The explosion began at the center of the depot, a blinding flash.The shockwave rippled outward, igniting secondary explosions as it encountered stored munitions.Artillery shells, grenades, and crates of ammunition added to the apocalyptic chorus, turning night to unnatural day.
I watched in helpless horror as Ruth and Rebecca were literally torn apart before my eyes, even as they kneeled in prayer.The explosion shredded their immortal bodies with such violence that reconstruction would be impossible.Through the flames, I glimpsed Thomas, his youthful face contorted in a silent scream as fire consumed him.James and Michael, caught in the blast’s epicenter, simply ceased to exist—their forms reduced to ash and scattered bone.I couldn’t find Maria, but if she was in there, her chances of making it were slim.
The force of the explosion threw me backward, the heat searing my face even at this distance.I crashed into Desiderius and Catherine, the three of us tumbling down the slope we had just ascended.My ears rang with the concussive aftermath, the world temporarily reduced to silent chaos illuminated by hellish light.
When my senses returned, I stared up at a sky turned orange with reflected fire.Catherine lay nearby, her body curled into a protective ball, her hands covering her ears.Desiderius had already regained his feet, his ancient eyes fixed on the destruction before us.
“They’re gone,” he said simply, the words carrying more weight than elaborate expressions of grief could have managed.
I pushed myself upright, my body responding with the numb automation of shock.Through the flames, I could see no survivors among my flock.No movement.No familiar silhouettes navigating the inferno.Only destruction stretched before us, complete and merciless.
“Mercer,” I whispered, the name burning my tongue like acid.“I didn’t see him in there before it—“
Desiderius clenched his fists.“He’s still out here somewhere.”
The words had barely left my lips when a shadow detached itself from the darkness behind us.Before we could react, a wooden bolt flew through the air and struck Desiderius in the heart.He collapsed at my feet.
I didn’t have a chance to remove the bolt from his chest before Mercy charged after me.“You!”he snarled.“You exposed us to the Germans!They knew we were coming!”
Before I could respond, he lunged forward, his hands outstretched for my throat.
I sidestepped his initial attack, the training I’d received ironically enough from the Order allowing me to anticipate his movement.“You set us up,” I countered.“You led them into that depot knowing what waited inside.You sacrificed them all.”
“This was your fault!”he spat, circling me, keeping an eye on Catherine, who was a trembling mess in the brush.She didn’t post much of a threat to Mercer, she was too young, too new.Too compromised by the smell of blood.It took all her focus to maintain even a modicum of control.
“You sent the Order to eliminate us!”I screamed back.
He smirked.“Gantry promised me amnesty for delivering you—the one vampire the Order has never been able to command.”
“So you threw away Ruth, Rebecca, Thomas—all of them—to save yourself?”My voice cracked with grief and rage.“They trusted you!”
“They were weapons,” Mercer replied coldly.“Created to serve, then discarded when their usefulness ended.As all of us are, in the end.”
I clenched my fists.“This was never about using us in a war!This was about luring us into the heart of it, setting us up for elimination.”
He attacked again, his movements a blur of supernatural speed.This time his hand caught my shoulder, claws tearing through fabric to the flesh beneath.Pain lanced through me, but I twisted away before his grip could tighten.
“I should have eliminated you when you first refused the treatments,” he hissed.“Should have recognized the threat you posed with your persistent humanity, your stubborn faith.”
He lunged for me again, but this time the attack never landed.
A massive shape intercepted him mid-leap, slamming into his body with such force that both figures tumbled across the scorched earth.The silver wolf from the clearing had returned, its enormous form now fully revealed in the light of the burning depot.
Mercer recovered quickly, spinning to face this new threat with a snarl that matched the wolf’s in primal fury.“Lycanthrope,” he spat, the word twisted with ancient hatred.
The two supernatural creatures circled each other with cautious respect, centuries of enmity evident in their postures.When they clashed, the speed defied even vampire sight to fully track—a blur of fur and fangs, of claws and impossible strength.They tumbled across the ground, each seeking the advantage that would end their opponent.
I took the opportunity to remove the wooden bolt from Desiderius’s chest.His eyes shot open in a mix of horror and urgency.He gripped my arm..“We must go,” he urged.“Now.”
“But—“
“Werewolves are not our allies,” he insisted.“They are ancient enemies of our kind.Whatever reason it had for saving us before, it will turn on us once it finishes with Mercer.”
As he spoke, the battle reached its inevitable conclusion.The wolf’s jaws closed around Mercer’s throat.Mercer’s struggles grew weaker as the wolf’s teeth severed arteries and crushed his windpipe.With a final, terrible wrenching motion, the wolf tore out Mercer’s throat entirely.Then, the wolf chomped through is ribcage, devouring his undead heart.
I watched as the wolf tore Mercer apart, his immortal existence ended by one of the few deaths from which vampires could not return.The wolf stood over his disintegrating remains, its muzzle stained with blood, its chest heaving with exertion.Slowly, deliberately, its amber eyes turned again toward us.
Desiderius pulled me backward with insistent strength.“Now, Alice.We must go now.”
