When Jimmy stepped out of the dark, Brandon was the first to see him. Seeing Sasha come with him, he instantly exploded with relief. “Thank God.” He left the porch and flung himself into her arms with an overpowering embrace.
He came so fast that Sasha barely noticed him until he was holding her in his arms. She did not care. She accepted his embrace. She kissed him with everything she had.
Jimmy watched them with a full and hearty smile.
Sharlia joined him by the trees. “I am happy to see you again Kalima.” She touched his right hand with her own. “I was not sure that you would make it in time.”
The others behind her gave him no such feeling. Most of them kept their red eyes and glowing in the dark.
Jimmy noticed them and waved. “Howdy everyone.”
Sharlia noticed him and looked back to the others. “Kalima is our friend. He is here to fight with us.” She stood in front of him ready to protect him if she had to. For an instant, she thought that she just might have to do just that. She knew how they all felt for him. He was the black wolf. He was the one that fought against the Walkers. He was the one that betrayed them, but things were now different. They were now the ones fighting against their kind. They joined him, before he ever joined them.
Jason left the porch. “He is a traitor.” He kept his eyes red. He let his fangs show. He prepared for the pounce.
Brandon heard him as he released Sasha’s breath. “He is my friend.” He kept his right hand around her waist. “I stand with him.” He never blinked once. He meant everything he said.
Jason looked at him and winced. He was not sure. He just never would be; he was sure of this much.
Brandon felt Jason’s heart flare. He knew what it meant. He had to be forceful. He had to be strong. After all, he was the leader of this group. Realizing it, he let his eyes flare red. His voice went low. “You will stand with him.” He looked at everyone. “We all will.”
Jason blinked. All of the others bowed their heads.
Brandon nodded. “Good.” He finally blinked.
Jimmy smiled. I knew he was stronger than that. He patted his friend’s back with a slap of an open palm. I’m just happy to see him believing it too.
Brandon let his eyes go. He turned to Jimmy and returned his smile.
Sharlia felt relieved.
“Kalima?” Kenar heard him outside and had to see him. He had to smell him. He had to be with him again. Now that he was there, he felt right again too.
Jimmy saw him and gave him a nod. “Kenar.” He watched Robert come out through the door with him and stop out on to the porch. “Rochie. I’m glad that you all made it.”
“Jimmy.” Robert crossed his arms over his chest.
Jimmy noticed it. He noticed his feelings too. He understood more than he would ever truly know. “I’m glad that everyone is here.” He looked at all of them, one at a time. He did not expect as many to show up like this. He felt happy for it, but at the same time, he was surprised. He felt thankful for it too. “How many have you found?” He needed to know.
Sharlia smiled and turned back to him. “Several of the Gorhans have joined us—thanks to Brandon.” She nodded to him and Sasha.
Jimmy turned to him with a bemused look on his face. “You? Brandon? Wow!” he chuckled some after saying it.
Brandon shrugged. He even looked like he blushed. It was such a subtle look for him; after all, he was a vampire, so he never truly blushed. His blood was too cold for that.
The look made Jimmy laugh harder.
Sharlia admired the banter but she had other things to discuss. “When do we make our move?” It was time to get to it.
Jimmy turned to her and turned serious all too fast. “I have no idea.” He smiled. He left her and moved to the steps. “Have you been able to contact any other Wanderers?” He went straight to Kenar.
Kenar nodded. “One. We were able to find Sandra.”
Jimmy listened. He knew the name. “She has found herself. Good.” He looked to Robert and then back to Kenar again. Sandra was a powerful Wanderer. He could remember how she could control air. She could force it to move. She could make it do whatever she wanted. She could even crush someone with it if she wanted to. He liked this, but he was also disappointed. “That’s all?” He showed the look on his face.
Kenar shrugged. “It is hard to know yourself, Kalima. You above all others should know this. There are others, but she was the only one that came to us when we called them.” He understood the look. He felt some of it himself.
Jimmy nodded. He did know this. He knew it all too well.
“Maybe they did not want to come.” Sharlia joined Kalima at the front of the porch. This made sense to her. Why would they want to help them? Why would they help Walkers fight other Walkers? Quite frankly, she was surprised to hear that one was coming at all.
Kenar did not agree. “They may not know who they are yet, my lady Sharlia. We Wanderers don’t live like Walkers do. It can take a long time for us to discover the truth about ourselves. It is possible that they just haven’t done that yet.”
Sasha left Brandon and joined the others at the porch. “How many are there, anyway?” She felt like she needed to ask this, so she did.
Kenar smiled to her as she stopped to Jimmy’s right side. “It is so nice to see you again.” He loved Sasha, he always had. She was the purest Walker that he had ever met. She was also the most beautiful one too.
She graciously nodded.
“There are not that many of us. Only a few have ever been born. Only a few have lived long enough to be reborn.”
Sasha did not like hearing this. That just isn’t enough. It made her agree with Sharlia. “It sounds to me that Sharlia is right. That sounds like a lot of people that didn’t come. It sounds to me like there should be more of you. There has to be more that know who they are. The odds would be greater than one.”
Jimmy nodded. He felt torn, so he agreed with both of them, but either way, it just did not seem to matter. “We have to move on with, or without them. We don’t have the choice.”
Kenar agreed.
Robert didn’t, about everything, or so it seemed. “What do we do now?” He dropped his hands back to his sides.
Kenar shook his head. “We have discussed this already Rochie.” In fact, he was starting to feel annoyed—maybe even a little angry too. He just would not let up.
Jimmy understood the question. “We do what we did the last time. We make our move and do it head on.”
Sharlia nodded.
So did Kenar.
Robert sighed. “Won’t he be expecting that?” This was why he wanted to plan ahead. If they did everything like they had before, wouldn’t Devish be prepared for it? It made sense. He just did not understand doing anything else.
Jimmy nodded. “I understand that Rochie, I really do, but we have to do it. We have to keep to the past.”
Again, Robert felt like his head was about to explode. “Why? Why Jimmy? You have to tell me why.”
Jimmy nodded, and turned back to Sharlia and then back to Robert again. “I know that none of you understand this, and I know how frustrating that can be for all of you, but you all have to trust me on this. You have to trust me.”
Kenar understood all of it. He might not be able to read his thoughts, but right then, he did see something more from his friend. He felt his confidence. He felt his strength. It told him that he knew what he was doing, and this was good enough for him. “He’s right Rochie. He has his plan, and we should trust him with it.”
Robert shrugged again. “I’m not sure if we should.” He felt the bitterness ooze out of his mouth like venom, and only after hearing it, did he regret saying it. He actually hated himself for it too. “I’m sorry Jimmy. I didn’t mean that.” He bowed his head. He felt the sudden need not to look him in the eyes. It hurt that much.
Jimmy walked up the two steps and stopped in front of him. “Rochie, Robert, you have asked me to trust you in the pa
st, and I did even though I didn’t like it.” He reached out and patted his right arm with his left hand. “All I’m asking from you is time. I need time to do what I have to do. You owe me that much.”
Robert nodded with this. “That sounds very familiar.” He looked up. He was right. Kalima said the same thing, all of those centuries ago. Realizing this, he did smile some.
Jimmy shrugged. “I need you to do it again.” He pouted some with a small smile crossing his face.
He looked almost childish in his eyes, and it made Robert smile harder. “All right. We will give you time, and then strike them head on.” He pouted again as he looked back to Kenar.
Now it was Sharlia’s turn to grow doubtful about all of this. “If we are going to hit them head on like you did before, we do not have enough people to do it. Devish is going to have all of the families with him. We are going to be outnumbered.” She looked at each of them in turn. “We will lose this fight if we do hit them like you plan. We will not have the chance.”
They all matched her look. Some of them even gasped. She was right of course, and they all knew it.
All did except for Jimmy of course. He could only give her a nod. “I have that taken care of. You will not be outnumbered.” He looked at each of them and finished back on her.
They all felt surprised by this. None of them truly understood him at all.
Kenar was the first to ask. “What are you talking about Kalima? How have you taken care of it?”
Jimmy just shrugged again. “I can’t tell you, but you will not be alone. Again, I’m going to have to ask you to trust me on this.” He again looked at everyone, but this time ended his stare on Kenar.
Kenar again felt his strength. He felt his confidence and with it, he did understand. Whatever he was planning, he could not tell them. He had to keep those plans from Devish, and in doing so, he had to keep it from them first. “I will.” He looked to Sharlia and then back to Rochie. “I will trust him.” He looked back to Kalima. “I trust Kalima.” He nodded to him with a smile.
Jimmy returned it, fully and pure.
Again, Robert did not agree, not fully anyway, but again, he did not have the choice. He sort of understood why he was doing this, but also knew that he did not have to like it. He just had to go along for the ride. “Okay.” He dropped his arms to his side. “We play it your way.”
Feeling that everything had been discussed, Kenar turned to the entire group. “We should all get some rest. Sandra should be coming tomorrow and when she does, we’ll be ready.”
Jimmy agreed.
Sharlia understood, but as for her, vampires required very little rest, especially after just feeding. She and her like would have other things to do. “We will guard the cabin. We are in no mood to sleep.”
Jimmy agreed.
Sasha and Brandon followed Jimmy inside the cabin. Robert and Kenar joined them, and they closed the door. The place had four bedrooms, so they split them up to their respective rooms, and each readied themselves for the day, and the night that was yet to come.
23
Devish went inside his home. He found it just as he remembered it. The main entrance stood large and imposing, at least three stories high. The stoned walls sparkled with the glow of torches that lined the walls. A single massive wooden staircase stood just beyond the front door. At the top of it was an equally massive balcony that wrapped around all four of the walls. A large crystal chandelier came down to the bottom of the balcony and hung high over his head. The fire from the torches sparkled in the crystals and that made twinkles in his eyes that made him see gems dancing along the walls. It was just a beautiful sight.
His chambers were on the second floor, so he climbed the staircase and moved to his rooms. He went inside just off the left of the main hall. There inside the room and alone, he found himself swept up with every emotion he ever had. He found himself indulged in the past. It truly did feel like home.
He moved towards the far tall oval window that looked outside and stopped in front of it. He looked out and could see the large and tall wall that surrounded his castle. Out beyond that wall was the side of the hill that the wall was a part of, and from there, he saw the moon hanging low over the hill. The light from it crossed his face and caressed his mind.
“The time will come soon. Soon, I will have what I want.” He looked at the light caressing the top of the wall. “So much pain, so much hurt has happened beneath that moon.” The moon was half-full. Around it, its aura sparkled as bright as the sun. He saw it and suddenly felt odd. He felt half-empty. “How I wish you would just give me what is mine?” He thought of Kalima. He thought back to the time when they stood as one.
When he first saw him, he knew instantly who he was and what he could give him and it rocked his mind. The ideas seemed endless. They felt long, and yet, they made him feel complete. “Oh the things we could do together.”
He could remember the fire. He could remember him walking out of the darkness and into the light. He looked magnificent, seeing him like that.
“Do you know who you are Kalima? Do you know what you are?” he asked him. His eyes felt large and full, and they were.
“I know what I am. I know what I can do.” Kalima looked hesitant. He felt afraid, but at the same time, he did not.
For him, he felt more than right. “You never knew your mother. You never knew your father, did you?” He could see it in his eyes. He could see the wolf. He could see his father’s eyes shining back at his.
Kalima kept himself calm. “I know that they were different. I know that my mother mourned his passing. I know who he was.”
Hearing this, Devish moaned some. He was sure that he did not. “Your father was also mine.”
Kalima did not once blink.
He admired him for that. “We are brothers Kalima. We are of the same blood.”
Kalima nodded. His stare stayed firm.
He looked more powerful than he could have ever believed. If he had not seen him like this, he would have never believed it himself. “You have a very unique gift. Together, we can change the tide of this world. We can make it right again.”
“You have told me that Jameson attacked my wife. He killed her. He took Sima from me.” Kalima turned to the flames. He seemed to stare in them for hours. In fact, he did as he continued. “What I wish from you Devish is I want to know why? Why did he destroy my life?”
This was so easy for him to answer that it almost made him laugh. In fact, he did some anyway. He just tried to hide it and failed. “Humans are afraid of you my brother. They fear what they do not understand.” He moved to him, but kept it at one single step. “You already know this. You have seen that fear before with your very own eyes.”
Kalima crossed his arms over his chest. He nodded softly. “Yes. My human parents lived in a small village when I was young. Walkers attacked us, and I turned. They feared me after that.”
Hearing all of this made him smile. “The fear is the same. They hate what they do not understand. They fear you for the animal in which you are.”
Kalima turned back to him and dropped his arms back to his sides. “Yes, I know.”
This was his chance to get what he wanted, and he took it before it vanished again. “Join me and together we can end their menace to this world. Together, the sons of Satar can destroy them once and for all.”
Kalima did nod. He did agree. He did stand with him.
For years, everything happened as he saw it would. They forced the humans to their knees. He forced them to near extinction, but then, everything changed. His brother turned against him. He turned against his very own blood.
“Why? Why did he turn against me?” The memories turned cold once again. “Father gave you an overwhelmingly special gift. Why could you not join me? Why do you make us suffer as this?”
He turned from the window and felt him in the room. The memories of him standing there with him felt like it was just yesterday. It felt sooner than this. “I must s
peak with him. I can feel him close by me. I can feel him here.” He looked back to the window and saw the moon. “If I can make him understand the truth—if I can convince him of it, he would stand with me again.” He decided. He would give him one more chance to do what he knew must be done. He would give him the chance to set things right.
He turned and headed back to the door and left his room. He left the front door of his home and quickly headed outside.
Once clear of the wall, he let the bat come out, and with it, he changed.
His fingers grew out forming into two large and strong wings. His chest heaved and formed into a short oval shape. His mouth slid into narrow slits. His nose formed up. His ears turned tall. Within seconds, a huge two hundred pound bat flapped his wings. He jumped up into the air and flew off to him.
24
Jimmy could not sleep. He could not even bring himself to lie down, so he just stood by the window and looked outside. The moonlight flared to the tops of the trees, and he watched as the branches swayed some within the wind. Within seconds, he was there.
He saw himself standing in the room. He saw the torches burn. He saw himself standing in the castle and talking with him. He saw Devish turn to him and nod.
“You are my brother Kalima. You are a part of me. You are a part of us.”
He felt his mouth grow dry. He felt his heart skip several beats. He of course already knew the truth. “I knew my parents. I know what you did.”
“I did what had to be done. They left me no choice.” Devish’s face went pale. He looked normal standing there in his human shape. His costume was well in place.
“Why? Why did you do it?”
“Our father fell in love with a human. He violated everything we are. He gave his life for her.” Devish looked down. He bowed his head. He truly felt ashamed, but he was also angry. He could feel him tense up.
He saw this, and felt it as plain as day. “Why? Why would you do that?” He felt shame some himself. Not entirely for what happened, or what was said, but more fore what happened to them. Devish had already told him about it even without saying it. He hated him for it and did not share that fear.
A Werewolf's Saga Books 4, 5, & 6 (A Werewolf's Saga Boxed Sets Book 2) Page 54