by Skye Knizley
Raven guided the car between two slower moving vehicles and fought to keep the bike in view. “In an old Beetle chasing a murder suspect, are you anywhere near your laptop?”
“Yes, I’m back at the office. What do you need?”
Raven slammed on the brakes, narrowly avoiding a box truck as she ran the light at Essex street. She cursed and gunned the little car’s engine trying in vain to catch up with the fleeing bike.
“I’m just crossing Essex street from Washington chasing a late model black Kawasaki Ninja, no plate. Get on the traffic cams and track it, no way I’m keeping up with it in this thing. And get a unit to the Store 24 on Shawmut Avenue, the clerk is down.”
“I’m on it,” Aspen replied. “Gimme a sec.”
Raven gripped the steering wheel and continued following the path she’d last seen the motorcycle following. She was moving into a nicer part of the city eclipsed by skyscrapers and multistory shopping malls, making visibility poor. If Aspen couldn’t find him he was going to get away with murder.
“Damn it!” she yelled. “Come on, Asp, tell me you found something.”
“I’m looking,” Aspen said. “He’s a needle in a haystack. You want to try finding him on three dozen shitty cameras?”
“He and his partner committed murder in broad daylight, Asp,” Raven said.
Following her instincts, Raven took a right turn between two large office buildings and raced down the gloomy alleyway. The Beetle’s engine was howling like it was in pain, but Raven refused to let up. She knew the biker had to be somewhere not too far away or he’d be drawing attention to himself racing through rush-hour traffic.
“Got him!” Aspen said. “He just turned into an above ground parking garage not far from your position. Take the next left and then a right, you can’t miss it. I’m breaking into their cameras and sending you backup, we have two of our own in the area.”
“I don’t need backup, just get a unit down here to haul what’s left of him to jail when I’m through.”
Raven ended the call and followed Aspen’s instructions. A few minutes later she parked the VW and started walking, using the stairs and parked cars as cover while she looked for the bike. One level from the top she located the black Ninja, it was parked in the shadows on the western side, away from the rising sun and out of view from the main part of the garage. There was no sign of the rider.
Raven closed her eyes and let the rest of her senses do their job. Motorcycle exhaust had a scent that was distinct from regular vehicles and it clung to a rider like cheap cologne. Her heightened sense of smell detected the scent not far away and she moved in that direction, her pistol held in a Weaver stance.
“You may as well come out,” she said. “I know you’re here. You’re under arrest, come quietly or I’m going to put a bullet through your skull.”
“That doesn’t sound very nice,” a voice called. “Not very nice at all. We’re here to help you.”
“Drop your gun and raise your hands,” a second voice added. “Before you get that pretty face cut off.”
“Before that pretty face gets cut off,” the first voice repeated.
“I’m not impressed and I’m not in the mood for stupid threats,” Raven growled. “Come out where I can see you.”
“They aren’t threats,” the second voice said.
“Last chance,” the first voice said. “Drop your weapon. Now.”
“I’m terrified, can’t you tell?” Raven asked. “You clowns are threatening a Federal officer.”
“You are no officer,” the second voice said.
“You’re a pain in the ass,” the first voice said. “Now we have to kill you. Caderyn wanted you alive.”
“We tried to warn you,” a third voice said.
Nine unarmed men and three armed women stepped out from behind concrete pillars, dressed in black like the uniforms of a B-movie hit squad. A tenth man, much larger than the others, stepped out, the biker held in one massive hand. Blood trickled from around the fingers he had clamped around the biker’s neck. He let go and the biker dropped bonelessly to the ground.
“One problem taken care of,” he said. “You’re welcome.”
“That was murder,” Raven said. “Drop your weapons and put your hands on your heads.”
“It was hardly that,” the man said. “He and his brother killed a man for a handful of petty cash not ten minutes ago. I believe you left most of his brother in a pothole. If I’m a murderer, what are you?”
Raven thumbed back the Automag’s hammer. “I don’t think Internal Affairs wears masks, though some of them could do with them, which makes me none of your business. Ladies, drop your weapons.”
“You are alone and outnumbered, Lady Tempeste,” the leader said. “Do you really think you can take all of us?”
“I’m willing to try, bub. I think the big question is do you really think all of you will get out of here in one piece?”
“Master Caderyn said you were impressive,” the leader said with a laugh. “I think we will do this the old-fashioned way, just in case.”
His laugh turned into a howl as his face extended into the muzzle of an alpha lycan. The rest of the men followed suit in a flurry of torn clothing and grisly noises that made Raven’s skin crawl. In a handful of seconds Raven found herself surrounded by ten of the biggest werewolves she had ever seen. The women, armed with G36 assault rifles, were merely the icing on one big cake of death.
“In broad daylight? You’re either as stupid as you look or very brave. Considering my mother is in town, I’m leaning toward stupid,” Raven said.
The alpha growled and his pack moved as one, charging toward Raven, their claws gouging chunks of cement from the floor.
Raven shot three of them cleanly through the face and back-peddled, but they were too fast. She fired thrice more, focusing on the women, then ran as fast as she could. She dodged around parked cars and vaulted railings, trying to put as much distance between herself and the rampaging lycans.
She dropped to the floor below and slid to a halt next to a shack that contained two soda machines and reloaded the pistol with silver hollow-points, guaranteed to give any lycan a really bad day.
Raven could hear the alpha’s claws on concrete not far away and she leaned out from cover, her eyes searching the gloom. She was so absorbed with trying to locate him she almost missed the woman creeping up behind her. Raven turned at the last moment and the silenced burst from the G36 ricocheted off the floor where she’d been standing. Raven fired back; the Automag’s thirty carbine round flew straight and true, punching a hole through the woman’s forehead. The woman shook her head in surprise and spat the silver cartridge onto the floor along with a mouthful of blood and brain matter.
“Silver doesn’t work on me, Lady Tempeste,” the woman said. “Now, die!”
Raven punched her. The woman’s nose made a satisfying crunching noise when it went up into her brain and she staggered away, clutching at her face. Raven emptied the Automag’s clip into her chest. The impacts knocked the woman to the ground and Raven reloaded with Thad’s specials. A single shot to the heart and she started to dissolve, her cries fading to choking gurgles.
“Specials work on everything, bitch.”
The fight had lasted only seconds, but the noise had drawn the lycans and the other two females, whatever they were. Raven could hear them coming closer and she took cover behind a nearby minivan, weapon at the ready. Less than a beat later, two lycans stalked past, their noses searching the air. Raven rose and shot the first one through the ear. She vaulted over him as he staggered and her boot heel pulped the second one’s right eye. He let out a howl that made Raven’s teeth hurt; she silenced him with a second kick to the throat and a shot to the head. When she dropped to the ground beside them they were already shifting back to human.
“That was my boyfriend you slut!” one of the women yelled.
Raven ducked the spray of bullets from the woman’s G36, rolled and came
up firing. Her first two shot hit the woman in the shoulder, the third turned her eye into so much goo and she began to dissolve. Raven could almost hear her screaming “I’m melting” as she dropped to the ground.
Raven reloaded again and did some quick math. She had seven rounds, six lycans and one crazy chick immune to silver. She’d better make what she had left count. She walked away from the bodies and ducked behind another row of cars as three more lycans on all fours loped into view.
They sniffed the air and approached their two dead pack mates. They made light snuffling noises then howled loud enough to make the nearby lights flicker. The howl was answered from the far end of the garage; the alpha wouldn’t take long to arrive.
Raven rose behind a late-model Buick, her pistol ready. “Hey boys, looking for me?”
The two lycans turned in surprise; she shot them both through the eye and hurried in the direction of the roaring alpha. She passed into a section of the garage that was darker than the rest. Unlike most of the garage, this area had complete walls with no windows or gaps; the only light came from the yellow safety bulbs placed sporadically throughout the area. Raven blinked and her vampire sight made the world go blue. She could see the alpha running down the garage’s main passage, followed by two other lycans that seemed unconcerned their claws were digging chunks out of cars as they leapt from vehicle to vehicle.
That would be hard to explain to your insurance company, Raven thought.
She raised her pistol and took aim at the trailing lycan. Her finger tightened on the trigger and she breathed out.
“Drop your weapon, Lady Tempeste,” a voice said.
One of the women had gotten behind her and now held her G36 leveled at the back of Raven’s head.
Raven grit her teeth and got ready to roll out of the way. With any luck she would take the blast in her shoulder not her head.
“Don’t try it,” the woman said. “I would hate to deprive my alpha of watching you die. He so loves a good show.”
“I’ll just bet he does,” Raven replied. “Shifting in broad daylight with all these security cameras? Bad doggie.”
“The cameras don’t work, Lady Tempeste. Who do you think owns this garage? Caderyn has fingers everywhere, even here.”
Raven shook her head. “You do know that Caderyn is no longer the Master, right? My sister Selene is now Mistress.”
“I didn’t know you had a sister,” the woman said. “As far as Caderyn, his coin is good whether he is above ground or not.”
The woman threw her head back and screamed, a long, high-pitched sound similar to the cry of a coyote.
“That’s just about enough, ma’am,” a familiar voice said. “Put it down.”
Raven couldn’t believe her ears. “Rupe?”
“Hi Ray, did you miss me?” Levac said.
Raven almost laughed. “You know I did, partner.”
“Who are you?” the coyote asked.
“Special Agent Rupert Levac, at your service,” Levac said. “You’re under arrest. Or whatever it is we do with people like you. Drop the rifle, please.”
“I will do no such thing,” the coyote said. “We have an impasse. Do you think you can kill me before I blow Lady Tempeste all over this car?”
“I’d rather you didn’t,” Agent Kole said. “I’m hoping to get a good reference from her on my next assignment.”
Raven frowned. “You brought Kole with you?”
“She picked me up at the airport,” Levac said. “More like she brought me with her.”
“Rupe, she’s a rookie!” Raven yelled.
“She can handle herself,” Levac said. “Look, her hand isn’t shaking or anything.”
“Guys, could you pick on my lack of experience later?” Kole asked.
Levac shrugged and turned back to the coyote. “What’s it going to be, ma’am? Arrest or certain death?”
“My alpha will be here any moment,” the coyote said. “Your bullets cannot harm me.”
Raven heard the coyote raise her weapon and then the deafening boom of Levac’s pistol. When she turned, the coyote was already beginning to dissolve.
“Specials,” Levac said with a smile. “How you doing, boss?”
Raven hugged him. She couldn’t help it. When she let go she asked, “Don’t take this the wrong way, but why are you here?”
“It’s a long story,” Levac said.
“That we don’t have time for,” Kole added. “I hear more of them coming this way.”
“I don’t suppose you have any more specials for the Automag?” Raven asked.
Levac shook his head. “What happened to your loads?”
“I keep having to shoot things,” Raven groused. “I didn’t know I would need an infinite ammo supply when I took this job. I’m used to just going to Thad when I need more.”
“He sent a care package, but it’s with my luggage,” Levac said.
Raven sighed. “That’s not much help. Come on, we’ll finish this with what we have.”
She led the way down the ramp, her vampire eyes glowing in the darkness. The alpha and his escort had stopped at the bottom to listen and were now loping back toward the darkened corner. Raven motioned for Levac and Kole to take cover behind parked cars to either side while she circled around from behind.
She vaulted the railing and dropped the ten feet to the floor below then started back up, running as silently as she could. She was about to turn the corner when she heard the boom of Levac’s pistol followed by a screaming howl from Kole. Raven gave up being silent and started to run as fast as she could, her boots ringing out on the concrete.
Raven rounded the corner a moment later and could see a small lycan struggling in the grip of the alpha. One of his escorts was dead, face down on top of a parked Jaguar while the other was being held at bay by Levac, who was using cars to keep out of reach of the werewolf’s claws.
Raven raised her pistol, but was too late. Kole’s howl of pain became a scream as the alpha tore her throat out with his teeth. He tossed her against the wall like an old toy and howled his triumph.
Raven roared in anger and dismay; Kole was just a kid, she’d had her whole life ahead of her and was dying because of some sort of vampiric vendetta.
Levac’s pistol barked four times in quick succession and he downed the lycan he’d been dancing with. He then dodged away from the alpha, a move that put him right in Raven’s line of fire.
“Rupe, get down!” Raven yelled.
Levac dropped and rolled aside and Raven aimed at the alpha’s head. Movement to his left caught her attention and she saw the remaining lycan running in their direction. She emptied the Automag into him and watched as he stumbled and fell. By the time he hit the end of the ramp he’d shifted back to human.
Raven dropped the Automag and barreled into the alpha like she was shot from a cannon. She felt his claws dig into her back and she ignored them, instead grabbing his muzzle with her powerful hands and squeezing. She managed to dislocate his lower jaw before he shook her loose and sent her spiraling into the concrete wall. She slid down and shook her head to clear the stars bouncing around in her skull.
As she climbed back to her feet, Levac started shooting. His pistol spat ten millimeter specials that should have turned the lycan into so much hamburger. The lycan howled in pain, but didn’t fall. Raven watched in disbelief as the wounds healed in mere seconds.
“Um… Ray?” Levac asked. “What the hell is going on?”
Raven drew her knife. “I don’t know. Let me go ask.”
She charged again, ducking under the lycan’s powerful claws to come up inside its guard once again. Her silver knife flashed in her hand and she opened up a series of gashes in his stomach and chest. The alpha howled in pain and his massive paw hit Raven in the head, staggering her again. She cartwheeled away then sprang back. Her knee connected with his sternum with an audible crack. She followed the attack with a series of strikes that left her knife buried deep in the alpha’s
left eye socket. He fell back, clawing blindly at the silver protruding from his face.
“Damn, what are you?” Raven asked.
The lycan pulled the knife from his eye and dropped it to the floor with a clang. His eye socket was empty and weeping clear, viscous fluid, but he was still moving. He roared in fury and leapt into the air, blackened fangs bare.
Raven watched him come, waiting until the last possible second to dodge aside. Her side kick caught him in the ribs and he crashed into a car with enough force to crush it. He was still struggling to rise when Raven pounced on him. She locked both hands on his jaw and twisted with all the might of a Sanguinarch vampire. The alpha struggled, but Raven held on until his spine gave way with a sickening wet pop and he stopped moving.
“You lose,” she said.
She let go and started back to where Levac was standing with an open mouth.
“Ray,” he said calmly, “did you just break an alpha werewolf’s neck?”
Raven nodded and wiped blood from the corner of her mouth. “He pissed me off.”
“I’m not sure he’s dead,” Levac said. “He didn’t shift back.”
Raven looked back at the still figure lying on top of a crushed Buick. He wasn’t moving.
“Some don’t,” Raven said. “A lot of the ones in the Crucible didn’t when I killed them like that. Maybe it’s an alpha thing. Either way, a broken neck with a silver knife stuck in his head should keep him down.”
Levac nodded and put his weapon back in its holster. “What about Kole?”
Raven moved to kneel beside Kole. Her neck was broken and her eyes stared blankly at the ceiling. Raven checked for a pulse and found none. She was already going cold.
“She’s gone. I’ll call King and get her taken care of,” she said. “It’s all we can do. What the hell happened, I told you to stay behind cover.”
“She saved my life,” Levac said. “We were behind cover watching the alpha when he spotted us. He was coming for me when she shifted and charged like a mad woman. She reminded me of you, if I’m honest.”
“She was a good officer and would have been a good agent, given time,” Raven said.
She picked up Kole’s gun and checked the loads. They were the government issue version of Thad’s specials, complete with nylon tips. Why hadn’t Kole just used her weapon? Had she known the specials wouldn’t work on him?