The Dragons of Men (The Sons of Liberty Book 2) (38 page)

“What do you want me to do with the old hag?” the man who had gagged Elizabeth asked. “You think we should bring her?”

“I don’t know boys, what do you think? Any of you into older women?”

They all laughed, armed cowards who thought they were strong because they could overpower helpless women.

“Bind her hands and leave her,” Hank said. “I don’t want anyone coming after us.”

“Why don’t I just stick her and be done with it?” one of the men asked.

“Now come on, we’re in the business of loving women, not killing them. Tie her up and let’s get going.”

“Won’t she die if we leave her tied up and alone?” one of the men asked.

“Oh, I can’t help it if the road kills the weak,” Hank replied. “But I don’t want to watch her die. I’d hate to have something like that harassing my conscience.” Hank laughed and shook his head as he whistled. “Now get moving. We’ve got a good half mile hike back to the truck and Memphis will be waking soon. I’d like to have our new arrivals primed for this evening’s show room.”

Alexandra began to cry, her body shaking as she realized what these sick and twisted men had planned for them. She rolled over, opening her eyes and glancing southward in the direction Judah and Trey had gone. She prayed for Judah to return, envisioning him materializing through the brush—gun raised as he saved the day. She promised to herself that she would never avoid his eyes again if he saved her. She’d tell him she loved him. She would crawl into his arms and never let go.

But Judah didn’t come.

He was a mile away and unaware that anything had gone wrong. Alexandra realized he would come back to Eric’s lifeless body, a helpless Elizabeth, and an empty camp with no hope. Judah—the young man she had ignored in her pride and ignorance—couldn’t even know something was going wrong.

Unless….

As Hank reached down for her, Sarah’s pistol in his right hand and bondage in his left, she lashed out, digging her fingernails into his cheek. As he cursed, she reached for the gun he held, wrapping both her hands around his, forcing her index finger into the trigger housing, and pulling the trigger three times, firing into the ground.

Hank ripped the firearm free and backhanded her across the cheek. She fell back to the ground, stars dancing across her vision. As her sight returned, he knelt down, touching the four claw marks that lined his right cheek.

“What a dumb bitch,” Hank growled as he lowered his hand from his cheek and wrapped it around her throat. “I’m going to see to it that you regret that.”

“Shitty piece of worthless tech,” Trey muttered as Judah stood next to him on the roof of the maintenance tower.

“Have you tried resetting it or something?” Judah said quietly, his thoughts more focused on the girl sitting back at the fire than the man cursing over his failing technology.

“Seriously?” Trey said dubiously, looking up from the tiny screen glowing on his arm. “Resetting it or something?”

“I don’t know about that stuff,” Judah said. “I’m just trying to—”

Three distant and hollow pops echoed across the landscape from the direction of their camp. Judah’s eyes darted northward, growing wide as fear seized him. He hesitated only a moment, searching and waiting for something more, before running over to the hatch they had climbed through and descending into the short tower below.

“Wait!” Trey shouted, though Judah ignored him as his boots hit the steel grates below. He ran through the darkness, flipping on the flashlight and ignoring Trey’s protests to slow down from behind. Within less than a minute he was out of the tower, through the gate they had broken through, and running on the road toward his family as fast as he could.

Judah breathed in and out as steadily as he could to fend off any anxiety-based asthma attack. Some had told him that his asthma was all in his head, while others said there was no correlation between stress and his attacks. Still, despite what anyone told him,
he
was the one who struggled to breathe anytime his nerves bested him. Judah believed that fear was the real enemy, not his lungs. So as he ran, the fear of losing his family threatening to constrict his airways, he focused on summoning his courage as he held the pangs of fear at bay. After nearly ten minutes of running, he told himself that he would face whatever came next as bravely as Eric or any other soldier could have.

But as he broke through the trees and quickly scanned the camp, he wondered if his high walls of courage could withstand the fear that was threatening to topple them.

Elizabeth laid on the ground tied up and weeping, her eyes going wide when she saw him. Eric laid motionless next to the scattered fire that now smoldered, tendrils of smoke rising from his back. Judah ran over to Elizabeth and drew his knife, carefully cutting the gag from her mouth.

“Oh God, Judah, they took them,” Elizabeth said immediately as he reached down to cut away the bonds at her wrists. Trey burst into the clearing behind them, causing Judah to tense and briefly turn around, dropping his knife as he raised Eric’s wicked gun. He sighed and lowered the rifle, picking the knife back up.

“Check on Eric,” Judah said quickly as the bonds fell away easily to the knife his father had given him. He reached down to her feet to sever the final cords. “Who took them, Elizabeth?”

“Armed men,” she said. “They shot Eric and left me behind. They said…they’re going to…oh Jesus, help them!”

“They said what?”

“Judah, they’re going to sell them,” Elizabeth said, her tears returning. “They said I was too old for them. They’re taking them to Memphis and they’re going to—”

“Judah!” Trey said, leaning over Eric. “Eric’s still alive!”

Judah ran over, kneeling down next to Eric and feeling for a pulse. “How?” Elizabeth said. “They shot him in the back twice.”

Judah quickly located the two bullet holes in Eric’s jacket—one in the upper back and the other in the lower. Judah raised his knife and cut away the jacket. One bullet fell away from the thin Kevlar vest as he pulled away the jacket, though the second remained half lodged into the vest near his shoulder blades. They carefully removed the bullet before removing the vest to survey his back.

“He had a bullet-proof vest on,” Judah said. “One bullet was completely stopped but the second made it half-way through.”

Elizabeth rose slowly and stumbled over to them as they pulled the vest back. Red and purple skin already dotted his back where the rounds had struck. His left arm was burned and bloody from where he had fallen into the fire. The wound from the round that had partially penetrated the vest was shallow. Despite Eric’s injuries, they watched as his back rose and fell ever so slowly as he breathed in his unconsciousness.

“Okay,” Elizabeth began, taking a deep breath as she wiped tears from her cheeks. “He’s likely bruised or broken a rib and that burn looks second degree. We’ll need to find some alcohol and something to sew that hole up. Once he wakes, we can talk with him to figure out what to do.”

“We don’t have time to wait till he wakes,” Judah said as he rose, glancing northward. “I’m going after them.”

“Judah,” Elizabeth began, “you can’t leave.”

“I have to,” he replied, tucking the knife back into his leather sheath as he searched Eric’s pockets for anything of use. All he found was a roll of duct tape and a Zippo lighter. Everything else had been in his duffle bag, which was nowhere in sight. He tucked them both into his pants as Elizabeth continued to argue with him. When he was finished, he handed Trey Eric’s rifle and shouldered his own ranger-issued rifle.

“I’m going and you’re not going to stop me,” Judah said. “Memphis is twenty miles away and if I’m going to get there before tonight, I’ve got to get moving.”

“At least wait till Eric is awake,” Elizabeth pleaded.

“Every minute I waste is another minute lost,” Judah replied, thinking of his mother, sisters, and Alexandra. “I have to go.”

“They won’t let you anywhere close armed with that,” Elizabeth said, pointing to his rifle.

Judah paused before handing his long-range assault rifle to Trey. “She’s right. You take it. I’ll keep my pistol and knife.”

“I’m going with you,” Trey protested.

“No, you stay here and protect them both until Eric wakes. If he comes to and can move in time, get up to Memphis and find us.”

“Judah, you can’t do this,” Elizabeth said. “You’re just a boy! You can’t go there alone.”

“There are no boys in America anymore,” Judah said, taking a deep breath as he did his best to fortify his walls of courage.

Judah turned and jogged out of the clearing, ignoring Elizabeth’s protests behind him. He broke free of the trees and took one last deep breath before running into the night—an asthmatic boy ready to charge hell to save those he loved.

C
hapter
T
hirteen

To Know a Primal Fear

Maria Brekor leaned up against a fractured stone column in the Capitol Building, watching Lukas laugh next to Jamie as she quietly strangled them both in her imagination. The Imperium News Network was interviewing them both—their well-scripted dialogue painting a glorious picture of Lukas’ might and success. The INN followed Lukas everywhere as he continued his campaign to sell the idea of a united world to the masses. Hundreds of the Imperium’s most loyal citizens had been invited to the day’s special televised event. It was a mysterious speech that Lukas promised would instill shock and allegiance among all those who watched.

Lukas had grown bolder since Maria’s drunken argument with him a week prior, though he had obeyed her request to refrain from touching Jamie so far as she could tell. Maria, however, didn’t expect that Lukas, with his increasingly prideful arrogance as his empire grew under his feet, could keep his hands to himself for long.

Maria tore her jealous eyes and wrathful thoughts away from Lukas for a moment, studying the structure that surrounded them. During the Battle of DC, the Capitol Building had its former glamor set afire, reducing it to a skeleton structure with rib-like protrusions where marble columns and bronze statues had once stood mightily. Much debate had gone into what was to become of the complex. Some Imperium sympathizers—such as Rupert Rosenbaum and his never-ending quest to remake Washington DC into the greatest city the world had ever seen—had suggested finishing what the battle had started and reducing it to a pile of ash so they could start over fresh. Those courageous and dumb enough to voice opposition to that idea had suggested salvaging it and rebuilding the monumental structure as an ode to a nation that was no more. In the end, Lukas had decided to please both sides of the isle like the good politician he was. The Capitol Building would be rebuilt to his own liking. It was to be grander than it had been before in every way and serve him as the central palace for his empire as he stretched his borders from sea to shining sea and beyond.

Hundreds of workers surrounded Maria, busying themselves as they worked tirelessly on the building. They had flocked from all over the east coast, Midwest, and southern states for the safety of the Imperium. Those with skilled trades were rewarded heavily—mostly with lodging, food, and a supply of synthetic drugs. Despite a generally unspoken but still discernable resentment over the collapse of the United States, the millions who swelled the Imperium’s borders had quickly buried their anger for Lukas as they accepted his gracious hospitality and propaganda without question. They had no idea the drugs they were taking to get over a cold or stave off their child’s feverish infection were actually full of nanobots, much like those Sigmund had used. Though the Imperium’s best nanobiotic scientists were incapable of delivering the results of the elusive Brazilian, the drugs were more than capable of curing ailments or causing severe discomfort if needed. She smiled, thinking of the latter as Jamie left Lukas’ side and began walking Maria’s way.

“Well, well,” Maria said softly as Jamie approached. “It’s been awhile since I’ve seen my husband laugh that hard. Was it a joke, or perhaps you attempted to sound intelligent on camera?”

Jamie stopped and frowned before glancing back toward Lukas. He was already preoccupied with others as he readied himself for the coming speech—though he had failed to mention anything of its purpose to Maria. Jamie turned back to Maria and smiled.

“Why don’t we take a walk?” Jamie said. “We should have another fifteen minutes before Lukas starts and I think it’s time we set a few things straight.”

“I couldn’t agree more,” Maria said, motioning for Jamie to lead the way.

Maria and her small team of guards followed Jamie wordlessly, crisscrossing the halls that had once been a battlefield as they left the bustling hall behind them. Though the skilled contractors and construction workers had already begun to mend what had been nearly destroyed, the extensive damage was still evident. A tall sheet of plastic tarp had been draped over the expansive hole on the eastern façade. The windows and some of the stone work had been blown out in an airstrike during the battle. Lukas wanted to make the entire wall a bulletproof pane of one-way glass—a window to look out at the world that couldn’t gaze back in.

As she passed by the tarp, Maria glanced off to her right. A few dozen off-color patches on the wall indicated damage from a deadly barrage of gunfire. Up ahead, where a stone column had been one of many to line the halls, there were now supporting beams of framing timber to serve in its absence until a new column could be created. Everywhere she looked she saw the destruction of chaos and war. As enthusiastic as Lukas had been about remaking the colossal structure into a home to rule the world from, she only saw what had been death and was now becoming a rebuilt tomb to house her and her husband.

Jamie slowed and knocked on a wooden door that led to an office. After a pause, she opened the door and glanced inside quickly before turning back to Maria, motioning for her to enter.

“You four may stay out here,” Maria said, turning to her Sovereign Guards. “We will only be a moment and I am afraid this will be a conversation for our ears alone.”

Her guards nodded their heads and stood watch at the door. Maria smiled at Jamie, a condescending grin worthy of a self-righteous royalty, and entered the vacant room. As she passed through the open door into an office that had been remarkably spared of damage, Jamie followed and closed the door behind them. Maria turned around, staring at the younger woman in a silent battle to see who would speak first. Once a few quiet seconds had passed, Jamie shook her head and cleared her throat.

“Do you know what your problem is, Maria?”

“A red-headed bitch that won’t stay away from my husband,” Maria replied without hesitation. “Or the fact that you think you possess the right to address me by my name and not by my title.”

Jamie paused before laughing and shaking her head. “You know, under other circumstances, I think you and I would have been good friends.”

“Miss Rowe, throughout my life I have tried very hard to avoid associating myself with the lowest of whores. As such, I do not think I would have cared to be your friend under any circumstances.”

“I’m not your problem, Maria,” Jamie replied, emphasizing her name as though to challenge her. “You are your own problem.”

“And how is that?” Maria asked.

Jamie paused, glancing to the side as she paused, before looking back with eyes that were pooling with tears.

“Why did you stick by your husband when he was all but defeated?” Jamie asked. “Surely you thought Sigmund would win out and plunge you into that god-awful creation of his.”

“Because Lukas is my
husband
,” Maria replied bluntly. “I love him, he loves me, and though Sigmund tried to force my hand against him, my father saved us both. I have only ever wanted to please Lukas, and now—”

“But that’s just it!” Jamie shouted. “I too only care to please the Sovereign. I don’t care how I do it. I was and still am fascinated with him. I mean, what other man in the history of the world has stood a reasonable chance at uniting mankind together as one race without borders? Through him, wars could be ended altogether. Through his lasting peace, we can focus on advancing the human race far beyond our wildest dreams. We can cure the incurable and stop bickering over which god is greater as we ourselves become the gods. I was working for Sigmund because I thought that was his dream, but he only wanted to divide his allies, not unite us. He was a monster, a cannibal who devoured his own kind without reason. But I never forgot my hope for the future. Now, helping Lukas forge a perfect world is all that concerns me. So you see, I never came here hoping to steal your husband and bed him. I never pursued him. I only offered the world’s greatest man everything I have. In the end, who am I to turn away the advances of the man who will see everything I’ve fought for come true?”

“And who am I to not fight for my rights to have my husband for myself?” Maria growled.

“What do you want me to do?” Jamie said. “Do you want me to humiliate your husband by stepping back when he brushes my cheek? Should I turn away when his lips come close to mine? And what if next time we’re not surrounded by his ever-present czars, guards, and drones? What if he comes to me alone next time because he wants—”

“It would be wise of you to never finish that statement in my presence.” Maria forced a dry smile to her lips in an effort to calm the anger that burned inside her. “I’ve had enough already of your colorful descriptions. As far as what you can do, you can begin by forgetting everything you said and avoiding my husband like I ask.”

“I don’t think that is going to happen, Maria,” Jamie replied.

“I’m sure with the right…motivation, I can convince my husband to forget about you and let you scurry on your way like a lost spider.”

“No, you don’t understand,” Jamie said. She stepped closer, firming her jaw as a fiery gaze filled her eyes. Jamie paused, her eyes never looking away as she stared quietly at Maria. “I don’t want Lukas to leave me alone. I won’t
scurry
away. I want him. I need him. I brought you here because I wanted you to know that ahead of time. I want to know him like you have known him and I don’t care if I have to share him with you. If a man like him can take on the task of uniting the world under one banner…then surely he can manage to please two wives instead of one.”

Maria gritted her teeth as she threw an open-handed slap at Jamie. Instead of connecting with Jamie’s face, her hand came to a jarring halt as it collided with an unexpected block. Jamie paused—a momentary break that lasted the blink of an eye—before throwing a backhand that connected with Maria’s chin. Maria stumbled to the side, her eyes wide in shock as she reached up to touch her jaw. She glanced back at Jamie and bellowed as she swung again.

Jamie ducked away, casually slapping Maria’s weak swing to the side before smacking her again on the other cheek. Stars danced across Maria’s vision and a stinging pain filled her face. She ignored it all as she fed her rage, roaring as she lunged at Jamie a third time. Jamie danced to the side, sticking out her leg and tripping Maria before shoving her in the back. Maria stumbled through the air and landed hard against the floor.

The door flung open and two of the guards entered.

“Maria, are you alright?” Their eyes darted furiously between Jamie and Maria. As they stepped forward, Maria held up a hand.

“I am fine,” she said. “Please go.”

“Protocol states—”

“To hell with protocol,” Maria growled. “You know what this whore and my insufferable husband have been doing. You knew this was coming. I can take care of myself. Now please…go!”

The two guards nodded and stepped back into the hall, closing the door behind them. Maria rose from the ground slowly, her hair a jumbled mess and tears in her eyes as she looked up at Jamie with the hate of a murderer. Jamie merely shook her head as she knelt down.

“I don’t want to hurt you again, but if you come at me once more, I will leave a mark,” Jamie said, pausing as she frowned. “I don’t want to divide you against Lukas. That is not my goal, nor has it ever been. I only want you to know that a time will soon come when you must accept the fact that Lukas is too great to be limited to you alone. I’m sure there will be more women who come after us. There could be dozens more so that his dynasty may never die, and we need to be okay with that. We both need to realize that if we are to raise that man up to be a god-like king, we must give him everything we have without hesitation. Now, if you’re done throwing a tantrum that would make a four-year-old blush, I suggest you clean yourself up. His speech will begin in five minutes and I’d hate to see you miss it because your hair looks like it battled a windstorm.”

Jamie rose and began walking to the door as Maria lay on the floor. She wanted to cry and howl, but she knew doing so would only admit defeat. Maria told herself that she was above the woman who was trying to take Lukas from her, and she needed the other woman to believe that.

“We’re not done,” Maria said as elegantly as possible. She slowly rose to her feet—righting the massive necklace Lukas had given her, pulling her gloves tight, and brushing back her hair as Jamie stopped and looked back. After a moment of showing more concern over the ripped stitching on her gloves than the woman who had disheveled her, Maria smiled as delightfully as she could. “Jamie, you might be able to best me by the hand, but you will not beat me in this game of wits. By the time you and I are done, I will show you that my husband deserves me and me alone—even if I must rip that pretty little head from your shoulders to convince you. Now scamper on your way, you worthless by-product of a maggot infested shit. I will be there shortly.”

As she finished, Jamie’s frown slightly righted itself into a devilish grin. “I look forward to watching you try.” Jamie turned and walked out of the room, closing the door behind her. All the composure Maria had managed to hold together fled as soon as the door closed. She began to breathe in deep breaths, trying to prevent herself from hyperventilating with anger. Despite her definite words, she knew she was on the verge of losing her husband. What frightened her most was thinking back to what happened to the first wife that had lost Lukas Chambers.