by Justin Sloan
This had been after Merriam had found him and told him there was another way out, so the next day he had left his old life behind and returned to her, ready to serve.
“Yeah, silver…” He looked up and noticed the other two were staring at him quizzically. “I’m not sure what effect it has on them, honestly. I read about it in fictional accounts, but the Church has yet to test it, or at least nothing was written of their attempt to do so.”
They continued on, until they reached a high point with a large drop off on one side, and on the other a wall that curved around. The storm had lessened, and he had a feeling it was less of a storm and more of a way of keeping people from the temple. Magic. Here, though they could still see no way to enter the temple, there was a small, circular area in the rocks.
As they approached, they could see that the stones surrounding the pit were actually six large statues. The one in directly in front was a dragon, and he also saw a tiger, a snake, a wolf, a lion, and a scorpion, each in a ferocious pose.
Past them, on the wall closest to the statues, a stone archway rose up at the top, as if a door should be there, but wasn’t. Instead, something was written in Sanskrit.
“I don’t suppose anyone can read that?” Mauro asked, doing his best to recall his days studying the language, in which many of the myths and legends of vampires and werewolves had been written.
The other two shook their heads, but then Destiny asked, “Does it have anything to do with fear?”
That was it! At least part of it, he could see now. “How…?”
“A lucky guess, based on the statues,” she said. “I mean, dragons, whatever. But snakes? Who doesn’t fear those, right? And each of them is a predator, in a stance like they’re ready to strike.”
“Wolves for me,” Ricky said, chuckling in a frightened way as he looked up at the wolf statue. “Good thing we’re up against nearly immortal vampires instead of wolves, right?”
“Indeed,” Mauro said with a frown, more focused on figuring out the next step here. “So, the idea is that we face our fears, perhaps.”
“Maybe…” Destiny stepped into the circle, then let out a yelp. She was staring at the ground, backing up as she reached for the blade at her hip, eyes wide with terror.
“The hell?” Ricky asked, watching her back away from nothing visible.
“Confront your fears,” Mauro said, nodding as he dropped his pack. “I was afraid of this.”
He stepped into the pit with her and she stopped, blinked, and looked confused.
“They’re gone,” she said. But when she turned to him, her eyes went wide again.
He could guess why she looked frightened this time, and was sure when Ricky stepped into the circle and grunted at the sight of him.
He knew, because he felt the familiar warmth of his blood coursing through his veins before a transformation came. But it was accompanied by another feeling, one he hadn’t felt in years. Before them, a mysterious light formed into a circle connecting the statues.
This wasn’t just his transformation, he realized as the first blackout hit. He was losing himself to the wolf. A veil of darkness fell over his eyes so that he was vaguely aware of what was happening, but couldn’t control it.
The thought terrified him.
From what he could see of Ricky and Destiny, it terrified them even more. He could hear them shouting, telling him to stay back, Ricky swearing and preparing for the attack.
Matthew wasn’t about to be saved anytime soon at this rate, he thought, even as he charged.
All control was lost to him, just like before. He swiped at Destiny, who dodged quickly enough, and then Ricky, knocking him to the ground. With a roar he was on top of the man, but Destiny charged, plowing into him to knock him off. Only, it wasn’t enough.
He turned on her, leaving Ricky. She backed away, then shouted something at Ricky, who, Mauro saw, had a pistol aimed at him.
“Do it!” Mauro wanted to shout, but only a growl came out. He charged, swiping the pistol aside, and lifted Ricky into the air with one clawed, furry hand.
The man, almost as big as Mauro even in werewolf form, was horrified. His wide eyes brimmed with tears and his lower lip quivered. But then something came over him, a moment of calm, and Mauro could tell the man was putting everything into this internal struggle.
He was facing his fears.
That’s what the writing had said, and that’s what he had to do too. This was his fear, he realized. Becoming a wolf. Losing control.
But if he embraced it, all of this would be over.
Even as Ricky broke free, Mauro released him and turned, charging the wall. As he hit it, he was human again, bursting through thick, wooden doors.
He stood there, gasping for breath, clothes stretched and tattered, then turned back to Ricky and Destiny and watched as the light of the statues vanished.
“You coming?” he said.
They both stared, completely in awe of what had just happened. Destiny shook it off, as if the whole experience had been simply spider webs one could wipe away, then walked over. Ricky hesitated a bit longer, though, eyeing Mauro.
“You ever do that again,” Ricky said, “and I will destroy you. Just so we’re clear.”
“Crystal,” Mauro replied.
Ricky cast him one more hesitant look, then walked over and entered after them.
The doors shut with a thud.
They were inside the temple.
Chapter 18
Katherine lay at the edge of a loading dock roof, peering over to the old parking lot where a small army of men and women were forming. Werewolves, she was certain.
“You see them?” Daniel asked.
Triston shook his head, but Katherine kept looking. Her enhanced vision helped her to see farther and better in the dark. It was the same with Triston, so they were on lookout.
“There’s a lot of them down there,” Rivera said. “I mean, I could probably take at least twenty, but that still leaves each of you with…?”
“Thirty to fifty?” Daniel said with a shrug as Katherine turned back to them.
“Nothing yet,” she said. “Maybe we need to get closer, to be sure.”
“Kat,” Triston said, “we can’t take the risk.”
“Maybe not all of us,” she said, with a look to Rivera and Daniel.
“You’re not leaving us here,” Daniel said. “Who made you queen?”
“Huh, so here’s the thing…” She allowed her eyes to glow yellow and her teeth sharpen. “We can transform, you two can’t.”
Daniel backpedaled across the roof on his hands and said, “Shi—”
Rivera put a hand over his mouth. “Keep it down,” she hissed.
“But she’s a were—”
This time Rivera hit him in the shoulder, then put a finger to her mouth. He massaged the spot, glaring.
“The others are coming soon, we hope, right?” Katherine and Triston moved to the edge, looking for a place to drop down.
“And the plan with all that?” Rivera said. “I mean, you do have a plan, I hope.”
“Find out who’s behind this, and kick their butts into submission,” Katherine said as she knelt at the edge of the roof. “Would you expect anything less from your queen?”
“Ha ha,” Daniel said sarcastically, but she was already dropping over the side.
She landed with a soft thud on the ground below, and a moment later Triston followed, though she had to help stabilize him after landing.
It was kind of cute, the way he wobbled, then looked at her with fright in his eyes. Most women liked guys to take care of them, or so she thought anyway, based on movies and some of the books she had read. Not her, which is perhaps why it had never worked out with Danny. She had loved him as a friend, as a brother, but nothing more.
Taking care of Triston in times like this though? That’s what did it for her. She bit her lip, wishing their time alone together hadn’t been so sparse lately.
�
��You’re kidding me with that look right now, right?” he asked.
“A girl can’t control when she has urges.” She pushed up against him and licked her lip, just slightly.
“Ahem.” A voice came from above and they turned to see Rivera, watching. “Mission accomplishment and then troop welfare, if you don’t mind?”
“Sounds a tad too military for me,” Katherine said, with a small laugh.
Then headlights came around the corner and she swore as Triston pulled her out of the way just as the jeep turned and would’ve seen them.
Pressed up against each other in the shadow, Triston smiled and caressed her shoulder with one hand while his other held hers. “How you feeling now?”
“Now?” she said with a glance back at the jeep as it came to a stop near the group of people waiting. “Now I want to kick the butt of whoever was driving that pile of crap.”
“Yeah, oh, yeah. Me too.”
“Act natural,” she said, walking out to join the crowd, pulling her hand from Triston’s so they would look just like two people arriving at the same time, she hoped.
A woman glanced over at them as they approached, but apparently they didn’t stand out in any weird way, so she went back to watching the man who exited the jeep.
It wasn’t the short man from the construction site though. She saw that this new arrival walked up and took a knee before the new man, along with a group of others. Everyone else looked around nervously, and a few near the front followed suit.
The man was more suave than the soldiers that surrounded him, and he wore a three-piece suit. When he nodded, everyone on their knees stood. His entourage led the way to the front of the gathered crowd, and for a long moment, there wasn’t a sound.
Katherine could hear Triston breathing beside her and wanted to yell at him for being so loud.
Finally, the man said, “Welcome, fellow creatures of the night.”
A couple of the more rednecky guys near the front cheered at this, and a woman in the crowd howled.
The man chuckled and held out his hands for silence. “My name is Adrian, and I, should you accept me, will be your new Alpha.”
A murmur arose from the crowd, some confused.
“What, you might ask, is an Alpha?” Adrian asked the crowd. “You are new to this life, so let me tell you. We will be a family, brothers and sisters united as one. We have each other’s backs no matter what. Nothing gets in our way, and nothing stands between us. Consider me the head of this family. It’s as simple as that.”
Some of the crowd were murmuring louder now, and a couple even seemed to be turning to go. Katherine noticed the short man reach for a pistol at his waist, but Adrian shook his head no.
“And as part of joining my family, I give you what you all came for.” Adrian smiled and held up a vial of gold liquid. “The power to transform at will, and to block out the effects of the full moon, all in this little vial. And we have enough to go around. Trust me.”
A man with his hood drawn up over his head made a quick movement, and then he and three others charged Adrian. They each pulled out guns, and one shot went off, catching Adrian in the shoulder.
“Grab it!” the hooded man said as he pistol-whipped the short man, and his two companions went to Adrian.
Only, where the man had stood moments before, Adrian had now risen up into the shape of a werewolf, as had several of his entourage.
“This isn’t going to be pretty,” Katherine said to Triston as she took a step back, unable to peel her eyes away.
The two men didn’t stand a chance. Right there, in front of the crowd, the werewolf tore them apart, while the other werewolves spread out to surround the crowd as best they could, in spite of their low numbers.
“Dammit!” the short man said, holding the side of his face where the other man had pistol-whipped him. The hooded man was staring in shock at what happened to his companions, so he barely noticed when the short man took the man’s pistol, aimed it at the guy’s temple, and ended his life. Turning to face the crowd, he said, “Anyone else want to be stupid?”
The large werewolf stepped forward and growled, then transformed back into Adrian. He stared at the crowd, daring them to make a move, and then finally glanced down at his torn, blood-covered suit.
“Another suit ruined,” Adrian said. “My patience isn’t what it once was, so, if you’ll excuse that little interruption, please follow my friend here, Mr. Baker.”
Mr. Baker, the short man, tucked the pistol into the back of his pants and smiled, then gestured to the large warehouse close by.
“How do we know you’re not just going to kill us like you did them?” a voice yelled from the crowd.
Adrian breathed deeply, clearly trying to recover his calm demeanor. “Do something stupid, and we might. But there are two things you must consider. The first is that there’s no reason for us to harm you. Without you, we have no army. The second is that you really don’t have a choice anymore.”
More mumbling, a couple of shouts, and then there was silence. Apparently, more werewolves had remained hidden, or had been among the crowd and stepped out, because now they were surrounding the crowd, and there was a lot of them.
“I will not repeat myself on this matter,” Adrian said, and gestured again toward the warehouse.
People started funneling in, and Katherine figured she and Triston better follow. She glanced back to the rooftop where she could just barely see Daniel and Rivera, and wondered when, or if, reinforcements would arrive.
She hadn’t really believed there would be this many werewolves here. This had to be double the number of what she had faced with Aldrick, and way more than that if you counted all of these new recruits to the cause.
Although, with the way they were being forced into it, she had to wonder how many would stand and fight against her and the Guardians when the time came.
“Last chance to run,” Triston hissed.
She shook her head. “Not until the rest make it.”
“What’re you planning?”
“Nobody here will join these guys if they don’t want to. We’re going to set them free, see how many men and women were bitten but still have good in them, like us.”
Triston turned to her with disbelief. “I wouldn’t count on many.”
“We’ll see.”
“You two!” Mr. Baker motioned them on, glaring. “Enough yapping.”
Katherine lowered her head in mock subservience, making a note to smack that guy upside the head later.
She wouldn’t admit it, but being in this big warehouse with all of them made her a bit nervous. The werewolves were turning back to people now and sectioning off the new recruits.
“We need to know what each of you is capable of,” Adrian said, stepping up to a small stage they must have erected at the front of the room. “You’ll be put into training, but those of you already capable will be moved to the accelerated program. Our leader has great things in store for you.”
“We thought you were the Alpha,” someone said.
Adrian smiled. “Oh, I am. But our leader isn’t one of us. He’s much more powerful.”
“I don’t like the sound of that,” Katherine said, but someone shoved Triston away before he had a chance to respond, pairing him up with a guy nearby.
A woman walked over and sized up Katherine, then pointed to another woman nearby and said, “You two.”
It went on like this until everyone was partnered up, and then Adrian spoke up again. “No need for shaking hands or getting to know each other. The rules here are simple. If you win, you go to the next round. To win, your opponent must have surrendered, be beyond the point of fighting back, or… dead.”
“Dead?” Katherine said aloud before she could catch herself. She was appalled.
“We’re forming an army here,” Adrian said. “Do you have a problem with it?”
She bit her lip and shook her head, and to her relief, he turned away from her with only a mild lo
ok of distaste. “We want all the warriors we can get, the more ruthless the better. A bit of a conundrum, wouldn’t you say? So here’s the deal. Try not to kill your opponent. Even the weaklings can be kept to turn loose on the full moon, while the winners will receive the serum. We see value in you all, and don’t forget that.”
“Screw this!” a man said from the back of the room, then took a step to go.
One of the men who had transformed took a baton to the man’s knee, causing him to fall, crying out in pain.
“That one’s opponent will have a much easier time in the first round,” Adrian said with a laugh, and those around him started laughing too. The man’s groans and curses were largely ignored.
Katherine made eye contact with Triston. Damn, those Guardians had better hurry up, or this was going to get bad real fast.
“BEGIN!” Adrian yelled out, and Katherine felt a punch slam into the side of her head. She turned, annoyed, to see her opponent pulling back for another punch. The woman was tall, with shoulder-length red hair, and likely trained, by the look of her fighting stance.
“I’m sorry for this,” Katherine said. She allowed her strength to flare as she dodged the punch, swept out the woman’s legs, and moved around her on the floor to catch her in a chokehold.
It wouldn’t kill the woman, just knock her unconscious.
But she hadn’t flared enough strength, apparently, because the woman broke the hold and shimmied around, grabbing Katherine in an arm-bar and then pulling with her body weight into it.
Katherine rolled into the hold and elbowed the woman in the gut, breaking her focus long enough for a second chokehold.
This time, Katherine went up to sixty percent of her strength, and moments later felt the woman go slack.
She laid her down on the floor, gently, and took a step back.
“Get to fighting!” a man said, but then saw the unconscious woman and nodded, impressed. “Over there then,” he said, pointing to a far wall.