“I should go first,” Bridget said as Nadya reached the bottom of the stairs. “They won’t be alarmed to see me. I can give you a warning if there’s someone there.”
Nadya paused and thought about it. The woman could be lying to try and help save her wolfy friends from a painful death. Giving a shrug, she stepped aside and let Bridget move past her, figuring that even if that was the case, all it would mean was one more dead werewolf.
Following behind Bridget, she crouched down, moving silently up the steps, keeping her guns held at the ready. As they reached the closed door at the top of the stairs, Bridget turned and looked back at her, giving a slight nod. Nadya returned it and watched the redhead open the door and slip through, pushing it mostly closed behind her.
Nadya stepped up to it, listening hard against the door, waiting to see if she was about to get fucked.
It was only a moment before she heard muffled voices on the other side of the door. She leaned closer against the door, pressing her ear against the hard wood of it, trying to make out the words. The tone sounded casual, but that didn’t mean a whole hell of a lot.
Letting her eyes slide closed, Nadya concentrated on deciphering the voices.
One was definitely Bridget’s.
The other she didn’t recognize, which wasn’t much of a surprise, really. It was definitely male.
As she continued to listen, she understood the words more.
” – thought you were supposed to be on patrol for that Russian cunt that Remy’s after.” That was the male voice.
“Fuck that,” Bridget replied. “I was out there for an hour freezing my ass off looking for that bitch. Finally said, the hell with her and came back. The others’re still out there.”
“That’s not gonna make Remy happy, Bridget,” the male shot back, his voice cautionary.
“The fuck do I care about his happiness for, eh?” Bridget replied, clearly annoyed. “Fucker killed Doyle. Not to mention, the cocksucker’s not even a werewolf anymore. He’s a goddamn vampire. Last I checked, this clan didn’t care too much for those things, so what the fuck makes him so special?”
“Remy’s in charge now, Bridget,” the man replied, his voice still having that cautionary tone to it. “Vampire or not. You should keep that in mind, unless you want to end up just like Doyle.”
“That’s bullshit,” Bridget said, clearly angry. “You’re all just a bunch of neutered puppy dogs, ain’t ya? Well, I’m not going to keep taking his shite. And if you all aren’t going to help me take him down, I guess I’ll just have to do it my own way.”
The man’s voice seemed to become amused at Bridget’s outburst. “What, you? Against Remy and the rest of us? I had heard you red-headed Irish bitches were nuts, but I didn’t realize you lot were that fucking nuts…”
“Oh, I’m nuts, alright. I’m bloody psychotic, motherfucker,” Bridget said, her voice low but deadly. “And I’m not the only one…”
Taking that as her cue, Nadya shoved the door open and lifted her pistols up. Bridget’s back was to her, standing about two feet in front of a skinny guy with a goatee and long, brown hair. He was dressed in black slacks and a white button-up shirt.
Nadya watched his line of sight shift from Bridget over the redhead’s shoulder to Nadya. His eyes went wide with surprise. “Holy Mary, mother of fuck!”
Without even glancing behind herself, Bridget dove to the side, clearing the way for Nadya.
The Russian smirked. “Incorrect. I’m Nadya Valentina. Mother of fucking you up.”
She unloaded silver bullets from her twin pistols into his chest. Crimson flowers exploded out of the man’s white shirt as he fell backwards. By the time Nadya’s pistols clicked empty, there wasn’t any white left to the man’s shirt. He collapsed to the ground in a bloody heap, unmoving.
Reloading swiftly, Nadya slipped both guns back into her shoulder holsters and reached to her side, grabbing hold of the handle of her katana. Sliding it free of its sheath, she brought it around in front of her.
Stepping up to the currently dead werewolf, Nadya lifted the sword over her head and then brought it down swiftly. The blade cut into the man’s neck, slicing clean through it and letting his head roll away from the rest of his body.
One less werewolf she had to worry about coming back as a vampire to get revenge.
As she slid her sword back into its sheath, Nadya could hear the yells of other werewolves in the building. She looked over to Bridget to see if she had any more ideas.
Bridget had stepped up to her as she’d cut the dead werewolf’s head off. Her emerald eyes lifted up to Nadya’s as she turned back to her. The Russian’s expression and the sound of the approach of the others made it clear what she wanted to know.
“Ball room. It’s close by and plenty of open space. Won’t have to worry about getting cornered.” She quickly moved past Nadya and led the way.
Nadya followed along behind, drawing her pistols again. As she moved, she found herself thinking of only one thing and she fought the urge to chuckle.
The image of werewolves ballroom dancing that invaded her mind was just too ludicrous. She hoped they’d run across something else to kill soon so she could get rid of it.
Chapter Thirty-Four: Ball Room Blitz
Bridget led Nadya into the ballroom. As advertised, it was large with a wide-open space in the middle that would give the two of them plenty of room to cause some damage. Entering the middle, the two looked to the four entrances to the room. Nadya didn’t much like having so many ways in. They’d both have to stay alert to make sure no one snuck up behind them as they were fighting.
Bridget turned to her. “You know they’re gonna come in full glory, right?”
Nadya gave a nod. She’d expected as much.
It wouldn’t be the first time she’d had to face a full werewolf, but it would be the first time she’d face so many in their harrier states at the same time.
One down, nine to go.
“Look,” Bridget said. “I’m pretty good at fighting, but unarmed against them, the only chance I’m gonna have is if I stretch out a bit, too.”
Whether Bridget was trying to get an edge on Nadya or she was being sincere, it didn’t much matter. “Do it,” Nadya responded quickly.
The sound of the approaching werewolves grew louder. Her eyes darted from one door to the next; waiting to see which one would be smashed open first.
Behind her, she heard the sound of stretching skin and tearing fabric. Bridget grunted and groaned as her body deformed and grew. Somewhere along the way, the woman’s groans became more guttural growls. Nadya glanced back and saw a full-sized werewolf right behind her.
Now Bridget was almost a full two feet taller than Nadya. Her fur was a darker shade of red than her hair had been but her eyes were still that same shade of green. Nadya kept staring at her, waiting to see if the wolf-woman was going to attack her. Bridget stared back, but didn’t make any hostile moves. Then the sound of wood splintering diverted both of their attentions.
The door they’d come through was being forced open. Already, a hole had been torn through the wood and a thick, hairy arm had been shoved through, grabbing at the handle.
Nadya raised her pistols, ready to start shooting as soon as the beast broke through. Then she heard pounding against the door behind her. She turned her head quickly, confirming that another werewolf was at that entrance as well. Already, Bridget stalked towards the second door, waiting for her chance to pounce the werewolf on the other side.
Turning back to the original door, Nadya saw it smashed inward and had to dive to the side as it came flying past her. Rolling to her feet, Nadya turned the top half of her body towards the werewolf who was already charging her. His head was low, mouth hanging open. Saliva slopped down from his fangs and his eyes flashed with hunger and rage. Nadya fired at the monster, watching small red holes opening up over his thick arms and torso.
The werewolf howled in pain, but continued to charge.
If anything, he sped up. One of her guns clicked empty. The werewolf was still coming at her. Dropping the empty pistol and grabbing the remaining one with both hands to steady her aim, she tried to spot a good shot. She wasn’t sure how many bullets she had left in the gun and she wouldn’t have time to reload or grab for another weapon before the werewolf was on her.
So she waited for a sure thing.
The werewolf mistook Nadya’s lack of shooting for being scared stiff. Rising from his low running position, the beast leapt high into the air, intending to slam down on Nadya and snap his jaws down over her head. As he leapt, he extended his arms outwards in an attempt to make himself look even larger and frighten her more.
She wasn’t frightened.
Far from it.
The werewolf realized his mistake as he descended towards Nadya and saw the triumphant smirk on her face a moment before he saw the barrel of her gun aimed right at his exposed chest.
If he’d been able to form words in his current form, the werewolf would have muttered a resigned, “Fuck…”
As it was, all he could do was let out a loud snarl as Nadya unloaded the last two rounds in her pistol directly into his chest and clean through his rapidly beating heart.
The silver caused the organ to practically explode in his chest and by the time he smashed into the floor where Nadya had been only a moment before, he was well on the way to being a corpse.
As Nadya rose to her feet, she turned and saw that her attacker was already into his transformation back to human form. With a flurry of speed, she reloaded the pistol she was still holding and quickly snatched up the one she’d tossed aside and slammed a fresh magazine into it as well.
Confirming the first werewolf was dead she looked over to where Bridget was just in time to watch her rip the head off the werewolf that had come through the second door.
Blood spurt from the second werewolf’s neck as its twitching corpse dropped to the floor. Bridget hurled the severed head at the nearby wall. It hit with a sickening crunch, leaving a smear of blood and brain matter before the pulped skull fell to the floor.
The headless werewolf shifted back to its original human form, revealing a girl roughly Nadya’s size. The hair on her severed head that wasn’t soaked with blood was cropped short and dyed bright blue.
Nadya gave Bridget a brief thumbs up then turned away, covering the door that had already been smashed open.
It was empty for now.
Running low on ammo for her pistols, Nadya holstered them and drew her machine gun from her hip. Placing the butt of the stock against her shoulder, she held the gun at the ready, waiting for any targets to present themselves.
There should be seven more to kill, she thought.
Behind her, Bridget also waited, licking at the blood that stained her muzzle and keeping her emerald eyes on the two doors she was covering.
Suddenly, from above them, a huge chunk of ceiling came crashing down. Both Nadya and Bridget dove out of the way and spun back around to face the third werewolf to enter the room.
He was even bigger than the others.
There was really no such thing as a small werewolf, but this one made the others look like babies in comparison.
Bridget lunged at him and he turned, backhanding her and sending her flying into and through a wall. Then he turned to Nadya, growling and snapping his jaws at her.
“Ah, shit…” Nadya said, gripping her machine gun tighter and taking aim.
The thing must have been at least twelve feet tall and maybe eight feet wide. As big as the room was, with him in it, there wasn’t a whole lot of room left.
Swiping one of his long arms out at Nadya, she jumped back and squeezed the trigger on her gun, putting a few rounds into his outstretched hand. The werewolf yanked his hand back, letting out a yelp of pain.
At least I can make him cry, she thought. Maybe he’s just a big baby…
Just then, the hulking werewolf slammed both of his fists down into the floor, shattering the wood and sending a massive shock wave outwards. Nadya let out a surprised yell as she was thrown from her feet, landing on her back hard and feeling the air knocked out of her.
Coughing and trying to regain her senses, she rolled over onto her hands and knees. The werewolf grabbed hold of her ankle and yanked her towards him. The machine gun fell free from her hands and she made a desperate grab for it that came up short.
A moment later, she was lifted up into the air by her ankle.
Thoughts of her encounter with the blob creature came back to her. This time she didn’t have a bunch of grenades to hurl at the monster attacking her.
The werewolf lifted her high into the air, tilting his head back and opening his maw wide, revealing sharp, glistening fangs and a large, red tongue flicking with anticipation. For a monster as big as him, Nadya would be no more than an appetizer, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t looking forward to seeing how she’d taste.
“Not today, Fido,” Nadya said, reaching up and grabbing the pistols out of her shoulder holsters. She extended them up – or rather down – over her head, right into the werewolf’s open mouth. Starting to fire, Nadya didn’t stop until the grip on her ankle loosened.
The problem with that was it meant she fell right into the werewolf’s bloody mouth. She managed to grab hold of his snout as her lower body dangled over his jaws and into his mouth. Gripping hold of his fur hard, she flipped her legs up backwards, doing a back flip just as the werewolf snapped his mouth shut.
Landing fully on the werewolf’s snout, Nadya slid down towards the top of his head. She saw his large, angry eyes locked on her and lifted her pistols as she grew closer.
Jamming the barrels of both guns into each of the beast’s eyes, Nadya emptied the rest of her bullets into them. With a howl of pain, the werewolf flailed wildly, successfully knocking Nadya free of his head and sending her falling to the ground.
Nadya managed to hit the ground in a way that didn’t cause her too much pain and scrambled to her feet, wanting to put as much distance as possible between herself and the blinded giant werewolf.
She didn’t realize until she saw a reddish blur shoot past her that she’d gone in the direction of the wall Bridget had been thrown through. Turning back around, she saw the female werewolf latched onto the larger werewolf’s back, clawing at him heavily and snapping her jaws down on his thick neck.
Nadya wasn’t sure what Bridget was trying to do, as her attacks seemed to be – at best – only aggravating the bigger werewolf. It wasn’t until Bridget managed to get her teeth firmly sunk into the other werewolf’s neck and her clawed feet dug into his lower back that her plan became clear.
Pulling one arm back, Bridget slammed it forward. Her claws tore through the mammoth werewolf’s back and he let out another massive howl as Bridget’s hand disappeared inside him. The red-furred werewolf felt around inside, as if trying to find something, before gripping it firmly and yanking backwards.
Nadya couldn’t help smiling at the brilliant maneuver Bridget had pulled off, watching the female werewolf drop free from the larger male, holding his still beating heart in her hand. The big werewolf stumbled forward and collapsed to the ground, sending another shock wave through the hideout. Being more prepared for it this time, Nadya managed to stay on her feet.
Bridget pulped the large heart in her hand and threw it to the ground, giving it an extra stomp for good measure. Nadya watched the massive werewolf as he reverted to human form, wondering just how big the guy really was.
As the transformation finished, Nadya found herself staring in shock at the dead man. He couldn’t have been any taller than she was, and he was flabby.
Thoroughly confused as to how werewolves worked, Nadya reloaded her pistols, noticing that she only had one extra magazine for each one left. She holstered them and snagged her machine gun from the ground.
Six more to go.
Nadya hoped that there weren’t any more extra-huge ones lurking around. It was bad
enough that now they had to keep an eye on the gaping hole in the ceiling as well as the four doors that surrounded them.
What’s next? Is one gonna come up from the floor?
She cursed herself for even thinking it, letting her eyes drift down to the partially destroyed floor, waiting for something to burst up from it.
Chapter Thirty-Five: Wolves to the Slaughter
Nadya’s eyes shot up from the partially demolished floor as she heard the pounding of another werewolf heading her way. She looked to the open doorway they’d originally entered through just in time to see the newest threat charge through.
This one was almost the exact opposite of the previous mammoth-sized wolf they’d dealt with. Its diminished size didn’t make it any less dangerous, as displayed by its speed. In a flash, the creature was almost upon Nadya.
Nadya's Nights: Road to Vengeance Page 20