Page 41 of Soulmarked

“We should wait for backup,” Cade suggested, though his tone suggested he knew exactly how I'd respond to that.

I couldn't help the derisive snort. “Sure, let me just call the monster squad hotline. Come on, Fed, I didn't take you for thecautious type. What happened to the mad bastard who chased vampires without proper weapons?”

Cade turned to me, and something in his expression made my chest tight in ways I refused to examine. “Since I started working with someone I don't want to see get killed.”

I blinked, thrown by the sincerity in his voice. My stomach did something complicated that had nothing to do with the heights or the monsters below. I pushed it aside, falling back on familiar snark.

“Wouldn't worry 'bout me. I've been ganking monsters since you were memorizing the federal handbook. Worry 'bout yourself, Princess.”

He rolled his eyes but didn't argue, which was almost more unsettling than our usual bickering. In the short time we'd been working together, I'd learned that Cade Cross never passed up a chance to challenge my methods or question my judgment. This new concern felt... dangerous.

Movement below snapped my attention back to the mission. The side door creaked open on hinges that desperately needed oil, and several figures in pristine lab coats stepped out, the white fabric stark against the church's shadowed walls. But it was what walked between them that made my hunter instincts scream.

At first glance, it looked human enough: broad shoulders, business suit, the kind of stance that suggested authority. But its movements were wrong in ways that set my teeth on edge. Too fluid, like watching water flow uphill. When it turned its head to speak to one of the lab coats, the motion happened in segments, like a puppet being jerked by strings that didn't quite work right.

“That's definitely not a vampire,” I breathed, hand already moving to my blade. “Not a werewolf either. Actually, I've got no freaking clue what that is.”

As if it heard me, the creature snapped its head up, looking directly at our position. Its neck bent at an angle that would have snapped human vertebrae, and its eyes... Jaysus, its eyes were like looking into something that had never known light. Empty voids that seemed to drink in the darkness rather than reflect it.

Then it moved.

One moment it was on the street, the next it was halfway up the building's face, climbing like some unholy spider. My years of hunting had shown me countless nightmares, but this thing moved with a wrongness that sent ice down my spine.

“Son of a bitch,” I hissed, grabbing Cade's arm with enough force to bruise. “Run!”

We broke for the fire escape as the thing cleared the roof's edge, its movements accompanied by sounds no human throat could make. The lab coats below scattered, but I caught glimpses of them pulling weapons that definitely weren't standard pharmaceutical company issue.

“Any brilliant federal insights about what that thing is?” I called to Cade as we sprinted across rooftops, my legs eating up the distance with the efficiency of someone who'd spent decades running from things straight out of nightmares.

“Other than 'don't let it catch us'?” Cade vaulted a ventilation unit with surprising grace, better than what I'd expect from a fed. “Not really. But I'm going to guess this isn't normal even by your standards.”

“What gave it away? The extra joints or the way it's climbing walls like a possessed gecko?” My lungs burned, but years of conditioning meant I wasn't even winded. I tracked the creature's movements from my peripheral vision, calculating distances and trajectories the way my adoptive father had drilled into me since childhood.

“You know, when I signed up for this job, wall-climbing monsters weren't in the benefits package,” Cade deadpanned, sounding remarkably calm for someone running for his life.

“Welcome to my world, G-man.” I risked a glance back and immediately wished I hadn't. The thing had stopped trying to look human entirely, its form shifting and flowing like oil given terrible purpose, limbs extending and retracting in ways that defied anatomy. “Though I have to admit, this is new even for me.”

“Glad I could help expand your monster-hunting horizons.”

“Yeah, you're a real educational experience.” I grabbed his arm, yanking him behind a massive AC unit. “Down!”

We dropped as something whistled through the air where our heads had been. It was some kind of projectile that left frost in its wake, crystallizing the air itself. The lab coats had made it to the roof of the neighboring building, and their weapons were definitely not of this world.

“Right,” I muttered, checking my ammunition with practiced movements. Silver rounds slid into the magazine, blessed hollow points racked into the chamber. “This just got interesting.”

Cade pulled his gun, and I noticed his hands were steady despite everything.

“Define 'interesting.'”

“Well, we've got what looks like science types with supernatural weapons, some kind of shape-shifting horror that really wants to meet us, and we're completely exposed in unfamiliar territory.” I shifted my weight, already mapping our escape routes, identifying choke points where we could slow the creature down. “So basically, it's Tuesday.”

“You're the one who suggested we investigate this place.”

“Yeah, because I thought we were dealing with regular corporate vampires, not...” I gestured vaguely at the nightmare currently trying to flank our position, its limbs elongating andcontracting like a nightmare ink drawing come to life. “Whatever the feck that is.”

Another projectile hit our cover, this one leaving behind a smell like burning ozone. The thing that used to look human was getting closer, its movements becoming less and less bound by physics or sanity.

Cade met my eyes, and I saw my own grim amusement reflected there. No fear, just the calm acceptance of someone who understood the stakes.

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