by April Zyon
“Not if the shield is holding. Holly! Where the fuck is our shield? And for the love of the goddess get those men off the fucking plateau. They’ll be fried if we don’t have the protection. James, take your baby,” Mercury muttered. He passed the child over to the other man quickly but efficiently.
Holly was at her computer and doing magic with her fingers. Literally that’s what it looked like to Krista. She heard another blast rolling through the halls and winced. “The dead are fleeing. Mercury, that’s not good.” She looked at Sophia and the baby. “Where can they be safe?”
“James, get them to the shelter. Holly, I’m not hearing you telling me what the fuck happened to my goddamn shields!” On the screen just past Mercury’s shoulder, she could see the guardians all waving the Marines into the Mountain. They weren’t using the elevator, thank the goddess, but taking a stairwell she hadn’t realized existed until that moment.
“That son of a fucking bitch shot an RPG into the shield’s main housing!” she shouted right back at Mercury. “Fuck a goddamn duck, I have nothing. He’s killed the shields outside, but I still have the internal ones. I’m throwing every fucking door shield we have, so hold on tight,” she muttered.
Mercury growled out something nasty under his breath and moved to another console. One he had to unlock with a retina scan and DNA sample, from what Krista could see. Even Holly did a double-take as he got it online and sat down. “Hold on to your hats, ladies. You’re going to feel this one all the way to your soul.” Tapping a few keys had the entire Mountain vibrating violently. Warning lights and sirens went off as well as some sort of announcement. On Mercury’s screen, she suddenly saw crosshairs as he pulled a joystick out from where it had been tucked away. “Fuck with my Mountain, will you,” he grumbled.
“Holy shitballs, remind me never to mess with him,” Krista whispered as she held on to the back of the seat that was there. She noticed how James had ushered Sophia and the child out of there and was more than a little shocked to see Mercury sitting down to take things into his hands personally.
The view on the screen panned along until suddenly a group of men came into view. “There you are, you fuckers. Kiss your asses goodbye,” he said. He pressed the trigger on the joystick, and with a roaring sound the Mountain shook once more. Finally, the view on the screen lit up, and another low rumble shook the Mountain.
Krista watched Mercury as he blew away man after man. “Where is Billy?” She was sure that was the question that everyone was asking themselves. “How can he be so powerful? He was just a guardian, right?” She was slowly learning things about the guardians and what they were fighting, but she couldn’t figure out why Billy was as powerful as he was.
“He was just a guardian, but then he accepted the evil, so that gave him a boost. He’s not out there, not with the pawns and the fodder. It’s not his style. He’s watching from a safe distance and looking for a way in,” Mercury said. He pressed a few keys on the keyboard and hit the trigger again. This time he was tearing through the ranks with high-power gunfire, ripping them to shreds until they fell in pools of blood.
“He’s close enough that the dead are terrified to be near,” Krista said, leaning against a wall. “This is bad. All of this feels so wrong. We are missing something.” She heard Holly typing rapidly on the keyboard, watched Mercury as his fingers pulled the trigger time and time again, but something was missing. She was sure of it.
On the screen, she could see the guardians and Marines racing down the levels of stairs. The guardians slammed through a doorway while the Marines kept moving down. Through the halls the men raced, splitting up into two groups as they moved. They all had weapons out but in a lowered-yet-ready position as they moved fast.
Krista moved when she saw the guardians coming closer. She shifted so she was against one of the far walls, her gaze latched onto the screen of the computers that both Holly and Mercury were working with surprising speed and accuracy—well, and a lot of cussing from Holly.
Demaratus was among the first through the door and moved straight to Holly. He put a hand on her shoulder and squeezed, but he didn’t interrupt what she was doing. The others that came in were Jason, Gaius, and Alexander. Eric, she knew from a glance to the screen, was with the other group. She couldn’t tell where they were but knew they were still running a check through the compound.
“D, you stay here. The rest of you get down to level one and make sure we don’t have any more surprises from that bitch Helen. Check everything manually but quickly,” Mercury said.
Krista didn’t even have a moment to let out a squeak of a sound. One minute she was leaning against the wall of the room, the next a hand was covering her mouth and she was surrounded by darkness and utter madness. She felt the bite of a syringe in the side of her neck before she went limp in the arms of the madman who had made it into the heart of their safe haven.
Chapter Seven
Eric stumbled, and only the hand Hector threw out to catch his arm kept him from falling on his face.
“What’s wrong?” Hector asked.
Edward stepped forward to catch his other arm and they both eased him to the wall. “I can’t feel her,” he whispered, pressing a hand to his chest.
“Who?” Edward asked.
“Krista. I can’t feel her. Something’s wrong.” His chest felt like it was caving in from the absence of the light he hadn’t realized was there.
“We need to get to the control room, now,” Edward said. He and Robert hooked his arms over their shoulders as they began to move. Hector took the lead position to ensure they were safe.
It took them a lot longer to get up to Holly’s office than it normally would have. It likely had something to do with the fact they were dragging his heavy ass along with them. But he couldn’t manage to make his legs work. He felt like everything was disconnected, disjointed.
When they got to the computer room, the two men eased him into a chair. Curling over, he closed his eyes against the pain of not feeling her. Something was horribly wrong.
“Where are the others?” Hector asked. By the goddess his voice sounded so far away from Eric.
“Krista was yanked through the wall into one of the passages. They are in there tracking them down. We’re pretty sure it was Billy. Holly’s sealed all the outside exits and scrambled the codes, so he’s not getting out of the Mountain alive. Unfortunately, without cameras in the tunnels we don’t know where they are,” Mercury said.
“Fucking hell, and we can’t use the infrared, either, because the tunnels shunt all the power lines, water, and heating to the base, so it would be one giant glow,” Edward said. Eric almost smiled at the fact the man had sworn. Edward had made it something of a project a few years ago to wipe all foul language back out of his vocabulary. Obviously the man was as stressed as everyone else in the moment if he’d slipped back into it.
“No, we can’t. You two go and help them. Grab a comms unit each. They are on channel six. It’s the only one that will work in the tunnels. Remember, your cell phones won’t work with all that interference. Stay in pairs at all times and be fucking careful,” Mercury ordered. “Hector, stay here in case that fucker circles back.”
Silence for a few minutes before Eric let out a gasp and nearly fell off the chair.
“What is it?” Hector asked. He was holding on to his arm to keep him in the seat.
“I felt her for a second, really strong, but now it’s so weak,” he choked out.
“She’s likely drugged. Something heavy duty, but Billy would have underestimated her own drive and the fact she’s bonded to you. Hopefully, she’s fighting through the drugs and that’s why you’re feeling her.”
Eric had to agree with Mercury. He didn’t want to think about the alternative. That Billy was hurting Krista in a sick and twisted effort to make himself feel better about his disgusting, worthless existence.
If Billy hurt Krista even a little, Eric would rip the bastard’s heart out through his ches
t, then shove it down the runt’s throat. He might still do it for the stunt he’d pulled trying to get back someone who had never belonged to him in the first place. Krista was Eric’s, and by the goddess he was going to get his woman back.
Forcing his body up so he was sitting properly, he sucked in a slow breath. “Hector, get me up,” he growled.
“What the fuck do you think you’re doing, Eric?” Mercury demanded.
“I’m going to go and get my woman back from that twisted motherfucker, and then I’m going to rip his puny little head off and shove it where the fucking sun doesn’t shine. Sir,” he said through his gritted teeth. His head was woozy, and his body felt out of sorts, but no way was he leaving Krista with Billy a second longer than necessary.
“This is a bad idea, but I get where you’re coming from. Hector, you stay glued to his side and keep him on his feet. He’ll be able to guide you in to her faster than the others can track them.”
Hector gave a grunt from his side. “Understood. Come on, Big Red. Let’s go and get your woman back for you.”
Giving Mercury a nod of thanks—the man could have tied him to a chair—Eric leaned on Hector as they moved into the dark of the secret tunnels. I’m coming for you, baby. You hold the fuck on, and I’ll be there soon. Eric didn’t think they were at that stage yet, and she probably wouldn’t have heard him with the drugs anyway, but he had to send it out there. For her, for him, and a word of warning to the universe that shit was about to get real.
****
Krista felt something cool press to her cheek. She heard Billy cursing a blue streak and the screams of someone as they died. She chewed her lower lip as she felt fingers brush against her cheek.
She focused on the tiny hand that was touching her. She frowned in the darkness but didn’t give away the fact that she was starting to wake. The hand was far too small to be one of the things with Billy, and it was also too small for a woman’s hand. A child. It had to be a ghost child.
She felt like hurling. Her head hurt and stomach churned, but she focused and reached out in her mind for Eric, praying that she was doing this right and cussing herself for not practicing with him more on this. It was frustrating, to try to do something just by imagination.
Please hear me, Eric, she begged in her mind over and over again, even as she fought against the drugs that were in her system and threatening to take her into slumber once more.
Krista! Oh thank the goddess. His voice was filled with relief.
He’s cussing. I think that we are at a wall or opening or something. She knew how imperative it was for her to give Eric as much information as possible.
I’m coming, baby. He can’t get out of the Mountain. As soon as they realized you were taken, Holly sealed all the exits and scrambled the codes. I’m getting close. The bond is stronger now. Keep talking to me if you can, sweetheart. It’s helping me to figure this out. Remind me to practice some of this with you when we get you safely home.
God, no kidding because right now I feel sick. There is a child here. He or she is touching me. The dead typically never touch me unless I’m about to face death head-on. There is something not good about to happen here. If you don’t get here soon, I’m afraid he’s going to cut his losses and not care that I’m his kin.
Shh, it will be all right. He’s got to keep you alive if he plans on getting out of the Mountain. Besides that, we’re closing in. I can hear him swearing. How close are you to him, at a guess?
Close. She bit her lower lip. Eric. She gasped as she felt a sudden flood of light fill the darkness of the tunnel. What the ever-loving name of fuck? she asked with wide eyes. He’s out. His minions are here, but he’s out. What the hell? She then heard Eric’s heavy boots as they approached.
A hand closed around her wrist at the same moment a gun went off. Billy gave a bellow of pain, and the grip fell away. More gunfire sounded loudly in the close quarters of the tunnel. Someone leapt over her as someone else—Eric—picked her up into his arms to kiss her frantically on her lips.
Krista wrapped herself in his arms. She squeezed Eric tightly and cried. She couldn’t help it. “I can’t feel half my body, but I want to go home. Please. I hate dark, tight spaces,” she whimpered. “Please tell me you killed that slimy son of a bitch.”
“Not yet, soon enough,” he told her against her cheek. He was stroking her hair and rocking her back and forth in his arms. “Hector, Gaius, and the others are dealing with him. As well as his men, too.” Shifting, he scooped her up in his arms and began to move. “You are going to medical first, and then I’m taking you home to our bed.”
“I won’t argue that at all,” she muttered. Then she looked down and saw the child. Reaching out, she touched the red curls and smiled. “Thank you,” she said to the little one. “Eric, did you have a younger brother or sister that died really young?” The child wasn’t talking, but she had touched Krista and helped her come out of the drugs faster than she was sure that she would have on her own.
“I’m going to assume you’re speaking with a spirit right now,” Eric said. “Oh hell,” he muttered. Turning, he put her to the wall and dropped his head over hers. A second later she realized why when a blinding light accompanied by an unholy shriek filled the passageway. The light died quickly, but the shriek continued to echo around them. The blinding lights had been the other guardians with megawatt LED lights. She realized this when she noticed that Eric had on darkened glasses that he had slid back down to cover and protect his eyes, protecting her when he covered her head as well. She felt the souls of Billy’s minions as they were ripped from the earth as the others killed them.
Krista’s hands clenched in Eric’s shirt. She felt as if there was a part of her that was ripped away as well, but it wasn’t a bad thing. “Thank you,” she whispered to Eric, then the child as well.
“Sister?” Eric gave her a questioning glance, and she nodded.
“Yes, she’s here. She’s such a beautiful little thing. She looks so much like you. Has to be your baby sister, maybe?” She once more stroked her fingers over the ghostly hair and looked up at Eric. “She said she will see you again soon and can’t wait to ride your shoulders once more. Does that make sense?”
“No sisters,” he said quietly. Shaking his head, he pressed a kiss to her temple. “My daughter, who I didn’t know very well, died while I was at sea. I’ll tell you more later, but for now I need for you to be looked at and taken care of. Then you and I will lock ourselves into our room and not come out for a very long time.” Turning, he began to move through the passageways.
The little girl smiled and gave a small wave to them as she faded into the ether. Krista realized that the Wheel of Life would turn back around and perhaps one day they would be blessed with the little soul that had saved her life. If they were so lucky.
As far as locking themselves in their rooms, Krista was fine with that. She pressed her face against Eric’s neck and closed her eyes. “I love you, Eric Thorvaldsson. I’m never letting you go,” she told him. “Hopefully, one day we will have a little girl with red hair and your laughter. She can have my eyes, though.” Although she preferred his. “Is it over?” she asked suddenly. “With Billy being dead, is it over now?”
“The war? Sadly not, but you are no longer going to be a target. It was only Billy’s fixation on you that had you in the middle of this.” His cheek pressed to her forehead as he eased her through a doorway into one of the regular corridors. His boots squeaked slightly on the polished floors as he strode toward the elevators.
“As much as I hate to say this, I’m very thankful that I’m no longer the center of this whole thing. I want to be able to simply be yours. I don’t want to draw danger. I simply want to know peace. With you. Only you.”
“And you shall, sweetheart. No one is ever going to hurt you again, this I swear to you.” Pressing a kiss to her cheek, he bundled her in closer to him as they rode down to the medical floor. As soon as the doors were opened, he was m
oving.
“I trust you in that. I will keep you safe as well.” She hoped she would be able to keep him safe at least. “We have this, right? Each other.”
“Of course we have this,” he said. Pushing through the doors into medical, he whistled. “Can we get some help here? The lady has been put through the ringer by a psychopath.”
Krista laughed, she couldn’t help herself. It was actually kind of funny, the way Eric was acting as if no one had ever been harmed before. “My head hurts like bejesus, and I can’t even feel most of my body because of whatever that bastard shot me up with,” she told the doctors.
Eric set her down on the table for the doctors to look at her but kept a firm grip on her hand. Like he was afraid to let her go. A sentiment she echoed truthfully. Rubbing his thumb over her knuckles, he stayed as out of the way as a man of his stature could while staring down at her with love in his eyes.
“Eric,” Krista said with a smile. “Baby, you have to stop growling. They need to take blood. That means you need to step back and let them.”
His lip curled up slightly at one of the assistants, sending the man scampering off around the bed to the other side. “They can damn well put up with me right where I am. If they don’t like it, then too fucking bad. I am not letting go of you, not after the scare I had today.”
“Then how about you take me to a room, help me into one of those gowns, and they can come in and check on me there? That way you can secure the door? I need you close, but I also need them to make sure that he didn’t inject me with something bad. Please?”
The doctors, nurses, and assistants all looked at her, then slowly to Eric. He muttered something distinctly foul in nature before nodding. “Fine,” he grumbled. He lifted her gently into his arms and took her to one of the private exam rooms. Eric kicked the door shut on the nurses that attempted to follow, likely narrowly missing the one that had been a hair too close on his heels.
Krista lifted shaky hands up and touched Eric’s cheeks. “I love you, baby,” she whispered. “Now, help me get naked. Then we will get these people to earn their keep, and after that we are going back to our rooms and we are going to stay there until we are both feeling better. Food services can bring us food, right?”
