Chapter Twenty-two.

Serena was standing in the woods just outside the compound with Terry and Ginger when the.

vampiress she had summoned arrived.

She was stunningtall, regal, powerfuland the energy she gave off was one of raw fury and danger, andthough Serena knew none of it was directed at her, she couldn't help being afraid of this creature.

Eyes snapping, Rhiannon said, "You should get your people further away. This isn't going to be pretty."

Serena nodded. "My daughter's in there."

"We know."

At the word "we" Serena frowned, and then she looked around and realized that there were vampires all around her, emerging from the woods, moving toward the electrified fence of the compound as if intent on climbing it.

"Wait! It's electric, it will" But even as she said it, the lights inside the compound suddenly went out and the entire place sank into darkness.

"I told you, we have this covered. Go someplace safe." Then Rhiannon turned, raised a long slender arm above her head and snapped her fingers just once.

The rest of the vampires surged forward, bursting into blurs and appearing to vanish before Serena's eyes. She stared, stunned, as Rhiannon joined them, leaping the tall fence with apparent ease.

But rather than running to safety, as the vampire queen had advised, Serena ran to the fence, too, touched it gingerly once, and then, when she wasn't jolted, gripped the wire mesh and began to climb.

"Serena, no!" Ginger shouted, chasing after her. "You could be hurt!"

"My daughter's in there. I'm going." And she continued climbing.

I was as puzzled as Ethan and the others, who were crouched and ready to fight an enemy that never appeared. And then I sensed violence, smelled blood. I heard shouts, and then gunfire broke out.

I ran to the door and opened it slightly, only to have Ethan rush to my side to stop me.

"Careful, Lilith," he whispered.

Together, we opened the door and peered outside. Bodies littered the ground. Keepers, I realized, and as I watched, a beautiful dark vampiress with an aura of age and power grabbed a female keeper by the neck and lifted her right off her feet.

It was Callista!

"No, wait!" I surged from the building without thought, running right up to the powerful female before finally realizing I was risking my life. Around me, vampires I did not know wreaked havoc, killing every keeper they found without mercy. Ethan was beside me, a protective arm around me, his entire body quivering with readiness.

"Wildborns," he whispered. "They have to be."

I shifted my gaze, locking it with that of the tall vampiress who held Callista in a death grip. Swallowing my fear, I said, "She's not one of them. Please" The vampiress lifted one perfect brow and lowered Callista to the ground, where she lay trembling, curling into herself. I quickly bent over her, a.s.suring myself that she was unharmed. "It's all right," I told her. "We know who you are."

She rubbed her neck but did not speak.

Looking at the vampiress again, I asked, "What's happening?"

"You're being rescued," she said, her tone heavy with sarcasm. "Apparently by those you call 'Wildborns,' though it's a term I've never heard before."

Things around me were beginning to go quiet, but I felt death everywhere.

I swallowed hard and held her eyes. "We've been told that youfree vampires, Wildbornswould kill our kind on sight."

"And why would we do that?"

I blinked. "Because you're uncivilized savages."

She smiled then, and it lit her face and immediately eased some of my fears. "Thank you for the compliment. But no, we don't kill our own kind. Actually, your mother sent us. a.s.suming you are the one called Lilith? And I'm guessing you are. There's a strong resemblance."

I nodded. "What about the other captives? The Chosen? Will they be harmed?"

She rolled her eyes. "Clearly you have a lot to learn, Fledgling. I'll attempt to be patient in the face of your ignorance. My name is Rhiannon, by the way." She looked past me then, and I turned and saw the little band of rebels hovering near the door, watching, wide eyed and shaken to the core.

"It's all right," I told them. "These vampires are good. They've come to help us. They won't hurt you."

And then I heard a voice I knew, one that filled my heart with warmth and relief. My mother's voice, calling my name.

I saw her through the darkness and the trailing smoke of dying gunfire, coming closer, looking for me.

"Mother!" I ran to her and wrapped my arms around her, and she held me with a fierceness I'd never known. Her entire body trembled as tears streamed down her face, wetting my hair.

When she finally released me and I lifted my head away, I found Ethan standing right beside me.

Sniffling, I said, "This my mother, Serena. Mother, this is Ethan. He's he's"

"He's the man who loves your daughter," Ethan said, sliding an arm around my waist.

Blinking in shock, I turned to stare up at him. "L-loves?"

Staring into my eyes, he nodded once, but then I heard a commotion and saw Rhiannon at the center of it. The keepers' bodies littered the ground, and now there was silence as vampires led captives from the barracks and buildings where they'd been huddled. Each vamp seemed to have collected a group to themselves, and they were leading them from this place of horrors. One stood in a doorway, an infant in his arms, and called out, "There are babies here. Nine of them, some newborns."

Rhiannon nodded, and though fury sparked in her eyes, her voice remained calm. She addressed my mother. "I hope your organization can take charge of the Chosen for the day? They need shelter, protection and education, and we" she nodded toward the vampires around her, "need to retire before the sunrise."

"Of course," my mother said.

To the Chosen, Rhiannon said,' "This woman and others like her will help you. And later, so will we.

Until then, please believe that your captors are no more, and that you will never again be held anywhere against your will. And you," she added, looking directly at me, "know that we so-called Wildborns are your family. Now get yourself to shelter before you burn in the sunrise. I a.s.sume even you understand the necessity of that."

"I do," I told her. "You should know that there are other vampires who were made as we were, to serve the DPI. They've been programmed to kill usand you, too, I imagine."

"How many?" she asked.

"I don't know."

"Mmm, a roving band of a.s.sa.s.sins, without guidance or a clue. Well, we'll deal with them as best we can, I suppose."

I nodded, and she waved a hand in the air. Instantly the vampires surged toward the now open gates of the compound, their mission accomplished. She waved to me only once before dashing off to join them.

"Thank you!" I called after her, but I never knew if she heard me.

And then I turned. My mother's sisters were arriving now in droves. Vans full of them pulled slowly into the compound, each one beginning to load up the newly freed captives to take them away from this placeeven the babies, in a group led by Callista. I knew they were in good hands.

"Here's the address where I'll bethe nearest Athena House," my mother said, handing me a small card from her pocket. "Will you be all right for the day?"

"Yes," I told her.

"I'll see to it," Ethan promised. "Thank you, Serena. We wouldn't have made it out alive without your helpand theirs." He nodded toward the woods, where the vampires had vanished only seconds ago.

My mother nodded and climbed into the final van. I waved as it drove away.

And then the place was deserted. No one else remainedno one alive, anyway. There were bodies everywhere, but only Ethan and I standing upright, arm in arm, as we walked toward the exit and through it, leaving the place in ruins, and for the very last time.

We walked along the dirt road that led from the compound to the nearest town, and found a vehiclewaiting there, keys in the switch. The Bronco we'd been driving all along. Somehow, someone had left it for us.

I smiled when I saw it, and then turned into Ethan's arms, smiling at him. "Say it again, Ethan," I whispered.

His eyes intense, he parted his lips to utter the words I so longed to hear. But before he could speak, another voice cut him off.

"Step away from her, Ethan."

Startled, we both turned. James stood there, between us and the Bronco, and he held a handgun, its barrel pointed squarely at my chest. Gently, Ethan pushed me behind him and stood facing that barrel.

"It's over, James. The compound is destroyed. The people giving you your orders are all dead. There's no reason to continue this."

"No reason? Ethan, she got everyone killed! The people who raised us, who made us! All of them lying dead in the dirtbecause of her!"

"They're killers, kidnappers, abusers, James. They deserved to die, and they brought all this on themselves."

"She has to pay," James said. "Step aside, Ethan. I don't want to kill you, too."

"That's the only way you're going to get to her, brother."

"So be it." James steadied the gun, tightening his grip as he stared down the barrel at Ethan's chest.

But even as I sensed his finger beginning to tighten on the trigger, Ethan surged forward, straight at his brother. His body hit James like a rocket, and I heard the gun go off as the two of them flew twenty feet before landing on the ground. They struggled, and I ran to them, smelling blood, feeling Ethan's pain as if it were my own.

The gun went off again, and the two men went still on the ground.

Terrified, I gripped Ethan's shoulders, rolled him onto his back and stared down at him.

Blood was pouring from his chest at an alarming rate, and I tore off my blouse, wadded it up and pressed it hard against him to stanch the flow. He was conscious, but only barely.

"James?" he whispered.

I looked at James, who lay on the ground, even as I pulled Ethan to his feet and half carried, half dragged him to the waiting Bronco. James was dead. The bullet had gone straight through his neck, blowing the jugular open. He'd bled out already, and there was no life left in him.

Ethan would soon follow unless I took action. I eased him into the Bronco and drove to the barn where we'd found shelter once before. He kept pressure on the wound, but the bleeding hadn't stopped, only eased. I got him inside and laid him gently in the hay, closed the doors and knew we would be safe there from the sun. And then I curled beside him, cradling him in my arms. "Drink from me, my love. Drink now, and then the sun will rise and the day sleep will heal you. Please."

His eyes mere slits, he said, "I didn't say what you asked me to say."

"There's no need. You've shown me, Ethan. You love me. There's no question in my mind anymore. No more doubt. I believe you, and I trust you as I've never trusted anyone before. You love me, Ethan. And I love you. Only you, now and forever. So please, drink from me. Don't let me live out my days in love with a dead man."

His lips pulled into a weak smile, and then he nuzzled my neck. His teeth sank into my flesh, and I closed my eyes in ecstasy as I felt him drinking me into him. My strength, my essence, my endless, powerful love.

And I knew that was what would save him. My love. Just as his had saved me. "Tonight," I whispered, "we'll return to the ranch. The horses will be there waiting. And we'll be safe there. We won't have to hide anymore."

He swallowed, kissed my wounded neck and laid his head back in the hay. I snuggled close beside him, my hand pressing against the fabric that stanched the blood-flow from his chest. "I would have come back for you," he said. "I always intended to."

"You did come back for me," I told him.

"I'm sorry I left you in the first place." His words were slurred, and I felt the power of the day sleep tugging him into its embrace, just as it did me.

"Everything happened as it had to happen, Ethan. If you'd stayed, perhaps neither one of us would be alive today. None of the innocent would be free, and that place wouldn't be reduced to rubble. You did what you had to do."

"I loved you even then," he whispered. "I'll love you forever."

And it was with that whispered promise that he drifted into sleep.

I laid my head on his chest and whispered, "And I will love you forever, my Ethan. My hero. Forever and ever and ever."

And then I slept, too, and knew that the nightfall would bring with it a future I had never even dreamt of.

A future of bliss, of freedom, of newfound family and of perfect, endless love.