Commander

by Kim Faulks

  She looked at my grip, and then raised her gaze. “That's an order.”

  My stomach tightened. My will shook. An ache spread along my throat as I found the strength to answer. “I can’t do that. He needs me. He needs me to survive.”

  She took a step closer, drawn by the cruel, cutting truth. “He’s not surviving, warrior. Look at him…he’s dying.”

  She blurred in front of me. I shook my head, and a single tear slipped free to hit the cold steel bed. “No, he can’t be. I…”

  “You what?” Her voice softened. “You like this mortal? Is that what you’re trying to say?”

  “Semper Fidelis,” the words slipped from my lips as I closed my eyes. “It means always faithful.”

  “I don’t understand what you’re saying.”

  Tears spilled, running in a river down my cheek. I wanted to hide, wanted to bury my head in shame. But the cavern inside me was widening—and out of the darkness came a torrent of need.

  The mortal’s hand twitched under mine. His body shuddered, and a hiss slipped free. I couldn’t open my eyes, couldn’t see him suffer…couldn’t see him as anything other than the man who tried to save my Queen, at the sake of his own life.

  I dragged in a breath, and felt the sting of a winter’s bite. Power danced across my skin, standing the fine hairs on my arms.

  I cracked open my eyes as a low moan tore from the Guardian. “Eva. Wait…you’re too…”

  Her ivory eyes sparkled as the air inside the room turned bitter and dark. Her hand trembled, fingers splayed above the mortal’s chest.

  She was too weak…too wild. A savage, untamed hunger filled the air.

  Death whispered.

  Death woke.

  The Commander’s hand trembled. Pale skin flushed pink.

  No! Don’t touch her! The Guardian’s previous words came to life as her power filled the room. You don’t want to die—not that way. She’ll kill you…She won’t mean to, but she will, just the same.

  My Queen was more than a Vampire…and more than a Queen.

  The Commander gave a gasp, and then a groan. His hand slipped, fingers clenched around mine. I stared at the connection, realizing now, he hadn’t been holding my hand for some time.

  I’d been the one holding his.

  I’d been the one clinging to his dying mortal flame…as though it were my own.

  As though it were all I had left.

  Eva’s knees buckled, her body crashed to the floor. But the Guardian was there, lunging to wrap his arms around her waist and hold her against him.

  She turned in his arms, gripping him as tightly as he held her. She took his strength, used his power, and gave him something in return.

  Their energy mingled within the confines of the room. Darkness, death, and desire created a turbulent storm that sparked and rage…and yet, all I could see was this mortal.

  All I could feel was his terror and pain.

  His pink lips parted, a panicked gaze searched the room and settled on me. “What…what happened?”

  I searched for life and it was there, just as blinding as it’d been before, as I whispered, “You died.”

  There was nothing, no breath, no screams. No flare of recognition in his gaze. His warm breath tickled the back of my thumb as I clenched his hand tight.

  There was a small shake of his head, a refusal to believe, before he lifted his other hand to his throat. Pink raised flesh replaced the jagged open wound.

  The door opened, and the Doctor stepped inside. “I’m sorry,” she murmured before raising her head. “He didn’t have…”

  Her steps stilled. Her bloodied hands froze mid-motion as she wiped them with a towel. The remnant of her sentence slipped free. “…any hope.”

  She glanced from the Commander to Eva and the Guardian, and then, finally, me. Brown eyes found the empty syringe in my hand, and then searched the counter. “You gave him more?” She didn’t wait for the answer, only stumbled inside, leaving the door open behind her.

  One panicked glance at the mortal and her panic rose. “Did you give him more?”

  “Yes,” I dropped his hand and opened my palm to show the empty syringe. “I gave him more. He’s survived. Look at him, Doctor. He’s survived.”

  She grasped the bottle and stared at the dregs swirling around the bottom. “Jesus…I haven’t tested it…don’t you understand?” She yanked her gaze to the Commander and shoved the bottle onto the counter. “How do you feel?”

  Her hands fumbled, easing the stethoscope in place and sliding the end through his torn shirt to touch bare skin.

  “I feel…” the Commander murmured and then stopped. His gaze narrowed, and then lifted, finding mine. “Strange.”

  She moved fast, opening his mouth to check his gums. “You shouldn’t have had more. A dose that big…it’s not safe…not…”

  “Not what, Doctor?” He winced as she shone a penlight into his eyes.

  Dark pupils reacted, tightening to pin-points as she moved from one eye to the other. “I’m going to need to run some tests. A lot of them…”

  His hand lashed out and grabbed the Doc’s wrist. The heat of anger stung the air as he growled. “I said not what?” his lips curled, baring tiny pointed fangs. “I want the truth, and I want it now. What the Hell is in that bottle? What have you been injecting into my Marines?”

  7

  Samson

  She shook her head, and her face paled. “It’s not what you think.”

  “Easy,” Lucas growled. The Guardian was a blur, seizing my grip in his, and squeezed hard enough to make me wince. “Let her go.”

  I dropped my gaze to see her hand strangled by my grip. Her flesh was warm and blushed, growing redder by the second. This wasn’t me…I yanked my hand against my chest. “I’m sorry…I…I didn’t mean…”

  “It’s okay,” the Doc’s words were sincere, still ,she reached for her wrist and massaged the tender flesh. “It’s the drug. I gave you the maximum dose as it was…” she glanced at the almost empty bottle. “And you’ve had at least four times that amount.”

  “Tell me…” The words ripped along my throat. I swallowed and tasted blood. “Tell me what it is.”

  “DNA,” she murmured. “Immortal DNA.”

  I flinched with the answer, and stilled. Screams and cried echoed from outside these walls. There were men hurting, dying—and yet all I felt in this moment was nothing…cold, heartless nothing. Deep down I’d known what it was—I’d felt it in my gut the moment I saw Terror. “You’re infecting us, like those sick sonsofbitches. You’re infecting my men, and now you’ve infected me.”

  “Doc,” Lucas moaned. “Why?”

  She took a step backwards, fingers dancing in the air, fluttering to her chest as the door flew open and slammed against the wall with a deafening boom.

  A blinding light poured in from the doorway, growing brighter by the second. “Get the Hell away from her!”

  I yanked my hand over my face, still, the luminous glare slipped through the cracks of my fingers. The burn was instant. I yanked my gaze to the floor.

  “Doc,” the luminescence growled. “You okay?”

  “I’m fine,” she reached out her hand. “Really, I’m okay.”

  The light ebbed, darkening to the hard edges of the massive Guardian. Green eyes blazed neon and settled on me. “You don’t touch her. You don’t lay a finger on her, you hear me?”

  “Easy, brother,” Lucas murmured and lifted a hand in surrender. “Michael, she’s fine, look at her…she’s fine.”

  But this was my doing. This was all my fucking doing.

  I’d never so much as raised a hand to a woman before, and yet here I was…

  “It’s my fault,” she lifted her head to meet my gaze. “I should’ve been honest with you from the beginning. I just had no idea this would happen, and, frankly, I wasn’t ready.”

  Heat lashed my chest, reaching up to spill acid into my throat. I tried to swallow, tried to leash the
goddamn rage, but it burned…fuck, it burned. “You’re infecting us. What the Hell did you think was going to happen when I found out?”

  She winced with the words. “Infecting…no, enhancing, yes. The DNA I give you attaches to certain markers on your own, it doesn’t replace it. It only connects if it finds a home…and it seems like it found a home in you. You’re still the same man, Commander. Still the same mortal man. It’s just that you now have some added benefits.”

  I gripped the sides of the stainless bed and pulled. My ass slipped against the steel, and then hovered at the edge before I fell free. My boots hit the ground. I stood for a second while the room seemed to waver, and then it settled. Confusion closed in, just like the damn walls in this room. I clutched hold of the bed and felt the ground move.

  “You okay?” Doc murmured and stepped close. “Feeling faint? Dizzy?”

  I lifted my gaze, but it wasn’t to the Doctor or the damn Guardian. It was the Vampire. The one I’d clung to. The same one whose voice still rang inside my head. “Thank you for saving my life.”

  She never answered, only stared at me, and then glanced at the Doctor.

  The blue in her eyes sparkled, but there was not a hint of warmth. She was cold…just like her flesh. Cold, brutal, and ruthless. Her clothes were filthy. Blood splatter coated her arms.

  My blood.

  That’s my blood she’s wearing…

  “Commander, you need to listen to me,” the Doctor took a step. “It’s important.”

  “Get the fuck away from me,” panic lapped the edges of my mind. I stumbled and smacked into the stainless bed. The clang ripped through the room. I wrenched my gaze from the warrior, to the blood-smeared lab coat of the Doctor. “All of you…get the fuck away from me.”

  The heavy thud of my pulse filled my head, drowning out everything else. Doc Angel’s lips moved, but I heard nothing…I felt nothing.

  The Vampire Queen took a step closer. Her brows narrowed as she spoke, but all I could see where the tips of her pointed fangs.

  My hand went to my throat…khaki shirt…blood-smeared fangs, biting, savaging.

  The sickening sounds of tearing flesh—my flesh…

  Just like it was my blood.

  “Get away,” the fighter inside reared, driving me backwards—forcing me to see, forcing me to fear.

  Silver flames danced in midnight eyes as Lucas stepped closer. But I couldn’t see the man, I only saw the monster…they were all monsters…they were all…death. I turned, stumbled for the open door. Outside I could hear them howling, screaming…hurting.

  But there was no room for them.

  Not for their pain.

  Not for their fear.

  Not for anyone but me.

  “Let him go,” the Doctor’s words filled the air behind me.

  I shoved from the doorway and stumbled along the hall. Arms and legs, and skin and fur were tangled in a heap on the floor. This place was filled with the dead…or the dying.

  The metallic scent of their blood was a fuel-soaked rag across my face.

  “Commander,” my Platoon Sergeant called behind me as I stumbled over splayed limbs. “Commander!”

  I stumbled, hit the wall, and careened into a wall of flesh as Marcus rose from the floor. Vacant eyes found mine as he turned. In the glistening, bottomless well of his eyes, I saw my own reflection, shell-shocked and pale. He was my mirror, and I was his. Blood covered his hands, his face, his soul… “You shouldn’t have come.”

  His words were a punch to my gut.

  And he was right. I didn’t belong here. Not with these people.

  Not with these things.

  “I want to leave,” I growled. “Now.”

  Blood glistened on his hands as he motioned toward the front of the house. “Be our guest, as they say…don’t let the door hit you in the ass.”

  I slid my shoulders along the wall, skirting the carnage. A voice whispered inside my head. What the Hell are you doing? You can’t leave…you cannot leave. Look at them…help them, protect them.

  The thud of boots echoed, leaving a lonely sound inside my head. I left them, left their screams, and their cries. Left them to their blood and carnage.

  And I left the voice behind. I turned my back on the man I knew—the one who fought, who saved…who led a platoon of Marines down a hill to silence the truth.

  “Commander, where the Hell are you going?” Alfie called behind me.

  I didn’t slow and headed for the door. “Leave me alone, Alfie.”

  “Commander…Goddamnit. Samson!”

  I punched the door and lunged through. I couldn’t wait, not in there with the stench of blood and death—and the screams. Jesus…the sounds were like claws to my mind, ripping and tearing—needing to survive.

  Just like I needed to survive.

  Acid spilled into my throat, searing tender flesh.

  I lunged and gripped the cold stone column at the edge of the house. The bitter fluid flew from my mouth and splashed against the pebbles.

  “Commander,” Alfie murmured behind me. I shoved out a hand, waving him away.

  He couldn’t see me…not like this, not with the memory of death so fresh in my mind.

  Leave. My belly tightened, riding the cruel waves of nausea. Leave this place.

  My knees shuddered as my gut clenched once more. Rancid liquid spilled from my lips and splashed at my feet. I swiped my mouth with my hand and inhaled. Even the damn air tasted sweet.

  “Talk to me,” Alfie growled. “At least say something.”

  “I just need to get out of here,” I snapped. “Now.”

  There was a moment of silence before he moved. I turned my head and stared at the glistening remnants of my terror as the echo of his boots rang out.

  I stared at the splatter of blood across the pebbled driveway. A body still lay at the edge of the tree line. The tuft of black fur made my heart race. I closed my eyes, and in my mind, the dead came alive. I could see this shifter fight, see the way his body stretched as he lunged through the air—I could see it all, every bloody moment of his battle, until the end.

  Car doors opened, and closed with a thud. The crunch of heavy boots against the pebbled drive rang loud. “I found one, Commander. Let’s get you back to the men.”

  I gave a weak nod, and then shoved away from the corner of the house. I’d seen death, witnessed war—I’d see the sickening things humans do to each other.

  But I’d never seen anything like this.

  Nothing this fast, nothing this brutal.

  Nothing this…consuming.

  Alfie yanked open the passenger’s door on the old busted Bronco and I slid inside. I yanked the handle and the door thundered closed behind me. Sunlight streamed through a break in the clouds. I lifted my gaze to the glimpse of blue sky. Such a beautiful spring day.

  A perfect day for a ceremony.

  The driver’s door closed with a boom before the engine started, but the Bronco never moved. I turned my head and stared out the filthy window. I could feel his gaze on the nape of my neck, and feel his unspoken questions lingering in the air.

  But I couldn’t answer.

  Not for him, not for myself.

  Not for anyone.

  Semper Fidelis. It means always faithful, the Doctor’s soft words rang inside my mind. That’s their motto…that’s what they do…they’re Marines—the good ones like him, at least.

  The Bronco lurched forward, swinging wide around the end of the drive. I stared out the window like a fucking coward. And I was. I was a fucking coward.

  The white stone mansion blurred under the peeling tint on the window. I closed my eyes, ending the goddamn torture.

  Still, my own demons haunted me.

  But those bastards had hunted me for years

  The Bronco lurched and shuddered. The springs under my seat screeched. I clenched my fists and waited, pushing against the screams inside my own head as the Bronco bucked and swayed and pulled to a stop. The s
queal of iron gates tore through the dust-choked vents. I could map the path by memory as Alfie eased the vehicle forward.

  Vines slapped and whipped the faded roof and then we were through, turning left into misery…and leaving Hell behind. I welcomed the roar of the tires on the road. For once, I’d give anything to silence the quiet.

  Yet I couldn’t bring myself to speak a damn word. I opened my eyes and stared into nothing…for nothing is all I felt.

  Always faithful…you live like that, don’t you? Is that what it means to be mortal?

  Bitter words surfaced, and they cut to the bone.

  Does it come with knowing you’ll die?

  My throat tightened as the world slipped by.

  “I tried to stop it.”

  Green trees…blue sky. A perfect day.

  “I tried, Commander. But it was over so fast.”

  Perfect…perfect day…my fingers danced against my thigh.

  I closed my fist, stilling the shakes. “I know. It’s okay. I just need to sleep.”

  I eased my lids closed and slowed my breaths, counting the echo of my heart. One…two…three…four…The slow rhythmic lub-dub thundered faster now, racing ahead. Pin-prick pain lashed my chest, driving all the way through flesh and between bone.

  “You okay?”

  I couldn’t meet Alfie’s gaze. Not yet, when the truth lingered far too close to the surface. I wasn’t okay…I was far from fucking okay…

  It’s going to be okay. Cold words echoed. You’re going to survive. You have to. I cannot let you die.

  In the darkness, she waited, her skin pale and glowing like a perfect moon, but her eyes were whitecaps on a turbulent sea. She hovered like a damn wraith.

  Except she was no apparition.

  And no harbinger.

  She was a Vampire.

  Cold, lifeless…immortal.

  A shiver raced along my spine, still her words haunted me, slipping in between breaths like a knife between my ribs.

  Lubdub…lubdub…lubdub…my heart raced…

  Fight for me…Please, fight for me…

  I curled my shoulders and turned in the seat. Feigning sleep was easy.