Blood Warrior(29)

Drew crawled onto his hands and knees and then stood up. After he was in full standing position, he leaned over, extending his hand out to Gavin. Gavin looked up at him with a solemn expression. For a moment there were unspoken words that passed between the two and then Gavin grasped Drew’s hand and let Drew haul him up into a standing position.

There wasn’t a big ‘damn why were we fighting at all, hug’ but the two seemed to have come to some sort of terms. They died, and then an angel gave them life again, Luke was right, there was no reason for them to be fighting like this.

“You guys have to see this,” Sarah called from the opening of the alley and taking my attention away from my guys.

Before I ran to the street, like everyone else, I looked back at where Korina had fallen. Anthony stood there, staring down at the burnt ash that had once been his only family. She and the other brother had been all that remained for him.

I strode up to him and grasped his hand. “You have us now.” I told him. I didn’t want to make him feel better, I knew that would take a while, but I did want him to know that we weren’t going to abandon him.

He flicked his eyes toward me. “I thought I was going to follow her into death, now, that has been taken from me as well.”

I studied him for a moment before releasing his hand. “Well, you have a purpose, otherwise the Warrior Angel would not have allowed you to live.”

He turned so that he was fully facing me. “Apparently, my purpose is you, little Hunter.”

“Apparently,” I agreed.

Drew was at my side, having stayed with me the whole time, he grasped my hand and pulled me away. “We have to go see what’s going on out there.” I offered Anthony a smile and let Drew lead me to the street.

Our group was lined up on the sidewalk, watching the results of Korina’s death take effect. There were several vampire bodies already fallen, laying haphazardly on the streets and walkways. Two vampires emerged from a building diagonal from us, screaming and grasping at their bodies as if they were being attacked by bees. We watched them stumble to and fro like drunks and then collapse in a heap of undead flesh.

“It’s working,” I whispered.

Drew nodded and slid his arm around me. “Yes.”

***

Before we headed home, we went to the Le Pavillon to check on Dahlia. Anthony was fairly sure that she was from Korina’s line, but we needed to make sure.

We knew that we wouldn’t take down every single vampire when we killed Korina, but from the looks of it, the portion we got was massive.

What was left of the entire group ascended the steps of the hotel, entering with the same caution we always used. There were bound to be a few stray vampires left and a lot more soldiers that would be wandering around.

The lobby was full of dead vampires. Some were slumped on couches and some were laying on the floor where they must have been standing when they died. There was even one who had keeled over at the bar.

We took the stairs and headed up to the suites, figuring that was probably where we would find Dahlia.

It didn’t take long to locate her, but she wasn’t in the condition I expected to find her in. She lay on the bed in the same outfit we’d seen her in earlier, panting and clutching her stomach. Her eyes widened when she saw us enter the bedroom door.

“Well, dammit,” she breathed as the group formed in front of her. Her eyes scanned each person and then finally settled on me. “I guess you found a way after all. Too bad you had to kill a whole vampire line to get to me.”

I stepped forward a few paces. “I would have found you. This…” I spread my hands wide, indicating the death of all the vampires, “was to put an end to what you started.”

She laughed, but it was promptly cut off by a fit of coughing. “This was all you darling. You can make yourself feel better by putting an end to it, but you and I both know that the world will never be the same again. You made the history books, love.”

I wanted to throw up. And why was it that people were so obsessed about recording the history of all of this. I really, really hoped to God that my name would not be tainted forever in the books children would study at school.

I slid my gun from its holster. “I know that you are going to die soon. That much is inevitable, but I am going to shoot you anyway, just because it will make me feel better.”

She laughed again. “You have been a worthy adversary, Chloe. I will give you that much. So come on, let’s get this over with.” She rolled and flung her arm over so that she lay spread eagle on the bed. “I accept my death … finally.” She muttered the last words as I silently pulled the trigger. The UV round lodged into her chest, causing her to lurch forward a little bit.