The Savage War (The Vampire World Saga Book 5)

by P. T. Hylton

  “Thank you, Councilman.” General Craig turned to Alex. “Captain Goddard, I’d be curious to hear your thoughts.”

  Alex shifted in her seat uncomfortably. She hadn’t been expecting to be called on for her opinion. Usually, they wanted her to shut up. “I can’t believe I’m about to say this, but I agree with Ambassador McCready.”

  The ambassador’s mouth dropped open.

  “It’s simple, really,” Alex said. “You want me to fight this woman who killed over a hundred and fifty vampires in a day? I have three people. I need more.”

  Horace frowned. “Alex, you’re not saying--”

  The conference room door opened before he could finish, and CB’s assistant, Linda, walked in.

  “I’m sorry, everyone, but this is urgent,” she said. “Someone radioed us on the GMT’s channel. She wants to talk to Jaden. Says her name is Maryana.”

  The room fell silent.

  Finally, General Craig said, “Can you patch the transmission in here?”

  It took a couple of minutes, but soon they had a radio set up in the center of the room.

  “Switch it on,” Craig told Linda, and she quickly complied.

  A female voice immediately came out of the radio. She was singing. “Pocketful of posies. Ashes. Ashes. We all fall down.”

  Craig cleared his throat. “This is General Craig. Who are you?”

  The woman giggled. “What, you don’t have caller ID in your fancy city? I think you know who this is. I take it you’re the guy in charge?”

  Craig exchanged a nervous glance with CB. “I represent the people of this city, yes.”

  “Hmm, you’re sure Jaden’s not actually in charge? He has a way of making humans feel important, while he calls the shots.”

  Ambassador McCready bristled at that.

  “I’m sure,” Craig replied. “What do you want?”

  “To offer you the deal of a lifetime, as they used to say in my day.”

  Alex frowned. She wanted nothing more than to grab the radio from the General’s hand and tell Maryana where she could stick her offer. But she stewed in silence, listening.

  “Here’s the thing,” Maryana continued. “It’s not going to sound like a great deal when you hear it, but give it a moment or two to grow on you. I assure you it’s the best you’re going to get. See, I’m sitting down here in this ship I found, and it’s got all sorts of equipment and computers. Why, I’ll bet every piece of information I could want about your little city is in here somewhere.”

  Alex’s heart leapt into the throat at that. The away ship. Maryana had the away ship. And the terrible part was, Maryana was right. If she gained access to the computers, she could not only get information on New Haven, but she could also track the city’s location.

  Luckily, CB was one step ahead of Alex. He motioned to Craig to mute the radio, then turned to Linda. “Get to the bridge and tell the pilot to deactivate the pingback device. Now.” As Linda left, he turned to the Council. “That’s what communicates our location to the away ship. It won’t be impossible for her to find us without it, but it’ll be infinitely harder”

  “You there, General?” Maryana asked.

  “I’m here,” Craig answered. “Just… digesting.”

  “Sure. And I’ll bet you don’t have a roomful of flunkies listening in and scrambling to figure out what information I have on the ship.” She paused. “It doesn’t matter. Here’s your offer. I want half.”

  Craig stared at the radio, confused. “Half of what?”

  She giggled. “The people, you idiot. I want half the people in your city. Delivered to me, on this island.”

  “Good God,” Horace muttered. “She’s insane.”

  Alex wasn’t about to argue with that.

  “I’m sorry, why would I give you half the people in this city?” Craig asked.

  “Because half is better than all. Look, if you don’t accept, I’m going to find your city, and I’m going to torture you to death, General. I’m very good at it. And you’ll die with the knowledge that the same thing is going to happen to everyone you love.”

  Craig stared at the radio in disbelief. “I’m not going to… We’re not…”

  “I’ll take the younger half of the population, please. The kiddies will just love spending time with me and my friends in Puerto Rico. Oh, the fun we’ll have! And the great thing about kids is you can just make more of them to replace the ones I took. No big deal! The way I see it, it’s a win-win situation, but I will need your answer now. It’s a very limited-time offer.”

  Craig continued staring at the radio in silence, his eyes wide. CB marched over and took the radio from his hand.

  “That’s going to be a hard pass from us,” he said.

  Maryana laughed. “I was really hoping you’d say that. Because I love torturing old people, too.”

  “That ship you’re on? It’s our property,” CB said. “I suggest you clear out before we come to claim it, or there will be consequences.”

  “Clear out? Why would I do that? I’m going to need this ship.” She broke into a sing-song voice. “Up. Up. Up. Ready or not, here I come.”

  Alex felt a cold sweat break out on her back. Maryana knew. She knew they were up.

  “Turn it off,” McCready said in a weak voice. “Please.”

  CB flicked off the radio.

  General Craig slowly raised his head and looked at the other Council members. “Any objections to Ambassador McCready’s proposal?”

  There were none.

  Alex pressed a button on the keypad mounted on the wall, and the door made an audible click. She pulled the steel door open and looked at the two vampires inside.

  “I hope this isn’t a conjugal visit,” Jaden said, when he saw her.

  “It really isn’t,” Alex said.

  “Prison break?” Owl asked hopefully. “Are we going rogue again?”

  “Nope,” Alex said with a smile. “I’m here with full authorization of the Council. Maryana radioed us. Suddenly the Council decided having two vampires on our side might not be the worst idea. So, you are prisoners no more.”

  Jaden got to his feet and stretched. His strange, twisted knees made a cracking sound. “Everyone on New Haven is a prisoner, Alex. They just have a bigger cell.”

  Alex shook her head. “You keep pulling that wise old man thing and I’m going to lock you back in there.”

  “It’s the truth. Especially for me. I can’t go back to Agartha, or I’ll infect my friends.”

  Alex shrugged. “If you’re stuck, you might as well make the best of it. Have you considered military service?”

  Jaden raised an eyebrow. “Are you asking me what I think you’re asking me?”

  “Look, we’re both agreed that we need to take that crazy bitch down. And I suddenly find myself a little shorthanded.” She paused. “There’d be some stipulations, of course. You’d have to be a team player. No shady side missions. No secrets. We need to trust each other, and that means you tell me what you know. Don’t hold back because of vampire traditions or whatever other bullshit excuse you usually use.”

  He looked at her for a long moment. “The Council is on board for this?”

  “Very much so.”

  “Then, for as long as Maryana is alive, I agree to your terms.”

  Owl crossed her arms. “Just to be clear, I get my job back too, right?”

  “Oh, that goes without saying. Chuck could barely keep us in the sky.” Alex turned back to Jaden and held out her hand. “Welcome to the GMT.”

  21

  George ran down the hallway, a wide grin on his face. It had been a difficult few days, but the uncertainty, the chaos, the fear, it was all over now. Things were going to be fine. He felt as giddy as a child.

  He reached the door to Natalie’s room and pounded on it. Without waiting for a response, he pressed the buzzer next to the door. He waited for nearly a minute, barely able to contain himself, and then the door flew open.

&n
bsp; “What?” Natalie was dressed in only a robe, and she glared at him with bloodshot eyes. Her scowl caused George to take a step back. “You realized it’s ten in the morning, right?”

  George’s grin quickly returned. He knew exactly how to defuse her anger, “You were right.”

  Natalie blinked hard and stared at him blankly. “Right about what?”

  “He’s alive! They took him to New Haven. He’s on the radio right now, and he wants to talk to you.”

  Natalie’s expression stayed blank for a moment. George watched as she processed what he had just said in her half-awake state. He could see the connection take hold, and her eyes light up. She whispered, “Oh, my God.” She looked at George “Let’s go.”

  Before George could answer Natalie sprinted down the hallway. The door to her quarters was still open, and her robe flapped behind her as she ran. George took in a deep breath and started after her.

  By the time George made it to the communications room, Natalie already had the radio in her hand. “Jaden, are you there?”

  “Natalie.” There was a long pause. “I’ve missed the sound of your voice. I hope that my absence hasn’t been too much of a hardship.” Jaden’s voice was as smooth and steady as always.

  “I knew that they couldn’t kill you. I never lost faith in that.” She beamed, her smiling face a reversal of the frustrated, rage-filled expression she’d worn when she’d opened the door a few minutes earlier. Tears welled in her eyes.

  George leaned close to the microphone. “It’ll be great to have you back here, Jaden. Things have been… a little tense. I can have everything ready for your arrival in an hour.”

  “That won’t be necessary, George. I’m not coming back to the city. Not for the foreseeable future. My return would kill Natalie and the other vampires. I have been infected by the virus.”

  Natalie stiffened at Jaden’s words. “I don’t understand. If you’re infected, how are you still alive?”

  There was a long pause. “It didn’t kill me, but I wasn’t immune either. It had a major effect on me.”

  Jaden went on to tell them about the events that occurred after he went to Puerto Rico. He told them about his transformation, the state of his relationship with New Haven and the GMT, and finally, he told them about Maryana’s return.

  “How is that possible? How is she alive?” Natalie’s face was even paler than usual, and George thought he saw a hint of fear in her eyes.

  “We were right,” Jaden said. “She infiltrated Project White Horse early in its development. Her intent was to kill all of us, while making herself and the vampires she’d personally turned immune to sunlight and silver. My survival was an unintended consequence.” He paused. “I hope you both understand the seriousness of the situation. I need you to be make sure all of the city’s defenses are ready and working. She knows that there are humans in the world, and I have no doubt that she will find Agartha, if I don’t find her first.”

  “Is there a cure for the virus?” There was a slight hitch in Natalie’s voice. “Can we help you hunt her down?”

  “There is no cure yet. I don’t know if there ever will be. I think you’ll be safe in Agartha, at least for now. I’m going to work with the GMT to hunt Maryana, and this time, I’ll make sure she stays dead. I will give you updates as often as I can. Take care of Agartha and protect one another.”

  The radio clicked off and the room fell silent. George still felt like a child, but now he felt like one who was afraid of the dark.

  A bright moon lit the night sky as Maryana and Stephen ran through the streets of San Juan. Stephen stayed on the ground, moving around cars and leaping over barriers in the street. Maryana jumped from rooftop to rooftop. She occasionally grabbed a bit of rubble and threw it into a wall or at an old car just to see it explode on impact. She smiled as she ran, her hair blowing in the wind.

  They came to a cluster of buildings in the center of the city. Maryana jumped down from the roof and stood next to Stephen. “We are close.”

  Stephen closed his eyes and concentrated. “I feel it too. How do we know it’s not Jaden or one of his vampires?”

  “That’s not what it feels like to me.” She readied a pistol in each hand. “But if they are hostile, I’m ready to play.”

  She closed her eyes and concentrated, sending out a single thought with all of her might: Come to me. Stephen stood next to her, his weapon at the ready, scanning the area. She heard the faint sound of footsteps coming from a building to the north.

  Maryana opened her eyes. She spoke in a commanding voice that carried through the quiet night. “Come and kneel before me. A time of awakening has come, and I require your presence.”

  Slowly, a creature crept out of the shadows and into the street. The moonlight illuminated his deformed, naked vampire body. He stared, wide-eyed, at Maryana. “My mistress, is it really you?”

  “I see you’re just as pretty as us,” Maryana said with a frown. “Seems to be the price of survival.”

  He stumbled forward and fell to his knees in front of her. “I thought… I thought I was in hell. Now I know that I’m not, because I get to be with you.”

  Stephen rolled his eyes. “That’s a little much, don’t you think?”

  Maryana squinted at him. “Is that you, Anthony? It is hard to tell with the changes.”

  He beamed at the sound of his name. “Yes, it’s me.” He paused. “How long have I been gone? Everything’s a blur. I remember starving, and then the world seemed to fall apart around me.”

  “Apparently, it’s been about a hundred and fifty years,” Maryana said. “I’ve been gone, just like you, but now I’m back. It looks like all of my progeny might be back. Someone released the virus.” She looked down at him. “I’m glad you missed me, but can you get up?”

  Instead, he bent down and kissed her boot. She grabbed him by the hair and pulled him up. He yelped in pain.

  Maryana slapped him hard across the face with her other hand. “I get that it’s hard not to worship me, but you need to focus. We have work to do.”

  “Anything. I will go wherever you lead.”

  Stephen rolled his eyes again.

  “We need to search this island and locate any other followers who are still alive. If I remember correctly, there were about twenty of my progenies on the island.”

  “Are your followers the only ones left?” Anthony asked.

  Maryana grunted in annoyance. “Jaden is still alive. He is very much the cockroach that I always took him for. The good news is that humans are much more resilient than I assumed, and they are still kicking around, too. So it looks like we need to put our little army back together. Fights are more fun when they’re lopsided in my favor.”

  Anthony looked down for a moment. “I am starving, Maryana. I need to feed.”

  Maryana pulled up harder on his hair, lifting him off the ground. His scalp stretched under the weight of his body. “Don’t make me question your loyalty. I have blood, and if you are a good boy and help me find more followers, you can have some.”

  His eyes lit up. “Of course. I’ll find them. I swear it.”

  She set him down but kept hold of his hair. “I knew I could count on you, Anthony.” She pulled him in and kissed him hard on the lips. “Now, let’s get to work.”

  The search continued through the night, and it proved quite fruitful. As they gathered more vampire survivors, they eventually split into two teams, one led by Stephen, and the other by Maryana. They ran from city to city, sensing if other vampires were near. They met back at the ship just before sunrise.

  Maryana stood atop the away ship and looked down at her followers. There were fifteen of them now, including Anthony and Stephen. They’d found clothes for some of them among the supplies that the vampires killed in the warehouse had left behind, but many were still naked. They gazed up at Maryana in awe, waiting for her to speak.

  “Your belief in me has always been well placed,” she said. “We brought down the e
ntire world, and now all we have to do is take what’s left. A few vampires. A few humans. All of them our playthings. We have made ourselves gods.” She paused, watching as they nervously glanced at the quickly brightening horizon. “Before me, vampires were weak. They were nothing more than shadows in the night. I am more than a shadow.” The first rays of light fell onto her face, and she smiled. “Now, because of me, you are more than shadows, too.”

  Her followers gasped. Some fell to their knees, and some just stared in disbelief. She climbed down from the top of the ship and retrieved an armload of blood packets from the ship.

  “Drink with me in the light.” She threw the packets to the ground, and they snatched them up, devouring the contents as the warm morning sun cast their shadows on the ground for the first time in many, many years.

  Maryana picked up a packet and drank. She licked a drop of blood from the corner of her mouth, watched the sun rising in the sky, and smiled.

  22

  Frank arrived in the stockroom, his stomach rumbling with hunger. When he walked in, his boss Toby looked up, the annoyance clear in his eyes.

  “There you are. And not a minute too soon.” He gestured toward two carts, each loaded with packets of blood. Frank’s mouth watered at the sight of them. “In case you hadn’t noticed, we had a major screwup this morning.”

  “I noticed,” Frank replied.

  Every night when the vampires woke, there was a packet of blood waiting for each of them outside their doors. It let them feed immediately, so that they could spend their nights completely focused on more important things. Tonight, however, there had been no blood waiting outside Frank’s door when he woke. He’d had to fight down the panic that had risen inside him. He knew what it was like to go hungry, to feel your mind decay as the hunger consumed your consciousness. It was the most horrible thing he’d ever experienced—worse than dying, by a long shot—and he’d promised himself he’d never go through that again. So, the missing packet of blood had worried him. But now, showing up at work and seeing cartloads of the stuff, he felt relief wash over him.