With an attacking style Smoke had never seen before, Kane slipped by Smoke’s punches and knuckle-punched his ribs. Bone cracked. Smoke sensed it coming but wasn’t quick enough to evade the last counter-shot Kane delivered.
Back and forth they sparred, a pair of dancing cobras fighting to the death.
Smoke didn’t expect the burly fighter to fight with the cunning speed of a welterweight or use the deadly strikes of shaolin monk. The only thing saving Smoke at the moment was his lengthy reach. The hard blows of Kane knocked into his arms. Fast feet jabbed at his shins and knees. It was like fighting Reginald all over again. Kane was unpredictable with what he came up with. Smoke landed a jab in the man’s face. His fingernails cut the shifter beneath the eyes.
Kane locked up Smoke’s arms like a heavyweight and said in Smoke’s ear, “You’re good, but you’re holding back. Don’t be such a coward, John. Let go of that famous self-control of yours. It’s the only way to survive what I have.” He shoved Smoke away. “The only way. I’ve given you a gift, Smoke. Turn it loose.”
There wasn’t any walking away. This was what Smoke came for. The only way to win was to destroy Kane. The only weapon at his disposal was his body. His fists.
But Smoke feared losing all control of himself and becoming a savage monster. Once the switch was on, he feared he wouldn’t be able to shut it off again.
He locked his mind down on one single objective. He forgot about friends and family. There was only one goal. One mission, God help his soul.
Kill Kane.
With his fists balled up, Smoke threw his elbows and shoulders back. He let out part battle cry and part shriek.
Aghast, Kane covered his ears. “What in Hades are you doing? That’s awful! Stop it!”
Smoke let loose his inner furnace of rage. He pounced.
Kane’s quick hands stopped striking right at him.
Smoke punched right through him. He peppered Kane’s wide-eyed face and iron jaw. His arms pumped like pistons.
Kane ate knuckles. Tasted fist. He covered up his face.
Smoke grabbed Kane by the back of the head and drove his knees into the shifter’s ribs. The blows lifted Kane off his toes. Smoke fought like a wildcat.
Kane shoved him away, only to have Smoke pounce on him again.
Smoke ripped Kane’s shirt to tatters. Hardened nails clawed at the shifter’s eyes. Power coursed through him. Something fed his strength. The limitations were gone.
Kane’s awesome strength bailed the shifter out time and again. The titans of battle wrestled back and forth, slamming into walls and rolling on the floor in striking and tangled limbs.
Fighting Kane was like fighting an armadillo that punched back. His rock-hard body didn’t give. His determination was eternal.
He talked to Smoke like he would a dog. “That’s it, pup! Give it all you got! All of it!”
Smoke found himself flat on his belly, with a knee in his back and his face stuffed in the floor. Kane mashed his face into the wooden planks. Smoke squirmed out of it in a reversal. He had Kane face down in the wood. He locked up one arm and grabbed a handful of hair. He dashed Kane’s face into the floor over and over.
Kane was laughing. His body stiffened. The muscles in his arms and back bulged. The seams in his clothing burst. “I haven’t had this much fun in decades.”
With Kane’s body growing beneath him, Smoke shoved the man’s head down one more time. The sinewy muscles in Kane’s neck seized up.
In a quick burst of motion, Kane shed Smoke aside like a gorilla tossing a monkey. He was up on a knee just as Smoke attacked again. The expression on Kane’s face became dark and monstrous. Every feature became more pronounced and ugly.
“It’s time to end this game, John. You’ve ruined enough of my outfit and office for a day. And it’s so hard to get contractors that I can trust in places like this.” Kane rose to his full height. He appeared to be a full seven feet of stalwart brawn. “I usually turn them to deaders if they ask too many questions.”
Like a wild cat defending its den, Smoke attacked.
Kane caught his wrists and body-slammed him. Kicks to the ribs took Smoke’s wind. A flurry of colossal punches sapped his remaining strength.
Smoke felt like he was ten heartbeats from being roadkill. Painful needles danced all over his body. Blood from his wounds dripped on the floor. His ragged breathing hurt.
Kane picked Smoke up and slung him over his broad shoulder like a child being taken to bed.
“I won’t kill anyone,” Smoke said. A broken and bloody tooth fell out of his mouth. His consciousness began to fade. “I won’t be your servant.”
“Of course you won’t. That’s what they all say. But, there is a way around everything.” Kane kicked aside the broken pieces of the cinderblock wall Mason Crowe had plowed through, then made his way down the hall to the stairwell. He pulled and pushed on the handle. The door was locked. He glanced back at the cameras. “Frank. Get on this!”
Nothing happened. “More repairs, I guess. By the time this is over, I might as well buy a new building. Renovation costs are outrageous these days.” He kicked the door off the hinges. Down the stairs he went, with Smoke hanging over his shoulder, barely hanging onto his consciousness. His loose limbs hung over his body. There was almost nothing left in him.
Save your strength.
Kane took him down into the basement, where the entrance to the subterranean level began. “Remember our little visit here, Smokey? You came as Mack Black, and I as myself. I almost took you out then, but letting you go made the game so much more delightful.” He walked down the steps, jostling Smoke hard all the way down. “Now you’ll get to see firsthand what my operation is all about. Consider this upcoming baptism a blessing, Smoke. A baptism without fire.”
CHAPTER 34
Allison dragged Sid down the hall by the hair. “I tell you what, Sid, I’ve often dreamed of the day when your charmed life would come to an end. Everyone always thought you were so brave and so smart. But I didn’t. No, you were just lucky. It’s going to be really interesting to see how Mom and Dad react when they know I’m the only daughter they have left. Perhaps they’ll give me a little more attention then. Maybe then they’ll appreciate me and my beauty.”
Sid’s hands grazed over the flooring.
“Jesus, give me strength.”
Her fingers searched for a weapon. She was hiding it, but there was some fight left in her. In her desperation, she found a small object that felt like little more than debris. She dragged her numb arm up to her chest. Her super vitamin was pinched between her fingers.
Yes!
She popped it in her mouth and chewed.
Keep talking, you spoiled little witch!
“Isn’t it funny how we are family, but we hate each other? You’re jealous of my beauty, and I was always jealous of, well, your homeliness.” Allison laughed. “I guess that’s a bit unfair. It must have been your ability to hook a worm that Dad so delighted in. It made me sick. And those times when I’d sneak my boyfriend over when Mom and Dad went on vacation, you always tried to ruin my romance.”
“It wasn’t a boy. It was boys. And they were ten years older than you. You didn’t know what you were doing! You don’t know what you’re doing now!”
Allison tugged on Sid’s hair so hard that strands of it ripped. “I liked those boys! They liked me! You ruined it! It embarrassed me!”
“One of them was an assistant coach, Allison. He was married. Why are you so blind? You can never see the wrong you do in anything.” Sid’s juices started to flow. She played possum a little longer as Allison continued her walking and whining. “No one in our family ever did you wrong, and you know that.”
“They did!” Allison screamed.
“Who did? When?”
Allison buttoned up. She always did that when she didn’t have anywhere to go.
Sid didn’t have any doubt that Allison manipulated the truth. She always suggested that somethin
g bad, inappropriate, or twisted might have happened when she was young. There was never any proof of any of it. She just lied to keep true punishment at bay. That was how she became what she was: a spoiled, entitled child who never took responsibility for her actions. Sid had had enough of it.
“You know what your problem is, Allison?”
Allison stopped in her tracks, looked down at Sid, and said, “What?”
“You’ve never had a real good ass-whooping.”
“Excuse me? You mean like the one I just gave you?”
From the floor, Sid gave her sister a steely-eyed look. “No, like the one I’m about to let loose on you.”
Allison blanched behind her coat of fur. Her feline brows crinkled. “All you’re doing is making what I have to do too easy.”
“Easy. That should have been your middle name.” With the strength of a python racing through her limbs, Sid snaked her arms around Allison’s. Fastening her grip, she jerked Allison down so she bent at the waist. Sid planted her boots into the tigress’s stomach and flipped her overhead.
Allison landed flat on her back, screaming, “You dare!” She bounced up to her feet.
They faced off.
At the top of her lungs, Allison yelled, “I’m going to rip your face off!”
“I’d like to see you try…wimp.”
Allison’s eyes turned to molten lava. “Grrrrrrr!” Claws bared, she launched her body into Sid’s.
Sid turned her hips and started to slide back, but she wasn’t quick enough.
Allison knocked her to the floor.
Using her sister’s momentum, Sid popped back up on top of her. She stung Allison in the nose with a jab.
Claws out, Allison went at Sid like she was a human scratching post. The long nails tore at her face. “I’m going to bore those brown eyes out of your head.”
With renewed strength that matched her sister’s, Sid started swatting her hands aside.
Allison clawed.
Sid countered with a right cross followed by a left.
Allison’s jaw shuddered after the last blow. “What are you doing?” Allison cried out. She swung.
Sid blocked and tagged her face.
“Stop it!”
“You should have watched more boxing with me and Dad when you were a girl.” Sid peppered Allison’s face with stunning left, right, left jabs. She put her weight behind every punch. Her knuckles cracked and smacked with the stinging blows. “It’s called a combination, you idiot.”
Blood trickled out of Allison’s nose. She blocked with her arms. “Stop it, Sid! Stop hitting me! It hurts, dammit!”
Sid poured it on. She tagged the ribs, belly, and neck. In the back of her mind, she knew the clock was ticking. The vitamin was only good for a minute or so. She punched on. “You’re a brat, Allison!” Whap! Whap! Whap! “A spoiled rotten little brat. You’ve had this coming a long time!”
Tears streamed down Allison’s face. “Why are you doing this?” she whined. “Why do you hate me?”
“Because you’re an idiot who was about to kill me!” She swung her arm back and delivered a haymaker. Allison’s tooth shot from her mouth. Sid’s strength began to fade. Her shoulders and back burned. She kept punching with a Rocky quote going through her head. “You have to punch and punch until you can’t punch no more,” she told herself. The last punches didn’t have anything in them. Her lungs burned like fire.
Allison balled up on the floor, crying like a little girl.
Sid managed a final stiff kick to the ribs. Sweat dripped off her nose. Someone touched her shoulder. She flinched.
Guppy smiled at her. “You okay?”
“Never better.”
The burly man secured Allison’s hands behind her back with flex cuffs. He used two pairs and did the same with the tiger woman’s ankles.
Cort showed up, rubbing the side of his swollen face. With an approving nod, he said, “Now that’s what I call an ass whooping. Your sister’s still hotter than you, though. That whole tiger thing is sexy, even with the tears.”
Laboring for breath, Sid said, “Don’t you have more important things to think about?”
“Nope.”
She turned her attention to Guppy, lifting up her hand for help. “Let’s find Smoke.”
CHAPTER 35
Sid, Guppy, and Cort regrouped with Manson Bay inside the command center. Manson kept the appearance of a young teenage black boy. His fingers were busy on the keyboard, and his eyes were glued to the large screens.
“Have you found Smoke, Manson?” Sid was leaning over his shoulder, looking down at his monitor.
“Kane’s got him.” Manson pulled up a digital video feed. Kane had taken on the monstrous form of his own persona. It was a Jekyll-and-Hyde type of thing. Smoke was draped over Kane’s shoulders like a pelt. They entered the stairwell and vanished for several seconds before reappearing on the first level. Then the cameras lost track of them in the southwestern quadrant of the building. “They went down into the sub-levels, I think. It’s a dark zone. No technology.”
“What’s down there?”
Manson shrugged. “I don’t know. I haven’t been down there. I’ve spent most of my time pretending to be your niece. For the most part I helped out in the labs with the deaders.”
Guppy plopped down in a chair next to Rich and Sherry, who sat like mutes in their seats. He pointed at them with his thumb, over his shoulder. “What’s their deal? Do we need to shoot them?”
“No, they can be helpful,” Manson responded.
With Allison thrown over his shoulder, Cort said, “Can I put Tiger Lady down now? She’s crying all over my back.”
Sid nodded. “What else is out there, Manson? I need a count of shifters and deaders.”
The big screens panned through image after image. Lots of redcoat bodies spasmed on the floors. Several others were moving aimlessly about the complex. Aside from the burning van, the outside parking lot was void of activity. At the dock, the yacht was sinking. “I’m ninety percent certain that you’ve eliminated all threats.” Manson pointed at tiles of betting odds on the screens. Sid, Guppy, and Cort had all beaten the odds stacked against them. “Looks like some rich people lost a ton of money today. I love it when that happens, even though it won’t make any difference. Now that Kane’s off the grid, they’re logging out.” His fingers were still very busy. “I’m trying to trace them, but it’s not easy.”
Sid checked her ammo. She had half a magazine left. “Cort, Guppy, load up everything you have. We’re going down.”
Guppy could barely make it out of his chair. “Coming.”
“I don’t know what’s down there, but I could use a hand up here,” Manson said. “My fingers only work so fast, and I need to find these links before they vanish.”
“Guppy, stay,” she said.
His brow puckered.
“It’ll be fine.”
“Here then.” He handed over a gun and his cylinder of vitamins. “Come back, Sid. All of you.”
“We’re going to be pretty short-handed.” Cort was eyeing the empty holes in the cylinder of his Big Alaskan wheel gun. “I’m down one arm as it is. And starving.”
“Anyway, one of my hands is worth more than ten of yours,” said someone standing in the doorway.
“Vormus!” Sid exclaimed.
The long-haired, cotton-headed vampire shifter tipped his chin. He was dressed in a grey tuxedo from the eighteenth century.
“I see you’re overdressed for the occasion once again.”
“I pride myself in looking my best no matter the circumstances. It’s nice to see you, Sid.” He twirled a sword in his hand. It was the Arabian blade that Smoke used. “We need to get to your husband before it’s too late.”
Sid headed for the door. “What’s happening?”
“Kane’s preparing him for the Kiss of Khonshu. If that happens, it’s over for him. Probably us too. Well, you and your friends at least.”
“Are we
really supposed to believe that an Egyptian god is the one running the show?” she asked Vormus. “Someone or something thousands of years old?”
“I’m seeking out some of those answers for myself. Remember, Sid, I’m with you because I want out. If there’s a way for me to become mortal again, then perhaps I can finally find the answers I seek.”
The three of them moved swiftly through the halls. Turning a corner, they ran into a pair of redcoat deaders. Without breaking stride, Vormus slipped the sword into their hearts and walked right by their collapsing bodies.
Stepping over the dead bodies, Cort said, “That was quick. I’m going to get me one of those swords.”
Sid pressed Vormus. She needed more answers about what was going on. Frank had filled her in, but that was only one layer of many. Even though she was grateful that Manson and Vormus had shown up to help her, the timing was very suspicious.
“Why now, Vormus?” she asked. “You’ve been gone all this time, and here you are? You could have been helping us all along.”
“The truth is I’ve been on the fence whether or not to help you. Aiding you in the defeat of Kane could result in my own death. Honestly, I didn’t think you would make it this far without me. For some reason I can’t explain, you inspire me.”
“I’ve heard that before.” Sid glanced over to Cort. Behind Vormus’s back, she mouthed the words, “Watch him.”
Cort gave a stiff nod.
One thought puzzled her. How did Vormus know where they were and what they were doing? It only made sense he’d be working with Kane. Perhaps leading them into another trap. Logically, she knew she couldn’t trust him, but his actions showed otherwise.
They came to a stop at a much older door that didn’t match up with the rest. The handles were made from solid hammered brass. The keyhole was huge. It was unlocked. “What’s down there?”
“Answers.” Vormus opened the door. A gust of stagnant air ruffled his hair. “Ladies first.”
Sid grabbed him by his fancy collar and shoved Vormus through. She held Cort back for a moment. She took a super vitamin and placed it between her cheek and gum. Cort did the same. The doors led down concrete steps.
The Supernatural Bounty Hunter Files Collector's Set: Books 1-10: Urban Fantasy Shifter Series Page 128
