Way of the Wolf: Shifter Legacies 1 (67 page)

“Yes sir,” Bechtel said and began parcelling out his men into teams to surround and contain the area.

Barrows left him to it and stepped away. His own people followed him into the dark. “We go directly for Arcadian,” he began. “I don’t care what else we find in there, or how bad it is, he’s our priority. If we can take him down it won’t matter what else happens, we’ll have won.”

“As long as no one talks. If word of what the sick freak is doing gets out we’re screwed,” Doug warned.

Everyone nodded worriedly.

Barrows waved a hand at the soldiers. “That’s what Bechtel and his men are here to prevent. We go in hard and take down all opposition. No one will talk. No one will be in a condition to talk when we’re done.”

“The Stirling woman?”

“If she’s alive we’ll deal. There are ways to shut her down—spells and even drugs that can wash memories.”

Doug grimaced, but nodded.

He understood Doug’s distaste. He wasn’t a fan of wiping memories himself, especially not the memories of an innocent woman still grieving her father’s death, but there really was no other option. He couldn’t just take her word that she wouldn’t tell someone about Arcadian. Even if he could, his superiors wouldn’t let him. Giving her a free pass was out of the question.

“Sir!”

Barrows turned and Bechtel gestured up the lane. Two men were walking nonchalantly toward them. Within seconds, everyone had found some cover and was aiming weapons into the dark. He recognised them from the reports he had ordered written up. It was David Lephmann and his sidekick, Lawrence Bailey.

“No one fire!” Barrows said. “Let them come to us.”

“Jack...” Nancy said nervously. She was peering into the trees, trying to pierce the shadows. “This feels all wrong.”

“Stay frosty,” he said, not liking the feel of it either. “Keep them covered, but don’t start anything. Let’s see what this is about.”

Lephmann and Bailey stopped in the middle of the lane and surveyed things with glowing eyes. Both shifters were unarmed, but that didn’t mean much. Their bodies were their weapons. Lephmann assessed Bechtel’s men, his golden eyes locking on to each man briefly as if memorising faces, before moving on to the next. Finally, he found who he was looking for and spoke.

“Agent Barrows, a word please.”

Barrows grunted in surprise. He hadn’t expected to be recognised and wondered about it. Maybe Humber had mentioned his name. He lowered his rifle, stepping away from the protection of the van and into the middle of the lane. He stopped well back from the shifters, trying not to block his men’s field of fire in case it dropped in the pot.

Lephmann nodded to him. “What do you see happening here? Whatever it is you’ll need to rethink because I won’t let it happen.”

“
Let?
” Barrows said. “I don’t think you understand your position, Doctor Lephmann.”

“David or Lephmann if you prefer, not Doctor. People like you won’t let me be one anymore.”

“People like me, what’s that supposed to mean?”

“Human bigots in position of authority is what it means.”

Lawrence smiled.

Barrows scowled. “You don’t know me.”

Lephmann waved a hand at all the gun-toting soldiers. “I don’t need to know you personally to know
what
you are. It’s obvious what you plan to do. I won’t let you kill my friend.”

“Friends like Arcadian do you no credit.”

This time it was Lephmann’s turn to scowl, but being a shifter made his expression a little different to the human norm. His eyes blazed, literally. The golden irises brightened making Barrows think of searchlights.

“Arcadian is no friend of mine. Stephen is who I meant. Stephen and anyone he calls friend. I won’t let him come to harm.
Leave.
”

“Heh, that’s not happening and you’re a fool to suggest it.”

“I’m not fool enough to expect common sense from any human being, but I had to make the offer.”

“Now who’s the bigot? It works both ways.”

“True, it does. You should let me and my people deal with Arcadian. Let us police our own problem children and we’ll let you leave.”

“I can’t do that.”

Lephmann nodded. “I know why you think that. Arcadian’s insane plan, the bio-weapon, the need for secrecy... you should realise that stopping him is in my people’s interests as much as yours. No one wants the attention of the White Council or the elven courts. No one wants to risk a purge or a new War of Races. I can swear any oath you care to name that Arcadian will cease to be a problem tonight, and all evidence of his mad scheme will disappear forever, but that won’t suffice. Will it?”

“No.”

“What do you see happening here? Right here, between us?”

Barrows frowned. “I will take you two into custody and proceed against Arcadian, or if you resist, my men will put you down first. It’s your choice.”

“You’re right about it being about choices. Let me give you yours. You can let us police our own, and then move in to clean up the mess we’ll leave behind. We both know none of this will be allowed to become public knowledge no matter which of us kills Arcadian. On the other hand, you can kill me, and Lawrence will kill you. Your men will then kill him, and then my friends will step in and kill everyone else before taking care of Arcadian as planned. You and your men will become another statistic on the national missing person’s database. You’ll become just another blip in a computer somewhere.”

“Big talk,” Bechtel growled. “Sir, time’s wasting.”

“Jonas!” Lephmann said. “Now please.”

Barrows tensed as eyes ignited in the dark. He turned slowly to survey the trees. There were hundreds of shifters watching from the shadows, already in beast form. Hundreds of huge coyotes, and mixed in with them were tall humanoid monsters. They crept forward to reveal themselves, growling, and eager to attack. Bechtel’s men reformed to cover all sides at once, but he could tell they were outnumbered three or four to one. He turned back to Lephmann expecting to see the man gloating, but he wasn’t. He looked… hopeful?

“Stand down, Sergeant,” Barrows said giving in to the inevitable.

He had no doubt a lot of people were only moments from death. The wrong people. Arcadian was the one who mustn’t walk away. He didn’t like it, but if Lephmann’s people could take him down, there was no need for Bechtel’s men to die here.

“But sir!”

“Stand down. We aren’t leaving, but if these...
people
want to do our work for us, I say we let them. No need to risk your men’s lives if we don’t need to.” He turned back to Lephmann. “You win, but we’re not leaving. I’m going to surround the area in case anyone slips by your...” he waved a hand at the monstrous creatures lurking in the shadows. “...by you.”

Lephmann nodded and turned to leave. The shifters under the trees faded back and the glowing eyes were extinguished two by two. Barrows watched them go, thinking hard, and wondering whether to call in reinforcements. He could do that; he would be expected to do that under the circumstances. He could even call in an air strike by drone if he needed to. The Arcadian operation was that crucial. He really should report in and ask for orders, but if he did, he was certain to lose control of things. It would be no skin off his nose if Lephmann and all his people died in such a strike, but he didn’t want to risk losing Arcadian. He wanted the vamp’s headless corpse at his feet. He wanted absolute verification of death, not a crater in the ground that might or might not contain Arcadian’s ashes.

“Sergeant?”

“Sir?”

“Change of plans.”

Bechtel laughed. “No kidding.”

* * *

40 ~ Old Friends

Gavin waited impatiently for the shifters to return. David seemed the reliable sort and Stephen must think highly of him, but he had to wonder what two wolves thought they could do that he couldn’t. This Barrows person that everyone seemed to fear so much was merely human. Influencing him would be an easy matter. He watched Angelina checking her weapons and felt reassured at her obvious preparedness. She was wearing her vest again, festooned with blades of all kinds, and the machine guns that she liked so much.

“The armour is plate?” Spencer asked, also interested in Angelina’s preparations. “You don’t think they’ll use armour piercing ammo?”

Angelina snorted. “I think they’ll be loaded for monster as usual, so silver-plated blades, silver-plated bullets, and high silver content flechettes and needles. I’m wearing Kevlar not plate because of the weight not the ammo they’ll be using. I’m a
giiiirl
, remember?”

Spencer snorted.

“Both of you stick close to me,” Gavin said. “Our target is this false Arcadian. Rachelle, that goes for you as well. Send your people after his followers by all means, but you stay with me.”

Rachelle nodded.

Gavin turned to Edward, but before he could give orders, Edward spoke up.

“I’m going after Stephen with Andrew. Don’t try, Gavin, please. You know I can’t ignore his need even if I wanted to, which I don’t.”

That was true. Edward’s bond with Stephen would be a goad to him, assuming it was restored as everyone assumed it would be when they crossed the wards enclosing the estate. He would be useless in a fight if distracted by his need to re-join Stephen. Gavin nodded, accepting Edward’s position. He considered Stephen’s newest child for a moment and quickly dismissed him. He was so new that he wasn’t worth considering as an asset.

“Charles and Danyelle will accompany me for now,” Gavin said. “Lee and Elizabeth as well. The shifters—”

“Are mine not yours,” David called from out of the darkness.

Gavin turned to watch the two men arrive. “Indeed. You will have them fight with us I assume?”

“No need for sarcasm. They will fight, but my priorities are saving Stephen, destroying the weapon, and removing all evidence of it. We can’t allow knowledge of this thing to leave here, and that goes for the fools who created it.”

“Good. We are of like mind regarding that at least. Barrows?”

“He’s been dealt with. He agreed to surround the area but not move in. He wants to prevent any escapes.”

Angel snorted. “Like that’s going to happen with Jonas and Leon prowling about.”

“Barrows really agreed to that?” Chris said, sounding surprised.

“Jonas and I didn’t give him a choice.”

“You will come with me, Detective,” Gavin went on. “I do not give you leave to go off on your own.”

“Oh you can count on that. I’m not letting you out of my sight until this thing is done. You owe me, and I
will
collect no matter how long I have to dog your heels.”

“Yes, yes, I’m well aware,” he said in annoyance at her repeated insinuations that he would try to avoid paying his debts. “This has gone on long enough, we
will
finish it tonight.”

With that pronouncement, Gavin led them to war once more.

He swung his sword experimentally as he stalked toward the gates, rotating and limbering his wrist. The weapon was an extension of his arm, its familiar weight a comfort, and reminder of home. It was the Lochlain sword, brought with him from his own world of Tahir. When he first arrived here on Earth, he had been horrified to discover it had come through the portal with him. His family had been dealt a terrible double blow when the ancestral blade was lost along with him when he died, but many years later, he had come to terms with his guilt over it. The ancient sword was a comfort to him now. His armour didn’t hold the same emotional attachment for him. He did care for it and kept it in good repair. It was a memento that reminded him of home and was safe on its stand in his apartment. It would remain there with other curiosities he had collected over the years. The sword though, was a part of him, and its magic remained undimmed despite its antiquity. It was many centuries older than he was. His six centuries of unlife were a mere tithe in comparison to its age.

The gates came into sight and he broke into sprint. Angelina cursed as his vampire speed made him seem to disappear to her merely human vision. He hadn’t of course. He couldn’t teleport like a wizard. Many of the stories told about his kind had an element of truth, but like the ones that said vampires could transform into bats, wolves, or mist, teleportation was another fantasy. He could move exceedingly fast, but he did travel the intervening distance despite appearances. At the last moment, he jumped, clearing the gates with ease. He landed on the far side, and darted into the gatehouse where he sensed a pair of human guards. Inept human guards as it turned out. Though armed, both men were inattentive and they quickly became inept human corpses, shorter by a head.

Literally.

He ignored the blood fountains he had created and used the gate controls to let the others into the grounds.

“Mister Gavin,” Angelina growled angrily as she re-joined him accompanied by Flex and the rest of the Angels. “Don’t do that. We can’t protect you if we can’t keep up with you!”

Spencer grinned, obviously enjoying the spectacle of Angelina scolding him. Gavin cleaned his sword on one of the bodies, not really listening to the girl. It wasn’t as if he’d been in any real danger. Two half-asleep humans had provided very little in the way of a challenge.