The Frenzy War (7 page)

“How do you plan to do that?”

“Lourdes's head was still at the scene. His body wasn't torn to pieces, and no bloody messages were left on the walls.”

Mace knew the owners of Synful Reading were Wolves. It stood to reason some of the employees might belong to their pack as well. “Who's working this?” He had to at least make an effort to protect Willy.

“Diega, as if you didn't know.”

“Any luck with the van?”

“We got surveillance footage from a block away. The plates were reported stolen this morning.”

“How's Aiello doing?”

“Fine. He's been in charge for two years, you know. But I don't think he realizes how many coincidences we're dealing with here.”

“Are you bringing him up to speed?”

“I'm trying. Look, I have to run. We never had this conversation.”

The connection went dead.

Welcome to the sidelines,
Mace thought.

Rhonda fell screaming to the stone floor. Wincing, she took a deep breath. Her teeth rattled inside her skull, and her nausea intensified. “Please stop. Just let me go. Please. I want my mother …”

The woman moved closer to her but not too close. She always maintained a safe distance. If only Rhonda could reach her …

Electricity tore through her body, sending her limbs flailing at her sides and her face slapping the floor. Was it her imagination, or had the current grown stronger? Her tongue pressed against her teeth, which flexed in their gums. Pushing herself up off the floor, she worked her knees beneath her. Rhonda stared at her hands, her fingers clawing at the floor. She knew she couldn't take much more of this torture in her fragile human form.

Why should I? She wants to see a monster, I'll show her one.

She willed the Change.

Willy and Karol walked through the lobby of the Office of Chief Medical Examiner of the City of New York at 520 First Avenue. They had found nothing in Jason Lourdes's bedroom to suggest he was anything but an average teenager. Willy palmed the call button, and when the elevator door opened, he waited for Karol to board it first.

On the fourth floor, an attendant behind a counter directed
them to Autopsy Room D.

“I want some water first,” Karol said, stooping over a fountain.

“Don't tell me you're fainthearted,” Willy said. “That's a handicap for a murder police.”

Karol stood straight and dabbed at the corners of her mouth. “It's the smell more than it is anything I ever see. All those cleaning solutions and chemicals are too much for me.”

“You can hold my hand if you want.” Karol gestured to the swinging double doors ahead. “Shall we?”

Willy pushed one door open and followed his partner into the refrigerated autopsy room.

Dr. Byrnes, a white male with a whiter beard, stood near an autopsy table occupied by a nude male body and a detached head. “Good evening, Detectives.”

Willy and Karol drew close to the table. Under the overhead lights, Jason's body seemed to glow. The medical examiner had sliced the head's flesh from the base of the neck, along the jaw hinge, past one ear, over the top of the skull, and down to the other side of the neck, dividing the head in two. Then he had tugged the husk of skin from the face like a mask, revealing glistening musculature beneath. The bulbous eyes, minus their lids, seemed to follow Willy.

“The edge of the neck stump lines up perfectly with the head,” Byrnes said. “I'm sure DNA testing will prove that they go together like
shama lama ding dong.”

“What did the perp use to decapitate this poor bastard?” Willy said.

“An instrument sharp enough and strong enough to separate the head from the body with a single blow.”

“A sword?”

Byrnes shrugged. “Sure, why not? I'll bite.”

Willy held his hand out above one of Jason's. The fingers on Jason's hand extended an inch beyond his. “This boy had major piano-playing hands.”

“Only if he cut those nails.”

Willy leaned close to Jason's head. “How do you explain the coloration of his eyes?”

“I don't. I've never seen anything like it before.”

Gripping the remote control, Valeria watched Rhonda writhe on the floor. She told herself this was an animal, a monster, not a human being.

Rhonda slumped over on one side, wincing. Then she looked at Valeria, who gasped: the irises in Rhonda's eyes had expanded, blotting out the whites. The mask of pain on her face reconfigured itself into one of rage, and when Rhonda snarled Valeria glimpsed a mouthful of canine fangs as Rhonda's jaws elongated and her nose stretched into a muzzle.

Valeria removed her thumb from the button on the remote control, and the crackling of electricity stopped. Shifting the remote into her other hand, she drew the tranquilizer gun and aimed it at the figure on the floor.

The creature that had been Rhonda did not seem to care that Valeria had stopped the charge. She got on all fours and growled at Valeria, who took an instinctive step
back. Rhonda leapt at her, but the chains snapped her back. As the nude body rolled on the floor, Valeria noted its muscles going spastic from head to toe. In the time it took for Rhonda to rise, black fur spread over her rippling form.

Valeria restrained herself despite the amazement she felt. She had never seen a werewolf before; she had seen only photos and videos. Now she not only stood mere feet from one of the monsters, but she had witnessed its transformation from human form. It was incomprehensible to her that this supernatural beast had appeared to be a skinny human girl just moments ago.

Rhonda's eyes narrowed at Valeria, and spittle flew from her teeth.

Valeria took another step back, then heard footsteps behind her.

“Show no fear,” Michael said. “It can't hurt you.”

Ignoring him, Valeria watched Rhonda grow a foot taller as her feet stretched into leg extensions. The chains forced the creature to bend over, but Rhonda's eyes remained focused on Valeria. She lunged forward again, and when the chains jerked her back, her jaws parted and she unleashed a howl that caused Valeria to shudder.

W
hen the taxi pulled over to the house in Rosedale, Gabriel leaned forward in the backseat and spoke to the .driver. “You don't mind waiting in the car, do you? I'd like [you to listen to the news for updates.”

Micah shrugged. “Whatever you say. Give Jen and Rodney my condolences.”

“I will.”

Raphael slid out of the car first and held the door for Gabriel. Gabriel got out and waited for Raphael to close the door, and then they walked to the house together.

“You'd better start traveling with bodyguards,” Raphael said.

“I'll consider it.” Gabriel knocked on the door.

“If they're staking out the house, they could have us in their sights right now.”

Gabriel glanced at the houses around them.

The door swung open and Sharon stood before them. They entered without saying anything.

“Rodney's upstairs with Jennifer,” Sharon said. “They're both wrecks.”

“Of course they are.” Gabriel led the way into the living room, where three grim-faced men sat on the sofa: Tim Riegert, Kyle Chadler, and Samuel Minsky.

“What's the deal, Gabriel?” Tim said.

Gabriel unbuttoned his coat and sat in a chair near the sofa. “We've been discovered; there's no question about it. Members of the Brotherhood of Torquemada may be here in the city. We don't know how many, at least five. They killed Jason and took Rhonda prisoner, and they have their Blade of Salvation with them. The police have Jason's corpse, and there's no covering up anything they learn.”

“Fuck,” Kyle said.

“What are we doing about it?” Samuel said.

“For the time being, I want you three to stay here.” Gabriel looked at Raphael. “Call for relief if you need it, but I want three people guarding this house at all times.”

“There are four of us now,” Sharon said.

“I want you to go home tonight and get some rest. Come back in the morning and take care of Rodney and Jen so these guys can concentrate on security.”

“What about the Wilsons?” Tim said.

Raphael folded his muscular arms. “We couldn't protect them if we wanted to. Cops are swarming all over their house.”

Gabriel nodded. “Our enemies won't strike at them
while the police are there, but we'll have to provide security as soon as that situation changes. The Torquemadans must know that the Lourdeses and the Wilsons belong to the pack, and that means they knew who Raphael and I are.”

Samuel sat up. “You guys can't go back to your places unprotected.”

“I'm meeting Melissa at a safe house later,” Gabriel said.

“And I'm staying with my crew,” Raphael said. “We're covered.”

“What if Rhonda gives us up?” Tim said. “She's just a girl. Who knows what they'll do to her?”

“That's why we need to draw them out as quickly as possible,” Gabriel said. “When they strike, we have to be ready. If they come here, make sure you get one of them alive—even if it means leaving in the heat of things.”

“There are just three of us, five counting Rodney and Jen. You said there's at least five of them. There could be a lot more.”

“Even if these people are Torquemadans, there's only one Blade of Salvation. You can handle them no matter how many there are. Just keep their screaming to a minimum.”

Mace pulled into the narrow driveway of his Bay Ridge, Brooklyn home, leaving room for Cheryl to park behind him. The days got darker sooner, and he shivered as he climbed the steps to the front door and unlocked it. Snow would fall soon. He entered the house, passed the French doors for the enclosed porch, and opened the inner door.
Hanging his coat on an upright rack, he ascended the wooden stairs to the second floor, where he and his family lived; they rented the bottom floor to a Mexican family. Inside the long three-bedroom apartment, his German Shepard, Sniper, waited for him, wagging his tail. Mace had inherited the dog from the K-9 unit when the animal had gone blind in one eye.