Chapter 14: Face Off

Everything hurt, my wounds had not fully healed since my fight with Jay four days ago, but it didn't stop me from standing tall beside Billy. It was still a few more minutes before sunrise, and Sig Harrisons men were standing in front of us, alongside the head himself. Sig stood tall, though he did look shorter than myself, white hair long and pulled into a tail and still standing in a light grey colored business suit. I gripped my Gatling gun tighter in my hands, growling my distaste as Billy did the same, her Rail gun in a death grip that I was almost sure would break the gun. The sky above us was cloudy, thunder echoing though not lightning stuck and no rain fell. I tensed as Sig took a step toward us, but an almost silent hiss from Billy calmed my worries as she did the same, taking the position of the leader between the two of us. I didn't really mind, I had followed Billy's lead for years, but Sig seemed surprised.

"My two greatest creations," the man spoke softly, but his tone suggested his rage. I couldn't help the growl that escaped my throat, calling us his creations. It made me want to rip out his throat. But again Billy calmed my rage with her soft hiss, something that I was thankful for. "How magnificent you are, William, or do you prefer Dawn? I never did care to ask your father." That time Billy growled, just loud enough for me to hear, but her face remained stoic as ever before. "And Jacob, the wonderful accident." My eye twitched at his words, my canines lengthening into fangs that immediately started dripping venom. "If only I had you tested while you were still in New York, you would have made a wonderful eagle." He paused, my growl growing louder. "Just like your mother was."

"What?" I couldn't hide my sudden surprise, and slight fear. It must have been one of his tricks, trying to get into my head. Billy growled before I had the chance to respond, her fury apparent through all of her body.

"Enough of your lies!" Venom dripped both in her words as well as down her chin, Billy was furious. I saw as her grip visibly tightened on her gun, her muscles shaking as she attempted not to act too soon. Sig however chuckled, my growls now not being stopped by Billy's as she too was too enraged to care.

"They are not lies girl," I flinched at how harsh the old mans' words turned, but my mate stood strong beside me, her growls never having faded. The men stationed around Sig stood still in their silent attention, normal men, not even hybrids like us. It mad me wonder why he hadn't brought others like Hawk or even us, but my curiosity slowly faded into rage the more I listened to the way that the man addressed my mate. He spoke with a tone that suggested that he was superior, better than us, and it made me wish to test his tone out. My growling drowned out his words; it even made Billy look to me instead of at our enemy. I crouched my body mimicking the pose of a striking rattlesnake. It seemed so natural, my instincts taking hold of my every sense as the army before us started to shift.

I tasted their fear, and craved for more.

I opened my jaws and a hiss-like scream escaped, sending visible shivers down the men's spines. I could feel the needle like pricks that flowed across my skin as scales pushed through, scattering blood into the sand beneath my form. Next to me crimson blood dripped from Billy's arms, and down the metal blades that protruded from her skin and scales, her fangs dripping with venom as she stood tall with eyes that reflected an endless wildfire.

"You handle the army," her voice was rough and throaty, reflecting her growls, "Sig's mine." I shrieked, a sound that shook my soul to the very core, but it echoed though the desert. The men faltered, and I took my chance.

It took only a moment to raise my Gatling gun and fire off a round into the men that stood nearest to us even before they knew that I had moved. I ran with swiftness that even Billy didn't know as I slithered between ranks, firing when I pleased and stabbing when I didn't, a smile never once leaving my lips. I thought I had at least killed seven when something struck me – they weren't dying. My eyes landed upon a wound that I had inflicted upon a darker skinned and slightly shorter man than myself, a knife wound that I had caused to his right shoulder was closing before my very eyes and it immediately made me worry.

A hiss-like roar came from my throat in Billy's direction, where she was still in close proximity to where we had first stood. Her eyes shot toward me, whether she got what I was trying to say I didn't quite know. A flash of gold and a deafening gunshot made me think differently as the rail gun blast disintegrated two men with its speed and energy, decapitated one other and hit its last mark in another mans head. Neither of the two who weren't disintegrated healed from their injuries. I got the message. Aim for the head.

Even though I now knew what to aim at I still worried for Dawn. She could only fire five consecutive rail gun blasts before she would become exhausted. She had used one – another blast, this time directed toward Sig. Lightening dancing down her arm and into the gun before firing. The elder man sidestepped at just the last second for it to be a near miss, his clothing ripping from the raw energy that was left in the wake. Billy and I growled our frustration, again returning to defending ourselves. I barely dodged a gunshot to my chest as I fired three shots into the heads of the men in front of me while blocking a knife that was about to make its way into my back. In the corner of my eyes I saw Billy decapitate someone with the blades – sharpened bones I suddenly realized – that ran along the outsides of her forearms, blood coating her clothing, skin and scales as she fought with much more power and killing intent than she ever had before.

Another shot, the third. Not aimed at Sig, but me. I dodged about to screech at her when I saw the line of men she had taken out behind me. Seven in total. I looked toward Billy, her face a grin as she decapitated yet another man with a flick of her arm, mouthing a word at me. Twenty-two. Since when was she keeping count? I snorted, thinking over how many I had gotten so far and I hissed back an answer. Twenty-eight. She grinned, my eyes seeing the tail that seemed to twist excitedly behind her, her hybrid form out once again for the first time in three years. Her clothes were barely torn this time, more controlled and managed. Only the sleeves of her arms and back of her jeans were torn from her transformation to make way for the bone additions and her tail. A tail that was wringing its way around yet another damned soul. Her face decorated with patterns of her scales and a dark brown diamond covered her right eye. If I hadn't been fighting for my life I would have thought it beautiful.

I sent five more men to the depths of hell before I needed to reload my gun, something that ended up with me having three bullets buried deep within my forearms. I hissed out in pain, my muscles screaming in protest as I decapitated the man who had shot me with my knife and bit into the shoulder of another, not killing them instantly but keeping them grounded enough to regain my footing and continue firing. Another blast sounded from Billy, again not at Sig but at the other remaining men that continued to fight against us. She had only one remaining and I could already tell that she was beginning to exhaust herself. Pinpricks made their way down my spine, a sensation that wasn't caused by any injury, the feeling made me pause just long enough to receive two more bullets imbedded into my right thigh. I roared, blood flowing like a river from my wound as I stumbled just enough into a limp. The last rail gun blasted just in front of me, killing and disintegrating eight men in its path, it was Billy protecting me instead of getting her revenge. I looked her way, seeing nothing in her eyes besides thankfulness, at me being alive. She sent me a smile, but movement behind her had me shrieking a warning.

It was too late.

A blade forced its way through her chest, Sig standing behind her with a wicked grin on his face. I couldn't breathe, couldn't move as I watched Billy's eyes widen. Tears dropped down her cheeks, blood pooling onto her shirt and down her form. Her knees hitting the sand as she dropped like a stone. She whispered one word.

"Jake,"

KILL.

Blood, I wanted more. The fear, the screams. I needed more. Pain, I reveled in it, made me feel alive. They begged, screamed. A monster they said. I am no monster.

I am a demon.

A rattlesnake.

Flesh, tender, soft. So easily torn from bodies when stretched. Roars, screams, shrieks. They begged, they wanted to live. Petty humans. They don't deserve to live. Crimson, tangy. Sweet blood.

Human…

Dead…

Mate…

Safe…

Death.

Sweet, sweet… Death…