King Tomb (Forever Evermore)

by Scarlett Dawn

I sighed when Antonio moved to Cahal. I started feeling over Ezra’s head, making sure his skull wasn’t depressed anywhere. Just because I couldn’t smell any blood on him, it didn’t mean he wasn’t injured there. “Antonio’s fixing him up. Don’t worry.”

  I paused in my exploration of his head when I heard his Vampire make a definite purring sound. “That feels good.” He tilted his head more into my hold. “And the view’s even better.”

  I glanced down, then I slapped my hand over his mouth. He was staring at my breasts. “Good grief.” Damn concussion.

  “You’re going to have to give me mouth-to-mouth again if you suffocate me,” his voice was muffled behind my hand, then I felt his lips curl against my palm, “Never mind. Suffocate me.”

  Unbidden, a chuckle escaped. “You’re un-freaking-believable.” I removed my hand from his mouth. He looked kind of adorable lying there with a silly grin on his face. “Try to be quiet.”

  “I’ll be as quiet as you want me to be,” he purred.

  Sighing in amused exasperation, I moved away to check Elder Jacobs.

  Elder Merrick and I glanced at one another, then we jumped. Our strength allowed us to reach and grip a slight ridge two stories up. The building wasn’t large, appearing like a concrete commercial structure, and said concrete bit into my fingers as I grappled for a hold, my feet dangling in the night air. Gritting my teeth, I dug in, letting my wolf’s nails slice through my fingers for the added anchor. Swinging a leg up, I hooked it over the ridge and carefully maneuvered until I was standing on the rough, decorative edging, my heels the only thing on the ridge, my back against the wall. Another glance at Elder Merrick once he was situated, and we both bent carefully then jumped straight up again, twisting in midair to grip the edge of the top of the four-story building and, as before, hooking one leg over the edge so that we lifted over it and both of us were flat on the roof of the building.

  Scanning the top of the building, I pointed to the right and Elder Merrick pointed to the left. And we both pounced, taking our knives from their sheaths and attacking the Coms on top of the building who stood watch. Hell, the Coms didn’t even have time to pull their guns. Five necks were sliced, no screams, in a matter of ten seconds. A small smile lifted my lips as I wiped my knife on the leg of my soft black leather pants before resheathing it.

  “You really do enjoy this, don’t you?” Elder Merrick muttered.

  “Don’t you?”

  He growled a bit, but eventually I saw the same smile grace his face. “We’re wolves.”

  “If that’s what you need to tell yourself…then you’re in denial.” I started walking to the edge of the building. “I can honestly say that this is a perfectly legal way to vent my anger.” A glance at him. “What’s your honest excuse?”

  He ignored me, staring out into the night. His eyes flashed twice into the dark night. Two green flashes were returned from a hundred yards away in the shadows of the few trees decorating the field this structure was built on. Message sent: We had taken the roof and were moving inside. Message received and returned: Elder Zeller and Ezra would be waiting at the east entrance for entry.

  Antonio was at the north end, using his power to run interference on their security system. Elder Jacobs was to the south, creating a small wind disturbance, nothing major or unnatural, just enough to distract the small number of guards who had been circulating the premises. No one had kicked his ass yet. I was pretty sure Ezra was waiting until after the mission was through, so Elder Jacobs was able to do his part.

  Knowing Antonio had the security system in hand, I jerked open the massive steel door, easily breaking its locks, the steel handle crushing under my grip. We moved inside quietly down the stairs to the first floor. I could hear Coms throughout the building, but they could wait until we let in Ezra and Elder Cahal. Exiting the stairwell, I quickly slit the throat of a Com who had the misfortune to be walking by, dragging her body into the stairwell and stuffing her in the corner under the stairs. We glided against the walls until we arrived at any corners, following the layout we had memorized. Elder Merrick silently took out two more Coms while I took out the other two standing post at the east entrance. Elder Merrick opened the office door behind them, taking out the three techies there, then tossed the bodies littering the floor into that room while I swiftly unlocked and opened the door for Ezra and Elder Zeller. They both entered silently, their nostrils flared, eyes intent, and faces as serious as Elder Merrick’s and mine, while I lifted and tossed the bodies they had taken care of outside the entrance into that same office. I left the door unlocked for Antonio and Elder Jacobs to enter, which should be precisely in…a glance at my watch… “Ten minutes until Antonio and Elder Jacobs arrive.”

  One nod by all, then we moved to exterminate.

  Elder Cahal was taking the fourth floor, Ezra the third, Elder Merrick was taking the second with later help from Elder Cahal and Ezra thanks to their speed, while I took the back half of the first floor. The front section we would all do together in ten minutes.

  Entering the back half of the first floor, I came to a halt. “Well, shit.” From our intel, the back half was supposed to be mainly offices, a few labs, and another computer center…but it wasn’t.

  With drying blood all over me, I waved my gloved hand, waggling my fingers at the, at least, forty Coms in lab coats who all slowly stopped working at their sterile workstations lining the area. The room reminded me of a large steel cage, a continuous steel desk rimming the room for their computers and microscopes and other miscellaneous medical equipment, the names of which I was completely ignorant of.

  “Hello, everyone.” I didn’t think lying was an option, appearing as I did, so I told the truth. “I’ve come to kill you all. It would be much easier if you would kindly stand still.”

  Predictably, they didn’t listen, but my little distraction gave me time to grab my weapons. I had been in worse situations this past year, much worse, but still, forty against one was pushing it. I knew I wasn’t going to make it out unscathed, that was for damn sure, especially with no place to really hide, and the small fact that even though these Coms were obviously scientists, it didn’t stop each and every one of them from pulling weapons from their person, hidden under their lab coats.

  I cracked my neck and instantly jumped to the first few, right as they started firing at me. “Your deaths,” I shot three, jumped again, “would be much easier,” shot two more, “if you would just stand,” I kicked a wheeled chair at one while killing three more, “still, dammit.”

  I felt the agonizing burn slice through my left shoulder, knowing I had been hit, and I growled, firing at will while using a Com’s dead body as a shield. Dropped him, then flew through the air again, grabbed a long light fixture hanging from the ceiling, and fired from above before flipping and landing in a crouch to continue firing. Another bullet sliced my right calf, and my wolf huffed as I spun and took that bitch down. And I most certainly didn’t appreciate the damn silver knife that was jabbed into my right thigh, slowing me down. That person quickly ate one of my bullets, then became a shield as I held his bloody body against me while I backed up and continually fired. Now, the bullet I took to my right hip from a fucker hiding under a few of those wheeled chairs really pissed me off, because it stayed inside me, hindering me even further. And that was when the cavalry arrived, thank God, the Vampires most definitely being able to hear all the gunfire. Too bad there were only eight Coms left now, instead of the forty.

  When Elder Zeller and Ezra quickly took care of those, I held up a hand, pointing at the hiding puissant. “Don’t hurt that fucker.” I dropped my body shield, wavering on my feet. “He’s mine.”

  Ezra blurred to my side, his eyes glowing fiercely, expression furious as he jerked the knife from my thigh. I grunted, teetering further, and he quickly lifted my arm that hadn’t been shot, placing it around his neck, holding me up. He peered at his dad, who had the lone survivor — my kill — restrained on the ground by easily
placing his gun at his head, and Ezra shouted, “Who the fuck did the intel on this place?” He waved a hand around the room, which was splattered with blood and littered with bodies, even as Elder Merrick and Antonio and Elder Jacobs arrived. “This sure as fuck isn’t a one person hit.”

  I patted his chest, my vision beginning to blur. “Don’t yell. It’s hurting my ears.” My head tipped in Antonio’s direction. “A little help, please? I’m bleeding all over the place.” The wounds from silver bullets and knives, dammit, didn’t heal quiet as quickly. “And one bullet’s stuck.”

  Ezra’s Vampire growled, and he swiftly lifted me off my feet, blurring to Antonio’s side.

  Antonio quickly asked, “Where is it?”

  “Right hip,” I stated through gritted teeth, shaking my head to clear my vision. “That fucker over there hid and shot me.”

  “It’s always the coward that gets the lucky shot,” Elder Merrick muttered, slicing into the side of my pants where the bullet hole was, and since Ezra wasn’t setting me on my feet, he and Antonio worked in unison.

  I yelled a nasty curse when Elder Merrick sliced my leg open a bit more to allow Antonio to use his magic to pull the bullet out, but in the next second I felt instant serenity transfuse my system, and I sighed, my body relaxing as I glanced up at Ezra. “Thank you.”

  He grunted, nostrils flared as he stared at what they were doing to my thigh.

  My head thumped against his shoulder. Stayed there. “Go figure, now you’re quiet.”

  Elder Jacobs was surveying my handiwork. “Not bad.”

  “Well,” I waved a wobbly hand, “you know, I asked them nicely to stand still while I killed them,” Elder Merrick chuckled hard, glancing at me, “but they wouldn’t cooperate, so I got inventive.” I tipped my head back, staring at the ceiling. “Thank God I don’t weigh much.” I pointed at the industrial lighting fixtures. “I swung like a monkey from one of those.”

  A bit woozy from blood loss, I still leaned heavily against Ezra’s side, since the damn Vamp wasn’t letting me go even though Antonio had fixed all my wounds. And now I stared down at the coward that had shot me. “How would you prefer to die?” I tilted my head when he stayed silent as he sat on a chair, sweat covering his face. “I really don’t like getting shot by little pissants hiding while others fight.” My wolf growled as I debated my options.

  “You need to hurry this up, Lil,” Antonio checked his watch, “The spell I put on the others at the front will wear off soon.”

  Ah. I had wondered why no other Coms had come running at the sound of gunfire. I patted my leg with my gun, then I paused, a slow, feral grin etching my face. “I do believe you deserve a humiliating death for your humiliating behavior.” I tsked him. “You really shouldn’t have shot me like that.” I patted Ezra’s arm around my waist. “Let go.”

  He grunted, still quiet, but did as I asked. Hovered. I glared at him for a second, but he didn’t back away. Sighing, I turned my attention back to the Com. Lifted a single finger, letting my power ripple down into it, watching him tremble as he stared at it. Quietly, I murmured, “Oh, you’ll love the ride, but not the landing.” I touched him.

  He stilled instantly, then he bowed so hard he fell to the ground. Quickly, I put a knee to his chest, keeping my finger on his forehead as he thrashed, eyes hooded, while a shout of pleasure erupted from his lips.

  Tilting my head, I smiled down at him, baring my teeth and whispering softly, “Amazing, isn’t it?” I bent close to his face. “Everyone here is going to see you cum…because you won’t be able to stop it…then I’ll put a bullet through your brain.”

  My eyes glowed as his eyes darted to everyone standing around us, even as he trembled with desire. I shoved a heavy dose, instead of the little bit I was using, of my power down my arm to my finger. Directly into him. I watched with no expression as his breath caught and he shouted, instantly trying to grab me down onto him. Rearranging myself as he thrashed and moaned, I unsheathed two of my knives and stabbed his wandering hands to the ground, keeping grasping hands away. He didn’t even seem to notice, his sweaty face etched with desire as he stared up at me, mouth wide on a keening cry.

  “About there.” I removed my gun from its holster and as soon as I felt his body jerk under me, his head tilting back as he shouted, I lifted my finger from his forehead as he came, releasing him from the power to see everyone around him during his intimate release. He choked, eyes wide on me as he spasmed under my legs. Bending to his face, I whispered, “Humiliating justice for the disgraced deed.” I placed my gun to his head just as his chin started to tremble, his body still quaking. “Don’t cry and shame yourself further.” Panting, he swallowed hard, and by God, glared up at me. “Finally, some damn balls. Good for you.”

  I shot him dead.

  Returning my gun to its holster, I jerked my knives from his staked palms, wiping them on my pants before resheathing them. Standing, I swayed a moment, but I steadied quickly enough from the blood loss I’d had at the hands of the dead man below me.

  I stared at the men silently watching me with unreadable expressions. “What?” I blinked, turning my attention to Antonio. “It’s not like I haven’t done that before.” I shrugged. “Or worse.” Although, Antonio usually wasn’t around while I did it.

  He stared. “All those rumors I heard about your interrogations?”

  My jaw seesawed. “Don’t ask questions if you really don’t want to know the answers.”

  Ezra’s lips trembled, his eyes beginning to dance. “I might enjoy hearing about them.” His head tilted to the side, a deep, soft chuckle escaping his lips. It sounded purely deviant, piquing my curiosity. “We could swap stories, if you’d like, Queen Ruckler. Possibly educate one another, since I also take care of our interrogations.”

  Instantly, I knew my eyes gleamed. “I wouldn’t be opposed to that, King Zeller.”

  He nodded once. Date set. Morbid, yes, but highly enjoyable.

  Quietly, Elder Merrick muttered, “Fucking hell.”

  “Frightening as fuck, more like,” Elder Jacobs whispered, his eyes darting back and forth between us. “You don’t even have to be told who raised them to know.”

  Elder Zeller only grunted, then he murmured, “Well, I guess you two have found some common ground.” He waved a hand at the door. “But I believe we have unfinished business.”

  I sat the next fight out as per Antonio’s instructions. I really didn’t have a problem with that, feeling as I was, and I knew he was giving me a chance to go drink my fill on blood to recuperate. So I did just that, drinking on a Com who wasn’t quiet dead yet. When I was full and able to walk properly without teetering, I moved to the front of the building where I could hear the last of the fighting.

  It went fairly smoothly, everyone dead but our target. Ezra used his power to put the Com under a mind hold. Soon we were following the Com, who moved like a robot to the center of the building, where he took us through multiple key-coded access points, then to an elevator. We rode down silently then used the robot-like Com as a body shield when we exited the elevator into a room with ten armed Coms. They went down quickly, except for our next target, which Elder Zeller put under a mind hold, but this Com didn’t have the access key we needed to get past the enormous rounded steel door that reminded me of a bank’s vault. So Elder Jacobs whipped up some wind and blew the fucking thing in.

  It got a bit hairy after that, with even more Coms in lab coats in the next room. The room was like a morgue for the Beasts, except that the Beasts were still alive, strapped to metal tables and drugged enough that they only lay there as we fought. A shot of pain erupted against my palm as I shoved off one of the tables when I kicked a Com in the head, and I grunted, staring at the table for a moment as I tried to wipe the Com’s brain from my boot. I blinked, then I shouted, “Don’t touch the tables. They’re pure silver!” No wonder the Beasts were just lying there.

  Antonio shouted across the expanse of the sterile room, and I turne
d even as I used one of my Cizanos to slice off the head of a Com sneaking up on me. Three Coms had him pinned to a table, effectively cutting off his power, making him fight three on one even as the silver affected him. He managed to incapacitate two of them, but the third grabbed one of his knives. Quickly, I lifted my gun, but the Com still jabbed the knife into the side of his neck. I fired, already running toward him, my body trembling in fury as I roared my anger.

  Elder Zeller blurred past me, and I fired at all Coms between us and Antonio’s falling form. A Com got past me, but I saw Ezra race after him, killing him before he could hit a button on the wall. None of that really mattered though, as I came to a stop, skidding on the blood on the tiled floor and falling to my knees next to Elder Zeller, who had caught Antonio before he hit the ground. Eyes darting to Elder Zeller, who also looked panicked staring down at Antonio, I asked, “Do I take it out or leave it in?” Antonio was wheezing, but he was still breathing. “I don’t know if he can heal himself.”

  Antonio tried to speak, but only odd sounds came out and Elder Zeller didn’t answer me.

  Growling, I stared into Antonio’s eyes. “One blink for yes, two for no. Should I remove it?” Two blinks. I stared at the hilt of the knife, but I couldn’t see the blade. “Is it one of your silver knives?” One blink. “Shit.” The sounds of fighting were beginning to decrease around us, and I placed my hands on Antonio. “Can you flash to camp?” Two blinks. “If I leave now with you, will you make it there alive?” No blinks. He didn’t know. “That’s better than no. Time to go.”

  I yanked him from Elder Zeller’s grip, and Antonio instantly started trembling, which meant Elder Zeller had been giving him peace. I substituted it the best way I could, pouring soothing Shifter power into him, and his shaking decreased a bit. Holding him tight in my arms, I juggled him for a moment then stood. The fighting was done, thank God.

  “I’m leaving now,” I shouted, already beginning to walk to the exit. “I’ll be taking the SUV, so you’ll have to find your own ride back.” Elder Merrick’s and Elder Jacobs’s eyes were enormous on their faces, and Ezra’s face was carefully blank, as they saw the knife sticking out of Antonio’s throat. “Blow the place up good, gentlemen.” I raced to the open elevator.