Dark Solace (12 page)

Dev’s screams finally died off about eleven.
I cried harder at the silence, wondering if he was dead.

The day wore on, the time passing at a crawl.
No one came back to check on me, or to even offer me water, much
less food. I was hungry, and desperately thirsty. In my frustration
and need, I began screaming, hammering at the door with my gloved
fists. But no one came.

Around three, Devlin began to shriek again. I
cried out with relief that he was still alive, but despair engulfed
me, knowing I couldn’t do anything to stop his pain...

My head snapped up, realization dawning. I
could hear him...that meant he could hear me. “Please, hold on,” I
screamed out tearfully. “I’m okay, Dev. Hold on! I love you!”

Devlin didn’t reply, his screams continuing.
I shouted out that I loved him and to hold on a few times more,
then burst into frenzied sobbing, collapsing on the floor.

* * * *

When I came to, my watch said eight p.m. I
groggily got to my feet, stretching my sore muscles.

The screaming had stopped. Whether that meant
Devlin was dead, I wasn’t sure. How much burning could he
withstand? In the movies, a vampire was toast after being exposed
for a minute or so. A few seconds of clouded daylight in a
snowstorm had burned Devlin badly. He’d had two hours of late
summer sun today.
How much pain could his mind and body
endure?

I hammered on the door. “Please, I have to go
to the bathroom!”

Despite my hammering and pleas, no one came.
Eventually, I did what I had to in the closet, crying at the shame
of it. Asking God to understand, that I’d never have done this
willingly if I’d had a choice, I put some old boxes of hymnals over
the mess, and then closed the closet door, shutting off the
stink.

Dejected and hopeless, I went back out to the
middle of the room, and sat down on the floor. I was sitting there
an hour later, my head on my hands, when the door opened silently,
and a man wearing body armor came in.

I blinked, amazed Theo had found me. Then I
took in the dull black armor.

“Sar,” a familiar hissing voice said. “Come.
Hurry.”

I got to my feet and ran to him, stifling my
cry of relief. Lash helped me put my helmet on, and then grabbed my
gloved hand, leading me fast through the darkness. I followed him
as fast as I could through the shadows, emerging from the church
into pine trees. We ducked into the thick stand, then began running
fast. When we were a hundred yards away, Lash ducked behind a tree,
and took off his helmet, facing me.

“Where is Dev?” he hissed urgently, his
tongue flicking the air. “Do you know?”

“I don’t know,” I gasped, pulling off my
helmet. “I haven’t seen him since they brought us here. They
tortured him twice today with sunlight. I heard him screaming,
Lash—” Hysteria laced my words and I clamped down hard on it,
fighting for control.

Lash gave a grimace of pain. “How long?” he
hissed.

“An hour each time,” I replied, tears in my
eyes. “Can he survive that?”

“Yes, but it’s going to be bad,” he said
softly, rubbing his brow. “I’m telling you now, so you can prepare
yourself.”

“Just get him out of there, please,” I said.
“It doesn’t matter to me. Just save him.”

Lash put his hand on my shoulder and
squeezed. “I’ll get him. Follow this line of trees to the edge of
the road. A Hummer is waiting there—”

“It’s a church,” I said quickly. “Titus won’t
be able to teleport in.”

“Go, Sar,” Lash ordered harshly. “We don’t
have time for this.”

The feeling of being immersed in ice-cold
water bathed me from head to toe. Lash was here all by himself.
“You can’t do this alone.”

“I need your help,” Lash hissed urgently.
“Get to the Hummer. There’s a rifle in the back; it’s loaded and
ready. Wait here and cover us when you see me coming. I’ll be
carrying him. With that much daylight, he’ll be hurt too bad to
walk.”

I nodded. “I can do that.”

Lash nodded once. “I know you can. Go.”

I leaned in and kissed him. Lash grabbed me
and kissed me back for a second, then broke away, giving me a shove
towards the road.

I turned and ran for all I was worth, my legs
pumping, my lungs burning. By the faint moonlight, the tree line
was easy to follow. In a few minutes, I reached the road.

Breathing a sigh of relief, I opened the SUV
door, grabbing the rifle sitting in the front seat. I’d expected an
assault rifle, something automatic or semiautomatic, at least. This
was semiautomatic, but it was a target rifle. Why had Lash brought
this? At least the scope on top was familiar. I checked the
chamber, ejecting the loaded round in the process.

When I retrieved the familiar-looking round,
I understood. This rifle was loaded with a type of explosive
bullets. Had Lash converted it? I’d never seen a rifle that took
this kind of ammunition, only handguns.

Shouldering the gun, I checked the Hummer for
more ammo, discovering a handgun that shot explosive bullets on the
back floor and some extra clips. Grabbing them all, I loaded the
gun and put it in my pocket, putting the clips in the other pocket.
There was also one more clip for the rifle on the dashboard, which
I put into the pocket with the handgun.

Gunshots sounded behind me suddenly. Terror
and adrenaline spiking through me, I turned and began running as
fast as I could back through the trees.

I got to the tree where Lash had stopped,
then looked around for a gun rest with a clear view of the route
from the church that offered some kind of concealment. Quickly, I
headed twenty yards sideways to a nearby double trunked tree,
laying the rifle through the crotch. Thank God, it was just the
right height.

More gunshots sounded, then shouts. Lash had
been discovered.

I began sighting in the gun, focusing the
scope. This was going to be hard; they would be running and moving
fast, and I’d have only a second for each shot before I’d lose the
target. I was going to have to aim and shoot faster than I ever
had, and make every shot count.

Lash appeared, a body swathed in cloth on his
shoulder, a gun in his hand. He ducked behind a tree, shielding
Devlin, then fired a few shots at his pursuers. Bullets kicked up
leaves and needles all around him.

I saw glimpses of the men after him, a
shoulder appearing here, then a hand with a gun there. They didn’t
have armor, but they were some kind of were. I’d have to get their
hearts or heads to kill them.

Shaking, I took careful aim at the lead one.
He was behind a tree, only his arm visible.

Lash fired again. The lead man ducked behind
a tree, hiding from Lash and giving me a clear view of him. I shot
him in the chest, and he fell, his heart exploding in a burst of
blood.

The remaining men fired at me. I shot back a
few times, making them duck their heads, trying to give Lash cover
to get Devlin away. But each time he went to move they fired en
mass, pinning him down.

There were too many of them. We needed
something to flush them out...

Lash suddenly threw something back at them. A
few seconds later, there was an explosion. Knocked off balance, I
gripped the tree to steady myself, then grabbed for my gun, looking
through the scope.

Lash had made it another ten yards closer to
the Hummer, and killed another man with grenade shrapnel, yet they
were closing in on him. But with that action, he’d given me targets
aplenty.

I acted fast, picking off two more, and then
another two. The last one I hit in the leg, and Lash finished him
off for me, his bullet catching the man in the throat, decapitating
him in a shower of gore. One raised up his head to shoot. I sighted
and squeezed, the gun uselessly clicking on an empty chamber.

Swearing, I popped out the clip, pocketed it
and slammed in the new one, shoving back the slide to chamber the
bullet. Re-sighting, I picked off another man, hitting him in the
leg, then the arm, then the heart.

There were too many left, and they were close
to Lash, only fifteen feet or so. In panic, I let loose a barrage
of bullets, making them duck for cover as tree trunks blew apart
and toppled. Lash bolted, making it to a tree ten yards away just
as my rifle clicked on empty a second time. A hail of bullets
ricocheted around me as the men returned fire, blowing the double
trunked tree into pieces, the large trunks crashing down in
opposite directions as I huddled behind the tree stump.

The gunfire faded. I stayed down,
waiting.

“He’s out,” an unknown voice called. “Move
in.”

I peered out carefully. No one shot at me.
Slinging the empty rifle over my shoulders, I took out the handgun
and clicked off the safety, then began moving furtively towards the
Hummer. The men and Lash were in front of me now, with no clear
targets. I’d have to get closer to be of any use. Hopefully, this
armor worked against explosive bullets.

I moved from tree to tree, nearing the men
closing in on Lash. They ignored me, focusing on him and Devlin.
Just as I got close enough to shoot one, Lash made a dash for it.
They shot him twice in the back, and he pitched forward from the
impact, Devlin’s prone form falling in the dirt.

The men came out from behind trees, walking
openly towards Lash and Dev. I shot three of them down in
succession, but missed the last one, who ducked behind a tree, the
shot for his heart thudding harmlessly into the thick pine bark and
blowing a huge chunk from the left side.

I waited carefully for him to move, my gun
aimed at the remains of the trunk. Lash stayed prone, on the
ground, Devlin’s form still before him. One pale hand with a gold
ring was visible, the skin black in places, scorched. My face
twisted in anger. Bullets were too kind for these men.

“You aren’t going to just walk out of here,”
the man shouted. “Your leader’s dead. Put down your gun, and we’ll
let you live.”

Pleased that he thought I was a professional,
I almost thanked him. Biting my tongue, I sighted in on the trunk,
then blew the right side into pieces. The trunk swayed, then fell,
exposing the man as he made a dash towards Lash, firing three shots
at me.

I ducked down, then peered around the trunk
just in time to see the last man approach Lash, and ease him over
with his foot. Lash made no sound as he flopped bonelessly onto his
back. The man lowered his gun and shot him again in the chest.
Lash’s body jerked.

Fury filled me.
I didn’t have a clear
shot!
I broke cover, moving fast, my gun held in both
hands.

The man pulled off Lash’s helmet, looking
down at him in contempt. “So this is the famous Lash,” he said with
sarcasm. “I’d heard you were the best. What a lie that was.”

I almost had a shot! Just a little
closer...

The man eased back the trigger, the click
loud.

He was going to shoot him in the head. If
Lash wasn’t already dead, he’d be killed. I stopped where I was and
fired, the shot hitting a tree. The man wheeled around, and shot
back. I dove for the closest tree, the bullets whining past me
taking the bark off inches from my side. I took a breath, then
peered out, immediately catching a bullet in the arm. With a cry of
fear, I fell backwards from the sudden impact.

“Argh!” the man screamed.

The bullet hadn’t gone through my armor, or
so I hoped. I staggered to my feet, my arm numb, grasping the tree
for support.

“Arghhh!” the man screamed again. Another
gunshot sounded.

I stumbled towards Lash, bathed in fear, my
mind screaming at me to move faster before it was too late.

Yet another gunshot sounded.

Lash had the man fast on his knees, fangs
buried in his throat. But his poison wasn’t working. The man was
flailing and fighting. I ran towards them just as the man put the
gun to Lash’s temple, and eased back the hammer. Lash glared up at
the man, still biting him hard.

I took aim and fired. The side of the man’s
head exploded, and he sagged, the gun dropping from his hand.

Lash abruptly shoved him backwards, and
looked up at me. “Thanks,” he hissed.

I swayed, blinking back welling tears as I
looked down at Devlin’s covered form. “You wrapped him in an altar
cloth.”

“It was available.” Lash picked up Devlin,
shouldering him. As he did the cloth moved, revealing the extent of
Dev’s injuries on his arms: most of his naked skin scorched black,
giant red blisters on the remainder weeping fluid.

I swallowed hard. “Oh God—”

“Hurry, Sar,” Lash ordered. “We’re not safe
yet.”

We hurried to the Hummer. I opened the back
hatch for Lash, and he laid Dev carefully inside. “Will he be
okay?” I asked.

Lash nodded. “He needs blood. I’ll be back
with some. Stay with him and guard him, Sar. But do it from the
front seat; no closer. He’ll be uncontrollable when he
awakens.”

I nodded.

“It’ll be close to a half hour.”

I put my hand on his shoulder. “You can’t go
back, not alone. You’re hurt.”

“I’m fine,” Lash said with a grimace,
straightening himself up. “The armor took the bullets. None got
through. But I’ll be feeling it tomorrow for damn sure.”

I gave him an uneasy look.

“Just stay quiet here in the Hummer,” he
said, speed dialing his cell phone. “Lee to Jackson,” he hissed
into it. “Teleport now.”

A moment later, Titus appeared with all of
the bears, all dressed in armor and loaded up for war. I gaped in
amazement. So much for Terian’s decree that a being couldn’t
teleport more than one person at a time.

Titus and the bears clustered around
Lash.

“Nick and Jazz, go to the left and create a
diversion with Titus. The rest of you are with me at the
front.”

“How many?” Titus rumbled.