Dawn's First Light

Kayla took the bite Bryce offered her off the tongs of the fork and chewed in silent contemplation. The spicy taste of garlic and sweet sauce exploded in a burst of flavor on her tongue. No vampire had ever fed her before. Usually, she was the meal. And being served by one of them, by an enemy nonetheless, was an interesting turn of the tables. She wasn't hungry. But, she was not about to turn down the unexpected kindness.

She watched the interaction between Bryce and Janine and wondered what in the hell happened between the two of them. The woman was just as human as she was. Blonde and slight in build, cute, with a cherubic face and chin length curls arranged in a haphazard fall of gold to frame her cheeks. A muscle in Bryce's jaw ticked and his shoulders were rigid with tension. Kayla took the second bite he speared and chewed. The non-verbals shouted in the absence of actual words. She kept her eyes low out of habit, not daring to look further into the exchange between the two of them. Unable to hide the trembling in her fingers, she timidly reached for the napkin.

Keene bolted through the open door. It was Kayla, sitting on the edge of the bed. "Kayla!" She seemed to be unharmed. He eased a breath at Bryce's careful treatment of her. He didn't think his time would come so soon. If she were here as a messenger for Roark, that only meant one thing. He was out of time. "Where is he?"

Kayla stared up at Keene in shock. He looked better than he had in years, almost as if the aura of danger that surrounded him had been wiped away and replaced with something decidedly more human. Bright red shoots of hair sprung out of his scalp and his eyes were almost warm in their cool gray pallor. She'd never seen him wear anything but his black combat fatigues and in normal clothes he looked almost...normal. "Keene!"

Janine sensed that Kayla and Keene needed time alone. They had plenty to talk about. Primarily, how they'd both ended up here and why. They reminded her of a pair of orphans without family or home to call their own. They had each other and nothing else in the world. Gently, she picked up the tray and placed it on the nightstand. "Bryce, would you walk with me?" she asked, giving him a pointed look.

Bryce knew Kayla would be fine with Keene. Even though the man was suspicious of why she was here, he would never harm her. "I'll come back to check on you later," he said. Relieved when she smiled up at him and gave a slight nod of her head. He followed Janine out of the room and discreetly closed the door behind him.

He did not want to have a heart to heart talk with Janine. As far as he was concerned, the two of them had said everything there was to say. "I've got some things that I need to do. I guess I'll see you around sometime." He deliberately turned and walked away from her, headed down a deserted corridor into the heart of the compound. Cutting off the conversation before it could begin.

"Sure," Janine said after him. The wounds were too fresh for any attempt at amends to be made between them. He was simply hurting too badly to put his pain behind him. She missed him as a friend. And she wanted to help. But, this was something he had to do on his own. She blinked back a tear at the loss of her friend as she left, walking the opposite way he'd gone.

"Keene," Kayla said on a breathless whisper of happiness and relief. She scooted over on the bed to make room for him. Hugging him tightly as he sat beside her, she blinked back a tear. "I didn't think I'd really see you again." She rested her head on his shoulder and patted his head. "He isn't here. We don't need to worry, yet."

"Yet?" Every muscle in Keene's body tightened. Kayla's hands hovered over him like butterfly wings, brushing his face, stroking his hair, and resting on his chest as if she were making sure he was solid and really here beside her. "Then he is coming," Keene said in a whisper.

"Yes. Keene, he's coming for us both," Kayla said. "I heard the things he was planning. The terrible things he wants to do to you. I had to warn you to get away from here. He knows where you are. You have to go."

"You risked your life for me?" Keene asked in disbelief. He'd done nothing to earn such an act of bravery. His cowardice was payment for her courage. He'd stood in the master's bedroom and done absolutely nothing to help her. He watched the master do horrible things to her. Terrible things no human should have to endure. Keene wrapped an arm around her narrow shoulders and tried to comfort her. She was stronger and more resourceful than he'd given her credit for.

"I had to, Keene. You helped me. If not for you, I wouldn't have survived my first night. Night after night, Keene...the things he did," Kayla said. She used the collar of his chambray shirt to blot the corners of her eyes. She felt safe to cry in his presence. He knew. He shared every second of the torture she'd endured in Roark's bed. On her knees. On her back. Trapping her screams behind her trembling, clenched lips. He was there. And his unmovable presence gave her strength to open her eyes the next day. "You gave me the courage to run. Keene, he would have killed me if I'd stayed much longer."

"I know." Keene rocked Kayla gently. She was such a small thing, curled up in his lap, drying a lifetime's worth of unshed tears on the collar of his borrowed shirt. "He would have killed us both, eventually."

"I hate him for the things he did to the both of us. Keene, you're my only friend. I'm glad you got away. I don't want you to die. He's the one who deserves to die. Not us."

"You shouldn't have come. I can take care of myself." Keene gently unwound Kayla's arms from his neck and set her to rights on the bed. "You should have kept running. Found someplace safe. He will come here for me, Kayla. And now, he'll come here for you too."

Kayla lifted her head and scanned the room. She exhaled a relieved sigh as she spotted the tattered remnants of the bear in a heap on the dresser. Beside him, sat a stack of crumpled bills. She scrambled off the bed and scooped the bear up in her arms. "Keene, we can run. We can find someplace safe. Look, I have money." She grabbed the bear's head and tore with all her might, littering the bed with the money stashed in his head. "Come with me."

Keene did a quick count of the bills scattered on the comforter. It was an impressive sum. But, it wouldn't last forever. The Rogue Master had spies and contacts everywhere. She wouldn't be able to so much as get a library card without him finding out. She'd never be safe. Neither one of them would. "Kayla, you can't run from him and you know it. He'll find you."

Kayla bit her bottom lip and flopped onto the corner of the bed. He was right. She had a little over ten thousand dollars. To her it was a small fortune. But, in the real world, it wouldn't last very long. Keene was right. "I don't have anyplace to go."

Keene grasped her cool hands, gripping them tightly in his. "These are good people, Kayla. Stay here with us."

"Us?" Kayla gave Keene a puzzled look. He didn't belong here any more than she did. He spoke as if he had no plans of leaving and wanted her to do the same. Why would the brothers keep them if it would accomplish nothing but bringing the hellfire of Roark's wrath on the whole brotherhood?

"Kayla, I'm not running." Keene smiled reassuringly at Kayla, hoping she'd see the truth in his words. He was done hiding. He would not live his life as an outcast. He needed the brothers and what they stood for. "Kayla, I've never felt so free. For the first time ever, I can actually dare to think about the things that I want for my life. And here, with these people, I've found everything I've ever wanted. Tomorrow, I start the trials. This is what I want. I can be happy here. Maybe, there's a place for you with them too."

"Keene, maybe you didn't hear me. He. Is. Coming. For. You. And. For. Me. Staying here is suicide. He'll kill them all to get to us. If you cared for these people as you say you do, you'll leave with me. Tonight. While there's still time." She gripped his large hands, squeezing them tightly with her fingers.

"When Roark comes, we'll be ready for him." Keene gently slid his hands from her grip. "Don't worry, Kayla. In coming here, you've done your job. I don't take your warning lightly. You see things so differently than I do. And I envy you for that. Forever is a long time to run. I can't live constantly looking over my shoulder. That's not a life. It's a curse. Even if you did manage to evade him, the most you've got is sixty, maybe seventy years. You can't imagine how brief...how limited, those years truly are. Don't waste them running. Live them for everything they're worth. Don't let him steal another second from you. He's already taken so much."

"He'll kill us all. Keene, he's planning to attack. It won't matter if the brothers offer us to him or not. He's going to attack them anyway."

Keene stiffened, his face going blank. If Roark gathered all his minions, it would be a massacre. There weren't enough Sons to defend even a small portion of the land. Roark had hundreds at his beck and call, both human and vampire. There'd be nothing left but destruction. "I need you to tell Dane everything you know. Can you do that? For me?"

Kayla shifted her eyes nervously. Keene seemed happy enough and the brothers hadn't harmed her either time she'd been at their mercy. Maybe, Keene was right and these were good, honorable people. Nobody deserved to die at the Master's hands. They deserved warning and a chance to fight. "I'll tell you everything I know."

Keene hugged Kayla and kissed the top of her head, gently tousling her blonde hair. "Thank you, Kayla." She was strong and brave. Showing her true character, the one that he knew she possessed deep down inside. She, like him had simply been in the wrong place at the wrong time and she'd paid dearly.

"Don't thank me till its over. If we survive."

Chapter 13

Kayla leaned over the map, trying to remember anything that might help the brothers. The names of cities and towns, streets, and avenues seemed so insignificant at the time. Roark had been busy buying up properties all over the state. Running a finger along the map's slick surface, she pointed them out, one by one. Looking at the red circles and the lines connecting each point Keene drew on the map. It wasn't hard to figure out the reason behind the seemingly random purchases. Roark was boxing them in.

Her photographic memory was stretched to the brink. She thought at first, Roark would sit back and wait patiently for Keene to come to him. And he had been. But, he'd also been busy planning too. Kayla looked down at the map and slid the red pen from Keene's fingers, drawing circles and lines, like a game of connect the dots. Roark had holdings in every state in the country. And all the lines ran to one central point. Here. With trembling fingers she drew a large circle...a bull's eye...around the brothers' territory. "Does this help any?"

Dane nodded and smiled at Kayla, using a soft touch with the frazzled woman as Chris suggested. Kayla was exhausted both emotionally and physically and it wouldn't take much to push her too far. He ran a fingertip along the red ink lines on the map and cursed his stupidity for not seeing it sooner. How could they have let this happen? This wasn't about Roark flexing his muscle. This went deeper. And the thought of it chilled him to the bone. "Yes, Kayla it does."

He bent over the map studying the locations. He had a thousand questions for Kayla and Keene. He had to choose them carefully and ask the right ones. Kayla didn't have much in her, for today anyway. Roark was setting the stage. That much was apparent. But, what did he want? This was bigger than Dane had ever anticipated. Far beyond a grudge match or a retrieval mission. He was after something else, but what? He was preparing for a strong attack, coming at them from all directions, and surrounding them, cutting off any escape. "Kayla, do you know how many men Roark has?"

Kayla shook her head. Roark spoke freely around her. But, even around her in her human insignificance, he hadn't spoken of his men. "Sorry. I don't."

John Mark growled as he looked down at the map. The man was planning a massacre, not a battle. This wasn't about territories or possessions. Roark was trying to annihilate the brotherhood. And if he had the manpower, he very well could. "We need to get the humans to safety."

Dane shook his head in regret. Humans were a part of this whether they knew it or not. Collateral damage. "No, if the streets are empty, he'll know we're onto him." Mentally he did the math in his head. He could only speculate at how out numbered they were. Even if they did go the city and rally the strays to their cause, they still wouldn't have the numbers to make a dent in the wholesale slaughter Roark had planned. People were going to die. And there wasn't a damned thing he could do to stop it. "We need more men. I'll speak with the Great Father and pull in reinforcements from the outlying territories"

"What? And leave the other territories undefended?" John Mark huffed. "If Roark makes it through us, what's to stop him from attacking them? No way in hell. We're on our own. We stop this here." John Mark was way out of line. As Dane's second he could advise. But, at the end of the day, the final decision was Dane's to make. He was so sick of war and death. Wasn't it just enough to have immortality? Did Roark have to try to take over the whole world?

Keene had been a fool. As Roark's second, he'd never guessed what the man actually planned. Until he saw it drawn out in red lines and circles on the map. "I don't think that's his objective," Keene said, interrupting the staring match between Dane and John Mark. "He's using Kayla and myself as an excuse. He's after the Great Father."

"Why?" Dane hissed. How could eliminating one man, even a man as great as their founder, change anything? Roark had caused the Great Father's death once. Wasn't that a kick in the balls for the Rogue Master? To know he'd inadvertently created his greatest nemesis.

That shot on the battlefield should have been the end of the Great Father who was a man, nothing but a man, at the time. Instead, it had set a chain of events into motion that had changed the course of human history. There was nothing standing between the rogues and humanity. Nothing, except for the brothers. The Rogue Master wasn't that narrow minded. Not even the Great Father's death could change what they were. They were sons. And they always would be. Someone would step up and take the Great Father's place. Roark would have to cut through them all. But, Dane didn't think that was the man's ultimate goal.

There was one thing every vampire with an ounce of common sense understood. Humans were limited by nature. But, their creativity and paranoia of things they didn't understand was boundless. There was a balance to be maintained. A fragile coexistence that if broken could mean the end of both species. There was no official count of all the vampires in the world. There were over six billion humans on the planet. Vampires were the weaker species. Humans would go on if there were no vampires. But, vampires had no choice. They would cease to exist if there were no humans. Their very lives depended on the blood flowing through humanity's veins. And that was just one consequence. If the humans ever found out about them, there wouldn't be one vampire left alive. "Keene, what does Roark want then?"

Keene leveled his gaze and looked Dane in the eye." You're in the way. Blocking his goal. From here, in the center of the country, Roark could easily gain control the United States. Perhaps, beyond, he could have complete world domination. I know my former master well. He never does anything without a purpose. He's ruthless and ambitious. This is bigger than the Sons. It goes beyond trying to finish the job he started almost two hundred years ago. Roark has always watched this particular portion of the country. And I never understood why, till now."

"We'd never follow him," John Mark spat. He knew the Rogue Master was bat shit crazy. But, for the man to think he could cut through the Sons and control the whole country went beyond the realm of bat shit crazy into fucking insane. The rogues were a bunch of self-serving bastards who would never kneel to one man's rule. And the strays belonged to no one except themselves. They followed a code of morals, sure. That was the only reason the brothers didn't hunt them as zealously as they did the rogues. But, the strays were loaners for reasons known only to them. They didn't kill. Most of them held to a strict code of non-interference. And they'd never bow to Roark's level of crazy.

Keene pinned John Mark with a hard stare. The kid was so young. So sure of himself and his brothers. He didn't know shit. He'd never been forced to do anything. And in ways, Keene envied him for that. "You don't know what its like to not have a choice."

"Enough of this," Dane barked, breaking up the staring contest between John Mark and Keene. As seconds, John Mark and Keene were so much alike. Determined. Hard. Relentless. Dane did not need them turning on each other now. He needed them both if any of them were going to prevent this catastrophe from happening. "Kayla," he said gently. "Do you know when Roark plans to attack?"

"I'm sorry." Kayla sank into a chair and looked up to meet Dane's strained expression. He had plenty of things to worry about and she'd just dumped a heap of problems on his head. "I don't know."

Bryce stood outside of the circle of men gathered around the table. Listening in on their conversation. War seemed inevitable. It wasn't something he relished. If Dane would let him go into the city, he might be able to make contact with his connections and rally a few dozen strays to the cause. But, he hated to condemn any man he considered an ally to a certain death. They could fight beside the Sons. But, at the end of the day, the brothers would protect their own first and foremost. It would be a slaughter to bring the strays into their fight.

He glanced at Kayla, slouching wearily in the chair. The woman was done. None of this could be easy for her. Her fingers trembled every time she said Roark's name. And after what she'd gone through to get here, conquering her fear only to lay the truth on the table in the form of a warning, she couldn't take much more. "Kayla is exhausted, let me take her back to her room," he said to Dane.

Dane nodded and waved off Bryce. "Of course." Kayla's information had been instrumental to them. Any further questions he had for her could wait till morning. If Roark had gone to this much trouble to invade. He wouldn't make a move till he was good and ready. And there wasn't much Dane could do about it tonight.

"Come on. I'll take you back. It's easy to get lost around here," Bryce said, extending his hand to help Kayla out of the chair. She ignored his gesture and wearily rose to her feet, shuffling toward the door. Bryce dropped his hand and followed behind her.

Dane sighed and ran his fingers along his scalp. "We should all get some rest." He had to keep some sense of normalcy around the compound. There was no way to know when or where the Rogue Master would strike. And if everyone were more on edge than they had to be. They'd be easy pickings when he did make his move. The addition of a new member was just what the brotherhood needed to boost morale. Although everyone was happy that Janine and Patrick had finally gotten their collective shit together and tied the knot. The days leading up to their wedding weren't exactly happy times. The lover's triangle between Janine, Patrick, and Bryce had taken its toll on the brothers. They needed something to take their minds off the constant threat hanging over their heads. The trials would be the perfect distraction. "Keene, are you still willing to go through the trials?"