The Fallen One (Sons of the Dark Mother, Book One) (46 page)

Dracon actually smiled. “You must
be desperate for answers, human.” He squatted down on the wall, and
Jared realized he did so to put him more at ease—though he had no
doubt that could change in the blink of an eye.

So he was none too
comforted.

“
You smell—like power,” Dracon
said.

Whatever Jared had been
expecting—that was not it. He stared at Dracon, waiting for him to
go on. When he didn’t, he prodded, and not too gently. “Damn it,
Dracon!”

“
Okay, okay, human,” Dracon
hissed. “Have you not realized that there are four
princes?”

“
Yeah,” Jared said. “Fire….” He
ticked off.

“
Which is Justice,” Dracon
interrupted.

Jared stared at him, trying to
figure out what he was getting at. “Air…”

“
Which is me,” Dracon said
dryly.

“
Water?” Jared said, more in a
question this time.

“
Conrad,” Dracon said
quietly.

Jared took a deep breath. Somehow
he didn’t think he was going to like this next one. “And
Earth?”

Dracon gave him a smile that would
have run a shiver down the spine of any man who saw it.

“
Well now, human,” he said. “Who
do you think is Earth?”

Jared shook his head. “You’re not
saying….”

“
I’m saying that
exactly.”

Jared couldn’t have been more blown
away if Dracon had set him down on a bomb.

Chapter
Fifty-Three

War

They came right after
midnight.
And they came from
everywhere
at once
, swarming the streets. Even from where they waited, they
couldn’t begin to track them all. They were like armies of ants,
coming from every direction, and Justice saw Caesar
scowl.

He didn’t blame him.

This was so much worse than it had
been the first time, Justice thought as he readjusted his large
body at a better angle so he could get a better look.

The vampire hunters ran. He
glanced up to the roof of an adjacent building, where Constantine
was keeping watch; Justice had been aware of his presence for some
time. He was in just time to see the old battle vamp scream at his
men. “Stop chasing them, you imbeciles. They’re leading you into a
trap—
again
!” He
stomped across the roof in a fury. “Fools!
Stupid, mindless children!
Fine!
Fine! You want something done you have to do it
yourself
!”

Constantine disappeared from the
edge of the rooftop, no doubt heading for the stairway. Justice
wasn’t sure why he bothered, when he could have just as easily
jumped.

Justice watched from where he was
perched, on the high ledge of an old building, as several fledgling
vamps chased a vampire hunter down an alley.

Constantine had called it right.
The vampire hunters were, once again, leading the fledgling vamps
through the alleyways, separating as they went. The fledgling
vampires split up as they chased them.

Conrad almost felt bad when he gave
the signal to use the secret weapon. A wall of vampire hunters
stepped forward with the blowguns, and then blew the darts, which
held both the antivirus and an immobilizing agent that worked only
with vampires.

They stepped back, and the next
wall of vampire hunters stepped forward.

And so it went in several sections
of the city where the fledgling vamps had been led.

Constantine had known better than
to fall for this trap twice, and the men had known that he had
known better, but they had also known that he would again send his
fledgling vamps.

He couldn’t help himself. They were
the main body of his army.

And as sure as these fledgling
vamps were sent, they
could be led
by the smell of
blood.
They were too hungry and
could not be controlled—
by
anyone.

Not even Constantine.

And that is what Caesar had banked
on when he told the men to use the exact same tactic they had used
before—allowing Jared’s vampires hunters to lead the fledgling
vamps toward those who held the blowguns and darts.

Within seconds, thousands of
fledgling vamps were writhing on the ground, immobilized by the
toxin that would keep them from being able to move more that,
giving the antivirus the opportunity to work. They had known that
they might need up to six hours to see the results they
sought.

The armies stepped in to move the
vamps to large holding areas that had been set up all over the
city.

In the end, the results were
amazing. Though they had known what was likely going to take place,
they were still awed.

It was like the reverse of
the embrace
.

And when it was through, there were
hundreds of dazed and confused humans slowly sitting up, looking at
each other as if they had no idea where they were—or
why.

Dracon, Conrad and Ophelia had gone
to witness what would happen. Later, they all would take turns
witnessing the vaccine’s effects. Each had their own fears of using
bio-warfare. No one could take this lightly.

When Conrad saw the vaccine reverse
the virus that had infected the vamps, he grinned.

Ophelia was stupefied. She stared,
first at the restored humans, then at Conrad. “You knew this would
happen! Why didn’t you tell us?”

Conrad smile gentled. “Easy
Ophelia, love—we weren’t sure, so we didn’t want to say anything
until we knew for certain.”

Ophelia glared at him.
“But—you
could have warned
us
!” Then she frowned as a thought came to
her. “Would this fix Dara?”

Conrad started gathering the
remainder of the bottles together. “
That
was the main reason we didn’t’
want to say anything.” He zipped up the bag. “We didn’t want you to
get your hopes up—in either direction.” He stopped and looked at
Ophelia, his expression serious. “Like all shots, we don’t know the
long-term effects.” He said something into the radio.

Ophelia watched as men dressed in
white approached the humans, who were, by now, getting up off the
ground where they had been laid in cells. It was clear that they
didn’t know where they were. In fact, they were so confused they
almost looked as if they didn’t know
who
they were.

Ophelia shook her head, confused
herself. “I don’t think Dara would want to feel like that.” She
gestured toward the humans.

Conrad nodded. “Between you and me,
I don’t think Dara would want to give up the part of her she shares
with Dracon.”

Ophelia frowned at him. “You think
she would choose to remain a vamp?”

He hefted the bag off the table
and set the bag’s strap over his shoulder. “That was the other
reason we didn’t say anything.” He picked up the blowgun. “First,
we won’t know
what will become of these
humans
—or how they will respond to this
vaccine. Sufficient testing had not been done to know the full
effects of these shots.” He looked at Ophelia. “And second—even if
the memory loss were the only side effect, we don’t know if it’s
permanent.” He started to walk toward the truck, and Ophelia
followed him. “But third,” he said as they walked. “Dara shares
Dracon’s world because they are both vamps.” He set the bag in the
back of the truck. “Do you really see her giving him up—and going
back to her world?”

Ophelia knew he had a
point.

Justice followed Constantine. He
had been following him ever since he left that roof. He watched,
now, as the old vamp entered a building on the pier.

Justice followed on silent feet. He
was aware that Constantine knew he was following. He knew. And he
led Justice to where they would have their final battle. However,
Justice wasn’t convinced that the old vamp would, in the end, allow
a final battle to happen.

He was sure that Jes was
correct—and the old vamp had a much bigger agenda in mind. So he
followed. Time would tell what the aged battle vamp was really up
to.

The vampires were under control.
Constantine knew that this particular war was
done—
for now
.
There would be another—but not until Constantine had found a way
to, once more, have the upper hand. But at the moment, the vaccine
had proved too much of a threat to him to proceed forward with his
plans.

He would find a better
time.

Constantine was the only one left
for them to deal with—and he knew it. Justice had been waiting for
this battle for a long, long time. But somehow he had the feeling
that Constantine would find a way to leave it for a better day—when
he was the one in the position of power.

And yet,
first,
he must save face.

He could not leave without first
putting on a good show.

He could not leave without it
appearing that he had put up a fight. And the opportunity for that
good fight—meant they still had a chance.

It was with some anticipation that
Justice stepped inside the door.

Chapter
Fifty-Four

Killer

Constantine was waiting when
Justice entered the room.
He and Justice
circled one another warily. They both knew they stood before a
respected foe. Justice respected Constantine because his prowess
was legendary: the stuff passed down over centuries.

Justice had gained Constantine’s
respect because, after last night, Constantine had come to realize
that though he may be young, he was
the
Prince of Fire
—and he had found a way to
destroy Constantine’s well-built empire.

He had underestimated his foe, and
the cost had been high. Justice circled his foe, and was rewarded
when Constantine moved in quickly to slash at him with his
razor-sharp sword.

The peal of steel hitting steel
rang through the morning as they each tried to get the upper
hand.

After a moment, the old vamp pulled
back with a laugh. “Not bad, Prince of Fire.”

Justice knew that it was time. They
would only have the attention of the old battle vamp until he lost
interest.

Justice slipped out of the room
like a shadow.

Constantine laughed. “What? Leaving
so soon, Prince of Fire? Don’t you want to find out what happened
to your sister?” Justice knew that Constantine circled the room and
neared the doorway. His voice was louder when he said, “I take it
you want me to follow you?” He laughed again. “I suppose that you
have a trap planned for me.”

Justice felt him shrug.
Constantine wasn’t even trying to shield himself, and this worried
Justice more than anything else he could have done. Either
Constantine wanted Justice to know what he was doing, so that he
could set his own trap—or he was just
that
sure
—that they could do nothing to him
that he didn’t
allow
.

“
Okay, Prince of Fire,” he said.
“I’ll bite.”

Justice stepped out of the building
and made his way down the pier.

Jes and her sisters had come to the
pier. They had followed the princes in their mind, to where
Constantine would likely put on his last big show.

He knew that his armies were
destroyed.

The other vamps—the ones who had
joined him for this battle—had simply disappeared when the
fledgling vamps were so easily removed from Constantine. The rumors
of the vaccines had proved themselves true, and the risk—at the
moment—was simply too great.

The Fae army followed them to make
sure they would not cause any more trouble. But the rogue factions
appeared to head home.

Everyone knew how likely the
reverse would have been true—if they had not found the vaccines in
time.

The Sisters of Three quickly put up
a circle and watched Conrad, where he stood by the water. Dawn had
broken the horizon, and they were attracting the attention of the
early-morning joggers, and others who had come out to greet the new
day.

The sun, breaking the horizon,
didn’t seem to faze the old vamp.

Dracon was standing on the pier,
and Justice was standing by the bonfire on the beach, when
Constantine stepped out of the building.

Conrad raised his arm and a wall of
water came up to tower over the men.

Jes closed her eyes as she watched
from the walking trail. The city would not have missed that one.
She swallowed hard and looked back to see who might have noticed.
She couldn’t have hoped that it would be missed.

She stared in horror at the
gathering crowd.

Of course they hadn’t missed
it.
That would have been too much to hope
for
!