Descendant: The Protector (The Descendant Series)

by Daniel W. Koch

  “Are you?” I asked him quietly, almost hoping he wouldn’t hear.

  “What is that supposed to mean?” He walked over and grabbed me by the collar of my shirt. “You’re just some stupid kid. What is so damn special about you that makes these mosquitoes protect you so vigorously?”

  I tried to think of something to say, but I couldn’t. I truly didn’t understand why they were protecting me, so how was I supposed to explain it to Lukas?

  “What’s the matter?” Lukas asked after a few seconds of silence. “Not brave without your friends around, eh?”

  That question I did have an answer for, but I wasn’t able to give it. Two dark figures suddenly soared through the window and came up behind Lukas. When Lukas turned around, his hands immediately dropped from my shirt because he was staring into the blood-red eyes of two fully-developed Rogues.

  “Take him!” Lukas belted out as he pointed at me. “He’s the one you want!”

  In a split second, one of the Rogues’ hands flew out and crashed into Lukas’ skull, sending him up and over the balcony of the loft. He landed with a thud on the main floor. Then, one of the Rogues reached out with his clawed hands and snatched me up. Holding me tightly, he fled out the window and into the night. I could see Andi at the back of the house, fighting off the other Rogues, but her back was to me, and there was no way she would have been able to hear me if I called out to her. All hope was lost.

  Chapter 14

  Pulse

  Aderes (One Night Ago)-

  It was about seven-thirty when I finally made it back to the marina. The grounds seemed empty, and the air smelled of Rogue. The Jagers must have brought a few with them for backup. They can’t do much damage, but they’re great distractions.

  “Aderes!” I heard a voice call out suddenly. I turned my head to the second-story balcony of the house and saw Matt waving at me. “Elliot’s up here.” He turned around and went back through the door. I flew up the stairs and into the building. Elliot, JD, Matt, and Jamie were all standing around the room watching me as I walked in.

  “So, what’s going on here, Elliot?” I questioned irritably. “I don’t want to be away from Jason for this long.”

  “He’ll be fine.” Elliot sounded just like the others.

  “Why do I get the feeling that everyone telling me that Jason will be okay is wrong?”

  “Because you are very protective of him. But for now, you’re going to have to believe that Peter, Taddi, and Winston are taking good care of Jason, because there are more pressing matters at hand.”

  “What happened?”

  “Nothing bad, but we still need to move fast,” Elliot explained. “As you probably noticed, there were some Rogues accompanying the Jagers. If we move fast enough, we think that we might be able to follow the scent straight to Alexander.”

  “And by ‘we’ you mean me, right?” I lifted an unseen eyebrow.

  “The rest of us will be following close behind.”

  “Fine, but there are still two major problems with your plan. One is that we’re at least ten hours behind them, and the second is that, if and when we do find them, they may still have a small army. We wouldn’t be able to win a battle like that.”

  “We’ve thought of all that already, Aderes,” Elliot responded quickly. “The Jagers began to split up before they even left the marina, so we know for sure that they are in smaller groups now. And, as for how far the path will take us, we have reason to believe that the main nerve center of the Jagers is somewhere under New York City.”

  “So, what will we be following the Rogue trail for?”

  “It’s more for a guideline. If we’re right about the city, then it should lead us straight there.”

  “Okay, sounds like a plan then.” I walked over to the door, but stopped halfway there. “Why don’t you get a head start?”

  “Why? What are you doing?”

  “I just want to check up on James and Simone.”

  “Okay, but hurry.” Elliot motioned for the others, and they all followed me out the door.

  As we neared to the tunnels, they veered off and ran after the Rogue trail. I kept my path toward the door that would lead me underground, and five minutes later I was walking down one of the many tunnels. At the end of the hall, I could see thin, wooden door labeled “Health Room.” There was only one room for our health care. It was so rare that any of us got severely hurt that there was always space in just the one.

  When I entered, I immediately saw Althea. She acted as a doctor for both the humans that we healed and the Dahmshed. Most of the time she had nothing to do, but when anyone was injured, she always dropped whatever she was doing to come and help. Althea also happened to be Elliot’s wife. They had known each other since they were humans, well over eight hundred years ago.

  “Hello, Aderes!” she greeted me warmly. “I thought you were up in Vermont.”

  “Elliot wanted me to help him with something.” I looked around the room and noticed that there was only one occupied bed. “Where’s Simone?”

  “She only had minor injuries. I released her about six hours after you left.”

  “And how’s James?” I asked hesitantly.

  “I’d estimate he’ll be out of here in a day or two,” Althea said as she turned to look at James, who was lying on a bed covered with a white sheet.

  “I’d better be.” James smiled. “It’s way too boring in here. I don’t know how you can stand it, Althea.”

  “I see you’re feeling better.” I walked over to the side of his bed.

  “Much better.” He pointed to his neck. “If my neck would just finish healing, I’d be out of here. Althea won’t even let me walk around.”

  “You’ll thank me tomorrow when I let you go and don’t make you come back for checkups.” Althea laughed. She was now folding some towels in a corner of the room.

  “Well, I guess it would be a bad idea to show you what happened to me.” I glanced at Althea to see she had already started to walk over.

  “What is it?” she asked seriously.

  “I can’t explain the details right now because it would take way too long, but,” I took my hood down, “I hurt my neck a little.”

  “Does Elliot know?” Althea asked as she unwrapped the bandages from my neck.

  “No, I just told him I was coming to see Simone and James.”

  “This doesn’t look too good.” Althea finished taking off the bandages and put them in a metal tray. “I’m surprised you were able to run without this tearing more.”

  “Are you saying that I shouldn’t be going to the city?” I asked as I took a step back from her. “I have to go and help Elliot so that I can get back to Jason.”

  “You won’t be doing Elliot or Jason any good if your head is torn off.”

  “But…”

  “But, nothing!” Althea began to push me toward a bed. “If you get into any sort of trouble, you’ll be killed very quickly.”

  “Althea, please! I need to get back to Jason as soon as possible!”

  “Lie down, Aderes. You’ll be out of here by tomorrow night.” She forced me into the bed. I could have fought back, but I knew deep down that she was right. I could die way too easily with my neck like it was.

  “Tomorrow night? Can’t I just spend the night and leave in the morning? Elliot and the others have already left. They’ll be expecting me.”

  “Elliot has been alive for eight hundred and sixty-three years. I think he’ll be okay without you for a few extra hours.” Althea walked over to get some more bandages. “Now, lie down and get comfortable; you’re going to be here for a while.”

  “Elliot will still be wondering where I am,” I mumbled.

  “Let him wonder, then. He’ll see you tomorrow.” Althea glided over and began to wrap my neck again. As she finished, something odd seemed to come over me. I sat up and jumped off the bed without thinking, and before I knew it I was at the door.

  “Hold it right there!” Althea
grabbed my shoulder. “Where do you think you’re going?”

  “Jason…” I whispered.

  “What just happened?” James sat up and looked at us.

  “Something’s wrong,” I said, looking into Althea’s eyes. “I have a bad feeling about Jason.”

  “What do you mean?” she asked.

  “I need to go back to Vermont.”

  “No. You need to stay here and let your neck heal.” Althea grabbed my sweatshirt and dragged me back over to the bed again. “Now, lie down!”

  “All right!” I threw my hands up and did as she instructed.

  “Thank you,” Althea said smugly as she pulled a blanket over me. “Now, I have to go talk with Bart. I’ll be back in an hour or two. Please, do not try to leave.”

  When I didn’t reply, Althea gave me a stern look, then left the room. I heard James turn onto his side to face me, but I didn’t do the same. I just stared at the ceiling, thinking about why I had such a strong feeling that Jason was in trouble.

  “What’s wrong, Aderes? I’ve never seen you act like that with Althea,” James said quietly.

  “I really don’t know. I just feel like something really bad is about to happen to Jason. I should go back to him.”

  “I know you’re going to hate me for this, but I think you should do what you came here to do. Jason has three great Dahmshed with him. He’ll be safe.”

  “That’s what I’ve been hearing and I’ve been trying very hard to believe that, but I can’t.” I let my head turn to look at James. “Does that sound stupid?”

  “No, I guess not. I had the same connection with Penelope before she died.” He winked at me.

  “But you loved her.”

  “Exactly.”

  ***

  By the time Althea had come back from her meeting with Bart, James had convinced me to at least stay the night. I only agreed when James let me send Andi, Philip, and Vlad up to Vermont. They had left around three in the morning and would probably arrive at the house by ten. I was hesitant to send Vlad, but I knew he would come in handy in the case of a fight.

  Luckily for me, Althea left James and me alone again at around eight o’clock in the morning. My neck seemed a lot further along in the healing process then I had expected, so I saw no other reason to stay. I said goodbye to James, then fled the tunnels and began my run to New York City.

  The Rogue trail was getting hard to follow, but it was heading in the right direction. Since the city was close, Elliot and the others would have been waiting over twelve hours by the time I got to them. Hopefully, they had scouted out the area and knew where to find the Jagers. Even with the run being less than an hour for me, it was way too long. My feeling that Jason was in trouble was growing stronger with every passing second, and it took all of my willpower not to turn around and run to him.

  Only forty minutes into my run, I began to come across heavily human-populated areas, and five minutes after that I came to a stop just outside of Manhattan. It would be virtually impossible to get into the city by a bridge or a train tunnel because of the extensive amount of security put into place to keep out Dahmshed. Even if I was able to get past the multiple gates and guards, there was now a Blood Protector holding a flamethrower on every street corner throughout the city. It was the number one safe haven for humans in the United States, and one of the top five in the world. Unfortunately, that made it a prime spot to hide a Dahmshed lair. As long as the Jagers didn’t hunt in the city, no one would expect to find them right underneath it.

  My only way in was to follow the Rogue scent to one of the Jagers’ access tunnels into the city. It led me down an abandoned street lined with boarded-up buildings on one side and the Harlem River on the other. I walked down the street slowly and carefully, staying very alert. There was a faint smell of Dahmshed along with the Rogue scent. That either meant that a Dahmshed had just been through the street, or one was still there.

  “Hey!” a raspy male voice spoke from behind me. I froze immediately. I had no idea how someone could have snuck up behind me; usually, I could even hear Dahmshed. “Who are you?”

  “Aderes,” I said foolishly. I should have used a fake name, but it was too late.

  “I don’t recognize that name,” the man spoke quietly. I sighed in relief; the last thing I needed was for someone to set off an alarm and have an entire army attacking me. “Are you with the Jagers?”

  “Um, yes I am,” I replied hesitantly.

  “Turn around.” I did as he said and slowly turned towards him. “Take off that hood. I need to see if I recognize you.”

  “Who are you?”

  “Grath likes to call me the gatekeeper.” The man smiled proudly. “I keep watch out here just to make sure no one goes into the lair that shouldn’t be there.”

  “By yourself?” I questioned him further.

  “Are you crazy? Of course not, that would be suicide.” He pointed toward the buildings. “I have a lot of backup in there.”

  Suddenly, a door flew open, and another man ran out to stand next to the gatekeeper.

  “Porter!” he yelled in a high pitched squeal at the first man. “What are you telling her? She could be the enemy!”

  “She said she’s a member of the Jagers,” Porter spoke defensively.

  “And you believed her? Good thing you have me here!”

  “Excuse me?” I interrupted them. “If I’m causing such a disturbance, I’ll just leave.”

  “Like hell you will!” The second man flew over to me and put his face close to mine. I squinted my eyes just in case he could see them. “Why don’t you take off that hood?”

  He reached up to grab my sweatshirt but halfway there, his hand was stopped by mine.

  “I wouldn’t do that, unless you’d like to lose your arm.”

  “Let go of me!” He tried to pull away, but I kept my hand locked on his wrist. “I’ll call the rest of the guards to kill you!”

  “What should I do, Tony?” the gatekeeper asked.

  “Get the others!” Tony ordered him.

  “You mean they’re not watching us?” I asked with smile crossing my face.

  “Hurry, Porter!” Tony called to the man behind him. It was too late, though, because I flashed my leg out with lightning speed and sent Tony flying into the gatekeeper. Both crashed to the ground, and before they could get up, I was clutching Tony’s neck. His head tore off easily, and I grabbed the gatekeeper next. He punched wildly at my face, but it did nothing to stop me from tearing his head from the rest of his body.

  “Aderes, over here!” I heard Elliot’s voice call out before I could even stand up. “Bring the bodies!” He was standing about a block away near the Harlem River. I scooped up the two bodies and fled from the buildings toward Elliot.

  “Where are the others?” I asked him as we hid behind a dumpster after throwing the bodies inside.

  “At a second entrance. It’s unguarded, and I’m not even sure the Jagers know about it.”

  “Is it close to here?”

  “It’s in Queens.” He motioned for me to follow him, and we began to run.

  “How did you find it if the Rogue tracks led here?”

  “We were waiting for half a day. That gave us a lot of time to look around.” Elliot took a sharp left and led me down an alley. Then, we jumped into the second-story window of a half-burned building and out the other side.

  “Have you gone in, yet?”

  “No. We didn’t want to make a move before you got here.” Suddenly, he stopped short. “We have to go under the East River to get into Queens. There’s a sewer line on the street behind these buildings.”

  “So why did we stop here?”

  “Just to warn you that there’s a group of Dahmshed living in one of the abandoned buildings. They’re not with the Jagers, so I didn’t want you to kill them if they came out again.”

  “They came out before?”

  “Yes. If it weren’t for them, we wouldn’t have been able to find a way
across the river.” Elliot walked forward, through an alley, and into the street. I spotted the manhole about a block away, but there were no Dahmshed in sight.

  “Come on.” Something about the way Elliot was moving made me think he didn’t totally trust the Dahmshed that had helped him.

  “I don’t think they’re here,” I said as I strained my senses to find any sight, smell, or sound. “Plus, we need to move fast right now. Can we please just get to the others?”

  “These could be our allies in the future, Aderes. They don’t like the Jagers, so I don’t want to get in a fight with them.”

  “How many are there? I bet we could take them.”

  “There are four, but that’s not the point. I’d rather you not kill them if they could help us.” As we reached the manhole, I chuckled, and Elliot looked at me sharply. I quickly wiped the smile from my face, picked up the large metal cover with one hand, and gently threw it aside.

  “Elliot!” a female voice sounded from the building to our right. “Hello there, friend!”

  I turned quickly to see a beautiful, slim woman with dark blue hair gliding down the stoop of a building. She was dressed in an elegant, white nightgown, and accompanied by a heavyset man with his long, dirty-blonde hair in a ponytail. His pale body was easily seen because he wore nothing but a dark-green winter vest that wasn’t zipped and a pair of brown shorts.

  “Hi!” Elliot smiled at them, then turned to me. “This is an…eccentric group of people, so just let me do the talking.”

  “They look more like a couple of oddballs to me.” I laughed quietly as they came toward us with wide smiles. “You actually want them to be part of the Peacekeepers?”

  “I was hoping they’d be more like the Knights of Obscurity and not actually live with us.”

  “Yeah, I’d rather them not live with us.”

  “And you haven’t even seen the others, yet.” Elliot laughed quietly to himself.

  “So, who’s this?” the woman asked as she and the man reached us.

  “I’m Aderes.” I reached out to shake her hand, but she took a step back.