I've Been Waiting for You (9 page)

He remained that way for a few more minutes and then decided it must have been one of the children who had screamed, a bad dream.
He left, closing the door behind him. No need to lock, where could they go to? After all, the whole village was supportive of what they had here.

Sally waited what seemed forever. She saw Colum look around the corner. Then the men filed out. She got up quickly and went to Odin. He pulled her to him and quickly kissed the top of her head.

Colum looked around the room. With the amount of women and children, it made their mission a bit more risky, but it wasn’t like they weren’t up for risk.

“O
K, this is how it will be. We are going to go back the same way as we came. Each of you men will take two women and a child if necessary. Travis, you will have Sa’dah and her newborn. See if she can strap the baby to her to make it easier.”

Odin handed Sally a
Glock. “You know how to use it. Don’t hesitate, do you understand?”

Sally looked up at her mate. “I understand.”

Odin caught her chin. “Remember, I love you and should anything happen, I will be right there and you will be fine.”

They both knew what he meant. Sally swallowed. She wanted it, it would mean forever
, but she was so scared. Here, for these brief few minutes they were sheltered and safe. Once they got out side, they were exposed. She pressed her head into his chest. Then looking up she reached for what of his face was exposed. “I love you.”

Olivia stayed for a moment longer in Thor’s embrace. “Will you take Houda and
me?”

Thor looked down at the one who had become the focal point of his existence. The one
, despite the fact she fought him every time he said something, he had fallen in love with. He would need to think straight to get them back safely. “Yes.”

Houda looked at the giants around her. Just like the old stories she had heard as a child of giants who once walked this earth. Well
, here stood some and she was about to put her daughter and herself in the hands of them.

Thor
, holding Olivia’s hand, turned towards Houda and her little girl. “I know this is not enough time to get to know one another, but I want you to know I will do everything in my power to keep you both safe.”

Houda held her daughter. “Promise me should anything happen my little girl goes to Sally.”

Thor looked at Olivia, “I don’t suppose you have had a chance to explain who or what we are?”

Olivia looked from Houda to Thor. “No
.”

Thor got down on his knee and looked into Fatima’s eyes and then up at her mother.
“I will do my best.” He took a power bar out of his pocket. “Here, little one eat, you will need the strength.”

He watched as the mother hugged her daughter and talked low to her.

Colum watched as everyone got ready. “Take only what you have on you, nothing more. You will be provided for once we are safely away and should you have family that you want to get back to, we will get you there. If not you will be provided for.”

One of the women came out of the bathroom. Her face was down as she came to the group. Houda walked up to her and spoke to her in Arabic.

Houda turned to the group. “She is scared and is afraid she will be a problem. She just threw up.”

Thor came up to her. “Tell her we will be out of here fast and the wall is the only place of any concern. Not to worry.”

Colum pulled Odin and Thor aside. “Caution aside, we use our powers to get these women and children over. We won’t be going over the regular way.”

Both men nodded.

Colum walked up to his father, who’d just come back in with a couple of his own men. “We have the gate unlocked.”

Colum smiled at the men. “O
K, so we go traditionally. Let’s move out.”

They filed down the hallway, single file. The women all held onto the man or vampire she was assigned to. If there were two in a group
, the second woman held onto the front one by her robe. Constant contact.

The only noise was that of the soft footfall of the men’s boots and the women’s robes gentle swish. They c
ame to the door that led to outside. There was a brief stop and then they continued. They were going the long way to reach the big gate where they would be able to exit the open gate rather than the men using their powers to get the women over.

All of a sudden
, dogs started to bark. The group stopped and plastered themselves against the wall. They were not in the shadows at this moment.

One of the captors woke to the sound of the dogs
barking next door. They had never gotten dogs, who needed them when their neighbor had enough for the whole village? He lay there for a minute and then decided it would be good to check out. Since he was awake he would make coffee too.

He got up, heard the dogs really bar
king like they had found something.
Probably a rat.

He would wake the others. They needed to get up
, anyway. They were lazy, good to get them up. He holstered his handgun and picked up his AK-47. He put his band of ammo around his shoulder. He would be so glad when they were done with this job so he could go back to his family in the mountains. This was no life.

He knocked on doors as he walked down the hallway. As he tur
ned the corner he saw the women’s quarters door was ajar again.
What is this, their door shouldn’t be open.
He walked to the door, opened it with his toe and sticking his head in, knew it would take a few moments for his eyes to adjust to the dark. What he saw, rather what he didn’t see, confused him at first.

* * * * * * * *

Justin could smell trouble, and this smelled like trouble. He saw his brother, Brent, standing by the corner of the wall up ahead. Brent looked back and motioned for Justin to come forward. Colum nodded, and Justin advanced the group of women. He passed by the young mother and newborn and picked up her scent. This would be good, get her scent, then go take care of whatever his brother wanted.

He got to his brother. Brent whispered, “Can you get a visual
and see if the dogs are right there? If they are, shut them up.”

Colum had come up. “It might not be a bad idea. We have 15 more yards to the gate
.”

They all froze at the next sound.

“The women have escaped, the women have escaped!”

Curses could be heard up and down the line.
Colum couldn’t believe it. They would be thrown into a shit storm with all these women and children. “Travis, Odin and Thor, get the girls and as many out with you as possible.”

Travis grabbed Sa’dah’s hand
, “Come little one, don’t be frightened. I will keep you and the babe safe.” He took off as if his feet had wings pulling the young mother with him. Odin had Sally, who grabbed Fatima. Thor had Olivia and Houda, along with the girl who had been sick. They almost made it to the gate when they heard men running after them.

“Run
, girls!”

Sally looked back as Olivia came around the corner. She saw a few men and she knew they weren’t
on their side. Gunshots could be heard, along screams of the women and children. Sally was almost at the gate with Odin. She looked ahead quickly and saw Travis running with the young mother holding on to his gear. Glancing back where Sally knew Thor and Olivia should be she saw the woman who Olivia and Houda were with, fall as they ran. At that moment everything slowed down like still frames in a movie, slow motion. She saw Thor turn. He was perhaps ten feet from where Olivia had stopped to help the fallen woman. Sally said later it all came down to feet and seconds and those last few breaths she took before all hell broke loose. She heard Thor yell Olivia’s name. Saw Olivia reaching for the woman, saw the woman get up and then Sally wasn’t sure what she was hearing but she had a feeling it wasn’t good. Because she saw the hostiles duck for cover and then she heard Thor scream, “NOOO!!
”

The woman had grabbed Olivia’s hand and then Sally saw with certain
ty what was about to happen. Olivia tried to yank herself free but fell to the ground. The woman was too strong and she quickly threw herself on Olivia and Houda. Olivia looked up, eyes wild as she locked her gaze with Sally’s one last time, she reached out with her hand to Sally. Sally felt Odin’s body hit hers in a tackle. Then the explosion rocked the courtyard. It happened so quickly, that Sally felt the ground shake. Going down, she had breathed in a bunch of dirt. Now, she thought she would suffocate with the weight of Odin’s body on top of hers. Then she felt him get off of her, heard screams of the vampires, women, children and the kidnappers; more gunshots and Colum screaming orders. She and Fatima were scooped up by Odin, she heard Fatima’s cry, “Mama, mama.”

She was being carried as Odin ran fast. Fatima’s little hand was clutching her arm as she screamed her mother’s name over and over.

She heard Odin say something and then she heard more shots being fired and then she felt the pain hit and rip through her legs. She must have made a noise, she didn’t remember, all she heard was Odin and his curses. She then felt like time had stopped. She heard a lot of gunfire and Fatima’s crying as Odin ran further but still holding them. Then she was loaded into the helicopter along with others and Odin whispering in her ear as he bent over her. “I will be back.”

Was that her screaming as he left
, or someone else? As if it was all a dream and was Olivia with her or back in the courtyard?

Odin had Travis and
his father stay in the helicopter with Sally, the children and some of the women. He ran back to the compound.

He stood at the outside wall and waited and let his senses take over. He heard the fight
taking place, probably just a few yards away. He jumped up and was quickly over the wall. The way was clear. He ran around to the corner of a building saw what was taking place. Saw Thor about to rip off the head of one of the captors. It looked like all the women were safe, so it was pretty much an open battle, and it was clear who the victor would be.

He saw a hostile
taking aim at his brother. He found the hostile in his sights, yelled to his brother then pulled his own trigger and the man never knew what hit him. He was over to Thor’s side instantly, and saw the red rage that radiated from his brother’s eyes as he knelt on the ground where they had last seen Olivia.

Odin grasped his brother’s shoulder. “She’s gone
. I’m so sorry. We never figured a female bomber would happen.”

Thor looked up at his brother. The one thing, person, creature
, who had always been with him, who had never left him was gone. “I never told her I loved her.”

Odin got down on his knees, heard a noise, turned and shot another one of the girls
’ captors with his Glock at close range. “Come with me, we have to get out of this area.”

Thor looked at his brother. “They can’t kill me
.”

“No, but they will take your soul if you let them. Come, let’s go see if the
King needs us. We will come back after.”

The battle was pretty much over by the time they rounded the corner. Justin was ma
king short order of any captors that came near him.

Colum
came up to them. “Thor, I am so sorry, she was just like my daughter.”

Thor stared at his
King. “Do you think she will come back?”

Colum nodded his head. “She will
, and it will be in our circle or close to it. We must watch and wait for a sign.

Thor nodded his head. “Then I will wait for her
, as you did for Katherine, Sire.”

Brent came up to their tight group and cleared his throat.
“We have cleared the compound, sir.”

Colum looked at Brent. “Good job. Do you know how many casualties and fatalities we have?”

Brent alway
s felt nervous around the vampires, so much power in these guys. “Three fatalities, Olivia, the suicide bomber and one of the other women, her body is near where the bomb went off.”

“Well
, let’s gather up her body and find out if she had family. Gather up anything that we can and we’ll get back to our helicopters,” Colum answered. He radioed for an empty copter to come pick them up.

They walked to the last spot that Olivia had stood and Thor knelt again in the dirt. He let his hand scoop dirt and he said a few words. He took out a bag and scooped more dirt and fragments of cloth. This would be all they had to bury Olivia, for her family. For him
, he would wait for her rebirth.

Odin knelt near the body of the other woman who died. “This was Houda
, the mother of Fatima. Brent, get me my litter in my pack.”

Brent knelt near Odin. “Yes
, sir.” He got out the bag that they used for this purpose. They carried everything on missions. Depending on how far they went determined the amount of gear they had.

“Here
, sir,” They gathered up the woman’s body. Odin looked over at his brother who still knelt by the hole where Olivia had last been. Odin saw tears of blood stream down his brother’s cheeks. He heard him talking in a low voice. “I’m sorry I failed you, Olivia, but I won’t next time.” Odin watched, frozen as Thor scooped up more dirt and put in a small bag.