The Dark Gifts Birthright (37 page)

“Bring it to a vote. I vote yes, it is the
best idea we’ve heard since Tiberius left on his mission. Our
people need something to do; they have too much time on their
hands.” Minerva said.

“I agree.” said Rene.

“Call for a vote then. If we are going to put
this into motion then let us do it correctly.” Gregorio gruffly
ordered.

Liz stood and said, “I call for a vote on
this proposal, all in favor say aye.”

Each Council member stood and in unison said,
“Aye.”

“No’s?” Liz questioned.

Laughter reverberated as Gregorio said, “All
right then. Take your seats.”

Michael only argued with Liz over one aspect
of her idea; he did not want her to be part of the termination
groups. Before they had time to get into a heated argument,
Gregorio vetoed Michael and put him in his place. It had been Liz’s
dream, and she was there fighting. If they were going to follow the
guidance of the dream, they would do it in the manner set before
them.

Word spread quickly of what was to be done,
and by the time the Council recessed, vampires and witches lined
the hall leading to the Council chambers. Fifty groups of four were
chosen. Each group contained three vampires and one witch. Each
time they exterminated a clan, they were to report to the Council
any information obtained.

The teams received money and an address to
one of Michael’s safe houses. They would start from there and work
their way out to other areas of the country. With any luck, half of
Monroe’s army would be obliterated before he could bring the war to
their doorstep.

Chapter Twenty-Five

The Thin Line Between Right And Wrong

“I just can’t believe that you are going to
leave me out of this!” Angie shouted for the seventh time.

Michael and Liz had been saying their
goodbyes when she flew off the handle. “This is not fair. I worked
hard to train, and I am just as good as any of the rest of them. I
trained over
half
of them.” Angie paced the room in quick
strides.

“I know that, but it’s beyond my control. You
have to take this up with your mother.” Liz pleaded.

“Oh don’t blow that smoke up my ass. You’re
the Council leader, or is that all just bullshit? How could you
want
to go out there without
me
to watch your back? I
thought you were my best friend.” Angie threw herself in a chair. A
deafening screech permeated the air as it skidded back, and banged
against the wall. A puff of dust rose up and slowly settled on her.
She sputtered as she wiped it from her face, glowering the entire
time.

Fighting the urge to laugh, Liz kept her
voice flat and even. “Now, Angie, you know we both want you there,
but this is your mother we are talking about. She made the
decision.”

Michael didn’t find her tantrum amusing. “Oh
grow up, would you? Everyone does what they’re told around here,
including me and you.” Michael turned to Liz,
“Can we just go
already?”

“Well, I oughta just go out there and do it
by myself! I took out Sekhmet alone, or has everyone just forgotten
about that?” Angie asked.

Liz gave Michael a mental eye roll. “Angie,
please be reasonable.”

She would not be swayed.

She was not going to listen to reason or
change her mind about going. Liz called Athena and asked for her
assistance. Angie continued ranting and raving until Athena walked
through the door. From the moment she entered, the girl focused her
efforts on her mother.

“Mother, this is not fair! You know it’s not.
We three have been together since the beginning of this, it’s not
right that you separate us now. They only have three in their group
and the Council said it should be four.”

“Yes dear, I understand why you are upset,
but Michael is an assassin. There is no point in using valuable
manpower when he can do the work alone. Even I am not leaving for
these missions, Angel; I will be here with you as well.” Athena
coaxed.

Angie stomped her foot in a fit of fury, and
folded her arms across her chest. Michael looked askance at Athena.
She nodded and pointedly glanced at the door. Michael and Liz told
Angie goodbye and headed back to their room.

***

They returned to find Avery waiting by their
door. She’d grown to be a thorn in the side of most of the witches
and the vampires at the castle. Avery was large framed, not fat
just a little pudgy, with darker skin and short hair dyed apple
red. Her height, and the fact she towered over most of the castle
occupants, caused her to be a bit of a bully. That coupled with an
attitude that would offend even the sweetest of people, made it
difficult for most to enjoy her company.

Avery had just turned eighteen when she moved
into the Citadel, and like many others her age, thought she knew
everything about everything. She didn’t take orders. Not from
anyone, at any time. But she did seem to enjoy being with Michael
and Liz.

Liz had learned from Genevieve, Avery’s coven
leader, that she had no family. She’d moved from one foster home to
another until emancipated at sixteen. According to Gen, Avery was a
natural witch. Gen figured that the girl would be utilized best
with Michael and Liz because there was at least half a chance she
would obey.

“Avery.” Michael said as he nodded and went
in to retrieve the bags.

“Hey Ave, sorry we’re late.” Liz said.

“No problem, I’ve only been here twenty
minutes. I was going to give you another thirty before I left.”
Avery answered.

Liz stifled the frustration that bloomed
inside her and smiled again. “No need for that now, we’ll be out of
here in a jiff.”

“
Do we have to take her? I can‘t believe
we’re stuck with her for a cover story. If we are careful, no one
will know you can make portals. How are we going to blend into
crowds? You plan on hanging out with a circus?”
Michael shot
from inside the room.

Liz pressed her lips together and pulled them
between her teeth to keep from smiling.
“Shut up.”

“
She can’t hear me.”

“
Well she can see me.”

Michael came out of the room with knives and
swords strapped all over his body, and one small bag in his
hand.

Liz shook her head. “Clothes?”

“Right here.” He said holding up the small
bag, and grinning from ear to ear.

Shaking her head from side to side, she
replied, “Think maybe you should put on a coat or something? If one
human catches a glimpse of you, they’ll be calling the cops.”

Michael winked. “I’m good. There are no
humans where we’re going. I guarantee it.”

“Make the portal Ave. Let’s get moving.” Liz
said.

Avery opened a portal to Michael’s cabin and
one at a time, they entered.

***

The cabin was just as she remembered, with
one minor difference; it was occupied by vampires. As Michael
requested, Avery brought them out just behind the old garage. They
felt the presence of the others immediately. This was not a small
clan that inhabited the area. There were at least ten, possibly
more vampires within just a few feet. Liz lightly scanned the
renegade’s minds. “Still sleeping.”

“Good. We have a little time.” Michael
answered.

He turned to Avery and motioned for her to
create a portal and return to the castle. She looked terrified, but
shook her head obstinately. Liz grabbed the girl’s arm and pulled
her close enough to whisper in her ear. “You have to leave now,
there are too many. Should any get past us, you would be in great
danger. I’ll send for you when it is finished.”

Avery shook her head.

Michael was furious, but did not have time to
deal with her. The others were waking and would soon sense their
presence.

Liz opened her mind and let it stretch out
into the woods around them, taking in the dilapidated garage and
the house. She felt no one inside the garage, most were in the
cabin or buried in the ground around front. She pushed Avery
through the garage door. “Stay put,” she hissed.

Avery nodded once and began digging through
her knapsack for charms and potions.

Michael and Liz pulled out their swords and
crept to the back door of the house. It would be best if they could
take those inside by surprise before dealing with the others in
front. Before they could enter, the element of surprise was lost.
Someone inside yelled in warning.

A loud boom resonated as Michael kicked in
the back door. Splinters of wood flew in all directions. Michael
and Liz entered with a fury. Keeping the leader for questioning was
a good idea, but it not practical at this point; there were too
many.

Three renegades crouched in the kitchen.
Growling and hissing, two launched towards Michael. The other came
at Liz. His head flew across the room and slammed into the wall
before he could make contact. Michael dispatched the other two and
went into the living room.

Liz felt a nudge from the left. Another
vampire rushed out of the bathroom. Turning, she sliced him neatly
in half, surprised that she had missed his head. She took another
swing and took his head off at the shoulders. Blood splattered all
over her, the walls, and floor. For an instant, she thought,
“Crap it’s going to take forever to clean this mess up,”
and
then moved into the living room to help Michael.

In the few seconds it took to get rid of the
six renegades in the cabin, the front door burst open and seven
more came through it.

“Outside. It’s too hard to fight in here.”
Michael said.

Shards of glass flew as they crashed through
the living room windows. Four females faced them as they landed in
the front yard. Liz had taken one girl’s head, and was moving
towards another, when two of the males they’d retreated from
grabbed her from behind. She doubled over bringing them with her.
As their grip loosened, she launched into the air and tucked into a
roll. Before she’d hit the ground, one lost an arm for his effort,
and the other took a blow to the head.

Michael efficiently mowed down three more and
was working on two others. Flashes of light bounced off the metal
as his sword spun into a blur. Both renegades proficiently ducked
and dodged the deadly blade, keeping their heads intact. Their
other body parts weren’t so lucky. Severed fingers, an arm removed
at the elbow, and even a foot lay strewn about the yard.

The one armed vampire’s head landed with a
dull thud as Liz turned towards the next attacker. A blood curdling
scream rose from behind the house. “Shit,” she exclaimed and
glanced at Michael. “Avery!”

He fought two males and the three remaining
females; she knew he could handle them, but she did not want to
leave him to fight alone. “Go!” he yelled.

Liz growled and with one long hard stroke
sliced through his neck. Without waiting for the body to fall, she
raced behind the cabin.

Avery and a male renegade circled each other
in the back yard. He moved to the left and she’d move to the right.
Her face was already bruised and swelling from at least one blow
she’d received.

Liz screamed in rage at the tattered
newly-made and advanced on his position, prepared to cut him to
shreds. She barely felt the blow that slammed her into the outside
wall of the broken-down garage. As if in slow motion, she watched
as her sword soared through the air in the opposite direction.
Landing on her feet, she crouched low and hissed. A female from the
front yard had somehow escaped Michael, and now held her sword
firmly in her grasp.

The male laughed and made a lunge at Avery,
while the woman snarled viciously at Liz.

Liz leapt to where Avery stood. In one fluid
motion, she shoved the girl behind her. Her eyes moved between the
two attackers as she hissed, “You have to get through me
first.”

“With pleasure,” the male returned.

The renegades assumed positions on either
side of her. Liz laughed at their inexperience. She’d been trained
for this. It was obvious they hadn’t been.

“You’re pretty tough with your fancy sword,
but let’s see how good you are at hand-to-hand, bitch.” the woman
sneered.

Liz slid her hand behind her back and pulled
a long dagger from its sheath. Bringing it out to the side, she
smiled and motioned with her free hand. “You going to run your
mouth, or do something?”

The woman returned her smile, tossed the
sword to the male, and said, “Kill her, Carl.”

Avery leaned into Liz’s back and whispered,
“Duck down.”

Liz refused with a quick shake of her head.
It wouldn’t do them any good if the know-it-all girl got herself
killed playing hero.

“Duck down.” Avery fiercely repeated.

Now both the male and female advanced, if
they both came at her at the same time there would be no way to
keep Avery safe. Liz crouched so low that she looked like a tiger
waiting to pounce.

As soon as Liz was low enough to open up
Avery’s line of sight, the girl threw a potion bottle at the male.
On contact, it exploded in a red cloud of dust. He flew back into
the trees nearly two hundred yards. The female screamed in
rage.

Liz was on her in a heartbeat. The dagger
moved in and out, cutting and slicing like a knife through butter.
The woman was easy prey for someone with Liz’s training. Her body
went limp as Liz pulled her close and sunk her fangs into the
woman’s neck.

Blood gushed from the gash as she gurgled in
pain. The hot bitter fluid rushed into Liz’s mouth. Even though she
had not intended to swallow any, it coursed through her giving her
a new sense of power. Liz leaned her head back and screamed in
victory, then threw the female off to the side and headed for the
male coming out of the trees.