A voice off to her side spoke. “Those tranquilizers old Shane?”
The reply came from her opposite side. “No. She’s just fighting it.”
There was silence a moment before Shane queried, “Should I shoot her again?”
“Patience gentlemen.” Conn stepped closer and squatted down to stare at her.
Steele gray eyes pinned her from dark craggy features. A rough scar cut the man’s face from his hairline, over one eye and the bridge of his nose and slashed across the opposite cheek. He looked fierce, intimidating, commanding. Savagely handsome.
As Aries slowly lifted the pistol and rested in against his chest, she felt a regret sear through her when his features broke into a warm smile.
“Good girl,” he whispered as he lifted a hand and easily pulled the weapon from her failing fingers.
“Boss,” one of his men spoke from behind him. “She’s got no halo.”
Halo? That doesn’t make sense. The drugs had to be working faster than she’d expected.
She watched as the man’s eyes dipped to her throat. Confusion registered on his face for a moment before he could mask it. “York,” he barked the name as he stood with some effort. “Bring the woman. We’ll camp at her place tonight and leave at dawn.”
Aries’ eyes slid closed before this York ever even touched her.
Chapter 2
Aries woke, but kept her eyes closed and her breathing even. She didn’t know what time it was or where she was for that matter.
“Chopper’ll be here in twenty Conn.”
Conn? Memory came flooding back. She’d been captured!
“Well, let’s get moving. I need a hot steak and cold beer.”
She recognized the voice. It was the man she’d tried to shoot. Conn. Is he their leader?
“You sure your okay boss?”
“Ask me again and I’ll show you how okay I am. James, you and Shane go on ahead as recon. York and I will follow with the woman.”
Conn, James, Shane, and York. She committed the names to memory though she didn’t know why; she didn’t expect to survive this ordeal. She took a quick inventory of her body. She didn’t feel beaten or used. They hadn’t raped her while she’d been unconscious and that realization was surprising. What else could they want her for besides the bullshit story of a brother seeking her out? Her hands and feet were free. Either they didn’t think much of her as an adversary, or they didn’t think she’d attempt an escape. Suckers! She’d make them pay for the underestimation the first chance she got.
Conn’s order was short. “Bring the woman.”
She heard boot heels stomp closer before she opened her eyes and sneered. “I can walk.”
The man half-crouched to pull her up from the couch had a red goatee. His long satiny red hair was pulled back into a tight ponytail at the nape of his neck and his green eyes darted from Aries to Conn. He was handsome and young. Aries’ guessed him to be about her age, which was nearly twenty-four.
Aries slid her eyes from the Celtic looking warrior in front of her to the imposing figure frowning at them from the door.
Conn looked from Aries to York before he turned as if the matter didn’t concern him. “Fine. Let her walk.”
York righted himself and held out an arm indicating for Aries to follow Conn out the door.
Defiantly, she dropped her feet to the floor and stood before swaying dizzily. York grabbed her shoulders and she shoved his hands away. “I fucking got it.”
Surprised, the large man snorted and shook his head, a light smile touching his features. “A feisty one. I like it.”
Aries lifted her chin and shuffled through her living room and out the front door into the pre-dawn jungle. Her head was pounding painfully, and there was a sharp pain centered in the pit of her stomach. She knew the headache was from the tranquilizer and chalked the stomachache up to her nerves. She’d had the stomachache often in the past few years and wondered if she didn’t have an ulcer, but she couldn’t afford the time or expense it would take to see a doctor.
Outside it was cold and still dark, but she knew by the sounds of the animals that were coming to life that sunrise was drawing near. She figured the men had caught her sometime around ten and she guessed the time now to be around four a.m. Shit, I’ve been out for six hours!
She trudged after Conn, intentionally trying to put some space between herself and the much larger man.
York, the Celtic warrior, at her back had different plans. “If you can’t keep up, I’m going to have to carry you.”
Aries threw a sneer over her shoulder before picking up her pace by a fraction. She didn’t want to be carried, but she knew her odds of escape were better if she only had to get away from York rather than York and the fierce looking Conn.
She nearly lost her balance when York shoved her shoulder from behind.
“Faster woman!”
She spun on him, balling her hands into tight fists as she glared up at the red-haired giant.
York stopped short staring down at her in first shock then amusement as his eyes slid down to her fists. “Do ya want to take a swing at me then?”
Aries staggered her feet, evenly distributing her weight in preparation for the punch she intended to throw. When something wrapped around her throat she reached up and grabbed it instinctively seconds before she was jerked backwards. She spun as her body was thrown off balance and landed on a knee before she glared up at Conn who stood frowning at her holding the end of the rope that was now lassoed around her neck.
She rose slowly from the ground, her hands still held tight to the rope around her throat as she glared at Conn. Then her lips curled in derision as she scoffed over her shoulder, “Later then chump!”
York growled and took a menacing step toward her.
“York!” Conn snapped. When Aries looked forward, Conn wordlessly tossed the rope to York. The Celtic beast smiled at Aries before tugging on the rope and pulling her after him.
So much for her plan of lagging behind. The rope was cinched tight around her neck and with both men now in front of her, she took advantage of the opportunity to shake her head a few times. She needed to clear her head of the residual effects of the tranquilizer that had her vision still a little hazy. She would never admit it, but she was feeling nauseated and slightly off equilibrium wise. Fuckers! Aries sucked it up and kept pace, she didn’t have a choice in the matter now.
She eyed the two men from behind, sizing them up. Clearly mercenaries. Both carried assault rifles and both were built like line-backers.
When the sun finally rose it glinted off something and caught her attention. She looked at the man York and noted that he wore a stiff silver band around his neck. Her eyes snapped to Conn, remembering the way the similar object around banded around his throat had flashed brightly before he’d taken a knee in the jungle.
Several minutes later they stepped into a clearing where a large military-type helicopter sat parked in the center of her jungle. At the sight her heart-rate picked up. Someone was going through a great deal of expense. She cleared her throat as York tugged on the rope drawing her closer to the waiting helicopter where Shane and York held defensive positions with their rifles at the ready, scanning the jungle as if expecting an attack.
“Look, you’ve got the wrong lady. I don’t have a brother.”
York spun and smiled at her. “Sure. Next you’ll be tellin’ us that your last name’s not EnemyHunter.”
Aries frowned as she pulled back on the rope with both hands using her body weight to assist even as York reeled her closer. “It’s not. My last name’s Bracken.” She growled in frustration as Conn walked up and grabbed her by the arm before lifting her into the helicopter.
Conn followed her in as did York. Shane and James kept their rifles pointed toward the jungle and only jumped into the chopper as it lifted off the ground. None of the men spoke to the pilot, and he didn’t seem at all concerned that the group had obviously just kidnapped her.
“I don’t know who’s paying you boys, but you’re about to find out that you’ve fucked up royally.”
York looked from Aries to Conn. She could tell by his look that he was inclined to believe her. Conn on the other hand ignored her completely.
Several minutes into the flight, Conn pulled a map from the leg pocket of his fatigues and motioned for his men to come closer. Conn sat across the cabin in the furthest seat from Aries. York and Shane who’d been on either side of Aries both took a knee in front of Conn as James slid down his seat to get closer to their Commander as the group huddled and quietly discussed some unknown plans.
Watching them, Aries saw that James and Shane also wore the same band around their throats. She wondered if it was some new military device.
As the men talked, Aries inched closer and closer to the opened doors of the Pave Hawk Helicopter. When she felt Conn’s eyes on her, she feigned a slight tremble, wrapping her arms around herself and rubbing her arms in what she hoped was the appearance of a woman cowering in the grip of her fear of heights. It worked. Conn snorted his derision at her weak reaction, turning his eyes back to the plans he and his men were scanning intently.
Before any of them even realized what was happening, Aries dropped to her knees, rolling with the momentum of her body as her arms snaked out and snagged a bundled parachute just as her body was sucked out the door of the helicopter.
Four sets of eyes snapped to the open door of the helicopter.
“Holy fuck!” James’s tone was reverent.
Precious seconds were wasted as Conn and his platoon of men stared dumbly at the now vacant ledge of the helicopter before Conn finally broke free of his disbelief. “Get your asses out there!” His words were a harsh growl, self-admonishing.
York, James, and Shane quickly donned chutes before dropping wordlessly from the still moving copter as Conn barked orders for the pilot to circle back.
What the fuck was wrong with her? Surly she had to know that if he wanted her dead, she would be. Conn shoved an angry hand into his short brown hair, even as the thrill of the chase excited him more than he’d been in years. No one had ever run so hard or made such a daring and death-defying attempt at escape. His lips curled into a satisfied smile even as he lifted a packed nylon parachute and simply stared at it before he dropped it to the floor of the cabin and dove out the helicopter’s cabin. He and his men were to use the highest level of discretion regarding their shifting abilities, but the adrenaline surging through him with the thrill of the chase had him throwing caution to the wind. They were in the jungle after all.
Conn shifted mid-drop and when he spread his wings the five foot span in golden eagle form caught enough wind to send him shooting in the direction he wanted to go. He soared over the four chutes of his men as they floated down to the forest floor. He split his beak and a high-pitched screech let his men know that he’d shifted and would be in front of them. It also let them know they were free to change form.
Chapter 3
Aries cursed aloud several times. Christ, am I gonna hit every fucking branch on the way down!
The wind was knocked out of her as her ribs met another thick branch. She couldn’t let go of the opened chute she held clutched to her chest, so she couldn’t afford her body any protection from the impact of her poor landing.
When the other side of her ribs crunched against another branch, she dropped the chute and clutched the branch tightly with both arms before dropping her eyes to the ground. She sucked in a breath at the pain resonating from her ribs as she shimmied further out onto the branch then let go, dropping none to gracefully onto the hard earth.
She rose quickly and scanned her surroundings. She listened for a moment before she ran in the opposite direction the helicopter was heading. She knew they’d be after her soon. These mercenaries hadn’t traveled all the way to South America just to let her slip through their fingers, so she’d make as much of her head-start as she could.
Her ribs ached, and sawing in ragged breaths only made her side hurt more, but she knew she had to push past the pain if she hoped to escape. My brother’s looking for me? These guys are way off their fucking mark if I’m the best they could come up with.
She didn’t have siblings, she knew she didn’t. There wasn’t even an ounce of hope that there existed a long lost brother. She’d been raised by her mother and had been an only child. She’d also been six years old and in the car with her mother when she’d lost control one fateful night and rolled the vehicle four times. Her mother died at the scene.
Her slippered feet were nearly silent as she raced across the forest floor. She had a general idea where she was, but that didn’t mean much. She had no provisions, no water, no food, no weapons, and she was wearing nothing but a flimsy slip and ballet slippers. If the men on her ass didn’t catch her or kill her than dehydration or jungle predators would surely do the job. Not to mention, torrential rains were frequent in the summer months. Unlike back home, South America’s summer months ran from September to March. Aries shivered at the thought of being caught in one of the severe storms wearing what she had on.
With little else to do, she pushed on. She knew the forest was littered with small villages, but the ones that took kindly to strangers certainly couldn’t afford to give her anything she’d need to survive, and mere coins would purchase the platoon any information the villagers had of her whereabouts.
Her run slowed to a pitiful excuse for a jog as her adrenaline wore off. She was exhausted, and her limbs were starting to feel like jelly. Fucking tranquilizer! Add to that the fact that her brain was literally throbbing so badly she almost wanted to give up. She was in bad shape, and her future certainly didn’t look too bright.
Come on girl, you’ve eluded them for three fucking years. You can do this! The pep talk did little to raise her hopes. She exhaled before stopping and dropping onto a log and lowering her head into her hands. If this fucking headache would just go away. Her head snapped up at a noise in the trees overhead. She scowled at the bright eyed creature staring down at her from above. Just a bird. She dropped her head back into her hands and tried to catch her breath even as hopelessness descended on her. They’re gonna kill me. They’re going to catch me and fucking kill m…wait a minute. Her head slowly rose from her hands as she lifted her face toward the treetops again and slowly straightened from the log on which she’d been perched. There aren’t any golden eagles in South America. She stood and turned, eyeing the bird suspiciously as it stared down at her, its head titling as it watched her.
Aries watched the bird as she again started to jog. What is that eagle doing here? She’d been born and raised in Colorado, she knew a golden eagle when she saw one, and the bird that was now flying overhead, following her path was definitely a golden eagle. Is it a sign, an omen? Damn, this doesn’t bode well for me.
She clutched at her aching ribs as she picked up her pace. The beads of sweat on her overheated flesh had her slip clinging to her like a second skin. She jumped a fallen tree and the jarring motion caused when she landed had her pressing her hand tighter to her ribs. God that hurt!
Her eyes darted overhead and she was startled to discover the eagle still shadowing her. As she passed a tree she ripped off a branch and stopped long enough to throw it at the massive bird. The eagle tilted his head back and its loud piercing scream rent the air.
Fuck! Stupid bitch! She’d just given away her position. She dropped her hand from her side and broke into a dead run. How could I be so fucking stupid! Shiiiit! Her ears picked up the heavy thud of foot fall from somewhere close behind her. They were on her tail.
She was in excellent shape. She had to be. Her impressive fitness had kept her alive more times than she could count and today she’d relied on it more than she ever had before.
Her arms pumped back and forth and she sawed in harsh breaths as her legs pounded the earth. She jumped fallen trees, logs, and stumps and ducked under low lying branches. The long black
hair that didn’t cling to her sweat soaked face, trailed behind her like a satiny flag. Her only choice was to run until she couldn’t run anymore and pray that her enemies couldn’t keep pace.
She saw a cliff up ahead and heard the thunderous rush of water and instantly knew her location. She’d made it to Iguazu Falls. The falls were located where the Iguazu River tumbled over the edge of the Paraná Plateau. Numerous islands along the long edge divide the falls into around two-hundred and seventy-five separate waterfalls ranging from two-hundred to two-hundred and sixty-nine feet high.
She’d never survive a drop off even the lowest of the falls, but if she could traverse the sheer cliffs down to the rapids, they’d carry her more quickly than she could run to a junction of the water flow that marked the border between Brazil, Argentina, and Paraguay.
The mercenaries on her tail would be forced to split up. With four men and three directions, her odds of escape would improve exponentially. She just had to get down to the rapids.
A resurgence of hope sprung to life even as she dropped to her knees to crawl under a fallen tree that blocked her path. Her progression halted just under the tree when the eagle landed on the ground in front of her blocking her path. She didn’t have time for this. She waved a hand towards the bird in an attempt to shoo it away. Instead, the eagle spread its wings and threw its head back before …Holy shit! Is it growing?
Aries watched in horror as the animal grew. Its feathers shortened, pulled tighter to its body as its legs and arms lengthened. She was frozen with shock, her now ashen face concealed by the shadow of the trunk overhead.
After mere moments, the eagle had changed, shifted to the form of a man. A fully clothed man.
What the… I didn’t just see that. Did I? She blinked hard and lifted a hand to her head. Did I hit my head when I landed? That couldn’t have just happened!
Aries couldn’t see the man’s face from under the tree. She slowly inched backward hoping he hadn’t seen her. Her whole body was trembling and she was having trouble remembering to breathe.
Skin Walkers Conn Page 2