“Had to mix another batch on the plane, but yes,” he said while handing over a can that still bore the label of a generic oven cleaner. The bottom was heavily taped, making it look more like a crude pipe bomb than anything Daniels normally pieced together for them.
“Glad to see you’re alive,” Cole said. “What happened in Chicago?”
Appreciating the concern, Daniels said, “Remember how I was always so worried Steph or some of the others would come after me? Well they finally did. And remember how I told you about that new room I fortified?”
“No.”
“Well, it held out just fine, even when the Shadow Spore climbed in through the windows. I think they were sniffing us out, but these Army guys showed up and took them out. Ruined two of my three apartments along the way, but you know. Whatever.”
“Yeah,” Ouray said from where he knelt so he could use the vehicle for support as he fired a single shot from a sniper rifle. It was modified beyond Cole’s ability to identify the make or model. “Killed a bunch of vampires before they harmed a hair on you or your girlfriend’s head. Whatever.”
Cole extended a hand to the IRD commando and introduced himself. By the time Ouray returned the favor, Paige had finished checking out the spray can.
“You’re sure this has a strong enough mix to get the job done?” she asked.
“Sure,” Daniels replied, rooting through his satchel. “I tested it on the other phantom Full Bloods that were sitting around my place. Now roll up your sleeves.”
Ouray’s face didn’t look like one capable of registering surprise. That changed when he saw the electric needle Daniels took from his bag. Less than fifty yards away the gunner in one of the helicopters laid down enough fire to scatter a large group of Half Breeds that had been charging toward the Humvees. More fire from the vehicle’s turret gave the ground troops a few moments to catch their breath. In that time, Daniels set up inside the Humvee so that each of the Skinners could take their turn getting a dose of the tattoo ink, which had been all but perfected in the last year.
“I’ll take a cool snake,” Cole said when it was his time to put his arm into the Nymar’s care.
Glancing out the window where Paige stood to fight off Half Breeds that made it past the IRD firing line, Daniels asked, “What about a drink? You must be starving.” Cole didn’t respond. Unwilling to bring up the tendrils directly in the company they were keeping at that moment, the Nymar asked, “Is your stomach hurting?”
“No.”
“It will be soon. Then you have to feed them.”
“No I don’t,” Cole insisted. “Just do the damn tattoo, Daniels.”
The needle buzzed in Daniels’s hand as he hastily scrawled into Cole’s arm. There was no design other than a few lines of varying thickness that traced along his veins to make sure the inky concoction and shapeshifter elements bonded to the minerals in the ink would have their desired effect. As long as the stuff remained beneath the flesh, it could pass on some of a shapeshifter’s strength and speed into a human and burn off before it did any real damage.
“You seem to have been handling yourself pretty well so far,” Daniels said. “But don’t push it. Those tendrils will punish you if—”
“I know all about that,” Cole cut in.
Daniels nodded and completed another line of ink. Since he wasn’t going for anything artistic, it wasn’t a long process. Even though he’d taken his finger off the button that made the machine buzz, he left the needle in Cole’s arm. “You know, it’s not unusual for the newly seeded to be squeamish.”
“I’m not seeded,” Cole grunted. He wanted to pull his arm away but couldn’t.
“Maybe not with a spore, but you’ve still got Nymar elements inside of you.”
“Making it sound clinical doesn’t help. Now get that damn needle out of me before I rip it out and put it somewhere you won’t like very much.”
Either Daniels had been around Paige too long to be frightened by threats or was too determined to give up talking that easily. “However you want to put it, those things need to be fed.”
“I know. I’ll deal with it.”
The needle was jammed just far enough into Cole’s skin to catch his attention. When his eyes narrowed into a deathly stare, Daniels held his ground and said, “You need human blood and I know you’ve tasted it.”
“How do you know that?”
“Because you’re still alive.”
“Nymar blood seems to do the trick just as well,” Cole said in a threatening snarl, even though there was some truth to Daniels’s words.
To his credit, Daniels remained steady. “That’s because Nymar used to be human. Half Breeds used to be human as well.”
“Are you suggesting I feed on those things?”
“Better that than die. Times are hard, right? Isn’t that what everyone’s saying?”
“It sure is.”
“Then you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do to survive. You and Paige are doing more than surviving. You’re helping the rest of us to survive, and we can’t lose you.” The pressure of the needle in Cole’s skin eased up but didn’t subside. “And what’s so bad about what I’m suggesting compared to what you guys do all the time? I mean, you wear Half Breed skins, for God’s sake. You had an up close and personal relationship with the thing that used to wear the leather that coat was made from, right?”
Cole didn’t say anything to that. The fighting outside had died down for a moment, which only meant it would soon intensify.
“The Half Breeds may not be human anymore, but there’s human blood inside them,” Daniels said. “There’s plenty of it around and it may take the edge off.”
“But . . . Jesus. I mean skinning them is one thing. Using their claws or teeth is easy enough. But drinking their blood?”
“Being a Nymar may be a lot of things, but sanitary isn’t one of them. Just keep it in mind, okay? Think of it as another way of using what they give you so you can keep fighting the good fight. That’s what Skinners do, isn’t it?”
“Yeah. Speaking of that, I could use some of the healing serum if you’ve got any.”
Daniels’s eyes narrowed as he removed the needle. “I’ll administer it when this is over. You need to stay sharp.”
Even though Cole wasn’t hurt and he could produce a certain amount of the serum within his own body, he didn’t hold back when he grabbed Daniels’s wrist and twisted until the Nymar let go of the tattooing machine. “You’re not my doctor. Give me more serum.”
“I’m your friend,” the Nymar replied through gritted teeth. “And I’m also like you more than you care to admit. I know what I’m talking about, and it’ll take more than brute force to make me do what you’re asking. The Nymar were putting me through a hell of a lot more than that before you ever knew what they were. Now would you rather waste more time or do you want to let me work on the next tattoo before all of us are overwhelmed?”
Outside, the IRD had launched multiple attacks to keep the Half Breed packs divided. The price of that strategy was paid by the loss of more soldiers than Cole cared to think about, as they were either ripped apart or turned by Esteban’s howls. He let go of Daniels, kicked open the Humvee door, and allowed George to crawl into the back.
Chapter Thirty-Four
Even though George’s weapon didn’t have a blade, it must have been charmed in a similar fashion as the other Amriany edged weapons, Cole decided, because it did just fine against the Half Breeds. George and he took the lead as Milosh, Paige, and Nadya covered their backs. Thanks to the ink introduced to their bodies, their blows landed with enough force to sever limbs or knock Half Breeds aside completely.
Farther out, IRD guns still chopped into the encroaching werewolves without putting much of a dent in the overall Half Breed population. For every creature mowed down by excessive large caliber gunfire, another ran in from another part of the city. As the night wore on and Esteban continued to howl, Shreveport slid even closer to the abyss. Cole knew better than to mourn for the things he hacked apart with his newly upgraded weapon. His blade hadn’t been the one to kill those people. That was Esteban’s doing or the fault of the creatures that had been set loose. All that was left to do now was see to it that the Full Bloods were prevented from finishing what they started when the Breaking Moon had risen.