Whispers of Darkness (The Deadwood Hunter Series) (10 page)

As darkness fell, Lexia took to the streets, two predatory shifters by her side. Every footstep, every paw print was taken with silent purpose. They passed by invisible, deadly ghosts hidden within the shadows of night. All that could be seen was the eerie glow of six shining eyes; eyes full of deadly intent, eyes that would make you gasp and run from the shadows.

They paused briefly at a junction in the road
. Two sets of cat eyes scanned the area, whilst another set of fierce gold ones closed. “It’s clear,” Lexia whispered, her gold hunter eyes opening again.

Lexia set o
ff running, the Hunter at the surface, every fiber of her being on red alert, checking, sensing for any life around them, good or bad. Lincoln’s warm heavy body brushed against her hip as he ran by her side. Her hand absently brushed over his back, curling into his fur.

Caden ran on her l
eft; he limped, slowing his pace so she paused for a second to let him catch up as Lincoln took the lead and showed her the way to the forest. But as he went to turn a corner, Lexia hissed, “Stop.” He froze immediately, his gold panther eyes turning to look into hers. “There’s someone on that street.”

He growled low and Lexia walked forward rubbing her hand across his head
. “Shush, pretty panther.” She closed her eyes, letting this new strange power take over, and there in her mind’s eye, she could see the life force of two people. “They’re just boys, Lincoln, we need to take another route.”

He growled again
. “I know but it won’t take long to go over a block.”

As they ran across the road, Lexia glanced down the street seeing the shadows of tall towering trees in the distance
. Their straight road to freedom and it was blocked by two teenagers.

One block over the three of them turned
. Keeping to the shadows they made their way down the quiet rundown street. Dogs were silenced as the two big cats padded past. This street didn’t have a clear path like the last one, they’d need to turn off and go over another street. As they were about the cross the road and leave the shadows of the tall tattered building, Lexia felt it, the dark swirling energy of a Hunter. He walked by himself turning onto the same street.

They all froze at the same time and slipped into the darkness between two buildings
. “We need him off the streets Lincoln, show yourself to him, he’ll never know what lies within the darkness.”

The
Hunter walked as if not a care in the world, his eyes glancing around every so often. He had his baseball cap pulled low, shielding his gold eyes from any passersby. He paused when he heard the low unmistakable growl from a big cat, his brow furrowed as he looked around him and then he froze, eyes widening as two gold panther eyes gleamed in the darkness like two floating jewels within a sea of black.

He smiled and looked around him once more
. When the Hunter was certain they were alone he pulled his gun from his belt, a silencer already attached and crossed the road with confidence in every step; he was certain he could take on the panther alone. But as he entered the darkness his eyes blinded for the split second it took them to adjust, he felt strong human hands grasp around his head, his mouth. And before his finger even had chance to pull the trigger those hands snapped his neck. He was left discarded on the floor as Lexia and the two cats fled the scene without a single thought for the Hunter they’d just killed and left in the darkness.

Lexia could see the tall trees ahead of them, feel the pull of the forest, its peacefulness, its otherworldly feel
, and she could feel, too, the calmness settling over her panther beside her as he got nearer and nearer to his home where he could run free with no fear of being seen, where he and his panther could be one.

But as they neared their freedom, Lexia stopped and gasped as she felt the swirling mass of darkness and danger around the corner
. She heard her panther growl and pace restlessly around her looking for the threat.

The
Hunter seemed to take over and her eyes closed; as she concentrated Lexia could feel them, the large group of deadly Hunters.

“Hunters
,” she whispered, her eyes still closed. She felt the cats cover her, in front and behind but she couldn’t seem to pull herself out of the trance she was in.

“I can feel them Lincoln ... See them... Their life force... Dark, so dark
.” She felt the rumble in his chest but no sound came out, both cats had gone deadly silent.

“There’s ten... No
, twelve hunters...” She opened her eyes, snapping back to herself, feeling drained. “That was so weird,” Lexia mumbled to herself.

Lexia looked around at their surroundings
. “We can’t risk taking them all on... In here.” She unlocked a gate, letting Lincoln and Caden walk through first but as she closed the door she heard a strangled squeak at her back and realized she’d made a mistake.

She’d been so consumed with the
Hunters that she’d missed the human energy behind the fence. Lexia tried to rein in the Hunter, she needed to keep this person calm, get her to trust her, and she couldn’t do that with the gold eyes of a Hunter, she needed human eyes.

Slowly Lexia turned to see a middle
-aged woman, a cigarette halfway to her mouth. Her eyes seemed to bulge from her skull as she stared at the two wild animals in front of her.

“It’s ok
ay, they won’t hurt you,” Lexia told her, keeping her voice low and even, but it was like the woman hadn’t even seen her, her eyes held the cats’ as panic and fear gripped her.

Lexia took a step forward in front of Lincoln and finally the woman looked at her
. “Don’t move or speak and they won’t hurt you. Do you understand? Don’t say a word.” The woman nodded, dropping her cigarette and clamping her hands over her mouth.

They stood there in tense silence, each second seeming like a minute
. Lexia struggled to keep the Hunter from taking over, all the energy around her seem to prickle at her skin; a thousand tiny needles stabbing at her over and over. The dark mass of Hunters grew nearer, Lincoln’s wild, barely contained energy wrapped around her, and she could even feel Caden becoming restless. Everything compounded together, pushed her closer to losing control.

Lexia knew everything was going to blow up around her, the
Hunters grew nearer with every second that passed and Lincoln  saw this woman as a threat, she could almost hear the battle he waged in his head over whether to kill this woman. Caden’s eyes had never left the woman; he’d frozen in a crouch, ready, waiting to take her out. They were like a time bomb just waiting to go off, all at once they would be thrown into chaos as Lincoln lost his grip on the beast and Caden joined him, the Hunters would hear them and they’d be trapped in a tiny backyard.

Lexia lost her hold and the power swirled through her veins and as her eyes
bled to gold Lexia reached for the woman, clapping her hand over her mouth she pulled her away as the two cats pounced.

The
Hunters were on the street now, just a few doors down from them; the woman’s legs flailed about wildly as she struggled feebly in Lexia’s arms and the cats snarled and snapped at her feet.

“Enough!” Lexia
whispered but the cold authority in her look silenced the cats. “Now listen to me very carefully, you will not make a sound because if you do you’ll die... Do you understand? Move a muscle and you’re dead” she whispered into the woman’s ear.

The woman nodded going limp in her arms as the
Hunters walked by. The cats froze, their eyes fixed on the gate, listening to the mass of footsteps that marched past the fence. It took the Hunters barely a minute to walk off the street but it had felt like an eternity. They’d not dare to move or even breathe.

“Now I’m going to take my hand away... Ok? Do not make a sound” Slowly Lexia peeled her hand away from the woman’s mouth
. “Okay now you two move away, right near the fence ready to leave.”

C
aden moved but Lincoln took another step towards them making the woman gasp and pressed herself further against Lexia’s body. “Lincoln!” Lexia growled quietly, moving herself in front of the woman. “She’s human... an innocent, back down.” But he didn’t back down and the woman behind her started to whimper.

“Be quiet!” Lexia ordered, swinging back around to glare at the woman
. Her eyes widened, the scream in her throat cut off as the panther leapt.

Lexia saw Lincoln jump out the corner of her eye
. She moved herself in the line of fire, bracing and pushing back as he connected with her; Lexia stumbled back into the woman, knocking her to the concrete.

Lincoln landed gracefully on his feet, his eyes flashing angrily at Lexia
. “Really Lincoln, you want to fight now, alert all those Hunters? Back down.” She took a step towards him, letting more of her Hunter power into her system. She knew her eyes gleamed brightly, that the more the Hunter took over the colder her gaze looked.

The panther backed down,
and Lexia turned, going to the woman on the floor. “Are you alright? I’m so sorry.”

The woman stared at her for a second before her eyes narrowed and she let out a blood curdling scream
. The cats matched her with their roars, and Lexia lunged for the gate. Taking to the streets, she ran without a backwards glance.

They were coming now...
Twelve Hunters all ready and willing to kill.

Lexia ran, her booted feet slamming down against the tarmac, her breath heavy and loud in her ears, she kept her eyes straight ahead on the freedom of the forest.

Lincoln soon raced past her and
but she could hear Caden struggling behind. She watched as Lincoln leapt on top of a  cop car as it raced around the corner, his paws lightly skimming the roof of the car before landing gracefully back to the ground. The cop got out of his car in a daze, staring after the panther as he carried on racing towards the forest but the cop soon snapped out of his daze as the Hunters behind Lexia started to fire.

Lexia skidded to a stop. “CADEN!” she screamed as the Hunters started to aim their guns at him. Bullets came from behind her; the cop was now huddled behind his car door firing at the Hunters.

For a second Lexia was frozen in the middle of the road, glancing at the advancing Hunters and at the cop, hearing the bang and whiz of bullets flying. Her hand reached around for the gun she’d tucked into the back of her jeans. Caden still moved too slowly, blood soaked his side and he limped badly on his front leg. She was running towards him now, her bag half off her shoulder as she looked for another magazine to load into the gun.

She felt a bullet fly past her head and glanced behind her just as Lincoln took out the cop that had just fired at her, his fierce roar filled the night. The magazine clicked into the gun and Lexia started to fire as she reached Caden, “Go, I’ll hold them off!”

A bullet clipped her arm as Lexia stood in front of Caden; she registered the sting and then pushed it to the back of her mind as she fired bullets into the Hunter who had tried to shoot her.

“Do not fire at the girl!” Derrick bellowed as his men raised their guns.

Lexia turned and started to run again, Caden had picked up speed and reached Lincoln. Lexia’s eyes locked with Lincoln’s as more police cars screeched to a halt.

“Go!” she yelled, lengthening her strides as gunfire came from the Hunters but this time they aimed at the cops that were climbing out of cars.

Lexia tried not to think about the cops being killed and carried on running. She crashed through the tree line seconds after Caden, vines and branches tangled in between her legs, the forest around her was in chaos; the whizz and bangs from bullets filled the air, broken with the savage roars and snarls from Lincoln . It was pitch black in the forest, only being lit from the spark of a gun. All the noise seemed to echo around her, making it almost impossible to work out where the threat was.

Lexia battled her way through the undergrowth, her blade glinting in the moonlight as it swiped through vines and bush
es. Caden was on her heels, his head rubbing against the back of her legs every so often. She cleared away a path for him as she tried to keep up with Lincoln.

But Lincoln had taken to the trees and he moved to
o quickly, she could hear his distant cries as he battled with the Hunters that pursued them. Lexia tried to keep a fix on the life forces of the people around her, moving away when she sensed a cop. The bullets kept flying past her, filling the once quiet night with terror. She could hear the screams and shouts as the Hunters took out anyone in their way and with each light that went out signalling another policeman’s death, Lexia took on the guilt; another piece of her soul darkened from the deaths she felt responsible for.

Lexia could hardly feel Lincoln anymore
, he’d moved so far away that she couldn’t walk and focus on his energy at the same time. “Lincoln!” she screamed, hoping he would turn back, but as his name left her lips again, she felt a bullet fly past her head; the air brushed against her cheekbone and then bark flew everywhere as the bullet sunk into a tree.

“We want her alive
!” She heard someone scream behind her and then another life force went out.

Lexia started to run as she hit a clearer patch of forest, she bent low trying to avoid rustling the vegetation around her; she could feel a group of
Hunters closing the distance between them. Lincoln roared in the distance to her right; she wanted to run to him, to follow his calls but Caden was too hurt, she needed to hide him and take out anyone that came their way.

“Caden run, they’re nearly on us!” She could smell the fr
esh metallic scent of blood as he ran beside her.

She scanned the forest looking for somewhere to hide
him and saw a huge old black hill spruce; its dense needle covered branches would create cover for the leopard as they spiralled around creating a towering cone-shaped tree.

“Doc, time to take to the trees
.” She ran to the tree knowing she had seconds to hide him and run off in the opposite direction, she bent and lifted him onto the first set of branches. “Caden, climb as high as you can and I’ll lead them away from you.”

He snapped at her,
hissing. “I know but you’re hurt and I can’t protect you whilst you’re with me, please I’ll come back as soon as it’s safe.”

He rubbed against her and disappeared into the tree, she heard him as he climbed high
er and higher and then he fell silent, hidden from view. “See you soon, sweet leopard,” she whispered running towards the Hunters and leading them away.

Lexia ran through the trees, branches and leaves whipping past her face, scratching and cutting into her skin but she didn’t slow down. The Hunters followed her and she was running in the direction she thought Lincoln was in. Her chest ached to find him, she was certain she could feel his distress but someone barrelled into her side, sending them crashing to the floor. She rolled around trying to get whomever was on her off.

Her hand closed around the trigger of the gun still clutched tight in her hand and as she caught sight of his gold Hunter eyes she fired. His eyes widened and he stilled his struggles. Flipping him off her she jumped to her feet as the other Hunters caught up with her.

Five of them fanned out around her; it was dark but Lexia could make out the shadows of their bodies and the gold glow of their eyes.

She pulled out two knives, one in each hand and held them ready to strike. “Just walk away and you can live,” she pleaded.

They laughed together and moved as one. Lexia spun, her hands whipping around, her knives like an extension of each arm. She sliced through flesh, spun and kicked a Hunter on her left whilst swiping her knife down the middle of a woman who rushed at her head on. She was so close Lexia heard the sound of skin and muscles splitting, her strangled cries as the sharp blade cut her in two. But Lexia never stopped, her blades kept flying, her body skimming through the air, graceful and lean like a deadly ballerina, she whirled and leapt until they were dead.

Lexia wiped the blood from her knives and then slipped them back into her boots. She winced as she took a step, the only injury from that fight was a cut across her hip. It was shallow, though, and she blocked it from her mind as she raced on in search of her panther.

She stumbled into a clearing and sucked in a breath at the scene before her; bodies of Hunters and cops laid scattered around, their blood and insides ripped from their bodies.
What did you do, my panther?

“He can be quiet the savage beast at times, that shifter of yours,” said a man from the shadows.

“Who’s there? Show yourself.” Lexia bent and pulled her knives back out.

“You won’t need those,” he said as he stepped forward into the moonlight.

“Derrick?” Lexia whispered.

“You remember me, I’d hoped you would,” he answered, a smile playing on his lips.

“I will never come with you,” Lexia snapped.

“Maybe... Do not underestimate Lucy, Lexia, she always finds a way... Finds a person’s weaknesses.”

“I’m stronger than all of you, that’s how she created me,” Lexia laughed at the irony, her mother wanted a killer and she’d gotten one.

“You are strong, Lexia, but your emotions are your weakness.”

“You’re wrong,” Lexia breathed.

“Yes and no... You may have someone to fight for, Lexia, but you also have someone to be used as leverage.”

Lexia said nothing, his words made her feel sick because he was right; they’d taken Alice before and it was only a matter of time before they had Lincoln or Caden. She turned and walked back into the trees, disappearing into the darkness.

“Until we meet again, Lexia,” Derrick called.

I hope we never meet again
she thought as she started to jog silently through the trees. By the time she reached Caden, the adrenaline had left her blood and she was cold and shivering; she’d never thought to grab a jacket in the rush to leave Caden’s and now all she had on was a thin T-shirt.

“I’m coming up,” Lexia called up to Caden.

When she’d climbed up the tree she pulled out a long sleeve T-shirt that she’d tossed in her backpack and pulled it over her head.

“How are you doing? We’ll stay here until first light and then hopefully find Linc.” Lexia leaned back against the trunk and stretched her legs out along the thick branch she was perched on. Closing her eyes she whispered, “I hope you’re safe, my pretty panther.”

Caden’s warm leopard head rested on her thigh and Lexia dozed off.