The Vampire Ambassador
Chapter 21

We docked against the pier with a slight thud and everyone began filing out immediately. There were six black SUVs waiting for us with their engines running. Gael, Luna, Quinn, John, myself, and a couple of other warriors climbed into the vehicle in the back of the line.

Gael sat up front with the driver while the rest of us squeezed into the second and third rows of the SUV. I clasped my hands together in my lap and watched as the scenery began to fly by us while we drove through the countryside.

"You okay?" Quinn asked, turning around to face me. I saw Gael's eyes dart to the rearview mirror to meet mine.

I nodded slowly. "Yeah, I'm good. Just ready to get this over with."

We drove for a few hours in silence before buildings began to come into view. I could see the lights from the city where the council members resided and my stomach dropped into the bottom of my feet.

The back of my mind was filled with fear. I knew that uncle Harry was alive, but I had no idea what kind of shape he was in. It filled me with anger to know that Johnathan had hurt him; the only person who I considered true family.

It made me want him dead even more.

We pulled up to the gates and were instantly waved through. We pulled up to the hospital ward, which was small. It was only two stories; the first for the doctors and nurses and the second for patient care. They only took care of royal members and council members, so they kept it small so each patient could have personal care.

We pulled up to the front and Gael got out to open my door. I climbed out of the SUV and pulled my mask up to the bottom of my nose.

"Ten minutes," Gael said, shutting the door behind me. I nodded and turned to walk into the hospital.

The front desk woman took one look at me and reached for the telephone. I put my hand up to stop her movement and she looked at me in fear.

"I'm here to see my uncle," I stated, "Harry. Sir Patrick said he was here in the ward."

"Yes, your Majesty," she replied shakily, "Second floor, room 204."

"Thank you," I said, walking toward the elevator. I walked in and pressed the second floor button.

The lights flickered slightly and my nerves balled up in my throat. I was terrified of what kind of condition that uncle Harry was about to be in.

The elevator stopped and the doors opened slowly to the second floor. Everything was dark and quiet, so I looked at the sign showing which rooms were on which hall. It showed that uncle Harry's room was down to the left, so I slowly walked that way.

I stepped up to his door and took a deep breath before opening it slowly. Sonya was in the chair in the corner, deep asleep. Uncle Harry was laying in the bed with a ventilator doing the breathing for him. His face was nearly unrecognizable; it was covered in black and blue bruising. His eyes were swollen shut, and he had several bags of different fluids flowing into his catheters in both arms.

My breath caught in my throat at the sight of him so badly injured. I walked over to the edge of the right side of the bed and pulled my mask down as I looked at the steady rise and fall of his chest.

The anger was boiling inside of me at that point. I could feel my tattoo begin to burn as I balled up my fists to keep my emotions under control.

I reached out a shaky hand and took his with mine. I felt his fingers tighten around my grip just barely and I squeezed back. I leaned down close to his ear and held my breath before I whispered to him.

"I'm going to kill him, uncle Harry. Not just for what he has done to the kingdom but for what he has done to you. I will show no remorse when I do."

I kissed his forehead gently and let go of his hand. I looked back over at Sonya who had not moved an inch. I pulled my mask back up to my nose and turned on my heel to leave.

I could feel the vein in my forehead pulsing with anger as I walked down the hall to the elevator. Once I descended down back to the main floor I stomped through the lobby and heard the electricity crackling as the lightbulbs in the ceilings began to go out.

The doors slid open once I approached them and Gael straightened his posture at the door of the vehicle. He took one look at me and his mouth dropped open. I stood in front of him as I attempted to catch my breath.

"That bad?" he whispered.

I shook my head slowly and looked down at the ground. "Johnathan is a fucking dead man, do you hear me?"

I looked up and balled my fists at my sides as I gritted my teeth. "I will rip him limb from limb and make sure he feels every second of pain that I will inflict upon him. I am going to end him."

Gael nodded and opened the door before I climbed in. As we pulled away from the hospital the tension inside of the vehicle was suffocating. I finally released my breath and held my head in my hands.

If Johnathan had just a sliver of my abilities, there was no telling what he was planning to do. He would rip us apart. We would have to band our powers together to fight against him.

That's exactly what you are going to do.

"We need to get a game plan ready," I said, leaning forward slightly. Gael turned around and looked at me while Luna jarred from her sleep and groggily turned her head to face me.

"What do you suggest?" Gael asked as Luna yawned and stretched. I put my hands together with my fingers on my chin, thinking of the layout of the land and how everyone would need to set up.

"You will need to make a fire barrier," I answered, looking up at Gael, "Protect the land on their side of the water. If they get through that, Luna can use the water against him."

"Good idea," Luna mumbled as she rubbed her eyes, "We will figure it out. I'm more of a last-minute planner."

"He will be strong," I said, "We need to be prepared for the worst."

"Fight of our life, right?" Gael chuckled, his eyes sparkling with excitement. I smiled back and nodded.

"Yes," I replied, "It will be the fight of our life. The main thing we have to do is protect the humans."

"And the second is to kill Johnathan and his crooked allies," Luna added, "But from the way you looked coming out of the hospital, I'll leave him to you."

"I wouldn't have it any other way," I said with a menacing smile.

We drove for a couple more hours before the surroundings became familiar; the landscape of the edge of Erik's kingdom on my right. I could feel the pull in the air as if I was meant to go toward his castle and not away from it.

I sighed as I decided that I would reach out to Erik later, more preferably right before I dove into battle. If I was constantly thinking about him, my head space wouldn't be where it needed to be for what I was about to do.

We drove past a few more communities before the vehicle slowed once we got to the human community. There were several soldiers already roaming around with tents scattered along the streets. The streetlights were out and the only light illuminating was that from small lamps set up in the different tents.

Everything here was so modernized compared to most of the rest of the human population around the area; all of the buildings were silver or white with decorative designs on the windows and doors. There were several restaurants, clothing stores, grocery areas, and the houses lined the outskirts of the town.

The street we were on was a simple two-lane highway with only army vehicles parked in the parallel parking areas. We pulled into the parking lot of a large grocery store on the far north end of town after weaving through the crowds of humans preparing for battle.

“There are more humans here than we planned,” Luna said as we came to a stop behind the other black SUVs, “We will have to arrange for more protection.”

“Gael, can you contact the others and make sure they are aware that there needs to still be 1 of us to every three humans, please?” I asked, adjusting my position in the seat to lean forward. He nodded and immediately dialed a number before he began talking.

Luna opened her door and we all began to climb out, greeted by some odd looks from humans scampering around trying to figure out where they should go. I pulled my mask up to my nose and felt the anxiety pitting in my stomach as some members of the United States army walked through.

“I need to find Lieutenant Smith,” I said to Luna as the back hatch to the SUV popped and we walked to the rear of the vehicle. She nodded and my mouth dropped at the artillery that was supplied in the back of the vehicle.

“We don’t necessarily need these,” she said as she grabbed a pistol and strapped it onto her belt, “But just in case we like to be prepared.”

I had never shot a pistol before; I never had the need for one. I grabbed a few small knives and stuffed them into my boots, deciding that what I had was more powerful than any gun on the market.

“Let’s go find the tent,” she said as Gael rounded the side if the vehicle and took a few guns for himself.

Once John and Quinn collected what they needed we headed toward the north side of town, catching the eyes of a few humans. We had walked about a mile before we found a large tent set up on the outskirts of the town with several dozen army members gathered around it.

Gael looked at me as if I was supposed to go first, so I did. I walked slowly forward with caution and cleared my throat.

“Lieutenant Smith?” I asked loudly, causing most of the men and women to turn and face me. The man in the middle slowly turned to me with a smile. He was wearing the same as everyone else , but had several medals strapped to his left breast of his jacket. He stood tall and proud. His hair was shaved short, almost completely gone, and was tall in stature. He had bright green eyes, a semi-formed beard of white, and a scar on the right side of his face.

“You must be Queen Raines,” he said with a rather gruff but friendly voice, “I’ve been excited to meet you.”

I pulled my mask down and flashed a smile as I held my hand out for a shake. “And I as well. It’s good to meet you, Lieutenant Smith.”

“Call me Tim,” he replied, shaking my hand.

“Then call me Mel,” I chuckled, taking a step toward him, “We need to make sure our setup is going to be firm. What do you have ready so far?”

He turned to a map displayed on the table. I walked up and glanced down to see several circles, lines, arrows, and a bunch of other writings on the map.

“We anticipate the attack coming from the direct north,” he stated, pointing to a red arrow striking south, “I have two tanks available as needed. One is here on the right of the outside of the tree line, and the other on the left. I have set up to have one man defending two town members, and it’s my understanding you will have 1 of your men to each 3 humans if I’m correct?”

“That’s the plan,” I mumbled, “But upon arriving it seems there are more humans from the community ready to defend their territory than originally planned.”

“You leave the most of that to me,” he replied, “It’s known that you vamps fight a little differently than us, so I planned on our resources and men to be behind the river front if that’s alright with you.”

“That will be perfect,” I said, “I have a team already set up along the bank in case of an early attack anyway.”

“Good thinking,” he replied, “If we need to use the tanks, I must warn you to keep your men out of their firing range. They will destroy anything in their path.”

“Noted,” I said, looking at the location on the map of the tanks. If they were to launch, we would have to be back behind the tree line to avoid being hit.

“I’m leaving the call of action to you,” he said, standing up straight, “I have men surrounding the whole area, so when the time is right and you give the okay they will open fire.”

“They are loaded with silver bullets, right?” I asked, “That’s the only way to surely kill a vampire who has strength and ability like those who we will encounter.”

“Of course,” he answered with a smile, “Unfortunately, this is not my first rodeo with rogue vamps.”

“Perfect,” I replied, “So if we need to attack, I will start first. My army has abilities that will throw Johnathan for a loop. If we need your assistance, you will know.”

“Works for me,” he said, “We will hold fire until we hear otherwise.”

“If you feel like the hand-to-hand,” I said, stopping myself, “Or well, gun-to-hand, is not efficient enough, you can fire the tanks.” I looked up at him, meeting his gaze. “I trust your judgement to make that call.”

“Well,” he replied, stretching, “Sounds like we have this all planned out to perfection. We set up in T-minus 1 hour. Hope you brought your big girl panties.”

“I did,” I chuckled, rubbing the back of my neck, “Jonathan has taken so much from me, it’s time to make him pay. I told my people he is the one on my hit list, so if you get him in a trap let me know. I want to be the one to make him suffer.”

“You vamps are so ruthless,” he said with a smile as he rolled up his map, “I can’t say I disagree. But Johnathan will be all yours for the taking, don’t worry.”

I smiled back and nodded, “Thank you, Tim. For everything. You are an amazing leader.”

“Same to you,” he said before bowing slowly, “Your Majesty.”

I nodded and turned on my heel to walk over to Gael and Luna. They looked at me with intensity. I took a deep breath and pulled my mask up.

“It’s time to roll out,” I said, “Get the lines ready, and make sure they are in proper position. We have our meet and greet in one hour.”

Gael nodded and jogged off toward the river. I watched as Luna headed toward the river on the east side, and I glanced around at all of the army cadets who were gathering up last minute supplies.

I finally steadied my breath before I took off in the direction that Gael went, knowing that I would be in the front line with him. Once I reached the river I could see all different colors of eyes peering out from the trees, bushes, ground, and even behind rocks near the edge of the forest.

Gael was positioned behind the largest tree on the very edge of the forest. I walked over next to him and sank down with my back against the tree.

“You okay?” He asked, sitting beside me. I pulled my mask down and rubbed my forehead.

“Hell, I don’t even know,” I mumbled, “I feel like I know what I’m doing, but at the same time I have no idea why the fuck I have brought all of these people into my mess.”

“It’s not just your mess,” he replied, shifting his body so that he was facing me, “It’s all of our mess. This would have happened regardless of you returning or not. Granted, it might not have been this big of a fight, but we would be in this position with or without you.”

“It just sucks,” I groaned, “I wish I could just snap my fingers and it would all be over.”

“I thought you could?” Gael chuckled. I punched his shoulder and laughed with him, glad that we could have at least one carefree moment before all hell broke loose.

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