The Darkest Whisper (Lords of the Underworld #4)(80)
Author: Gena Showalter

“Better head into town,” Torin suddenly said, drawing her attention from the monitors, his voice no longer dryly amused. “Just got a text from Sabin. Aeron and Paris are injured and being stuffed inside a van, Hunters are swarming and Sabin’s about to initiate battle.”

Gwen’s stomach twisted painfully. “Where are they?”

“I’ve got a tracker in Sabin’s cell and it’s showing his location as two miles north of here. Head out the back door and down the hill. Don’t take any turns and you’ll run right into him.”

“Thanks.” She needed weapons. Lots and lots of weapons. An image of the chest in Sabin’s closet filled her mind. Perfect! She spun on her heel, meaning to stalk out of Torin’s bedroom.

“Oh, and Gwen.”

She turned, faced him.

He opened a map of the surrounding forest on the far computer screen, a red line highlighting the way. “There are traps here, here and here, so be careful as you descend or you’ll be blindsided.”

“Thank you.” With another sigh, she raced to Sabin’s bedroom. The chest was no longer locked, thanks to her sisters, and nearly picked clean. There was only a gun and a knife. She took both. There’d been no time to train with a semiautomatic yet, but pointing and shooting didn’t sound too difficult.

“Here goes,” she muttered, wings fluttering frantically. Out of the fortress and down the hill she raced, not even glancing at the SUV parked in back. In Harpy form, she could get there faster.

The two-mile trek took her less than a minute to make. And it only took that long because she had to dodge the Lords’ booby traps. The town was bursting with pedestrians. Thankfully, blur that she was, no one had spotted her yet. Some felt her, though, looking confused as she breezed by and wind caressed them.

Once she reached her destination she continued moving swiftly, eyes drinking in the scene. A group of military types surrounded an open van. As Torin had said, there were two unconscious men lying inside. Three guards crouched beside them, guns at the ready, smoke wafting from their barrels.

There was not a driver in front. Odd, she thought, until she realized Kane was behind a building and killing anyone who approached the wheel. The front glass was already shattered, blood dripping from the wheel. Four bodies were sprawled outside the open door.

When a Hunter approached him, Kane simply switched locations and hid, keeping his gun trained on the van.

Where was Sabin?

Why weren’t humans screaming?

Even as she questioned herself, her gaze fell on a young girl who had her arms outstretched. A soft voice whispered through Gwen’s mind: Stay calm. Go home. Forget that you came into town. Forget what you saw.

That beguiling voice made Gwen want to do as it suggested, the memories already fading, her body already spinning toward the fortress. Perhaps she would have obeyed completely if not for her Harpy. The dark side of her nature squawked and clawed inside her mind, drowning out the voice, reminding her of her purpose.

What should I do? And what was up with all the kids she was suddenly seeing? One of them, a little boy, was moving through the town almost as fast as Gwen was. Only reason she saw him was that he left a slight trail of light in his wake. He was obviously searching for the Lords, and when he spotted one—Cameo, this time—he stopped and began to yell.

Frowning, clearly reluctant to hurt him, Cameo grabbed the boy and pinched his carotid. He went down like a brick. Sweat ran down her face, along her chest, soaking her T-shirt to her body. Gwen had never seen the female warrior so upset and tired.

But at least one question had been answered. The kids were obviously helping the Hunters.

There was an infuriated growl behind her. “Come out, come out wherever you are. You can’t beat us, and you can’t call for reinforcements. We’ve got your friends. You’ve never been more ripe for the plucking.”

Gwen spun, but another voice called out, “Why don’t you give yourselves up, save yourselves the humiliation of failing?”

“You claim you’re not evil—well, now’s the time to prove it! Turn yourselves over to us and give us the girl. Let us find a way to remove the demons from your bodies. Help us return the world to what it once was—good and right and pure.”

“Maybe beg us for forgiveness, too,” a male sneered. “Had you been locked up as intended, sickness would never have been introduced into the world and my son would still be alive.”

Wow, Gwen mused. Hunters really were fanatics. As if the Lords were responsible for all of the world’s evil. Humans had free will. Hunters, too. They’d chosen to lock Gwen up. They’d chosen to rape females of the otherworld. That made the Hunters evil—and unworthy of mercy.

Someone screamed, drawing Gwen’s attention. Her eyes widened when she saw Sabin dance through a mass of men, two daggers clutched in his hands. His arms moved gracefully, slicing through humans with lethal procession. One by one they fell around him.

Nearly every inch of his clothes was bright crimson, as though his entire body was cut up. Hopefully, that was not the case. Hopefully, he wore his enemy’s blood.

Gwen felt the now familiar surge of her Harpy taking over, mind and body, nothing holding it back. At first, she experienced her instinctive fear. Then the fear faded. I can do this. I will do this. Her vision tunneled to red and black, and her mouth watered for a taste of that sweet red nectar. Her hands itched to hurt…maim.

Just before she gave over completely, she thought: Please don’t hurt Sabin or his friends. Please don’t hurt the children. Please take as many as you can to the fortress and lock them up. That’s what Sabin would want.

Wings swishing more frantically than ever, Gwen scooped up the sleeping child Cameo had taken down—don’t hurt, don’t hurt, don’t hurt—and carted his motionless body with her as she swooped through the masses and chop-blocked Hunters, fractured their kneecaps so they couldn’t stand and slammed the hilt of her blade into their temples.

Should have brought the SUV, after all, she thought as she gathered one of the unconscious Hunters in her other arm and headed toward the fortress. She deposited her cargo in one of the dungeon cells and rejoined the fray. The total journey took five minutes. She repeated the action sixteen times before realizing she was shaking, slowing a little. The crowd, at least, was thinning.

Sabin was still on his feet and Cameo was at his back, each dispatching threats from a different direction. Kane still had his weapon trained on the van.