Fangs and Fists, page 22
After a moment, the woman nodded slightly and stepped back.
Jolanda continued her exploration. She almost expected someone to attempt to expose her, but whatever message Victor and his gladiators had passed on encouraged them to cling to this last shred of hope.
After leaving the females, she visited two gladiatorial houses and experienced a similar reception. Finally, she arrived at the training hall in Victor’s quarters.
Her gaze riveted to him almost immediately. Taller than most wolves, he was engaged in a sword fight with a stocky opponent. They stopped and he turned to stare at her. His muscular, sweat-slicked body glistened. Long, powerful legs were exposed in his loincloth. A small, round shield rested against his hip. His dark blue gaze met hers.
“Victor, she’s come for you,” called a tawny-haired wolf. Several others laughed and howled.
“Tell him, Wrecks,” another wolf said with a chuckle.
“Careful, or you might be next,” Jolanda said, approaching the wolf who had spoken, the guards close behind her with their shock prods ready to strike. She circled the wolf, whose smile had faded.
Victor growled. His flesh rippled as he shifted to half-wolf form.
The guards glanced at him, but Jolanda held up her hand. “Don’t worry about it, boys. I’ve seen enough here.”
She strode out of the chamber, the guards flanking her.
Despite her outward coolness, Jolanda’s heart pounded. It was the first time since the arena she’d seen Victor fight and he was breathtaking. It sickened her to see him imprisoned, and not just Victor, but the other wolves as well.
In just a short time, they would make their attempt at freedom. If they failed, what they had suffered until now would be nothing compared to the punishment the demons would dole out.
* * *
The night of the attack, units of demon guards massed behind the gates. From levels deep below the tower emerged foul, tusked creatures trained to attack and devour wolves in their beast form. Legions of the soulless -- stinking of death and staring with blank eyes -- waited for the attack to begin.
Jolanda stood near the glass window of a mezzanine, watching the gruesome army. With so many going to battle, the tower was bound to be more vulnerable. She waited until the gates opened and the demonic warriors poured through to make her way down to the wolf houses.
Partway there, she heard commotion and stepped aside as more guards jogged through the hall.
On her way, she sensed growling panic within the tower.
Jinx hurried toward her and quickly wrote in red smoke.
The soulless have turned against us.
“What do you mean?”
They’re fighting against our guards. The masters have sent out all the reinforcements we have. If you wish to stay, get out of the halls and take cover.
Jinx stared at her for a long moment before she turned and disappeared into an elevator.
Jolanda continued on her way. Nearing the wolf quarters, she heard howling from all chambers. They were ready. All she had to do was open the doors.
Closing her eyes, she summoned the power of the pack and --
Someone grasped her arm.
“Jinx! What do you want?” Jolanda demanded. She hated to waste time and energy on the servant, but if she had to destroy her to prevent her from alerting Adrian and the others, she would.
Don’t waste your power on this, Jinx wrote. You’ll need it to get past the gate.
Jinx approached the door to Victor’s house and punched several buttons on a keypad. The iron door slid open and wolves burst out. Victor, Brutal, and River were in the lead. The tawny-haired wolf called Wrecks followed close behind them.
“What’s going on?” Victor asked, glancing at Jinx who had already moved to the next chamber.
“She’s helping,” Jolanda replied. At least I hope so, she thought.
Jinx quickly freed the wolves from the other houses. Just as they reached the door leading to the females and cubs, guards carrying shock prods stormed into the central corridor. A wolf-eating pig-beast accompanied them. Its eyes blazed and it grunted as it barreled into the nearest group of wolves, goring them with its thick, sharp tusks.
The wolves howled and several quickly fell into a hunting pattern. One pig-beast could destroy a single wolf, or even a handful, but with all the captive males free, the beast was soon torn to pieces. The few guards were quickly driven back, despite their frantic use of shock prods and fire spells.
By then Jinx had freed the females and cubs.
Victor howled orders to Jolanda, who led the gladiators out of the chamber. She lost sight of Victor and Brutal, who remained behind to see that the females and cubs made it out of the tower.
Jolanda also lost sight of Jinx, but she didn’t have time to think about anyone or anything. The wolves pressed forward, using brute strength to push through the few guards they encountered. Several magical fields sprang up, including ones of fire and ice. Jolanda had no choice but to use the power of the pack to squelch them, but each time her power reserve weakened.
They finally reached the main entrance. Wolves burst through the tinted glass doors and onto the cobblestone walk in front of the tower.
Other than a few guards who made half-hearted attempts to stop the raging wolves, the yard outside the tower was empty. The tall gates were closing in a final attempt to keep the wolves in and the soulless out. Jolanda, who had made her way up through the crowd once the females and cubs were loose, ran toward them. She felt the magical field crackling around them. If it grew much stronger, the power she had left from her pack wouldn’t be enough. Summoning every last reserve of power, she thrust her trident at the lock. As it broke and the gates flew open, Jolanda’s vision darkened. Weakness flooded her body. Frantic wolves pushed her to the ground as they tore through the open gate and into the city. Someone grasped her arm, dragged her to her feet, and hauled her outside the gate.
For several moments, everything moved in slow motion. Wrecks, a wolf from Victor’s house, had saved her from being trampled and now stood nearby. Glancing through the barred walls around the tower, she noted that most of the wolves had escaped, but a few stragglers with cubs were slower getting out. Beside them, Victor and Brutal, in full wolf form, fought side by side against the demon guards who were trying to reach the fleeing wolves. They could have easily outrun the guards, but not while other wolves, in particular cubs, were still in danger.
The gates again started to close.
“Victor!” Jolanda shouted.
She wasn’t sure if he heard. A guard struck him across the face with a shock prod, and he staggered. Brutal pounced on the guard. Another guard rammed his shock prod into Brutal’s side. The wolf wailed and writhed. Victor had recovered enough to lunge at the guard torturing his beta and knock him to the ground.
Victor and Brutal bounded toward the closing gate.
Wrecks grasped the iron bars on the gate, attempting to keep it from shutting. The last female and two cubs slid through, but Victor and Brutal were still too far away.
Ignoring her wooziness, Jolanda joined Wrecks. She grasped the gate and pulled. Somehow a last flicker of magic exploded inside her and the gate opened wider.
Victor and Brutal leapt through just before the gate closed hard.
“You all right?” Victor asked, shifting to half-wolf, half-man form.
“Yeah,” Jolanda replied. “We have to get out of here.”
“Which way?” Brutal demanded, looking around frantically.
The city itself was in chaos. Screams, wails, and roars mixed with the growl of engines, gunfire, and explosions. Demons and rebel warriors locked in battle. Just as Jinx had said, the soulless had turned on their demon masters.
“Where?” Wrecks shouted at Victor.
“This way,” Victor said.
In full wolf form, they bounded through the city, Victor in the lead.
The captive wolves had dispersed and Jolanda hoped they all made it to safety. At least they were out of the tower and had a chance at freedom. She thought briefly of Jinx and hoped that the silent servant had escaped as well.
They ran for several blocks before they ducked into an abandoned garage and shifted back to human form.
“Jolanda, are you all right?” Victor asked.
“Yeah. Knocking down the magical field at the gate took a lot out of me, but I’m better.” She glanced at Wrecks. “Thanks for keeping me from being trampled, by the way.”
“You got us out of there. I figured it was the least I could do,” Wrecks said.
“I won’t forget that you saved my mate, or that you held the gate for me and Brutal,” Victor told him.
“Neither will I,” Brutal said, glancing at his backside. “It damn near lopped my tail off.”
“Your mate?” Jolanda asked with a flirty grin. Maybe it wasn’t the time -- or perhaps it was the perfect time for them to say how they really felt.
Wrapping an arm around her waist, he tugged her close and said, “As far as I’m concerned. What about you?”
“Is this a formal proposal?”
“We’re standing here naked in front of our friends after fighting for our lives. It’s about as informal as it gets and about as real as it gets. I’m in love with you and I want us to be mates for life. What do you say?”
“I can’t have cubs.”
“Yeah, I know. I’m sure there are cubs in need of parents, sadly enough, in this mess. What do you say about me and you?”
She smiled and slid her arms around his neck. “I say yes.”
Victor covered her mouth in a possessive kiss.
For a few seconds, Jolanda forgot about the demons, the tower, and the fight for their lives. She lost herself in the warmth of Victor’s kiss and embrace.
“Oh man, that gets me,” Brutal said and punched his chest. “Right here. I’m honored to witness this.”
“Yeah, well, unless this is the shortest mating in wolf history, we’d better run. Three guards are headed this way,” Wrecks said.
They shifted to wolf form again and raced out the rickety back door of the garage. Along the way, they avoided several guards, groups of the soulless, and they also managed to locate several wolves from the tower who joined their group. They briefly stopped in a warehouse that had apparently been raided by demons. The place was a mess. It carried the scent of wolves, demons, vampires, and humans alike. The stench of blood and the aroma of herbs also lingered in the air.
“This place hasn’t been abandoned long,” Wrecks observed.
“The herbs. There had to be witches. I recognize the scents and signatures of spells,” Jolanda said. Her brow furrowed. “And something else. It smells like Haylen’s chamber and workroom.”
“Maybe he was here. Probably looking for Grit.”
Victor took a quick count of their group.
“Five females, including you, Jolanda,” he said. “Three cubs and fifteen males, including Brutal and Wrecks.”
“Uh, and three more guards with heavy artillery headed in our direction,” Brutal said from where he glanced out the window.
“How far away?”
“They’re at the end of the street.”
“We need a distraction,” Victor said. “I’ll lead them away from here.”
“I’m with you,” Brutal said.
“No. I need you and Wrecks to get them to the woods. I’ll catch up later.”
“Yeah, Brutal. We’ll catch up,” Jolanda said, striding toward Victor.
“No way,” Victor told her. “I’m not putting you at further risk.”
“The longer we argue, the closer the guards get. Let’s go.” She shifted to full wolf form and strode toward the door.
Victor joined her and moments later they left the warehouse. They growled and howled. The guards headed in their direction and the mated pair raced off, shoulder-to-shoulder.
* * *
The guards chased Victor and Jolanda for several blocks before an army of the soulless swarmed the guards. They fired their weapons, blowing the soulless to bits, but more came. Since the soulless apparently had no interest in them, Victor and Jolanda kept running.
He focused on escaping the city and the demons, yet he was still aware of many things. He mourned the wolves who had been killed while fighting their way out, and there had been casualties. In the chamber, the pig-beast had killed at least two wolves from other gladiatorial houses. Though he hadn’t known them personally, he mourned them because they had come so close to escape, but they wouldn’t be forgotten. Nor would any wolf who had died in the arena.
Though tainted with the stink of battle and the odor of the city, he’d never forget the first breath of air when he stepped out of the tower. Whether he lived to reach the gate, he had made it outside. Knowing that had given him the courage to push on. Now he and Jolanda were out, and he would die before ever returning to that tower.
They soon made it out of the city and continued running, their paws covering the miles as if they had never left the wild. Even when they reached the woods, they didn’t stop until daylight and sheer exhaustion claimed them.
Their pace slowed until they were loping through the knotty forest pathways.
For the first time in far too long, Victor heard the rustle of trees, felt the wind on his face, and the firmness of the damp earth beneath his paws. He was free again, and he was with the woman he loved -- the woman who had saved him in every possible way.
He shifted to human form and Jolanda did as well. Taking her in his arms, he rolled on the ground, his mouth devouring hers.
“I love you, Jolanda,” he said, gazing into her eyes. “How could I have ever doubted you?”
She chuckled. “You had lots of reasons.”
“Thank you for all you did.”
“You’re welcome. I wish it could have been more. I wish I could have destroyed the tower and the demons and --”
He kissed her again. “You’re a hero, witch.”
She grinned and hugged him hard. “I knew one day you’d realize that isn’t an insult.”
“It’s a compliment of the highest order.”
“Then you won’t mind knowing that you have magic, too,” she said.
He furrowed his brow. “I --”
“It’s true. I sensed it the moment I saw you. After all this, you know you can believe me.”
“I do. I think I’ve always felt it.”
She held his gaze. “I can teach you how to use it, witch.”
He chuckled deep in his throat. “I suppose I deserved that.”
Jolanda grinned and kissed him.
They still had a long way to travel, but together, they could do anything.
* * *
Thoughts from the master’s gazing room:
This failure is unacceptable.
It’s more than embarrassing.
Not only have we lost our wolves, but one of our own has turned traitor and another is missing.
Missing or also a traitor?
Think on the bright side, as our revolting enemies would say. Think of the fun it will be to hunt them down -- demons and wolves -- and make them pay for their insolence.
Don’t forget the vampires and witches. There’s enough punishment to go around.
And ample misery.
Haylen (Fangs and Fists 4)
Kate Hill
Faith healer turned resurrection demon, Haylen served the masters for centuries, creating legions of the soulless. By bargaining with the rebels fighting the demon masters, Haylen was freed from a tracking device viciously implanted in his spine and reinforced with evil magic. Now armed with both his demonic powers and his former angelic gift of healing, he can choose his part in a world where good and evil are constantly at war.
Maddy, a young mechanic with magical powers, has studied Haylen’s history and finds the demon fascinating, but she’s even more intrigued by the man he can become. Haylen appears to return her interest, but will the good witch save the demon’s soul, or will he corrupt hers?
Chapter One
Raging Angel
Haylen’s nightmares were intense -- even for a demon.
He heard howls and gunfire.
He smelled magic and blood.
He sensed death all around.
Maybe he wasn’t dreaming at all. The throbbing pain from nape to tailbone felt real enough.
Lying on his side in an unfamiliar bed, he gazed at his surroundings through half-open eyes. He was inside a small caravan -- or RV, as the modern version was called.
His last memory before blacking out was a painful descent down metal stairs in the warehouse where he’d endured a gruesome surgery. Only the physical and magical support of the young witch Madeline had enabled him to reach the bottom of the stairs and crawl into the RV parked below. No sooner had she helped him into bed than everything went dark.
The soreness in his back worsened. He was now fully awake, but still not sure if everything he’d heard and smelled was real, or a nightmare. He and Madeline had escaped in the midst of battle. The city of Detroit was in chaos.
Even now he didn’t know if they had truly escaped, or at least made it to a safe place. His wound must have affected his mind even more than he’d thought, for he knew there was no safe place in a world ruled by the masters. Still, if he was under their control, he wouldn’t be suffering in the comfort of a tiny bed. He would be grotesquely tortured in the deepest, darkest chambers in the tower.
As consciousness took a firmer hold on his mind, he noted that the vehicle was running roughly. He gritted his teeth against the jarring pain each time the RV hit a bump in the road.
Finally it stopped. Haylen drew a deep breath -- and even that hurt -- before sitting up. Fire spread down his healing spine and he groaned.
Removing the tracking device that the masters had implanted had been even more painful than he’d imagined -- and not just physically. After centuries as a demon, he had learned to withstand just about any sort of pain. His kind weren’t known for mercy, even among themselves.
It was the return of long dead emotions that had taken him by surprise. As a resurrection demon, repressing emotions was an especially important ability. Apparently the tracking device had served a dual purpose -- to allow the demons to monitor him and to help control his humanity.
