Fields of Blood (The DeathSpeaker Codex Book 2)

by Sonya Bateman

  CHAPTER 27

  Chester was full of surprises. One of them was a gadget that plugged into the electronic lock at the gate leading from the compound to the trail, and started finding the combination that opened it.

  The gate was set into a chain link fence, around eight feet high and topped with another three feet of razor wire, that enclosed the compound. Just beyond it was one of the two large single-story buildings—the one Chester said was their recreation facility. From our vantage point, it was the only building visible, and there didn’t seem to be any activity.

  There was a strange noise coming from somewhere inside the compound, though. A kind of low hum, a muttering whisper, and something that sounded like distant rain, with a single steady tone running through it. The blend of barely audible noise was ominous, almost threatening.

  I was pretty sure I didn’t like that sound.

  It wasn’t long before Chester’s gadget did its work. There was a soft beep, and the red light below the lock’s number pad flashed green. He pushed the gate open and gestured for us to follow.

  I thought he’d head for the building entrance, but he brought us to a service ladder and onto the roof. The sound was a little louder up here, and there was a lot of light coming from the ground at the far end of the building. That seemed wrong, too.

  Once we were gathered on the flat, broad expanse of cement, Chester deemed it safe to whisper. “We can see the whole place from up here,” he said. “Find out where they have guards posted, plan entry into the research building. That’s the next one over—”

  “What is that?” Taeral whispered harshly, looking toward the light. “That sound.”

  I glanced at him. “You hear it, too?”

  He frowned and strode across the roof, in the direction of the glow. Everyone followed.

  The light came from the circular stadium building I’d seen on Chester’s aerial photos. Four bright, blue-white floodlight panels mounted on poles rose behind the ring of bleacher seats, illuminating a field that was separated from the seats by more chain link fence and razor wire. A long section of fence with a sliding gate in the center split the field in half. The muttering hum sound came from the light panels.

  I suspected I knew what it was. Something Sadie had mentioned after Milus Dei captured her the first time—artificial moonlight. More than enough to simulate a full moon.

  “Get down!” Elara hissed suddenly.

  Seconds after the seven of us flattened along the edge of the roof, I heard what she must’ve picked up first with her wolf hearing—footsteps. A lot of them, coming from the four smaller buildings to the left of the stadium.

  Then black-clad Milus Dei soldiers started swarming into the place and filling the bleachers.

  “Shit,” I whispered. “Think we should go now, while they’re busy?”

  “We can’t,” another voice said softly. Mars, the girl with the crossbow, was at the end of the line with a clear view of the research building. “Got twenty or so over here, standing by some kind of passage.”

  I strained carefully to look. There was a walkway leading between the research building and the arena, bordered by what looked like wrought-iron fences. Rows of soldiers armed with cattle prods took positions along the outside of the fences.

  There was no way to get off the roof unnoticed. We’d have to wait until the show they planned to put on was over…and I had a sinking feeling that none of us were going to enjoy the entertainment lineup.

  “Listen,” I said as loud as I dared. “Whatever happens out there, nobody move. Even if it’s happening to someone you know. Got it?”

  “What do you mean, someone we know?” Tate whispered frantically. “What are they doing?”

  “I’m not sure, but I think I just figured out why they took your elders.” A dull weight settled in my gut. “Real werewolves, to fight their enhanced humans. To see which one wins. But if we try to stop them…we’ll all lose.”

  No one responded to that.

  Unfortunately, it wasn’t long before the bastards proved me right.

  The woman they shoved into the arena first, on the left side of the split circle, was hooded and bound and pleading loudly for her life.

  I watched with helpless fury as three soldiers marched in after her. Two of them held her, while the third injected something into her arm. They retreated quickly when she stopped struggling and started to growl.

  I’d seen Sadie turn wolf, but this was different. The woman fell to the ground, writhing and snarling. She arched her back and let out a scream. Her arms strained and snapped the ropes binding them together, and she snatched the hood away with a clawed hand—revealing crazed features and a distended jaw full of fangs.

  She didn’t get taller or grow body hair, like Sadie did, but she seemed to bulk up as she lay panting on her side. Her claws scratched at the packed dirt floor of the arena. Suddenly she went completely still—then sprang up and hurled herself at the fence separating the other side.

  That was when they pushed her challenger in. A young girl, seventeen or eighteen, with light brown hair and terrified eyes. She threw an arm up to shield her face from the lights, but she was already turning.

  The enhanced human snarled and bashed against the fence separating them, over and over, as the girl growled her way toward full wolf.

  “Rennie!” Luther, the younger of the brothers, gasped his sister’s name. “Tate, we have to get her out of there.”

  “No. We can’t,” Tate whispered miserably. “They won’t let her die…”

  “Bullshit they won’t.”

  There was a clanking rattle from the stadium as the gate between the sides trundled back. The soldiers in the stands started talking all at once, shouting and whistling as the action began. The human woman rushed to the gap, clawing and biting at the edge of the gate until it was wide enough to slip through. She charged at the fully changed werewolf.

  Rennie batted her aside with a wounded roar, and then ran for the gate, into the other side of the arena.

  The enhanced human shook herself and charged after her.

  “Tate!” Luther half-called over the noise of the crowd. “You know she won’t fight!”

  “Luther, don’t—”

  A dark shape sailed over the edge of the roof, landing hard on the rocky ground below. Luther had jumped…and he hit the ground running.

  “Fuck!” Tate snarled.

  And leapt down after his brother.

  So much for a quiet rescue.

  CHAPTER 28

  Luther and Tate raced toward the stadium, guns blazing as the soldiers on the closest side of the passage from the research building gave chase.

  They weren’t going to get far. And now we’d have to rescue them, too.

  “Goddamn it,” I said. “Come on. We have to get out of here—now, while they’re busy.”

  I hated using the boys as a distraction, but we didn’t have a choice. There’d be no one left to break us out if we got caught. We needed a new plan.

  And we couldn’t make it from here.

  “Stay down. Get back to the ladder.” I turned awkwardly and started crawling across the roof, trying to ignore the shouts and screams and gunfire from the ground. Rushing in here like this had been a mistake. If we didn’t move fast, we were going to pay for it with everything.

  Taeral and Elara caught up with me, and Chester and Mars were right behind us. We’d almost reached the far side of the roof when a shadowed figure heaved up the ladder—and then collapsed half on the surface.

  “Elara,” the figure groaned, a male voice I didn’t recognize. “Caught your scent…please tell me that’s you.”

  Elara lifted up a few inches. “Marlon?”

  Great. The last werewolf I wanted to rescue.

  “Yeah. Things went crazy down there…got away in the confusion. Thank the spirits you’re all right.” Marlon straightened on the ladder. Now I could see him in the backwash of light from the stadium. Dark hair, rough features,
black t-shirt over bulging muscles. Green eyes that narrowed instantly on me. “You’re that Fae,” he snarled. “Get the hell away from my sister.”

  “Marlon, they’re friends,” she said. “They’re helping us.”

  “Bullshit!” He tried to lunge, and nearly fell. Grimacing, he grabbed desperately at the ladder to regain his balance. “Those two had Sadie,” he panted. “And that one tried to kill me with a Fae blade.”

  “You son of a bitch. You attacked us first,” I said through my teeth. “Sadie’s our friend—”

  “Fae and weres are not friends.”

  “Stop it! Marlon, we have to get down from here,” Elara said. “Please…for once in your life, trust me. They’re on our side.”

  Marlon glared at me for another moment, and finally started down.

  The rest of us climbed to the ground, one by one. Marlon was leaning against the building, half bent and breathing hard, and I realized he’d been shot. Blood smeared the arm he held across his stomach and soaked into the top of his jeans.

  I tried to feel sorry for him. It wasn’t easy.

  Chester shot the injured werewolf a distrustful glance and started for the gate to the trail. “We can go back to my place,” he said. “I’ve got plenty of hardware. We’ll load up—”

  “Wait.” Marlon winced and straightened slowly. “I know a way out. Follow me.”

  I stared at him. “There’s a way out right there,” I said, pointing to the gate twenty feet away.

  “It’s locked.”

  “Chester can open it. That’s how we got in.”

  Marlon’s lip curled. “Who the hell’s Chester? That human?” he spat. “We should go to the bunker. My way’s faster.”

  “Enough. We take the trail.” Taeral stepped forward, looming over Marlon with a menacing glare. “Go where you please, dog. We’ve not come for you, and I’d not hesitate to leave you here,” he said. “In fact, I’ve half a mind to tear you apart right now.”

  “Just half?” Marlon intoned.

  Taeral leaned closer. “Aye. The other half wants to kill you slowly, and savor your suffering.”

  “Okay.” I put a hand on Taeral’s arm and tried not to laugh at the look of terror on Marlon’s face. Much as I agreed with the sentiment, we couldn’t stand around here and avenge Sadie right now. The noise and activity in the compound had died down a bit, and it was only a matter of time before they realized they’d gained two werewolves, but lost another one. “Come on, Taeral, let’s go.”

  Chester was already at the gate. “I memorized the combination,” he said, grabbing the chain link with one hand to lean toward the number pad.

  There was an immense buzzing sound. Sparks exploded from the gate—and Chester was blasted into the air, flying back five feet to land hard on the ground.

  The distant shouting immediately got louder.

  “Jesus!” I ran to Chester and dropped beside him. His eyes were rolled back to white, and his mouth parted slightly, lips lined with frothy saliva. The hand that had gripped the fence was scorched black.

  I checked for a pulse and found one. Weak and slightly erratic, but there.

  A figure strode rapidly past me. Taeral, headed for the gate. Before I could tell him to stop, he bent and grabbed a stone from the ground, and threw it at the fence to the left of the gate—causing another shower of sparks.

  Okay, so breaking through the fence was out. The whole thing was electrified. Someone must’ve turned it on when the chaos started.

  I straightened and moved toward him. Maybe I could use the shutdown spell. “Dhuunad sios’na,” I said, gesturing at the gate. Then I found a rock and threw it.

  More buzzing, more sparks.

  “What the hell? Why didn’t it work?”

  Taeral frowned. “The power source is too far from here. We’ll find another way.”

  “They’re coming!”

  The breathless shout came from Mars, who stood behind Chester’s head with bow in hand. The three werewolves had backed partway up the path to the gate. Beside her, Elara held a handgun. Marlon just stood there being useless and angry. As we watched, a pair of soldiers rounded the left corner of the recreation building and headed straight for us.

  Mars fired. The arrow took one of them in the throat.

  As he fell, his buddy dashed to the right, headed for the cover of the thick bushes that lined the path.

  Elara lifted the gun. If she fired it, we’d have a lot more soldiers headed this way.

  “Don’t shoot!” I called. “Let Mars—”

  Before I could finish the sentence, Marlon snatched the gun from Elara and fired at the bushes. Three times.

  “What the hell’s wrong with you?” I shouted. “I said don’t fucking shoot!”

  “I don’t take orders from Fae,” Marlon said. “He had a CB. He was trying to use it.”

  “Great. You stopped him. And you don’t think the rest of them noticed the gunshots?”

  He scowled. “I said, I know a way out.”

  “Yeah, well unless it happens to be right here somewhere, we can’t use it,” I said. “You just made sure of that.”

  The snap of the crossbow drew my attention. Six more men in black from the right corner, grouped in a tight knot with weapons drawn. A seventh lay on the ground beside the building with an arrow shaft protruding from his throat.

  Marlon glared at me. “Now can we shoot?”

  “No!” I twisted the gun from his hand and shoved it in my jacket. “Taeral, any ideas here?” I said, glancing back at him.

  He had a stick, and was scratching lines into the dirt in front of the gate. “We go under,” he said. “And we run.”

  “Yeah. That works.” I knew he could shift a lot of ground quickly. He’d done it to unearth my mother’s coffin. “But what about them?”

  Mars had paced ahead a few feet and taken a total of three down. The rest had found cover, and started firing.

  I couldn’t tell them not to shoot.

  “Goddamn it. Here.” I yanked Elara’s gun out and gave it back to her, then grabbed the anti-werewolf .45 Chester had given me. Hoping I wasn’t making a huge mistake, I handed it to Marlon. “I’m a lousy shot,” I said. “Kill the bastards.”

  He looked surprised, but he accepted the gun.

  As I moved to drag Chester out of the way, a volley of shots filled the air. I heard running and shouts. Glanced back and saw eight or nine more of them come around the building. The weres couldn’t drop them fast enough.

  I got Chester to the fence. He was moaning a bit, starting to stir. Taeral had cleared a hollow beneath the gate around two feet deep, with more dirt piling rapidly beside the deepening trench.

  Then I heard Elara cry, “Mars, no!”

  I whirled to see Mars charging toward the swarm of soldiers, holding something that looked like a white glow stick—and changing as she ran. Her snarls echoed in the night air. She let out a chilling howl, and the wolf sprang at the closest group of men in black.

  At least four of them shot her, almost at the same time. But she didn’t stop.

  I sprinted for the other two. “Come on. We’re going, now.” However far Taeral had gotten, it’d have to be enough.

  Elara hesitated. “Mars…”

  “We’ll come back for her. For everyone,” I said. “I promise.”

  She swallowed once, nodded and ran for the gate.

  The trench was about four feet deep now. Plenty of clearance for crawling through. I tapped Taeral, felt him flinch before he turned to face me. “We have to move,” I said.

  He nodded and yanked the shotgun from his back. “Go.”

  “You first.” I pointed to Elara. “Don’t touch the fence.”

  “Got it.”

  She dropped and slid neatly under, scrambling clear to stand on the other side. “Can you pull him through?” I said, indicating Chester’s limp form.

  “No problem.”

  “Hold on,” Marlon said. “Leave the human. He’ll
slow us down.”

  I decided not to dignify that with a response.

  In less than a minute, Elara and I had Chester on the other side. She hauled him clear of the trench, and I made an angry gesture at Marlon. “Go.”

  He took a second to glare at me before he crawled through.

  “Taeral,” I said. “Your turn.”

  “You go on—”

  “Don’t argue. They won’t be able to hit me.” Yet, at least. Thanks to my fun-fulled childhood, I’d accidentally developed a glamour that projected in a slightly different place than I actually was. At long range, it was damned hard for bad guys to shoot me.

  But the closer they got, the more likely they’d be to get lucky.

  Taeral made a frustrated sound and shimmied under the fence, shotgun first. I was right behind him.

  When I stood on the other side, I focused on the spell Taeral had cast in the van. The shield. I held a hand out and said, “À dionadth.”

  The air rippled and shimmered in front of the fence.

  “Nice work,” Taeral grunted as he scooped up Chester. “Now—”

  “Yeah, I know. Run.”

  CHAPTER 29

  We’d been moving for a little over half an hour when I called a halt in a small, wooded clearing well off the main path. For some reason, none of the soldiers had turned up on the trail, even though they probably could’ve caught up. We weren’t going very fast.

  I should’ve been relieved, but it worried me.

  Taeral settled Chester on the ground and slumped to a seat beside him. Marlon kept going as far as possible away from us across the clearing, and after an apologetic glance, Elara followed him. I couldn’t blame her, really. He might’ve been a bastard, but it was a case of the bastard you know—he was the only one left of her pack right now. And Marlon obviously held some kind of authority in the family. She’d have been used to going along with him, even if she didn’t like it.

  Unfortunately, I knew the feeling.

  I wedged the flashlight I’d been carrying upright in a patch of brush and crouched at Chester’s opposite side. “Can you heal him?” I said. “Not that I’m saying Marlon is right, but carrying him around isn’t going to improve things much.”