Lexia (The Deadwood Hunter Series) (29 page)

Lexia looked at the arrogant woman who stood before her and wondered how she could be her mother. She was small and petite where Lexia was tall and curvy. With her pale skin and blond hair, they looked nothing alike and yet the way she now fidgeted in impatience and how her eyes blazed with anger seemed so familiar. But there was one thing Lexia was certain of, this woman was surrounded by darkness. As she stood there waiting and her impatience grew, the dark swirls of energy grew stronger and stronger; her aura was nothing but darkness. Lexia was nothing like this woman and she had no interest in the things she had to show her.

“I’m sorry but I’m going to have to decline.” Lexia slowly turned to leave, every sense following the dangers around her.

“You dare defy me? You are mine, Maura.”

Anger swirled through Lexia’s veins. “Yours! I am no one’s and my name is Lexia.” She turned and walked towards the tree line, the Hunters around her moved with her but didn’t close the distance between them.

“Lexia!” bellowed Lucy.

Lexia froze, suddenly frightened by the anger in her mother’s voice. The air around her felt charged with power, with darkness.

“I created you! I created you to be man’s destroyer, not man’s defender! You are named Maura for the darkness you will bring to this world!”

Silence seemed to have settled around them at Lucy’s words, not even a breath could be heard from the Hunters around her. Lucy seemed to be trembling with rage; a volcano ready to erupt.

Lexia felt frozen in time, the whole world moving around her while she was stuck in a nightmare where she was created for evil. She saw movement to her right; her heart started to pound even louder but still she couldn’t move. She watched in horror as a twisted smile crossed her mother’s face, and caught the glimpse of black velvet in the tree line.

Her dad’s voice spoke into her mind,
Whatever you do don’t trust her,
and the sound of a gunshot broke the silence.

In that moment Lexia realized she’d made the biggest mistake of her life.  How silly she was to think a voice from her dreams could be the mother she’d always wanted. For just a split second, Lexia had forgotten what her father had told her, she hadn’t wanted to believe she’d been manmade to kill. She wanted a mom who actually loved her; she became the little girl that wanted a family.

Lexia had never realized until that moment how much she’d wanted, needed, a mom.

Standing frozen, Lexia watched her panther, her life, collapse to the ground, and listened to the screams of her best friend; she turned and looked at her mother one last time. Saw the satisfied smile that lit her face; she was a monster and Lexia would never be fooled again. She only hoped that it wasn’t too late.

“Lex! Lexia!” Alice’s frightened screams blasted through the haze.

She looked around to see the Hunter who’d shot Lincoln aim his gun at Alice who stood frozen, a rabbit in headlights.

Lexia moved, running towards her; she jumped putting herself between Alice and the gun. She felt the bullet as it tore through the flesh and bone in her shoulder leaving behind white-hot fire and she hit the ground crying in pain.

She had never felt pain like it. She felt her body want to shut down from the pain but she couldn’t because the Hunter was aiming his gun again and others circled around like vultures.

Lexia forced back the pain and the fog in her head.

“Run!” she screamed at them. She saw Alice trying to help her panther as he collapsed a few paces away.

How she wanted to run with them but there were a dozen Hunters out for blood and only she stood in their way.

Lexia turned, facing them head on. She reached deep inside of herself to find the will to drive her on. The pain became a distant memory as she felt a powerful energy fire through her muscles, giving her strength.

Lexia became a Hunter; she became more than a Hunter.

The world dropped away and she heard nothing other than the steady rhythm from her heart and the calm rush of her breathing; she craved blood, she craved their deaths.

The cuffs that bound her hands now broke easily apart. The men before her froze in fright and then she stepped forward hacking the ruby-covered knife into their flesh.

Cries of pain filled the air; blood ran from Lexia’s arms and covered the knife until the red rubies could no longer be seen. Men and women dropped dead around her as she moved with lightning speed, chopping and slicing into their bodies.

She didn’t feel any pain as they cut through her skin or as their fists and feet connected with her body; her blood dripped to the floor, staining the earth. And with every drop of her blood that was spilled she felt more power, their cries of pain and fear only made her want more. She felt only the rush from the kill.

Lexia was lost in the fury of her bloodlust, the power that she had within her had taken over; it drove her on, through the pain. She craved to feel the blood of her enemies run through her fingers; the metallic smell of blood filled the air and she loved it. She smiled in triumph, she relished in the kill.

“Lex!” Alice called.

But Lexia didn’t hear her friend’s call. She wasn’t Lexia anymore, she was the Hunter her mother had created; she’d become the monster her father had feared.

“Lexia! Stop. Please!” Alice’s voice was filled with fear and worry.

A small part of Lexia’s mind registered her friend but as more gunshots were fired her way she became lost again, leaping from the forest onto the man holding the gun. He fired it again but Lexia had already reached him. Twisting his hand to the sky, she wrenched his arm, ripping it from its socket. He called out in pain, dropping the gun. Lexia smiled, picking it up and putting it to the Hunter’s chest, and her heart beat faster, adrenaline coursing in her veins.

“Please…” he begged, and she laughed, pulling the trigger, watching the life drain from his eyes.

“Lex! Lincoln needs you. Please, he’s dying.”

Lincoln?

She moved onto the next Hunter, her hands clenched around his head.

“Lincoln needs help!” Alice screamed “He’s dying, Lexia!”

Lincoln is dying, he needs me.

The sickening thought broke the bloodlust; Lexia looked down at the man beneath her and his lifeless eyes that stared back. Turning to run into the forest, her gaze swept across Derrick as he stood in the doorway of her home; he looked at her with pity and fear. Then she looked upon her mother who still stood at her car and the look in her eyes chilled Lexia to the bone.

Lucy looked at her daughter in awe, she was everything she hoped she’d become; a killing machine who fought past pain and injuries, she had incredible strength.

Lucy knew she had to take away all the things that Maura loved, the people who helped her keep the power under control and then she would be hers to use as she pleased. They would be an unstoppable force.

Maura was everything she had wanted to create; she smiled at her daughter as she ran to her lifeless panther. “Let her go,” she called. Yes, her daughter would soon be hers and the panther would soon be dead.

Chapter 30

When Lexia reached Lincoln he was laid limp on the forest floor, his breathing was slow and labored. She bent to pick him up and started to run through the trees with Alice sobbing behind her.

“Hold on, baby,” she whispered over and over as they ran deeper into the forest.

With every step, pain shot up her leg and stabbed in her shoulder. Lexia’s lungs burned with every breath and her arms trembled with the strain of holding her heavy cat, the further she went the more her body shut down. She slowed, hurting everywhere; blood ran over every inch of her, she couldn’t go on much longer.

“Lexia, where are we going? He needs a hospital, you need a hospital!”

Lexia stopped and laid Lincoln down gently, she was panting hard and her head was growing fuzzy. All she wanted to do was curl up and sleep; just let the darkness sweep her under until she felt no more pain, until she felt nothing at all.

“Lex, Lexia? Are you listening to me?”

Lexia focused on Alice. She looked blurry and Lexia swayed, grabbing a tree trunk to keep her upright. Alice started to sob uncontrollably, she was looking to Lexia to save her but Lexia needed someone to save them. She looked down at her panther’s body, his breathing so shallow she could barely make it out; blood stained his perfect velvet fur.

“Lex... please,” Alice sobbed

But Lincoln always saves me; what am I going to do?  He’s dying and I can’t carry him to a hospital. How do I explain him being a cat? What am I going to do? God the pain, I wish it would stop. Please, someone make it stop.

Lexia looked around her, staring into the trees. Lincoln moaned at her feet and when she looked down he exploded into light.

 Alice gasped.

 Lincoln lay in human form at her feet, the bullet had hit him in the side just below his ribs.

Shit, how am I going to carry him now?

“What’s that mean?” Alice whispered.

“I don’t know. Come on, you will have to help me.”

Lexia heaved him up, wrapping his arm around her shoulder and Alice did the same on the other side.

“Hold on, Lincoln!” Lexia said sternly.

They both walked as fast as they could across the forest dragging Lincoln, his quiet moans breaking the silence. She tried to push the pain away but she needed to stop, she needed help.

“I can’t carry him much further, Lex.”
Neither can I,
she thought.

“Just a little further, please,” Lexia begged. She couldn’t lose him, not her panther.

Alice tripped, falling down crying. Lexia struggled to keep Lincoln up, she cried out in pain as her shoulder was jostled and dropped to her knees.

“Get up! Help me!” Lexia shouted.

“But Lex, it’s no use, he’s too heavy! Look at him, he’s dying and we are miles from help and then look at you, Lex! You’re injured worse than him; how is it you’re still standing? Any min…”

“Alice!” Lexia’s voice was like a blade. She stood up not even daring to breath.

“We’re here, help me.”

“We’re nowhere, Lex,” Alice whispered, lifting Lincoln onto her shoulder.

Lexia walked forward and pulled aside the vines that covered the entrance into the clearing that surrounded Lincoln’s home. They kept walking towards the center tree.

“But Lexia?”

“Look up,” she answered.

She heard Alice gasp as her eyes settled on the huge aerie that sat nestled in the tree. They laid Lincoln gently down and Lexia looked up the tree trunk.

She ran jumping, digging her hands into the bark, pulling her body higher up the trunk but as she reached out with her arm to grasp the lowest branch, the pain from her shoulder made her lose her grip and she fell to the ground.

“Fuck!” Lexia cried, the pain was consuming her every muscle. “I need to get up the tree for the first aid kit! FUCK!” She collapsed on the floor crying, her body shaking uncontrollably. Everything hurt, her thigh and shoulder felt like they were on fire. She crawled to Lincoln. “I’m so sorry, Linc, this is all my fault,” she sobbed. “I’m just not strong enough, I couldn’t save my dad and now I’m going to lose you, Lincoln... Lincoln, I love you.”

Lexia pulled off the last bits of her shirt and, sobbing, she pressed it against his side. She looked at his deathly pale face as he whimpered in pain.

Lexia kissed him gently on the forehead remembering the words he’d once said to her, ‘have faith in yourself.’ She pushed herself up; she wouldn’t give up, she’d fight to her last breath.

“Hold this,” she said to Alice who sat on the leaf-covered ground crying.

As Lexia stood up, the world tilted. She looked up into the tree,
I have to get up there! I have to save Lincoln.
And as she braced herself to run, a warning chimed in her head and she heard Alice gasp. Lexia bent, pulling the knife from her boot and spun around to face the man that had just walked into the clearing.

The first thing she noticed was that his eyes were not gold but green, as green as the forest around them. They glowed in the darkness and he stopped immediately upon seeing Lexia.

He was as tall as Lincoln with a well-built body, his light brown hair was cut short showing off his sharp, masculine face. His skin was sun-kissed and he was dressed smartly in a suit but it didn’t hide the fact that he had a wild edge; there was something about this man, something not quite human.

Lexia stood her ground, holding the blade towards this man; she slowly moved to cover Alice and Lincoln.

“Alice, keep pressure on his wound.”

“What are you?” Lexia asked the green-eyed man, her voice was calm and deadly, but in reality Lexia was fading.

Her body felt weak and tired and it took all her effort to hold the knife steady. She forced every breath from her lungs and kept her blurred vision on the green-eyed man. Lexia wanted so badly to surrender to the darkness that was calling her.

“I’m a doctor, my name’s Caden. Linc called and left me a message yesterday saying he needed my help. I came as soon as I got it. Look, I won’t harm you, Hunter. Let me help you, let me help Linc.”

“I’m no Hunter!” Lexia growled, stepping forward.

“Hey, hey, I meant nothing by it... y-your eyes are gold.”

“What are you?” she asked again. The darkness claimed her for a second and she felt her legs wobble.

“Leopard,” he whispered.

Lexia swayed again. The world was drifting away, she could hear buzzing in her ears but she couldn’t pass out, they needed her, she had to protect them.

“Let me help you, please.”

Lexia never answered. Her head swam, she called Lincoln’s name but nothing left her lips; the pain was too much. It was all-consuming; a raging monster attacking every fiber of her being and she wanted it to stop.

She’d fought hard for her panther but she just wasn’t strong enough. The darkness swept her under and Lexia welcomed it, welcomed the numbness that took over her mind and body. She felt nothing, no pain, no fear.

She never heard Alice cry out as Lincoln’s heart stopped beating or her sobs begging Lexia not to leave her alone.