Redemption (Jane #4) (6 page)

I felt renewed hope grow
inside me. "So, there is a chance--"

"No, Jane. Please, my love, do
not do this to yourself. The chances are miniscule, at best."

"But there is a chance." I set
my jaw and stared at Felipe, silently begging him to let me have
this one hope.

"No, Jane. Have you read
Interview with the Vampire?"

"Yes..."

"I don't know if Rice knows a
vampire or if it was pure chance, but that story is very close to
something that really happened. If a child is turned without
permission, they are not given the proper training and can become
dangerous. They are destroyed as soon as they are discovered."

"But.."

"Stop. Please. You cannot
allow yourself to entertain this idea. I never should've brought it
up."

I was ready to protest again,
until I really thought about it. To turn a child would be to
imprison someone in a miniature body for eternity. They would grow
mentally, but never mature physically. Second, even if that child
is given the choice, would they truly know the decision they were
making? Only a fully grown adult could make such a life-changing
move knowingly. The child might regret it for ever. I bit my lip,
nodding slowly, then snuggled close to him.

He sighed, a frown set firmly
upon his face, and pulled me close. He flipped the television back
on and silence fell over us. We eventually fell asleep, he still
angry with himself for even mentioning it, me with dreams of
children dancing in my head.

Over the next few days,
preparations were made to assault the seaside town that had been
plagued by rogues. As the sun began to set on the sixth day with
our new teammates, we all headed to the garage with our equipment.
The soldiers would be taking the two vehicles they had arrived in.
My team had acquired a new Humvee since the destruction of our
second SUV. As soon as it arrived, Felipe had appropriated it, and
I, being his girlfriend, was happy to ride shotgun.

We loaded up the vehicles with
a huge assortment of artillery, medical kits, and anything else we
thought we might possibly need to take back a town overflowing with
vampires. Between the four vehicles, we spread flamethrowers,
grenade launchers, machine guns, shotguns, pistols, flak jackets,
helmets, mace, swords, and a Frisbee--Jax had hopes that we'd have
some time to chill on the beach when the baddies were all gone.

As I climbed in beside Felipe,
he smiled at me, but no warmth reached his eyes. They were filled
with fear, and it scared the crap out of me. Before all the
previous battles, I knew he was afraid but his eyes were always set
with confidence and determination. This time, as I watched his
nostrils flare while he stared out the window at the other vehicles
being loaded up, he was afraid, the outcome of our assault
uncertain.

Jax was talking to on of the
soldiers at the back of the military transport when Felipe turned
to me. "Jane, this could go very badly."

I nodded. I knew just how
badly it could go.

"I don't just mean for
us."

"I don't understand."

He stared out into the garage
as if searching for the right words. "Joe told you that Donna was
missing, right?"

"Yes."

"There are reports of a woman
in the town were heading to. She wasn't included in the information
we looked at as a group, but... Jane, her description matched Donna
almost exactly." He turned to me, gripping my hand tightly in his.
"I'm afraid, Jane. I'm afraid she's there, and we'll have to fight
her."

"What do you mean 'she's
there'? Conrad killed her sister. Why the hell would she go help
him?" I could feel the anger and confusion flowing through my
veins. I wanted to say something else, I wanted to scream at the
top of my lungs and ask why something so stupid would happen, but I
just felt helpless. I slumped in my seat as Felipe put his arm
around me.

"I don't know. It makes no
sense. I'm hoping it's not her. There's still a chance it's
not."

I looked up and saw Jax
walking toward the Hummer. "Does anyone else know?"

"Ronin. We didn't tell anyone
else. Everyone is enough on edge as it is."

"Yeah, but don't you think
it'll be worse if they see her coming at us with Conrad by her
side?"

"I've thought about that.
Hopefully it won't be the case."

The door opened to the back
and we both quieted. When Jax was all settled, Felipe started the
truck. The military folks were running point and rear on this
assault, so we waited until their Hummer pulled out, then fell in
behind. Ronin followed us in the SUV and the military transport
brought up the rear. We were an intimidating sight, for sure.
Anyone seeing us on the highways and byways would surely be
impressed.

I, however, had too much to
think about to be impressed by such a display. I kept picturing
myself encountering Donna in a full-fledged battle and being forced
to stake her. Or worse, having her stake me, then tell me how much
she hated me as I lay dying.

The hours passed slowly and
painfully, silence reining heavily despite Jax's attempts to
lighten the mood. Eventually he gave up and switched with Benton at
a pit stop. Benton had been just as surly as Felipe since Ado's
death, but more depressed, so he was perfect company for our sad
little duo. He sat quietly in the back and stared out the window
until it was time for him to drive. Not an unnecessary word was
said.

We arrived at the staging area
outside of town when the sun was still high in the sky. Using tarps
to keep the sun off them, Ronin and Nathan joined Felipe and I in
the Humvee, while Jax and Benton went to talk to the others. The
humans were going to head into town and run a two-fold scouting
operation. Several houses had been labeled as vampire enclaves and
were confirmed to have no families inside them. These were going to
be destroyed while the sun was still out. Then once we got the
other vampires good and pissed off, we'd move in to finish the job.
Easy peasy.

We sat in silence in the
blacked-out vehicle for what seemed like an eternity. Nathan's
constant fidgeting made me want to turn around and rip his hands
off, but I behaved myself and relieved my anger by biting my lip
until it bled. As the sun sank low in the sky, Ronin reached into
the built-in fridge and pulled out bottles of blood for all of us.
We needed all the energy we could get with the upcoming battle.

When the last rays of
brilliant death finally disappeared, we geared up and headed into
town. The humans were spread out, some hiding behind an overturned
car in the middle of the street. I jumped out of the truck and
raced to join Rossi, who was peeking out from behind a tire to fire
her machine gun.

"I thought you guys would have
this all taken care of."

Rossi laughed at my pathetic
attempt at humor, but the soldier behind me growled and continued
firing.

"So what's up?"

"Some of the blood slaves
decided to put up a fight. Looks like they were ready for us.
They're pretty well armed."

I glanced around the bumper. A
number of houses were on fire, which was good. Not so good were the
dozen or so angry citizens firing bullets and lobbing grenades in
our direction. One such grenade bounced off the top of the car and
plunked down next to Rossi. I picked it up and chucked it back in
the direction it came from, satisfied at the explosion and
accompanying scream it caused when it detonated.

Behind us, I could see Felipe,
Ronin, and Nathan joining up with other groups of soldiers. I
couldn't see Jax or Benton anywhere, which made my heart surge. I
pushed it out of my mind as another explosion rocked the vehicle
behind me. The soldier screamed and ducked back, holding his arm. I
was by his side in an instant, pulling his hand from the wound. It
was a jagged tear across his bicep and I could see the bone
beneath. I pulled at my belt, freeing the medical kit I kept there.
I had his arm cleaned and bound in less than a minute. When I
looked up, he was staring at me, eyes wide, mouth open. At least he
wasn't screaming anymore.

"Are you ok to keep
shooting?"

He didn't say anything so I
waved my hand in front of his face. I had to stifle a laugh when he
jumped.

"That... was awesome..."

I heard Rossi giggle behind
us. "I think he's in shock, Jane."

"Nah. I think he's just
realized that not all vampires are blood-thirsty killers." I
smacked the soldier on his uninjured shoulder so hard he rocked
into the car.

He flushed red in
embarrassment and picked up his gun again. Just about that time, I
heard a blood-curdling scream echo down the street from the
direction of the mayor house. I hazarded a look and regretted it
immediately.

Coming at us full speed was a
woman, a very familiar vampire. Her long brown hair blew behind her
as she raced down the street. Her feet were clad in high-heeled
thigh-length boots zipped up over skin-tight jeans. Donna was
looking very much like she did the first night I met her, aside
from the deadly hunger in her eyes and the anger on her face.
Beside her ran the man who had tortured me for months.

I pulled my gaze from them and
found Felipe. He was staring, unable to move. Sensing my eyes on
him, he pulled himself together and pounded twice on the vehicle he
was crouching behind. The sound echoed throughout the area and
moments later, three men stood up. One of them was Jax and I felt a
sigh of relief escape my lips.

My two comrades at the car
were still firing at the blood slaves on either side of the street
and I yanked them back, tucking them under my arms like a mother
hen. The man struggled at first until he heard the distinctive thud
of several grenades being launched. They were set to explode on
impact and more than half a dozen had been lobbed. The ground shook
and pavement rained down upon my head. The car rocked dangerously
and I thought it might tip over, either on us or exposing us. Both
would have been bad.

When the dust cleared, I
indicated to the soldiers to remain where they were and hazarded
another glance around the vehicle. The street was pocked with
craters, each large enough for a full-grown man to curl up in. The
two vampires who had been advancing on us were nowhere to be seen
and I felt a sob growing in my throat until I realized no body
parts lay on the ground either.

I had no time to react when I
heard the roar. I knew something horrible was going to happen, so I
reached out and grabbed the two humans beside me. As I pulled them
in front of me, I felt the car smash into my spine, launching us
into the air. Rossi's scream pierced my ears and I wanted
desperately to cover them, but I knew if I let her go, she would be
crushed. I was being pushed along by the weight of the vehicle and
when I felt our momentum start to slow, I tossed the humans to
either side, hoping they would clear the inevitable crash and not
break something in the process.

When I hit the pavement, I
tucked myself into a ball and rolled, aiming for a direction
slightly off from that of the car. It crashed beside me, skidding
to a halt. I stood and turned toward the oncoming vampires and
braced myself. As I did, Donna smashed into me, flinging us both
into the wreckage of the car. I felt something pierce my back and
bit down on scream. I reached out, gripping Donna's shirt, and
flung her to the side. Looking down, I saw a piece of metal
sticking through my abdomen. With a grunt and a push, I hefted
myself away from the vehicle and the rod ripped free, setting my
insides on fire.

Donna was rising to her feet,
a snarl on her face, when I turned toward her. Her shirt was torn
and soaked with blood. I could see a gash in her side and another
running down her cheek. Her left hand was burned, the flesh raw and
bleeding and her jeans were scorched black.

"Donna, please." I held up my
hands, begging her to stop.

She howled, a terrifying thing
that reminded me of those nights I spent as a child cowering
beneath the blankets as the coyotes hunted in the fields around my
house. It sounded like when they caught sight of prey and went on
the chase. She launched herself at me, soaring through the air, and
I ducked around the vehicle. The crunch she made when she hit would
have broken a thousand bones in a human's body. It barely slowed
Donna down.

As I raced toward the military
transport, I saw Felipe and Conrad locked in battle. Neither had
weapons, which was actually a bit of a relief. Ado had had Conrad
beat before Conrad managed to grab Ado's sword. At least I knew
Felipe wouldn't go down the same way.

Other vampires were emerging
from houses on either side of the street now that the sun was down
and they were advancing on our little group. We fell back, trying
to keep the battle from spreading out to far. I found my way to
Nathan and stood beside him, watching Donna approach. When she saw
I had company, she veered off her path and headed toward one of the
soldiers. I saw several bullets pierce her, but none slowed her
down. She reached him and ripped his arm off before any of us could
do anything.

With my attention averted, I
was a danger to myself and didn't see the three vampires coming at
me from the side. Two of them worked in sync and grabbed my arm and
leg on my left side. They swung me--double the vampire, double the
power--and launched me into the air.

I've always enjoyed flying,
but that is an experience I never want to relive. I hung in the air
for an eternity, watching the battle play out in slow motion below
me. Vampires and humans fell left and right and there was nothing I
could do to aid my friends or vanquish my enemies. When I saw the
ground approaching rapidly, I flailed my arms and legs, trying
futilely to slow my descent. I landed with a deafening thud. I
could feel several bones break. Despite our quick healing, broken
bones still hurt as a vampire. My head snapped back and my skull
cracked against the hard ground. Black and red mingled at the edges
of my vision, threatening to pull me under and I fought to remain
in control. I breathed deeply, trying to pull myself together. The
battle wasn't over and I knew they needed my help.