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She wrapped her other arm around the one she was holding hands with. “I think I can do that.”
As they came around a bend in the path they were walking on, something seemed to come flying out of nowhere. Literally, there was nothing behind which it would have hidden. Had the Master known Nora would never kill him or Colby? Had he really not understood Nora was not one to believe in the ‘no-win scenario?’
The thing was moving so fast, he couldn’t even tell what it was or wasn’t or who it was trying to attack—him or Nora. He pushed her away, assuming it was him. It would be just like the Master to make her watch him die. But instead of coming for him, it turned on Nora.
Snarling and slavering as if it were rabid, it attacked, knocking her to the ground—out of control in its rage and fury. There was something vaguely wolf-like about it, but it was much smaller and seemed to have wings of some sort. What the hell was it?
He batted it away from her, and it ignored him—intent on its only prey, Nora. Nora used the momentary distraction and leapt back to her feet, drawing the knife she had so wisely brought with her. She stabbed at the creature, but it seemed ineffective; partly because not every strike was hitting its mark and partly because the thing seemed impervious to the knife’s lethal blows.
Hutch dove for the ground, close to her ankle with the small, aptly named Hellcat Pro, a compact 9MM handgun. Rolling onto his back, Hutch switched off the manual safety. The thing was moving too fast and too close to Nora, and he was afraid if he fired, he’d miss the creature and hit her. He realized the thing was inflicting a great deal of damage to Nora and something in its saliva must be toxic as she seemed to be slowing down.
He took careful aim, cognizant of the fact that if he fired and hit her, it wouldn’t kill her, but it would make her hit the ground, giving him a much clearer shot at whatever that mutant thing was. Aiming for the creature’s flank, Hutch squeezed the trigger over and over, sending a hail of bullets into the thing. Finally, it seemed to realize he was a threat and turned its attention to Hutch. As it did so, Nora drove her knife through its back, causing the thing to scream in final, feral fury as she pinned it to the ground. They watched it dissolve into a black, gooey, tarry puddle with bullets with the knife sticking up out of the gore.
It was only later that Hutch realized Windsong was monitored by a private satellite as well as drones with a kind of stealth technology. Colby’s people had seen the attack and as Hutch crawled to Nora, he could hear the sound of an approaching helicopter. He checked the number of rounds left in the magazine and brought the firearm up to bear.
“Hutch, Colby sent us. He saw the fight. We’ve got a paramedic on board and Colby is coming with the other chopper. Let us set down.”
Recognizing the voice as one of the men he’d spent some time with, Hutch waved them down. The helicopter landed, and two men with a stretcher and what looked like an enormous first aid box rushed towards them, ducking under the chopper’s rotor blades.
“The drone spotted this thing moving fast, and then we realized it had to be heading for you and Nora. We got airborne and one of our guys on the ground called the alpha. He should be here any minute now.” He looked at the black goopy puddle. “What the fuck was that thing?”
“I have no idea,” said Hutch as the paramedics got Nora on the stretcher, Another Windsong chopper landed, Colby bolting out of the door before it was completely on the ground.
“Fuck,” Colby growled as he joined them. “They’re further along than we thought.”
“Do you know what this thing is?” asked Hutch.
“Specifically? No. But my guess is it’s one of their experiments out of Reykjavik. We’d gotten word that not all of their experiments were failing completely, but they had yet to have something viable for more than a few hours.”
“That means someone here in Mystic River sicced this thing on Nora.”
“It looks that way. I’m going to reach out to Deke. We need to move up the timetable to get Nora’s friend out and then hit that bastard with everything we can. Without his oversight and money, we’ll set the League back on its heels. We might not stop them, but we’ll sure as hell slow them down. We’re also going to have to expedite getting Carson Payne’s old team out of Reykjavik.”
“We’ve got her stable, Colby, but I think it’s better if we call Doc and fly her into his clinic. As good as our medical facility is, his resources are better.”
Colby nodded. “Agreed, if it’s okay with Hutch.”
“It is, but I’m going with her.”
“I wouldn’t expect anything less. I’m going to get Doc’s help in upgrading our medical facilities as well as the others we have spread out between here and Otter Cove. Derek Grayson, the deputy here in Mystic River, has a sister-in-law who’s heading up our medical team in Otter Cove, but we’re going to need to start recruiting doctors.” He turned to one of the men who had joined them from his chopper. “I need you to collect this thing and put it inside of some kind of fool-proof, sealable container. Get it to Carson’s people at Polaris. He’s going to want to see it.”
“Colby,” said one of the paramedics. “I want a sample to take to Doc. Those wounds look like they’re already infected. They might be toxic, and he’s going to want to know what the toxin is. Having a sample might expedite that.”
“You take Nora and Hutch to Doc. I’ll collect a sample and bring it in to you. From there the other chopper will take whatever the hell this thing is to Carson for examination.”
* * *
NORA
Sometime later, Nora’s mind began to make its way to the surface of her consciousness. Recognition of sounds as words was the first sign that she was waking up.
“Nora, baby, I’m here. You’re going to be okay,” said Hutch making her smile. Of course, he was here. Nora guessed he’d never left her side. In fact, she was sure she could remember his presence being with her from the time she was attacked to whatever had happened afterwards.
“Is it dead?” she said in a gravelly voice.
“It is,” answered Hutch.
“Did I kill it?”
