by Patti Larsen
Reid takes one last moment to feel around him, to pay attention. Surrounded. The soldiers are everywhere.
“Reid.” Drew runs beside him. “Which way?”
He knows they are all following him, his pack, the very last thing he’s wanted since the beginning. How does he keep ending up responsible for others? He’d love nothing more than to dash off into the forest and leave them all behind, the hunter side of him thrusting itself to the forefront, battling him for control. It seizes his fear and shakes it, shoving it aside. As much as he’d rather stay human, he welcomes the calm his dark side brings.
Reid doesn’t answer Drew, there’s no time. He just runs, using the tree trunks to propel him above the underbrush. He hates to think his friend is right, that the helicopter was simply a scout to find them. If Reid has miscalculated, this fight will be over very quickly.
He spots the line of advancing soldiers up ahead and skids to a stop, shock and understanding actually making him laugh to himself.
The camo-clad troops ahead face the opposite direction.
So this trap, being caught, is simply bad luck after all. They must be closer to the gate than he thought.
Reid swings left, gestures to Emme and Nathan to hold. He turns, sees Joel and Billy on his right. He raises one hand: wait for it. Drops it. They surge forward in total silence and swarm the small troop.
It’s a short fight, messy and bloodless. Without their claws for a quick kill, the pack resorts to choking. Stronger, faster, more agile, the modified hunters slide over their prey with lightning speed and kill them all.
Not one soldier has time to fire a shot.
Reid surges forward with Drew beside him, hating himself for becoming a murderer but knowing now beyond a shadow of a fired bullet that these men would kill him at the first opportunity.
Joel looks up from his victim and scowls at Reid. Before he can point out their leader’s lack of participation, Reid joins them.
“The gate,” he whispers. “We’re almost there. That’s the only explanation.”
They huddle close, hyper hearing allowing them to remain near silent in their communication.
“We need a plan.” Emme is staring directly at him. “We’re here, so now what?”
“We need dust.” Joel is shaking as if from the idea of it, like a crack addict needing his next fix. “Nothing will stop us if we have some of the good stuff.”
“And then what?” Reid says. “Charge the gate?”
Joel grins, showing his teeth like an animal. “That’s right. Get the hell out of here. Run like a ‘sumbitch. Find Dr. Lund and kill her ass.” The others are muttering their agreement. “You got a better idea, we’re all ears.”
Reid understands their need. It’s his, too. Dust would make this so easy. But there’s one problem with that.
“So where are we getting the dust, Joel?” Reid punches Joel in the arm as hard as he can, a grin on his face, remembering it is the bully’s favorite attack. “You volunteering?”
Joel flinches from the blow and the suggestion. “Shut the hell up.”
“Let me tell you how damned stupid you are,” Reid says. “We have no dust.” Despite losses on their side, there simply isn’t time to stop. And the stuff dissipates so quickly, they either get it then or never. “We also have no idea how many soldiers are out there, you all have GPS implants that may or may not be working, and we don’t have a clue where Dr. Lund went. Am I covering all the idiotic suggestions you’ve just tried to pass off as ideas?”
Again they mutter as a group, grumbling, but in line now with Reid.
“We have to be smart about this,” Drew says. “Escape is fine. But once we’re out there, we need support. A place to hide. Money. Especially if we’re going to find Kirstin.”
Reid’s mind flickers at the word money, accompanied by a surge of fury. To a fat man in a dark suit and gold tie, smoking an aromatic cigar with diamonds sparkling on his chubby hands.
Syracuse. Reid tries to shove the image out of his mind but the grinning face just keeps coming back. The man could be useful. If they can find him, that is. For all Reid knows, he took off to go back to Arizona after the battle. If he even made it out.
No. He must have. Reid has no doubt someone as slippery and dangerous as Syracuse managed to escape in time. With Lucy. Reid’s anger tightens. His sister.
He has to escape. If only for the chance to kill her.
“We’ll take it one step at a time,” Reid says. “First, the gate. We need to scout it out, make sure we know what we’re up against. Then we can make an escape plan.”
“And after that?” Nathan looks so grim Reid wishes he had a solid answer to give him.
“I have some ideas,” Reid says. “Let’s stay focused for now. Emme, Nathan, I want you two to head that way.” He gestures to the left. “Circle around. Stay alert. See how close you can get to the fence. But don’t get too close. This is just recon.” He turns to Joel. “You and Billy go right. Same deal. If you run into soldiers, take them down only if you can do so silently. We want to make sure we stay hidden as long as possible.”
The four head out while the others hunker down. “Drew, you and I are going ahead.” Reid scans the group, catches the eye of a dark haired guy with a face full of freckles. “What’s your name?”
“Eddie.” His brown eyes glitter.
“You’re in charge of the others,” Reid says. “If anything happens, I want you to run like hell. We’ll either catch you or we won’t. Keep the dogs quiet and lay low. Got it?”
Eddie just nods with a sharp grin on his face.
Reid and Drew ease forward. It’s not long before he feels something pressing against his legs. He doesn’t have to look down to know what it is but does anyway. Minnie glances up at him and he groans. He should have ordered her to stay behind. The last thing he needs is the fun loving lab to be in the middle of this.
She surprises him with the level look she gives him. Her playful nature is gone. She is full of tension, eyes oddly intelligent, as though the dust has done something to change her awareness.
For all he knows, it has.
“Fine,” he whispers at her, “but you’d better keep up and stay quiet.”
Her tongue lolls out like she’s laughing at him before she moves on.
The going is slow, but not because of the terrain. Reid takes his time so they don’t stumble into trouble. Even at what feels like a crawling pace, within less than ten minutes they are hovering behind the trunks of large growth trees, staring at a heavily guarded gate just on the other side of the trees.
Reid and Drew exchange a look. They don’t have to speak. All Reid’s hope drains away at the sight of so many soldiers, guns and tanks.
Reid hears someone hiss and glances left. Emme and Nathan ease their way to his side. She shakes her head at him, her own optimism gone from her one human eye.
“Now what?” She just mouths it. Like he has an answer.
Reid gestures for retreat. They turn to go back when they hear it.
Gunfire. Coming from where they left the rest of the pack.
Reid runs, flying through the forest, covering the distance so fast he’s back in time to jump into the fight. This time he has no choice but to kill. A soldier swings toward him as he leaps from the trees. The rifle goes off, bullet flying wide as Reid lands on the soldier and takes him down. His hands reach out, grasp the guy’s face and twists. The soldier’s neck cracks, a sighing rattle the last sound from his mouth.
Reid is already on the move, another man dying as Reid plunges a stolen knife between enemy ribs, slicing upward and outward across the abdomen. Entrails gush out onto the forest floor. Gutting seems to be a natural form of attack. Reid has no time to be squeamish. The soldier drops his weapon, hands desperately trying to gather up the loops and coils of his intestines as blood gushes down the front of his pants, the loss driving him to his knees.
Reid tries not to think about the dead boy he encountered his f
irst night and sidesteps the soldier’s intestines, refusing to leave his sneaker print behind this time.
Another bullet whistles past, this one skimming over his right shoulder. It misses, but makes him snarl, brings out more of the hunter in him. He turns and spots the offender, tackling him in the next heartbeat. The gun goes off again as Reid digs the knife into the man’s throat and slices sharply horizontal.
He hears a hiss, turns just in time to see one of the dogs disappear into a pile of dust. Reid spots Drew going for it while another soldier spins around to shoot Reid’s friend.
That soldier dies the moment the thrown knife enters his brain through his right ear.
Drew never looks up. Instead, he starts stuffing dust into his pockets. Reid makes it to his friend, grabs him as the battle ends. They are down three of the pack and most of the dogs. There’s no sign of Joel and Billy. Despite their need, there isn’t time to gather all of the dust. Reid can hear more soldiers coming.
Heavy gunfire startles him, shredding the leaves around them, thudding heavily into the tree trunks, missing all of the pack but still too close for Reid’s comfort.
“Run!” Reid does without checking on the others but knows it when they follow him. Like they have anywhere else to go.
The gate. They have no choice now. They have to try it. Suicide or not, they are dead if they don’t.
Reid lets the hunter take him over as he surges forward, wishing there were some other way, that this didn’t feel so much like a final showdown he is destined to lose.
He’s been in this position before so many times, it seems unfair. He’s a hunter now. He’s not supposed to have to run like this anymore.
But above all else, past the anger and frustration, Reid hates being out of options.
***
Chapter Seven
Reid glances behind him at one point and does a quick head count. With himself included in it, there are eight left. Only eight to take on the mass of troops at the gate. And a handful of dogs.
He’s itching to take some of the dust in Drew’s pockets, but forces himself to hold off asking. They’ll only have one shot at the gate and he wants to be sure the hit of dust is as fresh as he can get it.
Only trouble is, there isn’t enough for all of them and he knows it. Once the others find that out, they could be turning on each other for a dose and do the soldier’s jobs for them. He hasn’t figured out that problem, either.
The soldiers will be alert now, after the sound of gunfire so close. They have to know the hunters are coming. That makes things harder. Although Reid’s mind races around and around, searching for a plan to save them, he repeatedly comes up empty.
He feels the other two coming before he sees them so he is prepared when Joel and Billy join them on their run. They are almost to the gate now, the line of soldiers visible through the trees. Reid stops in the same spot as before while the others gather around him.
“We need dust.” Joel’s whisper is harsh. “We can’t fight them like this.” He holds up his hands, ordinary and human.
Reid nods but has nothing to offer. Sees Drew duck his head and keep quiet. And is grateful for his friend’s discretion.
“I don’t think it will matter,” Reid says. “There are too many of them. And we have to wait for nightfall.” The day is full, the sky in the east warm with the sun. It’s a long time to wait, to hide. Reid’s not sure they will last that long. Surely the soldiers must know the hunters have the advantage in the dark. They’ll be doing their best to round up and cut off the pack before night even has a chance to fall. Still, they can’t move now. They might as well walk into the line of fire as attack during broad daylight. “Force won’t get us anywhere. We’re going to have to use stealth.”
Joel scowls so hard his eyebrows meet in the middle, dark hair falling over his muddy hazel eyes. “Screw that,” he says.
“Fine,” Reid shoots back with more heat than he intended. “Go charging out there like a moron and get yourself killed. Good riddance.”
Joel snarls at him. “We need dust,” he repeats. And looks down. Right at Minnie.
Reid knows what the bully is thinking even as Joel reaches out to grab her. Reid blocks Joel’s hands with so much violence Joel staggers back.
“You touch her,” Reid says, “and I’ll kill you myself.”
Minnie growls softly, low and threatening, the rumble of it carrying from her chest and throat.
“It’s just a dog,” Joel says. “You’re going to let us all die over a freaking dog?”
Reid’s fingers slide through her black coat, just behind her ears. “I’d let you die,” he says.
Joel attacks without warning, his whole weight barreling into Reid. He knew it was coming, expected it, and is ready. As soon as they hit the ground, Reid rolls to the right and pins the larger guy under him. Joel thrashes his legs, catching Reid’s knee, driving a groan of pain from him. But he hangs on, grim and determined, hands around Joel’s throat.
Those hazel eyes bulge, his thick face turning red. The bully may be bigger, but the dust has leveled the playing field. They are equally as strong and victory can only go to the one in control.
Reid is, and intends to stay there until Joel is dead.
He doesn’t get the chance. Not when the group is broken up by gunfire and shouting soldiers.
Reid lets Joel up and spins to run, feeling something impact the back of his right knee. The same knee. He staggers, knows the bully did something to him but unable to stop and find out what. Reid is forced to in the next moment when he tries to put pressure on his leg and staggers to the ground in agony.
Reid feels around, finds a sharp chunk of wood embedded in the skin through the tough fabric of his pants. Minnie crouches next to him, whining under her breath, nudging his hands, trying to get him moving. Reid jerks the fragment out of his leg, unable to stop the cry of pain that tells the soldiers exactly where he is.
He hears footsteps approaching, knows he is done. Reid tries to drive Minnie away, hisses at her, shoves her, but she refuses to leave him.
Reid just wishes she didn’t have to die for his stupidity.
When he left Joel for dead the first time, he should have made sure of it.
Drew appears beside him, grabbing his hands. Reid is suddenly holding a handful of dust. It glitters in the lowering light, calling to him.
“Hurry the hell up,” Drew hisses.
Reid reacts immediately, pressing his hand to his face, breathing in as deeply as he can. He sees Drew doing the same even while he instantly feels better. One last jab of pain seals the damage in his leg. Reid’s senses are so sharp he can hear his own flesh knit.
And more. He pinpoints the exact location of the approaching soldiers. The one closest to him is almost there, so near Reid can reach out and touch his boot.
He does more than that. The dust he took isn’t enough to transform him, but it’s enough to give him the boost he needs to bring the soldier down with one jerk and silence him with another.
And then he and Drew are up and running for the gate, with Minnie between them.
He spots the others, so close and yet so far, pinned between a tank and an advancing force of soldiers. They aren’t shooting at least, but the whole thing has the look of a firing squad lining up their victims.
Reid doesn’t think. He doesn’t have to. Every instinct in him drives him forward to attack.
Just as he does, the gate explodes outward with concussive force, the shockwave carrying him backward and to the ground.
Reid leaps to his feet again and gapes at the mess. The soldiers are firing at last, but not at him or the rest of the pack. Instead, they shoot out through the smoking gap, into another group advancing on them.
He is stunned, physically and mentally, can’t process what is happening, until he sees her, standing on the bonnet of an armored vehicle, her black pigtails streaming out behind her. Dr. Lund no longer wears a white lab coat, traded in for oddly feminine ca
mo gear, but there is no mistaking her.
Fearless and terrible in her madness, she laughs, the sound carrying over the mayhem.
“Come to me, my children!” Her arms fling wide, head back, a perfect target that somehow remains untouched. “Come to your mother!”
The pack breaks and runs for her while her mercenaries swarm the shattered fence line, overwhelming the regular soldiers with their numbers. Reid grabs Drew and jerks him away from the line of fire.
“We can’t,” Drew says, anguish in his voice. “We can’t go with her.”
“I know,” Reid says even as the fight moves toward them. “But we have no other choice.”
They almost leave it too late. The mercenaries begin to retreat, pulling back as the soldiers regroup. Reid sees Dr. Lund, still standing there like a rebel goddess. Her eyes lock on his, even from that distance, yet she doesn’t move or say anything further.
“God damn it,” Reid whispers. “God damn it all to hell.”
He grabs Drew and runs for it, Minnie at his heels.
They dodge through the soldiers, making it behind the mercenary line just in time. Reid hears Drew grunt in pain but can’t look, not yet. They slip around Dr. Lund’s transport as she slides down to the ground. She smiles at Reid, takes the time to pat his cheek.
“Good boy,” she says.
A large man, obviously in charge of her forces, appears at her side.
“We have to go.”
She nods, serene and calm while men scream and die only ten feet away. She turns and drifts toward the waiting helicopter, the rest of the pack already inside.
Reid helps Minnie up, then Drew, feeling something slick on his hand as he touches his friend’s arm, pulling black with a fist full of blood.
“I’m okay,” Drew says. He is. The wound is already closing over.
Reid leaps on the chopper beside his friend, followed closely by the mercenary commander. They are in the air and climbing, the large black helicopter vibrating from the speed of their escape.
