"Yeah," she finally said, now staring at the senior Guardian whom she loved like a father. How could she get 'Bazz to understand that she had to wait? The look in Carlos's eyes alone was enough for her. As much as her husband had seen, as many bodies as he'd had to drop, rarely had she witnessed tears just rolling down his face at the mere prospect of doing what had to be done. The struggle within Carlos was obviously as visceral as the one now raging within her.
Yet she couldn't explain all of that in front of the team. Nor could she tell them how fearful she was that maybe this time her husband was in more danger than even he understood . . . a newly made daywalker was with him: An entity that had clearly embedded himself in Carlos's heart-the very way the vamps got to you. This entity was like a brother, like Alejandro, and she knew Carlos couldn't make that necessary snap decision to smoke him in a blink of an eye . . . the same blink that could possibly cost Carlos his life. The team had no idea how much she wanted to bolt from the kitchen,Isisraised , and head for the beach. Her husband's life was on the line, and she could feel every regret he owned blistering her skin. But she would honor his request this time, even if it killed her-or him.
"Carlos has a plan," she finally said, stalling for time. "You oughta know that much about him by now."
All eyes were on her, and trigger fingers remained twitchy in the kitchen. This wasn't just her and Carlos's home; it was everyone else's, too. Each Guardian truthfully had just as much right to defend it as she and Carlos did, team protocols notwithstanding. The thin line between an all-out beach assault and this very tense kitchen conference was sheer trust and family respect.Period. Therefore, to keep the peace, she had to give the team a plausible explanation, even if she didn't own one.
"Yolando hit our bedroom skylight about ten minutes ago and we went up to put him out of his misery and to commend him to the Light. But he didn't burn." Damali's gaze raked the enthralled group around her."Barely smoldered. Carlos is out there with him now, gaining criticalintel . He'd made his boy a promise-he'd be the one to take his head if and when the Harpies came for him. . . . They didn't come this morning, and from the little bit I've heard, we definitely need more information. So, we wait."
Jose nodded and was the first to stand down. "C never led us wrong, and Damali is right. If these SOBs are walking by day now, we need to know under what circumstances, how quickly the daylight bite is spreading . . . maaan."
Disgruntled Guardians muttered their agreement with Jose as the team slowly fanned out to lean against stainless-steel appliances and the center island butcher-block counter.
"This is beyond bad," Marlene remarked sullenly. "I knew it had been too quiet for too long. We've gotta figure out where it came from, how they did it."
"Or more important," Shabazz said, his locks still crackling with unspent energy, "we need to know specifically how to kill one of those bastards."
"You ain't said a mumblin' word, 'Bazz," Mike said, pounding his fist.
"If they come out by day, does that mean all bets are off for holy water and other prayer-type ammo?" J.L.'s gaze nervously raked the group and then settled on Damali.
"If so, we're screwed, brother," Rider said, clearing his sinuses.
"From all that I remember,"Tarasaid, her voice tight and quiet, "it is a privilege bestowed by the Unnamed One to the Chairman, who in turn can pass it to his councilmen . . . but that still does not confer a soul into the dead carcass of the vampire entity. Hence, the normal precautions should prevail."
"Good information,Tara ," Heather said, her wide gray eyes silently begging for more information. She glanced at Jasmine, who remained mute and had practically welded her petite frame to Bobby's hip.
"So then the only bitch of this is,we can't use daylight as a cover." Berkfield glanced at the other senior Guardians and double-checked his magazine. "No problem. We'll just have to smoke the sonsabitches in broad daylight. We've been in tighter spots than this, not to mention ones where we couldn't see what was coming for us-so what the hell."
Damali watched Berkfield's simplistic logic begin to settle the group, a very necessary thing right now. Comments zinged around the kitchen supporting Berkfield's statement, and she almost didn't hear them, she was so lost in her own thoughts.
But Marlene's knowing gaze locked with hers for a moment. Yeah. There was much more to it than kicking vamp ass in broad daylight.Way more. Like the fact that they had to determine if the councilmen could breed more daywalkers from their bite, or if it still held that daylight immunity could only be passed by the Unnamed One's heir or the Neteru-vamp progeny that Nuit had been trying to create for years. The extent of the contagion had to be immediately understood, with a containment strategy summarily put into full effect.
Then there was the not-so-small issue of collateral damage. This time, just like the battles fought inL.A. , Philly, and even inNew York , they might not be lucky enough to be able to quarantine a huge firefight to some remote, unpopulated area. And this was definitely the first round of the Armageddon-daywalkers. She couldn't even comprehend the scale of an all-out assault by the dark side in a major city. The last thing she wanted to be responsible for was turningSan Diego into downtownBaghdad .
The very concept made Damali rub her temples to stem a throbbing headache that was building in a wall of pain behind her eyes. All the cosmic events foretold had already aligned: strange weather, pandemic plagues like AIDS and the bird flu, earthquakes, tornadoes, floods, and tsunamis. People had lost their minds; violence was off the Richter scale. Wars were decimating mankind, with tensions running hot within those regions not yet at arms . . . economies were crumbling; religious institutions were being turned inside out by corruption and the vilest abuses. The National Identification Number was pressing forward, along with a call for a New World Order by industrialized nations uniting under a single currency. And biblical seals had been broken.
She needed to talk to Carlos, had to consult with herQueens -but she didn't dare leave the team before the other Neteru returned. Damali stared at the whistling kettle, wondering how long it had been singing without anyone noticing it.
"We've been training for this all our lives . . . guess it was too much to hope for the Armageddon to pass us by." Dan released a hard, nervous chuckle and then sat down with a weary thud at the long oak kitchen table across from Jose. "Guess it's also a good thing that none of us has any kids, since it'll be a bloodbath with these suckers out by day."
"Speak for yourself," Inez said, her gaze suddenly frantic.
Everyone stared at her, remembering.
"I have a daughter!" she said, huggingherself and then pulling away from Mike's attempt to calm her. "Fuck all this-I want my baby and my momma brought into this compound now! No more shuttling my kid around under clerics' prayers and safe houses. If there's no twelve-hour window to shield my baby, then I'm going out swinging, y'all hear me!I'll protect her."
"I'm sorry," Dan said quietly. "That's not what I meant. I just forgot because Ayana isn't here with us all the time." Dan glanced away, catching Heather's sad gaze as the young couple remembered their recent loss.
"She knows, and it's cool, y'all," Mike said, coming to Inez again. "We gonna go get Ayana and your momma, okay, suga? Don't panic. As soon as Carlos gives us the info we need, we'll make a run and go get the baby."
"Promise me," Inez said, looking at Mike.
He nodded. "I everlie to you, girl?"
Two big tears rolled down her cheeks as she shook her head.
"I'maget your daughter and momma in here safe or die trying."