through my flesh easily. He didn’t drink from my blood though, and I needed him to.

  “Taste me, Shamus,” I groaned, my eyes heavy from the pain as I mentally sent the pain into a box inside my head. Burying it. “You know you want to.”

  “We’ve got a long time to play together, Emma. I’m in no rush to taste you. Astrid, bring me the corpse,” he ordered offhandedly. “I promised your mother I’d catch you both. Pity, she said he would have to die and that we would have to do it fast before we took you. I was sure he’d be more sport than he was. I do love torturing proud men; they scream and beg the loudest. They scream even louder when they’re forced to witness the torture of their woman, though. I hate that I had to forgo it. Perhaps letting you see him again will give me the screams I want.”

  I watched as Astrid, who now wore thick black gloves, dragged Azrael’s corpse into the room. Emotions rushed through me; despair tore me apart. Not him. Not when we’d just found each other. He’d said we were hard to kill, near impossible, but yet he was dead. I couldn’t hear his pulse, couldn’t sense his soul, and that almost broke me. I fought the burning tears in my eyes as I watched Shamus put on gloves similar to the ones Astrid wore, and then gripped Azrael’s hair to show me his lifeless eyes. I closed my eyes against the sight.

  “You see, my sweet, not coming back; not coming to save you,” Shamus taunted and then chuckled as if this was one of the funniest things he’d ever seen.

  I opened my eyes again, struggling with the chains only to feel my strength fading as Shamus’s voice filled the room. Azrael was motionless and lifeless. My eyes locked on to him, ignoring Shamus and the way he watched me as I processed the truth of what I was seeing. Azrael was fucking dead. Shamus briefly rolled Azrael so I could see what had been done to him. His hair was a sticky wet mess of blood with bits of pieces of brain matter and bone caked in it. I struggled not to lose my shit as Shamus rolled Azrael back so I could see his face.

  Azrael’s eyes…his eyes were the worst part of it. They were coated in a glaze, death’s glaze. Sightless, unmoving eyes stared blankly. I sent my powers in search of any sign of life, but found nothing. Why? Why did the world keep taking from me? Why him? I failed to keep the sob at bay as Shamus slammed Azrael’s head on the cool tiles of the floor. He whispered something to Astrid, who smirked, and looked at me with venom in his eyes.

  I swallowed the nausea, wishing I could just curl up beside him and give up for once. I wouldn’t, though. I couldn’t. It wasn’t in me to give up.

  “No,” I whispered as I shook my head. This wasn’t supposed to happen; if he came back, he’d need to be whole, right? Could he heal with the back of his head missing?

  No, Azrael was dead…and I was about to be tortured for fun, for Shamus’s sick, perverted pleasure. He’d been working with my mother this entire time, and I’d missed that tiny piece of information somewhere. That one piece had led me here, to this situation, because I’d never even taken a moment to think that part through. The vampires wouldn’t have known the end was coming unless they’d been tipped off.

  My mother had orchestrated it all. Right from the bunker to the virus, and she’d been ahead of me every step of the way. Why hadn’t I stopped to ask the one question I should have? How was she ahead of me every time? Because she had eyes inside the bunker, she had eyes on me.

  I’d thought losing Grayson had been the last straw, but I was wrong. She wouldn’t stop taking people away from me, ever. She’d never stop until I stopped her for good.


  Chapter 35

  I watched as they dragged Azrael’s body out of the room. I hung there, feeling useless and helpless. I wondered where they had taken him and what they were doing to his body now. Shamus returned with a satisfied look on his face as he slowly removed the gloves as he made his way back to me. He enjoyed inflicting pain on others, but he didn’t strike me as the kind to take it well.

  “You disappoint,” Shamus said as he made a clucking noise and shook a finger at me. “I thought you would show more distress about your dead lover. Perhaps I misjudged the situation. At least you now know he won’t be coming to your rescue.” He chuckled as if he was pleased with the way everything was working out. I guess I couldn’t blame him; he had bested Death, and if my mother told him what I was, he now held Life in his hands. I had a feeling that she needed Azrael out of the way, and was more than happy to share enough about him so the vampires could catch him. From what Shamus had disclosed, she needed me, so she probably hadn’t shared what she knew about the Guardian of Life. Hell, the mere fact that I turned out to be a Guardian had appeared to surprise her, and seemed to please her more than if I had been a Knight, as she’d originally wanted.

  I turned my eyes away from the doorway that they had taken Azrael’s corpse through, and watched Shamus as he set out an assortment of knives and other sharp implements. He was talking, but I wasn’t listening to his stupid monologue anymore. I was listening to those outside the room, trying to figure out exactly where I was.

  They kept saying that no one would find us, which meant we were probably out at Eastern State Hospital. This place had been cleaned up; it looked like someone had been working hard to make it that way, and my money was on Shamus. He and some of his guys had disappeared several times since I’d been back at the Ark, and with their speed it wouldn’t be hard for them to cover several miles in a short time.