Dragon looked to Doyle who nodded his agreement then he turned back to me. “Make it happen.”
Once everyone was in place we moved in fast and hard. Travali’s vampires didn’t know what hit them, but after the initial shock wore off they put up a good fight. I hitched a ride with Dragon and we landed on top of the keep. Moving quickly and quietly we searched room after room taking out any vampires we came across but found no trace of Travali.
We’d worked our way down to the ground floor and were about to enter an escape tunnel when Doyle found us. He was dripping sweat and covered in blood but other than the rapidly healing gash on his left bicep he was unharmed.
“You’ve got to come now,” he told us urgently.
The look of near panic in Doyle’s eyes spurred us into motion. Doyle was a man who relished a good fight and loved the kind of epic battle currently taking place in the courtyard and outside the castle walls. For him to leave the fighting in search of us meant something was very wrong.
As we raced through the castle I asked, “What’s happened?”
Over his shoulder he shouted, “They opened the stables. Those aren’t just young vampires, they’re completely lost to bloodlust, and you were right about what Travali plans to do with them.”
We’d reached the outer doors and when we burst through them into the pandemonium I immediately saw what the problem was. A large portal covered almost the entire western side of the curtain wall surrounding the courtyard.
Here in Solaria our troops were concentrated in front of the portal. Some were swinging their swords; others had taken animal form and were fighting with teeth and claws. There were even a couple of dragons spouting fire here and there. All of them were doing their best to contain the hordes of crazed young vampires whose only thoughts were of their need for blood.
Looking through the shimmering rainbow of colors to the other side of the portal I saw humans. Humans everywhere the eye could see. They were strolling along in the street and on the sidewalks, cheerfully talking and laughing, carrying plastic cups filled with Hurricanes and Hand Grenades or other alcoholic beverages. Music filled the air, living art entertained the crowds, and strings of cheap plastic beads adorned many of the intoxicated patrons of Bourbon Street.
With a prayer to the Goddess I rushed into the melee, my sword slicing through the neck of one vampire after another. Dragon and Doyle followed and we made our way towards the portal. As we fought I let instinct take over. After hundreds of years of training my body knew what to do without any conscious thoughts from me. Swing, duck, spin, kick... It all came naturally. And through it all Dragon was there, right on the edge of my senses, protecting my back as I protected his.
It felt like hours later but had probably only been minutes when a flash of light came from the sky accompanied by a loud ear piercing screech. It was similar to lightning, but whatever this was it split the ground wide open at the feet of our primary defensive line. It wasn’t a wide fissure and most of our warriors were already climbing back out of it, but it was already too late. The wild mass of vampires surged over our fallen warriors and rushed towards the portal and the unsuspecting humans.
“No!” Dragon and I shouted at the same time.
Only, as Dragon’s exclamation was an impotent shout of desperation, mine was an unintentional command that left the hellish scene before me suspended in time. My mind raced, trying to come up with a way to avert the imminent disaster. I couldn’t close the portal without Solomon and I wouldn’t be able to kill all the vampires by myself before my powers waned and I lost my hold on time - not even with them frozen as they were.
Then it came to me. I remembered that night at Mike’s when I slowed time and even Angela was moving in slow motion. Normally my powers had no effect on her, but that night I’d subconsciously wanted them to and they had. Could I choose to release our troops and leave our enemies frozen?
There was only one way to find out.
Concentrating with everything I had I focused on Dragon, pulling my powers back from him and anyone who shared a blood bond with him. It was slow at first then there was a cascade of shouts as our warriors awoke to find the hordes of vampires before them motionless.
Dragon moved to stand in front of me and I told him, “Make it quick, I can’t hold this much longer.”
“Can you move?”
“No.” If I tried to move I would lose my hold on the vampires.
He nodded then I heard him shouting orders. It sounded like he was ordering everyone out of the courtyard except the dragons, but I was getting weaker by the second and couldn’t process everything going on around me.
A few seconds later Doyle approached me and said, “It’s time to move, try to hold on just a little longer.”
When he threw me over his shoulder I had to close my eyes and concentrate harder. I knew he was running, but where he was taking me I had no idea. We seemed to go up a set of stairs then I heard Dragon roar “Now!”
When I opened my eyes the world was on fire. On both sides of the castle walls fire poured from the mouths of dragons incinerating everything in their paths including the frozen vampires. When they were finished, only the stone of the royal fortress would be left standing.
My eyes fluttered shut again and I lost my hold on time. Agonized shrieks filled the night air mingling with the scent of burning hair and flesh just before everything went dark.
I wasn’t sure how long I was out, but we were still in Solaria. When I sat up my head was pounding and I heard loud cheering from somewhere below.
“Oh, hey you almost missed it,” Doyle said from where he stood beside me, his eyes focused on whatever was taking place down in the courtyard.
“Missed what?” I asked rubbing my head. It felt like someone had bashed my head with a lead pipe.
“Dragon is fighting Travali,” Doyle replied and I leapt to my feet.
Too fast. The world tilted and I would have gone back down if Doyle hadn’t caught me.
“Easy there, you should probably sit back down,” he told me, but helped me remain standing anyway. He knew I wouldn’t want to miss this.
Leaning forward through an opening in the battlements I peered down at the fight below. “What happened after I passed out?”
Doyle glanced at me and grimaced. “The burning vampires raced for the portal and our people barely got there in time to stop them. Not that we blame you, if you hadn’t held out as long as you did, there would have been no way for us to keep them from entering the human world. Anyway the dragons kept up the streams of fire as long as they could then we waded in and took out any vamps that were still standing.
Just before the battle was over Travali and his sorcerer tried to escape through the portal. Dragon saw them and jumped Travali but the sorcerer made it through and closed the portal behind him.”
“One of these days we’ll get our hands on that slippery bastard too,” I promised Doyle.
Our attention turned to Dragon and Travali. Normally I would worry about Dragon knowing my powers were drained and if he were dealt a fatal blow, there would be no way for me to help him. But watching the two of them fight, I knew he would be the victor. Protective scales encased his body and every blow he struck was delivered with deadly accuracy. Anyone could see the cold fury driving him, but his movements were controlled and calculated unlike when he’d fought Travali on the beach a few weeks ago.
The vampire on the other hand could only be described as desperate. He knew his time was coming to an end because even if he somehow beat Dragon, he would never leave this place alive. For him it was only a question of whether he went alone or not.
A few minutes later I saw the end coming. Dragon faked left with a move we had practiced hundreds of times until he could do it in his sleep. The vampire committed to a lunge in the wrong direction and Dragon came around and wrenched Travali’s head clean off his body.
A fitting end considering that was exactly how Travali ended the life of the former D
ragon King all those centuries ago. Dragon had finally avenged his father.
Dragon roared holding Travali’s head high for all to see. The bones and ashes of our enemies scattered across the scorched ground a gruesome backdrop to his triumphant moment.
“About damn time,” Doyle remarked beside me.
I grinned. “Yeah, about damn time.”
From below us fire streamed into the night sky as an enormous black and red dragon replaced the human form of the Dragon King. All the shifters followed suit including Doyle whose wolf’s howl joined the sounds of jubilant animal celebration filling the night. The Great War may have ended centuries ago, but it wasn’t until this moment that it was truly over for those who survived, for those who would never forget the loved ones they lost.
Chapter Twenty-Five
...walls start shaking, earth was quaking. My mind was aching, we were making it. And you shook me all night long...
It took me a minute to understand what I was hearing. When we returned from Solaria I asked Solomon if he’d had any luck with the locator spell but he said it was being blocked. I went to clean up and planned to go out looking for Angela but I’d passed out cold. Now as ACDC continued singing You Shook Me All Night Long I shot out of bed and reached for my phone. It would only ring with that tone if the incoming call came from Angela’s cell phone.
“Angela?”
“Is this Mr. Delaney?”
My heart skipped a beat. Who the hell had Angela’s phone?
“Yes, this is Mr. Delaney.
“My name is Stephanie and I’m a nurse. I think you should get down here right away.”
While I threw on some clothes Stephanie continued to tell me that Angela requested someone call me when she was first brought to the hospital, but then she fell unconscious. They hadn’t even gotten her name before she passed out. Stephanie refused to give me any specific information about Angela’s current status, but she said her injuries required them to contact the police. Once the police showed up they identified Angela as another police officer and claimed she had no family to make decisions on her behalf.
I informed Stephanie that Angela had an adult daughter and I was a close friend of the family. She told me which hospital they were in and said I should bring Angela’s daughter quickly.
Once I was completely dressed I checked the time and was thankful to realize it would be dark outside. It didn’t take me long to find Dragon who was in his apartment with Claire and Solomon. We decided that Claire would go with me to the hospital and impersonate Rachel. Solomon made a minor adjusted to the ring so that when Claire slipped it on she appeared to be Rachel, but she was dressed in jeans and a T-shirt instead of high heels and my jacket. We took Niko and Doyle with us for backup and Lucien came along to erase any records of Angela’s care from the hospital computer systems.
When we arrived at the hospital Claire presented herself as Rachel and we were taken to the ICU waiting area. Doyle and Niko waited outside and Lucien was already hard at work erasing Angela’s records. Once Claire and I stepped inside, I understood why Stephanie had been concerned. Just as the young woman who accompanied us from downstairs left to get Angela’s doctor, Quen glanced our way from across the room. Shock registered on his face briefly then his usual arrogant smile slid back in place.
He sauntered over and looking at Claire said, “I hadn’t expected to see you here.”
“My mother is in the ICU, why wouldn’t I be here, and why didn’t you call to tell me she was here?” Claire was playing her part perfectly. She sounded just like a teenager on the verge of hysterics.
Quen opened his mouth but the young woman returned with the doctor before he could say anything. The doctor took in the obvious tension then addressed Quen, “I thought you said Detective Ruby had no living relatives in the area.”
“I was told Rachel had left town and not even Angela knew where she’d gone or how to reach her,” he replied smoothly.
“Get real Quen, I know you get around but I’m sure you remember fucking me last Friday night.”
I stifled a laugh. Dragon must have told Claire about whatever he discovered in Quen’s mind. I’d have to ask him about that the first chance I got. He’d obviously seen something very disturbing but hadn’t wanted Angela to know what it was.
The doctor’s lips thinned to a straight line as Quen’s eyes nearly popped out of their sockets and he sputtered, “Rachel...”
“Enough,” the doctor ordered. “Miss Ruby, your Mother’s condition is very serious and we need to discuss possible treatment options.”
“I have already informed you of my partner’s wishes,” Quen said making me see red.
“You are not her partner Quen. You know it, I know it, and if we need to prove it we can call down to the station and have Detective Vaccaro verify it,” I told Quen, then continued, “She dropped you because you were sexually harassing her and you’re lucky she didn’t file any charges.”
“And you are?” the doctor asked.
“Oh, that’s my Mom’s fiancé, Devin Delaney,” Claire answered for me.
The doctor raised an eyebrow then nodded his head. “I’m Dr. Matthews. If you’d like to join us, I’m sure Miss Ruby would appreciate your support during this difficult time.”
We asked that Quen be removed from the premises and with a little mental push from Claire it was done.
After listening to the doctor list Angela’s injuries we determined that since she had already been given a blood transfusion, vampire blood could be used to help her without any risk of her becoming a vampire. With the likelihood of her waking up without vampire blood next to nil, I made the decision to proceed. I wasn’t sure how she would feel about my decision later, but at least she’d be alive to complain about it.
Claire slit her wrist and brought it to Angela’s lips while I held her mouth open. At first Angela wasn’t drinking and I began to worry, then Claire went into Angela’s mind and convinced her she was dying of thirst and needed to drink. A few minutes later Claire pulled her arm back and we waited. I wanted to take her back to the resort, but it was better to wait until she regained consciousness before we moved her. Usually visitors weren’t allowed to stay very long in the ICU but Claire convinced the hospital staff and the other unfortunate patients and their families that we weren’t even there.
While we waited I watched as the bruises slowly faded and eventually vanished from Angela’s face and arms. I didn’t lift the sheet but I could imagine what her lower body looked like. Dr. Matthews told us Angela’s hips and pelvic bones had been shattered. Combine that with a punctured spleen, severe blood loss, head trauma and numerous other problems, it was a miracle she was still alive.
I thanked the Goddess again for the phenomenal healing properties of vampire blood.
The hours ticked by and Claire had the nurses remove various tubes and wires from Angela’s body as they were no longer needed. By the time she finally awoke three hours and fifty-six minutes after we arrived at her bedside, the physical evidence of the abuse she endured was nonexistent.
I worried about the emotional damage that couldn’t be so easily wiped away.
Angela came awake screaming and thrashing on the bed like she was fighting for her life even as she begged her imaginary attacker to stop.
“No...not again...please...please God, no...not again.”
Leaping from the chair I tried to restrain her so she wouldn’t hurt herself but that only made her struggle harder. I tried to tell her she was safe, that everything would be okay now, but nothing seemed to get through to her.
Suddenly Claire was beside the bed and the instant she wrapped her fingers around Angela’s wrist everything was quiet.
Looking down at Angela’s tear streaked face I promised, “Adan will pay for this with his life.”
“Would you leave her unprotected?” Claire asked in that calm reasonable tone she used when someone else was behaving irrationally.
My lip curled as I snarle
d, “You know what he did to her.”
“I do,” Claire said so calmly. “But I also know it is against your laws to take the life of another time demon unless that demon has been condemned to die by your Elders. Do you think the Elders will condemn Adan?”
Turning, I paced away from the bed and ran my hands through my hair. No matter what I wanted, Claire was right. The Elders would never condemn Adan for this. Angela was nothing more than a human to them, weak and insignificant.
“She will sleep for now, but we should return to the resort before she wakes again,” Claire said from behind me.
Scrubbing my hands over my face I strode out the door to where Doyle and Niko were waiting. “Niko, find Lucien and let him know we’re finished here then stay with him and watch his back until he’s ready to go. Doyle bring the car to the main entrance, we’ll meet you there in five minutes.”
When I went back to Angela’s bed I lifted her into my arms and followed Claire as she made sure no one in the ICU would remember us ever being there. Lucien would delete the security footage once we were gone and make sure any electronic or hard copy records of Angela’s care were destroyed. We couldn’t risk anyone asking how Angela was miraculously healed when her injuries likely would have resulted in death under normal circumstances.
Doyle met us at the front door and we road back to the resort in silence. As we drove across town I held Angela in my lap and wondered if this would be the last time I ever held her. Would she hate me for what happened to her, for what happened to her daughter? Would she ever be able to forgive me? How could she possibly forgive me when I couldn’t forgive myself?
Once we were back at the resort I took Angela to my apartment. I wasn’t sure how she would feel about waking up in my bed, but at least there I would know she was safe.
* * * * *
Destined for Time Page 23
