Wild Women Collection

by Rachel Sullivan

  “When do we leave?” Eonza asked, peeking her head from the harpy circle. They reminded me of three birds, huddled together for warmth, with only one poking their head out from time to time to verify the safety of their surroundings.

  I checked the clock on my phone and hoped to see a text response from Marcus. Nothing.

  “I’m leaving in a couple minutes,” I announced. I knew harpies had hearing similar to mine, but I wasn’t sure about the succubi or the rusalki. Though, the rusalki knew my words before I spoke them, so hearing wasn’t much of an issue.

  “Remember the map of the compound,” I said, raising my voice a little louder for the succubi. “The river is to the right of the cluster of buildings as you look at it from the front gate, to the west on the map. When my coterie hears scuffling from inside the building they’ll know I’ve begun and will alert the succubi and harpies nearby. They’ll then howl to signal to the mermaids to come out of the river and join us at the building. They’ll come out from the woods to the left of the complex, or east on the map. You’ll all need to come in hard and fast, because I’ll already be in the main building, and if you’re seen, they may lock me in and lock you out. Going up against ten Hunters at the same time on my own does not sound like a picnic.”

  Olivia joined me under the awning and wrapped her arm around my shoulder. Celeste followed and stood on the opposite side of me. I missed the old Celeste, the bossy sister who seemed to know everything. She’d become a quiet, anxious person since Shawna’s abduction. Clearly, it had rocked her foundation.

  I had to leave in a minute and all I could think to do was look around the parking lot at the females preparing to go to battle. While I knew how many Wild Women were entering the compound behind me, I wondered how many of us would survive to exit the compound when this was all over.

  A speech bubbled up inside of me. “We deserve freedom. Freedom to use our goddess-given abilities for good. Freedom from painful and invasive tests or scans. The freedom to raise our daughters in peace without fear of angering the Hunters by their mere existence.” I paused and swallowed down the fears pulsing through me. What if I was about to enter an ambush? What if they somehow coerced Marcus to reveal that I was likely bringing backup? What if this was the last time I’d see my sisters and aunts? What if we weren’t able to get Shawna out of there?

  I kissed my sisters and made my way to Aunt Patricia’s car. My three aunts showered me with hugs and kisses before I got into the driver’s seat.

  “We’re so proud of you,” Aunt Patricia whispered.

  “Your mother will be proud, too, when she hears of what her daughter achieved this day and all the days leading up to this one.” Aunt Renee placed a warm kiss on my forehead.

  “Please,” Aunt Abigale said with a hoarse whisper. “Be safe.”

  Aunt Patricia shut the door and I turned the engine on.

  When I pulled onto the property, everything seemed normal. Except me; I was different. The rows of large evergreens lining the long driveway seemed angry, more glowering than before. The set of wrought iron gates seemed smaller. The compound didn’t seem so hidden. It felt within reach—vulnerable even.

  I pressed the call button on the key pad at the gate. A camera focused on me and adjusted to look inside the car. I wouldn’t say that I was alone, but there was certainly nobody in my car. That night on the mermaid’s island flashed into my mind and I wondered if the camera being used also sensed body temperature. Obviously, our little trick of lowering our temperature to remain unseen by their thermal imaging cameras was something Gabrielle and Azul failed to mention to the Hunters when they were acting as double agents. Probably because it concerned them and their ability to protect themselves. I made a mental note to ask the rusalki if the Hunter attack on the mermaids had been staged for my benefit.

  The iron gates, with their ornate tops that bent and curved to form dagger shapes as though the blade tip would pierce the sky, swung open. I took the car out of park, rolling forward. I parked in the “Reserved” spot closest to the training building’s doors.

  The main building looked a lot like the churches that meet in a big square warehouse. I only know this because once I chased a skip into his church and arrested him in the middle of the service. It had been a glorious day, indeed. The congregants weren’t singing my praises, but Marcus certainly did when I dropped the slippery skip off at the jail.

  Marcus.

  I peered around the grounds for any sight of him. Nothing. In fact, barely anyone lingered about on the cement walking paths or in the grassy areas. Only one woman in a long skirt quickly skittered from the side of the main building and out to a cabin. Her hair swung as she turned mid-run to look at me. Clarisse.

  Maybe I’d get lucky and take her with me. Dale would probably give me a bonus for catching the infamous human trafficker. I double-checked that the daggers were safely in my boots. My heart pounded as I exited my aunt’s car. Yes, I was afraid. I was preparing to stand up and challenge the biggest, baddest bully my kind had ever experienced, on his turf, with an army backing him. Which “him” didn’t matter. They were all “him,” all trained to hate my kind. And in my mind, they all held my sister hostage. Every. Last. One. Of. Them.

  The fear pulsing through me melted away, replaced by anger. I wanted to don my bark and go all huldra on their asses.

  Cameras at the corners of the square building and right above the door repositioned on me. One of the double doors swung open to reveal a Hunter with broad shoulders and biceps so meaty the sleeves on his black shirt protested with each stretch. His facial expression barely registered that he’d seen me.

  Normally I would have made a joke about the horrible service, but I wasn’t there to defuse tensions. I was there to escalate tensions. And I was pissed. A few more steps into the space narrowed by fencing and the metal detector screamed. I raised my arms and stood perfectly still as four Hunters knocked me to the ground.

  Twenty-Eight

  It wasn’t time to put up a fight. The Hunters needed to see that I had no desire to cause any more difficulties for myself. That I had no idea my closest friend and sister was somewhere on this property.

  No. I pretended to be the oblivious huldra they thought I was—the nearest human-like species to an animal, only evil.

  One Hunter straddled me as the others gave me the pat-down. I inhaled deeply, set on memorizing their scents and giving them my own brand of pat-down later. It would include vines and branches and maybe a puncture wound or four. Especially the one who sat on top of me, using his weight to push my hips into the cement.

  Intense, pungent fear wafted around the youngest Hunter with blond, patchy facial hair. My skin vibrated with eagerness. I’d never given much credence to breathing techniques, but now I counted my breaths, my lungs filling and emptying in a decidedly slow rhythm. My racing heart slowed enough to keep my bark under wraps. I had to bide my time. Two Hunters hurried to pull my boots off, remembering the reason behind the metal detector going off during my last visit. A group of men dressed in black formed a circle around us.

  My right boot came off first and my dagger fell out, hitting the grey, painted cement floor with a clang. Within seconds my left boot gave the same reward to the struggling Hunter who’d assigned himself to its removal. A few older Hunters in the crowd chuckled at my stupidity in trying to bring daggers into their complex twice in one month.

  One made a snide remark to the man beside him about loaning me his dagger and he’d still smoke me. I couldn’t help but smile. I’d get my daggers back, both of them, and then use those and my more natural weapons to in turn smoke his ass. The enthusiastic boot-tuggers would also get some of my attention when the time came.

  “Get her up!” John shouted from behind the circle of males. The greying Hunter stepped forward.

  I made it to my feet, glad to be rid of my boots. The branches and vines from my fingers were a given, but now I could also grow them from my sockless toes.

&nb
sp; “Wipe that smile off your face,” John commanded with a tone of disgust. So this was the real male hidden behind the veneer of kindness he’d previously displayed. “Where’s the…” He snapped his fingers. He didn’t have to finish before a younger Hunter handed him an electronic tablet. “I need the letters bigger.”

  The younger man did as he was told.

  “ID number?” John barked as he stared at the screen. He led me into the classroom as he spoke. I assumed my summons had to do with my recent “disobedient” activities, that somehow John had been tipped off. His icy behavior and disregard for following the usual check-in procedures worked as confirmations.

  I unbuttoned my jeans and immediately the bearded Hunter holding me yanked the side of my pants down. “Damn it,” he mumbled. “Why the hell would you decorate your abomination number?” He squatted to get a closer look. “I see an eight and some zeros, maybe a two. With all the vines, it’s hard to tell.”

  I listened to the noises around me, took in the scents and found one scent I knew very well.

  In the crowd of men watching from outside the open classroom door stood Marcus. I caught his eye, but he gave me no smile, no wink, no affirmation that he was still on my side. The man who had previously made my heart thrum stood rigidly in the same black Hunter regalia as the others, who were seconds away from seeing the death warrant of dark bark on the small of my back. A knot rolled in my stomach and I bent forward to vomit from disgust at the sight of that uniform.

  Through my dry-heaving, I looked up for a brief moment and noticed Marcus slinking to the outskirts of the crowd.

  John snapped his fingers again. “Inspect its back.”

  I sprang into action and shoved the bearded male. He landed on his butt and I quickly buttoned my jeans. He scrambled to get away from me, crab walking in the process.

  John dropped the tablet and lunged for me. I grabbed my daggers from a plastic bin beside the metal detector and raced for the doors to signal my sisters.

  Marcus called out my name. I swung to find him in the crowd as he ran to a screen on the wall nearest to him and pressed a few buttons. Darkness cloaked the room. It was something he and I had discussed during our night in the motel room, the fact that every known Wild Woman had night vision to one degree or another, a handy ability the Hunters wished they could possess. Marcus had suggested “misplacing” the infrared goggles kept in the main building as part of his plan.

  “Get the power on! Where are the damn night goggles!” John barked orders. He grabbed the tablet from the floor and shoved the device out in front of him, using the shattered backlit screen as a flashlight.

  I used it as a beacon like a ship drawn to a lighthouse. I brought my hands out in front of me and willed vines to sprout from my fingertips. I flicked my left hand and the vines whipped the device from his fingers, leaving him in darkness. Fitting. I turned my right wrist and willed the vines to wrap themselves around his neck. His artery pulsed under my thick, brownish-green vines.

  Power surged through me as his barking orders turned to choking gasps. I pulled him to me and whispered into his ear. “Where’s my sister? Where is Shawna?”

  The other Hunters were shouting commands to one another, hurrying about to get the lights back on and secure the proper night vision and defense tools.

  “You finally show your true colors,” John wheezed.

  “As have you.”

  “Evil. You’re all evil,” he coughed out.

  “See now, your brain must be on the fritz. Losing oxygen will do that to you. Because that’s not what I asked,” I said.

  “Die, demon bitch,” he wheezed.

  “Oh, don’t worry. The demon bitches will be here soon enough.” I had been hoping for answers, but his comment assured me he wouldn’t be supplying any. I flexed my hand. My vines tightened and doubled around his neck. He patted his pants for his dagger and found it. His trachea crushed beneath my vines. The dagger he held clanged to the floor right before his heart stopped beating and he fell in a rumpled heap.

  Olivia burst through the doors first and ran into a crowd of Hunters focused on pulling goggles from a recently opened container on the ground. Light streamed through the open doors behind her as they slowly eased shut. She was met with male screams as she tore through the group.

  I stood in awe of my sister’s viciousness.

  “Where. Is. My. Sister?” she screamed as she used her huldra strength and speed to shove the preoccupied Hunters and throw them to the cement.

  The rest of my coterie followed her, allowing light into the room and giving the Hunters an upper hand, seeing as they hadn’t yet procured their infrareds. I rushed toward the doors to shut them quickly, but before I could, the harpies landed on the cement slab outside, calmly walked in, and shut the doors behind them.

  Their strong wings flapped, shifting the air in the room. A young Hunter yelled out, “What was that?” as talons dragged across the floor. Another commanded the men to fall into formation and ready their daggers.

  One male kept his dagger at the ready, but without goggles he had no way to see her coming until he felt her presence too late to protect himself. Eonza kicked him in the stomach. Her talons bore deep into his midsection. When she pulled away, blood covered her foot and she lost her balance, sliding across the smooth cement. The Hunter she’d kicked was dead, but another in formation swung his dagger through the air and made purchase into her arm.

  Eonza cried out and within seconds her two sisters were by her side, tearing her attacker to shreds.

  A Hunter caught my right arm and jerked me backwards. I spun on my heel and raised my dagger into the air, set on plummeting it into his skull.

  “Faline, stop! It’s me.”

  I blinked. Marcus, night vision goggles covering his eyes, held my arm.

  “Come on,” he said. “I disabled the power and jammed their closed network. They had us put our phones in a lock box before coming in here, so now no one can take video or call for help. I’ve disabled the security cameras and most of the automatic locks by adjusting their timers. But I’m not the only techy on the grounds, so everything I’ve done can be reversed in a matter of minutes. Let’s go find your sister while we still can.”

  “The others haven’t arrived. I won’t leave them to fight my battle,” I said.

  “I can't control myself much longer,” he groaned. “The Wild Women in their Wild form. You know it triggers the Hunter in us.” Hunters grew swollen before my eyes, their muscles thickened and pulled tighter. It was so slight, though, that I hadn’t noticed until Marcus mentioned it.

  Marcus let go of my arm and swung around me, putting me at his back. I quickly righted my stance and stood at his side. He unsheathed his Hunter’s dagger and shoved it into a fellow hunter before the other Hunter’s blade could stab me. Blood hit my face and arms.

  Power surged through me. My heartbeat vibrated.

  Marcus peered in my direction as the male fell to the floor. “You okay?” he asked softly.

  I gave one short nod. Bark covered my skin, surfacing like a submarine exploding from the water. Green leafy vines crawled up and wound around my calves, making my tight jeans feel tighter.

  Marie led her group of succubi as they burst into the room, yet again allowing the Hunters to see. Olivia’s focus flickered onto the new arrivals long enough for a Hunter to slice his blade into her arm. She screamed and held her wound for only a quick second as her attacker smiled and raised his dagger to land a killing blow.

  I moved to help her, but before I took two steps Olivia let out a growl, the sound of great trees bending in the wind and righting themselves again. Bark the color of alder wood sprang from her skin and covered her wound. Like touching watercolor onto porous paper, the bark spread.

  Olivia gave a giggle, which clearly caught the Hunter off guard, and in his millisecond of timidity, she reached forward and placed the tips of her fingers on his chest, right over his heart. With a grin the branches from her
fingers pierced his skin and dug into his chest. When she retracted the branches, he fell to the floor and didn’t move. Olivia turned to me with questioning eyes, as if to ask if it was supposed to feel that good. I didn’t have an answer. I wasn’t sure what it was supposed to feel like. Where did we draw the line from protector to monster? In that moment, it didn’t really matter.

  At least not while Shawna was still locked up in a Hunter building. And possibly my mother.

  Hunters dropped like fall leaves as the succubi used their energy manipulation like a strong gust of winter wind. Each succubus seemed to concentrate on one area of the room. Marie walked to the center with not one Hunter’s blade pointed at her.

  “Demon!” yelled out a brown-haired Hunter as he tried with no success to push himself up from the painted cement.

  Marie tsked and glared at him. His mouth no longer worked to create words, only grunting sounds behind his tightly shut lips.

  I canvased the scene. Of the twenty or so Hunters in the building, seven lay hurt, four were dead, and the rest writhed along the cement under succubi control. The other Wilds regrouped with their sisters and assessed their damage. Blood colored Eonza’s right golden wing a deep purple tone. My aunts and sisters flanked me. Celeste’s arms held traces of bark, but nothing as rich and thick as Olivia’s.

  “Were the mermaids behind you?” I yelled to Marie from across the room.

  “Faline, I can't...wait anymore.” Marcus shook his head. His teeth ground and he clenched his fists.

  “I haven’t seen them or felt them,” Marie answered quickly. Though she ignored Marcus’s comment, I could tell by her expression that she was interested by the fact that a Hunter stood protectively beside me.

  “Traitors,” I murmured, deciding on a plan B. “The communication systems have been deactivated for now, but we need to retrieve my sister before they get it running.” And Marcus needed to leave the room full of Wild Women before he went from my ally to my enemy through no will of his own.