by K. N. Banet
That moment of seeming innocence didn’t stop me from putting two silver bullets in its side and Sorcha carving its neck open while it paused.
“Cassius!” Sorcha cried out, kicking the werewolf off.
What we found was a bundle of sticks. Sorcha laughed.
“What?” I frowned. “What?”
“He decoyed,” Sorcha said with a small, hysterical laugh. “Cassius, come out when you can!”
“Where is he?” Raphael snapped, finally catching up with us.
“He’ll be here, give him a minute,” Sorcha said, unworried about her husband, but I watched as she looked at the trees around us. I turned as well, looking at the heat of the werewolves running around. Every time we killed one of them, the others backed off, probably scared. Werewolves were smart, and if they still had a human mind, they would know to dogpile, but these were acting wild. They were trying classic hunting techniques, which gave us a breather as the pack tried to pick their next course of action. There was a chance they would give up if we were too dangerous prey.
“We don’t have a minute,” Raphael growled. As he spoke, five werewolves came out of the darkness, stalking closer. I knew there were more in the darkness.
Cassius came back, his glamor down. He glowed in the darkness as he dropped on a werewolf, a sword out. It slid easily between the werewolf’s shoulder blades. He rode it down into the dirt, then got out, a sweet sounding shing as his sword cut through the air.
“Decoying throws me into the shadows,” Cassius said, shadow-stepping closer to us. “And leaves a bundle of sticks in my place. I hate it. It’s a fae child’s ability to protect themselves. Harder to do as an adult.” He was holding a sword now, and I wondered where he got it.
“What’s that?” I asked.
“My father’s,” he said, looking at it. “It shows up when I’m in need. I think the decoy trick activated the spell on the sword.” There was a heavy dose of bitterness in those words.
“We have werewolves to fight,” Raphael said, looking back at us.
“Yes, we do,” I agreed. “They’re still circling us. We’re not going to be able to kill them all, though.”
“Should we?” Cassius asked, spinning the sword as if he was testing its weight in his hand. I had never seen him use this sword before, nor had I ever seen his father use it. The good thing was it was a fae sword. It was definitely made out of silver, hardened beyond what many thought silver could. It was as good as any steel blade, maybe better. “They’re victims as much as the cambions.”
“They’re trying to kill us,” Sorcha pointed out. We were shifting, going back to back now, making a circle since the wolves were circling.
“I don’t know,” I confessed. “I’m wondering if we can even make it to the lab at this point. There’s a lot of them.”
“We can’t give up. We either make it to the lab, or we die here,” Raphael said, growling at a werewolf coming closer. We were all adjusting to the darkness, but it was still dark. The werewolf backed off again, obviously wary of Raphael.
“You said you fought them before. We’ve got them wary of us. Running will only make them chase, but maybe we can make slow progress and just start walking,” I said, taking the first step. “Don’t break this positioning. I’ll make sure we don’t hit a tree stump or anything.”
With a round of affirmatives, I led us through the darkness, heading toward the lab again. I was grateful for a good sense of direction. It would be too easy for someone to get turned around running from the pack. Even if you did get away from the werewolves, you were lost in the woods, far from civilization.
One of the werewolves rushed forward. I turned to see Raphael grab it by the jaw, one hand over its nose and one hand on its bottom jaw. He pulled the werewolf’s muzzle open beyond where it should have and tore off its bottom jaw. No one said anything as he tossed the smaller piece away and let the dying werewolf fall to the ground. As we moved away from it, others came to sniff their packmate’s body.
We made progress. I watched the way, sidearm up and reloaded, ready to take a kill shot if a werewolf came at us from my direction. I saw one run too close for comfort and took a shot, sending it down.
Sorcha and Cassius helped Raphael with another two as we went through a stream, making the water run red.
Then I saw it.
“We’re almost there,” I said, knowing they were looking in the opposite direction. “The lab. I can see it through the trees.”
The wolves were growing more aggressive.
“Raphael, the lab. Cameras. What do we need to worry about?”
“No cameras outside the lab,” he answered, breathing hard. “They’re worried the area would give people the ability to locate it. I don’t even know if they monitor the wolves that much or do a daily cleanup. I don’t know. Security is a different sector from what I was exposed to.”
I picked up the pace as the werewolves growled and lunged at us more often. Some tried to get between me and the lab. When I raised my gun to fire, Cassius grabbed it and pulled it down.
“We’ll just push through. I don’t want a gunshot this close to spook the lab. They might think we ran into the wolves and died if you stop shooting.”
“It’s worth a shot,” I agreed, nodding. I holstered the gun, finding myself without any protection. My fangs could work, and I was a solid fighter, but we were ending a ten-mile hike. If I never had to run again, it would be too soon.
Cassius and Sorcha took point, and I ended up beside Raphael. He relaxed a little as we passed a tree and sighed.
“That’s it. That’s the line they can’t cross. Or couldn’t, the last time I was here,” he said, turning to look at the lab. I watched the woods, noticing the werewolves pacing and snarling, but none tried to come closer. They were agitated that their prey never gave them a good chance to attack and claim a kill.
Completely feral—not mindless killers, but beasts looking for an easy meal.
I felt for them and was glad we didn’t have to wipe out the pack. Maybe, just maybe, someone could keep a watch over them like Wes. Maybe we could bring them back to somewhat human as well.
“What’s next?” I asked softly.
25
Chapter Twenty-Five
“Get down, and I’ll tell you. There’s a watch that comes out every two hours to patrol the area. I don’t know how close we are, but I would prefer to wait on them, so there are no surprises,” Raphael explained as I crouched with the group. “Luckily, the trees are thick, so hiding from them will be easy.”
“Let me guess—kill them and take their keys back inside,” I said, looking toward the lab.
“Exactly.” Raphael nodded in my direction. “Who can do that the best?”
Cassius looked at me. “You’re the Executioner.”
“Hisao would be so proud of me,” I whispered, smiling. “Yeah, I can do this. It’s not even a question. Stay here and keep safe. I’ll get to work.”
I shifted into my snake form before any of them could say otherwise, moving in the darkness with speed, knowing I was invisible to the world. I was a black snake, something my mother had thought was beautiful. Every naga child found their own right moment to enter their snake form for the first time, and when I had shown her mine, she had told me I was beautiful. Black like a black mamba, with no obvious marking, and a head that was somehow a cross between a cobra and a viper. I was a deadly-looking snake, something out of fiction. My red-orange eyes only strengthened the effect.
Which made sense. I was a thing of legend to humans. My entire kind was, and we weren’t a snake they could find in their backyard. We were something special—something unique. Most people didn’t know enough about snakes to catch that.
And most people never saw me hiding in the grass before I struck.
I moved around the lab, watching and feeling for the presence of guards wandering around. I found a few entrances and exits, including one garage door, obviously for supply runs. I had a f
eeling there was a helicopter landing on the rooftop as well. This was the type of thing people thought could never exist—an evil lair of horrible experiments.
They didn’t know supernaturals very well. We liked the things that couldn’t be real. It was a layer of protection in and of itself.
I continued my rounds, moving slowly to conserve what energy I had left. We weren’t even halfway done, and we already faced off against a pack of werewolves. I was amazed the forest wasn’t flooded with soldiers.
They must trust their magical security. I can’t blame ‘em. It’s damn good security.
I passed the group three times, and when I was halfway around the building for the fourth lap, I saw them. Three men in black outfits with flashlights, looking into the woods.
“Another quiet night,” one said softly as if he was bored.
“I heard the wolves having a good time earlier. Human camper or unfortunate deer?”
“Who cares? We’ll find out come dawn. I’m not going out there at this time of night. They don’t know friend from foe, and their master is sleeping right now. I don’t wake that guy up for anything.”
So, they hear the wolves get into trouble and howl often. That’s good for us. Nothing unusual.
“I think it was a human hunter. Did you hear the gunshots?”
“Yeah, but in this area, those could have been miles off. That shit echoes off the mountains all the time, you know that. There are bears and shit out there. It’s a stupid ass hunter probably trying not to get himself killed.” The bored one snorted. “No, probably a few deer got them riled up. Happens every couple of nights when no one feeds them. They get to eat what they kill, so everything gets them riled up.”
I moved quickly, catching up to them. They didn’t see me coming. I struck the first one at the ankle, sinking my fangs into him and releasing venom into his bloodstream.
“Fuck!” he said, but my fangs were out of him before he kicked. He staggered as his friends tried to find what was there with their flashlights. I darted into the shadows as the one I bit began to die the gruesome death I was able to deliver.
“What was it?”
“A snake,” he said, beginning to cry blood. Someone looked at him with their light and opened his mouth to scream.
I shifted into my human form behind the one about to scream, pulling my dagger out of its thigh sheath at the same time. My lightning reflexes were too much for these guys. I grabbed his jaw with my left hand and cut his throat before a sound came out, letting him drop as I dove for the last of them. I sank the dagger into his eye, deciding a quick and silent kill was for the best as I landed on him on the ground.
Steps. I have to follow the steps.
I dragged each body to the side of the building, letting the building’s shadow cover them. I would have taken them to the werewolves, but my venom would poison the meat of the one, and it took too much time.
I searched their pockets, grabbing every ID I saw and a set of keys. I didn’t care to read their names. They were dead. I had no reason to care who they were anymore. This was what they deserved for working in a place like this.
I shoved everything I found into my pockets, then shifted back into my snake form, heading back to the group. They didn’t see me coming, looking around cautiously. I shifted back into human form ten feet from them, so they weren’t too spooked and in range to attack me.
“They’re dead,” I whispered, showing my haul from the kill. “IDs, keys. Will this get us back in?”
“Definitely,” Raphael said, taking the set of keys. “This will get us into security areas, and from there, we might be able to shut it all down…right?”
“You’re thinking like me,” I said with a smile. He was still in his demonic form, but his smile in return was the Raphael I knew. I was so glad to see he wasn’t a completely different person. He was different, certainly, but there was still something I knew in there. I clung to that. “What do you know of inside? How did you get out?”
“I worked with…someone inside, a researcher. She got security to ignore me just long enough to get to the door, then I had to run. I don’t know if she was safe after that or not. I don’t know if she’s alive or still here. We’ll find out.”
She.
Jealousy was a wicked mistress, one I had never met before. I wasn’t used to it. Just the mention that a woman had helped him set me on edge.
I’m letting him go. I don’t have the right. I need to get over this quick.
“Let’s get inside,” Cassius said, grabbing one of the IDs. Sorcha threw the rest into her clutch. I wasn’t sure how the damn thing was still around after the werewolves, but it had survived.
I need to ask her for one of those.
We ran for the closest door, and Raphael was the one who tested all the IDs until one clicked the lock, and we were in.
It was a stark contrast from the dark night. The halls were dark inside as well, but it was pristine. I don’t know what I thought I would find, maybe blood everywhere.
“How did they keep you under control?” I asked softly, seeing he was still able to stay in his demonic form once we closed the door behind us.
“The cambion wing had protections with one exception. There was a secure workout room where we could use our abilities. Everywhere else in our wing, we were essentially human. They would drug us before they came to get us, sometimes with a dart, sometimes with gas to make us all go down for a nap. We would normally wake up during their experiments, then get dumped back in with the rest.” Raphael glared as he looked around. “They didn’t take any chances. I got out of the cambion wing a few times, but I didn’t test my luck until I was certain I could escape.”
“Meetings with the one who helped you?” Sorcha asked nonchalantly. Like Raphael and me, she kept her voice low, huddling in with the group.
“Yes,” he answered softly, almost guilty. That made me curious, but I refused to ask about this mysterious woman. I hated that he got his memories back at a time where we couldn’t sit down and talk about it. Due to the situation, I understood he only wanted to talk about what was necessary, but I felt like I was missing so many pieces of the story, and I really hated that feeling. He knew, and we didn’t have a chance to get on the same page.
Raphael led us deeper into the facility.
“It should be quiet this late,” he whispered. “Only mandatory security should be up.”
“Finding the control room is the most important thing,” Cassius said, looking around. “None of the doors have signs.”
“They don’t have guests,” Raphael replied, stopping to look down a hall. “But I might be able to get us there.”
We crept silently as he stayed in the lead, practiced in the art of sneaking through a place like this, even though he was nearly seven feet tall and had horns growing out of his forehead.
He checked inside one room and quickly closed the door. He gently touched handles, making sure they were locked. He ignored doors with keypads but not scanners. Since they couldn’t scan the IDs, there was no way we could break into them.
Finally, he stopped and smiled.
“I finally have my bearings. I think I know where to go. These are testing rooms, where they bring our samples and shit. She once said, from here, the security room was on the other side of the building, first floor. This way.” He waved to us to follow him. “There’s going to be others on watch, so be ready to knock someone out or to hide.”
I followed directly behind him, letting Cassius and Sorcha take the rear together. Raphael was too big to walk beside, and I didn’t want to accidentally take an elbow to the head if something happened.
He paused and pointed down a hallway I couldn’t see. I shifted into snake form and went under him to take my own look, catching the thermal of a single guard yawning as he walked away from us on his own patrol.
I looked up at Raphael, sitting up like a classic cobra. He nodded, then I darted off, going quickly down the hall. I didn’t use ven
om this time. I didn’t want to risk the guy running around and bleeding out. I shifted into human form, wrapped my arms around his head and twisted, listening to the snap of a broken neck, then dragged him back to the others.
“Leave him here,” Cassius whispered. “We don’t have time to hide the body.”
I slowly lowered the body to the ground to keep it silent.
“Remind me never to piss you off,” Sorcha whispered as we started walking again.
“She doesn’t get a chance to be a real assassin much,” Cassius commented.
I smirked. When Raphael pointed out another guard, I moved without needing to be asked.
This was something I was trained for. While the Tribunal didn’t ask for me to use these skills often, these were the ones Hisao used regularly and his favorite to train. He had always liked the silent kill, and I was nothing if not his protegee.
I went up behind the guard, who turned around when I was nearly two feet away. He didn’t get a chance to say anything as I shoved my dagger into his throat, severing his voice box. This kill was bloodier than the last but effective. I yanked the dagger out, then moved away from the body, checking to see if I left tracks. When I got back to the team, I was certain no one would know which way we headed and motioned for Raphael to lead us to our destination.
Raphael stopped with a hand up a few minutes later. I stilled, ready to take an order, ready to go after someone and make sure no one could report what was happening.
“This door,” Raphael mouthed, looking back at us.
At the end of the hall he was pointing down, there was a set of double doors. Two guards stood there, neither paying too much attention, one looking at his shoes or just asleep. The problem with secret places with very little activity was the guards always grew complacent. They had nothing to do and very little reason to think they couldn’t take a nap on the job.
I grabbed two throwing daggers and held them up. Raphael stepped out of my way, and I jumped into the hallway, taking aim and throwing as the guards started to realize there was someone else with them.
