Lucidia now understood Adonis’s sorrow; Darian had told him this ahead of time, commanded him to retrieve his defective trainee and bring her to that horrible fate. It was as much a punishment for him as it was for her.
She turned, no longer looking at her mentor and second father. Now, her eyes were trained on the doors of the van, the barrier between her and the free world.
Now more than ever, she needed a fool-proof plan. The stakes had just risen, and there was no room for failure. Not for Robin, and certainly not for her.
Reykon
They’d stopped just after Lubbock, at around noon. A large grass field sat to their right, hedged by tall deciduous trees, shimmying in a light draft. The Texas sun beat down on them as they stood, leaning over the hood of the SUV.
“Ever heard of google maps?” Robin grumbled.
She was referring to the crinkled map that showed the locations of where each decoy pair was headed.
“Yeah – we’ve heard how easy it is to track via satellite. Tell me, do you have access to the government’s sat system?”
“Wait, you do?”
“Vampires are masters at mind control – no pun intended. You can get anything if you know how to ask.”
“I’m pretty sure hypnosis doesn’t count,” she said with a smirk.
Reykon turned back to the map, studying it with a grimace. They’d planned a check in point five minutes ago. So far, none of his team had answered their sat phones.
“What does it mean?” she asked, her face now betraying concern.
Reykon shrugged. “They could be late.”
“Or…”
“Don’t be a negative Nancy,” he said.
She raised an eyebrow and turned, leaning back against the car and letting her face warm in the sun. Reykon used the map to determine possible locations of where the teams may have been, and possible routes. Nobody had actually given any concrete plans, in case crap hit the turbine.
A few minutes later, his phone buzzed.
Reykon frowned, and picked it up, taking a few steps away from Robin.
“Hello?” he said gruffly.
Axel’s voice strained out through the other end.
“You’ve gotta get…” he groaned in a shaky, wet kind of injury. “Go, Reykon, now!”
“What’s happening?” Reykon hissed.
“Spy. Cain’s house… had a spy.”
Reykon’s eyes widened.
“The others?” he asked quickly.
“Gone. All gone,” Axel grunted. “They’re closing in.”
“Thank you, Axel.”
The line disconnected.
Reykon turned to Robin, to yell at her that it was time to leave, stat. But as he looked at her, he saw that she’d stopped looking at the sun and now stood rigid, watching an impending caravan of vehicles tear down the road, closer and closer with each second.
Robin
As she squinted at the group of menacing black cars, her heart dropped.
“Reykon,” she warned, turning back to him.
“I know,” he barked. He was already in the back, rifling through the weapons bag. She ran over to him, ignoring the cars.
“What do we do?”
Reykon had a stockpile of weapons in their SUV, everything from guns to grenades to things that didn’t even look like they did anything. She saw two more bags of powder, blue and red, and was reminded of the car accident she’d had in Reykon’s sportscar.
“Here,” he said, handing her a thick pistol. “You know how to use that.”
The cars had stopped now, about twenty feet away, forming a V barricade. There were three, all hefty SUV’s just like theirs. Reykon opened all the doors to their car, creating wing-like shields.
Robin felt like she was in a Tom Cruise movie. Unfortunately, not in the good way.
She double checked that there was a round in the chamber, and triple checked that the safety was off, and then she met Reykon on the side of the car. He was preparing his weapons, of which he had many more.
Across the no man’s land between them, a door slammed, followed by more, like popcorn. Agents from House Xander (presumably) got out of the car and took the same position that Reykon had, waiting for the first shot to be fired.
Her heart started hammering as she saw three vampires, heading up the attack party. She felt foolish for wondering about sunlight turning them to ash. Clearly, that was a myth.
“How do you kill a vampire?” she whispered harshly.
Reykon didn’t take his eyes off the attackers. “Fire. Or decapitation, if you can swing it.”
“Was that a joke?” she hissed.
“That red powder in the car,” he said. “That burns enough to kill, but it’ll take your hand off if you’re not careful. Get a bit on them, and then light it up.”
She nodded, and looked forward, the pistol’s weight reassuring in her hands.
For a moment, the only sound was the wavering grass stalks.
Then, a voice boomed across the space between them.
“We want her alive, Reykon Thraxos. Hand her over, by the order of Master Darian Xander.”
“Don’t think so, Jarvis!” he called back.
Jarvis? She thought, a moment of curiosity amidst the panic and gripping fear.
“Then you’re on the losing side of the fight,” the vampire called back.
“I’ll take those odds!” Reykon yelled.
She understood now. What she had first taken for annoying cockiness was actually an intentional move; Reykon had plenty of annoying cockiness, but on top of that, he had strategy, and he had smarts. His little quips and goads were made on purpose. Convince the attacker that you’re an idiot, and they’ll be gung-ho to march in and squish you like a bug.
He was hustling them.
First, three strongbloods approached. She could tell because their skin looked normal, and not like a wax statue reject. They each had their gruesome weapons of choice. Even as he watched them approach, Reykon was thinking of her.
“Robin,” he said. “As soon as these pansies attack me, the vampires are going to come get you. Aim for the head – I know it’s not your strong suit but make do. Once I’m done teaching these guys a lesson, I’ll come bail you out.”
“What?” she shrieked.
“They can’t kill you, Robin,” he growled. “Just keep fighting until I can come help.”
She took a
