by Kim Faulks
The plea filled the Vampire’s eyes as my Dragon sucked in the scent of fear.
But the other one…you can terrorize him all you want.
The ground trembled as the Saint took one step closer.
“No…no. Help me,” our prisoner cried.
A squeak at my right filled the air. “Now that was a goddamn introduction.” Gabriel cleared his throat and took a step, sidling next to my claw. “Now, I’ll ask you one last time. What do you want with the doctor?”
19
Doc Angel
I pressed the button and lifted the phone. The screen lit up the lab with the green glow, yet there was nothing…nothing. Where the fuck was he?
Voices slipped in from the hallway, laughter followed. But there was no laughter now—not while I held the fate of worlds in my hands. I pivoted and made my track to the cryoroom, and then back again. He should be here…shouldn’t he?
I glanced at the clock. Almost two hours…a trail of sweat trickled down the nape of my neck. Call again, press the button. I pinned my lip with my teeth and paced again. Maybe he was lost? Stopped for gas. They said five minutes…five minutes.
My gut tightened in warning. The phone slipped in my palm as I stabbed the button and hit redial.
“Yes?” The crisp male voice cut through.
I flinched. “I ah, this is—”
“We know who you are, Doctor. What do you want?”
I swallowed hard. “He’s not here. No one turned up.”
Silence filled the line, until, “Do you have a pen and paper?”
I lunged, shoving aside my keyboard to grasp a pen. “Yeah, yes…”
“One ninety-two Husby’s Lane. Come alone, and bring the blood and the sequence with you.”
The line went dead in my hands, I stared at the scribble. This was it. This was everything. I picked up the small plastic case, and slid open the clasp. The vial shone black against the protective foam.
I had one chance. One small sliver of hope. The sequence wasn’t going anywhere without me—for it was all in my head. I traced my fingers along the glass, and for a split second the world rushed in.
A world where this one small vial of blood could change everything completely—but that wasn’t the world I ached for. That wasn’t the world that consumed my every thought.
Black scales shimmered in my mind. Thorn’s big dark eyes opened and seized me with a look of despair that plucked the chord of my soul. She needed. My baby needed me.
“I’m coming,” I whispered. “I’m coming for you.”
I closed the top and flicked home the clasp. The keys waited at the edge of my desk. I grasped my thick jacket and made for the door. All heads turned toward me as I strode through.
“Doctor, I was hoping…”
I never stopped, never even looked their way. Nothing else mattered, not my clinic, or my staff. A flare of sorrow cut deep, this was my life’s work—but that spark seemed to fade. My drive was now needed for another.
The vial of blood weighed a ton in my hand, or was it the thud of my heart? I couldn’t tell. I shoved through the door from the clinic and headed for the house. My hands shook as I gripped the handle and pushed, cutting through the hallway to my bedroom and then to the rear of the house.
This could be the last time I see this place, these people. Regrets wormed their way inside my mind. I should've been nicer. Should’ve taken the time. Should’ve worked harder—made a legacy I could be proud of.
My fist tightened around the case.
What was a legacy without love?
A brass plaque engraved with your name?
Angel House would survive. I had good people here, honest hard-working people. They'd not let the dream die. Of that I was sure.
The frigid breeze cut right through me as I stepped through the door and let it slam. I pressed the button, but the lights on the car didn’t blink. I always lock it. I grasped the handle and yanked. The dull glow spilled into the car.
Panic racked my pulse higher as I leaned in and peered behind the driver’s seat. Darkness was all that waited. I climbed into the car, shoved the key in the ignition, and punched the address into the GPS.
The monotone voice filled the car as I reversed and then headed forward. Sweat slid my hands along the leather. I swiped my palm against my thigh and tried to focus, turning right and heading back into the city.
A horn blared somewhere behind me. I flinched with the sound and followed the directions to an empty car park. I glanced through the seven-foot high mesh fence to the buildings. Three cars were scattered through the empty spaces.
I focused on each one, searching for movement, and grabbed the vial case and switched off the engine. My fingers shook as I gripped the handle and yanked. The night air rushed in, but no clarity came with the cold—only a bitter emptiness in the pit of my stomach.
This was going to work. It had to—there was no other way.
I stabbed my seatbelt and shoved open the door. The hairs on my arms rose as I stepped outside and shoved the door closed behind me. Would they find my car here in the morning? Or would it take days?
“Did you bring the blood?”
My fingers slipped from the case as I spun. I clutched for a hold, slamming the plastic box to my chest as the shadow to the side stepped out into the light.
He wasn’t the same as the first Vampire. This one looked younger, no different to the kids walking the streets. His black hair was shaved along the side, leaving the middle to slick backwards.
His black and white sports jacket parted as he moved, revealing blazing red. He was just a kid…just a…
“Doctor.”
White fangs glistened as he spoke.
“Did you bring the blood?”
I gave a nod.
“Good, and the sequence?”
“Yes,” I croaked.
“Good, very good,” he murmured, coming closer. “Now hand them over.”
The closer he came, the more I realized I was wrong. He wasn’t young. There was a hardness about him. A cruelty that only age delivers. The devil sparkled in that soulless gaze—and he was cruel—of that I was sure. I licked my lips, and tried to wet my mouth. “Me…I’m the sequence.”
His shoes scuffed the concrete, and then stilled. “No, that can’t happen.”
My insides turned to water. I straightened my spine and forced out a squeak. “Can and is.”
Please don’t kill me…please don’t kill me…please don’t…
He covered the distance in the blink of an eye, towering over me, fangs exposed ready to rip and shred. I closed my eyes and cowered. He ripped the box from my hands. The sound of a clasp filled my ears, followed by another.
There was no deal—not without me. I squeezed my eyes closed. No deal…no deal. “I’m here. I’m ready to come with you. I’m right here…I’m right here.”
A slow rock consumed me. I waited…waited…
“Fine. But you can explain this to the Huntress.”
I slammed open my eyes. The rock slowed. He stepped backwards, and then turned. My legs wouldn’t work. My knees couldn’t bear weight. He took a step, and then another, leaving me behind.
I stumbled, skidded, grasped air and found my feet as he strode to the edge of the carpark and climbed into a black sedan.
Flashbacks nailed me to the spot as I reached for the handle. It was almost the same car from the day he took us—the same black sleek paint, the same thick body.
“Get in, or I leave you behind.”
I fell against the rear seat, and then grasped the armrest. The car lurched forward, slamming my hand between the car and the door. A sickening crunch followed. I jerked my hand to my chest and wrenched the door shut.
Agony flared along my fingers and pierced my palm. I cradled my hand. Stupid…so damn stupid. My knuckles throbbed. I forced the bend; bones tested…nothing broken.
The car’s undercarriage scraped as we found the road and swung. The Vampire drove in silen
ce, spearing us along the city streets. I focused on my hand, and prayed, until a blinding thought pushed free. “Blindfold, don’t you want me to put on a blindfold?”
He shook his head. “No.”
No? A bitter chill found me.
He doesn’t care that I see where they’ve been hiding.
Because he doesn’t expect me to survive.
Streetlights flashed, lighting up the inside of the car as we whipped past. I nursed my throbbing hand and tried to think.
I had no weapon, no way to save myself.
But I had to, there was more than my life that depended on it.
That dark, lonely cabin pushed into my thoughts, and the stoic Gabriel came with it. Even then, when we stared death in the face I hadn’t been alone. He’d protected me—until the very end. Where was the warrior now?
Would he care that I was gone? Would he even think of me?
The night closed in, replacing splatters of streetlamp for the endless dark. I stared straight ahead as the headlights carved their way through the outskirts of the city, and then finally left all trace behind.
A gas station stood like a lone soldier against the sea of night. We flew past, rushing headlong into nothing. I counted the seconds, trying to map each turn, and as much as I’d give anything for Gabriel to be here, there was one warrior I wanted more.
Green eyes filled me, held me, danced with me. Tendrils of light floated to the surface of my mind, filling me with a warmth only he could give. I’d danced with death before and it was the Dragon that kept me safe—out here I had no one.
Do you want to dance all over the immortal line and beyond? Do you want to feel it in the marrow of your bones, where your spells and science can’t see, can’t touch, can’t belong?
The old crone’s words filled my head. Was this the immortal line? Flirting with danger, and in love with death. Was this my life now? Hunting, forever wanting something just out of reach?
The Dragon filled me, haunted me.
I closed my eyes. Find Thorn and survive, that was all I had to do. I pressed my throbbing hand to my chest and felt a flutter. My pulse was strong and steady, only something else lingered, something akin to hope and love.
The road swayed back and forth and then started the small incline. I cracked open my eyes to catch another gas station. This one smaller, quieter, but still running this time of the night as we drove higher.
Headlights skimmed the outline up ahead. I leaned against the door and craned my head. The soft silver rays of a three-quarter moon hugged the hard curve of the mountain.
The car slowed mid-way. There was no blinker, no warning as he speared off the side, and found a worn track. Shadows whipped past, trees bigger than any others I’d ever seen crowded the car as we slowed to a crawl.
I scanned front and left, catching what little I could as we crept along and then finally stopped. “Is this it?”
The Vampire shut the engine off and cracked open his door. I clawed for mine and scurried after him. The car made a blip, orange indicator lights flashed once as the locks engaged.
Something soft flew through the air and hit the car. The slick sound of satin skimmed the paintwork. He stepped closer, grasping the side of the cloth and spreading it over. Shades of black masked the contour. I took a step, grasped the cloth, and raised it to my eyes—camouflage.
“Move,” he snarled.
I lifted my head. “Where?”
Twigs snapped under his feet. He gripped my arm like a steel vise and shoved. “That way.”
I found the worn path, and focused on every step, looking up only once to gain direction as we climbed higher and higher. The faint hum seemed to come from nowhere, the higher we climbed the louder it came.
The chug-chug-chug wasn’t an engine—more like a generator. The sickening snarl of a wolf stopped me in my tracks. A punch in my shoulder shoved me forward. “Keep going, they won’t kill you, yet.”
More of them slipped through the dark. The more I focused, the more I found. I scanned the trees, narrowing in on the stench of diesel. There was another generator to my left where the wolves sat around a black pit in the side of the rocks.
An entrance…it had to be.
Another punch made me stumble. I stepped slower this time, counting the wolves and the distance to that cave as the track speared into two.
“This way.” The vamp hearded me right, dogging my every step as a cavern opened up ahead.
“Here we are,” he sniggered. “Let’s see what the Huntress has to say.”
20
Michael
I dropped my head and nuzzled the mess at my feet.
A weak hiss slipped between busted teeth and bloodied lips to bounce around this underground bunker.
Gabriel dropped to his knee beside what was left of the Vampire and growled. “Her life for the Dragon baby?”
“No.” The word was barely a whimper—barely a sound. “Use her, trade her. Bring…demon army to life.”
The Vampire warrior raked blood through blond strands as he rocked back. “Bring the demon army to life, huh?”
I dragged in the cold earth and exhaled, debris scattered, but there were no more words from the bag of broken bones at my feet. I raised a claw and stabbed, nailing him to the dirt. Blood leaked free, this immortal could heal no more. But there was no flinch of pain, no scream of terror—only cold, dead silence.
“I think that’s all we’re going to get, Dragon.”
The warrior rose to his full height. Cold rage simmered beneath the surface.
He reached into his pocket and dragged out a phone. The screen lit up in red and black as he swiped his thumb and stabbed buttons.
He moved with careful deliberation, as though he had all the time in the world. Cold, crisp words spilled free. “Angel Home? Yes, is this Angel Home? I need to speak to Angel Leigh, this is an emergency…no I will not hold. Get me Angel Leigh this instant!”
He fell silent as a voice on the other rose an octave…higher…higher, filling the lifeless air with panic. “I see,” Gabriel snarled. “Did she happen to say where she was going?”
Dark eyes glistened. There was no inflection in his voice. I caught the slump in his shoulders as he dropped the phone from his ear. The woman on the other end was still talking, still filling the empty space with panic. “We’re too late,” Gabriel murmured. “She’s gone.”
The warrior pressed the button, ending the noise, and stared at the dead Vamp at his feet. Blood marred his rumpled shirt. Dirt scuffed his sleeves, still fresh from our tussle.
Cold, soft words belied his fury. “You know for someone so incredibly smart this is a fucking stupid move!” He wrenched his head up. White fangs glistened. There was a manic murderous glint in his gaze, one I felt to my core. “Doesn’t she understand what she’s doing? They’ll kill her. As soon as she hands over the goddamn vial she’s as good as dead. We’ll never find her…we’ll never find her.”
Panic crowded the edges, finding the cracks and pushed through. Dirt scraped under my foot as I took a stumble backwards.
My wings slammed into the walls as the light carved a wound through my chest. Pain flared, so deep I knew it wasn’t my own. It was the light I gave her…the light I wrapped around her heart.
They’re hurting her…they’re hurting her…
I dragged my head high and stared at the rock and dirt above—but it was her I saw—it was her I felt. “No!”
The word was a sonic boom through the underground chamber. The room shuddered, chairs toppled, weapons, tools, and anything else that wasn't bolted to the ground slammed into the walls.
Gabriel stumbled backwards and slapped his hands over his ears.
But it was the ceiling I saw. Tiny cracks cut across the expanse. Muscles burned as I drove my wings together and carved the space.
I drove my claws along the floor and lunged, finding the sliver of momentum. I would fly…I would fly for her.
My feet lifted. I lowered my h
ead throwing my body into the dirt. Rocks rained down as I dragged my wings back and tried again. Stars sparkled through the wound overhead. I pushed harder, throwing my mammoth frame into the ceiling, time and time again, until I pushed through.
Cold night air rushed in, tearing along the fresh skin of my open wings. Pain savaged my body, sending sparks of agony deep. I speared the long bones of my wings through the opening of the cavern and pushed.
I shredded the edges of the opening, tearing dirt and asphalt free. Find her! Find her!
“Get word to the Guardians!” Gabriel screamed below me.
I dragged my foot higher. Claws dug into anything, searching for a hold. My muscles howled, shuddering with weight as I glanced down to see the Vampire screaming into the phone.
“I don’t know! How about just look for the twenty-ton fucking ball of light tearing through the sky! The one that looks like a Dragon!”
The ground shuddered under my wings. Nails dug, shoving harder as one foot pulled through, followed by the other.
The Vampire was a blur, hurling himself through the massive hole to land on his feet. He straightened, gave one last look at the destruction I left behind and tuned to me. “You can track her, right?”
I lowered my heard, drawing in the scent of blood and filth and exhaled. The gust of wind scattered his hair, and plastered his shirt against a muscled frame.
“Then lead the way. I’m right behind you.”
He was gone in a blink, tearing off into the night.
And the night waited for no one.
The sting was a burn, finding every cut and every ounce of fresh skin. I craned my head higher, stretching my spine and rose to my full height. The ground gave way behind me as I took a step.
I carved the air, driving the wind to my back and opened my mouth and screamed.
Glass shattered, falling around me as I slammed one foot into the ground followed by another. The air was mine. The night was mine.
She was mine.
21
Doc Angel