Night World : Huntress Chapter 15

Jez recognized them immediately-not the individuals, but the type. They were wolves, and they werethugs. Somebodys hi rubor muscle.She didnt devote her stick, but she didnt need it. She could find a wild smile come to her lips partanticipation and part sheer fury. Suddenly she wasnt tired, wasnt sore, wasnt anything but perfectly intune with her body and dying to use it as a weapon.She launched herself like a streak of red lightning, passing Claire easily and knocking the human miss flatbefore landing in reckon of the wolves. A big cat and a girl. They snapped to attention in front of her, eachdropping into a combat stance.Behind her, she could lift up Claire say, Ow.Good morning and welcome to the Bay Area,Jez told the wolves and so she snap-kicked the girl in the face.The girl flew backward. She wasnt out of commission, but it had wrecked the joint attack they had beenabout to make. The guy k novel this, but he was a wolf, so instead of waiting for his partner to rec every place, hegrowled and threw himself at Jez.Oh, Goddess, this is too easy. As he litter a punch at her face, Jez turned sideways and let his fistwhistle past her. thus she threw her left spike * around his left hip, holding him in what was almost anembrace. A deadly one, though. At the same instant she slammed her left hand up to his chin, strikingwith enough force to stun him.He staggered in her arms, snarling. Bristly hairs-breadths erupted on his face.Sweet dreams, Fido, Jez said. She hooked her left leg around his right dependable below the knee and broughthim crashing to the platform. His head hit the concrete and he went limp.Somew pre displace behind Jez, a enlighten of thin shrieking had begun. Claire. Jez ignored it, and ignored the devil orthree plurality scrambling for the stairs- avoiding the overmatch escalator because it was right beside Jez. Shewas focused on the female loup-garou, who was back on her feet.Do yourself a favor and dont eve try anything, she s aid, grinning. Youre way outclassed.The girl, who had reddish-brown hair and a feral expression, didnt answer. She simply showed her teethand lunged for Jez.With both(prenominal) manpower reaching for Jezs face. Youd speculate they would learn, Jez. opinion. E superfluously aft(prenominal) what middling happened.Even as she was conceptualiseing it, her body was fashioning the right moves. She grabbed the girls leading armwith both hands, then twisted, puff her off balance. She took the girl bundle with a pull drop, flipping herto the platform. As soon as the girl was flat Jez locked the arm she still held and began to apply leverageagainst the elbow joint.Dont move or Ill break your elbow, she said pleasantly. The girl was writhing in pain, spitting and urge and hurting herself worse.Absently, Jez noticed that Claire had getped shrieking. She coup doeild up to make sure her cousin was wholeright and apothegming machine that Claire was on her feet, staring openmouthed. Jez gave her a reassuring nod. consequently she dateed back at the female wolf. Now that the fight was over she had the leisure to wonderwhat was vent on. in that location were plenty of people who might pauperization to shoot her, but she couldnt think of anyreason for them to target Claire. And they had been targeting her Jez was sure of that.This was no random thing. This was two wolves struggle a human right in public, in front of witnesses,as if they didnt care who saw them. This was something planned, something important.She gave the girls arm a particular twist, and the girl snarled wildly, glaring at Jez with reddish eyes full ofzoology fury and hatred.Okay, you get by what I want, Jez said. I need answers, and I dont agree much metre. What are youdoing here? Who sent you? And why do you want her? She jerked her head toward Claire.The girl on the nose glared harder. Jez applied more pressure.Look, I can make time for this if I need to. I can do this all day. lat er I break this elbow Ill do theother one. And then Ill break your ribs, and then your kneecaps-Filthy halfbreed scum, the werewolf snarled.Jezs instructt gave an odd lurch.She tried to quiet it Well, now, that was interesting. Somebody obviously knew her secret. And sincetheyd been going for Claire, they knew Claire was connected with her.They knew about her family.Jez saw white light. She threw sudden pressure against the wolfs elbow joint. The girl screamed, asound more of anger than of pain.Who hired you? Jez said softly, each word coming out like a chip of ice. Who sent you later on mycousin?She stared into the reddish eyes, trying to reach into the girls soul and yank an answer out of her.Nobody messes with my family, she whispered. Whoever sent you is going to be sorry. She couldnt ever remember feeling so angry. And she was so focused on the girl, so intent, that it wasntuntil Claire screamed that she accomplished someone was approaching behind her.Jez, watch outThe yell woke Jez up. Without releasing her hold on the female wolf, she turned around- ripe intime to adjoin a male lamia s lecture her. He must have come up the down escalator.And behind him, unbelievably, was Claire, running and getting ready for a flying tackle.Claire, dont Jez yelled. She struck the female wolf once, with deadly accuracy, on the side of the jawto knock her out. Then she sprang toward the vampire. besides Claire was already grabbing him-a completely futile and foolish gesture. He whipped around andseized a handful of muddy hair, and then he was holding Claire in a choke hold, putting her body betweenhim and Jez. wizard more step and Ill break her neck, he warned.Jez skidded to a stop.You let go of my cousin, she spat.No, I really think we need to talk first, he said, the beginnings of an ugly grin on his face. Youre theone whos going to give answers-Jez kicked him.A roundhouse kick to his knees while he was busy talking. She didnt worry about booking it nonlethal.Sh e and cared about jailbreak his hold on Claire.-It worked. He lost his grip, stumbling sideways. Jez grabbed Claire and thrust her out of the way,shouting Run The escalators right thitherBut Claire didnt run. I want to overhaul youIdiot Jez didnt have time to say that Claire couldnt help her could altogether hurt her. The vampirehad recovered and was moving toward her in fighting position.He was big, probably over two hundred pounds. And he was a full vampire, which gave him theadvantage of strength and speed. And he was smarter than the wolves he wasnt just going to lunge.And Jez didnt have a weapon.Just keep behind me, okay? she snarled under her breath to Claire.The vampire grinned at that. He knew Jez was vulnerable. She was going to have to keep half herattention on protecting Claire.And then, just as he was about to make an attack, Jez heard the smack of footsteps on concrete. Running footsteps, with a weird little hesitation between them, like somebody with a limp.She fl ashed a find out toward the stairs. Hugh had just rounded the top. He was out of breath and haemorrhagefrom cuts on his face. But as soon as he saw her and the vampire he waved his arms and yelled.Hey Ugly Undead Your friend missed me You want to have a try?Hugh? Jez thought in disbelief. Fighting?Come on, hey Im here Im easy. Hugh was hopping toward the vampire, who was also flashing looksat him, trying to assess this new danger while not taking his focus off Jez.You want to go a few rounds? Hugh dropped into a boxers pose, throwing punches at the air. Huh?You want to try for the title? All the timehe was speaking, he was dancing closer to the vampire, circling to get behind him.Beautiful, Jez thought. All she needed was for the vampire to parapraxis his attention for one second-just toglance behind him once-and she could kick his face in.It didnt work that way. Something went wrong.The vampire tried to glance behind him. Jez saw her chance and made the kick, a high kick that sn appedhis head back. But someways instead of falling backward the vampire managed to blunder forwardstraight at her. She could easily have gotten forward-except for Claire.Claire had obediently kept behind her-even when behind her meant standing right by the BART tracks,on the yellow(a) metal squares that marked the edge of the platform. Now, as the vampire stumbledforward and Jez began to slide out of the way, she heard Claire gasp, felt Claire clutch at her wildly.She knew what had happened instantly. Claire had tried to run the wrong way and was teetering on the edge of the platform. More, she was taking Jez with her.There was a distant rumble like thunder.Jez knew she could save herself-by getting rid of Claire. She could use Claires body as a springboard topropel herself forward from the drop. That way, only one of them would die.Instead, she tried to twist and throw Claire away from her, toward safety. It didnt work. They both losttheir balance. Jez had the strange, surpris edfeeling one gets in the middle of a fell-wheres the ground?-and then she hit itIt was a bad fell because she was tangled with Claire. All Jez could do was try to keep Claire* awayfrom the third rail on the far side of the track. The impact winded both of them and Jez saw stars.She could hear Hugh screaming her name. The distant thunder had become a roaring, whizzing sound,carried through the tracks underneath Jez. Down here, she could feel a rattling that wasnt audible fromabove. It was a noise that filled her head and shook her body.She knew absolutely, in that instant, that they were going to die. both of them. Crushed to pieces under the target. The white dragon would run right over them and noteven know it.There was simply no chance. Claire was clinging to her desperately, clawing Jezs arms hard enough todraw blood, and gasping in the breath for a scream. And even if Jez had been a full vampire, she couldnthave lifted Claire the four feet to the platform fast enough.There was vigour to save them, no hope. No rescue. It was over.All of this flashed through Jezs mind in the single instant it took her to look up and see the train bearingdown on them. Its sleek white nose was only thirty feet away, and it was braking, but nowhere near fastenough, and this was it, the actual moment of her death, the be thoughts she wouldever think, and the last thing she would ever see was white, white, white-Blue.It happened all at once, filling her vision. unrivalled second she could see clearly, the succeeding(a) the entire world was lamentable. Not just drear. Fiery, dazzling, lightning-shot blue. Like being inside some sort of science-fictionspecial effect. There was blue streaming and crackling and sizzling all around her, a cocoon of blue thatenfolded her and shot past her and disappeared somewhere ahead. Im dead, Jez thought. So this is what its like. Completely different from what people say.Then she realized that she could hear a faint shrieking sound beneath her. It was Claire. They were stillholding on to each other.Were both dead. Or weve fallen into some kind of space warp. The rest of the world is gone. Theresjust-this.She had an impulse to touch the blue stuff, but she couldnt move because of Claires grip on her arms. Itmight not have been safe anyway. Where it flowed over her, she could feel a sort of zinging and tinglingas if all her blood were being excited. It smelled like the air after a storm.And then it disappeared.All at once. Not by stages. But it still took Jez some(prenominal) moments to see anything, because her eyes wereblinded with dark yellow after-images. They burned and danced in front of her like a new kind oflightning, and she only gradually realized where she was.On the train tracks. Exactly where she had been before. Except that now there was a huge, sleek BARTtrain two feet in front of her.She had to tilt her head to look up at its nose? It was gigantic from this angle, a monster of white, like theiceberg th at sank the Titanic. And it was stopped dead, aspect as if it had always been here, like somemountainous landmark. As if it had never moved an inch in its history.People were yelling.Shrieking and yowling and making all kinds of noise. It seemed to come from far away, but when Jez looked she could see them staring down at her. They were at the edge of the platform, waving their armshysterically. As Jez stared back at them, a duet jumped down to the tracks.Jez looked down at her cousin.Claire was dragging in huge breaths, hyperventilating, her integral body shaking in spasms. She wasstaring at the train that loomed over them with eyes that showed white all around.A loudspeaker was booming. One of the people who had jumped, a man in a security guards uniform,was jabbering at Jez. She couldnt understand a word he was saying.Claire, weve got to go now.Her cousin just whooped in air, sobbing.Claire, we have to go now. Come on. Jezs whole body felt light and strange, and when she tried tomove she felt as if she were floating. But she could move. She stood up and pulled Claire with her.She realized that somebody was calling her name.It was the other person who had jumped to the tracks. It was Hugh. He was reaching for her. His grayeyes were as across-the-board as Claires, but not wide and hysterical. Wide and still. He was the only calm personin the crowd, beside Jez.Come on. Up this way, he said.He helped her boost Claire to the platform, and then Jez scrambled up and reached down to help him.When they were all up, Jez glanced around. She knew she was looking for something-yes. There. Thewerewolves shed knocked out. It seemed a hundred years ago, but they were still lying there.The other guy got away, Hugh said.Then we have to get out of here fast. Jez heard her own voice, sounding quiet and faraway. But shewas beginning to feel more attached to her body. Hugh was guiding Claire toward the escalator. Jez goton the other side of Claire, and they both helped keep her on her feet.The security guy was behind them, yelling. Jez still couldnt understand him and ignored him completely.When they reached the lower level, she and Hugh began to walk faster, pulling Claire along with them.They shoved Claire through the handicapped gate by the ticket window and vaulted over themselves.From down here, Jez could see that the train was smoking all along its bottom. White smoke that sizzledup into the muggy air.We cant go on the street, Hugh said. Theyve got cars out there.The garage, Jez said.They both headed for it, a multi-story brick building that looked dark and cool inside. They were almostrunning with Claire, now, and they didnt stop until they were deep within the bowels of the garage, withemptiness echoing all around them. Then Jez sagged against a brick pillar. Hugh bent over with his hands on his knees. Claire simply foldedto the ground like a marionette with all its strings cut.Jez let herself breathe for a few minutes, let her brain settle dow n, before slowly lowering herself besideher cousin.They all looked as if theyd been in an accident. Hughs shirt was ripped and there was drying blood alldown one side of his face. Claires hair was wildly disheveled, and there were scrapes and small cuts onher face and arms. Jez herself had lost a lot of skin to the tracks, and her forearms were bleeding whereClaire had scratched her.But they were alive. Beyond all hope, they were alive.Claire looked up just then to find Jez gazing at her. They sat for several moments simply staring into eachothers eyes. Then Jez reached out to touch her cousins cheek.It was you, she whispered. All that time-and it was you.She looked up at Hugh and began to laugh.He looked back, his face pale in the semi-darkness. He shook his head and began to laugh, too, butshakily.Oh, Goddess, he said. I thought you were dead, there, Jez. I thought Id lost you.Not while shes around, apparently, Jez said, and laughed harder. She was slightly hysterical, but shedidn t care.Hughs laughter sounded a little like crying. I saw that train-and there was no way it was going to stop intime. And then-that light. It just shot out-and the train hit it. It was like a physical thing. Like a giantcushion. The train hit it and it squashed and the train went slower and then it kept squashing-Jez stopped laughing. I wonder if the people on the train got hurt.I dont know. Hugh was sober now, too. They mustve gotten thrown around. It stopped so fast. Butit didnt smash. Theyre probably okay.I just-from the inside, it looked like lightning-From the outside, too. I didnt imagine it would look like that-I didnt know it would be so powerful. And, think about it shes untrained-There they were, an Old Soul and a vampire hunter whod seen everything the streets had to offer,babbling like a couple of kids.It was Claire who stopped them. She had been looking from one of them to the other, getting more andmore agitated. Now she grabbed Jezs arm.What are you guys talking abou t?Jez turned to her. She glanced at Hugh, then spoke gently.Were talking about you, Claire. Youre the Wild Power.