by P. A Ross
"Anymore?" he asked.
"Not sure, but V and I will go first, just in case," Thorn replied.
We headed off again with the MI5 soldiers bringing up the rear, continuing their suppressing fire back to the pursuing Hunters and Turned.
We ran through the forest for another fifteen minutes. All the while, the MI5 soldiers were firing backwards and keeping any of the Turned or Hunters from gaining on us.
We ran down a slope and jumped down onto a road. Waiting for us were four black range rovers with tinted windows. Thorn rushed straight over, yanked open the door and ushered me in. The driver started the engine. I climbed in with Giles right behind me. Thorn jumped in next to us. Into the front passenger seat jumped Max.
"Okay driver. Let's not hang around," Thorn said.
The driver pressed the button on his radio. "Package received, bringing them in."
He pushed it into first gear and drove away. Cassius and Rip clambered into the Range Rover behind us, with some armed soldiers. The final guards laid down a blanket of fire and threw in a couple of grenades.
As we drove off down the dirt lane away from the mayhem, the second range Rover followed us. The last MI5 soldiers jumped into their Range Rover and sped off, firing out the back windows as they went to discourage any further chasing.
The lights on the range rovers flicked on, and we bounced down the roads, twisting and turning the way out of the forest and off the hillside. I sat in the middle between Thorn and Giles, bouncing about. Giles gripped onto the side of the car and Thorn strapped herself in. I followed suit, and so did Giles and Max.
"Where are we going?" I asked.
"MI5 have an agreement with the Spanish authorities to use one of their army bases near the mountains. All governments know of the Turned and the Dragans, and the impending war. There is a secret international network that is helping us compile information and share it. As part of that network, we are also sharing resources."
"So you did a deal with MI5."
"I am not sure I trust them as it was their info that led us into the trap, but I had no choice if I wanted to rescue you. Once the Turned had taken you, although I knew where you were, I didn't have the resources and capabilities to spring a rescue and secure your safety. The Hunters were a government agency with huge reach and capability, and it seems they have made some alliances in other countries with their peer organisations. Hence why I had to join up with MI5. We need the resources and authority that a government agency can bring us, and the help of their international allies."
"And when all this is finished, do you trust them to keep their word?"
Thorn stared at the driver in the mirror and flashed her fangs. "Of course not."
The driver looked back at the road and then accelerated harder, trying to get us out of his car as soon as possible.
Thorn grabbed my hand and looked into my eyes. "So what happened in there, you can tell me?"
"What you would expect to happen. They wanted to experiment on me again. But I don't want to discuss it right now. I learnt something in that place, which I can only share with everyone at once."
"But you can tell me first?"
"I would prefer it if I said it only once. I learnt important information about our struggle with the Turned. Also, Giles knows information he can share with us."
Giles looked over at Thorn. "I'm not sure how much I know is of any use, but you're welcome to any information I have. I know where my loyalties lie," Giles said.
"You will have your chance Giles to get your revenge on them. I promise there will be plenty of battles ahead."
"Thank you," Giles replied, and went back to looking out the window and gripping on tight to the door frame.
Thorn grabbed my other hand and held them both and twisted herself around to look at me. "There are no secrets between us, remember. You need to tell me what happened in there."
I squeezed her hands and rubbed my thumb across her fingers. I looked straight in her eyes. "I will tell you this now and then the rest with the group. And finally something else, which is private between the two of us. For now, Giles rescued me. They wanted to cut me open while I was still alive to experiment on my organs to discover the secret behind the transformation. They know of the encoded formula to my DNA, but this isn't the secret to why it works only for me. There is another secret. It would have been a slow lingering death while they tested each part of my body. But with Rip's training and Giles's help, we were able to escape."
"But how did you end up there. I assumed that the werewolves captured you and took you back, but then why would he rescue you," Thorn said and looked over at Giles.
I shook my head. But remained silent, as I didn't want to brag about beating Giles and Norris, while he was sitting next to us.
Giles twisted around in his seat. "Jon is obviously too humble a person to tell you the truth. We fought and Jon won. He was leaving to find his way back to you. But he returned to rescue me from Norris who was going to beat me to death for disappointing him. Norris is a powerful werewolf and it is a full moon. Jon held his own, but he was already weakened from our fight. However, Jon managed to beat Norris."
Thorn smiled at me and squeezed my hand. "That's my boy."
"Giles does himself an injustice. Norris had pinned me down. I wasn't sure how I would survive when Giles smashed a rock over his head and distracted him long enough for me to attack and finish him off."
"I am sure you would have thought of something. I only hit him on the head with a rock. It wasn't enough to seriously hurt him. It is what you did with your hand that killed him."
"What did you do?" she asked.
"I was in a rage and the dragon was coming out. Instead of letting it take over completely, I focused it into my hands. I used the extra strength and talons to smash through his chest and rip out his beating heart."
"Wow. That is some party trick," she said and reached across me and placed a hand on Giles's shoulder. "Thank you. I will be forever grateful. I will ensure you are rewarded."
"No reward is necessary. Jon is my best friend. We have saved each other."
I leaned over to Giles and whispered in his ear. "Giles, don't be silly. She's fabulously rich. You really should ask for a reward."
"I can hear you," Thorn said
"I know," I replied and laughed.
Max twisted around in the front seat to look back at us. "Giles, if I were you, I would take the money now. She's never offered me a reward."
Thorn glared at him for a moment. "I didn't realise you are in it just for the money."
"I'm not. But it wouldn't hurt," Max said and then stretched out his hand to Giles and held it open. "My name is Max by the way. I am a werewolf in case you didn't realise."
Giles looked at me sideways but didn't really move out of his chair to acknowledge Max and shake his hand.
"Giles, Max is a good guy. He's not like Norris. It was Max that helped train me to fight werewolves."
"Oh, great. So it's you I have to thank for Jon beating me."
Max shrugged. "Sorry about that. But it seems to have all worked out," Max said and stretched his hand out again.
Giles leaned forward and shook his hand. "Maybe you can show me what I did wrong. Next time I can beat him."
"Of course. Werewolves stick together."
We carried on in the car for another hour until we finally pulled up outside of the Spanish military base. The Range Rovers drove to the entrance, with a red barrier and green metal gates behind it. The Spanish military guards stepped out from the barrier, with machine guns levelled at us. The driver wound down his window and showed him a pass, and then the gates opened. We drove through in a convoy of three vehicles, through the dark base and round the back, pulling into an airport hangar at the end. Inside, a few black vans and a Mercedes sports car were parked at the side. The big door of the aircraft hangar scrolled down once we were inside, and we climbed out of the vehicles.
Mary waited for us, surro
unded by another group of soldiers. And behind the group soldiers, Cyrus stood with his arms crossed and a scowl on his face. It was only then I realised he hadn't come on the rescue but stayed back here in safety. Mary walked over to me and put her hands on both of my arms. She looked up into my face and smiled and squeezed her hands on my muscles. "They got you out safely then. I was worried."
I raised my eyebrows at her. "You don't have to pretend anymore, Mary."
She let go of my arms and gave me a hug instead. "Just because I was playing a part when we were at college together, doesn't mean I never cared for you. You were my friend, and I hope we can still be friends. I never did anything to hurt you back then. In fact, I remember helping you on quite a few occasions."
I sensed no dishonesty from her. I remembered the past with affection. I had Mary to thank for getting Scarlett and I together. And I remembered all the good times we had together as a group, Mary, Scarlett and I.
"I'm sorry. Just hard to know who is my friend and who is my enemy these days." I said and looked over at Cyrus and then back at Giles.
Thorn, Max, Rip and Cassius walked over, and Thorn waved a hand over to Cyrus to beckon him across. "V has something to tell us. He has learnt something while in the Turned base that apparently he can only tell us all together, as we must hear it as one. We can do the rest of the introductions and debriefing later. But I think what V has to say is important."
Thorn put a hand on my back and then pushed me into the centre of the circle surrounded by Mary, Max, Rip, Cassius, Giles, Cyrus and Thorn, and an outer envelope of MI5 guards and behind them the Spanish military.
I cleared my throat while thinking of where to start. All of them were staring at me, and I knew what I was about to say would cause chaos. However, the truth had to be told. We had to find out who was betraying us.
"Let's start with what happened to me. I fought Giles and Norris, and then I was captured by Bramel and his army and taken back to the Turned and Hunter's base, which appears to be an old military field hospital."
"I knew you couldn't beat them. It was a waste of time all that training with Rip and Max. It just goes to prove you can't be our king," Cyrus interrupted.
Giles stepped forward and put his hand on my shoulder. "No, you are wrong. Jon did beat us all. He won his fight against me and then returned to save my life, as Norris was going to kill me for losing the battle. Jon defeated Norris but got injured. By which time we were completely surrounded by the Turned with Bramel at its lead. Jon managed to beat two werewolves at a full moon. I was told that was impossible."
Cyrus fell silent, and then took a step back and looked away.
I allowed a moment of silence and scanned around the circle. "He had me chained up in the cell, constantly testing me to see if the transformation had finished. Because once it had, they were going to cut me open and test my body to see if they could find the secrets to the transformation or even use this knowledge to create super soldiers. While they were testing me, Bramel would visit me, on one occasion he let slip he was taking orders from somebody else. When I asked him that I thought he was the King of the Turned, he said he was. I asked then who was possibly giving him orders. He said it wasn't a Turned vampire, but something else, someone else. He told me their name was South."
I looked around the circle to gauge the reaction. Cassius and Rip were smiling, and Thorn sighed and shook her head as she walked to my side and leaned into my ear. "You should have told me this before we arrived. I could have saved you from embarrassing yourself."
"Pardon. Am I missing something here? Do you already all know who South is?"
Thorn nodded. "South is supposedly a Dragan. They are the equivalent of the bogeyman. The rumour of South has been around ever since the Turned rebelled against us. None of us takes that seriously. It was just another Turned lie to set us against one another."
"Are you sure? When I was captured before I definitely heard Bramel talking to someone on the phone and taking orders. And today he said orders are orders. He seemed pretty adamant that he was being directed by another person. The fact that the decision seemed to come after any calls or any action from elsewhere indicates another power is controlling them."
"But you have no real proof. It's just Bramel's word for it and you could have overheard conversations that may have been faked. He was playing with you."
"He told me that South was responsible for giving away our location in the forest hillside, and they knew you were coming to rescue me."
"There could be another explanation for that."
Behind us, Mary coughed and everyone spun around to look at her as the MI5 guards held up their rifles for protection. "I believe what Jon says is true. Our intelligence shows that there seems to be an outside force guiding them. All movements and actions seem to come shortly after phone calls or messages to them. Although we can't monitor their activities in real-time, we can analyse their behaviours and messages afterwards, once we know where they have been. And often, like the other day when they attacked, they received a call shortly before they set off. I am afraid to say that yesterday's call appears to have emanated from your group. I wasn't going to say anything just yet, we were waiting to try and catch them out. But Jon has already uncovered the truth. So maybe you should tell us about who South could be."
The Dragans tensed up, arms folded and stared suspiciously at each other.
I stared at Cyrus. "Well, I have my suspicions who South could be. Someone who created a Turned army before to try and overthrow the Dragan throne. Someone who only joined the group recently. Someone who has a history of betrayal. Someone who didn't come on the rescue. Someone who has already tried to kill me."
The rest of the group all stared at Cyrus who snapped out his fangs and eyes burnt red.
"I am not South. What happened with the Turned was in the past. I came here to work with you all to put that wrong right. Just because I don't agree with you being king, doesn't mean I am against the Dragans and betraying you all."
"Seems a massive coincidence your arrival and our betrayal. Your history with the Turned. Using them to build an army to kill the Dragans doesn't look too good either. You still want to be the king and would allow your fellow Dragans to suffer for your ambitions."
"You are a liar. This is just a way of taking revenge. You invented this whole thing. You will not force me out. I think you are South. Or you have become South, after all, you did side with the Turned and betray Thorn last time."
Thorn intervened between us. "Cyrus, you know he was being tortured. He told them what he needed in order to survive. How could he have been South, he has never heard of him before."
"Bramel told him of South the last time he was captured and recruited. He willingly went to that base and came back with this lie about South to disrupt us. How else did he escape and come back with the werewolf apprentice? And supposedly beat a mature werewolf at a full moon? It's all too unbelievable. He has been on their side the whole time."
"He did beat Norris, and I released him from his restraints because we are still friends. He came back to save my life when it would have been easier for him to run the other way. Anyway, we managed to escape because he tricked them. He made them think he was human again when, in fact, he was a Dragan still," Giles said.
Cassius and Cyrus looked surprised. Rip grinned. "Well done. You remembered your training."
"How on earth did you do that? I guess this is your doing Rip," Cyrus said.
"Yes," Rip replied and took delight in it.
"So are you going to share the secret?"
"Of course. With those I can trust."
Cyrus growled. "So you all believe I am actually South. I have done all this to claim the throne. We can settle this once and for all, let me and the boy finish our fight. He is a Dragan now, so it will be fair according to your rules. If I lose, then I know I can't be king. If I win and become king, according to you if I am South, then the war will be over. But I can tell you now I am
not South."
"There is no way I'm letting you fight V. This would not settle anything. It would not prove if you are South or not."
"Regardless, the boy has made accusations. My honour has been tainted. I deserve the right to clear my name and take my revenge."
Thorn shook her head, walked towards Cyrus and pushed him back. "This is just an excuse. You've already attacked him once and tried to start a fight with him before. If we hadn't been battling each other, maybe we would have stood a better chance against the Turned when they attacked."
"You're scared he will lose. And you will see the truth that he is nothing but a pathetic human, even with the formula he doesn't have the true spirit of a Dragan. He is not our blood. He is nothing but a human in Dragan clothing."
"He's more of a Dragan then you will ever be. Being Dragan is also a mindset, it's an attitude. Not what you're born into but how you behave. I don't think you are a proper Dragan."
Cyrus shoved Thorn backwards and bared his fangs ready to attack, and Thorn responded. It filled my heart with great pride to see Thorn fight for me.
"Thorn, leave him. This is my battle. I accept your challenge, Cyrus."
Thorn spun around. "No. It tarnishes my honour and my rule as well. I have every right to defend my name, and as Queen of the Dragans, I reserve the right to fight first."
"Thorn, that is probably true. But Cyrus and I are technically still in the middle of a fight from earlier. This should be finished first. Then he is all yours."
Thorn looked to Cassius and Rip.
Rip nodded. "He is right. Our laws allow the first challenge to be completed before the next one can start. If V wants to fight, then he must be allowed to continue without interruptions."
"I am sorry, Thorn, I have to agree with Rip. V must finish his fight first," Cassius said.
Cyrus laughed and stepped around Thorn. "Thank you, my Dragan friends, you have come to understand the truth of what I say. New leadership is required. This woman has gone weak in the head from her time with this human."
