Forbidden (40 page)

The cats yowled, screamed, and snarled, rolling over in the snow as they fought. The scent of fresh blood sharpened Alek's senses.

Finding the Darkness was like searching for a black cat in a dark room. He moved as quickly and quietly as he could, alert for any movement. But the Darkness descended on him so fast that there was no time to do anything. Claws slashed, teeth gripped, and raw power held him so tight that he couldn't fight back. Yet Alek felt a difference. This wasn't the awe-inspiring force he'd experienced before. It felt more … normal, in a way, like any really tough, powerful Sazi.

Pulling power from the web he was attached to, Alek felt a swirl of energy flow through him, becoming a vortex that threw off his attacker. The sensation was intoxicating. It fueled a frenzy of motion; Alek lashed out, caught an arm, a leg, a torso, forcing Monk back until he was a black blob pressed against a tree. The trunk vanished into the Darkness and the upper branches appeared to be hovering in midair.

The blob lassoed him and sucked him inside. If he could still do that, Monk had to still be getting energy from somewhere. Alek had to force him to expend more energy faster. He fought free of Monk's grip, then turned to attack—and missed. Another jump, another miss.

Alek became a whirling dervish, slashing and biting at the Darkness, occasionally catching flesh. He could tell it wasn't enough and exhaustion was beginning to drag at him. He hoped the others were getting the kids to safety.

He thought he felt a presence pushing against his skin, raising the hairs uncomfortably. He lashed out with an arm but the move left him vulnerable and Monk was fast. Claws raked across Alek's stomach and pain washed over his brain so fast, he couldn't process what had happened. Instinctively, he clutched at his gut, and found that what should be inside was out. Blood was rushing out of him fast. Too fast. It was all he could do to keep his intestines from spilling out onto the ground.

He dropped to his knees, his body going into shock. He tried to reach for the pack, but they fell away from him like the wetness that was flowing over his fingers.

Another sharp pain—the claws were driving through muscle and bone, reaching for his heart. Somehow he managed to roll away, still clutching his arms around himself, but he was still trapped in the Darkness. Nobody knew what was happening to him. No one would be able to hear him scream, if he had a throat left to scream with.

Claire!
he called desperately.

The face of his attacker flickered into view above him, smiling coldly.

Then the mayor disappeared, leaving Alek alone in the cold and dark.

*   *   *

Claire had broken the last branch, but she couldn't get the children to run. They'd been captive too long—they were too afraid of the Darkness to seize a chance at freedom. She would have to do what she'd done with Darrell.

She grabbed two of the children by the hand and dragged them through the forest. When they weren't able to keep up, she lifted them, one under each arm, and started to run.

Two. But there were more. She wouldn't be in time. That's when she heard a flutter of wings above. A massive snowy owl was flying beside her. He opened his talons, fluttering in midair, and she held up one of the nearly catatonic children. He took hold of the girl's shackles in his talons and rose higher and carried her toward the house. Her arms might be hurt, but she would live. With a start, she realized it was Kristy Williams. Without the weight of the extra child, she quickly made it back to Bitty's. Just as she turned to go back, a scream in her mind made her stumble and crack her head against the couch. Claire!

It was Alek! But where was he? She looked around frantically. She could feel his energy dimming. And while she'd taken energy from him before, she had no idea how to give it back.

She picked up the girl again and held her up to a waiting Scott. “Where are they?!” She grabbed a man by the shirt and shook him. “Alek! I can't find him!”

Egan, yes, it was Egan. She recognized him now; he grabbed her arm and pulled her forward and down a flight of stairs. The doorway at the end of the hall had a bright glow seeping through. She threw open the door and grabbed Bitty's hands. The healer's eyes opened wide in panic as Claire threw herself into the stream of energy. Like a battering ram, she pushed her way into the net of people, searching for the dimming thread.

The light was its own form of darkness—there were so many threads, so much brightness, that she couldn't see, couldn't hear past the humming energy. But she could
feel
. She searched for the memories imprinted on the emotions, calling out to Alek.
Think about Sonya and the hotel and playing hide-and-seek! Help me find you!

The memories came from the other end of town, from Denis Siska. A shared memory of sliding down the bannister, laughing and screaming, chasing each other, not two of them, but four, flowed into her mind. Alek and Denis, and a raven-haired pair of girls, one older and one very small, smiling and giggling.

Like flashes of lightning, the children ran through the memory, buoyed by the emotions of family and home.

A spark. The tiniest green spark, far in the distance. She'd found him.

Weak. So very weak. Cold and tired. His body was shutting down from shock and blood loss.

When Claire opened her eyes, she saw Bitty's face, looking unbearably sad, as though there was no hope. Acting without thought, Claire slapped the old woman, then recoiled in horror, pulling away and racing back into the forest, toward Alek.

She knew where he was. The only question was if she could get there in time.

Every step was agony, but she couldn't stop. Wouldn't stop.

She passed a cougar's still form. She hoped it was the police chief. She couldn't seem to smell who it was through the myriad of scents from the fight. If not, she was still in danger. The other cat was gone and the clearing was utterly silent except for her frantic footsteps and harsh breathing.

Alek had been stuffed inside a hollow under a tree, where he wouldn't normally have been found for weeks, or years. The slashes across his stomach were horrible. His lips were blue. He barely had a pulse.

She wasn't a healer, but there were people in the net who were. She pulled him out, laid him on his back, and did her best to put the slippery squishy body parts back inside the ripped flesh. Then she closed her eyes and opened herself to the net of packs.
One of you, help me make this work!

You are utterly insane.
It was Will Kerchee's voice in her mind.

Amber's voice was next, incredulous bordering on amused.
Gotta give her credit for Texas innovation.

Magic began to flow into her, guided by skilled minds. Her arm was throbbing, pulsing in time to the beating of her heart. She began to press the ripped flesh together, keeping it over his organs. She didn't dare do CPR. His lungs needed to stay inside the skin until it could be sealed.

At first, there were no tingles. Nothing more than the slap of flesh on flesh as she force-fed magic into him. But without warning, a tiny flash in her mind, like a firefly at dusk. It sped up her heart and made her push even more energy into him. She pushed everything she could into one command,
Don't leave!
Not part of the command, but equally true, was the final word—
me.

His mouth opened of its own accord, choked in a great gasp of air.

As she leaned back in utter relief, she felt, rather than saw, claws descend. Without even thinking about it, she reached to the ground next to her, feeling for what she had seen moments before—a broken limb from the old dead tree. Her arm shot up and the stake of wood drove itself into the chest of a patch of darkness with glowing red eyes.

A scream of anger from above her made her cover Alek to protect him. But there was no need. A familiar snowy owl with a constellation of stars on his chest streaked down from the sky, talons open, filled to the brim with bright white energy. The talons dug in tight to the skull of the cat, who was struggling to pull out the piece of wood impaled in its chest. The cat screamed as the talons closed and squeezed. Claire jumped in the air and aimed for his neck.

The bird twisted hard and fast in midair. The cat's neck snapped and the darkness dissolved like smoke and starlight filled the sky again.

The owl landed on the ground and made a few hops to peer down at Alek. Scott's voice boomed, heavy with power, in the sudden silence. “Nobody picks on my big brother but me.”

 

CHAPTER 28

The squeaking of dry-erase marker on a white board made Alek's teeth grind. But the healers had told him that it would be several more days before his vocal cords healed enough to talk.
Explain it again?

Scott sighed and flipped his hair back from his eyes for the tenth time in the last few minutes. Frustrated, with a few quick flips, he twisted it around and tied the long strands into a knot. “There are a few alphic people in town, like the Kragans, who sometimes change me at night. Hurts like hell but it's worth it. When I fly really high, I get more powerful. I don't know why. I figured it out by accident. Then, if I come down really fast, it lasts a few seconds before it's gone again. Makes me feel like a real Sazi every so often, y'know?”

More squeaking. This time in blue marker. He was getting tired of red and black.
Powerful enough to kill Monk?

Claire touched his hand. She'd been sitting beside him since he'd been brought home from the clinic. “Well, not him alone. It was more like three packs channeling through both of us. But he was pretty amazing. You should have seen him glowing, bright as a full moon. And I've never seen a bird twist in midair like that.”

“That wasn't planned,” Scott said with a self-conscious shrug. “But when I saw you stab him in the heart, I had to give it a try. I just figured I'd piss him off, maybe wound him. I never expected what happened.”

The door opened and Amber walked in, clapping her hands lightly. “Okay, you two, scoot. He needs to get some rest. I can't stay here forever, you know.”

He wrote again and showed her.
Thank you
.

“Thank your insane girlfriend. Weirdest operation I've ever seen.”

Claire smiled. “A low-tech solution to every problem.”

The healer let out a snort. “Bare hands. Yeah, that's low-tech, all right.” She touched Scott's arm. “You, out.” Then she pointed at Claire. “Five more minutes. No more. You need sleep, young lady. You've been hovering here for three days with nothing more than catnaps.”

Scott saluted her and then gave Alek a pat on the leg. “Get better, bro. We've got a mess to clean up when you're up and around. You haven't heard all the scuttlebutt yet.” He shut the door behind him.

*   *   *

Claire looked down at Alek, pale but not nearly as ghostly as he had been when they'd brought him here. She touched his hand. “I'm glad you're feeling better.”

More squeaking on the board.
Worried?
He didn't smile with the word. Was he the one who was worried?

“You've been in a magically induced coma for a few days. Yeah, I was worried. And, I've had a chance to do some thinking and some talking to people.”

A few short strokes produced black letters.
About?

She sighed. “About you … me …
us
. And whether I'm the right person for you.”

He grabbed her hand firmly and brought it to his lips, eyes closed. “Yes.” The word croaked out of a throat that shouldn't be talking yet. The magic had healed a few things oddly.

“Paula is mated to you. But you probably already figured that out.”

His nod was sad. Alek lowered her hand and picked up the marker again.
Not in love with her.

“Yeah, she figured that out. She's not a happy wolf. But at least she's realized it's not my
personal
fault. No more attacks so far.”

Good,
came the word, this time in red. He kept writing.
How are Darrell, and Tammy and … everyone?

Now she could smile, even though she knew he was changing the subject. “Both better. Tammy's insanity was an offshoot of Mayor Monk's.”

Alek frowned and raised an inquisitive eyebrow at Claire.

She sighed. “So much news, so little time.”

The door opened again and Dani poked her head inside. “Shh, don't let the doc know I'm here.” She slipped inside and leaned down to give Alek a quick hug. “What'cha talking about?”

Claire lowered her voice. “I was telling him all the news.”

“Whoo, baby. How much time you got?”

He raised his eyebrows, encouraging them to continue.

“Wolven and the Council have descended on the town and are starting to dig into the records,” Claire said. “Seems Van Monk used to be a really great guy.”

What happened?
squeaked onto the board.

“As far as they can tell, there was so much fighting between species when Luna Lake was founded that he started attaching people so he could keep everyone calm. That was the Great Experiment—trying to
make
everyone get along. Maybe all the voices in his head overwhelmed him. We don't know, but he decided that to keep the town safe, he had to kill all the humans, including the kids. We haven't figured out what Skew knew about it. Since I didn't know her before, I can't judge, but she's somewhere between the parakeet and the falcon we saw that day.

“Apparently, he kept really detailed journals in the early days,” Claire continued, leaning on his bed's rail and stroking his arm. “One of the agents going through them says they really show how absolute power corrupts.”

“The kids are all back home, but not all the parents remember they had kids in the first place. That's a mess. On the plus side, it means the town will be getting a permanent healer.”