by Carla Thorne
Char? Was she the one who’d called to me before?
“I’m trying,” I yelled.
Jacob flew by me. “Stop, and stay here!”
“Don’t! It’s not worth it!” I yelled back. “I’m fine!”
Silence fell as both skiers disappeared down the closed hill.
I grabbed a branch and made sure all my things were in the right place.
Char made a clumsy stop. “Are you all right?”
“Yes, but Jacob chased that idiot! What are you doing here?”
“What do you think I’m doing here, Warrior? Who’s the threat? Is that guy who steered you off course the electrician?”
“No.”
“All right. You’re not safe. I’m going after them.”
“No, Char, I’m going. That’s Jacob down there.” I pushed ahead. “Do you know who the other guy is?”
“It’s Gavin.”
“How could it be Gavin? He’s been sent home, and he can’t ski like that.”
“Wake up, Warrior! You can’t possibly believe Agents are always where they’re supposed to be.”
“No, but they can’t suddenly ski like experts.”
“Really? Haven’t you and your Warriors done things you shouldn’t have been able to do?” Char charged ahead. “Whatever. I gotta go. See if you can get signal to alert someone we’re on a closed trail.”
“No time. I’m right behind you.”
If only my confidence and determination translated to actual skill.
We started slow and picked up speed. My mind reeled with the possibility that Gavin had again put me in danger. Supernatural abilities aside, could he have hidden skiing from me our whole lives? Or was I just not aware? Then again, his family had taken a winter vacation every year up until high school—to Utah.
I had to get better with the details, and I had to take care of Jacob as he tried to take care of me.
Sebastian… I need your help! Please! Sebastian!
We went faster. The only good thing about being on a closed course was that we were alone. Given enough room, we could possibly navigate a total unknown. I remembered all the reasons the brochure said a run or a catwalk might be closed. Not enough personnel to groom the area—whatever that meant. Uncleared hazards, threat of avalanche…which reminded me of all the fresh snow.
The run opened up a bit. Char and I were able to pick up the pace on a short, flat area that had widened. We crested what seemed like a small ledge. Char sailed over it and was able to land.
I was not.
I plopped into new snow in the cleft and sank. In less than a minute I was up, but Char had forged ahead.
In the distance, Jacob and Gavin traversed the course, trying to outmaneuver each other.
What was the point?
I screamed for Jacob, knowing full well he wouldn’t hear or may not respond.
The wide area gave way to a more narrow, wooded trail. The left side of the slope seemed to evaporate before my eyes in a haze of light but blowing snow. When I spotted the orange netting and the tops of trees to my left, I knew we’d reached an even more dangerous area.
I hugged the right side.
Jacob and Gavin slowed. Gavin tried to jab Jacob with a ski pole, but lost his balance. He wiped out, which gave Char and I enough time to almost catch up.
Jacob twisted and spun as he appeared to try and orient himself and keep eyes on Gavin. He regained control and scrambled to close the distance and stop Gavin from getting up.
“Leave it alone, Jacob!” I screamed. “He’s not worth it! We’ll get help at the bottom!”
My noise only alerted Gavin to our approach. He tried again to get in my path. I didn’t understand. He knew I was a beginner, and a collision would only hurt us both. What was it he wanted?
Once again, I prepared to head off into the wooded area and hope for the best as Jacob tried to get closer to him. By that point, I knew if he got his hands on him, he was going to beat him half to death where he stood.
Without much control, I couldn’t make a clean turn between the two orange sections of fence. Deep, new snow covered my skis to the point I couldn’t see them.
I slid right by Gavin.
And he let me.
Jacob yelled, but I couldn’t make out what he said.
The path narrowed again as it took us toward a series of frightening curves I could see below. In several places, there didn’t appear to be any ground on at least one side.
The mountain just peeled away from view and into fogginess.
Large pines with snow-laden branches hid everything from deep snow wells to pointy rocks.
I tried to come to a stop.
It made perfect sense. I was a novice at best. We were on a slope we weren’t supposed to be on. All we had to do was…stop.
It was me Gavin wanted. If I stopped, he would either come straight for me, or he’d ski away. It was three against one. If he caught me, what could he do? Defeat two Warriors and a Protector?
He couldn’t do that.
Sebastian would show up. We’d all stick together and send Gavin down the mountain like the coward he was.
Eventually, we’d get to the bottom, or get a few bars, or someone would realize we were gone.
I dug my poles into the ground, wedged left, and tried to stop my forward motion.
I stood precariously near an edge. Deceptive snow disguised boundaries and threats I couldn’t imagine. How deep was it? Where did it end?
I set my skis sideways to inch my way toward the middle and back up to a wider, and hopefully safer, spot.
Char skied past and slowed to do the same. “Good thinking,” she called out.
“Logic. Scout would be proud of me.”
Behind us, Jacob and Gavin still struggled to get up to speed and race down the trail.
Char and I stood our ground as Jacob got his bearings and flew toward us.
Gavin flanked him on the right and tackled him.
“That’s it.” Char leaned back and released her boots.
“What are you doing? You can’t walk in those things.”
“Well, I’m not gonna stand here on my skis and watch those two hit each other.”
I fought with my own bindings. “I’ll help you.”
“No! This is my assignment, Warrior. I’m going to knock that Agent off this hill so we can get down and get help. This one is not your fight.”
“How is it not my fight?”
Char dug her boots toe-first into the snow and stalked toward them, using her poles to steady herself.
Ripples of energy emanated from her body as she shook loose the shin-deep fresh snow in her path and caused it to rush away from her body. Bursts of icy white pellets twinkled in the air around her in the thin rays of sun that poked through the early afternoon winter sky.
“Step off, Agent,” she commanded. “One chance.”
Gavin stood to face her. He didn’t relent. He came right for her.
Char stopped him with a wall of pure, white light, mingled with the snow. “Are you kidding me?”
Gavin countered with dark energy of his own that didn’t match Char’s abilities. His pathetic show of force, while inexplicable and supernatural, was not effective. Especially against Char.
“You won’t win this one, Agent. Mary does not die today.”
Jacob skied around the showdown.
“Get her out of here,” Char yelled.
Jacob tugged on me. “C’mon.”
“I can’t let Char fight alone!”
“Looks like she’s got this.”
“I can’t leave her. It’s me Gavin wants.”
“Seriously, Mary, I have no idea what’s happening here, but Char looks more than capable, and my instinct is to protect you, so we’re going on down this mountain.”
“He’s right,” Char called over her shoulder. “This one’s mine. I got it.”
I should have gone.
I didn’t.
Was it my pr
ide? Probably.
I’d been fighting the Destroyer my whole life. I battled his wicked minion, Shanar, on a regular basis.
It was my fight—I thought.
With one ski on and one off, I made an ugly charge toward them. Jacob was at my heels and tried to stop me.
Char’s surprise weakened her defense.
It didn’t take supernatural strength for Gavin to see his opportunity and pounce. He barreled toward us with nothing more than skillful, human agility.
We were caught off guard as he attempted to mow us down.
It was a four-person tangle of skis, poles, and bodies.
Until three of us tumbled over the side of the mountain in a massive cascade of snow.
Chapter 42
Jacob
Everything gets quiet when you die.
Sounds don’t mean a thing when you can’t react, and energy is wasted when you try to hear what doesn’t matter.
And nothing mattered.
Nothing but Mary’s safety.
I opened my eyes for a moment.
Char dangled from a large pine branch as snow continued to slide past her. It tumbled in sheets down the side of the hill with each move she made to try and free herself and climb to safety.
I didn’t want to use my last breaths to call out to her. Somehow, I knew that was more wasted energy—like hearing things.
You can do it, Char… Grab that other branch…
I sensed Mary beside me. She crawled toward me on her belly as blood dripped from her nose. Funny how I’d seen that before. I didn’t hear the snow give way beneath her body, or the crunch of the icy surface as she tossed away her gloves and clawed at the ground to reach me.
“Hey, Mary Angel.”
“Don’t talk, Jacob. Save your energy. Char will get help. I’ll get help.”
I closed my eyes to rest. Mary had one hand on my forehead and the other touching my chest. Her eyes had been wide with shock, but I was fine.
“Chaaarrrr!” she screamed.
Char responded, but I didn’t hear it.
“Hang on, Jacob.”
“I can’t. I landed on a rock, Mary. This is it, but it’s all right. We’re all right.”
“You have internal injuries. We’ll get you help. It’s good you’re talking. That means your brain is probably OK.”
“You see that kid over there?”
Mary sobbed and scanned the mountainside. “No, Jacob. There’s no kid.”
She tried to take off her jacket and keep me warm, but there was no use. She was tired and injured and couldn’t do it.
“There’s a kid. He looks just like me when I was about four. I’m going to go with him.”
“You’re not going anywhere but to a helicopter to get out of here.”
“It’s OK, Mary. I really need to go with him.”
“I’d like you to stay, Jacob. I need you to stay. So, we’ll rest here and wait for help because I’m afraid to move you. You need to stay warm and save your energy.”
Love, shock, and terror glazed her eyes. I had to go. It wasn’t fair to let her try any more, and it was a done deal.
“Hey, Mary Angel, promise me you won’t ever let any Agent get the best of you.”
“Of course, Jacob, but you can help me with that yourself. You’re my Protector. I know I got in your way today…”
Sobs choked off her words. I’d been afraid of that. She was going to blame herself forever.
“Not your fault, Mary. All Destroyer. Remember your enemy.”
“I should have listened.”
“I really have to go, Mary. The kid’s waiting.”
“No. Hang on.”
“I love you, Mary Angel, and I think I just might see you again someday.”
I got up and met the kid on the hill. We didn’t talk, and it was all OK.
I was fine.
Mary screamed and screamed and didn’t stop.
I saw it for a brief moment, but I couldn’t hear her.
Everything was quiet.
Chapter 43
Sebastian
I cradled Mary in my arms.
I could barely contain the energy of her wrath and pain as it shook the mountains.
“Where were you?” she screamed through the space we shared in the supernatural realm.
“I was here, but choices had been made.”
“Bring him back,” she wailed.
“I cannot change what has happened here.”
My answer was never going to help.
She thrashed in my presence until her determination tore through the realm and ripped my being.
“Mary, stop! I cannot contain you this way because we are similar. I cannot fight myself, so do not fight me. I am not the enemy. It will not change this.”
“If you cannot change it, I will. I will take more and more of you until I have the power to bring him back.”
“You are not three years old, Mary. You are not near death. Do not fight me.”
“I am near death. My body is there and doesn’t move, and if you think for one minute I can live with this mistake you are wrong.”
She lunged for me and further disrupted the protective bubble of light we existed in. Pure tenacity and the hidden power she bore from her previous brush with death enabled her to take more than I could—or should—share.
She was never meant to capture so much of the essence the Creator gifted me.
“Mary, I cannot help you with anything if you do not stop your violence toward me. I will have to leave this place.”
“If you cannot bring him back, I don’t want you here.”
“Let me help you understand. The Destroyer is strong—”
“But the Creator is stronger. Isn’t that what you said? There were three of us on that mountain! Three against one. How did the Destroyer win?”
“There were choices, Mary.”
“You mean choice. One choice. My choice to not listen to Jacob and Char and leave the slope.”
“The Destroyer is tricky. We have lost a battle today. We have not lost the war.”
“This is not a battle! This is a person. My person. My Protector.” She wilted in my swirling embrace. “My love.”
“I know this is painful, Mary, but this is not the end for you. Jacob is well in this other realm. There may even be work he can do here. Take comfort in that.”
“There is no comfort.”
“I’m sorry Jacob is gone from your world, Mary.”
“That means nothing to me! Don’t you understand? What is the point of all this if we lose one of our own? Jacob is dead!”
“But you are alive, Mary.”
Rage vibrated in her chest and rippled through our space. “But Jacob is dead!” she screamed, and shook with such force she propelled herself out of the safety of my embrace and outside of my presence. As I reached for her, she burst through my calm atmosphere and straight through my being. She drew power from me as she split my energy field and pulled pieces of my being into her—just as she had as a child.
“Oh Mary…”
My pain for her loss was great and unbridled, but she could not hear me.
I had to leave her there.
Chapter 44
Mary
I awoke to the soft, mumbling voices of my parents.
My mother rushed to my side. “Thank God. She’s awake. Get the doctor.”
Everything ached.
I blinked a few times.
Jacob.
Char. Gavin. Jacob.
My body jerked. I couldn’t focus. A scream lay buried in my throat and tried to claw its way to the surface.
Bright light filled my eyes as panic strangled me.
Jacob!
“Looks good,” a white-coated guy said. “But we have to keep her calm.”
Sebastian was there, but I could not rest in him. The scent of his presence wafted to my nose, but nothing eased what my mind already knew and my heart, body, mind, and soul couldn’t handle.
I wasn’t ready to wake up.
I didn’t want to.
They tell me it was days.
Broken pelvis, internal injuries, lacerations…and more.
I heard things I didn’t understand.
There’s nothing neurologically wrong.
It takes time for the body to heal from this type of trauma.
No, her eye wasn’t like that.
I can get an ophthalmological consult, but there’s nothing to be concerned about.
She’ll wake up when she’s ready.
It was a terrible accident with severe injuries.
Wait. What?
“It wasn’t an accident,” I blurted, and tried to sit up. “Not an accident.”
My parents darted to my bedside and hovered in my face. A wash of emotion flooded my eyes and caused sharp pain in my chest and legs. My dry mouth cracked with each word I tried to form.
“No accident.”
My mother gently raised the bed and rubbed my arm and held my hand. Tears welled in her eyes. She pushed the call button.
“Jacob is dead,” I said.
“Yes,” she whispered.
“Char?”
“Banged up, but not as bad as you. She’s been released.”
“Gavin?”
“He’s home, honey. He went home the morning of the accident.”
“No, he didn’t. Didn’t Char tell you?”
My dad kissed my cheek and forehead and then fussed around to fluff pillows and move blankets. “You need to rest.”
“No. I’ve been resting for… How long have I been resting?”
“Three days.” My dad gave my mom a weird look. “The doctor said you should take your time.”
“I don’t want to take my time. Jacob is dead because Gavin tried to kill me.”
“There she is,” a nurse said as she bustled into the room and around the bed and checked plastic tubing. “Take it easy. First, the pain. Between one and ten, where are you?”
“Twelve, but who’s counting? Don’t knock me out again.”
My mom smiled. “She has a high tolerance for pain, but let’s keep it under control.”
“I’ll check with the doctor and then we’ll talk about some water or a popsicle or a cracker.”
