Descendant: The Protector (The Descendant Series)

by Daniel W. Koch

***

  Chase-

  With the Dahmshed gone, I only had to get through the Angels to reach my goal. Of course, there were still the other three voedsel, but they’d be no problem. Killing David could even be fun; I would definitely keep him alive until the others were dead. Trevor and Faith would have to go first, though. They would be the hardest to kill because they would fight back. I had seen them in action in Bloomfield. Then, I would kill the unprotected and vulnerable Jason. He had only been with the Dahmshed for a short time, so he wouldn’t know how to fight, yet. After him would be Emeric, whose death would be fast and painless. I had nothing against him, but I’d want him out of the way quickly. After Emeric, I’d kill…

  “Okay, Jason, let’s go up to the loft,” Trevor said. Jason followed Faith and Trevor over to the stairs.

  “Wait,” I said suddenly, surprising myself. “What about the rest of us?” It was stupid of me to make myself stand out from the rest of the group, but it was too late to do anything about it now.

  “Peter asked us to take Jason to the loft. If anything happens down here, just holler.”

  “Great.” David hid his face in his hands. “First the Dahmshed leave, and now you. We’re all going to die!”

  “Calm down, David.” Faith sighed in annoyance. “We’ll just be up there. If anything were to happen, which it won’t, I’ll be able to get to you in a few seconds.” David just shook his head back and forth, so Trevor and Faith led Jason the rest of the way up to the loft.

  Of course, this would put a damper on my plan, but I was prepared. My backup plan was a work in progress, but it would have to do. I could only hope that Trevor and Faith weren’t as good as the Dahmshed thought they were, or I’d have some trouble going in for a full-on attack. As I ran over the plan in my head, something happened that would give me an edge over the Angels, so I began to take action.

  ***

  Jason-

  “Why are you guys so calm?” I wondered aloud.

  “What do you mean?” Faith asked.

  “Neither of you seem very alert. You’re both just sitting there staring into space. It just seems very…unprofessional.”

  “You’ve got to admit, Faith, he’s a very perceptive kid.” Trevor laughed, but Faith gave him a grim look, and the smile disappeared from his face. He cleared his throat before speaking again. “But I’m sorry to tell you, Jason, that there’s no specific reason that we’re not on our game.” I didn’t believe him, of course. Something weird was going on, and I began to fear the worst. Trevor and Faith might not be who they said they were. They might be trying to capture or kill me, just like one of the men sitting right below us.

  “What did Peter and Taddi talk to you about?” I asked them, trying to get the bad thoughts from my head. Trevor let out a small laugh again and looked at Faith.

  “Nothing important,” Faith said, still looking at Trevor. “Just gave us a few pointers.”

  “Oh.” I shifted in my seat and looked up at one of the wooden beams a few feet from my head. Another awkward silence overtook the room, but then voices rose from below.

  “Lukas!” I heard Theron say. “Lukas, where are you going? We’re supposed to stay here.” I heard footsteps coming up the stairs. Trevor and Faith jumped up, stakes in hand, and placed themselves between me and the stairwell. I stood up to get a look at who was coming up the steps. His long, black hair covered his skinny face, but I could still see his piercing grey eyes. Lukas looked like a madman on a killing spree. If anyone was the monster Peter and Taddi had been worried about, it had to be him.

  “Stay there, Lukas,” Trevor said as he put his finger up. It was odd though, because Trevor didn’t put his finger up to Lukas, he put it to the window. “I don’t want to have to hurt you.”

  “Hurt me?” Lukas asked. “Since when do you care about me? You order me around, bring me to a house full of mosquitoes, and stick me downstairs while you watch some stupid kid. Enough is enough. I’m staying up here with you, or I’m leaving this damn place.” He started walking toward us, but Trevor ran forward and met him half way.

  “Get back downstairs!” Trevor yelled as he pushed the tip of the stake into his neck. “Or I will use drastic action!”

  “Oh, you will, will you?” Lukas laughed manically. “I think you should be more worried about me using drastic action against you!” A punch soared threw the air towards Trevor’s face, but Trevor caught it just in time and used it to pull Lukas closer to him so he could knee him in the stomach.

  “What are you waiting for?” Faith asked Trevor.

  “It’s not him,” Trevor replied as he looked at the groaning man on the floor. “He wasn’t even fast enough to get one punch in.” Suddenly, I felt a warm hand wrap around my mouth and pull me backward. The back of my head hit someone’s chest just as I felt the cool blade of a knife rest against my neck.

  “What a perfect and unexpected distraction!” Theron laughed from behind me. “I don’t think this could have worked out any better!”

  “Theron!” Faith gasped. “Peter was right; it was you!”

  “So, blondie really did suspect me? What gave me away?”

  “Let him go, Theron,” Trevor spoke calmly. “This won’t work out for you.”

  “You’re forgetting two things,” Theron said smugly. “The first is that I can shift into my Rogue form on command. And the second? I have the blade of a knife pushed against the neck of the most important voedsel on the entire planet!”

  “I’d still like to bet that you’ll be dead very shortly, and Jason will be walking away without a scratch.” Trevor smiled. He was playing with fire, and my life was on the line. If I did get out of Theron’s clutches, I would kill Trevor for being so stupid.

  Theron whipped the knife away from my neck to point it at Trevor. “You seem so sure of yourself, you filthy little voedsel! But Jason is dead…now!” He turned the full length of the blade toward my neck and began to bring it down, but he was interrupted by a loud shattering of glass. Theron’s hand left my mouth, and the rest of his body, knife included, flew away behind me. I heard a loud crash from the kitchen, and turned around to see Peter standing with Theron’s neck hidden beneath his hands. Theron’s legs were kicking wildly as Peter lifted him off the ground and walked him into the bedroom.

  “That was way too close, Trevor!” Faith yelled at him. “I told you to give the order when Lukas first came up here.”

  “It might have scared Theron away, and we needed to be sure he really was after Jason before we did anything,” Trevor said. “It all worked out perfectly in my book.”

  “Wait, wait, wait.” I shook my head back and forth. “You guys knew Peter was going to crash through the window?”

  “Well, he was supposed to use the door, but Theron got closer to you then we thought he would, so I guess Peter decided that he needed to make a grander entrance.”

  “I could have been killed! The least you could have done was to tell me Peter was waiting outside!”

  “Hey, don’t blame me for that,” Trevor retorted quickly. His smile turned into a frown. “Peter asked us to keep it from you.” Without saying another word, I stormed past the Angels and down the stairs. I was planning on going straight for Peter, but I stopped in the living room when I saw Emeric and David on the floor. Neither seemed to be bleeding, and I could see both of their chests rising and falling.

  “Trevor! Faith!” I called up the stairs. “Get down here, now!” Both of them immediately ran to me and saw the men on the ground.

  “Theron must have knocked them out,” Faith stated. “Probably saving them for later. What a sick little…”

  “Hey guys, would you please come in here?” I looked up to see Peter standing just outside of the bedroom. Both of his hands and the area around his mouth were covered in blood. I could only assume he had ripped Theron to pieces.

  “Let us just get these two onto the couch,” Trevor said as he lifted David up. “We’ll be right there.”

 
“Actually,” Faith interjected, “Lukas is still upstairs, and he’s very unstable. We should probably restrain him until one of us can talk to him.”

  “Why don’t you go talk to him now, then?” Peter suggested. “Trevor can catch you up later.”

  “Sure.” Faith finished helping Trevor get Emeric onto the couch and ran back up the stairs. Peter disappeared into the bedroom, and Trevor and I followed him.

  “From the looks of you, I thought you had killed him,” Trevor said when he entered the room behind me and closed the door. Theron was sitting with his arms and legs bound to a large wooden chair. He was covered in blood, but there was no source to be seen. “He doesn’t seem to have a scratch on him.”

  “You obviously haven’t encountered too many fully-developed Rogues.”

  “I’ve fought them about four separate times.”

  “And you killed them all?”

  “Yes. Although, I didn’t kill the ones at Bloomfield.” He looked at Theron. “I thought he did, actually.”

  “I wouldn’t kill my officers,” Theron spat at Trevor. “That damn Lukas shot them.”

  “Well,” Peter said, ignoring Theron. “Fully-developed Rogues can heal most flesh wounds if they shift. Theron just tried to shift on me so I ripped up his neck to force him back to human form.”

  “But Peter, what if…” I began to ask, but suddenly the door was thrown open to reveal Taddi and Winston. They both walked in and stood by me.

  “What took you two so long?” Peter asked them.

  “Sorry about that,” Winston smiled, “got caught up outside.”

  “Doing what, exactly?” Peter questioned him further.

  “I thought I saw something in the woods,” Taddi replied. “Turned out to be a deer.”

  “Hold on a second,” I interrupted. “You mean to tell me that none of you went after the Rogue?”

  “Peter convinced us to wait and go after it once we caught Theron,” Taddi said, sitting down on the bed and looking at Peter. “So, when do we leave?” Before Peter could answer, a loud shriek echoed through the house. Winston ran from the room in a flash and, a few seconds later, returned with Faith in his arms.

  “What is it, love?” he asked her.

  “There was…there was someone…at the…the window,” Faith stammered. Peter gave Winston a worried look.

  “Did you see it?”

  “No, I didn’t see anything,” Winston replied. “I didn’t hear or smell anything, either.”

  “He was horrible!” Faith cried into her cupped hands. “He was just watching me through the window, only inches away!”

  “Falko?” Taddi whispered quietly to Peter.

  “No, it can’t be him. He would have come barging in here and killed us all by now.”

  “We should go after whoever it was, Peter,” Winston suggested. “If it’s just one Jager, he’ll go back and tell the others.”

  “All right,” Peter said, his eyes dancing all over the wall as if his plan was materializing on it. “Winston, you need to go right now and get the other three humans. When you get back, stay here and watch Theron.” Winston put Faith down and ran out of the room. “Taddi, you’re with me.”

  “Shouldn’t we move them to the cellar?” Taddi asked in a rushed tone.

  “Too late for that now. Whoever it was could still be outside.” Winston returned with all three of the men. He held Emeric and David each in a separate arm, and Lukas was walking behind him.

  “There are at least two of ’em.” He kicked the door closed behind him. “They were running by the back window just as I reached the bedroom. One was a female with blonde ’air.”

  “Grath and Rose.” I looked up at Peter. “Could it be them? Rose has blonde hair.”

  “Yes, it could very well be them. But, we better hope it’s not, because they don’t go on risky missions without at least ten others with them.”

  “Did you hear that?” Taddi asked suddenly and ran up to put her ear against the door. “I think they’re inside.”

  “No one talk,” Trevor whispered.

  “They’re Dahmshed, Trevor,” Peter stated. “They can feel all of your heartbeats and know exactly where we are.”

  “Then, why are we still alive?” I asked.

  “I have no…” Peter was cut off by a knock on the door. He flew forward and pushed the rest of us into the corner of the room. “Taddi and Winston, please be prepared to help me if there are only a few. But if I get jumped, I want you to break through the wall and make a run for it.”

  “Peter, wait, what are you doing?” Taddi asked, but it was too late. Peter surged toward the door, and there was no way to stop him. He met the door with a loud crack and blasted straight through it, causing splintered pieces of wood to fly around the room. There was a scream from an unknown person and Peter soared back into the room, landing gracefully on his feet.

  “What the hell, Peter!” a female voice yelled, but it wasn’t Rose. Andi charged into the room at full speed and slammed Peter into the wall above the bed. The wood split behind him and seemed about to collapse. “That didn’t feel too good, did it?!” she screamed into his face.

  “Calm down!” Peter pushed Andi back so that they both stood at the side of the bed. “We thought you were Jagers.”

  “Why would you think that?” Andi asked him.

  “Because you were running around the house like crazy people!”

  “When Vlad saw that human girl, we thought we should check out the house to make sure you were still here,” Andi explained. “What are all of these humans doing here, anyway?”

  “You brought who with you?” Taddi asked nervously. Peter was just staring at Andi with his mouth wide open.

  “Aderes wanted us to take him along,” Andi replied, rolling her eyes. “She thought he’d be of some assistance if Philip and I ran into trouble.”

  “Did I hear my name?” A blonde, curly-haired man entered the room.

  “’ello, Philip,” Winston greeted him.

  “Where’s Vlad?” Peter asked suddenly. “I need to talk to him privately.”

  “Well, I think you should inform me and Andi about what’s going on here.” Philip eyed the other humans. “So, would you please join us in the other room?”

  “I can’t meet everyone first?” Every eye in the room fell on the eerie figure that stood in the doorway. His voice was deep, but soothing, and he spoke with a strange inflection. He had a strong-looking, curved face with a thin nose. Both of his nostrils and his forehead were arched to accent his aquiline features. Most of his head was covered in long, unruly dark hair, including his bushy eyebrows that were not far from being linked above his nose. His mouth was set and cruel-looking with sharp teeth protruding over his red lips, which were hard to see through his thick mustache. His chin was wide and sturdy, and his cheeks were solid but thin. Put together with his black leather jacket and dark clothes, he gave off a very wicked aura.

  “That’s exactly what I wanted to talk to you about, Vlad.” Peter began to walk forward to push him from the room, but Vlad caught a look at Theron and fought back.

  “No way!” He laughed. “It can’t be!”

  “Do you two know each other?” Taddi asked him.

  “Of course we do,” Vlad replied. “That’s Caleb’s brother, Chase.”

  “Chase?” Peter turned to look at the man in the chair. “He said his name was Theron.”

  “Of course I did.” Chase laughed. “I couldn’t be sure the Angels wouldn’t recognize my name, so I used a fake one.”

  “Who are the Angels?” Andi asked Peter.

  “Okay, Philip, Andi, and Vlad, please follow me,” Peter started. “Taddi and Winston, stay here and watch everyone while I explain everything to these three. I’ll try and make it as quick as possible.” They left the room, leaving the rest of us to sit around and wait.

  Chapter 13

  Full Moon

  “Can we start yet?” Vlad asked impatiently.

 
“You like doing this way too much,” Peter said as he closed the door behind Taddi. She and the rest of the large group had piled out of the room once Peter finished talking to Philip, Andi, and Vlad. Now only Chase, Peter, Vlad, and I were left.

  “What can I say? It’s been a hobby of mine ever since I was human.” Vlad let out a chuckle. “Those were the good old days.”

  “That’s just sick.” Peter rolled his eyes and sat next to me on the bed.

  “What are you two talking about?” I asked them.

  “Torture.” Vlad turned to look at me; his expression was wild and intense.

  “That’s why I didn’t want you to stay,” Peter said, putting a hand on my shoulder. “It’s a cruel but necessary way to get information quickly. I’d leave myself if I didn’t need to keep Vlad under control.” Vlad gave me a crazed smile and winked.

  “There’s no other way?” I asked timidly.

  “Don’t worry, Jason,” Chase spoke up. “There’s nothing they can do to me.”

  “Are you forgetting all of the years I spent with the Jagers?” Vlad turned to Chase. “I know exactly how to make a Rogue talk! Actually, your brother practically taught me how to do it. I bet he never planned on me using it against you.”

  I turned my head quickly to Peter to see if he had known that Vlad had once been with the Jagers. He must have, though, as he showed no reaction. That was probably why he was so concerned when he first heard that Vlad had come to the house. Peter gave me a reassuring smile before turning to Chase.

  “So,” Peter began, “I have instructed Philip, Taddi, and Winston to go after that Rogue that visited us last night. Can you tell us what they might find?”

  “If I’m not mistaken, that would be my brother,” Chase said smugly. “He’s no coward like those Dahmshed that lead De Jagers.”

  “What do you mean?” Peter asked.

  “Alexander and his second in command, Grath,” Chase explained. “They always send their men in first so that they don’t get hurt. But my brother and I go in first, even alone sometimes.”

  “So you don’t think much of the Jagers?”