Page 37

CHAPTER 36

R olling away from the exploding hotel door, I duck behind the closest chair, taking aim with my pistol. My body goes cold, however, when I get a good look at our attackers.

They aren’t monsters, or maybe they are, but they are familiar either way.

They are men I hunted with for years.

It’s the men who betrayed me.

It’s our elite team, still in their shredded, bloodied black hunting gear. There are no guns or weapons in sight, however, as they sweep deeper into the room. I sit frozen like a child as I gape.

They died . . .

I saw it.

I felt it.

“Kill them all,” comes a gruff order.

“Protect our mistress!”

Tem roars and throws himself at them, Addeus joining him, while Jarek begins to conjure. Fang is at his side, holding a blade, and Ronan stands beside her. Zeev appears behind them, and they turn to attack, my old team lunging at my new family. Black isn’t here, but he must be close. Their eyes land on me where I’m staring in shock.

Goose.

Except . . . this isn’t the Goose I remember.

His skin is pale, the colour of death, with black veins crawling over his pallid face and up to bloodshot eyes.

“There you are,” he says.

My eyes widen as Goose heads towards me. He backhands a chair out of the way, and it flies across the room with inhuman strength, smashing into the wall and breaking into pieces.

Tightening my grip on the gun, I get to one knee and fire, my shock wearing off in the face of impending danger. His body jerks as it’s riddled with bullets, and I continue to fire, but he doesn’t stop, not until he’s grinning before me. He smacks the gun away and reaches for me. I roll forward and slam a dagger into the artery in his thigh as I slide through his legs, coming up behind him. I wrap myself around his back and slam another blade into his neck for safe measure.

Roaring, he spins and reaches for me, but blood doesn’t squirt from the wounds like normal. Instead, a thick, blackish substance slowly rolls from the wounds and across his skin, confusing me for a moment, and then I’m airborne. I hit the wall hard, and he’s on me. He wraps his hand around my throat and lifts me into the air with inhuman strength.

“Hello, Tate.” He grins. “Miss us?”

I cannot spare the others a look, but I hear them fighting. I just hope they are doing better than I am.

There’s nothing human left in Goose’s gaze. “You’re dead. You should have stayed dead,” I hiss as he jerks me forward.

“Where’s the fun in that? I’ve always wondered how you would taste. I bet you’re delicious. Let’s find out.” He pulls me towards his mouth.

I slam my dagger into his arm and rip it up, tearing through tendons and muscles, but he doesn’t even blink, just gives me a creepy grin with teeth covered in blood and black inkiness. His eyes are soulless.

There is no spark of warmth or life there.

Pulling the dagger free, I slam it into him again, hoping to loosen his grip, but if anything, he just seems amused by my attempts. He should be dead. They are all fatal wounds for a human.

He isn’t human, though, not anymore, and I do not have a fucking clue what he is.

This isn’t working; he won’t fucking die. Bullets didn’t stop him, and he won’t bleed out. I can hit him with everything I have, but unless I know what he is now and how to kill him, we are at a disadvantage and could sustain losses.

A good hunter knows when to retreat.

This battle cannot be won, not like this, and I have more to think about than just me. Death doesn’t scare me, I welcome it, but those around me deserve better. They have been failed far too often.

I will not let them down.

He tugs me closer to his gaping mouth, and I know I won’t survive what he has planned, but he forgot one thing—I’m not that easy to kill. I lunge, taking him by surprise as I wrap around him from the front.

I sink my teeth into his neck, feeling his veins burst before I rip my head back, wanting to gag as that tar-like blood fills my mouth. He roars as I’m dropped to the floor. I hit it hard, spitting out his skin and that disgusting slimy substance, then I scramble to my feet and dive towards my bag. I grab it and glance around the room.

We are losing. Magic is flying everywhere, blood as well.

Fang screams as she’s thrown onto the bed, Mav coming down on top of her with a wicked laugh. Tugging my shotgun free, I fire as I walk over. He jerks and rolls away. Grabbing Fang, I keep hold of her hand as I take out a grenade and glance at her.

She looks around before nodding at me. Both of us know what we have to do.

“Let’s go!” I roar to my men. Trusting them to follow and survive, I shoot a path to the door. Once outside, I toss the grenade back into the room, keep hold of Fang, and start to run.

I hear more footsteps behind me, but when I glance back, I see it’s Addeus, Jarek, Tem and Zeev. Ronan pops up in front of me, and just as we turn the corner, the grenade goes off. The gas will fill the room, choking them and hopefully knocking them out. We use it for big nests so we can head in without being attacked, and I hope like fuck it works on whatever they are now.

Keeping hold of Fang’s hand, I dive into the truck and spin the tires as the others dive into the back, and I peel away before their doors are even shut.

When I fishtail out onto the empty, dark road, the headlights of the truck splash across a figure in the middle waiting for us. I slow and then stop as he lifts his head, a knowing grin on his face.

Black.

I stare at my old major, or what he has become, my heart hammering as his eyes light up with a wicked gleam I know far too well.

It’s a trap.

“Back it up! Turn around!” Fang yells.

He grins wider, and I grip the wheel tighter, my nostrils flaring in fury. “No.” It’s what he wants. Jerking the truck into gear, I slam my foot on the gas and barrel towards him. We grow closer and closer, but he doesn’t dive out of the way, and when we hit him, he goes up and over the vehicle, cracking the windshield as he hits the top.

I speed off, glancing in the rearview for him, but I don’t see him. Suddenly, my window smashes and a hand grips my throat, trying to jerk me from my seat. “Take the wheel,” I hiss at Fang, and when she grips it, I stab my dagger into Black’s arm. It does nothing but piss him off, and I’m slammed into the door. A grunt escapes me at the pain as I feel the others reaching for him.

“He’s mine,” I hiss, truly pissed off now. Not only did this bastard torture and try to kill me, but he also made me think he was dead and didn’t even have the decency to stay dead. “Fang, drive.” It’s all the warning I give her as I kick my door open, knocking his arm away and gripping the edge of the doorframe. I haul myself up and onto the roof, crouching as the car swerves, and I glare at Black.

He kneels before me, his arm extended and twisted at his side from where it just broke.

Pulling another dagger from my side, I brandish one in each hand, panting as I wait.

He snaps his arm into place, and within seconds his fingers flex, even crushed and facing the wrong way.

“What the fuck are you?” I demand. “What did you do to yourself, Black?”

“What I had to.” He chuckles, the sound like nails on a chalkboard. “Now it’s time to finish this. You should be dead, Tate.”

“So the fuck should you, but I guess we are both disappointments,” I retort.

“Enough talking.” He dives at me.

I slide to avoid him, and he almost tumbles from the roof, but he catches himself at the last minute as the truck jerks to the side. I use it to throw myself at him, one blade aimed at his chest and the other going towards his neck to carve off his head.

No fucker can survive that, so it’s a safe bet.

As I’m sawing through his neck, his arm comes up and snaps onto my wrist. My fingers open reflexively, and he kicks me back. I hit the roof hard, the breath gone from my lungs, and then his hand is in my hair, dragging me up until I hang over the edge of the front windscreen. I manage to bring my arms up just in time as his fist slams into them. He rains punches across me, my arms aching with the force, and I grit my teeth as I try to block him, but he gets tired of it. Growling, he grips one of my arms and yanks it out and to the left. I feel it pop out of its socket, and I swallow my scream as it instantly goes numb. His hand slides around my throat as he grins down at me, tightening his hold and cutting off my oxygen.

I choke even as I kick out, trying to dislodge him. It would have worked before, but not now. Whatever Black is, it’s something with a huge amount of strength.

“I’m going to rip your head from your body and feast on your insides,” he threatens, “and then I’ll do the same to the ones helping you before I go back to Stalkers’ Rest and kill every single one of them.”

I kick out once more. His hand loosens, and I scramble for anything. I need to get rid of him and fast.

“I’ll make this world dark like my soul,” he snaps.

My head rolls to the side and then back, and I see what I need to—the bridge. Turning back to him, I grip his ruined shirt and grin in his face as I jerk him closer. “See you in hell then,” I snarl, and I count down. Just as we reach the bridge, I kick and push with all my might, lifting him off me. He hits the bridge and flies from the top of the truck.

Lying as flat as I can, I wait for us to clear it and then groan and roll over, gripping the passenger door. My other arm isn’t working, so I have to reach down, open the door, and slide in with one arm. It’s hard work, but I make it happen and slam it shut. My hand goes to my shoulder, feeling it. It’s dislocated, and I can’t fight like this, but it’s clear Black and the others aren’t going to give up.

Numerous voices reach me. “Are you okay?”

I nod, gritting my teeth as I extend my arm and, with a jerk, snap it back into place. A hiss escapes my lips, and I test my grip. Luckily, it’s working, just sore. Glancing at Fang, I grin. “Great driving, babe.”

“Sure,” she replies, her eyes wide and locked on the front window.

Reaching over, I lay my hand over hers. “It’s okay. You can ease up a little. Head somewhere deep into the forest. We need to lie low for a bit.”

She nods jerkily, and I make sure she is okay before I look at the others crowded in the back. “You guys okay?”

“You should have let us help,” Jarek snarls.

I shrug. “Nah, I had him.”

“Let me fix your arm,” Tem offers.

“It’s fine, honestly. Let’s just get somewhere safe,” I mutter.

“Is anywhere safe? What was that?” Addeus murmurs.

“That was your old team, no?” Zeev asks.

“It was.” I nod as I glance back at them and then into the darkness beyond the cracked windscreen. “You’re right. Nowhere will be safe.”

“Why?” Fang asks, glancing at me before looking back at the road.

“We are being hunted,” I inform them.

“What do you mean we are being hunted?” Fang asks, pacing before me as I set out what I have in my bags. It won’t be enough for whatever they are now. I need a fucking tank and an armoury, not just some guns, grenades, and wire.

Lifting my head, I watch her pace. The truck is idling, its lights splashing across us. The others sit next to us, their heads slowly tilting from side to side as they watch Fang before me.

“That was my old team. Clearly, they have become something else,” I admit, “and now are hunting us. They probably picked up my scent from HQ when they went back and followed it. Dumb. I was fucking dumb.”

“Well, it was fun to see the old gang,” Ronan remarks, and my anger flares at him . . . at everything. I leap to my feet and head towards him, getting right in his face as his eyes widen.

“You could have told me who it was!” I roar.

“I didn’t know!” Ronan snaps. “I couldn’t see their faces, and I panicked and had to warn you, okay? It was more important you were alive!”

“It is not your responsibility to keep me alive?—”

“Yes, it is! I have done it for years, watching your back and protecting you. I will not stop now. No matter what you think of me, everything I have ever done is for you!” he shouts, more serious than I’ve ever seen him.

I stare at him for a moment, unsure what to say. “They died, I saw them, so what were they?” I whisper.

“Ghouls,” Jarek says, and I step back from Ronan, breaking the tension between us. “They were ghouls.”

“Shit,” we all say at once as I rub my head.

“I’ve never hunted ghouls. They are really fucking rare,” I mutter. I don’t like not knowing things, and this is even worse. I cannot hunt what I do not understand. “I don’t even know how they are—” A noise has me spinning, raising a knife and a gun as I scan the area. I gesture for them to get down, then I crouch and wait.

“Anyone see anything?” I hiss.

“Movement in the trees, fifty feet ahead,” Addeus murmurs. “They are . . . wrong. Dead, whoever it is.”

“Great. Be prepared,” I mutter, and the next minute is filled with tension as I wait for another attack. The trees rustle, twigs snap loudly, and then a body emerges from the darkness. I fire automatically, and they jerk, falling to the ground. I head over, scanning the area, but I don’t see anyone else.

Suddenly, they lurch to their feet, and I still as their head lifts. I know that pale, innocent face—Eric, the baby of the group and the person I was closest to, the one who did nothing to stop what happened to me.

He’s weak, always has been, but not anymore as the bullet hole in his chest continues to leak black fluid.

“Please help me, Tate,” Eric pleads, his eyes wide as he falls to his knees. Blood coats his mouth and hands. “Something is wrong. I woke up like . . . this, and I’m just so hungry and lost. Please, Tate, please help me.” He collapses forward.

My eyes are wide as I keep my gun pointed at him. “Tem, check if he’s alive or awake or something.”

Tem treads closer, hesitantly kneeling at his side, and rolls him over. Eric’s eyes are closed, and his skin is pale with black veins bulging across his neck and stretching into his face. “He’s out cold,” Tem says. I move back, and without removing my eyes from Eric since we can’t be too careful, I toss some rope at Tem. It won’t hold for long, but it’s the best we have and will give us some warning.

“Tie him to the tree,” I order. He didn’t attack on sight. It could be a trap, but he sounded scared and lost. Black hates weakness, and Eric is just that, even in this form.

Tem and Addeus drag him to the nearest tree and wrap the rope around him and the trunk before Jarek touches the rope, nodding at me. “Should be unbreakable now.”

“Thank you,” I murmur as they walk back to me. Addeus, however, stays close to Eric, not trusting him, and that gives me a little relief.

I’m still pissed at Ronan, but he’s right. It’s not his fault they attacked, and he’s not a hunter or a soldier like I am. We are all doing the best we can in this situation. I run my eyes over Ronan, and he looks away. Sighing, I make a note to talk to him later, but right now we have more important things to deal with.

“So they are ghouls.” I prop my hands on my hips as I stare at Eric. “I don’t know shit about them. How the fuck did they even become ghouls?” I ask, bewildered.

“Ghouls are said to be created from a soul so bleak and black that even the afterlife rejects them. They must consume the dead’s blood,” Jarek answers. “Or so I read when I was doing research on species and their helpful properties.”

“Consume the dead’s blood? When the fuck did they have time to do that?” I huff.

“We all did,” Eric rasps as his head rolls back, his soulless eyes staring at me, but he seems tired and afraid. “Even you, Tate.”

“We never drank blood—the tracking liquid,” I whisper with dawning horror, realising what this means. If I’d died when they tried to kill me, then I might have become one too.

“Tracking liquid?” Fang asks, confused.

I head to my bag and search through. I don’t usually carry any, but Black always stocked our bag with extras. My hands are frantic as I search. “It’s a glowing blue liquid. Black told us it was for tracking within our team in case we were captured or worse.” I tug out the silver vial at the bottom of the bag. “We were always told to stock up each time and ordered to drink it before each mission. It was the only thing we all consumed.” Uncorking the top, I sniff it before handing it over to Addeus.

He takes a strong inhale and hands it over to Zeev. “That is blood. Moreover, that is dead blood. Has been for a while.”

I turn and gag. He had us drinking blood from the dead in case we died so we would come back.

“It makes sense.” Eric groans, and my head snaps up to see him leaning back into the tree, his eyes bloodshot. “Black never wanted to die. He wanted to live forever. He always claimed he was eternal and untouchable. I guess he was right.”

“He always had a backup plan for everything,” I whisper in shock. “He even wanted to cheat death.”

Eric nods, and I crouch before him, shocked and confused. “So they are ghouls?” I glance at Jarek. “How do we kill a ghoul?”

“I don’t know,” he admits.

“Fuck!” I roar as I pace. “They are going to go after Stalkers’ Rest, and it won’t end there. Thousands will die. Black was bad enough when he was human. It won’t just be monsters he hunts for fun now.”

“We need to warn Shamus,” Ronan whispers.

“No, we need to do better than that. We need to kill them all and protect not just Stalkers’ Rest, but everyone else in this world.” I glance at Ronan. “Warn Shamus and find out how we kill a ghoul, then find us again.”

“But—”

“Please,” I grit out, and he swallows, nods, and disappears. “The rest of us need to buy time and safety,” I mutter as an idea comes to mind. I head over to Eric and untie him, handing the rope to Addeus before I walk towards the truck.

Opening the gas tank, I pull what I need and toss the delayed grenade in the tank. “What the fuck, Tate?” Fang demands, backing away.

“They will be able to track it. If you want to survive until dawn, listen to me and do everything I say.” I glance back to Eric. “I know these men better than anyone. Right now, they will be hunting that truck. We need to burn it and find a defensible position for when they attack so they don’t catch us off guard. Let’s go.” Slinging my bag over my shoulder, I walk into the trees, taking the rope from Addeus which tugs tight as Eric stumbles behind me at the end of it.

An explosion rocks the earth minutes later, but I don’t look back.

It seems I will have my revenge after all.