The Shadows Awaken (Guardians of the Night Book 1)

by Robyn Wideman

  “Damn, that sounds like a promotion to me. See you soon sexy.”

  Terra turned to Brad, raising her eyebrow.

  “What?” said Brad.

  “I’m surprised, that is all. It has been so long since you were anything but alone and aloof with the opposite sex. Who knew all it took was a dirty minded fae to break down your barriers.”

  Brad chuckled. “You aren’t the only one surprised. But I’ve learned one thing from working with April.”

  “What’s that?” asked Terra.

  “Never argue with a fae.”

  Terra laughed. “Especially a drop dead sexy one who wants you.”

  “Exactly,” said Brad. “Now find us an electronics store. We need some supplies and then we are head to Rome. We have a war to fight.”

  Terra pushed her foot down on the petal. “Roger that.”

  …

  In his life time, Brad had visited Rome dozens of times over a long stretch including world war 2. The scene as they drove from the airport reminded him of that time. Thick black clouds of smoke emanated all over the city. Vatican city was gone, destroyed by Turkish bombs. The streets were quiet. The war perpetrated by the vampires had hit this part of Europe hard.

  “I can’t believe this,” said Terra. “How did they make this happen?”

  “Once the first bomb lands there is a chain reaction,” said Brad. “All the council needed was a few military generals to start the ball rolling. Human nature took over after that. It’s much easier to believe a war is starting based on religion and old hatreds than it is to believe that vampires exist and have infiltrated your military.”

  Terra cocked her gun. “I just hope we get there in time. There isn’t much action on the streets. It makes me nervous.”

  April looked grim. “It is hard to imagine so much death. The world will never be the same.”

  Brad nodded as they drove past bombed area after bombed area. There was no cell or satellite coverage. Even the airport had been all but deserted when they’d arrived. Hopefully, Scott and his Guardian colleagues were still alive. But as they pulled up to the tower that housed the offices of the Guardians, Brads hope diminished. Bodies were lying all over the ground outside of the building.

  Brad got out first. Of the group he was the most experienced with guerrilla warfare and knew what to look for. Terra and the others followed Brad at a distance. They knew to trust his instincts.

  The lobby of the building was littered with bodies, human and vampire. Brad led the team up the stairs. The building had power, but for how long was anyone’s guess. Getting stuck in an elevator was not an option. The stairs were empty. No bodies, no movement. Brad sped up. Racing up the stairs until he hit the 25th floor. The main offices of the Rome branch of the Guardians. As he reached the main lobby he could again see the signs of battle. They were too late. The battle was over. Brad bite his lip as he entered the office area. The place was riddled with bullet holes and bodies. Moving forward, Brad went to the main command center. This is where Scott and the other commanders would’ve made their stand.

  It didn’t take long to identify Scott’s body. Brad swore as he knelt down beside his old friend. Scott had not died quickly. He’d managed to smear his blood on the floor.

  “What does it mean?” asked Terra.

  Brad pointed out the three letters. “BDG It is short form for Brad. Data Garbage.. He knew we would come.” Knocking over the trash can nearest to the desk Scott was beside. He found the laptop. “April, see what Scott was working on before the attack.”

  April opened the laptop and inserted a data stick into the USB port. It took a minute for her to get past Scott’s passwords and into the computer. “Got it. He had a list of werewolf packs in Europe. Every single one has been confirmed attacked except for one outside of London. Scott has it in his notes that the only reason they have escaped so far is they received warning from another pack that got hit first. The pack outside London was in communication with Scott and waiting for extraction. They may still be alive. But that is it. Every main Guardian outpost has been hit, along with all of the European shifters and vampires that were in contact with the Guardians. The vampire council has wiped out anyone who vocally supported integration with humans. I’m guessing the rest of the shifters and vampires are in hiding.”

  “Shit,” said Brad. “Sorry old friend. I wish we could’ve been here to help.”

  “We’d probably be dead too,” said Terra. “Judging by the number of bodies around here the council wanted to make sure no one survived.”

  Brad knew that what Terra was saying was wrong, but he wasn’t ready to explain why. For as long as he’d know her, he’d let her and her pack run operations. It had been a welcome retrieve from being on the front lines. He’d enjoyed his new job, one that solved issues through logic and communication. Shifting Humanity had been a great success, but the world no longer needed someone to help shifters find a peaceful and harmonious life, it needed someone to avenge them. They needed someone to take the fight to the vampire council. Scott and his Guardians were dead, but Brad wasn’t going to let their legacy die. He would rebuild the Guardians into something new. Something that could deal with this new world the vampire council had created. “Do a quick search of the building. See if you can find any survivors, then we head to London.” It might be too late to save Scott, but there were still others that needed their help.

  43

  ERICA

  Leaving Dante, Erica went outside to the gardens. As she had suspected, Jeffery was there.

  “Jeffery, I need your help.”

  Jeffery set his basket of tomatoes down. “Okay, what do you need?”

  Erica thought about it for a second. It would be best to explain what her goal was and then get into specifics. “We’re going to turn this estate into a safe place for shifters, a sanctuary. I’m not going to live here by myself, being protected from the vampires, while others are being hunted down and killed. We need to start organizing and getting ready. I don’t know how many shifters will be coming, but I want to be ready for as many as possible. I also want a long-term plan in place. I want our sanctuary to be self-sufficient. No relying on anyone but ourselves for food, water, power.”

  Jeffery looked carefully at Erica. It was interesting watching her change from scared victim to becoming a strong leader. He nodded in agreement. He could see the value of helping others. He took pride in helping Erica, as Tomas had done so much for him, but helping more people and shifters was a noble cause. One he would gladly support. “That sounds good, Erica. What do you need from me?”

  “You’re my main man in the gardens. I need you to start thinking about how to greatly increase the size of your gardens. What equipment you will need, storage facilities. Make a list of everything you need.”

  “I’m happy to do the food supplies, but I don’t know everything about farming. I can give you some basics right now.”

  “That’s okay, I figured it would be too late in the season to worry about having a big crop this year, but the sooner we get going, the easier it will be next spring. What can you think of right now?”

  “A tractor, or two, with the right farm equipment. A plow and disks for field prep would be a good start,” said Jeffery. “If you want to be self-sufficient, we would need to have a good diversity of vegetables and plant some fruit. An orchard and a couple of fields for grains such as oats would go a long way.”

  “I will start researching those tonight. An orchard sounds like a great idea. Do we need anything special for them?”

  Jeffery shook his head. “No, fruit is pretty easy. It takes a while to grow a fruit tree to maturity, but you can buy older trees. They cost a little more, but you don’t have to wait two or three years to start getting good yields. Harvesting fruit is a simple labor job and if you’re going to have a large number of people living here, then labor won’t be an issue. I can start planting trees at any time so that’s one project that won’t have to wait until sp
ring.”

  “Perfect. I want to have a basic plan in place this week. How about after dinner tonight we meet in the library? We can get into more details about what we can and should do right away and what needs to be done later in the fall and over the winter. Our plans should be scale-able. I don’t know how many shifters we’re going to have, but I want to be ready. Oh, and I almost forgot, plan on having a large greenhouse as well. No point not growing food during the winter months as well.”

  “I can use the solarium right now until we build a proper greenhouse.” Jeffery smiled, “I am going to be spending a lot of time gardening, aren’t I?”

  “Yes, is that okay with you?” asked Erica.

  Okay? It was perfect, thought Jeffery. He enjoyed cooking, but he loved working in the gardens. Having a much larger garden and a greenhouse was like giving a kid candy. “I think I can manage,” he said with a straight face.

  Erica laughed, “You are so full of shit, Jeffery. We both know you’re practically having an orgasm right now thinking about spending all your time in the gardens.”

  Jeffery joined Erica laughing. “Fine, I’ll admit it. I love the idea of having bigger gardens.”

  “Good. You’ll have help, but I’ve seen how well your garden grows, so you’ll be in charge. I’ll just make sure you have everything you need to make it work. We’ll talk more after supper. I’m going to go research tractors, see what I can find.”

  Leaving Jeffery to tend to his crops, Eric headed back inside. Jeffery had given her much to think about. Fruit crops and grain fields were ideas she hadn’t thought of. She would need to keep expanding the plan. As she headed inside, Erica noticed Dante was outside with their new guests, Moira and Carrie. Dante was up in a tree attaching a rope to one of the large oak trees lower branches. She realized he was making a rope swing for Moira. Moira was shyly standing behind Carrie watching Dante, but from the look in Moira’s eyes, Erica could tell the young girl was eagerly awaiting an opportunity to test Dante’s swing. Erica made a mental note to check back later and see how the swing turned out.

  Firing up the laptop, Erica started looking up farm equipment. Erica was a city girl, but she had been around enough farms as a child to have a good idea of what the various types of equipment did and what would be needed. In theory, almost no equipment was needed for gardening, much could be done by hand. However, her vision of a large self-sustaining sanctuary would require a large food supply. Having the right equipment would make that task much easier. A tractor was the workhorse of the modern farm and would be her first big purchase. That and the various accessories and attachments that increased the number of functions the tractor could perform. After she got Jeffery set up with equipment for food production, she would focus more of her efforts on the other tasks like housing and water.

  Googling small farm tractors, Erica found a plethora of options. One article in particular caught her eye. “Biodiesel equipment for the self-sufficient farm” sounds exactly like what I was thinking. Erica grabbed a notepad and began making her lists. She started reading up on self-sufficient farms. The ideas she found ranged from crazy hippy nonsense to high tech advanced technologies coming soon, but in that range she found lots of examples of small self-sufficient farms that used their crop waste to make their own fuel. Erica started making a list of the equipment they would need to get. Later she would consult with Dante and Jeffery, but the idea for a self-sufficient sanctuary was starting to become a reality.

  …

  “How’s the pizza, Moira?” asked Erica.

  Moira smiled, nodded, and stuffed another piece into her mouth.

  “She’s a little shy,” said Carrie. “I’m afraid she’s not talking right now, but I know that smile. Moira loves the pizza and is very happy to be here,”

  Poor thing, thought Erica. The trauma of losing her family was the likely cause of Moira’s silence. As shy as Moira was, she seemed to hit it off with Dante. All afternoon they had been out working on the new swing. Dante had found a good plank for a seat and, with Moira’s supervision, improved the design. When Carrie and Moira came to the dinner table, Moira immediately sat herself down beside Dante, and made Carrie sit on the other side of her.

  Erica smiled softly, enjoying the way Dante interacted with Moira. It seemed she wasn’t the only one that Dante made feel safe.

  “Erica, I want to thank you again for having us,” said Carrie. “Please let me know what I can do to be helpful.”

  “You’re welcome, Carrie. We’re glad to help. What did you do before?” Erica carefully chose her words. She knew Carrie would catch her meaning, without having to get into details that might trigger memories for Moira.

  “A little of this and that. I have done housekeeping and worked in several kitchens. I could do that here too.”

  Erica turned to Jeffery. “You’ll have more time for our outside projects if you have help in the house.”

  Jeffery looked at Carrie with a big smile, “I would be glad for the help.”

  So that is the key to getting a smile out of Jeffery, thought Erica, give him more time outdoors. That was two big smiles in one day, a rarity since she had met him. “Perfect,” said Erica. “Now we just need to find a job for Moira.”

  Moira’s eyes got big at the mention of her needing a job.

  “She is pretty smart. I could use her on security detail,” said Dante. “How about it, Moira? Would you like to be my sidekick?”

  With the same vigor that she had shown towards the pizza, Moira nodded her head in confirmation.

  Erica felt her heart twinge. Dante, her gorgeous and strong protector, was so good with Moira. She could see how Dante would make an amazing father. How ironic that her perfect man was an immortal gargoyle?

  After dinner was finished and Carrie took Moira to bed, Erica sat with Dante and Jeffery to discuss the planning for Sanctuary. Jeffery pulled a piece of paper on the table for them to look at. It was a sketch of the property. The sketch showed the mansion, the original farm house, the current garden, and the rest of the property. “Since this property was originally a hobby farm, it won’t take much effort to get the land back into production. A good plowing, some fertilizer, and things will grow. By next summer, we can have a solid sized garden and grain crops.”

  Erica peeked over at Dante. I could use a good plowing, she mused to herself, distracted by memories of Dante’s naked body. She imagined how he would be as a lover.

  “Erica?” asked Jeffery. “What do you think?”

  Erica shook off her naughty thoughts, “Sorry, I was thinking about something else. What were you asking?”

  Jeffery pointed to the map. “I was saying that we could plant an orchard right here. Buying mature fruit plants would be more work and also more expensive, but would produce a crop much faster.”

  Erica nodded her mind fully back on the task at hand. “Don’t worry about the costs. I am going to spend enough money on tractors and equipment that a few grand for fruit trees will seem like a bargain. Brad might regret giving me that corporate credit card before we’re done.”

  44

  JADEN

  When Jaden pulled into the parking lot at the apartment building, the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end and his senses tingled. They were being watched. His eyes swept over the lot and down the street, but he didn’t see anyone suspicious. Still, he knew someone was there waiting for them. “All of you stay together,” he said.

  “They’re here, aren’t they?” asked Cain.

  Jaden nodded. At least one scout was watching the apartment, but Jaden could sense something else, something more powerful and sinister. Nickoli was here. “All of you go to Mandy’s apartment and stay together. If she’s there, have her gather her things as quickly as possible and bring her back down. If I’m not back in ten minutes, leave without me.”

  “But, Jaden—”

  “No, do as I say,” he said, interrupting Cain. “I can make my way north myself if need be, but I need you to ge
t everyone out of here as quickly as you can. Besides, I have no intention of staying here. I just don’t want you try anything stupid like rescuing me. I can manage on my own.”

  “All right, brother,” said Cain reluctantly.

  Jess led Cain and Oscar into the apartment building. She kept her head lowered while she walked, but her eyes kept darting back and forth, expecting to see an attacker at any moment. Her armpits prickled with cold sweat and her hand trembled as she reached out to open the door. The memory of the vampire attack in the coffee shop ran through her head over and over. When she started walking towards the elevator, Cain stopped her with a hand on her shoulder. “Let’s take the stairs,” he said. “It’ll be safer. The last thing we want is to be trapped in a steel box with our enemies surrounding us and only one way out.” Jess had to concentrate hard on keeping her knees from buckling while she led the way up the stairs.

  When they arrived at Mandy’s apartment, Jess knocked on the door. With trepidation, she waited for the door to open. When it flew open and Mandy ran into her arms and hugged her, Jess exhaled in relief. She realized she’d been holding her breath, half expecting a vampire to greet them at the door.

  “Oh my god, Jess, I was so worried. Last night was so crazy, and I couldn’t find anything on the news about the coffee shop. All they were talking about was war! Even the local news channel ignored it and talked about war. I have been freaking out, trying to figure out what to do. All the channels say to stay inside, but I wanted to find you.”

  Jess returned Mandy’s fierce hug, fighting the lump that rose in her throat. She had to appear to remain calm so that Mandy would come with her without question. “I’m sorry. I tried to get a hold of you, but the cell networks are down.” She grabbed Mandy by the shoulders and pushed her back so she could look her in the eyes. “I don’t have time to explain, but I need you to pack a bag. We are leaving right now.”