Already the town was alive with the hustle and bustle of packing. Lights were on inside windows, even at this time of night. Voices murmured and argued on what would be packed and what could be left behind.
Even at this distance, Sloan could hear them. Mothers and fathers arguing, children excited and panicked. Sloan let all of the background noise drown out as she stared out into the darkness brought on by the late hours of the night. Was it the late hours of the night, or the early hours of the morning? Sloan couldn’t tell.
“I’m not as versed in strategy as you are, but this doesn’t look like much of a defensible position.” Ashley stared out into the night. Her mage sword had been powered off. It rested comfortably across her shoulders. “If you’re just trying to buy the fleeing citizens time, you might as well try to engage them in a head-on fight instead of trying to defend anything.”
“You should’ve been in the army.” Sloan drummed the digits of her right hand on the pommel of her own mage sword. “I need to keep them in the city for as long as possible. Every second I can give to those escaping Term might make all the difference. If I can stop the invading force here, make them lose enough men to pull back, that would be even better.”
“Who’s staying with you?”
Sloan didn’t think about the question for more than a second. “I can do it by myself. Edison and Elwood aren’t fighters, Kimberly and her men need to push the refugees from Term along the road as quickly as possible, and … well, you and Aareth have your own future to think about.”
“Yeah, a future that starts with a past I can’t even remember.” Ashley let out a long sigh.
The chatter of an excited child reached their ears. The women turned to look. One of the first houses on the way into Term was in the process of being vacated by its owners. A mother about Ashley and Sloan’s own age held a sleeping baby in her arms, while her husband corralled two giant suitcases and a rambunctious child that couldn’t have been more than three.
“Where are we going? What are we going to do? Can I bring my stuffed animals with me?” The questions tumbled out of the child’s mouth as if each one were connected to the rest.
“Do you ever wish your life had taken a different route?” Ashley didn’t look at Sloan while she asked the question. “I don’t mean, ‘Do you regret your past?’ but are there times you’ve wanted more for yourself?”
“Since my fall out with the queen, so much has gone through my mind. I really don’t know any more.” Sloan thought on Kimberly’s words a bit longer. The silence lengthened between the two women as each was caught up in memories long past. “The older I get, the more I realize there’s more to life than service and duty. I understand now the truly important things I’ve missed along the way.”
“We should help them.” Ashley nodded to the young family struggling to gather their belongings and children. “They don’t look like they’re capable of much, let alone preparing to flee their homes in the middle of the night.”
“You’re not as heartless as you think.” Sloan smiled over at her companion as the two warriors began walking toward the family. “Maybe there’s hope for you yet.”
Chapter Thirty-Five
Jack
Jack was so tired from the fight before, it took everything in him to again shoulder the power of magic as he focused past his roaring stomach. His eyes were still adjusting to the dark room when he once more called the green magic to his hands.
His brain immediately registered a handful of facts: He and Abigail were in a dark room, there was a large man looking down at them, and the man had one eye glowing a strange hue of orange.
“None of that.” The man held a pistol to Jack’s forehead. “Try one of your magic tricks, and I’ll paint the wall with what little brains you have, boy.”
The cold metal of the gun and the intensity in the man’s single, orange eye told Jack he wasn’t bluffing. Jack’s mouth went dry as he thought about his options. The man was large and quick, even with his perceived handicap of having one of his eyes covered by a black patch. Jack couldn’t imagine his own odds were good.
“Please, sir.” Abigail shook her head and held up her hands. “Lieutenant Doyle Baker sent us here. He said we would be safe, that you would be able to help us.”
The man didn’t move his gun from Jack’s forehead. However, at the mention of Doyle Baker’s name, Jack felt the pressure of the cold steel barrel lessen.
“He said all of that, did he?” the man asked. He motioned to Jack’s hands with his chin. “Lights out, Sparky. I’m not going to lower my weapon, only to have you throw a blast of magic at me as soon as I do.”
Jack’s shoulders slumped as he allowed the magic inside to dissipate. It was already fading, anyway. Whatever reserves he had had been tapped. With the disappearance of the magic dancing over his hands came the loss of the illumination inside the room. Once more, the interior of the house went dark.
Jack’s eyes were still adjusting as the man began to speak once again.
“Why would Baker send you here?” the man asked, now barely visible as Jack’s and Abigail’s eyes began to adjust. “Who are you?”
Abigail spoke first. “We’re on the run from the queen. The queen and her sister had captured us. We escaped, and now—”
“You fools.” The man rushed to one of the front windows, barely moving aside the drape to look at what was outside. “No one ever escapes the queen.”
As if to punctuate his words, both windows burst inward under a shower of sharp glass shards. The orange-eyed man went down under the weight of a black-clad attacker. As the two wrestled on the ground, another assailant who had entered through the opposite window moved toward Jack and Abigail.
The man moved so fast, it was impossible for Jack to tell much more besides that it was a vampire soldier. He descended upon Jack and Abigail so quickly, Jack hadn’t even had time to try to call on his magic for assistance. In the blink of an eye, the vampire soldier slammed into Abigail, sending her flying across the room.
Abigail’s body struck the far wall with a sick thud. She crumpled to the floor and didn’t move. As fast as Jack could process the event, he was grabbed around his throat. Panic immediately set in as the skin burned. His lungs were working overtime to try to send oxygen to his brain, but the supply was quickly fading.
Jack was lifted into the air by the attacker in black. A pale face he didn’t recognize sneered at him. “You humans will bow under the power of The Legion, or die.”
Jack’s vision was beginning to blur as he fought against the steel-like grip of his attacker. His magical store had been tapped dry. Bright dots were exploding across the scene in front of him as he lost consciousness.
Chapter Thirty-Six
Sloan
All through the night and into the following day, Sloan and Ashley aided families in readying for their journey to Term. Neither woman was comfortable with the task, but both understood that right now this was where they could help the most.
Swords sheathed, vampire super soldier and the undead woman aided residents in packing, loading, and even held children while their parents got their belongings together. The staging area for the departure was the road leading out from the west side of Term. Most of the town had accepted the call to flee. Only a few of the most stubborn remained behind.
Sloan hadn’t eaten or slept all day, and neither had she felt the need to. The changes still happening to her body so far were ones she could live with. Sloan’s mind was already running wild with the idea of how much she could accomplish if she didn’t have to sleep.
“Kristen! Kristen!” a man in his mid-thirties called after his young daughter as she ran over to Sloan, brown eyes large. “Leave the nice lady alone, Kristen.”
“Are you a fighter? A real-life warrior?” The girl ignored her father, looking up at Sloan with awe. “Everyone says you’re going to protect us. Well, after they said that you’re the reason we all have to go.”
Sloan squ
atted down. She still wasn’t eye level with the girl. “I’m going to make sure you and your dad have enough time to get to Azra, where you’ll be safe.”
“I’m sorry.” Kristen’s father ran up to his daughter and lifted her into his arms. “I don’t know where she gets some of these ideas.”
Sloan was about to respond with a sarcastic response, when Kimberly’s booming voice filled the staging area. “All right, humans, gargoyles, shifters, and other members of the paranormal race, we’re heading to Azra. I have runners already informing the city of our arrival. My men and I will act as our caravan’s guards. If we push hard, we’ll reach Azra in four, maybe five, days’ time.”
Sloan took a moment to gauge the gathered groups’ reaction to Kimberly’s words. There were more people making the pilgrimage than Sloan had initially thought. It seemed like the city of Term was surprisingly populated. Families stood side-by-side, squinting in the day’s setting sun. Thick ropes and cords strapped overloaded carts holding everything from desks to rugs. The horses and donkeys harnessed to the carts and wagons pawed at the ground, sensing the nervous energy in the air.
All together, Sloan guessed there were more than a thousand people making the journey to Azra. So many people forced to leave their homes. How many more would find themselves in similar positions when the queen descended on the Outland in force?
Aareth sided up next to Sloan, wrestling her from her thoughts. “Ashley and I are leaving. You should leave, too.”
“I can’t, but I wanted to say I’m sorry.” Sloan forced the words from her mouth. Not because she wasn’t sincere, but because it had been so long since she had apologized to anyone. “You’re right. You deserve to be happy with your wife. You’ve done and sacrificed enough in the name of the crown.”
“You have nothing to apologize for.” Aareth held her gaze, his dark brown eyes searching her own for words that didn’t exist. “I was out of line for bringing up Oliver. I deserved that beating and more. If I thought I could talk you out of staying, I would.”
Sloan nodded along with Aareth’s words. She extended her right hand. “Aareth Emerson, I hope you and your wife find peace.”
Sloan felt Aareth grip her hand, strong but not crushing.
“Edison and Elwood won’t leave with us.” Aareth released Sloan’s hand. “I know your plate is full, but if you can … ?”
“I’ll look out for them.” Sloan nodded to Aareth’s request.
Already a lump was forming in Sloan’s throat. She wasn’t going to cry, but neither could she deny the weight of the moment. Why did she care so much? Aareth and Ashley had done their duty. In a way, Sloan was even happy to see them go. They would be away from all of the killing, from all of the dying.
A rogue idea entered Sloan’s mind as Aareth gave her one last smile and turned to leave. She cared, because he and Ashley were among the few people she could call friends. That was a short list, and seemed to be getting shorter by the day.
Kimberly’s voice droned on as she gave final instructions to the caravan. The words that interrupted Sloan from her train of thought were: “Okay, everyone ready? Let’s move!”
Sloan shook her mind free of friends, found and lost. If she was going to stand a chance against the enemy vampires who would come with the night, then she had to be of one mind, focused and ready to do whatever was needed to survive.
She made her way back through the deserted town. The sun was just lowering past the horizon. In a few hours, night would come. Term had never been the hub of commerce, but it was especially dead now. The handful of people too stubborn to leave had barricaded themselves in their homes.
Sloan hoped they would eventually run, as well, once they realized they had no chance against the vampire soldiers. Like her, like Aareth, that was a choice they had to make for themselves.
Sloan positioned herself in the middle of the main street leading into Term. Her boots kicked up lonely puffs of dirt as she chose where she was going to make a stand. Whether by random coincidence or some underlying subliminal thought, the place she chose was in front of The Shifter.
She pushed back thoughts of Kade. She had looked for him in the gathered crowd, to no avail. He had most likely gone ahead, or she had missed him in the throng. Either way, he was part of her past now, a fond memory and nothing more.
“Well, girl,” Sloan said aloud to herself. “Here we go again.”
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Jack
Jack woke with his head throbbing. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d had a headache this bad. He blinked open his eyes, and the action came with another wave of pain that hammered at his skull. He found himself looking up at a ceiling. A moment later, he realized he was lying face-up on a bed.
The ceiling was chipped and sagging. Memories of the previous night invaded his mind. He remembered the man with the golden eye, the vampire soldiers in black crash through the windows, and then … Abigail.
Jack sat up in his bed so fast, a wave of dizziness made his head swim. While he fought off the pull back to unconsciousness, he realized he wasn’t the only one in the room.
The same man who had dragged them into the house the day before sat in a chair, staring at him. It was the first time Jack had gotten a decent look at the man. He was in his forties, with short, black hair peppered with white and grey. His closely trimmed beard was the same, sprinkled with hints of his age. Two sword hilts the likes Jack had never seen peeked over his shoulders. A holstered pistol sat snug by his hip. He was dressed in all black.
“You’re a tough kid,” the man spoke, still seated in the only other piece of furniture in the room. He leaned back in the chair, lifting the front two legs off the ground. “I thought you were dead by the time I got to you.”
“Abigail?” Her name came out in a rough rasp that burned Jack’s throat. Jack lifted a hand to touch the tender flesh around his neck where he had been grabbed by the vampire soldier.
“She’s fine. She suffered a concussion, but she’s awake and eating with the others.” The man finally stood, towering over Jack. “My name is Saber Hyde. I’m the leader of The New Order. If Lieutenant Baker sent you here, then you must be important.”
Jack swallowed, immediately regretting the decision to do so as a fiery pain came once more from his throat. The weakness he felt from lack of food sought to reclaim his unconscious state.
“Let’s get you downstairs.” Saber didn’t offer to help Jack. Instead, he stood next to the door, raising the eyebrow over his one good eye. “Some water, and if you can manage it, some food will do you wonders. I remember the first time I was strangled to near death.”
Jack gathered himself for the walk. The simple move from a sitting position to his feet made his head swim again. Jack kept one hand on the uneven wall as he made his way to the door. He didn’t care what he looked like at that moment. He was just concerned about making sure Abigail was all right.
Saber led Jack out into a hall. The two traveled toward an open room where light chatter could be heard. Jack felt a wave of relief; one of the voices was Abigail’s, and she sounded fine.
Jack followed Saber to the end of the hall that emptied out into a large room lined with benches and tables, where a handful of people sat all eating their meals. Jack’s eyes immediately gravitated toward Abigail. She was seated, eating beside an older woman with short hair and a tight smile.
“Jack.” Abigail rose as soon as she saw him. She ran forward and embraced him in a hug so fierce, it nearly knocked him over. “I stayed with you through the night and most of the day, but they insisted I get some food.”
“Most of the day?” Jack cracked through his dry throat.
“Oh, yeah, sorry. There aren’t any windows here; we’re underground at the moment.” Abigail led him to her seat at the bench. She offered Jack a steel mug holding her water. “You’ve been out all night and most of the day.”
Jack accepted the mug, draining the water in one long gulp. The cool l
iquid felt heavenly. It coursed down his raw throat and splashed into his empty stomach.
“Sasha, maybe you can get the kid some more water and something softer to eat?” Saber looked over at the woman. “Please.”
For the first time, Jack noticed the woman’s eyes. They were also an orange gold. Not as pronounced as Saber’s, but enough to make the connection that the two were related.
Sasha rose with a rueful grin, “All right, little brother, but only because you asked so nicely.”
Saber seated himself on the opposite side of Jack, interlacing his hands in front of him. He skewered Jack with his one good eye. A moment passed where Jack felt like the man was measuring him up.
“I’ve already told Abigail all of this, but I want you to hear it from me, as well,” Saber began. There was no kindness in his voice, just cold, hard facts. “Lieutenant Baker managed to get word to me today of your story and commitment to seeing the end to the queen’s reign. I’m willing to give you a chance, but be warned. If I sense anything is off about you at all, I’ll finish the job that vampire soldier started around your neck. Are we understood?”
“Yes,” Jack croaked.
“Good. Then rest and eat for what’s left of the day. The New Order is in need of warriors. We can use a good sorcerer for what is coming.” Saber rose, nodding to Jack. “I’m no wizard myself, but I can train you to use your mind and harness everything you have the potential to become.”
“Thank you,” Abigail voiced what she and Jack were both thinking. “For everything.”
“Don’t thank me yet,” Saber said over his shoulder. “Tomorrow, both of you will begin to train.”
Chapter Thirty-Eight
The Complete Vampire Project Series: (Books 1 - 5) Page 49