Chapter 21

Jen didn’t have a plan other than to kill every single member of the Order she encountered. She ran through the corridors, letting her wolf take over without phasing. Her fingers morphed into claws. Her eyes, she knew, were glowing because her vision was as clear as freshly cleaned glass. Her teeth had elongated into razor-sharp points, ready to tear into flesh with the ease of a perfectly honed dagger.
The light was unlike anything she’d ever seen. It was everywhere, but she could still see. As Jen came to the first member of the Order, something came over her. She moved in slow motion, watching as the man stumbled as if unable to see. “This one you may exact my vengeance on.”
“Great Luna?”
“Yes, Jennifer. I am with you. You will be my arm of justice today. But you will only take those I allow.”
There was a part of Jen that wanted to rebel against that. Everyone was guilty by association as far as she was concerned.
“You do not know their minds or their hearts. You will do this my way, or you will not do this at all.”
“It will be done as you say,” Jen said as she reached the male. She lunged, her hand swiping out and her claws ripping into his flesh until her hand was buried in his chest. She clasped his heart and crushed it. It took mere seconds, and then as she moved on. She had no idea how she’d moved that quickly—even her wolf speed wasn’t that fast.
The next one she came upon was a vampire, and he seemed to be writhing in pain on the floor. The light was obviously more than just brightness to him. “This one?”
“Yes,” the Great Luna answered.
A bright, white sword appeared in Jen’s hand. Her eyes widened, but she didn’t second-guess it. She slammed the shining blade down across the vampire’s throat and severed his head. Did her lips turn up into a deranged smile? Probably, but she just kept going. They’d brought this on themselves. One after another, the Great Luna pointed out who Jen was allowed to dispatch and who she was to spare.
Jen had no idea how many lives she’d taken by the time she reached the main floor of the huge building. She stood in the middle of the room, white light filling the space and bursting through the dark windows. There were supernaturals all around her, stumbling about or writhing in pain. This was what happened when you messed with the Great Luna’s people.
Jen felt something bump into her, and she turned to find a vampire staring straight at her. He seemed to be significantly less bothered by the light. Though he was squinting a bit, he could still see. She turned around, backed up a couple of steps, and raised her sword, bending her knees and settling into a fighting stance.
“You think you can fight the king of the vampires?” he asked.
Jen smirked. “I think you’re a fool if you believe you stand a chance against a she-wolf who’s pup you kidnapped. Not to mention the wrath of a goddess.”
“Little girl,” he cooed, “you have no idea who you are challenging.”
“Bet you’re gonna tell me.” Jen sighed. “Because that’s what the bad guys always do. They yap endlessly about themselves and their evil credentials as if their opponent gives a flying pixie’s butt.”
He seemed completely unbothered by her insult. “I am Sincaro, the oldest vampire in history, and I control every vampire in the world. You are nothing to me. A cockroach beneath my feet that I can simply crush with my shoe.”
“Then shut up and do it,” Jen snarled. “I’m hungry, my mate is going to be pissed at me, and my daughter needs a bath. I don’t have time to listen to your narcissistic chatter.”
The vampire lunged, but Jen was ready. She turned as she swiped the blade down and caught him across the chest. It wasn’t a killing blow. It didn’t pierce his heart, but it must have burned like fire because he hissed like a cat that had been thrown in a tank of water. Sincaro glanced down at the cut that went diagonally from shoulder to waist. The sword in her hand apparently wasn’t just a kickass, white glowing blade. It must hold special power. Duh, it was made by a goddess. It’s not like it’s going to be a dud.
Sincaro hissed again.
Jen couldn’t help but smile. Guess that would teach him not to flap his old-as-dirt gums so much.
He ran straight for her again because old vampires can’t learn new tricks, and just before he reached her, she jumped straight up and then flipped, twisted in the air, and landed facing his back. Again, she brought her sword down, hoping to behead him. But he turned and ducked at the same time, causing her blade to whoosh over his head. He came up swinging and caught her in the face. The blow felt like she’d been hit with a wrecking ball, knocking her back several feet.
“If you lose this fight, I am going to drag you back from the dead and beat the ever-loving crap out of you,” Peri’s voice came from behind her.
Jen grinned. “I’ve missed you, too.”
“Never said I missed you. Now shut up and focus.”
Sincaro tried to take advantage of Jen’s lost balance, but when he jumped at her, she rolled, ducking straight under his raised legs. Her blade came up and sliced him right through his crotch.
“OH, daaaamn,” Peri hissed. “That had to hurt. Okay, maybe I missed you a little.”
“Knew it!” Jen aughed.
The vampire roared. Jen didn’t take any time to enjoy the sweet victory. She jumped to her feet and then attacked with all the fury she had in her.
“This one has killed thousands of children over the course of his existence.” Jen heard the Great Luna’s words in her mind. “The evil in him permeates everything he touches. The world needs to be cleansed of him. If you kill him, you will kill every vampire he has ever directly sired.”
Jen’s rage grew inside of her as she remembered the children killed not long ago. Vasile had not wanted them to know about it, but when they’d found out, she’d been furious.
Her sword slashed through the air, moving at a speed that made it look as if she was wielding only a beam of light. Cut after cut she sliced at him, listening to his hissing and reveling in the pain that the cuts inflicted. He kept backing away from her, and so she ran, dropped to her knees, and slid, bringing her blade across his knees. It sliced completely through, and he hit the ground on the stumps that were once his thighs. Then she jumped to her feet, turned, and brought her sword around in an arc, the blade meeting his neck and cutting clean through. His head rolled off his body and hit the floor with a thud.
Jen was breathing hard as she looked around the room and watched vampire after vampire simply fall to the ground like the lifeless bodies they were. She had no idea how many were destroyed because of Sincaro’s death, but it looked to be a lot.
She couldn’t enjoy her victory long because the light was fading, and the enemy seemed to be regaining their faculties. Peri was at her side in an instant. “Well done, hellion.” A second later, Alston ran into the main room, his eyes ablaze with rage.
Call it a moment of insanity or an adrenaline rush or just typical Jen being Jen, but whatever it was, something made her lean down and grab Sincaro’s head. She held it by the hair and lifted it into the air. She didn’t care that it was dripping blood all over her or that it was freaking disgusting to be holding a severed head. She was in Braveheart mode, or was it, Gladiator? She couldn’t remember, but it was one of those awesome-as-hell battle movies, and she was going to revel in her enemies’ defeat. She’d dealt the Order a huge blow. She roared as she shook Sincaro’s head. “You’re next, traitor. I will mount your head on my wall and use it as a target to teach my daughter how to throw knives! Mark my words, Alston, traitor of the fae. I so name you an enemy of the Great Luna, an enemy of the Romania pack, an enemy of every supernatural that stands on the side of goodness, and I will have your head.”
“You already said that.” Peri grabbed Jen’s arm. “I think he got the point.” Then she flashed them from the compound.
They reappeared in a huge hall filled with hundreds of people, maybe even a thousand. Jen knew this because she and Peri were standing at the front of the room on a raised platform that allowed them to see out over the crowd. Her arm was still in the air with Sincaro’s head hanging from her hand by his hair. The room went completely silent, and all eyes were on her.
“Hell, Mama!” She heard Thia’s voice and the little girl’s tiny hands clapping. Jen turned her head until she saw her daughter, who was sporting a huge grin. Of course, this was the moment her daughter would choose to actually say “Mama” and not “Dada.” Thia was in her mate’s arms, and he was walking toward Jen with a determined stride. Unlike his daughter, he didn’t have a smile on his face.
“You just need to teach her ‘give ’em,’ and she’ll have a complete sentence down,” Peri said out of the side of her mouth.
“You’re hilarious,” Jen deadpanned.
When Jen didn’t move, but continued to stand there in her Braveheart/Gladiator frozen position, Peri muttered, “Maybe you should drop the head.”
Jen finally seemed to get past the shock of the crowd, her foul-mouthed daughter, and pissed-off mate. She turned to look at Peri. “I severed this head fair and square, and I will not pretend to be embarrassed by it simply because my mate is irritated that I ran off on a killing spree, and my daughter likes to holler about h-e double-hockey-sticks.”
“I’m thinking he’s a little more than irritated, but what do I know?” Peri crossed her arms in front of her. “I’ve only been dealing with the wolves for hundreds of years.”
Jen ignored her and then looked at the crowd again. Decebel had nearly reached the steps leading up to the platform. “In my hand, I hold the head of the vampire king!” she called out, her voice so loud it echoed off the walls and ceiling. “Every vampire he directly sired is dead because he is dead. The Great Luna gave me a sword”—which she just realized was gone—“to take down our enemy, and she was there guiding me. We are not alone in this battle, and we will not stop until the head of every one of those in charge of the Order is laying at our feet.” The room stayed quiet for a few heartbeats before errupting into shouts of victory.
Then Decebel was standing in front of her, his face a mix of emotions as he looked down at her. “Will you please put the head down for your daughter’s sake?”
Jen admitted that it was a fair request and lowered the head. Peri took it from her. It would be best if Jen didn’t know where it was taken because in her current state of mind she might have let Thia kick it around like a soccer ball. Even she could admit that allowing her daughter to kick a vampire’s severed head was just bad parenting.
“Peri, would you mind cleaning my mate up a bit?” Decebel asked, his eyes never leaving Jen’s.
Peri snapped her fingers, and the blood that covered Jen disappeared and her clothes were clean. Once again folks, the benefit of having a high fae as a BFF. As soon as the gore vanished, Decebel wrapped his arm around her, while the other still held Thia.
He pressed his face against Jen’s hair and took several deep breaths. “You scared the shi—” He stopped and then said, “You scared me to death.”
Jen held him tightly as she pressed her face to his chest and listened to his beating heart. She could feel Thia patting her hair and babbling something about a head. Good job, Mom. She taught her daughter about a new body part by showing her a severed head. “I’m sorry, B,” she said through their bond. “I couldn’t just leave. Not after they touched our daughter and not after what they did to Alina, Vasile, Cypher, and the others who died. I had to take some of their people when they took so much from us.”
“I know,” he said, and he did understand. She could feel it through their bond. “But it doesn’t make it any easier. I also know you are a skilled fighter, but—”
“You need to protect me. I get it.”
“You’ve been in the hands of the enemy for a week, with our daughter. This”—he squeezed her tighter—“is what I need. I need you. I need Thia. I need you with me, safe and unharmed.”
They held onto one another, not worried about the fact that they were surrounded by a massive crowd of supernaturals, more than she’d ever seen before. They needed this moment. They needed reassurance that they were all okay.
“Are you a little proud of me?” Jen couldn’t help but ask.
Decebel pulled back and looked at her, his eyes glowing with his wolf. “Are you kidding me?” he said out loud. “I’m in awe of you. Was I terrified? Yes, but even when I’m terrified, I’m proud of your accomplishments. I understand why you did it. I’m not mad at you, baby. I just didn’t know what to do. I knew I needed to keep Thia safe, but I was scared to leave you behind.” He pressed his lips to hers. Thia patted their faces, which made Jen smile. When her mate lifted his head, he looked at her with so much love she felt it in her bones. “You kicked ass, and you gave the Order a huge blow. That’s something to be proud of.”
“Dada, ass,” Thia said, beaming.
Jen laughed as Decebel frowned.
“Don’t say ass, Thia,” he warned, though it wasn’t a very stern admonishment.
“Ass, ass, ass,” Thia continued as she wiggled her little body.
Jen motioned to their daughter. “That’s totally on you, dude.”
“You held a severed head up in front of her,” Decebel pointed out.
Jen’s lips pursed. “Yeah, we’re totally rocking this parenting thing.”