by R. D. Brady
It took hours to secure the farm and get all of the Fallen ready for transport, all while holding off the local police. By the time they were done, the sun was up.
They were still hours from home, but Laney wasn’t up for another helicopter ride, and she could tell no one else was either. She stood next to the Suburban they were borrowing from Amar. Cleo had already been loaded inside, and was dozing.
“Laney.”
She turned to see Maddox striding up to her. She smiled, but her smile disappeared at his expression. “Maddox, what’s wrong?”
Maddox nodded toward his cell. “I just spoke with Amanda.”
Laney smiled, feeling confused. “She wasn’t happy to hear you’re okay?”
A smile replaced the frown. “No, she was. She said to tell you thanks. She’s going to meet me in Baltimore.”
“Good. But why Baltimore?”
The frown reappeared. “Amanda uncovered an email. There were plans in place to go after some friends of yours: Max Simmons and Danny Wartowski.”
Laney felt her knees go weak. “How?”
“They were supposed to grab Max at his school, and Danny from some bookstore. If that didn’t work—bomb.”
Laney felt the ground shift underneath her. She pictured Amar and wanted to kill him all over again.
Maddox touched her shoulder. “It’s okay. Amanda intercepted the message. It never got through.”
Laney closed her eyes, sinking back against the SUV. “Thank God. But they could still be in danger.”
“What do you need, Laney? You saved my life. I owe you.”
Laney pictured Max and Danny. “Does Henry know?”
Maddox nodded. “He’s increased security around them at the estate.”
“I need to find a way to keep them safe. Danny will have around-the-clock security on the estate. But Max and Kati are my responsibility. And I can’t keep them locked up in Dom’s bomb shelter forever.”
Maddox raised an eyebrow. “Bomb shelter?”
She gave Maddox a small smile. “It’s cozier than it sounds.”
“Well, you’re in luck. It just so happens that I’m looking for a job. My last employer and I have recently . . . gone our separate ways.”
“You want to hang out with a single mom and a four-year-old in the suburbs?”
“Actually, right now that sounds like heaven. And like I said, I owe you. Big.”
“Are you sure?”
Maddox nodded. “Yeah. Besides, kids love me.”
Laney glanced up at Maddox. He looked like a member of a really, really tough biker gang. Which, she realized, is exactly what she wanted anyone who glanced at Max and Kati to see.
“Thanks, Maddox. It’ll just be for a little while until I can figure something else out.”
“It’ll be a nice change of pace.”
“But go see your sister first.”
Maddox shored up his shoulders, snapping out a crisp salute. “Yes, General.” He winked before turning on his heel and marching off.
Laney shook her head. General. Great.
Henry walked up a few seconds later and Cleo popped her head out of the window near Laney.
Henry jumped back. “Um, I guess she’s coming with us?”
Laney nodded. “I don’t think the local chapter of ASPCA is equipped to deal with her. Besides, she’s on our side.”
Henry shook his head. “Figured you’d say that. So I arranged for a cage from the local zoo to be delivered to the house, and another to the Baltimore estate.”
Laney smiled. “You know me so well.”
“Yes, I do. And you’re sitting in the back with her.”
“No problem,” Laney said, opening the back door. She climbed in, and Cleo shifted over to make room.
As Henry pulled out, Cleo placed her head in Laney’s lap. Laney absentmindedly ran her hands over the big cat’s coat. “Where are we going?”
“Mom’s got a house about twenty minutes from here. Yoni and the Witts are going to follow us there.”
Laney knew she should be surprised that Victoria had a place nearby, but honestly, her biological mother had ceased to amaze her. If she learned tomorrow that her mother was an alien, she’d probably just nod her head and say okay.
Laney was beginning, though, to realize how truly extensive her mother’s resources were. It was a little intimidating.
But it was also comforting. Maybe they could win this fight. Actually, with Samyaza dead, maybe they already had.
Henry glanced back at her. “The SIA found something else in the house.”
“What?”
“The book that was stolen from Vegas.”
“Really?”
Henry nodded, his attention on the road. “It’s being shipped to Baltimore.”
“You mean the Smithsonian?”
Henry shook his head. “No. I figure if they went to all that trouble to steal it, we need to read it. Fast. Which means me.”
Laney felt the weight of responsibility settle back on her shoulders. Whatever Henry found in that book, she hoped it was only an explanation of what had happened. Not a prediction of more danger to come.
Laney stared out the window, watching the Tennessee landscape fly by. The numbness she’d built up during the flight to Tennessee, and maintained during the battle, had begun to wear off. Emptiness rushed in.
Right now, she had nothing else to focus on, nothing to keep her mind occupied. The denial stage was over. Jake was dead. It was like a piece of her was missing.
She let out a trembling breath. He was gone. It didn’t seem real. He was so strong. So vital. How could he be gone? And how did people go on when they felt like this?
Victoria had said the chosen always had two protectors: one human, one more than human. Helen had had Castor and Pollux, and Laney was supposed to have Henry and Jake. And now Jake was gone.
Cleo shifted, but kept her head in Laney’s lap. Laney rubbed the cat’s ears. There was a bond between them now—a bond that Laney couldn’t really explain. She wasn’t going to let anyone hurt the animal. Not after what Cleo had done to help them.
Cleo let out a little whimper. Laney knew the giant feline missed her mate. Laney lowered her head to the cat’s. Tears burned the back of her eyes. “I know it hurts, baby. I know.”
Henry pulled off the highway and onto a small country road. Houses were few and far between. Laney focused on the scenery, trying to hold her sadness at bay, at least until she could grieve in private.
Henry turned again, onto a long dirt road. Finally, he pulled up in front of an old estate. Three stories, white with black shutters. Laney let out a little laugh in spite of her grief. “Mom sure does seem to have a type when it comes to houses.”
Henry smiled. “Do you realize that’s the first time you’ve called her ‘Mom’?”
Laney caught his eyes. “I guess it is.”
Another car, a Mercedes, was parked in front of the garage. “Who’s that?” Laney asked.
“I’m not sure. Maybe the caretaker. Stay here. I’ll go check it out.”
Laney nodded, laying her head back against the seat. She knew she should be concerned, but at the moment, she just couldn’t work up the energy.
Exhaustion and sadness pulled at her. She closed her eyes. Maybe if she slept for a little while, the world wouldn’t seem as cold or as dark.
Cleo let out a low growl.
Laney’s eyes sprang open.
The garage door opened. Henry walked back toward the car, his face pale.
Dread welled up in Laney. She didn’t think she could handle any more bad news. She detangled herself from the cat and opened the door.
“Stay, Cleo,” she ordered, before closing the door and walking over to Henry. “What’s happened? What’s wrong?”
Henry shook his head, looking shocked. “It’s . . . I can’t believe . . .”
Laney’s uncle stepped out of the shadows of the garage.
Laney looked between Henry and
her uncle. “Uncle Patrick? How did you get here?”
Patrick just smiled and stepped aside as another man appeared.
Laney felt the world tilt. She grabbed onto Henry’s arm for support.
“Jake?”
Jake walked toward her. Same deep brown eyes, same dark hair, same smile.
Laney stared at him, knowing her eyes were growing larger with every step he took. The man looked like Jake, but she’d seen him die. It couldn’t be him.
He stopped when he was a foot away. He reached out a hand.
Laney shrank back. “Who are you?”
“Laney, honey, it’s me,” he said.
Laney shook her head, stepping back. “No. I saw you die. You’re dead.”
Her uncle ran to her side. “Laney, I was there, too. And I promise you, it’s Jake. It’s Jake.”
Laney looked at her uncle and then back at the man in front of her. There was a small scar on his forehead—right at the spot where she’d seen him shot. She soaked in his face, every detail, right down to the small crook in his nose where’d he’d broken it when he was twelve.
Her eyes traveled over his body before returning once again to his face. His eyes looked tired, but other than that he was Jake. Her Jake.
Trembling, she stepped forward, putting her hand to his cheek. She gasped as his arms closed around her.
His scent brought tears to her eyes. She pulled him to her, holding him tight. “Jake.”
CHAPTER 99
Laney refused to let go of Jake’s hand. Even when Yoni and the Witts arrived, she would not let him go. They went through the same ritual of disbelief that Laney had—followed by hugs all around. Yet still Laney held on.
She floated between disbelief and dizzying happiness. Jake was here. She clung to his hand, terrified that if she let him go, he’d be gone again, and this would have all been a dream.
They all sat squeezed in the living room now. Everyone wanted to know how any of this was possible. But Laney could tell Jake was tiring. And she was close to her point of exhaustion as well.
She had more reason than anyone to want to know how Jake was there, alive, sitting next to her, but honestly, it could wait. Right now, she was spent, and she didn’t want to question her luck. She just wanted to revel in it.
Laney nudged Jake on the shoulder. “Hey there, I could use some sleep.”
Jake nodded, his eyelids springing back open. He’d been fighting sleep since they’d entered the house. “Yeah, me too.”
Laney found the two of them an empty bedroom on the second floor. Cleo followed them up and curled up in the corner.
Laney tucked Jake in, and by the time she joined him, he was already asleep. She curled up beside him, content just to listen to him breathe.
But before she knew it, she was opening her eyes. The sun was low in the sky. She must have slept for hours. She checked on Jake. He lay asleep, his breathing normal.
She ran her hand over his hair, and then hugged him tight. How was he here?
It made no sense. He had been dead. She knew that. She was sure of that.
Before, she’d been too exhausted to ask any questions. She’d been too happy just to have him there. But now, she couldn’t avoid them.
She’d seen him shot. Even if by some miracle he had survived, he should be, at best, hospitalized. At worst, brain dead. There was no scientific explanation that could make sense of him walking around.
She traced the spot on his forehead where the bullet had entered. There was a small indent there now, but no other sign of trauma. How?
She traced over the spot in his arm where he’d been hurt in the car crash. The skin was completely unmarked.
Quietly, she slipped out of bed. Cleo raised her head from where she’d been curled in the corner.
Let’s go, girl.
Cleo slipped silently out of the door behind her.
As they stepped into the hallway, Yoni came out of the room next door. He jumped at the sight of Cleo and Laney. “That cat needs a bell,” he muttered.
Laney smiled, but didn’t say anything. Her mind was still full of Jake.
Yoni nodded toward her door. “He okay?”
“Somehow, yeah.”
“How’s that possible?”
“I don’t know. He was dead. I know he was.” She glanced back at the door and then at Yoni. “I need to go speak with my uncle. Will you stay here? In case Jake wakes up?”
Yoni nodded, with a quick glance at Cleo. “I will, as long as you take your friend with you.”
“Deal.”
Laney and Cleo headed downstairs. They stopped in the kitchen, where Laney fished a large bowl out of the cupboard. Henry walked in as she was filling it with water. She placed it on the floor. Cleo came over and licked it up greedily.
Patting the cat on the back, Laney turned to Henry. “Have you talked to Uncle Patrick yet?”
Henry shook his head. “I thought I’d wait for you. Ready for some answers?”
“Absolutely.”
Together, they headed for the living room. Her uncle sat on the couch, a crossword in his lap. He looked up with a smile. “Jake still sleeping?”
She nodded. “Yeah.” She sank down onto the couch next to him.
Patrick wrapped his arms around her. “Thank God you’re okay.”
Laney let herself relax and take the comfort from her uncle. But the questions about Jake wouldn’t leave her. She pushed back. “I’m okay. Just confused. I don’t understand how Jake’s here. It’s just not possible.”
“I—” Patrick broke off when Cleo slunk into the living room. “Um, is your new friend going to be okay in here?”
Cleo walked over to Laney, who scratched her behind the ears. “Good girl. Go lie down.”
Cleo walked to the corner of the room and curled up.
“She’s good.” And Laney knew it was true. Cleo wouldn’t hurt anyone in this house, not without express permission from Laney.
“How are you doing that without the ring on?” Henry asked.
Laney’s hand went to where the ring was hanging from a chain on her neck. “I’m not sure. I think maybe the ring establishes the link, and once established, it’s no longer needed.”
Turning from the cat, she looked at Patrick. “Well?”
It took Patrick a moment to pull his eyes from the giant leopard. Obviously Cleo’s presence had him a little rattled. “Um, I can explain what I saw. But I can’t tell you how because, to be honest, I have no idea.”
He took a breath, looking between Laney and Henry. “After you two escaped, Victoria told me to hurry. I thought she meant we needed to get to cover. But that’s not what she meant. She told me to begin chest compressions. She said we needed to keep his blood flowing.”
Patrick shook his head. “I thought she was crazy. The problem obviously wasn’t with Jake’s heart. But I was in such a state of shock, I didn’t argue, I just began the compressions. Then Victoria pulled out a knife.”
“A knife?” Henry asked.
Patrick nodded. “She cut her wrist. Then she put her wrist on Jake’s wound, her blood mingling with his. I don’t know how much time passed, but it was a while. My arms were growing tired, but Victoria warned me not to stop. Around that time, Ralph arrived. And some time before that, the men shooting at us had stopped. I guess they went after you.”
Laney nodded, not capable of more than that.
“Ralph took one look at the scene, pushed me out of the way, and started doing the compressions himself,” Patrick said.
“And then what? Jake came back?” Henry asked.
“Not right away. The wound, though . . .” Patrick paused. “It began to close. When that happened, Victoria told Ralph he could stop. That it would be okay. But from that moment until just a couple of hours ago, Jake was in a coma.”
“Why didn’t you take him to a hospital?” Laney asked, still trying to wrap her mind around what Patrick was saying.
“I wanted to, but Victoria
said no. That they wouldn’t understand. She said he would be fine, and for some reason, I believed her.”
Laney nodded, understanding. Victoria was a riddle wrapped in an enigma, yet somehow, when she spoke, you found yourself believing everything she said.
Patrick continued. “She arranged for a private charter to take us all back to the States. When I contacted the Chandler Group, they told me you were in Tennessee, so I re-routed here. Jake and I disembarked and Victoria continued on to somewhere else. We reached the house only a few minutes before you did.”
Laney sat back and stared into space. Victoria had brought Jake back from the dead—with her blood. She struggled with possible logical scenarios. She felt like she was back at the beginning of this mess when she was trying to figure out what Paul and Gideon were.
She blew out a breath. “Okay, so my only thought is ‘vampire.’ Anybody have anything less supernatural?”
Patrick and Henry didn’t say anything for a moment. Then slowly they both shook their heads.
Laney tried not to groan. Crap.
CHAPTER 100
They left for the Chandler estate an hour later, when Jake woke. But first, Laney sat with him in the bedroom. Patrick said he hadn’t told Jake anything about what had happened during the time he was in a coma. So Laney was the one to break the news to him.
Jake’s eyes were large. “Dead? I was dead? I mean, I heard you say that when you first got here, but I just thought you, I don’t know, misspoke.”
“I didn’t misspeak. You don’t remember anything?”
“Last thing I remember was stepping out of the path in Saqqara. Then I was waking up on a plane with Patrick. Was I really dead?”
Laney nodded. “Yes. It’s been three days.” If Jake were religious, she’d point out the similarities to another fellow who came back to life after three days, but she was pretty sure that comparison wouldn’t be received too well.
“I—” Jake paused. “I don’t even know what to say about that.”
The door pushed open. Cleo walked in, her tail swishing behind her. She rubbed against Laney and then Jake before curling up on the bed behind them.
Jake watched the leopard, his eyebrows raised. “Um, have we adopted a cat?”
