Chapter 10 (Stan Crow)
The only thing more satisfying than taking down a target that never saw you was taking down a half dozen of his friends, one at a time, in under twenty seconds. Patience lined up another shot while Patricius cycled a bolt from the clip onto the launch rails.
"Patience," Hope hissed in her earpiece. "This isn't the plan! What are you doing?"
"Eight," Patience replied, squeezing the trigger, and watching the rocket-propelled bolt pierce a truck-sized Ursa before detonating.
"Optima barely left to get help. You're only meant to observe and provide cover while Everest and I get footage. We—never mind."
Under her crosshairs, the Queen of Fevoreaux saw Grimm beginning to riot. Dee Jake and Pytor scrambled, arms waving, to rein in the monsters. Dee Jake was blasted to the ground by a beowulf that looked ready to eat him. The beast froze suddenly, and Patience's gut clenched when she realized that the rest of the entire mob had instantly come to heel. Randolph jogged along the leading edge of the Grimm horde. As he passed, the soulless animals actually formed ranks. Patience knew of Randolph's freakish animal magnetism, but this was beyond extreme. Grimm did not behave like this.
Quickly surveying their newly dressed lines, Patience caught a glimpse of the olive-skinned Sadiyya Triste crouching, her long rifle swiveling to find the sniper that had attacked her team. Sadiyya might not spot Patience quickly, but neither of Patience's new teammates were as good at hiding; Sadiyya would peg them within the minute; then it was anyone's game.
The girl wasn't known for her restraint.
A stiff breeze swirled Patience's hair. Her heart sank as she realized that it was coming from the direction of Hope and Everest.
"Guys! Bug! Now!" she spat, knowing her throat mike would pick it up clearly. Her warning was too late. The first beowulf bayed as if possessed, and the rest picked up the chorus at once. Patience saw Randolph come alert. His head whipped toward the blind Hope had staked out for surveillance. A heartbeat later, his hand flicked upward and a score of wolves exploded into motion, clods of turf flying behind them. Randolph waved at the rest of the Grimm—who stayed still—and then sprinted after the wolves. Even from her perch Patience could hear Hope's scream.
"Great," she muttered. She tracked the pack and brought four of them down before they made the edge of the dell and crashed into the woods after their prey. A thick branch not two yards away splintered suddenly, and cracked loudly as it bowed earthward.
Patience cursed, shuttering her scope in a flash and going perfectly still. Despite it, the next round struck just low and to her right.
Patience sent clouds into Sadiyya's mind; she only needed to keep them there long enough to get out of the tree.
Rolling off the branch, she let herself drop a full five meters before kicking off the tree to alter course. Patricius zipped into trident mode and tore a trio of gashes on the next tree as Patience slowed her descent to something at least marginally survivable.
She hit the sod running and careened in the direction of the wolf pack. She couldn't care less about Hope or Everest as individuals—she barely knew them—but if she had learned nothing else from the nuns, it was a sense of the sanctity of life and the value of loyalty.
She ignored the fact that she'd already screwed the pooch with regards to Hope's "wait and see" tactics. Maybe the redhead would feel better if Patience saved her bacon.
Branches whipped past her as she ducked, dodged, and twisted through the bowels of Emerald Forest. A shout sounded behind her but she didn't look; she'd recognize Dee Jake's voice anywhere. The noises of pursuit were sufficiently loud and clumsy to indicate Pytor was probably trying to keep up. She'd lose them in under a minute at this rate even without mind clouds.
Then it hit her—these guys were her teammates. Or at least they had been until three days ago when Ozpin had torn her from them and stuck her with the rat pack of Team HOPE. Why bother with the cloak and dagger stuff when she could just ask them what they were up to? Skidding to a halt at the top of a ridge, she planted Patricius in the ground and leaned casually against a nearby tree. A little body language in the conversation, and she'd have the whole story in ten seconds flat.
A lithe black boy in ebon leathers trimmed with lavender burst into view, nearly colliding with Patience. Whole seconds later, a bear of a lad in gray stumbled into his team lead, nearly knocking the braided-haired boy off his feet. Dee Jake straightened and shoved Pytor away, glaring at him. He turned a curious gaze on Patience."Whatcha doin' here, Patty?"
"I could ask you the same thing she said," idly examining her nails. Dee Jake hadn't been as easy to charm as the other males on the team, but she'd caught him looking on several carefully engineered occasions. He'd spill with a little persuasion.
"Our business is ours, traitor," Pytor growled.
"You wound me, Pete," she replied, invoking the special moniker she'd given him while convincing him he might just have a chance with her. "You know I wouldn't up and leave you boys," she cooed. "Blame Ozpin for that."
"I be blamin' Ozpin for a lotta tings." Dee Jake's accent thickened as his gaze darkened. "And he'll be payin' for dem tings soon."
"Oh?" Patience said, forcing a light tone despite her hammering heart. "What things?"
"Well," Dee Jake started. He didn't get to finish.
A hollow point punched through Patience's flank and went to work on her innards. She was jerked off balance, and tumbled violently from the ridge before going weightless for a moment. Then she hit dirt, and her world went black.