Chalice of Life

by R. A. Rock

  They watched in dismay as ten fighters, the same as the ones they had just defeated, poured out of each SUV. In seconds, the warriors had the three of them surrounded where they stood in the middle of the Medicine Wheel.

  “Hands in the air.” They all raised their hands up. “Give us the woman and no one has to get hurt.”

  Tess glanced at the others. “I’ll give myself up. I can best any of their fighters.”

  “Not guns,” Finn reminded her. “You can’t fight guns.”

  Tess pressed her lips together. “You’re right. They’re a terribly vicious weapon. And I don’t have mine. I left it in the car.”

  “Those wily Starless Ones,” he muttered.

  “What?” Jayde said.

  “Never mind,” Tess said, turning to face the warriors. “I’m going. It’s our best chance. If I turn myself in, then they’ll let you go. I’ll find a way to escape.”

  “Who are you people?” Jayde said, upset. “Spies or something?”

  “Or something,” Finn agreed.

  “Okay, I’m coming,” Tess called out, keeping her hands up. She began slowly walking toward them.

  “Not you,” the man in charge said. “We want the archeologist.”

  Chapter 28

  They want the human?

  Tessa’s heart dropped as heavily as one of the stones in the Medicine Wheel they were standing in. When she took a deep calming breath, she could smell the fresh scent of the prairie grass blowing on the wind. The cheerful mid-morning sunlight was in direct contrast to the dire situation they were in that she had no idea how to get out of.

  There was no way that they could let them take Jayde, the poor helpless human. But neither did she know what to do when they were so vastly outnumbered—and outgunned, as they said in the movies.

  “What are they talking about?” Jayde said, suddenly afraid. The wind whipped her hair into her face and she tucked it behind her ear. “Why would they want me?”

  The Commander heard her and answered. “You have valuable information about the Holy Grail that the Church is interested in.”

  “The Church?” Jayde said.

  “I remember where I’ve seen those symbols,” Finn said to Tess quietly. “Ethan showed me a picture of his old girlfriend, Rebekah. And she had one of those on her shirt.”

  “Which church?” Jayde called out.

  The warriors all exchanged glances and then laughed.

  “The Church,” the Commander said. “There’s only one.”

  “We can’t let them take her,” Finn said to Tess, continuing their quiet discussion. “Who knows what they want with her?”

  “They want me to show them where to find the Holy Grail,” Jayde whispered, joining the conversation. “Because I’m pretty sure I know where it is. And it’s not where everyone else is looking.”

  “Dr. Flett, please come with us,” the Commander said again. Tessa took in how many warriors they had, how many weapons. It didn’t look good.

  “Then there’s no way we can let them take you,” Tess told Jayde quietly. “Don’t worry. We’ll protect you.”

  Jayde pulled her head back a little in surprise. “Thanks. But I can take care of myself.”

  Tessa looked her over with an assessing gaze. “I’m sure you could with some training. But what would you have done if you’d been by yourself when those ten showed up?” Tess gave her a questioning look.

  “Been captured?” Jayde guessed.

  “You have twenty seconds to give up the doctor,” the Commander announced in a threatening voice.

  “Before you do what?” Tess said, calling his bluff. “Shoot us? And risk harming her?”

  “We don’t need to shoot any of you. There’s a hundred of us and only three of you. You’re outnumbered.”

  Tess moved without warning and, in seconds, had Jayde pinned with a Unity Blade at her throat. The human gasped in shock.

  “Tess,” Finn hissed. “What are you doing?”

  “Saving us,” she whispered back. Tessa could feel Jayde’s pulse pounding where her arm pressed against the human’s warm neck.

  Drastic times called for drastic measures. She loved how she had all these interesting expressions in her head because of the translator.

  “Well, I have the doctor, and I have killed before.” She stared around at the men and women with her Captain of the Guard face. “I won’t hesitate to do so now if I think you’ll try to take her. We either have her. Or no one does.”

  They must have seen something on her face that convinced them because they all seemed unsure of what to do. A woman stepped forward.

  “Let’s all just calm down,” she suggested. “No need for anyone to get hurt.”

  “Whether I calm down or not depends on whether you all leave or not,” Tessa said, her voice hard.

  The warriors stood there, all one hundred of them with their guns, and Tess held Jayde with the blade to her throat. Nobody moved.

  “It seems we’re at an impasse,” the Commander said, his eyes hardening. Tess wondered what his orders were in this situation. If they had somehow anticipated this.

  The tension was palpable, thick and suffocating.

  What would they do?

  And then as if knowing they were in need of a distraction, something appeared in the sky.

  “What the hell is that?” the Commander said, squinting up at it but never moving his gun from where it pointed at them. Tess looked up, too.

  The aircraft was small and white—about the size of a small car. It looked like a futuristic airplane but with two sets of wings, one smaller than the other. And it was flying in very quietly.

  “I don’t know,” the woman said. “A private jet?”

  “So why’s it not making any noise?”

  “It’s lost its engines,” she guessed.

  “Or maybe it’s electric?”

  The entire group watched in silence as the aircraft approached.

  “Holy shit,” Finn whispered. “It’s Ethan.”

  “What?” Tess said, meeting his eyes. She let go of Jayde, who glared at her.

  The warriors barely noticed. The Commander had already given the command to half of them to aim at the airplane thing, while the rest kept their guns trained on Tessa’s group. Of course, their minds were clearly on this new threat in the sky.

  “Sorry about that, Jayde,” Tess said, feeling contrite. “I thought it would work. It has before.”

  Jayde tilted her head as if considering it. “It probably would have if that hadn’t shown up and distracted everyone,” Jayde said, indicating the aircraft with her lips in a way that Tessa found odd.

  “What makes you think it’s Ethan, Finn?”

  “That’s a Lilium jet,” Finn explained. “Ethan showed me his on the night we spent drinking together. It’s barely begun production but Ethan convinced the company to sell him the very first one.”

  “Really?”

  “When Ethan wants something, he wants something. And I’m beginning to see he pretty much gets everything he wants.”

  The little airplane-like vehicle flew smoothly and softly through the air, making a neat circle and landing vertically like a helicopter, coming straight down to the ground next to the group of people. There was a hiss as the door released and opened, almost like a car door.

  They all waited, the entire place humming with magic and suspense.

  A man stepped out. He was tall and handsome, wearing a white shirt and blue jeans. His dirty blond hair was blowing in the prairie wind and he wore sunglasses.

  Tessa nearly lost her breath.

  There was something almost angelic about him in that white shirt and coming down from the heavens. Power seemed to shimmer around him. And she was so attracted to him that it was like a hunger inside her.

  “Who. Is. That?” said Jayde, her eyes wide. She licked her lips like she found Ethan delicious and this bothered Tess for some reason. He was a man. Not a piece of meat. Her own drooling aside.


  “What is it about that guy?” Finn said, his face showing grudging admiration.

  An expression popped into Tessa’s head.

  All the women want him and all the men want to be him.

  That was what was happening right here, right now.

  It was Ethan.

  Chapter 29

  Ethan stood looking around for a moment, then zeroed in on their small group in the middle of the Omahk. The sun was moving into an overhead position and he cast very little shadow as he headed straight for them. The impeccable white of his shirt made him almost seem to glow.

  Then he grinned straight at Tess—or that was what it felt like—and her heart skipped a beat.

  Her heart was a traitor.

  She told her heart to beat like normal. She wasn’t about to be affected by a man like Ethan.

  Besides, she was still heartbroken.

  Tess met Finn’s eyes and he gave her a wry grin.

  Bloody Ethan.

  “Stop right there,” the Commander said as soon as Ethan took his first step. Ethan never hesitated. “Hey, I said stop.”

  Ethan turned to face the Commander.

  “You don’t deserve to wear that star,” Ethan told him with distaste. “Do your job. Why are you chasing humans and dishes when there are shifters and vamps still running around creating havoc?”

  The Commander frowned at that.

  Ethan continued forward.

  “Stop or I’ll shoot,” the Commander said.

  Ethan didn’t stop. The warriors parted to let him through as if they couldn’t help themselves. The Commander got an angry look on his face and lowered his gun, firing a shot at Ethan’s leg.

  The sound made Tess jump and Ethan wince. She focused on his leg. There was a hole in the pants and he seemed to be bleeding. The bastard had shot him. Ethan kept walking, limping a little. He gave the Commander a dirty look.

  “We got a shifter,” someone called from the ranks.

  “Should we shoot the dog?” someone else said.

  “What’s the point?” another pointed out. “We don’t have golden bullets.”

  “Hold your fire,” the Commander ordered, his tone sharp. “Not until we’ve acquired the doctor. Elder John said she’s not to be harmed.”

  “And she won’t be,” Ethan said to the Commander. “Now that I’m here.”

  He walked up to the three of them standing next to the pile of rocks.

  “What up, guys?” he said, lifting his sunglasses and shoving them back in his hair. “How’s it going, Stars?”

  He winked at Tess and she hated that her pulse kicked up. He smelled like the forest and a good time—not that she was looking for one.

  “Ethan,” Tess said, annoyed that she was glad to see him. “What are you doing here?”

  “Saving you?” he said, spreading his arms and grinning at them. “What else?” He turned to Jayde. “And who are you?” He took her hand and kissed the back of it.

  “Are you kidding me?” Tess said, unable to keep from rolling her eyes.

  “Dr. Jayde Flett,” Jayde said, ignoring Tessa’s comment. “Shouldn’t you get that wound looked at?”

  “A doctor? Very impressive. My name’s Ethan Hunter, Dr. Jayde.” He lifted his pant leg and looked at his shin, which was perfect and whole again already because he had already healed. “What wound? He must have missed.”

  Jayde frowned and Tess shook her head. The hole from the bullet was there and Tess could see blood on his pants. Jayde was a human, not stupid. What was Ethan thinking, showing her his leg? Besides, there were still over a hundred hostiles pointing guns at them. This was no time for flirting.

  “Uh, Ethan?” Tess said, and Ethan swiveled his head to look at her. “We have a situation here?”

  “I know, Tess. That’s why I’m here. To help out. Although I didn’t expect Hunters, I have to admit.”

  “Hunters?” Finn asked.

  “Later,” Tess spat. “How are we going to get out of this? We can’t let them take her.”

  “Give us the doctor or we’ll have to take her by force,” the Commander threatened and there was no bluffing in his face. He meant it. They watched as one of the men went to one of the SUVs and pulled out an enormous gun. It made a metallic, hollow clunking sound as he loaded it.

  “That’s a rocket launcher,” Finn said.

  Tess gave him a doubtful look.

  “I saw it in the movie I watched last night,” he explained.

  “Do not attempt to escape. Do not attempt to use the aircraft or we will blow it out of the sky. Hand over the doctor. Now.”

  At these words, Ethan switched off the charm and flippancy as if he had turned the tap on a faucet and his face got serious. He glanced at Finn and Tess.

  “I can’t have them blowing up Lily,” he said.

  “My name’s Jayde.”

  “My personal aircraft is called Lily,” Ethan told her. “She’s brand new. And I don’t want them blowing her up. So we have to get out of here some other way. Ideas?”

  There was silence in their small group, surrounded by the silence of all the warriors that had trapped them here.

  Here. In the Medicine Wheel.

  Tess thought.

  The Medicine Wheel was a giant faerie ring.

  “Can you get them back, Ethan?” Tess said. “I have an idea. But it involves bringing Jayde in on what we are.”

  “Tess, there’s no coming back from this,” Finn warned her, scowling. “Once the Starless One knows, she can’t un-know it.”

  Tess hesitated. Faeries generally tried to keep a low profile on Earth. Though obviously from the whole fairytale thing, they hadn’t been that good at it.

  “Starless?” Jayde’s eyes were confused.

  “You have twenty seconds,” the Commander said, his eyes hard.

  “I’m sure she’d rather know than be kidnapped,” Ethan said, looking at Jayde. “Or die.”

  “Yes, yes, I’d rather that,” Jayde said, her brown eyes filled with fear. “Bring me in. Please don’t leave me here.”

  “Okay,” Tess said, giving her a sharp nod. “Don’t worry. We won’t leave you. Ethan, I need all the warriors—”

  “Hunters,” Ethan corrected.

  “I need all the Hunters back out of the Medicine Wheel or we’ll end up taking them with us and we don’t want that.”

  “Taking them with us where?” Jayde questioned.

  “And then?”

  “Then we use the faerie ring.”

  “Faerie ring?” Jayde said, a look of disbelief on her face.

  “No time to explain,” Finn told her and put a finger to his lips. Then he took Jayde’s hand. Tess was mildly surprised that the human let him.

  “Ready?” Ethan said.

  “Ready,” Tess answered.

  “Your time is up,” the Commander said, his tone sharp. “On my mark—”

  Ethan brought his arms up in front of his chest, palms facing away. Then he flung them out forcefully. All the Hunters were blasted back away from the Omahk. They all landed on their feet in a perfect circle ten feet away from the outer rim of the Medicine Wheel.

  “Fire,” the Commander ordered.

  “What are we going to—” Jayde cried out, cut off as the Hunters were left shooting at nothing.

  Chapter 30

  “…do?” Jayde finished her sentence as they appeared in one of the grey rooms in the Passageways, the midday sun that had been beating down on them a second ago no longer to be seen.

  Finn immediately stumbled and clung to the wall, looking as though he was going to pass out, his face a sickly grey color.

  “Hey, man,” Ethan said, putting a hand on his shoulder. “You okay?”

  “Finn,” Tess said, going to him at once and getting his arm around her shoulders and easing him down onto the grey carpet that covered the floor.

  “What’s wrong with him?” Jayde said.

  Tess looked up at her. “Long story,” she said
as if she expected Jayde to freak out at any minute.

  Ethan speculated she’d be waiting a long time for that woman to freak. She seemed grounded and chill. She wasn’t going to get bent out of shape over a little magic.

  “Wait,” Jayde said as she began to look around. “Where did the Omahk go? How are we inside when we were outside only a second ago? And where are all those soldiers with guns?”

  “They’re Hunters,” Ethan said, knowing this would only confuse her further but unable to resist correcting her. It really irritated him that those Hunters out there were running errands for the church, collecting objects and people instead of getting out there, kicking ass, and protecting the humans the way they were supposed to.

  “Hunting what?” Jayde said in complete disbelief. “I know hunters from back home and they don’t carry rocket launchers around in the back of their SUVs. Plus, they wear the required bright orange vests.”

  “Finn, are you okay?” Tess said, her eyes worried when Finn didn’t answer. He stared at the floor and then closed his eyes. “Finn.”

  She shook him a little. Finn’s eyes fluttered open and then closed again.

  Ethan frowned, crouching down beside the Fae he was starting to consider a friend. He knew Finn might not see him that way. Not yet. But he liked Finn. He was a good man. He ought to have people like Finn around him, instead of the usual groupie types that usually wanted to hang around with him.

  This gave him a pang of worry about his career. But if anything was wrong, Doyle would have called him. His friend had a plan to reconstruct his public image after the model-hot tub fiasco, which involved a ton of volunteering, photo ops, donations, and strategic posts on social media. Doyle was certain he could get things back on track as long as Ethan cooperated and did exactly as he said. And Ethan had promised he would, as soon as he helped Tess and Finn out.

  He might not be planning to tour anymore. But he still wanted his career on track. He would still be writing and recording. And he needed people to want to listen to his music. Otherwise, what was the point? He thought about calling to find out how things were going back home with the career resurrection. But he knew that Doyle would call if there was anything urgent, so he didn’t need to be concerned. Besides, there were more pressing things to worry about right now.