by K. N. Banet
“I don’t have a special sense of smell,” Raphael said with almost a touch of bitterness.
“Tell me how you really feel,” I said, looking into the next office.
“I mean…I’m really powerful, but I get weird with the black eyes and shit just to flip cars. All the trouble of being something no one has ever seen before, only for a somewhat mediocre ability.” He gave me a half-smile and shrugged. “Think about it. You have all sorts of cool shit going on. I’m just a strong guy.”
“You’re a very strong guy, though.” I patted his thick arm teasingly. I could see his point, but there was something he was missing. “You’ve never pushed yourself all the way, I bet. What if there are more powers?”
“But at what cost?” he countered, pointing at me. “What would I have to pay to be more powerful? I don’t even know if I want the power I have now, God forbid more. Not knowing the cost…”
“I get it.”
He’s still afraid of himself, of what he might be and what it could mean. It must be hard, not knowing. I’ve never had to deal with it. I was born a naga, and I’ll die a naga. He’s in uncharted waters in a little lifeboat with only three people helping him stay afloat.
I wasn’t one for sympathy, but for a minute, it pained me. I really wished I could help him more. That sympathy turned to anger as I considered what we were doing in the building.
I would still be helping him if it weren’t for some fucking assholes, trying to kill me and cause general mayhem and disorder in my fucking city.
I shoved the next door open, letting it bang against a wall. The room was clear. Raphael gave me a strange look when I continued walking.
Once the fifth floor was done, we went back to the stairwell, and I tasted the air again. Werewolf?
No.
Werewolves.
20
Chapter Twenty
“We’ve got a problem. There might be more than one werewolf. You ready for that?” I asked Raphael, listening to the wind howl on the other side. My paranoia was skyrocketing at the scent of now two wolves. I didn’t know who they were or if they were just innocent bystanders who had been in the building before Code Black was called.
“Tell me when,” he replied, his hand on the door handle. He was going through first, the best bet for neither of us getting killed the moment it opened.
“Go.”
He had to push hard to get the door open, his scent changing from human to other in a second. Pressed against his back, it was hard to miss. I stayed right behind him as he stepped out.
Once we were out, the wind caught the door and slammed it shut. Ice hit my face and arms, and rain quickly soaked me to the bone with a chill I would need to fight through.
“Look who’s here!” someone called out, the voice seeming to travel on the winds. “I was wondering when you would finally take the bait! Boys, kill her!”
I looked around Raphael to see Levi through the rain, and ice. His arms were outstretched, and visible magic made them glow. He was channeling the power up into the storm. My best guess was whatever incantation of spell he used was already complete. He was just feeding it raw power now for shits and giggles.
Now I knew why the storm was so cold. I was frozen as another trap closed in on Raphael and me. The prison, the inmate, this. Just trying to do my job was getting me into more trouble than I really considered, and that wasn’t good. An Executioner was never supposed to be the target. We were the hand of death. People were supposed to be scared of us, running for their lives. For the decades I’d had the job, that had always been the case.
Now, I was the prey, and something about that was throwing me off my game.
“Kaliya, get inside!” Raphael roared.
That shook me out of my paralyzed state, but I didn’t move in time. I was knocked aside by Raphael, who met an enemy head-on. One snarled, one roared. Fur flew.
I lifted my sword and turned, looking for another attacker. Levi had said boys. I could hear the witch’s laughter on the winds, blending with the storm.
When there was no evidence of anyone around me, I looked up to see a werewolf sitting on top of the roof access. With a toothy grin, the partially changed wolf jumped. I rolled out of the way, my eyes wide when I stopped in a defensive crouch to see my attacker. This wasn’t Wesley, who was in his Last Change. This wolf was purposefully partially changed. It looked painful to me, but it didn’t slow the werewolf. His body was covered in fur, his muzzle and ears were halfway formed, and long fangs hung down. This wasn’t the perfect blend of monster and man the Last Change created, often referenced in the movies. This was grotesque. This was unnatural.
And there were two of them.
No. I killed one of the twins. There’s no fucking way.
“You seemed surprised to see me,” the wolf growled, drool falling from his mouth as he spoke. The words weren’t clear, slurred and stunted by the wrong set of teeth. Unlike Wesley, this guy didn’t talk much with an inhuman mouth and wasn’t used to it.
“I…”
“Killed me?” he asked. He didn’t walk on his hind legs, bending over and walking unnaturally on the weird hand-paws he had on his arm-legs. “You wish.”
I readied my sword, holding it in front of my body.
I will not be prey.
“I don’t wish. I’ll just try harder this time.”
He pounced, and I jumped back, bringing my talwar down to cut his shoulder before he darted away.
“I like games with small animals,” he taunted, the wolf grin reinforcing his words.
“I like games, too. One could say I’m a big game hunter.”
We circled. His strange gait was interesting. He moved fluidly, practiced. He knew what he was doing in this fucked up half-Change. He was not wolf or man or even their final form when they lost control.
Is this why Hasan had you kept in the prison? Or is it something else? Like how you’re still alive when I watched you die.
“Why are you trying to kill me?” I asked loudly, hoping to learn anything while he toyed with me. “You know if you succeed, others will hunt you down like the fucking rabid dogs you are.”
“A new lease on life after over eight hundred years for my brother and me is more important than your pathetic life.” He lunged, and I jumped back.
“Move!” Raphael yelled. I ducked and rolled, letting the second wolf fly by and land on the concrete. He was up on his feet in the blink of an eye. Raphael ran by next, leaping for it. They collided like two trains, bones crunching and fur flying. Blood splattered on the roof, mixing with water and ice, hitting the wall of the rooftop access.
My werewolf jumped for me during the commotion, and I moved again, knowing I couldn’t let him get his hands on me, but I was slow. The storm was cold, making me sluggish and fogging my mind. My injuries, while not painful, made my muscles even stiffer.
A strange hand grabbed me and tossed me toward the concrete wall that already had a beautiful display of blood splatter on it. This time, when my head hit, I heard a crack. Dizziness washed over me as my own blood began to fall down over my face. My sword was gone, and I didn’t get much time to try to find it.
Claws raked into my hair, and I bit back a scream as I was pulled to my feet.
“If this is what the Tribunal hires as their killers, they’ll be easy to overthrow one day. Then I’m going to wipe out the werecats and every other pathetic, weak species that dares think they’re my fucking equal,” the wolf snarled. He wrapped his second hand around my neck. I saw the sadistic pleasure in his eyes as he squeezed, giving me a slow, painful death. I clawed at his arms.
I reached for a sidearm and pulled a gun, glad I was armed to the teeth. I fired two rounds into the werewolf’s stomach, and he snarled, slamming me back into the wall by my neck. I continued to fire, aiming further up with my last two.
The hand went limp, and I fell as the wolf did. I groaned as I hit the roof and was covered in freezing water and blood. I groped the wal
l next to me and pulled myself to my feet, knowing this wasn’t over until I killed Levi. It wouldn’t stop the storm immediately, but it would help the natural weather systems push it out and let it die.
I made it three steps, hissing as I picked up my sword. My lungs hurt. I wiped the blood from my eyes.
I just needed to make it to Levi and kill him. Raphael could keep the other wolf busy. Even with my ears ringing, I heard the deadly fight between him and the second twin.
I made it another two steps, having to pass by the dead werewolf when something grabbed my ankle.
I was pulled down, trying to break the fall with my elbows, sending pain radiating up and down my arms. A string of curses ran through my head as I struggled to turn and see what was holding me.
I was rolled over, and a wave of dizziness hit, along with a healthy dose of pure fear. The werewolf I had just unloaded into crawled over me. Blood still poured from his wounds, but I could see them healing—just as fast as Raphael.
“Good try,” he growled, this time grabbing my neck with both hands. I still had my sword, but the angle was awkward. As he choked me out, this time both satisfied and pissed off, I started cutting into him. He was bleeding so much, but he didn’t let go.
I was nearly gone when a distant, muffled howl distracted him. He released just a little, enough for me to grab one of his hands and pull it to my mouth, sinking my fangs deep into him—one bite, one pump of venom.
Be enough. Please, for the love of the gods, be enough.
He yanked away, nearly taking my fangs out of my head. He looked at the hand as he moved away, his eyes growing wider and wider. I was too beaten up to move for that drawn-out minute, so I watched.
I watched with my own sick satisfaction as blood began to well up in his tear ducts and run out like tears. I watched as he shook his head, and blood splattered out of his ears. I watched as he stood, staggering. I knew then the venom was already starting to its job. As long as my venom stayed in his system, healing was going to be very, very hard.
“Brother,” he croaked, blood coming out of his mouth. He vomited, and there was more of it. “B-b-b…” He never said it a second time as he dropped, his eyes wide. This time, I knew not to believe he was dead, but he was in hell. His body would fight my venom until one of them gave out, and that could be a long time.
I stood and groaned as the door to the roof burst open. I wasn’t surprised to see Wesley was now on the scene. He sniffed the air, and I saw as he turned to me.
“Hey, Wesley,” I croaked. “Did you really have to track me here? Right now?”
I was obviously not in the right mind, having an out-of-body experience. I knew I needed to run, find another gun, or pull out my silver dagger. Any of it would have worked, but as I stood there, swaying in the winds of Levi’s storm, I was just tired, and nothing I said to myself got my feet to agree to action.
He walked slowly to me, growling—this poor wolf. I didn’t want to kill him like the twins. He was just a guy under a really bad spell, and the unfairness of it broke my heart.
I kill bad guys, not…
Wesley was right in front of me, raising a large hand. It all felt so slow.
“Get down!” a sharp order broke through.
Recognizing the voice, I turned. Seeing Nakul, I stepped closer to him and gasped, but the gasp could have been from pain as Wesley’s claws raked across my back, taking me down to the ground again.
The older naga rushed forward, picking up my sword as he went.
“I’ll hold him off while you kill the witch.” Those words didn’t sink in for a second. “Kaliya, go kill the witch,” he hissed. “Go!”
Levi. I pushed myself up, a renewed sense of purpose. A roar of victory sounded off in the background, and a mangled head rolled across the rooftop in front of me. It wasn’t human enough to be Raphael. I turned for only a second to see Raphael standing over a headless body, his face so covered in black veins, there was very little of his warm, tan skin. His Latino heritage was unrecognizable. His hair seemed longer, and he was hulking. He roared again, and I saw the sharp, animalistic teeth in his mouth.
There was a monster inside him. He still wasn’t letting it all the way out, but it was there.
“Help Nakul hold Wesley!” I called out, not slowing and putting aside my observation. Levi was on the far end of the rooftop, his focus on the storm. I needed to finish this, so I could make sure Wesley was secure, and those other two werewolves didn’t find ways to put themselves back together.
Levi saw me coming before I wanted, thanks to the shouting, but I hit the ground and held on as a blast of magic tried to knock me back. Every move made my head spin, and blood made my eyes sting. I ached, and my body protested getting back up, but I couldn’t fail now—not myself, not the people behind me, not the werecat who trained me to fight through even the most fatal of injuries.
Go down with your sword, Kaliya. Make them earn it. The pain is temporary. The pain can be beaten. Don’t let it rule you and stop you from giving your enemy hell before you fall.
It had been lesson number one from Hisao, the Assassin. That title didn’t mean much to anyone outside of the werecats and werewolves, but there was a small group of us who knew how to kill as assassins and Executioners, and it was thanks to him. He probably never saw me in this scenario, which was hands down the worst thing I had ever dealt with, but that didn’t mean I could throw everything he taught me out the window.
I tackled Levi to the ground, using the moment he was dazed to grab my last dagger from my boot. I brought it down hard, hitting his heart as he used his last moment to send another powerful wave of magic at me point-blank. I yanked the dagger, taking it with me, and let the blast send me ten feet away.
I hit the roof rolling and slid to a stop at the edge. It was a full minute, a very long minute, before I could get my body to stand and move, the dagger still in my hand, my knuckles white.
The first thing I looked for was Raphael. He was holding Wesley to the ground while the wolf struggled and snapped the air in anger. My roommate didn’t budge. Nakul was gone, just disappeared into thin air, my sword on the roof.
I stepped over a head and walked for my sword. Another howl could be heard, this one close. I didn’t need to move to the edge to see. I knew exactly who was coming.
Another two minutes later, as I stood there too tired and hurt to function properly, werewolves, this time normal ones, burst through the roof door and entered the scene. Some were in combat gear, some in wolf form. There was shouting and pointing.
“Executioner Sahni,” a deep voice greeted. I blinked, and the werewolf Alpha of Phoenix came into sight. His styled blond hair and somewhat boyish face were at odds with his reputation. He was an old bastard, predating the Tribunal and the War of the werecats and werewolves. His voice carried maturity and age, but his face seemed ten to fifteen years too young. Today, there were bags under his eyes, and the look on his face was so severe, I wondered what I had done to piss him off.
Wait. No. I’m the one allowed to be pissed off today.
“Took you long enough,” I snapped. “Raphael is holding Wesley—”
“We have an armored truck to haul him in,” Wagner said. “The bodies…”
“Levi is over there.” I used a thumb to point over my shoulder. I knew he was dead. Witches didn’t come back from knives to the heart. “The other two…” I started walking again, going to the one staring into space, blood still coming out of his eyes. There were now long, dark tear tracks where he continuously bled. I offered only a little mercy, bringing my sword down and ending him by cutting off his head. There wasn’t anything that could come back from that.
“Burn these bodies with their heads separated from their bodies. They had a nasty tendency to heal through fucking everything.”
“Of course. Do you need medical assistance? We brought medics—”
“Yes, but not from you.” I knew where I was heading after this. With the big threat
s dead for the moment, I could hunker down and heal while planning my next move in the investigation of how all of this happened.
“I can smell another naga here. Is it who I think it is?”
“I’ll deal with him,” I promised, not trying to lie by saying something more exact because Wagner would be able to smell it. “He’s not your business. You get Wesley, then get off the streets.”
He gave a soft growl, then looked at me. I had ordered an Alpha werewolf to do something, and he needed a moment to come to terms with it, so I politely ignored the growl.
“Of course. Anything to help you, Executioner.”
Catching Nakul could wait a few fucking hours. I was half-dead on my feet and knew it was pointless to go out and do anything at this point.
“Thanks. And thank you for getting Wesley.”
“Thank you for not killing him. He’s—”
“Not in his right mind,” I whispered. “I know.”
I turned back to Raphael and Wesley to see some of the werewolves, still in human form, were chaining the poor out-of-control werewolf with a silver-steel mix many used to control werewolves and werecats. Raphael slowly released control, and the black, whatever it was, retreated. His eyes met mine as they became warm chocolate brown.
“Where do you want me to drive?” he asked, walking to me, ignoring the wolves giving him strange looks. I saw Wagner’s face pinch in disgust. Raphael didn’t give it any visible thought, reaching out to touch my still bleeding head.
“Head wounds bleed fast, but it’s fine. I won’t drop dead just yet,” I promised. “I’ll tell you where we’re headed at the car.”
I tried to take two steps, staggered. Before I tripped, I was swooped up.