Lexia (The Deadwood Hunter Series) (26 page)

He disappeared into the trees. She heard him move a few paces ahead then he became silent, became one with the forest, a panther on the hunt.

Lexia closed her eyes and concentrated on the sounds around her; she could hear two men talking in the front garden but they seemed relaxed so she guessed her panther hadn’t been detected.

Time seemed to slow down as she stood waiting for her panther to return and the longer she stood still the more bad memories bombarded her mind. Lexia tried to think of other things, she tried to focus on the conversation the two Hunters were having not that far away but she just couldn’t stand here anymore; she needed to do something, anything, to get her mind of her dad’s dead, broken body.

Lexia started to pace not caring if her frantic paces were heard. Panic and anxiety clutched at her, she turned and...

A panther prowled out of the trees turning into bright gold lights. “Lexia, what’s wrong?” Lincoln asked, concern in his still cat eyes.

She let out her breath and uncurled her hands from the tight fists they’d been in. “It’s just being back here, it’s brought all the memories back.”

“We’ll be gone soon.” He hugged her tightly and already the jagged, raw wounds started to be soothed.

“Most of the men are on the ground floor and around the edge of the house. From what I could see there doesn’t seem to be anyone in the bedrooms; maybe a dozen Hunters in total.”

“If I could get past the two front men then I could climb up to my window.”

Lincoln looked at Lexia, he didn’t want her anywhere near this house. And the haunted shadows had returned to her eyes, he knew she doubted whether she was good. But he also knew that she needed answers to move on. She wasn’t weak, but the thought of letting her into that house alone was bad enough to have his beast straining to take hold.
She needs to do this, I can let her go, I will let her go.

“Okay, if I distract them and lead them off into the back of the forest then you can climb in, but Lexia, you get in and out, no fighting or going downstairs.”

“I will, I promise. Where shall I meet you?”

“Run straight for Alice’s, make sure you’re not followed. I’ll find you, okay? No matter what happens, you go in and out then straight to Alice’s. Don’t wait for me.”

“Okay,” she whispered.

Rubbing his knuckles against her cheek, Lincoln shifted and disappeared into the trees.

A few minutes later she heard a commotion in the back garden; bullets were fired and the shouts of Hunters and Lincoln’s growls filled the air. Lexia wanted to run to him, her every instinct was to protect the man she loved but she couldn’t; she had to get this box, she had to find answers.

The two men that had guarded the front door had run around the side of the house so she ran undetected across the grass. She stood for a second and looked up at her window remembering all the times she’d climbed in and out of her room and then Lexia was scaling the side of the house and opening her window.

Lexia jumped through and took a step forward into the room; something crunched under her foot, looking down she saw a photo frame. Picking up the frame she looked into her dad’s smiling face, his warm brown eyes stared at her and he had his arm wrapped around her shoulders. The picture was from three years ago, Alice had taken it; the three of them had had a dinner for Lexia’s birthday. Her heart twisted in pain.

Lexia looked around the room; her bookcase had been tipped over, her draws pulled open, their contents spilling out onto the floor. All her memories lay shattered and broken around her. That’s how she felt, shattered and broken. It took all her strength to not collapse to the floor, to not succumb to the tears that burned at her eyes, to the sorrow that burned at her soul.

How dare they destroy her memories like they didn’t matter? Everything in this room had been a memory of life and the Hunters had broken them without a second thought. Blinding anger raged through her veins, washing away the sorrow. They would pay. She did matter. Lexia marched to the door, hands clenched into fists, adrenaline pumping through her veins; she put her hand on the knob, and then stopped...

She couldn’t go downstairs now and try to kill every Hunter in sight, it didn’t matter that her body hummed for vengeance. She’d promised Lincoln, he’d let her do this alone even though it went against every one of his instincts. He was a shifter, they protected what was theirs to the end; they didn’t let them go on their own. But he had, for her, because she needed to do this one thing alone and he trusted and loved her enough to not be rash.

Lexia took a deep breath and let her anger go as she stepped back.
I’ll need something to put the box in... my backpack.

Lexia turned; looking around the room, she found the bag and emptied out her school things then put in a few trinkets and the broken photo frame to take back to Alice’s. Then she walked to the door and listened for any movement in the hall; hearing nothing she cracked open the door.

 Lexia slowly walked towards her dad’s room, careful not to make any board creak. When she stepped into the room, she ignored the mess and walked straight to his closet, opening the door, and pulling up the boards. And just like her dad had said, there amongst the cobwebs sat a box. Lexia picked up the smooth wooden box running her fingers over it but as she was about to open the brass clasp, the floorboards creaked outside the bedroom door.

She froze and listened as whomever was on the landing walked past her father’s door. She heard him open her bedroom door and that’s when she realized she’d left the window open.
Shit!
It took her a split second to decide her next move, she either jumped out the window behind her and ran, hoping that she could outrun the dozen Hunters he would likely alert or she faced him and took him out before he said a word.

Lexia had silently run across the landing and through her door before he’d even turned back around. She jumped on his back, clamping her hand over his mouth to muffle his shouts. He fell towards her bed from the impact and she clamped her other hand around his head and twisted; she heard the sickening crack as he landed on the mattress.

Lexia leapt back from his body and closed the window that she had left open. As she glanced out she saw the two guards had returned to the front.
Fuck, how am I going to get out now?

Quietly Lexia returned to her dad’s room and put the box in her bag and took calming breaths thinking through her options. She could try and sneak past the guards but she’d most likely end up fighting them, or, or...
Crap!

Lexia looked around the room, hoping for an answer. She walked to the window and peered out. If she jumped from here, the group of hunters in the back garden would see her; could she outrun them? Or she could climb out onto the tree that brushed up against the side of the house but would it hold her weight? Lexia had been practicing climbing trees, but could she be as silent and invisible as her panther was in the trees?

“Well, only one way to find out,” she muttered, and pulled up the window.

The branch hung above the window, it had scraped off the paint on the house from its movements over the years. She crouched out the window; her back facing away from the house and tucked her fingers into the wooden planks. Lexia then stood up and reached out for the branch, she tried not to think about falling or the fact that an old wooden house board was the only thing keeping her upright. Her hand clasped around the thick tree branch and she sucked in a breath and jumped, reaching out with her other hand. The branch bowed slightly with her weight but it held and she slowly made her way towards the tree trunk, her legs dangling lifelessly.

Danger flashed in her mind’s eye and she looked down seeing a Hunter walking her way. He had his head down looking at his phone.

Lexia held her breath and hung silently from the branch, praying his senses didn’t alert him to her presence. She let out her breath as he turned the corner and hurried along until she’d reached a part that was strong enough for her to pull up on. Lexia crawled along the branch to the trunk and jumped to the floor. She froze for a second, listening, then took off across the forest the trees blurring together in a mass of dark green. The air whipped past her face bringing tears to her eyes and she felt the first bit of hope blossom in her heart; she’d finally gotten the box, she’d finally gotten the information to answer the questions that burned in the back of her mind.

A flash of black caught her attention before her panther ran beside her. “I got it, Lincoln, I got it!”

No one followed them from the forest and after finding Lincoln some clothes they walked through the back streets of Deadwood.

Lincoln held her hand tight. He’d not asked her how it had gone, all that mattered was she was safe and she had the box. They were about to walk around the corner to Alice’s street when Lexia stopped in her tracks. Her body stiffened and her eyes bled to gold.

“Lexia?”

“Can’t you feel it?”

“Feel…” but she’d already taken off, ripping her hand free from his. He heard her whisper, “Alice,” as she went.

Lincoln ran flat out after her, his panther rising to the surface but she was going so fast he struggled to catch up with her. As they neared the house he could smell it, Hunters. His panther growled and paced in his mind.

They stopped in the front yard; the door had been kicked open. “Alice!” Lexia’s strangled whisper hit him in the gut, she couldn’t handle any more death, and a fresh bloom of fear clutched hold of his chest as realized he might not be able to bring her back this time.

“Lexia, wait! They could be inside still.”

“Oh I hope they are!” Her eyes glowed impossibly brighter and she was gone, a blur of speed. She pushed the door aside and it shattered to pieces, then he heard her scream.

Lincoln raced into the house after her and found Lexia in the kitchen standing at the back door, glass littered at her feet and a piece of paper clutched in her hand. But that’s not what Lincoln noticed first. First he noticed the blood that slowly dripped to the floor from Lexia’s hand and then he noticed how her body seemed to hum with power, how she stood shaking with rage and her eyes as she turned slowly to look at him shined as bright as the sun.

His panther snarled in his mind, its fur standing on end. Lincoln walked slowly towards her. “Lex?” Her eyes snapped up focusing on his own gold cat eyes.

“They will pay!” Her voice was like a deadly blade, so cold, so empty, she trembled in anger. Lincoln reached for her, he needed to do something, this wasn’t Lexia.

But as his hands touched her, she lashed out sending him sliding across the room. He hit the wall with an “oomph.” His panther growled and snarled, ready to attack, but he forced it down because this was Lexia, he loved her.

Lexia gasped as she saw Lincoln fly across the room; she looked down at her hands like they belonged to someone else.
What did I do?

She collapsed to the floor, great heaving sobs leaving her body. She’d lost control, all that power that rushed through her veins and she’d lost control.

“Lincoln, I... I...I’m, I didn’t mean to.” She looked up, swiping at the tears that blurred her vision; she feared what she would see there. It would finally break her to see Lincoln look at her like she was a stranger, a monster, but when she looked into his cat eyes, she saw concern, love, and fear. Fear for her.

“What’s happening to me?”

“Oh, baby.” Lincoln rushed to her, holding her tight. Lexia clung to him and buried her face into his chest, she breathed in his musky, earthy scent. He softly stroked her hair and slowly she calmed down. Lincoln was her anchor, as long as she had him, everything would be okay.

“They have her, Lincoln; they’ll let her go if I turn myself in.”

“You know as soon as they have you, she’s dead. As long as you’re free she lives.”

“She’s my best friend, Linc, I have to do something, and she’s in this because of me.”

“We will do something but we can’t just going running in head first. Let me clean your hand and let’s see what your father left you. Maybe he left answers that will help.”

Twenty minutes later Lexia sat with her hand bandaged and took the backpack off her back. She pulled out the box and sat there just holding it in her hands. “It’s funny; I’ve wanted this box for so long but now that I have it, I’m frightened of what I’ll find.”

“My Wildcat, scared?” She looked at him and smiled at the cheeky glint in his eyes, he was right. She opened the box. Inside she saw a letter; opening it she ran her fingers over the crisp white paper and started to read the scrawled handwriting…

My dearest Lex,

If you’re reading this, then I have failed to keep you safe and for that I am truly sorry. Sorry that your life has now been turned upside down and I’m sorry that I’m not there to help you. I can only say that I lied to you to keep you safe and I hope that you can forgive me.

You must have so many questions. But to answer them I must start at the beginning:

I’m a scientist, Lexia, and I used to work for a secret government agency. That’s how I met your mom, Lucy Hunter. She was the head scientist on the project we worked on, to enhance soldiers so that they were stronger, faster, and healed quicker than the average human.

In the year 2010, Lucy made the breakthrough that led to the creation of Hunters. They were everything we had hoped for, built to fight and protect; the only difference in their appearance was that all their eyes turned to gold. Your mom volunteered to be changed, too. Before she was changed she had blue eyes just like you.

Lucy and I were very happy and we married later that year. A year after we were married I started to notice some changes in her moods; she would lose her temper very quickly and often talked of the Hunters feeling taken for granted. I didn’t tell anyone. I loved her, Lexia, and I didn’t want to see how my wife was slowly changing.

But the government started to lose control of the Hunters and your mom had changed so much that I no longer saw the beautiful, smart woman I fell in love with. But my plans to leave her changed in November 2011, she told me she was pregnant.