JAVIER (18 page)

Javier leapt up and headed into the bathroom pulling
off his clothes as he went;

“Why the hell didn’t anyone wake me earlier?”

“Because you needed to sleep. I’ll see you down in the
Ops room; Rafe’s already there as are Stephan and Andreas and Chronus brought
along Hector and Dee. You remember Dee…buzz cut hair and tattoos; a skilled fighter.
I’ve got you some food so don’t bother to stop by the kitchen.”

The last of Gabriel’s words were yelled through the
bathroom door above the noise of the shower as Javier rushed to get ready in
record time, swearing as he cut himself. Trying to shave and shower
simultaneously had seemed such a good idea. Ten minutes later he was ready. 
Unlocking the small wall safe he had installed when Beatriz had moved into the
next room he removed his gun and knife and tucked them into their usual places
before heading down the corridor at a run.

They had this one night to plan the two simultaneous
attacks so that there was enough time for both the team of Empaths and the team
of Vampires to be properly rested and fighting fit for tomorrow night. Joint
operations with the Empaths were never completely simple, their sunlight
dwelling cousins kept such different hours.

Dodging round a maid vacuuming the corridor Javier
ground to a halt as Cassia emerged from her room. She was wearing some sort of
loose silky looking dress in deep blue and carried a large beach bag. They
stared at each other for a moment before Cassia pushed her bedroom door open;

“Too much noise out here. Come in for a moment,
Flavia’s off canoodling with Chronus. Frankly I’m worried, I mean his
intentions cannot be honourable and he looks like someone who gets through
women in droves and…anyway, you don’t want to be listening to my woes.” She
tailed off and fiddled with her hair as Javier shut the door.

“I thought I’d make the most of my time here and go
for a swim.” Cassia said, changing the subject.

“Be careful, do not go too far out if you are swimming
by yourself.” Javier experienced a moment of panic; not just because he
suddenly thought of all the bad situations a lone swimmer could get into but
because she had mentioned time. Her time on this Island, her time with him was
coming to an end.

“Don’t worry, I’m a strong swimmer and quite
sensible.” She smiled and carried on twisting a long strand of hair.

She seemed nervous, Javier thought as the silence
stretched between them.

“Cass, thank you for being there for the ritual. What
made you change your mind?” he asked.

Cassia lifted her chin belligerently;

“Well I had to make sure you did it right Javier of
Seville.”

Javier grinned, this was more like the Cassia he knew.
Suddenly she shook her head and reached out for him;

“No, ignore that, please ignore that. Why can’t I stop
the wise-arse comments? I wanted to be there to support you; I didn’t want you
to be alone…” she faltered;

“I mean, I know you weren’t alone…I just didn’t want
to leave you. After all, I’m your friend…as you said…” Cassia tailed off and
stepped back nervously as he took her hand.

“I looked for you and when I saw you I suddenly knew
that everything was going to be alright.” Javier said quietly. She wouldn’t
meet his eyes.

“Good. You did it well, just like I said you would.
There’s a lot of activity downstairs Javier. You’re about to attack aren’t
you?”

It seemed she wanted to change the subject. Javier
nodded, there was no reason she shouldn’t know.

“We are hitting the bikers and Dion’s gang
simultaneously tomorrow night. Today we firm up the plan of attack and make
sure everyone knows his role. Rafe and I will leave for London at dawn with our
teams, taking the Empaths with us.”

“Who is leading the attack on Dion and his Empaths?” Cassia
asked;

“I am, with Chronus, why?”

“It’s the more dangerous operation. Please be careful
won’t you? He shot you last time remember? I think he hates you; you cost him a
fortune, tens of millions of Euros and he must have had to work very hard to
build his operation up again. They’re killers Javier.”

“I know that. Don’t worry, he’ll soon be neutralized
then you’ll be safe and can return to your old life and all this inconvenience
will be behind you.” Javier could have bitten his own tongue off. How had he
managed to make the words come out the way they had? Cassia snatched her hand
out of his and went completely white; her eyes spitting fire;

“Is that what you think of me? Do you really believe
I’m only worried about myself, about my own life? Don’t you think young Rose
haunts me…or the boy Spike? Inconvenience?”

Javier lifted both hands as if to ward off her fury;

“I swear to you I did not mean my words to sound the
way they did Cass.” What had he meant? Had he wanted her to say she wanted to
stay? That she didn’t want to leave him?

“Oh, I’m so glad.” Cassia yelled sarcastically. She
turned away from him, hugging herself then spun round again. Javier was
horrified to see her eyes filling up with tears;

“For once, for once I found myself doing something good;
something to help someone else. Something honourable Javier, something my
father would have been proud of…God, even my mother would be proud. I’m a thief
Javier. Oh, I know I dress it up as something glamorous; a clever little
intellectual game I’m very good at but I steal things for money. It’s a habit.
I do it because I don’t know what else to do. I can’t even pretend I need to do
it to pay the bills anymore; you’ve seen my house, I’m very wealthy. It’s all a
big game, a big empty meaningless game and I’m so sick of it…so sick and
tired…”

Javier took her hands, pulling her towards him;

“Then stay. Stay Cassia, here on the Island. Work for
Gabriel, your set of skills is right up his street. Thieving is what you do
Cass, it does not define what you are.”

“And what am I?”

“Dauntless, clever, brave, loyal, generous and loving.
Honourable. That’s what you are Cassia of the bloodline of Hugo Mathrafal. I
read his file in our archives, found out what he did and how brave he was. You
are just like him.”

Now the tears spilled over as she whispered;

“You really think that? You really think I’m like my
father?”

Javier wiped her tears away with his thumbs then held
her shoulders;

“I do. Stay Cass, work here with us.”

Cassia stared at him for a long time then shook her
head sadly;

“I can’t Javier. I can’t stay here and work with you.”

“Why not? Why …” Javier cursed as his phone trilled
shrilly and fishing it out, yelled into it impatiently;

“What?...Alright, calm down. I’ll be there in a
minute.”

“Cass, I have to go. This conversation isn’t over, do
you understand? It isn’t over.”

“It is Javier.  Please, please be careful. I don’t
trust those Empaths even if you do and as for Chronus…well, he’d better have
his mind on the job in hand. He’d better not have some other private little
plan up his sleeve.”

Cassia stared at the door after Javier left mulling
over his words again and again. Yes, she could see herself working here; doing
a job with real purpose. It was sad that she couldn’t take him up on it. How
could she work with Javier night after night, see him night after night feeling
the way she did about him? It was impossible.

Wrenching open the door she set off for the beach and
as she walked through the woods she found herself praying to a god she didn’t
believe in. Let him be alright. Don’t let him get hurt. Bring him back to me.
How could Ysabeau, Katie and Hera bear it?

CHAPTER 16

“I thought you said there’d be no more than a dozen of
them. There’s nearly twice that and where the hell is Dion? Chronus, get down!”

Javier rolled and fired again as Chronus threw himself
behind an adjacent packing crate; another of Dion’s men fell. Javier took cover
behind a steel pillar and reloaded.

“Yes, we appear to be slightly outnumbered though not
for long; we’re…” Chronus stopped and returned fire then ducked as a white hot
energy wave narrowly missed his head.

“Another one down. This is beginning to really piss me
off! Javier, you’re bleeding…left cheekbone.”

Javier wiped his cheek on his sleeve and winced; he
hadn’t even noticed anything hitting him. It was probably a splinter of wood.
The firefight had been going on for about thirty minutes; it had been obvious
from the first second they engaged Dion’s men that surrender wasn’t on their
agenda. So be it.

This vast hangar on an isolated disused airfield was
the ideal place for an operation like Dion’s. There was space for small courier
planes as well as a smart laboratory and packaging facility for his drug
business. When they had arrived on the perimeter, he and his five experienced
warriors had been momentarily confused, unable to see the huge building.

“It is shielded.” Chronus had said quietly, noticing
the Vampires’ puzzled expressions;

“Similar to the confusion fields you Vamps use. Your
eyes are seeing it but your brains are not registering what you see…you wish to
leave don’t you? It is impenetrable to Humans but you lot…just clear your mind
and focus. Believe me, it is there.”

Javier had shaken his head to clear it then
concentrated his mind as though ready to shift; the building had slowly
materialized as though a mist had lifted. There had been momentary panic as his
and Chronus’s men had entered the building then they had been hit by a massive
barrage of bullets and white energy. Not a problem; these were criminals and
hired thugs; his men and Chronus’s were experienced and elite warriors. Still,
it hadn’t turned out to be quite as easy as Chronus had predicted and once
again Javier wondered if that ruthless Empath was off his game.

For a second he watched in awe as Chronus and two of
his men advanced behind a lethal wall of white energy thrown from their
upraised hands. The three waves met and combined into an impenetrable field;
God, he was so glad they were on the same side. Hearing a shout from one of his
men Javier glanced up then shifted straight into the air, landing on a narrow
steel gantry high above the floor of the cavernous building. Andreas was in hot
pursuit of two of Dion’s men with another two of them right on his tail.

As Javier fired twice the pursuers plummeted to the
ground then the situation turned really sticky. Andreas was hit; grunting and
crashing over the edge of the steel gantry; holding on by one hand as he was
suspended above the void.

Javier rushed forward to grab his warrior. The energy
wave would have hit him full on if he hadn’t jumped; spinning himself airborne
into a backward dive. Instead it deflected off his side and shunted him
backwards along the gantry. It was like being hit by a giant hammer; the pain
was excruciating. Gasping for breath Javier fired again. Damned sneaky Empath;
he’d played dead, well he wasn’t playing any more. Leaning down he grabbed
Andreas at the very moment the warrior’s hand lost its grip then gritted his
teeth and closed his mind against the pain as he lifted him bodily onto the
narrow gantry. The injury must be severe; Andreas would have just shifted if
he’d been able to.

“Let me see.” Javier gasped; God he felt as if every
rib was cracked.

Andreas was white, a fine sheen of sweat covering his
face. His mouth twisted into a grim smile;

“Touch painful…there’s a letter…” His voice was thin;
Javier shook him;

“Stop that. Stay with me and cut the drama…it is nasty
but not fatal. We’ll patch you up and then it is straight to Sutton Place.”

“The food’s crap.” Andreas murmured as Javier scanned
the hangar. The shooting had stopped.

“Chronus! What’s our status?” Javier shouted.

“Clear! All clear Javier.” Chronus’s voice drifted up
then Javier acknowledged him as he appeared far below and gave him the thumbs
up.

Javier focused back on Andreas, the warrior’s head was
tipping back slowly and blood covered his torso. He hoped he could shift; the
pain in his ribs was a steady pulsing beat in his body. Taking a deep breath he
pulled Andreas against him and shut his eyes then shifted them both down to
ground level calling out as they materialized;

“Medic…quickly!”

As Andreas was tended to by one of his warriors and by
Chronus’s man Hector, Javier surveyed the carnage. Bodies were strewn across
the floor. Moving slowly, he examined each face, turning the odd body over with
his boot.

“Dion is not here and neither is his car.” Chronus
said, “But I have caught a little fish and I am about to question him.”

“Your men alright?” Javier asked as he squatted down
to check Andreas’s wounds. Yes, Sutton Place and quickly. He gave the nod and
the now unconscious Andreas was shifted out in the arms of a fellow warrior.
This would upset his team, thought Javier, Andreas was a fine lieutenant and
respected by the foot soldiers. It could have been worse; at least their joint team
had suffered no casualties. Biting off a groan of pain he hugged himself
tightly round the ribs then heaved himself to his feet and followed Chronus.

“Their chemist.” said Chronus, his gaze fixed on the
Empath handcuffed to a chair.

“He seems to have trouble remembering his name or
anything about this set-up.” Chronus grabbed another chair and centred it in
front of the prisoner. He looked completely relaxed as he leaned forward,
elbows on knees and spoke casually as though discussing the weather;

“I am Alexis of the House of Chronus. I am sure my
name is familiar to you. You are lying. One last chance to tell me what I want
to know.”

Javier tensed involuntarily. Chronus was known
throughout the Empath world. He was powerful and ruthless and always got what
he wanted. As Javier watched he saw his sky blue eyes narrow and the prisoner
lean far back in his chair as though trying to escape. Chronus smiled icily;

“You have put up your shields. They are useless
against me. You chose this path. Are you going to answer my questions?”

The prisoner pressed his lips together and Chronus
sighed then bent forward and touched the man’s forehead. Javier felt a shiver
of apprehension trickle down his spine. The prisoner gasped then went rigid as
Chronus searched inside him; he was trying to resist, his body shaking with the
effort. At long last Chronus released him and the prisoner slumped in his chair
panting. Chronus looked thoughtful;

“You have been coerced. I can find and rescue your
family but only if you are honest with me. There is much light in you, do not
deny your children the knowledge of it. Will you help us?”

The prisoner buried his face in his hands and even
Javier could tell that his sobs were the result of sheer relief and weariness.
He exchanged a glance with Chronus;

“I’ll leave you to it. The clean-up teams will be here
shortly. I’m off to check on Andreas, please call me the moment you have
anything. I’ll update LaSalle.”

Handing over control to Andreas’s deputy Javier
shifted into the tranquil moonlit forecourt of a typical old English country
house. Running lightly up the shallow staircase to the portico he nodded to the
two security guards. They knew him; they should do. He had been to this house a
number of times and had been treated here himself. Sutton Place, just outside
London had been a medical facility for their kind for more than a century and a
half.

He was informed by the uniformed receptionist that the
warrior Andreas was in surgery. She directed him to the waiting room and
brought him a mug of quite decent coffee. Javier sipped the scalding liquid
gratefully as he updated LaSalle then Gabriel on his mobile phone; the hunt for
Dion was still on. Calls over he finished his coffee and flipped through a
newspaper before jumping to his feet as the door opened; gasping as pain shot
through his side.

“Commander, come through, you need a bit of checking
over yourself. Andreas is out of surgery and quite comfortable. Please follow
me.”

It was the quiet and authoritative voice of the chief
surgeon, a Half-blood who had worked at Sutton Place for a century, cleverly
updating his skills to keep up with modern advances. Javier was just about to
argue when he caught a glimpse of himself in a mirror. That gash on his cheekbone
was nasty and blood covered the whole of his jaw down into his neck. Meekly he
followed the surgeon to a treatment room.

Half an hour later he had been patched up and fed
painkillers and waited by Andreas’s bedside as the warrior stirred and then
slowly surfaced. He wanted to ensure his lieutenant was alright before he left.
He replied to Andreas’s murmured greeting;

“Welcome back Sleeping Beauty, I told you you’d live.
Day after tomorrow you will be almost healed so only a couple of meals to
endure. They are sending in the Donor, you need to take blood.”

Javier reached out in alarm as Andreas struggled to
sit up, obviously distressed;

“No! Please…not the Donor. My phone…where is it? I
need to call…”

“Calm yourself Andreas, here is your phone. What is
the problem…?” Javier stopped as realization hit him. That was the elusive
thing about Andreas that he had registered almost subconsciously back on the
Island; his scent was different.

“You are bonded. Of course. Here, ring her. God
Andreas, why did you not tell us? When…look, just call her.”

He waited by the window trying not to listen in as
Andreas broke the news then spent ten minutes calming down and reassuring his
lover. At last he finished the call;

“She’s on her way. Oh hell sir, this is going to scare
her stupid; it’s the last thing I wanted.”

“Are you going to complete the joining ceremony?  Big
party, red dress, competitive mothers…” Javier asked, trying to lighten the
warrior’s mood; wondering who the girl was. Andreas had been very secretive.
Andreas shook his head and sighed wearily;

“When we do, it will be very quiet. Her father would
not approve, he would never give his consent. I am not good enough for her.”

Javier’s eyes widened;

“You are a warrior on the Council. A lieutenant. Most
fathers would bite your hand off if you asked for their daughter.”

Andreas gave a hollow laugh and shut his eyes;

“Not hers. I am not from a noble bloodline you see and
therefore not worthy. She is mine though, I knew it from the moment we met…”
his voice tailed off and soon Javier heard his slow steady breathing. He rose
silently, sleep was healing and Andreas’s body would recover twice as quickly
once he had taken blood from his beloved. That was the way with bonded couples.
Humans sometimes described extreme attraction as chemistry but for Vampire
pairings that description was biological fact.

As he signed the paperwork then returned downstairs
Javier tried not to think about blood. He needed it, he should visit the Donor
while he was here; that would be the efficient thing to do. The surgeon had
advised just that. He couldn’t bear to, he didn’t want to. There was only one
person’s blood he wanted and needed with a desperation that caused him actual
physical pain if he allowed himself to think about it. She was hundreds of
miles away. Cassia; his Cass. He would have cut off his own arm to see her walk
through the door right now.

Heading for the front door he jumped aside as it was
flung open and a tall, distressed woman hurried in then raced upstairs after
talking to the receptionist. Javier stared after her thoughtfully. God, no
wonder Andreas had been so secretive. That girl’s father was famous, powerful
and feared by many. He had only met her twice but he would swear that she was
Artemisia of the ancient bloodline of Amund Deverill. Rafe’s little sister.
Well it was none of his business but he hoped Deverill senior did not find out;
perhaps he should talk to Rafe though he couldn’t imagine his interest would be
welcome. Rafe was notoriously reticent about his family.

Back on the Island Cassia stood quietly at the top of
the staircase eavesdropping shamelessly on LaSalle and Gabriel’s conversation
down in the hallway.

“Only one prisoner according to Javier; Chronus is
interrogating him. No sign of Dion and no sign of that dagger much to Javier’s
irritation. He was hoping to round up the whole gang including Dion and wrap
this up. I hate loose ends, so does he.” Gabriel was saying.

That meant Javier was alright thought Cassia, leaning
over for a better look as Rafe swaggered in through the front doors carrying a
large box, his semi-automatic tucked under his arm;

“What a blast! You should have been there Gabriel, it
was like taking candy from a baby.” Rafe laughed and Cassia could almost
imagine the adrenaline still pumping through his system. She wondered whether
he ever took anything seriously.