Taboo (A Tale of the Talhari Book 1) (7 page)

She rushed to him and grabbed his arm. “No, let’s just leave.”

“It could be an intruder.”

“Then we call the cops. Are you equipped to deal with an intruder?”

He stared up the stairs, then shook his head. “Okay, let’s go.”

Sydney debated using the elevator, then discarded the idea. If something was in the building the stairs were safer.

She followed him down the first flight of stairs, careful to look over her shoulder every few seconds. Benny was moving at a fast trot so she had to jog to keep up with him.

Pausing, he turned to her. “You hear that?”

She did. More movement from upstairs.

“Someone is up there. I hear footsteps. More than one person. And…and…and growling. Who the fuck is growling?”

She slapped a hand over Benny’s mouth, sensing he was about to panic. “It’s okay. Just go.”

He shoved her hand away. “A growl, Sydney. Someone up there growled.”

“Okay, so keep moving. Come on.” She grabbed Benny’s hand.

She started forward again, trying to move quickly, but Benny was walking on his tippy toes.

“What are you doing?” she demanded in a hiss.

“Trying to be stealthy.”

“Speed wins out over stealth. You were running before.”

“That’s before it growled. My legs feel like weights now.”

On the landing, she looked over the railing down to the first floor. When she didn’t see anything she started down the next flight. “Fast but quiet,” she mouthed.

Benny nodded.

On the next landing they paused long enough for her to look over the railing and down to the first floor again.

“All’s clear,” she mouthed, then nearly fell down the stairs when something behind her spoke in a low, guttural voice. It sounded as though it could have come from the depths of hell.

“The master will be so happy.”

Benny screamed.

She looked over her shoulder and screamed too. A creature was on the floor above, staring down at them. This one had a snout where his nose should have been; thick, wet lips; and a husk growing out of either side of his nose. Oh, and it had wings.

Benny jerked free of her and half ran, half fell down the last flight of stairs.

Sydney was a lot more agile than Benny, she just ran.

The thing behind them growled again. Its footfalls seemed to echo off the walls as it raced down the stairs after them.

It wasn’t the same thing she’d seen last night, the thing that had killed Cora. This creature was different. Instead of skin it had thick tufts of brown hair, instead of hands it had claws. This didn’t look like a vampire, it looked like a werewolf. A Hollywood version, but more grotesque. More horrible than anything any mind could conjure.

She looked over her shoulder again and nearly fell down the last three steps. There wasn’t one creature, but three.

Three. Each more hideous than the last. Along with the wolf man was a piggy looking man and a pale, vampire like thing similar to what she’d seen the night Cora was murdered.

On the first floor Benny sprawled face first onto the floor. He struggled to get to his knees. She jerked him up by one arm and pulled. Either he was gonna run or she was gonna drag him.

The beasts were coming down the stairs after them. Again, she screamed.

She should have listened to Alaric and stayed home.

Another growl sounded from behind them. The sound of footfalls closed in, and the whisper of guttural voices excited by the hunt.

Benny was on his feet and running so she let go of him so she could run full out.

She could see the entrance, see the front doors. See the setting sun cast dim light in the foyer.

Then despair sucked the breath out of her. Benny had locked the doors when they’d come in. There wouldn’t be enough time to unlock them before the creatures were on them.

Then, behind her, Benny screamed.

Chapter Seven

Sydney turned in time to see a pale hand grab hold of Benny’s shirt collar and pull. His arms windmilled, trying to balance, but he fell to the ground. At the last moment he broke his fall with an arm.

The wolf man howled from somewhere. He wasn’t on the stairs anymore. She didn’t like not being able to see him.

The pig man held Benny easily, despite Benny’s flailing and kicking.

Up close, the creature was far worse than the wolf man. It had a husk growing out of each side of its mouth, long, floppy pig ears and a snout, but eyes that were disturbingly human. It towered over Benny, and had to outweigh him by at least two hundred pounds. Unlike the wolf who wore nothing but fur, this creature wore overalls and a frayed, bloodied, wife beater.

And its voice. The sound of its voice turned Sydney’s blood to ice.

“The master will kill you slowly for ruining his plans,” it said.

Sydney stumbled back a step. She wanted to cry out, but her throat was frozen.

It turned then, and began to drag Benny up the stairs.

Benny fought, he punched and kicked, but the creature was too strong for him.

A lone metal chair sat against a bank of windows to her right. She ran for the chair, lifted it with one hand. She let loose with a war cry and charged.

The pig man spun around, screeched.

The sound of shattering glass startled her. Then like magic, the weight of the chair disappeared.

“Stupid girl.”

Movement flashed by her in a streak of black. Alaric was there, with the others.

Alaric used the chair she’d been about to use, and slammed it down on the pig man’s head. The head burst open and green sludge exploded out of it. A bit hit Sydney’s shirt with a
splat
.

“The hell?” she said, looking down at the goo.

Benny dropped to the floor, unmoving. He’d passed out.

Joshua ran to the right and dispatched the wolf man while Rhonda and Trina took down the last one.

It had all been done so quickly and efficiently that Sydney wondered for a moment if the beasts had actually been viable threats.

“What are you doing here?” Alaric’s face had turned an unpleasant shade of red, his lips were curled back over his teeth.

Sydney stepped forward to face him and found herself looking at his chest. She took a step back and craned her head backward. “Research. What does it look like?”

“I told you to stay home.”

“I came to the office. How was I to know they’d be lying in wait for me?”

“You shouldn’t have come here. Do you have any idea what would have happened to you if we hadn’t come?”

Sydney frowned, bitterly. “Yes, I know.”

“Yet you came anyway.”

“I’m not a child you can boss around. You told me to find out what these things are, see if there’s any background for them and what may be drawing them to Lynchburg. I came here because there’s a better library and the intranet is connected to hundreds of libraries throughout the world.”

“I ordered you to stay home.”

“I am not your subordinate, Alaric. You don’t order me to do anything.”

“If you had any common sense you’d listen to me and I wouldn’t have to waste half my time rescuing you.”

“Then don’t. You don’t have to waste another minute rescuing me.” She turned on her heel and marched toward the doors. Unfortunately, her exit was ruined by the fact that the doors were still locked and she couldn’t launch herself through any of the windows as they had.

Alaric came up beside her. “I don’t want you to get hurt.”

She didn’t look at him. She was too angry to look at him.

“Let me out,” she said, staring at the door.

“Sydney—”

“Let. Me. Out. I’m going home. You don’t have to worry about saving me anymore because I’m getting to the bottom of this myself.”

“I can’t let you do that.”

She turned on him. “It’s not your choice. Now let me out.” She slapped the door with the palm of her hand for emphasis.

He stood there for a moment, then pushed the door open.

It slid wide, as though it hadn’t been locked.

She marched out onto the front steps, and to her car, so angry she could barely think straight.

How dare he speak to her that way, she thought as she drove home. How dare he treat her like a misbehaving child. She might not have super powers, but she was mentally able to make decisions for herself. Who the hell did he think he was?

Back at home she fumed for a good thirty minutes, stomping around the kitchen and muttering under her breath.

When someone knocked at her front door she swore. She was not in the mood for company.

When she opened the door and Alaric was standing on the other side, she tried to slam the door shut in his face. But she’d forgotten that in addition to being able to jump really high, and being really strong, he was also fast.

He reached in and stopped the door almost before she’d even tried to slam it.

The door was in his hand and he stared at her. “Look. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have spoken to you that way.”

She met his stare with a glare.

“You scare me. You run toward danger like you’re immortal. It’s like you think nothing can hurt you. I’ve caught you twice attacking one of those things and it terrifies me.”

“Why do you care so much?”

“It’s my job to care. But that’s still no excuse for me to talk to you the way I did. I’m truly sorry.”

She could feel her temper coming down, feel her face begin to cool. “Thank you.”

“Can I come in?”

She looked over her shoulder at her house, then shrugged. “I was about to make dinner. I haven’t eaten since breakfast.”

“Need any help?”

“No.”

“I’m trying to apologize.”

She shrugged again. “Okay. Come in.”

She walked through the dining area and into the kitchen. It wasn’t very large, but it was roomy enough. She had lots of counter space and room for a table. It was only her, after all, so she didn’t need much.

“What can I do?”

She ducked into the fridge and took out soy sauce, an onion, a clove of garlic, fresh green beans, carrots, and broccoli. “Can you chop up the garlic while I chop the onions?”

“That doesn’t sound too complicated.”

She gave him a cutting board and knife, then grabbed a large pan from the cabinet. She poured in a tablespoon of oil and two tablespoons of soy sauce. She put the pan on the stove to heat.

“You say you’re a journalist,” Alaric said. “Have you always wanted to go into that field?”

She eyed him.

“If you’re going to help my team, we should at least friends.” He held out his hand to her. “Friends?”

She stared at it for a few seconds, then took it. “Fine. Friends.”

He went back to chopping the garlic while she chopped the onion. The only sound in the kitchen was the sound of knives slicing through vegetables.

He cleared his throat and broke the silence. “So how long have you known you wanted to be a journalist?”

“I’ve always enjoyed telling stories. People have so many stories to tell, but typically there’s no one there to tell them. That’s what I do. Being nosy helps.” She looked up at him, then back down quickly. The man was gorgeous. “What about you, Alaric. What are you? And what’s that place you took me to today?”

“I’m a man.”

“You’re no ordinary man.”

She took the cut up onions and garlic and dumped them in the pan where the soy sauce and oil sizzled. She stirred the mixture and made herself look at him. “There’s more to your story than that.”

“If I told you, you wouldn’t believe me.”

“How can you say that? I think I’ve proven that I’m more than open to believe the unbelievable. I’ve seen what you can do, so I know your story isn’t ordinary.”

“I’m Talhari.”

“What’s a Talhari?”

“It’s an ancient order that was created to protect mankind from…” he smiled. “…things that go bump in the night. As you’ve seen for yourself, it’s a strange world out there. Evil exists. It’s real and it’s deadly. Humans aren’t capable of going toe to toe with these creatures, so the Talhari order was created.”

“And what exactly is the Talhari order?” She stirred the onions and garlic until they caramelized, then began adding chicken parts. She sprinkled the mixture with rosemary, thyme and dill, then added a bit of water. She let the mixture come to a boil as she talked. “You might as well be speaking another language.”

“Talhari are a sort of super soldier, but we weren’t created by any government. We were created as a means to maintain the balance. Talhari warriors are specially trained to fight vampires and werewolves, and all creatures who lurk in the shadows. Long ago a Talhari warrior had martial arts and weaponry training, these days we have those things, but we also have enhancements.”