“Get him out!” She heard Tynan shout. “Put it to sleep! Use the chloroform.”
“My Alpha, won’t chloroform kill the kid?”
“Not one this strong. Take the blood sample to the labs. They know what to do with it. Go!”
Talia heard the assistant leave and Tynan make his way over to the stretcher. Talia tightened the fist she had made with her right hand and pulled. She had no idea what the wolfbane had done to her strength or how long it would take to get back. But the stretcher was rattling violently and she needed any advantage she could get.
“Sorry about that my dear…”
Talia felt his hands grip the cage and lift it haphazardly, being gentle was not his goal. The cuff of her left hand came loose as a surge of strength coursed through her. As the stretcher straightened she flung her limbs outwards with all her might. The restraints broke and the cage exploded. Tynan stumbled back and hit the wall. Talia leapt on top of him and pressed her nails into his face.
“Where’s the kid…?”
“Why should I tell you?” Tynan smiled.
“Why?” Talia dug down into his flesh. “One guess, arsehole.”
“Go on. Kill me. You’ll never find him. Even if you did, how do you expect to leave here with a newborn slowing you down…and thirty thousand men chasing you?”
“Thirty thousand…”
“There’s more. Many more. The weapons you saw? How many men do you think are needed to power them? You have no idea who you’re dealing with.”
Talia flicked her eyes around as various clicks sounded behind her. She turned and found the points of rifles, pointed through the horizontal gaps in the wall. Automatic defences? Or someone watching them with a finger on the trigger mechanism? “I think I do. A nice wide shield.”
Talia grabbed Tynan and flung him towards the guns as they opened fire. She bolted towards the doors and burst through them, stumbling slightly but she maintained her feet enough to keep going. She had no idea in which area of the castle she was, but found herself running down what looked like a bunker tunnel, towards a long flight of stairs heading up and to the right.
She stopped as two men sprinted down them, armed with assault rifles. Talia roared and launched herself at both of them, sending them both to the ground. Her fist sank into the first man’s face, killing him instantly. With her other hand, she freed his rifle and riddled the second man’s skull with bullets.
She rose up the stairs and came upon an open air, covered bridge connected to a guard tower. Talia saw the bridge had been built on top of a cliff face, and when she looked down she could see straight to the ocean. Maybe there was a better way to get out. A less dangerous one. But Talia had no idea how long she had until she was found. Without wasting another second, she took a leap over the edge and plummeted to the freezing depths.
*
Nick tried to move, tried to rise, but was beaten back down. Any movement he made caused the beasts to suck harder. He managed an elbow to one on his left, but with a hungry groan the vampire took the hit and latched on to Nick’s shoulder. With his last ounce of strength, Nick heaved himself up and let his whole body smack back down. His body was collectively ripped from their teeth. Nick could barely move as he tried to crawl away with shaking arms.
He turned over just as he heard one vampire drop to the ground. The top part of their skull had been removed. With a foul cry, the other two rushed away from Nick and towards two figures he had only just noticed. One illuminated by the entrance light, a red headed man, waiting for the vampires with a bowie knife and a slim figure in the dark, throwing what looked like, but surely couldn’t be, a boomerang. It flew from his hand and circled around the vampires, both crumbled as the weapon severed the front of their throats. The figure caught the boomerang as it returned to him, and the other, with a short spin, used their knife to cleave their heads from their bodies as clean as anything. Nick reached a hand out in the darkness but had no energy to speak. A warm hand grasped his, one of reassurance.
“You’re alright bud. I got ya…”
Nick could not reply. The blood taken from him was too much, and he fell back, unconscious.
*
Alex headed into her classroom to get her desk set up and was startled by the fact she wasn’t alone. A woman she had never seen before sat at her desk, looking up as Alex entered. They both offered a polite greeting.
“Hi, I’m Alex. Are you taking…erm…my class today?”
“Well, yeah.” She smiled. “I have been for a few days.”
“Oh…jeez I’m sorry. I have been under the weather. I called last night and left a message that I would be coming in.”
The woman looked slightly relieved. “Oh…truth be told that’s great. I’ve got to take my mum to a doctor’s appointment. This saves me having to take off early. I’ll just tell Peggy you’re here and I’ll go home.”
They both smiled at the farewell and Alex sat down to prepare for her day. Michelle had advised her not to come in, to take some more time. Alex though missed her job and her students. What could be achieved by staying at home?
Alex set out her things and proceeded to wipe the blackboard clean.
“What the hell are you doing here?” a familiar voice called from the doorway. Alex looked up and saw Peggy Deltone glaring at her from just outside the classroom.
“Didn’t you get my text message I left
