Angel of Death (con't):

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PART 35:

Iliana awoke, head reeling, eyes watering and wrists aching terribly. As her violet eyes began to focus, she saw that she was in a small windowless room of unremarkable grey. Dion, still unconscious, was chained to the wall across from her. He looked unhurt, but it was hard to tell. The others, Keller, Galen, Nissa, Winnie and Ling, were nowhere to be seen.

“Dion,” she hissed, afraid to raise her voice, lest someone outside the grey door to her left would hear. “Dion, come on! Wake up. Please wake up. Please be okay.”

Finally, she heard him moan. He stirred, lifting his head and looking as dazed as she had when she first woke up. Catching Iliana’s eye, a flash of horror danced across his steel grey eyes. She knew what he was thinking.

“It’s alright, Dion,” she assured him with a smile. “I’m not hurt.”

The worry did not dissipate as he added, “Yet.”

“Stop being so gloomy, Dion,” she reprimanded, trying for cheerfulness.

Working to take her advice, Dion offered her a small smile. “This is going to sound so cliché, but where are we?”

“I don’t know,” Iliana admitted. “I wonder where Keller and the others are too.”

Dion opened his mouth to answer, but fell silent when the door suddenly flew open. “That, Ms. Harman, is not of your concern,” an icy voice informed her. Three tall figures strode into the room. All were men, and well-built. All looked like werewolves and the two behind the first carried a long and seemingly heavy chest between them.

The first man wore a white lab coat and carried a clipboard. The only thing he was missing was a stethoscope. He motioned for the two others to place the chest beside Dion and turned to Iliana, grinning from ear to ear. He was a handsome man. Not beautiful, not beautiful, not cute, but handsome. He had the chiseled features of a statue, with straight blond hair that hung to his shoulders. His eyes were a dark, sapphire blue and filled with eternal winter.

“You must realize by now that we don’t intend for you to live,” Dr. Ice said quietly, almost regretfully, except for the wide, manic grin on his face.Iliana didn’t answer. She had expected no less. She just hoped that she could take whatever they dished out.

“But we cannot shed your blood, of course,” Dr. Ice continued, surprising her. “We cannot have you using the Blue Fire on us. But,” and as he said this but, he stepped closer. “But, we have other ways to hurt you without bloodshed. For example, how would you feel if we tortured your little boyfriend here? Hunter’s done it once already; we know what he fears. How would you like to see us break him?”

Iliana’s eyes widened, taking on the shape of dinner plates. The blood drained from her face. Dion. She hadn’t thought of what they would do to him to hurt her. But, of course, it all made sense. They didn’t want to her to bleed because then she could kill them all. Yet, they wanted to hurt her and this was the perfect way to do it.

“You wouldn’t,” she breathed, wishing for all the world that he could agree with her.

All the blond wolf did was widen his grin. “Oh, but we would. Would you like us to prove it?” Without waiting for an answer, he turned to the other 2 wolves. “Alvah, Mordecai, open the chest.”

“Sure, Cedric,” Alvah, a pale, brown haired and altogether nondescript man, said and helped Mordecai, an African-American who looked like he should be wrestling The Rock, lift the lid of the wooden chest.

Inside was all manner of insects and invertebrates. Slugs and worms mingled with ants and beetles in the thick layer of muddy earth that covered the bottom of the chest. But now that Iliana looked closer, she saw that the chest was oddly shaped. One side was wider than the other and tapered down. Really, it looked more like a coffin and Iliana suddenly realized what they intended to do.

At the same time, Dion realized the same thing. As Alvah and Mordecai took hold of the shackles on his wrists, Dion began to struggle. “Get the hell away from me!” he screamed. “Don’t touch me!”

Alvah and Mordecai share a look of contempt and glee as the latter pulled back his fist and slammed it into Dion’s temple. Alvah then punched him in the stomach, followed by Mordecai’s fist in Dion’s jaw. The two continued in this manner for a few minutes before Cedric reluctantly told them to stop.

“If he’s dead, he can’t enjoy the fun,” Cedric explained with a devious smile and indicated the coffin.

By now, Dion had been beaten bloody and Iliana tasted the salt of her own tears. Her throat was raw and she hadn’t even realized she had been screaming.

With mock ceremony, Alvah and Mordecai took the shackles off of Dion’s wrists and lifted him towards the coffin. Even in his half-conscious state, Dion had enough sense to be horrified.

“No, don’t move me. Leave me alone. Don’t put me in there,” he moaned, too weak to fight.

Through their soulmate link, Iliana could feel his desperation and fear and she screamed his screams for him. “Put him down! Get him away from there! What did he ever do to you! Leave him alone!”

The wolves completely ignored their pleas. Cedric went to the coffin and lifted out a bucket before Alvah and Mordecai set Dion inside. Now, he really began to struggle, his terrible desperation giving him strength. But he and Iliana had not seen the shackles inside the coffin. Alvah and Mordecai efficiently chained him in right before Cedric upended the bucket full of insects on Dion and placed the lid back on the coffin. As Mordecai set to nailing it shut, Alvah and Cedric turned to Iliana. Alvah looked up at Cedric and the taller wolf nodded his permission.

*Permission for what?* Iliana thought desperately, mind preoccupied and tortured with Dion’s muffled screams from inside the coffin.

She soon found out as Alvah placed his hands on her shirt and ripped. In seconds, he had her down to her bra and underwear. With a feral smile, he unclasped her bra and let it fall to the ground. The thud echoed in Iliana’s ears as he bent down and took one of her breasts in his mouth. Someone was screaming shrilly, an animal sound, and sobbing at the same time. Iliana thought it was Dion before she realized that it was herself.

Alvah’s brown eyes had changed to gold and his teeth were getting sharper. Iliana suddenly hoped that he would bite her. But he was careful. He simply rolled her around in his mouth, played with her with his tongue.

“Get away from me! You sick bastard, get away!” she was screaming, struggling, anything that would make him draw blood. Nothing worked.Finally, she simply broke down and sobbed. “Why, why?” she implored, with no response. Dion’s screams had dissipated into whimpers, but Iliana still felt his terror, barely reigned in, ready to break him, if he only gave it the chance. That, added to what Alvah was doing to her, was almost too much to bear. Silently, Iliana imagined the sky above the ceiling and began praying to the Goddess, begging her to at least let her die sane.

* * * * *
PART 36:

Monaco heard the screams before everyone else, probably because he was in front of everyone else. A normal human would have missed it completely in the jumble of noises on the street and indeed, even he was standing right beside the wall of the only house on a street full of apartments before he heard the faint shout.

*We’ve found them,* Monaco informed the rest of the group psychically, in case the English language became too obvious, even in this din.

Another faint scream issued from behind the wall and this time, there was no pause between it and the next.

“What the hell?” a vampire named Briana breathed just as Monaco made up his mind to go in. Who knew what was being done to Iliana and other others? They couldn’t wait for Lupe and the others to get there.

“Liz,” he called the Asian woman over and said quietly to her, “Knock on the door and see who’s guarding it. We have to get in and you’re the only one who doesn’t stick out as a foreigner or vampire.”

Liz nodded, but looked like she would rather do anything than knock on that door. Still, she squared her shoulders bravely and approached the door. Taking a deep breath, she hammered on the door and a moment later, a thin Asian man of about 40 with thinning black hair answered.

“Buo buo hao,” Liz said politely in Chinese. Monaco guessed it was some kind of greeting. She proceeded to make up some story about her presence that he did not understand. What words he picked up, like “wo de jiu ma” and “zhu zai zhe li”, made zero sense to him. It was then that he realized how risky this was. Elizabeth could be saying anyhting, could be giving them away to the man, and they would never know until it was too late.

Finally, she managed somehow to lure the old man out of the doorway and keep him distracted while Monaco and the others slipped out from behind the building and into the house. If any passersby thought this to be strange, they gave no indication. Of course, with evening fast approaching, the crowd had thinned out considerably.

Other than the screams, there seemed to be no sign of more people in the house. Monaco motioned for the Daybreakers to get out their guns nonetheless. They were bound to need them sooner or later.

The small house was a bungalow and silently, the Daybreakers walked down the narrow hallway towards the screams. Before they could get halfway down the hall, there was a gunshot to their left and a scream of pain.

Monaco made his decision quickly. *Calista, Jasmine, Nathan, Byron, Jonathon and Ethan, break down that door and take care of the situation. The rest of you, come with me.* With that, he set off at a run towards the end of the hall, where the screams he had initially heard were coming from.In seconds, both doors were down. Monaco stood in horrified silence, gaping at the scene before him for precious moments, unable to believe.

Fortunately, Briana behind him was not as easily distracted, or the tall, blond werewolf would have shot Iliana with the gun he pulled out of his white lab coat. But that didn’t register until minutes later, when it was too late to save Briana. Right then, all Monaco could do was let his body react, for his mind was numb.

When a dark-skinned, hulking bull of a man came running at him, Monaco shot him three times in the chest without thinking. For terrifyng seconds, Monaco thought that the silver bullets would have no effect, but the enemy suddenly fell to his knees, then collapsed totally, at Monaco’s feet.

Someone came hurtling at Monaco from behind and knocked him down before he knew what was happening. His gun flew into the air and landed with a thud on a large wooden coffin. Monaco could smell and feel the hot breath of the wolf on his back, breathing down his neck. Frantically, he thought of what he could do, but was spared action when Katherine, a Daybreak vampire, shot the wolf off his back.

Now, only the blond vampire was left and three or four Daybreakers were taking care of him. Picking himself up off the floor, Monaco hurried over to Iliana, right hand over his aching left shoulder. He thought that the wound had opened again, but wasn’t sure. It didn’t matter anyway.

Gently, Monaco pulled Briana’s lifeless body off of Iliana and wrapped his jacket around her small, trembling, semi-bare body. One sleave of the jacket was bloody. Yes, he was definitely bleeding again, but how could it be? He should be healed by now.

Katherine came over with the keys to the shackles she had taken off the body of the dark-skinned wolf and unlocked them.

As soon as she was free, Iliana fell in a heap into Monaco’s arms, babbling incoherently about bugs, coffins and Dion. The last subject caught Monaco’s attention. “Where’s Dion? Iliana, calm down. Tell me, where Dion is.”

She was trembling and sobbing so badly that she couldn’t speak. Instead, she pointed in the direction of the coffin.

“Open that coffin!” Monaco ordered, still cradling Iliana. “Do it now! I don’t care how, just get that lid off!”

Two of his wolves set to doing just that, using a hammer they found near the coffin to pry the nails out. By the time the work was done, Iliana had calmed down a bit and Monaco helped her over to it.

As the lid was lifted off, Monaco’s eyes widened yet again. Just when he was sure nothing could horrify him more, he was proven wrong.

Dion Vitani was chained into the coffin, half buried in mud and maggots. His eyes were closed tight, as if that would somehow shield him from his rancid surroundings.

Katherine didn’t need to be told what to do. She immediately knelt and unlocked his shackles and the wolves who had opened the lid helped the shaking Dion out.

“Oh, Goddess. Oh, Goddess, thank you,” he gasped, breathing in deeply, just happy to be out of that putrid box.

“Sir,” Ethan called hesitantly from the doorway. “Sir, could you come here?”

Delicately handing Iliana over to Katherine, Monaco followed Ethan to the room he and the others had invaded. There was a thick pool of blood in the middle of the windowless room, with Nissa Johnston lying in the middle of it. Keller, Galen, Winnie and an short Asian boy with glasses stood huddled together, staring silently at the body. Keller had her head buried in Galen’s shoulder and it was the fist time Monaco had ever seen her cry.

“Oh Goddess,” Monaco breathed, raking a hand through his thick black hair. “What the hell are we going to do about all this?”

* * * * *
PART 37:

The days to the Millennium passed slowly for the Daybraekers. For Iliana and the others in China, they were filled with silent grieving for Nissa and the 3 others who had died. Dion and Iliana woke up screaming at night with nightmares from their ordeal. The room they shared was rarely silent at night.

To Kavan, the days were a bit more cheery. Oriel Arlin arrived with Thea Harman and the rest of the reinforcements. Their first order of business was to buy some food and replace the broken windows, all the while trying to pretend to the local community that nothing was amiss. That, of course, was harder than it sounded, considering that 20+ gorgeous young adults was nowhere near the land of normal.

When it came to Delos in the Dark Kingdom, the fighting continued, but now, they were only small attacks and Leila had arrived with back-up. The only time they ever saw Keiara before the final battle was the day after the initial attack. The left side of her face was bruised and her lip swollen.

Marcellus’ brow creased at the sight of her and he looked like he wanted to comfort her. But she gave no indication that she had seen him at all, just stood atop one of the surrounding cliffs and stared solemnly at the Daybreakers. She went on like this for a few minutes before they noticed. When they did see her, she promptly turned on her heel and left.

In Australia, Tier Brandon had arrived with reinforcements as well. With the extra back-up, Jez finally decided to go into the Outback, where they had been headed all along.

“The Night People might be gone by now. They’re not known for their patience,” Jez explained to everyone when they met in her hotel room. There were so many people that the door between hers and LeAnne’s rooms was opened so people could use both rooms and still hear her.

“Even if they’re still there, we now have enough numbers to fight them. Staying here isn’t going to benefit anyone.”

So, with those words, they were off.

Tier, who had been LeAnne’s human boyfriend before Braeden, rode in the same Jeep as Jez, LeAnne and their soulmates. He had not been feeling well after the plane ride-he hated flying-and now all the bumping around in the jeep had him hanging his head out the window. Jez and Morgead, who were enjoying the ride, teased him immensely.

“Oh, the little baby is sick,” Morgead taunted sarcastically.

“Should we stick some tape over his wee little belly button?” Jez suggested with a wide grin at Morgead and they both burst out laughing.

LeAnne gazed at the two slightly apprehensively. She didn’t find their banter funny at all, but wasn’t sure she should comment, since Jez was the one driving.

“Don’t mind her,” LeAnne assured Tier, patting him on the back. “She’s like this with everyone. You’ll get used to it.”

Beside her, Braeden snorted, “Get used to it? Hah! More like endure it ‘cause we have to! Just be glad that tomorrow is the Day. You’ll only have to put up with her for one night!”

“Oh, Soterios, don’t think I didn’t hear that!” Jez hollered. “You better run quickly when we stop ‘cause I’m going to get you for that!”

Well, as it turned out, Jez’s threat never came true, but only because she happened to forget. When they arrived at the region of Outback Circle Daybreaker HQ had settled on, there were still a few Night People hanging around. There was a short skirmish where the Night People were driven away. The worst injury was a sprained ankle because Tier-the stupid fool-stepped into a hole in the ground while running in the opposite direction of the enemy.

As Tier lounged about in his tent, nursing his ankle, he asked LeAnne, “So, how did Thierry and you guys decide to handle the time difference?”

LeAnne turned her hazel eyes from her book to Tier. “What do you mean?”

“You know. How Australia is like 14 hours ahead of the States. It’s going to be the Millennium here before anywhere else.”

LeAnne’s brows knit together. “Well, we’re not really sure. We don’t know what’s going to happen, so it was decided that we would all be ready when it struck twelve here. Now, the others might be waiting 14 hours before anything happens to them, but at least they’ll be prepared. Besides, we don’t think Hunter would wait for it strike 12 before attacking. Most likely, he’ll attack us all at the same time, probably before midnight. But we’ll be prepared.” If only she sounded as sure as her words.

Tier offered her a small smile. “Let’s hope so.”

* * * * *
PART 38:

“Are you ready?”

“Do I look ready?” Dion retorted waspishly as he stepped out of the cab.

“I’m guessing that’s a rhetorical question,” Lupe said with a smile as she passed Monaco and Dion on her way towards the Great Wall.

Almost all of the Daybreak crew in China were pulling up by the trail up to the Great Wall in cabs. On the way to the Wall, they had looked like a freakin’ royal congregation. Hard to be inconspicuous when you were 50 people large.

The only people who were not just arriving were Keller, Galen, Winnie and Ling. Surprisingly--and unnervingly-- Keller and Iliana had been at opposite poles since Nissa’s death. They bickered at each other constantly, blaming each other for the incident, and the room immediately froze over when they were in it together. The tension was becoming unbearable until Monaco suggested that Keller’s team go with Ling to set up camp at the Great Wall.

Now, Keller and the others were coming down from the trail to meet them and the animosity between her and Iliana seemed to have eased. Hesitantly, Iliana wrapped her arms around the panther shifter and Keller hugged her back.

“Everything’s ready,” Galen announced. “But we’re going to have to get off the trail to get to our post. There are still a few employees packing up and I don’t think a group our size would escape their notice.”

With a smile, Lupe lifted her bags and announced, “I’m ready! Lead the way!”

Galen looked sheepish as he explained, “Ah, Lupe? There’s a system that needs to be followed. You see, this whole place is surrounded by mountains and, no offense to the witches, but it would take you hours to get to where we’re going. So, it would be best if the wolves and leopards and such carry the witches and smaller shifters while the vampires take the luggage.”

After the uproar that announcement caused, with outbursts of...

“Why do I have to take other people’s freakin’ luggage?”

“So, am I considered a smaller shifter?”

“What the hell do you mean? The witches are going to RIDE on my BACK?”

...the group finally made it to the camp an half hour later. And after everything was set up and people settled in, the waiting began.”

“Get up! Get up, you silly little man!”

“Huh? Guh? Ick-ak, ugh!” Kavan grunted, waving Chris’ screams away. “Get away from me, woman!”

Chris sputtered in fury, “Woman? Woman? Excuuuse me? Well, I never...”

“Ah. Look, they’re so cute,” Oriel cooed to Ash, hands clutched to his heart with a dreamy expression on his own very cute features. “They’re acting like an old married couple already.”

Ash, who was already laughing hysterically, now bent over double as Colin replied in mock indignation, “Uh-uh! I don’t think so! The only person Chris’ll ever be married to is me, right hon?”

Slyly, she turned towards Colin. “Well, I don’t know. Maybe I’d rather be with Kav?”

It was Colin’s turn to put a hand to his heart. “Oh, oh you wound me. Right there. Right there.”

Finally, Quinn put an end to the whole exchange by pointing out, “Look guys, it might be only 8 AM, but it’s going to be midnight in Australia in 2 hours. We have a lot to do before then, so get up and get ready!”

“Yes, corporeal!” Chris replied in her crisp British accent, saluting Quinn before running down the hall giggling, hand in hand with Colin.

“Children,” Quinn sighed with a roll of his eyes.

“Let them be, love,” Rashel whispered in his ear and wrapped her arms around his waist. “In 2 hours, they may never be so carefree again.”

Dully, James stared up at the ceiling, counting the cracks. “...twelve, thirteen, fourteen...”

“Jamie, wha der ya doin’?” Poppy slurred, awakening from her slumber. “Don’t tell me you’re awake at 6 in the morning!”

Woefully, James gazed down at his soulmate. “So sorry Poppet, it it’s true. I’m awake and there’s only 2 hours before it’s midnight in Australia.”

Alarmed, Poppy sat up in bed in one swift motion. “Oh my God, you’re so right! Is everyone else awake?”

“I don’t know,” James said reluctantly, slipping into a robe. “But we better go check.”

In the next room, Nick and Amaya were already awake.

“I’m scared, Nick,” Amaya confessed in a whisper as he held her from behind.

“Don’t be,” Nick assured her with a kiss on the cheek. “You’ll be fine.”

“It’s not me I’m worried about.”

“Oh.”

“But, on a happier note,” Amaya rolled over to face Nick as she changed the subject. She supported her head with her hand as she continued with a mischievous gleam in her eyes. Nick knew that look all too well. It meant she was bout to do or say something devilish. And most certainly, she did.

“At least I’ll be able to say I didn’t die a virgin.”

If Nick had been drinking, he would have choked. As it was, he lay there frozen for a few stunned moments, a goofy but bemused grin upon his gorgeous face, simply blinking at his soulmate. Then, his mind began again to notice how perfectly nude she was under those blankets, how kissable those lips looked and Amaya finally got the laugh she was after.

Snuggling in the crook of his arm, she breathed, “And you’ll be able to say the same,” right before she kissed him.

The kiss could easily have turned into more if James and Poppy hadn’t knocked on their door.

Nick groaned in frustration as she pulled away from Amaya and called, “What is it?”

“2 hours before midnight in Australia!” Poppy announced brightly from the other side of the door. “See you in the dining room in 10 minutes!”

Flopping down upon the bed, Nick muttered, “Just shoot me.”

“Be careful what you wish for,” Amaya warmed, resting her chin on his chest. “That could easily be arranged before the day is over. And I wouldn’t want to lose my Angel.”

“Oh, don’t worry, Mai,” Nick assured her, running a loving hand through her hair. “I won’t be leaving you anytime soon. I promise.”

“Will you stop it already?” he pleaded. “Digging yourself into a trench isn’t going to make time go by any differently and it certainly won’t help us when Hunter attacks.”

Jez shook her head in frustration. “I just HATE this waiting game! I want to DO something, but I can’t!”

“I know, I know,” Morgead reassured her, hugging her tight. “I want to do something too. But all we can do is wait. At least we’re waiting together,” he pointed out.

“Oh, don’t give me that togetherness B.S.!” she exclaimed, but did not move from the circle of his arms.

Morgead chuckled. “You knew it had to come out sometime.”

“Save it for after the battle.”

“What if there is no after?”

Jez’s silver-blue eyes gazed up at him in barely concealed horror. “Don’t even suggest that! We’re going to make it! We’ll be fine!”

Morgead simply stared at her in silence, eyes speaking all the truth they needed.

Suddenly, the small $1 alarm clock in the tent went off, startling them both. Outside, the sudden sound of screams rang in the night air.

“They’re here!”

“Everyone out! Get ready!”

The battle had begun.

* * * * *

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