“Alexi!” Savanna screamed. “Dangerous!”
Alexi ignored the cross. Savanna held on to the doorframe by her fingertips. Alexi sprinted down the hallway. An explosion behind her slammed her through the floor to ceiling window next to the door. Shards of razor-sharp glass sliced her skin and clothes to ribbons.
“Get to the truck!” the one holding Savanna yelled.
Alexi picked herself up. The pink dress tore along one side. Glass and wood splinters rained down from her hair. A black SUV hung off the sidewalk with its passenger door open. The man with Savanna was almost there. If he got her in, she would never see her again. The other two clambered through the remnants of the window. They split up to block her from Savanna.
Despite all the blows they landed on her, she wasn’t in pain. Not even winded. They were bigger than her, and they knew—or thought they knew—what they were fighting.
Alexi marched forward. She kicked out sideways connecting with the somewhat paunchy fellow. The other launched into a flurry of blows that landed on her forearms and shoulders. Her arms ached from the beating he poured on her.
With legs bent, she leaped up. Her knee caught him in the chin. Before his body could fall, she spun and swept his feet. His face planted on the concrete hard. A loud bang jerked Alexi around. Bullets ripped into her chest. The impact knocked her on her backside. Pain blossomed where they tore through her, but it didn’t hurt nearly as much as she imagined it would. It took a moment for the shock to wear off. The man fired until the slide locked back. He calmly ejected the magazine and fished the next one out from his side. Alexi leaped to her feet. She half expected her legs to fail or to fall back to the ground, but she was as strong as ever.
She sprinted forward. The gun banged three more times. Time slowed down. She heard the hammer fall, and heat washed over her, followed by sudden pain in her shoulder. She ignored it as she ducked the next shot, rolled forward on her shoulder, and came up under his gun.
Her hands found his throat. She ripped the gun from his hands, and with a jerk of her hips, she threw him over her shoulder. The three men lay on the ground. Two were unconscious, and the third moaned.
“Alexi! Oh my god, are you okay?”
“I’ve felt better.” The last round had caught her in the elbow, and she couldn’t make a fist.
“Let’s get out of here.”
“Wait.” Savanna left Alexi against the SUV, and then she riffled through the coat of the man Alexi had flattened. She pulled out a wallet, phone, and a watch.
“Now we can go.” She put one arm around Alexi’s waist. As they walked away, Alexi heard the second man start to wake up. The third lay still, but her ears picked up the steady rhythm of a heartbeat. She had no idea who they were, but she was glad she didn’t kill them. By the time they were a block away, Alexi could walk on her own. When they were two blocks away, only the blood splatter on her dress indicated anything had happened. She marveled at her hands as she clenched a fist. The smooth white skin over her chest was unbroken and her elbow was as if it had never been hurt.
“I take it those guys are the ones after you?” Alexi said.
“Them? No, I have no idea who they were.” She shivered while they walked. The long, warm days of summer were giving way to the cool nights of fall. Alexi peeled off her borrowed coat and placed it over Savanna’s shoulders.
Savanna smiled. “Thanks. Let’s see what we got.” The wallet held a wad of cash, an ID that meant nothing to them, and a number of business cards for the ATF, FBI, and US marshals, all with the same name on them.
“Whoever these guys are, they’re not from any of these.” Alexi dumped everything in the trash but the money.
“At least they bought us dinner after dancing.” Savanna grinned. Their laughter echoed off the empty street as they walked arm in arm.
***
“Oh merciful Lord, what was that?” Connor groaned. The pain in his jaw alarmed him. His tongue swirled around his mouth feeling the chipped and broken teeth. This was not at all what they had expected when they got the word a newborn was on the loose. He ran a hand through his brown hair to make sure he wasn’t bleeding.
A muffled moan came from Sing. He was a few feet away, facedown on the pavement. Connor tested his arm. Muscles screamed in protest as he moved to sit. They screamed further when he dragged himself over to the car. He let his head rest against the tire. Out of breath and unable to move his left arm, he stopped.
“My wallet’s gone,” Sing mumbled. “Phone, too.” The pistol lay on the ground a few feet from him. Connor watched as Sing dragged himself across the asphalt. Only the steady rising and falling of Martin’s chest told Connor he was alive. Man, the old lady is going to be pissed.
His cell phone told him what his head already knew. She was aware of their failure. He punched her number. She picked up before the first ring faded.
“Tell me what happened.”
“The vampire dropped all three of us, boss, and she got away with the civilian. If I had to guess, I would say the civie’s a thrall.”
He waited for her to say something. The silence stretched on. Thralls were tricky. Technically, they made decisions with their own free will. But as Connor and everyone at the Arcanum knew, when dealing with vampires, rarely do you make a decision on your own.
“Treat her as hostile then,” came his boss’s voice. Her Israeli accent still lingered, even after years in the states. Connor wouldn’t question her orders, not for the life of him. If half the rumors were true, she was as dangerous as the monsters they hunted. Her face was a latticework of scars and burns, and she didn’t get them playing soccer. Still, that blonde vampire had rolled through them like they were mall cops. He was a US Navy SEAL, with black belts in three different martial arts. What she did seemed impossible, even taking into account the enhanced strength and speed all vampires possessed. She was unlike anything he’d ever come across, and that alone sent a shiver of fear down his spine.
“Director, when I say she dropped us, I mean it. We were only expecting a first day, but she fought like a seasoned vet. The knuckles, holy water, even the blessed bullets, they did nothing but piss her off. I don’t know about you, but we’ve never encountered a first-day vampire that could do any of that.” His cheeks burned as he recognized the panic creeping into his voice.
“You’re wrong, Connor,” she replied. “We’ve never encountered any vampire that could do what you’re saying, first day or not. Call your team in and put out the BOLO to our street agents.”
“Will do.”
“And, Connor?” Her voice softened. “Good work not dying.”
“Always my priority, ma’am.”
FOUR
Savanna shivered in the night air. I’m not dressed for the cold. Why didn’t I stay in Austin? All the time she had spent running from, well, everything, she had stayed in the south. It was far easier to find a place to stay the night when it never dropped below sixty. Her new friend seemed lost in thought, and that was okay. She needed to think, too. The dream lingered in her mind, like a half-formed memory. Alexi on a hill, bright sunlight all around her. She gazed right at Savanna with a sad, mournful smile.
Come find me when you wake up, and I will protect you.
At first, she had dismissed it. Not enough sleep and food for days on end had been making her head hurt. The more she had thought about it, the more it seemed real. After three days of obsessing over it, she cast a locator spell. It hadn’t been easy or cheap traveling from Austin to Seattle.
Fear was a powerful motivator. Snapping jaws and tearing meat flooded her memories. You tried to hide, but each time she finds you.
She was there again. The wolves—they had torn through her adopted coven like tissue paper. The most powerful magic any of the witches of Virginia Beach could cast had rolled off the wolves like rain. The witches had died—all of them, and horribly—for the sin of taking her in. After that, Savanna kept to herself.
“Are you okay?�
� Alexi’s voice broke her thoughts. “You’ve got to be cold. We should find someplace to warm up.”
“Yeah, it’s a lot colder here than Texas.” She wrapped her arms around herself and focused on something else. Nights where she thought about death and werewolves rarely involved sleep, and exhaustion gnawed at her.
“Is that where you’re from?”
Her companion’s pink dress was in tatters. Bloodstains spotted the fabric where the bullets had hit her, and one of the straps hung on by a thread. Savanna marveled at how calm Alexi was. Three men who were obviously well trained had tried to kill her not ten minutes before. Here she was, casually walking down the street. No tremors, no vomiting, nothing. She’s a vampire. Savanna unconsciously rubbed her hand where Alexi had fed. Despite the trauma of being fed on, it was a . . . pleasant memory. It was almost calming as if Alexi had lent her emotional strength in return for the blood. It wasn’t violent or forced. While the Alexi from the dream hadn’t been specific, she got the general sense things would go this way. Like there was more to the dream than just the spoken words.
“Savanna, did you hear me?”
“I’m sorry,” she whispered. She screwed up again. That was her, always losing focus. Always being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Never able to think on her feet. She squeezed her eyes shut as the memory of her mother came back to her. She would scream at her for hours until Savanna would finally relent and cast the magic her mother wanted. The way she wanted.
Until her sixteenth birthday. Until the day of sacrifice. What would Alexi think of me if she knew the truth?
A hand touched her shoulder, and she jumped from fright.
“Savanna. You okay?”
“I’m sorry. I’m tired.” Her dry mouth didn’t help her speak. “I wasn’t any use to you back there.” She shrugged in the direction they had come from.
“You’ve got nothing to be sorry for. I’m the one they were after. And after what I did to you, I should be asking you for forgiveness.”
Me? Why would she need my forgiveness?
“But I didn’t do anything. I stood there like a lump while they dragged me off. You’re the awesome one.” Her cheeks burned with shame at being manhandled. Suddenly her feet became very important to observe.
Alexi was a full head taller than her and far more composed than Savanna could ever hope. She was everything Savanna wasn’t. Brave, decisive, confident. Tears brimmed in her eyes.
Alexi tipped Savanna’s chin up. Her fingers were cold in the cool night air. Alexi looked her in the eyes for a moment. Savanna could feel those blue eyes revealing her truth—Savanna was a coward.
“You’re braver than you give yourself credit for,” Alexi said. “Certainly braver than I would be. Who told you that you weren’t?”
Savanna tried to look away, but Alexi’s fingers refused to budge. “I’m not brave. If you knew—” She shook her head. “I’m not brave.”
“What do you call a girl who moves halfway across the country to help a vampire she’s never met before and then feeds her on the first night of her new life so she doesn’t die?” Alexi shrugged and let go of her chin. “That’s pretty damn brave to me.”
She’s just being nice. I’m worthless, and I know it. If only I could show her something.
“I guess so.”
They resumed their walk. The city was coming alive as the last glimmer of day vanished. Bright lights filled the streets. Savanna couldn’t see the stars through the towers that hovered above them. At least they were safe for the moment.
“You’ve got to be hungry,” Alexi said. “Those doughnuts couldn’t have filled you.”
“I had a bagel three days ago and that delicious doughnut,” Savanna whispered.
She was hungry, but it was best not to think of it. It took days to set up in a new city. Even then, she made pennies with her tricks. Strong magic, the stuff that could pay the bills, would attract the wrong kind of attention. Finding lost pets or people—that took real sacrifice. The kind she couldn’t afford.
“Alexi, I think I can do something for you.”
Alexi’s eyes lit up. “Savanna, have you not heard anything I’ve said? You’ve already done so much for me. I can’t ask any more of you.”
Savanna shook her head. This would be real, a real thing she could do. “That wasn’t anything, but this would be. Come on. Follow me.”
A thrill went through her gut. She could show Alexi she wasn’t worthless, that she could pull her weight. She just needed to find the right place. She cut over across the street, heedless of the traffic, then through an alley and up a steep hill. Savanna’s breaths came in wheezes by the time they got to the top. She doubled over with her hands on her knees.
“Where are we going?” Alexi said as she looked around.
The park wasn’t much, a kind of artistic break from all the glass and concrete. It gave the wage slaves something to think about as they stared down from their giant offices. It was exactly what Savanna needed. She could draw power from the earth, and with the lay line above her, she could cast with little sacrifice. Her breath back, she walked around the little park. She had to find just the right spot. When she did, she fell to her knees.
“I told you. I’m a witch. I have a talent for seeing things that haven’t happened—and things that have.”
Alexi went deathly still. “Are you saying you could see what happened to me?”
Savanna nodded. Her facade of confidence faltered. “Maybe. Just maybe,” she whispered.
“Back home, I did this sort of thing all the time for my family.” She choked back the rush of emotion that came with thinking about them. “Sometimes it worked. Sometimes it didn’t.”
“Can I do anything?”
“Come sit next to me. I need to hold your hand.”
Alexi knelt on her knees to face Savanna. She held both her hands out toward her. Savanna took a deep breath. Oh, please let this work. She slid the dagger from its sheath, the blade gleaming in the streetlight.
“Uh, I’m not hungry—why do you need the dagger?” Alexi asked.
“I’m a witch.” Savanna closed her eyes and pressed the dagger to her arm. She kept the blade sharp. It burned slightly as she slid it a few inches down her skin. Blood trickled from the razor-thin cut.
“Savanna, what—?”
“Shh, I need to focus.”
Her arm bled at a slow trickle. Savanna kept her eyes closed to block out the world. Once enough blood accumulated on her arm, she dragged her hand across the wound to bloody her palm. Alexi’s face was fresh in her mind. They clasped hands. The instant they touched, Savanna knew it had worked. A charge bounced between them. In Savanna’s mind, Alexi floated above her. Warmth flooded through her as the magic drew from her strength. Her heart beat like a jackhammer in her chest. Neurons fired en masse, and she felt the first signs of a seizure approaching. It always started in her hands.
“Savanna, what are you doing?”
“It’s okay,” she forced out between clenched teeth.
The vision of Alexi formed in the air before her, a ghost with no substance. Not the Alexi that sat before her, but the one that had lived before. Dirty-blonde hair barely longer than her ears framed a tan, freckled face.
“I see you. You’re . . . different.”
“How?”
“You’re alive. Your skin is very dark like you’ve had a lot of sun.”
Her hands trembled. Hurry. Go forward. A building behind Alexi came into view. A hotel? No, it was a hospital. She could see that Alexi worked there. Her visions were never just seeing. She could know things about people she saw, things they never told anyone. She knew what she saw had happened six months before. As she watched Alexi come out of the building into an underground parking garage, she instantly knew that this was a good person. Her soul lit her up like a beacon. A spotlight in the dark.
The building vanished. Savanna could see a car now, a beat-up red Ford Mustang. Alexi fumbled with the keys. Her
hands tired from washing dishes and preparing food. A shadow fell over her. Something hit her back, slamming her into the side of the car. Savanna cried out, trying to warn her friend. Alexi swept her leg out. A man fell with a cry and a grunt as the air exploded from his lungs. Alexi whipped out a steel baton and slammed it into his temple. A click, then Taser wires hit her. Her muffled scream echoed through the empty parking garage.
Savanna’s heart thumped in her chest. She couldn’t breathe. Get up, Alexi! Get up!
A man picked up the baton Alexi had dropped. He knelt next to her and brought it down violently on Alexi’s skull. The cracking sound made Savanna jump. Again he hit her. And again. And again. Soon there was nothing left but a bleeding mass of bone fragments and gray matter.
Savanna’s arms and legs convulsed, refusing to obey her. She slumped against Alexi as the seizure overtook her. In her mind, all she could see was Alexi’s caved-in head.
***
Alexi held the girl as tight as she dared. What else could she do? Savanna’s whole body seized with tremendous force the girl couldn’t have exerted consciously.
“It will be okay. It will all be okay,” she said as she smoothed back Savanna’s dark hair. One by one, Savanna’s limbs settled down. Her breathing slowed, and her body relaxed. Alexi feared someone would see them, but the park remained empty. She had nothing for her, no food to give her, no drink. Not for the first time, she asked herself what could have possessed this girl to help her.
The breeze from the changing air temperature ruffled leaves. Alexi’s hair dangled in her face; she pushed it aside every few seconds. She didn’t want to let go of Savanna until she woke.
“Hey,” Savanna whispered.
She hugged the girl to her chest as if she were a long-lost doll. Her own eyes glossed over as she fought back tears.
“Are you okay?” she asked through a thick throat.
“I’m okay, just tired.” Savanna tried to push herself up; her arms and legs didn’t seem to want to work. Instead, she curled up in Alexi’s lap, her face buried in the vampire’s shoulder.
With the Dawn (Faith of the Fallen) Page 3