“I know. It’s awesome, isn’t it?” Ingram laughed as the Titans continued to engage and decimate the ever shrinking group of vampires.
Small groups of one or two would break away and try to make a run for it only to be run down and find a blade sunk between their shoulders, ashing them before they could hit the ground.
The entire encounter was over and done in a matter of minutes. Jameson watched as the few surviving humans were rounded up and shot, their bodies piled onto the embers of the vampires and doused with motor fuel. He stood from his chair and pulled his jacket straight.
“We’ll need more than this before we pit them against a more dangerous enemy.”
Ingram spun in his chair and glared at him. “What are you talking about? This was flawless.”
“This was no challenge.”
“So?” Robert shrugged. “They’re too well trained. They’re too fast. They’re too efficient at their jobs. That gives you doubt in their ability to remove the squads?”
“The squads shoot back, or have you forgotten?”
“No, I haven’t forgotten. But you were the one who thought that this should be the go-no-go test for these boys. Have you forgotten that?”
Jameson stared at the screens again and shook his head. “Gypsies.”
Robert paused, his brain not understanding the response. “Say what?”
“These were gypsies, Robert, not warriors. Just…nomads. There was no fight in them.”
“What are you saying?”
“I’m saying there was no fight in them. This wasn’t a test of anything but how quickly our boys could pull the trigger.” He marched to the screen and pointed to the ash piles scattered across the fields. “Not one of them attacked. They all ran.”
Robert turned and stared at the ash piles. They were all meters away from the Titans and where they were staged. He pulled his remote to him and rolled back the footage. As he replayed the carnage, it finally sunk in what Jameson had picked up the first time. He sat back in his chair and sighed heavily.
“Do you see it now?”
“Yes.” He ran a hand across his face and stretched his neck. “I really thought that…” He turned and faced Jameson. “How are we supposed to give them the experience they need? What can they face that will challenge them enough to prepare them for the squads?”
Jameson leaned against the concrete column in the center of the room and shook his head. “I have an idea, but I don’t think either of us would like it.”
“Tell me.”
Jameson pushed off the column and squared his shoulders. “The only source of monsters I know of that would definitely fight back.” He stared Ingram square in the eye. “The Council.”
13
“When the hell aren’t we in danger?” Mitchell barked.
“That may well be true, but this danger is imminent. And, as much as I hate to admit it, it may be my doing.” Walter Simmons’ voice cracked, “I hired a man to…to kill you. For what you did to my daughter.”
Mitchell groaned. “You mean Sheridan and Bigby?”
“Yes, I’m afraid so.”
Mitchell tried very hard not to scream into the phone. “You realize that Sheridan has been neutralized?”
“Yes, but Major Bigby has picked up the gauntlet and—”
“Major Bigby? I hate to burst your bubble, but Bigby was Sheridan’s sergeant. He may know a thing or two, but it sounds like his ego inflated.”
“I should have expected as much.”
Mitchell interrupted him, trying to get back on point. “Regardless, do you know where he is now?”
“No, Colonel, I do not. I tried to call him off, but he refused. He said that he didn’t care what happened to Jennifer. He said that collateral damage happened all the time in war and…and that simply is not acceptable.”
“So that’s when you decided to pick up the phone.” Mitchell punched a button on his intercom and held his hand over the receiver. He ordered the security doubled and an APB and BOLO put out on Bigby. Turning his attention back to Simmons he glared at the wall. “If you don’t have any specific intel for me, what good is this call?”
Simmons flustered momentarily then cleared his throat. “I know that you have no reason to trust me, Colonel.”
“We agree on something.”
“Yes, well…when it comes to my daughter, I’m sure you understand why I might be a bit overprotective. She’s the only family I have left.”
“And she’s my mate now, so that makes her welfare my priority.”
“Be that as it may, you’ll understand why I wouldn’t hesitate to offer my resources to assist you in stopping this madman.”
“One man. You think I need your help in stopping one man?”
“Colonel, I think you underestimate the depths that this man would stoop to.”
“And I think you underestimate the abilities of my men, sir.” Mitchell stood, the veins in his neck standing out as he did his best to refrain from reaching through the phone and choking his ‘father in law’. “Forgive me if I don’t run and hide from this limey buttplug. My boys and I have held our own against far worse than anything he can throw at us, and we will continue to handle far worse long after his bones have turned to dust. Trust me when I say that I’ll give him his due diligence, but I’ll not lose sleep over what he might do. Once we have a lead on him, we’ll be sure to send enough high velocity silver his direction to ensure he doesn’t bother anybody else.” He gripped the phone tighter and feared it might crush in his hand. “Good day to you, sir.”
He did his best to lay the phone gently in the cradle and failed miserably.
*****
Jack watched as the last of his team stepped through the boulder and then turned, staring into the trees leading down the mountain. He estimated they had at least a six-kilometer hike before reaching the mill and he knew it wouldn’t be long before they were engaged in a battle that could likely be their last. He turned back and waved his team over to converge on him.
“Remember your staging points and areas of coverage. There’s likely to be a shit ton of demons there dressed in human meat suits. As much as I wish we could save them all, we can’t allow them to escape. If any get by us, they could just as easily try to follow through with Lilith’s plan.”
“Chief Jack,” Allister stepped forward, his head nearly a foot taller than the soldiers surrounding him, “if you will allow me a few moments before you commence fighting, I can ensure that the demons do not leave the area. At least, non-corporeally.”
“Say again? In English this time.”
Allister cocked his head to the side and Jack had trouble reading the expression on his face. “They will not be able to leave as a light being. They will be trapped in their host bodies.”
“Excellent.” Dom elbowed Jack. “Does that mean bullets will kill them?”
Allister shook his feathered head. “No, but you can damage them enough to take them out of the fight. And they won’t be able to slip into a new body and rejoin the fight. At least, not until the spell is broken.”
Kalen held a hand up to interrupt. “You can trap them with a spell?”
“Of course.”
“Can you send them back to the depths from which they came?”
Allister shook his head again. “Only the death of Lilith can do that.”
Rufus turned a questioning look to Paul who shrugged. “Excusez moi. Did I hear you correctly? Removing Lilith from the battle will send her demons back to Hell?”
“Yes, that is correct.” Allister didn’t understand why this seemed like new information to the hunters. He truly thought this was common knowledge.
“And the Fallen one?” the Nephilim asked. “He will be banished back as well?”
Allister shuddered at the thought of Samael and his torturous ways. “Yes, all of those who call her ‘queen’ shall be sent back to whence they came.”
Jack glanced around at the team and nodded. “New goal. Lilith
goes down first. If we can drop the bitch early, the fewer people who can get hurt. Understood?”
Allister perked up again. “You do realize that she can’t be destroyed.”
Jack turned a surprised look to him. “But you said—”
“I said her death would send them all back to the depths, but she cannot be destroyed. She has been marked by the hand of God.”
“So…what are you saying?” Dom asked, unsure there was an answer he’d like.
Allister smiled as best as he could. “Rip her heart from her chest and the body dies. Lilith herself may not be destroyed, but her life-force will exit.”
Jack nodded. “Good enough for me.” He racked a round into his P90 and stepped from the circle. “Rack ‘em and stack ‘em boys and girls. Time to make the doughnuts.”
*****
Laura sat on the edge of the bed, the phone pressed to her ear. “It’s been heartbreaking, Evan. It seems like the more I tried to fix things, the worse they became.”
“I wish I had an answer for you. Some magic word that could restore your hope or make you see a silver lining, but…I have nothing.”
She gave a half-hearted chuckle and sniffed back tears. “You’re such an optimist,” she joked.
“Hey, I don’t candy-coat with you, you know that.” He leaned back in his chair and glanced around the lab. “You know I don’t really buy into the whole fate thing, but maybe there’s something to it. Maybe this was meant to be.”
“What? That I was meant to screw up my whole family and cause them this kind of pain?”
He shook his head at the phone and sighed softly into the speaker. “No, love, maybe it was predestined that you were going to lose your father, but…rather than lose him to death, you lost him to…I dunno. A different path. A different life. A…another chance at being happy. Or something. Hell, I don’t know. Like I said, I don’t buy into the whole fate thing.”
“For somebody that doesn’t buy into it, it sure sounds like you’ve given it some thought.”
“I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that.” He glanced up toward Mitchell’s office. “I mean, our CO is ‘mated’ to his fated mate. Tufo should have died on the hangar floor…hell, he should have died three times on my table. He got infected by both a wolf and me, yet somehow, he defied all the odds and not only survived, but he’s thriving.” He leaned forward and pinched the bridge of his nose. “I know jarheads are tough, but nobody lives forever.”
Laura glanced out the window towards the woods and could almost imagine her father staring back at her through wolf eyes. She smiled at the idea and pressed the phone closer. “Maybe not. And maybe you’re right. Maybe it was my destiny or maybe I just screwed up. Who knows, right?”
“There ya go. All you can do is accept that things are the way they are and go on.”
She sat silently for a moment then said what she feared the most. “What if I can’t?”
“What if you can’t what? Go on?” The worry in his voice was evident.
“What if I can’t accept what happened and just let it be?”
“What more can you do, love? Your father doesn’t want to be found. He doesn’t want any part of the cure. You said he crushed the other vial, yes?”
“Evan, I worry. What if he…what if he doesn’t transition all the way to the wolf? What if he’s stuck as a Halfling and somebody sees him? What if the squads have to—”
“Shh, don’t even think like that.” He did his best to set her mind at ease. “I ran all of the scenarios through the modeling and it’s a ninety-six percent chance that he’ll continue mutating until he reaches the wolf stage. The odds of him being stuck as a Halfling are…very small.”
“The way my luck has been running, I wouldn’t trust a hundred percent odds.”
“Well, it sounds to me like you’re due a break.” He wished he could be there to hold her tight. “And it sounds like you need some sleep. You must be exhausted.”
“I am. I just don’t know if I’ll be able to rest.”
“Alcohol works well as a depressant. I’m just making a suggestion.”
She snorted into the phone. “Are you prescribing me a shot of whiskey?”
“Or bourbon or scotch or whatever you have on hand.”
“Just a shot? I think a fifth might be in order.”
“No, ma’am. I want you to sleep, not get drunk. Trust me, the last thing you need is to battle a hangover in the morning.”
“Yeah, you’re right.” She stood and stretched, her eyes scanning the woods again. “One shot then hit the sack.” She paused and leaned against the open window sill, the cool breeze whispering past her skin. She held the phone close again and said softly, “I love you Evan. Don’t ever change.”
“Never. Now take your medicine and get some rest.”
He hung up and stared at her picture on his desk. He studied the lines of her jaw, the glimmer in her eyes, the long mahogany hair. “What has happened to the strong woman I knew? She gets around her family and she becomes twelve again.”
*****
“Sierra Actual, OPCOM. Coms check.” Tufo gripped the arms of the command chair and stared at the screens showing the helmet cams as the team followed Jack’s warriors down the mountain.
“You’re five-by-five, OPCOM,” Dom’s voice huffed as he landed from a short jump off a rock outcrop.”
“Sierra Actual, be advised, you have air support inbound. ETA approximately one-five minutes. Copy?”
“Copy that, OPCOM. One-five mikes. Is she outfitted with high velocity silver supplements?”
“Negative, Sierra Actual. But the Reaper will have a full complement of Hellfires.”
“Hooah! That’s what I like to hear, Major.”
Tufo watched as the team continued working their way down the mountain. He monitored their heat signatures from the satellite feed against the incoming Reaper. “Widen the field of view. I want to see what they’re about to get into.”
The tech controlling the satellite feed sent the necessary adjustments to the satellite, and moments later the picture widened, showing a much larger grouping of heat signatures at the base of the mountain. “Holy smokes. Do they know what they’re marching into, Major?”
“Unfortunately, yes.” He leaned back in his chair and watched as Jack’s team slowed their approach and stopped just inside the tree line. “What are you up to, Phoenix?”
He brought up the helmet cam from one of the members and watched as he slowly swiveled from scanning the area to watching the large griffin. They had built a small rock altar, and now a small oil fire was burning. The creature was digging bags out of his satchel and sprinkling them into the fire.
“Major? Any idea what’s going on?”
“Beats me, Lieutenant. Whatever it is must be necessary or Jack wouldn’t be standing still for it.” He switched back to the satellite feeds and highlighted the heat signatures downhill from the group. “Keep your eyes on this group and let me know if any of them break away or head anywhere close to the teams.”
“Aye, sir.”
Tufo fought the urge to stand and pace the OPCOM as his adrenaline levels rose. He felt the urge to join the fight rise as each moment ticked past and his mouth began to go dry. He instinctively reached for his water bottle and felt something stick to the end of his fingers. He glanced down and beheld a sight that made his heart skip a beat and his heart fall into his stomach.
His nails had elongated and thickened, appearing much like claws, but unlike anything he had ever encountered. His plastic water bottle was skewered and dripping from the sharpened appendages.
Swallowing hard, he glanced around the OPCOM to see if anybody else had noticed. Satisfied that everybody else was too busy with their jobs, he quickly twisted the cap off and swallowed down the remaining liquid.
Tufo turned his hands so that his fingers were inside the arms of the command chair and hidden from view and then tried his best to return his attention to the men on the screen. Occas
ionally he would steal a glance at them to ensure nothing else had grown out of his fingertips.
Using his pinky he quickly pushed the internal coms button. “Somebody call for Doc. We may need his expertise in here.”
“Aye, sir.”
Mark exhaled hard and waited for Doctor Peters to arrive. If he was lucky, the fight-or-flight effects would diminish and he would only have to describe it after the fact. He glanced again at his fingertips and shook his head.
“Could I have picked a worse time to lose my shit?” he muttered.
*****
Rufus watched from the rear of the pack as the griffin performed his ritual. He made sure to keep Foster close to his side as they worked their way down the mountain and kept the Gatekeeper in view the entire way. Now, as the group’s attention was focused on the majik taking place, Rufus and Foster made their move.
Rufus slipped in beside the Greater Elf and nudged him to get his attention. “I must beg your forgiveness, but I am in need of your assistance.”
Kalen gave him a confused stare and noticed that Rufus gave a slight nod to the side. Kalen followed his gaze and saw the other vampire standing behind Brooke, a silver bladed dagger in his hands and hovering close to her spine. She had no idea as her attention was focused entirely on the griffin.
Kalen spun on Rufus who held a finger to his mouth. “Please, we wish no harm. Only an exit.”
“What do you mean, undead abomination?” The hatred in his eyes was apparent.
“We need you to open a gateway.” Rufus handed him coordinates. “To here.”
Kalen stared at the coordinates and shook his head. “It is daylight there. You’d be dead as soon as you stepped through.”
“At these coordinates, the stone is inside. It is safe, I assure you.”
“You fear dying by Lilith’s hand.” Kalen squared his shoulders as he glared at the vampire.
“Non, but I know that even if I were to wield the blade that carved out her heart myself, the council would not lift the edict they have placed on my head.”
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