by Gaja J. Kos
Small tremors came to life inside her as the words built up in her throat, her palms slick with cold sweat. Her heart stood behind the decision, but it didn’t lessen the weight of what she was about to do. Nothing could.
“The Perelesnyks revealed themselves to the wider population yesterday, and, in turn, their decision saved lives.”
She took the time to meet the gaze of every werewolf present, all the while absorbing the presence of her pack and giving herself the needed strength to utter the words that would change everything. “If we want to save humankind, if we want to stop our world from going to shit, we can do no less.
“We have to step out of the shadows, too.”
Chapter 32
It took the better part of ten minutes for the roll of questions and comments to dwindle down. Far better than Rose had even dared to anticipate.
“Of course, your individual choice remains,” she said when the voices became nothing but muted chatter. “The Black pack decided to walk among humans in our true forms, and I am only asking you—not demanding—to do the same.”
She tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear and shook her head lightly. “This won’t be easy. Far from it. Even the Perelesnyks stirred a variety of responses, despite the initial lack of negative reactions from those who were present on sight at the time.”
“What about the Keepers?” a were with dyed blue locks asked. “This breaks the agreement—”
“The Keepers don’t give a crap about the balance the compact is supposed to uphold,” Evelin snarled from behind.
Rose moved to the side to give the were space, observing the perfectly straight line of Evelin’s spine and the fierce expression lying on her delicate features. This war wasn’t just a clash of forces.
It was personal, too.
Somehow, knowing how deeply they were all affected by it made Rose hopeful, not hurt. Carrying the weight they all did would unlock every ounce of viciousness the pack possessed and give them motivation superior to the desire for power that seemed to fuel their opposition.
The best fighters always were the ones who had the most to lose.
“The Keepers already killed someone close to us because they wanted to rid the world of my child. And they went after me as well. They claim my son is a danger to the world because he survived an attack made against his pack by a lackey of a long fallen deity and his army of vetalas,” Evelin growled. “I could have understood their claims if the Kolduny hadn’t done extensive tests and found nothing at fault with the cub. I could have understood it if the bastards had shown even the slightest interest of stopping the vampires and Upirs when they started with this bloody march. But, as it seems, the Keepers follow a set of rules that has nothing to do with the balance our ancestors agreed to maintain. So if they changed, why shouldn’t we, as well?”
Tristan rose up from his chair. “My pack has already agreed to do what’s necessary. We were there when the attack took place yesterday, even lost one of our own in the second blast. We stand with you, Dark Ones, in shadow or light, and we will fight until the last of their souls depart into the underworld—or ours.”
Rose dipped her chin, not trusting her voice to hold. She had known Tristan was sympathetic to their decisions, but hearing his vow… What the werewolf promised was so much more than a mere alliance.
“We would like to learn of the problem in depth,” Veronika said, “but we agree with your reasoning that humankind cannot stay in the dark and hope to survive what you say is approaching. If there’s nothing to convince us otherwise during this time, you have the strength and support of our pack on your side.”
Just as Rose angled her head in acknowledgment, another voice sounded from the far corner of the patio. She didn’t recognize the were, but the tattoo on his forearm suggested he belonged to the pack living near Grosuplje.
“Are you all mad?” he spat, his gaze drifting from Rose to Veronika and Tristan, then skimming across the rest of them. “We keep our natures concealed for a reason. A good one at that. Just look how weary humans are of the twentyfourhourlies, even when they gave them no cause to fear their presence—at least not until the recent months. Do you recall the case of the necromancer living up in Maribor from about a year ago? The one that was all over social media? The necro was on the receiving end of so much shit for that zombie bar she ran, and she hadn’t done a single damned thing to threaten anyone. Fuck, even her reanimated corpses signed agreements beforehand, giving her free use of their bodies after their respective deaths. But none of that matters to the people and their one-track minds. They will never be able to accept that just because someone is different and doesn’t fit in their neat idea of reality, they aren’t necessarily evil.”
“Silvan,” a slender female from his pack warned, but the were merely shook his head.
“I have a husband. And we have kids.” Silvan shook his head. “I can’t endanger them by outing myself. Not for a species that would sooner hunt us with pitchforks and torches than give us the benefit of the doubt. I just—I can’t.”
“And no one is forcing you,” Rose added softly. “Trust me, I know what it’s like to be hunted for no other reason than the worst kind of hatred. That’s why I stress, again, that this is a choice you will make on your own. Yes, there will more than likely be an outburst when those of us in agreement reveal our existence, but the ripples of our actions don’t necessarily have to touch you, too.” Her eyes flickered to the gathered packs as a whole. “Not if you keep your human covers intact.”
The werewolf—Silvan—nodded and sat back down, the tension in his shoulders visibly lessening. Rose swept her gaze across the crowd once more, noting that, for the majority, they had already made up their minds. One way or the other, they knew what they wanted.
She blew out a breath. “If all goes well, we’ll do a nationwide broadcast. Tonight. And tomorrow… Well, we’ll need all the help and support we can get for phase two.”
Chapter 33
Of all the nerve-wracking moments in Rose’s life, this one was the undisputed winner. She could barely hear Tomo’s steady, assured tone as he spoke into the camera, feeding the public the facts of yesterday’s attack—and information on all those crimes that had preceded it, regardless of whether they had been reported in the news or not.
From this day forward, there would be no more censorship. No more dividing events into the neatly packaged truths the wider community could know, and the shadowed remnants of danger the supernatural had repeatedly swept under the rug.
Two realities merging into one.
Rose knew their decision had been the right one. But doing what was right wasn’t always easy.
She blew out a breath, reminding herself she wasn’t alone.
Zarja stood on her left, a stoic, calm presence—although Rose felt the echoes of hidden tremors through the bond—while Sebastian was positioned on her right, his looming figure perfectly still and ready to weather the storm that would undoubtedly follow. For him, it wasn’t the reaction of the wider population that caused concern, but the heat he would get from his own kind. Rorik stood a little farther down the line, his winsome smile replaced by a contemplative expression, and, next to him, were Serafina and Katja.
Six individuals. Six representatives.
The ones who would change it all.
Breathing heavily, Rose occupied herself by scanning the precinct. Over thirty officers lingered behind the multitude of cameras that were focused on Tomo and the group, their somewhat ashen faces testifying to the strength they harbored in their cores.
Shaken by their comrade’s words, by the execution of their captain right here, on this floor, they had nonetheless decided to stay. Had chosen to uphold their vows of protecting the people, even if it meant working with beings they had thought belonged to myth—perhaps even nightmares.
Yet despite the crowd, there was only one presence Rose was drawn to.
Her eyes met the deep green of the god’s, and she dr
ank in every ounce of the reassurance and love she saw resting there, existing and meant for her, and her only. A soft half smile cupped Veles’s lips, the tremors within her subsiding at the normalcy of the gesture, at the knowledge that while the world might change, there was something that would remain the same forever.
If for nothing else, she would fight for that.
“I understand this may be upsetting,” Tomo said, his words sounding through the deathly quiet space. “I have been blessed with awareness few humans have had until now, and even so, I admit, accepting that there was even more to our world was a difficult task. Perhaps the hardest one I’d ever encountered. But we must not forget that while we might have lived in ignorance, all these people were forced to live in hiding. Because as much as you might fear them, they have also feared you.
“It wasn’t malice. It wasn’t some grand scheme to keep you in the dark in order to pave their way to a reign of supernatural over humankind that drove them to dwell in the shadows and shield their true natures from you—from us. It was the fear of disrupting the balance of your lives, which lead them to conceal who they are. These races as a whole willingly sacrificed their freedom to shield us all from the consequences such knowledge might bring, physical and psychological alike.
“But humankind has a long history of overcoming differences. Women. People of color. The LGBTQIA community. There was a time in history when these groups were considered to be different, lesser, even abnormal. Yet now they live in a world of complete acceptance. So why shouldn’t the supernatural population experience a peaceful existence, too? Especially when it is us that they are saving with their actions?
“As I have said before, regardless of race or abilities, we are equal in being people. With strength and weaknesses, and, yes, even a few bad apples thrown into the mix. But we are people. The ones responsible for these attacks, however, are not.
“The vampires fell under the Upirs’ spell of dictatorship, ensnared in the promise of a future they would not have sought for themselves otherwise. A future in which we, humans, would be reduced to nothing more than slaves.
“The supernatural community does not want to see that come to pass. It is why they have chosen to take this hard step, this leap of faith, not only to coexist fully, as they should have from the very start, but to ensure that we even have a future we can share.” He paused, the words echoing through the room—and, hopefully, resonating in their recipients’ hearts. “We have already set up a series of interviews after this announcement where you will have the chance to telephone or send in your questions. Anything you wish to know, we will try to answer. But before we move on, my colleagues—my friends—have something they would like to share with you.”
He spun around, flashing them all an encouraging smile, then walked over to stand next to Zarja. A statement in itself.
Rose’s heart pounded in her ears, but as her pack mate started to shift, fur rippling from her skin in beautiful, liquid waves, as she glimpsed Sebastian’s translucent wings shooting out from his back, she closed her eyes and let the golden light ensconce her entire body. For a moment, she simply breathed, braving the weight of showing who she was to the world in the utter silence of the precinct.
But when she opened her eyes and saw Tomo standing so stoically, perhaps even proudly, by the large, black wolf, one hand resting on Zarja’s silken fur, she knew they had started a new era.
And hoped the man’s words of the future they could all share would come true.
Chapter 34
It was chaos. It was always going to be chaos, regardless of how smooth or well-prepared the initial announcement was. But it was also something they had all counted on.
While the human population might be split between astonishment and fear—or perhaps a combination of both that would boil inside them until one or the other prevailed—what mattered to the pack was that they had received the warning. The danger that had preyed on humankind from the shadows was now illuminated for everyone to see, even if they couldn’t grasp all that it encompassed immediately.
But they were warned, and the subsequent panic that washed over the town was what paved the way for the pack to move on to phase two.
In position, Zarja shared through the bond as she and Katja closed in on the one-story building, using the combination of cars and brush scattered around it to conceal their approach.
Ready when you are, Jens answered at once, his voice oozing with satisfaction and accompanied by words of agreement from Tim, Jürgen, and Mark.
This. This was what they wanted. Needed.
A way, finally, to perhaps keep the world from withering in the war.
A low growl, filled with promises, excitement, and hope, slipped from between her canine teeth. Right, then. Let’s move.
As soon as the thought flowed down the ethereal link, she signaled Katja with her muzzle, and together, the two of them ran across that last stretch of land, using every ounce of preternatural speed. They exploded through the front doors of the building, shattering the dimmed glass panels and denting the metal, then threw themselves straight into the heart of the vampires’ lair.
The assholes never saw them coming.
Not even their vamp radars could sense Katja with her presence cloaked by the amulet Nathaniel had so masterfully tweaked to suppress her essence. Only her scent marked her as different, but Zarja knew it would already be too late for those who managed to catch a whiff of it.
Shaking the shards of glass from her fur, she never halted her advance towards the vampires who seemed to be suspended in a moment of absolute stillness while the reality of what was happening settled in.
One second.
She halved the distance.
Two.
The bastards lunged.
Zarja flashed them her teeth in a wolfish smile as the group split up, jumping off the ramshackle furniture. A segment of them flocked to Katja while the rest decided to take their chances with her.
Fangs out, some even sporting knives in their hands, they scrambled towards her prowling form, but before even the fastest of them managed to strike, a crash ricocheted off the bare walls of the room, three dark figure riding in its wake.
Jürgen, Mark, and Tim propelled themselves from the now shattered side and back windows, their claws and teeth bared and ready to strike. Zarja’s smile grew as she rolled away from the nearest vamp and his laughably weak attack, then lunged at the one on the right, her claws tearing flesh as she brought him to the ground.
The red-haired vampire hissed, her angular features contorted in an expression of blind, murderous fury. Zarja crushed the vamp’s wrist with a sharp kick of her leg, shoved away the dagger, then dragged her paw down the length of the female’s body. Not a lethal wound for someone of her kind, but it would leave the bitch incapacitated for long enough that Zarja didn’t have to keep an eye on her while she dealt with the rapidly incoming press of bodies.
Fear and anger saturated the air, an almost electric scent that wrapped around her like the height of heat and utter silence right before a storm.
Reveling in the sensation, she howled. Then, driven by instinct and the brutality of rational thought alike, she swept through the vampires in a surge of power. She moved with lethal grace, tearing limbs and slashing throats until she seemed to inhale not oxygen, but the unmistakable stench of blood-red finality. Its addictive flavor permeated the air, mixing with ripples of her own excitement.
Content washed over her as she spat out a mouthful of flesh, then threw herself at the next asshole marked for death, feeding her cravings without shame or restrictions.
Blue skies stretched above Evelin as she waited on the innermost edge of the perimeter the police and firefighters had set up at her command. Small beads of sweat rolled down between her breasts as she squinted at the blinding light, yet the heat lapping against her skin had nothing to do with the blazing pavement beneath her feet or the sun beating down on her.
She followed the tendr
ils of smoke that started to mar the endless blue, gradually lowering her gaze all the way to their source.
Two Perelesnyks were circling the ground, their respective fires enveloping the old bunker inch by burning inch. Dancing embers reached for one another, merging and spreading with almost a kind of silent sentience, knowing where to strike to exploit the weaknesses of the solid construction.
It was a display of power, of beauty, and Evelin didn’t have difficulties sympathizing with Rorik’s disappointment of having to sit this one out.
But given his sheer size, it would have been impossible for him to get close enough to the lair without destroying the nearby buildings positioned everywhere but the southern side. And even there, where the urban setting gave way to forest greens, there was no true clearing large enough for someone like Rorik to land safely.
Anatol and Kalen, on the other hand, were the smallest representatives of the incubi dragons, nimble in movement and adept at maneuvering even through crammed locations no other Perelesnyk could fit. And yet their size didn’t make them any less deadly.
Nor did it hinder the destructive strength of their flame.
Kalen’s pitch-black scales reflected the burning embers as he looped around, faster now, making sure none of the vampires tried to escape out the hole in the back of the bunker or the rundown tunnel on the side, while Anatol guarded the front and filled the entrance with a new rush of fire with every breath he let loose. The muffled cries filtering to Evelin’s ears slowly died down as the heat of Anatol’s flames destroyed concrete and iron as easily as if they were plastic. The Perelesnyk kept at it for a minute longer, ensuring he would leave nothing but death and ashes behind.