Chapter 17

Luke finally came around and blinked his eyes open. His vision was blurry and blood had drier around his eyes making it hard for him to open them. A sharp pain zipped right through the middle of his head. He couldn’t remember most of the fight, but he’d been outnumbered and had taken a brutal beating.

Cassie, he thought drowsily, but a sense of alarm overtook him and he forced himself into proper consciousness and tried to access her through their bond. Cassie!

“I’m here!” he voice called out to his ears, but his hearing was fuzzy and it seemed as if was strained. “I’m okay, Luke.”

“Cassie…” he forced out, but all that came was a weak whisper.

“Stay still, lady,” someone ordered. Luke heard footsteps nearing. A hand across his palm turned his face to the sides.

“We have blood to clean up,” a person said. “Get me another kit here.Some anesthetic, too.”

****

“Why are you helping us?” Cassie asked through the tremor in her voice. The chimera in the white mask gave her a look and rolled her eyes. She was a strange looking beauty. Her face was exposed by the receding black and silver fur toward the center of her face. She had no snout, but full lips and a wolf’s nose with golden eyes framed by dark lashes and full brows. Her ears stood to attention and gleamed under the fluorescent lighting.

“We aren’t helping you,” the male chimera said as he tended to Luke who had fallen unconscious again. “We need you in good condition to get some information out of you.”

“We won’t tell you anything,” she growled. The female chimera only chuckled.

“You won’t,” she said in a surprisingly deep voice, “your minds will.”

“There’s nothing there that will be useful to you,” Cassie said just a defiantly, to which the chimeras scoffed and laughed at.

“You’re cute, sweetheart.” She chuckled with a shake of Cassie’s chin in her palm. The Luna snatched her face away and the chimera only smirked, walking away with a sway of her hips toward a table of medical aid supplies.

Cassie felt helpless and reached out to Luke through their bond, but it was clear he was in deep oblivion and not waking up anytime soon. She did not dare let her strong demeanor waver, though. She could only hope she’d get help somehow from somewhere. Anyhow, and from anywhere. If there was anyone else she could reach out to…

And maybe she could, but there was no way she could dare put Violet in any danger. She then remembered Diana’s warning about letting the alarms go off, and she hoped the wolf Luna was serious. Maybe help could arrive soon then.

****

Ivanna breathed deeply as Fergus explained all that had happened over the phone. Nina wanted to know desperately but she couldn’t afford to deal with sobbing messes and simply told her it was an emergency situation within the community. She needed to take immediate action.

“Mitch, you’re coming with me,” she said darkly as she strapped daggers to her belt. She reached for a tall cabinet and pulled the doors away, taking out a sniper along with a slim box, punching in a code and popping it open and loading the sniper with the bullets in it. Mitch had read a lot about the beings of the realm but seeing that Ivanna had to resort to ammunition now made him uneasy, but also sent a strange thrill through him.

“What’s happening?” he asked as he put on his shoes.

“Cassie and Luke have been captured by the chimeras,” she explained while strapping the sniper to her back. “We need to go in on a rescue mission and base annihilation.”

“And Viria?”

“No updates, but she’ll be okay. Her familiars and the High Council are on high alert for any of her orders.”

Mitch felt something was off because they were supposed to receive bihourly alerts, but it had been five minutes past the designated time now. They left Viria’s office and were met by the High Council strapped in gear and heading for the stairs.

“What’s happened?” Ivanna asked as she marched with them.

“Viria’s phone has scheduled alerts and we’re receiving no signals on her end,” Blake explained. “I don’t want to think of the worst but we’re taking precautionary measures.”

“Will you need anyone else?” she asked with a glance toward Mitch.

“We’ll call.” He nodded. “Your situation.”

“Don’t say a word to Nina,” she said. “Cassie and Luke are being held hostage by the chimeras.”

Blake froze in his steps and everyone crashed into his back. He held his ground and turned to them. “Grippin, Yale, Fae, I need you to go with Ivanna.”

No questions were asked as they left. The five of them headed toward the Council quarters and teleported straight to the den. Fergus was busy trying to get Diana to calm down so they got straight to work.

“Wait,” Mitch said, “save your magic, I can see their energies.”

“You can do that?” Ivanna asked, impressed.

“It’s a pretty recent thing,” he explained. “The two must’ve been injured for it to flow out. Come on.”

Mitch led the way right into the woods. The thick foliage kept out the moonlight and it was getting hard to see, but Mitch powered on past the tree trunks and over turned roots. The witches and wizard were finding it hard to keep up and had to resort to magic to see. It didn’t take long before they came to a large green container horrible rusted from the years. Nature had taken over it, vines and shrubberies climbing and twining around it to make a home, and it was almost impossible to make out if it was a container at all.

The group approached it with caution, but Mitch held up a hand and gestured for them to stay away. Knowing their own kind, the chimeras wouldn’t be immune to a change in scent. Ivanna realized she should’ve brought the anti-odor spray Viria used on herself before every break in mission. Ivanna never had to break and sneak around for information like Viria had to, and she had no idea what precautions she had to take exactly. But Ivanna figured they wouldn’t be able to get away without a fight.

Mitch backed away and waved his hand for the others to do the same.

“Stick to the trees,” he said. “Stay there until I give the signal.”

“What’s the situation?”

“There are only two chimeras inside,” he relayed, “but from what I’m picking up, more are on the way. We’re going to either act fast while it’s just two of them, or wait it out until the others arrive and leave.”

“What makes you think they’ll leave?” Blake asked.

“They should to hunt to eatat some point,” he said. “They’re not all that strong and need to eat soon.”

“Wow, you can tell all that?” Fae said.

“Now, I can.”

They took to the trees and stayed close by each other.

“Listen,” Ivanna whispered to Mitch, “I think I should take them out with my tranquilizers. Viria was an absolute mess and she’d never taken such a beating before. I really don’t think we’ll come out in a fight.”

“I was thinking the same thing…” he admitted, “but should they be immune to the tranquilizers?”

“Let’s hope otherwise,” she said.

Mitch zeroed in on the ground under the trailer. He knew the earth itself was a graveyard, and he could see plenty of animals and people beneath to call upon. He would have to get closer, but he knew the dead there could help.

They waited. Mitch could see the chimeras energies falling lower and that they were starting to exit. He signaled to Ivanna to ready her gun and she immediately cocked the sniper onto her shoulder.

“You really think this rescue mission should be all that easy?” Fae whispered.

“Pray that it is,” Mitch replied. “Not everything needs to be extremely difficult.”

A click, and a swish of air later Ivanna announced one down…

“Or not,” she grunted. “They intercepted it.”

Mitch looked toward them. The chimeras were looking right at them. With a sigh, he stood up and took control of as much dark energy as he could around himself, taking hold of every dead thing around him.

“I’ll cover you guys,” he said. “I can’t be killed no matter what they do.”

****

Cassie was trying to process the conversation she and Cicily, the female chimera, had just had before they left to hunt. It confused her, but she understood that there was a considerable amount of brainwashing done on them. These chimeras were lied to. They were born adults and fed only one thing repeatedly beforebein let out into the world to train. The shifter were their enemies. They could not accept beings that were in-between like he chimeras were.

“Think of it as hermaphrodites in a community of cisgenders,” she said.

“But we’ve never even come across a chimera in our lives until now!” Cassie cried out.

“Chimeras are rare and I wouldn’t expect everyone to come across them,” she said, “but they have been treated as outcasts and it will be no longer tolerated. We know you want us finished, but this time, we will finish you guys.”

“Who told you all this?” Cassie demanded. Cicily only looked away as she filled up a syringe with clear liquid. She approached her, squirting some of the liquid out of the needle.

“We stand with those who understand our pain and accept the truth,” she said. What threw the Luna off was a hint of uncertainty in the chimeras eyes, “We are not mindless robots that follow orders unless we feel the need to. This cause is something all of us are willing to contribute to. Oppression will not be accepted and oppressors shall buckle.”

Cassie said nothing but she knew that the hint of certainty in her would be enough to work on and expose her to the truth. She wasn’t sure how she was going to do it, but she knew someone could anyway. These people were simply misguided.

She did not struggle against Cicily’s hold as she pressed onto her arm to pin point a vein. Nor did she wince when she pricked into her skin and ejected the serum.

“We stand with the truth, Cassie,” she said. “And we turn easily when it is proven otherwise.”

Cassie had some hope.

****

Mitchcalled for the dead to rise. Skeletons of squirrels, birds, dogs, and other animals went scurrying after the chimeras. Dead roots sprung from the ground like snakes and shot themselves out of the soil. The chimeras were taken by surprise and it was obvious this was something they hadn’t yet deal with. But their claws shot out and cut through whatever it could, dismantling bones and slicing at dead plants. Mitch was quick and summoned more from behind them and they were soon wrapped up and held down by dead vines and carcasses. They struggled against their binds as Mitch neared them. Ivanna and her team had moved as soon as Mitch had let loose the attack. Fae couldn’t help but take a look behind her as soon as they reach the container’s door, and she regretted it instantly. The sight was the most scariest she’d seen in quite a while.

Mitch’s skin was pulled apart all over as if someone had put droplets of acid on his it, eaten away holes oozing out black and purple energy from them. His eyes were liquid silver swimming around in his sockets, his hair a purple flame atop his head. She couldn’t comprehend what she was looking at, but the idea of evolution did not seem all too appealing anymore now.

The chimeras withered, eyes going silver. They froze.

“Rise,” he commanded them. The binds fell away and the chimeras did as Mitch asked. Fae was stunned. Mitch watched the two as he slowly returned to normal, but the chimeras stayed put and entranced. The ghoul was cautious as he circled them, inspecting them well.

“You will follow us back and bring us no harm,” he said, “You will tell us about everything we ask.”

“Yes, master,” they said in unison. Mitch looked uneasy and looked past the two at Fae. She was absolutely white.

“This is another new thing,” he explained. “Anyway, get these two quick. There are more coming and I won’t be able to hold them all off.”