Walker was torn away from her, and she braked, frantically steering around to see him lying on his back, blood spreading over his chest.
“Oh, no. Walker.”
Two men from the SUVs ran to him, grabbing his arms and dragging him away. Before she could reach them, they fired at her again, the bullets peppering the snowmobile and causing a black cloud of smoke to billow out from the engine. Lilah jumped off into the snow, hitting her shoulder and rolling into the trunk of a tree. An explosion sent a wave of hot air over her, and she realized the gas tank had erupted when the snowmobile smashed into one of the SUVs. As she rolled over, she saw the huge cloud of smoke and fuel raining fire down on the roof and hood of one of the SUVs.
Her right arm wouldn’t move, and hung at an odd angle, and she had to shove herself up with her left. She got her feet under her and clutched her arm as she staggered toward the blood in the snow.
Has to be alive. Has to be.
The woman from the park appeared in front of her, and this time pointed a real gun at Lilah. “I don’t need the extra baggage, thanks.” She fired.
Lilah felt the bullet slam into her head, and the world revolved slowly until her back crashed into the ground. She couldn’t move, she couldn’t breathe, and all she could feel was a warm wetness as it seeped down her scalp and dripped onto her neck.
Be a good girl, Lillian, Evelyn Emerson whispered from the grave, and you’ll get your reward.
Gunshots crackled in her ears as she closed her eyes, and then they fell silent as the heat coalesced in her heart. She had promised, she had sworn, she had gone without, she had been good. She had been so very good for so long.
And now, this was her reward.
Lilah’s head pulsed with heat as the holes in the front and back of her skull abruptly filled in and closed. The blood matting her hair dried instantly, and all around her body, the snow began to melt.
Lilah took her useless arm and held it out, barely feeling the wave of pain as the bones shifted back into place. Then she rose, planting her feet, and looked down to see a flattened slug pop out of the side of her bloodied calf. All the pain went away, consumed by the fire burning inside her.
Smoke hazed the air around her as she walked forward, and she felt her hair begin to rise all around her head. The strands that floated in front of her eyes glowed brighter and hotter than the fiery wreckage of the snowmobile.
She didn’t have to look over her shoulder at what came down from the trees to follow her. They came, alone and in pairs and in packs. The bears moved slowly, still drowsy from their long winter sleep, but their lumbering movements gradually picked up speed. The cougars padded across the snow, their heads erect and their large eyes unblinking. The winter white fur of the foxes and bobcats made them almost invisible, but the large pack of wild dogs had fur in a dozen colors, thanks to their complex ancestry of innumerable lost, abandoned, and runaway pets. Feral cats, some still wearing the ragged remains of collars, wove in and out of the legs of the larger predators, their jewellike eyes glittering with malice.
Lilah breathed in, feeling the minds her anger had summoned emptying of all thoughts as they absorbed hers. Two cougars came to crouch in the snow by her feet; one lifted its head against her hand as the other licked the blood from her leg. She stroked the big cat’s head as she waited for the rest to emerge from the forest.
“Lilah.” Nathan stopped just short of her, his eyes widening as he saw the cougars. “What is this? What are you doing?”
“You have your guardians.” She smiled as she reached into him. “I have mine.”
Nathan grabbed his head before he fell to the ground, writhing.
Lilah watched as her ability swept out over him and the other men of the town, and when the beasts came to her, their minds blank and their claws ready, she added them to the ranks.
With her army surrounding her, she started walking toward the entrance to the pass.
Chapter 23
The last rays of sunlight illuminated a long, dark limousine sitting just outside the pass, and as soon as she saw it, Tina ordered the driver to stop.
“Wait here,” she told the men, and glanced at Walker, who was still unconscious. “Get a dressing on that chest wound. I need this one alive.”
She checked the front of her jacket and composed her expression before she got out. Taske’s size mildly surprised her, as did his hobbling gait, but she kept her smile cool and impersonal.
“Samuel, you’re early.” She weighed one million dollars against the gun she was holding ready inside her jacket, and reluctantly slid the gun into her shoulder holster. “I was just about to call you.”
He stopped several yards away and looked past her. “That’s odd. I was under the distinct impression that you were fleeing the scene.” He lifted the briefcase he was carrying. “For convenience’s sake I bought the additional payment with me. Where is Lilah Devereaux?”
“She’s waiting for you just inside the pass.” She gestured toward the town. “I’m afraid we encountered some resistance from the locals, and had to retreat. Since she’s your friend, I’m sure you’ll have no trouble convincing her to go with you.” She closed the gap between them, stopping only when Taske removed his gloves. “What are you doing?”
“You’ve done an excellent job. I congratulate you.” He held out his hand.
She wasn’t removing her gloves, but saw no reason not to shake with the man who was about to make her a million dollars richer. “I’m glad it all worked out.”
Taske’s face whitened as his hand clenched over hers and then dropped it like a snake. “You shot her.”
“Yes, Samuel, I confess, I did.” She yanked the briefcase out of his hand and drew her gun. “Unfortunately, now I have to do the same to you.”
“That didn’t work out so well for you the last time,” a woman drawled, and Tina turned her head to see the bitch from the park, taking practice swings with her battered bat. When she fired at her, she only smiled. “And oh, dear, you still haven’t a fucking clue. Maybe you need a poem to help you remember: Sticks and stones won’t break her bones, and bullets will never hurt her.”
The fair-haired man from the park strode past Tina, knocking aside her men as he went to the SUV and looked inside. “He’s not in here.”
The white-haired woman gave her an annoyed look. “What did you do with him?”
“What?” Tina turned around in time to see the black streak of motion coming at her, and then it was on top of her, its claws tearing into her shoulders, its fangs an inch from her face.
She screamed.
“Nicola!”
“I got this.” Nick swung her bat, knocking the rogue off the woman and stepping over her cringing form as she reversed the swing and smashed it into his snarling face.
Putting all her Darkyn strength behind the bat threw the beast thirty feet away, but when it landed, it only scrambled to its feet and started limping toward Nick again.
“Huh. Maybe there’s something to the sword approach.” She drew her dagger, and then almost dropped it as a cougar and a bear joined the rogue. “What the hell?” She turned her head to see Gabriel fighting off a pair of wild dogs.
Taske’s driver grabbed her from behind. “In the car, miss. Please.” He hauled her over to the limo, shoved her in the front seat, and climbed in behind her. As soon as he closed the door, a bear slammed headfirst into it.
“Get to Gabriel,” Nick told the driver, and pointed through the chaos. Findley stepped on the gas as she held on to the door handle, flinging it open as soon as the limo reached him. A small herd of hissing house cats landed on the hood of the limo as she pulled Gabriel in, and reached past him to slam the door shut. “Go, James, go.”
“Turn off into the pass,” Taske said from the backseat.
Nick turned around. “You know anything about this Wild Kingdom stuff, Sasquatch?”
“No. At least, I don’t think she could … ” He broke off as he saw something. “Lilah. There she is. James, do you see her?”
“Got her, sir.” Findley spun the wheel and headed for a woman standing in the center of a mass of animals.
None of the critters were attacking the woman, Nick noticed, and in fact all of them seemed to be holding protective positions, as if they were guarding her. “Gabriel, is there a Kyn who can do your thing but with animals?”
Gabriel’s eyes glowed briefly. “She is not Kyn.” He grimaced, rubbing his temple. “She is also not human.”
“How do you know that?” Taske demanded.
“My talent allows me to command the insect world,” Gabriel said. “These animals all carry some parasites on or inside their bodies. They are trapped now, unable to free their hosts from her command.”
“She’s doing this?” Nick whistled. “Sasquatch, I don’t think I’d try an apology. You might just want to run. Far, far away.”
Gabriel touched her arm. “Look.”
Nick saw another SUV screech to a stop in front of a group of huge predators. They spread out, surrounding the car as the woman walked toward the front of it. She glanced around, and the beasts collectively attacked the vehicle, ripping off doors and jerking out men, tossing them aside like rag dolls.
Findley slowed to a stop as the woman turned around and saw them, and the beasts gathered around her.
“Oh, shit,” Nick murmured. “You might want to put it in reverse now, James. Hey.” She saw Taske climbing out of the back, and swore. “That idiot, what is he doing?”
Before she could go after him, one of the beasts leapt at Samuel, swiping at him with its claws and tearing through his coat. Nick jumped out and ran, shoving the beast off Samuel and protecting him with her body.
“Nicola.” Gabriel came to her, holding off the beast with his sword, and then turned his head as another figure staggered toward Lilah Devereaux. “Mon Dieu. It’s him.”
He ignored the violence all around him as he kept his eyes locked on the glowing blaze of Lilah’s hair. As he came closer, he could see her eyes had turned a glacial blue, as if all the fire had been extinguished by the ice of her anger.
