Love Of A Lifetime

by Murphy, Riley

  “Iessa.”

  Cyrus’ command for her to look at him pulled her out of the vision before she learned the truth. Well, she may not have learned that one, but she did know another now. Looking up into their enemy’s black eyes, she hissed, “I’m not going die.”

  The searing pain that shot through her skull right then made her regret that promise. It took all her will and every ounce of strength she had not to scream.

  He smiled and didn’t say a word as he turned and held out an arm toward the snowmobile. His movements were slow and fluid as he raised his hands up like he was conducting an orchestra. The snowmobile rocked for only a second before it lifted, back end first, into the air. Once it was fully suspended, he swiped his arm quickly to the side and the huge machine shot across the clearing and disappeared into the woods. She swallowed her fear and ignored her rampant disbelief as she mentally chanted, I’m not going to be intimidated, over and over. The moment she came to believe it, she spoke aloud, “I'm not going to die.”

  “Yes, Fruien,” he answered this time in English. “I’ve learned that this world takes care of its own. I’m sure you’ll make every attempt to breathe, just to spite me.” He leaned forward and swooped down. She wanted to fight him, to lash out if she could, but he was too strong and the unbearable pain raged. It was consuming. Sapping her will, her strength and reason. The last thing she remembered, before he grabbed her by the collar and hauled her off the ground, was the moonlight. It glowed overhead between the shifting cedars and she knew somewhere beneath that radiant shine Jack was looking for her. That comforting thought was the last one she had before she gave in to the physical need and blacked out.

  Chapter Twelve

  Jack wasn’t sure who he’d kill first. The reporter who took her away? Or Finley, for going with him. Oh, he knew she’d gone of her own volition. He’d thought he’d find broken glass, a busted in door, or some signs of a scuffle, but what did he find instead? A chair perfectly placed for her to climb on, so that she could unlock the bolt and let the bastard in. It galled him to think she had such faith in Alt and none in him. He’d locked her in for own protection for Christ’s sake and after everything they’d done, why would she want to leave?

  He stood at the edge of the glen and searched the three different trails. Apparently, the snowmobile not only flew from Gilby to this point, but it managed to carve three separate tracks without anyone, namely him with his better than average hearing, the wiser. To say that he was impressed was an understatement. Now which path to take?

  “I’ll take this one.” Payden said as he came to stand beside him, nodding toward the trail on Jack’s right.

  “And I’ll take this one,” Max affirmed, indicting to the one on the left.

  With his decision made for him, Jack nodded before he sped down the remaining path in the center. He was ready to find his mate. In no time at all, he arrived at the clearing. The snowmobile tracks ended in a the form of a J shape, a good fifteen feet before the ground dropped off to Death Dive canyon below. But there was no vehicle in sight.

  He scanned the tree tops. Nothing. So he had a look around and tried to read the imprints embedded in the snow. Although he didn’t know at the moment where the snowmobile was, he knew that it hadn’t gone over the side of the mountain, as the snow along that ridge was untouched. But as he searched the pattern on the ground, he was mystified. It looked like there were three sets of footprints in one spot but only two people in the rest. It stood to reason as only two could fit on the machine, yet there weren’t any other foot tracks leading into the clearing to indicate a third had arrived.

  This worried him. Hearing Payden approach from the south and knowing that Max would be coming in from the north, he held his arms outstretched, pointing in each direction, and ordered, “Hold.”

  Both of them skidded to a stop on the outskirts of the clearing and waited for permission to enter.

  “She’s not here,” Jack swore. He dropped his arms and continued to examine the ground around him as he tried to decipher a clue. “There has to be something.”

  After a few quiet seconds, he heard an odd noise. Straining to listen, he cocked an ear and when Payden shifted restlessly and started to walk toward him, he patted air. “Wait. Wait, I hear something.”

  It was a steady sound, like a beep, beep, beep. Technology, certainly not something you’d hear in the forest. It was so faint though, he closed his eyes and concentrated.

  Beep…beep.

  When it came to him he frowned and snapped his eyes open, barely breathing. It was coming from over the side of the mountain.

  “Stay where you are. Not a step. Wait until I tell you to move.” He turned and practically flew to the ledge. Before he looked over, he turned back them. “I mean it. Stay there.” When both men nodded and he was satisfied they’d listen he squinted and searched until found the lone figure sprawled in an odd angle on the small rock shelf below. “It’s Alt.” He didn’t have time to enjoy the relief that surged through him with the discovery. Thankful it wasn’t his mate down there, he knelt and in one swift move he punched into the ground with such powerful force that his arm disappeared, almost to his shoulder, as he searched in the frozen earth for a cedar root. When he found one, he pulled hard. He needed a stable way to get down there. He couldn’t chance jumping, the ledge was too small and Alt looked like he was in bad shape. Once he had the sturdy branch out, he used it in a rope-like fashion and descended over the side of the embankment. In four bounce-drop moves he was there.

  “Hel…me,” the poor bastard rasped. Although he was pleased that the guy had enough sense to get his cell out and continually press the number one button on the keypad with what looked to be the only finger on his left hand that wasn’t broken, he was still pissed at him for stealing Finley. The phone was smart thinking though, if only you could get a signal this far up the mountain.

  Jack stared down at the twisted mess that barely resembled a body and had second thoughts about ‘the good thinking’ aspect of things. Given the guy’s condition, maybe he would have been better off if they’d never found him and he’d froze to death. Judging from the extent of his injuries, Alt would probably have been better off dead.

  “Plea…don turn me,” the broken man whispered.

  Those coherent words galvanized Jack into action. Tilting his head, he hollered up, “Payden, go get one of your boards from the house. Max, when he gets back, you two are going to take Alt down to St Francis. He’s in pretty bad shape.”

  “Don’t worry, buddy,” Jack said and came down on one knee next to him. “We’re not going to move you until we have to. When I have the board we won’t turn you, we’ll just pull you on it so you’ll be mobilized.”

  “No...I...meant. No…bite me.”

  Jack stood up so fast, he nearly stumbled. Jesus Christ. How much had Finley told this kid? How close were the two of them? Suddenly it didn’t matter that the guy was twisted up like a human pretzel. He wanted answers. “Where’s Finley?”

  “H–he h-has her.”

  “Who?” Jack demanded, leaning over, ready to intimidate the guy if he had to. Which was ridiculous really, because he could see the injured man was slipping in and out of consciousness. But he tried to get some information from him anyway. “Where did he take her?”

  “T–to...die,” was all Alt said before he fell unconscious again. Jack waited a second or two to see if he’d come to, and when he didn’t, he was almost sorry that he’d pushed the guy for an answer.

  He blinked and thought about those words, to die, and he had to fight the overwhelming urge he suddenly had to shake the man awake. He knew he couldn’t do that, so he straightened. Then, before he changed his mind, he reached out to grab hold of the root, quickly climbing back up.

  “Payden won’t be much longer,” Max said and Jack knew he was trying to get a good look over the edge without being too conspicuous about it.

  “I know and quit looking over the side. You’ll se
e soon enough.” Jack turned to examine the clearing and then remembering, he turned back. “Oh and when you get to the hospital, this guy’s delusional, got it? Make sure you specifically tell the ER staff that he’s delusional.” After Max nodded, he shifted his attention to the clearing again. “Damn, why are there no vehicle tracks? Did you check the surrounding area?”

  Max snapped on his flash light and held it up, saying, “Most of it, but not along either edge.”

  Jack nodded. “I’ll take the left. You go right.”

  He wasn’t more than two feet in when he heard Max whistled low.

  “Did you find something?”

  “I think I may know why there aren’t any tracks.”

  Jack turned and followed the beam of the flashlight until his eyes fell on the snowmobile in the distance. When he saw it he scowled. “What the hell?” He stalked over and grabbed the flashlight from Max, walking toward the odd sight until it was clearly highlighted. When it was, neither of them said a word, they just stared, and it seemed to Jack as if everything around them, even the trees had stopped moving. The only thing in motion was the snowmobile. The vehicle was standing in a perpendicular position on top of a large boulder, spinning like the twirling ballerina in a jewelry box.

  A second later Payden arrived and he was the first to break the eerie silence, “Holy shit. How did that get there?”

  “I don’t know,” Jack growled, closing in on the anomaly. More worried than ever about Finley as he used the beam of light to search. The kind of strength it would take to hoist that machine up there was Vampine worthy, yet the spinning? Only two of them on earth could perform such a feat. Him and Selig. “I’ll deal with this later. See to the reporter,” Jack called over his shoulder.

  He turned the flashlight off and tucked it in the waistband of his pants as he walked to the south side of the clearing and whispered, “Mia shandor lei.” The warm breeze of his words rushed over him, through him, past him and he knew. Finley had been taken north. His heated whisper would find her. It would wrap around her and hopefully give her a modicum of comfort until she had the strength of his arms protecting her once more. “Mia shandor lei,” he repeated. Glad now that he had thought to make that connection with her this morning. Or was it yesterday morning? He didn’t know if it was after midnight or not, but it felt like a lifetime had passed since he’d watched her accept his attention on the manor steps. At that time, he’d used this primitive connection playfully, pulling on her in an attempt to make her laugh. Now? Now, he would send it as protection and strength. He turned to the north and looked up into the night sky. “Mia shandor lei,” he said once more before he shut everything else out of his mind. Everything but thoughts of her as he headed northward.

  Finley heard a loud scraping sound and opened her eyes.

  “Good, you’re awake.”

  She looked into that angular face, dominated by those black eyes, and instinctively pushed herself backward.

  “Hold still, you fool. Do you want to drop to the ground so soon?”

  She fought the hold he had on her coat until his words registered. Once they did, she stopped struggling and looked around. Pain still pounded in her head, hard enough that her eyes watered, but her vision wasn’t so obscured that she couldn’t make out where they were. Still in the forest. In a…a…tree.

  “Oh my God,” she cried and grabbed for him. Her cold-stiffened fingers dug into the material of his coat and she gasped when the fabric slithered over her hands. The feeling reminded her of a bucket of worms she’d plunged her fist into on a dare one summer at her friend’s cottage. That experience had given her nightmares for weeks. But this one was much worse.

  “What? I don’t remember you being frightened of heights. Come on, get some of that courage you’re renowned for and have a look down. It’s beautiful, isn’t it?”

  She didn’t want to, but she couldn’t help herself. The sight that greeted her made her dizzy. It couldn’t be. Her blurry vision had to be playing tricks on her. They couldn’t be at the very top of one the cedars...but they were and it was the last one before the mountain sheared off and dropped to the ground where the small town below gleamed with twinkling lights, shining brightly against the wintry backdrop.

  “Here.”

  Maybe she was coming out of shock because all of a sudden a cold swept into her so profoundly she wasn’t sure she was even seated on the tree limb anymore. Or maybe she was going into shock because when she turned to the sound of his voice it was as if it came from a distance. Like this whole experience was not happening, yes, like it was surreal somehow. She watched him shift in an odd manner against the humongous trunk. He was resting against it like he didn’t need to hang on. Was his coat holding him in place? He certainly wasn’t using his hands, as he moved her on the limb.

  “Now,” He ordered, “Let go of my coat.”

  To say that she let go of it would’ve been incorrect. And to say that it let go of her would be crazy, and yet that’s exactly what happened. Left without an anchor, she slipped down the angled branch. Shock or no shock, she immediately slapped both hands down, clutching bark in an effort to stop from sliding farther. Pushing back as hard as she could to get closer to the trunk, she swore, “You bastard.”

  “Quiet.” Cyrus twisted around so fast that she felt like she was going to throw up. “He comes.”

  She scanned the distant ground below, trying to see if he was right, if Jack was coming, but then she noticed what Cyrus was doing. Just as he’d done back at the clearing with the snowmobile, his arm lifted. Only this time he pointed toward the scope of trees to the left. To one cedar in particular as his hand shook in a continuous tremble.

  “What are doing?”

  He didn’t turn nor did he answer. He just stared at that tree. Focusing in on it until—the hairs on her nape upended—the cedar started to tremble and shake much like his hand. He was uprooting it. Lifting it until it spun like a cyclone throwing the snow off its branches in all directions. The sight reminded her of a brush from the automated car wash she took her beat up Honda to once a year.

  “No.” Just then his arm shot to the right and when it did the tree fell into a horizontal position. He was going to hurl it at Jack. It would kill him! She didn’t think, only did as she lurched forward and landed on Cyrus’ back. She expected that they’d both fall to the ground, but that didn’t happen. Instead his arm dipped slightly and when it did, the tree dropped. Taking down others around it in a series of creaks, cracks, smashes and thuds.

  “That wasn’t wise,” he growled as he peeled her off the back of him as if she were no more than a pesky little ant to be stomped. This was it. The moment she was going die. She scrunched her eyes shut and waited, expecting to be dropped, so it wasn’t until he slammed her back into the tree, hooking her coat on one of the broken branches that she opened her eyes again.

  The cold was seeping up her spine and around her belly as her jacket was caught. She heard fabric tear and knew that her weight was straining it. Hooking her right arm over the branch beside her she hung on as best she could.

  “There’s quite a mess down there for him to get through. Your mated soul.”

  “Don’t leave!” she cried when her nemesis shifted to climb down the trunk. She didn’t care that he was the enemy. Or that he was the one responsible for her current predicament. All she cared about at this moment was being left hundreds of feet off the ground with nothing but a tiny bit of fabric standing between her and falling to certain death. Even if she thought she could attempt to adjust her position without falling, she’d never be able to climb down from here on her own and she doubted she could hold on much longer. “Tell me what you want.”

  He stopped his descent and his black eyes lit with interest. “Has that heart of yours softened over the centuries? Are you prepared to give me what I want in exchange for my leniency?”

  When she looked into those dead eyes, she shivered. What was wrong with her? She’d seen this...this.
..whatever Cyrus was, kill Jesse and now he had practically sealed her death and she was begging him to stay? Maybe she was suffering from hypothermia. Where was her backbone? Her courage? “I’ll never give you what you want.” She didn’t even know what she was denying him and she didn’t care to know. “When Jack—”

  “Jack? His name is Jo-Quinn.” His voice was so sharp that she thought she felt the tree tremble beneath her.

  “His name is Jack and when he finds you he’ll-he’ll…”

  “He will what? Run from me again? He can’t do that now that I know who will bear the seventh child. But especially now that I know who you are. This event changes everything...for more than just you.” His voice sounded too deep and his head shifted at an unnatural angle before he threw it back and laughed. She saw the jagged edges of his teeth and gulped. What kind of monster was he? She didn’t have an answer to that as he leaned all the way back until he was horizontal against the vertical tree and walked, actually walked, down the length of the trunk like the law of gravity had no effect on him. Did it apply to him if he could do this? She didn’t think so and that was a very frightening thought.

  But then, she was suddenly alone and the stillness and cold enveloped her all at once. She closed her eyes and tried not to think about the height and how uncomfortable this position was to maintain. She needed to remain calm until Jack got here. He would, she was confident about that. She didn’t know everything about their past together but she knew enough to know that he loved her beyond reason and he’d never do anything to purposely hurt her. What had Ceil done to him in that last lifetime? Given him drugs to get him to cooperate? What did Cyrus mean about knowing who she was? How did that change everything? It made no sense.