Fangs of Fate (Untish #1)

Chapter 66

CHAPTER SIXTY-SIX

CHANCE

Arche O’Connel stood and squared his shoulders, meeting my gaze with challenge.

“What are you doing?” I asked, aiming my weapon at his chest.

He smiled at me. Who did he think he was?

“I am your superior. Answer me, arche,” I spat the last word, daring a step closer to him.

He just stood there unphased by my weapon. I understood that bullets didn’t necessarily kill a vampire, but they sure as hell could hurt and debilitate. Too much blood loss and he’d be unrevivable—the dagger at my side, now that could kill. Just one slice into the chest, plunged deep in the heart or through his neck, severing his spinal column, and he’d be dead.

“We have company,” he spoke into his shoulder and then lunged for me.

I fired my weapon and completely missed him. He was fast, far faster than most vampires were and before I knew it, he was behind me reaching for my weapon. I twirled and spun, elbowing him in the gut and kicking his feet out from under him. He landed in the mud.

I reached for him but grasped nothing but foul mud. A hand pressed in at my skull, sinking my face into the ground. I tried to get out of his grip, but couldn’t even fill my lungs with air. Mud began to seep into my nose, my eyes. My lungs burned, screaming for air. The dirt had an acidic quality to it and began to scald my skin.

I reached for the dagger sheaved at my calf. Feeling the hilt of it, I yanked it free and plunged it blindly into the male atop me. A cry sounded and the pressure released. I used the moment and rolled, continuing my attack with the blade. Stabbing. Sinking. Gutting.

Air, sweet and warm, met my lungs. I inhaled it greedily as I continued to get up on all fours. Wiping mud from my eyes, I blinked trying to focus and ignoring the burn of my skin.

The buzzcut was gone. I could see a trail of blood. Like hell I’d let him get away.

Screeches and screams filled the yard along with the most unnatural cry I’d ever heard. Those things were here. Set free. The building across the yard was opening, releasing dozens of them. They ran toward the central building on all fours. Whatever they were after, I didn’t care so long as it wasn’t me.

Bending over I pulled my pistol from the ground and wiped it off with my pants before following the trail of blood. Arche O’Connel headed west, toward the central building, but off to the side.

“Damaris?” I spoke into my coms, nothing but static. Damn it. I was alone.

The air began to warm, heat even. The ground was starting to hum. The door beside me, on the building with the circuit box, jerked open and beasts began to pour out. They were mostly upright, but some hobbled on three legs at a time.

I leveled my weapon and began to fire. One shot, two, three. Before I knew it, they were falling and then rising again, some altering their trajectory toward me. They were pouring out randomly, in every direction. I couldn’t take them all down on my own. Several began to assault me.

I pulled my club from my back and readied myself. Those bastards were about to have their skulls crushed in. The first one reached me, hobbling on three legs, and I swung for it, catching the side of its head. Black blood sprayed everywhere, covering my face with an odious scent. The next one was already on me. I swung again and broke its arm. Its other claw swiped for me, I ducked and dug my dagger into its chest before kicking the hilt deeper and burying it inside.

Claws swiped at me from my right, and I barely had time to evade them before swinging blindly with my club. A sickening thump was all the confirmation I needed before turning my attention to another three creatures who were rushing me on two feet. Where the hell were the guaramen who were patrolling this base?

Another large warehouse door whined open. Shit. I couldn’t turn to look, not as the three were approaching me rapidly, but the vibrating ground confirmed my fears. More were flooding the yard. I was as good as dead.

“Anyone!” I called into the coms. Silence.

The air spiked and sweat began to drip from my forehead into my eyes, bringing with it remnants of mud. I could barely see as my eyes began to water.

The first of the three swiped at me while the other two lunged. I dodged the first’s claws and swung my club, meeting nothing but air. I pivoted just as claws sunk into my side from behind and flung me into the building. The whole world blurred and then twirled. I could feel liquid running down my temple, into my eyes, more than just drops of sweat. Blood.

A two-headed creature was stalking toward me. No, it had three heads, and they were wavering. I reached for my club, but it was gone. I’d lost it when I was struck. My pistol was still at my side. I unstrapped it and tried to aim, but the creature was doing an unnatural dance as it approached me.

The energy around me pulsed. A foreign roar echoed throughout the yard as pain shot up my spine. I could feel magic swarming me, inquiring as to my being, before being yanked away. My blood was firing within and the small amount of magic I possessed was jolting up and down my nerves. Something was wrong.

My body felt like it was being dissected. The monster approaching was within mere feet of my body. This was it.

“Dale!” a female screamed my name. Holland? No, she wasn’t supposed to be here.

I fired my weapon at the thing, but it continued toward me, unphased. It raised its hands into the air.

“Dale, don’t you dare give up!” Holland screamed. Were the coms working?

The creature swiped at me with three hands. It froze mid-swing and then collapsed forward, its talons brushing my boots. Three blades were sticking out of its back, right into his chest and heart. Honey-brown hair waved in front of me as a delicate hand touched my forehead.

“You’re hurt, but not too bad. Can you walk?” Holland’s concerned brown eyes locked on mine.

“I think so.”

She wiped the blood from my forehead and face with the back of her sleeve and my vision improved immensely, but the burning remained.

“This will help.” She pulled out a syringe and plunged it into my thigh without warning. Liquid fire filled my veins, and everything burned before going blissfully numb. Immediately my head cleared; I saw two eyes instead of four, one head instead of two, and it wasn’t swaying anymore. Holland was crouched in front of me. Behind her I could see chaos. Creatures everywhere, Damaris fighting several off, blood oozing from his leg that had a makeshift wrap. And Shae, dear blood, that was Shae standing near Damaris and rapidly typing into some device. The drone overhead was shooting at the creatures, injuring but not killing; it was a distraction at least.

“Better?”

“Much. We need to move, now.” I stood up, accepting Holland’s hand. The entire place was crawling with those things, they were everywhere.

“Behind this building, now.” I nodded to the one behind me, it was close to the outskirts of the complex and so far, the doors had remained closed.

Holland whistled and Shae nodded. Slowly, she and Damaris backed up until the drone ahead fired a few bombs into the throng of creatures swarming. They were spreading out in every direction, some at us, but most toward the central building.

The bombs landed and the whole area lit up. Limbs lay everywhere. Good, that bought us time, but not much.

“Now!” I shouted.

Damaris lowered his rifle and took Shae’s shoulder, guiding her through the muddy ground that now boiled and past severed limbs. Her focus was still on the disk in front of her, she was continuing to type like a mad female, commanding the drone that was once again firing at the newly released creatures rushing from the eastern side. The four of us headed for the back of the building. We made it behind.

“What the hell are you doing?” I demanded.

“Saving your ass. You’re welcome by the way.” Holland glared at me.

“You were supposed to stay near the rig. Not rush into danger!” I surveyed the landscape behind. The forest was quiet. Eerily so. Thumps came from the wall behind us, those things were crashing into it. We needed to leave, now.

“Enough! We have bigger problems,” Shae’s voice cut in. She held up the disk’s screen and then projected it so we could all see what she was showing us. Huddled against the side of a building was a familiar small frame with sandy blonde hair. Tate.

Even from drone coverage, I could tell it was her.

I closed my eyes. How had I forgotten about Anax Mardi? Naturally, they left with Tate. That meant Mardi was here, he brought her here into this throng of danger. I would kill him. I refocused on Tate, mentally calculating how to reach her. Those things were everywhere, they were trying to rush her but being held off by Mardi who was on the ground, fighting a large two-legged creature with…was that fire? Suddenly, dozens were suspended in air and then lit up by pink fire ?

Magic.

Thump! The door behind me crashed and dented. We didn’t have time for this.

“Dale, don’t even think about it. Shae got the data and we need to leave. Now.” Holland reached for my arm, but I stepped out of her grasp. Leave Tate? I looked at the screen again, Tate crumpled to the ground. The warehouse began to steam and turn red. The ground around her was roiling.

I looked up and met Holland’s eyes. If I didn’t leave now, there was a very good chance we would all die. I’d be risking Holland and Shae’s lives for someone who rejected me. Hated me. Someone I’d let down before.

“You know I’m right. We need to leave now, or we won’t leave at all.” Holland nodded to the warehouse wall behind us. It shuttered again. It wouldn’t hold for long. I hated it, but she was right . We needed to get the data back to the outpost so we could stop these things. My father needed to be appraised on what was going on. We needed answers and a way of ending these creatures.

Shae deserved to live. Holland deserved to live.

I nodded at Holland, hating myself for it. Tate had been right. I would only let her down, time after time.

“Screw that. Tate needs us. She’s one of us .” Shae glared at me. “I can’t believe you!”

Before I could respond, she darted out, rushing into the heart of chaos.

“Shae!” I shouted, but it was drowned out by a resounding boom as the whole yard shook and fire erupted.