by R. D. Brady
Gerard studied this earlier version of himself; he was confident, his back straight, his eyes focused. He was darker in this first incarnation, both in eyes and hair. But his face was much the same.
Then all the men turned, and Gerard saw one man standing higher than the others. He walked quickly forward to get a better view, realizing he could walk right through the men without them sensing him. When he reached the center of the group, he came to a dead stop.
Samyaza stood atop a rock. The jolt of recognition nearly dropped Gerard. He was so used to seeing Samyaza as Elisabeta that he had forgotten how powerful he had once been. His shoulders were broad. His long blond hair was twisted into a braid that ran halfway down his back. His eyes scanned the crowd, looking for deception, danger. This was the Samyaza who had convinced them all to fall.
And while Samyaza was their leader, the man to his right was without a doubt his primary weapon. Azazyel. Even though Samyaza stood on a rock, the man next to him was almost his height. He towered above the others, giving the impression of strength and violence. Where the rest of the men wore loose-fitting tunics, Azazyel wore metal and held a large spear in his hands. And even though he was surrounded by his brothers, his eyes constantly scanned for threats. His blond hair and bright blue eyes did nothing to soften his expression.
Gerard examined the two men. He had forgotten how alike in appearance they had been.
Samyaza began to speak. “We have been loyal soldiers. Always following orders, never demanding anything for ourselves.” He cast his hand down the mountain. “But look at these humans. They love, hate, cry, laugh. They choose for themselves what to do with their lives. They are not controlled. They have wives and children.”
His brothers gazed around uneasily, but more than one nodded his head in agreement. Gerard remembered how enamored he himself had been of the humans. Their lives were filled with ups and downs, and they pushed through all of it. But the most shocking part of their lives had been their joy. They found joy in the most simple of things. The laugh of a child. The first flower of spring. He remembered wondering how on earth that was possible.
Samyaza looked intently around the group, trying, it seemed, to pin down each of the two hundred with his gaze. “It is our turn for that freedom. It is our turn to enjoy the spoils of this planet. It is our turn to have children and family. We are owed this.”
Gerard knew what came next: the pledge. He leaned forward, eager to hear the exchange again. But the vision disappeared.
No! Gerard screamed, but he knew that no sound left his lips. He felt like he was falling, the gray sky around him swirling in anger. Once again, he crashed to the ground, but this time a jolt shuddered through his knees at the impact.
As he closed his eyes against the pain, he felt sun on his face. He opened his eyes again in confusion. He was in a field covered in tall grasses. The sun was high in the sky, and it was warm. Birds flew overhead and he could hear a river somewhere nearby.
Getting to his feet, he looked around at the empty hillside. Soon his eyes picked up matted grass, indicating a well-worn path. He followed it, not sure where he was heading. But somewhere in the back of his mind he knew he’d been to this place before. That it had once meant something to him.
A child’s laugh cut through the air, and Gerard went still. Another child’s giggle answered it. Fear pierced Gerard, but he didn’t know why. Frantic, he scrambled to the top of the hill. Spread out on the other side lay a small village. There looked to be about a dozen tents, with livestock penned close to a quiet river. Without looking, he knew the pens held goats and pigs.
At the base of the hill, two children played—a girl and a boy, six years old.
Twins, he knew in his heart.
The girl, Arya, caught the boy in a hug. “Got you!”
Peter turned to her with a pout. “I let you catch me.” Soon, though, the pout disappeared with a smile. Peter pointed to the sky. “Look, a falcon!”
The two children looked up, offering Gerard the first glimpse of their faces.
For the third time, Gerard stumbled to his knees. He knew these children. Grief threatened to overwhelm him.
They are mine.
CHAPTER 58
Las Vegas, Nevada
Laney stared at Drake. He wouldn’t tell them where the tree of life was located. “What? Why not?”
Drake resumed his seat. “I can’t just hand over that information willy-nilly. There’s a reason we protect the tree.”
Ralph stepped forward. “It’s in danger. If the Fallen reach it, they’ll use it to become immortal.”
Drake shrugged. “Not seeing how that’s my problem.”
“Think of the destruction they’ll rain down,” Laney said. “They’ll enslave everyone!”
“Not me,” Drake said. “Besides, I never really understood why their punishment was so harsh. So they wanted to diddle a couple of humans. Who doesn’t? An eternity of damnation seems a bit harsh.”
“But it wasn’t just that they wanted to sleep with women. It was the evil they brought into the world. The violence, the death,” Laney said.
Drake raised an eyebrow. “Oh, they brought death into the world, did they?”
Laney paused and looked at Ralph, whose jaw was tight. “Why do I think I’m missing something?”
“Because you are, my dear. Because you are.” Drake stood up. “Well, I’m famished. How about we go get a bite to eat?”
Laney stared at him, incredulous. The Fallen were after immortality, and Drake wanted to grab a burger? She stepped forward.
Ralph grabbed her arm and shook his head. “I could stand a bite to eat as well.”
Laney threw up her hands. “Great. Let’s eat.”
Laney and Ralph rode with Drake in his Maybach. Laney had tried to take the back seat, but Drake had insisted she ride up front with him. Laney was pretty sure it was so he could check out her legs—which only made her more aware of them. She struggled not to move them.
Which she was pretty sure Drake was also aware of.
Outside the Illustra, the Strip was lit up like a Christmas tree. They drove slowly by Harrods, Paris, little kiosks, vendors selling half-price shows, and a never-slowing tide of tourists.
Laney expected Drake to pull into one of the high-end hotels; she figured he’d be the type to go top drawer. But in a few minutes they had left the Strip behind and were heading into the Las Vegas that not many tourists ever bothered visiting.
“Where are we going?” Laney asked.
“My favorite place,” Drake answered.
Ralph sighed loudly from the back.
Buildings appeared farther and farther apart as they drove, eventually giving way to open desert. They drove along in silence for another few minutes before lights appeared on the horizon. A couple of loud Harleys came up on them from behind, then sped past toward the first building Laney had seen for miles.
Laney closed her eyes as dread filled her. Please tell me he’s kidding.
Drake pulled to a stop about twenty feet from the building. It wasn’t really a parking lot so much as dirt that people parked on.
Laney stared at the ramshackle building with its long porch, faded cedar shingles, and, most notably, over three dozen motorcycles parked around it. At least a dozen bikers of various shapes, sizes, and ages stood along the porch. They all turned when Drake parked.
Laney turned to Drake. “This is your favorite place?”
Drake grinned. “Sure is. Of course, I’ve been banned for fifteen years. But hopefully they’ve forgotten by now.”
Laney shook her head and closed her eyes. Oh, crap.
Drake got out of the car, and Laney did the same, taking a moment to pull down her dress, which had crept up in the car. Ralph stood protectively behind her.
Without a word, Laney and Ralph followed Drake.
Laney would have liked to have said that Drake walked up the stairs, but the truth was that it was a more of a sashay, his hips swinging
from side to side. It was made even worse by his leather pants and his unbuttoned black shirt.
Laney rolled her eyes. “Is he trying to get us killed?” she muttered to Ralph.
“Probably,” Ralph said with a frown.
The bikers on the porch stared daggers at Drake. Drake gave them all a jaunty wave and pulled open the door. He held it open, bowing low. “Ladies first.”
Laney grimaced and stepped through the door. The moment she did, she felt every eye in the place on her. It was so abrupt she wouldn’t have been surprised if the music had screeched to a halt like in some bad movie.
Drake stepped up next to her. She gritted her teeth and looked over at him. “I hate you.”
He grasped her arm, leading her forward. “That is unfortunate, because you’re really beginning to grow on me.”
He led them over to a vacant table with two chairs, squeezed between four other tables packed with very large occupants. Drake wiped off a chair and held it out for Laney. “My lady.”
Laney shook her head and took the seat. Ralph took the other one. Laney leaned over to him. “Why didn’t he just cartwheel in and then jump on the tables? It would have been less obvious.”
“Oh, it’ll get worse,” Ralph warned. “Just be ready.”
Drake made his way across the room. “May I borrow this chair?” he asked a man at another table.
A biker with a leather vest and black hair in two long braids glared at him.
“I’ll take that as a yes.” Drake picked up the chair and carried it above his head across the space. With a flourish, he dropped it in place and took a seat. “So, what’s everyone hungry for?”
Laney noted the sticky floor, the scarred tables, and the bartender with the long gray beard and bandana. “Um, somehow I don’t seem to have much of an appetite.”
The bartender stared at the three of them for a moment, then stiffened and reached under the bar. He pulled out a baseball bat, then walked around the bar and headed for their table.
“Um, Drake, I think we should go,” Laney said.
Drake waved her off. “Nonsense. We just got here.”
A group of six guys fell in line behind the bartender as he made his way over. Laney quietly slipped her heels off under the table. “Drake, I think the bartender remembers you.”
Drake looked over and then stood, a giant grin on his face. “Mouse. It’s great to see you. How’s your sister?”
Mouse swung the bat at Drake’s head.
CHAPTER 59
Gerard stared down the hill at his son and daughter; the memories of that long-ago life crashed into him. He gulped in air, feeling weak.
He jerked his head up as a woman called out to the children.
He stared at her—her long brown hair, her tanned complexion. And even though he could not see them from here, he could picture her pale blue eyes.
Kyra.
The image disappeared, and the swirling gray reappeared. A longing coursed through him, so deep it felt like it incorporated the depth of the world. How could I have forgotten them?
But then the gray that had enveloped him quickly disappeared. It was night, in the same village. But now the village was ablaze. People screamed in terror. Gerard got to his feet on trembling legs even though he knew that no one could see him and he would be unable to help.
He flew down the hill toward the river. Bodies burned in their tents; others were strewn across the pathways. He dodged them, feeling sick. He had known these people. He had cared about these people. He ran to the river’s edge.
A group of six warriors stood there; in front of them a man was on his knees, cradling two small, unmoving bodies to his chest. Gerard’s heart constricted at the sight of Peter and Arya. He glanced at his own face and felt the pain course through him again.
“Why?” Batraal yelled at the warrior towering over him.
Samyaza shook his head with disgust. “They made you weak. They made you vulnerable. Now you have no weakness.”
“You had no right! They were mine! They were…” His voice broke off.
“We did not come here for this.” Samyaza nodded to two of his men, who moved toward Batraal.
Batraal laid the bodies of his dead children on the ground, seized his staff from beside him, and leapt up, his anger barely leashed. “You will not touch them!”
In a blur of movement he had impaled both men through the heart.
Samyaza watched impassively. “This is how it is? You would turn on your own brothers?”
“You killed my family!”
Samyaza scoffed. “We did not come here to play house. We came here to be gods. God commanded humans to be fruitful, to replenish the earth, to subdue it, and to have dominion over every living thing.”
Batraal’s voice rang with anger and disgust. “That was never his command. That was yours. Animals, humans… they lived in peace before we arrived. We destroyed them. We destroyed this world.”
Samyaza narrowed his eyes. “You would deny the Father’s command?”
“We all denied his command! And no, I do not deny his commands now. I deny yours!”
Samyaza narrowed his eyes. “You dare to speak this way to me?”
“I dare it and more.” Rage coursed through Batraal. “We came here for exactly this! You have forgotten why we fell. We came to have families, to live our lives as we chose. I chose them.”
Samyaza adjusted his grip on his sword. “You chose wrong.”
Batraal stepped over his children’s bodies, and for once Samyaza did not intimidate him. All he felt was pure undiluted rage.
He lunged, his fist ramming through Samyaza’s chest. “No. You did.”
CHAPTER 60
Las Vegas, Nevada
Drake ducked out of way of the bat and Laney shoved her chair back as well to avoid getting hit. Unfortunately, she knocked into the man at the table behind her, who was just taking a drink from his beer. It sloshed all over him and one of the other occupants at the table.
“Hey!” he yelled, getting to his feet.
“Uh, sorry,” Laney said. But her words were lost as the men behind Mouse rushed Drake and Ralph.
“Ralph!” Laney yelled. She kicked the back of the legs of the first man she could reach, then yanked him back by the hair. He slammed to the ground, crashing on top of another man. The second man threw him off, but not without first punching him in the face.
And that was it. The whole place erupted.
A man grabbed Laney’s left arm. She reached over with her right hand and twisted the man’s hand at a ninety-degree angle. Then she shoved the man face-first into another table.
She caught a glimpse of her reflection in the mirror and saw a man preparing to throw a hook at the back of her head. She dodged out of the way, twirled under his arm, and landed a punch to his stomach and an open palm to his face. Then she dodged back under his arm, pushed his head away from her, and slammed the heel of her foot into the side of his knee. She slammed her palm underneath his chin, forcing his head back, and he crumpled to the ground.
Another man rushed her, and she unleashed a sidekick that sent him sprawling. Turning, she barely managed to avoid a fist aimed at her face. She stumbled over a bottle on the floor and landed on her butt. A man reached down for her, so she fell onto her back and kicked him in the face with both feet. He flew backward.
Laney rolled to her stomach and got to her feet. Someone grabbed her by the hair, yanking her up. She stepped to the side and slammed her closed fist into his groin. He let out a grunt and loosened his grip. She elbowed him in the stomach. Then she turned and threw another elbow into his jaw.
He released her with a yell and her front kick sent him flying.
Another man ran at her. Laney brought up her fists.
Then a shotgun blast cut through the bar, and everyone went still.
CHAPTER 61
Everyone went still.
A woman with long gray hair stood on top of the bar. She bore a close enough r
esemblance to Mouse that Laney was pretty sure it she was his sister.
“Enough.” Mouse’s sister swept the barrel of the gun across the crowd. She stared out at the room. Her eyes came to rest on Laney. She grinned. “Nice.”
Laney nodded, accepting the compliment.
Mouse’s sister’s smile dropped as she stared daggers at the rest of the room. “Now, you are all done fighting. If not, me and the General here”—the woman nodded to her gun—“are going to join you. Any questions?”
No one said anything.
“Good. Now clean up.” The woman turned her back on the group and climbed down from the bar.
Laney looked around tensely in case anyone wasn’t quite done yet. But everyone seemed to be over it. A few men laughed and slapped each other on the back. The man who’d tried to tackle Laney from behind walked over to her. “Hey, sorry about that—heat of the moment.”
Laney nodded. “No harm, no foul.”
He grinned, and a gold tooth blinked back at her. “You have some pretty good moves for a little thing. Where’d you learn to fight like that?”
“I was raised by a Marine.” The man grinned and pointed to a tattoo on his left bicep—the American flag with “Semper Fi” underneath it. “Me too. How about I buy you a drink?”
Laney looked over to where Ralph and Drake were speaking with some of the other bikers. Neither looked too bad, although their clothes were a little ripped and stained. Laney was pretty sure her dress wasn’t faring any better.
She turned back to the man in front of her and shrugged. “Sure. Why not?”
For the next two hours, Laney chatted with her new friend and another six that joined them. By the end of that time, they were each trying to outdo one another with their stories.
“No, I’m serious,” said Chief, the man who’d bought Laney her first beer. “There were five of ’em. I barely made it out.”
“Yeah, five midgets maybe,” one of the other men muttered with a grin.