The Warrior

by Rebecca Royce

  “You won’t have to do it. I’ll do it.” Patrick shook his head.

  “No.” I put my hand on his arm. “Neither of us will be doing it.”

  Because I knew I couldn’t. I wasn’t in a position to decide who lived and died. Unlike Icahn, I did not want to play God. I didn’t want to make those decisions.

  “What do we do with this?” Patrick whispered.

  “Close it up. Destroy it.”

  “The Vampires will come. They already are. They’ll storm at us in droves. People will die.”

  Some of us would die. But nothing had changed in this respect. Some of us would always die. I should have perished on my sixteenth birthday, or could have any day since.

  “Patrick, do you want to go up there and tell those people we’re going to poison other humans to save ourselves?”

  I couldn’t see it happening. Maybe I was wrong; maybe I didn’t understand the ways of the world. Icahn had said he hadn’t been able to use the vials, to do what he had to do to kill the Vampires.

  He’d thought I could do it? Well, he’d been wrong. I couldn’t have anything to do with this. No one had selected me for leadership.

  “We have to destroy it. We can’t give anyone a choice.”

  I knew what he meant. Someone who disagreed with us would come down and do it themselves.

  “Is that justice? Do we have the right?”

  “Rachel, it’s better to ask for forgiveness than permission.” He picked up the vial and opened up the lid. I half expected him to fall to the floor or turn green from exposure. Instead, he poured it out.

  I followed suit and soon we had destroyed the vials. Whatever choice others would have made, my father-in-law and I got rid of the poison before it could be used.

  If we lived to pay for it, then so be it.

  We were better than Icahn. For that, I could be grateful. In the end, he hadn’t won because we had done the right thing. At least for us.

  ***

  “What was down there?” Darren called out when we came up. I wondered if he knew. Had Icahn’s people been aware? I stared at the man who had rescued me but remained a bit of a stranger. If he knew, I couldn’t tell. He looked as confused as everyone else.

  “Nothing we could use.”

  Patrick stalked off without uttering another word and all eyes turned to me. “You know what? I’m exhausted. I’m going to bed now.”

  If it worked for Patrick, why couldn’t it for me? Only I knew it wouldn’t be simple. At least one Warrior, my husband, was never going to leave it alone. Not until I told him the truth.

  It took him less than a minute to catch up with me. “What was down there? What did you and Dad do you don’t want to talk about?”

  I looked behind me to make sure no one else was with us. When I found us alone, I spoke quietly. “Poison. We could have poisoned the humans being held by the Vampires, which would, in turn, end the Vamps.”

  Chad didn’t say anything for a minute. Then he spoke. “You couldn’t do it. Neither could Dad.”

  “Could you?” I challenged him.

  “No. But maybe others could. They’ll go down and do it.”

  “No.” I wanted him to really understand what we had done. “We poured it out.”

  “Sometimes I’m so grateful at not having to be you. For all the hellish decisions you have to make.”

  I smiled at him. “Sometimes I have to make easy ones, good ones.”

  He leaned over and kissed me. “Thank goodness.”

  ***

  The hordes of Vampires charged us all night. One after another felt the end of my stake. By the end of the night, my good arm ached so badly I could barely move it.

  “You okay?” Micah hugged me while we celebrated the sunlight. Finally, we headed toward the elevators.

  “Yes. You?”

  Micah nodded. “I’m good, and I’ve decided to go off with Deacon.”

  “I’m not surprised.”

  “I know you’re not.” He bounced around like he hadn’t just endured the same night I had. “Thanks for basically suggesting it.”

  “Yep.” I wanted my pillow. And Chad. Maybe not in that order.

  “Did you get through the night okay? I saw your hubby. He went down with Dad a little while ago.”

  “I’m a Warrior, Micah. This is what I do, what you do, what we all do. I may not have picked it but every time I go out to fight I’m going to do my very best.”

  “Thanks, Rachel. How will I get along without these little pep talks?”

  I elbowed him in the side. Jerk.

  Epilogue

  Later

  He walked through the door. I recognized the sound of his gait. I’d know it anywhere. I’d been listening to it come home to me for ten years. He had yet to drop dead from his cloned status.

  I grinned, turning around right before he grabbed me and yanked me against him. He breathed in my hair before he kissed me. I closed my eyes. Even when I’d married him I hadn’t believed we’d still be here ten years later living like we did.

  “I missed you.”

  “Any monsters tonight?” I leaned back to take in his face. He had lines he didn’t used to have. Hadn’t had when we were younger, not when I’d written my journals.

  “A few. Nothing we couldn’t handle.” He walked over to the pot to see what I’d made for him. Eggs. Bacon. The things he loved in the morning.

  He placed his hand on my belly. “How’s number three?”

  “Moving. A lot.”

  Chad kissed the spot where his hand had been. “Good boy.”

  “You don’t know that. It could be girl number three.”

  “That would be fine, too. But I have a feeling this one is the boy.”

  I wasn’t concerned. Chad loved his daughters.

  “So I went through them like you wanted me to. I read each of the journals.”

  “And?” He leaned against the counter. “Are you going to give them to your mother for the library?”

  “I guess. I don’t know why anyone would ever want to read them. They’re just my thoughts about a time better left where it belongs, in the past. Besides, they’re my impressions. You might have completely different thoughts about a lot of it.”

  “I think it would be nice for the girls to know you as a teenager, to know you through the books.”

  Now there was a thought. The baby cried upstairs and Chad turned toward the noise. “I’m going to get her.”

  “Sounds good.”

  Did I want anyone to read what I had written? I looked down at the books again, fingering the pages. I’d give them to the library. What did I really have to lose? I should never have made it past my sixteenth birthday. A normal girl who happened to be able to fight back Vampires and Werewolves, who could keep my people safe.

  ***

  My name is Rachel Clancy Lyons. This was my story. The sun in our fake habitat is calling me to another day. This wasn’t the life I expected, but it’s been a wild ride, regardless. I have monsters that need destroying and a life to keep living. I wouldn’t change a minute of it.

  ~ABOUT THE AUTHOR~

  As a teenager, Rebecca Royce would hide in her room to read her favorite romance novels when she was supposed to be doing her homework. She hopes, these days, that her parents think it was well worth it.

  Rebecca is the mother of three adorable boys and is fortunate to be married to her best friend. They live in northern New Jersey and try not to freeze too badly during the winter months.

  She’s in love with science fiction, fantasy, and the paranormal and tries to use all of these elements in her writing. She's been told she's a little bloodthirsty so she hopes that when you read her work you'll enjoy the action packed ride that always ends in romance. Rebecca loves to write series because she loves to see characters develop over time and it always makes her happy to see her favorite characters make guest appearances in other books.

  In Rebecca Royce’s world anything is possible, anyth
ing can happen, and you should suspect that it will.

  You can visit Rebecca at:

  www.rebeccaroyce.com