King Killer Read online

  I forced myself to smile at the dark-haired beauty. Yes. I was lucky to have met Eve. She saved my life and gave me a fresh start. I was eternally grateful to her.

  I feel the same for you, my love.

  Her face spread into a wide smile, and her red eye glittered like rubies.

  “Are you two doing your mind thing again?” Kasta asked as she glanced at each of us.

  “Yes,” Eve said with a light laugh. “Just speaking about how lucky we are to have each other and you three in our lives.”

  “Awwww,” Kasta said as she patted her chest above her left breast. “My sister and I feel the same way.”

  “Hey gang, I hate to interrupt the love fest over there, but we’ve got a problem.” Zea’s fingers slammed on her control buttons, and we all moved to stand over here.

  “What’s going on?”

  “It looks like every single damn Black Heart mercenary in the entire station is getting on a train and heading to District B.” Zea pointed to her display screen, and I saw dozens of videos showing armored men with riot weapons either stepping into trains or already riding on them.

  “Shit,” Paula, Kasta, and I said at the same time.

  “Yeah, and it looks like half of them are going to get here at the exact same time that Madalena will.”

  Chapter 5

  “Madalena?” I asked as I pressed the transponder button.

  “Yes, my lord?” she asked.

  “How are you carrying everything?”

  “I do not understand your question, my lord,” she answered.

  “Do you have all the guns and shit out over your shoulder?” Zea shouted into the transponder. “Or did you bring them in a case?”

  “I have the drone controls in one of my packs along with Adam’s revolver and handguns. His shotgun, my rifle, and two extra weapons I am carrying with slings on my back.”

  “Uhhh. Shit,” Zea sighed.

  “What is wrong?” the Prime Valkyrie asked.

  “You’ve got a shitload of these Black Heart Mercenaries heading towards you on the opposite train,” I said.

  “The schedule says you’ll both hit the platform at the same time,” Zea said.

  “So you need to stash the weapons,” I said. “Or they will figure out you are with us and shoot at you.”

  “I will kill them first,” Madalena said calmly.

  “Uhh. There are like sixty. The whole fucking train is full of them.” Zea’s words were dripping with sarcasm.

  “They will be on the train then, and unable to move. They will be easy to kill, and then there will be sixty less to worry about.”

  “Are you fucking kidding me?” Zea whispered to me. “Is she as bat-shit crazy as you are?”

  “She’s worse,” I said as I thought about her using her back thrusters to slam us inside of the enemy shuttle on Nordar - 13 - a. “A whole lot worse.”

  “Oh, fuck us,” Zea moaned.

  “My train is coming to a stop in District B,” Madalena said. “I see the other train approaching as well. I will kill them first and then make my way toward you.”

  “Wait, Mada--” I started to say, but then I heard the transponder beep. She had closed off the communication, probably so that she couldn’t hear me order her to stand down.

  “Do you have cameras on the train plat--” I started to say, but Zea had already pulled up the video monitor, and the view of the train platform filled the display screen of her terminal.

  I saw Madalena step out of the train. Her magical wing armor covered her from her neck down, but as soon as her feet touched the platform, the liquid metal dribbled up to cover her face with the image of the screaming skull banshee. She had a large leather pack strapped to the front of her chest, and an assortment of long guns strapped to her back. Her pulse rifle was in her right hand, and she pulled a second one from over her shoulder to hold in her left hand. The train coming from the other direction stopped a moment after the Prime Valkyrie lifted her second rifle.

  I could see the mass of black armored men through the windows of the train, and the ones who stood closest to the front did a double take when they saw Madalena sprint across the platform toward them.

  The doors to the train opened at once. There were ten of them, and the black armored mercenaries began to walk out onto the platform.

  They stepped into a rain of death.

  Madalena focused fire from her left rifle at the armored figures coming out of the front door, and she sprayed the energy bullets from her right rifle across the platform toward the other nine opening doors. The video feed we watched didn’t have sound, but I imagined that all these fuckers were screaming with terror.

  The blue bullets tore through the black armor effortlessly, and it seemed like each of her shots punched a fiery hole through someone’s helmet or chest piece.

  I half expected the Prime Valkyrie to stand on the platform and just hose the mercenaries down, but she walked toward the train while she sprayed her bullets, and then she sprinted inside of the front door as soon as the men standing in her way were dead.

  “Shiiiiiiiiit,” Zea gasped as soon as Madalena jumped inside of the train.

  The windows illuminated as the blue bullets sprayed through the long cabin. Blood also splattered against the windows, and armored figures tried to escape through the doors. Before they could make it outside, they were cut down by a tidal wave of bullets, and they fell in mountains of blood dripping armor.

  Madalena advanced down the train toward the back section. It was hard to see exactly how she was moving because most of the windows she walked past were covered with gore, but her weapons never seemed to stop pouring out energy bullets. When she made it to the fifth door, six of the mercenaries at the end of the train managed to flee the tight confines of the cabin, and they jumped down the platform to escape the waves of death.

  The Prime Valkyrie’s bullets tore open one of the windows, and she dove through it. Her back thrusters expanded into purple wings, and the women watching the screen gasped with surprise. Madalena landed on the edge of the train platform, threw her left rifle up around on the strap, loaded her right rifle with a blur of hand movements, and then caught her left rifle when it spun back around over her shoulder. Then the blue pulses streamed out from both of the weapons and plowed into the backs of the fleeing men. They all died instantly, and the armored woman spun back around to face the rear part of the train. I didn’t see any movement there, but Madalena must have seen or heard something, and she poured another stream of bullets into the metal.

  Then she stopped firing, reloaded her left rifle, and then pressed a finger against the lower part of her screaming banshee helmet.

  “I have eliminated the mercenaries on the train, my lord. I will continue toward your location.”

  “Uhhh, I saw you on the monitors,” I said. “Good work.”

  “It was not difficult,” she replied as she jumped from the raised platform. “They were carrying riot weapons and packed inside of the train.”

  “Fuck me,” Zea whispered so her voice wouldn’t carry across the transponder. “Maybe I need to start being nicer to her?”

  “Uhhh. Yeah,” Paula whispered in return. “She just killed a fuck-load of people without even breathing heavy.”

  “I told you all she is going to be a good ally,” I replied as I muted my transponder. I’d seen Madalena fight only a few times, but the display I just saw kind of blew me away. Yeah, the men weren’t carrying lethal weapons, but she’d cleared out the train in less than ten seconds. There was no way I’d be able to do that, and I was a highly trained Marine who could change into a weretiger.

  “Madalena, the drones in District B are heading toward you,” Kasta said. “You need to run into an alley or something, so they don’t see you.”

  “I could shoot them down,” the Prime Valkyrie said.

  “It looks like they have actual guns on them, not riot weapons,” Kasta said. “Your armor looks tough, but do you really want t
wenty drones shooting at you?”

  “I will take your recommendation,” the Prime Valkyrie said after a few moments. “Can you guide me through the alleys?”

  “Yep,” Kasta replied. “Make your next right.”

  “Understood,” Madalena replied, and I looked at the screen to see the armored woman run into a narrow alleyway between two buildings.

  “Zea,” I said, “how is the harbor stuff going?”

  “Shit, I got distracted,” she said. “I’ll jump back to it. I’m going to have to take my eyes off Madalena.”

  “I’ll get her here,” Kasta said, and Zea nodded as she turned back to the control terminal.

  The screen display closed as the hacker went back to work. I couldn’t see Madalena’s progress through the Victorian-themed district, but Kasta continued to give her directions through our transponders. After five minutes, I began to feel the presence of the Prime Valkyrie, and I felt my pulse quicken.

  “I’ll go down and let her in,” I said, and the other four women nodded.

  “There isn’t anyone outside,” Kasta said. “But one of the drones is circling above us. Go down to let her in, and I’ll give you both the signal when it is clear.”

  “Got it,” I said, and then I made my way to the door. Once in the hallway, I called the elevator and rode it down to the first floor.

  “It’s still up above,” Kasta said as soon as I stepped out on the first floor of the building.

  “I am across the street,” Madalena said, and I moved to the front door. I couldn’t see her in the shadows of the far alleyway, but I could feel her presence.

  “It’s still up above,” Kasta repeated.

  “I’ll shoot it down,” Madalena said.

  “No, then they’ll suspect we might be around here. We already took out a bunch with the guns Sis and I mounted to the roof. Just hold on a second.”

  “I have already waited for a second,” the warrior woman replied.

  “Hold position, Madalena,” I ordered.

  “Yes, my lord.”

  “At least she listens to you,” I heard Kasta hiss.

  “I am submitted to Adam,” Madalena explained, but the android didn’t respond, and I guessed she was complaining to the other women in the apartment.

  I could feel Madalena’s annoyance from across the street, but it was also interlaced with excitement and anticipation. She wanted to see me.

  “Okay, the drone looks like it is-- ahh, shit.” Kasta groaned.

  “What?” I asked.

  “Group of twenty mercenaries walking down the street from the north side,” the android said. “I think they are part of the group that was stationed near the front of the hotel.”

  “Do you think they know we are in this building?” Paula asked.

  “Hard to say for sure, but another pair of drones are heading this way. They will definitely see her if she tries to run across the street.”

  “Damn,” I hissed as I looked across the street. Madalena was so close.

  “What weapons are they carrying?” The Prime Valkyrie asked.

  “The riot shotguns,” Kasta answered.

  “I will kill them,” the warrior woman said plainly.

  “No,” I said. “We can’t give up this location.” My brain scrambled as I tried to think of a way to get Madalena across the street. It was possible the Black Hearts knew we were here, but we wouldn’t know for sure until we hacked their transponder signal. To do that, we’d need the transponder Madalena carried.

  “Could they be tracking Madalena through the transponder she picked up?” I asked.

  “Maybe,” Zea said. “They would have to know she picked it up, and I took over the cameras before she grabbed it.”

  “But they could have tracked her from the train station,” Paula said. “If they have anyone watching the locations of the troops, they would see all the transponders at the train not moving, except for one that went in this direction.”

  “Kasta, can you get a drone over to Madalena?” I asked. “It’s a long shot, but if she can put the transponder on your drone, you can take it away and see if they follow you.”

  “It’s going to be hard to get one there without them seeing,” Kasta said. “But I can try.”

  “You’ll need to do it before they close in on her,” I said. “If that’s what is going on, we don’t have a lot of time.”

  “It’s still hard to tell. They are obviously sweeping the area, but I not sure if it is because we shot down the drones earlier, or because Madalena has a transponder on her.”

  “Do your best,” I said, and we stopped talking for a few minutes.

  But those few minutes felt like an hour when I knew the Black Heart mercenaries were moving closer toward Madalena.

  “Alright,” Kasta finally said. “I’m flying a drone real low through the alleys. Madalena, it’s going to come up behind you. Do you have something you can use to fasten the transponder to the bottom of the drone?”

  “Yes,” the Prime Valkyrie replied.

  “Alright. You have to do this quick. They are just a block away.”

  “I see your drone,” Madalena said. “I’m attaching the transponder.

  “Okay,” Kasta said. “Let me know when I can go.”

  “It is done,” the warrior woman said after five agonizing seconds.

  “I’m off!” Kasta hissed. “I’ll fly slowly, so they think it is someone walking. I’ll go one street over. Let’s see if they follow it.”

  I counted to thirty, and my heart began to hammer in my chest with more intensity.

  “Kasta?” I finally asked.

  “The mercenaries on the street have stopped moving toward Madalena,” she said, “but it still isn’t safe to go. I’m still not sure. Ahh! They are moving! Yes!”

  “Can I run across the street?” Madalena asked.

  “Give it ten seconds. The drone is still overhead, but it’s moving after mine. Thank the stars.”

  “Let me know,” the Prime Valkyrie said.

  “You are good. Go!” Kasta urged, and I opened the door as soon as I saw Madalena sprint from the alley.

  She breezed through the door, and I slammed it shut behind her. Then she followed me back through the long hallway and into the elevator.

  “We are coming up,” I said to my friends, and then I turned off my transponder. Madalena’s armor was dripping away from her face, and she fixed her steel colored eyes on me.

  “Good job,” I said. The woman nodded in return, and I could feel her pleasure at my compliment.

  The armor finished pooling in the amulet she wore, and it made a hissing sound before it stopped pulsing blue. The elevator opened a few moments afterward, and I led her toward the apartment.

  “We’re here,” I said as I stepped through the door.

  “Welcome,” Eve said to Madalena, but the Prime Valkyrie just stared at the vampire woman.

  “Zea, how is the harbor?” I asked to cut through some of the tension that had suddenly formed in the air.

  “I’m making progress, but I’m trying to be sneaky, so they don’t know I’m there. It’s taking some time.”

  “How much more time?” I asked as I let out a long breath. I was feeling hot again, and Madalena was standing with her shoulder touching mine. Her presence, along with the four other women, was very distracting.

  “Maybe ten more minutes,” she said. “That’s just to get in past their security. Then another ten or so to get the docking permissions forged.”

  “So twenty minutes?” I asked.

  “This isn’t an exact science,” Zea turned her head away from her terminal so she could smirk at me. “I’m pretty awesome though. Just sit and relax for a few minutes so I can--” Zea’s mouth froze, and her blue eyes opened wide.

  “What’s wrong?” I asked as we all turned to look at her.

  “Shit,” the hacker said.

  “Did they find you?” Paula asked.

  “No,” Zea said. “But l
ook.” She pressed a few buttons on her controls and a video popped up on screen. It was the inside of the jail, and a good-looking man with a thick mane of long brown hair leaned against the wall.

  “Hello, this broadcast is going out through the closed circuits of District B,” the man said. “I’m guessing you have someone poking around, so I’m hoping you see this, Adam.”

  “Fucker,” I growled.

  “He can’t hear you,” Zea said. “It’s a broadcast on a loop.”

  “I am Warren Royzar, one of the leaders of the Black Hearts,” the man continued. “Adam, I’m requesting that you, and your friend known as Eve, surrender to me at the police station in District B.” The man stood up from the wall and pulled a revolver from a holster on his hip. It was black and a bit smaller than the chrome one I normally carried, but it still looked big in his armored hand.

  “I heard you like revolvers?” he said as he stepped toward one of the jail cells. “This one carries five. One.”

  He fired into the bars, and one of the cops’ heads exploded with blood. The men and women locked in the cells shouted with surprise, and Warren pulled the hammer of his revolver back.

  “Two.”

  He shot again, and half of a woman’s chest disappeared as a bullet tore into her.

  “No!” I shouted as my stomach heaved. I knew the fucker couldn’t hear me, but the sight of him shooting into the bars caused the beast in my stomach to scream.

  “Three,” he said as he pulled the hammer back again and sent another bullet into the mob of defenseless men and women.

  “Four.”

  Another bullet took a man in the stomach, but these were big rounds, and the victim's screams didn’t last for long.

  “And five.”

  The last bullet hit a woman in her arm, and the limb tore off in a spray of blood, bone, and screams. Everyone in the jail was screaming, and I felt my vision start to spin.

  “You have five minutes to get here, then I’ll load five more bullets,” The handsome man’s lips upturned into a wicked smile. “See you soon.”