His Redeemer's Kiss Page 4

  Joaquin shook his head. “I can’t.”

  Sparks began to radiate from around Diego’s fingers, brilliant blue and white pulses flickering into the night like fleeing insects. “You have one chance left.” His fingers flexed, and Joaquin felt the energy he mastered building around them, buffeting him like a searing desert wind. It was hot while the dropped coldness of Diego’s voice chilled him, making him feel weakened and defeated.

  He shook his head, dispelling the weighty sensations. Mind tricks were a child’s game he was able to dismiss with little effort, but it still aggravated him that Diego would try. He bared his teeth in a tight snarl, more than willing to take the challenge from Diego. He wasn’t a fighter. He wasn’t near to being the warrior Diego appeared to be. Only a few hours ago Joaquin had decided he was ready to end the torture of his existence. This was no less than he had wanted then. He could leave this life behind with honor. The irony was, now he didn’t want to die this second.

  The first attack brightened the shadows of the tree with a blinding blue explosion when Joaquin had apparently taken more time than Diego was willing to give. Energy pulses blasted against the trunk as Joaquin leaped for safety. Limbs and branches swayed and cracked as he raced upward, Diego following, driving him further from the hidden house.

  Chapter Three

  The peace of early evening was torn apart by an explosion. It ripped through the trees as though they were paper cutouts, simultaneously flattening several robust shapes with the obliterating strength of the blast. The last tree toppled with a splintered, cracking crash less than five hundred yards from the cabin. The wave of the aftershock rocked the entire shell of the small home like it was made of matchsticks and no more than a child’s toy.

  Terrified screams erupted through broken windows as glass shattered and fell from window frames, splintered like sparkling mosaic crystal leaves. Lily shot out of her bed like the largest demons of Hell were after her.

  Because they were.

  The floorboards and walls shook around her, vibrating under her bare feet as though a runaway locomotive raced right outside the walls. She fought to stand, flipping covers out of her way. Lurching to reach Tabitha’s bedside in the bedroom space they shared, she ruthlessly yanked cords from the machines to free her from their forced immobility.

  Houston cleared the doorway only a second later, his gaze cold and resolute. He jerked his head over his shoulder as he held himself steady with a hand on the doorframe when another shudder rocked the house. Fury made his voice sharp and commanding. “I’ll carry her. Go with David.”

  She nodded, not arguing a second, snatching her jeans from the bookcase where she had tossed them at night and fled the room in her nightshirt. A sharp, whistling sound overhead seared the deafening silence of the wounded night, and she flinched as recognition hit her mere seconds before another explosion rocked the ground. She bit her lip to swallow her fear, searching in a near panic to remember how to get out of the little cabin, suddenly unable to remember a single thing about where she was. Amy and Kathy flocked in front of David in the hallway when she reached the bedroom door, no less terrified with wide, unseeing eyes, but they hadn’t been asleep. It felt as though she were walking through a fog with the floor tilting precariously under her like a funhouse floor made of rolling barrels. Hearing Houston’s sharp bark to move, Lily jumped into her jeans, then hurried in front of the trio in the hall, snapping into the now to race out the front door to the outside world.

  The motor of the diesel specialty bus cranked to life with Laney in the driver’s seat, her cheeks taut and pale, her eyes fearfully searching the smoke-filled sky as she prepped the gleaming monster to run and run hard. Houston jogged from the house with Tabitha folded securely into his arms, David bringing up the rear, herding Amy and Kathy.

  Fires raged deep in the trees where the explosions had happened, seemingly stopped by some sort of wall, not reaching them and not getting any closer. Thick smoke billowed up, obscuring what was left of the sun’s rays on the western horizon.

  “Where are Diego and Tani?” Lily shouted, whipping between Houston, desperately searching the demolished windows of the cabin for any sign of them from inside the bus. There was nothing to see in any of the powerless rooms plainly visible through the gaping holes. She wanted to run out the doors of the bus to search for them, but couldn’t without trampling right over Kathy and Amy.

  “They can catch up. Don’t worry,” Houston said, rushing to put Tab on the bed. It had been specially outfitted for her to travel at the rear of the bus. “Floor it, Laney!” He snarled the order as soon as David was in and the door slammed shut.

  Laney didn’t hesitate a heartbeat, maneuvering the converted bus through the overgrowth covering the driveway, leaving the lights off and trying not to use the brake.

  “Why are they f-firing at us?” Amy stammered.

  “Because they can’t get close enough to actually touch you. Their weapons can’t either. Diego set up a perimeter line no one and nothing can cross without him allowing it.” Houston reconnected the important lines for Tabitha, an IV and a standard monitor, then strapped her down with secure belts to keep any jarring from tossing her right off the double-sized bed as they bounced over the uneven ground.

  “So they’re flushing us out?” Kathy gasped, her eyes rounding as a noticeable squeak took over her voice.

  “They may think they are,” Houston muttered. “Diego is going to kick their asses for this. He loved that cabin.”

  “Lily!”

  Lily’s head snapped up from where she numbly watched Houston taking precious care with Tabitha. Her gaze went unfocused as the sharp shout entered her thoughts.

  “Joaquin!”

  “Santa María.” The grateful benediction was no more than a whisper in her mind. “I am with you. Diego has engaged your attackers.”

  “What is going on?” She silenced the fearful sob with sheer willpower of steel. She would not let her fear leak into her thoughts.

  “I don’t know. I’m on the wrong side to see what is happening.” Real apology rumbled in his words.

  “Joaquin!” She almost shouted for real when she felt his voice create a void of emptiness that told her he had withdrawn. What could Diego do? Where were they, and where was Joaquin? What was happening? Who was attacking them?

  There was only one person who would dare. Tenorio had found them, and he wasn’t the kind of man to let his escapees remain free. The knowledge that they had been found so quickly and easily chilled her.

  “Lily, Diego and I are not far away, but we can’t come to you right now. The way out will soon be safe. Stay calm. I can talk to you easier than the others.” Titania’s collected and confident tones soothed her. Lily nodded. It was up to her to tell them what was happening outside where they couldn’t see. Tani’s faith in Lily filled her as she did what had to be done to get them safely away.

  “Tani knows where we are,” she informed the others inside the bus with her. Lily noticed the stretched and fearful tension filling the luxurious space wall to wall for the first time as everyone who could, snapped their attention to her. A total silence had filled the bus as they all waited for the next inevitable moment, knowing death waited for them. “Diego is with her.”

  Everyone knew Tani and Lily had connected by their telepathic talents so no one questioned her information. Amy and Kathy sat on the floor, shoulder to shoulder on the carpet. David was near the front, watching from one angle as Houston did the same to their rear, searching through viewing portals in the thickly covered, tinted windows. Most of the walls were solid, like a tour bus.

  Dark shadows seemed to bleed from the sides of the path to engulf the night and the bus as they crawled down the thin road that led to the only pass out of the woods. Another roaring rocket erupted in the distance to their right, sending a shower of debris high into the night. Desperate whimpers rose, but everyone stayed quiet and as calm as possible. Kathy and Amy both closed their eyes and wa
ited for it to end, the same as Lily did.

  * * * *

  Joaquin felt only a brief frustration when he encountered the wall of protection that he’d missed the night before because he hadn’t dared get as close as he was now to the cabin. Diego allowed Joaquin within the energy boundaries to meet the bus, the invisible shield dropping immediately. There was no doubt those same barriers had been ample to keep the intruders at bay, feeling them against his mind and skin as Joaquin physically neared them. He was as sure those same barriers were why the attacks weren’t on the mark and could get nowhere close enough to do physical harm. Whatever Diego was, his strengths were deep and strong.

  He landed with light feet on the roof of the bus, immediately scanning inside the moving vehicle, and found everyone who should have been, inside. Relief was deep, knowing no one was harmed.

  Whipping his head toward the flow of anger and determination in the distance, he snarled to the depths of the woods, sending the rush of his own anger into the shadows as Diego unleashed a huge power surge against the forces that had sent the first attack. An attack which had happened only moments before full nightfall. Blue light lit the woods as though the trees themselves were wrapped in chilling fluorescent flames. Another explosion rocked the night, but this time, it was Diego’s kill—a large vehicle and all its ammunition exploding. Not an aimed missile targeting the people beneath him.

  Lifting his hands, Joaquin pulled in more of the nighttime darkness, masking their size in a nebulous blanket of shadows. Driving past outstretched limbs, the sharp whip of branches felt like fire-stoked lashes against his chest as he kept his position on top of the bus, steeling himself against their inflicted pain. The created concealment never wavered as he focused, all the while biting back the skin-stripping sting as each strike flayed into his chest and legs. The thick cover of shadows muted their noise and hid their heat.

  Diego had alerted him their attackers were using heat and night vision gear to snare their quarry. A quarry now protected by a tentative alliance between the two vampires. One who had the ability to crush the invading force of ammunitions and men, and Joaquin, who could direct the night to do his bidding in a way he’d rarely done, commanding a strength he’d seldom, if ever, needed before tonight. His lowered hands hovered flat as if controlling the rocking spine of the diesel-powered beast beneath him as he concentrated his attention to keep them all hidden.

  His soul had snarled in shock, demanding retribution for this attack against Lily the instant he’d awakened. Once above ground, he’d raced to the cabin, uncaring if a welcome was given or not. Nothing would hold him back. Diego, already on his way to face the worst of the threat, unexpectedly had taken him into his confidence, giving him the situation in detail. As soon as he understood the direness and offered without provocation to help, Joaquin had felt the first seeking wave of energy roll over the treetops in the direction of the incoming vehicles. The ensuing explosion was what had lit up the night sky with another burst of heat and light.

  “Lily, are you all right?” Joaquin asked, his gaze unblinking and focused on the murky road ahead of the bus’s nose. There wasn’t a single flicker of moonlight making its way through the churning clouds of roiling smoke filling the sky. Joaquin weaved the heavy gray and black clouds effortlessly to his advantage.

  The chatter of her fear was perceptible even through her thoughts. “I’m okay, but I’ve been better.” Inside, he wanted to smile at her determination to be strong, but didn’t dare, fearing a drop in his concentration would break the cover he controlled within his hands. They weren’t out of trouble yet. The sound of engines growled like lumbering animals ahead. There was movement and lowered voices discernable to him. Whatever lay before them was moving in their direction, directly across their path to try to stop them.

  “More vehicles are lying in wait at the branch of the roads.” Diego’s voice thrummed through the vacuumed silence surrounding Joaquin on top of the bus, confirming what he’d detected beyond the darkness. “I cannot remove them to allow you safe passage. I cannot reach them in time.”

  “I will see them safely through,” Joaquin swore. The barrier Diego had constructed had held the forces several miles from their goal, infiltrating their human minds with a sense of inescapable horrors to be found if they forced their way forward. The strength it took to create such an impenetrable force, and maintain it, especially during daylight hours, was not lost on Joaquin.

  “Then in you, I entrust them,” Diego intoned, shifting out of Joaquin’s attentions to his own battles, trying to stop the forces from congregating further and freezing their escape entirely.

  “Lily, there is a trap ahead. Diego will come when he can, but we can’t stop.”

  “How will we get through?” Adrenaline ratcheted her fear, making her voice rise high even in her thoughts.

  This time, his smile was a little harder to restrain, looser with confidence. “With a little help from overhead,” he answered cryptically. Lifting his hands, he relished the feeling of his powers seeking out into the night, absorbing the sensations of the world around him to command them to his will. Clouds quickly gathered as lightning spiked and slithered against the tumultuous billow of black swathing thickening in the sky. “Tell whoever is driving to maintain this speed. Don’t use the brakes. My concentration is divided, and I can’t hide them.”

  “What are you doing?”

  The tremor of fear and uncertainty was easy to catch in her words. He knew her greatest fear was that there was no hope to escape from the terror surrounding them.

  “Literally? Hiding you in plain sight,” he replied, maintaining the shadows surrounding the bus while commanding the fires of nature to strike and boil in the night skies like a witch’s cauldron of old.

  * * * *

  Lily sank down on her knees on the carpet next to Laney to be close to her and still be able to see out the panel length windshield. Her attention zeroed in on the road before them as she listened to all the voices she had to blindly trust. “Just drive. Don’t slow down for anything.” Branches whipped like they were possessed in the growing winds.

  Laney nodded, her hands steady on the wheel to keep them on the winding shadows of the path that wasn’t even a real drive. “Where is that storm coming from?” She licked at dry lips, her voice quivering as her gaze jerked up then to the track ahead of them.

  Lightning struck a few feet in front of the bus a heartbeat later, illuminating in a blinding blast the path that wasn’t any larger than a track for two tires. Lily blinked to clear the sudden streaks flashing in front of her eyes. Rain fell in the next instant, raging in rivers from the sky. Whimpers echoed from the rear of the bus.

  “Don’t slow down!” Lily reached up when she felt Laney react to the weather, almost letting the bus drop to less than a crawl.

  “Right,” Laney replied, firming her lips, pushing onward. Lily settled again, her attention riveted on the outside world. The wipers made little headway on the waterfall of rain as it hit the flat windshield. Water ran in building rivers in front of them, pouring like a dam had given way down the pathway to disappear beneath the bus.

  “Shit,” Houston swore a few tense moments later. “We can’t get past those.”

  Lily saw them too. Three large military-green carriers sitting like vultures along the road and tucked into the trees, their shapes blurred through the falling deluge. Tarps covered the rear of each vehicle, but didn’t hide their cargo. Large guns sat poised, ready to fire in two of them, aiming right at them, down the throat of the bus. She held her breath.

  Yet nothing happened as they neared. Not a person moved within any of the carriers, the bus inching closer every second. Fear created an icy tremor down her spine as her blood pumped mercilessly against her ears while those hulking shapes loomed out of the dark.

  “Lily, you can do this. Give her my directions.”

  Lily sucked in a deep breath and let it out. “Track to the right. That’s it,” she encouraged
when Laney found the rut, following the voice and images flowing through her mind, pushing her own fears right out the window. There couldn’t be room for any fears. How Joaquin could see anything in the pitch black night awash in a lightning storm like she’d never seen, she had no idea. She wasn’t even sure where he was, but she was blindly putting her faith into his view of the world outside in that torrential rain. She knew without any other light, she was as blind as Laney trying to drive through it all.

  Another flash of lightning struck at their side, illuminating the wilderness with a bright ball of light. Where it looked like there was not a single foot of space, they barely slipped past one of the large covered trucks lying cross-wise over the road, leaving just enough room for the bus and maybe a prayer. The vehicle they were avoiding had actually done them a favor by shoving its way into its position, knocking some of the closer foliage down or away. A brash, scratching-hiss sound reverberated through the length of the bus, like nails on a chalkboard scraped down the side, making her cringe in anticipation of capture, but it drew no attention from outside.