Santiago circled over the building while he waited for Noah and Ethney to get in position on the ground. Their job was to block the exits to keep anyone from escaping. His job was to light the place up in a fiery inferno so there were no survivors.

They spent the day reconning the place, but no newly bitten lycanthrope were there. From what they learned, new recruits were automatically being transferred to some secret facility until their first transition. Only then were they allowed to leave. Once a person changed from human to lycanthrope, there was no saving him or her. The newly-developed drug by Elena Hawthorne only worked on those who had been bitten, but had yet to change on the full moon. The transition made its victim insane, driving them mad and hungry for blood. One bite was all it took to change a human to a lycanthrope and once that happened, his team only had until the next full moon to distribute the medicine or the human was lost forever.

They really needed to find out where they were taking the new recruits, but they weren’t going to sacrifice innocent lives to get that information. Tonight, the public would be kept safe from the lycanthrope in the area. Considering Chicago was a big city, they had their work cut out for them.

Santiago’s eyes went to the moon-it was nearly at its peak. The lycanthrope would be turning and hunting down their prey within the hour, which meant the time to attack was now.

He flapped his wings, fire rolling along his body as he sank lower to the ground. Drawing in a deep breath, he simultaneously exhaled a massive fireball as orbs of fire rolled off his wings.

The fire hurtled toward the building, hitting three different locations: the roof and the two doors. Santiago drew in another breath and blew more fire toward the building. Flames ignited across the roof the second they touched it. They jumped across the building until the sky was lit up in an orange blaze. Smoke billowed in the air as the fire ate away at the outside of the building.

He flew to the ground and transformed into his alternate self before going to the window where a few scared lycanthrope scampered to exit.

At one time in his lifetime, he tried to save the lycanthrope, hoping he could make them see reason. It had never worked. They were too far gone. It was a shame; these animals had been people once. They had families and loved ones, but their lives had been shattered due to a feud between a god and a goddess centuries ago. It wasn’t right or fair for anyone. The only thing he and his comrades could do was protect others from being hurt, too.

When the window swung open, Santiago didn’t even look, he flexed his hands and hurled a flaming ball of fire inside. It hit the beast, the lycanthrope already halfway in transition, causing him to fall back inside. He hurled another ball inside and then puffed out his chest to blow a stream of fire at the side of the building. Flames danced across the opening, quickly flickering inside. He might not be able to save the souls inside, but he could try to make their deaths as quick as possible.

Sirens cried out in the darkness almost as loud as the screams coming from within the burning walls. Santiago took a few steps back to ensure no one else escaped. It was time for them to go. Hurrying to the side of the building, he met Ethney. A few partially turned lycanthrope had tried to break out, but they lay dead by the mermaid’s feet.

Santiago knelt next to them, placing his hands on their bodies while allowing fire to pass onto them; all evidence needed to be diminished before the police arrived. The bodies turned to ash and he and Ethney hurried to Noah’s side of the building.

Noah was the one man who could safely turn into a lycanthrope without losing his mind, as he was the first one to receive Elena’s injections. While it hadn’t worked as she hoped it would, it had spared the man the insanity of the change while giving him the ability to take the form of a wolf at his will.

“We should go,” Ethney said.

Noah stared at the burning blaze a moment longer before nodding. “Yeah. Let’s go.”

Ethney took Noah’s hand in hers and gave it a squeeze before leading him away. Santiago remembered the anguish he felt when he’d been unable to help. So much death and destruction for nothing. At least with the new drug they were finally starting to turn the tide of war. Perhaps one day soon the Guardians would be obsolete and he could be like Daire--free and mortal. He didn’t dare to hope though.