Max
It didn’t take long for us to realize David Ranger wasn’t our guy. The dude squealed like a pig and spilled his secrets before we even started. Of course we had to ensure what he was telling us was actually the truth. That’s when it got a little messy, but it didn’t take nearly as long as I was expecting.
Shit, it’s only been a little under half an hour, and we’ve already knocked David out and are getting ready to leave the basement we stashed him in. Lara is pouting, but I’ve already reassured her that we have two other names on the list before we need to go back to the drawing board. If these two aren’t who we’re looking for, then I don’t really know where we’re going to go from here.
“I learned more about David than I needed to know,” Rio mumbles as we climb the stairs.
I grin. “What, you didn’t want to know about his erectile dysfunction and his herpes?” I swear I hear our Libra gag, and I nearly lose it. “What about the ex-wife who used to tie him up and peg him?”
This time I know he gags.
I cackle, but a soft shuffling just beyond the closed door of the basement has me stopping instantly. Without turning my head, I whisper to Sigurd, “I thought you checked the rest of the house.”
His grumble tells me he doesn’t appreciate the accusation,, but he bites out, “I did.”
Grinning, I crack my neck from side to side as I aggressively slam the door open and storm out into the kitchen. What I see makes my violent little heart soar. Dozens of men, dressed just as they were the night of the bonding ceremony, are packed into the room like a bunch of sardines, guns already firing madly as I race at the nearest human and take him down.
I yank the knife from the sheath at my hip and stab downward. No longer needing to hold the guy down, I rip my pistol from the holster at my back and start firing. I roll behind the counter just as a furious roar threatens to burst my eardrums. Seems there’s not enough room for our dragon to shift, and that's making him a little pissier than normal.
Gunshots are ringing in my ears as more and more mercenaries file into the room, no matter how many we cut down. Lara is laughing and tossing potions right and left, and shit, some of the effects are just bizarre. One human is scratching himself nonstop, another is turning pink and screaming, and a Zodiac is burning… literally. Kelvin is right beside her, flinging icicles at anyone who dares get too close to our bonded. Rio is holding his own, and the bastards nearest him are all choking and gasping for air. Sigurd, on the other hand, is using his strength to rip into humans and gifted alike.
Man, we really make quite a team.
I lose myself to the routine of picking these mercenaries off one by one for a long time, yet there seems to be no end to them. No matter how many we take down, more pop up in their place. There are way more than there were the last time we were attacked, though at first I thought it just seemed that way because we weren’t in an enclosed space like we are now, but no—there are at least double what we faced previously.
There are more gifted this time, more Fallen too, and it’s making it a little more challenging to cut through them when we’re being swarmed. I see a couple wolves, and I think that’s a lion Kelvin’s dealing with. Whatever we did to warrant this hit, well, they sure as hell aren’t taking chances, are they? Makes me feel special.
But how the hell are they finding us?
Somehow I end up in the living room that’s slowly but surely being destroyed, just as the kitchen was. I have a little moment of pity for the poor bastard still knocked out cold in the basement, because I can’t imagine it’ll be pleasant waking up to a fucked house. But my pity is short-lived; it’s not like I can do much about it.
I feel movement behind me and whip around in time to raise my blade and slice at the claws coming for my face. Putting my weight into the swing, I end up slicing farther than I had planned and nearly topple over, off-balance. I manage to catch myself on the now-screaming mercenary who’s baring his enlarged canines, telling me that I was nearly snacked on by a vamp.
I’m not sure which legends are true, so just for caution’s sake, I stab him through the heart and take off his head for good measure. Overkill? Yeah, probably. Do I care? Nah. I’m too busy having fun.
Man, this is a more intense workout than I was anticipating. I can feel the burn in my arms, and I’m slowly losing my breath. It’s a great feeling!
I hoot and dash for a human. They scream, and I fucking cackle when they turn to flee, only to get stopped by the men—and women—who filed in behind the guy in their attempt to take me out. I imagine they’ll be running out of bullets soon. I mean, this barrage has been nonstop for what, an hour? Two? Less? I don’t know, but I do know it’s been long enough my hearing is a little fucked.
Searing pain slices through my shoulder, and I hiss through gritted teeth. Some fucker just got a hit on me, and now I’ve got to make them pay tenfold. I whirl so quickly the human startles backwards, as if he has a chance at escape. I dart in with my knife and my gun, unloading my clip and shoving the blade into his chest with ease, before spinning to face the person behind me.
My arm burns, but I don’t stop. I can’t.
The flashing lights from the muted TV are now starting to irritate me, and I feel a headache blooming as I continue to work through the mass of mercenaries still—somehow—streaming through every single doorway. I need to do something a little more fun. Something lighthearted. Just… anything to take this edge off.
I see a bastard baring his fangs at me and a woman doing the same beside him, and suddenly I know what will do the trick.
I fake to the female vampire’s left, and she takes the bait, reaching for me with long claws that look unnatural and creepy as fuck. I feel the sharp things swipe by my face as I dodge and slash at her other side. She hisses, teeth bared, as I connect with her skin and draw blood. A lot of blood, frankly, so I’m sure it hurts.
The other vampire is sneaking around my back, trying to catch me unaware, but little does he know that allowing him to do so is part of my plan.
See, I have another power, and it’s my ability to do nearly anything I set my mind to. Somehow fate works her mysterious magic, and boom, my idea falls into place in the most perfect way, giving me exactly what I wanted and more. And right now, I want the vampire to come at me from behind, at which point I’ll roll out of the way so the blow meant for me hits his companion. I want to see the guilt and regret on his face as he kills her.
So just as he reaches for me with a sick-looking dagger aimed right at my back, I drop with a split-second to spare. The blade whizzes by my skull, just nicking my forehead, and lands in the other vamp’s chest with a thud. She crumbles, dead, and I use the distraction to jump up and turn.
I suck my teeth. No reaction from the other vamp—nothing. That was not worth my time or effort.
He comes for me again, and I parry the blow.
Damn, what a workout tonight. And to think, we haven’t even made it to the second name on our list yet. It’s going to be a long night, but I know all of us are more than ready to find the bastard who framed our bonded and make them regret it with every fiber of their being.
The things I’ll do to them.
Fuck, I’m excited.