by S. A. Moss
After a few more blocks, a deep howl sounded in the distance, followed by screams. Alex pulled to a stop.
“We should probably go on foot from here.”
I nodded, barely able to tear my eyes from the destruction around us. Inside the lobby of a tall building, I caught sight of several people hiding behind the security desk.
Alex and I got out of the car and took off at a run down the street. My cardio before I’d died had been mediocre at best, but a perk of being a Guardian was that my physical endurance was now as supernatural as I was. I could’ve sprinted for miles if I had to. And luckily, Alex was just in really good shape.
The screams and roars increased in volume as we flew down the street. Sirens joined the cacophony. We ran up a slight hill, and as we crested it, my stomach sank. I somehow managed to maintain my stride, dragging my suddenly heavy feet towards the terrifying sight before us.
The chimera had looked massive in the video on Alex’s phone, but that was nothing compared to what it looked like in real life. It towered over everything around it, and I swore I could feel the ground shake with every step it took. It was covered in thick, coarse hair, and had a boar-like head that was too big for its body. I had a sudden thought that it looked sort of like the Beast from Beauty and the Beast—if the Beast were huge and terrifying rather than kind of cuddly.
On the ground below it, two auras glowed faintly. Pearl and Arjun?
My chest unclenched a bit.
From the look of things, the chimera had been trying to grab a snack when Pearl and Arjun had attacked it. It’d shattered the large windows on the second story of an office building and was trying to pluck out one of the people who was cowering behind a desk in fear. Pearl and Arjun were both hitting it with blasts, keeping it distracted, so the humans had a chance to flee.
Unfortunately, the people in the building either hadn’t gotten the memo or were too scared to attempt an escape. Instead of making a run for it, they just shoved themselves deeper into the corner.
I looked at Alex. “I see Pearl and Arjun. I’m going to fade out and help them. See if you can get inside that building and get those people out!”
He nodded and veered away from me, heading for the entrance to the building—which thankfully was several yards away from where the chimera stood. I faded out as I ran, and Pearl and Arjun came into view. Pearl caught sight of me and yelped. “Cam!”
She unleashed another blast at the chimera, but either it was great at shielding or it was just so freaking big that it barely registered the blow.
“I’m here!” I joined them, and turned to face the demon. “How the hell do we take this thing down?”
“Not sure,” Arjun grunted. “We’ve been hitting it with everything we have, and we’ve barely slowed it down. I can’t bind it either. It’s too powerful.”
Super.
“Alex is trying to get those people out,” I told them. “They’re sitting ducks up there.”
The chimera made another grab inside the office building, and screams echoed out. A woman shrieked as he snatched her, and several of her officemates clutched her limbs as the chimera attempted to drag her out.
Shit. If it got her out of that building, it’d either drop her or eat her. And neither was an acceptable option.
“Go for his legs!” I yelled to Arjun and Pearl. “On three!”
They both raised their hands. As I counted, I built a filter out of aether like Reeva had taught me, creating a slit for my blast to pass through. When I bellowed out the last number, I unleashed the strongest blast I could at the chimera. It passed through the filter, honing down to a sharp arc and slicing the monster’s leg. Just as its skin split open, Pearl and Arjun’s blasts hit it in the exact same spot.
It definitely felt that.
The chimera roared, releasing the struggling woman to turn all its attention on the pesky Guardians at its feet.
Black blood oozed from the wound on its leg, and it limped slightly. But the wound was already closing up.
“My goodness, Cam! Was that you?” Pearl shot me an impressed look.
“A little trick I learned from Reeva,” I answered, and Arjun grinned.
Then the chimera threw a blast, and the grin slipped off Arjun’s face as all three of us threw up shields.
Fat lot of good it did.
The shields dissipated some of the blast’s energy, but we were thrown backward anyway. I flew through the air, landing on my back with a painful smack. Rolling over, I forced my body into motion as the chimera raised its massive hands again. I grabbed Pearl, who was struggling to her feet, and dragged her away from the blast, not even bothering to shield this time. Arjun dived the other way, and the blast missed him too. It plowed into the ground, sending up chunks of asphalt and leaving a rough crater in the street.
“I think we made it mad,” Pearl muttered.
The chimera threw up its hands again.
“NOW!” I screamed, not even bothering with the countdown this time. Pearl and Arjun followed my lead, and we hit its legs again. I wasn’t fast enough to make a filter this time, but the force of three blasts to the leg still made the chimera stagger sideways.
As the beast righted itself, the sound of sirens grew louder, and I glanced down the street. Half a dozen black armored vehicles were approaching from the opposite direction. The drivers still had to pick their way around abandoned cars, but since the chimera hadn’t reach that part of Michigan yet, there was less debris for them to navigate.
Over the sirens and the chimera’s grunts, I could hear Alex shouting from the second story of the office building. He must be taking advantage of the creature’s distraction to get people out.
The chimera’s head whipped around toward the building, and it roared in rage. Shoving its hand back in through the gaping hole, it made a grab for someone again.
Behind us, SWAT teams in full riot gear piled out of the cars. The sudden burst of gunfire made me jump.
The bullets struck the chimera in the shoulder, and it let out another roar, its body jerking.
Once again abandoning the office building, the chimera turned toward the SWAT cars. Its body continued to jerk as bullets peppered its skin, but they hardly slowed it down. It raised both hands.
Oh shit. No!
I threw up the biggest shield I could muster in front of the lead SWAT team. The humans didn’t know how to read the signs, so they didn’t know what the chimera’s move telegraphed—they weren’t braced for the attack. My shield dispersed some of the energy, but the blast still scattered bodies and flipped one of the armored vehicles onto its side.
Other SWAT members rushed to the aid of their fallen comrades. Bodies lay at awkward angles.
My stomach twisted with worry. God, I hope no one’s dead.
“We have to warn them!” I screamed. “They don’t know how to fight this thing. They’ll all get killed! They have to get out of here!”
I started to dash forward, but Arjun grabbed my arm. “No!” His face was grim. “You know the Council’s orders. We reveal ourselves to no one.”
I ripped my arm out of his grasp, looking around wildly at the fallen humans. “But—”
“Cam! Help!”
Alex’s shout came from above.
17
My gaze snapped up to the hole in the side of the office building.
The chimera had taken advantage of the chaos to snatch another human. It clutched a thin, middle-aged man around the waist. Alex and a few other people were trying to pull the man back into the building, but the chimera was too strong. It dragged them all toward the ledge.
Another hail of bullets struck the chimera. It quivered, but this time it didn’t give up its prize. Keeping a firm grip on the man, it reached out with its other hand and threw another blast at the SWAT team. They were fast learners, and several people dived to the side. The blast still sent several bodies flying, and I cursed inwardly.
Damn Arjun. Damn the Council. If they knew we
existed, these humans wouldn’t be trying to fight our battle for us.
The chimera finally wrested the man away from his coworkers, yanking him out of the building. The man let out a terrified shout as he was lifted high in the air. It looked like the beast was going to spike him in victory, as if he were a human football.
Most of all, damn this chimera. All that work to grab a human just for the fun of killing him.
“Alex!” I screamed, hoping he could hear me from down here. “We need to take this thing down! Permanently!”
For a second, I wasn’t sure he’d heard me. Then I gasped as Alex took a running leap out the window, grabbing onto the thick fur on the chimera’s shoulders and clinging for dear life.
“Got him!” Alex held tighter as the chimera bellowed, its cry rising in pitch and volume. It heaved in huge breaths.
“Arjun!” I called. “Keep an eye on the human. Be ready to catch him. Pearl, help me!”
Drawing in a steadying breath, I created a filter from aether, aiming as well as I could for the chimera’s thrashing body. I unleashed a blast through a large hole, creating what I hoped was the equivalent of a thick pike. The chimera twisted, and my strike went wide, but I threw another blast through the same filter. This one struck the chimera in the chest, and a wide puncture wound appeared there.
Pearl followed my strike with a blunt-force blast to the same spot. The chimera screamed. Turning away from the office, it dropped the man it’d been clutching—Arjun was there to break his fall, thank goodness—and lumbered toward the SWAT crew.
Shit. Wrong way!
Resetting my filter, I threw another pike at the chimera’s side, careful to aim wide of Alex. The SWAT team had started shooting again, and I was worried about Alex getting caught in the crossfire. We needed to end this now.
Pearl followed my blast again, and when her blow struck, I heard the chimera’s ribs crack. Man, this monster was tough. It was mortal, had been stabbed twice and hit with two huge blows, and was still going.
“Go for the legs again!”
Since I was still slow with my filters, it was damned hard to hit a moving target. I compensated by sending out a wide arc. I should at least hit something.
The arc sliced across the chimera’s heel, and its whole body jerked. I’d gotten it in the achilles. Hell yeah.
“Alex! Going down!”
“Yeah, I—”
With a harsh cry, the giant beast began to topple. Alex scrambled around to the chimera’s back to avoid being crushed.
The SWAT officers scattered too, dragging those who couldn’t walk. The chimera put out a hand to catch its fall, crushing one of the cars it hadn’t flipped over yet.
Darting around toward its head, I planted my feet and threw up a filter.
“Hey, Uggo!” I called.
The chimera’s baleful gaze rose to meet mine.
That was all I needed.
I threw a blast through the tiny hole I’d created in my filter, piercing the chimera through the eye.
Its mouth dropped open, but what should have been a roar was nothing more than a breathless grunt. With a final exhalation of fetid breath, the hulking creature crashed to the ground.
Alex was jarred loose by the impact, and rolled off the chimera, landing on his feet with ninja-like grace. He backed away from the downed beast quickly, glancing around.
“I’m here,” I whisper-shouted in his ear, coming up beside him. His shoulders visibly relaxed.
“Nice work,” he muttered back, gaze still locked on the Fallen in front of us.
“You too. How’s that fear of heights thing treating you?”
His lip twitched. “If I keep hanging out with you, pretty soon I’ll be scaling buildings without thinking twice.”
“Didn’t look like you thought twice this time.”
“Oh, I thought more than twice.” He said it jokingly, but his hand shook as he wiped his brow.
Knowing that he’d been afraid didn’t make me less amazed by what he’d done—if anything, it made me more in awe. Being terrified and acting anyway was much more impressive than being fearless.
“You did great, Alex. Thank you.”
He blushed slightly, then turned his attention to the SWAT team, who were slowly reorganizing themselves. My gaze followed his, and a lump of cement settled in my belly. They’d sustained heavy damage, and there were still several people on the ground who weren’t moving. Their fellow officers crouched over them, and one man was radioing for medical help.
“We should try to get the body out of here,” Pearl said. I hadn’t even noticed her come up beside me.
“Do you think the three of us can? This guy is huge.”
“Normally, not a chance. But since it’s dead, it might be easier.” Arjun had walked around to the chimera’s head, and was staring with distaste at its boar-like face. A SWAT officer stood next to him, wearing a nearly identical expression.
I wiped my palms on my pants. “Worth a shot.”
As Pearl, Arjun, and I gathered around the chimera’s body, an officer walked up to Alex. Shit. We needed to hurry up and get out of here before he got hauled in for questioning by the FBI or something.
Grimacing, I wrapped my arms around as much of the chimera’s hairy body as I could encompass, then focused on the spreading, dissipating feeling of fading over to the Shroud. It was a bit like trying to swim with a lead weight attached to my ankle, but slowly, I felt myself fade out. The dark landscape of the Wild appeared around me. Crags and cliffs loomed over us, but we’d appeared on a small flat stretch of land.
The three of us let go of the body, and I glanced around quickly. There was no sign of other Fallen in the inky blackness around us.
“Let’s get back,” I said, anxious to return and save Alex from the authorities’ probing questions.
But as it turned out, I needn’t have worried.
When we faded back over to the mid-plane, we were met with utter chaos. As shocking as the appearance of a supernatural on Michigan Avenue was, its sudden disappearance seemed to be even more unnerving.
Officers ran to and fro, gathering blood samples and collecting any other evidence the chimera may have left behind. What they planned to do with it, I had no idea. Several higher ranking SWAT members were conferring in hushed voices, while a few were simply staring blankly at the spot where the demon had been.
Alex, forgotten in the sudden uproar, stood in the doorway of the office building he’d run into earlier. The traumatized workers were slowly emerging into the street, and Alex reached out to steady a blonde woman who’s legs suddenly threatened to give out. He helped her lean up against the wall, checking her eyes worriedly. He asked her a question, and she shook her head slightly, gesturing to a scrape and a bruise on her arm. He bent his head to examine her wounds.
My heart swelled. Why did he have to be so freaking good? Not just good at doing things, but a genuinely good person. He made it frustratingly hard not to fall for him.
An elbow in my ribs brought me back to reality, and I glanced over at Pearl.
“Should we collect him and get moving, or would you just like to moon over him some more?” Her blue eyes twinkled with mirth.
I opened my mouth to protest, then snapped it shut. She’d see right through whatever weak excuse I gave anyway.
As we approached Alex, sirens cut the air. A moment later, two ambulances and a fire truck pulled up. EMTs jumped out and ran toward the downed officers, while firemen raced toward the civilians standing dazedly outside the building. Alex flagged one down and inclined his head toward the blonde woman.
I leaned in so only he could hear me. “You ready to get out of here?”
His body tensed for a second then he let out a breath. “So ready.”
The four of us trekked back to our hijacked car and piled in. I hoped the girl we’d stolen it from would be too busy hiding out from the “terrorist threat” to notice it was gone before we had a chance to return it. The OCD par
t of me wanted to clean it before giving it back, but that was probably unnecessary.
I let Alex drive again and took my rightful place as his co-pilot while Pearl and Arjun crawled into the back.
Alex put the key in the ignition, and then hesitated. “Where to?”
Good question. I turned around to face the back seat. “Where to?”
Some navigators we are.
Pearl leaned forward urgently. “We should report back to the Council right away. They’re aware of the attack, but they don’t know how it ended. And with even fewer Guardians at their disposal, they don’t have as many ears to the ground.”
“That makes sense.” I turned to Alex. “You know how to get to the alley where the portal is?”
He nodded. “I hope that diner’s open. I’m starving.”
18
The diner was open.
Like it had been last time we’d met the Council here, it was empty except for the group of us. They could’ve easily closed up shop for the day with no harm done, but I had a feeling this was the kind of place that didn’t close for anything. Debra would be here unenthusiastically serving coffee come rain, shine, blizzards, or chimera attacks.
Speaking of…
“Let me guess? Coffees all around?” My favorite surly waitress asked, somehow managing to simultaneously give us all stink-eye and wink lasciviously at Owen.
“Yes, thanks,” I told her. At least I knew she’d been tipped well last time. She couldn’t hate us too much.
“And the breakfast special for me,” Alex added, flashing her a smile. She simpered a little. Okay, so she liked Owen and Alex.
As soon as Debra walked away, Arcadius leaned forward, his expression dark. “What happened?”