Maikoda: Power of the Moon (Blue Moon Trilogy Book 2) (26 page)

              “I was hoping to get this chance,” he grumbled. “The others were just practice. You’re the real deal. After I’m done killing, you, I’ll have you all to myself.”

              Layla’s muscles tensed as realization dawned. “You killed those other women.” She watched the satisfaction on his face. He had enjoyed doing it. It was more than a simple assignment. The sadist actually enjoyed killing those innocent women and who knew what else he had done to their bodies.

              “You can’t kill me.” She smirked. “Kuruk wants me alive.”

              Hassun shook his head. “You don’t know my boss. If he can’t have you, no one will. That means you’re dead.” With this he reached for her, his claws extended. 

              Without thinking and with the images of his victims in her head, Layla turned slightly and grasped his outstretched arm with her own. She moved along his body as she turned, moving faster than she’d ever done in her life and raked her fingers over his stomach, eviscerating him the way he had done his victims.  He fell to the floor, his entrails spilling from his body, his eyes closed in death.

              Layla raced back to the Nali and grabbed the little girl before she ran back to the house. She found the door to the safe room, keyed in the code and breathed a sigh of relief that her aunt was already inside.

              The other woman looked at Layla and gave a cry as she ran to Nali and enveloped the little girl in her arms. She held Nali close to her bosom, stroking the girl’s long dark hair. Layla pulled a shotgun from the wall in front of the small hidden room, placing it into her aunt’s hands.

              “Those were werewolves!”

              Layla nodded. Now was not the time for her aunt to freak out. She wrapped the older woman’s finger around the gun. “Yes, they were.”

              “They’re real!”

              “Yes, they are and they will kill you. Anyone walk in here, shoot them.” 

              Her aunt gulped and nodded gravely as she grasped the gun. Layla gave the woman a fierce hug before she ran back outside and closed the door. 

              Fighting sounded from both sides of the house. Using her nose, she ran to Brett’s side in time to see him circling a lone wolf in a small clearing. The others lay dead nearby. One’s head had been twisted almost 270 degrees and the other was missing most of his internal organs. The third Were was the one that she had hit before she escaped Kuruk’s ship. 

              He glared at her and she smiled. 

              “Need some help, baby?” She asked Brett conversationally, feeling mean against Kuruk and his goons. 

              Brett smiled. “Nah, I got this, but go see how our boy Martin is doing. He’s got two other Weres and Kuruk.”

              Layla nodded. She raced away, confident in Brett’s ability. She abhorred killing, but it was either kill or be killed. Either she took care of the problem, or the problem would threaten her family for the rest of their lives.

              She raced into the dense wooded area where she had left Kuruk. The spot was empty, but the tightening of her stomach let her know that all was not what it seemed. She moved quietly through the area as she searched. 

              Kuruk was a slippery one. He was almost as good as Suzette and she tried to concentrate on finding him. She could use her sense of smell, but to really find him required intense concentration and that narrow focus might allow him to attack her before she could defend herself.

              Layla sniffed the air, but kept her eyes open. She sensed and smelled him, but he and Martin had been all over the area, so his scent was everywhere. She thought she heard a rustle in the brush to her right and spun around defensively. She realized her error almost too late as Kuruk reached out and grabbed for her as she barely stepped out of his reach.

              “I told you,” she said between clenched teeth. “I would rather die than allow you to capture me again.”

              Kuruk grunted. “Then you’ll have to die.” He lunged for her, his black jacket swinging open. 

              Layla grabbed his jacket and pulled to throw him off balance. Smooth as butter, Kuruk whirled around and shrugged the jacket off as he did so.

              She stumbled at the sudden release and threw the jacket to the side. The large Were now stood before her wearing a starch white shirt sans tie. Martin was circling; just on the edge of her periphery, trying to get a good lead in and she decided to go for it.

              Jumping, she whirled away from Kuruk’s punch. She grasped his outstretched hand and whirled again, before she planted her feet and cocked her hip, using her momentum to throw Kuruk over her shoulder. 

              The Were flew through the air like a missile but to her surprise, instead of landing heavily against the ground and having the wind knocked out of him, he twisted in midair and landed on his feet facing her. 

              “Nice try.” He chuckled. “My turn.”

              Her eyes widened as Kuruk zipped to her side much faster than she would have thought possible. In what seemed like an instant, the Were threw her against a tree.

              Her landing was not as hard as she would have thought. In fact, her landing had been almost gentle. She opened her eyes, her back was against Martin’s broad chest and the older Were glared at Kuruk. 

              Martin glanced at Layla. “Together.”

              She nodded. Kuruk was a formidable opponent. They would have to combine their strengths to deal with him. Before they could move, Kuruk flashed a smile and zipped away.  Layla lunged after him, tearing through the brush and trees in pursuit. 

              She sensed Martin right next to her, although she could not hear him. Then she heard Brett crashing through the trees on the other side. They moved quickly towards the house where Layla knew Kuruk either had a weapon or a vehicle, or both, hidden. 

              A gunshot rang out into the night air and she skidded to a stop. Aunt Susan, she thought in a panic. Just as suddenly as before, Kuruk appeared in front of them. One hand was wrapped around a semi-automatic weapon and the other was wrapped around her aunt.

              Layla looked into the other woman’s wide and terrified eyes, illuminated from the light at the side of the house. She dropped back as Kuruk cocked the weapon.

              Martin raised his hands and took a step forward. “Kuruk,” his voice was loud in the dark.                Layla bit her lip to keep from crying out as Martin moved forward slowly. 

              “This is a Council problem; leave the human out of this.”

              Kuruk laughed humorlessly. “A Council problem?  I’m a Council problem now?” His arm tightened reflexively around Susan’s neck and the woman’s breathing became restricted. She pushed at Kuruk’s arm as the Were seemed oblivious to her plight. 

              “After all I have done for them, I am a problem now?”

              Martin shrugged. “You know how fickle the Council can be.”

              Kuruk stared at Martin with a smirk. “You have no idea.”

              Layla was tense as she watched her aunt continue to struggle to breathe. The woman’s face started to turn purple and she scratched at Kuruk’s arm. 

              “You’re killing her, you fucking idiot!” she shouted, unable to control herself any longer. 

              Martin shot her a look and Layla closed her mouth. “Kuruk,” Martin said easily. “You’re going to kill your hostage and then you won’t have anything to bargain with.’

              Kuruk laughed again, a wild look in his eyes, but he eased up, removing his arm from around Susan’s throat and grabbing her arm instead. 

              Layla took a deep breath as her aunt struggled to draw air into her lungs. She coughed and gulped at the air entering her body.

              “You okay?” Martin asked Susan gently. The older woman nodded quickly as she looked back at Kuruk in fear.

              Kuruk jerked the woman’s arm. “Enough talking!” he shouted. He glared at Martin. “The Council is about to have a big problem, Martin.” He smirked. “I think you are one of the few members who actually adhere to the rules and bylaws.”

              He walked backwards, dragging Susan with him. “Who do you think hired me? Who do you think gave me the information about the Hania?”

              Martin stopped, his mouth open in shock. “The Council?”
              “Of course!” Kuruk chuckled coldly. “Come on Martin. Who benefits from this war?” He pointed at Layla. “Do you think they really care about her? Me? You? They want you to think that they do when all along they want the war to continue. They can get their pick of everything.               Kuruk looked back at Martin. “When all the Weres are in fear, they give the Council complete control and that’s what it is all about. Control and power. They get people like Suzette and me to keep it going.”

              He spat into the dirt, his polished persona disappearing. “Fucking hypocrites.”

              Martin slowly approached Kuruk. Brett followed his lead, closing in on one side. “Kuruk, we can deal with this. We can handle this together.”

              Kuruk shook his head slowly. “Martin, on New Year’s Eve, all hell is going to break loose. You need four things and you already know about three. I know what the fourth item is.”

              “We know what the fourth item is already,’ Brett said with disdain. “We don’t need you to tell us what it is.”

              “But you do need me to tell you where it is.”

              Layla stared at Kuruk with distrust. “You know where the dagger is?”

              Kuruk nodded. 

              “Kuruk. Think about this. Tell us where the item is so that we can set this straight.” Martin continued to move towards the Were.

              Kuruk held his hand up, the gun steady in his grasp. “Stay there. Do not take one more step. None of you.” He tightened his grip on Susan. 

              He looked back at Layla. “I never really believed the prophecy, you know.” He shrugged. “But I wanted to cover my bases. I mean, we’re Werewolves, we’re an urban legend. So why would one more story be a myth?” He held the gun closer to her aunt’s head and Layla winced. 

              “Kuruk, put the damn gun down!” Martin’s voice was decidedly tense. 

              Kuruk was becoming less rational. “I don’t think so,” he said. “I think that the minute I put this gun down, you’re gonna kill me. There is no way to win against all of you by myself.”

              Martin nodded. “You’re right, but I’m going to kill you regardless. The Council has given me permission to. You can put the gun down or not. Either way, you’re going to die.”

              “Martin, you make one hell of a negotiator.” Kuruk mocked. “So my options are to put down the gun and die or hold onto my gun and die?” He chuckled. “Well, I might as well go out in a blaze of glory.”

              Layla leaped at Kuruk, unable to hold back any longer. She eyed the gun determined to remove it from his hand. She blinked as Martin was instantly at Kuruk’s side, the gun knocked from his hand. How had Martin moved so fast? She stared at her mentor. He wrestled with Kuruk and Layla ran to her aunt as the two Weres rolled in the dirt. 

              “You okay?”

              Susan nodded. “I’m fine,” she ran back towards the house. “Nali!”

              Layla sprinted ahead of the other woman and wrenched open the door. “Nali?” She called softly. She took a deep breath and located the girl’s scent, then ran behind a few boxes of canned goods where she saw the little girl. 

              She was crouched down, her little body curled into a ball; her hands covered her ears as she rocked back and forth. Layla moved aside as her aunt grabbed the child and held her close, her trembling hands smoothing her hair.

              Brett ran into the room and pulled his keys from his pocket. He pressed them into Susan’s hands. “Take Nali and go. I don’t care where. We will call you when it is safe.”

              Susan nodded and grabbed the keys. Brett plucked Nali from her arms and they ran to the car. Moments later, the car careened out of the hidden carport. 

              Slightly relieved, Layla turned back to the inevitable showdown between the two Council members. Martin and Kuruk stood facing each other, their breathing labored. The normally dapper Kuruk was dirty and his clothing torn. A drop of blood trickled from his mouth.

              “Don’t make me do this, Kuruk,” Martin begged.

              The mobster sneered, his arrogance back. “Do what you want Martin, but you will not take me back there to jail me like an animal. I would rather be dead.”

              “Then you leave me no choice.”

              Kuruk laughed. “You were always a good guy, Martin. Even when you were a pain in the ass, at least you always stuck by your values. I admire that.” He squared his shoulders. “The dagger has been in the Council Archives all along. So has the prophecy.” 

              He smiled at Martin’s shocked look. “Find the dagger and the prophecy. Look in the archives. That’s where they are. With Suzette’s father.”