"With pleasure."
* * *
"I know you don't feel safe," Bear Wright agreed. He, Kerry Slater, Thurmon Novak and Opal Tadewi stood on the stage and spoke before the shapeshifter crowd as they discussed the future of their race. "I'm hoping that with a joint council, we can improve relations with the werewolves and the vampires."
"They have nothing but contempt for us," someone in the crowd stood and baldly stated. "I'll never trust them."
"I'm sorry for the interruption, Mr. Wright," Trajan strode inside the school auditorium, Trace, Ace and Marco close behind him. "The government has sent bombers to Star Cove, and they have tanks, police cars and who knows what else surrounding the community. They intend to kill all of us."
"What are you saying, son?" Bear jumped off the stage and strode toward Trajan. He, Trajan, Trace and Marco were the first to fall as bullets sprayed through the crowd.
* * *
"Gunshots?" Sali stood as the sound of assault rifles firing rapidly reached his ears, followed by panicked screams. "What the hell?" He hit the button to open the garage door and raced outside.
Only a few shapeshifters had managed to escape, and they were running through the streets in panic as an invisible force fired rifles. Sali turned to werewolf, ripping his clothing as he raced toward the sound of weapons firing. He died in the street, his werewolf's paws jerking after a bullet pierced his brain.
* * *
"Oh, no." Ashe appeared inside the school auditorium, and then slid down the wall, his fingers gripping his hair in grief and dismay. Trajan lay dead beside his brother. Cori and her mother were nearby, blood sluggishly leaking from a multitude of bullet wounds. Marco had died not far away, reaching for Cori. Dori had managed to get a little farther before falling and dying. Ace died while attempting to shield Wynn and her mother. Then, Ashe's eyes settled on his mother's body. She'd died near Cori and Lavonna Anderson, her body crumpled and bloody. He wanted to weep. Hundreds of shifters and werewolves, some Ashe knew, many he didn't, lay amid thick pools of blood. All of them dead. What had kept him from arriving sooner? He was too grief-stricken to sort it out. Ashe moaned as the hum of jet engines reached his sensitive ears. He rose, his eyes going as dark as midnight while stars burst in their depths. Ashe misted away.
* * *
"Did that boy turn to this?" One of Curtis' hired criminals kicked Sali's wolf.
"He did," Curtis smiled gleefully. "That was easy. We wiped out the whole community."
"Easy except for that one guy, who had a gun," a second criminal spoke up. He frowned while examining the bullet hole in his left arm. "Took him down, though, after he hit me. Good thing he couldn't see us. He might have done more damage. The woman who was with him turned into a swan and hissed in my direction. Do you believe that? Shot her, too." He laughed.
"You shot Mrs. Thompson. And my mother and Sali," Ashe appeared before Curtis and his thugs, his arms crossed angrily over his chest. Power vibrated from his body in dangerous waves, clouding and turning a purplish-black once it escaped his personal shields.
"He can see us," one of Curtis' gunmen pointed out.
"I can see you." Ashe's eyes were turning red.
"Well, well, well. Our target finally shows up," Curtis chuckled. "Get out of this, if you can." Six criminals fired their guns at Ashe.
* * *
"We only have one target, now? I thought there were two," the lead pilot sounded confused.
"I only show one target—that new addition in Star Cove. The rest of the community has been evacuated."
"This is so confusing," the pilot replied.
"One target. Bomb the hell out of it." The command came.
* * *
"We can't get through whatever is around him," Curtis snapped, after telling his thugs to stand down. A shield lay about their target, who continued to stare at all of them angrily, his eyes completely strange, the air about him vibrating dangerously.
"You won't get through to me, either," Ashe rumbled. The ground shook beneath Curtis' feet; Ashe's voice had gone as deep as any ocean.
"What's going on?" The lead gunman struggled to keep his feet when the ground shook harder.
"You're hopeless," Ashe roared. "All of you. Do you think you're going to get away with this? I can destroy everything!" He flung out his hands while lightning crackled and flew from his fingers.
"Those bombers are coming," one of the gunmen shouted, pointing eastward. "I can see them. We need to get out of here. Now!"
"You're not going anywhere. Go ahead and try," Ashe's words had become soft and deadly.
"I can't move," one of the gunmen wailed. His feet were stuck to the pavement beneath him.
"What are you doing?" Curtis only then thought to be afraid. He couldn't move his feet or legs, and the bombers were almost upon them. Star Cove was about to be obliterated, and him with it.
"Trying to decide how to torture you, so you'll suffer the most," Ashe growled. "I can keep you alive forever. Torture you forever," he added. "Is that what you wanted, when you did this?" Ashe swept an arm out, encompassing all of Star Cove's dead. "But before I do that," Ashe continued, "the Earth will fly apart. It will give me a great deal of pleasure to kill the planet that spawned you."
* * *
Winkler couldn't help himself; he stared at the television screen. News crews couldn't get close to Star Cove, but they stood behind barriers while tanks, armored vehicles and military personnel crowded the distance. What frightened him the most, however, was that the ground was shaking and thunder rumbled overhead. The sky outside the beach house was turning purple.
"Trajan, I'm so sorry," Winkler muttered, as bombs dropped on Star Cove in the distance.
Chapter 20
"I can't help you if you go rogue," her voice came. "Get yourself in hand and get rid of that trash quick, so I can do this."
Ashe turned and stared. The power he'd expended had been drawn back inside his body and his thoughts cleared, whereas only moments before, his anger had taken over and he'd been prepared to destroy everything. Now, he was blinking in shock as the realization came that he'd almost destroyed something that wasn't meant to be destroyed. The shining woman had given him respite and clarity, before he could take a step that could never be reversed. The woman—the one who'd stood at a gate in his past—was standing at his side and shining brighter than he remembered.