Reason gently unwound my fingers from his jacket and separated himself from me. It was hard to let go. It was hard not to follow him as he walked to the other corner of the cabin. At that moment, I wasn't sure I could follow through with the whole "run for help" plan but I knew I'd be no use to him in a fight with that creature, and if I could reach the pack…
The harpy's beady, black gaze flicked from me to him.
"You must be one of Nitschka's sisters," he drawled, propping his shoulder against the wall in a casual pose.
The harpy looked confused and suspicious. "How you know Nitschka?"
"We ran into her in Limon. She said you guys followed a shipping van from St. Louis. Is that right?"
"Maybe," she rasped like a crow with a bad smoking habit.
"How did you track the van if the gargoyles inside were stone?"
"Not all stone," she croaked. "One gargoyle was living."
Reason swallowed hard. "One of the gargoyles was in his living form when the truck crashed? Did he…survive?"
She seemed comfortable bragging. "Gargoyle lived. Motschka and Vilschka tore the box open and dragged boy from the fire. But he got away."
I could see the relief in Reason's eyes but he kept playing his part, working to get information. "He got away?" Reason mocked her. "There were four of you and you lost him?"
"Only three," Motschka corrected him without realizing she was giving up information. "Could see more boxes and went to drag from fire. Boy shouldn't have escaped. He was hurt and Nitschka was supposed to be watching. Stupid Nitschka lost him."
"He was hurt?" Reason questioned anxiously.
But Motschka ignored him and continued. "Found two more gargoyles inside the boxes. Pretty gargoyles, all stone. One for Motschka and one for Vil."
"So, you took the gargoyles and left Nitschka behind?"
She nodded her huge, misshapen head. "Motschka followed Vilschka but gargoyle was hot from the fire. Burned Motschka. Kept changing from one foot to the other. Dropped the pretty boy."
"You dropped him?" Reason taunted her. "Where?"
"Couldn't find gargoyle," she muttered as if to herself. "Looked and looked but couldn't find. Decided to follow Vil before was too late. Thought maybe sister would share her prize."
"And how did that work out for you?" Reason snorted, still moving along the wall and pulling her gaze with him.
"Vilschka's a greedy girl. Always was a greedy harpy. Wouldn't share with her sister. Kept the gargoyle for herself. Kept the gargoyle and all his venom."
Reason stopped. "Venom? What do you mean? Did the gargoyle give Vilschka his venom?"
But I didn't hear Motschka's answer. Reason had maneuvered the harpy so that her back was turned toward me. It was time to make a run for it. Just like I promised, I sprinted for the door and ripped it open.
A blast of cold air hit me just before something swooped over my head into the room. I crouched and turned in time to see a dark figure land on the planked flooring, a black set of wings wrapping swiftly around his upper body. With his knife flashing in the light that spilled in through the open door, Chaos threw himself at Motschka. His long blade slashed at the monster's neck and shoulders as she turned toward him.
At the same time, Reason closed on the harpy in a running leap and buried his long piece of glass between the plates behind her neck. As the crude dagger sank home, the harpy's spine arched and she screamed the most god-awful, bone-chilling sound.
The three of them went down in a tight knot of swinging arms and straining legs while at least ninety years of dust swirled from the floor into the air, Chaos stabbing wherever his blade would sink, Reason with an arm around the harpy's eyes so she couldn't see his brother, and Motschka with her razor-sharp talons fully extended, trying to scrape the boys off her hide.
She struck out blindly and sent Chaos flying. He tumbled as he hit the floor, rolling back onto his feet like a character from an assassin video game, and I realized these guys knew a lot about fighting…and surviving. If there'd been a fry pan handy, I'd have tried to help, but without a weapon, I figured it was best if I just stayed out of their way.
From my crouched position by the door, I looked for Reason but he seemed to be trapped beneath a mountain of rocky flesh. Chaos sprang at the monster again, his blade scraping against stone before sinking out of sight. The harpy screamed and shuddered like a freight train screeching to a halt. But one of the gargoyles must have managed to hit something vital because the harpy wasn't moving anymore. At all. In fact, it looked like she'd turned to solid stone, a hideously ugly statue frozen in the middle of a final death convulsion.
Slowly, I straightened into a standing position, vaguely aware that the scrape behind my knee was stinging. As the dust cleared, I saw Reason sitting with his back jammed against the wall and his legs pinned beneath the heavy weight of the harpy. The two brothers shared a long look, Chaos panting, Reason's chest lifting and falling in heavy surges.
"Where'd you come from?" Reason asked when he'd caught his breath.
Chaos looked over his shoulder. "I heard your voice. Heard you shouting at the harpy."
"Well," he said, his face twisting with the effort. "Your timing hasn't improved much over the last eight hundred years."
"I haven't had much chance to work on it," Chaos pointed out soberly.
Reason lifted his hand. "Help me up."
While Rees gave the harpy's body a shove, Chaos grabbed her thick arm and yanked the monster off him. Then he grasped his brother's hand and pulled him to his feet. Reason wrapped him in a tight hug and Chaos clung to him, hiding his face in his older brother's shoulder for several seconds before pushing away from him again. "I can't stay," he said and glanced over his shoulder at the open doorway. "Vilschka will be looking for me."
Reason leaned back against the wall. A trickle of blood slid across his upper lip and he wiped it away with his wrist as he took a quick survey of his brother. "Stay with us," he said. "Come with us."
Chaos shook his head like the situation was hopeless. "I can't."
"Then tell us where you are. We'll come. I'll bring the rest of the pack and we'll free you from Vilschka."
Again, Chaos shook his head and lifted his gaze to his brother's eyes. "You'd be fighting me."
"Is it…that bad?" Reason asked, looking suddenly pale in the light that fell in through the open doorway. His nose was still bleeding and I realized there was something wrong with it. It didn't look quite right. It was too…flat. It must have been broken in the fight. It didn't make him any less handsome. The crushed nose just gave him a deliciously dangerous look.
"It's bad," Chaos mumbled. "And it'll be worse in the spring."
"What happened?" Reason asked in a pained voice.
"There was a girl," Chaos explained, his face looking suddenly old. "I had no choice. Tell Victor I had no choice."
"There's always a choice," Reason insisted with quiet desperation.
"Then I made the right one," he responded stonily. "I don't expect you to understand but it was worth it. Fare thee well, brother."
"We'll look for you," Reason called out, though his voice sounded strangely weak. "We'll find you."
"I won't let you find me," he rasped, turning and stalking toward the door.
Before Chaos could get out of the cabin, I took a quick step and blocked the exit. "There must be something we can do for you," I suggested quietly.
He hesitated. "There's a girl. Her name's Torrie. If you find her, tell her…I'm sorry." He turned his body and sidestepped around me. Outside, he opened his wings and took off into the dark sky.
I rushed over to Reason and grabbed his elbow. His nose was definitely broken but we didn't have time to worry about that. "Come on," I told him. "We have to follow Chaos and find out where he's holed up with that harpy."
Reason nodded a few times, his eyes dull, his face pale. He looked exhausted. "That's a good idea, Elaina."
"Hurry up," I insisted. "You're not g
oing to let a little old broken nose slow you down, are you?" The harpy fight seemed to have taken a lot out of him and the shock of his brother's situation seemed to have drained anything he had left. But I knew this was our chance to follow up on his plan and find out where his brother was. So, I tugged at Reason's sleeve and pulled him away from the wall. Then watched as he fell backward again and slid down to the floor.
Chapter Nineteen
A cold wave of fear latched onto my spine and sent a chill of terror surging through my veins. In shock, I dropped to my knees beside Reason. "What's wrong?" I breathed. "Rees, what's wrong?"
When he didn't answer, I pulled his coat open and searched his upper body for injury but I couldn't find anything. Checking his neck with one hand, I leaned the other on his thigh and my hand came away wet. His jeans were soaked. "You're bleeding," I cried. "What happened?"
His throat worked but no sound came out. Finally, he shook his head. "The harpy swiped me with her talons."
Feeling around in the dark, I located a tear in his jeans. Blood pulsed out of the ragged hole with every heartbeat. "This doesn't look good," I moaned.
"T'is not so deep as a well," he murmured.
"Stop that!" I choked from a tight throat. "This is no time for Shakespeare. Especially not the dying parts."
I didn't know too much about first aid but I knew we needed to stop the bleeding. So, I pulled his knee upward until the bottom of his boot rested on the floor, then peeled out of my coat and yanked my T-shirt over my head. I wrapped the shirt around his thigh and cinched it tight with his belt. But his face was so pale. "We need to get help," I told him. "Can you fly?"
He grunted as he elbowed himself up the wall. "I can glide," he said.
I pulled my coat back on and helped him outside. He leaned heavily against me. In the moonlight, I could see that his jeans were dark with blood, all the way down his leg to his ankle.
"My coat," he whispered.
Gently, I dragged it down his arms and pulled it on over mine while he got his T-shirt off and opened his wings. "Maybe you should go ahead without me," I suggested, even though I was afraid for him to be on his own. "Get to a hospital. Then call the pack when you reach a phone. Send them up here to get me."
"You don't weigh much," he said, staggering a bit. "And it's all downhill from here."
"I'll be warm enough with both coats until you can send help," I insisted. "Get going."
"I'm too tired to argue with you, Elaina," he sighed. He jumped into the air and glided away while I watched. Then he turned and carved a circle against the moon, veered back toward me, swooped down and picked me up. "It's easier to pick something up when you're already in the air," he explained and rubbed his lips against my cheek. "You didn't really think I'd leave you behind, did you?"
"Maybe," I answered, and snuggled into his chest. "But only for a minute."
The cold air rushing into his face seemed to revive him for a while but he started shivering halfway into the trip. We glided toward the center of the city, heading straight for the lights that lined the street we lived on. Tilting his wings at the last minute, Reason dropped onto the sidewalk beside my car and stumbled, almost falling over. I propped a shoulder under his arm and supported his weight until I could get his coat back on him and stuff him into the car.
A sigh of relief rushed from my chest to know we'd made it this far. I jogged around to the other side of the car and belted Reason in when I was inside. Then I started the car and cranked the heater up to max, shooting a quick look at him. His eyes were closed. He was still shivering but the heater would soon help with that problem.
"Take me to MacKenzie," he murmured.
I jammed my foot down on the gas pedal and pulled away from the curb. "Reason, you need to go to a hospital. You need medical help."
His lips moved. "MacKenzie."
"I have to get you to a hospital," I insisted and steered the car down the street to the stop sign.
"Nay," he croaked. "No hospital, Lainey. They'll know what I am."
"I don't give a flying fockewulf if they know!" I shouted, and checked for traffic before making the turn. "It's better than being dead!"
He shook his head again. "Get me to MacKenzie," he whispered. His hand reached for my thigh, settled there a moment then slid off. "It's not your decision to make, Elaina."
I rubbed a tear from the corner of my eye and grabbed his hand, returning it to his lap. "Okay," I yelled. "I'll take you to MacKenzie but if you die before we get there, I'll never let you forget it. I'll stop by the cemetery every day and tell you about it."
He smiled faintly. "You're being way dramatic. I'm not gonna die."
I hoped and prayed he was right. Thank God, the highways were clear. But that's pretty normal for Colorado. After it snows, the sun comes out and melts everything off the roads. 'Course I was halfway down Highway 93 before I realized I should have run inside the apartment to get my phone. And I wished I'd thought to bring some water. Reason was thirsty but I was afraid to take the time to look for a convenience store.
His head fell against the side window. He looked so white. I was feeling a little white, myself, but I kept him talking. Not that he said very much but every now and again he'd give me a one-word answer so I knew he was still with me. The light blue T-shirt I'd tied around his leg wasn't blue anymore; it was dark with blood. I grabbed his hand and gave it a tight squeeze. It felt cold.
My headlights cut through the night as I raced up Highway 285. Reason had been quiet for at least three minutes so I let go of his hand and pressed my palm against his chest, checking for a heartbeat.
He cracked his eyes open and turned his face slightly toward me, watching me through his dark eyelashes. "Do you love me, Lain?"
I pulled in a sharp breath. I was glad he was talking again, but everything considered, that wasn't a very fair question. "Are you deliberately trying to make me cry?"
"Maybe I should lower my expectations," he slurred. "Do you like me?"
I powered the car down the last hill toward the Pine Grove turnoff and glanced back at him. "I'm taking you to see MacKenzie, aren't I?"
As if the conversation was just too much effort, his eyes closed again and I wished I'd said something nicer. "We're almost there," I shouted as we turned off the highway at the bottom of the slope. "You'll be with MacKenzie in five minutes."
Four minutes later, I raced past MacKenzie's place, thinking her mother might be home, and zoomed up the next driveway, leaning on the horn. As I pulled to a sliding stop in front of the garage, I saw Havoc step from the house with Victor right behind him. In the glow cast by my headlights, both of them looked concerned. I shoved the door open and jumped from the car. "Reason's hurt," I shouted and hurried to the passenger door so I could get to his seat belt. "He's asking for MacKenzie."
Dare had just stepped onto the front deck. He vaulted over the railing and headed around behind the house toward MacKenzie's place while Victor jogged past Havoc to the car. "What have you done?" he murmured as he lifted his brother from the passenger seat.
Havoc turned around and raced to get the front door for Victor who was carrying his brother in his arms like a young child. I closed the car doors and started after the pack leader's broad back.
"What happened?" Defiance demanded, looming suddenly out of the darkness. "Did Reason try to face the harpy without us?"
"Give her a minute to catch her breath," Havoc insisted in a quiet murmur. With a hand on my elbow, he guided me through the door, into the house.
"I want a full report after I've tended to Reason," Defiance commanded, marching me into the kitchen and acting like whatever had happened must be my fault. He dragged a chair out from beneath the kitchen table and glared me into it then followed Victor up the stairs to the bedrooms.
I slumped in the chair and Havoc put a cup of coffee in front of me then sat down opposite me. "What happened?" he asked gently.
"Shouldn't we wait for the others?" I asked, hoping to
postpone this conversation.
Havoc lifted his eyes to the floor above. "They can hear us, Elaina."
I stared at the cup for several seconds, wondering where to start and how to explain how everything had gone so wrong. But I figured I was lucky I was reporting to Havoc instead of getting the third degree from Defiance. So, I told him how the federal agents had shown up at my apartment and how the harpy caught up with us at their facility. How she'd taken us to a cabin in the foothills.
I broke off my story when I heard the front door burst open and people hurrying through the house. I couldn't see anything from the kitchen but I assumed Dare was taking Valor and MacKenzie up to the bedrooms. Feeling a wave of panic building inside me, I locked my gaze on Havoc's green eyes. "He's going to be okay, isn't he?"
"He'll be fine," Havoc soothed and settled his fingers over mine on the table. "We'll get him fixed."
"He's…lost a lot of blood," I choked, my eyes darting toward the hall. "He should be at a hospital."
"Elaina," he said quietly, pulling my gaze back to his eyes. "I promise you he'll be alright."
I let some of the worry go and took a sip of coffee. It was loaded with cream and sugar and I sent him a wan smile. "How'd you know how I liked my coffee?" I asked.
Havoc smiled and turned in his chair, stretching his legs out beside the table. "That's how you fixed it the last time you were here."
I took a deep breath. "Thanks," I said.
"My pleasure," he murmured. "So, how'd you get away from the harpy?"
"We got some help," I told him. "Chaos turned up."
"Chaos!" he exclaimed, turning toward me again and folding his legs back beneath the chair. "Again? What about the others? Was there any sign of Defiance's brothers this time?"
I shook my head, hating to disappoint him. "Just Chaos. He helped Reason kill the harpy but not before she opened a hole in his leg."
The Greystone Bundle (Books 1-4) Page 55
