Ten
The Island of Oahu
Could be his last first meal. Felix was nothing if not a realist, and while he’d prepared down to the last detail, the enemy force he would meet tomorrow night was formidable. In that, Quattro had been right. The idea of facing a truly worthy opponent, even at the risk of paying the ultimate cost, was unbelievably stimulating.
“Bring the food in all at once, please,” he barked to the compelled humans he’d been using since he arrived. Locals, not particularly bright, but human, so there you had it. Adequate for that task anyway. “And don’t forget the beverages.”
Whisky, the finest, and cranberry juice, a favorite tart drink. Also a selection of chemically designed beverages that were all the rage. Delicious, unique, like himself.
Felix glanced toward the large bed he’d engaged for the next few nights, a honeymoon suite with a round bed big enough for six. On it sat four of the biggest human men he had seen on the island since arriving three nights earlier.
Since there was every possibility he might die soon, he had decided to engage in his decadent desire for men. Women, yes, they were lovely, and he enjoyed sex with them, but increasingly over the past few decades, he’d found himself drawn inexplicably to rough masculine bodies, especially to having their mouths and tongues attack his cock. There was just something about watching the men working down there. Gods, he could almost come at just the thought.
If he won, if he had more time, he would convert several as he began to build his army. So the stakes were high for this fight. He wanted to live and recreate the Four Horsemen with men of his own choosing, and surround the horsemen with a vampire army. The thought was almost too much, so exciting, so…
As two women brought bottles of Scotch into the room and opened them to set several glasses next to him, Felix barked to the man who sat nearest to the foot of the bed.
“You, come here. Remove your clothes.”
When he had, Felix continued. “Now, unzip my pants and swallow me. Be rough. I like it that way. Bite. Now.”
Leaning back, he closed his eyes with a glass of whisky in his hand, a shiver running through his body as he felt a hot tongue on the tip of his cock.
Across the island near Wheeler-Schofield Cabins
“I thought you’d get a kick out of this. It was military about a hundred years ago. The bases closed and they turned much of the area into these rustic cabin rentals for tourists, but the tunnels that run under the mountains remain largely intact. Historically, they’re fascinating. And for us, they’re defendable, cool, and light-tight. Plenty of room for training.”
Jack spun around, arms out, to present the facility he’d arranged for their overnight accommodations.
“Stark. Dank. No amenities. Yep, exactly where we should end up.”
“Aw, San, you’ll adjust. Jack, it’s perfect.” Dani carried her small bag in and placed it on a leather sofa. “It is kind of damp.”
“And unlike you, I don’t have anyone to keep me warm,” San complained.
“It will do,” Kwano snapped as he, Quattro, and Saul brought in the rest of their supplies; food, lights, weapons, sleeping tubes, and Evaleigh’s computer support. Luckily, everything she carried with her had net capabilities without outside lines.
Quattro carried his boxes to the back of the corridor.
“I’ll set up an area for food prep. And a bar. We’re going to need that tonight. Our last night before we fight.”
With everyone pitching in, they made the hallway that led into Kunia Mountain into an overnight camp.
Multiple hallways led off the main entrance, and Dani glanced up to see Saul carry two sleeping tubes away from the others down another hallway to the left. She nodded her approval. They needed privacy tonight. Turning, she looked around at this rag-tag group of friends and hoped this wasn’t the last time they’d all be together. Even Quattro, aware now of his relationship with Saul, was family too.
“I can’t lose this,” she whispered. Good, honest, beautiful people she loved who spent their days protecting people and building good lives for them. “I won’t let that crazy bastard win.”
After spreading out her sleeping tube, Sanquinetta dropped down into its air-filled cushion. “Aw, that is nice. I’d forgotten how comfortable these are. Dani, what did you just say about crazy?”
“Nothing. Just that we’re not going to let this guy win.”
Sitting up, San glanced around the room just as Dani had just done. “No,” she said on a sigh. “He won’t win. We have too much to lose. Plus, he’s exactly the type of vampire we remove from the world. He’s our ultimate mission. We’ll crush him.”
Later, first meal over, the seven warriors sat on their sleeping tubes, now placed in a circle, to confer about the looming battle. When it came to strategy, Sanquinetta usually took point, but this time, with the nature of the enemy, she thought they needed to hear from the first bloods instead.
“Quattro. Is there anything you can tell us that will help?”
Lying on his stomach, fully relaxed, he nodded.
“Yes, but you’re not going to like it. Felix is dangerous, and by that I mean, he’s smart, fast, mean, and unpredictable, and that combination is really bad for anyone he fights.” He paused to take a sip of whisky. “I think only we three first bloods should go. It’s too risky for the rest of you, especially you ladies. Not because you’re women, don’t start on me, but because you’re human.”
“That isn’t…”
Kwano cut Sanquinetta off. “I’ve been thinking the same, Quattro. Everyone, I agree. Look, we are here to protect our group as much as to stop Felix. He’s one first blood, and we are three. It’s true what Quattro says, and please don’t burn me with those beautiful eyes ladies, but we will be much less effective if we are trying to fight him and protect you as well.”
“You forget I’m pretty fucking good with a stunner and machete. Dani carries earth magic. Eva, it’s true that you are a wizard on the keyboard, and you aren’t really a fighter, but Dani and I can help.”
“You can, of course you can. We don’t dispute that, but this is too dangerous. This time, we’re being hunted too, and we have no idea what this lunatic has planned. This could go sideways fast. We can use air-displacement to move, but we can’t leave you behind and that slows us down, makes us targets, shackles our movement. You need to find refuge and stay there. Once Quattro is out of here, you need to change locations, and Felix won’t be able to find you. Jack, back us up here.”
Jack had been quiet during the discussion because he had been included too. “There’s merit to what you say. I’m having a little trouble with it because I’m apparently being benched too. I can’t help but find it emasculating to be shoved out of the fight.”
“That isn’t it, Jack, you know it. Saul, weigh in.”
Saul, too, like Jack, had stayed silent. His eyes went to the women watching him from around the circle, then Jack, stretched out on his tube. He could feel their eyes boring into him. “Yes, it’s the wise choice. We’re three of the most powerful people on earth against one. Yes, if he’s smart and lucky, it’s possible for him to take us all. It’s also extremely unlikely. So, yes, I think, Jack, that you should find a safe place and wait this out with our ladies.” He finished with a slight smile. “It has nothing to do with your masculinity, by the way.”
“Or you can listen to me.”
All faces turned to Dani, standing now, as she reached for a slice of one of the six pizzas that had been brought in half an hour ago. “Everything you say is true, but we’re a team, and we work well together. We do what you say with one change. Jack, San, and I will go, but we’ll stay in the background and watch for any opportunity to help. You forget, my earth magic is strong, and when combined with Quattro, stronger yet. You will need me. Eva, you’re not a fighter and you, of all of us, would be the most in danger. We need you, but out here, monitoring the area, movement, anything you can see that might help us. I think you should go to a hotel near the site, set up, and stay linked.”
Quattro slammed his hands on the floor. “That’s the plan, then. I’d follow that brilliant woman anywhere.”
Kwano rubbed his forehead, strong memories of his recent death still fresh.
“Okay. I guess it had to work out this way. Only ladies, don’t get killed.”
Sunset the next night
“Ready?”
Everyone was. Weapons were attached to all the usual places on each warrior and a few more in addition. Dani and San wore catsuits lined with Supratef, a micro-thin layer that could almost stop a bullet, and would stop most blades.
Evaleigh had passed out coms devices so they could keep in touch and call for help if necessary. “Keep these in at all times.” She had especially meant Quattro, who wasn’t accustomed to working with a group like this.
Kwano addressed the team.
“All right. The main goal is Felix, and unlike our usual tactic, this is a kill. Disable so that we can safely dispose of him. No heroics. Stop him, call the others, and we finish the fight forever. Here’s the tough part. He has likely compelled a large number of humans to attack us, and while that’s dangerous, we have to remember, they’re innocents. Try not to kill, or badly injure, any of them if possible. It’s a coward’s way, hiding behind humans, but we’ve already seen that Felix isn’t above that. He’s no hero. Just, be careful. Let’s all meet, well and whole, for a celebratory dinner afterward.”
Evaleigh placed her hand on Sanquinetta’s, then Dani did so as well. “Merry meet, and merry meet again.”
She looked up at the men. “It’s an old greeting that means we shall see each other again under good tidings. Join us.”
Seven who would go to battle placed their hands on top of each other’s and spoke Eva’s odd words. It seemed the perfect way to say goodbye, but only for a little while.
At Kolekole Pass
The full moon preceded the hunters to their destination up the mountainside to Kolekole Pass, a place of historical significance.
Cautious, spreading out to create a less tight target, they found no evidence of Felix or his army.
Quattro’s spoke softly. “I don’t feel him here, but he’s close.”
Jack quietly walked around the area, noting old metal plaques that described what had happened there so long ago. “You know this is where the Japanese came through as they attacked Pearl Harbor about 200 years ago. Felix selected a good place to end this. They called it the Day of Infamy.”
“That seems about right. It’s beautiful under moonlight. I can’t believe we’re fighting here.”
“Dani, please, baby, stay close to me.”
“Always, my love.”
“Ugh, too much sugar, guys. Remember why we’re here.”
Quattro’s fone chimed and he lifted it from his pocket.
“It’s Felix.”
He held it up as vid images began to play, Felix’s voice overlaying the sound.
“Good evening, my friends, thank you for coming. I realize that I have a great disadvantage tonight, one first blood pitted against three, so here’s my equalizer. I have taken two people and buried them somewhere on this mountain. They’re human, and have only two hours of oxygen left in the containers where I have placed them. They are buried about eight feet deep. It will take one vampire each searching with all his abilities to save them. If you choose not to search, they will die. Simple choices. One is the mother of two adorable little girls, and without her, they will be orphaned. The other is a young man that I have been assured has a brilliant future. He’s such a kind man, he’s spent most of his young life caring for those in need. Awww. Which will it be? Stay here and fight me, or save the humans in danger? Quite the conundrum. I give you ten minutes to consider it, and then I come for you.”
Side by side vids showed a young woman, her hands bound, eyes terrified, as she kicked repeatedly against what appeared to be a heavy plastic container. She’d never break through it. The second vid showed a man with pale hair lying unmoving in an identical box, his eyes wet, as frightened as the woman.
Jack cursed. “Fuck. Our weakness is that we care. Goddam that asshole. That would leave at most two first bloods against him if I go.”
“He’s not as smart as he thinks he is.” Dani took Quattro’s hand and moved forward. “We can find them in much less time than you can. Earth magic can tap into the living planet and the Mother will show us where they are within her warm ground.”
“If you find them, you’ll need vampire help to dig them out in time.”
“No we won’t. Earth magic will remove the soil. We got this. You get that bastard.”
“Dani…”
“Saul. I’ll be fine. Go do your job. Quattro and I will do ours and come back to help.”
Quattro searched the area. “Felix is near. Very. He’s below us. Everyone, be careful.”
“Thank the Gods for the moonlight. It’s nearly as bright as day up here.”
“It’s an advantage for him too. I guess we begin the search for him. He’ll be coming for us.”
With a last glance at Saul, Dani and Quattro disappeared from the site where their battle would begin.
Jack stood side by side with Kwano and Saul, guarding Sanquinetta, all armed with powerful long range shock guns as they searched the white shrouded landscape and watched for any movement.
“We need to take cover while we hunt for him.”
Trees and bushes lined the hillside just below Kolekole Pass’s visitor spot where they’d arrived. Sliding into the foliage, the group moved apart to cover more ground and offer a smaller target. Moving down the mountainside to where Quattro had said Felix’s lifeforce put him, both Saul and Kwano would read it if they came within a reasonable distance. Coms would keep them all apprised if he showed. They knew that Felix wouldn’t have come alone, that he’d have compelled people all over the mountain to attack whenever they were in range.
The first barrage came seconds after they started to move when power arrows flew toward Jack, the first one sailing just above his shoulder. A second arrow struck Sanquinetta’s side, and while it tore a hole in her suit, the Supratef stopped it from penetrating too far past her skin. The point left a deep gash, but nothing serious, as she sprayed a quick-setting coagulant on the wound.
“Oh, fuck that hurts.”
“You’re okay?”
“Just makes me more fighting mad. Let’s go!”
Settings on the shock guns had been lowered so they could use them to stun humans, stun vampires, but not kill anyone. Felix would only need to be stunned long enough to take his head.
“Everyone lives,” Sanquinetta had murmured. Please, please, she’d thought. Now, in the midst of the battle, she knew, knew, that everyone wouldn’t survive.
“Jack.”
It was Saul and the whisper came through his coms.
“Stay with San, Kwano and I are going to recon using hyperspeed.”
“Check,” he acknowledged.
Nearly faster than the human eye could register them, Saul and Kwano scanned about 100 yards out from their location, and found no other threats.
Stopping near each other, Kwano shook his head.
“What’s he playing at?”
“We’re in the dark, literally and figuratively. I have no clue.”
“Makes me feel even more uneasy.”
“It should. Let’s find Jack and San.”
“This is messed up.”
“How does one first blood think he can take on three?”
“Because this one is completely mental. Godhood syndrome, I guess.”
With no warning, Saul was thrown into the air. Kwano, shocked, searched for him, and saw his form several feet away, locked in a battle with someone. It had to be Felix, no one else would easily hold his own with a first blood. As he raced to help him, he heard a percussive blast, saw the muzzle flash of a handgun, the shadow of a body falling, and another form disappear into the darkness using air-displacement.
“Saul,” he whispered, reaching his side, blood pouring from his head, his body still, dead from the gunshot.
Fuck! With Quattro off in search of the humans, Saul fatally injured, Felix had equalized first blood talents easily.
“We haven’t been wise about this. Too arrogant, thinking we had superior strength.”
And in his coms, “Everyone, Saul is down. We need to get him out of here before Felix or someone else tries to behead him. Quattro, I need you now.”
Seconds passed when he felt Quattro arrive on air.
“Take him,” Quattro said. “Get everyone else out of here. I’m finding Felix and killing him.”
“Not alone, you’re not.”
“No. I’ll do it with Dani. We are unbeatable together.”
“No.”
“Yes. No discussion. Get everyone to safety. I mean it, Kwano. I know now how this is supposed to go now. It’s the only way it could ever play through. He has men all over this hill with ax’s to remove our heads. Felix would have won. Now he won’t. Dani and I will find you when it’s done.”
“He’ll be ready for you.”
Quattro smiled. “He won’t be ready for us.”
“Did you find the buried humans?”
“Easily. Dani’s with them right now. Give me Saul’s com. I’ll leave it on them, and if you guys would pick them up on your way out, that will be helpful.”
“I fucking hate this.”
“It will happen as it is meant to happen. Take everyone to the Big Island. When it’s done, Dani and I will find you.”
“Quattro…”
“Go. I have to get back to Dani.”
“Good luck. Merry meet again.”
Quattro grinned. “Yeah, merry meet.”
Dani sat on a low gnarled tree branch, her arm around the young man who still shivered uncontrollably. She tried to pull up magic to comfort him, but she thought he might be too far past that. The woman, the young mother, Malina, was doing better.
“What did that man want from us?” Malina asked.
“It had nothing to do with you. You’re safe from him now. You were just a random choice and I promise you, he won’t come after you again.”
Her mind was on Saul, who she knew had been shot, who Quattro had assured her through her coms that he would be fine, and who Quattro had sent to safety with everyone else.
“We’re going after him. Just you and me,” he’d said.
She agreed. Felix needed some good old-fashioned justice. The law of the land.
“And I mean the land,” she whispered aloud.
“What?” Malina had heard her comment.
“Nothing, dear. Just breathe, relax. Some people are coming to take you and Loren home shortly.”
“Here.”
Quattro, arriving back on the air, handed a coms unit to Malina. “This will let our friends find you. It’ll be a huge black man, a gorgeous brunette woman and a shaggy looking bodybuilder. They’ll get you two home. Good luck.”
He held a hand out to Dani. “Come with me.”
Pulling her around a corner, once they were out of sight, he lifted her in his arms. “Have you moved through air with a vampire before?”
“Have I. You know where he is?”
“Since I learned, I could find him in pitch darkness in a raging storm. Let’s finish this before fucking Christmas.”
“I’m ready. Quattro, it’s weird how we’re so good together. We must be linked in some way.”
“We fit together like perfect puzzle pieces. I know. Let’s be grateful and not question it now. We have to kill a man tonight.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. I’ve never been close with Felix. I doubt anyone has. He’s incapable of feeling that type of emotion, and I should have always known, but I had a lot to figure out too. I face a lot of redemption coming down the road for things I’ve done.”
“Meet that burden another day, vampire. We’ve a job to do.”
“Here we go.”
She’d forgotten how disorienting air-displacement could be. Riding on the wind, completely out of control of everything, the world passing in a blur, she kept her eyes closed, remembering that was how a human rider could reduce the dizziness this type of rapid movement caused.
When Quattro finally stopped and lowered her, his arms stayed around her, supporting her, aware that her balance would be shit. Finally, she felt his fingers in her hair.
“Dani? You all right?”
“Yeah. Uh, yeah. Wow. That’s much further than I’ve moved before like that. It’s…vertiginous.”
“Huh. I might have to look up that word. As long as you’re okay.”
Once he released her, still a little unsteady, she followed him, looking around an odd empty room.
“Where are we?”
“He’s here. In this building. This is the basement. Above us, he’s waiting for me. I don’t know if he expects you, but he doesn’t know what we can do together. He expects to kill me easily. He’ll expect to rape you, drink you, and kill you too, as a bonus. I’m going to enjoy disappointing him.”
“You’re that certain we’ll best him?”
Quattro turned to Dani, and slid his fingers up her cheeks to capture her gaze. “Of that I have no doubt. It was always going to come down to him or me. I should have recognized it. I think he did. Thing is, he thinks that once he kills me, he’ll still finish his job and go after all of you. If he were to win, your entire team is still in danger.”
Dani’s eyes were huge, locked on Quattro’s.
“Oh, my gut is rolling and I feel kind of sick. I never feel sick.” Her hands wrapped around her belly, feeling as if she could throw up, she nodded. “Then there is no option. We kill him tonight.”
“We kill him tonight.”
Six floors above
Felix laughed and pushed the man back with his foot, shoving his penis back into his pants.
“He’s here. Showtime.”
Rising, he reached for a half filled glass of chardonnay.
A soft snick behind him widened the smile and he turned to face the man he’d spent the past three hundred years with. They’d been close, but it couldn’t affect this outcome.
“Quattro.”
“Fee.”
Another laugh made Felix put his drink down.
“Aw. Sentiment. Your casual address. It’s offensive to me, did you know that?”
“It appears I’ve known nothing about you after all these years. Seems impossible, doesn’t it?”
“I’ve never hidden my nature.”
“I guess that’s true.”
His eyes moved past Quattro. “You brought the Nubian. Is she a gift?”
“Hardly. You’ll find out.”
“My friend. I will. You cannot win over me. I’m stronger than you because I’ve no sentimental attachment to you or anything else. I will kill you without mercy.” Felix laughed with a snort. “Although I might take my time doing it.”
“Keep thinking that.”
“I never thought of you as delusional, but I have thought you were going soft.”
Another harsh laugh.
“These past few months you’ve thought that the hunting team was your greatest battle. Ha. It was always going to be me.”
“I know that now.”
“Good. It’s always best to be on the same page. Do you want to get to the fight or have a nice merlot first?”
“I want the threat of you gone.”
“Nice. Clean. I’m ready, then. Your little concubine going to watch?”
“In a way.”
Quattro turned to Dani. “Shall we?”
“Oh we fucking shall.”
Dani reached for Quattro’s hand. Both lifted their free hands upward, reaching into the air for magic riding from the earth, the combined conduit so strong, the air obeyed.
Shocked, Felix’s mouth fell open as he lifted from the ground into heavy air that held him as if he were a doll.
“What is this? Quattro, you can’t do this. You don’t have this skill.”
“Yeah, old friend, I do. Along with my little concubine here, our magic is almost limitless.”
He and Dani strolled forward, casually, as if they were enjoying an evening walk, their arms lowered now, still holding hands as springtime lovers might.
“You were right, Felix. It was always meant to come down to this. You were made wrong, buddy. Something essential is missing in you. Empathy, love, connection, emotions other than hate and the desire to rule. I’ve always known. Gentle Felix. Quiet Felix. Who could murder without remorse or regret, anything and anyone. I will have to live with my part in the world we built, but you. You’re finished. Dani and I send you back to the black void from whence you came.”
“I can change. You must give me a chance.”
“Sorry. Dani and I can see into your spirit. There is no good in you. Felix, we commit you to return to nothingness. Your life is no loss to the universe, which is sad indeed. Every soul should be mourned. But not yours.”
Dani kept her eyes on Quattro, amazed at how he glowed. He was finding his place in the order of it all and realizing his destiny.
“You’re beautiful, Quattro. Your soul, your spirit, you’re…wow. It is time.”
Nodding, his hand tightened on Dani’s and with only a small amount of sorrow, he and Dani let earth magics enter Felix and lift his soul from the body hanging suspended above them.
Slowly, Felix’s eyes closed, his head dropped, and they knew he was gone. For long minutes, Quattro stared at the remnants of a man he’d once called brother without having any clue what family really meant.
“There’s a tragedy in there somewhere,” he murmured.
Several more minutes later, hoping not to be insensitive, Dani twisted her fingers held by Quattro into a gentle handclasp.
“We should lower this empty vessel.”
Startled, Quattro came out of his thoughts. “Yes, of course.”
Pulsing through their magic, Felix’s body glided down and dropped awkwardly onto the floor.
Dani’s eyes went to two shocked faces. Big men, naked, on a bed across the room, watched the entire event. She glanced up at Quattro. “Oh.”
“I’ll take care of them.”
Crossing the room, he caught their eyes.
“Dress. You will not remember anything you saw in this room. You will not remember anything that happened to you after this man looked into your eyes. You’ll feel confused, but okay. Just go home and return to your lives. When you walk through that door, you will remember nothing that happened after you met this man.”
Once the men were gone, Dani looked down at the body. “We should behead him. To be sure. We should burn him.”
“The hunter way?”
Tilting her head with a grin. “Yeah. You can’t be too careful with vampires.”
“All right. We’ll find a place and do it. But I think the magic worked. I think he’s gone.”
“Probably. Likely. Let’s do it anyway.”
“It might be cathartic.”
“Quattro, you’re going to be all right. You have a new family now. A real family. Saul is a wonderful man, and he’s your brother. You two are brothers, Quattro.”
“Yeah, we’ll see.”
“I won’t let you two mess this up. Saul and I are mated now, and that makes you my brother too.”
“Now that I can get behind. Let’s do our vampire purge thing and get you back to your mate.”
Heading out of the room, Quattro paused. “I thought we were meant to be together.”
“It seems we are. Just not as lovers.”
“Dani, you know you’re Shoazan, don’t you?”
“What? No. I am?”
“You are. I read it in you from the beginning. I thought we would bear a child together too.”
Shocked, amazed, Dani slid her hands down to her belly, memory of wondering recently if she’d caught a bug suddenly clear. “I could? Could I be? Holy shit!”
“Some big bombshells dropping this week. Wonder what next week will bring?”
“Oh, brother, I can’t take any more.”
The Big Island of Hawaii…on top of Kilauea
“I can’t stand this. We have to go back and find them.”
“Quattro said they would come to us when it’s done.”
“Oh, I fucking believe that asshole.”
“I do, Saul. And so do you. I saw it in your eyes before we went to battle. I saw it when you let your mate go off with him, or you never would have done so.”
“Like Dani would have let me stop her.”
“She’s an intractable force. Saul, we have to trust them. Quattro was certain that their magic would prevail and I have to tell you, I believe it will. If we don’t hear from them within the next two hours, we’ll talk about it again.”
“Fuck. Okay. I’m going outside.”
Saul blew out of the odd little cabin they’d found at the summit of Mt. Kilauea, a dormant volcano due to begin erupting again soon. The view from here was staggering. Lights from the two cities on the island formed a glow along the shoreline. Hawaii was one of the paradises on earth that had fought overpopulation, placing strict regulations that limited growth so that the islands would remain beautiful and as natural as possible in a world far too overpopulated and overused.
It was one of the few places left on earth where people could still easily see the Milky Way.
He couldn’t enjoy these special views because the only thing on his mind was Dani. He loved her so deeply, the idea of living even a moment of the rest of his life without her was too painful to contemplate. She’d become his world, the reason he was excited to see the future, the one and only thing that would ever make him smile again.
What if Felix killed her? She wasn’t vampire, she was fragile, and even earth magic couldn’t save her. Could it?
“Gods, I can’t take this! How could I let her go off without me?”
“Because you were dead. I think that’s a good excuse.”
Saul froze for half a split second before he turned and pulled Dani into his arms. It was impossible to speak, his emotions flooding through him, tears filling his eyes.
Eventually he pulled back and looked her over.
“You’re okay?”
“I’m perfect. By the way, so is your brother.”
Brother. He still couldn’t process that.
“Dani, is he, Felix, dead?”
“Gone forever. We sent his soul away, then destroyed his body. We’re safe now.” She ran her fingers over a deep hole in his temple where the bullet had entered, already healing. “You look good. San and Eva give you blood?”
“Yeah. And Kwano. Gods. I’m so relieved.”
“It’s okay, my love. It’s all okay now. I’m starving. Quattro and I stopped in Hilo and loaded up on food. Come, join us.”
Saul let Dani pull him back into the cabin, dedicated to letting her pull him anywhere she wanted the rest of their lives together.
Jack smacked him on the back. “It’s over, man.”
“Yeah. We can breathe a little now. Get back to business as usual.”
Evaleigh was setting out entrée after entrée on a low wood table. “You guys spared no expense.”
Quattro shrugged. “This is a celebration.”
He looked across the table to Saul, noticing the hole still healing on the side of his head. “Sorry you got caught in the crossfire.”
“I’m healing.”
“I’d like to talk.”
He wasn’t ready, but Saul acknowledged Quattro anyway. “Yeah. Not now. Sometime. Yeah.”
Quattro realized that was the best he was going to get.
Dani slid a hand across the table to touch his wrist.
“We’ll all get there.”
“What happened to Peele and Monsta? Did you kill them?” Jack asked.
Quattro shook his head. “No, they’d already disappeared. But I’ll get them someday.”
Sanquinetta lifted a stemmed glass filled with her dark red cherry wine. “To victory. However we can find it. To Quattro, for coming through. I think you really are a member of the gang now. And to Dani, who we already knew was extraordinary. To the future, back to the usual threats we face in our lives again.”
Kwano, Jack, Saul, Dani, and Eva joined Sanquinetta in lifting their glasses to toast their victory. Quattro still felt like an outsider in spite of San’s kind comment. He watched each beautiful face around the circle of friends and wondered if he could ever fit in. Lingering on Saul, who leaned close to Dani to kiss her lightly on the lips, still, he couldn’t believe that they were actually brothers. It would probably take a long time, if ever, for them to put their history behind them and try to forge a new relationship. It would be one of the greatest gifts of his life if they could get there.
Dani. His earth angel. In spite of how all of this had turned out, she was and would always be, his earth angel. The connection they held was even deeper than the one he’d thought they held. While they would never create that child, he still felt that they had a mission together that would change the world.
For now, though, when they finished this celebration, he would leave the new lovers in peace and let them begin their lives and find their place together. Someday he would return to see if he and his brother had a place together too. For now, he didn’t belong here.
Jack rose, scrolling through his fone. Ife had pinged him several times over the past few hours, all marked “nothing urgent.”
Stepping onto a cantilevered porch, he put his call through.
“Hey, baby. Everything okay?”
Ife’s voice, as always, made him smile at once. Gods, he loved that woman.
“Yes. No. Well, no, but it’s nothing new and nothing we can do anything about.”
“Brigitte.”
“Yeah. I got a message from Fi that she’s gone off the grid again.”
“You would think that as powerful as you first bloods are, you wouldn’t be prone to all the shit we humans are.”
“More so, baby. Try keeping your emotions in check after centuries of life. Bridge just never really found her place in all of this. She’s been party girl since she found out how fun drinking and sex was. And in the beginning, that was fine. After a while, though, most of us grow out of it and learn to move on and make the right choices. Brigitte never really has.”
“Do you know where she is?”
“Nope. She’s blocked her life signal again. Eras is going to try to find her.”
“I’m sorry, my love. I wish I could help.”
“So do I. Just hearing your voice again does. Can you come home soon? I miss you worse each day.”
“Actually, I think I can. Not only has Saul returned, but I think we may have a new recruit. And he’s first blood.”
“Really? Who?”
“You don’t know him. He’s new to all of us. I’ll fill you in tomorrow night, because if I’m right, I’ll be coming home then.”
“Thank the Gods. Okay, babe. Soon, then.”
“Don’t worry about your sister. She’ll be all right.”
“I’m sure. It’s just hard to see her go through this.”
“You need a big hug, my mate.”
“I need something big, love.”
Cupping his crotch, Jack laughed. “Funny. I’m leaning over a wood railing, thinking about you, and there’s something big in my hand right now.”
“Tease. Get home.”
“Soon.”
Back inside, Quattro finished off his drink and turned to leave. They wouldn’t even miss him for a while and by then, he’d be long gone.
The last sip sliding down his throat, he had a hand on the door handle when he felt fingers wrap around his shoulder.
“Where you heading, buddy?”
Quattro faced Jack as he fingered the keys to the lift-car he and Dani had come in on. “Just taking a walk.”
“Didn’t look like it. Quattro, I know this is all new to you, but hear me out. You need a place to start again. We’ve built a relationship, the lot of us, respect, and you don’t want to lose that. Come work with us. I need to go back to Brazil for a while and the team could really use you.”
“I doubt that. They’ll be fine without you until you come back. They’ll definitely be fine without me.”
“Really?” Keeping his hand on Quattro’s shoulder, Jack called out to the party behind him. “Hey guys. I’m going home tomorrow. Can Quattro take my place?”
“Sure.”
“No problem.”
“Um, yeah.”
“I thought he was already part of the gang.”
The comments surprised Quattro. They really would accept him? Trust him?
“See? Come on. Come back. You’re with us now.”
Stunned, Quattro followed Jack and accepted a glass of wine as he punched him into a seat next to Eva.
She gave him the sweetest smile.
Maybe this would work.
“Saul, would you step outside with me?”
He would follow her anywhere, so Saul lifted a bottle of whisky from the table and followed Dani onto the porch that Jack had just left.
“So beautiful here. I love this island. Someday, we should travel up to Mauna Kea and use the telescopes to see the planets.”
“I’d love to. Discovering the world with you will be a miracle I could never have dreamed of.”
“You’re the miracle, Dani.”
Moving close, Dani slid her fingers up and curled them into Saul’s hair. Soft, so beautiful, she couldn’t pull her hands away.
“Saul, I have something to tell you. I don’t want to overwhelm you. This has been a crazy month for you. You found me, then we found your brother.”
“I’ve always wanted a family, Dani. All my years alive, I’ve never belonged to anyone. No one has ever belonged to me. It makes for an empty life. So, yeah, maybe it’s a little overwhelming, but in a wonderful way. I love you, I’m so grateful the universe brought you to me. And Quattro. I’ll get there. I admit only to you that I am more than curious about our brotherhood.”
“That’s good. Well, do you think you can handle one more piece of life-altering news?”
“I can handle anything with you at my side.”
“Okay.” She paused and stepped back, placing her hands on her belly. “I’m Shoazan.”
Saul didn’t speak. Moments passed before he dropped onto his knees and wrapped his arms around Dani’s waist, pulling her to him.
“Are you?” he finally asked, and knew she would know what he meant.
Nodding, although Saul couldn’t see that gesture with his face buried against her belly, Dani said, “I think so.”
Saul pulled the waistband of her pants lower and kissed the bare skin on a tight flat belly. He murmured something she couldn’t hear.
“Saul, what? I didn’t understand.”
He stood then, the absolute quintessence of masculine strength and aggression, tears running down his cheeks.
“I am blessed.”
Lifting her into his arms, Saul kissed Dani, his mate, the mother of his child, and knew that this, her, no matter where he was in the world, was home.
The End…for now…
Denver, Colorado
“Bura, just keep an eye on the nascent crops. I’ll be back to help soon, but Ife called, and I have to go look for my sister. Brigitte’s gone off the grid again, and it might spell trouble. Ife says she’s tried to reach her for two weeks with no response.”
Eras had awakened his longtime friend in Australia, who worked odd hours, days, sometimes nights, to ensure the farm nation stayed productive. Hundreds of thousands of people depended on it.
Bura’s deep voice sounded tired.
“You’ve gone after her before and it hasn’t helped.”
“I know. Honestly, my friend, I’m not sure anything or anyone can. Brigitte’s always been a hot head; she’s burned more bridges than she’s built, but she’s family and might need help. I have to go.”
Waiting for Bura to tell him he’d take care of everything, not to worry, as he usually did, after thirty seconds, he spoke again. “You get me?”
“No. Let me go after her, Eras.”
“You? You? Why?”
“Trust me, my friend. I’ll bring her home.”
“She’s difficult. Honestly, she can be a bitch and a brat all at once. She needs someone to beat the craziness out of her. Don’t you fucking tell anyone I said that. I’ll deny it.”
“Eras, I’ve watched Brigitte for years. Whatever you guys have done hasn’t worked. I know her. Let me be the one to go to her this time. Maybe I can help.”
“It is busy here right now, but I don’t know…”
“I’ve always been there if she needed me. She likes me. She trusts me.”
“That is true. Plus you’re the calmest, strongest man I’ve ever met. Maybe you are what she needs.”
Eras paused. Should he let Bura try? Bura had always been good with Brigitte. Yeah, it might be the best choice.
“Okay, but be careful. That kitten has a nasty bite and equally vicious claws.”
“I will bring her home, one way or another.”
“I appreciate this, Bura.”
“She’s family, too.”
“That’s a plateful of things. Don’t let her argue with you, just make her come home so we can help her.”
“Trust me, I will.”
“If size matters, you certainly can do it. Let me know if you need me, and I’ll come at once.”
“Where to?”
“We finally found her. She’s in Bergen, Norway, for some godforsaken reason.”
“I’ll go at once.”
The following night in Bergen, Norway
Brigitte woke confused, but that was just normal for her these days. Since she’d been bingeing on kyselo, a lab-created recreational drug powerful enough to provide incredible highs even for vampires, the world had been sort of fuzzy.
Rolling over, the room spinning, she grinned. She liked it fuzzy. Somewhere in her head was the idea that she should get out of bed and eat something. And how long had it been since her last blood meal?
Rolling back onto her stomach, she lifted her head and looked around.
Where was she? Oh, in her own room for once, thank the Gods. Searching again, glancing toward the open bathroom door, she sighed in gratitude and dropped her head back onto the pillow.
And she was alone too. All good. Her head was still spinning from that last spitball of kyselo. It was high quality shit that Einar had brought with him last night, last week?...or…whenever.
“All I want to do is sleep,” she whispered.
A loud snap drew her head back up as the door to her one room apartment opened.
Who in the fuck?
A massive figure filled the narrow doorway, so big he had to slide in sideways to shut it behind him.
Ah, motherfuck. A bear had come into her room!
Brigitte kept her head up, watching every heavy footfall as he stomped into her small space.
She moaned. “What the hell are you doing here, Bura?”
Bura looked around the tiny wooden room. Even the floors were nothing but wooden planks. What a dismal place for a first blood vampire. Finally ready to see Brigitte for the first time in over a year, her appearance shocked him.
She looked like hell. Her beautiful hair was so matted, he thought it might have to be cut off rather than combed out, face slim, gaunt even, eyes more luminous than ever though. His gaze continued down her body, almost fully exposed on the flat narrow mattress. A sheet wrapped around her calves, but the rest of her naked body, perfect round buttocks, strong slender back, shoulders he wanted to bite…stop it, Bura, you’re here to save her from herself, not fuck her!
“Ife and Eras sent me to bring you home.”
Dropping her face dramatically back into her pillow, her groan nearly drowned out, she lifted it back up seconds later and rolled over.
Bura nearly had to leave the room. Brigitte, fully naked, gorgeous breasts he’d never seen, a dream of his for decades, and her pussy, the place he wanted to be more than anywhere else, so beautiful, as she lifted a leg.
Unrequited love never stopped hurting.
Brigitte moaned again, her eyes squinting at him as if the low light hurt. “Fuck, no. I’m happy here.”
“You’re drunk and high, all the time. I can tell by how you look and how you smell.”
“Really? How I smell?”
Standing, unsteadily, trying to pull the sheet around her, he noticed she tried hard to look regal. “I smell like I’ve been good and fucked.”
Abandoning the sheet when it wouldn’t pull free from the bed, she tripped over it as she moved forward to run a finger down Bura’s coat.
Shoving the thick fur aside, she tore open his shirt and punched her finger into his chest, nearly as furred as the coat.
“If I gave you permission, would you want to fuck me too?”
This bravado, this aggressive play was her way of trying to save face, he knew that, but it was impossibly hard, because, Gods!, he desperately wanted to take her up on it. In all the years he’d known her, she’d never wanted him.
“No. I’m here to take you back to your family so they can help you get clean. It’s nothing to be ashamed of, Brigitte. Vampires get addicted too. But you must come home now.”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about, big Bear. I came to Norway to find some Vikings.”
She crawled back onto the bed and ran a hand from a nipple down between her legs, her fingers lingering there as she grinned up at him. “I found them, and boy, did they know how to storm the castle.”
Bura thought he was going to explode. Yes, she looked like crap, and she smelled like she hadn’t had a shower in days, but, yes, he wanted to lay that perfect naked body back onto that mattress and pound into her.
He’d been in love with Brigitte since he met her over a century ago when they were children.
As promised, he would bring her home, he wouldn’t touch her, wouldn’t rise to her mean taunts, but this was going to be much harder than he thought.