“Fuck yeah, Fern,” I urged her on, but my time for sightseeing was up. I had my own shit to worry about.
The duke sensed I wasn’t paying attention, and his tongue shot out at me. I was able to get a glamour shield between me and it before he put me in la-la land, but the force of the mass crashing against my mental shield still rung my bell. The tongue recoiled and stuck again. This time, I just opted to roll away, and draw my sword.
The tongue went through the metal fence I’d already weakened, and got stuck in the serrated metal. “You over-extended, motherfucker,” I grinned and brought my sword up for a powerful downward slash. I’d sliced the tongue with a glamour sword before and barely scraped it. It might not look like much, but it was tough as hell, and I was pretty sure, an integral part of the Nosferatu’s anatomy. This time I wasn’t using a construct of my will and power. This time, it was old-school dwarfish steel.
I brought the sword Dani made for me down like the fist of an ancient thunder god that I might just be related to. I could see the whole momentum of the fight changing in that one instant, and I let my guard down. I got tunnel vision. I was too focused on my single strike, that I lost my situational awareness of the battlefield.
With a mighty jerk, the duke yanked the whole fucking fence off its hinges. It smashed into me, spoiling my strike, and knocking me on my ass. Meanwhile, the Nosferatu drove his fists forward into the chunk of metal, and ripped apart the barrier like it was tissue paper. He’d lost half a dozen guys trying to hop that fence earlier in the fight; and now, he tore it apart like it was nothing.
“And a second ago he was mourning those guys’ families. Such bullshit.” I instinctively gripped my sword tighter.
“I’ve done my research on you, Cameron Dupree,” he mocked as his tongue slithered back into his mouth.
“Great. Here comes the monologue,” I sighed, as I struggled to my knees.
“Awesome. What does my Wikipedia page say?” I tried to buy some time, and checked on my team.
Shit had gotten even worse. Fontaine was straddling Dani and raining blows down into her face. The dwarf’s mighty axe lay forgotten a few feet from her outstretched fingertips. Ariana came in from the side to rescue the dwarf, but Fontaine caught the kick aimed for her head. Dani still was able to leverage the shifted weight to get her hands under the werewolf’s legs, and throw her off. Unfortunately, Fontaine still had Ariana by the ankle. She found her feet, pivoted, and used the imp as a wrecking ball. Dani got her arms up to block, but both women went careening into the gym’s front wall. The wards flashed and failed under the pressure; leaving our only escape route even more compromised. Not that it mattered much, Dani and Ariana were both twitching on the ground like they’d just taken a million watts up the ass.
Meanwhile, snake girl’s wounds had already healed. A couple of the imps were down and not moving. One had literally melted below the waist. Their cousins were getting their wounded comrades off the battlefield, and snake girl let them. She was turning in a tight circle. Her eyes darting around, and her tongue occasionally slithering out to taste the air.
“Shit,” I knew what was coming, and tried to contact Fern through our link.
Too late. The naga lashed out, and Fern screamed. Glamour wasn’t perfect, and while Fern was talented, she wasn’t powerful. She could hide from your average senses pretty well, but against a naga who could literally taste individual molecules in the air if she wanted, it was only a matter of time before the snake girl could smell past the glamour.
Fern hit the ground with a crunch, and the naga was all over her. She wrapped her up like a python and started to squeeze. Fern’s screams hit me like a derailed train, and I felt her pain and panic through our bond.
“Fuck . . . fuck . . . fuck,” I cursed. I was out of time.
I thought I could do this without relying on my Aesir powers. I was wrong. If I didn’t act now, all my girls were going to die.
“I’m disappointed,” the Nosferatu sneered. “You were hunted by the UN. They say you’re a novel supernatural. You led them on a cross-country chase, and when they got you, you tore yourself out of their headquarters and escaped. There was a bloody brawl in the streets of New York, and you made them look like fools. Now, I face you, and the only word that comes to mind is pathetic.”
That wasn’t completely accurate, but every second I wasted trying to correct him was a second Fern didn’t have. Above all, it was a blow to my pride, but my pride had taken a backseat long ago. Just ask UN doctor Frank.
You couldn’t think you were all that when you were so new to the supernatural world. There was always another asshole ready to come out of the shadows and knock you down a peg, or ten.
I didn’t blame the duke for trying to psych me out. I would have done the same thing. It wasn’t his fault he wasn’t the big bad in this scenario. How was he supposed to know I had something dark and terrible inside me?
“Oh well, time to show him,” I jumped to my feet Jackie Chan style and faced the Nosferatu.
“You know,” I started to unlock the cage in the back of my mind. “You really shouldn’t believe everything you read on the internet.”
I smiled, and let the Aesir out to play. The duke’s swagger faltered, and his cocky smile evaporated. I still didn’t know enough about Nosferatu; except they’re strong as hell, but it was possible they had some type of enhanced senses. Maybe the duke felt the uptick in power I was putting off like a bad aftershave. Hell, maybe it was because I was smiling like Heath Ledger’s Joker after he killed that guy with a fucking pencil. For all I knew, a Nosferatu could sense the fundamental personality shift inside me.
Then I started whistling. I don’t think I’ve whistled more than a few times in my whole fucking life. I don’t sing in the shower. I don’t do any of that shit. Now, Aesir me was conducting a little tune that might as well be the theme song to the apocalypse.
I was putting off even more power now, and the duke’s beautiful flesh mask paled a little as he stepped back. All I could do was kick back and enjoy the ride. I wasn’t in control anymore. I’d taken a seat at the back of the short bus and let the other guy drive. I was a regular Doctor Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
“Tsk . . . tsk . . . tsk . . .” I wiggled my finger as the duke started to back away. “I’m trying not to disappoint,” I barked a laugh and moved.
This wasn’t like last time. Everything around me stopped; complete, utter stillness. The world around me looked like Norman Rockwell went through an Armageddon phase. It was hauntingly beautiful. The little bit of me locked in the cage in the back of my mind enjoyed the view while the Aesir half got down to business. That part of me didn’t give two shits about the color pallet of a burning Land Rover. The Aesir wanted to kick the duke’s balls into his throat, rip out and eat his eyes, and then take Fontaine around back and fuck her so hard her shifter healing powers would take a week to fix her asshole.
Since I didn’t want some supernatural STD from that cracked-out bitch, I tried to put my foot down on that thought, but the Aesir had moved on . . . literally. I hurtled through the air at the frozen duke. It turned out that he wasn’t completely frozen. I saw his muscles twitch as he tried to change position, and his pupil’s dilated as adrenaline flooded his system; but he was still slower than a slug in the middle of taking its morning dump.
“Ka Pow!” I yelled for no particular reason as I smashed my fist into the duke’s stupid, fucking face.
Now, I’m Mr. Hyde with a side of Adam West.
The duke’s flesh mask exploded as he flew away from me at speeds that would make an F-35 jealous. Every car in his way was practically obliterated as he flew through them like a human bunker buster. The gate around the parking lot didn’t do shit to slow him down. Ironically, what eventually stopped the duke was the little magic circle he had his mages throw up. They must have reinforced it to keep us from escaping after Dani’s arrival, because he pancaked on nothing but air just above the blood barrier. Now, it was his turn to slide do
wn like a punch-drunk Wile E. Coyote.
All the other fights had stopped. I casually walked forward, still whistling like an idiot. Dani’s jaw was resting on her tits, but Ariana had a big, shit-eating grin on her pretty face. Snake girl had stopped squeezing Fern, and slithered out of my path. Fontaine was the only one moving. She realized the threat and tried to get the hell out of dodge. Bad decision. You don’t turn your back on a stalking predator. I moved again, hooked Dani’s axe with my toes, and flipped it up into my hand. Fontaine hadn’t made it more than a few inches when I swiped the silverbane blade across her leg.
I didn’t cut it off. That would be too easy. Fontaine had hurt Dani and Ariana. She made my girls look like idiots. She had to pay for that . . . slowly. I shifted back to the regular flow of time and the werewolf started to scream like I’d set her on fire. I could see blackness starting to spread through her as her heart pumped the infected blood through her veins.
She thrashed like she was having a seizure, and I sat back to watch the show. She ripped off her clothes and started to tear into her own leg like a starved animal.
“Clever girl,” I was squatted down in fascination as Fontaine started to rip off her own leg.
“Now that is commitment,” I stood and clapped. My eyes scanned over the gathered people, and after a second, they started to clap too. I smiled at their deference. “Talk about the drive to survive. Girl, you’ve got some big balls,” I reached down and grasped her by the head. She punched and kicked me with her three remaining limbs, but she was exhausted and done for.
With a modicum of effort, I tossed her through the front of the gym. Glass cut into her and splashed her blood all over the barrier the now-dead clients had put together. There was a loud crunch when she finally met enough resistance to stop her. I grinned, and carefully tossed Dani’s axe back to her. The dwarf bobbled the catch because she couldn’t take her eyes off me. I took a deep breath and winked at her. She nearly shat herself, and, simultaneously, soaked her panties. Arousal and fear. That’s exactly what I was shooting for.
“Take out the trash, will ya, darlin’,” I have no idea why the Aesir put on a southern accent, but I did.
Dani tried to form words, but failed. Ariana grabbed her by the shoulder and steered her inside to end the werewolf. I turned my attention to snake girl. She’d released Fern and practically prostrated herself against the ground. She didn’t want to make the same mistake as Fontaine. The naga was more animal than human, so she knew the rules of the jungle. She went completely submissive, accepted my dominance over her, and was willing to take whatever that meant.
The way the Aesir saw it, I had three options. I could kill her. Fuck her. Or let her go. Killing her sounded good, but I heard the duke stirring, and he was the real threat. If I fucked her, it would have to be later. I was sporting a war boner that might split my dick open; judging by how hard I was, but snake girls aren’t really my cup of tea. For once, the Aesir agreed. Letting her go was also off the table; at least for now. I might need someone to spread the tale of Cam the Terrible, but I needed to deal with her boss first.
“Stay,” I held out my hand to her like she was a bad dog. She plopped down and rolled onto her belly in response.
“Master,” Fern looked like shit. One of her arms was broken, and one of her orbital bones had crumbled under the naga’s crushing grip; giving one side of her face a sunken look, but she bent a knee to me like I was some Fae king.
If Dani was turned on, Fern was barely holding it together. She smelled like a creature in heat, and her eyes screamed “fuck me hard”. The way she looked at me was full of complete fealty, admiration, and hunger. In return, I gave her a smile that spoke volumes about what I was going to do to her. She gave a moan and shivered as that translated through our link.
“If she moves, kill her,” I pointed at the naga.
“Yes, master,” Fern struggled to her feet but dutifully gripped her daggers and turned her full attention on snake girl. I knew the pixie wouldn’t fail me. She’d rather die.
“The rest of you, do what Dani tells you,” I ordered, and didn’t wait for the imps to obey.
I stepped through the ruined wall and out into the street where the duke was waiting for me. He was back on his feet, but I’d punched his flesh mask right off his stupid face. For the first time, I was seeing the Nosferatu in all its glory.
He was an ugly motherfucker about the size of a Chevy Tahoe. He was all leathery, black skin, pearly white claws, and blood-stained fangs. He unfurled a pair of wings behind him, but they looked too small to actually let him fly. Still, the wingspan added to the gravitas as he rose up to his full height when I approached; a typical alpha male challenge. A ring of eyes on his forehead blinked at me like a stunned insect, but the hiss that came out of his mouth vibrated through my bones.
“Oh, that tickles,” I mocked him.
He roared, and shattered any glass that was still intact after my punch heard around the world. His mouth was oddly circular, with rows of sharp teeth that made it look part shark, part Venus Flytrap. It was an opening much more conducive to the tongue that came slithering out.
“There it is. I was wondering when you’d whip it out,” the Aesir laughed as the duke’s tongue slashed back and forth like an agitated eel. The demonic smile never left my face.
The only weapon I had left was Dani’s sword, but that was more than enough. I brought it up so it caught the light of the fires behind me and flashed it across the Nosferatu’s ugly-ass mug.
“I could tell you about all the horrible ways I’m going to kill you; but why ruin the surprise,” I grinned, and the duke launched himself at me.
“You sandbagging motherfucker,” the Aesir laughed as the duke moved even faster than he had before.
Maybe being in his true form stripped away some of the limitations put in place by his flesh mask. Ultimately, I didn’t give two shits. The duke wasn’t going to live long enough for it to matter. He barreled toward me, and I shifted out of the way. Neo style. I slid under claws that could easily shred a main battle tank, and slashed my blade across his belly. I didn’t cut deep because I didn’t have the leverage, but I drew first blood.
The Nosferatu squealed as he slid to a stop and turned to face me; leaking like a stuck pig.
“Olay!” I yelled, waving my sword like a matador.
He snarled, and his tongue launched itself at me like a fleshy RPG. I timed it perfectly and slapped it aside with the flat part of the sword. “Come on. You can do better than that!” I yelled as I gave him a pouty look.
The Aesir was having a blast fucking with the Nosferatu, but I needed to end this sooner rather than later; and I needed to do it in a way that embarrassed the Tikals for good. That way, they didn’t fuck with me or mine for a good, long time. So, of course, the best way to do it was sucker him.
The Nosferatu came charging back toward me, and I slowed down my reaction. He swiped at me with one set of claws, which I dodged, but I let him catch me with a backhand. The blow knocked the wind out of me, but nothing broke. The duke was still strong, just not as strong as he thought he was.
I was lifted off the ground and hit the magical barrier; eliciting a thunderclap from the mystic encasement. If I didn’t already have fire and lightning coursing through my body, it might have shocked me. I dropped to my knees.
“Come on. Go for it, you ugly bastard,” I kept my head down and pretended to breathe hard; like the punch actually hurt.
The duke took the bait. He thought I was weak, and when prey was weak, you struck. I probably would have done the same thing in his shoes. His tongue lashed out to tag me, flood my body with its narcotic bliss, and make me putty in his oversized claws.
He never expected me to catch it. After all, Nosferatu saliva was supposed to be fuck-you-up bad. It was the main way they took down their prey. I could think of no better way to tell the Tikals they were useless than to turn their own greatest weapon against them.
At firs
t, the duke roared in victory; but I cut that shit off quick when I squeezed. Don’t get me wrong, it was nasty touching his tongue; and it wasn’t like I was completely immune to the saliva. Everything went warm and cozy inside me, but I could still focus on the task. I wasn’t the meth head sitting in an alley with a needle in his arm. I was the guy on PCP who took a bullet and didn’t even feel it. If anything, it made what happened next more enjoyable.
“I need to remember to bottle this shit,” I told myself as I wrapped the tongue around my arm, and started to jerk the Nosferatu toward me. “Some days, you just need a good high. 4/20 baby!”
The duke screamed in rage, and dug his claws into the asphalt. It didn’t help. I wrapped his wiggling tongue around my arms in a figure eight pattern and kept pulling him toward me.
“Come here, fishy fishy fishy,” I called as the Nosferatu tore up the street trying to get away from me.
This was better than having him by the balls, and I was on cloud nine. “Best . . . day . . . ever!”
It didn’t take me long to get eye to eye with the duke. He fucking reeked of fear. He’d finally realized he wasn’t the big bad wolf in this little fairy tale; and now, it was too late. I still had Dani’s sword, and with some work, I wiggled it up until it was against the writhing mass of tongue.
“I’m trying to think of a pun about using less tongue,” I mused as the Nosferatu’s rancid breath washed over me. “But I got nothing. You can always use more tongue,” I smiled, and the duke cried out in terror.
I torqued my arms and core, and Dani’s blade cut cleanly through the duke’s tongue. His screech of ultimate pain was loud enough even the Aesir in me cringed. The duke fell back and flopped around like a fish out of water.
I made a mental note to bring his dead body back to the cabal to study just how integral a Nosferatu’s tongue was as I shook thirty feet of tongue off me. I hopped over to his thrashing body, landed on the duke’s chest, and thrust Dani’s sword into a flabby pocket of flesh. It burst like a balloon, and showered me in blood.
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