G.H.O.S.T. Teams (Book 2) Shifters (18 page)

She punched with her right, a lightning fast strike that had clearly been perfected over the years. Everything Freddy had told us was true, they were fast, well-trained, and strong. But right now, in this moment, it wouldn’t be enough. I struck with my left, hammering her in the bicep, forcing her arm to bend slightly. I didn’t even move my head as the angle of her elbow caused her fist to sail just in front of my face. She followed with her left, coming up at an angle, trying an uppercut. I lashed out with my right, striking her shoulder, the wince on her face letting me know that I did damage. Her arm went limp, and her jaw tensed, exposing her throat. I didn’t hesitate. My cupped hand hit her windpipe, the result stunning her for a few seconds, much more than I needed.

She attempted to keep her arms up in a defensive position, but they were a slight hindrance at best. My body was driven by pure fury. First, I chopped into her temple with my right before sending my left fist into her ribs. Then, my left knee into her thigh followed by my right fist into her gut. Driving my left elbow up and into her face brought her upright again just in time for my right palm to break her nose. Blood splashed out of her nostrils and covered her mouth. She started to stumble back and I sent a stabbing kick into her lower abdomen. The strike bent her forward and put her body right where I wanted it. 

I backhanded her across the face with my left, forcing her to the side and opening up her left hip. I hammered down with all my weight, the sound of bone breaking covered up by her loud yelp. She dropped her arm in a vain attempt to protect her injury. Unfortunately for her, that shifted her weight heavily onto one leg. I kicked forward with my heel and the pop her knee made was loud enough to be heard over the scream. As she collapsed towards the ground, I brought my right hand down, a chop against her neck, her collarbone snapping under the strike.

Her knees slammed into the floor hard, her body convulsing a bit from the pain, and blood spitting from her mouth. She tried to fall to the ground, but I snagged her hair with my left and held her up. My right hand was up and ready to end her life. I knew I could finish it right then and there with one simple strike. I looked in her eyes and watched her terror.

They say the eyes are the windows to the soul. But they can also act like mirrors. As I stared into the Red’s eyes, I not only saw her fear, I saw my fury. I saw the blind wrath, which had consumed me. I saw a man I didn’t want to be anymore. I saw a man that my parents would never recognize. A man they’d be ashamed of.

It felt like an eternity as I held that strike. These savage creatures wanted to exterminate an entire race. They were killers and they deserved to die. Then again, maybe the same could be said about me. The silence was deafening, the sound of my heartbeat the only thing echoing in my ears. Then, I heard a whisper in the distance. At first I thought it was the Red, pleading for her life. But I realized the sound was coming from behind me. It was Freddy.

Freddy was shouting, but my brain wasn’t making sense of the words. I was too focused on the Red. All I had to do was strike and it was over. Then, I heard Vector’s voice, closer and easier to understand. I felt his arm gently touch my elbow as he spoke.

“She’s alive. Did you hear me bro? She’s alive,” he said.

My hand moved at Brunette’s face too fast for even Vector to react. The flat of my palm found the side of her head, a pop of her jaw accompanying the strike. I released her hair and watched her unconscious body fall to the ground. A few GHOST security personnel showed up, and Vector kept an eye on things as they disarmed the Reds and slapped them in super-strength cuffs. I met Blondie’s eyes and watched a scared young girl stare back at me. She looked like a small child who had been led astray.

“It’s never too late to be a better person.”

I didn’t know if I was really talking to her, or trying to reassure myself. But after I said it, she broke eye contact and hung her head in shame. The GHOST guards made her carry her unconscious friend while they walked alongside, firearms trained on them both. We’d disarmed them and left one out cold, so I trusted the troops to take care of things from there. They’d be transported back to HQ in a prisoner van. Since my work here was done, I sprinted back towards Erika.

She was still lying in the same spot, but this time her eyes were open. Freddy had rolled his coat up and used it as a makeshift pillow for her head. Kara was still leaning over her, cupping her hands over the wound. With closed eyes and her face contorted in extreme concentration, Kara’s lips continued to whisper odd words. A slight blue glow was covering her fingers and Erika’s chest. I dropped down next to her, Vector and Freddy coming up behind me.

“How’s she doing?”

Kara didn’t respond as sweat beaded on her forehead and she continued to chant. But Erika glanced over, her eyes moving as her head stayed still, her voice weak and quiet.

“She’s doing fine,” she tried.

My whole body sagged in relief as I sighed through a smile.

“She must be if she’s talking about herself in the third person. Always a good sign.”

She started to smile, winced, and then closed her eyes and kept her breathing shallow. I gently laid my hand on hers, rubbing in small circles for comfort. Kara worked for a few more minutes before exhaustion took hold of her. Vector was right there, with his one good hand, to keep her from falling over. She opened her eyes and tried to reassure him that she was fine, but he was smart enough to continue to provide support. Kara struggled to steady herself, placing her hands on the floor, and taking long deep breaths. I waited for her to make eye contact with me before I spoke.

“Thank you.”

“No need to thank me,” she huffed, “I had no choice. She’s the only one on the team that I like.”

I couldn’t help but laugh a little, and she smiled in return. Even Vector gave a half smile as he looked down. Kara rocked back onto her butt and closed her eyes as she tried to pull herself together. I’d never seen her look so tired. Clearly, attempting to quickly and safely gather and manipulate that much magical manna came at a physical price. I didn’t even want to think about how tempted she must have been to channel it directly through her body in order to save her friend. But she didn’t appear to be going crazy sorcerer on us, so I guess she’d managed to control herself. I brought my attention back to Erika and her injury.

The wound in her chest was caked with dried blood, but I took the lack of any new leakage as a good sign. Visually I couldn’t tell how bad the damage was, but obviously it was severe. Erika’s breaths were shallow and careful, her chest barely moving with each inhalation. Her eyes were still closed and she tensed her body as if she was afraid to move. As much as I wanted to talk to her, hear her voice, and reassure myself that she was going to be all right, I knew I shouldn’t. She needed to rest. Once Kara seemed ready to continue our conversation, I talked to her.

“I thought she was gone.”

“She almost was. It was close. If it had gone any deeper…that arrow caught a lung and I think nicked her heart. I did as much as I could as fast as I could…” she leaned forward, breathing heavily and supporting herself with her hand.

She closed her eyes and took a few more deep breaths. Vector offered a hand again and she waved him off. It was clear Kara also needed her rest, especially if she was planning to use more magic to help Erika. I was starting to feel like I was doing more harm than good here. As far as I could tell they would both live, so that was enough for me. I reached out and gently put my hand on Kara’s shoulder.

“We’ll talk later.”

She gave my hand a squeeze and managed a small nod while still using one of her arms to hold herself upright. I looked up and met Freddy’s eyes, and he understood what was needed. He leaned down and offered his support and some kind words to Kara, while I stood up and walked over to Vector.

“How’s the arm?”

“It’s just a flesh wound,” he smiled.

“Quoting movies? Hopefully that means you’re not in too much pain. Kara’s a bit busy at the moment.”

“No worries. Although, if you wouldn’t mind?”

He held his hand out, the arrow not quite halfway through. Vector’s tags had slowed it considerably. I took hold of the back end while he snipped the pointy end off with a pair of pliers. Taking the arrow shaft from my hand, he clenched his teeth and pulled it out. Tossing the bolt to the ground, he pulled some gauze out of a pocket and I helped him wrap it. The arrow in his bicep however, was going to be a bit more troublesome.

Unlike a hand, the bicep was thick enough that the tags prevented the arrowhead from protruding out the other side. If we wanted to remove it in the field, it was going to be messy. Vector looked up at me and I knew what he was asking. I grabbed the arrow and held his arm in my other hand. He cleaned the wound enough so that he could see inside, twisted the arrow a bit and adjusted the angle. Then, he looked up at me with an expression that said he was ready and he nodded. I did my best to prepare him.

“Okay, on three. Ready? One…”

Before I even started to say two, I yanked the arrow. His body tensed and he let out a small grunt as the arrowhead tore free of his flesh. After a few breaths he seemed recovered enough from the shock to repeat the bandage drill. The bleeding from his bicep was much worse than from his hand. So we wrapped the gauze as tight as he could stand, and used up the rest of the roll. Vector even pulled out a bandana and with his mouth and free hand tied it tightly over the wrapping. I looked down at the wound as I spoke.

“Better?”

“Not really, my jacket’s ruined,” he said.

“Eh, wasn’t that nice a jacket anyway.”

“Says the guy whose idea of fashion is a polo and jeans?”

“Hey! I make this look good.”

“Whatever helps you sleep at night,” he smiled.

Before I could respond, our attention was captured by a sound not unlike a sad puppy. Looking towards the source of the noise we saw that Dolph and Bustier were still with us. He was propped up against the wall, the slouch of his body making it clear that he couldn’t support himself right now. She was sprawled on the floor, cradling her mate in her arms, rubbing her face up against his. The sound was accompanying her corpse cuddle.

Keeping her company was a trio of black tee-shirt wolf guards. Holding MP5s in their hands, they stood watch over their leader, scanning every which way for trouble. I wasn’t sure how I felt about three lycans standing around with submachine guns, but I chose to worry about other things at the moment.

Danny was against the other wall, helping the last of our guards find their feet. As I hoped, all three of the GHOST guards were still alive and kicking. Two were standing on their own, hands on their heads trying to rub away the headache. Once they were stable, Danny made his way over to us.

“We’re lucky, no casualties on our end. The lycan lost eleven total, counting these three,” he said, a thumb towards Leather and company.

“Where are the rest?”

“Down in the parking lot and around the other side of the stadium. The Creek lost five that they had walking the perimeter and the Macs lost three who were guarding their cars. Their Alpha is making his way out of the Circle now. I have a few of our men keeping an eye on things as they surface.”

“Good. What about the bodies?”

“They said they take care of their own,” Danny shrugged.

I looked back at Vector and he nodded. That was good enough for me. I glanced back at Erika and before I could even look up at Danny, he answered my unasked question.

“I’ve got two men bringing up the gurney from the van. We’ll take her back with us,” he said.

“Well done, Danny.”

He smiled and nodded in return before turning on his heels and heading off to check on the gurney. The kid was definitely doing everything he could to prove he belonged in the field with us. After a little bit of time, another wolf in a black tee drove up in a golf cart. He must have borrowed it from the stadium equipment room, because it had the long back like the ones they use to cart players off of the field. They carefully loaded Dolph, Crazy Bustier, Leather, and even managed to cram the other bodies onto the back before slowly driving off. At about that time Danny arrived, escorting two GHOST guards and our gurney.

The two men held the gurney while we took the support board off of the top and brought it down next to Erika. Kara, Vector, and I pulled her body up as Freddy and Danny slid the board gently underneath. Slowly and carefully we got her centered on the board. We all lifted together, placing Erika on the gurney.

Once she was secure, we all pushed, pulled, or just held onto her for support as we made our way back to the van. She was a member of our team, and I think we all felt some sense of responsibility about getting her safely home. Once we were in sight of the van, which was parked next to Vlad, I heard my friends voice in my head.

“
Is she going to be all right, boss?”

“I hope so pal.”

The team glanced my way as I said it.

“Sorry. Vlad was asking about Erika. He worries about you all.”

Freddy looked appreciative, Danny looked apathetic, and Kara, her face still slightly pale from exertion, managed to give me a doubtful look. I thought Vector might be hiding a snicker, but I couldn’t be sure. Danny jumped up and opened the back of the van while the rest of us slid the gurney inside. Vector and I kept watch while everything was secured.

Once they were ready to go, Danny headed towards the front to drive, while Freddy and Kara stayed in the back to keep an eye on Erika. I gave them both a nod and a smile before closing the doors. Part of me wanted to ride along with her, be by her side while she was injured. But I knew that keeping her and the rest of the team safe was the priority and the best way to do that was to watch over the van as it drove home. So, I patted the door a couple times to let them know it was locked, and Vector and I headed over towards Vlad.

As always, Vlad slid the doors down for us, rolling them into his under carriage as they do. Vector jumped in on the passenger side while I hopped into the driver’s. The doors rolled back up into place and we were ready to go. The team van started forward, and Vlad started driving right after them. In addition to making him happy, letting him drive meant that Vector and I were free to keep our eyes peeled for trouble. The car was quiet for a bit before Vector spoke up.

“You know, if you ever want to talk or something…” he tried.

“About what? Erika? She’ll be fine.”

“I meant more about what happened after.”

“Nothing to talk about. They hurt one of ours and we took ‘em down.”

“I think there was a bit more to it than that,” he said.

Neither of us was looking at the other while we talked, our eyes scanning the road for threats. I wasn’t sure why Vector suddenly wanted to talk about feelings, but it wasn’t going to happen. Especially not with a guy I hardly knew. I didn’t respond and the silence hung in the air for a bit before he tried again.

“Look, we both know you care about her. That is the danger of getting too close to members of your team.”

“I care about every member of my team. Even you.”

“Would you kill for all of us?”

“I didn’t kill anyone.”