Wings of Frost

by J. D. Monroe

  There was a moment of hesitation, then a gruff, “All clear.” The voice was lightly accented, but it wasn’t the rolling Southern drawl she expected.

  That wasn’t Anders.

  Shit. Her stomach twisted into a knot as she darted through the halls to find Nikolaus. He stood in the kitchen, snacking on a spread of sliced vegetables. “I think someone’s here,” she said quietly. His hand went to his ear but she shook her head. “They’ve got the radio.”

  His dark eyes narrowed into slits. “I’ll get Arianna. You keep them busy. Switch to channel four.”

  Marlena turned the knob on the receiver in her back pocket. “Channel four active,” she said quietly.

  “Got you,” Nikolaus replied. He crept silently down the hall. “On my way down.”

  Adrenaline surged through Marlena’s veins as she found the remote for the Elegy in her pocket. Quiet and boring was optimal, but she couldn’t help being excited. Finally, she’d get to use all this pent-up energy and exact some payback on the Kadirai for their interference in Asheville.

  “This is Noemi. Channel four active,” a quiet female voice said. Nikolaus was picking up the rest of the personnel.

  A large silhouette shadowed the frosted glass. The doorknob creaked, almost deafening in her super-charged hearing.

  Deep breath. She’d trained for nearly a decade for this.

  The figure was over six feet tall. Definitely dragon. A second figure was at its side, much smaller. Hard to tell. Hybrid or human, most likely.

  Marlena squeezed the remote, but nothing happened. There was no sound from the external speakers. Expecting the large man to fall prone, she squeezed it again. Still nothing. She tossed the useless device, letting a hot surge of power flow into her arms. If they went toe-to-toe, this would be even better.

  Heavy footsteps pounded across the ground floor, followed by rapid beeping from the keypad securing the basement door. “On my way to Arianna,” Nikolaus said.

  The door creaked open. “One in sight,” the new arrival said. Flame pooled in his outstretched hands. The smoky scent of Kadirai power tickled her nose.

  She wanted to give him a snappy retort, but her trainer, Catrina, had literally beat that tendency out of her. Instead, she tilted her head, feeling for his mind. Cocky dragons. They didn’t know what she could do. Digging into his unshielded mind, she said, “Get out.” His amber eyes went wide. He scrambled backward, bowling over his companion as he retreated through the door.

  Two more figures dashed inside. Before they could cross the midpoint of the room, she threw out both hands. The ornate red tattoos on her arms pulsed with heat. White flame coalesced between her palms. She hurled the shimmering orb of energy, striking the smaller man square in the chest. With a shout of surprise, he slammed into the wall. His head snapped back, his mouth hanging open in a silent cry.

  “The fuck…” the larger man said. He spared his partner only a passing glance before lunging at Marlena. She darted to the side, blocking his gun arm. A concussive puff preceded the tinkling of a glass dart on the tile.

  Gritting her teeth, she squeezed his forearm and met his steely blue gaze. “Drop it,” she ordered. His mind was harder to grab, but she managed to dig in for a split second, like finding the tiniest handhold on a sheer rock wall. His grip on the gun loosened enough for her to knock it out of his hand. “Now—”

  He grabbed her throat and hauled her clear off her feet. Strong fingers dug painfully into her jaw. “What are you?”

  Most of his body was covered in dark clothing, but intricate tattoos snaked down the backs of his hands and up his neck, disappearing into a well-groomed beard. He had a handsome face. She decided to hit it as hard as she could. Hooking one leg over his shoulder for leverage, she slammed her other foot into the side of his face. He bellowed in pain and dropped her. She scrambled to her feet.

  “Moving out!” Nikolaus called in her ear. “Keep them busy!” Down the hall, Nikolaus covered Arianna as they hurried toward the garage. Two more guards were on their heels.

  By the time she looked back, the tattooed man was rushing her again, now armed with a gleaming spike of ice in either hand. Blood trickled from his split lower lip. His gaze drifted over her shoulder, and he yelled back to his companions, “Runners! I’m on it!”

  Gotta come through me first.

  Prickling heat cascaded down her body as she channeled the white flame again. Before she released it, he slammed one of the ice spears down into the ground. With a flash of light, it expanded into a translucent wall of ice. His dark silhouette was blurred through the hazy shield.

  Nice trick. She was reluctantly impressed.

  “We’re in the garage,” Nikolaus said quietly. “She left the computers to back up but couldn’t finish it. When it’s done, hit Confirm. Everything will be wiped. If you can’t take them down, blow the house.”

  A chill swept over her at his ominous orders. She secretly wished she was rushing after Arianna to escape. But she had this responsibility because she could handle it. She was Chosen.

  A chorus of shouts erupted from the far side of the house. Leaving the intruder behind his ice wall, Marlena sprinted toward the garage. The man she’d knocked out of the doorway was there with a smaller female next to him. He was winding up to kick the door open to the garage.

  “Hey!” she shouted at the pair. They both turned to stare at her. The woman’s hand drifted to her hip. She locked eyes with the amber-eyed man. He fought back harder this time, his mind lashing back at her. His resistance felt like claws in the back of her skull, but he was no match for her. With adrenaline surging through her veins, Marlena felt stronger than ever. “Stop.”

  He stiffened and immediately turned around, ignoring the garage door. The woman grabbed his arm. “Snap out of it! Erevan!” She glared at Marlena and raised her gun. “Listen, bitch—”

  “Drop your gun,” Marlena ordered. The woman was a hybrid, and much easier to overwhelm. Like a sniper’s bullet, her command pierced right through her flimsy resistance. The woman instantly dropped the gun, eyes going wide in horror.

  Outside, an engine growled to life. Nikolaus’s voice interrupted her focus. “We’re away. Noemi, watch from the sky.”

  “On it,” the gentle female voice said.

  “Back it up and blow the house,” Nikolaus said. “We’re counting on you.”

  Marlena pointed to the door behind the pair. “Walk outside. You’ll find what you’re looking for.” She needed to get downstairs. Clean up their mess. She could still salvage this.

  “Shit!” the woman shouted. She took several jerky steps, her gait awkward as she tried to fight the control. Her hand twitched toward the doorknob and yanked open the door to the large garage.

  Marlena backpedaled, heading for the basement. An arm’s length from the door, a chill prickled down her spine. She realized what the cold meant a split second before searing pain pierced her right shoulder. She gasped as she stared down at the red-stained blade of ice protruding from beneath her collarbone. Sheer agony shut her brain down for a second as the blade twisted and slid back out of the wound. Whirling on her heel, she found the tattooed intruder blocking her path to the basement.

  For the first time, fear edged into her mind. As he lunged for her, she released another blast of power that exploded in a blinding flash.

  “Bitch!” He threw his arm over his eyes. She darted past him, pausing only to kick his knee out from under him. He landed hard on the tile and grabbed blindly for her, but she dodged him.

  Curses followed her as she hauled the basement door shut. It sealed with a hiss of air, followed by a shrill beep to signal that the lock had engaged. She raced down the stairs. The warm blood running down her arm was a strange contrast to the cold wound. It hurt, but it was tolerable.

  One long wall of the basement was occupied by a grid-like array of cubbies. It reminded her of a morgue, which she’d only seen on a TV show. Each cubby housed a sliding table, holding one of their
subjects. Thick tubes filled with dark fluid snaked out of each cubby, forming into a gigantic bundle on the floor like the coiled tentacles of some deep sea monstrosity. Her stomach twisted with dread as she stared at the display. Shaking her head, she looked away. The Chosen wouldn’t be doing this if it wasn’t important. And she wasn’t going to let the Kadirai ruin everything they’d worked for.

  The rest of the basement was separated into smaller chambers. The first one on the left held the Elegy. Even if they’d taken out the speakers upstairs, she just had to open the door and let it hit him directly. There were two storage rooms, and Arianna’s lab at the end of the hall. On the wall adjacent to the subjects was a tablet that controlled the security system. One code would lock all the upper doors, while a second code would activate explosives rigged around the house.

  The thought of blowing up the Forest House sent a chill of dread down her spine. She was supposed to protect this place, not destroy it. But her orders were clear. Better destroyed than in their hands.

  Marlena crept into the workshop. Stainless steel worktables gleamed under fluorescent lights. In a strange contrast, the walls were covered with huge parchment diagrams of runes and geometric designs she didn’t understand. A complicated apparatus of glass globes and tubing stood on one table, filled with glowing purple fluid. As Nikolaus had described, the computer workstation was still running.

  A light over the door flashed red and emitted a shrill beep. Someone had opened the security door. Marlena hurried to inspect the computer monitor. The backup was seventy-eight percent complete and moving slowly. “Shit,” she swore. That was a long time to hold off the intruders alone.

  She stepped back into the hall, and it wasn’t much of a surprise to see the tattooed man there. He seemed the hardiest of all of them. At least he was alone.

  “Just give it up,” he said. “You know they left you, right? You’re outnumbered.”

  She summoned another blast of white flame. The heat of it seared her arms and chest as it peeled away from the marks and gathered in her palm. With a primal growl, she feinted toward him. His eyes narrowed, and an ice wall surged up in front of him.

  So predictable.

  Diving sideways into a roll, she came up on her feet behind his shield. She released the gathered energy, slamming into his unguarded form. With a shout of anger, he hurtled back into the wall and caught the edge of one of the cubbies. Shoving off the wall, he rushed her.

  “Go to mmph!” she exclaimed as his hand covered her mouth. His momentum slammed her into the opposite wall, knocking the wind out of her. Her arms were pinned uselessly against her torso. Cold enveloped her lower body, like she’d plunged into freezing water. Something hardened around her, and she twisted her hips to find a thick belt of ice from her ribcage down to the ground, squeezing her like a glacial fist. The man grabbed the back of her head, still covering her mouth so she couldn’t command him.

  She locked on his eyes—a stunning pale blue—and poured her will into him. Let me go. Go away. Like creeping vines, her mind slithered against the stony wall of resistance in search of weakness. For a split second, she felt his horror at the invasion, and then a sense of breaking through, like prying apart a stubborn knot.

  His grip loosened for a moment. Yes! Then he shook his head, resituated his hand over her mouth and pinched her nose. He leaned in close enough to speak in her ear but averted his gaze.

  “It’s over. Quit fighting,” he said. His breath was frigid on her sweat-dampened cheek.

  “Mmm!” she exclaimed again. The panic of air deprivation threatened her calm as she wriggled against the restrictive ice.

  She was not going to be taken down by some dragon. Not like this. She closed her eyes and reached deep. Vystus’s will and blessing was etched into her skin. Protect me, please, she prayed. The tattoos flared bright again. Energy pulsed out from her, shattering the constricting ice. She tumbled free, following it up with another focused burst of flame to his chest.

  “Fuck!” the man called, and she scrambled away on all fours to the touchscreen on the wall.

  Her bloodied fingers left red stains on the screen as she typed in the code. 513204. She pressed Confirm, then stared, frozen, at the message.

  Confirm Protocol C sequence?

  A chill ran down her spine. Protocol C was nicknamed “the Big Bang.” Rigged explosives would destroy the house and everything in it. It would keep their work out of their hands. But all the subjects would be destroyed.

  She frowned. It was for the greater good. Sacrificing them was acceptable. They were evil. Nikolaus’s order to blow the house echoed in her mind, but her fingers trembled, frozen an inch from the screen.

  A cold hand brushed her back. She darted away from the screen, instead heading for the Elegy. Stupid girl. She should have started there. The dragon’s feet scuffed against the gritty floor as he followed.

  “Come on,” she muttered, mashing the keys hard enough to pop her knuckles. She was on the last digit when something sharp pierced through her lower back, emerging from her belly. She gasped, legs buckling from the sheer pain. Without looking back, she pushed the final key and fumbled for the handle.

  As she turned the handle, a tattoo-covered hand covered hers and pulled back, preventing her from opening the door. The man twisted the spear of ice, sending an excruciating wave of pain crashing over her. Then he body-checked her, sending her flying a few feet down the hall and into a clumsy heap on the floor.

  The man stared down at her. He was out of breath, his dark hair hanging loose in his face. “What the hell are you?”

  She smiled and swept his legs from under him. The motion hurt like hell, but it was satisfying to see him hit the ground, and even more so to hear the whoosh of air from his lungs. He cursed and scrambled over her, placing his gun inches from her chest. Fear lanced through her as he pulled the trigger. There was a quiet whoomp as a glass dart pierced her skin.

  He shook his head. “Take a nap, kid. You’re done.”

  Approximately one percent of this had gone according to plan. Velati’s ribs ached. It felt like she’d run over him with a truck. And then there was the far more troubling realization that she’d gotten in his head and compelled him like he was a human. More surprises from the Chosen. Fantastic.

  With the woman neutralized, Velati peered over his shoulder to the open door across the hall. From his vantage point, he could see a computer monitor with a red progress bar on it. Frowning, he darted into the laboratory and scanned the screen.

  Security backup progress: 97%

  He pressed Cancel, and the window disappeared. “I’ve got a computer backup. Looks like it was going to shut down, but I stopped it. Rihz? You alive?”

  “I’m okay,” his partner replied.

  “Zeltira? Emmett?” Sohan asked.

  There was a groan on the other end. “They took us down.” Emmett’s voice was thick and halting. “Shot her with something.”

  “Shit…” Sohan muttered. “Erevan, Natalie?”

  “We’re fine,” Natalie said. “This woman, she got inside our heads, Sohan. They got away. I’m sorry. We’re heading back into the house.”

  “No. Stay out of the house,” Velati said. “I’ve got a live one down here, and she was messing with a keypad. I don’t know what she was doing, but stay clear just in case.”

  “You too,” Sohan said. “Don’t risk it.”

  “There’s at least twenty people down here being drained. I’m not leaving,” Velati replied. “I’ve got it.”

  He ignored the protesting voices and stepped over the woman to examine the touchscreen she’d been screwing with. Bloody finger prints stained the glowing surface. It read Confirm Protocol C? Double confirmation required to initialize. Small white text at the bottom of the screen read Personnel: Nightrunner, Marlena. He pressed No. There was a quiet beep, then the screen returned to a plain blue home screen.

  With a sigh, he leaned against the wall and rubbed his forehead. What a c
lusterfuck. He had no intention of telling Sohan he’d almost gotten his ass handed to him by this woman. If not for Sohan’s take them alive directive, he would have ripped her windpipe out as soon as he got his hands on her. Instead, she’d compelled them all like they were human. He’d never been on the receiving end of a compulsion, someone invading his mind and overriding his will.

  What the hell was she?

  After checking that she was still out, Velati headed for the door she’d been trying to get through when he finally dropped her. He’d barely opened it when the sickening wave of the Elegy bowled him over. With a groan, he yanked the door shut immediately, but even the tiny splash of power was enough to send him reeling. He collapsed to his knees, breathing raggedly.

  Skymother keep me, protect me, don’t let it take me, he prayed, trying to breathe through the shuddering sensation. The pale blue dragon in him roared with fear and rage, threatening to tear its way out. His spine turned to barbed wire, pulling his whole body taut. Cold washed over him. Please, please. Finally, the feeling passed, though his head pounded, and it felt like he might puke his guts out when he stood.

  He hesitated at the next room. Dim light spilled from a crack beneath the door. No Elegy. It was a small storage room, filled with shelves of medical supplies in neat blue and white packaging. The next room seemed to be another storage room, but it was empty. Two steel tables were strewn with bits of paper stuffing, like someone had been filling crates. At the end of the hall, a third door opened to reveal a freight elevator door. Velati peeked inside. It only had two buttons: G and B. Not rocket science.

  He pressed his earpiece. “I think we’re clear down here. What’s the word?”