Ironic Sacrifice

by Brooklyn Ann

  Razvan moved to go after Jayden but Akasha blocked him.

  “What the fuck did you do?” she demanded, voice trembling with suppressed fury.

  He sighed. “It wasn’t what she thought.”

  Silas nodded. “I have a guess on what Jayden saw,” he explained to Akasha. “Michael was using the dancer as a shield. Razvan touched her, but only to trick her into thinking that Michael was the culprit so that he would be thrown out and we could deal with him.”

  “Ah,” Akasha said, satisfied with the explanation. “And did you deal with him?”

  He shook his head, overcome once more with bitter regret that he didn’t so much as touch Selena’s obnoxious apostle. “Unfortunately not. We had just learned of Lionel’s intentions to attack you, so we hurried here instead.” His expression softened. “You are more important.”

  Razvan interrupted before the couple could get too wrapped up in one another. “I am glad the matter is cleared up for you, but now I must find Jayden and explain…also, the smell of Lionel’s head cooking is getting to be a bit much.”

  Akasha nodded, “You’re right. But first could you help me dispose of the body? Then we can all go find her. I doubt she went far. I’ll even back you up if you need it.”

  He sighed. “Very well, I suppose it wouldn’t do for someone to happen upon this thing.” He gestured in the direction of the corpse. “And perhaps Jayden will be home by the time we are finished. After all, she doesn’t have anywhere else to go.”

  Chapter Twenty-eight

  Jayden cursed as she reached another dead end street and cranked the wheel into a U-turn. Max had done a beautiful job with her Camry. It drove like it was new…but there was nowhere for her to go. The thought brought forth another surge of hot tears. She dashed them away with her fist. Her uncontrollable crying was the reason she kept getting lost on the back roads to nowhere in the first place.

  The first bout of sobbing nearly caused her to crash into a pickup only four blocks from Akasha’s shop. The icy roads and constant barrage of falling snow didn’t help matters. She reached for the defrost lever and sighed. It was already turned to the max.

  More tears welled up, burning her eyes as she fiddled with the radio. As if the fates were mocking her, it seemed like every break-up song ever written was playing on every radio station.

  Why the hell am I crying over him anyway? She’d known he hadn’t had any feelings for her. And his subordinate vampires confirmed that he was a man-whore. Besides, she’d made peace with the fact that she had a childish infatuation with him for saving her life.

  “If that’s true, then why are you still crying, you moron?”Her voice sounded hollow in the dark car. She bit her lip before another pathetic sob could escape.

  Christmas lights gleaming from the houses lining the street reflected in her tears, edging her vision with a nauseating kaleidoscope of color.

  “Oh God.” Jayden gripped the wheel tighter and attempted a hiccupping laugh. “I still love him. I can’t believe it. I’m a bigger moron than I thought.”

  She took a deep shuddering breath and swerved to avoid a cat crossing the dimly lit road. She needed to get control of herself before she killed herself or some other poor creature.

  The ‘80s station started playing an old favorite and she cranked up the volume, hoping to focus. But even a good classic couldn’t ease the turmoil. She needed to go somewhere safe where she could think.

  Blinking back the remaining tears, Jayden made a right turn, hoping to end up at the Denny’s on 4th Street.

  In one blink the road was dark and empty.

  The next revealed a man in front of the car.

  Jayden screamed as she struck him. The body bounced up on her hood and rolled halfway up her windshield before she slammed on the brake pedal. The abrupt halt sent him flying back onto the pavement.

  “Oh God Oh God Oh God,” she whimpered as she turned off the engine and opened the door.

  The high beams shone down on a prone figure lying on the ground.

  He wasn’t moving.

  She reached in her pocket for her phone. It wasn’t there. After fumbling with her coat and hurriedly searching her car, she realized that Akasha still had it.

  Jayden bit her lip and looked at the nearby houses. All the windows were dark except for a few lit Christmas trees.

  She wondered how many would answer their doors at two A.M.

  Or what if they’d seen what she did, called the police, and were now peering at her through the curtains?

  An obscenely large Santa Claus statue seemed to leer at her from the lawn to her right.

  Her eyes strayed back to the still body on the ground. At least she should see if he was still alive.

  What if he wasn’t? Her heart thudded in her ears at the likely possibility.

  She would go to jail for vehicular manslaughter. She would be handcuffed, manhandled, stripped, degraded, and thrown in a cell. Visions would assault her from everyone who touched her. She would go insane and die locked up, just like her mother.

  The Santa statue seemed to grin in agreement. No presents for her this year.

  Pain screamed in her hands where her nails bit into her palms. Jayden shook her head and forced her feet to take shuddering steps towards the man. If she kept thinking like that, she would go crazy.

  She had control of her powers now. And she wasn’t alone any more.

  Akasha or Silas would bail her out so she could say her goodbyes. Maybe Silas would hire a lawyer for her. Did he know any human attorneys? Or did he have enough clout to make sure her trial was scheduled at night so that Salazar could represent her?

  As she drew closer to the man’s crumpled form, she saw that a thin layer of snow was already beginning to cover him. Her stomach roiled in guilt. Did he have a family? Suddenly she imagined herself on trial, facing the man’s crying wife and his family’s accusing stares.

  Walking those ten feet felt like ten miles. By the time she reached the man, her legs were quivered and threatened to collapse under her weight. Her knees creaked as she knelt beside him. Slowly, she reached out a trembling hand to touch his neck and check for a pulse.

  The body jolted underneath her fingertips and the man’s breath puffed out in a December cloud as he rolled over. Jayden was dizzy with relief.

  “Oh thank God,” she babbled hysterically. “I’m so sorry. Are you okay? I’m going to help you, alright? We’ll get you to a hospital…or we’ll call someone.”

  The man sat up.

  “I am sorry,” Jayden repeated. “I’ll help you. I’ll—”

  The man’s face came into view. His lips curved up in a wide smile.

  The light from the Toyota’s high beams reflected on his fangs.

  She gasped and stumbled backwards, slipping on the ice, falling on her rear. Freezing slush soaked her pants.

  “It took you long enough to identify me, Seeress.” His cheery tone was incongruous with the nightmarish scenario. “My mistress will be disappointed that you are not as powerful as she thought.”

  A scream built up from her toes, but never escaped. Michael’s hand crashed into the side of her face before she could make a sound. Then all was blackness.

  ***

  When Lionel’s body had been safely disposed of, Silas, Akasha and Razvan returned to Resurrection Wrenches, hoping Jayden had come back. But the parking lot was still empty. After everyone’s hands were washed in the gargantuan shop sink, Razvan cursed.

  “Jayden’s Mark is fading. She knows better than to leave this territory.” He pulled out his phone and dialed her number. “If she doesn’t get back here right away—”

  Immediately Alice Cooper’s “Poison” trilled from Akasha’s pocket.

  “Damn,” Akasha said, pulling out Jayden’s phone. “I forgot to give it back to her after we sent the picture to Selena.”

  “Is that song just for me?” Razvan asked, forcing casual amusement into his voice. The thought of Jayden assigning a song
for his calls brought a pleasant rush of warmth to his flesh.

  She looked at the screen, oblivious to his inner triumph. “Yep.”

  “Excuse me,” Silas interrupted. “Did I hear you say that you and Jayden sent a picture to Selena?”

  Akasha nodded with a malicious smile that was incongruous with her doll-like features. “I wanted her to see the consequence of her stupidity.”

  Razvan chuckled. “I would have liked to see the look on her face.”

  Silas cleared his throat and pushed off of the car he was leaning on to pace in front of them. “I imagine she was quite infuriated.” His expression was grave. “Perhaps even infuriated enough to send immediate retaliation…and Jayden is out there somewhere on her own unprotected.”

  The vampire’s words were like a spear through Razvan’s heart. He closed his eyes and opened his mind wider to the Mark between him and Jayden.

  It was faint and thready like a weak pulse. He turned to the others and saw his panic reflected in their gazes.

  “She’s unconscious,” he whispered, “and maybe hurt.” He slammed his fist into the cinderblock wall, crumbling the concrete. “Damn it! I knew I shouldn’t have let her go!” Rage and anguish warred within him until he was ready to explode.

  “Maybe she got in an accident,” Akasha said. “I mean, that wouldn’t be good either, but she’d be safer in the hospital than with Selena.”

  Silas shook his head. “That would be too nice of a coincidence.” He pulled his phone from his pocket. “I think we’d better assume she’s been taken. Our only condolence is that Selena will want her alive.”

  “What are we waiting for?” Razvan said, heading for the door. “Let’s go get Jayden.”

  Silas grabbed his arm. “For one thing, it’ll be dawn in a little over four hours. And for another, I think we should gather a few reinforcements and come up with something at least slightly resembling a plan.”

  Razvan opened his mouth to argue but then he stopped. Silas was right. Selena was a devious bitch, made even more dangerous by her insanity. “You’re right, damn you. Who are you going to call?”

  “Everyone,” Silas replied, texting a message on his phone with lightning agility. “I will take the first five that volunteer. Any more would draw too much attention from the humans in the area. This invasion will be a high risk to any involved, so it is only fair that I give them the opportunity to refuse.”

  Razvan shook his head. “You are far kinder a master than I.” He withdrew his phone and sent out his own message to five of his strongest vampires. Unlike Silas, he gave them no opportunity for refusal.

  As the vampire lords awaited replies to their summons, Akasha went to the gas station across the street to fetch a map of Post Falls. Thirty minutes later, the small parking lot of Resurrection Wrenches was full. A dozen vampires gathered inside the shop. They huddled around one of the smaller hydraulic lifts, studying the map.

  “I can fit four in my van, maybe five,” Jonathan Greenbriar said. “But I would like to leave some extra room in case I need to haul a patient.”

  At first Silas was reluctant to allow Jonathon to accompany them, for he was still fairly young, but Razvan and Akasha insisted that it would be useful to have a doctor with them. It was a done deal when Jonathan revealed that he had a pistol and a license to carry a concealed firearm. With him, that made five vampires that were shooters. Razvan was one of the five. His second in command had brought him his gun.

  “I should have known you’d go all ‘Scarface’ on us,” Akasha said, watching him stroke the barrel of the submachine gun. Her face had gone chalk-white.

  “That’s a Tommy gun,” Silas said with a slight smile. “Scarface had an M-16 with a grenade launcher.” He raised a brow at Razvan. “Although it fits you, I don’t think you’ll be able to use that with so many neighboring humans around.”

  “Her main lair is underground,” he replied as he savored the mental picture of cutting Selena in half with a hail of bullets. “Akasha, what is the matter?”

  Akasha had flinched when he moved to tuck the gun inside his coat. A fine tremor overtook her small form.

  Silas growled a Gaelic curse. “I had forgotten about that issue.”

  He took his wife into his arms and looked down at her. “Do you want to tell him, or should I?”

  The tiny woman who was the strongest being Razvan had ever encountered leveled her amethyst gaze on him with an unmistakable challenge. “I have a bit of a phobia with guns, okay? It’s got something to do with my parents being shot down in front of me when I was little… but…I can handle it. It’s just a stupid phobia,” she repeated, sounding more like she was trying to convince herself.

  Razvan wasn’t so sure from the panic written all over her face and body. Silas reinforced his opinion.

  “I’m not certain she can fight in such a state,” he said quietly.

  Silas had been teaching Akasha to fight with a Claymore. It was a formidable Scottish battle sword. With her superhuman strength, she would be an invaluable asset in this battle…but not if she became a quivering mass of terror.

  Razvan placed his hand on her shoulder. “Which bothers you more, the sight of the guns, or the noise they make?”

  She looked up at him with her eyes full of self-loathing. “Both, but the noise is worse.” She took his hand, something she’d never done before. “Quit worrying about my bullshit. We need to get Jayden back and kill Selena. I’ll handle my issues, okay?”

  Her cheeks flushed as she looked at the vampires, although they were all too well trained to acknowledge hearing the exchange.

  Never before had she looked so vulnerable. Normally Razvan would have been fascinated, until Jayden came into his life. Now there was no room for petty fascination with human weaknesses, no room for games. The only thing that mattered was having his love safe in his arms.

  He and Silas exchanged a look before he replied, “I will only use my gun if I need to.”

  That seemed to be good enough for Akasha, for she nodded and the cold look of intent to murder returned to her eyes.

  They went back to their planning. The vampires with guns, except for Razvan, would ride in the van with Jonathon while the rest followed in other cars. Firepower would be needed to gain entry to their enemy’s lair.

  Aside from Jonathon, the other three shooters were Razvan’s. Two even had guns equipped with silencers. Sarah carried a sleek Beretta while Jake and Trey toted their favored Glocks. With hope and luck, they could take out whatever guards Selena might have in place.

  “You should be ashamed,” Razvan teased Silas. “We’re in northern Idaho, for God’s sake. I would have thought your people would be better armed.”

  Silas shrugged. “If rifles and shotguns weren’t so hard to conceal, I’m sure they would be. I just don’t want to risk it. It will be hard enough to explain the swords.”

  Chang Li, one of Silas’s oldest vampires, smiled at Razvan. “Thanks to my teachings, most of us need no weapons to kill.”

  He nodded at Jonathon, who tossed a block of wood straight at his face. In an indecipherable blur, Chang split it in two.

  “Hey, watch it!” Sarah snarled as she ducked to avoiding the half flying at her.

  Trey gaped at the vampire and whistled. “Man… that was incredible! Did you do that with your hand?”

  Chang nodded before turning to Silas and bowing. “It will be an honor to assist you in this mission, my lord.”

  Razvan stroked his beard and observed Jayden’s rescue party. There were twelve vampires, five with guns, and the rest with either swords or skills in martial arts. And there was Akasha, the military engineered killing machine.

  Perhaps there was hope that this mission would be a success, despite their being outnumbered at least four to one.

  Then again, perhaps someone should have brought a grenade launcher.

  Chapter Twenty-nine

  The left side of Jayden’s face throbbed like an infected tooth. As she
surfaced into wakefulness, the pain intensified and she let out a pitiful moan.

  “She’s regaining consciousness,” a soft female voice said, burgeoning with relief.

  “Splendid,” another woman answered in a voice that seemed vaguely reptilian. “We may begin preparations then.”

  There was a rustle of fabric and the click of a lighter before the pungent aroma of incense flooded her nostrils. Jayden tried to turn her head away, but it seemed to weigh two hundred pounds.

  “If you please, my lord,” the first woman’s voice quavered in barely checked fear. “I would like to see if she has a concussion.” Her cool hands touched Jayden’s face and a little more confidence seeped in her tone. “I wish we were able to get her an X-ray. Her cheek is swollen, but I can’t tell if it’s broken or not.”

  The other woman growled. “She better not be too damaged, Michael, or you will suffer the consequences.”

  The voice of her abductor answered. “Yes, my lord. I did not mean to hit her so hard.”

  The memory of hitting the vampire with her car came back to Jayden with sickening clarity.

  It had been a trap… a good one, too. She couldn’t think of any other way she could have reacted.

  The woman’s fingers slid up her face and her eyelid was gently coaxed open. A flashlight beam pierced her eye like a thousand needles, making her brain scream in pain. Jayden whimpered and tried to close them.

  “I’m sorry,” the female vampire said, looking at her with compassionate brown eyes. “I need to examine your pupils. I’ll get it over with quickly, I promise.”

  That piercing light came back spearing her skull and blinding her.

  “They look to be the same size,” her nurse said. “I can’t tell.”

  Jayden dropped her shields and tried to read the vampire’s thoughts. Nothing came.

  “You cannot read Jessica either then?” The reptilian-voiced vampire stepped forward. “That is very interesting.”

  It had to be Selena. As she came into the light, Jayden choked back a horrified gasp.

  The woman’s head was covered in bloody scabs and bald spots. The little hair she had left hung in stringy unwashed strands the color of a sickly pumpkin.