Chapter 18 #3
The guy’s eyes were rolling around in his head as he tried to see all of us standing around him. His gaze stopped on Fiona.
“Please, miss, you have to help me. Tell them they need to let me go. I’m sorry. There’s been a mistake. Surely you don’t want to see them hurt anyone. As a woman, you won’t like seeing what they’ll do to me.”
Fiona burst out laughing. It took her a few moments to get herself back under control. The rest of us chuckled along with her. Dim-wit One gave her a puzzled look. Clearly, no one told him who they were after.
“You have no clue what I can handle seeing or doing. Let me educate you. My job is as a forensic analyst. I worked at the main Phoenix PD precinct. I spent my days analyzing, handling, and sometimes even going into the field to collect all manner of things. Dead bodies in every possible stage of decomposition, or post-horrendous homicides, and more, I’ve handled.
And as for not wanting them to hurt anyone, because I’m a woman… Don’t insult me.
“The fact that I have ovaries and a vagina doesn’t make me soft or unable to cope.
Women can handle more than most men. And after what my family has been put through for the past few months, I’d gladly inflict pain of my own.
You were sent here to acquire my family and me.
I don’t know exactly what the plan was once you got us, but I can guess.
And you and your buddy are going to tell us.
Scream and beg all you want. It’ll get you nowhere. ” Her tone was icy.
“I was just doing my job. It wasn’t personal. You need to take this up with the ones who hired us. We’re not responsible for the assignments given to us,” he babbled.
“Tell us about these people who gave you this assignment. Who are they? Where are they? Names? Why are they sending out teams with tranquilizer guns after people?” Banner rapid-fired.
He was in his lawyer mode. Ask questions super-fast and confuse them so they don’t have time to think. Sometimes it worked and was an easy way to start.
Dim-wit One remained silent. He craned his neck to try to look at his partner. The crack of flesh on flesh was loud. My mouth fell open. My mate had slapped him across the face.
“Don’t look at him for answers. Is he your boss?” she snapped.
“N-no, he’s not,” the guy mumbled.
“I thought not. Answer Banner. We don’t have all day. If you piss with them, they’ll have to get ugly with you. I’m the nice one. You want me to keep them off you, answer, and don’t hesitate.”
There was no mistaking the steel in her tone.
She wasn’t here to coddle them. When she said her presence might make them talk, I thought she meant she’d cajole them to speak.
I had no idea she meant to beat, slap, or pry it out of them any way she could.
It was the wrong place and time, but seeing my mate so strong turned me on.
That was so goddamn sexy, Claws, I sent to her.
She flashed me a smile, one the captives didn’t see. Hang on and remember that for later.
“We were recruited. A meeting was scheduled, and anyone with an invitation attended. There were men there who talked about work for those of us willing to put our experience to good use. They wanted people with prior military experience of all kinds, if possible. The pay was more than decent. We were told we might have to travel for the assignments. For those who signed up after doing background checks or whatever, some of us got called back. At first, some people were concerned because they had records, but they were assured that that wouldn’t be held against them.
“The two of us applied together. We grew up and served in the Army together. When we got our call back, they sent us to individualized training. Not everyone was out doing what we did tonight. Some were on the back end using computers to do research. Others were the Watchers. And then there was us, the Liberators.”
He paused to swallow. “Can I have a drink of water? My mouth is so dry.”
His voice was raspy. Usually, we didn’t hydrate our captives, but in this case, it was to our advantage to do it. It was Gunnar who produced a bottle of water. Fiona took it and raised the man’s head so he could drink without spilling it or choking. After three decent gulps, she took it away.
“You can have more after you tell us more,” she told him nicely.
“Thank you. Where was I? Oh yeah, we were taken for training. I don’t know what the Watchers and the computer geeks were told.
As for us, we got a rundown on some crazy shit.
We didn’t believe it. We thought the leaders were joking or crazy.
They spoke of animals living among regular humans.
They supposedly looked like us, and most of the time acted like us, but they weren’t the same.
They were called shifters, who were able to shift into animals, witches, and other supernatural shit.
“Carl and I didn’t believe them, but the money they offered was too good to pass up.
They went on to explain that if humans didn’t do something, the world as we know it would be lost. Then the leaders spoke of a group of these shifters, an elite force, who protect the other shifters and supernaturals.
They’re the ones that the leaders want to catch the most. The main guy said these elite ones are secretive and hard to find.
We were told that when Watchers identified someone as a potential shifter and felt that they had substantiated it, they were pulled out and moved on, while the Liberators were sent in to acquire the targets. That was what we were doing tonight.”
“So the Watchers have already left?” I checked to make sure I understood him correctly.
“Yeah, they left this morning,” he verified.
“You’re positive?” Gunnar asked.
“One hundred percent,” he replied impatiently.
“How many of these acquisitions have you and Carl done?” Brax asked.
“Tonight was our first time. Man, I thought it was bullshit. That they were cracked in the head, but if they paid well, who were we to pass up the cash? But then we came here and…well, we saw that one of you turned into a wolf. And how you fight. That’s not human, whether you were an animal or not.
Then the next thing we knew, one of the guys we were with turned into a fucking cat, and another guy disappeared into thin air. That’s fucked up,” he muttered.
“What’s your name?” Royal asked.
“It’s Hank.”
As Hank explained all of this, Carl had sat there with a defeated slump to his body. He nodded occasionally. When Hank stopped speaking, I removed Carl’s gag.
“You have anything to add to what your buddy has told us so far?” I asked.
“Not really. I knew it was too good to be true. They were paying us too well for it to be something easy. And I was like Hank. I thought they were a bunch of fruitcakes with too much money. Why not take advantage of it for as long as we can? But now I know, they weren’t crazy.”
“Where was it you met these recruiters? And where did you train?” Brax inquired.
“It was at a campsite in the Lost Dutchman’s State Park out near Apache Junction, where the Superstition Mountains are. As for where they trained us, we have no clue,” Hank replied.
“What do you mean you have no clue?” I quizzed.
“We were taken in the back of panel trucks. You know the kind, where they’re separated from the cab with no windows to see out of.
The two men who picked us up at a designated address in the warehouse district said it was for security’s sake, in case someone turned on them.
If we didn’t know where they took us, then the whole operation wouldn’t be in jeopardy if there was a traitor,” Hank added.
“How long of a drive was it?” Banner asked.
“We rode for three hours, but I have no clue if they went in circles or what,” Carl piped up to say.
“We were there for two weeks and then told to return to our homes. They had us run drills and demonstrate our fighting and shooting abilities. For those who needed improvement, instruction was provided. The rest of us practiced. Our last order was to keep our phones on at all times, watching for a text. When we received one, we had to be ready to go within two hours. We would be told when and where to meet the rest of our team, as well as the location. We’ve been waiting for a month,” Carl stated.
“Was it worth coming out here?” Fiona asked.
“Fuck no! I wish we’d never gone to that fucking initial meeting or that campground. They made it sound like we were saving the human race. Should’ve known they’d never pay us because we’d all be dead,” Hank muttered darkly.
“What were you told about the Katz family you were here to take tonight?” I asked.
“Just that it was some older man, a young teenage boy, and a woman. We were to round them all up, and once we had them and a leader verified that we’d succeeded, we were to check in so we could be told where to take them. Until then, we were to remain radio silent,” Carl explained.
“Yeah, and the leader was the fucker we later watched turn into a damn cat and jump through the window. The one you killed inside.” Hank’s gaze landed on me.
“Did they give you any names or any indication where they came from? What about the elite ones that they really wanted? Did they give a name for those?” Brax grilled.
Hank met Brax’s gaze. “They called them the Sentinels of Apollo. They spoke of them being super shifters and supernaturals who served as the police force and protectors of their kind. According to the story we were told, all shifters and other supernatural creatures were created by the Greek god Apollo. The Black Plague is said to have played a role in changing them. We thought it was utter horseshit. But something tells me, we’re looking at Sentinels, aren’t we? ” he inquired.
As one, we all, except for Fiona, nodded and smirked.
“Son of a bitch, I knew it! I swear if it weren’t for bad luck, we wouldn’t have any at all,” Carl whined.
“You should’ve known not to take the money from people who sounded like a bunch of crazy fanatics. Did they call themselves by a name, like we’re the Sentinels, so what are they? And again, you never answered if you heard any specific names,” Banner circled back.
“They only went by letters, you know, Mr. M, or Mr. T, like it was the first letter of their name. If one had a duplicate, then it was Mr. M Two and so on—no actual names. As for what they called themselves collectively, they mentioned it when they told us the origin story and mentioned Apollo. They referred to themselves as the Knights of Pytho,” Hank said.
There it was. Verification that the Knights were behind this.
And like in the case of Irene Clark, the nurse manager who hated Cerys and wanted Brax, it was proof that more humans were being recruited to fight on the side of the Knights for their leader, Pytho.
Christ, if they had an unlimited number of humans they were bringing against us, there was no way we would ever be able to survive this.
Concerned glances were exchanged among us.
We kept questioning Hank and Carl for another half hour.
There was no torture needed. They freely answered.
The problem was that what the two of them knew was limited.
No matter what we asked, they had no clue about more details.
And none of us got the feeling they were lying.
At the end of the thirty minutes, it was time to end it.
Before we did, however, Brax gestured us aside.
“I think we should see if Apollo wants these two. Hang on, hear me out. When we captured Irene, he took her, remember? And we never learned what happened to her. I never checked whether we were supposed to turn over any other captured humans. The ones we killed couldn’t be helped, but these two… ” he let his words trail off.
“Do we want to go hailing a god? I mean, so far, he’s been rather cool with us, but we don’t ask him to pop in whenever we feel like it. It’s Apollo’s call whether he wants to appear or not,” Royal put out there.
“True. But what if we don’t and he finds out and we get in trouble? I don’t want to anger him. What is likely to upset him more?” Banner wondered aloud.
We were bickering back and forth for five minutes. The matter was brought to a conclusion in the most unexpected way. Fiona moved away from us, and before I knew what she was about to do, she held up her hands, stared upward, and spoke aloud.
“Oh Mighty, Apollo, the Great Healer, Prophecy Bringer, and Wisest One, we ask for your guidance. What should we do with these two men and anyone else like them who are doing the work of Pytho and his Knights? We only want to honor you in all that we do.”
“Shit,” I heard Gunnar mutter.
There was a pregnant silence lasting fifteen or so seconds.
I was about to relax when there was a bright, blinding burst of light.
When the spots cleared from my vision, there stood Apollo in his sunlit radiance.
He didn’t appear angry, but who knew? We could be seconds from being zapped into nothing.