Another Half

Blade snapped to attention when the van came to a complete stop. John turned to the front, toward his mate.

“You got us here in record time, babe!” John said.

Hannah smiled at him before getting out of the van while Darryl slid the door open and jumped out. Blade reached for two of the slender knives sheathed inside her left boot, thanked her Uncle Danny, and aimed.

When a child in the Zamora Family turned four, Uncle Danny gave them a six-pack set of throwing knives as his personal gift. These were perfectly balanced, black kunai blades, and each kid was expected to take care of them as life-long allies. Uncle Danny taught the kids how to keep them fatally sharp, how to create concealed sheathes inside their footwear, and he made them practice every day until they couldn’t miss their intended target. He expected each kid to know how to fend off hostile adults with these knives by the age of five and to be lethal with them to everyone by the age of twelve. While Uncle Danny’s goals as the pack’s Training Master were high, his expectations for the Zamora kids were ridiculous.

Blade threw one knife directly into John’s throat when he turned back around. The black knife sliced through his trachea all the way to its metal hilt. His hands went up to the embedded knife before he fell sideways without a word.

The loud thud caused Darryl to turn back into the van, but Blade impaled a kunai blade in his throat before he realized what had happened to John. Darryl fell back, out of view, also wordless.

Unfortunately, one of them must have had enough time to contact Hannah via mind-link because Blade soon heard a tearing of clothes followed by the growl of a wolf.

Let me at her! yelled Talon. It’s my turn!

Blade knew she had to protect Andy at all costs, and time in seconds had just overtaken the element of surprise she no longer had. Without much thought, she slid down her boots’ back zipper and took them off along with her jacket before allowing her black wolf to come forward.

Talon quickly darted out of the van just in time to crash into an oncoming she-wolf with tan-colored fur. Both continually snarled as they circled each other right outside the van.

To Talon’s satisfaction, she noticed she was much bigger than the she-wolf, both in height and weight.

I also have a deeper growl and a very pretty glossy coat, Talon said smugly, to which Blade internally rolled her eyes.

Don’t get cocky too soon. Try to get her away from the van, away from Andy, Blade whispered in the back of Talon’s mind.

I’ve got this! Talon said in a sing-song.

At that moment, Andy began to coo, causing the she-wolf to look toward the van. Talon pounced on the she-wolf, but she dodged Talon and ran toward the van.

This infuriated Talon. Come back here, bitch!

Within a couple of strides, Talon caught up to her and bit down on her tail until it crunched. The she-wolf howled. Talon yanked her back by the tail. The tan wolf’s howls woke up Andy, who started to wail. His cries began to distress Blade.

Calm down, Blade, and let me focus!

In defense, the she-wolf turned to snap back, but Talon released her tail to evade her sharp teeth. They continued to circle each other, Talon attacked every time the she-wolf’s eyes strayed toward Andy’s wails, biting and scratching her. The she-wolf also managed to inflict several wounds on Talon, but they were minor in comparison.

The baby’s distressed cries turned into choking coughs, and the she-wolf’s head turned toward the van once more as if there was nothing more important.

Talon used that moment to jump and secure her massive jaw down on the side of her opponent’s neck. The she-wolf desperately tried to disengage her, to push her off with her front and hind legs, but Talon was too strong. Talon anchored her weight to the ground with her hind legs and bit down harder. And waited.

Warm blood gushed in Talon’s snout and she felt it quickly course down her neck, chest, and front legs. The she-wolf’s struggles began to weaken and her whines for mercy became louder before they quieted and soon became silent altogether. Several minutes later, the wolf’s body slackened and collapsed to the ground. It became completely still and heavy. Only then did Talon loosen her jaw.

But when Talon relaxed her hold, she caught a scent that she had not detected before. Talon frowned, leaned into the corpse, and sniffed. It was a faint smell, barely perceivable, but it was definitely there.

Blade’s heart broke.

That’s why Andy’s cries distracted her so much, Talon murmured. She had a young pup of her own. A baby girl.

“Is killing people evil?” Blade had once asked her grandfather. She must have been around thirteen years old, and she had been studying human history and their World Wars with her grandfather, who had volunteered to personally homeschool her and her twin.

They were in her grandfather’s private study, surrounded by old wooden shelves full of antique books and several glass cases that displayed different types of knives that her father had forged for her grandfather. Blade’s favorite was the talon with its matte black blade and mother of pearl handle.

“That would depend, mija, on who’s doing the killing and, more importantly, why they’re killing in the first place,” Felix had responded, pouring a teaspoon of sugar into a mug of black coffee. “You have to remember, there’s a difference between killing to protect and murdering for gain,” he had said. “If you need to protect your family or someone defenseless, how’re you going to do that if you don’t kill the ones trying to harm them?”

Blade frowned. “That makes sense. So it’s okay if I kill people defending my family? What if I kill a little kid or a baby?”

Her grandfather took a sip of his coffee while fixating his brown eyes on her. “We never kill children or babies; that’s murder. That’s one of the most heinous crimes our kind can commit. No child will ever be a threat enough to murder, understand?”

Blade nodded.

“Your Uncle Danny and I train you kids to protect yourselves, each other, our family, and anyone that needs defending. We protect. We don’t kill because we can, but because we have to. We shifters are half-animal in nature, and we only kill when threatened. Humans, for all their boasting about being more civilized than animals, don’t care about protecting their young. Not really. They murder children in their wars without a second thought. So if it comes down to it, kill to protect, understand, mija? Choose to protect, not to murder.”

After making sure Andy was taken care of, Blade used a few bottles of water from the van to clean herself off. She pulled out underwear, jeans, a loose tee, and socks—all of them black— from her backpack to dress and pulled her boots back on. She looked up at the sun’s position in the sky.

I think we missed the bus, Talon said.

Blade snorted.

She was undecided. Should she bury the bodies? Stash them in the van and dump the van down the cliff?

Oh, that would be brilliant. And how do we get out of this place if we get rid of the van? Talon said.

What would her grandfather do? In all her time with him, he never went over how to get rid without a trace of her kidnappers once she killed them.

I think he did, in his own way, Talon said. It probably has something to do with using common sense and not being, uh, lazy or sloppy.

Blade nodded.

She pulled out her knives from the men’s throats and used their clothes to clean her blades. She dumped their bodies off the cliff, one by one. By the time someone found them, she’d be long gone.

A case of water was barely enough to clean what little of Johns’s blood spilled inside of the car, but not enough to wash off their scent from the van. She’d have to take care of that later. By nightfall, she was ready to leave, except she didn’t know what to do with the she-wolf’s body. Her blood had spilled everywhere, and she didn’t want wild animals to feast on her remains here or at the bottom of the cliff.

Pyre, Talon said. She deserves the respect and it’ll burn away our scent on her body. Burn what’s left of your clothes, too. Spill the rest of the gasoline all over.

Once she was done, Blade stood beside the she-wolf’s body and closed her eyes.

“May the Moon Goddess forgive us for taking your life, Hannah,” Blade whispered. “May your pup grow and, in time, may she forgive us as well. I don’t know your life, but I hope you are worthy to rest in the halls of the Moon Goddess.”

She walked off a safe distance, lit a match, and threw it into the gasoline-doused ground before driving off into the night.

Author's Note:

mija: Spanish contraction for "mi hija," which literally means "my daughter."