5 Darkness Falls (30 page)

“Hell yeah!” Anthony lifted the bag of grenades.

“They made it here safely, I see.”

“Barely.” Germia cut her eyes at Anthony.

“We want to be on the front lines with you. We were bread for this,” Rodney said.

They watched as I contemplated. I didn’t want anyone on the front lines with me. I wanted them all tucked
a
way
,
in the back. I hated that I needed numbers in order to fight this battle.

“You’ve done a lot for us. It’s the least we can do.” Jarrod met my gaze, imploring me.

“Please be careful. And one of you take the launchers from hot hands.”

“Gladly.” Germia made a grab for the bag in Anthony’s hands.

“I’ll see you guys out there.”

They all nodded in unison,
a
mutual agreement.

Kalel, Auggy, Gabi, Jack, Kellan, Al and I met in the center of the crowd. There were a lot more than two hundred vamps here. B
y
my estimate there were at least nine hundred. It was overwhelming to
look
out at
them all
. It was hard not to get choked up at the scene. The one nagging part was, despite all these vamps, Kai wasn’t here.

“We’re going to move in units so we can surprise them on the other side.” Kalel handed me the camera earrings.

I put them on. “I take it you’ll be watching through these, ga
u
ging when to send in the next team?”

Auggy nodded. “We figured we’d send you in with your nine ops first, since they’re already familiar with their faces. Drex, Sanders and Derek are supervising Kalia. They’ll be moving in with the next team. They’ll be bringing her then.”

“We’re still going to use her as leverage?” I checked.

“We’ll try,” Kalel said.

“You have any of those burners I can use?” Kellan looked at Kalel.

“In the black van. Christian will be beside it standing guard.”

Kellan chuckled. “Vamps with weapons. You would think they were going after blood.”

“Alright, I’m going to grab my team, Mel and Craig and start moving.”

“And me.”

We all turned. William stood there in disheveled attire. His hair was a mess,
and
his tie was hanging loose around his neck.

I swallowed hard. “What are you doing here?”

His eyes softened. There was sadness, regret
,
in their depths.

“Oh,” I choked. My gaze zoomed to Kellan.

He sucked in a breath,
exhaling resolve.
“You can’t change fate, babe.” He caressed my cheek.

“We can assign some vamps to watch you. We can have you sit this one out, no problem. We can
…”
Tears sprang
forth
.

“Stop.” He gently kissed me. It was a kiss of peace. How could he be okay with this? “If I’m going to go, I’m going to go out fighting
to the
death. At least let me go with honor.”

“It won’t happen,” Al growled. The hard glint in his eyes said he was going to be watching out for his son, that he would take the bullet for him if he had to.

There was silence all around us. Somehow the chatter had died away in the moment. It was like a quiet omen
– silent and looming
.

“I love you.” He kissed my forehead, dragging me into a tight embrace.

I wrapped my arms around him. “I love you too. That’s why you can’t leave me.”

“I haven’t gone anywhere yet, babe.”

“I feel like you’re going to though.” The tears
formed a wet trail down my face.
I pressed my nose into his shirt, trying hard to
breathe his
scent
,
some essence of him
-
aside from his cologne. Alas
,
I didn’t smell him like I did Kai.

Kai, the one who said he would always be there for me, yet hadn’t bothered to show up.

I sighed. I couldn’t be too angry with him. It really wasn’t his battle.

I pulled back,
brushing aside
the last of my tears. I glanced at Will. He’d slid behind a
veil,
hiding the truth from my all-too-knowing eyes. I looked up at Kellan again. “Let’s go fight.”

He smiled. “That’s the feisty girl I love.”

“Here.” Auggy passed me what looked like a copper turtle shell with straps. “Put it on over your stomach. It’ll protect the baby.”

I nodded. “Alright.”

Kellan helped me fasten it over my shirt; it was a perfect fit.

“Bye, guys.” I met their gazes one by one,
lifting
the window to
reveal
my feelings.

They all stood, hands tucked into their pockets, the same hard expression on their faces. They’d all read the prophecy. They knew what I feared.

Gabi yanked me into a last-minute hug. “We’ll be there.” She’d been eerily quiet.

“See you soon,” I said as I retreated.

“Come on.” Kellan wrapped an arm around my waist and led me towards my team. “I’ll round up Mel and Craig. You get your men ready
,
and we’ll meet you
just
beyond the tree
line.”

“Are you really ready for this, Kellan?”

“I’m always ready to fight for you and
for
our baby
now
. I may not be the most stable vamp,
and
I may not think clearly all the time, but
the one
thing I am always ready to do is defend the ones I love.”

I couldn’t argue there. “Please be careful. Look everywhere. We know what it says.”

In a second of victory, all shall be lost, for a lone stray shall have his way. A shot shall echo through the forest floor, an impact so strong he shant steal a chance. The question is not can he survive, for he surely does not; the question is who shall carry on holding her up in her despair, for her anger shall cause her enemies to weep; her own grief shall slowly consume her shall a new prince not resuscitate her. It ought to be known that no one shall love her the way he did; no one will fight with the heart he possessed. But alas, he shall pass her on to the finest suitor with nothing left but his final breath.

“I could never forget.” He
delicately
stroked his thumb across my cheek.

***

Al

I wrapped my arm around my wife as we watched our son disappear into the woods with his new family. He was our only child. The loss of a child is an unfathomable despair.

When your children come into this world, they
become
your world. Everything
turns on its end.
Your world revolves around them
,
and them alone
,
from that point
forward,
regardless of how many you have. You love them more than you could ever love yourself. You cherish them more than anything on Earth. They are the one irreplaceable item in your life
you never want to lose
.

Sadly, a wife can be replaced
, but
a child never can.

Beth trembled in my arms. Without looking, I knew tears were
falling
down her cheeks.

The moment we discovered the truth
about
Lexi and Kellan
,
and their destiny, we
dove
into the prophecy. We studied it backwards and forwards, reading every line and
even reading
between the lines. There was no way around it. We’d known that we’d just read our son’s death.

How did you cope with the present when you knew the future? I would take a bullet for my son in an instant. I would take a dart, a torture chamber, a
n
electric sho
ck,
hell blazing death by fire
…no questions asked
. I would do anything for my son. I didn’t want to picture a world without him. I didn’t want to imagine the pain we’d suffer in his absence. A part of me would die with him; a vital part.

From early on, children
are a part of you. They are the best of you, regardless of whether they are on their best behavior. I’d never get over his death. I’d die a lonely bitter man before I accepted fate without rebellion.

“We’ll be watching over him.” I assured Beth the best I could, hugging her tighter.

“Always.” Her voice cracked.

***

Lexi

My gut twisted as we approached the meeting location.
Initially,
I noticed that our first team was grossly out numbered. The second thing I noticed was
that
they’d set up hours ahead of schedule. Vampires were in trees, looming over us as we made our way towards the front line.

Kellan squeezed my hand.

A shiver ran down my spine as my pulse
raced at alarming speeds.
“We’ll definitely need back up.”

Javier met us in the middle. “Alexa Jackson.” He cocked his head, considering me.

Kellan stepped in front
,
pushing me behind him.

“How sweet. You can protect her here, but not with Cecilia. Lucky for you both, she sent me instead.”

I frowned, moving around Kellan. “What do you mean?”

“Just what I said. She sent me instead to complete the mission. She didn’t think she could bare the pain on your face when we accomplished it.”

I slid in front of Kellan
,
looking up into the trees. “You talk a big game, and granted, you’re prepared, but even the best planned missions fail sometimes.”

He cackled; it grated on my nerves. “Please. You have thirteen including yourself. I have approximately five hundred and sixty two. Shall we do the math?”

I smiled wide. “Well, David
did
defeat Goliath.”

“Then I suggest you start slinging your stones.” He crossed his arms over his chest, standing with his feet shoulder width apart. He was waiting for me to do my best.

I wouldn’t give it to him. He’d strategize around that.

I heard my team move behind me. They huddled together. I ignored their whispers. I was focused on a single opponent, not an army. Javier was the vampire calling the shots. As long as I distracted him
…

“They’re launching!” Someone shouted from above.

I glanced over my shoulder to find my team had divided up the grenades. Javier could move fast, but he’d still suffer a loss.

“Go!” Jarrod shouted.

My heart lurched when I saw Mel chucking grenades as we moved back.

Javier jumped into action, but not before his army slipped into chaos behind him. Vamps ran for us at warp speed.

Kellan and I shared a brief look. He nodded his head, assuring me before he
lunged
into the middle of it all. He snapped the neck of one vamp before elbowing another
and sending him
flying,
knocking over a few
more
. He flew at lightning speed. I’d never seen him so vicious. He was like a skilled assassin. Pride soared in my chest. He really was ready to fight.

I kicked out at the vamps swarming me. One put his hands around my neck as the other wrapped his hands around my waist. I heard the Velcro peeling apart.

“Over my dead body, buddy.” I kneed his crotch. The second he released me, I used his body as leverage to kick up and over the vamp behind me. I immediately snapped his neck.

My victory was short lived as an arrow whistled through the air above me. I grabbed the closest vamp and shoved him in front of
it.
He immediately fell to the ground, which meant the arrows were laced with something.

***

Auggy

Everything was fucked up. Nothing
was working.
I called in the helicopter to airlift Kalia to the holding cells again.

“Teams two and three, move in now. Have your weapons up and ready. There are targets above and in front of you. Go, go, go!” I yelled.

Claire moved to my side. “How bad is it?” She wasn’t able to look me in the eye; she fear
ed
the worst.

“They’re alive, but grossly outnumbered,
however,
she’s fighting hard and well, I might add.” I slipped her the phone.

She gasped. I knew she’d be overwhelmed by the amount of vamps attacking Lexi at once. The girl was strong though. She was holding her own.

Her hands shook as she passed it back to me. “I have to get in there and help.” There was
strength and determination
in her eyes.