Claimed By Honor

by Justin Sloan

  Valerie nodded. "As soon as we get back, we’ll send teams out. Since yours isn’t the only family, I’m sure there will be plenty of volunteers." She turned to Akio. "Are you coming?"

  Akio raised an eyebrow. "There are Weres and their families in danger, and someone hunting vampires. We must hurry to find Michael, but for at least a day or two, we’ll stay and help in any way we can."

  "If we can get you a police pod, we can transport you over to HQ." Valerie turned to Duran. "Find the closest cop and let them know the situation. I sure as hell don’t know how to drive one of those things, so unless you can…?"

  "That won't be necessary, not for me," Akio said. He went to the door and looked up. A moment later, a black airship, small enough to fit two to three people, lowered down before him. "Care for a lift?"

  Valerie took a step back, totally intrigued. But then she scrunched her face and nodded for Duran to go ahead. There was no way they could make it through the city without drawing attention to themselves in that thing.

  Enforcer HQ

  Royland paced along the window of Valerie’s office, Wallace and Ella nearby having their own little chat.

  "Where the hell is she?" Royland suddenly blurted out, causing the other two to jump. "Unless I’m mistaken, which I’m not, I still hear gunfire out there. She should’ve taken them out by now!"

  "You’re asking us?" Ella said, and he was pretty sure he caught some disdain in her voice.

  Royland looked at her, "You think that, because I’m a vampire, and so is she, I should know her every thought?"

  "Can’t you all read minds or something?" She stared at him, incredulous, then laughed. "Guess not, or you wouldn’t be standing there with that confused expression on your face."

  "To answer your question, no, we cannot read minds or something." He went back to pacing in front of the window, no sun streaming in, while he talked. "In fact, there’s little we can do differently. We live longer, yes. Drinking blood helps with that, along with the whole healing thing. Super strength, sight, and hearing, check, but—"

  "Hey, I know how vampires work," she said, gesturing to herself. "Remember, I hunted your asses."

  "Something I imagine I’ll never forget." He said it in a way that he was sure showed he took the higher ground here. Wallace, however, seemed to think they were about to throw blows, because he stepped between the two of them with hands up, palms out.

  "Everyone, we’re on the same side now." Wallace turned to Ella, and her expression changed to resignation. "You do realize that?"

  She looked like she was about to apologize, but then she put her hands on her hips and glared at Royland. "Did you or did you not lead a group of Forsaken vampires?"

  The question hurt. He’d lost his friends, his family. To Weres in some fights, hunters in others. Hurt turned to rage, and he took a step toward her, fangs extending as his eyes glowed red, and everything inside him craved the sight of her lifeless body as he dropped her to the floor, drained of blood.

  But he stopped, three feet away, and reminded himself that she might not have been involved.

  For her sake, he hoped he never found out otherwise.

  Sandra entered, yawning. "What’d I miss? Where’s Val?"

  Royland turned, disgusted with his outburst of anger, and gestured to the wall in the distance and the gray smoke that continued to penetrate the sky above. "She’s still off saving the world."

  "She’s not back?" Sandra looked worried.

  "That’s what Royland was just saying," Wallace said, glaring at Royland.

  "I feel like I missed something," Sandra said. "Do I want to know?"

  Royland turned to Ella with a raised eyebrow, letting her have the lead on this.

  She considered him, and then shook her head. "Nothing important."

  Royland gave her a nod of appreciation, then turned to Sandra. "You’ve rested enough?"

  "I was considering trying to get more rest, but I looked out the window and saw a couple of groups returning, figured they were Weres, and that they were bringing news."

  "Nothing yet," Royland said. "Though we better check on them if—"

  A knock came at the door.

  "Well there we go," Wallace said. He opened the door to find the Were Valerie called Mecha. Royland had asked his real name once in the night, between waves of the attack, but the Were had smiled and said, "The past doesn’t matter. Name’s Mecha now."

  Mecha glanced around and grunted.

  "She’s not back yet," Royland said, guessing his thoughts.

  "My team took a few shots," the huge Were said. "They’re going to need help."

  "Don’t you just heal up?" Ella said, scrunching her nose in confusion. "Shake it off."

  "You can’t shake off silver, Hunter." His teeth showed in what could almost be a snarl, and then he turned and left the room.

  "That was uncalled for," Wallace said.

  "His team got hit," Royland said. "You can’t blame him, especially when the title fits." He strode to the door, pausing only when Wallace asked where he was going. "To get them help."

  He caught up with Mecha at the elevator, followed him in, and waited as the Were pressed three.

  "Got a sick bay going there," Mecha explained.

  Royland nodded. But his mind was still on the silver. "This war… it’s not going to be as easy as Valerie thinks, is it?"

  Mecha shook his head. "We have her, which means we’ll destroy those bastards. But I’d bet my right paw we’re going to suffer casualties along the way."

  The elevator came to a stop. When the doors opened, the two walked into a corridor with beds along the walls, set up much like the underground hideout had been. Three of the beds were occupied, with one female and two male Weres. They were groaning, but as tough Weres, didn’t seem to be making an adequate fit to match the blood on the beds beneath them.

  "This is bad," Royland said, moving with vampire speed to one’s side. "We need tools to get the silver out."

  "I sent one of the cops to look for something."

  "Considering we’re in Enforcer HQ, there’s bound to be something." He knelt beside a wounded Were and lifted the bandage on the arm. "Have you found a first aid kit at least?"

  "Here," another Were said, stepping forward to hand it to him. As he went through the gauze and other practically useless items, the stairwell door burst open and a cop came running in with Ella close behind.

  "Thought you’d need this," Ella said, casually tossing over a more advanced medical kit. "Didn’t stop to think of asking the one former Enforcer before running off?"

  He caught the red kit and opened it. "This’ll do." At the superior look she threw him, he grated out, "Thanks."

  Royland then bent over the Were and got to work removing the silver bullet. It wasn’t that he had any medical training—even what medical training was available these days. But he’d had his fair share of working to remove silver bullets from friends, and when you knew they could heal after, the screams didn’t hurt so bad.

  Soon he was done with all three, and, while they were grunting in pain from the healing, they thanked him.

  Another Were came in then, bloodied like the rest.

  "Come on, I’ll get the silver out," Royland said with a heavy sigh. He had just started cleaning his hands.

  The Were waved him off. "I’ll heal, and it wasn’t silver. Wasn’t the soldiers either, we scared them off. It’s the people in the streets, they’re getting scared, they’re fighting."

  "Fighting who?" Mecha asked, looking furious. "Us?"

  "Everyone," the Were said, and then went over and laid down on one of the beds.

  "Thought you said you were okay?" Royland asked. "So get up, we’re going to need all hands."

  "The hell for?" The Were sat up, looking at him like he was crazy. "Didn’t you hear me? They’re rioting out there!"

  "Yes, and if Valerie hears I let her city get out of control while she was out, I know it’ll be my ass. All han
ds… and we’re going to keep this peaceful."

  Old Manhattan

  Akio had wanted to take them in a ship he said was just hovering above the city, but Valerie had urged him to flag down a cop to take them in his pod. Best not to draw too much attention with some ship no one would recognize or understand.

  "Don’t you know another way?" Akio asked, staring at the mobs in the street, blocking their route. The people were yelling at each other, some throwing blows, while others marched in the streets shouting obscenities.

  The cop glanced back at him with a nervous twitch in his right eye, and muttered something about doing his best.

  "Is this city always so… lacking in control?" Akio asked, watching curiously as a man ran by and threw a burning barrel through a window.

  "Something’s going on." Duran shifted nervously in his seat, glancing around at the crowd.

  "You think?" Valerie huffed. She had half a mind to jump out of the pod and show the crowd what a pissed off woman was capable of. The only problem there was that Michael wanted the UnknownWorld to stay a secret. And, in spite of all the killing required lately, hurting the weak and innocent was on her no-no list.

  "That’s not what I meant," Duran said, "I’ve never seen it like this, but now there’re rumors about, and the streets make rumors spread like wild-fires."

  "Do the people know we’ve taken over?" Valerie watched as the crowd disappeared behind them, the cop attempting another route. "That the corporations have fled?"

  "Not exactly." Duran looked over like he was going to regret saying this. "They think the corporations have decided to move elsewhere, and have left the people behind for the slaughter."

  "For the…?" She looked back to Duran to see if this made sense to him. He shook his head.

  "What do you mean, for the slaughter?" Akio asked the question for her.

  "The way the people are talking, they think a large nomad group attacked in the night, and the CEOs gave up the city."

  "They think I’m some local nomad warlord?" Valerie leaned back, suddenly feeling a little less gracious to these people.

  "That, or a wacko, which would be worse." Duran looked over at her and cringed—he must have seen the fangs growing, or the red glowing eyes. She couldn’t help it; she was pissed.

  "Stop the car," she said.

  "What?"

  "Valerie, shouldn’t we—" Duran started, but she held up a hand.

  "Don’t worry. I’m not going to hurt them, or at least I don’t think so." Valerie fumbled with the door, wondering how to open it. "I’m going to talk with them."

  Finally, she turned to the cop, exasperated. He smiled sheepishly, ran his hand over the dashboard, and her door opened.

  "Akio," Valerie said as she crouched in the open doorway. "Excuse me, but I’ll have to meet you back at headquarters."

  Akio gave her a judging look, but then offered a slight bow of the head.

  With that, Valerie turned and placed her sword in Duran’s hands, told him that he better watch over it or she’d be using his sharpened bones for a sword next, and stepped from the pod.

  Oh shit, she thought as she turned to face the crowd and noticed a few looking her way. What now?

  She hadn’t exactly thought this through, but she figured there was only one way forward now. She walked toward them; head held high.

  Each step brought more eyes to her, but she kept her own eyes forward, refusing to back down. This was her city now—she’d saved these people, and now it was up to her to defend the city from the CEOs and their armies. She’d be damned if she’d let the people tear themselves apart.

  A man with dreadlocks and crazed eyes got in her face and started yelling, but she simply kept walking right past him. He stared, then started yelling at someone else. People around her were now watching, and watching meant not fighting.

  Several men and women backed off from beating someone, their attention now on Valerie. She wondered if they would try and attack her, but like the others, they simply watched. A woman walking tall and proud among all these scared people was apparently intriguing enough to get the fighting and rioting to stop.

  When she reached the center of the square, she paused and looked around. It had gone from complete chaos, to silence. Some expressions showed curiosity; many showed fright and anger.

  "This city is about to change," she said. She hadn’t raised her voice, but she didn’t need to in order to be heard. She glanced around and saw stairs leading to a nearby building, so she went to the top of those stairs and addressed the crowd. "You have all been living in a city built on lies and deception. That ended last night."

  "What do you know of it?" someone from the crowd shouted.

  "I am the one who liberated you from the tyrants known as the CEOs."

  "You’ve sentenced us all to death!" someone else shouted. "You can’t expect us to stand by and do nothing."

  "And yet," she raised her hands for silence, as murmurs had spread through the crowd, "your answer is to attack each other. Ask that man, yes, you there, the one I saw kicked mere moments ago, does this feel like the right answer?"

  The man was clutching his side in pain, but managed a, "Hell no!"

  "Hell. No." Valerie looked around at the crowd, and for a moment she thought she saw the man she had met at Capitol Square, the one who’d bought her the shoes, Jackson, but then he was gone—maybe not there, to begin with.

  "Let me tell you, I am no whacko, as you call them. I am not part of a wandering tribe of nomads, and certainly am not a warlord. Truth be told, the fight last night you've all heard about was in two parts—the first was my cop friends and me setting up a defense of the city. The second was taking down the corrupt men and women who were doing evil in your name. In short? Commander Strake and those loyal to him."

  Her eyes moved across the crowd, and she noticed movement toward the rear as some large men came shoving their way forward. They stopped when they saw her up there, and then she recognized them as some of her Weres. It looked like they’d come for trouble, but now they stood, waiting.

  If she messed this up, there could be a lot of blood spilled today.

  She wouldn’t allow that.

  "The men and women who you would say kept the peace are gone," she continued, raising her voice now and taking a commanding stance. "They attacked citizens, kept some locked up without reason, and made them suffer. Yes, I know you have nothing but my word to go on here, but let me promise you this… I WILL make this city great again. You, the people of Old Manhattan will not be called upon in the city’s defense, because I will handle it. You will have no need to be scared of the corporations or their vile CEOs, because me and my team," she gestured to the Weres toward the back of the crowd, "we will defend this city."

  Several from the crowd cheered, getting into this. When they had quieted again, she stepped forward, eyes narrowed, shoulders back.

  "But know that violence within our city will not be tolerated. Spread the word that we are in lockdown until I’ve hunted down Commander Strake and the CEOs. I will find them, and on that day, this city will celebrate like it’s never celebrated before. Are you with me?"

  A silence followed… and for a moment, she thought she’d lost them.

  Then a cheer rose up, starting from the direction of her Weres and spreading through the crowd. Other people were appearing from side-streets and poking their heads out of windows, and soon the crowd was twice as big as when she had started.

  Some of the eyes looking her way were still full of hatred, and she took note of that. Winning this city over wouldn’t come without a price, but it was a price she was going to have to make her opposition pay.

  CHAPTER TEN

  The Fallen Lands

  Diego was damn sick of hearing how much Cammie had loved her stupid cowboy boots. He was glad to see them gone. Those boots had been the first thing he noticed when she and the other Weres captured him and kicked his ass. So seeing them gone meant he might actually be
able to forget about all that.

  When they finally crested a hill and saw the Fallen Lands laid out before them, his jaw nearly dropped. He’d seen the ruins of Europe, but this was something horrific on a new level.

  Where he imagined there had once been trees interspersed with the city, there was now piles of rubble, ruins of an America torn to pieces, with only the withered stumps of trees left over from where they caught fire long ago.

  "The conditions never let them regrow," Cammie said with a sigh.

  "Is this the land we all dreamed of coming to?" Diego shook his head, appalled. "The land of the brave?"

  "They still say that where you’re from?" She scoffed. "More like the land of the lucky-if-you-survive-this-shit."

  "Is it so bad?"

  She motioned him to follow, and they began their descent down the hill, but not before Diego caught one last backward glance at Old Manhattan off in the distance. It looked so pristine and almost fancy compared to this wasteland.

  "The warlords, if they get their hands on you…" She shuddered. "Let’s just say being killed by a vampire or maybe even a Were would be a preferable way to go."

  "And if you wanted to join them, become part of their nomad group?"

  She frowned, lost in thought. "You don’t want that."

  He was about to ask why, but the distant, pained look in her eyes made him think twice.

  Back home, that’s how it had been. Find the most powerful person you could, the one all the others were scared of, and then join his or her team. It wasn’t a risk, if you could prove yourself early on and show everyone else you weren’t worth messing with. Unfortunately, that lesson had cost one boy an arm and nearly another’s life.

  Here, it wasn’t so easy.

  "How far are we going?" he asked. "I mean, how long will it take?"

  "Most people, fifteen hours or so," she said. "But we’re Weres, right? So I figure we can do it in under ten."

  "From when we left the city?"