Redemption (Jane #4) (7 page)

The world spun as I tried to
stand. At least it remained blurry instead of fading completely to
black. I realized after a couple seconds that standing wasn't going
to be an option. The most I could muster was rolling to my side. My
stomach churned even at that and I fought desperately to hold onto
the bacon and eggs I'd had for breakfast before we left and the
liquid life I had just before the battle. My cheek rested against
the rough pavement and I could smell blood--my blood. A quick
glance to the side told me that a lot of it lay on the ground under
me and the sight set my stomach pulsing again.

I coughed and more blood
splattered the blacktop. I placed my right hand on the tarred
surface and pushed, giving myself enough leverage to bring my left
elbow underneath me. I balanced there, fighting against the
nauseating twirl of the planet. A few deep breaths later and I had
my digestive system under control once more. Turning my head
slowly, I surveyed the scene.

Several feet away, I could see
two vampires I didn't recognize. Both were laying on the pavement.
One, a female, looked like her neck was broken. She stared at me,
eyes and mouth wide, but didn't move. I couldn't tell if she was
dead or alive from that distance. The male was missing an arm and a
leg. He lay on his back, his remaining hand pressed to his chest. I
could see blood dripping down his side to join the ever-growing
pool beneath him. His chest rose and fell in jagged breaths while
his lips moved. If he was saying anything coherent, I was too far
away to hear him.

A familiar boot off to my left
drew my gaze. I cringed as I recognized the man attached to
it--Jax. He was on his side, his back to me, unmoving. With his
armor, I couldn't tell if he was still breathing. A quick glance
around showed no others from my team, so I made it my goal to help
Jax if I could. Using what little strength I had, I pulled myself
forward, grunting with the effort. Something below my ribcage but
above my hips felt wrong and my legs wouldn't work properly. I've
never been one for biology and I pushed aside thoughts of permanent
disability while reminding myself that vampires can heal better
than any other species on the planet.

After several agonizingly
painful minutes, I'd dragged myself the ten feet to Jax. His eyes
were closed, his face covered in blood. I leaned in close, sending
up a silent prayer. I almost cried aloud when I heard the faint,
gasping breaths echoing from his partially opened mouth. Shoving my
hand up under his body armor, I felt around for the cause of his
incapacitated state and found it quickly. In his chest, just under
his arm where the armor stops to allow freedom of movement was a
hole. After a bit more searching, I found the accompanying exit
wound. Not good that he'd been shot, but good that the bullet had
gone straight through.

As I reached for the first aid
kit on my belt, I heard a roar behind me. I jerked my head around,
cursing inwardly as the world tilted and my stomach heaved. My left
arm gave out and I landed heavily on my back, gasping for air while
I fought the urge to vomit all over myself. I turned my head to the
right, toward the growling sound that continued unabated. Felipe
lay pinned beneath our Humvee, his muscles bulging as he attempted
to push the three-ton vehicle off his lower extremities. My gaze
was drawn to his left, though, where a blood-covered female vampire
stalked toward him, her lips curled into a vicious snarl, makeshift
stake in hand.

My nostrils flared and my eyes
burned with tears that were sure to shed. Donna. Her clothes were
in tatters, her hair a matted mess from a head wound. I could
barely recognize her through the dirt and blood stains on her face,
neck, and arms, but it was most definitely Donna--the bubbly,
dog-grooming fashionista who had been my first friend at the
sanctuary. And she was heading toward my boyfriend with a very
sharp, very deadly piece of wood.

"Noooo." The voice sounded
hoarse, pained, and unfamiliar, but I knew it was mine. My body
moved before I thought to move, trying to draw itself toward the
fallen vampire. I reached out a hand, clawing at the black stones,
pulling myself forward. Felipe turned his head from the Hummer,
seeing the oncoming attacker, then tilted his head as far as it
would go. His dark eyes landed on mine, terrified. My heart seized.
For the year that I'd known Felipe, I'd never seen him afraid of
anything, much less death. But this was different, so
different.

I opened my mouth to cry out,
to plead with Donna for mercy, to tell Felipe that I loved him. The
words never came. An unexpected pain blossomed across the back of
my head, spidering out across my skull. The horrible agony was
followed by an uncontrollable urge to yack. As my breakfast finally
freed itself, my vision blurred, shrinking until all I could see
were Felipe's eyes, dark and pleading. Then they were gone.

The dark faded with agonizing
slowness, the light creeping in from the center of my vision and
battling its way out until I could finally focus on the world
around me. Afraid to move my head, I stared upward, watching the
stars twinkle in the blackness above. Images flashed through my
brain--images of pain, fear and death. One settled in the
forefront--Felipe on the ground, Donna advancing on him.

I jerked up, forcing myself
into a seated position. As I did so, my stomach heaved and I
doubled over, the muscles in my abdomen heaving, trying to expel
something that wasn't there. I felt a hand on my shoulder and
glanced up. What I saw was the most magnificent sight I have ever
seen. Nothing before or since has been its equal.

Felipe was crouching next to
me, a smile on his battered face. He had a gash across his
forehead, but it was healing quickly. His clothes were torn and
every time he moved, I could tell he was in pain, but he was alive
and that was more than I had dared to hope for. I flung my arms
around him, knocking us both to the ground and causing us both
unneeded pain, but I couldn't help it. He laughed and wrapped his
arms around me, holding me close.

After a few moments, he kissed
my head and pulled back, brushing hair from my cheek. "How are you
feeling?"

"Like I got run over by a herd
of elephants and not a one of them missed me."

"At least you don't feel like
you got crushed by a Hummer." His trademark smirk crept across his
face and I couldn't help but smile.

"Donna?" The smile faded from
my face as I asked the question. I feared the answer, even though I
was sure what it would be.

"She's alright. Dirty, tired,
still angry, but she's alright."

I sat up straight. "What?
She's ok? But she..."

He smiled at me again. "She
saved my life. I thought she was going to kill me, but she didn't.
When that guy hit you, you passed out. After Benton killed him, I
looked back at her, thinking I was going to watch her kill me. But
she leapt over me. Sitting on top of the Humvee was Conrad. He was
getting ready to stake me himself, but thought she was going to do
it. He never expected her to turn on him, and he wasn't prepared
for her. She buried the stake deep in his heart, then grabbed a
sword from the vehicle and sliced his head clean off. When he was
dead, the battle turned quickly and some of the remaining vampires
surrendered. The rest were burned."

"Wow... That's just...
Wow..."

"I know. She's going to have a
lot to answer to, but I think she'll eventually be ok. I hope."

Felipe stood and held out a
hand. I took it and he hefted me up. I was still in pain, but my
wounds had been bandaged and I was already starting to heal. Three
of the soldiers had been killed, and the one Donna attacked lost
his arm. Rossi suffered a broken leg when I threw her, but she
claims to have enjoyed every minute of the battle. Jax was hurt
badly and would be out of commission for several months, but he
would heal. Nathan had been staked, but the vampire doing the
staking failed epically and thought the heart was on the other
side. Of the civilians in the town, eighteen of them had been
killed, including three children who were caught in a blast by a
grenade. The mayor was found murdered in his house and it looked
like he had been there for awhile gathering flies.

A clean-up crew made up of
dozens of vampires and humans and quite a few psychologists arrived
to take care of the damage and assist those who were left behind in
the carnage. More than half the town was left, and they were going
to need a lot of assistance to overcome the wounds, both mental and
physical, left behind by Conrad's idiocy. The rest of us headed
back to the sanctuary to get cleaned up and debriefed. It was a job
well done, and I was happy knowing I'd lost not a one of my team in
such a violent battle.

The moon shone brightly in the
clear, starlit sky. I lay on the beach, basking in its cool light
as waves crashed in the ocean. Sprinkles of salt water across my
bare belly told me that Felipe had finally dragged himself from the
surf to join me on the blanket. I rolled over and propped myself up
on my elbow, watching him dry off his perfectly sculpted body.

"Yum."

He attempted to glare at me,
but couldn't suppress a smile and settled for tossing his towel at
me. I caught it in mid-air and folded it up, using it as a pillow.
He plopped down beside me, his wet swimming trunks brushing against
my leg as he pulled me into an embrace.

"I'm so glad you talked me
into this."

"Me, too," I said as I
snuggled close to him.

After the mess with Donna was
settled, I mentioned to Father Bellini that Felipe had never taken
a vacation. Though there were still several small covens that would
need to be removed in our zone, Felipe's assistance had been
requested by the Americans to help clean up the plague there.
Bellini had agreed, on the condition that Felipe took me with him,
and that we both took a vacation first. The priest ordered us away
immediately, sending us to a small seaside town much like the one
we had recently liberated.

He had rented a small house
with a private beach for a full week and Felipe and I were making
the most of it. As I lay there in Felipe's arms, I thought nothing
could make that moment better. That is, until he rolled over and
sat up.

"I think when we get to
America, we should hit up Vegas first."

"Why? You want to gamble away
your life savings?"

"No, but I hear you can get
married super quick there."

I raised an eyebrow at him and
he grinned. I watched him reach into his swim trunks and he pulled
out a plastic case. It popped open at his touch. Inside was the
most beautiful ring I had ever seen. Though I feel guilty saying
it, it was even more beautiful than the one Steven gave me. He got
down on one knee in the sand, his eyes full of nervous hope.

"Please, Jane?"

I cleared my throat and fought
back a smile. "Please, what?"

This time he did glare.
"You're so mean. You know I suck at this stuff..." He coughed once,
twice. Then straightened his shoulders and said, "Jane, will you be
my first, and last wife?"

I smiled and jumped up,
kissing him deeply as I tackled him into the sand. He slipped the
ring on my finger before lifting me into his arms and carrying me
into the house.

Vampire Assassin (Jane #1)

Available on Kindle &
Nook.

New Blood (Jane #2)

Available on Kindle &
Nook.

Blood & Tears (Jane
#3)

Available on Kindle &
Nook.

Vampire Assassin (A series of
novellas)

The first three books in the
Jane series.

Available on Amazon in
paperback.

Blood of the Dragon

Available on Kindle, Nook,
& on Amazon in paperback.

Coming Soon

Vengeance (Sequel to Blood
of the Dragon)

Samantha Warren owes her love
of reading to Laura Ingalls Wilder, without whom she would not own
a rumpled, torn, beautifully pink book called Farmer Boy (the first
book she remembers reading repeatedly). Her favorite book of all
time is Frankenstein, a fascinating study in the dichotomy of
mankind.

Samantha lives in upstate New
York and milks cows in her free time. She spends way too much money
on lattes at the Village Café, but wouldn't have it any other way.
She is also an avid short story writer and many of her pieces can
be read at her blog.

Interested in contacting
Samantha?

Email:
[email protected]

Twitter: @_SamanthaWarren

Blog:
http://www.mariytasmusings.com