Ascension - Book Eight - Man x Man

Chapter 125

David climbs out of the wreckage, limping, yet every stride becomes more put together as if his body was reassembling itself. Cracking his neck, it's almost as if he reseats his own head and my stomach flips at the thought of it. I feel Verando's hand grab me, shoving me behind him as his skin heats up. I shake my head, refusing to release his arm as I pull him backward. 

"You're not fighting."

"He's not human." Verando snaps back, this seems to be news to his companions who appear increasingly disturbed by the bloodied man who suddenly was able to heal at an alarming rate. One of the metal bars protrudes from his side, he simply yanks it out, wielding it like a sword as he whistles at us. 

"Here puppy puppy." The voice is haunting, somehow familiar. We'd been taunted that way before, long ago back in New York. 

"Nic, move." Verando pushes me to the side faster than I can react, the long bar sails across the space and pierces through Verando's shoulder, sending him flying backward and spearing him into the wall. The man laughs, licking the blood from his own lips. 

"You know, when I took that deal, I wondered if there would be any actual room for revenge. Just my luck that a pompous ass like you would come right into my den." David hesitates, spotting the group of men staring at him with horrified expressions. "What? Don't look at me like I'm the freak!" He snaps, his eyes dark, rimmed with black. 

I quickly run to my husband as he struggles against the iron bar. Tomas pushes the small group of men, "Out. Get out of here now." He tells them, "This is no place for mortals."

"Mortals?" One of the men manages. "It's true. You're all not human..."

"Aye. Now run. Rowan, make some distance." Tomas rushes to join me as Rowan shifts, the steel-colored wolf flashes her fangs as she leaps onto the man. The vampire grabs onto the bar, helping me yank it from Verando's chest. I quickly put my hand over the rapidly healing hole and Verando flinches as the rage builds. 

I can see it with every breath, the way his body shakes as if it was hardly holding itself together, his eyes unable to leave the shape of David as he kept the wolf at bay. 

"Is it a god?" Tomas demands, snapping his fingers in front of the Lycan's face to snap him out of his murderous thoughts. 

"I don't think so. I'm not risking Fenrir coming out to look, just another bastard in need of a spanking-"

Tomas interrupts him before I can, "Nah, you're not fighting that thing. We can't afford this bad press, you will be arrested."

"Let them try." Verando snaps back harshly before pausing as I grip his face. 

"Randy, what if he's taken an enhancer? We can't risk any of us being exposed, he's obviously holding a grudge, we need to find out who this guy is before we launch headfirst into engaging him. You don't even have any weapons." It was true, in his lycra outfit it was painfully obvious that he wasn't carrying anything. One of the rare moments someone had caught my warlord off guard. 

Rowan yelps, backing up at the delivered kick to her shoulder, her paw dangling. Taking one of the weight racks, in an incredible display of strength, the man swings it and collides the object with the silver wolf. Nearly crushing her under the weights, her human body crumbles as she attempts to protect herself under the downpour. 

With a throaty roar, the man easily identifies himself, a cat, an abomination. His grudge against us was that we had done a number to the cat population in New York. It would appear they hadn't forgiven us, perhaps because they were mutants and our laws specifically excluded them. Genetically modified creatures were still being collected, it was our fault for pushing that legislation through to prevent the continual consequences of deranged beasts on the loose.