Hisss

by Skye MacKinnon

  We don’t speak until we reach a roof not far from the lab. I can smell Ryker’s cats from here. The twins have described to him where the lab is so that he could send his friends up ahead. I think Four and Ivy are a little jealous of my feline surveillance network. I reach down and pet Storm again. They should be jealous. My cats are amazing.

  It surprises me a little that the lab is still going. I can see the lights from here; people are working even at this hour. Killing the Pack’s leaders hasn’t stopped them. Maybe they’ve been working on their own agenda for a while, or maybe they’re being controlled by forces higher up than the Pack. Not much longer and we’ll hopefully have answers.

  An older cat with grey whiskers runs up to Ryker and meows his report.

  “They can sense at least five humans inside, plus other beings they can’t identify. Not sirens, they know Gryphon’s scent too well to get that confused.”

  “Those mutant grunts maybe?” I suggest.

  “Could well be. They haven’t found a scent that resembles yours, but the building is several storeys high and none of the cats has gone inside, so K2 could be in there without us knowing. If she’s not left the lab in a few days, there wouldn’t be a good scent of her outside. Cat senses only go so far.”

  Storm hisses and I give her a soothing head rub. “Your senses are way better than dogs’,” I tell her earnestly and she snuggles against my leg. I like Storm; I think I should spend more time with her. When I’m shifted, she looks like she could be my baby with her silky black coat, even though she’s older than me.

  “Is everyone ready?” I ask and look around my team. The guys give me sharp nods, all business, while the twins look impatient to get going. The cats… well, they’re being cats, begging for head rubs and attention.

  "You all know what to do. Let's burn this place to the ground."

  I take a deep breath, steadying myself. Immediately, my senses intensify. The world becomes sharper and brighter as I push some of my shifter energy to my eyes. My night vision is excellent even when human, but now I see as much as if it were broad daylight. My hearing increases so much that I can hear the heartbeat of the human sleeping in the house below us. She doesn't know she's got several assassins on her roof.

  One last check to see that my knives are where they should be, then I'm off, jumping onto the roof opposite, now in full view of the lab. It's a tall building that really doesn't belong in this part of town. Tall, sleek, lots of glass. I'm looking forward to breaking it. I bet it would look great if all the glass were to shatter at the same time, raining down like sharp bits of snow. I grin at the thought. There's always something to look forward to.

  I crouch low, just in case guards are down there. I bet there are, even if nobody can be seen from the outside. Gryphon said they're using the same siren technology we've encountered before, the high-pitched sounds that make people turn away without knowing why. Luckily, that doesn't work on any of us. Another reason why it was good to have the humans stay home.

  I stay on the roof while I wait for the others to get into position. Storm lands next to me like a shadow in the night. Which she is, more or less. A fluffy shadow who wants to be petted.

  “Are you sure you’re a cat and not a lovesick little dog?” I whisper. She hisses but still keeps pressing her head against my hand, demanding cuddles. She’s totally taking advantage of me having to wait for the others. Devious.

  I pet her absentmindedly while watching the entrance of the lab. Tall blinds hide the interior, but thanks to Ryker’s cats we already know how many people are inside, at least how many there are on the ground floor. I could have probably found out myself by sitting out here for a while and letting my shifter senses free reign, but that would require me to be patient, and tonight I’m anything but. This lab might hold the answers I crave. The faster I get in, the better.

  It seems to take forever for Gryphon to arrive at the lab’s front doors. If there’s any siren security tech, he should be able to get through and disable it for the rest of us. It’s very convenient to have a siren on our side, especially one so gorgeous as him. I can’t help but ogle his arse as he slowly walks into the building. His black jeans are particularly tight today. He should wear those more often.

  Storm meows approvingly.

  "He's a bit big for you," I whisper. "Besides, he's mine."

  It feels good saying that. Mine. The cat in me purrs. Talking about it all really did help. It'll still take some time for me to get used to the idea of actually being in a relationship, but for now, I'm happy to claim them as mine.

  The light inside the lab flickers. That's the signal. Gryphon's dispatched whatever guards were waiting for us in the reception area. Two shadows approach the doors. Ryker and Lennox. They sneak in, joining Gryphon. I'm a little jealous they get to have all the fun, while I'm out here, watching from afar. Screams echo from the building, too quiet for any humans to hear. I grimace. So unfair. I want to play too. Hopefully, they'll leave some for me. Although that would defeat the reason why I'm not going in knives blazing. This is all to prevent me from going into another blood frenzy. I need to keep my cool if I want to find the information I need and confront K2. The twins don't know that; they think I'm out here to coordinate everything.

  I wait while stroking Storm's silky fur. She's really taking full advantage of the situation. Well, I would have done the same thing. We're alike in that way.

  Finally, the lights flash again. It's showtime. I climb off the roof, easily finding footholds in the brick wall. I love old buildings like that, they're so much easier to scale. The glass lab would have been so much harder to climb, which is why we're going through the front doors. We're strong enough to give up the advantage of stealth and make a full-blown frontal attack. I just hope we're not too cocky. There's a reason this lab is still going even though the Pack leaders are dead.

  The twins appear out of nowhere, taking their places at my side as we stroll into the building, followed by several cats. The smell of death permeates my senses. Three bodies lie on the floor, blood pooling around them. Hunger blooms inside of me, but I push it down. I can't afford to lose control now, no matter how tasty they look.

  "I can sense her," Four suddenly says, freezing in mid-step. "She's here."

  "K2?" I ask, pulling my knives from their sheaths.

  She nods. "She's close. Stay on guard."

  The guys wait for us near a staircase with steps leading both up and down.

  "Any idea where she could be?" Ivy asks her sister.

  Four turns in a circle, her eyes closed. "Upstairs. I think. It's hard to tell. There are some of those mutants too."

  I groan. "I was dreading that. They're such a bother to kill."

  I turn to the guys. "Lennox, Ryker, you take the basement. Gryphon, you're with us. If K2 gives us trouble, you might be able to use some of your siren tricks on her. Remember, we want to take her alive. No killing my sister."

  Ivy scoffs. "She's not our sister. She's too far gone."

  I glare at her. "We're not giving up on one of our own. No killing."

  She mutters something under her breath, but I try not to listen. I don't want any division between us just now; we need to focus.

  I run up the stairs, hoping that everyone else will follow.

  "Wait!" Ryker calls out. "I'm sending some of the cats with you. They can carry messages if need be."

  Of course, Storm decides to come with me, together with two other female cats that I don't know yet. The larger one is a tabby with a furry golden belly, the other is tiny and looks completely bored, as if she doesn’t give a flying fuck over the current situation.

  The rest of them follow Ryker into the basement. It's hard to imagine doing anything nowadays without being surrounded by a bunch of moggies. They do come in handy and I guess they're a good distraction too.

  "She's close," Four whispers from behind me.

  I sniff the air while taking two steps at a time. I can't make out anything bu
t human scents mixed with a bit of siren. Whatever Four is doing to sense K2, I can't do it. Once we're done with this, I'm going to have to find out what other skills the twins possess. Maybe we can teach each other stuff, or at least take advantage of the others' abilities.

  The staircase isn't ending. It seems to skip the first floor and leads us straight to the second one. Weird. A glass door separates a corridor from the stairwell. I'm tempted to send Gryphon to the next floor, but we might need him. It seems a little overkill to take three other people with me, but if the twins are right about how strong K2 is, it might be necessary.

  Our footsteps echo through the empty corridor, even though all four of us are experts in walking quietly. We take turns checking the doors on either side, but all of them are boring offices, most containing nothing but a desk, chair and some shelves. I hope we'll find the information we need somewhere else and don't have to go through each of these rooms. That would be the dullest task ever.

  "She's-"

  Before Four can complete her sentence, a blur of movement makes me look up just in time to see someone drop from the ceiling. From the fucking ceiling, like a spider. She lands in a crouch in front of us, blocking the way. Usually, I'd use my knives to attack right away, but I recognise her from the way she moves. She's me. My sister. She's my size, but a little thinner, and her hair is cut short. She's all in white, a stark contrast from the black the rest of us are clad in. She doesn't say anything. She just attacks.

  She jumps, flying through the air, right at me. I let myself drop on all fours, just about managing to evade her, but Gryphon isn't so lucky. She hits him in the chest and both of them go down. He cries out and I'm hit by the smell of blood. Fuck. I jump to my feet and attack her from behind, trying to pull her off him. The twins join me, each of them grabbing one of her arms. Her fingers drip with Gryphon's blood. Claws sit where her fingernails should be. She doesn't seem to have any weapons, but she's moved way faster than I ever could, so it's no surprise she doesn't need any.

  She fights against our grip, but there's three of us and all of us are strong, even the twins, despite being smaller than me.

  "Gryphon, are you alright?" I shout while wrapping my legs around hers, trying to keep her in check.

  "I'm fine." He stumbles to his feet, exposing deep gashes on his chest. He's bleeding a lot, but there's nothing I can do about that for now.

  Suddenly, K2 starts to shake, as if she's having a fit. I hold onto her, even though she seems to be getting heavier.

  "Look at her hands!" Ivy shouts.

  Wow. Her claws are lengthening, growing until they're almost as long as her lower arm. What. The. Meowing. Fuck. This isn't a partial shift, it's something far more than that. What have they done to her?

  She kicks me and pain shoots through my shins, but I manage to keep a hold on her. The smell of my own blood fills the corridor, mixing with that of Gryphon. I can't see it from here, but she must have the same claws on her feet. It hurts like hell. It only seems to be a flesh wound though; at least I can move my legs as normal, so no sinews or bones seem to be injured.

  "Gryphon, your voice!" I shout, knowing we won't be able to hold on to her for much longer. The twins are having a hard time trying to evade her claws as they clutch K2's arms.

  Black fur starts to sprout on her neck. Oh no, you don't. Without thinking, I sink my teeth into her neck, biting down as hard as I can. She squeals, the first sound she's made ever since she started attacking us. Her blood pours into my mouth. It tastes sour, like milk that's been out of the fridge for too long. Definitely not the way blood should taste, shifter or not. Whatever the Pack scientists have done to her, it's changed her way more than the twins or me. Maybe they were right about her being too far gone to be saved.

  Gryphon opens his mouth and music touches my skin, embracing me like an old friend. I smile, but I don't let it relax me too much. We're still fighting. The fur slowly starts to recede and pale skin retakes its place. I don't understand the words of the siren's song, but they're not meant for me anyway. He's singing for K2, soothing her. She's no longer struggling as much and her claws slowly start to shrink. I didn't think it would be this easy to tame her, so it comes as a bit of a surprise. I still keep my teeth in her neck though and my grip on her tight. She might just be pretending.

  Gryphon is taking his time, slowly wrapping her into his music. It makes me all warm and fuzzy. And a bit jealous that he's singing for K2, who attacked him and really doesn't deserve it. When we're home, I might ask him to sing for me again.

  "Yes," she whispers.

  I exchange a look with the twins. Why did she say that?

  "Yes," she repeats. "I promise."

  It must have something to do with the music. Gryphon smiles at her, although the pain is evident on his face by now. His skin is turning pale, making his scars look way more pronounced than usual. Slowly, he ends his song, letting the music trail off in a way that makes the echo chime in my head for several breaths. Beautiful.

  "You can let go of her now," he says just before he collapses.

  I drop K2 and run to Gryphon, kneeling by his side.

  "Sorry," he mutters.

  "What the fuck are you apologising for?"

  I inspect his wounds. They're deeper than I first thought and are bleeding a lot. I'm going to kill K2 for hurting my man. No, I won't, but I might torture her a little. Nobody hurts my siren.

  "I can help." Ivy kneels by my side. "But I'll have to lick him."

  I gape at her. "Lick him?"

  "My saliva contains healing enzymes. Four's too, but mine's stronger. It won't be enough to fully heal his wounds, but it should stop the blood flow."

  "You want to lick Gryphon," I repeat slowly. "I think that's the weirdest thing I've ever said."

  She laughs softly. "Trust me, I'm not usually into licking men. I've only ever done this to one other person besides my sister. Voluntarily, that is." Her expression darkens. "Of course the Pack took full advantage of that ability."

  My stomach clenches at the thought of what my sisters have been forced to do. They're still young, children almost, yet they've been through more than anyone ever should have to. How I hate the Pack. I'm looking forward to torching this building and killing anyone still inside.

  "Do it," Gryphon bites out between clenched teeth.

  I look away when she bends down to lick his chest. That's just weird.

  He sighs and I frown at him. It almost sounds like he enjoys it.

  His relieved smile instantly vanishes from his face.

  "So unpleasant," he groans theatrically.

  Four clears her throat. "When you're done licking each other, could we deal with K2?"

  I get up and approach my two sisters. Four is holding a knife to K2's throat, but the older girl isn't reacting to it at all. Her eyes are fixed on Gryphon, but she seems slightly vacant at the same time.

  "Do you know who I am?" I ask her. She doesn't take notice of me at all. Her gaze doesn't shift, even though I'm now in between her and Gryphon.

  Four looks just as confused as I feel.

  "Has she ever been like this when you met her before?"

  She shakes her head. "Nope. She's always attacked us, never stopped even for a second. We tried talking to her, but she didn't care. This is completely new."

  "I think they must have conditioned her to be very susceptible to a siren's song," Gryphon says from behind me, slowly getting to his feet. "They needed a way to control her, especially since she's not wearing a collar. I bet she only takes instructions from other sirens and follows them until she gets new ones."

  That would explain it. And it makes it easier for us to deal with her. Of course, we won't be able to have Gryphon tell her what to do forever, but it will do for now. Saves us from having to fight her. The twins were right, she really is a much bigger threat than I'd anticipated.

  "Can we trust her to not get in the way? Not attack us again?"

  Gryphon studies K2 intentl
y. "I'm not sure. I think so, but this is new territory for me too. Nobody ever reacts to my song this quickly. It was like I didn't have to put any effort into it. She just accepted what I was telling her without fighting it. It's creepy, actually. I feel way too powerful and that makes me uncomfortable."

  "Most people would be happy to feel powerful," Ivy points out.

  "Not Gryphon," I say proudly. "He's different."

  He chuckles. "That I am. Shall we proceed? We may have K2 under control, but I bet more obstacles are waiting for us."

  "I think you should stay here with her. Lock yourselves into one of the offices while the twins and I explore the rest of the building. You're still wounded and we don't want anyone to take away your control of K2. By the way, can you ask her if she has a name?"

  He repeats my question to her.

  "K2," she says tonelessly.

  Well, that's that then. No name. By now, I doubted it anyway. She doesn't seem to have any personality left.

  "I'd rather come with you," Gryphon starts, but I interrupt him.

  "Don't protest, you know I'm right. Storm will stay with you. If you need us, send her."

  The cats have stayed in the background during the fight, but now that they've heard me mention Storm's name, they approach. The black cat rubs against my legs and I can't resist bending down to give her a quick tickle between the ears.

  I wait until the three of them are in one of the offices and have the door locked behind them before I continue walking along the corridor, flanked by the twins. This time, we keep an eye on the ceiling, just in case there's another assassin using it to approach us.

  Suddenly, a siren blares to life, blaring through the entire building, making my ears ring. Damn. I'd hoped we'd be able to keep the lab staff from calling for help, but now that it's done, we don't have a choice but prepare for Pack fighters to come. We need to be quick.

  The twins keep checking the empty offices while I jog ahead until I reach a set of frosted double doors at the end of the hallway. I stand still and extend my senses. Two people inside, both human. I grip my knives. Finally, I'm going to have some fun.