Dakar screamed his rage, ordering his demon soldiers to take control, but already some of them were shaking their heads at him, unwilling now to face the army they knew to be waiting on the other side of the disintegrating portal. Any minute now, the portal would be fully open, Kardis would appear at the head of his loyal followers, and Dakar would be forced to either challenge him, or run.
“Andrew, have Tommy get the humans out of here. I’ll send Roger and Micah to help him.” Marcus’ words spurred Andrew into action. He had momentarily been unsure whether to attack Dakar himself or leave him for his demon lord to deal with. Ignoring the furore around them, he ran to his lover.
“Tommy, you must lead the men and women away from what is about to happen.
Roger and Micah will help you. Go quickly!”
“But what about you?” Tommy gripped Andrew’s arm. “I can’t leave you to deal with all this with just Marcus and Joseph at your back.”
“Believe me, they are more than enough—now go, please!”
Reluctantly, Tommy turned to Alex and Jason who were staring at him slack-jawed with amazement. “Let’s go Alex,” he muttered. “Explanations come later. Follow those two vam…uh…guys. We need to get out of here.”
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“No argument from me,” Alex said, grabbing Jason’s arm. “Let’s get the hell outta here!”
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90
At Marcus’ instruction, the humans were herded away from the demons by Roger and Micah, and not a moment too soon, for with a sizzling blast the portal to the Underworld opened and Kardis, in full battledress, appeared at the head of his demon horde.
“Dakar!” he roared. “Surrender or die!”
Marcus and Joseph stepped between the two enemies. “Kardis,” Marcus said, the power of his voice carrying over the chaotic noise that had erupted when the portal opened.
“There are innocent men and women here, who are not part of your war with Dakar. Allow them to leave before taking your vengeance on Dakar and his followers.”
“All here are my enemies!” Kardis’ grating voice was filled with venom. “All will die!
Stand aside, vampires, or be destroyed along with Dakar and his miserable cowards.”
“That was not the agreement you struck with the Vampire Council,” Marcus said quietly, now that silence filled the air and all seemed struck into immobility. “Renege on your promise at your peril, Kardis.”
“I care nothing for the Vampire Council. Now stand aside—”
Marcus shrugged and gestured above him. “I was afraid you might be this much of a fool, so I arranged for some reinforcements to help change your mind.”
From everywhere the air above them teemed with vampires led by Jared, Carlos, and Jacob Quince himself. Hovering overhead, their pale faces, set in hard, determined expressions, had some of the humans screaming with terror. Using this diversion, Roger and Micah swung the giant hangar doors open and the men and women streamed through to the outside and safety.
“You too,” Roger said, seeing Tommy hang back.
“I’m not leaving Andrew! And don’t go giving me the evil eye either, Roger, or you and me will have a falling out.”
“Damn it, Tommy. Marcus will give me hell for this. Okay, but stay close to Micah and me—got it?”
“Got it.”
“Okay, wait here while I make sure none of these people remember anything of this.”
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“How are we going to get them back to Los Angeles?” Tommy asked.
“There’s a bunch of vehicles that I guess were used to transport them here,” Micah told him. “They’ll work it out, I’m sure.”
When Roger returned they closed the hangar doors then hurried back to the main throng where a kind of impasse was in place. Jacob Quince, the head of the Vampire Council, had joined Marcus and Joseph at their position between the two warring factions. Kardis was conferring with two of his officers while Dakar stood alone, his followers having seemingly deserted him.
Andrew regarded the demon without sympathy but with some curiosity. Had he been speaking the truth about the Talisman of Ardocan? Could it be possible that Marcus was wrong, and that it actually did exist? He was about to probe Dakar’s mind for the truth of it when, startled, he saw Tommy accompanied by Roger and Micah running to his side.
“Tommy, you were supposed to leave with the others!”
“I told you I wasn’t leaving you, and I’m not,” Tommy said defiantly, slipping an arm around Andrew’s waist. “So get over it.” He jumped a little when the vampires who had been hovering silently overhead dropped to the ground as if as one, completely surrounding the perimeter of the hanger. “Jeez, there’s a lot of ’em. Where did they all come from?”
“From everywhere,” Andrew whispered as if that was answer enough.
“What’ll happen, d’you think?” Tommy whispered back.
“Dakar will die, one way or the other.”
“Oh.”
“It will not be pleasant. That’s why I didn’t want you here to witness it.”
“What? They goin’ to chop off his head?”
“Something like that—eventually.”
Tommy swallowed, hard. Eventually…
“So, Lord Kardis…” This time Jacob Quince was the one to address the demon lord.
“What is your decision? The humans have been taken to safety. Dakar has been deserted by his so-called allies. There is no war to fight, unless you mean to take all of us on—something I really would not encourage.”
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After a moment or two, Kardis muttered, “Dakar and those who betrayed me must be punished.”
“Absolutely,” Quince said with a smile. “By all means, take them back to your realm and do with them what you will. But let this be over soon. The portal must be closed and sealed from this side—agreed?”
“Agreed.” Kardis ordered his cohorts to start rounding up Dakar’s men who put up little to no resistance. But when Dakar was led before Kardis, he roared his defiance.
“Kardis, you coward! I challenge you to fight me—show all here that you are not afraid of me. You think you can have me executed like a common criminal? That will never happen!”
Kardis, obviously only too willing to show his fellow demons that he was their rightful leader and Dakar nothing more than a rebellious upstart, threw aside his gun and started to pull his sword from its scabbard. But Dakar, moving with lightning speed before Kardis could arm himself, whipped out the knife with which he had killed Bazul. Leaping forward he plunged the dagger into Kardis’ neck. The demon lord shrieked in agony and fell to his knees clutching at his bleeding neck. His eyes glazed over as the poison on the blade took effect.
Chaos ensued. Dakar’s followers, suddenly inflamed with courage at the sight of their leader’s action, turned on their stunned captors, wrenching guns and knives from them and striking them down before they could react.
Andrew grabbed Tommy and hustled him away from the fray. The vampires pulled back, watching in silence as the demons struggled for dominance, bodies on both sides falling from gunshot and knife wounds. Then, at a silent command from Jacob Quince, the vampires began to move forward, presenting a formidable wall of power that caused the demons to falter in their struggle and back up towards the open portal.
Dakar tried to rally his forces, yelling at them to stand and fight. A few hastened to obey but were thrown back by a mere gesture from any vampire they got too close to. Dakar was a vision of fury, his eyes blazing with rage at the line of vampires that moved inexorably towards him and his diminished army.
“You know you are beaten, Dakar,” Marcus told the furious demon. “The only way out is through the portal. Go back to your world and face the consequences of your actions.”
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Dakar’s gaze settled on Andrew. “You! Traitor! First you would betray your lover and your own kind. Now that the tide has turned you would betray me!”
“There can be no betrayal where there was no kinship,” Andrew said quietly. “My coming to you was merely a ruse—”
“Then die!” Dakar screamed and threw his poisoned dagger straight at Andrew.
There was a blurred movement and the knife was stopped short, the blade a mere inch from Andrew’s chest, the handle grasped securely in Andrew’s hand. Then out of nowhere a figure sprang on top of Dakar, dragging him to the ground, punching him about the head over and over. Cursing, the demon threw his assailant off and jumped to his feet, his face a mask of fury. Then he laughed when he realised his attacker was Tommy, the mortal’s face bone white with anger. Tommy rolled over onto the balls of his feet ready to attack again.
“You think you can best me, human?”
“Yeah!” Tommy yelled, raising his fists. “Stick your powers up your ass for a minute or two, and I’ll beat the shit outta you.”
“Well, that’s not going to happen.” Dakar grabbed a gun from a nearby demon and pointed it at Tommy. “You won’t be able to stop the bullet!”
Without hesitation, Andrew hefted Dakar’s knife in his hand and threw it with deadly aim at the demon. With a choking cry of agony, Dakar staggered back, his hands trying to pry loose the blade thrown with such force it had pierced his throat and protruded from the back of his neck. In a flash Andrew closed the distance between Tommy and himself and flung his arms around him. Together they watched as the demon who had plagued their lives, and endangered so many more, fell dying at their feet. As the other vampires gathered around, the remaining demons, both sides now leaderless, disappeared through the portal into the darkness beyond.
“Now it can be sealed shut,” Quince murmured to Marcus. “But first we should make sure all evidence of the conflict is erased from this place.” The vampires went about collecting the bodies of the dead demons, including Dakar and Kardis, dragging them into the tunnel beyond the portal. “Let their own kind deal with disposing of them as they see fit.”
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94
It was long after midnight by the time Tommy and Andrew left the hangar. Tommy watched with awe as the vampires who had answered Marcus’ call silently lifted off into the night sky and disappeared.
“Carlos and Jared are following the humans back to LA,” Marcus informed Tommy. “I told Jared to make sure your friend Alex ends up in some familiar surroundings so he won’t feel disoriented. The Blue Moon seemed like a good idea.”
“Thanks, Marcus, that’s his home away from home.” Tommy’s smile changed to a frown as he remembered. “Only problem is he quit his job and he’s not going to remember doing that. It’ll be a shock for him when Chief Lambert questions him about it.”
“Then we must make sure Chief Lambert doesn’t ask such questions.”
“How’re you going to do that? Everyone at the station will know by now.”
Roger chuckled. “You would question the powers of the mighty Marcus Verano? It’s already done, Tommy, my friend. No one at the station will remember Alex quitting.”
“What? But how…?”
“Magic by Marcus.” Roger rolled his eyes. “I swear he could take care of all these pesky problems caused by demons and vampire hunters and rogue vampires with the blink of an eye. He just likes to see us swing into action now and then. Keep us on our toes.”
Marcus laughed and ruffled Roger’s hair. “You do love to exaggerate, don’t you?”
“But seriously, Marcus,” Tommy asked anxiously, “Roger’s right? No one will remember Alex quitting? He left the chief a note.”
“Ah, yes. Thanks for reminding me.” Marcus blinked an eye. “Gone.”
Tommy gaped while the vampires laughed at his slack-jawed expression. “Oh. My.
God!”
“Hey, you don’t live for eighteen hundred plus years and not learn a thing or two, you know,” Roger said, still laughing.
“Call your friend when you get home, Tommy,” Marcus said smiling. “I am certain you will find he is just fine.”
“Thank you, Marcus.” Tommy hesitated for just a moment then flung his arms around the handsome vampire and hugged him tight.
“You are welcome, Tommy. Now let Andrew take you home, and um…take care of that black eye.”
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Tommy looked around for one of the vehicles Micah had said were there, and could see not one. “Oh no,” he groaned.
“What’s wrong?” Andrew asked with a little smile.
“There’s no car or bus or anything left. That means—well, you know what that means. I can tell from the way you’re grinning like a Cheshire cat, you know exactly what that means!”
“Tommy, édesem, you know I would never let you fall from my arms.”
“I know that! It’s just that, everybody laughs at me ’cause I keep my eyes closed the whole time.”
“No one will see but me.” Andrew leaned in and kissed Tommy’s lips gently. “Besides, you’re beautiful even with your eyes closed.” He wrapped his arms around Tommy’s muscular body. “Ready?”
Tommy held on tight. “Ready as I’ll ever be.” And together they flew off into the darkness.
Below them their vampire friends watched them speed upwards towards the clouds.
Roger nudged Micah. “Wanna bet Tommy’s got his eyes closed?”
Micah chuckled. “Not something I’d bet against—I’d be as well just giving you my money right now!”
Andrew pressed a kiss to Tommy’s cheek as they landed on the balcony of their apartment. “There, safe and sound,” he murmured.
“Jeez, I always feel like such a wuss when we do that.” Tommy shook his head ruefully.
“And it’s not like I think you’ll drop me or anything. I don’t even like flying in a plane.” He slid the glass door open and they stepped inside. “Anyway, I better call Alex and make sure he’s okay.”