Page 7 of Court of Evil

Closing my eyes for a moment, I lay my ungloved hand on the peeling wall and focus on the images that flood my brain—images and flashes from those who have recently touched it.

One touch is all it takes and I see it all, which is why I always wear gloves. I don’t want to know the last time my friend wanked off to the thought of me, so they stay on unless necessary.

Like now.

“T, report,” Black commands, no doubt knowing I have grown bored of this game. He doesn’t question how I know things, just uses it like a skill. It’s something they all accept.

I open my eyes and smirk as I step back, lifting my gun. “They heard us coming and ran. Most are hiding in a false ceiling on the top floor, and more are on this level in a secret, sealed room. Eric and I can handle the few here. You take the rest on that floor.”

It’s risky giving orders, but he’s too happy about hunting to care.

“Understood. Converge on me. T and Eric, when you’re done, meet us there. Whoever has the most teeth when we leave gets off training duty for a week,” Black commands.

That gets us all moving. No one wants to train the newbies. It’s too much hard work and whining on top of our own hunts. I hear the quiet steps of the team moving up the winding staircase, and I tap my helmet as I see them walk past like wraiths. Eric and I turn around, and we head farther into the hallway and towards the secret room.

It’s not hard to find now that I know what I’m looking for. It’s through an old library, and the door looks like part of the wall. I point it out to Eric as we move into position.

Pressing my back to the wall, I share a look with Eric and start to count down on my fingers. When I drop the last one, he rips the door open, and I hurry in as he follows. I sweep the room in seconds, my finger on the trigger, and when a body lunges at me, their fangs bared in the dark, I fire. The holy water infused round goes straight through the centre of their skull, and they are dead before they hit the ground.

There’s a roar, and more fly towards us from the dark. Eric and I press our backs together, our torches splashing across the room as we fire.

I drop two more in rapid succession as I move deeper into the room, firing when my torch lands on another and then another until my mag is empty.

Dropping my gun, I pull out a knife and throw it. It embeds in the vamp running at me, the force of his own trajectory slamming him against the wall like a bug. It goes silent then, and I walk over, pulling my blade free and carving out its heart before turning to check on Eric.

He’s coated in blood, his gun still raised, but he doesn’t seem hurt. There are four bodies at his feet, and another six—the ones I killed—are also in the room.

Sweeping my torch across the space, I ensure there are no others, nor is there anywhere else for them to hide.

I pull my mask down and blow out a happy breath. “Got ten here,” I say into my earpiece.

“Good work. Going radio silent now,” Black comments.

“Understood.” I flick mine off as well as I look around the mess of bodies stuffed into this tiny, stinky room. Why they live like this, I will never know. Most live in courts, protected and united. Some choose to abandon that, either due to a desire to follow their own laws or start their own court. It never ends well. Then you have the ferals, though none of these are.

They killed humans though; command told us that. Hell, some were even feeding on them, and I can see the rot starting to spread under their skin. Vamps are not made to feed on our kind, but it doesn’t stop the desperate from doing it—not that I’ll ever tell Black how I know all this. He’s firmly in theall monsters need to diebracket. I’m more in the middle. Those who hurt others? Absolutely. Those who are evil? Of course. Those who just want to live in this world alongside us? Nah, and I keep that part of my life closely guarded. I’ve made friends with monsters over the years by offering them respect and trust whenno other hunter has. It gets me the intel we need and even some friendships. What my unit doesn’t know won’t hurt them.

“Collect the teeth. I’m going to check for stragglers,” I command Eric. “We’ll burn the bodies together at the end.”

Pulling out a wicked knife, he nods at me. “Got it, T. Be safe.”

Smirking, I pull up my mask once more. “Where is the fun in that?” I joke as he chuckles and gets to work extracting what we need. Heading out of the secret room, I sweep the rest of the floor and find half-eaten bodies of the previous hunters. I close their eyes, offering them the only respect I can. An extraction team will come in and take their bodies for purification and burial—well, whatever is left of them.

Peering into the room, I see Eric with a handful of fangs in his hand. “You done?”

He tosses me mine, and I shove them in my pocket. “Let’s get moving, newbie.”

“When will I stop being a newbie?” He sighs as he follows me towards the stairs.

“When another newbie comes in,” I joke as I smack his shoulder. “Lighten up, I’ve got your back.”

“I know. I don’t think I would have survived this long without your help,” he admits. “Especially with that wendigo.”

“That’s what teammates are for,” I reply as we reach the stairs. I let him go first, and even as we chat, my eyes sweep the area. You can never be too careful.

A noise makes my head jerk around, and my eyes narrow on the corridor. “T?” Eric calls, stopping on the stairs.

“Go help the others,” I order. “I’ve got this.”

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