Deliverance (9 page)

Samantha silently cursed herself for not paying attention to the time and they rushed down the stairs to make their way back before Nik flipped out.

As they waited at a crosswalk, the little hairs on the back of Samantha’s neck stiffened. She glanced around, not certain what to look for. She locked gazes with a woman across the street who was going in the opposite direction. Samantha recognized her, but wasn’t sure from where. The light changed for them to cross and she studied the young woman as they passed each other. The other woman sent her a curious glance but continued on. Just as they reached the sidewalk, Samantha realized the woman was a human servant to a vampire—one of the few human servants that had survived when the vampires went on a murderous rampage.

Tension coiled in her shoulders, and Samantha didn’t dare look back.
Does she remember me?

Liam grabbed her hand. “She recognizes you, but can’t place from where. I don’t think she’ll make the connection soon.”

She let out a slow breath and relaxed. “If she does figure out who I am, we’ll be long gone by then anyway.” She let the near-incident slide from her mind. “Don’t tell Nik that happened,” she said to Liam. “I’d never live it down if he found out.”

Liam nodded. Moving quickly, they made it back to the hotel about eight minutes after six.

Nik opened the door before she could get her keycard out. “You’re late.” His tone was stern, but she could see relief in his eyes.

“Sorry. Time got away from us, but we’re back and everything went just fine.”

Sighing, the vampire stepped back to let them in. Once the sun was close to setting, they headed to the airport.

The plane touched down in
Liverpool right at one o’clock. Nik had already reserved a rental car, and they were on the road within thirty minutes of landing. They headed toward a hotel in Dumfries. It was one Leisha had designated. She and Tafari were to meet them there later in the morning.

The sun wasn’t even close to rising yet, and Nik drove with Samantha in the passenger seat. Liam slept in the back. There was no snow, but a frost blanketed everything in sight.

“I haven’t driven on the left side of the road for years.” Nik commented. “I keep wanting to go onto the other side of the freeway.”

Samantha shrugged. “I’ve been driving on that side for the last six months, so it doesn’t seem so bad to me.” She looked over at him. “Do you want to pull over and let me drive instead?”

“And be completely emasculated by a girl half my size,” he joked. “I don’t think so.”

Chuckling, Samantha parried. “You don’t need me for that. You’re the most effeminate man I’ve met.”

Nik suddenly tossed his head dramatically and batted his lashes at her.

Samantha snorted from laughing so hard. She quickly covered her mouth and tried to pretend she hadn’t done that.

Nik chuckled quietly beside her. “Your face lights up when you laugh,” he said. “I like seeing it. It transforms that sober expression you try to keep in place.”

“I don’t have a sober expression all the time,” she protested. “I’m just passive and ambivalent.”

Huffing, Nik said, “You may think that’s what you’re telling the world, but I can see that you’re somber. I can’t blame you, though. You lost your childhood too early.”

Samantha straightened. “I think I’ve done pretty well considering what I’ve seen.”

“Yes, you most definitely have,” Nik agreed. “What I meant was that I’m sorry you were thrown into our world, and especially at such a young age.”

Deflating under his praise, she glanced out the window into the empty night. So far, she hadn’t seen any other cars on the freeway, and the lighting from the lampposts lining the road gave off an ominous ambience. “You’re too nice to me,” she said softly. There was a long pause. Samantha could feel tension building up in the small space between them.

“Samantha,” Nik started. “I never—”

A jarring crash interrupted him and Nik’s window shattered, spraying slivers of glass everywhere as Samantha was slammed into her door. The car slid to the side of the road and tilted a little before bouncing back down.

For a moment, time seemed like it didn’t exist. There was just a fine mist of dirt slowly descending in the dim light outside and Samantha’s heart beating painfully with adrenaline. Cold air seeped into the car, and she felt it go straight to her bones.

Just as suddenly, time came back to its normal pace and she could move. With trembling fingers, Samantha shook glass shards from her hair and tried to see past Nik, who was working to get the engine started again. The vampire glanced out his window, and Samantha could see the car that hit them. It was all the way on the other side of the freeway, which made Samantha realize that they were on the wrong side, facing what would be oncoming traffic if anyone else were driving right then.

Their attacker’s headlights turned on, blinding her. She heard the other vehicle’s engine rev and knew that it was heading toward them again. Chest tight with fear, Samantha glanced back to check on Liam. The boy was sitting, and blinked at her with a calm, enigmatic expression that he tended to have at the oddest times.

Nik quickly pumped the gas pedal and turned the ignition. The car roared back to life and peeled out onto the road again. Samantha’s head flew back into the headrest, her neck muscles straining against the whiplash.

Within seconds, the car that hit them and another vehicle caught up to them and drove parallel on either side of Nik’s rental. The cars moved in simultaneously and squeezed into the rental, preventing Nik from maneuvering away. Metal crunched and screeched.

Two of the passengers from each side were climbing out the side windows and crawling over the roof to their car. It looked like they were trying to board them while speeding down the freeway.

“Vampires,” Liam said.

Nik tried to slam on the brakes, but since they were so tightly wedged, the car didn’t even slow down. Sparks erupted by Samantha’s door, and then the side panel stared to dent inward. The stench of burning rubber and smoke assailed her nostrils.

A blonde woman dropped onto their hood from the car closest to Samantha, slamming her fist through the windshield. A burst of glass sprayed both passengers in the front and left a large hole where the vampire’s fist went through. The woman grabbed Samantha by the front of her shirt and Samantha screamed. Her seatbelt kept her from being flung through the windshield but it felt like she’d have a bruise over her torso for weeks.

Samantha punched the woman’s forearm, but it didn’t seem to affect her. While she tried to slap and hit to break the woman’s grip, Nik moved in her peripheral vision. With his pants leg already pulled up, he pulled a long dagger from a strap around his calf and, keeping his gaze on the other vampires on his side of the car, flicked his hand in the direction of the vampire attacking Samantha. The woman’s arm severed just above her wrist. The woman yanked back so quickly that she lost her footing and tumbled backwards. The vampire fell onto the pavement and the car bucked as it ran over her.

The hand still clutched the front of Samantha’s shirt. She stared at it for a second before she could muster up the nerve to push it off. The unattached extremity bounced down her legs before resting halfway on her right foot.

Forcing her gag reflex to relax, Samantha unbuckled her seatbelt and turned to check on Liam. The boy looked more fierce than scared. His fangs spilled out of his mouth down to his chin and his claws extended.

Nik was busy up front, batting away attacks through the windshield and his side window. With shaking fingers, Samantha pulled out the sharp knife that she’d stored in the glove compartment box. Leaning toward Nik, she stabbed at the hands grabbing at the vampire.

There was a loud shattering sound and Samantha looked back to see glass falling all around Liam from behind, with the back windshield gaping open. A large man was halfway through the rear and reaching for Liam. Samantha ignored the sinking feeling in her gut and launched herself in the back. Liam already had his claws in the man’s throat. The vampire hissed and hit the boy so hard that his head snapped to the side.

Samantha plunged her knife into the vampire’s eye. He screamed and reached toward her, as if to take Samantha’s knife. Liam sprung and buried his fangs deep into the man’s shoulder while the boy’s claws rived the vampire’s face. Blood splattered over everything and Samantha was overwhelmed by the metallic smell.

Suddenly, the car went into a tailspin. Liam catapulted into Samantha as the momentum of the car pulled them down and to the side. Images blurred as they continued to careen around, and it was all Samantha could do to remember to breathe as her body flailed and bumped around the interior of the car.

When the car finally stopped, Samantha blinked hard to bring her eyes back into focus. She was half on the seat and half on the floor. Liam slowly climbed off, and she could finally take a deep breath. Her ribs were definitely bruised and her spine felt like it was going to collapse at any second.

When she finally looked up, Nik’s seat was empty.

She glanced through the window to see him fighting off four vampires that had surrounded him in the dim light. He was fast and moved with deadly speed as he swung a machete around. He must have taken it from one of his attackers. Nik managed to decapitate one vampire and cut the others, but she couldn’t see more than that because another assailant ripped her car door off and, grabbing a fistful of her hair, pulled her out before she could blink. In desperation, she grabbed onto anything in the car, but her fingers only found the blade of her own weapon. Though it cut her fingers to do so, she clutched it tight and brought it to her chest so she could grab the handle with her other hand.

Samantha’s breaths came in short puffs as she jabbed at the vampire’s wrist. He grunted and released her. She fell in a heap, but jumped back up as quickly as she could. Before Samantha could even turn or get her bearings, another man came up from behind and seized her around the torso. Samantha remembered all of her training in a split second and knew the man’s height immediately. With practiced aim, she kicked behind her and heard a loud crack when her foot smashed her assailant’s knee. He howled, but tightened his grip, making it difficult for her to breathe. Gritting her teeth, Samantha stepped to the side and shoved her locked elbows above her head to break his hold. It threw the vampire off balance for a split second, but he was on her again. Her blade was taken by another vampire in front of her.

They slammed her onto her stomach, the black asphalt digging into her sensitive ribs. Handcuffs came into view, and then her arms were pulled behind her back at a painful angle. As the cold steel closed over her wrists, Samantha pulled her shoulders off the ground and glanced around wildly.

Liam crouched like a cornered animal between two cars, hissing and threatening the vampires with his claws. Several corpses were lying around him, but a dozen more were still approaching from three different angles.

“Sam!” It was Nik. He’d managed to fight off the vampires who had attacked him and was running at blur speed in her direction.

“Help Liam!” she screamed.

Nik slowed enough for her to be able to see him. He was still headed in her direction, but his gaze kept swinging from her to the boy.

“Nik, they can’t get him,” she shouted. The vampire on Samantha’s left side slapped her hard, making her face smack into the pavement and bite her tongue. Bits of gravel rolled past her lips and she tried to spit them out along with the blood pooling in her mouth.

Nik’s expression turned deadly, but he did as she asked. Raising his machete, he rushed to Liam and decapitated the vampires behind the boy. Liam sprang forward and used his claws to slice into the temple of one of his assailants. Scarlet blood sprayed as his hand came out the other side of the vampire’s head.

The boy turned toward another vampire, but Nik stopped him with a command. “Run, Liam!” he snapped. The child hesitated. “Now!”

Liam’s lips pulled to the side around his large fangs, but he did as Nik instructed. The boy crouched and leapt high. Samantha couldn’t see where he went. From her vantage point, it was as if he’d disappeared into the sky. She knew he was capable of such feats, but couldn’t help the amazement that surged through her.

A few vampires attempted to jump after him, but Nik was there to stop them.

The vampires around her yanked Samantha up by her arms. The motion hurt her shoulders, but didn’t stop Samantha from struggling with the man confining her. She kicked back at his knees and his feet. One blow landed on his shin, and his hands loosened their hold on her upper arms briefly before squeezing back painfully. She continued to struggle until the other one who’d pulled her out of the car punched her in the solar plexus. Doubling over, her vision went blurry for a second as she tried to force her lungs to function. Realizing that she couldn’t get out of this, she decided to save her strength for another time, when escape would be more of a possibility.

As they marched her forward, Samantha kept glancing back at Nik. He was still fighting strong, but had taken a few hits and was bleeding profusely from his back. Her would-be rescuer clashed steel with three vampires at the same time. There was no way for him to protect himself against the two that came out of the darkness and were sneaking up from behind.

“Look out!” she called.

Nik turned in time to duck the sword swinging toward his head, but the second assailant was ready and had Nik’s head in his hands before the vampire could defend himself. The attacker twisted, and even though Samantha was too far away to hear, she swore that the sound of his snapping bones carried over the snarling vampires and directly into her heart.

Chapter 11

“I
t’s amazing how one can go from hell to heaven in such a short time,” Leisha commented as Tafari drove. They were on their way to meet with Nikita, Samantha, and Liam. Leisha had been relieved to hear that they were safe. And now that they were going to bring them to a nicely hidden house, and Tafari would get to meet his son again—Leisha felt downright content. At random times she would have horrible flashbacks of being raped or tortured, and she did her best to tamp those down before she came unglued. Fortunately, Tafari had not appeared to notice, at least he didn’t say anything.

“So are you saying that my presence is godlike?” Tafari asked. Leisha had noticed how much the man was smiling over the last few days. His white teeth practically gleamed against his black skin.

“Of course you would twist my words like that,” she replied. “You, Tafari, have exceeded your ego if you think you’re a god.”

Tafari’s deep chuckle tingled her senses in the confines of their vehicle, and her stomach clenched in anticipation. They’d been behaving like newlyweds while holed up in the safe house, much to Rinwa’s dismay.

The drive seemed to go by quickly. There weren’t many people out on the road at this hour, and the darkness made the car feel cozy and intimate. They pulled into a small, gravel parking lot. Tafari had already arranged for the room, and they knew that the group would already be there, so they didn’t bother to check in at the front desk.

Tafari grew more somber as they approached the door. His posture became rigid and Leisha saw him clenching his fists.

“Tafari,” Leisha pulled his elbow so that they stopped. “You’re not nervous to meet Liam, are you?”

Quirking a brow, he responded. “How can I not be? When I last saw him, he had just been born. And now that I know he grows rapidly, how can the child even know who I am?”

“Because, like I already told you,” she reached up and stroked his smoothly shaved cheek, “I’ve been telling Liam all about you every day of his life. He’s an incredibly mature boy and has been looking forward to seeing you for some time.” Squeezing his hand, she started walking again, pulling Tafari with her. “This will be great! You two will probably talk all night long.”

“Like you and I did last night,” Tafari asked.

Cheeks warming, Leisha playfully swatted his arm. “We weren’t exactly talking. So, definitely no; not like we were last night.”

Her husband smiled. “You are easy to get a rise out of.”

Leisha rolled her eyes as she knocked on the door. She figured Nikita and Liam would have heard their approach, and probably their conversation as well, so she was surprised when no one answered the door. Reaching out with her senses, she listened intently.

After a moment, Leisha glanced at Tafari with wide eyes. “They’re not in there.”

They walked over to the main building and Tafari spoke with the manager. Leisha caught every word, but the most important bit was the fact that they never checked in.

Leisha went back to the car as Tafari ended the conversation. He quickly caught up to her before she was able to climb in. Opening the passenger door for her, Tafari’s eyes were pinched at the corners. “I looked up their flight before we left. It arrived on time.”

Sitting in her seat, Leisha nodded. When Tafari got in and turned the engine, she said, “Let’s drive toward Liverpool and see if there’s anything suspicious to find.”

Tafari put the car in gear. “You think the immortals got them.” His grim tone belied his flat expression.

“Or the vampires, or Samantha’s dad.” Her nails bit through the leather seat and she forced her fingers to relax. “We won’t know until we find them, or at least the point where they were taken.”

“If that is the case, they may not have gotten on the plane at all.” Regardless of his statement, Tafari continued to drive in the direction of Liverpool.

They had driven for an hour when traffic came to a standstill. Leisha got out and looked over the long line of cars on the highway. There was a big accident that crews were cleaning up. It blocked both sides.

“Must‘ve been a big ‘un,” someone commented to their wife. “Doubt anyun could o’ survived that.”

Chest constricting, Leisha began walking toward the wreckage.

Tafari opened the door, but she waved him off. “Stay with the car.” Her voice was threatening to tremble. “I’ll only get close enough to hear what happened.”

Tafari hesitated before nodding. He stood outside the vehicle with his arms crossed over his chest, his eyes storming with concern.

Leisha was thirty feet away from the accident before she stopped and closed her eyes. She could hear emergency crews murmuring to each other, police officers speaking in low tones about what they found. The scent of blood was thick in the air. It was tangier than human blood, and Leisha easily identified the remnants as vampires.

Forcing out a long, controlled breath, she returned to Tafari, forcing herself to move at human speed, though her anxiety screamed to move faster. After getting back inside the car and closing the doors, she reported to him. “There were several dead bodies at the site that the officers talked about. Because of the degree of violence, they’re speculating a large gang is taking up residence around here.”

“But it was no gang.” Tafari’s expression remained impassive.

She shook her head. “They were vampires. A lot of them.” She bit her lip, and then took a breath. “I could smell Samantha, Nikita, and Liam’s scent there, even some of their blood, but not enough to assume that they’re dead.”

After studying her face, Tafari stated what they both knew. “They were captured by the vampires.”

Her eyes misted red with bloody tears. “Yes,” she whispered. “I don’t think Liam will last long with them.” Her voice broke and she glanced away.

A warm hand rested on her shoulder before the car started. Leisha glanced over to see Tafari’s complexion to be pale, but the only thing his expression showed was fierce determination. He aggressively maneuvered their vehicle through heavy traffic and turned around.

“We will go back to the motel and call Rinwa,” he said. Leisha was about to protest when he added, “She will be able to help us track down where they have taken Liam and we will get him back.” His fingers tightened on the steering wheel. “And then I will kill every last one of them so Liam will never have to fear being captured again.”

Leisha knew finding them would be difficult, and that they could be too late by the time Rinwa and Tafari would track them down, but she clung on to the one shred of hope they had.

The drive seemed longer on the way back. The sun was up above the horizon when Tafari turned off of the freeway to drive to their destination.

A boy of dark coloring jumped in front of the car. Leisha noticed him first and screamed for Tafari to stop. Her husband slammed on the brakes, tires squealing against the pavement, but still would have hit him if the boy hadn’t jumped onto the hood to avoid collision.

Leisha was out of the car immediately, relief making her feel weak. “Liam!” He jumped off the car and she hugged him to her tightly. “I thought the vampires had you.” Tears streamed down her face, but she didn’t care about what a mess she might look. “I’m so glad you’re all right.” She kissed both of his cheeks and squeezed him once more.

Liam’s chin quivered as he wiggled out of her embrace. “I guess you deserve it. Now you know how I felt after you were taken.”

The declaration made her throat contract painfully and Leisha squeezed his shoulders. A car honked, and Leisha moved Liam to the side of the road while Tafari pulled out of the way from traffic.

The immortal got out of the car and slowly approached them. His eyes were filled with a mixture of surprise and trepidation. He studied his son from head to toe, the corners of his lips slightly tilted upward.

Before he could say anything, Liam filled the silence. “I know I grew really fast. You don’t have anything to feel guilty about, and I’m very happy to finally meet you as well.”

Tafari blinked a couple of times before he chuckled. The tension seeped from him.

Liam scooted closer and embraced his father. Tafari’s squeezed his eyes shut as he hugged his son back. Liam’s face was turned to the immortal’s shoulder, but Leisha could hear her son’s shaky breaths. She dabbed at her eyes and worked hard to keep herself contained.

Face sobering as he pulled back, Liam glanced at Leisha. “Samantha and Nikita were taken. I wanted to help them,” his voice broke, “but there were too many and I knew it would be worse if the vampires got me.”

Stroking her son’s soft cheek, Leisha wondered at how much her little boy could handle. She knew he had sage wisdom, but it had to have been hard on him to make such a big decision.

“It was,” he whispered. Salty tears welled up in his eyes and fell down his cheeks.

Her heart breaking, Leisha knelt and pulled him in for another hug. “You’re so strong and brave, Liam.” She sat back on her haunches and gave him a reassuring smile. “You did the right thing. We’ll take you to meet your sister, and then we can all figure out how to save them.”

She couldn’t help thinking how young and vulnerable Liam looked as he nodded and wiped his cheeks roughly.

Tafari stepped forward and picked up his son. “We are here now. You can cry, my son. Do not be ashamed of your tears. You have done well.”

Liam’s face crumpled and he hugged Tafari, sobs shaking his back.

Leisha rubbed her son’s neck, then gestured for Tafari to get in the car. He climbed into the backseat with Liam’s face still tucked into his shoulder.

Leisha got in the driver’s seat and pulled the car back onto the road. After driving a while, Liam’s quiet sobs subsided. Leisha glanced in the rearview mirror to see her son asleep, curled up on Tafari’s lap. Tafari rested his chin over the boy’s head. She wanted to sear the image into her mind.