As the Full Blood’s steps thumped on the concrete, Cole worked to keep his cocky smile in place. He backed up at the werewolf’s approach, however, and nodded to Paige, who looked at him as if to ask just what the hell he was doing.
Liam had just taken his third step forward when a flurry of arms, legs, and narrow bodies exploded from under the police cruiser. There were only two of them, but their elongated torsos and slender limbs wrapped around Liam’s legs like an army of serpents, to claw at him anywhere they could reach.
Another wave of gunfire erupted from nearby, but none of it was directed at Liam. The next batch of Half Breeds answering Liam’s howl were tearing down Eleventh Street like a whirlwind of sharp teeth and scraping paws. The cops managed to slow a few of the creatures down before the Half Breeds got to the main group of humans, but the remainder split up to charge the police from other angles. In another few seconds they would be inside of shotgun range.
Cole and Paige didn’t have time to worry about them. Liam might have been brought down to one knee by the Mongrels, but he was quickly regaining his composure and furiously digging his claws into the creatures attached to him. He grabbed one Mongrel by the head to pull it off of him, but the burrowing shapeshifter had sunk all of its claws in, and it came away like a barbed arrowhead carelessly pulled from a deep wound. Flaps of skin tore loose from Liam’s thigh and a spray of blood trickled from the wound, all of which only served to further enrage him.
The sickle in Paige’s left hand moved through the air in a blur, while the one in her right stayed close to her body, to repel anything that might attack. Cole prodded the Full Blood again and again but was at a bad angle and risked hitting one of the Mongrels instead. It wasn’t until he buried the spear into the patch of gray fur where the broken tooth was embedded that he knew he’d struck pay dirt.
After hitting the chink in Liam’s armor, Cole wished his spear was sharper or even hooked at the end to do more damage. It creaked in his hands, and the Full Blood twitched as if something had scraped against a raw nerve. Judging by the howl that ripped through the air, the spearhead might have even made contact with the tooth still lodged in the werewolf’s flesh. Liam grabbed the spear and pulled it out, but howled as it snagged on a piece of flesh before finally coming loose. Sure enough, the end of the spear had sharpened to a finer edge and curled into a hook.
Liam howled and grabbed a Mongrel that had clamped onto his arm. Tightening his fist around its chest, he squeezed until the burrower’s spine and several ribs cracked. For good measure, he pounded his other fist into the limp Mongrel’s skull and then gnawed off a large portion of its body.
Ben crawled up along Liam’s back and bit his neck with a set of short, thin teeth. Liam pulled him off, but the burrower wriggled out of his grip and scurried onto the street. From there, Ben let out a series of high-pitched chirps that sounded like a mix of lizard and bird cries.
Within seconds more of the burrowers came to Ben’s side. Some of the Mongrels were wounded and a few were still wrestling with Half Breeds, but no fewer than eight of them answered the call. Cole had expected Paige to join the battle as well, then saw that a Half Breed had blindsided her. He ran past Liam, impaled the Half Breed on his spear, and pulled it away so Paige could drop her right-handed weapon down like a sledgehammer.
“Thanks,” she breathed.
By now some more policemen had arrived, and they opened fire on Liam. One of them screamed into a radio while huddling behind a car, “Any press I see around here will be brought up on obstruction charges. Keep this area clear, damn it! We got enough civilians to worry about!”
Liam was still hurting from Cole’s attack, so Paige jumped onto the police cruiser and launched herself at his back. When her body hit the Full Blood’s shoulder blades, she drove her machete in like she was planting a flag.
Liam reared up to his full height, but since he didn’t have the unnatural flexibility of a Half Breed, he was unable to turn his head around and bite Paige. After missing her with a few wild swipes of his claws, he dropped to all fours and took off like a shot.
Cole stood with weapon in hand, feeling like a useless bump on that particular stretch of road as he viewed the scene. Gunshots crackled around him, mixed with the occasional shotgun blast. More people ran farther down the street as he stood there, and he saw others leaning out of open windows in buildings down the block. The helicopters had drifted away, but he could still hear the flutter of blades in the distance. An ambulance was parked near several cops dressed in riot gear, but the EMTs had been taken out by the Half Breeds. Werewolves snarled and attacked the police. Seeing one of those creatures pounce on an officer in riot gear got Cole moving again.
He reached the officer just as the man had emptied his weapon into the Half Breed’s face. Slug after slug punched into the werewolf, but it still wasn’t enough to put it down. The creature was about to clamp its jaws around the officer’s leg when Cole drove his spear through its upper body. It occurred to him that he might have been overcompensating for allowing Paige to get away, after he brought his spear down so many times that he could have turned the thing into paste.
“Cole?”
He turned at the sound of his name and spotted a familiar face among the frazzled cops. “Officer Stanze!”
Stanze jogged toward Cole with his gun drawn. “Is Paige around here?” the officer asked. “These things look just like the one I sold her.”
“She’s with the big one that got away.”
“Huh?”
“When did you get here?” Cole asked.
“Just now. Damn near every unit in the city will be here in another minute or two.”
Stanze suddenly straightened his arms and legs into the classic firing stance. He pulled his trigger once before Cole got a look at what he was shooting at.
The Mongrel darted from one shadow to another like a six-foot eel slithering through shallow water. Cole slapped his hand beneath Stanze’s arms so his next bullet tunneled into a wall across the street.
“Hey!” Stanze said. “I just saw another one of those things!”
A low growl rolled through the air, followed by the scrape of claws against pavement. A Half Breed jumped over an empty police car, its eyes wide and glassy, front legs outstretched and teeth bared. Just as it cleared the top of its arc, the Half Breed was intercepted by the Mongrel that had just crossed the street. Both furry bodies met with a thud and slammed to the ground.
“There’s some of them!” another cop shouted. “Fire!”
Bullets filled the air, chipping the street and punching into their targets. Cole tried to think of a way to save the Mongrel, but wasn’t about to dive into the middle of all that lead. Fortunately, it seemed that none of the bullets were doing much damage. Ben came along to sink his teeth into the Half Breed’s thigh, and then both burrowers dragged the wretch into the nearest alley.
“What the hell is going on here?” Stanze asked him. “Damn near the whole force is here instead of on patrol. Shit’s getting busted up. Wild animals are all over the place. Now I heard there’s another riot down on the other side of the highway.”
“More animals?” Cole asked.
Stanze shook his head. “Just a bunch of assholes who see this kind of general craziness as a license to steal,” he said with an exasperated sigh. “Wait! Where do you think you’re going?”
Cole had turned away and taken several steps toward the Cavalier. “I need to get to Paige,” he said.
“Get in my cruiser,” Stanze said. “If you know where to look for her, I’ll get you there a hell of a lot quicker than you could on yer own.” Cole hesitated, and Stanze grabbed his arm. “Seems like you both know what these things are, so don’t try to tell me any different. I wanna help, so let me help.”
“You want to help? Fine.” Raising his voice and looking toward something creeping through a shadow, he said, “Those weasel things are running straight for her! Maybe you should follow them.”
/> One of the Mongrels within earshot got the hint and scampered into the open just long enough to be spotted.
Cole pointed and said, “Right there!”
“Aren’t you coming with me?” Stanze asked.
Cole held up his hands and replied, “Hey, you’re the guys with the guns. All I got is this stick.”
Stanze slapped him on the shoulder. “Smart man. If you get ahold of her, find out where she is and tell any of these cops to radio me.” With that, Stanze jogged to his car, and he and another officer piled in to pursue the Mongrels.
Even though the cops would just be led somewhere out of harm’s way, Cole had to admire their willingness to charge after them. He got to the Cav and was about to turn the key in the ignition when he realized someone was there with him. Kayla had taken a form that was almost human, but was wiry enough to be nearly absorbed by all the crap piled in the backseat. A portion of her body was camouflaged by the same type of substance that had been soaked into Paige’s hooded sweatshirt, and the smell had given her away.
“Ben and the others must really trust you,” she said. “We’ve already lost three of our number clearing most of the Half Breeds from this area.”
“Yeah? Paige just got carried off to Lord knows where. Think you can track her down?”
“The stench of Full Bloods is so powerful that they might as well have spotlights strapped to their backs.”
“More than one?” Seeing Kayla nod into the rearview mirror, Cole grunted, “Shit! Right now I need the one that’s got Paige.”
“Ben and I can take you to her.”
“Perfect,” Cole said, starting the car. His hand was poised over the gear shift when he stopped before taking the Cav out of Park.
Kayla leaned forward and placed a hand on his headrest. “What’s the matter? I said I’ll take you to her. After all we’ve done, you don’t trust us?”
“No, it’s not that. I can’t leave yet.”
“Why?”
“How many of these cops have been hurt?”
She looked through the windows on either side and said, “Several, but at least they’re still alive.”
“And what about guys like that one?” Cole asked, pointing to a group of officers clustered around a large man lying on the sidewalk. “How long before they start to change?”
Kayla drew in a quick hissing breath. “You’re right. We must end the lives of the badly wounded before they can continue the cycle.”
“Or, you can hand me that tackle box on the floor back there and I can end it another way.” When Kayla handed over the medical kit, Cole told her, “You go find Paige. Take as many of the others as you can and try to help her. Ben can lead me to you.”
“If even one Full Blood is to be killed, we’ll need all the fighters we can get.”
“Do you know how to help these wounded cops without killing them?” he asked.
After a slight pause, Kayla replied, “No.”
“Then let me do it. In case you haven’t noticed, they took out a few Half Breeds on their own. I won’t just drive away and let them die for it.”
“Do what you must here, but be quick. Ben will stay behind and take you to the fight.” With that, Kayla left the car. She’d shifted into an agile, vaguely feline form before all four of her paws touched the street, then she faded away.
Cole rummaged through the medical kit until he found the bundle of turkey basters and some eye drop bottles marked HB.
The street looked like a war zone, but was quieter than it had been a few minutes ago. Cars were parked at odd angles, some of them on the sidewalk, while others were badly damaged or completely destroyed. Shots crackled from random spots in the distance. Men and women in uniform scrambled to find each other and talk on radios while dealing with civilians or wounded who lay stretched out on the ground.
As far as Cole could tell, there were only a few Half Breeds in the vicinity. He couldn’t see any of them, but heard barks and snarls nearby. One wild howl was ended by a chorus of shotgun blasts. He hurried to the fallen cop he’d spotted from his car and was stopped by a burly man in a black jumpsuit and a heavy bulletproof vest with a badge sewn into the spot where a breast pocket should be.
“Whoa, back up,” the big guy warned.
Despite the rifle in the cop’s hands, Cole kept moving. “That man’s hurt,” he said. “I can help him before he gets worse.”
The guy with the rifle shook his head. “More paramedics are on the way. Go back to your home and let us do our job.”
“I just need to get a look at the wound,” he insisted. “I’m a doctor, and having him lying flat or on his side or with his head elevated could make the difference between whether or not he lives long enough for the paramedics to help.”
The words had flown out of him in a way that reminded him of a religious zealot speaking in tongues. They were a mix of some things he’d heard on TV and in a couple classes he’d gotten at Red Cross class, tied together with a dash of bullshit. The recipe was just good enough for the heavily armed man to let him get a little closer.
The wounded cop was hurt badly, but he was strong enough to hang on. His uniform was ripped open at the waist and shredded all the way down to the knee. When the man saw his fellow officer escort Cole to him, he opened his eyes wider and said, “I think it’s got rabies or something. My leg feels li—like it’s burning.”
Making a loose fist around an eyedropper, Cole leaned forward until his hand was over the wound, then tightened his fist to spray some liquid from the dropper onto the wound. “Keep his head up,” he said. “It’ll help him stay awake.”
The man on the sidewalk made a sound as if someone had tightened a belt around his injury. He held onto his breath for a moment and then let it out as if the invisible belt had been loosened. “Burning stopped,” he sighed. Cole bent down to hear him better.
“I don’t know what you did, but thanks, man,” the cop said. The frantic edge to his expression had been dulled and his muscles no longer looked as if every last one of them was pulled taut.
From there, Cole made the rounds to anyone else he could find who looked wounded badly enough to be in danger of becoming a Half Breed. According to Paige, little nips or cuts didn’t matter, but if a wound looked just shy of fatal, the Half Breed infection would take root.
Somewhere along the line he was joined by the woman he’d helped when he and Paige first arrived in Kansas City. The female officer had received some treatment for the minor wounds she’d gotten, and now insisted on escorting him to all the other wounded she could find. When he’d treated the worst cases, he handed her one of the larger turkey basters and said, “Squirt this stuff onto as many more wounds as you can find. It’ll keep them sterile until they can be stitched up.”
“Where are you going?” she asked.
Another ambulance had wailed down the street and was rolling into the middle of the commotion. “The pros are here, so I’ll give you room to work.”
“You did some great work yourself. Got a name?”
Fortunately, he was spared the task of deciding if he should give his real name or come up with a fake one. As the paramedics spread out to help the wounded, the freshest batch of cops barked for all civilians to clear the scene. Cole followed the order, wondering if it had been a mistake to distribute the solution. It had only taken a few minutes, but his gut told him he’d wasted too much time.
Paige was still out there with that Full Blood.
She could be lying wounded somewhere waiting for him.
Maybe she was already dead.
As soon as he got to the Cav and pulled open the driver’s door, a Mongrel poked his head out from under the vehicle’s battered back end.
“You’ve got a fan club,” Ben said.
“Any more Half Breeds around here?”
“Not for a mile or so.”
“Can you find Paige and that Full Blood?”
“Most of us went to lend your partner a hand. I can take you
to her.”
Cole turned his key in the ignition. “Then let’s go.”
The Mongrel skittered ahead like a shadowy mirage.
Chapter 30
Paige hung onto her weapons with a grip that was nearly tight enough to drive the thorns in the handles all the way through the tops of her hands. Liam’s back was wide as a bull’s, and it took nearly everything she had to keep from being thrown.
The city rushed by on all sides. Pavement flowed under her like a whitewater current. Buildings, cars, people, streetlights, glowing neon, brake lights, more buildings, more cars, all of it flew past in a stream that overloaded her senses and caused her stomach to clench. When Liam leapt over something in his path, she flopped onto her side and cried out as the tendons in her shoulders and wrists threatened to snap. She tried to flatten herself against Liam’s back but was almost thrown off again as the Full Blood dug its claws into the pavement and came to a stop.
Paige slid along Liam’s back, hit his shoulders and felt her body swing into the air. Her left hand came away from her weapon, but her right remained locked. In fact, even when she dropped back down to bump against Liam’s side, her wounded arm held fast. The savage bite from the Half Breed had already healed to a set of jagged scratches. But while she didn’t feel any pain in that limb, she couldn’t feel much of anything else either.
They were on an interstate.
She didn’t know which interstate, but the road was wider, elevated, and filled with a steady stream of cars. Liam wanted to pick the sickle from his back with his teeth, but Paige plucked the weapon free and drove it back into a thick section of meat at the base of his neck. He tried to shake her off, forcing her to push the weapon in as far as it could go and hang on.
The Full Blood reared up then and made a sound like a train being derailed. His front paws flailed in the air as Paige fought to stay in place. Her feet dangled more than a yard off the pavement as she used every muscle she could to jerk the machete downward like a giant lever embedded behind his shoulder. The crude blade tore through the meat in his back, causing the massive werewolf to drop back to all fours, angle his head to one side, and sink his front claws into the pavement. A honking car sped by to clip Liam’s leg just as he turned to nip at her. Paige swung around and out of his reach, and was just quick enough to avoid a second snapping attempt.
Howling Legion (Skinners, Book 2) Page 35
