Weres could be such a pain in the ass when loot was to be distributed. However, it wasn’t his job to deal with issues, that was up to the Duke.

  His job was to make sure the city was subdued for his boss when he woke up later this evening. Now at least another two thousand Weres were on their way. They should be here right after lunch.

  Blam! Kirk racked another shell into the chamber, then the slug from his shotgun blew the Were who was trying to get a bead on James in half. His rounds weren’t silver, but when you caused enough damage, the job got done.

  Then a single bullet went into the Were’s brain, and the lights slowly went out.

  Kirk turned around to see Sabine aiming to her left, her right hand still pointed in his general direction. He rotated back to make sure no more attackers had made it around the Magnificent Seven to attack from the rear. Every once in awhile a sniper would catch one of the wolves, and it would slow down enough for his men’s rounds to tear it to pieces.

  I won’t be able to hear a damned thing for a week after this fight, he thought.

  He scanned all around, eyes flitting to Sabine, who seemed preternaturally calm in this environment—he had no idea why. It was as if she had been shooting for decades. Hell, centuries. Her calm assurance with the pistols both he and James absolutely knew came from the strangers continued to baffle them.

  Plus, her weapons killed the Weres, and quickly.

  Then the young Asian woman yelled over her shoulder to Sabine, who nodded and smiled like a mischievous rat.

  “Oh, holy shit!” Timothy called out. “I think I’m getting a bullet boner!”

  Yuko had been released. Released from the inhibitions in her mind against killing due to balance, due to responsibility and role. Her early life had been about hacking, computers, logic, and puzzles—the destruction of inanimate objects.

  Not wanton destruction like killing, blood and gore.

  Akio had demanded she learn weapons and martial arts, and because of her physiology, she was better than any human alive could ever hope to be. But she lacked the one trait that would allow her to be one of the best in the world…

  She lacked the willingness to kill for a long time.

  She had been in fights, and she had defended and killed before through the years. But in these last few minutes she had taken more lives than in her previous one hundred and eighty years of living.

  When she had told Akio she would be coming along and also fighting, she had made a decision—she was best as a follower. She handled the duties the Queen had placed on her over the years. But almost all of them had been forced on her, moving Yuko out of her comfort zone.

  Yuko handled her roles well. But truth be told, she excelled as the right-hand person of a natural leader. Akio was not her leader; her leader was among the stars.

  Now Michael was here, and Bethany Anne’s command had been explicit: she was to do whatever it took to help him be safe.

  Michael directed her focus and her guns towards the Weres that were attacking the humans.

  Earlier, she had slipped into her armor, and it had felt sensuous. When she dropped the same pistols she had used for over fifteen decades into her holsters, her body had reacted in a way that surprised her.

  She felt like a black widow, hungry for a coming orgasm of death. The feelings had left her confused, until Michael commanded them to attack.

  Now? Now her face was alight in the ecstasy of joining the skills honed over the century and a half with the newfound liberty brought about by Michael’s authority.

  How could she up the amperage of the moment? She looked around and smiled.

  “Sabine!” she called.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Akio glanced around at the remaining wolves, and his eyes widened in shock.

  “Focus!” Michael called, and Akio’s sword sliced to his left, taking half the head off a wolf that assumed that because Akio wasn’t looking directly at him, he would be caught unaware.

  The Were’s death was proof of that mistake.

  Michael’s point was spot on. He thought about it a moment, and realized this was the first time he had been taken by surprise on the battlefield in…

  Hmmm, he couldn’t remember. He smiled when he realized it was because of a woman the last time, as well.

  Sabine backed up two steps and felt Yuko’s back against her own. “Right!” Yuko yelled, and Sabine swung to her right, Yuko in perfect synchronization with her. The gentle contact was a new experience for Sabine, as the two danced in a circle and fired their weapons, continuing to move.

  To dance.

  To feel each other’s power, keeping the entire battlefield in view as they turned together. Sabine didn’t need to wonder if her legs could handle this. She had run for sport all her life, and she didn’t just run over the flat streets in cities. No, she also ran through fields, over broken concrete, up mountains, and down ravines. Her feet never missed a step as they rotated clockwise. If a wolf was far enough away, she left it for Yuko to take out as she focused on selecting targets and firing.

  God, why hadn’t she ever danced like this before?

  That’s when the pistol in her right hand clicked, empty.

  “I’ve got you,” a breath spoke in her ear as if on the wind. There was a tug on her belt and her right pistol was replaced by one of Yuko’s. “Only fire that if you have to,” Yuko said. Sabine nodded.

  Fire left, left, left.

  She felt for the new pistol with her right hand, then Yuko said, “Let’s go left!”

  Sabine swung to her left, knees slightly bent, as they continued their sensuous dance of death.

  Michael glanced at the two women and smiled as he called to Akio, “Is Yuko acting out of character?”

  “Hai!”

  “She seems to be enjoying herself,” he observed.

  “That is true,” Akio responded. “What did you do to her?”

  “Me?” Michael asked as the dead and injured wolves continued to pile up. They had danced with their swords away from the line and were now some fifty yards away.

  “Yes, Michael. This is not Yuko as I have known her.” Akio mused. “So, I am making the supposition that you might have done something similar to the help I gave Sabine.”

  Michael laughed. “No, I think you are just constrained by your narrow minded focus and purpose, Akio. I suspect I know why she is channeling her inner Bethany Anne, but you would have to ask her to confirm my guess.”

  “No mental suggestions?” Akio queried as they continued their fight against the wolves. Michael had taken one bite that he had almost healed from, and Akio had two bites and a slash across his chest that his armor had mostly deflected.

  “Not my style with my own people, Akio,” Michael replied. He was pleased to realize that Akio’s questions hadn’t angered him. Perhaps he was changing, at least a little. He decided he liked this new Michael.

  “I’ll have to ask, then,” Akio agreed as he stabbed a Were that had gotten too close.

  “You can resupply my pistols if I go empty, right?” Michael called back.

  “Hai!”

  There was a pause before Michael said to no one in particular, “I’m getting bored.”

  Akio, his eyes opening wide, turned to see what Michael was going to do as he protected his own left side.

  “Oh shit!” Mark and Jacqueline both yelled at the same time.

  “That’s bad?” Eve questioned from their right, as two of the humans behind them asked what the problem was.

  “Michael’s bored,” Mark called over his shoulder. Jacqueline stayed quiet. Speaking in this form annoyed her, and her blood lust was dropping.

  Mark turned to his left, then his right. He was surprised to see his love had changed back to human again, and was reaching down for her staff. “Damn!” he swore, and swung his sword to keep a wolf a few steps back as Jacqueline grabbed her weapon and stood up. “Give a guy a little warning,” he snapped at her.

  Jacqueline purred her answer. “I knew you were up to the challenge, baby.”

  “Geez,” Timothy said to James. “Another battle boner!”

  “Catch!” Michael twisted to his left in a circle, tossed his sword towards Akio and dragged his coat back to reach his pistols. He unclipped the straps that held them in place and yanked.

  As he finished his turn, Jean Dukes ready in both hands, Michael decided to see just how quickly he could react with the Etheric powering him.

  Wolves started evaporating in a hail of small, powerful needles. The kinetic power bucked the pistols in Michael’s hands as guts and entrails exploded into the air.

  “That is just gross!” Jacqueline covered her head as the wind carried a mist of blood and guts down on top of them. Yuko and Sabine had stopped their circling dance and held their arms over their heads. The humans were looking around.

  Except one. He was spitting gunk like he had gaped a little too long.

  When he stopped, everyone slowly turned to look at the bald man who was covered in gore, a maniacal grin on his face.

  “Why didn’t anyone tell me to keep these on 11?” he asked.

  Kirk, James and Timothy retired back to the planning warehouse after showing them where they could clean up. Yuko had informed everyone that they would have new clothes, or at least clean clothes, in an hour when she and Eve got back. For right now everyone had a robe, a towel, and some soap to go and take showers here in Kirk’s headquarters.

  What Akio didn’t tell the rest was that Yuko would come back clean after using the advanced showers in their own base. Michael didn’t want to leave, so no one else considered it.

  He wondered what Jacqueline might say if and when she saw the facilities back in Japan? Right now the young woman was agitated from the gore, the stench and the stickiness from Michael’s “I’m bored” episode. Mark had offered to help scrub her back in the shower and the next thing Akio knew, they had disappeared to get clean.

  Michael came out of the showers in a robe, his holsters and pistols over his shoulder. He didn’t require his sword, so that would go back into the container for now, but he wouldn’t allow the pistols out of his sight.

  “So.” Kirk started the conversation. He, James and Timothy had chosen to talk before they cleaned up. Alan took the rest of the guys over to another building they’d claimed, to shower after the fight. “We have monsters on our side, too.”

  Timothy shrugged. “Yes,” he agreed. “But they have really nice asses.”

  “Sabine isn’t a monster,” James said as he turned to nod in Timothy’s direction. “And they do have nice asses.”

  “We are talking about the women, right?” Kirk asked, an eyebrow raised.

  “Fuck it.” Timothy smiled. “I don’t usually judge my male counterparts, but the guys are all tight too.”

  Kirk and James laughed.

  James exhaled as he looked at the other guys. “Let’s face it, all of our people would be dead if not for them.”

  Kirk nodded. “You know that Sabine has been changed in some way? There’s no way a normal human can shoot like that.”

  “She swears that the Akio guy,” James replied, “taught her last night.”

  “C’mon,” Kirk shook his head. “One lesson?”

  “From a guy centuries old,” Timothy interjected and Kirk eyed him. Timothy put up his hands. “Don’t kill the messenger here, but time is a teacher for those who learn to teach in little time.”

  “Not to mention,” James put in, “who knows what voodoo he can do?”

  “He’s a vampire,” Kirk stated. “So is the other one, Michael.”

  “Well, Mark too,” James added.

  “Yes, but they’re our vampires,” Timothy exclaimed as the two shot him looks. “No, not like we own them, for fuck’s sake. I mean they’re on our team.”

  “Not sure we could call it our team so much as they stand between us and the others,” James opined.

  “That’s probably it right there.” Kirk pointed to James. “They’re another faction, and they’re here to fight the same shit we are. We aren’t a team, so much as two teams fighting the same bad guys.”

  “Bad guys who were sending a shit-ton of Weres in our direction to kill us today,” James agreed.

  “Hey,” Timothy broke in. “If it is all the same to you, I say we become the sub-team for the Magnificent Seven and help them help us. For the first fucking time in three years it feels like my future isn’t just death by whatever nasty shit my brain can dream up.”

  “God help me,” James turned to look at Kirk, “but I have to say I agree with him.”

  “What do you guys think the others will say?” Kirk asked them.

  “That you are a fucking genius,” Timothy said.

  “What he said,” James agreed, then grimaced. “Again.”

  Kirk raised his eyebrows and looked at James. “That’s got to be some kind of record.”

  “That’s because you both finally see the genius in my words,” Timothy said smugly.

  “That’s the first time you’ve had any genius in your words,” James shot back.

  “Well,” Timothy scratched his head, “okay, I grant you that.” He smiled at his friends. “But I get to stand behind Yuko and Sabine again.”

  “Oh, hell no…” James started.

  “Yeah,” Kirk agreed, “no more battle boners for you.”

  Most of the humans who weren’t manning the walls, such as they were, watched as a large box slid silently down from the morning sky. It came to rest in the street just a half mile inside the city. Michael was waiting for Yuko and Eve as he stood in his robe just watching their container, painted solid black, slowly land.

  The door opened slightly. “We have your clothes,” Yuko called as Michael walked up, a door open wide enough for him to step inside. He nodded to both Yuko and Eve, who was standing quietly in a corner. Regardless of how curious those watching their craft were, no one cared to approach too closely.

  The rumors, if anyone believed them, said the man was a day-walking vampire who could blow you up with his mind and cut your head off before you could blink.

  And other unbelievable shit.

  While the rumors might be wrong, they probably had a bit of truth to them, didn’t they? Either way, no one chose to go knock on the door.

  Yuko had Michael’s clothes laid out inside. He dropped his robe to start changing, and Yuko averted her eyes.

  He had a strong set of shoulders, that was for sure.

  “Thank you, Yuko,” Michael said, and she turned around again as he was sliding his coat back on. “It’s amazing how you can get attached to something, and right now, this coat seems to help anchor me.” He rubbed the left sleeve with his right hand. “Very clean.” He looked up and smiled. “I imagine your shower was just as good?”

  Yuko blushed. “There was a lot of blood in my hair.”

  “Sorry about that.” Michael smiled mischievously. “Battle can be messy.”

  “Well, it can when you are at the forefront of it, yes,” Yuko agreed. “I watched Akio while we fought. He seemed a little more…”

  “Free?” Michael asked as she paused.

  “Unrestrained.” Yuko said. “I suppose you might say free. I think having you come back has affected us both.”

  “Akio said something about you acting differently as well. Not as concerned with killing as you were since Bethany Anne left?”

  “My role was to be the diplomat after she left,” Yuko told him, and Michael nodded for her to continue. “We were to sit tight, help where we could, and decide which trouble spots we should risk ourselves for when they weren’t our primary mission.” She looked up at Michael. “You are here, so now our primary mission is to protect you and neither of us are about to suggest you do anything but tell us how to help.” She shrugged. “It has been liberating. I recognize that I work best when I am very assured of my path. When I was young, death and killing were foreign to me. I have learned over the decades to kill as needed. Now our path is to support you for when Bethany Anne comes back.”

  Michael narrowed his eyes. “There’s no way back to her?”

  “No, the gate was destroyed and we do not have a ship—” Yuko began but was interrupted by Eve.

  “Not exactly,” the little AI told the two.

  Michael turned to look at Eve, and even Yuko looked at her friend with curiosity. “Go ahead,” he said.

  “We have been fighting the Wechselbalg in China for so many decades, so of course we know of many of the rumors,” Eve said.

  “Of course.” Yuko nodded her head as her eyes went distant.

  “What rumors?” Michael asked, searching his brain for any information. “I don’t remember China having any type of spacecraft. What happened after I was blasted into the Etheric?”

  “Is that what happened?” Yuko asked, then her eyes widened and she clapped her hands twice in happiness. “Oh! Is that how Bethany Anne knew you were alive?”

  Michael smiled at the excited woman. “Probably, although I don’t think I was even remotely conscious for a long, long time. I wouldn’t put it past her to have felt a connection when she traveled through the Etheric, though. She’s much more sensitive to it than I am.” He turned to Eve. “But I’d like to understand what you mean by the Chinese Wechselbalg?”

  Eve answered. “Well, Bethany Anne fought a clan that came after us. We tracked down the last person, and she was part of a Wechselbalg pack that was working with a clan of Kurtherians.”

  Michael interrupted, “A different clan?”

  “Yes,” Eve responded.

  “How the hell did so many different Kurtherians find our damned planet?” Michael mused.

  Yuko just shrugged.

  “Sorry, go on.” Michael waved to Eve.