Little Hunter
Great. She had to find yet another place to sleep.
Nanku dropped Alabaster and let his skull crack against the ground.
The blonde girl jumped with a yelp, and the dogs began barking and snarling louder.
"Is that Alabaster?!" the girl cried. "What is—Why is he tied up?!"
Alabaster shook his head. "Just my kink."
Nanku released her wrist blades and crept along the rafter. She drew her swarm closer. Into the nearby alleys and over the street lights.
The auburn-haired girl's eyes followed her as she moved. No. She followed the noses of the dogs as they barked and snapped.
She was tall. Fit and rough in appearance. One of the few capes in Brockton Bay with a face that was known, though Nanku could only find blurry pictures.
Hellhound.
Undersiders. Controlled monster dogs. Didn't have a secret identity. Known to be especially violent with everything that didn't walk on four legs and wag a tail.
How did this keep happening?
"Cassie," Hellhound snapped. "Leave. Now."
"But what about—"
"Now."
The girl didn't question. She retreated quickly and reached for her pocket.
Nanku flipped her knife and threw the weapon.
The weapon flashed and spun end over end. Cassie yelped. The blade stabbed her phone and yanked it from her hand. She scrambled back, shaking her unharmed hand and stammering.
"Guard!" Hellhound shouted.
The dogs jumped. The retriever and the cape-wearing canines raced to Cassie and shielded her. Their bodies rippled. Before Nanku's eyes, both animals grew. Their maws extended. Bony spines began protruding from their skin. Muscles thickened and flesh turned harder.
"Least I have front-row seats," Alabaster drawled.
Nanku flicked a spear out and threw it through his chest just to shut him up.
She drew a second and spun it.
Destroying the girl's phone bought time. Alabaster was easy enough to manage, but Hellhound? Giant monster dogs. It was one hell of a challenge. Dusk and Dawn hung in the dark corners to either side of the door, poised to strike or escape.
That was the choice.
Escape, or fight yet another cape. One who wasn't as easily managed as Alabaster or Victor.
Nanku wanted to escape. She'd had enough after everything. Two surprises were two too many for one night.
But her eyes glowered behind her mask.
Alabaster.
He'd seen too much. Mostly from nothing more than the fact that Nanku had to think of some way beyond the norm to end him. Her cloak. Her weapons. Dusk and Dawn. Maybe her swarm. It was more than she wanted anyone to know.
She needed to drag Alabaster with her or kill him.
Hellhound wasn't baking down, and her dogs were getting bigger.
Alabaster shook his head. "Don't suppose we could get some mud? Bikinis—"
Nanku leaped. Lunging from the rafter, she landed on both feet and drove another spear through him. She left the weapon embedded in his chest and pulled the first from the ground.
Hellhound's lips were already moving, and Nanku spun around.
She threw the spear in the same motion, her cloak flickering for just a moment as she released her weapon on a straight shot for Hellhound's skull.
The girl didn't even flinch.
Good reason.
The one-eyed dog moved with blinding speed. Its fangs snapped shut, closing around Nanku's spear and throwing it aside.
"Hurt."
They charged.
Nanku stepped back and swung Alabaster in front of her. One-Eye slammed into the man, teeth closing onto his side and splattering blood. The second—with a cape—slammed into the ground, and a bony shoulder impaled Alabaster's stomach.
The force of the tackle knocked him back and threw Nanku across the floor. Her back struck the concrete ground hard, and sparks flew as her armor slid.
Her spear ripped from Alabaster's chest, and she stabbed the weapon into the ground. Her body stopped with a jerk, and she flipped herself back onto her feet. Hellhound glared and tossed a phone from her coat to Cassie.
So much for easy.
The dogs shook their heads and disentangled themselves from Alabaster.
The third stood guard, looming behind Hellhound and in front of Cassie.
The girl caught the phone from the air and started dialing as she ran for the door.
Fine then.
Nanku spun her spear in hand and leveled it forward as she braced.
"Hurt!" Hellhound snapped again.
Nanku jumped and grabbed the rafter above as the animals ran. They jumped after her, maws opening wide as they easily shot into the air. Nanku swung herself forward, throwing herself over One Eye's head and rolling as she hit the ground. Metal bent and groaned behind her as the dogs bit into the steel rafters. The roof shuddered, and the tin groaned.
Nanku rolled and bolted to her feet.
The articles she researched said Hellhound controlled the dogs with a master power.
Idiots.
The dogs weren't being controlled with any power. They were simply well-trained. Not even simply. The dogs were extremely well-trained.
Nanku ran across the room, sprinting while the large dogs turned. They were big. It took them a moment. Just enough of a moment.
"Sunny," Hellhound said. The dog behind her perked up.
Nanku reached for her other spear and lifted it from the ground.
Hellhound's body language shifted slightly. The word formed on her lips, and 'Sunny' was already starting to move.
Extremely well trained.
So were Dusk and Dawn.
And unlike Hellhound, Nanku did control them!
The Twins lunged. Their wings shot out, and both insectoids shrilled as they launched from their hiding places. Cassie's head jerked up, and she screamed.
Sunny whirled, tail striking Dawn in her side and sending her off course. She struck the ground and skittered for balance. Nanku winced, heart jumping into her throat at the sound of chitin cracking.
She didn't stop.
Dusk opened his maw wide, and Cassie kept screaming even after Hellhound threw her arm out. Dusk bit down hard. The taste of blood filled his mouth, and Hellhound grunted. The girl didn't stop. She punched Dusk in the eye and stunned him. He released her, stumbling back and shaking his head.
Nanku thrust.
Cassie tackled Hellhound from behind, and they both hit the ground as her spear went through the tangled mass of their hair.
Nanku's brow rose.
She raised one foot and swung it down.
Sunny slammed into her back, and Nanku struck the wall before she knew it.
She hit the ground with a dull pain in her back and a dizziness in her head. Her fingers flexed. One of her spears was missing. The other remained in her hand. Her cloak was flickering from the impact. Still functional, but in need of a reset.
Damn.
Dusk and Dawn jumped, both scrambling to the ground before her. They spread their wings wide and fluttered them, snapping their mandibles and snarling while Hellhound's dogs closed in.
Nanku drew her swarm forth.
This was different from bad bloods, and it was nothing like Victor or Alabaster.
Hellhound stood protectively over Cassie, bloodied arm hanging at her side while the other curled chains around her fist. Her breathing was ragged, and the wound looked bad. Nanku could spot how superficial the flesh was.
Hellhound wasn't the real problem, regardless.
Her dogs were.
Nanku grinned and licked the blood from her lips.
This was a first on Earth.
Someone actually worth the damned trouble.
"Bitch?!" Cassie scrambled frantically. "You're—"
"Fine," Hellhound snarled, chin raised while she leered down her nose. "Get out. Warn Tattletale and Weaver."
Nanku stiffened.
Tattletale and Weaver?
"At least get naked or something," Alabaster said. "Come on. This could be hott—Aw come—"
He reacted as Nanku moved, her remaining spear flying across the room to impale his throat.
"How do you know Weaver?" Nanku asked.
Hellhound scoffed. "I'm not stupid."
Perhaps not, but Nanku could smell stubborn.
"You know Weaver," Nanku affirmed. Certain.
There were things online. The Undersiders ran Brockton Bay. All the other villains—save the Pure and a few outliers—answered to them. Lots of people said the Protectorate let them run the city's bad bloods.
That was outlandish.
No enforcer would ever do that…
But that was Yautja thinking. The way Hellhound acted, inquiring about Weaver, was her first thought.
Damn. An actual challenge for once, and she had to give it up.
Nanku could smell the opportunity. One she might not have easy access to again. Maybe she wasn't so unlucky tonight after all.
Cassie was still by the door, shielded by the other two dogs. She held Hellhound's phone in one hand—hurried whispers leaving her mouth—and Nanku's knife in the other.
"Drop it," Nanku demanded. "Now."
The girl jerked and dropped the phone.
"The knife."
She dropped the knife too.
Hellhound tilted her head.
Cassie's back straightened, and she looked around the open room nervously. "I don't like Strangers, Bitch."
"She's not. Strangers are smarter."
Nanku scoffed.
Warily, she pressed her computer and deactivated the cloak. The shroud peeled back, exposing her in the darkness for both girls to see clearly.
Cassie looked back and forth. "Nice hair?"
"You're Weaver's ally." Nanku reached up and hooked her thumb under her mask. "So am I."
"Is she supposed to do that?" Cassie asked.
Hellhound's expression was more passive. Unimpressed but, unsure. Her dogs formed a guarding wall around her. They stood guard, snarling and growling. Waiting for commands. Dusk and Dawn stood opposite them, bodies coiled and restrained by Nanku's power. Dusk stood uneasily, still jarred. Dawn's chitin was cracked on one shoulder.
"I can do this all night," Alabaster said suddenly. "Any word on the mud and bikinis? Preferably the half-breed on acc—"
"Kill."
One of the growing dogs lunged, ripping into the pale man tearing his throat out.
Hellhound didn't take her eyes off Nanku.
Nanku stood straight and removed her mask in full.
Cassie leaned over. "Huh."
Hellhound frowned. "Strangers are still smarter."
Nanku fixed her mask to her belt and let the girls get a good look at her face. Approaching her mother directly was impossible, but maybe she could get the woman this way. Out the way. Quiet. Maybe alone where they could… Settle what remained between them.
Cassie's jaw dropped. "She looks a lot like—"
"Don't fall for it." Hellhound gave a subtle motion. "Angelica—"
"I will not hunt you," Nanku declared. She tilted her head. "I would hunt you. Not now. We will end the contest here."
Silence followed. The dogs were barely restrained, but Nanku saw the signs. Their ears twitched back and forth listening. Their eyes were fixed forward, but their body language waited.
Covert actions.
The Yautja did those. Distastefully, some enforcers even maintained relations with certain fringe clans. Not bad bloods. Never bad bloods. But not every clan was favored, and some were… eccentric. They might deal with bad bloods and through them, the enforcers of the Elder Councils maintained a higher order on the codes and the clans.
It was a necessary evil.
Perhaps, without thinking, she had walked into a similar arrangement. One she could use to reach her mother without drawing the attention of the PRT or the Protectorate directly.
There was still business to finish.
Nanku drew Dusk and Dawn back and hurried her swarm into position. Every door. Every window. Every crack in the wall. She could swarm the room in an instant and flee if need be. It would expose her power, but she could try again.
She'd achieved a detente. She needed to press.
"This place is yours?" Nanku asked diplomatically.
Hellhound sneered. "My name is on it."
Nanku needed a moment.
She'd never bothered looking at any of the signage. It was as poorly maintained as the rest of the building. There were a few signs. One was embossed and Nanku traced the letters with a cockroach.
Lindt Home for Dogs.
Lindt? Rachel Lindt. Right. Hellhound didn't have a secret identity.
"Thought it was abandoned," Nanku said.
"It's mine," Hellhound insisted.
Her eyes glanced toward Alabaster. Then back to Nanku. The gears turned behind her eyes.
Interesting.
People were idiots. They thought her dogs were things she controlled and that Hellhound was a brainless, violent brute. Maybe she was violent, and maybe she was a bit brutish, but she was not brainless.
"I did not mean to intrude," Nanku offered.
Hellhound looked toward the door and snarled. "You're the one leaving bodies."
"My—I detest the honorless. They reap what they sow."
Hellhound huffed and turned to face her again. "Whatever. You surrendering?"
"No."
Nanku stepped between Dusk and Dawn, hands falling on their heads to soothe them.
"I am Nank"—she stopped herself and smoothed her features—"I am Taylor Hebert."
"Who the fuck is that?" Hellhound asked in a tone that sounded to Nanku like a lie.
She knew who Taylor Hebert was.
"Weaver is my mother."
"Oh shit!" Alabaster called. "Plot twist!"
"Dusk."
The bug jumped across the room and mauled the man.
It was an odd form of diplomacy, but neither of them were aligned with the Nazis, and they both had a connection to her mother. That was a start.
"Ask her." Nanku sat. "I'll wait."
Her defenses were still ready and waiting. So she waited as she said. And watched.
"Um." Cassie looked to Hellhound. "What do we—"
"Get the phone," Hellhound said. "What's he doing here?"
"Oh, you know," Alabaster answered. "Hanging."
He stopped and rolled his eyes, and Dusk started cutting into him again.
"Nazis want to kill my mother," Nanku said. "I object."
Cassie picked up the phone from the ground. "Hello? Are you still—Oh. Yeah. Um. They're, ah…" She looked from Hellhound to Nanku and back again. "Staring at each other, I guess. And taking turns killing Alabaster. Oh, yeah. He's here, I guess. Something about Nazis wanting to kill Weaver… I can hold. I guess."
"Are you talking to her?" Nanku asked.
"Outside, Cassie."
Hellhound's tone was different toward the girl but no less commanding.
"No threeway? I've been a very good—"
"Kill."
Dusk jumped back as one of the dogs chewed into Alabaster to quiet him.
Nanku and Hellhound stared.
This was to be it then. A standoff.
That was fine. Nanku could wait patiently… Damn it.
"Your dogs are well trained."
"You say so."
"Training is hard. Takes work. Most don't bother to do it right."
"I'm not lazy."
"Clearly."
"You talk too much."
Nanku thought she liked Hellhound.
Shame she'd probably end up killing the girl.