Page 34 of City of the Lost
“Okay, let’s get this done.”
The twins strode across the silver grass and ducked into the dark, open maw of the derelict building.
Azren and I loped off around the side of the mill. Hound held back a little, bringing up the rear. Having the big guy at my side and my monster dog at my back was reassuring and strange. I’d usually be running solo, no backup, no partners, but in the short space of a couple of months, I’d somehow recruited a whole freelance team. Maybe it wasn’t so bad having people to watch your back on the job?
My catseye activated with a double blink and the world fell into infrared. All the better to see you with, my dears. If they were out here, if they were hiding, then I’d find them. We came out at the back of the building. Debris littered the ground like confetti. The river the mill had sat on was nothing but a dried-up husk filled with rubbish: old shopping trollies, battered sofas, broken furniture, and electrical goods. Beyond the river, the night was a pitch-black tangle of bush and foliage, and if not for the catseye’s heat sensing feature, I’d have missed the knot of life nestled within.
I slowed down, grabbed Azren’s arm, and pointed toward the bushes on the other side of the dried-up bank.
Hound growled low in his throat.
Azren drew his dagger, and Hound flanked me to the left.
We advanced toward the spot where the tangle of Lost were hiding. Were they asleep? In stasis like they’d been in the Underground? It didn’t matter. It was time for them to be dead. Azren grabbed a broken plank of wood and carefully laid it across a fridge and several broken televisions that sat atop the crap in the dried-up riverbed. A bridge. Good.
I set a boot on the wood, eye on the red mass. It heaved in and out in unison. Breathing. Sleeping. If we were lucky, this would be over without them even having to open their eyes. But luck decided that tonight was the night to give us the finger. The crack and splinter of wood cut through the air like a gunshot, and then Tay’s warning bellow battered my eardrums.
“Incoming!” Azren shouted.
We spun to face the horde pouring out of the building. Hound leapt into action, jaws ready to shred, and K was already firing bolts. Azren ran into the fray, dagger slashing. Blood sprayed and screams lit up the air, and then we were rushed from behind.
Looked like we’d woken up the sleeping pack.
Tay and Mack came running out of the building, and then heads were flying, literally. Didn’t even want to stop and think about how much force it would take to knock an Other’s head clean off its shoulders. But Tay and Mack were doing it and whooping in the process.
Their enthusiasm was infectious, and elation lit up my chest. I caught Azren’s eyes, stark and bright against his blood-spattered face. He bared his teeth in a bloodthirsty grin, and his glamour slipped, revealing the beast beneath. My heart lurched, desire shooting through me sudden and powerful, but then he was gone, obscured by a mass of Others. K shot out a series of bolts, clearing a path to Azren, but I needn’t have bothered. He was holding his own; in fact, better than holding his own—he was owning it—and damn, if that wasn’t sexy as hell.
My bolt bag grew heavy as the bolts returned and K sputtered another round. To my left, Tay had a Lost by the neck while he swung his bat at another Other. Mack was to his right, head thrown back in laughter. This must be a huge release for them, a chance to let loose the aggression that constantly bubbled under the surface.
There weren’t many Lost left. We had this. We were almost done, and then Hound stopped mid-chomp and turned his huge head my way. His eyes flared and then he was rushing me, his powerful beast body thundering toward me. A scream locked in my throat as my brain struggled to comprehend what the fuck was going on.
“Wila, behind you!” Tay shouted.
I spun in time for the metal monster to slam into my chest, but before my back could hit the ground, Hound flew over my head, smashing into the metal thing and knocking it off me. I landed with a crack, a yelp tearing from my lips as pain shot through my shoulder and ankle.
“I got you.” Mack hauled me up.
I stood and then buckled as a lance-like twinge sliced through my ankle. “Fuck, it’s sprained.”
“More incoming!” Tay barreled toward me.
My eyes widened as two more metal creatures rose up out of the riverbed. “Motherfu—”
And then Tay had me in his arms, lifting me like a rag doll to throw me over his shoulder. “Run.”
We legged it back toward the road, metal monsters at our back and Tay’s delectable butt in my face.
“Almost there,” Tay said.
And then a screech ripped the air and metal landed in front of us, blocking our path. Tay skidded to a halt. Mack cursed and Hound growled low and menacing.
“Wila, we’re surrounded,” Tay said almost casually, but his heart beat erratically against my thighs.
The clank and click of metal on cement had me squirming to get down. Tay slowly lowered me, keeping an arm around me just in case.
I stared at the metal creatures, anger rising up in my throat like a bubbling tide. “What the fuck do you want?”
One of them broke from the rest and attacked. Tay yanked me off my feet again, ready to run, but a ball of blue electricity slammed into the metal monster, rendering it immobile. It fell to the ground, legs akimbo.
