by Lynn Landes
“Show me your tiger,” he stands up abruptly and backs away from her.
“Anything, but that. It’s not safe for you.”
Magdalene follows him refusing to take no for an answer. “Show him to me, Brody.”
The beast in his soul responds instantly, demanding that he claim her, and Brody breaks out in sweat trying to fight it back.
“What are you afraid of? I have seen you in tiger form before.”
“No, you saw what I wanted you to see, I am no longer just a tiger shifter.”
“I don’t understand.”
Brody sighs and locks up the sat phone before leading her from the room. “I will explain, but not here.” He needs to be free, outside, on the beach where she can escape from him if the need arises.
Later, with his family nearby, Brody tells her the story of his people. “We were hunted to near extinction. The first shift came out of a need to hide from humanity. What better way to hide than in plain sight amongst them? We settled here on the island of Niihau because it is a critical habitat, protected by the government. Our family are ranchers. Here the boar and sheep along with cattle are abundant. There are no natural predators, save one. All our goods come by boat from a nearby island except our food. It must be grown or ranched here. Seafood, sheep, cattle and more. Our community was thriving. We branched out allowing hunting expeditions to provide extra income and help stem the livestock population.”
Brody paces as he speaks and Magdalene doesn’t interrupt him. In her soul, she is dreading what is to come. “The supply and demand for tiger meat, fur, and all parts, is out of control. The first poacher to come to the island did so under a false identity. He had heard rumors of the beasts who roamed free here. The first to be killed was my mother. She was protecting my brother.”
Magdalene takes his hand and offers what she can. “I’m so sorry, Brody.”
His eyes shift for a moment showing the beast inside. “We didn’t know right away. She went missing and no one knew exactly what happened. My father almost lost his mind. I tracked her to a ship docked on the other side of the island. I snuck on board and found what was left of her. She had stayed in beast form, so she wouldn’t give away our secret.” Brody stares off lost in his memory.
“What happened then?” she asks quietly.
“We lost fourteen more that year. They came in by ship and helicopter at different times. They used distraction and lured us away then struck. I allowed myself to be captured to find out who was behind this.”
“No!” She gasps and shoves him. “What were you thinking, Brody? You could have been killed!” she exclaims.
“That’s what we told him, too.” Pop walks up behind them with all of his brothers.
Brody turns and stares at them. “It had to be done. They used a dart trap to tranquilize me and the rest you already know.” They all fall quiet until Mag speaks.
“Not quite. How long did Caius have you?” she demands glaring up at Brody.
“Sixteen months,” Eric answers for him.
Magdalene steps forward reaching for him, but Brody snarls at her and backs away.
“Don’t touch me.”
“What did he do to you?” Mag knows the answer, but she wants him to trust her with all of it.
“It doesn’t matter now. I am a monster of his creation. He wanted to create a weapon and that is just what he did. He just doesn’t know how successful he was.”
His brothers circle him with his father. Magdalene is trapped in the center with him and she smiles at Pops. “Show me,” she asks quietly.
“What are you thinking? It isn’t safe for her,” he snarls at his family.
“Show her.” Pop demands. “No son of mine is a monster. If you are a new creature it will be only at the hands of our maker. The same maker who allowed us to shift in the first place. Caius, believes that he is in control, but the truth is much greater than that.”
Magdalene is touched at the solidarity of this family. “Show me, Brody,” she demands. Lifting her wrist, she punctures it with her teeth. The scent of her blood has his eyes switching instantly. Brody snatches her wrist and jerks her against his body. His tongue flicks out and it is not the tongue of a human but a tiger. He laps at her blood and her body reacts instantly to the sensation.
She leaps straight up into the air, vaulting over the men encircling them and lands on the sand behind them. Brody roars in outrage, his prey is getting away. He leaps straight up following her lead and lands on his feet lightly, but Mags is ready. She is Vampire. From an ancient and powerful bloodline.
“I am no one’s prey, shifter,” she hisses at him. “Show me what you are!” The men watch, amazed at her bravery. The first time, Brody shifted they all had different reactions. Pop smiles, watching his son meet his match.
Brody presses his hands to both sides of his face, struggling to hold it back. Mag wants to help him except the gifts he has. Using every ounce of her vampiric speed she rushes at him and slices his upper arm. He hisses in outrage, only to be sent sprawling backwards on the sand by a powerful kick to his chest.
“Are you afraid of a girl, Brody?” she taunts. “You smell good enough to eat,” she laughs. Brody grins up at her from the sand and stops running.
“So do you, Magdalene. Don’t scream,” he pleads, and he shifts landing on his feet in front of her. His eyes glow and he squats stalking her. He is a mix of tiger, werewolf, and vampire. All mixed with the blood of the man. He has the speed and hunger of a vampire, the power of the tiger, combined with the strength and cunning of the wolf. Brody is magnificent.
Magdalene waits for him to walk to her. In this new form, his eyes are no longer just tiger. Vampire but not a vampire. They glow from within and his body is rippled with muscle. The stripes of the tiger are vibrant black against his tan furless skin. Brody says, “Watch,” and his stripes fade from view, hidden beneath the skin.
When she gasps in shock, he grins and his teeth glint in the moonlight.
“My, what big teeth you have,” she says with a taunting smile.
Brody jerks her towards him and the family fades away leaving them alone.
“Say you will stay, Magdalene.” He growls smelling her neck and she wraps her arms around him and bares her neck to him.
His teeth nip at her neck and she responds in a throaty growl of passion, “I will stay.”
Chapter 30
Keane watches the daughter of his heart and he knows what he must do. He clears his throat and they all look at him. “I have a plan, but first, you must hear me out.”
Twenty minutes later, Keane is on the phone, actively speaking to the director of the Guild. It took some convincing, but Caius has long been a target. Keane sends them the schematics along with the directions to both locations in Hawaii and Dubai.
Hanging up the phone he looks over at Sebastian. “They have promised to call with any information they can find. Now we wait. This is hell on my old nerves.” Keane sighs and rubs his neck.
“To never know the who, the where, why or how. That is the cruelest reality in this tale. Never is a long time my friend, but to an immortal… it is true hell.” Sebastian replies glancing at his daughter.
Anya is sitting in a chair, staring out the window. She is trying to process the last few weeks, but her mind is exhausted. It no longer matters why she was chosen for this, only that one crazy vampire, destroyed her family, the man she once loved and her best friend. In the process, she was given a gift. Glancing over at her two “dad’s” she can’t help but smile.
“What’s so funny?” Keane asks.
“Nothing, Da, I was thinking how lucky I am to be given three such amazing beings to share this journey with.” Anya yawns.
“You need to rest, Anya,” Sebastian orders.
“Yes, I do. You wake me when you hear back from the Guild, ok Da?”
“I will.” The three men watch her leave and no one speaks for a moment.
“How long will it take to o
rganize the strike of those two buildings?” Vorn asks.
“Not long, the Hunter’s Guild has units in each of the most highly populated cities in the world. A kill team has twelve members and they are always on call, ready to move at a moment’s notice.” Keane answers sipping on a strong cup of black coffee. Two hours later he jumps when his cell phone rings.
“Live feed, ok.” Keane snaps and types in the code the director gave him. On the large computer screen, they watch a live feed of the two teams closing in on the building in Hawaii. “They are not ready to move on Dubai yet,” Keane explains as Vorn and Sebastian join him.
“Go dark,” Alpha team captain orders his twelve-man division, working in units of four. They are already in place on the building. Using thermal scanners specially modified for this purpose, they scan for heat and cold signatures on the first floor. Team A enters through the top of the building by cutting a whole in the roof. It is two in the morning in Hawaii, the businesses inside are closed and dark. Thankfully, most of the floors show no sign of life.
The top floor is a private residence used by Caius. Using a rope, they drop down into a darkened hallway and fall into formation, one behind the other. Absolute silence is a must. Each member has an assigned line of sight, this ensures full coverage of every room. Dressed in complete black, they’re loaded with bullets designed to explode upon impact. This building is twenty floors high, but they are prepared to deal with an ancient vampire. Keane warned them of what types of creatures they may be up against.
One soldier steps up to the door to breach the security lock on it. She glances at the lock and grins. This is a digital deadbolt with an illuminated touchscreen, and it uses nine volt batteries. Swinging her back pack down, she quickly removes her tool kit and removes the face plate from the lock. If the wire leads are cut the security system will go off, but she is prepared for this. Each soldier carries a small lithium battery pack, attaching the leads to the wires inside she waits for the battery to begin smoking and within a few seconds the battery acid starts boiling out of its casing. Quickly she removes the clamps and then packs up. She gestures for them to step back as the overcharged battery does the hard work for her. It fries the controls circuits and the door is disarmed. These digital locks are great unless you overheat them.
Keane watches eagerly as they enter the apartment. Within moments of entering it is clear Caius is not on site. They clear the apartment and move down to the next floor. Sebastian sits back with a sigh of relief. He doesn’t want someone else taking down Caius. Just thinking about it has a red flame glowing behind his eyes. Vorn stares at the unlikely group they make and can only imagine what it must look like to Anya.
The soldiers work their way down, floor by floor, using a fish eye camera to see around corners and thermal scanners to check for body signatures. When they come across an enemy they are prepared to quickly dominate and kill it.
Team B is no less proficient. The captain holds up a hand from cover outside the building and points at the cargo doors, indicating five. Five cold signatures. That means vampires. Quickly he pulls out a cook off grenade, while the others draw solid black swords made of Druid steel with runes of power etched into the blades. The grenade is enhanced with solar energy. It will not kill them, but it will blind them enough to allow the team to engage. All four slide on glasses made to protect them from the blast and allow them to see. Moving into position, they watch the camera until the five images are close enough together to get the maximum impact. He tosses the grenade and they move swiftly through the doors. It is silent as it flashes a bright hot blue light. They quickly sever the heads of the five stunned vampires knowing time is of the essence, silently they move towards the hidden doors leading to the basement level.
Magdalene warned them of the laboratory beneath the building, but they are not supposed to engage. All three lean close to watch the computer screen. “No…” Keane whispers as another soldier swiftly disarm the digital lock and they enter the stairway. The compound is ten levels below ground and can only be accessed through the hidden elevator upstairs or the loading docks. A freight elevator was installed to allow large cages to be transported easily in an out of the building. As they clear the stairway and move slowly down, Team C has entered the front of the building and is moving through each level.
It looks as if they are accessing the computers in the main lobby and collecting as much data as possible. Rushing into the labs they fill up plastic bags with samples from the refrigerated vaults. Keane is beginning to realize that the Hunter’s Guild must have an agenda of their own in mind. While the two soldiers are busy, the other two are clearing the rooms leading into the back offices.
“What the hell is that?” Vorn asks pointing to the front door.
A creature that can only be called a demon is staring through the front glass. It stands on two feet like a man, but this is no man. When Magdalene and Brody escaped it had made its way back to the only home it knew. It moves as a blur, the soldier at the computer fails to see it. Instead of attacking, it squats down and ducks behind a desk to sniff the air. Not caring for the scent of the soldier, it shakes its head and a single silver snake drops to the ground and slithers away. Around the desk chair, it slides silently, the scales on its body shifts to match the color of the carpet. It seeks heat, and the soldier is its target. Silently it passes under the computer terminal that the soldier is typing at. A quick bite to the calf of the unsuspecting man and he is immobilized in the chair. The toxin moves fast, passing through his body and straight to his nervous system. The force of the first seizure throws him backwards from the chair onto the floor.
The creature does not wait, he moves on into the lab where another soldier is stuffing items into a large duffel bag. He watches for a moment before cracking the door open and leaping through. This soldier looks up just in time to see the animal leaping at him. This one smells different and driven by hunger this soldier will provide the nutrients it needs.
Keane covers his face as the soldier’s blood sprays across the glass doors.
Sebastian doesn’t take his eyes off the soldier at the desk. After the snake returns to the wolf demon, the soldier on the ground begins to seize, but this toxin is not deadly. When the tremors slow a shift begins. The creature has infected the soldier and now he is becoming, something new. Similar to the creature who bit him but a different variation because he was a Guild member, not a werewolf. “The fool has done it!” Sebastian growls.
Vorn stares stunned as the soldier is infected. “Is it some kind of virus?” he gasps. The soldier rolls to his side and begins to vomit small silver worm like snakes! They instantly slither back towards his body. Over and over he vomits until his entire body is covered with liquid silver.
Keane is shaking his head and dialing his phone with trembling fingers. “You need to abort, get them out!” The director of the guild is already on it. He gives the command to abort.
“We can still retrieve the data!”
“No, don’t you see what we see. It is infecting them!” Keane yells. The director hangs up after arguing for a few moment with him.
“Damn Fools!” Keane yells, almost throwing his phone. “I warned them that these creations are not mortal. They should know better than this!” Jumping up from the computer, he moves back over to watch the rest of this unfold.
“You’ve done all you can for now. We can only watch and hope they listen,” Sebastian says.
Without the cameras, on the two soldiers in the lobby, they can’t follow the creature as it moves off towards the back of the building. “Look at him!” Keane murmurs and they watch horrified as the soldier struggles to stand. He stumbles before straightening up.
“If one can infect like that, imagine what two of them will do?” Vorn remarks.
“Let’s just hope that Team A will join up with the other two and stop them before that happens,” Keane growls.
The director breaks radio silence to warn the teams of the attack. “T
his is no longer a recovery mission. Burn it and get out!”
Team A moves immediately back up seven floors to escape the way they came in. They know that the change in mission means that Team C will move onto the basement and set the fires. The power is cut, including all fire alarms.
When the speaker on his wrist pad speaks, the soldier lifts his wrist and listens. Before moving to greet his fellow soldiers. The two soldiers turn and run swiftly down the stairway leading three floors to the main lobby. He is waiting for them when they enter with weapons raised. “Don’t kill him, he’s one of ours!” The director orders them.
The snakes over his face swirl and spread to reveal the soldiers horrified face. He opens his mouth to scream and vomits a stream of silver snakes at them. One soldier raises his wrist mounted flamer and sprays a stream of fire at the small snakes, while the other tosses a liquid gas bomb at the new creature. Unable to scream and blinded by the gas, he can’t see the moment his brother in arms pulls the trigger igniting him in orange flames.
Hundreds of snakes drop to the ground in an attempt to escape. They race straight for the nearest soldier. He tosses a liquid gas bomb covering them with fuel and instantly they shift direction swirling towards the front door instead. Both soldiers leap through the door to escape and turn just in time to ignite the writhing mass following them. The office is now glowing with red flames and they run around back to meet up with the team in the basement.
“That’s no way to kill an immortal,” Keane stops pacing as he realizes what he is saying and turns to Sebastian. “No offense, I just need to be there.”
Sebastian stands and walks slowly towards Keane. “Is my daughter on your list of creations to be destroyed?” he hisses.
“Oh, don’t get your panties in a knot.” Keane grumbles. “She’s my kin too. I did manage to protect her this long.”
Vorn joins the discussion by stepping between them. “He’s right Sebastian, however, what you and the Guild have failed to realize is that what we just witnessed changes everything. These are not natural born creatures. They are genetically created with one purpose in mind, to infect humanity.”
