The Preternatural Chronicles: Books 0-3

by Hunter Blain

  “Oh, shit,” I said out loud. Both wolves looked at me in question. “This is a supernatural safe house. There must be a ward on it or something to prevent mortals from finding it by accident. That means he won’t be alone, Lilith damn it!” I cursed in frustration. Then I saw the black limo sticking out from the other side of the house.

  “There must be a road on the other side. Stay downwind and stay vigilant. We don’t know how many are in there,” I warned.

  Joey and Dawson split up and walked quietly through the woods, stalking the house. I could see their noses flair, searching for smells they could latch onto.

  It’s a good thing I practiced super stealth whenever I visited Depweg at his old house—which, by the way, I never lost at.

  As if made of shadows, I drifted through the night and to the first-floor window of the out-of-place fortress. Sticking to the darkness, I peered inside only to be blasted with a floodlight from a motion sensor on the underside of the roof. I threw myself to the ground and shuffled out of sight right as a backlit figure went to the window to see what had triggered the light. Panicking, I started chittering like a freaking raccoon while flattening myself against the wall just below the window. I couldn’t see the figure, but I was aware of its silhouette. After a few moments of listening to me make an ass of myself, the figure turned and I could see the shadow shrinking.

  “Oh, Lilith, that was close,” I said as I looked up to see a black wolf lying on the ground while covering its muzzle with its forepaws. “What?” I whispered loudly. “Do you smell something?” Worry grew in my chest.

  Then I noticed his body was shaking and little whimpering sounds were escaping through its paws.

  “Are…are you fucking laughing at me?” I demanded incredulously while still whispering.

  That’s when he lost it and rolled over onto his back, kicking his legs into the air with mirth. Tiny howls, barely being restrained, escaped and mixed with the lullaby that the wind was singing.

  “Bad! Bad Joey!” I whispered while forcefully wagging my index finger at him. “Focus!”

  With that, Joey rolled back over onto all fours and continued to do his job. I mean, what was I even paying him for? I wasn’t actually paying him, but you get what I mean.

  Looking up at the motion detector, I willed a bloodrope and had it inch its way up the window and onto the underside of the roof like a crimson caterpillar. As it approached the twin bulbs, the rope split into tendrils and latched onto the front of each bulb. I willed each to turn counterclockwise until the lights popped free. I lost my grip on one and it fell to the earth. Without thinking, I shot my other hand out and manifested a catcher’s mitt the size of a dog bed. The bulb missed and smashed, loudly, on a decorative rock below. My eyes went wide as I quickly sucked my blood back in, preparing to move. The other bulb hit the same fucking rock and shattered as well. I might as well have been wearing a flashing orange light on my head while singing MMMBop through a megaphone—there was no way in hell those hired guns inside didn’t know we were there now.

  “Okay, okay, okay, okay,” I said calmly. Just kidding. I was shitting my pants. My mind was racing, and then an idea solidified in an instant. A plan, if you will.

  Getting up, I scooped up the stupid decorative rock and jogged between the tree line and the house. I turned and howled into the night like a crazed lunatic, aimed at the closest window, and threw the rock with supreme power behind it. It completely missed the window and instead went through the roof and into the attic.

  “Hope no one saw that,” I said to myself as I prepared for the onslaught that was sure to come.

  Ask and ye shall receive. A small flood of different supes poured out of the hideout. The foremost was a dark-skinned face with a glinting short sword in his hand. It was bejeweled and looked impossibly sharp, which I knew it had to be. We locked eyes and the Fae rushed toward me. His skin was the color of a midnight sky under a pale moon. It was black and blue and seemed to change like a chameleon as he approached. I willed my own sword into my hand and took a defensive stance.

  Coming in hot behind the Fae were two trolls without their glamours on. They were long and lanky with tusks that shot out of their bottom jaws. They had a mohawk of orange and red hair, and a piercing through their nose that reminded me of a bull’s. Each carried a spear that was ready to be hefted toward me.

  Standing several feet taller and wider behind the trolls was an ogre, also without his disguise. For the briefest of moments I regretted not watching him squeeze out of the back door like a Great Dane through a dog door made for a Chihuahua. The ogre had brass knuckles that were more accurately described as iron knuckles. Shit, if he landed even one hit with those, wherever I was hit would probably explode like a water balloon.

  But, first things first; I pulled my sword back as I stepped forward with my left leg, leaving my right behind me with my sword ready to go. As the Fae started to lunge, I willed a blooddagger attached to a rope from my left hand and threw it preternaturally fast toward the Fae’s face. He dodged at the last moment, being incredibly fast as well, but the dagger found a different home in one of the trolls behind him. It pierced his right pec and lodged deep as I began siphoning blood. Now that I knew I could feed off supernatural beings, I was curious to taste from each one like at a Chinese buffet—hopefully without the accompanying horror show of a bowel movement.

  As the Fae entered melee range, I willed jagged fishhooks down the rope and whipped it to the right, catching him in his side and latching on. He inhaled to scream from the pain as the hooks burrowed their way into his chest cavity and began draining his life force. While he froze in both fear and pain, I stepped forward and stabbed the sword into his blood-soaked liver. The troll didn’t taste good to me—kind of like rubbing alcohol—but the Fae was like a fine wine that cost as much as a car per bottle. I dropped the troll, both because he was dead now and because he tasted like shit, leaving only the Fae to feed on. Mmmm, it was sooooo good.

  Two brown werewolves burst out of the doorway and onto the scene. They were both covered in scars from numerous battles—probably for the amusement of asshole supes. Their scars being evident like that meant one of two things: either they used silver or iron in their battles, which prevented the wounds from healing completely, or they fought often enough to not allow time to fully heal. I felt pity for them for the briefest of moments before I saw them lock onto me and charge.

  Out of the night burst Joey and Dawson, slamming into the wolves and starting an epic were battle. Joey bit the gnarled ear off one of the wolves while Dawson slashed his front claws down the ribs of the other. The brown wolves howled in fury and pain as they turned their attention on their attackers. Though the twins had the advantage of surprise, the brown werewolves clearly had more than their fair share of experience when it came to battles to the death.

  The wolf with the missing ear leaped up onto his back paws and brought one of his front claws down on Joey’s nose. Blood squirted from the torn flesh as Joey yelped in pain.

  Dawson heard this in the midst of his own back and forth and looked at his brother for the briefest of moments. This gave his experienced attacker all the time he needed as he lunged forward and snapped his jaws around one of Dawson’s front legs, which were extended just a little too far. After locking onto his paw, the wolf jumped up and over the white wolf, pulling his leg with him and twisting his body until his remaining legs were yanked off the ground and pointed into the night sky. They turned in midair and the wolf landed on top of Dawson, immediately beginning to dig into his stomach like he was digging for a long-lost bone buried in the yard. White fur stained red as flesh was rent.

  I decided I needed to intervene. A spear whistled through the air and found a new home in my guts just below my chest plate. I grunted with the impact and clenched my jaw, but didn’t drop my focus from my meal—I knew I would need every last drop of Fae energy to aid in my fight. I finished draining the Fae, whose eyes had rolled up into his head
, and let him drop to the ground. Then I willed my weapons back into me as I grabbed the spear and tugged it out easily. The wound closed immediately as I looked up at the stunned troll who had thrown the weapon and yelled, “OW!” before flipping the spear around in a show of prowess and throwing it right back at its owner, but much faster and harder. It went through his neck and into the sternum of the ogre who was charging behind him. The troll went down, clutching his throat as gross blood gushed out and escaped through skinny fingers. The ogre took no notice of his injury and plowed through the troll, his skull crushing underfoot as he knocked him over in his pursuit of yours truly.

  Forcing my eyes to shift off the immediate danger charging right at me, I noticed Joey was on his back now as his one-eared attacker went for the kill.

  I took the risk of losing a tad bit of energy and flung out a sheet of blood the size of printer paper at the eyes of the ogre, who stopped his charge as he became blinded. With my foe temporarily distracted, I jumped into the air and over to the wolves who had my friends pinned helplessly to the ground. Two katanas formed in my hands as I was descending and sliced cleanly through the neck of the first wolf right as its jaws began to tighten around Joey’s neck. It’s one-ear head toppled on top of Joey as blood erupted from both stumps. I wanted to imbibe that blood so badly, but had to focus on saving Dawson, who was seconds away from having his insides be on his outside.

  I somersaulted into the air, removing the remaining werewolf’s head and effectively stopping the deadly onslaught. The defeated twins rolled their lifeless attackers off them and strained to get up. I could see Dawson’s intestines were barely contained by strips of muscle. All his fur and skin had been ripped off, some of which remained under the claws of his skilled opponent.

  Both twins whined in defeat as they assessed their grievous wounds. Joey had been struck multiple times in the head, chest, and back—blood shone like rubies under the moonlight in his black fur.

  Kneeling down between the twin’s wolves, I placed one hand on Joey’s face and the other underneath Dawson’s stomach. I sent blood out and over their wounds, willing their flesh to heal. I was surprised at how much energy it took to stitch Dawson up.

  An earth-rumbling roar almost knocked me on the ground as I turned to see the red-eyed ogre lock eyes with me. He had gotten most of my blood off and had started charging.

  I healed the twins as much as I could in the time I had, using more energy than anticipated. Dawson’s stomach was closed, but the skin I had managed to grow back looked like a burn ward. Joey’s multiple wounds had stopped their steady flow of crimson, but still oozed a little. I stood up and faced my attacker while the wolves slunk off, seeming to avoid an impossible matchup. Probably for the best, as my friends were a liability in their weakened state.

  I wasn’t frightened of the ogre as much as I was wary of his ability to one-shot anything it punched—especially with those iron knuckles he wielded. He swung wide and I dodged low, slicing open his thigh with a scythe I’d manifested while our dance commenced. He roared in blind rage as he backhanded me and send me to sail several feet into the air. I wasn’t sure how far because I was tumbling in the air like a rag doll in a clothes dryer. I landed with a thud and a plume of dirt. I raised my head in time to see a comically sized foot rocket toward my face. Seriously, the appendage reminded me of the new Godzilla with his thick thighs, ankles, and hilariously fat feet.

  Luckily, I had two weres who flanked him from either side, Dawson going for the hamstring of the leg flying at me while Joey leaped to grab the back of the hulking beast’s neck. The ogre paid them no mind, fully intent on his target, until a loud twang shot through the night’s air. His attack, though diminished now, made contact, and I was thrown backward while stars swam in my vision. At the height of his attack, the ogre cried out in furious pain as he fell to one knee, unable to bend his leg back anymore. His bellow shook the teeth in my head even from where I landed.

  The hired gun turned to swing at Dawson while Joey held on like an impromptu ponytail, swinging with the monster’s movement. The ogre had less momentum after having his hamstring completely severed, but could still kill the twins with one hit. Dawson nimbly jumped out of the way and then rushed toward his now exposed target as the ogre swung too hard and couldn’t easily stop his own fists.

  Dawson slammed into the chest of the Fae muscleman and latched onto his throat. Both Dawson and Joey were growling as they squeezed with all they had. Joey couldn’t quite break the vertebrae of the ogre, but Dawson had nothing but soft neck. It still took all his might to crush the larynx of his prey. The ogre bellowed again and was cut off when Dawson made headway and gnawed through its flesh. Blood erupted and coated the white of Dawson’s face. Joey dropped what he was doing and went for the face, tearing chunks of flesh and popping eyeballs. The ogre’s scream was nothing but a whisper as air was unable to escape the clutches of Dawson’s jaws. Then the red-coated wolf shook his head from side to side until the sound of tearing flesh silenced even the insects in the immediate vicinity. There was one last horrifically long and wet ripping sound as Dawson detached all the meat he had clutched in his viselike jaws before swallowing his prize. The ogre’s hands and feet went still as they dropped to the ground, the only sound left from the big faerie creature being the blood that gurgled out of what remained of his throat. I took note that I could see the white of his spine before blood dyed it crimson.

  The black and now fully red wolves started eating the flesh of the ogre, chomping on their hard-earned kill greedily. They had a long way to go until their wounds were completely healed. Meat from a giant faerie beast would certainly help.

  The sound of an engine starting and tires slipping on gravel grabbed my attention as I looked up to see the limo take off from the driveway. I didn’t care so much about Ulric escaping if it meant I could save my best friend; but something didn’t feel right. I pulled out my phone and noticed Depweg’s icon was moving in relation to the car.

  “I got this,” I cried out to the twins. “You two won’t be able to catch it. Clear the house of the remaining bad guys so Ulric won’t have anyone to run back too.” They nodded their heads and began padding to the house, mouths still chewing fresh ogre flesh.

  I turned to face the gravel road, crouched down, and then leaped with all my might. I flew through the air in the direction of the vehicle. It was hard to remain in control in my panic and rage at knowing Ulric was in there with Depweg, and I jumped past the limo and deeper into the forest as it took a sharp turn—tires kicking up dirt and rocks as it fled. I shot my legs out and landed on a tree, squatting to absorb the impact before shooting off again toward my best friend. The tree splintered behind me and fell, crashing through its brothers.

  As I got closer to the limo, I shot out a bloodtendril and latched onto the bumper. Once secured, I began to pull myself in until I was on top of the trunk. I was about to slam through the back window when a beautiful Fae woman with the same color scheme as the first Fae male I killed burst through the open sunroof and sprayed me with a water gun. I was stunned when I saw her pull the trigger of the bright yellow gun with an orange tip and green water reservoir; then I was screaming. Holy water ate at my flesh, melting my eyeballs and dissolving my skin. I fell off backward, furiously rubbing at my eyes, when my subconscious pointed out that I was about to lose the car. Without even thinking, I shot another tendril that hit somewhere on the back of the limo, and I willed myself to it, staying low and out of sight as I was dragged over the gravel road. I covered my mouth with my melting free hand to muffle my screams of agony. As my cheeks melted away and my lips curled back, I took off my gray beanie and shoved it into my mouth to keep from being heard. Then it hit me. I used the beanie to soak up as much of the water as I could before shoving it into a free pocket on my trench coat. My poor trench coat that was being dragged to tatters.

  With the water soaked up and any remainder being air-dried from the speed of the fleeing limo, I was able to
use the Fae blood I had consumed to slowly heal. It took its sweet time as my cheeks filled and lips plumped. My eyes were the last to fill like little balloons. I didn’t know how long I had been healing as I was dragged, but I became aware that the road was no longer gravel and had become asphalt. Once I knew I was okay, I became really pissed.

  “THAT. IS. IT!” I bellowed from below the limousine as I extended my bloodtendril out, letting it form two anchors that led to both my hands. Once my ropes were securely fastened, I set my feet down until my boots were ground away and my bare flesh dug into the asphalt. I set my footing and pulled the limo with both hands until its weight distribution was moved to its front from the quick deceleration of my braking. Then I raised my hands high and slammed them down, sending a huge ripple down the ropes and flipping the limo ass over nose through the air to land on its roof.

  I leaped through the air and landed next to the vehicle before it came to a full stop and ripped the back door open. Using preternatural speed, I looked in and grabbed the first being I saw, which happened to be the holy water bitch who had dropped her weapon and was severely dazed. I ripped her out with enough force to snap her neck as she went flying through the night like a train off its tracks.

  Repeating the process, I looked in and saw…nothing. The back portion was empty. I strode to the front and pulled the driver out, who was nothing more than a mortal.

  “WHERE ARE THEY?” I screamed into his face with enough force to cause ripples to dance on his skin like a pebble being thrown into a still pond. The man didn’t answer, only sobbed in terror. Furious now, I put my palm on his forehead and forced my essence into his body. I broke through walls of sanity and thought, like a bulldozer in a library, until I found what I was looking for. Ulric back at the house, telling the Fae girl something and handing her a water gun, and a fucking cell phone that I instantly recognized.