Lycan Legacy - 4 - 5 - 6: Princess - Progeny - Paladin: Book 4 - 5 - 6 in the Lycan Legacy Series

by Veronica Singer

  The sniper stared at my left hand, noting the way the claws extended through the gloves to give me purchase on the sheer wall. His nose wrinkled in disgust at my nearly-naked body.

  “Hey, Zippy,” I said as I tapped on the glass with a knuckle. “Sorry I didn’t wear my Sunday best. Let me in.”

  He shook his head, so I pulled back and swung my fist at the glass. It was a solid punch, but the combination of my unsteady position and angle meant it didn’t have my full force behind it. I almost knocked myself off the wall.

  “You’re hiding behind armored glass,” I said reprovingly. “That’s not fair.”

  He tapped the thick glass and smiled. But the sweat that dripped from his brow gave the lie to his bravado.

  His smile faded when my claw made a one-foot diameter circle in the impervious glass. The high-pitched scream of armored glass being ground away overpowered the sound of prayers from the nearby mosque.

  A few more swipes carved a groove deep enough to allow me to punch out the circle. The two-inch-thick portal thumped to the floor and rolled over to rest on the sniper’s boot.

  I reached in and fumbled with the mechanism to unlock the window. Cool air and the sweet scent of his fear wafted out from the circle.

  Then he surprised me.

  He turned away and bowed deeply. What the hell?

  He started chanting and I feared some magical attack. But no—he was praying. A check of my internal compass showed he was bowing toward Mecca.

  He ignored me as I slid the window open and pulled myself through. I dropped the metabolic acceleration, bringing time back to normal.

  As always, it took me a minute to recover. The acceleration trick takes a lot out of me, burning up weeks of energy for every minute I spend in quick time.

  My recovery gave him time to finish his prayers. He waited with head bowed on the carpet.

  “There was only one way this could end, Zippy,” I said. “I hope you find your paradise.”

  Moments later, his head bounced on the courtyard, landing next to his twisted rifle.

  I was so tired; I used the stairs to get down to the courtyard. With each step on the stairwell, I drew deeply on the moonlight energy of my amulet. I was almost back to normal when I reached my teammates at the foot of the tower.

  Well, maybe not back to normal.

  “You look like you lost twenty pounds,” said Mike with concern.

  “Yeah,” added Manny, “your tits are a lot—”

  He gulped and shut up at the glares Mike and I shot at him.

  I shook my head to throw off Mike’s worries. “I’ll be okay,” I said. “We still have a long way to go.”

  Manny was dragging. Carrying Alisha had wiped him out. Mike didn’t look much better—Logan was no lightweight.

  “Mike, give me Logan and take Alisha from Manny. We need to make time from here back to the car.”

  They both shook their heads. Stubborn men.

  I jerked Logan off Mike’s shoulders with one hand to show how much stronger I was. Mike opened his mouth to object, but at the look in my eyes he turned and took Alisha from Manny.

  Actually, it felt good to have Logan on my shoulder. His scent and touch were proof that I had managed to save a packmate from torture and death.

  I started jogging toward the opening we had blown in the walls. Mike’s steps, slightly slower than mine, came after.

  “Manny, put your geriatric ass in gear!” I shouted. “We need to move!” The sounds of sirens were much closer.

  I scrambled through the rubble of the destroyed walls, jumping to evade the bits of razor wire that had landed back in the rubble. Mike and Manny stepped more carefully behind me, but they made good time and almost kept up.

  Until I hit the clear road.

  I sped away, intent on getting Logan to safety. I took a deep breath and increased my speed. My steps raced faster and faster, echoing back from the buildings in a rat-tat-tat rhythm, and the wind pushed my hair back from a sweaty brow.

  In the background, the song of morning prayers wound through the city. How long did the morning prayer take? It seemed like we had been fighting and racing for hours. Overclocking always messed up my sense of time.

  I wondered what the residents would think if they looked out their windows and saw me—a nearly-naked woman, carrying a severely wounded naked man, running through the breaking-dawn streets of Riyadh at a speed no thoroughbred racehorse could match.

  I dodged a pedestrian on the sidewalk, the wind of my passage whipping his checkered headdress away like a sudden sandstorm.

  That was a close call. Good thing almost everyone was still at prayers.

  At the SUV, I had to make a decision. I had stuffed some sweatpants and shirts into the rear in case Logan needed to change, as well as a spare abaya for Alisha. I hesitated to put on the abaya, because she would need it. We had snatched her in her pajamas.

  Putting on my old bullet-riddled garment was out of the question, since I didn’t know if pulling Silkworm out of the clothes would injure her more severely. No, she would have to stay in the bag, wrapped in my old clothes.

  I compromised by pulling on another set of sweatpants and a clean khaki T-shirt. Not exactly appropriate streetwear in this country, but it was better than wearing only panties.

  I dressed Logan in the same style and pushed him into the rear seat on the passenger side. His head lolled around, exposing his ravaged throat, so I draped a towel around his wounds. He looked like a sweaty athlete who had fallen asleep in the rear of the SUV.

  Mike showed up with Alisha. I sliced through her wrist restraints but left the ankle flex-cuffs in place, and slid her into the rear seat next to Logan.

  “Alisha,” I said, “I’m willing to pull the hood off, but if you make trouble, I’ll put it back.”

  She froze for a second, and didn’t reply. “Are you going to behave?” I prompted.

  No answer.

  “Okay, the hood stays. Give me your wrists. I’m going to lock you back down.”

  She jerked her hands away, but I easily captured her wrists. As the plastic ties touched her, she said, “You always were a shameless bitch. That’s why I hate you.”

  “It’s okay to hate me, but you shouldn’t hate your dad.”

  I grabbed her other wrist and started to wrap the flex-cuff around it when she blurted, “Please don’t tie my hands again. And please take off this damned hood.”

  I held both her wrists in one hand. She tried to jerk away, but I was so much stronger than her she couldn’t move.

  She growled like a cub in frustration, then said, “I promise to behave.”

  “Good.” I pulled the hood off and left her wrists free.

  I tossed her the spare abaya and hijab. “Cover yourself up.”

  “No.”

  “Then the hood goes back on,” I said. “It looks kind of like a head covering, so no one will complain.”

  “Fine.” She scrambled to put the conservative clothes on.

  Mike finished stashing his weapons at the rear of the vehicle, then jumped into the driver’s seat.

  I slid in next to Alisha, taking the seat directly behind the driver. Alisha’s eyes darted to the door handle on the passenger side. I could almost read her thoughts. One quick jerk would let her open the door, then she could climb over Logan’s body and be in the street, which was now filling with people.

  She leaned forward, and I slammed her chest with my right elbow, forcing her back into the seat. I pulled her seatbelt buckle over and clicked it in place, then welded it closed with a flash of magic. I let the belt retract to snugness, then jerked it with werewolf speed to lock the belt, trapping her in place.

  She gasped, then tried to lean forward. When the belt didn’t unwind, she tried to unlock the buckle.

  “Hey! I’m stuck! Let me out!”

  “When we get to our destination,” I said.

  “If we wreck, I’ll be trapped.”

  “If you don’t shut u
p, that’ll be the least of your problems.”

  Manny finally caught up with us, arriving on shaky legs and gasping. His gray hair was soaked with sweat. He slid into the passenger seat with a groan.

  “I’m getting too old for this shit,” he said.

  Mike already had the engine running and we were on our way in seconds, heading toward the American Embassy at a sedate pace.

  Manny looked back at my uncovered head and body and said, “You’re going to have to cover up or we’ll get stopped.”

  “We don’t have an extra abaya,” I said. “I gave Alisha the spare.”

  “Why don’t you put the damn hood over your head,” snapped Alisha. “See what it feels like.”

  I gave her my ‘shut the hell up’ look, which she ignored.

  She looked me up and down, sneering at my clothes and lack of shoes. “What happened to your abaya?”

  “It’s full of bullet holes.”

  “They shot your abaya, but missed you? Too bad,” she said in disappointment.

  I ignored her, so she lashed out, jerking and kicking her bound feet against the front seat. “Let me out!”

  I punched a knuckle into her thigh, just enough to cause a muscle cramp, and she quieted down.

  In the silence, I said, “So, Manny, as I was saying, I don’t have another abaya.”

  “The windows are tinted. Just scooch down and try not to look so, so…”

  “Don’t worry, Manny. It’s not far to the embassy. We’ll be safely inside—”

  That’s when the police car slammed into our rear, trying to force us off the road.

  After sideswiping several parked cars on our right, Mike managed to regain control of the SUV. Then he sped up and the police car raced to catch us.

  We made a sharp right-hand turn on a red light, causing more confusion. The police car followed closely.

  “Can you do anything, Luna?” Mike asked.

  I turned around to look out the rear window. “I don’t know. I’m pretty tapped out.”

  “Can’t that fancy EMP gadget zap their engine?” asked Manny.

  “It’ll kill our engine, too,” I said. “Maybe a gust of wind will knock them off the road. I can handle one big gust—oh, crap. Never mind, there’s three more coming up behind us.”

  The sirens of more police cars wailed from our rear. Mike sped up even more, hitting over a hundred KPH on the crowded street. In our favor, the sirens were clearing some traffic out of our way.

  “Oh, shit,” Mike said.

  I turned to the front and groaned in disappointment. Less than a kilometer ahead, several Saudi Army armored troop carriers were positioned across the intersection, blocking our path. A dozen soldiers with automatic weapons stood in a line in front of the ATCs.

  There was no turn-off before the barricading vehicles, no way to go back, no hope of escape.

  I reached around the seat and slid my hand inside Mike’s shirt, touching his amulet.

  “Will this work?” he gasped.

  “Only one way to find out,” I said as I channeled the last scraps of my magic into the amulet.

  Manny jerked his feet up onto the dashboard and covered his head with his arms.

  Alisha said, “Oh, shit!” and closed her eyes.

  Mike jammed the gas pedal to the floorboard and raced headlong at the arrayed soldiers and vehicles.

  21

  The eyes of the soldiers in our path widened in fear as our vehicle came at them, faster and faster. The soldier directly in front of us had barely enough time to drop his weapon and turn to jump—then we were on them.

  A portal appeared behind the soldiers, but in front of the ATCs. I grunted with effort and the portal expanded to my maximum capacity. Would it be large enough for the SUV to pass through? Would the exit be far enough away to allow us to escape?

  “Mother Mary, full of grace—” whispered Mike as we touched the portal.

  Then we were through, exiting a mere two meters past the idling ATCs. Mike hit the gas again and we sped away. On this side of the barrier, all traffic and pedestrians had been cleared away.

  Mike’s prayer trailed off, then he shouted, “We made it!”

  Manny and Alisha peeked out and said at the same time, “We’re alive!”

  Mike looked left and right. “We lost the side mirrors though. Cutting it kind of close, Luna?”

  “What happened?” asked Manny.

  “They moved,” lied Mike. “We managed to barely scrape past.”

  Manny and Alisha nodded in unison, accepting the impossible escape.

  “Turn right at the next intersection and the embassy is two blocks down,” said Manny.

  I turned around to get one last look at our would-be captors. The ATCs were already moving, maneuvering to turn in our direction.

  “The assholes are still going to chase us,” I said.

  “Don’t worry,” said Mike with confidence. “They can’t get into the embassy.”

  Five minutes later, a red-faced Marine was shouting at us, “No! You can’t get into the embassy!”

  I didn’t mind the shouts, but he was backed up by dozens of armed Marines.

  “Fucking jarheads,” said Manny, and Mike nodded along.

  I used my best ‘speaking to idiots’ voice and told the Marine, “We’re US citizens and we’re being pursued by criminals. If you would just call the CIA station chief, he can verify our claims.”

  At my rear, Manny muttered, “CIA. I knew it.”

  I ignored his comment. At our back the Saudi ATCs and over fifty soldiers and police were gathered, held back only by the presence of the armed US military. More soldiers were arriving by the minute.

  An overweight man in a three-piece suit walked through the crowd of Marines, who parted before him like he was Moses.

  The Marine sergeant hurried over and huddled with the man. From this distance, I could tell little about him. He matched the description I had been given, but until he came close enough to exchange code phrases, I couldn’t be certain whether he was our contact or not.

  The sergeant raced back with a grim smile on his face. “I’ve been given orders concerning your situation.”

  “Great. Now open the damn gate before these idiots shoot us in the back.”

  His smile grew wider. “My orders are to leave the gates locked and pull my men back. You’re on your own. Now get your asses back in that POS car and clear off of Embassy property.”

  “What the hell?” I shouted. But he ignored me and began ordering his men to stand down.

  “Damn CIA,” said Manny. “They’ll screw you every time.”

  The wind shifted, bringing the scent of the packed Marines and embassy personnel our way. The slightest whiff of sulfur tipped me off.

  Just as something tipped off my enemy. The fat man’s eyes locked with mine, the tiny flicker of demon red giving away his secret.

  “He’s a demon,” Mike and I said at the same time.

  I didn’t have much energy left, but the loudspeaker spell didn’t take much.

  I shouted in a voice like thunder, “Asshole! I’ll bring the wrath of God down on your head.”

  At my side, Mike said, “That sounds like what I would say.”

  That gave me an idea because it was exactly something Mike would say.

  “Exorcise the asshole, Mike,” I said. “Before he scuttles back into his hole.”

  “He’s too far away. He won’t hear me.”

  I shifted the focal point of my loudspeaker spell so t was in front of Mike’s mouth. “He’ll hear you now, no matter where he hides.”

  “Exorcisamus te, omnis immundus spiritus, omnis satanica potestas, omnis incursio infernal-is adversarii,” Mike began, his voice booming out across the city.

  The fat man covered his ears, face screwed up in terror, and sprinted away. He moved a lot faster than any fat man I had ever seen. Then his fancy leather-soled shoes slipped and he sprawled, scraping his face against the pavement.

&nb
sp; My heart leaped with joy—then I ran out of juice for the spell. Mike’s booming voice dropped to normal volume. The fat man jumped to his feet and ran away with his hands over his ears.

  Mike stopped now that his enemy was gone. His expression betrayed his disappointment and he said, “I’m sorry I failed you.”

  “You’ve never failed me,” I said.

  Then we turned to face the local army.

  We walked past the open-doored SUV, Mike on the driver’s side and me on the passenger’s side. Even if we could drive away, there was nowhere safe for us in this entire country.

  Manny exited the front passenger’s seat with a .45 in his hand. Not much use against a mini-army, but useful as a last act of defiance.

  I stopped beside the open rear door and reached inside to stroke Logan’s head, sending him a last surge of moonlight magic. Maybe he would live a bit longer.

  I extruded a razor-sharp claw and sliced Alisha’s seatbelt open. “Try to get them to let your dad get help. He only wanted the best for you.”

  Mike, Manny, and I stopped at the rear of the SUV, facing the barrels of hundreds of weapons. Undoubtedly, many of these would be loaded with silver rounds.

  “They’ve only held their fire because there were US personnel in the line of fire,” I said.

  “They’ll be out of the way any second now,” said Manny.

  I took a deep breath and extended my canines. From a distance, it might have looked like a smile.

  I held my hand up and made a vertical cutting gesture, dividing those arrayed against us into two sides.

  “Okay, I’ll kill everyone on this side, and you two kill all the ones over there.”

  A grim chuckle from Mike. “That’s the most alpha thing you’ve ever said.”

  I stepped five paces to my left, moving slowly. Mike and Manny duplicated my movement in the opposite direction. That would draw fire away from Alisha and Logan in the SUV.

  I tensed up and extruded claws, bringing my werewolf side to the fore. My T-shirt grew tight as my muscles expanded with the shift to hybrid, my most deadly form. With no magic left, I would have to rely on savagery.

  Then, from the right, came the sounds of disorder and curses in Arabic, followed by the thumps of bodies hitting the ground.