“Nobody wants Brooke to live more than I, Chief Jack.” Kalen stepped between him and her immobile form. “But I also understand that we must not suffer the demon queen to live. The risk is too great.”
Jack felt the sword becoming heavier in his hand and he slowly lowered it. “There has to be another way. There just has to be.” He looked to each of his warriors and saw the sorrow in their faces.
Kalen leaned down beside Brooke and gently kissed her forehead. “It is time.”
Jack watched his body move forward as if on autopilot. His mind was still searching, doing its best to find another way out of this, but it felt as though he were drugged. As if he could no longer think properly.
He reached the table and stood beside Brooke’s still form. He glanced to Kalen who was wiping tears from his eyes. A glint reflected from the Gatekeeper and Jack’s hand reached out, grasping the elf by the wrist. “Call her.”
“Who?”
“The Wyldwood. Maybe she knows of another way. She has the gift of sight. Maybe she has seen another way.”
Phil crossed his arms and muttered, “You are grasping at straws.”
“It’s worth a shot, dammit.” Jack pulled Kalen’s arm up until the stone was in his face. “Use it.”
Kalen nodded. He stepped away and turned his back on the others. He waved his hand over the stone and waited for the light to shine through. It took longer than he had hoped but eventually Loren’s face reflected through the stone. Kalen sighed when he saw her reflection.
“You know what we face, Wyldwood?”
She nodded solemnly. “And I knew you would face it, young warrior.” Her eyes reflected the sadness that he felt. “I tried to warn you not to become involved with her.”
“Tell me there is a way to save her and still destroy Lilith. Please. I will do as you ask. I will renounce my feelings for her and return home, never to…”
“It cannot be, Kalen. The Brooke you know is already gone.” The Wyldwood lowered her face, and when she peered back into the stone, he saw the tears streaking her face. “For two spirits to inhabit one body, one must be destroyed. That is why Lilith cannot possess a body with a soul. The essence of her spirit would be destroyed.”
“But Brooke has no soul, Wyldwood. She is vampire. You know this.”
Azazel nudged Jack and nodded to the elf. “To whom does he speak?”
Jack whispered back, “Only the wearer of that bracelet thing can see and hear the person speaking through it on the other side.”
The Wyldwood nodded. “Yes, Kalen, but she still has her spirit. That is her essence. It is what makes her, her. It is her emotions, her feelings, her memories, the very thing that makes Brooke who she is. Once Lilith took over Brooke’s body, a large part of her essence was destroyed. The longer Lilith has been within her, the more of it she has destroyed. If you could remove Lilith without destroying Brooke’s body, she would be little more than a ghoul. A mindless zombie. A mere shadow of the woman you once loved.”
The Wyldwood choked on her next words and it almost made Kalen break down. “You would be granting her a mercy if you ended her life. I am so sorry, Kalen.”
Kalen shook as he stared at the reflection in the Gatekeeper. “Why didn’t you warn me? I could have stopped her from going. I could have saved her!”
His anger was palpable, and the Wyldwood didn’t back away. She allowed her tears to continue flowing as she replied. “It was predestined. All of the visions were the same. Brooke had to be sacrificed to destroy Lilith forever. She had to be in a mortal body. She couldn’t be destroyed in her original form.”
Kalen screamed and pulled the Gatekeeper from his wrist. He threw it across the room and pounded his fists on the table.
Jack stepped forward and placed a hand on his shoulder. “You don’t have to tell us what she said. We can pretty much tell from your reaction.”
Kalen hung his head and sobbed. “She knew.”
Jack leaned closer. “What?”
“The Wyldwood. She knew this would happen. She said it had to be this way. It was the only way that Lilith could be destroyed completely and forever. She couldn’t be killed in her original form.” He lifted his reddened eyes and peered into Jack’s. “They sacrificed Brooke to meet that end.”
Phil stepped forward and reached for the sword that Jack held. “Perhaps your fight is with the elves and not with the angels.”
*****
Laura pulled her Jeep into the parking lot at the hangar and killed the engine. She glanced up at the rusty old hangar and smiled. “Be it ever so crumble, there’s no place like home.”
Stepping down from the four-wheel drive vehicle she left her bags in the back and headed for the doorway. The guards at the guard shack gave her a mock salute when they saw her approach.
“Please tell me you’re here to stay.”
“If they’ll still have me.” She gave the sergeant a smile and a pat on the arm as she walked past and through the open roll away door.
The familiar sights and smells assaulted her as soon as she walked in and the first thing she wanted to do was run down the stairs and throw herself at Evan. She turned and stared at the stairwell. Three flights down and a quick left should take her straight to his lab.
“No time like the present.”
She hit the door at a jog and took the stairs two at a time. When she pushed through the metal doors that led to the large floor with Evan’s lab she could feel her heart racing. With each step, she could feel the muscle in her chest hammering to escape. She saw the clear acrylic walls of his laboratory and her breath caught in her throat.
She mounted the steps and launched herself through the doorway. “Hi, home, I’m honey!”
Evan spun on his chair and his eyes widened at the sight of her. “Laura?”
“I missed you.” She ignored the man sitting across from him and closed the gap between them. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him to her for the longest, deepest kiss they had ever shared.
The man sitting at the table cleared his throat and squirmed while she ran her hands through the vampire’s hair. Finally he muttered, “If this is how you ‘eat’ somebody, I’m glad you opted not to eat me. That could get a little weird for me.”
She raised one hand and gave the man a one fingered salute.
When the pair finally broke loose, Laura was gasping for air. “God, I missed you.”
“Me, too,” Evan stammered. “I mean, I missed you, not that I missed me, too.” He blushed slightly and did his best to straighten his lab coat again.
Laura glanced to the side and raised a brow at the man sitting across the workbench. “Who’s your friend?”
“Oh. Uh, well, technically, he’s not my friend, per se. I mean, well, he was a prisoner of sorts. But now he’s assisting us in, uh, well…it’s a long story.”
Stevens stood up, his hand extended. “Robert Stevens. Ex-CIA analyst.”
Laura raised a brow. “And you were a prisoner here?” She tentatively reached out and took his hand.
“Like he said, long story.” Stevens sat back down. “But, don’t mind me. You two feel free to go back to what you were doing.” He gave her a crooked smile.
Evan pulled her aside. “Your father. What…happened?”
She shook her head. “He absolutely refused. When Derek tried to hunt him down to give him the other shot, he destroyed the serum.”
“So, he’s…the wolf?”
“I didn’t actually see him. You know, afterward. But yeah, that’s my guess.”
Evan inhaled sharply and let it out slowly. “And now you’re here to…what?”
She shook her head. “I had to get away.” She stared into his eyes and felt herself smiling. “I had to come home.”
“Home? Here?”
“Home is where the heart is.”
*****
Viktor stiffened when the door opened and a vampire of very slight build appeared. He stepped slowly forward and nodded
to Rufus. “The Council will see you now.”
Rufus nodded back and the pair stepped through the large double doors. Viktor tried not to be impressed with the large conference room with the antique furnishings but the word opulence immediately came to mind.
A long oval table with overstuffed chairs surrounding it sat in the middle of the room and most of the Council members appeared to be busy pouring over paperwork of different kinds.
Rufus and Viktor approached to within a few meters of the head of the table before Rufus stopped and silently stood, waiting to be addressed. Viktor followed suit.
The pair stood silently, observing the Council members as they murmured amongst themselves, quiet discussions that didn’t pertain to the guests who stood quietly waiting for their audience. As if on cue, the members all stopped and turned to face the pair.
“We are told you have news.”
“Oui.” Rufus stepped forward, his hand gesturing slightly to keep Viktor behind him. “I am quite certain the Council is already aware that the demon queen has been vanquished. My brother ensured representation for both of our houses during the onslaught and he assured me of her destruction.”
“And where is your brother now?”
Viktor noted the older grey haired vampire who sat at the head of the table who now questioned Thorn. The other members appeared to relinquish authority to him in this matter and he seemed almost bored with the topic. From what Rufus had told him earlier of their apprehension of Lilith, he would have expected them to show more relief that she had been dealt with.
“He is on his way to meet me here.” Thorn gave a slight bow. “He brings the heart of the demon queen that the Council might ensure she never rises again.”
The grey haired vampire nodded absently. “And he will arrive when?”
“He should arrive tomorrow, my liege.”
The vampire’s face wrinkled in puzzlement. “If he doesn’t arrive until tomorrow, then why did you demand an audience with the Council this night?”
Rufus bowed again and did his best to act naïve. “To formalize the lifting of the edict, of course.”
Viktor felt the hair on his neck rise when the members all began to chuckle amongst themselves. The grey haired vampire stood from his seat and turned to face Rufus. “Surely you jest. You truly believed that this Council would lift a death edict that was pronounced more than two hundred years ago?”
Rufus raised his head and faced the older vampire. “Yes. I believed this Council to be an honorable body. A noble body. A most trustworthy body. One whose word was their bond.”
The chuckling turned to outright laughter by some and Viktor brought his hands together, grasping his wrist with his other hand, right above his watch. His finger tapped nervously along the edge of the casing of the watch. Once Rufus made his move, he would push the button on the side of his watch, signaling his wolves.
The grey haired vampire stepped forward and looked down at Rufus. “You are far too old and far too powerful to be that foolish, Monsieur Thorn. This Council never intended to lift your death edict.” He turned and smiled at the other members. “We hoped you would be successful in your endeavors against the she-witch, but even in that effort we thought your odds too astronomical to survive.”
“And so you have underestimated me.” Rufus unbuttoned his overcoat, letting it fall slightly open. “And I overestimated your honor.”
*****
“Underground? Did he say tunnels?” Donovan groaned as the squad worked through the woods, glints of sunlight sliced through the canopy as dawn brought a new day.
“That’s what I heard.” Spanky scrambled up a mossy hillside and laid low, trying to detect depressions in the spongy material.
“How the hell do we find tunnels? We can’t find the bastards who live here, how are we supposed to find the holes they use to—” Little John’s words were cut off as he abruptly disappeared, falling through the moist earth.
Spalding and Donovan sprinted to his position and stared down into the hole that Sullivan sat in, dirt and detritus falling around him. Sullivan spat dirt from his mouth and looked up at the pair. “I think I found something.” He spat again then scraped his tongue across his teeth. “I think I swallowed a bug.”
“Leave it to Little John to fall into the damned thing.” Donnie slid down the side of the hole and landed next to the big man. He offered him a hand up then they both stepped into the tunnel as Spanky jumped into the hole.
“Which way, boss?” Little John asked, still spitting dirt from his mouth.
Spanky looked both ways then checked the hard packed earth they stood on. “No prints. Your guess is as good as mine.”
Donovan tried to get his bearings then pointed away from the river. “That way is away from the water. My guess is, this is their quick access to drinking water. Their base of operation is probably that way.”
Spanky shrugged. “Sounds plausible.” He stepped into the tunnel and switched on the LED torch mounted to the end of his carbine. “We’ll have to crouch to fit through here.”
Little John shivered. “Christ…feels like a tomb. What’s to keep it from collapsing on us and burying us alive?”
Donovan patted the big man’s shoulder. “The fact that you’re down here and not stomping around on our heads, for one.”
“Ha-ha.”
“Cut the chatter.” Spalding took one last look around then nodded to Donovan. “Take point. I’m going to transmit our coordinates to Delta Three and Four and have them relay to OPCOM that we’re underground. We’ll be radio silent once we start.” He narrowed his gaze to drive home his point. “We’re at half strength and facing multiple tangos. Everybody stay frosty on this one.”
“Roger that.”
*****
Bigby heard the doors unlock and he let himself slip through the back window, his boots crunching in the gravel below as he touched the ground. He gently pulled the window shut and slipped alongside the building, keeping to the shadows as the sun rose in the east.
He had spent the entirety of the night listening to security and base police cars zipping across the campus, presumably searching for him and knew that as long as he remained in the locked building, the odds were slim he would be discovered. Now that he was in the open, the only thing that would save him would be the flood of daily workers coming in to their jobs. The base would come alive with the civilian contractors and the Air Force employees who performed their nine-to-five jobs and then went home as though they were also civilians.
He slipped quietly between two buildings and climbed a roof access ladder. He gained enough altitude to see that his stolen truck was now gone. The building he had been camped in was crawling with people and although base security had lightened up, there were far too many folks in uniform between himself and the rusty hangar for him to get any closer; at least not during daylight hours.
With a dejected sigh he climbed back down and worked his way across the parking lot and past the rows of industrial buildings. When his nose picked up the smell of food, he turned and followed it. No matter what he decided to do, he’d have to fuel his body before he could attack the Yanks.
Maybe once he put a little more distance between himself and his targets, he could allow himself the luxury of filling his belly and mapping a new plan of attack.
*****
Kalen spun and gave a worried eye to Jack. “Surely not. We cannot declare war on my people.”
Jack slowly shook his head, a mental image of Loren forming causing a mix of emotions that he couldn’t understand. “No…we can’t.”
Phil held his hand out, waiting for Jack to surrender the sword. “If you will not enact your revenge on those truly responsible, then surely you would not attack those who are not. Either way, you have no further need for the heavenly weapons.”
Jack slowly raised his eyes to meet Phil’s gaze. He felt as though his mind was in shock, trying to register the mixed turn of events. He glanced down at Phil’s hand
then to his own. He lifted the sword and lowered the point, offering the hilt to Phil. “As promised.”
“But, what of Brooke?” Gnat stood next to the young vampiress, his hand stroking her hair.
“She is already gone,” Kalen’s voice barely a whisper as he spoke. He leaned heavily against the table, his eyes swollen and red. “Her spirit is destroyed…her essence all but gone. The Wyldwood said we would be doing her a mercy by…” His voice cracked and he turned away.
“How do we know?” Gnat hopped onto a chair then jumped up onto the table. “She lied to you before. Maybe she lies now.”
Kalen shook his head. “The Wyldwood is incapable of lying. She may omit certain things to ensure events play out as they should, but she does not lie.”
Jack stared at Brooke’s still form then glanced to Phil. “I can’t do this.”
Allister stepped forward. “I will.”
“I can.” Phil stepped forward as well. “You need not be present.”
Kalen stiffened, his shoulders squaring. He turned quickly and shook his head adamantly. “No!” He ran his arm across his face, wiping the tears and sticky fluids from his nose away. “If this must be done, it shall be done by one who loved her truly.”
“Oh no…” Jack moaned. He staggered back a step and ran a hand across his face. “What am I going to tell her brother? I swore to him that I’d…”
“She died in battle,” Kalen stated. He stared defiantly at each of them, his jaw set. “She sacrificed herself to save us all. That’s all he needs to know.”
A low murmur of agreement spread throughout the room and Kalen turned to face her. He brushed a stray hair from her face and fought the tears threatening to fall from his eyes again. His hand fell automatically to the blade at his belt and he pulled it swiftly.
He cast one last quick glance to Allister. “The heart?”
“Yes. Then her head.”
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