Inheritance (The Dark Gifts) (34 page)

She flinched.

“Now, now.  Don’t be like that.  You can be a good girl,” he said gently petting behind her ears.  “See?  Doesn’t that feel good?  We can be good friends you and I, as long as you obey me.  You will obey, won’t you?”

Tongue darting out of her mouth, she licked his hand.

A resounding slap sent her head against the wall.  “Disgusting animal.  Never do that again.”

A puddle of fluid appeared on the floor underneath her, immediately followed by another kick to her ribs.  “You dogs repulse me.  Change to human form and clean that up.  When you’re ready to discontinue this animalistic behavior, you’ll be treated with less hostility.”  Black cloak swirling around his feet, he turned and exited the room.

Human, once again, Shana wiped the tears and blood away from her face, and hurriedly looked for something to clean up the urine. 
I should have let Sarah kill me,
she thought as her broken, sob-wracked body seized in pain. 

***

After giving them time to catch up, Brogan spoke to the newcomers.  Like their friends, they were awed that other supernatural creatures existed.  Even more shocked to discover that not all things considered evil, were.  Several wolf packs had already pledged their allegiance to Brogan.  Soon he would leave to embark on a mission of the utmost importance.  The fate of mankind weighed heavy in the balance of good versus evil. 

“We’re at a crux.  A paradox if you will.  Like you all, your friend Liz has a most important role to play in all of this.  Even now she works with the others, not knowing her importance in the scheme of things.  Until these other matters are settled, there is not much more I can say on that topic.”

“But, Brogan, how did Liz get mixed up in a vampire war?  I mean, it’s Liz for Pete’s sake.  She’s as normal as normal gets.”  Sarah said.

Poking the fire with a stick, he answered, “Harrumph.  What is normal?  All of you, at one time, had ordinary lives doing normal things.  Then you didn’t.  That’s how it works.  No matter what we are doing now, rest assured we were meant to do it.  It’s fate.”

“So Liz was destined to be a vampire just like we were destined to be here?”  Jason asked.

Brogan nodded.  “It was all predetermined.  You’re living in the same town as her was no accident.  Just the same, you were meant to meet up with Pete.  Shad and Ashley were already part of the mix.  It was just a matter of everyone coming to the right place at the right time.”

“Why can’t you tell me what she’s doing?  Is she all alone?”  Sarah asked.

Sighing, he answered, “Elizabeth has a daunting destiny, and more power in her body than is fair to give anyone.  She is learning, even now, what is expected of her.  She’s not alone.  She has Michael, and some others.  He is helping and protecting her.  Soon, I will have to leave and go to them.  They face an evil they cannot comprehend.  I need to have you kids ready before I go.  This next battle I fight might well be my last.”

Sarah massaged her temples as she contemplated his words.  “Why can’t I go to her?  Why can’t we talk to her?”

A grin spread across his face.  “Well consarnit girl!  She don’t even know me yet.  I still have to introduce myself.  But it ain
’t time yet.”  His eyes drifted to the stars.  “Them stars always knows what’s going on.  If we pay attention, they’ll tell us what to do.”

Shad’s eyebrows rose.  “I don’t mean to be an ass, but your accent kind of comes and goes as it pleases.  One minute, you’re a cantankerous old coot, and the next--well you’re not.”

Brogan nodded.  “Things aren’t always what they appear to be son.  I have my reasons.”  Then winking, he went on, “Could be there’s more than meets the eye ‘round here.  Iffin yer quick and pay attention, ya’ll might come out ahead in this here ‘quation.”

Uncertain, the group traded glances.

Brogan looked at Pete.  “Remember what you asked about me last night, boy?  What you said about bad asses?”

“Uh, yeah.”

“Just like earlier with the vamp, sometimes it's best to let those against you get real comfortable like, before they knows what they’s up agin.”

Jason and Shad locked eyes.  “He’s right,” Shad agreed.

“Yep.”

Exhaling, Sarah interjected, “Okay, what are we supposed to do, exactly?  Does Liz need saving?”

Croaking out a laugh, he answered, “Oh boy does she ever, but not by you.  You kids have other fish to fry.  They’s a heap of packs out there what need contacting.  Those that are worth a darn anyhow.  It’ll be up to you to get them on board.  When the war finally breaks out, your Liz’ll need all the help we can muster.”

Leaning forward, resting his elbows on his knees, Jason asked, “Where do we start?” 

“Well here’s as good a place as any.  Daniel’s pack has already started in the states.  Could be the time’ll come he needs some help, but for now, you can start here.  Let me tell you what I have in mind…”

***

Sarah woke to the smell of Brogan’s bitter coffee.  Turning on her side, she noticed Ashley was already up and gone.  Heart beating thunderously, she quickly dressed and headed outside.  Shad was here!  She’d been adamant about the Garcia’s not being involved in this, but now that they were here, relief filled her. 

“Morning!”  Ashley said as Sarah stepped from the tent.

Grinning, Sarah answered, “Morning!  Where’s the boys?”

“I don’t know.  No one was around when I got up.  I thought I’d try to doctor up this horrible excuse for java and see if it could become palatable.  Want some?”

Sarah’s mouth pulled to the side in a half grin as she looked around.  “Have you tasted it yet?  Did your doctoring work?”

“I thought I’d let you be my first victim.”

Taking the offered cup, she sniffed.  Nose wrinkling in disgust, she glanced at Ash.  “It doesn’t smell any different.”

“Just try it.  There’s probably half a pound of sugar in there.” 

Gingerly taking a sip, she sighed in relief.  “Oh this is so much better.  Thanks!”  Moving to the green camp chair closest to Ashley, she took a seat.  “So no note, nothing?  How weird.”

Eyes focused on the trees surrounding them, she answered, “I don’t understand why they wouldn’t tell us where they were going.  That’s not like Shad.”

“Or Jason.”

Ashley moved to refill her cup.  “You don’t think something could be wrong do you?”

“No.  A wizard, two werewolves, and an Indian hunter?  You’d have to be daft to mess with that combo.”

“Yeah, you’re right.  I wish I knew where they were though.” 

Sarah watched a pained look come over Ashley’s face.  She’d given up everything to be here.  Shad and Jason were all she had in the world now.  Although she’d never had a family to lose, she could imagine how hard it was for the girl.  “I don’t think I’ve thanked you yet, Ash.”

“Thanked me?”

“For being here.  You know, for coming.  I know you gave up a lot to do that.”

Ashley shrugged.  “Yes and no.  We had a close family. 
Had
being the operative word in that sentence.  The thing is this--we’ve spent out whole lives following orders.  Doing what we were told, because it was expected.  Once we really got to know you two, well, that changed everything.  I know how Jason feels now.  I’ve spent a ton of time wondering how many I killed that didn’t deserve to die.”

Filled with compassion for her friend, Sarah answered, “I’m sure they’re not all like us.  The one’s like Shana needed to die.”

Grief stricken and remorseful, Ashley glanced at her feet before responding.  “Some of them were babies, Sarah.  Babies, children, old people, young people, hundreds.  It never used to bother me.  They were aberrations, unnatural, unholy even.  Now I can’t help but see their faces like a constant stream in my mind.”

Sarah reached out to squeeze her hand.  “It’s not your fault.  You only did what you were trained to do.”

Tears threatened to stream down her face as she looked into Sarah’s eyes.  “Isn’t it?  Isn’t there some point in life where you have to start making your own decisions about what’s right and wrong?”

Shaking her head, she answered, “But you have.  That’s what you’re doing right now.  You’ve made up your own mind about it, and now you’re doing something to change it.  No one can fault you for that!”

Ashley stood and retrieving two small logs from the wood pile, threw them on the fire.  “I guess so.  I’m not so sure about this whole thing with Brogan.  I’d really hoped that the killing part of my life was over.  It shouldn’t have happened in the first place.”

“Ash, I’ve watched this eat Jason alive for months now.  It’ll destroy you if you let it.  You have to move on.”

Gaze transfixed on the fire, she answered, “I know.  I’m trying.”

A cool breeze erupted inside the clearing, throwing dust and leaves around.  Immediately alert, the girls glanced around.  Just inside the tree line a large mist began to form, before solidifying into Brogan and the three young men who were grinning ear to ear.  Shad waved as the group made their way to the fire.  “Wow!  That was incredible.  You wouldn’t believe where we’ve been!”

Perturbed, Sarah answered, “You could have left a note.  We were worried sick!”

“Ah, come on.  We were with Brogan, how much trouble could we be in?”  Jason answered.

Ashley cleared her throat, folding her arms across her chest.  “Plenty,” she said as she glared at Brogan.

In response, the old man chuckled and winked.  “
Now simmer down there, Missy.  We just had to tie up a few loose ends is all.  Wasn’t no sense in waking you two sleeping beauties.  Can’t send you kids off to certain death with nothing to fight with.”

“What are you talking about?” Sarah queried.

“Check these out,” Pete answered, pulling a short sword from behind his back.  “How cool is this?”

Confused, the girls watched as Jason and Shad repeated the motion, and began play fighting with the swords.  “You guys are nuts,” Ashley exclaimed.

Breaking off from his onslaught against Jason, Shad turned to his sister and pulled a leather tie up over his head and off his shoulder.  It was attached to another sheathed sword.  “This one’s for you,” he said tossing it to her.

Expertly, she caught it mid air and pulled it from its sheath.  Turning to look at Brogan, she asked, “You really think we want to get this close to werewolves to kill them?”

Brogan made a ticking noise with his mouth.  “Taint for wolves silly girl.  Silver bullets ain’t gonna kill vamps.  Might slow em down some, but the only way to really make sure they’s dead is to lop off the head.”

Ashley gave Sarah a disappointed look before slumping in a camp chair.  Moving to her, Sarah place a hand on her shoulder and squeezed.  “It’ll be okay.”

Tear filled eyes sought Sarah’s face.  “Will it?  It’ll never stop.  Now I’ll have to wonder forever how many more I’ll kill that don’t deserve it.”

“What’s this?”  Brogan asked, moving toward the girls.  “Why so glum?”

Feeling protective of her friend, Sarah glared at Brogan.  “How will we know who to kill?  How will we know who deserves to die?”

He let out a gut wrenching laugh and slapped the side of his leg.  “Well that’s a darn easy thing to tell girl.  Believe me, with them it’s a simple thing.  Besides, that’s your job, Sarah.  It’s up to you to know.”

“I thought we were going in search of packs to join the cause?”  Ashley asked.

Brogan nodded and raising his arms to his side, answered, “You are child, but this is Romania, home of the vampire.  There’ll be a might more killing to be done before the real battle takes place.”  He squatted down in front of Ashley, placing a hand on her knee.  “Iffin you ain’t got the stomach for this, it’s best you don’t go.  The task you kids are taking on is not for the weak of heart.  You have to set your mind to it girl, or you’ll get yourself, and everyone else, killed.”

Moving behind her, Jason wrapped his arms around Ashley.  “This isn’t like before, Ash.  We won’t take out anyone that doesn’t deserve it.”

Turning her head to the side, her cheek brushed against his.  She whispered, “I’ve heard this all before.  I thought we’d get jobs and settle down, maybe start a family.  I just…”

“We can,” he answered softly, and then kissed her tear streaked face.  “We will.  But first, we have to make this world a safer place.”

Standing, Brogan’s gaze touched on each of the group.  “This is your destiny, children.  Everything you’v
e been through up to this point has been training exercises for what is to come.  You must embrace your destiny, or all will be lost.  We can’t do this without you.  Those on the side of good must join forces if we are to defeat those against us.  Without it, there is no hope.”

Closing her eyes tight, Ashley wiped the tears from her face.  “Okay, I’m in. But Sarah?”

“Yes?”

“You make damn sure we are doing the right thing.”

Sarah nodded.  “We aren’t killing anything or anyone that can be saved.”

Techno music throbbed in unison with strobe lights as the occupants of the club gyrated and jumped on the dance floor.  Sitting at a table in a dark corner, Sarah, Shad, and Ashley kept watch while Jason and Pete retrieved their drinks from the bar.  Unusual as it was, this place definitely had wolfish customers.  The scent of them was overwhelming.  Figuring out who was what, was proving to be difficult in the crowded place.