by Eve Langlais
Nikki and the others scattered just as she released it.
Boom. The impact sent her flying.
When she next opened her eyes, she was in a forest, carried in Axel’s arms.
He noticed her awake and smiled, a vivid thing of relief amidst his soot-streaked face. “About time you woke up.”
“What happened?” She winced as the slightest movement of her head brought a piercing headache.
“Haven is gone, and most of its people would be, too, if you hadn’t collapsed the tunnel.”
“It worked? Kylie?”
“And the others are safe.”
Words that stayed with her as she sank into darkness.
The next time she woke it was to whispers. She listened for a moment, and what she heard filled her with sadness.
Haven was truly gone, and many were dead in the surprise attack by the Enclave soldiers.
The mist both helped and hindered in the fight with the jackena, drawn to the violence and not caring which side it attacked.
“What I don’t understand,” said Gunner, “is how they found us. Almost as if we were followed.”
Casey was the one to figure it out, cursing, “I’ll bet that fucker of an Earl chipped her.”
“Tracking devices don’t work outside the domes,” Axel noted.
“That we know of.”
“It would explain why it was so easy to escape,” was Cam’s rumbled addition to the conversation.
“Easy enough to find out and fix.” Zara approached and slapped a disk on Laura. “This will jolt you.”
Understatement. She felt the energy zap through her system. Her short hair stood on end, and pain shot through her shoulder. She slapped at it.
“Here. I think there’s something.”
With Oliander busy with injured people, she had to trust Casey’s steady hand to slice her scarred flesh while Axel held her hands.
A moment later the chip was removed and destroyed.
Axel dabbed the blood and bandaged her as she murmured, “This is all my fault.”
“No, it’s not.”
She shook her head. “Casey was right. I led the Enclave to Haven.”
“They would have found us soon at any rate,” Axel said. Her shoulder bandaged, he moved to sit beside her. “It was past time we moved.”
“Moved to where? We can’t stay in these woods for long. We might have taken out the soldiers they sent this time, but there will be more.” Gunner reminded them of the direness of the situation.
“We need a new home that is more defensible,” Axel mused aloud. “And I think I know just the one.”
“You do?” asked Gunner.
“And you gave me the idea, friend. We’re going to take over a dome.”
Twenty-Two
It took some smooth talking, but in the end, Axel convinced them simply by reminding them they didn’t have much choice.
They needed somewhere to go. Somewhere safe. The Incubaii Dome had suffered a loss of guards. Could they have been replaced already?
Possible. But given the attack on Haven, he was going to wager the Earl had mustered all his resources into hunting down the rats and exterminating them. He wouldn’t expect them to fight back.
It took a bit longer, but they traveled close to the edge of the forest, the vehicles they’d salvaged hidden under the tree boughs during the day, the pack providing a guard from the forest denizens who might take offense at their intrusion. It was a slow five days instead of two by direct route, but they made it in stealth to the edge of the forest closest to the dome.
As Axel stood once more atop the knoll overlooking the barren strip separating the woods from the dome, his grizzled brother let him know security had been tightened. The sewers they’d used before were now protected with a grate held on by thick concrete, leaving only the front door.
And he had a plan for that.
“You are not dangling yourself like bait,” Laura hissed when he finally revealed what he’d do to gain entrance.
“We need to get in. What better way than knocking on the front door?” He offered it nonchalantly, feeling her emotions simmering. The drugs were gone from her system, and her power rippled. A good thing she’d been practicing, Nikki and Casey taking turns to teach her.
“You can’t just wander up to the dome, you idiot. The Earl will shoot you!” She grabbed him by the shirt, her eyes flooding with tears.
He brushed them with the pad of his thumb. “No, he won’t. His greed will make him want to hear what I have to say.”
“And how does you getting inside the gates help the rest of us?” she asked.
“Because he won’t be alone,” Casey interjected. “I’ll be with him.”
“You’re going as bait, too?” Laura frowned. “Then why can’t I? I have my power back.”
He could see Laura didn’t understand, and it was difficult to explain. Casey’s power was unlike anything known.
And they preferred to keep it that way.
“You have your role to play. While I distract them at the front, you are to use your gift to bring down the wall on the far side of the door.”
“What if I can’t? What if my magic fails me?” she whispered.
“Have faith. You can do this.” He drew Laura close for a kiss, pouring every emotion he could into it. Every promise.
“Come back to me,” she whispered.
“Always.”
He only hoped he could keep his word. He made himself sound certain of his course, and yet as he rode that motorbike to the very gates of the dome’s secured parking yard, he couldn’t help a certain quiver of anxiety.
The adrenaline squashed it.
Cloaked in shadows, clinging to his back, Casey remained still and quiet. Her gift was in hiding in plain sight, an extreme form of camouflage. It made her the perfect spy—and accomplice. When he climbed off the bike, her movements matched his and she remained hidden at his back.
He imagined more than one weapon was trained on him as he walked toward the gate.
A mechanical voice emerged. “Halt. State your business.”
“Tell the Earl the Wasteland Duke is here to parlay with him.”
He was sure Casey did her best not to snicker. He wanted to snort himself at using the ridiculous title, but it had the right effect.
The gate clanged as the locks released, and it swung open, letting him into the vehicle corral. The very empty corral. Only a truck with no wheels sitting on blocks remained.
Had the Earl sent out all his guards when he attacked Haven? It would make the takeover even easier if that were the case.
“Remove your weapons,” the mechanical voice said.
There was no one in sight, but Axel made a show of emptying his holster. The visible one at any rate. He found it interesting he’d yet to see a live person.
“All your weapons.”
“I didn’t come here to kill you but to make a deal,” Axel lied. Smiled as he did it.
Smiled wider as the door inside the wall of the dome opened. He stood on the threshold and paused.
The decontamination chamber would try and enclose him, which was why he stepped in and immediately pulled his scarf over his mouth. The room sealed shut, and the grates around hissed as gas entered. Possibly harmless but he wouldn’t take the chance. As for the door blocking him?
Casey handled it. The explosive she placed on it small and controlled enough to blow the lock.
Before his ears had stopped ringing from the blast, he was through the hole and pulling out the other guns he’d brought to play. But the resistance proved weak.
One guard, wearing only partial armor, went down immediately. And none took its place.
Axel took a few steps deeper into the dome and waited for more guards to appear.
The disembodied voice spoke again. “What a surprise, the rat lied. You didn’t come to negotiate.”
“Yet you still let me through your front door.” He eyed the buildings around t
hem, looking for the camera that surely watched.
“How else would I get you in my trap? You’ve proven wily for scum.”
“Then shoot me.” He lifted his arms. “You can’t, can you? You threw everything you had at Haven.”
“With the promise that once your little kingdom was destroyed, they’d replace my guards. Pay me for the trouble.”
“Did the Enclave not keep its word?” he mocked, striding deeper into the dome.
“They will. Especially once I bring you to them. Your exploits have intrigued some of those highly placed in the Enclave, even caught the attention of the queen. She has doubled the reward for anyone who brings you in alive instead of dead.”
“That would require you catching me.” He flowed into the dome, uneasy at the stillness. Worrying about those he’d left behind.
“Actually, I’m planning to kill you. I’ll take half the prize because I’ll more than triple that fortune when I recapture Laura. So nice of you to ensure she’s nearby.”
“Where are you? Face me like a man.”
“Find me if you dare.” The voice stopped broadcasting, leaving Axel alone in what appeared to be a rather empty dome.
Trick or truth?
He’d soon find out.
The dome rattled and shook as the wall on the other side came down. Laura and the others had arrived. Would the Earl’s trap spring?
Axel kept walking, wondering where all the people were. Other than guards, there should have been doctors and their assistants, Madres and the staff needed to care for them. He saw no one, not even the cowardly Earl. The one person he had to kill today.
In the days since rescuing Laura, Axel had done his best to control his deep anger. Not an easy thing when it pulsed under his skin, demanding blood.
He would have justice. The Earl would pay with his life. And the dome would be his.
Throwing back his head, he called The Wild to him, harder here in this place of shaped stone, far from the forest and its deep roots to the land. It came at his call anyhow in the shape of the Pack, who poured into the dome, their spirits brimming with power. Their arrival ignited his awareness.
He called to the pack. Come. Hunt with me.
A sister was the first to answer his call, her powerful legs propelling her to Axel. Her appearance was more feline than most.
Who do you seek, brother? she asked.
As before, he showed a scent. The sterile clean of the uniform the bastard wore. The citrus scent of the soap lingering on his skin. The arrogance in his musk.
The sister by his side angled her head. Let us hunt.
Had Laura seen, she might have been frightened by his more feral nature. For in that moment, Axel might have the body of a man, but in spirit, in movement, in action, he was wolgar.
The hunter. The merciless.
The trail of his quarry led to a square building. Squat. Unprepossessing. A single slim door for an entrance.
It wasn’t locked.
Another trap, or just a sign of the complacent comfort the domes falsely enjoyed?
He stepped inside, holding open the door that the pack might flow in with him. They found themselves milling close together in a small chamber with grates on the floor. A mist sprayed them. The pack acted as if gassed with poison, coughing and hacking, when, in reality, it was some kind of decontaminant. A mild one that didn’t burn.
He passed into the next chamber and realized that while the building on the outside appeared many stories high, in reality, it was one gigantic room about forty or more paces across and wide. The walls reminded him of a honeycomb with the holes in all kinds of sizes and glowing. A storage area of some kind.
Of more interest, the man standing in the middle of the chamber. Hands tucked behind his back, the Earl waited for Axel. Which meant there must be a trap.
“So that’s your claim to power.” The Earl perused the shadowy shapes that slid along the edges of the wall seeking out danger. “You control animals.”
“I control no one. They’re my friends.” Family to be specific.
“It’s not the most useful skill, talking to the beasts, not unless you can convince them to fight for you.”
“Are you done yapping? Because I’d like to finish this. We can do this the painful way or the more painful way. It’s going to hurt. Not going to lie.” Axel stepped closer, the anger bubbling inside, The Wild in him pulsing.
“Did you know this room is host to over three million separate genetic samples?” The change of topic, meant to throw him off balance, partially succeeded.
“Why do you need so many?” Axel asked.
“Because humanity is changing. Has been changing since the meteor shower and those idiots with nuclear bombs wiped out almost everyone in one fell shot. There are few pure humans left on New Earth.”
“Adaptation is needed to survive. Humanity has to change, or we’ll perish.”
“Evolution is normal, and yet it doesn’t explain what’s happening to us. You talk to animals. I read minds. Your Laura likes to throw things around.”
“And?” Axel took another step closer.
“Aren’t you curious as to why? Why some of us are gifted with true powers?”
“Nope, because powers aren’t the most important thing about a person.”
“Such a polite answer and utter fuckery. I didn’t become Earl because I worried about people’s feelings. I am someone who looks to the future and sees what is needed to survive.”
“The future will be just fine without you messing with it.”
“You’ll never know, because you won’t be alive to see it.”
Movement from the honeycombs caught Axel attention, but he didn’t shift to look. The trap was being sprung. He had to do the unexpected. He ran for the Earl.
Only the image of the man wavered as he slammed into it.
Because he wasn’t actually here.
“Show yourself, bastard!” he yelled.
“If you insist.” A large honeycomb section lost its glow, and the Earl stepped out, for real this time, wearing a smirk.
Not for long. Axel was done playing nice.
Sisters. Brothers. Pack. There is our enemy. The pack shivered in excitement.
For a moment, he thought they’d won. Then a gas began to hiss, and while he quickly covered his nose and mouth, the wolgar had no such protection. The relief he felt when they didn’t collapse or die proved short-lived.
The shaggy beasts stood with their heads hanging down as the mist dissipated, and silence reigned for a moment. Still, he didn’t worry. The Earl was right in front of him, and Axel still had a gun that he pulled.
The sound of the barrel clearing the holster shattered the quiet.
The vulpine heads rose, their eyes glowing yellow with a hint of red. Unnatural and uncanny, especially the way they all stared at him.
Sisters? Brother? He sent a cautious query, but their minds were closed to him.
And their advancing snarls menacing.
Twenty-Three
The wall crumbled, but it took Laura a gaping moment to realize. “I did it.”
“Of course, you did. Now stop admiring the big hole and get back to safety,” Nikki retorted. She stood by Laura’s side while Cam, Gunner, and the others who intended to fight moved into the newly created gap.
As Laura watched, she noticed some shadowy shapes following, slipping through. She knew what they were, wolgars. Which, if she’d understood correctly, belonged to Axel. Kind of. He called them pack. Other people said they were his pet dogs. All she knew was that Fluffy—who’d sauntered back to their camp at one point, to Kylie’s delight—didn’t like them one bit and snarled every time one came too near.
“I am not staying behind,” she huffed.
“Axel will murder me if you get hurt,” Nikki snapped.
“And he might get killed if I don’t do something to help.”
“You promised Axel you wouldn’t go inside.”
“I never sai
d that. He ordered me to stay behind. I just nodded my head.” Not exactly a proper vow. “Besides, my power is fully back. I can defend myself.”
“Save it in case we need to get them out.” Nikki angled her head. “It’s too quiet.”
Laura frowned as she listened and realized she heard nothing. No signs of battle at all.
Gunner returned to the gap and waved at them. “Might as well come inside. It appears safer in here than out there.”
“Aren’t there any guards?” Nikki asked.
“Vera took care of one when we walked in, and they’re split off looking for more. I don’t know if they have any. I don’t hear any alarms.”
Laura moved quickly to join Gunner by the hole she’d made. “Have you located Axel?”
“Cam’s headed for the front gate to see if he can find him or Casey.”
Laura stepped into the dome and shivered. The idea of living in one felt repugnant, and yet, the forest wasn’t a place for them either.
“If anyone can tell us anything, it’s Casey.” Nikki led the way; only Laura frowned.
Another path beckoned and drew her glance. “I think we need to go this way.”
“There’s nothing down there,” Nikki declared. “According to the soldier we questioned, it’s just archives and supply buildings.”
“I know but…” A niggling unease filled her. A feeling Axel needed her. She couldn’t explain the certainty that this was the right direction. She only knew that, within a few paces, she ran, and she didn’t run alone. Gunner and Nikki had her back.
And she had their front. Despite the benign appearance of the place, just like she’d practiced, she held a shield in front of them. A good thing because when a guard finally emerged and fired, it deflected, the bullet ricocheting off. Gunner made sure the guard wouldn’t follow.
The ugly building that appeared in front of them had nothing about it that set it apart. The sign beside the portal said, ARCHIVE. A nothing place, and yet she shoved at the door. A door locked against her.
She stared at it, and the longer she looked, the more convinced she became Axel was on the other side.
“What’s up?” Gunner flanked her.