The Breed Casstiel's Vow (35 page)

           
When you lived your entire life being the alpha predator, it really knocked you
on your ass to find out there might actually be something out there a little
bit better than you.

           
“You better be right about that kid,” Kain growled next to him.

           
“He is,” Sebastian said firmly.

           
Kain, always naturally suspicious, couldn’t see the value and talent in Quinn
that everyone else could. Soon, and before their very eyes, he could blossom
into the most valuable weapon in the war, aside from his sister.

           
“Let’s go,” Cass grunted, taking off.

           
His lungs filled with the cold night air as the sound of thunderous footsteps
fell behind him. All the wolves kept to their human forms, and would stay that
way tonight unless they absolutely needed to change.

           
Their wolf form made them more deadly, but it also made them bigger, easier
targets, and to survive this night they would need swiftness and brains far
more than brute strength.

           
Up ahead Casstiel couldn’t see Quinn’s moving body, but he could see the tear
gas canisters being launched into the air.

           
They rose in a soaring arc, seeming to almost move in slow motion, before
erupting through windows and shattering glass.

           
A panicked haze of bullets exploded inside the warehouse from the spooked
hunters, but nothing that came close to putting them in danger.

           
Within seconds, billowing clouds of smoke filled the inside, and began pushing
out through the busted windows.

           
The doors to the warehouse burst open and hunters rushed out looking wild eyed.

           
Each of them was immediately met with a bullet from Quinn, who had finally
stopped moving and come into view.

           
The hunters who were about to follow suit and run after their friends fell back
in a frenzy as the night sky screamed with bullets.

           
The team broke off in half and huddled around each side of the doorway.

           
Casstiel crouched down and looked inside what now appeared to be a
slaughterhouse. Aside from the hunters scrambling in confusion, there were
large pieces of machinery used for the processing of animals, and the
nauseating stench of old blood seeping over everything.

           
There was an upstairs floor, probably for office use, but they would need to
drive the hunters back and take the first floor before they could even think
about making it up there.

           
“They’re using the machinery to hide behind,” Memphis grunted, as he took aim
and squeezed off a few more rounds.

           
The clouds of gas were completely debilitating for the humans vision, but it
only slightly hindered that of the Breed.

           
Casstiel dodged a wild bullet and fired off a few of his own, taking down two
hunters through the haze. 

           
“What the hell is this place? It’s not one of their labs, but it’s not a
compound either,” Quinn growled in frustration, voicing the thought on everyone’s
mind.

           
“I think it’s a set up,” Cass replied, his brain working a mile a minute while
his eyes stayed trained on their target.

           
The hunters were beginning to recover from the surprise invasion, and a wave of
bullets followed.

           
“How?”
Quinn’s teeth grated together in anger.

           
“Worry about that later kid, just focus on the damn fight and staying alive,”
Memphis barked, “Cass we might need to use a grenade.”

           
“I think the trip is a bust, the only information we’re gonna get out of this
place is a body count,” Jax grunted in pain as a bullet nicked his arm.

           
“If we aim a grenade towards the front it will push all these hunters back
farther and at least let us get inside,” Sebastian ducked back behind the doors
of the slaughterhouse.

           
In unison Kain and Jax pulled their M16 assault rifles out, “when the grenade
hit’s it’ll take a lot of them down, we’ll get the ones who straggle and try to
come out the front.”

           
“Alright,” Casstiel commanded, “aim for that conveyer
belt,
it’s where most of them are clustered. As soon as the grenade goes off
they’re
gonna scramble and panic, shots are gonna go wild
so do your best to keep an eye open. We’re gonna split into two groups and
force them to funnel onto the stair well and head upstairs, anyone who tries
rushing forward out the front door, won’t make it far.”

           
Casstiel kept his eyes trained on Quinn as he spoke. The kid was going to have
to learn how to be on a team quick if he was going to survive this night.

           
“I got it, I’ll bank left,” he replied firmly, his eyes looking every bit as
stubborn as Tessa’s could get. 

           
“On three,” Memphis hollered, taking aim.

           
Sebastian and Cass took one last shot at the only hunters who hadn’t found
cover yet, then quickly moved out of the way.

           
“Three,” Memphis barked, winding back he pulled the pin and lobbed it in the
air.

           
The concussion of the grenade pressed down on them, making the breath
momentarily seize in Casstiel’s lungs.

           
His eyes fluttered closed as he waited for the pressure to subside, then he led
the charge into the slaughterhouse, banking to the right and aiming for the
scattering hunters.

           
The grenade had ripped a gaping hole into the assembly line, and men were
pouring out of it, racing in every direction.

           
The sound of screaming and shots being fired filled the broken down
slaughterhouse, echoing high into the lofty rafters.

           
Casstiel dodged the best he could, but with a literal sea of hunters in front
of them it would be impossible for anyone to make it out unscathed. A wild
bullet lodged into his right shoulder, taking him by surprise and momentarily
knocking him to one knee.

           
Sebastian stepped in to cover him and he dove behind a truck sized meat grinder
for shelter. In order for the wound to heal he would need to pull the slug out.

           
“I got it,” Kain was racing towards him, staying low to the ground and narrowly
missing bullets himself.

           
“Fuckers just had to get me in the right shoulder,” Casstiel raged, he would be
significantly less useful to his team shooting with his left.

           
Kain roughly jammed his fingers into the wound, fishing for the bullet. Other
men would have blacked out from the searing pain, but Casstiel, who was
entirely too used to it, didn’t even flinch at the crude intrusion.

           
“How many are left?” he asked, trying to see around the grinder.

           
“At least fifty.
The grenade took out around fifteen,
but that barely made a dent in their numbers,” Kain reported as his fingers
finally found their intended target.

           
Cass leapt to his feet to check on the battle and his men as soon as the bullet
was removed.

           
Everyone was still standing except for Jax, who was being drug behind a stack
of pallets.

           
“I’ll help Jax, cover me while I run across,” Cass nodded to Kain, while
Sebastian ducked behind the grinder to re load the small arsenal he was
carrying.

           
Bullets twanged against the rusted pieces of machinery he passed, but
miraculously he made it to his fallen man in one piece. 

           
“It’s my fault, I was being careless,” Quinn apologized, his eyes threatening
to change to red, “He jumped in front of me to take the bullets.”

           
“I’ll take care of him, go help Memphis and Ghost,” Casstiel commanded,
immediately crouching to check the four heavily bleeding wounds.

           
Quinn rushed back into the fray without another word. 

           
“The kid can’t heal, he takes too many damn risks with himself,” Jax snapped as
a shell casing was plucked from his knee cap.

           
“No, you just have a hero complex and you’re gonna be stuck back here for a few
until that leg heals, the bullet shattered your knee so sit tight,” he ordered,
already feeling his shoulder healing.

           
Quickly he scanned the action in front of him before re-loading and heading
back out. 

           
Memphis and Ghost were fighting hand to hand with a small cluster of hunters.
Ghost had a nasty looking head gash, while Memphis fought using his favorite
fighting style,
Muay
Thai, despite the dagger wedged
between his ribs. The men were outnumbered, but with the help of Quinn, they
kept their ground. 

           
To his right Sebastian and Kain were ducked behind the meat grinder using it as
cover while they battled with a massive group of hunters. Kain had his assault
rifle spraying a path of destruction, while Sebastian used his twin pistols to
calmly pick off those who escaped his partner.

           
Cass noticed another group of hunters joining the fight between Ghost and
Memphis and ran to help even out the numbers. He made it in time to block a
knife about to plunge into Memphis’ back.

           
With a quick nod of thanks Memphis was off again in a whirl of fists and blood.

           
Fighting was still difficult with his wounded shoulder, but with so many
hunters still alive, there was no other choice.

           
Around him Ghost was showing off his speed by dodging and jabbing, his fists
flying almost as quickly as his feet, causing him to be nothing more than a
blur of leather and steel.

           
Quinn used his astounding strength to battle five hunters at once, giving more
blows than he was receiving. Cass couldn’t help but be impressed with him, for
someone with no technical
training,
he was doing
better than anyone could have hoped. 

           
Everyone looked up as a roar ripped through the slaughterhouse, splintering
glass as it ricocheted.

           
Kain, now out of bullets, had been over run. Blood gushed from the base of his
neck and down his back in dark grisly pools.

           
Sebastian fought against the crowd of hunters to break through and save him,
but Quinn got there first.

           
In a furious rage he flipped the four men who had covered Kain, tossing them
like rag dolls, away from his fallen team mate.

           
Sebastian covered them while Quinn carried the limp body away from the fray and
behind cover.

           
“What the hell happened?” Casstiel shouted, confused. Usually when Kain was
wounded he lost control of his temper and wolfed out, but now he was propped
docilely against the wall, eyes slid closed in pain.

           
“The knife severed his spine, he’ll be paralyzed for at least the next hour,”
Sebastian called through the fray, his body a blur of movement as he both dealt
and received painful blows.

           
Casstiel hissed in a rage. The number of hunters was dwindling, but so were
their own numbers; both Jax and Kain would be out for the next hour, leaving
just five against nearly fifty.

           
Back to back Quinn and Sebastian now fought ruthlessly to keep the enemies away
from Kain’s helpless body.

           
Everywhere he looked the scene that met his eyes was catastrophic. The superior
strength and speed of the Breed were counting for little when over whelmed by
such numbers. It was like a human stepping into a honey field; one bee sting
would hardly worry someone, but a swarm of bees could take down a predator
dozens of times their size. 

           
With furious anger Casstiel redoubled his assault on their enemies, his muscles
screaming with every powerful blow he struck.

           
The hunters fell easily under his rage, but for every one he knocked down, two
more stood up to take his place. It was impossible to tell which side had the
upper hand, or which side would make it out alive.

           
Wave after wave of hunters attacked; an endless sea of fists and blood.

           
A hard solid boot smashed between his shoulder blades, catching him off guard
and knocking him to the ground.

           
Quickly he rolled onto his back, but before he could stand up he found he was
staring down the barrel of a loaded gun.

~

           
Tessa’s converse shoes slid in the mud as she threw open the car door and
jumped out.

           
Finding a map of the hunters’ location had been the easiest thing they had done
that day. Cass had left more than a dozen copies of maps with alternate routes
and strategies strewn across his office and their bedroom.