Leviathan (Fist of Light Series) (28 page)

I half stumbled out of the car and onto the gravel below. Shaking off lethargy, I rolled my neck and cracked all the appropriate body parts. The surrounding area was a collection of weeds, gravel, and tall grass. It wasn't much to look at, but we weren't here for sightseeing. We'd left the established roads behind us some time ago, it seemed, because the city lights were distant specks. Jas had his phone out and was spinning around comically, trying to get his bearings. I gave him the benefit of the doubt and assumed he was trying to figure out the direction of the power plant.

“Told you they'd fall off,” Simon gloated.

“Yeah, you were right. Stop being so smug about it.” Zack sighed.

“Right about what?” I asked curiously.

“They were betting when the cars would break away,” Razor explained.

I nodded. “They're gone all right. Guess we've all been a little on edge.”

“Who wouldn't be?” Mary rubbed her arms and looked around nervously.

“Before the sun comes up,
please
,” Kathryne said, a little too sweetly.

I was glad the comment was directed at Jas and not me. In disgust, he pocketed his cell phone and hooked his thumbs into his jeans. Crickets stopped their chirping and fell silent.

“No service,” he replied apologetically. “I think it was in that direction.”

“That's reassuring,” Herk said.

“You could try to sound a little more sure about it,” Mary said.

Shadow appeared in our midst and everyone except me jumped back in alarm. He was nudging me demandingly in the opposite direction Jas had pointed. Figured.

“That is one weird little dog,” Kathryne proclaimed.

“One
invaluable
little doggy,” I said. “Isn't that right, Shadow?”

The hound
woofed
and dragged more firmly at my pant leg. I was fighting to keep my balance, despite the dog’s small size. In the middle distance, a fence line was just visible. It was impossible to be sure, but I thought there were some hazy structures behind that. Dark metal loomed, sparks occasionally illuminating a mere fraction of the picture. I chuckled darkly, seeing the connection to our little quest. It seemed we were always working with a tiny portion of the whole, running practically blind into a situation beyond comprehension. So many dangers lurking, waiting patiently for their chance

“What's so funny, I wonder?” asked a questioning voice asked, piercing my dark contemplations.

All of us had given in to Shadow's urging pleas and went in the indicated direction. Now, as a whole, we spun around, glaring into the shadows. The night hid much, but everything filled in quickly enough at the sight of our adversaries. These weren't angry villagers with pitchforks, as one might think if jumping to conclusions. No, that would have been welcome in the face of the vampire horde before us.

“Is there time for an I told you so?” Zack bunched nervously into a crouch, preparing to shift.

Simon tittered nervously. “Guess you were right. But no, I don't think so.”

Jas stepped forward, appearing resigned. “Andros, what do you want?”

The line of vamps before us fanned out into an encompassing crescent, spreading themselves out in case of an attack and preventing an escape to the cars. They'd fall on our flanks if we tried to run. I wondered how clued in they were about the Leviathan and our goal. Luckily, it seemed they were still ignorant of our destination. Otherwise, they would have ambushed us. Regardless, fighting the Leviathan with a clutch of fifty vampires on our six wasn't going to end in rainbows and sunshine.

Andros parted from the protective midst of his brood, incisors gleaming in the moonlight. “You know what I came for,
brother
.” He spat out the word, gnashing his teeth on it as if it was a curse.

“Brother?” the whispered word flowed through our less informed comrades. That little detail had been left out.

Jas clenched his fist, but whether in impotence or decision, I couldn't tell. “You've found me, then.”

“
You'll have to go on without me,”
Jas' voice thrummed through my mind.

“
Are you kidding me? They'll tear you to shreds!”

“
No.”
He shook his head.
“I don't think Andros can kill me outright. His abilities are in question, his honor stained. He'll need to make an example out of me if he wants to stay on top of their hierarchy.”

Despite my apparent slowness, I could read between the lines.
“Absolutely not. You aren't going to do this. I won't allow it.”
My teeth ground against each other in frustration.

“Are you two quite through?” Andros smirked.

Unconsciously, Jas and I had faced each other down, the battle of wills between us practically emitting sparks and lighting the weeds afire. I shook my head minutely, refusing to budge. There wasn't anything in the world that would make me agree with his decision. Despite that, Jas was intent, unwavering.

“If I go with you, you'll leave peacefully, never act against them in the future?” He hooked a thumb over his shoulder.

Jas was trying to give us the ability to fight the Leviathan unhindered by Andros and his tender mercies. I bore no illusions that we could win both battles. We'd be crushed between the two forces if they converged upon us.

“My word on it.” A triumphant grin stretched the contours of his inhuman face into a deplorable visage, fangs gleaming.

By this point, the pack had ascertained the nature of the plan and were just as happy as I was about it. An eruption of chaos sparked within our group, all unwilling to allow this to continue. Jas held up a hand to his friends, who were preparing to shift and do battle with the bloodthirsty vampires before us, restrained only by the word of the Royal. Checking my reserves, I was assured that I'd be able to eliminate this threat, but that posed a tricky situation when I'd have to face the Leviathan exhausted and spent by my exertions. I weighed the lives of countless others against one man, my best friend. I decided. I couldn't let him do it.

“No way we're letting this happen,” Zack said.

“You think we'll just let these bloodsuckers take you?” Simon asked heatedly.

Mary was distraught. “You can't do this!”

Herk's eyes darted between the vamps and Jas' taut form, considering. “No, he's got it right.”

“This is the way it has to be,” Jas shrugged, his bright eyes dimming and mouth a grim line. “I want you to extend them protection. None of the Pantheon’s proxies will come after them.”

I ransacked my brain, considering. It'd be easy to throw a wrench in this discussion, a burst of power and it would be done. There'd be no going back, then. I set my course and began to implement the plan, not caring about possible repercussions.

At this, the grin morphed into a calculating stare. “You have a knack for negotiation.” Andros nodded, conceding. “Agreed, upon my honor and station, on my power and my life,” the weighty words tumbled from the Royal's lips, binding his half of the agreement. “You will come without resisting and submit to your fate, whatever the Pantheon decides that shall be.”

Jas lowered his head in defeat and dragged himself reluctantly forward, turning to face us after a few paces. “Don't fight this, guys. You've got bigger fish to fry.” He met each of our arguments with an uncompromising stare.

My eyes blazed forth in denial and white-hot rage, azure light seeping around my pupils. The power I'd assembled was almost ready, but Razor beat me to it. A wall of flame burst forth between our two parties, causing the vampires to leap back in imagined pain and anger, hissing. My assembled energy slipped back into its den reluctantly.

“Death is a better fate than what this demon offers,” Razor scoffed, his contrasting appendages raised in challenge.

The wall of flame leapt higher. Our little entourage of Were backed down from the shift. They'd been just as prepared to fight as I'd been. Jas wouldn't have gone without bloodshed, even if he'd agreed not to resist his brother’s tender mercies. He would have done the same in my position. Any of us would.

“You'll regret this!” Andros roared in frustration, so close he had come to his goal. “Kill them! Kill them all and bring me the whelp!” Below us, Earth rumbled to life as it came to Razor's call.

“Stop!” Jas pleaded, but the words fell on deaf ears.

“Let's show these bloodsuckers why they fear the Were.” Zack locked eyes with his comrades and shifted his weight in preparation.

“We can't,” Kathryne said. “This isn't our fight. We have to move on. The Leviathan isn't going to wait for us.” She glanced at Shadow, who was prodding her insistently with his dark nose.

Razor clenched his earthen fist, whether in a plea or demand at the ground below, I was uncertain. “She's right,” he said in a strained voice. “You must go. This is where I'm supposed to be. You'll only get in the way here.” A pained smile appeared on his face.

“How is this any different?” Simon asked.

“Now you want us to leave
you
behind?” Zack rubbed his forehead in consternation, gearing up for blatant refusal.

Razor wouldn't budge. He faced the vampires with a cold heart, willing to lay down his life in order to provide us with a chance to take down the Leviathan. A deep resonance informed me that this was how it had to be. There wasn't any way around it. If we stayed to fight this battle, our enemy would escape unscathed and more powerful than ever.

There wasn't any point in arguing, it would only be insulting and undermine the gravity of Razor's sacrifice. “Good luck, brother.” I clasped forearms with him.

“Keep your luck. You'll be needing it.” He grinned.

He never took his eyes off the roiling assemblage of vamps throughout the exchange. Reluctantly, we allowed Razor to fight this battle for us, moving quickly in the direction of the power plant and hoping we weren't too late. Shadow leaped agilely back and forth, demanding that we follow. Behind me, the sound of screaming built to a crescendo, the crackling of flames running counterpoint to the high-pitched sound. The ground trembled and heaved, sounding like tectonic plates shifting underneath the earth, grinding against one another. Huffing against the pain in my stomach and the suppressing feeling of the meds, I followed the hound.

Our destination wasn't far, no more than a couple hundred yards before we reached the fence. We found our way through the barbwire and crouched furtively while getting our bearings. The facility was big by any standard, stretching into obscurity until the night devoured descriptive details. No doubt this served a large portion of San Francisco and would provide the energy our nemesis needed to heal itself of the wounds it had acquired. Beyond that, the Leviathan would become an even greater force to be reckoned with and would be free to run amok among the unassuming populace. Now that it had been discovered, the death toll would grow and bodies would pile up. All the while, its power would become ever more difficult to challenge as it reaped the souls of the living.

Shadow
woofed,
a deep basso thing that could be felt on your skin. The centerpiece of this scene became obvious. Shaking off pain and lethargy threatening to overwhelm my senses, I stepped from hiding, eyeing the creature before me. It was currently suspended off the ground by a few feet, electricity running like a funnel, supercharging the air and sucked into the Leviathan's gullet. The facility was light up periodically in flashes of electricity as it ran towards the beast. Between flashes, I absorbed hulking metal structures and the black form of the Leviathan.

I held up my hand in an authoritative manner. “You got some splainin' to do, mister. This here is a restricted area. Can I see your license and registration?”

“Uh, Caleb. I don't know if this is the best idea,” Simon said.

The painkillers were messing with my lines of logical approach, skewing them into new, unrecognizable patterns. “Maybe so. But we know what can harm the sucker. I'm not going to be good for much longer. I figure this will hasten along the process.” I grinned.

A throaty growl that couldn't have come from a human mouth tore out the beast’s throat as it recognized me. This movement interrupted the tangible flow of energy, spewing it in all directions. The hand I held forth stretched out further, latching onto the power floating around in the air. Briefly, I struggled with that electric fire as it blazed through my blood, supercharging my senses. Stretching out my other hand, I released the pent up energy in an arc of lightning, which spewed forth and impacted the plant's vitals, blowing fuses aplenty.

“Whoopsie.” I held up my crackling hands in mock apology. “Lights out, son. It's way past your bedtime.”

“You've got to be kidding me.” Jas shook his head. “You're going to get us all killed!”

Jeeves was AWOL, recovering from the detrimental effects of being enshrouded in the power of absolute zero. Razor and his assistance weren't so far removed, but he might as well be on the other side of the globe for all the good it would do. There wouldn't be any help from another corner, then. The training wheels had to come off, whether I was ready or not. While I pondered my next move, the Leviathan wasn't so static. Its head reared back in a decidedly inhuman fashion, cracking and whipping about. The body contorted, arms stretching down to the cement and legs bulging. Its spinal column cracked and split, rearranging itself into a different pattern. Whip-like appendages shot out the thing’s backside, growing into razor-sharp blades that would wreak havoc on anything they came into contact with.

“That's
disgusting
,” Kathryne and Mary said in concert.

“Suit up, guys. See if you can't keep the thing distracted. This is going to get hot.”

I wasn't kidding, apparently. As the diminished pack shifted and harried the beast, the split tail arced forward towards me and a ruby ball of power began to form. This was true form of the Leviathan. Even as it prepared to attack, the monstrosity expanded up and out, its barrel chest widening and filling out. Long black daggers for teeth extended threateningly and dark claws shredded the stone below. Red spears of power arced around the expanding plasma-like substance forming in the air before the Leviathan's maw.