by Barb Hendee
"They've been gone almost ten minutes" he said. "We're going to miss the Express." Where were they?
Philip lifted the sliding shutter over the window and peered out. "Something's wrong."
"Maybe she's still arguing with the porter," Rose said. "She looked so angry about that mix-up."
Philip looked back at Wade. "Maybe we should just go?"
"No," Wade said, opening his bag, strapping on his gun, and pulling on his jacket. "You stay with Rose. I'll just take a look. They must be on their way back. It's better if we can make the switch all together."
He slipped out into the hallway, closed the door, and made his way down the train. A few cars down, he came to an empty car with an open doorway.
Moving to the steps, he peered outside. Looking to the right, toward the end of the train, he was surprised to see how far the cars reached behind him, all the way into the large train station, which appeared to be a good four-minute walk away. He couldn't even see the end cars. Would Eleisha have gone that far? He didn't think so. Tracks stretched in both directions. He wasn't sure where to look.
His growing discomfort turned to anxiety.
Where had the porter taken Eleisha and Robert?
* * *
Jasper walked into a bathroom stall of the men's room inside the train station. He wasn't crazy about the trench coat, but he liked the new sword hidden beneath. It was a lot lighter than Julian's.
He only waited a few seconds, and then Mary appeared.
He was relieved to see her.
"Julian says only two of them came out," she said, tilting her magenta-tinted head, "but one is that Robert guy he's after, and the other one's Eleisha, so it's okay. He's waiting up ahead now-found a good hiding spot. The other three are still on the train from San Francisco, and it's about to pull out, so they're going to get stuck if they're too scared to get off by themselves. He says you should get on and look for a chance to kill one or two of them alone if you can break em up. He said that train is heading east toward someplace called Bend. They'll panic when they figure out Eleisha and Robert aren't coming back to get them… and that they're going the wrong way."
Jasper blinked a few times.
Julian wanted him to get on the train and start hunting on his own?
He thought about this. He knew he'd screwed up badly back at the station, and he was still pretty shaken by Julian's reaction, but the payoff was worth it. He just had to prove himself.
"Which train?"
They all looked the same, and the station reader board was confusing.
"When you go out of the men's room, just turn left. You'll step right on."
"I don't have a ticket."
"It's all right. You just have to hide someplace and avoid the ticket collectors."
The thought was kind of exciting. "Okay."
"I'm going to check in with Julian, and then I'll come find you again."
He nodded, slipped out of the men's room, turned left, and got on the train. Once again, he was starting to feel like someone right out of a movie. It was his first time on a train.
Pretty cool.
Eleisha fought the overwhelming fear, knowing she could resist it as she had once before.
She had to press her thoughts into his, get control of him, but the waves kept coming until she felt sick, and she couldn't focus.
Almost the instant Julian completed his first swing, he swung upward again and took off the porter's head. The sight of the body falling and blood spurting from the stump shocked her. Too many events were occurring at once. Robert was trying to crawl up and unzip his bag, but his shoulder was bleeding and his expression was locked in fear-and he'd never felt Julian's gift like this before.
Julian raised the sword and was about to rush toward Robert again, when Eleisha gathered any scraps of control she had and used her mind to push into his thoughts with a single word.
Stop!
He sidestepped in shock, and his dark eyes widened. Instead of swinging the sword, he kicked her, and she rolled. Dust flooded her mouth and she tried to push up to all fours. The pain in her side made her cry out at once.
Then Julian was gone, and Robert was on his feet with a long polished sword in his right hand.
He didn't even look back at Eleisha before he bolted forward. Was he trying to run down Julian?
"Robert!"
She struggled up to her feet and stumbled after him, but he didn't go far.
"Which way?" he shouted. "Which way did he run?"
She hadn't seen Julian vanish, and she reached out with her thoughts, trying to pick up anything. "I don't know!"
"Get over here! Stay away from the front of that train."
Confused for a second, she saw all the nooks and shadows around the front cars-with no overhead lighting.
She ran to him, half limping, worried Julian might have broken her ribs. Robert's head was moving back and forth. They were now closer to the passenger cars near the end of the Portland Express. He looked at one open door with a floodlight above. The train was about to pull out.
"There," he barked.
"What? No, the others are still on the first train! We can't just leave them."
"Eleisha, I can't sense him. I don't know where he is. We have to stay in the light!" He glanced back once more down into the shadows where Julian had been hiding. Then, without warning, he bent down rapidly, reached around the back of her thighs, picked her up, and ran for the open door of the Portland Express.
"No!"
She fought him but couldn't even make him slow down. In desperation, she reached out with her thoughts, trying to make a connection to Wade.
Stay where you are! Julian is outside! We're on the other train. Wade! There's nothing I can do. Stay out of the shadows. Find a way to meet us back at the church.
Robert jumped through the open door a half second before it slammed shut behind them, and the Portland Express began moving north.
Wade stepped outside for a better look to the left, up toward the front of the train, and thought he saw something… A glint reflected by an overhead light? Then he heard shouting, and his heart skipped a beat.
He pulled his gun immediately, but he wasn't sure whether to run toward the shouting or not.
Then his knees nearly buckled when a telepathic shout hit him, exploding in his mind.
Stay where you are! Julian is outside! We're on the other train. Wade! There's nothing I can do. Stay out of the shadows. Find a way to meet us back at the church.
"Eleisha!" he yelled, watching the Portland Express begin to move.
He tried for a mental connection, but he couldn't reach her.
Turning, he quickly climbed back aboard the train from San Francisco. He had to get to Philip and Rose, to tell them, to warn them.
Julian was outside.
He could say this to them without flinching… but how, how was he ever going to tell Philip that they had just lost Eleisha?
Chapter 14
Eleisha heard the door whoosh shut.
Robert put his back to the wall inside the stairwell of the train and slowly let her slip down until her feet touched the floor, but he still kept his arm tightly around her. She could feel his body shaking. The reality of what had just happened was sinking in.
Julian hadn't stayed away. He had come from the darkness swinging a sword.
She'd been wrong all along.
And now her friends would suffer.
She choked at the thought of Wade and Rose being left behind, but one face surfaced in her mind, causing more pain than she could believe.
Philip would be blind with panic.
Robert's left shoulder was bleeding and so was her right hand, but she made a fist and pounded it against him several times.
He held onto her and let her hit him.
"Philip is so afraid of being alone!" She wanted to sob. "Do you know what this is going to do to him?"
"I did it for him!" he hissed in her ear. "How do you think he'd feel tomorrow if I l
et Julian take your head? How do you think he'd feel the night after? And the night after that? We have to survive by moving between one moment and the next. Do you understand?"
She stopped hitting him and just stood there, letting him grip her too hard.
"They're all alone now," she whispered. "They can't fight Julian. I don't think Wade would know what to do."
"He won't follow them. He'll come after me first."
He released his arm slightly, and she moved back to look up at him. He wouldn't look down at her, and his face was taut.
"You don't know that!" she hissed quietly. "If he thinks Rose or Philip have turned telepathic, he could just as easily go after them."
"It isn't just telepathy," he whispered back. "That's what Philip thinks because it's all Julian told him… all Angelo told him."
Eleisha tensed and let his words sink in. No, it wasn't just telepathy. She had seen that in Robert's memories. Julian feared a resurgence of the laws. He feared vampires making connections with each other again, teaching the laws, practicing telepathy, and learning to feed without killing.
He would come after Robert.
"Where do we go now?" she asked.
When he didn't answer, she fished their tickets from the pocket of her jeans, looking at the cabin numbers she had reserved.
"That porter was bribed to lie to us," she said. "I think if we go to these cabins, we'll find them empty."
He nodded once, but he still didn't look at her.
Julian pushed the Mustang's speed past eighty. Glancing at the wheel, he saw his left hand trembling and he fought to control it.
He had missed his swing.
The setup was flawless, Robert had walked right past him, and he'd missed.
In all his years hunting, he'd never missed his first swing, not once. What was wrong with him? What happened?
Was Eleisha able to sense him? Feel him as the others couldn't? No, if that was true, she could have zeroed in on him afterward.
But she'd been inside his head during the fight! Just for a split second before he kicked her. He could not risk that again, and he could not-would not-kill her yet.
What was he going to do?
Robert knew he was there, knew he was hunting again.
Julian forced himself to calm, thinking back over the few seconds just before chaos erupted in the train yard. He'd timed it perfectly, and the porter was bringing Robert directly past him. Robert was out in front of Eleisha… Julian had waited, as always, until the right second… and then Eleisha called a warning and pushed Robert.
Had she seen a light reflect off the sword?
In the past, rumors of the way he hunted eventually spread to a point, but the vampires of the distant past were fairly scattered, mainly communicating through letters to anyone besides a direct child-or the child to the maker. Most had no idea how he was locating them or taking their heads.
Robert knew.
This thought made him wonder how Robert had escaped him back in the past, as he clearly remembered cutting off Robert's head… but then he remembered that he'd killed Jessenia first. Afterward, he'd taken his swing at Robert, seen the dark blood spraying out, and the world had grown slightly hazy. Had Robert made him see something which wasn't there?
If so, that would not happen again. He had to kill Robert on a first swing.
Only now Robert and Eleisha would be looking into the shadows.
Julian glanced down at the Amtrak schedule on the seat beside him, trying to decide what they would try next. They were on an express train with only one brief stop in Salem-but the end stop was Portland, so Robert would reason that Julian believed they were running to Portland, and his built-in protective instincts would never allow him to lead an enemy from the final train station straight to the church.
They didn't even realize Julian knew about the church.
No, Robert would want to get off in Salem and rent or steal a car for that last hour home, trying to throw Julian off the trail.
Or at least Julian fervently hoped he would.
But no matter what happened, Julian had to finish this before they got home. He had to make Eleisha believe the church was safe. He could not attack anywhere near that place or she might not continue trying to seek out the others in hiding and bring them in.
With the remnants of a plan forming, he felt slightly better-nearly certain that Robert would take Eleisha off the train in Salem.
He just had to get there first, and he had to know the layout before he arrived.
"Mary Jordane," he called.
She materialized on the passenger seat beside him, looking around in some confusion at the inside of the car.
"Where have you…?" she asked. "Did you mess up?"
He bit down on the inside of his cheek to keep from snarling at her.
"I think Jasper's all set," she said. "He's on the train with the other three."
"What?"
He'd forgotten about Jasper. At this point, Philip, Wade, and Rose were not his main concern-as Rose appeared to be nearly helpless, Philip didn't know anything of the laws, and Wade was a mortal.
But Robert was dangerous. He had to die.
"Look down at this map," Julian said, ignoring the fact that she'd spoken. "Go ahead to the Salem train station and find the nearest car rental lot. Then examine all possible routes to the lot from the station's main or back doors and return to me."
"What, you're going to try the same thing again? They don't exactly strike me as stupid."
He didn't answer her, but he did agree. If Eleisha and Robert were looking for him in the shadows of doorways or alleys, he'd have to try something else.
Wade could see Philip hanging halfway out the cabin door up ahead, and his stomach lurched.
Their train was slowly starting to move.
"Where is she?" Philip demanded. "We have to go now! Where do we go?"
Wade struggled for what to say and then just blurted out, "She's already on the other train, and it pulled out a few minutes ago. I think Julian attacked them in the yard and they had to run."
He waited for the words to sink in, and then Philip did exactly as he expected-pushed him aside and ran down the hall.
Wade could not stop him physically, but he fired out telepathically.
Stop! Eleisha's gone, and you can't leave Rose.
Philip stumbled and halted, turning around, his face a mask of hate. Wade knew it wasn't aimed at him, but he didn't move any closer.
"How?" Philip spat. "How do you know any of this? Did you see it? If you did, why didn't you bring her back?"
"I didn't see anything!" The accusation made him angry. Could Philip ever give one thought to what somebody else might be feeling? "She shot me a few warnings… like she was screaming in my head. She told us to stay here, that Julian was in the yard, that she was on the other train, and we should all meet at the church. That's all I know, Philip, and you have to keep it together!"
The rage on Philip's face only increased. He strode back, shoved Wade inside the cabin, and started giving orders.
"Get up, Rose," he barked, which sounded strange in his French accent. He fastened the machete's sheath onto his belt and put on his coat, buttoning it. "Wade, is your gun loaded?"
"What are you doing?" Wade asked in alarm, standing in front of the door. Rose looked frightened already, but she was on her feet.
"We're going to jump," Philip answered flatly. "We'll steal the first car we find, and I'll get us to the Portland train station."
"Jump? What if he's still in the yard?"
"He's after Robert!" Philip shouted. "He wants Robert's head, and Eleisha will try to stop him! We have to get to the Portland station before the train arrives. Julian will find a way to get there, and we have to be there first." His voice was calmer now, and he looked at Rose. "Can you jump?"
The train was just beginning to pick up speed.
Rose wavered, but then said, "Yes, I can jump. It's my fault we took this train in
the first place, and I don't want Eleisha and Robert left alone either."
Philip's anger melted into relief, he held out one hand. "Good. Come."
She came to him.
He led her forward, but then he stopped before the doorway, looking Wade in the face. "I am going to drive very fast," he said in short, clipped words. "If a policeman tries to stops us, we cannot be caught up in a chase, so I will pull over and kill him as he reaches our window. I am telling you this so that you know."
Wade swallowed and didn't know how to answer. Philip certainly wasn't asking permission.
"There's a door to the outside just down here," Wade said, stepping back out of their way and pointing, a little concerned about jumping off a moving train.
Philip and Rose walked out past him, and he followed them down the hallway.
Jasper made his way through the train, trying to think of what he should do. He couldn't exactly knock on the door. He wasn't even sure which cabins they were in.
Where was Mary?
If she was here, she might have been able to tell him. She might also be able to scare one of them into the hallway, but she'd vanished in the men's room of the station and he hadn't seen her since.
He thought hard. Could he pull the fire alarm?
Did trains have fire alarms?
No, that wouldn't work. If he did that, everyone else would come rushing out, too, and then he wouldn't able to do anything.
How had Julian done this without being seen until the last second?
Well, first things first. Mary had told him earlier they were in adjoining cabins toward the front of the train. He'd just have to pick a good spot in the area and wait. Moving quickly, he passed people sitting in basic seats for about six cars.
He opened a door and stepped into an empty car with a door to the outside. Just as he stepped in, the inner door opposite from him opened, and to his shock, Philip walked through… wearing a long black coat.
Wade and Rose were right behind.
They all stared at each other.
"That's him," Rose said.
Philip's lips curled back over his teeth, and he charged.
Without even thinking, Jasper turned and ran.