by Janie Marie
“She should feel guilty. This is unacceptable.”
“Have you ever seen her stare at nothing?” Dagonet asked softly.
Jason frowned and looked back out the window. “What does that have to do with anything?”
“Just humor me, because I have.” He inclined his head toward David and Jane. “So has he.”
Jason stared at Jane, remembering all the times he’d notice her zoned out or crying. He’d tried to help in the beginning, but she simply wouldn’t get better. “She’s got a shitty past. She holds onto it and keeps herself sad instead of moving on.”
Dagonet chuckled. “I suppose it seems that way to most who have not experienced significant sadness and horror.”
“She’s not the only person to go through bad things.”
“No. But she is your wife.” Dagonet glanced at him before looking at the road. “Have you been there for her when it consumes her?”
“Yes!” Jason snapped, not knowing why he was letting all of this out in front of this man. “I was a teenage boy, and I suddenly had all this pressure to take care of her. I love her, but she’s not easy to put up with. But that still doesn’t mean this is okay. I haven’t cheated on her.”
“Put up with her, you say. What does that entail?”
“I’m through with this conversation.”
“Have you talked to her—really talked to her? Do you even recall the last time she confided in you? The last time you touched her in a way that displayed love a husband should have for his wife, so she would know it is okay to seek comfort from you?”
Jason sighed. He was done, but Dagonet kept talking anyway.
“In the little time he has known her, David has not put up with her. He has been a pillar of strength and undying love at her side while she’s been separated from you. And I swear to you, they were not lying when they said she’s been through hell. She’s still there, and David is holding her so she doesn’t slip away. Ryder may have played a more active role in pulling her out of the dark, but it is David who has stayed. In the condition I witnessed her in, and what I have heard from others, she is not a woman who has been cared for properly. She does not know what it means to be loved unconditionally because she hasn’t been by you.”
Dagonet pointed to David. “You cannot tell, but he is monitoring her every movement, placing himself where she is vulnerable to attack. You are witnessing true love, yet you put the marriage you failed at as a husband above her heart and happiness. When you put your needs and desires above your wife, you fail her. As a husband, you do not choose when you will be there for your wife or which parts you love about her—you are all in. And you think of her before yourself. Remember that when you watch him put her first.”
“I don’t have to listen to this.”
Dagonet sighed. “No. You do not… But you will remember it.”
David stayed close to Jane’s side as low growls started erupting around them. He made sure he kept himself between her and any opening for a potential attack. She still had a lot to learn.
Several shots suddenly rang out. David raised his rifle and fired along with the others, but the damage had been done.
Jane yelled out and ran to the smoking SUV before he could stop her. He followed as the knights closed in around them, unleashing cover fire. Dread consumed him, hearing the children screaming inside the car.
“Shh… Mommy’s here.” Jane took Natalie out of her seat as Dagonet jumped out to unbuckle Nathan.
David came behind her, relieved to see no one was hurt. Only the tires and engine had been shot.
Jane pulled Natalie out and checked Jason. “Are you hit?”
Jason stared at her without answering, and David knew why; her instincts had revealed what she was to her family.
“Jane, give her to Jason,” David whispered in her ear. “He sees what you are.” Jane looked at him horrified and touched her fangs as Natalie screamed in her face and shoved her little hands against her chest.
David pulled the little girl from her, and as he went to hand her to Jason, Tristan intercepted him. “I can get the baby on the plane.”
David nodded and placed Natalie in Tristan’s arms. Dagonet ran around, and Jane went to embrace her son but held back and covered her mouth, which revealed her fangs as the roar of gunfire made the children cry louder.
“Sweetheart, you need to focus,” David grabbed the sides of Jane’s face. “You are what I’ve made you. You’re like me, baby.” He smoothed her hair back. “We are warriors for good and it’s time to fight. Protect them.” He watched that switch flip in her, the moment she went from doubting and hating herself, to seeing her purpose. Her eyes burned brightly with gold and emerald. “There you are.”
“Jason,” she said, and he let her go. “Follow Dagonet and Tristan. Don’t look back. Get on the plane.”
“Jane, where are you going?” Jason asked, grabbing her wrist.
She smiled, showing her fangs and causing Jason to let go as gunfire burst around them. “I’m going to make sure you get on that plane. Now go.”
Jane ran to David’s side, following him as they rejoined their group. He would rather she’d gone to the plane with her family, but he knew she was a fighter.
“They’re toying with us,” Gawain shouted over his shoulder.
David and Jane began shooting at the tree line and buildings surrounding them. Gawain was right, they were shooting around them, entertaining themselves. David glanced at Jane and bared his fangs as a different possibility for the attack manifested: separate and capture someone from their group. They want Jane.
He wanted to embrace the carnage that would soon surround them, but David couldn’t lose himself to bloodlust. He had to make sure she and her family made it to safety.
Four wolves bursting through the trees broke him from his thoughts.
The knights opened fire, shifting their attack to the threat, and as soon as they did, more wolves poured out of the darkness. The flashing bursts of enemy gunfire made it nearly impossible to make out anything: the wolves were not alone.
Thanks to the knights’ silver ammunition, the werewolves dropped much quicker than they had during their previous fights, but there were still too many charging in.
David took his eyes off his targets to check on Jane. She was focused, darting her eyes around frantically, but he could see she desperately tried to keep her sights on Dagonet and Tristan.
“Let’s go,” Arthur said, and they took off.
David unsheathed his sword and ran out in front of Jane when she didn’t notice three wolves coming directly at her. He wasn’t letting them get close to her. Not this time. He cut them down, smiling when she didn’t hesitate moving closer to Jason and the men carrying her screaming children while never ceasing her assault.
That’s my girl, he thought, briefly smiling before turning to attack more coming their way.
Jason had already known something was off about Jane’s companions, and though he’d been shocked by her behavior at their home, he hadn’t feared her. That all changed when she got Natalie out of the car.
The angles of her face had sharpened, and she had fangs pressed against her lips. They had been telling the truth about her: she was dangerous. She was a monster.
It scared him to think of what she could do, but her deadly features were nothing compared to the beasts running at them now.
These things were moving too fast to make out what they were exactly, but he knew they were out to kill them. The fact the intimidating men he traveled with were no longer casual with their killings—as they’d been with the zombies—Jason knew they were in trouble.
He ran around a car and looked behind him to see Jane. She was not the same. Curing her was not all they’d done to her. He barely recognized her now with the wicked grin touching the corners of her mouth as she fired her rifle.
Unlike the soldiers, whose eyes all paled in color, hers were vibrant and constantly changing color. She hissed, baring her fa
ngs as she shot and killed a huge beast.
Jason’s heart plummeted. His wife was a vampire.
Her roaring voice made him realize he’d stopped running. “Jason, fucking go!”
He needed to get away from her—from these men. He stared at her deadly gaze for a moment, and then at David who fought close by her. He swung a huge sword with so much force entire torsos and heads were sent flying through the air.
Jason had never seen a man so powerful before. Movies with all their magic were no comparison to the beings darting around him, especially David. He had the strength and speed of a god. They all did. Jason could barely keep up with their movements. Even Jane moved like a lethal feline as she pulled her gun and fired multiple rounds with expert precision before swiftly exchanging her weapon for a sword he hadn’t noticed she had.
Jason stumbled, falling over something. He scrambled off the hairy creature twitching as it died below him. “What the fuck?” he shouted, staring into the black eyes of a wolf-like head. “A werewolf?”
“HURRY!” Jason looked up at Dagonet’s yell and watched as the man fired several shots before turning to leave him there.
Jason stood, and though his mind screamed to run away from Jane, that she was not the woman he married—that she was a monster, he ignored it and followed Dagonet.
Yells and grunts from the soldiers worried him that the monsters he’d chosen to follow were not doing well.
He looked around as he ran, flinching and ducking when flashes of gunfire came from all sides. He spotted Jane again. She still fought next to David, taking on five creatures by herself. Any urge to run to her aid vanished as he watched David reach out with his hand to rip the jaws from two werewolves in front of him.
His wife didn’t look to be in much trouble anyway. Her own battle cry, sounding more beast than human, and the perfect way in which she handled the sword proved she did not need him. Her blade cut whatever was available to her: arms, necks, legs.
Jason looked ahead, relieved when the plane came into view. He ran through a gate. They were almost there, but they still had to cut across the airfield, and more attackers were joining the battle.
At first, Jason couldn’t make out these new figures, but he knew these were not werewolves. In fact, he would guess they moved almost exactly like Jane and the team of soldiers. More vampires.
Orders and shouts were all around him, but he didn’t understand any of them. Some of the men had started to help others who were bleeding. His rescuers were losing.
Jason pushed himself, running faster and breathing easier when he noticed Tristan had reached the plane with Natalie still in his arms.
“NATHAN!” Jane’s scream turned his blood cold.
David turned, his eyes widening at what he saw. “Run, Jane!”
She shook her head as tears fell down her cheeks, and she shouted, “Help them!”
Before David could argue with her, an enormous blast sounded, and a hue of blue light shot out of her outstretched hands.
He smiled as he watched her arms shake with the power she still held out. “Hold on to it, baby… Just keep running—I’ll guide you.”
She didn’t respond to him; her bright eyes stayed glued to the mayhem behind them. He grabbed her by the waist of her pants and tugged, guiding her so she could concentrate on what she was doing. Any who had already made it past her invisible wall became the focus of his injured team, but he continued leading Jane, still cutting down any that tried to come close.
“Nathan.” Her strained whisper seemed to be the only thing he could hear in all the mayhem. He turned his head to look in the direction where they’d been looking before she used her attack.
There, he saw Dagonet on his knees, still holding a screaming Nathan.
“No!” Jane screamed out in horror. “David, help him.”
David was hesitant about leaving her, but he raced to Dagonet anyway. Arthur and Gawain were already surrounding him to take out the shooters.
Gawain let out a shout of pain but didn’t let up his attack.
David knelt down and looked to see Jason running up beside him. He looked back at Dagonet and turned him to his back, afraid to see the condition of the little boy.
Both he and Jason let out a breath upon seeing Nathan safe. But silvery liquid leaking out of the large holes in Dagonet’s body filled David’s heart with sorrow.
Nathan cried and Jason quickly pulled him from Dagonet’s protective grip.
“Hang on,” David told Dagonet. “I’ll get you to the plane.” He tried applying pressure, but there were too many wounds to cover. The dried grass already looked to be soaked in inky blood.
Dagonet shook his head. “I will not make it, my prince. Get the boy to the plane. Do not let her lose them.”
David held his friend’s bloody hand and nodded to Dagonet as he smiled up at him. His inky eyes faded to a crystal blue suddenly, startling David, until a serene smile formed on Dagonet’s lips.
Nathan stared down at his savior. “Dragony?”
“Be a good boy, Nathan,” said Dagonet. “I’m okay. Be a good boy. Be brave for your mother.”
David squeezed his hand and watched his friend’s body stiffen, and his now visible pupils dilated so much that they covered his eyes in black once more. He was gone.
David sighed and looked to find Jane’s arms trembling under the strain of her power as she held a protective wall around them. He looked to the other side and watched the hundreds of cursed vampires and werewolves who had united to kill them.
Hazel eyes met his, and he watched blood drip from Jane’s nose. He knew she wanted him to ensure Nathan’s safety now. So, he turned away from his love and held his hands out for her son. “Give him here and start running.” Jason looked at him with hate, but David wasn’t in the mood. He took Nathan as carefully as possible. “Run. She won’t last much longer. Go before we’re all killed.”
Jason looked to his son but took off toward the plane. David pulled Nathan tight and looked to see Gawain and Arthur guarding Jane now. The knights had pulled in around her decreasing shield.
Lucan knelt beside Dagonet. “Damn,” he said.
“Take his body,” David told him. “We won’t leave him.”
Lucan nodded and hoisted their fallen comrade onto his shoulders before running off. David turned back to Jane. Her sad eyes met his, and she nodded, telling him to leave her. It went against everything in him, but he held Nathan and turned to head for the safety of the plane.
“Did David make it to the plane?” Jane shouted, not daring to turn her head to look at anyone, afraid of seeing something that would destroy her soul.
“Not yet, Jane,” said Kay. “He will.”
She nodded and felt more blood dripping from her nose. “I can’t hold it. Go without me.”
“You can hold it.” Arthur snapped, grabbing her belt loop.
“Don’t touch me yet!” She screamed. He let go. “I can’t hold it.”
She gasped when dozens of the werewolves and vampires started pressing against her wall. They were holding up the deceased bodies of their own army of monsters to use as shields. They then started beating at the barrier, making her arms nearly give out with each blow.
She screamed out, pushing more energy into her wall. “YOU HAVE TO GO!”
David spotted the guards at the door of the plane. They were helping Jason, who was now limping and clutching a shoulder. He’d made it, though, and David watched Jason quickly moving to a screaming Natalie who Tristan had been holding back.
Two blurs of white fur bolted out of the plane, and David realized Jane’s dogs had escaped their kennels and were now running in her direction.
He stopped, turning his head to look, hoping they wouldn’t distract her but a sharp pain pierced his shoulder before he could turn all the way. He grunted and pulled Nathan against him, forgetting the dogs. He felt more shots tear through the muscles in his back. He didn’t want to frighten Nathan, so he gritted his teet
h and started running again.
The fiery pain that spread out from each hit made it clear to him that he was in serious trouble.
Roaring as pain exploded across his side again, he glanced down at the pair of brown eyes staring up at him.
The guards opened fire to cover him, but David knew already it was too late for him. He’d been shot more than Dagonet. His insides were burning from the silver. “I’ve got you, little man,” David said, feeling the little boy shaking against him. “Close your eyes.”
Energy left his body quickly and he nearly collapsed from the pain and blood loss. He had to make sure Nathan was safe, though. He had to do this for Jane. She trusted him to keep her child safe. If he died, he would do it for her.
“Spooky five miles out…” Jane heard the strange words echo through Arthur’s earpiece.
“Affirm,” said Arthur.
The roar of gunfire and thunder broke up the rest of his message.
“Proceed… Red smoke… Close…”
“Arthur?” Jane yelled.
She heard him say more, but she didn’t understand him. Her attention shifted to the blinding red flares the knights began to throw toward her barrier.
“I CAN’T HOLD IT!”
David stumbled but kept Nathan shielded as he got shot again. He roared out his pain but refused to let the little boy receive the same fate he was sure to have.
Blurry shapes and light were all he could see now until a hand reached out for him. “Come on. Stand up you bastard.”
David opened his tired eyes and if he had the strength, he would have said something to his rival.
Jason tugged, wincing from whatever injury he himself had sustained. “I should leave you,” Jason said, struggling with him for those last five steps up the ramp and into the plane.
David didn’t have the energy to reply and was relieved when he felt his body being lowered onto the floor of the plane.
He blinked at the blinding light overhead and felt Nathan being removed from his grip.
“Where’s Jane?” David asked.