Winter's Warrior: Mark of the Monarch (Winter's Saga #4)

by Karen Luellen

  Alik had been quiet and on-edge, but now he looked as though he was trying to hear something from far away, his eyes wide and ear cocked.

  “Alik?” Evan’s voice came from the back of the van. He was holding the metal box in his hands, fingers trying not to feel twitchy as the detonation button was right at his fingertips.

  “After we detonate, we need to drive to the front gate and wait there.” Alik’s voice sounded whispered and dreamlike.

  “What? Why? Creed told us to go back to the hotel.” Farrow tried to stay calm, as the baby seemed to sense her sudden change in emotions by stirring in her arms. She couldn’t help it, though. The idea of staying one second longer near Williams, his deadly metas or his secret Monarchs made her heart race and her muscles knot.

  “Meg,” Alik said softly. “She’s telling me to stay there and wait for her.”

  Just then they heard what sounded like one enormous explosion. All their heads whipped around to follow the sound and saw a burst of light.

  “That’s the signal. Detonation in three, two, one!” Evan flipped the safety cover up and pressed the switch. The grenades’ explosion sounded like a sneeze compared to Evan’s explosives designed to demolish an entire three-story building and the basement below.

  Thunderous explosions one right after the other blended into a deafening roar. The cement walls of the hospital seemed to melt off the metal frame like a surreal Salvador Dali painting. White dust burst violently into the air causing a malevolent plume of gases and debris.

  “Drive, Alik!” Evan called, as the thick dust cloud exploded and burst toward their van. Alik stepped on the gas pedal and glanced in the rearview mirror just in time to see the first of a series of jarring explosions coming from what used to be the third floor.

  “Combustibles in the labs,” Sloan murmured what everyone was thinking, her gray eyes wide with a mix of shock and resolve.

  The whole van shook with the force of each new chemically induced blast.

  Fire licked its wicked tongue from the shattered glass windows scorching what was left of the cement walls.

  The roar of the building being turned into toxic rubble echoed through the countryside, off the fifteen-foot cement perimeter walls and punched holes through the thick foliage surrounding the Facility.

  With their ears still ringing from the explosions, Alik, Evan, Farrow and Sloan weren’t sure if they really were hearing semiautomatic gunfire until a few bullets ricocheted off the side of the van.

  Instinctively, Farrow curled her strong body around the squirming little boy and dove to crouch on the floor of the van. Everyone else ducked, too. Everyone except Alik.

  “She’s coming,” Alik said, his voice more excited and present now.

  “Open the back doors,” he yelled over the gunfire to Evan who obeyed his brother without question.

  Chapter 13 Not Without You

  BOOM! BOOM!

  Just as they knew it would, the deafening surprise explosions caused everyone to dive for the ground.

  Ever the tactical advantage soldier, Creed started picking off metasoldiers one by one even as he and Meg ran to Margo’s side.

  “Meggie,” Margo’s eyes were wide with fear, her face pale and lips ashen. “I’m sorry.” Her body was strewn on the ground where the soldiers had dropped her when the grenade exploded.

  “You’re okay, Mom. Be still. We’ve got you now.”

  “I told you to run,” she slurred, her eyes fluttering closed.

  “Sorry, Dr. Winter,” Creed answered on behalf of Meg. “The only orders I follow are hers and she wasn’t leaving without you.”

  Meg turned away to continue shooting defensively at the quickly recovering soldiers scattered around the courtyard. Creed took one look at Margo’s limp legs and knew something was very wrong. He reached down and scooped her up carefully, feeling her back slick with blood.

  Margo grimaced once, then her soft brown eyes rolled back in her head and her body hung wilted in Creed’s arms.

  Without exchanging another word, Creed and Meg ran toward the front gate with desperate determination.

  “Is Alik there?” Creed called between blasts of gunfire.

  Meg cringed at her gun. “I hope to God he’s there. I’m almost out of ammo.”

  The two rounded the side of the far-too-contemporary fountain at the administration building’s circle drive and kept moving. The soldiers behind them were organizing, more joining in the chase.

  Meg called to her brother with her heart. We’re coming, open the doors now!

  “It’s there!” Creed called to Meg as he ran straight for the doors already opening for them.

  He climbed into the back of the van, cradling Margo’s body against himself protectively.

  Meg leaped inside and slammed the doors shut.

  “Drive!” she screamed, but she didn’t have to. Alik was already stomping on the gas pedal. The white van glistened like a ghost in the moonlight as it sped out of the gates of hell and into the night.

  Chapter 14 Should We Stay or Should We Go?

  As Alik drove everybody craned their necks to look back at the fire blazing where the Facility’s Research Hospital used to stand. Once they were far enough away, and the firelight was just a glow on the black horizon, the focus shifted to Margo’s frail body still draped in Creed’s arms. The children were amazed at the small woman who again faced their tormentor by herself.

  The moment the baby had heard Meg’s voice in the van, he struggled to reach for her, even with his eyes closed. He seemed as desperate for her as a drowning victim craved oxygen. Farrow had gladly passed the squirming baby back to Meg’s open arms.

  Evan busied himself by trying to figure out how badly injured his mother was. Creed held her as though her weight was no more a burden than a small bundle of dry-cleaning in his thick arms.

  “Sloan, help me,” he said, trying to control the quiver in his voice.

  Shaking her head to regain focus on the here and now, Sloan crawled to where Evan was crouched.

  Creed began to shift to allow Evan and Sloan a better look at Dr. Winter’s back.

  “No, don’t move her, Creed.” Sloan put a small hand on his biceps, but it was the look on her face that stopped Creed, not her touch.

  “The vest didn’t catch all the bullets.” Evan grimaced at the blood dripping slowly off the edge of his mother’s vest.

  Sloan’s steady fingers had been searching for a pulse in Margo’s wrist, but it was so faint that the jostling of the van speeding down the two-lane highway made it very difficult to calculate accurately.

  She ducked her head down to see for herself what was making Evan’s face turn a sickly shade of paste.

  “That doesn’t look good, Evan. The fluid looks more watery than it should.”

  “Spinal fluid,” Evan gulped loudly.

  “I think so. She needs medical attention immediately.”

  “We cannot risk stopping. We have to get the heck out of Germany and the further away, the better. Williams has probably already sent half the facility into full alert and they’re prepping to start their hunt for us even before the fire goes out on that blaze we left.” Evan’s face was ghostly pale.

  Sloan sighed, trying desperately to stay calm and think clearly.

  “Meg? What do we do?” Like everyone else in the van, Alik had been listening to the exchange between Evan and Sloan with bated breath. He knew his sister was the best chance they had at making the right decision for the family.

  Meg sat, holding the baby, gently rocking him back and forth and rubbing his back. Her eyes were glassy with concentration.

  Everyone waited for her to respond, knowing she needed time to spread her empath wings to feel.

  “I can’t find her.” Meg’s eyes glistened as she searched her mother’s face.

  Without shifting the baby in her arms, Meg positioned herself closer to Creed and her mother so she could reach out and touch her skin, trying to strengthen her empath
connection.

  “I’ve never had to do this with Mom,” Meg mumbled, a look of anguish on her face. “I’ve always just thought of her and could feel her emotions.”

  She sat quietly with her hand pressed against her mother’s cool temple. Her dark eyes closed with concentration.

  Creed watched her with a mixture of admiration and love.

  How could such a small girl be so strong? To offer herself not only to a stranger’s dying baby but to reach out and give of herself so she could try to pull her mother back from the edge? Creed knew in his heart what she was doing. He felt her lean her shoulder heavier against his with her effort. She was drawing strength from him, and he nearly beamed with pride that she chose him to be that person for her.

  After a few moments, Meg sighed deeply and opened her dark eyes, now rimmed red.

  “She’s far away. I can barely feel her.”

  “Should we stay and find a hospital or go to the airport?” Evan asked his sister, eyes wide with worry.

  Maze whined, scooting closer to Meg and pressing his warm, furry body against her leg, offering his quiet support.

  “I’m torn. Part of me wants to run screaming into the nearest hospital and demand immediate attention for her.” Meg shook her head, her hand still gently pressed against her mother’s temple, as though she was afraid if she let go, she would never feel her mother’s emotions again.

  “The rational side of me knows we wouldn’t be able to get away with that. Not only are we on Williams’ home-turf, but there’s no way we’d be able to explain away the bullet wound without getting local police involved. Once they realize we’re Americans, we’ll have the US Consulate breathing down our necks.

  “All of that and we still have to worry about the entire Facility showing up at the hospital and destroying it with us along with everyone else unlucky enough to be there. Williams is pure evil and he is going to demand payback.” Meg looked over at Alik and caught his eyes in the rearview mirror. He nodded solemnly, knowing full well what she was about to say.

  Everyone sat in silence, waiting for Meg’s final call.

  “We have to do what we know she would want us to do now. We go to the airport as previously planned and get everyone to safety. Evan and Sloan, what can we do to help you take care of her as best we can until we’re home?”

  Alik nodded in agreement with Meg’s logic and would later look back on this moment, replay it with perfect clarity thanks to his eidetic memory, and appreciate the strength it took for her to make this decision. The old Meg would have acted on pure impulse and her emotional outburst could have been the end of them, but she wasn’t that Meg anymore. His sister had truly evolved.

  Evan and Sloan looked at each other briefly. “First thing we need to do is get her into a flat, stable position where we can stop the bleeding and prevent her from further damage,” Sloan said, logically.

  Evan’s eyes were scanning the inside of the van as though looking at the contents for the first time.

  “There,” he said pointing. “We can use those two long broom handles and that tarp to make a stretcher.” He jumped up, holding the ceiling of the van to steady himself as they sped down the road to the bright lights of the airport in the distance.

  Chapter 15 Poignant Moments at Thirty Thousand Feet

  The baby was finally taking a nap on the seat beside Meg. His blond curls hung in precious ringlets, defying gravity with heavenly helices.

  He’d had a hard time during takeoff, crying tearlessly through the cabin pressure changes, and Meg had held him until he calmed down. Creed sat beside Meg and the baby, offering the little boy gentle pats on the back. Meg had to keep from staring in awe when, to her complete surprise, Creed began humming a vaguely familiar, lullaby-like tune. His beautiful baritone vibrated through the notes in a soothing, mesmerizing way that even made Meg feel sleepy.

  Evan was determined to get some fluids into the little boy. His dehydration was so severe; the on-board doctors were worried he was going to start suffering organ failure and, to be fair, they really needed to focus their attentions on Mom.

  Feeling helpless when it came to what was happening to her mother; Meg focused all her attention on the little boy in her arms. Creed found exactly what they needed in the galley: a sports drink and a straw.

  After stroking his face with a cool cloth until he’d relaxed, Meg took the straw and dipped it into the bottle of orange flavored sports drink held by Creed’s large, caring hands. She placed her finger over the straw to capture the fluid then brought it to the baby’s lips, coaxing him to open just enough to let the droplets into his mouth.

  She tried not to smile when she glanced at Creed watching the baby’s face so intently, willing the little guy to drink, that he was opening his own mouth and closing his lips around an imaginary straw. Meg’s heart swelled with love in her chest for the gentle giant Creed turned out to be.

  With persistence and patience, Meg and Creed continued this way, droplet after droplet, gently forcing the little boy to replenish electrolytes while hydrating him. After an hour, they got six ounces of the sports drink into him, but the effort was so exhausting to the little fellow, he’d fallen into a deep sleep.

  Meg watched his long, blond lashes curl up and away from his closed lids. His lips didn’t look quite so chapped and dry. His breathing and heartbeat sounded much healthier, even to Meg’s untrained ears.

  “Six ounces of fluid is a start,” Meg whispered to Creed.

  “Little man did good,” Creed grinned at the baby’s angelic face.

  “Thank you for your help, Creed. You’re a natural.” She smiled widely over the baby’s sleeping head.

  “A natural what?” Creed asked, cocking his head as though truly unsure how amazing he was with the child.

  A hot blush curled up Meg’s neck and settled to burn her ears. “I just mean, you’re really great at taking care of him,” she stammered.

  “Me? I didn’t do anything a cup holder couldn’t have done,” Creed shrugged humbly. “You are the ‘natural’ here.”

  Meg, who had been staring at the baby’s sleeping face, looked up to see Creed’s dark blue eyes watching her with an expression of awe. Meg didn’t have to be an empath to know what he was feeling; it was written all over his face.

  “I like watching you care for him.” Creed’s pupils couldn’t have gotten any wider as though they wanted to swallow the image before him whole. Though Meg was sure her hair was a rat’s nest of crazy dark curls flopping out of her errant pony holder, she had fresh cuts on her face compliments of the rose bushes back at the Facility, her clothes were covered in dirt and her hand was still sporting the torn swatch off his T-shirt, when Creed looked at her she felt like the most beautiful girl on earth.

  His love gave her body strength, gave her empath skills wings and gave her soul peace.

  Meg felt her love for the man sitting beside her well up in her throat until she had to swallow the tears of sheer joy he made her feel. She knew now wasn’t the time. Taking her lower lip between her teeth she gnawed thoroughly to bring her feet back to the ground.

  Without another word, she turned back to the baby and started to stand. Gently, she moved to lay the little boy across two seats. Reading her intent, Creed reached to quickly lift the armrest between the seats.

  In the overhead compartment, Meg found what she was looking for: a Sleeper Sleeve. She liked the fact that she could slip on the pillow and either lean on it or use it as a sleeping cushion. She found them on the last two flights they’d booked and had become accustomed to their versatility. Meg lifted the little boy’s head and slipped the Sleeper Sleeve under him. The blanket up there wasn’t nearly as soft as the special pillow, but it would have to do. Creed carefully adjusted the airflow of the vents to provide the perfect amount of comfort to the sleeping child.

  Now that he was resting with some fluids in his system, Meg felt as if she could finally take a moment for herself. After a quick run to the miniature
airplane restroom to freshen up, she made her way back to Evan and Sloan.

  Alik, Farrow and Creed were already leaning against the cabin walls in the galley way where they’d laid her makeshift gurney on the floor and wedged pillows around her to cushion without interrupting the rigged version of “traction” they’d created.

  Alik’s face was pale.

  He and Farrow had been keeping vigil by Mom from the moment they carried her onto the plane. No one obeyed the seat belt rules and after a stern discussion, the pudgy older woman who acted as their flight attendant gave up trying to force compliance, especially after taking one look at Maze’s protective stance around the sick woman they’d brought on board.

  “How is she?” Meg asked in a soft voice. The baby was sleeping only four rows up and she didn’t want to startle him, though the rumbling of the plane itself provided plenty of white-noise blocking other sounds efficiently.

  Evan had been crouched over their mother, his stethoscope listening to her heart. A worried expression seemed permanently etched into his young face making him look so much more than thirteen-years-old.

  “She’s a fighter.” He said cryptically while sitting back and rubbing his face with both hands—a sure sign he wasn’t telling them everything.

  He turned his head and looked up at his older sister. His eyes were rimmed with red, probably from both exhaustion and unshed tears. He slowly shook his head sending her his true level of concern for their mother through their empath connection.

  Tears welled up in Meg’s eyes instantly. Sensing her distress, Maze inched closer to Meg and leaned his ample, muscular body against her legs. With an efficient nuzzle of his head he had Meg rubbing his ears—soothing them both.