Winter's Wrath: Sacrifice (Winter's Saga #3)

by Karen Luellen

“Hey, Meg?”

  “Yeah, mom?”

  “I’m so thankful to see you feeling better.” She smiled widely and as she did her eyes glistened with emotion.

  Meg nodded, feeling her love warming her heart. She crossed the room quickly and wrapped her in a big hug, burying her face in the crook of her mother’s neck, just as she did when she was a little girl. Margo smelled like home. Meg held her for a moment, basking in the glow of her unconditional maternal love. “I love you, mom.”

  “I love you, too, Meggie,” she cooed.

  “I don’t ever want to let you down,” Meg confessed. “I don’t want to let the family down.”

  “Oh, little one. You’ve always felt the need to take on so much. There is nothing you could ever do that would stop me from loving you.” She kept her strong hands on Meg’s shoulders even as she pulled back to look her in the eyes. “You are my daughter, my breath, my heartbeat. Don’t you see? You and your brothers—you gave my life meaning.”

  “But what if I mess up? What if I’m not strong enough to keep us safe? All I am is a stupid, emotional girl. I’m an enormous ball of useless mush—even my evolved gift weakens me.”

  “You listen to me, young lady,” Margo’s brows furrowed with the gravity of what she was trying to make her daughter understand, “there is nothing ‘weak’ about you! Nothing! Don’t you ever, for one moment, think feeling emotion is a weakness. Your strength comes from your emotions. You feel everything—passionately. You’ll learn how to harness that passion into a ferocious strength, and with that strength, you will level anyone who dares threaten your family!”

  Meg stared into the crisp flashes of fury glistening in her mother’s eyes and nodded slowly.

  Margo’s eyes softened with nostalgia. “I didn’t know one thing about taking care of babies when I first brought you and your brothers into hiding. Did you know you taught me? You showed me how to know what the boys needed. You taught me how to hold you, even taking my soldier’s calloused hand in your soft, pudgy one and wrapping my arms around you. And when I was worried or anxious, you always knew. You knew when any of us needed you, and you would come to me and snuggle in my neck—freely offering your gentle comfort.

  “You have always taken care of all of us, Meggie. Don’t you see? It’s your emotions, your God-given gift of empathy, that is not only a fierce strength in itself, but even more powerful because of the strength your love unlocks in those around you. You aren’t an emotional superconductor, little girl.” She shook her head. “You are a generator, a power source—with the limitless ability to summon the best in everyone around you.” The woman who gave up everything to be Meg’s mother stood emotionally bare and raw in front of her.

  “My tiny, dark-eyed baby girl—” her voice echoed with memories as she brushed errant curls away from her daughter’s cheek. “You have been my strength, Meg. Open yourself to the truth of who you are. Pray about it. Ask for strength and wisdom. Don’t be afraid of being an angel of healing. And don’t think God expects you to fight with flowers and fluff.

  “You are a warrior—lethal, brave and loyal. There is a balance between the angel and the gladiator. You are both. The two parts of you are not exclusive—each side of you only strengthens the other. There is so much I see in you, daughter. See yourself through my eyes.”

  Margo closed her eyes and rested her forehead against Meg’s. Effortlessly, her daughter’s empath gift channeled into her mother’s emotions. Her emotional signature was absolutely beautiful. She was Texas skies blue, yellow sunlight bursting through and she smelled of cinnamon and crisp apples. Every word she spoke was her truth. She showed Meg, Alik, and Evan her pure love. She wrapped them in her devotion and determination.

  She showed little Meg curled up in her arms rocking back and forth, her small toddler’s body snuggled as close as they could be—her plump arms wrapped tightly around her mother’s neck, breathing slowly together in the glow of the moonlight. Then she showed her an image of Meg now. She saw her as a winged warrior. She saw a light inside her bursting through her skin. That image seared her mind brightly—causing Meg to gasp with the strength of the vision.

  She didn’t know how much time had passed before she felt Margo pull away from her. Her mother’s face was wet with tears, as was Meg’s. “Now you see.”

  “Yes, I see.” She pulled her closer for a hug. Margo’s image of Meg as the glowing winged warrior was superimposing onto the real world around her

  She hugged her back. They stood in content silence, both feeling so blessed.

  “Um…am I interrupting something?” Theo’s voice called from the other side of the kitchen.

  Margo and Meg stepped back from each other and smiled sheepishly as they wiped tears away from their eyes.

  “No, I think we’re good. Right, Meggie?”

  “Yeah, we’re good.”

  Theo looked back and forth between the mother and daughter. “Okay, well, I just wanted to get more coffee…and I kinda missed you,” he grinned at Margo.

  Margo rolled her eyes toward her longtime love, then looked back at her daughter and said, “Men!”

  Meg grinned. “I’m just going to head out for that run, now.”

  “Okay, kiddo,” Margo said casually passing Theo the creamer from the fridge.

  “Oh, and mom?”

  “Hum?”

  “Thank you.”

  “No, Meggie. Thank you.”

  She nodded, nudged Maze to get up and walked out the back door, closing it securely behind her.

  Once outside, she took a deep breath of the fresh air and thought back to the image her mother gave her, then compared that to the vivid nightmare Meg had back on the plane where she had clipped her own wings. Coincidence? Was my dream trying to tell me something? Absently, Meg reached over her shoulder and felt her back. She chuckled to herself when her hands just grazed over her smooth skin.

  “Maybe it’s metaphorical,” she said to Maze. Maybe I’m supposed to let myself free to feel and experience my gifts and not hold myself back with doubt and fear. Maybe this is the sign I was waiting for.

  The day was already warming up as she began a slow jog. Wishing she had thought to grab a bottle of water from the fridge, Meg shrugged to herself and took off down her worn path. Maze whined slightly and looked out over the brush for a moment, holding stock still and sniffing the wind.

  “Do you smell something interesting, buddy?” she called over her shoulder. Not hearing the padding of his paws, she turned and jogged backward watching him, following his gaze. There, on a distant hill, stood another coyote. She blended perfectly with the world around her. Her eyes were large, intelligent and curious. Unlike Maze’s yellow, this creature’s eyes were green, her coat more dirty blonde colored where Maze was silver. Her nose quivered as she studied the breeze. She held perfectly still watching Maze’s every move.

  “Hey Maze. Just ‘cause I’m have relationship troubles, doesn’t mean you have to. Go be a gentleman and introduce yourself,” Meg teased in a low voice so as not to startle the wild coyote watching them.

  She watched her coyote trying to make his decision—sniffing the air himself, eyes yearning to run after her.

  He snorted loudly and turned to look at Meg.

  “Go on then,” she said, happy at the idea of Maze finding a friend.

  Maze blinked at Meg again before turning back to the other coyote and began trotting slowly toward her. She smiled at the way she pranced happily and yipped softly as he approached.

  The meta turned away and continued running up the path alone, imagining her best friend finding a little canine happiness.

  Chapter 30 Much Recovered

  “Want to race me?”

  “You serious?”

  “As a heart attack.”

  “Too chicken to spar?”

  “I’ll take anything you’re willing to dish out.”

  “Alik hasn’t taught you everything, you know.”

  “He’s taught me en
ough.”

  “He says you’re pretty good, you know.”

  “Flattery will get you everywhere.”

  Meg smiled even as her legs pumped. The morning sunlight sparkled off Cole’s mischievous grin. Being so much taller than her, his strides were longer, so she had to work harder to keep up, but that didn’t bother her. She loved running with Cole. They’d taken to working out together daily over the past week. So content was she just to be with him, they didn’t even need to talk during their time together.

  Realizing how close he was to death just two months ago still got her heart racing, but most of the time, Meg wouldn’t let herself think of how close he was to being lost to the darkness. Having been able to sleep a full seven hours every night, thanks to Evan’s sleeping pills, had helped her tremendously. The Williams’ induced nightmares were gone and in their place, Meg dreamed.

  Sometimes she dreamed of Cole. Sometimes she dreamed of the winged warrior her mother saw in her glowing with the internal light just as she did in the vision Margo fed her through the empath connection. Then sometimes Meg dreamed of her avenging angel, Creed, but she told no one of those dreams. Those were private. It’s amazing how clearly she could think now that she was rested, hydrated and fed. And having Cole by her side, smiling at her the way he was just then, made her almost forget the monster hunting them. Almost.

  “Okay, let’s race,” Meg grinned, “first one to the barn wins.”

  “You’re on! Ready, set, go!” Cole bolted down the gravel path making it look like he’d been holding way back to keep pace with her.

  Oh, hell no! she thought and pushed herself to hold right at his heels, laughing.

  The pair sprinted side by side for a while before he pulled ahead with a burst of strength. She pushed herself harder and kept up out of sheer stubbornness. Meg loved the feel of the wind against her face, pulling her hair back and making her eyes water. She loved the tugs she felt in her muscles as she pumped her arms and legs harder. This was sheer joy! By the time the pair leaned out to touch the barn door Meg was smiling so widely her teeth were windblown dry and her cheeks hurt, but she didn’t care. Cole and Meg slapped the door at the same moment, breathing hard and laughing at each other as they leaned over to catch their breath.

  Cole’s green eyes were laughing beautifully when his body spun in a strange dance before he hit the floor unmoving.

  Meg stared in confused horror as she watched his eyes flutter closed even as she flew to the gravel at his side. On her knees, leaning over screaming at Cole, she was oblivious of the pain of gravel digging into her skin when she felt herself hit. The last thought she remembered having before she was flung across Cole’s body was, Oh God, please take care of my family.

  Chapter 31 Let the Bodies Hit the Floor

  “Sir, everyone has been tranq’ed, including the coyote. The area is secured,” Slider nodded to the bodies lying on the floor of the living room. The furniture had been shoved to the walls to give everyone enough room. Creed pursed his lips together making a tight line. Gavil risked a glance at his brother, silently willing him to stay strong and stick to the plan. At least he was doing well not to stare at the body of the girl. Gavil knew it must be killing him to see her sprawled on the ground, vulnerable.

  He forced himself to stop seeing images of her lying on the ground smiling up at him as he ran his fingers through her red hair. His chest tightened painfully at the memory.

  “Let’s see who we have here,” Gavil’s voice remained steady, though his emotions were fighting around the spasms of his bleeding heart.

  Lacing his fingers behind his back he paced the floor. “These three have the identifying infinite symbol branded into them—they’re the stolen assets. They come with us,” he nodded toward Meg, Alik and Evan all of which had been laid beside one another at the far end of the room.

  He continued, “This is Farrow Schone—she was the Director’s personal assistant. She even has the ink in her arm M440. Who the hell knows what she’s doing here. I’ll let the Director decide what to do with her; she comes, too.”

  “This guy is huge. He looks like a meta, but he has no markings. I’m betting he has something in him. We may as well bring him,” Gavil motioned to Cole’s body.

  “These two,” Gavil stopped walking and looked down at the bodies of Margo and Theo. “The female is the thief, Margo Winter. The guy must be her boyfriend; poor sucker.”

  “Slider, how long will they be out?” Gavil asked his second-in-command. He was one of only six who survived the battle on the island against this group. “The tranqs should work for at least an hour on the metas, the humans will be out for at least six.”

  Gavil nodded, thinking. Around the room stood fifteen trigger happy soldiers, not including himself or his brother. This was not going to be easy, but it had to be done.

  “You six, I need a word with you outside. You good, Young?” Gavil called to his brother, sharp eyes aware of the pistols in his belt.

  “Good,” Creed glanced at his brother and in that moment, they sealed their fate—depending on each other to follow through with what was feeling more and more like a half-assed plan.

  The moment the door shut behind Gavil, Creed started counting down from ten, his keen eyes monitoring every movement of the soldiers in the room with him. 9, 8, 7…

  He knew which of them were the most dangerous and the element of surprise would only give him an advantage for a second or two before they returned fire. 6, 5, 4…

  Creed moved as far from the innocent bodies as he could, anxious they would be caught in the crossfire. 3, 2…

  He moved nearest the thickest piece of furniture he could find away from the bodies, reached with both hands into his belt and with the speed of his enhanced meta skills, instinctively fired at the metahumans. He had no time to think about the moral lines he was crossing during his flight to Texas. All he knew was he needed to protect Meg.

  This is the only way, he thought as he squeezed the triggers in both hands in opposite directions. With each body that hit the ground, he watched the remaining soldiers scramble to arm themselves, uselessly. The semiautomatic Para 9 spewed bullets with deadly accuracy in Creed’s hands. Not one of the soldiers returned fire during the twenty seconds it took Creed to end their nine lives.

  As was the plan, Creed marched directly out the door Gavil had just exited to be sure he accomplished his task as smoothly.

  Looking around in the midmorning sunlight, Creed sensed something was wrong. It was too quiet.

  Fighting his instinct to yell for his brother, he crouched low and tried to assess the situation. Five bodies were on the ground, none of them Gavil. One soldier was unaccounted for. Creed crept around the side of the house and scanned the area. Just then he heard gunfire and ducked behind the wall in time to see mortar fly in front of him.

  “Gavil!” Creed yelled.

  “What the hell? Whose side are you on?” The voice yelled back.

  “Where’s my brother?”

  “Here,” Creed heard Gavil’s voice choke

  “Drop your weapon, asshole or I’ll finish Gavil,” the voice barked.

  “What’s your name?” Creed called back.

  “Are you out of your damn mind?” The voice screamed back.

  “Maybe. I don’t know. Just tell me your name.”

  “Slider Reznikov”

  “Slider, how long have you been at the Facility?”

  “What the hell kind of question is that?”

  “Gavil and I have been there our whole lives. I don’t remember life before it. Williams has controlled us our whole lives. We want out. That’s what we’re doing. Are you with us or against us?”

  “Why the hell are you giving me a choice? You didn’t give the others a choice.”

  “The others didn’t have a gun to my brother’s head,” Creed growled.

  Slider was silent as he contemplated what was happening.

  “How do I know you’re not going to just off me
the second I drop my weapon?”

  “You have my word.”

  “Your word is shit.”

  “My word is all I have left to give.” Creed had been slowly walking around the wall he’d ducked behind moments before, empty hands held out in the universal sign of peace. He locked eyes with the metasoldier called Slider and stood still giving him time to think. Gavil was thrown to the ground, face down. Slider’s knee was in his back, gun held to the back of his head.

  Slider seemed to be weighing his options. Creed could read the intelligence behind his light-brown eyes and respected it. He just hoped he could turn this worthy adversary into an ally.

  “Don’t mind me,” Gavil glared from his face-plant position at his brother. “I enjoy having a gun pinned to my head.”

  Ignoring is former leader, Slider’s eyes never left Creed. “What’s your plan?”

  “The people in there,” Creed jerked his head back toward the room in which the Winter family lay incapacitated. “They are good people. They only wanted to be left alone, but Williams had a personal score he wanted to settle with the female scientist. How much of the story do you already know?”

  “Just what I read in the dossier.”

  “Yeah, I read that too, and I can tell you it’s shit. What it didn’t tell you is the most important part. Yes, Margo took the units from the Institute in California all those years ago. But what it didn’t tell you is why. She saved them, Slider. The metas in that room were the first to survive the testing. Don’t you get it? Williams killed dozens of babies—using them as human guinea pigs before perfecting his Infinite serum. He performed experiments on these helpless kids, toyed with their lives and when their frail bodies gave up and he broke them to the point of death, he just threw them away like garbage only to start his fun on a fresh human child.

  “Dr. Winter in there saw what he was doing to those children and risked everything to save them. It was shitty growing up at the Facility. We’ve always been treated like expendables. We’re given orders and beaten into submission. We’re pitted against one another to keep from forming attachments. We’re brain-washed into thinking there is no other way to live, that no one in the real world gives a shit about us or worse, Williams tells us the humans want to destroy us because we’re different—advanced. Slider, dude, none of that shit is true.