“You mean the aerosol containing questionable metallic elements?” When the Skinners glared at him, Adderson told them, “Daniels kept his mouth shut about it, right until a can exploded during the flight. I thought he was smart enough to know about little things like cabin pressure.”
“God damn it,” Cole grunted. “Did he lose it all?”
“We’ll find out soon. Better lay down some covering fire to clear a space big enough for our guests.” The soldiers in the immediate vicinity fanned out and fired into the Half Breeds in a series of three-shot bursts.
Now that their attention had been drawn back to the parked trailer, the Half Breeds barked at the soldiers and charged at them with renewed vigor. Cole had been content to focus on the trailer to keep himself from panicking as the night grew darker and werewolves continued to pour into the parking lot from every direction. His conversation with Adderson had been a distraction from the task at hand, but now there was no getting around the reality of what was happening.
The helicopter that brought him and Paige to meet with Adderson had met up with another one, and now both were circling so their machine guns could tear into the Half Breeds. A third helicopter, which got too close to the electronics store, wavered after Esteban’s howl and was taken down by a swarming mass of Half Breeds.
Several of the IRD soldiers had been turned during that same howl and were gnawing off the last of their uniforms so they could acquaint themselves with their new forms.
Of the three Humvees that had arrived in the last few minutes, only one remained. It was at the far end of the parking lot, somewhere between 100 and 150 yards away. A gunner in place behind the mounted .50 cal was being defended by the Amriany, who had been brought to the rendezvous point. Light from the few bulbs that still burned atop dented poles glinted off the charmed steel in George and Nadya’s grasp. Although Cole could only see the Amriany in fleeting glimpses, he could tell it wouldn’t be long before they were either brought down or forced to retreat.
Overhead, the sky had turned an inky black as thick cloud cover rolled, vaguely illuminated by a waning moon. Now that the wave of Half Breeds had caught a new scent and decided to turn away from the faltering IRD squads, they tore at the Skinners with claws that ripped apart the pavement and churned it into a cloud of gritty dust.
There was no more time to waste in waiting for Daniels. Cole and Paige both knew that the Full Blood could leap away any time he chose. There was something keeping Esteban at that spot, which must have also been whatever had brought him to Shreveport.
“This must be where he’s drawing from the Torva’ox,” Cole said as he set his sights on the Full Blood.
“Give me that divining rod thing,” Paige said. Cole flipped open his coat to reach into one of the large interior pockets. The object he drew out was an amalgam of his old spearhead, some pieces of Paige’s old sickle blades, and a tool Ira had used to harvest the Torva’ox to be put into his Blood Blades. The Jekhibar fit into a small rack designed for that very purpose near the middle of the tool, which tapered down into a spike about four inches long. She held the Jekhibar to her ear and listened for the hum. “There’s a big source somewhere close, all right.”
Watching her listen to a shiny rock brought some questions to Adderson’s mind, but he decided not to waste the time to ask them. “What do you need from us?”
“When will Daniels be here?” Cole asked.
“Should be any minute. And,” the IRD Major added while pointing to the other end of the parking lot, “he should be coming from that direction.”
“Keep the Half Breeds as busy as you can, but don’t push too hard. Keep them occupied, but don’t drive them away from the parking lot,” Cole said. “Know what I mean?”
Paige handed the divining rod back to him and said, “Just keep shooting those things without shooting us.”
Adderson nodded. “I can do that.” Into his radio, he announced, “All Ravens, maintain a perimeter and lay down enough fire to keep any more Class Twos from flanking us. All ground units, protect the incoming Humvee!”
Looking in the direction Adderson was shouting, Cole spotted the vehicle that had just pulled into the lot. It was spouting a continuous stream of fire from its turret as it swerved to join up with the Humvees still being guarded by the Amriany. “All right,” he said to Paige. “This is about as good as it’s gonna get for us. Let’s move.”
She holstered the Beretta, slung an HK across her shoulder, and then drew both of the weapons from her boots. The handles were the same as always and bit into her palms in a familiar fashion. As soon as the connection was made, however, Paige gave the weapons a command that she’d only needed since Ira tinkered with them. The Blood Blades he’d attached were narrow and slightly curved so they could lay alongside the handles and still fit within the holsters. Although the metal wasn’t pliable, the wood to which they were attached responded as well as ever. The section at the top of the handles flexed like an elbow, causing the blades to spring upward and give the weapons a shape similar to the sickles she was used to. As she jogged to keep up with Cole, she twirled the weapons in a tight circle to get a feel for their weight. The smirk on her face proved that she was a fan of Ira’s work.
Cole held onto his spear like he was charging at Gettysburg. The long blade at the end sliced through the first Half Breed it encountered before the werewolf could let out more than a surprised yelp. That was enough to alert the others, and the packs quickly turned toward them. IRD troops entrenched at various spots around the parking lot or on neighboring rooftops took advantage of the moments when the creatures shifted their focus toward Cole and Paige. Bullets thumped into Half Breed backs and heads, sending some of them down for good while softening up plenty more. Paige swung to clip a Half Breed in the face, and the chopping motion she made with her left weapon gave her the momentum to move forward and cut down one Half Breed after another with the Blood Blades. By the time they were halfway to the Humvees, the creatures had pulled back to come at them from different angles.
The werewolves weren’t bright enough to put together a complicated plan, but they’d seen enough of their pack mates get killed while charging straight ahead. Now, when one creature jumped at Cole’s head, another pressed its belly to the pavement to scurry at his legs. Cole jabbed at the first to impale it beneath the jaw. All it took to free the blade was a sharp swing and the charmed steel cut all the way through, as if the Half Breed was constructed of hot wax. From there he kept the spear moving so he could open the tines of the forked end, shove the lower Half Breed’s neck toward the ground to grind it to a halt and then turn the weapon around to drive the blade straight down through its spine. The werewolf let out one last shuddering growl before Cole plucked the blade out and moved on.
Where he delivered slower, heavier hits, Paige’s were quick and slashing, coming in a flurry of nonstop movement. With so many creatures attacking, she didn’t bother to stop and finish off each one. When a Half Breed was cut down, she went on to the next one that stood between her and the Humvees. She assumed Cole would be with her, and he didn’t let her down. Both Skinners made it through the parking lot to meet up with the Amriany.
“You shouldn’t have come here,” Milosh shouted as he threw one of his knives into the eye of a Half Breed and then filled that hand with a .44 Magnum. “We need to get to that Weshruuv!”
“Didn’t come for you,” Paige said as she headed for one of the other armed vehicles. Before she could say another word, the door to that Humvee was opened and Daniels spilled out.
“Steph’s reclaimed Chicago,” the Nymar wheezed. “All of it. Barely got out.”
“Great,” Paige snapped. “Did you finish that spray?”