by Seth Eden
“Ugh, shut up,” Mark muttered, and he swung his sword and caught Drake unaware. He didn’t manage to cut the man, but he rattled him and sent him scrambling back before he spun around and nearly caught Mark’s waist. Mark blocked him and his swords scraped against Drake’s, forcing his arms up before Mark plunged and caught him in the gap of his arm. The cut wasn’t very deep. But it weakened Drake enough to give Mark time to spin around and take a wild swing, knowing he was going to hit something.
His blade sliced right through Drake’s left arm above the elbow and the limb went flying into the air, blood spraying across the grass. Drake screamed even as he grinned, his eyes yet wilder.
Definitely on drugs then, Mark thought.
Perhaps he should have said something profound at this point, about how Drake should never have gone after innocent women and children and how he should value life. But Mark was drenched with sweat and Drake’s blood splattered across his already blood-spattered face. He was uncomfortable and exhausted and sore and his sword was heavy in his hands, his fingers aching from how hard he gripped it. He began to take the death swing just as a curved blade came slicing cleanly through Drake’s neck from behind, his eyes going wide as his head went one way and his body went another. Drake jumped back, the moment of his sword nearly taking him off his feet and Crystal appeared on the grass as the body fell, looking feral but satisfied now.
“You’re supposed to be in the car!” Mark said.
One of Drake’s toadies came running at him and he grimaced and cut him down without even thinking about it. Crystal wiped her sweaty forehead and nodded, turning on her heel. “I’m going. Got what I came for.”
The rest was clean-up.
9
Crystal
It was snowing outside but Crystal was still sweating. She lay back on the bed, still catching her breath, and feeling like a wrung out rag. Her eyes were glued to the tiny infant in Nina’s arms. Mark knelt by her side at the narrow bed and ran a cool cloth over her forehead. The double-sized dorm had been their home for the last several months. Or rather, it was Crystal’s home and Mark’s whenever he could get there. Crystal found she sort of liked living on a college campus even if it felt weird given that its new purpose wasn’t very educational. There was something familiar about it. They’d gotten the cafeteria up and running. She liked going down to eat breakfast with Keira and Cassie and the other girls while gossiping and eating macaroni and cheese. It was almost homey.
“You’re a warrior,” Mark said, gently kissing her temple. “You did it.” He swallowed and followed Crystal’s gaze to the still crying infant and Nina grinned, sitting there on the bed. “It’s a girl.”
“A girl,” Crystal whispered. “I… don’t know if that’s good news or bad news.”
“Her world will be different,” Mark said firmly. “We’ll make sure of it.”
“Let me hold her,” Crystal said, wincing as she sat up in bed. Mark fluffed up her pillows and she smiled gratefully before taking the crying baby in her arms. “She looks so tired,” Crystal murmured.
“How did you keep this a secret?” Nina said. “All this time?”
“I didn’t show much,” Crystal said, smirking. “Wasn’t reported to the council and all the matrons who knew are dead.”
Her dormitory was in a third building next to the one-time breeding pit where the women stayed and across campus from the kids. She kept her distance somewhat, the surviving women of Crystal’s breeding pit near The Loop were able to float along without being reassigned after the slaughter and subsequent battle against Drake. Not that it had been easy. Loren had pulled strings and favors to delay and obfuscate. That had been helpful.
What their next steps were, Crystal didn’t know. Mark and Loren didn’t seem to know either. They took things one day at a time and Crystal had kept herself busy working out trades for the residents of her new home.
Mark leaned on his hand, gazing at his new daughter who was half-human and half-Vampyren. His joy felt short-changed somehow. Crystal had insisted that their child would not be raised in a creche, even a “nicer” one like Urbana, as they’d taken to calling it. It wasn’t as if Mark could take an infant along on his unit’s missions either. And as many places as there were to hide around Urbana with its abandoned classrooms and gymnasiums, hiding an infant was far too dangerous. They had avoided this discussion all along yet Crystal didn’t seem worried. He had a feeling she’d already come to a decision about it and once again, he would be swept along and forced to agree because like it or not, Crystal was usually right.
“So what are we going to do, baby?” Mark said, reaching out to stroke the bridge of his daughter’s tiny nose.
“I’m gonna get to know my daughter for the next… two days,” Crystal said, wincing. “Then Nina and Jet are going to take her home.”
“Nina and Jet.” Mark raised his eyebrows and turned to Nina who sat on the edge of the bed, her cheerful blonde pigtails sticking out of her head like pom poms. “Really?”
“The Loop’s become pretty secure,” Nina said, nodding. “And our place is like a fortress now. We should be safe. We always hear about trouble coming pretty quickly from our contacts.”
“I need her as safe as possible,” Crystal said tearfully, her baby quieting and clutching Crystal’s finger with her little fist. “Safe from the Council. And the Lucian are coming.”
“Yeah,” Mark said darkly. “They are. Reports coming in all the time. They’re moving in from the south. Not up to Illinois yet. But sooner or later.”
“Just be sure to keep her warm,” Crystal said thickly, her glassy eyes on Nina. “Chicago is brutal in winter.”
“Are you sure about this?” Mark said. “If she were here, you could look after her—"
“She won’t be in a creche,” Crystal said, her jaw tight. There was no room for disagreement. “Not my girl.”
“Okay.” He kissed her hair. “She won’t be then.”
“Can you stay with me for a few days though?” Crystal said, leaning her head against his. “Do you have to go back out right away? Just give us one day. One day to be a real family?”
“I can stay a few days,” Mark whispered, and his Vampyren hearts that could be both brutal and soft and which often felt so divided between the old life and new ached for his mate. But he couldn’t help feeling a kind of hope for a future that might still exist, that seemed to be ever so slowly forming itself even in this brutal world. “I can stay for you. For us.”
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