Page 29 of The Hero Within
The perfect time for monsters to come out to play.
Finding a good location to keep an eye on the camp, he eased onto a log, bringing out his hunting knife and a small branch to keep his hands busy.
Within twenty minutes, pebbles skittered down the rock face of the boulder Johnny rested his back against. He tilted his head, but he'd heard Cole starting in his direction minutes ago. Wasn't as if the young man could sneak up on him.
"Something on your mind, kid? You should get some sleep while you can."
The young warg squatted beside him, staring out into the night. "Kind of too wired to sleep," Cole admitted, scraping a hand over the back of his skull. "I tried."
"It's your fight or flight response going haywire," he murmured, shooting a glance toward the mound where Eden slept. "Over time you'll be able to control it better. Wargs don't cope well with putting themselves in danger or unknown circumstances. Too much increased adrenaline."
And they were already pumped full of hormones as it was. A little bit extra tended to tip the scales in the wrong direction. He'd have to keep an eye on Cole and make sure he was keeping his aggression under control.
The wind whispered through the narrow canyon, bringing with it a hint of long-distant warg song. Cole's scent sharpened and his nostrils flared. Johnny tilted his head, his muscles tensing, but there was no scent on the breeze and there'd been no fresh warg tracks today. He forced himself to relax, unclenching each muscle one at a time.
In the darkness of the night the kid's heart raced.
Johnny clasped his hand around the young man's shoulder and squeezed. "There's nothing out there. Breathe in and out. Let it go. Or you'll wear yourself out before you even need that extra hit of juice."
Cole's chest expanded. "Your scent just changed."
"Yeah."I'll bet it did.
"You smell exactly like you did yesterday in that alley."
"Do I?" He really didn't want to be having this conversation, but he'd expected it.
"How did you do it?" Cole asked.
"How'd I do what?"
Cole hesitated. "You made those dogs cringe before you, but I felt it too. I was on my knees before I could even think about it."
Hell.
"Okay, I'm going to have to go back a few steps if you're to understand any of this. You got it?"
Cole nodded.
"As far as I know, wargs were created pre-Darkening by the government of the time. They were trying to create some sort of elite super-soldier unit in their military. I don't know all the details, but when the meteor hit all hell broke loose, including some of their test subjects."
"Someone created this nightmare?" Cole blurted. "Deliberately?"
"Ground troops who could survive practically anything, heal from most injuries, and were faster, stronger, and owned better senses? Hell, yeah. Of course they created it. I believe the idea was to manufacture a top-secret military unit that could wipe out anything."
"Didn't they consider the ramifications?"
"Some humans like to mess with Mother Nature. Think they can control it. Or maybe they didn't care? Maybe they thought the technology was there, and if they didn't create it, then some other country or faction might get a head start on them."
"I would like to punch those people in the face," the boy muttered.
"You don't like being a warg?"
The kid looked at him like he had two heads. "No, I don't like hearing my mom's heart racing and knowing there's a small part of me that sits up and takes notice and thinks,prey. I don't like being looked at by all my former friends as if they're just waiting for me to lose my shit and rip them to pieces. Not too keen on turning furry, at all." His fist clenched around the amulet around his throat. "I spend every day praying this never leaves my throat. It's the only thing that keeps me safe. That keeps my friends and family safe fromme."
Johnny tugged his shirt open, revealing a similar wolf's head talisman. "My grandfather made them. He was of the Lakota people." Reaching behind his neck, he started to lift it off. "It's a talisman to ward away evil spirits. These were created for my aunts and uncles, and passed down through my family. Reminds me of Grandfather sometimes."
But that was all it did.
