Hope and Vengeance (Saa Thalarr, book 1): Saa Thalarr, book 1 (31 page)

"Add a few polo shirts and it's a deal," he nodded.

"I'll accept that," I agreed.

"Vampires are awake, get ready to go," Dragon announced behind us.

Chapter 16
 

"We'll drive as far as we can, then go in on foot, or in Adam's case, as mist," Dragon instructed. All of us, including Kyle and two werewolf drivers, had gathered in the foyer, preparing to leave. "We have four hours, before a category five hurricane hits the coast. This needs to be over by then."

"That's for damn sure," Lion agreed. "We'll have to employ power to get all of you out of here, and if we don't find the main enemy by that time, all hell will break loose."

"Let's go, the clock is ticking," Dragon said. He wore his blades strapped to his back over a sleeveless, laced-up black leather vest. The tattoos of red dragons rippled down his arms as he opened the door.

The werewolves had provided us with the best vehicles they could—armored Humvees with tall tires to drive through high water, if necessary.

It was necessary.

Highway 361 was covered by water. Joey's face and knuckles were white as he sat beside me, and I worried that the winds would sweep us off the highway before we reached the narrow road leading to the ship channel.

The road was little more than a path, actually, through a field that the fishermen used to get to prime fishing areas on the channel. The ground was soaked and flooded in places, rendering the road practically impassable. Tall grasses on either side had been beaten down by the rain and winds, and it was difficult to see past a rain curtain of grayness surrounding the vehicle.

We were forced to stop long before I was ready.

"When I drop you out of my mist," I said before we left the truck behind, "Wait for a minute or two and then walk in."

"Adam, what are you doing?" Joey asked.

"Planning a surprise," I growled. Before he could argue, I turned to mist and gathered my small army with me.

* * *

"This is impossible. We'll have to hop to a location near the refinery." Lion studied the low bridge leading into Corpus Christi. Covered in three feet of water, it was impassable.

"Do you want to come with us, or turn around and take your chances on the island?" Dragon asked the werewolf driver.

"I'll come. It's suicide to stay on the island," the werewolf shook his head.

"Sam, if you don't want to fight, we can leave you in a sturdy building," Daniel offered.

"I'll fight. Might take my mind off this storm," Sam Sheridan replied.

"Your dad," Daniel began.

"My dad isn't here. I am. I volunteered to drive, and I drove as far as I could. Now it's time to see if I'm a werewolf or not."

Dragon blinked at the twenty-year-old werewolf before nodding in approval. "Then come with us. Do what you can. I don't suppose I have to warn you not to do anything foolish."

"I'll do my best, Mister Dragon."

"Lion, do you want to get us there?" Dragon asked, turning dark, unrevealing eyes toward his fellow Saa Thalarr.

"Oh, yeah. I know just the place," Lion purred.

* * *

I should have suspected something when I saw Saxom and Xavier waiting for me, an apparent bubble of calm about them. If I'd been thinking rationally, I might have noticed that their clothing was dry. Rain lashed and pounded everything else, but they were untouched by it.

I didn't notice. At least not then. My anger erupted and I saw both through red eyes as I stalked toward them, the rain and wind pushing me in their direction.

Only seconds behind were Joey, Russell, Will, Kyle and Bearcat. I wanted this finished before they arrived.

How foolish I was.

* * *

Half the building is already gone
, Lion sent. He and the others walked through the abandoned administration building.
The blank spot is persisting, even in such close proximity
.

Understood, and this place wasn't built to take this kind of punishment
, Dragon agreed.
They may have taken the children away already. You know this is likely a trap
. With one end of the building flattened by the storm, the rest of it looked to follow swiftly.

The offices are still intact
, Merrill observed.

Let's go, then
, Lion responded.

Wait, what's that sound?
Karzac placed a hand on Dragon's arm.

"It's a child crying," Daniel snapped. "They're here. Let's go."

They ran down a hall toward Roy Cheek's office, when walls blew apart and disintegrated about them. A nine-foot kapirus would have been bad enough alone in such a storm—it unfolded from a crouch and roared into the wind and rain.

A Ra'Ak's appearance behind the kapirus was so much worse.

* * *

Half my claws were sheared away as I slashed at Xavier first.

Someone—or something—had placed a shield about him strong enough to destroy a vampire's claws.

Mine were strong enough to cut metal.

I watched, furious, as Xavier laughed. The storm was too strong and too loud for me to hear him.

Nevertheless, it infuriated me. Another claw shattered as I attacked his shield a second time.

One hand—one arm—almost defenseless.

Adam, stop
, Joey screamed in my mind.
They want you dead, but they want to watch you destroy yourself as much as possible, first
.

Will shouted behind us as a roof flew past him before crashing into the shields protecting Saxom and Xavier. There, it was ground to bits by whatever protected them. I blinked in shock—the same thing had destroyed four of my claws.

That's when the rogue werewolves—twenty or more—leapt from covered trenches and attacked Joey and the others. They had a fight on their hands as I turned back to my targets. I couldn't worry about that battle—I had my own to fight. Two yelps came—two werewolves were down.

Had things not happened as they did at that moment, my anger would have remained in control and I would have continued to attack Xavier's shield in futility. The thing in our favor, perhaps, was that it took Saxom and Xavier by surprise even more than it did me.

* * *

"What the hell?" Daniel shouted as the black-scaled kapirus lunged toward him, fangs bared and ready to snap his head from his body.

The eye?
Lion sent.

Everything had gone still and silent in the space of a blink.

Nothing moved.

No winds blew.

A few bits of debris floated down from a cloud-covered sky.

Watch out!
Dragon's mindspeech sounded. His dragon roared at the Ra'Ak, which coiled and prepared to strike.

* * *

"This makes everything so much easier," Saxom sneered as the shield dropped about him. Xavier stepped from his protective bubble to stand beside the Seer.

Adam, what just happened?
Joey's mindspeech reached me. Sounds of fighting continued behind me, so I knew Joey survived, at least.

"It's the eye of the storm," Saxom laughed. The sound grated while my anger cleared slightly and a thought formed slowly in my mind.

This couldn't be the eye.

The hurricane wasn't scheduled to make landfall until four hours from now. That meant the eye wouldn't pass over land until sometime afterward.

"You're both fools," I hissed at them before I charged, my hand extended, my remaining claws ready.

* * *

The kapirus snapped at Sam, who'd become werewolf the moment the monster appeared. Daniel had leapt aside already, leaving Sam vulnerable behind him.

The huge, black lion roared and charged, crashing into the kapirus. Both of them fell across debris from the building while the Ra'Ak's head snaked forward, determined to kill the Saa Thalarr battling the kapirus.

* * *

Xavier screamed compulsion at me to stop. I might have laughed—if there'd been time.

He was counting on controlling me.

He and Saxom, both.

His compulsion slipped away as easily as a raindrop slides across a windscreen.

Saxom shouted his compulsion, followed closely on the heels of Xavier's. He never finished his command.

His head rolled away before the final words left his lips. I savored a moment of grim satisfaction as Saxom began to flake.

Adam!

My name was a cry. I blinked as Xavier turned on me, fangs bared, claws ready. My right hand was toward him—the hand missing four claws. I shouted as he flew at me.

* * *

Merrill's claws took the kapirus' head too swiftly for most to see. Lion rolled away as the Ra'Ak snapped at him.

Dragon leapt as the Ra'Ak's head turned in his direction.

* * *

Did she know how this would end? Had she seen it, somehow?

I recognized the blade in Kiarra's hand when she appeared.

This was no steel blade.

This was her unicorn's horn. It gleamed a rainbow of colors, even in such gray light. There was no time to appreciate its beauty.

Xavier was on me, his claws slashing toward my throat.

He never made it.

With a single thrust of her horn blade, Kiarra skewered him.

I recalled Karzac's words as I watched my sire die.

If that touches evil, the evil dies
.

The light left Xavier's eyes. I stepped forward to embrace my love.

Two giant serpents erupted from the wet ground about us.

* * *

"Take the children to safety," Karzac shouted at Merrill, Daniel and Sam. He'd gone looking for Rita's sons while the others battled monsters. Few knew until later that four rogue vampires were left flaking behind the healer.

Karzac was First among the healers for a reason.

Dragon breathed fire, forcing the Ra'Ak to back away for a moment.

"This way," Merrill shouted, pointing toward a whitewashed petroleum storage tank nearby. "We need to be on the other side quickly."

Sam Sheridan didn't need further encouragement. Snatching one of the children from Karzac, he ran.

Karzac folded space with the second child, while Merrill grasped Daniel's arm and flew toward safety.

Dragon jerked aside as the Ra'Ak's deadly head snaked forward. The moment the Ra'Ak recoiled, Dragon leapt.

* * *

Even their scales are poison
, filtered into my mind. I blinked in shock. Calling the Ra'Ak giant serpents paid them no justice.

Fifty feet long or more, with bodies at their thickest large enough to swallow a rhino. Copper scales gleamed as they moved, their heads spiked with lengthy, dangerous barbs.

The teeth, when their mouths opened to roar, were numerous, sharp and deadly.

One Ra'Ak for each of us.

Had they suspected and chosen to lie in wait for us?

"Adam!" she shouted at me a second time. I couldn't stop myself—I jerked my head in her direction.

Her horn blade flew toward me.

She'd tossed her protection to me. I caught it quickly.

Just not quickly enough.

The Ra'Ak she faced lunged in, almost too swiftly for me to see. Watching in horror, I heard her scream as the monster sank deadly, poisonous fangs into her body. I barely turned in time to stab the second, who intended to do the same to me.

Holding up a hand in reflex is a useless gesture. I had no time to think, and never considered going to mist. My love was dead—she died as I turned to reach for her. I barely had time to blink before the explosions came.

I'd seen spawn dust. Watched as their chunks flew in every direction. The younger ones felt like a sandstorm.

The larger ones required skill or a strong shield to survive.

When a Ra'Ak dusts, unless you have thick steel or strong shields between you and the blasting chunks, you will not survive.

I had neither of those things.

All I recall is the light so many speak of when they die.

* * *

The storage tank was battered and had collapsed on one side—the side facing the Ra'Ak.

Dragon had waited to strike until the others had reached the safety of the opposite side. "I'm glad that's over," Lion frowned at the mud covering his clothing. Chunks of the Ra'Ak's dusting were everywhere. "Pheligar has a cleanup waiting. You were right, brother. The Ra'Ak was here. Do we have information on Adam, or why the storm stopped when it did?"

The hurricane had vanished, and the winds had slowed dramatically. Lightning formed in clouds hanging low over the gulf, but those were far to the east and looked to be receding.

"Dragon," Bearcat appeared nearby, holding Joey up with both arms.

"Bear?" Dragon's voice suddenly held fear.

"Two Ra'Ak on the ship channel," Bearcat dropped to his knees, Joey falling with him. "Adam and Kiarra are gone."