“Alright Duncan,” she began slowly. “I’ll let you come with me. But only because time is of the essence… not because I can’t handle this on my own.”
“Of course.”
With a heavy sigh, Senka turned and stared out across the field. “Unfortunately I’m drained. There is no way I will be able to flash again until night fall and that is still hours away. What should we do until then?”
“Let’s take a walk.” Following her gaze, he gestured out into the open expanse. “The cart Kral and the others found is only a few more miles that direction. Let’s go there for now and see if we come across something they might have missed.”
An hour later Senka was inside the cart digging through piles of crates, while outside, Duncan searched the surrounding area for any scent trails the others might have missed. At first glance, there was nothing special appearing about the simplistic, single horse cart. With its vibrant yellow and orange striped canopy and the distinctive large diameter wheels used by Wanderer’s to navigate the tall, thick plains grass, it looked like any other cart she had seen used by traders over the years. But despite its seemingly innocent and unassuming appearance, there was nothing ordinary about this cart.
Even from several feet away, Senka could feel the dark magic surrounding it, twisted magic that reeked of evil thoughts and bad intentions. And she was not alone in her observation. It had taken her quite a bit of arguing with Duncan, when they first arrived, to convince him to let her get close enough to look inside.
Claiming it was his duty to protect her, he tried to persuade her to let him go alone, saying he needed to be sure there was nothing dangerous inside that would cause her harm. But she refused his offer, and much to his irritation, took off in the direction of the cart before he could raise another word in protest. For as much as she appreciated what he was trying to do, Duncan’s attempts to protect her from the evils of the world was about as pointless as trying to make the sun disappear with your thumb. Even if you did manage to cover it up temporarily and convince yourself you had accomplished the feat, in the end all you had really succeeded in doing was fooling yourself.
“I came across the scent of several Shifters…” Duncan’s voice called behind her just as the cart shifted beneath his tremendous weight. “Three if I had to guess, all wolves.” Pausing just inside the canopy opening, he glanced around at all the dumped over crates and the varied bottles of alcohol scattered about the floor.
“What about the girls? Could you pick up their scent as well?” She asked as she continued trying to pry the lid off one of the last remaining crates.
“Yes, but their scents were very faint and were mixed with something I couldn’t identify. I believe they may have put something on them to mask their smell from other Shifters. The only reason me and the others could pick up their trail was because we knew exactly what we were looking for.”
Considering what he said, Senka furrowed her brow as she applied all her weight to the crowbar. “And Linus?” Feeling the nails finally give way she wrenched the lid open and tossed it on the floor, shattering several glass bottles at her feet.
“I am afraid Kral was right about Linus and the boy. They must have jumped, because other than in here, I can’t pick up their scent anywhere.” Wiping the sweat from his forehead, Duncan grimaced. “How can you stand it in here? I have only been inside this damn cart a few minutes and already the dark magic and smell of the alcohol is making me ill.”
“My sense of smell is not as strong as yours and my Night Stalker powers are derived from dark magic so it doesn’t bother me.” she responded. “Why do you think people hate us so much?” Staring into the opened crate, she hurriedly wiped away a tear.
“Senka are you alright?”
The cart shifted with his weight as he approached behind her. Leaning in to look over her shoulder, Senka heard a low growl rise from his chest as he stared down into the crate packed full of tattered women’s clothes.
Hands trembling, Senka reached in amongst the filthy shredded rags, and pulled out what was left of a blue dress. “It was hers.” Her voice barely above a whisper, she stared at the large red stain covering the front of the silky material. “It was one of my mother’s old dresses, my father gave it to her right before he left us. It was one of her favorites.” Turning the dress in her hands, she immediately felt sick upon seeing the entire back was torn in two as if someone had ripped it off her sister’s body.
Feeling the bile rise in her throat, Senka slapped a hand over her mouth and closed her eyes. Instantly she felt Duncan close the gap between them. Spinning her around he knelt before her. “We will find her Senka.”
Leaning into his comforting warmth, she resisted the urge to cry. “How do we even know she is still alive? Look at her dress! What if they killed her already?”
“She is alive, because if she wasn’t I would be able to scent her death.”
Leaning back and wiping a stray tear from her eye, she furrowed her brow. “You can do that?”
“Yes, and I am telling you, your sister and Brit are still alive.”
Peering down at the tattered material, Senka sniffed. “But there is so much blood. And didn’t you say this Linus guy had the ability to make women do what he wanted them to do? If so why would he need to hurt her?”
“I don’t think he did.” Gesturing to the dress, Duncan held out his hand. “May I?” Looking reluctantly at the dress, she hesitated. This was the closest thing she had to her sister at the moment, and though she knew she was being ridiculous, she didn’t want to part with it even for a second.
As if reading her mind, Duncan smiled reassuringly. “I’ll give it back. I promise.”
“I know, I’m sorry Duncan. It’s just…”
“Don’t apologize for missing your sister Senka. You have every right to be upset, I only want to borrow the dress to see if I can tell whose blood that is on the front.”
Glancing once more at the stain on the front, Senka passed it over to Duncan. Taking it gently from her grasp, he brought it up to his nose and drew in a deep breath. “It’s not her blood.” Furrowing his brow he sniffed the stained material once more. “But it’s not Linus’ either. It belongs to a Shifter, most likely one of the wolves that took her.” Passing the dress back to Senka, Duncan’s grey eyes held a hint of pride. “It appears your sister did not go without a fight.”
Senka’s chest too filled with pride as she imagined her dainty sister landing a blow on a Shifter that was hard enough to produce that much blood. “Way to go Chloe,” she whispered as she took the dress back from Duncan and tucked it into her bag. Then with a deep breath she turned back to the crate. “But why remove their clothing? You would think it would be more difficult to transport half-naked women through Zerdanda, especially if your laws protecting women are as strict as you say they are.” Grabbing the edge of the crate, Senka attempted to pull it off the final unopened crate.
“It’s because of those laws that they did it.” Nudging her out of the way, Duncan lifted the wooden box with ease. “Not only do their clothing styles make it more than apparent they aren’t Shifters, they also carry on them the scent of their homes and families.” After setting the crate on the ground next to the other, Duncan turned back to face Senka. “My guess is they forced them into garments saturated in the scent of a Shifter hoping it would be enough to conceal what they are until they got them to where they were going.”
“Well I hope my sister makes it difficult as hell.” Picking up her discarded crowbar, she shoved it under the edge of the lid and paused as a powerful wave of dark magic shot up her arm.
What was that? With the crowbar still lodged in place, Senka took one hand and placed it directly on top of the crate and was hit square in the chest with an intense sense of dread. Unable to suppress the shutter that ran through her body, Senka pulled back her hand and placed it over her pounding heart. “Something’s not right.”
Rapidly backing away, she nearly toppled into t
he crate full of clothing behind her. Luckily Duncan was there to catch her before that happened.
“What is it?” he asked, once he had her steady on her feet once more.
“T-that b-box…” she stammered, shivering as the last of the dark magic flowed from her body. “I-it’s the source of the dark magic we’ve been sensing.”
A low rumble rose from Duncan’s chest as he took ahold of the crowbar still lodged under the lid. “Is it now?”
“NO! Don’t open it!”
But her words came too late. In one swift motion the lid popped off and fell to the floor beside it. Within seconds, the entire cart was filled with a stench so rank Senka thought for sure she was going to be sick.
Needing to do something before she lost what little contents her stomach contained, Senka reached into the crate of discarded women’s clothing and ripped off a piece of cloth large enough to cover her mouth and nose. Though it did not completely block the rancid smell, it did dull it enough to make it slightly more tolerable. She then turned her attention back to Duncan, who had fished a handkerchief from his pocket and tied it over his mouth and nose.
“What the hell Duncan! I said don’t open it!” Moving toward him to see what was the cause of the offensive stench, Senka was caught off guard when Duncan stepped in front of her and blocked her path.
“Don’t Senka.”
Looking up and seeing nothing but sadness and pity, Senka’s heart clenched. Fearful, but needing to know what it was he was trying to keep her from seeing, she pressed him. “Why? What is in there Duncan?”
“Nothing you need to see.” Placing a hand gently on her back, he began leading her away from the crate toward the back of the cart. “There is still plenty of daylight left, let’s see if we can’t shorten the distance to the border, that way you don’t have to wear yourself out flashing us there.”
Scrunching her brow, Senka allowed him to lead her to the opening in the back. “Sure Duncan.” Without protest she jumped off the back of the cart into the sunshine outside. Duncan followed her moments later. Knowing he didn’t trust her to do what he said, cause she never did, Senka smiled innocently as she moved around the cart where her bow and arrows were propped. With her back turned toward him, she pretended to go about strapping her weapons back into place as she watched him out of the corner of her eye.
The second a flock of birds scattered in the distance and pulled his watchful gaze off her, Senka acted. Grabbing her umbrella, she released the latch and flashed back into the shade of the cart. With only seconds to spare before he was on her once more, she rushed to the crate at the front of the cart and immediately regretted her decision.
Falling to her knees, Senka covered her mouth as she stared down at the decaying corpse of a girl, no older than her sister. The poor child’s body was so bloated and twisted with gas that the crate could barely contain her as she stared up at Senka with panic filled green eyes that seemed to beg her for her help.
“Damn it Senka!” she heard him yell only seconds before his vice like grip wrapped around her waist and lifted her off the floor. Rushing her outside and back into the fresh air he dropped her to her feet and kneeled before her.
“It wasn’t her. It wasn’t her.” She repeated over and over again, desperately clinging to the front of his shirt. But no matter how much she tried to convince herself that the girl with the pleading green eyes was not her sister, images of her sister’s face staring up at her from that box continued to torment her.
“Senka look at me.” Duncan’s low tone called to her in the darkness of her mind. “Look at me.”
Slowly raising her gaze to meet his concerned expression, Senka wept. “It wasn’t her. I know it wasn’t. But please, I just need to hear you say it.”
Duncan locked her with his intense gaze. “It wasn’t her Senka. That girl in the box wasn’t your sister.”
Tears streaming down her cheeks, she rushed into his arms and cried. Minutes, possibly hours passed, she wasn’t sure. But however long it was, Duncan held her, silent and patient, never once complaining about the fact he was once again cradling her in his arms, while she cried like a baby.
Eventually she did recover. Embarrassed by her pitiful behavior, she wiggled out of his hold and silently went about gathering her things, feeling the heat of his gaze watching her every move. Certain he must think her a huge disappointment after all her talk about how tough and independent she was, Senka kept her back to him, unable to bring herself to face him.
“It’s a decomp box…” she mumbled, once she was confident she could speak without crying. “a dark magic device that speeds up the decomposition process. If we… you hadn’t opened it she would have eventually disappeared and no one would have ever known she was there.”
Throwing her bow and quiver over her shoulder and feeling the empty slot where her umbrella belonged, Senka instantly became ill when she remembered she dropped it inside the cart. Knowing there was no way she could bring herself to go back in there, Senka swallowed what was left of her pride and turned to ask Duncan to retrieve it.
“Shit!” she gasped, shocked to find him standing less than a foot away. With a shovel clutched in one hand and her umbrella in the other, he stared down at her, his face an emotionless mask. “I didn’t hear you approach.”
Taking her umbrella, she stared blankly at the shovel still clutched in his other hand.
“I know we are in a hurry and every minute is vital…” he began, staring over his shoulder at the cart. “But I can’t leave her like that.”
Following his gaze to the cart, Senka knew immediately what he wanted to do. And though she knew taking the time to bury the girl would take away precious time she needed to rescue her sister… she also could not deny that this was the right thing to do.
“It won’t take me more than a half-hour tops.” Duncan continued, possibly thinking she would be angry with his decision, maybe even fearing she would leave him behind as opposed to waiting. But Senka had no intention of doing either. “Or if you would rather, I can send one of the boys waiting at the border back to do it…”
“Duncan.” Placing a hand over the one holding the shovel, Senka cut him off. “You’re right… we are the ones who found her, we are the ones who should bury her.”
Relief relaxed the hardened edges of his features. “Are you certain?”
“I’ve never been more certain.” Pulling the shovel from his grasp, Senka buried the blade deep into the ground. “That girl in there could have very well been my sister. And while I thank the stars that she isn’t, out there somewhere is a father, husband, or the heavens forbid, a child, wondering what happened to their loved one.”
Trying her hardest to stay strong and not break down in front of Duncan… again, she bit back her tears, and scooped up a large chunk of earth and dumped it to the side. Behind her she felt his presence close in, but she was so focused on trying not to make a fool of herself she paid little attention to what he was doing.
Tears won’t fix your problems. Her father’s words repeated over and over again in her head as she thrust the blade into the ground. They will only blind you to all the other opportunities surrounding you.
“Pa.” She whispered, halting her movement, she rested her head against the handle of the shovel. Overcome with memories of all the happy times she and her family had spent together when she was younger, Senka’s body became racked with sobs. “I’m so sorry I let this happen to her.”
No sooner than the words escaped her mouth, she felt Duncan’s large arm come around and take hold to the handle of the shovel. Pulling it easily from her grasp, he moved around her.
“Her family will never know what happened to her.” she said, hating how weak her voice sounded. “Just like my father will likely never know what happened to Chloe and I, should I fail to rescue her.”
“Perhaps they won’t, but we know what happened and I think that counts for something.” Pressing the blade deep into the ground, Duncan kept hi
s eyes focused on the ground at his feet. With swift determined movements, he turned over the dirt in a pace that made her exhausted just watching him. “As for your father, I think you are forgetting one very important detail.”
“What’s that?”
“We aren’t going to fail.”
Less than five hours after laying the nameless girl to rest, Duncan and Senka arrived at the temporary camp some of the Shifters had set up near the border. It had taken Senka several hours of flashing to carry them over what would normally have been a two day journey. And though she would never admit to it, Duncan knew she had to be exhausted, both mentally and physically.
Certain there was no way she would be able to maintain the grueling pace at which she had been pushing herself over the last forty-eight hours and needing her in top form when they crossed, Duncan commanded his men to refuse to give her any information or directions until she had eaten and rested for a couple of hours. Needless to say, Senka went ballistic when she figured out what was going on. All of five and a half feet tall, she stood toe to toe against the five men, each one easily over a foot taller and a hundred pounds her better, calling them all cowards and accusing them of extortion. At one point she even went as far as to threaten to go in alone, saying she didn’t need the help of a bunch of “pups.”
Duncan however, knowing her powers were useless in the unfamiliar lands and that there was no possible way she could navigate the thick forest on her own, called her bluff. Just as he suspected her threats were empty, and eventually she surrendered just like he suspected she would.
“Girl looked none too happy boss.” Recognizing Ignacio’s distinct thick accent, Duncan pulled his attention from the map he was studying and watched as the wolf stepped inside his tent holding a beer bottle in each hand. “You sure you wanna take her? She gonna give you hell, I gar-un-tee.”
With a chuckle, Duncan turned his attention to the document laid out before him. “Would you like to be the one to tell her she can’t go?”
Stalking Fate Page 5
