Talons (39 page)

“
He and Ryken went over the
side of the mountain, Vivvie,” Eli explained, his expression one of
profound grief. “They both died in the fall.”

Vivvie absorbed it with tremendous
shock, having only just fallen asleep, knowing Jericho must have
led Ryken and Dean away from the cave to save them. Tears fell
unchecked as she looked down at the two sleeping infants in her
arms.

“
He went out to meet them
alone?” she asked and sobbed softly. “He saved us, Eli.”

“
Yes, he did,” Eli said
gently. “Jericho would do no less, Vivvie. He knew better than to
allow them to get close to you and the children.”

Eli reached down and smoothed a hand
over first his son’s head and then his daughter’s, still marveling
they both survived. It had never happened before, too his
knowledge. Only one with his gift ever survived at birth. He didn’t
know what it meant, but surely Ty could answer some of his
questions, having had to have seen something since their
birth.

Vivvie handed first his son off to him,
and then his daughter. Eli was too overwhelmed to do more than ogle
the two perfect, healthy children. While he conversed with them
both quietly in his head, his mate fell into a troubled
sleep.

~~~~

The tribe sat within the dining hall as
their leader entered with Ty and Gideon. Lydia was sentenced
quickly after they put it to a vote. Even her daughters cast votes
for swift justice in light of her nearly sacrificing her own
grandchildren in the plot to overthrow the compound. Gideon
administered justice quickly, taking Lydia out of the compound to
execute her.

There wasn’t a dry eye among them when
Jericho’s fate was known and his noble sacrifice to save their
future leader. Vivvie was still abed after the birth and didn’t
attend the proceeding. Eli sat with Ty and Gideon in conversation
when several startled murmurs arose within the dining hall. There
standing in the doorway, was a grinning Jericho, dirty, disheveled
and naked. He walked into the dining hall with a grin on his
face.

“
When you think to write a
man off, you might want to check to make sure he’s dead!” the elder
joked as he walked forward, his many wounds still
evident.

Eli chuckled warmly and gestured for
him to sit. “Can someone get him some damn pants?” he called to the
room at large where many giggled at the sight of the elder. Jericho
smiled in relief as someone rushed to get him some clothes. “How is
Vivvie?”

“
Tired but doing well,
thanks to you,” Eli said and eyed him in gratitude. “It’s good to
see you. I feared you dead, old friend.”

Jericho sighed with a troubled
expression. “I’m not the only one to survive the fall, Eli. Ryken
was gone when I came too.”

Eli’s smile faded. “He
lives?”

Jericho nodded and looked grim. “He got
away. I was unable to track him before I returned.”

“
We will send out a patrol
at once,” Eli said tightly. “He must be found before he tries this
again!”

Jericho was grateful when clothes were
brought to him and hastily dressed. He sat with the other three
with a fierce scowl. “Something else troubles me Eli.”

“
What is that?”

“
The prophecy didn’t appear
at your children’s birth,” he said and crossed his arms across his
chest. “What does it mean?”

Ty spoke up at once. “I can’t see
either child’s future. I have no answer why they both lived this
day. It certainly is a miracle, but why, I don’t know. The demon
rarely gives those.”

Eli was relieved he didn’t have to face
his mate’s sorrow and didn’t question the prophecy failing that
day. Telling Vivvie one of their children was dead was not
something he looked forward to.

“
Jericho, did you feel your
soul leave your body after the fall?” Eli asked quietly.

“
That’s just it, I didn’t,
and we all know that fall should have killed me,” he said tightly.
“Not like I was looking to check out quite so soon, but it’s
troubling.”

“
What does it mean?” Ty
asked with a troubled expression.

“
We don’t get any reprieves
from the demon,” Eli noted dryly. “This is not his
work.”

“
I have a theory none of you
will like to consider,” Jericho offered with a frown. “Is it
possible we’re all truly immortal now?”

“
Should we kill you to find
out?” Gideon asked with a smirk.

Jericho glared at him. “Something is
different. I don’t know what, but we’re all changed by
it!”

“
It’s possible something
happened to change the prophecy, but the ancient scribes are gone,”
Eli said and shook his head. “Without the shaman’s writings, we
have nothing but speculation, unless you want us to kill you and
test the theory, Jericho.”

Jericho looked indignant. “I wouldn’t
want to be wrong, but I think something tipped in our favor today
away from the demon.”

The elders all paused to consider that
for a moment. Gideon ended the silence.

“
I’m all for killing him,
any of you with me?” he said and chuckled jovially as Jericho’s
fierce glare.

Jericho glared at them all. “You think
it funny, but consider the last battle our tribe fought. That is
the significance of why this curse we’re all under has failed.
Something happened to bring us full circle with the demon that made
us all. We’re whole, I guarantee it.”

“
Whole in that you think
we’re immortal now?” Eli asked with a raised eyebrow. “I think you
hit your head too many times on the way off that mountain
ledge.”

Jericho glared at Gideon. “Ok, fine,
you can kill me and we will just see if I’m right.”

Gideon’s smile faded. “I was
kidding.”

“
I’m not!” Jericho whispered
furiously. “Something changed today. What that is, we very much
need to know.”

Eli considered his words and shook his
head. “You want us to kill you just to see if your
right?”

“
How else will we know?” he
countered. “I’m the eldest. It’s my decision. This is not murder.
This is an experiment.”

“
Jericho, no, I can’t let
you do this,” Eli said, realizing what started out a joke became
very serious to them all.

“
It’s my decision, Eli,”
Jericho replied stubbornly. “If I’m wrong than the demon wins. If
I’m right; we have Ryken at our backs forever.”

Eli looked grim. “Fine, do it, but be
private about it. The tribe will be upset if you’re
wrong.”

Eli watched the four men get
up hurriedly and leave the dining hall and waited approximately two
minutes before he reluctantly followed them.
This should be interesting
, he thought
as he followed them to the elevator.

“
If you’re wrong we will all
feel very badly about this,” Eli informed Jericho
coolly.

“
If I’m right, we needn’t
fear much in this life,” Jericho replied and shrugged. “So how
shall we do it?”

Gideon grinned and removed his 9mm at
his hip. “A bullet to the head, very painless and quick, I
think.”

Ty shrugged. “We could just toss him
off the mountain again.”

Eli glowered at them. Derek remained
quiet through it all. The five men got on the elevator and went
above. It was dark with only the moon above to guide their
way.

“
Should we have some sort of
ceremony first?” Derek wondered aloud as the five men wandered to
the edge of the woods.

“
Oh for pity’s sake, do it
when I’m not looking,” Jericho snapped. “I wouldn’t like to see it
coming.”

Gideon took his distraction as the
opportunity to put the gun to his head and fired. Jericho fell at
their feet. They waited, staring down at his sightless eyes
grimly.

After several minutes, Eli cursed under
his breath. “I knew we shouldn’t have gone along with
this!”

Gideon shrugged and replaced his
weapon. “Let us just wait.”

After several more minutes Jericho’s
eyes began to move once more, glowing up at them in smug triumph.
“You should have felt worse for killing me, Gideon, now it’s your
turn.”

Eli watched as Jericho turned the gun
on Gideon, who also had only one soul left, and they watched him
rise in the same manner. Ty resisted, but finally conceded to be
shot. Eli was shocked when he too survived the bullet.

“
Derek has three souls left.
Do we shoot him three times, or will you take my word for it now?”
Jericho asked them and smiled. “We have somehow thwarted this
demon. The odds have turned in our favor.”

“
You’re right,” Eli stated
in surprise. “What does it mean?”

“
It means we live forever
now,” Jericho replied with a grimace. “That is hardly a gift, but
another curse if you ask me. Immortality isn’t all
that.”

“
Can I shoot him again?”
Gideon asked and all the men chuckled uproariously before they
reentered the compound.

~~~~

Vivvie named her daughter Elaina, after
her mother, and her son was named Devon. The christening Vivvie
insisted on was held at the same church her and Eli married in. The
deacon was pleased with another large contribution from Eli. The
whole tribe turned out to see their leader’s children blessed.
There were few hostile feelings left towards their leader’s mate
now, when it became known she warned of Lydia being the
traitor.

The compound mourned the loss of
thirteen warriors that day as well, in a private ceremony in the
meadow beyond the mountain where they were buried. No grave marker
or monument was allowed as it would only signify their existence to
the humans.

Eli held his sleeping daughter as they
walked back to the elevator. Vivvie was somber carrying their
son.

“
What have you decided to
tell everyone?” Vivvie asked finally as the doors shut. “This
changes everything now.”

Eli frowned, dwelling on her words.
Jericho had done his share of experiments the last week. Not only
could they not be killed now, but shifting proved to be more of a
voluntary thing. Even as mad as Eli got her, Vivvie couldn’t shift
without her will alone to decide it. Emotion had proved to be a
powerful factor in their people’s nature up until now. It was no
longer present after the battle.

“
Those that wish to stay,
can stay,” he replied with a shrug. “Those that wish to go may
leave. I don’t see many, if any, leaving. Change is very hard for
our kind, Vivvie. ”

“
At least you give them the
choice now,” Vivvie said softly. “It was more than they had
before.”

“
I married a Democrat,” he
said teasingly and smiled.

“
I’m an Independent, get it
right,” she countered with a smile. “I’ll explain the difference
one of these days to you.”

He reached out and brushed a hand
across his son’s forehead. “He has been sleeping a long time, don’t
you think?”

Vivvie looked down at Devon and smiled.
“He must be having a good dream.”

~~~~

Ryken didn’t know what woke him. He
groaned and sat up in the bed. He was staying in a dirty
roach-infested room in the Florida Keys. He was on the run now,
knowing Eli and the others looked for him.

He thought of his grandfather and a
pained look crossed his face. When he woke at the bottom of the
ravine and saw Jericho dead, it was as if a light bulb went off in
his head for the first time in many years. He wronged his people
and was without a home.

Now he was alone. Dean was dead, his
army slain, and the bullets he tried to put in his own head
wouldn’t even release him from his torment. Something changed the
day of the battle; something that seemed to have released his kind
from their nine soul limitations.

Ryken heard a knock at the door and
frowned. He wondered if it was the cute maid coming by after her
shift and went to the door. A dark haired teenage boy stood there
holding a skateboard. He wore a Metallica tee shirt and his dark
hair was overlong and hung in his cobalt-blue eyes.

“
Yeah, what do you want?”
Ryken barked at the kid, furious to be disturbed by the
punk.

“
I came to give you a
message,” the boy said with a grin of amusement.

“
Is it from Maria?” Ryken
asked eagerly, wondering if this boy knew the cute maid at the
hotel.

“
No, it’s from my father,”
the boy said with a clever smile.

“
Who’s your dad, kid?” Ryken
said impatiently, ready to shut the door in his face.

“
Eli sends his regards,” the
boy said as the skateboard turned into a machine gun. The boy
pulled the trigger and sprayed Ryken with several rounds of
bullets. Ryken’s face was frozen in a look of surprise as he hit
the floor, his body riddled with bleeding wounds.

The boy looked down at the machine gun
and it turned back into a skateboard. He put it down on the
concrete and pushed away from the doorway of the hotel room,
whistling under his breath as he skated away.