Marcus Pelegrimas - The Breaking

“We killed many of the Vitsaruuv, but there will be more coming once those get finished lapping up all of the bait we poured onto that truck.”

“Waggoner’s going to be pissed,” Paige said.

“I’ve got something to show you that might make up for it.” Nadya accepted her partner’s help in climbing up into the bed of the red truck. Although Milosh was working with only one arm, he’d offered it to her gladly and now allowed his body to be wedged against the metal wall as she pulled herself in.

“Get in!” Paige said to Jesse.

The man in the U of Texas shirt shook his head strongly enough to waggle his long beard. “I’m headed back into town. With you all dragging these things along, it shouldn’t be too hard.”

“It only takes one to bring you down,” Paige warned.

“If that’s all it takes, then I won’t do no good to you in that truck,” he snapped. With that, he held his rifle at hip level and dashed away from the road, disappearing into the trees.

Milosh growled something in their native tongue when he saw the object in Nadya’s hand. She quickly silenced him and then looked at Paige to show her a long steel tube that resembled an ornate bicycle pump. “This is one of our tools that we guard closely. It’s charmed to attract the Weshruuv.”

“Bait specific to Full Bloods?” Paige asked. “Nice. How does it work?”

Gripping the middle of the tube, Nadya tapped the pump handle with her other hand and said, “Pull back to load the spring. Push forward to shoot.”

“How many rounds?”

“Just one. Make it count.”

“Are we ready to go?” Al asked. “I don’t like sitting still this long unless we’re piling out to make our stand.”

Quinn stayed on the ground and nervously watched the huge pack of Half Breeds. The dirt encrusted in her fur was thick enough to add some bulk to her frame and slick her ears back against her head. “My pack is keeping the Full Bloods occupied. Some of the wretches were diverted to deal with them, but that also means more of my kind will die this night. If those deaths prove to be in vain, you had better hope I’m counted among them.”

“I speak for all of us,” Nadya replied. “They won’t be in vain. Thank you for helping to see us through this hell.”

Bill watched them shake hands and let out a low, disgusted grunt from the back of his throat.

“Tell your pack to bring those Full Bloods to us,” Paige said. “After that, you can all find the deepest hole you’ve got and hide in it until the howling stops.”

Quinn nodded and then disappeared underground with an ease that made it seem more like she’d been absorbed into the earth itself. Everyone in the pickup took a moment to reload their guns in preparation for the thundering wave of shapeshifters that had taken a renewed interest in them. Inside the truck, Bill spoke in a tersely guarded voice that wasn’t loud enough for Paige to hear. Al responded only with an occasional nod as he gripped the steering wheel and stared at a little sign along the side of the road about seventy yards ahead. Paige stomped her heel against the bed of the truck and shouted, “Let’s go !”

The truck’s engine roared, causing the vehicle’s frame to shake. Paige’s eyes were fixed on the road behind her, waiting for any sign of the Full Bloods. Dumping the last of the bait onto the side of the truck, she scooted back until her shoulders bumped against the cab, then drew her pistols. By the time the truck built up some speed, heavier paws thumped against the ground. Trees alongside I-69 shook, shedding their leaves in a slow tumble toward the ground as they were assaulted by heavily muscled bodies. Quinn and another Mongrel exploded from the woods, keeping low to the ground and their heads held high. Seeing the truck, they split up to race past either side of the vehicle while Minh charged after them.

Now it was Nadya who told the driver to wait as she lifted the gleaming metal tube to point it over the tailgate. She drew back the pump handle, causing the mechanism inside to clatter and snap into place. Her feet pressed against the interior of the truck bed and her back stiffened as the Full Blood charged forward. Paige wanted to fire at the creature but choked back that instinct so the Amriany could do her thing.

As soon as Minh came within twenty feet of the pickup, Nadya pushed the pump handle back into the tube. An oiled piston within the device shot a gleaming projectile out to trace a shimmering path through the air that ended somewhere between Minh’s left shoulder and upper chest. The Full Blood grunted, staggered, and then recovered while slowing to a trot. She snarled and nipped at the spot on her coat that was now stained with blood, but was unable to remove the thing that had been shot into her. In the distance, Liam’s distinctive howl rose above all the others. Minh’s crystalline eyes snapped at the truck, found Nadya, and then narrowed.

“Go faster,” the Amriany said. “Go, go !”

Al nearly jammed the gas pedal through the floor, causing the pickup to lurch forward in a burst of speed that sent all three of the passengers in the bed toward the tailgate. Bill reached out to slap the top of the cab gleefully while hollering as if to compete with the baying Full Bloods.

Hanging on with one hand while using the other to tuck the engraved tube under her arm, Nadya said, “Now that the bolt has made contact with the blood of a Weshruuv, they will follow whoever carries this.”

“How long will that last?”

“Long enough. I also dipped the bolt into some of your bait, so she’ll have plenty to keep her busy.”

Al steered toward a small access road on the left that led toward the reservoir. The exit was overgrown and barely seemed large enough for the truck. Paige could only hang on and watch as Minh tore up the road in her haste to keep up. Although she had the same frenzied look in her eyes as the Half Breeds, there was enough intelligence there to keep her from devolving into a mass of flailing limbs like her twisted brethren. Fortunately, that twisted mass was snapping at her, latching onto her coat and forcing her to slow down and periodically swipe at the Half Breeds clinging to her back.

“Now that’s some damn fine teamwork!” Paige said.

“Arvah,” Milosh said with a nod. “This is good.”

Once she’d rid herself of enough Half Breeds to once again face the right direction, Minh caught up to the truck with only a few powerful strides.

“This,” Milosh said with chilling calm, “is not so good.”

Nadya fumbled with the FAMAS strapped across her back. Before she could swing the assault rifle around to use it, the entire truck was jostled by a nudge from the side of Minh’s head. The next impact lifted the truck off its back tires and dropped it down again with a powerful jolt that knocked the small of Nadya’s back against the wheel well and sent the pickup into a fishtail.

Rather than risk being thrown into an uncontrolled skid, Al worked the brakes while wrestling with the steering wheel. The man beside him leaned out the passenger window and fired his rifle at the werewolf.

Bullets from several different weapons thumped against Minh’s hide without penetrating her fur. One knocked against her temple, snapping her head to the side, and when she looked back at Nadya, there was a hellish glint in her eyes. As the pickup gained speed, Minh leapt with both front paws stretched out to snag the vehicle as if to grab a wildcat by the tail. After digging one set of claws into the rear corner of the frame, she roared at the Amriany.

Nadya rattled around the back of the truck like a pinball, struggling to get a better grip on her FAMAS. A rough hand slapped against her shoulder and pulled the strap hard enough to drag her to the other side of the bed less than a second before Minh’s claws sparked against the lining. Paige threw Nadya toward the cab using a right arm that felt stronger than it had in months. Gripping the sickle in her left hand, she put everything she had into a swing that carved a trench across Minh’s chest. The sickle would have opened the Full Blood’s throat if not for a last second defensive movement from the werewolf.