by Justin Sloan
He pushed back and up to a kneeling position, cradling his broken wrist. His eyes flitted to the knife on the ground.
“Really?” she said, turning her sword so it caught the moonlight.
He glared, but then nodded and said, “It’s our first time. But we were told to follow this ravine until we reached an old bridge, then head due north and there’d be a sign we couldn’t miss.”
She smiled and said, “See, was that so hard? Oh, and by the way, if I don’t find it, I’m going to assume you lied and I’ll be back to finish you off. Got it?”
He looked about to argue, so she pushed on her fear powers, causing both to pull back and whimper.
“Good.” She gave them a nod and then turned to follow the directions they’d given her.
It was another fifteen minutes or so of walking in the night before she found the bridge. She saw a form approaching and, not wanting anyone to notice her out here, ducked under the bridge. She glanced out and saw a homeless, drugged out looking guy wandering toward the bridge overhead, and decided to wait it out.
She wished she’d just punched him out and kept going, when he stopped above, she heard a zip, and then a stream of steaming urine fell down beside her, way too close for comfort.
Gritting her teeth, she waited, heard him zip up, and then waited for a few more minutes before taking the turn and continuing on her way.
It wasn’t long before she saw it, and knew instantly what she was looking at—a large gravestone, set up beside an old, overturned tree, and on the gravestone was a symbol that looked to be sort of religious, but if you turned sideways could clearly be a cat’s eye.
If it weren’t for her enhanced hearing, she wouldn’t have been able to hear the laughing down below. It didn’t make sense at first, but she walked to the other side of the large tree and saw the same symbol carved into the bark, and then noticed that what looked like clods of dirt on the upturned roots was moving like a sheet in the wind. She stepped down into the opening and pulled it aside, for it was just that, and it revealed a door with the same symbol.
Smiling to herself, she opened the door and proceeded into a dimly lit staircase that brought her beneath the tree. The bar was a narrow area, not much taller than she, where stools had been set up for the few customers that knew this place existed.
It was quaint in its own way, but the fact that it existed disgusted her. Not even bothering to play games, she said, “You serve vampire blood.”
A man built like a tank, with dark skin and piercing eyes, turned to her from behind the bar. He sniffed, and then the white of his eyes showed as they flew wide open.
She hadn’t even thought to catch his scent, but now that she did, she snarled.
He was a Were.
“We don’t need no trouble,” the Were told her. “I run my own shop here, and supplies aren’t what they once were. Just leave us be and—”
She darted forward, popped him in the throat with the palm of her hand, grabbed his head and then slammed it down on the bar counter. In the aftermath of the violence that erupted, easily holding his head down, she leaned forward to ask him, calmly, “Do I look like I give a damn that your business is slow?”
He choked, trying to regain his breath, as several patrons around them stood, ready to defend him. But when she turned to them with red, glowing eyes and fangs exposed, they all backed off, arms up and and then moved for the door.
“I’m going to ask this once,” she said. “Where do you get it?”
He looked up at her and snarled, and a moment later he was a bear, practically filling up the whole bar area, bottles cracking.
There wasn’t much room for either of them in here, but that didn’t worry her.
“Where?” she demanded.
He lunged for her, but she used the tight quarters to her advantage, leaping back and then slapping his paw aside, then darting in to knee him in the gut. She stepped back and kicked his arm so that it was pinned against the wall. Releasing the arm, she kicked off the bar, then the wall as she moved around back and drew her sword, with barely enough room to do so, and held it to his throat.
Valerie hissed, “Another move and you’re dead.” Sword pressed hard so there was no doubt whether he felt the blade. “Last chance.”
Another roar, and then he was back to his human form, clothes hanging on him in tatters from the transformation.
“I’m not the bad guy,” he choked out.
Keeping an eye on him, but stepping back a bit she replied, “Funny, coming from a guy who just transformed into a bear to attack me.”
Rubbing his throat he looked sideways at her, “This is my livelihood, there’s nothing else!”
She looked him up and down, not like a piece of hunky man-meat, but rather like a new recruit, “You go to Enforcer HQ, ask to speak to Cammie. See if she has something else for you, but you watch yourself or I’ll see you return to the graveyard in the way one’s meant to be in a graveyard.” She paused just a moment, “We could use a bear against the CEOs.”
“Your fight’s with them?” he looked at her, the fight in his eyes fading. “So’s mine.” He looked around his empty bar, “Let’s talk.”
“We can talk after I return to HQ, but right now, you have to earn my trust.” She took another step back, but still held the sword at the ready just in case. “So?”
He wiped a line of blood from his neck, then licked it and gave her a curious glance. “You really got a place for me? You really got a battle with the CEOs?”
She stared at him.
He rolled his eyes, “Yeah, yeah, last chance. Gotcha.” He went to the bar and took a cup, then poured himself a drink. At her look, he answered, “Don’t worry, just beer.” He took a long swig, “They ever found out I was the one who told you, I’m going to need an army at my side.”
She nodded in understanding, “You’ll have it.”
He returned her nod and set the beer aside, then held himself up with two shaking arms, palms down on the counter. “I’ve never met one with your strength.”
“I’m one of a kind,” she said with a smile.
He nodded, then laughed. “Damn, ain’t that the truth.” He pointed out the back wall, “Keep north. Go to the northern wall, then head west. You’ll find a bazaar, sort of like a street market, and if you play your cards right there, you’ll find the answers.”
“See, was that so hard?” she asked.
He touched the line of blood at his neck again, his eyes glanced at Valerie as he nodded. “Yeah, it kinda was.”
“See you at Enforcer HQ, Mr…?”
“Just call me Dreg.”
She gave him a nod, and then went on her way, hoping that this next stop would be her last before ending this.
CHAPTER TEN
Enforcer HQ
Cammie glanced back at Enforcer HQ as she walked away, hoping it was in good hands. If Wallace trusted this Donnoly character, then she supposed she could do her best to play along. But the fact that he’d just let Colonel Anderson go, who had then somehow managed to break free a group of the Enforcers, gave her plenty of reason to be wary.
Now she was taking one side of the city, Royland and his vampires the other, with a small contingent of cops staying behind to hold down the fort should anything come up. She had three Weres at her side, including Duran, while other teams had spread out to cover more ground.
With the bombing, and now the breakout, this was more than just a mission to capture the escapees, though. Yes, they hoped to find them, but they also expected to lay down the law on this city and ensure the attackers knew that they weren’t going to take any crap.
“Where do we start?” Duran asked, glancing over at two men walking down the street, arm in arm.
“Not by harassing people randomly,” Cammie said. “We’re here to get this city at ease, and instill a sense of law and discipline. That means with ourselves, too.”
“I wasn’t implying we go after those two. It’s just, who do we ev
en question here?”
“Considering that we’ve been stuck up in the tower, I figured we’d start by questioning our own.” She pointed down one of the main streets, back toward the square where her old bar was. “See if Victor’s haunting the old spot, and what he’s learned.”
“The bar?” the Were to her left said. “Tell me we can grab a drink while we’re there.”
She laughed, then paused to adjust the heel of her new cowboy boots. That had been one of the first things she’d done after healing up from her scuffle at the Golden City—buy new cowboy boots. Only problem was, the new boots didn’t break in as fast as she would’ve hoped.
“You all right there, boss?” Duran asked with a humorous glance at her boots. “I told you—”
“Oh, shut up.” He had gone with her to grab them and warned her about how long they took to break in, but she hadn’t cared. She had burned the military outfit she’d worn from her expedition with Diego, hoping the act would erase the memories of being hunted by those other werewolves, and she wasn’t about to be caught dead in flats like Valerie wore.
So she sucked it up and ignored the blisters, glad that her Were healing would quickly deal with them. But she couldn’t ignore the smirk on Duran’s face.
“Want to keep being an ass, I’ll make you walk the rest of the way barefoot.” She accentuated the look with a flash of yellow in her eyes, an intimidation that worked well, since most Weres couldn’t partially change like she could.
“Hey, I’m just here to help,” Duran said. “You wanna ride on my back, or I can carry you like a baby if your feet are hurting. Either way is fine by me.”
She glared at him, then continued walking as she said, “Shoes, off. Now.”
The other two followed her, but Duran, stood there, head tilted to the side. “I think you’re joking, but…?”
“Nope. You’re walking barefoot.”
“I was offering to help!”
“By saying you could carry me like a fucking baby?” she laughed, then motioned to the other two. “Take his shoes.”
“Wait, wait!” he said, hands out defensively as they moved in to follow her orders. “Okay, how about I just buy the first round at the bar?”
“You do realize we’re going to ask questions, not get piss-drunk?”
“But the best way to ask questions is with a drink in both parties’ hands.” His eyes were darting between the other two Weres, who had paused to look back at Cammie. She wasn’t sure if the look of hope in their eyes was because they wanted to get the free drinks, or because they wanted to see him walk the whole way barefoot, but she capitulated. “You’re sure? Your feet can heal, your coins can never come back.”
“I want to buy you all drinks anyway,” he said. “My way of saying how happy I am to be on the team.”
She assessed him, eyes narrowed, then nodded. “Deal, but one more peep about my boots and you’re buying us all steak dinners.”
His eyes went wide at that, and he mimed zipping his lips. The only steak they got came across on the blimps, part of the trade. As that evening had been the first time they’d seen a trade blimp come through since the fall of Commander Strake, prices had skyrocketed.
Back at HQ, Diego was working out how to trade for medical supplies and more with the captain of the vessel, while Cammie and the others went out on the town to do the dirty work.
The four of them continued walking through the streets, lit up in places with bright lights, eyes piercing dark corners and following anything or anyone who looked mildly suspicious. Whatever Anderson had done with the Enforcers, they didn’t seem about to show themselves quite yet.
Cammie was certain there would be a reckoning at some point though, and when there was, she’d be ready.
Soon they came upon the square, where people went about their lives almost as if nothing had happened. Some were clearly uneasy, eyes glancing around as if prepared for an attack to come at any moment, but many were lingering around the fountain telling stories and sharing laughs like they always did, others shopping for food or clothes, and there was the hotdog guy at the edge of the square. Cammie’s stomach rumbled and she considered grabbing a hotdog, but there’d be time for that later. Plus, the bar had food, though she’d never liked it as much as those damn dogs.
A cop on patrol nodded their way, and she nodded back, glancing around to see several key spots where cops or vampires were stationed, ready for anything to happen.
If there was a part of the city where people gathered as densely as in Capital Square, she certainly hadn’t heard of it. So it stood to reason that, if there was an attack meant to harm people, this would be the spot.
Her eyes cautiously roamed across the crowd, but didn’t spot anything suspicious. When they reached the other side and found the alley with the green door, she glanced back one more time and then entered, at relative ease.
A familiar scent of cooking meat and stale beer filled her nostrils and she breathed it in, then let it out with a sigh of relief.
This place felt like home.
“Grab those drinks,” she told Duran, and then glanced around for faces she recognized. There weren’t many, just a couple of regulars from the old days. Then she saw him. Victor, sitting in the back corner with his eyes on her. He was a large Were, larger than most, and his wide shoulders seemed to take up the whole corner when he stood up from his table to wave her over.
“What brings you here?” Victor asked, giving her a quick hug before they took their seats.
“Can’t a woman visit her old haunt and her favorite Were?” She nodded at Duran as he placed two beers on the table, then went back to get more.
Victor followed him with his eyes before looking over to Cammie. “You got him working bitch-boy now?” His face broke into a playful smile.
She shrugged. “Witty banter. How nice that you have time for such simple pleasures.”
He frowned. “What’s happened?”
“Valerie is separating herself from Enforcer HQ, at least in the public eye, and has gone out looking for trouble.”
“A city like this?” He laughed. “She won’t have to look far.”
She nodded, then took a swig from her beer. She let out a slow, “Ahhh,” and then smiled. “Best beer in all the world, right here.”
“Why do you think it’s become my base of operations?”
“Yeah, well, maybe I’ll have you switch with me and lock you up in Enforcer HQ all day.”
He scoffed. “Talk about torture.”
“Yeah, well, since we’re on the topic of tortu…”
“Who?”
“We lost one of the cops, and he took some former Enforcers with him. If I catch that piece of beetle dung, I’ll tear off each of his legs, all three of ‘em. So I’m out here, asking politely. Have you seen anything?”
Victor squirmed in his seat with a look of unease. “Remind me never to get on your bad side.” He turned and motioned to a Were standing at the back door. “Go spread the word, some former Enforcers are in hiding. We want them. Now.”
The Were nodded, then quickly stepped out the back door and closed it. Victor turned back to Cammie.
“So where’s that put us?” he asked. “We have this new threat, plus the CEOs and whatever they’re up to, some leftover stragglers from that vampire brother of Valerie’s, Ella and whatever underground movement there is that’s been whining about Valerie moving in and taking over, and… some Nosferatu possibly still in the city.”
“You think so?”
“I know so, because we killed a couple last night. I was hoping you’d come by, actually.” He leaned in, lowering his voice. “An attack on the west side. Some of my boys were hit last night.”
“Anyone killed?”
He shook his head. “That’s why I didn’t come to you. They’ll heal, and we can root them out, figure out who did it. But since you’re here, I thought you should know.”
Cammie made a face, “I would say this city’s fal
ling apart, but it never really had it together, did it?”
He laughed a throaty laugh. “No, it did not.”
She looked over her shoulder to see that Duran and the other two had joined in conversation with some of the other Weres and, judging by their expressions, were getting similar news.
She turned back to Victor, “Tell me about the attack,” she said.
“They were on patrol and were ambushed. First, an explosion, then… they said they were still recovering when a group attacked, guns and all, along with Nosferatu and at least one powerful vampire.”
“Shit, what a time for Valerie to run off.”
“If she’s taken to the streets, she might’ve already dealt with this.” Victor smiled like a giddy schoolboy. “But we can do our part.”
This time, she looked at him, a hint of humor in her eyes, “You have something in mind, spit it out.”
“We captured one of the attackers, and guess where he is right now.”
Her eyes went wide and darted to the room by the back door. That same room she’d beat up Diego when they first met, and where she’d done more than her fair share of beatings before that.
“I also had this little present made for you, though I didn’t expect to see you so soon.” He waved to the man at the bar, one of the Weres Cammie recognized, but whose name she’d forgotten.
A moment later, the bartender was at their table with a box he’d been keeping under the bar, and smiled wide. “This must be her then?”
“Allow me to introduce you to Cammie the Cowgirl, as we like to call her,” Victor said.
“Call me that and I’ll beat you so ugly you’ll look like Victor here,” Cammie said with a wink to show the guy she was mostly playing around. “It’s a pleasure.”
“My little gift,” Victor said, motioning for her to open the box.
The bartender set it in front of her and said it was a pleasure to meet her, before heading back to the bar where Duran was waving him down for another round.
“Duran, watch yourself,” Cammie said over her shoulder, and then turned back to the box. She gave Victor a skeptical look before slowly removing the top, and then froze. “No. Way.” She tossed the top away and reached in, grabbing hold of two beautifully carved kali fighting sticks. She felt their weight, and smiled. “Hidden blade and all?” She asked as she played with them.
