Marcus Pelegrimas - The Breaking

Responding to a subtle nod from the feline, Burke tossed Paige’s machete, stake, and Beretta. They hit the floor near her feet, kicking up a slight puff of dust.

“Go ahead,” the feline Mongrel said. “You’ll make enough of a ruckus to bring those Full Bloods straight down here, and if you make it through them after us, you’ll still have to tunnel your way out.”

“Before you get too cocky,” Paige said, “you should know that I see those other two with the cloak. That invisibility thing is a neat trick, but I’ve done it a few times myself.”

“Of course you have. Probably killed one of us and gathered up the fur like the morbid scavengers you are.”

Although that wasn’t quite the truth, it was close enough to take the wind from Paige’s sails. She stooped down, holstered the pistol, and held her machete so the blade was pointing directly at the feline spokesman for the group. Sighting along the top of the weapon, she could make out a few rounded facial features. Those, combined with the pitch of the Mongrel’s voice and curve of its body, gave the impression that it was female. “I’ve worked with Mongrels before,” she said. “I helped Kayla’s pack settle into Kansas City.”

The feline’s lips peeled back to show even more sharp teeth. “Sure. After Liam was done tearing it to pieces and every human in the place was anxious to bag themselves a gen-u-ine werewolf to mount onto their wall. How many Mongrels do you think were killed because they poked their noses into the wrong place just to find some food?”

“Not my problem,” Paige replied. “Kayla was free to go or stay. Last I heard, she stayed. I’ve been busy since then, and it’s not my job to babysit.”

“Busy,” one of the cloaked Mongrels snuffed. Its cloak fell away, allowing its body to be seen as if the air itself had parted like a curtain. “We all know what busy means to a Skinner.”

“I didn’t invite myself down here,” Paige said. “I didn’t even know there were Mongrels in Oklahoma.”

“Excuse us if we’re anxious right now,” the feline said. “Things are a bit of a mess around here.”

With a thought placed in the right corner of her mind, Paige willed the machete in her hand to shrink back down into a thick gnarled stick. “They’re a mess everywhere. Since it looks like you’re all pretty well settled, I take it you aren’t happy about the Full Bloods moving in?”

“You got that right,” Salvatore said. When the others glared at him, he looked to the feline spokesperson and said, “Hell, Quinn, I’m just cutting through the bull. With them monsters digging for us, we ain’t got time to be cute with each other.”

Quinn stood up on her hind legs, shifting into a form that wasn’t quite human but was definitely female. “Tell us about the others that came with you. Until we know who we’re dealing with, we don’t go any further.”

A rumble worked its way through the ground, followed by a howl and several feral snarls.

“That’d be the boys locking up with a Full Blood,” Burke reported as he lifted his pointed beak toward the section of wall that he’d emerged from not too long ago.

“Better only be one,” Salvatore said, “or we can say goodbye to them boys.”

Unaffected by the noise that drew closer by the second, Quinn kept her gaze locked on Paige. “Tell me who those other hunters are,” she demanded.

“We came to deal with a Full Blood,” Paige said. “Instead we find two. I should be asking what the hell they’re doing here. If you’ve set up camp in this town, then you must know what’s going on above your heads.”

“We know plenty. We just don’t know who those others were that came in on that jet. Tell me or you’re staying down here for the Full Bloods to sniff you out. If you think you have a prayer of digging your way out before they uproot this entire shelter, then you’re dumber than you think.”

The humorless smile on Paige’s face was a gesture that showed just how resigned to her fate she truly was. “If you want to stay here talking tough with me, I’m all for it. Any cannon fodder is always welcome.”

“After the Breaking Moon rises, your kind will have more cannon fodder than you’ll be able to deal with.”

“What the hell is the Breaking Moon?”

“Who the hell are those people that came in on that jet with you?”

“Amriany,” Paige replied. “Kind of like Euro-Skinners. They’re the ones that forged the Blood Blades.”

Quinn’s brow furrowed. “The Travelers have joined forces with you?”

“Not exactly one big family, but yeah.” The next impact from aboveground was enough to make Paige unsteady on her feet. “Do you seriously have a plan to get out of here?”

When Quinn nodded, it wasn’t to Paige. She turned to look at a spot just behind her and to one side. Before she could see what had caught her attention, she felt a familiar hand snake around her waist and pull her toward the wall. She held her breath and closed her eyes as she was dragged once more through the dirt.

It was a shorter trip this time. They traveled in a fairly straight line, and as they picked up speed, she heard the muffled grunts of Mongrels straining to complete the equivalent of a sprint while being buried alive. Before that thought could creep her out too badly, Paige was pushed upward and deposited into another room.

This one looked like a modern basement with a section of its cement floor stripped away to reveal dirt through which the diggers could enter. The hand that closed around her wrist to pull her up was smoother and thinner than any of the Mongrels’ paws. Paige batted it away and climbed to her feet.

“Take it easy,” Nadya said.

Blinking the grit from her eyes, Paige saw the Amriany woman in front of her. A stifled grunt drew her attention to a cot in a nearby corner where Milosh lay on his back gripping the stump of his left arm. It was wrapped in several towels that were soaked through with blood. “Weren’t you guys on that jet?” Paige asked.

Nadya shook her head. “We were taken by these Kushtime before reaching it. Gunari tried to tell the pilot to come back, but …” Noticing the lost expression on Paige’s face, she sighed and said, “Your Mongrels, we call them Kooshteemay.” Although she slowed down to pronounce that word for her, she wasn’t about to break stride any more than that. “They took us through the ground and away from the jet before the Full Bloods could get to us. Our pilot had to take off because he was being surrounded. Gunari shouted for him to stop. That was the last we heard before the explosion.”

Looking over to Milosh, Paige asked, “What about him?”

Another Mongrel became visible as it shed its cloak. Reappearing next to the cot, it sniffed Milosh and said, “This one’s turned.”

“I can help him,” Paige said. “All I need is my medical kit.”

“And where’s that?” Quinn asked from another part of the room.

It wasn’t until Paige spun around to face her that she saw that the rest of the basement was nothing more than a simple storage space fenced off within a larger room. The last time she’d seen her medical kit was when she’d restocked it for her trip to Canada. Doubting that Burke or Salvatore were up for a run to the Great White North, she turned to Nadya and said, “You guys said you brought your own medical supplies, right?”

“We did,” Nadya replied, “but they were in the plane.”

“Tough luck for him,” Burke said.

“What’s that mean?”

Stepping forward to put herself between Paige and the digger, Quinn said, “You know what that means. It means he’s going to turn into a Half Breed and there’s nothing to do about it but put him down before he is broken.”