Darkest Hour (29 page)

Lockman gritted his teeth. “Fine. But stay close.” On the way out, he grabbed a Beretta 90-Two and offered it to Kate.

She held up her hand to refuse. “I’ve got this,” she said and patted the knife on her belt.

She’d gotten pretty comfortable with her power. Too overconfident. Lockman had noticed the scaring on her arm. And the last cut she’d made, the one to help him, looked raw, as if it hadn’t quite healed yet. If she planned on continuing to use her power like a quick draw six-shooter, she would need to find a better way to fuel it. He didn’t have time to get her some blood from the stores now, though.

He tucked the pistol in his waistband, led the way out the back of the house.

The advantage of having the house up on the hill was the superior view of the compound at large. It helped that their intruders showed no sign of trying to hide. Three figures stood before the portal arch, gazing up at it like tourists taking in the local sights. From this distance, about two-hundred yards, Lockman couldn’t make out any details about the intruders. They must have used mojo to get on site, which was what set off the alarm—which still whined and didn’t seem to concern them in the slightest. Lockman could determine that the shorter one standing in the middle was female with dark hair. He tried not to draw any conclusions, but Kate seemed to make the same leap his mind did.

“Jessie,” she whispered.

“Gabriel,” Lockman reminded. “And we don’t know that for sure.” He crouched and gestured for Kate to do the same. Staying low, they crossed to the horse pen and took cover behind the converted SWAT truck. From inside the truck, Lockman grabbed a pair of binoculars. He inched to the back corner of the truck and peeked around.

The binoculars brought the three intruders up close and made it easy to confirm Lockman and Kate’s first guess. The central female was Jessie. Her companions were a pair of male vampires. None of them so much as cringed in the midday sunlight.

Lockman watched as Jessie led her henchmen to one end of the portal arch where she began inspecting the machinery. His stomach clenched. Of course. Gabriel was looking for a way to transport his vampire army out of the arctic and Lockman had the very thing sitting in his backyard. Gabriel must have somehow traced the source of the portal in Alaska. He also must have had practitioners in Barrow who had the ability to send Gabriel here with a couple companions.

Gabriel’s hubris made him feel safe enough to come here with only a pair of guards. He was so wrapped up in his own plans, he didn’t realize he had exposed himself to attack.

Was it possible they could end this all right here?

He backed up and turned to Kate. “That’s Gabriel, all right.”

Kate’s eyes widened. “You have to get me close.”

“And then what?”

“If I can communicate with Jess, maybe I can help her with my power to take back control.”

It sounded too easy. At the same time, it made perfect sense. If Father Caruthers had opened the door for Gabriel to take over, why couldn’t Kate do the same for Jessie. And Kate had far more power than the priest. Not to mention her emotional connection to Jessie.

A fresh dose of adrenaline pumped into Lockman’s system. Colors seemed sharper. The continuing pulse of the alarm turned to a battle hymn in his ears. He gave Kate a nod. “I’ll create a distraction to draw off the guards.” He hooked a thumb in the direction of the four-wheeler parked nearby in the pen. “You know how to drive one of those?”

“I can figure it out.”

He slapped the side of the SWAT truck. “This is my ride. Once I’ve got their attention in this, you burn rubber and get your ass down to Jessie.” He hooked a hand around the back of her neck. The urge to pull her in and kiss her came over him, the adrenaline making him drunk and impulsive. He pushed back the urge and looked firmly into her eyes. “Bring our daughter back.”

“I will.”

Chapter Thirty-Nine

Kate ducked behind a sedan with all the windows tinted while Craig revved up the SWAT truck and drove it out of the pen, smashing through the rotted wooden fence, and rolling on down the hill toward the vampires. She took a second to think about the look in Craig’s eyes when he told her to bring their daughter back. She knew he had thought about kissing her. Part of her had even wanted him to.

When this was over, could she consider letting it happen?

First things first. Make sure this
was
over.

Refocused on the present, she watched Craig speed down into the compound. The truck bounced and lurched across the open space. With the binoculars Craig had handed over, Kate focused in on Jessie and the vampires to see their reaction. The guard vamps smacked at each other for attention and pointed frantically at the oncoming vehicle.

Jessie—
Gabriel, for now at least
—calmly turned from the machinery and watched the truck come. She said something to the vampires with a mild wave of her hand, sending them off running to meet the truck. Then she turned back to the machine and continued inspecting.

My turn.

Kate dropped the binoculars and sprinted to the four-wheeler. She swung her leg over, mounting up like an old west deputy. She turned the key in the ignition and the four-wheeler grumbled to life. She used the gap Craig had made in the fence to leave the pen, then cut to the right, following the length of the hill until it tapered, curving around to Jessie’s flank. She whizzed down along a path between a pair of buildings. The path came to a T at the facade of the building that the arch was behind.

The wind blew Kate’s hair back as she gunned the four-wheeler, her stomach doing flips at each bump or dip in the ground. The vehicle felt like it might fly out from under her. She clutched the handlebars until her knuckles ached. She only slowed down when she reached the turn and began to circle the building.

She cleared the far edge and the arch came into full view. The wind in Kate’s eyes made them water. When she blinked away the tears, she noticed Jessie no longer stood by the machine. Kate braked hard, swinging her gaze left and right for any sign of her daughter. Dirt shot up in a spray as the four-wheeler skidded sideways and threatened to tip. Kate threw her weight to one side to keep the vehicle on its wheels. It rocked hard once and shuttered to a halt.

Still no sign of Jessie. Kate put her hand on the hilt of her knife. That’s when she spotted the shadow sailing across the grass. Kate had long enough to look up and see Jessie falling toward her. Then Jessie collided into Kate and knocked her off the back of the four-wheeler.

All the air wheezed out of her as she slammed onto her back. Jessie landed on top of her, lips peeled back from her fangs, an image of her daughter that would forever burn against her retinas. The ash-colored skin and black veins. The gray mottled gums that held her fangs in place. The red glow in her eyes.

Jessie drew a clawed hand back as if to strike, but she froze. That glow in her eyes flared. Her brows lifted and her lips slid back down to hide her teeth. Agony then twisted her face. She looked as if some terrible struggle went on in her mind.

“Jessie?” Kate asked.

“Mom?” Jessie said.

Jessie’s skin began sizzle like bacon in a pan. She chuffed, scrambled off of Kate, and stared at her smoking hands. Wisps of the smoke swirled in the breeze, carrying the smell of burning, rotted flesh. “What?” she said, her voice like scrap metal in a blender. “No.” She clenched her hands into fists and closed her eyes. After a few seconds, the sizzling and smoking stopped. She opened her eyes and glared at Kate.

Kate got to her feet, hand instinctively going to her knife. “Jess?”

“She’s surprised to see you,” Jessie said still in that twisted metal voice. “You gave her quite the jolt. But I’ve put her back in place. No worries.”

Gabriel
. Kate drew the knife.

Jessie’s mouth curled up on one side. She pointed at Kate’s blade. “Lockman sent you after me armed with that? He really does want to get rid of you.”

“I’ll give you one chance to get out of my daughter on your own before I rip you out myself.”

“You have no idea what you’re dealing with, do you?”

Kate sliced across her arm. The pain felt good. It sent a charge through her, told her she was alive and ready to fight. The air crackled around her and smelled of ozone.

Jessie’s eyes flared. “Oh, now this is interesting.”

Reaching deep into her psyche, channeling her motherly instincts, Kate gathered all the power within her and reached out to Jessie’s soul, lost in her own body.
Jessie, you have to fight him. I can help you.

The blood running down Kate’s arm began to glow. Some of it evaporated as the magic consumed it. She made a conscious effort to let the wound stay open and the blood flowing. She would need all she could stand to give.

“You poor dear,” Gabriel said through Jessie. “I hold the power of nearly one-hundred men, women, and children bled to death just for me. You’ll have to do much better than that.” He flicked a hand as if brushing aside a stray hair.

A shockwave struck Kate and lifted her off her feet. The knife tumbled out of her grip. She flailed her arms and legs as she flew through the air, helpless to gravity and certain to break a limb when she landed. At the last minute, she gathered her wits enough to use her magic to control her fall. She dropped onto her feet, staggered, but remained upright. But she had lost her concentration and allowed the magic to close her wound.

About thirty yards stretched between her and Gabriel/Jessie. The knife had landed half that distance with its blade sunk into the ground.

“Fancy,” Gabriel said. “But now you’re all out of blood.” He reached out and the blade slipped out of the ground and flipped into his hand. He examined the blade, turning it over to view one side, then the other. “Actually, I think there’s still some on the knife. Here.” He flung the knife at Kate and it shot through the air as fast as a bullet.

In a blink, Kate felt the thump against her chest. The knife’s hilt stuck straight out of her like a slot machine handle. She staggered two steps back, one forward, then fell into a fetal ball on the ground. Each breath she took rattled like plastic wrap caught in a windstorm and sent shuddering pain through her chest.

Pierced a lung
, she thought.

Her limbs turned cold and numb.

I’m shutting down.

Her mouth filled with the taste of pennies. A blood bubble popped between her lips. Darkness curled around her, the shadow of the hand of death.

Chapter Forty

When Lockman saw the pair of vamps peel off from Gabriel and run straight at him, he mashed down on the gas. The shocks rocked on the uneven ground, making the truck tilt wildly. The steering wheel felt like it wanted to jump out of his hands. Any second and he would lose control of the vehicle. Control, in this instance, was overrated. What he needed was reckless speed. Keep these vamps running like a couple of dogs after a fire engine. Give Kate the time she needed to do her part.

The vamps charged toward a head-on collision with the SWAT truck. He knew they were tougher than ever, but he still bet on the truck faring better in such a crash. If they were that stupid, Lockman was more than happy to decorate his grill with their guts.

He hoped for too much, though. The vamps leaped up at the last minute. One of them sailed up onto the roof, booted feet clunking down hard above Lockman’s head. The second vamp lifted his feet mid-air and kicked forward, smashing through the truck’s windshield. The safety glass held together and ripped open instead of shattering. The vamp shot feet-first through the hole and landed in the passenger seat, which snapped loose from its bolts in the floor and rocked back with the impact.

Adrenaline sluiced through Lockman’s bloodstream. The world slowed down around him. Actions took command from instinct. One hand gripping the steering wheel as it twisted left and right, he drew the pistol from his waistband and fired straight into his new passenger’s face. At pointblank range, the .40 rounds caved in the vamp’s cheekbones, nose, and a chunk of its forehead. Its lower jaw hung limp as the beast screamed. One eye popped and splattered. The other hung out of its broken socket, staring madly at Lockman.

Even as Lockman emptied his magazine into its head, the vamp turned to attack.

But Lockman had already begun the second phase in his own defense. He tossed the pistol aside, grabbed the wheel with both hands, and prayed the seatbelt in this truck worked as well as the safety glass. He mashed down on the brake with both feet.

Gravity and momentum took over.

The vamp in the truck tried to fight these forces by clinging to the seat. His landing had already loosened the bolts and now the last few came apart. The seat flung forward and carried the vamp along with it, straight out the windshield like a fighter pilot ejecting from his plane. The vamp screeched on its way out. The safety glass caught on an edge of the seat and ripped loose from the windshield frame.

The vamp on the roof also suffered the consequences of momentum. It flew off the truck and hit the ground rolling, limbs loose and tangled.

The belt strap across Lockman’s chest cut hard. His lungs felt compressed. What remained of his last breath wheezed out and left him gasping for another without success. His face swelled. His eyes throbbed. The steering wheel wrenched to one side and out of Lockman’s grip. The truck started to turn in a lazy arc while momentum continued carrying it forward.

Lockman braced himself for the inevitable tip and roll.

Next thing, everything spun. A sense of weightlessness lasted a pair of seconds and then the truck boomed like a giant bass drum struck with an equally giant hammer. The shoulder strap sawed against his neck. The lap belt jerked hard into his gut. He felt like a rat in a tin can tossed down a set of stairs. The tortured creak of bending metal filled the truck and turned Lockman deaf to all other sounds.

When the truck finally came to rest on its side, Lockman smelled gasoline. The sick ache in his abdomen made him feel like puking. The side of his neck burned from where the shoulder strap cut. A trickle of blood ran down from his scalp into the corner of his eye.