by Night, H. T.
I used a text blast to notify everyone of my old guard that they had 24 hours to get to Helena. Once they were there, we would regroup and figure out what the next course of action would be. I wondered if Atticai would come. I needed him. Badly.
Sion wasn’t able to find much, but I was certain that Brock was desperate as his son’s life quickly slipped further away. I had feared this day would come where he would try to force Jason against his will to heal his son, Pierce. It was maddening that this had happened, that someone could kidnap my son right out from under me. They snatched him up like the thieves in the night that they were. And, sitting there with friends, I had been completely unaware and off guard.
Sion ran some simulation software and then said he believed that there was a strong probability that Jason was on the island of Attica. If Sion believed it, then that was good enough for me. So, we were going to pursue forward on the strong probability that Brock was the one who took Jason. No one else had a motive to do it. That we knew of.
Sion came from a practical point of view. He added up the facts in his head and with his software to come up with the location of my son. I could usually separate my instincts from my emotions. But the fact that we were dealing with my son might’ve gotten me more emotional than logical. I was glad Sion was here to assure me that my instincts were right on. Everything made sense. Brock had turned for the worse and now that Pierce was on his deathbed, he was desperate. Now he’d decided to take me on in a way that was much more personal than sending his ten henchmen vampires to Helena Island to try to beat the crap out of me. That he had snatched Jason was his second mistake. Possibly, even, his fatal mistake.
Tonight was the first time in a long time that I’d truly wanted to kill someone. Not since I’d fought Krull and his men had I felt so negatively charged by blood lust and pounding rage.
I tried to calm down that blood lust for a few minutes. Now that we assumed that Jason was on the island of Attica, I knew it was going to be more than a few minutes before I would see my son again. So, I was about to have to deliver some pretty bad news to Lena and I needed to calm down to her level or she would freak out even more than I expected. I needed to find her in the back yard.
One by one, my friends would leave for Helena. I would soon be on my way after them and would most likely overtake them, but first, I had to have a conversation with my wife. It was one that I never dreamed I would have when I’d held Jason in my arms as a baby and looked into his all-knowing eyes.
Chapter Twenty-five
I stepped into the back yard to find my wife. Joshua stood nearby, his fists balled.
She immediately walked up to me and said, “What’s going on? Joshua won’t tell me. Why are we ending this party early?”
I reached out my hand and held Lena’s hand tightly.
“What’s going on, Josiah? What’s happening?” Lena asked, pulling her hand away. Then her motherly instinct hit it on the nose. She looked all around. “Oh no! Where’s Jason?”
I painfully looked Lena square in the face. “He’s missing,” I said.
“Missing?” she asked. “How could he be missing? I saw him out by the Jacuzzi—it must not have been an hour ago.”
“Sweetheart, listen. You know me, you know when I know something. Jason was taken from here. Someone wanted him and this was actually the perfect time to strike because we least expected it. I am certain that it was Brock Houston who has done this.”
“I’m not ready, Josiah.” Lena looked at me, scared to death. “I’m not ready for this part of the journey.”
Joshua hung on her every word, and mine.
I hugged my wife tightly and said. “I know, neither am I.” I knew exactly what she meant. I wanted more years with my son. I was not even sure how any of this played into the prophecy. I just know it did. Lena did, too.
“Is this just Brock doing this, or is this really prophecy of the Triat?” she asked.
“Either way, he is our son, first. I will do everything in my power, everything, to bring him back safe.”
“I know you will.”
Joshua came closer and said, “I’m coming with you, Dad.”
“You can’t.”
“Turn me.”
“What? No. I can’t. We’ve never even talked about this.”
“We’re talking about it now. He’s my brother. Turn me!”
Lena gasped, her eyes shimmering with tears.
Firmly, I said, “No, Joshua. I need you to stay with your mom and protect her.”
Torn, Joshua gulped and finally nodded and put his arm around Lena. “I won’t leave her side.”
“Good. I’m counting on you, Joshua. This monster is trying to tear apart our family for his own diabolical purposes. If anything happened to your mom, nothing would ever be the same again.”
“If anything happens to Jason, nothing will ever be the same again,” Joshua said.
“They won’t kill him if he hasn’t healed Pierce yet.”
“Is that what this is about?” Joshua asked.
“I’m sure.”
“They might hurt him to try to make him do that,” Joshua said, his face pale.
“I know,” I said. “At this time, I hope he is just verbally negotiating with them, for his release, playing for time, until I get there.”
Lena burst into tears.
“Lena, you should take the jet back to Helena with Joshua, Sion and Tommy. I’m flying back as the White Eagle. I’m going straight to the Island of Attica. Brock will answer to me for this outrage to our family unit. Now.” I held her tightly and told her I loved her.
She nodded her head and said, “Please, find our son.”
“Joshua, when you were five, you helped us find Jason when he was lost in a mall.”
“I remember I saw him in my mind, in the pet shop.”
“That’s right. Can you use your same powers to locate Jason?”
Joshua closed his eyes and concentrated. “He’s over the ocean and moving fast in a southwest direction, but mostly south. It’s dark so I can’t see who he’s with. He’s scared, but not letting them know it.” He opened his eyes. “That’s all I can see. I haven’t used that power for years. It’s still there, though.”
“That is very helpful. I must fly.”
“Uncle Tommy can take care of Mom. Turn me, Dad,” Joshua said. “I want to fly with you and get Jason.”
“No, son.” I grasped his shoulder and squeezed it. “You have no idea what you ask of me.”
“I have some idea. And I am the son of Josiah. It is my...birthright.”
“Who told you that?”
“I have always known it.”
Lena dissolved into tears.
Tommy walked up from the flickering shadows of the coals in the fire pit. He zipped up his black leather jacket.eHeHhhhh “Take me with you on your Mani flight, bro. I’m ready to kick some ass and take no prisoners.”
“Tommy, I’m going to try to make this a superfast flight, if at all possible. I don’t know that your physiology could take the G-force for an extended flight. And Joshua is going to need you if there is any trouble.” I paused. “He’s never killed anyone before.”
“I hope I never have to, but I would do it to protect anyone in my family,” Joshua said.
I nodded. “I know, son. Keep your mom safe between you and Uncle Tommy.”
“Yes, sir.”
We all said a quick goodbye and I was off. Lena was sobbing when I left. Joshua was now in charge of her safety. And Tommy would be with them, too.
I wasn’t going to wait on anyone getting to Helena Island. I passed their jet within the first couple of hours. Sometimes, something took over me, something that was greater than myself. I had to listen to it. It was a sixth sense that hadn’t steered me wrong yet. I was going to sweep the island of Attica. And if I couldn’t find my son, I was going straight to Brock’s castle.
I flew the entire distance from Victorville, California, as the Great Wh
ite Eagle. I flew on a long-snuffed emotion that had rekindled: Rage.
The thought of my poor son, who wouldn’t hurt anyone, being punked around by some of Brock’s thugs was enough motivation to get me to Attica in less than five hours of flying. I soared at a force that was beyond my previous skill set.
I got to Attica and from the night sky, it looked like Monte Carlo. Brock had commercialized almost every piece of property that this island had to offer and some of it looked sleazy from the air, like a little Las Vegas. I guess that was the key to being on top of the financial world: money and gaudy lights. I’d do it my way. On the backs of the hard-working, with me leading the way and working every bit as hard as any under my leadership.
I swooped in, still in my White Eagle form, and searched every nook and cranny of Attica for about six hours.
I made my way to Brock’s castle and I couldn’t imagine he’d dare keep Jason there, but I was going to see for myself. And if anyone wanted to challenge me, I’d be happy to make them miserable with the pain I would put upon them. I was in warrior mode and a blood-lustful battle cry began to build in my belly. I did not yet let it out.
I made my way to the security detail he had out front of the castle, at the gate house, because, though I could have just crashed through a window, I was not much of a sneaky foe. I was more of an in-your-face-sucka foe. I recognized a couple of the guys from the night I was jumped by them on Helena. I wasn’t intimidated by these mercenary thugs who I had beaten to a pulp without much harm to myself. Nothing about them worried me on the physical level. My only concern was for my son’s safety.
“Let me see Brock,” I demanded to the first guard I saw. He recognized who I was and even with Brock now becoming a dictator of this island, instead of a governor, my presence still commanded respect, and this nervous Mani was giving it to me. I guess I wasn’t a total loss in the respect department. I had his. For one thing, he didn’t even try to jump me.
“Hold on, sir,” the Mani said to me. He went to talk to the other security guys and then they got on the walkie-talkies—how old school. Maybe their cell phone service sucked on Attica.
In a few minutes, they opened the gate and told me to walk through it and up to the castle and that Brock would greet me at the main door.
So, I headed my way to the front of his castle-mansion. It was built in an elaborate style that suited royalty because it screamed infinite megabucks with poor taste, and Brock sure as hell thought he was royalty. Or at least, he pretended he was. More than I ever noticed before, his decorating style and governing style screamed new money, as if he was treating it like winning the lottery.
The massive double door opened with a dramatic squeak and Brock stood there with about six of his men behind him. It was a regular thugfest of posers, if the truth be known. And behind them, a huge fire roared in the big fireplace in the great hall.
“Why so many people? Why can’t two neighbors just talk?” I said to Brock.
“These are just my friends keeping things a little physically even between us.”
“Nah. You’re still far behind,” I said.
“I figured as much, but I had to start somewhere. Well, let’s try to be civil.”
Did he really just say that? “Brock? Just answer one question. Do you have my son?”
Brock paused, got up from his chair and paced a bit and said, “Does anyone truly have anyone?”
Oh, what a douchebag! He picked now to try to be cute with me. I could have taken his life in a second and he knew it. But he held the trump card. He knew the whereabouts of Jason. And, I did not.
“I’m not even going to play any games with you. No mincing words. Do you have Jason, or not?”
Brock smiled very slightly and calmly said, “I do know where your boy is.”
A fierce adrenaline raged through my body. “Where is he?” I demanded, the bloodcurdling battle cry threatening to burst out of my belly and through my lungs into his sneering face that I wanted to break, bone by bone. “Where do you have him?!”
“Now, Josiah. If I told you that, then I wouldn’t get what I want. It’s very simple. When Jason heals my son, we all live in harmony.”
“That’s the problem, Brock. We won’t all live in harmony, happily ever after. First of all, you have betrayed my trust in a deadly way by snatching my son. And second of all, as a matter of fact, if your son lives, he will go down in history as possibly one of the most despicable people who ever lived.”
“Why? Because your freak little child says he sees it in a vision?” Brock was now raising his voice.
“Give me my boy back, Brock. It is not my family’s fault your son is sick.”
“But your family can heal my family. Can’t you see that? All the ‘good deeds’ are on your side. But your refusal to do so is making this very ugly. For that, I’m afraid your son, too, will possibly pay the ultimate price if we can’t work something out, in time.”
“Work something out? And what do you mean, in time?”
“It’s simple math, Josiah. If your son just sits back and allows my son to die, knowing that he could have prevented it, his non-action will force me to take his life, too. An eye for an eye. That’s the way I see it. They both live or they both die. And that’s that.”
That wasn’t the way this was going to go down. As a matter of fact, he had it all fucking wrong. He was going to see justice, and see it my way. Without a warning, I lunged toward Brock and knocked him down. I then threw him across the room and his back hit the wall next to the huge fireplace. He slid to the floor with a grimace of pain, his mouth open in shock that I had done such a thing to him.
“I can kill you, Brock. I can kill everyone in this room.”
“I know, but you won’t, because then that will guarantee that you’ll never again see your son alive,” Brock said. “I think you have worn out your welcome in my home and I’m going to ask you to leave. If you behave on the way out and leave peacefully, I’ll make sure your son has a peaceful few days. If you do anything to any of my men, your son will suffer for it. Harshly.”
“You better make sure that no one fucking lays one finger on my kid. I will hunt down and rip out the heart of anyone who hurts Jason. And I will feed it to them.”
“We are all highly aware of your abilities. You don’t need to make threats. You hurt one of us? We kill your son. It’s that simple.” Brock was an evil man. I couldn’t believe I didn’t see it this clearly before.
“Don’t touch Jason!” I bellowed.
“Don’t even think of further retaliation. You are in no position to demand anything or anyone.”
I held my tongue.
“One more thing, Josiah Reign.”
“What is that?” I asked.
“If my son dies, then all bets are off. Your son is no longer protected because he is no longer needed. Jason will be dispatched without mercy if Pierce dies.”
I looked at Brock and I wanted to rip his throat off his body and watch him die his Mani death, begging for mercy. But I had to keep my cool. It was for my son’s safety. Damn, this was hard!
I turned my back on them and leapt out of a window to take flight. They all ran to the window to watch where I went. Home. That was where I was going.
I couldn’t believe I was going to have to go along with this. I knew my son was close, but I didn’t know exactly where he was. If Joshua had only been able to come with me...No. I banished that thought from my mind. Joshua was too young to be involved in this, at such a dangerous proximity. I wouldn’t risk both my sons’ lives.
I needed to head back to Helena and gather my troops.
Since my parents’ death many years ago, very few things had made me emotional. I usually didn’t let my true emotions get involved. On the outside layer, I was very sincere but I hadn’t truly felt pain since this moment. I needed to find Jason. I wasn’t sure of either of our futures, and now Joshua was openly pressuring me to turn him Mani, so that he could enter the fight with extra
supernatural ammo. He claimed it as his birthright and I had refused to turn him. I would resist doing that...forever, if I could.
One thing I knew was that I would be willing to die, trying to save Jason. And so would my friends. An old Tandra Bible verse rose to the surface of my Mani mind: “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”
I had the best, most loyal friends in the world. Each one of them would give their lives to save mine. And likewise, me for any of them.
By the time I got back to Helena and arrived at my castle, all the vampires were already there. Tommy, Sion and Joshua also arrived shortly in Hector’s private jet.
Lena was already in the kitchen, pacing around, cleaning things that were already clean and slamming cabinet doors. So, I knew the first order of business was making sure she was okay.
I stepped into the kitchen.
“Where’s Jason?”
“Brock has him. I’m negotiating his release.”
“Liar! If you knew exactly where he was, you’d have him already and Brock would already be a dark oily stain on his drawbridge.”
“You’re right. Brock knows where he is. It may not be at the castle. Brock lives until I know where Jason is and have him back, and then, it’s curtains for Brock.”
“You think you have all the answers, Josiah,” Lena said from across the kitchen. “But you don’t. Your way was exactly what the Triat used to get Jason away from us.”
“So, that’s how you feel? It’s us against the Triat?”
“Well, if the Deity is the voice and she prophesies our son will die a martyr’s death, I’m not exactly on board for that. I never was. When the Deity spoke so long ago, I remember smiling and nodding my head—I nodded that I was on board with what she was saying, but at the time, I was too scared to say otherwise. I was the good wife—no, the good Mani wife—and I just went along with it. Things have changed. I am no longer going along with it. And I am no longer nodding my head to the Triat.”
I looked at Lena dead in the eyes at her blasphemy and said, “Neither am I.”
