Beautiful Eternity

by Alicia Deters

  He turned to give me a questioning look after sensing my weirdness but brushed it off to chat with his friend. I approached his side, and the others stood back to allow him time to get reacquainted. Even though he was just in Germany a day ago, he only spoke with Jakob on the phone while he was with the Munich faction, so I assumed he’d be busy catching up with everyone here for some time.

  When he looked toward me with fondness as he introduced me to the older man, I melted a little. He spoke in German, so I couldn’t tell what he was saying exactly, but I had a feeling he was introducing me as his girlfriend.

  The old man with kind grey eyes and hair to match turned to me with a smile and spoke broken English in a thick German accent. “Fery nice meeten zee, Lucille. Velcome.”

  I smiled back and shook his hand as Gavin whispered in my ear. “This is Bernd. You can call him Bernie. He says it’s nice to meet you and that I am a lucky man. Which I totally agreed with.”

  I laughed and replied to Bernd. “Thank you. It’s nice to meeten zee, too, Bernie. I like you already.”

  Gavin laughed at my horrible German accent and told me he’d teach me the language sometime. He translated to Bernie and said his goodbyes as the old man helped gather our bags. When I reached to take them, Gavin stopped me.

  “Better not. He gets very offended if anyone tries to do his job for him. He takes pride in contributing to the Keepers in whatever way he can.”

  “But it’s ridiculous to make him carry my stuff when he can barely lift it.”

  I ignored Gavin’s warning and went to take my bags from Bernie, giving him my best smile to convey I was okay with it. I saw Gavin’s head shake back and forth, waiting for the inevitable, and didn’t expect the old man to become so animated.

  He slapped my wrist and began shooing me away with German reprimands pouring out of him faster than I could run. I jumped back from the little live wire, shocked at his spryness.

  I ran straight into Gavin, who tried covering his laugh with a hand over his mouth. It earned him an elbow in the ribs, and I glared at him over my shoulder.

  “Told you,” he said around his laughter.

  I looked back at Bernie, who transformed back into the gracious host, helping the others gather their things. They watched him work, still amused by my rejection but afraid to get in his way.

  “Good God, that man is a honey badger. He looks so sweet and docile at first glance,” I whispered to Gavin.

  “Come on, gorgeous. Let’s go meet everyone so we can discuss strategy.”

  He tugged me behind him, and I let him tow me into the elevator. My friends followed, and we crammed into the tiny lift. Everyone was way too quiet, and as I looked around at the back of their heads, I noticed Nick’s blond mop shaking, and Max stood next to him with his head lowered. Finally, I heard the laughter spouting through his nose, making that annoying sound like passing gas.

  Once he broke, they all did. The entire elevator reverberated with their cackling and guffaws. “Damn, Luce, I’ve never seen you jump like that before. Like you saw a mouse,” Brody joked.

  “He surprised me, okay,” I snapped.

  “Great, the fate of the world rests in the hands of someone who was bested by an eighty year old.” Allison snickered at her own jab, so proud of herself.

  “Ha. Ha. Laugh it up, but I didn’t see any of you going toe to toe with him.”

  “That’s because he’s a honey badger,” Max explained. “He isn’t afraid of anything, even the most deadly opponents. Honey badger doesn’t give a shit. Those are the ones you have to watch out for.”

  “That’s exactly what I thought!”

  Did he overhear my assessment of Bernie, or were we on the same wavelengths now? Holly used to do that to me all the time. Except, we used to be more like food soul mates than anything. I’d be thinking of a big juicy cheeseburger, and then two seconds later, she’d suggest going to get one. Not so weird, but it got freaky when I had a rare craving for moose tracks ice cream and she’d rush over to her freezer to pull out a tub of it, something she never kept on the regular.

  Thinking of her sent a twinge of sorrow through the pit of my stomach, and I had trouble staying in the joking mood.

  When everyone noticed, the laughter faded, and the ding of the elevator signaled our arrival. Gavin squeezed my hand and shot me an empathetic look, sending all his love and concern into me. I smiled at him, coming out of my grief.

  The second the doors slid open, we were met by a grand sitting room that reminded me of the one in Wolf Creek, which was nothing like what I would have expected from seeing the cold block exterior of the building. It gave off that Victorian regality that I was quickly associating with the Keepers, and with the man I loved.

  Polished wood ran the length of the floors, hidden partly under area rugs covered in damask patterns. They coordinated well with deep wine colored walls, which dripped with fancy silk drapes. The room was large enough to be sectioned off into two separate sitting areas, a bar tucked away in the corner, and a table long enough to hold house wide meetings. Beyond the table was a floor to ceiling book shelf that wrapped around both adjoining walls.

  I glanced at Sophie and smiled, knowing where her attention would be. She gawked, open-mouthed, at the hundreds of books adorning those shelves. Everyone else spun in circles to take it all in.

  “Not bad,” Allison commented.

  “Thank you. We like it,” said a male voice with just a hint of an accent. He approached from a wide hallway just past the bar area.

  “Jakob,” Gavin greeted him. He left my side to meet his colleague halfway and drew the man into one of those pat on the back, bro hugs.

  “How are you my friend?” Jakob asked.

  “Great, under the circumstances,” Gavin responded before turning back to me and holding out his hand for me to join them.

  I closed the distance, and Gavin enveloped me into his side to introduce me to his long time friend. “Jakob, this is Lucy. Lucy, this is—”

  “The Helen of Germany. I’ve heard a little about you. It’s nice to meet you, Jakob.”

  His eyebrows scrunched at the odd title, but he spoke kindly. “It’s nice to meet you as well, Lucy. I’m sure I’ve heard a great deal more about you than you have me. Although Gavin here wasn’t exaggerating your beauty.”

  I blushed, still getting used to the idea of that being a compliment. “Thank you.”

  His warm, honey colored eyes smiled behind dark framed glasses as he turned to my friends for introductions. He was younger than Helen and didn’t look like someone in charge of anything. He appeared to be in his early twenties and wore his shaggy brown hair swooped to one side. The dark, worn band t-shirt underneath his zip-up hoodie hung off his lean frame, and his skinny jeans ended over a pair of grey Chucks.

  When Jakob noticed my appraisal, he said, “Not what you were expecting?” His keen smile told me he must get that a lot.

  “No offense, but no. How old are you?”

  “Twenty-four. I didn’t have the same introduction into this world as most. My parents were Keepers, so I guess you could say I was born into it. This guy,” he said placing a hand on Gavin’s shoulder, “trained me himself when I was a boy.”

  “Where are your parents?” I asked before realizing my mistake.

  In this world, you didn’t ask about loved ones unless you had tissues ready. Major faux pas.

  His eyes met the rug, and his hand rubbed the back of his neck uncomfortably. “They died when I was six, shortly after meeting Gavin for the first time. When he heard, he would return as often as possible to help me cope with this life.”

  “I’m sorry about your parents.”

  He met my eyes steadily now. “It was a long time ago, and I’ve had a great support system. Anyway, you all must be exhausted from traveling. I could show you to some empty rooms if you’d like to rest.”

  “I’m good. I’d like to figure out a plan of action before I can relax,” Max said.
/>   “Me too,” Allison chimed in, followed by the others’ nods of agreement.

  “Business it is, then.” Jakob chuckled and led us to one of the seating areas, where we gathered on the couch and loveseat.

  Gavin stood behind me where I sat on the couch next to Sophie. His thumb massaged the back of my neck gently.

  “So Lucy, Gavin mentioned on the phone you were interested in forming an army of Keepers to fight the assassin army your father has amassed. Is this what you’ve come here for?”

  “Well, I don’t expect them on the front lines, but yes, that is exactly what I intended. They have the numbers. I believe we do too. Obviously, they out power us, but human beings are in no way weak.”

  “I completely agree with you, Lucy, but you are asking me to send my house members on a suicide mission. There is too much risk involved.”

  “Isn’t that exactly the same risk Keepers take all the time? Isn’t that the same risk that brought them here in the first place? They all know how dangerous this job is, but they’re here anyway.”

  “But not all of my guys are fighters. I can’t just send them untrained into a war.”

  “No one has asked you to do that.” I shifted my focus. “Max!” I snapped.

  “Yes, ma’am?”

  “Do you want the opportunity to take down my father and his army? Do you want to fight?”

  “Hell yes, Luce!” he answered.

  “Nick?”

  “No doubt.”

  “Brody?”

  “Damn straight, Luce.”

  “Allison?”

  “As long as you don’t get me killed, I’d like a shot at taking them down.”

  I ignored the insult and kept my attention on Jakob’s watchful expression.

  “And Sophie, what about you? Do you want to face off with an army of vampires?”

  I heard her pulse jump erratically and twisted in my seat to see her eyes bulging out of their sockets.

  “Um,” she croaked.

  I chuckled to myself but felt bad. “It’s okay, Soph. It’s not a trick. Just answer the question honestly.”

  “Uh, no. Not really.”

  “Okay. It’s fine, Soph. You don’t have to fight anyone.” Turning my attention back to Jakob, I continued. “You see, I don’t want to force anyone to fight this war, but I want to give them the chance to. This is the opportunity most of them have been waiting for since they’ve joined the Keepers. Don’t sideline them. At least let them decide for themselves.”

  He sighed reluctantly, but his eyes softened. “You’re right. I don’t want to make that decision for them. I don’t like it, but it should be their choice to make. I’ll talk to them.”

  “Good. But we were sort of hoping you might ask the other faction heads to broach the subject with their house members.”

  He shook his head and the corner of his mouth lifted like he thought I was getting greedy now.

  Gavin interjected then. “Jakob. The other houses respect you. They will listen to you. We need you to be the one to ask them for their aid, but we also have another favor.”

  His brows raised in question, so I filled him in. “We’ll help you get back your missing house members, but we also need you to ask the other houses to disband until we can clear this whole mess up. We’re afraid things will only escalate, and Keepers will be a prime target of all Shadowmarked.”

  He laughed without sound. “This is crazy. Our houses will fall to the Shadowmarked if we abandon them.”

  “Let them fall. We can rebuild later, but if you split up the members and have them stay with any remaining friends or family, or in a hotel, they’ll be safe for the time being. And they can still work remotely. Don’t you guys use super secure servers and have your own Keeper database that’s encrypted with the complete library of historical accounts and all that jazz?” I had no idea what I was talking about, and everyone knew it.

  Sophie snorted then blushed when all eyes turned to her. “Something like that, Lucy,” she said like she was speaking to a toddler.

  I narrowed my eyes, but she simply shook her head disapprovingly.

  “You said you’d get my guys back. How do you know where they are?” Jakob intervened.

  “Well, I don’t exactly, but I know they have to be close by.” I explained how we found Arielle and Drew in Moscow and how the assassins passed them off on the local ancients to campaign for their new leader.

  Jakob’s eyes widened in disbelief but immediately turned calculating. “If they are close, I can get my team to track activity, ancient whereabouts, and maybe narrow it down to a few abandoned buildings within the city.”

  “Thank you, Jakob,” Gavin replied. “We appreciate your help.”

  “If you can return my missing team, I’ll owe you anything. It seems we have work to do.” With that, he stood to find the other house members and inform them of the situation.

  I crossed my arms in front of me and touched the bare skin of my arms, exposed by the burn out t-shirt I wore. I looked down and realized I left my jacket in the SUV.

  “I’ll be right back.” Gavin glanced at me in question. “I just want to grab my jacket.”

  Nick elbowed me in the ribs with his good arm but cringed immediately. “Ow. I didn’t think you could get cold.”

  “I’m not. I just like it. It’s the best one I’ve had since my coat got shredded in St. Louis.”

  “That ugly black bomber?” Allison curled her nose in disgust.

  “I’ve seen you hunt in one just like it, only with about fifty more bangle bracelets and too many necklaces to go with it.”

  “Hey, accessories make the outfit, but you wouldn’t know anything about that would you?”

  “Whatever, I’m going. Don’t wait up.”

  “Hold on, Luce. I’ll go with you.” I looked at Max but he shrugged. “Just need to stretch my legs after that car ride.”

  “Well, come on then.”

  We rode the elevator back down to the parking garage in comfortable silence. I almost thought he’d try thanking me for saving his life again but was glad to discover he did only want to walk with me.

  Our boots smacked against the asphalt, echoing off the concrete walls around us as we walked to where the SUV was parked. I retrieved my jacket from the back seat and put it on, pulling my hair free from underneath it. I had just shut the back door when the sound of it closing punctuated the lights dying.

  Pitch black descended on the garage, but before I could question the sudden power outage, a hand shoved me roughly into the wall beyond the car. No human could hit that hard. Instincts kicked in, and I immediately sought Max’s stunned form in the dark.

  “Max, get behind me.”

  “Lucy, what’s happening?”

  “Just a hunch, but I’d say we’re in the middle of the ambush on the Berlin faction.”

  I ushered Max to the front of the vehicle, next to the wall, to put it between him and the enemies. Honing my senses, I felt five, and my eyes adjusted enough for me to see their shadowy movements.

  I charged the first one that closed in on me. It was an assassin who looked like Cleopatra. She wore a long dark tunic and reminded me of Neo when she jumped and came at me feet first, cutting through the space between us like a screwdriver.

  I didn’t have time to dodge the blow when I got caught up on the fender of the car behind me. She sent me sailing over the hood of it, and I smashed into the next car. As I rolled off the minivan, she was waiting. Before I could react, she had me by the arm, twisting painfully.

  I heard a pop and was flung into a pylon. I cried out when I felt the mangled end of rebar poke through my thigh. And then the evil Egyptian goddess was there, pushing my leg until I felt the bar tear through the muscle and punch through the other side.

  In a thick accent that I was actually kind of envious of, she said, “We were not expecting you here.”

  I stared into her dark eyes, watching the blackness bleed into the whites of them, and couldn’t
help the laughter that escaped. “Guess it’s my lucky night.”

  It seemed the one time they weren’t even looking for me, my enemies track me down like they have a little bloodhound DNA in them. Figures they wouldn’t give me a break. But it was a good thing they came while I was here. Five against one. Too easy.

  I saw the other dark forms draw nearer, and I chuckled even more.

  “Silence,” commanded the model-slash-Egyptian queen.

  “Listen, Cleo, I don’t think you’re in any position to make demands.” I stole the First’s words to put it in a way she’d understand.

  Those coal colored eyes lasered in on me, snapping with black fire. She was pissed. She grabbed my wrist and shoved my forearm into another piece of rebar. I cringed but stared numbly at the blood trickling out of the hole in my jacket.

  My favorite jacket.

  “That’s it. Party’s over,” I growled.

  My lips curled over a snarl as my fangs descended. Perfect cheek bones or not, this bitch was dead. My free hand moved like a cobra, reaching out and driving straight under her sternum.

  The surprise on her face barely registered before I squeezed the slimy, beating organ in my fist and she burst into flames. I pulled my hand free before the fire caught it, but I felt the heat behind my eyelids. By the time I opened them, the others were running toward me.

  I wrenched myself free of both bars and whimpered like a kicked puppy.

  When the vampires were only a few feet from me, the sound of an engine roaring to life startled them, and the next thing I knew, a sleek sports car was barreling toward us. They rushed out of the way, but the car only screeched to a stop in the middle of the lane. I used the assassins’ distraction to check on Max.

  “Psst. Max, you still back there?” I whispered as I ducked around the front of the SUV.

  “I’m good. You?”

  “Peachy.”

  I peeked around the vehicle to watch the sports car’s lights flare to life, and saw three balls of fire flash violently before flickering out into the darkness. Gavin stepped out of the car and moved to stand by the hood. I saw him staring intently into the distance and heard the footsteps of the fifth vampire retreating into the street.