The Hybrid Series | Book 4 | Damned

by Stead, Nick

  Will slid the safety off his rifle. “What is it?”

  I’d come to a stop, ears pricked and nose to the wind. My lips pulled back in a warning snarl, fangs bared and hackles raised.

  “Slayers?” he asked.

  “Worse. Vampires,” I growled.

  “I thought you were allies these days?”

  “Technically we are. It’s complicated.”

  “Complicated enough to cause us trouble?”

  Another scent carried on the breeze, one I recognised. Ulfarr was here.

  “Yeah, they’re looking for a fight. They think I turned on them and murdered a few of their own. I didn’t, but most still believe I’m guilty.”

  “So they’re here for revenge?”

  “Something like that. The Elder vampire dealing with it all would have executed me by now, if the Slayers hadn’t got in his way. I can smell him, plus two others. He’s probably here to finish it.”

  “He should have brought more with him,” Will said, raising the rifle and sighting down the barrel.

  “Have you never been up against an Elder before? He’s the most ancient vampire I’ve met, and the most powerful. You’ll need more than a rifle to stop him.”

  Will didn’t answer. A moment later, Ulfarr and the two other vampires were stepping out of the shadows, the Elder stalking towards us with the utter confidence of a creature who knows he wields unrivalled power. He was exactly as I remembered him. Green eyes glittered with a loathing for my bestial nature, gleaming from beneath the head of the werewolf’s pelt he wore like a sleeveless, hooded jacket. His muscular chest was still bare underneath the skin’s forelegs draped over each shoulder, and his plain black trousers were belted at the waist, where he wore a sword at his hip. It was the same blade which had almost taken my life once before.

  “Consorting with Slayers now, wolf?” Ulfarr sneered. “Do you not feel even the faintest sense of loyalty towards your own kind?”

  “It’s out of loyalty that I allied with this human,” I growled. “I already told you I didn’t kill those vampires, and I’m not out to kill any other undead. We’re here to deal with the demon known as Dhaer. Put me under your spell if you don’t believe me, so I can’t lie.”

  “I think not. We have wasted enough time already. You answer for your crimes tonight.”

  “No,” Will said. “He’s coming with me.”

  “Quiet, human. We will have justice for our murdered brethren, and then we will feast on your blood, until you are nothing but a dried husk.”

  “You mistake me for prey. Perhaps that’s all I was once, a lifetime ago. But I no longer serve humans, Slayers or otherwise, and my master will not take kindly to your attempts to disrupt His plans. The wolf stays with me, alive and unharmed. He’s aiding me in defeating Dhaer, like he said.”

  Ulfarr laughed. My own hate rose up, born of the injustices I’d suffered at his hands after the corpses of Leon’s victims had started turning up. I wanted nothing more than to throttle him with the pelt of my long dead kin, but I knew better than to make any move to attack. He was simply too powerful to be beaten in a fair fight.

  Will clearly didn’t share in my feelings that we were outmatched. Gunshot thundered through my ears, the rifle pointing directly at Ulfarr’s head. A small piece of metal clattered to the ground seconds later.

  Ulfarr’s face twisted into an angry snarl. If this encounter had been before seeing Will fight against Dhaer, I think my heart might have stopped. But I had a feeling Will’s master would take over again if it came to it, and if Jaken could channel enough power through His servant to take on a rival demon, He could probably take the Elder on as well.

  Sure enough, Will’s face split into a partial skeletal grin. The demon didn’t speak through him this time though. He merely unleashed more telekinetic energy, taking Ulfarr and his cronies by surprise and sending them flying. All three landed on their arses, humiliated and beaten. I was amazed to see the Elder give up so easily, but maybe he knew more about demons than I did. Enough to know when to admit defeat and bow to a greater power.

  Ulfarr gave me one last look of hate and fury, and I knew what it meant without him having to say the words. This wasn’t over, and unless I could find a way to clear my name with some kind of evidence even he couldn’t dismiss, then the vampires were no longer my allies. Other than Lady Sarah and Zee, of course.

  I glared back at him, my fangs still bared and my body in a fighting stance. But there would be no fight that night. The three of them turned their backs and slunk off, into the shadows. I remained tense, half expecting them to come charging back in if we let our guards drop for even the briefest of moments. Surely it couldn’t really be that easy.

  “Back in the car, Nick,” Will said, his face his own again. I couldn’t remember if he’d bothered to lock it after we’d parked up earlier, but he was already standing by the driver’s side with the door open. His larger weapons were back in the boot but he still had the handguns holstered at his belt, and the two daggers.

  “We’ve not seen the last of him,” I growled.

  “Probably not, but he’s a problem for another night. Now get in. We sleep, then I’ll drive us to somewhere suitable for the summoning.”

  “How can you be so sure he won’t be back to kill us while we sleep?”

  “I know his type, and he’s no fool. He’ll wait for a better time to confront you, when you don’t have such powerful allies at your side. We’ve nothing more to fear from him tonight.”

  “Shouldn’t one of us keep watch at least?”

  “There’s no need. Humans won’t be back here for some time yet either. More ghouls might come scavenging, but they have enough free meat to feast on without having to risk hunting the two of us. This area is safe for now.”

  I was still doubtful as I climbed into the car. My body continued to ride the wave of adrenaline Ulfarr had called up, and my mind was racing with questions.

  “What’s going to happen to this place now? What makes you say humans won’t be back for a while?”

  “You wanted sleep before going back into battle, so sleep. We can talk later.”

  “I’m wide awake now. Won’t you at least give me some answers to help calm my mind? These thoughts are only going to keep on buzzing through my head if you don’t.”

  Will sighed. “Dhaer’s power will linger here for weeks, maybe even months. It will be a long time before animals venture back. Human senses might be weaker, but they will feel it too. That alone will deter them from reclaiming the area, until the effects of its presence wear off.”

  “But what about the Slayers? Won’t they already be aware of what’s happened?”

  “Oh yes, they will be aware. I’m sure you saw the evidence of those who fought and died here for yourself. There’s a good chance they were able to send word of the attack to their superiors before Dhaer slaughtered them, but the Slayers aren’t stupid. They know the futility of fighting a demon with guns, so why bother sending in more of their people to die? Only through the combined power of their greatest spellcasters do they have a chance at defeating Dhaer. But it’s not like they’re all conveniently waiting in one place. It would take time to call them all in for a focused strike, and we got here first.”

  “So will they have someone keeping an eye on the situation from as safe a distance as possible?”

  “Yes, they’ll be keeping an eye on things. They might not know we’re here, but someone will have seen the terror demon fly off.”

  “But how will they cover something this big up? Won’t the general public have questions, even if they daren’t come anywhere near this place?”

  “They’ll find some story to feed the rest of the world. I’m sure you’ve seen for yourself by now the Slayers are everywhere. They have every aspect of humanity in their pocket – the media, the authorities, the NHS, etcetera. Even the government is under their influence. With access to all these resources, it’s generally not that hard to hide the truth
from civilians.”

  He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

  “They’ll send in their clean-up crews to take care of any evidence that doesn’t fit with the story they come up with, and to plant evidence as needed, and then they’ll have their people in the media spread the lie they wish to tell.” His eyes opened again, his gaze fixed on the road ahead. But I had the feeling he was seeing much more in his mind’s eye, imagining the Slayers moving in to cover up the demon’s attack, and maybe even remembering similar situations he’d been a part of. “The biggest job for them this time will be the bodies. They won’t want anyone asking questions about how thousands of people all had their ribs explode out through their chests, not when there’s no scientific explanation as to how it could have happened. I suspect they’ll just bomb the area and blame it on some kind of catastrophic natural disaster or maybe even a terrorist organisation, if it suits whatever political game they’re currently playing. I was never involved in that side of things and I never cared for politics.”

  “What were you even doing with them when you’ve been pledged to a demon all these years?”

  He looked across at me again. “Playing the role of double agent. As things currently stand, the Slayers no longer consider demons a threat. Not when most of them retreated to Hell and haven’t been seen in the centuries since. True cases of demonic possession are rare these days and for a demon to be here in body like Dhaer is even rarer, and often as a result of ritual magic. My master wants it to stay that way.”

  “You mean He gets you to do His dirty work so what, the Slayers are less likely to figure out what’s really going on?”

  “Yes. He prefers not to directly influence the events up on Earth as much as possible, lest the Slayers realise Hell hasn’t completely lost interest in the souls of the living.”

  “Could they even do anything to harm demons in their own realm? I’m guessing it’s not really somewhere the living can visit.”

  “I believe there are things their spellcasters could do, if they were able to raise enough power between them. But as I told you before, it’s not for me to question such things.”

  “How can you follow Him with such blind obedience? He obviously wants rid of the Slayers as much as undead do, so demons can come back to prey on the living. Don’t you care what damage He might be planning to do to make that happen?”

  Will shrugged. “I damned myself to Hell when I agreed to His deal. What does it matter if He plans to make a second Hell on Earth? I’m doomed to burn in those fires either way.”

  “That seems a pretty selfish way of looking at things. Don’t you have any family you care about, or friends? I know most people you knew before becoming His servant are probably long dead by now, but what about kids and grandkids, and new friends you’ve made along the way?”

  He shook his head. “There’s no one left. Maybe I am selfish, but I’m only one man whose soul isn’t even his own. If I did start asking questions, what do you think would happen? Do you really think my master would tolerate it, much less give me the answers I want? And even if He was prepared to share His plans with me, do you really believe I could do anything at all to put a stop to them? One move against Him and He would drag me down to Hell to begin my eternal torment. I’m still alive and up on Earth because I still have my uses, but don’t for one moment mistake that for being the same as having some kind of immunity. I’m as expendable to Him as I was to the army. If I were to ever show any signs of disobedience, He would simply find someone else to do His bidding. But on top of all that, I couldn’t disobey a direct order even if I wanted to. My soul is His, and so is my will.”

  My eyes widened. “You don’t have free will anymore?”

  “Not when it comes to carrying out His commands. Some choices remain my own, but the choice to disobey is not one of them.”

  I thought about that for a moment. Selfish or not, I found myself actually feeling sorry for him. Ed had given me the impression Will had been a good man once, before he’d been thrust into this impossible situation. It couldn’t have been easy to find himself caught in whatever game his master was playing, and yet utterly powerless to do anything other than play the role he was given. “I’m not sure what’s worse, your fate or Ed’s.”

  He stiffened at the mention of his old friend’s name. Despite his insistence there was no one left he cared about, it seemed like he might still have some kind of emotions for Ed. Did he feel guilty for turning his back on the ghoul? Did he blame himself for his friend’s return as an undead monster, particularly after he’d just left him to die out there on the battlefield? My pity for the old soldier grew. He was surely as cursed as any who called themselves undead, even if he was technically still human. But another thought occurred to me as well. His guilt for Ed might be something I could use against him, if I found myself back on the wrong end of his guns.

  “We should sleep now.” He rolled onto his side so that his head rested against the car door, away from me.

  There was plenty more I wanted to ask but I could take a hint: Will was done talking. Besides, the adrenaline was finally starting to wear off and exhaustion was taking over. So I closed my eyes and let myself drift into another light sleep.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  Give Me Your Pain

  I awoke to the roar of the car’s engine and the thrum vibrating through the seats. Dull light streamed in the windows, the sky still darkened by the destruction that was to be Dhaer’s legacy. The scar it had left upon the land would likely remain for many years to come, even with humanity’s intervention. I didn’t really care about the people of that county, but it saddened me to think of the patches of natural habitat to have been destroyed, precious few as they were in this age of technology and concrete.

  Will’s hands were on the steering wheel but we weren’t moving yet. He glanced at me, then returned his attention to the road ahead. “You need to change to human again before we reach any main roads. There’s more clothes in the back.”

  “Give me a minute then,” I growled. It was easier to stand outside than mess about trying to reach the clothes on the seat behind, and then wriggle into them in the confines of the car.

  My stomach was already reminding me it had been a while since my last meal. The hunger only intensified with the energy needed to shrink my skull down into its original human shape, along with my tail and fangs and claws. Fur receded, leaving me with the sparser covering of my human hair. I felt bald in comparison, shivering in the early morning chill as I opened the car’s back door and rummaged around for something else to wear.

  “How many clothes did you bring?” I asked, sifting through several shirts and pairs of socks before I found any shoes and trousers to go with them.

  “Possibly not enough, given how quickly you werewolves go through them.”

  “Hey, you’re the one who keeps insisting on me riding around as human. If it weren’t for the Slayers I probably wouldn’t have had to transform at all. I bet most people would have just assumed I was in costume, or I could have gone full wolf and passed for a big dog.”

  He didn’t reply to that so I dressed in silence and got back into the car, then we were on our way to whichever unfortunate town he’d picked to sacrifice for a cause only his master truly understood. Hundreds of lives were about to be lost and not a single one of them would ever know why. I wondered how many we were about to doom to an afterlife of eternal torment, and whether the lack of a reason for it would make their suffering any worse. Probably not. Everything about Dhaer spoke of a creature born of pain and hatred. If that was the nature of all demons and they inflicted a similar level of suffering on the souls they claimed, then those souls probably wouldn’t have too much time to wonder why it was happening to them. The agony of such torture might rob them of all thought and reason, or they might retain a single thought running on an endless loop. A thought along the lines of ‘make it stop’.

  I couldn’t even begin to guess at what was going thro
ugh Will’s mind that morning. He turned the radio on to catch the news, but the moment they started playing some new song climbing the charts he turned it off again. That was fine by me. I’d rather have silence than any of that rubbish dominating modern radio.

  We must have been driving for about an hour before we parked up again. The town we’d come to was another relatively small one, and there didn’t seem to be anything special about it to indicate why Will had picked that one in particular. To my eyes there was nothing to give us an advantage when we went up against Dhaer for round two.

  “This is it?” I asked, getting out of the car.

  “Yeah, this will do. Can I leave you to get on with the killing while I grab a bite to eat and work on the summoning ritual?”

  “A bite to eat?” I laughed, imagining the old warrior sitting in a fast food place as I rampaged through the streets outside, calmly eating his burger and fries while the town descended into chaos around him. “Seriously?”

  Will shrugged and grabbed some of the clothes he’d slung in the back, changing his army uniform for jeans, shirt and a jacket. “I need to eat as much as you and I can’t live off raw meat, especially not from other humans. I’m no cannibal.”

  “What about the Slayers, won’t they throw everything they have at me when they realise I’m here?”

  “I’m counting on it now.” He checked the rounds in both pistols, then adjusted his holsters, making sure they were completely hidden beneath his clothes. He did the same with the two daggers. “We can turn them into bait for Dhaer when the demon shows up. Don’t worry, until they call in reinforcements it’s mostly the fools running round with barely any training, and no worse than handguns and knives. Nothing you can’t handle.”

  “Doesn’t matter if they’ve got handguns or semi-automatics. All it takes is one lucky shot to put me down.”

  “They’ll panic and shoot blindly. You’ll be fine.” There was no emotion in that grizzled face, nothing to reassure me or sympathise with what I was being asked to do.