The Reign of Darkness

by Britney Jackson

  “No!” Rose said—before Zosime could answer. “No challenges, Kara.”

  Kara chuckled at Rose’s quick response. “Are you sure? It would be fun.”

  Rose smiled, as she noticed something. “Oh, yay! You’re back together.”

  Ligeia turned to Zosime, her dark brows lifting. “You told her already?”

  Zosime’s full, red lips curved into a deeper smile, as she shook her head.

  Ligeia’s dark gaze shifted back toward Rose. “How did you know, then?”

  Rose looked down at Ligeia’s hand and lifted her eyebrows meaningfully.

  Ligeia followed Rose’s gaze and blushed, as she realized that she’d placed her hand on Zosime’s lower back. She dropped her hand. “Sorry, my Eklektos.”

  “For what?” Rose said with a baffled smile. “I’m happy for you guys!”

  “Well, you better be,” Zosime said. She reached up, twirling Ligeia’s long braid with her fingers. She tilted her head back, giving Ligeia a playful smile. “She insisted we talk because you told her to.” She glanced at Rose. “So, it’s your fault.”

  “We’re very grateful,” Ligeia said with a nervous smile, “my Eklektos.”

  Zosime pretended to think about it for a moment. “I suppose we are.”

  “Look at you,” Kara teased in Rose’s ear, “uniting all the gays.”

  Rose shrugged. “How else are we going to defeat the Nazis?”

  Kara snorted. When the others looked away, she whispered in Rose’s ear, “Are you all right, love?” Her playful tone was gone, now. “I sensed your pain.”

  Rose shook her head, resting her hands on Kara’s—which were enclosed over her stomach. “I’m fine,” she sighed. “I just need to stop thinking about it.”

  The word it came out a bit strained—because what she really meant was him. She couldn’t think about him. Not right now. Not when she needed to stay in control of her emotions. Not when the entire world was depending on her.

  “We can step out for a moment,” Kara whispered, “if you need to cry.”

  “No,” Rose said. “I need to hold myself together. Until the war is over.”

  Zosime and Ligeia wandered back into the shelter, giving them privacy.

  “Okay,” Kara sighed, “but please, just promise me if it starts feeling like too much, you’ll let me help? Even if I can’t, I’d like to know that I tried, at least.”

  Rose turned in Kara’s arms, until the front of her body pressed against Kara’s. She nodded, her eyes burning. “I’ll never hurt you like that again. I swear.”

  “Oh, Rose,” Kara said, lifting her hand to brush a few tears away, “don’t think of it like that. You’re always blaming yourself for things you shouldn’t. You needed a moment, but now, you’re back on your feet. You did nothing wrong.”

  Rose looped her arms around Kara’s neck, embracing her tightly, resting her face on Kara’s shoulder. For a few moments, no one bothered them, and they were able to just hold each other. And the warmth of Kara’s body, the gentleness of her embrace—it soothed the pain inside of Rose, like a salve applied to a burn.

  Rose lifted her face, moving her lips to Kara’s ear. “I have a plan. I know how to win the war,” she told her, “but it’s going to involve some of your skills.”

  Kara smiled and murmured, “Baby, my skills are always yours to use.”

  —

  Rose wasn’t even two steps into the shelter before the big, blonde Viking tackled her. His strength and weight would have knocked Rose backward, if Kara hadn’t pressed her hand against Rose’s back, just in time. Rose’s physical strength didn’t compare to a thirteen-hundred-year-old vampire, but Kara’s certainly did.

  “I thought I’d lost you, too,” Erik complained, “you annoying smart ass.”

  Rose patted his back, as her lungs screamed for oxygen. “That’s the,” she gasped, as Erik squeezed her even tighter, “nicest thing you’ve ever said to me.”

  He started to laugh and cry, at the same time. “Shut up.” He pressed his face against the top of her head. “I needed you after… I can’t lose all my friends.”

  “I’m sorry, Erik,” Rose said. “I didn’t mean to leave you. Are you okay?”

  Erik shook his head, tears falling faster. “Not yet,” he sighed. “Are you?”

  “I’m here,” Rose offered. “I don’t know if I’m okay yet, but I’m here.”

  “Better than nothing,” Erik said. He lifted his face, narrowing his bright green, tear-filled eyes at Kara. “I don’t know if I want to hug you or fight you.”

  Kara shrugged one shoulder. “Either works for me.”

  He released Rose—finally allowing her to gasp for breath—and stepped around her to throw his arms around Kara, next. Since Kara was expecting it, she handled the ridiculously tight bear hug with a lot more grace than Rose did. Kara looped her arms around his neck, as he wrapped his around her middle, squeezing her tight. “Thanks for bringing her back,” he told her, “and fuck you for leaving.”

  “Yep,” Kara said—with no apology, as usual. “You smell like whiskey.”

  Erik stepped backward. “Do you want some? Tom gave me a bottle.”

  “Later,” Kara said, as she crossed her arms. “First, we have a war to win.”

  “And how are we going to do that?” Aaron said. He stood off to the side, leaning against the wall, with his arms crossed across his chest. He seemed totally unaware of the fact that every inch of his skin and clothes were soaked in blood.

  Rose opened her mouth and closed it again. She really wanted to ask, but she also knew that she might as well light a stick of dynamite, if she wanted to die that badly. So, following the lead of the other vampires in the shelter, she flashed an awkward smile and pretended not to notice. “I have a plan, actually,” she said.

  Aaron lifted a dark eyebrow at her. “And are you…you?”

  Rose didn’t even hesitate. “More than ever.”

  Talulah stepped forward. “You’ve given up on peace, then?”

  “Not exactly,” Rose said. Her lips lifted in a small smile. “The Assassins of Light will never agree to peace. So, we’re taking an, umm, blended approach.”

  “We are?” Benedict asked. “I take it you’re not putting it up for a vote?”

  Kara’s piercing, ice-blue eyes shifted toward him. She lifted her hand and wiggled her forefinger at him—the one she’d sliced from his hand weeks before.

  His eyes widened, and he immediately buried both hands in his pockets.

  Rose sighed at them. “Of course I’ll put it up for a vote, but considering every other option leads to the world ending, I think we’ll all agree on this one.”

  “How do you know this one’s any different?” another commander asked.

  “Because I’ve seen it,” Zosime spoke up. “This option’s our only hope.”

  Clearly, someone had filled them all in on Zosime’s power—because the vampire leaders and their seconds voiced no objections after she told them that.

  “Then, tell us,” Aaron said to Rose, “how do we defeat the human race?”

  “First, we need all vampires called here,” Rose told them. “Any vampires outside of this alliance, who are still out there fighting, need to be brought here.”

  “That’s a lot of people,” one of the vampire commanders told her.

  Another leader complained, “We can’t fight the entire war in one place.”

  “That’s exactly what we’re doing,” Rose said. “One battle to end the war.”

  Aaron frowned. “How are we supposed to get humans to agree to that?”

  “We don’t,” Rose told them. “We wait for the Assassins of Light to come to us. Then, we fight our last battle. I can destroy their weapons with one thought. They don’t stand a chance against us.” She shrugged. “Not when they’re alone.”

  “But they’re not alone,” Talulah said. “They have the entire human race.”

  “They won’t,” Rose said, sharing a
look with Kara. “Not after tonight.”

  Aaron’s dark gaze shifted toward Kara. “What’s happening tonight?”

  Kara smiled. “You just worry about your job. Let me worry about mine.”

  Aaron glared at her for that remark, but he kept his thoughts to himself.

  “One more thing,” Rose said. “I can’t make this work, unless we all agree that there will be no more attacks on humans. I can’t make agreements on peace, if you have no intention on keeping the peace. There can be no more murders.”

  “Agreed,” Talulah said easily, “and if there are, there should be justice.”

  “Not agreed!” Benedict objected. “We’re not going to just stop feeding!”

  Kara wiggled her finger at him again, and his anger instantly dissolved.

  “Stop,” Rose hissed. When Kara simply grinned in response, Rose sighed and turned toward Benedict. “You don’t have to stop feeding from humans. You just have to stop killing them. If you can’t do that, you can feed from vampires.”

  “No, we can’t,” another leader said. “I’m not making myself vulnerable.”

  Rose turned toward him. “Then, they won’t make themselves vulnerable, either. They’ll stay with the Assassins of Light, and the war will continue, until we all die,” she said bluntly. “Someone has to be the first one to make the sacrifice.”

  “Why does it have to be us?” one of the other vampire leaders asked.

  “Because it can be us,” Rose said. “Because we understand hate, pain, and love in ways that most humans don’t. Because we’re older than humans, because we’re smarter than them.” She spread out her hands. “Choose whatever reason you want—I don’t care—as long as you grow up and do what needs to be done.”

  Aaron watched her with a surprised smile—one that almost caused Rose to do a double-take. He stepped away from the wall and joined her. “She’s right.”

  Rose’s mouth fell open. She spun toward him, her eyes wide. “I’m what?”

  Aaron rolled his eyes, already regretting it. “Don’t make me take it back.”

  “I agree to your terms, as well,” Hidiza said. Rose remembered her from their meeting at the Village of the Undead—where Talulah had introduced them.

  More leaders agreed, including that purple-haired vampire that Rose still called the Cool One—because Rose was too awkward to ask them for their name.

  “Let’s vote,” Talulah called. “If you agree to the terms, raise your hand.”

  Almost every vampire in the room raised their hands.

  Benedict kept his hand down, at first, but then, he sighed and raised it.

  Rose followed his gaze to find Kara, once again, waving at him. She shot a peeved look at her. “You can’t intimidate the voters, Kara! It’s not democratic!”

  Kara shrugged one shoulder. “I’m a fourteen-hundred-year-old Viking.”

  “Do you want to win or not?” Aaron grumbled at Rose. “If so, shut up.”

  “We already had the majority of the votes,” Rose said under her breath.

  Talulah ignored their banter. “Now, raise your hand, if you don’t agree.”

  A few people raised their hands, but they were obviously in the minority.

  “Allow me to reword this a bit,” Zosime said—to the ones who’d voted against the terms. “Raise your hand, if you want to doom the world to end in war. Because that’s what will happen. Is your fear of vulnerability worth dying for?”

  The vampires lowered their hands, immediately changing their votes.

  “It looks like your long shot might work out, after all,” Zosime told Rose.

  Rose nodded. “Just a few more steps to go.”

  —

  Kara stopped next to an old building. “This is it,” she said, as she turned to Rose. The blue in her hair shone beneath the streetlight. “They meet in there.”

  Rose glanced at the building and nodded. Considering what they’d called it, she’d expected a church or something, but instead, it looked like an old bar or dance club. “It’s smaller than I was expecting. Are you sure this is going to work?”

  “This is only one of their meeting places. There are hundreds of them,” Kara assured her. “You tell them what you told me, and they’ll get the word out.”

  “If this goes the way we need it to, we’ll have won the war,” Rose said.

  “It will,” Kara said. “You’ve done your research. You’re right about this.”

  Rose smiled, grateful for her reassurance. “I hope so,” she said softly.

  Kara took Rose by the shoulders and moved her away from the camera. Then, Kara stepped forward and pressed the buzzer beside the door. She pressed her back against the wall, keeping herself out of the camera’s range, as well. Soon, the speaker cut on, but no one spoke. Only the crackling background noise came through. Someone was listening but not speaking. Kara pressed the microphone button and began to count. It was much too simple of a password, Rose thought, until she realized that Kara was speaking each number in a different language—a total of seven different languages, actually. The password wasn’t the numbers. It was the languages—the specific order in which she’d spoken them. Kara finished and stepped back to wait. Finally, a woman’s voice came through the speaker.

  “I can’t see you in the cameras,” the woman said. “It’s a little suspicious.”

  Kara pressed the microphone button again. “Come out and see us, then.”

  The woman sighed, clearly frustrated with that answer. “Just a minute.”

  When the speaker clicked off, Kara turned to Rose. “She’s putting herself at risk by stepping out here. She knows that. So, she won’t come out unarmed.”

  “I’ll stop the bullets, if she shoots,” Rose told her, “and if she continues to shoot, I’ll destroy her gun.” She shrugged. “Weapons aren’t an issue anymore.”

  A smirk pulled at one side of Kara’s mouth. “I kind of want to test that.”

  Rose laughed. “You’ll see plenty of it during the battle. The Assassins of Light depend on their weapons. I’ll destroy them, and they’ll surrender—or die.”

  “The woman I love is talking about battle,” Kara said. “Major turn-on.”

  Rose laughed again. “Have you always been this unfocused during war?”

  “What makes you think I can’t be focused and aroused at the same time?” Kara countered. She grinned. “We’re not all as terrible at multitasking as you are.”

  “Hey! I’m great at multitasking!” Rose argued. “I was always multitasking in college! Plus, that whole creating-the-world thing.” Rose waved her hand, as if that last part wasn’t relevant. “My mind only goes haywire when you’re around.”

  Kara’s mouth curved into a deeper, more affectionate smile. “I love you.”

  Rose started to respond—only to be interrupted by the creaking of metal, as someone pulled open some sort of door on the other side. Footsteps followed, as the woman approached the outside entrance. Chains rattled, and metal creaked, as she prepared to open the door. There must have been fourteen locks, at least.

  “Why so many locks?” Rose asked Kara. “Locks don’t stop vampires.”

  Kara lifted an eyebrow at Rose’s observation. “Then, who do they stop?”

  “The Assassins of Light,” Rose realized. “They’re afraid of them, too?”

  “I told you,” Kara whispered, “these are the people you want to talk to.”

  The door opened, and a short, dark-haired woman stepped out. She wore thick, faded jeans and a black, insulated jacket, and she’d tied her black hair back beneath a bandana. She smelled of old blood, but the scent didn’t match the blood that Rose smelled in her body. It was someone else’s blood. Whether that meant she’d tried to help a wounded person recently or had done the wounding herself, Rose didn’t know. The woman took one look at Rose and reached for her gun.

  Kara wrenched the gun from the woman’s grasp before she could aim it.

  The woman’s brown eyes widen
ed, as she realized she’d been disarmed, while in the company of two of the most dangerous vampires in the world. She immediately stepped back, preparing to close the door. “Why have you come?”

  “We’re here to help,” Rose assured her. “Are you part of the Sanctuary?”

  “How do you know that?” the human snarled. “Who told you about us?”

  Rose held up her hands to placate her. “We’re here to help. I promise.”

  “I’ve seen the news,” the woman snapped. “We know who you are. What you’ve done.” She paused after that last part, her lip trembling at the thought. She tried to close the door, yelling, as she did, “We don’t need help from monsters!”

  Kara grasped the door with one hand, stopping her, and with the other hand, she shoved the human against the wall. The woman gasped, as Kara pressed the edge of her dagger against her throat. Kara smiled. “Are you sure about that?”

  Rose stepped into the doorway, noticing the dark hallway beyond them, which probably led to an entrance of some kind. “She has a point,” she told Kara. “Why would she need help from monsters, when she has all those good guys in power, who will surely save everyone?” She offered the woman her sassiest smile.

  The woman glared at Rose. “Some of us never believed the Assassins of Light were the good guys,” she argued. “Some of us have been resisting all along.”

  Rose’s smile softened into a genuine one. “I know. That’s why we came.”

  “You’re not the good guys, either!” the woman scoffed. She fell silent, as Kara pressed the dagger a bit closer to her throat. She narrowed her eyes at Kara.

  Kara grinned, entertained by the woman’s anger. “No one said we were.”

  “We were told that the Sanctuary helps people who are hurt or affected by the war. Is that true?” Rose asked. When the woman simply glared at her, Rose sighed, “Well, if it is true, then…I think we can help. We’re trying to end the war.”

  The woman rolled her eyes at that. “You’re trying to end it?” she scoffed. “You think I don’t recognize you? Everyone knows who you are, Rose Foster.”

  “Really?” Rose muttered. “Because in high school, when they announced me as the Valedictorian, I distinctly remember someone yelling, ‘Who’s that?’”