The Royal Flush (Knights of the Darkness Chronicles(Book Three))

by Simmons, D. N.

  Darian looked closely at one of the hunters who held an electronic device in his hand. Darian tuned his hearing, the device was a tracker. They were using it to track Gary.

  Very clever indeed, Darian thought.

  A second door opened and a tiger cub ran from the cell, he would not keep quiet; the pain of hunger was too much for the cub to bear. He ran into the bushes to hide under a fallen tree trunk. The second team of hunters was standing near-by, hoping he would run farther, they wanted a chase. One of the male hunters fired three shots into the sky, scaring the poor cub, who then ran farther into the forest. Mentally, Darian contacted Tony and Xavier, he wanted to know if they had witnessed what he had seen, and they had. Tony had already contacted Gary informing him of his location, directing Gary towards himself. They waited for the other hunters to come out of their hiding places.

  The third door opened and Rachel ran out, terrified. She knew that she was in danger, she could smell it… sense it. She ran as fast as she could into the same forest the others entered. Another team of three followed closely behind her. And finally the last door opened, Nicole crept out slowly, looking around, her muzzle to the ground, attempting to gather any scent that she could. She looked upwards, nostrils flaring, sensing that danger was near and sprinted off in the only direction she could … into the forest. The final team revealed followed behind her, guns aimed and ready.

  “So I see that they do have a reserve of weapons. Very resourceful,” Darian whispered to himself. “This is even more dangerous than I anticipated.”

  He and the others sat back and watched as the humans split into four groups. The smallest group appeared to be going after Rachel. Devin crouched low to the ground, his eyes peering into the darkness as he zeroed in on his target. Richard Parker and his team were in hot pursuit of Gary. A low growl emanated from Justin but Warren scuffed him, making sure to keep him quiet. Justin panted softly to let Warren know that he got the message. Warren released him and crept up slowly beside Darian.

  “Can you see them?” Darian asked. Warren nodded. “They have the land booby-trapped, so to speak. Up ahead are silver spikes that are planted to project under pressure. So watch where you place your paws.”

  Warren gazed forward to see if he could locate the hidden spikes. Darian sent a mental message to Xavier, Tony and Gary, warning them to watch out for the traps that he spotted.

  We understand, Master, they responded in unison.

  Darian wanted to take to the sky, but he didn’t want to leave the shape-shifters alone if they couldn’t spot all of the traps. He crept low beside Warren, Justin and Devin; together they closed the distance between them and their prey with lightning-quick speed. They were within a twenty-yard distance when Justin triggered one of the traps and a silver spike jutted from the ground, piercing through his abdomenimpaling him. He belted a pain-filled howl stopping the others abruptly, they ran to his aide.

  “Shit!” Darian cursed under his breath as he hastily eased Justin off the spike.

  A whimper emanated from the young wolf as Warren quickly began to lick the wound. Darian looked up just in time to see Xander and Tatiana approaching. They quickly ran to Justin, Tatiana began to lick Justin’s life threatening injury as he bit into her foreleg, opening a wound to drink her healing blood. After Xander inspected him, he nudged Warren, growling softly. Warren returned the growl and took point, watching over them as Tatiana healed Justin, closing his wound completely with the aide of her blood. She pulled away and Justin rose from the ground, licking her face in gratitude. Xander nudged him then ran off with Tatiana following behind.

  Darian knew that because of Justin’s howl, the hunters were now aware that they were no longer alone, and would now be on guard. He smiled to himself, it mattered little to him if they knew, however he wanted the others to be prepared. He sent mental messages to his coven, warning them. They were closing in on their targets and he was certain that the hunters now knew that they were being hunted. The game had changed. He looked down at Warren.

  “There goes our carefully prepared plans. Now, it’s all instinct.”

  Warren snorted in agreement.

  Gary stumbled again, a low agonizing moan escaping his throat as he ran into the woods searching for his lover. Tony had informed him of his location and now he was searching for him. The hunger ravaged his body, he had never felt such unrelenting pain. For days, he had endured knowing that he would be rescued soon. He could hear and smell his pursuers. The scent of the blood pumping in their veins was maddening, but he fought the urge to attack them. He knew that in his weakened state he was no match for their weapons. He could hear Tony’s mental message: Come to me, baby. I’m only a few yards to your left... come!

  Gary saw Tony up ahead along with a wolf and leopard. As he ran towards Tony, an ultraviolet bullet whizzed past his head and struck a tree. He looked back just in time to dodge the next three shots fired towards him.

  “Jesus!” he cried. He knew that if one bullet hit him anywhere on his body, he would die.

  “There he is right there shoot that son-of-a-bitch!” yelled Governor Andrew Wallace. He panted breathlessly as he ran beside Richard and Miriam as they chased down the vampire. “We can’t waste time pleasure hunting!”

  Richard stopped running and he pulled an ammunition clip from his pocket.

  “Take it easy, Andrew. I’ve waited a long time for this night and I will not be cheated!” he said as he reloaded his rifle.

  “I’ve got something for our fucking visitors.” He chuckled as he reached for a grenade from his vest.

  He pulled the lever and tossed it in the direction that Gary was running. A huge explosion of ultraviolet light illuminated the area.

  “I bet that little bastard’s already dead.” he said before seeing Gary jump up from behind a bush. “Oh! He’s a nimble bastard!” Richard exclaimed as he shot at Gary who successfully dodge the ultra-violet bullet. “Fuck!” he cursed, showing his frustration. “After starving this freak for days, he still has enough energy to run like the coward he is. Superior beings my ass! In this world there is only one true superior being... and that is man.” He smiled wickedly as he tossed another grenade behind them. Hoping to deter whoever or whatever was now on his property.

  The second explosion of light filled the area. Darian backed away with such speed the others thought he had teleported. A few seconds later when the light faded, he returned to the others.

  “They are really infuriating me!” he growled. “Can you manage?” he asked Warren who nodded. “Good.”

  He took to the sky, flying high above the others and saw that Gary had finally made it to Tony and they were on the run. He knew that Tony would want Gary safe due to his lack of strength. He noticed Xavier and the members of his team had closed in on Peter’s team, just as Peter, George and Philip had the frightened, weak female leopard cornered.

  Rachel was far too weak to jump the thirty-foot electronic fence that now blocked her in. Xavier and the others converged on them within seconds. Xavier fastened onto Peter with amazing momentum. His fangs buried deeply into Peter’s throat. After catching up to her, Warren and Miranda attacked the other two. Warren lunged for Philip’s throat, biting down hard, his jaw muscles locking onto the flesh, ripping the vocal cords with ease. Blood splattered his muzzle and face as he reared his head back, snapping the cords in two.

  Miranda bit George’s hand as he tried to aim his ultra-violet pistol at Xavier. He screamed as she chomped down hard on his hand, breaking skin and splintering bones. He fired off a shot into the grass-covered ground, before the excruciating pain forced him to drop his gun. She bit down harder, burying her sharp teeth deeply. She shook her head once, ripping his arm from his body and tossed the arm towards Rachel, who began greedily devouring the severed limb.

  Before George could come to the realization that his arm had been ripped from his shoulder, Miranda lunged for his throat, dealing the killer blow, snatching away a huge chunk of flesh
. A bloody fount squirted from the gaping wound as his head collapsed backward hanging only by a few shredded muscles, tendons and flesh. George’s body collapsed to the ground and Miranda pressed her paw on his chest as the other leopard walked over to the kill. Rachel began to feast on the remains as Miranda watched over her. Xavier listened carefully to Darian’s mental warning about the ultra-violet grenades. He responded, telling him that he had witnessed the power of the grenade and would stay clear. Warren walked over the area sniffing the ground then he pointed his nose upwards, sniffing the air.

  “Catching the scent of anything we should be worried about?” Xavier asked. Warren looked at him, panting as he wagged his tail. “I take that as a ‘no’. Look, you two stay here; I’m going to go a see if anyone else needs help.”

  Warren nodded. Then Xavier took to the sky to watch as the other two teams were being dismantled. Adrian, Nagesa, Tony, Gary and Sergio had cornered one of the other teams, Sergio lunged for Jesse Harthorne, just then; Richard Parker shot a silver-nitrate bullet at him. Sergio used his super quick and agile reflexes, dodging the bullet just as it whizzed past him. He then darted between the bushes for cover.

  “We have to combine our teams. There are more of them on the premises!” Richard yelled as he approached the other team.

  The remaining teams were no longer chasing down their captives. They were now fighting for their lives. Xavier saw Darian perched atop the roof of the mansion, watching with a hawk-like gaze as the remaining hunters joined together. He watched Richard as he let off two more ultra-violet grenades.

  Xavier landed beside Darian on the roof. “We took out one of their teams.”

  “Yes, I know. I saw... nicely done.” Darian smiled. “They’re trying to make it back to the mansion, but they have a long way to go,” he said thoughtfully as he watched the activities.

  The eight remaining hunters ran as fast as they could through the forest, tossing UV grenades every few feet as they ran towards the lighted mansion. Darian rose to his full height of six feet three, as the moment he’d been waiting for had presented itself. He tilted his head backward, then concentrating his powers, destroyed all of the ultraviolet lights, leaving the forest completely dark with the exception of the moonlight. The hunters stopped instantly when they heard the explosion of glass and saw the lights disappear. The lights that lit up the mansion and the grounds exploded in a shower of glass. Only the moon’s light would guide the humans now. Darian opened his eyes, setting his predatory gaze on the hunters that now realized the advantage was no longer in their favor.

  “Holy shit! Fuck! We’re going to die!” Jesse exclaimed as the seriousness of their situation was no longer deniable.

  “Shut the fuck up! We don’t need you breaking down right now. Look, we have enough UV grenades to keep them away,” Richard said.

  “And then what?” Miriam asked, her voice shaking with fear.

  “Yeah, what about the shifters? What about them? UV light won’t work on them and they move too fast for us to see!” Andrew Wallace yelled in his hysteria.

  Richard grimaced then shoved his gun in man’s face.

  “What we don’t need right now is for any of you to lose your nerve. Get yourselves together,” he said in a flat but shaky tone. Andrew nodded and Richard lowered his gun. “Good. Now, look, they’ve probably surrounded us with all of the time that we’ve wasted. We still have the advantage. We can keep the vampires away from us with our grenades long enough to eradicate the shape-shifters.”

  Just as Richard had finished detailing his strategic plan, Adrian lunged for Andrew Wallace, snatching him from the group and dragging his flailing body away at break-neck speed. Andrew screamed for help as the other hunters shot blindly into the darkness of the woods towards the sound of Andrew’s fading screams. Richard released another grenade. Lighting up the area, he spotted the silver eyes of a wolf to his right and fired off several shots towards Xander who dodged the bullets with ease.

  “Oh my God, we’re going to die!” Amanda Patrick cried.

  Richard wheeled around, slapping her hard across her face, knocking her to the ground. “Keep it together! Andrew lost his nerve and you saw what happened to him!” He looked at the others. “Come on! We have a better chance at defending ourselves inside.”

  They began to move slowly towards the mansion. Every few feet one of them released another ultra-violet grenade. The shape-shifters stealthily followed them, when Xander thought the timing was right he lunged into attack. He leapt into the group with a speed their eyes could not catch. He ripped Amanda’s head from her body, leaving the still-standing corpse behind and darted off into the darkness before her body hit the ground. Blood from her headless corpse splattered the others as they screamed in panic shooting their guns blindly in all directions.

  “Let’s get the fuck out of here!” Walter Bailey yelled to the others, he then ran in front of the group followed by Victor Foster.

  Darian chuckled deeply before swooping down from the rooftop to snatch Walter in mid dive taking him up high above the others even as he plunged his sharp fangs into the man’s jugular. The hunters shot erratically into the air trying desperately to hit Darian who seemed to dodge the bullets effortlessly as he feasted from his victim. Sergio saw this weakness and he attacked Victor as he was trying to make it back to the group. He ran full speed at Victor and in a movement too fast for Victor to see. With the force equivalent to a freight train, Sergio tackled Victor, ripping his torso in half, and taking the top half with him to feast on. The hunters stopped firing their weapons and looked at the bloody legs, which was all that was left of Victor. Jeffery Kingston doubled over and began retching profusely. The others stepped away looking around frantically.

  Richard was beginning to panic, he turned around in a rage. “Where are you?! You fucking freaks! I’m more powerful than you! Humans are the superior beings! We hunt you, we can kill you! This isn’t the first time I’ve killed one of you abominations! Show yourselves, you fucking cowards!”

  Sweat poured from his forehead. He reached for a grenade on his vest and found none. He looked down to see that he was out of ultra-violet grenades. He turned to look at the others; mentally he counted their remaining grenades. All combined they had only four grenades left.

  “We’re going to die,” Jesse Harthorne said weakly.

  This time, Richard didn’t comment. He only looked around.

  “Put on your night vision goggles,” he said as he slid his goggles over his eyes.

  “But the ultra-violet grenades might damage out eyes if we” Miriam started.

  “Just put them the fuck on!” Richard demanded.

  They didn’t say another word. Each one of them placed their goggles over their eyes. Richard looked through his goggles. He could see the eyes of the shape-shifter clearly. He then looked up and saw Darian suspended in the air looking down at them, smiling. He watched as Darian landed on the roof next to Xavier who was kneeling as he gazed at the hunters. Richard looked at the two vampires and smiled.

  “Hand me a grenade.” He extended his hand, palm upward.

  Darian and Xavier watched Richard trying to work out his newest strategy.

  Darian chuckled. “He insults me at every turn.”

  “I suppose he thinks we’re just going to sit here while he tosses that grenade,” Xavier added.

  “He intrigues me,” Darian said as he continued to watch the hunters.

  Jesse handed Richard one of his grenades. Richard unlocked the lever then threw the grenade towards the vampires. A huge burst of light illuminated the area, Darian and Xavier dodged the explosion of light landing in a tree some distance away.

  Darian chuckled at the human’s audacity, but then he grew serious. Looking down at Nagesa under the tree, he whispered. “Take out Jesse, he has two grenades.”

  Nagesa growled low in confirmation. Darian turned toward Xavier. “I will make them released their last grenade, my attack will also allow Nagesa to make his
move.” Xavier nodded.

  Darian landed behind Jeffrey, breaking his neck with a speed that eluded everyone. Then he flew back into the tree just as Nagesa ripped open Jesse’s abdomen, spilling his insides onto the ground before him. Jesse’s mouth was agape; shocked he looked down and saw his intestines pour from his body. Richard and Miriam turned in time to see Jesse fall to his knees, then onto his side, dead.

  “Oh my God, what are we going to do?!” Miriam was terrified, her body trembled as she struggled to keep her calm.

  “Shut the hell up, I’m thinking!” Richard looked at the last grenade on Miriam’s vest, as he formed another plan.

  In a bold move, Nagesa and Adrian leaped into the shrinking group of hunters and dragged the two dead bodies away. Richard shot at Nagesa but missed. Miriam and Richard pressed their backs together as they reloaded their weapons. Miriam removed the last grenade from her vest and handed it to Richard.

  “When I released this, we run. Do you understand?” Richard instructed, his voice riddled with fear.

  Miriam nodded; her voice was lost to her terror. She could not form words now even if she wanted to. Tears ran down her cheeks as she waited for Richard’s cue.

  Richard slowly pulled the pin free, he kept his finger on the release as he walked closer to his mansion and Miriam kept up with his pace.

  “Now!” he yelled as he released the UV grenade.

  Together he and Miriam ran towards the mansion as fast as they could as they shot blindly into the darkness, hoping to deter any attacks. When the light of the ultra-violet grenade faded, Darian and Xavier converged on them. Darian swooped down from the tree, locking an unbreakable grip around Richard’s body, crushing the bones in his arms. Richard cried out in pain as he dropped his two remaining weapons. Xavier held Miriam in his vice-like grip. The others approached them. Rachel and Nicole’s faces were bloody from the victims they had feasted on. Gary who was still suffering from his starvation was being supported by Tony as they approached.