chapter fourteen
THE STORM
The snow, which fell in delicate flurries as we left Mountain Village, began to thicken the closer we got to Telluride. It soon created a filmy white blanket that clung to the air. By the time we reached the apartment complex, the wind was whipping the flakes around violently.
“Ready to run? It’s becoming a blizzard out there,” I said, as Link parked the SUV.
“One, two, three, go,” Link counted, and we simultaneously exited the vehicle and ran for the stairs.
By the time we sprinted the short distance to his apartment door, our clothing and hair were covered in snow.
“Hurry and open the door,” I playfully scolded Link as he fumbled with the keys. I stomped under the eve, trying to rid my boots of their white coating. I shook my hands in my hair and brushed off my shoulders and arms. “It’s everywhere,” I giggled pushing him through the now open door.
The first thing I heard was the growl of a dog. The dog... the clone dog... was right in front of us. Why hadn’t I been paying better attention? Why didn’t I hear movement in the apartment before we got to the door? Stupid... Stupid...
“Welcome home,” Leviticus Lord purred from where he stood. He had a gun in his right hand, and it was aimed at Link’s chest. “Rowan, heel,” he told the dog in a sarcastic low tone.
“What do you want?” I hissed at him.
“Oh, I think you know that,” he replied. “I want you and your kind wiped off the face of the earth. Thank you for making my job a little easier. I was just searching for clues and you come walking through the door. Divine intervention, I think,” Leviticus sneered.
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a phone, dialed, and then waited. All the while, Rowan the dog kept a watchful eye on Link and me. Rowan continued to growl while he paced back and forth, across the floor, in front of us.
“Zeek, I’ve come into a bit of luck it seems. The young one and her blasphemous boyfriend have walked into the apartment,” he spoke into the phone, then paused, listening to his brother. “I’ll meet you there,” he finished and slid the phone back in his pocket.
“What do you plan to do with us?” Link asked.
“I plan to kill her and her family. If you repent your sinful ways, I just might spare your life. Don’t you know you are in the presence of evil?” Leviticus cried.
“I’m staring at the face of evil right now,” Link spat out his answer.
“I guess you’ve made your choice then, haven’t you?”
“I guess I have.”
“No, Link, do whatever he says. Save yourself,” I pleaded.
“You’re not getting rid of me. I’ve made my choice,” he murmured softly in my ear.
I composed my face, making it devoid of emotion. I spoke in a smooth, clear voice. “Let the boy go. He knows nothing. I simply used him, to pass the time here in this dull town,” I said, hoping Leviticus would accept my lie.
“If you have formed no attachment to him them you wouldn’t mind my using him for target practice later,” he sneered.
“I hate to see innocent humans suffer,” I replied.
“Ah, but your displeasure is my delight,” he smirked. “Let’s go!”
He waved his gun in the air, indicating that we should walk out first. The dog followed close at our heels and Levi exited after that.
“We’ll use your vehicle, I think. The black one, isn’t it? Get in,” the evil bald man commanded.
Evil bald man... Wow, that’s so cliché! I found myself thinking as he pushed Link into the driver’s seat. Rowan hopped up on Link’s lap and then moved over to the passenger seat. Levi then seized my arm, pushed the gun to my temple, and directed me into the back with him.
“A bullet to the brain would take awhile to repair, wouldn’t it?” he said, once the vehicle doors were securely shut. “Start the engine. Get on Colorado and head east, all the way through town, and past the mine. We’ll meet the brothers there,” Levi ordered.
“That’s toward Bridal Veil Falls,” Link replied.
“Why yes, it is. Now start driving, or your aberrant girlfriend here will find out exactly how long it takes her brain to repair itself after a bullet has been rattling around in her skull. We could time it, just for fun,” he hissed. “I did it once, you know, timed it... on a woman Zeek and I tracked to Mexico City. It took her exactly forty-seven minutes to open her eyes again... for the last time. That was my first Immortal kill, twenty years ago. You’ll be my second,” he leered at me. “Zeek got the last one. It’s my turn now.”
Link pulled the SUV out of the parking lot and headed east, as he was told. I was trying to figure out a way to escape this lunatic without having Link come to harm. Nothing was coming to me.
My phone started to buzz in my back pocket. The wind and snow whipping around the vehicle as we drove created enough external noise that Levi didn’t notice. I hadn’t texted when we arrived at Link’s apartment. The others would figure out that we were in trouble, they had to. But how long would it take for them to come looking?
Charity, where are you? I heard Marcus’s voice in my head.
Stupid girl, I told you to text me. I heard it again, as clear as if he were sitting right beside me.
Marcus, I screamed in my head. Marcus, can you hear me? Nothing, I heard nothing. My mind was playing tricks on me. I was a fool to hope that help would be coming.
Link crept along Colorado. Visibility was low. If I was having a hard time seeing the road ahead, then it was almost impossible for his mortal eyes. We rode in silence. Rowan, the dog, whined and growled every so often to make his presence known.
Link couldn’t die because of me.
I pressed my forehead against the window. “Figure out a way to get him out of here,” I softly whispered to myself.
As soon as we passed the mine, Link came to a stop. I looked out the front windshield and saw two sets of headlights dimly illuminating the snow in front of us. The lights didn’t belong to a regular vehicle. I could just barely make out the forms. They were small. They were snowmobiles!
Ezekiel was standing outside in the snow, right next to a matching pair of snowmobiles.
“Get out.” Levi pushed the gun against my temple and reached across my lap to open the door.
Link stepped out of the SUV with the dog close behind.
Ezekiel stood directly in front of us, eerily still, in the whirlwind that was happening around him. Sitting in the snow, next to Ezekiel Lord, was a mountain lion.
The cat purred loudly nodding its head to the dog. They were communicating somehow, the dog and the mountain lion. It was unnatural – like me. I looked at the faces of these two animals... specifically at their eyes. Their eyes were not canine or feline – they were human. The Lord brothers had brought a pair of Shape-Shifters to the party.
As soon as I had made the realization, the two animals stood on their hind legs and raised their paws in the air. The fur that covered their bodies soon changed into smooth skin, as the Shape-Shifters changed back into their human form. Two young men stood where the animals had just been.
“Ch-Charity, w-what in the w-world...,” Link stumbled on the words, trying to get them out.
“Shape-Shifters, Link,” I explained.
“We contracted to help you kill three Immortals,” the one who had just been the mountain lion spoke first. “The man is not one of them. I can smell the slow decay of his body. This guy is mortal.”
“Elliott, plans change. Three, four, what’s the difference?” Ezekiel laughed.
“Rowan, do you have a problem with this?” Levi asked.
“Absolutely not, as long as we get paid,” the Shape-Shifter answered.
“So, load them up and let’s head to the top of the falls. It is isolated enough, we will be completely alone, and God willing, no one will find the charred remains of their bodies for months,” Levi laughed.
“Link,” I cried out as I saw Ezekiel
raise his weapon. I was confronted by blackness as I received my own blow to the head. I roused within seconds, but it was enough time for them to bind my hands and place my body onto one of the snowmobiles. I struggled to free myself, as Leviticus was tying me to the vehicle.
“Be still, you repugnant creature, or I’ll do more than just knock-out your little playmate,” Ezekiel barked a warning.
I nodded my head in agreement and watched as my unconscious love was also bound and then gagged. Ezekiel winked at me before he took off, up the zigzag treacherous road that led to the top of the falls, with Link tied to the back of his vehicle. Levi immediately followed his brother, with me strapped behind him.
A dog and a mountain lion ran alongside us.
They had not searched me. I was sure of it. I could feel the cell phone still in my left back pocket, my push dagger was in my waistband, and I was willing to bet I still had a few surprises in my other pockets. Arrogance had made them sloppy. But even with weapons, I needed help. There were four of them and I wasn’t sure if I could do it alone.
Their bindings were not the greatest and I am quite limber. With a bit of wiggling, I was able to reach into my right back pocket and extracted a throwing star. Even with my hands bound, I was actually able to unfold the blades and saw my way through the ropes. Once my hands were free I slid the cell phone out of my other pocket. I needed to summon the others, and then I would deal with the monster in front of me, and his brother as well.
I used one hand to cover the bright screen, afraid the glow would bring attention my way, and the other to punch in Marcus’s number. The snowmobile swerved. I glanced up. We were coming to a curve in the road. My fingers fumbled as I hurriedly texted the words – Daner bridl fals – into the phone as Levi took the sharp turn. It was totally misspelled but it’d have to do. We hit a rock in the snow and the phone bounced out of my hands.
I hadn’t pushed send!
“Don’t look behind you. Don’t see where it lands,” I silently whispered to myself.
I saw the phone, Charity. I heard Marcus’s voice in my head again. I saw where it landed. Marcus said. I had to be imagining his voice, but I hoped I wasn’t. We’re on our way. Marcus assured me.
“Please, be real,” I murmured to the wind and snow.
What else? I thought. What else could I do without putting Link in danger? I racked my brain for any possible plan of attack. I could probably kill Levi right now. I could reach around his shoulders and drive my push dagger into his heart before he knew what was happening. But I was too afraid of what the others would do to Link. I decided to wait until we were together. I had to be near him, to make sure he was safe, and then I would fight. I would fight for my life, for both of our lives.
We reached our destination, the top of Bridal Veil Falls. The residence at the edge of the falls, once used as the power plant for the city below, was now vacated for the winter. There would be no one to hear my cries, no one to call for help or report a disturbance. I was on my own, that much I was sure of.
Link had regained consciousness, sometime during the ride. He shook his head and blinked his eyes. The brutal force of the wind and snow would be enough to rouse the dead.
The Lord brothers cut us loose from the vehicles, dragged us off, and stood us up, side by side. The dog and the mountain lion were soon there, circling around us. I kept my hands securely behind me, hoping that my earlier disposal of the rope that bound them together would go unnoticed. Leviticus and Ezekiel stood a few feet away, their heads close, in quiet conversation. The shrill wind destroyed any chance I had of deciphering their words, so instead I turned to Link.
“Link,” I whispered, “stand back to back with me. We’ll slowly circle around and act extremely afraid of the animals. I can cut through your rope and free your hands.”
“It won’t be an act,” he whispered back. “I am extremely afraid of the animals.”
I moved quickly, backing up against Link. I removed my push dagger and in one swift move I sliced through the rope, letting it fall into the snow. As we slowly circled, while the dog and the mountain lion circled us, I kicked snow onto the bindings to hide them in the white powder.
“What do you need the Shifters for?” I called out to the Lords. “You boys afraid? Afraid to do the job yourself? Afraid to fail?” I taunted.
“Insurance policy,” Leviticus answered. “There is strength in numbers. And you are outnumbered.”
“Push dagger,” I whispered to Link, reminding him of his earlier present. “Get ready to use it.”
“We are tied up and surrounded. What are you waiting for?” Link yelled.
“We are just deciding who gets to kill whom?” Ezekiel laughed. “I’m vying for the Immortal.”
“You’ll have to come through me,” Link hissed.
“As you wish,” Ezekiel answered.
“I’ll get the mountain lion and you get the dog. Then you need to run away, Link. Please run away from here,” I whispered as I placed my own dagger into his hand. “One weapon for each hand. I’ve got more,” I assured him and then moved forward before he had time to disagree with me.
I raced toward the mountain lion, pausing for a fraction of a second when I heard a sharp intake of breath through gritted teeth behind me. That meant pain. But the yelp of a dog followed, and I knew Link was getting the upper hand. So, I continued forward. As I neared the Shape-Shifter I crouched down, removed my boot dagger, popped back up and slashed, aiming for its shoulder blade. It growled fiercely and swatted at me, with its huge paw. The skin was torn from the back of my hand as the animal’s sharp claws raked across it. Red dots appeared in the snow. I slashed again, this time coming in contact with the animal’s hind leg. It was only a small cut. The mountain lion was exceptionally fast.
As the animal backed away, I turned to the Lords. I removed the two throwing stars I had stashed in my pockets and unfolded the blades. A micro-burst of wind hit as I released the weapons. The first one hit Leviticus in the thigh. The second one merely grazed Ezekiel’s upper arm.
This storm was killing my aim. I should have hit the targets dead on. I’d failed.
I turned around in time to see Link’s arms raised in attack, ready to come down upon the dog. Rowan was cowering in the snow. Elliott saw that his brother was in trouble and pounced on Link.
I caught the gleam of metal as one of my throwing stars spun through the air. It sliced through the arm of Link’s coat, and through his flesh. Levi had retaliated.
Link hadn’t listened to me. He hadn’t run, and now he was being mauled by both Shifters.
“No!” I screamed and raised my only remaining weapon, the boot dagger. I charged toward the animals.
“Elliott, Rowan,” Ezekiel screamed. “Stop!” He ordered. “We want the final kill.”
The animals paused their attack. They backed away when they saw the knife in my hand and the look in my eyes. Link was bleeding from the many scratches that now covered his face and hands. I helped him to stand. He was a bit shaken, but I could see that the wounds were not too deep. With a little of James’s blood they would smooth over nicely. The arm was a bit more serious, but that too would heal.
Ezekiel came forward. Rage radiated from his every pore. My failed attack had awakened a beast.
“Devil woman, stop this fight. You will not win,” the rage in his face belied the calmness in his voice.
The storm, which had been in full force just seconds before, began to lose its power and the wind died down.
Ezekiel paced back and forth through the blanket of fresh snow, gathering his thoughts. I couldn’t figure out his next move. Everything began to slow down. The few moments that lapsed, until he spoke again, could have been hours.
“Interesting place you picked to hide... Telluride. You know how it received that moniker don’t you? The journey through the mountains was an incredibly treacherous one for the original travelers. Many perished along the way. So it became a warning of sorts. ‘It’s to
hell you ride,’ people would caution. Ironic isn’t it, poetic even... that it’s the exact journey that you are about to make. You are an abomination and it is to hell that you shall ride,” he screamed the last few words.
All sense of reason and humanity, if there had ever existed any in this crazed man, were long gone.
He raised his gun and fired two quick shots. I doubled over in pain as I felt the first one tear through my abdomen and bury itself somewhere in my gut. “Heal quicker,” I whispered, impatiently waiting for my body to begin the healing process. The bullet was soon being pushed toward the surface of my skin. It was my first bullet wound. There was more pain than I had imagined there would be.
Where was the second shot? I didn’t feel a second impact. Panic quickly set in, and I turned to Link.
He had been standing beside me, but now lay crumpled at my feet. A flower of bright red was blossoming throughout the white snow underneath him. The crimson petals were quickly growing. His eyes remained open, but they held no expression. His hands grasped his stomach at the entrance wound. My ears registered screaming - terrified, horrified screaming.
It was coming from me.
“No,” I cried out, throwing myself down in the snow beside him. “It’ll be alright,” I lied, smoothing his hair back from his face. “You’re going to be just fine.”
Levi stood above me, sword in hand. “Are you ready for your ride?” he asked, his eyes sparkling with all that is evil.
Ezekiel must have lost the privilege of my kill. Better luck next time, I thought.
It was over. I closed my eyes. I would not fight anymore. There was no point. Lincoln, my love, would be dead soon. He was bleeding out fast. Even if I could somehow figure out a way to defeat the Lords and then conquer the Shape-Shifters, I could not live through another loss. I refused to try.
I was ready. Ready to die next to my love. I spread out my arms in surrender and waited for the cold metal of Levi’s sword to slice through my neck.
A hot rush of wind came instead of the icy blade of the sword.
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