by HK Khan
At my unhappy expression, his look hardens.
“If you’re going to be part of our team, you have to learn to take orders, Guine. I’m ordering you to assist Auntie May with operations.” His stern glare challenges me, testing my obedience. He used his authority on Hawk yesterday, but I really don’t like it directed at me. His voice softens. “You don’t want one of us to get injured because we’re distracted, do you?”
“Fine,” I hiss through clenched teeth. My arms fold across my chest, and I plop into my seat.
I want to be part of the team that takes my tormentors out; I’ve earned the right. I curse Kent under my breath for using my concern for their safety against me. He plays dirty.
He continues to outline the strike plan, and I begrudgingly applaud, albeit silently, at how good it is. May joins us ten minutes into our planning session, and twenty minutes after that, we get ready to go.
Chapter Seventeen
Firmly belted between Hawk and Ash, I fold my arms across my chest. I can’t help but sulk. Even though I’m geared to the hilt, Kent made me ride in the operations van with May and the twins.
“Cheer up, Sugar Plum.” Ashton nudges me with his shoulder. “We’re going to save people, that’s got to bring a smile to your face.”
Channeling Hawk, I grunt, and May laughs from the driver’s seat. “It’s all a part of it, hon. You’ll have your chance, but in the meantime, you can help me monitor the boys.”
Ash and Hawk grumble about being called boys, and their twin expressions lift my mood considerably.
The vehicle comes to a stop, and the door slides open, revealing the other four team members. Phoenix passes us each a small device that nestles into our ears, and when Kent speaks, it’s as though he’s inside my head. Everything moves quicker than I anticipated, and though the Huntress is eager to seek out my old Master, clenching nerves hit my stomach hard.
“Okay, orders are to subdue if possible, but don’t take unnecessary risks. If we come across an infected, take them out. Don’t mess around. We can’t risk the plague spreading. Be on your guard, gentlemen.” Kent swipes across the van door, and it illuminates like the wall from the BRAIN. A real-time image of the breeding house appears, and he traces lines across three of the external doors. “Ash, we need you to fuse the locks on each of these points, ensuring nobody escapes. As soon as he finishes, we split into two teams.” He turns to Genji, “Ji. You, Nix, and Dec will go in through the back and free the girls. You have your med kit?”
Genji holds up a leather bag and straps it across his back.
“Hawk, Ash, and I will storm in through the front, drawing the vamps toward us and keeping the melee away from the captives.” Kent narrows his stern gaze at me. “Guine, you and Auntie will monitor the situation and direct us on comms. If you see any wandering heat signatures, alert us, and someone will break off to handle it.” He steps back. “Everyone clear on their jobs?”
The guys and May form a tight circle as they confirm their orders. Declan pulls me in beside him. As one, they place their right hands on the shoulder of the person next to them, linking us together in a circle.
“Just as the raging storm clears the skies and washes away that which sullies the world, we too take up the call to purge the dregs.” Kent speaks quietly but with passion bursting through every word. “Just as the fire burns hot, consuming all that stands before it and searing a scar into the earth”—his tone raises, and the energy of our circle becomes palpable—“so shall we blaze, cauterizing the gaping wound left in the wake of rogues who prey on those unable to defend themselves. We take up arms in this fight, for we are Hunters.” A chill runs down my spine, and the hairs rise on my arms as Kent’s words grow to a fever pitch. “We have sworn ourselves to this battle as the protectors of the lost, the broken, and the forgotten. We are Hunters, and we will not let slaughter go without vengeance. We are the Storm and the Fire, and we have heard the Call.”
By the end of Kent’s speech, my blood sings through my veins, and the Huntress stretches, ready to burst from my skin.
“We are Hunters,” they whisper in unison and drop their hands from one another. Nothing more is said, and with a churning gut, I watch as the guys disappear into the twilight.
I take my seat across from the screen, and May taps a few keys, bringing up thermal images of the building. We wait in tense silence for the longest ten minutes of my life. A glowing red blur creeps up to each of the exit points, and the group separates to their entrances.
I whisper, “I’ve got a visual on Ash. He’s backing away from the third door and heading toward you, Kent.” I re-count the bodies pictured inside the building, and unease settles into my bones. “I only see thirty-five bodies in the captives section, and I can’t locate the missing two anywhere. Something doesn’t feel right, guys.”
May tweaks a button on the monitor and searches for the missing two as well. “Hold,” she orders. “Guine’s right. Boys, something stinks. Stay on your toes. I’m ordering you to withdraw at the first sign of trouble, do you copy?”
“Loud and clear,” Kent responds. “We’ll be careful,” he adds, probably for my benefit.
The two groups assemble outside of their entry points, and my heart beats a frantic staccato against my ribcage.
“Three…” I bite my lip hard enough to draw blood.
“Two…” I suck in a breath and hold it.
“One…” I dig my fingernails into the palms of my hands.
“Go!” Kent shouts as they burst into the breeding house in unison. I watch the monitors anxiously as the body signatures shift and race toward my guys. My eyes are glued on Kent’s group, and my heart skips a beat when no less than thirty vampires surround them.
“No!” I gasp as May shouts, “Retreat.”
I watch helplessly as the ambush surrounds the other team as well, and my heart shatters as the number of vamps continues to grow. The guys fight furiously, but they’re losing. None of them can hold against these odds.
“Doc’s down!” Phoenix cries out, and my eyes flash to the now stationary dot.
My vision goes red as each of my beloved teammates slow and then stop moving. The fighting only just started, but in less than a minute, my guys are overwhelmed. I pray they’re still alive.
You can save them.
“Get out of here,” Kent whispers in pain. The Huntress rises within me and along with her, comes the rage.
Give yourself over to me, and you can save them all.
I jump from my seat and tear open the van door. May calls out for me to stop, but I ignore her and push myself to run even faster. The trees blur as I speed past, and in the span of a few heartbeats, I stand at the entrance to the breeding house.
You can’t do this without me.
“Watch me,” I hiss, blocking out her voice. I take a step forward and kick the door in.
My heart pauses and then shatters at the sight before me. Kent and Hawk lie motionless on the ground with several vamps feeding from each of them. Ashton, dangling limply, is held aloft by a burly vampire’s grip.
“Get the hell away from them!” All heads turn to me as my voice shatters the feeding frenzy, and I don’t waste any time. My daggers fly one right after the other and nail each of the seven vamps who leech blood from my friends. They drop dead with blades protruding from their foreheads before most of the bloodsuckers even register I’m armed. I flick my staff apart, and Hawk’s craftsmanship works perfectly as I stab the vamp holding Ash straight through the temple. I dodge and dance my way through the other twenty in a blur of clarity. Spinning away from a well-timed thrust, I use my momentum to tuck into a roll and retrieve Kent’s fallen sword. I swing around and lop the head off a charging vamp with frightening ease, letting the arc continue around to disable the last fighter. I scan the room for movement. When I find none, I drop to my knees and administer Genji’s silvery venom to the wounds littering Kent’s body. His eyes flutter open and widen when he recognizes me.
He nods again in understanding, and weakly signs, “Be careful.”
I retrieve my weapons quickly and race for the other room.
“Guine!” May shouts into my forgotten earpiece. “They’re waiting in ambush on the other side of the door.”
I take heed of her warning just in time. Tucking and rolling through the entrance, I miss the barrage of blows where my head would’ve been by a hair’s breadth. I take out the four closest to the door immediately and dive head first into the mass assembling behind them. I flip over an unusually large vamp and use him as a temporary shield as I launch my daggers. Without stopping after I let the last knife fly, I pull arrows out of my vamp shield. He’s long dead from an arrow to the temple, and I throw my collected arsenal back at my attackers. Subconsciously, I keep count, realizing I’ve taken out about forty in this room alone.
“Where the hell are they coming from?” I shout out as the crack of a gunshot has me ducking further behind the vamp corpse. I angle my shield in that direction and pray the body holds out against the automatic weaponry.
“There must be some sort of underground to the building,” she cries frantically. “Near the floor! Your ten o’clock! That’s where they appear on my monitors.”
My arm jolts as several more weapons come into contact with my improvised shield, and I shift his weight forward onto his feet. His limp hand nudges my pocket, and the weight of filled glass presses into my thigh.
The bottle from the experiment in the lab!
I grin as a plan formulates in my mind.
“How far away is the entrance?” I demand while throwing off another attacker. I stab the new assailant in the neck with the bladed end of my staff, rewarding me with an arterial shower as he drops to the ground.
“Twenty feet, directly in front of you,” May coolly responds. I take a steadying breath and clutch the glass grenade in my fist. I launch it over my shield, throwing the dead vamp onto the motionless forms of Phoenix and Declan just as the extract explodes. The hot burn of shrapnel hits my back as I dive to cover Genji’s head with my body, but I can’t let myself slow yet. I use the momentary confusion to administer the last of my stash of venom to the healer’s gaping head wound.
“Kitten?” he croaks.
“No time to talk, Genji.” I grab him by the elbow and drag him toward the other two. “I used up everything I have. Phoenix and Declan need your help.” He pales at the thought of biting them, but nods in understanding.
The air shifts behind me, and I reach up, snagging a dagger mid-flight. Whirling on the stunned assailant, I take him out with his own blade. The carnage from the blast surrounds me, and I put down the last six vamps easily.
Exhaustion weighs my limbs down, and I huff as I shove a sticky lock of my hair away from my eyes. Inspecting the room, I find a wall of rough steel cages lined up on the other side of the cavernous space. Human girls huddle within them, and after making sure Genji has the care of the team well in hand, I hurry to unlock the cells.
“Don’t be afraid,” I coo to the cowering women. Fortunately, the blast didn’t reach them. I use Kent’s sword to slice the locks away and again admire Hawk’s craftsmanship; I barely feel the resistance. “I’m here to help.” I open my mouth wide, showing my lack of fangs, and relief fills the air. “We’re going to escort you to a safe location, okay?”
Before I can get a response, the thudding sounds of battle erupt in my earpiece, and May screams.
Declan turns to me in horror and hollers, “Go!”
I nod and take off through the back entrance toward the van, trusting the guys to be close behind me.
“Hold on!” I cry out to May. “I’m on my way!”
I push even faster than before, and skid to a halt when I get to the van. Streaked with small wounds, May fights savagely against my former Master. A young woman, not much older than me, lies in an awkward, sobbing heap on the other side of the clearing. Her dirty brown hair hangs limp at her slightly swollen waist, and her right leg twists unnaturally beneath her, broken and preventing escape.
The Master leers at me with an evil grin, and in one powerful move, knocks May to the ground, motionless.
“Ah! Qu’est-ce c’est?” He smirks while stalking toward me. “What do we have here?” he asks again in English. “My property returns to me.”
My blood boils at the implication of him ever owning any part of me, and I throw two of my three daggers at his heart. He dodges them with ease, and in the blink of an eye, stands directly before me. The back of his hand strikes me hard enough to make my vision blur, and I drop to my knees struggling to remain conscious.
Free me! You need me!
I grind my teeth and push myself unsteadily to my feet, ignoring the Huntress’ call.
“No!” I growl as I launch a roundhouse kick at his head. He grabs my foot and effortlessly flips me back to the ground.
“Do you not understand?” He cackles. “You cannot beat me! I am a god to you pathetic mortals! I am superior in every way!”
My vision dims, and it becomes painfully clear that he’s stronger than I thought.
Use me!
I close my eyes in defeat and let go of the tight bands of control wrapped around the Huntress.
Just don’t let me be heartless like her.
The Huntress roars in approval and grows to fill me. I feel her stretch into every muscle, merging with me. Colors and scents become more intense, and time slows. My perception shifts, and I understand just what needs to be done in order to prevail.
What’s happening? Why do I still feel like me?
My opening draws near as he paces closer.
All you needed was to stop fearing me. I’m not a foreign entity. I am you, and we are one. Acceptance was the key.
The unfamiliarity of her voice bleeds away until it’s nothing more than the sound of intuition humming in the back of my mind. I shift my weight infinitesimally and ready myself for attack.
As my former Master lifts his arm to take another swing, I launch myself from the ground, slamming my fist into the soft underside of his arm. I continue my assault and strike him in the side hard enough to crack his ribs.
I kick him in the knee and roar. “I”—I strike him in the solar plexus with my elbow, “am”—I follow the move through, grabbing his arm and twisting it until his elbow pops, “not”—I let the momentum continue through to my final blow, and I nail him directly in the throat—“property!”
He drops to his knees, gasping for breath, and I scramble to grab one of my discarded blades. I’m fast, but he’s faster, and he manages to throw one of his own daggers at May. I sacrifice my advantage and throw my blade at his, knocking it off course and altering its trajectory to her shoulder instead of heart. It’s the split second he needs. He grabs the sobbing pregnant girl and makes off toward the trees in the span of a heartbeat.
“We’re not done, Sanguine!” his voice echoes around the clearing. “I’ll be back for your blood!” I hesitate for only a moment before hurrying to the van instead of taking up the chase. I dig around, hoping to find another vial of venom I can use on May.
Kent’s frenzied voice crackles through my miraculously undamaged earpiece. “Guine! What’s going on?”
“The Master escaped with one of the human girls,” I sob as I tear through the first aid kit. “He hurt May, and I let him get away so I could help her.” I throw the useless bag with a growl and open every compartment I can find. “Where the hell is the venom?” I scream.
Genji’s soothing baritone responds through the comm, “There’s an emergency stash under the driver’s seat.”
The small relief I experience at hearing his voice fades as I swipe my hand under the cushion.
“Found it,” I mutter, hurrying back to May’s inert form.
“Tell me what you see,” G
enji orders. I describe the knife wound and the rate of the blood pouring from the site. “Okay, Guine, I know you don’t have a lot of venom, so I’m going to need you to pull the dagger out and find the punctured vein. You’ll have to stick your fingers in the wound, but it can’t be avoided. You need to apply all of the venom in the vial directly to the vein, or you run the risk of missing it and her bleeding out.” I swallow back my tears and uncork the small tube. “Ready?” he asks.
I nod and then remember he can’t see me. “Yes,” I mumble. “I’m doing it now.”
Though my insides quake, my hands remain steady. In a few fluid movements, I hold the vein pinched between my fingers. I carefully drip venom onto the tear and wait with baited breath. I watch closely with my more vivid vision as the silvery liquid knits the vein back together. Slowly, I release my fingers and my breath. “It worked.” I sag with relief when no blood seeps through.
“Good job, Kitten,” Genji croons. “I’ll be with you shortly. Stay with her, okay?”
“Okay.” I exhale, dropping into a sprawling heap beside my unconscious patient. My hand finds hers, and I link the tips of my fingers into her limp ones.
“You’re going to be okay, Auntie May,” I whisper, watching as the last of the sun’s rays disappear into the canopy above. It’s no use denying what she means to me anymore.
We’re family.
Chapter Eighteen
While Genji struggles to revive Auntie May, the second Hunter team arrives.
“They’re a mile northeast of us,” I inform their leader as he cautiously approaches me. “Thirty-six girls need shelter and medical care, and it’s going to take a massive clean-up effort to make this mess disappear.”
The man stares without any indication he’s heard me.
“Helloo-o,” I wave my hands in front of his face, but freeze when I realize they’re blood-soaked. I know I’m being rude, but exhaustion makes me irritable. A small movement in my peripheral vision startles me, and I turn my head sharply. Auntie May groans, and I rush to her side, ignoring the irritating silent man.
