Dante pulled back, separating from Erica.
Erica could feel Dante pulling away; confused, she looked up at him. “What’s wrong?” she asked.
“This is wrong. I’m sorry, Erica. This was a mistake,” said Dante.
“No, this was not a mistake. You want me, you cannot deny that, and I want you. You are perfect for me,” insisted Erica, unwilling to accept Dante’s rejection.
“You don’t understand. I can’t turn my feelings off easily. I will love you your whole life. When you grow old, you will come to resent me. You will hate that I don’t age and won’t die with you. I have been here before, Erica. This can’t happen and I’m sorry.” Dante turned and walked onto the balcony. Shedding his clothes, he turned into a gargoyle, and flew off into the night. He needed some space to cool off. He was too close to falling for her. Falling in love with a mortal would hurt them both.
Erica watched as Dante flew off. She thought about Dante’s words. Someone had hurt him, hurt him very badly, that much was obvious. It hurt that he had backed off. She wanted him, desired him in a way she had never felt before. Dante might think it was a bad idea for them to get together, but Erica could not believe that. It felt too right to be wrong. Frustrated, Erica headed to bed. She needed to think about this. She needed to think of how to make Dante see that he was wrong.
The next morning, Erica went out on the balcony to talk to Dante. He wasn’t there. Chicken shit gargoyle, she swore. She would wait, but this conversation was not over. Not by a long shot.
47
TRACKER
The tracker watched as several of his brethren arrived unexpectedly. The tracker had been tasked with the removal of the mixed-blood child. He had followed the scent of her here. It had taken several days because someone was helping the child. The tracker was slowly scouting the woods around the old mansion, trying to get a better sense of what he was up against. He could smell the bear shifter for miles, and the lingering scent of wolves permeated the air. The mansion was not an easy target. The tracker was patiently waiting for nightfall, to attack. The sun had just started to set when the other vampires arrived. The vampires, a hunter squad, were elite killers, the council’s chosen weapon for difficult assignments. The tracker wondered what they were doing there. Did they doubt his skills?
The leader of the hunter squad approached the tracker. The tracker recognized the vampire, Alexi Crisian, as one of the council’s favored hunters.
“What are you doing here?” asked Alexi with an arrogant tone.
The tracker didn’t like hunter vampires, they were arrogant and elitist. Alexi was one of the worse. Granted, the squadron of hunters was certainly good at what they did, but they walked around like they were invincible. The tracker was an old vampire; he knew that underestimating your enemy was a mistake. The hunters would one day bite off more than they could handle and he would gladly enjoy their falling. The tracker replied, “Tracking a mixed-blood child. What brings one of the council’s elite hunter squads here?”
Alexi sniffed the air before replying, “The female human. Two of your trackers followed her here, but they didn’t return. Someone must have helped her, either the bear shifter or the werewolves. It matters not; tonight, my squadron of hunters will kill everything in the house. You will stay here and observe, I don’t want you getting in the way of my squadron.”
“As you wish,” said the tracker, giving a small bow. The hunters were almost royalty and liked to be treated as such. The tracker hated kissing ass, especially arrogant hunter ass, but hunters had been known to kill their own with little provocation. The dangerous hunters loved to kill and needed little excuse for jumping to violence. The tracker was too old and wise to risk running afoul of the hunters. He would bow and grovel like a good little tracker was expected to do. Besides, the tracker was getting a strange vibe from the mansion. He would gladly let the hunter kill-squad deal with the bear shifter and rest of the house’s occupants.
Alexi Crisian ignored the old tracker. He turned and watched as the shadows grew darker. The last of the day’s sunlight was trickling away. Very soon he would lead his vampires to a feast. One bear shifter, a human woman, and some assorted rabble would provide little resistance.
…
Jeffery quickly walked through Erica’s room to the balcony. He stood underneath Dante’s perch and looked out into the yard. “Do you smell them?” he asked Dante.
Dante, in his stone gargoyle form, did not move, but he answered. “Yes, the first vampire arrived a few hours ago. The second group just arrived. I suspect they will wait a few hours before attacking, but one never knows. Is everyone in the house?”
Jeffery nodded, “Yes, Erica is with Carrie, Pamela, and Moira. Daniella is standing by the backdoor waiting for the vampires.”
“Take everyone to the storage room at the east end of the house. It has no windows; you only need to protect the interior door in case any of the vampires get past me. These are hunters, none will mask their scent to trick you, but they are stronger than the ones that attacked before. Be careful,” said Dante.
Jeffery turned quickly and went back into the house. He would do exactly as Dante instructed. This time Jeffery was in the house, and ready for the vampires. He had some surprises ready for any that made it past Dante.
Once Jeffery was gone, Dante turned his attention back to the vampires and waited, watching for the vampires to make their move. When the sun fully disappeared, the vampires started to spread out for their attack. Unlike the last time, when two vampire trackers had attacked Jeffery, Dante had no intention of waiting on the vampires to begin their attack. This time Dante was going to strike first. It was time to launch his counterattack.
Dante launched himself from the building. Spreading his stone wings, he soared into the air. Two of the vampires were breaking off towards the northwest corner of the house. The other vampires were waiting, giving their companions time to get to the far side of the house, before making their move. This would give Dante ample opportunity to attack the two, before the others made it to the house.
Flapping his stone wings, Dante rose higher and higher, and then started his descent straight down. He hurled towards the ground at breakneck speed, allowing gravity to maximize his descent’s velocity. When he was almost on top of the two vampires, as they silently stalked their way across the yard, he opened his wings and flew over the heads of the two unsuspecting vampires. He stretched out his arms and straightened his fingers out until his arms were like two stone lances. As he flew over the vampires, his arms punctured the chests of the two vampires, impaling them the way a knight would his victim. Dante lifted the two vampires and carried them off into the night. He tilted his arms down, letting the dead vampires slide off into the woods. Not a sound had been made during the attack.
Dante flapped his wings and turned back towards the house. The main group of vampires was starting to slowly spread out and make their way towards the house. Dante would not be able to pick them off one at a time. But he would be able to reach them before they got to the house. He flapped his wings, rebuilding speed before starting a gliding descent into the front yard. He aimed over the head of the closest vampire. Instead of trying to impale this vampire he simply reached down and snapped the vampires head off as he flew over. The rest of the vampires in the front yard turned and saw their companion lose his head.
Dante landed on the next vampire and punched him in the chest. Again, his fingers were straight and his stone hand punctured the vampire’s chest. Dante pulled his hand out of the vampire’s chest, holding the vampire’s still beating blue heart. Dante smiled. It felt good to destroy these beings that sought to harm Erica and the shifters under his protection. He would take great satisfaction in ending these hunters’ existences. Dante squeezed the vampire’s heart, black fluid dripped down his stone hand.
The remaining vampires hissed and bared their fangs and swarmed towards Dante.
…
The tracker, having been told to stay bac
k and observe, was the first vampire to notice Dante. He watched as the winged shadow flew over the first hunter in the yard. The tracker gazed in gruesome fascination as the winged shadow’s hands grabbed the vampire’s head, ripping it from the vampire’s body, as the shadow sailed over top and landed on the second member of the kill squad. When the shadow landed on the second hunter, the tracker could see that it was a stone gargoyle. When the gargoyle swung his arm, the tracker could hardly see the punch enter the chest of the hunter, but he did see the stone hand pull out the vampire’s heart.
They are doomed, thought the tracker, as he watched the rest of the hunters turn and look at the gargoyle who had just killed two of them before the rest had even known he was there.
“Get him! Stop him while I finish the mission,” roared Alexi as he started to run towards the house.
The tracker watched as the vampire hurled himself through the glass window. The advantage of surprise gone, the tracker was impressed that the arrogant leader he despised had the ability to recognize the need to adapt. Alexi Crisian was not the fool that the tracker had thought him to be. The leader was sacrificing his hunter squad in the hopes they would slow the gargoyle down long enough for Alexi to complete his mission in the mansion. The tracker, an old vampire, had only heard of gargoyles and had never encountered one before. He thanked whatever gods or luck that had blessed him so, for the gargoyle was a killing machine. Its stone hands crushed and killed. The elite squadron of hunters, the best trained killers among the vampires, was falling like flies at the stone hands of the gargoyle.
…
Jeffery stood in front of the store room door. He wondered how many vampires were out there? Would Dante be able to stop them all? When the glass window shattered and the vampire hurtled into the house, Jeffery stopped wondering. He was no longer relying on Dante. Jeffery was glad. He hated the idea of someone else taking all the risk, even an immortal stone being such as Dante. Jeffery was almost happy to see that one of the vampires had gotten past Dante. Jeffery was ready to do his part to defend Erica and the others. He really wanted some payback time.
Alexi spotted Jeffery and the door he was protecting. Alexi quickly started moving towards Jeffery, snarling as he moved forward, “Think you are pretty smart? Bringing gargoyles to protect the woman! I am going to enjoy sinking my fangs into her once I am done with you.” Alexi was enraged. His precious squad of hunters, the best group of killers assembled by the council, was dying at the hands of the gargoyle outside. He would take his anger out on the bear shifter and the rest of the house’s inhabitants before he tried to flee the gargoyle.
But the vampire in his anger and haste, failed to notice that Jeffery had not shifted into bear form for a reason. Jeffery was standing there as a human waiting with a remote in his hands. As Alexi got within a couple of yards distance of Jeffery, Jeffery pushed the button on the remote in his hands. The lights in the foyer and the hallway suddenly were extremely bright. Special high wattage bulbs had been installed in the house, a high-tech weapon, custom-made for defense against vampires.
The vampire screeched in agony as the waves of light blinded him. He lifted his arms trying to shield his light-sensitive eyes from the bombardment of UV rays. The vampire was temporarily blind and could not see Jeffery shifting into a bear. He could not see the powerful creature charging towards him. The leader of the elite vampire kill squad was about to die at the fangs and claws of a bear shifter. Alexi would have been mortified at the idea, if he hadn’t been paralyzed by the pain and agony the lights were causing him. By the time Alexi organized his thoughts enough to remember the threat of Jeffery, it was too late.
Jeffery pounced onto the vampire. He struck repeatedly with his heavy paws, knocking the vampire down. He let the full weight of his bear-self sit on top of the vampire as he mauled the vampire. His clawed paws crushed and raked the vampire’s head. Each swipe of his massive paws took chunks of the vampire’s face away. The vampire died a gruesome death. Jeffery, having almost died at the hands of vampire trickery, was only too happy to return the favor. The only difference here was the vampire didn’t have a gargoyle to come rescue him. Jeffery finished off the vampire and then rumbled towards the window, wanting to know what was going on outside. He wanted to know how Dante was doing. When he got to the window, Jeffery watched the end of the battle.
…
When the tracker witnessed the bear come to the window he knew the mission was a complete failure. Alexi must be dead and the last few vampires were dying at the stone hands of the deadly gargoyle. The tracker knew it was time for him to flee. It would be only seconds before the gargoyle finished off the remaining members of the kill squad and started looking for more vampires to kill.
The tracker had no intentions of dying that night and made off into the woods as fast as he could. His mission to find and kill the mixed-blood child long forgotten, the tracker made his way back towards the city. He would have to report what he saw directly to the council. The council made the tracker nervous. They were ambitious and had grandiose plans. However, they were meticulous and prepared. The goal of vampires to be the ruling class made the risks worthwhile, except this new risk of trying to fight a gargoyle. That was one risk the tracker was not willing to take. Luckily, Alexi, the leader of the vampire kill squad had been explicit in his directions to stay back and watch. For once the tracker was grateful for the arrogance of the hunters. Alexi’s arrogance had saved the tracker’s life.
…
Dante looked around. The only vampire remaining was the original tracker that had shown up. For some unknown reason, the vampire had stayed back during the attack and was now fleeing. Dante considered chasing the vampire down and killing him as well, but he wanted to check on Erica. He wanted to make sure that the vampire who had rushed into the house was dead. Dante was confident that Jeffery had defeated the vampire, but until Dante himself saw the corpse, he would not consider Erica safe. Seeing the werebear at the window watching him was a reassuring sight for Dante. When Jeffery turned back to human form, Dante was sure the vampire was dead. Yet still, Dante would check, just to be sure. Even in his stone form, he could feel his heart pounding. He knew he was building a strong bond with the human woman. One that he would try to deny for both their sakes, but the bond was so strong that even as a stone gargoyle his heart pounded at the thought of her. Dante made his way inside. He needed to find Erica.
48
ERICA
When Jeffery opened the door, Erica sighed in relief. The experience of being locked up in the storage room was nerve racking. She made a mental note to build a safe room in the house, one with video feeds and audio so she could see what was happening. The not knowing was a strange and scary feeling. Erica put down her gun and ran to hug Jeffery. He was carrying blood stained rags, but she didn’t care. He was alive. That was all that mattered.
While Erica tried to hug the life out of him, Jeffery closed the storage room doors, his words were for Erica’s ears only.
“Is it over?” She asked as she hugged him close. “Is Dante okay?” Immortal gargoyle or not, Erica worried about Dante. She was starting to think of him as a man, the sensitive, caring man who watched over her at night, the man who took young Moira under his wing and made her feel safe, and the man who had kissed her so passionately and made her blood boil. She cared for Dante, and even though he had pushed her away, she wanted to know he was okay.
“Yes, the attack is over,” said Jeffery. “Dante is removing the bodies so the little one doesn’t have to see them. Keep her inside a little longer while I clean up the blood and get washed. Dante insisted that she not see any blood.”
Erica let out a deep breath, one she had been holding in, while she waited for Jeffery to give her news of the attack. Thank goodness, Dante and Jeffery were okay. That Dante thought of Moira, and her fragile emotional state, made Erica respect and admire him even more. Dante, stone being or human, had a heart the size of the moon. He cared and understood more
than most ever would about the poor orphaned child.
Moira, thought Erica, she would need to go back inside and let the child, along with the rest of the group, know that everything was okay. Erica let go of Jeffery and stepped back. She examined the hallway There was splattered blood all over the walls and floor. Jeffery would need more than a minute or two to clean that up. He would need assistance. Whatever had happened in the hallway had been messy.
Erica opened the door to the storage room and slipped back inside. Carrie, Moira, and Daniella were sitting in a circle playing Go Fish. “Did I miss my turn?” asked Erica.
“No, but you need to hurry up. It’s your turn,” said Daniella.
Erica looked at Daniella, Pamela, and Carrie, who were carefully watching her face, looking for signs as to what was happening outside of the storage room. Erica nodded and smiled before walking back to the circle and reclaiming her spot, she looked at Moira, “Did you ladies cheat while I was gone?”
Moira shook her head vigorously. The child was still not speaking to anyone except Dante, but her body language and non-verbal communication continued to improve. It would take time, but Moira would be okay. Erica thought of the blood on the walls. Dante had been correct. It was nothing Moira should see.
Erica looked at her cards, “Moira, do you have any sevens?”
Moira shook her head, no.
Erica groaned and picked up a card, “That’s it, I’m done. You ladies are too good for me. I’m going to go check on Jeffery and see if he had any cookies hidden for a late-night snack.”
Moira’s eyes widened at the mention of cookies.
“Oh, you like cookies?” asked Erica.
Moira smiled and nodded.
“Okay, well you ladies finish the game without me. Moira when this game is over and you have had a cookie, wash up, brush your teeth, and get to bed, okay?”
The Shadows Awaken (Guardians of the Night Book 1) Page 23
