The Lycan Collapse (The Flux Age Book 2) (17 page)

As for Emmaline herself, she took to her luxury surroundings like a duck to water. Julian believed her when she said she’d been hiding out at Tide Island for more than six weeks. She was still coated with salty grime two days after arriving at the Grand Marina.

Thankfully it was Florence who developed a close rapport with the girl. She and Emmaline seemed to trust each other implicitly. Julian believed it was because Florence was a lycan. Emmaline seemed to see all of them in the same light. As for Florence, she saw in Emmaline the spark that could set the future alight. The diviner promised an entirely new lycan order, one that would hopefully be less vulnerable than the Lycan Society had been.

While Julian was dispatched on various errands, the women often chatted for hours on end, discussing the various pitfalls to living in a Flux Age. Emmaline was still receiving most of her drug supply and was thus somewhat functional. The hard times were still to come.

Julian didn’t mind doing active, practical things. He bought food for the suite and often cooked at the kitchenette over the following week. Florence came to him to discuss finances - Julian still had access to plenty of money but there was no way of knowing whether Hector would shut him down somehow. It was agreed that Julian should liquify his Seed Pod Tech shares and devote the capital to their new venture on New Providence.

Florence had a certain amount of life savings to draw on. There was no point in worrying about the billions of dollars the Lycan Society may have been sitting on - money that was now rightfully hers.
That
wealth was now lost to the enemy.

It was Julian who suggested the transferral of his funds to a joint account. Florence was uncomfortable with the notion, but only for a day or so. She was practical enough to recognize what had to be done. Julian breathed a sigh of relief when all his money had been shifted out of Hector’s long reach. This part of the Caribbean was famous for its discreet banks.

The last piece of the puzzle was an actual plan. What vision did Florence have cooking in her head?

The main objective was the identification of lycans Florence could train. These could theoretically come from people of any age or background. Emmaline was able to detect lycan latency from afar, meaning she didn’t need folks paraded before her. For the moment she was comfortable and a lot happier than she had been in the smuggler’s cave on Tide Island. She told Florence she was ready to begin at any time.

But Florence showed admirable caution. She told Julian she wanted a safe, clean property as a base of operations.

The aquilan saw several real estate agents and eventually settled on a lovely two-storey bungalow in the tropical hills behind Nassau. Peaceful and discreet, it ticked off Florence’s main requirements. Julian bought the property outright, spending a quarter of his fortune.

The bungalow had several bedrooms and a large garden in which they could extend if necessary. Florence and Emmaline were installed comfortably within a month. Julian had the place tastefully fitted, enjoying all the tasks that made Florence smile. In the end, that’s all that mattered. In the weeks that followed, the red-haired werewolf often made it clear to Julian that he could leave whenever he wanted. That he wasn’t tied to her passion project in any way.

But he would always roll his eyes and give her a cuddle. She
knew
that he wasn’t going anywhere and she loved him for it. Besides, where would he go? There was nothing he wanted more than to see Florence build something she could be proud of. To see her give meaning to the senseless violence that saw her lose everything she once cared about.

Florence was like an angel fighting for everything that was still good in the world. If there was anything this crippled aquilan had left to give, it was love. Belief.

And, most importantly of all - respect.

The lycans would rise from the ashes. That, in itself, was a miracle.

11 - Yasmin

Prague, Czech Republic

Yasmin’s primary objective had been to see if Jack was still alive. Once she and Tomas knew where Jack was being held, the pair decided to wait a few hours so they could catch the Berlin Club off guard. Also, they needed night to fall so they could bring forth their considerable power.

It was amazing how many things Yasmin was learning every day. Things that Tomas hadn’t even been able to discover in all his diligent study of vampire lore. It wasn’t until they were within the cemetery grounds that they realized that the solemn place gave them great power. They zipped across the gravestones at incredible pace, surging with dark energy. It was if their bodies were given an extra boost by all the dead around them. But then, the closer they got to their destination - a large, domed mausoleum in the center of the cemetery - the weaker they became. By the time they reached the two sentries at the doors to the mausoleum they had shifted back into human form. It was inexplicable.

Luckily, Tomas had brought weapons for
that
kind of fight. He shot one of the guards between the eyes and clubbed the other with the pistol butt. It was brutal, but Yasmin had to remind herself that they were dealing with the Berlin Club here. Violent thugs who were holding Jack somewhere under this mausoleum.

The sentries dealt with, Yasmin talked with Tomas urgently, debating how to proceed. Without their vampire spirit beasts they were extremely vulnerable.

As it turned out, Tomas was just as good at stealth as he was direct brutality. He found a descending stairwell at the back of the mausoleum and led Yasmin through a series of stone tunnels. Some of the tunnels were stuffed with ancient crypts. Twice they needed to double back due to patrolling thugs. When two muffled gun shots could be heard Tomas simply bolted to the source of the sound, bowling over Herr X as he charged into the room that held Jack.

And now the doktor was busily removing silver bullets from Jack’s chest. Her off-sider seemed to think that he would survive, and that was enough for her. Her anxiety and concern had now become anger.

Now that Mischa and the intriguing boy Boris had gone back to their room, she could feel her spirit beast champing at the bit to get involved in the action. It was almost midnight and she felt extremely powerful. Outside the mausoleum above them, deep within the cemetery, her three succubi were ready to pounce. She would take the battle there if she could.

Breathing hard, Jack stood before her. His bullets had been removed and the wounds didn’t look too bad. Because they had been caused by silver, it would take a while to heal, but Jack would live.

“Let’s torch this place,” he said to Yasmin. “Every last tunnel.”

“I love it when you talk dirty,” Yasmin said with a grin. She stood close to him, feeling her own spirit beast take over. He watched her with an awestruck expression.

“I’ve never seen you shift before,” he said. “Remind me never to cross you.”

Yasmin smiled wickedly. “Oh, I think you’ll remember.”

“Let’s go,” Tomas said, gliding across the room to the door. He had shifted so quickly Yasmin hadn’t even noticed. His skin was pale and he looked hungry for blood. The last time they had both had a fresh kill was when they had come across the hapless hunters in the Carpathian mountains. It seemed like a
long
time ago.

“One more thing,” Jack said, grabbing Yasmin by the arm. His werewolf grip was incredibly strong. “I’ll never forget this, Yasmin. How you hunted me down like this. Saved my sorry ass. You’re my heroine. Really.”

Yasmin nodded, looking into Jack’s eyes and seeing a world of love there. It was reassuring, it was supportive, it was wonderful. It gave her strength.

“Now,” she hissed. “Let’s go do what we were born to do.”

Jack grinned. The pair followed Tomas out into the tunnel. Two thugs rushed toward them from the tunnel’s north end. They were germing as they ran, shifting into something hideously fast.

“Ghouls,” Tomas said in disgust. He swept down the tunnel at a fearsome pace, collecting the ghouls as he went. The creatures ricocheted off the vampire and fell backwards several yards. The ghouls were up in an instant and scrabbling at Tomas’s eyes. The doktor held them down with incredible strength and threw one of them against the wall, breaking several bones. He lifted the other by the neck and crushed its windpipe with a long, pale hand. The thing’s neck cracked loudly and its head fell limp. Tomas completed the job by ripping its head clean from its neck. He did the same to the groggy ghoul writhing on the ground.

“Decapitation and fire,” he muttered to an awestruck Yasmin and Jack. “The only ways to kill a ghoul.”

Tomas dashed down the empty tunnel, determined to lead them back to the mausoleum. Jack glanced at Yasmin as the pair followed in his wake.

“A capable assistant,” he said dryly.

“He is,” Yasmin agreed. “He would do anything for me.”

Jack looked like he wanted to pursue that notion but there wasn’t any time. Tomas led them up the staircase into the mausoleum where they were greeted by cold night air.

Below them hundreds of footfalls could be heard. It conjured images of a ghoul horde scrambling desperately through a small tunnel, eager for live flesh.

“They’ll be here any second,” Yasmin said. “We’ll take them in the cemetery.”

Jack nodded and they all rushed out to the open air of the graveyard. A silvery moon shone down over them as they waited for the inevitable attack.

Yasmin could see her succubi flitting among the headstones. They made for a fearsome sight when in attack mode. They were quick and elusive, probably even quicker than Yasmin herself.

Jack snarled at the sight of the alluring succubi, instinctively drawn to attack them.

“Steady, Jack,” Yasmin warned, laying a hand on his furry shoulder.

“Guess you’ve been busy recruiting,” he grunted.

“Nowhere near enough,” Yasmin lamented. “I’m interested in talking to Mischa again.”

“You and me both,” Jack said with a grin.

“Here they come,” Tomas said as a nerve-shredding howl floating across the gravestones. A swarm of ghouls poured from the mausoleum. They were so quick Yasmin struggled to pick them out in the silvery light, even with her enhanced vampire senses.

Tomas edged closer to Yasmin, no doubt intending to protect her at all costs.

“Hey,” Jack growled. “Back off.”

Tomas looked at Jack through hooded, bloodless eyes. With the hint of a leer he moved away. Yasmin could see she was going to have problems with those two.

“I can take care of myself,” she said, and rushed forward to prove it.

“Yasmin, wait!” Jack called after her but she just howled with glee as she entered the ranks of marauding ghouls. A multitude of clawed arms grasped at her body but they may has well have been trying to tug at the air. Yasmin seemed to drift over the bloodthirsty pack, spreading her mass instantaneously.

Her mist enveloped the ghouls as she landed on the far side, near the mausoleum. From there she began attacking the ghouls from behind. Unlike Tomas, Yasmin found she could manipulate objects remotely, and began tossing ghouls into the air simply with a flourish of her hand. She laughed out loud as she shoved and hurled ghouls left and right. She figured being the vampire queen meant she had special abilities.

Tomas came charging through the ghoul pack like a man possessed. He’d drawn the weapons he’d purchased at a special dealer in Bucharest. Twin silver swords glinted in the moonlight, sharpened to a fine edge. Yasmin had warned him that buying silver weapons was a provocative move and might offend Jack, but Tomas was adamant that silver be his preferred metal. She had to admit that her swordsman was making short work of the ghouls, lopping heads with almost every stroke. He didn’t know much about sword craft but had been endeavouring to teach himself. Tonight there were so many ghouls it really didn’t matter. Tomas cleared a path through the throng and made his way to Yasmin.

“We can hold them off, but what about Mischa and Boris?” Yasmin yelled. “I’d hate for Herr X to get to them.”

“I think that old coward is long gone,” Tomas said. “But yes, we need to end this quickly.”

Jack came thundering through the ghoul pack, biting and ripping with unbridled fury. Yasmin found she was holding her breath as she witnessed Jack in full flight. The werewolf was assailed on all sides but not one ghoul could get a decent purchase on him. With a simple twist of his powerful hips he was shaking his attackers free so he could concentrate on those in his field of attack. Yasmin and Tomas were witnessing what an enraged werewolf could truly do in this kind of desperate situation. The rank smell of guts filled the air as Jack used his long claws to spill the intestines of any ghoul stupid enough to get close to him. “He’s a killing machine,” Yasmin breathed, fully understanding why the lycans had been so revered by humans for centuries.

“I could do better,” Tomas said, but smiled when Yasmin looked at him incredulously. The doktor had a very dry sense of humor that expressed itself randomly.

Jack rolled to Yasmin’s other side. She could see he was breathing hard. His berserker attack had killed several ghouls but the pack was reforming. The succubi flew over them, picking off the odd ghoul with devastating efficiency. One second a ghoul was standing free, then a succubus seemed to pass right through it, removing the head with ease. Despite the frenzied bloodshed, more than fifty ghouls remained on the battlefield.