Riven

by Dean Murray

  I heard the Hunter turn and walk away but was in too much pain to try and follow him, especially considering that I'd be stumbling around blind. Fifteen minutes later, after the spots had cleared from my vision, I changed back to my two-legged form and picked up the packet of papers from the ground where The Hunter had thrown them.

  The envelope on the top was addressed to me in a flowing script that matched the autograph on the books back in my room at the manor. Unsure why I was doing so, I slipped the envelope inside of my ha'bit before walking over to the steel panels and finding a way to release James and the others.

  James didn't calm down until they were released. He'd been throwing himself at the panels the entire time I'd been disabled, and I knew without looking that he was going to have bruises all over his upper body.

  "Who was that, Dom?"

  I almost laughed at James' question, but I managed to keep my composure. It wasn't just that James would have felt insulted if I'd laughed. I was pretty sure that the laughter would come out with all of the hysteria that I was feeling inside and I couldn't risk that. Alec was going to need to believe me when I told my story to him. I didn't know very much about Vanessa still, but any warning that she'd sent me would be important. We couldn't afford to have Alec dismiss it.

  "He's a ghost, James. When I was growing up there were legends of a hunter who tracked down my kind and killed them. The only thing that the legends agreed on was that nobody had ever survived for long once he found them."

  "So he's found you now?"

  "No, he found me years ago, before I ever left home. I don't know why he spared me then any more than I know why he spared me now."

  The answer didn't fully satisfy James but he knew me well enough to know that I'd tell him whatever I could once we were alone together. The trip back was pure torture. I didn't get a chance to read my letter until we'd made it back to the manor and I snuck off to the bathroom.

  I'm sorry I can't tell you more, Dominic. You really are a healer and more than you know is going to depend on you being able to use your ability. You're on the right track, but don't waste your time on Rachel, she can't be helped at this point.

  Do whatever it takes to convince Alec to investigate the two locations in the packet. One of those cats is a tracker. If Alec can't defeat these adversaries then all is lost.

  I won't be able to help much more after this. The future is becoming too clouded for me to commit some of the atrocities I'm being told need to take place.

  Chapter 15

  Isaac Nazir

  City Limits

  Las Vegas, Nevada

  Jess had been avoiding me ever since my fight with Wyatt, but I still could have managed to spend some time with her if Alec hadn't been running me so hard. We had more muscle around the house these days than we'd had even a couple of weeks before, but there was still more to do than we had time for.

  The wedding was just around the corner too, which would make things even worse. I'd spent most of the last week ferrying VIPs back and forth to the airport. Once the wedding guests started arriving things would just get even more hectic.

  Alec was typically elusive. Those who had sworn an oath of fealty to him seemed to get a few minutes here and there, but the rest of us might as well not have existed. I got my orders every day from Ash of all people, but the one and only time I'd tried to push back and assert my dominance, Grayson had intervened and told me to go do my job before he was forced to drop me.

  I knew why Alec was doing what he was doing, but it didn't make it any easier to deal with. We'd been through years of hell together already. I shouldn't have to swear an oath to him to still be in his inner circle, not even after some of our recent difficulties.

  This particular mission was just more salt in the wound. Dominic had come back from her last outing with a map and a cryptic warning from some guy with a sword. I would have sent two or three guys to case out the area, but Alec had chosen to mount the equivalent of a full-scale invasion.

  Alec had stayed behind with James and Jess, but he'd sent most of Jaclyn's pack because he figured that they had the most experience hunting both the cats and the werewolves. Jasmin, Dom and I were along for the ride as well as a big bruiser from Tonopah named Rex. I would have figured that for plenty of firepower for anything we were likely to run into, but Alec had included the terrible trio of Grayson, Wyatt and Carson too.

  I figured that meant that most of us would just sit around. If Jaclyn and Grayson couldn't deal with whatever we were running into then we were probably screwed regardless.

  The only other thing that had taken me by surprise was the fact that Alec had sent along a dozen cages in a tractor-pulled trailer that we'd had to wait an extra hour for. Hopefully he wasn't too serious about us trying to capture whatever was out here.

  Jaclyn looked around the hotel conference room that we were using as a base of operations and then waved everyone in so that they could see the map she'd laid out.

  "Okay, Peter and Arnold just finished running a quick circuit around our target area. No sign of vampires which tends to bear out Dominic's intel. We think that we're up against a bunch of cats but I don't want anyone to be too surprised if it turns out that we've got a different threat on our hands."

  There was a low rumble as people digested the news, but it was obvious that a few key people had already known. Predictably, it was the 'oathers' as I was starting to think of them, who had received an advance briefing of what we were likely to be up against.

  Jaclyn continued before the speculation could get out of hand. "Based on the density and locations of the scent trails going into the complex, Peter is pretty sure that our guys and gals are in the northeast building. The best-case scenario is that we keep them bottled up inside the building. If they get out in the open we're going to have a tough time catching them, so I'm opting for a layered deployment."

  The map already had four dots on it in a loose cordon around the building in question, but Jaclyn went ahead and pointed them out as she named off the team leaders for each location.

  "Rex, Brutus, Alexei and Wyatt will each have a couple of wolves under their command. Dominic will be on the north team with Alexei. You wolves will be responsible for intercepting any runners, but remember that if we are up against cats that they'll probably be faster and stronger than you, so don't be heroes. Slow them down, lock them up just long enough for the rest of your team to get there and help you. Depending on how bad things are inside the building, we'll try to send someone after anyone that leaves the building so that you'll have a heavy numerical advantage."

  Carson made some kind of gesture at Wyatt, but Jaclyn was talking again so I focused back on her.

  "Grayson and I will each take a team into the building from here and here and try to neutralize everyone in the building. If we're up against cats like we think we are then we're going to try and capture as many of them as we can. Focus on anyone that Grayson hasn't incapacitated first. Once we're confident that we've subdued everyone and there aren't any runners then the four teams on the outside of the building will bring the cages in."

  Rex held up a hand. "What if it's not a bunch of cats that we're up against?"

  "If it's vampires or werewolves then we kill them all, as quickly as we can. Honestly, the worst-case scenario is pretty much that we're up against a large den of werewolves. If that happens then the interior teams will be fighting a delaying action while we wait for the perimeter teams to collapse in and help."

  Jaclyn looked around the gathered moonborn and nodded at what she saw in our faces. "Does anyone have any questions before I release you to huddle up with your team leaders?"

  Wyatt nodded even before she finished speaking. "Yeah, I've got a question. You told me I was a team leader, but you didn't say anything about sitting this one out on the sidelines. I want in on one of the two inside teams."

  Whatever Jaclyn might have said was cut off by Carson's response. "You've got your orders and you're sworn t
o obey Alec, which means by extension you're sworn to obey Jaclyn when she speaks for him. Shut up and soldier."

  "No. Don't think I don't know that this is your doing. I want in on the action."

  Grayson's expression was cold enough to freeze water. "You're forgetting your place, Wyatt. Jaclyn is dominant to you in every sense of the word. If you keep pushing she can defeat you like the child you are, but if she chooses not to exercise that right then I'll do it for her and then I'll send you home in dishonor."

  It seemed like a pretty weak threat to me, but it shut Wyatt up instantly. He still wasn't happy about his role, but I could tell that he wasn't going to argue anymore. There was something there that I still didn't understand. It should be clear who was in charge of the terrible trio, but I could never tell from what day to the next who was going to step up and speak for the three of them. Today it seemed to be Carson, but Grayson had backed his play without blinking, which went against almost every instinct inherent to our kind.

  Apparently satisfied that Grayson and Carson had Wyatt in hand, Jaclyn dismissed us with a wave. The team leaders started calling out names. I waited for several seconds for someone to call for me, but then looked up and found Grayson standing in front of me.

  "You're with me, Nazir. Over this way."

  Our team consisted of Grayson, and Carson from the terrible trio, Arnold from the Tucson pack, Jasmin, and me. Jaclyn's team was larger, presumably because her ability wasn't able to drop a dozen opponents at a time like Grayson's could.

  Once we were all over in one corner of the conference room, Grayson started briefing Arnold and Jasmin while Carson turned to me.

  "Assuming that we're not up against werewolves, you and I will have the job of protecting Grayson while the other two deal with anything else we run up against. While he's immobilizing someone he's vulnerable himself."

  "Why me instead of Arnold?"

  Carson shrugged. "It was Grayson's call. It's his skin so he's the one who gets to pick his bodyguards."

  "He'd have been better off with Wyatt. After all, I was the one who lost that match."

  Carson shook his head and then led me out of the room where we wouldn't be so easily overheard. "No. Wyatt is pretty sharp, but he's still just a kid. He's never done this, not for real, and a couple of fancy grappling tricks that work in one-on-one fights aren't much use against any of the stuff that we're likely to run into tonight."

  "I'm not much older than Wyatt."

  "It's true, but you've done this before. You helped bag those four werewolves with the Tucson pack, you guys took down a group of vampires just a few months ago, and after that you got stuck in against that cat that was after Ash and his girl. You're the real deal."

  I felt a flash of surprise. I hadn't realized that Carson and his buddies were so well-informed. "I...thanks. I appreciate the vote of confidence."

  "It's no more than you deserve. If you want, once we're back at the estate, I can teach you counters to some of the moves Wyatt used on you the other day."

  "Why would you do that?"

  I got another lazy shrug, but when it became obvious that I wasn't going to let him get away with that, Carson sighed.

  "It's obvious that Jess isn't yours, and you're not helping your cause by treating her like a piece of property, but Wyatt shouldn't be sticking his nose in the middle of all of that. He's...well, he's got commitments that aren't being well served by getting involved with anyone here."

  **

  Getting to the building where we thought the cats were located turned out to be every bit as much of a madhouse as I'd expected, but forty-five minutes after the briefing concluded we were all onsite and ready to go.

  We were waiting just around the corner of the block, safely out of sight from the building, when Jaclyn sent the signal to proceed. I'd had my doubt about the wisdom of splitting the various packs up like she had, but at least on our end everyone swung into action without a hitch.

  Arnold and Jasmin raced forward on four legs with the other three of us in hot pursuit. As we reached the building, Carson transformed into his hybrid form and ripped our door right off of its hinges. Jasmin and Arnold ducked into the building and I hurried in after them.

  I felt a many-pointed rush of power as Arnold, Grayson and I shifted into our hybrid forms now that we were safely hidden inside the building. Carson took up the tail position, putting himself between Grayson and any attack like he'd done all of this many times before.

  We were navigating a series of dark halls right now, but the blueprints that Jaclyn's contacts had provided us indicated that we'd be getting to the large, open center any second.

  I followed Arnold around a bend in the hall and then I was in the middle of what felt like the end of the world. Nearly a dozen feline forms streaked through the darkness. They started moving away from us until Jaclyn and her larger group stepped out of a hallway on the far end of the building.

  All twelve cats stuttered to a stop for just a split second and then they turned and headed back our way. The fight was on and Jaclyn's plan hadn't survived contact with the enemy any more than I'd expected it to. Grayson stepped out from behind me and cut loose with his power. I felt the fringes of what he hit them with and I was incredibly grateful that he was on our side as six of the cats went down in writhing, hissing heaps.

  Carson swore and pushed his way past Grayson. "The six that are left are going to be the most dangerous."

  A split second before the unaffected cats hit us, Grayson redirected his power. It was spectacular, but it almost wasn't enough. This batch really was the more dangerous, that or maybe Grayson was just tired from temporarily dropping the first six. Whatever the reason, Grayson only managed to affect three of the ones closest to us.

  Jaclyn's people caught up with the first six, who were back on their feet and predictably unhappy, and then the three most dangerous cats hit us. I caught a glimpse of Arnold and Jasmin engaging one, heard Carson tackle another, and then it was my turn.

  My guy was fast, nearly as fast as Anton had been when we'd fought him with Alec's power slowing him slightly. I saw him set his back legs and knew that I wasn't going to be able to keep up with him so I guessed that he was going to make a try for Grayson.

  I threw myself forward and to the right and managed to get some claws into the cat's side as he sailed by impossibly fast. He hit the ground a few feet short of Grayson and then spun around, tearing furiously at my arm. He was right, I wasn't a match for him, but I didn't need to beat him, I just needed to wrap him up for long enough that Jaclyn and the others could make it over and take him off of my hands.

  I closed my fist with my claws still inside of him and spun him around as I picked him up and threw him into a piece of heavy machinery. I had the leverage, but he was still stronger and faster than me. In the last second before he hit, he twisted around violently. It was nearly enough for him to tear free of my grasp, but although it failed to free him, it did manage to turn him enough that he took the impact on his legs.

  He still hit hard enough that he would have had broken legs if he'd been a wolf, but he jumped away with my hand still lodged in his side as I heard steps running my direction. I tried to spin him back around so that I could see who was approaching us, but he dug all four legs in and jerked me towards him, pulling me off balance.

  It was one of those key decision points in a fight. I needed to let go and make sure that I wasn't about to be ambushed, but if I did that then he'd attack Grayson. If Grayson was forced to let the three he was neutralizing go and they were as bad as this guy then we were going to lose people.

  Instead of letting go I dropped to my knees as I whipped my left arm around so that it was between the footsteps behind me and my neck. It was a one in a million effort but it worked. I felt two-hundred and seventy pounds of jaguar get tangled up in my claws and then I was on the ground with two angry cats tearing at me.

  I tried to use my talons to keep them away but I wasn't having much luck
. The only thing that was saving me was the fact that I had hold of each of them. My grip started to slip on the first shape shifter, but I forced my hand closed with every ounce of will I possessed even as I felt his claws work their way up my arm.

  He was inches from opening up the massive arteries along my throat when he started to convulse slightly. It wasn't the full Grayson treatment, but it was enough for me to lever him a little further away from my neck.

  A split second later Jaclyn was there, ripping away the second cat an instant before she hit it with a double shot of electricity. Five minutes later the cats were all down from one or more shocks courtesy of Jaclyn, and the first of the cages were arriving.

  We were all bloody, everyone except Grayson, but we'd managed not to lose anyone. As Brutus threw the last of the cats into a cage, I let my hybrid form shrink back down and hobbled over to Grayson.

  "Thanks for seizing that last one there at the end of the fight. He had me dead to rights when you hit him."

  Grayson shook his head. "I didn't do anything. He was the most resistant cat here and I had to choose between him and the two who were about to kill Arnold and Carson. I figured you for a goner."

  A surge of rage exploded out from my beast, but I was even less interested than normal in trying to control its emotions. Before I could say something that Grayson would have to respond to, Carson was at my shoulder gently pulling me around.

  "Let's get you out to one of the cars and get those arms looked at. We need to make sure that they are going to heal okay."

  My beast shouldn't have allowed him to guide me out of the building, not as difficult as it had been lately, but his manner was so calm that I found myself unable to resist. We were all the way back to one of the SUVs before I started worrying that my beast's lack of resistance might mean that I'd been more seriously injured even than I'd realized.

  Carson sat me on the curb and started taping me up like he'd played nurse dozens of times before.