“Rankin!”

  She stiffened in my arms, hearing and wanting to pull back, but I mashed against her like I’d been taught and placed my lips on her ear. “Now.”

  I rocked, and she dug her claws into both of my arms as her body clamped down on mine.

  “UUugggg!”

  I kept moving, drawing it out, and buying every second I could as her guard seethed with anger. It was the best I could do.

  “Pull…that… whistle!” Rankin’s eyes snapped into fury as she started to recover. She rolled us over, hands going to the acid canister on her belt. “And don’t stop hitting it!”

  Angelica

  Whhoooooo!

  I didn’t stop in my run over the top of the cars. I jumped across the gap, ducking low to avoid the gunfire.

  Whoooo!

  The engine car was one of the few with a roof, and I didn’t hesitate to jump through the glass like I was an avenging demon sent to claim Rankin’s soul.

  Whoooo!

  Jason

  The acid went flying in the chaos and I scrambled to pull up my pants. I glanced up to see Rankin club Angelica in the back of the head and I shoved the Defender out of the way as I flew to my owner’s side.

  Whhooo!

  Rankin moved back with the electronic stunner at the ready, smirking. I understood in that instant - her defeated air had been an act. I’d been tricked. So had Angelica. Well played, I thought in horror.

  Angelica was dazed and I helped her lean against the side of the car, not sure what to do now. The noises outside the car said the rebels and guards were still fighting, but in here, there was only silence except for the whistle.

  Whhooo!

  From where we hunkered (the guard now pointing her gun at my head) I had too clear a view of the horror about to hit this train. Rankin didn’t realize what she’d done, but I did. I’d seen her pets, the ones she kept in the Hound den but hid from the Network. She’d been breeding them, using them to kill her enemies in their homes, but this time, she’d called wild pythons to do her bidding. It was a mistake we would all pay for.

  These snakes were hungry from breeding heat, and angry to be interrupted. They swarmed toward the stopped train like an army of brown and black soldiers. As they got closer, their size became clearer. Roughly as long as two Mopars, even the smallest among them was double the size of our biggest fighter. Guards and rebels began lunging for the safety of the train.

  The snakes moved stiffly, unable to manage those lightning-fast turns of the past, but their speed had increased. They chased the rebels down with a series of winding slides that ate up the rough ground like it wasn’t there. Even uphill, they didn’t slow, powered by thousands of tiny stubs on their bellies. Stubs that, in time, might even evolve into feet. I shuddered at the thought.

  Whammm!

  The train lurched, tipping violently, and Angelica lunged for Rankin. They rolled, struggling, as the train slammed back down, headed toward the open door.

  Whamm!

  The pythons were attacking the train, probably thinking it was an intruding snake. I rushed toward the fighting females.

  The guard I’d forgotten about fired, and I was saved by the train’s awful shuddering as the huge reptiles began to rip it open. The woman’s slug slammed into the wall by my head, and I changed direction, lunging for her instead.

  Like with Rankin, I used the ploy I’d learned. Her new second-in-command melted against me the instant I touched her lips, and I slid my hand between us. Thinking I was trying to remove her clothes, she lifted her arm to give me access, and I used the movement to grab her knife. I hesitated…

  “I’ll taste your blood, Pruett!”

  Angelica!

  I sent my knife into the guard’s stomach and shoved away in revulsion as her face twisted in agony. Blood spread over the floor, following me as I scrambled back.

  “Die!”

  Angelica’s scream shook me, got me back on my feet to see they were both covered in scarlet and fury.

  Angelica darted in to run her claws down the same lines she’d put on Rankin’s face during the bombing and the Defender snarled, slashing out to catch an unprotected stomach.

  Angelica grunted and then returned the favor, making Rankin sink to her knees, gasping for air.

  Rankin struggled back to her feet and Angelica moved in for the kill, knocking her back down with a vicious blow. I recognized the look from watching her matches and I felt that last rope binding me to the evil woman snap. Angelica had been able to handle her. I had my perfect mate.

  Angelica stomped on the hand she’d trimmed only days ago and smirked with red eyes at the hoarse shout.

  “It’s all over.”

  Rankin didn’t agree. She grabbed her knife and lunged for me.

  “He was mine!”

  Angelica threw herself down and swept out with a brutal leg, catching Rankin at knee level.

  The defender fell heavily, smashing into the side of the metal train car. Blood sprayed again and Angelica drew her own blade. “I’ve about had enough of you…”

  Unable to take anymore, my hand went to the speaker and I started to sing…

  Angelica

  Rankin and I both froze at the sound of his voice. Changed or not, the effect was instant. We let go of each other, turning to look at him.

  He was staring out the shattered window, and we saw the pythons were also responding. They began to withdraw from their various attack points…and move our way.

  “Shit!”

  I nodded at Rankin’s expletive. We were all going to be very lucky to survive.

  I started to grab the speaker from his hand, when Rankin’s next words stopped me.

  “No! You’ll get them killed!”

  I didn’t understand what he was doing, but Rankin did. I shoved her away from him instead of taking the speaker, not understanding but determined to give him a chance if he could help.

  “When the last eagle flies over the last crumbling mountain…

  “And the last lion roars at the last dusty fountain…

  “In the shadow of the forest, though she may be old and worn…

  “They will stare, unbelieving, at the last unicorn...”

  It was an old, mournful tune that brought tears to my flat black eyes. All around us, it was having the same effect, calming fury and bringing sadness…

  Then the Hounds arrived.

  I understood then, what he’d done, and I applauded his courage even as I mourned his humanity. The war we were now waging with the Network would have many casualties.

  We hunkered down in the car as the pythons and the Hounds met, Jason now quiet, observing what he’d done with dejection. I wanted to offer comfort, but I kept my attention on Rankin.

  She turned toward Jason, glowing red.

  “You’re damned.”

  He kept his head tuned toward the window. “Yes. From the minute you first saw my father on this train.”

  “He betrayed me!”

  I opened my mouth to say she’d deserved it, but never got the chance.

  “Ahhh!”

  The scream was right outside the open door, and I shoved Jason behind me as a pair of gleaming black eyes rose up to study us all in rabid hatred.

  Jason

  Hiisss…

  The sound was one that had my stomach dropping and my balls drawing up.

  The python was covered in wounds. Its blood, nasty green and acid-like, seeped from more places than I could count, but those beady eyes and long fangs showed no sign of weakness.

  Rankin jumped backward, drawing the snake’s attention, and it lunged forward striking at her.

  She managed to spin and avoid it, slamming her knife into one of its eyes.

  The python hissed in pain and rage, striking again. It caught Rankin on the arm she used to protect herself.

  “Aahhh!”

  Angelica started to move toward her, but I gently pulled my owner back, heart like ice. “Let them be.”

  Hiisss…

  “UUggg!”

  Angelica stared at me, but I didn’t look away from Rankin’s death. The python had no mercy, striking her again and again until the Head Defender was a pile of bloody rags. Numb, I watched her struggle to breathe, still hating her for the death of my family.

  “Was I as good as my father?” I muttered, hoping she was alert enough to hear. “I’ve never hated anyone as much.”

  The python’s fangs sank into Rankin’s leg, barely drawing a shudder, and it let go of her, content the meal was immobilized.

  Hissing hungrily, it turned toward us.

  Angelica

  I stepped in front of Jason, nudging him toward the window. The python couldn’t reach us right now unless it came inside the car, where it would lose the space it needed to move. It was reluctant, and I kept us moving slowly back, hoping it was happy with the blood spreading under our feet.

  As we inched back, I compared Rankin to our first real meeting on this very train. Those laboriously woven braids were a wild mess, charred and tacky with blood. Her neat fighter’s clothes were ripped and torn, covered in poison and scarlet drops. Her bruised face was cut, clawed, smudged in filthy desperation… and those eyes! The lights of her obsession had been replaced with the knowledge of her coming death… and Jason’s true feelings for her. It was better than any of the scenes I’d imagined for this moment.

  Hiss….

  The scent of the blood was too much to ignore, and the reptile slithered into the railcar with us. Its scales glistened with red and green liquid, and the quick merge to crimson orbs told me that the pythons were also victims of the Change.

  We had to get out… up!

  I quickly hefted Jason onto my shoulders and shoved him toward the broken roof. He grabbed the frame, pulling himself through as I turned to face our uninvited guest.

  I immediately jumped, and was struck by the snake’s heavy body as it slammed by me and hit the side of the train car. I used the distraction to leap through the roof hole after Jason, dropping an explosive as I went.

  Kaablamm!

  Not very large, in the confined space, it splattered the python and Rankin’s body all over the railcar in a loud, wet bang.

  “Whhhooooo!”

  I turned in concern…

  This time, it wasn’t a whistle. It was the howling of the Hounds.

  Jason

  The sound of the pythons battling the Hounds was something else from my nightmares, and I stayed with Angelica as we observed the carnage from atop the battered train. The snakes had destroyed all but three of the cars, and I saw only a few survivors on either side. Stiff, damp-smelling wind gusted smoke around the battlefield like a shroud.

  The snakes and the Hounds seemed to be natural enemies, and the few fleeing humans were ignored as the two mutated species fought. Fangs sank into thick necks, drawing horrible yelps, and snarling Hell Hounds wrestled hissing pythons to the ground in death grips below their poison fangs. It was harsh, almost too incredible to believe. I turned as more fire-dogs charged down the hill from our right.

  Near the center of the chaos, two Hell Hounds were working together against a large python. The snake was currently using its flipping defense, rolling violently over and over in an attempt to knock the dogs off their feet. One of the Hounds darted back too slowly and was sent flying as the reptile barreled into it. The dog yelped as the fangs went in deep…

  I looked away as the second Hound use the distracted moment to plunge its own fangs into the side of the snake’s head.

  In the distance, survivors from both sides limped into the cloudy distance, but I noticed the snakes went south and the Hounds went west. It gave a mental map that might come in handy during our final showdown with the Network.

  The remaining medic hurried toward the carnage and I was glad when Baker waved a rebel - Animal man - to protect her while she tried to help. Bodies, human and animal, lay strewn about the stones in grotesque positions. Smoke and small flames rolled across the battlefield, and the groans of the wounded and dying echoed on the wind.

  Bloody smears and deep gashes marred even the usable cars of the train, and the bodies of the dead littered the tracks. It would have to be cleaned off before we could go, and now that the rain had started, our time had shrunk. Within hours, this valley and the station would be ravaged by the coming flood waters, as it was every year.

  I spotted the main members of our group - Candice, Daniel, Baker - and knew from their bloody faces that their fight to survive had been just as ugly as ours.

  I felt Angelica searching the smoky shadows behind the car that was on fire, knew when she found her sister by the way her body relaxed. The big woman made a motion, and Angelica nodded, turned to me.

  “Perhaps you should try giving the Hounds an order.”

  I obediently headed for the bloody mess we’d left behind. If I could get the Hounds to leave without killing all of us, that would be great.

  “And tell the others to split up now, stick to the plan.”

  The car was a disgusting mess that I tried not to touch anymore of than I had to. The explosive cord had destroyed everything.

  I passed the message along with a voice that didn’t shake, and when I began singing to get the Hound’s attention, there was pride in my tones. I’d helped the rebels take the Network Rider. I’d had a big part in the death of Head Defender. I couldn’t have been happier with the way things were…

  Scratch…

  I turned slowly, almost expecting to see Rankin standing behind me, brought back from the dead by her fury at my betrayal.

  Instead, it was a Hell Hound.

  Angelica

  He stopped singing.

  I moved for the car, cursing my lack of alertness. If I wasn’t more careful, he would end up getting hurt again.

  I leaned my head through the hole and shuddered at the sight. I’d thought it was over!

  “Sing!” I whispered urgently, snapping the Hound’s red eyes toward me. Seeing I was too far away to be a threat, the big animal turned back to my mate.

  Jason slowly lifted a hand.

  Steam puffed from the Hound’s nose, its warm exhales blowing Jason’s hair back as it panted angrily.

  “No!” I dropped through the hole…

  “Stay!”

  Jason’s loud order had an instant effect on both of us. I froze, and so did the Hound.

  To my astonishment, he rubbed the dog roughly on its neck like it was a common thing to do.

  “Good girl.”

  He lingered, scratching the animal’s neck where the ugly Network collar was cutting into its skin.

  “Slide me your knife.”

  I did it with fear in my heart, sure the dog would turn on him as I dropped my blade.

  The Hound did flinch back a step and I held my breath as Jason bent down to retrieve the knife, leaving his neck exposed. He straightened with the blade in hand, causing the Hound to give a low, menacing growl.

  Jason shook his head. “Not to hurt - to free.”

  And then with no hesitation, Jason stuck my knife against the Hound’s huge throat and jerked.

  I expected a wild spray of blood, hoping he was killing it, but the collar fell to the floor with a wet thud.

  The Hound shook its head, free probably for the first time in its life. I was shocked again to hear Jason’s next words.

  “We need you on our side.”

  I snapped my gaping mouth shut as he began to talk to the Hound like it was a person, and the animal stared intently… like it was listening.

  Chapter Twenty Four

  Angelica

  “Where’s Rankin?”

  “Dead.”

  I saw Candy’s satisfied look, but it was Daniel’s relieved face I focused on. Despite witnessing her effects, I hadn’t realized how much Jason loathed her until the moment he stopped me from helping her.

  The rebel males were thrilled with victory, but it was the pale train slaves who expressed it best. They went around the rebels, hugging every one of them, male or female. They also brought out supplies from the train and helped move the injured inside. It was strange to see them in clothes, but also to view their random leaps and smiles. They were no longer lifeless.

  Jason and I stood by Candice and Daniel, watching Baker and Sam walk the battlefield. They were hoping for survivors to help, but the fangs of both mutations were deadly and I doubted they’d find many.

  Drawn by blowing debris, I noticed the waterline marks on the side of the refueling sheds that were now being used to fill the Mopars, thanks to the access codes on the train. I took a fast glimpse at the darkening sky.

  “What do we do with them?”

  Only four guards had been captured. They were currently standing together near the middle of the train, one of Sam’s Runners guarding.

  “Let them go.”

  Candy’s decision wasn’t questioned.

  The four guards didn’t flee the scene as fast as we’d expected, but they did move quickly, surprised at our generosity.

  “What about using the train?” Baker asked.

  “I’ll let you know in a few minutes,” Greg answered as he and his owner stepped into the second car.

  My explosive had destroyed the main engine, but all Network rails had extras. We just had to figure out how to hook it up.

  Jason

  I leaned my head against Angelica’s arm, and felt her grip tighten in response. When we left here, we would go to the Safe Zone and get the rebels moving toward a new haven. After a bit of gathering, we, and a few of the others, would join Candice’s group in New Network City for the final showdown.

  I saw Baker and Sam head toward us, both with red cords in hand in case the pythons came back. As the Hounds attacked, they’d backed them up with well-thrown explosives, even protecting the huge dogs when they could. It hadn’t taken long for the snakes to retreat and the Hounds to chase them off.

  A few of those large animals were still in sight, playing in the grassy rocks that lined the hillside. To them, rolling on that rough terrain would be like having their backs scratched. I wondered where they would go now that we’d freed them. Would they take my suggestion of escorting us to the Safe Zone? We’d know shortly.