17. Lame-Named Sword
Chapter 17
Lame-Named Sword
T he first couple steps were disorienting because it felt like my body wasn’t fully awake. Everything was oddly numb and prickly. So, I stumbled to the right and nearly crashed into one of the many machines lining the room.
Being drugged sucked balls, seriously…
But I got my shit together and shook away the fog in my head. Slowly opening the door, I peered out into the low-beam hallway.
It looked like something out of a horror movie, and I absently wondered if zombies were a thing. If they were, I was sure as shit never going to sleep again. Brainless monsters with their gnashing teeth and decaying bodies freaked me the fuck out as odd as it sounded. Give me a vampire or howling wolf the size of a bear any day, but ghouls and fleshy human corpses were a hard pass even for this superior Hunter.
My backside was on full display, but I’d been in weirder situations and couldn’t care less how I looked. Whoever reviewed these security tapes was going to get the middle finger while I was at it, though. I offered the security camera a look and gestured to whatever asshole watching to fuck off, then slipped out of the room door .
It was a standard hospital-like facility—everything glaringly white and undecorated. Practically sterile to look at. Nothing about the hallway stood out, aside from a door a few feet to my right with a pin-access handle.
That’s my ticket out of here.
After ensuring no one was nearby, I made my way over to the door and keyed the code Donna gave to me into it, hitting the buttons hard enough to satisfy my frustration. The light blinked green before I dragged the heavy door open and slipped inside the room.
It was definitely a far cry from the rest of the place. Little trinkets, a horde of papers, and a laptop littered the mahogany desk off to my left. Books were organized into a shelf behind the desk, all with long medical titles I hadn’t any hope of pronouncing. Each one worn-out by excessive use, their spines broken in by long hours spent poring over the pages.
It was clear she took her job seriously, though I wasn’t too sure how that made me feel knowing it was people like me who they experimented on. But Donna’s office was cozier and a much more loved room than the rest of the place. It definitely had character, and despite not really knowing the woman, it felt like her everywhere I looked.
As I grabbed my militia-grade clothes—black military boots, dark pants with pockets for days, leather jacket, and several body belts to hold my weapons—I changed out of the hospital gown I’d been wearing. Looking over at a single picture frame on Donna’s desk, I noticed the smiling faces of two small children held in the arms of a woman whose beaming blue eyes hit me right where a memory lived.
It was the same woman in my dreams, crying at our doorstep and begging for Grams’s forgiveness. She’d been on her knees, mascara running from a never-ending stream of tears, expression riddled with the strongest grief one could feel, and all I remembered was reaching out to her, doing my best to comfort a sad woman when I was barely out of diapers.
Donna.
The little faces next to what I now concluded was Donna were her carbon copies, and I didn’t need to be Sherlock to know she probably meant her kids when she asked me to get them to safety. She was a mother. Yet, Donna was out there trying to rectify something that wasn’t her damn fault. I mean, not really. All while two little kids relied on her to come home.
I’m not going to be the reason she dies. No one should grow up without a mother like I did.
I slipped several throwing daggers into my belt and then, eyes widening, took hold of a sword I’d recognize anywhere. Its beautifully crafted handle had several jewels imbedded into silver, and the design of it was absolutely one of a kind.
Blood Slayer.
How did they get this from him?
For sure I’d imagined the Austrian going to the grave with this sword before handing it over to anyone, and something nagged at me to see it here. Something told me its presence was significant.
The lame-named sword glinted as I lifted it from the wall. Swallowing, I eyed the spectacular craftsmanship, wondering how I’d spent all this time with Phillip and never truly looked at it. Not even while he rambled on about its fantasy origin story. Even now I couldn’t help but roll my eyes at how a grown-ass man had droned on about its history and how it came into his possession .
It was literally the stupidest shit Phillip ever uttered, and that was saying something.
I strapped it to my back, determined to get it back to the man it belonged to, and tied up my hair. Right now, I didn’t have time to reminisce or think about Phillip; it was time to get the fuck out of this prison.
Sneaking back out of Donna’s office, keycard tucked into my pant pocket, I crept down the hallway, listening for anything that could give me a hint to where she’d gone. Then the low howl of a siren filled the air, causing me to freeze.
The door wasn’t far. I saw it in my peripheral vision, but as I listened, I heard Donna’s distinctive cry, one that was all pain.
Some would argue I should’ve escaped for the greater good, because if I stayed, I risked being recaptured, and that would mean the Organization—rather, Lux—won. But that wasn’t the Hunter I wanted to be.
Hell, it wasn’t the person I wanted to be.
Donna had a family, kids and maybe a partner, who needed her to come home, and I’d be damned if I let her sacrifice herself over guilt. Mom wouldn’t want it that way. At least from what I knew about her she wouldn’t.
I removed the sword from my back, cranking my neck from side to side and hearing the telling cracks. Then I flitted down the corridor into the room where Donna’s scream had come from. She was already surrounded by four Hunters.
Cowering, she clutched a wounded, visibly bleeding arm, but her eyes quickly found me when the door smacked open, nearly breaking apart with the strength I put into the maneuver.
“Oh, good. I was worried I’d miss the party,” I said, huffing petulantly .
Shit, I’m starting to sound like Phil.
The four Hunters pivoted, and magic radiated from them as they withdrew their respective weapons. One went for a large sword the size of his torso, growling, and for a second, I could literally hear Phillip’s voice in my head, cracking small D energy jokes right before he sliced the brute to pieces.
“That’s the girl!” another one said.
Captain Obvious over here saving the rest of them from having to brain too hard, I guess.
“I’m not really a fan of being imprisoned or people who hurt others to be quite honest, so I guess this is where you and I are at an impasse, my dudes. Either leave now or die here.”
I really needed to invest some time into writing better lines. Even I cringed hearing the soap opera dialogue leaving my lips. Phillip was always so much better at delivering badass lines. Same with Kris and Sloan. I, however, sounded exactly my age—like I’d trained at Disney.
The world throbbed violently, and then my power hit the four Hunters hard enough that several went scuttling back.
Donna’s eyes widened. “So, it’s true…” Her next whisper confused me, enough to get an eyebrow. “You have the magic of the ancient Chaos Fae.”
Chaos Fae?
My thought was cut short as the first Hunter tried to summon his magic. At least, that was what I gathered when the dude made a fist and lifted it like he was aiming for the Douche-Bag of the Year Award, fight-movie version. But when nothing happened, the four stared openly at me. Like with the Siren, I somehow knew they couldn’t use their magic like before, so I took advantage of their confusion .
I dashed forward and sliced the one nearest me to literal pieces before ending with a swift decapitation. It was the way Phillip would want it, and even though he and I rarely agreed on anything, this was the one time we did. Slice and dice them so much they couldn’t recover.
And that was the motto I now lived by.
Poor Donna was caught unawares by the bloody spray, her eyes perpetually wide, while the rest of the Hunters moved into action, trying to take me down as a group. But as if in response, my power throbbed again and suddenly they were on fire. Not just fire, they were burned to ash in seconds by fiery red flames that destroyed everything they touched. It took me a moment to figure out what was happening, but when I did, I grabbed Donna and dragged her away from danger.
The room quickly filled with thick smoke, and the fire detectors screamed in my ears. But my training kicked in, and I hurried the woman out of the room and down the hallway to safety. She tripped several times, looking back over her shoulder. But when she realized where I was headed, she started to fight my hold on her.
“The others—”
“I’ll get them. You’re going up first, Donna. I won’t have your death on my conscience, and I’m not about to let you die over some misguided sense of justice for my mom. I’ll send you up, then I’ll grab the others,” I quickly explained, finally pushing her into the elevator. “Wait for them and hide somewhere.”
Donna’s curly silver hair fell over an aging almond-colored face, glittering blue eyes staring on in confusion. “It’s dangerous…”
Finding my smirk, I eyed her through the closing elevator doors. “I’m much more dangerous, Donna. I’ll be up in a jiffy. ”
Once I knew she was safely fleeing to the surface, I turned around. Shutting my eyes, I breathed in deeply. Only four more Hunters to go, and then I’d get the captive scientists out of here. No one who wasn’t already meant to die would on my watch.
Not today.
I fled down the same hallway I’d come through and turned the direction where the fire was already crawling up the walls. The rate at which it incinerated and how fast it destroyed whatever it touched didn’t match regular fire, and I figured out quickly it was likely hellfire like that one fox bastard. But this fire came from me.
If it came from me, then it shouldn’t hurt me, right?
Testing the theory, I reached out and ran my hand over the flames. When it didn’t hurt or burn my flesh to ash, it was crystal clear that whatever power this was, I’d survive it. Unfortunately, the scientists wouldn’t, so urgency was crucial.
This power didn’t seem to discern between friend and foe like all the other times I’d used it. This power was hungry and destructive, and it scared me to think I’d summoned it without ever truly meaning to. But I’d take my time freaking out about it later. Lives were at stake, and I couldn’t waste any more thought on the total fuckery my power was these days.
A Hunter covered with a gas mask and wearing nothing but black rounded the corner, their bulky, obscenely large frame somehow avoiding the flames eating away at the walls. Guessing from their size, it was most likely male. And when he lifted his hands into the air like he was putting on some kind of lame-ass magic show, it didn’t take much effort to figure out what sort of Hunter this one was.
But I was faster .
I closed the space between us, swinging my sword up, and then came down on him like vengeance personified. I cut through bone and muscle, the sword slicing through like it was no task at all.
Blood Slayer didn’t feel like a normal weapon now that I’d used it. Even Hunter blades didn’t cut straight down through a body like this. It was surreal to watch the Hunter split into two pieces and fall to the ground in a mess of blood, innards, bone, and muscle.
I scowled, not prepared for the visual of a man cut in two.
I hadn’t gone up against someone like myself in this capacity before, and it wasn’t a pretty sight to look at. It made my stomach twist forebodingly, but I focused on getting the innocent lives out of this death trap my magic created.
Might later plead Sloan or Kris to procure a dreamless tonic just to avoid the nightmares I’d have after this little escape adventure.
Jumping over the mess, I fled around the corner. The crackling of my hellfire followed me just as fast as I could run, my boots thudding loudly over tile. The flames ate through the walls and smoke filled the air, smothering out most of the corridor light. But finally, a door came into view and I yanked it open. The sound of bending metal and broken hinges suggested the thing had been locked. Thankfully, not much of an obstacle for my superhuman strength.
I’m awesome.
A few men and one woman were crouched in a corner, wearing white cloaks and clearly afraid for their lives. Seeing how I was forced to break the heavy door just to get into this death box, they’d probably been locked into the room when the sirens went off. Which was all the more reason to haul ass to get everyone out .
“I’m not here to hurt you,” I rushed to explain before a Hunter from outside the hallway tried to stab me with their dagger.
I evaded it, swinging my arm down and breaking their outstretched one. Then I sent the asshole flying into a burning wall with a hard kick to the stomach. In seconds, they were burned to ash; weren’t even given time to cry out before they were dust.
If I didn’t have to worry about that same thing happening to the poor souls locked in this lab, I would’ve said a little prayer for these poor bastards. Like we were trained to do all our lives, these Hunters were just following orders. It killed me to think that if not for that horrible asshole, Lux, no one would’ve died today.
“We have to go, or you won’t get out of here.”
The lady scientist seemed to recognize me, and she gasped before getting to her feet. “You’re her!”
The others looked at each other and seemed to drop their shoulders in relief. Without time to really let them digest it all, I grabbed the group like we were one big, happy family and fled like a jerk down the hallway.
Don’t ask me how I did it, because I’d say it was on pure adrenaline I somehow got them past furious flames and into the back-access elevator, but I just did.
I attacked the up button for the elevator with an angry finger, watching the doors struggle to close with a group of frightened eyes on me.
Feels like it does in the movies. Why do elevators gotta be such bitch-ass obstacles in horror films?
The hair on my neck stood at attention, and my core pulsed. Sensing them before they got close, I ducked down, evading an attack I knew was coming. Another Hunter sailed over me, hitting the closing elevator doors, and I rushed to drag the bastard away from the fearful scientists.
We struggled for a second, but these assholes would never be stronger than I was. Sinking Blood Slayer awkwardly into my enemy’s chest, I worked quickly to get out from under the other Hunter.
I jerked my eyes up, breathing a sigh of relief to find the doors closed and the red up arrow pinging their upward escape. Then, my knee driving hard into the Hunter’s stomach, I used my strength to cut their chest open, and the body beneath me shuddered before falling limp.
I closed my eyes, head dropping down for a second, and hair fell into my face. It was only for a second, but I silently rallied.
I’d faced worse. I’d survived worse. But this was the first time I was solely responsible for so many lives on the line and lost. Grams had trained me for it, but the brutal emotions still hit me out of nowhere. The guilt, the fear, the anxiety, it all came rushing into my chest, and I had to work quickly to push them back down.
So when I finally got my emotions under control, I opened my eyes, more determined than ever. On my feet again, I rushed to go back the way I came and listened carefully for any noises that didn’t match fire or equipment. When that didn’t work, I used my keen sense of smell before finding a Hunter standing in front of a door, ensuring none of its occupants escaped.
Flames closed in around the lone figure, but they refused to move. By their shape, I concluded it was a woman, but one that gave me an odd sense of déjà vu. And when she finally turned to look at me, I was surprised to see her go straight for her mask .
Taking it off, I was suddenly face to face with someone I knew very well. Someone I never expected to see here among the same Hunters who were party to my capture. Someone I couldn’t seem to fully comprehend when her face came into view.
Tiff.
What the actual fuck…
Her curly blonde hair fell over her shoulders, her beautiful features illuminated in nothing but firelight, and she smiled at me as if we weren’t standing in the middle of a burning facility where I’d been forcibly held.
Licking her lips, she crossed her arms, projecting an arrogance I’d never seen on her before. Reaching out, she touched the flames right in front of me and wasn’t burned by them. “This sort of magic doesn’t work on me, V.”
Right, Shifters weren’t affected by this sort of offensive magic. It was the entire reason Eros feared them. I’d have to be smart with how I attacked, and that was a tough thing to do when your power ran entirely on instinct. Would it somehow know what I could use on her?
“Why…what the fuck are you doing here, Tiff?”
I refused to believe Tiff would betray me, or that she was capable of anything even remotely horrible, but the way her smile broadened and she turned to look down the hall where another Hunter walked told me that I was about to learn something I didn’t want to know.
“Topher and I really hoped we’d be the ones who got to kill you, and it’s pretty sweet to think dreams really do come true.” Her eyes gleamed dangerously, igniting to a full beam, a sign just before they shifted.
I’d seen it on Nigel plenty of times to know, but as I stood there, beyond betrayed, I was only left wondering if he knew. It didn’t make sense that I was always right there, easily captured, and they hadn’t made a move. If Nigel had been involved, it wouldn’t make sense to leave it until now. And I wanted to hope with all my heart he wasn’t aware they were traitors all along.
Regardless of what had or hadn’t occurred, there were innocent lives at stake if I didn’t do what was necessary and end this bullshit right here. It might be staggering to face off against people who I’d once considered friends, but it wouldn’t stop me from doing what I needed to do.
I was a Hunter, and not the kind the Organization wanted me to be. I fought for justice and a better future.
The other Hunter, supposedly Topher, took his place beside Tiff. And now that I could put a name to him, I recognized his brawny shape. The way he stood was all Topher, and it only hit harder knowing that all of this wasn’t some elaborate hoax.
Tiff had fully shifted into her wolf form, quickly followed by Topher. Their weapons clattered to the floor and their clothes were torn to pieces. With two sets of gleaming wolf eyes on me, it was any wonder I found the strength to move forward at all.
But I did.
Twirling Blood Slayer, it was almost like Phillip was there with me, cheering me on. He’d say something like “I knew they couldn’t be trusted” or “Bark all you want, it’s time I put you down, dog.” The Austrian wouldn’t bat an eye, just smirk in his usual arrogant way, and then he’d take them down.
He wouldn’t spare them a thought .
And it was with his voice in my head that I said, “Then what are you two traitorous assholes waiting for?” Lips lifted into a brazen smile, I strengthened my stance. “Here’s your chance.”