Midnight Hour

by C. C. Hunter

  “Miranda wouldn’t leave on her own.” He clenched his fists, digging his nails into his palms to keep from shifting.

  “What happened here?” Burnett waved at the three dead men.

  Guilt filled Della’s eyes. “The gun was set on stun, I shot them so they wouldn’t give me trouble. They were coming to, when I was cuffing them.”

  “It appears that their hearts just stopped.” Dr. Whitman, his face swollen, walked out. “I can’t swear it yet, but I don’t think it was the stun gun.”

  “One of them started chanting while I was putting on his cuffs,” Della said as if she just remembered it. “Like a prayer or something.”

  “It could have been a suicide pact,” Shawn said walking in with Agent Tobler. “Some of the rogue gangs believe failure equals death. There’s a curse that could do it.”

  Shawn met Perry’s gaze. Worry filled the warlock’s eyes. He’d given Miranda up, but he still cared.

  Then Shawn met Burnett’s gaze. “The roadblocks are set up.”

  “Why roadblocks?” Perry asked.

  “Dr. Whitman heard someone call Miranda’s name and a car take off as soon as Miranda ran out.”

  The pressure in Perry’s chest threatened to crack his ribs. “She wouldn’t have left on her own. They took her.”

  “They may have blackmailed her into going,” Dr. Whitman said, “but no one forced her to walk out that door.”

  Kylie and Chase stepped out then. Dark rings circled both their eyes, but they were alive, and they were here. Miranda wasn’t. And he didn’t even know if she was alive. “I don’t understand,” Perry demanded.

  “She had a premonition,” Kylie said, looking teary-eyed. “I think it was when she went to the falls.”

  “What kind of premonition?” Burnett snapped. “And why the hell am I just hearing about all this now!”

  “We just found out right before we came here,” Chase answered.

  “All she said was that her sister was going to be okay,” Della added. “We tried to get her to tell us about it. She wouldn’t talk.”

  Burnett looked at Kylie.

  Kylie must have understood his question, because she spoke up. “I’ve asked the death angels. They haven’t answered so far.”

  “Damn!” Burnett looked at Agent Tobler, who seemed to know what he wanted to hear.

  “I have the shifters and the other vampires checking outside the roadblocks in case they already passed them,” Agent Tobler said. “Everyone is on this.”

  * * *

  The old witch from the drug house, Zander, was covered in dirt, driving the light green Volkswagen Bug like a bat out of hell. Every question Miranda spat out from the backseat received the same one-word answer. “Later.”

  Miranda finally quit asking.

  “Damn!” Zander snapped. “There are vamps flying around. In broad daylight.”

  “They’re looking for me.” Miranda’s heart fell to the pit of her stomach. She couldn’t imagine what Della and Kylie thought. And Burnett. He was going to hate her.

  “And if they find us, it’s over. I won’t be able to stop this. I’m gonna need your help. And fast.” She peered back at Miranda for the first time and frowned. “Oh, your hair.”

  Considering Zander’s hair looked as if it hadn’t been combed since the last blue moon, Miranda found that quite insulting.

  “But first thing’s first.” Zander faced forward, dipped her head down and gazed up through the windshield. “Ask the trees to help us,” she ordered.

  “Huh?” Miranda asked.

  “Jeremiah,” the witch yelled.

  The armadillo materialized in the backseat.

  “What?” he asked.

  “I thought you told her about the trees,” Zander snapped.

  “I did.”

  “Then tell her to ask the trees for help. I’ve spotted three vampires flying and sooner or later they’re gonna spot us.”

  Jeremiah looked at Miranda. “Ask the trees for help.”

  Miranda sat there, feeling pretty dumb. “How?”

  “Just ask. That’s all it takes.”

  Miranda swallowed. “They aren’t going to hurt the vampires, are they?”

  “No,” Zander said. “Ask them to hide us.”

  Miranda looked out at the trees. “Can you hide us? Please.”

  The trees lining the street started folding in on them. “Whoa.” Miranda looked back at Jeremiah. “Where are we going? What’s the plan?”

  Before Jeremiah could answer, Zander bit out, “Have her change her hair. I didn’t realize hers was a different color from Tabitha’s. And get rid of the cast.” The witch tossed a box in the backseat. “Put that on.” Glaring at Miranda in the rearview mirror, the witch stomped on the gas. The car hit a bump in the road and almost knocked Miranda into Jeremiah. “Now! We’re already three minutes late.”

  Miranda flinched at her tone. “I might be a lot more cooperative if you’d explain what’s going on. And say ‘please,’ it’s polite.”

  Zander’s faded gray eyes zapped to the rearview mirror and turned red. Blood red. “Do you want to save your sister or not?”

  Throwing modesty to the wind, Miranda started disrobing. She tossed her shirt on the seat and her jean skirt on the floorboard. Jeremiah knocked the top of the box, and light baby blue silk almost spilled out.

  “The hair,” Zander screeched. “Don’t forget the hair.”

  The car came to a sudden stop. Jeremiah pushed the box closer. Miranda lifted her butt off the seat to slide into the layers of soft silk. She started trying to think of a spell for her hair and her cast. When the dress fell softly to her shoulders, she saw her hair against the blue material. Red like her sister’s. And the cast was gone.

  Had she done all that without a spell?

  She puffed out a breath. Zander was already out of the front seat and opening Miranda’s car door. She offered her hand.

  “We must run or we won’t make it.”

  Zander didn’t run like an old witch. She moved quickly, deftly, one bare foot in front of the other. Miranda held her dress up and ran beside her. Her heart rocked in her chest.

  All of a sudden Miranda realized the woman running beside her was not so old anymore. Her wrinkles were gone, her dark hair showed only a few silver strands flowing behind her.

  “How much farther?” Miranda asked.

  “Don’t think about it. Just run. We are late. We have to hurry.”

  Miranda kept going and going.

  Just when she didn’t think she could go any farther, Zander stopped suddenly. “No,” she moaned and turned in a circle.

  “What?” Miranda said, barely able to breathe.

  “We’re too late.” She collapsed on the ground.

  Chapter Thirty-six

  “We can’t be too late!” Miranda said. “We have to get Tabitha!”

  Jeremiah appeared at Miranda’s side. “Zander, you can open it. You can do it.”

  Zander shook her head, but when she looked up she was old again. Ragged, defeated, lost. “How many times have I told you they’ve taken my power? I have none.”

  “They haven’t taken it all. Believe in yourself.”

  “What do you need?” Miranda asked. “Maybe I can help you.”

  Zander shook her head. “Only those who’ve been there can open it.”

  “Then get up off your ass and open whatever needs to open. Now!” Miranda yelled.

  Tears filled Zander’s eyes. “You are so much like my sister. They took her, too.”

  “Then help save my sister,” Miranda pleaded. “Please.”

  Zander looked at Jeremiah. “You think I can do this?”

  The armadillo moved closer. “I’ve been telling you all along that they haven’t taken it all away.”

  She stood up, and before Miranda’s eyes she became beautiful again. Not young. But beautiful. Miranda realized how important one’s belief in oneself was. It not only changed how they saw themselves, but
how others saw them.

  The witch held out her pinky. The ground started shaking. Then it split open and a cavern appeared.

  “I told you,” Jeremiah said, staring at Zander with pride and … love. “Now go, you still have to hurry. I’ll wait for Tabitha here.”

  * * *

  Miranda, holding the folds of the dress in her hands, had to work to keep up with Zander. The older witch now carried a flashlight, illuminating the way. The cavern walls seemed to get smaller and smaller.

  Miranda started to feel isolated, shut off from everything and everyone she knew and loved. Their footfalls echoed. The damp, dank smell of darkness filled the air.

  “Be careful of the snakes,” Zander said.

  Miranda looked down and saw a big fat one slithering away. She wanted to scream but was afraid she might alert someone they were here. Did she need to be quiet? Questions filled her head as she ran.

  “Where are we going?” she asked in a low out-of-breath voice. She glanced at her feet, glad she’d worn her tennis shoes instead of flip-flops. “Where’s Tabitha?”

  “If she did as I told her, we should be close to her now.” Zander’s voice sounded less breathless than Miranda’s. Did the witch always run this path?

  “I still don’t understand,” Miranda said. “If we find her, why can’t we just all three leave?”

  Still running, Zander looked at her. Miranda saw the empathy in the witch’s eyes. “If things work out you’ll have plenty of time with her later.”

  If? Miranda’s heart skipped a beat, her feet pounded the rock floor. “Damn it, Zander, I need answers!” She stopped.

  Zander stopped and held her stomach. “The guards, they do hourly checks,” Zander said. “They have guards set up in various stations in the woods. If we are not there, they release the guards. They will catch us in the woods. Do you think others have not tried? They have and all have died.”

  “Then why didn’t you just bring her with you?” Miranda asked.

  “I clean the guard’s houses. That’s the only way I could get you in time. I could not have gotten and taken her with me. I tried to find another way, there was none. I even asked the Goddesses, there is no other way. Now, we must go. Or we all die.”

  Frustration rose in Miranda’s chest. But she commenced to running. She recalled her talk with Jeremiah in the falls. “Jeremiah said you had a plan that with my power we could escape.”

  “Yes. We’ll talk when we get to the cell.”

  Cell? Mother crackers!

  Miranda picked up the pace, concentrating on the sound of their feet hitting the rock floor. She tried to keep her breath even. She’d taken up running once, for about a month. This reminded her why she’d hated it.

  Zander looked at her again. “You are brave and courageous. I admire you for that.”

  “No I’m not. I’m scared shitless,” Miranda said. “I’m not doing this because I’m brave. I’m doing it because I don’t want anyone I love to die.”

  “And that’s what courage is. Doing something in spite of fear.”

  All of a sudden a small light appeared farther down the cavern. It waved like a flashlight.

  “It’s your sister,” Zander said.

  Miranda ran harder, hoping to earn herself another second with Tabitha.

  “Remember no time … to waste,” Zander said behind her.

  As the light drew closer, Miranda could make her sister out. She wore the same blue dress as Miranda. They ran right into each other’s arms. “Zander says we don’t have much time,” Miranda said, still in the embrace. She pulled back. Air hung in her lungs, her sides ached, but she forced the words out. “You okay?”

  “Yes. Because of Zander and you. I heard you comforting me. Thank you.”

  Zander caught up. Tabitha turned to her. “Are you sure I can’t stay and help? Maybe we should all run.”

  “No. Go! Jeremiah is waiting. If the gate is closed … Hide where I showed you. I have it set to open again in a few hours.” Zander grabbed Miranda’s arm.

  “Go,” Miranda told Tabitha, and with tears in her throat, Miranda took off running again. Every few minutes, Miranda would glance over her shoulder to check on Tabitha.

  “You sure she’ll be okay?” Miranda asked, her air coming out in short gasps.

  “Her odds are good.”

  Miranda almost asked about her own odds. But decided not knowing might be better. The sound of their breathing echoed. The cavern seemed to get smaller still.

  Tears ran down Miranda’s face, her sides hurt from running, her heart hurt from thinking of Perry, Kylie, and Della. They were going to hate her. She might not even blame them. Then her thoughts shifted to Tabitha and fear kept her moving. “Ask the trees to help your sister,” Zander said.

  After another few minutes, Zander came to an abrupt stop. “From here on out, no talking. Remove your shoes, throw them there.”

  “What about the snakes?” Miranda whispered, but she kicked off her shoes, and tossed them.

  “They are as scared of you as you are of them.” Zander caught Miranda’s hand. “Now let’s go, and no more light.” Miranda let Zander lead her, straight into the darkness, straight into the unknown.

  * * *

  An hour had passed. They had nothing. Perry couldn’t think straight. He sat in Burnett’s office going through everything he knew, hoping to offer something helpful.

  Burnett was interviewing some of the guards to see if they knew anything that could help. They didn’t, but several of them jumped at the chance to confess and get off easy, eager to restart their lives.

  Perry just wanted his one chance at life, but she was missing. What would have made Miranda take off? Blackmail, Dr. Whitman had said. Kylie thought it had to do with a premonition. His mind raced. His heart ached. Why would Miranda do this to him and everyone else? That wasn’t like her.

  Burnett walked in. “You okay?”

  Tears suddenly filled his eyes. “She looked so damn innocent this morning.” Perry raked his hands through his hair. Then he kicked a chair and knocked it across the room. “Why would Miranda do this to me? To all of us?”

  “I don’t know.” Burnett put his hand on Perry’s shoulder.

  Then Perry remembered. “What about my parents?” Damn, he didn’t think he could deal with all of this at the same time. Then he realized in an instant how unimportant dealing with his past was, when his future stood in crisis. All this time he’d spent looking in the rearview mirror, he should’ve been focusing on the damn windshield.

  “You said they weren’t supposed to see Jax until Sunday.”

  “Right,” Perry said.

  “Then let’s worry about that tomorrow.”

  “Yeah.” Perry inhaled and tried to control the panic clawing at his insides. “Let me at Jax. I’ll make him talk. I will.”

  “No,” Burnett said. “They are interviewing him now.”

  “But…” Perry drew his fist and slammed it into the plastered walls. “Where is she? Damn it, I can’t just sit here and do nothing.”

  “Then do something,” Burnett said. “Go soar the sky, look for Miranda and Tabitha. I’ve got six other shape-shifters doing that right now, too. Go help them.”

  * * *

  Miranda followed Zander’s order. She didn’t say another word the rest of the way. Finally they got to a turn in the cavern, a few feet in she saw where the rock wall appeared to have been dug out, and bars had been placed in front to create a cell. Oddly enough, Zander had a key and locked them inside.

  Miranda couldn’t help but wonder how long Zander had had the key to her own prison.

  Zander had literally just pushed Miranda inside when footsteps sounded. Zander motioned for Miranda to sit on the cot.

  An extension cord running through the bars gave power to one small lamp on the floor. The footsteps echoed closer. Voices rose. Miranda’s heart thumped faster.

  “Slow your breath. Do as they say. Don’t talk unless spoken to,” Za
nder whispered. “Don’t let them see your tattoo. Keep your hand and arm covered.”

  What about my face? Miranda wanted to ask. But fear washed over her and threatened to drown her. She caught the air in her lungs and held it, slowly letting out her next breath.

  Three men approached the bars. Two wore white robes. “Stand up!” the taller man ordered.

  Sensing the order was for her, Miranda stood. Her pulse raced, and the sound of blood rushed in her ears. Her lungs begged for more air. She took in a mouthful. Then she noticed Zander, huddled on the cold floor, her shoulders hunched over in terror. And just like that, Miranda’s fear turned to rage.

  “You are right,” the older robed man said. “She is fine. When will we have her sister?” he asked the unrobed man.

  You already have her, idiot. She felt her arm begin to itch. Her tattoo wanted to come out and play. Not now. Not now.

  “I am told soon,” the man answered.

  The younger man wearing a robe neared the bars and leered at her.

  “Then why not wait until you have both?” the older man said.

  “Why wait when we can start building our army now,” the younger man answered. “She’ll make fine soldiers for us.”

  Balls, eyes, and throat. The words ran through her head. No holding back. She stared at the men and made herself a promise. No one would ever get close enough to make anything with her.

  Just their words made her feel dirty. She looked at Zander staring at nothing. Miranda’s heart hurt for what this woman had endured.

  The men walked away. Hugging herself because she needed a hug so bad she wanted to cry, she stood silently. Her heart still raced from the run. Only when Miranda could no longer hear their footsteps did she speak.

  “What’s the plan, Zander? How are we going to stop these assholes!” Miranda felt her arms tingling, the tattoos racing across her skin.

  Zander didn’t move. Finally she spoke in a low whisper. “When the sun goes down they will take you outside for the ceremony. I will follow as soon as they pass the first bend, so they will not hear me. I will shut down the lights and lock the gates. The guards in the east will not get there. There will be less to fight.”