Authors: Dean Murray
Alec
and the others were dead, they just didn't know it yet. Brandon had
set up Agony perfectly by offering up the one target he'd known that
no hybrid could pass up. It had been the perfect trap precisely
because nobody, not even Brandon could have gotten out of the way in
time, but it turned out that Brandon hadn't needed to.
Instead
he'd just used his grip on Carson's right arm to angle Carson's blade
up into Agony's heart.
As
my mind registered what had just happened, I realized that I'd
stepped around so that I was fully out from behind my tree.
It
was a stupid thing to do, but that paled in significance compared to
the fact that my gun was already out and rising up into the
two-handed stance I'd spent so many hours practicing. I'd never even
considered taking a shot at Brandon before this. The range wasn't too
bad, especially against such a large target, but the four of them had
been moving too quickly for me to guarantee that I wouldn't hit Alec
or one of the others by mistake.
Only
now that wasn't a consideration anymore. Agony was still between
Brandon and I, but he was on his knees and falling. Alec was off to
one side struggling to pull himself back up to his feet, and Carson's
struggles to free himself from Brandon's cruel grip had moved him out
of the line of fire as well.
My
first shot took me by surprise. I'd acted out of reflex. I knew what
my target was and my sights had finally lined up on it. I squeezed
the trigger without even thinking about it and didn't even realize
that I'd sent a round downrange until the gun bucked in my hand and I
lost the sight picture I'd had on Brandon's chest.
Brandon
was still insanely fast. He spun back around while I was still trying
to bring my pistol back down so that I could get another shot lined
up.
This
time I overthought things. It was the first time that I'd
intentionally fired in anger at a live target and I was scared that I
wouldn't be able to get another center-of-mass shot before he started
moving towards me.
Instead
of waiting for my gun to finish coming back down so it was pointing
at the center of his chest, I pulled the trigger again as soon as his
head came into view over the barrel of my pistol. It would have been
a perfect shot except for the fact that my hand tightened up slightly
and pulled the barrel right at the last second. It was such a small
movement that most people wouldn't have even realized what had
happened, but it was enough that I missed him, creasing the side of
his head rather than putting a round between his bestial eyes as I'd
intended.
Brandon
started towards me and his speed was mind-blowing. I couldn't have
ever kept up with him except for the fact that he was still so far
away. He needed to move his whole body more than two dozen feet. I
only needed to move my hands fractions of an inch and with each step
he took towards me he became a bigger target.
I
pulled the trigger again and my nerves betrayed me a second time. The
shot was low and right—it hit him, but it wasn't the killing
shot that I'd hoped for.
I
couldn't take a calming breath, there wasn't time for that, not when
I was acting and thinking with the speed of a shape shifter, but I
imagined myself taking in a slow, deep breath as I fought to bring
the muzzle of my gun back down. It worked, I got another shot off and
this one was only a quarter of an inch off where I thought his heart
was positioned, but it wasn't enough. I was running out of time.
"Surround
him! Don't let him escape!"
It
was Alec yelling the words—I knew that—but they didn't
mean anything to me until Brandon shifted forms and threw his slender
wolf body to the side. I got one more shot off, one that went
completely through his stomach and out the other side, and then he
was lost among the rest of the trees.
The
rest of our people were still a couple of seconds away, but Alec had
bluffed Brandon into turning and running. By the time Brandon
realized that he wasn't in as much danger as Alec had indicated, he
must have decided that it wasn't worth the risk of circling back
around to try and kill any of the rest of us. Even Brandon wasn't
indestructible and he'd taken his share of damage over the last
minute or two.
Alec Graves
Ambush site
Southern New Mexico
I was trying to ease Agony's pain when everyone arrived. I turned to
thank the new arrivals and was blindsided by a backfist that sent me
sprawling.
"Stay
away from him!"
As
I came to my feet I realized that I still had my sword in my hand. I
wasn't a match for what I'd been earlier, but by the same measure the
big gray hybrid who had just hit me was no Brandon. If I hadn't
already been in hybrid form my beast would have demanded that I
shift. As it was, I sent out a pulse of power that exceeded anything
else I'd ever displayed.
"Who
the hell are you?"
"I'm
Dream Stealer and you'd be wise to back down and do as I say."
My
lips pulled back from my fangs.
"Please
tell me that you're really stupid enough to threaten me in real life
after all of the crap you pulled the last time you came at me in my
dreams."
I
stalked towards him on legs that weren't as steady as normal, but
which I was confident would be more than up to the challenge of
killing the infamous Dream Stealer if he didn't back down and show me
the respect I deserved.
I
was only a few feet away from striking range when the oddest surge of
calm washed over me. The emotion was so strong that I almost accepted
it, but my beast didn't like being manipulated. His emotions were
simpler than mine and he knew now wasn't the time to relax and look
weak.
"Carson,
I thought you said you'd never use your gift to influence any of my
decisions."
There
was a moment of silence as Carson processed my words. Taggart was
still trying to figure out what was going on, but then again he
didn't know that Carson was more than capable of projecting any
emotion he chose into those around him.
"You're
correct, Alec. It's not right for me to manipulate you in that
fashion, but I beg of you to reconsider what you're about to do. It
not only dishonors your sword, it's incredibly rash. We've won today,
but that doesn't mean that the Coun'hij is defeated. We can't afford
to kill each other."
"Turn
it off, Carson. No, don't just turn it off, put it back the way it
was."
It
was dangerous and not just because I was ordering around someone who
was my superior when it came to weapons play and every other
conceivable method of combat. Carson had come to me as an equal. He
wasn't submissive to me, he was a partner, but by the same measure
he'd been the one to escalate things.
I
was either a dominant, a force unto myself, or I wasn't. Accepting
his slights would just start me down a path that would result in me
no longer controlling my destiny.
Another
painfully long second passed and then my anger roared back. It was at
least as strong as it had been before and possibly even stronger. It
was a firestorm that demanded fuel. It wanted Dream Stealer as its
first sacrifice, but that was actually the problem. The kind of rage
I was feeling was never satisfied with one victim.
I
would want another sacrifice and another after that. If I let it run
unchecked, then sooner or later I'd find myself surrounded with
nothing but devastation. I took a deep breath and then another. My
beast reveled in the promise of glorious combat, but I forced my
beast back down, bottled him up and crammed myself back into human
form.
"Carson
is right. I won't have the blood of potential allies on my hands."
Dream
Stealer hadn't shifted and his anger was still burning so hot that he
practically glowed even to my human vision.
"I'm
not your ally, I'll never be that. Your incompetence has done nothing
but get your own people killed. If you'd simply left things to us we
would have easily dispatched everyone the Coun'hij sent to guard
Agony."
A
blond kid who didn't look old enough to shave yet stepped forward and
cleared his throat. "That's not true. We couldn't have stood
against Brandon like the three of them did. I tried to blind him like
I did the rest of his men but I couldn't. It's something about his
gift, it doesn't make him just physically stronger, it made him
resistant to my ability as well."
Dream
Stealer had practically spat his response at me, but if anything
being contradicted by one of his own people fanned his anger even
higher. He looked around as though expecting to marshal his troops,
but he and Carson were the only two left in hybrid form. Everyone
else had gradually shifted back as it became obvious that nobody
other than Dream Stealer was interested in another fight.
A
familiar figure stepped up to Dream Stealer's side. "Let it go.
My people aren't going to fight Alec for you. He's done nothing wrong
and risked a lot to accomplish the same end we came here for."
I
did a double-take at the familiar face and the scent that up until
now had been mixed in with everyone else's.
"Isaac?
You're okay? I never in a million years expected to see you here
leading a force like this."
Isaac
gave me a tired smile. "I likewise never thought to be standing
here opposite you. Your father was always harder on you than anyone
else, but you were still his golden child. I never thought that
anything could pry you away from his side."
His
words were the gentlest recrimination possible, but they were still a
recrimination. I'd stood by and let Kaleb exile Isaac for no real
crime at all. Isaac had been creating a fourth power pole inside of
the pack for no other reason than he'd been so much more controlled
than most of the other hybrids.
Kaleb
hadn't been willing to risk yet another faction inside of our pack
and so he'd had one of the older hybrids challenge Isaac to a fight
and then once Isaac had been beaten and humiliated, Kaleb had exiled
him on pain of death.
There
hadn't been anything I could have done to stop it all from happening,
but by the same measure I hadn't even tried. I should have left then
rather than waiting for two more years.
Carson
looked at Dream Stealer with the kind of calm confidence that told
everyone watching that he had no doubt as to his ability to defeat
the other hybrid.
"I'm
not going to let you hurt Alec."
Dream
Stealer looked like he was going to throw himself at Isaac or
possibly Carson, but he managed to restrain himself.
"Can't
any of you see that he's not on our side? He lured you all here to
make sure that you died. He's working for Kaleb; it's the only
logical explanation for the trap that was waiting for us. He didn't
set out to accomplish the same thing and the cost…"
Dream
Stealer trailed off. It was like he was waking up from a terrible
dream only the real nightmare was reality. He shifted forms and
dropped down to his knees next to Agony.
I
would have bet any amount of money that Dream Stealer would never
show me, or anyone with me, his actual human form. Next to his name,
it was the greatest secret he possessed, something he'd been guarding
for more years than I'd been alive, but he seemed so overcome with
grief that he'd forgotten all other concerns.
Dream
Stealer was an old man. I'd expected that, but I'd never realized
just how old he was. He took Agony's hands, hybrid claws and all, and
tears started making their way down his face.
None
of us needed a medic to tell us that Agony couldn't be saved. It was
a miracle that he'd held on for as long as he had and it was a
tragedy that Dream Stealer and I had let ourselves be drawn into that
kind of dominance posturing while the man we'd both come here to
rescue bled to death less than ten feet away from us.
Carson's
sword, wielded by Brandon, had pierced Agony's heart. The smaller
secondary organs scattered throughout his body had continued to
constrict and relax, but they were primarily designed to help take
over some of the ruinous load of keeping blood circulating through
the system of a hybrid in the middle of extreme combat.
The
sword in his chest was the only thing keeping Agony from bleeding
out. If we removed it then he'd die in seconds, but if we didn't
remove it he'd eventually bleed to death anyways.
"Someone
get on the radio and get Rachel up here with the bagged blood we've
got in the coolers."
I
didn't realize that I'd dropped to my knees next to Agony until he
reached up and gripped my arm. His claws could have easily ripped my
arm off, but he was so careful that he didn't even draw blood.
"I
appreciate the thought, but all you could do is prolong the
inevitable. Even if you put blood into me the healing kick-start I'll
get from shifting back to human form isn't going to be enough to
repair my heart."
"You
don't know that. Maybe it will be enough."
The
words were torn from Dream Stealer, but Agony just gave him a weak
smile. "We've had a much better run, you and I, than I ever
expected."
Whatever
Agony was going to say next was interrupted by a long series of weak
coughs. He was bleeding more now. The movement of Carson's sword
against his body as the coughs had torn through him had opened up the
wound in his heart. His remaining time had just been cut in half.
Maybe even worse.
"Send
everyone else away. What I'm about to tell you is for you leaders."
I
looked over and realized that Carson and Isaac had joined us at
Agony's side. Even more astonishing, a slender blonde figure had
taken a place next to Dream Stealer, next to Taggart with an ease
that made it obvious that it was where she belonged.