Bitten (Book 1 - Book 4) novel Chapter 85

The message felt like a hard blow to Natalia. Gussy had moved since the recon team had seen him. She glanced over at Uri, but he was gone off the roof. The party below her no longer looked like people but a sea of movement. She looked around herself and was still alone on the rooftop.

Come down.

It was a text from Uri.

She went to the same side she climbed up and climbed down, not evening making any attempt to hide herself. No one seemed to notice anyway. Everyone seemed to have a drink. The smell of beer was everywhere. There also wasn’t a single Viperian within the crowd that she could see.

She stood in the alley, not really sure what direction to take. The mass of people on the main street didn’t look inviting, so she went the other way. This was the direction toward the park.

She headed that way, expecting Uri and the ladies to catch up because there were no more texts from Uri. She paused when she reached the edge of the park. There appeared to be fewer people since people were wanting to be on the party street. Even thought she knew that she and Uri couldn’t have been gone more than twenty minutes or maybe a half-hour at most, the park beyond was empty. The Viperians that had been there, sitting silently in the dark, were gone.

She felt a shiver go up her spine and felt some desperation when she texted Uri.

Where are you?

Natalia felt tense and her chest was tight. She had counted twelve breaths before she got a response.

Come to party. Go south.

Uri wanted her to go back to the party street.

She took a couple of more breaths to ease her tension before heading back. On the way, she found a red and blue bandanna on the ground. She took it and wrapped it around her upper arm as if marking herself to be one of the party goers. However, once she reached the party street, it didn’t seem to matter. It was still elbow to elbow people, and there seemed to be few wearing the gang colors. It bothered her that there still wasn’t a Viperian in sight.

She edged her way through the crowd. At one point, she passed a man who was sitting on the sidewalk with a tapped keg. He was giving out free beers. There were going to be a lot of drunk people. She wondered if that was the plan. But whose plan?

The further she got from the bar, the fewer people there were, then, as if she crossed a line, there was no one.

At the end of the block she was on, she realized there were barricades. Uri and the ladies were there and they weren’t alone. There were hundreds of Viperians and police just standing there. No lights. No sirens. Waiting.

‘What’s going on?’

‘Now that you’re clear, they’re going to clear this area,’ Uri said.

He gently took her hand and led her between police cars.

‘What about Gussy?’

‘Everyone’s on the look out for him,’ he said.

‘Where are we going?’

‘We’re heading to Viperia.’

‘Shouldn’t we be heading back toward the lake?’

‘We’re going to help with the siege of Viperia, but from the other side.’

As if a whistle had blown, the police and Viperians surged toward the party street. However, it seemed like a large group of Viperians were following them.

Uri broke into a trot.

‘We’ll clear the vandals as we go,’ he said, heading into A’ppollo.

Natalia noted they weren’t going direct to Viperia.

They passed along a block with shops. One store, Viperian marked, was being emptied out. A group of Viperians broke off and attacked the vandals. More Viperians surged ahead of them. A few blocks later, Natalia saw people that appeared to be tied to street sign posts or streetlights.

‘Who are they?’ she said.

‘People we need to deal with later,’ he said.

A Viperian trotted up to them.

‘We need you for a second, Uri.’

‘Lead on.’

They followed the man to a store farther down the street. Inside, there were two large men with knives. They were Undents, but they were holding the other Viperians at bay.

“Stay back, you filthy Hollows.”

That’s when Natalia realized that none of the Viperians had their marks covered.

‘Uri’s here,’ the Viperian they followed announced.

All the Viperians stepped back.

“Yeah, you know who the boss is here,” the biggest Undent said, waving his knife.

“That would be me, actually” Uri said with a flick of his wrist.

Natalia only saw one flick, but two knives flew out.

Each Undent stood there, seeming unaware, until the blood started pouring out. They each now had a knife in their throat. Their expressions changed to disbelief then horror. The largest man dropped his knife and sank to his knees. He tried to remove the knife in his throat but seemed to miss, then he keeled over. His companion stood a few more seconds before dropping to his knees. He almost looked as if he was going to cry.

Uri grabbed her hand and they left the building. A few moments later, a man caught up to them and handed over his knives.

‘Thanks.’

‘No, thank you, Uri.’

The group of Viperians around them thinned as they spread out. The only ones that remain close to them were Bonnie and her sisters.

More and more people were seen tied to posts. All of them were Undents. When they passed the center of the city, they came across the first Viperian. While the Undents were tied with just their hands behind their backs, the Viperan man was on his knees with a pole against his back. His ankles were tied together with each hand tied to the opposite ankle. He looked very uncomfortable.

‘You want to be bit or will you tell me where Gussy is?’ Uri said, stopping and standing in front of the man.

‘I don’t know where that foul animal is,’ the man said. ‘He conned us all.’

‘What did he promise?’

‘Super tea. He said we would all be welcomed back to Viperia.’

‘Unfortunately that super tea kills Viperians,’ Uri said.

‘She kills Viperians,’ he said, glancing up at Natalia.

Uri smiled.

‘Of course, she does. She’s my wife. She has knives.’

The man swallowed.

‘I heard that, too.’

‘What do you think, Bonnie?” Uri said.

‘He’s telling the truth.’

Uri turned away from the man and broke into a trot.

‘What’s going to happen to him?’ Natalia said.

Uri shrugged.

‘We’ll have some full prisons.’

There were the sounds of motorcycles.

‘Ours,’ Bonnie said from behind.

Ten motorcycles passed them. The riders looked like gang members, except for the Viperian markings on both the motorcycles and the leather jackets. The markings looked as if they’d been hastily added.

‘Let’s follow.’ Uri picked up the pace.

They came to another bar area. There was a brawl spilling out of the bar. All the motorcycle riders parked their bikes and joined the foray. Bonnie and her sisters rushed in as well. The added Viperian force quickly suppressed the skirmish.

‘Look at what we found,’ John said, coming up to them, dragging a man.

John was a Viperian policeman, but he wasn’t in uniform. He was sporting a black eye and some cuts on his face.

‘Looks like we found a kingpin of the crime ring.’

“Look, gentlemen,” the man said. “I’m willing to share.”

He was well dressed in a tailored suit. His fingers held big rings, and he had gold chains around his neck. There was even a diamond pierced through his nose. Natalia was reminded of the Abbott and all his rich dressings.

‘We don’t share,’ Uri said with some anger.

‘He had quite a posse of bad asses protecting him,’ John said. ‘I think we lost a few good men. What should we do with him?’

‘There’s only one option,’ Uri said.

“I’m willing to bargain,” the man said. He had some confusion on his face.

Natalia realized he wasn’t hearing the conversation between John and Uri because they were speaking Viperian. She wondered if Uri even realized he wasn’t speaking the man’s language.

“I’ll tell you what,” Uri said, changing languages and facing the man.

He smiled, placing his hands on the man’s shoulders.

“I think we can come to a good bargain,” the man said with a smile back.

Then, Uri’s face turned ugly, and he bit the man on the neck. He stepped back. The whole movement was very fast.

‘All yours, John.’

Uri took a few steps away before the man even reacted by dropped to the ground dead.

‘Never thought I’d do that,’ Uri said. ‘Never thought I’d be mad enough to bite a man dead.’

‘I think he’s heading to the grubbie farm,’ John said.

‘Don’t poison those poor grubbies,’ Uri said.

John laughed.

‘Thanks for the help, Uri. I’m all venomed out.’

‘We’re heading to Viperia.’

‘So are we once we clear this area.’

Another hour passed before they reached one of the gates of Viperia. It was wide open and people were streaming in.

‘We’re breached?’ Uri said with a look of concern.

A young boy, who Natalia thought couldn’t be more than twelve years old, stepped out of the shadows.

‘No, sir. Apparently, they’ve discovered that super tea and Hollow riches are hidden at the grubbie farm.’