“Abby,” Pippa cried out in pain. Blood poured from her wound, staining her shirt. The ferals shrieked in glee. Pippa had never experienced such pain. She nearly blacked out, but her agony quickly turned to rage. Her senses heightened, and she morphed deeper into the rabid state. She pushed and clawed and heaved herself up and wrenched her sister’s jaw from her shoulder. The advantage had switched. Pippa hurled Abby toward the side of the pit and heard the breath squeezed from her sister’s lungs as she slammed into it. Abby sank to the ground, unconscious.
Ferals above screamed in fury, but they were screaming at the humans and werecats who had come to save Pippa. She tried to claw her way out of the pit, but even in her cat form the pain in her shoulder was nearly too much to bear. When she stopped to rest only a few feet from the top, she felt a crushing grip around her ankles and was yanked back into the pit.
Abby swung Pippa by her feet and sent her flying. Pippa hit the side of the pit and felt bones crunch and ribs break. Every breath sent pain shooting through her. She looked up and saw Abby coming in for the kill. Overhead, gunfire filled the air, but her friends were too late. Abby was in the air, only feet away. As she waited for death, she saw a vision of light wrap itself around her sister. Then everything went black.
It is time, the three beings announced. Glide, our children, find the bloodline that holds your father’s retribution. Protect the doctor and return to us when it is done.
Dr. Jack Tanner nodded to the three creatures who had given him life and then turned and ran from their nocturnal safehaven. As the other nocturnals followed their new leader, Aiden stood still, watching them fade into the night, unsure how he would keep up. He felt the cold touch of a wing on his right arm. It sent a shiver of fear through him. He turned toward the three creatures. They nodded and pierced his mind with their eyes.
Don’t fear us. We mean you no harm. You can run with our children. You must become the true hybrid that lives within you. Call forth your werecat and reptilian forms.
Aiden was confused.
See them joining together. Feel them becoming one.
Aiden closed his eyes and concentrated. He saw both forms in his mind’s eye and called for them. As they came forward, he watched them combine into one. He opened his eyes and saw his reflection in the water. He was now a true hybrid, the only one of its kind. He had morphed and not realized it. No pain had expressed itself as he changed. The sight was exhilarating. He was the perfect union of reptile and mammal. He was spotted green and hairy, with the teeth of a cat and the claws of a reptile. He stood over eight feet tall, and his arms and legs were well muscled. He breathed the air as if for the first time. Energy filled his body, and he crouched like a runner ready to race. His legs uncoiled, and he sprang forward. In an instant, he was gone.
The three beings returned to the cold darkness of their home and morphed back into their human forms, revealing three men, weathered and aged. They sent their thoughts outward. By the Ancients, may you succeed, Jack Tanner.
Rathbone and his men had been prepared for battle and unleashed a killing spree against the ferals, wiping out most of them. A group of men descended into the pit and tended to Pippa, who was barely alive. When she was stable, they used ropes and pulleys to pull her and Abby out of the pit.
“Good thing you sniffed them out,” Rathbone said to Salvatore. “They would’ve killed each other.”
Salvatore and Rathbone watched as Abby fought against the electric net that bound her. She screamed and clawed like a rabid animal. Any regular human would have been rendered unconscious from the jolt.
“Tranq her,” Rathbone yelled. “That’s the only way we’ll be able to subdue her.” A man jabbed a needle into Abby’s leg, and she screamed in protest.
Mangus appeared beside Rathbone and Salvatore. “We’ve heard from the Tar Pits, sir.”
“And?”
“They’ve barricaded themselves in the safehold. They’re surrounded by hundreds of ferals. The entire city is overrun. They don’t know where they’re coming from or why.”
“I do,” Rathbone said. “They’ve been breeding like animals for decades, especially down south. Their numbers have grown, and they’re searching for food. Something is drawing them north. Maybe they sense the safehold in the mountains. Regardless, we need to wipe them out before they devour every human and werecat in their path. Have you heard from Rebecka?”
“Yes, sir. She radioed in a few minutes ago. She’s only an hour behind us.”
“Radio her back. Give her our coordinates and tell her we’ll wait for her team. Then radio the Tar Pits. Tell them we’re coming for them.” It would take three or four hours to reach the Pits. Rathbone hoped they wouldn’t be too late.
Salvatore stared at Abby as she finally succumbed to the tranquilizer. Pippa looked as if she’d been snapped in two. It had taken eight men, four in the pit, four out, to remove her on a gurney.
“Thought your kind healed quickly,” Rathbone said to Salvatore. “Even from a feral attack.”
“We usually do,” Salvatore replied. “But these girls aren’t normal werecats. They’re rabid. Who’s to say what kind of damage they’ve done to each other.”
Salvatore turned away so Rathbone wouldn’t see the tears sliding down his face. The thought of losing Abby was too much to bear. And if she did survive, how could he tell her he was a traitor?
Rebecka arrived with her news.
“They survived?” Salvatore said after she told Rathbone and him about finding Jack and Aiden.
“Where are they?” Rathbone asked. He was as surprised as Salvatore, but he was determined to remain the crusty, no-nonsense boss.
“They’ll catch up,” she replied.
Rathbone frowned. “What do you mean, they’ll catch up?”
“The doctor—he survived, but not exactly intact.”
“What do you mean?” Salvatore asked.
She looked quickly at Rathbone, then at Salvatore. “The doctor died and was brought back to life.”
Rathbone’s face went ashen. “No. Don’t say it.”
She said it anyway. “Nocturnals.”
Rathbone stared at her. “How did you and your crew make it out alive?”
“Wait, what are nocturnals?” Salvatore asked.
“Every mother’s nightmare,” Rathbone said. “An abomination, like the ferals, an almost human creature with black eyes and gray skin. A creature that can ride on the wind and steal your children and bite them and turn them into nocturnals, too.”
“They sound like something out of an old vampire tale,” Salvatore said.
Rathbone nodded. “Anyone who’s wandered into a known area of nocturnals has never returned—except, apparently, for Rebecka here.”
“I’m as shocked as you are,” she said. “The doctor told us to leave, said he would catch up, that he had to travel at night because he—because he’s now a nocturnal. Aiden stayed behind to protect him.”
“As if a nocturnal would need protection,” Rathbone said. “I guess we’ll have to leave some men behind to wait for them. We can’t waste any more time here, we have to get to the next safehold. They’re under attack.”
“You don’t need to leave anyone behind. Jack and Aiden will find us.”
“What makes you so sure?”
“Because the doctor and Aiden are leading dozens of nocturnals toward us at this very moment.”
Rathbone glared at her, but his eyes betrayed a hint of confusion as well.
“You know I couldn’t stop them,” Rebecka said. “And if we had tried, we might’ve killed the doctor. They’re coming to help us get the girls back, and to protect the doctor so he can find the cure.”
“If they don’t kill us all first,” Rathbone said.
“Jack won’t kill us,” Rebecka said. “He’s still … he’s still Jack.”
“You sure about that?”
But Rebecka had already turned away to gather her troops and head out.
Aid
en ran like a bolt of lightning slashing through the sky, keeping pace with Dr. Tanner and his family of nocturnals. After several hours of nonstop running, his body was as full of energy as when he started. He realized that the three beings must have released something within him, something that allowed him to conquer his cat and reptilian sides, a feat he didn’t believe he could have accomplished by himself.
Soon he detected a familiar scent—Pippa and Abby. He ran faster. The nocturnals kept pace. He looked up and found Jack’s perfect black eyes, knew that Jack had also picked up the scent. Pippa and Abby were still alive, and they were going to find them.
Aiden was shocked when he realized that the doctor could communicate with him mentally, just as the three beings had. The link between them could span distances, enabling Aiden to better protect the doctor if they were separated.
The group of winged beings arrived at the deserted site of what looked like a recent bloody battle. Dead ferals littered the ground around a large pit. Aiden ran to it, and the doctor hovered over it and then lowered himself down. Jack dipped a finger into a small puddle of blood and licked it. “They’re still alive,” he said.
Aiden sniffed at the air. “They’ve gone northwest.”
The nocturnals were hovering nervously, anxious to continue the search. Jack rose out of the pit and headed out to follow the scents of Pippa and Abby. The nocturnals followed, and Aiden took off in the same direction. This time he took the lead.
Salvatore rode in the back of a tarp-covered truck with Abby and Pippa. Abby was chained to a metal ring and was shrieking at the five men who sat on metal seats just out of her reach. Pippa lay unconscious on the floor, and Salvatore knelt beside her and took her hand. Dark bruises covered her face and arms, and blood was seeping through her bandages.
When Abby saw him next to Pippa, she began to scream profanities at him, claiming he had left her for Pippa. She stopped once and turned her head to converse with the empty air beside her. She was acting as Pippa had weeks earlier, speaking nonsense, speaking to people who weren’t there.
Salvatore crawled toward Abby, and her cries grew louder. As the guards looked on impassively, he reached out and touched her face. “Until I found you, I didn’t know love existed.”
A hint of recognition mixed with confusion crossed her face. “Salvatore?”
He smiled and nodded. “I love you, Abby. I need you. Pippa needs you.”
He crawled forward and kissed her. As he wrapped his arms around her, she kissed him back. Love and hope filled his heart as she reached her chained arms toward him.
A guard called out as Abby morphed and dug her claws into his neck. Three guards began to strike her as the other two pulled him away from her. Blood trickled down his neck.
He locked eyes with Abby, who was sneering at him. “You’re right, Uncle Alex,” she said to the air. “He is a fool.”
“You try that again, I’ll choke you myself,” Rathbone told Salvatore.
Salvatore knew the big man was right.
“Now pay attention,” Rathbone said to Salvatore, Rebecka, and a few other officers. “We’re less than five miles from the city, which is why I halted the convoy. But even when we reach it, we’ve got many more miles to go to reach the safehold. Everyone needs to understand that this safehold is extremely important. It’s where we get our tar for some of our feral traps. The Pits have been fully blockaded by a high wall that was put up more than twenty years ago. But if what they say is true, and the whole city is overrun now, it’s gonna be a beast to make it there alive.”
A commander named Perkins spoke up. “I worry about these two girls. If they’re as important as you say, shouldn’t they stay behind? If they get caught in the middle of the attack, it could prove fatal in more ways than one.”
“Perkins has a point,” Rathbone said. “Tell you what, Perkins, you come with me. Rebecka, you take another dozen men and stay behind with the truck that’s carrying the girls. Salvatore, you should stay, too, in case they need your special services.”
“I can’t just sit here, Rathbone, you know better than that,” Rebecka said.
“You’re right,” Rathbone replied. “So on second thought, head to the coast and take Highway 1 all the way to Highway 101. We’ll stay in touch via radio. If you haven’t heard from me in an hour, head north and work your way to the Olympic Mountains. Get those girls to the safehaven. And take these.” Rathbone reached into his Jeep and removed a small box that contained Jack’s blood samples and microscope. “It’s up to your team now, so don’t screw it up!”
Rebecka nodded and they shook hands, then she was on her way.
Rathbone looked at Salvatore. “Do you think Jack will find us?”
Salvatore sniffed the air. “He already has.”
Rathbone scanned the ruined streets of old Los Angeles, which reeked with the stench of ferals. The werecats under Rathbone’s command, men and women both, morphed into creatures similar to wild bobcats, in preparation for an attack. Some had fangs as long as knives, others claws like razors.
Humans peered through the sights of their firearms, looking for shadows or any sign of movement among the shattered glass and broken concrete. They saw nothing, though the scent of ferals grew stronger as they approached Hancock Park and the place once known as the La Brea Tar Pits.
Rathbone signaled for the convoy to slow to a crawl. The giant of a man stood straddling the back seat of his Jeep as the soldier called Mangus drove. He signaled a stop, and the drivers cut their engines.
Rathbone listened. There was a hissing sound not too far ahead. He knew the creatures were gathering at the La Brea safehold.
“So much for the element of surprise,” he muttered. He reconsidered his plan of attack. Sure that the sun would peek up over the horizon before he could wipe out the ferals, Rathbone weighed his options, and then he smiled to himself.
“Mangus,” Rathbone yelled. “Get me Peterson.”
Mangus disappeared and returned moments later with a redheaded young woman carrying a portable radio.
“Get the Pits on the radio,” Rathbone said. “Time to let them know our plans have changed.”
Peterson did as instructed and handed the receiver to Rathbone. After the static cleared, a woman’s voice came over the radio.
“Who is this?” Rathbone said. “Where’s Conley?”
“Rathbone, it’s me, Piper. Conley is dead. Ferals almost broke through the Wilshire gate. We beat them back and resealed the gate, but Conley was killed.”
Rathbone swore. “Piper, I don’t know how you ended up in the Pits, but we’ll get you out of there. Now listen closely.”
“I’m all ears, Meatwhistle.”
“It looks like all the ferals have worked their way to the safehold. We’ll have to catch them off guard, use the fact that they’re focused on infiltrating the safehold to our advantage.”
“What do you have in mind?”
“Start catapulting tar over the walls into the hordes immediately. Then barricade any spots near the Wilshire side that would allow the ferals to get to you without going through the water. Wait fifteen minutes, crack the gate wide open from Wilshire, and let them into the Pits.”
“Are you crazy? We’ll be killed.”
“We can handle a few hundred ferals.”
“Try a few thousand, Rathbone. You may want to consider abandoning us. It’s a suicide mission.”
“Listen to me, hundreds or thousands, it doesn’t matter. I pulled a similar maneuver a few years back, and it worked like a charm. Just do as I say. Pull some of your vehicles to the Wilshire gate and light them on fire. Once they start burning, open the gates. They’ll be forced to run into the water to try to swim across. Fall back behind the buildings, and stick some shooters on top to take out the ones that make it through.”
“We won’t have much time, and we’re completely surrounded.”
“Then every second counts. Once the majority of the ferals swarm the lake, have your sh
ooters light it up with fire arrows. We’ll come in from West Sixth Street, gas the ferals on our side, and have target practice as they come running out of the cloud. Load all your men in as few vehicles as possible and prepare to bolt through that gate after you hear the shooting slow. We’ll cover you and kill any that are blocking your way.”
The radio went silent, and Rathbone gave orders to proceed.
Rebecka looked to the east as the vehicle she was riding in sped down the road. With little more than an hour until dawn, she began to worry, knowing Rathbone would be fully exposed. She considered heading back. Traveling at top speed, she could reach the safehold in fifteen minutes. The potential cure hidden within Pippa’s and Abby’s veins was far more valuable than the lives of four or five hundred men, a thousand times even, but it didn’t make the decision any easier. She needed a moment to think. She signaled a halt, and the trucks stopped. She got out and began to pace.
Suddenly a winged creature appeared in the sky and landed next to her before she could grab her gun. She opened her mouth to scream, but the creature put his hand over her mouth.
“Rebecka, it’s me. It’s Jack.”
She stared at the winged, gray-skinned creature and recognition finally dawned.
He nodded and smiled and reached out his arms. She stepped toward him, and they embraced.
Dozens of night creatures appeared above, and the soldiers riding in the two vehicles brought their guns to bear.
“Stand down,” Rebecka commanded. “These … people are with us.”
The guards lowered their weapons, and the nocturnals formed up to provide an airborne escort. Suddenly Aiden appeared, running like he was gliding on wind.
Rebecka gasped at the sight. She’d seen Aiden in his morphed state before, mostly reptilian, but the vision before her was like nothing she’d ever seen. In an instant, he stood before the flatbed vehicle that carried Rebecka, Jack, and a dozen other men. Close up, he looked even more frightening than the doctor had looked before he returned to human form.
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