by R. D. Brady
From the corner of her eye, she saw Cain crawl over to Cleo and grab on to her fur. He stared intensely at the cat, his mouth moving furiously. Laney lunged toward Elisabeta, who managed to get to her feet and roll out of the way.
Cleo? What’s going on?
Cain says you are the counterweight.
For a moment, she didn’t understand what he meant. Then it hit her. It wasn’t just the Omni that would remove Elisabeta’s immortality. My blood.
Cain nodded across the distance at her as if he had heard her. Elisabeta stumbled to her feet.
Laney tackled Elisabeta at the waist, slamming her onto her back. Elisabeta elbowed Laney in the chin, but Laney managed to yank her head back enough that it didn’t knock her out. Instead, Laney held on, dragging Elisabeta to her feet. She wrapped her arms around her, turning her back to Jake. “The Omni, Jake! Shoot me! Now!”
The bullet tore through Laney’s chest, punching out the other side and into Elisabeta. Laney let her go as she stumbled back. She struggled to breathe as one of her lungs filled with blood.
“Laney!” Jake yelled, scrambling over to her, his face pale.
Laney struggled to get her words out. “Mortal. Shoot her.”
Kneeling on one leg, Jake dropped the gun with the Omni bullets and pulled out his sidearm. In quick succession, he hit Elisabeta three more times, center mass.
“You fool. I can’t—” Elisabeta’s words choked off as blood bubbled from her mouth. She crashed to her knees, a look of disbelief on her face. Jake aimed for her head and pulled the trigger. A perfect circle appeared in the middle of her forehead as her mouth fell open, her eyes going wide.
Laney dropped to her knees as Jake kept firing until the magazine was spent. He ejected the cartridge as he stalked toward Elisabeta and loaded another. He placed the muzzle against her chest and pulled the trigger over and over again, emptying the magazine yet again.
Jake’s shoulders heaved as he stared down at Elisabeta. A gaping hole took up the majority of her chest. Her face was splashed with blood, her look of surprise frozen in death.
He turned to Laney. She tried to smile at him, but blood bubbled up her throat, spilling out her mouth. Jake’s mouth fell open. He sprinted toward her, catching her as she toppled back. “Laney!”
Jake loomed above her, his hand pressed to her wound. Laney blinked hard. Weird. I don’t feel anything.
Jake’s eyes were large. “There’s too much blood, Laney. I can’t stop it.”
Laney nodded. She’d known when she told Jake to shoot her what would happen. The Omni combined with Laney’s blood would take Elisabeta’s powers, but there was a good chance they’d take hers as well.
“What do I do?”
Laney grabbed Jake’s arm, feeling her strength fading quickly. I don’t know.
Chapter 101
Laney knew she was dying. But if she died and so did Elisabeta, she could live with that.
Ha. Or die with it.
Jake was fading from her view. Cold was seeping over her hands, working its way down her arms. She closed her eyes. She sensed rather than saw someone approach. Cleo.
Get up, Cleo ordered as she nudged her cheek.
Sorry, girl. Laney tried to reach up a hand to scratch her chin, but she didn’t have the strength.
Stay, Cleo ordered.
Trying.
Vaguely, she sensed a new pain entering her leg, but she didn’t really feel it. It was as if her mind couldn’t quite register it.
But then the pain grew more and more intense. Her eyes opened. Slowly, the three people kneeling above her came into focus.
“She’s coming around,” Drake said.
Pain lanced through her leg and her side. She sucked in a breath.
“It’s okay, Laney. Breathe. It will pass in a minute,” Drake said.
But the pain was already subsiding even as Drake spoke.
“I’m okay,” Laney said, surprised to find she was. She tried to sit up, and Jake was there, propping her up. Laney spied Elisabeta’s body sprawled only a few feet to her left. “Is she . . .?”
Jake nodded. “Dead. It’s over, Laney. Elisabeta’s people are retreating. We’re giving chase to remove any immediate threats.”
“Good.”
Cleo licked her cheek. Live.
It looks like. Cain?
Hurt. I stay with. Cleo gave Laney another lick before crossing toward the immortal, who was sitting, leaning heavily to one side.
“I need to check in.” Jake looked at Drake, who nodded, taking his place holding up Laney. She was almost fully healed, but right now she was happy to have the human contact, especially his.
“Are you all right?” Drake asked.
“Almost as good as new.”
Drake nodded across the stage to where Cain sat, a grimace on his face as Cleo helped him to his feet. “I think your immortal may have bruised or broken a few ribs.”
“Saving me. If I had gotten shot, it would have taken me time to heal. And by then . . .” She shrugged.
“Perhaps I underestimated him.” Drake paused.
“Do you know what just happened?”
“Someone shot me in the leg with the Omni.”
Drake winced. “Yeah, that was me. Sorry about that.”
Laney waved his words away. “Ah, it’s all right. Jake did, too. Jake’s shot killed Elisabeta, and yours saved me, so thank you.”
He raised an eyebrow. “You realize you’re thanking me for shooting you?”
She smiled, then immediately regretted it as her chest ached. “It must be the blood loss.”
Drake gently pulled her back against him. “We have a very unusual relationship.”
Jake disconnected his call and walked over to them. “Elisabeta’s people are being apprehended. The net Matt put in place ensnared them. He thinks we’ll have them all.”
“Good.”
“Emergency services have moved in across the city to help the wounded.”
“How many wounded?”
“A lot. But if you hadn’t taken out Elisabeta—”
“If we hadn’t taken out Elisabeta.”
Jake nodded. “If we hadn’t taken out Elisabeta, it would have been a lot worse. I can’t believe it’s over.”
“Me, either. After everything she did, for it all to end, it just seems so—” Elisabeta’s words wafted through her mind. Like all those people safe in your little bomb shelter.
“Laney?” Drake asked, his brow furrowed in concern.
She gripped his hand. “The bomb shelter. We need to call the bomb shelter.”
Jake was already dialing.
“What is it?” Drake asked.
“Elisabeta. I don’t think she’s done yet.”
Chapter 102
Baltimore, Maryland
The camera operator had stayed zoomed in on the fight scene between Laney and Elisabeta, leaving Patrick glued to the screen. Lou, Rolly, and Danny had come into the room to watch it with him. Charles had walked in as well, staying right next to Patrick, monitoring his vitals, but even though what was occurring onscreen was wreaking havoc on his blood pressure, Charles did not mention turning the TV off.
On screen, Laney grabbed Elisabeta and yelled at Jake. Patrick frowned, trying to figure out what she was trying to say a split second before Jake shot her.
Rolly jumped to his feet. “What the hell was that?”
Patrick gripped the blankets, his knuckles turning white. The Omni. Jake must have the Omni, but it won’t work without Laney’s blood. Oh God.
“He shot Laney,” Lou cried.
Patrick clutched the bed railings, not sure he could handle watching much more of this. “It’s the only way. Watch.”
Laney and Elisabeta crashed to the ground. Jake ran up to her as she rolled off, firing at Elisabeta over and over again.
But Laney only lay on the ground next to her. Patrick leaned forward, remembering what Cain had translated from the Tome. She’s no longer immor
tal. Oh my God.
Drake blurred into sight and rushed to Laney’s side. He pulled a gun from the holster at Jake’s side and shot Laney in the leg.
“What the hell?” Lou yelled.
But Patrick didn’t say anything. He couldn’t as Drake knelt down next to Laney.
Work, damn it. Work.
On screen, Laney sat up, and Patrick fell back on the pillows, wiping at the tears in the corner of his eyes. “She’s okay.”
“I don’t understand how. Drake shot her. Jake shot her.” Rolly ran a hand through his hair. “Why the hell is everybody shooting her?”
Patrick opened his mouth to explain about the Omni and its effect when mixed with Laney’s blood, but then he thought better of it. The less the world knew about a potion for immortality, the better.
Charles patted his shoulder. “Okay, Patrick, I think we need to clear everybody out so you can get a little rest.”
Patrick nodded, suddenly feeling tired. “Okay. Thanks for—”
A sharp crack cut through the air. Patrick’s head whipped to the side as blood spurted from Charles’s shoulder.
“Patrick!” Rolly dove across the room, landing on Patrick. Crashing over the bed railing, Rolly rolled him off the bed. Lou shoved Danny to the ground just as quickly, then tackled a man in the doorway.
Pain lanced through Patrick’s back and his head as it cracked onto the ground. But he forced the dizziness aside as more gunshots rang out from the hall.
“Lou?” Rolly yelled.
“He’s out,” she said. But more gunfire and additional screams answered as well.
Charles grimaced next to them but he nodded at Patrick. “I’m okay.”
Patrick grabbed Rolly’s shirt. “Nyssa. Max.”
Rolly looked at him, his eyes deadly serious. “I’ll find them.” In a blur, he disappeared, and Patrick wondered if he’d done the right thing. Rolly was still just a teenager.
Patrick glanced under the bed in time to see Lou blur out the door as well, and his heart nearly stopped as Danny raced after them.
“Danny, no!”
Chapter 103
Danny ran after Lou and Rolly. Neither of them paused as they bolted into the giant living space. Rolly tackled a man over by the living room who’d opened fire. Lou blurred for a man by the kitchen island.
Danny stopped at the edge of the hall, not stepping into the big room. The gunmen weren’t Fallen or Nephilim. If they were, Lou and Rolly would have sensed them. This was Elisabeta’s backup plan. Danny was sure of it.
Lou and Rolly disappeared down the other hallway, where the kids had been playing. Dom had taken them into his lab. Danny frowned, watching the big room. He didn’t recognize the two men Lou and Rolly had taken out.
He glanced back down the hall. The place was secure, so how did they get in? There was no chance they made it through all the locks. There were two other entrances, but both were supposed to be guarded. But they would be easier to move through or to station people at. People lay in pools of blood, but others were already moving to help them. And he knew that security was already on the way. They didn’t need him here, but he had a feeling he was going to be needed somewhere else.
He turned back down the hall. Elisabeta wouldn’t just attack the shelter. She’d give them specific targets. Patrick, yes. Nyssa and Max, of course. But there was one other target that would definitely be on that list.
The door to the supply room slowly slid open. Danny ducked into Dom’s office, peering through the door. A man stepped out, pausing for just a moment before he headed to the right and the one other room that was occupied.
The room where Jen lay sleeping.
Chapter 104
There were no guns in Dom’s office, not even a knife, but he did have a fire extinguisher. Danny hefted it up.
This will have to do. He cracked open the door and slipped silently into the hall.
He tried to run-walk while not making any noise. Jen’s parents had been in the living room, which meant Jen was now unguarded. She was on a drip that was keeping her sedated. She probably wouldn’t even realize anything was happening until it was too late. Danny picked up the pace, the unusual thought of Jen being helpless terrifying him. He stopped at the end of the hall. The entrance to her room was only six feet to his right around the corner.
Holding his breath, he glanced out. The gunman had his back to Danny, but his weapon was pointed into the room.
“Hey!” Danny yelled as he sprinted around the corner. The man’s neck snapped around. Danny aimed the foam right at the guy’s face. He thrust the extinguisher into the guy’s chest, shoving him back. The man rolled onto his back. But Danny couldn’t slow his momentum. The man upkicked, sending Danny flying over him.
The landing was not soft. Danny hit the wall and slid down to the ground in a heap, but he managed to roll to his feet just as the guy got to his. But Danny had lost his only weapon.
The guy had not lost his. He smirked as he raised his gun hand. “Nice try, kid.”
Two hands appeared on either side of his head, then there was an audible snap as his head whipped to the side. The man dropped, revealing Jen in pajamas.
Her face pale, dark circles under her eyes, she held on to the wall for support. “You okay?” she asked, her voice strained.
Danny got to his feet. “Yeah, I’m—”
Jen’s eyes rolled back in her head. She pitched forward. Danny lunged, grabbing her before she could hit the ground.
“Jen? Jen!” But then his heart nearly stopped as he saw the blood staining her pajama bottoms.
The baby. Tears sprang to his eyes as he clutched Jen to him. “Help!”
Chapter 105
Washington, D.C.
Laney stared at Jake, knowing Elisabeta had not ended things here at the Mall. She had backup plans upon backup plans.
Jake hung up his phone. “There was an attack.”
Laney slowly got to her feet. “What happened?”
“It was handled. But Jen . . . it’s not good. We should—”
“Drop your weapons!”
Laney, Jake, and Drake went still. In disbelief, Laney studied the ring of Secret Service agents that had encircled them and were moving in. All looked angry, and she tried not to be angry at the fact that they had waited until after the threat was gone to act.
Terror tore through her though when she saw more agents approaching Cleo and Cain. Cleo, don’t move, and don’t fight them.
Want to hurt me.
I know. Stay still, and you’ll be all right. Cleo lay down on the ground. Cain knelt down over her, offering her any protection he could.
“Is this a joke?” Drake asked.
Jake slowly started to raise his hands. “I don’t think so.”
Laney started to raise hers as well, taking a step closer to Jake. She nodded to the weapon with the Omni cartridge that Drake had left on the ground only a few feet away, right at the edge of the ring of agents. Two more steps and one would be on top of it. “How many doses of Omni are left in that magazine?” she asked quietly.
“Two,” Jake said.
“Stop talking, and kick your weapons away,” an agent ordered.
“Not quite yet,” Laney murmured. A wind slammed into the agents, blowing them ten feet back.
“Oh boy.” Drake yanked Jake back as two bolts of lightning tore into the weapon holding the Omni rounds.
Laney turned her head but still felt the heat from the strikes. When the she turned back, there were scorch marks on the stage. But more importantly, the gun and the rounds inside were now just molten pieces of metal. Her gaze shifted to where Elisabeta lay.
Your turn.
Four additional strikes tore into Elisabeta’s body, setting it on fire.
“Get a fire extinguisher,” one of the agents yelled from the ground.
“No.” Laney held them down with more wind. She created a vortex around Elisabeta’s body, sending in more strikes.
“What a
re you doing?” Jake whispered.
Laney kept her attention on the vortex and on keeping the agents back. “Destroying any evidence of the Omni.”
“Is that really necessary?” Drake asked.
“Not sure, but I think it’s probably best if the United States government does not have the means to create an army of super soldiers.”
It took fifteen minutes to destroy Elisabeta’s body. As soon as it was reduced to bone, she released the agents and the vortex.
The agents struggled to their feet. One surged forward. “On your knees! On your knees!”
Jake dropped to his knees with a sigh.
“Get Cain and Cleo out of here,” Laney murmured to Drake out of the corner of her mouth.
“I’m not leaving you.”
“Drake, please. If the government gets their hands on them . . .”
“Oh, fine,” Drake muttered.
“You, on the ground,” an agent yelled at Drake.
“I think not.” Drake blurred. The agents around Cain and Cleo crashed to the ground just before they disappeared, leaving the agents looking dumbfounded.
Laney dropped to the ground next to Jake. “You know, you’d think they’d be a little nicer to the people who just rid the world of Elisabeta.”
“Well, they might be nicer if you hadn’t just made them all look like idiots.”
“They were telling us to get down before I did that.”
“True.”
The agents moved in and shoved Laney and Jake to the ground. Laney grimaced as her cheek slammed into the rough dais. Jake wasn’t being treated any kinder.
“Maybe they don’t realize we’re the good guys,” he said.
“Not sure they agree with that title,” Laney muttered as cuffs were slapped on her wrists. They yanked her to her feet.
“You are under arrest for the attempted assassination of the President of the United States and assault on”—the agent looked around—“two dozen federal agents.”
Another agent stepped up to Laney. Laney frowned. She was already in cuffs and not resisting. What was he—
