Michael stared at the neat rows of silver bullets on the interrogation tray. "What do you do," he asked, his voice strained, "after the interrogation?"
Selene was still watching the security feeds. She didn't look at him. "Put the bullets back in."
The casual, absolute cruelty of it hit Michael hard. The air in the sterile room felt suddenly colder. He thought about what would happen to him, what he was about to become. "Why do werewolves and vampires have to fight? Can't you just coexist peacefully?"
He looked at her rigid back. "Why do you hate them so much?"
Selene turned from the monitors and walked to the room's single, reinforced window. Rain pounded against the thick glass, blurring the lights of the city far below. The sound was a steady, heavy drumming. "We fight."
Michael raised his head, studying her pale reflection in the dark glass. The silence stretched, filled only by the rain and the hum of the electronics. "Why won't you answer?"
Selene took a deep, slow breath. For the Dragon Ball, she would share this much.
"Creatures like werewolves are constantly tearing us to pieces. When I was still human, I couldn't save my mother or my sister." She paused, her voice staying perfectly level, devoid of emotion. "Their screams woke me up."
Her gaze remained fixed on the storm outside. "My father died outside, trying to drive the werewolf away. I was standing at the door. When I tried to run to my niece's room, I found twin girls, only six years old. They'd been slaughtered too."
"Oh my God," Michael whispered.
"The next thing I knew, I was in his arms. The war had reached my homeland. He'd been tracking the werewolves for days. He drove them off and saved me." She continued, her voice a monotone. "The oldest and strongest of us. He made me a vampire that day. He gave me the strength to avenge my family."
She finally turned from the window to look at Michael, her eyes cold and empty. "Since then, I've never thought about the past again."
"Who started the war?" Michael asked.
"Werewolves. At least that's what we're told. Exploring the past is strictly forbidden."
Selene glanced back at the window, assessing the weather. The rain was torrential now. "The money transfers tomorrow. Tell me where you hid the Dragon Ball."
She crossed her arms. "The werewolves are hunting for it too. Do you really think it's safer out there than in here?"
Michael studied her for a long moment, weighing his nonexistent options. He finally gave a single, sharp nod. "You'll protect me."
He gave her the location. He'd placed the Dragon Ball in a waterproof box and hidden it beneath a specific manhole cover in a specific intersection.
Selene's eyebrows rose slightly. "It's pouring outside. Aren't you worried it'll wash away?"
"I know that area. This much rain won't flood those tunnels. The box will stay put."
Selene nodded to one of her Death Dealers standing by the door. "Retrieve it. Come straight back."
The Death Dealer nodded once and headed for the exit.
Just as his hand touched the door, the main surveillance monitor on the wall suddenly went dark, cutting to static with a loud hiss. Before anyone could react, the building shuddered. Muffled gunfire erupted from multiple directions below, a rapid bang, bang, bang echoing up through the structure.
Selene's expression hardened. In one fluid, blurred motion, she drew both pistols, the sound of leather and steel filling the brief silence.
"Werewolves. Prepare for combat."
She glanced at Michael. "Find somewhere to hide. Don't die."
On the other side of London, Kahn led a squad of fully armed Death Dealers onto the platform of the train station. The vast, vaulted ceiling trapped the cold, damp air, and their boots clicked loudly on the tiled floor. They spread out, taking up positions near pillars and benches, trying to appear casual.
Kahn had no idea that werewolf strike teams had already positioned themselves in the shadows of the upper gantries and inside the closed kiosks. He also didn't know that Alexei and Mr. X watched from a rain-slicked rooftop, overlooking the entire scene.
A train pulled into the station, its brakes hissing loudly and sending clouds of steam onto the platform. From the windows of the cars, flashlights flickered in coded patterns. Signals were exchanged from the platform back to the train. Confirmation.
The train doors slid open. Elder Amelia emerged, flanked by her personal guard and a heavily armed escort.
Raze, hidden in the rafters, watched the signal exchange complete. The moment he confirmed the vampire elder's identity, he acted.
"Ah-wooo!"
His howl was high and savage, splitting the night air. Several werewolves transformed in mid-leap, their bodies twisting as they launched themselves from the gantries down onto the train's roof. Other team members burst from cover on the platform, submachine guns blazing, tearing into the vampire support team.
Chaos erupted instantly. The station became a blur of motion. Werewolves and vampires collided in a storm of claws, fangs, and bullets.
Alexei watched from above, his interest obvious. "Fascinating. They can actually transform. Wonder what vampires turn into? Giant bats?"
He glanced at Mr. X, who stood motionless beside him. "Should we stop them?"
Mr. X shook his head, his gaze fixed on the fight. "This is their internal conflict. We observe." He paused. "But if the werewolves win, we take them in for questioning."
Below, the killing intensified. The vampires, caught completely off guard by the superior numbers and the ambush, quickly lost ground. Muzzle flashes lit the platform in strobe-like bursts. Gunfire rattled endlessly, the noise deafening under the station's roof. Kahn's team used the new ultraviolet rounds, while Raze's werewolves fired silver-tipped ammunition. Both sides scored kills. Both sides bled. The number of bodies on the platform steadily increased.
The werewolves who'd leaped onto the train roof took heavy fire from Amelia's personal guard inside the car and couldn't get close.
Then Raze, in full wolf form, smashed through the defensive line on the platform. He launched himself through the train window, shattering the glass, and tore into Amelia's compartment before anyone could react.
Elder Amelia died fighting. Raze, shifting back to his human form, quickly drained her blood into several prepared vials, working with a practiced, grim efficiency.
"We've got what we need," Raze called out to the surviving werewolves. "Prepare to retreat."
Every vampire on the platform lay dead. Raze ordered his team to collect their fallen comrades' bodies.
The werewolves were gathering for withdrawal when Alexei dropped silently from the rooftop. He landed lightly on his feet, directly in Raze's path, blocking the exit.
"Gentlemen, I need to have a conversation with you. I'm going to need you to come with me."
Raze shifted from wolf to human form, breathing hard as he studied the stranger. "Who the hell are you? Got a death wish?"
Then Raze noticed the scouter on the man's head and his utterly calm, almost bored expression. He changed his tone immediately.
"Who are you, exactly? This is a war between werewolves and vampires. It doesn't concern ordinary people."
Alexei smiled faintly and flipped a coin at him. The metal glinted as it arced through the dim light.
Raze caught it instinctively. He looked down at the emblem, and his expression went cold.
"The Fraternity."
"Aren't you the customer who sold vampire intelligence to the Fraternity?" Alexei's voice was pleasant. "No wonder you didn't show up to collect your gold coins. You were busy with this."
Raze's mind raced. This was bad.
He transformed instantly, his body exploding back into its massive wolf form. "Retreat! Everyone scatter! Get the blood back to base!"
The surviving werewolves shifted and bolted in all directions, disappearing into the station's tunnels and exits.
Raze stayed, planting himself between his fleeing team and the man before him.
Alexei sighed and drew his silver sword. The blade sang as it cleared the sheath, the polished metal seeming to drink the dim station light. "Since you don't understand nice words, I'll teach you with my fists instead."
A single, heavy-caliber gunshot cracked from the rooftop. A silver bullet punched through the chest of a fleeing werewolf halfway down the platform. The round detonated on impact, silver shrapnel exploding inside the creature's ribcage.
The werewolf's scream cut off abruptly. It crashed to the ground, convulsed twice, and went still. A massive, smoking hole gaped in its chest, where heart and lungs had been corroded to nothing.