“No, but he might can be convinced that another is at work here. Perhaps a terrorist group? One that cannot abide infidels?”
Viktor turned curious eyes to his friend. “You would set up another to take the blame?”
“If it can save the lives of our followers, I would blame the priests themselves.” Sardelli opened the door for Viktor, indicating their conversation was over. “Tell me when she plans her attacks. I’ll do what I can to convince the pope to order the churches abandoned.”
*****
Jack finished his reports to update the powers that be about Lilith and her suicide bombers. He hated leaving the report open ended, with no resolution code. He submitted the report and prayed that whatever power that be higher up didn’t bring the hammer down on his team. No matter how he many times he went through it in his head, he couldn’t see how even having another team present could have prevented her escape. There were just too many of her demons present.
Jack knew that the Oversight Committee had the authority to notify others within the Pentagon, but he doubted that it would come to that. With Kalen’s report from the Wyldwood that the capitol was threatened, he did his part by running it up the chain. It would be up to the Secret Service to beef up security at the White House and the rest of D.C. He sat back and waited for his copy to print then slipped it into his box. He knew that once Colonel Mitchell and Major Tufo read the final report, they wouldn’t be happy either. They technically had nothing to go on. No leads meant down time, and down time meant that the clock was ticking between Lilith’s taking action and the team being able to react.
He cursed under his breath as he made his way to the simulators. He watched as his team went through the motions of taking down mock threats and knew that the simulator was the wrong kind of trainer for what they would be seeing. They needed something more ‘real world’ and this simply wasn’t it.
He watched a moment longer and then did something he rarely had in the past. He prayed. He prayed that they could get a lead on the demon bitch before she could act again and hurt any innocents. He prayed that his team would be prepared for whatever the ancient monstrous bitch could throw at them and come out of it unharmed. He lowered his eyes and prayed that the Wyldwood was right and that this team she assembled was the right way to go.
He raised his head again and watched as they flawlessly ran the gambit once more. He had to admit, until he was told that they were all ‘young’, he never would have thought it. They handled themselves like veteran warriors. He watched them as they fluidly worked their way through the CQB trainer and a smile crossed his features. His fears for them being able to handle themselves in battle faded and he found himself only worried about whether they could locate their target in time.
*****
Laura paced by the edge of the tree line and stared cautiously into the darkening shadows. She kept stealing glances at her watch and huffed when another minute ticked by without Derek’s return. She had flipped open her phone three separate times to call Jimmy and ask him to bring the dogs, but she couldn’t bring herself to do it. How could she explain it was to track down their father?
She stared toward the house and strained to see headlights that weren’t there. She fretted and glanced at her watch again in the dwindling light. “Do you really think the two of you could track me if I didn’t want to be found, Punk?”
She nearly jumped out of her skin and spun so fast that it took her eyes a moment to focus on the silhouette of her father standing behind her. “You have to have that second shot, Dad. The longer we wait, the less chance of it working.” She fumbled in her bag for the vial and Jim reached out to gently take her hand.
“Wait a minute, sweetheart.” He pulled her hand away and held her loosely by the shoulders. She looked frantically to him and read the sadness in his eyes. “Let me explain before you go doing something that we may both regret.”
“We don’t have time for—”
“Laura.” His voice turned stern and she started again. “Let me explain so you know I’m not crazy, okay?”
She relaxed her shoulders a moment and found her head nodding. Perhaps if she played along long enough, Derek could return and they could hold him down and give him the shot. “Sure, Daddy, I’ll listen.”
“I mean it. Actually listen to what I tell you. Don’t just hear me, but listen.”
She nodded again, her brows knitting as she studied him. “Okay. I’m listening.”
He leaned against the fence post and gave her a soft smile. “You know, I thought it was kind of odd when you brought me the cure and the side effect was becoming a ‘wolf’. Did I ever tell you that when I was younger, the wolf was supposed to be my spirit animal?”
She shook her head. “No. But I know you have a lot of native artwork depicting wolves.”
“That’s your mother’s handiwork. She knew that the wolf and I were bound together.” He stared over her shoulder at the rising moon and smiled as he thought back to simpler times. “A lot of people never forgave me for stepping away from office.”
“You were dealing with Mom’s death. Surely they couldn’t expect you to—”
“I was the governor. The tribe is a nation, and they expected me to continue my job after a period of mourning.” He squeezed her shoulder and shook his head. “My heart just wasn’t in it any longer. It was more your mother’s dream than my own.”
“Daddy, I don’t see what any of that has to do with your not taking the shot.” She didn’t mean for panic to rise in her voice, but it crept in and she couldn’t stop it.
“I’m getting to it, Punkin.” Jim stood next to his daughter and continued to stare at the moon. “That first night, I had a vision. I was the wolf. I felt so free. I could feel it calling me. It was the wolf who told me to take the rest of the medicine you brought. It told me that I could become what I always desired.”
“Daddy…no…”
“I’m not joking, Punk. I felt my spirit leave my body and enter a wild wolf. We hunted together and it felt so…pure. I was free. Free to be what I was meant to be.” He turned and gave her a heartfelt smile. “I have no regrets, Punk. This is what I want. I want to become the wolf. I want to run free in the mountains, hunt, and become part of a pack. I want to become one with my spirit animal.”
“Daddy, you don’t believe in any of that stuff anymore. You told me so yourself.” She tried to pull away, but he held her in place.
“But I do, Punk. I think I always did. And now you’ve brought me the greatest gift I could have ever asked for.” He reached for her bag and pulled the second vial out. He raised it into the night air and let the moonlight reflect off of it. “I could break this right now and then we’d have no choice.”
“Daddy, no!” She reached for the vial, and he held it up and away from her. “Please no…”
Jim Youngblood stared at his daughter for just a moment before he lowered his hand and dropped the vial into her palm. “It’s what I want, Punk. I want to become what I was always meant to be.”
“But…what if you don’t become a wolf? What if you become the Halfling?” She felt the hot tears running down her cheeks as she cried.
He shook his head. “I won’t. I’ll be the wolf. It told me so.”
“Daddy, I don’t think I can do this. At least with the serum, there’s a chance you can stay human.”
“Don’t you get it, Punk? Since losing your mother, there’s no reason to stay human. Crystal cares for me, and bless her for being there when I needed someone. But you were right, she’s not your mother and she’ll never be her. I’m incomplete without her. But this? This would be my final transformation before moving on to the great spirit world.”
Laura inhaled deeply and shook her head. “I’m not ready to let you go.”
“My time was up. You’ve only given me a chance to live a dream, Punk.” He kissed her lightly on her forehead. “I can’t thank you enough for that.”
“What could I possibly tell the
others? They’ll never believe that you left to become a wolf.”
Jim smiled at his only daughter and pulled her closer. “Tell them that I left on my final spirit walk. At least it’s true. If they press you, lie to them. Tell them that I know an ancient burial ground on the res and I went there to die in peace.”
“You know they’ll come looking for you.” She sniffed back the tears that were free flowing now.
“You can stop them. I have faith in you. You’re more like her than you know.” He wrapped his arms around his daughter and gave her a squeeze. “She was the only woman in the world who could tell me what to do and make me feel like it was my own idea.”
Laura chuckled despite herself. “I’m not ready. I can’t lose you like this.”
“You’re not losing me, Punk. You’re setting me free.” He leaned down to kiss her once more and noted the headlights coming up the driveway. “Looks like your brother is home.”
Laura glanced at the pickup pulling up the driveway and buried her face in her father’s chest. “Please don’t go.”
“I need to, Punk. Just know that I will always love you. Even as a wolf, I’ll never stop loving you.”
She felt his strong arms slip from her and he melted into the shadows of the trees. She never heard his footfalls on the dry leaves as he disappeared into the woods once more. She raised her hand to him and whispered, “I love you, Daddy.”
*****
Brooke waited until they had all finished their training, had eaten and hit the showers. She made her way to her room and paused outside Kalen’s door. She placed her hand to the grey metal and tried to sense if he was inside. She couldn’t tell by simply touching the door, so she checked the hallway and knocked lightly.
Kalen answered the door and his breath caught in his throat. “Brooke. I mean…Raven.”
“Brooke is fine.” She pushed him into his room and wrapped her arms around his neck. Her lips met his and soon her tongue was probing his warm, sweet mouth.
Kalen felt himself reacting, his hand working up her back, sliding into her wet hair, the other squeezing her bottom. He returned her kiss and fought the smile tugging at his mouth as her fangs descended. He ran his tongue across the point of them and sucked her tongue into his mouth.
As he pulled her back further into his room, the Wyldwood’s words came back to haunt him. He stiffened visibly and he pushed her back slightly. “We…um, we can’t be doing this.”
Brooke smiled up at him, her tongue flicking at the points of her fangs as she gave him a seductive smile. “Don’t worry, sugar cookie, I won’t make you scream.”
Kalen stepped back further and held his hands up. “No, Brooke, that’s not what I meant. I mean, we can’t be doing this.”
Brooke tilted her head as she tried to read his body language. She smiled again and stepped forward. “Looks to me like part of you wants to continue.” She gripped his manhood and caused his throat to tighten as she gently squeezed.
“Brooke, please.” Kalen pushed her hand away and turned from her. “The Wyldwood knows.”
Brooke paused for just a moment then shrugged. “Okay. One less person to eventually have to tell.” She stepped forward and wrapped her arms around his chest from behind. She playfully bit his ear and whispered, “That is assuming that this lasts, whatever it is.”
“You know that it would. We’re connected somehow.” Kalen stepped further away and found himself nearly to the rear wall of his room. “She told me that we cannot be. That you can never enter the Anywhere. That I cannot return home if you and I are…”
Brooke stared at him, her eyes slowly widening. “So? What are you telling me? That you’re dumping me?” She stepped back and closed her robe, suddenly feeling underdressed.
“I’m saying that we simply cannot be.” Kalen averted his eyes. “You were right when you said that we could not be together. I simply did not understand how right you were.”
Brooke stiffened, her heart hardening as she felt him closing himself off from her. She clenched her jaw and fought the mocking smile that was trying to form. “I should have known better.” She tugged at the belt on her robe and tied it roughly around her middle. “As soon as I allow myself to care for somebody, I knew it would come back to bite me in the ass.”
Kalen turned to try to alleviate her pain but watched as she spun and reached for the door. She jerked it open and paused in the light of the hallway. “Stay the hell out of my dreams, sugar cookie. You’ve lost the right to even think about me as anything other than a teammate.”
Kalen opened his mouth to say something, but no words would form. He watched her march the short distance to her own room and stood silently as his own door slowly pulled shut. He sat down on his narrow bed and held his head in his hands. “What have I done?”
*****
Samael lay stretched upon the cabin floor, a smile plastered to his face. Lilith curled next to him, her hand drawing lazy circles across his chest as he tried to slow his breathing. “You must have been truly famished.”
“I didn’t realize how long it had been.” She let her hand slowly slide down his abdomen and draw a pentagram across his navel. “I’m not sure which hit the spot more, the hunter or the desert.” She gave him a wicked smile and giggled as he growled at her.
“I know which you had better say.” He pulled her closer and slid her across him, straddling his middle once more.
“Surely you aren’t ready for another so soon?”
“I’m an angel. I’m always ready.” He leaned up and nipped at her chin just as a noise outside the cabin caught their ear. He scooped her up protectively and placed her back on the bed then stood and worked his way to the front porch.
“My queen! Do you reside within?”
Samael pushed the door open and noted the man dressed in hunter garb, the blaze orange vest dangling from his shoulders. “She does.”
The man smiled and nodded to the Fallen one. “Then I read you correctly. More are working their way up the mountain as we speak. We shall set a guard until you are ready to relocate.”
“And the others?” Lilith poked her head from behind Samael, pushing to get past him.
“They are on their way to the nearest town, my queen. They should be here soon.”
Lilith smiled and patted Samael’s arm. “We can begin making plans to attack the human hunters and reclaim that which is ours.”
The hunter cocked his head to the side and gave her a quizzical look. “My queen? You would have us reclaim the devices? Why not simply create more?”
“We do not have the resources. The components are of a finite amount.” She held her head high as she spoke. “Have transportation made available and have the others procure us a location from which to operate.”
“As you will, my queen.” The hunter bowed before marching into woods once more.
“Are you sure this is the wisest course of action?” Samael kept his voice low. “Perhaps if we sent one or two waves of bombers first and allowed the humans to respond to the attacks, then we could thin their ranks?”
“No, I want all of what is ours. There is no other way that we can strike at the heart of Christendom and remove the largest parts of it with one fail swoop.” She shook her head. “Otherwise, they will have time to prepare and possibly thwart our attacks. We can’t have that, can we?”
“No, my queen, we cannot.”
Samael watched her walk back into the cabin with purpose. He stood on the porch of the cabin and stared up the mountain to the rocky outcropping where Azazel had given him the warning of Michael. For the first time, he truly feared that they would fail. He feared that Michael’s warnings were true and that they would be lead to their own destruction by a woman blinded by her own rage.
*****
Jameson stood within the bunker and donned the night vision goggles. He couldn’t understand why the final tests couldn’t be performed during daylight hours. He hated the green tint that the goggles gave everything and
they destroyed his depth perception.
Ingram stood beside him and listened in over the communications. Director Jameson had opted not to listen to the chatter as he often found it confusing. He would find himself trying to determine which call sign went to which operator and the distraction caused him to miss the little things.
Jameson had been thoroughly impressed with the Titan warriors. They truly were ‘titans’ in size. At nearly seven foot tall and pushing more than three hundred pounds each, the men reminded him of oversized professional football players. Yet when they moved, he noted the grace and agility of a large predatory cat rather than the bumbling of an oversized man stuffed into interactive armor.
They watched as the twelve man team set up and camouflaged themselves. They were nearly invisible even with the night vision. Jameson made a note to ask how they were able to blend so easily with the background when the action began. A series of pop-up targets rose and fell, and tracer rounds lit the night sky as the Titans moved forward, advancing on the positions and destroying the targets as they moved.
Drones came in from different angles, firing simunition as they made their pass and the rear most operators removed them from play almost as soon as they arrived. Ingram tapped Jameson and announced a little too loudly that their heads up displays within the helmets displayed the radar feeds from a base location, allowing them to postulate the trajectory and target the incoming drones. Jameson merely nodded as he kept his eyes on the team on the ground.
“Now comes the fun part.” The smile on Ingram’s face belied the seriousness of the test. “Release the captured subjects.” He released the key on the coms then turned to Jameson. “A little surprise just for you. We captured a small band of vamps and kept them handy just for this test.”
“Where did you keep them?”
“We had a detention center revamped just for monsters. You know, in case we need to study them.”
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