by Cheree Alsop
A light of triumph lit the dhampir’s gaze. “So you did go down there.”
I gave an angry sigh and turned my glare on the numbers above me in the hopes that some miracle would change them in our favor. “What sort of teammate would I be if I just stood by and let my team get decimated by a human-hungry demon? If I didn’t go, wouldn’t I be worse than if I had listened to you and did nothing?”
She was quiet for a few moments before she said, “Did you turn on the spotlight?”
The door in front of me beeped, then opened for us to begin our timed trial.
“What do you think?” I said over my shoulder before stepping outside.
Fray followed without a reply. A dark hallway opened before me with doorways branching to the right and left. Office clutter littered the hall as perfect hiding places for our enemies Scents of frustration, pain, and triumph assailed my nose. Before I could so much as duck behind cover, a projectile slammed into my upper arm. I hissed out a breath and nearly dropped my gun. Fray grabbed my other arm and pulled me behind a desk.
“I thought they’d be using paintballs,” I whispered through my clenched teeth.
She shook her head. “Rubber bullets. They don’t break the skin, but they still hurt and can break bones if you’re not careful.”
“Thanks for the head’s up,” I growled as I checked the bruise about the size of an apple that was already darkening.
A glimmer of humor showed in her gaze before she turned away. “Try not to get shot next time. You’re hurting our score.”
I followed without a word.
Two shots and two more bruises later, I was frustrated to the point of quitting, and I never quit.
“Didn’t you learn how to shoot in the Lair?” Fray demanded. She leaned over to take down two attackers in camouflage uniforms before ducking back beside me.
“We weren’t trying to kill them,” I said more heatedly than I had planned.
“Right,” she replied. “You were luring them in for your master.”
My free hand curled into a fist at her tone. Before I could do something stupid, I slammed it into the wall next to me, tearing through the sheetrock to leave a huge hole.
Fray’s voice was quiet when she said, “I guess we know who punched the wall in the crew quarters.”
I looked at her and felt a sudden wash of embarrassment at my lack of control. I shook my head.
“Look, I’m not some sniper trained from birth to take out assailants as you appear to have been.” I appreciated the humor that creased the corners of her eyes at my statement and continued with, “I’m a werewolf.”
An idea occurred to me. I held out my gun.
“What are you doing?” Fray asked as she accepted the weapon.
“What I should have done at the beginning,” I replied.
I unbuckled my vest.
“That’s to keep your ribs from getting broken by bullets,” she reminded me.
“So I need to stop getting shot,” I replied.
“And your plan is?”
I dropped the vest and reached for my shirt. “Have you ever tried to shoot a lethal wolf attacking in the darkness? It’s pretty darn hard.”
I pulled my shirt over my head.
Fray had seen the burn scars; I was grateful I didn’t have to explain them. But then her gaze found the two bullet holes in the middle of my chest.
“Now you come across as someone who likes to get shot.”
I rolled my eyes and tossed the shirt on the floor. “Time to even the playing field. Take downs are two points, right?”
She nodded with a skeptical expression.
“Great,” I replied. “Let’s win this for the Demon Crew.”
We turned out to be a better pair of teammates than I could have hoped. While I snuck around behind each assailant, Fray would hold their attention with shots or a teasing wave of a hand. One leap and an intimidating growl later, the man or woman would inevitably put up their hands in surrender.
“Three more left,” Fray whispered as we made our way toward the last wide hall. “By my count, we’re only a few points behind. If I can avoid being shot for the last run and we take them out, there’s a chance we could come out of this ahead.”
I gave a grunt of understanding. My ears swiveled as I searched for any sign of the others. A stifled breath turned my head. I snorted quietly.
“Where?” Fray asked in a whisper.
I tipped my nose toward a set of stairs to our right. They led to a catwalk that overlooked the hallway.
“Great,” she muttered. “Is that all of them?”
I sniffed carefully. Two scents whispered along the trickle of air that came from the vent behind the catwalk. After carefully checking again, I shook my head.
“Only two?” she asked.
I nodded.
She shook her head. “I don’t like it. The other one could be covering the stairs and take us both down before we get up there. We’d lose for sure.”
I looked around the hall for other options. It was tall with an arched ceiling. The bricks were aged as though the training center had been there half a century or more. It made me wonder how long the Demon Division had been around.
“I have an idea,” Fray said. “But it’s a risk.”
I gave her a straight look.
She raised her hands with a light laugh. “Alright, alright. I get it. Risk is your middle name and all that.” She shook her head with a true smile that showed her dhampir fangs. “How someone can argue without saying a word is beyond me. Let’s do it.”
My muscles tensed as I watched the woman make her way through the shadows to the other side of the hall. She slunk forward with the grace of a leopard. Every inch of her body showed a lethality that sent a tremor across my skin. She was truly deadly, and it was more captivating than I wanted to admit.
The other assailant didn’t shoot. I hoped it was because he or she was waiting in another part of the compound we hadn’t found yet. Fray’s next move would take her into the open; if I didn’t act quickly, we would both be goners.
She met my gaze from the shadow of a box beneath the catwalk. I hesitated, glanced around one more time to ensure that we were clear, then nodded.
Fray darted forward without a sound.
My paws moved silently across the brick floor toward the dhampir. She crouched with her eyes locked on mine. I gathered my legs and leaped. The moment my paws landed on her back, she stood. I sprang from the higher vantage point and flew into the air.
I easily cleared the railing of the catwalk. The surprise on the faces of the two assailants was comical. I bowled into them with my shoulders before they could come to grips with what was happening. The woman and man landed on their backs next to each other. I placed a massive paw on each of them and growled. It took only a matter of seconds for them to surrender.
“Nice,” Fray said when she reached the top of the steps. “We should be close. One more and—”
Her voice cut off. I didn’t have to look behind me to know that her expression of regret meant that we had found the last assailant, or in truth, that he had found us.
“Pity you celebrated too soon,” he said.
I heard the minute mechanical sound of springs and levers shifting as his finger pulled the trigger. I leaped in front of Fray as the bullet left his gun. She let out a startled sound. The rubber projectile flew through the air. I smothered a yelp at the impact to my ribs just below my left shoulder.
Fray lifted her gun and fired before the man could shoot again. A grunt of pain said that her bullet had met its target. I turned to see him hold up his hands.
“I surrender,” he said. He pulled off his goggles and protective helmet to reveal Captain Roarsh. The man’s steel blue gaze went from one of us to the other. “That was an impressive display.”
Fray shrugged. “Just doing our best, Captain.”
“I’m glad to see it,” he replied. He nodded at me. “I can honestly say this is the
first time we’ve had a werewolf take the test.” His brow creased. “We may need to reevaluate our teams. Perhaps we should be utilizing your kind more often.”
I hoped my annoyance showed in my eyes.
He turned away without commenting and said over his shoulder. “Good job, Demon Crew. Better get some rest. There’s a rumor of trouble on the horizon.” He gave a wave without looking back and made his way down the stairs.
Fray stared after him. “I didn’t know the Captain paid any attention to our competition.”
I wanted to say that I would have preferred it that way, but couldn’t in wolf form. I settled for following slowly down the stairs after the Captain. I turned left when he went right and searched out where I had phased to wolf form. Fray waited behind a corner of the wall to give me privacy.
“I have to be honest. Taking that bullet was the most team-focused thing I’ve seen you do.” Her tone was mixed as though she didn’t know how she felt about it.
I fought back a grin at the thought that I wasn’t quite the big bad wolf she thought I was.
Why do you care about the opinion of a Dhampir?
My humor faded at the Master’s voice. I pulled my shirt over my head with such strength it stretched and nearly tore. I took a calming breath and finished putting on my clothes. The slight twinge when I breathed reminded me of what I had done. I told myself I had been thinking of the points. I had jumped into the bullet to keep Fray’s score from getting dinged. Her higher points from not getting hit were worth more, and so it made perfect sense. That was exactly why I had taken the bullet for her. Exactly.
Later that night found us gathered at our table in the cafeteria celebrating our victory.
“To Zev and Fray!” Riot hooted. “We’ve never taken first before!”
Our glasses clinked together.
“Yeah,” Serian said. “Did you see the looks on those blue faces when they announced the scores? It was better because they were blue!”
Everyone burst into laughter.
I couldn’t help joining in. The satisfaction and feeling of accomplishment that had come when Captain Roarsh stood in front of the cafeteria and announced that the Demon Crew had won was something I hadn’t felt before. Pride in my entire team had made it so I couldn’t stop smiling. Fortunately, the rest of the crew apparently felt the same way because they didn’t notice my ridiculous grin past their own.
The rest of the teams had eventually either eaten their fill or grown tired of Riot’s retelling of his prowess in the testing center and left. Now it was just us, picking on the remaining French fries the cooks had dropped off at our table on their way out and toasting with the weak, golden-colored, mead-based bitter draught called froth that passed as a drink at the Division. The Captain allowed his crews to drink on special occasions, and apparently such an occasion arose for whatever team won the points. The Demon Crew had dug in without holding back on this rare treat.
“Well done,” Fray said with a proud nod. Even the dhampir couldn’t keep from smiling as she sipped at her usual gray bag of blood.
She caught my gaze and her smile deepened enough to make her eyes crease at the corners. My stomach felt as though someone had let bats loose inside of it. I lowered my gaze from hers at the strange sensation.
Fray continued with, “While I am not the official leader of this team—”
“You are the leader,” Riot said. “Let’s be honest.”
“It’s true,” Serian echoed. “Without you, we wouldn’t be much of a team.”
I looked up in time to see a true blush of red color the dhampir’s pale cheeks. She shook her head and said, “Enough of that. What I was going to say was, I couldn’t be prouder of all we have been able to accomplish here at the Division.”
Kai lifted his cup to hers. “The world is a safer place because of the Demon Crew.”
“Here, here!” Virgo said, hitting his cup against the others. Froth spilled everywhere.
“Virgo!” Serian scolded.
“There’s plenty more,” Kai said. He held up a pitcher and topped off all the cups.
I took another gulp and set mine on the table. The mood calmed as weariness settled in. It had been a very long day, but nobody appeared ready to call it a night.
“I have a question for you all,” Serian said. She looked around with a bleary gaze that spoke of too much froth. “Would you rather hunt demons or humans?”
“That’s gross,” Riot said. He set his cup down unevenly and froth splashed onto the table. “Why would we hunt humans?”
Serian rolled her eyes. “For crimes, not to kill them.” She turned to Virgo and me and explained, “I was a police officer before I was taken in by the Division. Believe me when I say there are plenty of human demons out there that need to be brought to justice.”
“At least they don’t have claws or poison,” Kai pointed out.
Riot nodded. “That would probably be easier. Maybe I got into the wrong line of work.” He shook his head with a sad expression. “But I can’t change now.”
“Why not?” Virgo asked.
I leaned forward, wondering if the Captain held the weapons master with blackmail the same way that he kept my loyalty.
Riot gave a dramatic sigh, then pulled out two of the guns he constantly wore and said, “The weapons are way too much fun! I could never go back!”
Laughter rolled through the room. Serian shook her head and patted Riot on the back as he sheathed the weapons again.
She turned her gaze to Fray. “What about you?”
“Demons any day,” the dhampir said without hesitation.
“Why is that?” Serian asked.
Fray looked around at us as if wondering just how honest to be. Something flickered in her eyes and my heart went out to her because I recognized it. There may be no other place. This could be the only team she would ever have because of who she was and what it meant. I was in entirely the same boat.
She finally said, “Because with demons at least it’s black and white; they’re just bad. When they come here, they want to kill and hurt and maim to feed on the anger and rage.” Her voice lowered. “With humans, at least from what I’ve seen, they’re completely gray. There’s not one that’s entirely good and not one that’s completely bad.” She turned her gaze on me. “I wouldn’t want to be the judge of who is the good guy and who is the bad. At least with demons you know your place.”
I opened my mouth, but realized that with her watching me, I had no response. In that moment, I felt as if she saw me, really saw me. I felt open and exposed. It was as though with her baring herself honestly, it made me want to do the same.
I didn’t like the feeling. Instead, I cleared my throat and muttered, “Yeah, I agree,” before I lowered my eyes to the table.
“To the best demon hunting crew in the world!” Riot shouted. “And to the affirmation that we are all exactly where we’re supposed to be!”
Cups were raised again. I lifted mine slower than the others. This time when I looked at Fray and found her watching me, she was the one who turned away without a word.
“Another question,” Serian said way into the hours of the night.
“Not another one,” Riot protested with slurred words.
A few chuckles came from the rest of the team, most of whom rested their arms on the table and their heads on their arms; Virgo’s forehead was flat on the table with his arms hanging down.
“This is an important one,” Serian said.
I glanced at her from where I leaned on one arm. “Shoot,” I told her.
“Pew pew,” Riot replied. He chuckled at his own joke. Everyone else ignored him.
“It’s your last stand,” Serian said. “You or the demon. No other options. What do you do?”
Silence filled the room. There was one inevitability of a job like ours. It was a dangerous line of work filled with the unknown. Someday, there was going to be a demon we couldn’t beat. Most of the time, we didn’t talk about i
t; but Serian had put the team on the spot and made us look our destruction in the face.
“Throw me a grenade and let me take it down with me,” I said.
The others looked at me with wide eyes until Riot burped and then said, “Me, too! Go out with a bang and take the savage beast with me!”
“Did you just call Zev a savage beast?” Kai asked.
Everyone laughed and downed the last of their froth.
Chapter Nine
The blare of the siren startled me awake a few nights later.
“Why do demons always attack at night?” Riot muttered as we made our way up the hall.
Kai gave the obvious answer, “Because they’re weaker in the daylight.”
“How do you know it’s demons?” Virgo asked.
Serian spoke up tiredly from behind us. “Because we’re the only ones heading to the briefing room.”
“Good point,” the warlock conceded. He glanced at me. “Ready for another one?”
I stretched one shoulder and then the other as we walked. Anticipation at the thought of a battle flooded through me. “I’m always ready for a fight,” I replied.
“Why’d we have to get the eager one?” Kai asked. The teasing lift of his brows softened the question into a joke.
“Lucky, I guess,” Fray replied from the front of the group.
I couldn’t tell by her tone if she was joking or serious. She didn’t look back to give me any clues by her expression.
Since I had jumped in front of the bullet for her, the dhampir had been markedly absent in the normal things the team did, like eating together and training. Most of the time she gave excuses such as meeting with the Captain or personal training, but I had the distinct impression she was avoiding me. I told myself I was perfectly fine with this, but couldn’t help admitting that I was a bit disappointed.
I felt as though I had turned a new chapter in my feelings towards vampires. Instead of grouping all of them together in one disgusting lump, I was coming to terms with the fact that not all vampire-related creatures were evil, blood-sucking parasites who deserved a stake through the heart. They were blood-sucking, but the rest may not be entirely true. I had hoped that forcing myself to be around Fray would help me get over my prejudice of her fanged self and kin. Her avoidance made that a bit more difficult.