That answer seemed to satisfy Paskins and Ben left.
Ben knew where he was going but had no idea if what he hoped to find would be there. It was a hope and a prayer. He worried what he might have to do if he couldn’t find whom he was looking for.
Night had completely fallen on Chicago, not that you could tell. Stores and restaurants lit the night with their bright signs and illuminated store fronts. Ben weaved his way through the milling crowds of people still thick at this hour. His pace was brisk as he quickly made his way to his usual corner, the one he waited at day in and day out while trying to find the one who was responsible for the death of that man in Sacramento. The tiger. Instead, he found more than he bargained for.
By the time he reached his corner, the crowds had thinned somewhat. The Magnificent Mile was still vibrant with life. The soft thrumming of music could be heard from a nearby establishment. Its muted sound barely reached Ben as he began scanning the people who were passing by or paused in front of various buildings.
His gaze whipped from one face to the other, frantic to find those he sought. The problem, of course, he had no idea whom he searched for. The tiger or the wolf could be standing right next to him and he would never realize unless they changed.
A sharp yelp brought his head around as he saw a woman trying to duck around a man and get to the side, away from a dark alleyway they passed. The look of confusion on the man’s face told Ben, whatever spooked the woman, the man had not noticed. The woman’s eyes were wide, the whites looked enormous even from where Ben stood. Whatever she saw or heard coming from the alleyway clearly frightened her.
Ben felt elated. One of them was there. He knew it!
Darting across the street, Ben approached the alley. A lone light sat high upon one of the walls in the alley. Its warm yellowish light gave scant illumination in the alley. Barely a car’s width wide, the alley was empty except for a lone dumpster on the right and a metalwork staircase which switch-backed up the side of the building on the left. Peering into the gloom of the alley, Ben saw nothing to have caused any fright.
Or so he thought at first. A shadow detached itself from beside the dumpster.
Yellow orbs stared at him, caught him, and held him as if by some magical will. Try as he might, he couldn’t look away. A deep growl rolled out from the alley, chilling Ben to the bone. The only word Ben could think of to describe the sound was . . . menacing.
Shaking his head to clear it and regain some control over his body, Ben began to back away from the alley. The shadow matched his speed and began to take shape. Ben had seen it before. He had seen it in a shaky, hand-held video of a witness to the battle which took place here not too long ago. The bright yellow eyes were set deep within the canine-shaped head. Two, swept-backed ears rose to either side of the head; deep brown fur coated them and came to a sharp tuft at their crest.
The creature loomed in the alley, its bulk apparent and its muscles sharp and defined. Strangely, as it approached Ben, it would lower itself to use its clawed hands to propel it forward before standing up slightly, only to repeat the process after a step or two bipedally.
This was the wolf. Supposedly one of the good guys, but Ben wasn’t getting a good guy vibe from him now. In fact, Ben got an altogether different vibe.
Ben continued to back away. The wolf loped out of the alley and was now fully visible and a sight to behold. This beast was powerful and scary. Yellowish-tinged fangs showed, their sharp points visible as the wolf kept its mouth parted slightly, as if always ready to take a bite.
There were gasps and shouts from bystanders, even a cheer. Ben wondered if they were seeing this thing as he saw it. Not the hero who saved that woman from the boar, but an animal. A hungry animal currently stalked its prey. And its prey was Ben.
Ben knew, at any moment, this beast would pounce on him, and there was quite literally nothing he could do about it. He never felt so helpless in his life. He kept watch on the wolf, waiting for some sign it would attack. His best bet would be to do his best to avoid the initial lunge and to try to get away as quickly as he could. It was a lousy plan, and Ben knew it, but what else could he do?
Looking left and right, he desperately sought a way out as this creature — this beast came closer and closer. It seemed the crowd who gathered around came to the same conclusion as he, and were now, if not outright fleeing, moving away briskly.
The wolf came to a halt, and Ben froze as well. Then, as if in slow motion, the creature’s knees bent slightly, and it lunged. Ben belatedly thought to reach for his gun, knowing it was too late. The wolf’s maw stretched wide to tear into him and Ben flinched back as death flew at him.
Chapter Eight
Ben could do little as the beast descended on him, when out of the darkness, a missile of orange and black slammed into it.
Ben watched as the wolf’s body tumbled and bounced a dozen feet or so before coming to a stop. Another figure rolled after it but bounded back up to land on its feet. Easily a head taller than Ben, stood a creature, sleek of body, yet powerful. Its arms and legs were corded with muscles and covered in fur of orange and black. It faced away from Ben, but he knew from the videos its belly was covered with white fur. He didn’t need to see it from the front. He knew this was the tiger he searched for. But why did she fight the wolf?
Kat left the hotel they were staying at with her duffle bag thrown over her shoulder. As quickly as she could, she made her way downtown to the Magnificent Mile, the place of her earlier fight with the Boar. Night rolled in and darkness tried desperately to overcome the bright lights of the city.
Kat walked in her own darkness.
Regret and guilt darkened her mood as she moved fluidly, seemingly unaware of the crowds of people. Despite knowing, rationally, she wasn’t at fault, she still could not shake the feeling she should have done something else that night in the hospital. She had abandoned Sarah to that . . . monster. Yes, she did so because Sarah pleaded with her to get Clint out of there. And yes, if they stayed, they likely would have died at the hands of the Boar and his friends. But knowing this, it still didn’t make her feel any less horrible for leaving. Especially after Sylvanis told them Sarah now had to do everything the boar told her to do.
Kat interacted enough with that creature to guess what the sick fuck would do to Sarah. She left her to that fate. Maybe she would have died trying to fight the Boar that night, but maybe she could have ended him and freed Sarah. Now, they would never know. All they did know is the Boar would take full advantage of the control over Sarah.
Kat’s face contorted as anger flowed through her at the thought. After a moment. A long moment. She unclenched her fists and ceased grinding her teeth and took a deep breath. This recrimination would not help Clint. Clint was the key. She needed to find him and save him. Saving him would, in some small part, redeem her from failing to save Sarah.
Sarah isn’t dead, she reminded herself. They would save her. They would free her from the Boar. Kat would rip that monster’s heart out to make sure.
Before she knew it, she was downtown and standing on a corner of Chicago’s famous Magnificent Mile. It was night, but people were still prevalent, walking up and down the main drag, laughing and talking loudly. Kat envied them. There was a war coming and they were oblivious to it. With ignorance came peace. She no longer had that luxury. She was now a soldier in a war to save the lives these people took for granted.
Kat stood for a time on the corner and watched people as they passed. Occasionally she sniffed the air for some sign of the smell that came from someone with lycanthropy. There was a hint. A whisper of a scent. Something of an echo of their presence here, or perhaps others; then it passed, and it was no longer here.
Kat’s lips went straight and all but disappeared as she pondered what to do next. She needed a new perspective. A different view.
Turning, she spotted an alley not far off and made for it. There were two iron stairs on either side of the alley leading to the to
ps of the buildings. Trash and loose papers lay strewn upon the cobbled stone roadway here, though there were several dumpsters sporadically placed up and down the alley. A light hung above a doorway halfway down and Kat made for it. The door, a dark black metal thing, sat back from the outside wall creating a little alcove big enough for her to fit in.
Kat ducked into it and peered out, looking left and right. There was no one in the alley and as far as she could tell, no one saw her enter this doorway. Satisfied, Kat disrobed and put her clothes into her duffle. Within seconds, Kat shifted to her tiger form, tossed the duffle back over her shoulder and quickly mounted the stairs to the roof of one of the buildings.
Stepping over to the edge, Kat scanned the street below. People flowed beneath her, like tiny paper boats down a stream. Using her ability to see in the dark, she searched other alleys she could see from here.
Nothing.
She believed Clint would come here. It was the last place they saw the Boar and so, the best place to start to look for him. It was a long shot, but Clint wasn’t thinking straight.
Kat hoped she could get through to him. She had seen him the night Sylvanis told him about Sarah and the Boar. She had seen his anger. His rage. It had been feral. Untamed. Uncontrollable. She wasn’t sure she could get past that to help him see reason.
She didn’t have a choice. Kat needed to make this right.
Darting to the far side of the building, she leaped. Flying through the air, she easily made it to the next roof over. Not allowing herself to slow she took the next jump and the next one in rapid succession. Before the fourth jump she paused before leaping, needing to not only jump some distance, but also, to gain altitude as the next building sat slightly higher than the one she was on.
Backing up to the far side, she dropped into her runner’s stance and took a slow breath in before pushing off with her bent leg, propelling herself forward. Like a bullet she shot across the rooftop. There was a slight lip on the edge, and she planted her foot on its top before catapulting herself across to the next building. Soaring across the distance she realized she wasn’t going to make it.
“Oh, fuck!”
The building rapidly approached, and she tucked into a ball pitching her downward. It was enough. She crashed through a window amid screams and cries of alarm. Kat kept herself wrapped in a ball as she rolled across the floor of a bedroom in an apartment complex. Slamming into the far wall, her momentum slowed as her body punched through the wall and into another wall on the opposite side of the hallway.
Scrambling and crying came from the room she rolled through, but Kat didn’t bother to try and figure out what they were about as she scrambled up and darted down the hall. Thankfully, the hall led to an open floor plan room. A kitchen, dining area and family room were all visible, but more importantly, so was the front door.
Crossing the room quickly, Kat threw open the door and entered the hall. A short distance away sat the stairs for the complex, which should, Kat hoped, lead her back onto the roof. A gasp behind her alerted her she was not alone in the hall. Turning she caught sight of a mother, clutching her little girl to her. Fear was evident upon the woman’s face and a mix of fear and wonderment was shown upon the girl’s.
Kat stared at them, and they stared at her. Kat knew she was a frightening sight, and frankly, there was little she could do that would not inadvertently frighten them more, so she turned and fled down the hall toward the stairs. With any luck, since she didn’t attack them, they would understand she was not a threat.
She could hope, anyway.
Making her way back to the rooftops, she continued to get some distance from the Magnificent Mile. Though now, she stopped trying to make jumps she didn’t think she could make. Her plan was to move away from the Mile and create a search radius moving closer and closer. Hopefully, if Clint was here, she would leave him no way to avoid her detection.
Hours passed as she spiraled her way back toward the Mile. Pausing occasionally, Kat would sniff the air, hoping to catch a scent which would lead to Clint, but still, nothing.
It neared midnight when she again approached the Mile. Her dark mood which had fled after she took to the rooftops, returned. She had been unsuccessful in locating any indication of Clint. Because of this, she hadn’t noticed anything going on the streets below her until she heard a scream.
At the mouth of an alley, she saw a crowd gathering, all looking toward what now exited. Clint! His powerful Were-form emerged from the darkened alley. Deliberately, he approached a man in black slacks and a light blue jacket. He was a middling looking man, with short, brown hair, a slight bald spot peeking out at the back. She couldn’t make out any of his features from atop the building, but she could imagine they showed a great deal of fear.
Clint in no way appeared to be approaching this man in a friendly manner. If Kat had to guess, this man was mere moments away from getting killed.
Kat acted.
Leaping from the roof of the building, she flew toward a building on the opposite side of the alley. The moment she hit the wall, she bunched her legs and thrust out, launching herself back toward the building she had left. She continued this maneuver, in a downward trajectory. When at last she felt she could make a landing safely, she allowed herself to drop straight down.
Landing with an audible thud, the pavement buckled, and sent spiderweb-like cracks away from the point of impact. Kat took no notice as she was on the move the moment she hit. Darting out of the alley she had landed in, she sped across the distance to where Clint and the man faced off. The people who had been gathered around earlier were quickly dispersing as they realized this was not the wolf hero from the other day. This was a killer.
Kat willed herself to go faster and was rewarded by a sudden burst of extra speed. As she closed the distance, she saw Clint’s knees bend. She reached them as he attacked. Launching herself on an intercept course, she slammed into him and they both went tumbling away.
Clint, who had been completely caught off guard by her attack bounced and rolled farther than Kat, who had quickly regained her feet and rolled into a crouch. She would fight him, if necessary, but she hoped to reason with him if she could.
She wondered at her chances fighting him. Clint was physically stronger than her, but she, faster and had years of practice fighting, not to mention the training she had done in her hybrid form. For Clint, all of this was still relatively new. He had only changed, on purpose, for the first time, a short while ago.
Kat liked her chances in a fight, but she hoped it wouldn’t come to that.
A low growl, deep and reverberating rolled out from Clint, and she began to wonder if talking would be an option.
The Wolf rose to his full height and turned toward her. With his arms slightly held out and his clawed hands splayed, their sharp tips visible in the streetlights, Kat didn’t recognize Clint at all.
“Oh shit,” she muttered, readying herself for a fight.
The Wolf came at her.
“CLINT!” Kat shouted at him as she worked vigorously to block his onslaught. Using her arms, she caught each of his attacks at his wrists, keeping those sharp claws away from her flesh.
He gave no sign he registered her calling his name as his attacks didn’t slow. Fortunately, he attacked her with wild abandon, and she could, without difficulty, parry or avoid them as necessary. Unexpectedly, he slashed at her with both of his claws, sweeping them in at her from opposite sides. Stepping in slightly so she could effectively take the hit on her forearms, she realized her mistake a little too late.
The wolf whipped his head forward and sank his teeth into her shoulder. Kat cried out. He swung his head with such force she was thrown from him, his fangs shredding her flesh. She could feel her pectoral and trapezius muscles tear and her right clavicle snap.
By the time she landed and regained her feet though, the damage had been repaired. Growling she stared at the Wolf.
“O.K.” she grunted. “No more Mr. Nice Guy
.”
Kat charged the Wolf. Up until now, she had been on the defensive. Hoping against hope the longer she was in proximity with him, Clint would somehow resurface, but it wasn’t working. So, now she would try and incapacitate him, or at least, beat some sense into him.
The Wolf hunkered down, waiting for her to clash with him, but that wasn’t how Kat did things. As soon as she saw him brace for her impact, she launched herself high, using her strong leg muscles to send her soaring over him. Landing behind him, she had learned her lesson from fighting the boar, and crouched the moment she hit the ground. She was rewarded by her quick thinking as she sensed, rather than saw, the wolf’s backhand sail over her head.
Spinning around in her crouch, she sprung forward past his legs, catching his ankle as she passed. Her momentum yanked the wolf off his feet, but that wasn’t why she had done it. Savagely, she took her free hand and buried her claws into the back of the wolf’s leg and with all the strength she could muster, she grabbed and yanked, tearing his quad muscle out, all the way down to his Achilles tendon which she proceeded to tear away from his bone.
A pained howl erupted from the Wolf and it tore at Kat’s heart. She hadn’t wished to cause Clint any pain, but he had left her no other choice. As quick as a cat, Kat pounced. She pummeled him repeatedly; her strong powerful blows rocked his head back to slam against the pavement. Caught between trying to clutch his destroyed hamstring and blocking her punches, the Wolf could do neither effectively.
Kat rained down punches upon the Wolf’s face. She could see bones break in his face and could hear the breaking sound of his skull upon the pavement, but she wouldn’t let up. She needed him to lose consciousness, if that was possible. She wasn’t sure, but she remained relentless in her attacks.
Blow after blow slammed into the wolf and Kat wondered how much more he could take. She had her answer shortly. With a sudden burst of strength, the wolf grabbed her about the waist and launched her off him.
The Gathering Page 8