Gemini had left in the late morning, leaving me alone with my thoughts. They weren’t particularly interesting or sophisticated. Love, sex, revenge, and death - in that order.
Even a night like the one before couldn’t keep me from getting frustrated about time running out. Gemini and I had argued strategy all morning, and we had discarded the idea of using anyone else. She would be on the hunt for Dominic while I would be going after Phil Drummond, or Tony Marsh. I would settle for anyone of the bastards, but getting to them wouldn’t be easy. As things stood now, there was little chance of catching any of my prey.
But that wasn’t going to stop me.
There was one other thing about Drummond, that Nick Carter had told me that might give me an opportunity to get to him. Phil Drummond was a compulsive gambler. And he was a horse races man. That meant that there would be a good chance that he would be at the races at Hawthorne Race Course. There was some big race event today.
I took a cold shower, got dressed, got armed, and got the hell out of my place. I chose jeans, white t-shirt and a cardigan. I capped it off with my leather jacket. Short! It was a short leather jacket!
I had been going crazy just sitting, watching the wall paint flake and listening to all the sounds above. I fidgeted with my small backpack, making sure the built-in knives, and my Baretta, my silencer, and the special clips Gordon had made me were all there. And Wilson could go fuck himself if he thought he could catch me packing like that!
I had this odd feeling as I traversed the sewers. No matter which way I turned I could still roughly pinpoint in which direction Gemini was. The connection between us was just getting stronger and I kept getting more and more detail from the bond. Somehow, I didn’t think that Gemini felt as much as I did. There was no doubt she felt the connection, but it didn’t seem as clear for her.
It was a bit funny that Gemini was the one who seemed to have the biggest problem with this bond. Maybe it was that I was numb to all the weird changes that had happened to me and had decided to go with the flow instead of chafe against what was. That Gemini was the sexiest and hottest woman I had ever seen had nothing to do with it. Nope, nothing at all.
Another thing I had a hard time not thinking about, was the Ghîla. Gemini had described the Ghîla as Undead. That was as good a description as any, I guess. They didn’t need to eat, didn’t need to sleep, they didn’t breed, and they were very hard to kill. Har to kill the entity, not necessarily the body. Neither I nor any of the Breed or the Brood could kill a Ghîla. Only a Bane or an Other could do that. Well, another Ghîla could, if they were powerful enough. The only thing I could do was to destroy the body it wore.
The whole thing with the Ghîla was beyond creepy and got me thinking of the Eggar’-suit in the first Men in Black movie.
A question that I would love to have answered was what connection Gemini had to Nahanha. For all the power that lady had, and with all the stories about her insanity, she seemed…not especially insane, I guess. A bit arrogant and used to getting her own way, but nothing I had seen had made me terrified of her. Wary, of course, she was powerful enough to make Maria Smith paste without breaking a sweat. I didn’t think I would like that very much.
Thinking of Nahanha, I remembered that I needed to get her a gift. I took Gemini’s word for her taste and bought two kilos of the best assorted dark chocolates I could find. There were lots of different chili truffles.
I swung by the park where I had met Nahanha the first time. I looked for her for an hour and then I gave up. I stashed the chocolates in one of the lockers at the Conservatory, before leaving to chase down some werewolves. I figured it would be best not to carry Nahanha’s chocolate around while killing werewolves.
Just walking around the neighborhood gave me the opportunity to find out whose territory I was living in. From the markers around the shops and alleys I could say that they had a distinctive feline taste. Predator for sure. It was not Dino’s pack, that I was certain of. No, this was some other feline predator.
I figured that the nice thing to do would have been to pay my respects, but I didn’t know where and I had other things to do. If that put me on someone else’s list, so be it! They would have to take a number. And there was also the fact that I couldn’t be sure where their loyalties lay either. Oh, and that every fucking Brood in Chicago was almost certainly out for my blood.
Here and there I caught flashes of supes as I walked towards the train station. I don’t think many noticed me, because I was concentrating hard to fade into the background. I got some curious looks, but nothing else. One thing that made me feel a bit better was that there was none of the Ghîla around. At least none that I could sense.
I caught the Blue Line towards Archer. If no one was following me, they would never find me. Anyone who knew me or had done any research on me, would never in a thousand years think of looking for me at a race track. If there was one thing I hated, it was horses! Allergic as hell and nothing but bad experiences didn't make me fond of the bad-tempered animals. Especially the beige punk striped nag that broke my arm when I was thirteen.
The train ride was uncomfortable. There were too many people and too many scents. Full of old and new scents together with the noise gave me a headache. It was close to sensory overload.
My mobile phone rang. “Maria,” I answered quietly.
“Hi, it’s me.” Gemini’s voice was strained and irritated, but it put a smile on my lips just the same.
“What’s wrong?” I knew something was up. Gemini was not the kind of person to call just to hear my voice or to mumble coochie-coos at me over the phone. I would do that, but not Gemini. I didn’t mind either way, as long as I heard from her. On the whole, I was a tactile person, she wasn’t. No big deal.
“Can anyone overhear?” Gemini asked.
“Sure, if they’ve good enough hearing.” I answered.
“Well, you need to lay low. Really low, Maria.” Gemini said in a quiet voice.
“Why?”
“Dominic has rallied the packs against you. Most are out hunting for you. He has made it impossible for me to get us any real help, so right now I can’t do much. Everyone fears what you are, and since I seem to have taken sides, I’m not trustworthy anymore.”
“I’d really like to...” I muttered. “No matter. I’ll deal with it when the time comes. I figure it is a miracle that I’ve made it this far anyway. You’ll be okay?“
Gemini sighed. “I’ll be okay. But I think that you need to back off for a while.”
“No.” I said quietly. I just couldn’t walk away. ”I can’t. I have to end it as fast as I can. I can’t let it go...I’m sorry, Gem.”
We hung up.
Nothing like impending doom to make you gloomy. I knew I wasn’t the real reason behind Tony’s death, but I was the excuse. I had taken an oath to kill the ones responsible –I would not break that oath. Nothing else to say really.
I couldn’t shake the feeling that someone was watching me. I didn’t think it was just my world class paranoia talking. It didn’t feel threatening, but it felt close and far away at the same time. That really creeped me out.
Since the whole supe community had decided I was best off dead, anyone just watching would be more interested in using me. Well, they could be just curious if they had failed to get a good read on me.
I wasn’t sure which was worst being followed for nefarious reasons or someone who could sense me through me suppressing my otherness. But whatever it was, it was good at hiding. Better than I was. It felt almost like a part of my presence was shaded, dimmed in some sort of way. And it sure as hell wasn’t something I was doing. At least not consciously.
I walked backwards towards the last cart. If something was following me then it would have to follow me or risk losing me. For a moment the feeling of closeness stayed with me, but then it dissipated slowly.
Clever thing.
I jumped off at the Pulaski Orange station and followed the crowd towards Archer Heights.
As I neared the race track it started getting really crowded. It was absolute chaos. People bustled and tried to force their way forward. I almost tripped over a guy in a wheelchair as everyone pushed each other around.
Like the evil genius I am, I seized the opportunity. “You need some help, man?” I asked the guy in the wheelchair.
“Yeah, but what can you do?” The guy answered.
“I can run over their feet with your wheelchair.” I said with an evil grin.
They guy laughed. “You do that. I’m Ben, by the way.”
I shook his hand. “I’m Maria. Nice to meet you.”
“The same!” Ben said.
I smiled. “Excuse me? Sorry!” I shouted as I pushed the chair forward. The startled cries of pain and yelps were music to my ears. I knew that some Achilles’ tendons would ache the whole day. And there was nothing they could do. I mean you don’t go after the disabled, now do you?
I wheeled him forward with an evil grin on my face. “So, going to the races?” I asked.
“Yeah. You too?” Ben wheeled himself forward. “I can take it from here.”
“It’s no problem. If you want, I can push you all the way to track side. Since I’m going there as well. Up to you though.”
Ben shrugged. “Sure, I don’t mind. You gonna’ bet on the races?”
I knew I couldn’t play the interested gambler, so I didn’t even try. “No, this is my first time at the races, so I think I’ll just sightsee and see what I can learn.”
“Ah, the first race.” Ben sighed in reminiscence. “We’ll I grew up on the track. Or rather in the stables. So my first race was before I could remember. My mother was a veterinarian at the Santa Anita racetrack in California.”
“Sounds like a nice place to grow up in,“ I lied through my teeth. “By the way, can I put my backpack on the back of your wheelchair?” I asked casually.
“Yeah, sure.” Ben told me. “No problem.”
There was a small almost invisible slit in the back of the chair for the padding. I smoothly put my Beretta with the extra clip inside the side-padding there as I pretended to fiddle with my backpack.
Ben happily babbled on as we made our way to the track side. He gave me all sorts of tips, even betting tips. He kept talking about surfaces, real turf, and trying to make me understand the differences between starting positions and the like. It was all gibberish to me. But I happily let him prattle on.
Ben told me about horses, training them, riding them, and all other things I had never known about horses. It almost made me see them as something other than dog food. Almost, but not quite.
There were no problems passing through the gates. The security checked my bag, Ben’s bag, our pockets and jackets. But they didn’t know what to look for in a wheelchair really. Or they might have been embarrassed by the fact that Ben was disabled. Some people are like that.
As soon as we were through the gates, I stealthily retrieved my gun and put my backpack back on.
We met up with Ben’s friends, and I waved a cheery goodbye as I left him to his friends. Ben had invited me to join his friends, but I sure hoped that he would never see me again. I wasn’t good company for normal humans.
I couldn’t help but think about Tony. Not that he liked betting, but he and Ben had the same cheerful carefree attitude. They shared the same stupid humor as well. I was grateful for the brief touch of human interaction. It made me feel less freakish, so to speak.
The bleak hard reality made me focus on the task at hand. I had Drummond’s description, but not his scent. And there were several thousands of people here, so it was a daunting task. But not impossible.
From what I had learned, weres were pack creatures, but not all Breeds were pack oriented or even animals. But those that had animal form, no matter what animal they turned into, they formed groups or packs. So, the best way to find a were was to find other weres.
I noticed that the regular humans seemed to instinctively make way for the supernaturals as I moved about. Perhaps instinct told them what no rational thought could reason out – that they were predators.
I guess I had already accepted my condition. Accepted that I was something other than human. Mutated, transformed, changed into a predator or whatever I had become.
Every now and again there were odd gaps in the crowd. A subtle thing more felt than seen, but wherever the gaps appeared, there were supes. Some Ghîla, some Breed, and some Brood. I felt a kind of kinship to them...even to the Ghîla, and that made my skin crawl.
I knew Gemini didn’t feel other supes like I did. She had no innate sense of where or what a supe was. She could use her sight, smell, taste to identify a supe. Or even use her mind-mojo thing to get a feel for another supe, but it didn’t come without an effort as it did to me.
People were standing close together. Even though there was no snow there was a chill in the air. Small puffs of steam came with each breath. I pretended to feel the chill. Hugging myself as I walked around. The supes, almost without fail, didn’t seem to feel the cold.
Stolen novel; please report.
So far, my acting talent and my ability to hide my scent and power had been enough to make me pass for a human. Or perhaps a human with supe ancestry.
Right then and there among humans and supes I understood what Gemini had meant. Humans and supes ran in packs and groups. They needed to be in a group. I didn’t really need that. While I had some new instincts and abilities, the biggest change in me was that I didn’t feel the need to belong to a group. There was a part of me that craved solitude.
I knew I was obsessed with Gemini. I knew we had a special connection – perhaps even real love. An unbreakable bond that tied us together no matter what we wanted. Thank the gods that it seemed that we both wanted whatever this bond gave us. She was mine – I was hers. Nothing would change that.
Still, I wanted solitude. Not only solitude, I wanted a center, my center, a place that was mine. In more ways than just a home. There was a deep sense of rightness with my garage. It fit me in so many ways. I wondered why that was. Why something I had just moved into, felt right. Deep, in the gut right! I loved that it was underground, that it had hidden passages. I loved that it had stone, water - even if it was sewage water - and metals.
Metals? Now, where the hell had the metal thought come from?
That was when I realized that I wasn’t a mimic. There was something else to what I was. I felt I had a place of power within me. A well of power or a reserve that was out of reach. Somehow, I knew I wasn’t limited to what my physical body could do or hold. It also wasn’t something I could just will into happening. I felt I had more power, but I had no idea how to really use it or access it. What I could feel was the pressure building of that untapped power growing.
So Gemini was probably right - I was most likely headed towards insanity. I just hoped that I would have the strength to finish myself off before I went mad. No-one should have to end the life of a loved one. If she had to it would destroy her, and wasn’t going to do that to her. No matter what the cost.
I must have stood like that for some time, because when I focused the people nearby were glancing nervously at me. I gave my audience a wide grin and walked away.
Every now and then I met a supe. A lot of predators. No werewolves, but other Breeds and some Broods. You could say that all were predators. Some of those I passed had been around werewolves, though, the scent lingered. The secondary scents, the overlay if you would, was fresh enough, but there were none of the scents I knew.
I didn’t know how many packs there were in the city. Not even how many werewolf packs there were. Did they all see Derek Carpenter as leader? Did other weres follow the Dockside Pack? Did they have alliances? I already knew that Dominic was out and about riling up the packs of Chicago to go after me. But how many weres were there in the city?
I guess I had been too occupied with Gemini to pay real attention to what I was supposed to do. My brain had shut off in favor of my libido. I mean, I didn’t feel it was wrong to have had most of my attention on Gemini, but I could perhaps have asked some more questions about the situation I was charging into. Yeah, I was a dog.
Playing the bumbling human I walked around the whole place. I tried to keep all the scents separated, but it was hard. Thousands scents, both animal, human, and supernatural scrambled my brain when I tried to separate them as I tracked the werewolf scent. My brain wasn’t used to me using my abilities to the fullest and I could feel the beginning of a headache coming.
It had started to rain, an icy rain that got people scurrying. People were seeking any possible shelter, swearing about the weather and how it would affect their favorite nag.
The cool drops on my face eased my headache a bit.
I went higher up the stands and positioned myself so that I would have a good view of the lower level. I had Phil Drummond’s description, and I knew supes when I saw them. I kind of felt them when they passed close enough. It was my supe radar that bleeped if they came close.
Phil Drummond wasn’t your ordinary werewolf. My background checks told me he was well mannered, middle class looking, and financially well off despite his gambling. He was obsessive in much of his habits. Obsessive about order, obsessive about neatness, obsessive about rules – he was an anal retentive werewolf squared. He must have had a really shitty childhood.
There were silent dick measuring going on the lower levels by the supernaturals. Dominance games and flaunting power, so that a pecking order was established. None of this was noticed by the humans. At least not on a conscious level. Hierarchy was important to the supe community. It seemed almost more important than breathing.
I was pretty sure that all supes had the same deficiency that thrill seekers, compulsive gamblers, and so on, had. Gambling, extreme sports, fighting, and anything illegal would be right up their alley.
I was standing so that anyone would have a hard time seeing enough of me to recognize me. I, on the other hand, had perfect view of the sections below. I kept fiddling with the leaflets as if I was reading up on the horses. The promotion screen that partially hid me was made of some synthetic gauze that was see-through when I stood behind it, but it would be hard to see through it from below.
Movement that didn’t really fit in registered as I scanned the crowd. I noticed some real nervous supes walking away towards the main entrance. I couldn’t tell what kind of supes they were from the distance but the three were moving like weres. None of them really fit the description of Phil Drummond. From the distance and angle, it was hard to say anything about who they were, other than supes that is.
I wasn’t sure if I should take the chance and follow them or wait. It was the obvious nervousness, that they were so ill at ease that made up my mind. Since no-one else acted weird or out of place, this bunch was probably my best bet.
Keeping a healthy distance and an eye behind me I started following them.
The trick of following people, not that my prey was people, is to make sure you’re not too focused. You need to move like you just happen to be walking in the same direction. You can’t let your target’s movement dictate yours, because that will give you away. If the target moves in the opposite direction you can’t directly mirror your target, so you wait for the target to make their moves and then you can act.
Sounds easy? Well it’s not. To be able to follow efficiently you must be willing to lose your target for a while.
I joined up with another group that seemed to be headed the same way. We went out through the main entrance and moved across the parking lot. None of the people in the group seemed to mind that I walked with them. They even tried to get me into their discussion about how to play position and odds. Since the big race was some hours away, they were headed to their cars for some ”refreshments.” I was promptly ordered to accompany them to have at least one beer.
When they learned this was my first race they got all mushy in reminiscence, just like Ben. What the hell was it with racetrack people and their first time at the tracks? They got all teary-eyed and sighed looking like they remembered their first love or something.
The Breed group was fifty meters ahead of me heading towards the far side of the area, towards the warehouses and empty lots on the other side of Cicero Avenue. They were werewolves alright; I had caught their scents as I followed them. They moved quickly, but not with obvious supernatural speed.
There were people gathered outside for a whole race day. They had pitched small tents and even brought barbecues and were grilling and smoking meat. I accepted a beer from a guy named Phil, who said it would bring me luck to accept a beer from him. With a lot of cheers and claps on the back as I accepted the beer, they continued with giving me a smoked turkey leg and sandwich with brisket. I was getting a bit hungry so I gladly accepted.
I had no need to follow the weres too closely. I could track them anywhere, now that I had their scent and they did really stand out. The weres walked in full view from where my new, very drunk, and generous friends and I were standing. I saw the weres cross the road and follow it north. The area the seemed to be heading towards was an industrial area. I was in no hurry and could wait in the parking lot with the race fanatics until they disappeared from view.
My new friends were trying to teach med racing and horse puns – they were not funny. I did wonder briefly why I seemed to attract weirdos. These horse people were as weird as any I had ever met.
I quickly checked what kind of properties and how the area across the road looked like in satellite images on my phone. The only thing that was closest were a truck driving school and some gas and petroleum industries, and I seriously doubted that they were going for driving lessons. No, there was something else going on.
After they had disappeared, I saw another figure cross the road from the other way. I knew that silhouette even from this distance – it was Dominic. If that bastard was involved, then there was no telling what was going down. I was pretty sure his hatred of me could move him to make a deal with the Devil to kill me.
I guess he and I weren’t that different. Not really. Dominic hated what I was, but Gemini had taken my side in this. That last look he had given me in that alley showed me all I needed to know about his motives. Hate and jealousy were powerful feelings and I was the focus of both. He was not going to back down. I knew that. I hated the people who had killed Tony and I couldn’t let that go.
I left my drinking buddies and headed after Dominic and the other three. I ran quickly over the parking lot and crossed the road. I made my way to the corner of the service road where Dominic and the others had turned. They were at the end of the road and kept going into what looked like an abandon lot with some trees and bushes.
Instead of going up the same road I turned back and made my way back a bit and hid my movement behind the hedge that ran parallel to their path. I picked up the pace and ran silently all the way to the end of the hedge and then turned in to a cluster of trees. It was really small and smelled of dog piss and bird shit.
I didn’t like that it was in the middle of the day. The time was not ideal for a confrontation. But you couldn’t get everything you wished for. I would have to play the cards that I was dealt.
I pulled my gun, screwed the silencer on, and chambered a round.
Making my way slowly closer, I kept bushes and an earthen wall between me and the open space where Dominic and the others were. I tried to keep as low as possible without looking like a cartoon villain skulking around, but I needed to keep low and really quiet.
Climbing over the earthen wall, I crouched low and waited to hear if anyone had heard me approaching. Nothing moved near me and the muted voices I heard hadn’t changed tone or anything to indicate that they were aware of anything out of the ordinary.
“Derek is going down no matter what, Phil” Dominic’s voice said evenly. “The question is whether you’ll take down the mimic? So far Gemini and Nahanha are on her side. At least for the time being.”
A low growl. “Do you really think I will betray my Mael? I ought to...“
“Oh, please! Are you going to challenge me?” Dominic growled back.
“No.” The growl ended. “But threats won’t help you.”
“Drummond,” Another voice said, “we need to get out of here. If Derek finds out, we’re dead!”
“We're just looking up rumors. Derek must know these things, so shut the fuck up!” A growl enforced the dominance.
Dominic laughed. “You pissed in the wrong pool, Phil, but there’s no need for anyone but Derek to pay the price. Unless you help me, the mimic is going to track you down and kill you. She's taken some kind of oath to see you, Lexi, Martin, and Derek dead. There’s no talking her out of it.”
“So you expect me to just let my Mael die and cover my own skin? You think that the Thorpe will accept it?” Phil asked.
“That isn’t up to you or me, and you know it! So why not deal with things you can deal with? Do you want to die? Together we can take her down!”
I had Phil Drummond there. Within my reach. I also had Dominic and two unknowns. So, the question was: what was I to do?
While they were bickering, I considered my options. I hadn’t heard or sensed anyone close by. The only sounds so far came from the traffic. There were no nearby houses or buildings. I had essentially the perfect situation. Except for the daylight.
I stepped out from behind the small cluster of bushes with my gun raised. Fifteen meters from me stood Dominic and Phil. It had to be Phil, because the other two stood several paces away from them.
Without hesitating I took aim and shot Phil in the center mass with two fast shots. Before they could react, I had shot the two unknown werewolves in the stomach. Then I followed up with two shots to Phil Drummond’s head.
Dominic flinched when I shot who I hoped was Phil. He got over it fast and jumped towards me thinking me occupied, but I was already done. I stepped out of the way and fired near Dominic’s feet. “Don’t!” I warned.
“You!” Dominic spat.
“Yeah. Don’t even think about it, Dominic. I’ve got white gold bullets, so if you get hit it would take a shitload of time before you got it out and could shift again.”
He growled and backed away slowly.
“You two! “ I said the to the shot but alive werewolves. “Tell Derek that I’m coming for him! And get the fuck out of here before I cut off your heads and mail them to him!” The low growl I let loose made them scramble back.
They took one look at their pack mate, flopping around like a newly landed fish and then they ran away with their tail between their legs.
“Freak!” Dominic spat.
“Yeah,” I said tiredly. “You’re probably right about that. Not that I give a flying fuck about you.”
Dominic’s growl turned vicious.
“Tell it someone who cares, Dominic!”
“Gemini can’t help you now!” Dominic voice was cold.
“Well, I don’t need her to deal with you.” I said in the same tone.
“She won’t be helping you at all, Maria!”
There was something in his voice. Something in his stance that was off. He had a mad glint in his eyes that told me he had done something to Gemini.
I felt for the link I share with Gemini. I knew she was alive by the connection, but that I couldn’t get anything else off the link, meant she would probably be unconscious.
“What have you done?” My growl was a promise of certain death.
“She’s alive. But Cyrus will hold her until this is over!”
My blood turned cold. I had heard that name. But only in connection with Jacobi Bore. That meant that Gemini would be dead soon if I couldn’t do something about it!”
“I’ll kill you, Dominic, if she is harmed!” I said in a low voice. “I should kill you anyway, but Gemini would hate me for it. But you made a biiiiig mistake, Dom. A really big mistake. You have sold her out to the people who want her dead. Derek is working with Jacobi, but Cyrus is backing Jacobi. So, congratulations, Dominic, you might just have killed Gemini.”
“No, they won’t kill her. I have assurances, so they wouldn’t dare.”
“God, you’re stupid!” I snarled. “You think that would hold them back. They’re trying to start a war, you fuckwit!”
“They promised to deliver her to Jihan. She might not belong to me, but you – you are mine!” He jumped at me hands already turned to claws.
I jumped almost before Dominic and met Dominic in mid-air. His claws slashed my clothes, but my claws dug into the side of his face and neck.
I twisted and landed in a crouch. “I’m going to tear you to pieces!”
“But if you kill me, she will come to hate you for it. Either way I win.”
“Oh, I won’t kill you today. I’ll just tear you to shreds!”
As I spoke, Dominic turned into a half-form. I wished I could do that.
Dominic came at me again. This time in his half-from and he was fucking huge. Near two hundred kilos would be my guess, and the colored stripes in his skin and fur, marked him as a weretiger.
I did not change. I did not dare to do that.
I ducked under Dominic’s swing and hit him in the chest with all of my power. I could hear his ribs breaking. Not cracking – breaking – as he was thrown several meters. That didn’t take the fight out of him. No sooner had he landed before he threw himself at me again.
This time Dominic got a grip on my shoulder and his claws dug deep. I grunted in pain as I stepped into his momentum forcing him to let go. He ripped my shoulder to pieces as he twisted around.
My body was already trying to heal the damage, and I could feel the heat as my body kicked into overdrive to keep up with the strain I was putting on it.
I let Dominic in close and locked his arms with my own. I used my Muay Thai skills and hit him with my knee him in the kidneys several times before I heaved and rolled throwing him over me as I fell backwards. As he was thrown, he managed to give me a punch at the side of my head that made my ears ring.
Again, no sooner had he hit the ground than he flew back at me, but a bit more carefully this time. He was fast, but I was faster still.
He started to used his reach to keep away from me, not letting me close. He learned quickly, I’d give him that. He landed kicks and punches that made me see stars while keeping his distance. Since I couldn’t get him to close with me, I had to wait for an opportunity where I could move in instead. When the next attack came, I continued to back way forcing Dominic to follow me. For the next couple of attacks he had to move forward to try and reach me.
Then I made a move like I was going to back off, but when Dominic attacked, I stepped into it. I deflected the punch with my forearm making him open up his guard. As he tried to turn with the block, I sneaked in an upward open-handed blow to his chin as his momentum carried him forward.
Dominic practically flipped around, twisted, and landed hard. Before he could get fully up again, I was on him. With a viscous right hook I broke his ribs from the back and probably drove them into his lung. Unfortunately, his heart was on the other side; otherwise I would have had a good chance of driving his ribs through his heart. He bucked and tried to hit me with a backhand, giving me the opportunity to duck and step around to the front of him kicking his knee as I stepped under the wild swing. As he went down, I followed up with breaking his arm and kicking his head.
“Where have they taken her?” I hissed into Dominic’s ear.
“I don’t know,” Dominic slurred.
“You probably don’t. If Gemini is dead, I’ll come back, Dominic! I’ll gut you and hang you up on a wall so I can watch you die! You hear me you piece of shit?”
I stood up and kicked him hard in the head. As thick as he was, he wouldn’t be out for long. Weird thing was that when he went unconscious his form turned back to fully human. I could only hope that he was still out when the cops showed up. He would have a hard time explaining a dead body.
Now I needed to find Nahanha and tell her that Cyrus had Gemini. Somehow I thought there were few worse messages I could deliver to her. I wasn’t sure about the connection between Nahanha and Gemini, but that Nahanha did care in some twisted way was beyond question.