Infinitas 1 - Warriors of Faith (21 page)

»She gave up her mortal life to save me?« The words hung heavy in his dazed consciousness.
He couldn’t believe what he was seeing and when no one said anything, he added:
»She sacrificed herself so that I could live.« It was just a whisper over his lips.
Disbelief was spread across his face, as he knew how much Eva’s mortal life had meant to her.
Now she’d given it up for love.
Would she hate him for this? Although it wasn’t clear to her now in her current condition, he’d taken everything from her.

»Who transformed her?« he asked contemptuously and for a second you could have heard a pin drop.
»I did.« Channing looked him straight in the eyes without fear or regret.
Eva had fed enough and fell into her pillow exhausted.
She looked a little better and her face wasn’t as pale.
Shia returned Channing’s stare, unsure whether he should tear him to pieces or shake his hand in thanks.

»Shia.« Eva said weakly. »Come here to me, please.« She reached out her hands to him for help.
He looked away from Sara and Channing and turned his attention to Eva.
He sat down next to her on the edge of the bed and lovingly brushed her hair from her forehead.

»What happened to me?«
She looked him questioningly in the eyes.
He looked towards the door for help, but Channing and Sara had already left the room.

»Channing had to transform you.
You were so badly injured.« He softly caressed her cheek.

»Injured ... transformed? Oh God, Shia ... you don’t mean I’m a vampire now, do you?« Fear was written all over her face.

»I’ll have to drink blood for the rest of my life to survive?« »Yes,« nodded Shia earnestly.

»Yes, Eva, that’s what you are now.
One of us. Don’t be afraid.
Everything will be okay. No, actually, everything will be better!«

»But why didn’t you transform me?« »I was too injured.
You saved my life and gave up your mortal life in the process.
You made the ultimate sacrifice! I wish I could have done the same for you.« He kissed her gently on the lips.
»Sleep now, my darling.
You’ll feel better soon and then we can talk about everything that’s happened.«

Channing found Aragón sitting on a large stone watching the sun come up from the cliff.
Before he actually reached him, Aragón turned around and greeted him with a nod.

»How are you, my brother?« »Good. Very good.
Thanks to the blood I received from Sunny.« »She gave you her blood?« Aragón shook his head.
»No, she snuck in a bag of blood.
It was O-negative.
What do you think about her?« Channing shrugged his shoulders.
»I can’t really say.
Maroush is the only one who’s had a chance to talk to her.
But what she did for you certainly put her in great danger.
Castaway could have caught her.« Aragón nodded.

»Or he’s using her as a mole.« »And what does your gut say? Do you really think she might he a mole?« Aragón was watching the sun taking over the night sky and it took him a minute to answer.
»My gut says she’s good, but she’s a vampire.
Can we really trust a vampire?« He said smiling.
It was a tired, but proud smile of a man who’d just won a battle.

»We’ll have to break camp here pretty soon.« Aragón nodded in agreement.

»Yes, my friend, you’re right.
We don’t have more than one or two days.
We killed a lot of creatures, but we don’t know how many Castaway has created for his purpose and where he’s hidden them all.
Maybe Sunny can give us some information.
We should talk to her!« »Aragón, what did you say to us when we rescued you? My Spanish is rusty.« Both of them turned down the path that led back to the house.
»You mean
Dime con quién andas y te diré quién eres?
Well, it means,
show me your friends and I’ll tell you who you are!
«

Ruben soothingly stroked Phoebe’s hair.
She was lying on his bed starring out the window.
Unlike the other bedrooms in the house, his room didn’t look out at the ocean, but rather into the small yard in the back of the house.
»Pete is dead!« she whispered repeatedly to herself.
»They just shot him ... he’s dead!« »Was he your friend?« asked Ruben carefully, but Phoebe shook her head. »He was my blood host, my only source and maybe he was my friend.
I mean, I wasn’t in love with him, but he fed me and now I don’t have anyone.« »No, that’s not true.
You have us. You are one of us.
We’ll find a safe new place for you...« »Why? If I starve? I can’t just look for a host like you do.
I’d have to go out onto the street!« She interrupted him brusquely.

»Yes, I know, Phoebe,« he relented.
»You could drink from me.« He said it without even thinking about it.
She turned towards him completely exposing her scar, as if she were

trying to scare him away.
»You’re a warrior! You know that’s impossible!« She hissed.
He wasn’t swayed by her testiness and just shrugged his shoulders. »Why now?« »You know exactly what I mean.
We’d be connected for eternity.
I’d always feel you and I doubt that’s what you want.
I’m not a warrior and when you find your soulmate, I’m sure I’d be in the way. No chance.
Thank you for your offer, but you should have left me in the bank.« »And risk you being burned alive? Impossible!
Do you even know how important you are to us? You’re one of us! Even if you don’t fight with a sword in your hand, your weapon is just as powerful, Phoebe!«

She sat up and looked at him provocatively.

»Have you seen my face or are you just dense? I can’t go out anywhere.
Everyone just gives me pitiful looks. It makes me sick! No thank you.
I’d rather spare myself that.« She turned her back to him.
He held his hands up in the air in defeat.
»We’re not finished talking about this!«

He slammed the door behind him. »Women!« complained Ruben to himself as he walked down the hall angrily.
He desperately needed some fresh air, otherwise he felt like he was going to be sick.

The loud slamming of the door snapped Maroush sharply back into reality.
He was starring at Sunny in disbelief, having discovered the warrior’s tattoo.
It wound down her torso to her legs ending on her left thigh.
Impossible.
His eyes and mind were playing tricks on him.
Frightened by the look on his face, Sunny quickly pulled her pants back on and sat down on the floor in the corner of the room.

»Where did you get that?« asked Maroush surprised.
Sunny shrugged indifferently.

»I’ve had it a long time. Actually ever since my transformation.« He pulled his sweater back on and stepped closer to Sunny. »Can I see it again?« »You’d like that wouldn’t you? Me taking my pants off one more time. No way!« She shook her head wildly, but he’d already seen enough.
He was speechless.
»Is it like the one you have?« Maroush nodded in silence. »What kind of words are those?« »It’s Latin.
It’s your maxim,« he explained succinctly. »What does it mean?
Wait, you said it’s my destiny. I don’t speak Latin, please tell me what’s there and what it means!« »It says
Ultima Ratio … The last resort
!«

Except for Phoebe and Eva, all the warriors were in the meeting room, which was now almost completely full.
The group had grown by four in the last few days, a number which they usually needed decades to achieve.
Shia and Sara first met Maroush and then ten years later Aragón joined them.
Almost fifteen years later they met Ruben and Jôrek.
So you could actually say that the warriors were still fairly young.

When Maroush entered the room with Sunny, everyone turned and stared.
Curiosity and skepticism hit them in the face, so much so that they’d rather have fled.
Maroush’s strong warm hand on her shoulders kept her from laughing in their faces and turning around and going her own way.

Channing was standing at the end of the long table and began to speak.

»Sunny, I would like to welcome you in the name of all those present here.
We know what you did for Aragón and we thank you.« All the vampires murmured in approval.

»We could use someone like you here.
What are your plans? Even if you aren’t a warrior, you could still come with us...«

»That’s not actually true!« Maroush interjected. »Sunny is a warrior.
She has a tattoo.
I’ve seen it with my own eyes!« You could hear a pin drop as all eyes in the room turned to Sunny.

Sara spoke first. »You’re a warrior? Did you know??« Sunny shook her head hesitantly.

»No, Maroush told me about your tattoos and then I realized that I have one too.« »What’s your maxim?« asked Ruben curiously.
Sunny started to answer, but Maroush interrupted her.

»I don’t think the maxim is something we have to share with everybody.«

Sara scowled and raised her eyebrows intuitively. »But if Sunny’s maxim is the same as one of ours, we need to know.« »What does that mean?« Sunny didn’t understand what was behind the words.
Sara looked at Maroush questioningly. »Didn’t Maroush explain it to you? Your tattoo will be the same as your soulmate’s.« »What the hell is that supposed to mean?« Sunny seemed to be confused.
»It’s like a marriage. An alliance of the souls, which you seal with each other by exchanging blood. You can’t fight it.
The alliance is written in the sacred book and the prophecies in the book have always been fulfilled, « explained Jôrek patiently.

»So you mean, I can’t choose my own soulmate?
That’s crazy!« »That’s what I used to think, too,« grumbled Channing quietly looking Sara lovingly in the eyes.

»What’s your maxim?« Sara asked Sunny reassuringly, who then looked over at Maroush uncertainly.

»When you speak, then your words should be better than your silence would have been,« he said proudly and then after a moment of silence, »
Ultima Ratio ... The last resort
. She has the same maxim I do!«

It got so quiet in the room that you could have heard a pin drop.
Sunny’s eyes darted back and forth between Sara and Maroush, as she slowly began to understand what all of this meant.
She involuntarily shook her head and laughed brashly.

»Oh no, fuck that. Not with me.« She turned around and left the room.
Sara wanted to go after her, but Maroush held her back.

»Let her go.
This isn’t so easy to understand.
Up until a couple of minutes ago, she didn’t even know that she was a warrior.« Sara looked at him concerned.
»How do you feel about this?
This is surely a surprise for you as well?« Maroush looked towards the door Sunny had just disappeared through.
»Yes, of course.
I’d seen her in the club already.
We ran into each other in the hallway and it seemed to me as if we’d known each other for years already.
It was a strange feeling.« Sara nodded. »Yeah, I know.
You can’t fight it, even if you wanted to.« She looked over at Channing, who was deep in conversation with Shia.
He sensed her watching him and looked up.
›I love you!‹
he said to her telepathically laughing to himself.

Before he could answer, Ruben exclaimed, »Could we direct our thoughts to more important questions?« Channing smiled back at Sara and commented, »My thoughts are exclusively focused on important subjects, like for example, that we have to find the
Diarium
as soon as possible so that it doesn’t get into Castaway’s hands.« The warriors nodded gathering around the large conference table, most of them taking a seat in one of the chairs.

»Good, let’s focus on the information we’ve got so far,« said Channing picking up where he’d left off.
»Shia, Sara told me that you’ve managed to keep a few pages from the
Diarium.
Have you checked to see if there are clues in them as to the whereabouts of the book
?« Shia looked as if he’d just seen as ghost.
»The pages ... They were being kept in the bank with Phoebe!« »And were destroyed in the fire!« said Ruben superfluously.
»No, they weren’t, « said someone standing quietly near the door.

Phoebe was standing there on shaky legs hanging to the doorframe.
Ruben jumped up immediately to help her. He led her to where he’d been sitting and eased her down onto the chair.

She pulled three old parchment pages out from under her shirt and handed them to Shia.
»I was able to save them.
I knew how important they are to you.«