by Justin Sloan
"Well you’ve just got it all figured out, don’t you?"
He glanced around, nervous, and motioned for her one more time. "Come, now."
"Jordan," she said, nodding her head slowly, "you stupid fucking prick. We were through the moment you abandoned us back at Enforcer HQ. Like I said, you chose the side of the dead."
She charged forward, transforming as she leaped. He transformed as she made contact, and the two rolled, back, hitting the decline as more wolves appeared at the top of a nearby hill.
Each bite of hers was met by a bite of his, and when he pinned her down, teeth inches from her face, she saw that the others were standing still, waiting to see if he had it in him to take her out.
Damn, this was his initiation! While it now made sense, it pissed her the hell off.
With a new level of ferocity, she thrust and dug her claws into him, and then, instead of pouncing like a wolf would, she transformed back to a human but with long claws, and dug her claws up and under his neck, lifting him off the ground until his hind legs were dangling, trying to swat at her.
Her muscles strained with the effort, but she held him there, blood seeping down her arms, until he transformed back.
"You were only special to me because I didn’t know the real you," she said, and then turned her hands and yanked so that her claws pulled at his larynx and tore it out. She dropped his twitching body to the ground and then turned to face the other Weres.
Somewhere within she almost dared to hope they’d all tuck tail and run, or maybe kneel to her and proclaim her their leader—one too many stories, she supposed.
Instead, one howled and soon they were all howling. Then, as one, they charged.
She staggered back, exhausted and nowhere near ready for this.
In all her days wandering the Fallen Lands, looking for a sense of belonging, she never thought that when she finally found it, it would be her downfall. But given a chance again, she’d gladly die fighting for Valerie.
She just wished the dying part didn’t have to be at these Were’s hands.
The first reached her and bit at her leg as it ran by, then another, and they were circling again. She quickly transformed and met the next with a bite to the throat before he could get a grip on her, but then two more came at her and leaped on her back. Sharp teeth clung to her, piercing her skin, and she yelped.
And then they were gone.
Cammie turned with confusion, and then smiled.
Before her was one Were cut in half, another with a sword in its belly and stuck into the ground, the sword’s hilt held by none other than Valerie herself, eyes red and not looking very forgiving.
The other Weres continued their advance, but now they were being cut down nearly as fast as they arrived. Valerie was like a tornado of silver-lined steel, bringing that mighty sword in arcs no non-modified human would have been close to capable of.
"It’s the one!" a deep voice boomed. "NOW!"
And more Weres appeared, transforming into wolf form and charging down the hills.
Silver flashed, and blood sprayed in the moonlight.
If this was some sort of trap and Cammie the bait, a thought that didn’t hit her until just then, it sure seemed to be working in the opposite way the Golden City Weres had planned.
They fell at Valerie’s feet, forming a circle of dead wolves until she had to simply strike up as new Weres leaped over their fallen companions.
Cammie snapped out of it and joined in the fight to leap up and tear a Were out of its leap, tearing out its neck in the process.
Then all was silent but for her heavy breathing.
When she looked up, she saw Valerie through a veil of tears and sweat, approaching, cleaning off her sword on a dead wolf, and then sheathing it before reaching out to catch Cammie mid-fall as she transformed back to her woman form.
"You came for me," Cammie said, vaguely aware of other Weres coming to a standstill nearby, some bending a knee, others kneeling to both and bringing their foreheads to the earth before Valerie.
"I always will," Valerie said, cradling her head. "Honor demands it." She looked up at the surrounding Weres. "The rest of you can run off and hide, live on your own, or join me as my soldiers. The one thing you do not want to do is stand in my way, because now… now Justice is unleashed."
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Enforcer HQ
Sandra was furious at Diego, but she had to admit to herself that part of it had to do with his throwing himself in danger’s path.
Of course, she couldn’t tell him that, so she glared at him and then turned back to this newcomer, Felix.
"Swear on your pack, this wasn’t a trap," she demanded.
He stood, a good three and a half feet taller than her, glaring down at her. "As I said, I no longer have a pack. Valerie trusted me, shouldn’t that be enough?"
"Valerie tends to get a little…" She looked to Diego for help here.
"Hot-headed?" he offered. "Belligerent?"
"I was going to say excited, especially when it comes to helping people who are in her circle of trust." Sandra shrugged. "But yeah, those too, at times like this." She turned back to Felix. "She’d run off to save a friend, counting on her skills to do so."
"Well, don’t you think her skills would be enough then?" Felix asked. "I mean, if she’s this badass chika everyone’s saying she is, my former pack will be wiped out come morning."
"He has a point there," Diego said.
Sandra glared at him, then shook her head, her anger turning to worry. "I just don’t know if she’s really that powerful. She can kick some major ass, we’ve all seen that. And whatever that Michael vampire did to her has definitely changed her in more ways than one." She saw Diego glance down at her chest at that statement, and the anger returned in the form of a glare. "But we need to get backup to her as quickly as possible."
A creaking of the door sounded, and she spun to see Royland and Duran there.
"She left with the strict orders that we defend the city," Royland said.
"I’m sure she didn’t mean—"
"Sandra…" Royland held up a hand for her to stop. "She knew what she was getting into. Besides, there’s no vampire or Were that could keep up with her, even in a pod. Not at the rate she high-tailed it out of here."
For a moment Sandra continued to consider her options, how to argue this and find some way of ensuring Valerie was safe, but then she just shook her head and sighed. They were right, she realized. She’d done her part in rescuing Valerie before, but this was different.
This time, it was up to Valerie, and the defense of the city was up to them.
"Fine," she said. "Gather Mecha and Wallace. We need to discuss the safety of Old Manhattan."
"It’s going to have to be Duran," Royland said, his expression suddenly changing from firm to compassion. "That’s what I came here to talk about. Mecha, during the battle…"
"Fuck me," Diego said, shaking his head, eyes wide with disbelief. "I wouldn’t have thought they’d get him."
"He was a tough one," Sandra said. She hadn’t really gotten to know him, but having seen him fight, she knew he’d be missed in the coming war with the CEOs. She breathed into her steepled hands, rubbed them across her face, and then said, "Fine, Duran then. The conference room hasn’t been cleaned yet, so we’ll meet in Valerie’s office."
"And him?" Royland said with a glance at Felix.
"Felix did save my life," Diego said. "In case that means anything to you two."
"It means everything," Sandra said, hanging her head. She felt horrible for the way she’d reacted here. Not that she didn’t believe it was necessary, but she could’ve shown him a bit more of a welcome back. Well, she still had a chance. "Royland, see that Duran gets Felix situated. Get him to training with the others, but," she gave Felix as stern a gaze as she could while her mind was elsewhere, "have some of our best keep an eye on him."
"You got it," Royland said, and motioned for Felix to follow h
im.
Before the door closed behind them, Sandra called out, "Oh, and Royland."
He poked his head back in. "Yes?"
"Give us half an hour."
A broad, knowing smile spread across his face. "Sure thing."
And the door closed, leaving Sandra to turn sheepishly to Diego
"Half an hour?" he asked. "For what?"
"I was thinking… maybe I could make it up to you?"
"Make what up to—"
She pressed her lips against his, stopping him mid-sentence, and then began tearing his shirt off. To his credit, he caught on fairly quickly.
***
Royland was beginning to grow worried when they were all gathered in Valerie’s office, thirty minutes later, and there was no sign of Sandra or Diego. Furthermore, Wallace hadn't found any sign of Ella--considering what she'd supposedly been saying before she went missing, about vampires getting their due and all, half of Valerie’s soldiers believed she was dead, the other half that she'd defected.
"You know they’re fucking, right?" Duran said. "I mean, that’s what I’d be doing if I had her in there."
"Shut up," Wallace said, staring at the table.
"Just, you know, in case it wasn’t obvious."
"It’s obvious." Wallace slowly looked up at him. "And I said Shut. The. Fuck. Up."
Duran stood at this, knocking his chair back. "What’s that, human?"
Peterson stepped up behind Wallace, and Royland didn’t like the way this was going.
"Wallace, we all understand if you want to take a moment," Royland said. "Maybe you want to go outside for some fresh air?"
Wallace licked his lips, glaring, then shook his head and said, "Sorry. It’s… can we focus?"
The others turned to Duran, who leaned back, not letting it go as he said, "You aren’t the only one to lose someone here, boy."
"Before Wallace has to say it again," Royland said, turning to Duran, "shut the fuck up." He stood, addressing the table. "This is war, and yes, we’ve all lost someone, but we will not antagonize each other, especially with that as leverage. For all we know, Valerie might not make it back. Which is why we’re here, right? To plan for the worst."
The door burst open and Sandra entered, followed by Diego.
"At last," Royland said, returning to his seat. "The troops grow restless."
"Good, then let’s get to business." Sandra moved to the front desk, sitting on it as if she were Valerie herself.
The others leaned in, and Royland noted how this mere unaltered human was drawing such respect. Long ago he’d come to the conclusion that he and his kind were somewhat of an evolutionary step above unaltered humans, but now, he realized there was much to learn from this woman."
The Golden City
Valerie stood at the edge of the grassy plains, an exhausted Cammie at her side, a small army of Weres behind her.
"If you go any farther," a female Were named Presley said, "they’ll be on you."
"Does anything that happened tonight give you reason to think that worries me?" Valerie said, hand on her sword hilt.
Presley, along with seven other Weres, had flip-flopped from hunters that answered to Adrien, to Valerie, once they’d seen what she was capable of. Some Weres were loyal only to Weres—others only to power.
As long as power was what they looked for, Valerie was confident she had them at her side. With Michael’s blood in her, she wasn’t likely to feel threatened anytime soon.
"If we sneak around—" Presley started, but Valerie laughed.
"Just stay close, and see that Cammie’s unharmed." Valerie started walking, and the others followed. "If any of you betray me, what you saw back there will be the least of your worries."
Even though Cammie was injured and exhausted, she managed a chuckle at that.
"You sure you’re up for this?" Valerie asked as they walked forward, voice low enough for the others not to hear, even with their Were hearing.
Cammie nodded.
"Good," Valerie said. "Honor demands it."
"Honor?" Cammie scoffed. "My aching ribs demand it. My fucking pride demands it!"
"Yes, those too," Valerie said with a smile. "But are you well enough to see this through?"
"Even if I were on my last breath," Cammie clenched her fists, "I’d use it to see that asshole Adrien burn."
And then they were at the city, walking down the decline. Weres all around stopped to watch them. The sun was turning the sky above red and orange as it began to rise, casting a fiery glow throughout the city.
Valerie almost hoped they’d all attack her. She was annoyed that she even had to do this—not at Cammie, not in the slightest. But annoyed at these jackholes for even putting her in his situation. The way she saw it, Weres and vampires needed to stick together. The UnknownWorld versus anyone who tried to put them down, treat them as anything less than humans.
They were humans, after all. Genetically modified? Yes, but underneath Valerie’s abilities, she wasn’t much different from the rest of the surviving human race. More confident, of course. More terrible in a fight? Check. More arrogant… yeah, maybe.
Her eyes stared straight forward, ignoring the Weres that followed her and her group. If anyone tried to attack, she’d hear their movement before they could get to her.
She didn’t even need Cammie to point the way—it was fairly obvious which building would house this Adrien Alpha. At the far end of the city, the luxurious building carved from the stone walls was hard to miss.
And then there were the female Weres congregating in front of the building—six of them.
"Those would be the ones I told you about," Cammie said, referring to a story she’d told Valerie, about how Adrien had planned to make her his seventh wife.
Each of the wives was intimidating in their own way. The one in the middle had apparently been taken in for her strength, because she certainly didn’t have the looks the others had. The others were all intimidatingly beautiful, though with some it was hard to tell because of the armor they wore—sheet metal and boiled leather hung in a way that Valerie was pretty sure allowed it to stay on them when they transformed.
Whether they’d be a problem or not, Valerie was about to find out.
She stopped at the base of the stairs that lead up to the small plateau where the wives stood.
"None of you has to fight. You can leave now, or join my side." Valerie rested with one hand on the hilt of her sword.
One of the women’s eyes shifted to the others briefly, but the others just glared at her. No response.
"I’ll take that as a ‘No thank you, we’d rather have our heads chopped off’." Valerie said, and then pulled the sword out and advanced up the stairs. She took the first two steps slow and deliberately, and then darted forward.
The large woman moved fast, pulling out an electric rod like the Enforcers used and swung. It sent a shock through Valerie’s arms when she cut the rod in half. The other wives moved in, three transforming while the rest drew swords and one a pistol.
Valerie was too quick for them, however. She dodged the bullet that came her way while deflecting a sword, then spun to move under a wolf that had just leaped for her.
She saw Cammie and a couple of the Weres moving up the steps to help, but Valerie held up her hand and shouted, "I got this!"
A wolf went for her leg and she brought the sword down, pinning the wolf’s head to the ground before kicking it off and pulling back her sword.
The next attack was from two of the wives at once. It was clear they’d practiced this joint attack, one with a machete and the other with an electric rod. They even managed to shock Valerie, which sent her flying back down the stairs so that Presley had to help her back up.
If Valerie were anybody else, she would have been worried at this moment. But she was His Fucking Justice Enforcer, and that meant she didn’t have time nor allow herself the luxury of worrying.
She pulled out her pistol, blasting one of the
pair full of holes while she charged, then shot the other in the knee to send her into a kneeling position just in time to chop her head off.
Clean and smooth, the artierial blood spraying around as the body fell over.
Another turned to her, but then the one with the shifty eyes from earlier turned on that one, slicing her throat from behind, and took a knee before Valerie.
Only one other remained, and she took a step back, glancing between Valerie and the kneeling Were, and then ran into the building.
Valerie walked over to the Were, held out a hand, and said, "Welcome to the winning side."
The wife bowed her head and said, "Thank you for sparing me."
"Esmerelda?" Cammie said from behind Valerie. "Is it really you?"
The wife, or Esmerelda, smiled widely and said, "I heard you’d returned, and then…?" The smile faded.
"They tried to kill me, yes."
"But all of that ends tonight," Valerie said, cutting off the reunion. "There’ll be plenty of time for catching up after this is taken care of."
Esmerelda looked out at the surrounding Weres, at least one hundred of them now, then asked Valerie, "Do you mind?"
Valerie gripped her sword anxiously, but nodded.
"We have a new challenger for the role of Alpha!" Esmerelda said. "Adrien’s days are done."
"You expect us to follow a vamp?" a Were in the crowd shouted, followed by growls of anger from others. "It’ll never happen."
Valerie stepped forward and motioned to Cammie. "I’m here to see that she has justice. Do I need to be the one that sees it’s done? Do I need to be the one that takes down Adrien? No, this is her justice, and it will be her that leads you. I will not be your Alpha, nor your queen. But I will return to Old Manhattan to see it set right, and I will do so with Cammie at my side."
Cammie stared at her in shock, but then nodded and walked up the steps with pain. She turned to face the crowd. "If I defeat him, right here, right now, will you follow me? We can work with Valerie, and the others I’ve learned to trust, to ensure that Weres are no longer taken advantage of, that we aren’t forced to work as muscle for the humans."
