Shattered (41 page)

"Thanks,
Alec. I wasn't particularly looking forward to having to shift again
and then shift back again so everyone could understand me when I
arrived back at the main building."

"No
worries, Dom. I'll…I'll see you around."

I
stepped into the doorway Dominic had been using as her observation
point and then watched her drive away.

"Are
you back yet, Brindi?"

"Yeah,
about that, I didn't actually figure out how to get it turned off and
everyone was kind of in a hurry as they were leaving, so…yeah,
I heard your call with Rachel."

"I
don't suppose it matters. You've got a feed from everyone else so you
can let me know when they are ready to get started?"

"Nope,
but Tristan does and he'll be back here in a couple of minutes, so
we'll be able to coordinate the operation from here."

"Okay,
that works."

Brindi
paused as though debating whether or not to say anything. "Alec,
are you okay?"

"Yeah,
how come?"

"I
don't know, you just feel different, but I can't really pin it down.
Your voice sounds the same as always though, so I don't know what I
would be cueing off of. Are you sure there isn't anything wrong?"

"No,
thanks for asking, but I'm fine. I think I'm a little tired of the
fight. It doesn't seem like there is ever going to be any end to the
bad guys. Every time we kill one it seems like two more pop up and
try to hurt someone else. I know why I'm fighting, but it's hard when
it feels like all we are doing is just barely holding the line."

"The
problem is that it's always easier to be a bad guy than it is to be a
good guy, Alec. At least in the short term. Trust me, I would know,
I've spent most of my life around crooks and jerks of one sort or
another. That's actually why I had such a hard time seeing you for
what you really are."

"And
what's that?"

"The
real deal. You're the kind of hero that a lot of people never really
get a chance to get to know. Sometimes I think that is all it would
take to win the war against evil. If all of the people in the world
could spend two or three weeks with you then they would all leave
wanting to make a difference, to be more like you."

"I'm
not sure that addicting the entire world to my touch is the best way
to go about saving them, Brindi."

She
blew a raspberry into the microphone and I knew that if I'd been in
the same room I would have been able to see her rolling her eyes at
the computer screen.

"That's
not what I mean, and you know it. I'm still addicted, but I'm getting
better at keeping the addiction separate from my real feelings for
you."

"I
didn't know there was a difference."

"Well,
there is. The addicted part of me would gladly throw myself in front
of a bus if it meant saving you as long as I thought there was a slim
chance that I would survive and get a chance at another hit."

That
kind of thing always made me feel uncomfortable and I opened my mouth
to tell her as much, but she plowed on.

"The
rest of me feels like I would probably throw myself in front of a bus
for you regardless of whether or not I would survive. I'd do it
simply because I can't bear the thought of a world that doesn't have
you in it. The world would be a better place if I traded my life for
yours and we both know it."

After
all of the other emotional highs and lows over the last couple of
hours, it was all I could do to hold myself together.

"Brindi,
I know that you feel bad about the things that you did before we met,
but you need to let all of that go and just focus on being the best
person you can now and doing as much good as you can with the rest of
your life."

"I
know, Alec. I guess some part of me just can't get past the idea that
it's my past that makes you choose her over me. I used to hold out
hope that if I had enough time I would be able to bring you around,
but after seeing the two of you together today I know that isn't
going to happen. You two are just too perfect together."

"Brindi,
I've always…"

"I
know, you haven't ever led me on. I guess I just want you to know
that I'm going to do my best to be happy with whatever crumbs Adri
leaves behind. I know that you'll never be mine in the same way that
you are hers, but you're still at least a little bit mine and I'm
willing to settle for that. I'll take whatever I can get where you
are concerned, Alec Graves."

"I
don't want you to settle, Brindi."

"I
know, but that's the funny thing about feelings. You can cut me out
of your life, but you won't be able to change how I feel. I'm yours
whether you want me or not, Alec Graves."

"I
don't know what to say to that, Brindi."

"Oh,
look, Tristan just rolled back into the room."

"Does
that mean this conversation is over because you're not willing to let
me sit here and tell you what I think when you aren't in a position
to respond to me?"

"You're
a pretty smart guy, Alec. It's one of the things I like most about
you. I'm going to go on mute now while Tristan and I work out a sick
victory dance involving bagels and a wheelchair for after you guys
vanquish the last bad guy."

I heard a click and then I was completely alone for the first time in
hours. There was nothing but me and my thoughts as I prepared for a
fight that I knew I couldn't win.

Alec Graves
Secondary Target Site
Cloquet, Minnesota

The silence in my ear was blessedly short and then Brindi was back and
telling me that we had two minutes before the other team would be
breaching the doors on the main building. I looked down the block and
decided that meant it was time for me to go ahead and get started.

"Can
you give me a mark every twenty seconds or so, Brindi?"

"Yeah,
you're at a minute forty now."

"Thanks."

"It's
what you pay me for, boss."

"Very
funny."

"Maybe
to you, but I'm getting three square meals a day, a roof over my head
and I get to go shopping at least every couple of days. This is the
best I've ever had things. One minute."

"What
happened to a minute twenty?"

"You
didn't seriously think I was going to stop and let you get a word in
before I was done making my point, did you?"

I
knew from my briefing that the building Cindi was in butted up
against other buildings on three sides, so all access to it was from
the front. I was almost close enough to look inside the windows.

"No,
I guess now that you mention it I should have known that you'd miss a
mark if that was what it took to make sure you won an argument."

"Forty
seconds, and you must have had one hell of a sheltered childhood if
you think this is an argument. My parents used to yell at each other
so loud that the neighbors had to call the cops about once a week."

"You
do know it's possible to argue without raising your voice, don't
you?"

"I
guess, but there doesn't seem to be much point to that. Twenty
seconds."

I
pulled out my phone and frowned at it as I turned in place,
pretending to be lost. That was harder than it sounded given that I
was trying to keep the bulky earpiece turned away from the bad guys
just in case they were watching from the window.

I
started across the road, walking at an angle so that my right side
was still mostly hidden from Cindi's building.

"Everything
still on schedule?"

"Tristan
is giving me a thumbs up, so that either means that you're good to go
or Taggart is hanging from a crane by his heels. I can't honestly
remember which it is."

"Did
you guys really come up with a sign for that?"

"Of
course we did. We felt like it was important to cover all of our
bases."

I
raised my hand and tested the door. It was locked so I knocked twice.

"You
know that you're not usually anywhere near this funny. Why the
change?"

"Maybe
it's because I'm finally starting to feel like I can be myself around
you. That or…"

I
could hear footsteps from inside, which was good, and the stench of
vampire was incredibly strong, which was both bad and good, but I
just took a deep breath and smiled.

"That
or what?"

"That
or you just seem like you really could use a laugh right now and I
thought I'd pull out all of the stops to try and make that happen.
Time's up, Alec."

The
door opened to reveal a massive red-headed guy who looked like he
would have been more at home in ancient Scotland wearing a kilt
instead of a three-piece suit in the frozen wasteland of Northern
Minnesota. He was the kind of obvious muscle you used to intimidate
people you didn't want asking questions, but he wasn't expecting any
real problems from a preppy teenager in jeans and a polo shirt.

I
never gave him a chance to change his first impression. My hand shot
forward at the same time that I tapped into my beast and forced a
torrent of energy down my arm and out my fingertips. My hand and arm
shifted to my hybrid form a split second before my fingers would have
speared him.

Instead
of fingers, it was my claws that took him in the chest and he
stumbled backwards, clawing for some weapon he'd secreted underneath
his jacket as I stepped into him, following him into the building.

He
opened his mouth as if to scream, but I covered his mouth with my
left hand as I twisted and ripped with my right hand. He tried to
bite down on my hand, but I had a good enough grip on his face that I
was able to just squeeze harder and stop him from clamping down with
his teeth.

The
door swung shut behind me and I pushed him another step further
inside of the building and then I took the rest of the chains off of
my beast and let my hulking hybrid form explode outwards. He managed
to pull some kind of long knife out and tried to stab me with it, but
I was a lot further away from him than I'd been a second before,
which meant the distance was nearly too far for that kind of thing.

I
didn't even try to stop him as he shoved the knife forward, instead I
just snapped his neck and then slowly lowered his body to the floor.
It actually takes a disturbing amount of time for a human body to
bleed to death. In an emergency, when you need every second you can
get, it seems to happen instantly, but in a situation like this, when
those extra seconds can cost you your own life, it can feel like it
takes forever for someone to die.

It
was bad enough with a human, I could only assume it would take even
longer with a vampire, but the simple act of severing his spinal cord
meant that he couldn't act, couldn't scream regardless of how long it
was going to take him to finally bleed out.

Part
of me wanted to be sick, but my beast's rage buffered me through it
enough that I was able to remember that the man I'd just killed was a
murderous parasite who had doubtlessly killed hundreds—or even
possibly thousands—of people during the course of his
existence.

"Everything
okay, Alec?"

"Fine,
keep the chatter down."

I
stalked into the main area of the building, scanning the open space
to ensure my first assessment had been right and there wasn't anyone
else there with me. The building was oddly laid out, with what looked
like it had once been a main display area in the front and a huge
hallway in the back that presumably led back to the offices and
storage areas.

The
vampires had likely chosen this building for a combination of
factors, but the fact that it was both abandoned and had a set of
false walls behind the windows to create standalone display areas was
probably towards the top. It meant that nobody could see them moving
around inside the building, but it also meant that my hybrid form was
safely hidden as I moved deeper into the building.

I
carefully controlled my stride, setting my talons down softly and
forcing myself not to hurry. I wanted to run, but I was more likely
to catch the rest of the vampires by surprise if they thought they
were just hearing their friend unconcernedly walking back after
having dealt with some random dweeb.

I
could hear what sounded like five hearts still beating up ahead of
me. Cindi and four more vampires. My odds were infinitely better than
they'd been just a second before, but I still couldn't hope to take
down four vampires all by myself, not if they were all together.

"Hey,
Crush, what did they want?"

The
voice was off to my left and I could only hear one heartbeat from in
there. The door was open, so I entered the room at a run.

This
vampire was a smaller guy, but he already had his sword out and
seemed to be inspecting the edge. I put on an extra burst of speed in
an attempt to make it to him before he could get his weapon into
play, but I still wasn't quite fast enough.

I
swept the sword down and to the side, so it took me in the stomach,
and then my right hand swept across his throat as I slammed into the
far wall, sandwiching him between me and the shattered two-by-fours
and pulverized sheetrock.

The
force of the impact had driven the point of his sword out my back,
but it had also snapped his right wrist, so he wasn't any kind of
threat anymore. I backed away from the wall and let him slide to the
ground as I started to pull his sword out of my stomach.

He
started to bring his left hand up to his face, but I stepped on his
wrist and then peeled back his sleeve so I could see the transmitter
fastened around his wrist. A quick flick of my claws severed the wire
leading from the transmitter and then it was no longer a threat.

"Brindi,
they are using earbuds along with wrist-mounted transmitters. Make
sure the others know."