Into the Fire

by Victoria Smith

  “Fuck! Go!” Luke shouted. “I think we can outrun them.”

  They couldn’t. The guards caught up with them when they were almost clear. One grabbed the back of Matt’s neck, lifting him off the ground and tossing him against the guard shack. Dazed, Matt got to his feet and shook off the dizziness. Luke was surrounded by three guards.

  Two held his arms, the other wielded a long-bladed knife. Matt dove into the middle, kicking one of the guards in the chest. As he staggered backward, Luke twisted and knocked the other guard off balance.

  The guy with the knife advanced on Luke, swinging wildly and striking his upper arm with the tip of the blade. Matt pushed him out of the way as the guard swung the knife from the bottom and caught the blade in Matt’s stomach.

  ~ ~ ~

  Jillian stood, the foul taste of poison on her tongue and pretended to stagger under the effects of the drug. She placed her hands on the table and turned her head, mouthing to Theo to get the others into the SUV. Theo’s eyes were big, and he gave no indication he understood. Damn.

  At least she’d positioned herself close to the door. She straightened, pulling the pistol out of the holster under her jacket. Miller appeared confused, but Gloria stepped back with her hands up, her breath coming in hard, deep gasps.

  “I had no choice. They made me.” She dropped to her knees.

  “Antidote into everyone,” Jillian said to her contact.

  “You’re the only one who needs the antidote.” Gloria’s panic changed to a bitter smile.

  Jillian checked the others. No one showed signs of poisoning. “Theo, get everyone into the truck. Now. What did you tell them?” Jillian stepped forward, placing the barrel of the gun against the woman’s temple.

  “Nothing. I swear.”

  “Bullshit. You don’t drug someone for kicks. What did you tell them?” She pressed the barrel into the woman’s skin.

  “You should be on the floor by now.” Gloria took a deep breath, losing the cowardly demeanor. “Everything. They know all about you and your pack of rejects. How else do you think you got this far? If you hadn’t lied to me about our final destination, they would have met us here.”

  “One of those rejects belongs to you.” Jillian wasn’t sure what the hell had happened.

  “No. My twin sister’s. I knew she would try to get her brat to safety. Do you know how hard it is hiding how you really feel about their kind? But I did it because I knew my reward would be great.” Gloria gave Jillian a smug smile. “You are so soft when it comes to those little bastards. All I had to do was feed you what you wanted to hear, and you believed it.”

  Jillian glanced over her shoulder to make sure everyone had exited the room. “Come on. Get up.”

  Miller grabbed the woman and secured her hands behind her back with a plastic fastener. He forced her out the door farthest from where Theo led the way to “the cool, big truck they were going to drive in.” Jillian followed, slamming the door of the wooden shed behind her.

  “Your reward’s great all right. Was it fucking worth it?” Jillian placed the barrel of the gun between the woman’s eyes and fired.

  Gloria jerked, blood spraying out of the back of her head. Jillian’s stomach turned, and tears filled her eyes. There wasn’t another choice. They would have been in much greater danger had she let her live. Her death meant the rest of them had a chance. Swallowing the bile, Jillian turned away. If she had only known her earlier urge to kill the woman would have turned out this way. Ironic.

  “Sorry for the mess,” she said to Miller.

  “Either way I’d be cleaning it up. If you didn’t kill her, I would have. Be safe.”

  Tossing the van keys to him, she climbed behind the wheel of the SUV. Theo sat beside her in the passenger seat, bouncing up and down so frantically he could barely buckle the seat belt. Just because she’d lied about the final destination didn’t meant the authorities weren’t nearby searching for them. She wiped the tears from her face and backed out of the lean-to.

  “What happened to the mean lady? Tina said she’s not her mom.” Theo stopped bouncing long enough to grab her face.

  “No, she wasn’t Tina’s mom.” Jillian mentally berated herself. Why hadn’t she paid attention to how the woman interacted with her supposed offspring? “She’s not coming with us. Okay?”

  “Good. I told you her heart was bad. You didn’t listen. She wasn’t nice. Are we going to the good place now?” Theo played with the toggle for the window until she hit the button on her door to lock the device.

  “Yep. We have a long drive, and then a walk before we get there.” Jillian glanced to where Greg and Rachel sat in the back seat. Rachel was pale. “Was she drugged?”

  Greg shook his head. “No. But she’s in really bad shape. I think it’s her kidneys again. She didn’t want me to tell you.”

  “There’s a healer where we’re going.” Jillian couldn’t handle the added stress of Rachel’s illness. Greg would have to concentrate on Rachel instead of helping with the kids.

  “Beth’s mom is really sick,” she told Theo. “Greg has to help her. I need you to help me.” She glanced at her brother.

  “I can do it. I can help. You know I can.”

  “I know, or I wouldn’t have asked you. We might run into some bad guys.” She knew what his next question would be.

  “Can I shoot?”

  Smiling, she reached into her bag and showed him his favorite gun. “Only if I say so, okay?”

  “Yes. Thank you.” He placed the gun on his lap and adjusted the seat so he was partially reclined.

  “What? Now you’re going to take a nap?” Jillian laughed, despite the sorrow in her chest.

  “Only a little one. Wake me up if it’s time to shoot. Okay?” He closed his eyes.

  Partially grateful for the silence, Jillian stopped at the edge of the rocky incline and put the vehicle in four-wheel drive. Glancing to the rear seats, she was greeted with smiles from her passengers that weren’t already napping. Jillian had to wonder about the woman who’d set them up. She’d purposefully poisoned Jillian, but left everyone else alone even though she claimed to hate the undesirable children.

  Saliva pooled in her mouth. She swallowed it back and clenched her teeth to keep her emotions inside. There had to be more to that story than Jillian had taken the time to learn. Now she’d never know.

  When they reached the top of the hill, two hours later, Jillian thought her brain might be damaged. They’d done so much bumping over huge rocks and through potholes, at one point she thought she’d broken an axle. She parked the SUV near a brush pile and finally convinced everyone they had to get out. Only Greg and Rachel remained inside the vehicle. Jillian opened the passenger door. Greg didn’t move to get out.

  He shook his head. “She’s gone. The bumpy drive did her in.”

  Rachel’s hand was limp, her tear-filled eyes blank. Jillian looked down and shoved the sadness away.

  She finally met Greg’s eyes, feeling callous. “What are you going to do?”

  He stared at Rachel, not speaking for several long moments as he continued to hold her hand. Finally, his gaze shifted to his children. “She wasn’t a very strong person even without her kidney condition. You knew that. She never fully recovered from the loss of our third child and the twins’ disabilities. She loved them so much, even though they aren’t perfect. I think the serum they pumped into her while she was pregnant was responsible for her weakness and disease. She never used to be this way. She used to be strong, like you. I loved her so much.”

  Jillian nodded, anger filling her at what this family had lost, at what everyone had lost.

  “I know we don’t have a lot of time. My children need me. I’m coming.” He glanced down at Rachel’s body.

  Jillian offered to help, but Greg insisted on burying his wife alone. By the time she’d passed out snacks and drinks and explained what would happen next, he’d finished covering the shallow grave with dead leaves. The twins huddled ne
ar a tree, watching their father with tears on their cheeks.

  “Listen to me,” Jillian said as she lined them up, each with their backpack and a little, weak flashlight. “We have a long way to walk, but I promise when we get there you’ll be done. You’ll be safe, and you won’t have to worry anymore. Okay?”

  Several heads nodded. Tina burst into tears. Theo patted her shoulder and gave her his flashlight.

  “Remember what we’ve talked about. We have to walk down that hill for a few minutes, and we have to be really quiet until I tell you it’s okay. The bad men aren’t far away. Once we get past them, we can sing the rest of the way if you want.” She’d prepared them for this day, but that didn’t mean the kids remembered.

  “Can we sing the mermaid song?” Beth asked.

  “Sure. If you want.” Jillian smiled at her.

  “I want to sing put your left foot in.”

  “No. The bullfrogs.”

  Jillian held her hands up. “We can sing whatever you want, but first we have to get past the bad men. You must be very quiet until we do. Okay?”

  Except for one minor injury when Theo crashed into a tree, they made it to the border without incident. They now stood within feet of freedom. A patrol would be by in less than five minutes. Since there was no way to get everyone across before then, they’d hide in the heavy underbrush until they passed.

  That would be the riskiest part.

  Jillian herded them around a stand of holly bushes and into a grouping of rocks. She wasn’t sure if the structure was natural or if someone had built it for this purpose, but it was completely hidden from all sides. Still, not a lot of people made it over the border.

  Before she went in, she scanned the area to make sure they’d left no sign of their presence. Headlights appeared from the left as she spotted one of the flashlights she’d handed out lying near a tree. Damn.

  ~ ~ ~

  Luke pushed Matt into the car, covering him with a blanket that smelled like Olivia. Matt was bleeding heavily. The odor of blood and something else surrounded him, and there didn’t seem to be anything Luke could do about it. The stolen transport loaded with Jenner’s victims stopped beside him as he closed the car door.

  “You okay?” Martineo asked, glancing at Matt.

  Luke nodded, unable to voice his worry for Matt. “Where are you taking them?”

  “To Tom’s. They’re equipped to handle the numbers, though I’m not sure how many will make it. Are you following with Matt?”

  “Is there someone closer?” Luke was pissed he hadn’t bothered to find that out before now. Matt could already be getting help.

  Martineo met Luke’s eyes. “The old woman on the mountain. Jane Randolph.”

  ~ ~ ~

  Olivia searched the surrounding woods from the porch. Someone was coming. This would be her fourth visitor since she’d released Aunt Jane’s spirit. The first had been an older man with an axe wound in his leg. Olivia had been relatively certain he’d been a test somehow sent from Aunt Jane. She’d healed him within a matter of moments, and the man hadn’t spoken more than three words the entire time he’d been here.

  Actually, she wasn’t sure any of her recent patients hadn’t been tests. Each had gotten progressively tougher, requiring more of her skill and building her confidence at the same time. Olivia believed in her abilities. She just didn’t believe in herself. Nothing had changed there. Her sorrow for her failures hung around the cabin like a dark cloud. Anger toward her father for choosing death continued to eat at her soul. She felt unimportant, raw, and lost. Every night she dreamed of their deaths. And Luke.

  She stood. If the premonitions that had started when she’d said good-bye to Aunt Jane were correct, she was about to have her hands full. She rushed to the spare room and stripped the bed, putting on clean sheets after placing a protective covering underneath. One of them was bleeding. A lot. The other might be injured as well, but she couldn’t tell for sure because of the air of fury and sadness surrounding them. Grabbing the cot out of the closet, she put on sheets and a blanket before arranging a clean towel and a bowl of water on the table beside the bed. Just as she finished, the rumble of the approaching vehicle filled her. Every fiber of her being screamed it was Luke, but she couldn’t believe that.

  ~ ~ ~

  Jillian knew she wouldn’t be able to retrieve the flashlight without being seen. Using psychic powers was risky, but if she did it quickly enough, she might be able to put out the light before it was seen. Raising her hand, she reached behind her for Theo, grasping one of his hands and pulling some of his chaotic energy into her. He touched the tree, so the excess would leak through the branches, obviously remembering what she’d taught him.

  As she concentrated on the flashlight, the beam slowly dimmed before going out completely. The approaching lights bounced over the rocky road. The patrol stopped not far from the flashlight. Jillian rubbed a hand down her face and turned into the shelter to lay out an illusion to hide them. It was risky, but she was relatively sure the scanners weren’t used this far out. The patrol’s job was to find people trying to escape. They didn’t care if you had abilities if you were this far out of town. They’d take you in no matter what.

  “We have to be very quiet,” she whispered. “The bad men are right outside.”

  She stayed by the entrance, wishing she could risk stepping out further to see what was going on. The patrol hadn’t moved on yet. Doors slammed. Great. They’d gotten out of the car for some reason.

  Leaves rustled nearby. Jillian moved farther inside, holding her breath as the sounds of someone approaching their location grew louder. Damn. Damn. Damn. They’d been so close.

  “You know you’re not supposed to take a leak up here.” A deep voice echoed through their hiding place. “It screws with the equipment. Come on. Now we’re going to have to falsify the record for the scans up here.”

  “I couldn’t wait any longer. It’s your fault. You’re the one who bet me I couldn’t drink six beers in twenty minutes.” The slurred voice was close, but moving away.

  Jillian stored their exchange for later. Patrols weren’t supposed to drink. At all. It was one of the edicts they signed when taking their government jobs. The administration wanted your body and soul available to them twenty-four hours a day.

  Car doors slammed and the engine started, but the vehicle remained for quite a while before finally moving. Hopefully, the delay meant they’d erased the records from the scans.

  She waited until she could no longer hear the car on the border road before signaling to her group. She raised a hand to her lips and went through the entrance. They followed, crossing the rocky road. The excitement became a living force as she snipped the barbed wire fence and maneuvered it aside to allow them to cross the border one by one. Jillian wanted to shout when it was her turn.

  She stepped through, moving the fence back and fastening it together with plastic ties. Replacing the brush to hide the break in the fence, she double-checked her work before jumping over the low, rock wall. She raised her hands to get everyone’s attention and motioned for them to duck behind the wall. The patrol was coming back. Jillian wasn’t sure why, or if they had any reason to be concerned, but even though they were now in another sector, they’d think nothing of shooting them. The mostly decomposed bodies and skeletons nearby proved that.

  The patrol passed quickly, not even slowing at the top of the ridge. As soon as they were out of sight, Jillian jumped up and they all ran, low murmurs of excitement the only sound except for their feet hitting the ground. When they passed a sign that said they were out of range of patrol weapons, Jillian let out a whoop and hugged her brother.

  They were freer than they’d ever been.

  ~ ~ ~

  Olivia opened the door to see Luke dragging Matt up the stairs. Her breath caught. Luke met her eyes, his usual spark gone. Blood gushed from a wound in Matt’s stomach. She closed the door behind them, pointing down the hall. Luke was angry, bitter, and w
orried out of his mind. He somewhat gently placed Matt on the bed and rolled him over.

  Olivia looked back and forth between them. She moved to the bed, cutting Matt’s blood-soaked T-shirt so she could see. A long, jagged knife wound split the skin. He’d lost a lot of blood. Placing her hand over the wound without touching it, she closed her eyes. Damn. This wasn’t going to be an easy fix. His insides were torn up in multiple layers, and there was a stench of infection that worried her. He smelled a lot like Marcus had. Her hands shook, but she steeled herself.

  “Get his boots off,” she said, meeting Luke’s eyes.

  A wave of negative energy flowed over her. She glanced at where Luke stood at the end of the bed. Luke glared, and his worry and anger swirled around her. Ignoring him, she touched Matt’s head, feeling the warmth of fever and the strength of his soul. He wanted to live.

  “Is he going to be okay?” Luke asked, putting a hand on Matt’s arm.

  “I don’t know. It’s too soon. I think so, but I just don’t know.”

  She covered Matt’s chest with her hands, easing his pain and urging him into a deep sleep. His body would do most of the work, but not if he stayed in a state of tension. He took a deep breath and relaxed under her touch. Her hands tingled as she mended the bones in his wrist and took away his black eye before moving back to his stomach where the beginning stages of healing had already begun. The heavy blood flow had stopped, and the wound was much improved already. Good. She concentrated her energy there, encouraging the muscles and tendons to repair as she hurried the process a little.

  When she was satisfied she’d done all she could for right now, she cleansed the blood from his skin and went to the bathroom to wash her hands. Luke continued glare, but at least he’d taken off Matt’s boots.