Warrior Rising (11 page)

“How long have you been… what you are?”

Her distaste for
what he was
was evident in her tone, but he did not take offense. “Seven hundred years or so. Your turn.”

There was a long pause. Maybe she’d answer; maybe she would not. He supposed it didn’t matter, but he was curious.

Soon they’d reach Council headquarters. If it was deserted, they’d keep looking. He didn’t think it would be deserted. When they left this car their attentions would have to turn to war. There was no time for curiosity in battle.

As he pulled to the curb and parked, Indikaiya said, “Atlantis. I lived in Atlantis before my death in battle.”

“No shit!” He actually smiled. “I thought Atlantis was just a myth.”

She caught his gaze and held it, something very few were brave enough to do. “The world thought the same about your kind, until a few days ago.”

“True enough.” He laughed. “Man, you’re
old
.”

“Is that an insult or an observation?”

“Observation.” He would love to sit down for a long conversation with her about her home. What had happened to Atlantis? Who had she done battle with? “At a mere seven hundred years old, I feel like a kid again.”

He stepped into the night. The street was eerily deserted, unnaturally quiet. And yet he knew they were not alone. “Let’s go kick some vampire ass.”

If he died in the process? That was more than possible, it was damned likely. And if a final death came to him, he wouldn’t wake up in another world to another life. No reincarnation, no warrior’s reward, and certainly no heaven. Not for him or for any of those he planned to send from this world tonight.

CHAPTER SIX

Indikaiya was more than ready to remove a few vampires from this world they had been foolish enough to invade. She was anxious,
eager
, having gone too long without a battle.

Time moved differently in her world than it did in this one. Years for a human might pass in days for the Warriors. Time was fluid, uncertain, moving at a pace determined by the need for Warriors in this world. But time did pass. As she waited to be called she trained; she painted; she studied and she watched. The training was necessary, and she threw herself into it wholeheartedly, even though practicing swordplay could not hold a candle to an actual battle. She painted landscapes more than anything else, though on occasion she had tried to capture the faces of her children from memory. Painting was a hobby. She wasn’t very good, but there was something about putting a paint-filled brush to canvas that was soothing. And frustrating, when the results were not pleasing. She was a bit impatient, with herself more than with anyone else.

It had never been her habit to spy on her descendants for purposes of amusement or curiosity, but she did watch over them, on occasion. She had seen Chloe as a child, and again as a teenager. She had watched over her descendant when she’d been in the hospital, after the car wreck that had revealed her aneurysm. There were other descendants, those who had not been able to see or hear her when the time had come, and she had looked in on most of them a time or two during their lives.

It had been easier to keep watch when only her daughters had still lived, but it had also been painful. Her love for them had been so fresh, and she had been so sad and angry that she could not be there to see them grow, to see them become fine women and mothers. There had been more of her blood descendants to spy upon when her daughters’ children and then their grandchildren had come into the world. That had been less painful, since the bonds were so distant. She had not held them as infants, fed them from her breasts, protected them night and day. From there, the number of descendants had grown. They had spread out, moving to all corners of the world. Over time some lines had died out, but most had survived and a few had thrived.

Those Warriors who watched their descendants more diligently than she had were more well-versed in modern ways and language. Indikaiya knew enough to get by, but she was too often confused — even lost — in a world which had grown and changed so very quickly.

Sorin was like her in that way. He was a part of this world, he lived and moved within it, but on rare occasions she saw the age in him, the years that had passed. In an out of place phrase or a too-formal and old-fashioned gesture, he gave himself away. He was no more of this time than she was.

The building Sorin approached was red brick, sporting more than its share of ivy. The windows were shuttered. Though some lights shone along this quiet street, the Council building was dark. At first glance it appeared to be lifeless. Her instincts warned her not to approach. Was that truly an instinct that sensed the darkness of the place, or did some kind of vampire magic meant to keep the unwanted away surround the building? She should be immune to such unnatural magic. Surely it was nothing more than her own good instincts that warned her to stay away.

She scoffed, silently. Even if the building was filled with vampires, it could be deemed lifeless. They were an abomination, not
life
at all. They were walking dead things.

She glanced at Sorin and frowned. The few vampires she had met since Chloe had called her into this world were making her question her knowledge of the bloodsuckers. Was it truly possible that vampires were no different from humans in that some were good while others were evil? How could a being whose sustenance came from the blood of others be considered good in any way?

Again, gray. She preferred her battles to be black and white, but looking back — were they ever?

Sorin stepped to the massive double doors of the red brick building, turned to her and said, “Wait here.”

“I will not,” Indikaiya answered.

For the first time, she saw his anger. Fangs, glowing blue eyes… and she could swear that his already broad shoulders grew broader, that he grew impossible taller. Instinctively she took a step back. She recovered quickly and moved back toward him. In the distance, she heard faint gunfire. Someone somewhere had joined in a battle in his city under siege. Soldiers from this time? Law enforcement? An armed citizen?

“If you are attempting to glamour me, save your strength,” she said. “I am immune to your… charms.”

In an instant he shifted back to the Sorin she knew. “I only want to make certain it is safe for you. There are two of us. If Council headquarters is teeming with Marie’s soldiers, we won’t make it out alive. I have a chance, if word that I betrayed Marie has not spread too widely. You, on the other hand, will be attacked on the spot.”

“I can defend myself,” she argued.

“Against a dozen panicked vampires?”

“Yes.” Her voice was strong and certain, even as her stomach turned at the thought.

“A hundred?” he offered in a lowered voice.

She was brave, but she was no fool. “As you wish, then.”

His head turned toward the next round of gunfire. It seemed to be closer than the last.

“You are a powerful witch,” Rurik said.

Nevada sat on the top step of the stairway which was just a few steps beyond her bedroom door, her feet on the step below, hands clenched in her lap. Rurik stood behind her. He was often close, she had noticed, nearby more often than any of the other Warriors.

Just a coincidence? Maybe. Maybe not.

“I suppose,” she said softly.

“Be proud of your abilities,” Rurik insisted.

He moved around her, and she scooted over a few inches to allow him to pass. Instead of walking past and down the stairs, he lowered himself to sit beside her. Rurik was a big guy, so it was a tight fit. Not that she minded.

“The sanctuary spell has been reinstated,” he continued, “and you managed to make a talisman that will allow Luca to be remembered. That was no easy feat. Everyone is impressed.”

“He’s wearing the ring, but I don’t think he likes it much.” She couldn’t believe she’d met a vampire like that before and didn’t remember! That was some seriously powerful magic.

Rurik laughed, a little. “No, he does not enjoy being remembered by the humans. I suspect he will remove the ring when he no longer leads us in battle.”

His arm pressed against hers. She could lean away, but she didn’t. She liked it, the warmth and the strength and the solidness of him. She’d been isolated for so long, held prisoner, left alone with her books and her fear and the occasional terrifying vampire. And her magic. Always her magic.

“I’m done now,” she said. “There’s nothing else for me here. I should leave.”

Rurik tensed. “Why? You are one of us. You belong here.”

Nevada shook her head. She didn’t belong anywhere, and that was the problem. “I’m no solider. In a physical fight, I would be worse than useless.” She’d been in this house, in this room, for years. The vampires had tried to force her to unleash her inborn magic, to bloom so she could do as they wished. It had taken a while, but eventually it had happened. A dam had burst within her. In the past few months she’d discovered many things about herself. She could wield magic. She was a witch. No pointy hat or wart on the nose, and so far she hadn’t turned green, but still, she couldn’t deny who she was.

As Rurik said, a damned powerful witch.

Tempting as it was, how could she leave now and hide away when she could be an important part of this war? She’d learned to travel remotely, and had placed a protection spell on her family so they could escape this place. She’d ended the sanctuary spell and then recast it, and she had cast a spell to make it easier for the Warriors to come in. Well, easier for the conduits to hear and understand. Same thing. She’d charmed an ordinary ring in order to dampen Luca’s magic. She could do amazing stuff. If she put enough of herself into the task, she could find her family on her own. Until now, all her talents, all her energy, had been used for unselfish magic. She could not afford to think only of what she wanted for herself. That had not changed, and could not. Not yet.

Maybe there was a spell she hadn’t even thought of that could mean the difference between winning and losing. Maybe she could weaken Marie somehow, or find a way to give the Warriors an edge. Tempted as she was, how could she leave?

“What news of the war?” she asked, eager to change the subject. After all, it wasn’t like she knew anything she wasn’t told. There was no TV in her room, she didn’t have a computer or a cell phone, and even if she did, how could she trust anything she might see on the news?

“Marie’s efforts are not particularly organized,” Rurik said. “There are skirmishes each night, packs of vampires on the streets. We eliminate all we can, but there are always more.”

“The military has to be on this, right? Police, too. Right?”

“Some, but they are not equipped to do battle with Marie and her monsters. They do not yet understand, though we have warned them, we have told them how to fight against Marie’s soldiers." Rurik shook his head. "They seem reluctant to believe us. The White House and the Capitol Building are being heavily guarded, and so far those within them are safe. For now, the more dangerous areas are in the outskirts, where ordinary people live.”

Ordinary people would have no idea how to fight against vampires. None. “If Marie and her soldiers can turn enough people, if more vampires flock to the city, how long before they can take on any army?”

Rurik shrugged his broad shoulders.

Nevada took a deep breath. She was decided. “I’ll stay, at least for now. I have books to study. Spells to try. I can always experiment on you.” She meant it as a tease, but it came out sounding a bit creepy. Still, he smiled.

“You may experiment on me any time.” With that, he stood. “We’re moving to a new headquarters soon.”

“Where?”

“I do not know.”

In all honestly, Nevada didn’t care where they went. She wanted out of this place. Marie had been here, in Nevada’s room, in these hallways. Marie and some of her most disgusting, evil henchmen. She wouldn’t mind being in a place where those vampires had never been, a place where the air she breathed had never been tainted with the scent of an evil self-proclaimed vampire queen.

“Marie will find me wherever I am, if she sets her mind to it,” Nevada said.

Rurik looked her in the eye, then. Nevada felt his determination to her very bones.

“She will have to come through me, if she is so foolish.”

Those dark eyes smoldered, and Nevada’s stomach fluttered. She was pretty sure he liked her. Either that, or he was a big flirt and she was the only unattached girl around for him to play with. He wasn’t what she’d call cute, but he was definitely a stud. In the past, she’d always fallen for skinny nerds, brains over muscles, glasses and smarts over swords and brawn. That Nevada had been a different person. Sorin might as weIl have killed her back then. The naive college student whose dreams were simple — a good job, a smart husband, a couple of beautiful kids one day — was gone.

She could hope she and Rurik might date when this was over, to see if there was really anything between them, but when this was over, if it was ever over, he’d go back to wherever he’d come from.

Too bad.

The door was unlocked. That in itself was unusual. Sorin stepped into the open entryway, his eyes adjusting instantly to the darkness. He stood very still. He listened. Someone was here, but the place wasn’t filled with the kindred as he had suspected it might be.

“Sorin, thank the heavens.”

Pablo stepped into Sorin’s line of vision. Wearing the ceremonial robe of the Council, Pablo wrung his hands in evident dismay. “I had begun to think no one would come. This is a disaster, a disaster, I tell you.”

“I agree. Are you here alone?”

“Yes. The others all fled. Cowards,” he muttered. “They were afraid of this uprising. They’re afraid that vampires might be emboldened to attack the Council members who have guided them for so long.”

Guided? Not the word Sorin would’ve chosen. The Council had been a collection of power-hungry dictators who didn’t hesitate to end anyone who got in their way or did not follow their set of rules to the letter. Marie had been one of them. It was no wonder Luca and the others hadn't bothered to try to include the Council in this war. He was a bit surprised that other vampires had not come here looking for protection or assistance. That alone was enough to tell Sorin how unpopular the Council had become. Not only unpopular, but insignificant.