The Immortal Warriors Boxed Set: Books 1-11

by H. T. Night

  Romero grinned. “I like you, Josiah.” He then made his way onto a dirt road. We had already passed the heart of the city and were in some pretty rough country. Up the road a ways, I could see a giant church that looked like a cathedral that was connected to what looked like an auditorium or gym.

  As we drove closer to the church, I leaned over to Romero and said, “I want to like you, but I don’t see that happening too soon.”

  “Oh, you’re going to love me, Josiah. Like a father.”

  I looked over at Wyatt, who was extremely quiet. He gave me a look as if to say, ‘Watch yourself, this is a powerful guy.’

  The way I see it, power, money, and sex are the only things that this world values. I don’t want or need any of it—so a guy like Romero barely fazes me.

  Romero stepped out of the car, as did Wyatt and I. Again, I looked up at the giant majestic moon. It seemed larger than normal. I felt drawn to it in a way I hadn’t quite felt before. Maybe I was just missing Tommy. God knows where he was this evening. I hoped he was safe. Yes, I said it. I hoped my best friend was safe.

  Romero led us to the back of the cathedral. In the dark, the church reminded me of a castle you would see in Romania or Turkey.

  Romero walked up to a man who seemed to be protecting the property. He was part of some kind of security detail. He wore military fatigues, but I didn’t think he was a Federale. When the man saw that it was Romero, he immediately stood up straight as if Romero was some kind of general. They spoke in Spanish and I looked to Wyatt for a translation.

  Wyatt leaned in and whispered to me. “He’s telling Romero that the Deity is in a bunker out back.”

  “A bunker?” Like underground?” I whispered back.

  “It makes sense. It’s a perfect place for a vampire.”

  “I actually like the idea of a bunker,” I said. “We need to look into having one made when we get back.”

  Romero came back to us and told us to follow him. He led us to an open field that was about 500 yards away from the church.

  “Why is the bunker so far away from the church?” I asked.

  “You never know when a ‘crazy’ would want to bomb the church. My people built the bunker for the Deity a few years back. The church was receiving death threats and we needed to ensure the Deity would be safe.”

  “You care for her, don’t you?”

  Romero smiled. “Yes, she has been a mother and mentor to me over the years.” Romero turned around and faced the church. “She took me in about forty years ago. She’s a pretty remarkable woman.”

  “You were an orphan?” I asked.

  “Sort of,” Romero answered.

  “How so?”

  “Both my parents were serving life sentences in prison. I was wandering the streets, doing some pretty awful things to a lot of good people.”

  “Explain awful...” I wanted to know what kind of guy I was dealing with, even if it was forty years ago.

  “To put it simply, I was a thief. I stole from everyone. And one day I stole from the wrong guy. He didn’t care how young I was. I tried to take his wallet and he caught me doing it. He dragged me into an alley and beat me senseless. He left me there bleeding to death behind a Dumpster. I had no family, no one to help me or come to my aid. Then the most beautiful woman—or should I say, girl—came to me. She washed me up and took care of me. She brought me back here and taught me how to read and write. After that day, I always knew I had a purpose. An angel had come for me and saved me right there on the streets of Tijuana.” Romero continued to reflect and then shook his head. “That angel was ‘Her Holiness.’”

  “Her Holiness?” I asked. “Is that how I should address her?”

  “Ma’am would be just fine. She’s not into titles and ceremonial crap. She just goes straight to the point and fixes problems and answers peoples’ questions.” Romero unlocked a door that was flat on the ground. He opened it and, sure enough, it was a bunker.

  As we walked down a staircase, I was shocked at how gigantic the inside of the bunker was. It was lit brightly, and it almost felt like it was daytime inside this thing. The bunker was so large that it had separate rooms. Romero led us down a hallway into a back room. He stopped in front of the door. Romero put his hand on Wyatt’s chest.

  “This is where you and I need to stop. She’s only expecting Josiah,” Romero said to Wyatt. “Your friend will be safe. You’ll need to wait outside with me.”

  I nodded at Wyatt to assure him I was going to be okay. I exhaled with a little bit of nervous energy. I didn’t think I was going to feel this nervous, but the buildup to seeing her was pretty intense. I opened the door and went in.

  The room was cool and was lit only by lanterns. Okay, this was a tad extreme, but I was going with it. In the middle of the floor, wearing a long red dress, was a beautiful, young-looking woman. She had a radiant beauty that was almost mesmerizing. It was what I would imagine meeting Mary, the mother of Jesus, would be like. Her ethnicity was Middle Eastern, maybe Egyptian or possibly even Iranian.

  “Sit next to me, Josiah,” she said. Her voice was fluid and expressive.

  Wow, I was nervous.

  Her beautiful red dress spread across the floor in a perfect circle around her. I gathered she was around five feet tall and had a tiny body frame. She appeared to be sitting cross-legged like a child, but I couldn’t tell being that her dress flowed over her body like the ocean.

  I was overwhelmed by the moment, and I don’t know why—I had no reasoning for it—but I began tearing up. Tears dripped from my eyes. I felt like I was in the presence of God. I never liked to give anyone this kind of reverence. It was completely against my nature, but I was having a religious experience. I was caught up in the moment, to say the least.

  I made my way over to her and sat cross-legged next to her. She reached out her hand and took my left palm and brought it to her chest near her heart.

  “Your heart is tender,” she said to me. “You are extremely kind, and life has been hard for you,” she said, in perfectly-spoken English.

  “Is it?” I asked. I wasn’t sure if she was asking me a question or making an observation.

  “You don’t believe that you are a good man?”

  “A good man? I’m not sure what is good or bad anymore,” I was being as humble and real as I could be.

  “Sweet, Josiah. The Triat looks on you with so much favor.”

  “They do?” I asked. I felt extremely emotional about the matter she was speaking to me about. Up to this point in my journey, I wasn’t sure if I had done anything right. It was like hearing your dad tell you he was proud of you.

  “Yes, your humanity and kindness have led you to this moment, Josiah. You need to embrace it. Sit closer to me, my child.” She then scooted closer to me on the floor. As she did so, I noticed something I hadn’t before. I was now certain she was blind. Her eyes were huge and I couldn’t see her pupils.

  “If you don’t mind me asking, ma’am, are you blind?”

  She smiled at my boldness. “I have very little earthly vision. I don’t need to see with my eyes the things I can already see in my heart.” She then touched my face. She felt the tears on my cheeks. “You’ve been crying?” she asked.

  “A little,” I said, embarrassed.

  “There is no need for that; I am only a Mani woman.”

  “You are more than that.”

  “I am no better than anyone else. The least of us is greatest. If you follow that rule, Josiah, you will be able to move mountains.”

  “Your Holiness, I have come for answers.” I knew Romero said I didn’t need to call her that, but I didn’t feel comfortable calling her anything else.

  “What are some of these questions that you seek answers for, young Josiah?”

  “Your Holiness, I’ve been told so many things by so many different entities. Up to now, I have trusted my gut and intuition, and I truly believe it has gotten me this far. But now, I feel lost.”

  “How so
?”

  “I’m not certain of my specific task. I don’t know how exactly to save the Mani people.”

  “You do understand, Josiah, that in many ways, you already have.”

  “How so?”

  “Faith.”

  “That’s it? Just having hope?”

  “To some, it is that simple. All they ever needed to know is that you weren’t merely fiction. To others, you will need to do much more. Josiah, you are a beacon of hope, but your true calling is something not even I can tell you.”

  “Not even you can tell me?” I asked, completely perplexed and disappointed. “How is that possible that no one knows what my calling is? I can’t stand living with these cryptic codes.”

  “Is that what you think, Josiah? That you have been running around trying to solve a riddle?”

  “I just don’t know what to do. Who am I fighting? Krull? Carni? Other Mani? Atticai? Who?”

  “There is no riddle. The answer is closer than you think.”

  “Please, answer me this, who am I fighting?”

  “Of the ones you mentioned, the answer is none of the above.”

  “None?” Huh?” Now, I was extremely lost.

  “When you come to terms of what is living inside you, all the answers that you’re seeking will be as transparent and vivid as the red dress that I am wearing.”

  “Inside me?” I asked. “The answer is inside me?”

  “You know what I’m referring to, Josiah.”

  “My parents? Tommy? Lena? What?”

  “All of it. Your visions are being blocked because you have vengeance and resentment in your heart toward the wrong people. Once the things that are holding you back are resolved in your heart, you will know exactly what to do. It will be as clear as anything you have ever known.”

  “It’s that simple? The answer is inside me?”

  “All the answers are out there. You will need to lead a revolution unlike any other in the history of our race. But exactly what needs to be done will only be revealed in your heart, once there is complete forgiveness.”

  My heart was tight and wound up. “With all due respect, that isn’t good enough!” I blurted out.

  “What isn’t good enough?”

  “I can’t just come to terms with everything that has been going on. Inside me, there is a war going on and I don’t know how to turn it off. If I knew how to, I would have done it by now. I have killed Mani, Carni and Tandra, all in the name of this thing I have become. How will I ever be able to find the kind of peace you are explaining?”

  “You can, Josiah. And you will.” Her Holiness then smiled at me with a giant, beautiful smile. “In you, Josiah... is a man. Not a Mani, not a chosen entity. But a beautiful man, who wants joy and love. Go find it. Go get it. It’s yours for the taking.”

  I sat back and replayed everything she had just said to me in my head. I allowed it to become a melody to my soul, my very own private love song. I allowed her words to make their way inside me and cultivate. After a few minutes of sitting next to the Deity in silence, I stood up and felt a peace come over me that I hadn’t felt since I was a little boy, sleeping between my parents when I used to be scared of the dark. She was incredible...

  “Thank you,” I said.

  “No... thank you, Josiah. You are more of a blessing to me than you could possibly imagine.”

  I didn’t know how to dismiss myself from such a phenomenal woman. So, I leaned in and awkwardly hugged her.

  “Oh, my,” she said. “You are a muscular boy.” She smiled at me and just simply nodded her head to give me assurance.

  I nodded back, knowing she didn’t see it, but she must have felt it. I turned around and left the room. I stepped outside the door and Romero gave me a look as if to say, ‘I told you, she’s pretty incredible.’

  I nodded at Wyatt and Romero. “Hey guys,” I said. “Could you give me a minute? Is there a bathroom I could go to?”

  “Sure,” Romero said. “It’s right up the hall to the left.”

  “I’ll just need a moment.” Meeting the Deity had done something to me I hadn’t expected. It had touched my essence in a way I couldn’t imagine ever being possible. It made me extremely thoughtful about my world. I wasn’t ready to deal with such intense self-reflection. I went into the bathroom and shut the door and locked it. I just sat on top of the toilet seat. I sat there and just closed my eyes. The Deity had stirred up emotions in me that I would have rather not felt nor remembered. I can’t deny who I am. I have to accept that maybe the reason I was chosen for this task wasn’t because I was merely a tough human being, but I was also someone who recognizes and appreciates the finer things in people. I couldn’t deny the love I had for Lena. She told me she loved me before I left and I rejected it. I just didn’t know what to do about her. She was the most indecisive woman I had ever known. Flawed. When she finally did make a decision, it was usually the wrong one. She hadn’t betrayed me with any malicious intent. It was just that she thought that Tommy needed support at that moment, so she stood with him instead of me. He needed her more than I did, I remembered she had told me that. What Yari said was harsh and I acknowledged that Lena did not seem to have a big-picture thought in her head. It was all about her in the moment. But I couldn’t stop loving her. Then there was Tommy, he was my best friend in the entire world. I need him to be in my life again, but I couldn’t just forget about the poor decisions he has made toward me. Again, it became about friends who made decisions that upset me to the point where I pushed them out of my life. This was something I was going to have to work through in myself as well as with others. Apparently, I wouldn’t find the answers I needed to know about my future until I did. I had a flash of a fourth-grade report card and my teacher’s comment on it: ‘Sometimes, Josiah does not play well with others unless things go exactly the way he wants.’ I cringed, remembering.

  Dammit, just when I thought I was supposed to ignore this crap, now I have to deal with it straight on.

  I washed my face and headed back to Romero and Wyatt.

  “You okay?” Wyatt asked.

  “I’m good,” I said. “I actually have never been better.”

  “That’s what I want to hear,” Romero said. Then he blatantly changed the subject and tone and said, “You two ready to see some of the greatest fights you have ever seen?”

  “It’ll be nice to see someone else fight for a change,” I said. With that, the three of us left the bunker.

  Chapter Twelve

  Romero stayed on a dirt road and continued south of Tijuana.

  We went about fifteen miles along a bumpy dirt road. To the left of us, I could see a well-lit area. It reminded me of an Indian casino you could see back in California that would just be out in the middle of nowhere. But this was no Indian casino. It was an arena that had enough security out front to protect Fort Knox. I noticed that all the security were dressed like the man who was looking after the church. Their attire was military fatigues and they openly carried automatic weapons. There was no mistaking the fact that these guys would shoot you on sight if you were going to make trouble.

  We pulled into the compound that reminded me of a military base. It was fenced in by barbed wire along a chain link fence. I wasn’t sure exactly what they were trying to keep out or who they were trying to keep in. All I knew was that it was excessive, and that didn’t sit right with me.

  It was quickly apparent that Romero was the man in charge. Everyone saluted him as if he was a four-star general. I was beginning to think there was a lot more to this guy besides “businessman.”

  As we made our way into the compound, there was a giant arena in the middle of the small city. It was built like the old Roman Coliseum I had seen in pictures. The only difference was that this coliseum had a roof.

  We parked in front of the coliseum, or arena, as it was, and jumped out of the Ferrari. I was pretty blown away by Romero’s facility and the obvious pull he had in this place.

  “Welcom
e to the new era of sports entertainment, gentlemen. My fights make MMA look like a freaking tea party. Let’s go inside and I’ll show you around.”

  This was definitely exciting. This was the kind of place that was right up my alley. If my life hadn’t gone in the direction that it did, I could have easily seen myself ending up in a place like this. A place where the toughest men in the world slug it out to see who’s on top always made me excited.

  As we entered the coliseum, the first thing that stood out was that it was extremely modern on the inside. It looked like the inside of the Staples Center in Los Angeles. There were escalators and elevators to take to each level of the arena. Romero had spent a lot of money on the décor of the place. It was fancy and at the same time rustic and had a definite personality that was all its own.

  As we walked deeper into the arena, I heard an awful howling sound coming from one section of the arena. They were obviously the sounds of werewolves. Where they were coming from exactly, I didn’t have much of an idea. I was about to find out soon. Romero was leading us to the howling. He was definitely not keeping it a secret. He obviously had no problem showing us what the reason was for such horrid cries in the night.

  We entered a giant room. It reminded me of a boxing gym. It wasn’t in the main arena. It was a holding area where the fighters would prepare for their matches. I had seen holding areas such as these at arenas in the States. There was a giant difference in this holding area, however. This one had werewolves in cages. The moon was full outside so all the Carni had transitioned hours before. I felt sick to my stomach seeing them cooped up in cages, roaming back and forth like wild animals. It was because of Tommy that I knew werewolves were real people with real feelings. I didn’t hate Carni the way most Mani did. I knew they had souls and were just as real as we were.

  I looked at Romero with disgust and said, “If the fighters want to be here and are fighting on their own accord, why do you keep them in cages?”

  “It’s by their own request that we keep Carni in cages once they turn all wolfie. They only want to fight when they are in the ring. That’s the only time they are getting paid. It’s for everyone’s safety, and no one is more adamant about Carni being in cages once the full moon hits, than the Carni themselves.”