Raven Moon (8 page)

Maddox snarled. Bloody hell! They climbed like crazed smaller versions of King Kong. Normally in werewolf form, zombies ignored him, like they did any other animal, but these apes charged at him as if he were human. As if he was food.

He growled and snapped.
Come on then, you bloody fucks!

The first two reached the roof and charged him with breakneck speed.

The enraged werewolf swiped the head off the first. Blinding pain ripped through him as an ape leapt on his back, biting into his flesh. He roared and threw himself against the wall so the ape was like lunchmeat between two slices of bread, crushing its skull. The third one, missing a foot and his face half-eaten, climbed onto the roof and thundered toward him. He grabbed the maddened ape by its throat and then bit into his skull, mashing its brain.

Blood covered his white fur and his chest rose up and down with each breath. The infected apes had almost beaten him. Maddox crouched and scanned the edge of the building. How many were there? Did Lazarus know these new ghouls were here? It would give Lazarus a convenient way to get rid of Maddox. His faith in his new leader wavered. No. If he wanted him dead, a silver bullet would have avoided wasting fuel to transport him here. Yet how would the pack tolerate the execution of their greatest Benandanti Templar, hunter of the hunters?

Maddox leaned over the roof and growled. None approached. Instead, they headed to the luxurious hotel across from his landing. Rapid gunfire burst from the hotel’s top floor. Shit! The survivors. Even if they took to the terrace, there was no escape from the scaling apes. His wolf raged. Protect the innocent. Defend his territory. He grabbed his pack and dashed down the stairs at werewolf speed. At the hotel, he hesitated. Were they the Kindred? If Jaeger was trapped, Maddox could not think of a better death for the ass.

A woman’s scream pierced his ears and his heart hammered. The Kindred were all male hunters. Maddox crashed against the glass door and dashed toward the sound of her cry.

****

Transfixed, Rave watched Maddox through her binoculars as he tore three maddened apes to pieces. Things grew worse as hundreds of human zombies ambled toward their hotel, attracted by the noise and scent of human flesh.

Cashel pulled her away from the balcony. “Princess, come inside. I think Gary has turned.”

She lowered her binoculars and turned, listening to his pathetic apelike hoots. “Gary’s chimpanzombie’s accent needs work.”

Cashel glanced out the window. “Well, it appears his damn cries are attracting the monsters over here.”

“Sure does.” Rave glanced at the running apes moving toward them and then darted one more glance at Maddox. He’s bleeding. Odd. Zombies don’t chomp on shifters. Were the chimpanzombies interested in any type of flesh? “Okay, let’s pack.”

Rave slipped the small camcorder into her satchel and they readied their weapons in case the apes arrived before they took flight. “We’ll take off from the balcony and head north.”

Their door crashed down. Rave twisted and gaped. Gary? He looked halfway through an ape makeover for some Hollywood B-movie horror flick. How had he escaped the locked garage? He screamed like a banshee, displaying long white fangs and charged. She drew her Glock 22.

Cashel and Beccan opened fire. Gary’s skull exploded from the array of bullets. Brain matter and blood splattered the walls like macabre modern art. Rave cried out in disgust but quickly covered her mouth. Crap! The last thing she wanted was to invite others for room service.

Rave shoved her Glock back into her holster, and strapped her satchel over her shoulder. “So much for a bath, let’s go.” She stepped to the balcony to shift when two chimpanzombies leapt over the railing. “Shit!” No time to draw, she shifted too late. An ape zombie grabbed her wing. Rave flapped to get away, but the fact she was a bird didn’t matter, the thing chomped its nasty teeth at her. She pecked out its eyes out but it held on, disregarding the pain it would normally feel. She pecked at his nose, but it snapped her right wing, breaking it. Rave cawed in agony as it opened its bloodied maw to finish her off. Cashel pierced its brain with his dagger. The chimpanzombie stilled and fell. Rave hobbled away before it crushed her, but the sharp pain shooting from her broken wing dizzied her. Blackness ensued.

Cashel’s concerned voice woke her. “Princess!” He knelt at her side.

Every breath was agonizing, but she yelped a caw, sounding more like a sick seagull than a raven. Her glance darted to the carnage.

In human form, Beccan had shot the other one. He stood by the door, looking down the corridor. “It’s empty. But it won’t take long before they find us.” He glanced at Cashel. “How is she?”

Rave shifted back to human form, held her useless right arm and winced. “My arm’s broken.”

Cashel cradled her in his arms and she gasped in pain. “Beccan, find another room! We’ll lock ourselves in.”

Beccan threw her a worried look and nodded. “I’ll fly to another room through the window.” Without keys, and their room door broken that was their only choice.

For now. Their human scent would be the ghoul’s first destination. They had to leave. But how with a broken wing?

Beccan left immediately and within minutes returned to their room. He gave them a nod. “Looks clear.” Below, hooting roars echoed. Soon the chimpanzombies would sniff them out.

Cradling Rave in his arms, Cashel whispered, “Let’s go.”

Three rooms down, Beccan signaled them to a door propped open with a trashcan.

Rave cried from the stabbing pain as he set her on a bed while Beccan looked down from their new balcony. She tried to wiggle her fingers and moaned. “Shit, my arm is useless.”

Cashel shot a harsh whisper at Beccan, “Help me cut a pillow case to act as a sling.” He released a slow breath. “It would be best if I took your jacket off.”

Rave hissed, “No. Leave it. I can rest it over my satchel.”

“But I’ll need to somehow get a splint on it.”

She squeezed her eyes shut. “No time. Just sling it.”

The enraged hoots coming from below chilled her to the bone.

Beccan handed Cashel a makeshift sling. “I can fly down to the lobby and find pain meds.”

Rave grimaced and shook her head. “No, too dangerous.” These creatures obviously desired variety in their diet.

Cashel turned to Beccan. “She’s right. The ape grabbed her while in raven form. It explains why they attacked the werewolf.”

Rave rasped. “Aspirin. My bag.”

Cashel reached in and took out two aspirins. “Get the princess water.” She winced as Cashel tied the sling around her neck and placed her arm into it. “I’m sorry, Princess.”

She hissed and then gazed at them, her eyes watering. “Look. I can’t fly. Take the camera back to our people.”

They both shook their head simultaneously. Cashel frowned. “We are not leaving you.”

Her shifter DNA could quickly heal broken bones often within days or weeks, but only if the arm was properly set. Nonetheless, it would take months of physical therapy before she could fly again. “There’s no point in all three of us dying.” She expelled a grunt. “As your alpha, I’m ordering you both to leave.”

Cashel narrowed his gaze at her. “I promised your parents to die protecting you and that is what I choose to do.” He glanced at Beccan. “You can stay or fly back with the camera and get help.”

Beccan moved his shoulders back. “I’ll stay.”

If she needed to piss him off to save his life, she would. Rave glared at Beccan. “What the fuck for? I don’t intend to take you as a mate. Furthermore, I’d rather not ride the eternal thermals with you.” The final insult not to share the afterlife should add salt to his wounded ego.

Beccan shot her a grin as if seeing through her. “I’m not giving up so easily. Besides, my duty is to protect my princess.”

Rave rolled her eyes.
Damn loyal guards
. Even her father, the king would have a tough time releasing them from their bound duty, even if it meant their death. She sharpened her tone. “Leave and warn the others!”

Beccan shook his head. “As soon as you’re secured, I shall fly non-stop.”

Cashel stood, peered out the door and then quietly closed it. “They might leave. If not, we can shift and hide in the rafters or in the elevator shaft.”

“I’ll leave in the morning and find a vehicle,” suggested Beccan.

Rave raised her brow. “But what about the sea of regular zombies?” That’s if they managed to somehow survive the new and improved flesh eaters.

Beccan shrugged. “If need be, we can walk amongst them as ravens. When they disperse, you and Cashel can drive off again. Once you are safely on the road, I’ll fly and get help.”

Rave sighed. “And what of Maddox? By now he must have picked up our scent.”

Cashel swore under his breath. He’d known she was attracted to the enemy werewolf and had given her a warning lecture about staying away from oversexed wolf shifters. “We’ll deal with him later.”

“I doubt he’s here for us.” Rave offered a fake smile, maintaining a calm demeanor, despite the ruckus of chimpanzombies below, perhaps tearing the lobby apart in search of edible rodents. Human zombies had an enhanced sense of smell and hearing, and she could only imagine how much more sensitive chimpanzombies were to the smell of fresh prey.

The loud bang of a window being broken in a nearby room spiked her adrenalin. The ape ghouls had made it to their floor. On instinct Rave shifted. Raven magic enabled her clothes and held objects to shrink to molecular size, leaving her broken arm unsupported. She cawed from the onslaught of agony as the pull of gravity tormented her dangling wing. Rave hopped and spread her good wing for balance. She clucked, “This is not working, I’m going to return to human form.”

Cashel whispered. “Princess, stay a raven. I’ll carry you.”

Rave was in too much pain to argue.

They dashed out the door. Beccan fired at two charging chimpanzombies. They headed toward the stairwell as four maddened apes came charging up. Beccan shot one but another ape leapt on his back and tore his fangs into his scalp, while another bit him in the belly and dug out his intestines. Horrified, she stared at Beccan as life snapped from his eyes; the bite to his skull fatal. Petrified like a bird trapped inside a cat’s mouth, she stilled into bird paralysis.

Cashel shot them through the brain and dashed down the stairs with her under his arm. He’d made it to the third floor when three more appeared. He crushed her in his tight hold and she cawed, shocked from her frozen state. He opened fired. Only one fell and Cashel dashed up to the fifth floor.

A room door stood open with a bin of towels just outside, frozen in time, as if the maid was ready to clean. Cashel set her in the room. “Stay here.”

“Wait,” she cawed, but before she could argue, he slammed the door shut, tested the lock and then left.

“Here!” He lured them away from her.

Rave held her breath. If he reached a window, he could fly away and return later for her.

Gunshots and his holler spiked her heartbeat. No! Rave crawled under the bed and used her good wing to muffle Cashel’s cries as the apes ripped him apart. His cries silenced quickly as did his gunfire. She crept out, shifted and ran into the bathroom. Bile rose in her throat but she suppressed her need to throw up, fearing they would hear and smell her. Ravens had a natural ability to control their nausea, but she was close to her limit. Her left hand trembling she reached for her gun and crouched in the corner. Her kind was ambidextrous so aiming it to her head with her left hand would not be a problem. She would join Cashel and Beccan in death.

Suicide was her only option.
Soon, I’ll ride the eternal thermals with both of you. That is, if I’m worthy, after all, your deaths were my fault.
Please forgive me.
Rave raised the gun to her head. How ironic that as a rebellious teen, she’d threatened suicide after her parents grounded her, literally, no flying. How did they know she would not carry out her threat when they clipped her primary wings? They knew. Despite her heated defiance, did her parents know how much she loved them? Tears welled.
If only I could say goodbye.

Rave stared at her shaky hand holding the Glock. Death had always fascinated her especially since her clan had been in the coffin business, but taking her life was something she could never do. Until now. If only there was a chance of escape. To deliver the video of the new threat. Not possible. Not with her guards dead. A spasm of pain shot through her and of all the shitty luck, she dropped the gun. She struggled to move but instead bird paralysis returned.

Damn! Her mind still spun with the coming slaughter, but her human body was as inanimate as a statue after the trauma of losing her men and her broken wing rendered her helpless to the bird phenomena.

****

Maddox rushed toward the rattle of rapid gunfire. He charged as two zombie apes ate a man that smelled avian… A raven shifter. Nonetheless, not even a heathen deserved such a terrible fate. He dropped his backpack and roared, but the apes were too preoccupied feasting on the dead raven shifter’s guts to care. A bullet hole to his head meant the shifter ended his life first.

He scented another shifter a floor above as an ape screamed, pummeling against the door of the trapped shifter. Maddox roared as he used his sharp daggered claws to behead the apes enjoying their meal. He dashed up the stairs.

The female zombie ape slammed into the door, salivating like a rabid dog. Maddox leapt on her and bit into her neck. Like human zombies, it did not react to pain and crawled toward the bathroom. Maddox bit through her spine until her monstrous head rolled off.

He sniffed and saliva sloughed off from his maw. Raven. Female. His inner wolf whined.

Maddox bashed the bathroom door opened. In the corner sat a woman, her left arm in a makeshift sling and a gun dropped far from her reach. Her face was blanched in shock and like birds awaiting death, frozen in a catatonic state. Despite his fierce werewolf appearance, she stared teary-eyed at the door. He could only imagine how despondent she must be, about the horrific death of her kin. No wonder the other ravens had not taken flight. They were protecting her. He cocked his head and gazed at her. His inner wolf wanted to lick her tearstained face. The devil beast inside of him roared, drawn to the forbidden female. Her arousing familiar scent rattled his soul.