Ravens (11 page)

Kendra followed in close tow. He took
her to the back where lights didn’t shine and where people didn’t venture. He
moved with no more than a crackle from the rocks beneath his feet.

Liam squatted at the base of the
windowless station before propelling himself up using the strength in his
thighs. He kicked against a wide oak tree, against a large, sturdy boulder
about five feet away, then finally to the side of the train station hall to
land on the roof. He spun around and squatted, his sights focused on Kendra.

Kendra gulped and stared at him. With a
stern jaw, Liam nodded his head once. 

Kendra shook her hands at her sides,
coaching herself. She mimicked Liam to the last move as she raced back and
forth between the tree and the building. Kendra landed on the edge of the
rooftop facing Liam. Her feet curved over the gutters, but she lost her
balance. She flung her arms back and tilted backward. Liam grabbed her around
the waist and jerked her against him.

A raspy breath escaped Kendra’s lips.
She pushed him away, muttering, “Thanks
,”
as she trudged across the
roof. She liked this dangerous nightlife, not to mention the dexterity of her new
abilities. 

“Follow me,” he said in her ear.

“Where?”

“Gonna jump on this train when it gets a
good head start.”

“I can’t do that. That jump is way too
far.”

“You can do it.”

The train started about thirty feet from
the edge of the building. Kendra shook her head and took a step back. She could
jump straight down from the fifth floor, but propelling herself across a
thirty-foot gap didn’t seem possible.

“You didn’t think you could jump up
here, but you did. You’re a Raven. You can do just about anything now.”

She shook her head, denying whatever he
said.

Liam grunted. He bent down and grabbed
her, wrapped his arms around her thighs just above the back of her knees. She
tried to push away, but he tossed her over his left shoulder before she could
move.

“Put me down. I’ll jump then.” She tried
to kick and squirm, but his hold over her thighs   was firm.

“No time for this, darling.” He smacked
her bottom with his free hand.

“Agh!” She pounded on his back from her
position over his shoulder. “I’m going to kick your ass, Liam.”

Liam laughed, and ran with Kendra to the
edge, toward the train. He lunged from the edge of the roof and landed on his
haunches on the freight car as Kendra bounced above him.

Seeing everything from her dangling
position startled her. When he landed, she thought her head would smack the
rusted, iron slab. She stopped kicking and punching, and grabbed onto the waist
of Liam’s jeans. He probably liked it. If he stopped intervening, she could
prove she didn’t need him.

Liam grabbed onto the edge of the
freight roof with his free hand, and threw his legs over, swinging into the
boxcar devoid of doors. He landed as if Kendra’s weight meant nothing more than
an extra coat on his back.

He took her to a pile of firm bags, bent
his legs, and tossed her onto them. She puffed in annoyance, blowing strands of
hair out of her face. She glared up at the grinning rogue who seemed so proud
of himself.

She growled. “You know, I don’t really
need your help to do everything.”

“Maybe, but you take too long to do
things. This is a cutthroat world. You have to move faster. And it just gives
me a reason to put my hands all over you.”

Liam took a seat on a cargo box on the
other side while Kendra grunted and climbed to her feet, taking a more
respectable position on a different box.

Several crates lined one wall of the
near-empty boxcar, while two different sized crates sat in the middle. The
bare, wooden floor remained dusty from foot traffic, but nothing else.  

The silence lingered for what seemed
like an eternity. Kendra sat with her legs crossed and leaned back on her
palms. She responded to Liam’s stare with her own. He sat with legs apart and
torso bent over his thighs.

“What are you staring at?” she asked
curtly.

“Why so rude?”

“Hello? I’m still mad that you brought
me here against my will and kissed me.”

“Wasn’t that bad, was it? That hurts my
feelings, love.”

“You kissed me after I passed out. You
took advantage of me, and don’t call me that.”

“I can’t say that I’m sorry, sweetheart,
but I couldn’t help myself.”

“I know you’re not sorry and that irks
me even more, and don’t call me that, either.”

He flashed that smile. It drove her
nuts! It made her mad, and at the same time rattled those stupid butterflies.
Kendra rolled her eyes.

“So, you never heard from my parents
after they left?” Liam asked.

She didn’t expect the question or the
grief that washed over his face.

She quietly replied, “They were
heart-broken, Liam. They wouldn’t come around us. As far as I know, they never
called or contacted my parents.”

Liam sat up and crossed his arms. He
looked away from Kendra and studied the bags in the corner. He narrowed his
eyes and raised a brow as he stared off into space, deep in thought.

She couldn’t be pissed at him when he
mourned over them. She stood and went to the door-less opening at her right,
opposite of where Liam focused. She gripped the side, careful to not fall out,
and examined the sky and its three moons: One large, gray moon with defined
craters, a slightly smaller moon with a silver glow, and a much smaller brick
red moon.

Kendra crossed her arms and studied
them. How could it be possible to have three moons? Well, as possible as a
portal taking her to another dimension. She pondered on their rotation cycles,
their composition. How did three moons affect Earth? For that matter, how did a
giant, flaming red sun affect the planet?

“What are you looking at?” Liam asked
without moving.

“The moons.”

“What about them?”

“Don’t you remember there’s only one
moon in the other world?”

He shrugged. “Nothing extraordinary
except the silver one is terra-formed.”

Kendra’s mouth dropped. She turned
around. “People live there?”

“Specialists and scientists for now, but
I imagine they’ll send us Ravens to live there by force because no Earthly unit
can contain all of us. Humans want us gone, in case I didn’t spell that out for
you.”

Kendra swallowed. First, another
dimension, then crude hunters, now forced exile to a moon. What next?

The left corner of Liam’s lips curled
upward. “No worries, that’ll be another story.”

The train approached their destination.
When the train decelerated, they jumped and hit the ground running, literally.
The impact didn’t knock them to their knees, instead they sprang back up and
ran, and they didn’t stop until they made it to the docks.

They stole an unguarded rowboat and
hoped no one saw them. The fog moved in and cloaked them. The sentries present
on the wooded island wouldn’t be able to detect them so easily as long as the
clouds covered the moons again. Fog plus darkness equaled a great ambush.

Once they approached the island, Liam
towed the small boat onto land to prevent it from drifting away while Kendra
looked around. Yeah, this looked familiar.  

They crept into the foliage, lurked in
shrubs and trees, and kept a sharp ear out for humans. A makeshift illegal
prison or research facility always had armed sentries who kept watch on the
premises.

Kendra followed Liam across the small
island. She knew they would soon reach the house from her visions. Before long,
the three-story mansion came into view. The white-with-black-trim building was
pristine and opulent. The building didn’t appear to be a makeshift prison, but
it might as well have been the devil’s house because, to the Ravens, it was
evil, a slaughterhouse.

Energy formed in Liam’s eyes, moved down
his face like squirming veins with a pulsating glow, sparking at any available
outlet as it traveled down the length of his arms. Light movement sounded in
the very near distance, crunching leaves and scraping rocks. Similar sparks
emerged in the shadows. Once he identified the distinct scents, both sides laid
down their defenses. Even Kendra recognized the scents. How could she forget
them after their initial onslaught?

“How did you get here so fast?” Liam
whispered.

“We sped to the docks in my car and took
a boat. We actually got here before you,” Nathan replied. “We couldn’t wait and
mess with the trains. No one saw us.”

Liam shook his head, but Nathan, after
all these wild years, knew what he was doing.

“The house is up that hill. Can you scan
it for signs?” Liam asked.

“Yeah.”

Nathan marched ahead and stood in front
of Kendra while the others stayed in place. Placing his fingers at his temples,
he scanned from one side to the other then from the third story down, scanning
the mansion for inhabitants. 

Kendra watched on in amazement. Did he
really have the power to see through walls?

“He can tell what’s in the
house—animals, humans, Ravens, corpses,” Liam muttered.

“There are nine humans in there and....”
He dropped his hands. He narrowed his brows and parted his lips before going
on. “And
seven
Ravens.”

“Seven?” Mark asked. “Is one of them
Julie?”

“I can’t tell.”

“Well, at least if she’s not still
there, there’re seven others who’ll be saved tonight,” Liam declared. “Nathan,
take the boys through the back and see if you can get them out. Are they all in
one place?”

“The Ravens are all in the basement and
the humans are scattered on the first two floors.”

“Kendra and I will sweep the woods, and
we’ll meet you inside.”

They started out the way most raids
began, trying to keep things quiet and under wraps. They never intended to
kill, but things worked out according to plan. They could easily incapacitate
humans, but when it came to the human hunters, it was kill or be killed. Those
who didn’t die today came back tomorrow to hunt and kill the Ravens
responsible.

The men silently ran around to the left
to ambush the house. Liam and Kendra went right. Liam traveled in bounds across
trees, landing on branches but never staying on one limb long enough to allow
it to break beneath his weight.

Kendra allowed the Ravenous energy to
surge through her, to take over, as she embraced the power. The squirming
beneath her skin no longer sickened her. In fact, it felt good. If this weren’t
such a serious situation, she could slow down and enjoy the beauty of it all;
the wind in her hair, the weightless glide over the earth, and the calmness of
her heart; but this was a rescue mission and they were the hunters tonight.

The house was only a few bounds away
when they paused, landing on mossy ground. Liam heard something, and Kendra
picked it up as well. Her senses were sharpening, although he smelled the human
before she heard him.

Chapter Eleven

Kendra glanced down from over the small
cliff, searching for the source of the sound. She slipped on the moss, becoming
an easy target. A gunshot rang. A bullet headed for her chest.

Liam grabbed Kendra by the waist, raised
her off her feet, and swung her around to his left side. Her heart pounded
until it ached, and terror rocked her gut. The bullet barely missed her. Energy
felt great, excitement was nice, but she faced the truth, and this wasn’t a
game.

Liam held her against his side and
grumbled, “You better stay close to me, sweetheart. I’m not losing you.”

He released her, and concentrated on the
noise and movement at the bottom of the hill. He found the lone human sentry
without trouble.

The heated energy sparked in his eyes
and rumbled through his flesh. Before the power could gather in his tightened
fists, Liam flicked his wrist back and opened his palms. The energy engulfed
his hands in white electricity. In another quick movement, he raised his arm
with an open palm facing the hunter, and unleashed the heat. It coursed through
the air in a blaze of white glory and found the human with little effort. The
man’s screams echoed through the woods when the heat attacked, rampaging
through his flesh, and crawling into his internal organs. Burned alive was a
horrible way to die.

“Gig’s up!” Liam called out to no one.

Gunshots sounded as a first alarm, and
the guards’ cries served as a confirmation to his friends inside the house. The
Ravens no longer held the advantage. Liam could only hope the others made it
inside and eliminated enough humans to allow them to save the imprisoned Ravens
without personal loss. Saving a Raven was great, but losing one of his own for
someone he didn’t even know wasn’t.

“C’mon!” Liam ordered Kendra as he ran
to the house, his feet beating sodden ground.