Jaws clenching, Smoke replied, “We had a deal.”
“You had a deal with me, but Kane supersedes that.”
“So you’re supposed to be the good guy?”
“On the contrary, I’m glad to see them all go. I’m not a people person. The fewer, the better. But I’m sure your cherished bride survived. I did let her out, you know. My, I just had a thought. I hope she didn’t go back inside.” Reginald leaned forward. He opened the center console and fished out a hard pack of Camel unfiltered cigarettes. He tapped a cig out from the carton and put it between his lips. Reading the pack, he said, “Turkish and domestic blend. I always found that to be a unique selling point. Have you ever been to Turkey, Smoke?”
“I can’t say I have.”
“Well, who knows what your new future might bring.” Reginald offered a cigarette. “Smoke, Smoke? We have a long ride ahead.”
“Funny, but I’ll pass. Those things will kill you, you know.”
“So I’ve heard.” Reginald eased into the backseat. He took a Zippo from his pocket, flicked the top open, and struck up the flame. Lighting his cigarette, he said, “I love tobacco almost as much as I love killing people. It’s so… satisfying.”
Venison coughed. “I think it’s disgusting.” He rolled down his window and checked Reginald in the rearview mirror. “A filthy mortal habit. You should be above that.”
“It’s my way of blending in. Now roll that window back up. It messes up my hair.”
“So where are we going?” Smoke said, adding in a cough to cover the sound of his diamond-dust-peppered fingernails sawing at his flex cuffs. “Is it another secret location buried deep in the heart of DC? Personally, I think it would be cool if it was the White House. I’ve never been.”
“You are being taken to a transformation station. Willing or not, you’re going to be subjected to the change. Kane’s excited to see how the shifter blood in you will respond. You might want to give a little thought to the kind of monster you want to shift into. I’m sure there is some creature out there you identify with.” Reginald stuck the cigarette pack in front of Smoke’s face. “A camel, perhaps? Now that would be different.”
Venison let out a high-pitched chuckle.
Still clawing at his weakening bonds, Smoke said, “How about a doppelganger? Huh? I could be your replacement.”
“No one can replace me.” Reginald blew a stream of yellow smoke out his nose. “I’m the top of the line.”
“There’s always someone better and stronger out there. You just haven’t met them yet.”
“I’m certain whoever it is, it isn’t you.” Reginald’s eyes drifted to the window.
“Certainly not.” Venison snickered and coughed. The gun barrel wobbled.
Smoke rolled his wrists, snapping his bonds just as they passed over a pothole. They were about a mile from the main highway. “Bumpy ride,” Smoke said to Venison.
“I like the potholes. I pretend they are people.” Venison aimed for a bad patch in the road. The vehicle jostled.
Smoke acted. He knocked the gun aside with one hand and jerked the car wheel with the other. The vehicle sped over the embankment, crashing through the trees. It smacked hard on its side and tumbled side over side, finally smashing hard into an oak tree. Smoke wrenched the gun free from Venison’s hands, undid his seatbelt, and squeezed out of the busted car window.
As soon as he came to his feet, Venison was there, chest heaving. A nasty scrape crossed the bridge of his nose.
“You idiot! I’ll kill you for what you did!”
“Not as long as I have this.” Smoke held up his pistol.
Venison’s rat eyes widened.
Smoke filled him with blue-tipped lead with two shots to the heart and two to the head.
Venison dropped on the spot.
Reginald appeared from the other side of the vehicle with his cigarette bent in his mouth. He was clapping. “Clever. Very clever. Another shifter bites the dust.” He dropped his cigarette on Venison’s face. “Eh, he always was a weak one anyway. A shot through the heart and head is rat poison to the likes of him. But now you’re going to have to deal with me. That little gun of yours won’t work on me.”
Smoke tossed the gun aside. “I won’t need it to take you down.”
Reginald pushed his sleeves up. “Apparently you’ve forgotten the beating I gave you last time.”
“No, I’ve been thinking about it every day.”
CHAPTER 40
“You’re a fool, Smoke. I’ve honed my skills over hundreds of years.” Reginald stepped over some saplings down to the open ground where the hillside bottomed out and train tracks bent through the woods. “This level ground makes for a more suitable arena. I’d rather not fight among the sticks. I’m quite fond of this shirt.” He rubbed the sleeve. “It’s from Italy. I like the Italians. They’re very passionate people.” His face changed into the image of Rocky Balboa. He hunkered down into a boxer’s stance with is lazy eyes fixed on Smoke. “Come on, Apollo. Let’s go.”
Smoke climbed up the gravel and in between the tracks. “You just ruined one of my favorite movies.”
Reginald goaded him on with large white fists. “No talk. Just fight.”
Smoke stepped in. He raised his fists. “This is weird.”
“Did you take your little pills, Smoke? You’re going to need them.”
“No pills. Just skills.”
“Heh, a fatal mistake. You could have increased your chance of survival by one percent.” The doppelganger skipped in and unleashed some jabs.
Smoke slid his chin out of the way. He blocked a flurry of punches with his arms. Reginald might’ve been smaller than he was, but he hit like a heavyweight. Smoke absorbed the blows on his shoulders.
Reginald ducked, jabbed, and punched like Rocky on speed.
Smoke dropped and took Reginald down with a leg sweep.
The doppelganger landed hard on his back but popped right back up with his neck stretched out. “Yo! What’s the deal, Smoke? Why are you fighting dirty?”
Smoke rushed in and clobbered him in the jaw. The powerful blow took Reginald off guard. His knees buckled. Smoke put his full weight on the man. He pummeled him down onto the tracks. He hit Reginald so hard his face changed.
Reginald turned from Rocky to Mister T. “Get off me, fool!”
“Shut up!” Smoke punched him in the mouth again and again.
Reginald’s arms sprang into action, swatting Smoke’s hammering blows aside. With a smile on his face, he said, “Are your arms getting tired yet?”
“No, but my eyes are!” Smoke drove his knuckles through Reginald’s chin so hard the doppelganger changed color.
Reginald twisted out of Smoke’s grasp. Like a wild hog, he scrambled away and onto his feet. When he turned, his face was back to normal. The cunning look of an English assassin returned. He spat a tooth out. “You’ve been thinking an awful lot.”
“You had impeccable timing the last time we fought. I’d just battled two giants and didn’t have much left. Made it easy for you.”
“It wouldn’t have made any difference one way or the other. You can’t hurt me. All you’ll do is tire yourself out, and when that inevitably happens, I’ll pummel you to death.” Somewhere an owl hooted. “There is no sweeter sound than bone busting up bone. I’m personally fond of the sound when the jaw gives. It has such a quieting effect.”
“Thanks for the suggestion.” Smoke waded in and threw a series of punches and kicks.
Reginald blocked and countered.
With every punch Smoke made, Reginald came back even quicker. Smoke’s uncanny knack for avoiding movement before it started saved him from getting knocked senseless. It was that special ability that made him wonder if there truly was shifter blood in him. He had no choice but to embrace it now. It was survival. Instinct.
Reginald popped him in the lips with a backfist. “You’re bleeding, Smoke. That fragile shell of yours cracks.”
Smoke took a quick breath.
His lungs burned. He went at Reginald again, using his longer reach to keep the quicker man at bay. He feinted with a rib jab, pulled it, and countered with a hard southpaw uppercut. His fist connected with jaw.
The blow lifted Reginald up on his toes. His eyes widened.
Smoke locked up the man’s head. He drove the punches home. Ribs cracked. He laid into the shifter with everything he had, one nasty Rocky punch after another.
The shifter slipped out of Smoke’s grip and stumbled over the track, collapsing on the ground. Reginald was down on his knees, huffing, with a hand stuck down in the gravel. He leered at Smoke. His eyebrows knitted. “I’m tired of toying with you.” He transformed. His body filled out his loose-fitting clothes. “Let’s see how you do against this.”
Staring down at an image of himself, Smoke wiped the blood from his lip. “You’ve never looked better, Reginald.” He gave his other self an approving nod. “I look mighty fine in those Italian duds.”
“Oh, shut up.” Reginald climbed up the railway track. “Better yet, I’m going to shut you up.”
As soon as Reginald stepped over the first track, Smoke launched some furious punches.
Reginald deflected them with big hands and fluid tae kwon do moves.
Smoke changed tactics. He delivered a fierce kick to Reginald’s crotch.
The doppelganger moaned.
Smoke winced. “That sort of hurt me to do that.”
Reginald caught the next kick. He pulled Smoke to the ground.
They wrestled over the tracks in an angry tangle of muscle. In combinations of well-executed judo moves, the tussle banged heads and limbs off the metal rails. Fists smacked hard into jaws and faces. Elbows jabbed ribs. Chins tasted knuckles.
Smoke fought like a lion against this stronger and quicker version of himself. His sharp mind sensed every move before it happened, but his tiring limbs reacted a hair more slowly every time.
Reginald’s energy was boundless. His fists came down in a rain of fury.
Smoke covered his face.
Reginald went for the stomach.
Smoke guarded his belly.
Reginald smote his face.
The tremendous blows rattled Smoke’s grey matter. In a break between blows, he said in a gasp, “Wow, I really am a great fighter.”
“No, I am,” Reginald replied. He had Smoke pinned. His body grew. His visage was Smoke’s but more bestial. The seams in the fine clothing burst. Reginald became a Mr. Hyde version of Smoke and said from slavering jaws, “I’m going to break you into pieces, brother!” He started hammering Smoke into submission.
With his strength quickly fading, Smoke blocked with everything he had left.
Brother?
CHAPTER 41
Agony. Pain. The only thing holding Smoke together was the sweetheart suit. He blocked what he could but couldn’t attack anymore.
Reginald had him pinned down by the neck. His powerful hands squeezed until Smoke’s eyes bulged. “You are a difficult man to control, mortal. And frankly, I’m tired of holding back.”
“I can see you’re all puffed up about it.” Through Reginald’s steely vise-like grip, Smoke struggled to say, “It seems to me I got under your skin.”
“You know, not so long ago, Kane and I had an interesting discussion. How do you control a mortal who does not fear death?” Reginald’s eyes lit up. “You see, it’s fear that holds your kind back. Not so long ago, more of you were quite fearless. Then the ones like you show up. Like a briar in the skin between our toes. Every step we take, the nagging is there. It’s aggravating. Especially when it’s so hard to remove. Like you, brother.”
The rail vibrated beneath Smoke’s neck.
Reginald turned his head. “I think a train is coming. Isn’t that quaint?”
Straining, Smoke tried to speak.
Turning his ear, Reginald leaned down, relaxed his grip. “Go ahead. Say what you have to say, smartass.”
Puffing for breath, Smoke said through his busted-up face, “It makes me think of one of my favorite movies.” He regurgitated a supervitamin, one of the ones with a special coating Mal had made for him so it wouldn’t dissolve. He crunched down on the pill and swallowed it again, saying, “It’s called Dark Territory.”
“Never heard of it, brother.”
“Quit calling me that.”
“The truth hurts, doesn’t it, John.” Reginald watched the distant train clatter down the tracks. “Hmmm, that’s a slow one. But we might just have to take it.”
The supervitamin kicked in. The blood in Smoke’s veins caught fire. His heart pumped like a steam engine’s wheels turning. Against Reginald’s great strength, his neck popped up. He said, “Let me tell you about Dark Territory first. It’s about this Navy SEAL named Ryback. A SEAL like I used to be.” He took Reginald’s wrists and shoved them away.
Reginald’s lips curled back. Astonished, he said, “How are you doing that?”
In one fluid move, Smoke bent Reginald’s wrists backward. It sent the shifter back on his heels. Smoke found himself free of the monstrous man. He sprang to his feet. “You see, Ryback is a master of aikido, a real bone breaker.”
“I’m well aware of what aikido is.” Reginald sneered. “It won’t do you any good against the likes of me.”
“Let’s find out.”
Fluid as water spiraling down, Smoke attacked.
Reginald tore into him. The bigger, stronger version of Smoke let loose with savagery.
Smoke moved with the prowess of a jungle cat. A flurry of punches and slaps peppered Reginald’s eyes.
The shifter now seemed determined to tear Smoke apart. He grabbed Smoke and body slammed him on the ground.
But Smoke popped up to his feet, locked up Reginald’s arm, and cracked it back. The elbow snapped.
Reginald howled.
Smoke shattered the doppelganger’s knee with a stiff, powerful kick.
Reginald dropped.
Smoke put the shifter in a headlock.
Tearing at Smoke’s arms, the doppelganger said, “My bones mend quicker than you can breathe. Your little pill will wear off. How long does it last, a minute? Hahaha—urk!”
With the muscles in his arms bulging against Reginald’s supernatural might, fueled by the vitamin, Smoke cranked back. “You’re going to die, Reginald!”
Reginald twisted his hulking frame like a bucking bull.
Smoke held him fast and squeezed with all his vitamin-induced strength.
The layers of packed muscle in Reginald’s neck slackened. His fingers clawed. He swam as if he was trying to surface for air.
Pouring it on with everything he had left inside him, Smoke let out a scream, “Yaaaaaargh!”
Reginald’s spine gave. Snap! The body went slack.
Smoke let go.
Reginald lay on his back, staring up at the sky. His form reverted to that of the man Smoke had learned to hate so long ago.
The train clattered down the tracks, racing at about thirty miles an hour. Its headlamp glowed through the trees. Smoke picked up Reginald’s body and approached the tracks. He looked down at Reginald. “So you heal up pretty fast, do you? I can’t let that happen. Let me tell you about a new reality show I’m going to pitch.” He tilted Reginald up so he could see the train. “It’s called Shifter Versus Train. And you get to star in it.”
Reginald’s eyes turned into moons.
One second before the train passed, Smoke heaved Reginald in front of it.
The powerful locomotive splattered the body all over the tracks.
Smoke watched the big coal train chug by until the caboose was long out of sight. There was little to be found of Reginald. Not even his head. Feeling his energy start to drain, Smoke trudged up the hill. The climb became harder with every step. He found the SUV, gave it a look, and kept going. He needed to get back to Sid. It took more mind than muscle to make it up the hill. When he made it to the top, a luxury sedan waited with the engine running. Kane and Alliso
n were leaning against it.
Kane applauded. “I’ll be. You really are the one.” Dressed in a maroon leisure suit, he walked right toward Smoke, who raised his swollen fists.
“You might want to take a look at the last guy who messed with me.”
Kane hit him so hard the black sky turned red.
Epilogue
Sid held her pounding head. Propped up against the metal wall of the shipping container with people scurrying and moaning in the darkness, she said, “Everyone, be still. We’ll be okay.” Ears ringing, she pushed herself up. The bombs had rocked the building and knocked her out. She wasn’t sure for how long. All she knew was it was hot and stuffy, like the armpit of some hellhole.
I’ve got to get out of here.
She noted a slim crack of light through a seam in the metal. She stepped on and over some people, saying, “Excuse me.”
“Sid?” said a pesky woman’s voice.
She knew it immediately. “Asia?”
“Yes. What have you gotten me into now? Why do I feel so sick? Ugh! I feel like I’m surrounded by giant fish.”
“You’re in a shipping container,” Sid said.
“Damn, I knew it. That’s how I got over here in the first place.” Asia sighed. “What the hell am I doing in a giant sardine can?”
“It’s a long story. At least your mouth made a full recovery.” Sid found the handle of the container door. She shoved the lever up. It was stuck.
“What are you doing?”
Sid jumped. Asia had crept right up on her heels. “Geez, you’re sneaky. I’m trying to open this door.”
“Let me help.” Asia’s hands found Sid’s and started toggling the handle. The mechanism gave. They pulled the lever.
Sid put her shoulder into the door. It cracked open a foot. Cool air kissed her sweat-drenched face. The light she’d seen came from a lone skylight that still gleamed among the rubble. Piles of building lurked up all around. Sid squeezed through, with Asia on her tail.
Asia’s jaw hung. “Was there an earthquake or something?”
“It’s a long story.”
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