by C Cato
Sonya whipped her head over and blinked, not prepared for such an astute observation. Celene shared a wry grin, squeezed her hand, and let go. She raised her gaze to the dwindling figure of Cole and her daughter, worry lines breaking the porcelain smoothness of her face.
I wonder if there is something in the database about climbing. Maybe the journals have—
“Damn it!” She ran back toward the house. They’d left the journals.
“Sonya! What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” screamed Cole.
She winced. “I forgot the journals Cole! We can’t leave them!”
Pounding footsteps behind her told her Celene and at least one other were right behind her, but there was no time to stop and check. She reached the porch and ran through the open door to the living room and the pile of supplies they left behind. The battered and dirty backpack sat on the couch. Ian’s journals tucked safely inside. Sonya snatched it up and rammed her arms through the straps. Celene was behind her in the doorway, but she wasn’t watching Sonya. Her gaze trained on something outside.
Peering over her shoulder, Sonya froze in terror. Coming through the gap in the rock were women in white. They all rode tall on their horses, and no one wore helmets. There were so many.
“Sonya! We’re coming!”
“No! Stay where you fucking are!” She didn’t know where the surge of backbone was coming from, but she would have to take it. “Protect that little girl. All of you! She needs you. I need you. If you get captured, we’re all as good as dead.”
“Please! Sonya—don’t do this.”
Sonya slowly raised her hand and tapped her temple to turn off her comm. They would do as she asked or they wouldn’t, but she couldn’t allow him to distract her. She powered up.
Titus, Alex, and Rolly had taken position in front of the porch, swords drawn as the women approached. The column spread out to form a solid line of horses and bodies, effectively blocking their escape. The ones in front raised crossbows. Celene inhaled sharply, and ran forward, pushing through her husbands. Sonya moved to stand behind them and drew her own sword. Muscles tightened as the nanobots took control of her body.
A single woman dropped down from her horse. She couldn’t have been more than a couple of inches taller than Celene. Sonya towered over her.
The woman terrified her. Her hair was steel grey and crop short, but shaved on one side, her eyes were as cold as stone.
“Celene,” she said. She drew out the name, derision dripping from every syllable.
“Willow,” Celene replied, evenly. There was no indication of what she was feeling in voice or body language.
Sonya tried to adopt the same but didn’t think she was doing a good job of it.
“General!” snarled the woman. “You will show respect, you, traitorous coward!”
Celene reclined her head slowly. “What do you want?”
“You know what we want, Hunter! Give her to us, and we’ll let your little band of criminals live.”
The ex-Valkyrie glanced over her shoulder and back. “She doesn’t appear to want to leave with you.”
Fast as a striking snake, Willow lashed out with a vicious backhand that rocked Celene on her feet.
Leather creaked, and the men shifted stances, but no one moved. Only Celene. She drew her sword and slashed at Willow, but the General was faster and backpedaled while drawing her own weapon. The men rushed forward to help their wife, but only made it a couple of steps when the mounted Valkyrie let loose the bolts they held in reserve.
Sonya cried out as all three dropped without a sound. Celene only fought harder.
No one came to the aid of the General. They appeared to be evenly matched. Celene had several cuts, but she’d given as good as she got, and Willow bled in places, too. Sonya’s heart was pounding like a hammer behind her ribs. She willed herself to move. To help her friend. She stepped to the edge of the porch, raised her sword, and screamed as fire lanced through her leg.
The weapon fell to the ground as she gripped her thigh with both hands. A thick metal bolt protruded from it. There was a chain attached on the back end through a loop. She howled and fell to her knees as a second fired into her other leg.
It was enough to distract Celene. For a bare second, her eyes left her opponent. Less than a blink. One beat of a breaking heart.
Celene grunted as the sword ran through her chest. For a moment, she faced her killer with the dignity and strength Sonya would expect from a warrior. Then her eyes rolled in the back of her head and she slid backward off the blade and to the ground. The General wiped her sword on the woman’s clothes before straightening and facing Sonya.
More of the women had dismounted. Two of them held the chains attached to her legs. The pain intensified as they both hauled on the links and pulled her legs out from under her and further into the yard. Dragging her past the bodies of her friends. Power drained from her like a leaking sieve. The General approached cautiously and pinned Sonya’s right arm to the ground with her boot. She put out her hand and someone slapped a crossbow into it. The bolt shimmered in the gray light from overhead, and the chain clinked as she raised and shot.
There was no way to prepare for the white-hot pain that burned through her arm, up her shoulder and down into her chest.
It was hard to breathe, and her vision tunneled. The General stood over her, straddling her hips. “You better be worth the trouble it has been to get you. Bring the freak here!” she ordered.
Sonya tried to struggle against her bonds, but that only made it more painful. Another Valkyrie came forward when the General left her view. Another bolt fired into her free arm, but Sonya had nothing left.
Laughing, triumphant faces surrounded her, and someone cut the pack away from her back.
There was the clank of heavier chain and then he was there. Black eyes loomed in her fading vision.
“My mate.”
Hadn’t she turned off her comm? She found it difficult to hold on to any thoughts. She whimpered when he tenderly put his arms beneath her legs and back, lifting her into his arms.
Sonya wanted to hold him. To let him take her away from the nightmare she was living, but the arrows in her arms left her immobile.
Vaguely, she heard Willow giving orders, coughed at the familiar scent of smoke as they laughed and burned down the house. Keet vibrated against her as he growled.
She tried to hold on, to stay awake, but it was impossible. There was always a limit, and she’d reached hers. Keet held her close, and she slipped away from it all. Leaving grief, pain, anger, and love behind.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Risa
Risa held Elise, cradling her head while the child sobbed silently into her shoulder. Below them in the small canyon a fire was growing. The Valkyrie and her friend had long since gone, but Risa couldn’t move any more than the rest of them.
Except Sarge.
It took everything they had to hold him down. To keep him from running after her. He wailed like a wounded animal and thrashed against them. Each buck close to sending them flying.
“Let him up.”
Each man let go at the same time and rolled away, in case Sarge came up swinging. Smart strategy. But he didn’t get up. He laid on the stone ledge and released rough jagged sobs with each breath. Sonya had told her that there had been physical pain when Cole took her from Keet. Was this the same? Some weird side effect from the nanobots? Wouldn’t be the first one. Like her freaky-ass hearing for one.
Cole pushed himself up to his knees, his head bowed, and Elise squirmed in her arms. She put the girl down, and Elise ran to Cole and threw herself into his lap. He wrapped his big country-boy arms around her until there was nothing left but hair and little bare feet.
Note to self: get shoes for child.
The black, acrid billowing smoke from below stung her eyes and they were all starting to cough. “We need to move,” she said. Being second in command of the team, it would be on her to make sure they were safe until Sa
rge could pull himself together.
Soren helped Cole to his feet, Elise clinging tight to his neck. It’s good that they had each other. What that little girl just went through—Risa wouldn’t wish on her worst enemy.
Ditre stared down into the inferno with his mouth open. He never did do well with killing. These were good people though. Risa had really started to like them. A searing heat built inside that threatened to consume her with the same intensity as the fire below. She let it fester.
When everyone was standing and at least partially present, Risa led them into the copse of trees that surrounded the circular cliff face. The sun was breaking through the cloud cover, something it hadn’t done much of since waking up in the Vault. Now, it seemed to mock their progress, making stealth impossible. The trees weren’t as large, or densely packed as below, so anyone searching for them wouldn’t have to work too hard at it.
“Jesus,” breathed Soren.
He dragged his feet, thumbs hooked into the straps of the sole remaining pack they had. Risa glanced over her shoulder to check on Sarge. He held Elise cradled to his chest and she sniffled softly. He whispered words of comfort to her and Ditre kept pace at their side. Good. He’d keep Cole from wandering off in his current state.
“Keep your voice down,” Risa said turning back to Soren.
He blew a shaky breath. “Have a plan, Pixie?”
She gave him a scathing glare. “Not entirely. We need a place to hide until nightfall, and we need some intel.”
Soren bent his head toward her and lowered his voice to the point any normal human would have strained. “Do you think Sarge is going to be okay?”
She paused, her gaze flicking to the pair of men that had fallen farther behind. “He loves her,” she finished in a whisper. “Like stupid, head over heels, sacrifice himself, loves her. We have to get her back.”
He nodded in agreement.
“Elise says there is a cave not far from here where we can hide,” said Ditre.
Risa altered course to move in the given direction. The hard ground gradually sloped downward until they had to descend a vertical face the final twenty feet to the bottom. She found herself in a long gully, with a large river rocks lining the ground in a winding trail, like a black and white version of the yellow brick road. They waited for Ditre and Cole to catch up. Elise was on his back, but Cole swung her around and into his arms as soon as they were down.
Separating them might be a challenge for the time being. Risa decided to put that away for later.
Elise directed her to follow the dry riverbed until they came to a small rise. The cave she pointed to, was little more than a bolt hole in the rock face that rose above it. She scrambled up the loose rocks to investigate. “The cave itself looks to be a good size but Sarge, you and Soren are going to have a bitch of a time squeezing your fat asses in here.”
“We’ll get in,” said Soren. “Tight spaces are my specialty.”
“How did you managed to make that gross?” asked Risa, waiting for the others to join her at the cave face.
“I am a man of many talents,” said Soren, reaching her first. He grimaced when he saw the cave entrance. “This isn’t small. It’s Pixie-sized, and me without my lube.”
“Get in the fucking hole,” growled Risa.
“That’s what he said,” Soren retorted with a grin. He un-belted his sword and removed the pack to make himself as small as possible. Putting his arms out in front of him, he shimmied his way in headfirst. It was a tight fit.
Ditre went next after shoving Soren’s weapons inside and removing his own to do the same. Cole set Elise down so she could crawl inside, but she balked at the entrance. “Too dark.”
Cole did his best to crouch down to eye level on the unstable slope. “I’ll be right behind you, baby girl. Soren and Ditre are already inside and guess what?” He tapped her nose and shared a small sadness-laced smile.
Risa had to close her eyes to calm the burn.
“What?” answered Elise, her small pink lip pushed out in a pout.
“We can see in the dark.”
“No, you can’t!” she said, stamping her little foot. “Momma says don’t tell lies...” her tirade died, and her green eyes swam with new tears at the mention of her mother.
“Cole, why don’t you go first and then you can help her inside?”
He nodded and used the same technique as Soren. Cole wasn’t wearing a sword. Risa wondered when he’d lost it.
There was a moment she feared he might get stuck when no amount of wiggling moved him forward. Then suddenly he slipped through, crying out.
“That fucking hurt,” growled Cole.
“Hey, it worked didn’t it? Maybe you’ll remember this the next time you decide to take a cheat day.” A yelp followed Soren’s little dig, and Risa chuckled.
“Okay, you go next, and I’ll be right behind you,” she said, leading Elise to the cave by her shoulder. The girl trembled under her hand, but Risa wasn’t sure if it was a reaction to what had happened or a reaction to the cold. Elise had been playing in the house when they had to evacuate. She only had a thin sweater and loose wool drawstring pants. That wouldn’t be enough.
When Elise was safely inside, Risa followed. Not needing to remove anything like the much larger men. Inside was a space large enough for all of them to lie down comfortably. There weren’t any tunnels leading out and no animal musk, just the mineral scent of damp stone. Only a tiny amount of light passed through the opening of their hiding place, so everything had the green hue of night vision. Cole had Elise in his lap, the girl’s head against his chest, with her eyes closed.
Soren had upended the backpack, and he and Ditre were going through the contents.
“What’s left?” Risa asked, standing over them.
“A flare, three throwing blades, a candle, and a pack of two-hundred-year-old chewing gum.”
“Who the hell taught you to pack for a trip?” scoffed Risa.
Soren shrugged. “Don’t look at me. Most of the good stuff was lost when we took that mud bath.”
“Keep it down,” said Cole. “She’s asleep.”
“How are you holding up?” asked Risa.
“Not well. You got this?”
“Yeah. Take the time you need. We’ll need to stay here for as long as it takes to know what we’re up against. We also need to find some clothes for Elise. Our bodies will heal from frostbite, hers won’t.”
“Plan?”
“Eh. I’m winging it,” she said with a wink. “Ditre come with me. We need to gather up some wood while it’s still dry outside. Elise needs a fire.”
“I can help,” added Soren.
“You really wanna squeeze back through that hole right now?” she asked him.
He glanced at the entrance and back at Risa. “Good point. Think I’ll stay here.”
Ditre pulled himself through the hole, and Risa did the same. Soren pushed their swords through to them. After they buckled them back in place, they trekked along the creek bed. Risa listened to everything. Squirrels scrambling up a tree. At a guess fifty feet away, although she found it hard to judge distance farther than twenty feet with accuracy. A fact that had gotten them in trouble several times. She needed to get better. If she’d heard the Valkyrie coming, they would’ve had time to all get away.
“What are you thinking about so hard?” said Ditre, keeping his voice low.
“How I fucked up,” she replied, all humor gone. Her shoulders fell and her feet dragged.
“Don’t.” Ditre nudged her with his elbow. “This isn’t on you.”
“If I had—”
“No. No matter what you’re thinking, it wouldn’t have played out any differently.”
“You don’t know that!” She knew it was dangerous to yell, but her anger and frustration needed an outlet and Ditre was waving the red cape.
“We were fucked the minute you guys found Elijah. Those other Valkyrie were probably already on their way. You were just
lucky they didn’t catch up to you.”
She couldn’t argue with him but wasn’t ready to give up her ire yet. “I should have been the one on guard duty. I would have had more range.”
“Maybe, but what would you have done then? How much extra time would you have given us? A minute? Two?”
“A lot can be done in a minute.”
“True, but not enough to change the outcome. Anyway, it doesn’t matter. It’s done. Feeling guilty about it isn’t going to change anything and we really need you to be on your game right now. Sarge isn’t going to be good for a day or two and you know Ren and I can’t lead for shit.” Ditre put his arm around her shoulders and drew her close.
She snuggled into him and braced her hand on his side. “Thanks, Deets. I’m supposed to be the one giving the shrink talks.”
He snorted. “Sweetie, you were trained to torture people and get information, not to help them with marital problems.”
She lifted a shoulder. “Tomato, tomato,” she said, pronouncing the second with a soft A.
They wandered in a more companionable silence until the creek curved around a bend, and trees could be seen a short distance away. After they gathered as many branches as they could carry, they double-timed it back to the cave. Soren had a blazing fire started in minutes. Cole moved closer with the sleeping child in his arms and rubbed her chilled extremities to keep them warm.
“Ren, give me the throwing knives,” said Risa, picking up her quiver, she counted the bolts. It had been almost full when they’d started their climb, but half had fallen out. The little crossbow Alex and Celene had given her had survived the climb without an issue. She would strap it to her forearm when she got outside. Last came her sword. She hadn’t taken to it as naturally as Sonya had, but like the rest she had the ability to use it stored in her Halo. If she needed to use it, she would be prepared. Her black clothes would help her hide, but there wasn’t anything she could do about her hair and pale skin.
Soren pulled his shirt over his head and tore it in two pieces. “Here, use this for your hair.”
She grinned in gratitude and tied the fabric over her platinum mane, not that anyone would describe her short hair as a mane.