The Caitlin Chronicles Boxed Set

by Michael Anderle

  Caitlin’s ears went warm. She noted how calming and soothing Triston’s voice was. The deep baritone washed over her in waves. Beside her, Belle stared dreamily at nothing, and even Laurie’s eyes were glued to the back of his head.

  Vex and Tom glanced at each other and rolled their eyes. The former puffed his chest out, coughed into the ring of his fist, and elicited a tut from Mary-Anne.

  “What kind of keeper of a city can’t even keep a building which he has cleared free of enemies?” Vex chuckled and nudged Tom and Joe with his elbows. “You can’t be that much of a leader, huh? Maybe you need some real men to step in and help out.”

  Triston whirled smoothly on his heels and forced them all to an abrupt halt. “I believe that’s why I asked for you all to help, isn’t it?” he said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. “Despite our best efforts to maintain our perimeter, we find our greatest safety comes in remaining in groups at night. The city locks themselves away in the library and who is left to check every inch of the perimeter and deter an intrusion?

  “We can send out our search parties, sure. But what happens when the Mad hordes break the fences down and defeat our strongest? What happens when the Weres sneak from their holes and drag our best men and women down into the abyss? Are you telling me that even you, a scrawny man who came from a small town, have the knowledge and power to keep an entire city clean in these troubled times? Because if that’s the case, I would gladly welcome a suggestion to assist in our efforts. Contrary to popular belief, I’m here for the city. This is my home, and I am all ears for any suggestions to help us keep our men and women alive.”

  Triston’s eyes were intense but kind as silence settled over them. Belle and Laurie practically swooned, and their cheeks flushed. Caitlin couldn’t help but notice the colors of Triston’s irises and the curve of his cheeks. He certainly was a handsome man, and he wore his power well.

  Vex lowered his eyes and played in the dust collected on the floor with the toes of his boots.

  “I’m just saying…maybe…” His voice trailed off. Caitlin almost laughed. She had never seen anyone find the switch to lower the man’s volume. She winked at Jaxon who had paused with the rest of them.

  Triston moved closer to Vex and laid a hand on his shoulder. “Times are hard, friend. Either we work together, or we tear ourselves apart. I could do with good folk like you to help our city. Outside of Izzy and her crew, I have a handful of people handy with weapons. The rest are more used to farming and weaving. My mother and I weren’t blessed with warriors when the city crumbled.”

  “I wouldn’t tell the Weres that,” Mary-Anne said and glanced out the window to where the shadows of the buildings crossed paths.

  Triston didn’t have to say a word for Caitlin to know what he thought—that the Weres really didn’t have any idea of that fact.

  They found the disturbance on the sixteenth floor. By now, they were high enough for Mary-Anne to draw her hood up again to block out the thick streams of sunlight breaking through the windows.

  A crash of heavy items followed by several groans resounded while they were on the stairwell. Jaxon’s haunches rose as he pointed his nose in the direction of the Mad.

  Triston ducked back behind the corner, and the others automatically fell in line.

  “Mad?” Joe asked, loudly enough for the others to shush him.

  “We’re all mad here,” Izzy whispered. Caitlin sensed a familiarity in her words but couldn’t place it.

  Their leader peeked around the corner, then pulled back.

  “Three of them, by the look of their shadows. I’m not sure what state. Fresh? Relics? Who knows? We all remember the plan, right?”

  Everyone nodded. His eyes lingered a little longer on Caitlin’s, and she felt her heart flutter. The feeling took her back to the locked cupboard with Izzy not all that long ago.

  She shook the memory from her head. What is happening to me? Focus, bitch.

  “On my count.”

  Triston held up three fingers. Two. One.

  With a thumbs-up and a wave of his hand, they charged into the room, remaining as close to the walls as possible to ensure there’d be no sneak attacks.

  At the first sign of movement, the Mad—four of them, now that they had a full view of the room—twisted and started toward the group.

  “Save your bullets unless you really need them,” Triston commanded in a voice that could not be ignored.

  Caitlin felt another wave of flutters in her heart—only this time, she knew it was the ache of battle, the fight for justice and the desire to rid the world of this plague and create a safer place for all. Without looking back, she ran forward, placed a foot on the remains of a small stall, and launched herself high enough to withdraw Moxie and drive the blade down through the first Mad’s skull.

  At some point it might have been a woman, but all that was left now was a monstrosity. The Mad roared—an unholy screech—as the light died from its eyes. It crumpled to the floor, its arms still outstretched as though ready to catch something that would never come.

  Caitlin heard an impressed gasp from behind her and grinned as she identified her next target and made a beeline for them.

  “Do we even need to bother helping?” Vex asked.

  Tom smirked. “We should probably make an effort.”

  “Speak for yourselves,” Laurie said. She aimed her bow and loosed an arrow into the eye socket of the Mad furthest away. It seemed to have found itself stuck between a series of upturned desks and struggled to reach its prey.

  “Show off,” Vex mumbled and drew his blade as he ran forward.

  Caitlin was focused and in her element. She never truly understood what she thought of as her battle state but loved every second of. From the minute she held Moxie in her hand, a quiet would fall. An unfaltering peace cloaked her as she listened to her body, trusted her instincts, and let the blade do all the talking.

  The second Mad went down, limbs severed. Its clothes, which stuck to the goo leaking from the sores on its body, were stained rapidly with blood as it screamed and dropped to the floor.

  Caitlin whirled, ready for the next, but found that Triston was already engaged in the battle. He held his short sword and twisted and spun it expertly around his body like he was performing tricks. The Mad which reached for him—a guy that might once have been three hundred pounds and now wore the remnants of clothes which tented him—stood almost mesmerized by the display.

  Or that’s what Caitlin had thought until, one by one, segments of the Mad dropped to the floor.

  “Ew, gross,” Belle commented from somewhere on the other side of the room.

  “Impressive, more like,” Tom remarked.

  Caitlin watched as Triston wiped his blades delicately, seemingly unaware of the compliments voiced at his skills. He was in his own zone, blissfully unaware of it all and only concerned about what he was doing in that present moment.

  She realized she should have emulated him rather than been distracted by him when a hand grabbed her ankle from behind.

  A snarl was accompanied by snapping teeth as a Mad dragged itself toward her ankle, wanting nothing more than to tear out a chunk of her flesh.

  “Caitlin, look out!” Belle cried.

  In a panic, she took a step backward and caught her foot on a tangle of electrical wires. She fell on her ass and gasped as the creature was now almost at her skin. Frantically, she fumbled for her sword but couldn’t find it.

  An arrow whistled past her to find its target in the Mad’s head. At such close range and with Laurie’s strength, it penetrated the skull entirely and the arrow’s tip protruded from the other side of its head.

  The attacker growled and collapsed. In an instant, her team rushed around her. Hands helped her to her feet, and she felt her cheeks flush red. She never lost her focus. Never. Not once. And now, because of some…man…she had let her guard drop.

  “Are you okay?” Triston asked from her side, so close s
he could smell his musk.

  Caitlin glared and pushed the arm he had offered away. “Yes. I am, thanks,” she said a little more abruptly than she had meant to as her gaze fell to the floor.

  When she looked up again, she caught Izzy’s glance. Her face was thoughtful, and she looked beautiful in the thin haze of gold light through the windows.

  What’s happening to me? she scolded herself as the others studied the bodies of the Mad and began to question how they had found their way so high in the building.

  All my life I’ve been able to keep my focus and now, my mind is slipping. If there’s one thing I can’t do right now, it’s get distracted. Get your shit together, Caitlin.

  She found Moxie on the floor, dusty and covered in blood stains, and busied herself with cleaning her blade. Once it was safely returned to its rightful place, she looked around at her crew.

  “Where’s Joe?”

  “Hmmm?” Tom asked as he spun stupidly on the spot. “He was here a minute ago.”

  “I’ve not seen him since the battle started.” Belle dropped to her knees and checked beneath the few remaining desks.

  “You think he’s hiding?” Vex said.

  “Would you blame him? You’ve met Joe before, right?”

  “He’s a simpleton, not a coward,” he growled.

  Before Belle could open her mouth a mighty report of gunfire echoed directly above them. As a unit, their eyes turned to the ceiling. Another gunshot fired and heavy footsteps followed immediately after.

  “Yep. Definitely not a coward.” Vex smirked.

  “Come, the little one needs help,” Triston commanded and turned to where Caitlin had been a moment before.

  “I’m already one step ahead of you,” she called as she disappeared out the room and up the next flight of stairs. Determination settled as she focused all her attention on what was to come.

  No distractions this time, bitch. It’s you and the Mad.

  Chapter Five

  The Sewers, The Broken City, Old Ontario

  Kain was tired, and he felt it.

  He had passed a sleepless night tossing and turning in the confines of his room. Celebrations rang throughout the tunnels with the cheers and shouts of excited Weres calling in the age of the new Alpha.

  He could hardly blame them as he remembered the last time the torch had changed hands. Although a new Alpha often meant the death of old friends, that didn’t stop the Weres from making the best of the situation. Bryce was now in charge, and a new regime would be built. The possibilities for the Weres were endless.

  Although even Kain had his suspicions that many of the celebrations were more the result of Geralt’s death than Bryce’s new position.

  Those were the Weres he needed to find and target.

  The room was dark and smelled of damp. A lit torch on the far wall provided an unsteady light which, usually, would cast a hypnotic glow to put Kain to sleep. But not that night. There was too much on his mind and too much to do.

  Even Cynthia’s late-night booty call after the fight for Alpha wasn’t enough to induce sleep.

  In the early hours of the morning, after the alcohol had put a large portion of the Weres to sleep, Kain rose and decided to wander. His door creaked on its hinges, but his feet made no sound.

  As he poked his head into the long tunnel which connected a series of bunkers together, Kain grinned at the sight of it. Dozens of Weres curled up on the cold floors with half-finished drinks spilled or broken near their bodies.

  That would have been me, at one point, he thought as he negotiated carefully to avoid the snoozing bodies. In a different time and different circumstances, I’d be drunk as a shitter with the best of them.

  Kain navigated unerringly down the familiar routes, unsure at that point where exactly he was going. His mind drifted as he considered the best way to bridge the gap between human and Were and make the city safe for all.

  “We have to start a rebellion.” Cynthia’s voice whispered an echo in the dark. She had spoken the words as she lay naked at his side and stroked his hair. A light film of perspiration still gleamed on her body from their lovemaking. “Buy the good guys onto your side. Get enough of them, and you can win Bryce over, too.”

  “Bryce was one of the good guys. And now… Didn’t you seem him, Cynth? He thinks Caitlin did what she did because she’s a monster. Geralt was the monster.”

  “People are blinded by those they love. Bryce and Geralt were practically brothers, the last of a dying breed of Weres to share the gift of transformation. That would be hard on anyone.”

  “I don’t know—”

  “Yes, you do.” Cynthia placed a finger on Kain’s lips. “Come sunup, we lay the seeds, keep an ear out, and gather intel. We’ll recruit, and we’ll do it together. The revolution starts today.’

  He rolled onto his side and kissed Cynthia’s nose. A grin spread across his face.

  “What?” she asked.

  “Don’t call it a revolution.”

  “Why not?”

  ‘Let’s just say that word is already taken.’

  Now, Kain walked deeper into the tunnels and away from the mess of the celebrations. There, a cold chill could be felt, and the smell was less stale than where the ale had spilled. A little farther down, the torches had been extinguished, and the darkness yawned at him in a perfect circle.

  He took a step toward it and felt the ever-increasing breeze of fresh air. Was this another exit barricaded against the humans? Or, perhaps, another way into the surface world he hadn’t come across before.

  A footstep alerted him to the fact that he wasn’t alone.

  Kain spun instantly and halted, only slightly taken aback by the person who stood a few feet away.

  “You thought you’d frighten me?” he asked softly.

  Leena May cocked her head to the side. Geralt’s former sidekick was smaller than most Weres but by no means less pretty. Her size gave her something of an advantage when it came to sneaking, but his ears were keener than most.

  “Frighten you? Never,” Leena whispered, her voice one note from crazy. “Follow curiously, more like. Not many Weres are up at this hour today. Not since the…celebrations.”

  She seemed to choke on the final word, and a film of tears filled her eyes. In the half-light. She looked almost Mad. Her hair was unkempt, and her clothes wrinkled and shaggy. It was only after studying her for a moment that Kain realized why Leena looked so much smaller than usual. She wore Geralt’s lab coat.

  “I’m not one to celebrate,” he replied. “I thought I’d take a stroll and maybe get some air.”

  “From outside? Oooh, you must be crazy, Sudeikis. Anyone might think you were trying to sneak out and escape. Run away and never look back. Not that someone like you would do that, huh?”

  “I suppose not,” he said uncertainly.

  “No. And of course, someone like you would never come back and vie for the affections of the Alpha, eh?”

  Leena licked her lips and pawed at her eyes.

  “But Geralt was kind, wasn’t he, Sudeikis? He let you back into his affections without a moment’s hesitation, didn’t he? Geralt had a heart and a soul. He actually gave a shit.” Her voice grew louder and colder, and each word was accompanied by a snap of her teeth. “At least he actually cared about this pack. Not like that fucking brute, Bry—”

  Her hands clapped over her mouth. Her eyes grew wide and shimmered with tears, and her whole body shook as she looked at Kain in alarm.

  “I didn’t… I don’t…” she blabbered. “I’m not… I just miss him…I’m sorry.”

  And without another word, Leena May turned on her heel and scurried back into the tunnels. She turned the corner and was gone.

  Kain waited until she was out of earshot before he attempted to follow her. He took slow, steady steps, using his nose as best he could to guide him with her scent. Although he was out of practice, it came back easily enough.

  It probably helped that Leena st
unk to high Heaven.

  He rounded the corner to see her standing a short distance away as she dabbed at her eyes with her lab coat. She mumbled incoherently to herself and dashed off again, unaware of his watchful gaze.

  She was a curious creature, Kain thought as the adrenaline kicked in and he began to enjoy the pursuit. Not every Were would show such loyalty to a former Alpha beyond their death. But he could practically feel the woman’s affection pulsing through the tunnel. He wondered what kind of actions that kind of love could lead to if not properly watched and controlled.

  He made a mental note to mention this to Bryce.

  After another series of twists and turns, he found Leena outside a doorway which he had seen but never entered before. She paused with her hand on the wood and listened.

  Kain held his breath and every fiber of his body stilled.

  She lowered her head, took a deep breath, plastered a broad grin on her face, and shoved the door inwards.

  “Wakey, wakey, sunshine!” she roared as she swept into the room.

  He waited, his ear cocked, and after a moment, heard scuffles and mumbled protests and screams.

  Caitlin’s fierce sense of justice seemed to rise within him. Without a moment’s hesitation, he dashed from his hiding place, barged through the door, and looked wildly around for the source of the upset.

  A woman was chained to the wall and had some form of tape over her mouth and tears in her eyes.

  “What the…” Kain’s voice trailed off.

  She shouted something incomprehensible and nodded her head toward him.

  It took him a second to realize that she had signaled behind him. He turned quickly to see Leena advance with a crazed look in her eyes and a knife in her hand.

  “You thought you could sneak up on a Were, huh? Boy, you must be craaazy.” She growled and leapt at him.

  Kain was ready for her. As she launched herself toward him, he planted his feet, grabbed the wrist holding the knife, and twisted it sharply to the side. The blade fell and clanged on the stone floor.