Eternal Dawn (21 page)

‘Renoiera, we’re hardly underestimating you. The basement window is four foot high by five foot wide. Please let Micah and me go first. It’s our job to protect you. That way we
can show you the best way to get through the window and we can assess if anyone is waiting for us on the inside.’

‘Fine,’ I assented. ‘But I’m going in directly after you.’

‘There are at least three vampires defending Justin. He brought five to the fight outside the chapel, but we killed two. I don’t know how quickly he will replace his men. Tony and
Tracy, you will be safer on a quieter floor with more of us protecting you.’

‘No way, Fang-Boy,’ Tracy said. She stood up and continued. ‘I didn’t almost die in some other life to get the quiet floor. We move as a pack.’

Good girl.

‘You make sure you get yourselves out,’ I reiterated to the Dems before me. ‘If I command you to go, you stop fighting and run out of that house. You don’t get to call me
Renoiera and then not let me call any of the shots.’ I made sure to lock eyes with Cassius and Liliana when I said it. ‘Also, we get Rhode out
and
anyone else we can find,
human or vampire.’

I did my best not to think of Laertes, the last remaining Hollow One, but he sprang so clearly to my mind with his gummy fangless smile that I couldn’t make the image of him dissipate.

‘Renoiera . . .’ Micah started to say.

‘Look, I know you think he’s dead, but I want you to be prepared to take him with us if we find him. All right?’

‘We’ve had no sense of him at all,’ Micah finished. He meant through the vampire extrasensory perception.

‘Of course we will save him,’ Cassius replied. He folded up the plans on the table and said, ‘We meet at the Wickham gates on Main in an hour. Just as we planned.’

Liliana slipped on a leather bomber jacket, then strapped the quiver to her back. ‘I’ll take out the guards on the ground floor as soon as we get there,’ she said with a
flourish.

‘Keep your eyes covered in the daylight,’ Cassius said to the Dems. ‘They make the humans . . . uneasy.’

We left the chapel in twos and threes so as not to draw attention to ourselves.

I whispered to Tony and Tracy as we crossed the quad, ‘You have your weapons? Remember, they only work one time.’

They nodded, just barely.

And because it was a lesson I learned the hard way, I added, ‘Use them only when you need them most.’

It was 1 p.m. I stood outside the Wickham gates with Tony and Tracy. Tony kept tapping his foot.

‘Will you stop that?’ I asked.

‘Oh please. You’ve been biting your lip like a wimpy girl for five minutes. And you are
not
a wimpy girl. And you –’ Tony turned to Tracy – ‘stop
looking at your cell phone.’

‘I haven’t heard from Kate in a couple days. She thinks I’m on Claudia’s side with the whole Alex thing. So I guess that means she’s not talking to me either. We
only have calculus together but I didn’t see her today. It’s our drop day.’

Whatever ‘drop day’ meant. I couldn’t allow myself to be distracted by a fight between Claudia and Kate. We had to save Rhode. We would save him, like the hundreds of times he
saved me. And Justin? I would try to save him too, if I could.

Cassius, Henri and Liliana walked down Lovers Bay Main Street.

‘They’re coming,’ I said, and pointed down the road.

When they reached us, Cassius said, ‘Act natural.’ He wore a baseball cap to shade his eyes. Liliana didn’t seem to care, and the silver of her eyes sparkled in the
sunlight.

My jaw was clamped together so hard I raised my fingers to touch my cheek. It throbbed as we marched to the opposite end of Main Street. Cassius held a duffel bag and Liliana wore a backpack to
cover the quiver; our weapons were quite concealed. Cassius handed her a pair of sunglasses, which she took with a roll of her eyes. Now, with their sunglasses and bags, they could have been
tourists.

Henri and I trailed behind. It was strange to go into battle during the day; I had spent so long attacking by moonlight.

Warwick Avenue was the last road before the beach, and we had agreed that we would walk the shore to Justin’s house and cross on to his grounds from the backyard. My hands shook so I
clenched them into fists.

I hated admitting it, but I was scared. Great leaders or queens shouldn’t feel such abject fear. Fire’s ruby-hilted dagger was fitted firmly to a strap around my wrist, though my
long sleeves hid it. I would simply need to fling my arm forward in a specific movement and the dagger would release from its clasp and into my hand. Micah was quite good at showing me how to use
it. The dagger was a talisman now, a friend in this fight. The sword Fire had left me was hidden in Cassius’s bag. He’d collected it from me after leaving the chapel that morning.

Cassius and Liliana stopped when we got to the corner of Warwick Avenue. Four properties on the right, four on the left, and at the end, in a shaft of bright sunlight, was Justin’s
house.

Domain. Lair. Whatever it was, it was two floors and massive.

As agreed, Liliana tracked us from the street running parallel to the beach. She would have plenty of time to identify and, with her arrows, take out any target coming at us from the beach. The
other Dems would come by way of the cemetery and enter Justin’s house from the opposite side.

‘They’ll be the second line of defence,’ Cassius had explained, about Esteban and the other Dems. ‘The fewer people in the house initially, the better. They’ll be
waiting outside the instant we need backup.’

As they could read one another’s thoughts, the rest of the Dems would be able to enter as soon as we needed them. I glanced behind us at the long stretch of beach. People were starting to
set up on blankets and chairs for the eclipse. They wore light sweaters and readied their cameras. I was ashamed, but I wanted nothing more than to join them and forget all of this was
happening.

Henri hurried forward to catch up with me as we made our way down the beach. I clenched my hands again so he wouldn’t see them shaking.
Be brave
, I told myself.
Be
brave.

‘I think . . .’ Henri said quietly, keeping close to my side. ‘I think all true leaders feel fear.’

I could see myself twice in the reflection of his aviator-style sunglasses.

‘Ah – so you’re reading my thoughts. Hoped you might be distracted.’

‘Sometimes, Renoiera, they are quite loud.’

‘I want to be the best version of myself,’ I said. ‘But it’s not easy.’

‘It never is,’ Henri said.

Cassius walked ahead of us and he turned his head a little as I was talking.

‘Vampires, humans, shape-shifters, phoenix, ocean dwellers, mermaids – I think we all want the same thing, Renoiera,’ Henri added. ‘To be human.’

‘I wish I could give it to you.’

Henri replied only with a small, appreciative smile.

Cassius checked the position of the sun. Soon the moon would cross over it, and once the light following the eclipse hit the earth, any vampire standing in its path would die.

We turned the corner, out of the sight of the eclipse watchers on the beach, and hopefully everyone else.

My hands shook; I didn’t fight it. As we continued to move parallel to the sea wall Liliana’s blonde frame peeked out behind fences and trees, matching our pace. I exhaled a few
times. Tony wasn’t cracking jokes or trying to lighten the mood with his comforting quips. Tracy checked her cell phone again.

Finally we reached Justin’s house and Cassius motioned for us to duck below the sea wall. We squatted together in a small circle.

Be brave
. . .
be brave.

‘OK. So directly ahead is five hundred feet of backyard that leads up to the house. The yard is landscaped with marble statues. Perfect to hide behind.’ Cassius said, and checked the
time again. ‘We’re getting close.’

‘It’s important that Lenah is the last to approach the building. It’s possible that Justin will sense her,’ Henri said.

‘Can’t he sense you?’ Tracy asked.

‘The vibration of our energy is very different from that of a normal vampire. It’s inconsistent.’

‘Perhaps. But what about us?’ Tony asked. ‘Can he sense us?’

‘Let’s hope he’s distracted,’ Cassius said, keeping us on task, ‘All right. Tracy, did you park your SUV where we agreed?’

Tracy nodded. It was just at the end of the street.

‘Good. Now remember, we need to get into Tracy’s SUV exactly when one twenty-six hits. That gives us two minutes before the sun is scheduled to shine again.’

‘You covered the windows of the car?’ I asked.

‘Black curtains. And we put up a curtain divider between the front seat and the back row.’

‘We have to go
now
,’ Henri whispered. With that, he and Cassius were over the stone wall and into the backyard. My eyes lingered on Tracy’s bracelet and we exchanged a
knowing glance. I stood up and peeked over the granite wall.

The others climbed over too. In single file, Tony, Tracy, Henri and Cassius snuck towards the house.

Liliana moved in so that her back was against the house.

1.10 p.m.

We had sixteen minutes. Cassius crouched before the window, which was much smaller than I had imagined. It would have to be completely open for anyone to get through it. Now that we were here, I
would definitely need their help manoeuvring Rhode out of that window. I imagined him limp in my arms, unable to move. Henri, Cassius, Tony and Tracy had reached the window by now.

Liliana motioned for me to join them in the backyard. I climbed the stone wall, dropping quietly on to the grass. Quickly I ran for a tree and hid behind the trunk.
Please let Cassius be
right.

I prayed Justin wouldn’t expect an attack on this dangerous day.

1.11 p.m.

Rhode is alive. He has to be.
Once I reached the window, Cassius handed me the sword from the duffel bag. I gripped the metal and threw my long braid over my shoulder behind me. In the
time it took me to get from the beach to the house, Cassius had removed the glass from the window with a special knife.

‘The total eclipse will be seven minutes maximum,’ he reminded us. ‘Remember, the moon never stops moving.’

Cassius hoisted himself feet first through the window and disappeared into the darkness. Henri followed. Their agility made it look so easy. I stopped next to Tony and Tracy and squeezed
Tony’s shoulder.

‘Good luck, Len,’ he said.

The sound of my nickname again made my heart surge.

It was my turn. I squatted down and held on to the window frame with my free hand. With the other, I pressed my blade close to my body and lowered myself through the gap. Someone, either Cassius
or Henri, grabbed my ankles. As soon as my feet brushed the floor of the stairwell I tapped the area around me with the ball of my foot. I wanted to get my bearings and a sense of how much room I
had around me.

Tony and Tracy dropped into the stairwell behind me, and lastly Liliana. I raised the sword and pointed it down the hallway. Cassius put his index finger to his mouth.

Tony and Tracy crept along back to back just as we had rehearsed in the chapel. To our left, carpeted stairs led up to a door. Hard-rock music played from the floor above. The guitars were too
loud, the lead singer’s voice screeched as it echoed about the second storey. Liliana’s expression was razor sharp. Her movements were almost robotic. She aimed her arrow directly at
the top of the stairs. I tiptoed away from the door and towards a hallway at the bottom of the staircase.

Cassius followed behind me and we headed down the hall. I just hoped he was right about Rhode’s location.

I had barely gone ten feet before Liliana cried out loudly, ‘Run, Lenah!’ She said something else in Linderatu that I could not understand. I spun around. One of Justin’s
vampires stood at the top of the stairwell. ‘Justin!’ the vampire called. Liliana fired an arrow, but I didn’t linger to see if it hit.

‘Renoiera. Now!’ Cassius demanded.

A door to my left opened before I even approached it. A vampire stepped into the hallway – a girl that I did not recognize at first.

‘Jackie!’ Tony yelled. ‘Lenah – that’s Jackie Simms!’

Justin had made Jackie Simms a vampire. Just as I had suspected . . .

She jumped at me but instinct took over and I kicked her square in the chest. She fell backwards using her arms for balance. I ran at her. Knowing the dagger would be easier than the sword, I
threw the sword down. I flung my wrist forward and the hilt of the dagger slipped into my hand. In one swift motion I plunged it into her dead vampire heart. She collapsed to the floor.

I stood up and wiped some stray hairs out of my face. Cassius’s eyes travelled from the body on the floor to me. With his eyebrows raised he handed me my sword. Good. Maybe he would treat
me like the soldier I was and not the queen he wanted me to be.

Jackie Simms lay motionless, her thin lips parted.

She was seventeen and she was dead.

So wasteful – another unneeded death. I was surprised how easy it was for me to kill her. But she was young and had not had time to train as I had.

Get Rhode, you dimwit
, a voice that sounded an awful lot like Vicken’s yelled in my head.

Cassius kept his sword high and at the ready.

I slid the dagger out of the body and wiped the blood on my pants. The door Jackie had come through was not a room but a hidden stairway leading to the first floor. The same disjointed rock
music played from behind that door as well.

‘Lenah!’

The back of Tracy’s heels bumped against the stairs. She struggled against the grasp of a male vampire three times her size. Tony threw himself on her attacker’s back, trying to
wrestle him to the floor.

Liliana ran up the stairs and there was a quick draw of her bow.

‘Get down, Tony!’ she cried, and he jumped aside.

Once the arrow flew through the air, the vampire grabbed for his chest. Tracy toppled freely to the ground.

Cassius swung his sword and I ducked. He jumped at a vampire who had been intending to attack me from behind. Cassius sliced the sword through the vampire’s neck, sending its head rolling
across the marble floor.