“I can’t do that,” he said. “You don’t know what you’re asking.”
“Oh, I think I do. I’m asking for more power—for a greater chance to help you and your clan fight off the Guard.”
Saul shook his head. “I’m sorry, Kara. But I can’t.”
Anger rose up within Kara, forcing the next words out of her mouth. “I can’t help but wonder,” she said, “if Leibald Greely had not bitten Nikki…would you have turned her? You know, to make your relationship easier?”
“I’ve thought of that myself,” Saul said. “And I honestly don’t know.”
“But you refuse to turn me?”
“I’m sorry.”
Kara looked down, to the porch boards beneath her feet. She forced herself to keep any further arguments from escaping her mouth. All she said was “Fine,” before she turned on her heel and went back into the cabin.
Inside, she cast Gestalt a wide breath, staring at him with the eyes of a cat that has been handled a bit too roughly by the neighborhood dog. She then looked to Polyxia and although her blood ran cold when she met the witch’s gaze, she managed to speak to her.
“If you need any help—with Nikki, with the fight ahead, or anything else—let me know. I’ll be there to help.”
“Us too,” Ray said, his voice falling flat and without much enthusiasm.
Saul entered through the kitchen, his eyes trailing back and forth between Nikki and Kara. “Kara,” he said, “You have to understand that I—”
Kara shook her head and turned around, exiting through the doorway and to the front porch. “Come on, guys.” The Marked shifted awkwardly in Kara’s wake, following her out. Kara did not bother to turn back, fearing that if she saw Saul one more time, she would say something she could not take back. She did not care to hear what the man had to say, either; whatever his reasons, the outcome was the same. He had refused Kara strength in a time of need – and she hated him for that.
In that moment, headed to her car with the Marked following behind her, Kara became more motivated than she had since this whole insane ordeal began.
Fine, she thought. Have it your way. While you stand around in your cabin with your wounded girlfriend, I’ll go out and save your sister and this whole damned town. And I’ll do it with good old human courage.
A pleasant thought, for sure.
As Kara pulled out of the driveway and felt the doubt and fear of the Marked around her, she knew in her heart that it was a foolish, human hope as well.
4
Oddly enough, it was Kara’s obvious disappointment in him that made Saul realize just how quickly everything was moving. His world was being torn down around him and with distress at all sides, Saul did not know what tragedy to focus on first.
Jill was missing, presumably being held hostage by the Guard. Nikki was lying on the couch, healing fairly well according to Polyxia, but still badly wounded. And now Kara, one of his strongest allies, was angry with him.
What the hell was going to happen next?
Saul looked to Nikki’s resting body, her eyes still closed and her tiny frame motionless, and knew that it would be futile to stand around and wait for the Guard to simply attack again. Perhaps sitting idly by while he waited for Nikki to come to was exactly what the Guard wanted. Maybe they wanted him distracted and filled with anguish.
It pained him to do so, but Saul stepped away from Nikki and walked out onto the front porch. Gestalt and Paula were there, whispering quietly among themselves. Saul still didn’t fully trust Gestalt, but he also didn’t feel like the Rogue presented any danger.
Saul left the two Rogues to their conversation and walked to the opposite side of the porch. He looked out into the forest and focused on Jill’s image. The mental link they shared was usually very easy to conjure, but not so today. Usually when he picked up Jill’s thread, there was a sudden flicker within his mind as they connected. All he felt at the moment was a blank emptiness. The absence of Jill’s mental presence in his head felt terrible, felt wrong – not unlike a paralyzed limb. Saul hated it.
Saul knew that Jill was alive. If Jill had died, he would have known the instant she passed away. As it was, the link they shared was no severed. It was just blocked.
Saul assumed that the Guard had something to do with Jill’s mental absence. According to Polyxia, the Guard was still capable of performing minor enchantments while in their mortal flesh. Saul had seen some of this in action as Polyxia and Magdeline had fought in the cabin earlier.
The block between Jill and him worried Saul. He knew that he wouldn’t be able to track the Guard as he would most vampires and other supernatural beings, and now his only other source of information was beyond reach. Still, he did not feel like standing around and waiting for the Guard to appear.
Saul walked back towards the door. Gestalt gave him a frown, noticing the restless look on the other man’s face.
“Something’s wrong, isn’t it?” Gestalt asked.
“Yes. The Guard has apparently blocked the mental link that Jill and I share. I have no way to find her now except for good old hunting.”
“Can I help?”
Saul thought about it for a moment and then answered, “Please don’t take this the wrong way, but if you really want to help, I’d like for you to stay here and look over Nikki. If I am going in search of the Guard, I’d like to take Polyxia with me. She should be able to help me in not only locating them, but in defeating them.”
“If there is a fight, I want to help,” Gestalt argued.
Saul grinned nervously. “I believe the entire town will know when the fight begins,” he said. “Now, will you two please stay here and watch over Nikki?”
“Of course,” Paula said when Gestalt remained silent. The Rogue’s disappointment in being denied a confrontation with the Guard was palpable; still, he did not argue any further.
Saul walked back inside and knelt by Nikki. He took her hand in his own and was relieved to feel her warmth. Polyxia, still sitting at Nikki’s side, patted Saul’s shoulder.
“She will be okay,” Polyxia said. “Her mortal injuries are slowing her down. But soon enough, the vampire power of resurrection will take care of it all. I’d think she’ll be back on her feet within just a few hours.”
“Thank you,” Saul said.
“You’re doing all you can,” Polyxia told him. “I have met thousands of vampires in my time. None of them could handle the burden you have shouldered. No matter what happens, you’ve handled it all with a warrior’s grace. I’m sure your father would have been proud.”
“I wish I was stronger,” he said. “I don’t know if I will be able to beat the Guard.”
“You’ll have help,” she said. “You are never alone. Even if your sister is missing and your girl is injured, they will be with you.”
“I know.”
“Forgive me for saying,” Polyxia said, “but I sense anger in you. And worry. But there is also determination. Is it time?”
“I think it is,” Saul said, He kissed Nikki on the forehead and got back to his feet. “Will you come with me? They’ve blocked my link to Jill and I have no idea where to start.”
“Yes, I think I can help with that,” Polyxia said eagerly. “When do we start?”
Saul looked back to Nikki one last time fueling his anger.
“Now.”
END OF BOOK V
VEILED - BOOK SIX
THE LAST STAND
Copyright © Laudanum House, LLC.
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CONTENTS
CONTENTS 5
CHAPTER ONE 7
CHAPTER TWO 38
CHAPTER THREE 62
CHAPTER FOUR 88
CHAPTER FIVE 124
CHAPTER SIX 137
END OF BOOK IV 163
CONTENTS 166
CHAPTER ONE 167
CHAPTER TWO 194
CHAPTER THREE 219
CHAPTER FOUR 245
CHAPTER FIVE 273
END OF BOOK V 295
VEILED - BOOK SIX 297
CONTENTS 298
CHAPTER ONE 300
CHAPTER TWO 324
CHAPTER THREE 357
CHAPTER FOUR 388
CHAPTER FIVE 417
CHAPTER SIX 427
A NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR 448
CHAPTER ONE
1
As a well-primed war was being eased into by the Benton clan and the Guard, the town of Red Creek was going through the last of its death throes. It happened quietly, mostly in houses that already reeked of death or in the shadows of the backwoods where the roads wound tightly through the forests, as if trying to choke the life out of the town.
In the residence of Carmen and Doug Wilson, their son, nineteen years old and a freshman in college, stepped in through the front door to surprise his parents. He was home for the weekend, unannounced. The stench that met him made him take a step backwards. His stomach buckled and his first thought was that the family cat was dead and rotting somewhere in the house. That was also his last thought, as in the very next moment he was seized by the throat by a pair of talon-like hands. Once, he had known those hands well; they were the same ones that had rocked him to sleep as a baby.
While the remaining Rogues were few and far between—their number now less than a dozen thanks to the efforts of Saul’s family and the Marked—the Guard had alternative means of doing away with the remaining citizens of Red Creek. They cast their influence over the town from their hiding spot within a burned-out barn, tucked in the woods of Red Creek. It was mostly done through enchantments, some of which weren’t nearly as strong as they would have been if the Guard still had Polyxia in their fold.
Still, their powers were more than enough to wreak havoc.
On a small side road that branched off of Main Street, a man that had managed to escape four Rogues. He came ambling out of the woods. He wore nothing but a pair of white underwear and was covered in blood. His eyes were looming and large, staring at everything with bewilderment. He carried a hunting rifle with him. He started walking down the side of the road.
Roughly a mile ahead of him, an overweight woman stepped out of her cellar, where she had been hiding for the last two days. She’d camped down there with two liters of soda, a loaf of bread and a jar of peanut butter when the Rogues had started attacking. But now she sensed that everything was better—that it was safe to go out. She had a smear of peanut butter on her chin and an axe in her hands.
Within sight of her, a teenage boy came out of a thin dirt road that emptied out into the woods. He was driving a dirt bike. He drove slowly so that he could steer while also holding his father’s pistol in his right hand. The teen had killed two Rogues and had only been saved because he had known what they were right away. He was still at that age where he dared to believe that things of a supernatural variety did in fact exist. He had killed the first Rogue as it had feasted on his mother. He had stabbed it in the back with a fire poker, aimed straight for its heart. He had beheaded the other with his father’s axe and, just to be sure, had dragged the body out into the sunlight yesterday.
He’d spent last night locked in his family’s attic. He’d spent most of the night listening to the sounds of his parents scratching at the locked attic door, desperate to get to him.
When he saw the woman ahead of him, he slowed the bike even further. He saw that she was turning towards him, apparently having heard the engine. The boy had no idea why he was doing it, but he raised the pistol and fired. He didn’t see where the bullet struck her. He thought he had likely missed a bit high.
As he aimed again, the woman came running, the axe held high. She bellowed at him as she rushed forward but her scream was halted by the boy’s second shot. This one landed squarely in her chest. She staggered and fell to her knees five feet in front of the dirt bike. As she fell forward on her face, she tried swinging the axe anyway. The blade struck the bike’s tire hard enough to jostle the entire bike. But ultimately, she died face down on the road.
The teenager stared at her for a moment and then kicked the bike into gear.
He made it only twenty feet before a rifle blast drowned out the sound of the bike’ motor.
The teen lurched forward, nearly sailing over the handlebars. The bike careened and fell flat on its side, dragging the teen under it. He was dead before the bike came to a full stop.
Behind him, the man in nothing but his underwear and streaks of blood stood motionless, the barrel of his gun smoking. He then slowly sat down in the middle of the road, looking at the wrecked dirt bike with little emotion. He placed the rifle in his lap, barrel pointing up, scorching the skin beneath his chin.
When he pulled the trigger, it could be heard several miles away over the quiet of the dying town.
In an abandoned barn that had once been used to house and kill accused witches, the members of the Guard looked in the direction of the blast and smiled.
They’d sensed each death as it happened. They felt it like a lessening of pressure, as if a leash had been around their neck and had been considerably loosened. With each death, the town came closer and closer to complete desolation. Soon, they would be able to claim the town as their own – the first, most vital step in their plan to conquer entire world.
The little scene along that barren stretch of road was one of many such violent episodes that morning.
In a small farmhouse not too far from Deke’s old farm, a man hung himself from the attic rafters. In a mobile home on the opposite side of town, a thirteen year old boy finally mustered up the courage to drive stakes through the hearts of sleeping parents, who had been tuned into what he could only assume were vampires a little less than two days ago. After that, he went next door to where their neighbor lived and, knowing he was also not yet turned, set his trailer on fire. They boy then went wandering into the woods where he lay down in a ditch and simply fell asleep.
The Guard felt the weight of human life in Red Creek fizzle out. They could not be more pleased.
In their presence, Jill Benton still hung from a rafter, her arms bent upwards in a painful position. She let out a light muffled cry at the sound of the gunshot and hated herself for it.
Saul, she thought. Where are you?
2
Saul thought it would be silly to waste time driving around town in his car. If the Guard was indeed hiding out somewhere in Red Creek, they’d be hidden in the woods. They’d be hidden in something like a cave, just like Leibald Greely had been. But at the same time, Saul didn’t think they’d be hidden too well. They wanted this confrontation and were far too prideful to cower somewhere truly safe.
Then why not just kill me? Why only send Magdeline to do the job when they could have teamed up and destroyed me?
He didn’t know. He had never fully understood the way the Guard thought and operated. And now certainly wasn’t the time to start.
So instead of venturing into Red Creek thought the back roads, Saul started where he thought he and Polyxia might have the best chance of success. They walked through the back yard and into the woods that had flanked his home for more than eighty years. The moment they passed into the forest, Saul knew instinctively that something was different.
“Do you feel that?” Saul asked.
“I feel something,” Polyxia said. “I imagine you’d feel it a bit more, however. You’ve been tied to this place for so long, a
fter all.”
Saul nodded as he led Polyxia deeper into the woods. He had no clear idea as to where he was headed. He was just working on instinct.
After they had been walking for five minutes, Polyxia stopped and scanned the area. Her scraggly white hair was being gently ruffled by the wind and Saul thought she looked oddly happy. He supposed it was probably the freedom in knowing that she was now her own and no longer restricted by the ways of the Guard.
“This place,” Polyxia said, extending a hand to the small scope of trees and foliage in front of them. “I feel a power here…very stagnant and neglected.”
“This is where my father was killed,” Saul said.
“I see.”
Saul walked out into the small clearing and looked around at the large trees. “It wasn’t fair…what happened to him.”
“Oh, I know,” Polyxia said. “His fate was one of the many things the Guard and I differed on. There were many other issues before your father’s death, to be sure—but them wanting him dead was among the worst.”
“Was there any way to stop it?” Saul asked. “Not just me…but…I don’t know. What about the ones who chose the Marked? The Elders. Could they have stopped it from happening?”
“No,” Polyxia said. “Once the Guard sets a plan in motion, that’s all there is to it. As for the Elders, they act as one would expect of gods. They sit back and watch. They never interfere. They are there to keep order, just in case things go bad.”
“And what is happening here in Red Creek is not bad enough for them to step in?”
Polyxia chuckled. “No, not nearly. It’s just one town. Maybe fifteen hundred humans die. That’s nothing to them, nothing at all. And in the end, they’ll be glad of what the Guard is trying to do. Someone ruling over this world of mortals…it’s something the Elders have wanted for a while now. But they never really bothered to take the initiative themselves. They could care less about the fate of this world.”
VEILED Complete Boxed Set Page 50
