by Trudi Jaye
He levers himself out of the truck and stands, towering over me by at least a foot and a half. His face is a mask now, and he’s looking up and down the street, the way Jeff does when he’s assessing the threats around us. I’ve already done it, and I’m happy there’s nothing shady going on in Keepsake today.
Walking into the store, I keep my head down. I recognize a few of the locals but only because I’ve been coming regularly. We make a point of avoiding contact with people in general. It could get them hurt.
I pick up the supplies that Jeff has asked me to get; flour, rice, and a few fresh veggies. That’s another reason to stay in one place, we’d be able to grow our own vegetables. Agent Barnes follows me around like a shadow, saying nothing.
“That all for today, love?” Margie—according to her name badge—asks. She glances at Agent Barnes behind me, and then away. Something about him makes her nervous.
I smile. “That’s it, thanks.”
As she’s ringing up our purchases, she hums softly to herself. I recognize the tune. It’s from Jeff’s favorite Beach Boys album. The song is “Good Vibrations”. Suddenly a shiver goes down my spine. Something is wrong. I drop the handles of the grocery bag I was about to lift from the counter and sprint out of the store. Margie calls after me, but I ignore her.
“What the hell are you doing?” Agent Barnes yells, as he sprints behind me. When I jump in the car and start the engine, he leaps too, only just getting the door closed as I reverse the truck out of the parking lot and onto the road.
“Something’s wrong. There’s something wrong,” I manage to say. It’s all along the spell web now. It’s shimmering along my arms, all lit up like a birthday cake. There’s anticipation in there, but also a manic kind of expectation. There’s murder in the spell web today.
I speed back along the highway.
“Tell me what’s happening. What is wrong?”
“I can... I can feel it. Through my magic.” Even now, I don’t mention my connection to the spell web. I try to see through the trees and up to the old mountain cabin where Jeff and Si are about to be attacked. For once, I curse Jeff’s insistence on no mobile phone for me. Too easy to trace he always says. I glance at Agent Barnes. “Do you have a phone?”
He nods, pulling it out. He starts dialing a number.
“Tell Jeff there are multiple supers coming. They’ll be there soon. They need to get out of there.”
As Jeff answers the phone, I can hear the sound of gun shots in the background. I ram my foot down on the accelerator until it will go no further, and the old truck responds smoothly. Si knows what he’s doing with cars.
Agent Barnes puts his phone on speaker, and I can hear Jeff swearing. “Barnes, you get her away from here. There are too many of them. We’re trapped. Don’t you dare let her come back here.”
“We’re on our way, Jeff,” I say calmly, ignoring his words. “We’ll be there soon.”
“No, damn you, Mei. You run from here, right now. Promise me.”
I shake my head. “You know better than to think I would leave you like this. We’re coming.”
“ Mei, listen to me for once! This is more than even you can handle. We’ll meet you at the usual place. You get Agent Barnes to take you to our usual meeting point.” In the background, I can hear a crash and the sound of more shooting. Then the line goes dead.
“You heard him. Turn the truck around. We can go to this meeting place and wait for them.” Agent Barnes looks at me expectantly.
I know, even if the agent doesn’t, that Jeff doesn’t think he’ll be meeting me at the usual place. I swerve off the road and onto the old track. The tires screech, and for a split second, control of Bertha slips from my fingers. Time slows and I hold my breath, using the spell web to pull us back into place. Then I’m heading up the old rutted track, pounding over the potholes, driving like my life depends on it.
“What are you doing? We had a direct order. Turn around at once.” Agent Barnes is holding tight to the side and dashboard of the truck.
“He’s not my boss.”
“The primary mission is to keep you safe. Turn around now!” He tries to pull at the steering wheel. I slam my elbow into his chest. I might be small, but I pack a punch and he retreats, rubbing his chest and trying to breathe through the winding I’ve just given him.
“If you try to stop me again, I’ll do something more permanent.” I keep my eyes focused on the road ahead of me, and slow down when we get within a mile of the house. I’m not so lost to reason that I’m going to go charging in making all the noise I can. “We go on foot from here.” And when I say go on foot, I mean sprint as fast as we can. I grab the handgun and bullets from the glove compartment.
I’m off and running across the grassy field next to the truck before Agent Barnes even gets out of the car. He’s still having a little trouble breathing after my elbow to his chest. Up ahead, the sound of guns permeates the air. I’m relieved. If it had been silent, it would have been all over. I race into the forest behind the house with Agent Barnes wheezing behind me.
Within minutes, I’m hiding out in the trees at the far side of the house. Crawling through the undergrowth, I see at least three targets. I shoot, and two go down before anyone realizes I’m shooting. I blend back into the bushes and race around to the front of the house. A body is lying beside Agent Barnes’s truck. I don’t pay much attention at first, but then I notice the Hawaiian shirt.
Jeff.
Without looking, I run to Jeff, crouching down beside him. I have to get him out of here, get him some medical attention. I turn him over, murmuring to him, telling him it’s going to be okay. My eyes are drawn to the large red stain spreading over his shirt. I reach with shaking fingers to his neck, trying to find a pulse.
Someone grabs me from behind, and I automatically slam my elbow backward. I turn, and it’s a stranger gasping for breath behind me, dressed all in black. I snarl at him, kicking out in three efficient strikes from my right leg. He falls to the ground with a broken neck. I turn, almost eager for my next target.
Another figure runs in my direction, and I lean into my stance, ready to fight. To kill. I’ve forgotten my gun in favor of the punishing need for physical revenge.
Then I recognize the tall man striding toward me, his gun out and his hazel eyes intent on me. Agent Barnes. “He’s dead,” I blurt out. “They killed him.” My voice wavers, and I clear my throat, pushing down the emotion that wants to burst out. I have to find Si. “Have you seen the rest of them?”
“They’re around the other side. Come on.” Agent Barnes grabs my arm and drags me back to the cover of the forest at the side of the house. We crawl under the cover of the trees and low bushes until we see what’s happening on the other side.
A group of men are crowded together. As one man moves to the side, I see Si on his knees in front of a man with a hand gun. Si shakes his head in the negative. A shot rings out, and Si falls to the side, landing in a crooked heap. For a moment, I can’t do anything. Then I start screaming.
CHAPTER FOUR
I don’t know how he does it, but Agent Barnes convinces me to run. We slam our way blindly through the trees, even as the sounds of our pursuers follow us. I shouldn’t have screamed. I know better. But losing them both in one day is too much. It’s more than I can bear.
“Don’t let them die in vain,” he says as I start to slow down.
All I can see is the blood pooled around Jeff’s body, his glassy eyes staring up at me, and the way Si jerked as the bullet hit before he fell limply to one side. Everything is gone in one fell swoop. I want to curl up on the forest floor and sob.
From behind, Agent Barnes pushes me roughly forward, not giving me an option. So I run toward the only thing that feels safe—the waterfall. We’re crashing through the underbrush, no thought to being quiet. There would be no use. At the sound of my scream, every single eye in the whole place had turned to look at me. And now they’re all running after us.
/> A shot fires, and I feel the rush of wind past my face. I inhale sharply, but I’m not scared. I’m beyond that. If I didn’t have Agent Barnes behind me pushing me along, I think I might have considered making a last stand.
Could I beat all of them? I’m a pretty good shot, and I know how to fight. But I don’t think I could win against so many of them, especially if Si and Jeff couldn’t manage it. The point is that I don’t want to live. Not if it means living without the two men who have been with me, looking out for me, for as long as I can remember. My only family has just been killed. My real family, that is.
I’m tempted by the idea of stopping. But by sheer will, Agent Barnes keeps me running, his large form behind me, urging me on like nothing else could have.
Crashing through the last of the trees and undergrowth, we come out at the waterfall pool. It sparkles in the sunlight as if nothing is happening. Another shot goes off, and Agent Barnes grunts behind me, falling onto my back. I lose my footing at the edge of the pool, and we both plunge into the water below. I’m sinking fast, the dead weight of Agent Barnes pushing me down. I hit the bottom of the pool, scraping my cheek against a rock as Agent Barnes’ limp body settles heavily on top of me. I panic, bubbles escaping from my mouth as I try to move him off me before I need to breathe. He’s heavy, but I’m wily. I also have water magic, when I remember to use it. A few seconds later, I manage to twist out from under him, struggling to keep my breath steady underwater. I push back up to the surface to catch my breath, then dive back down.
The water has been stained red, making it hard to see, but I catch a glimpse of the agent’s body in the depths below. Using my strength and the water around me, I kick down and grab hold of his shirt, pulling with all my might. I don’t know if he’s alive or dead, but I’m not going to leave him behind. I’ve seen too many deaths today.
I don’t know if our pursuers are up there or not, so I use the last of my breath to swim underwater, dragging his body behind me, until I’m under the spray from the waterfall. The cave behind has always been another of my sanctuaries. I break the surface and manage to push Barnes up onto the narrow ledge, while I cling to the rocky side of the pool. I can see a bullet wound through his shoulder and I let out a breath of relief. Surely he can survive a wound to the shoulder?
I rip off a piece of my T-shirt and hold it against the wound. Barnes groans and his eyes flutter open. “It’s going to be okay,” I say, more to myself than to him. I’m starting to shiver and I don’t know if it’s from the cold or because of what I’ve just seen.
“We need to get out of here,” he gasps, trying to lever himself up.
I push him back down again. “There’s nowhere to go.” I can hear shouting outside from the men that killed Si. I turn and consider the wall of water that’s cascading down between us. Gently, I push magic at the water, making it a thicker, stronger barrier. I don’t know if it’s going to help, but I’ve never been happier to have an affinity for water.
Turning back to my patient, I wonder what the hell we’re going to do. We can’t stay hidden here forever.
Harsh voices calling out from both sides of the waterfall pool make me flinch. They’ve arrived at the waterfall.
“Which way did they go?”
“I can’t see them.”
“Look, there’s blood in the water. Down that way.”
“She’s got water magic. They probably swam downstream.”
Footsteps run off into the distance, and I let out a sigh of relief. Beside me, Agent Barnes groans.
Looking at him from my position in the water, I consider my options. He’s in a lot of pain. He’s not going to be able to walk or run very far. The truck may as well be a million miles away at this point. I need to find some way to heal his wounds and get us out of here, and I don’t have the first clue. All I can see is the blood on Jeff’s chest and his blank eyes staring out at me. A part of me wants to just sink down into the water and never come back up. My life has always been a battle to survive. It would be nice to feel at peace, to have silence and calm surrounding me. My fingers unclench around the rocks at the side, and I start slipping down.
Then Agent Barnes coughs, a painful sound that jolts me back to life. It’s about more than just me at the moment. I have to help him.
Healing has never been my strength; Si says it’s because I’m too impatient. The healing arts are about taking tiny little steps, forging a connection between millions of miniature cells so they can band together again in the right way. Putting them together in the wrong way is the direct route to more harm, and often death. It’s a fine line, and one I don’t want to walk.
But I have to try something. I pull myself up onto the ledge next to his head, looking down at his ashen face. First things first. Sending feelers along the spell web, I attempt to sense his wounds using his connection to the spell web. But his coverage is sporadic at best, and he’s only got a tiny bit of magic. When I try to push some of my magic into his wound, he groans, and it doesn’t seem to change anything. I take heart from the fact that some color has returned to his face. Hopefully that will be enough for now.
“Do you think you can walk?” I asked him.
He shakes his head. “We should wait till nightfall. There are too many of them.”
“Did you get a head count?”
“Twelve at least.” He pauses. “Plus the three you killed.”
I blink. “They were attacking my home. It was self-defense.” I shift my position on the narrow ledge. It’s not the first time I’ve had to kill someone attacking my home and family, but it doesn’t come easily to me.
“I wasn’t judging. It was just... unexpected.”
What he doesn’t say is that he’d thought I was a useless little girl he’d have to babysit. I glare at him. “It’s Jeff’s way of making sure I’ll be all right, whatever happens.” I barely get the last couple of words out before dissolving into tears. The day Jeff was preparing for has arrived.
Bang.
A shot goes off in the distance, and I jerk. I rub my hands up and down my bare arms, wishing I had a sweater with me. “There’s a safe house not far from here. If we can get to the truck, we can hole up there for a few days until you feel better.”
Agent Barnes shakes his head. “We need to let someone know what’s happened. Agent Walker, my supervisor, someone.”
I shrug. “If you like. But they’ve never been much help in the past.” Not even my father.
He pulls out his phone and tries to dial, but it’s dead. The plunge into the water was too much for it.
“Do you have a phone?”
I shake my head. “Jeff didn’t like how easily they could be traced. He tried to avoid them if at all possible. And he and Si didn’t want me to rely on them.” I shrug. It wouldn’t have survived the dip in the water any more than Agent Barnes’s phone had anyway.
He swears and then groans in pain.
“Right now none of that matters,” I say soothingly. “We’ll call this in later. Just try to get some rest until dark. I’ll keep watch.”
Agent Barnes glares at me, but he’s obviously exhausted and eventually closes his eyes and settles back into the rock floor.
I lean back against the rock wall behind me, gaining some solace from the powerful flow of water that is protecting us from the outside world.
I’ve lived with the knowledge that people have died for me my whole life. Si told me once that my mother even died defending me when I was just a baby. Si’s brother protectors were all killed, most recently Lee when I was twelve.
But Jeff and Si had given me a sense of security these last twelve years. I had been feeling safe and comfortable.
Now, I realize how false that feeling of safety really was.
CHAPTER FIVE
I’m sitting, staring at the water when I start to wonder how they found us at Si’s hideout. This location should have been secure. We’d worked long and hard at it, with not only every evasive maneuver that Jeff co
uld think of in his special agent repertoire, but also with various spells and protective charms. Plus, the crazy backtracks and sidetracks we use to get here, not to mention the false names. Agent Barnes hadn’t known the final location until he was a couple miles out. In fact, everything that could be done to protect Si’s house, had been done. So how did they know?
There was only one person who could have led them to us. Only one change in our normal routine. I turn and to stare at Agent Barnes lying prone on the ledge beside me. He shakes his head from side to side in his sleep, seeming to deny my thoughts. I’m tempted to agree. He looks too young and naive to have been part of such a plot.
My hands clench at my sides. His whole dissatisfied agent act could have been just that—an act, a ploy to distract us from the fact he’d led the Earthbound right to us. He argued with Jeff and Si about the assignment, about the spell web, about being here. He caused a distraction so we wouldn’t pay as much attention to other possible issues.
And now Jeff and Si were dead.
My gaze lands on the phone he’s still clutching in one hand. He was so keen to ring his supervisor and had been upset when he discovered the phone was dead. Had he been planning to let them know where we are? My lips press together into a single hard line. I’m prepared to kill him right here and now if he had any part in their deaths. Leaning forward, I consider the ways I’d make him pay.
As I’m watching his face scrunch up in pain, and it’s hard to imagine anyone taking a bullet for the sake of some ploy. He moves restlessly, and the dampness of the waterfall hideaway rises up around us. I tentatively send a query via the spell web, unsure if his weak and broken covering will tell me anything more about him. At first I struggle to make sense of it; his spell web is confusing at best. The patterns eventually emerge and I begin to travel along his grid lines, hopefully seeking something that will tell me if he’s part of this.
