Slayers (Jake Hawkins Book 1) (40 page)

Jake spread his arms wide in a gesture.
“
You did this to protect me?
”

“
Archfiend took Liz away. I wasn
’
t going to let him take you away. And I didn
’
t know how else to do it. If I had just come out and told you about slayers, would you have wanted a part of it? Would you have believed me?
”

Jake shook his head.
“
No way.
”

“
Exactly. It was cruel, but it was necessary. If I had to ignore you for two years, at least you were still alive. It was harder than expected, but I just did it. Because I love you.
”

Now Jake felt the tears coming on. He held them back.
“
But Archfiend didn
’
t kill me. He had the chance to, in the hive. And Thorn, too. He wasted the opportunity.
”

“
I was unconscious,
”
Thorn said.
“
And he just left me there. But he took Wolfe.
”

“
You don
’
t need to call me that anymore,
”
Mark said.

There was a melancholic pause.

“
Mark,
”
Thorn said, and smiled.
“
I should be used to that. It
’
s what I
’
ve called you for sixteen years. Those were a long two months, brother. Glad you finally got the nerves to own up.
”

“
I think Archfiend wanted to leave us all alive,
”
Mark continued,
“
to witness his plan unfold. He
’
s been preparing this for years. I think he killed Sam out of reflex, nothing more. It wasn
’
t his intention. He wants us to watch him destroy an entire state.
”

Jake took a few moments to mull over the revelation, to cast his mind back to his days of training, and to his life before slayers. He scoured his brain for signs of the lie, all throughout his childhood.

“
I nearly caught you, Dad,
”
he said.
“
When we were sparring. I gave you a good punch in the face, and I swear I saw your face shift. Then everyone rushed you upstairs.
”

Mark nodded.
“
You hit a sweet spot, just under my chin. Loosened the glue under my cheek. Part of the skin slipped.
”

“
And that photo. I walked into your room, before I went out scouting with Link. You were holding a framed photograph. I thought I recognised the woman.
”

“
An old photo of Liz. I
’
ve gotta say, I nearly had a heart attack when I noticed you were there.
”

“
Wow.
”

Jake
’
s entire life had just been turned on its head. A long time passed without either party speaking a word.

His dad broke the silence.
“
Do you hate me, Jake?
”

Jake said nothing for a long time. Then he spoke.
“
No. I can see why you did it. I would have done it differently, but I can see you had good intentions.
”

“
I love you,
”
Mark said. It seemed as if he had wanted to get those words off his chest for a long, long time.

“
To be honest, I wasn
’
t happy with my old life, anyway. There was no
…
excitement.
”

Mark smiled.
“
You
’
ve got my genes, kid.
”

Jake turned to Crank, to Thorn, to Felix.
“
You guys are the closest friends I
’
ve had in all my sixteen years. So I
’
m fine with the way things turned out.
”

The three men nodded in acknowledgement, but said nothing.

There was a moment of hesitation, then Jake rose and crossed the cabin to where his dad was sitting. They clamped their arms around each other in unison. His dad held tight. It was an embrace the man had been waiting for for two years. Jake felt the emotion behind it. He couldn
’
t hold back the tears.

He buried his face into his dad
’
s huge shoulder and began to cry.

Jake and his dad talked for the next two hours as the others dozed. Memories from the past resurfaced, some with joy, and others with apprehension. Jake was filled in on his father
’
s entire sixteen-year history with slayers: from the initial years of trial and error, to developing a system within the madness, to evolving into an unstoppable unit. Jake then recounted his time in the Amazon: from their ambush by the pack of slayers in the middle of the night, to being taken hostage by mercenaries and fighting Koji, to his underwater battle with the slayer-jaguar hybrid, which finally culminated in their approach on the clearing.

“
Archfiend
’
s been toying with us this whole time,
”
Mark said, after listening to Jake
’
s tale.
“
Iquitos proves he had at least a hundred slayers in the Amazon. They could have outnumbered you at any time. I think he wants us all alive to see this.
”

“
We
’
re going to stop it, right?
”
Jake said.
“
You
’
re Wolfe. You always know what to do.
”

“
Honestly, I don
’
t see how,
”
Mark said.
“
But we
’
ll find a way.
”

*

Jake drifted into an uncomfortable sleep. He was plagued by dark visions of the task ahead, but his dad wrapped a reassuring arm around him. Anytime, he was expecting to be woken by the inevitable ringing of the phone in the cockpit, signalling the massacre had begun.

It came after a few hours of somewhat peaceful rest.

Irene woke him. Her urgent calling pulled him from his dreams. She was yelling from the cockpit. Telling them to get up.

Jake was wide alert in seconds. He looked around and saw the other four men already on their feet, heading to the front of the plane. Crank was hopping on his good leg, supporting himself on the backs of the seats ahead. Zoe was slower to stir than the others. They all crowded around the small entrance to the cockpit.

Through the windscreen, Jake could see the urban sprawl of Washington D.C. dead ahead. Even from fourteen thousand feet, the grounds surrounding the White House were visible. He had only ever seen the monumental building on television. It was nothing more than a white speck, but a shiver of anticipation still snaked down his spine.

“
Has the President made contact?
”
Mark said with urgency.

Irene shook her head.
“
No. Nothing. Whatever
’
s hiding down there, it
’
s still hiding. You gentlemen have been asleep for five hours. We
’
re only ten minutes out now.
”

“
Get us over the White House,
”
Felix said.

“
Why?
”

“
Whatever
’
s going to happen, it
’
ll happen close to there.
”

“
Do you know for sure?
”
Irene said.

“
Archfiend
’
s kept slayers hidden from society for years. Now he
’
s introducing them. He
’
s going to want to make an impact, and that
’
s how you do it.
”

“
He has to be behind us, right?
”
Jake mused.
“
Even if he stashed himself on board a plane somehow. He can
’
t have made it out of the rainforest faster than us.
”

Thorn nodded.
“
He
’
s not here yet. But does he need to be
–
that
’
s the question.
”

“
He could do it from Peru,
”
Felix said.

“
I think
–”
Crank
’
s face swelled with concentration as he tried to speak.
“
I think he needs to be here. He
…
he kept us alive for a reason.
”

“
But how would he get here?
”
Jake pondered.
“
We were the only plane that left the airport.
”

Everyone
’
s eyes widened.

“
You don
’
t think
…
?
”
Thorn started.

There was a sudden, ominous pounding against the roof of the plane. Each thump grew closer and closer, travelling from one end of the roof to the other.

They sounded like
…
footsteps.

“
Impossible,
”
Felix whispered.

Jake saw a flash of movement from outside the windscreen as something swung down from the roof. A pair of shoes slammed into the glass in a two-footed kick and it shattered to pieces. The cockpit descended into chaos.

Torrential wind rushed in, howling and screaming. The air suddenly became bitingly cold as the plane was exposed to the elements outside. Jake could still breathe, though
–
they had begun their descent into Washington.

Archfiend swung in through the frame.

He landed perfectly poised atop the control panel, crouched low, fangs bared. The vacuum created by the broken windscreen did little to affect him. He was too strong. Before any of them had time to react, Archfiend reached over and seized Irene by the throat. She gasped as the claws dug into her neck, drawing blood. In a split second, he wrenched her out of her seat and threw her head-first out the open windscreen.

There was an instant where she seemed to hang in the air, suspended in time, and then she was flung away like a rag doll by the vacuum. She disappeared from sight.

“
No!
”
Felix cried.

Jake stood motionless. He was too stunned to move.

Archfiend grinned savagely.

“
Thanks for the ride,
”
he snarled.

Felix and Mark were the two closest to the cockpit. Thorn and Jake stood side by side, further back, and Zoe behind them, temporarily out of harm
’
s way. At least Archfiend would have to get past all four of them to reach her.

He made a good start. With a roar, he leapt off the control panel and shoved Felix and Mark back into the cabin simultaneously. Despite their size, the two men went catapulting backwards into the seats, head over heels. Jake saw truly how powerful Archfiend was.

That wasn
’
t going to stop him. He was consumed by rage, stunned by the newfound knowledge that this monster had killed his mother. He saw red.

A quick glance to the left revealed the pile of parachutes, crammed in between two seats. They were within arm
’
s reach. A plan began to formulate in Jake
’
s mind. It would be suicidal. But Zoe would be safe.

Without a second thought, he snatched up one of the backpacks by its shoulder strap and charged forward down the aisle. Archfiend noticed him, but there was nowhere for him to move.

Jake pushed off with his left foot and hit Archfiend with the same spear tackle he had practiced over and over again during rugby training. All the force generated from the run-up was directed into Archfiend
’
s mid-section, through Jake
’
s shoulder. He drove up off the ground and carried the monster a short couple of steps, then burst off the floor. Archfiend well and truly lost his balance.

The pair went flying out the open windscreen.

They rolled over the nose of the plane. Jake looked all around and saw nothing but blue, and felt nothing but the buffeting wind and the cold metal of the plane
’
s exterior against his back. The ground was a long way down.

They balanced there, on the nose, for roughly half a second, before sliding off the metal and out into open space.