by Jamie Davis
Clark nodded a thank you and stepped inside.
Miranda followed, then her hand snapped out to grab his shoulder. “Stop, there are wards in here. I didn’t pick up on them from outside. Don’t move.”
“What kind of wards?” Clark asked. He shifted his eyes into the limited amount of the magical spectrum he could see as he scanned the room. “I can’t see anything.”
“Neither can I, not with my eyes, but some sort of magic is in play here. It’s connected to something or someone on one of the floors above us.”
“Can you dispel it or defuse it from doing whatever it’s supposed to do? I don’t want to get fried by a rain of fire or something like that.”
Miranda paused for a few seconds before she answered. “If I dispel it, whoever is connected will surely know and wonder who shut it down. I can try to create a sort of bubble around us that keeps it from activating, at least in theory. I’ve never done anything like that before.”
Taylor leaned in from behind them, still holding the door partially open. “Maybe we should just dash across to the elevators and hope for the best. It might just be a warning spell or something, in which case whoever cast it already knows we’re here.”
“Let’s hope not, kid,” Clark said. “Otherwise, we’re going to be facing a lot more than a few werewolves up there. I’d like to get in, locate the Fae princesses, and get out without any more fighting.”
Based on the way her shoulders sagged a little, Taylor had anticipated more action. She didn’t understand how bad this could get.
“Cast the bubble thing,” Clark said. “Let’s get going.”
Miranda’s lips moved as she spoke the spell while weaving her hands and fingers in an intricate circular pattern in the air just inside the doorway.
After about ten seconds, she held her hands up in front of her at shoulder height, palm out. She glanced at Clark and nodded.
Taking a deep breath as if he were about to plunge underwater, Clark strode into the lobby. He didn’t feel or sense anything to indicate they’d tripped an alarm.
He gestured to Miranda, who was right behind him, and to Taylor, who was behind her. “Stay close together and keep your eyes open.”
The trio crossed the spacious lobby to the stairwell by the elevators. A hint of optimism Clark hadn’t felt for a long time crept into the back of his mind. The unlikely team he and the others had formed since he’d discovered Quinn reminded him of times, years before when he hadn’t been so alone in the world.
Clark allowed himself to relax just a little, relying on Miranda’s spell to both protect them and provide a hint of warning.
Unfortunately, the spell was able to do neither, at least not in time.
The three of them passed by the security desk. Clark had started reaching for the stairwell door when all four elevators behind them opened simultaneously.
Taylor shouted, “Watch out.”
Clark turned, reaching for the short sword at his waist. He never got the chance to draw it. Four enormous werewolves piled on top of him, driving him to his knees and then forward onto the floor.
He managed to roll to one side and get one arm up to block the incoming blows from the clawed hands reaching in at him. He heard Taylor scream twice. Then she fell silent. He didn’t know about Miranda, but she was surely down as well.
Preparing himself to fight to the last breath, Clark punched outward while he tried to dislodge the weight of the creatures atop him. Their claws and fangs had penetrated his meager defenses, and he started to weaken.
His balled fist met the jaw of one of the creatures, the one that had bent in to try to get to his throat. His last ounce of enhanced hunter strength went into the final desperate attack. The werewolf’s head snapped back from the strike, and his eyes lost focus as he was knocked out.
“Stop!” There was no mistaking the command in the strange, amplified voice coming through the speakers in the ceiling. “Take them alive and bring them to me. I want to meet the ones who’ve done so much to thwart my plans.”
The clawed hands stopped trying to rip him apart, instead grabbing his arms and pinning them to his sides as the shifters lifted him to his feet. Clark struggled to kick those holding him, then something struck his head from behind twice in rapid succession. Clark’s part of this fight ended in unconsciousness.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Quinn crouched beneath the desk in the corner cubicle. She didn’t know how long she’d been waiting, but it shouldn’t have taken this long to come up here and find her. Taylor knew her way around, after all.
She reached up and tapped the earpiece, waited a few seconds, and pressed it again.
Nothing.
Taking the apparatus off, Quinn checked to make sure it still had power.
The tiny green light on the inside surface of the device indicated it was still on and had enough battery life left to be working. Beyond that, she didn’t know what to do. Quinn’s experience with technology was limited to turning things on and off when they stopped working.
She did that now, cycling the tiny device’s battery pack off and back on.
The second time she did, the light blinked twice, and she picked up a faint chirp. She quickly slipped the earpiece into place again.
“Taylor, where are you guys?”
“Alas, I’m sorry to say they will not be joining you at this time.”
Whoever that was, it wasn’t Taylor. The man’s voice, even over the electronic connection, carried weight and authority.
“Who are you?”
“I guess you could say I’m your host, Quinn. That’s your name, is it not? Right now, I’d like to extend an invitation to come up to the twelfth floor and join me. Your friends are all here. I’m sure they’d like to see you. We can discuss the inconvenience you’ve caused me when you get here.”
“How do I know you won’t kill me or that my friends aren’t dead?”
“You don’t, my dear. For now, though, all I want to do is talk. I’ve heard some things about you, and I’d like to chat. I promise you’ll not be harmed until we’ve finished our conversation.”
“And if I don’t come up and join you?”
“Then I’ll kill your friends one at a time until you do. Please don’t keep me waiting. I’m not a patient man.”
The line went dead with a single click.
Damn, now what?
She wasn’t at a hundred percent right now. The werewolf earlier had injured her arm and shoulder. She could move it, but the wound was bad enough that she wasn’t sure she’d survive another fight. That would be doubly true in a battle where she took on an ancient vampire, in addition to his werewolf minions. Plus, Myles, Cindy, and the rest of the VirSync cult had to be around here somewhere, too. That was a lot to face down on her own.
But there was no way she’d leave her friends up there to die. She had to try to free them. Steeling herself, Quinn got up and walked back to the entrance to the trading offices. Soon she stood by the elevator and pressed the up button.
The doors opened right away to reveal two giant werewolves, one in each of the back corners of the elevator. The one on the left gestured to the floor in the center of the car.
Quinn nodded. If they’d wanted to kill her, they could’ve attacked her as soon as the doors opened.
“Hi, guys. I guess you’re my escorts.” Quinn forced a smile and stepped in. “I don’t suppose you’d like to tell me what to expect upstairs?”
A deep, growling chuckle was her only answer.
“Oh, well, then, let’s just get this over with.” She reached over and punched the button for the twelfth floor and turned away from the werewolves, despite the hair standing up on the back of her neck. She had to give them the idea she knew something they didn’t. Putting on an amused smile, Quinn hummed a bit of one of her favorite songs while she waited for the doors to open again. Her only defense at this point was bravado.
It wasn’t a long trip up to the next floor. The do
ors slid back to reveal Cindy, Myles Hickman, and several hulking men. Judging by the smell, they were werewolf pack members. The largest of them might even be the leader of the rogue pack. She wasn’t really sure how such things worked. She’d have to remember to ask Clark about it later.
If there was a later.
“Good morning, Quinn,” Myles said. “I’m so glad you saved us the trouble of coming down to bring you in.”
“I didn’t really have a choice, did I?”
“No, I guess you didn’t.” Myles pointed at her leg. “Cindy said your leg was quite seriously injured during your last encounter. It seems that was not the case.”
Quinn shrugged. “I don’t know what to tell you. Maybe your pet demon girl isn’t trustworthy. As you can see, my leg is just fine.”
“Your arm is not, however,” Cindy snarled. “I’m glad to see that idiot Barry managed to hurt you before you killed him, at least. I assume you’re the reason he didn’t return from his patrol?”
Quinn nodded. “He got in the way. I did to him what I do to all those who get in my way. You both should remember that.”
Myles laughed and said. “I think you have used up whatever luck you might have had tonight, girl. I wanted to go down there and kill you myself, but John has other plans. He wanted to meet this huntress he’s been hearing so much about.”
“Well, let’s not keep him waiting. I have things to do.”
“What might that be?” Myles asked. “Surely you don’t think you’re leaving this place alive, do you?”
“People have tried killing me before. It hasn’t stuck yet.”
Myles didn’t reply. Instead, he gave her a toothy grin as he gestured for her to walk beside him. Quinn fell into place, with Cindy and the four werewolves following her and Myles.
She resisted the urge to try to reach back to scratch the persistent itch between her shoulder blades that came from having so many enemies at her back.
Myles led her to a dark-paneled room with a long wooden conference table. At the far end sat a tall, thin man who had to be the vampire, John Handon. In the first three seats to the vampire’s left sat Clark, Miranda, and Taylor. Their arms were bound to the arms of the wooden chairs in which they sat. All three were gagged, as well.
They stared at her as she entered. There was fear in Miranda’s and Taylor’s faces, and anger flared in Clark’s dark eyes.
“Ah, Quinn. So good of you to join us.” The vampire pointed at her arm, bloody and hanging at her side. He licked his lips as if tasting the scent of blood in the air with a flick of his tongue. “You didn’t tell us you were injured.”
“It’s a scratch. I’ll be good as new before you know it.”
The vampire chuckled, although there was no light or mirth in his eyes. “My dear, I’d heard somehow the hunter clans were trying to re-establish themselves, despite being nearly wiped out decades ago. Clearly, the report I received about the demise of the clans was incomplete. Unless you’re not who you seem to be?”
“The hunter clans are dead and gone, Handon. I’m the start of something different. I’m a huntress. If you don’t let my friends go, I’ll be your worst nightmare.” Quinn had to keep him talking while she worked to come up with a solution. There had to be a way out of this. She was no quitter.
Handon stroked his chin for a second, then said. “You might not be the real thing, but you have mastered the hubris the hunters and others of that ilk displayed for so long. Too bad your boastful nature is misplaced.” He gestured, and two of the werewolves behind Quinn moved up and grabbed her.
Quinn let out an involuntary gasp as the one on her right dug his elongated nails into the open wounds on her arm. Her vision clouded with pain, and she struggled to hold on as things grayed out for a few seconds. She regained control of her wobbly knees and stared back at Handon, matching him glare for glare. She had to remain focused, or she’d never get out of here or rescue her friends. The first task was to keep the vampire talking.
Quinn glanced around the conference room. “What did you do to the two fae princesses? I’m surprised you don’t have them trussed up here, too.”
Handon laughed, throwing his head back, mouth open. His elongated canines were visible. “My poor, foolish girl, the capture of the fae was a ploy to demonstrate the power I hold in this region. It was done to gain a psychological advantage, nothing more. We reached an accommodation with the others soon after they were taken. I released the two fairies and allowed them to return to their little festival before you arrived.”
Quinn’s heart sank. They’d gone to all this trouble for nothing. She fumbled in her mind for something to say in response. In the end, all she did was glare at Handon and say, “Well, that’s one less thing I have to do after I finish dealing with you.”
The vampire glided around the table, shaking his head as he held Quinn’s gaze. His hand rode along the tops of the chairs behind her seated friends. “You fail to realize the seriousness of your plight, Quinn. I sense your thoughts. You still think you can fight your way out of here.”
He paused, tapping a finger on his chin in thought. “Perhaps you need a lesson to help you understand who is in charge here, Huntress.” He managed to turn the title into a sneer. “None of you will be leaving here alive. I have kept you all around this long to find out how you’ve managed to counter my underlings’ plans.”
He nodded at Myles and Cindy, who were now standing off to the side near the head of the conference table. Quinn caught the hint of fear in Myles’s eyes when Handon referred to him, and a brief moment of satisfaction coursed through her. She let Myles’s discomfort fuel the smile on her face, refusing to surrender or admit defeat.
The vampire noticed her response because he turned instead of continuing around the table in her direction. “Yes, I think an object lesson is in order. I believe you should learn first-hand what happens to those who defy me.”
He walked back behind Taylor, Miranda, and Clark, this time letting his fingers hover in the air above them, pausing for a moment over each of them. In each case, he reached down and tapped his forefinger on their heads.
Taylor jerked her head to try to avoid his touch. Miranda stared straight ahead and didn’t respond. Clark stared upward as the vampire walked behind him as if he were tracking Handon’s position, even though he couldn’t see him directly.
A desperate idea popped into Quinn’s mind. She silently brought up her HUD map of the building and the surrounding block. She was about to zoom in on her location on the map when Handon reversed his direction.
He gave her the same mirthless smile and went to stand behind Miranda.
With speed only a supernatural creature could display, he grabbed Miranda by her hair, bending her head back until she screamed in pain through the gag.
“No…” Quinn began.
Before she could finish her plea, Handon drew his index finger across the witch’s throat. His claw-like fingernail, filed to a point, painted a thin line of red as it passed over the witch’s skin.
At first, Quinn thought it was just a flesh wound, meant only to scare them.
She was wrong.
The vampire’s fingernail must’ve been razor-sharp. The incision he made across Miranda’s throat was thin because it was precise. The rapid flow of blood from the severed jugular vein stained her neck and shoulders with dark red blood as she struggled wide-eyed for a few seconds against the hand holding her head in place.
Quinn used her augmented strength to pull with all her remaining might against the two werewolves holding her. They were ready for her, and the other two shifters came forward to join their packmates in holding her still. Their grips grew tighter as she struggled in place.
Her stamina drained quickly as she kept fighting, trying to do something—anything—to reach her friend and save her. Her struggles soon left her depleted and weakened to the point where she could barely stand. Quinn never took her eyes off Miranda, though. She saw the moment the light dimmed i
n the witch’s eyes as she slipped away, death taking her.
Quinn choked back a sob, saying, “You didn’t have to do that.”
“Probably not. It was a waste of a good meal, at the very least. I thought you needed proof I was serious. The only thing you control right now is whether I kill you and your friends fast or slowly. It’s up to you, and only you.”
“What do you want to know?”
“I want you to tell me who sent you. There’s no way you infiltrated my operation at VirSync by accident. Who sent you? What other plans do they have? Tell me that, and I’ll make your deaths as fast as the witch’s. Fail, and I’ll take each of your friends apart piece by piece while you watch.”
He moved behind Taylor, grabbing her by the hair with one hand to hold her still while he tugged her right ear.
Taylor struggled and screamed in anger through her gag.
“Shall we start with this little tidbit first?” He lifted the ear, pulling hard enough to cause Taylor to try to rise in her seat to release the tension.
Quinn’s false bravado drained away as despair filled her in a sudden rush. Handon was right. He held all the cards and was playing a game far above everything she and Clark had been trying to do. Now he thought she was part of some sort of conspiracy, and she couldn’t prove him wrong. She had no way to satisfy that assumption. There was nothing she could do to stop him from pulling apart her best friend one piece at a time.
She stared forward, her weakened state causing her eyes to lose focus a little so that the HUD map, still up in her mind, and the room in front of her kept switching places as if they were two layers of transparent film.
A faint gold line at the edge of the map twinkled as it moved from foreground to background, the flickering caused by the way her vision swam. It caught her attention as if trying to tell her something.
Then she knew what it meant.
Quinn closed her eyes and drew upon the last of her reserves. She weakened further, sagging against the two pairs of strong hands that held her.