by Gary Jonas
“I’m amenable to that,” Shinobi said.
Shinobi stepped forward and extended his hand.
Nori sheathed his sword and reached to accept the handshake, but Takeshi wolfed out and launched himself to the side, knocking Nori off balance. Nori hit the wall.
Takeshi drove his sword into Shinobi’s chest.
“We do not negotiate,” Takeshi said.
The samurai shifted to werewolf form and attacked all at once. I parried, and drove my blade into Shintaro. He drove forward, not caring about the pain, and tried to stab, slash and bite me.
Shinobi dropped to his knees. Takeshi swung his sword, slicing off Shinobi’s head.
“What the fuck?” Amanda said.
The samurai werewolves rushed past us. I killed Shintaro, but he slowed me down just enough to let the others pass. They burst through the doors into the cafeteria
Nori stared at Shinobi’s corpse. He met my gaze. “I don’t know what to do,” he said.
“We need to save Wakumi and Ichiro.”
“I’m with you,” Amanda said. She pulled out the pistol. “And I have six silver friends just itching to bite into werewolf hearts for dinner.”
“You’re waiting outside the door, Amanda. Shoot any werewolves who try to escape.”
She looked relieved because she wasn’t going to have enough magic to fight all those creatures.
I couldn’t wait for Nori. I raced back to the cafeteria with Amanda behind me. She cocked the hammer back on the gun, stood back and gave me a nod. I slipped inside.
The room was filled with utter madness. Ninja leapt through the air, swung swords, did acrobatic flips. Several were in werewolf form. The werewolf samurai engaged, slashing, cutting, biting.
Ichiro still hung in chains off to the side, and the doctor hid behind a small counter beside him.
When I entered the room, a ninja leapt at me. I kicked him aside. “I’m on your side, dipshit,” I said.
“Sorry,” he said as he rolled to his feet. “I’ll just attack samurai.” And he launched himself into the battle.
I worked my way over to the doctor. “I need to get Ichiro out of here.”
She nodded and handed me a key. I had to set down one of my swords to accept it.
I moved to Ichiro. He was still in werewolf form, but when I pushed on his snout, he didn’t growl. He was sleeping. The doctor hadn’t taken all that much blood. I started to put the key into the lock, but glanced over at her.
“Is he sedated?” I asked.
She nodded. “For now,” she said. “I gave him a shot of midazolam; he should be out for a few hours. My suggestion is to get him up to the mountains and get away from him before he wakes up. He’s not going to be happy.”
Like there was such a thing as a happy werewolf.
I pushed on Ichiro’s wolf face again. Not that I didn’t trust him, but I’d seen how ferocious he was. He’d damn near pulled the metal beam out of the ceiling. He still had no reaction. I touched his neck and felt a pulse, but he was completely relaxed. That also meant he’d be heavy.
“What are you waiting for?” the doctor asked. “Get him to safety.”
“Are you coming with me?”
“Where is Shinobi?”
I shook my head. “He didn’t make it.”
She glared at the fighters. “Hell no. I’m looking joining this fight.” She picked up a syringe. “Here goes nothing,” she said and jammed it into her heart.
“Doctor Werewolf, I presume,” I said.
I shook my head and unlocked the first manacle around Ichiro’s right wrist.
The heavy paw fell on my shoulder, and I saw how thick those claws were. I wouldn’t want to have those raked through my flesh. I’d heal, of course, but I’ve always wondered just how much damage I could realistically come back from. Magic has its limits.
The werewolf hung from the one manacle now. I stepped around him and reached up to unlock that one when a werewolf skidded toward me and shifted to human form. It was Takeshi. “Oh no you don’t,” he said. He shifted to werewolf form again, and I knew he only shifted so I’d know it was him.
He drove forward, growling, and I kicked him in the face. His head snapped back, and he shook it off.
I used the momentary distraction to unfasten Ichiro’s manacle. The werewolf slumped to the floor.
Takeshi tried to swing his sword at Ichiro the unconscious werewolf, but I tackled him to the ground. We rolled toward the serving line and hit the metal poles attached to the floor. Somewhere along the way, we each lost our swords. Takeshi pushed himself up, and took a swipe at me, but I flipped between the metal dividers, all the way around like an Olympic gymnast, and kicked him in the head.
I saw the swords on the floor, so I did a shoulder roll to the closest blade, grabbed it and whipped around ready to slice him in half, but three ninja jumped his ass.
I spun to watch as a hundred ninja battled five werewolves.
Swords clanged. Throwing stars whizzed through the air, sticking in werewolves and walls. Growls and grunts sounded above the punches and kicks.
A werewolf slashed through the navy blue garb of a ninja sending rivulets of red sailing into the air. The ninja fell to the floor and was trampled by more men.
The battle gave new meaning to the term hack and slash. Ninja hacked with their swords, werewolves slashed with their claws. Blood flew. People cried out in pain. Werewolves howled in a mixture of pleasure and pain.
Ichiro slumbered on the floor. I grabbed one of his wrists and started dragging him across the floor. I kept my sword in one hand, but when a werewolf moved to challenge me, two ninja grabbed him and hurled him back to the fight.
A werewolf vaulted onto the tables at the back of the room. They slid back against the wall and toppled as the beast jumped back into the fight. Tables smashed into the swarming ninja. A ninja flew through the air, crashing into the metal posts that marked the serving line. He hit the floor hard, grabbed a discarded sword and rejoined the fight.
The doctor shifted to werewolf mode and rushed into the middle of the fight, searching for another werewolf to attack. She found one in no time. The furious slashing turned the floor crimson and slick. Ninja and werewolf alike, slid through blood, making it difficult to maintain footing.
I dragged Ichiro’s wolf toward the door, and every time a samurai tried to reach me, the ninja swarmed to protect me. As I reached the doors, a werewolf vaulted toward me. He shifted to human form again. Takeshi. What a dumbass.
“You just had to show your face,” I said swinging my sword.
He had a sword, too, and blocked my attack. He smiled. “Just wanted you to know who was going to rip you apart.” He started to transform again, but the idiot couldn’t fight me and shift at the same time. His concentration was off.
I locked my katana with his sword guard. Our hands were at the same height, so I pushed my sword grip under his hand, forcing his blade up. Now he couldn’t cut me. I forced him down and moved my blade to cut his throat. It was a classic move, and had he not been shifting, it wouldn’t have been so easily accomplished.
He realized the trouble. He jumped back, releasing his sword. My blade still sliced through his flesh and fur, but it wasn’t a deadly cut as it missed the carotid artery. He put a hand to his throat.
“You shouldn’t have done that,” he said, his voice a growl.
I smiled. “Oh, I’ll do much more than that.”
He leaped at me.
I moved to the side, ready to slice right into him.
But he didn’t reach me.
Ichiro launched himself up from the floor, crashed into Takeshi, and the two werewolves hit the ground fighting. Ichiro’s wolf had been playing possum.
I waded into battle.
A werewolf samurai slashed at me, but I blocked the blow. The beast was strong and sent me sliding into a ninja. I turned away and gave a back spin kick to the werewolf’s face. I jumped into the air and slammed my boot into his
mouth, kicking his fangs down his throat.
The werewolf fell backward. I stomped hard on its neck. It growled. I dropped on top of it and jammed the sides of my hands against its furry neck closing off the carotid arteries.
“Go to sleep, little werewolf,” I said. And seconds later, that’s exactly what it did.
I pushed a ninja out of the way and took on another werewolf. It rushed me, but I twisted around out of its way, and kicked it in the back of the head. It spun, growling, but I caught its right arm, turned around and snapped the arm over my shoulder at the elbow. The wolf howled in pain. I launched a side kick to its kneecap and the fight went out of it.
Vaulting over a fallen table, I kicked a werewolf in the face. I followed that up with a flurry of punches, then while it was stunned, I jammed my fingers into its eyes. It howled in pain and dropped to its knees. I kicked it in the back of the head and sent it sprawling onto the floor.
The battle raged around me. Swords bit into furry flesh. Claws raked through blue masks. Two werewolves bit and scratched each other.
A flash of energy slammed into the room, and I spun to look toward the entrance. The doors flew open and three werewolves burst into the hall.
Amanda!
I raced for the door, and slipped out into the hallway. Amanda sat with her back against the wall looking dazed.
“You okay?” I asked.
“You’re covered in blood,” she said.
“It’s not the first time.”
“True that.”
“What happened?”
“Three werewolves happened. I tried to blast them, but I didn’t have enough magic after breaking the seals to get down here. They ran that way.” She pointed down the hall.
“Seals?”
“The building has been sealed off with magic,” Amanda said. “You and Ichiro had already left before I got back from DGI so you don’t know. Four wizards are outside right now. One per side of the building. Nothing is getting in or out of here until morning. To get downstairs, I had to open and close a few of their wards.”
“We don’t have the money to pay for four wizards,” I said.
“They volunteered.”
My stomach sank. “Why?”
I was worried they knew I was here and wanted to destroy me. They’d tried before.
“They want the werewolves.”
“They have access to werewolves.”
“Not to werewolves who can control their transformations.”
“There’s more,” I said. “Isn’t there?” I knew she was going to tell me they wanted me as well.
“Yes,” she said. “They want me to work for them.”
That wasn’t what I expected to hear. “Excuse me?”
“They gave me a job. Great pay, excellent benefits.”
“I’m not sure how I feel about that.”
“Not your call.”
“We’ll talk about it later,” I said.
“Are we going after those werewolves?”
“I think it’s more important that we go rescue Wakumi.”
“Finally,” Amanda said.
“Hey, I was busy.”
“If you say so.”
“Besides, there are two ninja guarding her.”
“I’ll let you handle them,” Amanda said.
I grinned.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Amanda and I talked while we moved down the hallway checking the various rooms in our search for Wakumi.
“Where’s Colin?”
“He’s in my car outside.”
“When we get Wakumi, give him a call and have him pick you up at the front door. Tell the assholes at DGI to let you through.”
“They’ll let me through. They only want the werewolves.”
“And you talked them into not intervening?”
She shook her head. “They don’t care if the werewolves are dead or alive. They just want a sample of their blood.”
“Did Nori know about that?”
“I didn’t mention it.”
We ran out of rooms on the floor, so Amanda opened the doorway to the stairs. “We’ve checked the upper floors, so we need to go down.”
“Fine.” I started down the stairs. “They probably know it’s a serum rather than magic.”
“So, science not magic. They can reverse engineer it then.”
“Maybe.” I pushed the bar on the door and it didn’t budge. “Door’s locked.”
“Kick it down,” Amanda said. “I’m saving my magic.”
“Whatever.” I gave the door a solid kick. The latch shattered, and the door rattled, but did not open.
“You’re losing your touch.”
I kicked it again, harder. The door refused to open.
“Magic the damn thing,” I said.
Amanda pushed me aside, took hold of the bar and pulled. The door opened.
“You have to be smarter than the door,” she said.
“It’s supposed to be a push door. The bar is there.”
Amanda laughed. “Looks can be deceiving.”
I followed her into the hall, embarrassed. “That’s a bullshit way to set up a door.”
“When we get back to the dojo, I’m going to get a piece of paper from your printer. On one side, I’m going to print ‘How to keep a Sekutar busy all day, turn over.’ And on the other side I’m going to print, ‘How to keep a Sekutar busy all day, turn over.’ We’ll see how long that keeps you going.”
“Laugh it up, bitch.”
We checked the rooms, then turned a corner and we didn’t have to check any more rooms. A ninja stood guard outside one of the doors.
“I think we found it.”
“You take down the ninja,” Amanda said. “I’ll open the door.”
“Don’t quit your day job.”
“Looks like my day job is going to pay pretty well, so I think I’ll stick with it for a while. You can come visit me if you like. The front of the building has a revolving door, so you can go through it without having to figure out the whole push/pull thing.”
“Keep it up,” I said.
“I will.”
“Watch how I handle this guy,” I said.
We walked up to the ninja.
“I’m here to pick up Wakumi,” I said.
“Excellent, Ms. Chan,” he said and stepped aside.
I glanced at Amanda. “How about that?”
“Cute.” Amanda pointed to the doorknob. “These things, you just turn.”
She twisted the knob and it didn’t turn.
“It’s locked,” she said.
I pushed her aside, took hold of the knob and gently pulled the door open.
“Who’s smarter than the door now?” I asked.
She glared at me.
I stepped into the room and two ninja blocked my path with crossed swords.
“Shinobi sent us to pick up Wakumi,” I said.
They lowered the blades. “Yes, ma’am.”
Amanda smiled. “I like this.” She approached Wakumi. “Vitals appear to be stable,” she said looking at the machines.
“Like you’d know.”
I moved to the side of the bed. Wakumi slept peacefully.
“She’s going to need some time to heal.”
“You could call your friends at DGI to heal her up,” I said.
“They’re not paying me that well.”
I opened a drawer on the cart beside the bed and found gauze and some tape. I pulled the IV from Wakumi’s vein, pressed some gauze to the hole and wrapped tape around it to stop the bleeding. Once that was done, I unlocked the bed wheels. “Give Colin a call. Have him meet us at the front door.”
“No signal down here.”
I pushed the bed toward the door, and the ninja were perfect gentlemen. They held the door for me while I wheeled the bed out into the hall. “Is there an elevator?” I asked.
“Down the hall on the right,” the ninja sentry said.
“Thanks,” I said.
It seemed strange to not have to fight my way through a bunch of henchmen.
Amanda led the way. We walked down the hall, made a right then a left and found the bank of elevators in an alcove. Amanda pressed the up button.
A howl sounded followed by the clicking of toenails on the marble floor.
“That sounds like it’s on this floor,” Amanda said.
“Give me the gun,” I said.
She handed it to me.
“Get Wakumi out of here. I’ll handle the werewolves.”
I stepped out of the alcove. Amanda pressed the call button again.
The werewolf turned the corner. Another werewolf moved in behind him. Followed by a third.
Two wore samurai garb. I knew Ichiro was the lead wolf, but I didn’t know which samurai werewolf was Nori and which was Takeshi.
Ichiro raced straight at me. I didn’t want to kill him, but by the same token, I didn’t want to be dinner.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Ichiro snarled and leaped at me, claws poised for rending.
I wasn’t having any of that. I kicked his teeth out.
He hit the floor hard, and scrambled to the side, shaking his head. Takeshi and Nori piled on top of him, clawing him and snapping at each other in a frenzy.
Amanda still stood in the alcove with Wakumi lying in the bed. The damn elevator was taking forever. She motioned with her hands, and I hoped that meant she was putting up some kind of barrier.
“Stop fighting!” I yelled.
They kept ripping and tearing at each other.
“Which of you is Nori?”
“Stay out of it,” one of the werewolves growled.
“I can just shoot both samurai,” I said leveling the gun at them.
They both rose. Ichiro lay panting on the floor, bleeding from numerous slashes.
“Nori, shift now,” I said.
Nori started to shift. “Don’t shoot him,” Nori said.
But Takeshi launched himself at me. I fell backward, and kicked him over me. He hit the floor, slid a few feet, then raced back toward me. I raised the gun and fired three times.
Three silver bullets punched into his chest. His forward momentum carried him toward me, but I rolled to the side and he staggered past, falling on his face and skidding to a stop. He coughed blood, shuddered twice, then went still. A moment later he shifted to human form.
