“Frank, Jake, you hit the storage unit. Richard and I’ll go to the Turtle and get the ladies.”
“Now, hold on just a red hot goddamn second–”
“Frank,” I said, cutting him off, “I swear to God, you contradict me like Jones, I’ll pop you one in the mouth. We need those damn guns, and we need them now. Faster you get to them, the faster we can get our battle rattle on and be ready for this shit.”
“Come on, Cap,” Jake said, stepping up.
“Same goes for you, too. This sucks for everyone. I’ve got Matthew going after my daughter, and I’ve got you going after my guns.”
“Peter, man, you gotta understand.”
“I understand one thing,” I said firmly. “We’ve each got a pistol, and that’s it. Think that’s enough to fend off these guys?”
There was silence from both men.
“That’s what I thought. Now, I suggest you two get a move on before whatever trap they’ve got springs shut. Understood?”
Both men sighed and reluctantly nodded. “Yeah,” Jake said finally. “We got it, Cap. We’ll get it.”
Lacy came out of the office, her backpack over her shoulder, every footfall a stomp on the hardwood floor as she nearly shoved past me.
I caught her by the shoulder as she went by, and spun her around to face me. “Hey,” I said, grabbing her and looking down into her face.
She turned away from me.
I touched her chin, guiding her eyes back to mine. “I’m doing this because I care about you, okay? Hear me? I love you and your grandma. We all do. You’re family. I can’t have you hurt or worse.”
She looked back down to the side, avoiding my gaze.
“There’s one sure thing, kiddo,” Richard added as he stepped up, “and that’s that you don’t wanna be around when the lead starts flying. Believe me.”
“Look at me,” I said, squeezing her shoulders.
She looked up at me with those big blue eyes of hers that were so childlike, but still older than any of us when we went off to war.
“We don’t want you to get hurt,” I said again. “That’s all. If I thought you could help us with this kind of thing, I’d keep you here. I swear. But you’re an asset, and I need you in one piece for the future.”
“He’s right,” Richard said. “If it hadn’t been for you, I don’t think we would’ve been able to save my wife. I know it, you know it. You’re good, kid. You’re just not up for this fight, that’s all.”
Behind her, Gen advanced up the hall. “Lacy?” she asked. “You almost ready, honey?”
Lacy sniffled a little and nodded. “Yeah, Grandma. I’m ready.” Before she turned to go, though, she threw her arms around my neck, her body warm and loving against mine as she unexpectedly hugged me close. “Don’t do anything stupid, boss,” she whispered in my ear.
I was taken aback at first, but quickly wrapped my arms and hugged her back like the little sister I’d never had. “We won’t,” I said before we pulled apart. “Goes for you too, okay?”
“Yeah,” she said. “Nothing stupid. And give ‘em hell.”
“We will, I promise. And remember, don’t contact us until you know it’s safe,” I said as both women finally broke and turned to go. “No emails, no texts. Nothing.”
“We know,” Gen said as she stopped to look back at us, her eyes misty as well, even if she was managing to hold her emotions in check better than her granddaughter had. “We’ll be safe. We promise.”
They both disappeared out the front. From the sound of the engine that started less than a minute later, they’d piled into Gen’s car. With just the clothes on their back, they pulled out of the lot and headed north, the fastest route of town.
They’d wanted me to be safe. And I’d told them I would.
How was I supposed to know I was lying?
And that was when we heard the explosion and the sound of gunfire coming from across town.
Chapter Sixteen – Vanessa
Our ears ringing and vision blurred, we stumbled back towards the alley door like the hallway was a slip and slide filled with grease.
Elise stumbled right a little, dazed from the explosion of the flashbang, and bumped into the wall.
Heavy breaths burning my chest, I grabbed her by the shirt, wrenched her upright, and shoved her forward. “Move!” I shouted, my voice already going hoarse. “Move! Keeping moving!”
Thank God I’d managed to cover my eyes in time when the flashbang exploded between me and the women. I was only slightly dazed from the brightness of the explosive, and already the effects were beginning to wear off.
Behind us, the door slammed open, propelled by a heavy boot. “Get down!” shouted a man’s voice. “Stay where you are!”
I spun, gun raised and snapping into position so the newly arrived black-clad soldier was in my sight. He was still a blur, but Ivana’s constant training had drilled the instinct into me over the years. My body and my hands knew where to point before my brain ever did.
“Gun, gun, gun!” he shouted, bringing his bullpup rifle up.
I opened fire, aiming for the neck and head, the gun bucking and jumping in my hand as I pulled the trigger. Two shots. A double tap.
He dropped like a sack of grain, his body going limp without even a sound as the bullet entered through his unprotected eye. Behind me, the women screamed at the noise, but kept shuffling forward. Another man appeared in the doorway, taking the fallen assailant’s place and stepping right over his comrade’s corpse.
I trained my gun on him and fired again. He went down just like the first. But behind him, another was already taking his place. “Move!” I scream, backpedaling as fast as I could.
“Take them alive!” the German voice boomed from outside. “We want the shifter woman and their mates!”
Behind me, Jessica screamed in her distinctive pitch as a heavy metal thud pounded against the alleyway exit. “They’re out back!”
I fired again, dropping another. Six rounds already. When I’d checked the pistol before coming in, I’d counted off fifteen cartridges. That meant I had only nine shots left. I was going to have to conserve ammo, especially if I needed to shoot my way out the rear entrance.
Just then, as we kept moving down the hall, I passed Jessica’s manager’s office with the newly installed reinforced door. I had an idea.
“Office!” I shouted, reaching behind me and grabbing hold of Elise’s top, yanking her towards the door. “Inside, now!”
The women double-backed slightly and fled into the office.
Outside in the street, a giant misshapen face appeared, hideous in the bright light of day as it seemed to hover above the black uniformed soldiers coming in through the front. The German.
I raised my gun and brought down another soldier with a single shot. Then, I joined the women in the office, slammed the door shut behind me, and threw the deadbolts closed.
“Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God,” Ashley said, her eyes wide, her blonde hair like a halo around her head as tears streamed down her face. “Did you hear them? They want us alive!” she sobbed.
“What are we doing in here?” Elise asked frantically. “Why are we hiding? Why aren’t we moving?”
Outside in the hallway, the alley door wrenched and lurched in its frame, the metal twisting with an ear-piercing screech as the Jaeger-Tech soldiers battered it down off its hinges.
“That’s why,” I said. “They were driving us ahead of them. If we slowed down, they’d get us. If we sped up, they’d get us. They want us alive, like Ashley pointed out.”
“So what the fuck are we doing here?” Jessica asked, her arm around Ashley as she tried to calm her friend.
I held up the automatic in front of me, released the clip, and checked the number of rounds remaining. Eight. Perfect. I looked at all three women, taking a moment to gaze into each of their eyes. “We’re doing exactly what they don’t expect.”
“Wh-what’s that?” Ashley sobbed.
“We’re holding ourselves hostage.”
Chapter Seventeen – Peter
Frank and Jake were out the door moments after Gen and Lacy. Richard and I weren’t far behind.
“Which car?” Richard asked, grabbing his sidearm from his desk drawer.
“Bronco. Gonna need the space.”
Jake’s old truck roared to life like a bear claiming our parking lot as its territory, and tore off as Richard and I ran through the receptionist hall and hit the front door.
A subtle, thunderous rumble began in the north just as we set foot on the front deck. It slowly picked up in volume as it drew closer and closer with each passing moment.
We both stopped and exchanged looks. “What the hell’s that?” Richard asked. “Sounds like Frank is coming back.”
I shook my head. “Know what it sounds like? Bikes. Motorcycles.”
“Hell of a time for a biker rally.”
A sense of dread began to form in my stomach like a cold shot of iron, weighing down my insides. I swallowed hard as the sound of the road hogs grew louder and louder. There was no room for coincidences today. “We need to go,” I said. “Right now.”
We jumped from the front porch, clearing the four steps, and were at a run as we landed. My old Bronco wasn’t much to look at, but it was right there, and would be more than a match for a bunch of bikes.
I had the engine cranked by the time Richard could buckle his seat belt, and we pulled out of the lot, the tires spinning until they gained purchase on the asphalt.
Behind us, the echoing rumble of the arriving storm of bikers continued to grow until, finally, they appeared in the rearview mirror like the riders of the apocalypse. Ponytails were streaming in the wind, vests and jackets flapped around them as they bore down on us on their choppers and road bikes.
“Skull and Bones?” I asked.
“Skull and Bones,” Richard confirmed. He would know, too. He’d had more than his fair share of dealings with them a little over a year back. They’d tried to buy his wife’s interest in the Curious Turtle, and Richard had mistaken one of their club presidents for being a stalker who’d been making threats against her. The whole ordeal ended up with Frost Security bringing the real culprit in, but not before several of the Bonesmen lay dead in the dirt surrounding our safe house cabin. At the end of the night, though, we’d banned the Skull and Bones from using Enchanted Rock as a drug thoroughfare, or from selling here. And, as far as I could tell, they’d taken our warning seriously.
I didn’t know how Jaeger-Tech had managed to get them involved or what kind of deal they’d made, but this seriously complicated things. Now, not only did we have a bunch of corporate shifter hunters on our tails, we also had a reckless group of outlaws who would probably somehow care even less about the loss of innocent life.
“Think they’re here for us?” I asked as I stomped a heavy boot onto the gas, sending us roaring into town. Really, I was just looking for confirmation of my gut feeling. Deep down, I knew they were here for my pack. Why else would they have risked our wrath by venturing into our territory?
“Can almost guarantee it,” he replied as they revved their engines louder and came racing up behind us, closing the short lead I had on them in no time. “Wyatt Axelrod’s up front, riding herd.”
“Shit. Don’t make a move unless they do, though. I don’t want to be accused of firing the first shot.”
Ahead of us, coming down the opposite side of traffic, was an old pickup. It flashed its high beams, maybe trying to warn us, and swerved a little as it pulled off onto the side of the road.
“We going to head for the Turtle?” Richard asked. “Or lead them out of town?”
I gritted my teeth, considering my options.
“Come on, Pete,” Richard swore, glancing back over his shoulder. “Turnoff’s just ahead, man. We gotta decide here.”
“I’m thinking, Murdoch. Gimme a second.”
“Bonesmen don’t believe in seconds, man.”
On the one hand, if there was a fire fight that opened up on Main Street, we might get some innocent folks caught in the crossfire.
On the other, though, my mate and the rest of the pack’s mates were inside the Curious Turtle. Maybe they were blissfully unaware of what was going on outside their four walls. Maybe they were under siege right now. Hell, maybe they’d even been taken…
No, I couldn’t think like that. I had to believe Vanessa and the rest of the women were okay. That we’d realized what was happening before Jaeger-Tech could put their plan into motion. I had to believe they were safe and sound, and would be surprised and shocked to see us.
“We’re going into town,” I said, cutting the wheel hard and turning toward Enchanted Rock.
The driver’s side wheels lifted a little as, tires squealing, the old Bronco lurched hard to the left, the whole bulk of the top-heavy car shifting right.
And that was when the Bonesmen opened fire.
Chapter Eighteen – Vanessa
“No signal?” I asked.
“Nothing,” Jessica replied, holding her phone up.
We’d only been trapped inside of the office for moments, but the adrenaline was pumping so heavily it felt more like hours.
Outside, just inches from me in the grand scheme of things, swarmed the soldiers of Jaeger-Tech.
I swallowed hard, considering our options. It didn’t take long. There weren’t really all that many open for consideration.
If Jaeger-Tech tried coming in through that door, I’d kill the women first, then myself.
I knew if it came down to it, I’d be willing to do it, too. I’d put bullets in all three of them, myself included. Better to give the guys something to avenge and mourn, rather than just turn themselves over to these monsters. Because that’s what all of them would do, and do it in a heartbeat. As rough and tumble as they seemed, they were just a bunch of sentimental morons sometimes.
After all, we’d be good as dead once they got us in their clutches—and it wouldn’t come painlessly. I’d seen the remains of the strikes they’d made on other packs. The burnt bodies, the destroyed homes.
That was just a fact.
I nearly leapt out of my skin as, behind me, the door reverberated with the severity of subwoofer.
“Guten tag, fraulines!” boomed the German. “How are we this fine day?”
The women all looked at me, like they were instinctively giving over leadership into my hands. Their hands were trembling, their eyes were wide and terrified. But they weren’t crying anymore, not even Ashley.
“Fuck off, kraut!” I shouted. “I know who you are! I know you’re just going to kill us anyway!”
“Nein, nein, nein,” he said, like he was trying to be jovial. “Why would we do that?”
“Then you just want us as bait for our mates!”
He laughed, the walls shaking like a mini-earthquake. His boisterous booms broke off a little, though, when he was interrupted by one of his soldiers.
“Should we just go in, sir?”
“You come in here,” I shouted. “I’ll put a bullet in each of us! I swear it. I might not have silver in this thing, but I can still kill myself if I have to.”
“Nein,” the giant said to his subordinate. “Vanessa,” he said after a moment, “why don’t you come out of there, hmm? Why not just make this easy on everyone?”
“Didn’t I already tell you fuck off, kraut?”
“Oh, you Americans. Always such language. So colorful and disdainful. What are you doing? Trying to hold us off while your husbands and boyfriends come here to save you? Are you waiting for the cavalry to arrive? Is that it?”
Chewing my lower lip, my legs shaking from fear despite my best efforts at controlling them, I looked around at the other women. Ashley was hugging herself, her eyes vacant and lost. Jessica was staring right past me at the door. Elise was pacing.
“How do you know they’re not already dead?” he asked. “Have you tried calling them?”
<
br /> I frowned. So our cell phones being cut off was Jaeger-Tech’s doing. Okay. The men still knew where we were, and it wasn’t that great of a distance from the office to here. They could still get here in plenty of time to bust us out of this situation.
But if Jaeger-Tech took us alive, they could still use us as hostages to get to them.
The German giant laughed, the door shaking against to his rumbles. “So no answer then, ja?”
I just shook my head and mouthed the word “no” at the women.
“We’ll leave you alive,” he said in a sing-song voice, a futile attempt to cajole us out of them. “You’ll all walk away. Even you, Vanessa. You can just go back to your old lives, much wealthier than when this day started. I promise you. The council has more money than younglings like you could ever imagine.”
The council? I’d never heard that phrasing before, not in all my research about Jaeger-Tech, or into the rumors surrounding the hunters. Did he mean there was a bigger organization that controlled Jaeger-Tech? Were they the ones ultimately controlling everything behind the scenes?
“Vanessa!” the giant roared, striking the wall with either his hand or fist. The building shuddered under his assault, shaking dust down from the ceiling tiles as the wall crunched inwards a little to my right.
The four of us flinched in shock. The idea that something that powerful could actually be alive and walking on two feet was almost too much for my mind to bear. I swallowed hard, prayed a nonsensical prayer to whatever was out in the universe. Maybe it would actually reach something, and they’d send a message to Peter to get his ass over here.
Whatever guns Peter had, they weren’t going to be enough to bring this monster down. We needed the hybrid, and we needed it now. It was the only thing we had strong enough to counter this kind of creature. The only chance we really had.
Goddammit, if he’d only listened to me about all this months and months ago instead of just this fucking morning. Maybe we’d have been able to figure out how to shift him into that form if we’d at least been working on it!
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