Shattered: The Sundance Series

by Rider, C. P.

  This was not a normal illusion. It felt the way Guillermo's spike had, as if someone from the outside was manipulating it. The alpha was literally ensnared in this nightmare dreamscape and couldn't find his way out. What's more, he couldn't hear his aunt calling to him, couldn't feel her touch, couldn't find the very obvious escape hatch she had created in the dream for him.

  "Juan."

  No response. The alpha was crazed with terror, howling and using his claws to rip into his own flesh as he tried to escape.

  At the far end of the room stood a tiny door only a small child could fit through. Once I noticed it, the door swung open wide, revealing a glimpse of a sunny garden. The same garden Guillermo's child self had retreated to when the Elijahs tortured him.

  And just like that, I understood the problem.

  Slowly, carefully, I pulled halfway out of Juan's head, maintaining our connection, and sat back on my heels. "Gert, stop. You can't help him that way and you'll only wear yourself out trying."

  With a whoosh of breath, Gert opened her eyes. She looked a little older, a little less sure of herself today. "You positive about that? This is my grand-nephew we're talking about here."

  "Trust me. I'm sure."

  I surveyed the faces in the room; Gert's exhaustion, Dahlia's sorrow, Amir's concern, Lucas's watchfulness, and Samuel's curiosity. And then I focused on the Texas red wolf in the corner.

  "Guillermo." I crawled across the floor to where he lay. "Let go of him."

  The wolf whimpered. His terror was like a forcefield that I couldn't penetrate.

  "It's all right." I stroked his muzzle. "You're safe. I know you didn't mean to hurt your brother. That's why you offered him the garden door, isn't it? Your special hiding place. Auntie Gert's garden."

  He whined, burrowing his face in his forepaws. "It was a nice thing to do, but Johnny can't find the door by himself. He needs you to go in there and help him."

  Resistance to that idea hit me like a wall. He was so broken, so terrified.

  "I know you fear this, but you need to be brave. For your brother."

  The wolf howl-cried, a sound of pain I'd never heard before, not even from my uncle during his most agonizing changes. Behind me, Dahlia began to sob.

  The wolf inside me also responded, trying to reach beyond the confines of my body to comfort this sad, abused wolf. I pushed her back and gripped Guillermo's muzzle again, this time lifting his head to force him to look at me. "You have to do it or he'll die. You are his only hope."

  Guillermo threw up the resistance again, and hugged himself into an even tighter ball.

  "He's weighed down with fear, and it's caused him to turn in on himself. He's all id, no superego." That Freud documentary I made Lucas watch with me a few weeks ago was really coming in handy today. I nudged Sampson. "Can you calm him? If he settles down, I can reach the moral, thinking side of him and help Juan."

  The trancer nodded. He stared into the wolf's eyes, his own eyes glowing bright blue, and said, "Obey me."

  The wolf didn't whimper again, but he sat up and his breathing quickened.

  "Slow your breath. Calm your mind. Listen to Neely. Trust that you are safe. You are safe. You are safe."

  Guillermo's breathing slowed. He lowered his muzzle to his paws, but kept his eyes trained on Sampson.

  "Trust that you are safe."

  "I will stay with you the entire time. Your mother," I motioned to Dahlia to come close, "is here, too. We will not leave you."

  "I'm here, son." Dahlia placed her slender hands on his neck, massaging her fingers deep into his fur.

  He leaned into his mother's touch. I knew the second we'd reached him, the moment he'd made the choice to help his brother, because his eyes slid shut and a huge breath puffed out through his nose. I closed my eyes and spiked into Juan's brain again.

  The strange, marshy darkness grew even darker when Guillermo's human form entered the illusion. There were things in the blackness, glimpsed only in flashes of red light from the monitor. These things looked almost human, but were not, and created a feeling of deep revulsion in me. Distantly, I heard the buzzing of bees, and knew that this was a sound Guillermo carried inside of him all the time now.

  Step by careful step, Guillermo slowly made his way to his brother. It was as if the atmosphere itself fought his progress, as if even the air was against him. Still, he forced himself forward, reaching for his brother. Muscles bulged, veins appeared on his temples and down the sides of his neck, sweat poured down his face, but still he pushed onward.

  After what seemed like an eternity, he reached the bedside and gripped his brother's hand. The vines fell away and Juan's eyes opened. His wolf slid away, leaving behind the human man. He climbed off the bed, and the brothers walked hand-in-hand to the tiny door that led into the sunny garden. By the time they reached it, both men had shifted into their younger wolf forms and were able to fit through the door.

  I withdrew from Juan's head and opened my eyes.

  Juan had shifted to wolf and was lying on the other side of his brother, calm and quiet. Dahlia stroked the fur of both her sons, smiling through her tears. Sampson was on his feet near the door, eyes no longer glowing. He caught my gaze, nodded once, and slipped out of the room.

  "Thank you," Dahlia whispered. "Thank you all."

  Once we'd assured ourselves they were all okay, Amir, Lucas, Gert, and I walked onto the porch where Sampson was pacing, my phone clutched in his hand. "You got another message."

  This time there were two texts from an unknown number. One was a photo of my dad. His eyes were swollen and blood drooled out of his mouth. The other was a new address.

  "They moved him," I said flatly. "Look where."

  "Same as the coordinates," Lucas said. "Do you think this is where they were planning to hold you all along?"

  "Probably."

  "That's your father." Sampson drew back. "He's been beaten because you were late."

  "I know. We need a plan."

  "Don't you even care?" He frowned. "You sound so cold."

  Did I sound cold or did I sound like my father's daughter? "While it upsets and infuriates me to see my dad hurt, I'm not going in without a plan. It will do neither of us any good for this group to get their hands on a weapon like me. My father, in my position, would do the same."

  "That may be true, but … I don't know, he's your dad."

  "Exactly. And what do you think would happen to him if they managed to catch me and somehow use me against him?" I faced Sampson. "Tell me, would you like to face me head-on, knowing what I am? What I can do?"

  "No, I wouldn't. You're right. I was just … shocked at how calm you are."

  I wasn't nearly as calm as I sounded—in fact, I wanted to spike the brains out of the person who hurt my dad—but I was pleased to know others thought I was. It was an advantage in a situation like this.

  "Of course she's calm. She's got to be to get stuff done." Gert rubbed her hands together. She appeared energized—apparently her relief at Juan's recovery had reinvigorated her. "I'm in. What's the plan?"

  "Well, the first thing we need you to know is, Barney Drath is a traitor."

  "Barney?" Her face crumpled. "He's been with the family for years."

  I asked Sampson to show her the video.

  "I told you all he was acting weird." Gert set her jaw. “Why, that sorry excuse for a living thing. Don't I feel the fool? He's been with us for longer than the boys have been alive, and none of us figured out the old coot was crooked as the Brazos."

  "Maybe he wasn't always that way," I offered.

  She shrugged. "Maybe. I imagine folks can change. Doesn't matter either way. Our guy is causing trouble and it's up to us to handle it."

  "That's right, Auntie Gert." Juan appeared in the doorway in human form, wearing a pair of black running shorts that barely covered his muscled backside, and nothing else. His pale ale eyes glimmered with anticipation. "I've alerted my wolves. You have the support of the wolf pack
of Travis County."

  "And that ain't a thing to sneeze at, let me tell ya'll." Gert pushed her glasses higher on her bony nose. "That's a lot of wolves at your service, but even better, that's a lot of Martinez wolves at your service."

  "Genuine Texas red wolves," Juan added.

  "¡Viva la familia!" Gert yelled, and then she howled. In the distance, several wolves joined her.

  Amir looked at me.

  "It's a rallying cry," I explained. "It means, 'long live the family.'"

  He nodded approvingly.

  Guillermo Martinez appeared behind Juan, also in human form and wearing a matching pair of shorts. "Yes, Auntie Gert. Viva mi familia." His smile was shaky. "Thank you. Once we got past the nightmare, my brother was able to bring me into the pack again. I'm feeling much stronger now."

  "Glad to help." My head pounded, and I felt a little shaky myself. The addiction side of my ability hadn't shown up as strong this time, since the duration of the spike had been short, but the headache I got from holding back from the kill was acute.

  Lucas rubbed his hands together and set them on my temples. The pain receded but did not disappear entirely. This was not an easily healed sort of pain.

  There was a sharp intake of breath from Lucas, followed by a smooth exhalation. He leaned down to whisper in my ear, "You are amazing."

  I smiled and leaned back against his chest, letting him enfold me in his arms.

  "Now that my mate has saved your sorry behind, we need to get moving." Lucas's smile widened as Juan's scowl grew. "Johnny, where's your big ass, overblown Texas truck? I know you have one."

  "You know I do. Can't be seen driving some wimpy California truck, can I?"

  "Watch it, wolf. My California trucks are plenty badass."

  We left the sedan behind and piled into a black Ford F450 with a camper shell on the eight-foot bed. Lucas, Amir, Guillermo, Gert, Sampson, Juan, and I rode in the front, and Dahlia and a whole bunch of Martinez shifters rode in the back. Gert and Amir tried to get her to ride up front, but she insisted she could hear just fine from the back.

  "What's the plan, Neely?" Gert asked.

  They all waited for my direction, including Lucas and Juan. For once, I was the person everyone looked to for leadership. I'd come a long way, baby.

  "First off, protect yourselves, not only from outsiders, but from me. You all saw what I can do when I need to draw power. Be aware of that and protect the weaker wolves. I can't be held responsible for what I do when I'm in that deep." It was on the tip of my tongue to apologize for that, but I stopped myself. They had been warned. If they didn't listen, it was on them, not me.

  "My suspicion is, they'll want to appear harmless at first. By all accounts, they aren't fools. They'll have anticipated my ability to kill them with a thought and will have something in place to prevent that." I glanced at Sampson. "If it affects me, it'll probably affect you too. Stay back until you've completely assessed the danger."

  He nodded.

  "Juan, you said more wolves are on the way?"

  "I sent out an all-hands alert. I anticipate four hundred-plus wolves at the scene. I've instructed them to form a wide fence around the property and to take down anything that tries to break through. This should give you room to work without having to worry about anyone getting away."

  "Perfect. Warn them about me, too." He nodded.

  I continued, "Now here's the rest of the plan."

  When I finished speaking, Lucas was the only one with a question. "Where will you be, and with whom?"

  "Front and center," I replied. "Alone."

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  I wouldn't have thought it possible, but the bouncing of the truck, coupled with Lucas's nearness and the fact that I'd been up for twenty-four hours straight, lulled me into a light sleep.

  By the time we stopped, I was feeling a little more alert. Less from the nap than from the energy I'd pulled from the shifters surrounding me, though.

  Everyone filed out of the truck. Most of the shifters, including Dahlia and Amir, shifted into their animals and took their place with the others on the perimeter of the property. The remaining shifters, and one worried looking trancer, stood solemnly around me.

  "Sampson, you don't have to do this," I said.

  "I owe you. I know that."

  "You don't owe me your life." There was a time when I would have said otherwise, but that was then and this was now.

  "No. I owe you more than my life. You helped me save my friends and their children, and then Alpha Blacke allowed them to stay in Sundance while they healed. If by doing this I can repay you both in some small way, then so be it. Don't worry, spiker. I know the risks. I'm in. All the way."

  "Stay with the shifters you came with." Juan approached Sampson. He rubbed his hands together, then pressed his palms to the trancer's neck and hands. "My scent, in case you get separated."

  "Be glad he didn't take off your shirt to do that." I glared at Lucas. Shook my head.

  "What? I've apologized for that a hundred times already," he said. "I was being a dominant alpha jerk. I know."

  Juan chuckled. Sampson nodded his thanks to the alpha and took off.

  The warmth and lightness in our moods floated away as if on a dense, icy wind. The four prehistoric shifters who remained gathered in a circle around me.

  Guillermo spoke first. "There's something you need to know. It's about Legion."

  I glanced from Juan to his brother. "At first I thought Legion was your name, but the story of Legion in the Christian Bible referred to a man, or men, possessed by more than one demon."

  "That's where the name came from. Demons are a good way to describe them."

  Juan put his hand on his brother's shoulder. "What are they?"

  Guillermo stared into the distance. Mentally, he seemed insubstantial and fragile, on the edge of collapse. I wasn't sure how much help he'd be today, but I understood why it was important that he be here. Sometimes you needed closure.

  "You know what was done to me to force my prehistoric side to break through."

  The pain on Juan's face was plain. "Yes."

  "Well, I wasn't the only victim. There are more. Some more ferocious than even a Smilodon or dire wolf. All forced against their will, and all pissed off and unstable."

  "They're all prehistorics?" Lucas scowled. "How did they find so many? There aren't even that many of us in the world."

  "They didn't go after existing prehistorics. They sought out shifters who carried the dormant gene and 'tortured out' the beasts inside them. Went after any family with a known prehistoric. Or in your case—" He looked at me. "—an off-the-charts metaphysical ability.

  "It didn't work often. All of the betas they tried it on died, and most of the alphas were driven unmanageably insane and had to be put down. There still aren't many of us, but the ones who remain are not … well." He stared at his shoes. "I'm the best-case-scenario you'll find yourself dealing with, and the only reason I'm this okay is because of Neely."

  More bad news. One out-of-control prehistoric was bad enough, but several? This would not be an easy battle.

  I looked to Lucas, my rock, my lifeboat on a stormy sea.

  "We're ready when you're ready, Neely," he said.

  "It's been a hot minute since I've taken my truest form. I'm sure as sugar looking forward to it." Gert had ditched her glasses in the truck and let her white hair down so that it wafted around her thin shoulders, reaching down to her elbows.

  "So am I." Juan's smile crept into evil territory. I liked it.

  Guillermo's eyes glowed red-tinted gold. "I'm looking forward to some retribution."

  Lucas kissed me. He took my head in both hands, brought my mouth to his, and brushed his lips over mine. He said nothing. Aloud, anyway.

  You have me with you.

  And you have me. I stared into his whiskey eyes and saw my future, saw exactly how much I had to lose. I'll be careful, I promise.

  Juan handed me the key
s to his truck. Without another word, I climbed inside and drove to the farmhouse.

  Alone.

  * * *

  The first thing I noticed when I pulled up in front of the house was the dead grass. The property had been neglected for a while, but the last time I was here, the grass near the house was tall and green.

  I'd done that. I'd sucked the life out of every living thing on this land, the soil included. A ribbon of sorrow weaved through me, but the feeling didn't linger. Guillermo was alive and so was I. It was worth a little scorched earth for that.

  I exited the truck, but didn't go into the house. Instead, I took out the burner phone the wolf had left and texted the bastards: I'm here.

  Not that I thought for a moment that whoever was inside hadn't heard me pull up in a turbodiesel truck, but there was something disarming and borderline ridiculous about sending a text like that to a fanatical group like Legion. They might take themselves seriously, but I wanted them to think I didn't.

  In reality, I took them very seriously. Four-hundred-wolves-forming-a-fence-around-the-property seriously. Four-prehistoric-shifters-ready-to-move-at-my-word seriously. Pissed-off spiker seriously.

  A naked woman strolled through the doorway and came to a halt on the steps of the porch, her long hair partially concealing her nakedness. She was beautifully alien, not in the little green men way, but in that washed out, wasted away runway model slash avant-garde art installation way. Her white skin was paler than even the palest human, her nose too tiny for her face, which was broad at the cheekbones and pointed at the forehead and chin. Her eyes were so pale blue they were nearly white. She had no waist, no curve at her hips or breasts, but her legs were long and well-proportioned. She reminded me of a tall, straight tree that had come to life in a faerie forest.

  This was not a real being—there was no way anyone that beautifully strange could have been crafted by a benevolent universe—or even a benign one. She was proof magic existed—or that God hated us, I couldn't decide which.