Luke had been sleeping poorly since they’d picked up the empty containers. The crew had been expanded for their planned excursions to sweep the two potential sniper sites. They’d gone through the building plans multiple times and briefed everyone until they could recite their objectives by rote. Between Luke and Pieter, they’d looked at it from every angle they could.
By all measures, they should be as ready as possible, but the what ifs weren’t leaving Luke alone. He kept having nightmares about disasters, inconceivable things that in his dream, he felt he should have been accounted for. In his waking hours, ninja vampire monkeys would be hilarious and awesome, but in the anxiety-filled hellscape of his nightmares, they were eight feet tall demons more agile and stronger than his werewolves. He watched as friend after friend was torn apart, their body parts and blood raining down on him.
After each brutal nightmare, he’d wake in a sweat, nearly hyperventilating. The worst nightmares, though, weren’t the ones his brain made up, but the ones it forced him to relive from his life. His platoon taking a direct hit in their trench from a German shell and vaporizing. Seeing the death camps for the first time while gathering intelligence. Raiding a vamp breeding station preying off the camps. The first half of the twentieth century had been a horror show Luke witnessed first-hand, breaking him after walking the earth for eighteen centuries. It’s not to say the previous eighteen hundred years had been kind to Luke or his psyche, but World Wars I and II had taken a fragile thing and shattered it.
In the run-up to their raid on the two potential sniper nests, Luke was increasingly irritable and jumpy. The only solace seemed to be training time with Gwen. The kid had proven to be a natural—her hunger to learn fueling her skill. Rarely did he have to correct her more than once. Her hyper-vigilance came in handy as she was able to pick up the tiny signals that showed where her opponent’s body was going.
The training and her extended interactions with Luke also had the double effect of improving both her humor and her hunger. Now that she was coming out of her shell, she was laughing more, although she was still a serious kid. She was also ravenous, the exercise and her metabolism fueling an increase in Luke’s food budget.
As she got more comfortable in Luke’s home, she started venturing out into the neighborhood on her own, going to the corner market to get a soda if she wanted to or to the park. Luke trusted her ability to stay out of trouble. She’d done it for a couple years when she was unhoused, but he insisted she always take the cellphone he’d bought her. Although that was less of a concern as she loved her phone and the world it opened up for her.
Luke, trying to unwind with a book, startled when he heard the doorbell. Throwing a coaster in the book to hold his place, he went to the door and saw Maggie standing on his porch.
“Hey, Luke. How you doing?” Maggie slid by him into the living room.
“Not bad. How about you?” He took her coat and hung it in the closet.
“About the same,” she replied.
Today, her long blonde hair was braided. She wore her usual jeans and a form-fitting red sweater. Luke’s gaze lingered longer than it normally might. He chalked it up to his tiredness and slow brain. Once he stepped into the light, she caught the dark circles under his eyes, concern furrowing her brow.
“Have you been sleeping poorly?” Maggie asked.
“No, not really.”
Gwen walked into the room and coughed into her hand, “Liar.”
“Excuse me, missy?” Luke asked.
“Dude, you’re waking up at least a few times a night, noisily.” Gwen walked up and hugged Maggie. “Hi, Doctor Maggie.”
“Hey, kiddo, good to see you again. What do you mean, he’s waking up noisily?”
“He’s having night terrors.”
“I’m waking you up?” Luke was horrified.
“Hey, I’m a light sleeper,” Gwen replied. While she’d been off the streets for several months, they still weren’t out of her system.
“Gwen, would you mind giving us some privacy for a few minutes?” Maggie smiled, rubbing her back affectionately.
“Sure thing,” Gwen said, turning back toward her room.
Luke waved Maggie to follow him into the office where they’d have some privacy. He sat in his office chair, leaving the armchair for Maggie.
“Night terrors?”
Luke sighed. “I didn’t realize I was making any noise when I woke up.”
Luke was coming to like and trust Maggie. Her quiet seriousness and kindness made her easy to be around. Her care and affection for Gwen meant Luke saw her a lot when he took Gwen for appointments or when he asked her to stay with the kid when he was going out for bigger missions. Gwen could take care of herself, but he could tell she got nervous when he had something bigger coming up. She was an observant kid and could easily read Luke’s moods, picking up on his tension.
“How long has it been going on?”
“A few days. Since we started planning this raid.” Luke looked at his hands in his lap.
“Do you have periods like this? When you’re more stressed?”
Luke nodded.
“Well, hopefully after tonight, you can get back to some semblance of normal.”
Luke laughed, though it sounded harsh to his ears. “Once the nightmares start, they take a while to recede again.”
Maggie, her brows furrowing lightly, gave Luke a sympathetic closed-lip smile. “I know you’re busy now, but when you get this settled, I want to get you in to see one of our pack doctors to talk about it.”
“Yeah, that’s probably a good idea, I guess.” Luke sighed.
“When you’re done with this, try to get some rest. I can get you a sleep aid if you’d like. But for now, about all I can offer is a hug, if you’d like one…”
Maggie seemed nervous about the offer, although Luke wasn’t sure why.
“I think I’d like that.”
Maggie stood as Luke did. They awkwardly stepped forward, wrapping their arms around each other. The warmth of her body against his eased the tension somewhat. He rested his chin on her shoulder, the two of them tipping their heads against each other’s. She gently rubbed his back. He felt able to breathe a little deeper. Drawing in a breath, he caught a whiff of Maggie’s light perfume. A slight smile spread across his face.
He didn’t really want to let go. It had been a long time since he’d been hugged so warmly, but he didn’t want to linger past Maggie’s comfort level. Withdrawing his arms, he held Maggie at arm’s length.
“Thank you. I needed that,” Luke said.
“I’m glad.” Maggie leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek. “Luke. Be careful tonight.”
“I’ll do my best.”
* * *
Luke met the rest of the team at the pack house to touch base one last time before rolling downtown to investigate the potential sniper nests. He’d insisted on rental vans instead of using pack or personal vehicles to help keep some semblance of anonymity. Everyone had ski masks or the silly bearded beanies, some mixing in lighter tinted sunglasses. When they hit their targets, they didn’t want any way their actions could come back on them or their friends and families, either from the vampires or the cops. Although it was becoming increasingly evident that the latter were involved with the former in some manner that could prove dangerous to everyone’s safety.
They’d split everyone into two teams of eight with Delilah and Luke leading one team and Pablo and Pieter leading the other. If they needed to, they could further split into squads of four. Delilah was eager to strike back at Cassius in any way possible, especially after the containers had turned out to be duds. Luke fidgeted in the front seat next to Archie, the werewolf driving the van.
He wasn’t feeling like much of a leader at the moment, but when the time came, he knew he’d be ready to go into action. Periodically as they drove around the area of their target, the high rise under construction, they’d drop off someone so they didn’t look suspicious when a van suddenly disgorged a bunch of people at once. When it was down to Luke and Archie, they looked for parking. The werewolf pulled into a nearby 24/7 loading zone and threw the fake permit they’d forged in the window.
Archie pulled the hand truck out of the back of the van and stacked a large crate on it. Pretending to be delivery people was good camouflage and allowed them an easy way to move their equipment to the site.
“Keys, mate.” Archie tossed the keys to Luke.
Luke snagged them out of the air and locked the van. “Ready to go?”
“Aye.” Archie turned and pushed the hand truck toward the construction site.
They met up with the rest of their crew in the darkest corner. Delilah already had a hole cut in the chain-link fence with some bolt cutters. She and one of the new wolves Luke hadn’t yet learned the name of waited outside, looking casual. When Luke and Archie approached, they peeled the hole back and waved them through, following when Luke disappeared behind the fence.
Once everyone was inside, Luke pulled some zip ties from the crate and tossed them to a Korean woman. “Mind strapping that plastic back in place so no one gets too curious? Sorry, I don’t think we’ve met. I’m Luke.”
“I know, sir. My name’s Jung-sook, sir.”
Luke nodded. “Luke is fine.”
“Sorry, sir. I mean Luke. It’s a hard habit to break on operations,” Jung-sook replied.
“Military?”
“Yes, sir. Infantry, Republic of Korea Army, 1964 to 1971,” she replied.
“Well, it’s good to meet you.”
“I don’t mean to be too forward, but I hear you’re watching over the young trans werewolf?”
Luke nodded.
“Well, my partner and I would be willing to take her in if she’s looking for a home with other trans wolves.”
“I’ll certainly keep that in mind,” he replied politely.
Luke knew that was a possibility. Maggie and Holly had spoken to him about moving her to a trans family when she was more settled. It had sounded logical at the time. Now, though, it spiked his anxiety, although it could be the timing of the offer. He sighed and pushed it aside for now.
He addressed everyone else while she zip tied the plastic barrier that kept prying eyes out of the construction site. “If you haven’t already, masks on. Stay alert and be careful.”
Luke pulled out the few firearms they had and passed them to the people who could use them best. Luke made a note to acquire some better options. He didn’t want to escalate to guns, but he’d rather have them if needed instead of the other way around.
He keyed in the radio, not sure if he’d be able to reach Pablo from this distance with so many buildings around them. “Spartacus calling the Pooch, do you copy?” Luke asked, using the handles Sam had created during the Wapato raid last fall.
“Spartacus calling the Pooch, do you copy?” he repeated.
“This is Bandit. I’m taking over the radio for the Pooch. Over,” Sam replied.
“Copy. You on site yet?” Luke asked.
“Yup. About to head in.”
“We’re in, about to start our ascent. Check in—” he looked at his watch “—fifteen minutes.”
“Copy. Out.”
Delilah handed Luke a set of binoculars from the bottom of the crate, then checked to make sure it was empty. He couldn’t tell who with everyone masked, but someone was wiping down the crate and hand truck with an alcohol-soaked rag to wipe any incidental fingerprints that might be on them. If all went well, they’d pack them back out again, but Luke liked to cover all eventualities.
Seven people stood around Luke, waiting for his directions. He gave the hand signal to follow him. The building was an in-process skeleton with floors and a good deal of its eventual height, but little else. They found the stairwell and started up, keeping their progress quick but careful and checking for any potential booby traps. As long as Luke didn’t sense any vampires, they ignored the bottom floors that wouldn’t have line-of-site of the vampires’ night club and the street where Luke had been shot a couple weeks ago by the sniper. Luke also had the werewolves check for any fresh scents to see if either humans or werewolves had been through the stairwell recently, though no one
“Shit, I should have been hitting the stair master,” Delilah complained. As the only full human—Luke wasn’t sure if he qualified anymore—she didn’t have supernatural strength and stamina but was always a trooper, keeping up with everyone else. The hard work she’d put in with her exercise regimen was paying off.
“Alright, let’s take a quick breather. My quads are burning,” Luke said, calling a halt at one of the landings of the stairwell. He turned his back to Delilah. “Mind grabbing me a bottle of water?”
The backpack was custom made to hold Luke’s swords if necessary and fit snuggly around his armor encased chest, but that didn’t make it easy to get off and on. She handed him a bottle, grabbing one for herself. While Luke slid the nozzle under his mask and sucked some water down, he scanned around checking for anything troubling like a security camera or other dangers. It was probably pointless in the dark and at this early stage of construction, but checking his environment was a multi-century habit. Plus, the vampires didn’t want their activity documented, so they’d probably eliminated any cameras already.
When he was done, he handed his bottle to Delilah. She took it silently and tossed it back into his pack along with hers, zipping him up. He checked with the rest of the team. Getting a nod from them, he started up the next set of stairs. When they were five floors from the top, they went silent, switching to hand signals for communication so they wouldn’t alert anyone or anything that might be lurking on the top floors.
He didn't anticipate running into the vampires; snipers rarely stayed in the same spot for days on end. But even after all these years hunting them, too many times he’d learned the hard way not to expect standard behavior from vampires. Besides, now that he held so many lives in his hands, over-caution seemed the best way to ensure they didn’t come to harm on his watch.
When they neared the top constructed floor, they paused one last time to get a quick drink and rest, readying weapons. Luke pulled his swords. Delilah slid her machete out of its sheath and pulled a stake from inside her coat. The other six members of their teams had firearms, a mix of handguns, rifles, and one double barrel 12-gauge shotgun. It was a motley crew, but they were ready, several of them having served in various armed forces.
When he’d checked that everyone was paying attention, they crept up the last set of stairs on silent feet until they lined up behind the door, out of the way. Pausing for a moment, Luke still hadn’t felt any vampires nearby. Counting down five with his hand, Luke yanked the door open. Delilah grabbed it and quietly placed a chunk of broken concrete to prop it open as the rest of the team came through the doors in twos, splitting left and right. Delilah brought up the rear.
Luke had his sector swept and kept an eye on the door while he waited for everyone else to report back. When the rest of the team signaled the all-clear, an upside-down fist patting the top of their heads, he relaxed and waved everyone in. Jung-sook and another wolf he didn’t recognize jogged back to the door, aiming their rifles downstairs in case anyone was creeping up on them.
Delilah jogged up. “Looks like it’s all clear, Luke.”
“OK, let’s sweep around for any evidence.” He raised his voice slightly. “Keep the flashlights under control. If anyone’s looking, we’re going to be obvious enough. Let’s not draw any more attention than we need to.”
Light beams flicked on and began sweeping the floor and some of the partially built walls. While his team worked, Luke looked across the empty sky toward the apartment building where Pablo, Pieter, and the rest of their team were advancing toward the floors they suspected the sniper might have shot from. Pulling out the binoculars, he walked along the floor until he found the viewpoint to the place he was shot. Finding it, he marked it mentally so he could focus his searches there on the lower floors.
Luke keyed in his radio. “Spartacus to Bandit, progress report, over.”
“Almost there. Going silent. Out.” Sam sounded like she was keeping her voice down.
As he stared out into the night, a tap on his shoulder sent him jumping.
“Shit, sorry, Luke. Jumpy?” Delilah asked, backing away.
“Yeah. A bit. Sorry, Delilah.”
“All clear here. Next floor?”
Luke nodded and waved everyone forward and back into the stairwell. Delilah picked up the rock and followed everyone else down to the next floor. They repeated their entrance, Luke diverting to the sector he’d marked out from the floor above, the rest of the team adjusting to his shift. As they silently fanned out to cover their adjusted sectors without a word, Luke smiled, impressed the team was flowing so naturally.
They swept that floor, then the next. Soon, they’d be too low for the angles to work and they could get out of there. Luke was busy checking the spot where he’d been shot. Still good. He stared at the spot he’d fallen and where Delilah had pulled him out of the line of fire, saving his life before the sniper could adjust to his head.
“Oh my god…” someone said behind him.
“Luke…” Delilah tapped him the shoulder, pointing toward the other team. “Look.”
Flames and debris belched out the top floors of the building where his friends and comrades were searching.
“Pablo…” Luke’s knees trembled, and he reached out to steady himself on a nearby girder.
“Sam! Luke, call Sam. On the radio.” Delilah said frantically.
When he didn’t respond, his eyes locked on the flames licking the top of the building, she punched his arm.
Luke shook himself to attention. “What?”
“Get on the damn radio. Call Sam,” Delilah ordered.
Luke clicked the talk button. “Spartacus to Bandit, come in. Spartacus—”
“Luke!” someone yelled. “Come here, now!”
Luke pulled his eyes away from the building. “Delilah, keep calling.”
He wasn’t sure why she hadn’t called herself; she was tuned in to the same channel on her FRS. Probably the same reason she’d had to hit him to get his attention. He ran toward the werewolf who’d yelled at him. When he approached, they held up their hand, pointing toward a vertical cement column. Taking out his flashlight, Luke shone it over the area where. It was a shell casing for a high-powered rifle citing on a metal box.
The werewolf reached for it.
“Don’t!” Luke said, grabbing their wrist. “Cassius likes to play games.” He pulled out his flashlight and moved it over the area around the shell casing. Wires painted the same gray of the concrete rose out of the box and ran up the wall. At the end of the wires, he found blocks of a light gray clay-like substance.
“Shit. C4.” He took a step and thought he felt something under his foot.
“Luke. Don’t move. I heard a click,” Jung-sook said. She’d wandered over when Luke had been called.
Luke, trying not to shift his weight at all, turned the flashlight toward the floor. He saw the lines that marked some sort of plate. “Everyone back away from me. I think it’s a pressure plate.”
“What are we going to do? We can’t leave you standing there all night,” Archie said.
“No. I’m not sure I can stay here for too long, anyway. I’m standing in a really awkward position, but I’m afraid to move in case it triggers.” Adrenaline coursed through his veins as he tried to find a solution.
“If it hasn’t blown now, it might be pressure release,” Jung-sook said. “We need weight. Anything we can stack around Luke’s foot. Someone go grab that rock we’ve been using on the doors. Look for anything else you can find.” Jung-sook looked around at the team. “Hurry. Or we’re going to be leaving this tower in pieces.”
Luke tried to force some saliva into his mouth. “Get everyone evacuated.”
Delilah jogged up. “Luke, I can’t get a hold of Sam.” She looked him over. “Why are you standing like that?”
“I’m standing on a pressure plate and there’s a bomb on the wall,” Luke gritted out the words between clenched teeth.
“Jung-sook, all we can find is a bit of construction debris. Should we run downstairs bring up anything from the site?” someone said.
“Luke?” Jung-sook asked.
“I’m not sure I can hold this position much longer.” His legs burned, and his body vibrated.
Jung-sook nodded. “Grab whatever you can. Grab all the junk you can find. We’ll stack it around Luke’s foot.
The small team burst into activity running around the floor, finding anything that looked worth stacking on the pressure plate. Soon, they had a small pile nearby.
“Luke, there’s something on the wall in front of you.” Delilah pointed a flashlight at a piece of paper that had blended into the wall. “I think I can reach it without getting too close to you.”
“Are you sure? I find myself not being terribly curious about it.” He stared at the illuminated note, his curiosity growing more intense. “Fuck. Be careful.”
Delilah edged toward the wall, sweeping her flashlight over the ground and looking for any indications of disruptions to the smoothness of the concrete. Once she stopped, she stretched her arm out to its full extent and snagged the piece of paper. “Want me to read it?”
“Go for it, back away slowly and stick to where you stepped before. Then read it.”
What’s the saying, my old pal? Curiosity killed the cat? I hope you feel like meowing now. So predictable after all this time. Can’t help but stick your nose in where it doesn’t belong. Except now your nose will be able to be in multiple places at once as will the rest of you. Love you to pieces, C.
Delilah cursed under her breath.
“Damn. He’s a real bell end, isn’t he?” Archie chuckled nervously and shook his head.
Luke nodded anxiously, his head wobbling lightly.
“Luke, I think we’ve got everything we can find,” Jung-sook said. “You ready?”
“No. But It’s not like I have a choice. I’m struggling here. Let’s only have one person do the stacking. Everyone else can hand them the junk,” Luke replied.
Jung-sook nodded then edged forward until she knelt on the ground near Luke. After a few moments, she had a sizable pile stacked around Luke’s foot. Once one side was surrounded, she moved to the other side and continued, stacking as much on the area of the plate as she could.
“That’s as good as we’re going to get, Luke.” Jung-sook stood up and backed away.
“Everybody, get ready to go. As soon as I pull my foot up, we need to fly.” Luke took several deep breaths to ready himself.
Once he counted heads and saw the team gathered around the door, he shifted his weight slightly to the back leg. “Go! Now! I’ll right behind.”
The wolves took off at a dead run, Delilah bringing up the rear. As soon as he saw her back disappear into the door to the stairwell, he took a last breath, then exploded into movement. The junk clattered around on the ground the plate where his food had been. He hobbled slightly from standing so awkwardly but burst into full speed, slowing only enough to make the turn into the stairwell.
He couldn’t see anyone ahead of him, but he could hear their footfalls and heavy panting punctuated by an occasional curse reverberating off the concrete walls. As he turned to hit another stairwell, he could see Delilah ahead of him. He was gaining on her.
“Delilah, I’m behind you. Keep going,” Luke called to her so she’d not be surprised by his presence behind her.
As Luke rounded the next turn, he saw Delilah trip and take a dive onto the landing, skidding across the rough concrete floor. He bounded down two steps at a time and leapt over her as she tried to push herself off the ground. He slammed into a wall, then turned around and helped her up. Her hands were a bloody mess, as were her knees. Although it was hard to tell with her mask if she’d hit her head, she appeared dazed.
He reached behind her, opened the backpack she had, and pulled out a small bottle of bleach. He ripped the lid off and dumped it on the concrete, spreading it around to cover the visible blood spots he could find with his flashlight. He was about to screw the lid back on when the building shook, a sound wave ripping through the air, knocking him and Delilah down. They tumbled down a couple stairs. The junk had weighed enough to buy them time but wasn’t heavy enough to keep it from triggering the bomb.
Luke, recovering first, crawled over to Delilah and covered her head and upper body as a debris cloud rained down from above, chucks of concrete rolling down the stairs.
Luke shook his head, wishing he’d brought his helmet as the back of his head throbbed. He couldn’t hear much except a whining noise that seemed to distort everything around him. Coughing, he tried to wave the dust out of his face, squinting.
“Delilah?” He wasn’t sure if he was shouting.
Delilah wiggled under him, turning her head and saying something. He couldn’t hear her through the whine.
“Ge…off…me…”
“Oh!” He moved down to a lower step.
Delilah got on all fours, shaking her own head. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw movement. Standing unsteadily, he drew his gladius and readied himself, relaxing when he saw Archie come bounding up the stairs.
Archie was speaking; Luke could see his lips moving and hear something, but it sounded like an adult from a Peanuts cartoon. Luke sheathed his sword and checked on Delilah. She was trying to stand. He reached down and helped her up as Archie waved at them to hurry.
“You OK?” Luke yelled.
Delilah shook her head again, trying to clear it and gave him a thumbs up. He slid an arm under hers and supported her as they started down the stairs. Luke felt wobbly, sure that whatever was going on with his ears had fucked up his balance as well. Delilah must have been feeling a little more steady; she shook Luke off and continued on her own, going as fast as she could while keeping a good grip on the handrail. Luke grabbed the rail as well and sped up, trying to keep his balance.
When they got to the bottom, the group was fanned out and alert, keeping an eye out for any intruders.
“Any injuries?” Luke hoped he was speaking at a low enough volume.
Again, Archie moved his lips but Luke couldn’t get much from it. Shaking his head, Archie pulled out his phone and started typing. He held the screen up for Luke.
Nothing serious with the wolves. You’ve got blood coming out of your ears though.
Luke reached up and touched the skin near the entrance to his ear canal. Blood glistened on the finger of his glove.
Archie typed in a new message. Plan?
Luke replied verbally, “Scatter. Probably lots of people running away. Everyone go to their planned meet up points and we’ll pick them up. You, me, and Delilah to the van.”
Take the cart and the crate?
“Leave it,” Luke replied.
Archie started issuing Luke’s orders, the rest of the team nodding. They moved toward the fence they’d entered through. Archie pulled out a knife and cut a slit in the heavy plastic they’d zip tied back in place earlier to conceal their entry. One by one, the team poked their heads out and darted away, heading to their designated extraction points. After the five wolves exited, Luke ushered Delilah out then followed her. Together with Archie, they stumbled toward the van looking like any other scared victim of a catastrophe.
Luke, fishing the keys out of his pocket, handed them to Archie as he passed. By the time Luke and Delilah made it to the rental, Archie had the engine fired up and was ready to pull out into the street. Luke helped Delilah into the bench seat behind the front seats and joined her, shutting the door. As soon as it latched, Archie pulled out into the street, weaving around people running away from the scene or milling about. Once he got clear, he made for the first extraction zone.
Luke’s head throbbed. He reached up and carefully pulled the ear bud from his ear, cringing with pain as it stuck for a moment before sliding out. The end was caked with blood from his broken eardrums. Feeling for the throbbing on the back of his head, he drew back bloody fingers. He checked again; it didn’t feel too bad, probably only a minor cut in his scalp. He looked over at Delilah. She was staring out the window with a dazed expression on her face. He could see light reflecting off some blood near her ear. He hoped it was only minor; she didn’t have magical healing like he and the werewolves did.
The first wolves picked up were Jung-sook and a face Luke had trouble putting a name to. Jung-sook took shotgun in the van, turning around and holding her phone out for Luke.
The pack has an emergency plan and meet up spot for triage and treatment. Activate it?
Luke took the phone and typed in a message of his own. Yes. You and Archie are in charge from here on out.
Jung-sook nodded and turned to Archie, her lips moving. Archie nodded back. After that, Luke quit paying attention. Someone else was in charge. He tried texting Pablo, Pieter, and Sam, but heard nothing back from any of them. He hoped they’d made it out. Hoped they wouldn’t be the victims of his failures as a leader. He disappeared inside his head, losing himself to the world until they reached their final stop and someone helped him out of the van and into a building he didn’t recognize. They’d arrived at the pack’s medical office.