Calm Before the Storm

by Cara Lake

“If you want it, boy…then go get it.” Valac tossed the mangy scraps into the center of the road. Tyr gazed hungrily at the bread and dived toward it. At the same time another twenty similar boys charged into the same space. Grabbing. Clawing. Hunger gnawed at his insides as he punched and kicked to get to the moldy prize. Tyr managed to grab a handful and even though it was stale forced it into his mouth nearly gagging. It was the first food he’d had since his uncle had abandoned him in the cinema two nights ago.

  Valac repeated the process a number of times, all the while laughing and cursing those who were left empty-handed. Tyr managed to snatch something every time and wolfed it down hungrily, unwilling to share. A number of boys failed to reach any food. A six-year-old whose name he didn’t know died that night of starvation.

  Tyr had always felt as if he had killed the boy personally and had cried for him that night and many nights after. But it had taught him a lesson that he would never forget. He had always fought as hard as he could after that. Life on the streets was a relentless constant struggle, a series of battles you had to win to survive. And to survive, you had to be willing to do anything.

  Thoughts scrambling back to the present and his current predicament, Tyr knew for sure he would do whatever it took to get Irina out and protect her. His eyes focused on the small space. Bare cell. Locked door. No weapon. He didn’t know how many guards were outside or where he was in relation to Irina, but his overwhelming instinct was to battle, to get to her before the bastards hurt her. They may already have. He felt a panic in his gut, a burning he’d never experienced before. Fuck! This wasn’t good. She was scrambling his brain so he could hardly breathe, let alone think!

  Okay, classic escape move number one. Maybe these Discordant characters were dumb. He would have to take a chance. Tyr began shouting at the top of his voice. “Hey, you fuckers! Let me out before I rip this place to shreds! Where’s Rodach? You bastard, get down here!” Some rattling of the door and a continuous stream of kicks against the wood. It didn’t take long before Tyr heard footsteps heading his direction, just one set. Oh Lucky day! They really are dumb.

  The door opened and the guard paused outside, but on seeing an empty room, entered looking quickly left and right, gun held in front. Tyr leapt down from above, where he had been spread-eagle against the ceiling to grab the guard in headlock between his muscular thighs. He twisted his legs as he jumped and hearing the crack of a broken neck grabbed the gun from the fallen guard. So far, so good.

  No other footsteps approached, so Tyr took his time at the unmanned guard station to arm himself with a number of weapons left carelessly in the open. A couple of blades, a handgun and a semiautomatic, oh, and a couple of hand grenades, how very handy!

  He grabbed some ammo as well. Some movement caught his attention and he turned to see surveillance monitors on the opposite wall. Bingo! His heart breathed a sigh of relief. There was Irina, pacing up and down in what looked like a bedroom. She looked unharmed but extremely pissed off.

  There also appeared to be a thermal map layout of the manor on the computer screen, which showed a single figure pacing in an upper story bedroom and multiple figures dotted around the interior. Full house! He mentally photographed the plans and the spots of heat, noting their whereabouts and began moving stealthily out of the corridor and toward Irina.

  * * * * *

  Merak arrived at Cassi’s apartment the next morning. There had been no sight of or sound from Irina overnight but he brought news. “Sibyl finally managed to get a fix. Irina seems to be on the move and as there are two Esseni signatures, I suspect she’s with Bellor,” he said, his gray eyes filled with worry. “They appear to be heading southwest toward Cornwall. The nearest starportal currently is Stonehenge. If we dispatch some Eunomi warriors directly from Lyra we might be able to intercept them.”

  “There might not be enough time,” said Cassi thoughtfully. “I heard from Leo that our old ‘friend’ Aamon Abrasax visited Bellor the day before the escape. It looks like the Discordants definitely know about Bellor and it turns out that Abrasax has a holding in the gym Bellor trained in. My guess is that he has been under their surveillance for a while and they were grooming him. Either way we’ve just hit mission critical. We can’t afford to waste any more time in getting them back and not just for Irina’s sake.”

  Merak nodded in agreement. “You head out west and I’ll contact the council. Doesn’t Lucius have a sports car you can borrow?”

  “Yes, Luc does,” interrupted the man in question, as he emerged from the kitchen, a look of interest and concern on his face. “Is Irina in some kind of danger?”

  Cassi glanced at Merak wondering how he would take this new development. “How much did you hear, Luc?” she asked with a sigh of resignation.

  “Enough to know that Irina is involved and to be confused by a bunch of weird words you’re using. Starportals, Eunomi, Discordants. It all sounds a shade on the insane side of crazy!”

  Cassi turned to Merak thoughtfully. “You know, now might be the right time to let Luc in on a few things, like the fact that he is also an Esseni, plus his sports car is a stick shift and I really suck at driving a manual.”

  Merak looked extremely unhappy but Luc’s blue eyes sparkled with curiosity. “Well that’s another word I don’t understand. What’s an Esseni and why am I one?” Reluctantly, Merak shrugged. “It’s a long story Luc,” he said, “but I suppose if you are willing to take Cassi on a road trip, we can provide you with some answers to your questions.”

  Cassi headed toward the door. “Grab your car keys, Luc! Take me for the ride of your life and I’ll tell you why you are one of the most important beings in the universe.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  Tyr had managed to evade the guards and was on the landing close to the room where Irina was being kept. He hid in the shadows as a guard exited one of the other rooms and took up position outside Irina’s door. Tyr needed to knock him out without alerting any of the others. He decided on the old “chuck something to make a distraction, thereby forcing the guard to turn his back” ruse.

  Grenade at the double. Without pulling the pin of course.

  It worked like a charm and having asphyxiated the guy into unconsciousness, he made a dash for the door. Surprisingly it wasn’t locked. He entered slowly, head first, not wanting to startle Irina.

  Wham! A heavy weight came crashing down on his skull. He staggered under the blow, his legs nearly giving way.

  “Oh my god! I’m so sorry! I thought you were one of them!” Irina’s voice washed over him as he tried to regain his balance.

  “Glad to see you can take care of yourself,” he said, rubbing his head to check for blood. “However, three crushing blows to my head in one day, not my idea of fun!”

  “Here sit down,” soothed Irina. “Don’t be such a big baby. I didn’t hit you that hard. If I had you’d be unconscious.”

  Big baby! Did she really just call me that? “What did you hit me with anyway?” Tyr asked, finding a lump.

  “Er…a candlestick.” She scrunched up her nose, looking sheepish.

  “Great,” he said, “I’m in the middle of a game of Clue. Miss Dove, in the bedroom, with the candlestick.”

  “Well don’t be grumpy with me,” she huffed. “That’s what happens when you sneak into a person’s room, especially if they are being held prisoner against their will. Plus, I thought it was those creepy guards coming back to…you know…they had really weird yellow eyes.” She shuddered now, and it was clear the adrenaline that had taken over earlier was receding to leave her shivering.

  Tyr regained his balance and hugged her to his chest, wrapping strong arms around her trembling frame. “It’s okay,” he shushed, his voice full of concern. “I’m here now and I’m going to get you out.”

  Irina melted into the warmth of Tyr’s arms, laying her head against the solidity of a comfortingly hard-muscled chest. A tremor ran through her bones, heat and scent invading her senses, the wild ma
sculine smell of him, autumn leaves and rain wrapping around her, a caress on bare skin. She had been so scared when they dragged her away, horrified and confused by their treatment of Tyr. Why would Abrasax allow his men to hurt Tyr? Nothing made sense except the tangled threads she could feel weaving their way around them, trying to forge a connection that refused to break. She pushed away, unsteadily. It wouldn’t do to get too close. There were just too many unanswered questions surrounding this man and until they were answered she needed to keep him at arm’s length.

  “Irina, we need to go,” he said, ushering her toward the French doors. “There’s a balcony we can climb down.”

  “I thought you were on side with Abrasax. Why are you leaving?” She eyed him suspiciously.

  “I told you I was just playing along, and I’m not willing to see you hurt,” he said. “Abrasax told me some really crazy shit and I think you’re part of it too. He also said that your boss Merak is involved, so I figure we go to him and get his side of the story.”

  Now Irina was even more confused. What could Merak possibly have to do with this situation? Instead of dwelling on it too hard—there would be time for that later—she decided to focus on the here and now.

  “Okay, but the door to the balcony is locked,” she pointed out, twisting the handle.

  “No problem, little dove, I happen to be an expert lock picker.”

  “Why am I not surprised?” retorted Irina.

  “You’ll soon find out I’m an expert at a lot of things,” replied Tyr winking, as the door clicked open. Stupid butterflies took flight in her chest again as she fought to supress memories of the expertise she already knew he held in the field of kissing. Her heart fluttered wildly, images of the heated kiss in the helicopter swamping her beleaguered brain. Is he flirting with me? OMG, he’s so hot when he smiles like that!

  Squashing thoughts of his smiles and kisses into a ball she could throw away, Irina found the way down to be quite easy, almost too easy, the balcony having a convenient creeper of strong ivy they were both able to climb down without any bother. It was dark, but Tyr told her he had noted the position of a garage when he had perused the layout earlier, so he headed in that direction with Irina following at his heels. The garage was free of any guards and inside they had their pick of cars. Tyr went for an old Audi while Irina headed for a shiny Aston Martin.

  “Seriously, Tyr, the Aston’s way faster,” she said, surprised that he hadn’t chosen the more expensive car. “Yes, but it’s more noticeable, guzzles gas and I know how to start the Audi, so get in.”

  Practical and resourceful. Seriously, who was this man?

  Irina slid into the passenger seat as Tyr fiddled with the electrical system and the Audi burst into life. The grin he directed at her next was that of a schoolboy getting away with murder, his rugged smile accentuating the masculine beauty of his strong jaw, obsidian dark eyes sparkling with the stars of a night sky. Irina felt those splintered connecting threads winding back around, fusing together again as the ball bounced back. “Another one of your many skills, I see,” said Irina drily, trying to ignore the ball but catching it anyway. “You really are a jack-of-all-trades.”

  “You had to be, where I come from,” said Tyr. She was surprised to hear the note of bitterness in his tone, her heart depressing as she watched the lazy grin disappear, his mouth becoming hard. It reminded her how little she really knew about him and his past.

  Unfortunately as he spoke, an alarm sounded, probably triggered by the heat of the Audi’s engine switching on, Irina guessed. “Hang on!” shouted Tyr, shifting the car into gear and slamming his foot on the accelerator. The car screeched to life as two large guards raced toward them from the direction of the house. Heart jumping in her throat, Irina watched their speeding bodies mutate, gasping in disbelief when they suddenly expanded in size, muscled flesh turning gray, eyes flashing yellow. Huge claws emerged from their fingers as one tried grabbing at the side of the car to wrench the door open, the other crashed onto the bonnet, using his claws to dig in and hold on. What could she do but scream?

  Tyr swerved and handbrake-turned the car, wheeling around in a circle. The creature at Irina’s side bounced off the door as the car turned but the one on the bonnet dug in harder. They could both see Rodach in the mirrors running toward them from behind and gaining on them. He was fast. He was also bellowing in rage at the “imbecile fuckers” who were letting them escape. The alien creature in front of him punched his way through the glass aiming at Tyr’s throat. Tyr ducked to the side and gawped at her in surprise when Irina, instead of cowering in her seat, grabbed the semiautomatic rifle and used it to batter the creature’s claws.

  “Get. Off. Him. You bully!” she shrieked, adrenaline replacing her momentary fear. With one last smash, their assailant’s claws flew open in pain and he slid off the front of the car, which jerked over him as if going over a speed bump at full throttle.

  “Ooops!” remarked Tyr coolly, as he finally brought the swerving car under control, “I hope I haven’t knackered the suspension.” He turned and gave her an approving look. “Thanks for the assist by the way. You ever play baseball? You’ve definitely got a great swing action there.”

  Irina panted as she tried to catch her breath. “I’m certainly getting a lot of practice since meeting you,” she said, turning to face him. “Would you mind telling me what the hell’s going on and what was that…that…thing? And by the way—your driving sucks!” Swinging her head toward the window, she folded her arms in disgust. Tyr reached out a hand to clasp one of hers, bringing it to his lips, black eyes dancing with fire. Irina’s blood heated at the warmth of his lips on her skin.

  “I love the way your eyes sparkle when you’re angry,” said Tyr. Somehow only he could say something that corny and still make her smile. He was staring at her mouth as if he wanted to devour her, and the knowledge that she wanted him to kiss her again hit her with a blinding clarity. She quelled her disappointment when he turned away and continued driving at breakneck speed. “Once we’re clear of the bastards, I’ll do my best to explain what little I know,” he told her. “As soon as we can, we’ll ditch this car, grab another and get to your friends Cassi and Merak.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  An hour later, having discovered they were now in the southwest of England a few miles from Exeter, they managed to swap the Audi for a nondescript Ford. Irina tried to reconcile their theft of the car with the fact that their lives were in danger, and sank back into the passenger seat exhausted. It was now late evening and Tyr, having decided to keep off the main roads, was sticking to the winding country lanes that crisscrossed the area.

  They had also contacted Cassi after reversing charges at an old-fashioned payphone they had come across at one small village. The relief in Cassi’s voice had been palpable, although her response to Tyr’s presence was puzzling. She had sounded both glad and wary, warning Irina to be careful. However, rather than encouraging Irina to try and escape his clutches or give him up to the police, she had been insistent that Irina bring Tyr to her. His request to speak to Merak had also appeared to please her and Cassi had finished by directing them to a small motel near Stonehenge, which was only a couple of hours away.

  Irina found herself gazing blankly into the darkness, her thoughts in disarray, as she tried to make sense of recent events. “So what were those creatures?” she finally asked. “My brain is telling me I imagined the whole thing. Please tell me I’m actually asleep and when I wake up this whole thing will turn out to be a dream.”

  Tyr glanced her way shaking his head. “Unfortunately I can’t do that, little dove,” he began, and she could see he was weighing his words carefully. “According to Abrasax, and believe me I know this is going to sound mad, but he told me that life exists on other planets and I guess we have the evidence of it after seeing those creatures. Apparently, humans are not alone in the universe. He also waffled on about some ongoing battle for domination that’s being waged in the unive
rse and insisted your friends Merak Espenson and Cassiopeia Shedir are involved in it.”

  Irina raised her eyebrows at him open mouthed in disbelief. Cassi and Merak! Life on other planets! What the hell was he talking about? Irina shut her eyes for a moment and as she did, long forgotten memories of Merak and Cassi crashed over her. His constant concern and watchfulness along with Cassi’s almost too penetrating ability to sense her thoughts had always seemed strange and unnatural. Her experience as a child had taught her that monsters did exist. Why not aliens? Breathing out she gave a deep sigh. “So this isn’t just about Sal’s murder? And those creatures, they’re like extraterrestrials—no don’t answer that. At this point I’m so tired I could believe anything.” Her life since meeting this man had turned from calm to a storm of crazy, so much so that she didn’t know what to expect from one moment to the next.

  She sat beside him silent for a moment, her thoughts entangled in the man at her side. They had been thrown together for whatever reason so maybe it was time for answers. “How well do you know Abrasax, Tyr? He owns the gym you train in. If he killed Sal, why did he want you out of jail? What’s all this got to do with their eternal battle?”

  Tyr hesitated seemingly unwilling to confide. Moments passed in silence until he finally he spoke in lowered tones. “Abrasax is the one who got me off the streets and into boxing. I felt like he saved my life, but now I know that all the things I once believed about him, about Sal, they were false. Nothing was as it seemed.”

  Irina took the plunge. She wanted to understand who he was. “Why were you on the streets? What happened to your parents?”

  His broad shoulders shrugged. “My mother and father died when I was four, in a car accident. I went to live with my aunt and an uncle, who turned out to be an abusive alcoholic. He resented having to take care of me and made sure I knew it, in lots of…interesting ways. Finally he kicked me out when I was eight. Took me to a cinema, left me inside with some popcorn and suggested I didn’t bother coming home. So I took his advice.”