by Zara Novak
“Write your case study later,” I said. “I’m asking you what I need to be combat ready in…” I glanced at the clock on the wall. “Eleven minutes.”
“Can you stand up?” Striker said, posing the question as a basic challenge.
I ripped cords and tubes from my body before standing on my feet, my legs shook slightly underneath me. I was a little dizzy, a little weaker than usual, but I could already feel my strength coming back.
“See? I’m fine. Another ten minutes and I’ll be good as new,” I said. “But if there’s anything you can give me to speed things along…”
“Davian needs to sign off on that,” Striker said, looking unsure of himself. “You’re pushing yourself too far Hunter. If you carry on like this, you are going to die.”
“He’s got my mate, Strike,” I said. “I will get her back or die trying. It’s that simple.”
“Well hoo-fucking-rah.” Davian thundered into the medical bay, a cigar dangling from his lips. “He actually survived.”
“Survived and ready to roll out. Ready for evac in ten.”
Davian laughed. “You got to be out of your fucking mind, Hunter. You go down there and you’re as good as dead. I can’t lose you now, even if you are a giant pain in my ass.”
I looked the commander square in the eye. “I’m not asking for permission. If you want me to stay on this ship, you’ll have to kill me.”
Davian sighed. “I’m fucking tempted Hunter, seriously.” He looked at Striker. “Are you really clearing him for combat?”
“I would stake my medical license on this man staying in bed,” Striker said. “But the patient has demonstrated a remarkable recovery so far. He will need some… chemical assistance to make sure he’s combat ready, but that sort of intervention needs clearing by you.”
Another loud sigh. “Christ Hunter, you’re really asking us to pump you full of drugs?”
“It wasn’t a problem when you turned us into guardians,” I said, “so what’s so different now?”
Davian rolled his eyes and looked at Striker. “What would you recommend?”
“We have got a trunk of Rage on board, but—”
“No way,” Davian said.
I lifted my head. “Sounds perfect. Let’s go.”
“Hunter that shit has been banned for a reason!” Davian roared. He looked at Striker. “Why is that even here, wasn’t it confiscated?!”
“It was,” Striker shrugged, “but the drug is damn effective. I kept hold of some just in case.”
Rage was an experimental cocktail of drugs given to guardians going into combat. It turned already elite soldiers into unadulterated killing machines. HQ eventually pulled the plug on the project over concerns of uncertain side effects.
The stuff was extremely powerful, incredibly dangerous and a very bad idea.
“It’s exactly what I need,” I said. “Give it to me.”
Davian blew out plumes of smoke. His attention flickered between me and Striker. “I’m not approving this. You’re not putting that shit in him.” Davian turned for the door but stopped before leaving. “Can you fucking believe this?”
“Sir?” Striker asked.
“That son of a bitch, Hunter. He had a secret supply of Rage, and he pumped himself full of the shit before breaking orders to join a top-secret mission.” He looked back at me, his brow furrowed hard. “Can you believe that shit?”
“He’s always had an insubordinate streak in him,” Striker said.
“That he has,” I said. “And he’ll bear the brunt of any punishment HQ will throw his way.”
Davian nodded before looking at Striker one last time. “Do whatever you have to fucking do. We drop in eight minutes.”
As soon as Davian left Striker walked over to an indiscriminate panel on the med bay wall and opened a secret compartment. He pulled out a small black case and brought it over to me.
“How long have you had this stashed?” I said and sat on the bed. He opened the case and pulled out one of the vials before screwing it into a compressed syringe.
“The day HQ banned it. I thought it might give us the upper hand one day.” He passed me the syringe. “Shoot it in your leg just before we jump. You’ll get about twenty minutes off this.”
I stood back up and took the syringe. “I appreciate this. Thanks.”
“Just don’t get yourself killed. Let’s go.”
We left the med bay and met the others in the ship’s cargo hold. Everyone was getting ready, preparing to drop into Harkin HQ.
“The bastard lives!” Charge said enthusiastically as we walked in. We clasped hands. I did the same with Hammer, Ash and Mac.
“Good to see you’re still alive, Hunter,” Ash said.
“It’s Hunter,” Hammer laughed. “It’ll take more than a mile-drop to kill him.”
A figure materialized on the air in front of me, it was Zero, the stealth-op of the group, the assassin. Though still much bigger than a normal person, Zero was the most slender of the group.
“Death waits until another day, aye Hunter?” he said.
“That it does.”
We all suited up, pulling on our body armor and loading our preferred weapons. Charge had a belt full of explosives. Mac had a Kevlar staff with deadly electrical probes. Zero preferred quiet weapons. Silent handguns and knives made up his arsenal. Hammer had his huge fucking war mallet.
Nothing new there.
Ash stuck to medium-sized guns. He liked the default assault rifle that we were all required to carry, but he was also a dab hand when it came to long range sniping. Striker was there to patch us up, but he also had his bow. Many underestimated the weapon, but he was fucking lethal with the thing.
Briggs and Rocky would be staying on the ship. Briggs would keep the bird circling while Rocky provided tactical insights from above. His equipment allowed him to get a bird’s eye view of the thermals from above.
Davian normally stayed behind as well to direct the mission with Rocky, but he was currently loading up his twin shotguns. It looked like he was joining us this time.
My own setup changed each time. Tonight, I went all out. I had an assault rifle and a shotgun on my back. Twin pistols holstered on my waist along with several grenades. I had a serrated combat knife tucked into my boot too.
“Sixty seconds!” Davian roared down the cargo hold, his voice carrying over the whirr of the ship’s engines. We all lined up at the rear doors, which slowly opened onto the night sky. They dropped down until a downward sloping ramp was the only thing separating us from the heavens.
The room roared with the sound of wind and engines.
I felt a hand on my shoulder. Turning around I saw Striker. He nodded at me and I nodded back. I slammed the rage syringe into my thigh and instantly felt its sinister effects take place. Fury, adrenaline and testosterone ripped through my body as a cocktail of mayhem.
“Go!” Davian screamed from the rear. “Go, go, go!”
One by one we ran to the edge and dropped into the night. I no longer felt the pain or weariness of my near-death experience. My legs pumped down the ramp and I launched into the heavens. Wind rushed over my ears and the distant lights of Harkin HQ glistened on the ground below us.
Eight figures of death plummeted through the sky, sailing towards earth to complete our mission.
It was time to get my mate back.
Or die trying.
15
Rachel
The room was dark and quiet. Tight ropes bound me to the chair. The psychic vampire witch sat across from me, tied to her own chair. Harkin slowly circled us, his deliberate footsteps echoing around the room.
“The game is very simple,” he said. “If you lie to me, then the other one gets hurt.” He stopped and held a cattle prod in the air, hovering it between the two of us. Harkin looked at me. “What happens next? Where is the tomb?”
“I don’t know,” I said, “It told us to—stop!”
Harkin jammed the prod into Say
dra’s neck, blasting the witch with violent jolts of electricity. She screamed, nearly tipping back in the chair. He stopped after a few seconds.
“Shall we try again?”
This time Harkin looked at Saydra. “I know you can see inside her mind. I know you already see the truth. Tell me what happens next. Where do I take the amulet?”
Saydra looked at me. This was the woman that assigned missions to the guardians based off her visions. She was the reason Hunter had found me in the first place. I fully believed she could see the secrets in my mind.
“I can’t see,” she said. “Her mind is clouded—no!”
It was my turn to get electrocuted by the cattle prod. Harkin stabbed me in the neck and I screamed as electricity made my entire body seize up. The pain was truly unbearable. I couldn’t let this happen to Saydra again.
“Do we all understand the rules now?” the twisted vampire said as he went back to circling the two of us. “You are both torturing each other until you tell me the truth.” He laughed to himself. “It’s genius when you think about it. Doctor Stone! Would you please tell me what happens next? Where is the tomb?”
“Why are you so sure that I know?”
He held the prod over Saydra’s neck again. “No games. Hurry up now.”
“Okay!” I said. “Just don’t hurt her! I might have an idea where the amulet is leading us.”
“Don’t tell him!” Saydra screamed.
“It’s okay,” I said. “I won’t let him hurt you anymore.”
“Hurry!” Harkin roared.
“Indianapolis,” I said quickly.
Hunter paused and drew the prod back. “Indianapolis? But… why were you coming here? Why come to me?”
“We need to activate the amulet three times to make a triangle. One point in New York, the other in Louisiana, the third is here. Then we find the tomb at the triangle’s center.” Harkin weighed up the information briefly before attacking Saydra again. “Stop! Stop!” I screamed.
“Is she lying?” he said to Saydra.
“No—” she wheezed.
Harkin got me again. This time was worse than the last. He turned and looked at the witch. “We’re done playing games. I know you’re both lying. Pay attention, Saydra, you can survive much longer than Doctor Stone. You tell me what you know, or I kill her.”
“Don’t hurt another hair on that girl’s head,” Saydra warned.
Harkin pressed the prod against my neck. “Last chance. I will kill her. I’m not joking.”
I fully believed Harkin, but I’d rather die than give up the amulet’s secret. I’d figured out the location right before I had to jump from the plane. The spot opposite to the triangle’s center, all the way on the other side of the planet: Ayer’s Rock, Australia. A mountain in a dead desert, right at the country’s center.
“Your greed will kill you,” Saydra warned.
The prod clicked as Harkin prepared to torture me again. “Have it your way—”
“Okay, wait!” Saydra said. “I will tell you the truth. The girl has told you part of it already. The tomb is in Australia. Ayer’s rock.”
Harkin finally pulled the prod back and smiled. “Now why does that feel like I finally got the truth? Ah… because I can see the defeat in your eyes.”
“That’s not defeat,” Saydra scowled. “It’s exhaustion. You already beat all of my power out of me. The last drop I have left, it will take everything I have to use it.”
“What are you talking about?” Harkin said.
Saydra’s answer came in the form of a raw and primal scream.
A word came from her lips. I couldn’t discern what it was, or what it meant. It was an ancient word, maybe from a lost and ancient tongue, but I could feel the power coming off her.
With her primal roar a wave of powerful energy exploded through the room, the witch at the blast’s epicenter. The shockwave smashed into Harkin and sent him flying across the room. He crashed into one of the dark brick walls and collapsed to the ground as a motionless figure.
My own chair blasted back with the force and I crashed against the floor, still bound to my seat. I heard Saydra and Harkin groaning, but I couldn’t see either of them now. Then a face came into view, it was Saydra. She crouched down and untied me.
“We have to be quick,” she said. “There isn’t much time.”
We both jumped to our feet. I grabbed the amulet off the table, and we ran for the door. Saydra lifted her hand, splayed her fingers and the door blew off its hinges. In the hallway we stepped over two guards that had been knocked out by the door and we started running.
“How do we get out of here?!” I shouted.
“With help.”
As she said the words, I heard the sound of explosions and gunfire begin to rattle overhead. “Guardians!” I shouted in excitement.
“The boys never fail to disappoint,” the witch said with a slight smile.
An elevator took us up from the basement level. The doors opened into a grand marble lobby, and we found ourselves right in the midst of the battle. The deafening blast of gunfire and explosions rattled our ears. Hunter and his guardians were doing battle against Harkin’s magic-fueled goons.
As soon as the doors opened, we found ourselves staring at a pack of Harkin’s men. They were firing upon the guardians on the opposite side of the room. The pack turned upon hearing the doors and paused momentarily. Their eyes were all a ghastly shade of electric violet.
“The prisoners!” one yelled. “Get them!”
Saydra immediately slammed the close door button, but Harkin’s men were sprinting at us, we had no time at all. I closed my eyes and winced, hoping that anything could protect us.
The answer came as the amulet exploded in my pocket once more.
A huge ball of light burst from the elevator and vaporized the vampires that had broken away from the main group. They turned to dust in the light but had shielded the others from the attack.
“Get them!” a vampire in the remaining group shouted. “Before she does that a second time!”
“Quick!” Saydra shouted. “I’ve got no power left!”
The amulet was red-hot in my pocket, and something told me it was out of juice too. “It’s done!” I shouted. “We’re out of luck!”
Four of the goons were seconds away when three huge figures crunched down in front of the open elevator doors.
“Eat shit and die cocksuckers!” Davian roared, unleashing a barrage of gunfire with twin shotguns.
“I don’t know about you!” Charge said as he unclipped two grenades and hurled them at the group, “But I’m having a blast!”
The final figure emptied twin pistols into the heads of multiple goons before looking back at me.
“Hunter!” I shouted. I ran from the elevator and practically threw myself into his arms. The guardians had eviscerated the group and saved us.
“I had a funny feeling you girls would give them a run for their money,” he said with a smile. “Now stay close!”
Both Davian and Charge grabbed Saydra. We ran back across the lobby, taking cover behind pillars to shelter from waves of gunfire. I saw the other guardians blurring across the large room, locked in mortal combat with the violet-eyed henchmen.
I saw one guardian suddenly surrounded by three of Harkin’s men. He spun a staff in his hands and dispatched them all with elegant precision. I knew it must have been Mac, the combat specialist.
Hammer wasn’t hard to miss. He was a juggernaut compared to the rest, charging across the room and swinging his Warhammer around like a Viking out of time.
We were heading for glass doors at the lobby’s front when a group of Harkin’s men appeared in our path. Hunter, Davian and Charge turned to change direction when we saw another group behind us.
We were surrounded.
“Hey!” a voice shouted from a balcony ahead. “Up here fuckers!”
We all looked up and saw Ash. He fired down at the group in front of us and they turned
their guns on him. A second later an arrow whizzed down an exploded in the center of the group. My eyes traced its path and saw another guardian with a bow pointing down.
Striker. The lone wolf.
The group in front were gone, but we still had another group behind us.
“Freeze!” they shouted. “Or we shoot!”
“Okay, you got us,” Davian said calmly, dropping both his shotguns to the floor.
I wondered why he was giving up so easily when I noticed something moving through the air directly behind the group. The pillars behind the five vampires rippled slightly, like I was looking at a mirage or a heatwave.
Each of the possessed vampires froze one by one and dropped to the floor before bursting into flame.
The mirage revealed itself, materializing before us as another guardian. Blood dripped from a knife in his hands.
“Good old Zero,” Davian laughed as he picked up his shotguns. “What would we do without our sly assassin?”
“All right let’s get out of here!” Hammer roared. “Prisoners are secured, and the area is clear. Rocky! We need immediate pickup!”
“Not so fast,” a voice said, echoing from a balcony right at the back of the room. We all looked around and saw Harkin. He had a gun in one hand and… something else in the other. I couldn’t quite make it out. The vampire slowly descended the staircase leading down to the ground floor, limping as he did so.
“You’ve made a very fine mess of my HQ. Well done. All of my men are dead, even with the magic of my demon stone, they were still fucking useless. Oh well. I guess I’ll finish this myself.”
“The game’s over dickhead,” Davian shouted. “You lost. Now drop the weapon before we fill you with lead.”
“No,” Harkin said calmly. He reached the bottom of the stairs and stepped onto the floor. “The game has just begun. I have the information I need now. All I need is the amulet. You see, I have won. I got exactly what I wanted.”
Hunter laughed. “We have everything. You have nothing. What have you won?”
