The Frenzy War (34 page)

Willy unlocked the door to his apartment and went inside. He tossed his unopened mail and keys on the table and peeled
off his leather jacket. Then he set his Glock on the table too.
Christ, what a long and unbelievable day.
He just wanted to take a shower and crawl into bed. Instead, he turned on his computer and the television, which he switched to Manhattan Minute News with the volume off. His door buzzed.

Who the hell?

Probably neighborhood kids, running around late at night. He pressed a button on the intercom. “Yeah?”

“It's me,” a female said.

Karol.
But he had just seen her. “What do you want?”

“To talk.”

Sighing, he buzzed her in. Then he wondered if he should be admitting a werewolf into his apartment after midnight. He grabbed his Glock and clipped its holster to his belt again. Then he sniffed his underarms and frowned. He hurried into the bathroom, slapped some cologne onto his face, and returned to his door, which he opened. Karol stood there. His heart jumped in his chest, and he flinched. He felt his cheeks grow hot.

Karol smiled. “Did I scare you?”

“I'm a little on edge. Aren't you?”

Moving forward, she slid her hands up his chest and around his neck and kissed him on the mouth. He raised his hands to push her back, then clasped her sides, and finally set them around her waist. She bit his lower lip, then rubbed his crotch, arousing him. Allowing their mouths to separate, she looked into his eyes and then walked around him. He closed the door, and when he turned around he saw her drop her coat on the floor and untuck her shirt from
her jeans. She had no trouble finding the bedroom.

Swallowing, he followed her and stood in the doorway, where he flipped the light switch.

Wearing an orange bra, she kicked off her shoes and unzipped her jeans, which she squirmed out of. As she stepped free of the denim, he saw that her thong matched her bra. “Take your clothes off.”

“I don't know if I want to.”

She dropped her gaze to between his legs. “Yes, you do.”

“I don't know what you are …”

Karol strode toward him. Her hands slid along the sides of his ribs, fingernails scratching him. “You know what I am. You know
who
I am. Are you man enough to handle me? Show me. Everyone's got an animal inside them. Let me see yours.”

This time he kissed her hard. She dug her fingers into him, and he pulled her against him. Then he pushed her onto the bed and took his shirt off. Propping herself up on her elbows, she raised one knee, watching him as he removed his jeans and his boxers. Staring at his erection, she made a little grunt and smiled. She took off her bra and slid out of her thong, and he climbed on top of her, pushing himself against her moist opening.

Rolling over, she raised herself on her hands and knees and looked over her shoulder at him. “Like this,” she said in a husky voice.

Willy mounted her from behind, thrusting himself hard into her, locking his hands on her hips so she could
not crawl away. She snarled at him, a moan escaping from between her clenched teeth. As he pounded away, he felt himself snarling as well.

Spreading her fingers wide, Karol slid her hands forward, pressing her breasts against the mattress and arching her back. “Bite my neck. Please …”

Leaning forward, he clamped his jaws over the back of her neck and felt her shudder. He wrapped one arm around her waist, controlling the lower half of her body. A long, low moan escaped from her lips, transforming into something more animal than human. Sweat soaked his brow, and as he continued to thrust, driven on by her musky scent, he prayed she would maintain enough control to stay in her human form.

Please, God, don't let her change!
He released his bite on her. “Don't stop!”

Fastening his teeth on her flesh once more, he plowed her forward. She cried out, then laughed. He did not stop.

Do it. Do it!

At last she howled, and he unleashed himself.

A dozen official vehicles blocked off the intersection, and Mace imagined many more idled beyond his line of sight. Firefighters had already extinguished the blaze, and the wreckage of the SUV smoldered. The fire engine remained parked nearby, the firemen awaiting instructions. Standing downwind from the smoke, Mace and Candice watched
Hector and Suzie package the hand in a plastic bag.

“There's newspeople all over the neighborhood,” Candice said.

“Just keep them far away.”

She hurried off.

“How many bodies?” Mace said.

“Oh, only one,” Hector said. “Unless there's bodies clinging to the buildings like Spider-Man, and we just don't see them.”

Mace saw Shelly and Norton approaching with half a dozen other officials in suits. “Make sure you've got those prints.”

“They're in my pocket,” Hector said without looking up.

The cavalry arrived.

“Captain, I'm Michael Kelly with Homeland Security …”

“… Derek Clendening with the bureau …”

“… Emil Novak, NYPD Counterterrorism squad …”

Mace faced the men. “Who's taking charge of the crime scene?”

The men exchanged apprehensive glances.

“I am,” they said in unison.

Norton and Shelly stayed quiet.

“Just make sure you copy me with your findings. I wasn't the first officer on the scene. Two of the uniforms back there were.”

‘We need to send the evidence to Quantico,” Norton said.

“Of course you do.” Mace turned and walked away. As many as one hundred onlookers watched from the sidewalks, and he saw cameramen training their cameras on him. When he reached his SUV, he saw that Gabriel had
disappeared. Then his gaze locked on the PATH station across the street. Turning, he zeroed in on Candice and waved her over to him.

“Is something wrong?” she said.

“Get your hands on the security camera footage inside that station, going back four hours. I don't care if all these federal agencies get them too, but I want copies immediately. Requisition the appropriate corresponding footage at other stations from the Transit Authority. Make sure Ken knows to expect them. I want him to concentrate on the footage as soon as we get it.”

“Yes, sir.”

The Port Authority Trans-Hudson service used tunnels only in Lower Manhattan, Hoboken, and downtown Jersey City.

Jersey,
Mace thought.

E
un awoke with her face on fire.

Where the hell is my medication?

Sitting up, she groaned. The clock on the bedside table read 1:03 A
M.
She had a vague recollection of Valeria telling her there was a mission tonight.

Did they leave me alone?

She pulled back the blanket. Valeria had dressed her in flannel pajamas. Swinging her legs over the edge of the bed, she stepped into the slippers on the floor and stood. After staggering past the electric heater to the bathroom, she relieved herself and faced the mirror. Although her face remained wrapped in a bandage like a mummy, in her mind's eye she saw only the hideous countenance she had seen earlier. No amount of plastic surgery would ever restore her beauty, and she doubted she could ever look anything other
than disfigured. She had pledged her life to Father Tudoro and the Brotherhood; she accepted that she could be killed at any moment for their cause. But she had never anticipated that the price she would pay for battling monsters was that she would become one herself.

Eun wanted to leave this place, to return home … but she didn't really have a home. Orphaned at age four, she had been placed with a foster family in Isernia, Italy, by Tudoro, then enrolled in boarding school. After Tudoro enlisted her in the Brotherhood, she had gone off the grid, living first in the Brotherhood's training barracks, which relocated on a semiannual basis, and then in a series of apartments under assumed names. She had followed Michael into battle in Naples, then Finland, then Greece, and now the United States. She had devoted her adult life to exterminating the beasts. She believed in the cause.

What do I have to show for my sacrifice?

She wished she had been able to accompany her comrades on their current mission. The satisfaction of slaying some beasts would have made her feel better.

Hunger pained her stomach. She left the medical room and made her way to the dining room, where she gazed at the monitor on the wall. In her cell, the bitch they had captured slept on her side. As far as Eun knew, the beast still had not provided Michael with the information they sought. She turned to where Myles's Blade had been mounted on the wall.

Sticking to the shadows, Gabriel walked along the tree-lined street to the safe house. As he neared the low gate, two figures separated from the darkness, as he knew they would, and surrounded him.

“Gabriel!” David said. “We were worried.”

“Raphael's waiting inside,” Eddie said.

“Thanks.” Gabriel walked up the steps and opened the front door.

Raphael and Elias sat on the living room sofa.

Raphael jumped up at the sight Gabriel. “Where the hell were you?”

Gabriel studied his brother. “I was answering for the mess you created.”

Raphael's jaws tightened, but he did not avert his eyes from Gabriel's. “I took action. I'm not ashamed of it.”

“You were seen entering by the police and not leaving. And then you were seen by the police in Wolf Form.”

Raphael's nostrils flared. “We'd have prevented him from speaking, but Karol Williams protected him. You should have warned me that she was staking out the funeral home. You must have known.”

Gabriel did not care to admit what he did or did not know.
“You were seen.
If you were going to carry out some rogue operation behind my back, you should have taken better care to protect our secrets.”

“I laid the trap. Everything went according to plan. We'd have feasted on those Torquemadan dogs if that cop
hadn't walked in on us. He ruined everything.”

“There are police in the real world. We deal with them all the time. That's why Karol does what she does.”

“Make her tell me the identity of the Hispanic man who saw us. I'll silence him forever.”

“Have you become stupid as well as reckless? The police are after the Torquemadans. We're the victims. Kill one of them, and they'll be after us as well.”

“They will be anyway.”

“I don't think so.”

“You've played this too close to your vest. I'm entitled to know: What do the police know?”

“Not just the police—the FBI. And you're only entitled to know what I think you should know. Right now that isn't much. As an advisor, a confidant, and a brother, you've betrayed me.”

“How could protecting our people be a betrayal to you?”

“You don't strike at anyone unless it's on my orders.”

“We're at war. We need leadership, not speeches. Action!”

Gabriel looked at Elias. “Someone's lit a fire under my brother.”