Chronicles of the Uprising (Trilogy 1): Trilogy 1 (24 page)

Mira worried about her companions. “You think they’re okay in this storm?”

A gentle hand rested on her shoulder. Mira turned to find Stryker behind her, his eyes scrutinizing hers. “They’re fine. Holed up in a cave just like ours. They can weather this storm. For a vampire, especially one from New Haven, you worry an awful lot about humans.”

“They’re more than just humans. They risked their life for me. No one has ever done that before,” Mira said. They were almost like…friends. They had risked it all to save her. They followed her out to the middle of nowhere. They trusted her to come back and deliver them to sanctuary. If they weren’t friends, then who was? Why was that so hard to admit out loud?

There was understanding behind Stryker’s scrutinizing gaze. Surely as Alpha, he had to understand the feeling of deep responsibility for those under your charge. “Relax.” He squeezed her shoulder. “We’ll see them soon enough. No one is going anywhere right now. Conserve your energy. You’ll need it for the journey ahead.”

Chapter 11

The storm raged on throughout the day. By evening, the rain had reduced to a trickle, and collectively, they decided to press on. The pack chose to travel in their wolf form. They were swift and sure-footed even over the rockiest of terrain. Mira had no trouble keeping up, and once they were out of the mountain, she was thankful to be able to move at a pace suited to her own supernatural speed.

Within a few hours they reached the cave where Curtis, Lucian, and Sarah were waiting. Mira was immensely relived to see that they were alive and relatively happy. Devastation from the recent storms was spread out before them: Freshly uprooted trees lay where they had fallen, and the ground squished under her feet, soil completely saturated by water. But despite being waterlogged, no one seemed to be any worse for it.

Lucian came out of the cave to greet Mira as soon as she was within range of his human vision. His mossy eyes lit with something that went well beyond relief.

“We wondered how long the storm might hold you up.” Lucian pulled Mira close into a tight hug, holding her as if he did not want to let her go. She found this strange familiarity unnerving. Part of her enjoyed the warm embrace, his strong arms tightening around her, but another part remembered he was human, and a former slave owner. Those strong warm arms became constricting, and she felt the need to rip them out of their sockets. No. Too close. Too intimate. She needed his hands off her immediately. Pulling out of his grasp, she backed away a step. Lucian’s expression turned. “Sorry. Perhaps I am a little too eager to hear your news. I lost myself.”

“No. It’s fine. Just not used to… hugging. I’m pleased to see you too.”

Excitement faded to sadness. His expression remained flat, but the light had faded from his eyes. She wasn’t sure how she’d upset him, and it seemed as if he wasn’t looking at her but past her, at Stryker who’d just shifted back to his human form. She wondered if perhaps the wolves had not been as nice as promised. “We didn’t want to risk travel last night, but I wasn’t about to leave you out here another night. Are you well? Do you have any food or drink?”

Lucian turned toward Curtis and Sarah. “We could do with some food. I’m starving, and I know the others are as well.”

Curtis stood and stretched. “Don’t know if we’ll have much luck finding dry wood, but I can look into getting a fire started.”

“Any chance of a hunting party?” Mira asked Stryker. If she could send him and the pack away, she could learn what they’d done in her absence.

The word “hunt” clearly excited the pack, especially Stryker. His amber eyes lit up with a hungry excitement. If he were in his wolf form, she was sure his tongue would be lolling out of his mouth, salivating at the possibility of fresh meat. So very much like a wolf. “My pack knows where to go. Get on that fire and we’ll bring you back something to cook over it.” He shifted back to his wolf form, yipped a few times at his pack, and they all took off into the woods.

Not a moment after the wolves had left, Lucian answered her unasked question. “Stryker came by a few days ago to check on us. Said you’d been to the Council. What did they agree to?”

Not one to mince words, that was for sure. Mira had hoped to hold off on that discussion for at least a little longer, but the inevitable had to be dealt with.

“We’ll get to that. Tell me. Were the wolves good to you?” Mira asked the question to Lucian and Sarah.

“They were fine,” Lucian answered. “What was the Council’s ruling?”

Mira stared down at Sarah. “Were they?”

She nodded sleepily. “Maybe a little rude, but they did nothing to harm us.”

“Rudeness doesn’t surprise me. There is no love in Sanctuary for your kind.” It felt funny to Mira to refer to the humans that way.

“So then their ruling must not be in our favor.” Lucian’s voice fell flat. He slumped down against the cave wall. “Well, we’re stuck out here. We cannot return to the city.”

Mira joined Lucian and reached out awkwardly. She intended to give him a friendly pat on the shoulder, but stopped midway unsure if that would be best. “They do not allow humans under any circumstance. You can, however, go if you decided to become like me,” she added matter-of-factly.

Lucian huffed. “I had a feeling it would come to that. Force us to become like you… like them. It’s a smart plan, albeit not the most ethical. ”

His lack of shock surprised Mira. Lucian stroked his bare chin thoughtfully. “If we turn, what awaits us there?”

“The city is beautiful. Built in the valley of a dormant volcano, it’s surrounded on all sides. Fairly well protected. There are many types of supernatural creatures living together. I don’t even know all the types, but they’re all special.”

“A beautiful city is not worth the risk of changing species. I need more than pretty trees and houses. What of our past? Will that be held against us? What of our future there?”

In truth, she had not thought to delve deeper into the deal she might be striking. She thought back to the meeting with the Council and how quickly she’d been made to agree to the option given. It was as if she’d been compelled. Damn it. Another Otherkin trick, like Remy the siren.

“Honestly, I don’t know. The alternative though is life out here, for all of us. I won’t go if you do not. I’ll not abandon you.”

That seemed to lift Lucian’s spirits. “Mira, you continue to surprise me in every way. I feel terrible for the prejudices I was taught about your kind.”

“Don’t assign more praise than is due. I’m only doing what is honorable.”

“You see? I was not raised to believe your kind had any honor.”

His praise was beginning to make her feel uncomfortable. “Just like with your kind, some of us do, and some of us don’t. It’s not the creature, it is the individual that matters.”

“I wholeheartedly agree. I wish I could say that made this decision any easier.” Worry leached into Lucian’s voice. “I realize I’m throwing away so much, and I cannot speak for Curtis and Sarah, but I don’t want to—”

Mira interrupted him with a flippant wave of her hand. “Give yourself time to think on this. I am not here to pressure you or them. Talk among yourselves and come to the decision after you’ve slept on it. I will honor whatever you all choose.” Mira cast a quick glance in Sarah’s direction. The human female busied herself with making a fire circle. 

“Will they?” Lucian said, casting a sidelong glance at the edge of the cave.

“I wonder that myself. The leader seems friendly enough, as does the rest of the group. But, they are on assignment. Before I left, Stryker was pulled into the Council chambers. If I had to guess, they’re here to either ensure a quick transformation, or make sure we do not come anywhere near their territory ever again.”

“You’ve been in once; that means you’re a liability.”

“The thought of a fight has already crossed my mind.”

“Let’s hope it does not come to that. I don’t want to see any more bloodshed.”

“That’s probably what they’re banking on as well,” Mira agreed. “But what they don’t know is, I am not the type of vampire to just roll over and do as I am told.”

Lucian laughed. Probably the first real laugh he’d had in a while. “That’d be the understatement of the century. Part of why I liked you so much was your penchant for rule breaking. When I saw you in that hallway…”

Something loud boomed in the distance.

“That doesn’t sound like thunder.” Sarah ran to the mouth of the cave and peered out into the distance

Another loud crash and boom.

Mira was on her feet and heading for the mouth of the cave in moments. “No. Not thunder. Sounded to me like cannon fire.”

“Cannons?” Lucian joined her at the cave entrance.

“Shhh.” Mira listened carefully, and what she heard sent her heart into a fearful drumroll. It sounded like a war was breaking out. Large engine machines rumbled through the forest, knocking down trees in their path. Rapid gunfire rat-a-tat-tatted in the distance. Then came the loud boom. Targeted cannon fire aimed in their direction.

“I think turning you is the least of our concerns. The humans have found us… again.”

Sarah shrieked, waking up her husband Curtis. “How did they find us all the way out here?”

“It was a trap,” Lucian said calmly. “I knew they let us leave too easily. They must have tracked the transport. They knew you’d be heading for Sanctuary.”

Mira’s eyes grew wide. “Oh, no. Stryker. His pack. They’re out there!”

“They’ll know how to hide better than we do.” Lucian sounded confident enough, but his voice carried an undertone of fear. “We’re sitting ducks in this cave. We need to get out of here and get on the move.”

Mira picked up the yelp of a wolf off in the distance and more rapid gunfire. “Doesn’t sound that way to me. We… er, I need to help them. It’s because of me they’re in danger.”

“But you just said you were willing to fight them if necessary.”

Mira turned on Lucian with angry eyes. “If necessary. Exactly. Right now, they are on our side, and they need our help. I’m not going to leave them to the humans when it’s because of me they are now being attacked.”

“Okay, fine. We’ll do what we can for them. I’m guessing the humans brought all-terrain vehicles with them. Standard procedure would dictate they send no more than three out this far. They’re solar-powered, so they will have been weakened by the recent storms. If we’re lucky, they might die out before we do. That would give us a chance to escape. We just need to draw their fire and keep them running as long as they have juice in their solar cells.”

“Well, I’m the fastest and least likely to die, so I guess I’ll run them around. You round up the wolves and bring them back to the cave. I’ll take them in the wrong direction.” Mira didn’t give him the chance to argue; she took off out of the mouth of the cave and headed straight toward the gunfire.

Oversized armored vehicles rolled through the forest, tearing through small trees and over low rocks with ease. Large enough to accommodate three people each, they were more like tanks than the transports she and her companions had arrived in. But, contrary to what Lucian had said, she counted only two, although she kept in mind that there might be another straggler around somewhere. Perhaps it had already run out of battery. They should be so lucky.

On top of the tank-like vehicle, a man poked his head out. Wearing a standard issue black Kevlar uniform, he was probably only a regular soldier and not a handler, but that only meant that he wouldn’t be carrying a UV torch. The soldier manned a roof-mounted gun and yelled something that sounded like directions to whoever was inside the vehicle below him.

She watched for a moment as he scanned the area with the large gun, ready to fire. He squeezed off a few here and there, not really aiming, probably just trying to scare up anyone or anything hiding. He hadn’t spotted her yet, and she wasn’t about to give him the upper hand. The vehicle came close to her position, and Mira bounded up into the tree and jumped on top of the vehicle. Surprising the gunner, she knocked him hard in the head, snapped it, and pulled the rest of his body out of the tank, tossing it aside like garbage.

She ducked down through the roof hatch into the vehicle. It was manned by only one other person, the driver. Concentrating on the buttons and levers on the control panel, he never saw what hit him. Mira was swift, ripping him from his seat, stretching his neck and sinking her teeth deep into his throbbing artery. His last dying breath came out as a strangled moan, and unlike other times, she savored this sound. She might hate to kill, but when it came to these bastards, they deserved it.

She let the drained and lifeless body fall to the floor of the vehicle. One down, who knew how many more she’d have to fell before things were finally over. At least she’d gotten to enjoy fresh blood. Being a vampire in war did have its perks.

The vehicle rumbled on without anyone at the wheel. Mira needed to do something about it before they ran off a cliff or into something else. And that gave her an idea. From the front view window, she saw the other armored tank making rounds with another soldier manning a roof gun. Time to play a little game of chase.

The control panel on the tank made no sense to her at all – levers instead of a steering wheel and an array of buttons and gauges. It seemed there was no rhyme or reason to any of it. She pulled one lever and, with an ear splitting metallic screech, the vehicle ground to a sudden halt. That wasn’t what she’d wanted, but it was something she could work with. She pulled another lever and the vehicle started spinning to the right. Yet another lever had the vehicle stuttering to move. She released the first lever and the stuttering stopped, and the vehicle lurched forward. It took a bit of trial and error, but she eventually had the hang of forward and reverse, all she needed to know to turn her tank into a battering ram and set it on a course to hit the other tank.

Out the top hatch again, she rode the tank as it headed for a collision, ready to leap off and take out the inhabitants if they survived the crash.

The two tanks collided with a deafening crash, but neither tank seemed worse for wear. The man at the roof-mounted gun, however, took the brunt of the hit. His body crumpled, half in and half out of the tank’s top hatch. Mira caught the satisfying crack of his ribs even through the sound of crashing metal.