Feral Claim

by Fel Fern

  “Just wanted an update on our last case,” he told Reyes.

  “Of course he did,” she said with a roll of her eyes. “Smith’s a sucker for tiny details.”

  Those words only intensified the feelings of dread stirring in his belly. He worked on his computer a little bit. An hour later, he went to the bathroom and quickly sent his brother a text.

  Dave: We’re having turkey for tonight.

  That had been the code they developed years ago. Code red.

  Daryl’s reply was immediate.

  Daryl: Even though it’s not Thanksgiving? Need me to get the fixings?

  Dave: Yes.

  He tucked his phone away and went back to his desk. Dave pretended nothing was wrong, although he became increasingly aware of every ticking second. Time slowed to crawl. He’d been almost relieved when Reyes interrupted his report typing.

  “Come on, Rush. Robbery on fifth.”

  He leapt to his feet, not a strange reaction. Every rookie cop wanted to prove themselves.

  “Sheesh, let me take the lead on this one, okay?” she said as he put on his jacket and grabbed his gun and badge. Hopefully, after this investigation, he could head straight home to the apartment Daryl and he shared.

  * * * *

  Dave returned to their place later than he thought, relieved to see his brother pacing in the living room. He saw with approval that their bags had already been packed by the couch. Seeing him, Daryl swore. He shut the door behind him.

  “Fuck, Dave. I thought they took you or something.”

  “I was called to an investigation. I had to pretend the captain’s little talk didn’t affect me,” he said. “Come on, let’s take our bags and talk in your car.”

  “We’re taking my ride?”

  He nodded. “Can’t risk the chance they put something on my car.”

  His brother didn’t ask if he was acting a little paranoid. They took no chances when it came to avoiding detection from the Discipline Squad. Once in the car, he let his brother drive. To say his nerves were frayed was a massive understatement.

  “What happened? Are you sure it’s not a false alarm?” Daryl finally asked.

  “My gut instinct tells me Smith was fishing for information, and it’s odd of him to give a crap about the personal lives of his cops. All he cares about are results. Instinct never failed me before.”

  Daryl let out a breath. “I believe you.”

  “You haven’t used your gift recently, right?”

  Daryl flashed him a glare. “Do you think I’m an idiot? How many times have you told me not to screw up, especially after coming this far?”

  He grimaced, hearing the anger in Daryl’s voice. Dave had to admit, he’d been nagging at his brother a little too much. He might have considered being a police officer a good career choice so he could better protect his brother—that was what he thought, anyway. In truth, though? Dave liked his job, loved putting on the uniform every day and cruising the neighborhoods with Reyes.

  “I’m sorry,” Daryl finally said. “For snapping at you, I mean. I didn’t have a good day, either.”

  “Did something happen?”

  “A fussy customer came to the studio, asked me a lot of personal questions. I nearly lost my temper.” Daryl then bit his lip. “Thinking back, could that customer be a spy for the Discipline Squad?”

  “It’s okay, Daryl,” he said.

  Dave’s heart sank as they passed familiar city landmarks, a residential neighborhood lined with houses that looked like the one Beth and Brody used to live in and where they grew up in. Neither Daryl nor he had been anywhere else. It felt like a stab to the heart, needing to say good-bye to the city they considered home.

  “Don’t start,” Daryl warned. “I know that I fucked up, okay?”

  “You said you didn’t use your powers. Did you just lie to me?” Shit. They shouldn’t be fighting right now, but he had to know the truth.

  “I didn’t lie, but you warned me ten years ago, didn’t you? Thinking back, it was a damn miracle the Discipline Squad didn’t pay Beth and Brody’s home a visit even though Dad’s death had been suspicious.”

  “The coroner pronounced he had a heart attack. Nothing suspicious about that. It happens all the time,” he said, knowing the guilt of taking a life still haunted his brother. Hell, it would probably bother Daryl until his death.

  He didn’t voice his thoughts out loud, that maybe by becoming an officer, he’d drawn attention to them as opposed to drawing it away. Dave shut his eyes. No, he should be truthful to Daryl. They only had each other now, after all. God. He missed Beth and Brody so much, wished he could talk to them. Brody always knew what to do. His grandfather was just like him, a normal human, so Brody taught him to be patient with his brother. Family was important. Family would never turn their back on you. His grandparents taught them that.

  “I miss them, too,” Daryl murmured.

  He cracked his eyes open. “You’re reading my emotions now?”

  Daryl shrugged. “Does it matter now, anyway? It’s not something I can turn off at will, Dave. Beth taught me to leash my powers, to avoid detection from the Discipline Squad, but I could always sense emotions. It’s a part of me, like my limbs and organs.”

  “You never told me that.”

  “Because you’ll think I’m doing it on purpose. The Discipline Squad can only sense I’m an Esper if I’m trying to manipulate someone into feeling a certain way, the way I made Jake so angry, he had a heart attack.” Daryl took a deep breath. “I want you to know I kept my promise. I’ve never used another person’s emotions against them again.”

  He bit his lip. His brother kept this information from him the entire time? God, had he become that inapproachable, that sealed off he didn’t know much about how his brother’s powers worked? In hindsight, maybe he chose to not know.

  “I’m sorry,” he said after a minute. “For not trying to understand you better. I’m sort of glad we can have this talk now.”

  “Yeah. We’re fugitives, thanks to me,” Daryl grumbled. “Do you have any idea where we’re going?”

  They exited the main city area now and started on the highways.

  “Gran mentioned a place to us a while back. When she’d been a kid, her parents hid her in a territory not under the Humans Matter movement,” he began.

  It was a long shot in the dark, but if they moved to another place run by Humans Matter loyalists, the same thing might just happen to them. Lately, the government had been persistent in cleansing other non-human entities. If Smith did put out word that two brothers were on the run to other Humans Matter-run cities, then they weren’t safe anywhere.

  “Brother,” Daryl said slowly. “You’re actually suggesting we head to Devil Hills?”

  Chapter Two

  The shock in Daryl’s voice didn’t surprise him, but then again, he stunned himself, too. All day long, Dave kept thinking of solutions. They had been prepared if something like this happened, if someone somehow managed to find out the truth. Beth and Brody had done it before, had left their old home to move to a new city after a local cop started becoming suspicious of Beth.

  “It isn’t easy, but always be ready for anything,” had been some of Brody’s sound advices. That didn’t mean it didn’t hurt, especially after both of them put down roots. Dave managed to keep his own personal anger at bay, knowing his brother would suffer, as well. Daryl had built quite a following with his art, had exhibitions scheduled all the way until next year.

  All that, his promising career in the police force and Daryl’s emergence in the art scene, gone in a blink of an eye.

  “We’ve got to try,” he finally answered his brother. “What do you know about Devil Hills?”

  “Only what Gran told us and what the internet says, gossip. It’s considered enemy territory by the Humans Matter government, run by one of the largest and most vicious werewolf packs in the country,” his brother said.

  Daryl sounded hesitant, his gaze glue
d on the road ahead of them.

  Dave didn’t blame his brother. The teachers at school told tall tales about the Devil Hills monsters. The werewolves didn’t tolerate outsiders and acted on a kill first, ask questions later principle.

  “Rumor has it, they also accept refugees, outsiders on the run from the Discipline Squad,” he said.

  “Rumors?”

  “I overheard a couple of teens during my patrol a few days ago.”

  “We can’t work on a rumor.”

  “What about Gran’s story?” he asked instead. “Our great-grandmother had been desperate, she drove right into the Devil Hills territory so she and Gran could escape the Discipline Squad members on their tail.”

  “Dave, that happened how long ago? How do we know if those werewolves even remember Gran?” Daryl looked like he was about to say more, then swore. “Dave, I think that black van is following us.”

  Dave looked at the side mirror only to spot the van Daryl mentioned. He couldn’t make out the driver’s face or how many men were in the car. Gut instinct told him that van was bad news.

  “Let’s do a little experiment. Try to move to that lane,” he said.

  His stomach twisted when the van did the same. He had a feeling if that van did contain members of the Discipline Squad, they kept their distance because they were still on a highway with other cars between them. The last thing the Squad would want to do was cause a commotion.

  Seeing Daryl’s hands start to tremble, he placed his hand on the wheel, wishing he drove instead.

  “Steady, brother. I won’t let them take you.”

  “This is my fault,” Daryl whispered. “They’re after me, but you got dragged in the process.”

  “Hey, you’re my only family. Don’t say shit like that.”

  “Do me a favor. I know it’s selfish, but if they catch me, kill me. I don’t want to enter their rehabilitation program. They’ll take away my personality, everything that makes me a person, a unique individual.”

  Dave hesitated. What Daryl was asking of him was fucking selfish. Did Daryl really think he’d use his own gun against him?

  “Promise me,” Daryl repeated, the iron in his voice dragging him back to reality.

  “I promise. Damn it, I don’t like it, but I won’t let them put their hands on you,” he said, meaning it. He remembered Danny from his childhood and clenched his jaw. Danny had never been the same after that. Last he heard, Danny took his own life. The news had been in the national papers.

  “Thank you.”

  “Let’s not think of the worst-case scenario yet,” he reminded his brother.

  Those next few minutes dragged on longer than he thought. Dave’s entire body had tensed up, and he knew Daryl hadn’t let his guard down, either. The wide roads turned to smaller ones as they got further and further away from New City. The cars dwindled, too, but the black van continued to follow them at a discreet distance.

  If this was a cat-and-mouse chase, then it would only be a matter of time before the cat caught them. It looked like the Discipline Squad would wait things out. Sweat dribbled down his back. God. The chances of them both getting out of this mess alive seemed to be growing smaller by the second. He grabbed his police-issued gun from the bag at his feet and checked the safety.

  Dave swallowed, aware Daryl had taken his gaze off the road for a fraction of a second to watch him. When the time came, would he be able to shoot his brother in the head to save him?

  * * * *

  Desmond Wang, Vice-Captain of the New City Discipline Squad, frowned in disapproval as a team member reported to him. He remained in the Rush brothers’ living room, surveying the space while his other two members scouted the place. Even before Tag opened his mouth, he knew they’d probably missed the brothers by maybe half an hour.

  He silently swore. The local police captain of the district told him the older Rush brother, the human, had been clueless about his younger brother, knew nothing about Daryl Rush’s Esper abilities. Well, it seemed Smith was wrong. That infuriated him. Voss, Captain of the Squad, didn’t tolerate mistakes well, and given Desmond had just been newly promoted, it wouldn’t reflect well on his record.

  Plus, Voss had a reputation. All the vice-captains who previously worked under Voss disappeared under mysterious circumstances. Desmond hadn’t been naive enough to think those were random accidents.

  He waved Tag away, barely listening to him. “Get the rest of the team to pursue the brothers. This is an extraction. Make sure Daryl Rush remains alive. He won’t be of any use to us dead.”

  “And the older brother?” Tag asked. “Smith seemed convinced Dave Rush is innocent, didn’t know a thing about his brother’s abilities.”

  Desmond scoffed. He’d seen plenty of his cases like this, when a family member pretended to cover up for their Esper-cursed sibling. “Dave Rush is just a good liar. Try to capture him, too. We might be able to use him to break the younger brother.”

  “Sir,” Tag said, before leaving with the others and leaving him in the empty apartment.

  His phone rang and he winced, seeing the name flashing across the screen.

  “I hope you have good news for me, Wang,” came Voss’s chilly voice.

  He let out a breath. “Smith was wrong about Dave Rush. It appears Dave warned his brother. Both of them are gone. I’ve sent a team to pursue them.”

  “And you didn’t lead the hunt yourself personally?”

  Desmond winced. Voss had a quiet way about him that scared Desmond shitless.

  “I thought the Rush brothers are low priority? Besides, Daryl Rush is too old for the rehabilitation methods to take and—”

  “Stop covering your failure with excuses, Wang. We lost one of our scouts during last week’s mission, or did you forget? We need new blood in the Squad, and empaths like Daryl Rush make the best scouts.”

  Desmond grimaced, glad Voss couldn’t see him. Like most human members of the Squad, he viewed scouts with distaste. Scouts were rehabilitated Espers who used their abilities to aid the Squad, but most scouts lacked a personality, more like living, breathing robots than anything else.

  “I understand, sir. I’ll put the capture of Daryl Rush as my number one priority,” Desmond quickly said.

  “You better, Wang. Another failure will make me think your promotion isn’t well-deserved.”

  Desmond cringed as Voss ended the call. Ambition and the determination to execute distasteful tasks others wouldn’t think of, had been one of the reasons why he quickly climbed the ranks. He’d make sure he delivered Daryl Rush to Voss personally.

  Chapter Three

  Despair set in when the car engine let out one last rattle. The noise reminded Dave of the sound of a dying animal. They used up the last mileage of gas to get ahead of the van by making shortcuts and taking smaller roads.

  “Shit,” Daryl whispered. Both of them could see the two huge warning signs placed on either side of the road. Daryl read the words out loud, “You’re entering the territory of the Devil Hills Wolves. Paranormal-haters will be executed on sight.”

  Most supernatural groups would make their location a secret, but the Devil Hills Wolves were one of the largest wolf packs in the country. Making their location known on the GPS was probably some kind of statement that they weren’t afraid of the Humans Matter movement.

  “Come on, we’re wasting time,” he told his brother. Dave didn’t feel confident, didn’t know what they’d do next, but one of them had to take command. If they waited here any longer, the Discipline Squad would catch up to them. Like hell Dave would shoot Daryl.

  Where would that leave him? Dave watched over and protected his brother all his life. One would think an Esper of Daryl’s abilities could take care of himself. Maybe Dave had been deluding himself all this time thinking Daryl needed him when it was the other way around. It didn’t matter. He didn’t intend to let his brother die today.

  He got out of the car and tucked his gun in his belt, relieved Daryl fo
llowed suit.

  “We’re going on foot?” Daryl asked him, wide-eyed.

  “Not through there,” he said, nodding to the road ahead of them. The wolves didn’t erect a fence or barrier, maybe they didn’t need to. A bird let out a screech from somewhere and he whirled, a chill crawling down his spine when he spotted a red-tailed hawk watching him from the trees left of them.

  A second joined the first, then a third. Why did he have a feeling those hawks weren’t normal birds at all?

  No time to think about that. Keeping Daryl alive was his number one priority.

  His brother followed his gaze and turned pale. “You want to go in there?”

  “Come on, don’t be a pussy. It’s just the woods. We’ve gone to the nature conservatory near New City,” he said jokingly, but he had a feeling his brother saw right through him. Daryl stared at him a few moments, like he’d gone temporarily insane.

  “You’re comparing a nature park to these wild woods. I can sense it, brother. These trees feel so old and probably filled with predators who want to eat us,” Daryl whispered.

  He walked up to his brother, tugged Daryl’s arm. He made his voice and eyes hard. “We have no choice. Do you think I’ll let them take you without a fight? Do you think it’s easy, asking me to kill you to avoid capture?” Dave demanded.

  Daryl shook his head, as if his selfish request finally began to sink in.

  “Let’s go. They can’t be far,” Dave insisted. Those creepy hawks continued to watch them, golden gazes unwavering as they entered the woods. Daryl was right. Even a normal human like him knew something about their surroundings didn’t feel quite right.

  Hearing wheels on gravel, he gripped Daryl’s arm and said a single word. “Run!”

  “Daryl and Dave Rush, this is foolish,” a male voice yelled loud enough for them to hear. “Surrender yourselves and spare yourselves pain. No one escapes the Discipline Squad.”