“I know, and I hope and pray that he is safe, just as you hope and pray that Dawn and Aurora are safe. They are not warriors like we are, and every moment we stand is another moment that they may live. I hope we get through the night. I hope we live to see the dawn. I hope we can see the day after with them. I simply do not know if we will.”
For just a moment, Archer could see the weariness in her as well, and then her face lit up with a savage joy.
“Now, friend, here they come again!”
Archer braced himself and got ready to shoot more bolts of light into the sky, but then there were two others on the field. Lynxar appeared and with a stunning leap knocked some of the angels flat out of the air, and two others that had been sneaking up behind them were quickly dealt with by an invisible force that Archer knew quite well.
“The book, we need the book,” Bryan panted, regaining just enough composure so that he was barely visible in the dark. “We have Apple here, and we think we can turn this thing around if we can get the book to her.”
Lynxonna immediately drew the book out of her pocket, a small thing for all that it was so important. She handed it to Bryan, who immediately faded from view again.
“We have kept it safe for her, take it to her, and we shall—”
Whatever she was going to say was lost, and for a moment, Archer had no idea what was happening. Why had she gone so still, why did she looked so surprised?
Then his horrified gaze drifted down to the spear that was sticking out of her chest. It had punctured her whole body, and the angel who had thrown it while they were distracted swept up into the sky again, lost in the fluttering rabble.
He was a doctor, and he had seen terrible wounds before, but this wasn't a wound, it was death. Close by, Lynxar set up a howl that was terrible, loud, long and grief-stricken.
Archer felt deep pangs of grief tug at his heart, but there would be time for that later, if there was one.
“Okay, get going,” he said roughly to the air where Bryan had been. “You get Apple and Bellaron taken care of, we'll hold them here.”
There was no answer, and he had to imagine that Bryan had taken him at his word. He nodded.
Archer stepped over Lynxonna's body, prepared to make his stand here if he had to make one.
TO BE CONTINUED IN BOOK NINETEEN: A Heart that Beats Only for You - Volume 19
***
A Heart that Beats Only for You
***
Chapter One
The only thing that told Apple that Bryan was back was a piece of wood from the ruined gazebo where she hid being torn away with ridiculous strength by an unseen force. Bellaron, still in his wolf form, turned back with a snarl on his face, but he quickly relented when he saw that it was Bryan. For a moment, the angels that were flying low let up their attack, and he shifted back into his human form, that of a tall dark man with intense green eyes.
Instinctively, he stepped closer to Apple as if to shield her, but she shook him off, reaching for Bryan.
“Tell me you have the Psalms of Istarte,” she implored. She was the human inheritor of the light of the planet Naith, Bellaron's home world. When she was reunited with her book, she could use it to transform whoever she wished into something grand and terrible. Her ability could turn the tide against the fallen angels who swarmed the skies, and it was the last hope of containing the angels and stopping them from overwhelming the heroes of the city.
Bryan nodded, handing her the leather bound book. “You need to be fast,” he said breathlessly. “Lynxonna is down, I don't know what is happening...”
Apple nodded, her face tense, and her fingers fluttered through the pages, each one illustrated with the picture of a beast that was out of legend, though it was not in Earth stories where they were found.
“Are you ready?” she asked Bellaron.
He nodded. His eyes were full of battle and pain, but when he looked at her, he could only feel love. He wondered briefly if it was love that transformed him rather than any magic, but then he felt the gathering of energy, the prickles of electricity that ran up his skin and made the hair at the back of his neck bristle.
As his bones stretched and his frame grew, he stepped back to avoid hurting Bryan or Apple, and the angels saw their chance. They saw his undefended form, and they dove for him, wings snapping in the twilight sky, but instead of being met with a man or a wolf, instead they were met with an enormous black dragon, his eyes burning red and its sharp teeth snapping on them with viciousness and fury.
The dragon spiraled into the sky, and Apple turned to Bryan.
“Take me to the others, I'll transform you there,” she said.
“Are you all right?” he asked, and she nodded, cradling one hand over the gentle rise of her belly.
“We're both fine,” she said. “I'm just a little tired. Now get me there, we need to be fast about it!”
When they crested over the rise where the others were, they were met with a scene of chaos. At the bottom of the hill, they could see Archer, shooting his golden bolts so quickly they were simply blurs of light flying into the sky. Nearby was Lynxar, cradling the still form of Lynxonna in his arms. Archer stood over them, shooting to keep the angels away, but it was all too obvious that he was going to be overwhelmed.
“I'm going to change you now,” she said quickly, opening the book again. “Get those angels off of them, and I'll go down and change them as well.”
Bryan nodded his assent, and she found the form that she could feel was perfect for her friend.
“Tickles,” Bryan said with surprise, and that was right before broad brown feathers sprouted from his body. He turned into an enormous bird that had the body of a stork or a crane, but the dangerous sharp beak and avid eyes of an eagle, and with a cry of fury and triumph, he launched himself into the air and broke up the group of angels that were circling the party at the base of the hill.
Apple allowed him to clear most of them out, and then she went skidding and sliding down the hill herself, trying hard to avoid tumbling head over heels down to the bottom.
When she got there, she was met with a golden arrow pointed at her face, but before she could even throw up her arms to state that she was friendly, the bow was lowered.
“Let me change you,” she said, and Archer nodded, laying his bow aside with reluctance.
“It's too late for Lynxonna, I think,” he said, nodding at their fallen friend, “but maybe not too late to make those sons of bitches pay for what happened to her.”
She nodded, and for the third time, she opened her book. She felt the energy coil inside her, and she knew with an aching certainty that it was not meant to be used like this, not when there was so much stress and pain, not when she was pregnant, not as fast as she was doing.
Come on. Come on, just a little longer, just a little faster, I can do this...
The energy responded, but oh so much more slowly than she wanted it. She could feel it swell within her like a symphony, and when it broke, cresting and shattering away from her, it left Archer an enormous bird, a stubby-winged hunting hawk, one with two heads and a tail that was long and barbed. Archer shrieked and with a powerful sweep of his wings, he leaped into the air, snapping up two angels in his left beak as he did so.
She watched him, enraptured by his flight and his ferocity, and then she remembered that she was not alone. Though the thought of effecting another transformation exhausted her body and soul, she approached Lynxar and Lynxonna.
She knew that they were meant to have been married at one point, though whether that meant the same thing on their home planet as it did on earth, she couldn't guess. Instead, they had decided to make their homes on Earth, and found themselves mates as well.
It came to her to ask if help should be summoned, but from the terrifying still way that Lynxonnna lay, and from the trembling tension of Lynxar's shoulders, she knew that it was too late.
“Lynxar...Lynxar, I must speak to you,” she started, her voice s
oft and hushed, but she was met with a snarl that was so vicious she took an automatic step back.
She had met Lynxar a few times since beginning her relationship with Bellaron, and he had always been a gentle man, fond of laughing, humorous about his misunderstandings of Earth culture and kind to a fault. She knew his wife, the esteemed Dr. Rachel Deering, and it was his daughter, little Lynxiennia, who had been the one to introduce her to Bellaron in the first place.
There was nothing of the kind man or loving father about him now. His purple hair prickled with electricity, and his eyes, usually so gentle, were lit up with an angry red glow. Every muscle on his body was tensed as if to spring, and now he was looking straight at her.
Apple could feel his anger coming off his body as if it were a heat wave, and she stumbled backwards, one arm crossed over her belly and the other clutching the Psalms of Istarte close to her heart.
“I... Lynxar, please, please, let me make this right, I can change you, let me...”
He twisted his head from side to side, as if her words pained him in some way, and instead of returning to Lynxonna's body or attacking Apple, as she had feared, he sprinted away, leaving her alone.
When her breath finally calmed down, she approached the fallen Lynxonna. Inside her, she had the memories and the terror of an entire planet destroyed by the angels that were battling above her, but in her own life, she had never seen a dead person before, and she was not prepared for the absolute stillness of her friend's limbs, for the wide open gaze of her friend's eyes.
“Oh, Lynxonna,” she whispered, coming down to sit by her friend's side.
Blindly, she reached for the woman's hand, noticing all over again how much larger it was than her own small one. She was dully surprised to feel that Lynxonna was still warm, and without thinking about it, she brushed the woman's purple locks out of her face.
“It'll be fine,” she said woodenly, staring up at the sky. “It'll be fine, you'll see.”
Chapter Two
Faced by these new foes, the angels fled, or at least they attempted to. Now they were met by enemies who were on even footing with them, who could fly and rend their bodies with a single snap of teeth and jaws. Bellaron, Bryan and Archer lunged after the stragglers, clearing all of them from the skies and spitting them down on the park until it was cemetery.
After that, they went after the ships.
It wasn't a conscious decision, but at that point, all three men were battle mad and drunk on the power of their new forms. They tore the angels to bits, and not done yet, they tore the ships to pieces, reveling in the creak of metal and the shatter of steel.
Bellaron wasn't sure how long it took before they calmed, before they looked at each other and saw not the faces of fellow beasts but the men inside. He sat still on the ground, and slowly, Bryan and Archer did too.
He had only worn the black dragon's form once before, and now, as before, he tired of it. He looked down to where he could instinctively sense Apple's presence, and with a jerk of his head, he led Bryan and Archer back to her.
They approached as quietly as three beasts of their monstrous size could, and Apple looked up, her face tear-stained and dull. Slowly and carefully, she let go of Lynxonna's hand, and she stood, book held in front of her. She held it to her heart, closed her eyes, and when she looked up, Bellaron was shrunk to his normal self again.
It was almost completely dark by then, and she stumbled into his arms.
“Is it over?” she demanded. “Are they all dead?”
Bellaron nodded. “Every single one of them,” he swore. “All that remains is for you to remove the spell that you have our friends under.”
With a weary nod, she turned to Bryan, and after long tense moments, he started to shrink. Bellaron noted with concern that it took her longer to transform the millionaire than it had to transform him, and by the time she was done, she was tottering on her feet. Still, resolute, she turned to Archer, but Bellaron caught her arm.
“You mustn't, not if it will hurt you…”
Apple jerked her arm away, and there was a panic in her eyes. “I need to do it now,” she insisted. “It's... I'm so tired, what if I cannot do it later?”
Bellaron held her for another moment, but then he nodded. Instead of letting her go, however, he folded her up in his arms, and for a short while, she simply rested there, taking her strength from his. They were both almost ready to drop, but after a moment, she lifted her book again as Archer stood by, hopping nervously from one foot to the other.
Slowly, so slowly it was painful, the magic traveled from her to Archer, and with excruciating slowness, he shrunk down to a man again. Archer dropped to his knees, and seeing that Bryan was going to help him, Apple turned back to Lynxonnna, coming to crouch by her friend again.
“She was so brave,” she choked out. “She fought so hard and now...”
“She is dead,” Bellaron said sorrowfully. “She is dead, and she will never be forgotten.”
“No one ever could,” Archer agreed, staggering to his feet, “but right now, I'm more worried about Lynxar.”
Bryan frowned at him. “Have some respect, Lynxonna just...”
“I know she's dead, and I'll tell you something that your time as the Ghost hasn't taught you. Bellaron and I, we've seen men die, and we've seen men crack. When they're as powerful as Lynxar is, the cracking can shake worlds. I cared about Lynxonna, and I think everyone who knew her loved her at least a little. I'm going to mourn her. I will after this is all over. What's more important now, Bryan, is where the hell Lynxar is.”
“He ran off,” Apple said. “He... looked at me so fiercely after I transformed Archer. He ran off, and I didn't know what to do.”
“You did just right,” Archer said immediately. “When someone's lost a friend and a companion like that, well, you don't necessarily want to get in their way, especially if they are as powerful as Lynxar.” He shook his head sadly. “We need to find him. We need to find him as soon as we can, but I don't know how we're going to do it. We've been fighting all day, and so has he. It's a recipe for disaster, especially once we start getting out into the civilian population.”
“I can help with that.”
Everyone tensed, and it showed how tired all of the heroes were that no one had heard Vicky Campbell striding up.
Bryan scowled at his wife, shaking his head. “I thought you promised not to come into the park.”
She smiled a little wryly. “I told you I wouldn't follow you,” she said gently. “I just came back around on my own. Two different things.”
“I'm going to remember that later,” he muttered, but he quieted to hear what she had to say.
“Lynxar was carrying his phone when he took off. I'm not sure that we're going to have any luck getting him to answer if he's as bad as you say he is, but there is a signal there that we can track. I have someone on it right now, as a matter of fact, and until we find out where he is, everyone's going to be just twiddling their thumbs. Communications are still a mess, and I figure that it might be midnight or later by the time everything is up again. ”
Bellaron nodded shortly, suddenly aware that all eyes were on him. Archer was looking at him expectantly, and Bryan was as well, and though he could have wondered why he was expected to lead a group of people he hadn't known for more than a year, he inwardly decided that he was up to it.
“That's fine,” he said. “Call me the moment they figure out where he is. Vicky, you also have connections in the city, it's... it's best if someone see to Lynxonna as well. Archer, you should go find Dawn and Aurora. You'll never stop worrying about them otherwise. Bryan, get some rest if you can. You're in reserve until we figure out what's going on.”
“And you?” asked Archer, tapping his fingers restlessly on his bow. “You've been fighting as long as the rest of us.”
Bellaron glanced at Apple, who was still gazing at her friend's body sadly.
“Someone has to go tell Mike what happened to his w
ife,” he said finally. “Someone has to tell Rachel and her daughter what happened to her husband.”
Chapter Three
They found Lynxonna's husband and Archer's wife and daughter in the same place. Mike McIntyre was the mayor of Colossal City, and when danger had threatened, he led the civilians to refuge in the university buildings close to the edge of town. As Archer embraced his wife Dawn and his daughter Aurora, Bellaron and Apple confronted Mike.
Mike McIntyre was a slender man with black hair and vivid blue eyes. He had dealt with his city being the home of both superheroes and supervillains alike with grace, and it took a lot to faze him.
Apple approached him, and Bellaron stood behind her, silently giving her his support and his presence. Neither of them knew how the mayor would take grief, and all that they knew was that they wanted it to be easy on him.
“Mike?” said Apple gently. “Come here with us, okay? We need to talk.”
Mike was still wearing his Follow Me, I Know What I'm Doing T-shirt, and he only nodded when Apple and Bellaron drew him aside.
“You have bad news,” he said flatly. “Go on, please, I don't like to be kept waiting.”
“Lynxonna is dead,” Apple said, her words tumbling out in a rush. “She... she died fighting the angels, and oh, Mike, she was magnificent. She fought hard, and...”
“She died fighting,” Mike said, and when Apple looked at him with wide eyes, he nodded.
“I... I dreamed of this, you know,” he said almost conversationally. “I dreamed of a time when she wouldn't be fast enough, wouldn't be strong enough, and every time it was like this. She fell defending this city that was hers.”
Bellaron reached out a hand to rest it gently on Mike's shoulder, and Mike tried to summon up a smile for both of them. It was a little ghoulish rather than anything pleasant, and though Apple flinched, Bellaron seemed to understand.
Lynxar Series: Boxed Set (Books 14-19) (Superhero Romance - Werewolf Romance) Page 12