Smiling, his spirit clicked with a lethal eagerness, and he stood to walk with her. Kyo and Calvin followed as they strapped up, sworded up, and prepped. He talked them through the many protocols they had, he knew it was a lot for them to try to remember, but he was hoping they remembered some of it.
His crew slid into the Escalade and motorbikes, as he got in his new all-black sports car. He reached over to open the passenger door and looked at Sanna as she smoothly walked with constrained anger and hopped in.
“We communicate in missions with mind-locking, baby. So open that mind and link with me. You can communicate with everyone, until you learn how to link with others who are not me or Kyo.”
“Okay, can we just hurry, please.” Her eyes stayed on the road.
He whipped out with a nod. “Yeah, baby. We have to track from the half-ass cords Winter was able to get. We know they are somewhere on the Northside. Hiding in plain sight.”
He watched her nod. Her nails were digging into her thighs, and he saw her slowly breathe in and out.
Syncing into a mind-link, he felt Sanna's sensual smooth energy meld with his own and in doing so invited the energetic playful flow of Kyo, because she was linked to her brother and Sanna at the same time. Both hit his mind with a rush. Then Darren's protective feel amplified his link with Sanna. He considered this something as important to store away for further investigation.
“T'em House. We all here?”
Khamun stated, going into a roll call as every mind linked instantly.
The edgy, gritty, loyal feel of Amit had the Reaper ascertaining him as well while he synced with the newest member and he spoke on.
“All right, tracking in progress, break up inâ”
“Go right,”
Amit interrupted as his link became antsy
.
“Yo, my man, relax with that.
¿Comprendes?
We know what we doing. We break up in teams and cover the area, a'ight.”
“Right, right. But, really, go right!”
Amit demanded again and the link became thick with anxiety as everyone became jittery.
“Listen to him.”
Sanna's link thickened, spreading a sense of calmness to everyone as the team mentally paused then followed suit.
Lenox restrained voice let everyone know what they couldn't see.
“He seems to sense where they are. His eyes darkened and you know where he got bit? The visible veins are moving.”
“Ahhhh! Yeah, go down that street. It's a lot of them. I can smell them! Shit, I can taste them and feel them.”
“A'ight. From this moment on, Amit is our physical tracker in the field. You listen to him and follow suit. The Oracle gave him a new ability that will work in our favor. All right?”
The teamed chimed in unison as Sanna's low voice interrupted, fear and worry making her hide her tears.
The Reaper became pissed. Their blood would be on his hands.
“Yes. His bite will let him know anytime there's Cursed by us,”
Sanna simply stated.
“Straight ahead! Umm, I'm calling back up,”
Kali chimed in.
Calvin's chuckle seemed to amp everyone.
“A'ight, homies. Let's get in they asses like a doctor giving a prostate exam. Ya heard meh?”
“A www, hell no, Calvin,”
Lenox griped then laughed.
Marco gloated.
“We got this shit. Nothing we never handled before.”
The team stepped out of their rides, weapons blazing. They were surrounded by mobs of Cursed, demons, and Dark Gargoyles who growled, the occasional flash of lighting hitting their stone-like features. They all stood on the roof of an abandoned building covered in blood, the chill of the night air whipping around them, the thick, sweet smell of demon miasma filling the air.
“Hello, cousin. Took you long enough, don't you think?” The Dark Lady, who the Reaper knew was Reina, Marco's twin, stood dressed in all white, jewels adorning her body. She stood with her hands on her wide hips, her legs spread, her hair up in a braided bun, twin blades in her hand.
The Reaper chuckled. This bitch didn't know him as she thought she did. The wonders of being distant cousins.
“Let us end this as mutually as we can, cousin. Give us the civie and you can walk away.”
Reina's bell-like laugh made him narrow his eyes. “Give me my toy.”
“That would be who?”
Reina's eyes flowed over the team and stopped on Amit, who stood, fists clenched, his gun hand ready. She flashed a brilliant smile.
A gust of cold anger blasted past the team as gunshots rang.
The Reaper sighed. “Amit,” he inwardly cursed, dropping to get into position.
The team spread out, and he watched Sanna duck and move with a fluidity that took his breath away. He acted in unison as his swung his blade and decapitated an approaching Snatcher.
“Get her!” Reina yelled, running after Sanna.
The Reaper followed suit, staying in sync with his lover, shadowing her, connecting, and gutting demons left and right.
Khamun eyed Marco and watched his cousin nod as he jumped and landed in front of a panting Sanna, who threw energy-dripping daggers that hit demons in the throats, blowing their bodies apart like confetti.
Marco slid, the dark miasma from the demons cloaking his appearance, and stood erect as the mist cleared. He had waited a lifetime for this. He knew her madness twisted her love for him into a sick game that resulted in where he stood now. So it pleased him to see the shock on her face as he stared Reina straight in the eyes and she froze in her pursuit of attack.
“
Hola, mi querida hermana
. . . hello my dear sister,” he muttered, his hand reaching to his chest and pulling out a gye nyame silver necklace that shone in the midnight sky.
Reina's eyes widened as she shook her head.
The sound of a passing car blasting Kanye's “All of the Lights” remix broke the silence.
“The Gray Prince? No, no, noooooo. You died!
Tú moriste
!” Her screech filled the air as she stomped and suddenly pulled at her hair. “Nooooo!”
Marco smirked, leaned forward, cupping her face with both hands as he kissed her forehead and sent her flying with a swift kick to her stomach.
As she flew through the air, the Reaper stepped in with a grin, making contact, and dropped his forearm down on her chest, making her drop at his feet. “You ready to give up?”
Reina rolled and blinked, coughing hard, her hand over her chest as her eyes focused, flashed silver then eclipsed with pure darkness. A dark magic emitted from her, and she moved her body in a spin, pushing up and slashing at him. Her movements were controlled yet chaotic.
The Reaper had to step back, blocking each blow that went his way. Blades swung at him as a clicking noise sounded behind him, and he knew what was coming.
“Aw shit,” he muttered, ducking under from the blades Reina sliced over his head while the Medusa's bladed hair and nails swung from behind.
Dropping low, the Reaper pivoted to his left, panting as Calvin covered him and Lenox became his shadow.
Shooting off rounds, Lenox drop back on his knee as he punched up in a clean uppercut, making contact with a Snatcher that quickly covered Reina and the Medusa. Everything was in chaos as the Reaper saw Momma Tamar. She was held by a Snatcher, her eyes closed and unconscious, with another gagged person.
“She was an easy snatch. Unguarded as she shopped downtown. Very sloppy of you all. You think we didn't know who she was? Ha!” Reina flashed a malicious half-smile.
“She is always watched. Do not fucking play me,” the Reaper icily stated. He paced back and forth blood accessing the roof. If she was caught, that meant a fucking Phantom had a hand in it, and he had a clue who it was.
Sanna's quick movement caught his attention out the corner of his eye, as she took a demon down in a move so fast, he had to replay it in his mind.
She ran low, twin blades of power in her hands, as she propelled herself up to jab both bladed hands into the approaching demon's chest. Cleanly slicing through, splitting him from within, she turned and grabbed half of the remaining demon torso and bit down, her incisors ripping deep. Blood and sins poured into her, making her body taut as she fed. Glowing tears spilled down her face, and she threw the demon, its flinging body misting.
Darren, shadowing his sister, grabbed a screaming female Snatcher, lighting her up with just a touch. Her body imploded in fire as her dark sins flew in the air and fell like glowing rain.
“Damn right! That was cold.” Darren fist-bumped Takeshi as he sped off. Takeshi jumped in the air, reaching for a flying Dark Gargoyle with a swiftness that knocked the entity off guard. His fangs connected to the hard skin of the demon while his nail ripped the monster apart with slight effort.
“Be careful, sis. I'm watching you,”
Darren muttered in Sanna's mind as she panted and gained her bearings.
The Reaper could sense her worry, shock and pain as he bit down and drank from an overzealous Snatcher who approached him, ripping its throat apart with ease as he flung the molting body. The dark, rich taste of the Snatcher's sins fueled him while he spat then moved like lightning. His body diffused the sins out in electric static that burned demons and Dark Gargoyles into cinders whenever they came in contact with the jolt.
Sanna stood drenched in sweat and covered in blood. Her first taste of demon's sins was intoxicating. She understood finally how her love felt in it all. Glancing around, she made contact with Khamun. His movements were brilliant, and as he ran, the charges that hit the demons and other evils grounded and made the building hum.
Sanna needed to get to her mother, and she needed to move fast. The stress of it was throwing her off her game. Everything she did was awkward. It was as if she couldn't spark her full Oracle potential at times, and it frightened her.
Her wings strained her back, and she tried to release them as her body sparked, but no juice would come. It was like she was one giant knot of tension. She could appreciate one thing though. Her knowledge had helped her shoot off rounds from a gun she had no idea how to use.
Seeing an opening, she ran, ducking under flying pieces of monsters' carnage. Marco suddenly shadowed her.
Kyo ripped demons apart with her bare hands as she also trailed her and her beloved brothers.
Dare and Take worked like a unit of their own, tagging each other, and killed the beasts that tried to take her.
Tears stung her eyes as she ran head on into the burly, molting monster that held her incapacitated mother and another gagged figure. “Give her to me!” she yelled.
The demon laughed and reached back, and pieces of spikes from his skin suddenly shot her way.
She screamed and ducked. Everything moved in slow motion as a body ran into the monster, knocking Sanna's mother to the ground.
Sanna slid forward, catching her in a low crouch. She glanced over quickly then looked up and saw the good doctor.
Dr. Toure stood, anger contorting his handsome face while he swung a bat-like axe in his hand. The Chicago team flooded the roof while he shouted his commands.
A clicking sound surrounded Sanna as a rough flick brushed against her cheek made her gaze up. In front of her was what the team called the Medusa. Sanna swallowed, clutched her hands, and pushed her mother back quickly, standing to shield her. “Back the fuck up!” she yelled.
The Medusa stalked her with a deathly smile, her tail whipping around in pleasure. “And what are you going to do? Hmm? I've been watching you this whole time, and you are nothing but a weak shell of a thing. Oracle? Yeah, right.” The Medusa chuckled, her laugh sounding like a reptile's cackle.
This bitch is crazy
, Sanna thought.
The Medusa reached out, and her long nail traced Sanna's cheek with a slow smile. “Bye,” she said, reaching back and slicing forward.
Sanna's eyes flashed as energy pulsed from her like a shield.
Where the Medusa slashed was where those lethal nails of hers broke into a thousand pieces, and Sanna effortlessly ripped the arm off the screaming Medusa.
Sanna's wings ripped free from her back as they hardened like knives and wrapped forward to slice at the retreating bitch.
“You bitch!” the Medusa screamed. Poison shot from her fangs as she whipped her blade-inlaid braids and razor tail Sanna's way.
Sanna sideswiped her and landed a kick that lifted her in the air and had her foot dropping down square against the Medusa's head. That move helped knock her attacker unconscious, as Sanna fell into a crouch near her mother.