Just as she was going to tell him to get the fuck down, a flurry of bullets struck him. Whoever he was, sunk to his knees and keeled over. Alicia shook her head. How stupid do you have to be?
The soldiers could be heard chuckling and then stalking forward. Alicia twisted around the wreck and pelted them with bullets, causing them to scatter. As they regrouped and returned fire, she found cover again and saw the coated figure sit up. The bullets lodged in his forehead and chest popped out, and the wounds closed. She couldn’t believe it. No wolf could heal that fast. He was hit with silver bullets. He should be dead.
She got a good look at him, and what he was finally clicked. But it wasn’t her that spoke, it was him as his pulsing red eyes screamed vampire. “Well, that made me feel about as welcome as a fart in a spacesuit…” he said in a huff, before glancing at Alicia’s weapon. “Gimme that.”
“Fuck off, vampire,” she replied, checking the bullets remaining.
The vampire put his hands on his hips. “Well now…how rude are you…”
Alicia roared as soldiers rounded the wreckage and attacked. The vampire unloaded with fists as Alicia clawed her way through body after body.
The remaining soldiers converged with their weapons raised, but something behind her caught their attention. Alicia heard what it was and glanced back as she felled yet another body. The vampire had torn off an arm of a screaming soldier and was now beating him with it. “Bad dog! Very…fucking…bad dog!”
“What the hell are you doing here?” Alicia yelled.
“If you must know,” he said before plunging the limb into the soldier’s chest, burying it in a pool of blood. “I’m helpin’ me lil’ bud.”
“What bud? Who?”
The vampire turned to the remnants of Slade One. “There he is over there. ‘Bout time Fido!” he called.
Alicia moved her head to peer around the vampire and look directly at the wreck. She saw the roof of the plane she had flown in so many times burst outwards. The pilot stumbled out and fell to the ground. As he regained his feet and looked across the expanse separating them, Alicia came face to face with her son.
It was as if time stood still. She heard the embattled cries of soldiers. In the corner of her eye she spotted the mobile forces of the Rykard family bearing down on the compound, heading straight for them. But that didn’t matter to her. Her rifle dropped. She felt her chest tighten. Tears were falling faster than she could ever run but she did… headlong towards him. Not knowing or caring that vehicles that could obliterate her body were zooming past. What was that compared to him? And finally, she jumped into his embrace, shrieking and sobbing his name as he wrapped his arms around her.
The explosions rocked all around them as the compound returned fire on the tanks, but Alicia heard the one word she had missed hearing from his lips. “Mum…”
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Fight Or Die
The tanks couldn’t get through the debris left by the vampire’s missile, so Rykard’s soldiers leapt out of them and moved in on foot. Orders and screams were bellowed, followed by furious gunfire and roars. The battle had begun. It had only seemed a second that Alicia had held him, but she leant back to touch his soot stained face.
“What are you…how are you here…what is going on?”
Nick suddenly pushed her away violently and jumped back as an explosion cracked the ground directly between where they stood. She crawled towards her original cover, but another explosion shattered it to pieces. It was then Alicia looked up to see a soldier, standing on the battlements, harnessed with a rocket launcher readying another shot.
Alicia jumped as a roar she hadn’t heard for so long, and never thought she would again, sounded to her right. Nick bolted forward, not in his full wolf form, waving his arms and screaming insults at the soldier. Leading his gaze away from Alicia. The vampire took the opportunity provided him, snapping off a chunk of the gunship’s tail blade and flinging it forward. Its aim was true, burying itself into the soldier’s skull, killing him in a flood of blood.
“Heal that, ya toilet drinkin’ fuck…”
*
Talia stalked forward, careful to avoid any detection. The doorway to the tower lay just ahead.
“Wait…” Alistair whispered, “I don’t like this.”
“You never like anything. Come on.”
“I’m serious…it’s too easy. Where are the guards?”
“Probably outside fighting. There’s a war on in case you hadn’t noticed.”
“No Talia…wait…”
But she paid no attention, rushing over the threshold. Keen to find Nicole. To hug that baby. But ultimately to make Alicia proud. But she had only gone up three steps when they rattled from under her feet. Shaking violently. Not just those three. All of them. Talia figured she had to have tripped some alarm when the steps under her feet crumbled into dust and sand. Mechanised drill bits, buried in the cement, had suddenly sparked to life.
Talia screamed just as she dropped directly on to them. Instinct dictated she put her hands out for protection. She saved her face but not her palms. Both hands and her knees went through the drills. Her screams echoed all the way up the spiral passage. Her whole body trembled as the bits spun through her skin. She couldn’t move. Every jerk to free herself brought more and more torn flesh and blood. Alistair gripped her by the shoulders in an attempt to help her.
“Freeze!” a voice called from behind them.
“Let me help her!” Alistair cried, again quickly attempting to grab her but he was held back. He cursed and yelled but it was no use. He was dragged away, desperately trying to fight them
