by P. T. Hylton
Robert threw her face down on the ground and put a knee against her neck. He pulled her arms behind her back and held her there.
Alex knew Robert had one vamp down and Firefly had fallen, but she couldn’t see if there were others with Firefly and the female. She reached up and turned on her headlamp.
When she looked past Firefly, she gasped.
At least a dozen Ferals were racing down the tunnels toward them.
“The gunshots woke them!” Jaden shouted. “There’ll be a lot more coming. Get ready!”
Firefly rolled to his feet and raised his pistol, but the Ferals were already on him. He managed one shot before a Feral slammed into his arm, knocking the weapon from his hand. Three other Ferals hit him in quick succession, sending him onto his back hard.
One of the Ferals sank its teeth into his lower arm, and he cried out in pain.
Alex dashed forward, holding her pistol in a two-handed grip. At least five Ferals had already sped past Firefly, going for other members of the team. She knew she should help them. But they weren’t about to be devoured by four Ferals, and Firefly was.
He’d been a GMT member. And once a GMT, always a GMT. The Ferals would dismember him in the next few seconds if she didn’t act quickly.
She squeezed off four quick shots. Each round went through the head of one of the Ferals holding Firefly.
But she didn’t have time to consider whether she’d made the right decision. As the four Ferals fell, she heard an animalist scream. She spun toward it and saw a group of Ferals piling onto Robert, who was still holding down the female vampire.
He leaped to his feet, drawing his sword as he stood. The vampire underneath him tried to stand too, but her injured leg slowed her progress. A Feral grabbed her, sinking its claws into her arms, and another one grabbed her head and pulled. A third Feral sank its teeth into her neck and began devouring flesh, tendon, and bone alike. A moment later, her head tore free of her body. The Feral holding her head let out a victorious howl and smashed the head against the wall of the tunnel.
Robert made short work of the Ferals attacking him. If he was less deadly than Jaden, it wasn’t by much. His motions were less fluid than Jaden’s, but his strikes seemed even more brutal. As he finished off the last Feral attacking him, he turned his attention to those attempting to get by him to reach the humans.
Now that Robert was up and moving, the narrow walkway and his frenetic speed prevented Alex from taking a shot at the Ferals rushing toward them. That was all right, though; the last four Ferals didn’t stand a chance against Robert.
After quickly dispatching three of them, Robert turned, catching the last Feral in the neck as it tried to speed past him. The sword cut through cleanly and the head fell from the creature’s shoulders. Before it hit the ground, a shot rang out.
Robert spun around, his mouth hanging open in surprise. The right half of his skull was missing, leaving a C-shaped hole where the rest of his head should have been. He paused for a moment, then collapsed, tumbling over the rail and landing in a small puddle in the center of the tunnel.
“No,” Alex whispered.
Firefly stood, rifle raised, taking aim at another one of the vampires.
This time, Alex didn’t hesitate. She unloaded her weapon into Firefly’s arms until the rifle slipped from his hands.
A cry that was somehow even more animalistic than the Ferals’ howls came from behind her, and then Jaden charged past. His eyes glowed a furious red, illuminating the tunnel around him. Alex had never seen him move like that.
Firefly raised his injured arms and threw a punch as Jaden reached him, but the older vampire batted the hand away like it was nothing. He grabbed Firefly and slammed him into the rail hard enough to bend the metal.
Jaden let out a gut-wrenching snarl and grabbed one of the metal posts holding the railing, ripping it from the concrete and smashing Firefly in the face with it before the younger vampire could even raise his hands to defend himself.
Firefly tried to throw one more punch, and Jaden dodged, letting the blow graze harmlessly past his head.
Then Jaden drove the metal post through the side of Firefly’s left thigh and then through his right one. With the metal impaling both legs, Jaden squeezed the ends together until they touched, immobilizing the former GMT member’s legs. Then he ripped another post from the ground.
Firefly was wriggling in pain now as Jaden grabbed both his arms and held them behind his back. Jaden drove the other post through Firefly’s biceps, once again twisting the ends to pin his arms behind him. Then he shoved him facedown onto the ground.
Jaden’s eyes blazed red as he stood over the whimpering Firefly. He reached down and wrapped his fingers around the other vampire’s skull.
Alex realized with a start that Jaden was about to rip Firefly’s head off, just like the Ferals had done to the female vampire. She quickly pushed her way toward him, shuddering as she glanced at Robert’s unmoving body in the water.
“Jaden, no!” she shouted.
The old vampire turned and glared at her, his lips curled in a nasty snarl.
“We need him to find his masters!” she said. “They’re the real enemies. You said it yourself, this vampire is just their slave.”
Jaden turned back to Firefly and stared at him for a long moment, his fingers still squeezing his skull. Firefly’s wide eyes darted around madly as if searching for someone to save him from this animal.
Finally, Jaden stood, raising himself to his full height and pulling Firefly up with him. Then he let go, and Firefly dropped to the concrete.
20
Alex was relieved to see Jaden’s eyes return to normal as he turned to face the other vampires, but his voice sounded dead when he spoke.
“Someone get Robert’s body. We need to regroup.” With that, he picked up Firefly with one hand and began walking back the way they’d come.
Natalie jumped down and grabbed Robert’s body, then quickly rejoined them.
Jaden told them they’d be returning to the place where they’d convened underneath the alley. It was an out-of-the-way spot, an offshoot of the main tunnels, so it seemed unlikely that any vampires would stumble across them.
As they walked, Alex wondered why they weren’t encountering any Ferals. Even the one who’d been sleeping last time they’d passed through here were gone. She wondered if perhaps it was Jaden’s inhuman cry that had sent them scurrying. Maybe they’d realized he wasn’t someone they wanted to tangle with today. Or maybe there was some honor among vampires. Maybe they’d heard the pain in that cry and were leaving him alone for now.
Whatever the reason, the GTM and the Agartha vampires seemed to have the tunnels to themselves for now.
Wesley sidled up to Alex and leaned close. He spoke in a whisper. “Holy shit, Alex. That was insane. Why did Firefly—”
“I don’t know,” she answered tersely, cutting him off.
“Okay, but is he even still Firefly? I mean does his consciousness—”
“I don’t know.”
“Yeah, I get that. I’m just saying, do you think he’s going to—”
She turned toward him. “Wesley. I do not know. We are in uncharted territory here. It’s going to take time to sort it out. So, could you please just give me a few minutes?”
He blinked hard, taken aback by her harsh response. “Yeah. Sorry, Captain.”
She bit back the apology that almost came out. She felt bad speaking to him sharply at a time like this, but she needed to focus if she was going to keep them alive. She was all too aware of the questions, and she didn’t have any useful answers.
When they reached the area under the alley, Jaden set Firefly face down on the tunnel floor and went to work setting up a perimeter.
Alex walked over and knelt beside Firefly. The metal bars through his arms and legs had been twisted together, effectively hogtying him, but she was still careful to not get too close to his face.
“Are you in there, Fir
efly?” she asked softly.
He slowly turned his face to her. The despair was clear in his eyes. “I’m here, Alex. I’m damn glad you and the team are alive. Is Owl okay?”
She almost told him Owl was at the ship, but she stopped herself. Maybe giving him information about the team wasn’t the best idea. She had no idea how much he could communicate back to his masters. “She’s fine.”
“Good,” Firefly said with a weak smile. “I didn’t know… I wasn’t sure you would make it after Fleming had Sarah sabotage the away ship.” The smile left his face and the despair returned. “I’m so sorry, Alex. I should have stopped Fleming. I’m sorry for everything.”
As sincere as the apology sounded, she wasn’t about to start handing out forgiveness just yet. “If that’s really you in there, why the hell did you shoot Robert?”
“You don’t understand the control that my masters have over me. I want to help you kill Mark and Aaron, I swear to God, but if you freed me I would kill Jaden’s entire team and drag Jaden back to my masters the first chance I got. Those are my orders.”
Alex felt the anger rising in her chest. It made her sick to hear him give up like that. “You have to fight, Firefly. You’re strong. You need to resist them.”
He shook his head weakly. “It doesn’t work like that. My body has no choice but to obey. Their will overrides my own. I don’t know why you saved me, but it would be best for all of us if you just finished me off right now.”
Alex glanced down at the Resettlement patch he still wore on his jacket. She thought of the dinner she’d had with him at the fancy restaurant in the Hub. The way he’d been so smug and refused to see the truth. Three hundred people had paid the price for his arrogance, and plenty more still might before this was over.
Fleming was an asshole, but at least he was a naive asshole. Firefly had been to the surface and seen the Ferals up close. He should have known better, yet he’d still gone ahead with Resettlement.
And yet, there were plenty of times Firefly had come through for her. He’d saved her ass half a dozen times on missions. She’d fought back-to-back with him in the NSA facility only a couple months ago, both trusting each other completely, nothing but their faith in each other keeping them alive.
She reached down and put a hand on his shoulder. “I’m not giving up on you yet, Firefly. You have a lot to make up for, and I want to make sure you have the chance to do it. We just need to find your master and take him out. Jaden says that should free you from their control. Can you tell me where they are?”
Firefly opened his mouth but no words came out. He squeezed his eyes shut in frustration. “No, I can’t tell you that. I just tried, and my body would not let me say the words.”
“You always make it hard for me to be on your side. I was hoping for a little help. Is there anything you can tell us?”
He thought a moment. “I think so. I can give you details that don’t directly put my masters in danger.”
She nodded slowly. “I’ll take what I can get.”
“Okay.” He drew a deep breath, even though he didn’t need it. Force of habit, Alex supposed. “There were three hundred people turned at Fort Stearns. Aaron and Mark had burrowed under the main building days before, waiting for us to come back. Fleming sent us all down the day you went to Denver.”
“What a coward,” Alex muttered. “Had to get us out of the way before he made his move.”
“Yeah,” Firefly agreed. “Look, you were right about everything. Fleming is a fool. I am a fool. We retreated to the main building to protect ourselves from the Ferals, but we just ended up cornering ourselves. Mark and Aaron turned us all in a matter of minutes.”
Alex grimaced. She was glad she hadn’t been there to see that bloodbath. “How many of you are left?”
“About two hundred, I think. They were still gathering when I went out looking for Jaden.”
Alex patted him on the shoulder again. “Thanks, Firefly. That does help. I am going to find a way to take those bastards out and free you.”
Firefly didn’t look any less forlorn to hear that. “What then? Do we wander the earth until we turn Feral? I would rather die.” He looked up at her, his eyes pleading. “I deserve to die. I betrayed you, I betrayed the council, I failed our people. And now Sharon…”
She thought back to the female vampire whose head had been ripped off. Alex had thought she’d looked familiar, but she hadn’t been able to place her. Now she got it. It had been Sharon, Firefly’s second-in-command on the Resettlement project.
“I’m sorry, Firefly.”
“I’m going to ask one more time, Alex. Kill me. Please. It’s the only way to make sure I don’t hurt anyone else.”
Alex forced a tiny smile. “Those metal bars through your arms and legs are doing a pretty good job of that. I’m not going to kill you. You’ve screwed up a lot of lives. You’re not wrong about that. But you’re a damn vampire now, so you’re going to outlive me. You’ll have plenty of time to make up for the things you’ve done. Besides, I happen to think you’re worth saving. You gave us the radio that helped us make it to Agartha. You wanted humans to take back the Earth. You just went about it in an idiotic way.”
“You’ll get no argument from me there.”
“I’m sort of the poster child for being an idiot,” she said. “Remember when I stole the daylights for Fleming? If I don’t forgive you, how’s that going to look?” She paused, her face growing more serious. “As far as what happens after we free you, I don’t know. There are a lot of smart people on our side. We’ll think of something.”
Firefly looked up at Alex. “You know, when you first joined the team, I thought you were an egotistical asshole. I told Drew you wouldn’t last three missions. But you proved me wrong. You’d never leave a man behind, would you? Even when it’s the sensible thing to do.” A single tear slid down his cheek.
Alex swallowed hard, pushing down a lump in her throat. There was no time for sentimentality. Not today. “Pull yourself together, soldier. You just got recruited back into the GMT, and we have a hell of a lot of work to do.”
With that, she stood up and walked away. There was another conversation she needed to have, and this one would be just as difficult.
She approached Jaden slowly, not sure how to begin. What did you say to an immortal vampire who just lost his best friend? She didn’t know, and she had an idea saying the wrong thing might earn her a broken bone or two. It was partly her fault that Robert was dead. If she had let Firefly die and concentrated on helping Robert, this tragedy wouldn’t have happened.
If there was anything she knew about Jaden, it was that he was pragmatic. She hoped he’d be able to move past this and continue with the mission. Still, she couldn’t help resting a hand on the hilt of her sword as she approached him.
Jaden stood over Robert’s body, and he kept his eyes fixed on his dead friend’s face as he spoke. “I’m not going to hurt you. You can let go of your sword.”
“Oh, I didn’t—”
“It’s all right,” he said. “I understand. You think I blame you for Robert’s death. If you would have helped him instead of Firefly, my friend would be alive.”
“The thought had crossed my mind,” she admitted.
“Battle is battle. There are hundreds, maybe thousands of moments I would change if I could fight them over again. You didn’t fire the bullet that killed Robert, and I don’t blame you for his death.”
Alex relaxed slightly. “I’m sorry, Jaden, I know that he meant a lot to you.”
“You have no idea what he meant to me.” His voice was cold. “Robert and I have been like brothers for seven centuries. We have seen civilizations rise and fall. He’s been by my side for so long that I’m finding it hard to imagine what a world without him in it even looks like. It is like losing the mountains or the ocean. It’s impossible to think of them suddenly being gone.”
Alex stared down at Robert’s body. Her gaze kept drifting to his ruined
head, and then she’d quickly look away.
Jaden was right. There was no way she could understand the bond he had with Robert. She’d only been teammates with Chuck, Ed, and Patrick for a couple months now, and they already felt like family. Still, she needed to find a way to get Jaden’s head back in the game. The clock was ticking, and nightfall was getting closer every minute.
She suddenly realized Jaden was looking at her.
“It is understandable that you can’t find the words,” he said. “How do you ask me to put my loss aside so we can get back to work? After all, there are things to do and time matters.” He chuckled, but the laugh was joyless. “I know everyone around me hates the extreme patience I present when dealing with problems. And maybe it is a fault. This is a reminder that time does matter. Robert was not immortal. Nothing truly is.”
Alex figured that was about as good an opening as she was likely to get. “What do you say we get started, then? And I have an idea how we can pull this off.”
She dug around in her backpack as she explained her plan. When she found the small item she was looking for, she handed it to Jaden.
When she'd finished speaking, he stared down at the small object resting on his palm for a long moment. Then he closed his hand around it. “Follow me.”
Jaden stalked over to Firefly, who recoiled when he saw who was approaching.
Jaden crouched down beside him. “Don’t worry, I’m not going to hurt you. Well, no more than I have to.”
First, he twisted the metal behind Firefly's back, tightening the way the younger vampire's limbs were bound. Then he reached inside Firefly’s jacket and yanked off the shirt underneath.
“At the same time,” he continued, “I can’t have you ruining our element of surprise when we get close to your masters, which is exactly what your body would force you to do. Open up.”
Firefly looked up at him, confused.
“Open your mouth, dummy,” Alex explained.
Firefly did so, and Jaden jammed the shirt into his mouth. Then Jaden stood up and brushed off his hands. “There. The prisoner is gagged and ready. Shall we get started?”