Warrior Rising

by Linda Winstead Jones

  His neighbor had also had a cat. Maybe the mutt would lower herself to eat cat food.

  With the sanctuary spell in place, he couldn’t enter the apartment. He couldn’t even kick in the door. Instead he indicated the door with a wave of his hand. “No one is at home, but there will be food.”

  Indikaiya tried to turn the doorknob. Naturally, it was locked. She glanced at Sorin, then said, “My apologies to whoever lives here, but I have to eat.”

  She kicked the door and it flew open.

  Sorin stood in the hall, just beyond the doorway, as Indikaiya walked toward the kitchen, which in this apartment was not a separate room but was a part of the large, open main area. The mutt followed, close on her heels. It was not his imagination that the demon dog glanced back and wagged a ragged tail as if to flaunt her ability to enter the apartment he could not.

  There was no cat present, but there was a small bowl of dry food on the kitchen floor. Cupcake abandoned Indikaiya for that bowl.

  “I have heard of these,” Indikaiya called out as she rummaged through the cabinets. “Pop-Tarts. Rurik has a fondness for the frosted strawberry.”

  “Of course he does,” Sorin muttered.

  He watched and listened as she ransacked the kitchen. The refrigerator opened and closed, as did several cabinets. He wondered what had happened to the woman who lived here — or used to live here. Had she made her escape with her cat or had she become food for a vampire on her way out of town?

  It annoyed Sorin that he couldn’t walk into the apartment and help Indikaiya collect provisions. Something so simple, and he was incapable. That was one of the reasons why he had been so intent on Nevada taking out the original sanctuary spell, why he had fallen for Marie’s prettily painted picture of freedom.

  He was tired of standing on the outside looking in. He was tired of being forever separated from so many normal parts of life.

  Of course, he had left normal behind seven hundred years ago.

  His cell phone was charging in his apartment. He really should call Jimmy or Duncan — those two had kept him informed of the plans and progress until now — and see what the plan was for tonight. But all he wanted to do was fight. He didn’t want to take orders from Luca Ambrus, didn’t want to be assigned to a particular battlefield.

  Indikaiya left the apartment with an armload of food and a rare smile. Again, the mutt was close behind. At least this time the dog didn't try to take a chunk out of his leg.

  Sorin didn't care about the damn dog. All he wanted to do was fuck and feed and fight. With Indikaiya.

  * * *

  Marie put her frustration behind her and focused on the days to come. She’d expected the first phase of this war to be finished by now. The traitorous vampires and the damned Immortal Warriors had not entirely ruined her plans, but they had definitely interfered.

  Still, she was nothing if not adaptable.

  The long black limousine with the dark tinted windows had left Atlanta before full dark had fallen. Marie reclined on the rear seat. On the bench seat directly across from her, Chloe’s mother slept. Of course she slept. Marie had drunk from the annoying woman almost until death. Almost.

  Yet another part of her plan had hit a snag. Amelia Fallon had tried to call her daughter and had gotten no answer. Apparently she’d been calling for days without success. It was impossible to blackmail someone without making contact.

  There was no need to be hasty. She needed to solidify her plan before moving forward.

  Without Luca and Sorin in the mix, the war would certainly proceed more smoothly. Luca was a leader. Sorin, a fearsome soldier — and a betrayer. When they were punished and out of the picture, the war would take another turn. In her favor. As for the human Ahron insisted had to be eliminated… he would be easy enough to kill. She barely gave him a second thought.

  The other two would not be easy, she knew that well. She would not underestimate either of them again.

  By taking Amelia Fallon, she had a way to get to Luca through his woman. Perhaps it was just as well that Chloe hadn’t died, after all. Beyond the annoying woman, Luca had no weaknesses. None.

  Luca was all but hers. And she knew exactly how to draw Sorin out.

  * * *

  Nevada rolled over and into Rurik. A solid, warm, naked Rurik. The Warriors didn’t sleep much, but they did sleep. Sometimes a couple hours a day, sometimes as much as four. The couch she normally slept on was far too small for Rurik, much less for both of them, so they’d spent the last few hours on the floor. It was hard, but there were pillows and blankets to make the area tolerable.

  Rurik had been dozing, but as soon as she touched him he was wide awake. Not startled, just instantly awake and aware. She smiled. He smiled. Life was good.

  That was a thought she hadn’t had for a very long time.

  Very early this morning, after coming in from the fight covered in blood and dust, Rurik had made love to her in a way that convinced her that even though she hadn’t been a virgin when she’d been kidnapped, she might as well have been. No encounter had ever been like that one. Nothing and no one had ever touched her as he had. It was more than the deep affection she felt for him, more than his skill in the bedroom. It was both of those things, and more.

  Love, maybe. No, Rurik simply knew what he was doing. No — both. More. No, not love. That would complicate things far too much. Given the state of the world, what did it matter why?

  She curled into him, soaked up his heat, wallowed in the feel of his skin against hers.

  “I know it sounds silly, given what’s happened in the past few weeks, but in the past twenty-four hours everything has changed,” she said.

  “Because we shared this hard bed?”

  “That’s one thing, but there’s more. Luca, a vampire, held a press conference.” She rolled over and on top of Rurik, resting there comfortably. “He put himself out there for the whole world to see. I never thought that would happen. Chloe is carrying a… I don’t even know what to call her. A miracle, certainly. Will that baby girl save humankind or destroy it? I see her as a savior, I think she’s important, but what do I know?”

  “You know much,” he said, his hand — so solid and warm and right — settling on her back.

  “I don’t know near everything,” she said.

  “No one is meant to know everything.”

  She leaned in and kissed Rurik. He was a good kisser. “I suppose there are some advantages to living in such close quarters,” she said, taking her lips from his just long enough to whisper.

  “Yes.” He pulled her closer, tighter.

  It was amazing how an orgasm could make her forget all the bad stuff in the world. For a while, anyway. It was awesome, it really was, but as Rurik rolled her over and spread her legs Nevada reminded herself that she’d have to be very careful not to fall in love with him. Tempting as it was, easy as it would be. When the war was over, he’d return to his own world. If her protection spell wasn’t good enough, if his fighting skills faltered, he could be snatched back there in an instant. Tonight, tomorrow, any day any time. Maybe Jimmy could call him back, if that happened. Maybe not. Once Rurik was home for good, it wasn’t like they could visit. Talk about a long distance relationship!

  If the war had taught her anything, it was to live in the moment. She didn’t know if she’d be around to see tomorrow. She didn’t know what the world would look like if Marie won. She didn’t even know what the world would look like if the good guys won! Not the same, that’s for sure.

  She had been working to find and develop more spells to aid the good guys or hurt Marie and her psychos. Preferably both. But she couldn’t work all the time. Her brain and her body needed a rest. No matter what tomorrow might bring, she was going to push everything aside, for now. Everything but Rurik.

  She could and would take pleasure when and where she found it. She would embrace joy, in small doses or large. She would learn to live in the moment.

  Thanks to Rurik, t
his moment was fine.

  * * *

  Whatever peace this city had once known was gone. Only the most bullheaded of humans could believe that their opponent wasn’t what they claimed to be. Vampires. Bloodsuckers. Creatures long believed to be demons.

  Indikaiya kept her eyes trained straight ahead, trying to dismiss the fact that she had lain with one. She had not only laid down with Sorin in his bed, she had enjoyed it. She had enjoyed it so much she knew that if they survived this night she would lie with him again.

  She was no stranger to pleasure given and taken. Indikaiya had had three husbands during her life in Atlantis. One of them she’d truly loved. He’d died far too young of an illness that would’ve been easily cured in this new world. The other two had been husbands of political convenience. They had both been pleasant men she liked; she would not have married them otherwise, but there had been no real love as there had been with Nileas. She’d also taken lovers in the world she now called home, but… it had been a long while.

  Her relationship with Sorin had her thinking too much of days long gone. Her life as a human had been more good than bad, more pampered than hard. A cousin had been queen for a while, which had put Indikaiya among a favored few. There had been golden days of music and plenty, when her children had been healthy and the husband she’d loved had been at her side.

  But such wonder never lasted. Her children grew older. Her husband died and she was led into another marriage. And then another, after her second husband had taken ill and died. Good fortune for their island country led many to a quest for more fortune. Soldiers dressed in gold and blue sailed away from Atlantis; they became invaders, which in turn brought the enemy to their own shores.

  Indikaiya had sent her daughters to live with a friend in Greece, putting them on a boat in the dead of night and watching them sail away. She could still feel the burn of tears in her eyes; she could still feel the heaviness of her heart. She had intended to join them, when she could. She’d planned to take her sons there as well, to escape a land which had once been so blessed but had been broken by those who were greedy and intolerant. The tears she’d shed that night, the heavy heart that had felt as if it could pull her to her knees… had she somehow known that she was seeing the girls for the last time?

  Indikaiya had seen disaster coming, had dreamed of it, and she’d wanted to protect her children. Even though a part of her had wanted, so badly, to take her sons and go with them that night, she knew she would’ve been missed. And in all honesty, she was not a deserter. She could not have abandoned her home when she was needed, not even if she’d known how that battle was going to end.

  A skilled swordsman, a fierce soldier for many years before the invasion, she’d led men and woman into battle, defending their shores. For two weeks, they had fought well, but the attackers had greater numbers and a burning zeal to kill. Indikaiya had died by an invader’s sword, as had her third husband and two of her three sons.

  If she had not sent her daughters away they would’ve been on the island years later when it was claimed by the sea — as her eldest son had been — and she would have no descendants to call her to this world.

  The last few years of her life had been violent and uncertain, as this night — in another time and another world — was for so many. She remembered the terror, the panic, the will to survive. But tonight she also remembered love.

  Her time with Sorin had nothing to do with love. That simply wasn’t possible.

  Indikaiya had attempted to leave behind the dog that had, for some inexplicable reason, attached itself to her. War was not for small and fragile creatures such as this one. She had planned to leave the animal in Sorin’s apartment with a comfy bed and some cat food, but that had not worked. Cupcake — the undignified name still caused her physical pain — had barked and snarled and cried, and as much as she’d wanted to, Indikaiya had not been able to walk away from the crying animal.

  Not far from Sorin’s home, they’d passed an apartment building which was — unlike so many others — alive with lights and the sounds of people. Voices. Even unexpected laughter. Surely the dog would be safer there than in battle. Sorin and Indikaiya had both tried to send the dog in that direction. Cupcake had refused to go.

  Indikaiya had to admit, she had been bested by a dog named Cupcake, an animal which weighed significantly less than a bag of sugar. At the moment, Cupcake slept in the bag Indikaiya had taken from the department store, along with the tunic, two bottles of water, and some food.

  She and Sorin ran, side by side, toward smoke and fire and the screams of foolish humans. Foolish or brave? Soldiers — as well as ordinary citizens like Kevin Brown — had flooded into the city. They had come here to fight, and they had a fight on their hands. More vampires had come to the city, as well. True, they were showing themselves all over the world, but the initial battle, the one that would determine defeat or victory for the self-proclaimed queen, was happening here and now.

  The battle they joined was taking place in a field. A park, a sign near the roadway proclaimed. Green grass was already stained with blood. The blood of humans and the ash of defeated vampires mingled to make a sickly, black mud. Sorin moved ahead of her, sword drawn, long blond hair flowing behind him. He’d disposed of his leather coat, which had been damaged the night before. Just as well. He no longer needed it to hide his sword. There was no reason, as anyone with any sense of self-preservation was always armed.

  He moved up — unnaturally up — and then dropped down, sword swinging. Some of the humans feared him to be a new opponent, but as soon as Sorin dispatched two of his own kind in quick order, they celebrated his addition to the mix.

  Indikaiya jumped into the battle as well. She could not fly, but few wielded a sword as expertly as she did.

  As her enemies soon learned.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  This mansion was hers, taken by brute force years earlier, so why shouldn’t she reclaim it? Marie walked in through the front door like she owned the place. Which she did. One of her soldiers, one of the newer ones who wasn’t particularly powerful but who did what he was told without question, carried the unconscious woman Marie had collected from Atlanta. They were directly behind her.

  Glancing about, she wanted to scream. Tempting as it was, she did not. The battle that had been waged here a week ago had caused serious damage to this once beautiful place. Furnishings were in pieces. Once-spotless walls sported bullet holes, as well as sprays of now-dried blood. Someone had attempted to set the place to rights, but they had not done a very good job.

  Allies, powerful kindred from around the world, were on their way. She should’ve gathered many of them before getting the war underway, but thanks to Luca and Sorin the timing had not been entirely in her control. Powerful vampires, friends, perhaps a worshiper or two, would join her here. They would help her put this war to rights.

  Two of her most loyal soldiers had been sent to collect the pieces she needed to complete her next move. They, too, would come here, to the place where her revolution had begun.

  Outwardly, Marie remained calm. Even those closest to her could not be allowed to see her frustration. In spite of the failures, the chaos in D.C. was just as she’d imagined, and her experiments at long-term glamouring had paid off. She had many human soldiers who would do her bidding. They were weak-minded almost to the point of being simple, but they could, and did, fight. They could walk in the sun and they would never, ever betray her. If she asked them all to slice off their own heads, they would at least try to oblige her.

  This next step… her next step would move this war forward by leaps and bounds. Ahron had promised.

  Those who had wronged her were about to pay dearly.

  * * *

  This could not continue. Could not, would not. Indikaiya had been telling herself that for days, to no avail.

  In Sorin’s quarters, she fed and watered the small dog that had claimed her, patting Cupcake’s back and praising her for a job
well done. The poor dog needed yet another bath. As they all did.

  Cupcake had not been content to stay in Indikaiya’s bag during battle. She’d escaped, and nipped relentlessly at the heels of many vampires. Including Sorin, on occasion. If she had been a larger dog the vampires might’ve turned on her, but she was small and quick, and no self-respecting soldier would turn their backs on an armed enemy in order to see to the nuisance.

  If anyone dared to attack Cupcake, Indikaiya would quickly end them. She was surprised by the intensity of that promise to herself.

  When Cupcake was settled on her pillow, she and Sorin stripped, showered, and then fell into bed. Indikaiya enjoyed the sex, she truly did, but at the same time…

  Her lover was a vampire. The enemy, a soulless being, a creature who needed the blood of the living in order to survive. Her purpose — in life and in the afterlife — was to protect humans. He fed from them.

  He’d killed. She didn’t know how many lives he’d taken, but he was far from innocent. He had been in Marie’s camp for a long while; he had murdered conduits. Was the fact that he’d changed sides before the fighting started in earnest, that he was an invaluable asset, that he made her feel good — that he made her forget war for a while — did that mean she should forgive his past transgressions?

  Was it her place to forgive them?

  He slept. He must trust her completely, to sleep so deeply while she was in his bed. She needed to rest, had to, but her mind was spinning. With thoughts of Sorin, of war, of Chloe and her child. Lying next to him, she closed her eyes and willed sleep to come. As though that ever worked. Behind closed eyes she replayed scenes of last night’s battle. She saw Sorin as he leapt and swung his sword with incredible power and killed his own kind without a qualm. She saw him catch her eye more than once. He smiled often, that brilliant, charming smile that had captivated women for hundreds of years. But he did not smile in battle. No, he was focused as he fought. Determined. Deadly.