I hurried to the back of the gun cellar and opened up the cabinets to start loading up a duffle bag full of my favorites; Va’lis followed me. I knew that in order for us to survive this, Va’lis would need to be armed. If we were to successfully retrieve our daughters, that is. So I took out two Glock 27s, loaded magazines into them with our armor-piercers, handed them to him. I put a holster around him as he played with the guns, of course I knew to keep the safety on. I took the guns and gave him a look before putting them into his holster. This was no ordinary holster either, it came fully equipped with four magazine holders in the back, so I loaded all four slots for him. “Va’lis these are not toys,” I told him. He looked at me, “But they are so pretty.” “You’ll get your chance to use them, but not before you listen carefully,” I said. “We have twenty minutes if that for you to learn what’s taken me centuries to perfect,” I told him. His face got serious and he looked like he was ready for business. My husband may be aloof but he’s a killer, make no mistake, and when it’s time to be serious he’s got razor-like focus. I knew that. I could sense the rage in him growing, his eyes showed it. I knew that walking him through all the nuances of shooting guns would certainly calm him a bit. At least a bit.
I walked to the underground range just through double doors in the back of the cellar, and I put the Glock in his hand. Showed him how to quickly unlock the gun from his holster, flick off the safety, and grip it. I let him fire off a few rounds. His eyes instantly reflected the power that a gun gives. “Wooo hooo! Now that’s what I am talking about,” he shouted as I pushed the button that brought the gunners mark to us for inspection. Turns out… he’s not half bad when he’s focused. I must admit that turned me on and under any other circumstances, this would have been a very romantic moment. *sighs*
I then introduced him to the high-power automatic assault rifles that were in our collection. Armand prefers his AK-47s and I admit they are probably slightly better, but they are not as versatile as my favorite… the Styer AUG. This assault rifle allowed you to pump into it different types of bullets, *slight grin* so I could load several magazines with armor-piercers and a few magazines with our radioactive UV rounds that were specifically created for the AK’s if I wanted to. When I placed the rifle in Va’lis’ hands, I felt him fall in love. “Va’lis, these guns do not leave Earth, you know that right?” I made sure to emphasize that hard rule. He looked at me as if I he were a puppy and I had scolded him for peeing on the very expensive Parisian rug, “Jeez, talk about killing the mood.” He said. I couldn’t help but chuckle. I guess that’s why I loved him so much, he always made me laugh no matter what situation we were stuck in. He was my man, I was his girl; how human of us.
After a few rounds in the range, I felt Va’lis was comfortable enough. It was all the time we had. Marius called for the round up, we were going and we’d be four hours ahead of schedule. David wouldn’t be expecting us, but I knew him, he’d plan for it anyways. He’d be sure to have his gang there, all his vampires and half-breeds, even his human followers. There would be a lot of casualties in that respect, humans were so very squishy and the genetic freaks that he called half-breeds were more like vampires than not. We had a few half-breeds of our own, Mystic was here… he was my commander here on Earth, so you better believe that he’d bring all our most capable warriors. Marius gave me the floor, as usual. I ran everyone through every possible scenario I had in my mind, something that most Generals must do. I answered every question, I looked through every emotion in every one of my soldiers, my elders. I was a damned good General and was proud to show my husband some of that side of me. His smile said it all. He too was proud of me, much like Amroth is like Marius is.
We were as ready as we were going to be, so we loaded up the black Range Rovers that awaited outside and started to head to the airport that would fly us and our cargo to London. It would be a 45 minute ride on the six private jets that Marius had waiting for us. No doubt David would be alerted to our arrival if we landed in Heathrow, so we opted for one we could control, Oxford Airport. Since Marius was an alumni of the university, he had expansive connections in the city of Oxfordshire, we could hide the landing of six as a landing of one. Upon landing, another fleet of Range Rovers met our arrival and took us to the south side park across the Thames overlooking the Tower. This was going to be our rendezvous point. When we get Carrie and Merida, we bring them here and keep them here. And no, not under any circumstances was Va’lis and I going to allow Merida to rejoin the fight, no matter how much she begged and pleaded. Her job was to keep Carrie safe.
We were set up in under 20 minutes, Maharet and Khayman were ready to go to the front door of the place. They would walk across the bridge blending among the few mortals that still lingered. Once they are in and have secured Merida, Lestat and Armand would lead their teams in the front door. Va’lis, Marius and I would be getting wet, crossing the river and into the depths of the sewers that circled the Tower. Mekare would stay at the Potter’s park, engulfing the entire place in a water bubble that only those inside it would be able to see as Maharet would cloak the air around it. To any mortal it would seem like the winds picked up. All would happen at Maharet’s word that she had safely, secured Merida. And we were ready, we were coming.
Just as Maharet stood near her sister with Khayman at her side… she said, “Wait. There is another one in there. One by the name of Astoria.” Armand’s eyes shot over to the Tower, “Is she alive?” he asked. “Yes, but just barely. There was another that was murdered… umm… Helen.” Armand cocked his rifle and levitated with such fury that I couldn’t catch him, but Marius did. Marius sunk him down to the water and would not let go. Some mortals about saw a splash in the water and stopped for a bit. Marius held Armand underwater until he calmed the fuck down. Maharet said, “He’s gone dark.” I searched the waters and I tried to talk to Armand but nothing was getting through. Marius was pleading with him, begging him, not to blow our plan to smithereens. Armand was becoming a liability. Va’lis caught my thoughts. “I think I rather like him this way,” he said. “Not if it means shattering any chance we have of executing our plan!” I retorted. “Bah, things hardly ever go the way we plan them,” he said. “Not on my watch!” I said. I tossed my holster belt aside and put my guns down and quietly made my way to the water in the darkest place. I was going to help ensure Armand wouldn’t lose his shit on me! I needed him to pull it together!