Bethany Anne looked confused. “Why not? Once we beat everyone, and have the children safe, what else is holding us?”
Frank answered for Dan, “Because if I was a devious bastard, I would have another round ready to go.”
Bethany Anne muttered, “I’m considering beating Michael to the punch, David is a devious bastard. I think I’m going to support Stephen’s idea of almost killing him, and let him regenerate so we can almost kill him again.”
Frank raised an eyebrow. “Stephen isn’t usually this bloodthirsty, is he?”
Bethany Anne said, “He is when he’s being attacked, he was quite bloodthirsty back at his house with David’s goons. That man is quite an artist at causing a vampire pain when properly motivated.”
There was a rap on the door, causing the three of them to look up. It was Gabrielle. “Are we going back to the other ship, or have plans changed?”
Bethany Anne waved her over. “Take a seat, plans have changed. Let the guys know they need to suit up.”
She called out to the phone, “Bobcat?
“Yes, Bethany Anne.”
“Make sure you have those devices outside. Hopefully in a place where they won’t be stolen.”
Bobcat laughed. “This place is a ghost town. Whatever Stephen told them, no one wants to be found here right now. You could take a cool million dollars, set it outside and it would be here in the morning. Once William finishes with the engines we’ll set the craft outside. Give us a three-minute delay to make sure we are cinched in before you take us.”
Bethany Anne confirmed TOM knew what to do.
“Understood, be ready to fly as soon as possible.” Bethany Anne said. Bobcat hung up.
Frank asked, “Did anyone tell Bobcat that Shelly was lost?”
“Damn,” Gabrielle muttered, “Bobcat is going to be pissed.”
Bethany Anne turned to Gabrielle. “What’s the team’s status?”
Gabrielle answered, “They’re all suiting up, will have their weapons and their backup weapons. They’re also taking more ammo for everything we have, plus some extra for the first team. Along with more first aid equipment. Did we forget anything?”
Dan answered, “Yes. You need equipment and protection for Bobcat, William, and myself.”
Bethany Anne, surprised, looked over at the head of her military. “You? How are we supposed to operate this if you’re in the middle of it with us?”
Dan shrugged. “What is there to operate? We’re going to go there, be out of radio contact, and shoot every fucking thing that’s not part of our team. Seems like a pretty straightforward plan to me.”
“You’re going to need a STIM shot.”
Dan looked at her, a smile on his face. “I was hoping you’d say that.”
Bethany Anne turned to face Frank, and raised her eyebrow.
Frank put his hands up in front of him. “Maybe later, but I don’t have the skills for something like this. I’m better here trying to track down the asshats that threw this little party.”
Bethany Anne stood up and looked around. “Frank, I need you to get in touch with Michael for me.” She paused a second then asked, “What are you sitting on your asses for? Let’s get ready to fuck up some Nosferatu!”
The room quickly emptied, each leaving to head back to their respective tasks. Bethany Anne stopped Dan. “Are you sure about this? There isn’t any going back.”
Dan smiled at her. “I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life. Even if you hadn’t offered, there is no way I’m letting all of my people be in the middle of that clusterfuck without one more gun in the mix.”
Bethany Anne started toward the door. “Follow me then, this ride is about to get a lot more interesting.”
21
Turkey, thirty miles from the Syrian border
Stephen was staring out at the town. The sun had just descended behind the hills defining the western edge of the valley. Stephen had watched the shadows lengthen and they now covered the whole valley. Nathan came up behind him. “We have the children in the back of the cave, with the caretakers. We’ve also moved all of the supplies further back, in case we have to fight inside the cave. Any other recommendations?”
“Yes, we have more than enough weapons, can any of them shoot? Or, can you teach them how to shoot?”
Nathan’s eyes roamed over the valley wall. “Do we really want civilians with automatic weapons shooting in our general direction?”
“Perhaps, perhaps not. Make sure they realize who the good guys are. I don’t want them without any defensive weaponry if Nosferatu get past us.”
Nathan turned and was able to get Chet’s attention. Once Chet got close enough Nathan said, “Let’s check out the civilians on the weapons, if they know how to use them, great. If not, at least show them what to do in case it all goes to hell.” Chet nodded and started jogging back into the cave.
Stephen spoke over his shoulder. “Have we checked out the back of the cave? The chokepoint is here, if we need to we’ll brace ourselves around the door.”
Nathan replied, “I’ve asked Pete’s team to take a look, so far nothing. We seem to at least be assured that our backdoor is closed.”
Stephen sighed. “Thank God for one small favor. We might as well get everyone ready. The shadows are deep enough that I expect the first wave to arrive soon.”
Basing their deployment on what Pete and Todd’s teams learned while fighting on the ship, they put the werewolves in front and those with weapons behind them. There was a sixty-foot area in front of the cave that was clear. Then you had three different lanes between the village’s houses. The cliffs above them were steep, about seventy-five feet high. It would have been a good sniper position, but they lacked the equipment to get there.
The silence in the valley was deafening, but Stephen could hear the first wave of Nosferatu. He told those around him, “Look sharp, they’re on their way.” Seconds later the werewolves could hear the enemy as well.
Pete came up beside him. Stephen looked over and nodded and then went back to watching the lanes. Pete slowly unbuttoned and untucked his shirt. He took it off and turning slightly he threw it toward the mouth of the cave. He remarked, to no one in particular, “No need to mess up a perfectly good shirt.”
Pete waited, wishing he knew a way to help him focus enough to start his turning early. “Dammit! I need to get angry enough before I can turn.”
Stephen turned to look at the Wechselbalg. “I’m sorry, what?”
Pete answered, “I need to get angry enough to start the change into my other form. I’m just not angry enough right now.”
Stephen smiled. “Well, why didn’t you just ask for help?” And with that he slapped the young man. Pete slammed into the ground fifteen feet away. Stephen looked over at Pete and his eyes narrowed. “Now get up and fight like a man, you ass-kissing dog.”
Stephen turned to face the lanes again, confident Pete would be just fine and ready to fight in a moment.
He was. Stephen could feel the rage directed at him. He pointed to the middle lane, “Our fight is with them, I just jump-started your change, Peter.”
Pete glared at the vampire and turned his head to the direction Stephen’s finger pointed. Ah! Nosferatu. Pete roared at the newcomers, “Bring it, Bitches!”
The fight began.
Cracks of rifle fire preceded three Nosferatu dropping to the ground, their bodies trampled as those that followed ignored their fallen.
Men, women, teenagers. David didn’t discriminate when he changed friends and family to become cannon fodder. All had bloodlust in their eyes. They could sense the blood of those in front of them, and this time the blood didn’t hide behind doors.
The pain, the desire to drink was too much for the Nosferatu. They couldn’t see past getting that which was closest to them. If they had been satiated, perhaps they would have tried to find others, but why would they go anywhere when they could smell the blood so close to them now? They would strive t
o get into this cave all night, until dawn forced them to hide, once again to sleep during the daylight hours.
Except when dinner came walking right into your room. That time they had killed the soldiers, eaten them and then laid back down. The blood of the newly dead became their mattresses on the cold, dark floor.
Then the front of the Nosferatu line hit them. Stephen and Pete tore into the Nosferatu with abandon, Pete’s claws taking jaws from the beings, his return strokes gouging out throats.
On his right, the vampire was doing the same, with considerably more efficiency. Stephen was a machine of destruction. He would slam his clawed hand across a skull, shattering the head and spraying the nearby Nosferatu with brains. Then, he would kick out and another Nosferatu would have their rib cage crushed with his foot. They would be pushed back a few feet, but the Nosferatu behind them stopped any significant backward momentum. Sometimes those he kicked would fall. At other times they would come back and press the attack, albeit significantly slower than before. Often, before Stephen could get back to such an attacker, its head would explode from Todd’s team providing fire support from the cave.
The Nosferatu couldn’t get through the two fighters in the center, so many tried to go around. They would attack Pete and Todd’s teams. Matthew, Joel and Joseph on the left, Tim and Rickie on the right.
Two Nosferatu ganged up on Joel and a third slipped through the line. It was on Kevin Russel faster than Chet could react. It savaged Kevin even as the bullets from Chet’s rifle slammed through its head. Both the Nosferatu and Kevin fell.
Chet yelled, “Man down!”
Nathan left his post at the door. Both he and Ecaterina were backup, firing as they could, but predominately the second layer of defense.
Now, Nathan had to move up to take Kevin’s position. Nathan quickly got to Kevin and confirmed that he was alive. He pulled him back to Ecaterina who started dragging him into the cave. There, Diane and Dorene took over, working to patch him up as best they could.
Art was deeper inside the cave. He knew the valley group the best and since he had the skills, he was the third layer of defense.
The fighting was intense, but they didn’t suffer another line break.
Thirty became twenty, twenty became eight and then when those fell to the defenders, only the fallen Nosferatu were left.
Pete was looking around, his anger boiling his blood, the heat of the fight encouraging him to seek out more enemies. He turned to look beside him and threw a punch at the one who hit him first.
Only to have his fist caught in the vampire’s left hand. Stephen looked at the werewolf. “Calm yourself, Peter. The rage is driving you, you need to drive your rage.”
Pete was trying to pull his fist out of the grip of the one in front of him when the words registered in his brain and he stopped fighting. He took deep breaths and slowly felt his body come back around, the light of the evening seeming to recede a little. It now looked a lot darker out there.
He nodded at Stephen who released his fist.
Pete rubbed his jaw where Stephen had slapped him. “Thanks… I think.”
Stephen smiled, but didn’t stop looking around them. “You’re welcome. It will come easier for you. Each time you change, you will get more accustomed to tapping the feelings you need. Eventually, you will be able to bring it on whenever you desire.” Stephen stopped looking into the small town and focused on the man standing next to him. “Unfortunately, that is when you become most susceptible.”
Pete was confused. “Most susceptible to what?”
“Power, Pete. The power that you feel when in that form is a drug. You will forever fight against the desire to rip, to tear, to exalt in the feeling of destruction that you now command.” Stephen resumed watching the night.
Pete considered his words. “Did you have friends that were werewolves in your past?”
Stephen spoke into the night as a whisper to the wind. “None that I didn’t have to kill when they lost their humanity.”
They had a fifteen-minute respite before Stephen heard the next wave of Nosferatu coming out of the caves.
“We have company.”
Pete stepped up beside Stephen, “Is there a better way than sending my jaw fifteen feet to help me with this change?”
Stephen considered his answer carefully. “Yes. Are you sure you want to know what it is?”
Reaching up to feel his jaw, the memory of the pain recent even if he had fully healed during the fighting. “Yeah, lay it on me.”
Stephen exhaled slowly, and then spoke loud enough for all of those around them to hear. “I spoke to the girls on the Ad Aeternitatem, they say you have a tiny dick…”
Pete was confused at first, when Stephen said that. Then he heard Tim and Todd snicker and the night became bright in his rage at being laughed at. He turned around to take care of their insolence. A hand grabbed his arm, squeezing enough to get his attention. He turned to find the vampire holding him and pointing back to the Nosferatu that he could hear rushing towards them. He turned towards the fight, his baritone voice easily heard over the oncoming rush, “I’ll deal with you two later.”
They might have been more concerned if Stephen hadn’t winked at them and told everyone, “Get ready, here we go again.”
The night erupted with screams and the crackle of gunfire as the immovable rock stood against the raging flow of Nosferatu in that lonely valley in the middle of nowhere, one more time.
Ecaterina had never felt so alive, even during her trips to her uncle’s mountain. The savageness of the Nosferatu as they tried to get through the protective ring of Stephen and the troops. Nathan impressing the ever-loving hell out of her with his calm and collected shooting skills.
His was a constant, ‘crack, crack, crack’ with his body turning slightly each time. She would see Nosferatu heads exploding when she spent a second checking on him. Going back to her side, she would continue with her own efforts. She might be getting three shots off for every five of Nathan’s, but it felt much slower than that.
She was shooting when she saw Rickie, mouthing off as normal, get pulled into the mess, requiring Tim to reach over to help pull him back out.
A Nosferatu slipped between Tim and Stephen and raced towards the entrance. Paul Stevens, one of the marines backing up the right side, dove for its feet, wrapping them up and tripping the Nosferatu. Ecaterina swung her rifle down and shot the Nosferatu, hitting it in the back. Her second shot exploded its skull.
Paul was gone. The Nosferatu had reached down and torn open Paul’s neck before Ecaterina had been able to finish it off.
Ecaterina ran to Paul’s position and started firing into the horde. She thought life was intense before, it was downright scary now. She fired until she needed to reload, then switched out the magazine and continued shooting.
Ecaterina could hear rifles from where she and Nathan had been stationed at the door. The skull of a Nosferatu exploded next to the one she had just shot. “That’s twenty years in the service, motherfuckers!”
“On your right!” Ecaterina turned in time to see the three Nosferatu that had just swung around Joey. Todd shot one of them, and clubbed the other. The third dodged him and came at Ecaterina.
She shot from the hip, nailing the Nosferatu but not stopping it before she felt indescribable pain and then only darkness.
Diane screamed and shot the Nosferatu that had just sunk its teeth into Ecaterina’s neck. It rose up to look at the woman when Dorene’s shot hit it between the eyes. The women pulled Ecaterina out of the way. Diane went inside the cave to grab some bandages as Dorene pressed the wound. Ecaterina was losing blood, fast.
Diane came back and together they worked to staunch the heavy flow of blood. “This isn’t looking good, sis.”
Dorene ripped open a gauze pouch with her teeth. “Tell me something I don’t already know.”
That was when they heard the howl of despair, they looked over to see the second, and by far the largest,
standing Werewolf this world had seen in a long, long time.
Ecaterina’s mate had seen her bleeding and unconscious body.
It turned into a massacre. Nathan was easily half a foot taller than Pete’s and out massed him by another fifty to seventy-five pounds.
The problem? He wasn’t in his right mind.
Bethany Anne had popped Nathan into the pod-doc after he had said that he and Ecaterina would be going on this mission. Something would have to trigger Nathan’s change, but he had been such a calm individual, Bethany Anne wasn’t sure what that would be.
Now, even the Nosferatu backed up under the onslaught of the mighty beast attacking them. Stephen took the head off of the Nosferatu in front of him and took a quick glance to his left. He grabbed Peter and pulled him to his side. “Fight them!” He pointed at his group, “I’ll try to help Ecaterina.” Peter tore into the Nosferatu with renewed vigor. These things had just killed his sister, his friend. As each Were became aware of what was going on, the anger and grief they felt overrode their sensibilities and the slaughter began.
No longer did the Forsaken push against Stephen’s group, but rather they in fury slammed into the Nosferatu. Nathan, in unrestrained fury, killed with heated abandon. Nathan would grab a head in one hand and crush it while reaching for a second to rip out its throat. If an arm got in his way, his jaws would open wide and he would bite through the bone, jerking his head to try and rip the arm from the body, spitting out the meat from his mouth.
Stephen raced to Ecaterina, he put his wrist up to his mouth and used his sharpened teeth to rip his wrist open. The women stood transfixed at the red-eyed man ripped off Ecaterina’s bandages and smeared his blood on her wound, then forced some down her throat.
“Shoot at them!” Stephen snapped them out of their shock. They both grabbed their rifles, not sure how the… man… was helping the young woman, but feeling that he was trying his best.
Kurtherian Gambit Boxed Set One: Books 1-7, Death Becomes Her, Queen Bitch, Love Lost, Bite This, Never Forsaken, Under My Heel, Kneel or Die (Kurtherian Gambit Boxed Sets) Page 124