Later she walked into Deadwood’s graveyard with Lincoln at her side; she could feel the energy bouncing off him. He didn’t like this, she was putting herself in danger but as he kissed her and walked away to patrol the area, he said nothing, just looked at her with love and warmth and she knew he’d walk into hell if she asked him.
Alice led her to a freshly dug grave, the earth was still rich and moist. “I’ll give you some space, babe,” and as Alice left her in front of the clean crisp headstone her dad had picked himself, she collapsed to her knees and let her tears fall.
“God I miss you, Dad,” Lexia whispered.
She missed his overprotective ways and bickering with him over dinner. She’d always complained about her plain, ordinary life but now she’d give anything to have it back. Everything felt so unreal, like she lived in a constant daze because monsters weren’t real, boyfriends didn’t turn into animals, and mothers weren’t monsters. These were the things of fairy tales, these were the things written in books. But it was all true and her dad was dead.
Lexia lay the flowers that she held in her hand on the earth. “God things are so messed up, I wish you were here. I’m trying to do the right thing, I’m trying to be the daughter you raised me to be but I...I ” Lexia was sobbing so much she couldn’t speak. I’m so sorry I couldn’t save you, Dad, please forgive me.
Lexia just sat crying looking at his headstone, ‘beloved father’ was written on it and she thought how he was the best dad she could have ever asked for. He’d taken her away from her mother and she wasn’t sure she understood exactly why but he’d said she was dangerous, to run from her and Lexia trusted him. She couldn’t bring him back and no matter how many Hunters she killed it wouldn’t make the pain go away, but she could make sure no one else had to feel this way because of the Hunters.
Her tears slowed and Lexia started to feel a sense of calm wash over her; she was going to destroy all Hunters, anger replaced her grief.
She felt Lincoln’s approach before he spoke, “Lex, I’m sorry, baby, but we’ve got company. We need to move now!” Lincoln’s voice was soft but she heard the undertone of urgency.
She looked at the gravestone again, tears spilled over her eyes; she couldn’t even have this time at her dad’s gravesite. The anger swirled around and around her, they were taking everything away from her. Lexia felt like she was trapped in a raging storm, it whipped and swirled around her feeding her fury. “I won’t let evil win, Dad. I love you.”
“Baby, now.”
“Goodbye, Dad,” she whispered and stood wiping the tears from her eyes. It was just too much, she couldn’t control the storm much longer; it raged, burning her soul.
Lexia heard Alice squeal and she spun around to find six Hunters blocking their path. Lexia squared her shoulders. The time to grieve would come, but right now she needed to fight; right now she needed to be a Hunter.
“Alice, stay behind us,” Lexia said through gritted teeth. Her body was trembling all over and she looked at Lincoln by her side and for a second the storm cleared as she gazed into his fierce face. How I love you, but then the Hunters all took a step forward, towards the people she loved and the storm broke.
She walked forward, the rush of power poured over her body and the world dropped away, all she saw were the men threatening those she loved and it made her so angry. She’d never felt this kind of fury and she lost control. Lexia let out a wild scream. Running forward and channeling all the pain and anger into every kick and punch, she cut through them with blind rage. She had no thought to what she was doing. Spinning and kicking on pure instinct, she blocked hit after hit, the knife she pulled from her boot ran with blood as it sliced through flesh and muscle. She didn’t stop, she didn’t falter, not until every Hunter lay dead at her feet.
Lexia stood panting slightly. She held her knife in a death grip, ready to strike but as she looked around all she saw were Lincoln and Alice. The red haze cleared and the storm in her soul settled. She looked at all six men laid dead at her feet, their blood splattered her hands and arms, then she looked to Lincoln who hadn’t a mark on him.
Confused she asked, “I killed them all?”
“Yes, love, you killed them all. Come on, we need to move before more Hunters come or the police.”
“But I... “
“Grief does strange things to us, Lex; do not feel bad for protecting those you love.”
But she did feel bad. She hadn’t just protected those she loved; she’d lost control, let the anger consume her until her body acted and killed on its own. She’d killed them all and it was so easy; she’d taken a breath and in the next they laid dead at her feet, their blood covering her body. How had she killed them all without even knowing what she was doing?
Lincoln kept telling her not to feel bad but she couldn’t help it; every life she took chipped away a piece of her soul. She worried that one day no one would recognize her. She would be a monster and she would be looked on with fear. The power in her scared her; what would happen if she lost control again and she never came back? She could kill those she loved and be powerless to stop it. She’d vowed to kill all Hunters who posed a threat to the world but what if she was the biggest threat of them all?
Chapter 28
As she tried to sleep that night, Alice’s face drifted through her mind; the way she’d looked at her in the graveyard, so frightened. She hadn’t seen the friend she’d known all her life, she’d seen a monster.
“Lexia!” Lexia rolled over and looked into gold cat eyes.
“Mmm?”
“Stop it!” His voice was stern, the voice of a predatory panther.
“I can’t, Linc,” she said in a haunted whisper.
“Baby,” he sighed, “do you enjoy killing? Does it make you feel powerful?”
“No! No, it kills me a little each time. I don’t want this power, Lincoln. It’s changing me... I’m becoming the monster my father feared.”
“No, Lexia, you’re not. Your life changed, not you; you’ve always had power, always been you. Those Hunters will not hesitate to kill you or your friends; they live for the kill, for the rush of power. Your father didn’t want this life for you but do you think he’d want you to die? Do you think he would have wanted you to let them kill Alice?”
Lexia laid in silence for a while thinking over Lincoln’s words. He laid by her side, his limbs tangled with hers. The feel of him, his warmth, his steel-hard muscles that held her with such tender care, this is what she lived for now. To live everyday with Lincoln, to make him smile and laugh; to feel the rush of pleasure from his every kiss.
“I live for you, Linc, I don’t live to kill.” Lexia kissed him softly on the lips.
“No more torturing yourself over this, you need to accept what you are, Lex.”
Lincoln rubbed his hands gently over her milky soft skin; he wished she could see what he saw. She was so beautiful and strong, she would die for the innocent; how could she even think she was becoming a monster?
Accept what I am, can I do that? “I’ll try to, Lincoln.”
“Good,” he said softly with a smile.
“There’s something else that’s been bothering me.”
“Go on.”
“There must be loads of half-Hunters out there, so why me? What makes me so different? And why can I take out pure Hunters when I’m only half?”
“Mmm, I had been thinking the same thing. Hopefully you can find your answers tomorrow in that box.”
“I hope so.” Lexia snuggled further into the heat of his body. Resting her head on his chest she fell to sleep listening to the steady rhythm of his heart. Without him she may have lost control a long time ago; he anchored her, kept the darkness away.
The next morning Lexia and Lincoln moved quietly through the streets of Deadwood, both of them with a gold gleam in their eyes. They kept to the shadows, invisible predators ready and waiting to strike. Lincoln stalked behind Lexia, she could feel the energy rolling off him like sta
tic against her skin. They’d argued that morning about going back to Lexia’s home; he thought it was too much of a risk for just a box. But Lexia wouldn’t back down and they’d settled on just going to see how many Hunters guarded the house. Of course Lexia had no intentions of leaving her house empty-handed, she couldn’t live not knowing anymore.
Lincoln clasped her hand as they entered the familiar forests that surrounded her home and they walked hand in hand stopping at the edge of the tree line right behind her dad’s shed. Lexia thought back to the day she’d trained in that shed, how she’d thrown her knife at the black panther that rubbed against her now.
He disappeared into the trees. She heard him move a few paces ahead then he became silent, became one with the forest, a panther on the hunt.
Lexia closed her eyes and concentrated on the sounds around her; she could hear two men talking in the front garden but they seemed relaxed so she guessed her panther hadn’t been detected.
Time seemed to slow down as she stood waiting for her panther to return and the longer she stood still the more bad memories bombarded her mind. Lexia tried to think of other things, she tried to focus on the conversation the two Hunters were having not that far away but she just couldn’t stand here anymore; she needed to do something, anything, to get her mind of her dad’s dead, broken body.
Lexia started to pace not caring if her frantic paces were heard. Panic and anxiety clutched at her, she turned and...
A panther prowled out of the trees turning into bright gold lights. “Lexia, what’s wrong?” Lincoln asked, concern in his still cat eyes.
She let out her breath and uncurled her hands from the tight fists they’d been in. “It’s just being back here, it’s brought all the memories back.”
“We’ll be gone soon.” He hugged her tightly and already the jagged, raw wounds started to be soothed.
“Most of the men are on the ground floor and around the edge of the house. From what I could see there doesn’t seem to be anyone in the bedrooms; maybe a dozen Hunters in total.”
“If I could get past the two front men then I could climb up to my window.”
Lincoln looked at Lexia, he didn’t want her anywhere near this house. And the haunted shadows had returned to her eyes, he knew she doubted whether she was good. But he also knew that she needed answers to move on. She wasn’t weak, but the thought of letting her into that house alone was bad enough to have his beast straining to take hold. She needs to do this, I can let her go, I will let her go.
“Okay, if I distract them and lead them off into the back of the forest then you can climb in, but Lexia, you get in and out, no fighting or going downstairs.”
“I will, I promise. Where shall I meet you?”
“Run straight for Alice’s, make sure you’re not followed. I’ll find you, okay? No matter what happens, you go in and out then straight to Alice’s. Don’t wait for me.”
“Okay,” she whispered.
Rubbing his knuckles against her cheek, Lincoln shifted and disappeared into the trees.
A few minutes later she heard a commotion in the back garden; bullets were fired and the shouts of Hunters and Lincoln’s growls filled the air. Lexia wanted to run to him, her every instinct was to protect the man she loved but she couldn’t; she had to get this box, she had to find answers.
The two men that had guarded the front door had run around the side of the house so she ran undetected across the grass. She stood for a second and looked up at her window remembering all the times she’d climbed in and out of her room and then Lexia was scaling the side of the house and opening her window.
Lexia jumped through and took a step forward into the room; something crunched under her foot, looking down she saw a photo frame. Picking up the frame she looked into her dad’s smiling face, his warm brown eyes stared at her and he had his arm wrapped around her shoulders. The picture was from three years ago, Alice had taken it; the three of them had had a dinner for Lexia’s birthday. Her heart twisted in pain.
Lexia looked around the room; her bookcase had been tipped over, her draws pulled open, their contents spilling out onto the floor. All her memories lay shattered and broken around her. That’s how she felt, shattered and broken. It took all her strength to not collapse to the floor, to not succumb to the tears that burned at her eyes, to the sorrow that burned at her soul.
How dare they destroy her memories like they didn’t matter? Everything in this room had been a memory of life and the Hunters had broken them without a second thought. Blinding anger raged through her veins, washing away the sorrow. They would pay. She did matter. Lexia marched to the door, hands clenched into fists, adrenaline pumping through her veins; she put her hand on the knob, and then stopped...
She couldn’t go downstairs now and try to kill every Hunter in sight, it didn’t matter that her body hummed for vengeance. She’d promised Lincoln, he’d let her do this alone even though it went against every one of his instincts. He was a shifter, they protected what was theirs to the end; they didn’t let them go on their own. But he had, for her, because she needed to do this one thing alone and he trusted and loved her enough to not be rash.
Lexia took a deep breath and let her anger go as she stepped back. I’ll need something to put the box in... my backpack.
Lexia turned; looking around the room, she found the bag and emptied out her school things then put in a few trinkets and the broken photo frame to take back to Alice’s. Then she walked to the door and listened for any movement in the hall; hearing nothing she cracked open the door.
Lexia slowly walked towards her dad’s room, careful not to make any board creak. When she stepped into the room, she ignored the mess and walked straight to his closet, opening the door, and pulling up the boards. And just like her dad had said, there amongst the cobwebs sat a box. Lexia picked up the smooth wooden box running her fingers over it but as she was about to open the brass clasp, the floorboards creaked outside the bedroom door.
She froze and listened as whomever was on the landing walked past her father’s door. She heard him open her bedroom door and that’s when she realized she’d left the window open. Shit! It took her a split second to decide her next move, she either jumped out the window behind her and ran, hoping that she could outrun the dozen Hunters he would likely alert or she faced him and took him out before he said a word.
Lexia had silently run across the landing and through her door before he’d even turned back around. She jumped on his back, clamping her hand over his mouth to muffle his shouts. He fell towards her bed from the impact and she clamped her other hand around his head and twisted; she heard the sickening crack as he landed on the mattress.
Lexia leapt back from his body and closed the window that she had left open. As she glanced out she saw the two guards had returned to the front. Fuck, how am I going to get out now?
Quietly Lexia returned to her dad’s room and put the box in her bag and took calming breaths thinking through her options. She could try and sneak past the guards but she’d most likely end up fighting them, or, or... Crap!
Lexia looked around the room, hoping for an answer. She walked to the window and peered out. If she jumped from here, the group of hunters in the back garden would see her; could she outrun them? Or she could climb out onto the tree that brushed up against the side of the house but would it hold her weight? Lexia had been practicing climbing trees, but could she be as silent and invisible as her panther was in the trees?
“Well, only one way to find out,” she muttered, and pulled up the window.
The branch hung above the window, it had scraped off the paint on the house from its movements over the years. She crouched out the window; her back facing away from the house and tucked her fingers into the wooden planks. Lexia then stood up and reached out for the branch, she tried not to think about falling or the fact that an old wooden house board was the only thing keeping her upright. Her hand clasped around the thick tree branch and she sucked in a breat
h and jumped, reaching out with her other hand. The branch bowed slightly with her weight but it held and she slowly made her way towards the tree trunk, her legs dangling lifelessly.
Danger flashed in her mind’s eye and she looked down seeing a Hunter walking her way. He had his head down looking at his phone.
Lexia held her breath and hung silently from the branch, praying his senses didn’t alert him to her presence. She let out her breath as he turned the corner and hurried along until she’d reached a part that was strong enough for her to pull up on. Lexia crawled along the branch to the trunk and jumped to the floor. She froze for a second, listening, then took off across the forest the trees blurring together in a mass of dark green. The air whipped past her face bringing tears to her eyes and she felt the first bit of hope blossom in her heart; she’d finally gotten the box, she’d finally gotten the information to answer the questions that burned in the back of her mind.
A flash of black caught her attention before her panther ran beside her. “I got it, Lincoln, I got it!”
No one followed them from the forest and after finding Lincoln some clothes they walked through the back streets of Deadwood.
Lincoln held her hand tight. He’d not asked her how it had gone, all that mattered was she was safe and she had the box. They were about to walk around the corner to Alice’s street when Lexia stopped in her tracks. Her body stiffened and her eyes bled to gold.
“Lexia?”
“Can’t you feel it?”
“Feel ” but she’d already taken off, ripping her hand free from his. He heard her whisper, “Alice,” as she went.
Lexia (The Deadwood Hunter Series) Page 20
