by Eden Maguire
Judge for yourself.' I gathered every shred of wil power to stand up to his chal enge. ' My main reason for coming was you, Hunter. I found out everything you need to know about Hester - I checked the details on her
birth certificate. You're named as her father.'
You know what happens when you strike a strong man hard? His eyelids
lficker but he hardly flinches. That was how it was when I gave Hunter this news.
'How much more certain can you be that she was your daughter and not Mentone's?' I asked.
'I hear you.'
'And did you ever check the certificate for yourself? You could have found a way to do that.'
He shook his head. 'Why not?'
'Because.'
I stared at Hunter, suddenly seeing him in a different light and connecting his hesitancy with Phoenix's seeming reluctance to pursue his own kil er. ' Were you scared of what you might find?' I stammered. 'If it turned out that Mentone was Hester's father, would you real y have wanted to know?'
The facts aren't always easy to handle,' he admitted.
'But this certificate makes it official,' I insisted. 'Marie wouldn't lie to the registrar, right?'
Hunter shook his head. 'My wife never told a lie in her entire life.'
'So she was one hundred per cent certain that you were the father. And maybe Mentone's attack didn't go as far as actual rape.'
I waited a while for him to work through the implications of what I'd said.
'Aren't you glad?' I asked.
He breathed deep. 'It's good to learn the truth. Thank you.'
Two precious words of gratitude fel from Hunter's lips! Yes, it was worth it, I thought, spurred on to say more. 'Hester married in 1925. She had a daughter named Alice Marie.' 97
Silently Hunter mapped the life he would have had as a father and
grandfather but he gave no sign of how it made him feel. Instead, he gazed
at me with expressionless features, as if listening to someone else's history, far removed from his own.
'Alice Marie married Tom Ashton.' My stomach tightened as I reached the end of the story. They had one son and one daughter, Tom and Jane.'
He gave the slightest nod, his grey eyes penetrating deep into my psyche. Knowing ful wel what was in my head, he did at least let me say it out loud.
'Jane Ashton was my grandmother. We belong to the same family, you and I.' I spoke the words and waited for Hunter's reaction, longing for him to reach out and take my hand. Instead, he simply went on staring deep into my eyes.
'You want to know my reaction?' he asked at last, speaking quietly then turning to watch the latest lightning hit over Amos Peak. This is hard for
you, Darina, but I have to remind you of something that I told you the first time we spoke, almost a year ago. You talked then of loving Phoenix and of him loving you from beyond the grave.'
You didn't believe me,' I recal ed. You said that for love to exist there has to be a heart.'
And the Beautiful Dead have no beating heart, no blood running through their veins. What I'm saying is - we have no emotions. It's impossible for us to be glad or sad, for me to tel you truthful y that I'm happy about the family link between us.'
That's true for you, maybe,' I argued, fighting back the hurt his words had caused. 'But not for Phoenix and the rest. They have feelings even after they die. Remember Jonas - how much he stil cared for Zoey? And
Arizona - she came across as hard and cynical, but even she wouldn't rest until she knew her kid brother was safe. Also Summer - she needed her parents to look to the future, to go on and live their lives without her.'
As for my beautiful Phoenix, he tel s me he wil stay with me. He wil be in the air I breathe, wil walk beside me always.
'So I'm wrong?' Hunter asked, as if this was the first time he'd al owed the possibility to enter his head and the idea amused him.
Total y. The Beautiful Dead do have feelings. Why else would the%98 want to return to the far side?' I waited a while, careful y watching Hunter's face, wanting those hard, chisel ed lines to soften. 'It's been a long time since you died. And you're the overlord. To you, sharing your feelings might seem like weakness.'
The shadow of a smile appeared. 'You sure know how to frame an argument,' he said. 'Just like my Marie.'
Slowly I regained my courage and smiled back. 'You always knew we
were linked. No way is this news to you.'
'I suspected. I hoped.'
Hoped? I felt my heart swel . Hunter wanted me to be family. In spite of what he said, he cherished the bond between us.
Yes, hoped.' For a second his features did change. There was a moment's tenderness in the overlord's steely eyes. Then lighting flashed, thunder crashed, and he was al hardness again. He listened. Through the crash of thunder he must have heard what was happening at Angel Rock. 'Phoenix needs help,' he said abruptly, striding towards the door.
I ran after him, my heart shuddering. ' What's happening? Is he OK?' I asked.
Come with me,' Hunter instructed, and we went out into the downpour, heading up to the ridge as fast as we could.
I struggled to keep up, slipping and sliding on the wet rocks, but Hunter reached the aspen stand way before me and disappeared over the ridge.
'Wait for me!' I begged.
He strode on towards Angel Rock that dark granite outcrop in the shape of a Christmas-tree angel, silhouetted against the bank of thunder clouds, lit by sudden flashes of lightning.
'Phoenix, please be OK!' I whispered, fol owing in Hunter's footsteps until I caught sight of him again. In the distance, north of Angel Rock, I glimpsed two abandoned Harleys and some dark figures fighting.
Another bolt of lightning struck and thunder rattled. I grew more frightened stil as I rushed after Hunter how long could he and Phoenix go on in the eye of the storm? I fought my exhaustion, forced myself onward until at last I reached Angel Rock.
The first figure I identified through the sheet of rain was Henry Jardine.
He emerged from behind the tal rock, staggering backwards with his arms9
raised to protect his head. Phoenix fol owed him, towering over him and concentrating his zombie powers on beating Jardine back down the hil side with invisible wings and a horde of death heads.
I heard Jardine cry out - a mixture of pain and terror - then fal
backwards onto a flat slab of glistening wet granite where he curled into a bal , rol ed and lay helpless.
Phoenix fol owed, stood astride the deputy sheriff, glared down on him and zapped him with the mind-bending rays that would rob him of al memory of this event. I held my breath as the supernatural charge hit Jardine and passed through him, making him jolt and writhe. Then Phoenix bent forward to grasp his arm and raise him from the ground, lifting him with ease.
There was no struggle left in the deputy sheriff in a daze he al owed himself to be turned away from Angel Rock and led along the ridge by Phoenix, who eventual y released him under the aspens and watched him walk unsteadily towards his car.
Meanwhile, I saw Hunter deal with Hal and Black.
On foot, away from their Harleys and battered by the storm, the two tough guys didn't look so dangerous. They ran across the scrub in my direction, stumbling as I had, yel ing and acting like they'd seen a ghost. Close behind them came Hunter, seemingly strong as ever, gaining on his victims with every stride. When he drew near enough, he brought the death heads hurtling down out of the dark sky ghastly yel ow skul s crowding in on Black and Hal , forcing them onto their knees, making them crouch and beg for mercy.
They were wasting their breath. Hunter seized them, one in either hand,
and dragged them back on their feet. He flung them against Angel Rock,
knocking the last remaining air out of their lungs, pinning them there as he zapped their brains, making them curl up and scream.
'Phoenix, take Darina down to the house,' Hunter ordered without looking round. 'And when you're sure she's sa
fe, leave the far side.'
'What about you?' Phoenix asked.
'I can deal with this. Just go!'
So Phoenix turned and ran with me, down from Angel Rock into the
val ey where the invisible wings didn't beat and the death heads melted
away into the dark sky. We reached the meadow and I clung to him, sobbNb with relief.
'Don't cry,' he murmured, brushing strands of wet hair from my cheek. He put his arms around me and held me until I stopped.
'We're almost there,' I gasped, pointing towards the house. 'Leave me. Do what Hunter told you.'
'First I take you inside,' he insisted.
We reached the yard with the rain stil beating down and thunder rumbling down from the mountains.
'Real y, it's time to go,' I begged. 'Phoenix, please!'
He seemed to falter then recover as he kept hold of my hand and walked on. 'Hunter said to take you to the house.'
'But you're losing strength. You need al your energy to get out of here.' To step away from the far side, back into limbo, where he would be safe until the storm was over.
We were in the porch. I was struggling to free my hand from his -
Phoenix swayed, put out his other hand to steady himself against the porch
rail. Pain flashed across his beautiful features, creasing his brow. 'Go now!'
I cried.
'I can't bear to leave you,' he sighed, stepping back to let his head rest against the log wal of the cabin, letting the raindrops trickle down his face.
' I want to stay here with you.'
I shook my head. ' You can't. Hunter said to go.'
'I want to be with you,' he insisted, letting his eyes close and drawing an uneven breath. 'I'm clinging to every moment we have together, Darina. Don't turn me away.'
I went to him, put my arms around his neck and tried to make him listen.
'I'l be here when the storm ends. We can be together then.'
Phoenix put his cheek cold against mine. 11's too hard,' he groaned.
'When I'm with you, it's ecstasy. When we're apart, I'm in agony. And al the time I'm afraid.'
'Afraid of what?' I whispered. Outside the storm raged, but here under the porch I felt safer.
'Of what happens next. I have three days left on the far side that's al .'
'I know. But, like I told Hunter, I'm making new contacts, finding out facts, pushing for answers ...'
He stopped me by gently brushing his fingers over my lips. 'That's nddP1 what I mean. I'm not scared that you won't solve the mystery because I know in my heart that you wil work at it until you do. No, the bottom line is, I'm not certain any more that I even want to find out who kil ed me because the price may be too high for my mom, for Zak, for Brandon.'
Startled, I took a step back. 'It's what I told Hunter you can't be scared of the truth. I thought we al agreed we need to know!'
But he shook his head. 'It's weird - lately it's begun to feel kind of irrelevant and unreal. And I'l tel you what else real y scares me, Darina -
what happens next? It's the big question, what comes afterwards - after my
twelve months is final y up?'
After you step away from the far side for the last time, after you return to limbo - what then? 'No one knows, do they?' I whispered back. 'Not even Hunter.'
'Being like this being Beautiful Dead, isn't how you imagine,' Phoenix murmured. 'Super-strength, super-hearing, time travel - in the beginning it blows your mind. You think you're invincible.'
'Then it ends.'
'And you realize you're not al -powerful. You're just like any other human being, only you get to die twice.'
I stepped in and clung to him again. 'I understand,' I murmured. 'It's good that you're tel ing me. You know what I think? It's normal to be scared.
I'm certain that's how Jonas felt, and Arizona and Summer. But what wil keep you strong, what wil get you through is this feeling we have between us you and me.'
His hands cupped my head and he gazed at me in silence.
'That's what you always tel me,' I told him. 'You say that what survives, long after we're gone, is love.'
We held each other until the overlord strode down from the ridge with
Danny Kors behind him.
I saw them and tore myself away from Phoenix. 'What's wrong with Hunter?' I cried, running back into the rain.
He was striding across the meadow, one arm hanging limp at his side. His face was white, his eyes dark and hol ow.
He didn't speak. Brushing past me as more lighting forked across th102
sky, he stepped onto the porch and with what was obviously a fast-reducing
reserve of strength he ordered Phoenix to leave. 'Do it,' he hissed. ' Get out of here before it's too late!'
Phoenix shook his head and took a step in my direction. Then Hunter blasted him with angry force, sent him reeling sideways along the porch, surrounded him in their shimmering energy field and made him fade and disappear.
The look of mingled hope and sadness that Phoenix gave me as he lay in the porch surrounded by white light broke my heart in two.
And now Phoenix was gone and Kors had crossed the meadow. He spotted me with Hunter and drew his gun. ' Darina, get away from there.
Stand clear!'
I froze on the step of the porch. You don't understand. Don't do this, don't shoot!'
'It's OK,' Hunter said quietly as he stepped in front of me. Now that Phoenix was safe from the storm, he could give the sheriff his ful focus. So he level ed his gaze on the gun barrel and walked slowly towards him.
Kors' right hand held steady as Hunter advanced. His arm was braced, his left hand lending support. One more step and I shoot.'
The overlord walked on. His only intention was to send Kors out of here a second time with a sore head and blank memory. One step, two steps, three ...
The sheriff fired his gun, his hand jerked from the recoil.
The bul et hit Hunter in the shoulder and passed clean through - no wound, no blood. He carried on walking. Four steps, five ...
Kors fired again. He hit his second target - the centre of Hunter's chest. Again the bul et passed through without a mark.
Hunter didn't flinch. He advanced with steel-cold, unblinking eyes,
reached out and took the gun from Kors as if he was taking a toy from a child. Then he threw it to one side and swept the sheriff off his feet, sending him crashing against the side of the rusted truck parked at the side of the house. I heard the impact, saw him slump to the ground.
Then I witnessed something I'd never seen before. Hunter stood astride Kors, one arm stil limp and with a look of exhaustion on his face. The storm had seriously weakened him, I realized, and he'd reached the limits (103 his strength. Stil he had to wipe his victim's memory and escort him out of here. But the overlord's shoulders sagged and it looked like he didn't have the energy.
Was this it? Was Hunter going to fail? I took a step towards him, felt him raise invisible wings to beat me back.
Fading then fighting back, summoning his strength, he gazed down at Kors and surrounded him with dazzling white light. The sheriff groaned and tried to raise himself. Hunter intensified the light. Kors slumped back, sighed and vanished.
The wings beat al around me. The storm raged.
Hunter tilted back his head and let the rain stream down his face.
'Go quickly!' I gasped, unable to move from the shelter of the porch.
He turned his head towards me. His eyes were dul and blank - they told me that it was already too late.
Wings surged over me. Hunter stood under the storm, gazing up at the dark heavens.
Lightning darted down. It struck the water tower on the ridge with a terrifying flash. The air crackled. Hunter swayed but didn't move from the spot.
Go! I prayed.
He stood like a tree in a storm - swaying, bending in the wind and rain. He seemed to be waiting.
Thunder fil ed the val ey, cr
ashed around us and rol ed on. Then lightning split the sky, once, twice in quick succession, and the deafening clap came with it two flashes of blinding light, a giant's roar. Hunter stood alone at the edge of the meadow, staring at the sky, il uminated then plunged back into darkness, lit up again by nature's fury.
Fight! I pleaded. Don 't let this happen to you!
He turned his head again and looked at me, growing too weak even to keep up the barrier of wings that held me in the porch. The beating wings faded, releasing me so that I could run out into the rain to be at his side. When I reached him, he didn't meet my gaze but turned his head away.
'Look at me!' I pleaded.
The storm was wild around us, rain lashed us, stung our faces and
drenched us through.
'I can't lose you - not now!' I whispered as I clung to Hunter's arm.
'Don't you know how we look up to you al of us?' 104
He answered in a voice already thousands of miles away, spinning with the planets in vast black space. 'Everything comes to an end.'
'No. We're not finished. You have to take care of Phoenix.'
'Others wil come,' he promised. As he turned again and looked at me, the faded death-wing tattoo on his temple seemed to darken, his skin to grow ghastly white.
'Phoenix needs you!' I told him.
'Don't talk now,' he whispered, raising his hand to my cheek and looking
deep into my eyes, swaying again and sighing with the wind.
His touch was icy cold. Dark blood began to trickle from the place on his
temple where Mentone's bul et had entered.
The wind drove on and rol ed the storm clouds out of the val ey and up onto the next ridge. Above us the sky began to lighten.
'Listen to me, Darina,' Hunter said, gazing steadily at me, the last
glimmers of light fading from his eyes. * 1 chose you to help the Beautiful Dead and it was a good choice. You didn't let us down. No one could have
shown more courage, more devotion.'
I felt anguished tears rise and let them fal down my cheeks. Please stay!
'If I've been harsh in the past, it was not to blame you, but for the good of the others,' he explained. ' For Jonas, Arizona, Summer and Phoenix. My job above al else was to keep our secret and to protect them.'