Abigail’s body struck the far wall with a sick thud. She crumpled to the floor and didn’t move. As fast as Jack could process the event, he was grabbed around his throat. Panic immediately set in as the skin burned. His lungs were working overtime to try to send oxygen to his brain, but the supply was quickly fading.
Jack was lifted into the air by the attacker in black. A pale face he didn’t recognize sneered at him. “You humans will bow under the power of The Legion, or die.”
Jack’s vision was beginning to blur as he fought against the steel-like grip of his attacker. His magical store had been tapped dry. Bright dots were exploding across the scene in front of him as he lost consciousness.
Chapter Thirty-Six
Sloan
All through the night and into the following day, Sloan and Ashley aided families in readying for their journey to Term. Neither woman was comfortable with the task, but both understood that right now this was where they could help the most.
Swords sheathed, vampire super soldier and the undead woman aided residents in packing, loading, and even held children while their parents got their belongings together. The staging area for the departure was the road leading out from the west side of Term. Most of the town had accepted the call to flee. Only a few of the most stubborn remained behind.
Sloan hadn’t eaten or slept all day, and neither had she felt the need to. The changes still happening to her body so far were ones she could live with. Sloan’s mind was already running wild with the idea of how much she could accomplish if she didn’t have to sleep.
“Kristen! Kristen!” a man in his mid-thirties called after his young daughter as she ran over to Sloan, brown eyes large. “Leave the nice lady alone, Kristen.”
“Are you a fighter? A real-life warrior?” The girl ignored her father, looking up at Sloan with awe. “Everyone says you’re going to protect us. Well, after they said that you’re the reason we all have to go.”
Sloan squatted down. She still wasn’t eye level with the girl. “I’m going to make sure you and your dad have enough time to get to Azra, where you’ll be safe.”
“I’m sorry.” Kristen’s father ran up to his daughter and lifted her into his arms. “I don’t know where she gets some of these ideas.”
Sloan was about to respond with a sarcastic response, when Kimberly’s booming voice filled the staging area. “All right, humans, gargoyles, shifters, and other members of the paranormal race, we’re heading to Azra. I have runners already informing the city of our arrival. My men and I will act as our caravan’s guards. If we push hard, we’ll reach Azra in four, maybe five, days’ time.”
Sloan took a moment to gauge the gathered groups’ reaction to Kimberly’s words. There were more people making the pilgrimage than Sloan had initially thought. It seemed like the city of Term was surprisingly populated. Families stood side-by-side, squinting in the day’s setting sun. Thick ropes and cords strapped overloaded carts holding everything from desks to rugs. The horses and donkeys harnessed to the carts and wagons pawed at the ground, sensing the nervous energy in the air.
All together, Sloan guessed there were more than a thousand people making the journey to Azra. So many people forced to leave their homes. How many more would find themselves in similar positions when the queen descended on the Outland in force?
Aareth sided up next to Sloan, wrestling her from her thoughts. “Ashley and I are leaving. You should leave, too.”
“I can’t, but I wanted to say I’m sorry.” Sloan forced the words from her mouth. Not because she wasn’t sincere, but because it had been so long since she had apologized to anyone. “You’re right. You deserve to be happy with your wife. You’ve done and sacrificed enough in the name of the crown.”
“You have nothing to apologize for.” Aareth held her gaze, his dark brown eyes searching her own for words that didn’t exist. “I was out of line for bringing up Oliver. I deserved that beating and more. If I thought I could talk you out of staying, I would.”
Sloan nodded along with Aareth’s words. She extended her right hand. “Aareth Emerson, I hope you and your wife find peace.”
Sloan felt Aareth grip her hand, strong but not crushing.
“Edison and Elwood won’t leave with us.” Aareth released Sloan’s hand. “I know your plate is full, but if you can … ?”
“I’ll look out for them.” Sloan nodded to Aareth’s request.
Already a lump was forming in Sloan’s throat. She wasn’t going to cry, but neither could she deny the weight of the moment. Why did she care so much? Aareth and Ashley had done their duty. In a way, Sloan was even happy to see them go. They would be away from all of the killing, from all of the dying.
A rogue idea entered Sloan’s mind as Aareth gave her one last smile and turned to leave. She cared, because he and Ashley were among the few people she could call friends. That was a short list, and seemed to be getting shorter by the day.
Kimberly’s voice droned on as she gave final instructions to the caravan. The words that interrupted Sloan from her train of thought were: “Okay, everyone ready? Let’s move!”
Sloan shook her mind free of friends, found and lost. If she was going to stand a chance against the enemy vampires who would come with the night, then she had to be of one mind, focused and ready to do whatever was needed to survive.
She made her way back through the deserted town. The sun was just lowering past the horizon. In a few hours, night would come. Term had never been the hub of commerce, but it was especially dead now. The handful of people too stubborn to leave had barricaded themselves in their homes.
Sloan hoped they would eventually run, as well, once they realized they had no chance against the vampire soldiers. Like her, like Aareth, that was a choice they had to make for themselves.
Sloan positioned herself in the middle of the main street leading into Term. Her boots kicked up lonely puffs of dirt as she chose where she was going to make a stand. Whether by random coincidence or some underlying subliminal thought, the place she chose was in front of The Shifter.
She pushed back thoughts of Kade. She had looked for him in the gathered crowd, to no avail. He had most likely gone ahead, or she had missed him in the throng. Either way, he was part of her past now, a fond memory and nothing more.
“Well, girl,” Sloan said aloud to herself. “Here we go again.”
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Jack
Jack woke with his head throbbing. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d had a headache this bad. He blinked open his eyes, and the action came with another wave of pain that hammered at his skull. He found himself looking up at a ceiling. A moment later, he realized he was lying face-up on a bed.
The ceiling was chipped and sagging. Memories of the previous night invaded his mind. He remembered the man with the golden eye, the vampire soldiers in black crash through the windows, and then … Abigail.
Jack sat up in his bed so fast, a wave of dizziness made his head swim. While he fought off the pull back to unconsciousness, he realized he wasn’t the only one in the room.
The same man who had dragged them into the house the day before sat in a chair, staring at him. It was the first time Jack had gotten a decent look at the man. He was in his forties, with short, black hair peppered with white and grey. His closely trimmed beard was the same, sprinkled with hints of his age. Two sword hilts the likes Jack had never seen peeked over his shoulders. A holstered pistol sat snug by his hip. He was dressed in all black.
“You’re a tough kid,” the man spoke, still seated in the only other piece of furniture in the room. He leaned back in the chair, lifting the front two legs off the ground. “I thought you were dead by the time I got to you.”
“Abigail?” Her name came out in a rough rasp that burned Jack’s throat. Jack lifted a hand to touch the tender flesh around his neck where he had been grabbed by the vampire soldier.
“She’s fine. She suffered a concussion, but she’s awake and
eating with the others.” The man finally stood, towering over Jack. “My name is Saber Hyde. I’m the leader of The New Order. If Lieutenant Baker sent you here, then you must be important.”
Jack swallowed, immediately regretting the decision to do so as a fiery pain came once more from his throat. The weakness he felt from lack of food sought to reclaim his unconscious state.
“Let’s get you downstairs.” Saber didn’t offer to help Jack. Instead, he stood next to the door, raising the eyebrow over his one good eye. “Some water, and if you can manage it, some food will do you wonders. I remember the first time I was strangled to near death.”
Jack gathered himself for the walk. The simple move from a sitting position to his feet made his head swim again. Jack kept one hand on the uneven wall as he made his way to the door. He didn’t care what he looked like at that moment. He was just concerned about making sure Abigail was all right.
Saber led Jack out into a hall. The two traveled toward an open room where light chatter could be heard. Jack felt a wave of relief; one of the voices was Abigail’s, and she sounded fine.
Jack followed Saber to the end of the hall that emptied out into a large room lined with benches and tables, where a handful of people sat all eating their meals. Jack’s eyes immediately gravitated toward Abigail. She was seated, eating beside an older woman with short hair and a tight smile.
“Jack.” Abigail rose as soon as she saw him. She ran forward and embraced him in a hug so fierce, it nearly knocked him over. “I stayed with you through the night and most of the day, but they insisted I get some food.”
“Most of the day?” Jack cracked through his dry throat.
“Oh, yeah, sorry. There aren’t any windows here; we’re underground at the moment.” Abigail led him to her seat at the bench. She offered Jack a steel mug holding her water. “You’ve been out all night and most of the day.”
Jack accepted the mug, draining the water in one long gulp. The cool liquid felt heavenly. It coursed down his raw throat and splashed into his empty stomach.
“Sasha, maybe you can get the kid some more water and something softer to eat?” Saber looked over at the woman. “Please.”
For the first time, Jack noticed the woman’s eyes. They were also an orange gold. Not as pronounced as Saber’s, but enough to make the connection that the two were related.
Sasha rose with a rueful grin, “All right, little brother, but only because you asked so nicely.”
Saber seated himself on the opposite side of Jack, interlacing his hands in front of him. He skewered Jack with his one good eye. A moment passed where Jack felt like the man was measuring him up.
“I’ve already told Abigail all of this, but I want you to hear it from me, as well,” Saber began. There was no kindness in his voice, just cold, hard facts. “Lieutenant Baker managed to get word to me today of your story and commitment to seeing the end to the queen’s reign. I’m willing to give you a chance, but be warned. If I sense anything is off about you at all, I’ll finish the job that vampire soldier started around your neck. Are we understood?”
“Yes,” Jack croaked.
“Good. Then rest and eat for what’s left of the day. The New Order is in need of warriors. We can use a good sorcerer for what is coming.” Saber rose, nodding to Jack. “I’m no wizard myself, but I can train you to use your mind and harness everything you have the potential to become.”
“Thank you,” Abigail voiced what she and Jack were both thinking. “For everything.”
“Don’t thank me yet,” Saber said over his shoulder. “Tomorrow, both of you will begin to train.”
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Aareth
“We’ve been over this.” Aareth tried to control the frustration he felt inside. “She’s staying because she feels like she owes something to the town, like she owes something to herself for allowing herself to be duped by the queen for so long. We don’t owe anyone anything. The only thing we should be worried about is getting your memory back and our lives back on track.”
Brenda gave him that stubborn look she had used so many times before. It was an expression Aareth had come to know well through their years of dating and marriage. It was going to take an act of God to get this woman to budge.
“And your friends, Edison and Elwood?” Brenda crossed her arms over her chest. Another sign she wasn’t going to move any time soon. “You’re going to leave them, as well?”
“I can’t force people to leave.” Aareth did his best to control the volume of his voice. Despite his efforts, the stream of travelers that flowed around them stopped to give the pair of arguing lovebirds a sideways glance. “They have to make their own decisions.”
Aareth turned menacing eyes to the travelers, and he locked stares with a nosy woman who had nearly come to a standstill to listen to the couple. Her mouth was open, eyes large.
“Can I help you with something?” Aareth growled.
“Oh … oh my.” The woman shuffled along.
“You keep telling me that we were in love.” Brenda looked at Aareth with penetrating eyes. “You keep reminding me that my name is Brenda, not Ashley. Somewhere deep I want to believe what you’re saying, but one thing keeps holding me back: How could I have fallen in love with a man so cold, so distant and selfish, he would leave his own friends behind to fight and maybe even die?”
Aareth’s anger was melting, being replaced with confusion, even a hint of shame. Brenda was right. He wasn’t the same man she had fallen in love with so many years before. He was scarred, tainted by the world now. He had been chewed up and spit out, and he wasn’t better for it.
The last of Term’s travelers passed by the two, chancing sideways glances at them from the corners of their eyes. The very last rays of the sun were just dying over the horizon.
Brenda shook her head at Aareth. “I’m going back to help her. I can’t tell you what to do, just like you can’t tell them. This is my choice. I may not have a heart, but I have a head, and it’s telling me I need to go back.”
Without another word, Brenda pivoted on her heel. She began the long walk back to Term.
“Brenda!” Aareth called after her, feeling so many emotions he didn’t know which one to give priority to first. “Come on, don’t go. Don’t leave me. I can’t lose you again.”
“My name’s Ashley now.” She turned back to Aareth for a brief moment before she continued to move forward. “And I’m not leaving you. I’m inviting you to come with me, back to save our friends. You’re the one leaving me this time.”
Ashley walked on with a hint of sadness on her face.
Aareth sunk to his knees alone on the road between Azra and Term.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Sloan
“Seriously, I appreciate the sentiment, but you two can’t be here.” Sloan looked over at Edison and Elwood in the last rays of the dying daylight. “They’ll be here soon. They may be here already.”
Elwood shook his plump gnome head. Edison’s tiny helper was clad in armor—actual steel armor. Where they had found a metal suit for his small frame, Sloan had no idea. More than likely the gnome had conjured it himself using his magical abilities. Along with the armor, Elwood held a double-bladed axe that looked so large in his small hands, it might very well topple him over.
The gnome looked at Sloan with solemn eyes and shook his head.
“I’m sorry, I’m going to have to agree with Elwood on this one.” Edison looked at Sloan through the wire mask he wore.
Edison, unlike Elwood, did not have the luxury of wearing a steel suit to battle. The inventor had to settle for gear he had found at Kimberly’s estate. Lucky for him, the gargoyle was a sports and fitness fanatic. Edison was wearing the mask an umpire would wear to a baseball game. Shoulder pads, kneepads, and a torso piece that covered him from neck to shins completed the outfit. The brown leather of the cushioned pad covering most of Edison’s body was ribbed, making him look like a giant roly-poly bug.
Sloan was torn at the moment. Above anything else, she was grateful to have friends willing to stand with her at the last moment. She was also unwilling to see them in harm’s way.
“They’re going to come fast.” Sloan smiled sadly at her friends. “You don’t have the healing ability that I do, nor the experience needed to survive what’s coming. I can’t let you do this.”
Elwood spat out a phrase of high-pitched gibberish, placing his axe over his shoulder.
“Elwood says that’s not your decision.” Edison looked down at his gun. “Besides, we’re more than capable of taking care of ourselves. Don’t let our stunning good looks fool you. In fact, I’m pretty sure I’m going to be able to do some damage with my latest invention. I call it a Repeating Rifle. It can hold eight rounds at once, and what’s more, it can—”
As gently as Sloan could, she caught Edison across the jaw with a right cross. Edison stumbled, mumbling something, and fell to the ground, unconscious.
“Come on.” Sloan grabbed a surprised Elwood by the back of his armor. With her other hand, she hefted Edison’s still form from the ground. “No one else is dying because of me.”
Sloan ran with both the unconscious inventor and the struggling gnome back to Kimberly’s estate. The house was silent as she entered the front room and made for the cellar.
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