Wayward Son (9 page)

As if on cue, the roll away door opened and Marco drove into the warehouse again. Pulling up to the office he parked the SUV and stepped out, cooler in hand. He pushed open the door of the office and opened the cooler. “We have O positive and some AB negative for your dining pleasure.”

“Monsieur will have all of the above.” Paul waved him toward Rufus who lay still on the mattress.

Marco grabbed an IV stand and pulled it close to the bed. “Which arm should I put it in this time?” he asked Paul.

“Oh, he’s awake now. He can drink it straight from the juice box.” Paul stood up abruptly and walked toward the door. “Don’t forget the straw.”

Marco placed two bags of O positive on the mattress next to Rufus then helped him to a sitting position. “Hungry, boss?”

“Famished.” Rufus took the bag and sunk his fangs into the plastic bag. As he quickly drained the first one and handed the empty bag back to Marco he glanced out the office window to Paul who stood in the middle of the warehouse and stared at the ceiling. “Tell me, Marco, have I been feeding only from bagged blood?”

Marco tossed the empty bag into a trash can and handed him another full bag. “No, we gave you some of the mixed blood from the bar on the boat. It didn’t do anything for you. Mr. Foster knew then that you’d need human blood.” Marco didn’t exactly lie, but he omitted a lot of the truth. “As I drove the boat, Paul forced as much of the beast blood into you as he could to keep you alive.”

Rufus glanced at Paul again and noticed that his blind eye slowly began to focus once more. “So he truly does care?”

Marco gave him a puzzled look. “I would think so. He could have left you to die and inherited everything. As soon as he found out that the human hunters were searching for you…”

Rufus turned and gave him his full attention. “Why were they looking for me?”

“They weren’t happy. Something about stealing something from them. A notebook and something to do with a weapon.”

Rufus inhaled deeply and felt the pain in his chest lessen as his ribs healed. “They know.”

“Yes, sir, they know. And as I told you, they aren’t happy.”

“And Jack?”

Marco avoided his eyes. “He was
most
unhappy.”

*****

Jack watched the helicopter take off, his wife and future child literally fading into the sunset. He tried twice more to get Nadia to understand and twice more she rebuked him. When she finally left, he pulled her aside and forced her to listen. He told her that he loved her and he had to do this to keep her and the baby safe. She refused to accept it.

It broke his heart to watch her leave, but he knew he had to see this through. “You gonna be okay?”

Jack turned and saw Gus approaching him from behind. “I dunno, Gus. She’s my everything.”

“Does she know that?”

“I tried to tell her, but she doesn’t want to hear it right now.” Jack leaned against the pillar still standing in the front of the castle. “I couldn’t make her understand that I need to see this through for her and the baby.”

“She’ll come around.” Gus placed a hand on Jack’s shoulder and gave it a slight squeeze.

“What if she doesn’t?”

“She will. You’re fated, right?”

Jack rolled his eyes. “For whatever that’s worth.”

“It will work out.” Gus stepped past him and out into the courtyard. “You just need to hurry up and do whatever it is you have to do.”

“Right now, I’m planning to head back to base with you boys.”

“And us,” Kalen added. Neither Jack nor Gus had heard him approach.

“Right…and them.” Jack paused then turned back to Kalen. “If the mission to Geneva is off, why are you guys still hanging with me?”

Kalen motioned for Jack to step aside. The two walked out into the sandy area between the castle proper and the beachhead. “The Wyldwood has requested it. When the Wyldwood requests something, you do it.”

“Oh, I get that. I just don’t understand why.”

Kalen shook his head. “Our elders have been having visions of something dark, Chief Jack. Something ominous. It has them fearful.”

Jack stopped walking and pulled Kalen to a halt. “Wait, do you mean visions like they had back when the Sicarii first rose up?”

Kalen shrugged. “I do not know. I just know what the Wyldwood has told me. Stay with Chief Jack. He shall lead you.”

Jack sighed and stared at the setting sun. “I think I need some answers my friend.” He turned and headed back toward the castle.

“Where do you go?” Kalen called out.

“To make a phone call.” Jack entered the castle and took the stairs two at a time.

He trotted down the hall and pushed the remains of his door out of the way. The attack from the gunship had splintered the heavy English oak to shards and most of his heavy antique furniture was ruined. He pushed his way past the trash and detritus in the room and bent low to retrieve the ornately carved box from under the bed. Pulling it out, he cleared a spot in the floor and set the box down. Sliding it in front of him, he carefully opened the lid and stared at the bundle inside wrapped in simple cloth. With both hands he carefully lifted the bundle out and placed it onto the floor, then slid the box out of the way.

Very carefully, Jack unwrapped the cloth and lifted the large polished stone from its wrappings. He placed the stone gently on the stone floor and smoothed the fabric beside it. Jack closed his eyes and recited the short chant that he had been taught then blew lightly on the cloth. Slowly, letters began to appear on the cloth.

Jack held the cloth up to the window and tried to look through the letters. Taking a corner, he gently folded one side across to the other. Then he folded it the other way. He lifted the cloth again and looked at the setting sun through the gossamer material. The letters that had previously made no sense to him, now created words that he could read. Jack quickly read the lines in the form of a chant.

He picked up the polished stone and rubbed it while repeating the chant. Slowly the stone became opaque and a murky light emitted from it. He held the stone in his lap and stared into it. “Loren? I’d really like to speak with you again.”

He waited a moment longer and was about to give up when her radiant face appeared in the stone. “Chief Jack, it is good to see you.”

“And you.” Jack waited a moment hoping she would volunteer the information he was seeking but her image simply smiled at him. “I need information.”

“Of course. What I have is yours.”

“Kalen tells me that the elders are seeing things again,” Jack blurted out. “Visions. Something dark and scary?”

Loren’s smile almost appeared sad for a moment, but she quickly recovered. “He is very young. He should have kept that to himself.”

Jack gave her a puzzled stare. “Why is that? Should I not be made aware of possible threats?”

“Oh no, Chief Jack, it is simply that we aren’t sure what the threat may be. It is true that the elders are having visions of another dark threat. An ancient darkness that threatens to rise up once more, but…” She paused, as if searching for the right words. “There isn’t a clear consensus on what that ‘threat’ may be.” She actually appeared to blush.

“Any kind of heads up would be appreciated here, Loren. I mean, if it points us in the general direction.”

“I understand what you ask, Chief Jack, but alas, I cannot give what I do not have. Some foresee a period of great darkness, some foresee a darkness rising and then quickly extinguished. Others see a threat that rises and then…like waves on the water, it ripples out.”

“So nothing specific?”

“I fear not.” The look in her eyes told him that she believed the threat to be real, but she could no more pinpoint it than he could. “And Kalen should have kept such knowledge to himself until we knew more. Forgive him, Chief Jack, he is but a child and has been thrust into a position of—”

“Whoa! Wait a second. A child? How can you say that?” Jack had to stop and think for a moment. Kalen? He was more than a child. The guy was huge as far as Elves were concerned.

“Yes, a child. He is only seventeen years. He is a most capable warrior. He was trained by his own father from the age of three. His brother Horith was set to become Captain of our Guard. The Gatekeeper. But now…” She lowered her eyes a moment and shook her head.

“He didn’t make it?”

“Horith? He is healing. But he will be unable to defend us again. Kalen must become the Gatekeeper.”

“You said he’s only seventeen?” Jack had trouble accepting that. “He looks older.”

“He is Elf, Chief Jack. A warrior Elf at that. His years were not easy.”

“Understood.” Jack sighed as he considered what she had told him. “Okay Loren. I know you’re busy so I’ll leave you to your work. But if any of your elders get a clearer picture of what this threat is, please let me know as soon as you can.”

“As you will, Chief Jack.”

“Peace be with you.” Jack saluted her.

“Peace be with you.”

*****

Damien awoke and thrashed in the coagulated blood. It felt like cold pudding around his body as he fought to pull himself to the surface. For the briefest of moments, he couldn’t remember where he was and as his head broke the surface of the vat he had to hang an arm over the edge to keep from slipping back under. He gagged and sucked air into his throat, coughing and spitting as he hacked the blood up and out of his lungs. Damien clung to the side of the vat until he cleared his lungs and could calm himself.

Slowly he remembered the events as they played out. Rachel had recited the chant, the blood of the virgins had restored her original body and the elder…he had eaten the elder. And his energy had been sucked from him.

Damien tried to stand and felt weak as his body fought the weight of the coagulated blood clinging to his clothing. He hooked a leg over the edge and slid over the side and into the floor. He lay gasping on the cold concrete floor, trying to come to terms with what had happened. From the corner of his eye he saw movement and he quickly turned his head to see Lilith sitting on a stack of crates watching him.

“You survived,” she said drolly. She slipped from the top of the crates and stepped closer. He took in her bloody nude form as she bent down and grasped his face by the jaw. “You’re nearly restored. I’ll be.”

“What happened?” he croaked.

“You nearly died.” She stood, and he couldn’t take his eyes off her shape. The same shape he adored in the lower levels of the bunker in Nevada, except now, in the flesh, she was more perfect than he remembered. “I’m surprised you were able to pull through.”

“You saved me?”

She laughed deep in her throat and it unsettled him. “You didn’t save yourself.”

“Thank you, my beloved.” He rolled over and coughed up another chunk of coagulated blood from deep in his lungs. “I don’t know what I would have done without you.”

She continued walking until she reached the emergency shower. Dropping her robe, she pulled the chain and let the water flow over her body. Damien watched her shower and couldn’t fight the arousal he felt. He smiled as he pulled himself to his feet and stumbled to the shower beside her. As he wrapped his arms around her, she spun and slammed an open palm into his chest knocking him across the open space and sliding across the floor. “You’ll not touch me.”

He rolled to his knees, gasping for air and coughing up more blood from his lungs. “W-w-what the hell was that for?”

“You are not worthy.” She continued to shower, her back to him. “You shall not touch me.”

Damien rocked back and sat up on his knees, his eyes searching her for some kind of answer. “What do you mean?”

“Exactly as I said.” She turned and glared at him. “You would do well to heed my words.”

“Fuck that.” Damien struggled to his feet. “I
made
you, bitch.”

Lilith paused and slowly turned her eyes ablaze with anger. She lowered her gaze to him and cocked her head to the side. “What did you just say?”

“You fucking heard me. I
made
you.” He staggered toward her, his finger pointing toward her. “You were mine before I put your jerkied ass back together, you’re mine now.”

Lilith snorted and turned back to her shower. “Watch your tongue, little man.”

“Watch my…” Damien stopped and stared at her. “Who the hell do you think you are?”

She held a hand in the air. “I am your queen. And you shall bow in my presence.”

“The hell I will—” Damien didn’t finish his sentence before he felt his legs go out from under him, his kneecaps smashing into the cold hard concrete. He heard the crack before the pain registered with his rattled brain. He opened his mouth to scream, but Lilith pinched her fingers shut. When she did, his mouth sealed and he screamed through a closed mouth, his desperate gasps for air blew globs of drying blood out of his nostrils.

“I
am
your queen.” She turned and stared with evil behind her eyes. “And you
will
bow in my presence.”