Ironic Sacrifice (23 page)

The rescue party parked on the side of the road across from the borders of Selena’s lair.

“How long do we have?” Razvan asked, surveying the cluster of nearly identical ranch style homes close by.

Silas checked his watch. “About two hours, maybe two and a half. We should be thankful that tonight is the Solstice, the longest night of the year.”

Razvan nodded and turned to Akasha and the other vampires. “Her four houses are on the end of the cul de sac on Riverview Terrace. I am sure all four contain passages to her underground lair, so we need to get inside only one. All are likely guarded. We’re going to split into two groups, led by Trey and Sarah. If all goes well, they will be able to kill the sentries quietly with none being the wiser.”

Trey and Sarah nodded.

Razvan continued relating the plan. “Since my gun is too noisy, I will fly above and serve as communication between the two groups as well as keep an eye out for mortals.”

Silas stepped forward and regarded them all seriously. “Remember, if a mortal sees you, you must clear their memories right away. Our immunity is null and void if there is exposure to human eyes.”

Razvan took to the air and the two groups split up. Sarah, Silas, Akasha, and Salazar piled into Jonathon’s van while the rest approached the housing development on foot.

The aerial view wasn’t as good as he hoped. The slanting snow blurred the houses, making them almost unrecognizable. There was no way to read street signs either. His gun swayed on its ill-fitting strap and he reached with one hand to steady it. Another thought struck him suddenly, making him lose altitude.

Could any of Selena’s vampires fly? In this weather he did not know how well he’d handle an attack from the air.

Flight was a rare power, and Selena did not enjoy the company of those who possessed what she lacked. Still, it would be best to be aware of the possibility.

By the time Razvan saw Jonathon’s van ease to a stop, his eyes throbbed in their sockets from darting around in all directions while being pelted by snow.

The quartet of houses below were the only ones on this street without Christmas lights. They sat cloaked in darkness without even the illumination of a porch light. The curtains were drawn, giving no view of the menace inside.

He watched Trey circle around the easternmost house, gun drawn. The remainder of his party fanned out behind him. Two kept a lookout for spectators.

Trey made it five feet before the front door opened and a vampire launched out. At the same time, two others came from around the sides of the house.

Trey dropped his attacker with two bullets to the heart. Chang seemed to materialize out of nowhere, breaking one vampire’s neck with his hands and catching the other in the throat with a roundhouse kick.

Another vampire came out the front door in a blinding rush and Trey shot her in the head before going in. The others picked up the bodies and followed him inside. Razvan smiled in approval. Things were progressing well on this end. He flew to the westernmost house. It was time to check on Silas’s party.

Sarah had shot three of Selena’s vampires. Jonathon and Salazar were gathering up the corpses while Akasha studiously covered the bloodstains with snow while avoiding looking at the guns. The blood would disintegrate when the sun rose.

Razvan,
Silas spoke in his mind,
we have a witness. I am going to take care of him.

A car had turned onto the street, illuminating the fight in its high beams. The driver gaped dumbly at them like a landed trout. Razvan blinked and then Silas was beside the driver’s door.

By the time Sarah was leading her party into the westernmost house, the human was driving away, gazing forward with a dreamy look on his face. His memory of seeing them had been obliterated... and likely McNaught had gotten a snack for the trouble.

Akasha and Silas drew their swords as Razvan landed beside them. He unfastened his gun from the strap and partially drew it from his coat. The handle was so cold that he wondered if his skin would stick to the metal.

Using the blood bond he held with his subordinates, he sent a thought out to Trey:
what is happening at your end?

Trey sent him an image of a living room that would resemble the set of a television sitcom, if it weren’t for the raucous bloodbath.

The group fought about six vampires. Four others were down on the floor, possibly dead. One of Silas’s vampires had a gash on his forehead, but he appeared to be the only one on their side who was injured....so far.

I gotta let you go, boss.
Trey’s voice sounded in his head,
it’s hard to shoot like this and I need to reload.

Very well,
Razvan replied.
Let me know when you find the underground passage.

He came back to himself and followed Silas and Akasha into the house.

Ten of Selena’s guards were already in action. Sarah crouched behind an overturned sofa firing at whatever came into range. Jonathon had a large male in a headlock as he sliced his throat open with a scalpel. His gun was at the small of his back, undrawn for now.

A female ran at Akasha with a kitchen knife. Akasha decapitated her in a smooth swipe of her sword. Silas saluted a male who had his own sword before their blades met in clanging combat. Razvan was beginning to think he wasn’t going to get any action.

He caught a flash of movement at the corner of his eye and spun in that direction, fangs bared and eager to devour his enemy.

A bedroom door was open a crack and to his disbelief, a hand had emerged, waving a white pillowcase. With wary steps he went down the hall and crouched, aiming his gun at the center of the door.

“Tell me who you are and what you want.” His voice rang out in command. “Or I will shoot through this door and blast you through the heart and whatever else I can hit.”

“My name is Jessica. I am with another vampire who is badly hurt,” a quavering voice replied. “I hear you have a doctor with you. We would like to surrender if you help him.”

Razvan cursed under his breath. He hadn’t expected to take prisoners. “I assume you are referring to only yourselves. The ones out here do not seem to be in a surrendering mood.”

He heard a defeated sigh and a moan of pain from further in the room.

“Open the door and we shall negotiate,” Razvan said, writhing with impatience. “And make it quick.”

Before the door opened all the way, he bolted inside and seized the female by the throat. A quick glance around the small bedroom assured him that she was telling the truth. A male lay on the bed in a contorted position, panting in agony.

“What happened to him?”

The scrawny female struggled to take a breath and he loosened his grip slightly. “Justin displeased our lord and she broke his back. It’s healing wrong and pinching his nerves. He needs treatment.”

“And what of your mistress?” Razvan asked silkily.

Jessica shuddered. “She’s gone mad. We just want to escape, don’t we, Justin?”

Justin whimpered in what sounded like assent.

“Tell me how to get to Jayden and how many more of Selena’s minions lie in wait and I’ll think about it,” he told them.

“But you said,” Jessica protested, but he cut her off, tightening his fingers around her throat once more.

“I am the one in power here. It would do well for you to obey me, girl,” Razvan hissed and released her.

The female shivered. “Jayden is in the chambers below. Selena is seeing if she can locate the missing band. Michael bruised her a bit but she is otherwise unharmed.” She smiled weakly at Razvan’s relieved sigh and continued. “The last time I saw, there were about fifty members of the order down there.”

The door slammed open and a large male burst into the room. “Traitor!” he growled at Jessica, “You are an abomination, you are—”

Razvan seized him and sank his fangs into his throat. When Jessica gave a mewling gasp, he noticed how emaciated she was. He lifted his face from the vampire, noticing how her pupils went dark with hunger at the sight of the blood.

“She starves you, doesn’t she?” he asked, trying to keep the pity from his voice.

The female nodded. “She calls it ‘fasting.’” Her lip screwed in disgust.

That explained why the vampires they fought had been so weak.

Razvan grabbed the vampire’s head and bared his neck. “Feed, then. It’s not much, but it should give you the strength to help carry your friend out of here when I fetch the doctor.”

Her fangs bared and she was on her former comrade in a second. Now he was just a meal. Her lack of loyalty to Selena had been proved. Razvan shook his head and wondered when he’d become so soft as he contacted Silas and informed him of this new development.

By the time Jonathon arrived to load up his first patient, Silas’s group had slain the rest of the guards upstairs. He checked on Trey’s group. All enemies lay dead there as well. Best of all, they had located the passage on their side to the underground chamber.

“Something must be going on downstairs,” Jessica said worriedly. “There should have been more coming up to fight…or maybe they have a trap lying in wait. You must all be very careful!”

Razvan nodded as Jonathon helped her carry the wounded vampire out of the house. Now the rescue party was down to twelve, but they had some useful information. He reached out to touch his Mark with Jayden. It felt faint, as if she were on the other side of the world rather than right below him. His pulse leapt into his throat. Whatever Selena had done to her could not be good.
I am coming, Jayden!
He called, although he doubted that she could hear him.

***

Jayden watched Xochitl Leonine being led up stone steps to what looked like a giant gallows. She was resplendent in an ethereal white gown, but she was in chains. Two moons; one silver and the other gold, shone full and bright in the night sky, bathing an enormous crowd of witnesses with their opulent light. Multitudes of cats wove in and around the audience’s feet and dragons flew in lazy circles above.

“Ladies and gentlemen,” a man in blue robes called out. “I present to you—”

The sound of machine gun fire, impossibly loud, yanked her from the vision like an uppercut to the chin.

Selena’s shrine and the reek of incense slammed into view as gunfire roared in her ears. Thumps from upstairs shook the ceiling.

“My lord,” a vampire shrieked. “We’re being attacked!”

Jayden’s heart leapt. Razvan was here with major firepower. If she could hold on a little longer, perhaps this insanity would end.

Selena waved an impatient hand. “Then kill them! I am busy here. If you interrupt me again, I shall break every bone in your body.” As the vampire hurried out of the room, she grabbed Jayden’s hand and forced it back onto the guitar. “Go back!” she hissed.

Jayden tried to keep her shields in place, but Selena’s mind and will crashed over her like a tidal wave. For a moment she felt split in two as the vision of Xochitl in that alien world played tug-of-war with Selena’s all-consuming madness.

Jayden screamed from the pain of it and focused on the eerie twin moons. The oddest feeling came to her as she succumbed to that other world. It felt like the drama she was seeing was happening right now.

The blue-robed man was locked in combat with another garbed in black. Fire and balls of colored light shot out of their hands like missiles.

Another black robed figure approached Xochitl and snapped her chains with his bare hands. He lifted his hood and Jayden saw a familiar vampire. His skin was luminescent as the surface of a pearl and his hair was like spun obsidian shot through with starlight.

“Uncle Del,” Xochitl murmured, “Thank you.”

Delgarias looked past Xochitl. His eyes seemed to meet Jayden’s and he nodded.

“I knew it!” Selena shrieked. “He wants to betray us all!”

For a moment her mad fury sucked at Jayden, pulling her from the vision and into the chaotic chasm of her mind. Then she heard music and the other world coaxed her back.

The crowd parted to reveal a crudely erected stage. Sylvis, Aurora, and Beau came into view and exchanged smiles with Xochitl as they began playing their instruments. Behind them a woman sat playing a piano and three more stood to the side with violins.

A man on the gallows pulled a guitar from the folds of his cloak and handed it to Xochitl. It was a twin of the one Jayden held. Xochitl watched with tearstained eyes as Delgarias plugged the cord into an amplifier, powered by a glowing crystal.

Xochitl struck the first chords on her guitar and took in a deep breath.

“Noooo!”
Selena’s shriek echoed aloud and into the vision simultaneously.

Jayden’s skull exploded in pain and in that other world, Xochitl faltered
. A frown of confusion marred her brow. Somehow, Jayden and Selena were affecting her. From a world away, they were affecting her.

“Do it!”
Jayden urged Xochitl.

The singer’s eyes widened and she looked for the source of the thought.

Selena broke through, trying to silence her. Jayden forced her back while mentally shouting to Xochitl,
“Do it! Do it!”