Final Days (25 page)

“You do.  And Tam, you realize that, based on
Starla’s situation, your baby likely survived.  Tam, you might have a child out there.”

Tamesine shook her head.

“No.  It isn’t possible.  I knew Caedmon when he was still in your belly.  Before I even knew he existed, I felt him.   Wouldn’t I know if I had a child out there in the world?”

“You’ve been sick for centuries.  And we still don’t know exactly how all of this works because there have been so few births.  But it makes sense.  I’m sure you don’t remember anything, but if you’re up to it, after this is all over, would you want to try again?  See if we can find out what happened to the child?”

After a few moments, Tamesine shook her head.

“No. 
Maybe.  Give me some time.”

“All that you need.
  Right now, though, Koen wants you to know how grateful he is that we found Windari.  That
you
did.  He’s going to try to capture her tonight.”

“He won’t be able to hold her.  If she is anywhere as strong as I am, he won’t have the power.  Lia, I have to help him.  I have to go to America.”

“Sweetie, you’ve been through a lot tonight.  He’s clever, and stronger than you think.  I’m sure he’ll be all right.”

“No.  He won’t.  If this has any chance of working, you need to take me to him.  Please, Eillia.  I need to fix this.  I need to do something.  Please.”

Koen’s jet
arrived in L.A. during early morning, so they had to stay on the plane until dark.  The man who took care of all of Koen’s security needs sat two seats in front of him with three tablet computers propped on tabletops all around him. 

Koen had been trying to rest, but he suddenly looked up.  “Johnson.”

Johnson got up and came back to Koen immediately.

“Yes, sir?”

“Everything is ready?”

“Ready.  Here.”  Johnson reached behind him and pulled up a case, snapped it open, and pulled out a machine gun.

“I have four men, they’ll go in, take her down, secure her, and then she’s yours.  Another four will scan the property and secure her blood-bonds.  We’ll get her, sir, as long as we maintain our element of surprise.”

“Nothing can go wrong.  I can’t lose her again.”

“We will do everything we can to make sure this is a success.”

“I trust no one more.  Thanks, Johnson.  Get some rest.”

The plan was in place.  But it still might not work.  They could take her down, and bind her up, but no normal bindings could keep her secure for long.  Koen would have to get her to talk before she gained her freedom again.  He was powerful, but he didn’t know if he was more powerful than Windari.

He sighed and closed his eyes.  They were going to find out in just a few hours.

As the sun
left the sky, Koen’s team left the plane and got into two large black SUV’s to meet at Windari’s beach house.  Several things had to come together for this to be a success.  Starting with the fact that she had to be there when they got there.   And that they could get to her without detection.  Johnson had been right, it all hinged on stealth and luck.

It took three hours of travel alongside the Pacific before they pulled up on the street and quietly parked the vehicles.  Lights were on in the big modern beach house where Tamesine had said her twin resided.

Koen stayed in front of his team the entire way from the cars to the main entrance of the house, his life signal cloaked.  A driveway went around the back of the house that faced the ocean, so he knew there was a garage under the house with an entrance only on the back side.   This worked in their favor.

It took
only seconds to release the locks on the doors and move inside.  Johnson’s team of four expert marksmen came up right behind Koen and they weaved their way down a narrow hall to a large living area with the back wall built completely of glass.  She lay on a couch with a large plate of food balanced on her knees.  Her hair was still short in spikes and rose above the high back of the tropical flowered couch. 

Koen stepped forward into her line of sight, and the plate dropped onto the whitewashed wood floor as she stood.  

“What the fuck…” she began to yell, and then stopped abruptly as gunfire erupted.

The four marksmen fired, multiple times, and she fell onto the ground, dead.   Koen
leaned down to check her respiration and heartbeat.   No air escaped her mouth and her heart was still.  She was dead.  The plan worked, so far.

Johnson went into action.

“Take her,” he said, and the four marksmen grabbed her arms and dragged her outside to one of several 6 x 6 posts that supported the beach house a full ten feet above ground level.   They used thick chains and triple locking mechanisms, one of which was state of the art, fingerprint access only.  It wouldn’t stop her from getting free, but it would delay her.   Koen planned to be merciless if necessary, as
she
had been by keeping Alisa for almost seven months now, so he didn’t give a fuck how much he had to do to her to find out where.  Luckily there were no neighbors to worry about.

“Thank you, guys. 
Excellent work.  Keep your weapons on her because if she gets loose, you need to take her down instantly.   One second delay will mean she’s gone.”

“We won’t let you down, sir,” Johnson told him, giving his team a glance that meant he put the same trust in them.

“It may be a while.  When she comes around, she’ll know why we’re here.”

One hour blended into the next, and on the fourth hour, he saw her eyelids move. 

Koen smiled bitterly.  She was alive again, but she wasn’t planning on him knowing that.  He gave Johnson a thumbs up, his team went on immediate alert, and he moved forward to kick her in the shin.

Windari’s
eyes flew open.

“What a cunt you are, Koen,” she said clearly.

“Cunt?’

“Yeah.
  You kick like a human girl.  If this is supposed to be torture, forget it.  You are wasting my time
and
yours.”

He moved in so close, his breath fanned her hair.

“I haven’t even begun.  You didn’t hold up your end of our deal.  You were supposed to let her go.”

“I was planning to.  But then I decided to relocate, and I knew it was wise to keep my leverage, just in case you found me.  And.  Oops. 
Looks like it was a smart move, because here you are.  By the way, that really hurt.”

“Where is she?”

“Okay, I will admit I didn’t honor my promise.  I’m sorry.  I tell you what.  Let me go and I will text her location back to you.  Honestly Koen, I mean it this time.  You will know where she is within the next three hours.  That’s the best deal I can offer you.  Three hours, first blood.  You can’t refuse this.”

He wished it was this easy.  That in three hours he would be on his way to Alisa.  But he couldn’t trust this fucking bitch.

“Let’s try it this way this time.  You tell me where she is, and once I find her, I will let you go.  I promise.”

Windari threw all of her weight on the chains as she leaned forward and let her body suspend from her wrists.

“Really?  At this point, vampire, the one most likely to be telling the truth is me.  I may be an established liar, but there is no way you will let me go once you have your little sex toy.”

No.  There was no way.  He didn’t care about honoring his word.  He just wanted to find Alisa at any cost.  He was desperate, though.

“Let me speak to her.”

Windari raised her head.  “If I let you, will you agree to my terms?”

“I will.”

“Liar.
  Worse than me.  But okay.  If that will start this negotiation rolling, okay.  My cell phone is lying on the shelf in the kitchen cabinet second from the door.  Have one of your men get it for me.”

Johnson was already gone.  In seconds, he was back and handed the phone over to Koen.

“Dial 3 and hold it up for me.”

Koen did so as it began to ring.

“It’s me,” Windari said into the phone.  “Put her on.”

Several minutes later, holding the phone to his ear, Koen dropped back onto a lounge chair facing the ocean as he heard a weak feminine voice say something. 
He didn’t know what the word was and he wasn’t sure it was Alisa.  His heart pounding, he spoke, afraid to hope.

“Alisa, is that you?  It’s Koen.”

There was some rustling and someone cleared their throat.

“
Ko…Ko…Koen,” she said on a sob.  It was her, his woman, his mate. 

“Baby, I’m coming to get you.  I promise.  Are you all right?  Did she hurt you?”

“Koen,” she repeated.  He could tell she was crying.  That must be why his name sounded so garbled.

“Alisa,” he said, and kept turned away so his men could not see that she was not the only one w
ho was crying.

“Baby, can you answer me?  Are you all right?”

“Yes,” she said finally, only it sounded like ‘yeth.’

“I love you,” he said and heard her cry harder.

“I love you,” she said back, not clearly, but he understood every word.   His heart skipped beats in joy and pain.  He was so happy to hear her voice, but he didn’t have her yet. “I’m coming to get you.  I’m coming as soon as I can.”

A male voice interrupted her next attempt to speak.

“Come soon, sir, because she really needs you.  She’s so sick.”

The phone went dead.

Koen turned on Windari and grabbed her by the throat.

“He says she’s sick.  What’s wrong with her?”

“How should I know?  There are so many things that can go wrong with humans.”

“I’m not fucking with you anymore.  Where is she?  
Answer me, or I swear to you, there is nothing I won’t do to you now.”

“I believe that, but,
gotta go…”

He glanced down to see her hands free, the only thing holding her there were his around her throat.

His men had their guns raised, but he knew it was too late.  She disappeared.

Koen screamed and raced after her, but stopped just inside her house.  She stood in the middle of the living area. 
Frozen.  He couldn’t freeze first blood vampires. 
What the hell?
 

Movement to his right drew his attention and he went on alert.

Eillia and Tamesine walked towards him, although Tamesine’s eyes were on Windari.

“Eillia,
you
did this?”

“No.  She did.  Tamesine says she thinks she’s stronger than her sister.  I guess she’s right.”

Wandering over to the still vampire, Tamesine walked up to just inches from her twin and faced her.

“You look like me,” she whispered.  “You look like your sister.
” 

Windari couldn’t move any limb.  But she could s
peak.

“Yeah, well, that wasn’t supposed to happen either.  Sorry, little cat.
”  Then whispered so low Tamesine could barely hear her.  “I can’t believe you survived.”

“You
meant
to kill me.”  Tamesine wasn’t asking, she knew Windari had.

“I’m sorry, but yes.  You are so powerful to be able to
hold me like this.  You stole
my
power.  There should have been only one of us.  Only one.  This power should be mine.”

Windari looked over Tamesine, from her feet to her shape and finally to her remarkable face that was probably even prettier than the one in her own mirror.

“Why aren’t you dead,” she whispered to her blood kin.

Tamesine turned and went back to hug Koen.

“I’m glad you’re okay.  She is unable to hurt you anymore. I will take her to Ahmose and he will seek justice.”

“Not yet.  I haven’t found Alisa yet.”

“You will.”  Tamesine turned to Eillia.  “With your skills combined with mine, I think I can compel her to tell us where to find Alisa.”

“Tam, no one has ever been able to compel a first blood.”

“But she and I have the
same
blood. I’m blood kin to her.  I think I can pull it off with a power boost from you, Lia.”

“
Of course we’ll try.  Where do you need me?”

“Just here by my side.  Shall we begin?”

Both women put their hands on Windari.

“Release this woman’s secrets,” Tamesine said while tears sprung into
Windari’s eyes.

Windari shrieked. 
“No.  I can feel you clawing at me.  You can’t get in.  I will not allow it.”

Tamesine, with
Eillia’s hand in hers, looked into Windari’s eyes.  “You will tell me where you have Alisa.”