by F. J. Gale
“Who you have feelings for.”
“No.”
“You’ve let your allies die before. In fact, correct me if I’m wrong, but haven’t you sacrificed a few to win a battle or two?”
Mathias eased his arm away from Jenna and gently rested her head against the wall. He snatched up the roll of gauze from Jax’s medical kit and quickly wrapped his arm. Then, he reached for his phone. “Any attraction there might be is just physical; her virgin blood. I’m sure you can feel it too.”
“Not as strongly as you do.”
Mathias ignored him and dialed. He had to warn Luke that Immortalia was gunning for him and, by extension, Legion.
“Mathias, what’s your status?” Luke’s voice came on the line.
“I’m at Jax’s. We just warded off an attack from Immortalia led by Arthur. Silas will retaliate. You’re not safe. You need to leave.”
“Is Arthur still alive? You killed Immortalia soldiers? How many?”
“He’s alive. The rest of them are dust. A dozen or so.”
“Shit,” Luke breathed. Killing Immortalia soldiers was like signing a death sentence. Silas always retaliated when someone took out even one of his soldiers. And a dozen or more? He’d send a frigging army. “I need time to evacuate the civilians here—humans and vamps alike.”
“You may not have enough of a window, Luke.”
“I’ll take my chances.”
Mathias cursed in frustration. Luke couldn’t sacrifice a whole town to save his own life even if it was for the greater good. He didn’t have it in him. Without physically being there, there was little Mathias could do to force him to leave.
“Fine. Authorized. But I will send you some cover.”
He hung up. Legion would need help. There were only four of them. If they didn’t evacuate the town by the time Immortalia arrived, they would be massacred.
It was time to call on some old friends.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Tanya groaned as she hit the old pub's brick wall. Her back jarred painfully, knocking the wind out of her. She shook it off as her opponent approached. She twirled a throwing star around in her right hand. With her other she blew him a kiss. The hulk of a man smiled at her with an animalistic grin. She swept the star at him. It cut through the air with such speed that its razor sharp edges ripped through his thick neck before he could fathom what was happening.
Dust.
She knelt down beside him and retrieved her weapon. She stopped short at the sound of a blade cutting through the air towards her. Before she could spin around a gunshot rang out. She heard the blade clatter to the floor. Luke stood a few feet away, his glock still in firing position. He approached her and shook his head disapprovingly.
“Watch your back,” he chastised his little sister.
Shit. Close call. Normally, she would have sensed that in plenty of time. But she was fading. They’d been immersed in battle against Immortalia soldiers for the last few hours. It was non-stop. Like cockroaches, they just kept coming.
“There are too many,” she rasped, wiping sweat off her brow for the hundredth time.
Luke took in the scene around them. They stood in the middle of the high street. A couple of hundred feet before them was hell on earth. Every store window was smashed. Fire ravaged the terraced buildings as it continued to spread, each structure engulfed by its neighbor. People ran from the flames straight into Immortalia’s path of death and destruction. Legion couldn’t hold it. They had been forced further back, giving up more and more ground. They’d tried to save as many civilians as they could but they hadn’t been able to save them all. Corpses lined the streets—humans and supernatural beings alike—maimed, dusted and sucked dry by thirsty insatiable soldiers.
Luke had ordered Thomas and John to stop the soldiers from pouring further into the town by cutting off access through the back alleys leading off the high street.
“We have to try,” he told Tanya.
“We have. We’ve failed. We can’t hold against their army, Luke. Not even Mathias could manage it.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure,” he said, a hint of humor in his voice.
Tanya’s eyes took in the approaching army. They had picked up speed. They would be on them in seconds.
Luke activated his ear-piece and radioed the boys. “The town’s lost. Retreat. Meet us at the end of the high street. West side.”
He fired off a series of random shots at the approaching army as he and Tanya ran like hell. They reached the end of the high street, about to turn the corner. Suddenly, half a dozen soldiers appeared, blocking their path. They’d come out of nowhere! Before they could react, Silas stepped forward. Dressed head to toe in black leather, he blended in with his men. The only thing that set him apart was his silver helmet, akin to one worn by a medieval knight. It protected both his head and his neck from decapitation. It also identified him as the leader.
“Long time,” he greeted Luke.
Tanya glanced behind them. The army was almost upon them. Shit. This is it! She withdrew another throwing star and readied it. Silas saw her and signaled his bodyguards to ready their weapons. Each soldier withdrew a pistol and took aim. He halted his army in the distance. For now.
“We’re not gonna broker a deal,” Luke told him, knowing that was the only reason that Silas had intervened in their massacre.
Silas ignored him and chastised Tanya, “Bullets fire faster than knives, my dear.”
Luke was surprised to see Immortalia soldiers with modern weapons. Silas was a renowned classicist. This was out of character. “Upgrading?” he asked.
“We’re at war. We do what we must.”
“Mathias knows you too well. You’re trying to make yourself less predictable.”
Silas smiled. “An accurate analysis as usual, Luke.”
“Conquering this place will gain you nothing.”
“It will inspire fear. Many will be afraid to cross me now. You won’t have as many allies as you had hoped. Fear is a powerful demotivator. Besides, I can’t let Mathias’ murder of my men go unpunished. He knows the consequences.”
“Arthur attacked him,” Tanya interjected.
“Encountering him was unprecedented. We weren’t after him.”
Luke eyed him. What?
“We were tracking The Hunter.”
“A slayer?” Tanya snickered.
“Not just any slayer. Her strength rivals ours. We want her gone. We tracked her and that was where we discovered an interesting turn of events. Your boss has allied himself with her.”
Silas could see the expression of disbelief on their faces. Delicious. He could smell dissent in the ranks. It was almost too easy.
“His judgment is solid,” Luke said.
“His judgment is questionable at best when it comes to humans. You’ve seen it before.”
“You can’t inspire mutiny,” Luke warned him.
“I don’t need to do anything. Your denial isn’t nearly convincing. I can smell the seeds of dissension from here. You should ask yourselves where your great leader’s loyalties lie. Rumors are that their partnership is more than purely professional. I guess her virgin blood isn’t helping the situation. He’s playing a dangerous game. Appearances can be deceptive. That girl’s ruthless. If he gets in her way she’ll take him down.”
“This is the same girl that Arthur failed to kill? He bit her, drew blood and somehow still failed to kill her?” Tanya asked.
“He underestimated her power.”
“You’re afraid of their alliance. There’s great power there that will be wielded against you. You’ve failed to break it so you try to inspire mutiny among his closest allies.”
“You always were the wise one, Luke. It’s a shame you’re always in his shadow.”
Tanya growled and stepped forward. Luke threw out his arm and pushed her back.
“Your fiery temper will be your undoing, vixen,” Silas threatened. He ran his eyes over her body and bit his lip with a
nticipation. “Perhaps I’ll keep you alive. Make you one of my pets. I’ll teach you how to put that fiery passion of yours to good use.” He shot out his hand like lightning and gripped her neck. He jerked her towards him and traced his index finger over her cheek.
Luke bolted forward.
“Kill him!” Silas roared as he held Tanya’s neck tightly against her wild struggles. “I like it when they play hard to get,” he told Luke.
Suddenly, heavy fire erupted from behind Silas. He spun around with his six bodyguards to face the shooters. Three screamed in agony as the automatic fire ravaged their bodies and they writhed on the floor from the wounds. It was torturous agony because it wasn’t enough to allow the sweet release of death, not for vampires.
Luke smiled as he saw Thomas and John standing with their rifles trained on Silas and his three remaining soldiers.
Silas released Tanya roughly and backed away in the direction of his army.
“Now you all die!” he roared. He raised his arm and signaled his soldiers. “Destroy them!”
Instantly the soldiers barreled down the high street towards them.
“How many would you say? A couple of hundred?” John asked Luke as the four of them readied themselves.
“Double it and you’re close.”
“I say we run. Now,” Tanya urged.
“Agreed. Evasive tactics,” Luke said.
With that, the four of them ran at full vampire speed, weaving through the streets of the town erratically in no discernible pattern. They moved as one unit as they worked to lose the tail of the advancing army.
They finally came to a stop, but before any of them had a chance to get their bearings, Luke was stilled by a hand suddenly gripping his shoulder. He turned to see an old friend standing behind him.
Valta, leader of Eternus.
“Just passing through?” Luke asked with a grin.
“Mathias sent me—us,” he said, standing aside.
A strikingly beautiful woman stepped forward. Her hair was ivory aside from a few black streaks. The silver cape that clung to her blew back as she moved. Beneath it she wore a black leather bustier that matched her leather pants. A couple of inches above her cleavage a black pentagram had been tattooed into her skin. Her knee-high boots matched the shimmering silver of her cape and silver gloves ran up her arms to above her elbows.
Luke recognized her instantly. She was Alna, an incredibly powerful witch. Her power was just shy of the Sorceress’. She and Mathias had a sad history and he was taken by surprise that Mathias had called on her. He smiled inwardly; Mathias was willing to go to any lengths to protect Legion.
“Alna,” he finally spoke after a few moments of awkward silence.
She nodded politely and focused her attention on the soldiers in the distance.
“Four-hundred and seventy-six men,” she muttered softly to herself.
“How do you know that?” Tanya asked.
Alna was amused. “There’s a lot that I know.”
She returned her focus to the soldiers nearing them. Their battle cries reverberated through the ground. She concentrated.
“Silas himself is with them.”
“I know,” Luke said, understanding the intensity in her eyes. A blast from the past.
She took a breath to re-center herself. And then she sprang into action.
“Valta, as we agreed, I will hold them off. You will lead the others to the extraction vehicle.”
Valta nodded.
“Once I do this I will be weak. Luke will stay with me to assist. As soon as I withdraw my power we will have three, maybe four minutes, before the magic disintegrates.”
They all nodded their understanding.
Alna shook off her robe and handed it to Luke. He gulped at the sudden revelation of so much skin. And then he noticed something for the first time that he hadn’t seen earlier due to the darkness.
“Those are new,” he commented.
Alna followed his line of sight. His eyes were drawn to the black veins prevalent over her stomach, her arms, her chest, her neck.
“You sure you can hold an entire army at bay? Silas’s army?” Tanya asked, cutting through the profound look that passed between Alna and Luke.
Alna scoffed. “You haven’t seen anything yet, child.”
With that she glided past them towards the approaching soldiers.
“Child?” Tanya complained to Luke.
“She’s got a few centuries on you.”
“She’s your age?”
“More like Mathias’.”
Tanya eyed him. Was there something between this witch and Mathias?
But Luke didn’t have time to get into it. He looked away and concentrated on watching Alna’s back. Just like old times.
As she approached, Silas caught sight of her. He halted his army immediately. What the hell?
“Is that fear I’m sensing, vampire?”
“Ah, the great Alna. I’ve been looking for you for a hell of a long time, but you’ve eluded me. And, now, you come to me.”
“I didn’t want to be found.”
“The only way you could have evaded me was through the use of extremely powerful magic. Black magic. You have the marks. No longer the ivory witch, Alna?”
She ignored his comment. “You are crossing so many boundaries with this war of yours, vampire. You have angered many, including me. You know what I’m like when I’m angry.”
Silas growled at her threat. “You’ve chosen the wrong side. His side will perish. You should have followed your newfound taste for darkness and come to me. We would have made powerful allies.”
“Let’s see how we fare as enemies.”
Silas gestured for his troops to charge her. They roared a ferocious battle cry and launched into an attack. Alna stood her ground. She concentrated, calling the magic to her. She felt the sudden rush of pins and needles in her left hand. The power. Her hand crackled and emanated a glow of blue fire.
She thrust her hand towards the troops. Her eyes shone a deep royal blue like the magic as she looked upon them. The magic formed an invisible barrier. The soldiers stopped, caught off guard by their sudden inability to move forward.
“Assault the wall! She cannot hold it for long!”
Alna felt the pressure of their assault against the barrier. She strengthened her stance and kept her hand steady even as they pushed and struck the barrier vigorously. More power! Within seconds her will was done and the familiar sensation of crackling electricity coursed through her right hand. She thrust her power at the barrier. This time, when the blue light hit it, her magic wrapped around the barrier, strengthening it and making it visible. The barrier’s thick translucent form was like a layer of shimmering film, possessing the strength of titanium.
Witnessing the surge of power enforcing the barrier, Silas signaled his men to cease their assault. Time to change tactics with the witch. And I know just the thing.
“Tell me, how would a human prevent the vampiric change once they had already been sired?”
There was no response from Alna. She was awash in concentration. Silas pushed harder. “Rumor has it that you would be the one to speak to about that?”
Still, Alna maintained her concentration. Her eyes narrowed at him, but she didn’t respond.
“Come on, Alna. I know Graven didn’t just sire Mathias that night. You were there. How did you stop the change?”
“What you’re suggesting is impossible,” she finally said.
The very reminder of Graven shot ice through her veins. He was a monster beyond all others. Far worse than Silas and any other supernatural beast that she had encountered. He’s still alive. But where? Just over six centuries ago she and Mathias had faced him. She had been an accomplished witch. A renowned, highly-respected coven, The Coven of Elders, had just welcomed her into their fold. They were impressed with her natural ability for magic. She had been romantically involved with a young magician. Mathias. The monster had found them inte
nding to illicit their cooperation for his evil ends. She and Mathias had refused. He had turned them. It was the worst fate for two people who had lived and breathed white magic. Vampires were the ultimate abomination to the natural order. Alna had been unable to stand it. She had found a way to reverse the turning. But back then she’d only had the power to do it to one of them and Mathias had insisted she be the one. It was what tore them apart.
But Alna hadn’t been able to reverse all of the effects. Immortality plagued her and she had been excommunicated from her coven and refused entry to all others. Now, she was losing the battle to Graven’s despicable curse. She didn’t have long before it consumed her. But no one could ever know about it, certainly not Silas. Word would spread and chaos would reign if it became known that she had found a way to temporarily reverse the vampiric condition.
True to form, Silas lost his patience. “Grenades! Now!” he roared to his troops.
The thirty soldiers in the front line threw their grenades and then rushed back a few feet and took cover on the ground. The explosions happened in rapid-fire succession. Alna wavered a little on her feet as she fought to maintain the barrier against the violent onslaught of so many detonating explosives. She felt Luke rush to her side.
“Stay back!” she yelled to him.
She withdrew her right hand from the barrier and held it up to the sky. The strain of holding the barrier with half the power forced her onto one knee. She gritted her teeth and groaned under the force of Silas’ onslaught. With her right hand she stretched her fingertips and looked up to the black sky.
“Yield…to…me,” she whispered.
Seconds later the black clouds parted and a bolt of lightning split the darkness in half. Blinding blue light shot towards her and struck her outstretched hand. Her body shuddered at the impact and the painful rush of formidable power, but she held steady. It was dark magic, black magic that she had just called forth. It was powerful and dangerous, but she had control. She always had control.
Her right hand crackled with lightning. She thrust it at the barrier. It traveled through it and exploded on the other side, firing a fusillade of lightning bolts at the enemy. As bolts touched the soldiers’ skin, it decimated them—instantly they were dust. They roared in horror and even as Silas ordered a hasty retreat they could not get away fast enough. Alna struck again and again. She needed them to be further away so that when she pulled back she and Legion would have enough time to escape.