they tore at the Skinners with claws that ripped apart the pavement and churned it into a cloud of gritty dust.
There was no more time to waste in waiting for Daniels. Cole and Paige both knew that the Full Blood could leap away any time he chose. There was something keeping Esteban at that spot, which must have also been whatever had brought him to Shreveport.
“This must be where he’s drawing from the Torva’ox,” Cole said as he set his sights on the Full Blood.
“Give me that divining rod thing,” Paige said. Cole flipped open his coat to reach into one of the large interior pockets. The object he drew out was an amalgam of his old spearhead, some pieces of Paige’s old sickle blades, and a tool Ira had used to harvest the Torva’ox to be put into his Blood Blades. The Jekhibar fit into a small rack designed for that very purpose near the middle of the tool, which tapered down into a spike about four inches long. She held the Jekhibar to her ear and listened for the hum. “There’s a big source somewhere close, all right.”
Watching her listen to a shiny rock brought some questions to Adderson’s mind, but he decided not to waste the time to ask them. “What do you need from us?”
“When will Daniels be here?” Cole asked.
“Should be any minute. And,” the IRD Major added while pointing to the other end of the parking lot, “he should be coming from that direction.”
“Keep the Half Breeds as busy as you can, but don’t push too hard. Keep them occupied, but don’t drive them away from the parking lot,” Cole said. “Know what I mean?”
Paige handed the divining rod back to him and said, “Just keep shooting those things without shooting us.”
Adderson nodded. “I can do that.” Into his radio, he announced, “All Ravens, maintain a perimeter and lay down enough fire to keep any more Class Twos from flanking us. All ground units, protect the incoming Humvee!”
Looking in the direction Adderson was shouting, Cole spotted the vehicle that had just pulled into the lot. It was spouting a continuous stream of fire from its turret as it swerved to join up with the Humvees still being guarded by the Amriany. “All right,” he said to Paige. “This is about as good as it’s gonna get for us. Let’s move.”
She holstered the Beretta, slung an HK across her shoulder, and then drew both of the weapons from her boots. The handles were the same as always and bit into her palms in a familiar fashion. As soon as the connection was made, however, Paige gave the weapons a command that she’d only needed since Ira tinkered with them. The Blood Blades he’d attached were narrow and slightly curved so they could lay alongside the handles and still fit within the holsters. Although the metal wasn’t pliable, the wood to which they were attached responded as well as ever. The section at the top of the handles flexed like an elbow, causing the blades to spring upward and give the weapons a shape similar to the sickles she was used to. As she jogged to keep up with Cole, she twirled the weapons in a tight circle to get a feel for their weight. The smirk on her face proved that she was a fan of Ira’s work.
Cole held onto his spear like he was charging at Gettysburg. The long blade at the end sliced through the first Half Breed it encountered before the werewolf could let out more than a surprised yelp. That was enough to alert the others, and the packs quickly turned toward them. IRD troops entrenched at various spots around the parking lot or on neighboring rooftops took advantage of the moments when the creatures shifted their focus toward Cole and Paige. Bullets thumped into Half Breed backs and heads, sending some of them down for good while softening up plenty more. Paige swung to clip a Half Breed in the face, and the chopping motion she made with her left weapon gave her the momentum to move forward and cut down one Half Breed after another with the Blood Blades. By the time they were halfway to the Humvees, the creatures had pulled back to come at them from different angles.
The werewolves weren’t bright enough to put together a complicated plan, but they’d seen enough of their pack mates get killed while charging straight ahead. Now, when one creature jumped at Cole’s head, another pressed its belly to the pavement to scurry at his legs. Cole jabbed at the first to impale it beneath the jaw. All it took to free the blade was a sharp swing and the charmed steel cut all the way through, as if the Half Breed was constructed of hot wax. From there he kept the spear moving so he could open the tines of the forked end, shove the lower Half Breed’s neck toward the ground to grind it to a halt and then turn the weapon around to drive the blade straight down through its spine. The werewolf let out one last shuddering growl before Cole plucked the blade out and moved on.
Where he delivered slower, heavier hits, Paige’s were quick and slashing, coming in a flurry of nonstop movement. With so many creatures attacking, she didn’t bother to stop and finish off each one. When a Half Breed was cut down, she went on to the next one that stood between her and the Humvees. She assumed Cole would be with her, and he didn’t let her down. Both Skinners made it through the parking lot to meet up with the Amriany.
“You shouldn’t have come here,” Milosh shouted as he threw one of his knives into the eye of a Half Breed and then filled that hand with a .44 Magnum. “We need to get to that Weshruuv!”
“Didn’t come for you,” Paige said as she headed for one of the other armed vehicles. Before she could say another word, the door to that Humvee was opened and Daniels spilled out.
“Steph’s reclaimed Chicago,” the Nymar wheezed. “All of it. Barely got out.”
“Great,” Paige snapped. “Did you finish that spray?”
“Had to mix another batch on the plane, but yes,” he said while handing over a can that still bore the label of a generic oven cleaner. The bottom was heavily taped, making it look more like a crude pipe bomb than anything Daniels normally pieced together for them.
“Glad to see you’re alive,” Cole said. “What happened in Chicago?”
Appreciating the concern, Daniels said, “Remember how I was always so worried Steph or some of the others would come after me? Well they finally did. And remember how I told you about that new room I fortified?”
“No.”
“Well, it held out just fine, even when the Shadow Spore climbed in through the windows. I think they were sniffing us out, but these Army guys showed up and took them out. Ruined two of my three apartments along the way, but you know. Whatever.”
“Yeah,” Ouray said from where he knelt so he could use the vehicle for support as he fired a single shot from a sniper rifle. It was modified beyond Cole’s ability to identify the make or model. “Killed a bunch of vampires before they harmed a hair on you or your girlfriend’s head. Whatever.”
Cole extended a hand to the IRD commando and introduced himself. By the time Ouray returned the favor, Paige had finished checking out the spray can.
“You’re sure this has a strong enough mix to get the job done?” she asked.
“Sure,” Daniels replied, rooting through his satchel. “I tested it on the other phantom Full Bloods that were sitting around my place. Now roll up your sleeves.”
Ouray’s face didn’t look like one capable of registering surprise. That changed when he saw the electric needle Daniels took from his bag. Less than fifty yards away the gunner in one of the helicopters laid down enough fire to scatter a large group of Half Breeds that had been charging toward the Humvees. More fire from the vehicle’s turret gave the ground troops a few moments to catch their breath. In that time, Daniels set up inside the Humvee so that each of the Skinners could take their turn getting a dose of the tattoo ink, which had been all but perfected in the last year.
“I’ll take a cool snake,” Cole said when it was his time to put his arm into the Nymar’s care.
Glancing out the window where Paige stood to fight off Half Breeds that made it past the IRD firing line, Daniels asked, “What about a drink? You must be starving.” Cole didn’t respond. Unwilling to bring up the tendrils directly in the company they were keeping at that moment, the Nymar asked, “Is your stomach hurting?”
“No.”
“It will be soon. Then you have to feed them.”
“No I don’t,” Cole insisted. “Just do the damn tattoo, Daniels.”
The needle buzzed in Daniels’s hand as he hastily scrawled into Cole’s arm. There was no design other than a few lines of varying thickness that traced along his veins to make sure the inky concoction and shapeshifter elements bonded to the minerals in the ink would have their desired effect. As long as the stuff remained beneath the flesh, it could pass on some of a shapeshifter’s strength and speed into a human and burn off before it did any real damage.
