Lone Wolf

by Karen Whiddon

  Hope, she reflected as he lifted his head and moved away, was a beautiful and wondrous thing.

  He pulled back onto the road, and they headed into Alpine.

  A thorough search of that town revealed much the same as it had in Marfa. Some curious locals, a lot of brightly dressed tourists and quaint scenery. In other words, nothing.

  For Beck’s sake, they stopped at a local burger joint, where he ordered two double cheeseburgers and fries and proceeded to demolish all of them while she watched, amused.

  Dusk had not yet fallen by the time they’d driven to Mitchell Flat. The tourist turnoff had begun to fill up with cars in preparation for the night and the hope of seeing the famous lights.

  Renee and her entourage were already there, waiting. They’d spread a blanket on the ground, claiming a spot.

  Eli ran up to greet them, chattering excitedly about eating ice cream and a burger.

  “I had a burger, too.” Beck ruffled his hair. “It was so good, I ate two.”

  Eli grinned, admiration shining in his bright blue eyes.

  As Renee motioned them over, he followed Beck, staring up at him with adoration.

  “You’ve gained a fan, shifter,” Renee said wryly.

  Beck lowered himself to the ground, pulling Eli to sit next to him. Marika took his other side.

  “Tell me about Dani.” She touched the little boy’s arm. “I miss my little girl so much.”

  He gazed up at her, clearly puzzled. “What should I tell you?”

  “Just stuff.” She gave him a sheepish smile. “Stuff moms want to know. What was her day like? Does she get to have fun, to play? Is she getting enough to eat?”

  Nodding, his expression thoughtful, he studied her. When he finally spoke, rather than answering one of her questions, he offered his own observation. “Well, she was always singing.”

  “Singing?” She frowned. “What do you mean?”

  “It was a puzzle,” Eli said thoughtfully. “We all tried to figure out what song it was. She always sang the same thing. She kept singing about a little red caboose, over and over.”

  Stricken, Marika raised her hand to her mouth. She knew. The others watched while she fought emotion and gathered her composure. When she thought she had herself under control, she slowly lifted her head and began singing.

  It was a children’s song, about a caboose behind a train, one she’d sung to her little girl a thousand times. She sang it with the ease of long practice, her voice lilting even though tears streamed down her cheeks.

  “That’s it.” Eli sprang to his feet, facing her. Excitement colored his voice and lit up his pale blue eyes. “That’s the one Dani sang all the time. How did you know?”

  “We used to sing it together,” Marika said, her chest aching. “It’s her favorite song.”

  Now Beck stood, circling around them restlessly. “I think I know how to find Dani,” he declared.

  “What?” They all turned to stare at him, Eli and Renee, and of course, Marika, who refused to allow herself to hope and frowned instead.

  “Don’t say something like that unless you mean it.”

  “Marika.” He leaned in close, never taking his gaze from hers. “I do mean it. I really think I know how to find Dani.”

  Jerking back as if he’d slapped her, she glared at him. “Not funny.”

  “I’m not joking.”

  In an instant she went from furious to quivering with eager anticipation. Balancing on the balls of her feet, she grabbed his shirt, yanking him closer. “Where is she then? If you truly know, then tell me now.”

  Raising a brow, he unfisted her hands from his shirt. “Easy. Take it easy.”

  She rocked back, chagrined. “Sorry. Still, to say some thing like that… You had to know what such a statement would do to me, how I’d feel. Now, tell me what you meant. Do you really think you know Dani’s location?”

  He gave her a gentle smile. “Not exactly.”

  When she opened her mouth to protest, he silenced her with a quick touch of his fingers against her lips. “I didn’t say I knew where she was, but how to find her. Two different things.”

  She nodded, realizing that he wasn’t deliberately being mysterious, just trying to gather his fragmented thoughts into a cohesive whole.

  A tiny spark of hope flared inside her. Still, she waited, aware of Renenet and Eli watching them also. Staring at him, she kept her expression tentative, as if she didn’t dare to hope, as if showing any emotion at all would be sorely tempting fate.

  The silence stretched on until it became unbearable.

  “Well?” she asked softly. “If you have something to say, then speak.”

  “Even if it’s only a theory?”

  “Yes. Right now we have few ideas and precious little to go on. Give me your theory. It can’t hurt.”

  He cleared his throat. “If they are indeed on the move, heading toward Brigid’s, I think Dani’s looking for you.”

  “Of course she is.” She didn’t bother to keep the impatience from her voice. “She’s been calling me ever since they took her away.”

  “But she has no way to locate you.”

  “And?” Marika crossed her arms.

  “So sing to her. She’s been trying to find you. Let her use the song.”

  “Like a homing beacon?”

  “Exactly.” Leaning in, he gave her a quick kiss, clearly able to see her hesitation. “What have you got to lose?”

  “True, that.” She took a deep breath and began singing, increasing the volume as her voice warmed.

  A moment later, Eli joined in.

  Marika held out her hand and he took it.

  As she sang, she tried to project her voice, waiting for her daughter to connect.

  Nothing.

  Only her voice and the boy’s, together with the approach of the darkness.

  Some of the humans gathering in their own groups around them stared. Marika ignored them, continuing her song.

  A moment later, Beck took her other hand and joined in, his deep baritone blending perfectly with hers.

  Only Renenet and her two escorts abstained. They did their part though, staring down any humans who appeared about to protest. They looked so dangerous and so menacing, that none did.

  Somewhere between the fifth and sixth rendition, darkness fell, swift and black and merciless. The restless crowd stilled and grew silent, yet Marika, Eli and Beck continued to sing.

  From the distance, echoing off the flat, cooling desert and mysterious mountains, came a foreign sound, haunting and beautiful, as though the angels blew a magical flute to accompany the song.

  “They come,” Renenet whispered, staring at the darkening purple of sky. “Silence now,” she said, taking Marika’s arm.

  Marika ignored her, continuing the song. Glancing at Beck, she wondered if he could hear their daughter singing.

  Hope is found in unlikely places. The phrase kept echoing through her head as she stared at the flat plain in the growing darkness. When darkness came this far from civilization, it came like a violent death—sudden and swift, with no method of escape. The lights the gathered humans had come to see were the exception.

  A single flash of gold, far off on the distant horizon, resembled molten heat lightning. Swift and violent, this couldn’t be the perfect spheres those gathered had come to see.

  Then the first ball of light appeared, startlingly close.

  For the first time, Marika’s voice faltered. Eli went silent, too, and a moment later, so did Beck.

  More lights flashed into existence, increasing in both number and size.

  Awestruck, the humans murmured.

  “It’s them,” Eli said, squeezing her hand so tightly it hurt. “They’re coming.”

  “Who?” Marika asked, almost afraid to hope. “Is it the children, or are they still on their way to Brigid?”

  “Both.” The boy sounded wise beyond his years. “They detoured this way because of your singing. Your song
drew Dani, and, because she’s the most powerful, the others let her lead the way.”

  “The lights, what are they?”

  “Beacons to light their way. Sometimes we griffons use them as a method of travel.” He grinned, reminding her he was still a child. “It’s fun.”

  “So you think Dani is inside these lights?”

  He nodded, still grinning. “I don’t think it. I know. If you listen, you can hear her calling you.”

  Fairly vibrating with impatience, Marika strained to calm herself enough to try, but her restlessness made her incapable of standing still.

  “Do you hear?” He peered up at her, expectation shining in his face.

  “No.” She glanced at Beck. “What about you?”

  He cocked his head. “I hear faint singing. The same song as earlier.”

  “That’s her!” Eli jumped up and down with undisguised joy. “She knows you’re here. She’s on her way.”

  Marika exchanged a glance with Beck. Her daughter—their daughter—finally.

  She took a step forward and realized that she and Beck’s hands were still linked. He moved with her, and in accord they began walking away from the others, skirting the low fence and climbing between the slats, skidding down one gully and back up another, walking toward the softly glowing lights. Walking toward their daughter. Toward Dani.

  Behind them, several humans called out. “Where are you going? You’re not supposed to go past the boundary. Wait. Come back.”

  They ignored them, confident Renee and her crew would deter any who might be foolish enough to follow.

  The closer they came, the larger and brighter the hovering spheres appeared.

  Suddenly, something blocked them. An invisible wall. Magic.

  This could only mean one thing.

  “Brigid?” Marika gasped. “Not now, not here. Not when we’re so close.”

  “Fight it,” Beck urged. “She has power, but yours is stronger. And she must be doing this from a distance.”

  True. The knowledge that he was correct gave her impetus. Pushing forward, she shoved against the invisible barricade with one hand, holding on to Beck with the other.

  The wall fell away.

  As they moved forward, three shapes flashed from the darkness to block them.

  Brigid and two others had arrived.

  Hands still linked, without hesitation Marika pushed past them.

  “The children are mine,” Brigid snarled. She raised her hand and sent a tidal wave of power at them, pushing them to the ground. Marika fought, struggling to regain her body, but try as she might, she couldn’t move.

  The instant Brigid knocked them down, Beck knew the battle of the century had arrived. From somewhere, he found enough of a reserve of strength to drag his free hand to his pocket and press the GPS alert button on his cell phone. When he’d been a Protector, they’d called that the 911 button, to be used only in a life-threatening situation. Pressing it guaranteed immediate help would be dispatched.

  Meanwhile, the hovering lights drifted closer. Dani’s childish voice still echoed in his head.

  “I won’t allow you to take her,” Marika spoke, gritting her teeth and straining against the invisible bounds. “Beck and I will fight you.”

  “Beck?” Brigid’s sharp laugh felt painful on his ears. “I will take him, too. I can use him to mate with others and create more children like yours.”

  Somehow, Beck pushed words out of his locked mouth. “Over my dead body.”

  “If it comes to that.” The ancient vampire sounded unruffled. “I don’t need all of you to make a child. Just one part.”

  Roaring with rage, Beck tried to push himself to his feet, without success.

  His Herculean effort didn’t go unnoticed.

  “Don’t move.” Brigid sent another shot of power at him, flattening him on the ground. “If you try that again, I will squash you like an insect.”

  More shapes materialized out of the darkness. Hundreds of them. From his prone position, Beck couldn’t fully study them, but he could tell enough to know there were both vampires and shifters assembling.

  Good. When the Protectors arrived to help him, maybe they’d have some allies. Assuming Simon sent them.

  The glowing orbs continued to drift closer, until they hovered right above them. More appeared, until the night sky filled with them, appearing more golden than black, and lighting up the plateau as though by lightbulbs.

  A flash of gold bathed them, and suddenly, Brigid’s spell fell away and Beck could move. Scrambling to his feet, he helped Marika up.

  In the distance came the sound of a helicopter.

  Reinforcements.

  “The Protectors are on their way,” he told Marika. “We’ll need all the help we can get.”

  Clearly furious, Brigid’s mouth worked soundlessly. Seeing she couldn’t speak, one of the other vampires spoke. “You’ll start another shifter-vampire war. Are you prepared for the repercussions of that?”

  “If anyone starts a war, it’ll be you.” Marika faced her nemesis. Bathed in the golden glow, she appeared stronger, more powerful.

  “I only want what’s mine,” Brigid snarled.

  “There’s nothing of yours here.” Soft-voiced, Marika moved away, tugging Beck with her toward where a group of the largest globes of light were lowering themselves to the ground.

  Heart pounding in his chest, he stood with her, hand in hand, watching as the glowing lights solidified and became still.

  “She’s here,” the vampires spoke softly. “She’s ours.” The timbre of their voices irritated Beck like nails scraping a chalkboard.

  “She can change.” Among themselves, the late-arriving shifters muttered. Several gave suspicious looks to the other beings. None of them was used to working with or even coexisting with so many other species. “Because she can change, she’s ours.”

  “She’s not yours,” Beck said. “She’s our daughter, a little girl.”

  “She’s all these things,” Eli spoke, surprising them. He and Renenet approached. Unafraid, the young boy glanced around him at all the assembled beings. “This is a historic day.”

  Historic day? Beck cared nothing about any of that. He’d been denied too long—two long years, seven-hundred and thirty days had passed without him meeting his daughter. He’d heard her crying, felt her pain resonating inside his own heart, and he knew he could bring much to enhance Dani’s existence.

  Wisdom, steadiness, guidance and love. Most of all, love. A family. Everything he’d always wanted, everything he’d always secretly longed for but never dreamed he’d have.

  “Call her,” Eli said. “Call Dani out of the sphere.”

  As Marika opened her mouth, Beck squeezed her hand.

  “Not with words. Sing to her,” he told Marika, continuing to grip her hand. “Sing to all of them. Sing them home.”

  The approaching chopper grew closer. The globes continued to brighten, their glow intensifying.

  Marika began to sing, her voice clear and strong. She sang the same children’s tune about the red caboose, unwavering and lilting, a mother singing to her little girl.

  One of the globes shattered, a soundless explosion of sparkling light. A tiny girl stood there, peering out at the surrounding crowd, frowning as she concentrated. Her jet-black hair fell straight to her shoulders, and Beck saw both himself and Marika in her perfect features.

  “Mama!” she squealed and began running.

  Marika met her halfway, scooping her up and lifting her high above her head. “Dani!” She hugged her close, tears streaming down her cheeks. “Oh, baby, I’ve missed you so much.”

  Watching this joyful reunion, a wave of emotion hit him, so strong it made Beck stagger, nearly sending him to his knees.

  His mate. Their child.

  Family.

  A gust of wind ruffled his hair as the helicopter hovered over them. An instant later, the huge chopper began to land, setting down in a field just beyond the gath
ering of lights.

  The assembled crowd began to murmur among them selves, shifting restlessly. Yet they didn’t disperse. Instead, they continued to line the outskirts of the meadow, vampires alongside shifters, all of them watching and waiting. For what? War to break out?

  And the Marfa lights grew brighter. Then, one by one, the bubbles and spheres began to disintegrate, until eleven more children stood where the lights had been.

  Oblivious, Marika rained kisses on their daughter’s face.

  It was Dani who slowly turned, her huge brown eyes finding Beck. Her bottom lip quivered as she stared.

  “Man, Mama.” She pointed to Beck.

  Hugging her close, Marika smiled. “That’s your daddy, honey. Daddy.”

  “Daddy?”

  Hearing her say the word in her sweet, childish voice brought tears to his eyes.

  Afraid to hope, terrified of being rebuffed, nonetheless, he held out his arms. “Come see Daddy, sweetheart.”

  Dani hesitated. Then, after her mother gave her an encouraging smile, she flew across the few feet that separated them, throwing herself into his arms. “Daddy!”

  Holding her, Beck wept.

  Her raven hair was soft and wavy, exactly as his had been as a young pup. She smelled of powder and some kind of citrus fruit, oranges maybe. She felt solid and strong and so very small and perfect in his arms.

  A strangled curse from Marika made him look up.

  Blades still softly whirling, the helicopter had completed its landing.

  Beck slowly stood, giving Dani a little push to send her back to her mother. As he watched, three men jumped from the chopper, armed with assault rifles, crouched low, and began running toward them.

  Chapter 15

  Beck tensed, wishing like hell he had his gun.

  From the corner of his eye he saw Brigid, raising her arm to send a sizzling jolt of her magic fast at them.

  As she did, a second later, he recognized one of the men.

  “Simon!” He instinctively started forward at the exact moment that Brigid unleashed her power, full force. Beck took the brunt of the hit in the back. Meant for three men—no, three shifters—it roared through him, tearing him apart, ripping him up. The pain was swift and agonizing, but in the dim recesses of his consciousness, he knew he’d survive. Shifters could only be killed by fire or silver, and on top of that, he’d found his mate and held their daughter in his arms and looked into her eyes. For that reason alone, he’d find the strength to heal. He refused to die. He would live, damn it.