by L. A. Boruff
Suddenly, he stopped just before we came to a clearing to see a lone bull trying to get at the last of the tall grass. This whole clearing had pretty much been picked clean. It seemed a herd of elk had been here not long ago. It was then that I saw this bull was limping with an old injury. The summer months had been good, so he was still good sized and hadn’t lost too much weight due to the injury.
Drive the bull to me, Grim ordered.
There were times, I was pretty sure the wolf thought he was in charge. Although, Sigrid believed this to be true too. Amusement colored my thoughts; I could always change to my dragon from and sit on him if the alpha in him became too annoying. I needed to find him a mate. We had met and bonded when he was a young juvenile wolf, and he was now three almost four years old. Kia and he were close in age. When I bonded to an animal, he or she lived as long as I would, which meant I’d have to bond with the female as well. Most of my kind bonded with birds like Sigrid and that was enough. We’d become flock mates and sometimes they’d find mates, sometimes they wouldn’t. Most of the time, they don’t. At the time of the bonding, a channel was opened in the animal that caused its intelligence to expand. Don’t ask me how, I didn’t know. It was a quirk of the bond.
I circled around the clearing being careful to stay down wind. When I came to a good point and the elk was not far from me, I sprang going for his hamstring. My two front eye teeth grazed him before he took off in a bounding leap, but almost fell as he came down on his bad leg. The elk righted himself, the scent of fear making my mouth water and stomach grumble. I caught a glimpse of wild panicked eyes. The elk took off at less than half the normal speed elks could reach. I ran back and forth across his path working him to where Grim crouched waiting.
Grim timed it perfectly and lunged for his throat getting a good grip. Jerking his head this way and that, working to rip it open. The elk reared up, and I went for the hamstring again. This time succeeding in getting a good grip before whipping my head away, tearing out a hunk of muscle and tendon. The crumpling of the leg had the elk falling to the left; the squealing becoming higher pitched before Grim finally managed to finish tearing out his throat. He backed away as I did so we didn’t get kicked or gorged by his antlers in his death throes.
Let’s get it back to the tree, and I will dress it before we get back on the road. While I’m doing that, you can hunt a little longer for a rabbit or squirrel. Does that work? I asked.
No, bits in middle, then run, Grim countered.
Fine, you can have the offal. Move so I can change. Grim huffed then sneezed but moved back as I changed into my gorilla form, grabbed the antlers and dragged the elk back to the backpack.
Gorillas were so strong that it made it easy to move the seven-hundred-pound elk. The meat would actually last us for quite a while. This was good. I hadn’t expected to get such a large bull. Returning to the downed tree, I gutted the elk and left the middle bits for Grim to chow down on. He was a happy camper. While it took me another three hours to skin it, cut it up, and then pack it into the trash bags to carry back to the Jeep, Grim took off to roam the forest. I loved the contentment he was sending me down our link. It was a good trip. Just as we were pulling out a screech in my head had me slamming on the brakes.
She’s gone! She’s gone! Sigrid squawked through our bond.
What? Who’s gone? I demanded, my hearted stuttered to a stop before it started pounding in my ears, my breath non-existent.
Kia! Kia! They took her! The bird screamed; I couldn’t move as horror threatened to drown me, and my insides warped in pain.
The sound of twisted leather and creak of the steering wheel brought me out of the frozen moment. No, no, no. This can’t be happening. Light and sound faded to nothing but white noise.
Pain exploded in my arm. A wrenching sensation had me back in the here and now. My eyes went to the sluggishly bleeding puncture wounds on my arm then to Grim who bared his teeth at me.
Go! Grim growled.
I shook my head, still in denial.
Where are you? I stuttered out, fear a growing, ugly thing.
Following Kia. Bad men shot the snakes. George is still with Kia in her backpack. They put Kia in the box on wheels along with the snakes. Hurry! The distress in his tone made it that much harder for me.
How could this have happened?
Where? Who? How? I yelled, adrenaline suddenly flooding my system.
I pushed the gas pedal to the floorboard and the Jeep’s tires spun for a moment before jumping onto the road. Later, I would realize how lucky I’d been just then as I never looked for other vehicles. How there were no cops around I would never know? I reached a hundred and ten miles per hour as I sped back to Coeur d’Alene.
We were returning home. Kia begged for that cold melty stuff. Disgust in his mind voice, Sigrid hated ice cream, mainly because Kia would stroke his feathers with sticky fingers. Suddenly, there were many cars and men surrounding them, when they came out of the red and white building. Chagrin and remorse entered Sigrid’s tone. A window rolled down, there was a flash before I could warn the snakes. Both were shot with something and fell into the bad men’s arms then they were placed in the box on wheels. They covered Kia’s mouth so she couldn’t give danger warning to other people then she was put in the same box on wheels with snakes. Sigrid’s term for van was box on wheels.
I reached the first gas station and pulled over with a screech of tires. Show me, I barked.
A wrenching sensation in my mind, like being pulled through a dark, twisty tunnel, before you reached the light at the other end. Then I was looking out of Sigrid’s eye. His head was cocked slightly so he could focus on the van. It was speeding down the road with four other vehicles closed in around it. It was then I noticed its route, and it was headed straight for me. This road led back to Spokane or up to the mountains where there were several large lodges in the area.
Patience, Sadie. Patience. A mantra I used to stay in control.
The creak of the steering wheel was the only sound in the car, other than the low, menacing growl from Grim. I was grateful we were all linked in that moment. I couldn’t have explained it to Grim without exploding into a million, billion pieces. My beautiful, vibrant heart was in danger and I was scared out of my ever lovin’ mind.
Who were these people that took my daughter and why? Were they after Kia to get to me, the nagas, or were they after just Kia?
George? Can you hear me? Snap. I stared down at the crack in the steering wheel.
I’m here. Pup scared. Come now. You fix! For a rat, he had a deep, mind voice.
He had never considered himself small or weak. Like the other two, George believed he was in charge and the three of them constantly bickered about it. They made a lonely life fun and less lonely.
I’m coming. Can you tell me anything about the ones who took her? I asked, trying to figure out who and why.
Two blood drinkers, an imp, and an orc in the big box with pup and me.
Sigrid? What about the others following the Van? Do you know what type of creature are in each vehicle? I asked to gain a bigger picture of the kidnappers.
Yes, there is an angel and demon following in a dark car. Two shifters are also following in a dark car. A boggart and dark elf in another car leading. Then, another two shifters lagging even further behind, Sigrid responded.
Crap; that was way more than I could fight.
9
October 30, 2026
The word, why, kept beating around in my head. Fear an insidious emotion that constantly tried to break me down into a puddle of goo. Seeing through the crow’s eyes was headache inducing. They had extended binocular eyesight, much broader than humans, which allowed them to have an extremely wide field of vision. Though crows used only one eye at a time because its monocular vision was more powerful. It always took me a bit to adapt when I shared Sigrid’s senses.
Shit! I groaned in frustration. They turned towards the mountains away from me. There were
some large lodges up that way, some close to the national forest and more up in the mountains near the ski resorts. Why were they going in that direction? I hadn’t been out and about to attract the other Breeds or Kindred, so why? My heart clenched. The only one that knew I was even on this side of the country was Theo Hardin and his group who worked for the Darrien Versom Organization. Oh Gaia, please, no. Don’t let this happen again.
My mind drifted back to that harrowing nightmare. Ren, my mother’s bonded hawk, had escaped to warn Sigrid, my newly bonded crow, and me to run, and that my parents were no more. Even today, my throat constricted at the memory and pain of losing them. There were tiny missing pieces of my heart they’d held and taken with them. It was still bleeding after all these years. I knew it would never heal.
Now, fear threatened to choke me to death as I put the Jeep in drive and sped off after them. The terror of a fourteen-year-old left alone in the world and wondering if something so precious to me would be snatched away once more. I worked to put those memories and emotions under lock and key. Kia needed all of me focused. Coincidence? I was pretty sure not. The afternoon light flickered through the trees over the windshield causing spots to appear and disappear. I’d had to let go of my link with Sigrid to focus on the road. I put the pedal to the metal and got back up to one hundred and ten. It wouldn’t last long because the roads were becoming windy quickly, but I was at least five miles away from them and I needed to make up the mileage.
Sigrid? Any changes? The steering wheel I’d broken, now made clicking and rattling sounds as I sped down the road.
A sharp turn had me slamming on the brakes so I wouldn’t flip the Jeep.
No, the box on wheels is still on the same road, Sigrid responded. Sadie, there is something wrong. The air doesn’t feel right. The urge to fly faster is strong. There was clear distress coming from Sigrid over our bond.
It was making me edgy and restless. Looking at Grim, it was affecting him as well.
What do you mean? Is it Kia? Are you having a hard time breathing? What? There was frustration in my voice, but I couldn’t help it.
I desperately needed to see their head lights and get Kia back. While the bonding upped my bonded partner’s intelligence, it didn’t mean they understood the higher cognitive thought processes on the same level as a human being. Although, Sigrid did well. My bond partners were still wild animals with all the instincts that entailed. It took time, effort, and patience for good, productive communication to be established, and it was always an ongoing learning experience for both parties.
I don’t know, something! I have this incredible urge to fly away and towards the sun as fast as possible. Sadie, something very, very bad is headed this way! I could tell Sigrid was frustrated with me for not understanding and for being unable to convey what the danger could be.
Thrusting my head forward, I looked upward to see flocks and flocks of all types of birds flying the same direction I was going, east. There were flickers of movement in the forests. Scanning either side of the highway, I caught glimpses of deer and other animals racing through the forest. What the flip?
Stay with Kia! Don’t lose her. I am coming towards you as fast as I can, I ordered Sigrid.
He gave me an affirmative, but his instincts were pulling hard at him.
Grim sitting in the passenger seat got even more agitated. He got up and turned in the seat looking back to the west and he couldn’t get still. There was constant jumping back and forth between the backseat and the front. It was starting to drive me nuts.
Grim? Get still, you’re distracting me.
Go, must go faster. Danger! Danger! Grim was scratching at the seats and was jumping back and forth from the floorboard to the seats and back again repeatedly.
At least, this time he stayed in the back.
George? Stay hidden. Do not be found, I commanded.
Although now that the thought had occurred to me… why had the shifters and other Kindred not caught George’s scent? He was a rodent and they had a very distinctive musty smell.
No, problem. Kia tell them, I’m pet, but Sadie must get away. Danger. Come now! George was as upset as the others.
What the farging hell? The vehicle shook violently, raised up, and then back down with a hard thump. The wheels skidded to the right, and I worked to compensate.
Crack! Boom!
A chill ran down my spine.
Time slowed.
My head turned.
I stomped on the brake.
Grim! Down on the floor and stay! I screamed as the Jeep fishtailed towards the downed tree suddenly across the road. I worked the wheel trying to lessen the impact.
Pain exploded as my head whipped back, to the side, then forward as the Jeep hit the tree on the passenger side back third crushing it inward. The crunch of metal so loud it was deafening. Shattered glass pelted the back of my head and neck through the head-rest hole before everything stopped. It was like all my senses shut down. Then, there was a whoosh feeling, and everything suddenly sped back up, my senses sharper. A haze of white powder hung heavy in the air from the deployed air bags on the passenger side.
The world began to calm around me. The tinkling of glass still settling. The groan of metal as the vehicle stopped rocking. A moan from Grim. Heavy, scared breathing. The tightness of the seatbelt across my chest had me fumbling for the release button. I could already feel the ache in my chest from the force of being thrown back and forth against it.
Grim? You okay? I could still feel him via our link, so he was alive.
Grim made a whining noise of pain, but he didn’t answer right away. The belt finally gave after I pushed and tugged numerous times. My entire body felt beat to hell; although, I could tell nothing major was damaged.
The sound of tires screeching had my head snapping to the left, making me groan in pain. A big SUV was coming right for me; its back end swayed back and forth across the road as the driver worked to gain control. It was then I realized I was on the back end of a curve. Shit! I braced; my eyes closed involuntarily. A loud squeal of protesting brakes had my eyes snapping back open. The vehicle’s front bumper stopped mere inches from my door. Tension drained from my shoulders at the near miss. Suddenly, my head weighed a thousand pounds; it dropped to the broken steering wheel. My speeding heart threatening to climb my throat and choke me. The only sound, my ragged breathing and the soft pain filled whine of Grim.
That’s when the second earthquake hit. The road buckled in places, my truck rose in the air again, a sense of weightlessness occurred before it slammed back down hard. The crack of breaking wood echoed like a loud boom of thunder. My head slammed into the broken steering wheel. A moan of pain escaped, followed by a loud high-pitched screech of agony as the skin of my forehead was being pinched with locking pliers and someone was turning the end of it tighter and tighter. I couldn’t prevent the rearing back to get away from what had hurt me. My skin parted and blood flowed swiftly down into my right eye. Metal squealed as my door was ripped from its hinges. A big body replaced the door; a head appeared mere seconds later as glowing, golden-brown eyes looked onto mine with concern. Those eyes pierced something in me, sunk its hooks in deep and told me it would never release me.
Confusion bloomed at the weird sensation. Damn! I must have hit my head harder than I thought.
“Are you okay? We need to get you out of here. Mt. Saint Helen is erupting, and the entire northeast and northwest are being hit by earthquakes,” the stranger urged me to respond.
It took me a moment to gather my scattered wits at his crooning, husky, drawling voice that caressed my senses like silk flowing over my skin. No. Just no. Nothing was more important than Kia. I shook head my head to dispel any thoughts that wasn’t solely focused on getting to Kia. Another groan escaped at that stupidity. Pain flared in my head and neck. All I could do was sit there for a brief moment taking deep, slow breaths until it subsided.
Finally, I was able to get out, “My daughter. Must. Fi
nd. My daughter,” I croaked out disjointedly as if I hadn’t spoken in days.
“Kragen? Check the back seat for a child,” the stranger immediately ordered his companion.
Another crunching, cracking, high pitched sound of metal tearing as the back door was torn away as well.
“There’s nothing back here but a giant wolf trapped between the back seats and the front. He doesn’t look injured. No sign of a car seat,” reported, a firm, dark, richly sinful voice that reminded me of perfectly aged whiskey as it slides down my throat to warm me from the inside out. “I can get the wolf out, but I will need to tie his muzzle, so he won’t bite. I don’t even smell a child,” the second stranger asserted.
Like the other, a hook was tossed my way and I was a fish wiggling on the other end. I didn’t understand. Then, their words finally reached my brain. Smell? Grim stuck? Kia?
My voice still rough, I tried to explain at the same time I told Grim to be calm via our bond. His low, menacing growls only interrupted by faint whimpers of pain.
Grim? They only want to help. Please don’t attack. Are you okay? I pleaded for him to answer me even as I responded to the two strangers’ words.
“No! Daughter. Taken. Must. Find. Grim. Not. Hurt. You.” My sentences were discontinuous and disconnected, maybe I was hurt more than I thought.
10
October 30, 2026
“What do you mean your daughter was taken? I think she’s in shock, she’s not making any sense.” It was the guy standing in my doorway.
I raised my index finger, asking him to wait one. Grabbing the bottom of my shirt, I wiped it across my eye and forehead to stop the irritating blood from congealing and blinding me.
“Stop.” The stranger clamped a big hand around both of my wrists and forced them down.
I didn’t struggle, this puzzled me. The guy’s head turned away from me.
“Kragen grab the first aid kit out of the back of the truck. Also, put the hazard lights on. I think I have some of those cones as well. See about laying them out before the curve, before we’re all smashed to bits.” This stranger had a commanding presence.
