Dark Legion
Page 27
“Because I am,” he said.
Her stomach fell through the floor. She waited for him to say more, but he stared at her with a straight mouth and those damn cold eyes. “You don’t want to do this,” she said.
“I don’t have a choice.”
“You made this mistake before, remember? I know you want to protect us, but do you really want to give me up? Give up your daughter?” It hit her like a cold splash of water. “Where’s Jessie?”
“Safe.”
“When do I see her?”
He shook his head. “You don’t.”
“You son of a bitch.” She threw his phony documents at him. Most of them scattered like buckshot. The passport bounced off his chest.
He didn’t move. Didn’t speak.
“You bring my daughter to me, or so help me I’ll kill you.”
“I can’t.”
“Do it,” she screamed and ran at him, pounded him with her fists. All the while, he did not budge. His stoic acceptance of her abuse only fueled her anger. She slapped him across the face. Then again. And again.
His cheek glowed red. “I want to be honest with you, but I don’t know how much you can take.”
“Don’t treat me like a child.” She moved to the phone, picked up the receiver. “I’ll call the police. You’ve kidnapped my daughter.”
“You know the police can’t do anything.”
She threw the phone down. “What have you done with Jessie?”
He closed his eyes. A tear slipped down his cheek right over the red mark she had left.
That tear frightened Kate more than anything yet.
“I didn’t get to her in time,” he said. “I didn’t…” He wiped at the tear, opened his eyes, and brought back the ice. “You need to forget about Jessie. You need to take these things I gave you and find a new life for yourself.”
Her mouth hung open. She couldn’t put together a sentence that made any sense.
Craig bent down and collected the fake identifications, credit cards, and money. He set them on the nightstand. “Did you hear me?”
She nodded, still mute.
“Do you understand?”
She shook her head. “How? How can I forget my daughter? How the hell can you ask that of me?”
He inhaled deeply. “I have to go.”
“No. No you don’t.”
He headed for the door.
She stepped in his way. “You said she’s safe. Why can’t I be with her?”
“Move aside, Kate.”
“What happened to her?”
He looked right in her eyes. “She’s not your daughter anymore.”
She grasped at his shirt to hold him back. He pushed around her easily and pulled out of her grip. He opened the door.
The blast of sunlight forced Kate to squint and cup a hand above her eyes. Her throat was closing and she knew she didn’t have long before she lost her voice. “Craig?”
He didn’t turn around, but he did pause in the doorway.
“You can’t keep her from me,” she said. “I’m going to find her.”
He stepped out and closed the door.
With an image of the sunlit doorway burned into her sight, Kate collapsed to the floor and wept.
Two hours later, she picked herself up, showered, and checked out of the motel. He wanted her to disappear, to leave behind her daughter. Did he really think she would let him take Jessie away from her?
Not a chance in hell.
Epilogue
Dusk. The last of the sun’s touch had slipped away from this part of the world.
Lockman stepped out of the hotel first. The sound of the French Quarter galloped through the streets—Blues, laughter, and the bell of the St. Louis Cathedral. The air smelled like gumbo and jasmine. But the shadows looked deep, and Lockman didn’t trust any of them.
Jessie came out next. In fresh clothes and without any blood on her, she almost looked the same as she had before the turn. Her near translucent skin and the prominent blue veins hinted at her true nature. And like a teenager with new braces, she held her mouth closed to keep from showing her teeth.
Once out, she looked around as if expecting something to jump at her. She would one day learn how to become a shadow, yet she still held the same distrust of them as her father.
Teresa and Adam came next. Adam was dressed a lot like Marty had when required to walk among mortals—trench coat and fedora, an oversized Sam Spade.
Teresa scanned the street with eyes as cold as a golem’s heart. Her hand hovered by her open jacket, ready to pull her pistol at the first sign of trouble.
They made their way through the Quarter to the paranormal café. Inside, they took time to sit with drinks. Lockman’s coffee tasted like rotten woodchips. Nothing tasted the same since he last saw Kate. He figured nothing ever would.
The crew sat around their table quietly, each in their own world. What came next weighed on all their minds. An impossible task. Especially without Marty.
“Should we start?” Adam asked after it was obvious no one was going to finish their drinks.
Lockman looked from face to face around the table, coming to Jessie’s last. They were all looking back at him. Damn, how he wished Marty was still with them. “Everyone remember where to go and what to say?”
Nods all around, but he could sense the reluctance, the doubt.
“Marty thought he could do this on his own. The least we can do is work together and try to do it ourselves.”
Teresa drew a thumb along the edge of her silver dagger—the vampire king killer. She stared at the reflective blade as if caught in a trance.
“We don’t have time to feel sorry for ourselves” Lockman continued. “We’ve been through hell. But it’s going to get a lot worse before it gets better.”
Adam grunted and lifted his chin. “I’m ready.”
Teresa slid her dagger back into her boot. “Yeah, me too.”
Lockman turned to Jessie.
She unfolded her arms, sat up straight. “Ready.”
“Don’t forget,” Lockman said. “We’re not only doing this because it’s the right thing to do. We’re doing this for Marty, for our ogre brothers, for our families, and for the rest of the victims of this war.” He stood. A thousand different thoughts wanted to waylay him. The time would come when he could face those thoughts. For now, he had more important worries.
“Let’s go get us an army.”
The Chronicles Continue…
Darkest Hour (The Lockman Chronicles #3)
Now available!
About the Author
An accidental nomad, Rob Cornell grew up in suburban Detroit, then spent five years living in Los Angeles before moving to Chicago to receive a BA in Fiction Writing from Columbia College. He has traveled full circle, now living in rural southeast Michigan with his wife, two kids, and dog, Kinsey—named after Sue Grafton’s famous detective. In between moving and writing, he’s worked all manner of odd jobs, including lead singer for an acoustic cover band and a three-day stint as assistant to a movie producer after which he quit because the producer was a nut job.
For more information and to contact the author, please visit rob-cornell.com.
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Books by Rob Cornell
The Lockman Chronicles
Darker Things (The Lockman Chronicles #1)
Dark Legion (The Lockman Chronicles #2)
Darkest Hour (The Lockman Chronicles #3)
Darkness Returns (The Lockman Chronicles #4)
Mysteries and Thrillers
Red Run
Last Call (A Ridley Brone Mystery)
The Hustle (A Ridley Brone Mystery)
Saving Sasha Brown (A Ridley Brone Mystery)
Published by Paradox Publications
Copyright © 2011 Rob Cornell
All rights reserved.
C
over Design © LFD Designs For Authors
Dark Legion is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Table of Contents
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Chapter Thirty-Four
Chapter Thirty-Five
Chapter Thirty-Six
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Chapter Forty
Chapter Forty-One
Chapter Forty-Two
Chapter Forty-Three
Chapter Forty-Four
Chapter Forty-Five
Chapter Forty-Six
Chapter Forty-Seven
Chapter Forty-Eight
Chapter Forty-Nine
Chapter Fifty
Chapter Fifty-One
Chapter Fifty-Two
Chapter Fifty-Three
Chapter Fifty-Four
Chapter Fifty-Five
Chapter Fifty-Six
Chapter Fifty-Seven
Chapter Fifty-Eight
Chapter Fifty-Nine
Chapter Sixty
Chapter Sixty-One
Chapter Sixty-Two
Chapter Sixty-Three
Chapter Sixty-Four
Chapter Sixty-Five
Chapter Sixty-Seven
Chapter Sixty-Eight
Chapter Sixty-Nine
Chapter Seventy
Chapter Seventy-One
Epilogue
The Chronicles Continue…
About the Author
Books by Rob Cornell