Joshua Graham - Terminus

In an instant, they were all standing on the artificial turf in the field. Most people had fled and were crowding into stands, while others shouted and otherwise contributed to the commotion. Occasional gunshots, whether warning or fatal, rang out.

Suddenly, spotlights came on illuminating Nick, Lena, the Nephilim holding Lito and Maria just a few feet from them, and Hope, who looked more dazed than frightened.

“Four minutes and fifteen seconds,” Lena said with a glance down at the digital clock. Of course she’d wait until the moment before the nuke detonated, then teleport away leaving the blast to complete her dirty work.

Nick had to grab that suitcase.

If ever he needed to draw upon every bit of supernatural power within him, it was now. He swung a fist straight into her face.

Lena blocked the blow with her left arm. Judging by the surprise on her face, she hadn’t expected him to react so violently.

Nick threw another punch, this time at her midsection.

She caught him by the forearm and twisted.

Searing pain.

Jaw clenched, Nick ignored it. With his free hand he grabbed Lena’s hand—the one grasping the suitcase—and twisted it with all his might. The crimson glow of destructive energy enveloped them, pulsing like a star about to supernova.

The suitcase fell to the ground between them.

He was drawing from her power and feeding it back upon itself, like opposing magnetic charges forced into a confined space. Lena was becoming as immobilized as Nick.

“You’re staying right here with the rest of us!” he said.

For the first time since he’d met her, Lena’s eyes exhibited fear.

“Serena!” she called out.

For a moment, Serena didn’t respond. She and Gunther were staring at what appeared to be the eye of a cyclone, standing vertical some ten yards away. Tendrils of lightning flashed out from its center. Nick didn’t have time to wonder what it was.

When Lena called out again, Serena released Maria, who fell to the ground.

From over Lena’s shoulder, Nick saw Serena transform into a huge wolf again and charge at them. With his strength draining at an alarming rate there was no way he could keep his hold on Lena and withstand the creature’s attack.

There was only one thing he could do, and he wasn’t at all sure it would work.

JUST BEFORE THE WOLF POUNCED, Nick grabbed Lena by the shoulders, threw her to the ground, then grappled and tumbled around with her.

But he’d cast a construct taking on her exact likeness, and apparently it had worked. When the wolf landed on them it seemed confused, the growl rumbling in her throat barely audible. Nick held still.

Hope watched in terror, her eyes moving from the struggle in front of her to the swirling vortex. Lightning crackled around its opening, sending a jolt through the stadium.

The wolf turned to look at it, then back to the two Lenas. With a hideous snarl, it lunged and clamped its jaws around the real Lena.

“Wrong one!” she cried out.

The wolf either didn’t believe her or didn’t care. It picked her up like a rag doll and shook her from side to side.

Nick rolled out of the way and opened the suitcase. Not realizing that his construct had disengaged and he no longer looked like Lena, he fumbled with the controls, trying to get to the retina scan module.

Gunther threw Lito down and rushed over to leap at the wolf, who released Lena and raised its head. It caught Gunther in its jaws, hurled him toward the vortex, then ran from it as fast as it could. What happened next took only a second or two, but the sight of it was horrific. The outline of Gunther’s physical form remained intact while his spirit essence was ripped out of his body and pulled into the vortex, leaving a shriveled mass that fell to the ground like mummified remains.

Nick found the retina scanner.

The timer on the briefcase read: 3:00…2:59…

He got up, but a heavy blow to the head knocked him off his feet.

The scanner fell out of his hand.

Lena stood over him, breathing heavily. Bloody gashes scored her clothes and skin. She kicked the suitcase aside and jabbed Nick’s chest with her sharp heel. She glanced over to the vortex, which howled like the frigid winds of Siberia. “I don’t believe this,” she muttered.

Another power-draining pulse hit Nick. It would result in a short surge of supernatural abilities, followed by more of its loss. But it began with overwhelming pain and nausea. He was too weak at the moment to move under Lena’s foot.

A large hunting knife appeared in her hand.

She glanced around, then back at Nick as she prepared to plunge the blade down.

“Such a pity…”

She thrust the knife straight at Nick’s throat.

He anticipated the cold penetration of steel into his neck.

A flurry of gray and white fur flashed before his eyes, instead. The wolf knocked Lena away and pinned her down with its forepaws. She grabbed the wolf by the neck, undeterred by its bared fangs, and threw a punch straight into its snout.

The wolf staggered, its jaws snapping.

Lena sent another blast of destructive energy into the wolf’s body. It began to tremble as though it were being electrocuted.

Chest heaving, Nick sat up and called to Hope, who was crawling over to him.

“The suitcase!” She picked it up and tossed it to him.

The wolf rolled over onto Lena, then got up and clamped its jaws around her midsection.

“Why are you doing this, Serena!” Lena cried.

Again she sent another jolt of energy at the wolf. It snarled and dropped her.

Right in front of Nick.

Nick set the suitcase down, picked up the knife that had fallen from Lena’s hand, knelt and held the blade to her throat. On the ground, gasping for air, barely moving, she was too weak or stunned to teleport away, or she’d have done it by now.

“Do it, Nikolia!” Snarling, the wolf loomed so close he could feel the heat, smell the blood emanating from her canine breath. “You’re finished, Lena.”

Lena strained. “It’s just a matter of minutes before that nuke—”

“Do you think Morloch cares about the bodies, the carnage? He wants their souls.”

Lena’s eyes widened with fear. “ You’re the auditor?”

“Don’t move,” Nick said.

“Lena, you’ve failed to stop Hope Matheson,” the wolf said. “The accounts must be reconciled.”

One hand on the knife, the other on the suitcase, Nick had to try and get the retina scan over to Serena, though he wasn’t sure it would work on a wolf’s eye.

“Slash her throat open, Nikolai.” Serena said. “Before her strength regenerates. Kill her and I’ll disarm the nuke.”

A quick glance at the clock.

NICK PRESSED THE KNIFE AGAINST LENA’S NECK. Its handle felt warm in his hands.

“Do it, now!” Serena growled. “You know she wouldn’t spare you .”

True, but could he trust this wolf in human clothing?

Before him, just above his eyes…the dark vapor. The wolf stood over him.

“Nick…” Lena’s voice sounded faint. Her eyes sought no sympathy. They did, however, bare the look of someone lost and resigned to her fate.

With just over two minutes to go, he had to act.

Now.

In one swift move he spun around and plunged the blade into the mass of fur standing over them. He wasn’t sure where he’d stabbed the wolf, but it backed away, snapping its jaws at his face. For reasons he couldn’t quite understand, he grabbed Lena’s hand, pulled her up, and pushed her away.

“Get out of here.”