Blood Apocalypse - 04 (25 page)

“And what exactly IS my destiny?” He licked at her earlobe.

“All in due time, lover.” She giggled and pulled away. “You need to build your strength.”

Damien stared at the heavily muscled vampire and his mouth watered at the idea of chewing on his pecs. “How do I tempt him below?”

“Lucky for you, this one likes little boys…” she teased.

“Oh, for the love of…” he groaned.

“Just
tease
him with it,” she whispered. “You don’t have to give it up to him.”

Damien growled low in his throat and swallowed his pride. “Tell me again why I’m doing this?”

“Doing what, lover?” she whispered as she stroked his chest.

“This. Debasing myself to eat assholes like this. There are plenty of others that I could get below much easier.”

“HE is powerful. You have to consume more powerful vampires in order to prepare yourself for the most powerful of them all…” she whispered, tickling the fine hairs on his neck.

“Thorn,” he breathed, a smile crossing his lips.

“Thorn is nothing,” she chided. “Once you’ve consumed the powers of this boy-lover, you’ll have as much power within you to handle someone like Thorn by yourself.”

Damien’s features narrowed. “Then who?” His confusion was evident.

“The Sicarii…” she whispered.

Damien’s eyes flew wide and his breath caught in his throat. “You jest.”

“No, lover,” she breathed in his ear again, a nail tracing lazily across his throat. “Once you have absorbed HIS power, added to your own, then you will be ready to fulfill your destiny.”

Damien smiled. He was beginning to believe what she was telling him and he was liking it. A lot. “Tell me, Rachel…what IS my destiny?”

She danced around him, rubbing her breasts upon him, running her hands about him, sending his senses into overdrive. “You’re not ready, lover.”

“I am ready, Rachel. Tell me,” he moaned, his lids half closed.

“You’re not ready…”

“I am. Tell me.”

She paused and lowered herself into his lap and kissed him deeply, sucking on his lower lip. “Do you love me, Damien?”

He opened his eyes slightly and smiled at her, “More than you’ll ever know.” He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her to him, “I don’t know what kind of spell you’ve put me u
nder, but yes.  I am yours forever…for always and no matter what.”

She smiled and sat up, pushing him to the ground with her hands. “Then maybe you are ready.”

“Tell me. What is my destiny?”

“To resurrect me. To restore me to my rightful place.”

Damien cocked his head to the side and studied her. “You’re not real, then?”

She threw her head back and laughed. “Oh, lover, I’m real. I’m oh so real.” She leaned down and kissed him again, hard and allowed her fang to pierce his lip and draw his dark blood. “Tell me I’m not real.”

“Nobody else can see you though?” He was questioning his sanity.

“You can, and that is all that matters. You have a destiny, and that destiny is to free me.”

“And until then?”

“Until then, I shall mentor you, teach you, love you and d
irect you. I will make you the most powerful vampire in the world. But until then, do not speak my true name to any other vampires. There is power in a name. Only you are to know this power. For now, anyway.”

“Why would you do this?” Damien asked, staring deeply i
nto her eyes.

Her gaze softened as she stared down at him. “Because only the most powerful vampire can stand by my side as my equal.”

*****

Max hovered at the edge of the celebration, the pride for his son showing on his face only occasionally. He would allow a smile to crack his veneer only to mask it again, but as the party wore on, he found himself smiling more and tapping his foot to the music. Once Viktor found the opportunity to tear himself away from the others, he approached his father.

“Where is she?” he asked between breaths.

“She slipped out shortly after you won,” Max said, pointing to the stairwell behind him.

“Do you know where they lead?”

“No, but she’s close. I can smell her.” He stole a glance b
ehind him.

Viktor headed toward the stairwell when Max reached out and grasped his shoulder. “Not yet.” He shook his head. “Let her come to you.”

“I need to know why she warned me.”

“She’ll come to you,” Max reassured him. He stole another glance behind him and sniffed the air. “She’s not alone and there’s tension there. Let her handle this.”

Viktor growled deep in his throat and shot a glare at his father. “I’m the alpha now.”

Max shook his head. “Actually, no,” he corrected. “
I’m
the Alpha. You’re the Pack Master. There is a difference.”

“Are you going to usurp my authority?” Viktor’s eyes na
rrowing.

Max smiled at him and placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. “Just offering some advice, son, that’s all.”

Viktor studied him for a moment then stepped back. “Very well. She can come to me when she’s ready.”

The two men stayed along the edge of the party and waited, watching the festivities. Natashia and Nadia slipped in through the steel blast doors and saw the party going on, wolves drinking and dancing throughout the facility. Viktor and Max nodded and waved, motioning them over.

“It is done, my darling?” Natashia asked as she sidled up next to him, taking his face in her hand and turning it side to side inspecting for damage.

Viktor smiled and kissed her. “It is done.”

Max gripped his son’s shoulder and squeezed. “You’d have been proud, Tasha.” He shook Viktor’s shoulder. “It took him a little longer than I would have wagered, but he still did a fine job.”

Viktor turned a steely gaze up on him. “Longer than you would have wagered? The fight was over in a matter of m
oments.”

“Yes, and I thought you would have ended him after the s
econd blow.” Max shot him a silly grin. “You’re so strong.”

“Did you not see the
size
of him?” Viktor turned to face his father.

“Bah! The bigger they come…”

“The harder they hit!” Viktor exclaimed.

“Stop whining, pup. You won!” A laugh bursting forth.

“He’s teasing you, father,” Nadia said as she moved in for a hug. “Does this mean that we will have to leave the island?” Sadness touching her voice.

“No. We will not be,” he informed her. “I’ll choose a s
econd to act as my proxy for the pack.” He stared down into her eyes and saw them fill with joy. “I have a duty to Rufus to fulfill. I’ll not be deterred.”

“We need to speak.” Victoria’s voice was soft and barely rose loud enough to be heard above the festivities in front of them.

Viktor turned and saw his mother standing behind him, hands crossed in front of her, head slightly bowed. “Yes, I believe we do.”

Max stepped forward and gestured to Tasha and Nadia, “Perhaps we can give them a moment?”

Tasha shot him a stern look. The last thing she wanted to do was to leave her husband alone with the traitorous bitch, but Max ushered them away before she could protest.

Victoria watched them walk away and smiled sadly. “Nadia is so beautiful,” she said absently.

Viktor would not be swayed by her distraction. “You wished to speak. Speak.”

Victoria sighed and glanced over her shoulder. “I can only imagine what you must think my son, but things are not as they appear.”

“Enlighten me, mother,” he growled.

“I did what I did to protect you all,” she whispered, advan
cing on him. Her eyes pleaded with him to believe her. “You must accept that as truth if you believe nothing else.”

Viktor stiffened as she got closer. “From whom?”

She looked over her shoulder again, toward the stairwell and then up to her son. “There are forces at work here that I can’t discuss.”

Viktor glanced to the stairwell and then back to her. “If somebody is threatening the pack, then I shall deal with them.” He made to move for the darkened stairwell.

“Viktor, NO!” Victoria yelled and grabbed at his arm, pulling him back. “You mustn’t interfere.”

“If it affects the pack, then it is my duty.”

“It doesn’t affect the pack…it affects the family.” Her eyes pleaded with him. “ONLY the family.”

“Speak plainly.” He clenched his teeth so tightly they threatened to break. “And quickly.”

Victoria sighed and stole another glance toward the stairwell. She shook her head and lowered her eyes. “It is a very long story, my son.”

“Then tell it quickly.”

She looked up at him and he saw her eyes filling with tears. “What do you know of witches?”

19

Jack, Apollo and Sheridan went over the logistics again, then the proposed battle plan. With the placement of the POD stations that Adolfo brought, the middle section of the dry lake bed would be a killing field. The plains leading into the lake bed was where they planned to use the drones and the C130. The squads would direct the ground troops between the PODs and the command center, where the controls for the satellite were. The satellite was their main weapon of mass destruction and would be defended at all cost. They also knew that once it was fired up, the Sicarii would send his forces after the controls en masse.

Sheridan wanted to place his own men at the OpCom but Mitchell insisted that First Squad and Third Squads would d
efend OpCom personally. He directed Second Squad to act as a diversionary team and be a defensive line for the HQ building. The Headquarters building was the only building on the facility that was clearly marked and with the flag poles out front of the steel reinforced concrete structure, it looked like an easily defendable structure. He wanted Sheridan and his men to coordinate with Second Squad and become the diversion from Hell while defending the empty building. The vamps would discover the HQ before they ever got close to the bunker and if there were enough troops defending the building, they would think that it was a high value asset.

Jack and Apollo thought the idea held a lot of merit, but Sheridan fought it. He felt that using his men as a diversion was a waste of talent and could get them all killed. He was almost adamant about being in the OpCom during the attack.

Finally, Jack rolled up the maps and turned to Apollo. “Do you think you and your squad can light up the HQ enough to make it appear as a high value asset to the tangos?”

Apollo thought for a moment then shook his head. “Not without some kind of support. We’d need at least one more squad,” he replied honestly. “I’d prefer two.”

Jack sighed. He shot Sheridan a sideways glance and shook his head. “Well it seems that Sherry isn’t on board with the idea. The only other thing I can think of is maybe the Brazilians?”

Apollo nodded. “I’ll take ‘em, man. At least they got the guts to stay in a fucking fight.”

Sheridan turned on the larger man and pointed a finger at him. “That’s not the point, mate, and you bloody well know it!”

“Then why don’t you explain it to me to where I might can understand it,
mate
?”

“Enough!” Jack yelled. “Both of you.” He turned to Apollo and explained, “It’s his team, and if he doesn’t want to use them as support for this op, then so be it.” He turned to Sheridan and added, “But personally, I don’t see what the problem is with this. You draw them to the building and the PODs light them up b
efore they ever get there. If there’s any breaches, you cut ‘em down. Easy peasy…”

“Because I think the risk is too great.” Sheridan stared at the man he called a friend.

“The risk?” Apollo repeated. “Christ on a fucking cracker! We’re talking about a million fucking vampires charging down our collective throats here and you want to talk
risk
? Man, you are so full of—”

“Can it!” Jack warned.

“Tell me he ain’t full of shit!” Apollo pointed at Sheridan.

“Go find Pablo and see if he’ll provide his boys for this op.”

“For this meat grinder, is more like it,” Sheridan quipped.

Jack turned to him and stared him down. “What the hell is your problem, Sherry?”

“Why don’t you tell me, Jack?” He crossed his arms over his chest.

“Seriously? Did you come here to assist in this operation or not? Because if you came here just to observe, you may as well pack your shit and go back to Newcastle.” Jack gritted his teeth as he stared his longtime friend down.

“Oh, now you want to send us home? After you called and begged for our help?” Sheridan prodded.

“I don’t need this. Not from you.” Jack scooped the maps up from the table.

“Yes, you do, Jack.” Sheridan moved to block the exit. “You bloody well do.”

“Move,” Jack warned.

“No. You and I need to clear the air.” Sheridan crossed his arms again.

“Move, or by God, I’ll move you.” Jack glanced to the side.

“You lost men, too, Jack. Good men. Don’t stand there and tell me—”

“Shut your goddamn mouth!” Jack’s finger jutted out and was poking Sherry in the chest. “You’ve lost your fucking nerve and now you’re using their memories to justify your not jumping into the muck.”

“That’s a crock and you know it.” Sheridan braced his hands on his hips. “You can’t expect me to sacrifice my men…”

“What sacrifice? I’m putting my second best man and his entire squad in there with you!” Jack yelled. “The only fucking reason I’m not in there with my own squad is because the col
onel ordered us into the command center. So don’t stand there and tell me I’m ordering you to march off a fucking cliff.” Jack’s face was red and his temper had flared beyond normalcy. He knew it was the effects of the coming full moon, but he didn’t want to fight it. He wanted to reach out and rip Sherry’s head off for being a pussy.

“You’re so full of yourself, aren’t you, mate? Ordering around an officer and his men. I bet it gets you off at night, doesn’t it?” Sheridan baited.

“What?!” Jack was taken aback by Sheridan’s accusation. “This has nothing to do with rank and you damn well know it!”

“Oh, sure it does, mate. You enlisted types…you’re always looking for the first opportunity you can to one-up a commi
ssioned officer.”

Jack shook his head. “I’m done with you, Sherry. You’ve lost your nerve.” He headed for the doors. “My men and I will use the other squads to do this. At least they have
balls
!” he yelled. He paused at the door. “Why don’t you and your ladies fight this thing in the cafeteria, hmm? You can sip lattes and have some half-fat, double mocha whatever the hell they are…no! Wait. You’re a Brit. I forgot. You bastards drink TEA. So go soak your sack in some hot water and then sip on that for a while. Maybe it will loosen you up a bit.”

“You insolent bastard.” Sheridan started to advance on him.

Jack dropped the maps and started to take a defensive stance when Tufo stepped into the room. “What the hell is all the yelling in here?” Both operators froze and eyed each other. “Is there a problem in here, Chief?”

Jack stared at Sheridan a moment before he shook his head. “No problem, Major. Just a slight disagreement on where Major Sheridan and his men should stage themselves during the u
pcoming battle.”

Mark nodded and held his hand out for the maps. “I thought Colonel Mitchell already made those decisions?” He unrolled the maps and laid them on the table.

“It seems the major thinks it a waste of his squad’s time.” Jack’s eyes never left Sheridan who still stared him down.

Mark nodded again, still studying the map. “Okay then. M
ajor, care to tell me where
you
think you and your men could do the most good?”

“I’d like to stage my men and I in the Operations Command Center.”

Mark gave him a look of shock. “It would be awfully crowded in there. We’ll have two squads in there already, a helluva lot of support personnel…while I appreciate the offer, I think it would be overkill.”

“That satellite is our best—” Sheridan began.

“I know exactly what that satellite is, Major. But if you absolutely refuse to stage your men at the HQ, I’ll take it to Colonel Mitchell and let him know. And I’ll be gracious enough to allow you to pick a secondary staging area,” Tufo added. “But it won’t be the OpCom.”

He rolled the maps up and handed them back to Jack. “I strongly suggest you boys learn to play a little nicer. Don’t make me go full-out Marine on your asses.”

Mark walked out of the room and left the two operators standing alone. Jack shook his head and grunted a laugh. Sheridan motioned toward the departing major. “Who does he think he is?”

Jack snorted. “The XO. And he knows it.” He looked out the door at the man marching across the compound and shook his head. “And I wouldn’t fuck with him. Augmented or not, he’s tough as shoe leather, meaner than a snake and can fart like a freight train.” Sheridan did a double take and stared at Jack as though he were crazy. “Oh, trust me. You do NOT want to be trapped in a car with him.”

*****

Dominic saw Mark crossing the compound and hustled to catch up with him. “Major!” he yelled. Mark still wasn’t used to the title and it took him a moment to realize that Dom was yel
ling for him until he called him ‘asshole’. Stopped him dead in his tracks and giving Dom a chance to jog up alongside with a smile on his face. “Works every time.”

“Yeah, and if anybody asks, you said, XO, okay?” Mark added as they took off in the direction of his office again.

“You got it, boss.” Dom nodded. “Hey, look, I needed to ask you something.”

“You just did,” Mark grunted, the daily reports running through his head, the requisitions he needed to go over still wai
ting, the duty rosters that he hadn’t approved and the training reports that required his attention at the front of his mind.

“The dirt,” Dom said, stopping next to him. Mark kept walking then pulled up. He turned to Dom and gave him a qui
zzical look. “That I told you about? That the Sicarii stuck in my head? That dirt?”

Mark’s eyes widened as he remembered. “Oh, shit. Dom…”

“You forgot, didn’t you?” Dom looked totally disappointed.

“Not completely, just…” Mark began, then sighed. “Yes,” he admitted, “I did…sort of.”

Dom shook his head. He felt almost betrayed because he trusted that things would be different since the new Executive Officer had told him that he would look into it and together the two of them would figure it out. They had worked so closely together on the training grounds and the new programs that Dom just knew that there was a kinship built there, a friendship that went beyond the workplace.

“Follow me.” Mark turned and they headed to his office. Dom almost turned around and left, but something inside him told him to do it. He found his feet falling into step behind the man and before his brain could stop him, he was standing in his office. “Shut the door.”

As Dom shut the office door, Mark shuffled through a pile of folders on his desk. He dug until he found the one he was looking for and tossed it across the desk to him. “Here. Take a look at this and see if it rings any bells.” He then went around his desk to pour a cup of coffee.

Dom opened the folder and found tons of information in there. Old literature references to ancient vampires and their need to sleep on their native soil. Articles on how the earth that the dead are buried in is tied to them forever, even if they are reanimated. Dom flipped through the numerous articles and co
pies of old books. “Where did you get this?” he asked, realizing that his boss hadn’t forgotten and feeling like a clod for thinking it.

“I have trouble sleeping some nights. I researched it for you.” He blew at the cup of hot coffee. “Some of it, Evan found for me. The stuff in the really old books? Yeah, that came from him. The rest I pulled off the net.”

“So what does it mean?” Dom flipped through the pages, his eyes scanning everything.

“Beats the living dog shit out of me,” Mark snorted. “You’re the one that dreamed it. Or...lived it? Got injected with it? Whatever.” He shrugged. “I just looked up what I could find.” Tufo sat down and sipped at the bitter nectar. “It still doesn’t help us figure out the importance of the soil to the Sica
rii, OR what to do with it, IF we can find it.”

Dom sighed and placed the folder back on his desk. “So now what?”

Mark shook his head. “Now…we keep planning this battle.”

“But what about the dirt, boss? I know this is important,” Dom pleaded.

“I have no doubt.” Mark leaned back and met his gaze. “And this research suggests it could be VERY important, but we are still right back where we were. The only thing we know for sure is there are a lot of trucks headed this way, most likely loaded with vampires, and they’re all running parallel to a stolen freight train.”

Dom looked at him sideways. “You’re shitting me. They’re on their way now?”

“Duh.” Mark took another sip of his coffee. “Dom, the full moon is, what? Two days off?”

“Judging by my nerves, I’d say that’s about right.”

“Then yeah. They’re on the way. And those are the ones we now about.” He leaned back in his chair and studied Dom, waiting for him to put the points together.

“Hey…wait a second.” Dom snapped his fingers. Mark could almost see the light bulb above his head grow brighter. “If the Sicarii is on one of those trucks…”

“Or the train…” Mark added.

“Yeah, or the train…”

Mark nodded, urging him onward, “Then…”

“Then the dirt will probably be with him!” he exclaimed.

Mark smiled at him and sipped his coffee again. “I would think that’s a safe bet.”

Dom kept thinking. “And if he’s as conceited as he seemed, he’s probably riding on the train. In a private car.” Mark nodded along. “And he’ll park that stolen train as close to here as he can,” Dom continued. “And probably leave the box of dirt…
on the train
!”