~ Night Brigade: The Satellite ~

by

Elliot Love

Ian hung his head. “I’m sorry about that. We had no idea. And we also never knew about Cassy’s betrayal.”

“Don’t underestimate her,” she said, touching his arm. “We just have to be more careful and prepared for anything. Cassy’s infidelity ruined everything. I will kill her if she poses a threat.”

Intense heat burned through his arm where she touched it. He looked at her strangely. “You would kill Cassy?”

Zoe stood up and gazed out the window. The reality of their situation distressed her. “Cassy freely gave herself to the Satellite and still lusts for him. I am a threat to her, she wants revenge.” She turned back and stared at him with cold eyes. “If she gets in the way, I will kill her.”

She finished her coffee and left the room to shower. Ian sat dumbfounded. Cassy’s disloyalty had wrecked his life. When Zoe returned freshly dressed, Sax was not in the room.

“Where’s Sax?” she asked.

Ian shrugged. “He said he needed something from his bike.”

Zoe pounced on Mott, shaking him awake. “Get up, we have to find Sax.”

Mott opened his eyes suddenly and tried to focus. Zoe tugged at him frantically. “Get dressed,” she said.

Shaking the sleep off, he threw on some clothes and followed her. He grabbed his blades on the way out the door.

“What’s wrong, baby?”

“None of us can be split up, not for a second. Especially after last night. The female creepers will want to feast on the fire I have given you.”

They approached the bikes, but did not see Sax. Zoe quickly scanned the area. Kneeling down, she felt the ground until her hands came across a warm patch of grass.

“He went this way,” she said, breaking into a run.

Mott ran beside her to the back of the hotel. There in a pavilion, lay Sax on a picnic table with several beautiful women hovering over him. He was openly enjoying himself as they smothered him with affection. His clothes were partially torn. Zoe and Mott withdrew their daggers, doused them with lighter fluid and lit the blades. The females transformed into black panthers upon seeing the flaming daggers.

“Oh shit,” Mott muttered, completely taken aback by the unexpected alteration.

“Yeah... really,” Zoe agreed.

The huge black cats came at them full force, with razor-sharp teeth bared and claws ready to strike. Zoe leapt onto a table and wielded her daggers against the fierce animals. Mott stood his ground and tried to strike the panthers down. Once the fighting began, Sax came out of his trance but did not have any weapons with which to fight. He suddenly realized that he would be able to kill them if given the chance.

Zoe fought with all her might but could not fend off the cats. There were too many of them. In a bold act, she dropped the daggers and squirted lighter fluid around her in a circle. With a flip of her Zippo, a ring of fire sprang up around her. She closed her eyes and stroked the emblems of her armbands. Instantly a huge, golden-haired lioness appeared, driving the black panthers back. Mott was then able to drive his daggers into the creatures as the lioness pushed them towards him. Black smoke filled the air with dreadful, ear-splitting screams of pain. When the smoke cleared the panthers lay dead, but quickly turned to ash before their eyes.

The ring of fire protecting Zoe faded, utterly swept away, and she fainted into Mott’s arms. He carried her into the hotel through the back entrance. Sax picked up the daggers and stayed close beside, his mind still foggy.

~ * ~

Blue eyes looked on from the woods behind the way. A fiery ache welled up inside him as he witnessed the woman of fire exert her powers.

~ * ~

“What happened?” Ian asked when they walked in carrying Zoe.

“Man, it was mind-blowing.” Mott replied. “The female creepers turned into panthers when they saw the flaming daggers.” He laid his wife on the bed and sat stroking her hair.

Sax filled Ian in on the details. “I don’t know what happened,” Sax began. “I went to get some cigarettes, and the next thing I knew I was lying on a table with these irresistible women all over me. I wanted them in the most peculiar way. What’s going on, Mott?”

“Zoe said that they would want to feast on the fire she gave us, and we cannot split up,” he told him. “Remember last night?”

Sax struggled to clear his mind. “Oh yeah, I remember all right. Damn, that was awesome.”

“Yeah, you were really out of it. I thought you were done for, mate,” Mott teased.

Sax smiled, his blue eyes sparkling mischievously. “I feel so bloody drained, but in a good way. Zoe gave us her fire, huh?”

“Oh yeah... she sure did,” Mott said with a distant smile.

Zoe began to stir. She gazed up at her sweet man. “Thank you,” she said. “I saw you fight.”

She turned her eyes to Sax. “Think you can kill them now?”

“Yeah, for sure, Zo-so. Sorry I let you down,” he said.

Zoe sat up and touched his hand. “Hey, you didn’t let me down. Did Mott fill you in?”

Sax gave her his boyish grin. “Yeah, I won’t leave you guys again.”

Ian observed the interaction between the three, feeling somewhat left out. But he knew if it weren’t for him and Cassy, they wouldn’t be in this mess. Whatever supernatural forces they battled, apparently Zoe had what it would take to defeat them. He decided to stop feeling sorry for himself and suck it up. He had put his friends in serious danger. Now the time came for him to forget Cassy and help the warrior trio fight.

“Why did you faint, Zo-so?” Sax inquired.

“I guess the energy it took to summon the lioness drained me. I will get stronger. This is why we need each other. I gave you my fire last night. I will be counting on both of you to keep our circle of fire in full force.”