by D. N. Hoxa
Oscar and his werewolves had stopped in front of the fence gates, and he turned his head to look at us, to make sure we were coming, when something touched my hand. I spun so fast, I almost lost my balance, and one of my swords was in front of a werewolf’s face. His eyes wide, he stepped back, and looked down at his hand. In his palm was an earpiece, small and black and made of plastic, and the werewolf narrowed his brows to ask what the fuck was wrong with me.
I took the earpiece from his hand. “Don’t touch me.” I didn’t care who he was or where we were. Touching me when I wasn’t looking was never a good idea.
“Scarlet,” Ax said, his voice almost a warning, and he nodded toward Oscar. Putting the plastic thing in my ear, I hid my sword under the sleeve of my jacket again.
“We’re going in,” Oscar whispered into the earpiece, and everybody could hear him. He threw something through the fences, and they hit the ground soundlessly. Four spell stones. “Go, go, go!”
One of his werewolves took out his gun and shot the chain three times. He used a silencer, but that didn’t drown the sound the bullet made when it hit the metal. Looking around to see if somebody heard would be pointless so I didn’t. I just ran forward when the werewolves took the stairs two at a time, and proceeded to shoot the locks of the double doors.
The sound of gunshots, without silencers, said that our arrival had been announced. The ECU knew we were there. From then on, we had ten minutes to get in and get out. Running up the stairs with one sword and three throwing knives in my hand, I prepared for action as soon as I stepped inside. Ten ECU solders were shooting at us, and four of Oscar’s werewolves were shooting at them. But the bullets weren’t hurting anyone. I suspected the werewolves had spell stones on them, and I knew all of the ECU soldiers did—at least those who weren’t able to conjure for themselves.
Everybody put their firearms down almost simultaneously, and turned on their magic, their bodies, and their other weapons to fight. The four werewolves behind us didn’t move, and neither did the others, but I couldn’t stand back and watch. Putting away my throwing knives—I could use them later—I grabbed my other sword and dived into the action. The witch that came at me with two long daggers was fast. He cut my shoulder even before I’d managed to swing my arm properly, but when I did, my sword caught him on the side of his waist, causing a lot more damage. I saw his fist coming from a mile away and dodged just in time for him to miss me, and leave his torso unprotected. Calling to my magic, I put my fist on his chest, thrust my sword into his gut, then released it. The witch flew back with the wind coming from my hand, spraying my face when his body pulled away from my sword’s blade. He wasn’t going to die, but he’d be useless for a few minutes.
Turning left, I reached for one of the two soldiers fighting one of Oscar’s werewolves. My fingers had only grazed his shoulder when something pulled me back by my other arm. I couldn’t hold on properly with my sword still in hand so I lost balance spinning around and fell on my side. As soon as my elbow hit the floor, I rolled forward with my sword raised, and caught the guy who’d grabbed me in his thighs. More blood on my face. Dammit, I hated the taste and smell of it. The soldier fell to his knees in front of me, and I wrapped my legs around his neck. I pulled so hard, the top of his head hit the floor, but I had failed to miss the knife in his hand and only noticed it when it buried in my gut. Pain paralyzed me but I sat up a second later to stab him in the back three times. If he died, so be it. I couldn’t bring myself to care in those moments.
Tangled in my legs, I pushed the soldier away but he was big and the gut wound was making it hard for me to breathe in that position, so when another that was fighting a werewolf saw me—I probably looked helpless—he charged me with both his hands raised. His lips moved furiously while he chanted but I couldn’t hear the spell from the noise of the fight. Calling to my magic, I felt it slithering down my arms, but it was going to be too late. The smell of his spell hit my nostrils, and the fear froze me as I waited for its effect, but it never came. Instead, the soldier fell to the side, hitting the wall with his head before sliding to the floor.
I looked to the side to see Ax wink at me, just before another solider jumped in front of him, and he used his fist to knock him off balance. Two of Oscar’s werewolves were on the floor, motionless, and four more ECU soldiers were still standing.
“We’re moving to the door ahead. Kevin and Otto will stay behind.”
Oscar’s voice came from the earpiece, making me fall back in surprise. Hand under my arms, Grover pulled me to my feet with ease and practically threw me across the entrance. I had no time to check for any details, except that the walls of the round hallway we’d been fighting in were covered in some sort of shiny, black material. Oscar stood in front of the iron door, and threw three spell stones in front of it, before drawing out his gun and shooting it eight times in a perfect circle. In a matter of seconds, the steel around the bullet holes began to melt. The door literally dripped to the floor, leaving an opening in the middle of it, big enough to fit even Oscar’s biggest werewolves. With his arms wrapped around his head, he jumped through the hole, and his men did the same. The thought of melted iron dripping on my body scared me shitless, but there was no time to lose, so I jumped through right after Fallon, hands wrapped over my head. Shivers washed down my back when my feet hit the floor on the other side. The hallway was narrow, barely fitting us all together. The other door ahead was white, seemingly made of glass, and there was a panel to its side, in front of which was Oscar. He reached for his chest pocket and took out a small piece of paper, then began to press the buttons on the panel.
He was better connected than I’d thought. I wondered if the guy who worked for the ECU had given him the code. Probably—who else?
A thin slit appeared right in the middle of the wide glass door, splitting it into two. They slid to the side, to let us in a place that looked like a completely different world. The doors closed behind us as soon as we all stepped on the other side, blocking the fighting noise. Nobody even breathed for a long second.
Where is the ECU?
“Something’s wrong,” I whispered. My swords were ready, my arms up, but the soldiers that were supposed to attack us now weren’t there. The room was completely empty.
“They’re downstairs,” Oscar said, breathing heavily. “They’re waiting for us there.”
Could it be? I looked at Ax. His face was red and covered in sweat, but he gave no indicated that he thought something was wrong, too. Maybe I was just being paranoid, but this was the ECU. We shouldn’t have been all alone in any place inside their facility.
The room was square, the right side of the wall painted brown, and a huge map of the United States was drawn all over it. The other side was full of windows through which we could see desks and computers, shelves and folders of all sizes. Every few steps, there were glass stands with some sort of rocks displayed, and a small American flag was placed on top of each. Ahead, there were four big monitors hanging from the ceiling, behind which was another door, white and seemingly made of glass. It had two panels to the side. I expected Oscar to go to it, but instead, he turned right to the only door on the map wall. He didn’t check to see if it was unlocked. He just nodded, and one of his werewolves, whose left cheek was completely torn, shot the door three times before it opened.
The sick feeling in my gut didn’t rest when we went through it. Three elevators were in front of us, and again: no soldiers.
Give it a rest, I said to myself, trying to shake off the fear while Oscar ran to the middle elevator, and took out the piece of paper from his pocket. I should have been glad that there were no soldiers there, because the place would be packed on our way out. Memorizing the way we’d come through was easy enough, and Oscar’s sons were probably outside the building waiting for us in the car by now. So far, luck seemed to be on our side.
When the elevator doors opened, behind them was a man. Putting away my sword, I grabbed one of my guns and poin
ted it at its head before he could blink. When he took us all in, he fell against the wall of the car, his whole body shaking. His frameless glasses slid down his sharp nose, his green eyes blinking rapidly as if he wanted to make sure he wasn’t imagining us.
“Get out,” Oscar barked, waving his gun at the door through which we’d just come in. One of his werewolves stepped in the car, grabbed the guy by his shirt, and threw him out. I felt no pity for him. He was going to make it out alive, and I couldn’t say the same thing about us with certainty. Falling on all fours, he dragged himself to the door and disappeared on the other side in record time.
We walked into the elevator, squeezed in like sardines in a can. I had to elbow two werewolves until I got my right arm up. If I pulled up the sword, too, I’d be sure to cut someone in the process, so I resisted. The numbers in the digital screen on top of the door changed to minus, until we reached -3. I held my breath while the elevator doors opened.
The room in front of us was large, almost completely white, and with a dizzying high ceiling. It smelled sterile in there, and the nine people we could see walking around the place wore white robes. The desks on the right had no computer screens on them. Instead, they were full of cauldrons, flasks of every size with strange things on them, and an hour glass was on top of each desk, the white sand moving down slowly. On the left, there were wooden shelves full of books, and glass bottles with white labels on them. If I’d had time, that’s where I’d have stopped to see if they had any books about people like us—or better yet, a grimoire with spells that worked with our magic.
But I was too busy freaking out that the people with the white robes were minding their business, and they seemingly hadn’t even heard us come in. It was a huge place, yes, and I couldn’t hear any of them speaking from where we stood, but something stank here, and my rolling stomach confirmed it. Before I could complain again, Oscar and his werewolves were already running forward, holding their guns up as if to tell those people not to get close. Going back now was not possible—we’d made it this far. Elisa and others like us could be in the next room for all I knew. So taking in a deep breath, I ran forward, distracting myself by counting my steps.
At the end of the room, behind all the desks, there was a thin separation wall that led us to another door. By the time we got there, Oscar was already pressing the buttons on the panel, and the wide glass door split into two. This time, I didn’t hold my breath. I was too used to simply walking through doors with nobody to stop me.
But this time, somebody finally did.
Call me insane for smiling, but it was a relief to see twelve soldiers ahead, their guns raised at us. Reaching for my magic to spin around me, my protection from bullets, I put my gun away. I grabbed three hearts from my jacket pocket, and ran forward. The gunshots were music to my ears. Jumping up, I threw my hearts at three soldiers, and took out my other sword. Two of the hearts hit their mark. Good enough for me. Magic spun around me, giving me enough time to reach the first one, and cut his chest open with my swords. Dropping his rifle, he growled and charged me with his arms wide open. He was big, probably a werewolf. If he fell on top of me, I was going to have a bad time, so spinning to the side, I swung my left arm back, hoping to catch him in the chest again. But his fingers wrapped around my wrist and stopped me before I could hurt him. With my fist ready, I turned and punched him on the side of his jaw. Skin tore, surprising me a bit, until I remembered the dragon I had wrapped around my hand, its wings right in front of my knuckles. The solider was even more surprised than me, so I took advantage of his distraction, and grabbed my sword by its crossguard. Turning the blade on the other side, I charged him. He moved away once, twice…on the third time, the tip of the blade slit his throat. Putting his hand on his neck, he looked at me like he couldn’t believe what had happened. I kicked him in the face and he dropped on the floor, breathless.
We were in a hallway, long and narrow, with blue LED lights on the corners of the ceiling and the floor. It gave everything a sickening hue and made us all look like corpses. The floor was set with shiny black tiles now dirty with blood, and on either side, there were steel doors with small windows in the middle. I was going to check the closest one, but someone grabbed me from behind and threw me back. Calling for my magic, I dropped one of my swords and raised my hand. The wave of energy left my fingers before I realized who had grabbed me: one of Oscar’s werewolves. My magic hit him in the chest, and he flew back and hit the floor.
Oscar’s eyes met mine. He and his men had stopped fighting. They’d stepped away from us, deeper into the hallway, while the ECU soldiers continued to fight.
Something fell in the pit of my stomach. I took another look around, just to make sure I hadn’t misinterpreted the situation.
I hadn’t.
“Get back!” I shouted at the others, who were fighting the ECU soldiers—six of them still standing. There was no time to tell Oscar now that I was going to kill him, slowly and painfully. My instincts had known it all along. They’d known something was wrong. I’d just been too much a fool to recognize it. Angry at him, at myself—at the whole damn world, I stabbed the soldier who was fighting Luca, so he could go back toward the…
Toward Kevin and Otto. And a whole lot of ECU soldiers standing in front of the door through which we’d come.
The bastard. And stupid, stupid, Scarlet.
I charged forward with my gun, throwing four hearts at their faces. Only one hit its mark and buried in Kevin’s or Otto’s cheek. He growled in pain, and I thought he was going to charge me, but instead, they both stepped aside to let the ECU soldiers in.
The first one was a vampire. He moved so fast, I fired my gun three times before I finally caught him in the chest. Vampires had no magic, and they couldn’t activate spell stones, so he had no way of defending himself against bullets, except his speed. And he didn’t mind that I’d shot him at all. He moved behind me, grabbing me by the hair, and when I spun around with my sword raised, a bunch of it remained in his hand. My skull was on fire, but I did bury my sword in the vampire’s gut, and then proceeded to shoot him in the face. I couldn’t even enjoy the sight of him turning to ash in front of me, which happened only if you wounded their brains, because another soldier wrapped his arm around my neck and pulled me up. The words of his spell invaded my ears, and my arm froze halfway while I tried to elbow him in the gut. Tears stung my eyes when he finished chanting, layering my blood with a thin, unbreakable coat of ice. My limbs felt torn from my body, like they were no longer part of me. My lungs squeezed, chasing the air out. Breathing became almost impossible as the soldier laid me down on the floor, and not gently.
No sound reached my ears, as if something had sucked it all out of the room. I could still open and close my eyes, but that was it. On the inside, I was screaming as I watched the others lying on the floor, too: Ax and Grover on their stomachs, while Luca lay on his back, with Fallon over his chest. Their eyes were closed, though it was too dark to see with clarity, and they didn’t move a single muscle.
The blue lights turned off, making me think that I’d lost consciousness for a second. Darkness swallowed everything, until someone turned other lights on—bright white lights, these ones coming from the ceiling. Now, I could see everything in detail.
“She’s awake,” one of the soldiers behind me said, but I couldn’t move my head to the other side. A short breath later, booted feet were in front of me. The solider kicked me right in the face. My head flew to the other side and back so fast, I was sure my neck had broken, but I couldn’t feel it. I couldn’t even feel the pain from my nose, or cheek, or wherever he’d kicked. I could feel nothing at all!
Forced to keep my eyes half closed, just to give them the impression that I was out cold in case they wanted to kick me again, half the view in front of me disappeared. Was this what the others were doing, too? Were they pretending to be unconscious? There was no way to tell.
Footsteps came from deep in the hallway. Oscar and
his werewolves stood to the side, their hands neatly folded behind their backs, their chins raised, while the ECU soldiers remained by the door. I couldn’t see them, and I had no idea how many there were. Whatever spell they’d put on me was strong. Moving wasn’t going to be possible any time soon.
Tears streamed from my eyes and slipped into my hairline as I tried to see as much as I could through half open eyes. Four people were coming toward us, two men and two women. I recognized the men instantly. It was Erick Adams and Sylvester Cain, members of the ECU—the only ones who survived the attack of the fairy Galladar. The spell hadn’t paralyzed my fear like it had the rest of my body, and it grew to the size of the Empire State building in my chest, making it even harder to breathe. Oscar forced a smile when they stopped in front of him, while the women, both tall and blonde, wearing identical white jackets and black pencil skirts, stood a few feet back.
“You said there were six,” Erick Adams said. I’d seen pictures of him with my parents in fancy events they said were for charity just to make themselves feel better. And I’d seen both their pictures on the internet, too. Now, I couldn’t see clearly, but it was easy to imagine the look in his dull brown eyes while he analyzed us.
“The other is weak. I’ll tell you where she is. You can get to her easily,” said Oscar, his voice completely different from before. Now, he sounded like a scared little kid.
Trusting him was probably the mistake of my life, even more so when my instincts had screamed at me not to. It didn’t surprise me that he worked for the ECU. All that talk about his daughter and his Alpha…had Mathias been in on it, too? I doubted it, but what did I know? I’d followed a goddamn werewolf into an ECU building. I ought to be a candidate for some kind of a prize.
“I certainly can,” said Erick Adams. His voice was emotionless, cold and scratchy. “But that was your job. Your deal.”
