Infinitas 1 - Warriors of Faith (19 page)

Phoebe playfully punched him in the ribs.
»Shia Keane, you are forgetting your manners.
Don’t you want to introduce me to your attractive friend?«
Shia moved away from her, took hold of Eva’s hand and pulled her over to him.
»Eva, this is Phoebe Edwards. She’s the heart and soul of our warrior Order. She manages the finances, gets us everything we need and is an absolute genius with a computer.
There isn’t anything she can’t figure out.«

Phoebe waved him off with her hand. »He’s totally exaggerating!« »Phoebe, this is Eva Butler.
She's a Lieutenant with the S.P.D.
and my soulmate.« He didn’t mention that she was a mortal.
Phoebe gave Eva her hand.
»I’m so happy to meet you, Eva.
I’ve been waiting a century to finally meet Shia’s soulmate,« she said with a cheeky grin.
Eva took her hand and felt soothing warmth emanating from her.

»What can I do for the both of you?« Phoebe walked back to her desk and flopped down into her chair.
»You have to locate a cell phone for us. Aragón has disappeared. Do you think that’s possible?« Phoebe threw him a dirty look.
»Is his phone on?« »Yes, but we don’t know if he’s got it on him.
It rings, but that’s all.« She looked up anxiously.
»That doesn’t sound good.«

In less than three seconds a flashing red signal appeared on the hologram projected on the wall.

»It’s in Laurelhurst, on the far side of Union Bay. Let me give you the exact position.« She handed Shia a print out of the location and coordinates.
»That’s close to where we found Dimatros' body,« reminded Eva.
Shia nodded at her and looked back at the screen.

»Can you get me a satellite photo?« he directed Phoebe, who immediately pounded her fingers into the keyboard.
A few seconds later, she was zooming in on the address.
A huge piece of property came into view with a u-shaped building in the center and a dock right on Union Bay.

»Okay, let’s go to Sara’s and inform the others.
Thank you, Phoebe. Could you check out who the owner of the
Empire
is? It’s a new club downtown.
I also need the name of the person who own the property you just showed us. Finally, we’ll need passports and credit cards for Dr. Channing McArthur and Eva Butler!« Phoebe nodded anxiously. »Done,« and when they turned towards the door to go, Phoebe added »Hey Shia, bring our lordship back in one piece!«

Pete Brown nodded to the two of them as they left, then grabbed his cell phone and entered an encrypted number.
»They were just here.
I don’t know what they wanted, but there seems to be something going on.
Yeah, I’ll let you know when I know more.« He hastily put his phone back in his pocket and went downstairs to see what Phoebe was up to.

By the time they got to the car, Eva’s anger had subsided.
She looked over at Shia who was maneuvering the car safely through traffic.
»What happened to Phoebe?« »Acid,« he replied curtly.
»But I thought vampires could heal their own wounds.« »Not this one.
We couldn’t figure out what kind of acid it was.
It wasn’t much, but it caused a lot of damage.« »Was she your girlfriend?« A slight smile emerged on Shia’s face. »No Eva.« He looked over at her tenderly shacking his head slightly.
»I sensed your jealousy.
There’s no need to feel jealous, but it does make me feel extremely proud.« Eva looked over at him confused.
»My insecurity makes you feel proud?« she stated perplexed.
»If I didn’t mean anything to you, you wouldn’t have been jealous of Phoebe.
The more jealous you are, the more sure I am that you love me.« »So, you think I love you?« Shia looked away from the traffic for a second. »I’ve never been more sure.« They sat there in silence for a few minutes and Eva’s mind wandered to Phoebe. »Why does she work in the basement of a bank? Aren’t there nicer places she could work without having to worry about daylight?« »Phoebe doesn’t just work there, she lives there too.« »In the bank?«

Shia nodded. »You were quite observant. She isn’t a warrior of faith so she has to avoid daylight.
She’s chosen to join us but she suffers from an extreme case of anthrophobia.« »She’s afraid of people?«

»Yes, ever since her accident, she’s been extremely shy and only has contact with people she knows. Phoebe never leaves those rooms and Pete Brown is her only contact to the outside world, even if he does totally get on her nerves.«

»But he’s a mortal!« Shia nodded again. »Yes, he doesn’t know about us.
Phoebe uses him to feed, but he doesn’t know.
She lets him believe that she likes him.
Maybe she even does a little.
Anyway, she’s an absolute financial genius.
Thanks to her, we have access to a vast amount of resources, which makes our work so much easier.
Regardless of her problems, Phoebe is a valuable resource to us.
We are extremely lucky to have her.« »So that’s why you can afford to drive a two hundred thousand dollar car?« Shia laughed like a little boy. »You did some research!« »No, Esposito told me.
Shia, you should be more careful.
We have to act a bit more cautiously. You’ve attracted some attention and that’s risky,« said Eva sensibly.
He parked the car in the garage under the house.
»I’ve been living with these dangers for over one hundred years, and they won’t stop me from having a little fun.«

Fire

Chapter 15

T
he warriors were waiting impatiently in the meeting room and the look on Shia’s face when he saw his sister spoke volumes.
Aragón was still missing.
They stood around the map in silence.
»Phoebe was able to locate Aragón’s cell phone.
It’s in Laurelhurst near Union Bay where the S.P.D. found the body of the
Empire’s
manager.« He pointed to the exact location on the map.
»We have to find out if he’s there.«

»What are we waiting for then?« shouted Ruben jumping up from his chair.
Jôrek throttled his excitement. »You just want to run in there and get him?
That’s just want those bastards want us to do.
Don’t jump the gun.« Ruben’s fangs had emerged and everyone stood there watching him banging his fists against the wall in frustration.

»I don’t want to lose him.« »Ruben, none of us want that.«
Channing put his hand on his shoulders to calm him down. »We’ll work out a plan and then get Aragón out of there.
We need everyone to keep their heads on straight.«

Ruben nodded in understanding and tried to calm down.
When he saw Eva talking quietly to Sara, Shia threw her a distressed look.
When those two women put their heads together, only something dangerous seem to come of it.

»Who’s Phoebe?« Channing asked the group.

»She’s in charge of our finances and equipment.
Anything you need done with a computer, she can do.
Phoebe’s a vampire, but not a warrior of faith, so she has to avoid daylight,» explained Shia as his cell phone started ringing interrupting him.
Everyone stared at him intently.
»Phoebe!«
He called out, nodding a few times listening attentively and then he hung up.
»That was her,« he explained redundantly. »She found out who own the
Empire
. A man named Kilian Castaway. There’s so little information about him. It’s as if he doesn’t even really exist.«
»Like a vampire!« added Eva quietly.
»The only interesting thing is that he owns the property where we’ve located Aragón’s cell phone.«

Aragón opened his eyes to find himself in a dark, windowless room.
He was on the floor and his hands and feet were still tied together with steel cables.
He could hear footsteps coming closer, a heavy stride and springy gait, like that of a woman.
When the door opened, pale neon light poured in from the hallway, showing a bare, gray room with nothing more than a chair on the opposite end.
He felt dizzy and his eyes couldn’t adjust to the light.
He urgently needed blood.
Kilian Castaway strode into the room majestically, as if he were walking into a party.

»Oh, you’re awake, Aragón.
That’s your name, right? Or have my people misinformed me?« Aragón’s eyes flashed with anger. »My name is Ramiro II of Aragón,« he hissed between his fangs.
Castaway grabbed at the heavy cross Aragón was wearing on a chain around his neck.

»Yes, I’ve heard of you. Ramiro, king of Aragon. You’ve had an amazing life so far, almost as amazing as mine. It would be such a pity to end it now and only because of a single piece of information.
So, where have you hidden the
Diarium
?« Aragón crept up to lean his back against the wall.
A woman with short black hair was sitting on the chair.
She was watching him out of the corner of her eye while keeping a blank look on Castaway. »I have to check on Philippe.
He needs blood again,« she mumbled quietly.
»No, you stay here!« He commanded.
Sunny shrugged and stayed seated on her chair. »My brothers will get me out of here, somehow, and if you kill me, it will be an honor to die for them.« Aragón’s voice was soft, but firm.

»Oh, the proud king.
You lost your kingdom a long time ago, so this isn’t the time for a false sense of honor.« Castaway hissed through his teeth and threateningly stood up in front of Aragón.
»We’ll give you a couple more days and see how long you can survive without blood.« He gave Sunny a signal and they both left the room together.
After a while Aragón heard the door open again. This time there was no light from outside and his eyesight was so limited from lack of blood that he could hardly see who’d entered the room.
He only felt a bag of blood being held to his lips and the energy slowly flowing into his mouth.

Eva was sitting on Shia’s bed with her cell phone in her hand watching him put on his clothes for the expected battle.
She read Esposito’s test message a second time:
WE HAVE TO TALK TODAY! ALONE!

She looked over at Shia concerned, as he tucked a half dozen knives into his clothing and inserted the SIG and a few rounds of ammunition into his belt.
The
Blue Murasame
was still on the bed.
»I’m coming with you,« decided Eva.
Shia looked over at her after he’d laced up his combat boots.
»Absolutely not. It’s too dangerous.
We don’t even know what to expect, so it’ll be impossible to keep an eye on you as well.« »I can look after myself.« This answer even sounded lame to her.
»In a house full of deadly vampires and creatures? I doubt it! We’ll be thankful if even the warriors come out alive, so forget about it.« »Shia, we need a plan.
I think Esposito is on to us.
He sent me a message that we should meet tonight, alone!« »We’ll have to worry about that later, Eva.
We’ll think of something, I promise.« He took his sword and turned towards the door.
»Shia.« The tone of Eva’s voice made him pause.
»We have to figure something out now because I won’t let you walk out that door alone.« He turned away from the door and crouched down in front of Eva who was still sitting on the bed.
»Okay, Eva. What if something happens to you today?«
He took hold of her hand.
»I couldn’t bear losing you.
I love you too much for that to happen.« »If something happens to me, you could transform me.« He looked up at her in surprise.
»But I thought that wasn’t an option for you. Something you would never do.« »Well, I thought so too, until now.
But I love you more than life itself and I never want us to be apart.
It’s been so long since my life was how I’d imagined it to be.
Until ... yeah, until I met you.
You’ve totally changed my life, for the better and I don’t want to live without you.
I love you and that’s why I won’t let you walk out that door alone.
And if you feel the same way about me, then you won’t leave me alone here.«

»You love me so much that you would give up your mortal existence?« Shia had been looking into her eyes the entire time and knew that Eva was right.
He didn’t want to leave her here either.
He ran his finger along her chin and nodded. »What are you going to tell Esposito?
What about your job, if you stay with me? When it comes right down to it?«

»Maybe I’ll tell Cruz that I’m going back to L.A. or to New York.
I’ll think of something.« He looked at her and couldn’t believe what she’d just said. »You really love me.
I can hardly believe it. You love me! And I love you, more than I love eternal life. More than my own life.
So hurry up now and get dressed!«

After the sun had set, they all met in the meeting room and divided themselves up into groups.
»Live in light – die with pride!«
They shouted and then knocked their fists together.

Their faces were somber, knowing the dangers they’d all be facing.
»I wish you’d had more time to practice,« mumbled Sara while she was entering their destination in the car’s navigation system.

She spoke softly on purpose because everyone was connected to each other via the headset.

Channing raised an eyebrow. »I don’t hear worry in your voice, do I?« He twisted his mouth into a slight smile.
»I’ve got someone with me who can save my ass if I get into trouble.« »Are you sure about that, Channing?« said Ruben’s laughing voice through the headset.

»You just be careful so that you won’t need my help,« rebuked Sara.
»I might not be paying attention when you need me.« Laughter could be heard all around, like the proverbial calm before the storm.

›You don’t think I’m worried about you?‹
Sara sent her thought waves over to Channing so that the others wouldn’t be able to hear.
›Not any less than I’m worried about you!‹
he thought back squeezing her hand supportively.

They let the cars roll to a stop, having turned off the headlights, and parked them hidden from sight. The gate to the fenced in area property was patrolled by two vampires.
»I’ll distract them.
That will make it easier for you to attack,« whispered Eva, already on her way before anyone was able to stop her.
»Lieutenant Butler, Seattle Police Department. I’d like to speak to Mr. Kilian Castaway.« She showed them her police badge keeping the attention of the two vampires on her.
While the security guards were busy checking Eva’s credentials, a smooth steel blade silently slit their throats and their bodies collapsed to the ground disintegrating into black ash.

The way up to the house was longer than they’d expected and there was hardly any vegetation along the way to offer protection, so the six warriors strode openly in the direction of the building.
Holding their weapons in their hands, they marched head towards the house, looking danger straight in the eye.
Eva went back to get the Q7 not knowing what kind of condition Aragón would be in.
Luckily there were no further guards along the way, not even directly in front of the house.
Channing signaled to the others that he’d picked up Aragón’s scent and then walked purposefully through the unlocked front door.
When they reached the hall in full combat attire and swords in hand, another security guard saw them and immediately pulled his gun and fired at Channing.
He artfully dodged the bullet, flew at the guard and attacked.
First his knees, then when these gave out, he separated his head from his shoulders just like Sara had shown him.

Within a few seconds, all hell had broken loose.
Alarmed by the shooting, the place was suddenly crawling with vampires.
Doors were ripped open and disgusting creatures with guns and swords came pouring out the rooms to fight the warriors.
The plan was for Channing and Sara to search for Aragón, while the others watched their back and fought the creatures of darkness.
Channing turned to the right first, but when he lost Aragón’s scent, he took off running in the other direction and then stopped suddenly in the middle of the hallway.

Shia fought with all his power and skill against the creatures, which although superior in numbers, were not well trained.
He was able to cut off most of their heads with just one blow.
The quiet sound of a car engine distracted him for a second just as a bullet hit him in his upper arm and shoulder.
A burning pain shot through his arm and he dropped his sword.
When he reached down to pick it up, another bullet hit him in the chest and the last thing he heard was Eva scream desperately as she entered the front door.

Channing opened one of the many gray doors and immediately saw that it was the right one.

He saw Aragón sitting on the floor trying to get up onto his feet. Channing looked Aragón in the eyes.
He seemed to be fine.
Sara cut him loose from the chains and handed him a gun and one of her swords. Aragón held up the heavy cross he was wearing around his neck and kissed it.

»
Gracias a Dios! Dime con quién andas y te diré quién eres!
« he whispered.

»We have to go, Aragón! Can you walk?« He nodded in silence moving a bit stiffly.
As they all turned around towards the door, they noticed someone in front of them.
Sunny was standing there with a gun in her hand, but she couldn’t fire, only stared blankly at Sara as someone suddenly held a blade to her throat from behind.

»No, my brother.
She isn’t one of them.
She helped me!« shouted Aragón to Maroush, who had snuck up on Sunny from behind.
Maroush hadn’t recognized her at first, but the scent of cinnamon gave her away.
She struggled in his arms, but he didn’t move an inch. »Where’s Philippe?« asked Sara.
Sunny shook her head. »Give me your gun and I’ll let you go,« whispered Maroush into her ear, unconsciously inhaling the smell of her.
She nodded and let the gun fall to the ground.
He took the sword away from her throat but didn’t let go of her.

»Philippe isn’t here.
He went with Castaway to light a house on fire.« »What house?« shouted Sara upset, thinking immediately of the house in Blue Ridge. »A bank in Beacon Hill!« »Oh my God, Phoebe!« murmured Sara quietly.