“Hey, you,” she whispered.
He spun, weapon raised. Faster than the first, but still not fast enough. She knocked him out, eased him to the ground and grabbed his weapon. Another laser. Jack kept his men well armed, if nothing else. She wondered where he’d gotten the money.
She set the gun on the lowest setting—she didn’t want to kill anyone if it wasn’t absolutely necessary—then moved on. There was a monitor on the corner of the next building. She raised the laser and shot it. Sparks flew across the darkness, firefly bright. She sighted at the monitor farther along and took that out, too. Then she turned and ran back the way she’d come. Keeping to the side of the buildings and to the shadows, staying out of the range of monitors, she headed for the hut that held the generator.
Shouts rang through the silence, but they were coming from the area where she’d shot out the two monitors. A man appeared from the building to her left. She raised the laser and fired several shots. He went down with a gurgling sound that shuddered through her mind. She’d hit his larynx, probably made him mute. Still a hell of a lot better than death, she thought, shoving the horror of it from her mind. The door to the generator room was locked. Taking aim, she switched the laser to full and melted the shit out of the lock. Then she kicked the door open. It slammed back with the force of her blow.
Inside it was dark and unguarded. Two large generators sat on the concrete floor, and a small control board was to one side of them. There were far too many buttons on the board. She had no idea which was the right one to turn off the electricity to the fence, and it could take forever to find out. With no time for finesse, she put the laser on full and shot the hell out of the board. Metal and plastic melted away, then white light exploded, punching her backward and snatching the breath from her lungs as she was flung back against the wall. She hit the floor with a grunt. For several seconds, she struggled against the blackness threatening to snatch her mind into unconsciousness. Smoke hissed through the gloom, and red fingers of flame licked the remains of the board. Coughing slightly, she studied the generators. Sparks flew into the darkness, diamond bright against the fire. Electricity tingled across her skin, wild and somehow free. From the storm, not the generators, which were still working. She took aim again and shot them both. Then she ran like hell for the door.
She barely made it.
A gigantic rush of heated air picked her up and threw her sideways. She hit the ground hard, tasting dirt as she slid along it. Heat licked across her back, burning deep. Realizing her shirt was on fire, she rolled, dousing it. Another explosion shuddered. She cowered against the ground, throwing her arms over her head, trying to protect it as deadly spears of wood and metal arrowed through the air. Flames leapt upward, a gigantic ball that lit the night sky.
If Jan and Lyssa didn’t see or hear that, something was definitely wrong with them. Jack wouldn’t miss it; that was for certain.
Ignoring the pain of the burns on her back, she scrambled to her feet and ran for the parking lot. She didn’t get ten feet before Jack’s voice rose from the darkness like a demon from the grave.
“No farther, Sam. You’ve done enough damage for one night.”
Jack appeared suddenly to her right, holding a laser as powerful as her own. Jack, the vampire, faster than she’d ever be. She swore. The two women needed time to get up that hill and get away. Somehow, she had to provide it.
She fired haphazardly in his direction, then dove sideways. Blue-red light burned across the ground inches from her feet. She scrambled to her feet and kept on running.
“I don’t want to hurt you, Sam.”
No. Just use her. Willingly or not. Heat sizzled across the night air. She leapt for the corner of the nearby building. Sparks flew, gold and white fireflies that danced across her face as the laser burned a hole inches above her head.
Malevolence stung the night, and evil, then the sound of running steps. Her so-called friend, approaching fast. Shuddering, she scrambled back up and ran on.
“Stop. This is my last warning.”
She ignored it, ignored the sense of danger throbbing through her veins. Ignored the specter of death hovering in the storm-held skies. There was a car only a few feet away. Ten seconds was all she needed to get in, hot-wire the com-unit and get the car going. Ten seconds. Surely that wasn’t asking much.
She didn’t make it. Heat blasted into her back, throwing her to the concrete. Her head smashed against the pavement and stars danced before her eyes. She bit back a cry of pain, fighting to stand, fighting to run. To no avail. Her back was wreathed in fire, and her body refused to obey her wishes.
The last thing she heard before the darkness closed in was Jack’s gentle sigh.
GABRIEL WALKED TO THE EDGE of the roadside. Nestled in the valley below them was what looked to be a small military encampment. There were seven long redbrick or bluestone buildings in all, surrounded by a high wire fence. He had no doubt the fence would be electrified. The men who’d taken Sam were somewhere below them. Whether she was still there was another matter entirely.
He glanced around as Karl joined him at the edge. Hands shoved deep in the pockets of his jacket, Karl studied the camp for several minutes, then met Gabriel’s gaze. “What do you think?”
“I think it’s far too quiet.” The only lights were a couple on the building at the far edge of the camp. There was no movement, no guards that he could see. Everything suggested it was a trap, with a capital T.
“If they’d found the bugs, surely they would have destroyed them.”
“Maybe.” Maybe not. They were dealing with a warped mind. Kazdan could do anything. “I might take a flight down and see what I—”
The rest of his words were cut off as an explosion ripped across the night. Flames leapt high, burning into the sky as metal and wood flew like sparklers through the camp.
He dropped to the ground, followed almost instantly by Karl. The lights in the far buildings went out, and several shouts could be heard above the noise of the explosion.
“Someone’s hit the generator,” Karl commented.
Gabriel nodded. Maybe someone who wanted the fence taken out. Otherwise, why bother?
Laser fire lit up the night, brighter than the fire from the explosion. “Someone’s heading north, if those shots are anything to go by.”
“And someone else is heading up this hill,” Karl said. “Listen.”
For a moment he heard nothing, and then came a soft heel scuff and the sharp clatter of rock tumbling down the slope. He tapped Karl on the shoulder, and then pointed to the right. Karl nodded and rose to his feet, moving away as silently as a shadow.
Gabriel shifted shape. The wind flowed under his wings, thrusting him up past the tree line. Whoever was climbing the hill wasn’t very fit. He could hear their panting as clearly as he could smell the acid tang of the fire.
He swept down the slope, wings brushing the highest tips of the gum trees. Rodents scattered, their high-pitched squeals of terror music to his hawk hearing. He ignored them, gliding on. Shadows ran through the trees just ahead—female, rather than male. Their shapes alone told him neither was Sam. Yet both were shapes he knew. He dove through the trees, changing as he neared the ground.
“Lyssa,” he called softly.
She turned with a cry of relief, all but falling into his arms.
“Oh thank God, Gabriel. I thought I’d never see you again.”
He frowned. The woman in his arms was trembling with fear, and the front of her shirt was covered in blood—blood that he could smell more than see. She was also more drawn, and a hell of a lot skinnier, than the Lyssa he’d seen only yesterday.
The second woman stopped and turned around. It was Jan, as he’d half expected. “You okay?” he asked, over Lyssa’s head.
Jan nodded but wrapped her arms around her body, as if in an effort to stop her sudden shivering. The bushes to his left rustled. He tensed and then relaxed as Karl stepped through. Jan ran to him. Karl hugged
her so tightly Gabriel thought he’d squeeze the life out of her.
He stepped away from Lyssa, holding her at arm’s length, his gaze searching her pale face. “Tell me what happened.”
“A police officer freed us. She told us to run up this hill.”
Relief coursed through him. Sam, surely. “She’s still down there?”
Lyssa’s blue eyes regarded him curiously. “You know her?”
“We’re working together.” As Lyssa would have known, had she actually been the shifter who’d spent the last few months at his brother’s side. He glanced at Karl. “We have to get them out of here.” Before Kazdan came looking for them—and before Sam got caught again.
He touched Lyssa’s arm and helped her up the slope. Karl all but carried his wife—maybe the sudden relief of seeing him had sapped all her strength—and it seemed to take forever to reach the top. Gabriel bit back his impatience, his need to go find Sam, and helped Lyssa over to the car. Family came first, and Lyssa—the real Lyssa—was family.
When she was safely settled in the backseat, he closed the door and leaned on the top of the car, watching Karl help his wife into the front.
Karl met his gaze once she was in. “Thank you,” was all he said.
They’d been friends for a long time, and Gabriel knew that the simple thank-you encompassed a whole lot more—including thank you for letting me help, thank you for trusting me again. He nodded. He’d confided in Karl for nigh on ten years, trusting him with all but his brother’s secrets, and his brother had in turn trusted Karl with the one secret that mattered. Now that Karl had proven to be vulnerable to attack, they’d have to arrange for the information about Stephan to be wiped from his mind. But that didn’t mean he was no longer worthy of trust or friendship. And had the situation been reversed, had it been he in Karl’s position, he would have done exactly the same thing. Most men would have. And most men would not have taken the risk of bugging the blackmailers. That more than anything told him where Karl’s allegiances truly lay.
“I want you to get the rest of your family and get the hell out of Victoria. Go to New South Wales or Queensland or wherever for a while. Tell no one—not your company, not Jan’s folks, not your folks.” He hesitated, then got out his cell phone, handing it to his friend. “I’ll call you when it’s safe to return.”
Karl took the phone and nodded. “What about Lyssa?”
“Take her with you. For now, that’s best.”
Gabriel bent and lightly tapped the window. Lyssa wound it down and studied him expectantly. “You’re not taking me to Stephan, are you?”
He shook his head. “Not yet. Not till it’s safe. Stephan will kill me if I lose you now.”
“Is he all right?”
“He’s fine. Don’t believe the news reports, no matter what they say. I’ll let him contact you as soon as I can.” He shifted slightly to let Karl climb into the car. “You’re safe with Karl and his family. I’ll see you in a couple of days.”
She nodded solemnly. He glanced back to Karl. “Be careful.”
“I’m not going to lose anyone else to that creep,” Karl muttered. “And you’re the one who should be careful. He seems to know an awful lot about your family and your friends.”
Gabriel nodded. As they drove away, he shape-changed, winging his way down the mountain after them to ensure they got away safely. Then he wheeled around and headed back to the camp.
Kazdan was on the move.
He saw two men carry Sam to a large white van and put her inside. Kazdan climbed in after her and the van moved off. Several other cars were lined up in the parking lot. Men scurried antlike from the buildings to the vehicles, carrying all manner of equipment. No one made any attempt to fight the fire.
Fire trucks were approaching fast, but he doubted if they’d be in time to stop the evacuation. And while he’d love to know just what Kazdan was up to in that compound, Sam had to be his first priority, because she seemed to be Kazdan’s first priority. With a flick of his wings, he headed east, after the first van.
They drove for about an hour. The wind grew stronger, buffeting his wings and carrying with it the salty tang of the sea. He studied the horizon. Beyond the dusting of house lights, beyond the trees that danced and swayed to the music of the breeze, he could see the ocean—a blanket of foam washed blue-black. They were nearing Western Port Bay.
Kazdan turned before he got to the beach road, heading inland for several miles, then finally slowing as he approached an isolated farmhouse.
Gabriel drifted closer. A familiar tingle ran through his limbs, a warning that he was approaching a changer shield. Why would they have something like that way out here? It was the sort of device used to protect military installations, not isolated farmhouses. He flicked his wings, soaring left, wondering just how large the shield was. A blue-white light speared out of the darkness below him. Before he could turn away, before he could react in any way, it hit, flaring bright against his chest.
He couldn’t move. Couldn’t fly.
All he could do was watch the approach of the ground as he plummeted toward it.
PAIN WASHED THROUGH EVERY MUSCLE, every cell. Sam’s whole body ached. It felt as if it were being stretched, being invaded somehow. She groaned … and even that hurt. Her throat felt like sandpaper and was as dry as a desert. Her tongue seemed swollen and rasped harshly against the roof of her mouth.
Boot heels echoed softly against metal, coming toward her. She tried to open her eyes, but they felt so heavy they might have been weighted down by concrete. It took several attempts before she managed to open them, and even then, her vision was reduced to mere slits.
The harsh light made her blink back tears.
“I did ask if you’d do this the easy way,” Jack said, somewhere to her left. “It would have been so much better.”
The warmth had gone from his tone, leaving only harshness. Or maybe it had always been like that, and she’d never noticed it before now.
“What have you done?” Her question came out a cracked whisper. She tried to swallow, but she couldn’t. Maybe he’d sucked all the moisture away, as easily as he sucked the life from others.
“Nothing much, yet. There are plenty of tests left to try.”
He sounded almost jovial. The footsteps came closer, and then she could see him. His smile, like the light in his eyes, was one of a conqueror about to demolish his foe. Had she been able to draw enough moisture together, she would have spat at him.
“This isn’t exactly a good way to get me to help you,” she said.
His smile was serene. “By the time I’m finished with you, my friend, you’ll be begging me to let you help.”
He certainly didn’t know her very well if he thought she would ever beg. Still, the viciousness behind his words shook her. This man, this demon, called himself her friend, yet he was more than willing to tear her apart. “Why are you doing this?”
“Because I prefer to be a leader rather than a follower. Because I’m sick of pussyfooting around. And because I want a better world for my kid.” He motioned to someone beyond her line of sight. “Now, lie back and enjoy the ride.”
Like hell she would. She lashed out, trying to catch him unawares, but metal bit into her wrist, cold and hard, stopping her arm from rising any more than an inch or so. Similar metal clamps bit into her ankles and neck.
Jack laughed. “I’m not foolish enough to let you loose a second time. You’ll stay here until I’ve finished.”
“Damn you for this, Jack.” Damn him for destroying a friendship she’d held dear. Even if it was a friendship based on a lie, she’d believed in it.
His laugh was edged with sadness. “I was damned a long time ago, Sam. Now I must live with it the best I can.”
Heat began to creep through her fingers and toes, a tingling warmth that made her skin itch and made her heart leap uncomfortably in her chest. Then pain hit, sucking at her strength, leaching away her consciousness. Soon there was nothi
ng but a well of darkness, and she fell into it screaming.
HE WAS IN A BOAT that rocked gently back and forth, a soothing sensation that failed to ease the alarms ringing in his mind, forcing him toward consciousness. The breeze pulled at his hair and cooled the warm moisture trickling down his face and back. Somewhere above him, leaves sighed, and branches groaned under the increasing strength of the wind.
He became aware of something hard biting deep into his stomach. To his left, wood splintered—a sound not unlike the cracking of a tree branch.
Confused, wondering where the hell he was, Gabriel opened his eyes. The ground was a good twenty feet away, rising and dipping in a sickening motion.
He closed his eyes, then opened them again. No difference. He looked to his left and saw the long arm of a tree reaching toward him—and realized he was wrapped around it, arms and legs dangling on either side. That was what was biting into his gut—the shattered ends of a branch.
He twisted slightly and looked up. Smashed branches gave evidence of his descent, but the tree had undoubtedly saved his life. With the speed he’d been going, if he’d hit the ground, he surely would have died.
Somewhere off to his right, brush rustled. He stilled, listening. Something beeped, and then a voice rose from the silence like a ghost from the mist.
“I told you, I haven’t spotted a goddamn thing. You sure he came down this way?”
The silence seemed to stretch, jarring against his nerves. Then the searcher spoke again, closer this time. “Okay, okay. I’ll do another sweep.”
A man stepped into the clearing below him. Short brown hair, balding on top, and a hawklike nose. Danny Fowler, Gabriel thought, gun for hire. Danny had disappeared from the circuit five or six months ago, and like everyone else, Gabriel had presumed Danny’s violent past finally caught up with him. But if he was now working for Kazdan, then something big was going down. Fowler was a loner from way back.