Redemption (The Alliance Series Book 1) (10 page)

I was not thrilled about this operation. I didn’t like the uncertainty of going after the little people. I liked my targets cut and dry. They are bad; I take them out, no regrets, and no questions. The small fry’s tend to have more complications. Sometimes they aren’t as bad as they seem, being coerced into helping or forced into cooperating there always seemed to be more grey area with them. I didn’t like that. I tried to turn down this assignment. The Col. convinced me otherwise.             

He was good at that. He always seemed to know what to say to get me to do what was asked of me. I guess I just needed persuading.                           

Lately I had been thinking a lot about having a more active role in choosing my assignments. There just seemed to be something wrong with always being pointed at someone or something and expected to pull the trigger without any say.

I could tell my superiors were beginning to sense the change in my attitude, but I didn’t care. I could throw 20,000 volts of electricity around like most people could a football. I had a responsibility to use that power conscientiously. If they didn’t like that, they could go to hell.

              I stood in the cold listening. Hoping to get anything that would help me prepare for what I was walking into. I was sure I could take her, but you never know how clever people could be. All it took was one mistake and I would be dead. I wasn’t invincible.

              I decided I had let enough time pass and stepped away from the wall, placing myself squarely in front of the door. I walked up and kicked the door in with one try, quickly entering, I crossed the threshold and side stepped, getting inside and out of the doorway. The inside was dark, coming from outdoors my eyes needed time to adjust to the difference in light. I waited, listening, letting my natural night vision come into full effect.

Soft singing, a sad and lovely sound drifted on the air, coming to me like smoke wandering in the breeze. I instantly began feeling entranced. The voice slowly made its way into my head and started to unravel all my thoughts of pursuit. I began to forget why I was here, thinking about the sadness of the song and wanting, no needing, to go to the poor woman and help her. She was in some kind of emotional torment. I couldn’t understand the language of the singing, but I didn’t have to. I knew what she was saying.

Coming from far away, like a lone man shouting in a crowd, I heard a ringing in my ear, an annoying buzzing that penetrated the melodic sound.

              My earplugs had done their job. Knowing what I would be facing I had been issued sound distorting earplugs. They were designed to recognize sounds that consisted of multiple waves, the same ones that banshees used to weave their magic around, creating a beautiful sound that had power behind it. The combination of their voices and their magic made their calls irresistible to humans. My earplugs eliminated one of those threats, namely the sounds. They emitted a high-pitched tone that helped break up the brains interpretation of the banshee’s physical call, leaving only their magical lure. Thankfully, I was strong willed and having half of the banshees power negated I built up my mental barriers again, slowly strengthening my ability to ignore her songs.

              Shaking my head, I regained my composure. I was ready again. I could still hear her soft singing, but it wasn’t able to control me. It was just sad and beautiful.

              I took stock of my surroundings. Entering from the back, I was in the main cutting area. The ceiling was high and its open framing showed the metal beams that made up the roofs structure. Birds had started nesting in the rafters and their empty homes were visible.

              Large saws and motors littered to open floor plan, staging areas for the lumber that made its way up from the river. The sawmill was recently abandoned and still had the cutting machines that reduced waterlogged trees into usable lumber on the floor. Sawdust an inch thick covered everything. The banshees wet footprints still visible. I saw they went over to a large piece of equipment. I didn’t know what it did, but I had a feeling it was loud when in use.

              “Come out from behind there, let’s get this over with. It was a good effort, but this is the end of the line.” I said, loudly.

              The singing abruptly stopped. I had the impression that the singer was surprised at my words. I guess she thought I was going to walk up to her in a daze so she could kill me at her leisure.

              “Please, leave us alone. We just want to live in peace.” She pleaded.

              “You should have thought about that before you reduced Bill Patterson into a mindless zombie. You remember him, the head of international finance for the Jackson Bank?”

              “I had to. They said they would kill my husband and son. I had no choice.” She cried. I could hear the tears in her voice.

              “Well done, you play the part of the damsel in distress to a tee. I have to hand it to you, you’ve got that down, quit stalling, we both know what happens next. No need to delay the inevitable.” I said.

                “Please just let me go. I don’t want to hurt anyone anymore, I promise. I have found a new life. Let me go, please. I will give you whatever you want, name it. I just want to raise my son in peace.” She begged.

              This is why I hated taking these assignments. I had no way to know the truth. I hadn’t been given enough Intel. All I knew was that she was dangerous and willing to say anything to escape her fate. My stomach was telling me something was wrong, but the Cols. voice kept ringing in my head, reminding me of my duty, explaining the danger of a being like her.

A woman stepped out from behind the large saw. She was striking. Her bloodline was definitely Celtic. A long white dress with a slit up one side allowed her shapely leg to show itself. Pale skin that shone with health was a soft contrast to her bright red hair. It flowed down her back in cascades of luminous waves. Her eyes were deep green and had a depth to them that bespoke of desires unknown. Her full red lips parted as a smile of sweet perfection shone from her face. I was momentarily dazed, her beauty like a physical weight. I quickly regained my mental blocks and raised my weapon at her.

              “Wait, please let me explain. I mean no harm I don’t want to die.”

              “No one ever does.” I said.

              She saw the intent in my eyes, knowing I was not going to be lenient. I couldn’t trust her, she was a creature of deceit, a liar and manipulator, capable of twisting men’s wills to her whims. I couldn’t hesitate.

              She changed her form faster than I would have imagined possible. Her body shriveled and took on the shape of an old woman. Her shoulders hunched and her arms drew forward, into a hunchbacked stance. Her clothes changed and became rags that hung off her emaciated frame. Her face shrunk, showing he bones of her skull, smooth skin gave way to wrinkles and age spots showed on the sides of her head. Her eyes sunk in their sockets and their green shade changed to a deep scarlet. Her flowing red hair grew scarce and dull, losing its health and becoming a grey shroud. Her hands ended in long sharp claws and she opened her mouth in a scream, showing long sharp fangs dripping something I had no intention of letting touch me.

I fired my weapon from thirty feet away. The bullets hit home but seemed to have no effect.

I don’t know exactly why but conventional weapons did not seem to hurt her.

Ok, fine. She raced at me, floating a few inches off the ground, closing the distance in a few seconds. It was all I needed. I gathered energy, drawing it from the air around us. Quickly raising my other hand I unleashed a powerful bolt of lightning that hit the banshee in her stomach. Burns and massive damage already visible on her body as she flew away from me. The lightning raced around the room, leaping from one piece of sawing equipment to the next.

I unleashed a lot more lightning than I had needed. I wanted to make sure she didn’t fly through my assault like she did my bullets.

I walked over to her body. She was clearly not going to put up much of a fight. Her body was covered in burns that in and of themselves would be deadly. Her left leg was blown off at the knee from the blast and her right arm was a ragged stump as the lightning had destroyed them exiting her body. She looked at me for a second then succumbed to her final rest. Her body slowly began to dissolve, returning to the Otherworld. I stood there watching, making sure she left.

You had to be sure.

              A soft rustle got my attention. It came from behind the large saw. I walked around it looking for the origin of the sound. What awaited me changed my life.

There amidst the sawdust and forgotten machines were a man and a child, a baby boy. They were both dead, having been hit by the electricity that had traveled around the room. The dad lay there holding his son, protecting him while his mom went out to plead for her life.

I stood there in shock. She had been telling the truth, she had a family and I had just killed them all, just following orders. I was devastated as differing emotions fought for dominance, anger warred with regret, sorrow strove against denial. One particularly strong emotion settled over the rest as it slowly burned with more intensity than the others. Resolve, resolve coalesced inside me.

Not anymore. I made a decision right then and there. I would never allow something like this to happen again. Never again would someone else decide who I went after. I would not allow myself to take a job where I was not sure of the target, where I did not know exactly who I was going up against. I still knew what I did was important. I still understood that there was a need for my particular skills, but from now on I would be the sole arbiter of how those skills were used, to hell with them all if they couldn’t accept that.

              I just stood there staring at the bodies. They were not going anywhere. They were not creatures of the Otherworld. I let it sink in; making sure this image burned into my brain. The next time I felt pressured to take a job I wasn’t clear about I would think of them, remember what failing to trust my instincts cost. Never forgetting the price for not doing what I knew in my heart was right.

              Never again.

Chapter 10

I awoke to the sound of the phone ringing. I groggily opened my eyes and picked up the handle.

              "Hello?" I asked. I heard the crisp British accent of Miss Jones on the other end say.

              "Sir, Mr. Stragnoff wanted me to call you when he procured the information you were querying about. He asked me to inquire if you would be so kind as to meet him down at the practice grounds in ten minutes." She said precisely.

              "Yeah, of course I'll be there." I said sleepily.

              "Excellent, I will tell Mr. Stragnoff immediately." Her British accent as crisp in the morning as it had been last night.              

              I placed the phone back on the receiver and quickly got dressed, making sure I had my bandolier under my shirt.

              I didn't think it would be polite for me to meet him armed, so I left the firearms in the room.

              I went next door, woke Nathan up, and a few minutes later we made our way to the back of the cabin. We walked towards the central building, taking a path that would lead us back to the same room we ate in last night.

              We exited the building and after passing through the outdoor kitchen, we quickly found ourselves in a magnificent formal garden, with perfectly manicured rose bushes and all manner of flowers.

              It would have made any landscaper proud.

              We followed the marble stepping stones to the left of the garden and soon entered a large open lawn that gently sloped downhill towards a heavily wooded area about a hundred yards from the house.

              The trail led us to the tree line and we went in.

              It was early morning and the night was slowly being pushed aside. There was a hint of light beginning to show in the sky giving a small glimpse of the rising sun.

              A deep fog hovered on the ground, the kind that lay heavy, creating an impenetrable layer of moisture that kept the forest floor from view. As Nathan and I walked, we disturbed the calm tranquility the fog seemed to possess. Overall, it gave the forest a daunting feeling.

              We did not walk far into the woods when we saw a figure standing near the archery range.

              There were targets mounted on trees at varying distances and all of them looked well used. They all had holes in them from being skewered by a deft hand with a bow.

              As we got closer, I made a point to make noise as I approached Peotr. It is not a good idea to approach a predator from behind; you don’t want to startle them.

              Peotr slowly turned around and smiled in that infectious way, saying.

              "Good morning gentlemen, I take it you slept well?"