by Jaymin Eve
After about a minute of tense silence, Kata finally lowered her hand. She then jabbed a two-finger gesture to the left. Seems they were getting off the main drag. Eva fell to the middle of the pack, reaching back to rub her hand over Mortem again. The sword was definitely a comfort for her. Lain, an African-American female to her left, lifted her arm up to retrieve an arrow. As they continued to step through, Lain slowly fitted the razor-sharp shaft into her composite bow.
Eva really liked the quiet and beautiful archer. Lain was in her mid-twenties, wore her hair in rows of braids and had stunningly regal features arranged around beautiful dark eyes. More importantly, she was solid; she had your back and could be counted on in any situation.
It didn’t take long to learn that you couldn’t really trust anyone but yourself. Still, there were others that could at least be looked to for assistance should the crap hit the ceiling. Lain and Kata were at the top of that very small list.
The vigiladies crept along the street, the cracked pavements allowing slivers of greenery freedom to try to overgrow the cement jungle. One day Mother Nature would take this place back.
A low bird call rang through the eerie silence.
Eva’s head swiveled to the left, and she wasn’t the only one. All of the females knew what that call signified. Smugglers alerting the convoy to the presence of possible targets. Eva did not hesitate; Mortem was already in her hand. The others also held whatever weapons they favored. They were in a shit-ton of trouble. The only targets on the streets right now were Kata and her ladies.
The girls fell in back to back so that none could come at them unawares. Seems that today, they would not have to find the smugglers; the gangers were going to come straight to them. A dozen males bled out of the various dark alleys which surrounded them. Eva had no idea why gangers were always male – women could be just as evil in the right circumstances – but she’d never seen a female ganger. Maybe they had them ferreted away somewhere popping out little ganger babies. Keeping the great evil-circle-of-life functioning.
Eva’s pulse kicked into high gear. Blood started to rush through her body as the truth of what she was seeing sank in. The vigiladies were out-numbered, but that wasn’t her main worry. No, the thing which had all the moisture fleeing from her mouth was the sheer number of spirits following these gangers around. Angry, vengeful spirits.
The otherworldly beings were almost all female, with silent howls of agony still clear on their features. Eva knew something for certain: these particular gangers were responsible for many deaths. Horrific deaths.
“These are the leaders of this smuggling ring,” she said, her voice low and directed toward Kata.
There was no other explanation for the sheer blood on their hands.
Kata grinned. It was the sort of cold, empty gesture that had actually sent plenty of individuals running for their lives. “Excellent, I like to start these sort of cleanses at the top.”
A brawny male stepped in from Eva’s right. He moved with a panther-like gait, his expression calm and even. He wore a suit of sorts and if it wasn’t for the dark-blue markings which spanned almost his entire face – identifying him as a Brawler Ganger – then he’d look almost respectful.
Eva was surprised to see that there were other ganger groups amongst the dozen. Red marks, like spatters of blood, identified the Crimz, and black skulls were reserved for the Brutals. This partnership was even more evidence that this was some sort of higher management group.
Usually the different ganger groups did not mix, and in fact the way they liked to fight each other was a great help to the female vigilante group. It was much more annoying to know they could work together like this – not to mention a much more dangerous situation than originally anticipated.
“They’re working together, Kata.” Lain’s voice was low and melodic. But Eva heard the undercurrent of nerves. “Are we in over our heads?”
Kata didn’t answer. She was in a stare-down with the brawny Brawler, who had stepped forward. She twirled her fighting sticks; Kata liked to use a pair of short wooden jos, and Eva had seen her break more bones and end more lives than she’d ever expect possible using a piece of wood.
Lain’s question was forgotten as the rest of the gangers advanced, forming a much tighter circle around the females. The vigiladies allowed enough distance between them so that they would not be hindered when weapon-fighting, but they were close enough that no one could easily separate them.
“Don’t let them take you alive,” Kata said as the first males struck.
Lain was fast. She’d already taken out one with an arrow to his throat and nocked a second shaft before Eva’s sword tasted blood. The gangers had weapons also, a variety of knives, swords and mallet-type crushers.
Guns, as always, were pretty much non-existent. Although, with this sort of setup, the higher members could have guns – they’d just be waiting until there were no other options before they used them. Bullets were highly prized on the streets of New York. Their value had increased ten times in the last fifteen years. Kata had sent their only gun with the other group, but Eva preferred her sword anyway.
She swung out with Mortem as a Brawler lurched in her direction. The blade cut through him like a knife through butter. There was almost no resistance, the razor sharpness severing bone, tendon, muscle, and flesh with ease. He howled for a moment, but the noise ceased as her blade met flesh again. This time the head flung free.
Eva retreated to avoid the blood spray, but had no time to wipe her blade before another was on her. A Crimz this time, and more wary than the previous, clearly having just watched his smuggling buddy lose more than one appendage. But he still had a mouth on him.
“Come at me, bitch. You think you’re so tough with your sword. I’m going to remove that, and then you’ll know what it feels like to be skewered.”
She sighed. Nothing annoyed her more than men who wasted her time with their bullshit. Threatening rape amongst other things. She wished he’d just shut up so she could kill him.
In that moment Lain distracted her. The archer was vulnerable in close-range fighting, and right then her quiver was empty and the gangers were taking advantage of this.
Eva lurched to the left and took a few hurried steps to stand side-by-side with the archer. The ghosts drifted closer. They had been lingering in the background, but it seemed that Eva was a magnet for their kind. Her energy drew their energy and their distraction was not welcome right then.
Lain and Eva fought, their movements in sync. Lain pulled a short-bladed army knife from her leg sheath, and between the two of them they took down a few more gangers – including the loud-mouthed one from before. Of course, those males were soon replaced by three more. The gangers did not stop coming.
One or two of the girls had fallen, but none had been taken alive yet. Capture by the smugglers was a fate worse than death. You’d still die, but there’d be months of torture before that happened.
“What are they doing?” Kata had worked her way closer to Eva. “They’re trickling across in such small numbers, instead of taking us by force. It’s as if they’re simply distracting us … place-holding until something else arrives.”
Eva’s eyes scanned the surroundings again, trying to discern the ganger’s plan. “What do you think they’re waiting on?” she asked, her senses not able to detect anything out of the ordinary.
One of the closer Brawlers who hadn’t yet engaged with them must have heard her question. He grinned, showcasing his full set of nicotine-stained teeth. “We have something new that we were hoping to test out. Just our luck that we run into the very group which have been a stain on our existence for the past few years.”
The girls exchanged glances. He could be just talking shit, but there was every chance that they had stumbled their way into a trap. Either way, Eva was sick of listening to the words coming out of his mouth and, using her speed, she dashed forward and allowed Mortem to slice its way through more limbs. The Brawler
fell to the ground in a screaming heap.
“Whoops,” Eva said, “although, your screams are more attractive than your words.”
She was just turning away when a loud boom shook the air. Everyone in the vicinity hit the ground as the already cracked and crumbling pavement started to break away even further beneath their feet. The noise continued to resonate in Eva’s head, and with a echoing ‘pop’ blood began pouring from her nostrils and ears. Managing to lift her head about an inch off the pavement, her blurry eyes focused just long enough to see that the gangers around her now wore some sort of weird, aluminum head gear.
Crappity crap. This wasn’t good. The vigiladies weren’t prepared for weapons like that. Something seemed familiar about the sonic boom she’d just heard. Memories sliced at her, warring with the pounding in her brain. She’d heard something like that once before. In her father’s lab, when he’d worked in the city. But his mock experiment had been to demonstrate a theoretical weapon only. Her father had been a complicated man, one of science, martial arts and farming. He had always told her to never let one thing define you.
Of his many successes, the one he was best known for was as the scientist who’d developed the EMP – electromagnetic pulse – back in the early twenty-first century. There had been talk of mutating it into a weapon to be used against humans, and not just in the way of knocking out pacemakers. Nope, they were hoping to interfere with the electric impulses inside the human body, specifically within their brains. Something which could be used to render a human being inert and vulnerable. It was touted as a weapon to end wars. Or stop terrorist attacks. A simple blast of energy could dismantle an entire army.
As far as Eva knew, the weapon had never moved past the theoretical stage. So how the hell had the gangers managed to find it? Technology today was fifty years behind what it used to be. They were practically in the Middle Ages; there should have been no way this could exist.
Eva’s vision wavered again, but she did notice that Lain was right beside her. She focused her blurry vision on the other girl. Those dark eyes were open and blank; there was no one home, but at least her chest still rose and fell.
Eva knew she had to get up; if she didn’t fight they would all die. She had to move. The ghosts were much closer now, warning her with their dead eyes. She had to get up.
Her nails cracked as she scraped her hands across the roughened ground. Blood spilled, but she barely even noticed. Mortem was close. She could feel its energy but not see it. She just had to get her hands on her sword.
At that moment a second boom rocked the world, and as the gangers shifted toward the females sprawled on the ground, Eva lost hold of her final slivers of consciousness. A surge of fear but also relief flooded her. As the darkness closed over her she hoped she didn’t wake in the hands of smugglers. Death meant she would be with her family. Finally free of the pain.
Chapter 2
Abigail
I’d been scared many times over the past twelve months. I’d seen things which made my insides crawl, my heart constrict, and the blood run cold in my veins. Right now, though, this moment had me speechless – and trust me when I say shutting me up was rare. Though not as rare as shutting up Lucy. The pixie wasn’t with me right then. I wondered what she’d think of this room.
The longer I stared, the harder I was hit with bursts of emotion. They were rocking across my soul and digging holes in my gut. I wasn’t even sure what to think. My father was suspended in a tank of a … viscous liquid. His eyes were closed and masses of fiery red hair floated around him. And the other tank – the one which had atomic levels of panic shooting through my body – held Que. Brace’s dad, and all-round evil asshole. The evil Walker had opened his eyes a few minutes ago, but thankfully had closed them again without showing signs of recognition. Surely, he would have reacted if he’d seen his mate and son standing outside his secret cage room.
I started as a hand curved around my own. Its warmth drew some of the ice from my blood. The palm was much larger than my own and it radiated heat. Comfort was instant. Heat slid from my fingertips, along my arm and down into tantalizing tingles along my spine.
Only one person could affect me like this. Brace. My mate. I almost wiggled like a happy little puppy as I shifted closer to him.
What in all freaktastic heck is this, Brace? I could have spoken out loud, but I quite liked being able to use our bond again. I might have been shamelessly taking advantage of it.
I know a lot of things, Red, but this has me stumped. I’m going to attempt to break the dome, but I want to bring Colt here first.
Brace was the princeps of Abernath, and could have had an army here if needed. Of course, most of his warriors – our warriors actually – were on First World preparing for the battle against the Seventines’ creatures. And since I had a lot of loved ones at the dark mountains, I would hate to pull any of our soldiers back here. So, right now, we would not call for any backup but Colton.
“Don’t worry. I can take Que.” He had switched out of the bond, probably so Lasandra, his mother, could hear.
Brace – and most Walkers in general – did not lack confidence. For good reason, of course; they were totally badass, but still I worried. Plus there was one large fact that we all seemed to be ignoring.
“You might have been able to take Que, but … what about the fact that he seems to have imported himself a few new body parts?”
Lasandra stood off to the side, her eyes locked on the two tanks. She had one hand pressed tightly to her mouth as she shook her head side to side, before lowering her arm to speak. “What’s happened to him, Brace?”
Brace’s beautiful, blond mother was not a big fan of me. In fact, she would probably be happy if I ran away and fell down the rabbit hole into Wonderland. Which, too bad for her, had already happened, and it had brought me straight to First World and Brace. She’d have to have more than the Mad Hatter up her sleeve if she wanted me gone.
Brace ran a hand through his black hair. It was getting longer again, falling across his forehead with the slightest of curls starting to form.
He turned dark eyes toward Lasandra. “I can only guess, but knowing Que, this was a failsafe set up to gather his energy in the event that he was destroyed.”
“So he’s probably been here since that Seventine blasted him apart?” I mused.
“He would have known the risks of housing the Seventine. It was almost as if he wanted this to happen,” Brace said. “What better way to infuse new energy into your DNA than to build your body up from scratch.”
I squinted for a better look at the tank holding the almost rebuilt male. “What other energies is he gathering?”
Brace’s features hardened, the handsome planes firming out into long lines. “No way to know for certain, but … one of the originals had a leg which was made from inorganic material. The history tomes speak of this original as one who liked to experiment with his body, modifying it for strength.”
I swallowed, trying to get past the new lump in my throat. “Inorganic material. Sort of like a robot leg?”
Which is exactly what it looked like Que was growing. The limb wasn’t fully formed, but there was clearly metal infused with flesh, like a cyborg.
“Yes,” Brace said. “Shit! He’s been gathering the free energy of the originals.”
The seven half-Walker girls were born of original energy. It was where our elemental powers came from. But we only contained parts of the essence of the originals. The rest of their energy secured the Seventines’ prison. Or used to.
Every time one of the Seventines was freed, some of that originals’ energy was released back into the star system. I’d had a vague hope and plan that I could somehow gather up this extra original energy and use it in our bid to re-imprison the Seventine. That way I could ensure all the half-Walkers survived. The final battle was going to get bloody, and locking the Seventine away would probably take more power than we had. My gut had been telling me for a while that
we were going to need more original energy. Seemed Que had the same idea.
Of course, my plan had one tiny little flaw: I had no idea how to gather this energy. I was working on the vague hope that once the seven of us half-Walkers joined together then our path and powers would become clear.
I still had to find one more female, the Earth-born half. No point trying to wrest this original energy from Que until we completed the power of seven. I had to leave shortly. If I didn’t find her before the final Seventine was released – well, we’d be in a world of trouble.
Lasandra made a noise. It came from deep in her chest, part fear and part disgust. “He’s fusing the original energy into his own. Trying to become the most powerful Walker that ever existed.”
Brace took a few beats to answer, as if he was trying to dial down the simmering anger which was streaking black across the chocolate-brown of his eyes. “It was his one aim in this existence: complete control and complete power.”
“He wants to be an original,” I spluttered out.
As horrific as the thought was, it did make sense. Que would crave the powers the seven originals had possessed. The ability to create life, and to sever it. Control over the seven Walker elements. All of the skills the half-Walker females possessed. On a much smaller scale. Plus, if Que contained the original power, when the Seventine severed the ultimate tether during the convergence he would have some control in the rebuilding of the star system. Brace’s father had always considered himself a god, and now he had set everything into motion to guarantee he was one.
“We can’t let that happen!” Lasandra’s tone was frantic, her calm façade shattered. “Brace! We must stop him before he’s fully reformed.”
“Colt’s on his way,” Brace said. I knew him well enough to see the tension in his body, but he was outwardly calm. “We’ll deal with this now, before Que has a chance to gain any more power.”
