Nadya's Nights: Road to Vengeance (18 page)

Kill Remy.

Nadya wasn’t sure, but she suspected that fire within her was almost burning as hot as her own fire.

Giving a brief nod, Nadya lowered the pistol.  “I get so much as an iffy feeling about you, you’re dead.”

The woman nodded.  “I believe you.”

Jerking her head back, Nadya motioned to the Maserati.  “Get in the car.”  She waited for the Irish woman to head for it first before following along behind.

Once they were inside, Nadya holstered her pistol.  “Nadya Valentina,” she said, throwing the car into drive and pulling back onto the road.

“Bridget O’Connell,” the Irish woman replied.  “Do you know where the hideout is?”

Nadya gave a nod, already heading in the direction she’d been going before the werewolf motorcycle brigade had started tailing her.

“I know a back way in,” Bridget said.  “We’ll come in from the sewer.  They won’t expect it.”

Chapter Thirty: Reflections

The Maserati pulled up to the side of the road and parked.  A moment later, the two women inside got out.  They were strikingly different in physical appearance.

The driver was a petite girl with short blonde hair pulled into pigtails with no make-up adorning her.  Armed to the teeth was about the best way possible to describe her and as she walked, there was a bit of a limp to her steps.

The passenger was several inches taller than the blonde Russian, her red locks had a bit of curl to them and fell down around her shoulders.  She also was sans makeup, although her cheeks were dotted with freckles over her pale skin.  Her body was fuller than the blonde’s, in the chest and stomach, although whatever curves she had were obscured by the motorcycle jacket she wore.

They each hailed from different countries and they weren’t even technically the same species, but for all their differences, they each shared a single common trait.

Their eyes.

Not so much the color.  The blonde’s eyes held more of a greyish-green hue to them than the redhead’s emerald green shade.  The trait was behind the color, hidden within.

They’d each seen death, and they each wanted to bring it down on another.  The fact that they wanted the same man dead was why they were together when, under almost any other circumstance, they’d be trying to kill each other.  And it had been less than ten minutes earlier that they had, in fact, been trying to kill each other.

Now they were united.

The world worked in strange and, above all, ironic ways.

Nadya Valentina would be the first to admit that, and she suspected her fiery-haired companion wouldn’t disagree.

They approached the metal grate that would lead them down into the sewer and, according to Bridget, to the secret entrance to the hideout where their enemy was holed up.  The place where Nadya – just the previous night – had been nearly tortured to death.  The wounds hadn’t even really begun to heal yet, and she was already back on her feet.

It’s funny the amount of pain you can block out when your heart’s filled with rage.

Of course, the copious amounts of painkillers help.

Looking to Bridget, Nadya wondered how much pain she’d endured, the motorcycle wreck and silver bullet to the kneecap aside.  The Irish woman had told her that Remy had killed the man she loved, Doyle.  Nadya found it hard to imagine wanting revenge so badly over the death of someone else.  Then again, she found the whole concept of love in general to be a baffling and, ultimately, stupid thing.

Just then, Ulbrecht’s face popped into her mind.

It was so sudden and unexpected that Nadya let out a soft gasp.  Giving a brief shake of her head, she forced the image away. 
I am not in love with Ulbrecht.

Indebted, sure.  He’d saved her life more than a couple of times.  Then again, she’d saved his ass a few times as well, so they were probably just about even.  The fact that she’d given up what little semblance of a life she had to keep him from getting turned into mincemeat definitely made them square as far as she was concerned, even if Vladimir had forgiven her and taken her back.

No, she was done with Ulbrecht Reinhardt.  If she never saw him again, it would be too soon.

Liar.

Nadya’s upper lip curled into a snarl at the sudden internal voice.  If it had been Cyrus’s voice, she would’ve been able to dismiss it outright as just a stupid comment from a stupid American.

But the voice had been her own.

I’m not in love with him
, she told herself firmly. 
For fuck’s sake, we’ve only known each other for two days.

Three.

Whatever!

Nadya was getting quite sick and tired of this new, rebellious voice in her head.  In fact, she was starting to wish she’d just crawled under a car and let herself bleed out after taking out that freakish blob monster two nights ago.  Then she wouldn’t be having to deal with all this internal arguing.

You want to kill Remy for what he did to Ulbrecht.

No, I want to kill Remy for what he did to me
, Nadya responded to herself. 
The fucker tortured me.  Nobody gets away with that shit.

It occurred to Nadya that she must be losing her mind.

Here she was, standing outside a sewer grate in the middle of the night, waging a mental war with herself.  She’d never experience such a thing before.  All the missions she’d done, her mind had always been focused, centered on the task at hand.  It was why she was so good at what she did even though she was so young.  At the very least, it was one of the main reasons.

Her focus was what had kept her alive through so much insane shit.  There had never been two sides of her mind arguing about petty bullshit.  Her mind had been a singular entity with only one goal: How to accomplish her assignment the best possible way and still come away with a pulse.

Nadya decided that she very much hated Ulbrecht Reinhardt and that if she did ever see him again, she’d give him a punch square in the nose for fracturing her mind.

She’d give Cyrus Fuller a kick to the balls for good measure, as well.

Are you sure you won’t kiss Ulbrecht Reinhardt square on the mouth the next time you see him?

That fucking voice just did not know when to shut up.  It was as if, after being silent all her life, it had finally woken up and decided it would make up for lost time by being as loud and obnoxious as possible.

The latest comment drew Nadya back to the brief kiss she and Ulbrecht had shared.

Shared my ass
, Nadya thought. 
That bastard forced his lips onto mine and I should have slugged him right then and there.

You liked it.

At that point, Nadya weighed the pros and cons of drawing one of her pistols, placing the barrel firmly against her temple, and squeezing the trigger for all it was worth.

The only thing that stayed her hand was the thought that if she did do that – although it would silence the insufferable voice with utter finality – it would also mean that her vengeance on Remy would be left undone.  And as infuriating as the voice in her head was, the thought of Remy getting away with what he’d done to her was doubly so.

After I kill Remy
, Nadya decided. 
If you haven’t shut the fuck up by then, and if I live through it, I’m gonna exorcise you with a bullet, bitch.

The voice’s response was a laugh.

Nadya almost physically jumped from the internal sound.  It was so strange.  She tried to think, but after a moment, was convinced that she’d never heard herself laugh before.

Sure, she let out the occasional chuckle when something particularly ironic happened or some idiot did something in character but even those were, at best, emotionally minimalistic.

The laugh that had just come from inside her head had been far more than just a chuckle.  It had been a genuine laugh.

Playful.

Happy, even.

Nadya Valentina wasn’t quite sure what the fuck was going on inside her head, but she knew two things.

She absolutely hated it.

And it was absolutely scaring the shit out of her.

Just then, the sound of metal screeching snapped Nadya out of her reverie and she looked over to see that Bridget had gotten the sewer grating open and was looking back to her.

“You coming?” the Irish woman asked.

She nodded, thankful that she could start moving forward again and hopefully silence the mysterious voice that sounded so much and yet not a damn thing like her.  As she lowered herself down into the darkness of the sewer, the voice spoke one last time.

Not a chance, sweetie.  I’m here to stay.

Nadya was thankful for the darkness of the sewer.  It made it so she didn’t have to explain the grimace on her face to Bridget.

Chapter Thirty-One: Sewer Shortcut

Once Nadya was down in the sewer, she pulled the grating back into place and descended the ladder.  At the bottom, Bridget turned to look at her with a stern expression.  Nadya’s right hand fell to the handle of the machine gun at her hip, ready to draw and unload on the Irish werewolf if she did anything out of line.

She didn’t.

Instead, she spoke in a voice that was almost too low to even be called a whisper.  “We have to stay silent down here,” Bridget explained, turning to glance both ways down the tunnel they were in.  “There are other things that live down here.  Not werewolf or vampire.  Something else.”

Nadya responded with a firm nod, drawing one of her pistols from its shoulder holster and holding it low.  “Lead the way,” she told the redhead.

Bridget turned and started down the tunnel, Nadya moving along behind her.  Both women moved with silent grace, not even causing the sound of footfalls against the moist cement they walked along.  The only noise they made were the sounds of their breathing, and even that was barely audible.

Still, Nadya remained on guard.  She wasn’t sure what the creatures that lived in the sewer were, but she hoped it wasn’t another of the blob creatures that she’d faced off with before.  Even with a large room to run around in and a bandolier of grenades, it had still been a major pain in the ass to take that thing out.  Dealing with another in such cramped quarters or – even worse – more than one, was not something she looked forward to.

The pair walked for about five minutes before Nadya heard the noises.

It sounded like chattering.

There was only one good thing about the sound.  She’d never heard the blob thing ever make anything like it.

That was where her relief ended, since it meant she had absolutely no idea what she might wind up facing.  The light was almost nonexistent down there, so it made keeping an eye out for potential enemies difficult.

Gripping her pistol tighter, Nadya kept following Bridget, noticing that the woman had slowed her pace.  The sound of chattering seemed to gain a bit of volume.  Turning her head to look back the way they had come, all Nadya could see was black.  She turned her head forward again, looking ahead and saw the same sight.  The sounds echoed off the brick walls around them, making it impossible to tell which direction they were coming from or even how many there might be.

Nadya didn’t like the situation one bit.

Thankfully, the pesky voice in her head had decided to shut up for the time being.

It had sounded rather girly.  Maybe the noises had sent it hiding under the covers, too scared to come out.

Or maybe it was just smart enough to know when to shut the hell up.

Either way, she was glad that it was keeping quiet.  She needed to focus all her attention on moving silently and trying to pinpoint where the creatures were.  If they were as bad as Bridget claimed, it was no wonder they were going to have the element of surprise when they arrived at the hideout.  It didn’t seem like anyone in their right mind would come this way.

She wanted to whisper to Bridget and ask what exactly the things were, but she didn’t dare chance it with all the chattering coming from around them.

Continuing on their way, Nadya followed Bridget as they traveled through the maze-like catacombs of the sewer.  For a little while, the chattering seemed to grow softer, making it seem as though whatever fiends they had been in the midst of, they were now leaving them behind.  Then, as suddenly as the noise had died down, it grew louder again.

The chattering was both eerie and grating.  Nadya wished they’d actually run into the things so she could put a few bullets into them and put an end to their constant chattering.

A moment later, she regretted that thought.

As they reached a four-way intersection, Bridget turned left.  Nadya moved after her, but as she turned the corner, she was almost taken off her feet as the redhead was flung backwards.  Jumping back, Nadya brought her pistol up and spun around into the intersection aiming into the tunnel Bridget had been thrown out of.

Blackness was all she could see, but the chattering had grown in volume and there was no question about where it was coming from now.

The sound sped up.

It wasn’t hard to decipher the meaning of the change in tempo.  Whatever the creature was, it was excited.

It had just found its meal for the night.

“Sorry, fucker,” Nadya muttered.  “This food bites back.”

The chattering transformed into a high-pitched screech and she had to fight the urge to drop her gun and clamp her hands over her ears.  Over the screech, she heard the thumping of feet against the floor.  She was being charged.  Keeping her pistol up, Nadya waited to see something that she could actually aim at.

“C’mon, asshole…”

Just then, it was about three feet in front of her and she could finally see it.  It was humanoid, but definitely not human.  Its face was elongated and hairless; its skin wrinkled and pink and its eyes blood red.  It had a small nose at the end of its snout with whiskers protruding out from either side.  Its mouth gaped open, emitting the shriek and exposing jagged, yellowed teeth.

Below that, the thing was naked and just as hairless.  Its arms – outstretched towards Nadya – were skinny and its fingers were tipped with pointed claws.  It had a rotund belly that jiggled as it ran.

Gotten fat on stray cats and the homeless
, Nadya thought. 
Not exactly a slimming diet…

Its flaccid cock bounced against its thighs; hairless testicles swaying underneath.  Its legs were muscular and pumping hard as it propelled itself towards her.  Despite the clear definition of its gender, Nadya couldn’t force herself to refer to it in her mind as a ‘he’.  Its frighteningly alien appearance designated it as a clear ‘it’ to her.

It took roughly one second for the image of the creature to be burnt into Nadya’s brain and she wasn’t sure if she’d ever get the hideous thing out again.

Deal with that, you stupid voice
, she thought.

Then she aimed for the thing’s head and fired.  One of its shiny red eyes turned into a glistening red hole as the slug tore through it.  The back of its head blew out, spraying brains outward in a gory sneeze.  The thing continued to move forward and Nadya’s eyes widened.

Can these things survive having their heads blown off?

If so, we’re definitely fucked.

As the creature came within a foot of her, its movements became jerky.  Stepping to the side, the thing dropped to its knees and then collapsed forward into a heap.  Now that she could see its backside, she noticed the long, rat-tail sprouting from just above its ass.  The thing continued to give off death twitches on the ground.

“You are one ugly motherfucker…” Nadya muttered.

Feeling a hand on her shoulder, she spun around and brought her pistol up, right into Bridget’s face.

The redhead jumped back and threw her hands up.  “Don’t fucking shoot me again!”

Nadya lowered her gun.

Bridget looked down at the dead creature.  “Well, now you’ve done it.  You’ve gone and gotten us proper fucked.”

“What are you..?”  Nadya’s voice trailed off as she heard how loud the chattering had gotten.  The fact that it was interspersed with more of the things’ high-pitched cries was not comforting.  “Ah, fuck…  How far to the hideout?”

“Not close enough, now that every one of those things knows we’re here.”  Bridget shook her head.  “Jesus, I told you to stay quiet…”

“Oh, yea,” Nadya said, sarcasm soaking into her words.  “By the way, Nadya, thanks for saving my fucking ass after I walked right into this ugly cocksucker.”

“Fuck you…” Bridget shot back.  “We need to fucking move immediately.”  She moved past Nadya, continuing down the hall the hairless rat monster had been lurking in, moving at a faster pace.

Nadya took one last look at the dead creature then turned and hurried after Bridget.  “Don’t see what the big deal is.  They die pretty easy, seems like.”

“Try telling that to the fucking horde of them that’s about to run up and eat out your ass in the worst possible fucking way,” Bridget said.  “Ever hear about that whole strength in numbers thing?”

Nadya rolled her eyes.  “Oh, yea.  That’s the thing that says a lone girl can’t possibly kill six werewolves all by herself, right?”

Bridget stopped dead and turned back to Nadya.  “Five.  You killed five werewolves.  Friends of mine, by the way.  Thanks for reminding me.”

“You’re welcome,” Nadya replied.  “Now I’ll remind you that I could have killed you, too.  So I still say six.  I’d add Remy to that list, but I had a bit of help with him and I give credit where credit’s due.”

Bridget was silent for several seconds then turned and continued down the tunnel.  “You’re such a fucking cunt…”

“Guilty.”

The sounds of the rat-monsters were all around them, growing louder with each passing minute.  Nadya drew her second pistol, keeping both at the ready.  She decided that if any of the things grabbed hold of Bridget, she’d let them take a nice bite or two out of her before intervening.

Hearing more thudding of feet coming up fast from behind her, Nadya spun, lifted her weapons and fired a shot from each.  The screech she got in reply was one of pain and another of the monsters skidded up to her feet, blood pouring from its chest and two massive exit wounds at its back.

Turning back around, she realized she’d lost sight of Bridget.  “Hey!” she yelled, moving forward.  “Fucking bitch…” she added in Russian, hurrying down the tunnel.  She reached a dead end, two adjoining tunnels running off in either direction.  Looking both ways, she still didn’t see any sign of Bridget.

That’s fucking it
, she thought. 
I’m shooting the bitch the next time I see her…

Crouching down, Nadya examined the floor, covered with a light layer of dirt.  There were numerous footprints, but only one set made by boots.  The rest were the bare feet of the rat things.

The boot tracks led to the right.

Rising, Nadya turned and started down the right tunnel.  As she did, once again a hand clamped down on her shoulder.  This one gripped her much tighter and she felt the sharp tips of claws dig into her.

“Shit…”

The rat thing yanked Nadya back, pulling her clean off her feet and sending her sliding backwards along the floor.  Her pistols left her hands.

“Goddammit!” she yelled.

Reaching down to the machine gun attached to her hip, she tried to unlatch it.  Before she could, the rat creature pounced her.  Bringing her arms up, she grabbed hold of the thing by its scrawny neck, keeping the sharp teeth from tearing into her throat.

Nadya could see a pair of fat tits sagging from the thing’s chest, its belly swollen from something other than stray dogs.

“Jesus…” The thought of the things fucking almost made Nadya puke.

She tried shoving the female rat thing off of her, but it scrambled hard and refused to be thrown clear.

Despite their scrawny appearance, the things had surprising strength.  Nadya could feel her arms growing tired from holding the gnashing teeth at bay.  It struck her as absolutely ludicrous that after everything she’d been through, she was about to get turned into rat food.

“This is fucked…” she said to no one in particular.

Ya got that right, sister…

The string of colorful Russian curses that escaped Nadya’s mouth actually seemed to stun the rat woman.