Pestilence_The Calling Series

by Kim Faulks

  The cabinets were marked by dates and compounds, and there were hundreds, more than we ever knew.

  I scanned the darkened room and thought of those who died, or worse, those who survived. Who were now missing what had once made them human. Alpha took snapshots of everything. Flashes brightened the room like a midnight rave.

  “I’m going up, see if I can get a signal and send this all to Irwin.”

  I turned, taking one last look at this place and followed. The sooner we were out, the better. It wasn’t just the cold that chilled me. It was the secrets and the lies…and the names…all the fucking names.

  I wrenched the door closed and followed Alpha all the way topside. X rose from the ground, the dark circles around her eyes even darker as Alpha climbed out. “Everything’s okay. It’s just a bunker underground, that’s all.”

  “Bunker?”

  “Where humans keep things hidden, so no one can find them. But we got all the records right here.” She followed, watching Alpha pull out his laptop and fire up a satellite connection. “Now I just need to get it to Irwin.”

  He grabbed the sat phone, yanked out the thick antenna, and pressed the keys.

  “Hell,” X whispered. “Feels bad.”

  He pressed the phone hard against his ear, a second later relief.

  “Hey, Irwin. You got me?” Alpha snarled, and then waited. “Okay, you out of the room? Ten missed calls dude, what the fuck.”

  He stilled, and the faint sound of Irwin’s voice filtered into the air before Alpha whispered. “They what? They fucking what?”

  The cold from the bunker lingered, licking an icy tongue along my spine. I took a step, drawn by the shake in my brother’s voice.

  “They’ve got my dad? Those motherfuckers got my dad?”

  He closed his eyes and clenched them tight. “They want me…my life for his, right? Those are their terms? Me for him…yeah, they know I’ve got the transmitter. Cause I showed them, that’s how.”

  His life for his father’s? That’s not going to happen.

  “They’ll kill him.” His voice was raw. “They’ll kill him because I pissed them off…” He opened his eyes to stare at his laptop. “Yeah, and because I’ve got what they want. Are you ready for these, Irwin? Cause I want to hurt these fuckers. I want to hurt them so fucking bad.”

  His hands shook as he plugged in the lead to the camera. Snapshots of pages smothered the screen.

  “Let them see what we have, and I want that human fucking stain I call an uncle to see it too. Can you do that, Marine? Can you fucking do that?”

  Faint words slipped from the phone. “Yes, Sir.”

  “Then send the transmission, and I’m going to make camp and activate the GPS, and wait for these bastards to come. I’m not going to have him bleed for me. You hear me? I’m not going to have this man hurt anymore. He’s been through enough. He’s suffered enough.”

  Alpha stilled, turned and stared at the screen as he listened to Irwin. “Oh he’ll come. Newman’s weak and powerless, and those are two things he won’t do well. He’ll lash out and I want to be right there when he feels the damn need. Yeah… yeah, he’s here. Just a second.” He dragged the phone from his ear and hit the speaker. Irwin’s panicked whispers reverberated through the air.

  “I want you to be careful out there. These guys man…they’re not to be taken lightly. They’re fast, they’re hard…and they’ve got a lot of fucking power in their corner. Kill them, any way you can, but don’t come back here. It’s…not safe. Vampires are attacking, newly turned ones. They’re fucking animals, man.”

  Vampires…Jesus. The six o’clock news came to life. Like rats, swarming towns, cities, descending on the one they hated the most…Eva.

  “This Shadow Government has one helluva hard-on for you, Alpha, and Newman. So they’ll come, and you can bet your ass they’ll come hard.”

  The muscles around Alpha’s throat flexed as he swallowed. It was a good thing no one else saw the kami-fucking-kaze look he gave. “Then let them come,” he growled and glanced at the Tac-fifty by my side, before lifting his gaze to mine. “We’ll be waiting.”

  14

  Ace

  “I’m going to move up the backside of this mountain here,” I pointed to a mark on the Satellite imagery. “It’s gonna take two to three hours, depending on the gradient. The terrain doesn’t look too tough, except for that sheer shale face here. But that’ll give me the concealment, and give you the perfect place to set camp. This bank of trees will be your cover, and the river will lead you out. Just follow that…all the way up and you’ll be fine. Remember, no one knows I’m here, so that’s the only surprise we have.”

  He stared at a spot on the map, but there was no focus. He heard nothing. I straightened, and lowered my voice. “Once you reach basecamp, fire that tracker up. I’ll be right behind you. We’ll get him back, brother. We’ll get him back and there’ll be no exchange of life.”

  He lifted his head to meet my gaze. The empty stare was like I lost Stitch all over again.

  “Promise me,” he whispered and then turned his head to find X moving through the trees in the distance. “Promise me you’ll take care of her if I don’t make this.”

  And that icy touch bloomed inside me, wrapping claws around my heart. “That’s not going to happen—”

  “Promise me,” he snarled, lips curled. Rage sparked like embers in the night. He reached out, gripped my collar, knocking my shoulder. Pain savaged flesh and blood. But it was nothing, nothing compared to the cruel desperation in his eyes. “Promise me. She needs…she fucking needs…” There was a flinch in the darkness. “I want you to move in, and not the half-there fucking shit you do. I want you there, all the fucking time. I want you to be me…you hear me? You hear what I’m saying?”

  Black enveloped, taking me down into a hole I’d never get out of. He wanted me to be him, as though I could shed this skin and step into his flesh and bones.

  If he only knew how many times I’d wished the same.

  When the horrors of the past descended, I stared at Alpha with his square fucking jaw, and his perfect family. I would’ve given anything to be him—even just for a second.

  But not like this. Never like this. I grabbed his collar drawing him in tight. “That’s not going to happen, you hear me? Are you fucking hearing me, Alpha? Cause so help me God, I’ll fucking punch these words into that thick, fucking skull of yours. That isn’t happening.”

  Life flared. Hate and hurt. Still, it was fucking life. And that empty stare faded.

  “So you make this waypoint as fast as you can, and fire that thing up. I’ll be waiting…I’ll be fucking waiting. If the op goes bad, grab Clark and get the Hell out of here. I’ll find you, you hear me? I’ll fucking find you.”

  He gave a slow nod. But at least he was listening. I released his shirt and gripped his shoulder.

  He was the closest thing I’d ever had to family. A brother in khaki. “Remember, this is shifter territory, so be careful.” I dropped my hand and rolled the maps before sliding them into my pack.

  “Watch your back out there,” he growled.

  I nodded, meeting his gaze and answered. “I’ll be too busy watching yours.”

  Heavy boots set the pace. I never once looked back. I couldn’t.

  Couldn’t see my brother and his mate alone. Couldn’t think about the fact that the only thing that stood between these Shadow Government bastards and my brother was me.

  The straps bit into my shoulder as I carved a path through the forest and climbed. I pushed my knees as I headed up…and up, until the ridge towered above and sweat rolled down my back.

  I grabbed my container and took a sip. I had enough rations to last two, maybe three days if I was careful. The two-way cracked in my ear, “Comms check.”

  I touched my earpiece. “Loud and clear.”

  The silence settled around me. Rocks and shale tumbled down the rock face the higher I went. The sun beat down, the tiny sli
ver of shade now long since past. I grabbed my binoculars and checked the tree line. I was too exposed out here, needed to push higher—I looked up to the sun—and faster.

  The cold would settle fast, especially high up on the ridge. I wanted to be well settled in before the sky darkened. I shoved the scope back onto my belt and kept moving, losing myself in the movement until Alpha’s voice mixed with static, dropping in and out. “Comm—”

  I pressed my mic. “Say again your last…you’re coming through weak and unreadable.”

  The crackle eased. “Comms check.”

  “I got you,” I growled. “Loud and clear.”

  The mountain peak dropped away to the hard line of a ridge that was more shale than trees. I checked the map and grabbed my binoculars. The destination straight ahead, up on the rocky ledge that overlooked what once was a campground.

  The infrared illuminator gauged the distance across the peak. By the time I reached my marker there’d be no less than five hundred meters. Far enough to make any sniper wince. But it was the closest I had, or the ridge cut away, leaving a far wider distance between Alpha and me.

  I kept going, scurrying down the terrain made softer by the thick vein of trees. The ache in my shoulder turned to gnawing hunger, one that radiated down my arm and into my hand. I grabbed the bottle of pills from the side of my pack and flipped open the lid. The round tablets slid into my mouth tasting of powder and dust. I chewed, swallowed and washed it down with a drag of water before I started the last, hard climb.

  The sun was dimming, falling behind the tops of the pines as I reached higher, and the world just dropped away. Up here there was nothing to touch me. Up here there was nothing but the eagles soaring high above and the wind…always the wind.

  I turned my face to the horizon as Alpha’s voice filled my ears. “I’ve reached the destination, powering up the transmitter.”

  “Copy that,” I answered, sucked in a hard breath, and drove my boots into the slope.

  I focused on the marker, watching the jutting edge creep closer one slow step at a time. Rocks were uneven, tumbling, slipping under my feet.

  Sweat slipped into my eyes as I raised the Tac-fifty and stared through the scope.

  The markers were perfect, lined up just as I tracked on the map. I found the campsite, and then X, watching her for a second before I kept going.

  “Red line a go,” Alpha’s voice filled my ears.

  The GPS transmitter was on. Now it was a matter of time.

  I lowered the scope and looked to the sky. They’d come, just the way Irwin said, and they’d come hard.

  Rocks tumbled far below as I followed the point up to the highest peak and stopped. My arms ached, stitches pulled taut as I slipped the pack from my shoulders and crouched at the ledge.

  It’d be at least an hour by chopper. An hour to rest, eat, and make a plan. I grabbed the water bottle from my pack and took a sip. The sheer cliff face towered above and fell away to my right. A perfect concealment for anyone scanning the ridgeline.

  They’d never see me, not until it was too late. I opened my pack, grabbed a bar from my rations, and tore the seam. The forest was quiet, but I knew more than anyone looks were deceiving. Hunters scanned the edges of the river and hunkered in the thick forest that followed the rushing vein all the way through this county and into the next.

  My belly tightened as the bar hit my stomach. I was used to being hungry, used to being hot, and cold. Used to the loneliness…but it didn’t mean I liked it.

  I eased my pack higher on the rock and dragged the camouflage cover free. The underside glinted. Foil on the bottom, the top a pale brown that blended into the rocks around me. I skimmed my hand along a line, brushing the small rocks aside for perfect prone position and hunkered down.

  Trees filled my view through the scope. I scanned the markers, north and south as the sun lost its bite. Hard edges gouged skin against bone. I shifted, finding no relief and waited…

  Waited for them to come.

  Waited to unleash Hellfire.

  Waited to protect my brother any way I could.

  I hope you enjoyed the sneak peek of Ace and Ghost’s story.

  Want more?

  Grab Ace today and continue the story here

  Or why not start at the beginning?

  Taurus - Book 1

  Aquarius - Book 2

  Cancer - Book 3

  A Roaring Fire - Christmas novella

  Aries - Book 4

  Alpha - Book 5

  Virgo - Book 6

  Sagittarius - Book 7

  Ace - Book 8

  Commander - Book 9