by Sean Davies
Gaius shook his head slowly but his face was devoid of emotion and completely unreadable, and Chaz glowered angrily and shuffled on the spot.
Genevieve nodded and continued her stream of fake tears. “Chloe died in my arms before I could get her inside the hospital,” she lied, “and it’s all his fault!” she screamed emotionally, pointing her finger at Chaz. “He wouldn’t let me bring her back, and now… and now…” She blabbed uncontrollably while inwardly thanking Annabelle for her acting lessons.
“She got herself killed,” the angry Mage blustered as all the eyes in the room turned on him. “She wasn’t good enough to be saved.”
Seth let go of Genevieve, and only she had the reflexes to see him cross the room in a blur of agile fury. His fist connected with Chaz’s flustered face a fraction of a second later, sending him slamming into the stone wall and causing a Golden Fangs banner to fall onto his writhing body. The banner went up in flames and Chaz began to stand up, wreathed in a shield of fire.
“You dumb fuck!” Seth said as he kicked Chaz in the stomach, completely ignoring the barrier of flames even as they licked his jeans. “You cost me a fucking Book Wielder!”
The fiery shield vanished and Chaz wheezed, trying to say something, but he could barely breathe.
“What was that?” Seth said cupping his hand to his ear in a mocking fashion. “What was that?! Oh, you just volunteered to find, recruit, and personally serve our next BW, didn’t you?”
Chaz groaned an acknowledgement as he clutched his stomach and slowly rose to his feet.
“Good, we’ll discuss this again in more detail after the attack,” Seth said angrily.
“Attack?” Genie wiped away her tears. “Are we going after the Morriganigh tonight?!” she asked in shock, wishing she’d paid more attention to the deliberately vague messages on her answer phone.
“We’ve been waiting on you,” Gaius began, with the tiniest hint of a smirk. “But considering the recent tragedy, your delay is understandable.”
Seth paced the room and put his hands through his spikey golden hair. “Right, right, the attack,” he said, trying to compose himself. “You, me, dipshit Chaz, and some of our quietest killers are heading over to the Ironthorn office, so I’d change out of that sexy dress unless you want it to get ruined.”
Genevieve nodded and began psyching herself up. “I’ll get changed in the security area and meet you in the carpark.”
“Good, you’re riding with me,” Seth said proudly. “We’re going to cut them off from the outside world, storm in, and kill our way to the top. Gaius and Archie are holding the fort here just in case they hit us while we’re hittin’ them, and Scythe and her peeps are making sure our half of Woodsholme is secure.”
“Best of luck,” Gaius said with a sadistic glimmer in his yellow eyes.
As everyone began to disperse and Chaz scuttled moodily out of the War Room, Archie cleared his throat. “Genevieve the slayer, you got a sec?”
“Don’t keep her for long,” Seth said, pointing a finger at his old friend. “We’re already behind schedule, and she still needs to get changed.”
Genevieve walked over to the map table and Archie watched the door, making sure that everyone had left before speaking.
“That was a nice thing you did for Chloe,” he said, giving her an amused look.
Genie gasped, wondering how the bulky Vampire knew what she’d done, until the pieces put themselves together in her sharp mind. “You’re working with the Trinity?!” she asked in a shrill whisper.
Archie put a finger to his lips. “I wouldn’t say that. I just feed them bits of info here and there, you know, to keep ‘em off our backs. You know what Seth and Chaz are like, their tempers have been getting ‘em into trouble since we were little.”
“So you secretly handle the damage control for them?” Genie asked, still gobsmacked by the revelation.
“Yep, someone’s got to,” he replied with a smile. “But I’ve got to say one little thing to you, Genevieve…”
“Which is?” she asked dubiously.
“Fuck with the gang again, and you won’t live long enough to regret it,” he said evilly. “Book Wielders don’t grow on trees, and even though she was shit we still had a use for Chloe.”
“And here’s me thinking that you were actually a decent person after all,” Genie replied, pursing her lips in disappointment.
Archie laughed playfully. “And I thought you were meant to be clever. Now clear off, they’re waiting on you.”
Genevieve left Archie at the table and walked quickly to her bunk in the security section. She carefully slid herself out of her expensive red dress, put on some tactical black clothing, and equipped her katana and throwing knives. She walked over to a weapon locker, fixed a silencer to a pistol, and holstered it on her hip before joining Seth in the carpark.
The night had become heavily overcast with moody dark clouds, in a severe contrast with the gloriously sunny day, broken only by two large hazy patches of white light where the illumination of the twin moons was unsuccessfully attempting to pierce through the gloomy sky.
She met Goldfang in his impressive white jeep and together they watched the vehicles leave Fort Dominia at staggered times. The Golden Fangs would take different routes and park in multiple discreet locations on the edges of the rustic city of Gaelliard, while Genie and Seth would leave last and meet the others nearby the Ironthorn Private Security offices.
Genevieve noticed that Seth hadn’t taken much care to look inconspicuous. He was in a tight white vest top and skinny jeans, torn in just the right places to make them less restrictive while appearing fashionable. A pair of black shoes and a trench coat was the closest effort he’d made to blend in with the night. He hadn’t even put a hat over his spikey gold-coloured hair.
“You looking forward to sinking your fangs into some Morriganigh throats tonight?” Seth asked with a smirk as they neared the historic port city.
“You know it,” Genevieve replied honestly.
The answers and justice she sought were so close that she could almost taste them. Where she went from there, Genevieve honestly didn’t know. She could leave the gang and defect to the Trinity or Shadow Circle, but she was starting to pull some real influence amongst the Golden Fangs and had to admit she enjoyed the feeling. Genevieve also didn’t like the idea of letting Gaius down and leaving the girls in the brothel behind.
“Just think,” Seth mused wistfully, “after tonight we’ll control one third of the Imperian underworld… I’m thinking we surprise ‘em all and take Beachhead Two in Tropica next. You know, to control the tobacco and cannabis shipments. The Shadow Circle and Triumvir of Sorrow can kill each other for central and western Imperia for a bit while we sun it up on the beach.”
Genie chuckled. “That does sound good,” she admitted, and after meeting some of the Shadow Circle she definitely wasn’t in a hurry to fight them, especially as Veronica had been so kind and helpful. “We’d need a lot more Sunshield potions, though,” she said dreamily, first picturing the beach and then wondering how Chloe was settling in with the Trinity.
“You’ll get over Chloe,” Seth said in some close approximation to sympathy, misreading her reverie completely. “These things happen, but I guarantee Chaz won’t be costing us another BW, that’s for sure.”
Genevieve nodded slowly and sadly, and then put on a fake sniffle for good measure.
They parked up on the curb next to some small, old-fashioned shops and walked together towards the docks where the buildings became more modern and built-up. A crackling noise sounded from Seth’s trench coat and he quickly pulled out a small walkie-talkie.
“Boss – the outside’s clear, alarms are off, and the landline’s been cut,” a rough sounding gang member said through the walkie-talkie.
“Good. Get in place, we’re almost there,” Seth said back, flashing his gold-plated fangs as he smiled greedily.
They headed to an alleyway near the office blo
ck where the gang was waiting. Genevieve counted twenty in total, most of whom were Vampires and Werewolves. Chaz and another Mage were radiating green energy from their hands in the direction of some dead Ironthorn guards on the floor, and the humans (along with their clothing) quickly shrivelled and decayed until they were nothing more than piles of dust.
Seth began dividing the Golden Fangs into groups. He sent nine members to break in through the rear, left two members outside to act as spotters, and the remainder – including himself, Chaz and Genie – would lead the frontal attack.
Genevieve looked up at the unattractive rectangular block of a building and studied its windows. It seemed that every light in the offices was turned on, but she couldn’t make anything out beyond the blinds, and Genie hoped that they’d brought enough people to take all the Morriganigh down.
Chaz walked alongside Genevieve and Seth, and both Vampires could feel the weight of his foul mood. However, the Mage’s morale improved considerably when they all burst through the front doors and he hurled a fistful of fire into an Ironthorn guard’s chest.
Genevieve’s reflexes spiked, and as bullets, blades and magic flew through the building’s lobby she rapidly assessed the situation.
There were a handful of human guards in the lobby, reaching for their pistols as they tried to get to cover behind a leather sofa and a curved reception desk. Genevieve spotted one crouching by a doorway beside the desk, raising a walkie-talkie to his ear. She leapt across the room, drew her Katana, and plunged it down through the man’s neck and into his chest. Genie sprang through the doorway and ran down a corridor, eager to reach the Morriganigh’s elusive leaders before Seth and the other Golden Fangs beat her to it. She didn’t want them to die before she got her say.
Another guard fell to her throwing knives as she anxiously looked for Supernatural reinforcements, however the lower offices appeared empty. Without any incident, Genevieve found a stairwell and raced up the steps to the top of the building, completely ignoring the plan to clear each floor methodically. She gasped as Seth appeared beside her on the forth and topmost floor.
“I thought you’d go astray,” he chuckled menacingly.
“Shit, you scared me!” Genevieve exhaled.
“Want all the glory for yourself, don’t ya, slayer?” He nudged her playfully before they positioned themselves beside the stairwell door.
“Uh huh, what of it?” she lied with a nonchalant shrug.
“You’re ballsy and I like it,” Seth complimented, “but you’re gonna need some back-up with these fucks. Don’t let your skill go to ya head.”
Genevieve forced a smile. “Okay, thanks Seth.”
“We haven’t run into any Supernaturals yet, only humans,” Seth explained quietly. “So they must all be up here, get ready for some serious action.”
Genevieve took a deep, calming breath and then gestured towards the door. Seth readied a combat knife and his silenced pistol, and then kicked the door down, screaming with fury as he did so. However, not a soul greeted them on the top floor, and Seth lowered his weapons in a mixture of embarrassment and confusion. Genie kept her guard up as she moved beside Seth, ready for an ambush, but as they combed through the illuminated rooms it was clear that they were all alone.
They broke into the Managing Director’s office, still half-expecting the shady Morriganigh to pop out at the last moment, but it too was just as empty as the rest of the fourth floor. A fine desk and three chairs occupied half of the room, and around it was potted plants, filing cabinets, a large safe, a coffee machine and a water dispenser, but nothing suspect except for a single piece of green paper that caught Genie’s eye.
Seth received several messages via the walkie-talkie confirming that each floor had been emptied, and he ordered the gang members to meet them on the top floor.
“What the fuck is going on here?!” Seth shouted as he smashed a tray of old coffee mugs against the wall.
Genevieve studied the paper in her hands and couldn’t believe what she was seeing. A charcoal drawing of three crows were flying around one sentence, written in artistically interwoven calligraphy.
Seth snatched the paper from her hands and read it aloud. “Better luck next time… yours truly, The Three.”
Goldfang crumpled the paper, yelled, and began trashing the Managing Director’s office as Genie stood on in shock.
“They outsmarted me,” she gasped. “They knew what we were up to from the start…”
Seth paused his rampage to answer his walkie-talkie. “What?!” he yelled violently.
“Boss, boss, get out of there quick,” the walkie-talkie shrieked. “MPKs are coming, we’ve had to run!”
Genie assumed it was the spotters outside that had made the call, and she realised the situation had just grown ten times worse.
“The Morriganigh have set us up!” she yelled in anger and disbelief.
Seth smacked the desk so hard that it snapped in two. “Fuck, fuck, fuck!”
The other members of the gang were pouring onto the fourth floor as Seth and Genie rushed into a conference room that overlooked the front of the street. Genie opened the blinds and saw flashing red lights rushing down the city’s small roads. She could see other vehicles trying to outpace the big Military Peace Keeper vans and strained her eyes to make them out in better detail. They were white vans with a variant of the original Imperian banner painted on their sides.
Chaz bowled into the room. “Something ain’t right, Seth, there’s not a Vampire, Werewolf, or Mage in sight.” He noticed the flashing lights and quickly rushed to the window.
“They called the media, too,” Genevieve said through gritted teeth.
A few other gang members floated in and peered nervously out of the window, and news quickly spread that the gang was surrounded. On the ground, MPKs in combat armour stormed out of the back of the black and red vans, armed with rifles, shotguns, rectangular bulletproof shields, hatchets, and a multitude of grenades. Around them, the reporters of the Imperian news service set up their large clunky cameras and prepared to follow the troopers.
Seth let out a large defeated sigh. “There’s gonna be no chance of bribing our way out of this one.”
“This set-up is her fault!” Chaz said, pointing his finger in Genevieve’s face accusingly.
Genevieve smacked his hand away. “Fuck you, you wanted to storm this place and the depot, remember?”
Seth started to trash the conference table and chairs, and Chaz and Genie immediately shut up.
“What are we gonna do?!” he roared in frustration.
“We fight our way out!” Chaz said eagerly, making a fist with his hand. “It’s the Golden Fang way!”
“Or we go off the roof,” Genie challenged. “It’s the smart way out that also keeps us from starting Shadow War number two, and keeps us slightly off the Trinity’s radar.” She groaned, wondering if they were tuning into the news and already prepping their Sanctium supplies.
“Come on, Seth,” Chaz pressed. “They’re only human, and the Trinity have left us alone so far. They’ve got no real power, you know they’re bluffing!”
Seth grunted in frustration and destroyed another chair. He began shaking his head. “No, no, this is too far. We can’t. We’ve got to go off the roof.”
Genie sighed with relief, but Chaz bellowed in anger.
“How can you be siding with her again?!” the Mage demanded in exasperation. “After she got us in this fucking mess in the first place?!”
“Watch your fucking tongue!” Seth growled. “You know we can’t kill our way out of this one!”
“How am I going to get off the roof?!” Chaz said, throwing his arms into the air. “I’m a Mage, I can’t fly!”
Seth shrugged and grunted. “We’ll get you carried or something, chill the fuck out.”
“No.” Chaz shook his head as he seethed with rage. “No, I’ve had enough of this bullshit. You keep listening to that snake Gaius and his pet whore here. She’s no
t your sister all grown-up – she’s not Elissa, you dumb fuck!”
“Careful now…” Seth warned icily.
Genevieve’s eyes went wide; she finally knew why Seth had taken a vested interest in her in the first place, and who she reminded him of. It also made Genie’s spine shiver when she acknowledged the fact that Seth wanted to sleep with her despite the family resemblance. She wondered just how much the childhood ordeal with the Feral Mage, and the hasty transformation from human boy to Vampire man, had scarred his mind.
“We do it our way, the Golden Fang way, or I start talking. Who knows what else could slip off my tongue…” Chaz threatened.
Seth looked at Genevieve lovingly and sighed. “You cost me a Book Wielder, you’re not costing me her, too.”
“Then let’s get downstairs and kick some ass,” Chaz cheered thuggishly.
The angry Mage’s blood and brains splattered against the conference room quicker than even Genevieve could register. Seth stood next to Chaz’s falling corpse with his arm outstretched, holding his smoking silenced pistol where Seth’s head had been an instant beforehand. Genie and the other Golden Fangs gasped and stood in stony silence as Chaz’s lifeless body smacked onto the floor.
Seth had his pistol to the forehead of the other Mage a second later. “Got a problem with being carried? Got a fucking problem, huh?!” he screamed as he prodded the poor gang member in the head with the barrel of his gun.
“No boss, no problem at all, boss!” the Mage blubbered like a frightened child.
“Good,” Seth said loudly. “Good. Blow the stairwell, slow them down a bit, then meet us up top.”
The Mage was gone in a flash, and as the roar of an explosion bellowed through the offices, Seth eyed his dead friend before he dug a test-tube of Rushdust out of his own trench coat, threw away the stopper, tilted his head back and poured the whole thing into his nose. He shuddered all over and grabbed hold of one of Chaz’s legs.
“Everyone, get the fuck upstairs, or stay here and die,” he ordered with bloodshot eyes.
“What are you doing?” Genevieve asked warily as she followed him into the hallway and back into the Managing Director’s office. She was still dazed by the inwardly violent turn of events and found it hard to process what had happened properly.