Chapter 105
Jamie spent the next two days helping Jordan determine who to group together and which of Van’s list of assignments would be best for each team. There were several names that Jamie recognized, but the ones he had worked with most, besides his sister, were from the London team. He wasn’t surprised at all to see that Ward and Aaron would both be there. “Do you think we can get away with giving them a lesser suited Healer?” Jordan had asked as the list of Guardians blessed with that particular trait dwindled.
It was a difficult question. Jamie knew that both men were fully capable of doing their job quickly and without a mess. It was really more a question of whether or not he felt the Hunters assigned to them would be able to keep from getting themselves wounded. When Jordan explained he’d assigned them to clear out the deepest lair of the building, the one Van believed to be housing three temptresses, Jamie thought it was the perfect assignment for the pair, though he didn’t know much about the others on the team. He hated making such tough calls.
“Who do we have left?” Jamie asked, studying the list Jordan had made. None of the Healers on the list were particularly strong, but a thought did occur to him. “If you give them Morris, who is about the lowest level of Healer I’ve ever encountered, you can give them Christian as well. They’re both from Philly.”
“Christian is no Healer,” Jordan reminded the doctor.
“Oh, believe me, I know,” Jamie almost laughed. “But he’s very talented, and I’m most positive he won’t waiver in the face of the temptresses.” Jamie didn’t know Christian Henry well, but every time he’d been around the man, he’d thought he seemed a bit uncomfortable around women. He couldn’t imagine the Guardian falling under their spell.
“All right then,” Jordan nodded, and they moved on to the next team.
That wasn’t the end of it, however. After hours of discussion and moving people around, they decided they’d finally come to final decision just before the last of the teams was to arrive.
Jamie walked out of the tent he and Jordan had been sharing into a bustling city of makeshift housing, consisting of tents, tarps, and lean-tos. Most of these people had only just arrived that day and were planning on leaving the next, should their mission be completed. Jamie prayed that it would be. Dracula had been wreaking havoc on parts of Europe from Romania to England for decades. It was time he finally met his second--or was it third?--death at the hand of a silver stake through his chest cavity.
“Hey, Jamie!”
He didn’t have to turn around to know whose voice was billowing through the night sky, but he turned anyway in time to see his sister cutting through a crowd of meandering Hunters and Guardians making their way to the large tent Van had arranged for them all to meet under. It seemed dozens of people were already making their way inside and taking seats. While Jamie would have a seat up front with the rest of the Healers, he wished he could use that as an excuse not to talk to her, not at length anyway. He plastered a smile on his face and greeted her. “Hello, Margie. It’s nice to see you.”
She was dressed in black leggings and knee high boots, no tunic this time, only a form fitting bustier with a puffy white shirt beneath the tight fitting black and red satin material. She looked like a pirate of some sort in Jamie’s opinion, but he kept the thought to himself. Her hair was just as curly and unruly as ever, though she had it pulled up on top of her head secured somehow beneath a small black hat, complete with a large feather. “How are you?” she asked, slamming him in the arm hard enough for him to have to heal himself. “I hear you’re all they can talk about these days in KC.”
“I don’t know if I’d say that,” he replied with a shrug as he let loose of his arm. “But I hear you’ve done a bang up job in Moscow.”
“Yeah, I have,” she agreed. “Are we on the same team here? I bet not, not if you had anything to do with it.” She laughed, but they both knew it was true.
“I believe Jordan has you clearing the ground level layer with your teammates from Russia and a few Americans,” Jamie replied, looking back toward the tent that was beginning to fill up.
“Perfect!” she exclaimed. “So long as I get in on the action.”
“My understanding is there will be plenty of action for everyone. I think we should head in.” He saw a few familiar faces, including Ward and Aaron, filing into the tent, but neither of them was looking his way.
“All right. Let me go get my teammates. They want to meet you, though.”
“I’m sure they do,” he replied, watching her walk backward in the direction she’d come. “Perhaps later. And hopefully not due to any injuries.” Margie nodded, and he assumed she’d be just fine letting him go upon his merry way.
Once everyone was inside, Jordan delivered a quick greeting and then handed things over to Van. She spared no punches as she explained their mission. Jamie kept his eyes focused right ahead, not wanting to inadvertently make eye contact with Margie or any of her friends. As far as he was concerned, his sister was just another Guardian from another country there to make an impact and do her part in bringing in a lethal Vampire.
At the end of her speech, Van answered a few questions and then they called for all of the Leaders to make their way to the front. Jordan, who had been sitting a few rows in front of Jamie turned and gestured for him to come as well. Reluctantly, Jamie made his way forward, not because he didn’t want to be seen as a Leader; he was the head of all of the Healers after all, but he knew Margie would be there.
She behaved herself as Van gave special instructions and Jordan handed out team assignments to everyone. Jamie was pleased to see Ward and greeted him, as well as a few of the other Leaders he’d worked with over the years. Once they’d all cleared out to assemble their teams, Jordan kept him at his side and turned to Van. “What’s your read?” he asked her, quietly.
Van nodded. “I think we can do it,” she said, her voice unwavering. “I think we will lose a quarter, maybe close to half of the Hunters we send through the perimeter.”
Jordan’s eyes grew wide, and Jamie realized his own mouth was hanging agape. “Half?” Jordan repeated. Jamie did some quick math. He knew they’d purposely requested more Guardians than Hunters. He figured there were likely fifty Hunters, and of those, only about thirty would be sent into the castle. “Fifteen casualties is a lot,” Jamie muttered.
Taking a step closer to him, Van tipped her head up slightly so she could look him in the eye. “I have lost twice that many on my own over the years, throwing pitiful forces in his direction. If we lose every single one of them and take him out, it will have been worth it. He has killed thousands.” She turned on her heel, bringing her black cape out behind her, which brushed across the front of his jacket, as she marched off. A few steps away, she turned and faced him again, shouting, “And, yes, that does include me.”
After moments of trying, Jamie still couldn’t formulate a response. Jordan chuckled quietly. “She’s passionate, that Van.”
“I’ll say,” he replied, thinking Jordan was just laughing to lighten the mood.
“Don’t worry about her, though. I think her estimate is high. She doesn’t know what you can do.”
“Yeah, but… there’s just one of me. And I can’t be everywhere all at once.”
They began to walk toward the opening of the tent. “You have your medical bag, don’t you?” he asked.
“I do,” Jamie confirmed. Through the flaps, they could see the teams gathering and heading up the mountainside, most of them in eerie silence.
“Only use your power when you must. Save your Healing powers for those who need it most. Trust in those you’ve trained and the others we’ve recruited. They may not all be as powerful as you are, but they can do their part.”
The moonlight glinted off of Jordan’s hair, and Jamie noticed the silver touches a little more than normal. He nodded, realizing his Leader was right. They could do this; he could do this. “I’ll head up now,” he said. “I’m going with Van’s group.”
“Take care. I’ll be waiting here. Send word if need be.”
Jamie nodded. He knew Jordan was letting Van handle the attack from here out, and he couldn’t blame him; she was the expert after all, but thoughts of marching up that mountain without his Leader made him more than a little anxious. He knew this wasn’t going to be as easy as they were all hoping. No one but Van, and perhaps the rest of her team, seemed to know the powers of darkness they were about to engage with.
