Heroines and Hellions: a Limited Edition Urban Fantasy Collection

by Margo Bond Collins

  Back in Zhengzhou, Xin strode into a room filled with military commanders and police officers. Yu Long, still in his blood-streaked combat fatigues, walked behind her, his expression set in stoic, faintly despairing lines. They won’t listen to you. He shook his head, his voice whispering into her mind. You know what they’re like…Chinese men, especially old Chinese men. They’re from another generation—

  She did not look at him. Yu Long. As we discussed. Now.

  The corners of his eyes twitched as his telepathic powers eased through the room—softer than a whisper, more subtle than a thought. Knowledge implanted so gently that it seemed intuitive, even life-long.

  The legend became real.

  Hushed whispers rose from the back of the room and trickled over, like a river spilling its banks. “It’s her. The Shang queen…the high priestess…the general…Lady Fu Hao.”

  “My generals.” Xin’s clear, ringing tones hushed the babble in the room. Heads swiveled toward her. Her Mandarin was delivered in measured tones, somehow archaic and stately. “More than three thousand years ago, I led you in our battles against the Tu-Fang, and against the neighboring kingdoms of Yi, Qiang, and Ba. Together, we defended and expanded the boundaries of the Shang dynasty.” Her gaze fell upon General Wang and Police Chief Chen. Their expressions were drawing together in confusion, their mouths open in the beginning of an objection.

  She flung her thought out to Yu Long. Keep the pressure on. Gently.

  He snapped back at her. I know what I’m doing even though it runs counter to our culture. In the military and police force, we order. We don’t persuade. Distaste rippled through his mental voice.

  I’ll issue orders after I persuade them to believe in me. Xin allowed a smile to touch her lips. “General Zhi.”

  General Wang jerked in his seat. He touched his chest, his expression awestruck, at having been named the reincarnation of one of Fu Hao’s leading generals.

  Xin’s gaze traveled to the other side of the room and locked upon Chen, the chief of police. “General Hou Gao.”

  The pudgy man’s eyes lit with reverence. He inclined his head, accepting the honor of being acknowledged as Fu Hao’s other general.

  “Our people have need of us once more to defend them against the enemy, the jiangshi, and yet, the jiangshi are victims of circumstance. They were once our neighbors, our friends, our family, and they can be once more—but only if we can contain them safely until the cure is found.”

  She signaled to Yu Long, and he projected onto the screen a map of Zhengzhou, marked into zones and assigned to various military and police teams. The plan to retake the city from the jiangshi was simple—almost too simple.

  Low murmurs buzzed with doubt.

  Xin laughed, the sound sparkling with amusement. “Come now. Others swore the ambush on the Ba kingdom would never work, but together, we pulled off the earliest recorded large-scale ambush in Chinese history. We made history once; today, we will do it again when we save Zhengzhou and its people from their own folly.”

  Her gaze flowed over the room. “Stand with me once more. The physical enemy is different, but the enemy within—fear, cowardice—is the same. You defeated them once. Defeat them again today.” Her cadence slowed. Her voice rang out. “You are descendants of the Shang. Our ancient dynasty marked the beginnings of Chinese civilization, and it will not end, not as long as we stand watch over our land and our people. Fulfill your honor, your destiny, and follow me to battle once more.”

  She let her gaze rest on the leading military and police officers in the room. “General Zhi. General Hou Gao. You have your orders.”

  The general shot to his feet. “The Lady Fu Hao has commanded us. Let’s go.” He inclined his head to Xin in a brisk motion that would have almost seemed rude except that it was offered with the reverence of a salute and accepted as such.

  Yu Long waited until the room emptied before he walked up to Xin. He stared into her face, his expression transformed by wonder. “Who are you, really?”

  I am Mu Xin, and I will use whatever weapon is available to me—the Chinese belief in reincarnation, the mysticism associated with Ghost month, and the Chinese reverence for ancient heroes—to do what I have to do.

  Yu Long drew a deep breath. They will fight today believing they are reincarnations of Shang generals and warriors, called upon to defend their beloved general and queen. Nothing else could have inspired them more. How did you know?

  It’s what I do, Xin said without bitterness. I understand the nature of individuals and how to manipulate them to the proper ends. The generals’ sense of duty and destiny…Danyael’s compassion and courage…they are all weapons. My weapons.

  Yu Long drew a deep breath. And what happens to those who stand in your way?

  They don’t.

  Xin—

  “How is Danyael doing?”

  Yu Long grimaced. “He’s held out longer than anyone else has, but no…they don’t think he’s going to make it.”

  “He will.”

  “Do you want me to take you back to Excelsior?”

  She shook her head. “No, we’re going to the command headquarters to take Zhengzhou back from the jiangshi.”

  “But what about Danyael?”

  “My vigil by his bedside will accomplish nothing, and the only person who can help him is on her way. He’ll deliver the antibodies. My job is make sure that when he does, there are still people and jiangshi left to save.”

  The command headquarters sprawled across the highest floor of the city’s administration building. The bright glare of oversized screens and the flashing blips on computer networks and terminals scattered pockmarks of light across the room. Technicians spoke quietly into their headsets, their hands moving across touch-sensitive screens.

  A central computer processed the information and fed it into the overhead projector set over a white-surfaced table in the center of the room. The light from the projector spilled out into a topographical map of the city, overlaid with differently colored moving dots depicting police forces, military units, and roving gangs of jiangshi.

  Police Chief Chen and General Wang stood on either side of Xin, speaking in lowered voices as they surveyed the movement of their men. The lights on the table shifted—the information refreshed with data from the military and police bio-trackers and reports from the helicopters hovering over Zhengzhou.

  Only partly listening to the murmured conversation around her, Xin studied the movement of the red jiangshi dots over the map as they converged on certain spots, as if drawn by a beacon. “Overlay building locations on the map,” she ordered.

  The image blurred for a moment as three-dimensional outlines of buildings rose from the table to fill the map with detail.

  Xin’s chest grew cold. “The jiangshi are moving in on the city squares and night markets.”

  Yu Long shook his head. “Dr. Shen said they avoided light and sound.”

  “But their violence is driven by their desire to destroy sensory stimulation.” Xin’s gaze flashed toward the central business district, dominated by office buildings that radiated light through the night. Beyond downtown Zhengzhou, the arts district bustled with frenetic activity centered on Henan Stadium.

  She yanked the headset microphone to her mouth. “Units 23, 57, 94. Get to Henan Stadium now. Barricade the entrances. Keep the people inside. If you see any jiangshi along the way, kill them.”

  Yu Long shook his head. A muscle twitched in his jaw. “The units will never get there in time. Look.” He pointed at a thin trail of red dots spilling through the streets like a river of blood. “The jiangshi will reach the stadium before we can.”

  Xin’s mind raced. “You have choppers on the roof.”

  “Yes.”

  “And mutant units, here, at headquarters.”

  “Yes, but we agreed we weren’t going to put mutants in the fight, apart from the one telepath with each unit. If they’re injured and transformed—”

 
“Get the mutants on the choppers and over to Henan Stadium.”

  Yu Long stared at her. His lips pressed into a flat line but he nodded and issued terse instructions. Several men and women scrambled from their seats and into the stairwell to the roof.

  He grabbed Xin’s arm as she stood. “Wait, what are you doing?”

  “I’m coming along.”

  “No, you’re not. It’s too dangerous.”

  She shook off his arm. “We’re wasting time.”

  “If you get killed—”

  “If the premier gets killed, you’ll have a much bigger problem on your hands.” She glanced over her shoulder at a young woman standing over a large terminal. “You’re on point. I want updates from you.”

  Frowning, Yu Long chased Xin from the room, up the stairs, and onto the roof. He ducked his head and clambered onto a waiting helicopter. “Why her?” he shouted above the roar of the rotating blades and screaming engines.

  “She’s your most powerful telepath, and I gave her direct access to my mind.”

  “Why?”

  “Because all the information from your telepaths out with the units are routing to her and directly to me. I don’t need the computer to command units. It’s here…in my head—the battlefield of the twenty-first century.”

  The helicopter lifted off the landing pad and joined the others in the race to Henan Stadium.

  The reports poured in.

  Unit 56: Facing heavy resistance. Half the team is down.

  Unit 73: We’ve secured our assigned area. Awaiting further orders.

  Unit 25: The warehouses on Jen Lai Road are on fire. Spreading fast. We’re circling around to cut off the jiangshi advance, but we need the firemen here and a new place to secure the jiangshi.

  The map in Xin’s mind shifted. Unit 25, split the team. Half of you, head north to rendezvous with Unit 56. The remainder will continue east. Unit 73. Leave a quarter of the team to hold the area. The rest of you will head southwest. You’ll likely encounter the jiangshi in region 25 first. Take them down.

  What?

  Take them down. Apart from the warehouses, there is no safe place within a mile to contain them. If you cannot contain the jiangshi, then you contain the spread of the madness.

  Unit 14. We took heavy losses, but we’ve secured the building. What do you want us to do?

  Deploy your men across the northbound highway. The jiangshi from region 19 are headed in your direction. There is a small office building on the corner of Feng Lai Lane and Huang Zhi Road. Send men ahead to clear the building, and herd the jiangshi into it.

  Yu Long jostled her arm and nudged her attention onto the small screen picking up the live feed from the stadium. The camera swung away from Angie Ma, resplendent in a gold sequined dress, and to the commotion near the large stadium doors. For a moment, it seemed little more than a scuffle between security guards and a party crasher, but seconds later, the security guards collapsed, and jiangshi swarmed through the doorway.

  “Stand by.” Xin reached for her tablet. Her fingers flew over the virtual keyboard as she finalized the commands in her computer worms. “All units, stand by for Operation Overload. Bring the choppers over the center of the stadium. Stand by for go.”

  Yu Long stuffed molded plastic into his ears and grunted as the plastic expanded to fill his ear canals. He tugged the night vision goggles over his eyes. He took his place beside the other soldiers, similarly equipped, their hooks attached to the safety line in the helicopter.

  They were prepared to propel down into the madness.

  He raised his head, met Xin’s eyes, and nodded. All units standing by. Waiting your mark.

  On the screen, the jiangshi rushed through the stadium, heading for the brightest lights and the loudest sounds—the stage where Angie Ma basked in the spotlight. The cameras panned to follow the motion, and focused on the VIP box, right in front of the stage. It zoomed in on the premier’s face and on the sudden rush of alarm.

  The jiangshi leaped.

  Xin hit the tablet key.

  The stadium plunged into darkness. Every light in Zhengzhou and its suburban sprawl winked out.

  Xin’s telepathic command surged through the psychic network. Go!

  Yu Long grabbed onto the rope fastened to the helicopter and lowered himself into the stadium. The vibrations from the ground told him that the other soldiers had also lowered themselves safely from the hovering helicopters.

  The ambient light poured into the night vision goggles, bathing the world in a green hue. All around him, people and jiangshi swiveled in apparent bewilderment. Their mouths were open, presumably calling out in panic, but the ear protection blocked off all sound.

  Xin’s voice rang out. Three.

  Yu Long flipped the switch on his night vision goggles. A thick screen lowered over the lenses, blocking out all light.

  Two.

  He drew a deep breath. I hope you know what you’re doing, Xin.

  He could have sworn he heard her chuckle.

  One.

  Every light in Zhengzhou blazed on. The spotlights surged to their highest level. In that moment, every air raid siren in Zhengzhou screamed, every fire alarm and every security system blasted out. Sound waves rocked the city, which blazed with light as bright as day.

  People recoiled from the light and crouched, their hands pressed against their ears.

  The jiangshi, their screams pitched high with agony, reeled and crumpled to the ground. None of them rose.

  The soldiers, their eyes and ears protected, were the only ones left standing. Yu Long yanked off his night vision goggles and rushed to the premier as the older man rose to his feet. He waved his men over as Xin’s voice rang through the telepathic channels. Clear the streets now. Take the jiangshi and any injured into the safe houses, and secure the houses. Escort the uninjured from the stadium, and then lock down the stadium. No one leaves until we have a cure.

  Yu Long hurled the thought back. Do we have a cure? Will we?

  A voice shrieked over the sound of shattering glass.

  Dr. Yi Shen’s head snapped up. She pushed away from her desk and ran to the door of her office. A technician scrambled past, her eyes wide and panic-stricken. A gray-uniformed security guard stumbled around the corner, his boots sliding against the slick surface.

  Yi stared at the crimson streaks on the white tiles before yanking her gaze up to his face. “What—?”

  “They’re coming in through the front gate. Can’t stop them.” His body jerked into a spasm that crashed him against the wall and to the floor. His eyes rolled up in his head, and his hands tensed into talons as he dug his fingers into his skull.

  Jiangshi!

  She ran down the corridor and pushed through the swinging doors that led to the secured wing. Behind her, the security guard’s wail morphed into the cry of a maddened animal. The thud of shoes against the floor pounded its rapid rhythm through her heart.

  As they attacked, the jiangshi did not scream, nor did they shout, but the people they clawed down in their rampage did. The tiles grew slick with blood. The number of dead increased; the injured multiplied exponentially.

  Flickering lights and crashing sounds from the external-facing laboratories spilled over into the corridor. Shadows performed a dans macabre upon the walls as the jiangshi tore through lab technicians. She screamed and veered away from the impact of a female researcher hurled against a laboratory door. The glass panel in the door shattered, spraying fragments into the corridor. They crunched beneath her shoes as she ducked her head between her arms and ran a zigzag through the bursts of violence.

  “Help!” An injured technician stumbled through a broken doorway. Blood spilled from a deep gash in her neck. She pressed her hand against the jagged flesh, and her other hand reached out, trembling, to Yi. Her fingers brushed against Yi’s arm, but Yi scrambled past and the technician collapsed to her knees.

  A dark figure blurred through the door. The technician screamed. Yi cast
a glance over her shoulder. The jiangshi crouched over the technician’s body looked up and bared its teeth before surging to its feet.

  The locked door to the secured laboratory wing was twenty feet away—an impossible distance away. The slap of the jiangshi bare feet against the tiled foot grew closer with each second.

  Yi slammed her access card against the security panel and threw her weight against the door. She slipped in through the opening and pressed herself back against the door.

  The jiangshi forced its bloodied hand through the small gap and clawed the air. Its dirt-blackened face with its red-rimmed eyes stared at Yi through the glass panel.

  “Help me!” she shouted as the nurse she had assigned to stay with Danyael rushed out of his room. Together, the two women pushed against the door until the jiangshi yelped with pain and withdrew its hand. The door slammed; the lock slid shut.

  Her breath coming in short heaves, Yi inched to the glass panel but leaped back with a startled cry when the jiangshi pressed against the other side of the door. Its upper lip drew back into the hint of a snarl married to a maniacal grin. The corridor behind it was blood-streaked.

  It raised its hand and slowly curled it into a fist before pounding it on the glass in a slow, rhythmic beat. Behind it, a dozen or more jiangshi gathered.

  Yi turned and grabbed the nurse’s arm. “Quick, this way.” She scurried into Danyael’s room and locked the door. No way out. She tapped on the computer terminal and pulled up the security program. The screen flashed through the images captured by the security cameras mounted at the entrances and at the intersections.

  Blood. Bodies. Everywhere. Jiangshi tearing through the building—

  Yi’s trembling finger halted the rapid video feed. A military vehicle pulled into the driveway, its headlights and fender smeared with blood, as if it had mowed down the jiangshi. A pale-faced young man sat in the driver’s seat. He made no move to exit the car.

  The passenger door opened and a young woman—South American or perhaps Middle Eastern—stepped out. Dressed in a form-fitting black jumpsuit, she carried a short-barreled assault rifle with the careless ease of the consummate professional. Her sharp, sweeping gaze seemed to take in everything in a single glance. The cool expression on her face did not change as she strode into a building overrun with jiangshi.