The Keepers Story 01 - The Gatekeeper

or otherwise. Elven had tremendous strength—but a bullet in the heart trumped the strongest muscle.
    “Captain,” he said, his shock evident in his voice. “You’re in on this? You’re human, for God’s sake.”
    “Human, hardworking and tired as hell. I’ve watched monsters—human monsters—do terrible things, go to court, blame it on a video game and be acquitted. I’ve been shot, stabbed, beaten and nearly ripped to shreds by a junkie running on coke and adrenaline. And now—now I have a retirement package that wouldn’t support a poodle for a month. Sorry, Saxon. You’re a good cop, a good guy. But I’m ready to savor the fruits of a long career as provided by those with the true power. Carl Bailey will set me up in a penthouse for life with a monthly allowance that will keep me well into my twilight years.”
    Saxon could hear the wolves banging at the hatch beneath his feet.
    “Step aside,” the captain told him.
    He held his ground. “Why is it that we can all be so incredibly stupid when we want to be seduced?” he asked. “Carl Bailey used Monty Reilly and dozens of others, and he’s using you. He tricked a weak young man into doing his bidding tonight, and he’s tricking you. He intends to kill everyone who helps him as soon as he’s done using them.”
    The captain’s gun remained on Saxon; his hands were steady.
    “I’m an old man, Saxon. Old and tired. I know you. I know all about you. You can afford to let the years go by. You can grow very, very old and still be in your prime.”
    A board burst beneath Saxon’s feet. The pack would be bursting free any second.
    “Let the women go,” he said to the captain. “Let them go—give them a chance to escape—and I’m yours.”
    “No!” Calleigh cried. “No, listen, Captain, please...please, look at me!”
    Saxon frowned, about to protest, but Calleigh had already drawn the captain’s attention.
    Yet she just stared at him, hopefully, searchingly, as if speaking to him through the changing expressions in her eyes. What was happening? Suddenly Saxon remembered how he had watched her dancing in that glass enclosure, remembered how their eyes had met, the way she had watched him with complete disdain—and yet he had kept staring at her...hypnotized.
    Just as the captain now seemed to be under her spell, his gun hand down by his side, his expression slack.
    But before the captain relaxed so fully that he dropped his gun, there was a massive bang as the hatch shuddered beneath Saxon’s feet, and the sound broke the spell.
    The captain realized his imminent danger and pointed his gun directly at Saxon’s chest....
    The crack of a bullet split the night.
    Time seemed to slow as Saxon braced himself for the pain. Yet nothing ripped into his flesh. Instead, as he watched, a red stain spread out over the captain’s chest and he fell forward.
    “Dirk!” Angela cried. An angelic smile illuminating her face, she rushed forward into the arms of the man who had come to her rescue.
    Saxon stared in surprise. Dirk stared back. He was shaking, but his arm was around Angela, holding her close. His voice was barely a whisper. “I had to come. I love her.”
    “Great,” Calleigh said. “Now get her out of here.”
    “Get them both out of here,” Saxon snapped at Dirk.
    The wood beneath his feet was splintering. “For the love of God, get them both out of here now!”
    Everything seemed to happen at once. Calleigh shoved her sister and Dirk, pushing them away.
    The hatch shuddered as it started to give, and Saxon moved to the side, ready to fight for his life.
    Then the wailing of sirens resounded in the night, and flashes of headlights cut erratically through the darkness.
    The cavalry was arriving at last.
    Dirk finally grabbed Angela’s hand and raced with her toward the road.
    The hatch burst open.
    Calleigh stood shoulder to shoulder with Saxon as the werewolves surged forth in full, vicious splendor. He started shooting and didn’t stop, and they began to fall, the dead delaying the living and buying him time. But there were just too many of them, and one injured wolf hurtled into him, nearly dragging him down.
    Calleigh whirled and shoved, using her strength to send the wolf flying.
    They backed away from the hatchway, Saxon still shooting, but there were so many of them. Too many.
    For every werewolf that fell, at least two more came.
    But then he felt the ground tremble as the squad cars came roaring up, and dust rose