“Laura, listen to me. You don’t have much time. You have to give him the full vial. The full dose. All 250CCs of it, within twenty-four hours of when he took the first protocol, do you understand me? That’s the only thing that can save him.”
“What do you mean ‘that can save him’? Is he going to die?”
“Worse,” Evan sighed into the phone and gripped the receiver tighter. “He could be lost forever if you don’t. Look for massive mood swings. I’m talking like bi-polar type swings. He could lose the ability to control the shifts, even with bane in his system. He wouldn’t even need a trigger.” Evan ground his teeth as he fought with himself. Should he tell her? He had to… “Sweetheart, listen to me. If he doesn’t get the full dose right away, he could be lost to the wolf forever. The feral part of the wolf could take over and he might never switch back. If he did shift back, his mind would still be that of a wolf’s.” Evan sighed and shifted the phone. “There’s something else. Even if he gets the full dose and it’s in time…there’s only a fifty-fifty chance it will work. I know that sounds horrible, but it’s all I have. And as bad as it sounds, it’s better than nothing.”
“Oh, my God. What have I done? And he just…” she trailed off as she jumped for the window to see if she could see her father outside. “Evan, he stormed out of here earlier. He said he was going home, but I really thought he would return. He has no ride home and…I have to find him!”
“Hurry, love, you don’t have a lot of time. The longer you wait, the more effect the serum will have and the harder it will be to convince him.”
“Wish me luck, Evan. I love you.” She hung up before he could reply.
Evan stared at the phone a moment before slowly hanging it up. “I love you, too.”
*****
“Boss is pissed.” Mark leaned against a concrete pillar and crossed his arms. “Apparently I was supposed to sit outside and just report as you boys got your brains splattered across the floor.”
“Well, I for one am glad you didn’t.” Donovan gave the major a mock salute. “I’d rather you run in and pull my bacon out of the fire, thank you very much.”
“Copy that.” Spalding patted Mark on the shoulder. “I dunno if my talking to him will do any good or not, but I’d be more than happy to let the old man know we probably wouldn’t be here if you hadn’t breached.”
McKenzie snorted. “What am I? Chopped liver?”
“Were you here, too? Sheesh, Mac, in all the fun, I didn’t see you,” Little John teased. He punched him playfully in the shoulder. “Thanks for covering our six, buddy.”
“So now we’re buddies?” Mac raised a questioning brow at him.
“You save my life, I’ll call you buddy.” Little John shrugged. “If you don’t like it, I can go back to calling you an asshole.”
The other men watched the pair as they spoke, each waiting to see what was about to happen. Mac bristled for just a moment then turned to Sullivan. His features slowly softened into a smile. “As much as I enjoy being called an asshole by you…I think I can stomach ‘buddy’. Just don’t let anybody else hear you. They’ll think you went soft.”
Spalding chuckled as he clapped John across the shoulders. “Of course he’s soft. In the head. He followed me out here, didn’t he?”
Lamb stepped out of the office holding a small handful of papers. “Didn’t you say you were looking for a fellow named Bigby?”
Spalding stiffened, and Tufo took the three steps up into the office quickly. “Let me see that.”
“Tell me the son of a bitch is dead.” Spalding pushed through the small crowd of operators and stood beside Tufo.
Mark shook his head. “He was here.” He handed the papers off to Spalding. “Spread out. Search every corner of this place.” He pointed to Donovan and Mac. “Search the perimeter. Look for prints leading away, probably in a hurry.”
Lamb pointed back into the office. “Outer window is open. He might have hauled ass when he heard the shit hit the fan out here.”
Spalding pushed past him and ran to the window. He sniffed the air hard and shook his head. “I don’t know why I thought that might work.” He strained his eyes in the early morning light and could just make out where feet had landed outside the window. The packed ground gave little clue as to what direction the person may have went. “Son of a bitch.”
Little John appeared by his side. “Come on, I’ll go with you. We’ll help do an outside sweep.”
“He’s long gone.” Spalding shook his head.
“You can’t be certain.”
Spanky turned and looked up at the large man. “It’s what I’d do.”
“Let’s hope this joker isn’t as smart as you then.” John pulled him from the window and handed him his rifle. “Come on.”
*****
Laura ran to the front of the hospital and pushed through the large double doors leading to the parking lot. She trotted out toward her Jeep and paused, her eyes scanning the surrounding area. “Where are you, Daddy?”
She dug her keys from her pocket and climbed into the Wrangler, starting the engine and popping the clutch, chirping the tires as she pulled out of her parking space. She drove slowly, her eyes scanning the surrounding area as she headed the only direction she could think to go: Home.
She pulled off the main road and hit the smaller side streets. “If I were on foot and walking home, I’d want the shortest route.” She drove slowly through the mini-mall, through the edge of a residential area, and finally she came back to the main road leading back to her father’s house. She goosed the gas pedal and shifted up, her eyes still scanning the surrounding area.
She merged onto the highway and set the cruise on her Jeep. If he walked this way, she might see him on the side of the road. She pulled her cell phone and called Derek. He finally answered and she all but yelled at him, “Have you seen dad?”
“Isn’t he in his room with you?”
“No, D. He took off. He got dressed and said he was going home. I…” She paused as she realized she left her brother at the hospital. “You’re still there, aren’t you?”
“Well, duh, Einstein. We went down to the cafeteria and got coffee. I thought you were calling to tell us to come back up.” She heard him cover the phone and when he uncovered it, Crystal was near hysterics.
“Great. Listen, Derek, I’m making my way toward the house. I’m looking for him. I really—”
“How could you just let him walk out, Punk? Jesus, he’s a sick man!”
Laura ground her teeth and squeezed the steering wheel. “He’s not that sick anymore, remember, Derek? And do you think either of us could stop Dad once he made up his mind to do something?” She slowed the Jeep and stared down the side of a steep embankment as cars whizzed by on her right. “Besides, I really thought he would come back…that he was just blowing off steam.”
It took him a moment to reply but when he spoke, his voice was softer. “You’re right, Laura. Once Dad makes up his mind, he’s gonna do it come hell or high water. Okay, you keep heading toward the house. Me and Crystal are gonna look around the hospital here just to make sure he didn’t get part way, maybe get winded and just sit down to rest or something, okay? If either of us finds out something, we call the other, okay?”
“Agreed. Thanks, D.” Laura snapped her phone shut and slipped it back into her pocket. She continued to drive, panic rising in her heart as she considered the possibilities. If her father lost his mind because of the drug she brought him. Wait, did she just call it a ‘drug’? She laughed mockingly at herself. “I’m losing it.” It was no drug. Evan was right. It’s a curse. And she brought it upon her family herself. She snuck it out of the supply, sealed it in the case, and drove all the way here to give it to her father herself.
Laura slowed the Jeep as tears stung her eyes, trails running down her cheeks. How could she have allowed herself to do such a thing? She loved her father. She was a daddy’s girl…and she felt like she’d turned on him. He was
ready to give up. He was ready to pass on. To be with her mother in whatever afterlife there was, and she had swooped in with promises of a better way. Live forever, take little black pills to stave off the side-effects. Be strong again. Be healthy. Stay alive so that we can have you around, so that we don’t have to feel guilty for not spending as much time together as we could have when you were alive and healthy.
She swiped at her eyes and had to slow the Jeep even more. The tears were pouring now and she was angry with herself. She brought the curse to her family home. Told her brother secrets that she swore she would never burden any of her family with. She did things that she had sworn she would never do. Had she crossed some unseen line in the sand between good and evil? Had the line between the two always been so blurred?
She took her exit and turned toward her father’s house. She sniffed back the tears and tried to get a hold on herself as she closed the distance. She was a CIA operative at one time. She was the executive officer for the Monster Squad. Now she felt like a lost child trying to deal with the end of the world. Fear was her enemy, and it was winning.
She hit the driveway to her family home and pulled the Jeep slowly up, her eyes looking for any sign that her dad had been through there. Surely he couldn’t have gotten this far? He had to still be back at the hospital somewhere. Maybe he stopped for a soda or something? She glanced in the rear view mirror and cringed. While she was here, she could at least try to freshen up. She didn’t want to look like this when she finally did find him.
She parked the Jeep and went inside. She hit the bathroom first and splashed cold water on her face, praying the coolness would reduce the redness and swelling around her eyes. She looked up into the mirror and shook her head. “You look like shit, Youngblood.”
She dried her face and stepped out of the bathroom, intent on grabbing a juice before hitting the road again. As she stepped into the kitchen her father stood in front of the sink sipping a cup of coffee. “About time you got home.”
Laura froze, her mouth open. “How did you get here so fast?”
He gave her a questioning look. “I took a cab. How else?” He held out a mug to her. “Coffee?”
Laura all but collapsed in the chair at the counter. “Dad, we need to talk.”
*****
Kalen sat in the darkness, his eyes watching the light under his door. He watched a shadow pass by and pause. It appeared to him that it came closer to his door for just a moment then disappear entirely. He strained his ears and heard Brooke’s door close. He let out the breath he was holding and lay back on his bunk. His mind tried not to think of her, of what happened in the shower. He tried not to think of the ‘experience’ that he had.
He tried not to wonder if she may have experienced the same thing. He couldn’t explain it. It wasn’t a dream this time. Both of them had been awake. Tired, battle worn, and possibly exhausted, but not asleep. How could they share a dream if they weren’t sleeping?
He turned and faced the wall they shared. His hand rose instinctively and he pressed his palm flat to the wall. “I wish I could feel you,” his voice a whisper in the dark, but his heart stretched out, through the cinder block wall and touched her. She could feel his presence near her.
Raven lay on her cot, her face toward the block wall they shared, her palm pressed flat against the cold cement. “What is this hold you have over me, elf?” She pressed harder and wished she could feel his touch when something washed over her. She closed her eyes and felt his warmth envelope her. She groaned in the darkness and felt a familiar ache in her chest.
Her mind screamed ‘no’ but her body and her heart screamed ‘YES’! She lowered her head and chewed at her lower lip. How could anybody have such a hold on her? It wasn’t possible. Her heart was dead…she knew it was. She’d sworn that she’d never feel anything for anybody ever again.
When her brother suddenly appeared again and wanted back in her life, the part of her that wanted to wrap her arms around him and smother him in hugs was quickly quelled by the part that swore she’d never allow herself to feel again. Neither man nor beast would win her emotions again, ever. Like the Raven, she would go from here to there and think of nobody but herself. A black clad messenger of death.
But now, here she sat, her heart and body rebelling against her over a blue eyed, white haired, golden skinned warrior. She sighed again as she thought of him lying on just the other side of the wall. She smiled as she recalled the… ‘vision’ she’d had in the shower. His taught abs and strong chest more than caught her attention. She remembered how they felt under her wet, soapy hands. She caught herself moaning slightly as she remembered his kiss. The taste of his blood when she bit his lip. How he grabbed her ass and squeezed it so—
She sat up suddenly, her breath caught in her throat, her eyes wide in the darkness. “What am I doing?” She stood and paced the tiny room that she called her own. “This is insane. That couldn’t have happened. It couldn’t have. It was a…a…a dream.” She swallowed hard and turned to the door.
Before she realized what she was doing, she was pounding on Kalen’s door. “Open up, you pointy eared devil!”
Kalen pulled the door open and shielded his eyes from the bright lights of the hallway. “Is something wrong?”
Brooke pushed her way into his room and began jabbing him in the chest with her finger. “How dare you! You used some kind of elf magic to…to…mess with my head again, didn’t you?”
Kalen was pressed back against the far wall, her finger continuing to jab into his flesh. “I didn’t. I swear.”
“Yes, you did. I know you did.” Her features suddenly changed in the low light of his room. Her eyes began to tear as her voice quivered. “Please tell me you did something to me.”
Kalen shook his head slowly. “I’m sorry. I didn’t.” He slowly reached up and took her hand from his chest. He raised it to his mouth and she watched with anticipation as he kissed her fingertip. “I would do nothing without your consent.”
He watched as her lower lip began to quiver and a tear flowed from her eye. “This can’t be happening…”
He pulled her into a soft embrace and rubbed her back through the silk gown she wore. “Whatever is happening, it’s happening to us both.” He leaned his face close to her ear and whispered, “But I’m glad that if it must happen, it is you.”
She raised her face to stare at him. “Why me?”
Kalen smiled and she felt something stir inside that could only be described as two puppies fighting over a feather pillow. “Why not you? You are the most beautiful, most intriguing woman I’ve ever met. You are a ferocious warrior and a master thief.”
She felt something melt inside and she slowly smiled at him. “Wait…master thief?”
Kalen nodded. “You stole my heart.” He leaned in and ever so gently kissed the corner of her mouth. He felt her fangs flick down into place and her eyes shot wide. Her hand came up to cover her mouth but he held it back. “Don’t, they suit you.”
He kissed her again, harder than the first time and ran his tongue across her fangs. He felt her shudder and she leaned into him. When finally they parted her eyes were as glazed as they were when she stepped out of the shower. She looked up to him and Kalen felt as though his heart would rip from his chest. “Shall we make the vision a reality?”
Kalen nodded. “I thought you’d never ask.”
*****
Samael kept constant vigil over Lilith as she slept. Even though Azazel healed her body, her mind still needed rest. The angel took flight twice to find a suitable place for the pair to respite. He found a hunting cabin deep within the woods that he felt was far enough away from others that it was unlikely they would be discovered. He took her there and got her settled on the old bed, covered her in handmade quilts and worked diligently at preparing food for her once she awoke.
Now he sat in the shadows, the light from the fire casting strange orange glows across the cabin as she slumbered. He tried to think of anyt
hing else, but the glow of the fire reminded him of the torture pits of Hell. He remembered the numerous ways that the Fallen and the demons had dreamt up to torture the lost souls sent there. Of all of the tortures, he felt the total loss of hope was more torture than any should have to endure. To be anywhere where God’s presence wasn’t…was intolerable to most souls. It made them go mad. Some eventually became so twisted that they searched out the torture. They helped to dream up new and even more inventive ways to inflict pain.
Samael shook his head forlornly and stared at her form on the bed, breathing softly in the corner of the cabin. He had paid a hefty price once for her. He would gladly do it again. He would do whatever it took to keep her away from his brothers. If it meant surrendering himself to them to take her place, so be it.
Lilith stirred and groaned. Samael was on his feet and by her side before she could open her eyes. “Tell me how you are.” His hand grasped hers and squeezed gently.
Her eyes fluttered open and she glanced about the room. “Where are we?”
“Safe. For now. How do you feel?”
She sat up and placed her feet on the floor. “I’m okay. A little shaky.” She touched her head with her hand and tried to replay the last memories she had. “The room…” She turned questioning eyes to him.
Samael growled and turned his gaze from her. “The vampire turned against us. His people attacked. They brought explosives.”
Lilith stood suddenly and glanced about. “My demons!”
Samael patted her hand, calming her. “They are fine. They are collecting new bodies as we speak.”
“And the devices?” She sat slowly, her eyes searching his features.
“We lost a good portion, I do not know exactly how many yet.” He groaned as he sat beside the bed. “Not all of the shipments were sent out before they struck.”
Lilith ground her teeth in frustration. “How many shipments were sent out safely?”
“Two.” He lowered his head, avoiding her gaze. “One was headed for Europe.”
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