A crackle behind her made her turn. The smoke swirled and gathered to form the face she had seen before. The sinister one that mocked her with a feral grin, only now it wore a scowl of menace. A rabid dog that had been denied a juicy meal. It stared her down, high above the Sydney skyline. The face-off between a Valkyrie and the demon cloud. “Oh yeah… forgot about you. Guess you’re pretty pissed at me, huh…”
The face sank back as tendrils lashed out at her, wrapping around her waist and wrists, coiling tighter. The smoky substance couldn’t have been mist or fog as she felt it wrap around her like tentacles, yet she did gag and choke from the wisps that flew off it.
With a cry of desperation, Alex busted free of its grip. The tendrils retreated back at a rapid pace, and the face looked pained or in distress even. She looked over her shoulder. Her wings had expanded and stretched out with her cry and burst into flames. That’s what had broken the hold.
“Of course…” Alex thought. “Light hurts you. That’s why you want me dead. You can’t handle fire.”
The face, perhaps it was Dominus himself, was clearly preparing another tendril charge. This time she wouldn’t give it the chance. “You want me? Come and get me.”
She launched herself directly forward, veering left just as the great mouth snapped shut after her in an attempt to bite her. Consume her. She gave a quick glance behind and sure enough the face had followed her direction. The howling wind sent it racing after her. Masonian had said her speed was unmatched. It was time to learn how fast she really was. Could she outrun death?
She swerved through the air, keeping her body as straight as possible and trusting her wings to dictate her speed. The tendrils lashed out at her, but the flames of her wings acted like a shield. When they struck she felt them but no pain. Suddenly, Masonian’s voice came into her helmet. “Alex…the city has only minutes left. The hail is increasing in size. The damage is worsening by the second. You have to break the cloud up now…”
She couldn’t keep going like this. She had to do something else. She had thought that by chasing her the cloud couldn’t do any more damage. That wasn’t true...or maybe it was. Maybe she just wasn’t targeting the right thing. She pivoted and saw the demonic image far away, but still glaring at her. Alex glanced at her wings and then the face. Without a second thought, she launched herself forward and headed straight for it. Ignoring the opening mouth. Ignoring the tendrils. The mouth closed around her and she was surrounded by a crushing darkness. Her body seized and her lungs filled with smoke. She had no sense of what was where, but she focused on what she could control for as long as she could. Keeping airborne. Trusting her wings. Her armour. Masonian. And most importantly, herself.
Suddenly she felt her wings break free of whatever restraint they were in and the tensing of her body eased. Her limbs were free. A second later the wind gave another unearthly howl and She felt a gust from underneath her, rising up. The face had risen about fifty feet. Readjusting itself for another attack. The tendrils snaked out but she burst through them, heading straight for the mouth, her wings sweeping her along when the face moved higher, not wanting to come into contact with the flames. More tendrils came for her, but she could handle them just as long as her plan was working.
“You’re doing it…keep going.”
Alex spun around as her wrist was caught by a rather thick tendril. She fought and fought but to no avail. Her wings couldn’t burn them, and they were drawing her in, once again, to the mouth. “How can smoke hold on to me like this?” she thought aloud.
“The tendrils are not smoke. Neither is the face. It’s the essence of Dominus. They can seek and destroy. Connected always.”
“Connected huh…” Alex held out her other wrist. ”Come on…here I am…”
Just as she thought, within seconds more had restrained her. But instead of fighting, she let them bring her in even further. She was exhausted. She would only have enough strength for one shot at this. If it didn’t work…
She shook her head free of the thought. It was going to work. It had to.
She looked left and right, judging the distance away from yet another consuming, and then she gripped a tendril with each hand and rocketed high into the sky, holding on to them tight. A roar followed her. She looked down and the snarling face was creeping underneath, but it looked to be being pulled. Snarling. Angry. The tendrils were whipping around, trying to get free but Alex hung on.
She rose higher and higher. Her shoulders and arms burned and ached something fierce. She grit her teeth, straining her face from the effort of not only keeping a grip on both sides that fought so hard against her but also of dragging this son of a bitch away from Sydney...away from her home. Alex closed her eyes but snapped them open again as she felt her grip slacken.
She would not falter. She couldn’t let herself, clenching her teeth and screamed with the effort of holding on. She dug her fingers in as hard as she could. Just when she didn’t have anything else to give, Alex tore through the darkness and up into fluffy white clouds. A cry of horror boomed from underneath her, and it was then She knew she was seconds away from salvation. With all the love and strength she possessed, she lifted the tendrils in her grip and twisted her body in mid-air, her throat ached from screaming with the effort to fling the tendrils, and the beast attached to them, up through the clouds and in the direct path of its one weakness, light, and the best and strongest source of it. The sun.
Upon contact with open, clean air, the tendrils evaporated, dispersing in the light as if melting. The more the tendrils disappeared, the quicker the rest of the darkness followed, being sucked up into the sky, helpless before the power of the sun, the thing it had blocked for so long.
Within minutes, it was over. Alex dared to look down from where she was and saw only storm clouds hovering over Sydney just like she was. It was a beautiful, if overcast day. It was over. She’d done it.
Chapter Thirty-Three
I’m Coming Home
Nick punched the coordinates into the navigation system. The feeling they were going to be ok getting stronger with every second. All systems seemed normal. It was only when the plane had reached enough height to see the bright flecks of stars that Nick sat back and let out a breath. They were on track and safe, flying over the coast of Australia where it was very early morning. It would be a long flight but they would get there. The sky was lightening too, the early morning sun wasn’t far away.
“So tell me, what’s so special about this bird? Why have ya got your balls all tight for her? She just a great root?”
“Why would I go through all this trouble for a ‘great root’?
“Ah! Young pups know fuck all. Lemme enlighten you. In all my years I have never and will never find anything as powerful as pussy. Yet, most of the time, it means fuck all. If you’re a great fuck you can get pussy when you want. It speaks all languages, no translation needed. It’s cherished, worshipped and hunted. Worth more than money. Greater than any wonder of the world. When you know what you’re doing and that sweet lil’ darlin’ reveals that pearl for you, those rivers gush and the temple opens, you close your eyes just for a minute…and you know why you were put on this earth. The feeling of it gripping your cock, the way her face tenses with every move you make, that there, right there her mind is blank. She can’t breathe, she can’t think, she can’t speak because of you. But if you’re lucky m’boy, there comes a rare time when you find a true treasure. Someone you don’t give a shit about fuckin’ on Friday. She’s what you want to roll over and see Saturday more. So…what is this chick?”
“She’s everything to me.”
Nick gave him a sidelong glance and saw a big smile spread across his face. “Fuck yes, Fido! Fuck yes! Lead on with that big wolf cock and get ya honey.” He whipped his belt across the instruments like he was mushing dogs. “On cunt! On!”
“Why is this so important to you? What is that favour?”
As a reply, not looking at him, Nightingale whippe
d the instruments again. “On!”
And that was the last he spoke. Nick scrunched his eyes as the sun flared into the cockpit. When he could adjust his vision, Nick looked over at Nightingale who had slumped in his chair: unconscious.
*
Alex descended back into the cave to find Masonian in the same spot. A satisfied smile adorned his face.
As her feet touched the ground her wings disappeared and formed the strips of material. She removed her helmet and held it against her side. “I did it! Right? Oh my God that was amazing. Intense as fuckety. How did I do?”
“As good as I could’ve ever hoped.”
Alex gave a mini bounce on her feet, exhilaration running through her. “What happens now?”
“That is entirely up to you. No one will know what you’ve done, but the city survived because of you. Don’t ever forget that.”
“That doesn’t matter to me.”
“Perhaps not now, but it will at times. You will feel hard done by for the lack of thanks you will get. And you will feel guilty, frustrated, overjoyed at the things you can do. Heartbroken by the people you cannot help. No matter how strong, no matter how fast, you cannot help everyone that needs it, and you must prepare for that. Also, you cannot be at the mercy of people twenty-four hours a day. That’s why my strongest advice is to keep your abilities hidden. Save your interventions for truly devastating situations of peril. But that will be up to yours to judge.”
Alex looked down at herself. “Keeping hidden is going to be a bit hard, don’t you think?”
“Thankfully for you, this is an age where people walk with their heads down, looking at their phones, not upwards looking towards the possibilities and mysteries of the sky. I always had faith that humans were a good, decent people. They only lacked a light to lead them. So be that light, Alexandra. Now, I hope you’ll forgive me, but I will have to make it look like you fell. When she does find you, I would think carefully about what you tell Ms. Davidson. She knows more than most about your situation, and I believe she can be trusted. However, every person that knows your secret will become a target. The more that know, the more likely it will be revealed to an unwanted source. The choice is yours.”
She was surrounded by a flash of light and when she opened her eyes she was lying down on the cold, bumpy rock floor. She’d only had time to raise her head and look around when Michelle came around the corner and spotted her. “Alex! My God are you ok…I’ve been looking everywhere for you. Why did you run off like that? Where did you go?”
“It’s um…I…it’s kinda hard to explain.”
“Well, can you try? The sun is out. It’s over…” Michelle looked towards the cave entrance and then back to her. “Do you know anything about that?”
Alex faced her dilemma straight on. Michelle had faced the same scenario when it came to Alex’s memory. A memory that. to Alex’s knowledge, hadn’t returned yet. Michelle hadn’t told Alex, whatever it was, for Alex’s own safety. Alex understood that now. What to say to her now? It wasn’t a matter of trust: it was a matter of love. She didn’t want to put Michelle in danger. Michelle looked down and then up, her expression hard to place. “Can you tell me about what happened?”
Alex thought about it. Yes. She could do that. She didn’t know the first thing about what to do next with her new life, but she knew she could trust Michelle to help her. And to take care of herself.
Chapter Thirty-Four
A Thorn In The Side
“This had better be good,” Tynan growled to his war council. Over the last day and a half, his compound had received over a dozen red triangles. All from sections of Rykard’s family, declaring war.
“We are tracking their movements, but at the moment they do not appear to be organising any strategic front that we can see.”
“Did you attack their stronghold?”
“We did.”
“How many casualties?”
“None.”
“Excuse me?”
“My Alpha, they were ready for us. They left immediately after you murdered Rykard.”
“How can that be possible? Perhaps you moved too slowly?”
“From what we understand, Rykard was to keep hourly updates to his base. When he didn’t, there was a pre-rehearsed measure to vacate. Attacking a stronghold after a submission was a known move of yours, my Alpha, after you did the same thing to the Slade Estate.”
“Very well. He was more clever than I gave him credit for. I want hourly checks of the perimeter radar. Tell all our allies to be on alert for revenge attacks.”
“Just on that front, my Alpha, we have reports that one of our smaller ammunition stores has been hit in the last hour.”
“What did they take?”
“We haven’t a full count yet, but it housed nothing more than rifles and rounds. Though there was a generous supply of silver bullets.”
“Well…that is concerning. Send a jeep. I want to know exactly what they took.”
“It will be done.”
“Is there anything else?”
“You asked us to monitor air traffic, my Alpha…there was something that caught our attention. A small aircraft. No weaponry.”
“What is so special about it?”
“Its registry and its point of origin. Slade One from-”
“Sydney…well well. The prodigal son finally returns. Send a harrier. Instruct it to land or it will be shot out of the sky. He’ll either die or be a bargaining chip to use against his mother.”
*
Nightingale shifted, as did Nick, at the beeping alert. At Nightingale’s unspoken question, Nick explained, “Radar has picked up another plane heading for us. Coming in fast.”
“Could be a regular plane?”
“Not coming this fast…”
Nick waited several minutes, keeping his course steady until the plane was not only visible on radar but in front of them too. It zoomed past, and Nick watched it on the screen as it swerved around so that it flew parallel and lower with them.
“Slade One…by order of Tynan Ross, you are instructed to proceed immediately to the landing zone of red west. Repeat, landing zone red west….”
“Who the fuck is Tynan Ross?” Nightingale asked.
“He is an Alpha. He’s also my uncle.”
“Sounds like a cunt.”
“Slade One…respond that you understand your instructions. I have authority to shoot you down. Repeat, I have authority to shoot you down.”
Nick picked up the radio. “What does Tynan Ross want with me?”
“Slade One, you have entered his airspace…”
“Bullshit,” Nick said, confirming his thoughts via the screen. “This belongs to the Kents, who are allies of the Slade family.”
The radio crackled and a different voice came over. “Slade One…Nicholas, isn’t it?”
“Uncle Ross, I presume. We’ve never been formally introduced.”
“You’ve been gone a long time, young man. It’s a different world over here. The Kent family is no more. As is the Slade family. Whatever remains of them, fights for me.”
“My mother would never submit to you.”
“Right you are. Luckily your mother wasn’t in charge of the Slades at the time of the estate’s destruction. I’m not quite sure where she is at the moment, but I do know where someone is. Someone close to you. Nicole has lovely hair m’boy.”
Nick was silent. The words he never expected to hear in this situation filled him with dread.
“That’s what I thought. If you want to see her again, you’ll do everything the escort tells you. You will receive your instructions and you will carry them out. Any act of defiance will be seen as treasonous, punishable by death. But I will allow a right of response.”
Nick pressed the radio to his chin. Thinking over what to do. Finally, he glanced at Lee. “What do you think?”
“He’s probably got her. But if he hasn’t killed her yet, there’s gotta be a reason why. Using her
as bait for ya?”
“Comply or perish. Your response, Slade One?”
Nick placed the radio back and sat straighter in his seat. “I’ve come this far, I’m not turning around.”
Nightingale scoffed, “If you listened to this pommy prick, I’d kick ya over a cliff. Leave it ta me. Big Dog to the rescue. Again, for fuck’s sake.”
Nick watched as Nightingale stood and stretched. “What are you gonna do?”
“What Big Dog does best: engage in shenanigans, malarkey and all round fuckery…the only thing I’m good for,” he replied. If Nick didn’t know any better, he would’ve sworn Nightingale was burdened by that reply. Nightingale walked towards the passenger door and halted. “Oi…if this fly boy cunt out here proves worth somethin’ and offs me. That favour…”
“Yeah?”
“When you find your missus. Hug her. Tell her you love her. And give that kid of yours a kiss when it’s born.”
“What?”
“Some of us never get the chance. You ain’t the only one that tried to cross countries to get to what you loved. No matter how hard you try to get there...it just ain’t enough sometimes.”
Nick didn’t get the chance to ask more before a howling wind rushed through the plane as the door opened. Nightingale’s hair and coat whipped back and forth as he gazed down at the fighter jet. The distance between the two had to be about twenty feet but Nightingale simply stepped out and plummeted straight down.
*
Lee hit the cockpit with a thud and while holding onto the support frame of the cracked plexiglass, he knocked on it. “G’day, arsehole!” he called delightedly. “Do you have a moment to talk about our lord and saviour?”
The pilot shifted gears and turned the plane over, so it was inverted. Lee hung on with one hand and with the other punched a hole through the glass and straight in the pilot’s throat, bathing his hand in blood. He used the same hand to right the plane with the throttle stick. “Fuckin’ atheists, I tell ya. No respect.”
Pack Master (Undeadly Secrets Book 4) Page 21