Raven, Red

by Connie Suttle

  "When did this happen?" Mona asked. She'd chosen to sit in the back seat with Janie on the trip to Swindall.

  "Most recently in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. For now, these creatures are being beheaded to keep them from becoming—something worse."

  "Something worse? What could possibly be worse?" Mona breathed.

  "Ghouls are what we call them—demon-like beings that feast on living and dead flesh. They can become monstrous, true demons, if they are not stopped," Claudio replied. "I feel you should know this, should any zombie escape notice long enough to evolve."

  "How do you know this?"

  "Vampires were instrumental in destroying the ghoul outbreak last time. We also took a handful of those still active—for the scholars to study. I did not witness these changes personally; I am not old enough. The eldest of us did witness the evolution. These creatures were very difficult to kill, once they reached demon status."

  "Do you think some of them may have escaped capture this time?" Janie's voice betrayed worry and concern.

  "Undoubtedly. Too many bodies have not been accounted for. Vampires are searching diligently to find them before it is too late. If even one escapes capture, the resulting damage and death can be—catastrophic."

  "Are those vampires keeping in touch with you—to let you know if they find any?" Val asked.

  "Yes. So far, only a handful of the ghouls are accounted for, and that is most concerning. There is something else you should know, too."

  "What's that?"

  "These—demons—will answer to a single master. That master is now among us; we knew it when the raven became a man. Soon enough, the human Adversary will make his presence known, although his identity may remain a mystery. It is our task to help Nico, Mac and Ari find him or her before the world changes."

  "Changes? In what way, other than the dead coming back to life?"

  "You have heard enough for tonight," Claudio cautioned. "When the full moon has come and gone, I will tell you more."

  "This place really is hidden," Nico observed as they traveled along a driveway consisting of two dirt strips with mowed grass in-between.

  "I suggested that she move away from Waco, for the boy's safety," Burke explained. "The farther away from larger cities, the better, since she's a half-blood and doesn't really know how to teach a young wolf."

  "That must be hard for him—not knowing," Nico leaned his head against the headrest with a sigh.

  "Not too different from you in that respect," Mac reached in from the backseat to pat Nico's arm.

  "Yeah. Nightmares are cruel teachers," Nico agreed. Burke glanced quickly in Nico's direction before pulling to a stop outside a small cabin with a wide front porch. A single, uncovered bulb served as a porch light, illuminating the space surrounding the front door.

  "I'll get out first," Burke held up a hand as Nico reached for the door handle. "I know Catherine, and she knows me." He shut the driver's side door and walked toward the cabin.

  "The others just pulled in behind us," Mac announced after turning in his seat to look.

  "That must be Hunter's aunt," Nico said as a woman opened the front door before Burke could mount the porch steps and knock.

  "Those are custody papers," Mac explained as Burke pulled folded papers from his suit coat. "Hunter's aunt will have to sign those before he comes with us. Keep your fingers crossed that she does just that."

  "Claudio says no coercion in this," Alejandro agreed. "We will place an order for her not to reveal where Hunter is without Burke's approval."

  "Is Burke his guardian if she signs?" Nico asked.

  "That's right. He offered years ago, with the idea of leaving him with Val and Janie," Mac replied. "Val told me about it. It's how Janie knew to contact Burke after you saw Hunter in your dreams."

  "He's offering her a pen," Nico sounded breathless.

  "She's signing," Mac's shoulders slumped in relief. "I think we can get out of the car, now."

  Val, Janie, Mona and Claudio stepped out of Janie's SUV at the same moment Mac, Alejandro and Nico climbed from Burke's van.

  That's when Hunter made his presence known. Even Nico heard the audible, indrawn breath; Hunter recognized Burke's scent immediately. What none of them expected was what the boy did next; he begged Burke to allow him to bring a friend with him—someone named Erly Graham.

  "There is activity next to one of the Franks' cattle pens," Renault reported. "I hear cattle lowing—and sounds of moving hooves over firmer ground."

  "What the," Ari felt a sharp pain between her shoulders as Renault spoke to her over her cell phone. "Renault—I think they're trying to stampede the cattle," Ari's breath caught as the vision hit her. "Get the wolves out of the way—hurry."

  Shoving the phone back in a pocket, Ari raced for the back door. The house stood on a knoll of higher ground—she could see better from the vantage point of the eight-foot wall surrounding the backyard.

  With a leap that betrayed her shifter heritage, Ari landed atop it, balancing perfectly as she rose to her full height to listen and sniff the wind.

  Renault was correct—the sound of cattle pounding on solid ground came to her only a moment before the scent of diseased animals reached her nose. Shots rang out in the distance.

  Get out of the way, she shouted at Renault and any wolves still standing their ground. They're being stampeded deliberately. The cattle have broken through their enclosures and are heading for the fence.

  Ari had no hope that any of them would hear her, but there was little else she could do to warn them as the pain in her shoulders intensified.

  Then, against all expectations, a bright light appeared in the hand where the shell shape had been embedded.

  It spoke to her.

  Showed her.

  "Now," she shrieked, blasting a light so intense it crackled like lightning.

  The subsequent boom echoed a strike so powerful it rocked the wall she stood upon. Just west of the separating fence on the Franks' property, a wide crack in the earth split open.

  The stampeding cattle, urged on by gunshots behind them, tumbled into the depths of a deep crevasse that hadn't been there only seconds before.

  An aftershock hit; Ari leapt to the ground on the outside of the wall, hoping that she hadn't killed anything other than a cattle herd doomed to die anyway.

  Only then did she realize her cell phone was ringing in her pocket. Renault was calling. "Renault?" Ari held the phone to her ear.

  "Arianne—I've—been shot."

  Chapter Eleven

  Ari didn't know the werewolf ranch hand who helped her get Renault back to the house, but she thanked him just the same.

  "Want help?" he asked as she settled Renault onto a kitchen chair and ran to get a towel. Renault's head wound was bleeding sluggishly; the bullet had entered his forehead just above his left eye. Ari was terrified he'd die.

  "Just stay with us and call Val, if you don't mind," Ari told the man as she placed the towel over Renault's wound. "Here's my phone," she handed her cell phone to the man who dialed quickly.

  "Renault," Ari said, "Please tell me you're alive."

  "Bullet—must be removed—soon."

  "Val, this is Henry," the ranch hand spoke on the phone. "The Franks spooked their own cattle and stampeded them our way. Renault got hit with one of their bullets. We don't know if he's going to make it—the bullet is in his brain, and there's no exit wound. He needs help. How far away are you?"

  "He's an hour away," Henry told Ari after listening to Val's reply.

  "Too long," Renault mumbled.

  "Renault, we won't let you go, all right?" Ari told him. "Henry—I have to try something. Don't be shocked, and stay on the phone with Val, just in case."

  "I'll stay on the phone," Henry nodded. "You hear that, boss?"

  "I heard it." Val's voice was clear to Ari's sensitive ears.

  "All right," Ari set the towel aside and gripped Renault's hands in one of hers. Lifting
the palm with the shell image on it, she held it inches above Renault's wound. "Come on—you can do this," Ari gritted her teeth as light emanated from the shell indention.

  Renault's eyes opened wide as the light grew brighter—until it was so bright he had to close them in self-defense.

  Henry yelped when the slug and several fragments slapped into Ari's palm with a solid thwack.

  "What happened? Tell me," Val shouted on the other end of the call.

  "I uh, think the bullet's out, boss," Henry replied as Ari slid down Renault's chair and thumped onto the kitchen floor, exhausted.

  "Towel?" Renault blinked at Henry, who only hesitated for a moment before grabbing the towel off the island and pressing it to the wound.

  "I should heal, now that the bullet is removed. Arianne, are you all right?" Renault tried to move his head. Henry barked at the vampire to stay still.

  "I'll be okay. I've been better," Ari replied.

  "That's a big ravine on Franks' property," another werewolf ranch hand walked into the kitchen. "Reckon it was an earthquake?"

  "Boss? Kev's here. Want to talk to him?" Henry spoke into the phone. "Here." Henry handed the phone to Kev.

  "They're all right I think," Kevin studied Renault and Ari. "She's holding a bullet slug in her hand, if that means anything. Yeah—we'll stick with the earthquake theory if anybody asks. At least the split ain't on our property. Yeah—I'd say it's at least thirty feet wide, forty feet deep and runs the length of the property. Right now, it's full of dead cattle."

  Mac listened shamelessly as Burke spoke with Janie on his cell phone. Nico told him mentally that Ari had used her talent in some way, but so far all he'd understood was that the Franks had stampeded their own cattle in the direction of the Jordan Ranch. Somehow, Ari kept them from breaking through the barbed wire fence.

  In the chaos, Renault had been shot by one of the Franks, and Ari was attempting to help him.

  Mac turned in his seat; in the third row of Burke's van, Hunter Pace and Erly Graham sat, silent and listening carefully to Burke's conversation with Val's mother, Janie. Val was on the phone with one of his werewolf ranch hands, who was at the house with Ari and Renault.

  "If the bullet and fragments are out, Renault should be fine," Alejandro thought to console Nico, who appeared upset.

  How much power do you think she had? Nico sent to Mac.

  I don't know, but it must have deflected the cattle somehow—nobody's died yet, if Burke is correct.

  I guess we won't know for sure until we get back.

  Stop worrying. She'll either have enough or not. If you're forced to choose again, what she has will disappear, along with the shell indention. She can go back to her life. Maybe it's for the best. Besides, she still won't be at full power for a while, yet. We'll see what she has, how she handled this, and go from there.

  I'd feel better if Ari was with me the whole way, Nico grumbled.

  We need a solid team; you know that. Name calling and arguing back and forth won't make that happen. I thought she'd be a good fit at the beginning, but that was before she did stupid stuff. We may find more of the same when we get back.

  Then we'll look at what she did and decide soon.

  Good.

  "Unless they drive around and come through the gate to the house, they're not getting across that ravine," Ari stood beside Henry as they watched the flashing lights of emergency vehicles at the Franks Ranch from the top floor of the house.

  "I'd give a lot to know what they're talking about," Henry said. "I'm sure it'll be on the news soon enough. I wouldn't know where to begin to describe what happened, other than calling it a simultaneous lightning strike and earthquake, so I'd just as soon they stay on that side."

  "I figure somebody will be pissed when they get home and find out about it," Ari grimaced.

  "It's not on our side, and I sure as hell don't have a problem with it. If that diseased herd had gotten anywhere near ours, might be hell to pay."

  "I hope Val and Janie get back before they come over here, then. I don't want to talk to anybody about this."

  "What did you see? Anything?" Henry turned toward her.

  He doesn't know, Ari blinked at him. Renault may be the only one who knows what I did. "Just a flash of lightning—and then the sound of the ground splitting and cattle running."

  "I'd say we saw a miracle tonight, then," Henry squared his shoulders. "Coulda been a lot worse. I think I'll have a cup of coffee in the kitchen while we wait for Val to get back."

  "Yeah. I'll be down in a few," Ari told him.

  Henry took the stairs; she heard his footfalls on the treads as he made his way down. Ari refocused on the emergency vehicle lights she could see in the distance. Mac will be pissed for sure, she sighed and hugged herself. At least Renault had allowed Henry to carry him to the basement after she'd removed the bullet; he said he wanted dark and quiet to recuperate.

  She'd put the bullet and fragments in a plastic bag, labeled it and left it on the kitchen island for Val to find.

  You have to talk to them, she derided herself. You have to explain what happened, even if it does piss Mac off.

  Who am I kidding? Everything pisses Mac off. He wasn't like that when he was a bird. What happened?

  "Nice," Erly walked into the kitchen with Nico and the others, taking in the size of the house and all its amenities.

  "Take a seat," Janie invited as he and Hunter stopped at the island. "We'll find drinks and snacks if you want them."

  "Kev, Henry, will you come to my study?" Val asked both men, who rose as he entered the room.

  "Sure thing, boss," Kev nodded.

  "Where are Ari and Renault?" Claudio asked as the men headed for the door.

  "Renault is in the basement—don't worry, once Ari got the bullet out, he seemed to be fine. Ari's upstairs, watching the media circus next door."

  "There's a media circus?"

  "After the lightning and the earthquake, I guess it was inevitable," Henry shrugged. "At least it's all on the other side of the fence."

  "Nico and I will ah, go up and talk to Ari," Mac said, edging toward the hallway and the stairs beyond.

  "If you find out anything, let us know," Janie said.

  Ari heard them on the stairs long before they reached the room. "What sort of trouble have you caused this time?" Mac demanded.

  "Well, I formed lightning, created an earthquake, killed about a thousand head of diseased cattle that were spooked by gunshots and running this way, then pulled a bullet out of Renault's brain. If you want more information, I suggest you ask nicely." Ari stalked out of the room and ran down the stairs before Mac or Nico could call her back.

  "Ah, Arianne," Claudio stopped Ari as she headed for the front door. "Thank you for taking care of Renault. Might I ask how you removed the bullet?"

  "With this." She held up her left hand, displaying the scallop shell imprint.

  "Only a few could ever heal with the stone, and never any with just the imprint," Claudio took her hand in his own and studied the imprint curiously.

  "Well, tell that to Mac. I'm going for a walk."

  "Do you wish for Alejandro to accompany you?"

  "I can take care of myself, thank you."

  Ari opened the front door, walked through it and shut it behind her. There was one way to find out what was going on and learn what the Franks were telling the news crews. It only took a few steps for her to become invisible, and only a few more seconds to transport herself to the Franks Ranch to investigate.

  She'd learned a great deal by asking the stone shell questions, even if it were only an imprint in her hand.

  "It had to be a bomb," Denton Franks said for perhaps the tenth time as the Sheriff attempted to write notes for his report. "The Jordans are behind this; I'm sure of it."

  "No bomb did this—earthquake for sure," a state trooper shook his head. "Has he seen the pile of cattle in that crack?"

  "Those are his cattle," the Sheriff snapped. "
Go clear the reporters away or something."

  "That's your department, not mine," the trooper replied. "We're here to help investigate, not run interference."

  Ari ghosted invisibly around the men as they quarreled, studying the Sheriff, Denton Franks and the trooper.

  It was an act of nature, she breathed into the Sheriff's mind. Write that down. Earthquake. Lightning. Look, it's starting to rain.

  Thunder rumbled overhead as rain began to drum on the hats worn by law enforcement.

  "Fucking hell," Denton swore as heavier rain pelted him, soaking his clothing in seconds. "Where's the old man?" he whirled about, searching for his father.

  "Denton," Mitchell Franks strode toward his son, his rifle gripped tightly in his hand, barrel pointed upward rather than down.

  Good-bye, murderer, Ari whispered at him as lightning coursed downward from a roiling storm cloud, the metal barrel of his gun acting as a lightning rod and burning Mitchell to a swift, fiery crisp. That's for my father, she added, and for Renault.

  The strike flung Denton through the air, dropping him into the mud fifteen feet away. The Sheriff hadn't escaped unscathed; the left side of his uniform was charred as he gaped at Mitchell's burned corpse, which crumbled and fell as he watched.

  My work here is done, Ari mused. Time to go back, now.

  No. Mac wanted to get rid of me. I understand that, now. I'll make it easy for him.

  Ari sent herself back to the house with no trouble at all.

  Mac felt her presence before she materialized. "You wanted to get rid of me. Problem solved. I'm leaving," Ari snapped at him. "Good luck with the Adversary."

  "Ari," Mac shouted as she disappeared. "Bloody hell," he ranted.

  "What's wrong?" Claudio flew into the room, not bothering with touching the floor.