“I want everyone who did not suffer an injury or are only lightly injured to help carry the wounded to the hospital!”
He turned toward the source of the voice that shouted out into the now nearly silent cave, strong, proud, and commanding. It was Clarissa. She looked every bit the beautiful and terrifying warrior, standing within a ring of corpses, her nagitana gripped in her hand, its butt end planted firmly on the ground, the blade stained red with the blood of her foes. Her clothing was ripped and torn. Christian could see several cuts marring her skin, some deeper than others. She ignored them, however, in favor of acting like the leader she was.
“We’ve done well to survive the battle, but the fight has not truly been won until everyone here is back at the enclave, safe and out of danger! Let us leave swiftly!”
As the group of succubi headed the commands Clarissa had given them, Christian released a gusty sigh. The battle had been won, but the thought did not bring him any solace. Maybe it was because he was tired, and his mind was playing tricks on him, but he had the very distinct feeling that this would not be the last time he and the group of succubi tangled with the goblins.
CHAPTER 4
The walk back to the enclave was slow. With so many succubi injured, moving any faster than a snail’s pace was difficult, if not impossible. The steady pounding of feet resounded all around them, echoing along the walls and bouncing down the cavern, the noise sounding much louder than it should have. The few lamps that had survived the battle and not gotten crushed lit the path in front of them.
Despite having helped the group of women quite a bit, Andrew and Christian were relegated to the back. It seemed that, despite what they had done, there were many in the group who did not trust them. That was fine, though. Faith in others was not something that could be built in a day. He understood that, which was why, rather than feeling surely and self-righteous about how he was getting the cold shoulder, Christian vowed to earn their trust through his hard work and dedication.
This enclave might be the only place that he and Lilith would be safe from harm―relatively speaking, because those goblins were seriously harmful. He couldn’t afford to jeopardize their standing within this group of unnaturally beautiful women. Not if he wanted to have a place for Lilith to stay.
By that point in time, most of Christian’s wounds had already healed. Even his shoulder was feeling a lot better. He’d always had a fast recovery rate, but he was still shocked by how quickly his injuries were healing these days.
“You two have healing far above those of a normal human. I suspect it has something to do with you, young man.”
Christian almost stumbled when the words of Clarissa swam through his mind, haunting and clear. He shook his head. There was no way she could be right. He was human. He knew he was…
Wasn’t he?
“Are you? Are you really? Are you so sure that you’re human?”
Doubts floated through his mind. What if he wasn’t human? If he wasn’t human, then what was he?
Not wanting to think about that anymore, nor let anyone know how shaken those words made him, Christian looked at the figure walking beside him. Harsh shadows were cast upon Andrew’s angled and square face. His shaggy main of hair swayed back and forth as he walked, his heavy, ponderous footfalls rumbling like the sound of distant thunder.
“So you’re a werewolf?”
“Figured that on your own, did you?”
Christian winced at the snarky tone in the older man’s voice. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to sound like that. I’m just surprised. I hadn’t realized you were a werewolf.”
“That’s to be expected,” Andrew said, cracking his neck back and forth, loud, ghastly noises issuing with each swift movement. “We never spoke back in Seal Beach, back when that No Life King kidnapped your girl. Hell, we haven’t even really met face to face until today, or tonight, as the case may be. It would only make sense that you didn’t know what I am?” Andrew looked over at him, his raised eyebrow just barely visible in the low lighting. “You got any problems about me being a werewolf?”
“Had you asked me that several months ago, my answer would have probably been yes.” Christian frowned as he thought back to when he was still an Executioner. Everything had been so black and white back then, so easy. The Executioners were the good guys, the monsters the bad guys, and the good guys killed the bad guys. Simple. Or it had been. Things weren’t so simple anymore.
“And now?” asked Andrew.
“Now? Now the most important person in my entire life is a succubus, so I would have to say that, no, I don’t really care whether you’re a werewolf or not.” Christian furrowed his brows, thinking. “I’m beginning to realize more and more that it’s not what you are that’s important, but who you are and what you do with your life that really counts.” His hair shifting as he turned his head, shadowing his eyes ever so slightly, the young man looked at his older compatriot. “You seem to be an alright guy, so I don’t think we’ll have any issues.”
“Good to know,” Andrew grunted, “and surprising.”
“Why is that?”
“Kid, I’ve been around for a long time, long enough to have had more than my fair share of run ins with trouble. Before I even became a cop, I knew about the Executioners, and I saw what they could do. I saw what they did.”
Andrew’s eyes glazed over slightly as he spoke. Christian imagined the man was remembering something from a long time ago. He also wondered what kind of trouble the man was talking about.
“I wasn’t always a werewolf,” he said softly. “I was cursed with lycanthropy when I was young, about sixteen or so, I’d say. Like all those who started off human, I was bitten by a werewolf on the night of the full moon, when I had gone out into the forest to gather some firewood. We didn’t have air conditioning back then. Homes were heated by lighting fires in the fireplace.”
No air conditioning? The first air conditioning unit had been built in 1902 by Willis Carrier. That meant Andrew must have been born sometime in the eighteen hundreds. That meant he was, at the very least, over 125 years old.
He was startled. No wonder the man’s werewolf form was so large. Werewolves grew bigger and more powerful with age.
“I didn’t think much of it back then, and neither did my parents. We thought I had just been bitten by a regular wolf. They’d been known to come out on occasion. My old man often had to chase them off the property. It wasn’t until the night of the next full moon that I realized something was wrong with me. I remember waking up that night, hurt and aching and hungry. I remember feeling a strong desire to hunt. The urge grew so overwhelming that every thought I had was consumed by this simple desire, until I was nothing but a beast.” The man shuddered, like he was reliving the memory of that night. “I don’t remember anything after that―I must have passed out, but I do remember waking up in the middle of a destroyed cabin, the torn apart bodies of my mom, dad, and little sister laying scattered around me, and myself lying naked on the ground, the lingering taste of blood in my mouth.”
“So you... you killed them, then? Your family?” Christian asked, his throat dry. He tried to work some moisture back into his mouth, but nothing seemed to help.
“I must have,” Andrew said dryly. “There was no one else around who could have done it. My family and I lived in a small cottage deep within the forests of Pennsylvania. The nearest town was almost half a day on foot.”
“What did you do after that?”
“I did what anyone else would have done. I ran. I ran as far and as long and as hard as I could. I kept running until I couldn’t run anymore. After that, I had two options: Find someplace quiet and kill myself, or try to live with what I’d done.” He paused long enough to scratch his chin. “I didn’t have the courage to kill myself, so I decided to live instead. I got a job working as a carpenter. Life moved on, and I more or less got over what I had done, but then another full moon came. I bet you can guess what happened.”
; Christian could indeed guess what happened. A shudder ran from the crown of his head all the way to his tailbone. Despite how he pretty much already knew how the story would go, Andrew told him anyway.
“I transformed again. I hadn’t really been aware of the transformation. The first few times you change from a human to a werewolf is strange. Your mind, the logical thinking human part of your mind, is sent somewhere deep and dark, a place where no light shines, and you feel and see nothing. You’re not really aware of what’s happening. It’s almost like you’re asleep.”
Andrew shivered as if a cold chill was sweeping through him.
“I ended up killing in my transformed state again, only this time I was in a town and people saw me. The townsfolk began to suspect that a monster was lurking in the woods, perhaps a beast that had been summoned by a witch to destroy the town or something equally outlandish. Not that it mattered. The people soon created a large mob to go after the beast. I was invited to join, but I think a part of me already knew what had happened. I knew that I was the one who had killed those people, just like I killed my family. And so, I ran again.”
Christian didn’t speak, but he certainly imagined how Andrew must have been feeling at the time. He could almost picture the scenario this man presented play out before him like a movie. It was suitably horrifying.
“After that, I realized that the only thing I could do was stay as far away from civilization as possible. I lived out in the forest, hunting for a living, and occasionally making small runs into the nearest town to sell animal pelts in exchange for things like blankets and quilts.”
By now, they had made it all the way to the entrance to the succubus enclave. It was just a small door embedded into a wall that was disguised as a dead end. A curtain hung over the door to make it blend in with the rocks, but anyone who was observant enough would be able to distinguish the difference between curtain and granite.
Andrew paused, took a deep breath, and continued.
“I found myself a small cave to live in, and I lived in it for about a year before someone found me, a woman named Elanor. She was a werewolf like me, but unlike me, she had complete control over her ability to transform. She and a small group of four others called themselves Lycanthropes. I guess they wanted to differentiate themselves from normal werewolves.”
Finally, the dismal expression on Andrew’s face broke. Like clouds breaking apart to let the world bathe in sunlight, a smile appeared on his face.
“I traveled with them after that, moving from one place to another. The group played themselves off as a traveling band of street performers. They would do small shows on the streets. During that time, Elanor taught me how to control my transformation.” From the small light shining in Andrew’s eyes, Christian could see the man was clearly drawing upon some good memories. “Those were some of the best days of my life. I learned how to master my power, met others like me, and fell in love with an incredible woman.”
“You and Elanor, I’m guessing?” asked Christian.
“Yeah, me and Elanor. We ended up getting married about fifteen years after she found me. By that point, I had pretty much mastered the art of transforming from a human to my werewolf form, and I no longer suffered the need to hunt while under the effects of the full moon.” His countenance, which had been pleasant and happy while talking about Elanor, began to darken. “Of course, good things like that are not made to last.”
Andrew grew silent. Christian watched as several of the succubi who’d been injured during the battle were carried by their friends. They disappeared through the flap, the sound of their footsteps slowly fading as they entered the enclave.
He turned back to look at Andrew, who still looked moody. While some part of him felt horrible for letting his curious get the better of him, the other part couldn’t help but ask, “What happened?”
“The Executioners happened.” Andrew scowled. “They found us and tried to kill us. I managed to survive, barely, but my friends, my wife, and our unborn child were all slaughtered that night.”
Christian turned away from the man, unable to look at Andrew anymore as guilt ate away at him. He didn’t know why he was feeling guilty. It wasn’t like he had killed Andrew’s friends and family. And yet, his conscience still felt stricken and remorseful. He couldn’t help but question himself. Had any of the supernatural beings he killed been like Andrew? People who had been forced to live a cursed existence through no desire of their own. Had they tried to find a place in this world? Tried to blend in? Did they have friends? Spouses? Husbands, mothers, brothers and sisters? How many families had he torn apart in his quest to protect humanity? He didn’t know, couldn’t know, and that made him feel even more ashamed.
The rest of his time standing guard as the succubi were led into the enclave was silent.
***
Lilith was aware that something was wrong almost as soon as the first group of injured succubi entered the hospital wing. She watched as they walked through the door. Sometimes it would be one person supporting another, but there were occasions where two people would be carrying one person between them, the injured person’s arms slung over their shoulders.
All of them were injured to some degree. A few had scrapes and large, black bruises forming somewhere on their body―one girl looked like the entire left side of her chest and stomach had turned black. Others had cuts ranging from small nicks on their skin that had stopped bleeding some time ago to large gashes of torn flesh that were bleeding copious amounts of ichor. Large wads of fabric were being held to those injuries to stymie the flow of blood, but the cloths were already soaked through.
One of them, a young redhead who couldn’t be more than a year older than Lilith, had a stab wound on her leg. And she knew it was a stab wound. She’d seen Christian get stabbed enough times to know what one looked like on sight. The enchanting female was being supported by none other than Clarissa, who had one arm wrapped around the girl’s waist. The other was making sure the redhead had her arm around Clarissa’s shoulder. The older, more mature succubus brought the young female to one of the beds, setting her down.
The nurses that had been on standby until now all came over to help the injured. It was startling to see how fast they shifted from gossipy females to serious nurses, like some kind of switch had been flipped. They walked over to the beds, which were now completely occupied by injured succubi, and began tending to the numerous injuries.
Lilith watched the whole process take place, watched as the nurses would diagnose their patients, then turn to the ones who brought the injured succubus in and ask them for something. Those women would go over to the cabinets or the cupboards, grab whatever was asked for, and then return to the bed. Seeing such unity and teamwork was impressive. Lilith didn’t think she’d ever seen a group of people so focused on a single purpose like that before.
The sound of rumbling footsteps had Lilith turning her head just as Andrew walked through the door. Because he was so big, he had to bend over to walk in. He looked around for just a second, taking in the scene. Then his eyes strayed toward her, or to be more specific, they were locked onto the comatose figure lying on the medical bed next to Lilith.
“Andrew,” Lilith said when the muscular man lumbered up to her. She looked around again, frowning as a pit of worry settled into her gut, and then looked back up at him. “Where’s Christian?”
“He split off from us when we got to the enclave,” Andrew said, rubbing the nape of his neck and looking a little uncomfortable. “I don’t know where he is.”
Lilith released a breath she hadn’t known she’d been holding. When Christian had not entered the hospital with Andrew, for a moment, she had feared that something might have happened to him during the battle. Knowing that he was not injured lifted the weight that had settled onto her shoulders ever since Christian had gone off with Clarissa to fight.
She then felt worry settle into her stomach again. Why had Christian split off after the battle ended? Where
was he? Was he okay?
“If you are worried about your mate, Lilith, then you should find him,” Clarissa said, stepping over to them. There was a nurse surrounding the redhead, working on cleaning the wound with anesthetic. It looked like they were getting ready to stitch the injury back up. She could see the needle and thread sitting on the table.
“But I don’t know where he is?”
“I suspect you do,” Clarissa refuted, “but even if you do not, there is no need to worry. You can still find him. All you need to do is search for the place within yourself that belongs to Christian. Think of this as your first lesson.”
“Search for the place within myself?” Lilith parroted as she blinked several times, confusion spreading. “What does that mean? H-hey! Don’t walk away! What does that mean?”
“I am sorry,” Clarissa said, moving over to one of the other beds and holding the hand of the woman lying on it. The woman had a stab wound in her shoulder. It was being cleaned right now with disinfectant, causing her to whimper and moan. “That is all the information I can give you. You must figure out the rest.”
Lilith frowned at Clarissa, who was now completely ignoring her. Andrew moved past her, grabbing a chair and setting it down next to Catherine’s prone form. He plopped himself in the chair and slouched over as if bearing the weight of the world on his shoulders.
It took her a few seconds, but Lilith eventually realized that she would not be getting any answers inside of the hospital. Clarissa wasn’t talking, and Andrew didn’t know anything about succubus, so it wasn’t like he could answer her. One of the others might know what Clarissa meant, but she had no idea who they were, having never talked to any of them. What if they acted just like every other girl she’d ever met? What if they were rude to her? What if they felt like they were too good to answer her question?
Lilith decided to take her leave of the hospital. She didn’t want to stay there anymore.
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