“Carter. Carter, where are you?” I whispered, feeling my heart sink to my feet.
I crept forward, peering anxiously at the crumbling walls and ceiling, debating how far to go. A strangled cry drew my attention. Smoke screened the person, but I heard the pain in their voice. I waved my hands in front of my face in an attempt to brush aside the smoke, the dust. Coughing, I scrambled over chunks of stone, trying to avoid injuring myself on debris.
“Hello!” I shouted in-between coughs. “Hello, who’s there? Where are you? Say something so I can follow your voice.”
“Help.” That was all the person said. I thought it was a man. “Help. Help me, please…”
The voice sounded faint. Weak. My worry increasing, I kept going, clambering over chunks of broken white stone, feeling my jeans rip and my knees and palms scrape and bleed.
“Help…”
I halted one more time to brush away smoke and dust. I saw an arm. Stone pinned it.
“I see you!” I cried. Spurred on, I scrambled over the rubble and crouched next to the arm. A hasty scan revealed a man’s body pinned beneath a beam and several hunks of stone that had fallen just so, encasing him in a tomb but not crushing him. Except for his arm. It looked bad, but I didn’t say that to him, leaning over the debris to meet his eyes, check his pulse, touch his face.
“Help me,” he pleaded. It was Charles, Mrs. Costas’ driver. It crossed my mind briefly to wonder where his employer was and what had happened, but now wasn’t the time. His eyes were large despite the gloom, and filled with pain. Terror. “I don’t want to die.”
“You’re not going to,” I reassured him, even though a bitter memory surfaced of him driving me out to that lonely spot on the country club grounds for me or Carter to die. I shoved the memory away.
Be bigger. Do the right thing.
His pulse was weak, but he was hanging in there. His arm was mangled. Blood leaked, seeping out from beneath the stone. I fumbled for my belt, sliding it out of the loops on my jeans. Pushing myself back up, I used it to snake a tourniquet around his upper arm, wrenching it as tight as I could. He might lose the arm, but hopefully not his life.
“I’m going to get someone to help you,” I said, starting to rise.
“No!” He thrashed violently. “Don’t go. Don’t leave me alone!”
“I’m not, I’m not,” I soothed, kneeling next to him again, putting my hand on his shoulder. I pressed gently to stop the thrashing. “I’m just going to find someone who can help you. I can’t get you out by myself. I can’t lift the stones. Be still for a second. I promise I won’t forget you, okay? I’ll be back.”
He didn’t look convinced. He looked half-panicked, but at least he didn’t flip out this time when I stood up. I looked left and right, all over the place, seeking desperately for someone to assist me. I would need a team of people to get the debris off Charles without hurting him. Either that, or one monstrously strong shapeshifter, like…
“Miss Ellie!”
“Javier!” I heard his heavy accent with relief, and spun to see him clambering through the mess, making his way toward me. “Javier, over here. Can you help?”
He picked his way quickly, carefully over to me.
“Charlie’s pinned,” I explained. “I need help getting him out. He needs an ambulance, a hospital, but we’ve got to get him out first.”
“Charlie.” Javier stood over the man whose ashen face practically gleamed in the dust, the smoke. His eyes had closed. He wasn’t moving. Not good. He was probably going into shock.
“You want me to help Charlie?” Javier now asked, turning to me. He was clearly puzzled. So was I, by the question.
“Yes, he needs help,” I said, dropping next to him on my knees. “We’ve got to get him out of here. Fast.”
“Mr. Charlie, he is helping Senora Costas. Senora Costas could not have done what she’s done without Charlie knowing. Assisting her. You know this, yes?”
I glanced up at him. Understanding dawned. I guess in his world, in the world of mafia-style gangs of shifters and their blood feuds, it was more understandable that I would walk away and let Charlie die than try to help him.
“I know,” I said quietly. “He was wrong. But it would be wrong to leave him here. And two wrongs don’t make a right.”
Javier still regarded me doubtfully, but he didn’t argue any further. Instead, he squatted next to me.
“I’ll move this one on his arm first,” he said. “When I pick it up, you move the arm. After his arm is free, we’ll get his body. I think I can move just a couple of stones if you can pull him out. Do you think you can?”
He looked me over. I knew I was small and slight. Carter had teased me often enough about it in the past.
“I’m tougher than I look,” I reassured him.
Javier allowed a tight smile. “Si. I think so. Okay. Here we go.”
No matter how many times I saw a human shift into their alter, it never ceased to amaze me. One second there was a perfectly normal human being in front of me. The next, a ripple fell across their face, their body, and instantly the human was gone, replaced by some creature from folklore, myth, or legend. In Javier’s case, he was a huge, hairy ape-man, much like the American stories of Bigfoot. A lot like Joab Blake, in fact, although the coloring of the fur was different.
I think I did okay at hiding my shock this time. I blinked, but my jaw didn’t drop open.
Hey, progress is progress.
Javier was huge and his power undeniable as he slid his leathery paws under the first stone pinning Charlie’s arm, picked it up, and tossed it aside like a pebble. I jumped in to carefully slide his arm out. Next, Javier, the Maricoxi, shifted his stance to where he was standing over Charles. He looked at me, his silvery-eyes gleaming out of his fur-lined face, and nodded towards his head. Guessing what he meant, I climbed over a hunk or two of stone until I was in a position to put my hands under the man’s armpits and drag him free once Javier had moved the debris. Working together, we freed him. Javier dropped the slab of marble with a grunt. Dust puffed up like a cloud, making me cough. Charles coughed too, weakly, trying to turn his head. Worried, I took off my jacket, flipped up the collar, and draped it over his chest, laying the collar lightly over his nose and mouth.
Off in the distance, I could hear the wails of sirens. Relief flooded me. Kneeling next to the wounded man’s head, I said, “Charles? I can hear the ambulance. They’ll be here in a minute. You hang on, okay? I’m going to see if anyone else needs help.”
His face was tight with fear, but he closed his eyes and nodded. I felt bad leaving him there, but he was as stable as I could get him under the circumstances. Someone else might need my help. Javier, still in his shifter form, trailed me as we clambered over the debris, hunting for more survivors. The entire time I was praying desperately that I wouldn’t find anyone. That nobody else had been in this part of the house, that no lives had been lost or bodies mangled. At the same time, my mind spun, trying to figure out what could have happened, what could have caused an explosion like this. And not merely an explosion. There had been fire. The mansion’s built-in sprinkler system had come on, helping extinguish the flames, but here and there tongues of flame still licked at the stones. Not finding much to consume, they were dying, but black scorch marks were everywhere.
Did a shifter do this? What kind?
There was no way for me to answer that question, and I hadn’t even begun trying to mentally list possible creatures when I heard an inarticulate cry. Pivoting, I spun to my left, seeing a glimpse of copper or bronze.
“Carter!” Relief, deep and desperate, flooded my soul. “Carter!” I shouted again. “I’m coming!” I tripped and scraped my knee, ripping my jeans a couple more times as I scrambled to make my way over. He was in a corner where a wall had caved in. I couldn’t distinguish much, except the gleam of bronze through the smoke, the murkiness. It took getting closer to see he was underneath some rubble.
My heart san
k even as my limbs moved faster.
“Carter, Carter are you okay?”
He didn’t answer. Finally, I was there and could see what had happened. There was a body in the rubble, a body he was using his own body—the Talos’ body—to shield. Not merely shield: he was straining to hold up a slab of marble, a slab that was sustaining an entire portion of wall. My mouth dropped at the incredible strength required to hold that wall. Even as my mouth dropped, his knees buckled. The marble slid, the wall groaned. Dust poured to the floor, filling the air.
“Carter!” I screamed, choking on the dust. I dashed forward—tried to. Too many impediments in the way. I don’t know what help I would have been anyway. It wasn’t like, as a mere human, I had the strength to help lift a chunk of marble.
I heard a growl from behind: an honest-to-goodness animal growl, then I felt myself grabbed by a powerful hand, or paw…whatever it was called, and dragged backwards.
“Move,” a voice demanded, a voice half-human, half-animal.
It was Javier. His enormous, hairy shape barreled past. Everything had happened in a second or two, although it felt like a lifetime as I watched the Talos’ knees buckle. Groaning, the Talos pushed off his thighs to raise the marble, keep it off the prone person on the floor. The next thing I knew, Javier was there. He stooped, reaching in long, hairy arms to toss a couple of debris chunks aside and snatch the body, dragging it to safety.
As soon as the person was clear, the Talos twisted and retreated a couple of slow, painful steps. I watched with my heart in my throat, desperate to help, but knowing I could do nothing except add more danger to the situation. As soon as he was clear, the Talos dropped the marble. The slab fell with a thunderous crash, and when it did, so did that section of wall. I heard my involuntary cry of dismay. A fresh plume of dust rose, thickening the air, clogging my nostrils, throat, nose. I waved my arm in front of my face in a futile effort to see.
And I saw a gleam of bronze, moving. Coming toward me.
“Carter!”
Forgetting everything else, I ran to him, clambering over rubble, refusing to stop until I was able to throw myself against him with a cry of relief. It did register that throwing myself against a bronze automaton might hurt a little, and it did. But at that moment I was so overcome with sheer relief that I didn’t care. I felt the current pass over his bronze body, and then the Talos was gone, and it was Carter, flesh-and-blood Carter, my husband, holding me.
“Carter, you’re okay.” I could hardly speak for the dust and tears congesting my throat.
“Ellie.”
By the tone of his voice, I knew something was wrong. Seriously wrong. I pulled back to look up into his face.
“Carter, what is it? What happened here? You’re not hurt…”
“Not me.” He stopped me before I could pursue that train of thought. “I’m fine. It wasn’t me. It was James.”
“James?” I felt my eyes widen with disbelief. Horror, even. “Is he…”
Carter’s face was sober, as grim as I’d ever seen. “He’s gone.”
It felt like the bottom had dropped out of the world.
Chapter Nineteen
“Gone? What do you mean, gone? You mean he’s dead?”
Either Ellie was hard of hearing, or stunned, or in shock. She was having a hard time comprehending the message.
“He’s dead, Ellie,” Carter repeated. “When the phoenix ignited, James was too close. The blast, the explosion, the fire…he was enveloped, Ellie. No way he could’ve survived. He’s gone.”
“The phoenix?” She looked confused. Switching topics, she gestured toward the body Javier had hauled out in the nick of time. “Who is that, if it isn’t James?”
“Sean,” Carter answered, grim. “He’ll make it. I think. I had just enough time to get in front of him. Shield him.”
She studied him, anxious. “You shielded him? With yourself? Honey, are you sure you’re okay?”
Her questing hands fluttered over his face, his neck, his shoulders like she was checking for injuries. Carter caught one hand. Bringing it to his mouth, he pressed a kiss to her palm. “I’ll be fine. I need to check on Sean.”
He let her go, making his way through the rubble to where Javier had placed their employer in a safe spot. Ellie followed, kneeling next to him. Carter didn’t have to ask or suggest that she check him. She already was. Her fingertips felt for a pulse, then gently probed the large lump on the side of his face next to his left eyebrow. She laid a hand on his chest, then an ear. She unbuttoned his shirt to examine the cut where blood was seeping out, staining the fabric.
Carter and Javier waited while she finished up by running her hands over his arms and legs, checking for broken bones. Finally she sat back, pushing her glasses further up the bridge of her nose.
“I can’t say for certain about a head injury without a CT scan, of course,” she said, “but I don’t see anything potentially life threatening right now. He could have a concussion, of course, but it looks like you did your job.” She nodded at Carter. “Hopefully, he’ll be fine. I heard sirens a minute ago. EMTs should be here soon. We’ll get him in the ambulance and get him to the hospital for further tests.”
“No.”
The word was so garbled that Carter didn’t even realize at first that Sean had spoken.
“Mr. Costas?” Ellie leaned over him. “Mr. Costas, can you hear me? How are you feeling?”
“Uh…like I was hit. Hit by a truck.”
His voice was breathy, laced with pain. He hadn’t opened his eyes, but he was coherent, answering questions. That was a good sign, right?
“Not a truck, but a piece of wall or ceiling, I think,” Ellie half-chuckled. “Carter took the brunt of it for you.”
“Carter?”
At this, Sean’s eyes opened to slits, rolled around, seeking him.
“I’m here.”
Carter knelt next to his wife on one knee, hovering over his boss.
“Get—get me out of here,” Sean said quietly, but his voice had firmed considerably.
Ellie shot Carter a look, shaking her head. “He needs to go to the hospital,” she mouthed.
Sean must’ve heard or discerned what Ellie was insisting on. “No hospitals,” he said. “No tests. No time for that. Need to get to Ciara. Need to stop her and Nosiz—Nosizwe before...”
“Mr. Costas.” Ellie broke in, her tone brooking no arguments. “That is not a good idea. You’ve been hit in the head. You need to make sure you don’t have a concussion or something more serious. A few tests won’t take that long. With your connections, I’m sure they can fast track you at the hospital.”
She said it drily. Carter knew Ellie’s personal opinion of Sean with his less-than-savory business enterprises and contacts wasn’t high, and that wasn’t even counting every questionable thing he’d done in his pursuit of protecting his shifter family.
“No time.” Sean tried to shake his head, but even that slight motion made him stop, groan.
“There is time,” Ellie insisted. “I’m sure the EMTs will agree. They’ll be here any second.”
As if she’d drawn them by her prediction, Carter heard a familiar female voice calling, “Ellie? Ellie, where are you? Are you okay?”
“Detective Ewing!” Ellie stood up, waving an arm. Flashlight beams caught the motion. Dark figures headed their way.
“We have help,” the detective shouted. “Are you hurt?”
“I’m not, but we do need some help over here.”
Carter edged aside as the two police detectives he’d left Ellie with this morning approached through the curtain of dust and smoke that was finally beginning to clear. With them were an older man and a younger woman in uniforms, both carrying medical equipment. Behind them trailed a line of emergency personnel: firefighters, police, the sheriff’s office, and more paramedics and EMTs. They dispersed, spreading over the scene, working to regain control of the situation. It crossed Carter’s mind that he’d eventually have
to give an account of what had occurred. Trying to explain about shapeshifters and a phoenix being responsible for this mess wouldn’t go over well. Shoot. He’d think of something. In the end, they’d never be able to prove him wrong anyway, and no crime had been committed by anyone that was still here. Ciara and Darla were both long gone.
His focus shifted to the present as medical personnel approached, kneeling next to Sean. “This is the home owner, Sean Costas,” Ellie explained, kneeling beside them. Briefly, she explained that she was a nursing student and told them what she’d gleaned in her cursory examination. They took it into account, nodding, asking a few questions as they checked vitals.
Carter wasn’t surprised when they tried to insist Sean needed to visit the hospital and have tests run to ensure there were no hidden injuries, just like Ellie had wanted. Neither was he surprised when Sean refused. By this point, his employer was coming to, speaking clearly and coherently, able to answer questions and put his foot down on a hospital visit. With the assistance of the male police detective, he sat up, and, honestly, looked little worse for the wear, to Carter. He’d known already what Sean’s decision would be, so he kept to the background, observing, keeping an eye also on the emergency workers handling the scene while Sean was being attended to.
After a few more minutes of discussion, the lead paramedic finally said, “Well, sir, it’s your decision. We can’t force you to go. I would strongly recommend you have someone nearby for the next couple of days that can drive you to the hospital or call us in case it’s needed. I’m not saying it will be, but it could. Will you do that, at least?”
“I’ll be with him,” Carter spoke up. “I work for him.”
No further explanations. The paramedic looked him over as if noticing him for the first time. He raised an eyebrow at the missing shirt, but didn’t ask. Turning back to Sean, he said, “Take it easy. Nothing too strenuous for the next couple of days, okay?”
Repairer of the Breach (Stones of Fire Book 4) Page 13
