Chapter 19

Chapter Nineteen

Sammy stood in the darkened room, with someone's hand over her mouth as they held her from behind. She'd been walking down the hallway, in search of Wheeler, when all of a sudden, someone had yanked her into an examination room.

She was just about to elbow the person in the stomach when they spoke.

"Shh, the hybrid dicks are here," said Bill in a hushed whisper.

Sammy tugged his hand from her mouth, and then realized her lips tasted a lot like mayonnaise. She didn't even want to know why.

Turning to face him, she waited a second as her eyes adjusted to the low light. Bill's outline was clearly visible. "What?"

"Quiet," he said softly. "Them lab-made evil dick-knobs will hear. They're looking for you and Dead-Wheel."

It hit her then: Abel was at the clinic and, from the sounds of it, he wasn't alone. Fear for Wheeler consumed her and she made a move to run for the closed door.

Bill grabbed her and yanked her back to him with a grunt and a wince.

She would have yelled at him for stopping her, but the way he favored his other arm let her know he was injured. "How bad are you hurt?"

He grunted. "It's nothing but a scratch."

"Bill," she said, keeping her voice as low as possible. "What happened and how bad are you really hurt?"

He sighed. "Calls started coming in about shit going down around the city. Like a lot of shit. PSI and them Regs folks were responding but from the sounds of it, they were stretched thin. Blondie made the decision to provide backup. He sent the Doublemint Twins off one way and him and Frenchie went in the other in their SUV. The commie stayed here to babysit. I told ‘em I didn't need no stinkin' babysitter. They didn't listen. So I got Sput-Rurik glaring at me and breathin' down my throat."

It took Sammy a minute to translate all of what the eccentric man had said. When she was done, she was fairly sure she'd gotten it all. "You're saying Garth and the men who were here went to help other men? That he and Auberi went in one SUV while Car and Mac went in another? And that Rurik stayed behind at the clinic just in case he was needed?"

Bill let out a low groan. "Yes, woman. That's exactly what I said. Why repeat it?"

"No reason," she said with a roll of her eyes. "But you're telling me the bad guys are here now?"

"Yep. They were smart. They lured Rurik outside. Then they jumped him," said Bill. "Fuckers don't even fight with honor."

Sammy's breath caught. "Is he dead?"

"I don't know. I'm not the damn Russian whisperer. I don't know how much those shifters can take and live to tell the tale. I've seen some get handed their asses and still come out of the other side okay, but he's pretty messed up. And he wasn't moving. Takes a lot to keep a guy like him down."

She imagined it did.

Closing her eyes a moment, she did her best to avoid panicking. It was difficult.

She took a deep breath. "How did you get hurt and how bad is it? Ohmygod, where is Gus?"

"Gus is fine. I put him in the broom closet. He wasn't happy but I pointed out all the cleaning stuff and I think that helped. He's a big fan of organization and clean stuff," said Bill as if that would solve everything. "I got hurt killing one of them hybrid fucks. He slammed into me and I think he broke my arm. It's all right though. I got the last laugh. I had a mop with me from the closet as a weapon. Wasn't the best weapon I ever had but turns out, wasn't the worst either. Still got it in here with me. The asshole hybrid slammed into me and in the process, impaled himself on the mop handle. He'd be the pile of ashes in the lobby if you're wondering."

She worked hard to avoid freaking out. Did the bad guys have a factory that they spit out replacements every hour? It felt that way. "H-how many of them are there?"

"I don't know for sure. I killed one. There were six dead ones by Rurik out back. From the trail of blood leading away from his body, he did some damage on at least one more before they managed to take him down. I saw three more creeping through the clinic. Plus, you gotta count in them mashed-up monster things the hybrid dicks sometimes travel with. Ran into one once in a sex club and I lost track of the number of eyeballs it had."

"What?" she asked, her voice raising without her meaning for it to. Something had a bunch of eyeballs? He had to be embellishing, right?

Bill had to be making it all up.

Then again, from what she'd learned so far tonight, monsters came out of mirrors, so who knew.

Bill kept going. "Then there's some guy they were talking about. Abe-Lick-My-Balls or something."

"Abel?" she asked.

"Yeah," returned Bill. "Sounds like he's got a real hard-on for Dead-Wheel and you. That's why I came for you when I heard you in the hall. I didn't want none of them getting you."

"Thank you," she said before thinking about the fact Wheeler was all alone against that many men.

She then thought of the aftermath at the gallery. He'd taken on numerous men there as well and left dead bodies and heads affixed to sprinklers in his wake. While he was more than capable of handling himself and more than one bad guy at a time, he was also grabbing her something to eat. Would they catch him off guard? Had they already gotten to him?

Then there was Rurik, who may or may not be alive. Someone needed to check on him and warn Wheeler.

The panic she'd been working so hard to avoid hit her full force.

She began to pace and then tried again to go for the door.

Bill grabbed her with his good arm. "Nope. Not on my watch, sister. I ain't lost one of the guys' mates yet and today isn't the day I start."

She was about to argue when the hair on the back of her neck rose. The urge to move Bill out of harm's way came over her, and she respected her gut feeling. She tugged on Bill, pulling him to the side just as the door burst inward.

A massive form filled the doorway.

The hall light backlit the person, who looked anything but human, with his contorted face, long, jagged teeth, and glowing yellow eyes. If they could look like that, they could totally have more than two eyes.

Screaming sounded like a great plan but nothing came out of her mouth when she opened it. Shock had a funny way of showing itself.

The creature snarled and stepped into the room more.

Bill tried to put himself in its path. "Dr. Moreau ain't seeing patients today, motherfucker."

As gallant as it was that Bill was trying to protect her, he was going to end up hurt worse. That or killed.

She couldn't allow that to happen.

Sammy closed her eyes and focused, willing her natural-born abilities to manifest and come in for the assist.

Nothing happened.

Deflated but not yet defeated, Sammy tried again, this time with her eyes open, thinking about the times in her life when it had happened before. It was then she felt the change in air pressure around her. All the hair on her arms stood on end and the light behind the creature, cascading in from the hallway, flickered.

"Bill, get down!" she shouted.

Much to her delight, the man listened. He dropped just as blue sparks came from Sammy's hands. The sparks were small at first but enough to catch the creature's attention. It stared at her hands just as a massive arc of electricity shot forth from her, right at the thing.

The electricity lifted the creature off its feet and sent it flying into the wall on the other side of the hallway. It then caused the creature to fully ignite.

Sammy watched in stunned disbelief as the thing burned to a crisp, sliding to the floor, looking like something left in the wake of hot lava. It was super gross. Bile rose in her throat, but she managed to avoid vomiting.

It was difficult, especially with the smell of burnt flesh and hair surrounding her.

Bill came up alongside her and nodded at the damage she'd inflicted. "Nice. You're a bad-guy zapper. You're better-looking than a bug zapper though. We ain't gotta plug you in or anything, do we?"

She stepped out into the hallway. "I don't think I can do it on command. It just kind of—"

A dark blur came at her from the right, and she turned in time to see some sort of creature coming at her. It took a second for her mind to register what she was looking at because the thing had multiple eyeballs (just as Bill had described) where its face was. Its nose was twisted to one side and its mouth and teeth resembled a shark's.

"Not today, Satan!" shouted Bill. "She'll light your ass on fire!"

Sammy tossed her arms out in hopes of blocking the oncoming freight train. What happened instead, power arced from her hands, directly at the creature. It went airborne as well, hitting the ceiling before burning and falling to the floor.

Bill came to a stop near her, nodding. "Nice. Extra-crispy douchebag."

An eyeball popped out of the burned mess and rolled toward Bill's foot. He bent and retrieved it quickly before shoving it into the pocket of his swim trunks.

Sammy stared at him. "Bill!"

He shrugged. "They wouldn't let me make a finger necklace. I'll make an eyeball one. It ain't like I'm picky or anything."

A commotion from down the hall caught her attention.

All of a sudden a body flew out of an exam room and skittered across the floor. It didn't move and was bent at a strange angle, much like the bodies in the gallery.

Wheeler stepped out of the exam room looking pissed and ready to fight.

Relief swept through Sammy at the sight of her husband. He was alive and looked unharmed.

He glanced her way, and his eyes widened. "Sammy!"

Bill slammed into her, tackling her and knocking her to the floor with a hard thud before rolling with her.

She looked over to see Abel standing where she'd been, sharp talons coming from his fingertips. His face was partially contorted but she knew it was him. She had a feeling she was looking at part of his gargoyle side, and it was ass ugly.

Snarling, he made a move to come at her once more.

Bill withdrew the eyeball from his pocket and threw it at Abel. The eyeball struck the man's forehead and bounced off, rolling back to Bill as if it really did want to be part of his future jewelry line.

He retrieved it just as Wheeler roared, the sound booming throughout the hallway.

Sammy couldn't help but tear her gaze from Abel and look in the direction of her husband. He was there, rotating his neck as his features began to morph.

She just lay there, next to Bill on the hall floor, staring at Wheeler.

His upper half got bigger and turned colors. It was bluish but with areas that darkened to purple. Something fluttered behind him, and at first she thought it was another bad guy until she realized it was wings.

Wheeler's wings, to be exact.

Bill snorted. "Huh, Dead-Wheel can fly? Who knew? You?"

She shook her head as she looked on with wide eyes.

Her husband resembled something that was a mix of a bat and paintings she'd seen of dragons. He looked lethal and pissed. His eyes were a vibrant red now; gone were any traces of his normal color.

"Christ, no one told me he could do that!" shouted a familiar voice from the entrance area.

Bill snorted. "Oh goodie, the Doublemint-Twins are back."

She stared past Wheeler to see Car and Mac there. Blood was smeared on their shirts and they had cuts on their faces and arms, but other than that, they didn't look too bad.

Car nodded to her, putting out his hand. "Lass, come this way. But nae too quick. I do nae know if yer mate is in his right mind at the moment."

Wheeler turned his head partially. He didn't look all the way back at the others as he spoke. "Get…her to…s-safety!"

Mac and Car nodded and ran at Wheeler, zipping past him and sliding onto the floor near Bill and Sammy just as Wheeler took flight. He went right over them all, careening into Abel with a force that shook the entire building.

"Fuck," whispered Car, Mac, and Bill at the same time.

Car helped Sammy to her feet and began feeling all over her.

She swatted at his hand. "What are you doing?"

"Yer bleedin'," he said as if that explained it all.

Bill grunted as Mac got him off the floor. He then hugged his injured arm to his chest. His lip was split and bleeding. "That's my blood."

Car appeared relieved. "Guid. I dinnae want Wheeler gunnin' for me because his woman got hurt."

"Right," said Mac, staring off at Wheeler and Abel, who were locked arm in arm, bouncing back and forth from one side of the hall to the other as they snarled. "I cannae look away."

Sammy grabbed for Car's hands. "Rurik! Bill said he's hurt outside."

"Auberi is tendin' to him," said the Scotsman.

She was about to ask where Garth was when something crashed from the room nearest them. In the next breath, a bad guy's upper half came sliding out of the room on the floor by a force other than its own. She didn't know where the rest of the guy was and didn't want to guess.

Garth stepped out and over the body, dusting off his hands. He glanced down the hall at Wheeler and Abel. His eyes widened. "Fuck."

"That's what we said," added Mac.

"Should we help him?" asked Car, sounding as if he was hoping beyond hope the answer would be no.

Garth shook his head. "I don't think he needs our help."

He was right. Wheeler was clearly beating the crap out of Abel.

"Plus, I do nae want the last thing I see bein' that," added Mac. "I'll have nightmares for weeks."

"Hey," said Sammy, taking offense. "He's not as scary-looking as the thing with a bunch of eyes."

"There was something with a bunch of eyes?" asked Garth.

Bill grinned. "Yep. She electrocuted it."

"That explains the smell," said Garth. He sniffed the air near Bill. "Why do you smell like she burned you too?"

Bill pursed his lips and whistled, looking off in the other direction.

Car sighed and reached into Bill's pocket. He withdrew the charred eye and tossed it at Garth, who caught it in midair.

Garth groaned. "Bill."

"You suck the fun out of everything," whined Bill.

"Where is Gus?" asked Mac, concern in his voice.

Just then, Gus came out of a room down the hall, near where Wheeler and Abel were still fighting. He had a bottle of something in his hand.

Wheeler struck Abel across the face, making Abel stagger to one side, putting his face near Gus.

Gus held out the bottle and sprayed it directly into Abel's face, making the man hiss and grab for his eyes.

Garth sniffed the air dramatically. "Is that disinfectant spray?"

"Aye," said the twins.

Bill snorted. "Gus has always loved cleaning products."

Abel held his face as Wheeler spun him around and punched a clawed hand right through the man's chest. The hand was clearly visible from the other side of Abel. It held something that was pulsing. It took Sammy a second to realize Wheeler was holding Abel's still-beating heart.

"Fuck," she said softly, blinking in shock.

Wheeler roared and ripped his hand back through Abel as the man fell away. He then crushed the heart in his hand and tossed it aside, staring down at Abel, heaving, clearly still worked up.

She made a move to run at her husband, but all the men near her grabbed her at the same time.

"No," said Garth. "Not when he's in that state of mind."

Wheeler glanced at her and closed his eyes a moment. His huge wings folded and vanished into his back. His upper half returned to its normal size and color. And his face suddenly appeared human once more. Blood coated his right arm up to his elbow, but other than that, he looked totally fine.

He bit his lower lip sheepishly. "Uh. Not sure what to say to make this better."

"Don't worry about it," said Bill. "She burned two dudes to a crisp. She's pretty much a badass chick."

Worry filled Wheeler's gaze as he continued to look at her.

The men released her, and she ran right for Wheeler. She hugged him around the waist and squeezed. He made a move to return the embrace, and she stiffened. "Husband, if you get Abel's blood all over me or in my hair after I had to spend twenty minutes in the shower getting out the blood from earlier, I'm going to make you sleep on the sofa for life."

His arms darted out wide. "Noted!"