Warrior Rising

by Linda Winstead Jones

  “I have a message from our queen,” Sergio said.

  Nope, not joining the right army after all. Sorin’s grip on his sword changed, as he readied himself to continue fighting, if it was necessary. He lifted a hand to silently instruct Indikaiya to remain where she was. She didn’t care for the order, but she did stay in place.

  Like him, she was ready to fight if necessary. Sergio looked at her, and at the men behind her, men who grew closer with each trudging, tired step. They were curious about the newcomer, but not alarmed. Not yet.

  “You have not been answering your cell phone.”

  His cell phone, which he’d abandoned as unnecessary.

  “I can’t imagine that Marie has anything to say that I care to hear,” Sorin said. “But you can give her a message from me.” He leaned in, slightly. Sergio was fast, but he was also a small man, easily intimidated. “She can’t win.”

  Sergio was not alarmed. He even seemed a bit smug. Sorin considered taking the vampire’s head, now that he knew what side Sergio was on, but the Italian stopped him with a simple message.

  Three names.

  A time and place.

  Three more names and a brief but dire warning.

  Before Sorin had a chance to respond, Sergio was gone.

  * * *

  It was wrong, so very wrong, for her pregnancy to have progressed so fast! Chloe lay flat on her back on the long table in the interior conference room. Why hadn’t her daughter waited for dark to decide to come into the world? Why now, well after dawn, when Chloe was not at her strongest? She had not seen the sun since Luca had turned her, but she felt it, a threat so close, so deadly.

  She screamed, as another pain ripped at her insides. As the agony subsided she gave into the myriad of fears that flitted through her mind. What if the child looked like Ahron? What if her baby was a monster? Would the child need to feed on blood or milk or both? Would the baby, who had grown so quickly in the womb, continue to grow rapidly? There was nothing worse that facing the unknown where her child was concerned. She could prepare herself for anything, but when the possibilities were endless she was overwhelmed with what ifs.

  Like any man facing impending fatherhood, Luca paced. He’d been pacing for hours! She could tell he was worried. He said all the right words — you’ll be fine, the baby will be fine, I love you — but behind it all she heard his uncertainty. Even more, she felt it, she saw it, as if that worry were a physical thing, yellow and green and muddy.

  Chloe screamed, and the walls shook. The pregnancy had progressed very rapidly. Could the labor not have done the same?

  Nevada was present to deliver the child. Chloe trusted no one else. Not with this, not with her daughter. The girl should be terrified, she should be frantic with her own what ifs, but somehow the redhead was the calmest of the three of them. Nevada could no longer be called a girl. She had faced monsters, faced death, and come out the stronger for it. She was a woman now, and a damned powerful one at that.

  It was Nevada who had insisted that they have formula standing by. Just in case. Chloe trusted the witch; she trusted the woman’s instincts, which, to be honest, went far beyond normal human instincts.

  “It’s time,” Nevada said. Her face was a little paler than usual, and for the pale-skinned redhead that was saying something. Like Chloe, she had her doubts about this highly unusual pregnancy. She did not allow those doubts to slow her down in any way.

  Luca stood beside the table that was serving as Chloe’s bed. He held her hand. Nevada stood at the end of the table, with everything she thought she’d need at hand. Right outside the door, humans and Warriors waited. Like Nevada, they were nervous. No, they were more worried than nervous, worried about what might appear out of Chloe’s womb. Some of them were frightened. They hadn’t found out about the pregnancy until a few days earlier, when Chloe had grown so large that there was no hiding the condition.

  No matter what, she would protect her child. Angel or monster, beautiful or horrific, Chloe would kill anyone who tried to harm the baby who was soon to come into the world. It was an empowering thought, and she embraced it. She would soon be a mother. A mother who would do anything for her child.

  “Push,” Nevada said.

  Chloe did, gladly. She screamed as she followed her instincts and attempted to expel a brand new person from her own newly transformed body. The entire building seemed to shake.

  “Again.” Nevada licked her lips and positioned herself as if ready to catch a football. Chloe did as instructed, and her child, her daughter, came into the world. Just like that, it was done. Over.

  Nevada busied herself at the end of the table. Chloe could see nothing, and she didn’t dare move. Not yet. She wanted to know, but she was afraid. The fear melted away. No matter what, the child was hers.

  The witch smiled and looked to the new mother. “She’s beautiful.” Nevada asked Luca if he wanted to cut the cord, and he declined. Instead he continued to hold Chloe’s hand, wincing a bit.

  Chloe looked down at their joined hands and realized that his was deformed.

  “Oh my God, I broke you!”

  “A little.”

  She released his hand. How many broken bones were there? What had she done?

  “I will heal,” he added.

  Nevada presented them with a squirming bundle wrapped in a thin pink blanket — goodness only knew where the witch had come up with that soft bit of cloth, but she was resourceful — and Chloe was happy to see for herself that her daughter was indeed beautiful. She looked like any other newborn, a little wrinkled, a little red, with fat pink cheeks and very little fine, blond hair.

  And then she opened her eyes.

  Chloe gasped, and then she looked to Luca. “She has your eyes.”

  Gray, almost silver, they were piercing and unusual and powerful.

  Her child. Luca’s daughter. They were a family. Chloe had no idea what the future would bring for the three of them, but this moment… this moment in time was very fine.

  * * *

  Sorin stood in the deepest shadows of a side chamber of the Lincoln Memorial. The cavernous structure, marble and stately, made even him feel small. The columns were so wide, a small army could hide behind one. His nose told him there was no vampire army within these walls. Not yet, at least. An army was coming, he had no doubt about that. A few weeks ago this place would’ve been swarming with tourists. Today, it was deserted, but for him and his fellow soldiers. Even the road that circled the memorial was empty. Lifeless.

  It was almost high noon, their assigned meeting time. Marie had been watching too many movies.

  No, the self-proclaimed queen realized only a very few vampires could withstand this much sunlight. Getting here had been difficult, and even within this structure, he could not find a corner of complete darkness. Luca should’ve been here, but when Sorin had left the library the blood born had been with Chloe, who’d been in labor for hours. It was no surprise that Luca had left this meeting with Marie to Sorin in order to be with his woman and child. It was his place to protect them, and that’s what he was doing at this moment.

  The blood born, who had always been a loner, a solitary figure, now had or would soon have a family. A woman and a child, as well as the joys and heartaches that came with those obligations.

  Chloe — who had been ordered here as Sorin had been — would’ve been present to face Marie if she could. Even if she were not giving birth, Luca’s woman was far too new to withstand the sun. She would not be able to function even in the shade, and the lightest touch of the sun would destroy her, now and for many more years to come.

  Sorin was not as well fed as he should be for this confrontation. He felt queasy already. Not weak, not incapable, but not his best, either. He had fed since Indikaiya had left him, but not to excess. He’d taken what he needed from those willing to give it, but for the first time since becoming vampire he had taken no pleasure in feeding. He drank because he needed to function. That was all. />
  “We should not be here,” Indikaiya said, walking up behind him to speak in a low voice. Sorin had asked her to stay behind. He had ordered her to stay at the library to wait for the baby — her own descendant — to arrive, but she was stubborn. As stubborn as he was, apparently.

  “At least you left the damn dog behind.”

  She bristled, a little, then ignored his comment. “If Marie wants a confrontation we should name the time and place, not her,” she said. “There has to be another way. A negotiation…”

  “I must be here,” he said without turning to look at her. “You are here by choice. You’re free to leave.”

  She scoffed. Yes, stubborn.

  There were many large trees, summer green and full, to the sides of the memorial, some not far from the foot of the steps. He wondered if Marie was already there, waiting for the precise appointed time before emerging. No one knew why she had gone to such lengths to draw out Sorin, Chloe, and Jimmy. He could understand her anger with him and her tactical need to remove Luca — through Chloe — from the mix, but Jimmy? Why? Even Nevada, who on occasion had a bit of otherworldly insight, couldn’t be sure. She only knew it was important that they go.

  No matter what she’d said, nothing could’ve kept Sorin from this meeting, not after Sergio had whispered that name as he delivered his queen’s message.

  Phillip.

  As instructed, their party was small. Sorin and Indikaiya, Jimmy and Rurik. If Luca wasn’t otherwise occupied he’d be here, too, in Chloe’s place. Surely Marie knew that none of the three requested would come alone. Would she come to this meeting prepared to face Luca and Sorin together? If so, she must be feeling very confident.

  He should be afraid, but he hadn’t felt true fear for a very long time.

  “I will fight with you,” Indikaiya said, one hand on the hilt of her sword.

  “You will not,” Sorin responded, his voice low.

  “I will not stand by and watch…”

  “Three humans are in danger today. I will get them to you so you can deliver them to the library.”

  “I am not a nursemaid!”

  He looked her in the eye. Could she see his determination? Feel it? “Do this for me.”

  “Damn you,” she said softly, then she stepped forward, tilted her head to one side, and offered her throat. “I will not allow you to do this at anything less than your full capability.”

  That throat, pale and perfect, was tempting. “I did not ask…”

  “No, you did not,” she snapped. “I’m offering. Be strong for this fight. You’re more likely to save the humans you have come here to save if you’ve just taken in Warrior blood.”

  Not just Warrior blood, but her blood. They were connected, through sex and blood. Not bonded, not in the way a human and vampire could and sometimes did, but in their own way they had become one. He had not thought he still possessed the ability to be surprised.

  He kissed her throat, bit down, and drank. Strength flowed through his body, and a new clarity filled his mind. It was as if until this moment he had been blind. As if he’d seen everything through a cloudy glass or a thick fog. The fog lifted. The glass shattered. This time and place, it was his destiny, his reason for existence. Seven hundred years, and now this…

  He drew away long before he’d drunk his fill. There was so much he could say, should say, but instead he nodded once in acknowledgement and then he turned his back on Indikaiya.

  It was unlikely he would survive this day. Marie would not have set up this meeting if she had not planned to win. He would do all he could to save the others. Perhaps, if he were very lucky, he’d managed to do what he’d been planning to do since this war had begun. Kill Marie.

  What he would not do was burden Indikaiya with an emotional confession of love and caring. Blah, blah, blah. He would not be the soldier who went into battle after sharing his feelings with the woman he had come to love.

  She had enough to worry about without that weight.

  Noon came, and Marie — always punctual — stepped from the side of the memorial, into the sunlight and onto the steps. She wore a wide brimmed hat, a long skirt, a long-sleeved shirt, and sunglasses, in deference to the sun she could withstand better than most. Sorin could barely see her face, but when he caught a glimpse of the lower half of her face, he saw her smile. Yes, she was confident. Behind her, the reflecting pool shimmered in the sun, framing her and the child with her. She held the hand of a little boy who didn’t realize he was in danger, who didn’t have any idea that the pretty lady who led him toward the memorial was a monster.

  Marie did have a gift for sharing her most innocent face, when it was called for. She had shown that face to Phillip.

  Jimmy cursed when two of Marie’s soldiers appeared behind her. They did not seem to mind the sun at all, so they were human, either glamoured or choosing to be on Marie’s side of this war because they believed she’d win and they wanted to be on the winning side, no matter what. Sorin was disheartened. If there were enough humans who’d fight for Marie, this war would be harder than anyone realized. One soldier held an older woman who favored Chloe. The other gripped the arm of a young woman with spiked, dark hair. As Jimmy tried to rush forward, Rurik forcibly stopped him.

  “Don’t give her what she wants,” the Warrior said in a lowered voice. “Don’t panic.”

  “That’s Kate!” Jimmy argued.

  Jimmy’s Kate, Chloe’s mother, and — for him — Phillip Stargel. The conduit he had spared. A special child incapable of seeing darkness in anyone.

  Even Sorin.

  The self-proclaimed vampire queen had found their vulnerabilities, their weaknesses. The army Sorin had joined was made up of people who would always have such weaknesses, while Marie and her soldiers had none. No heart. No love.

  Marie climbed a few steps then stopped. She peered into the shadows beyond wide pillars, studied those she had called to this meeting — as well as those she had not — and her smile faded. “Where is Chloe Fallon? Does she hide in the shadows? Call her forth.”

  Sorin stood in front of the others. This was his mess, and even more, it was his calling. He was here to kill Marie. With her gone, the war could not continue. At the very least, the vampire rebels would be weakened. They needed a leader.

  “Chloe couldn’t make it,” he said, taking a single step forward, closer to the sunlight. He didn’t want to tell her about the child that would come into the world — or had already come — today. She’d find out soon enough.

  “Luca?” she asked, and a trill in her voice told Sorin it was the blood born she really wanted here.

  “He had other plans.”

  Marie turned her head and said something to the soldier who held Chloe’s mother. Sunlight glinted on a short blade. Before Sorin could even think of moving forward, the man slit the throat of the woman he held. Blood spurted. He released Chloe’s mother and lifeless body dropped to the steps.

  Any move forward would mean death for the remaining two prisoners. The man who held Kate also had a dagger in his hand. The blade was at her throat; a trickle of blood, red and sweet, marred the flesh there. Marie would need no weapon — and no more than a split second — to kill the child at her side.

  “What do you want?” Sorin asked.

  “It’s simple, traitor. You for the child, Jimmy for the girl.”

  “I’m easily worth two humans. Leave Jimmy out of it.”

  “Perhaps you are, but I make the rules and I want you and the boy.”

  He studied the positions of the remaining players in this standoff. A quick listen, and he realized there were more humans nearby, ready to fight for Marie, if necessary. He could not see them from where he stood, but he heard their quick heartbeats, smelled their blood. What had she promised them? Life everlasting? He could hope they were all glamoured. That would slow them down. And if he killed Marie, her magic should die with her.

  He knew Marie well enough to realize that she didn’t intend f
or any of the opposing team to survive.

  Sorin turned to Indikaiya and smiled down at her. He cupped her head in one hand and drew her to him for a quick, deep kiss. She had never before allowed him to kiss her on the mouth, and he wanted it now. Needed it as much as the blood she’d offered. “I’m glad I got to know you, Indikaiya. Woman, Warrior, lover. There is not another like you in any world, in any time.”

  There was fear in her eyes as she said, “You’re about to do something foolish, aren’t you? Don’t. We can find a…”

  Marie yelled, “Quit stalling! Do you want this child to live or not?”

  Sorin looked into Indikaiya’s eyes, one last time. “Be ready. There are more than these three.”

  “Sorin…”

  He smiled at her. “No one lives forever.”

  With that he turned and walked into the sun. A ray hit his face, and the light was so strong it burned. He looked at Phillip, continuing to smile in spite of the pain.

  There were worse fates than death, and no matter what the species, what he’d said to Indikaiya was true. No man could live forever. He’d had a good life, as a human and then as a vampire. Good and long and interesting. What more could any man ask for?

  “Drop your sword!” Marie yelled.

  “Let the boy go and I will.”

  She released Phillip’s hand, and the child ran clumsily up the stairs. As promised, Sorin dropped his sword.

  “My friend Sorin!” The kid ran straight into Sorin’s arms, where he was caught. Without pause, Sorin turned and threw the child. Phillip squealed in delight, to find himself flying through the air. No fear, no alarm. He knew someone would be there to catch him, and there was. A waiting Rurik snatched the child from the air and set him on his feet.

  Sorin turned his back on them, reached behind his back and drew a knife. He was entirely focused on Marie. He didn’t mind risking his life, even losing it, if it meant he could end hers.

  He heard Jimmy behind him, moving anxiously forward, and with a shouted word Sorin ordered the kid to stop. To wait. His time would come soon enough.