Caitlin heard Joe gulp, his hands shaking as he raised his shotgun. Without looking away, Laurie touched the tip of the gun and lowered it to aim toward the ground. She took her own bow and held it at her eyeline, trained ahead at the Weres.
“It’s him,” Mary-Anne side-mouthed to Caitlin. “He’s the fucker I scrapped with.”
Caitlin spoke up. “Weres, we mean you no harm.” Caitlin held her arms wide open. “Despite what you may believe, we are not citizens of The Broken City. I—and these folks with me—am not from around here at all. We come from deep within the forest, and we are merely here to track down and retrieve a friend who, we have reason to believe, has been taken by a group of Weres within the city and held in the sewers.” She smirked. “You wouldn’t happen to know anything about that, would you?”
Impossibly, the bear appeared to grin. Slapping back to the ground on all fours, the Werebear took a few sidesteps to reveal the shape of a human hidden directly behind him.
Kain grinned awkwardly and waved a few fingers. “Hey, guys.”
“Kain!” Caitlin shouted.
The bear roared and growled angrily before its body warped and changed. He reduced in size and the fur receded to reveal the large naked man Vex and Belle had seen before he had stolen Scout and disappeared into the house.
“Your Were friend has had a change of allegiance, petty human,” Bryce said gruffly. “His loyalties lie with his pack, now. Isn’t that right, Sudeikis?”
Caitlin’s blood froze as she looked at Kain in disbelief. Could it be true? Could he really have hopped over onto the side of the Weres, forsaking them all despite their efforts to hunt him down and save him?
She supposed it would make sense. Her understanding of Weres showed that they were pack animals, loyal to their kin until the day they died. Kain had never shared a great deal of his past, but she struggled to believe that maybe he had switched sides now that he’d fallen into the hands of the enemy. Would he really choose to remain in the city to scrounge and hide in the sewers?
Without blinking, and as if in slow motion, Kain held Caitlin’s gaze. His head moved as he nodded and took a step towards the Werebear’s side.
Okay, buddy boy. In for a penny, in for a pound.
Kain felt his heart rate quicken. This was it. An opportunity had presented itself to gain the trust of the Weres, and he was grabbing that bitch with both hands.
He stared across the street, watching the confusion and hurt in Caitlin’s eyes. He moved to Mary-Anne, silently trying to communicate a message with nothing more than a stare. It’s a ruse, dammit. It’s a goddamn ruse. Just trust me.
“See?” Bryce barked across the space between the two groups. “Your boy’s with us. Now fuck off back to your homeland. We’ve got business with the city folk, and if you don’t want to get in the way of that, I suggest you make yourself scarce.”
The panther, Wes, growled as if to reinforce Bryce’s point. Kain jumped as the growl took him by surprise. The wolf, Mikkel, howled.
Kain wasn’t in the least bit shocked when Caitlin smiled and half-drew her sword.
“If he won’t come willingly, we’ll take him by force. Now, put your dick away, stand the fuck down, and move aside,” she said. “You’re outnumbered.”
“You’re outpowered.” Bryce grinned, beginning his transformation again. “Boys. Get ʼem.”
In a flurry of fur, the Weres sprinted ahead, closing the gap in seconds and leaving him behind. He watched as they launched into the air and dove at a target. Kain was relieved to see that the Revolutionaries had moved out of the way, already prepared for the attack.
Best get involved, Sudeikis, Kain thought to himself and walked towards the action. Your time is up, superstar. Best make this a performance they’ll never forget.
Chapter Twenty-Four
The Broken City, Old Ontario
Caitlin was ready for them.
As the great bear sprinted forward and targeted her, she ran to meet him. Her senses were afire as adrenaline coursed through her body. The animal leaped into the air, its great mass large enough to momentarily block out the night sky. Caitlin shifted to the side and watched him land with a thud that seemed to shake the ground.
“Nice reflexes, Kitty-Cat,” Mary-Anne shouted, ducking out of the way of the panther as it leaped and pranced around her, but not before the vampire managed to land a kick in its side. It flew backward with a vicious snarl.
“Thanks,” Caitlin shouted, watching as the bear turned on the Revolutionaries. “Not so bad yourself.”
Laurie raised her bow and let an arrow loose. It soared through the air, bouncing off the bear’s thick hide and landing limply among the debris that littered the ground. Tom drew his blade and slid along in a kind of leopard-crawl. He managed to make a decent cut along the bear’s thigh while the beast was distracted.
The beast roared, his eyes ablaze, and swiped at Tom who was sent sprawling backward. He slid for a good few feet before stopping with a groan but only had a second to recover before the wolf pummeled him, knocking the sword out of his hand.
Caitlin raced over. She dashed up a pile of rocks to give herself height advantage and swung her blade to penetrate straight through the wolf’s back as she came back down.
“Caitlin, no!” Kain yelled as he leaped through the air and drove his shoulder into her side. They both fell onto the concrete with a thud, the wind knocked out of them. She saw Jaxon fly past her in a blur of brown and black, chasing the wolf.
They rolled around in pain for a moment before their eyes caught.
She was on her feet in seconds, her sword held threateningly at Kain’s throat. He looked around cautiously as if checking that no one was watching them. The bear, the wolf, and the panther were now engaged with the others. Mary-Anne took a leading role, striking the bear with an uppercut to the chin and forcing him to fall backward as the other animal moved in.
“Kain, what the fuck is going on?” Caitlin demanded, her harsh whisper drowned by the sounds of battle behind them. “What are you playing at?”
He glanced over his shoulder. “Remember those moves I taught you at the airship?”
“Yes.”
“Fight me. Now.”
She obeyed, remembering the combinations of moves and strikes Kain had taught her. Whenever he struck, she parried. Whenever she struck, he dodged. With each move, she noted that he guided them deliberately farther away from the action of the fight, almost as if moving in a dance. He cast regular checks over his shoulder until certain that the others hadn’t noticed their escape before tucking himself and Caitlin into a small alcove of one of the old buildings, just out of sight.
He spoke between gasps. “You need to get out of here now, Kitty-Cat. It’s not safe.”
“What are you doing? Come with us. We need you,” she urged.
Kain turned his head back to the battle, listening intently. The sounds of growls, roars, grunts, and exclamations from the fight were loud in the night. She heard Jaxon bark somewhere close by.
“I can’t,” he said. “The Weres…my old pack…there are good people down there living under the fear of one fucker who’s doing some horrible shit. I need to save them. Get them on my side. If we go down there now and try to flush out all the Weres, there’ll be too much bloodshed. I need to get them to trust me. To give them enough hope to lead a revolt against that bastard Geralt.” Then Kain smiled. “Like you did, Cat. This is my Silver Creek.”
Caitlin looked exasperated. The situation kept getting messier and messier. With the city folk painting such a bad image of the Weres, she had been ready to flush them all out and drive them back into the wilds. The city folk could finally be free to rebuild their city and create a place bigger and better than she had ever seen.
But now, with Kain standing in front of her, asking her to help them free themselves from the thumb of their oppressor… Well, that was something that Caitlin could understand very well.
She bowed her head. “Wh
y do you keep so much of your past a secret?”
“Because I’m ashamed of the things I’ve done,” he replied. “But that ends today. You’ve inspired me, Kitty-Cat. If you can give hope to not just one, but several colonies of humans, then what’s to stop me emulating that with my pack?”
Before he knew what was happening, she threw her arms around his neck. She squeezed him tight and whispered in his ear. “We’ll give you time, but we need to find a way to communicate. Keep us in the loop. I’ll have the Revolutionaries regroup and work on the attitude of the city folk to prepare for a truce of some kind—if we can get to that. But, Kain…”
He grunted.
“Somehow, I think that this is one that could get messy. We have to be prepared for that.”
Kain’s face set. “I think you’re right. Now, en garde!”
Caitlin smiled as she clashed her sword against his again. She shoved him backward and out into sight of the other Weres. He sprinted back towards the fight, shoving past Vex and Tom who fought back to back against the panther. Joe stood several feet away, seeming preoccupied and concerned with the barrel of his shotgun.
He lined the barrel up with his eye and stared down it into the darkness. As he shook the gun in frustration, his finger slipped towards the trigger,
“Joe! Watch out,” Caitlin cried in horror.
There was an almighty report as the shotgun fired. Caitlin closed her eyes, fearful of the worst. But when she opened them, Joe stood with the gun pointing directly into the air and the fingers of one hand digging deep into his ear to stop the ringing.
“Son-of-a-bitches!” he croaked.
The sound of the gun caught Kain’s attention. He seized the opportunity to cry out, “Retreat!” to the other Weres. The bear, wolf, and panther all paused momentarily and tracked the source of the sound, their eyes widening as Joe lowered the shotgun and took aim at each of them in turn.
“Run!” Kain repeated, leading the group away and back down the street.
“Halt!” The voice was so deep and booming that, for a moment, everyone stood still. All eyes hunted for the man who emerged around the corner, a thick mane of hair around his face. Stark naked, he paused, and they noted chiseled abs and a body covered in scars. His eyes blazed and his brows furrowed. “Stand. Your. Ground.”
In a movement so slick it could have been liquid, the man began to shift. His body arched and buckled, growing ever larger as he moved beside the large black bear. Caitlin was horrified to find that this bear was even larger. The two of them together was nightmarish, even for her.
“You heard the man,” Caitlin said, gritting her teeth. “Stand your ground.”
Geralt’s heart pounded. The air smelled so sweet. He couldn’t remember the last time he had actually left the lair, and now he had the chance to flex his muscles, too?
Not only that, but he was certain that this was the group who had sniffed around the tunnels, hunting for their comrade. Maybe it was time to test the traitor’s loyalty?
Geralt raised his hackles, let out a mighty roar, and led the charge.
“Caitlin?” Laurie ventured uncertainly as the new bear let out a roar which they could feel in their bones. His eyes flashed amber, and his fur was tatty and scarred.
“Don’t tell me you’re scared now? Just treat him like any other bear. We’ve got this. We’ve taken down hordes of Mad, we’ve liberated towns, we’ve taken on a friggin’ lycanthrope when we were exhausted. If we can’t take down another bear amongst the—”
Caitlin cut off the encouragement and uttered a cry of surprise at the bear’s speed. He tore through the street, an enormous, furry missile, aiming straight at the Revolutionaries like a bowling ball at the pins.
“Dive!”
They moved as fast as they could. Joe lacked the speed of the others and barely managed to avoid the impact as the bear skidded forward and slammed into a building.
The animal roared at his comrades, who regrouped and joined the action. Kain held back reluctantly, until the bear—presumably, Caitlin thought, the leader Kain had spoken about—caught his gaze and he was forced to join the fray.
Now Caitlin saw red. Her adrenaline was on overdrive. Goddammit, if these Weres thought they had the upper hand… Super-bear or no super-bear, she was Caitlin Harrison, and these were the Revolutionaries. They had yet to lose a fight or a member of their team. Today would not be the day that changed.
“Ma!” Caitlin shouted, about to give the vampire orders. But Mary-Anne had already charged ahead, her eyes a blazing red, and focused her attack on the big one.
With a bat of his paw, her course was diverted. She flew backward, crashing into the side of a car next to Caitlin.
Mary-Anne groaned.
“Look out!” Laurie shouted, her bow and arrow ready as she sent a missile flying through the air. It landed in the side of the panther’s leg. The animal had been speeding towards them, and it buckled and crashed to the ground. Tom, Joe, and Jaxon moved to eliminate the wolf and the original bear—which Caitlin would later call “baby bear” in comparison to this beast before them—and demanded their attention, swords and guns flashing as they caught the moonlight.
A chuckle seemed to bubble in Superbear’s throat as he advanced slowly on the vampire. He stood on his hind legs and in an instant, changed back to his human form.
“I wondered what had happened to vampires as the Madness spread,” the man said. “If we Weres were to become nothing more than degenerates, then what was the punishment inflicted on those who stood at the top of the food chain for years?”
Mary-Anne spat out a mouthful of blood. “To have to endure your ugly mug, it seems.”
“Pathetic.” The man leered at her, cocking his head to the side. “Weak. Your strength has gone, too, it seems.” He studied her for a moment. “How could it be that humans get all the gifts these days? While the Unknowns degenerate, fade and die? It’s almost laughable, really. Even the great vampires can now be squashed like bugs.” He cricked his neck then began to shift back into a bear. “Well, this will be fun…”
Caitlin, seeing what was to come, took her sword and dragged it across the flesh of her arm. A steady stream of red began to trail down the skin.
“Ma, here,” she offered, placing the arm directly beneath Mary-Anne’s face.
Mary-Anne stared up at her, her chest rising and falling rapidly. “Kitty-Cat… Not you—”
But before she could finish her sentence, Caitlin pushed Mary-Anne’s head to the blood.
She was hesitant at first, but then Caitlin felt the vampire take the blood. It was a strange feeling in which the battle, the Weres, and the entire situation seemed to fade. All that existed then was Caitlin and Mary-Anne.
And then the world re-appeared. Superbear looked at them with unbridled anger, ready to pounce on Mary-Anne. In a movement so fast it seemed impossible, Mary-Anne healed Caitlin’s arm, shoved her to the side, then moved before the bear could hit her.
The huge bulk of the bear crashed into the car, compressing the metal and flattening it almost to the ground.
“Ma! Go for the face. Something—keep him distracted,” Caitlin shouted, watching in awe as Mary-Anne’s demeanor changed entirely. Her body took the blood, and the strength it gave her was almost visible, as though an aura of power now surrounded her. “Let’s get this shit sorted.”
As the vampire dove for the bear and gripped into his back, Caitlin searched for the others.
She found them almost instantly, her face falling. Jaxon was locked in a whirlwind battle with the wolf, all bared teeth and snarls. Laurie and Tom were locked in battle with the other bear, spending more time ducking and diving than attacking—although it looked like Tom had taken a few good slices of the bear’s leg. Meanwhile, the panther had Joe cornered and was advancing slowly. Joe’s gun lay on the ground a few feet away.
Caitlin’s eyes widened in alarm. She raced towards Joe, weaving around the bear with a speed that surprised her. As she
passed, she took her blade and aimed a perfect slash into one of the already existing wounds Tom had inflicted. The animal buckled with a roar. She charged past the wolf, shouldering into him as he snapped at Jaxon. The dog bounded back on top and looked for the advantage.
With a final burst of effort, Caitlin slid across the ground, picked up the gun, and aimed it at the panther’s face.
The Were didn’t notice at first until Joe pointed. As soon as it saw the gun, its ears flattened and it began to retreat.
“That’s right. Kitty hates a teeny bullet, huh?” Caitlin smirked. “Wouldn’t want your entire face to rip off now, would we?” She tossed the shotgun to Joe who caught it and kept its sight trained on the panther. “Here. Keep Kitty in line.”
Joe looked confused. “Oh, you mean him. Not you?”
She rolled her eyes, then nodded as she searched for Kain. Her heart sank when she found no sign at first, then she almost fell with laughter when she saw him ducked behind a car at the far end of the street.
He caught her eyes and raised a finger to his lips. She understood. This was one fight it was better for him to remain impartial in so that he could see the outcome. He neither wanted to hurt the Weres, nor his Revolutionaries. For that, she could forgive him.
When another roar sounded, Caitlin looked back down the battlefield, watching in awe as Mary-Anne went toe-to-toe with the Superbear. With a final nod at Joe, she sprinted back to help her. The vampire clung desperately to the bear’s fur as he bucked and tossed into the air.
As she advanced, Caitlin held her sword ready. She stood tall, moving more slowly the closer she got. The bear caught sight of her and seemed to grin mockingly.
“I give you one final warning, Were. Surrender Kain and end this stupid vendetta against the humans…”
Hunting The Broken: Age Of Madness - A Kurtherian Gambit Series (The Caitlin Chronicles Book 3) Page 22