Lynol shuffled from foot to foot in front of them. Hmm, Erik thought, he still owed David. Maybe he could use this. If he gave the kid a free ride into a beta position then he would no longer owe David for what he did to Isak. “You did real good. A smart son you got here David.”
David nodded as he scanned through the letter, his face showing concern and surprise.
“Good work, Lynol.” He patted his son on the back.
“We’ll take it from here. Get back to the commune and don’t tell anyone about this, especially not Felix,” Erik said.
“So the letter’s important then?” Lynol was still hesitant.
Perhaps a free ride wasn’t a good idea, Erik thought. The damn kid needed to toughen up, but that said, this was an ideal opportunity for Erik to clear his debt and shift things the other way. David would be the one owing him then and he could use this as leverage.
“Let’s just say, I think we can skip your initiation, Lynol. If this all works out, I’m going to be in such a good mood, I might even make you one of my lieutenants!” But you’ll owe me, Erik added to David.
Lynol stood up taller and pushed his shoulders back.
Now that was more like it. He looked less like a sniveling whippet and more like his father. Maybe there was potential there after all. The mention of a possible beta position had the kid’s confidence soaring. Lynol tried to reign in his enthusiasm as he gave Erik a nod of thanks.
David floored the gas as the four doors of the Mustang slammed shut and with a squeal of rubber, they took off.
Thanks for that boss, David said.
Skipping the initiation means we’re even. A lieutenant’s position costs extra.
David nodded.
As David drove, Erik read through the letter once more. It seemed Tore had not only come back from the dead but he’d also married someone else. To compound it all, that kid of Nea’s was also still alive. That was going to complicate things for Lynol. If he wasn’t David’s first born he could kiss his beta position goodbye and Erik would need to find another way to put David in his debt. “Damn, this is a right mess. I should have finished this fourteen years ago.”
Erik now realized, he’d done a sloppy job back then. How was it possible that Tore and the kid survived? He remembered back to that night. What with that weird storm, all that lightning, and Tore and Annike’s injuries. He’d been convinced they had perished. Damn, he should have gone back to Casper the next morning to check. Now he’d spent fourteen years wrongly thinking that Tore and his family were dead. He scanned the paper once more. Interesting! The letter didn’t mention that mate of his. Oh wait, yes it did. So she did die, well at least that was something.
But then something struck Erik. Those damn kids! Would they have already gone through their transition? Erik tried to remember how old David’s boy was when Tore came back to the commune with Nea and the kid: three, maybe four? He must be a similar age to Lynol. In fact, didn’t David say he was about six months older than his own son, and Lynol was now seventeen?
“How old is that Rune kid?”
David glanced over at Erik, he was also doing the math. “Old enough to be trouble. Half-way through his transition year, maybe finished now.”
“The other one, Tore’s real kid. Felix said he was the same age didn’t he?”
David confirmed with a nod and went back to watching the road.
Hmm, that might cause an added problem. There were going to be three transitioned males to dispose of rather than one. Erik fished out his phone and rang Lynol.
“Get that black truck and bring Mika and a couple of other trackers, follow us to Casper and wait at the city limits. We might need backup.”
Erik was certain the four of them could handle Tore, but depending on the other boys’ sizes a few more pairs of hands might help. If Rune took after David, they’d have their work cut out for them. Heaven help them if the kid was anywhere near as big or as mean as his father. Then there was the other one, Tore’s real son. His little brother was no weakling and knew how to handle himself. Tore would have prepared his boys well, even if he was arrogant enough to think Erik would never find out he was still alive.
Erik was going to be prepared this time. One way or another his perfect little brother wasn’t going to walk away again. Tore was back on his radar and Erik wasn’t going to stop until his brother was dead.
“So you have a plan, boss?”
“The plan is the same as before, David. We get rid of Tore and your illegitimate offspring. Then we find any others in Tore’s line.” Erik looked out the window and muttered under his breath, “But this time, I don’t want any mistakes. You should have made sure he was dead the last time.”
Erik watched David stiffen and fixed him with a glare, challenging him to contradict him. David clamped his mouth shut and Erik smiled. Convinced that Tore was dead, it had been Erik’s order to leave when the storm struck. David had wanted to go back and check that there was no mess to clean up, but Erik had pulled rank. Tore and Annike should have died from their wounds and, if not, the lightning should have fried them. How Tore escaped was a mystery. Still, what was the point of having a deputy if Erik couldn’t lay this fiasco at his feet?
David kept his feelings to himself. Erik admired David’s willingness to front for the mistake, but he knew David was far from stupid. He might have been Erik’s right hand man for many years, but Erik still had two blood brothers sitting directly behind him. David was under no illusions. If he challenged Erik, there were others waiting in the wings.
“Do you think he’ll be there?” David said.
Erik shrugged, “If he’s not, I’ll send you and Lynol out with the other trackers. I don’t care how long it takes, we’ll get them this time.”
David nodded. “The letter said something about the woman having the kids with her. At least we should be able to get Tore’s son and Nea’s boy.”
“What? Are you worried about Lynol’s status again?”
“No. Just meant if we get her and the kids then we’d have some leverage… you know… if Tore’s not there. We might be able to lure him back to the commune by letting him know we have them. If we play it right, we might be able to persuade him to give himself up. Tore was always so damn noble. He won’t be able to help himself.”
Erik laughed. David was an evil S.O.B. He liked that in the guy.
“I reckon you’ve got a point there. If we take a hostage, we might have something to bargain with. Who’d you think he’d fight for more? The wife or one of the kids?”
29
Later that Afternoon, Hania’s House, Casper.
“Is that her?” Eva asked.
She was standing on tiptoe next to Johan, trying to peer out of the window to watch her mother and Nea sitting on the porch. He lifted her up and sat her on the cabinets so she could see better. “I guess so.”
“She’s pretty, isn’t she, Jojo?” He nodded. Nea was pretty, though his Mom was more beautiful.
“Do you think Rune will be mad when he finds out we saw her and he didn’t?” Her brows furrowed as she worried about her big brother.
“We aren’t allowed to tell him, Eva. You know what Mom said, he can’t know about this. Nea’s family would be mad and we don’t want to get her into trouble, do we?”
“I like her brown hair. I wish mine was that color.”
“Yeah, but she doesn’t have waves in it like you. Anyway your hair is pretty, Eva.It’s unusual, only a few people have black hair.”
“Mmm, I guess so. Do you think Nea looks like Rune, Jojo?”
“A little bit maybe. Her mouth is the same as Rune’s. But it’s hard to say because he is a big guy with a skull trim, and she’s so little and pretty.” Eva nodded and took another look. “Maybe Rune looks more like his dad.”
“How about you help me take out this tea, then you can say hi.”
Johan carried the tray out and Eva trailed behind, bringing some cookies she’d baked earlier. The four of
them sat and chatted for a while, but Nea seemed nervous. She fidgeted and her eyes darted back and forth. Was she worried that her family followed her or did she just want to see Annike’s grave?
“Hey, Mom, why don’t you take Nea to the meadow?”
“What a good idea,” Kachina said.
Nea’s eyes moistened. She smiled like she wanted to go, but was being too polite to ask.
After Kachina left with Nea to go to the gravesite, their Grandfather appeared. “Hey, kids, I’m heading out now. I’ll be back in a couple of days.”
Eva kissed his cheek and gave him some special pictures that she’d drawn. “There is one for all seven of them.” She beamed with pride as she handed them over.
Each picture depicted a different warrior as Eva imagined them, fighting their own unique foe. Grandfather rolled them, securing them with a ribbon. He told her that he’d make sure they all received the correct sketch. “Tell your mom I’ll be back as soon as I can, Johan. It shouldn’t be more than a day or so — three or four at the most. Now, you look after everyone. You’re the man of the family while I’m away. Keep everyone safe for me.”
“Yes, sir,” Johan said giving him a final hug. He couldn’t help but feel a little proud. His grandfather trusted him with the girls until he got back or Tore arrived.
“Don’t worry, Grandfather, Jojo will be good at that. He’s training to be one of your warriors. He’ll use his magic powers if any monsters come, won’t you Jojo?”
Johan smiled at his kid sister and ruffled her hair. She was so absorbed in their grandfather’s stories. It was cute, how she thought they were real. “I sure will, Eva. I’ll turn us invisible, and we’ll hide from them until they get so hungry they’ll have to go and find someone else’s blood to drink!”
Hania hugged his granddaughter. “With a name like Johan Vargr he will be a fine warrior, Eva. So listen to him, he will take good care of you and Mommy.”
Eva squealed in delight and ran off.
An hour later, Kachina and Nea came back around to the front of the cabin. They had both been crying. Johan watched his mom embrace Nea. He wanted to ask Nea some questions so he could somehow pass information to Rune, but he didn’t want to intrude.
After a while the two women walked to Nea’s car, Kachina held the door open while Nea climbed in. They talked some more through the open car window and Johan collected up the teacups and snack plates. Eva came to help carry them into the cabin. Johan rinsed the cups under the tap. Eva stood next to him drying the dishes, chattering away about a necklace her grandfather was helping her make.
Not listening, Johan watched his mom and Nea through the window. A car speeding down their dirt driveway caught his eye. The red Mustang skidded to a halt, blocking Nea’s car in. Four men leaped out. They were in their mid-forties, maybe five or ten years older than his dad. Like Tore, they all had blonde hair and three of them reminded Johan of Dad and Liam, especially the oldest one. The fourth guy was different. He was huge. As the man turned around, he seemed familiar to Johan also. His broad shoulders, hard angular features, even the severe skull trim…who did he look like?
Oh my God!
Johan was looking at an older version of Rune.
As the four men approached Nea and his mom, Johan got a bad feeling. Was that Nea’s husband? Had he found out she was visiting and chased after her? The man grabbed Nea and started to pull her out of her car. Mom held the guy’s arm trying to yank him off her. Two other guys grabbed her, while the first man continued to drag Nea towards their Mustang. Kachina shouted and kicked, and something metallic flashed a warning. Johan gasped. The fourth man held a knife and was pointing it at his mom.
“What’s happening, Jojo?” Eva stood on tiptoes as she craned her neck to see.
Panic set in. Grabbing Eva’s hand, Johan ran. He pulled her roughly behind him, out of the side door and into the back yard. He had to get his sister out of there. He couldn’t let her see what might happen next. Desperate to keep her safe, he pushed and pulled her across the yard and towards the barn. Johan looked across the meadow to the road. Hania’s house was pretty isolated.
Could he flag down a passing car?
Voices in the house behind them warned of the men’s closeness. No, they didn’t have time to make it to the road without being seen. Better to hide. But where did they stand the best chance of avoiding discovery? He heard a loud scream. Eva froze beside him. Paralyzed with fear, Johan hoped to God it wasn’t what he thought. He grabbed Eva by her arm and manhandled her into the barn.
“What was that? Jojo, where’s Mom?”
“Hush, Eva, we’re Warriors remember. Just like Grandfather told us. Now, you’ve got to be quiet. Quick, we have to find somewhere to hide.”
Johan pulled her through the barn and pushed her up the ladder into the hayloft. Working their way to the back, he wished it was autumn —the loft would have been bursting with hay, giving them more places to hide. Still the small amount that was there would have to do. He pushed Eva into the straw and lay down beside her, pulling arms full of hay on top of them.
“Lie still Eva and don’t speak out loud. We have to use our secret voices. We can’t let them find us.”
Johan lay behind her, draping himself around her trembling body. He held his sister tight, hoping he could keep her hidden beneath him.
What would Adriel and Kanga do, Eva? Using his thoughts, he reminded her of two of the characters in Haina’s stories, in a hope to distract her.
They’d close their eyes and go invisible, Jojo. They’d make themselves disappear into the background like they did when they had to get to that dragon in the cave.
That’s right, they would. Let’s do that. Close your eyes and disappear.
He squeezed his sister tighter. In the distance, he heard the door to the cabin slam shut. A few moments later, the barn doors opened. Footsteps stomped around downstairs.
Come on Eva. We have to do it now. Make yourself vanish into the hay.
Okay, Jojo. She thought back.
The voices below grew louder. Someone barked out orders, telling another to take the ladder up to the loft to search for them. Eva’s breath hitched.
Shush. Keep as still as you can.
The two of them held their breath, willing themselves to become invisible. Their bodies melded with the straw, outlines blurring while their senses sharpened. Johan’s head filled with memories of hide-and-seek games he’d played with his sister when they were little kids. Rune and Kjell could never find them. They always won, even if they were hiding in obvious places. Eva was particularly good at it, somehow she knew how to use the shadows to camouflage herself. She could stay still and hidden for hours at a time until their mother called out to her, telling her that the game was over.
Hide Eva. Hide like we did when we were little. They sank back into the straw, confident that their outlines were no longer visible.
Johan’s heartbeat counted the seconds. Heavy footprints made the floorboards creak and the loft shake. Wooden crates were thrown aside, some splintering as they hit the floor. There was a swishing sound as straw was kicked and rifled through. The men were getting closer.
Johan didn’t dare open his eyes. Don’t look, Eva. Don’t open your eyes. It’ll spoil the magic.
“Hey kid, come on out. We won’t hurt you.”
A man’s jeans loomed into view. Johan’s hand went to Eva’s mouth. She slowed down her heartbeat, clinging to her brother.
“There’s no one here,” the guy standing in front of them, said.
Minutes later his feet disappeared from view.
The barn was quiet but outside the men cursed and continued their search. Their voices drifted further away.
Much later, the sun went down and the barn became pitch black. The children lay next to each other, still not daring to move. Johan strained his ears to pick up any sounds nearby, across the yard and over at the house, but everywhere was still and far too quiet.
Hours p
assed. The sound of the barn door woke them. Sun streamed in, squeezing between the cracks in the floorboards of the hayloft. Sharp shafts of light knifed up at odd angles around them. The voices were back again.
“We searched this yesterday. There’s no one here,” one of the men said.
“There has to be. There were bags of kids’ clothes in the house. There’s at least one,” a second, deeper voice said.
“But we looked everywhere. Maybe they went with the woman’s father. She said he’d left,” the first guy argued.
“I know they’re here somewhere.” The sound of footsteps moved closer. The ladder creaked as it bore someone’s weight.
“I just know they’re here,” the deeper voice said.
He inhaled a long breath, like he was trying to sniff them out.
Eva was shaking, her heart pounding in time with Johan’s.
Keep quiet. We’re okay. They can’t see us. Remember we’re Warriors using our invisibility.
She relaxed. I knew you were a warrior, Johan. Grandfather said you had a warrior’s name.
He gave her a squeeze.
A deep voice boomed out across the loft.
“There ain’t anything here, David; nothing but piles of straw. If they were here, we’d be able to smell them.”
The one called David stood right next to them. So close in fact, he was standing on Johan’s shirt. It was working; the men couldn’t see them.
David walked back to the loft ladder. “I know they’re here.” He repeated, menace in his voice.
Just then a third man yelled from below.
“David, Georg! Erik wants you out front. We’re leaving.”
David muttered an expletive and turned to face where the children lay.
“Listen to me, give a message to your father. Tell Tore that he should have stayed dead. Tell him, we won’t give up until Erik gets his revenge.”
Both men climbed back down the ladder. The barn door slammed shut. Johan released his hand from his sister’s mouth and she rolled over to face him. Eva began to tremble. All he could do was hold her close and try to distract and comfort her.
The Wolf You Feed Arc Page 21
