Night Fury Chapter 4

Luke desperately wanted to rush into the warehouses in front of him, rip everyone apart, and find his mate. The hope in his chest promised him that Johanna would be here and the constant, endless, gnawing grief in his soul would ease, even if just a fraction.

But that was him speaking emotionally, and his emotions had done a number on his head.

He looked at Greg. One conversation wasn’t going to change everything, but it did help. It had reminded Luke that he was better than this, and he would need to remember that in today’s battle and the next. He needed to be logical here.

There was a big possibility that Johanna wouldn’t be at this location, and from the poor state of the exteriors and broken windows which couldn’t keep out the cold wind, he hoped she wouldn’t be inside. The warehouses looked abandoned. Those with wood seemed rotted, warped, and filled with the elements of the nearby sea. The surrounding buildings seemed just as bad, their once silver metal now turned to rust.

But Luke and the rest of the battle officers believed these appearances to be a façade. This location had nine buildings from what they’d seen, and each was equipped with high quality cameras. While they hadn’t heard anything or seen any vehicles or movement from outside the warehouse buildings, none of the buildings they’d scoped had dust in front of the door, which meant someone, somewhere, was indeed home.

Greg nodded to them, and Luke knew the game was on. He squeezed his hands, rotating his arms and rolling his shoulders back. Daniella moved beside him and caught his gaze. If anyone had told Luke a couple of months ago that his best friend would be on the front lines with them, he wouldn’t have believed it. But Daniella’s life had changed greatly in a short amount of time, and she’d been forced to change with it or become buried by it. Daniella had taken the existence of vampires and immortals, her new relationship, and dedication to their circle the same way she did everything else, with committed determination.

Dani gave him a soft, reassuring smile, but as she turned to the building closest to them, her smile changed into a vengeful grimace that sent a chill down Luke’s spine. She wasn’t bloodthirsty. She didn’t enjoy killing others or being involved in this war—Luke knew that like he knew his own hand—but Daniella was an advocate for justice. Her wrath was prevalent in her abilities as she pulled the cold air toward her, creating a whipping gust that cut and sucked the warmth out of his body. That gust built into a mini tornado before it flew forward in the direction of each building. As it hit, the windows concaved to her power, sending shards of glass everywhere and slamming the doors open.

A click sounded from Luke’s right, and he watched as the door exploded, flying off the building while a fire raged inside. They were far enough away that the blast wouldn’t harm them, but the shockwaves and sound were jarring. Suddenly, the fire stalled its normal expansion, then shriveled and died.

Dani’s doing.

She used her powers to build the wind again, and then sent it flying once more to each building to trigger the opening of any secret doors.

The second blast roused their adversaries, and at least twenty men appeared. Luke called his power to him. A fog rolled in from the sea, blanketing the area in shrouded mist. But there was a sound, metal singing through the air, and Greg surged forward, catching the knife that was meant for Daniella’s head. At Greg’s roar, they charged forward. Snarls and screams ripped through the air around him as Luke weaved through the enemy. The fog hid the bodies of those that fell, but he knew where each of his team members were.

As Luke cut the head off another vampire, ten more appeared. He vanished, dissipating into shadow. Luke slithered along the ground, jumping from place to place until he found Greg’s shadow. His darkness curled around Greg, curving into his power, a signal they’d long forged between them to alert to disturbances. Greg gave a small nod. As soon as he reached out with his own energetic ability to alert the others, Luke was off, jumping and sprinting from one shadow to the next until he was behind the vampires. His blood sang with the need to kill them, but he had other duties to follow.

Luke found their exit, a cellar beneath one of the buildings that seemed to connect to the others. That meant that the other buildings were either decoys, traps, or escape routes. Luke kept to his shadowed form as he slipped inside, the fighting continuing in the open air. He raced along the walls, only pausing to inspect doorways for more traps.

Deeper down the tunnels he found two vampires. He killed one of them within seconds, but the other one’s death he purposefully prolonged, cutting his arm off when he could have severed his head. The vampire screamed, giving Luke what he wanted. The sound would alert others that may be waiting.

When no one came, Luke cut off his other arm. The vampire fell to the ground, his cries of pain echoing so loudly they hurt Luke’s own ears. Still, no one appeared. Satisfied, Luke gave the man mercy by cutting off his head.

Even though Luke had proved that the nearby area was clear, or that any lingering vampires were otherwise preoccupied, he knew he couldn’t let down his guard. Zachariah loved to set traps. He got a sick satisfaction by trying to prove he was smarter than everyone else, and Luke was not about to give it to him. Doing the next best thing he could think of, Luke took the dead vampire’s arms and carried them on his shoulder as he sunk back into his shadowed form. When he neared the next entrance, he threw one of the arms toward the top, spiraling it so that it would clear the doorway vertically, like a body. When no explosion or threat appeared, Luke reclaimed the arm from the floor and continued along.

Nearing another passageway, Luke threw the arm again and was surprised when someone caught it.

Merida stepped through the door frame and cringed at the limb in her hand. “Really?”

“Don’t judge,” Luke said as he rematerialized from his shadows. “It’s a good way to test for traps. Your head didn’t get blown off now, did it?”

Merida handed the appendage back to Luke and dusted her hands off, although he didn’t know why—they were already covered in blood. “Yes, but you killed him. It’s a little weird to use his limbs this way. It’s kind of like violating the body.”

Luke side-eyed her. “You’re just mad that’s the appendage I cut off. If it would have been his dick, you would have been happy.”

Merida covered her mouth with the back of her hand, smothering her laughter. “You know what? You’re right. But please don’t ever do that. I can take a lot of things seriously, but dicks flying through doorways is not one of them.”

Luke laughed deep from his gut. His eyes watered and he wiped them with the shirt’s sleeves. “Duly noted.”

Recovering, he straightened his back and took in Merida’s appearance and the lack of Dom or any of his animal forms hanging off her. She noticed and nodded to the right. “Dom’s checking out that passage. We’ve got four more minutes before Greg wants us topside.”

Luke resumed navigating the passage with Merida in tow, and then she called out to him. He paused and turned toward her. “What is it?”

“There’s something at the top of the opening. Probably an explosive.”

Luke nodded. Taking a step back, he threw one of the deceased vampire’s arms at the opening. The moment it passed through, the mechanism ticked and then exploded, causing the passage to shake as the vibrations bounced and pulsed through the air. Compacted dirt and boulders rained down, effectively closing the earlier opening.

Behind them a whistle sounded through the air, making Luke tilt his head to the side. But when he glanced at Merida and saw her small smile, he knew what, or rather who, had made the noise.

The sound of a bird’s wings grew closer to them, and then feather turned to skin and bone as Dom’s figure appeared in front of Merida. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders, pulling her close to his side while her own arm found its way around his waist. Their heads tilted toward one another as they kissed.

Luke turned his head from the display of affection to give them some semblance of privacy and to keep his thoughts of envy at bay. But even though they spoke quietly, Luke heard Dom’s concern for his mate and Merida’s reassurance that she was fine loud and clear. Luke’s eyes closed, fingers tightening into fists as he fought against his racing, aching heart. He took deep breaths, not wanting them to see that he had such a clear weakness. That he was so…

Stop it! You’re not weak. You didn’t fail. The only way you do that is if you never get her back, and that’s exactly what will happen if you continue to think this way. Enough! Enough…

Luke swallowed hard and plastered a neutral expression on his face as he addressed Dom. “How was your passage?”

“Riddled with explosives. It seems they split half of the passages into safe routes and the other half into traps. While I was in animal form, I heard Greg and Daniella closest to the passage you went down, Meri. Seems like they’re waiting for us.” Dom gave Merida’s shoulder a squeeze before letting her go.

Luke nodded. “Then let’s go.”

He tossed the last remnant of the vampire he killed onto the ground and followed the couple out, hoping that the investigation at the other warehouse buildings had provided more information than they’d found down there.

* * *

Greg and Daniella’s house was buzzing with activity. The rest of the battle officers had arrived, anxious and excited to meet their new teams. Normally, whoever was called to a fight fought with the rest of the unit as one team. It was a good plan, one which allowed for more people to be available should an issue or surprise arise, but assigning and working with teams in this new way was the dawn of a new era. It was a signal of trust, trust that each member knew what they were doing and would work to support the others within their groups.

It was also a sign that Greg was letting go of his tight grip on the reigns. While everyone rested their weight upon Greg’s shoulders, each battle officer had proven themselves to be capable of fighting, surviving, and saving those they thought were worth the cause over the countless years. It was a celebratory moment for everyone there, especially Greg, and no matter the sadness in his heart, Luke could feel the joy too. He smiled as he watched their members from the bar, and for the first time in several lonely months he felt the comradery and familial bonds that had woven between each person. Those bonds spread as the hours passed by. Normally, Luke would have partaken in them, but he had other, bigger things on his mind.

He flipped through the paperwork they’d retrieved from the warehouse raid. Most of it was from the building that had exploded prior to the fight. Thanks to Daniella’s powers, several of the documents had been saved. Luke didn’t know what he would find in them, so he did his best to curve any hope that it would lead to Johanna. Hope had begun to feel just as much of a vice as fear and doubt, so instead he let himself get lost in the details, information, coordinates, and connections. He recorded, filed, and sorted the paperwork into what made sense to him. His creative mind painted a picture, one that continued to grow and expand into something he was sure would lead to an answer.

“There’s a lot of things I thought I would find you doing, but paperwork wasn’t one of them,” Dani said as she entered the room with a drink in her hand. She offered it to him, and he took it with a nod of thanks.

“Hey, just trying to make myself useful.” Luke smiled, but at the look on her face it turned to a grimace.

Her eyes narrowed. “Say that one more time and see what’s going to happen to you. You might be a vampire, but I can and will be more than happy to kick your ass.”

Luke couldn’t help but smile, even as she huffed. “You’re right, I’m sorry.” He sighed, leaning back in the chair. “On the plus side, Greg already chewed me out for being negative. Will that make you take pity on me?”

Dani pulled up a chair, turning the back of it to face him before she sat down, crossing her arms on the top. “Technically speaking, I have been taking pity on you, even though you’ve been ignoring me.”

“I have not—” He stopped at her glare and squeezed the bridge of his nose before softening more into the chair. “I’m sorry.”

Dani looked him over before sighing as well. “It’s okay. I understand, I do, and I know this isn’t something I can fix for you. I also know Mya was worse. With Erik, I mean.”

Luke gulped at the reminder of his cousin broken by the death of her mate. He had to clear his throat before he could speak. “I guess she was, but it’s hard to see a difference between her and I right now.” His gaze moved to the ceiling, studying the mosaic of lines and curves within the woodwork to try to silence his self-deprecating thoughts.

“There are differences,” she said, and he met her eyes. “You still have hope, and you haven’t given up. You’re angry. You have every right to be, and I know how easy it is to turn that anger onto yourself, but you still have hope. You might think that’s a weakness, but that’s the hardest part of it all. That hope is your strength, Luke.”

Luke stared at her, really stared at her for a moment. Then he stopped and thought about her circumstances. Daniella lost her mother when she was young, which had caused her to go into the foster system. That trauma was why she’d worked her ass off and hadn’t made time for the small things that made her happy. While a parental bond was not a mate bond, the grief felt was the same, and even though Daniella was hundreds of years younger than himself and his family, at times she seemed to be wiser than all of them put together.

Dani squeezed his wrist with her hand. “I know you’ll find Johanna and that the two of you will be a wonderful, beautiful couple. I don’t need anyone to tell me that. I know because I believe in you. You helped me turn my life around, Luke, and I wouldn’t have found the joy and love I have now without you.”

Her eyes began to water, and Luke bit his lip to stop from succumbing to tears as well.

“You will get her back, Luke. I swear it. I’ll help you get your mate, and once you have her, I’ll help you keep her. I promise. Even if I have to scream your praises from the top of every rooftop to convince her. You’re not alone. If you can’t believe in yourself, believe in me. I won’t let you down.”

Luke wrapped his arms around her, and they sunk into the embrace as he tilted his head back to keep his tears at bay. Finally, when he could speak, he whispered to her, “I believe in you. Even if I can’t believe in myself, I’ll always believe in you.”

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