Date: 2014-12-30 05:00:00+00:00
Keywords: Vampires; Paranormal; Young Adult; Fantasy
Description: At long last, we get to view the world through Drew’s eyes. Society is slowly rebuilding since the end of the Vampire Apocalypse. In an effort to prevent another takeover by the undead, the government has requested the aid of the Hunters. Their mission, help the military train to fight and kill the vampires. When the Pentagon discovers Chloe is a dhampir she is taken into custody. After Drew finds out she is being held for testing and observation, the Hunters once again rally together for yet another rescue to bring Chloe home.

~~~***~~~

The Arcadia Falls Chronicles 5

Winds of Fire

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BY

JENNIFER MALONE WRIGHT

Copyright 2014 Jennifer Malone Wright

This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

First and foremost I thank my husband. Trying to raise five children, even together, isn’t easy, but we manage to do it together and support each other in our work. But, when it comes to writing, he is not only supporting my work, but my dream.

I also want to thank my good friends who take part in the creation of these books. Rose, Tracy and Shawn, Kym, and Willow, thank you for always being there for me to run ideas by or simply to support me.

A huge thank you goes out to my street team, I love you Double Trouble team members. A very special thanks to my PA Cheree, from As You Wish Tours, without whom I would never know what was going on.

And finally, I would like to thank my cover designer Paragraphic Designs and my editor Ink Slasher Editing.

OTHER BOOKS BY JENNIFER MALONE WRIGHT

Keeper vs. Reaper (Graveyard Guardians #1)(Always free)

Keeper of the Peace (Graveyard Guardians #2)

BearyTales

Savior (A Higher Collective Novel)

Once Upon a Zombie Apocalypse – Jade (Always free)

Once Upon a Zombie Apocalypse: Episode 2

The Vampire Hunter’s Daughter Part 1 (Always free)

The Vampire Hunter’s Daughter: Part 2

The Vampire Hunter’s Daughter Part 3

The Vampire Hunter’s Daughter: Part 4

The Vampire Hunter’s Daughter: Part 5

The Vampire Hunter’s Daughter: Part 6

The Vampire Hunter’s Daughter: The Complete Collection

(All six parts a total of 72,000 words)

The Arcadia Falls Chronicles is The Vampire Hunter’s Daughter story continued

Love & War (The Arcadia Falls Chronicles 1)

Taking Talon (The Arcadia Falls Chronicles 2)

Vampire Apocalypse (The Arcadia Falls Chronicles 3)

Blood Warrior (The Arcadia Falls Chronicles 4)

Winds of Fire (The Arcadia Falls Chronicles 5)

CONTENTS

Arcadia Falls #5 Winds of Fire

Excerpt from BearyTales

Excerpt from Savior (A Higher Collective Novel)

Other Books by Jennifer Malone Wright

About the Author

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The Arcadia Falls Chronicles 5

Winds of Fire

~~~***~~~

I died.

I don’t remember much about dying except the pain and then the darkness. There was no going into the light as you hear in tales. The space between my death and the Warrior Angel bringing me back to life was filled with empty, black space and that was what made me afraid of dying again.

Before that time, I had never been afraid to die. I am a Vampire Hunter. I am a fighter and death is only a step away from me every day. But now, I fear that empty darkness more than anything else.

What if that is all there is in the afterlife? I don’t think I could handle the shadowed expanse of nothingness for all eternity. But, I’d been given a second chance and my intention was to make the most of it, but most of all … not to die again.

Society was just starting to put itself back together again. The Vampire Apocalypse was over, but vampires still existed and now, the entire world knew it. The process of re-forming the governments and the military now involves how to prevent another vampire takeover and also how to fight them.

The Hunters had been recruited by the government to help teach them about vampires and to train the military how to fight and kill vampires. After the events in New Orleans, the officials over at the White House contacted The Board at Arcadia Falls to see if we had been a part of it.

The Board, of course hadn’t known we were part of what happened in New Orleans. Luke had insisted we keep it quiet since he didn’t think the Hunters would agree with our plan.

Eventually the secret of our trip was discovered and the next thing I knew, I was on the phone with The Secretary of Defense making plans to head out to the Pentagon for a sit down with the Generals and a bunch of other people with fancy titles.

There was something inside me that screamed, no, the Hunters are a secret, keep the secret. But, in order to help the country, we had to come out into the open and help our people. We had to make sure that people could defend themselves against vampires so that this never happened again.

Chloe felt the same way, she had agreed to be a part of this, but I knew that all the hype and big wig officials made her just as nervous as they made me. Besides, we were just happy to be home. We hadn’t realized how comforting it was to have a place to be, a place that was ours, and a place that was safe from the outside world.

Anthony Christos would say that it was time for yet another chapter in the history books was about to be written.

***

I strode into our home gym and wanted to cover my ears to block out the terrible music. “What the hell are you listening to?” I yelled over the screaming heavy metal.

Zander grunted underneath the weight he was holding and began to lower it back down to the rack. Once the weight was safely replaced, he sat up, a leg on either side of the bench. “If you don’t like my music, come back later,” He growled.

“Your music isn’t music,” I told him and then headed for the treadmill. I wanted to warm up with a run before I hit the weights.

“Call it what you will,” Zander stood and stretched, “but, I was here first.”

I started the belt at a fast walk. “I didn’t ask you to change it. Calm down.”

He made a face and went for pull up bar. I had just sped up the machine to a nice running pace when the door of the gym flew open and Chloe burst in with workout clothes on. “What the hell is that noise?”

I wiped a bead of sweat from my forehead and smiled. “Your brother calls it music, but I agree with you.”

She stepped up on the treadmill next to me and hit the start button, like me, starting at a slower pace to warm up. As she walked, she reached up and twisted her ponytail of dark hair into a tight bun.

There was another grunt from Zander as he lifted himself up until his chin touched the bar. Not that I was checking out another dude or anything, but it was hard not to notice how much bigger his muscles had gotten since the Warrior Angel revived him, as he did with Gavin and I.

Zander’s angel wing tattoo covered the full expanse of his back, only now, the wings weren’t all black like they were before, now they had flecks of white spread throughout the feathers. The wings of ink now replicated the actual wings of the Warrior Angel.

Black and white.

Good and evil.

The sword in the center of the tattoo had not changed, like the wings had, but it was a symbol of the warrior. The angel had said that Zander was to take his place, that he was also a Warrior Angel.

Zander had the tattoo long before we had ever met him, so it made me wonder if his destiny had been written before he was even born. At this point, I was pretty sure we all had something we were meant for in this life or we would have all perished by now.

The Warrior Angel brought, Zander, Gavin and myself back from death and he put Anthony, one of the original vampires, under his protection to save Chloe from her own death. No one gets these kind of chances for no good reason.

“Hey.” Chloe had sped up her machine and was now running at a good pace without even breathing hard. Sometimes that irked me. I trained her and taught her so much, but her half vampire endurance had her outdoing me in everything. I know it was almost chauvinistic to think that way, but I couldn’t help it.

“What?” I pushed the button on my treadmill up so that I could match her pace.

“Are you nervous about tomorrow?”

I waited a beat before answering. I preferred her to think that I wasn’t nervous about anything, but that ship had sailed long ago, she knew me too well. “Yeah, I am. Hunters have always been kept secret from the rest of the world and now we are exposing ourselves. That’s what makes me uneasy.”

She crinkled her nose. “It’s all the official stuff that bothers me. I mean, who would have ever thought we would be meeting with military generals?”

She had a point and that grated on my nerves too. The Secretary of Defense was flying us out to the Pentagon where we would be meeting with General Ahlman. Ahlman had stepped in as General of the Army, since the previous General had been murdered during the Vampire Apocalypse. This trip was definitely going to be something neither of us had experienced before.

As nervous as I was, I felt like us helping out the military would be a good thing. They would learn how to defend our country against vampires, and citizens would feel safer knowing that the possibility of another vampire takeover was minimal.

In addition to the military taking action, the training centers have stayed open. During the apocalypse, the Hunters went into the city and began training the survivors on how to defend themselves. These centers have stayed open. The ones in our city are run by the Hunters from Arcadia Falls.

It was a slow process, but society would eventually be normal again. Well … as normal as it could be with the knowledge of vampires.

Chloe and I ran in silence for a while and then I shut down my treadmill so that I could hit the weights. Zander was still with us in the gym, but he had moved on to the free weights. I watched him work his biceps while I stretched. He wasn’t my favorite person in the world, but I was worried about him. I couldn’t pin point what was going on, but he was different, for sure.

Chloe finished her run and started her yoga stretching. I was totally fine with the yoga because that meant that I could stare at her instead of Zander, which was way more preferable.

“Anyway,” Chloe said as she moved into the warrior pose, “I’m already packed to leave in the morning, are you?”

I shook my head. “No. I haven’t even started yet.”

“Well, you better get it done, you won’t have time in the morning.”

I rolled my eyes at her before leaning back onto the weight bench. “I don’t need that much. I’m a guy. All I need is a clean pair of underwear and socks, possibly some jeans.”

She chuckled and changed positions. “Whatever works for you then.”

***

The next morning, we drove Chloe’s Escalade right up onto the tarmac where a private plane was waiting for us. This was definitely a first for me. I had actually never been on a plane at all, never mind a private plane.

I parked the SUV and checked out the area. The plane was parked, steps down and waiting for us. Surrounding the plane, were at least six soldiers that I could see. They carried weapons and wore flack vests.

I suppose that should make me feel better about the situation since they were prepared for attacks and ready to fight if needed, but all it did was feed my unease. This whole private escort thing creeped me out. I would have been just fine driving to the Pentagon.

“Dang,” Chloe murmured from the passenger seat. “I didn’t think that there would be this much man power here.

I opened my door. “Me either.”

Zander, Christina, and Gavin were in the back seat. They would be going with us for this trip. We had decided that it would probably be best if Alice and Oscar stayed home this time. Yes, they were an asset in battle, but they weren’t true Hunters and we were on Hunter business for this trip. Luke also stayed home, he was our contact with the Board over at Arcadia Falls and we needed him there.

I stepped out of the vehicle and heard everyone else follow. Our bags were in the back so I went to the rear and lifted the back window.

Zander reached in to grab his bag. “After dealing with all of the soldiers who were with the Vampire Council, these guys freak me out.” He moved his gaze in the direction of the uniformed men.

“Me too,” Chloe agreed.

I didn’t say anything more. I just wanted to get this show on the road.

“They better not take our weapons from us,” Christina growled, not loving the sight of these guys either.

“We won’t let them,” I told her. “But, they may take them when we get to the Pentagon, I won’t be surprised if they try.”

She tossed me a glance that said, ‘let them try, I will cut a bitch.’

Zander laughed, “They won’t take our weapons. We are here to help them learn how to kill vampires. They need us more than we need them, so if something happens we would probably be the ones saving their asses. Not the other way around.”

“That’s true,” Christina nodded.

“We’ll see what happens,” I whispered as one of the soldiers stepped forward to greet us. “Come this way please.” He gestured in the direction of the plane.

I shouldered my bag. “What about the car?”

The soldiers face remained expressionless. “We will have your car parked in the lot and it will be waiting for you here when you return.”

Letting someone else have the keys to our vehicle made me uncomfortable. It’s not like it was the keys to our house or anything, but I still didn’t like it. Instead of protesting that I could go ahead and move it, I glanced at Chloe and tilted my head as a signal to board the plane.

I went up first, with Chloe and the others following. The inside of the plane didn’t look like the pictures of planes I’d seen before. There were two rows of seats with an aisle in between. The seats were large and had plenty of space for leg room. At the front of the seating area, a big, flat screen television was mounted on the wall. Behind the seats, there was a leather couch and coffee table situated so that whoever sat on it could relax on it and still see the flat screen.

So weird. I had a feeling I was going to be in one of those seats gripping the arms in fear until we landed. I wasn’t afraid of much, but I’d never flown before and I was totally all right with leaving it that way. I preferred my feet on the ground.

I chose one of the seats toward the rear of the plane. The overhead compartment was open above me, so I shoved my bag into the space and turned to get Chloe’s bag too.

“Here.” She held it out. I placed hers next to mine and then slammed the compartment door shut. “Do you want the window?” she asked.

Hell no, that was the last thing I wanted. “No, you can have it.”

She smiled and slid past me so that she could have the seat by the window. While we got comfortable, Zander and Christina took the two seats across the aisle from ours, and Gavin chose to sit right in front of us.

A few weeks ago, I wouldn’t have wanted Gavin with us at all, but the Warrior Angel had brought us both back from the darkness of death and an understanding had formed between us. Neither of us wanted our lives to be in vain. Fighting and hating each other was only a waste of time and never accomplished anything in the end.

Don’t get me wrong, he still ogled Chloe all the time and it pissed me off. Even before New Orleans, Gavin had gotten better about Chloe and I being together and toned it down a lot, meaning that he didn’t hit on her every chance he got, but Chloe and I both knew that his feelings were still very strong.

The two of them had some sort of connection that I didn’t have with her and that pissed me off too. Of course there was nothing I could do about it except tolerate their friendship.

He and I were still far from being best buddies, but he is my brother and I now acknowledge that. Our mother, on the other hand, still didn’t give two sticks about me, but she treated Gavin like he was made of solid gold.

Oh well, drama that I really didn’t need. I had Chloe, I had Luke, and I had hunting. That was all I needed.

I was so lost in thought, I was barely aware until the plane began to move forward and taxi down the runway. I glanced at Chloe and saw that she had a big grin plastered across her face.

“What are you smiling about?”

“This is fun. I’ve never been on a plane before.”

I frowned. “Me either, and you are an adrenaline junkie.”

She laughed. “And who’s to blame for that, you created this monster.”

The plane began to pick up speed, forcing me back against the seat. I tightened my grip on the arm handles and closed my eyes as the front of the machine lifted off the safety of the earth, into the air.

Chloe’s right hand slid over the top of my left one. She knew flying was making me nervous, but thank God she was kind enough not to say anything about it. Her touch helped so I concentrated on that. Several moments later I felt the plane level out and finally opened my eyes.

Nothing crazy happened during the flight. There was some slight turbulence, but we stayed in the air. When it came time to land, I was just as freaked out as when we took off. The worst part of all of it was during the landing, when the wheels of the plane connected with the runway. Finally, I was able to look out the window and enjoy the sight of solid ground.

The soldiers who had ridden with us stood up, weapons still in hand. All of them except one exited the plane immediately. The guy who hung back was one burly dude. His hair was buzzed and he had dark brown eyes that were unreadable. The name tag above the right pocket of his uniform said that his last name was Daniels.

“All right!” Daniels hollered at us as he pulled his patrol cap onto his head and slid his sunglasses over his eyes. “We are going to exit the plane and head straight to the cars on the tarmac. Got it?”

We all nodded, but the security involved in this trip rubbed me wrong. It couldn’t be vampires they were worried about, it was broad daylight out there, so that led me to believe that they were having problems with the people who had pledged themselves to the Vampire Council.

These days, anyone who was found bearing the dragon tattoo was imprisoned and given a trial where they would receive their punishment for treason against the United States of America. Many of these people who had pledged themselves had done so simply out of fear, but the government wasn’t giving any leeway for them. You have the tat, you pay the price.

There were those, however, who didn’t join the vampires out of fear, they did it because they wanted to. And even though there were a lot less vampires out there than before, some of those who pledged themselves were still loyal to the enemy.

Chloe and I stood up and retrieved our bags from the compartments and then lined up in the aisle with Gavin, Zander and Christina.

“You all ready?” Daniels asked from the door of the plane.

Once again we all nodded. With his weapon at the ready, Daniels descended the steps of the plane. We followed him down onto the tarmac. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky and the sun was beating down, but a light breeze offered us some relief from the heat. Even though it was the end of summer, and fall was quickly approaching, it was still wicked hot most of the time.

We did as Daniels instructed and followed him directly to the three black cars which were waiting for us. “You two,” Daniels pointed at Chloe and I, “get in this one. And you three, in that one.” He pointed where he wanted us to go. “Move!” he snapped, waving his hand urgently. Apparently we weren’t moving fast enough.

Yeah, they were afraid of something. I was glad that we all had our weapons on us, just in case something happened.

I also didn’t like our group being separated. Chloe shot me a worried look as we loaded into the sleek black car. “I know,” I whispered, crawling in beside her. “I don’t like it either.” I knew that she was just as observant as I was and would have noticed how cautious the soldiers were being.

After everyone was safely situated into the cars, they caravanned from the airport to the Pentagon. We had to go through massive security, but eventually we found ourselves being walked into the building.

Men and women in uniforms were everywhere. Some wore the everyday uniforms, while others were wearing their dress uniforms. Then, there were those who didn’t have on any kind of uniform at all.

“This way.” Daniels waved us on.

“Whoa!” Christina whispered from behind me. “How big is this place?”

Daniels spoke as he walked. “There are seven levels total, five are above ground and two below. If you walk every hallway, the distance would be a little over seventeen miles.”

Damn, that was big. “Why was the building built in the shape of a pentagon?” I asked.

“It’s strategy,” Daniels explained, finally glancing back at us. “The Department of Defense was designed so that a person could get from any part of the building to any other point within seven minutes or less.”

Well, that was pretty interesting.

“I’m going to take you to your rooms first and then we will meet with General Ahlman at 1500 hours.”

“You have rooms here? Like, guest rooms?” Chloe asked

Daniels nodded. “Yes, we do. After the vampires started taking over, the basement floors of the building were used to house everyone we could get in there.” He paused, as if reflecting back to that time. “This is one building we didn’t let them take from us.”

“Everyone in here survived?” Zander finally ended his silence.

“Yeah, mostly. We lost a few during the fights. But, we holed up here and did the best we could to live. We sent out teams when we needed supplies, when we did that, we took out any vamps we could. The shitty … er, crappy part was that for every vampire we killed, it seemed like three more would replace it.”

We all nodded. We knew better than anyone how fast the vampires were turning people. But, Daniels story didn’t add up to me and I told him so. “I don’t understand why the vampires didn’t make this place their first priority, after the White House. I mean, you are the Department of Defense, I would think that would be number one on their hit list.”

Daniels paused and looked back at him. “It was number one on their hit list. But, as you said, we are the Department of Defense … so we fought for it. There is a lot that goes on here that the public doesn’t know about, so we are far from vulnerable to attacks.”

So they had secret weapons and possibly hidden rooms. We have a panic room in our place back home, but if a vampire knew we were in there and really wanted us out, they could wait us out if they wanted to. We had food and water inside, but not enough to last more than a few weeks. Vampires could live forever, so the survivor in that situation is obvious.

I wondered if they had a plan for escaping attacks and having to live long term in hiding. They probably did, I couldn’t see the military not having some sort of plan for that.

We took the stairs and went down one floor. Daniels led us down another hallway and then finally stopped in front of a door. “You have two rooms,” he told us. “Probably best to room the girls together and the guys together.”

My eyes slid toward Gavin, who wore an agitated expression. He was probably feeling like a third wheel since Christina and Zander were a couple and so were Chloe and I. In this case, it did make sense to room by gender.

We nodded our understanding as Daniels opened the door. “Also, don’t be wandering around too much. Stay on this floor, there is a cafeteria if you head that way.” He pointed to our right.

“Thank you, sir.” I extended my hand so we could shake. He took it and nodded. “Just doing my job. Hopefully you all can help us to better equip our forces against the vamps.”

“That is what we hope to do as well,” Chloe agreed with him.

“I’ll be back at 1500 hours. Be ready for the meeting.” Without waiting for a response, Daniels turned and marched off in the direction we had come from.

Chloe waited until he was out of earshot before speaking. “Well, at least they didn’t take our weapons from us. I’m kinda shocked they didn’t.”

“Yeah,” Christina added. “Something strange is going on. These guys aren’t only fighting the vampires.”

“It has to be the pledged.” I kept my voice low. “They were loyal to the Vampire Council.” All four of them stared at me as if waiting for me to finish speaking. “Think about it, if they have the dragon, they are imprisoned and probably given the death penalty, so why not keep fighting with the vampires and be taken care of in return.”

Gavin nodded. “That’s what I think too.”

Chloe rolled her eyes. “I’m not worried. We’re ready for them if it comes down to it.”

I smiled. My Chloe, always ready to fight. “All right, girls, take this room. We will take the other.”

Chloe and Christina exchanged a look and then entered their room. “See you in a little while,” I called out, closing the door behind them.

Zander had already opened the door to our room gone inside. “Aw, dammit!” I heard him shout. Gavin and I hurried into the room with him. We found him standing there staring at the two full size beds in front of him. “There are only two beds,” he whined. “I’d rather have a set of jailhouse bunk beds at this point.”

I wanted to laugh, but I held it back and just smiled. “What? We can share. You don’t have anything to worry about.”

Gavin threw his bag on one of the beds and glanced at Zander. “Yeah, cause what happens at the Pentagon, stays at the Pentagon.”

Zander wasn’t amused. “I’ll sleep on that couch over there. It looks comfortable enough.” He wandered over to examine it. “A bit on the short side, but it will do.”

I flopped down onto the bed and slid my hands behind my head. “What do you guys think about this place so far?”

Gavin wandered over to the small wooden table and sat in the matching chair. “It seems normal so far. The heavy security measures are what I would consider normal, considering the state of things right now. They were just protecting us from whoever is out there.”

I nodded. That was true, but I couldn’t shake the bad feeling I’d had ever since we boarded the plane. What I really wanted to do was get this meeting over with and go home.

***

Daniels returned about two hours later so that he could take us to the meeting. Chloe and Christina appeared in the hall only moments before Daniels showed up. I couldn’t help but let my gaze linger on her. She wore jeans with black knee length boots and a black tank top that showed a little bit of cleavage. Her necklace lay against her skin, the bullet resting just underneath the neckline of her tank. The bullet was the only jewelry she ever wore. I had the necklace made for her a while back. It was supposed to represent the bullet she had been shot with. I would have used the actual shell from the shooting, but it looked ugly and I didn’t want to give her an ugly gift.

She had her holster strapped on over her clothes, both guns ready to be pulled in an instant. Her extra clips were lined up in a special belt she sometimes wore and I knew that she had at least two knives on her body at all times. If I were to guess, I would say they were strapped to her legs inside her boot.

Seeing her all decked out for battle always made me want to take her in my arms, push her up against the wall and make out until we couldn’t breathe.

I was in love with her.

Everything about her was amazing. Even her crazy, stubborn, reckless ways. Sometimes, she took her dhampir side as some kind of invincibility and did things that put her in danger. I hated when she did crap like that, but at the same time it was one of the reasons I loved her, she was brave.

Chloe Kallistrate was one of the strongest women I’d ever met in my life, and that was saying a lot since I grew up in a community of Vampire Hunters. She had overcome and learned so much in the last few years. When I first met her, we had gone on a mission Luke had ordered and ended up saving her from a vampire attack. Her mother was murdered during that attack.

I remember lifting her into my arms and carrying her to my truck. Back then, she was a defenseless young girl who didn’t have a clue about who she was … or who she could be. She chose to train with me, to learn everything she could about killing vampires, and now she was quickly becoming one of the best Hunters around. In all honesty there weren’t many people I trusted with my life, but she was one of them.

However, being in love with your battle buddy had its downside. I worried about losing her every minute we were in danger. Truth was, she could defend herself far better than I could, but that didn’t take away the urge to protect the one you love.

Sometimes, this feeling made it look like I was being an ass and didn’t trust that she could take care of herself, but that wasn’t it at all. I would always do whatever I had to if it kept her from danger and if that makes me look like a jerk, then so be it, as long as she was alive to chew me out for being that way.

“Um, do you need a moment alone with Chloe?” I was suddenly pulled back into reality as Christina’s voice invaded my thoughts.

“What?”

Christina was grinning and shaking her head while Chloe stared back at me with a worried expression. “Are you all right?” Chloe asked softly. “Why are you staring at me like that?”

“I wasn’t staring at you. I was thinking.”

“Well save it for later, big boy.” Christina slapped me on the back. “Daniels is coming.”

I tore my eyes off of Chloe and turned around to find the soldier marching toward us.

He spotted us waiting in the hall and nodded with an appreciative smile. “Good, you’re ready. Let’s move.”

Without a word, the five of us followed Daniels back to the elevator and up to the top level. I wondered if the offices were always on the top level, or if they moved them up after the Apocalypse for the feeling of safety.

I was one of those people who didn’t like being underground. Not having fresh air or windows for the ability to see what’s around me was one of my peeves. If I was in charge around here, the rooms would up on the upper levels, not down below.

“Here we are.” Daniels opened the door and entered the room first. “Good afternoon General … Mr. Secretary.”

Seated at a long, shiny, rectangular table was a gray haired man in a black suit and another man who wore the Army dress blue uniform. Both men immediately stood to greet us. “Good afternoon.” General Ahlman moved from his spot at the table so that he could walk around to shake our hands.

“Hello, my name is James Ahlman, you must be Andrew.” He reached for my hand since I was closest. I extended my arm and accepted his. His grip was firm as he pumped my hand up and down.

“Call me Drew, and it’s a pleasure to meet you sir.”

“Likewise.” He released my hand and gestured to the other man. “Let me introduce, Abraham Grant, our Secretary of Defense.”

I nodded, not sure if I should make my way over there and shake the guy’s hand, since he made no move toward us. But, just because I was a Vampire Hunter didn’t mean that I forgot proper etiquette. “Again, it’s a pleasure to meet you.” I turned slightly, “This is Chloe, Gavin, Zander and Christina.”

Mr. Grant, finally left his spot at the table and strode over to us. “I’m so glad you agreed to come and have talks with us.” He offered me his hand to shake and I took it. His skin was soft and smooth, unlike mine. My hands were rough and calloused from putting them through hell every single day. You can tell a lot by a person’s hands and his said he rarely put in a hard day’s work at all … well, in the physical sense anyway.

“We are happy to be here, sir.”

He shook hands with the rest of the group and then returned to his seat. “Have a seat, please.”

Everyone, found a chair and sat down at the table, except Daniels, who stayed on guard by the door.

“Now,” Mr. Grant began, “I’ve already acquired a bit of background information on your organization and several of the Hunters when I spoke we spoke on the telephone.” He directed the statement to me, but all I could think about was how strange it was to hear the Vampire Hunters referred to as an organization. I simply nodded and let him continue.

“What we would like to do here, is plan and implement a training course for our soldiers. Those who are already in service will be required to take the class. However, those who are entering the military for the first time will receive the course during their basic training.”

Chloe adjusted herself in the seat beside me and I knew right away what was bothering her. “I’m sorry, sir, but I don’t think that killing vampires efficiently is something that can be learned in a single course. Most of us have been learning how to do this since we were born. Those who haven’t,” I unintentionally glanced at Chloe, “are exceptional.”

Both Grant and Ahlman nodded in understanding, but it was Ahlman who continued the conversation. “Yes, we know this. For now, until we can form a better schooling for eliminating the undead, we would like to create a quickie class with the basics … a vampire killing 101, so to speak.”

Vampire killing 101, damn, the next thing you know we will be writing books called vampire hunting for dummies or some crap. I fought the urge to laugh and agreed, “I think we could manage to come up with a one-day class that could cover all the basics, as well as give us time to work with each individual. We have to ensure that they will be able to do what needs to be done without hesitation.”

“Even a second of hesitation can lead to death,” Christina told them. “Vampires are a hundred times faster than we are.”

Ahlman took this into consideration. “All right, a one-day class it is then. We will supply all you need for the training courses, but you have to be willing to travel to wherever the training is being held.”

That wasn’t a decision that I could make on my own, so I looked to the group. Each of them nodded their heads in silent agreement. “Okay, we can do that if you add to the contracts we draw up that we will not travel more than once a week at the most.”

That was a deal breaker, I wasn’t going to live my life on the road. I liked roots. As it was, I already missed home since we had just barely got back from our stint in New Orleans. We had an obligation to protect the area around our immediate home, too. So we couldn’t be gone all the time.

“Deal.” Ahlman scribbled notes onto a small notepad that he had on the table in front of him.

The rest of the meeting was filled with small, boring details like how many we could manage per class, what we would need and where the first few courses would be held.

The only one who didn’t speak through the entire conversation was Zander. Near the end of the meeting, I leaned forward to see how he was doing at the end of the table. Usually, he was not a very quiet guy, so I worried a bit when he didn’t open his mouth with some snarky remark.

He sat at the end of our row beside Christina, and he looked like he was fighting the urge to throw up or something. His hands gripped the arms of the chair and his lips were clamped shut. His eyes were set on General Ahlman and did not stray. Afterward, while the meeting continued, I kept an eye on him and not once did he stop giving Ahlman the death stare.

Something was up. I couldn’t place it, because Zander was hard to read sometimes, but usually that was because he hid his true feelings behind a wall of humor. I noticed that Chloe kept looking over at him too, so even she noticed.

The meeting came to an end without much fanfare. We were going to hold our first class at Fort Benning, Georgia, in two weeks and it was going to be a big class. Boy, did we have a crap load of planning ahead of us.

Everyone shook hands again, except Zander, who left the room without even saying goodbye. He was waiting for us out in the hall because Daniels had stopped him before he could go too far. Zander did not look happy about being detained. When we all filed out, he was leaning against a wall, arms crossed over his chest. That was weird. Chloe stood the exact same way when she was peeved, and I’d never noticed before.

Daniels escorted us back to our rooms and dropped us off. “Like I told you all before, don’t be running around the building. Stay on this floor, you will find everything you need here. I’m staying on the same floor, so if you need me pick up one of the phones and hit eight, it will ring through to me. Otherwise, I will see you in the morning to take you back to the plane.”

“Thank you, we will be fine,” I told him and then we shook hands again.

Daniels gave out little group a once over. “All right, then.” With those last words, he turned and strode off down the hall. I watched until he was out of sight and then turned to the others. “You guys want to get something to eat?”

“Hell yeah, I’m starving.” Zander appeared to have come out of mood he was in back at the meeting.

Christina nodded in agreement. “Me too.”

Gavin and Chloe also said they were up for eating, so instead of heading into our rooms, we headed in the direction that Daniels had indicated. We didn’t have to go too far before the hallway opened up into a space that reminded me of a hospital cafeteria. It was situated like a courtyard, which appeared to be in the center of the building, since there was an entrance from every hallway.

The cafeteria wasn’t empty, there were a few people in uniforms eating quietly at the round dining tables. No one was sitting together, each of the soldiers sat by themselves at a table, picking at their food. None of them looked up when we entered, they just continued to eat as if we hadn’t arrived.

Yeah, now that was really weird. Man, everything about this place made me want to go home even more.

“I wonder what’s on the menu.” Gavin eyeballed the counter where the food was. No one was serving anything, it was set up like one of those buffet restaurants where they have large trays of everything sitting on warmers and you just serve yourself.

We stayed close to each other as we made our way over to the food. “Looks like some kind of chicken.” Chloe frowned.

I reached over and squeezed her hand. I knew that she had been hoping for red meat. It was gross, but with her being half vampire, she had a tendency to eat meat that was practically raw. I hated watching her when she ate meat like that. It was always bleeding all over the damn place. Don’t get me wrong, I love her and she has to eat, but it was a blatant reminder of her vampire side.

“Oh well, it still looks pretty good.” She shrugged.

We piled our trays with food and then found a table. I pulled out a chair and glanced at the soldiers again. Why were they acting like we weren’t even here. Were they on guard or something?

“Maybe they are supposed to be watching us.” Gavin flicked his eyes back and forth between the soldiers.

I nodded. “Maybe they are just guarding the place to begin with, not just watching us.”

Zander scowled and set his try on the table with a clang. “I really don’t like this place. I can’t wait to go home.”

I had to agree with him on that one. I stabbed my fork into a piece of broccoli. “Are you all right, man? You looked really strange at the meeting.”

“I’m fine,” he snapped. “Don’t worry about me.”

“Uh, dude, I have tons of crap to worry about, you are the last thing I’d lose sleep over.”

He rolled his eyes and picked up a piece of chicken. “That’s good. Keep it that way.”

Christina shook her head, but I saw her expression and knew that something was definitely off with him. I’ve known Christina since we were kids, so I knew when something was bothering her. I decided not to say anything though, it could wait until we got home.

We all got down to eating. Between shoving our faces we talked about some of the stuff we wanted to do with the training classes. “They are already trained to shoot, so at least we don’t have to worry about that, but I would have been great at instructing a firearms class.” Chloe muttered between bites.

“Yeah, you would.” I wasn’t blowing smoke either, she was good. I’d never seen anyone pick up on shooting the way that she had. She almost never missed what she was aiming for, even with moving targets.

Chloe smiled. “Are you going to make everyone run as much as you did with me?”

I couldn’t help but grin. “Haven’t you figured it out by now?”

“Figured out what?”

“I was hard on you … and made you do all that extra time for two reasons. One was that you really did need to train harder to be equal to our level, but also because it meant that I got to spend time with you.”

Her mouth fell open, “you … you …”

It was always a superior moment for me when I could render her speechless. I enjoyed my moment of glory and celebrated with a bite of peach cobbler. “Yup, all those runs, that was for me, not you,” I added.

Zander and Christina were chuckling softly, but Gavin didn’t even crack a smile. Man, some things just did not change. Chloe finally recovered and pointed her fork at me. “You know what?”

I didn’t answer, I just let her go on.

“You may have had selfish reasons for making me work extra hard, but I’m glad you did it because you have made me strong and fearless.”

“No,” I corrected her. “You are strong for other reasons, and you are fearless because you know how strong you are.”

She shrugged. “Think what you will, hunter boy, I blame all this,” she gestured to her entire body, “on you.”

Oh, the things I could do with ‘all that.’

Gavin had finished what was on his tray and pushed it away. “Chloe is going to have to be careful during the training classes.” He lowered his voice. “Her jumps and extra strength may surface without her knowing. She has become so used to it now that she uses the vampire side of her without even knowing it.”

“Shhhh.” I quickly looked around to see if anyone heard. “We cannot talk about that here.”

“I’m just saying, it’s something we have to consider.”

“Shut up.” I glared at him.

As always, Chloe broke in between us before the situation could escalate. “He’s right, Drew. But yes, Gavin, we should talk about that later.”

Gavin glared back at me and leaned back in his chair. I was about to tell him that he didn’t have to be so smug about it, when we heard voices coming from one of the halls. Something about the female voice sounded familiar so I swung my head in the direction it was coming from.

Just then, the bodies the voices belonged to appeared. “Sarah!” I called out before I could help myself. There was no mistaking Sarah for anyone else in the world. As always, she had her long, dark hair pulled back into a ponytail. She wore what I’d become accustomed to seeing her in, cargo pants and a tight fitting tank top with guns strapped all over her body.

“Drew?” She flicked her eyes to the others, “Chloe?”

We all nodded enthusiastically and she picked up her pace, striding toward our table. “Oh my God!” she exclaimed in her thick southern accent. “What are you guys doing here?”

Chloe stood up and gave Sarah a hug. “Probably the same thing as you are. We are helping train the military to kill vampires.”

Sarah returned the hug by giving Chloe a tight squeeze. “Damn straight, that’s why I’m here. I don’t know how on earth they found me, but I had the soldiers knockin’ on my door. Those idiots nearly got their heads blown off. We are going to have to train them not to be so stupid.”

I laughed and stood up to face her, “Well, I may have mentioned how we had help from the resistance while we were in New Orleans.” She narrowed her eyes on me and I held up my hands in defense. “But I did not say a word about who or where you were.”

Sarah’s face relaxed again. “That’s good, cause I may have had to kill ya for giving away our identity to the freaking government.”

“Well you’re here now, so it can’t be that bad.”

She rolled her eyes at me. “I’m here because I’ll do anything to help get rid of those damn vampires. If working with these guys,” she gestured to a couple of soldiers beside her, “is going to help, then I’m all in.”

“We’re with you there,” I told her and then asked, “I wonder how come you weren’t in the meeting with us. Seems like they would want us all to work together again.”

She shrugged. I’ve been here for a few days. I’m going to stay and work with the people here.”

I could not figure this place out at all. “Well, we’re supposed to be leaving in the morning.” I glanced around at the quiet soldiers at the tables. “I can’t believe you want to stay here.”

“Like I said, it’s all about killing off the vamps.”

Well, I guess whatever she did was up to her, but I knew I was going to be worried about her being stuck inside this place. I didn’t really know Sarah that well, but I did know she was a good person who fought and sacrificed for the greater good of the world. So, she was a friend in my book.

The two soldiers who she had entered with, stood back, silently watching the interactions between Sarah and us. Why were all the uniformed people in this place so damn quiet? As if sensing the unease, Sarah glanced at them and then back to us. “We were just going to get some supper. You want to join us?”

Chloe and I exchanged a look. As awkward as it was being around all the silent soldiers, I did want to hang out with Sarah and find out what exactly she was going to be doing during her stay at the Pentagon. “Sure,” Chloe smiled. “We just ate, but we can sit with you for a while.”

“We’re going to go back to rooms.” Christina’s voice sounded strange, so I turned to see what was going on and saw that Zander was doing the same thing he was doing up in the meeting room. Only this time, his fists were clenched at his side and his face was tight.

“All right.” I gave Christina a look that I hoped said ‘find out what the hell is wrong with him.’

She nodded and pulled one of Zander’s hands into her own. “Come on.” She tugged until he finally moved and then she guided him toward the exit into our hallway. “We’ll see you guys later,” she called out as they disappeared. “Nice to see you again, Sarah.”

Dang, Christina was laying on the polite like a thick layer of butter. Christina was never known for being nice, it’s just not who she was.

“I’ll stay with you guys.” Gavin lifted his tray and walked it to the garbage can. After scraping it off and then setting the tray on the table beside the can, he joined us as Sarah and the soldiers as they headed for the food area.

“This is freaking me out,” Chloe whispered.

“I know,” I agreed. “I don’t understand why they didn’t have her with us at the meeting.”

Gavin leaned in close to us. “I don’t think she’s safe here. We should try to get her to leave with us.”

None of this made sense. “She looks like she is comfortable and safe, so far,” I observed, more to myself than the others.

“I agree with Gavin.” Chloe caught my eyes. “I don’t feel comfortable leaving her here alone.” I saw the worry for our friend clearly written in her eyes and when Chloe set her mind on something there was usually no changing it.

“Chloe, I don’t know if we can get her to leave here. She feels that she is doing the job she is meant to do.”

“We have to try,” her beautiful brown eyes pleaded with me.

I nodded. “All right, we can try, but I’m not going to drag her out of here. If she wants to come with us she can, but we don’t force her.”

Chloe and Gavin both whispered, “agreed,” just as Sarah and the two soldiers finished loading their trays and began to make their way back over to us. We were not going to be able to talk to Sarah about anything with those guys around. Looked like one of us was going to have to get her alone.

“I totally forgot to introduce these guys,” Sarah announced, jabbing her thumb in their direction. “This is Sergeant Owen and Sergeant Bliss.” She didn’t point out who was who, because it was obvious if we looked at their name tags.

“Nice to meet you.” I nodded at each of them.

“Same here.” Sergeant Bliss tilted his head forward in greeting. The other guy didn’t say anything though. He must have taken a vow of silence or something, but then again, everyone in this place was like that.

“Anyway,” Sarah pulled a chair out and sat down beside Chloe. “I can’t tell you how happy I am to see you guys again. I thought that was it for us after New Orleans.”

“Me too. How is it over there now?” I asked

She scrunched up her nose and made a face. “It’s getting better. It’s not how it was before the apocalypse, but then again, it probably won’t ever be like that again. It’s a new age we are living in now.”

That was true, even with the ruin of our country aside, the mere existence of vampires changed everything.

“Are your people from the resistance helping out with the re-building of the city?”

“Yeah, our little group wasn’t a real big secret, so they found us.” She picked up a roll off of her tray and bit into it. “Most of our guys are with the police department now.” Her words were muffled by the roll in her mouth.

“Oh, that’s awesome.” Chloe smiled. “At least they know the police are people who care about the city and want the best for the citizens.”

Sarah nodded. “That’s exactly why they asked them.”

I wanted to ask her why none of her guys were with her, but I couldn’t in front of Owen and Bliss. I couldn’t see her coming here by herself.

“I have to use the restroom.” Chloe pushed out her chair and stood. “Sarah, do you think you could show me where it is.”

Please, I thought to myself, take the hint Sarah.

And she did, but only after she glanced at the blatantly obvious doors off to our far left that read Men and Women. “Oh, uh … of course.” She stood and glanced at the two soldiers. “I’ll be right back, I have to go too.”

I watched Chloe and Sarah head off to the bathrooms and thanked the lord that Chloe and I read each other like books sometimes. Now that was a connection that she and I shared, which she didn’t have with Gavin. Hopefully she would ask Sarah the right questions in the short amount of time they could be in there alone.

While the girls took off to the bathroom. I stared at our silent duo and tried to think of something to ask them. I had lots of questions, but none for them. Sergeant may seem like a fairly high rank, but in reality it wasn’t. In the Pentagon, they were the low guys on the totem.

Gavin shifted his eyes toward me and then back at the soldiers, obviously thinking the same thing that I was. So, we were all left to sit there in silence, while they picked at their food and eyeballed us. Talk about uncomfortable.

When Chloe and Sarah pushed open the restroom door, I was entirely ready to go back to the room and sleep until it was time to get up and go home. This trip was wigging me out. “Sorry it took so long.” Chloe stood by her chair. “We were having a bit of girl talk.” She fluttered her lashes at me.

Yeah right, my Chloe didn’t girl talk. The closest thing she came to girl talk was when it concerned her pink gun.

So it was a ploy, to make those guys think she was talking to Sarah about me. “It’s all right, babe.” Yeah, I could play along with this.

She flinched at the name, but reached up and smoothed down her hair. “I am getting pretty tired, I think we should probably go back to our rooms now.”

Gavin and I practically jumped from our seats. “Me too,” I mumbled lamely, as I pushed my chair in. Sarah was watching us intently and gave me a discreet nod. I nodded back at her and smiled.

Gavin went over and gave her a side hug. “I’m glad we ran into you here, Sarah. I’m sure we will see you again since we are all going to be helping with training courses.”

Sarah offered him a wide grin, “Chances of that are good.”

“Well,” I moved my gaze from Sarah over to the two soldiers, “See ya.” Anxious to get out of there, I slid my arm around Chloe’s waist and hurried her along. Gavin trailed right behind us until we entered the hall and then he moved up next to me. “That was weird,” he said.

Chloe nodded in agreement. “Yeah, totally. What is with these people around here?”

“What did Sarah say?” I moved my arm up so that it was over her shoulders and not her waist.

“Well, first, I asked her if she came here with anyone and she said that she came with two of her men.” She stopped in the hall and our eyes locked.

“Where in the hell are they then?” I couldn’t fathom why Sarah would let them out of her sight, she was fiercely protective of her people.

“Yeah, that’s what I asked her, and she told me that when they got here, they separated her them. They told her they wanted her guys to go into a special section of the building to help in the weapons and ammunition departments.”

“Spike and John?” I asked

Her head bobbed up and down, “Yup. She hasn’t seen them since.”

I ran my hand through my hair, damn, I needed a haircut so badly. “Okay. So, she thinks they are just helping out here and she hasn’t seen them?”

“Yeah.” Her eyes were wide and the worry was crystal clear within them.

“But that’s not what we think, is it?”

“Hell no, there is something freaky going on here. I just want to go home and get away from here, but now that we know Sarah’s men are in here somewhere …”

Oh crap, I closed my eyes and shook my head. “She can’t leave here … well, I mean, she won’t leave without them.”

Gavin moved in a little closer to our quiet conversation. “I wouldn’t leave anyone of our people behind either.”

“She knows that this is a strange place,” Chloe lowered her voice a more. “I told her how we feel about it but she doesn’t seem to share those same feelings.”

“Dammit!” I felt like hitting a wall. “I just want to get out of here. I don’t feel safe.”

Both Gavin and Chloe agreed. “We have to figure out a way to stay here now so that we can find out where John and Spike are. I think if we can find them, then we can probably convince Sarah to leave.” Chloe had that stubborn look in her eye and I knew that we would be staying.

“Fine. Let’s go talk with Zander and Christina.” I strode ahead of them. A big part of me wanted to be selfish and go home on our scheduled flight, but the other part of me knew that I had to do the right thing.

Nothing bad had happened here except that the place gave us a bad feeling. So, I guess I could understand why Sarah wouldn’t feel that something was wrong. She had lived in one of the most haunted homes in all of New Orleans, for crying out loud. Of course she was immune to the creep factor.

When I swung open the door to our room. Christina was sitting on the edge of the bed with Zander, who looked like someone had just kicked him in the stomach. His face had turned a pasty white and a few droplets of sweat had formed at his brow.

“Are you all right?” Chloe hurried over to him and sat down on the other side of him. “Did you get sick?”

Christina shook her head, indicating that wasn’t it, but stayed silent. Zander closed his eyes for a moment and then opened them again. “I’m not sick, but something is wrong with me.”

Chloe rubbed his back, “What do you mean?”

He looked over at her and then flicked his eyes toward me and Gavin. “I don’t know how to explain it.”

“Try.” I told him. We didn’t have time for messing around.

Christina rubbed his shoulder, “Just tell them.”

Zander wiggled out from in between the girls and began to pace the room. His hand went to his dark hair and pushed it back away from his eyes. “All right. So, after New Orleans, we went home and I felt fine. Nothing weird was going on or anything. I didn’t know what to expect because of what the Warrior Angel had done to me.” He paused his pacing and caught Chloe’s eye. “You told me that he said I was to be a Warrior Angel as well, that I would eradicate evil that dwells upon the earth.”

She nodded.

“I was fine for a while … but, I never left the house or anything. Now, we come here and I want to massacre some of these people.”

I blinked, not sure I heard him right. “What?”

Chloe and Gavin also stared at him, obviously shocked by what he had said. Christina apparently already knew, because she didn’t appear surprised.

He nodded. “I know, right! I had the same thoughts.”

“Do you think there are vampires in the building?”

He looked at me with a seriousness that I rarely saw with him, “I am not talking about vampires, I’m talking about people. People like General Ahlman and those two idiots with Sarah.” He clenched his fists and began his pacing again. “While we were in the meeting, all I could think about was putting a bullet between Ahlman’s eyes.”

Gavin sat down in one of the chairs at the table. “Holy crap.”

Zander nodded emphatically as he paced. “I know! The worst part is, I feel like if I don’t get away from the people causing this, that I may actually do it. Like … like my body has a mind of its own. I have to mentally fight the urge and get away as fast as I can.”

We should not have brought him here. Normally, I would have been pissed about this, but considering the circumstances, I decided to play nice. “We will figure this out, I promise, but for now it’s probably best you just hole up in here until we go home.”

He glared at me and sneered, “You think?”

Gavin sat at the table, lifting water up and down from a water glass. “These men are evil.” He murmured the statement without looking away from the liquid he had rising and falling into the glass.

I contemplated that for a moment and then it clicked. “Yes, that’s what the Warrior Angel said. That you will eradicate evil from this earth. He didn’t just mean vampires … he meant all evil.”

Zander rolled his eyes. “I think I came to that conclusion all on my own, buddy.”

Okay, this had just become a whole new ball game. “I wonder who qualifies as evil. Like, does the guy who stole a candy bar rank on the same level as the guy who murdered someone?”

Gavin let the water fall into the glass and stay there, “It’s in the soul. Evil can’t be gauged by sins you have committed. Most vampires are inherently evil, it is the demon inside them. With humans, most have good souls, even if they have committed crimes. It is what’s inside … I believe Zander can feel what is inside of a person.”

I switched my gaze back and forth between Zander and Gavin. “Zander, how did you feel when we were at the meeting with General Ahlman?”

“As soon as we entered that room, I felt the presence of something horrible. Like a darkness creeping in, getting closer and closer, closing in on me. The longer we sat there with him, the more severe the feeling became. All I could think about was shooting him … or slicing his throat.”

“So there were no specific thoughts?” I asked.

He shook his head. “No, it was just an overwhelming urge, but it was most definitely directed at him.”

This was a problem that we really, really didn’t need right now.

Chloe tapped her foot anxiously on the floor. “You know, this may work in our favor.”

Zander frowned. “How in the hell does my wanting to assassinate the highest ranking General in the United States Army qualify as working in our favor?”

“You know who the bad guys are, Zander. Like in the cafeteria,” She explained, “it was the two soldiers with Sarah who bothered you, but not the ones sitting in the room when we got there. You just knew, right?”

He nodded. “Yeah, it was the same as with Ahlman.”

“Well,” she spread her hands wide, “You can sense who is good and who is evil. Which helps us out. Spike and John came here with Sarah and we need to find them, with your help, we will know who we can trust and who we can’t.”

“Chloe,” I rested a hand on her shoulder. “I don’t think it’s a good idea for Zander to be out there, what if he loses control and actually hurts or kills someone?”

She shrugged. “We have to take the chance.”

“I’m right here, you guys. Don’t talk about me like I’m not standing right in front of you. Ultimately, it’s up to me what I do and don’t do.”

He was right, but, as conceited as it may sound, when we went on mission as Hunters, I was in charge. In the end, I only nodded, since arguing with Chloe never resulted in me getting my way. Add Zander, who shared her stubborn gene, into the mix, and that gets me a whole lotta nowhere.

“All right.” Chloe rubbed her hands together. “We already have Ahlman and the two soldiers who were with Sarah on our do not trust list. Now, we need to come up with a plan to find Spike and John.” Her eyes flitted around the room as if the answer was tucked into a corner somewhere. “I’m going to go back out there and ask Sarah what else she knows. Maybe she can narrow it down to a floor of the building, or something.”

I stepped forward, cutting off her exit. “Uh, you’re not going anywhere without me.”

She rolled her eyes and pushed both her hands against my chest. “Sheesh, protective much.”

“Yes. Yes, I am.” And who could blame me.

“Well, come on then.” She grabbed my wrist and pulled me toward the door.

“Bring me back one of those doughnuts I saw with the desserts,” Christina called out as Chloe and I spilled into the hallway.

“Get your own,” I told her, jokingly.

Her answer was just as sarcastic, “make sure it’s a chocolate glazed.”

I smiled and shut the door behind me. Christina may have once been my girlfriend, but before that we were friends. I’ve known her my entire life, and honestly, I can’t imagine life without her in it.

Since Chloe came into my life, any romantic notion concerning Christina fell away, replaced by my fiery dhampir. Thank God the two of them were finally getting along, for a while they were at each other’s throats all the time.

Like me and Gavin.

Dammit, I thought as I realized that we were acting like chicks. I couldn’t help it though, I absolutely hated it that Gavin wanted Chloe. He got everything else in life that I should have had, there was no way I was letting him have her too.

But then we had our truce, the end to this war between us. I had to be all right with Gavin and everything about him. He was a good guy, too good, freaking perfect actually, which was why I think it was so hard for me to forgive him … because he never actually did anything wrong. All he ever did was live and that wasn’t a crime.

Jealousy could turn the best people into monsters, believe me, I would know.

“Hey,” Chloe whispered, slipping her hand into mine as we strode leisurely down the empty hallway. “What do you think about Zander?”

I glanced at her from the corner of my eyes and shrugged. “I think this is the beginning of whatever the Warrior Angel did to him. It sounds like it may just be developing, like how your gifts took a little time to expand, you know.”

She nodded. “I think so too. I’m worried about him, but I think that isolating him will make it worse. You know that Zander likes to fight and he likes to be involved. Keeping him locked up while we do the work will just piss him off.”

“Yeah, you’re right about that. But what happens to us if he does something terrible, like shoot General Ahlman?”

“We won’t let that happen,” she whispered as we crossed over the opening into the cafeteria. Then, she gave my hand a squeeze before letting it go and swept her gaze across the room. “Sarah isn’t here anymore.”

“Crap.” The room was completely empty. Earlier, I figured that those soldiers sitting in silence had been on duty guards, but now there was no one here. It didn’t make any sense. “Well, I guess I should get Christina her doughnut.”

“I want one too.”

How she could consume so much sugar was beyond me. I have always eaten healthy and on the occasions that I did have much sugar it practically made me sick. Christina normally didn’t eat junk, but she had her moments. Chloe, on the other hand could put down a dozen doughnuts no problem.

We headed over to the deserts where we found a large selection pastries to choose from. I picked up a chocolate glazed with filling for Christina, while Chloe grabbed a napkin and loaded three different ones onto it.

“I don’t think finding Sarah’s men is going to be as easy as we think it is. They are going to make us leave in the morning.” I detoured over to the fruit and plucked a banana from the basket. “We aren’t going to be able to stay just because we want to.”

She nodded and took a big bite of what appeared to be a cherry filled doughnut. “Yeah,” she swallowed and then continued, “I was thinking that too. I just want to make sure they are safe. But, the way this place is run, I agree they aren’t going to let us stay.”

“We’ll figure something out, we don’t have much time though.”

Chloe took another bite and chewed thoughtfully. “This sucks,” was all she managed to get out though.

We crossed the cafeteria, headed for our hallway and four soldiers entered the room. I eyeballed them, but figured they were like the rest, just silent drones here for something to eat. They made eye contact with us as they approached and I realized that they were going to cross our path and practically run us over.

Chloe came to the same conclusion, so we stepped aside and stopped to let them pass. The soles of their tan combat boots echoed off of the tile floor, pounding out each step as they drew nearer.

Suddenly, the sound of their footsteps began to echo in my ears.

Boom. Boom. Boom. Each step was the beat of a bass drum pounding within me. The feeling that something was off struck me just as they were passing and my hand went to my holster … but, I was too late.

All of it happened in a flash. The two soldiers closest to us halted and as their arms lifted, my fingertips had just wrapped around the grip of my gun. But, before I could pull, pain exploded throughout my entire body.

Distantly, I heard Chloe call out and then scream. I wanted to call her name but my mouth wouldn’t work. Every muscle in my body had seized up. I couldn’t move a muscle, including the ones in my lips.

My leg muscles failed me and my knees bent. As I toppled to the floor, fear swept through my body. I couldn’t move, no matter how much I wanted to, my muscles would not respond. As soon as I hit the ground, I was aware of being handcuffed and foreign hands all over my body, searching for and removing my weapons.

It was only a matter of seconds before I began to regain use of my muscles. The first thing I did was check to see if Chloe was alright. They had hit her with the Taser too. Her head lolled to the side and then turned toward me as the use of her muscles also returned.

Like mine, Chloe’s hands were restrained behind her back with a pair of shiny metal hand cuffs. She lay on her side, as the soldiers finished up stripping her of her weapons. Well, little did these guys know, they could remove whatever they wanted, but they couldn’t take away one of those weapons … it was within her.

Comprehension registered in the depths of her eyes as the effects of the Taser wore off. Our eyes locked and I tilted my head forward in an attempt to nod. We were defenseless, but that didn’t mean we were going down without a fight.

The voices of the soldiers echoed in my ears like I was listening to them from underwater. It was hard to make out anything they were saying, because my main concern was what I was going to do once I got on my feet.

One of the soldiers reached for Chloe, rolling her over onto her back. She struggled, bucking her hips as she tried to get away from his grasp.

“Hold her down!” one of the soldiers ordered. At that, Chloe’s eyes went wide and then narrowed. Boy, were these guys going to be sorry they messed with her.

Whoosh.

Almost instantaneously, she unleashed the fire within her. The flames pushed out from every inch of her skin, consuming her entire body.

“Ahhhh, shit!” The soldier who was holding her screamed, stumbling backward and grabbing at his face.

“What the hell is that?” Another one cried out.

I didn’t get a chance to see what the other two were doing because it was time to fight. I summoned every ounce of strength my legs had left in them and kicked out both feet. My boots connected with the knee caps of the soldier closest to me. With a rather girlish cry of pain, he went down.

I rolled and jumped to my feet. With my hands still cuffed behind my back, it was all about my legs and speed. Trudging toward the fallen soldier, I used all the force I could and kicked him in the face. There was a loud crunching sound beneath my boot, probably his nose.

Someone grabbed me from behind, hauling me backward by my shirt. Once I knew they were close enough, I slammed my head backward. The back of my head must have made contact with his face because he released me, yelling out a string of creative cuss words. I spun and kicked him in the midsection, trying to get him as far away from me as I could.

While those two were nursing their wounds, Chloe was still flaming. Through the flicker of fire, I could see the fear clearly written on her face, she had never stayed on fire this long before, but if she extinguished, it would make her completely defenseless. Right now, we needed that fire, it was our saving grace.

Annnnd, Murphy’s Law kicked in right then. Just as I was thinking about how grateful I was for her gifts, an ear piercing siren filled the cafeteria and the sprinkler systems kicked in.

Oh crap.

The first thing I did was head for Chloe, I stood in front of her, ready to take on anyone who dared touch her again. The sprinklers rained down onto us, soaking me to the skin. Everything around me became wet and slippery.

Chloe’s fire still burned hot, even with the water beating down onto her. Steam swirled angrily around her body, rising up like mist from the mountains. Her fire did not falter because it came from within, it could not be doused unless she extinguished it.

I bent, taking my fighting stance even though my arms were restrained. The two soldiers who weren’t hurt, charged forward. When the first guy was close enough, I dropped to the floor and swept one leg out, tripping him and then I used my legs to force my body up again. Before he could recover, I jumped into the air and pulled my arms over just enough to plant an elbow right in his face when I came down onto him.

Chloe took the other guy. He had originally wanted me as the target, but Chloe had cut him off before he could get to me. I actually almost laughed when she stepped between him and me. He took one look at her and realized she would toast his ass, so he held his hands up and backed off.

My laughter was cut short though, when he swung his rifle up and aimed it at her head. I stopped fighting with the soldier and scrambled over to do what I could to protect her. Quickly, I glanced at the other two and found that they had recovered, and also had their service weapons trained on us.

“Okay!” I called out, spitting sprinkler water off of my lips. “Okay, we’re done. Just let her go and I’ll go with you.”

“Drew!” Chloe cried out.

I caught her eye and gave her a little nod. “Shut it down, Chloe.”

I knew she didn’t want to kill the fire, but she had to, it was too much for her body to take. I’d never seen her stay ignited that long and it worried me how that would affect her.

“Ha.” The guy I’d hit in the face laughed. “It’s her were after, you little punk, not you.”

Dammit, I was hoping I could negotiate.

“Now let’s go.” He stalked forward and poked me with the muzzle of his rifle.

I turned away from the weapon. “Don’t touch me with that thing.” I spat the words out. I was so freakin’ angry that this was happening to us.

“Then move, your friends are waiting for you.”

Chloe’s eyes narrowed as her anger pulsed again. “What have you done with them?”

The guy had the audacity to chuckle as they forced us to walk forward in front of them. “Don’t worry, you will get to see them again. Now shut up and walk.”

“Why are you doing this?” she persisted.

“You’ll get your answers soon enough,” he snapped. “Now, shut your mouth or I’m going to have to shoot your boyfriend.” I felt the barrel of his gun jab into my back and bit down on my lip to keep any nasty comments to myself.

It felt like forever, as they walked us down the hall and into an elevator. The elevator took us down one level, till we were on the lowest floor of the Pentagon. The doors opened way to the shiny tile floors and the scent of pine cleaner.

The soldiers prodded us out into the hallway. A quick glance at Chloe and I knew that she was fighting the urge to flame up again. They were so lucky that her hands had been restrained, she could light someone up with the simple toss of a fireball. I was pretty sure the only thing keeping her from doing it was that we knew now they had Zander, Gavin and Christina. How in the world they actually restrained the three of them was beyond me. They were three of our strongest fighters. It probably took quite few of those soldiers to do it. I think I actually smiled a little bit at the thought of that.

We will get through this, I told myself. We will come out unharmed and alive.

That was the crazy thing, we were Vampire Hunters, we fought demons every day and now we were being captured by a bunch of human soldiers. Too weird.

We walked for several hallways until we came upon a checkpoint where a soldier was guarding an entrance. He saw us coming and immediately keyed in a code on the numbered pad by the door. The door whooshed open and we were guided through.

Finally we arrived at the cells.

Yeah, cells.

Small square rooms with white walls and glass instead of bars. Dammit, once we were behind that glass, there wasn’t much we could do to get out. I considered putting up another fight, but I knew we wouldn’t get anywhere with that either. At least in the cafeteria there was the off chance that we would have been able to get out.

The only thing we had going for us now was if we were gone too long, Luke would send more Hunter’s after us. They dragged us down the aisle of cells, which were all empty … until we reached the last ones.

The last two cells held our friends. Gavin and Christina were in one while Zander stood by himself in another. Gavin and Christina saw us and rushed forward, pounding the glass with her fists. “Let us out of here, you douche bags!”

“Shut up,” one of our captors snapped at her.

“What?” She narrowed her eyes, anger flaming deep within them. “You actually think I’m going to just sit here and be quiet because you told me to, well fu…” Gavin pulled her back before she could finish her sentence, but she did manage to flash the soldier both middle fingers.

“Enough, Christina,” Gavin ordered in a calm tone.

“Bull crap,” she countered, “I’m going to rip that jerk’s spine out of his body and smack him with it. “We have done nothing. Nothing!” She punctuated the last word by tearing away from Gavin and thumping the glass again.

Chloe looked like she was going to cry. Seeing our friends locked up was not something we were used to. We were used to being in danger, but not helpless, and right now that is what we were.

Zander was pacing the floor of his cell when we passed. He stopped when we were led by the glass wall which held him captive. His face bore several bruises and a few cuts with blood dried up around them.

Worry flashed briefly in his eyes when they settled on Chloe. Then, his gaze shifted to me and our eyes met. He shook his head, silently telling me that he tried to fight their way out. I nodded in return, insinuating that we had done the same.

And then we were beyond the cells, unable to see our friends anymore. After passing through another door, we were led into a rather large room with a rectangular and metal folding chairs. General Ahlman was sitting at the head of the table, waiting for us.

“Sit down,” he ordered, gesturing to the chairs. Yeah, like we had a choice in the matter. Strong hands pushed me down onto the cool metal.

“I can do it.” Chloe, pulled away from the groping hands of the soldier and flopped down into one of the chairs so forcefully that the damn thing almost tipped over.

“Why are we here?” Her demand was directed at General Ahlman.

The older man tapped his fingertips on table as if he were contemplating what he was about to tell us. Then, he took a breath and looked at me, “It has come to our attention that your friend here, is a half vampire. Is this true?”

Chloe gasped. “You were spying on us!”

“That is my job.” He glared at her, not at all as friendly as he had when we met with him before. “It is also my job to make sure that we eradicate all vampires with come into contact with.”

I lurched forward, “If you even touch her I will make sure you regret it.”

“Yes, Andrew, I am sure you would try. This situation, however, is somewhat more difficult than just killing a vampire. Here we have something that I have been told was mythological, something that could not be. I was told that vampires could not procreate.”

Neither Chloe or I volunteered any information on the matter, and he didn’t seem to want it anyway because he just continued to speak.

“Because this is a very rare occurrence and this young lady obviously has abilities that no human could possibly possess, I want to investigate her a bit more.”

“Investigate?” Chloe’s eyes widened with question.

General Ahlman nodded. “Yes, we have some of the best scientists here and as long as you cooperate, you will not be harmed.”

I started to stand and was quickly pushed down by a soldier behind me. “She is not staying here with you.”

Ahlman eyeballed me dismissively. “I don’t really think that is up to you. In fact, it isn’t up to either of you. She is going to stay here whether she wants to or not. It will just be easier on all of you if she stays here willingly.”

“Hell no!” I stomped my foot since I couldn’t really do anything else.

Chloe lowered her eyes for a moment and I knew that defeat had clearly taken over. My Chloe didn’t accept defeat, so this was new. “I’ll stay,” she whispered.

“What?” I practically screamed at her.

She nodded. “I will stay here, willingly, if you let the rest of them go.”

A noise that sounded eerily similar to a growl escaped from between my lips. “I am not leaving you here.”

She nodded, staring at me with sad eyes. “You have to, Drew.”

I knew what she meant. I had to get everyone else out of here and then go get a rescue team to come back and save her. Yeah, that is what I should agree to. It was what the Hunter in me told me I had to do. But, the man that loved the woman sitting in that chair could not leave her in this place. “I won’t leave her without you,” I told her more firmly this time.

She sighed, knowing that I could be just as stubborn as she could sometimes.

“As sweet as this is,” Ahlman interrupted, “I don’t recall giving you that option. I only said that if you cooperate, that you would not be harmed. I’m afraid your friends won’t be allowed to leave.”

Well that plan wouldn’t have worked anyway. Awesome.

“What are you going to do with them?” she asked.

“That is to be determined.”

She shook her head. “Not good enough. I need answers.”

“So do we,” he snapped at her. “Do you really think that we would have taken five Vampire Hunters into custody if we didn’t. You all are the best chance we have at figuring out a way to kill these bastards.”

“Then let them go!” she cried out.

“We can’t do that. I’m sure they would only run back and gather the rest of the Hunters to try and rescue you. So no, they will stay here.”

I tried to keep my face expressionless. “They will come anyway. If we are gone long enough, they will come for us.”

The old man jutted out his chin and pressed his lips together before responding with, “We will deal with that when the time comes.”

I didn’t have anything to say to that and neither did Chloe, so the General waved his and in my direction. “All right, take him to the cells, I want to speak with our little dhampir alone, that’s what they call you isn’t it, dhampir?”

Two soldiers lifted me up, one on each side, hauling me up by my arms. “I can walk, for crying out loud!” I tried to struggle out of the tight grip each of them had on my biceps but with the cuffs on, my attempt was ineffective.

I stared at Chloe as they dragged me out of the room. God, please let her be all right.

Christina, Gavin and Zander watched as I was thrown into a cell opposite of them. After removing my cuffs, the soldiers pushed me inside with so much force I stumbled and fell to my knees. The door was shut and sealed with a hiss and then the sound of a lock clicking into place.

What now.

Dammit.

We were supposed to be coming home this morning, so the only hope I had was that they would realize we were in trouble. Until then, I was going to sit in this cell and figure out how to escape.

I stayed on my knees for a while, not wanting to turn around and see the others in their cells. This was all my fault, if I hadn’t wanted to help the government, then none of us would even be here.

I don’t know how long I sat there, staring at the shiny white tiles on the floor before I heard commotion coming from the hallway. I rose from my position and turned to see what was happening.

Across the way, Christina, Gavin and Zander were doing the same. Only a second later, three soldiers arrived, pulling Chloe along with them. Her eyes were wide with fear and tears were fell from the corners, leaving wet streaks down her cheeks.

Chloe still had her cuffs on, but she yanked her arm away from one soldier by turning sharply and tried to back up. In a flash, the soldier reached out and grabbed her again. “Let me go!” she screamed at her captors.

“Shut up,” one of them growled, pushing her forward.

Without another word, Chloe let it rip. Her entire body was suddenly consumed within the flaming heat that was her center. The soldiers scrambled away, covering their faces and trying not to get burnt.

I rushed the glass. “Get away from her!”

Then, suddenly, Chloe’s body straightened and her flames extinguished as one of the soldiers hit her with the Taser again. She roughly fell to the ground, having lost muscle control from all the volts rushing through her body.

“Leave her alone! Stop that!” I kicked the glass, trying to get their attention on me. The others were doing the same thing, pounding their fists into the thick glass and yelling for them to leave her be.

After a moment, she regained consciousness and control. A soldier grabbed her hair and lifted her off the ground. “Get up, let’s move.”

She mumbled something that sounded like she told him to screw off and then that bastard in uniform raised his hand and slapped her across the face.

Chloe fell to hard onto her knees and head twisted to the side, her hair whipping around in a black wave. When her hair fell back down over her shoulders, I saw the evidence of the soldier’s violence in a pink hand print which glowed brightly against her pale skin.

I don’t know what happened next, I really don’t, but suddenly I felt a mixture of hot and cold encase my body. The air in the room felt like it was moving in, rushing toward me and trying to suffocate me.

I backed off from the glass wall and paced the floor of the cell. How dare he hit her! He would pay, of that I was certain. He just made himself my number one enemy.

“Get up,” I heard the bastard growl and I stopped my pacing to see what was happening. He grabbed her by the arm and forced her to stand. “I don’t play games, you little half breed.” He shook her as if trying to force her to hear the words.

Chloe sniffed and looked up at him through a watery eye. “Neither do I,” she told him in a disturbingly calm whisper, “And I am more human than you will ever be.”

This time, he struck her with the back of his hand on the opposite side of her face than he had previously hit. When his knuckles connected with her nose, her head whipped to the side and her body tipped over since she wasn’t able to use her hands to catch her fall. A small spatter of blood sprayed across the sterile white tile where she lay.

“Go ahead!” she screamed. “Beat me all you want, I’m not going to do what you want without a fight! I will fight you until I’m dead if that’s what it takes. I will always fight.”

My blood was boiling.

“Noooooo!” Vaguely, I heard the cries of denial without realizing that it was me. The air continued to push around me, waves of heat and cold practically forcing into my shaking body. “Stop it,” I yelled at the top of my lungs, “Stop!”

With that, the air pushed away in a sudden burst, shooting outward from around and within my body. The rush of air hit the glass wall full force and suddenly a dull, but loud, bonging noise sounded. The noise was quickly followed by the shattering of glass. The entire wall shot outward, toward Chloe and the soldiers.

Chloe had turned her face downward, facing the floor, so she probably escaped most of the shards as they shot forward, plunging themselves into the flesh of our current enemy. After the initial burst, sharp slivers continued to rain down like snowflakes on a winter day.

I couldn’t move. Even though my mind was now clear since the pressure was finally gone, I couldn’t figure out what in the hell had happened. It was almost as if I had pushed the air away from me.

No, it couldn’t have been that.

The soldiers were in pretty rough shape. The guy who hit Chloe had a rather large piece of glass protruding from his left eye. Blood oozed from between the soldiers fingers as he grasped at the wound and screamed, staggering backward into the glass of the cell where Christina and Gavin stood gaping at the scene before them.

All three of those scumbags had shards lodged into various parts of their bodies. They grunted and moaned painfully, while picking themselves up off the floor.

Still stunned, I hadn’t moved an inch. My attention went back to Chloe, who still lay unmoving on the bloody white tile that was now shimmering in a sea of glass.

That snapped me back to attention. I had no idea what in the hell was wrong with me. On any other day I would have jumped right into the action and never hesitated, but here I was standing around staring when I should have been rushing to get Chloe and the others.

The fact that she wasn’t moving shot me into action. I propelled forward, crunching over the broken glass, trying to get to her as fast as I possibly could.

In the few seconds it took me to get to her, she lifted her head and groaned. “What happened?”

I skidded to a stop in front of her and knelt down. “Get up, baby, we’ve got to get out of here.” I silently cursed the cuffs restraining my arms. I wanted to lift her up and reassure her that everything was going to be fine. But, I didn’t know that for sure, because it was going to be a miracle if we made it out of there alive.

“Get ‘em.” One of the soldiers muttered painfully and lunged toward us.

I wasn’t about to let any of them get near Chloe, so I rose into a standing position and waited for him to come to me. He was coming at me quick, but all I had to do was lift my boot and ram it into his knee cap. Something cracked and he went down, howling in pain.

The other one was next. He didn’t seem deterred by his partner rolling around on the glass, screaming profanity at me, he kept coming. Although he appeared determined to pursue us, he was still in bad shape. I spotted a large piece of glass protruding from the front of his thigh and aimed for that.

My boot connected and the soldier let out an ear piercing shout as the glass slid even deeper into his muscle. He bent down, but didn’t fall so I reared back and kicked him in the face with as much force as I could muster.

He flipped backward and hit the floor. Blood spurted from his nose, which I probably broke, and it looked like he would be down for a little while.

Hurriedly, I turned back to Chloe, who had already pulled herself up into a standing position, even though she had to lean on the wall to keep herself up. “The others,” she croaked. “We can’t leave them.”

Holy crap, she was right. What the hell was wrong with me? She had been my only focus and somehow the fact that Gavin, Christina and Zander were in the cells watching us had escaped me.

I bolted for Christina and Gavin’s cell and checked out the lock. It required a key card to be swiped through like a credit card machine. Dammit. My arms were still cuffed behind my back. I glanced over at the soldiers writhing around on the floor and inwardly cursed. Even if I was able to get one of their cards into my hand, it would be hard to slide through there.

But, we had to try.

Turning, I ran back to the guy who’d had his eye impaled by the glass. He sat up against the glass, his key card was an ID badge attached to his breast pocket. “Give me your badge,” I ordered.

His response was a garbled, “Go to hell.”

Yeah, I didn’t think he was going to cooperate that easily, so I kneed him in the stomach. A shout burst from between his lips and he bent forward. “Take off the badge and put it in my hands.”

“Just go!” I heard the shout from the cells and glanced over at them. Christina was waving her hands frantically. “Take Chloe and get out of here. She’s who they want.”

“No,” Chloe moaned from beside me. “We won’t leave you.”

Zander nodded. “You have to, get the others and come back for us. Sarah and her guys are here too. We need more man power. Now go!”

“No,” both Chloe and I said together.

“Dammit Drew.” Gavin pounded the glass wall. “Get her out of here, who knows what they are going to do to her. Hurry.”

Man, they were right. She was who they wanted, she was the one that was going to be subjected to whatever it was they had in mind for her. “All right.” I nodded at them, hating every single word that came out of my mouth. “I’ll get her out, but we are coming back.”

“Don’t you dare bring her back here!” Gavin shouted.

“I’m not an idiot!”

“Go!” All three of them yelled.

With the most remorse I’d ever felt in my entire life, I turned away from my fellow Hunters and hurried over to Chloe. “Come on,” I whispered.

Tears, mixed with blood, spilled from the corners of her eyes and ran down her cheeks. “I don’t want to leave them.”

I shook my head, “We have to, and it’s the only way that we can save them. You are the one in the most danger here, so we have to get you out.”

“I’ll never put myself before them!” she screamed at me.

I moved closer to her, wishing I could hold her. “I know that, we all know that. This time, you have to do this for them, all right?”

She tilted her head up and looked into my eyes. I stared down into those pools of molten darkness and saw the flames that dwelt within her. “If they die in here because of me, I will never forgive myself … or you.” Her voice was a whisper as she added the last part.

I nodded, acknowledging that I understood and she nodded back. With one last longing look at our friends … our family, we headed for the door at the end of the hallway.

I don’t know why I didn’t think about it before, but as we approached I saw that door needed the key card as well. Shit. I was going to have to try and get one of those cards anyway.

“We need help down here,” one of the soldiers was saying into a radio.

I left Chloe by the door and ran, kicking the radio from his hand. It sailed through the air and landed inside the cell with the missing glass that I’d been held in. “Mother fuc…” He couldn’t finish his sentence because I kicked his head again, and again, I kicked until he didn’t move anymore.

Now, my adrenaline was pumping even harder than before, if that was possible. I had to eliminate the threats. “Chloe, get the card. I’ll take care of these guys.” I turned to the other soldier who was on his hands and knees attempting to pick himself up off the floor. Swiftly, without hesitation, I kicked him in the stomach. He fell, his body flattened onto the cold tile beneath him.

I couldn’t help it, I aimed for the face and kept kicking. I had to eliminate these threats, but more were on the way. That much I knew for sure. We just had to get out before they got here.

“I’ve got it,” Chloe hollered from behind me. That was the only thing that kept me from continuing my assault on the soldier. When I turned, I saw that she was gripping the card tightly in her fingers, which were still tightly bound behind her back.

Her eyes shifted between the door, which was our escape, and the cell where our friends were held.

Neither I, nor the others, had time to call out or stop her before she was bolting over the shards of glass toward the cell.

“Chloe, don’t,” Christina slammed her fist into the glass. “You don’t have much time. You have to go. Now!”

“It will only take a minute.” She fumbled with the card and turned around so that she could try to swipe it through the reader.

I hurried toward her, realizing she wasn’t going to leave if she had any chance of saving them. “It’s the wrong way,” I told her. “Turn it, no, the other way.”

As she was turning the card in the right direction, it slipped and fluttered to the ground. “Dammit!” she cursed and then fell to her knees in attempt to recover the card.

Just then, the hallway door, our exit, burst open and several soldiers entered, they were led by General Ahlman and all had their weapons raised.

“On the floor, face down,” Ahlman ordered.

We had no choice but to comply. They would shoot us, of that I had no doubt. So, I lowered myself to the floor as he had ordered. Chloe did the same, but I am pretty sure she only did because I did. “Well, well,” Ahlman started in. “I should have known better than to think you wouldn’t put up a fight.”

Neither of us said anything. I was racking my brain, trying to think of a way out of this hell hole. The only way was for at least one of us to get out. Or Sarah, maybe Sarah could call the other Hunters, but I doubted that she even knew we were being held.

Then another familiar voice joined us. “What in the hell is going on down here? Son of a…”

It was Daniels, from the surprise in his tone, it sounded like he had no idea that we had been detained. “Why are they being held?” he questioned Ahlman.

“If you were supposed to know, then you would know,” Ahlman snapped at Daniels, “It isn’t your place to question me.”

“It is if it’s wrong.” Daniels straightened his spine and flicked his gaze from me to Chloe, to the cell and then back to Ahlman. “What have they been charged with?”

Ahlman visibly blanched at being called out. “The girl there comes from the seed of one of those demons. She is half vampire.”

Daniels nodded. “But the others, what have they done?”

“I told you not to question me. I give the orders here, you just follow them.” Ahlman hissed.

Daniels lifted his weapon only slightly and I realized that we may have an ally in this particular soldier.

“I am a soldier of the United States Army, I am here to protect and defend our nation, not to hurt innocent people because of your personal opinions.”

“You still have to follow orders.” Ahlman took two steps toward Daniels.

As the two of them were facing off, I realized that Daniels had left the door open when he entered. Chances of getting through that door alive were slim, but it was still a chance.

Daniels snorted. “This government barely exists now and half of what does exist is corrupt now. We had an apocalypse, but I refuse to become what you are turning our men into.”

“Shut up and back out of the room, Daniels.”

The threat in the order was clear, but Daniels didn’t move. “When you open that cell and set them free I will go.”

Ahlman sighed. “You are really going to make me shoot you, aren’t you?” He raised his weapon and took aim.

Daniels smiled, an almost sinister grin, and then without any warning he pulled the sidearm at his hip and fired. The shot hit Ahlman in the leg. He fired as well, but the shot misdirected as he fell to his knees and peppered a few of his own soldiers with the spray of rounds.

Rushing forward, Daniels kicked the gun out of Ahlman’s reach. Two of the soldiers hadn’t been hit by the gunfire and they took off through the exit door, probably to get more help. I almost smiled at the thought of them having to go for help again.

Without hesitation, Daniels ripped his keycard from his chest and swiped it though the reader on Zanders cell. The lock slid free with a hiss and Zander’s hand was immediately around the edge of the door, sliding it aside.

Instantly, Zander went for Ahlman and none of us stopped him. The other soldiers had recovered and were raising their weapons at us. Quickly, I rolled over the sharp pieces of glass, right into one of the soldier’s legs. He fell, right about the time that Daniels had opened the cell for Christina and Gavin. Both of them hurried forward and began pummeling soldiers.

Christina bent down and picked up Ahlman’s gun. “Let’s just go,” she called out. I rose to a standing position, as Chloe had already done. The group was free, the door was open, better we just go now rather than try to incapacitate them.

“Come on,” Daniels waved us on. “If you want out of here, we have to go now.”

“The radios!” I told him, “We have to take the radios! And those other two already left for help.”

“Doesn’t matter now,” Daniels responded, pulling a key ring from his pocket. He sifted through it until he came up with a handcuff key. “Turn around,” he ordered. I did as he asked and suddenly my wrists were finally free from their metal captors. He quickly did the same for Chloe and then we all crunched over the broken glass at a full out run.

Daniels had his keycard ready as we poured into the hallway. I silently prayed that we would make it out of this place alive. So far, it had been tough, but we were all still here.

As we neared the elevators Daniels waved us on. “No, we have to use the stairs.”

Damn, he was right. Why didn’t I think of that. Something was seriously off with me. Normally when it came to strategy I had it all planned out before it even happened. I pulled Chloe up next to me and we all thundered down the hallway to the stairwell.

Surprisingly, we didn’t run into anyone on the stairs, and that rubbed me wrong. They knew we were on the run and we were somewhere on this floor, they were going to have people waiting for us somewhere.

That thought proved right when we slammed open the door and we all spilled out onto the ground floor level.

Oh man, we were so freaking close to getting out of here. One thing we hadn’t thought about was what we were going to do when we did get out. We had no car, no ride, no nothing. We were probably going to have to resort to Zander hot wiring a car for us to steal. Normally I wasn’t up for that sort of thing, but if it meant my life and theirs, then hell yeah I would.

“Stop right where you are and drop your weapons.”

I didn’t know the man who led the pack of soldiers aiming their weapons at us. Not for the first time since we’d got here, I wished Alice was with us. Her shield of magic had saved our asses on numerous occasions.

Daniels stepped a few paces in front of our entire group. “You drop your weapons, these people have done nothing but try to help us, you dumbass.”

The other guy jerked his weapon. “Orders are still orders.”

“Stand down,” Daniels growled.

It was clear that the other guy had no intention of standing down. He didn’t move an inch and neither did any of the lackeys behind him. Then, bless her soul, Sarah’s southern accent echoed through the halls. “What, in the fresh hell is going on in here?”

She knew damn well what was going on. Sarah was a smart, far too smart to just waltz into an impending gunfight.

“You need to leave the floor, ma’am,” the soldier ordered, shifting his eyes from us to her.

In that moment, the floor slightly shook and the two water fountains on the walls behind the soldiers exploded. The water shot high into the air, much like when a fire hydrant was unleashed.

A few of the soldiers hit the floor and covered their heads, the remaining ones turned toward the explosion on instinct.

That was our cue.

Every single one of us, even Sarah, began firing our weapons. The rounds echoed throughout the hallways, deafening me. Voices yelled and screamed, but I couldn’t make out what anyone was saying because it all sounded muffled and a loud continuous ringing overpowered anything else I might have heard.

Then, it was over. The massacre of a bunch of human lives. I was about two seconds away from hyperventilating. We didn’t do this, this wasn’t our job. It wasn’t what I had trained for my entire life. From the moment I could walk, I was taught how to kill vampires … to kill those who threatened human life, but now, humans were the enemy.

I exhaled slowly and turned to check on Chloe, but she wasn’t there. “Chloe.” I visually swept the area, hoping she had just moved positions, but I didn’t like what I found instead.

There, standing beside the elevator was another soldier, he had Chloe’s body encircled with one arm and the other hand held a large hunting knife to her throat.

He realized we spotted them and shook his head slightly. “Don’t even think about it. One wrong move and this blade slices her open so that she can bleed out right in front of you.”

The metal blade of the knife glinted off the bright lights of the hallway, taunting me, telling me that they had won. This was why she didn’t fire up on him, if he jerked his arm in pain, it would still cut her.

Dammit, dammit, dammit. So freaking close.

“Let her go,” I hissed, my finger hovering over the trigger of the gun in my hand.

The soldier frowned and slowly backed up a step so that they moved through the elevator door that had just opened behind them. “You all go, right now, and never come back. That is how this works.”

“I will never leave her here for you to torture.” My words were choked because I knew that may not be the case this time.

“That isn’t how this works. She stays, one way or the other. Now go, there has been enough blood and death today.” The elevator doors slid closed, shutting out Chloe’s terror filled eyes.

“No!” I rushed toward the elevator, hoping to catch it before the door closed completely.

“Drew, don’t!” Zander and Gavin shouted together.

“Chloe …” I cried out, pounding the metal. “Dammit!”

I got it, they were afraid that if I had caught up to them that the dude would actually cut her throat.

“Drew.” Sarah appeared next to me and placed her hand on my shoulder. “We have to go, man.”

I didn’t move. I couldn’t move.

How could I go when they took her? We had been so close to getting out of this hell hole.

Christina also showed up on the other side of me. “Like now, Drew. We will come back and get her.”

“I don’t want to leave her here at all,” I whispered.

Sarah shifted her weapon and pinched my cheek between her fingers. “Snap out of it. They want her alive, that much we know. That’s good, it means we can plan and come back to get her. I’m with you all the way, my guys are still in here somewhere too. Hopefully, they are just off making ammo in some isolated room somewhere and were able to avoid all this.” She gestured to the dead bodies around us.

“We have to move,” Daniels ordered softly.

I nodded. They were right, but this was one of the worst things I’d ever had to do in my life and I hated myself for it. If I didn’t get her back, safe and sound, I knew that I would never, ever forgive myself.

Before I knew it, we were outside, charging through the balmy night, away from the Department of Defense. After about twenty minutes of running through the city at breakneck speed, we stopped to catch our breath.

“We need a car,” I panted, swinging my gaze to Zander.

He nodded that he understood. “No problem.”

I turned to Daniels, “Thank you … for what you did.” I knew it couldn’t be easy for him to leave his people back there. Soldiers, real soldiers, those who were truly good people who wanted to defend our country, were a pretty loyal bunch … not unlike the Hunters.

Also bent over and panting to catch his breath, Daniels lifted his eyes to meet mine. “I don’t condone holding innocent people captive.”

“What will they do to Chloe?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know, but I do know that it can’t be good. Ahlman has a lab on the bottom floor where they have been running tests on vampires.”

Oh God. I cringed at the thought. “Torturing them?”

“Basically, yeah.” His eyes didn’t reflect any emotion, but I saw a flicker of something.

My breathing had finally gone back to normal so I stood up straight and stared him down. “Chloe is not one of those monsters.”

“Do you think I’m an idiot?”

Shocked at his blunt question, I shook my head. “No.”

“Well, then don’t assume that I think she is. She wouldn’t be hanging out with you guys if she was one of them.” He paused, “But that doesn’t mean that they won’t put her through what they are doing to the ones they have detained.”

Gavin straightened, “We have to get ahold of Luke. We need a team out here.”

“A big team,” Christina added and then glanced down at her body. “Those bastards took all my knives.”

“We’ll get you new ones.” Zander took her into his arms and she rested her head against his chest.

Christina turned to me and stared for a second before asking, “Can we talk about what happened back there?”

Even though I knew what she was talking about, it wasn’t something we had time to dwell on at the moment. “I don’t know what it was and we’re going to have to worry about it later.” I told her.

“But, Drew … air?”

“I don’t want to think about it right now. It just happened and I don’t know why or how. I just want to get Chloe back.”

Her expression was both excited and sad, if that was possible. When a Hunter comes into their gifts, they are usually around the age of sixteen, I never did, and once I turned twenty, I stopped hoping it would happen.

Not all Hunters developed gifts, but we all wanted them, even if we didn’t broadcast it for the entire world to know. Christina had never developed her gifts either, so she was both excited for me since she was a close friend, practically family, but she was also jealous because that would make her the only one of our group without some kind of supernatural power.

It really didn’t matter at this point anyway because I wasn’t sure that was actually what it was, and even if I did suddenly come into the elemental power of air, I sure as hell didn’t know how to use it. It took Hunters years to learn how to use and control their power.

So, like I said, I couldn’t worry about it right now.

Christina let the subject go and straightened. “Let’s get moving.”

An hour later we had found a Suburban that would fit all of us, plus Chloe and Sarah’s guys. I hated stealing, but at this point we really had no other options. After picking up the Suburban, we stopped at a gas station. I strode in and asked to use the phone.

The phones had been going through the entire Apocalypse, but they weren’t available to the general public. Now, they were back up and running. The only thing they were having a problem getting back online was cell phones. Plus, I wouldn’t have trusted using a cell anyway.

The guy at the counter nodded and handed me the handset. I dialed 0 and asked to place a collect call. Luke’s phone rang three times and then I finally heard the comforting sound of his voice.

“Hello.”

“You have a collect call from …”

“Drew,” I said into the receiver.

“If you accept the charges, please push one. If not, simply hang up.” The automated voice explained to Luke.

Beep. “Drew? What’s happening?” His voice was full of worry. He knew there was absolutely no way I would be calling him collect unless there was a serious problem.

“We need as many Hunters out here as the Board will allow us.” I turned away from the curious gas station attendant.

“What happened?”

I lumbered over to the display of candy and in a low voice, told him the whole story. He promised to have a team out as soon as possible, but because they were driving it would take about a day for them to get to us. We agreed to meet the team the next evening at one of the chain hotels in the city.

After Luke assured me that we would get her back and everything would be fine, I hung up and handed the receiver back to the attendant, then headed out to the Suburban.

“They’re coming,” I told them, sliding into the passenger seat. “About twelve hours.”

Daniels shifted the vehicle into gear. “We better go get some sleep, we have a long night ahead of us when they get here.”

He drove us to the hotel where we rented two rooms. Gavin, Christina and Zander shared a room while Daniels, Sarah and I roomed together. Solemnly, the three of them disappeared inside, while I used the key card to unlock the door to our room.

Waiting for the Hunters to come was going to be one of the hardest things I’d ever had to do. The last time I felt anywhere remotely like this was when Chloe had been basically held prisoner at her father’s house. That maniac was a vampire and had only been using her to try and see the sunlight again, which meant he had to kill her to do it.

But, even that didn’t come close to how I felt right now. I wanted to go back to that place and try and get her on my own. But, the Hunter in me knew that would be a suicide mission. I had to wait for back up … for both our sakes.

Daniels threw himself on the bed and closed his eyes. “Try to get some sleep.” It wasn’t a suggestion, it was an order, and he was right, we would all need to be well rested when it came time to go back into that place.

Sarah settled in on the other bed and then patted the spot next to her. “Come on, Drew, I’m not gonna take advantage of you.”

Feeling strange, I hesitantly lay down next to her, wishing I had a clean set of clothes before I lay down on the crisp bedding. I had only just closed my eyes when Daniels sat straight up in bed and slapped the comforter. “Dammit,” he cursed loudly.

“What?” I sat up too.

“I forgot.” He got up from the bed and went to the table where he had dropped some of the bulkier items he had been wearing. “I still have my radio.”

I raised my eyebrows, signaling for him to continue.

“We can listen to what’s going on there. Maybe they will say something that can help us when we infiltrate.”

Sarah’s eyes brightened. “Maybe we will hear something about Spike and John.”

I really hoped those two had been left out of all of this. The government really didn’t have any reason to keep them detained as prisoners, so I assumed they were all right. But, you never knew with this particular group we were dealing with. “I’m sure they’re all right,” I tried to assure her.

She nodded. “I hope so.”

Daniels switched his eyes back and forth between us. “Who are you guys talking about?”

“Sarah came here with two other guys, Spike and John, they specialize in building ammunition … and they know how to make ultraviolet rounds that can kill vampires.”

“I can’t say I’ve seen them around, but the Pentagon is also a big place. They could be anywhere in there. But, we do have a section we set up during the apocalypse for weapons and ammunition manufacturing. We wanted to make sure that we could recycle as much as we could … just in case we ever ran out.”

Sarah appeared comforted by his words. “Yeah, I’m sure they’re fine. But, I still want them out. Those assholes saw me with you guys, so now that they know I’m with you, they may try and use Spike and John against us.”

That hadn’t occurred to me until she mentioned it. “Oh crap,” I muttered.

“That’s true,” Daniels added. “I wouldn’t put it past ‘em.” He switched the radio on. “We’re going to run out of battery eventually and will have to find some more, but we can leave it on for now.”

With that, we all headed back to the beds where we lay for hours, listening to the radio, unable to sleep. Nothing important came across the waves, it was all normal stuff like shift changes and security point check in’s.

Eventually, my body couldn’t resist anymore and my lids fluttered shut, sending me into a darkness with no dreams.

***

I woke to sunlight streaming through the crack in the heavy hotel curtains and Daniels sawing logs on the bed beside us.

Turning my head away from the window, I found Sarah laying there wide awake, staring at the ceiling. “Couldn’t sleep?” I asked.

“I’m surprised that you could with that ruckus over there.” She jerked her thumb at Daniels, who snorted and then turned on his side.

I rolled my eyes. “I’ve learned to sleep through pretty much anything when I have to. Anything come over the radio?”

She shook her head. “You know I would’ve woke you if anything did.”

I let out a long sigh and rubbed some of the sleep from my eyes. “Dammit.”

“Yeah,” she whispered, letting out her own sigh.

Quietly, I rose from the bed and headed to the bathroom. As I was washing my hands and staring at myself in the mirror, I caught sight of the coffee pot sitting on the counter beside the little tray scented soaps wrapped in paper. If Chloe were here, she would have already had that thing brewing. She loved coffee.

A simple thought like that reminded me how much I loved her. The fact remained, I was not going to lose her, not now … not ever.

“Hey,” Daniels hollered, pounding on the door. “You gonna be in there all day?”

Shaking off the emotions, I turned and pulled open the door. “Sorry.”

“No worries, man, if I didn’t have to piss so bad you could stay in there all day for all I care.” He passed by me and then shut the door behind him.

The clock beside the bed said that it was five in the evening, so the team should be arriving sometime in the next few hours. I turned to Sarah, “Let’s get the others and start forming a plan.”

***

Darkness fell around eight thirty and I still sat by the window, staring down at the parking lot, watching for the Luke and the team to show up. I’d been staring at the almost empty lot for two hours and my patience was starting to wear thin.

While I waited, I half-heartedly tried to move the curtains by using the air. I closed my eyes and concentrated, trying to pull the air into my body so that I could push it out, like what happened back in the cell. When that didn’t work, I opened my eyes and tried to push the air with my hand. No matter how much I concentrated, nothing happened.

I gave up quickly. The incident back in the cell was probably just a fluke, anyway. People displayed supernatural acts all the time when it was needed, like lifting cars off of a person, things like that.

Not only was my patience starting to wear thin, doubt was also starting to set in. Maybe they weren’t going to come after all. Maybe the Board had shut down the idea, they had done it before. When Chloe was at her Dad’s they refused to send a team to go get her and that was just one vampire they would have been going against. This time, it was pretty much the entire Department of Defense we were talking about.

I just hoped they would remember who was responsible for ending the Vampire Apocalypse and help her in return. Chloe had risked more for the community than most of the Hunters who had lived there their entire lives.

Daniels kept glancing at me, doubt also beginning to form within his expression. Sarah switched her gaze between me and him. “Oh stop it you guys, they’re going to come. Have a little faith.”

Just as she was scolding us in her Louisiana twang, two motorhomes slowed and turned into the parking lot. They parked haphazardly on the backside of the lot and then the passenger door on the first one burst open.

Luke stepped down onto the pavement, dressed in jeans and a tee shirt, with more weapons strapped to him than I had ever seen on him before.

Thank God.

“They’re here!” I hollered, jumping up and scaring the crap out of Daniels and Sarah. “Let’s go.” I didn’t have anything with me to pack so I hurried over to the room beside ours and rapped on the door. “The team is here, let’s go.” I called to them, then ran the stairs and out into the parking lot.

Luke saw me coming and smiled a weary smile. “Have you checked out yet?” he asked.

I shook my head, “Not yet, I wanted to let you know I knew you were here first. You better get back in the motor home, you have on too many weapons to be walking around like that in public.” I called the last part over my shoulder as I jogged back in to check out of the hotel.

Once all that was done, I ran back outside and found that the rest of the group was in one of the motorhomes. Daniels had already introduced himself and was briefing the Hunters on the situation at the Pentagon.

Luke and Sarah had already met in New Orleans. I could tell he was surprised to see her, but I also knew that he was more than happy to help get her guys back as well since he had met them in Louisiana too.

I was happy to see that Alice and Oscar were also among the team of Hunters crowded into the recreational vehicle. Thank God they came along, Alice’s magic and Oscar’s ability to compel people was going to come in handy, for sure.

Alice squeezed her way toward me and gave me a big hug. “It’s going to be all right,” she whispered, “We’re going to get her back. I promise.”

I nodded. “Thank you for coming.”

She smiled as Oscar appeared beside her. “As if we wouldn’t have come,” she said. I glanced up at Oscar and gave him another nod, he acknowledged with his own and then rested his chin on Alice’s head.

Daniels was bent over a table, scribbling on a large piece of paper where he had drawn a sketch of the Pentagon. “We will go in this entrance, take out the security there and then take this hallway to the elevators. They are probably keeping Chloe on the very bottom floor, but as for Spike and John, they will most likely be somewhere in this area.”

Gavin, who wore a grim expression, closed his eyes and then opened them again. “I hate that we are going to have to shoot at people. So many are going to die during this mission.”

Luke clapped Gavin on the shoulder. “I thought of that already.” Luke turned and wedged his way through all the Hunters and then reappeared shortly with two large black duffle bags. He threw them on the table, right on top of Daniels’ drawing and unzipped one. “We have tranq guns,” he explained as he lifted one out and held it up for us to see.

Normally, I wasn’t one for having to shoot anyone who was human, but at this point I didn’t care if we did. They had Chloe. Period. I would kill whoever I had to in order to get her back.

“Nice,” Gavin smiled.

Christina and Zander appeared to share my opinion about the tranquilizer guns, but Daniels and Sarah looked like they were happier about not having to kill anyone.

Daniels continued to speak. “The only major problem we are going to have to begin with is that my keycard has probably been deactivated, so it won’t work anymore, we’re going to have to hit this security here,” he moved aside a black bag and pointed to a section on his drawing, “and take them out quietly. Then we grab their cards and weapons.”

Everyone nodded that it was a good starting move, and continued to listen, sometimes asking questions. Preparing for the mission went on for about an hour. We absolutely could not go in there blind, if we did, we would lose people and that wasn’t an option.

Once the plan was set, we split into two groups and divided into the motorhomes. As soon as the engine fired up and the vehicle began to move, anxiety started to kick in, so I headed for the back and found the area where all the weapons were stashed. I grabbed a couple of guns and knives and found a few smoke bombs sitting in a box beside the grenades, which I also snatched a couple of.

The knives had sheathes with them that strapped on, but the guns didn’t and the soldiers back at the Pentagon had taken mine, so I was reduced to having to tuck the handguns into the back of my jeans. After I had everything securely placed on my body, I opened one of the black duffels and picked out a tranq gun for myself.

By the time I finished, we were nearly there so I squeezed my way through all the people, smiling at my fellow Hunters whom I’d known my whole life and made my way all the way to the front so I could be one of the first ones off.

Both vehicles slowed and pulled to a stop about a quarter mile away from the Pentagon property. We wanted to go in quiet and that wasn’t going to happen if we rolled up in a big ass motorhome.

We parked off road in a deserted parking lot and the driver killed the engines. I already had my hand on the door knob and flung the door open practically before the thing even stopped.

“Drew, hold your horses, son.” Luke was right behind me, sporting his own tranq gun. “We stay together for now, remember?”

I nodded, but looked away. “I can’t help it,” I explained.

“I know,” he said. His voice was soothing to me, since Luke was the father to me that my biological one couldn’t be. “Be patient, we are almost to the hardest part.”

Reluctantly, I stood back and waited for the rest of the team. I didn’t have to wait long though because a few minutes later we were creeping silently through the darkness, keeping our movements slow and deliberate. It was killing me to move so slowly, but I knew it had to go this way for the mission to succeed.

Alice was with me, near the front of the pack, so that she could provide a shield if things went wrong. Of course, Oscar was close at her side. He wasn’t a bad asset to have either, all he had to do was talk and anyone he wanted to would follow his instructions.

We reached the first security check point with no problem. Normally there would have been guards in the little kiosk located at the entrance to the property, but with the risk of vampire attacks so high at night, they didn’t have anyone on watch.

Our first obstacle was the check point at the entrance to the building itself. As we drew closer, I moved ahead, along with Daniels and Luke. Alice was with us, but stayed right behind, just in case. As soon as the soldiers on watch came into view, the three of us lifted our tranquilizer guns and fired.

We all struck our intended targets and the three uniformed men had no idea what hit them. The one at the desk slumped over, his head thumping hard against the shiny, unyielding surface. The other two were leaning on the wall beside the desk, one of them instantly slid to the floor, unconscious while the last one reached up and slapped his neck as if he were swatting at a mosquito. He pulled the dart from his neck, stared at it for a split-second before he toppled forward.

As one, the team surged forward, filing through the entrance and heading toward their intended areas of infiltration. Daniels stooped to grab one of the guards’ keycards and radio sounded with static. A female voice came over the waves. “Code red, engaging, more than I can count, three down.”

“Shit,” Daniels grunted, sprinting alongside me toward the elevators. “They know we’re here.”

I nodded. “We knew that would happen.”

“They’re going to lock the elevators, let’s go for the stairs.”

Daniels hit the door to the stairwell, slamming into it and practically knocking the soldiers coming up the stairs, back down.

“Stop! Right there,” the guy at the front of the pack demanded, regaining his composure.

I felt the magic engulf us as Alice’s shield slid down between us and the soldiers. “You stop,” I told him and then pushed through the shield so that I was on the outside. The first soldier stood on the landing of the stairs and I charged him, ramming my shoulder into his chest, he fired but it went in a random direction, as did all the other shots that were fired when all those soldiers went down the stairs like dominoes.

Our team began firing their tranq guns all at once. They moved forward, hitting any piece of flesh on any person that they could. The gun fire from the enemy gradually became less and less until all of them were unconscious.

I took in a deep breath and then released it. Well, that part was over, we were making progress and we were still alive, so that was good. I stared at the bodies piled in a heaps, trailing down the stairs and glanced at Luke, then Daniels.

“We have to.” Luke said.

“I know.” I replied grimly, moving forward and holding onto the side rail as I stepped onto a soldiers back.

From behind me I heard Alice mumble, “I’ve done a lot of really strange things in my life, but this is probably in the top five.”

“At least they aren’t dead,” I told her. “That would have made it really creepy.”

“True that,” she agreed.

We climbed our way over the bodies until they ended. I breathed a bit more easily when the solid steps were under my feet. “This way.” Daniels motioned the direction we were supposed to go and led the way.

Our group consisted of me, Luke, Daniels, Alice, Oscar, Zander and several other Hunters from Arcadia Falls. Christina and Gavin had taken a portion of the team to search for the section where Spike and John might be.

We ran into more soldiers along the way and took them out with an easy shot from the tranq guns. I was just beginning to think that this mission might be easier than we thought when things started going downhill. We were only feet from the stairwell that would take us down another level, when the thunder of booted feet reverberated through the halls.

With the echo, it was hard to tell which way the sound was coming from. I turned one way and then the other, preparing for the appearance of our enemy at the moment. My lips opened to form the words, to ask Alice to put the shield around us, when a loud crack echoed in my ears.

Alice screamed, lurching forward and grabbing her thigh. Oscar, reached out and caught her before she hit the floor. It was suddenly like it was all in slow motion. I was torn between searching for the enemy and eliminating the threat, or pushing my way through the group to help Alice.

Oscar pulled her arm around his shoulders and held her by the waist. She still had one hand pressed to her thigh, where blood seeped out from between her fingers.

Turns out, I didn’t have time to do either of those options because the thundering stopped and a group of soldiers appeared on each side of us. They had trapped us, and apparently they had spotted Alice and what she could do so they took her out first.

Ok. Hardball it would be.

Through her pain, Alice saw what had happened and I felt the slight shimmer of magic around me, but the full protection of the shield never rose. She was injured and her body was putting all of its energy into that, no matter how hard she tried.

Oscar murmured softly to her, “Don’t. You can’t help right now.” He gazed down at her with worry in his eyes and then reluctantly tore his gaze away and in a loud, but firm voice addressed the enemy. “Go. What you are doing here is hurting innocent people. Lower your weapons and leave this place. Walk away and keep walking until daylight breaks. When the sun shines upon your face, you will feel better than you have felt for a long time, but you will not remember this place. The Pentagon and the Department of Defense will become a lost memory.”

I’d seen Oscar’s gift at work, but never like this. Every single soldier surrounding us lowered their gun and glanced around, appearing confused. That confusion was soon replaced with a determined, almost robotic look in their eyes as they wordlessly turned and marched toward the exit.

I was aware of my jaw hanging a bit slack as I watched the people who were shooting at us only moments ago, just walk away as if they didn’t even see us there. Only after they were completely out of sight, did I turn my attention back to Alice.

I hurried to her side. “Let me see,” I asked softly.

She had tears running down her cheeks and her teeth were clenched over her lip in order to keep her pain silent. With a slight nod, she moved her hand away. The wound still had blood flowing steadily from within and when she moved her hand away it worsened.

Quickly, I set my gun down and lifted my tee shirt over my head. It wasn’t the cleanest because I’d been wearing it since we left home, but it was going to have to do. I pulled and tore the fabric into a long strip and wrapped it around her thigh.

She flinched at the touch, gasping in pain.

“It’s all right, baby,” Oscar soothed her. “It doesn’t hurt that bad.”

I knew he was using his siren voice to help her feel better and that was totally fine with me. I finished tying the shirt around her leg and glanced up at Oscar. “She’s going to be fine as long as we get this treated soon. The bullet went in one side and out the other. It doesn’t look like it hit the bone, but we won’t know for sure until she sees the doctor.”

He nodded solemnly. “She is going to be so pissed when she gets over the shock.”

I smiled even though it wasn’t funny. “I know.” I patted him on the shoulder and turned to Daniels. “Lead the way.”

“We’re almost there,” he replied, gesturing toward the stairwell.

We followed Daniels down the stairwell and through a section that appeared to be the opposite direction of the cells we were kept in before. We moved a bit slower for Alice, but she was being a trooper and moving along pretty quickly for someone who took a bullet to the leg.

It wasn’t long before we approached a set of double doors with no label to distinguish what was within. He halted and pointed to the entrance, signaling that was where we were going.

I positioned myself on one side of the doors and he went to the other, one of our fellow Hunters took the middle and we waited for the signal. Daniels counted on his fingers, one, two, three, and on the third finger I lifted my boot and kicked the doors open.

Daniels did the same on his side. I went right and scanned the area for anything that moved. I didn’t spot anything right away and moved further into the room. I heard the rest of the team moving in behind us since they didn’t hear any shots and assumed it was clear.

The room beyond the double doors was a lab. It had all kinds of machines and medical equipment in stations all over the place. The white, sterile environment was just like a hospital, only creepier.

“Where are they?” I whispered.

“Follow me,” Daniels whispered back.

He followed the left wall of the room, leading us past a bank of desks with computers, which were turned off, telling me that no one had been on them for a while. I guess the lab only ran during business hours.

Soon, we reached another set of doors, identical to the first ones. This time, instead of bursting in, Daniels soundlessly pushed the swinging door open and stepped inside. I was right behind him, quietly slipping through into a special kind of hell.

“Oh my God,” Someone muttered from behind me, and I couldn’t disagree at all.

More cells made of glass lined three of the walls. Each of the cells held nothing but a vampire. At first glance, you would think that the vampires inside were near death, but having learned about vampires my entire life, I knew that they could live forever on the tiniest bit of blood. They could weaken and wither, but still live.

I agreed that it was awful, what was happening to these vampires, but at the moment there was only one thing on my mind and that was finding Chloe. Slowly, I walked past the vampires, separated from them only by the thick glass wall.

Some of them turned our way was we passed, others appeared to be asleep on the floor, since they weren’t even given a bed to ease their captivity. One male vampire stood so close to the glass that I could see scars covering almost every inch of his bare arms. He stood as still as a statue, arms crossed over his chest and his eyes red with blood lust.

Those eyes followed me as I passed. It was the most awkward feeling, having my natural enemy so close, yet untouchable. I knew without a doubt that he was so starved for blood without the glass holding him back he would have attacked me.

The next cell held a blonde, female vampire who was completely the opposite of Mr. Silent beside her. She had been crouched in the corner, sitting on the balls of her feet and rocking back and forth. But, the moment she got a whiff of our human blood her head snapped up, revealing sunken red eyes which glowed brightly against her pale white skin.

She rushed the glass, seeming to forget that she wouldn’t be able to get to us. The instant her body hit the wall a bright blue light flashed and she was thrown backward against the stone wall behind her. Her body seizured and then fell still.

I had stopped to watch, morbidly curious to see what was going to happen to her. After about ten seconds the cell lit up with a bright light, only a flash, and the blonde vampire screamed, writhing in pain. Her skin had burned away in all exposed areas, revealing the flesh underneath.

Good God, this was a punishment for her touching the glass.

That thought churned in my mind for a moment when Daniels stepped up beside me. “The glass won’t withstand repeated force from them. It’s the same with the cells you were in, that’s the only reason I know.”

The skin began to regenerate before our eyes, slowly healing itself while the vampire lay unmoving on the floor. I shook my head in denial. “I need to find Chloe,” I whispered, refusing to let fear get the best of me.

The rest of the team had also paused to take in the state of the vampire prisoners. Yeah, we killed vampires, it was what we were born and bred to do, but torturing them was not something we would ever do.

“Come on.” Luke appeared beside me. “We need to move on.”

I nodded, sparing one last glance at the cell and the vampire who suffered within. Funny, I never thought that I would feel sorry for one of the demons we hunted on a daily basis. It was not a feeling I liked very much at all.

Chloe.

Yes, it was time to go. The team moved forward again, making our way around perimeter of the room. Before I knew it, we happened upon another door, only this one was labeled in big black letters “Laboratory. Restricted Access”

Without hesitation, I lifted my gun with one hand and pushed open the swinging door with the other. The team was right behind me, ready for anything, or anyone. A hospital bed, stood high in the middle of the room and there, on the bed, was Chloe.

Her arms were strapped to the gleaming metal rails and a wide strap held her legs in place. Her eyes fluttered a bit as if she may have heard us come in, but she was mostly unconscious. Beside the bed, an IV stand held bags of fluid, which were being pumped into her veins. Little suction cups with wires attached were hooked up to a bank of machines and a low beeping was the only sound that broke the silence.

Chloe turned her head to the side and I saw the perspiration beaded at her brow. Her charcoal hair had become so damp that it was practically plastered to the side of her pale cheek. My God, her skin was whiter than I’d ever seen it.

“No.” I was barely aware that the word had actually slipped from my lips. I bolted for the bed with a mixture of relief that we had found her and a boiling rage for the people who had done this to her.

“Drew, wait.” Luke tried to stop me, but I kept going. Nothing was going to keep me from her.

I reached for the straps at her arms. Thank goodness they were just a simple buckle. Her lids fluttered again as if she was trying to open them but couldn’t. “Drew?” she croaked.

“Shhh,” I soothed her as I loosened the first buckle. “We’re getting you out of here.”

She blinked a few times and then her eyes closed all the way again. I looked down at her arm and saw track marks … a lot of them. Those bastards took her blood, and not just a little bit. She was weak from loss of blood.

I was going to kill someone for this.

“Dammit,” I muttered, hurrying around the bed to get her other arm. Luke began removing the IV and the sensors so that we would be able to move her when I got the straps removed. My eyes flicked up toward the team. A few of them were standing guard, weapons at the ready, just in case someone entered the room. The ones who weren’t, were staring at Chloe with surprised and angry expressions.

When I finally had all of her restraints taken off and Luke had freed her from the medical equipment, I tucked my gun into the back of my jeans and scooped her up into my arms. It was then that she regained enough consciousness to lift her head just a tiny bit.

“Drew?” Her eyes were still glossy, but she opened them enough that I knew she had focused on me for a second.

“It’s me.”

Her head fell back down into the crook of my elbow. “Why aren’t you wearing a shirt?” she asked me. As bad as the whole situation was at the moment, I smiled and shook my head. Here she was, being tortured and used for testing, and she was worried about where my shirt was.

“Don’t worry about that right now,” I told her, even though she may not have heard me.

The team turned around and headed back through the door into the room with the cells. I held Chloe, situated toward the center of the group so that we would have protection all around as we did our best to escape.

We had only gone a few steps into the room when I knew without actually seeing them that we weren’t alone.

“Son of a bi…” Zander cursed at the sight of eight soldiers lining the walls in front of the glass cells. He didn’t get to finish his sentence though because Ahlman strode out in front of his men. He was limping, but still breathing.

I guess it may be time to change that last part.

“Well, well … why am I not surprised that you would bring a team of Hunters back with you.”

I didn’t answer. It’s not like he really wanted an answer either though. But, my anger flashed and that same pressure I’d felt back in the cell began to push on my brain again. Ahlman shook his head as if he were disappointed in us.

“You may as well have just stayed here with us instead of running away.”

I stepped forward with Chloe in my arms, and lifted my chin up in defiance. “You, are the worst general in the history of the United States.”

That evil old man shook his head and clicked his tongue at me. “That is where you are wrong. We are doing all this,” he gestured to the vampire cells. “We need to find out what their every weakness is. It is crucial that we find out every detail about their regenerative traits so that the research can be used in the future.” He threw his hands up, “Hell, we may even find the cure for cancer with this project.”

“From now on, you do it without her,” I growled.

“Again, you are wrong. Vampire blood can heal a human, but there are some awful side effects that come with it, plus it can be highly addictive. Our Chloe here, her blood is vampire blood, but it is also diluted enough with human blood that it is the perfect cocktail for healing humans.”

“Yeah, well I think that if you really wanted her blood, you would want her alive and healthy. Not half dead and drained of most of her blood. Then what happens when she dies. You’re a liar Ahlman.”

The air pulsed, pushing against my body as if it wanted inside, but couldn’t quite get there. I fought the urge to drop Chloe and curl up in a little ball to fend off the pain. She moaned and rolled her head away from my shoulder.

Ahlman contemplated my accusations. “I have no need to lie. You are insignificant to our plan, just a glitch in the system, so to speak.”

I didn’t respond, instead, I stared past him at the cells that held the vampires. The creatures watched the confrontation with interest, probably wondering who was going to die today.

“A glitch that needs to be eliminated,” Ahlman continued and raised his hand high into the air.

Behind me, I heard the chorus of clicks from the team as they readied their weapons. The soldiers lined up behind Ahlman also prepared to fire. I felt a sudden wave of magic and knew that Alice was trying to raise her shield, but she couldn’t. Her injury was using all of her energy.

My eyes closed and I willed the pressure enclosing on me to go the other way. I was unable to hold a weapon, so this was all I had and it was definitely worth a shot.

Suddenly, the pressure released, bursting away from my body like an invisible tsunami. The wave crashed into all those around me, blowing them backward along with everything else in the room.

Desks flew into the air and dropped hard into the floor. Papers scattered, caught on the wind and fluttered angrily as they were blown in every direction.

At the same time, the glass on the cells popped and shattered, forced inward by the air which was stronger than any vampire.

And that was when all hell broke loose.

The vampires didn’t hesitate for even a second. In a flash, they were on top of the soldiers who were picking themselves up off the floor. Teeth sunk into human flesh, replenishing the blood they had lost and sating their hunger.

I also didn’t hesitate. I had to get Chloe out and I wouldn’t be able to fight my way out while holding Chloe. Luke, Daniels and Zander formed a semi-circle of protection around us as we inched our way out of the fray.

Screams of pain and terror resounded off the walls. It was the sound of a massacre. The vampires tore into one soldier and then went right on to the next. None of the soldiers tried to save their buddies, if they were alive and able to escape, that is exactly what they did.

I caught sight of Ahlman on the floor, leaning on one arm and staring at the chaos that was unfolding before his very eyes. His people were being slaughtered because of him. Not that I felt sorry for him, it was exactly the opposite, I didn’t care.

“I’ll be back.” Zander tossed a glance over his shoulder and met my eyes. I nodded, but inside I was wishing he would just leave him to die at the hands of a vampire.

Ahlman saw Zander coming and his eyes grew wide as he raised his .45, aiming right at Zander. In one fell swoop, Zander spun and kicked out, knocking the weapon from the Generals grasp.

“You know who that girl is?” Zander shouted at him. “That half vampire is my sister, and I refuse to lose more of my family, especially to an evil psycho like you.” He knelt down so that his face was right in front of Ahlman’s.

“Just kill me.” Ahlman’s voice was resigned. He glanced over at the vampires feasting on his men and then back at Zander.

Zander followed his gaze. “It is my job to rid the world of evil like you.” He placed the barrel of his gun against Ahlman’s forehead. Ahlman closed his eyes, preparing to have his brains blown out. “But, I think that I will leave you for the masses this time.” He pulled the gun away.

“But …”

“Shut up, General. Killing you now would be too nice a punishment for what you’ve done.”

“I just wanted to help people. Bring the world back to us.”

“It’s one thing to kill a demon, but to torture living beings, especially one who is still human, for your own cause is not the way to accomplish that.”

“There must be sacrifices.”

Zander nodded again, “Yes, there must be.” He looked up and called to the vampire whom I’d seen when we first came in. “Hey, big guy, over here.” He waved and pointed at Ahlman.

The vamp licked his lips and bounded over to them in a single leap. He stared down at the General, his eyes glowing fiercely with blood lust. Then, he turned to Zander and their eyes locked. Zander pointed again. “I give you this one, if you help get us out of here.”

The vamp stared down at Ahlman, probably wondering if this one man was worth trading in the possibility of more blood from the rest of us. They had only gone for the soldiers because they were the ones who had imprisoned them in the first place, we were just dessert. “Deal.” The big guy finally growled.

“Nooo!” Ahlman screamed and tried to crawl away. But, the vamp exposed his fangs with a hiss and lunged, instantly sinking his teeth into the old man’s neck.

Zander stood up and headed our way. “We should go now.”

I nodded, hitching Chloe up in my arms and adjusting so that she was close up against my chest.

Ahlman was the last of the soldiers, so the vampires joined us in our escape. We encountered no one on our way up to the ground level, so either there weren’t any more or the ones who were around decided to stay alive and just let us go.

Christina, Gavin and Sarah were waiting with spike and John at the exit. As we approached I saw that they all had their weapons raised, expecting the thundering of feet to belong to the enemy.

“It’s them!” Christina yelled and bolted toward us. The rest of the team followed close behind her, happy to see me in the center of the group, holding Chloe … the reason they were here in the first place.

Mission accomplished.

***

We were home … again.

Chloe lay in her bed, still sleeping. I could barely bring myself to leave her side since the return home. Even though I knew she was safe, I was still terrified that something was going to happen to her.

She lay on her side, her dark hair spread across the pillows beneath her. Occasionally, she blinked and murmured something, probably a dream. I hoped she was having good dreams and not nightmares.

I leaned forward and moved a strand of her hair over her ear. She stirred and then her eyes fluttered open. “Hey, hunter boy,” she whispered. “Why are you still here?”

I dipped down and kissed her on the cheek. “Because, someone has to make sure that you stay out of trouble.” I smiled, “Every time I turn around you are getting yourself into crap like the Pentagon.”

She turned onto her back and stared up at me. “I know, I’m basically an accident waiting to happen.”

I laughed and went in for another kiss on her soft lips. “No, not at all. You are one of the toughest chicks I know and you fight for what you believe in. That is not an accident at all.”

She frowned, not convinced. “Tell me what happened to everyone.”

“Well, Sarah took the boys and went back to New Orleans. They were fine and totally unaware of anything that had been going on in that place. Thank God.

“Daniels actually came back here with us. He’s in my room sleeping right now. I think he’s going to stick around, him and Luke seemed to get on pretty well. Alice went to the hospital and had to get her wound taken care of, the bullet wasn’t in there, but she needed to get it cleaned and get some antibiotics to prevent infection. As long as she stays off it, she should be fine.”

Chloe nodded. “I need to make the team a thank you card,” she joked.

“Nah,” I told her with a smile. “I’m sure they would appreciate that, but it’s not needed. They wanted to help.”

“Still …” Her voice trailed off.

“There is something else I need to tell you.”

She raised her eyebrows. “Did you find yourself a sweet little solider at the Pentagon?”

I made a disgusted face. “Ew, don’t even joke like that.”

I told her the whole story about my new power. Yeah, I definitely had it.

When I was done with the story her eyes were wide, happiness swimming in her dark irises. “Drew, that’s fantastic.”

I shook my head, “I don’t know about that.”

“Whatever, you’re always so modest. Own it, man. This is great.”

I didn’t respond. I had pretty much come to terms with the fact that I wasn’t ever going to have a gift and now I had one. So strange.

“I knew it,” Chloe whispered.”

“What?”

She looked up at me with a soft smile. “Fire needs air to breathe. You are the air that fuels me … my fire. We belong together.”

I couldn’t find the words to respond to that, so I did even better. I reached down and brought my lips to hers, kissing her with every ounce of love I had inside me.

Someone knocked softly on the door and I quickly sat up straight before they could come in. “Yeah.”

“Hey guys,” Gavin opened it a crack and peeked in. When he saw Chloe laying there with her eyes open, he grinned. “Oh good, you’re awake.”

“Yeah,” she nodded. “Still a little weak, but my quick healing is helping.”

“Good,” Gavin, told her. “Well, I think you guys should probably come and see something.”

Chloe narrowed her eyes. “What is it?”

“Just come on.” He turned around a waited for me to help Chloe out of bed. She reluctantly threw the covers off and sat up. I came around and lifted her arm around my shoulders. We met Gavin in the hall and followed him outside.

Summer was beginning to come to an end. I could feel a briskness in the breeze as it lightly caressed my cheeks and hair. The scent of the trees and lush greenery also hung in the air.

There, in the center of the lawn, stood Zander. The rest of the group, Alice, Oscar, and Christina stood aside watching him with gaping mouths.

“Again,” Zander ordered, with a concentrated expression on his face.

Alice reached up and forced a branch to fall from one of the trees. Before it could hit the ground, Zander pushed both palms forward and a white light burst forth from his hands. The branch had been pretty good sized, but when that light hit it, only ash was left to drift softly onto the grass.

Holy crap.

Zander finished his demonstration and then looked up at us. “Yeah, that just happened.”

I shook my head. Well, the Warrior Angel wasn’t kidding when he said that Zander would take his place here. Next thing we know he will be wielding a giant sword and churning storm clouds.

“Well, be careful with it,” I told him.

He nodded. “I’m going to kick so much evil ass with this.”

I laughed, along with everyone else. “I bet you are,” I told him. “That is one thing I’m positive you will do.”

READ AN EXCERPT FROM BEARYTALES

BY JENNIFER MALONE WRIGHT, WILLOW CROSS AND KB MILLER

Once upon a time, something wicked was woven. A magic formed by darkness and pain, a magic that only the victim of a broken heart could have created.

This story—like any other—has a beginning, a place where the heart now broken once held love. It begins with Goldalynn.

Goldalynn was a true beauty, born in the south along the banks of the bayou. Her mother brought her into the world in the midst of a hurricane, screaming to those assisting her that she could feel the magic of her child within her, and she would live to be more powerful than the winds which destroyed the world around them.

The dark haired child was named after her grandmother who had flowing locks of golden hair before she became old and frail with age. The grandmother may not have passed on her golden hair, but what she did pass on could not be seen from the outside…only those born of Goldalynn’s bloodline knew of their special gift.

The women of their family were powerful; they carried a magic within them that the family had promised to nurture. They swore by the blood to keep their magic safe…and secret.

“Goldalynn, harm none. This is the one rule you must remember when you use your power,” her mother told her one day when she was just a young girl. She sat at the large cutting board island in the center of the sunroom where they grew their own herbs. She watched her mother select ingredients from the shelves of colorful plants and add them to the large bowl she held in one hand.

“I didn’t mean to do it.” Goldalynn frowned as she thought of the poor heron out in the swamp. “I just wanted to touch it,” she tried to explain further. When she had tried to approach the heron, it spread its wings wide in attempt to escape her, a human. But, she had wanted to feel its feathers beneath her fingers so desperately. The next thing she knew, the heron was screeching in pain as it’s blue and gray feathers pulled from its body.

Before the feathers reached her waiting hands, fear wrapped around her like a blanket of darkness and she turned, running back home as fast as her small feet would take her.

Her mother turned to face her. “Which is precisely the reason that we shall work harder for you to control what is within you. Accidents happen, but with time these mishaps will be but a memory.”

After the heron, Goldalynn practiced magic, but only within her home and in order to control it. She longed to be normal, to be without magic that could hurt and kill.

“Do you like being a witch?” she’d asked her aunt one muggy summer day.

Her aunt had paused in her knitting and raised an eyebrow at her niece’s question. “I don’t like the word witch, it insinuates something evil.”

“Well, what are we then?”

“We are people, Goldalynn, just like anyone else.” With that, her aunt let the topic fade and went back to her knitting.

Now, every story has many elements and Goldalynn is merely a portion of what brings this story full circle. She lived on the banks of the bayou on a plantation with a house the size of a castle, which had been in their family since Louisiana first settled around two hundred years ago. The southern mansion—complete with balconies and wraparound porch—always housed the women of their family, as it was rare for any man to survive long enough with a woman from Goldalynn’s bloodline. No one has ever figured out why the men who loved them always ended up dead.

However, these women had beauty which the opposite sex were undeniably drawn to and they always ended up falling in love, only to have their men meet an unfortunate demise.

Goldalynn was no exception.

As a child she would run the grounds of the plantation, crossing the small forest of cypress and oak trees, trying to get a peek at the large white house which happened to be their closest neighbors. She would watch the workmen outside tending to the animals and building fences or small buildings. Something drew her to the big, beautiful house next door, and it wasn’t long before she found out what that special thing was.

The small forest of trees provided shade, but did not protect her against the sweltering heat. Goldalynn had brought her little wicker basket filled with snacks and two of her dolls into the trees with her. She fully intended on having a picnic party with her inanimate friends, since she didn’t have any real ones. But, something interfered that day that would change her life forever.

“Would you like more tea?” She offered her little teapot to the doll who sat propped up with a little plastic tea cup on its lap. “No?” She set the toy pot down onto the blanket beside her basket. “I suppose you’re right, the sandwiches were quite filling.”

Suddenly, a slight snapping sound echoed through the trees. Goldalynn hopped to her feet, tumbling her teacup and sandwich to the ground. Thinking it was perhaps a gator or some other swamp creature her mother had warned her about, she silently began to back away from her picnic blanket with the intention of running home as quickly as possible.

Another snap echoed through the silence of the trees, and then a footstep. She knew it was a footstep because the leaves made the same crunching sound as they did beneath her shoes as she walked. She may have been only ten years old, but she knew without a doubt it was a person who made that noise “Who’s there?” she called out.

No one answered. It was silent again except for the light breeze that rustled the branches of the tree tops. “I know someone is there?” When she still did not receive an answer, she bent down and picked up a large stick that had fallen from one of the trees. Her body shook with fear and beads of sweat slid down her face, but she gripped the stick with both hands and charged forward.

“Arrrggghhh!” she screamed with all her might, pummeling forward over the fallen sticks and branches of the forest floor with the stick held out in front of her, ready to strike.

Movement streaked across her vision then veered back, coming straight toward her. She swung the stick with all her might, and it connected. A loud grunt and a very shocked, “Owww!”erupted from her victim. Still clutching the stick, Goldalynn staggered backward.

Gathering her balance, she glanced down at the stick in her hand and saw that what had once been a bare, brittle piece of wood, was now a thriving branch, complete with lush green leaves that had sprouted from the broken nubs.

Forcing back a screech and the urge to throw the magic sodden branch to the ground, she held onto it so she could move forward and get a better look at what she had hit.

Her victim was a golden haired boy, whose face now had blood splattered across his cheeks, mingling with the freckles that graced his pale skin.

She dropped the branch and her hands went to her mouth. “Oh, I’m so sorry!” Cautiously, she stepped forward. “What are you doing out here?”

His hands covered his mouth and nose so he couldn’t answer her, but his blue eyes followed her every move.

“Who are you?” Goldalynn demanded.

With his hands still covering his mouth and nose, his response was muffled. “My name is William. I just moved in with my aunt and uncle.” He pointed in the direction of the big white house.

Goldalynn pulled a white linen handkerchief from her picnic basket and offered it to him. Keeping his eyes on her, he accepted the handkerchief and held it to his nose.

“I’m sorry about your nose.” She extended her hand. “I’m Goldalynn.”

He tilted his head and considered her words for a moment, then reached out and took her hand in his. “Well, I’d better get back home for lunch.” He started backing away from her. “And, thanks for the handkerchief, Goldie.”

That was the first moment that changed her life forever.

For many years, Goldalynn and William were best friends. The two children were inseparable and spent every single moment they could with each other. As time passed their bodies began to change and so did their emotions.

Goldalynn grew into a beautiful young woman who preferred the library over cheerleading. She attended the high school in their small town, only because she had pleaded with her mother to let her go so that she could be around William. Through history, the children in their family were homeschooled in order for them to learn the magical aspects of life as well as the curriculum they would learn in public school.

William was a young man who was desired by most of the teenage girls in their small town, but he had eyes only for Goldalynn. He began working at the local market that was owned by his family. Actually, they owned many of the local businesses, but William preferred the market where he could talk to the townspeople whom he so loved.

Goldalynn hated his job immensely because it took his time away from her. William consoled her by telling her he had to work if they wanted any kind of future together.

Speaking of their future together, the engagement was announced at a large picnic by the water with both of their families present. William’s family was ecstatic, having always known that Goldalynn would be the woman that their young William would choose to spend his life with. But, Goldalynn’s family on the other hand, were not quite so happy about the engagement.

“It’s a bad idea,” Goldalynn’s mother told her one day while they walked in the gardens harvesting the vegetables and herbs. “None of the men we have loved live very long. I just don’t want you to be disappointed when it happens to you.” She dumped a bunch of lettuce into the basket Goldalynn held.

“It won’t happen to us, Mother. I am sure of it.” Goldalynn tried to sound enthusiastic, but she had been witness to conversation on this topic by the women in her family since she was born.

Her mother shook her head in frustration and went to work cutting the zucchini loose from their vines. “No one is an exception. Don’t you think all of us have thought the very same thing? We were all in love once, we all wanted to think that we would be the ones whose love would be strong enough to…” She trailed off, unable to finish.

Goldalynn did believe that the love she and William had was stronger than any other in their family and that it would overcome the impending death which loomed over them.

“Goldalynn.” Her mother stood and glared down at her as she set the zucchini into the basket. “You do realize that marrying that boy is basically giving him a death sentence. If you do it, he will die, and it will be your fault.”

“I’m marrying him, Mother.” She simply could not comprehend why her mother refused to see that her situation was different than the others. Being caught up in her own love story, it had escaped Goldalynn’s mind that her mother understood how she felt more than she would ever know.

“Fine, marry him. But, you can’t say we didn’t warn you.”

Time passed with William working and Goldalynn making wedding preparations. It wasn’t to be a large wedding, but a simple ceremony for both their families and close friends. After what seemed like forever to Goldalynn, the day of the wedding finally arrived.

Outside the family home, rented white chairs had been set up with gold ribbons draped between them, separating them into two sections on the large expanse of lawn. The chairs faced a beautiful arbor with white roses and more gold ribbon had been woven between the carved swirls of wood. Beyond the arbor, the bayou waters lined with cypress and draping Spanish moss created a serene backdrop, an ambience Goldalynn loved.

Her dress was white, a symbol of her virginity and a stark contrast against her black hair. She spun in front of the full-length mirror, letting the full white skirt fan out around her. Catching her footing, she ran her fingertips across the corset part of the dress, admiring the perfection of the gold trim around the white satin. The dress dated all the way back to the 17th century. It had been her mothers and her grandmothers, and her great grandmothers and many more before them. Her aunt had done some alterations, removing the long sleeves and replacing them with cap sleeves. The tiny rhinestones glittering across her bust had been an addition as well.

Her mother had spent hour’s intricately braiding miniature white roses into her hair, of which the top half was up and the bottom half she wore loose and flowing down to her waist. Behind her, her mother smiled, tears glinting at the corners of her eyes. “You look just like a fairy tale princess.” She wiped away a tear and fiddled with a few strands of Goldalynn’s hair that had gone astray.

Goldalynn turned to apply a quick kiss to her mother’s cheek. “Mother. Please, don’t cry for me,” she whispered.

Goldalynn’s mother tilted her head and admired her daughter again, knowing full well she could not tell her daughter that those were not only tears of joy, but also tears of sadness for the impending despair her daughter would soon face. However, if she chose to marry the boy, then she deserved the most happiness she could have until the terrible day arrived when she would lose him.

“It’s time,” she told her daughter as the music began, signaling the bride’s entrance. She clasped hands with Goldalynn and they marched forward so she could deliver her daughter into the arms of her soon-to-be husband.

When the time came to exchange rings, William produced a simple band of gold and held it up so that the sunlight glinted off of it. With happiness shining just as brightly in his eyes, he leaned forward and whispered. “This ring was my great grandmother’s and grandmother’s. My grandmother gave this to me before she passed away and told me to give it to you when we married. Supposedly, it is made from melded fairy dust.” He grinned and slipped it onto her ring finger.

She held her hand out, examining the ring, and giggled. “William, you know fairies don’t exist.”

“If it was possible for a woman as beautiful and amazing as you to agree to marry someone like me, then anything is possible, my love.”

As the ring nestled against the skin of her finger, her body warmed into a slow, smoldering burn. It was magic. She may not believe in fairies, but she did, however, believe in magic and the ring on her finger definitely held some within it.

After they were pronounced man and wife, William and Goldalynn lived a blissfully happy two months together. So blissful, in fact, that she was able to ward off any paranoia of losing William. It crossed her mind many times, but she always shoved the thoughts away.

She should have known better…

She should have listened to her mother…

One sweltering hot summer day, William went to work at the market in town and Goldalynn thought it would be a thoughtful treat to meet him for a picnic lunch at the park across the street. So, with the utmost care, she packed a picnic basket full of her delicious homemade fried chicken and potato salad. As an afterthought, she added a bottle of wine they had received on their wedding day and then topped off the basket by resting two wine glasses in a cloth napkin over the rest of the contents.

Her little car sputtered and lurched a bit as she pulled it up to the curb across the street from the market. Before she got out, she spent a moment watching the patrons going in and out. Through the large panes of glass with the market name painted on them, she could see her William running the cash register and laughing with a customer. His blond hair highlighted by the sun shining through the window and his freckles from childhood still prominently spread across his cheeks.

Unable to hold back a smile, Goldalynn pulled open the door handle and stepped out of the car. After smoothing down the skirt of her yellow sundress, she gathered her purse and basket and then slammed the car door shut. Cars zipped past her while she waited patiently to cross the street. During the brief seconds in between the cars, she watched William though the window. He hadn’t seen her yet and appeared to be directing a customer somewhere in the store, from the looks of his extended arm and forefinger.

Then she heard the shots. Three distinct shots. Bang. Bang. Bang.

Her basket fell to the ground, its contents spreading across the hot pavement. There was a muffled crash of the shattering wine bottle as it fell from the open top of the basket and hit the pavement. Red wine spread like blood, staining the cement. The air seemed to waver and tighten around her, causing her world to spin. Distant screams filtered into the whirling nightmare her reality had become. The previously calm sidewalk outside the market had quickly become chaotic, with people rushing to and fro in complete confusion.

Wham! It hit her all at once. Their love hadn’t been strong enough to survive the curse after all.

Coming back to reality Goldalynn bolted out in front of the oncoming traffic, ignoring the horns and screeching tires coming from the cars as the drivers tried to avoid hitting her. Once she was safely on the sidewalk in front of the market she heard the sirens begin their ominous, wailing song of death.

She knew what had happened. Deep inside she knew it, but she still had to see for herself.

“Miss Goldalynn!” Rudy, one of Williams’s employees at the market, came running out, “Don’t go in there ... not yet.”

She opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out. Clearing her throat, she tried again. “I need … my husband,” she managed to croak out, pointing inside the market.

Rudy shook his head. “You don’t want to go in there, Miss Goldalynn.”

“Move, Rudy!” she screamed, blinded by her tears.

Before Rudy could move, they were both shoved aside by two policemen as they rushed into the market.

Ignoring anything more Rudy had to say, she hurried in behind the officers. When she entered the market, she forced herself to stop and take a few breaths and thought to herself, Maybe it wasn’t him.

Her gaze shifted toward counter where William had stood. There, she saw several people surrounding someone on the floor. She couldn’t physically see who it was, but she knew anyway.

Her heart felt as if it were going to explode in her chest. Each and every step toward the counter, and what was behind it, felt like wading through a muddy swamp. Frantic, her eyes darted back and forth touching on each of the bystanders. Her body flooded with momentary relief when she recognized Shirley, one of William’s employees, standing near. Shirley caught her eye and read the questions in Goldalynn’s dark irises. Silently, Goldalynn begged Shirley to tell her it wasn’t William, and if it was him, that he was all right.

Shirley, with tears glistening on her cheeks, shook her head in response to Goldalynn’s unspoken question. She hurried over to Goldalynn and held her tightly in a hug, then turned with her arm still around Goldalynn’s shoulders and led her toward the horrific scene her family had been warning her about ever since she could remember.

More sirens drew closer as she laid her eyes upon the only man she had ever loved.

Her William lay on the cold tile floor with blood blooming like blackened flowers from the bullet wounds in his chest. The dark stains spread across the floor, pooling around his body.

Her knees buckled beneath her and she crumpled over his body. Droplets of crimson splattered against the pale yellow sundress, leaving behind morbidly cheery spots of bright red. Her own shouts of denial mingled with the sirens outside as a loud “Noooooo!” erupted from within her.

Not a minute later, even more policemen and paramedics swarmed the place, asking people to leave and adding to the chaos that already took place in the tiny market. When one of the policemen asked her to move aside, she clutched William’s body harder, refusing to let go of her love. Her shoulders heaved as her panting sobs shook her frail body. Unable to speak, she continued to cling to William.

“Please ma’am, we need to work here,” the officer gently urged.

“Get away!” she screamed. “Just go!”

“Ma’am, this is a crime scene and we need to examine the area.”

“I won’t leave him, I won’t!”

It took several policemen to remove Goldalynn from William’s body. They loaded her into an ambulance and took her to the nearest hospital. Once sedated, she was held until her mother arrived.

And so we arrive at the secondary life changing event for our Goldalynn.

She would never see him again. She would never hear his laugh again. She would never trace her fingers over his freckles and give him a playful kiss again. He would never call her Goldie again; no one would call her Goldie again.

He was gone.

Her mother allowed her to lie in the bed in her old room for days. She understood the pain and hurt her daughter was going through. Her light was gone, she knew William was what had driven Goldalynn in life, and she deserved to be able to mourn him however she chose.

Goldalynn, on the other hand, her tears had cried out. Where there were once tears shed for love, there was now an emptiness for which she could not weep. And, as the days and nights passed by, that emptiness was replaced by a dark hatred of life. Why would the fates be so cruel, she thought. How could they take him from her?

If only there were a way to bring him back.

Suddenly, she sat straight up in bed. Maybe there was a way.

READ AN EXCERPT FROM SAVIOR

A FULL LEGNTH NOVEL BY JENNIFER MALONE WRIGHT

Sweltering heat emanated from the searing flames. Alex ignored his blistered skin and burnt clothes. He plunged both arms into the blazing orange inferno without a second thought for his own well-being. His hands frantically flailed until he found what he searched for. He pulled the charred remains up and hugged them to his chest before he gave a desperate glance toward the others.

Smoke curled into his mouth and nose and made it nearly impossible to breathe.

“Hurry, hurry. Get out now,” a gentle voice whispered into his ears. “You must go right now if you want to live.”

However, he couldn’t leave them behind.

“Go now,” the voice whispered more urgently.

Sparks flew when a giant log broke in half and fell from the ceiling. It crashed onto the floor less than two feet from where Alex stood. Flames engulfed the fallen wood and created yet another obstacle.

The voice tried again, crying out, “Hurry, Alex!”

Alex knew he needed to move if he wanted to live, but he paused for a moment to question whether he even wanted to bother. The flames grew while Alex stood motionless, undecided. Suddenly, a great push from behind thrust him forward toward a wall of fire.

***

Alex stirred in his mahogany coffin, one of the best money could buy. He felt the soft, white velvet lining rub against his cheek, but it didn't comfort him. He panted like a thirsty dog and writhed helplessly inside the narrow wooden box.

His eyes snapped open. First, he checked his hands for burns, but he found none. He groaned while he became more aware, and realized he'd had another nightmare.

He sighed, wondering if the recurring dreams were going to last forever. He reached up and unlatched the locks he’d installed for his own safety, or at least his peace of mind. He pushed open the lid and sat upright. His gaze wandered across the room while his mind tried to fight off the feeling of dread he had about the night ahead.

In the center of a large stone room that was buried deep beneath his house, his coffin rested on a massive stone slab with Egyptian hieroglyphic carvings around its edges. The carvings read, ‘Death is not but eternal life.’ The slab and coffin were the focus of the room, with the only other items being his slippers and a small table that held a candelabra and a box of wooden matches.

Alex lit a match and touched it to the candle wicks. A soft glow lit the room and let him safely climb out of his coffin. When he slammed the lid shut, the hollow sound reverberated off the stone walls and quickly died. He wedged his large feet into his slippers, padded to the wide steel door and punched a series of numbers into an electronic keypad. The door emitted a soft whooshing sound when the lock released.

Yawning, he stepped through the door and into a maze of tunnels that worked their way into deadly traps scattered throughout his underground chamber. Another whoosh signaled the door locking behind him. With the candelabra in his right hand, Alex moved through the maze and watched the flickering shadows play on the walls.

Alex stopped short and blinked. He saw what he thought was Malcolm's face, shining menacingly in the light ahead. He held the candles out toward the face, but the image wavered in the candlelight and disappeared.

Hmmmm, he thought, perhaps the night ahead will prove eventful after all.

Except for his echoing footsteps, the tunnels were deadly silent. Once he reached the end of the tunnels, he faced yet another heavy steel door with an electronic lock. Again, Alex entered a code on a keypad and exited the tunnels into a small closet.

Finally, he came to a thick oak door that simply needed a key. He removed the key from the pocket of his pajama shirt. Alex unlocked the door, entered the actual bedroom of his house, and relocked the entryway to the tunnels like he always did.

More out of habit than concern, Alex scanned the room with all his senses. Despite popular legend, the many mirrors in the room reflected his image off each other.

Alex gazed longingly at the four poster bed in which he never slept. The thick mattress was clothed in burgundy blankets with piles of decorative pillows scattered across the head of the bed. Burgundy and black dominated the color scheme: black carpet, burgundy walls, and sheer black curtains shading the windows.

Preferring the softer light of candles, he bypassed the light switch and went to the dressing table. He placed the candelabra on the table and picked up a candle that stood in a golden holder with biblical carvings on its base. Each time he lit the candle he was reminded of his time in Rome. The things there were so beautiful he couldn’t resist bringing something home for himself.

Alex knew his hobby of decorating bordered on obsessive. He brought back things from his journeys all over the world to put in his main house in Reno. But his house was finished.

On top of that, his casinos practically ran themselves. His place on the Higher Collective only occupied him every now and then.

He found it an awful feeling, having no purpose.

He tried to ignore the weakness that plagued his body with pain, indicating it was time to feed again. Glancing at his nightstand, he noticed the blinking red message light on his cellphone. Pushing back the pangs of hunger, he checked the messages.

Damion’s smooth voice came through the earpiece. “Hey Alex, I’ve set a Collective meeting for tonight. Something is going down with Malcolm ... I really don’t like the feel of it. I think we all need to get together to talk about this one. Eleven, conference room.”

Clicking his phone shut and throwing it on the bed, Alex went to his closet and rummaged through his clothes. With exacting care, he chose a black Armani suit, complemented by a dark red dress shirt. Dark red was his power color, and he loved to feel powerful.

In the connecting bathroom he stripped out of his pajamas. The reflection staring back at him was one that would never change. Until the end of his existence, each time he looked in the mirror, he would see a twenty-eight-year-old man. His harsh Russian features would forever remain without wrinkles, and his coal black hair would never gray. His eyes, though, told the story of his age, and even he could see the stories in them.

His bare arms and chest still held the large muscles of the hardworking man he had been as a mortal. Although, his chest now bore the one mark he had allowed himself to get. He ran his fingers over the red longevity symbol. He had chosen longevity as a marker for being immortal. Like it was yesterday he remembered China and the tattoo shop where he had received the tattoo. As a last minute decision he asked the artist to add the three koi fish in a circle around the longevity symbol because the koi fish were associated with life-long good luck. And he felt like he sure need some of that.

Alex continued to think about China and its rare beauty while he carefully applied a dark, skin-colored foundation to his face and hands to cover his paleness. It was worth the effort to prevent mortals from questioning his light skin. After checking himself in the mirror again, Alex donned his black leather overcoat, a long flowing garment that swept the floor.

He allowed himself one last approving glance in the mirror, grabbed his briefcase off his dresser, and left the room.

He opened the garage door and sighed with pride. The room glimmered with glossy paint and shiny chrome from the many vehicles. He chose his orange ’69 Mustang, because he wanted to stop at the church before the meeting, but he didn’t have much time to spare. He slipped into the driver’s seat, set his briefcase on the seat beside him, and then, with the turn of the key, the car came to life. After he backed out of the garage, he shut the doors with a remote and roared his way out of the long driveway.

At that hour of night, the pine-tree-lined streets were deserted. Alex liked that. Living outside the city, between Reno and Lake Tahoe, gave him more privacy. Although it was raining, he opened his window halfway to let in the fresh scent of the rain-washed earth.

When he approached the city, he took in the view of the lights. For Alex, each time was like the first time. The lights were like beacons, calling to him, enticing him. For that matter, he thought the lights were like vampires, deceivingly beautiful, alluring, and full of promise.

Until you’re bitten, he thought.

Unable to help himself, he chuckled and continued the drive into the city. Traffic there was crazy compared to the lonely streets near his home. Among the multitude of hotels and casinos dominating the city, he kept his focus on the Lucas Hotels and Casinos—the massive towers stood tall and proud—while he drew closer to them.

He passed the exit and kept going for a few miles until he came to a stop in front of a large brick church. He parked the car, ran through the rain, and ascended the cement stairway. Alex found the church deserted and locked, as it always was that time of night.

Taking out his set of lock picks, he thought about the old days when churches were never locked. They were always open for the public whenever someone needed to be close to God.

Upon entering, he felt a presence; not God, but something else.

Danielle.

She had always had a habit of following him when she was invisible. Although he knew she was there, he rarely let on. He couldn’t think of any reason why she would want to keep herself secret from him, since she knew he would tell her anything she wanted to know. Besides, she could read minds.

Although the bricks muffled the sound of the rain, its presence was evident. It drizzled down the outside of the multicolored stained glass windows.

It’s like they are melting, Alex thought as he stared at them.

An aisle separated two sets of pews, and at the far end of the church, behind the podium and the large choir section, was the baptismal area.

Following his usual ritual, Alex knelt in front of the podium at a short wooden table that, without fail, held a fresh flower arrangement. It also held a large leather-bound Bible, always opened to the same verse: John 3:16.

Alex lowered his head and spoke aloud to the empty church, his voice echoing in the darkness. “Lord, forgive me. I have sinned. I live a life of sin. Yet, you let me live. Again and again, I ask how that can be. How is it that you could let something as evil and corrupt as I live on this earth and walk with the humans you created?"

He dropped his head lower.

“I still don’t understand a lot of things you have shown me, Lord. I'm depressed. I've never asked for anything from except guidance and strength, but it's time I humbly ask, just this once, for you to bless me with something to give me the will to go on.”

A clap of thunder shook the walls of the church.

“This depression has become too great. I can barely rise from sleep when the sun sets. None of the hobbies that previously occupied me so well interest me anymore.”

Alex paused and took in a deep, shuddering breath.

“I would never try to bargain with or demand anything from you. I would never be so bold as to assume I'm owed anything. All I ask is for some kind of meaning to this life, or after-life; whatever you wish to call it.

“I need a reason to persevere. After all, I no longer have a family. The only thing I have, besides a few friends, is the everlasting torment of being one of the most unholy creatures to walk this earth.

“Please hear me and consider the needs of one of your servants. Thank you. Thank you so much for everything you have given me. I would do anything for you. I am yours in all ways, and I am yours in everything.

“In Jesus’s precious name, Amen.”

When Alex rose from his knees, contentment flowed through his veins and filled him up. He felt the same every time he prayed.

A moment later, he rushed out the door, stopping only to relock it like he always respectfully did.

***

“Do you think he’s ready?” Damion asked.

“He’s past ready,” Danielle murmured while she slipped off her perch on the railing that separated the choir area from the rest of the church. “Damion, his depression has to end.”

She felt Damion follow her to the front pew, on the right side of the aisle. She wanted to sit so she could see the altar.

He sat next to her. “I know Alex was chosen for this, but how do we know it will cure his depression? It could end this present situation, but begin another lengthy and dangerous one. How do we know this will not be the straw that breaks the camel’s back?”

Danielle smiled. “I have known Alex for almost four hundred years. Even though he thinks he is dammed, he keeps his faith in God, and that, my dear friend, is the strongest kind of faith there is.”

“So he’ll do it?”

“He has yet to decide.”

“I hope it goes the way we've planned.”

“So do I, Damion, so do I.”

“Why do you always come here to watch him pray? Don’t you think that’s like invasion of privacy or something?”

“I am his guardian.”

“You were, when he was a human. He hasn’t been mortal for a long time. I know enough to know you aren’t required to be with him at all times.”

“That’s true, but his prayers are a most important time for me to be with him.”

“Why?”

“He’s convinced God doesn’t hear his prayers. That’s why he comes here almost every night. He could go on living a sinful life, believing he is dammed anyway, but he doesn’t. It's vital he has some reinforcement of his faith in God. I know he feels me here.”

Damion shook his head. “We'd better get to the meeting. I'll see you there."

Damion left. Danielle didn't want to leave the church. She looked up at the large cross on the wall above the baptismal. “Come on, Big Guy. His time to shine is finally here, so let’s show him how much you really have in store for him.”

She reluctantly stood, walked back down the aisle, and moved transparently through the tightly locked doors.

Other Books by Jennifer Malone Wright

Keeper vs. Reaper (Graveyard Guardians #1)(Always free)

Keeper of the Peace (Graveyard Guardians #2)

BearyTales

Savior (A Higher Collective Novel)

Once Upon a Zombie Apocalypse – Jade (Always free)

Once Upon a Zombie Apocalypse: Episode 2

The Vampire Hunter’s Daughter Part 1 (Always free)

The Vampire Hunter’s Daughter: Part 2

The Vampire Hunter’s Daughter Part 3

The Vampire Hunter’s Daughter: Part 4

The Vampire Hunter’s Daughter: Part 5

The Vampire Hunter’s Daughter: Part 6

The Vampire Hunter’s Daughter: The Complete Collection

(All six parts a total of 72,000 words)

The Arcadia Falls Chronicles is The Vampire Hunter’s Daughter story continued

Love & War (The Arcadia Falls Chronicles 1)

Taking Talon (The Arcadia Falls Chronicles 2)

Vampire Apocalypse (The Arcadia Falls Chronicles 3)

Blood Warrior (The Arcadia Falls Chronicles 4)

Winds of Fire (The Arcadia Falls Chronicles 5)

About the Author

Jennifer Malone Wright resides in the beautiful mountains of northern Idaho with her husband and five children where she practices preparing for the zombie apocalypse. Just kidding!

But seriously, between the craziness of taking care of her children, Jennifer has little time left for herself. The time she does have left, usually leading far into the night, is spent working on her beloved fiction or chatting with her equally crazy friends.

Jennifer also loves coffee, has a passionate affair with red bull, wishes the sushi were better where she lives and dances while she cleans.

Please visit Jennifer’s website at
www.jenniferwrightauthor.com

Follow Jennifer on Twitter

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Table of Contents

- Arcadia Falls #5 Winds of Fire

- Excerpt from BearyTales

- Excerpt from Savior (A Higher Collective Novel)

- Other Books by Jennifer Malone Wright

- About the Author